#Zaun is not a healthy place for children

[venusswhite]

my soul was made to love yours

Young Arcane Vi x Fem Leitora

soulmate AU notes: English is not my first language, and I initially wrote this fanfic in Portuguese. With the help of online resources, I rewrote it in English.

“But how will I know that I’ve found my soulmate?” I ask.

“You’ll know, dear,” my mother runs her fingers along my face. “It’s like the world finally comes to life,” she says with a smile.

“Is Dad your soulmate?”

“Yes, he is,” her hand rests on my cheek. “And you are proof of our love.”

I smile, pressing my face even closer to her hand.

“Mom, do you think it’ll take long for me to find my soulmate?” I hold her hands that remained in the same place.

“I don’t know, little one. Your dad and I met when we were just 10, but your Aunt Iris found Aunt Mirella at 25. You’ll find them at the right time.”

“I’m scared…” I say hesitantly.

“Scared?” she asks.

I remove her hands from my face, holding them in my lap. I look down and sigh, feeling my face grow wet:

“I’m afraid my soulmate will never show up… or that I’ll find them, and they won’t like me.”

“My love, your soulmate will like you. They will love every little part of you,” she dries the tears streaming down my face. “Just like I love your dad, they will love you.”

“Do you promise?” I ask, teary-eyed.

“I promise,” she laughs and pulls me into a hug.

I was helping my mom prepare dinner when enforcers invaded my house. Piltover had invaded Zaun and started a genocide. My dad was the first to die, screaming for my mom to take me to a safe place.

“She held me in her arms and ran.”

Motionless bodies were visible on all sides. Houses were on fire, and smoke invaded our vision.

After running a lot, we stopped in a house, which I would soon discover was not an ordinary house.

“I need you to take care of her,” she says, entering a room.

“This is not a place for children…”

“I know,” she cries, squeezing me tightly in her arms. “But you’re the only one I trust to leave her with.”

I look back and see a Yordle. I see her sigh and rise from her chair.

“Alright,” she says, helping me down from my mother’s arms.

“Mom?” I look at the taller woman, confused.

“It’s okay, my love. She’ll take good care of you,” she says, kneeling in front of me, trying to hold back tears.

“Where are you going?”

“I… Mommy will be right back, okay? Obey Aunt Babette,” she finishes, kissing my forehead and standing up. Then she leaves, giving me one last smile before closing the door.

“My mom was right; Babette took good care of me. Now I was 13 years old, and my mom had never returned. I don’t know what happened, but something tells me she went back to my dad.”

“At least they’re still together.”

I sigh and get up from my bed. Babette had told me not to leave because she had something to tell me. I unlock the door to my room, which was at the back of the cabaret, lock it behind me, and head to Babette’s room.

“Aunt Babette?” I enter and see a man.

“Good morning, [Name]!” the man says.

“[Name], this is Vander.”

“Hi,” I say shyly.

“Vander has four children, some your age,” I raise an eyebrow, not knowing where she was going with this. “I talked to him, and he agreed to take you into his home.”

“What?”

Why did she want to get rid of me?

“[Name], this isn’t a place for you. You can still visit me…”

“No. I want to stay with you.”

“[Name], you’re not going to stop seeing Babette,” Vander says. “She just wants what’s best for you.”

“And how do I know that going with you is really what’s best?” I retort.

“As she said, I have four kids there. It’ll be good for you to have interactions with children your age.”

“[Name], you’ll also be safer there. This isn’t a healthy place for a child to grow up.”

The idea of having other kids around was tempting. And this place really wasn’t the best to be. I had seen things I didn’t want to.

I looked at Babette and then at Vander.

“Okay, but I’ll only go if I can come here every day.”

“You can,” Vander says. “I would never deny you that.”

“We were walking through the streets of Zaun. With one hand, Vander held my smaller hand, while with the other, he carried my suitcase.”

“He stops in front of a bar with a big sign that read ‘The Last Drop.’ He pulls a key from his pocket and unlocks it.”

“You live in a bar?” I ask, making him laugh.

“My house is behind it,” he opens the door and enters, locking it behind him. The place was big but empty. “I asked the kids to organize things for your arrival.”

We walked among the tables until we stopped behind the counter where there was a door. Before Vander could open it, it was opened, and a little girl came out.

“Welcome, [Name]!” she says enthusiastically.

“Thank you…”

“Powder,” she says.

“Thank you, Powder!” I smile.

Having more kids around really seemed like a good idea.

“Where are the others?” Vander asks.

“Downstairs,” she points. “Come on, [Name]!”

The little girl pulled me downstairs and opened another door, which also had a small staircase. It was a small place with bunk beds and two sofas, where two boys were sitting.

“Welcome!” the older one said, standing up. “I’m Claggor, and this is Mylo.”

“Hey,” Mylo said.

“Hi,” I greet.

“Where’s Vi?”

Vi?

What a strange feeling. It was like my body was getting excited just hearing that name. Like something was pulling me.

Maybe I was just excited to finally meet another girl.

“I’m here!” I hear a soft and familiar voice. A shiver ran down my spine.

What is this?

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and turn to look at the girl now behind me.

The moment I saw her, a fire exploded in my chest, spreading to the rest of my body. I gasped, moaning softly, as flashes and lights invaded my vision, causing a sharp pain to pierce my head.

“What… what’s happening?” I hear her voice, trembling, seeming to go through the same confusion I was.

When I managed to open my eyes again, the world was… different. As if everything had gained a bit more life.

Then I saw her, equally shaken, holding onto the railing near her. She was beautiful. Her hair was some striking color and pulled back, her eyes shone, and freckles adorned her cheeks. That’s when I realized…

She was my soulmate.

Her gaze was on me, but I couldn’t decipher what she was feeling. It was like being noticed for the first time. My heart was racing.

I took hesitant steps back, trying to keep as much distance from her as possible.

Insecurities were consuming me. My thoughts haunted me.

What if she didn’t like me?

I was pulled from my thoughts by a voice:

“They’re soulmates!” Powder shouted excitedly.

“Kids, go upstairs!” Vander demanded.

I watched the kids leave, looking back at us. Mylo and Claggor had shocked expressions, while Powder wore a big smile. They closed the door, leaving the three of us there.

“So…” Vander broke the silence. “What a coincidence.” He looked at the two of us.

Vi’s eyes were still fixed on me, full of shock.

“I’ll leave you two to talk. Take all the time you need; the others won’t interrupt,” then he also left the room.

I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Her gaze was indecipherable.

Why isn’t she saying anything?

“My name is Violet,” she said, breaking the silence and approaching, extending her hand to me.

“[Name],” I said, shaking her hand and letting go as soon as I felt that same familiar shiver down my spine.

“Looks like we’ve found each other,” she said, averting her gaze.

“Are you disappointed?” I finally decided to ask.

“Disappointed?” her face filled with pure confusion.

“Yes… Because I’m your soulmate.”

“Of course not, [Name]. Why would I be?”

“I don’t know. I was afraid I wouldn’t be what you expected,” I answered honestly.

“You’re exactly what I expected,” she finally smiled.

“Well… you’re even better than I imagined,” I replied, smiling back.

She moved closer and gently took one of my hands, bringing us even closer to each other.

“Your hair is beautiful,” I said, running a hand through it.

“Vander told me its color is pink,” she replied since, as we couldn’t see colors until meeting our soulmate, it was normal not to know what they were called.

“Then pink is my favorite color from now on,” I said, smiling.

My comment made her smile, and her cheeks turned the same shade as her hair.

“Your cheeks are the color of your hair,” I laughed even more.

“Damn it,” she muttered, trying to cover them with her hands, still smiling.

“Don’t cover them,” I said, taking her hands and lowering them to our laps.

She looked at our joined hands and smiled even more.

“You’re beautiful,” she whispered.

Our eyes met again, and it was impossible to look away. It felt like something was pulling us closer every second. My heart raced, and that same familiar shiver coursed through my body. I moved closer to her face until I could feel her breath against mine. I raised my hand toward her cheek, feeling her soft, warm skin. I brushed my fingers gently, caressing her. My eyes drifted to her lips, and I noticed she did the same.

“I think it might be a little too soon,” I whispered, mere inches from her face.

“We have all the time in the world,” she replied, placing a hand on my cheek and mirroring my movements. “We’re going to spend our whole lives together.”

“A life with you is all I could ever ask for,” I smiled. “My mother used to tell me that when we met our soulmate, it was like everything came to life. I never understood that, but now I do.”

Our foreheads touched, and time seemed to stop. Being so close, I could see every detail of her eyes, every color blending together to form a beautiful pattern, like an entire universe existed within her gaze. Tears stung my eyes, and I couldn’t stop them from falling. Violet smiled tenderly and, with delicate fingers, wiped the tears that escaped.

I slowly pulled away, just enough to kiss her forehead, a gesture she returned moments later, full of care and affection.

We rested our foreheads together again, closing our eyes and simply enjoying the whirlwind of emotions surrounding us. Feeling the warm, comforting presence of each other, it was as if, in that moment, nothing else existed but us.

[jayktoralldaylong]

One of my favourite things about Arcane is that all the couples can be read as toxic, which is GREAT.

I'm tired of people bringing morality debates into dark media. Let dark media be fucking dark. You guys wouldn't survive a day in the TMA fandom, needing everyone to be as good as gold. How are they going to make for enjoyable complex characters if they're not morally grey. In fact, I wish there'd been more expansion on just how morally black they can become!

"CaitVi is so toxic" According to lesbian statistics, that sounds just about accurate. 💀 Heck, I wish Caitlyn had done more (Not really, but it would have been nice to further explore the darkness in her heart). Isn't it adorable how she immediately folded as soon as Vi called her cupcake? Caitlyn's like one of those villains that will consistently do the most....until it comes to someone else hurting her girlfriend. The only one allowed to hurt her girlfriend is her. 💀

Then let's talk about Vi. Someone pointed out how Vi never cared about Zaun's independence in the first place and many people yelled that they were wrong. But actually, they were right. Vi never wanted Zaun. Zaun was Silco's dream, and Jinx inherited that dream cause Silco would never shut up about it. Vi wanted Piltover to take responsibility for all the shit they allowed to happen in the Undercity. That's a part of the reason she joined up with Caitlyn in the first place. Let's not forget she wasn't dissuaded when she dragged Jayce down to fight with her and he killed a child. Children been dying, it's been her whole life. Someone needed to do something about it, and Zaun would have just isolated the people from all the privileges that Piltover SHOULD have been providing for them. Some people just can't accept that Independence cannot in fact solve every problem, and sometimes independence is colonisers running away from the responsibility of fixing the mess that they started in the first place.

Besides, we all know Vi joined up with the Enforcers because "I feel like I am worthless if I can't be of service." She'd already run out of family members to serve, Caitlyn was the next best thing. She's just like Jayce.

And speaking of Jayce, let's talk about his violent levels of codependency with anyone who'll give him attention. People LOOOOVE to talk about Mel, but it's there with Viktor too. When bro wasn't basing his worth on his inventions, he was centering it around Viktor.

Viktor who decided at some point in his life that he would not LIVE without Jayce. He was fine dying without him, but living without him was unacceptable. Oh how healthy. 🙄😂 Viktor be the kind of toxic ex to threaten divorce 500 times over, then burn the world when you actually leave him. Jayce is no better cause he's the kind of guy to keep going back to his toxic Ex.

Yes, Mel is manipulative. That's what I love about her. How are you guys failing to give this woman the praise of being an outsider in Piltover, but running their entire council. 💀 Girl raises her hand once and the whole government starts spinning. She was the best sugar mummy Jayce and Viktor could ever ask for. She kept the whole city running. Literally the entire of Piltover dancing on her palm. And yes she manipulated Jayce but let's not forget she thought that was a love language. 💀 You wanna be mad at someone, be mad at Ambessa for raising her that way.

I also don't think it's fair to blame her for the Undercity situation, she's not native. Monkey see, monkey do, and not a single one of those Council members actually cared about the situation down there, it was deplorable. 💀 Jayce did way more in his two weeks as Councillor than any of those drug pushing, money laundering, Piltovian heads of government.

And that just covers MelJayVik, we don't even need to get fully into TimeBomb, cause we know what's wrong there. 💀 Surely we have not forgotten the many teammates Jinx has killed, but making sure to never kill Ekko cause that's her man. Ekko has a lot to unpack, like how his consistent and unwavering love for Jinx is an indication of a lot of doors he might not be ready to open. I know they dynamics go crazy and I love to see it.

Ambessa and Sevika are a crack ship but I'm sure we all know bedroom dynamics go crazy with Mrs. Warlord and Miss Liberation. I love it when characters clash in a toxic heap. It's insane and should be explored.

Quit saintifying my toxic ships with your woke morality debates. If you want everyone to be sunshine and rainbows then you should be watching literally anything else. 💀 "It's not healthy." GOOD, I like it that way. 💀 Angst, spice and trauma are the recipe for a plethora of explorative fanfiction. Any of their dynamics can be taken in any toxic direction and I want that EXPLORED.

[endearing-dalliance]

Just like Piltover, Arcane's beauty hides its fundamental problems. Its ableist, antisemetic, acephobic, classist, and worst of all, it doesn't initially seem that way.

Firstly, I want to say that this post and my problem with all of this is due to the real-life references, biases, and viewpoints of the team people who created the show, made the design decisions, wrote the scripts, and continue to defend what many have pointed out are genuine problems in their stories and characters. This nothing to do with the VAs, individual animators, supporting crew, or even the characters themselves. I'm genuinely heartbroken for all those people who proudly worked on the show, did their parts beautifully, supported the viewers, and are met with a fanbase disappointed, hurt, and angry about something completely out of their control.

I wrote up a different post about Piltover vs Zaun in the original lore and how that version is such a different situation than we we got.

Despite everything they did to make the Arcane undercity/Zaun this horrible place, they keep referencing the positives of LoL Zaun (an equal and respected society) and attributing them to Arcane Zaun. All of this is straight from the AoA:

"When you look closely, Piltover and Zaun are not entirely dissimilar" (y'all literally designed them as polar opposites)

Zaun is a refuge for outcasts who don't have a home, and there is the thrilling sense that anything is possible. So pretty much the exact opposite of what Vi was trying to show Cait?

In Piltover everything is heavily regulated; Zaun is wild and more pure meritocracy. "its is not completely lawless, though there are some issues with the mob." That's certainly one way to put it.

Zaunites "make magic out of nothing. nothing is precious, everything can be recycled and be reworked to make it better" I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that people can't afford to replace things when they break. Nope. Completely plausible reasoning. No real life parallel at all.

One example of innovation is a jeweler from Zaun who makes unique gothic work. Not only did they never showed us this side of the undercity, I maintain NOBODY in Piltover is putting on a gas mask to go jewelry shopping in a slum.

"Even though they were oppressed, they can innovate in ways Topside can't. Like well let's take this freedom we have because they don't care about us, and use it to find beauty and innovation. That's where Ekko's little conclave came in." Did they forget the literal orphans he rescued from those "shady streets"? What were they free from, their parents? Cause Piltover's enforcers seem to kill a lot of those despite "not caring". This is straight from Ekko's LoL lore where he spent his days being a kid running around with the Lost Children and inventing for fun. Arcane Ekko got Misfit Toys as an intro song. The Firelights were called a gang. These are not happy, healthy kids enjoying their world. They're vigilantes taking care of other kids who have nobody else.

"Ekko emerged as one of the unlikely heroes of the show, rising to meet tough, sometimes heartwrenching challenges, and becoming a charismatic and beloved leader" His LoL lore is that of a self-educated genius described as "The Hero of Zaun's Youth". Beloved pretty firmly established already. Also charismatic...are we really not past the point where its not supposed to be a shock that a black guy can be articulate?

Sevika's arm is specifically described as "flamboyant", which was the same word used to describe Piltover's augments

This gave me the vibe that they were trying to glorify or romanticize Zaunites' suffering and environment, but on further reflection I think that's giving them way too much credit. Christian's reply below makes it pretty clear he doesn't understand his own story, and Alex's indicates they weren't even trying to tell it and are surprised by this interpretation. Because to them, the Zaunites were the bad guys all along.

(Cool cool name one team member who has personal experience with living in under an oppressive ruling class that is either ignores their suffering or actively worsens it. I'll wait.)

Also, I think its very telling that a cocreator admits to having difficulty distinguishing between a group of systemically abused people fighting for their right to live on their own terms and people breaking the law because want power and influence and money. I don't think Peaky Blinders and the French and American Revolution (among others) are really compatible stories.

"It was an impossible pipe dream if you ask me." Well then. All the nations that successfully rose up and freed themselves from their oppressive overlords were just flukes I guess. Also I'm not sure how they managed to figure out the alien invasion lack of relatability and not realize that's basically what they ended up with. Also, the fact that they keep framing it as a civil war rather than a revolutionary one is mindbogglingly out of touch.

So they were trying to comment on the two party system, but also the point wasn't to comment on the real world. They wanted to show the widening wealth gap in a "fun way", but also that's not what they were shooting for. Over and over we've heard about how the show is about duality, the struggle of Jinx and Vi and the struggle of the two cities. If they didn't want to comment on the real world, didn't know enough about politics to even realize what they were doing or what message they sent, DON'T MAKE A $250 MILLION STORY ABOUT IT. Thanks to their contributions, we now have a story about two girls brutally traumatized by their environment enveloped in a pro-oppressor, forgive your abusers theme. Well I aint forgiving any of this.

I get the idea of "show, not tell", but some things do need to be explicitly told. Oppression is objectively wrong no matter who the oppressed are should not be left up to interpretation. Its not the viewers' job to piece together that Zaun's problems are ultimately caused by Piltover, especially since what they are shown is that death of a child makes the world a better place. Not once in 18 episodes do they ever explicitly condemn Piltover. Not once did they validate Zaun's right to independence. We got "forgiveness" (forgiving your abusers? great message) and "finding your way back to each other" (which none of the duos actually did. They're all "dead"). And my personal favorite, the important lesson that asexual people do not have happy, healthy, nonplatonic relationships, so TAKE THAT JAYVIK SHIPPERS.

Since they ended Arcane with a reference to a Japanese proverb, in the spirit of duality I'm ending with a quote by someone who actually has personal experience on the subject:

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."- Desmond Tutu

[lullabyes22-blog]

Arcane Fandom drinking game.

tw: racism, misogyny, classism, ableism.

tw: fandoms in general, ig?

Take a shot if:

Sevika is reduced to this exoticised, hypersexualized, sub human caricature with no exploration into her motivations, her family, her issues as a disabled woman or her experiences as a working class person who grew up in a literal slum - and instead serves as a sex toy with body heat, who exists solely to get the reader off.

Take two shots of she is neutered instead of oversexualized, and reduced to the Mammy stereotype wherein her only purpose is to roll her eyes and provide commentary on the (white) characters/readers' antics, the latter of which drive the plot.

Take a shot if:

Mel Medarda is reduced to a living example of the Jezebel stereotype: oversexualized in the most dehumanizing and demeaning language possible, made a literal receptacle for other characters' desires with no attempt to engage with her motivations as a politician or her feelings as a woman, or else blamed for every single problem in the show, because apparently an ambitious woman is synonymous with 'The face of pure evil,' a woman who has sex and uses it to express agency is an insatiable slut, and a black woman is literally the devil incarnate.

Take two shots if she's taken the other extreme, and her ambitions, flaws, and sexuality have been wiped away completely, leaving only a hyperperfect husk of a character behind, for us to rally around with empty cries of 'Yaas Queen!' and no attempt to critically examine a) the problematic nature of the praise and b) the essence of what makes her human, and what drives her forward, in the first place.

Take a shot if:

Ekko is reduced to his crush on Powder/Jinx, with no attempt to engage with the complexity of the fact that his best friend warped into a monster, nor the ways in which he himself is a product of Zaun's poverty and his relationship with his community, the impact of trauma on children, his complex relationship with violence and his own moral compass, nor the fact that he is an activist, a freedom fighter, an artist, and an engineer, all at age eighteen.

Take a double shot if the characterization veers the other way, and he is portrayed as 'Forever Alone' because black men cannot have healthy relationships, do not deserve to have a full range of complex emotions, and should be punished by having their most deeply held wishes, friendships, and loves crushed to dust before their eyes, for daring to dream of a better life and a world that loves them.

Take a shot if:

Jayce Talis is not even acknowledged in fanworks as a mixed race man, nor as a person of color, with no attempt to engage with the complexity inherent in his experience of privilege, and the ways in which he is a product of his upbringing, and where these factors intersect with class commentary. Take a half shot if the character is whitewashed, and turned into the kind of bland, boring, vanilla caricature that we're used to seeing in media in perpetuity, who exists as a foil to the villains, a symbol of virtue, and a blank slate on which the viewer is meant to project themselves and their own beliefs.

Take a full shot if the character is the epitome of the white savior trope: a smug, paternalistic, know-it-all white man, whose self-assurance in his own superiority allows him to walk in and take over a conflict, then tell people what to do.

Take two shots if characterization veers the other extreme and he's just a sweet, dumb, himbo puppyboy with no personality, no goals, no desires, and no motivations of his own, save for making Viktor happy and doing his best to be a good boy.

Take three shots if Mel is the one leading him by the nose, because nothing says 'nuance' like making a black woman the villain for the sin of having agency and not existing solely for vilification.

Drink the whole bottle if:

Caitlyn, an Enforcer and a Councilor's daughter, is portrayed as a sympathetic sweetheart angelcake, without being forced to confront the actions of the state and the institution of which she is a part, without being forced to face the consequences of her complicity in the system that oppresses others, nor without being forced to recognize the fact that her actions and her words are not, in and of themselves, inherently just, and the fact that her privilege does not automatically grant her moral authority.

Drink another if she is portrayed as a damsel, an innocent, a child who needs to be protected and cared for, rather than a full person with agency and a complex emotional landscape of her own.

Drink again if the characterization leans the other way and she is turned into a classist caricature, an entitled bitch who doesn't even realize she's the bad guy, or gets turned into a literal Nazi because, once again, folks cannot engage with complex topics such as classism, racism, ableism, etc. and instead resort to infantilizing, simplistic, and reductive portrayals.

Stop drinking and switch to cyanide if her characterization hinges on her relationship with Vi, within which Caitlyn is the dominant top here to 'tame' this feral subhuman, with no understanding of the uncomfortable and undeniably harmful implications of such a power dynamic.

Drink the rest of the alcohol stash if:

Vi, an adult, a former convict and a street savvy survivor, is reduced to an angsty, moody, petulant puppydog off her leash, unable to take responsibility for her own actions, and her trauma is treated as an excuse for her behavior.

Drink another bottle if she is portrayed as a hypermasculine, toxic, violent, and Cait is the one forced to tame her, make her behave, and bring her into line, and her relationship with Vi is portrayed as inherently parent-child, or worse, caretaker-charge, without any regard for Vi's autonomy and right to be flawed as a human being.

Drink a fifth if Vi is portrayed as a hypersexualized aggressor for the audience's titillation, with no attempt to engage with the fact that butch lesbian women have more complex emotions than 'sex starved nymphomaniac', nor the ways in which Vi's abuse, abandonment, and trauma have impacted her relationship with intimacy and sexuality. Drink another if the characterization shifts the other way and Vi becomes a sexless robot who has no personality or wants, nor is given room to grieve for her family, her home, or her own trauma, and is instead expected to bounce back, get over it, and move on as nothing more than Caitlyn' Brave Buff Gf (tm).

Drink the entire bar if:

Viktor, a disabled man, is depicted as a neurotic, fragile, jittery wreck. Take two bottles if his disability is treated as a punchline, or the defining characteristic of his existence, and the only time we're meant to consider his body or his physical pain is when he's having an episode and collapsing, or having a coughing fit, and it's treated as a joke, rather than something which affects him and his ability to function.

Take three bottles if he's taken the other extreme and he is twinkified and babygirlified, and his sexuality and his love life are the only thing we're meant to care about, and his romantic relationship with Jayce is the only thing he's allowed to have, lest the audience think too hard about the ways in which he and his work might benefit Zaun, or how the Council might respond to a disabled person from an underprivileged background.

Take a fourth if the characterization shifts and he's reduced to a hypersexualized toy: a broken doll to be pitied and fetishized and cared for, and Jayce is his Daddy, his owner, his caregiver, his knight in shining armor, all in one.

Take a fifth if, in the midst of all this, his relationship with his disability, and the ways in which it has impacted his life and his choices, is completely glossed over.

Take six if his relationship with his disability is not even acknowledged.

Switch to cocaine if:

Jinx, one of the most complex characters in the show, and the only one with any sort of internal consistency, is reduced to a whiny helpless brat who just wants a hug and an explanation for her widdle feewings from a big strong grownup.

Take an eightball if her relationship with her sister, her trauma, and her mental health is reduced to the 'Hot Psycho' trope: an excuse to play up the 'cool' aspect of her personality while completely ignoring the trauma at the heart of her actions/behavior. Take another if the characterization swings the other way, and she's reduced to a one-dimensional villainess, a demon, an amoral monster, and the only motivation for her actions is the fact that she is a crazy bitch, and the only reason for her existence is to serve as a foil for Vi's goodness and the audience's own hangups re: mental illness and critically engaging with the more unpalatable aspects of human behavior.

Switch to crack if her relationship with Silco or Vi is not even mentioned.

Pour a glass of absinthe if:

Silco, a single parent, a survivor of violence at the hands of a loved one, a victim of systemic abuse, and a revolutionary, is portrayed as the ultimate villain, and his desire to fight for a better life for his community is somehow worse than the Council's decision to literally silence everyone in the undercity via chemical runoff, political neglect and police brutality.

Pour two if he is a cartoonish, hamfisted boogeyman, with no sense of his humanity, nor the ways in which he is a product of the same systems that hurt every undercity character, and the ways his actions replicate the cycle of abuse and hurt the ones he seeks to save in turn.

Pour a third if he becomes an unrepentant sadist, a child abuser and a sexual predator, and there is nothing loving or fatherly about his relationship with Jinx.

Pour four if the character is taken to the other extreme and he's sanctified as a literal martyr and hero, and all his wrongdoing is glossed over because he's just a ~victim~, and everything he does is justified, no matter how terrible, because he had a traumatic childhood or his abusive ex didn't die soon enough. Eat the sugarcube if his bond with Jinx is suddenly a wholesome Disneyfied gag-fest wherein he calls her "Pumpkin" and babies her like a toddler, and their relationship has zero codependent overtones, and she's suddenly a sweet innocent who doesn't have blood on her hands, same way he's not the one who sanctioned it.

Eat the bottle of absinthe if Silco is given the tumblr sexyman treatment, and suddenly he's just a walking Daddy Kink, with no regard for the ways in which he is a complex person, nor the ways in which he and other characters might actually interact, or his history or his trauma or the way it impacts his life.

Drink the whole liquor cabinet if:

Zaun is portrayed as a dystopian hellscape rather than a robust, vibrant, diverse community, with a wide range of experiences and a deep and nuanced relationship with authority, power, and violence. Break into the cellar if, instead, it's just a shitty stereotypical ghetto, full of criminals, addicts, and victims.

Light a cigarette if Piltover, a technological juggernaut that also has a diverse immigrant population, and a vibrant and rich cultural identity, is reduced to a bland, generic, vanilla utopia, and is full of pompous blowhards who have never engaged with the undercity outside the scope of the narrative.

Light a molotov cocktail if it swings the opposite direction and Piltover is turned into an neoliberal nightmare, a soulless, shiny, hollow, plastic, faceless wasteland, populated only by vapid, shallow, self absorbed stooges and shills who have no depth or personality of their own.

Throw the molotov and light the house on fire if:

'Piltover and Zaun' is not even mentioned, and there is no acknowledgement of the way these two cities shape the cast of characters who reside within these systems, much less a mention of the ways in which the characters might not be fully representative of the communities they are a part of, and the fact that they are still very much human beings with individual experiences.

If you didn't get alcohol poisoning, a whopping hangover, or a charge of arson: congratulations.

You win.

[eerna]

I'm really curious about how you think Cait's arc should've been written or how you would've written it. Like what are the story beats you think should've happened? Act 1 set her up to be the leader of a tyrannical system, so how does one go about redeeming a character that's been established as the face of oppression. At least enough for Caitvi to be considered a healthy relationship, since I think they need to be equals for that to be possible (I also believe Cait's relationship to Vi is intrinsically linked to her relationship to Zaun). I think it would be interesting to hear how you think that could've been achieved.

First off, a disclaimer, my opinion is that Arcane needs no season 2! That ending could easily get filled in, sure Cait becomes sheriff, sure Vi joins her because Jinx doesn't want her, we don't have to think about it all that much for it to make sense. But I have 0 idea how to fix s2 as a whole because I have 0 idea how the story would develop, and this answer will be very vague, so apologies in advance.

OK so how would she be redeemed and Vicait considered healthy. You're correct, Cait's relationship to Vi is intrinsically linked to her relationship to Zaun, because Vi is a representative of Zaun and Cait of Piltover, so that's the way to fix it! Maybe it could have been done through Cait processing her mother's death, because this is famously a show about parents and children. Let her make peace with loving a problematic leader. Sure, her mother installed air vents down in the Undercity, but other than that, she was an elitist prick who profited from oppression and was the corrupt Enforcers' biggest investor. This used to bother Cait, as seen in s1, until Jinx martyred her mother into someone who had to be avenged. Redeeming Cait would return her to her s1 mentality: the Undercity is suffering as a direct result of Piltover's progress, it is wrong, and has to be stopped, but this time it doesn't come from a place of naiive idealization, but realistic contemplation. Another aspect needed to make them healthy is to establish that Zaun wasn't PERMITTED anything by Piltover. Moving the final battle down there would establish Zaun as the ones who call the shots for once. It is similar to why Vicait was not uncomfortably disbalanced in s1 - sure, Cait was the rich privileged one with the power to doom Vi with nothing but a word up in Piltover, but down in the Undercity, Vi was the one setting the pace and Cait had to match it or fall behind. Add an arc in which Vi has to choose between Zaun and Piltover, and tell us WHY she would choose Piltover instead of just taking everything else from her and emotionally demolishing her until Cait is her only option (this includes explaining why Vi wouldn't go with the Firelights). I have a vague idea of clearing her name as game-accurate sheriff by having her make the Enforcers choose between risking their lives for Zaun, or getting booted off the force, but now we're truly in fairy tale territory and I have 0 idea where the story ends so I'll shut up now.

[the-broken-truth]

The One She Left Behind - Platonic Yandere Sevika w/ Biological Son Reader [1]

Broken (Looking at a HexTech Crystal in my claws): I looked around and it said that Sevika is between 30 and 40. Based on this information, She got pregnant at 20 and abandoned the child with its father. Now, at her current age, she is in the Last Drop when she sees a face she never thought she would see again. Now, let the words weave together. Also, sorry I was gone for a while - I just needed a break.

[The Last Drop]

This was the life Sevika lived - Fighting, Drinking, Playing Cards, and being the Right Hand of the Eye of Zaun himself with the pay she was getting; she was living the good life, well, as good as life could be in the Undercity. She was currently in the Last Drop - a bar in Silco's Territory - in her usual booth with a cigar in her hand while she was playing cards with some other grunts on Silco's Payroll. Thieram was quick to make Sevika's drink before bringing it to her while she kicked ass in cards - she was living the good life...but there were sometimes when she thought about the life she had before Silco. Sevika blew smoke out of her mouth as she thought about the life she left behind and the life she left behind, not her life, but the life she created with the man she once loved.

"Sevika, you can't be serious. You're going to leave me? Leave us? To work for the Eye of Zaun?! Don't you know how dangerous he is and the company he keeps? You're willing to abandon everything we created for him?!" The Dark Skinned Zaunite Male yelled at Sevika's back as he held the crying bundle in his arms.

"I told you - this isn't the life I want. I want adventure, power, and money, and working for Silco will give me everything I am looking for. Just keep that kid far away from me and have a good life without me." Sevika said as she started walking away with her hands in her pockets while listening to the man she once loved shushing the infant.

"Don't cry, my son. Father is going to take care of you from now on - you won't be alone ever again and I'll make sure you aren't tainted by that life. I won't let Sevika taint you." The Zaunite said as he held the infant close to his face and hugged him, placing his nose on the infant's forehead, and giving him a gentle kiss on his forehead to quiet him. That was the last time she saw them and she never looked back.

Sometimes, Sevika would think back to that night - she wouldn't think about the man she once loved but she did think about her son: Was he still alive? What did he look like? Was he healthy? What did he do now? Did his father raise him properly? Sevika would walk down the street while running errands for Silco and see children running down the streets of Zaun and see them with their parents, she couldn't help but wonder how her life would have been if she kept her son, raised him into being a Son of Zaun. Sevika would push the thoughts down before continuing on her path.

The sound of the door opening pulled Sevika out of her thoughts and watched as a tall figure walked in with a leather satchel over their shoulder, a brown cloth cloak with their hood up, and from what Sevika could see, black pants with black leather boots - all in rather good condition; where did they get those items? The material was from Zaun but it looked so good that she thought it could come from Piltover. Sevika watched the stranger walk into the center of the bar before pulling the hood off their head and Sevika's eyes widened: The stranger was male, with dark skin, short dark brown hair, and calm brown eyes. He had a scar over his eyebrow but he looked just like her former loving but with her eyes - was he...

"[Name], you're here." Thieram said as he walked from around the counter and walked over to the tall male who smiled at him before opening the satchel and pulling out a box before handing it to Thieram.

"Sorry for being late, I had to make sure all the systems worked perfectly and wouldn't overheat after hours of usage." The taller male - [Name] - said before handing the box to Thieram who smiled, took the box before reaching into his pocket, and pulled out a small sack of Silver Cogs and handing it to [Name], who looked in the sack before closing it, pocketed the sack and shook hands with Thieram.

"How's your father?" Thieram asked as he tucked the box under his arm.

"Father is doing better than he was last week, he's still a little stressed but his blood pressure is going down. I'm having him relax more while I run errands." [Name] explained before he pulled his hood over his head, "I'll see you later, Thieram." He said before he turned on his heel and walked away, opening the door and walking out of the Last Drop. Sevika watched the male before getting up from her chair and followed after him.

Sevika looked at the flowing cloak of the young man before walking up to him, stopping a few feet away when he stopped walking and took a deep exhale before turning to face Sevika.

"Is there a reason you are following me?" [Name] asked as he pulled the hood off his head again and glared at Sevika with his brown eyes - eyes that matched her own when she was angered; he was a perfect reflection of her, just as the opposite gender.

"I noticed you in the Last Drop. You said your name was [Name], correct?" Sevika asked.

"What business is it of yours?" [Name] raised an eyebrow. That attitude - just like hers when she was his age.

"Tell me, [Name], who is your father?" Sevika asked. [Name] scoffed at Sevika, causing her to raise her eyebrow higher.

"Don't ask dumb questions that you already know the answer to, Sevika. You know my father because you abandoned him years ago, you know who I am and that's why you followed me out of the Last Drop. Why don't you go back with those drunks and return to playing cards?" [Name] suggested.

"You shouldn't speak to your mother like that." Sevika really went there - she played that card - making [Name] bear his teeth, surprisingly he had perfect fangs.

"You don't have the right o youse that title. You are no mother, you are a deserter, a betrayer, and a whore. I want nothing to do with you, so stay the hell away from me or I'm going to break you." [Name] snarled before turning on his heel and marched down the street while Sevika stood there with wide eyes and a smirk on her face. Her son was no pushover - speaking to the Right Hand of the Eye of Zaun like that. It was good to see he inherited her strong spirit but she wondered what else he inherited from her. She was going to have to find out in the coming days, but first, she needed to find out where he lived.

'Time for an investigation.' Sevika thought as she turned on her heel and returned to the Last Drop.

[To Be Continued In 2]

[kikiiswashere]

It Takes a Village

Summary: Katya gets word that Viktor is sick and needs to be picked up from the Academy. The news sends her into a fearful tailspin. Luckily, Silco and Enyd are there to remind her that she doesn't have to care for him by herself.

Pairing: Silco/Katya, established relationship

Rating: General, SFW

WC: 2.1K

Notes: This is a little diddy that has been sitting in my computer for a while. Inspired by a prompt by SacrificedSin87 over on AO3 :)

Please note, this one-shot exists on its own AU, and is not necessarily informed by events and major plot points in Children of Zaun.

-------

“Keep up, Silco!” Katya called over her shoulder as she scrambled up the side of one of the thousands of Undercity catwalks. Her boots clanged against the metal slats as she ran towards the Promenade.

“I’m trying!” he wheezed, hurling his lithe body over the bridge’s railing. “I didn’t know you were this fast.”

“You should stop smoking,” was all she said, launching herself up a flight of twisty stairs.

Silco grimaced, and as if to make a point, sprinted even faster behind her.

The pair bobbed and weaved through milling bodies, receiving angry looks, and angrier gestures and words from people they accidentally jostled or bumped into. Katya didn’t care, though. She cared about getting through the Promenade, across the Bridge, and to Piltover’s Academy as quickly as possible.

Earlier that day, just as she was preparing to leave the mines, she had received a tube that Viktor had fallen ill. While he could (and perhaps should) stay on campus, he had requested to go home to recuperate. And Katya couldn’t bring herself to deny him.

She had sprinted past Silco – who was on his way to collect her so they could walk out together – shouting the news at him over her shoulder, before throwing herself in the mine’s elevator and slapping the ascend button repeatedly.

She fought her way through the miners coming in for their shift like a salmon swimming upstream. Once she breached the mine’s perimeter, she heard Silco call behind her. He eventually caught up and they sailed through the Undercity together.

“Kat! Wait! Wait a second,” he gasped, reaching out and grabbing her arm.

Her body jerked under his hold and she grunted in frustration, turning to him.

“I need to get Viktor!”

“He’s not going anywhere,” Silco said between heavy breaths. “Just take a moment – “

“He’s sick! He needs me!”

“I know, I know” he said, taking hold of her shoulders. “Just . . . take a breath. I know it’s more precarious for him, but kids get sick. We’re going to take care of him, and get him healthy, and back to school.”

Katya stared up at him, breathing deeply through her nose. Her heart pounded in her chest.

“We?”

The corners of his lips lifted as they so often did when looking at her. He nodded.

“I grabbed Sevika before I followed you. Told her to let my mum know what was happening and prepare my bedroom for him.”

Katya’s brow crumpled, confused.

“Your bedroom?”

He nodded again.

“Yes. We’ll take him to my mum’s and my apartment. That way you won’t have to worry about him all the way down in the Sumps.”

Katya’s brows knit together, concerned that Silco had not thought this plan through.

“I can’t ask you or your mother to watch him,” she started.

“No, I know. That’s why you’ll stay, too.”

“Where – “

“On the couch,” he answered. “I know it isn’t ideal, but it’s better than you being away from him.”

“What about you? Where will you sleep?”

“I’ll crash at the Drop until he’s well.”

“Silco,” Katya sighed. “I cannot ask you to – “

He gripped her chin, placing his thumb over her parted lips. Once the fight left her eyes, he dipped down and replaced the digit with his mouth.

When they drew back from one another, Silco huffed a small laugh.

“Besides,” he said, “if my mother got wind that Viktor was sick, and you had taken him back to your place in the Sumps, she would’ve broken down your door and brought him to our place herself.”

Katya smiled, knowing that it was true. Enyd would be insistent – borderline pushy – about Viktor recuperating in a less smog-filled environment. Finally, she conceded with a nod before lifting on her toes and kissing him again.

“Thank you,” she murmured against his thin lips.

Silco took her hand in his, and they continued toward the Bridge.

As they neared the attendant hut, a jolt of nerves poked Katya’s stomach. She had a pass, but Silco did not. Her mouth went dry as they got closer, scared that the attendant would not let either of them through, suspecting Zaunite mischief. However, her worries eased when she spied Ivy Banforth just beyond the gate. Seeing Katya, the Academy aide strode forward, a kind and reassuring smile on her face.

As the medic assumed, the attendant looked at her and her partner with distrustful eyes as they approached the gate. Silco gripped her hand tighter, and she could feel the sneer on his face. Luckily, Ivy filled the space between the attendant and the two Fissure Folk, flashing an official looking notice at the guard.

“They are here on Academy business,” she said sweetly. “I’m here to escort them.”

The attendant eyed Heimerdinger’s seal at the bottom of the paper and reluctantly waved Katya and Silco through.

“How is he?” Katya asked hurriedly as the three headed for the campus.

“He’s alright,” the aide assured. “Just a fever and cough. A little nauseous, too, but with some rest he’ll recover quickly.”

Katya had to fight the urge to protest the Piltie’s patronizing diagnosis. Didn’t she realize that being sick was more dangerous for her brother than other children? How dare she assume that everything would be alright.

“I’ve already gathered his things and brought his bag to the medical office,” Ivy said. She shot an interested glance to Silco and added, “I’m glad you brought someone to help you.”

Katya gripped her partner’s hand possessively and quickened their pace.

The Academy’s medical offices were ones that Katya had not been to before. She had hoped to never need to visit them. Although she supposed that Silco was right: children got sick. It was only a matter of time until she would need to see her brother in such a place.

Despite having a very pragmatic purpose, the medical office was still ostentatiously designed and decorated in Piltover’s preferred gilded fashion. Ivy wove them through the echoey marble halls until they reached the small, dimly lit room Viktor was being housed in.

Katya broke out of Silco’s hold and rushed to her brother’s bedside. She gently carded her fingers through his sweaty hair, and her heart ached to see the sickly pallor of his skin: angry, rosy splotches on his cheeks against the green-gilled sallowness of the rest of his face. His breath was wheezy and snotty. It hitched when he opened his fever-fogged eyes and saw his sister.

“Kat,” he croaked.

“Shhh, shhh, shh,” she hushed. “I’m here. We’re here to take you home, okay?”

His eyes slid to Silco’s figure over her shoulder and he sniffed. The sniffle turned into a string of phlegmy hacks, and he turned his face into the pillow to shield his sister from it.

“I gave him some cough syrup and pain relievers,” the nurse said.

Katya jumped at her voice, not realizing that there was another body in the room.

“I put some more medicine in his satchel,” the nurse continued, gesturing to Viktor’s large rucksack at the foot of the bed, “along with some care instructions. Once he’s been fever free for twenty-four hours, he can return to school.”

Katya nodded, her hand still petting her brother’s head. Her eyes fell to the large bag, then to Silco.

“Carry him, please.”

Silco nodded and stooped down to gather the boy up as Katya went for the bag, hefting it onto her shoulders.

“No, I want Kat to carry me,” Viktor protested weakly against Silco’s chest. He was only able to vocalize his dissatisfaction, as his body limply slumped in the man’s hold.

“I know, Vik, I know,” Katya cooed, taking up the blanket and draping it over him. “But we will get home faster if you let Silco do it.”

Her brother grumbled, but nuzzled against Silco’s shoulder.

Katya thanked the nurse and Ivy escorted the group back across campus, and to the Bridge. She bid them good-bye – taking an extra moment with Viktor – and waved to them as they headed back toward the Undercity.

-------

The journey to Silco and Enyd’s apartment was made slower by Viktor’s sickly addition. Usually, Katya and Silco would roof-run, arriving at the door in mere minutes. Walking the gangways and taking the stairs and tunnels meant it took them almost an hour.

Silco had barely put the key in the lock before Enyd wrenched the door open. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun and her sleeves were rolled up.

“Oh, come here, my love,” she fussed, grabbing for Viktor.

The young boy seemed unperturbed by the fact that this was not his and his sister’s home, willingly sliding his arms around Enyd’s thin shoulders and resting his head against her neck.

“Come in, come in,” she called to her son and Katya as she carried the boy down the hall. “I ran him a warm bath. There’s vegetable soup on the stove.”

She disappeared into the washroom, and Katya finally let out a sigh of relief, allowing her heart to fully settle into the gratitude of Silco and Enyd’s gift. She stepped down the hall to Silco’s bedroom, a warmth blooming across her chest to see the fresh linens on the bed and a tall glass of water on the end table. Setting the rucksack down, Katya turned to Silco, who had followed her, and wrapped her arms around his narrow middle.

“Thank you.”

His limbs enveloped her and he kissed the top of her head.

“Anything for you.”

They stayed that way for a moment longer, before Katya knelt and fished Viktor’s pajamas and crutch out of the sack. She knocked on the bathroom door and poked her head into the steamy room. Viktor sat in the milky bath while Enyd used a cup to pour warm water over his head and back. The older woman looked over her shoulder and smiled as Katya set the clean clothes on the toilet lid, and leaned the crutch against the sink.

“We’ll have you right as rain in no time,” Enyd promised, scratching her fingers across Viktor’s scalp. Katya was sure the sentiment was as much for her as it was for him. And she appreciated it.

After a few more minutes, Katya helped her brother out of the tub and the older woman toweled him dry. Before his pajama’s were put on, Enyd slathered an herbaceous salve across the boy’s chest. Viktor looked uncertainly at his crutch as he adjusted his pajamas against his damp skin. He sheepishly looked up at his sister, and she smiled warmly.

“Come here,” she said, and scooped him up.

Enyd grabbed the crutch and they went to the kitchen. Silco had ladled out four bowls of soup and set them around the table. However, Viktor opted to stay in Katya’s lap, and was only able to take a few slurps of dinner before he started to fall asleep against her shoulder.

“We’ll try again when he wakes up,” Enyd whispered, gathering the bowls, and looking sweetly at the drowsy child.

Katya nodded and awkwardly made onto her feet, carrying her brother to Silco’s bedroom. She tucked him snuggly in the bed and fluffed the pillows under his shoulders. Half asleep, he grabbed for her to stay and she murmured lullabies to him until he fully landed into slumber. She kissed his warm forehead and silently shuffled out of the room.

She stepped into the living room to see Enyd placing a pillow and stack of blankets on the couch. She heard the running of the kitchen tap and the sound of dishes clinking together as Silco washed them.

“Thank you for this, Enyd,” Katya said in a hushed tone, not entirely able to look the other woman in the eye.

“It’s my pleasure, dear,” she said, before walking up to the young woman and cupping her jaw. “You’re alright?”

Katya swallowed and nodded. “This helps. Thank you.”

Enyd grinned back and patted her cheeks as Silco stepped out of the kitchen.

“I’m going to head to the Drop,” he said, wiping his hands on his trousers.

Katya’s face pinched into an expression of reluctant appreciation and went to him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissed him, and then rested her face in the crook of his neck.

“Thank you,” she murmured again. “I love you.”

Silco held her back, her spine nearly cracking under the strength of his hug.

“I love you, too.”

Gently, they parted and Enyd bussed her son on the cheek before he quietly left the apartment.

“Tea and cards, Katya?” the older woman asked after a beat.

“I would love that.”

-------

Notes: Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this little drabble, please comment and reblog! If you'd like to be added to my taglist, hit up my inbox!

Smooches for all of you!!!

Taglist: @dreamyonahill@pinkrose1422@altered-delta@beardedladyqueen

[shimmerbeasts]

Normally, Ahri did her best to avoid regions, she had hunted in for a prolonged period. Like any seasoned hunter, she knew that her prey had to be given the chance to collect its breath and think itself safe. In the ancient past, this rule of thumb had only applied to the various places of Ionia. However, now that Ahri had expanded her feeding ground, these rules applied all over Runeterra.

Piltover had been her least favourite hunting ground by far. Its close-mindedness and white-gatedness as a community meant that finding children with siblings was a rarity as most families tended to only have one offspring. Moreover, Piltovans were incredibly paranoid and vigilant, given their neighbours. Some of that hypervigilance was also produced by those, who had a Vastaya heritage in their blood. Where Zaun was a place, ruled by opportunistic predators, Piltover belonged to the prey animals, which smelled danger at every corner.

Yet despite its difficulties, Ahri had had one of her most remarkable and strangest hunts in Piltover many, many years ago. It wasn't even the prey itself, which had been remarkable. The essence of the three siblings, she had killed, had tasted of complacency, boredom and the head in the clouds. It had been rather bland and filling in the same way white bread was filling. Sweet, monotone and safe. There was a reason, Ahri had gotten a preference for the children of Zaun. Their essence tasted more nuanced and exciting because of the dangerous life they lived, even when so young.

Yet, that wasn't what had been so extraordinary. It had been the girl, whom Ahri had chosen as her unwitting accomplishment. Caitlyn Kiramman had turned out to be far more perceptive than Ahri had anticipated. Not only had she been able to piece together that the fox in her care had killed one of her dogs, but she had caught Ahri in the act of feeding.

The fox Vastaya had been prepared to kill the girl, given that she might start screaming as most human children did at the sight of her true bestial form. To her surprise, however, Caitlyn Kiramman had not been shocked at all. It had been this healthy fear and respect, which had led to Ahri sparing Caitlyn's life. And it was this instance, which had led the fox Vastaya back into Piltover. She wanted to see what had become of the young girl, which had begrudgingly earned her respect.

Ahri had either come back to Piltover at the most perfect timing or at the most dangerous one. The fox Vastaya was not yet fully sure which opinion was the correct one here. All she did know, was that a serial killer was on the loose and that Caitlyn and a woman with magenta hair were pursuing him.

Ahri had occasionally inspected the crime scenes herself, but because there was nothing but dried-up blood and cold bodies to be found here, they had nothing to offer her. Their life force had long left as had their souls, and Ahri had never been interested in the flesh of corpses. Even when she had still hunted alongside the ice foxes, she had somehow never consumed the meat of their kills. Somehow their warmth and life, fading away, had been enough to nourish her.

As luck would have it, Ahri spotted Caitlyn right as she was beginning to pursue what seemed to be the culprit. Underneath her silken hood, Ahri's ears twitched in curiosity before she took off. The fox Vastaya had always been capable of reaching unnatural and strange speeds, thus it was easy for her to keep pace with Caitlyn to the point that even her step was practically soundless.

Caitlyn had grown into a fine huntress herself. Even as Ahri raced after her, she could already see in the way Caitlyn flushed the culprit through the streets and how she controlled his movement with the iron stick, which fired - It is a gun, Ahri; humans call that a gun! - that the young woman had the whole situation under control. With devastating results. As the man taunted Caitlyn for her inability to shoot him, he was suddenly caught in a long alley, leading to a dead end. Ahri flinched instinctually as the sound of the rifle went off.

The sound of the bullet meeting flesh and snapping bones in the neck would have been overpowered by the thud of the body hitting the ground for human ears. However, Ahri's hearing was so fine that she could easily make out those sounds. Her amber gaze rested upon Caitlyn as the young woman examined the corpse after giving it a hearty kick to flip the body over. Her low growls and the determination and drivenness, with which she carried herself, could have made any predator proud.

Caitlyn must have felt her lingering stare for she suddenly swerved around and pointed the barrel of her rifle at her eyes. There was recognition in that piercing blue gaze, prompting the growl, leaving the young woman's lips. Her smell had strengthened over the years. The odour of snow leopard was more prominent now. Ahri's eyes glittered as she tentatively felt out Caitlyn's essence. Just a nip already told her how much the woman in front of her had matured.

At the demand to show herself, Ahri slowly stepped outside of the shadows. She calmly shrugged off her white and golden embroidered cloak, revealing her pointy, black ears, thick, snow-white tails and blackened hands and feet, equipped with sharp, sturdy claws. Her amber eyes gained a golden glow to themselves, something Ahri over the years had learned was an expression of joy and pleasure.

"As observant as ever", Ahri complimented Caitlyn as she halted in front of the woman, "I should have known I would not be able to stay hidden from you for too long, young lady."

◈　 ⇢  @shimmerbeasts　 ⋯　 Closed Plotted Starter . 　　　❝ Caitlyn meets an old familiar face from her past. ❞

　⊰ ⸻ ⊱　𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐨�� 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 terrified to go out at night. Every inch of her territory felt stained by this man's scent and twisted displays. Too many nights had she heard them screaming it was a Zaunite. Some thought it was a Zaunite copying Jhin or some chem baron. She even heard people saying it was Jinx, but this wasn't her modus operandi. Caitlyn knew Jinx, and knew her style. She had been on multiple crime scenes of hers and face to face with the she-devil.

　No, this wasn't her M.O.

 　And Caitlyn didn't think it was a Zaunite either. Everything about it didn't add up. The technique, the stylish concepts. She had dealt with Zaunites who hunted and killed; they didn't care to create a whole collage of display. In truth, everything pointed to someone from Piltover which disturbed her. The elegant display of organs, the way the bodies were framed. As if a display of power. It was highly improbable that it was a Zaunite, and with the number of immigrants and people who visited Piltover, it could even be a Noxian, Shuriam, or someone from the port of Bilgewater. Piltover just preferred to scream someone from the undercity at any point.

　As if to prove a point, when  Caitlyn examined the most recent scene, the only zaunite she could smell was Vi. His scent contaminated the walls and the body of his victim yet he had no scent from someone from the undercity. Instead, the scent of heavy perfumes fumigated the Area, as she sniffed around the body. The bloody mess of the woman's stomach was carved open in the symbol of one of the sigils of the council, and the intestines had been wrapped around her neck and arms like a display of death by her own body with a morbid twist of elegance. The smell of blood caused Caitlyn to lick her lips, pushing back that instinctive draw to blood and the animal within smelling fresh meat. Pictures were taken, as she glanced over to Vi who called her over to another part of the scene. It's where he had tortured the woman, both of them smelling the heavy fumes of fear and death in one location. Caitlyn instantly painted the scene, but she noticed something. Two different types of blood, the scent faint.

　She brushed her finger up against the blood and placed it on her tongue. Using her sense of taste, the flavor was strong, a little gamey which reminded her of the taste of Venison. The woman must have had some deer vastayan blood in her line, though it was faint. Then her fingers brushed over the other blood, and it was completely different, the acidic tones with licorice. That bitter tone of candy made her growl and spit it out. Not only did she have his scent now, she had his taste. She could smell him if his blood was shed.

　Once she had collected everything she could from the scene, she left it to the enforcers and knew she had to finish this. "We have to find him tonight. He is bleeding, we can track him down," Caitlyn spoke to Vi as she pumped her fist into the gauntlets. "Let's go," Vi had the scent, and they left the scene quickly following the prominent scent flowing along the alleyways. Caitlyn didn't slow down, her feet picked up pace and her fingers tightened around her rifle. At a split in the road, the scent had changed and Caitlyn growled. As she looked at her parent, a nod came between the two and they split up. Vi twisted left and Caitlyn moved right. Her boots clicked against the ground, the low heel meeting the cobblestone as she shifted the air, and twisted left. That's when the blood hit her like a hammer. Eyes zoned in on a bloody shoulder and the culprit. He had made a fatal flaw of getting too close to his victims; and she highly doubted anyone expected someone to be tracking by smell.

　The rifle lifted and pointed at the man who twisted around to shoot his pistol. A bristle of her fur stood on edge as she growled and had to dodge back behind the corner of the wall and fired her rifle. It didn't hit him, as he raced off and she immediately went into the chase. "Not this time, you don't!" Caitlyn snapped her jaws, refusing to let him escape her grasp. If she didn't catch him now someone else would be another victim. Not in her city, not in her streets. The detective lifted her rifle just as she got another aim but she had to quickly pull back as he shoved someone into her path. That wouldn't do, as she dashed down the street, the few pedestrians she swiveled around as she lifted her firearm and shot. The shot was purposely missed, but it did what she wanted, angling him down another alleyway away from the more populated region of the city (even at night people still roamed).

　Another shot caused him to duck, twisting another alley with an arrogant laugh. "You're a terrible shot!" Oh, he had no idea the workings of Caitlyn's mind, the way she played him this time. She controlled this land, she knew every corner, every street. She needed him away from the citizens to finish what she started. Five dead, there would not be a sixth. The alleyway she had placed the man down was a long run, enough for her to aim her weapon properly. As she skidded to a stop the rifle was lifted and she slowed her breathing. One breath in, and then out and she pulled the trigger.

　The bullet sizzled through the air and made contact with the back of his neck. His body lunged forward, and he hit the ground with no sound of pain. An instant kill, the bullet breaking the vertebrae and effectively snapping his neck. Efficient and immediate. "I'm an excellent shot, you're just too arrogant to know otherwise," Caitlyn snarled with a growl. She moved down the alley, the shadow of the walls closing in as she took her boot and kicked him over. His face was familiar, one she had seen at a few balls in Piltovan. He was one of the new high-class houses, inherited after the death of his father. "I knew it was a Piltovan," She held the rifle and stared down at the bullet that had shot clean through. The throat left a gaping hole in the front as blood pooled out and onto the ground. The same familiar scent of licorice caused her nose to scrunch up in disgust.

　But then something caused a shiver to run down her spine as if she was being watched. Even a predator can feel like prey as she gripped her rifle tighter and then swiveled around, holding it up toward a pair of golden eyes in the shadows. Her cheek rested against the stock of her rifle and focused on the other. A heavy smell of fox tickled her nose as she tensed her legs ready for anything. Yet there was a familiarity to the smell, something from long ago. A distant memory but a smell she couldn't forget. Her pistol against her hip held the memory with the shape of a monster like fox and multiple tails against the barrel of the pistol. The Fox Song could sing the song of death when she didn't have her rifle. Caitlyn lightly growled in warning before speaking. "Show yourself,"

[sunflowericescribbles]

Weird half dream I had the last two days because I fell ill (and my head was killing me while coming up with that):

So young Vander and young Silco wanting to start a revolution, but are just at the beginning and have no real plans so gar when it just so happens that a little Vi and baby Powder somehow fall into their hands. Not exactly knowing what to do they take them in for the time being because hey, no one else is around for them. The real problem with that starts very soon, though, because Powder is still a baby and they don't have any milk for her. Of course they then start frantically look for someone who can provide it, but even after the issue is resolved, Silco kinda doesn't want to let Powder go and so he tries to find a way to get to feed her without other's help.

He argues with Vander in the bar about it and of course his partner thinks he's gone crazy, because why going through such trouble for that and "you do know we've got no time, no experience and not to forget nothing to provide a baby with! That is until you go topside and search for a substitue!"

That läßt sentence was actually meant sarcasticly, but to Vander's horror he sees Silco suddenly looking contemplative. Like, "oh no, you are not thinking about what I said, do you?"

Oh yes, he is. Because you see, this is one of the huge inequalities they have to live down here: there is no real (healthy enough) milk substitue for babies, and the only way they have chances to survive is either having a mother or someone else who can provide milk, if the mother herself can not. But try to find someone can be difficult, so this is real struggle for people down here.

Sooo, why not start with something that will be beneficial to the them?

"Let me get this straight, you want us to go topside, find a place to raid for milk substitue and bring it down here, just so you can keep a baby??" - "It's not just about one baby, it's about everyone's babies! And for the revolution of course!"

Vander sincerely doubts this will gain any following but to his surprise many support this approach (after some hesitation of course, but once the man spoke up and told the others how his wife is struggling with feeding their newborn, they quickly started to agree).

Anyway, they really raid a shop on topside, it goes fairly well, and Silco and Vander proudly show everyone what they got for them.

The hype is short lived, though, because surprise there is actually a reason this milk substitue isn't sold anywhere in the undercity: it's a powdered milk and has to be mixed with water... Yea, try to find some clean water here! You do not want to drink any of it in any form unless you're suicidal.

Sooo that was kind of a bummer. Can't even have nice things because environment is even too toxic for that. You can imagine how mad that made Silco and also Vander. This means serious business now, because this is not acceptable!

Let's say it got kinda confusing after this, but I can tell you this movement went really far and kinda out of hand almost, because topsiders could not comprehend why someone would steal babyfood and such things and it's still theft, of course, so they must be punished.

The final act is, that Silco decided open confrontation about the problem is the only way to get through to those top-ass-hats. So he and Vander along with a small group goes with their children/babies in arms over the bridge to biggest place right in front of the damn council and starts a casual smalltalk with a random person. And while he's got Powder in his arms, she begins to cry and "oh what should we do, we don't have anything to feed her with?"

And this is the point where the "riot" begins because "you think we are here for some sightseeing? Guess what we came here to make a fucking request for our children you ignorant topshits!“

And suddenly there are emerging more and more people from the undercity with their kids and then the screaming gets louder that not even Silco can hear his own wirds of accusation anymore. It's a nightmare on a sunny day in Piltover.

+++

I guess it went pretty successful for them, because the next scene I remember is Vander and Silco in really nice white and creamwhite suits (well, more fancy vests, Silco with a white shirt underneath a creamcolored vest and Vander the other way round) and they were exchanging wedding vows and after that a little Powder in a flowergirl dress and Vi in a cute little suit run at them and they both are scooping each one of the girls up and exit the building (I don't think it was a church, but a temple hall or something?)

Anyway, outside there is waiting a crowd and they are getting into a open carriage that drives them to the bridge to escort them back to the undercity.. But they hält halfway across the bridge, gett off the carriage and walk the rest of it followed by their people.

+++

Gods this was a lot, I don't even know what to say about that.. I just had to get it written down before I fogot most of it.. Well, for me it was definitly amusing imagining it, so at least I had fun in my head despite the fact I wanted to throw my brain out because the headache was killing me 👀 Btw I remember seeing a picture of young Silco holding baby Powder in his arms when I browsed through pinterest but I can't find it anymore 🤔 well, that probably sparked this whole thing, so thank the artist for that, I guess xD

[peachhoneii]

Love of a daughter...

It’s interesting how father - daughter relationships are a major driving force in Arcane. From Vander to Silco to Marcus, the love a father has for his daughter and the love a daughter has for her father is integral to the overarching narrative.

Vander.

Vander is arguably the healthiest depiction of fatherly love in the show. He lived a hard life in Zaun. We can only imagine what he endured and suffered before becoming a revolutionary. Silco definitely hinted the Undercity was a whole different place before it became a commodity. Once upon a time, they fought together as brothers and for undisclosed reasons, Vander decided Silco was a problem that required annihilation. 

We know he decided after finding Vi and Powder, realizing his revolution (fighting Enforcers) had cost them their family (Mom and Dad), he decided to stand back, find a mutually beneficial compromise to ensure no one else has to lose their family like those two girls did. 

His influence in the Undercity is paramount and it’s even so more in Vi and Jinx, especially Vi. Vi was the oldest. He had these “mature” talks with her. I feel raising these children was his second chance and he only wanted what was best for them in a healthy way. He was a selfish man, yes, but he wasn’t selfish when it came to loving his kids. 

Just wanted to point out, Jinx knows what happened to Vander. I believe she knows what happened to him because of this moment in episode 9. She knows Singed has him. She knows.

Silco.

Silco is everything Vander isn’t, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love or is incapable of love. Arcane did a good show of portraying genuine love if inherently flawed, unhealthy love. 

Silco respected Vander after their separation, but he turned to hatred when Vander adopted the kids, thus ending the Zaun and Topside conflict. He felt Vander sold them out, became a lapdog for their oppressors. He was unable to comprehend his reasons until he’s given an ultimatum, independence or Jinx.

He’s the rare villain who achieved his goals. He was standing on the finish line and only need a step to cross over but the step required handing Jinx over. Which he realized he wasn’t going to do. Ever. Do I believe he manipulated? Yes, to an extent, yeah. Did he encourage her instability and worst traits? Yeah, he absolutely did. But he accepted her differences, and Jinx knew something wasn’t right about her brain. She finally found someone who loved her for herself.

Vi absolutely does, but y’know, obviously, she wants “Powder” to get professional help so she can better herself and the Undercity. Completely reasonable too.

This is a line that needs to go down in the books. Because he gets it now. He gets why Vander gave it all up. Why he put down his fists and turned to a more “submissive” yet tolerable life where his people could live and thrive. 

Marcus...

I don’t like this man. I don’t like him, but I love how he’s written. While he’s deplorable, he’s no more deplorable than Silco, but they share so much in common. Again, it’s their love for their daughters.

Arcane did a good job on showing how being a corrupt cop can fucking suck. He’s not free. He’s tied to Silco til death. When he begins to slip away, when he begins to debate whether he should die a hero, Silco reminds him that he has a lot more to lose than his reputation and freedom. 

It’s his love for his daughter that compels him to continue on because he knows what Silco will do to his child if he ever fails him. 

What is extremely eye opening is Marcus and Silco’s death. There’s no grand finale. There’s no redemption. There’s no catharsis when they die. When they die, there’s humanity behind the monster, love for their daughters and then, nothing. Nothing.

There is nothing satisfying about their deaths, and that speaks volumes. Villains, asshole characters usually get deaths that’ll give you some glee about. You’d be happy that they died, but here, there’s only grief, sadness and fear for what’s the come, especially Silco’s.

Marcus? He doesn’t even get a speech. He doesn’t get to say what he means to say. “I love her?” I don’t know. “I’m sorry?” I don’t know. He’s just dead, and the last coherent thought before death was for his daughter.

[goddessofroyalty]

It just occurred to me that Omega!Silco must have had a hard time giving up smoking and drinking during all of his pregnancies while living at The Drop (A place filled with drinking and smoking patrons) with Vander 😂

Did Silco develop somekind of hobby (eg knitting) to keep his fingers and mouth busy ?

Also did Silco's water ever broke in the most inconvenient time? (eg: At his stay in Piltover or during a negotiation? Or even during an argument with Benzo, lol)

Oh yeah, the thing I keep not including in any of my fics because I'm VERY aware of the effects of drinking and smoking on pregnancy and around young children despite not being 100% sure the characters do. I say that Silco stops drinking and smoking at least for the pregnancy for my peace of mind.

Also Random Pregnancy Culture Fun Fact: Guinness (the beer) was suggested to pregnant and nursing women to help boost their iron levels and help boost ones milk supply until basically we got modern iron supplements (and like most traditions it still lingers in some families), comes from the UK I believe. I actually know people who were given a pint (well glass IDK if it was an actual pint glass) of Guinness by family/partner to drink right after they gave birth. And while I'm aware you shouldn't drink alcohol while nursing I feel like that later tradition fits a bit too well here I kind of have to include it (and one glass of relatively low strength beer is pretty negligible).

(for Zaun Family) Viktor's the easiest at least on the drinking front because Silco isn't literally living in a bar. But he's probably been smoking since he was like at the oldest 12 himself so that habit is ingrained and going to be hard to break even for the length of a pregnancy (minus the time it took him to realise). And the poor bastard can't even have a celebratory drink when they do open the Last Drop because he's already pregnant with Claggor.

In basically every other verse and the other pregnancies in Zaun Family Oh yeah it's hard. But, you know, he's already putting in all the other effort to make the kid, so what's 9 months of no smokes or alcohol going to do to ensure they're as healthy and well off as possible? (Be even more of the reason he gets pregnancy insomnia thanks to withdrawals).

I do think Vander probably tries not to drink or smoke around him in some level of solidarity.

The obvious habit Silco might develop is nail biting (satisfies the hands and the mouth) and possibly drives him to keep his nails super short so he can't bite them. Food's probably another thing he can turn to (which you know he is eating for two). I could see him getting into the habit of sucking on the ends of pens because he does it without even thinking. I don't think he goes out looking for a hobby though, just gets extra habits.

Oh yeah I haven't told you guys about the idea with the fourth pregnancy while he's Zaun Representative offshoot of him giving birth in his office in PIltover have I?

Claggor's one where his waters break once he's already in active labour so is already well aware of what's going on and set himself up in his nest with the midwife by that time. And Mylo IDK for some reason I think he rides out the early part of that labour in their bathtub so his waters break while there if it's not also after he's been moved back to the bedroom and is in a bit more of the active labour phase (although it could be funny while he's making plans with like teenaged Sevika who already was kind of team 'not having kids' and is now EVEN MORE SET on that life decision despite Silco taking it in his stride).

... it's with Viktor isn't it? The one that came a bit earlier than predicted where he still hasn't fully learned the different between practice contractions and early labour. I mean it was a very effective method to get Benzo to shut up and back down even if it also made him turn a shade of green.

[arcane-ish]

This is a lengthy too rambly response to a variety of things from the post of

@chapstikcrazy

And as I finished it I realized that it was way too rambly and going over the same points over and over again, so I will try to make a second version of this that groups the responses more into general themes :)

The original post said

silco is literally the healthiest parent out there

No qualifiers. Not "considering the circumstances".

I would argue Silco isn't even the healthiest parent in Arcane, let alone the world. Even in Arcane I would say only maybe Ambessa Medarda gives him a run for his money. But we never see Caityln's father do anything wrong and while Jayce's mom, Caitlyn's mom and Vander all make clear parenting mistakes I would say they are all firmly in the "debatable" category (since Silco also makes parenting mistakes).

You wrote:

I don’t think it’s fair to label Silco as a healthy OR unhealthy parent.

The original post put him in the "healthy" category or even the "healthiest". I personally think good/bad person are limited concepts, but I do think that there are good/bad decisions and actions.

(Caitlyn's and Jayce's parents both have the luxury of living in Piltover btw, closest parallel would be Vander). P

Ekko and Viktor are also both from the undercity. In lore, Ekko has loving and supportive parents. So do fellow Zaunite teenage characters Zeri and Seraphine who in lore are all around the same age as Jinx. It's totally possible to have normal "middle-class-y" parents in Zaun provided you aren't I dunno engaged in being an active mob boss or revolutionary.

I read recently in a YouTube comment someone talking about how adopting older children is really difficult (and that their trauma can sometimes be really difficult if not impossible to fully tackle as their guardian) and that Silco probably did the best anyone could have done in that situation.

I deeply disagree with this. Now, I have always objected to the take people had "oh, he should just have taken her to therapy" because I consider it unproven that therapy even exists in their world or that it is any good if it exists. However, I don't buy that even under the guise of "we sit back with all the knowledge we have about parenting now" he couldn't have seen that his style of parenting isn't the best.

IMO the core problem of Jinx is the isolation she grows up in. That she has no friends her own age. That she has no additional parental figures. That she has no allies to take care of her when Silco is gone.

Yes, adopting a teenaged child is hard. But a healthier person, somebody who is not a virulently paranoid quasi mob boss would have looked at the situation and deduced that maybe he needs help. Silco doesn't do that. Because he is paranoid and doesn't trust anyone. He imposes his isolation on Jinx because he is unable to meaningfully break out of his own (emotional) isolation with anybody other than Jinx.

Can you imagine being given a PRETEEN as your VERY FIRST introduction into parenting?? It would be insanely hard.

Agree. That's why a healthier person would have sought help. Silco is somebody who has the means to get help (as in "hire a nanny" not "get her therapy"). He doesn't. Because he is both distrustful of others and has a high opinion of his own skills.

And yes, his position as a mob boss revolutionary means that betrayal is a real threat. That's why if you have the health of a child at heart then maybe you would consider 1.) stop being a mob boss and run away to a more peaceful place or 2.) not raise her. Give her to somebody more peaceful than him and pay them money.

But Silco doesn't want to give up his lifestyle or Jinx. And she pays the price for this in dysfunction.

You know nothing about parenting number one and number two, you know nothing about this child that is 11-12 years old. AND it’s his first kid? I mean, he’s BOUND to screw up, but not because he wants to or for some malicious reason, it’s just GOING to happen. And without this basis of information for raising children, he probably doesn’t really know what boundaries he should be giving her in the first place because maybe he doesn’t feel like he has any right to impose those boundaries ON her.

Again, that's why a healthier person who is not virulently distrustful of others would have sought help. And Silco isn't stupid. He could look around and see that normal kids have friends their own age.

I have had this discussion before on whether Silco is generally good with kids or whether he had good or shitty parents. I tend to say: I head canon that he must have had terrible parents/no parents, because the only way his style of parenting isn't intentionally horrible is if he has no frame of reference. (which makes his actions understandable but also makes him uniquely ill-equipped to adopt anybody)

And "have friends their own age" is something he should be aware of just on account of "he was a child himself at one point" and "he can look around and see how other children live".

And now, we do not know for a fact that Silco never tried to organize playdates between Jinx and let's say the kids of other chem barons and they all rejected her and were mean to her. But looking at him? With how he acts around her? Do you really buy Silco as doing that? Or isn't it much more likely that he never did because it either never occurred to him or because he doesn't trust anybody.

The fact that Jinx might not have wanted this doesn't mean that he shouldn't have tried in a sensitive manner. Being a good parent isn't about never evaluating what your kid says. If your kid wants to jump off a bridge because they think they can fly it doesn't make you a bad parent to go "uh... maybe you demonstrate to me in a safe environment first?" or "how about we go paragliding instead?" doesn't make you a bad parent. Just like indulging your kids in things that are demonstrably or forseeably bad and unhealthy for them doesn't mean you are a good parent.

I think he did the absolute best thing any SURROGATE parent FIGURE could have done FOR JINX

As I said, I deeply disagree. He could have taken the money and moved out of Zaun with her (Ionia, Demacia if he doesn't want to live in Piltover). He could have given her to somebody else better equipped to raise her than somebody who lives an intensely dangerous life AND according to you is deeply fucked up by society and lacks any frame of reference of what makes a good parent. He could have hired a person who actually has a frame of reference of what makes a good parent to take care of her. He could have identified people who seem like good parents and asked them for advice.

The reason why he doesn't is because he has a pathologically narrow view of the world and this is how he is causing Jinx harm by locking her into this point of view.

He taught her the things he felt would help her be strong IN THE SOCIETY THEY LIVE IN. When you live in a violent, cutthroat, insecure society, being strong and cutthroat is a strength. It’s how you survive.

Except allies are important in that kind of society and he does not teach her how to play well with allies. Jinx's style of violence is considered a problem even in their society and he does not restrain even though this causes Jinx to be even more isolated. She lives by his protection and with him gone is completely isolated. Because he always preached to her to not trust anybody.

Silco saying not to trust anyone fed into this, I think a bit, but she was always going to have trust issues

Just because she might always have had them doesn't mean that it wasn't his duty as a parent to at least try to fight them instead of feeding into them and cementing them. I have been pretty adamant in various more Vi centric posts that I think a lot of Jinx's problems and tendencies were at least nascently there before he found her, but that doesn't mean that he is in the clear just because he might not have caused this behavior.

It's still the job of a parent to at least try to gently and supportively steer against behavior that is harmful to the child itself.

Yes, he told her not to trust anyone, but that has served him in the past. I mean, hell, look at what happened when he did trust someone. // And he wasn’t going to teach her anything else with his background.

I agree that he believes it, but that's exactly what I mean with 1.) he is uniquely ill-equipped 2.) his traumas/him not being able to see past his traumas stand in the way of being an actually, factually good parent to her in a variety of ways/situations.

Imposing these “he should have done” and “he’s an awful parent because” stuff is so dumb to me

LOL, I have written an entire post on this on why I think it is completely valuable to discuss "what would have been better". I do this for example with Vi all the time (ie should Vi have stayed on the bridge instead of Ekko? Should she have left and gone back to Zaun after she got Caitlyn off the bridge? Should she have gone back to Zaun after delivering Caitlyn to her parents?) And I have told Vi fans till I'm blue in the face, just because I think it's worth looking at those situations and why they might constitute "walking away from Jinx" or "prioritizing Caitlyn over Jinx" or "prioritizing revenge over Jinx" doesn't mean that Vi is a horrible unforgivable person.

You can’t teach something you don’t know, and you can’t give what you don’t have.

Which is the whole point here. His intent can still be good, but his factual effect can still be instances of bad/harmful parenting. Silco could have been 100% percent well intended, but the fact could still have been "Jinx was worse off due to his parenting".

And remember the whole justification for Silco even having had good intentions is that you have to buy into the idea that we was extremely blind and ignorant about just ... reality.

2. He (and the world they live in) lacks BASIC emotional/mental intelligence, there is no such thing-in this world-as therapy or mental support of any kind outside of the people you know. Again, we don’t know what Silco’s upbringing was, but looking at the man he turned out to be, I’m going to go out on a limb and say he wasn’t raised in a loving, supportive household, IF a household at all.

Agreed. That's exactly the point of "he is uniquely ill equipped to raise anybody and his own issues and traumas stood in the way of him giving Jinx the best care he could have given her". Which is why it's a tragedy. But the aspect of "this caused him to give her bad care in some areas" is still there.

Again you started out with the argument of "Silco probably did the best anyone could have done in that situation.

To which I say: no, obviously a Silco with more basic emotional intelligence or who had a loving supportive home life probably would have done better. (and yes I think there is probably a decent range of "normal" people in Zaun who would have maybe done comparatively okay, just like I think that Jinx would always had many challenges and pains in real life and it's not unreasonably that she would have ended up in some sort of life of crime in many different universes where Silco didn't have her, I don't think that it was mandatorily that she would have always ended up exactly the way she ended up, violent, remorseless, bad with allies, hostile against potential future allies, uncontrollable).

He could have found other ways for her to be useful, but...as he is a crime boss, crime is just kind of part of the territory.

Again that is my point. He could have done that (find other ways to be useful), but didn't. And it's a shortcoming of his that he didn't that he didn't find other ways for her to live out her destructive tendencies without exposing her as much to the wrath of others. There are less exposed jobs he could have had her done that wouldn't have exposed her so much and put her into the position where she slaughters 5 Firelights in front of her former friend Ekko making her a crapton of new enemies. But he is so locked into his limited fucked up world view he fails to consider the longterm downsides for her.

She COULD have made friends at any point. Maybe she just didn’t want to reconnect with anyone from the past or didn’t want to make new connections because being left by Vi didn’t leave her any desire to make new friends?

How do you know that she could have? If he is constantly telling her the world is betrayal and everybody is out to get them? And yes even if Jinx is the one who avoided contact with others: if your minor child is being antisocial I do think that it is the job of the parent to try and coax her out of it.

The way he screws up here is he brings his own abandonment issues into play.

Which is precisely the issue. His own abandonment issues blind him to what is best for Jinx. His own mental health issues stand in the way of doing what is right for Jinx. His hangups are the reason why he is ill equipped to be her parent. His hangups are also the reason why he can't see that and why he doesn't ask for help to compensate for the areas where he might be lacking.

His issues cause him to cling to her, which is an unhealthy parent-child dynamic that is experienced as stressful for many children and even if Jinx might not experience it as a bad thing doesn't mean that it isn't harmful for her (and I do think that some words of Jinx imply that she is not just happy with the situation).

But I do not think it is representative of a repeated pattern of Silco not respecting Jinx’s feelings, just in this, again, huge instance when he feels insanely threatened and scared.

See, I disagree. I think Jinx's isolation from others and what she talks about in regards to him always pushing the Vander story on her suggests that this is a long term pattern of theirs. I don't think that that magically popped up in episode 5.

But of course I read the scene where Silco picks her up as heavily "he did this because he saw himself in her" and the fact that he still seems to be doing it years later makes me extrapolate that this was likely are factor for at least many periods of their relationship.

People really love to say he projected his feelings onto her. I just do not see that. I really don't.

Again, this is what Jinx says. That's how he made her feel. And Jinx complains about him going on and on about Vander before the dinner scene, at the beginning of the baptism scene.

For the record: I do think that the baptism is well intended, not particularly hostile and not a big deal. I don't have a problem with it.

Projecting his issues comes mostly in how he treats Vi as a threat and insists she must be like Vander and Jinx should treat her correspondingly.

You can have an over-dependent or co-dependent relationship without that. // hahahahahahahaha rip silco, those abandonment issues got u by the throat

Agreed, And over-dependent and co-dependent relationships are very problematic even if they are not emotional incest. And Sico and Jinx have one of those co-dependent relationships. And that is on Silco that he clings to her obsessively to the extent that he makes the mistakes you listen. Which again, makes them have a fairly unhealthy parent-child relationship and again he not doing the "best anyone could have possibly done". Maybe Powder would always have been overly dependent on anyone, but the "co" part is on Silco. That's how he makes the relationship more unhealthy. Again, his abandonment issues standing in the way of being the best father he could be to Jinx, giving her the best relationship that is feasible in that situation.

And we are back to: Silco's specific heavy hangups (that are not just generic "oh, everyone in Zaun has those") are what make him a particularly poor choice to parent.

but I really don’t think Silco was an abusive or manipulative or "toxic" or "Bad for Jinx" parent.

I think they have an unhealthy co-dependent relationship. So in that sense he is a "bad for Jinx" parent. She would have been better off he had not been like that.

There is definitely a debate to be had whether he was still "good enough", but imo it's very clear that yes he could have been better in various minor ways.

So yeah, I guess I have a super lax view of Silco. Maybe my glasses are too rose-colored.

I think you have an extremely positive read on what their relationship was like before episode 4 and I just don't think that relationships become co-dependent overnight.

Coming at this as a parent, I just feel like…parents who love their kids, they screw up.

This I actually agree with. I think there are limits how perfect a parent anybody can be and anybody can look like a terrible parent if you overanalyze each choice.

I also think that "It turned out to be bad advice, but I genuinely thought that it was the best idea based on my information at the time" (ie when I encouraged you to study literature I thought that there would be jobs there when you are done) is a thing.

But at the same time ... I also think there the borders between that and genuinely problematic can be fluid.

Let's say a parent who grows up religious and sends their gay child to "Reformation/Straight Camp". And they do this because they genuinely think that this will save their soul and that that is an important thing.

At what point is this still normal parenting and at what point being a good parent requires you to either listen to your kids needs or being willing to broaden your worldview and listen to opinions outside?

(ie break out of your religious worldview and listen to the opinions of people who say being gay is okay)

IMO times come where being unable or unwilling to break out of your worldview is what causes you to do abusive and harmful things to your kid.

Heck, I think the majority of what everybody would consider abusive parents, ie the kind of beat their kids, likely were like that because they were ill-equipped, ie because they got married too young, because they grew up in abusive homes themselves, because they were traumatized at war.

In those cases, it's a moral challenge to ourselves to balance " something bad still happened" with "the person was a victim too/the person had their own challenges".

I tried to talk about this here that just because I say "thing X was probably bad" doesn't mean that it's an overall judgement on the character or the relationship and that the only deserving "punishment" for doing the bad thing would be banishment forever.

he just saw something threatening their bond and was falling back onto his defense mechanisms of manipulation and fear tactics as an “OH SHIT I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO USE!”

If this is your take on the situation, isn't it worth questioning (1) what does it say about their bond that it is so drastically threatened? That they don't have the kind of bond where he is confident that Jinx would reject Vi or that Jinx would maintain his relationship with him even if she reconnected with Vi? (2) why doesn't he have anything else to use.

Could it be that his toolkit is woefully limited or that he didn't do a good job of laying the groundwork for other tools?

There is something so beautiful to me in watching broken people love one another.

I do think that there is beauty in there, but IMO Silco's biggest "crime" as a parent is that he locked her into that. That he didn't just keep her from Vi but also isolated her from others/let herself isolate from others.

Yes, he has abandonment issues, but him being not being able to look past that is what result in him being very flawed as a parent. Part of being a good parent is being able to love the kid more than you love yourself, putting her needs beyond yours, understanding your own limits, getting help, being able to back off if needed etc.

The point came where he would have had to be the better person and think about sharing her, but he couldn't he was too selfish or damaged for that.

You can say that he is not morally at fault for it because trauma/mental health issue/it's larger than him, but even if he is not "at fault" it still leads to him do bad/harmful parenting onto Jinx.

I actually do like their relationship, you can look through my blog I spend a lot of time debating with Vi fans in defense of Silco.

But even as a fan of Silco, IMO it's clear that he fell short for her, even in the context of his own morality.

And I also think, as much as I like the relationship between Silco and Jinx, Vi clearly is a HUGE deal for Jinx. It's deeply important to her. And I don't think she is lying about this when she talks about during the dinner scene. I think she demonstrates his amply in all her actions regarding to Vi.

And to me that points towards Jinx having a deep craving in her life that Silco was NOT properly addressing and filling. And that's what makes it more to me than just "oh, he misreacted for 5 minutes and said one problematic thing to her.

Here are imo the show hints that I interpret as the relationship between Silco and Jinx was fraught:

1.) I take her words about Vi at the dinner mostly seriously. No, Jinx is not a reliable narrator. But to me I still see a girl who expresses a deep yearning.

A yearning that Silco was not able to properly address. As I said, I don't really fault him the baptism. But I see a girl who didn't just start missing Vi magically in episode 4.

To me Jinx comes across like a girl who had this craving and grief for Vi which she couldn't properly discuss with Silco.

IMO likely because he did shut it down with "Vi is just like Vander, don't miss her" talk or because she didn't bring it up because she thought he would do that.

Jinx feels like a girl who has this thing (her yearning for Vi) and feels like she isn't necessarily being heard. (and I think that is believable even under shimmer because we see traces of it before Shimmer, not strongly worded ones, but still straces)

Again the "sane" and "perfect" parent route (which I don't expect Silco to do, but I still think there is value in setting up a baseline of what we are talking about) would have been:

- see that Jinx/Powder is struggling with this (and with that I mean like "within the year where he took her" not "when he sees it in episode 4")

- encourage her to open up

- listen to her positive stories about Vi too and acknowledge that her feelings on Vi are more mixed than his feelings on Vander

- under the assumption that Vi is dead, encourage her to grieve properly

- try to make this something you share and build upon

- understand that even though you think that hating the person who betrayed you made you a stronger person, you are not her and maybe for her "your sister probably didn't mean it, it's not her fault that she ran off and got killed" might give Jinx/Powder more peace

And under the influence of all that when Vi comes up again, understand that this topic needs to be handled in a more delicate manner.

2.) I think that Jinx's willingness to kill herself and Ekko on that bridge rather than let herself be captured (where Silco could have likely have bailed her out) is a huge red flag and couldn't have been in Silco's interest.

If your daughter is suicidal, that might be a sign that you should finetune your parenting.

3.) While Jinx was under the influence of Shimmer and that should be taken into consideration, I do wonder if the fact that Jinx was so willing to misinterpret Silco's words isn't an indicator that part of her feared that he might be using her or that he would sell her out.

A lot of what Jinx does even while Shimmered seems to be an amplified version of what she feels.

So who is to say that he did not have her feel 100% secure and that's why she was so quick to conclusions?

I honestly think Silco did the absolute best he could with the tools he had

Yes, but his tools were uniquely unsuitable because he is uniquely damaged even within the setting. And part of his damage is being blind to his damage/his weaknesses.

And that was beautiful and perfect to him because that IS Zaun—not letting the world and your shitty circumstances get you down, being strong and standing tall in spite of the crappy world around you and despite your brokenness.

That is Zaun, but who is to say that Jinx is the perfect way to live it. Ekko also lives Zaun and embodies Zaun. So does Viktor. And if you accept game canon so do Zeri and Seraphine.

To me it seems to be an inheritance of Silco's world view that this amount of violence and brutality are mandatorily part of this. Ekko has seen at least some amount of brutality and Ekko isn't helpless.

It is his worldview that this is the only way to live despite the fact that people around him do live differently. And this is the point where we have to question whether Silco's worldview is correct.

I tend to think that all of the presented worldviews are likely flawed.

I do think that

1.) Silco's worldview that making Zaun independent is this amazing great goal is very flawed because it does not address systemic problems and just because you slap independence on it doesn't mean that people magically live better lives.

I think Jinx's story of being oppressed and hassled by others and doing and experiencing violence because of it is still very possible in an independent Zaun ruled by chem barons.

So I don't think that his way of viewing the world ensures a better life for the next generation of Jinx-es.

2.) Even if he thinks "no, it's great that Zaun is still violent and oppressed by chem barons, that is important for character growth and strength" that is a highly problematic point of view to take morally. "I'm going to intentionally cause harm to something in the interesting of some dubious concept of strength".

3.) I think in the end Silco as a villain was hurt by the stance that made him unnecessary enemies in the Firelights and within the chem barons.

Again, a willingness to break out of a toxic worldview and question your worldview is I would argue a very important factor as a parent.

And Silco being very locked into his worldview is one of his weaknesses as a parent and I think "he just has a realistic perspective on Zaun" is highly debatable.

(and even if it was 100% true, it would still show the strength of character to question and reexamine it on occasion, something that I don't think Silco does/only starts doing by the very end of the show when it's too late)

He taught her the things he felt would help her be strong IN THE SOCIETY THEY LIVE IN. // Obviously, from our perspective, that is not a healthy thing to teach a child, but again, what kind of society do they live in?

Again, this is based on his very narrow and skewed world view on what this society is like, what the proper reaction to this society is and what constitutes strength. For the record: I don't think Vander or Ekko's views on this matter are perfect either and like I said I think a big deal isn't just whether your view on reality is correct but also to what extent you are willing to question and adapt it if necessary.

IMO some amounts of rigidity of worldview (unable to let go of the betrayal, unable to let go of Jinx, unable to see Vi as anything other than a threat) are baked into him as a character and that is a problematic trait for a parent in his situation (which again doesn't mean that some amount of rigidity and conviction and confidence aren't good traits, it's always a matter of circumstance and dosage).

And don't get me wrong, particularly as a villain I think it should be acknowledged that he learns at all (I read a really interesting take that a defining feature of many villains is that they don't learn, while I don't think that this is true of all villains, it is an interesting way to think of a lot of villains that their problem is that they don't learn or learn the false lessons from setbacks), but within the circumstance, it seems like a "too little too late" thing.

I do not think that people shouldn't like Silco or his relationship with Jinx. I don't think that there is anything with taking positive inspiration from the parts he did well.

But I also do think it's worth discussing the way he was lacking and where he might have gone wrong and the parts you maybe don't want to learn from him and the parts where his approach probably led to problems don't the line.

And I do think that his problems as a parent are more complex than "he lied to her a single time". A relationship doesn't just become fraught overnight. It takes years to build up to that point.

You can see him as a flawed person and learn lessons from the things he did well, but also by firmly questioning and rejecting the things he failed to do well.

People are complex, they can have good sides and bad sides, good traits and bad traits, good traits don't make the bad traits not exist and bad traits don't make the good traits not exist.

I just don't think that "he meant well" and "he did as best as he could with his very limited traits" makes the ways he fell short vis a vis Jinx not exist.

IMO you can "do a bad parenting" without always being a bad parent or without meaning to or without being a bad person.

The question is whether you are willing to learn from it.

IMO "try to look beyond world view" and "try to fix your own problems in order to be a better parent/to be more well equipped as a parent" and "try to productively handle your kid's crisis" and "know the limits of your experience and how applicable your experience is your kid's experience, make sure to keep checking back with your kid whether this is what they really want" and "don't go behind your kids back on a major issue like a blood relative returning" are valuable lessons we can learn from the things Silco did not do well.

In addition to "encourage them" and "be sensitive and acceptive of their mental illness and don't look down on them for it" and "defend them in public, question them in private" being things you could learn from his positive traits.

And imo more debatably but I think:

- Don't overshare your traumas with your kids, it's okay and right to sanitize depending on the age of the kid

- Don't just go along with everything your kid might want, you aren't a bad parent for lovingly and sensibly setting boundaries and asking questiona and (yes always check back with your kid for feedback) seeing whether the same instinct can be steered differently/the same need can be met in a different way

Are also valid things to live by.

I would also point out that there is a big difference between your claim of "he did the best that ANYONE could have done" and "he did the best with his (imo woefullly flawed, broken and lacking) tools". You say the first early in the response and the latter in your summaries.

But those are very different things.

It's like... I dunno, a 5 year old driving a truck. The 5 year old might be driving the best as they possibly could, but that probably doesn't change that a 5 year old shouldn't have been behind the wheel?

I don't want this to read as "people with severe trauma shouldn't have children" or "people with severe trauma shouldn't be adoptive parents". But I do think that "people with severe trauma who are also parents should be honest of areas where they might be less well equipped and be willing to ask for help as this has the potential to lead to an overall better parenting experience".

No parenting experience is optimal. And the vast majority of parenting experiences are going to leave some scars simply because scars are unavoidable. But that doesn't mean that there can't be room for improvement and that it doesn't go to somebody's credit if an interest for improvement is within their repertoire.

And I realize that this is really rambly and repetitive and I'll try to rephrase this into a post that is more concise and grouped into themes (ie "good intentions don't prevent bad outcomes" and "acting on a limited world view" and "not impeding her does not imply good parenting"). :)

[viktormaru]

okay here’s my full character analysis??? Headcanons???? canon retelling with my shit slapped on??? on

VIKTOR LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

(under read more cause its gonna get long)

Viktor is said to be born in the borders of the Entresol level of Zaum (aka the middle), but I’m guessing that means the lower border because of how often he’d have to move or stay away from home due to accidents.

I assume Viktor had good parents. They were artisans and seemed to encourage his creative pursuits with robotics and so on. (I also believe he is trans and that his parents supported him in that as well haha).

So yes, we have this child who likes building things. And he lives in this place that is not healthy or safe for the people that live there. His parents probably go to the upper levels to work and Viktor gets a glimpse of a better place there. He sees where he’s at and at first, he is motivated by both kindness and frustration. He is a child with a passion and all these leaks and accidents are getting in the way! So he starts studying to see what he can do. Time passes though and he realizes the extent of those things, the casualities of those humam errors. So he takes his work more seriously and soon he is producing results. But of course no one takes a teen seriously, no matter how good he is.

Until someone does and it works. His inventions are good! So he keeps doing it! He’s awkward and socially anxious but he really LOVES building things so he does it and sells his work to the factories until he gets the attention of the Zaun academy of techmaturgy (this is canon btw). 

He goes into the academy and he’s.... awkward... Like, Zaun is full of weird people sure but Viktor is pretty bad at talking about anything but robotics and stuff and comes off as blunt often, so he’s kinda isolated by his peers. He doesn’t mind, he’s there to study. But professor stanwick approaches him with interest in his work and Viktor is happy he is recognized by a professional. He’s a little naive back then and trusts his teacher a lot. Which is why he is convinced to move to Piltover, despite a bit of his reluctance to leave his home. His parents wave him goodbye and he leaves.

He moves to Piltover and gets a better lab, more tools, more money and more people to help. His work just improves in time and he’s put to work with a lot of people. He once again fails incredibly of socializing properly and falls into isolation yet again (hello darkness my old friend). People end up working with him either because he’s really the best option or because they can stand him for the time he is needed {:- (

Well, that is, until he works with Jayce. Jayce is infurating and doesn’t do things the way Viktor likes doing and has this weird outlook on how things are done that sometimes just works despite it all. He’s a puzzle that doesn’t make sense and the two end up doing a lot of things together. And having a lot of discussions. A LOT of them. They are both kinda lonely. But its like.. they don’t dislike eachother?? Because they kind skipped some steps in how socializing usually goes so it just kinda worked. 

They could’ve kept going, getting comfortable in eachother’s spaces until they could just go out to chill together or something but neither of them was brave enough to try it (or smart enough to realize that could be good). 

But then at this time that awful chem spill happened in Zaun in the entresol level and Viktor rushes home to help.

I’d say this is where Viktor’s character starts like, solidifying I guess? Because I think for the first time, as a grown mature person, Viktor is seeing death and suffering with his own eyes. Death and suffering that could’ve been avoided. He’s watching all these people die and suffer and he can only do so much to repair the damage. If only it could’ve been avoided, could’ve been stopped. He knows it’s possible. Why didn’t anyone do it? 

He doesn’t find his parents either.

So he spends the next several months throwing all his energy and sanity into doing whatever he can to help these people. He builds blitzcrank and they fix evertyhign they can. It’s a fucking CHEM spill, can you imagine just how AWFUL it all was?? people were dying for several weeks after the accident , even after the damage to the structures were already fixed. These people were slowly suffering around him and he was trying and they kept dying around him. These are workers, families. It’s a pretty bad situation.

He learnes how to infuse mechanical parts with flesh in an astonishing way just to try to replace the rotten, sick parts of the people around him. Get rid of the parts that were kiling them.

And then! He finally goes back to Piltover, after it all, and the first thing he gets is the news that Stanwick stole credits on his invention of Blitzcrank.

Like.. the emotional toll of it all? He’s tired! He’s burdened with the ammount of death he saw and people wanna be shitty and play games like that for glory and fame! It’s stupid and he doesn’t understand it! He tries to fight for his right and loses because no one really bothered to support him through it (Jayce didn���t think he’d really have to and would you look at that).

He’s angry and upset and grieving and possibly traumatized. He keeps wondering why would people do that to eachother and comes up empty. So he’s here, obsessing with replacing every part of human error to garantee that people WILL live. Of course, he’s more isolated then ever and people don’t bother to sit down and listen, they just think he’s weird and obsessed and stuff like that.

So when he needs to do the colaboration on the dive suits with Jayce and they have their fight about free will, people side with Jayce quickly. They think Viktor is mad and they had seen it coming miles away. 

He gets fucking expelled from the Piltover academia and sent back to Zaun.

To his ruined home, alone, with nothing but his name and his thoughts.

Clearly that leads him into a deep depression. After all, he lost everything but he doesn’t understand why ! because sure these people in piltover like acting high and mighty and theorizing and politicizing but they didn’t have to watch children crying because they were coughing so much blood was coming out because their lungs were corroded and they wouldnt last another week. They thought viktor was mad. 

And viktor had a lot of time to wallow over it, and think about his failures and suffer on his own and he’s actual conclusion is that negative emotions ( envy, pride, sadness) clouded people’s judgemetns. They’d let others suffer for their own gain out of fear of losing. 

He thought that himself feeling sadness was just another obstacle to do what he had to: save people.

So he basically starts operating on himself until he can barely feel emotions anymore, removing his own happiness with it (but its not like he felt it anyway so what difference did it make). And then he starts plunging into work like never before, dedicated to this new cause that is the glorious evolution. He starts again from the bottom and once again he rises, because Viktor is a genious, and he is honest in his work, in his intentions. He wants to help.

 People were scared of the Mad Man Viktor, but Viktor would do anything he could to save you if you came to him. He understood limits though, he never imposed over people. Do no harm, as they say ( what would be the point of doing that?? )

And then the other toxic even happens in Sump, another really bad one, and Viktor rushes in to help. He’s keeping these people alive in his lab but he knows he doesnt have the power to keep them so. So he goes to Jayce after an energy source.

He thinks Jayce will listen to him now, now Viktor isn’t emotive and easily hurt, now he isn’t insecure, he has a cause, he has something he fights for. A brighter tomorrow.

And Jayce calls him mad. 

Viktor is kind of dissapointed, he’d think Jayce, who has always been so uncaring of people’s opinion’s would at least try to understand. He doesn’t. So he takes the crystal by force from Jayce (petty arguments can be saved for later, those people on his lab needed him NOW).

When Jayce follows him there with a hammer he understands the stakes. 

One life against hundreds is an easy math. Viktor chooses to sacrifice Jayce (Jayce chose to come here after all)

But then Jayce actually destroys his lab.

And like... imagine waking up to your laboratory destroyed, just dozens of corpses of innocent people laying around. yet another failure, yet another big price to pay.

He has to start from zero again. His reputation is completely stepped on ( he is truly crazy now by everyone’s eyes) and Jayce is a hero. Blitzcrank sticks around for a little while, moved by the same passion to help people, but blitzcrank can stand the deaths and the gruesomeness of viktor’s work, he leaves to try to help in other ways. Viktor lets him of course, blitz has free will and he isn’t anyone to stop him. 

Some people, desperate people, still come to him for help. He does his best to give them what they need. A strange cult forms and idolizes him, he hates it, he is no god, he is just another man. People thinking of him as an etheral being just proves his theory on how fear and wayward emotions lead to dumb, dangerous mistakes.

In the end, Viktor is trying to cheat suffering, cheat death at all costs.

I don’t believe he sent any golems or anything after Jayce, vengence is way too beneath him. Stealing? Maybe not, depends. I think Jayce became a bit paranoid after “defeating” viktor. Because Viktor said some big words and Jayce is suddenly realizing that truly, he has no purpose. He’s just a useless tool. He makes things sure, but what for? He’s raised as a hero but damn he doesn’t feel like it.

And to end it all, this is why I think Ekko and Viktor should sit down and chat at some point. They are so similar and so different all at once. They both love Zaun and its people, they both wanna protect them and have a passion for inventing. But while Viktor wants to reject his human side to achieve his goals, Ekko embraces it. Like, I don’t think Viktor shouldn’t even be his mentor, more like his colleague. Ekko is his own person and has a different way of doing things, but they could do a lot together as well. 

Also Ekko and Blitz are totally friends in canon so like.. yeah.. Zaun for life....

Anyway this is it thank tou all for reading this is UUUH like 1,8k words long 

extras or stuff I already said and will say again:

viktor is trans

he was an anxious yet hopeful (and maybe a bit naive) teenager

he still loves sweet things and thats canon.. he likes chilling sometimes

workaholic as seen

blames himself for literally everything like a dumbass

is kinda of very afraid of death in general

is not the kind of person that steals children to experiment on them cmon guys thats propaganda

is embarrassed of the cult following him

i guess he doesnt have his whole left arm anymore, chop chop it went

USED braces as  kid

loves blitzcrank like a son, doesnt realize it

I think thats all, sorry yall

[kikiiswashere]

Children of Zaun Sneak Peek and Announcement!

Hi all!

Okay, I'm nervous to put this out there, but I am putting chapter deadlines for myself in an attempt to stay consistent and organized.

The third Wednesday of every month, at 6pm ET, I will be posting a new chapter of Children of Zaun until the fic is complete.

In-between chapter updates, I'm planning on posting sneak peeks and hopefully some CoZ art. As well as other ficlets (related or otherwise).

Which means, YES! This Wednesday, I'll be posting Chapter 15! Here is a little sneak peek to wet your whistle

“You didn’t have to come get me,” Katya said as they neared an exit.

Silco shrugged, and then chuckled.

“It would’ve been awkward if we had been walking in the same direction, at the same time, and not acknowledged one another, wouldn’t it?”

As they strode through the gate, Katya felt the tenseness in her shoulders ease. She allowed her coat and the contraband within soften and settle against her body now that it was safer. Silco retrieved his cigarette tin from his trouser pocket and placed a pre-rolled one between his lips before lighting it. He noted the subtly curl of her nostrils as the first stream of smoke danced out of his mouth. How the mole on the apple of her cheek lifted in disdain.

“I am not smoking around my mother,” he promised. “Per your orders.”

Katya looked directly at him and sniffed.

“Good.”

He dragged on his smoke before asking, “Does it bother you?”

Katya considered for a moment before answering.

“Only in that it is not healthy. But,” she said, “both of my parents used to smoke, so would be lying if I said it wasn’t nostalgic.”

“You are not a liar.”

It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t quite a statement either. Katya looked to her companion, a quizzical squint to her eyes.

“No. I am not a liar,” she responded. Then, quietly she added, “A thief perhaps –“

“No. Not that either,” Silco interrupted quickly. “Thieving implies wrong-doing. What you’re doing isn’t wrong.”

“That would depend on who you are talking to.”

“You’re talking to me,” he said firmly, fixing her with fiery, icy eyes. “You’re supporting your family because you have been given no other means to. And you support your family by assisting others who also cannot get help elsewhere. That’s not wrong.”

“I was not anticipating a pre-dinner philosophical discussion,” Katya muttered. “All right, then. If I am not stealing, what is it?”

“Surviving,” Silco answered easily. “The fact you get to stick it to Piltover a bit in the process is just – “

“Icing of the Piltover Petit-Four.”

“Exactly.” Silco paused before he added, “You said ‘that would depend on who you are talking to.’ Even if you spoke to Rynweaver and he called it stealing, his opinion holds no weight here.”

Katya’s mind silenced at that. And for a moment, the fear that accompanied her crimes ebbed a little.

“You’re not a liar, nor a thief, Katya. They might label you that, but that’s not who you are.”

“Who am I then?”

Silco shrugged, removed the cigarette butt from his lips and flicked it to the ground.

“That is for you to decide.”

Katya scoffed and smiled, “What an annoying non-answer.”

A deep rumble of a chuckle glided up from Silco’s throat, smooth as an oil slick.

“Who are you then?”

His laugh morphed into a considerate hum.

“A survivor, like the rest of the Underground. Like my mum, Vander, Benzo – the fucking idiot. Like Sevika. Like you,” he said. “It’s not all of who we are, but it’s a very large piece.”

[smolvoidling]

steampunk/hextech smol&wynn?

Hextech Smol is this animatronic/automaton that was forcibly turned off and just rusted so much that most people just think it’s a statue/lanturn. No one really knows who made it, but everyone kinda agrees the thing is a bit creepy in general, and they’re thankful it’s not in a particularly busy part of Piltover. Kids will occasionally go and play on it, but most parents try to shoo their children from climbing on the rusted metal monster for fear of getting cut or stabbed from the sharp points.

It’s not a very well made animatronic/automaton presentation wise, its age shows in the craftsmanship. But say someone was able to de-rust the poor thing, they’d find it’s a rather obedient but curious oddity. Its movements come across as very uncanny valley at times, especially with how it hunches over so the tails of its flightless wings don’t drag along stone roads & spark, but it seems to have no ill-will towards humans.

Wynn’s born to a Demacian mother and Zaunite father who, much to his mother’s arguing and disapproval of the idea, takes the boy with him to Zaun. He’s not exactly a big or stunningly healthy kid to begin with, but he helps out his dad via odd jobs, moving shipments (that he can actually carry) and running packages. It’s in doing a package run one day that he’s caught in an unfortunate care of wrong place at the wrong time, and ends up... losing an arm and a half. You should’ve seen the guy they were actually after... well, he’s dead now, but still.

Someone thankfully recognizes him & takes him to his dad, who doesn’t really know what to do but out of desperation & fear of losing his son takes him and pays out the ass for something to help keep him from dying. So a few days later, finally not dying of blood loss, he awakes with some new ‘arms’. The augments are... certainly not the quality they should have been for the price, but his dad hadn’t exactly the time to shop around beforehand. But they worked, and that was enough for his dad-- of course Wynn himself is very self conscious of the arms, hates them honestly, but can’t really complain. Especially not when his dad uses the debt as an excuse to keep him working, so he reluctantly continues working for his dad in Zaun.

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The International Pigeon, Jerolmack.

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The American Academy of Child and Teenager Psychiatry warns that the highly competitive world of specialist as well as collegiate sports has actually rollovered right into the children's sports sector. Three quarters of people access the net making use of smartphones, yet just two per cent of the population has actually had call with health and wellness services utilizing electronic innovation, figures show. Vera Whole Health and wellness provides health care, intense care, and wellness mentoring using on- or near-site centers. When http://libere-lesreves.info/ go beyond healthcare institutions that are obliged under federal legislation to secure your personal privacy, you are up for grabs for all sort of individuals who are data-mining," consisting of pharmaceutical business as well as insurance companies, he says. Consisting of dried seaweed in your diet gives you accessibility to a great supply of vitamin B-6, with 30 percent of the quantity you need each day in an offering; this vitamin is essential for brain health and also feature. Highlighting the historic significance of outside entertainment as well as sports to preservation in a collection important for fly anglers and scholars of fisheries ecology, conservation background, as well as ecological values, Backcasts discovers both the problems anglers as well as their organizations deal with as well as how they might act as versions of conservation-- in the individual trout streams, watersheds, and also landscapes through which these waters circulation. The brand-new French fry owners in Delighted Meals will contain 1.1 ounces of potatoes, below 2.4. Apple pieces will certainly usually be included as the healthy side meal, however it could also be carrots, raisins, pineapple pieces or mandarin oranges, depending on the moment of year and the area in which they're being served, Fields stated. http://libere-lesreves.info/la-piperine-forte-est-le-meilleur-naturel-des-complements-alimentaires-minceur-combien-coute-et-ou-lacheter/ -minute pitch as well as Q & A provided by Chief Executive Officer Daniel Chao persuaded the panel that Halo Sport is poised to reinvent the sports industry. Misconception 3: Youngsters need to play their sporting activity year-round to stay clear of getting out of shape, which can result in injury. Sadly, if the professional athlete isn't really able to regulate this hormonal circulation, it might have negative results on total health and wellness. At first sight, the common 40s dish of little meat portions, piles of potatoes, carrots, cabbage as well as bread, followed by a stodgy dessert, could not sound like the path to true health and wellness. What Zaun advocated last night and what Cherry and also business have constantly advertised is for their sport of baseball, option as well as hockey respectively in this situation, to be depictive of a specific sort of masculinity epitomized by physicality and also ultimately, by physical violence. In Santa Monica and also a doctor that concentrates on public wellness, is all for the tax obligation, particularly if the levy approaches health and wellness initiatives. This web site was developed by Catherine Harrison, Susie Levy and Evan Bissell for Professor Jason Corburn's Healthy Cities graduate course at the College of The golden state, Berkeley Institution of Public Health and also Department of City as well as Regional Preparation. Level of Problem: Some sporting activities are understandable and also easy to play and other sporting activities are difficult to comprehend and also difficult to play.