#had Viktor even been back to Zaun before he went to see Singed?

[renmorris]

one of my favorite tiny arcane moments is on the bridge when Jayce commits the classism of the year and Viktor slaps his hand away when he tries to help him up. it’s such a good detail. this is a casual intimacy that is part of their dynamic, so ingrained that Jayce doesn’t hesitate to reach for his arm.

Viktor granted Jayce the trust to touch him and he revokes it when he fucks up. it’s just really cool to see that kind of bodily autonomy from a disabled character. that’s the good shit! this is why I was recommending arcane to my fellow cripples.

part of having a relationship of any kind with a disabled person is becoming acquainted with their needs and boundaries. the audience doesn’t get to see this development in their early days of partnership because of the timeskip but it’s all laid out in one scene in a few gestures. this is the kind of stuff I’m talking about when I say the writing in season one is incredibly tight.

[deiastormborn]

Arcane Act 3 Theories (and my take on Caitlyn so far)

Just finished watching the Act 2 and, good Lord, this was... something. I've been talking with my friend a lot about it and possible future of the show, so I thought to share it here for people to discuss it with me.

OBVIOUSLY, SPOILER WARNINGS! If you didn't watch the act 2 yet, do NOT read.

A few things I want to focus on here:

Vander

Cait & Vi & Jinx trio

Viktor

Let's start with Vander. Man, this whole thing broke me. I wasn't expecting a good outcome considering we know now that he is Warwick, and the current state of Warwick is no longer human. I assume he is not completely dead, I'm sure Singed had some fucked up idea on how to transfer the mind of Vander to another beast. I do imagine, however, that either Viktor's death, or the blast done by Isha, might have removed anything human that was left of him. Singed has spoken about Vander's strong resilience and will to live, so some part of him was still alive - after that explosion, my theory is, the Vander we know is gone now. I suppose next act we will see Warwick in it's pure beast form.

Next point: have you guys noticed anything about the scene between Silco, Vander and Vi/Jinx's mom?

Silco is an obvious representation of Jinx, it was obvious from the first season, even his hairstyle is somewhat similar to hers.

Vander is Vi, in its purest form, he even ironically gave her name.

Their mother, Felicia, is... oddly so similar to Caitlyn.

We know that Silco and Vander haven't been getting along too much, even before the betrayal we know of in season 1. Felicia even happens to scold them a bit before the scene starts. However, they all seem united together, in peace and harmony, especially with the news that Felicia was pregnant. You can see that Silco came closer when he heard the news, and the whole 'Blisters and Bedrock'... I might start using that one. My theory is, what if Caitlyn somehow plays a part in bringing Jinx and Vi closer? While I know that in League of Legends, Vi and Jinx are not allies at all, however, it's not the first story line that was different in Arcane to the lore of League. They were already getting along in order to help Vander, and you can see how much Vi started to soften up when she saw the interactions between Isha and Jinx. Now that Isha is dead, and I think we don't need to argue that she is most definitely dead, Jinx will need Vi. Question is, of course, whether Caitlyn will be able to get over her grief and hatred towards Jinx due to her mother's death, but she did manage to control herself when she met her (yes, she was angry at first, cut her some slack though, you don't just get over stuff like that).

Something tells me, due to the trailer of Act 3, that Jinx might help protect both Zaun and Piltover from Ambessa and Viktor. What if Caitlyn plays the same role as Felicia played for Silco and Vander before she died? Who knows, if she was still alive, maybe Silco and Vander wouldn't get into the mess they got.

(I also want to take a moment and defend Caitlyn here: while you guys were angry at her, please take a moment and transfer that anger on Ambessa instead. Caitlyn was in a grief, blaming herself for everything that went down with Jinx, because she could have stopped her and she didn't, leading to many deaths, including her mom's. She also was thrown into being a head of her family, having to accept the legacy. AND she didn't have a moment to sit down and work with her grief, due to the whole Enforcer role she is playing. While what she said to Vi, about her being 'just as bad' as Jinx, wasn't good, but it was also justified from her eyes. In her eyes, Vi wasn't defending Isha from being shot, she was defending Jinx, and i'm pretty sure we all saw, including Caitlyn, that Vi hesitated killing Jinx even before Isha jumped in to save her. Ambessa used Caitlyn in an unstable position, but AS SOON as Caitlyn saw Vi, and Caitlyn told her about Vander, she SNAPPED BACK. Caitlyn was never evil. She was broken. And her romance with Maddie - please remember there is an obvious time skip between act 1 and act 2, and act 3 also seems to be happening after some time passed. She was allowed for a new relationship, considering that her relationship with Vi lasted... 1 episode anyway.)

Now for my biggest theory with everything that happened to Viktor. I think we can all agree that Viktor is not dead. And while everyone is hating Jayce now, let me just say this: did you see in what state he was? All of the PTSD flashbacks and hallucinations? He has seen something TERRIBLE. While you like Viktor, so do I, please understand that Jayce wasn't acting like this for nothing. My theory is, since Jayce is either from the future, or some alternative reality he travelled to, and, before he killed Viktor, we heard a flashback of him talking to someone and 'I promise I won't fail this time', I assume that this is all Ekko's doing. Since Ekko and Heimer are not in the picture yet, something tells me that Ekko finally became stronger and learned to craft his trinkets for time travel better than before. I think he sent Jayce back to stop Viktor, either from the future or from that alternative reality. Additionally, I think this is all a big mistake on Ekko's part, too. Viktor talked to Singed about fate, and if we know of fate, Jayce and Ekko did not stop the events they were trying to stop. By killing Viktor, and him coming back to life somehow, this sort of betrayal probably removed his last hope in humanity, which will lead to the 'glorious evolution' and Viktor becoming a full cult leader with machine-like ideology. While Viktor seems to be good, he did still start a cult, and shreded people he healed from actual humanity. They were acting in the way Viktor wanted them to act, he could connect his mind to theirs like puppets. His intentions were pure, but the outcome was already bad. We can only imagine how bad it got in the future or that reality. And with Jayce hurting Viktor's 'human body', Viktor will completely loose his mind and turn to metal as he did in the League of Legends lore. I assume he will be the reason Piltover is getting attacked as well. And, since we all saw Oriana's picture, but not her in her current state, something tells me that Viktor will help Singed create Oriana the way we know her - a full robot with some resemblance to her real self.

Here's a thing though:

I think Jayce saw the future, but not how it happened. I think him, and possibly Ekko, decided that, by killing Viktor, they can stop this future from happening, but I actually think they made it worse. I think the whole reason Viktor went insane is because of this event. It's a Greek Tragedy. While they thought killing Viktor will stop him, they actually created a monster instead.

I'll be sad to see Viktor be evil, but, in a way, it all makes sense. In a very tragic way, but it does.

What if the Hextech is actually something from the Void? It's purple.

Alternative theory would be that, while Jayce and Heimer and Ekko were trapped in the core, and while Viktor was actively messing around with it, Jayce witnessed what it does to people that Viktor has been 'fixing'. He does hallucinate some kind of zombies when he looks at the people that Viktor interracted with. Though, then I would not know how Jayce was the only person who got out. Maybe that rune in Jayce's wrist will explain all of it.

This was all of my theories for now.

[blueguydraws]

I just finished Arcane season 2. While Arcane is still revolutionary, sadly i think i have some unpopular opinions.

So yes, Arcane changed our idea of what an animeted series could be, i kept pausing it to admire its art, but i think the story itself fell kinda short in season 2. Most of all they tried to shove WAY too much into 9 short episodes. This story definitely needed to be at least 3 seasons long and i dont know why couldnt have that been possible? Yeah its very expensive and takes years to make, but it is as popular as it could be, i tought it made back its cost, so why did they wrap it up so fast?

Plus because the story of so many characters had to be told in such a short time, none of them could get enough time and all of their developments happened in flashes so it all felt sudden and unnatural.

The first season was way more streamlined. It had only 3 major general lines. Viktor and Jayce creating hextech, Vi and Cate looking for Jinx, and Silco's gang preparing for war. And somethimes these story lines met each other. It was straight forward. Now in season 2 so many things wanted to happen at the same time that it was hard to follow at some points.

To be fair i should propably watch it again in one sitting to form a proper opinion on it, since i am sure i missed or forgot some details, but here we go.

Viktor first of all, i was very curious to see how will he turn into the "glorious evolution" cyborg guy. When they introduced his illness and showed how he tried to cure himself with hextech, i tought i knew how this all gonna go. Plus he was already in conflict with Jayce since he wanted to take things more slowly and safely, their first argument happened over not revealing the perfected crystal to the public. I tought because Viktor knows he is running out of time he will hurry the development more and more even if it comes with dangers and eventually ditches piltover to get free of regulations. I felt reassured in this idea when he met up with Singed, it made sense for them to team up since the doctor was already making serums that enhance people so it felt natural for the evolution guy to join him.

Except none of his sickness and struggle matters too much because he gets blown up regardless and then revived with the hexcore. Like okay? And then we barely see him except for one episode where he is Jesus now and then at the end where he turned into a god. ???

Stories where friends grow apart and even become enemies are great, it makes for great drama and tragedy. Except it has to be properly fleshed out othervise it will not feel satisfying. Except here it felt like the writers took a quick shortcut and just made both of them instant enemies with magic. Viktor didnt even felt like the same person, yeah i know that is how character development works, but it happened so suddenly it was as if he just got replaced with a diferent character.

Even his cult leader arc still could have happend if we went with a closer adaptation. Lets say he grows desperate and impatient so he leaves piltover and joins up with Singed, eventually he starts healing and fixing up people with a mix of shimmer serums and hextech augmentations. Meanwhile his condition gets worse so he has to complete himself with hextech too. Before he knows it he has loyal followers. And when push comes to shove between Zaun and Piltover, he decides that his place is with his people, so him and Jayce become enemies for a while. Maybe Viktor even already kept steeling crystals from Piltover thus making the tension between the two sides worse. And as he becomes less and less human, yet way stronger, its only natural that he compares that process to evolution.

But in the actual show it felt like the writers tought "oh shit we are running out of time and Viktor is suppose to be an entirely diferent character, quick, make him say the line" it felt kinda random.

Its a hot take but i never liked Jinx, yeah i know all of Silco's gang is just a bunch of murderers, but at least they have a plan and reasons. In season 1 most of the time Jinx acted on impulses or based on what her own halucinations told her. She somehow kept screwing over both sides at the same time. I tought she is way too far gone and there is just no way she is getting out if this all alive. Plus i cant see Vi and Cate being together with Jinx still in the picture after what she have done, how would that work? Even tho they were clearly meant to be endgame.

In this season they were giving her somewhat of a redemption arc, she almost felt like a diferent character wich is fine, except how much could she possibly change in this few short weeks after years of being the local joker? I guess the child was there to anchor her, but then when the writers had no more purpose for her, they made a 9 years old pull off a fucking kamikaze attack??? How? Why? We are gravely overestimating toddlers here.

Plus Vi and Cate made up odly fast, they had a very nasty breakup, like after an argument Cate just hit Vi on the stomach unpromted (wich was kinda weird), then they didnt see each other for months, i assumed it would take a bit longer and a bit more talking to restart their relationship, but then they immediately just start fucking in Jinx's prison cell WHILE JINX WENT TO KILL HERSELF??? Like i hated Jinx but not that much XD

And if the writers insist that Jinx is a changed person why are they also want to punish her as if she was still that psycho? And even if she is getting herself together why does she acts like a whole diferent person? She told Cate that she didnt knew that her mother was in there implying that she is sorry for killing her. But what is that even suppose to mean? At the time she didnt even knew who Cate was or that she existed a day ago, or who was on the cuncil. And either way someones mother was still there, the same way all people had relationships who Jinx killed but for years she didnt give a shit and all of a sudden she grew a concience? (Plus why did she gave herself up?)

Allright i guess good for her, but then why did she got killed at the end? I guess it was to atone for her crimes, wich is fine. But i wish it was a bit more meaningfull. Of course saving her sister is pretty meaningfull, but at that point the whole battle was over, the drones were dead, except somehow the beast still came back to life. I wish Jinx's sacrifice was more important to the whole general plot not just a little side event. Maybe she should have sacrificed herself in a decicive moment for the undercity, and then maybe it all could have been connected to Silco as well as he dedicated his life for it, and now so does Jinx.

Btw does anyone know why the ginger girl was suddenly about to kill Cate? I either missed it or totally forgot.

Halfway i remembered that wait, wasnt this suppose to be about the struggle and conflict between the two parts of this city? That original premise got pretty derailed with all this Viktor turning into a god for some reason and a foreign army attacking nonsense. I guess its not the worst idea to have the two sides join against a common enemy, we saw this trope before, but isnt it a little convinient?

The peace between the two sides should have happened because and thru people who had connection to both sides, like Viktor or Vi and Cate.

We still could have had Ambessa meddling with the whole situation but that ultimately should have only ended in the conflict between the two cities escalating. In season two Zaun basically just took the bullying form Piltover and then they were suddenly friends at the end. I am actually not criticising that they also fought against Ambessa, she was their enemiy too, but now the story became something else than what it was initially supposed to be.

The alternative universe. Yes paralell worlds are a fun concept, and they work in certain stories like spiderverse where that was the whole premise. But i really dislike it when its just added to stories suddenly. The fact that there are infinite worlds that are just as important and valid as the one we have been following really cheapens everything that have been happening, because now the stakes arent even that big, who cares if this universe blows up, there are billion others that are exactly the same.

Plus why was that universe all good? What changed, what was the diference? At first i tought maybe here Zaun and Piltover just allways had a better relationship? But then Silco shows up with the scar wich means that the revolution and the attempt at his life all happened. So once again, why and how this world is just better? Why did Silco forgive? What is this even trying to say, that it all would be fine if everyone was just nice to each other? I bet they never thought of that in the main universe. It felt very fanfic-y and disrespectfull to the whole story so far.

Plus what was even the point? It just took from the very limited and precious time of the story. Yeah this is how Ekko got his time travel device, but couldnt have he just built that in the main world maybe while making weapons just in case the whole worsening situation will get even worse? Jayce also could have just got a long lucid nightmare-vision of the future from Viktor (wich could have been the exact same) instead of literally getting transported into a failed world.

And am i the only one who thinks that its kinda stupid that the parents of Vi and Jinx knew Vander and Silco closely and personally? If so why did silco wanted to kill the kids of Felicia. In season 1 it seemed like they were just totally random kids to him. Yeah he is evil but still. What are the ods that its her kids? Zaun is a big place.

Oh and i just remebered, i find it a little funny, how at first the setting seems like its about these dastardly capitalists opressing the undercity, wich is kinda true, except the council members kinda just idiots and naive. Ignorant at worst. While Zaun keeps spitting up pshychos and freaks. And at every point the council allways votes for caution. Even when they kept getting attacked, they decide against violence because people would be caught in the crossfire and its actually Vi who calls them out and wants an army to march down there and cleane out the place. I really would have expected it to go the opposite way. Even when they got hit with a whole missile, first they still just vote against any drastic measures and decide to simply put a bounty on Jinx's head. I am not saying this is bad, its actually an interesting subversion of expectations, but its still a little funny.

Oh and i cant belive what Jayce said at the end. Did he really told Viktor that his illness and other imperfections are not something to fix because they are part of him and imperfections make people unike? My brother in Christ, you are talking about his crippling condition that made him live with pain and was actively killing him. Are you serious? And i heard this "imperfections make us who we are" bullshit multiple times before, but its one of those nonsense tropes that sound nice with music in the background but make zero sense if you think about it. Idk why writers insist so much. People are made up of positive, neutral, and negative traits. Why do people keep saying that out of the three its the negative ones that you have to hold on to or ignore. Imperfections are being insecure, quick to anger, jealous, or in this case being sick. None of them are good and all make the life of people harder.

I propably forgot about a few things, and i may change my opinions as it all settles down. But these are my initial toughts.

Plus its just me or was it hard to follow how much time supposed to pass between each event?

[jayvikbrainrot]

Uhh, jayvik drabble idea — Mermaid AU? One of them is a merfolk, the other finds them trapped in a net? It’s cliche but also a classic!

“We caught something.” the gravelly voice came from across the desk. Viktor refused to look up from the microscope. He was so close to isolating what was causing the tissue decay. “...Well I should hope so, you are fishermen.” He said with a tinge of annoyance.

There was a grunt. “Well this one is talkin’ to us so I thought you should know.”

“Talking?” He looked up, “Talking!?”

Viktor mentally ran through all the known sentient species that existed in the ocean, none of which should have been close enough to their bay. The fisherman, Jameson he thought his name was, grunted and looked back beyond Viktor’s cramped office door. Viktor immediately stood up and grabbed his cane, if they put it on the factory floor they had better be keeping it wet. The last time an interesting specimen showed up they had let it fester in the open air rendering it useless.

He brushed past the other man and walked outside. There were only a few places they could have placed it, and the gaggle of workers just standing around was a good place to start. He pushed his way to the front of the group and saw it. Or rather him.

A merfolk, marlin variant, exceptionally large, with silver bronze scales and the distinctive blue back coloring associated with his type. His face though...was exceptional. Strong jaw and brow, wide lips, and an almost concerning serene expression. Was he even conscious?

“Marco.” He snapped at the crowd. “Water. Now. Anyone else, do we have a container big enough? And a salt water hose?” With a decent amount of hurry, Marco returned with a large bucket and someone else found a shipping container that could be of use.

They splashed the merfolk, which thankfully made his eyes flutter and gave a wheezing breath as Viktor could see water pass through his gasping gills. He looked directly at Viktor, his warm brown eyes focused solely on him. “Welcome to Zaun.”

- The merman’s name was Jayce. The men had somehow finagled the makeshift tank into his office where it had taken up a third of his space. He seemed to be suffering from the same fin rot that had affected about 30% of the bay population at this point. He had finally isolated microbes but a cure was slow going. So it was decided the merfolk would stay until Viktor found the cure.

Singed had even stopped by to tell him what a rare opportunity this would be, with the implication he was looking forward to dissecting him. Normally Viktor wouldn’t be entirely opposed but...

The problem was...Jayce liked to talk. He was endlessly curious about what happened above the water. He talked about what he knew from shipwrecks and the trash that was thrown into his home. He was smart too, despite never coming ashore, he had theories abound regarding how their world worked, and a lot of them were not far off. Viktor found himself drawn into these conversations, at the cannery there weren’t many who shared his interest in marine biology.

“I could show you, you know.” Jayce propped his forearms on the side of the tub, leaning his chin on them.

“I believe there is the issue of my inability to breathe?” Viktor said lightly.

“We might have a selkie skin lying around. Might not be the same but...” Jayce blinked at him with those deep brown eyes.

“Selkie?” Viktor questioned. “It’s uh...” His voice cracked and went hoarse, he dunked his head and shook out his hair in a fetching way before continuing, “It’s a magical seal skin, humans can wear it and turn into a seal. Usually they are passed down from mother to daughter...but things happen.”

“Magical?” Viktor walked his chair over to the tank, it seemed he would get no work done today. “Uhh huh.” Jayce smiled. His wicked canines on full display.

“Explain it to me.” Viktor said leaning in. “Magic? Like all magic?” Jayce cocked his head like a puppy, “That could be a little hard. But...magic is inherent. My tribe is good at building, inventing, and we use runes to help us. I’m magic, if you want to see an example.” This was curious, there was very little information about Merfolk and Viktor had been diligently taking notes, but no one had mentioned magic

“Yes, if you don’t mind.” Viktor leaned in. “You’ll need to get a little closer.” Viktor thought he was already close enough, and there was a glint of mischief in Jayce’s eye, but still...he couldn’t pass the opportunity up.

He leaned in more. Jayce removed his arms from the container and cupped the bottom of Viktor’s chin, dripping all over the floor. “Ready?” He looked pleased with himself, and Viktor suddenly had a small twinge of panic. “It won't hurt will it?” “Hurt?” His brows knitted in confusion, “No I don’t think it will. Never has before. Let me just show you.” He smiled then. And in one motion pushed himself forward pressing his lips to Viktor’s

The saltwater made their lips slide together, sending a shiver down Viktor’s spine. And bubbling sensation seemed to creep along his skull. It lasted only a moment then Jayce made his retreat. Slipping his head halfway underwater, blowing bubbles at Viktor, mischief still in his eyes.

Viktor felt himself flush, “What was-”

‘Can you hear me?’ Jayce said inside his own head.

Viktor didn’t dare make a sound. It was clearly Jayce’s voice, but his mouth was underwater. How was this- “Magic!” Jayce said happily, “It’s a mermaid kiss, an act that allows us to become closer. Usually you do it with someone you’re already close to, but I wanted to try.” “Jayce, that's incredible!” Viktor said aloud. “Brilliant.”

“It doesn’t last long, but I thought-” Even as he was saying it the connection was fading. The words lacking substance in his mind.

Viktor looked at the cheerful creature in the tank. Jayce was staring at him intently, eyes squinting.

“That was lovely Jayce. Thank you.”

[metalvsflesh]

Unprompted Friday Night Jayce Lore Post On My Blog That’s Mostly Dedicated To Blitzcrank and Viktor

ok so my takes on zaun champs have been heavily inspired by the DCU so hear me out:

Jayce but he has heavy Booster Gold vibes. If you don’t know who Booster Gold is, you’re missing out on an EXCELLENT superhero concept, go look him up. I promise you, you won’t be let down.

TLDR;

Initially became a superhero for the fame and attention, Jayce turned a new leaf when he realized the responsibility he holds and the power he has to influence the next generation of Superheros inspired by his + The Herald’s heroics in the past. After all, while he might not be there when it comes, he’s the Defender of Tomorrow, and he’ll make for damn sure tomorrow still continues to come once he’s gone.

Longer, WIP, Lore Take That Needs Fine Tuning:

Jayce went to school/used to work at the same place Viktor&Co. did. While he wasn’t the best inventor, his greatest strength was, by far, his troubleshooting skills. Anyone and everyone who had an issue with something not working right, they would call upon him to take a look at it and fix whatever was going wrong. He could find out, instantly, what was going wrong in anything - even those that weren’t anywhere close his field, like medicine or art.

The reason being for his Fantastic Troubleshooting is he has a semi-magical superpower that makes it so that he has like really vague future-vision. Like is manifests as a hunch or a gut feeling, and he somehow immediately knows how to prevent it. He thinks it’s him being smarter than everyone and like being able to predict things better because he’s smart and logical but it’s like a mix of being observant and logical and a legit magical power he has. He can see the kinda future, but he has to FIRST identify at least one or two patterns that COULD lead to that future outcome.

ex. he notices that a guard of a building at the school always takes his lunch at around 12:14 pm, and every now and again he forgets to lock the door after letting people in, THEN he gets like a gut feeling someone was going to attempt to sneak into the building while the guard is at lunch and has forgotten to lock the door, and it ends up happening a day or two later.

After graduating and working for some time at the school, he decides that he’ll use his predicto-skills to become a superhero - and there was a spot open, as there was only a Zaunite hero at the time. He fiddles with a scrapped invention of his, fitting it into a crazy multi-tool he could use to fight crime. And he starts to fight crime by using his future-vision. His superhero title becomes the “Defender of Tomorrow”, since he can kinda see into the future and he keeps predicting all these bad guy’s attacks n stuff etc etc. For short people like to call him “The Defender”.

Its fun, he’s popular, people love him and his face is plastered everywhere you can think. Action figures, comics, even a couple shitty movies later on in his life are made for him. Everything is fine and dandy for him, and he sees no reason to change that for many many years.

One night, he comes home to the Zaunite hero, known only has “The Herald”, waiting patiently while looking sickly and trembling despite his best efforts to stand sure and proud. Jayce felt a little bad, despite the circumstances, and offered him a seat and a glass of warm milk - knowing that was often the thing he’d request when people offered to give him something for helping them. He had came to inform Jayce of a strange trend he’s been finding down in Zaun: multiple factories and waste disposal companies were signing on contracts with a group based in Noxus, and rumors had spread of the infamous inventor Singed being allied with them. The Herald then confessed that he was gravely ill, despite it being rather obvious, and was unable to investigate them on his own. But he was sure this was something that needed to be stopped before it could become big, and thus he came to Jayce to give him the information in hopes he could take over the job of looking into them while he recovered from his illness, even offering to come to Jayce’s aid whenever he needed it in the future.

Jayce was initially inclined to refuse, but was suddenly struck with one of his hunches. This was going to be important down the line, and it was a matter of hundreds upon thousands of lives at stake. He didn’t know when, where, why, or how - but he had trust his gut for neigh-thirty years by then, so why stop now?

He promised The Herald he would look into it, and the man handed him a small gadget, claiming that activating it would notify The Herald when Jayce was in need of help. The Herald was also insistent on explaining to Jayce how to keep himself safe in Zaun, but Jayce waved him off and told him to go back home and rest.

Jayce almost immediately started researching, and as he does he starts getting intense hunches. They were so strong and felt so real it was like he was having flashbacks, or watching a movie, or visions - in them, a horrific war in what seems like some pretty, super magical land. Blood soaked battlefields, corpses blanketing the landscape as crows with strange eyes circling above, and a huge cloud of gas turning everything it touches dead and grey as if the very life in the land was sapped away by the slightest touch and the blue sky turns a sickly green and brown.

At first he’s intimidated, feeling small and helpless in face of such a large and devastating threat. He didn’t know where to start because all of the causes were so distant and scattered one man couldn’t possibly do it all on his own.

But doing nothing wasn’t an answer. Before, when he felt like he might not be able to stop something, he simply let it happen and help clean up the aftermath, because failing to stop it would tarnish his reputation. But he couldn’t just wait for it to happen. He had to do something about it. After all, he made a promise.

He tried his hardest, once or twice trying to get others to come help by asking them ‘super-favors’, but found the people of Piltover either didn’t care or thought the idea silly and far-fetched, and Zaunites either too scared or too powerless to stop the thing from happening on their very backdoor. It wasn’t until the war actually landed that people came out of the woodworks to try and help.

After the war, Jayce took a break from superheroing, trying to reflect and process everything he had gone through those past few years. He realized that it would have been a lot easier if there were more people like him to help. In fact, a lot of his job would have been easier if there were more people like him. People who had the power and influence to save people.

It was then he had one of his hunches, but he didn’t know what would come of it. He just knew one thing: he had to get back to superhero work, and try to gather a younger generation of superheros and get them to fill the shoes left behind by The Herald and, soon, himself, when he’s eventually forced to retire or dies defending the future he’s sworn to protect.

[arcanacontained]

XVII [The Star] - Rio ⭐

Rio's card is The Star. He is known as The Shimmering Piximander.

Hope and faith give a purpose to renewal and spirituality.

Biography:

Please note: Rio has her own blog, ZauniteLizard, and will primarily be a NPC or side-character in threads.

After discovering she was dying in the When These Walls Came Tumbling Down flashback, Singed did everything he physically could, pushing now natural sciences, technology and stable arcane to their limits to keep Rio and her genetic mutations alive. After years of experimentation, Rio’s original body was no longer viable for life. There was one final option left, an option Singed had use on others, but had put off using on Rio - transmutation.

Transmutating a human into a wolf had been done before; but the opposite? Forcing a piximander’s biology to shift into a human’s.

Pain, slipping in and out of consciousness for many months, perhaps even years as memories were blocked out or faded over time. The few snippets retained over the years, Singed shining a bright light in her eyes until they almost blew, another OV being forced into her spine or into her hips, arms hooked up to numerous IVs. The pain rendering unconscious, begging for death.

One memory - or what Rio thought was a memory - lingered, a thin wiry child with golden eyes and deep chestnut hair. The name scratched at the back of her brain, trying to cling onto it. What was their name?

New, fleshy limbs flailed as the metal restraints were bolted down a pained hiss erupted from her throat, immobile and the mad chemist held a finger to his lips. A glass tube of purple liquid was pressed to her lips - sweet, almost familiar but she could not remember where. Her mind went blank the pain increased intensity ten-fold. Whether she screamed or passed out, she could not remember.

Groans passed cracked dry lips as eyes opened to dim green light illuminating the lab in an eerie glow. ’Hello?’ The woman called out in a croak, the machinery she was attached to, the sole source of sound in the room. Eyes adjusted to the gloom, in attempt to sit up - a few wires and needles were yanked free; blood gushed then slowed to trickle. Purple in colour. Nausea swept across her muscles, bone clicked as she attempted to support her own body weight.

’Hello?’ She called out forcing her voice to be louder. The small woman grunted as she pressed thin fingers to the shackles around her ankles without ripping out the IV in her wrist. How could she get out of these metal bindings?

Shuffled footsteps stopped her short of ripping fingernails out around the bolts. ’Please. Help me.’ A gaunt man stood at her feet, calloused fingers gripped her chin. ‘You awoke too soon. The mutation isn’t yet stable in this form.’ Too soon?

She struggled as she was forced back down and a metal restraint pressed against her neck. ‘If this goes as planned, you won’t remember a thing. A blank slate to start again. You will learn to forgive in time, Rio. The mutation must survive. I thought you understood?’

Sounds of protest, silenced. A tube forced down her throat, a scream snuffed out. Hot tears tickling downs her cheeks. Synapses screamed as one word, one name whispered. Viktor.

Rio has been human for a few years and is still learning how humans work.

Rio has discovered she has a passion for baking bread and sweet treats and hopes to open a café in the heart of Zaun one day.

Sometimes she sneaks up to Piltover to see the city and marvel at the hextech gates as the new ports open. However she is steadfast in her roots, and grieves that the old port of Oshra Va'Zaun (now know simply as Zaun) has crumbled since the construction of the bridge that separates the topside from the undercity.

At times she is still very sickly with pulmonary and respiratory issues persisting, and has to wear a respirator Enforcers commonly wear if she ventures outside in Zaun, and uses Shimmer as medicine to maintain and keep her human physiology in tact.

She suffers from withdrawal headaches on a daily basis but runs the risk of possibly over-dosing i.e. increasing in size and gaining strength - because a crash and burn could send her body into a state of temporary paralysis.

Rio believes her human lungs are under-developed but has no way to confirm her suspicions and doesn’t want to pester Singed or others with such trivial matters.

Her human body looks closer to 25 than it does 40 and due to not wearing make-up she is often mistaken for late teens or early twenties at best. This frustrates her no end and will lecture until people back off or choose not to engage. Standing at a tiny 4’ 9", she hates being babied by strangers and possesses a strong kick. She will kick (or punch) between the legs if she feels threatened. One physiological trait she kept from her previous body was the ability to hiss when angry/stressed and to make acidic saliva when in imminent danger.

Rio has scars across each vertebrate, down from her neck down to her pelvis from being in the tank a dozen times (albeit for brief periods) as a human, so always keeps her back covered unless it is someone she one hundred percent trusts.

Eventually Rio has no choice but to be placed in the tank again in a medically-induced coma in order for her body to heal once more.