#i do believe that viktor has the best intentions

[weepingchronicles]

Can I request a yandere viktor before he becomes the herald of machines and since after his transformation the love for the reader still exists, maybe it has even become a little dark

of course! thank you for your request. i am not a league fan although i watch arcane– so some of this may be a bit off.

❝yandere!viktor x gn! reader❞

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ Viktor falls in love fast, almost too quickly without even knowing someone's name yet although he does not fall in love very often. Or at all. But when he does it gets intense very quickly.

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ He is almost inclined to dismiss you. You're just someone else. You don't understand his work and he doesn't want to risk any bystanders getting their stupid selves in the way.

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ But something changes one day, it could be something small like discovering a common interest between you two or a kind gesture. Anything can get this boy hooked. Or perhaps it was something bigger. It took you actually getting hurt to realize his care for you. You weren't just another cog in the machines, you were a whole mechanism.

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ After that Viktor tried his best to ignore you. He didn't want you getting hurt anymore because of him. His intentions are often good but he doesn't realize that his actions could be more harm than help.

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ And so he pushes you away to isolate himself, believing he is protecting you.

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ After he becomes herald of machines his love for you has not only heightened but has become worse. He pushed you away thinking he was doing something good, no, no. That was all wrong. Now he sees he has the power to fix you too, fix everyone. He is going to save everyone.

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ Depending on the reader, he definitely is going to bring you with him to his glorious evolution. You can try to run and fight him off but he will never really stop. You are the centerpiece of his entire plan, he wants you most of all by him, forever.

🔩.𖥔 ݁ ˖✒️ One side of him also hates you, he hates his tragically human love for you that he will do anything in his mind that will get rid of it. You just dying won't do, the only thing that will satisfy him is having you with him forever.

[hexefreya]

I have spent some time trying to neatly wrap all the facts and details together in a satisfying conclusion, alas, time loop storylines are anything but neat...

Mage Viktor sent Ekko and Heimerdinger to alternate reality 2-7, and it's my conviction it was intentional down to the fact that Heimerdinger was transported three years into the past. And that is why the time loop he created is not actually a circle, it's an 8 (infinity) - two dimensions intertwined, as hinted by the imagery in the show. This way the only way his plan was going to work.

What we can confidently state is that Mage Viktor, who is inextricably tied to Hexcore, can manipulate it and has power over the spacetime continuum, at least to some extent through the anomaly. And he is going through the painstaking process of figuring out how to successfully untangle the paradox of Hexcore, at the heart of which are Viktor and Jayce. There is no way of knowing how long it took him to realize that willingly erasing himself from existence is the only way it can be done, but it is my opinion that once he was set on this mission, he was very methodical about it and catalogued everything during all the countless timelines and possibilities.

In the alternate reality 2-7 hextech was never developed and this is why this dimension was the one they were sent to - no Hexcore and no Viktor, who could intervene in creating Ekko's time device. But this reality was still touched by Hexcore - Jayce wouldn't even have been alive otherwise - Mage Viktor did save him as a child from the snowstorm. Without adult Jayce the explosion in his apartment, that killed at least one confirmed person (Vi), wouldn't have happened.

But damage is done. And here is where Heimerdinger comes into play to navigate through this turbulent period.

First and foremost he is the Head of the Council at that time, has detailed memory of how badly everything went wrong with Hextech in his own reality and even more importantly - he already spent enough time living in Zaun to understand the errors of Piltover's way in regards to the Undercity. By the time Ekko lands in this alternate reality three years after, Piltover and Zaun are obviously cooperating to the point where everything seems almost idyllic, and I think it's majorly due to the Heimerdinger's guiding hand in immediately destroying anything left from Jayce's research and targeted decisions and careful politics in uniting Piltover and Zaun after the explosion accident (like negotiating with Silco, preventing the first use of Shimmer, etc).

Viktor is incredibly complex, same as his motives. I believe that through everything he was still faithful to his and Jayce's shared dream and passion - help people, do good, make the world a better place with hextech. By sending Heimerdinger in reality 2-7, Viktor made sure hextech is never developed and the city is prospering, thus indirectly using hextech to change the world for the better, honoring best of his and Jayce's ambitions. There was no other reason for Heimerdinger to be sent back in time, he and Ekko would be able to recreate the anomaly with the remaining crystal shards regardless and his main plan would still work. But this way the city is finally prospering, Zaun is thriving!

With Ekko extracting the very last remaining crystal shards, Viktor made sure that this dimension is eradicated of all traces of Hextech. And by taking Ekko back to his own reality, armed with the anomaly (intended to reach Viktor and negate the anomaly in his timeline), Viktor forever closed the linked loop, initially created by him in the first place.

And since we've established Viktor wields the power to send people both ways through time (as demonstrated on Jayce and Heimerdinger), it's easy to assume he could transport Ekko back to his own reality into any specific timeframe he wished, for instance, way sooner than Viktor became the Machine Herald and the situation was escalated beyond reason. Which only circles back to my original take, that EVERYTHING was Viktor's meticulous plan how to erase hextech and to do the most good in the process.

To this I can only add my belief, that Mage Viktor was willing to condemn himself to unbearable pain - Jayce mercilessly trying to kill him without sparing a word (twice) - to create a better outcome in the aftermath of his and Hexcore destruction. And I think he was strongly motivated not only by the greater good, but by ensuring Jayce's survival.

I believe it caused him much distress to bear witness how the only hextech free reality comes from Jayce's demise. I'm sure he was essentially at peace as to what must transpire to himself, but to believe that the "perfect" world is the one where Jayce doesn't exist? He wouldn't do that to his own Jayce. He lost him once, not again. For him Viktor will carve out the world if he has to.

Mage Viktor didn't have a shadow of the doubt that even after these betrayals and horrific transformations Viktor's love for Jayce was as strong as ever. He was confident that Viktor, being reminded of it and thus freed from Hexcore influence, wouldn't even hesitate to destroy himself in order to save Jayce ("You must go, Jayce") and the only world, where Jayce can even exist! Even if it meant that Jayce would hate Viktor afterwards.

It is obvious that our Viktor never even entertained the possibility of his feelings being reciprocated. The sheer disbelief and awe in his eyes, when he dares to believe that he is seen and loved.

Who knew, that Jayce loved Viktor more than life itself? More than the world Viktor was trying so hard to save him for. Did Mage Viktor? Did he realize the futility of all his efforts in trying to save him, when he looked in Jayce's eyes and saw love reflected there? I think so..

[luca-just-luca]

Hello Viktor enjoyers I make my return..I have thoughts about this latest season. Before getting into full criticism, huge props to the artistic talent that worked on this show. Fortiche as a whole has genuinely changed tv animation, the combination of 2D and watercolor sequences-the super stylized music and fight scenes, absolutely thee best animation I think I’ve ever witnessed. The music, the art, the animation-even the character designs. While I don’t care for certain choices, the designs have so much artistic talent put into them. I adore cosmic horror, and to see that utilized was very cool!

To see the character it was used for, I have thoughts on. But I enjoyed the design as it was-the writing on the other hand..I’m upset with.

Admittedly, the first watch through I had was pure adrenaline. I went into this season with two things I wanted. I wanted to see Viktor evolve closer to his league self, and I wanted to see what route Sevika and Jinx would take-whether that path be together or as individuals, I wanted to see how they helped Zaun. And technically, in a way, I got what a wanted..for a moment.

There was a rumor in circulation, that arcane was meant to be five season long. I genuinely believe this wasn’t a rumor now. There was so much missing, there were so many interactions that were needed to feel this story the way it was felt in season 1. With everyone, but primarily with Viktor and Jayce. There’s that rebuttal old as season one that goes: “Arcane is meant to be about the sisters!”

Okay, how did the sisters mend their connection? Did they ever talk about it-the fact that Vi made Jinx-or how Vi committed chemical warfare on people-HER people?? Additionally, if Viktor was meant to always be the big bad we absolutely needed more time with him!! We needed to see the wedge driven between him and Jayce, to see when that good intent took a turn to the extreme. We needed to see him have more interactions with different characters-or expand further upon his already existing relationships!

There were seeds planted that the writers completely forgot about and let decay in dried up soil. In act 3 of season 1, Viktor starts getting snippy-and then outright mad at the people around him. Someone on here did address that, Viktor does have a temper. One that we were shown, when he snaps at Jayce on the bridge-literally smacking his hand away when he tries to help him up after being outright discriminative. When Mel even alludes to hextech weaponry, he gets upset-and then outright angry-teeth bared angry at the fact she would bloody their work-HIS work with Jayce in war. He and Jayce linger on it-he begins experimenting on himself because he realizes Mel has gotten to Jayce in a way he can’t pull back. The promise to destroy the hexcore, the thing he MADE Jayce promise his last wish was violated.

He stumbles out of this upright chrysalis entirely changed, amalgamation of flesh and organic looking metal-braces permanently encased to his body. He sees the blueprints for hextech weaponry, he SEES the schematics for Catelyin’s rifle. And he just..leaves, just “I must say goodbye to this place.”

I’ve seen the argument made: “the hexcore is controlling him!”

Then why does he show clear emotion in episode six? Why then and there can he express fear, concern, gratitude, outwardly. Not in the astral realm! Outwardly-his sass is even shown to be intact when Jinx thinks she has jokes! So why the hell did he never once get angry about his agency being robbed, about his life literally being left in someone else’s hands when that was something season 1 was alluding too?

And what about sky? I’m still so throughly confused on what her purpose of being back was about. Writers have had to clarify what she’s meant to do because of the lack of context! It feels like we have four, forty-five minute episodes missing. And not just of context and story for Viktor but of Sevika-of Jinx-The underground-Zaun’s conflict with piltover! The crux of what season 1 was, these two sisters and the two cities. A Zaunite and Piltovian, we had Cait and Vi, Jinx and Silco, Jayce and Viktor-dynamics that were mapped out. That needed to be explored, how did the undercity come to forgive Jinx after her father exploited most of the residents with Shimmer?

There was an entire lead up to Cait’s role as a dictator and we see..none of it? And the aim changes to finding Warwick and then to Viktor and there is so-so so much happening. It really does feel like three seasons compressed into one, but to the worst extent that the characters don’t feel like themselves. Viktor’s confidence he exudes in season one, that defiance, that determination, the anger we see him hone later. It’s gone, we he does fight Jayce there is not a HINT of anger or resentment-just: “Oh well-I was trying to be peaceful-I am going to kill you now though.”

Sevika’s urgency to make topside pay, is still there-she’s rallying people together, but then we just don’t see her until the big fight. Sure Scar is with her there-but that doesn’t say anything about it she’s leading whole different factions of Zaun after the prison break!

The finale left more questions than things answered, and I extremely dislike the usage of a time loop. Jayce’s line to Viktor of about his disability and his disease made my blood boil on my first watch through. There are so many others ways to say humanity’s imperfections are what make us perfectly human. Use emotions for example-scientifically we as humans have the highest range of emotions, but they don’t make us weak. Our ability to feel things vastly is what drives us to do certain things, art, writing, music, creation as a whole is driven by emotion. Creation can be good or bad, enlightening or destructive, but as humans we have that innate urge to do it because of emotion. Especially those who are artists, by far my favorite part of season two is how many artists looked at what was given and went:…so. I’m going to take this, and make it my own because you clearly cannot be trusted.

In conclusion, when writing fanfic or making art it will be of season one Viktor and the Machine Herald, not the Herald of the Arcane. Shoutout to The Boy Savior though, Ekko also has issues but man did he get the best end of the deal. Viktor enjoyers take care of yourselves, canon isn’t the end all be all. Have fun with making your Au’s or fixitfics, have fun drawing versions of characters you enjoy. And if it helps, season one does end on a very bleak point, but it could be seen as the ending.

[renthony]

I don’t go there re: Arcane but I just want to say thank you for pointing out how bad the “no no they’re ace, they can’t be gay” thing is. There’s a fandom I’m in where a particular male character has a lot of gay subtext with his male best friend, and the amount of times I’ve seen “No, Ike isn’t gay, he’s obviously ace” to try and no-homo the whole thing is just… it’s frustrating. It never feels like a good faith argument, and as an acespec person myself I’m sick of having asexuality be used as a no-homo cop out. (Never mind that it involves people assuming ace and aro are the same things, because nooo an ace person can’t have a romantic relationship at all /s)

(It’s worse because I do genuinely feel like an ace interpretation of him is valid! I headcanon him as acespec and mlm!! I’m just sick of people using it as a way to go “noooo he’s not gay”)

It's so frustrating! I don't oppose an asexual reading of the character, if that's what someone enjoys, but based on his comments, Christian Linke really doesn't seem to understand asexuality. The blatant conflation of ace with aro is such a basic fuckup that I don't believe he spent much time talking with anyone at all. Even if I'm wrong, and he did, the end result is still messy. Viktor falls into multiple negative ace stereotypes that anyone reading into ace representation should be well aware of. If Viktor was genuinely, truly, 100% intended to be asexual representation the way Cait and Vi are sapphic representation, it's half-assed at best. (And don't even get me started on the sapphic rep being cops; I've already yelled about that plenty and I think everyone's tired of it.)

I've actually been doing a ton of research on asexual and aromantic media representation lately, for purposes of a work project. I keep running into instance after instance of aro and ace being conflated, both in-narrative and behind-the-scenes by creators who may have been well-intentioned but clearly didn't do thorough research. It's exhausting.

That's not even getting into the way many queer characters have been depicted as celibate in order to get censor approval. It's a huge topic all on its own. There are countless queer-coded characters who could easily be interpreted as asexual, but weren't necessarily intended to be an asexual person in modern queer identity terms. They could only be shown to have a queer vibe if they never expressed actual sexual interest in anyone, so they fall into this grey area of "nothing is technically 'canon' and the character can easily be read as gay, ace, or both."

[monsters00km]

I wanna talk about people fighting for Zaun. Bc i feel like they did interesting things as a show.

Vander.

Made a deal with the sheriff. That helped protect the people but wasn't good for the progres sof Zaun as a community/economy.

Silco.

Helped the economy of Zaun. But this really only benefitted the chem barons and himself. The people of Zaun were thrown into addiction and further into poverty.

Sevick.

Never really helps zaun on her own. She will have the opportunity now as a council member. But she mainly helped who she thought was Xauns best choice as a leader; Vander, Silco, then Jinx.

Chem barons.

We don't see them too much. But pretty sure they were kidnapping children in s2. Using child labor. And creating shimmer. So not helping Zaun.

Jayce.

He is interesting. Bc he fights for Zaun for a minute. Then, he kills a kid. And gives up. Then decides the best option is to hand zaun over to Silco. Who is not helping Zaun either. So he is just kinda throwing the problem away instead of working to fix it.

Viktor.

WANTS to help Zaun. But never does. Bc of piltover politics, hextech is to help piltover first. And jayce doesn't help in this matter.

The Council.

Not helping Zaun. Also SUPER ignorant to what is going on. Bc the last 2 sheriff's made deals with Zaunites to keep the council out of their business.

Cassandra Kiramman.

She cleaned the air. She is definitely ignorant of what is going on. But used her power and money to clean the air of Zaun bc she believed they deserved clean air.

Vi.

Doesn't help Zaun. Listen. This isn't a shot. It makes perfect sense. She gives herself up in s1 to stop a war between Zaun and piltover, bc of Powder. She always picks her family first. And then she spends 7 years in prison and is released into a world she doesn't know. She has no obligation to Zaun and I do not expect her to fight for Zaun.

Ekko.

Fights for Zaun. Like fully. Best boy. He is trying to stop the distribution of shimmer. But. Here is Ekkos but. He isn't powerful enough to stop it/ take on silco. He is focused on a brighter future. And it trying his hardest.

Caitlyn.

Ooo caitlyn. Actually, tries to help Zaun. Don't freak. It's true. She completes 2 of her 3 goals. Eliminates shimmer production. And the chembarons. Which is 2 things that are not good for the people of Zaun. Her methods are ehhh. But in reality. Ekko couldn't stop the source of his issues being shimmer, silco, and the chem barons. But Caitlyn does. But she also helps ambessa with martial law. Which is bad. But then she stops the use of solitary cells in stillwater. She also is the person who gives them a council seat.

Caitlyns journey with Zaun to me is so interesting. Bc in s1. We see her eyes open and her want to help is there. Then Jinx kills her mother. And she STRUGGLES. understandable. And she makes bad decisions. But then at the end she's making decisions to help zaun.

Jinx.

Helps Zaun on Accident. Yes. It needs to be said. Love her. But she had zero intentions of helping them. She becomes a symbol of hope bc she's the zaunite who attacked piltover TWICE and didn't get caught. But the first time was literally in anger about what they had done to her. And the second time was bc they were looking for her. When asked to help Zaun she said no. In fact she only helps AFTER Isha gets kidnapped. Then walks into those cells like a hero. When the only reason she is there is for Isha.

She is like Katniss Everdeen. Her goals are like survive and help little sister. And everyone around them are like... wow what a rebellious symbol. And I love this about them both. It's so real. Like i feel like alot of people who are symbols. Dont choose to be. And thats Jinx.

I just kinda wanted to talk about this. And see what other people thought. Mainly bc I feel like there is this standard of who helped zaun. And so much is overlooked or embellished.

[cynical-canidae]

Okay, sorry (I'm not at all), but someone was appreciating the outfits of Viktor's commune on Twitter, and it reminded me I just have a whole lot of thoughts.

But I just love love love love them because essentially?? Looks aside (though they are stunningly gorgeous), these outfits—specifically being wrapped in blankets—sort of represent these individuals at their base/"pure" humanity.

But if you think about it, for most people, even in fictional settings/media, a blanket is your very first "outfit." It is your very first armor to brave this big, big world. Then and there at your birth, you are at your absolute most vulnerable. It's you BEFORE all of the wrong of the world (prejudice, disease, harm, death, etc.) has any chance to affect/shape you. From then on, they—this life, this world, this society—all will take every chance they can get to leave its fingerprints all over you. But in that moment, coddled by a blanket, you are a bare canvas of whatever your genes have ordered. Which is why I say "pure/base humanity."

And RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA if this does not perfectly encapsulate the commune's (Viktor's) mindset at this point??

I want to first preface this by saying. No. OBVIOUSLY the commune was not 10000% all good. Loss of self and autonomy and free will are Not good things. 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ (As these things makes us ourselves. Yes, though their bodies move, this is essentially murdering these people.) This is the core principle of which original game Viktor and Jayce disagreed and ultimately separated upon/got Viktor expelled. However, one of the MAIN themes of Arcane is how we can do very horrible things with good intentions. We know that this happens to be Viktor's. Clearly not probably one of the best methods of trying to bring this about, but what I'm saying is that not a single soul can argue that everything/the aftermath was done out of malice/an "evil" plan. TL;DR: No, the commune was not perfect like some people for some reason?? were convinced (looking at all of you with the 🚫 Jayce pfps after Act 2 lol). However, no way can someone genuinely say that it meant Viktor was evil because of all of it. Ok, preface over.

(Also, don't even get me started on the tragedy of how the world made Viktor, a disabled man, believe that the solution was to change himself and not ?? making the world more accommodating/educating people. That's for another time and I'm supposed to be talking about BLANKETS djksfnosfjskm.)

ANYWAYS, like Viktor himself says in Act 2:

"The reason for our failures in the commune. The doctor was right. It's inescapable. Humanity. Our very essence. Our emotions... Rage. Compassion. Hate. Two sides of the same coin. Inextricably bound."

Humanity has a ton of good to offer the world and each other. The commune was born out of Viktor's genuine empathy and desire for people to live free from all of the downsides of the human condition and the things that come with it. The commune was an attempt to separate the good side of the coin from the bad side. Which is why I say that their outfits, simply blankets wrapped around them like their "pure" selves (birth), perfectly encapsulates the commune's/Viktor's mindset at this point in time. He was convinced that he could find a way to have only the good. It also meant everyone was put to the same "level"/showed a sense of equality, which was another thing Viktor was trying to do. (I.E. Uniforms are VERY big in Piltover. Certain clothes mean STATUS. Even Salo, a former councilman, being in the same robes as everyone else is a good example of bringing everyone to the same playing field.)

Also, since I cannot help but note on it. My fellow religious trauma girlies were also very tuned into just how biblical Act 2 was in general (Jesus Viktor jokes, you will always be famous). I could make an entire essay on all of THOSE parallels, but on the topic of clothing: Adam and Eve only adorned "clothes" out of shame/self-consciousness once the biblical version of Pandora's box had been opened, releasing all of the bad (sin) into the world. This point in time of humanity before the apple is exactly akin to what Viktor was trying to achieve. (He even had a damn greenhouse omg like that's literally the Garden of Eden?? 😭😭) So while Fortiche/Riot definitely wouldn't have been able to have the members of the commune all naked without getting bumped up a couple ratings, it definitely makes sense that they would wear/appear as the next thing closest to that. Huzzah!! Blankets!! 🤌🤌

I also very much appreciate it because it makes the transition of Viktor's mindset changing very stark as well, going from "most" human (blanket) to least human (machine). I have been rationalizing these two differing points in my head kinda as:

[Commune/Act 2]

"I must save humanity from the world"

(Mentally, you have to equate bad things to the world if you believe you can have humanity without it)

VS.

[Arcane Herald/Act 3]

"I must save humanity from itself"

(Inarguable, as this is the canonical current state of new game Viktor. Also can be seen like "the world from humanity.")

Anyways, I'm crazy. 🧎‍♂️🧎‍♂️ Thanks for reading.

[triptychgrip]

"Yuuri, the sin of keeping Viktor to yourself is grave"

What are folks' thoughts on this line (said by Christophe to Yuuri at the Cup of China)?

I go back and forth on it, but it's a line of dialogue that has made me question how much Viktor divulges to Chris (which, in turn, makes me wonder how close Christophe and Viktor really are). If they're the kind of friends who text and have phone calls regularly, wouldn't Chris have the sense to realize (or have heard from Viktor, directly) that Yuuri isn't "keeping" Viktor from doing anything he doesn't want to do?

And, that Viktor flew to Hasetsu of his own volition, desperate to do something purely for just himself for the first time in a very long time?

Now, I'm fully aware that this "sin" comment also could have just been a somewhat petty thing that Chris uttered without thinking too deeply about it.

But if it's anything more than that, it's a pretty selfish thing to say. (Does anyone else think that it also gives the impression -- regardless of intent -- that Chris doesn't really believe in Viktor's abilities as a coach...that he, like Yakov, thinks Viktor is sort of wasting his time? Which...while perhaps logical, isn't very supportive, considering that Viktor was obviously at a breaking point that had been years in the making, and needed to make a drastic change in his life to regain perspective.)

Now, don't get me wrong: if it was just a petty comment coming from a place of hurt/slight resentment, that would be understandable (albeit unkind). But the resentment angle makes more sense with time; I think about how painful it might have been for Chris to think "ok, Viktor may be out of the running if he's now a coach, which means it's finally my year! If I can't win against Viktor, I'll show everyone that I'm the new one to beat"...only for things to obviously not go down that way, as per the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona.

While it's hard to say what might have gone down, we know that Chris was at the Sochi banquet, and likely saw just how much that night meant to Viktor. So, for Viktor to not have clued Chris in on his true motivations for "giving up" his career reinforces the idea that he may be very emotionally guarded. As in, that despite their many years of competing against each other and being friends, he didn't feel the need to divulge any of his true desires to Chris. AND it might also mean that Chris hasn't bothered to dig too deeply into the things Viktor has told him over the last several months...seven months, I believe, if we assume Viktor flew to Hasetsu in April, and that the Cup of China takes place in October/November.

So all this is to say, while it's very clear that Viktor and Chris are friends, I do have to wonder if they only became best friends (i.e. as opposed to "work friends") post-canon. And, I wonder how the very nature of being competitors interferes with the kind of emotional vulnerability that we often associate with the idea of "best friends"? This is something I think about with respect to Yuuri and Phichit, too...

[marvelstars]

"All slaves have a transmitter placed inside their bodies somewhere." "I've been working on a scanner to try and locate mine, but no luck." "Any attempt to escape…" "And they blow you up. Poof!"

―Shmi and Anakin Skywalker

One of the things that always get my attention in the phantom menace is how easily the people who would take care of Anakin from his 9 years to a young adult could ignore so easily the way his upbringing would affect him but if you see TPM movie, you get why.

Shmi and Anakin are living in horrorific circunstances, they know their owners, Gardulla and Watto can blow them up anytime they want with all legality on Tatooine so what´s left to them to stay not only sane but also kind under such circunstances is to keep what Viktor Emil Frankl called "mental/emotional freedom" they may not be owners of their own bodies but they are owners of their own mind and they can choose to be kind in their circunstances because they "WANT TO BE KIND" not because some code tells them they have to be kind or compassionate.

This is a family who has personally seen slaves being blown up, from kids, to women to adults of any age, a family who lived inside Gardulla´s the Hutt palace, you only need to remember ROTJ to understand this is a mother who had to explain to anakin what sex was from a very young age so he could tell her if someone wanted to take advantage of him that way even if she could not stop them from taking advantage of her Son.

QUI-GON: You should be proud of your son. He gives without any thought of reward.

SHMI: Well he knows nothing of greed.

So when the Jedi came to Tatooine, given the stories both Shmi and Anakin heard about them, most notably the story about them freeing slaves from the former Sith Empire some thousands of years ago, they didn´t expect much but at least they expected the problem to be recognized but Qui-Gon has to explain to them that they are on Tatooine on accident and that they are not here to free slaves and when you get to Coruscant you learn that the Jedi are mostly concerned to what happens in the Senate to put much attention to what happens in the wider galaxy.

So we get in an scenario where Anakin is send to the Temple by his mother to give him a chance of a normal life but the world in which he gets to doesn´t even have the lenses to begin to understand his pov and not only that, they expect him to adapt himself to them, not the other way around.

You think? I don´t know Yoda, If I were a 9 year old who still has a ticking bomb inside my body(Qui-Gon didnt had time to get him to an infirmary), who had to leave behind my mother in such circunstances and who now is surrounded by adults called masters, who can read my mind, you know, the only thing left free for a slave like Anakin, I guess I would be pretty afraid too and not because I am falling to the darkside but because it´s a normal human reaction but Jedi are just not that empatethic in this version of the Order right?

So what we get is that Anakin gets to live in a place with people who certainly have good intentions, who see themselves as the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy but who mostly believe this means doing what the Senate tells them to do, they are completely unable and unwilling to even begin to understand Anakin, most of them, even Yoda have too sheltered lives to begin to understand where Anakin is coming from and it shows painfully as part of the tragedy, because where they see Anakin, they see pain/anger/hate and where Anakin sees them, he sees ignorance and lack of empathy that he at times sees as cruelty but both sides try to make it work, acting as if that´s not what they see on each other.

So even if Obi-Wan did his best to understand Anakin he´s still too sheltered to understand him they way his mother did, he believes Anakin having a problem with food snacks is a sign of him being greedy /asking for special treatment instead of being a sign of someone who has been starved before as punishment and a natural reaction is to keep food and insects around so he doesn´t die of hunger, Obi-Wan is just disgusted by it.

But you know someone who certainly grew up as sheltered as the members of the jedi order, as part of a noble house in a mid rim planet but who has plenty of life experiences and isn´t so set in his ways that he can recognize the signs Anakin is showing for all to see? who has travelled to Tatooine and many other worlds as part of his Sith training? Palpatine, this is why he allowed Anakin to stay in the Jedi Order, he knew he would just grow up bitter and resentful of them because they were just too set in their own ways to try to understand and that for him, was just preparation for him to be turned into a Sith. He can be the one adult who understands where Anakin is coming from and he doesn´t even need to lie.

So when I see this character seen in the fandom as someone spoiled (lol) who gave Obi-Wan a hard time every chance he got, I wish Lucas had been more direct in telling this part of the story because there´s just so much of this tragedy lost in translation that isn´t even funny.

But you know who also had the means to get to Anakin and completely understand what the hell happened, who was from the same world? Who knew how to get to him in his own language despite years of being submerged in the darkside? Yes, his Son Luke, so I guess this is how the story rhymes.

[chaifootsteps]

(commercial break from Viv drama, normal service will resume shortly)

I think the other big potential of Vikdecai outside of the angst on the surface is that they could both have the exact same tension between two warring impulses:

* "things would have been fine if you'd just listened to me" (about leaving/not leaving the Lackadaisy)

vs

* "I need you to still need me because no one needs me anymore" (present day situation where Viktor is benched and frustrated behind the bar and Mordecai is alone in the vipers nest of the Marigolds & Savoy siblings endangering his life to investigate a dead man's death)

and the ultimate sad thing is that both their past regrets and their present loneliness have the same cause - they didn't want to be separated! they're partners and they wouldn't have had what's implied to be a pretty bad argument if they weren't trying to negotiate the other into being with them. but it's tragic because Mordecai probably didn't even tell Viktor about his intention to investigate Atlas' death - he probably thought Viktor would agree that the business is as good as finished and come with him. And Viktor probably couldn't believe Mordecai would ditch so fast when he thought his partner would stay with him & Mitzi

if it weren't for the circumstances that parted them, their first instinct would have probably been "stay together" - because although the other one drives them nuts, there's no one else they've ever trusted as much in the bootlegging business outside of Atlas himself (maybe even more than him), but now it's Atlas who has driven the wedge between them. Now matter how much Mordecai might want to do otherwise, he owes Atlas a debt for saving his life. And no matter how much Viktor might want otherwise, he can't bring himself to abandon Mitzi.

but I like to imagine they'd be loyal to one another to the last - Mordecai's ultimate downfall could easily be due to his stopping someone gunning Viktor down, just as Viktor could end up expelled from the Lackadaisy entirely if he had a chance to hurt Mordecai and didn't take it

God, this hurts in the best possible way. All of their problems (well, some of their problems) could have been avoided if they'd done a better job of communicating their situation or just let each other go.

But they couldn't. Because they're partners.

[hexhomos]

What’s the best way to write an unreliable narrator? How can we communicate to the readers that it is an unreliable narrator, without bluntly stating that in the author’s notes? How can we make sure we’re writing the “correct” narrative versus just mischaracterizing someone? What are the biggest mistakes when writing for it and how can we avoid them? Lastly, what do you think makes an unreliable narrative story compelling (or not compelling, depending on your stance)?

This ask has been in my backburner for a good number of months, partly because I think it's a really good (and really difficult to answer!) set of questions. It goes back to the original debate over how to spot or define an unreliable narrator, what difference the medium they exist in makes, what can be taken as authoral intent and what can be written off as the audience's projection, etc. This varies depending on the story. This is all complicated stuff people have written entire books on -a lot of which I have not read, so I'm no particular authority- but I DO happen to frequently enjoy unreliable narrators and tend to gravitate towards them in most stories that appeal to me. I like how they embrace the idea that No Point Of View Is Ever Neutral, that the act of writing itself or telling a story in any way IS choosing a side, a scope, a voice, a point you are trying to make or sentiment you are trying to evoke, and that "neutrality" is a flimsy illusion. In its most literal manifestation, neutrality is just... centrism. Centrism *is* taking a side. It just happens to be the side of pissbabies, most of the time.

The unreliable narrator throws away any pretense of narrative neutrality by way of Existing and hemorrhaging their opinions all over a text. And I think that's compelling, because in many ways they're the MOST honest type of character in fiction. They just also achieve that by lying???? It's that central contradiction which makes them incredibly fucking funny.

So yesterday I stumbled upon these tweets:

And they started marinating in the back of my head. That's sort of the whole thing, right? Its hard to give you a bullet list of "Things To Do When Unreliabling Your Narrators," because that depends on the type of person they are and what, specifically, causes the unreliability. A child who knows less about the world is unreliable in one specific way, an adult who knows too much and has an specific agenda is unreliable in ANOTHER way. They may be completely or partially unaware that the reality they describe is fabricated. They may be fudging the line of fact and fiction to save face, make a point, or convince you of a belief. And the thing is that... you cannot always tell? Sometimes a character is just stupid. Katniss hungergames is famously unreliable for just reading people wrong and having a shit judgement of social interaction; you could also argue that every character is a bit unreliable in that way.

In a lot of cases it takes a second perspective to show how someone's account of an event is flawed. Visual and written media can do this in different ways, and it only expands if you consider things like audiodramas or interactive games. (Consider how viktor's bio presents him as a prince of logic and measurement, whereas his voicelines have a deeply unreasonable guy ranting about his Absolute Truth having to be imposed on everybody, or have it destroy them altogether.) Personally, I can't really think of a way this could be done 'wrong' - it comes down to boring stories vs interesting stories if you truly need me to find examples, but that's a failure of things BEYOND just the unreliability of the narrator. Like structure, pacing, clarity of message, that kind of stuff. The only way I believe you can ever 'fail' at doing one is if you, as an author, notice that details you WANTED readers to take from your story are not at all present on readings of your text.

And even that is hard to quantify! People will misinterpret texts even at their simplest level, like ~'American Psycho Is not about a mass murderer, the murders never happened (despite them being described or shown in detail) that was just all in his head!' is an actual argument you will find on the internet. At a certain point you can't take responsibility for those who don't get it, or you'll never write anything out of fear. I DO think that fandoms tend to make that conversation a lot harder and run with most things at face value, and I worry about that a lot, so I plaster my stuff with context tags. Not everyone may enjoy this, but it makes me feel less insane when putting stuff online and fearing that.. it won't be properly questioned.

TL;DR - Find what makes your narrator unreliable. Exacerbate it when writing their point of view. What things do they emphasize? What things do they hide, through incompetence or omission? Why? What contradictions can be found in the things they say VS what they *actually* do? The biggest mistake any author can do IMO is to make shit boring. Aside from that, I think any sufficiently fleshed out character can be compelling, they just need to given a corresponding narrative to excel on.

[arcaneconfessions]

So hello, this was the anon who talked about Mel and her power in the council as well as why ppl blaming ALL of Zaun's oppression onto her is pretty irrational. Want to correct myself about her being poor, that was mostly to refer to post-S1, and I might've mistaken her dialogue from S1 EP 2 in her wanting to further invest on Jayce because she needed more money? Lol, that was a mistake and misreading on my part, I apologize for that (thx to the ppl who were kind enough to correct me or just point that out on the last post.)

With that being said tho, I do wonder how long it took her to be able to be accepted (Shes around her mid twenties in S1 Act 1 so prob not long since she is familiar with everyone but it did take time). Hopefully, we get more backstory for her in Piltover if we can....but I still think the council, other than Mel, should be held accountable since they literally did NOTHING before she was even given the role of Councilor.

Blaming Mel again is fair enough for the shady things she did BEFORE she tried to help Jayce somewhat in the way that she could with Hextech (to pretty much stop Ambessa and to avoid war/while also supporting Jayce/her redemption at the end of S1), but you would also have to take into consideration that the Council also was complicit WAY before Mel joined the council....

Mel is a flawed character who after her exile was forced to do things the way her family wanted to make a respectable name for herself. Of course, even if her actions were good intentioned they're gonna be seen as (even if she was still being practical) "manipulative" but that isn't the ENTIRE case as we've seen with how she interacts with Jayce, especially when she explains to him how shit in the council works, since he was at the time A COUNCILOR....(she's basically just trying to give him the best outcome for both problems with Hextech, while also making sure that he/his voice had a good standing among the Council)

Even in S2 before "The Black Rose" plotline, we do see her promising Jayce advocating for both him and Viktor in protecting their dream from being corrupted or weaponized (bc she genuinely doesnt want to even if she knows they need defenses against ppl who attacked them like Jinx.)

Ambessa even points out how Jayce has softened her, the fact her mother of all people is able to point out how she has once again grown "soft" and how she returned only to further her warmongering plans and Medarda's honor......is what ends up Mel having to slowly reconsider her choice in wanting to stay in the family (choosing the wolf- helping her own family and blood through force/violence despite war killing innocents) or leaving it for good (choosing the fox - to give peace and freedom to save innocents even in the face of losing those she loved and thus her "identity" as a Medarda)

By abandoning that side of her identity/need for validation of her own family that she supported/loved for years in exile, she is reminded of who she wanted to be and what she believed in because of what she has seen and because of her brother who she looked up to as well as loved. Thus, choosing to break the "cycle" by taking away the symbol that has haunted and practically engraved itself in her skin....She is still and will always be a "Medarda" but she isn't a warmonger.

This isnt to say that the entire Council is also irredeemable. We see that Cassandra like Mel does want to protect people and the same could be said for Heimerdinger......but it was at the cost of oppressing other innocents and exploiting them for their own self-gain while still being ignorant of their suffering that THEY caused for years. Its not to say they didn't have their reasons but it's to say that they're actions were very much harmful and wrong (regardless of intention or not).....and Jinx blowing up the council was just karma knocking on their door.

.

[viiktorious]

⧼   sean teale, cis man, he/him   /   achilles come down by gang of youths + viktor - latin origin meaning 'champion' you were named with the intention that no matter what the situation you're in you'll always come out on top. it's a heavy burden to place on someone's shoulder, and you felt the weight at a very young age. lucky for you you've always shown promise and talent. the sky blessed you with the innate ability to fly across it with ease, to do what many non-magical men can only dream of. it's a blessing and you've taken it with stride. it fills you in ways nothing else seems to do. with a broom and golden in your hand you've become victorious; family - a sacred bond. the reason you exist and the collection of hands that molded you into the man you are now. in an environment where the pull of darkness is like a siren song they are the reason you have not been led astray. the past, the people you've lost have become the guiding light in your life. friends - the family you make. the reason you know that sometimes some bonds are just as strong as the pull of the blood coursing through your veins. blood you would readily spill if those bonds were ever endangered. fiercely loyal to a fault. you'd put your life on the line for anyone that earned a spot within your heart; love - old english, german, latin or ancient greek. to love is to care. filial, platonic or romantic. the latter... for you? unknown. more elusive than a golden snitch. it is something you dream about, to have what so many before you were able to obtain. the path of a victor is lonely it seems.  ⧽   ━━   hey, isn’t that VIKTOR KRUM? i read a daily prophet article on them, once ; the THIRTY TWO year old pure blood WIZARD is a DURMSTRANG INSTITUTE alumnus who has gone on to be a WORLD CLASS QUIDDITCH PLAYER & TEMPORARY HOGWARTS CO-COACH. i’ve heard they can be quite LOYAL & HONORABLE, but i don’t know… they came off very CLOSED OFF & SHORT TEMPERED in that interview. it really is hard to know what to believe these days though, isn’t it?

he's an only child and it shows. his parents ( aleksander and stefania krum ) spoiled him quite a bit, but that love also came with very high expectations for viktor. their affection seemed to be a little bit transactional, though i don't believe they did it intentionally and had his best interest at hand... but he realized at a young age that if he got good grades then soon after he would get a new broom, or the toys he'd been eyeing at the store on their last outing. it was sort of a 'win-win' situation but also an incredibly heavy burden. though it was also partially self-imposed. ( he was a little bit too proud to not strive to be the best in everything he was involved in )

he's very much an example of 'only child syndrome' with certain traits ( most of them not good ) though mainly the difficulty to socialize, the inability to share, the perfectionism, introversion, sensitivity to criticism, and as he grew up... the loneliness. which honestly didn't get any better once he started to show some real talent for quidditch, but it seemed like besides his teammates everyone only wanted to get close to him for their five seconds of fame and he honestly hated that.

the fact that he seemed to be a bit of an outlier in durmstrang, a dark arts institute with igor karkaroff as a headmaster during his schooling, also didn't make things any easier. the people he actually trusted were very few, he was able to count them with one hand. his short temper made him very ... use fists first, ask questions later ... so you know, not the best way to make meaningful connections !

then his last year came and we all know how that turned out, but basically: visiting hogwarts ( good ), meeting hermione ( very good ), befriending harry ( also very good ), being selected for the triwizard tournament ( not in his plans but why not ? new experiences and all ), being manipulated like a puppet with the imperius curse by a death eater, forced to torture cedric diggory with the cruciatus curse and then getting stunned and disqualified ? ( 0 / 10 quite frankly very awful, would NOT recommend, still have nightmares about it ).

after that i like to imagine he graduated and started trying to live his best life as a quidditch player then fast forward to fleur's wedding ... someone he ✨ trauma bonded ✨ and kept in contact with ... getting ambushed and attacked by even more death eaters ? click here for his reaction !

feeling that attack a little bit too personal he decided to stay in britain and help the order of the phoenix as much as he could. i don't think he was heavily involved in the second wizarding war, not in the front lines and definitely not nearly as much as he would have wanted to be. but he did provide aid, and a safe heaven to those that needed to get out of britain and had gotten hurt somehow. ( he was a pretty good healer, almost had to be with how accident prone quidditch players are ) but he did his best to help as much as possible. i have more Thoughts here and Possibilities but i still need to unravel them some more. him not being heavily involved also meant he didn't find out about many things until way after the fact ( mainly harry's "death" ) he only stayed until the funeral and then promptly went back to bulgaria to try to keep on living despite everything that happened.

back in bulgaria... home doesn't feel like home anymore. so he dives into his passion full time, not being one too in tune with his emotions he decides to do his utmost to ignore and move on. and it does work for a few years at least, but the universe has a funny way of repeating events and he gets word of what's happening again. and so he takes a "break" from his quidditch career and contacts professor mcgonagall for a position as a temporary co-coach... though his intention is more being involved, actually helping this time and hopefully protecting those he holds dear.

aaaaand... this is where we are now ♡

[asgardian--angels]

Thanks for your insight! I had come to the same conclusion on a lot of these points.

I agree that if Jayce didn't blast him, he wasn't weakened, wouldn't have become the Herald, and was using the hexite cores to power up. However, I didn't think that Vander overloaded because Singed injected him - we see Singed use the serum (do we even know what that mysterious serum was?) on Warwick's corpse during the Evolution scene - this actually appears to be the thing that transforms Viktor, not just the apex shimmer. The apex shimmer was maybe sustaining Viktor in his cocoon but it didn't appear to be enough to heal him ("I sense my twilight approaching"). It's only when Singed injects the orange serum into Warwick, mixing with the shimmer, that we see Warwick's memories disintegrate and that serum passes into the cocoon, triggering Viktor's evolution. Now, Richter (spelling??) puts his axe through the steam-powered thingie on Warwick's back, and I thought that would have perhaps caused the overload - but he appeared alright after that. I really do think that Viktor's connection was what was stabilizing him and when it was shattered Warwick couldn't hold back that flood. If that hadn't happened, Jinx, Vi, and Cait could have gotten him out of there, changing everything, and I think Viktor would have likely refused Ambessa's pitch as he wouldn't need an army to get him to the hexgates if he believed he had Jayce on his side.

I'm still in the process of working out my thoughts on the ruined timeline, because Ambessa's a bit of a wild card as to what she'd do if the circumstances are even a bit different. She went down there with the intent of capturing Warwick, only turning her attention to Viktor once he's already in the cocoon and she learns he can create these immortal soldiers. Otherwise, she fears and resents mages. I think her intent was, in our timeline, ultimately to try and (foolishly!) harness Viktor's power for herself to fight the Black Rose, which wouldn't have worked, but regardless. I won't get off on an Ambessa tangent, tho I think her actions in the crucial few hours after Warwick decide the timeline tbh, but working it all out made me realize how quickly things in the commune happen. If Jayce had willingly joined Viktor, he would have had almost no time (like...minutes) before the rest of the events unfolded (sorry fic writers who want him chilling in the commune for weeks). I still think Jayce would have to turn against Viktor once he sees the Evolved - but he couldn't bring himself to hurt Viktor. I would guess he scrambles off to Piltover to warn the council. Things would have to play out similarly if Ambessa continues with her attack on Piltover, with Jayce knowing that Viktor was going to be in the hexheart and going down there to confront him instead - but maybe giving his best emotional 'you're still in there!' pitch. I'm still inclined to think when he kneeled atop the tower it was out of defeat, but I'm open on it.

(This brings me to another tangent, being that this surely has to be the first Jayce brought to this timeline - because husk Jayce gives over his hammer, and he can only do that once. There's, to me, something uniquely special about that hexcorized hammer that is able to really hurt Viktor/the hexcore vs just a blast from his regular hammer? Seeing as the hexite cores don't hurt Viktor, and the power of the hex crystals are one with those of the hexcore, just powering him up. But even so, if any other Jayce came and fell down that cave etc, they'd be left with no weapon after. I can't stop thinking about the rune embedded in Jayce's arm with hexcorized damage, and how it seems to be the thing that activates the hexcorized hammer, as it glows on his arm whenever he uses the hammer. I could get off into another huge thing about how I've been struggling to figure out what mage Viktor's actual plan was for our Jayce to do, and how that rune fits into it, but I digress)

I think Viktor's plan would have been, as we saw in the prime timeline, to activate the hexgate, concentrating its full power into a vertical beam which would shoot upwards through the hole in the roof, through him/through the hexcore, channeling that power into the Anomaly to enact the Glorious Evolution (thus producing the mage visual we see in the tome/Black Rose illusion). Our Viktor didn't get there, but Mage Viktor did. I also noticed like you said that there were no drones on top of the tower, but they were scattered around the city, on the bridge, in the undercity. I don't truly know if that is significant or if they just, dispersed after a while. To me they're discolored from decades of corrosion and exposure, not because they're any different from our version of the Evolved, showing how once the Evolution took place, there was nothing to do after. Everything just went silent, stood still. Viktor had no orders for them, so they just wandered off without purpose and sat to rust. Or maybe once Viktor realized what he'd done, he didn't want to even look at them so he sent them away from his eye of the storm area.

Sorry for the ramble - I wrote this out of order lmao. I have been thinking a LOT about the ruined timeline, trying to piece it together, and there's an incredible amount going on that's subtle and easy to overlook in lieu of the big stuff.

Hi! I wanted to hear your thoughts about something that keeps on nagging me about the Glorious Evolution... what's the difference between the Evolved and the Pompeii-esque husks we see in the ruined timeline? Viktor states his intent is to Evolve everyone willing and connect them into one mind but we only ever actually see him evolve his commune followers. Towards the end we see that either Viktor himself, the drone bots, or the anomaly via the mind-strings, can begin to 'assimilate' people, but that never progresses to getting Evolved. Jayce almost losing himself in golden light seems to be what happens if it's allowed to finish. So does everyone else who isn't 'touched' just get decimated by the anomaly blast? What was Viktor's intent for Jayce ultimately - I feel like he wasn't going to Evolve him, he wanted him by his side and we see in the ruined timeline that he's a husk, not a drone. I'm still struggling to make sense of these different end-states for those who get plugged into the hivemind, and how it's decided who ends up getting connected or just destroyed.

Sorry it took me a while to get to this one, it was a combination of real life and not really having an answer ready because I agree, it is vexing.

I don't quite know how to break down what happened and who is what, but I can try to make sense of it with the things we know:

In this reality, Jayce never shot Viktor through the chest. Presumably, this means Viktor continued with his plans without interruption.

Ambessa arrived at the commune before Jayce did, so his going back did not alter that event. So that would be the same in both universes. To me, this means that Viktor was heading towards his moment of disillusionment either way, either by Jayce's hands or by Ambessa.

Keep in mind, Jayce shooting Viktor is NOT why Vander went crazy. So many people miss this, but it's actually because of Singed injecting him. Admittedly, he did so while everyone's backs were turned because of the interruption of Jayce's attack but I think the full-scale conflict that broke out was quite likely in either universe, with or without Jayce.

I think what also gets lost in this discussion is what Salo was doing at the base of the Hexgates: retrieving Hex crystal cores.

So, while Viktor was running low on energy, he may have found an alternative by using Hex crystals which Jayce scuttled by killing Salo. No one else from the commune (except arguably Viktor himself) would have the authority to get into the Hexgate base without getting stopped.

As far as we know, without getting shot, Viktor never turned to Singed for Apex Shimmer via Vander/Warwick. I believe this because Wizard Viktor doesn't have the Machine Herald appearance. Arguably he's able to shed it or it's an illusion, etc etc, but truly I believe the Machine Herald appearance is a direct result of Jayce shooting Viktor and him being forced to turn to Apex Shimmer to heal.

We also know in Wizard Viktor's original timeline, Jayce probably joined him instead of shooting him. I've argued before in another meta that Jayce in Wizard Viktor's timeline likely gave into Viktor willingly at the top of the tower.

So, where does that leave us? I'm going to propose this alternate timeline:

Viktor is disillusioned by Ambessa's attack but he's not weakened because Jayce never shot him.

Using the Hex crystals Salo stole from the Hexgates, Viktor has enough power to continue assimilating people.

I'd argue: Viktor forcibly assimilates Ambessa's forces or he otherwise begins an assault on the city, perhaps with her as an ally. I only note this because it does look like there are more converted/ascended people in the Anomaly Future that there were cultists and him assimilating Ambessa's forces (including Cait, for example, but not including Jinx because her balloon is visible crashed into the Hexgate tower in the Anomaly future) is one possible explanation.

Viktor achieved this using Hex crystals, not Apex Shimmer. He was also able to do a version of the robot/ascended cultists because of the Hex crystal powers but not enough to give them that porcelain and gold "sheathe". Perhaps he didn't even feel the need to design his ascended cultists that way in this world, because he wasn't competing with Mel, because Jayce had already joined him.

Viktor then goes to the Anomaly at the base of the Hex tower. He believes that this will give him the power to convert the rest of the world and end all conflict.

And this is where things get really damn speculative but I'll try my best:

Viktor claims the Anomaly. He and Jayce go together willingly to the top of the Hexgate tower to make this vision of peace a reality using its power.

In celebration of their plan finally reaching its successful conclusion, Viktor brings Jayce into the hivemind. Jayce is kneeling in front of Viktor willingly, with his hammer held before him in fealty.

Unlike in the canon timeline, we also know Viktor didn't bring any other robots up there with him, possibly because he didn't need the show of force or to restrain a willing Jayce. (or they could have descended later I guess but eh, I'm taking my visual difference as clues where I can)

Viktor converts Jayce to be his equal, somehow, in that he's different from both the cultists and the corpses.

However, this does not bring Jayce to his level, it just adds Jayce's consciousness to the growing soup of consciousness inside Viktor's head/the Hexcore, whatever it is. Jayce is effectively dead.

Then, this moment happens, which was the goal of the Hexcore the whole time: to lay waste to civilizations who overuse magic:

The mage rising over the city.

Wizard Viktor does this either out of grief at having lost Jayce or he does so before he loses Jayce (the order isn't super important, he loses him either way) and the Hexcore takes over to finish its own goals.

Everyone who isn't already assimilated gets taken out by the subsequent violent shockwave.

I might be missing some things. Honestly, we know some things went different because Viktor was never shot, because he got Hex crystals, because Jayce might have joined him at the commune, but how the battle broke down after that is very unclear. We do know that Jinx took part in the battle because she also flew her balloon into the Hexgate tower. How exactly that battle kicked off and who the combatants were is much less clear. We do know that Viktor didn't convert all of the city before those remaining got annihilated, so something must have gone wrong with his attempt to hive mind everyone that they all died instead.

The only curious note I can't quite reconcile is Wizard Viktor's speech about, "Once every equation is solved." Because it sounds like the Hexcore, or Viktor, determined that the only way to actually stop all conflict, the way to solve the equation, is to just murder everyone.

Which... um, yeah. I guess that works! But it definitely casts Wizard Viktor as either a pawn of the Hexcore or as an absolutely terrifying psychopath if that's his definition, which by the way I'm totally cool with because I love Wizard Viktor but I can easily see him being actually insane at this point and an only mildly remorseful supervillain who's really only sad Jayce died too so there was no one to save Viktor before he ended up in this dreamless solitude. Make of that what you will too.

I still don't feel like I have a clear answer for you, but hopefully this helps!

[fantasies-fairytales-n-fics]

Thranduil and Josie Part 77- What Lies Beneath

Summary: Time jump! 1 day till Halloween and Lestat's masquerade ball. Josie is now back in the lion's den and spends much time alone but not by her wishes. Thranduil has made residence in another room. Raven is released from lock up in the dungeons but not before another presence in the pits makes themselves known who knows all about her which noticeably disturbs Caroline. An unpleasant breakfast gathering takes place. The brat Prince and the Elvenking both handle the batty Raven who's mad as a hatter. Thranduil's brutish behavior to his wife continues. Lestat tries to comfort Josie. She's cynical at first, but soon finds the closed off vampire no different from Garrett as she learns his past. Josie drifts off to sleep to a beautifully sad tune while Raven makes an escape to do her dirty bidding.....

*Angst* *Mentions of death*

3 days had passed since Selene brought you back to the vampire inferno atop the snowy desolate mountain. Thranduil was so furious and hurt that he took vacancy in another room. You had not seen or heard from him since you walked through Lestat's front doors as Thranduil glared at you in disgust, which he had intently done to further get his point across. A point that was duly noted and hurt like hell. You shivered throughout the night while you tried to sleep but all you could do was cry and when you did manage to go under, the haunting dreams were waiting.

The weather outside was still frightful and the fires that lurked inside were not delightful. You hung out with Haldir and Legolas some, but you could tell even they were not thrilled with your actions so you kept to yourself. It didn't even seem to matter what Thranduil had done. Apparently he was excused of his past discretions because it was 20 years ago when it occurred. Never mind the fact he concealed it from you or that it was your mother he screwed. You were outnumbered when it came to Garrett being involved and were offered no free passes for your actions like your King was...if he was even still your King. You felt like a plague and officially abandoned....alone with a baby inside of you. You had managed to alienate everyone you loved and were a magnet for those you didn't. That being Lestat, Caroline and...Raven, wherever she disappeared to since she was melted with water like the wicked witch she was.

-Somewhere down below-

"You can let me out now! I've been in here for....I don't even know how long now! Mommy fearest! Marius you filthy trader!! LeFuck!!" Raven's weak shouts echoed through the dim lit murky dungeons of the Chateau de Lioncourt.

"Does your mouth ever cease? You will certainly receive no assistance with that foul tongue."

Raven bolted to the iron bars but didn't dare touch them as being part vampire, it would put her on her ass and in her weakened state, she may not survive it. "Who are you?? Where are you?? Speak freak!!" This was the first time she had heard a voice since she was thrown into the 6x6 cell like trash.

"Those who live in glass houses should not cast stones. Are you yourself not a freak? An abomination I believe it was that Viktor marked you as." The voice replied from down the hall.

Raven was now livid. She peeked through one of the square openings of the bars the best she could and was able to see a shadow moving about in a cell about 3 blocks down on the opposite side of hers. "It appears you are in the same predicament as me so maybe you should shut the fuck up!" She kept gawking down the hall but the voice went silent. "Hello?? Asshole!!"

Chains could be heard moving about. "Your hideous mouth is just like your mother's. My ears bleed and my blood curls to know you still exist....Clover."

"Ok that is it. Who the fuck are you?? How do you know so much about me?!"

"I know many things fiendish girl. Your nefarious ways will soon catch up with you all." The voice presaged and then gave an invidious laugh, then went silent as footsteps and keys could be heard in the distance.

"Mother!! That better be you! LET ME OUT!!!"

Caroline entered from the end of the hall where the other person was and gave them a dastardly glance as she passed the cell. She stopped at Raven's cell. "Have you learned your lesson on your erring ways? Or do you need another 3 days to think about it."

"You are such a hypocrite. Let me out of here. I'm hungry, filthy, irritated and I cannot take anymore of the stench or the ramblings of the jerk over there. Who the hell is that anyways? They know quite a bit about me and you and I get a witchy vibe from their presence, but I'm not strong enough to place it...I...I know this feeling...that smell....like....chamomile."

"They have spoken to you??" Caroline appeared worried and gave a troublesome look down the hall. "Well...Lestat's prisoners are none of your concern and they really should mind their tongue if they know what's good for them." She cautioned loudly with intent aimed at the hostage's ears. "Now...it's time to go." The vampire vixen couldn't seem to get Raven out of there fast enough. She unlocked the door and abruptly pulled Raven by her hand, leading her in the opposite direction of the mysterious captive.

Raven had to cover her eyes as she entered the light of day. Being in the dark so long made them sensitive.

"Now...the servants have prepared the morning's meal for the guests. You will be on your best behavior, eat your meal and return to your room."

"Wait..you're making me go in there like this?? I must look like I've been beaten with an ugly stick! You're doing this on purpose to humiliate me!!"

"What...did you think sitting in the dark with no food for 3 days was sufficient punishment for what you did?"

"Uh...YES!! God I hate you..." Raven reeled and went to sit at a solo table behind the main one that overlooked the window.

Marius came in and Raven literally made a snarl sound, then snapped her teeth together at him in a biting gesture. He smirked as he walked passed her and repeated the gesticulation. Marius was a laid back vampire who kept to himself but he had no tolerance for her insubordinate behavior and found her taunting tactics petulant yet amusing.

The next to enter was Haldir, Legolas and Thranduil all with flat unpleasant expressions. It was not their cup of tea to be in the same atmosphere as vampires let alone share the same room with them. Thranduil hustled in his swagger attire right to the bar where the wine sat atop calling his name. It was Dorwinion wine too. Narcisse didn't do business with vampires but that did not mean the astute Lestat couldn't get his hands on the sought after vintage. In this world, vampires also loved a superior ageless wine just as the elves. Thranduil swirled the grape around in his mouth, savoring the flavors of home and then let it roll down the back of his throat in one swift swallow. Haldir and Legolas sat on the opposite side of the table away from Raven and gawked at her backside with undeniable disgust.

She turned her head to the side. "I can feel you looking at me lowly sprites. Am I that desirable?" she grinned and rolled her eyes. "You know I had barbies as a child that looked a lot like you. I burnt off all their ugly blonde hair."

Haldir stiffened straight up in his chair with a miffed composure and Legolas followed suit. Thranduil sat down beside his son and rolled his eyes at them for allowing her to get under their skin so easily.

In you walked with the debonair Lestat in tow. It was not intentional to show up with him as you had crossed paths in the halls on your way there and he followed you to your dismay. You got the distinct feeling he went with you intentionally so you wouldn't feel alone and out of place since he was well aware of the treatment you were receiving. Lestat would certainly rather be off brushing his cat than be subdued to this chaotic state of affairs. Marius sat nonchalantly with his feet up reading a magazine but what he was really doing was supervising so things didn't turn into another shit show.

"Sorry I'm late. I was just out trying to catch my breakfast." Lestat joked. Although he probably was telling the truth.

Thranduil's pupils dilated in pure green envy at the sight of you with him and quite frankly, it made you happy. At least you knew he still cared, or so you thought. Haldir and Legolas stood up at your entry. "My Queen." they both expressed and gave a head bow. Thranduil gritted his teeth at their display while he sat firmly in his chair. They were only being respectful gentlemen but knowing their affections of you only exasperated him. The yandere side of him was quite evident over the past few days and it just kept uncontrollably intensifying.

You and Raven locked eyes. She reached up and placed her hand on your shoulder. "Well look at what the cat dragged in." she rudely stated. You smacked it away as you glared down at her with pursed lips.

"Don't you ever touch me again or I will rip your arm from it's socket." You then walked away to go sit down.

Thranduil actually could not help himself and allowed a proud smirk to form as he glanced at Raven with deriding eyes.

"Ooooo. Touchyyy." she snarked.

Lestat slowly walked about behind Raven. "Speaking of cats. Louie sends his love with a special present. He heard you were famished."

He pulled something out of his pocket, then dropped a dead mouse on her plate. Raven screamed and flew out of her chair so fast, it tipped over. "You distasteful Lefuck! What the hell is your problem??"

"Oh please. I think you know the answer to your own idiotic question. It's you. Now sit your shameful ingrate ass down and eat your meal. I would hate it if Louie's feelings were hurt...again by you. You see...when he's angry, then I'm angry. And I don't think you want to make me angry."

Lestat's eyes flashed a sinful red and her entire sour demeanor turned to that of fright. Apparently she has witnessed an irate Lestat before and it obviously wasn't a pleasant memory. He had great patience but it was wearing thin with her. "And by the way, my name is Lestat. Get it right the next time my name exits your vulgar mouth, although I would prefer you never speak it at all."

"You...you cannot seriously expect me to eat that??"

'What is the problem? Is Louie's preference of food beneath yours? Would you rather I bring you a child? Would that be less....revolting?"

You sat with your jaw dropped open at this little opprobrium Lestat was inflicting on the deserving entitled bitch. Her treatment of you seemed to have triggered him. At least someone was on your side and if it had to be Lestat, then so be it. It was shocking though after how you treated him the other day. Was he trying to possibly show up Thranduil?

"Mother??? You're not going to let him make me eat that???" Raven pleaded. Caroline looked down and said nothing. She seemed to have learned her lesson from the other day when she crossed Lestat.

"Eat it or starve. It is your choice. No other food will be offered to you." Lestat flatly stated. In came the servants with all the delicious smelling food and she just stared at it in disbelief.

"You're going to serve a bunch of repulsive elves all this food and give me nothing??" Raven glared at Lestat with bugged out eyes.

"You do not have nothing." He solemnly stated.

Her eyes raged. "I will not eat that!!" She picked up the plate and smashed it on the ground at his feet. Oh god. You were now genuinely frightened yourself as to what was going to happen. The look in Lestat's eyes was deadly and you could see his jaw clench as he swallowed.

No one was going to do anything and you did not want to see her get her throat ripped out no matter how much you despised her, so you intervened and slipped between them. Lestat looked you up and down at your temerity which you couldn't tell if he was offended or enamored by it.

"There is no need to get violent. Why don't you just send Raven to her room for now and let yourselves cool down??"

"I will not just go away! Who the hell are you to give orders to me?? Where is Garrett?? He will not let you all treat me as such!!"

"Oh...haven't you heard? Garrett has left the building... and he will not be returning. He has no power here nor over me and would be a fool to offer you protection and an even bigger one to challenge me. Do as she said. Go to your room little girl before I make you."

"Oh my god!! You're taking her side?? and why did he leave?? What did you do to him?? It was...you! Wasn't it?? He left because of you!!!" she snapped as she spun to you. "Look at you...all these men falling at your feet, kissing the ground you walk on! But that just wasn't good enough huh?? You just had to have G too and take him away from me! He was the only one who ever treated me like I mattered and now I have nothing! You will pay for this sister."

Her eyes glowed burnt orange as she death glared you. It seemed her power was returning now that she was not confined behind iron.

You heard Garrett's words echo in your mind. 'Find your zone and focus but don't go bananas like your fruitloop sister.' Your hand filled up like a 4th of July Phuljhari as you clenched your fist.

Thranduil saw your hand light up and knew he needed to conciliate the situation before it literally got out of hand.

The next thing you knew, Thranduil swiftly made his way to Raven.

"You started this wicked one, you will forgive me if I finish it."

The Elvenking displayed another round of his unseen glorious magic by you. An electricity ball formed between his hands and shot out like lightning, knocking an unsuspecting Raven right on her ass.

Thranduil's choice of weapon were always his swords but when that was taken away, his powerful wizardry of light surfaced, although a wizard he was not.

Marius quickly reprimanded her inside his arms of steel as Thranduil came face to face with the swearing and struggling pyrotechnic.

"It is no secret that you have no regard for a child's life but you will never harm my child or her mother, or you will suffer my wrath. I can assure you dhampir, your power is no match for mine. This was a mere warning. Another attempt and I will sever more than your wretched arm from your miserable body."

"Now that the Elvenking has had his turn to play, Marius. Take this headache to her room and secure it. It seems she hasn't had enough time to reflect." Lestat ordered. Marius whisked her away and Caroline followed as she gave an imperil glare to Thranduil.

"No! You will ALL pay for this, especially you elfling." Raven threatened through her teeth as she squirmed and sniggered while being drug out the door.

You skittishly approached Thranduil. "Th...Thank you for helping me." you softly said with a caring smile.

Thranduil peered down at you with an expressionless face and then went to reclaim his seat. "I did not do it for you. I did it for my daughter. She is of the only importance to me."

His words cut you like a knife. Your eyes began to swell as he went about his breakfast completely impervious to your pain. You turned to leave and slightly stumbled over a chair, then ran out crying.

You found yourself in the library sitting on the couch that you and Garrett conversed on. Covering your face with your hands, you began to loudly sob. A cool wind showered over you. "Garrett?" you gasped as you dropped your hands to your knees.

There stood Lestat holding out a tissue. "Sorry to disappoint you." His sarcasm was clear cut.

You sniffled and took the kleenex. "Thank you.....What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." he simply stated.

"It's not like I have anywhere to go. You were right. They have all forsaken me. Thranduil, Haldir, Legolas, Raven, Garrett...my own mother..."

"I told you that I would not. You can always come to my room and spend that time with me I asked for. I have something that you might be interested in seeing."

Although Lestat appeared to look and sound genuinely concerned, you still took his words as a sexual invitation. "Seriously?!! Is that all I am good for? A roll in the hay? Go figure, you're just like the rest." You then got up in a huff to leave.

Lestat grabbed your arm and spun you around so quickly, your vision blurred. "And you're just like all the rest, assuming I am nothing but a sexual predator!"

"Is that not what you are?! Look what you did to me in your room and then later in my dream!" you reeled with validation.

"It is the nature of the beast in me yes, but that is not all that I am. You wouldn't know that now would you because you will not take the time to get to know me. Have I harmed you? Have I forced you to do anything you did not....want to do? Little miss Josie, too good for the likes of a vampire...oh wait....only THIS vampire. Yet I am the one who is here........"

"Don't you do that. Don't you dare blame Garrett for his decision. He did it for me." you cried in his defense.

"I was not solely referring to Garrett. I came here offering you comfort. Has anyone else? Yet you stand here all high and mighty before me. I am sorry your husband makes you feel desired only for the bedroom. He's a fool to not see your worth otherwise and does not deserve you or the child you carry."

"How dare you speak of him or my child in such a way!" You raised your hand to smack him and he caught it mid air. He squeezed your wrist and yanked you against him as you gasped in fear.

"Can't handle the truth? He just tore your heart out and stomped on it in front of a room full of people and yet you still defend him. I can see I have wasted my time here." He tossed your wrist to the side and began to walk away.

"Wait!...."

Lestat halted and slowly turned back to you.

"You're right....you're right about everything. I am just so....lost. Nothing is like it was supposed to be. All the dreams I had....they're just gone. If anyone was a fool...it was me to believe in such fairytale bullshit. I used to think my prior life was so horrible and I prayed to be saved. I prayed for another life. Some perfect little story from a book but....they're not real. I knew that all along but...I wanted to believe. My belief was the only light I had then when my world was so dark. And now....it's pitch black."

Lestat contemplated on your words for a moment and then he began to walk back to you. "Then think about what I am offering you. I can fix all of that but you have to meet me in the middle somewhere." His chilly fingertips stroked your tear stricken cheek.

"Is...your bedroom the middle? I will go...I will spend that time with you. But...I am the one who is in control here. My pace...Can you handle that?"

The leery Lestat was not one for compromises but he agreed. "Yes and...yes."

Upon entering his chambers, your body stiffened. You had no idea what was going to happen. With the vulnerable state you were in, you knew you shouldn't have agreed to this but you didn't want to spend yet another sleepless lonely night in your room. "So...what is it that you wanted to show me?" You slightly gulped hoping it wasn't what you were thinking.

Lestat beamingly smiled and walked over to a large wooden box.

When you had first arrived at his chateau, Lestat played the violin for you but you had only wanted to find Thranduil which upset him. "I thought maybe this time you would be more invested in hearing me play?" The tiny instrument laid inside a coffin shaped box lined with red velvet. He carefully uncovered it and took it out as if it were his prize possession. It probably was.

A wave of relief rushed over you. "Ohh...that...is what you wanted to show me?"

The vampire that never expressed much humor actually chortled. "You were expecting a more...personal instrument of mine?"

Well now you just felt extremely embarrassed and were probably as red as the material in that box. You played it cool. "Poor Lestat. You wish."

He became even more amused by your terrible attempt at evading the question. "Do you want to...touch it?" he wickedly grinned as he held the violin out to you.

"No thanks. I think I know what it feels like." Oh that was so bad, you thought. Your mind had went straight to the gutter and remembered when he had you pinned against the wall right behind you, pressing his unyielding cock against you.

He knew exactly what you were referring to. "I assure you, it feels much different when it's out of it's....enclosure."

The always unamused vampire had jokes. You decided to keep humoring him. "Does that go for the size too?" Holy shit, what was he doing to you? It was like his aura was captivating you in every way.

"It's not the size of the fangs, it's how you bite."

Ok, this had to stop. You decided to deflect. "Don't you have much better things to do with your time than this?"

"All a vampire has is time."

"You got me there....So...I'm much more curious about something other than your...instrument and it's capabilities. Why is it you were carrying around a dead mouse in your pocket? You had no intentions of going into the dining room. You only did that to follow me."

Lestat gave a playful smile. "I was on my way to her room to place it under her pillow. Yep."

You busted out in laughter. "Now that would have been much more amusing than dropping it on her plate."

"It would have yes, but it all worked out the same. She has crossed one too many lines."

"Well....thank you by the way for attempting to shut her down although it horribly failed."

"It did not fail. Pissed her off more? Yes...but she knows my limits. Her and I have a rocky past, but it's obvious Garrett told you all about that since you seem to know about other things in my life that I speak to no one about. Raven was pure hellfire. A little child she was, but also a fierce killer capable of the ruthless pursuit of blood with all a child's demanding. I wanted to end her putrid existence on more than one occasion but Louis wouldn't hear of it. Garrett wouldn't have either but he wasn't around so much after what she did. He was smart, I will give him that. He wanted to steer clear of the dangers that followed her. Viktor and his death dealers being of top priority after her rampage on Laketown. A vampire's life is a life of discretion but Clover had no concept of that at her age. She still wouldn't if she were set free. Caroline and her demon seed cannot hide forever. I have only prolonged the inevitable for them. Death will come for them. I can feel it."

His words sent shivers clear through you. "Then why have you...and still do continue to harbor them? Aren't you worried you will be shown no mercy for aiding and abetting them?"

"Good. Let them come. I'm not worried." the ever so confident vampire raved as he sat down beside you.

"You're doing it all for Louis aren't you? Why? He left you alone."

"As I told you before...In the end, we are all alone. Immortality seems like a good idea until you realize you're going to spend it that way. You should now know this yourself."

"How...how do you do it though? Living up here so desolate, away from the world? It must be unbearable in some way?"

"There comes a time for every vampire when the idea of eternity becomes momentarily unbearable. Living in the shadows, feeding in the darkness with only your own company to keep rots into a solitary, hollow existence."

"Don't you want love? I mean...someone to share eternity with?"

Lestat sarcastically joked. "With all my black little heart."

"So....you've never had love? Respectfully, you look quite young for your turning age but seem quite matured otherwise."

Lestat chuckled. "I am over 400 years old. Maybe it's Maybelline."

"Funny. Seriously...how old are you...human wise?"

"How old do you think I am?"

"Ok well...you truly don't look much older than me....24?"

The look of astonishment on his face was priceless. "Nailed it."

"You're kidding right? I'm 24...."

"I know...Your blood told me when I tasted it."

"You mean when you told me my blood does not satisfy your thirst. What did that mean anyways since you seem to be so intrigued with me."

"You're beautiful to me because you're human. Your frailty. Your short years. Your heart. All that suddenly seems more precious than anything I've ever known. The fact that I do not desire your blood made you all the more desirable because I have never tasted a blood I did not crave."

"And here I thought it was because of my looks." you giggled.

"Oh you are most definitely one stunning creature physically. I cannot deny that."

"So...you still didn't answer me. You have never known love?" It was obvious he had hoped you would give up on that question.

"I...I'm sorry. You do not have to tell me...Please don't be angry."

"I am not angry. I will tell you if you also have the time...."

"I'm here aren't I?"

"That you are.....I'm from New Orleans. As you are probably aware of, Mardi Gras is a huge thing there. How I love that time. Party's, masquerade balls, getting shit faced, girls girls girls....I think you get the idea. Vampires though...not something supposed to be real although it has always been portrayed that New Orleans was the city of the dead. Low and behold...the myths were true. Marius de Romanus found me. He is my maker. My keeper. He probably regrets that at times." he laughed.

"One night, shortly after my conversion, he took me out on the beach. There were many gatherings there at night celebrating the event. Bon fires, music etc.... One in particular group of 2 people, man and woman, had their own spot and fire going. As Marius and I walked through the sand, nothing appeased me until I heard the music...the violin she played, a guitar he strummed. I wanted to go and listen but Marius told me I could not interact with humans anymore. Made me wonder why he even took me to a place filled with them when I was forbidden to "know" them. I could not help myself and went to watch them play. I was instantly infatuated with the woman. A young brunette with her long hair tied back. She played with such ease and grace. I knew the song. It was the same tune I played for you. I can never forget it. Or her. She looked at me while she played and smiled. it was an unmistakable inviting smile. I wanted to know her. Be with her. We spoke for awhile and I learned her name. Sophia. Marius fumed as he stood watch but I didn't care. I asked her to play some more. There laid an extra violin and I picked it up, then joined in with them. It all was good until the vampire in me took over without my knowing. I began playing erratically and my eyes glowed without my consent. The man panicked and then so did Sophia. They ran screaming, drawing attention from others. Marius forced me to handle it."

"We chased them down and I....I killed her...but only by snapping her neck. Marius took care of the man and then we burned them in an abandoned bonfire. It haunted me for years...even to this day. Like Garrett, I did not choose this life and I did not want to kill people. Love you ask? I loved the idea of her. Her face still haunts me. How scared she was of me when she saw my true nature. Marius was right. I could have never been with her. At least I believed that at that time. Loving the monsters always ends badly for the human. It's a rule I was taught and believed it ever since then. This violin...was the one I played that night. I kept it. I don't know why. As if I needed a reminder of what I had done. So there you have it. I suppose that's the closest to love I had become."

Within a period of 3 days, you have heard the tragic stories of 2 vampires. It was truly heart wrenching to you and only proved your beliefs that they're not all monsters. You missed Garrett so much in that moment. Although Lestat's story was incredibly sad, you found Garrett's much worse, especially how traumatized he was by it. But then again, Lestat has lived with his for 400 years. It was still fresh to Garrett. The fact Lestat still felt grief over it though spoke volumes about him.

"I thank you for trusting me and opening up about your past. There is no judgement from me.... I...I would love to hear you play again. This time I promise...I will truly listen. Oh...and before I forget...I saw a gramophone in the dining area today. May I use it sometime?"

"Yes you may....So...make yourself comfortable then. Relax on the couch. If you fall asleep, I do not mind. Do I have your answer then by the way, on the ball?"

You now could see why he liked masquerade balls and such. "Of course I will attend. All I've got is time." you said with a grin and then laid down.

He smiled and got up. "You see...this is all I wanted. Your time and company. Someone to listen and care about what I have to say." He then picked up the violin and began to play. It brought tears to your sleepy eyes as you drifted off to sleep minutes later to the sad music.

The music echoed through the castle as a slinking Raven found a way out of her room.

She was bound and determined to find out who the mysterious person was in the dungeons below that her mother kept a tight lip lock on. The disingenuous diva had a strong feeling that whomever it was...

would change the course of many things and many lives forever....

@redeemer46

Masterlist

[deifiliaa]

I'm going down a Cho rabbit hole rn!! Do you have any Cho fic recs?? I'd love to read more Cho

hello anon, welcome to the rabbit hole, just wanted to let you know that this is one of those asks i dream about getting because cho chang? oft-overlooked-and-underappreciated-in-fandom cho chang?? why yes i would LOVE to stand on this soapbox and talk endlessly about her and my favorite writings that feature her <3

i get that a lot of the pairings featured in these fics/drabbles are very not mainstream lol but please don’t let that scare you off because honestly?? these are all a mix of fun, brilliant, stunning, transcendent stories and i have spent approximately a million hours thinking about each one of these because the character building and emotional payoff and dimensional portrayal of cho is overwhelmingly just so satisfying. so capable of filling that void canon left. so chef’s kiss.

gonna do my best to pick a line from each fic/drabble that i think does a good job of capturing its ✨ essence ✨ so. here we gooo. (mature/explicit fics noted with an asterisk * ).

record scratch * by @provocative-envy — modern, best man and maid of honor au (cho x marcus flint)

“You and Cho—my best and dearest and most precious friend in the world, Cho—you know each other, don’t you?” Marietta asks, just a bit too sweetly.

There’s a beat of awkward silence, then, and Cho very responsibly avoids the heavy, frantic weight of Marcus’s gaze, which has suddenly—coolly—intently—snapped over to her.

“so it starts at the tail end of the war...” by @provocative-envy — canon divergent au (cho x marcus flint) 

“i don’t want to get away,” she tells him, wincing at the strain on her vocal chords. “this is–this is it, can’t you feel it? this is how it ends.”

good behavior by @provocative-envy — canon divergent, postwar au, also the sequel to the above drabble (cho x marcus flint)

Well, his “muggle integration counselor” needs to be able to find him.

“marcus flint knows a lot about destruction...” by @provocative-envy — high school au (cho x marcus flint)

“I’m bad at math,” he blurts out, jaw working as he folds his arms over his chest. He feels defensive. Frustration prickles a familiar dance across his scalp. “This is, like, my third time taking trig. They always—I get lost when that fucking—when the circle thing with the dotted lines shows up.”

tick tick boom by @provocative-envy — superhero au (cho x marcus flint)

Cho Chang now works for the nonprofit across the street, a legal defense fund for superheroes who aren’t lucky enough to have corporate sponsors or full-fledged PR teams.

Marcus sees her, occasionally.

heads or tails * by @provocative-envy — thief acquaintances au (cho x marcus flint)

“We aren’t jack shit, sweetheart,” she mimics obnoxiously. “Yes, I know.”

His nostrils flare. “What’s the fucking problem, then?”

flying before falling by andtheyfightcrime — canon compliant (cho x cedric diggory)

Cho sniffs, "Maybe we just think there's more to hello than sticking your tongue down someone's throat." Cedric groans at that and says, "You shatter my illusions, Chang. We could have been in Hufflepuff together."

fifty ways by andtheyfightcrime — canon compliant (cho x cedric diggory)

Being in like with Cedric is a lot like being friends with him, only with more private smiles and demure nods.

big head boy by @cocoartistwrites — university au (cho x percy weasley)

She makes him nervous, with her shiny hair and her firm, straight brows and her piercing dark eyes and the haughty way she argues with him, and how she slams everything he says, how she sounds like his sister, Ginny, sometimes, when Ginny hears him talking, how assured she is, how angry, how sometimes she argues with their tutor – their brilliant, famous tutor – once, memorably, calling him an outdated sexist pig and –

“the thing about cho chang...” by @provocative-envy — zombie survival au (cho x cormac mclaggen)

Out of everyone? Back at camp? That he could’ve gotten trapped in a fucking abandoned Bass Pro Shop with? While a horde of fucking razor-talon zombies mashed their rotting gray faces up against the tastefully organized display windows?

Cho Chang would not have been Cormac’s first choice.

the sweet spot by @provocative-envy​ — modern, celebrity au (cho x cormac mclaggen)

His smile is authentic in ways that she doubts he’s aware of, in ways that she doubts he’s even capable of understanding, and it unnerves her a little bit, having all that energy, all that intensity, all that smug, self-fulfilling excitement directed right at her, totally unfiltered.

hiding in plain sight by @mxrcusflint — high school au (cho x cormac mclaggen)

Cormac McLaggen, she thinks, has probably broken more hearts than earned A’s.

descent (or how to stop being a national hero) by watername — canon divergent au (cho x viktor krum if you squint, but also not really)

At the second task, when the competitors dive beneath the lake, he drums his fingers against the railing and wonders what kind of person inspires such loyalty.

when the lights go out by thatdarkhairedgirl — second war resistance au (cho x viktor krum)

He missed her. He’s known her for less than a year and he missed her.

flights of fancy by namelessamelie — canon divergent au (cho x draco malfoy)

“You don’t have to defend him,” he interrupted, cutting her off. “Potter’s not as wonderful as he’d have everyone believe, and you know that better than anyone.” Then, before he’d fully thought it through, he added impulsively, “One hero isn’t a replacement for another.”

caught by blood sugar love — canon divergent, postwar, rebellion au (cho x draco malfoy)

Cho blinks. "I mean... I-I sit, and I think about it. How much you've ruined everything. It's really amazing, when I tally it all up. How much you owe. Especially if your father dies."

the sporting life * by blythely — canon divergent au (cho x pansy parkinson)

Cho wins but it's probably because on the last match point Pansy is looking at Cho rather than at the ball.

seeking * by Gelsey — postwar, ministry au (cho x charlie weasley)

“Fucker,” she said, righting her clothes in quick, economical movements, though her hands were trembling. She tossed her hair.

a moment’s silence (happens grace, happens sweet) by disinclinant — second war order au (cho x charlie weasley)

“I’ve no idea who you are,” Charlie replies, amused and vaguely charmed by this explanation of how she knows him through the process of elimination.

moon walk * by @provocative-envy — modern au (cho x antonin dolohov)

She stares at him for a minute, blatantly astonished and visibly apprehensive, and then she blushes. Hard. Gnaws on her lower lip and sweeps her eyes from his face to his chest and—very, very quickly—even lower.

even the score * by themidnightguardian — olympics au (cho x ginny weasley)

It’s a tepid rivalry at best—something that’s fierce on the field and almost entirely absent off it—and they’ve only spoken a handful of words to each other since their college days, but when it comes to women’s soccer, the Chang-Weasley rivalry is the hot gossip because it’s the only gossip.

Which is why twitter loses its shit when they both make the Olympic team.

that’s what she said by @provocative-envy — hockey au (cho x ginny weasley)

“Hey, why don’t you like me?”

Cho’s face twitches oddly. Defensively. “Why don’t I—excuse me?”

playing favourites by Slumber — postwar, healer au (cho x oliver wood)

The first time Cho catches Oliver Wood wandering St Mungo's ward nowhere near his own, he at least has the grace to look embarrassed.

[gwynbleiddyn]

69 q's time!!! Mio 31, 20, and 45; Kve(th)a 48, 60, and 67

i love beefy discussions lets go

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘ maahes ∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

31. do they respond well to praise? how about criticism?

he drinks up praise like good wine; endlessly and without complaint. who doesn't enjoy being validated? and i don't think there's anything deeper here for mio -- as much as amun pushed him, he also had praise for him, it was not something entirely lacking in his life. and if not from amun, then absolutely from other people -- his mother, friends, random nobles of the court, all manner of visitors...

criticism is usually brushed off. there's nothing that mio hasn't heard before, near enough, so any offense taken is minimal and his acknowledgement even less. the only criticism he would take note of by choice is going to be something from someone whose opinion he values, and the response largely depends on the deliverance of said criticism lol if he's in a tense situation, he's probably going to bite back before he settles down and listens.

20. what attracts them to someone—platonically and/or romantically, anything counts.

when mio first arrived in-campaign, he definitely sought out the people who he couldn't necessarily keep. it was much easier to be a moment in someone else's lifetime than it was to consider commitment, and he still felt validated in the process. more so if they were grumpy or aloof, deliberately putting space between themselves and the rest of the world -- mio enjoyed feeling wanted specifically by these people, because they didn't seem to want anything else.

now, he's feeling more and more estranged by his love of pelor and sehanine than ever, even though it's also driving him to new heights at the same time. it's like the further from the ground he gets, the less he finds in common with those around him. so he finds it attractive when people are driven by the divine, because he knows he can relate to them -- and that's what he wants, a true connection where he's allowed to be vulnerable about things that are soul-deep to him, without the worry of being misunderstood or thought to be a zealot or something. he also finds competence attractive both in friends and partners -- and that's not like, "competence in LIFE" bc who has that bro wtf, it's more someone having a skill they're really good at, it means they're driven by something and it's a draw to him.

aesthetically and romantically, mio can find pretty much anyone attractive tbh there aren't specific features or types he enjoys, and i think he's fallen into the habit of not seeing people as Things like he was. generally he prefers masculine presenting folk, but even then it's kinda hand-wavey.

45. what lies do they tell themselves?

that he's a king, that he's going to be of some importance back home, that there's some glory left waiting for him and his triumphant return -- he knows that ship literally sailed the day he left akhen, but it's a necessary lie that burdens him with just the right amount of duty. otherwise it would be so easy to let his family keep on thinking that he's dead and gone, even if he lives the next ten thousand years watching every rise and fall of that city and his indirect descendants from across the ocean.

i think he also lies about what he wants, and often. sometimes it's to keep other people happy, and sometimes it's because letting people know what he really wants would give them cause to stop him.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘ kveða ∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

48. do they relate to anyone in their group? conversely, which person do they relate to the least?

off the top of my head, i can't think of anyone other than viktor that he really relates to. and that link is tenuous at best -- kve sees himself as "other" and to a point, believes that viktor is also different, but he's realizing more and more that it's because he's never seen viktor's culture or clan, and not for any other reason. so it's him unlearning his own bias LOL otherwise, by intentional design, kveða does not relate to anyone else in the party on anything other than superficial levels (an understanding of the clans shared with Hyrr, a style of fighting shared with Siggri, a love of drink and conversation shared with Arsen, and an interest in fantastical stories and tattoos shared with Tor, in a way)

which kind of answers the latter half of the question: EVERYONE. but how much of that distance is self imposed? it's hard to say

60. what do they have faith in? what keeps them believing?

god this is such an empty question for kve because he truly feels hollow.

he finds life easy enough to enjoy - there's drinking, there's fighting, there's simple pleasures that fulfil the most basic and fundamental desires of a mortal vessel but it just feels like there's no soul that drives it. it's why he's so keen to find a way out - the longer he stays on this plane, the more he feels he's been carved away from the inside.

he believes he'll find rest if he's gone, basically. but he refuses to do it without honour, or some touch of glory to follow him out.

67. do they consider themselves to be special?

special, no. "other," yes, very much so. it's a hard thing to describe, but it's a kind of dysphoria, in a sense? he's so unlike what everyone else around him seems to be, and his ideal self has been formed by that environment, so of course he feels like he doesn't fit at all.