#drop that line and leave as both Viktor and Jayce have separate meltdowns

[catherine-sketches]

I know in the original concept the creators imagined Viktor having both of his parents

But I can’t shake the image of a single mother from my mind (perhaps because there is so many single parents over here. Vander, Silco, Singed, Ximena, Jinx and Sevika to some extent)

Have you guys ever thought about Viktor’s mom?

Who was this woman? What was she like?

Who was this woman whose response to her baby coming to her saying that he wanted to go to the academy to learn is “say less baby” and make/buy him a academy uniform and probably instructed him to “fake it until he made it”?

Did she cross the bridge with him, fixed his brand new tie and, after kissing him in his forehead, in an accent thicker than his, reassured him by saying:

“When you’re going to change the world, don’t ask for permission”

She clearly had fate in his intelligence to send him there with only his cane, an uniform, a thought and a prayer

How much of her son is her doing? He is confident about his intelligence, sure in his capabilities as an scientist and engineer.

Was it her doing? Did she look at her very tiny boy with his twisted leg and think to herself “I’m going to encourage this passion! My baby will never doubt how smart he is even if he has none of the resources of topside!”

Were those same encouragements that backfired later as Viktor’s internalized ableism? After all, even his mother only valued his intelligence, so maybe…

Did she die before she could notice? Before she could grab him by his bony shoulders so much like her own and shake sense in to him? “My idiot boy, you are as precious to me as you always where. With or without your smarts I would love you regardless with all my heart”

Would she even say that? Or was the internalized ableism that Viktor displayed also present in his mother? Perhaps a even more explicit form of it maybe.

Was their condition genetic? Did Viktor learn to walk with a cane by copying what his mother did with hers?

Did she have a mind like his but never had the resources to chase her aspirations?

Did she want to be a scientist as well? An engineer? Perhaps a doctor even

Did she craft Viktor’s very first cane with half ass knowledge, some drift wood, blood, tears and all the love she could give since she could not afford the cane much less a doctor for her baby?

Did she know about Singed?

Did he tell her about the strange man he meet at the caves?

Viktor, does your mother know that you are creating drugs with a strange man in the fissures?

Where was your mom? Why were you all alone?

Her baby was alone, playing by himself with a tiny boat he made.

Was she at work? Did Viktor had to spend long periods of time alone as his mom was out trying to make the ends meet?

Was this job, possibly the mines, that made her prioritize encouraging his intellect instead of reaffirming to him that he is already enough? Something not out of malice but out of limited time together?

If you only see your baby every morning before work and every night after it how would you know that he is starting to believe himself broken and imperfect?

Did she get to know Singed? Did she approve of her son being his apprentice for a while? If she did what is wrong with her????

Was she like “any knowledge is good knowledge! Go and make some illegal drugs honey. Just come back home in time for dinner.” ?

Were she in another timeline, in another possibility, the Herald to Ximena’s Defender?

Is there a reality were she is the one to rise as machine infused in flesh because she expected the Talis boy to help save her son only to watch his face get plastered everywhere while her baby rotted in his shadow?

Did this version of you, mother of Viktor, become infuriated when that same Talis boy came to you with condolences in his lips and a clear broken heart with the weight of “if onlys” on his large shoulders when your baby succumbed to his illness?

Did that enrage you?

“YOU DONT GET TO MOUR MY VIKTOR! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT LET HIM DIE! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP HIM, MAN OF PROGRESS, BUT INSTEAD YOU LET YOUR EGO INFLATE TO THE SIZE OF A ZEPPELIN WHILE MY BABY STRUGGLED TO BREATH ! ALL IN THE NAME OF THE PROFITS OF THE CITY THAT STOLE HIS BREATHE IN THE FIRST PLACE”

Did you rip your own heart of your ribs so you couldn’t feel this heart break no more? So you could have a clear mind as you vowed that your Glorious Evolution would make damn sure that no mother from Zaun would suffer the same fate?

Would you have loved Jayce as your son in law in any other circumstance?

Who were you mother of Heralds?

What’s your name?