#basically i think this is arcane coming down on the side of free will in the free will vs determinism debate

[embershroud108]

Ok, so. If Viktor and Jayce were caught in a bootstrap paradox in not only one timeline but across multiple timelines, then what was the critical difference in the main timeline that (most of) Arcane takes place in that broke the cycle?

The obvious answer is Ekko and the Z-Drive, but that’s not specific enough. Because in Jayce’s journey to the future in 2x7 we see Jinx’s airship embedded in the side of the Hexgate tower, which implies that everything we see happen in the finale has already happened in Jayce’s vision of the future, at least up to the point where Viktor links Jayce to the hive mind. Which, if true, in that timeline, Ekko had to have already had the Z-Drive and used it to save Jinx so that she could build her airship so it could then crash into the tower.

In other words, the invention of the Z-Drive alone was not enough to stop the cataclysm (or at least I think this is implied). It’s invention alone wasn’t the Critical Difference.

So then what was the Critical Difference between the timeline where Piltover was destroyed (in 2x7) and the one where it wasn’t (2x9)?

My two main candidates for the Moment That Made the Difference, is A) Jinx dodging Viktor’s mind control tendrils initially, thus effectively protecting Ekko from being assimilated or B) Ekko choosing to go past the Z-Drive’s safe 4-second limit in a suicidal gambit to trigger the Chronobreak. (obviously A would have to have occurred for B to happen, but A could have occurred in the cataclysm timeline without B)

[crazedear]

Arcane Timebomb fanfic recommendations

Omg! Look who's back after months of inactiveness on tumblr? Honestly I feel like I'm only coming back here after I find smth new to obsess over and need to satiate my cravings for content. It happened with staticradio, and now... TIMEBOMB??

I know I am not the only one who's mind have been taken over by this particular ship after the finale of Arcane season 2. It's one of those ships where its basically canon, but just the confirmation isn't enough to satisfy our hearts without the content along with it.

There is SO many fanarts out already (I am not complaining one bit) and although the Jinx x ekko tag has been growing exponentially on ao3, I haven't seen a lot of recent fanfic recommendation posts yet and I want to change that.

As always, please feel free to recommend me any other fanfic that you think can be added to the list! I want this list to be fully open to those who want to contribute.

To all the times I've dreamt of you

Written by: timebomblover (sibzzz)

Rated T

Words: 1,713 (Oneshot)

In the aftermath of tragedy, Ekko is left haunted by the memory of Jinx—his lost love, his greatest regret, and his deepest mystery. As grief consumes him, the signs begin to appear—whispers in the shadows, echoes in forgotten places, and fragments of a past he refuses to let go of. Could she still be alive? Or is his mind unraveling beneath the weight of what he’s lost? In a journey through pain, obsession, and hope, Ekko searches for the truth, ready to do anything to find out if his lover is truly out there somewhere.

Sunbeams

Written by: Multimousefanatic

Rated T

Words: 5,969 (Complete - Chapters 2/2)

If there had been any doubt in her mind before he said those words, it disappeared faster than Sevika’s arm. “Is that what all this is about? You want to forgive me?”

Like It's the Last Time

Written by: Zeezeepearl

Rated T

Words: 3,727 (Oneshot)

Jinx returns to Zaun, seeking Ekko's help. She has unfinished business, and he has very little time.

Got All Of Your Insides?

Written by: Lunar_Angel

Rated T

Words: 5,597 (Ongoing - Chapters 2/3)

Powder, Vi and Ekko have their last proper conversation. Powder and Ekko finally come clean about some long pent up feelings.

Hold me right here

Written by: kimekosu

Rated T

Words: 6,271 (Oneshot)

Ekko coped with her death by forcing himself to dream of his memories of her. Some were painful, while some reminded him of why he fell for her in the first place.

Then unexpectedly, the Anomaly popped into one of his dreams, offering him a chance to teleport himself right into a memory, where he could possibly alter her fate.

The Heart of Zaun

Written by: 1ts_Br1tney_B1tch

Not rated

Words: 25,286 (Ongoing - Chapters 6/?)

Silco felt wrath, pride, and respect battle within him as he witnessed the small band of Firelights—only 5 members strong, and not much older than children judging by their size—decimate his men and destroy yet another shipment of shimmer. Thousands of gold cogs wasted, money that would have been used to build his empire until it could stand against Piltover's council, and yet as he watched the green streaks through the sky, he couldn't help but think these Firelights were Zaunite to their core. These young rebels embodied the spirit of Zaun almost as much as his own daughter, Jinx.

He glanced down at her now, only to pause at the still expression on her face. Her gaze tracked one of the masked figures unerringly—the leader, if Silco was reading their dynamics right—eyes just a bit too wide, and her fingers twitched by her side. He'd seen her get like this before, when she was confronted with her past.

She knows him.

An idea begins to take shape in Silco's mind.

Or: Silco wants to recruit the Firelights. Too bad they hate his guts.

Genius and Madness

Written by: Malbec

Rated T

Words: 6,266 (Ongoing - Chapters 5/?)

Once Ekko comes back from the alternate universe, he meets Jinx again, only to find her in the verge of suicide. How can he convince her to keep living and stay to create a new life? What did Jinx and Ekko do next?

Taking a leap forward (means leaving a few things behind)

Written by: thefifthchris

Rated T

Words: 12,491 (Ongoing - Chapters 5/9)

Time slows. Four seconds. Ekko shouts. Something is wrong. There’s no time to think. Heimerdinger jumps out of the singularity, and, in his place–

Powder takes the leap.

In another timeline, Piltover tries to rebuild. No Hexgate, no fancy Hextech, nothing. Vi is familiar with this: raw labor, strength as its own language, sweat dripping between her shoulder blades. No, she thinks. There is no time to mourn.

A tale of two sisters. Even worlds apart, they'll still always find each other.

Powder & Ekko (& Timebomb) Collections

Written by: Rhyagelle

Not rated

Words: 158,197 (Ongoing - Chapters 48/?)

This is a collection of various Powder and Ekko themed flashbacks/stories, ranging from one-shots to multi-parts or full part chapters. There will be chapters dealing with just one of them or the other, as well as any kind of Timebomb content (meaning, chapters with both of them, together). It's to dig into the very adorable and dorky friendship the two very clearly possessed, as well as what might have been like for them during their childhood, before everything turned to shit. And yes, if it's not clear, there will be Ekko x Powder! It's just not the ONLY focus (but it is in my heart <3).

(I didn't find this fanfic myself and I actually got it from @lady-griffin's Timebomb recommendation post from 2 years ago. This was just one of my favs from their list I just had to include it in a more recent post so more people can see it. Please go check out her own list)

The Risk of Fall

Written by: Sapphic_Jezus

Rated T

Words: 9,891 (Ongoing - Chapters 2/?)

“Vi.” Mylo or Claggor—it doesn’t matter who—speaks up, and Vi turns to them, her panic spilling into the room.

“We can’t just leave her,” Claggor says evenly, his voice steady as a rock. He meets her eyes, unflinching. “She’s not safe here either. If they come for her…”

Or; What if they didn't just leave Ekko and Powder behind?

.

.

.

.

I know, I know, It's very short, dont come for me. I'm tryna focus on quality more than quantity yall, gimme time to load up my arsenal!

Anyways yeh! feel free to recommend me stuff to add, it can be anywhere, from ao3, wattpad, fanfic.net, etc. go crazy.

[chairwritexv]

Fem Reader is another adopted kid silco took in (because young jinx insisted on it). The two are super close and deeply care for each other. During the statue scene she tells silco she'll offer herself up and take full blame for jinx if it means her sis stays safe and free. This way zaun is free, jinx is safe, and her dad finally gets his biggest wish. This is enough for silco to basically go "fuck that. You are my children and I will not give either of you away. Not even for Zaun. We'll think of something but I refuse to sacrifice either of you." And Jinx overhears all this.

the statue scene is when silco’s talking to vander’s statue, right? lol, my memory sucks…

tw ❦ angst

platonic ❦ romantic ❦ neutral

fandom ❦ arcane

character(s) ❦ silco, jinx

“is there anything so undoing as a daughter?” silco’d asked as he took a sip of alcohol. you’d peeked your head out of the shadows as you listened to your adoptive father’s conversation with vander’s statue, knowing what you had to do. “dad,” you said as you walked up to him, your hands swaying by your side. silco immediately turned to you, slightly startled. “Y/N.” you took a deep breath. “i’ll do it.” “what?” “i- i’ll offer myself to the enforcers, so that jinx will be safe and-” you were only halfway through your sentence when silco started shaking his head, standing up, but you didn’t notice as your eyes were closed and your head was down. “-and then zaun is free and you’ll have your biggest wish and-” “No.” at this you looked up, staring your adoptive father in the eyes. “but-” “No. i am not giving either of my children away, not even for zaun. i’ll figure something out but i am not losing you or jinx.” you stood there for a moment, unsure what to say before you tackled silco in a hug, almost knocking him over. he flinched, but hugged you back. neither of you noticed your blue-haired sister hiding in the shadows, having heard everything. ☽ 【┘】 ☾ "jiiinnnnxx,,” you dragged out your sister’s name as you called her, your feet dragging behind you as you entered her “lair”. however, the place was empty, much to your surprise. you looked around, making sure she wasn’t hiding to scare you as she’d done so many times before. “jinx?” which is when you noticed the note scribbled on the desk. “ not letting you sacrifice yourself for me n dad. luv you, tell dad i love him too ꨄ ” you cursed and ran out of the room, running as fast as you could all the way to the bridge connecting zaun and piltover. after reaching the bridge you immediately spotted jinx’s bright blue braided hair, and the enforcers surrounding her with their guns raised. “JINX!!” you yelled out, catching jinx’s attention as she turned to you, her eyes widening. “WAIT!!” you yelled out, coming in between jinx and the enforcers, half of whom now had their guns trained on you. “wait, she’s-” “Y/N, no-” “she’s just covering for me,” you spat out, still panting heavily from the long run. “it was me. i did everything. jinx was innocent, she did nothing wrong. she’s just covering.” and that was all the enforcers needed to hear. they handcuffed you and forced you away from jinx, dragging you toward piltover. you looked back at jinx with tears in your eyes, giving your sister one last smile.

hope you enjoyed! ♡ debating a part two lol

[violetsareblue-selfships]

rambling about my arcane s/i following this set of questions (might not answer all of them)

🌸 Do you have any basic headcanons? (Age, Sexuality, Etc.)

Okay, so age: during act 1 of season one, Vi's 15, Caitlyn's 16 & I'm 18-18.5; then during acts 2-3, Vi's 22, Cait's 23, and I'm 25 (i'm placing progress day in spring so prior to my birthday) - aka I'll be 26 post the minor timeskip in season 2 (it's like at most 6 months)

I'm using the League fan birthdays for them (unless we get proper confirmation of their birthdays in Arcane) - so Dec. 19 for Vi, and Jan. 4 for Caitlyn.

Sexuality: I don't have anything finite but we all like women hehe

🌷When does your self-insert come into the story? Is your selfship established before the events of the source?

Mine's there pretty much from the beginning - certainly in acts 2-3 of season one, I'm already in an established relationship with Caitlyn (technically loosely in act 1 - like we go on dates but we're teens so romance isn't the main focus - though our first kiss is on her sixteenth birthday at her request :3)

the third fic I've written is like a snippet of all the scenes that would show my s/i during progress day (idk if the kiss scene would be shown in act 1 or like alluded to/given flashbacks to later on)

my relationship with vi develops alongside her relationship with caitlyn following canon pretty closely.

🌺Are there any other characters that are very relevant to your self-insert or F/O story-wise?

Jayce is like an older sibling figure (and given that Viktor is his work partner, we're at least on friendly terms). Otherwise, Caitlyn's parents are fairly fond of me.

Later on, I grow fond of Jinx & Isha through Vi. I don't think there's enough time there to properly gain familial relationships but we have like an understanding (in a modern au, she definitely would be a younger sister to me)

🌹How would your self-insert function in the source? (Side character, Main character, etc?)

I dunno how to classify it - side character i guess, but she's important to one of the main ships so?? but like she's not really involved much in the politics or hextech stuff unless cait & vi drag her into it

🏵️ How did your ship meet? What were their first impressions?

Cait & I meet first - she finds me when i'm new to piltover, lost on the street & unable to find my way home. she gets her mother to help me get home - we're friends from then on. // her first impression of me was literally that i needed help and well, the fic's not called a savior and a friend for nothing (she was my savior :3)

Vi & Caitlyn meet next - the whole Cait breaking Vi out of jail scene as follows in canon. Uhh very tense first impressions - essentially the canon ones (like Vi's surprised that Cait's freeing her & Cait sees her as a way to get a lead on the attacks in Piltover)

Vi & I meet last. Literally the second they return from Stillwater, Caitlyn goes to find me (she promised she would once she returned) and drags Vi there before they head to the Undercity. It's a very brief meeting but she comes away thinking I'm a good painter and my main impression is that she's very pretty (like it's a brief interaction or I'd have more).

🌻Does your self-insert or F/O go through any character development throughout the story?

Vi stays pretty true to herself the whole story - that's the point. She has a good heart and Vander told her to keep her heart that good no matter what. She manages, in my opinion.

Caitlyn... has a bad arc but she's at least trying to fix what she's done at the end. (AKA, she goes a bit dictator under Ambessa's influence for those who haven't watched the show) still, by the end of it, she regrets what she's done and like i said is showing with her actions that she's not like that anymore (i know it doesn't absolve her of her actions but her mother dies and sends her down that spiral so...)

As for me... uhh, honestly I think I'm similar to Vi. I stay pretty much the same from beginning to end - loyal to those I care about (with some exceptions in Cait's case during her worst era - like I still love her, I don't think a childhood love could be broken that easily but I can't be with her like that)

🌼Is there an official confession scene between the two of them?

You know, I don't think they say I love you officially in the entire show - it's shown but not said lol. I'll probably amend that though whether that's somewhere like s2 e8 or after everything's over and done...

For Cait & I, that first kiss is as much a confession as any - though the first I love you is also important (i haven't thought much on when that is, but likely a few dates in)

For Vi & I, our first kiss is during her pitfighter era sometime (I'll have more thoughts on this when I actually write stuff during that time, I'm still writing in season 1 - though I'm almost to season 2)

🍀 Do You have any other scenes in mind? Angsty, Tender, Funny, Etc.

Like I said, I'm following canon pretty closely so most of those scenes still hold weight. But I'll mention a few snippets I probably won't get around to writing. (or they'll be short if I do)

S1, E6 - when Cait's settling Vi after she takes the shimmer to heal her wounds - that moment where it's implied that Cait wants to kiss her, she has a little moment of panic because she has a girlfriend waiting for her and that's why she changes the subject so abruptly.

S1, E9 - when Jinx is all 'I paid your girlfriend a visit' and she reveals Caitlyn, Vi can't help but ask about the other girl (aka me) and JInx is all 'who? oh!!! her... nah, i just left her asleep in caitlyn's bed) (aka Vi may not be 100% in love with me yet here but she still cares :3)

Honestly, the rest of what I have in mind will probably be written so... *shrugs* // though also i'm thinking that my s/i should get injured at some point (like she's a painter, not a great fighter (though she's probably trained a little with cait as kids)) but I'll figure out when - that last fight would work or either of the other big fights in season 2 (the one where they get like attacked at the speech mel's giving or during the thing w/ isha and them later on in season 2 (bc my s/i is there so... but vi gets injured there so maybe only one large scale injury should happen...) sorry, i'm rambling now lol

[haz311bl0gs]

Kitt | High Half-Elf | Dagger Wielding Sorcerer | Immortal (200+ years old) | Agent of Raphael | Neutral Evil |

Backstory under the cut (He's not a Tav, he's just a BG3 OC).

Kitt (real name unknown) is a selfish and narcissistic man but extremely powerful. Kitt comes from a noble family that had vast amounts of arcane knowledge and priceless arcane artifacts. Bored and in love with himself he feared aging, death and missing out on the carnal pleasures youth could provide. He struck a deal with Raphael to become his immortal agent and live a life full of pleasure, Kitt would want for nothing. For this Kitt gave up the souls of his family (5 souls total) along with all the arcane knowledge and artifacts that the house possessed. His family was forgotten and vanished like they never existed. 

Kitt's memory was mostly wiped clean, he remembers what he sacrificed but he doesn't remember what the importance of the items and knowledge he gave up were. His ability to wield magic like a master and fight with his dagger also remains intact. Kitt basically remembers everything in order to be Raphael's perfect guard dog and messenger boy. 

Kitt idolizes and loves Raphael to a fault. He takes great pride in being the property of the man that gave him eternal life and pleasure. His admiration for Raphael set in slowly but when it set in, it hooked into him, and that hook has no plans of letting go. He would lick Raphael's boots clean if he was told to. 

Some points about Kitt: 

Kitt is immortal but not unkillable and there are two ways to take him down. He must be stabbed in the heart by Raphael with a special dagger named "Warm Embrace" that Raphael gave to him as a gift. The other condition is that Kitt perishes should Raphael meet his demise. 

The dagger is magically bound to him and will return to him if out of a certain radius. It’s pretty much his leash.

Kitt met Raphael in his 30s which means Kitt has been in Raphael's service for almost 2 centuries. 

Although Kitt is very sure his Master cannot be slain, he will often be found at Raphael's side in moments of danger. Kitt is selfish at the end of the day, and he will do whatever it takes to make sure Raphael does not come to harm. 

Raphael chooses Kitt's clothing.

Kitt's good looks were another driving force behind Raphael making a deal with him. He finds Kitt very attractive, but Kitt wishes for more attention than his Master can provide. 

Kitt is a play on the word Kitten. Only Raphael can call him this, anyone else with this knowledge will not be able to utter the word towards him but only in the House of Hope the rest of the world it is free reign but not everyone knows this little fact. 

He detests being asked his age. He loathes the concept of aging and even though he doesn't show it physically he is over 200 years old. He also can't really recall as he stopped counting 100 years in. 

His fighting style is quick and sporadic. He moves in flashes with teleportation and creates illusions. Fighting him can be very disorientating. 

He's all about pleasures of the flesh, he loves sex. 

His favourite fruit is pomegranates, he likes things messy.  

He's never been with Haarlep, he hates them, and he won’t without Raphael’s say so (and that’s never happened). Raphael knows how weak Kitt is for carnal pleasures and fears Kitt may do something stupid if left unattended with Haarlep. 

He doesn't get to lay with Raphael as much as he would lead you to believe, and he hates it. 

He is so jealous of Tav/The MC it makes him sick to his stomach but he’s very good at hiding it. 

Fun or not so fun fact, if you slay Raphael, you can find Kitt's dagger and bones in the teleportation room in the House of Hope. (I'm still fleshing this and his ways of tying into the game out). But because I can be mean to my OCs I like to think he sensed something was wrong a bit too late and was trying to get back, but his attempts were in vain. 

You can find out that his name is short for Kitten and use it as a fun little dialogue option to piss him off. He will call Tav/MC a "little rat" in response.

I’m still figuring out romance with him, but it would be a one-night stand if anything. If you ask him about Raphael post sex he will be amazed that you even needed to ask and he will tell you how he sleeps with him every other night (a lie) and how wonderful it is (the truth to him at least).

Anyway, that's all I have on him for now. I know it's a bit wild just inserting him into the game like that but hopefully he's believable and stuff.

[pr4yerp0sition]

  A   deep   dive   into   multimedia   works   varying   from   Tite   Kubo’s   BLEACH,   G.R.R   Martin’s   House   of   the   Dragon,   Anne   Rice’s   Interview   of   a   Vampire,   original   creations,   along   with   Dragon   Age,   Baldur’s   Gate, Riot's Arcane.   This   is   a   case   study   into   the   manifestation   of   grief   as   love,   generational   trauma   treated   as   a   curse,   the   mourning   song,   the   hope   at   the   end   of   sorrow   and   love   that   shall   transcend   time   within   itself.

CARRD / OC INFORMATION / ROSTER LIST  beloved by, Cereza (they, them, 25+ more tired than you)

 

If you do not specify a muse, one will be selected for you. This is a hard rule that will not bend, if you do not like the starter or prompt, you must contact me in order for a rewrite which I am more than happy to oblige. THIS BLOG IS EXTREMELY SELF INDULGENT / FRIENDS / GOOD BUDDIES VIBES ONLY. I'll rarely follow first but if we're gucci with each other on my other blogs, then feel free. I'm fine with new followers just HIGHLY selective.

I believe strongly in critical thinking along with an appreciation for literature while agreeing to disagree. We all have squicks, triggers, ect. This blog contains media that is on the heavy side and I do ask those who follow take precaution before doing so. I also write strongly queer representation with various nonbinary, lesbian, to trans muses. Trying to have them fit a narrative that is more on the conservative end is an instant hard block. I have no time, no desire, or energy to explain the reasoning why.

I WRITE ADULT CONTENT, sexuality, the exploration of such, violence, chemical dependencies to alcohol dependencies, mature themes are the normal. If this is something that makes you deeply uncomfortable, rethink before following.

I am a mun that is more than fine with NSFW content, though, if you’re only here for that you can leave. Fetishizing my muse, oversexualization, continuously harping on physical attributes rather than the story tend to squick me out. Yes, I enjoy writing erotica but I am within my right to turn down whoever I chose.

There is a difference between writing whump material while handling heavy subjects with grace, respect, and understanding. I am incredibly cautious when dealing with topics of DV, SA, ect. Primarily, if your muse hinders on the constant usage of such subjects while contradicting the writing, I will block and move on. I do not write dead dove material, I do not write whump, I handle everything with the critical thinking skills one needs to operate such heavy topics && assure that the dash is comfortable while being respected. This is not to say I ignore these topics but, I can tell the difference between someone romanticizing && glorifying these subjects versus someone who is using them to properly narrate a story that they wish to convey a message.

If you are blocked, there is a high key reason. Harassment of any kind is not warranted or welcomed, please respect basic boundaries. Furthermore, I am someone who does believe in callouts for exhibiting behavior that is dangerous to the community at a whole. Protecting yourself or others is never beef or drama.

Hello, I am Cereza, 25+ / Latino / Chronic Depresso / nonbinary friend with a love for heavy metal, cinema, literature, and coffee. I’m an extremely introverted person so don’t take my silence for not being personally invested I just burn out. For disclaimer: I have Asperger's, thus I can be absent minded or things tend to go over my head but I pride myself in being able to speak logically with a clear understanding so if you ever feel like we must have a conversation that is of importance; I’m your person. Btw, I work from home but because of that while I am available, I am not at the same time. Family always comes first in my life while having a social life is very important to me, those who can't understand that, well, you know what to do.

Graphics by: sereg0re

[stoutduke]

Critical Role Theory: Ludinus Da'leth, his Agenda Against the Gods, and Predathos

I think he might really want to kill all the gods. I know he said that's what he wants, but he could've been lying. That's why I'm leaving room for doubt. I think he's diluted himself out of desperation and that he's convinced himself that releasing Predathos will free them of the gods. I think he's desperate because deep down, he's accepted that the gods are beyond his ability to kill, so he's willing to do something as crazy as release a god eater. No one in their right mind would release something that was so powerful the gods chose to seal them away instead of killing them. When Predathos appeared, it was before the gods were fighting with each other. If that many gods all fighting a common enemy decided to seal them away, it's because they're that dangerous. He's so desperate to get rid of the gods that he's willing to risk the world to do it and he's diluted enough to think he knows what he's doing. I don't see any possible way that he'd ever have the ability to hold Predathos to any kind of deal or any way for him to really know what Predathos truly wants. I doubt he knows how to do everything the gods do that keeps the material plane the way that it is. If the Raven Queen were killed who would take their souls to the realms of the dead? Exandria would likely be filled with all kinds of undead. The world would likely fall into centuries of chaos without the gods and all the wards and seals that use their power that contain and repel all kinds of extremely powerful beings would break setting them free.

I think Ludinus has overlooked two extremely important things. One is that I think the planet they live on is basically a massive ball of natural divinity, nature is a form of divinity that completely fills Exandria. The second is that the divine gate surrounds all of Exandria and it's probably the most powerful divine powered creation in existence. I've gotten the sense that a better descriptor for Predathos would be to call them a divinity eater rather than a god eater. They kind of come across as a powerful divine beast rather than a god to me. We've never heard them talk or have heard any reference to them talking other than when Ludinus said he talks to them. I wouldn't be surprised if he were lying. There's also how Predathos connected to Chetney because of his werewolf side wanting to mindlessly hunt and destroy. Another example is that the Grim Verity never recorded any of the ruidus born ever having some kind of mission or given purpose from Predathos, it was only interactions with beings with seemingly no unified purpose. I think Predathos might be instinctively unleashing arcane blessings as a way to pull others toward it to eventually free them, kind of like how predatory pack animals come to each others aid when in danger. Or maybe it could be more like some kind of magical hivemind, but without intelligence. They could be creating ruidus born that're instinctively drawn to them, like how so many ruidus born are going to the ruins without knowing why. There's also how Imogen realized she's faced a certain direction when she wakes up. They might all be drawn towards the most likely path to find their "queen bee".

[that-salty-ghost]

As Above, So Below | Chapter 7: Guilty Pleasures | Viktor [Arcane] // Male Reader | Rating: M Throughout

You walk side-by-side through the Lanes and pull out your pipe with a little bit of the tobacco you smoked earlier in it. Viktor watches you carefully as you try to keep it lit against the wind and blow the smoke out once it’s ready.

“What is it?”

“Burnt now.” You laugh under your breath. “But it’s rum-infused, helps keep me warm on the walk home.” You switch your grip so you can hold it out for Viktor to try. He grabs it gingerly and looks at the glow in the chamber.

“Do you inhale?” He lifts the mouthpiece to his lips and crinkles his nose as he tries to figure out how to smoke it. There’s something incredibly endearing about watching a boy with such a high caliber of intelligence get stumped by a makeshift pipe.

“Pipes are more about the flavor, you want to take a couple puffs in your mouth, then blow.”

“If you’re looking to teach people how you blow then you should come pick up a shift, [Y/n].” You both look over and realize the voice was coming from a man you recognized outside the brothel. You manage to flip him off before Babette hushes him and tells him to go inside. “Don’t mind Finn, you know he gets restless when his nights are slow.”

Viktor looks more confused now than he did before you told him not to inhale. The yordle waves for you to come over. “You don’t have anything on you tonight do you [Y/n]?” You put your hand on Viktor’s shoulder as a quiet apology, he shakes his head and whispers “S’okay.” before you walk over, digging through your pack as you go.

You pull out a small tin with basic tobacco and some rolling paper, moving quickly to make a cigarette for her holder. “It’s a cold one tonight.” She nods as you crouch down to her level and motion for her accessory to load the cigarette in.

“Sorry if Finn scared your…” She flicks her eyebrows, intentionally not finishing her sentence. You look up at her and then to Viktor. “I think he’s tougher than you think.” You grin as you watch him effortlessly puff on the pipe, it looks like he’s done it for years and you almost feel like you got hustled.

“Alright, ready when you are.” You’re happy with how much quicker you’ve gotten at rolling cigarettes and hand her the finished product. You light the end for her and watch as she starts to gradually inhale. “I was ready for one of these two hours ago.” You smile when it’s good and lit and move to stand back up.

“You’d think warm beds would be more in demand on cold nights, but seems like everyone’s gone soft.”

Your brows raise as you inhale, followed by a disapproving “Ahhh….” at the pun before she hands over a few coins for the cig.

“Thanks. Any orders this week?”

She nods and hands you a slip of paper. “When you’re ready.” She glances over to Viktor again as you put it in your pack. “I’m curious about the company you’re keeping tonight.”

You catch her tone and shake your head, slightly offended about what she’s implying. “I’m not working if that’s what you’re asking.”

Her silence is deafening, but you decide it’s not worth the explanation. “Thanks for your business, always a pleasure.” You nod politely before turning back to Viktor and flinch when she responds.

“You know how you can make more.” You flick your hand over your shoulder in acknowledgement without turning around and find Viktor positively smizing at you.

“Don’t look at me like that, let’s go before Finn gets off his leash again.”

He unsuccessfully holds back a laugh and hands you your pipe back. “Thank you, that did help with the cold some.”

You take a puff and blow the smoke away before looking over to him. “You like it?”

“Yes. I’m not sure I would use one if it wasn’t for how chilly it is, but I understand the appeal.”

“Me too, if I wasn’t surrounded by the stuff, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into it either.”

“And now you’ve corrupted me too.” Viktor’s tone is teasing as he opens his free hand, asking for the pipe back once he sees you’ve taken a break.

You chuckle at his words “If this is corrupted for you, I’m not sure we should continue this walk.” There’s something about his comfort in asking you to share your pipe that makes you feel…companionship? No, it’s something different…deeper, but it’s hard to place.

You hand the pipe over to him and become fixated on how the smoke dances around his lips. His dark hair is blowing wildly in the wind, much more than it had earlier this morning. His eyes hold more bliss than you expected to find and are nearly glowing under the lights of the city. The corners of his mouth pull up after he exhales, satisfied with either how quickly he picked up the technique or by the flavor of the pipe. He’s a sight to behold like this and you hope your buzzed brain can capture a mental picture of what he looks like in this moment.

“If we’re on the topic of corruption…”

You let a breathy chuckle out while he passes the pipe back. “Hm?”

“Were those two at the brothel uh…” You glance at Viktor while he tries to collect the words he wants to use. “Are they…friends of yours?”

“Friends is a strong word, but Babette means well. She’s more of a client.”

His eyes widen just slightly and you realize you could’ve worded that better. “Not like that. I mean I make tonics, muscle relaxers, aphrodisiacs…things like that on the side for her business.”

He tilts his head and you see him chewing on his lower lip before his next question. “What about Finn? His comment intrigued me.”

You squint, a little unsure about how he feels about that line of work and take a drag off your pipe while he finishes his thought.

“Is he…well. Are you his client?”

His inflection throws you off, not at all the direction you thought he was going and start to stutter.

“Am I..? Oh uh, not quite…exactly that. He’s…more like uh…” How the hell do you explain this…

He backpedals after watching you squirm. “It’s okay, it’s not my busine—”

“Coworker.”

“Cowor—oh. Oh?”

“Yeah.”

You grimace after taking a long drag off your pipe. The dwindling tobacco burns in your mouth more than you were ready for and causes you to hiss when you blow the smoke out.

You look over nervously, unsure of if that’s something he’d rather not associate with since he’s trying to get into the Academy. Who knows what their rules are up there, but he breaks the silence for you.

“Do you like it?” His tone seems genuine rather than disapproving. His expression lacks any kind of judgement that you were worried about finding and you decide to trust that he’s not just putting on a polite show. Viktor didn’t seem like that type.

“Yes and no. Crafting for them is more my speed, and that pays pretty well. I like that work more than…the other bit.”

He chuckles and nods towards your hand. “What, showing people how you smoke a pipe?”

You can’t help but laugh with him for his word choice. “Exactly.”

His hand comes up and you pass the last of the pipe off to him. A small part of you grows even more thankful that he’s still comfortable sharing it with you. “I think Finn was intimidated with how quickly you picked that up.”

Victor’s expression sobers up for a moment, hesitating for a moment like he contemplated keeping his next words to himself. “I think Finn was concerned that your pipe was in my mouth at all...”

Your own gaze gets heavy at his statement, the way he worded it left just enough room for your mind to wander to places it probably shouldn’t. You’re not sure if the inuendo was lost on him or if he’s playing off of his metaphor.

The desire to dig into that sentence shows as your smile leaves your mouth agape, but Viktor’s eyes squint as he finishes off the pipe and shifts the conversation.

“That got really hot at the end.”

You lick your lips and hold back what you were about to ask, eying his hand as he holds the pipe for you to take instead. A second of courage is all you needed to purposefully graze his palm with your thumb similar to how you accidentally did this morning, causing his expression to soften and for you to level with his banter in your own way.

“I thought you could handle hot.”

He recognizes your recall from earlier and a clever grin finds its way to him. While it didn’t give you complete clarity of the situation, it did give you the slightest bit of assurance that he was enjoying himself.

Once you make it to R&R’s the lights are off and the blinds are down. Remy must’ve closed early. Viktor purses his lips and leans a little heavier on his cane before speaking. “Looks like they’re closed.” He sighs and turns to you. “Now what?”

His eyes beam curiously as you pull some keys out of your backpack, quirking a brow and questioning what they’re for. “It’s fine, Remy won’t mind if we drink here. Are…you okay if it’s just us two?”

You feel a twinge of nervousness creep in. It’s pretty late now and you don’t want him to feel weird about being alone since you just met. “It’s okay to say no, and I can walk you home if you want?”

“What? Don’t be silly.” He furrows his brow and waves you off. He sounds so sure in his response it surprises you. Viktor’s expression moves from puzzled to deep in thought, and finally arrives at understanding. “Remy…as in one of the R’s? One of the owners?” Your heart feels heavy at hearing ‘owners’ be plural.

“Right, it’s just Remy’s now. But he’ll never change the name, this place was always Rye’s idea.”

He lets that information sink in and recalls the conversation you had earlier. “And this is the same Remy you need to give the saddles to?”

You nod back to him. “Either way I need to break in.” You smirk, even though this is hardly breaking in since you frequently use the main door to get to your apartment.

“You’re breaking in with…the keys?” He mocks and starts to walk towards the building with you. “Do you work here too or something?"

Viktor stands more upright as he tries to get a better look at you sifting through your keys until you find the right one.

“I used to, but given the stance on my current employment…it might be my new gig.”

Viktor’s expression is a mix of pity and confusion. “Do you want to talk about that?” He walks up to the entrance as you unlock and open the door. You move to prop it, but he holds it for you this time.

The gesture is small but between his arm stretched past you on the door and his confident smile your heart betrays its usual rhythm, even if only for a second. You respond to his chivalry with, “Such a gentleman.” which he flicks his eyebrows at, not wanting to interrupt in case you answer his question.

“There’s just not much to say. Syd kind of ambushed me and I reacted by running away.”

You turn the lights over the bar on as Viktor closes the door behind him. His cane makes a dull and muffled thud on the wooden floors rather than the clink you’ve grown accustomed to on cobblestone and concrete. He seems to somehow look more impressed with this space than he was at Syd’s.

“You mean figuratively.” He’s half-stating and half-asking as he takes in his surroundings then looks to you when you don’t respond immediately.

“I mean literally.” You make your way behind the bar and drop the saddles off for Remy next to the cash register. When you turn around you find Viktor staring at you, his eyebrow cocked and looking completely perplexed as he comes to terms with your answer.

“You…. literally, physically ran away from her?” He starts to chuckle but cuts it off quickly. “Should I be worried about you?”

You shrug. “Maybe, but not because of Syd.” You joke.

He seemed to grapple with that scenario in his mind, but you attempt to reassure him before he gets too deep in thought.

“I promise it’s not worth talking about, but you know what is?”

He looks up, eyes wide as he abandons his theories. “What?”

You grab two glasses and motion to the wall of stocked liquor behind you. “What’re we drinking tonight?”

----------

A/N: Thanks for reading! If you like what you see check out my pinned post for more chapters on ao3 and the watt. If you're all caught up, I just posted chapter 19 today :) Cheers, Ghost

[less-than-three-3]

Convergence - like Ori but with time powers

The title pretty much summarizes my impressions. The comparisons to Ori might not be super fair across the board but for the most part I think it lives up to it, which means this game is pretty damn good.

If you don’t care about league or Ekko (how could you not though??) I still think this game has a great deal to offer you even if it’s a little short, as the story, like pretty much all side league content, pretty much doesn’t require you to have any knowledge of the game even though it does have references for you to pog at if you’re in the know. The story isn’t like, arcane level or anything (not that I was expecting that) but the character interactions are charming and it serves well enough to keep you interested. Full thoughts below, spoiler free.

As a preface, I did play this on hard mode with all the hard mode toggles on. And to be completely transparent, I wouldn’t really recommend that lol... specifically the “enemy aggressiveness” toggle makes things so chaotic and not necessarily in a good way. It does make the bosses harder though, so maybe keeping that on and turning down enemy count is better? Tinker around with it and see what fits you.

Despite that, though, the combat is pretty dang satisfying. I’d say it’s like a step below or maybe on par with Blasphemous (which I’d also recommend!) once you get some skills learned. At the very beginning it’s definitely a little basic but once you start piling on abilities both from the tree and progression, things start to really flow together well. I think the parry is really fun to use especially! You have to really quickly learn not to abuse rewinds much or else you’ll run out, but once you get past the learning curve they’re such a powerful tool to reassess or correct execution errors. Altogether it makes for a really smooth experience, maybe not best in genre but certainly near the top (and incidentally looks pretty close to that new prince of persia game that I’m also looking forward to).

Health and rewind refreshes are hard to come by especially during gauntlets of enemies, and I don’t exactly know how to feel about that. On one hand, I should just get good, but on the other hand it definitely made me always feel anxious to be running around with like 3 rewinds and 2 health or something like that. I think between bigger encounters it would be nice to have more of that recovery, but maybe that’s just me. At least they really give them before bosses.

Traversal, though, is a fucking dream. It’s easily the biggest highlight of the game, and comparable to or possibly better than the Ori games. In a vacuum mechanically it may be hard to say that, but the platforming challenges both in the main routes and in the side paths are so incredibly satisfying to put together, I wish more of the game was this! Putting together all your movement abilities, with rewinds to help you course correct, is always so satisfying, and this game really nailed it. It might be better on controller, since I played on keyboard and it kinda felt like I had a lot to juggle sometimes (especially during combat). 

And like Ori, too, this is a fairly linear experience. The map is a little small for my liking even then, but I know many people would appreciate the more focused traversal, with a waypoint for the main quest and optional (and fairly obvious to spot) side challenges. And of those side challenges there are platforming and combat challenges, the former of which I’ve touched upon, and the latter of which I found kind of annoying to do sometimes (probably because of my difficulty settings lol)? But yeah this is only a Metroidvania in that you get movement upgrades, don’t expect a giant sprawling map to get lost in, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your tastes!

Ironically though, something that was noticeably missing was Gareth Coker’s soundtrack contributions - something that both Ruined King and Mageseeker had and really made them come to life. The soundtrack in this game isn’t, like, bad? But it’s certainly nothing really that memorable to me. It’s just kinda funny that this game has so many apparent similarities to Ori is lacking the one thing that other Riot Forge games have in common with it. I don’t mind, I just hope to see more of Gareth’s work in future Forge games. 

The story, without many spoilers, is not the greatest thing in the world admittedly. It’s not bad per se, but I felt a little disappointed by how everything was ultimately wrapped up, especially since Ekko makes a really interesting partnership in the later hours of the game, and I felt like there were many better avenues for the story to go. But I thought the character interactions were really cute, even if most of the supporting cast isn’t really super deep. This is no arcane, you’re playing this for the buttery smooth movement and strong combat, not the story.

All in all, this was a really damn good game. Ruined King still remains as the golden child of Riot Forge’s published games so far, but this is definitely a close contender. Convergence has definitely restored much of my faith in the publisher, and it’s a game I would strongly recommend to anyone who likes action platformers or Ekko. Definitely one of the strongest indie games I’ve played from one of the better indie publishers in recent memory.

[yanderelovlies]

✨Galaxy Anon ✨ here!

Alright what’s the schedule? Lol

Yes same to that sentiment. Yes like I actually feel bad sometimes when someone gets me something since then I can’t refuse it and also sometimes I’m not crazy about it but the thought counts. It is sometime I wish I can turn it off but nope. I mean ay least we are responsible with money.

Alright. Let me get the list

Helluva Boss

The Owl House

Amphibia

Arcane

Gravity Falls

Sunny Day Jack

My Dear hatchet man

See Thru: Need a Friend

My Hero Academia ( though have lost interest on later seasons and manga)

Tokyo Revengers

Fnaf ( more into lore than games. I love reading fanfiction about it it’s fun seeing theories)

The rest I have to remember but I like more anime and shows but these are the ones I indulge into the most. Hmm what’s wrong on aliexpress? Not trustworthy or selling it for crazy prices? I hope you find it soon viví!

Wow it really was that bad though can’t blame you I don’t think that work environment is good for you especially still in school. Do what I couldn’t do and pass the math. I’m serious I literally think I would’ve failed a grade from it. Ooh what kind of tips if I may ask?

Thanks viví especially you waiting for my replies and sorry again for taking awhile. I do my best to respond the fastest I can but it’s so busy in life sometimes I barely even have to wind down. It’s always great to see your replies and hear from you as well!

Ooh so cute! Any songs in particular you recommend or love to hear while driving?

Seriously it is like that. Your basically in danger for showing basic human decency for being tricked and hurt by horrible people it’s crazy. If your not paranoid you can get easily hurt worse. That’s why I just like staying inside so much. At least you have enough bravery to do that, I hate people hearing my music unless I let them and it’s rare. I mean seriously not even my family hears a lot of my music since it’s so personal to me and also I’m afraid they look at me weird for my taste. My music taste is wild. So yeah I don’t even take chances doing that since I feel self conscious and since I have terrible hearing well unless I want the world to hear I can’t do the same shame.

Honestly yeah. Yeah and on the other side there are people who demand your attention even if you visited there table twenty times and get mad if you don’t visit for four minutes it’s ridiculous and get mad at me for it. Thankfully most are patient. Yeah at least I’m used to it also so I have more patience.

Also to answer the other thing I said about having a break don’t worry viví! Tell your brain to shut up and have a break otherwise you’ll get stressed from the pressure. I mean at least you have a schedule but don’t be afraid to take a break on it. You make these requests for free so people shouldn’t demand you make it right away. Vivi’s brain let them rest!

Lol I'll have to get to you on that one

Oh i know my old friends use to ask how I always seem to keep money. I had to gently explain to them that they don't have to buy everything they see. I was not the favorite that day 👀

All of those I've heard of but never been into the fandom. It's hard for me to get into shows. I really want to cause it'd what everyone is into, but it's hard for me to watch it. My mind wanders and I do other things completely ignoring the show. Don't get me wrong I have shows, but not a lot.

That being said I wouldn't hearing about them! I don't mind spoilers if you don't mind questions. Who knows maybe talking about it with you will make me watch it! Also from what I understand it's like wish and I don't trust clothing that come from wish.

Honestly If it a gets really bad I'm getting a tutor I'm determined to pass and get my degree. Won't lie it scares me a bit but I'll do what I need to. Since it was on semester it was basics such as meditating, Journaling (that one had helped a lot by the way) and finding the little joys. If you point out something positive at the end of the day it helps you see the day as good rather focusing on the negative.

Honestly, that depends on my mood when I'm driving. But I can give you some of the songs that hyper fixated on lately!

Honestly, I think it is just because I have never been able to hide away till recently so anything I listened to everyone heard. The only downside to it is now I have big loud speaker in my house that my neighbors hear on the daily. It hasn't been a complaint yet (cause I usually play it during the day and turn of off the closer to dark it gets) but waiting. The only playlist I keep to myself if my "when the clouds come" type of playlist if you get what I mean.

The people who want your attention the whole time they are there make me upset. I just don't understand where that entitlement comes from. They get upset when people mess up their work day so why do it to others?? Ugh

I know 😭 thank you for worrying about me 🥺🥺💕💕

[flanklurker]

Hear me out bae,, Chamber x GN! Agent! Reader where they have similar personalities / relationship is Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane? Just the Reader being super flirty and bold, where Chamber is more focused on the task at hand? The reader also refers to him as Angel (as a nickname!) The reader gets into a SUPER bad fight with a mirror agent and wins, but Reader is left practically bleeding out + crawling (Reader got stabbed pretty bad in the side of their stomach, and over all just beaten up ; Basically the Bar fight w/ Vi and Sevika) and Chamber has to step in and help Reader get back to base, and even though Reader is literally bleeding out, they still flirt with him and are like, "See.. I knew you were my Angel :')" and then Chamber FINALLY reciprocates / flirts back saying something like, "If I were truly an Angel, I would follow you to the deepest pit of hell if it meant being with you." (or something like that) and the reader is just 😳 because Chamber flirted back x10 ???

OML I love this concept!! Pls bear with me as I haven’t actually seen Arcane (I swear as soon as I remember the Netflix password im in cause there’s this really hot lady with the gold hair bands and I have a mighty need to simp) but hehehe always down for a bit of a scuffle…

I also fully believe your reader is the reason behind Chamber’s line “stay focused, eyes off me.”

Chamber x GN!Reader: My Angel

The flyover on the dropship is a bog-standard one. Kay/0 sits at the control panel, Reyna broods in the front seat, Viper is… somewhere, checking her chemicals.

That leaves you, and him.

Chamber currently sits, back pressed against the metal and Headhunter in hand, examining the metal intently for any kind of imperfection. His eyes flicker quickly, methodically, rotating the weapon ever so slowly as he does so.

Naw, the opportunity’s too good to pass up.

“Chamber, darling, that weapon really is like its owner—you’re not going to find any imperfections there. Lost cause if you ask me.”

Without looking up, the man allows a small smile to tug the corner of his mouth.

“Oh believe me, mon canard, if I could be certain of that I would not be here. A person that cuts corners in this line of work is a corpse.”

“And yet, Phoenix and Yoru seem to be doing fine.”

“Touché.”

“Anyway, we’ve got your back, Angel. Not gonna give you up or let you down with hair so perfect it looks like it came straight from god.”

Chamber scoffs, and gives the gun a final appraisal, running his fingers along the barrel before he sets it back in the holster. “I trust you as much as I trust my tech. A healthy serve, but not the only thing on my plate.”

“Oh ye of little faith, Chamber.”

As he moves to quality check on his calling cards, you sigh and fiddle with your own pistol, idly spinning the fixings on the barrel and twiddling the ammo through your fingertips. He was always so focused when it came to missions… which was fine.

You don’t know why it wouldn’t be fine.

Why wouldn’t it be fine?

As the ship starts to land, it jolts you out of your thoughts as Kay/0 comes over the intercom.

“Sights set on Helipad R. Initial sweep from sensors indicates no hostiles on ground. Preparing to land.”

“Hear that pretty boy?” you turn to him. “Beach holiday has just moved up on the agenda.”

“Ahh, if only we had a free moment between all these gunfights to kick back. But alas, mon tresor, we do not.”

“Ugh. Guess I’ll put my bikini away then.” This one does get a mild chuckle from the man. “Now that would be an interesting mission.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t object to a bikini shotgun combo, Chamber? I thought it was kinda trashy but if you’re into that kind of thing…”

“All wild speculation, my dear,” he says, cutting you off and turning away. “I believe this is our cue to set up.”

“Well you’re no fun,” you pout. “Didn’t think Angels were supposed to be so dry and humourless.”

“Plenty of time for frivolities after the mission, ma puce.”

You swing your legs over the side, and land softly in the sand. Stretching and yawning, you take a moment to fully appreciate the ocean breeze and direct sunlight after hours cooped up. Nothing quite like having actual open space to stretch your legs—it was a novelty you could rarely indulge in in your covert lifestyle.

Maybe a beach trip would be nice sometimes.

Starting to move your way over to the bomb site with a massive pillar and old crumbling castle walls, you begin to scope out where you’ll need to put your util once the enemies arrive. You notice with satisfaction that there are a few cracks in the architecture which could be used to hide some shit if it came down to it.

A clean click lets you know that Chamber has started putting his trademarks around the entrances.

“Ah, the Angel returns from yonder, here to grace us with his presence and wisdom~ welcome great one.” You do an exaggerated bow to punctuate the bit.

“I believe Reyna said enemies were on their way, mon chou. I’m here to keep us alert and alive.”

“Have it your way, I’m trying to keep us dripped up and hot as fuc-“

You’re cut off by one of Chamber’s alarms pinging, and you whirl around to get an angle on the main entrance to site. Sure enough, recon bolt has lodged in the cobblestone and you can hear multiple footsteps hurtling around the corner.

“Fuck me. Viper we’ve got shit here, we’re gonna need you to cover.”

“Copy but it’s gonna take me a bit.”

You swear under your breath. “Chamber, where you at?”

The voice comes back through gritted teeth. “My apologies, mon bijou, we have a fair bit of company in elbow.”

You go to make a snarky remark along the lines of ‘where’s a good guardian angel when you need one’ before instinct takes over and you jerk back to avoid a slurry of bullets from the main entrance. Fuck.

A malevolent arcane hiss from around the corner tells you all you need to know—the mirror Reyna is fully on your ass right now.

Counting the three beats like your Reyna taught you, you prime your pistol and set up for an angle. You take your moment and peek the corner, firing your own spat of bullets. You hear a hiss of pain and grunt in satisfaction—probably clipped her shoulder.

You draw back, back pressed against the cold stone as you reload and gather your breath. About to take a step out to fire again, something screams in the back of your mind and you whirl around just in time to shift as Reyna’s knife embeds not in your chest, where it would have stuck, but into the top of your left shoulder.

You let out a hard grunt of pain as Reyna’s eyes pierce yours, whirling with bloodlust, hate and satisfaction. Fucking bitch.

“Fucking bitch,” you hiss out under your breath, and use the moment her gaze finds yours to get a left hook in against her jaw. She reels back, drawing her knife back. Using the momentum, you push through the pain to aim a sharp kick into her chest and send her off balance, lunging in.

Reyna’s quick on the recovery, quicker than you’d expected, and she grabs your bad shoulder and uses it to pivot you, slamming your back against the wall and pinning you there. Her thumb pushes into your open wound, eliciting a strangled gurgle for you as you fight the waves of pain.

You retaliate with a kick to the shins, and as the woman in front of you doubles down you bring your knee up to connect with her jaw. You allow yourself a small, petty grin hearing the crack and watching her stumble back, dazed.

As you do, a white-hot pain sears through your side and thuds out through the rest of your body. You look down to see her knife, this time jammed to the hilt in your lower abdomen. Oh, that’s not ideal.

You turn back to see her face contorted in a wild grin, wiping the smear of blood from the side of her mouth.

Something in you just snaps.

Biting the inside of your cheek to take the edge off the pain in your side, you lurch forward once more. With an uncanny surge of strength, you yank the knife from your side and in the same fluid movement, you arc your arm up and draw it across her clavicle.

Reyna barely has time to let out a raspy yelp before you’ve unholstered your pistol and fired three shots into her head.

The body crumples to the ground.

You stand there, numbly, blood roaring in your ears as your brain works to make sense of the bloody scene in front of you. And then the pain comes flooding back with a vengeance. You let out a strangled cry as a wave crashes over you, starting in your side and blossoming out to every nerve ending in your body.

You can feel your legs giving out and your vision growing dim, and so you make your best attempt to stumble back in an effort to get stable against a wall. Something. Anything.

Arms catch you.

Your back thuds against a chest, steady against your form as it starts to shake involuntarily. A voice comes through, warm in your ear like honey.

“Easy now mon tresor, I have you. Slowly now.”

Ugh, of course.

“I thought you were supposed to be the one falling from the sky, my angel…” you manage out with a wet chuckle.

“Falling is an interesting way of putting it, mon bebe. I wouldn’t let you fall alone. Save your voice now though, you need to be still so I can stop the bleeding, no?”

You go to respond but the pain hits you like a truck, so you opt to let Chamber gently settle you against the cobbled wall and start to check your injuries. He isn’t able to conceal a small huff of concern as he clocks the blood soaking rapidly through your shirt from your stomach and shoulder. In spite of everything, you still find yourself enjoying the closeness as his worried eyes flick over you.

God, you can’t help yourself.

“Hey now angel, don’t worry about me too much yeah? We’ve got healers and shit at base, and 50/50 Sage has the res online anyway.”

The last comment, your slightly ham-fisted attempt at dark humour, has his eyes flashing with something almost unplaceable.

“I am not, under any circumstances, going to let you go through that mon etoile. Not now, not ever. Please, stay still so I can stabilise you, I’m not losing you like this.” If your ears weren’t deceiving you, you could have sworn there was a scratch in his voice by the end of that last bit.

Fumbling through his med kit, Chamber stretches his role of gauze and pulls up your shirt for access.

“Deep breath, mon chouchou. This will likely not tickle.”

No shit sherlock. You grit your teeth and try to temper your strangled grunts of pain as Chamber applies pressure to the wound and begins to wrap. You’d never been hurt this bad before, but it was a point of pride at this point to keep up the stoic façade.

Chamber seals the first strip and gets to work on your shoulder. Your heart rate has abated enough that as he leans in, you manage to whisper;

“See? Knew you were my guardian angel.”

Chamber draws back, and that look in his eyes has returned. It’s fierce, and passionate, and holds a surprising amount of warmth for someone who is only ever professionally charming. When he speaks, it’s so quiet it’s almost to himself.

“Mon coeur, angels will only ever watch from above. I would rather be doomed to my mortality and die a horrible death than spend a single day in paradise without you next to me.”

Oh did he just.

OH.

Despite everything, you still have enough blood in circulation to feel it all flood to your cheeks, completely and utterly speechless for the first time in god knows how long.

“Chamber, yo-  the—my angel y—”

Nope, words gone. He got you good.

Snapping back from his moment of intensity, Chamber seems to finally register the effect his words have on you. Despite the concern, he allows himself a small grin.

“Oh? I see mon amour is finally quiet for once. If you’ll allow me to share this moment with you?” He leans in, ever so gentle and careful to avoid your injuries, head cocked to the side in a silent question.

You close the distance, pressing your lips against his with a hunger that he returns tenfold. His lips are soft, his hands move to cup your cheek so gently and he’s all around you, beautiful and ethereal and overwhelming.

At long last, you draw back. As much as your injuries hurt, you can’t keep the smile from splitting across your face as you hold his warm brown eyes in your gaze.

“You have a little bit of blood dribbling down your chin, mon biquet.”

“Shut up Angel face.”

“Let’s get you out of here.”

[writing-in-april]

Spooks

Raymond Wadsworth X Female Reader

Summary: Raymond starts sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong at the next haunting he’s investigating.

A/N: Hey heyyy- here’s my second fic for my 30 fics in 30 days for April 2021!!! I had this spur of the moment idea in the middle of the night and ended up writing a pretty long fic for it (at least long for me lol) I had a lot of fun writing it and really liked the idea- I hope you all enjoy it too! Drop something in my ask box here if you’d like!! I’m always looking for feedback and my requests are open as well! Thanks for reading!!!

Warnings: 18+, Ghosts & poltergeists, Smut, Sub Raymond, Unprotected sex, Sex in a car, Slight cum play

Main Masterlist Word count: 3.2k

Your job description wasn’t an easy one to describe, you could say Mulder and Scully would be the most accurate equivalent. Though as with all tv shows it was portrayed with a set of rose tinted glasses, giving a filter to any realities you faced on the job.

You and your department preferred to call yourselves spooks, truthfully only because the pun was funny. In reality your 8 person department were called agents just like the rest of the FBI, you guys were just more secretive than the others.

Most of the time you ended up getting handed the short straw when getting new cases as you were still the newest on the team, despite being there for several years already. Unlike most professionals in law enforcement you did not have a partner, it only slowed you down. Every place that you were scheduled to decontaminate was an in and out procedure streamlined for effectiveness, adding another body to be hyper vigilant about was a hassle. You operated alone.

Any type of paranormal phenomena that you could think of was thrown in front of you. In your opinion the cases you had the most fun on were the ones that dealt with aliens, though some ghosts could be fun on occasion. The most recent case I had to deal with was a nasty poltergeist, the worst type of ghost. They always wreaked the most havoc on whatever house or place they occupied.

The family in this house had moved out a while ago, the request to decontaminate the home had been sitting on one of your supervisors for a while. It was an old house, built around the late 1800s. Old enough that it had a bunch of unnecessary rooms, like the parlor room that you found yourself trapped in.

And, you weren’t on your own either. Trapped with you was a man with fluffy brown hair flying in any direction, his eyes a darker shade of brown that were filled with fear- yet also curiosity. He was wearing a blue romper, it looked good on him, from what you had seen while you were frantic. But, you highly doubted that it would be effective clothes for a paranormal investigation, maybe he had just stumbled across this place out of curiosity. Either that or he was the type of an inexperienced investigator who had probably had one encounter with a ghost. It did not change that he was cute though.

“I’m a paranormal investigator- uhh technically a supernatural detective! My name’s Raymond! Who are you?!” He sputtered out, ranting probably to try to push aside his fear. You were standing side by side holding the double doors of the entrance to the parlor room, pushing them down to prevent the poltergeist from ramming it down and attacking us.

“Not important!” You snapped back at him, throwing a glare at him. Even if it wasn’t such a tense situation, you weren’t supposed to give away your identity or your job description to just anyone.

With another gasping breath he asked another question, even though you hadn’t answered his first inquiry, “I came with a girl, her name’s Becca- did you see her?”

This one you would bother to answer as he was quite obviously worried about the well being of his companion, “I may have seen her speed away in a red car after she was thrown out of the house. Was that your car she took?”

Not that you really cared all that much, but if he had been stripped of his transportation by his partner you’d have to take him in your own car. Not that you really wanted to, you still would have to help him even though he was seriously hindering your decontamination. “No, I came in my own car.” He answered which made you breathe a sigh of relief, you wouldn’t have to deal with another issue after you escaped, “I don’t blame her honestly, if I could leave I would.”

You were about to answer when your pressure on the doors wasn’t enough, making you both stumble forward. When you stumbled forward your keys, along with your badge, fell out of your pocket. Your badge flipped open front and center to reveal your name, plus the exact agency you worked for in a bold logo.

“You’re an FBI agent?!” You could not confirm or deny what he had asked, you were firmly focused on scrambling to get your things and avoid the ghost that was now throwing furniture at the two of you.

When Raymond finally took notice of the being that was pelting heavy objects around you, a ghostly shape in the form of a woman with a tortured look on her face, he screamed bloody murder. It was not unlike that of a scooby doo cartoon, him obviously resembling Shaggy almost perfectly. If only he had a dog to jump into his arms before he comically zoomed away while remarking “zoinks!”

His frazzled response to the ghosts giving a rather mediocre jump scare made you wonder whether he had the credentials to back up his job title as a paranormal investigator- or as he called it a supernatural detective. You racked your brain to try and recall anytime you had seen a Raymond or a Becca on the long lists of people that were being monitored for potential involvement, coming up with nothing. Well, maybe they were new, as his reaction seemed to indicate.

Your own reaction was stoic as usual, your nerves no longer jumped and your heart no longer quickened to the visage of a ghost trying to spook you. It was in no doubt for some arcane reason probably linked to revenge towards people that no longer existed. One would normally say don’t assume anything about people, that it might offend them to assume, but dead people in your view also had dead opinions- plus relying on precedent was usually a good option when a ghost might be trying to kill you. Despite the absence of fear from you there would be no call out of “Let’s split up gang!” either. It was you mostly not wanting to explain to your employer how you lost a citizen in the middle of this place and- besides that you couldn’t deny that you didn’t want him to die no matter how much undeniable extra trouble he was causing.

“Let’s go.” Your voice was firm, no discernible room for argument or questions.

Raymond somehow found a way to wriggle in to asking yet another question, “Where are we going?”

You yanked his hand out of the room that you think might’ve been a parlor room back in it’s day. You shouldn’t have bothered to answer as it would breed more questions from him, you already gave away too much about who you are and what you do. Any extra questions you answer from him was just creating a bigger breach in your security. Yet you found yourself justifying an answer, his eyes that were probably pulled into an adorable curious look laced with fear bored into the back of your skull as you dragged him out of the room and to the nearest exit. It was only a harmless question, it didn’t even have a satisfying answer, “Anywhere but here!”

Weaving my way through the house that was better characterized as a maze was hard to navigate through. At every turn some sort of iteration of the poltergeist tried to capture us, to pull us into death with it.

The two of us did eventually find the front door, only to find that we could not pull it open, the handle was stuck.

“Step back!” You shouted at Raymond to get him to move out of the way while you prepared to kick the door down. He skittered over to be right behind you, looking over his shoulder in paranoia. You used your right foot to kick the door, using all the leg strength you could muster. After three kicks, the door burst open, letting you both free.

Scurrying quickly to your government given work vehicle, looking back for a second to make sure that Raymond was following you. You couldn’t let a civilian die here, no matter how much of a nuisance he was, and he was cute of course.

Pulling out the last resort from the trunk of your car, gasoline, you then shoved a container of it to your unexpected companion.

“Cover as much of the house as you can!” He made no argument with your plan, running right behind you back up to the house to cover it all in gasoline. Once you had both covered it as much as possible you made sure Raymond was standing back before you lit your lighter and chucked it into the wood wet with the accelerant.

As soon as you could confirm with your eyes that the house had sparked with fire, you grabbed Raymond’s arm again to drag him to your car, not even caring about the one he had come here in. You basically threw yourself into the driver's seat, starting to drive away immediately after Raymond had sat down, before he had even shut the side door.

Adrenaline was coursing through your veins, causing your heart to pound hard enough that it felt like it could burst out of your chest. It was not unusual in your field of work, to feel death brush right by you.

“My car?!” Raymond screamed, his body turned so he was looking out of your back window.

“Sorry no time to go back! The U.S government will reimburse you for that- maybe…” You said quickly, while trying to step harder down on the gas pedal to speed away.

The house behind you was burning so bright from you could hear the crackling from the house turning to ash. You imagined that the flames and smoke were big enough to be seen for miles, considering how much accelerant you poured on it. So much for being subtle, your boss was definitely going to chew you out for that.

When you had gained a sufficient enough distance away from the flames you pulled off into a parking lot adjacent to a park. Pulling into the parking space fast you then hit the brakes hard, jostling you two a bit.

Taking a deep breath you slumped forward to rest your head on your steering wheel, just for a moment of relaxation.

“You know burning it down won’t necessarily get rid of it.” You only grunted in response to his matter of fact statement. Your lack of response seemed to make him even more anxious, tapping his fingers on any surface that was around him to preoccupy his mind while you took your breather. He tried to fill the silence that was making him uncomfortable, “So what do you actually do?”

You sighed deeply against the steering wheel one last time, then leaning off of it to sit back in the seat. You decided that you might as well give him a small morsel of information that may satiate his curiosity, “That’s highly classified, but you could probably figure it out.”

His insistence to bring up what your job is was making your insides twist with anxiety. You were already dreading what would happen when you got back to the office. It would be a lot of paperwork to explain everything that happened, plus you’d have to submit an application on behalf of Raymond to get his car reimbursed.

The adrenaline that had spiked in your veins born out of fear was still present. It was overwhelming, and you felt the need to use it for something different than wallowing in your fear.

You redirected your gaze to fixate on Raymond, who could surely help you redirect your adrenaline. He was an attractive man, who’s personality did help make him even more desirable. Even though he was a pain in your ass, he was a cute and funny one.

His own eyes were fixated on yours as well, with a different look than what you had seen earlier. His eyes were deepened with lust, not fear, though there was still an ounce of curiosity in them- probably still wondering who exactly I was.

Grabbing the hairs at the back of his neck you then pulled him forward to crush your lips onto his. He reciprocated immediately, though did not try to challenge your dominance over the kiss. He let you slip your tongue into his mouth, exploring him with diligence.

You wanted him closer to you, feeling every inch of him. So you swung your legs over his lap as best you could with the space you had to straddle him. When you did so you barely let his lips come off your own, too greedy to let them separate from yours.

A thought however was nagging you in the back of your head as you continued to melt yourself into the kiss, he had mentioned a companion that he had been worried about earlier. You did not want to step on any toes, nor endorse any type of cheating. You separated your lips from his own, even though you wanted nothing more than to envelop him in another kiss.

“This ok with you?” Your words were said right into his lips, mingling your breath with his, “You’re not with that Becca girl are you?”

“Not anymore- and yes I’m totally ok with this.” He confirmed before surging up to meet his lips with your own again. You wasted no time in starting to grind your hips onto his cock that was swiftly growing underneath his shorts. Just from grinding you could feel how large he was, even through a couple of layers.

He moved his hands to the button of your pants when you moved your lips to start nipping and sucking on his neck and jaw. You tried to kick off the articles of clothing on your lower half, panties included, without removing your lips from him. Unfortunately you had to do so because of the amount of space. You cursed under your breath, wishing that the government had paid to give you a larger vehicle.

You were already slick with arousal, also aided by sticking your fingers into his mouth to get them sufficiently wet. He bobbed his head up and down on them eagerly until you were satisfied. Removing them from his mouth you ran them up and down along your slit, getting you even more wet.

You guided his length to your entrance, not sinking down immediately. You undulated your hips so his length was coated with your arousal as well. When he bucked his hips in impatience you just pushed them down back into the seat. Then you leaned down to whisper into the shell of his ear to be patient- he’d get what he wanted.

“Fuck me.” Was all Raymond could muster up to whimper when you sunk down onto his cock, his head falling back to hit the headrest. You wasted no time in starting a fast pace, bouncing up and down on him with vigor. Raymond grabbed onto your hips when he couldn’t find anything else to hold onto, digging his fingers into your hips hard enough to leave bruises.

His large cock bumped up against your cervix in the most pleasurable way possible as you swivel your hips over him. Your own head tilted back, your mouth opened wide to let out a loud moan when his cock hit a particularly pleasurable spot inside you. You also felt the need to hold onto something as your release began to build inside you, getting ready to snap. So you grabbed onto the best thing you could find, running your hands through his hair and pulling on his strands.

One of his hands then moved to toy with your clit,his movements were a bit fumbled, but it swiftly made your orgasm start to crest. You were almost disappointed about how quickly this was going to be over, you however couldn’t deny that it felt amazing even with the frantic pace. In the back of your mind you couldn’t help but imagine all the other things you could do to Raymond if you were given the chance.

You fell apart above him, your eyes rolling back into your head. The adrenaline still coursed through your veins, and it felt good to have it redirected to a pleasurable experience instead of fear. You kept yourself impaled on his cock for a bit after your orgasm had finished, relishing at the feeling of him inside you.

Slipping out of him was a little bit awkward because of how cramped the space was. Once his cock slipped out of you, both of you groaning at the loss of him inside of you, you wrapped your hand around his length. You started to pump him slowly in your hands, taking your time compared to earlier. Your adrenaline had abated a bit and now you wanted to see how long you could drag this out, in case you never got the chance to again.

However, It still didn’t take much movement from your hands for him to get close, he was already close to the edge from being inside you. His hips bucked up into your hands a bit before he begged, “C-can you put- your hands- around my throat?”

“Should’ve known you’d be into that.” You snarked back a bit in response to his plea. Your tone had no sympathy for him, making him obviously think that you weren’t going to oblige him by the look in his eyes. That look of pure desperation in his eyes, with his kiss swollen lips, and his curls disheveled made you buckle. He groaned loudly when you put your free hand around his neck. You only applied a small amount of pressure, but that was all Raymond needed for him to cum all over your hand.

Once you had helped him ride out his own orgasm you removed your hand from his neck and his cock. You did need to clean up the hand that was covered in his thick ropes of cum, so you brought it up to your mouth to lick it clean.

“Fuck me…” Echoing his previous words, this time with an even bigger whimper. After you had cleaned yourself and him up enough to be decent you flung yourself back to sit in the driver’s seat again.

Raymond was silent for a minute, which seemed odd if you were going off of what little experience you had with him so far. Though maybe he was still going through his post orgasm relaxation just as you were. He then broke the silence, by asking the same question again, even though you had wanted to answer it just about 30 minutes ago. You’d bet money on the reason that he kept asking, being that each time that you answered you gave him a small hint, “Will you tell me now what you actually do?”

“Maybe- if you get to know me better.” You turned the key to start the engine again then asking with another hint as to what your job was, “Consider this your lucky day, you’ve got a spook as your chauffeur. Now, where next Raymond?”

—-

Tag lists (message me if you want to be added):

All works: @shotarosleftpinky @90spumkin @kyra-morningstar @s1utformgg @takeyourleap-of-faith

All MGG characters: @muffin-cup @willowrose99

[twstinginthewind]

🎁 - A creative gift they received

Dealer's choice!

🎁Symbol stories🎁

"Oi, Bobby."

Bobby Sherwood froze. That was the voice of his dorm leader, that pampered prince, calling him out. He looked over his shoulder and up to meet his gaze. He wasn't in trouble, was he? "Housewarden Kingscholar, how do you do? What brings you down among the rabble today?"

Leona crossed his arms. "It's too early in the day for that." He shook his head, grumbling. "The things I gotta do in this position.... Come along with me." He gestured to Bobby, then turned and began to walk, without even checking to make sure that he complied.

Bobby rolled his eyes, but started along after him. The fox and the lion walked along the corridors of the Savanaclaw dormitory in silence for a bit, finally stopping in front of a rarely-used side lounge.

"So, uh." Bobby cleared his throat. He didn't much like being alone with Leona much, and could tell that his housewarden felt much the same. "Can I ask what this is about?"

"You can." Leona shook back his shaggy hair from his face. "I probably ain't gonna be too talkative about it, though."

"Is that so," Bobby replied tartly.

"Yup. 'Fraid this one's more of a show than a tell, anyway." Leona swung open the door to the lounge. Like everywhere else in the dorm, it was furnished comfortably but rustically, calling to mind the rich fabrics and bright colors popularized in the Sunset Savanna. Two large chairs were placed towards the center of the room, with a little table set between them. On top of the table was a hand-carved wooden chess set, already set up to play.

Bobby spluttered "You. You're pulling me in for a game?"

"Not just a game," Leona growled. "Look. Much as I hate to admit it, you're one of the few clever whelps we have in this dorm. A bright spark among our typical meatheads." He huffed. "And... I need a second to back me up for the school chess tournament. Ruggie's too busy to learn, so it's gotta be someone smart."

"And you chose me?" Bobby took a step back. He was trying to stay off of Kingscholar's radar. What was he doing wrong, that he was able to be detected like this? "But I don't even know how to play."

"Yeah, you." Leona moved into one of the seats. "And I'm gonna be teachin' you. You lucky fox. You'll get to learn somethin' from the top of the food chain."

Bobby stood next to the opposite chair, nervously. "And what if I say I don't want to."

Leona looked at him, coldly. "Then I tell that useless crow that I know exactly why half of the sophomores in this dorm all handed in basically the same essay for the arcane languages exam last month, and who wrote the original."

Bobby tried to swallow, but found his mouth was suddenly too dry. He sat down and clapped his hands together. "So," he squeaked. "Chess, huh! What a game, what a game. Why is there a timer?"

"We keep time to keep you from wasting it."

"Understood. How do I start?"

"By watching, listening, and thinking. I'll do the first match, playing both sides, so you can see how it's done." Leona looked him in the eyes. "Listen. I know you... don't wanna work with me, necessarily. But you ain't exactly on the opposite side a' me, either. So for now, just learn this. You're gettin' free lessons from an actual master of the game. What more could you want, hah?"

Bobby shook his head. The notorious strategist was willing to teach him? Unbelievable. Well, he might as well try. He picked up a piece, carved into a tiny likeness of a horse. "Maybe the chess set itself? I'll need something to practice on."

"Already askin' for extra," Leona growled. "I shoulda known. That was already part of the offer, Bobby."

Bobby nodded. "All right. I got it, Housewarden. Now..." He took a deep breath. "Show me what to do."

[heraldofzaun]

This is my “Viktor has never been a stereotypical evil villain, you guys are just mean” post.

Hi. Well. That says it all, really, but I guess I should elaborate. I think that Viktor has always been a victim of society [cue Joker meme], it’s just that what society has shifted over the course of his lore update.

With new lore, it’s very clearly Piltover casting him out for his (in my opinion, pretty unethical from the get-go) ideas on free will/worker safety/etc. and that subsequently making him worse. But with his previous lore - what I run off of on this blog - I’ve seen a lot of commentary about how he’s always just been “evil”, or that his motivations weren’t defined, etc. And while I can agree that his old lore certainly has less of a word count (5x less, actually) and doesn’t make his motives crystal-clear, it’s just not true that his original incarnation was just a villainous scientist. (Nor is it true that he was perceived as one by his old fans!) It takes a little bit of looking at Blitzcrank’s lore, and the Journal of Justice (hey, remember that?) to see, but it’s there... So, here goes. I’m sorry for how long this ended up being (2k words!) - it ended up touching on a lot more than just Viktor.

Viktor’s always been stolen from. (Except for Blitzcrank’s newest lores, which contradict Viktor’s new lore, which... That’s a topic for another time.) It’s always been Professor Stanwick Pididly (now Professor Stanwick) who’s done the stealing - originally, he was a professor at Zaun’s “prestigious College of Techmaturgy”. In new lore, he’s a professor at an unnamed academy in Piltover. I think the best way to track the new/old changes is bullet-points, rather than writing this all out. Tumblr doesn’t allow T-charts, sadly.

Professor Pididly in old lore:

Zaunite professor.

Stole Blitzcrank (well, the accolades for developing Blitz’s sentience) from Viktor and Viktor’s doctoral team. (While this is headcanon, I’ve always assumed that Stanwick was Viktor’s (and Viktor’s team’s) doctoral advisor. I can’t quite imagine how else he’d pull off stealing a group project like that.) Viktor subsequently withdrew from the college and “barricaded himself in his private laboratory”. (Which is his house in my personal take, because really - what sort of doctoral student can afford a lab?)

Blitzcrank’s case reached Zaun’s legal system, resulting in a “legal maelstrom” (Blitz’s original lore) that ended with Stanwick presumably being legally declared Blitzcrank’s creator.

Blitzcrank’s lore states that “most now know the truth” in regards to who his creator is. This is important for later, so stick that in your back pocket.

Pididly is referred to as “Professor Pididly” in JoJ issues 3, 18, and 23, which are given the dates of August of 20CLE, March of 21 CLE, and June of 21 CLE.

Side note: According to Orianna’s judgment, which is dated May of 21 CLE - stay with me here, it’ll make sense - Blitzcrank entered the League “years before”. As League at this time was mostly running in time with the real world, this makes sense - Blitzcrank was a 2009 champion and Orianna was released in 2011. Judgments seem to be dated to a few days before a champion’s release, in order to tie with the lore - one had to be “Judged” before made a champion... but I’m rambling. Anyways, years before, back pocket.

Is referred to as “Chairman Pididly” in JoJ issue 27, dated August of 21 CLE. “Chairman” seems to be a title given to those in political power in Zaun. Another example is Chairman Magnus Dunderson, Zaun’s “Chief Executive” (issue 5). (I could’ve sworn that there is canonically a “Board of Executives” in old lore Zaun, but scrubbing through the JoJ on the wiki hasn’t turned it up - just Blitzcrank’s lore mentioning the “Council of Zaun”. Maybe it was fanon? Anyways.) Back pocket!

Also stole some work from Viktor in order to revive Urgot. Urgot’s revival was reported on in issue 3 of the JoJ, and the confirmation that it was from Viktor’s work is in Viktor’s original lore.

Professor Stanwick (Pididly? I feel like they ditched his last name because it was “too silly”, also because Stanwick sounds British-adjacent anyways and that’s Piltover’s “thing” - but anyways) in new lore:

Piltovian professor.

Stole Blitzcrank from Viktor alone, who made the robot to help clean up a specific chemical spill. Viktor went to Zaun for a few weeks and came back to find that Stanwick had “held a symposium on Blitzcrank and presented Viktor's research as his own”. Viktor subsequently continued on his studies, culminating with him later being expelled for “violating basic human dignity”. Viktor returns to a laboratory that he had in Zaun.

Blitzcrank’s case is solely a university matter. Viktor petitions Jayce to help support his claim, but Jayce is Jayce and doesn’t help out. The “matter [is] decided in Professor Stanwick’s favor”.

Blitzcrank’s lore doesn’t really say anything about if people know that Viktor made him (them, technically, but Riot doesn’t get to make the robot non-binary), but I guess it’s implied in the 3rd iteration? (That would be the first new one, after the IoW retcon making most champions’ 2nd lores being the same lore with any reference to the titular League of Legends removed.) He works with Viktor in that one. It doesn’t fit with Viktor’s updated lore at all, actually, because it mentions Stanwick absolutely zero times. (A post for another day...)

Has nothing to do with Urgot, since Urgot’s different now.

So, the general plot of “professor rips off a student” is there, it’s just got an added layer of “professor rips off a foreign/out-group student” in new lore to tie into the overarching idea of Piltover exploiting Zaun. (Is Zaun considered foreign? Yes? No? It’s sort of textually implied sometimes to be another city, but can it actually be when it’s physically underneath Piltover? Is the metaphor in new lore a class thing, then? Is it both? Am I supposed to take Viktor’s Russian accent into account when reading this text? I don’t know.) Anyways, so far so... same, in the broad strokes. Unless Viktor’s villainy in old lore is specifically because someone from his city ripped him off, I don’t know how you can compare new/old lore and say that old painted him as a villain.

But what about the everything else I put there? We’re getting there - that’s part of Viktor’s in-universe stuff. I’m taking a quick detour out of universe, to Jayce’s very first lore...

Which had Viktor stealing a techmaturgical device from Jayce. While I can’t cite this, sadly - thank you, Riot deleting the old forums and me not having the patience to look through archives at the moment - there was a backlash around this on the forums. Why would Viktor, a character who’d been stolen from, steal in turn? So Jayce’s second lore, the one that most people were familiar with before the new lore update, was made. Now Viktor stole a crystal after trying to partner with Jayce, Jayce was less well-established as an inventor, he had a bit more character... All good things. (Also, this is probably where the new lore direction of them being former college colleagues come from.)

Also, as an aside: this is the first use I can see of crystals specifically being described as arcane power sources... The only other discussion of magical crystals was the Brackern... which was then merged into magical crystals having to be from the Brackern... Which means that...

But anyways! Clearly Viktor fans didn’t see him as a villain in 2012, or at least not one that would victimize others in the same way that he’d been hurt. They made such a fuss about it that Jayce’s lore was changed to paint Viktor more sympathetically! (When’s the last time that there’s been that much backl- oh. It’s Seraphine again. Anyways.) So, again, Viktor’s perception as an evil scientist mostly seems to have come from people who weren’t really familiar with his lore. So... case closed?

Except that I also want to talk about in-universe things! Everything that I told you to put in your back pocket! Because this post is already over a thousand words and I have thrown myself firmly into this vortex.

Viktor’s victimization by society [Joker meme] is actually probably worse in old lore, which is a fact that I think has been pretty overlooked. While new lore Viktor gets kicked back down to Zaun and gets his work stolen in academia - with Stanwick presumably never being questioned on whether or not he made Blitzcrank, because there’s that whole “Zaunites are bad” thread that is both in and out of universe... Old lore Viktor sure does get it worse, although I admit that this requires some interpretation of canon. His thing with Blitzcrank was, again, a “legal maelstrom” - and with Blitzcrank being considered a Zaunite celebrity before this court case, it seems relatively easy/logical to infer that this maelstrom was a very public case.

So all of Zaun gets to see Viktor crash and burn in court. I’d say that’s a bit worse than just academia seeing it, as is the case in new lore.

And then there’s Blitzcrank’s lore flat-out saying that “most now know the truth” about who made him. (While this lore does predate Viktor’s existence - isn’t it odd to think about a Blitzcrank made by a faceless team of generic doctoral students, rather than Viktor... and a faceless team of generic doctoral students? - I see no reason not to take it as canonical for Viktor’s original lore. There’d been minor lore touchups before, so if Riot wanted Viktor’s creation of Blitzcrank to be an unknown... they could have edited Blitzcrank’s lore.) But Viktor’s still on the fringes, and nothing in his lore (which, again, was written years after Blitzcrank’s) seems to acknowledge that by the time he enters the League we have confirmation, date-wise, that it’s been years since the truth came out. (Orianna Judgment, etc.) That’s to say: people knowing that Viktor made Blitzcrank does nothing for him - he gets no apologies or anything like that.

Of course, if you take League lore as happening concurrently and nix the Judgments and the League, I guess that this is tenuous - but working within the framework of when he was released, it seems clear to me that the implication of all this lore is (whether it was intended by Riot to be read this way or not) that no one in Zaun cares that Viktor was stolen from. It’s an open secret. No one’s seeking justice for him. But it gets worse...!

So, it’s generally known that Stanwick didn’t make Blitzcrank by the time that the JoJ is running. And he’s just a professor for most of the run of that part of the lore, until... Issue 27. In which he becomes Chairman Pididly, someone who is now implied to have political power. (I have to assume he gets the position due to the political goodwill from Noxus that his revival of Urgot must have brought Zaun, but that’s just interpretation.) But! Even though most people know that Stanwick didn’t make Blitzcrank - that he stole Blitzcrank - he ends up not losing his university job (he’s still Professor Pididly for most of the JoJ, after all) but... gaining political office!

All of this is to say that Zaun is so crooked that you can have the fact that you stole from someone and ruined their life revealed... and get a promotion to government! You can shatter an idealistic man who had a “hope to better society” and make him into someone like the Machine Herald and face absolutely zero repercussions. I think that that is significantly worse than how new lore Viktor’s victimization by Piltover consisted of an academia-only dispute that left him with just some bitterness... New Viktor was, after all, kicked out of Piltovian academia for ethics violations, not for Blitzcrank.

Everything surrounding old lore Viktor is a bit harder to piece together, since you have to look through a few lores and make a few inferences, which is why I think that people don’t realize exactly how bad he had it... (That and time erasing memories, or people being new to the fandom, or people not being interested in Viktor, or...) But he had it bad, and I’m honestly disappointed that we never got to explore much of Zaun’s particular brand of corporate corruption in canon. Now they’re the perpetual underdogs, both victims and villians, and Riot isn’t quite sure how to write them beyond constant exploitation from Piltover. (Even the chem-barons have taken somewhat of a backseat lately in new lore, from what I’ve seen - Piltover seems to be the primary cause of Zaun’s ills, because the combined region is now an upper city/lower city metaphor about class. The chem-barons just seem to be written as a result of Piltover’s ignoring of Zaun - because Zaun seems to be more of an undercity than a sovereign city or state, but that varies depending on whatever piece of lore you’re reading and... Another post, another time.)

So. TL;DR: Viktor’s always been a character who was victimized by a city, be it Zaun or Piltover. Viktor’s always been a character more complex than just a maniacal villain, although it takes more work to see that in his old lore as compared to his new. (His new pretty much screams “we are trying to make him and Jayce morally grey”, after all.) This victimization is arguably worse in old lore, as it’s implied that he went through a very public legal case that ended with Stanwick taking credit for Blitzcrank. In addition to that, Stanwick’s subsequent shift to politics implies that Zaun is so corrupt that most everyone knowing that he’s a thief isn’t an issue at all. He’s untouchable.

Viktor’s always been the result of an idealistic man being crushed by a society that doesn’t care for him and his dreams. That’s nothing new.

[aethermage1]

no story yet. Theories however.

Okay! I intend to put another story up later- but I got a little distracted talking to a friend and my mom(Context- shes been here since vanilla.) says I can be eerily accurate at predicting story points. So before this expansion releases I kinda want to toss in my two cents to see what comes up.

1. I fully think we’re going to see Nozdormu die, or fall to madness. If anything because of the fact he’s been missing from the lore since cataclysm. I actually am leaning more towards the death side of this theory, purely bc we seem to have altered his history not once, but twice in terms of what was supposed to lead to his insanity- We prevented end times- and Kairozdormu was killed before his consort ever could be. Ikindamadeupahowthecutscenemaygothingfortheheckofit. but i wanna toss it out there to see if anyone likes. Wrath/Noz are in the caverns of time- and wraths just there. Asking about the history of galakrond and all that- concerns that he maybe could rise again if he escapes the veil. Orrumorsofadragonsimilar. Noz begins to answer- cut short by realizing whats going on around him. Then begins telling wrath to gtfo bc somethings coming and its a bigger threat then anything azeroth has faced yet(as always XD) Wrath tried to argue. Noz gets angy telling himtoG O- thing shows itself. doeskillnoz(or maybe doesnt. butwecanttell. we've broken time alot maybe nozs death was thrown off) Wrath NOPES to sw/org to warn folks of bigimposingthreat. Keepinmind. this was part of a chat with a friend- absolutely just me spitballing for the heck of it. anyway onto second idea 2. The aspects are made guardians, or we get new guardians. This ones only because we got a sudden remap for Tirisfal and like- i dunno the major lore there is its where Tyr died, and where the guardians were formed. Yes we were told in legion that no- no more guardians could happen but frankly blizz seems to not know what to do with said concept. I.E Med’an. like- totally gonnaignoreheexistsya’ll? 3. We have perfect set-up for illidan to actually return to the lore- Like, entirely. We have the leader of the dreadlords out and free(I’m sorry Denathrius is just too on the nose.) with no WHEREABOUTS aside from one of the nathrezim picking him up and being like aight im out. Frankly sargeras was their best tool. And illidan stole(Lets say loosely stole. im going from DL perspecitve) their power and turned it against them. Denathrius i think is gonna revoke the power Illidan gained from the skull, holding true to the whole “nathrezim cant kill nathrezim” thing. Which yknow illidan probably can care less about- but Denathrius seems to hold true to. Also plotarmor/idontthinkblizzwantstokillaveryVERYiconicchar. Could be wrong. look what happened to arthas. but yknow. So basically the deal here is yeet illidan- get their tool back(Sargeras) and Resume taking over the universe bc Denathrius is down a whole part of the cosmic universe thing. 4. Other idea for the Dragonflight thing- thomorebcijustlikechromatics. Chromatus is the big bad and he escaped the whole arcane cube thing. 1. lead in for easy class with chromatic sworn(Each flight being a spec, Green/red for healing. Blue for damage(Maybe black too) And black/bronze for tanking.) Also because a huge five headed dragon boss would HONESTLY seem more fun then another scourge situation with galakrond the crazed. muchashescooltoo. Just some theories. im curious as to what actually will play out-

[omniscientwreck]

Day 6: Time & Transformation // Temptation

Day 6 of @shadowgastweek (I’m very late I know I’m sorry!) 

Please enjoy this little glimpse into the future I hope the wizards will get one day, please let me know what you think! 

“Caleb?”

“Ja?” The wizard looks over, silver hairs peeking through the copper and he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose looking over from the loveseat where his papers and books were sprawled across the dark upholstery.

A familiar, grin spreads freely across his features.

“Can I tempt you away from your studies for a moment?”

Eyebrows raise and a mischievous glint, “Well you know, this is some important work I’m doing. I’m not sure if you can compete.”

Gliding over, Essek leans down over the human’s form, sporting his own devilish grin. The wizard’s eyes raked over him with a hunger. That could wait. They have time. “Oh I assure you I can be quite compelling.” And he leans in to kiss Caleb. Kissing him is so comfortable, safe, it fills him with a warmth he’d never previously known. It’s been years and it still excites him when their lips connect. Caleb’s short stubble scrapes a bit before they part, Essek righting himself and offering Caleb a hand.

“I have to say Thelyss, you make a good case. What is it?”

“I just wanted to talk with you, about tomorrow.”

As Caleb stands he smiles reassuringly, “Mein Engel, you are still nervous?” He grabs for Essek’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Caleb’s hands are strong and his fingers are wider than Essek’s. It’s easy to feel reassured in his grasp, familiar callouses rough as Caleb’s thumb rubs circles into his hand. “The spell has been performed many times without issue, we’ve got it figured out. I’m certainly excited to see what happens.”

Essek nods, “Of course I am excited too, but well. The other times it was you and now it’s me and transmutation certainly isn’t my specialty.”

A gentle laugh falls from Caleb’s lips and he squeezes Essek’s hand, “You know you really don’t give yourself enough credit. You quite nearly pioneered an entire school of magic. You’ve been it’s foremost scholar and teacher for some time. I understand nerves but I promise you I trust your ability. You’ll have the rest of the Nein there, Veth has had it done to her and the rest were there with us the first time. I will be okay. Besides, won’t you be happy for me to be rid of some of these age markers?”

He winks at Essek, teasing, already knowing the answer. “You grow more beautiful every day Caleb, I have never once regretted the aging of your body. You know very well it’s not about looks, it’s about time.” Caleb stops their walking and wraps his arms around him, pulling Essek in and kissing him gently, chastely. “Regardless of how old you look or what happens tomorrow I intend to stay by your side until death. But we only have one life so we may as well lengthen our time.”

Caleb kisses the tip of his nose and they continue outside of their home. The dark of the night engulfs them and the glow of the stars is vibrant as always, Essek looks at his husband and tries to quell the nerves, the anticipation, when a voice fills his mind, “Hey Essek it’s Jester! I couldn’t wait to see you and Caleb until tomorrow, it’s been so long and I’ve missed you so much. I’m-” the spell cuts off and he waits a few moments to see if she plans to recast.

When he hears nothing he responds, out loud so Caleb can hear, “Hello Jester. It is good to hear from you. We’re home and I believe you know our address. You’re welcome at any time.”

Caleb’s crows feet crinkle around his still piercing blue eyes, “Well, if Jester’s here then so is Fjord and I can’t imagine the others are far behind. We should prepare the guest beds.”

They float inside to welcome their friends and briefly Essek’s anxiety is pushed to the back of his mind.

-----

Long ago he’d finally stopped referring to the Nein as ‘Caleb’s friends’ and accepted his role in their lives and allowed them to step into their roles in his properly. Agents of change, bestowers of affection, it’s been about a year since they last saw everyone together.

Ten years ago when they defeated Lucien the group took a break. Jester and Fjord split off to Nicodranas with Veth, Caduceus went home, Yasha and Beau had posted up mainly in Zadash, and Essek and Caleb spent a great deal of time travelling and exploring. Whenever one of the Nein called they all answered, whether it was something as simple as providing fire power when Beau had an investigation or something as momentous as tying up loose ends from their past, they remained steadfast to one another.

Jester, Fjord, and Veth and her family are the first to arrive and Essek opens a well aged wine. Luc is a teenager at this point and he’s becoming a bit of a menace at the amusement of his uncles. Caleb had previously taught him message and he’s been getting a lot of mileage out of it. Jester and Fjord have stories from having come back from a few months at sea, helping with some errands for merchant ships for old times’ sake.

Their home feels full and alive, and the next moring when Beau and Yasha arrive, and then Caduceus it feels like the family is whole again.

They begin digging clay out of the back yard just as they had the first time and as everyone assumes their positions, laughing and joking, filling the backyard with cacophonous uproar, Essek is hit with nostalgia.

He misses travelling with them, having them by his side and standing at theirs throughout some of the worst confrontations in history. He misses the jokes they lob his way with ease, Fjord and Veth hurling insults back and forth, all of it. It seems like so much time has passed since they had last upturned his yard to help a friend into a new form, but in his comparatively long life it’s hardly any time at all.

They assemble the clay, sprinkling in diamond dust and Essek is basically useless with nerves, they’ve created the trough, incorporated the diamond dust. All that’s left is him. They pause to eat, Caduceus’ cooking a welcome break from the day’s preparations.

Dinner is delicious, and loud, full of stories Luc and Yeza have heard dozens of times but still delightful all the same. As they finish eating and prepare to cast the rest clean up as Essek floats outside to check their arrangement one last time. He feels a punch land on the back of his shoulder, where he was once marked by the Nonagon and Beau surveys alongside him, the day’s work. “Hey man, you okay?”

He should be used to her check-ins but she still puts him on edge despite their ‘beef’ as she put it having been ‘squashed’ years ago. “I am alright. This is a big deal and well, I just want to perform well.”

“You will.” She rubs his shoulders a bit and continues, “You know, I didn’t think you deserved him. Even after we figured our shit out and you like became cool. I didn’t think you were good enough for him. Thanks for proving me wrong, you’re good people and I know you’ll take care of him. You’re nervous because you care and that shows me a lot about you. You’ve always been that way but. Well, I see the way you look at him, it’s just real fucking nice.”

All he can do in response is nod and swallow hard, he doesn’t have words to explain what the reassurance means. He kneels down to ensure the dimensions are right for the fiftieth time and the others come out breaking the silence.

“Ah- before we begin can I steal him quickly?” Caleb asks his friends as if they have somewhere else to be or any reason to deny the couple a few words. He takes Essek a good distance away so they can talk without being overheard. “Schatz, are you ready?”

“It feels like I should be asking you that. You know the form you would like to assume?”

Caleb nods, “Just as we discussed, we’ll put us on a more even playing field.”

Essek tucks a stray strand of copper hair behind a rounded ear and looks at his husband’s face one last time, “I can’t say I won’t miss this view Widogast, you are a most striking man.”

Caleb just laughs and kisses him gently, “Well you have much to look forward to.”

They stay like that for a moment, hands clasped, pulling their bodies close, eye to eye. Determination and a stoic resilience fall over Essek and he nods to Caleb, “Ready?”

“Ready.”

All told the casting is uneventful. The Nein are knelt in a circle around Caleb with Essek at the head, kissing him one last time before beginning the incantation. As the wind picks up and arcane lines and symbols light up, Essek’s concentration is stone cold. The clay begins slowly building over Caleb, covering his face entirely and as the view of his partner is taken from him he seems to connect on a deeper level to Caleb’s psyche. They think together of the chosen form, and he can feel a reassuring wave come off of Caleb as he continues reciting the incantation. The runes light and as he continues casting and putting everything he has into ensuring their mutual happiness. His voice gradually rises and arcane power swirls around them, hair freely whipping around the faces of his friends, watching with confidence, Yasha smiling knowingly at him across the vessel. He can feel the heat radiating as his hands pass over Caleb and at the hour the clay bursts, the ensuing wave of arcane energy pushes him back a foot or so, even in his kneeling position. The light from the spell is snuffed instantly and the night is dark again. Before them is Caleb anew.

He brushes clay away from his face with slender fingers, gently sitting up as Jester helps him. Essek floats over, kneeling beside him where he sits.

Caleb turns to look at him, he has the same copper hair and bright blue eyes, but the skin is smooth and free of stubble, his ears narrow to a point, and his features are just a little finer.

They did it.

Caleb looks at Essek for a moment, not dissimilar from the look they’d shared as they met at the altar the day they were wed, “So this is what you look like in the dark.”

He cups Essek’s face with a smooth hand and laughs lightly as the Nein begin chattering around them, Essek doesn’t hear what they say as Caleb brings his new lips to Essek’s and they’re locked in their second first kiss. Pulling back slightly, Essek’s laughter rings out and they press their foreheads together. He feels someone wrap their arms around the two of them and eventually the rest of the Nein join. In the middle of the large group hug two wizards hold each other and time stretches before Essek as the full gravity of the what they’ve done makes his heart soar. Time will catch up eventually, it always does, but for now they have plenty.