#too much time spent on noxus shit

[vitrall]

I don't think Jayce and Viktor literally died. They were kind of pulled into another dimension/astral plane/whatever you call it. We see older Viktor, and while it could be another Viktor, I think it would be more meaningful if it was our Viktor, finally free from the arcane, going through the universe with Jayce, fixing timelines together. Kind of like a cosmic mission.

[lullabyes22-blog]

Snippet - A Survivor's Story - Forward But Never Forget/XOXO

Sevika spittin' facts...

Forward but Never Forget/XOXO

Snippet:

"I hear you thinking," Sevika warns, without opening her eyes.

"Thinking?"

"About how to get Jinx away from him."

Despite reflex, Vi doesn't ball her hands into fists. She's getting better at concealment. Not a pro like Sevika. Not a savant like Silco. But she's learning. These past five months, she's learnt enough to last a lifetime. Yet she has so much left to know.

"He's not a monster," Vi says. "I thought he was. Now I understand he's just a fucked-up asshole. But that doesn't mean he's not dangerous."

"He's got his reasons."

"I'm tired of you defending him, Sevika."

"I'm defending—"

"—Zaun?" Vi's jaw grates. "Yeah. That's your big religion. The cause you've given everything to. And he's the messiah. You worship him. The rest of us have to believe too, or be cast out." Her eyes seize Sevika's, daring her to contradict. "It's easy to believe in him, too. I'd like to say otherwise. But I've seen him work in real-time. He's got a mojo. A pull, and he pulls who he wants. But that's not faith, Sevika. That's smokescreen to hide the rot inside. And someone like that, they learn all sorts of strategies to hide it. All that smooth talk, all that drive and charisma—they aren't Silco. They're the bracing that hides the sickness." 

"Look—"

"I have looked," Vi snaps, then takes a stabilizing breath. "I get it, okay? If he hadn't fought for Zaun, we'd still be under Piltover. If he hadn't done awful things, the Fissurefolk would be suffering worse. I understand that. He—Jinx—changed the city in ways no one else could've done. You can't scare monsters unless you're the scarier monster." She shakes her head. "Maybe he's the leader the Undercity—Zaun—needs right now. But what about ten years down the line? Twenty? What kind of shape will our home be if it's just a game of whack-a-villain every minute of every day? How do we take care of each other, if we're at each other's throats? How will Jinx take care of herself as she gets older? She doesn't need more monsters in her life, Sevika. She's got enough. She needs to feel safe. To know that her own city won't chew her up and spit her out if she slips up. To know her own home is behind her and not just a snakepit."

Sevika's features hold a deliberate smoothness. She says nothing.

"What people do isn't always who they are," Vi goes on. "Vander always told me that. I think it's true. For you. For a lot of folks who fought for Silco's cause. It's not true for Silco. Living means changing. Someone who can't change isn't really alive. Silco isn't." She swallows. "Not since Vander drowned him." 

Sevika takes a swallow of her beer. When she's finished, there's a half-smile on her face. Too old a smile, too knowing.

"You're right," she says. "He isn't alive."

Vi stares.

House odds were that Sevika would argue. That she'd shrug off Vi's outburst. Not that she'd pay it off with plainspoken fact.

"He's not alive," she repeats, "because he's forgotten how to be."

"Forgotten?"

"He's not you, Vi." Sevika's tone holds a weird stoicism. "If he was, he'd have had a different story. Not everyone's so lucky."

"Lucky?" Resentment creeps under Vi's skin. "I grew up in the Lanes. Same as you and Silco. I lost my family. My sister was stolen. I spent six years in Stillwater."

"A hard-knock life."

"What's that mean?"

Sevika shrugs. No sarcasm. Just blunt fact. "People in the Lanes—hell, people all over—go through all kinds of shit. They survive wars and famines. They get sold to slavers. They wake up one morning and a crazy Mage burns their village down. Or Noxus rolls in and salts all their fields. It's disaster after disaster. A life of hardship. Some learn early on how to cope. How to deal with pain. Others... it's like they just stop. Stop in time. Stop living completely." Her eyes go heavy-lidded. "Nobody has a perfect childhood. But some kids learn how to be happy, or at least float on when things aren't happy. A lot of it's down to nature. The rest? That's how you grow up. Who teaches you to be strong, and smart, and resilient. For you, it was Vander and your folks. Whoever gave you hope and kept you sane. For me..."

Belatedly, Vi understands.

"It was your sister."

Sevika doesn't flinch. Withdrawing a cigarillo from her pocket, she lights up perfunctorily. Brightleaf drifts in Vi's airspace.

"Don't recall mentioning Nandi to you," Sevika says.

"Silco did." Vi's eyelids droop. She feels tired all of a sudden. Torpid with the humidity; the slanting sunrays. With the surreal passage of time and the inexorable weight of history. "So did Vander, when I was a kid. She was the Priestess at Janna's Temple. Mom liked her." She looks away. "Mom was a believer in the old gods. Said they were a part of us, same as blood. She'd always visit the Temple for the Priestess' prayers. She'd stay for her stories. I remember those stories. I didn't understand 'em much, but I liked listening to her voice. I just never connected..."

That you two were family.

That you lost someone, same as me.

Vi's eyes are dry. But she feels the emotion lodged inside: half-processed.

"I didn't connect the dots," she repeats. "I'm sorry."

A plume of smoke rises pensively from Sevika's lips.

"She was a good woman," she says at length "Better one than me. I've made a career out of breaking bones. Nandi made a calling out of binding them back together.  But it was just a different kind of faith, y'know? She had faith in the divine. I had faith in me and mine. So I took care of her. She took care of me. We were family."

"Like me and Powder."

Sevika says nothing. She tips her chin back, staring at the sun-spangled sky.

"After she passed," Vi says, more tentatively, "you took up with Silco?"

The orientation of Sevika's body shifts.  "Don't recall mentioning that either."

"I—I saw you two."

"Saw us?" 

"Last night." Vi’s tongue burns as the confession slips past. " At the penthouse."

The cigarillo smolders in Sevika's prosthetic fingers: spark and flint. Smoke drifts over her face. Her hair's tied in a high tail today. There's nothing to conceal her expression. Not that there's an expression to conceal. Her eyes, meeting Vi's, reflect nothing in the metalhazy glints.

She is a monolith, and monoliths don't flinch.

Neither does Vi. This isn't a place for shame. They've known each other too long and too bitterly for that.

"I know," Vi mutters. "I know it wasn't my business."

"Then why make it your business?"

"Because—" It's an effort to match Sevika's stare "Because you and him... it's like you're stuck. Stuck on him. Stuck to him. He's bad news, Sevika. Not just for you, but everyone." She takes a shuddery breath, trying to keep the kneejerk anger out. "Whatever you're getting out of it, you can get better elsewhere."

"You offering, Vi?"

The near-flinch becomes a flush. "That's not what I—"

Except Sevika's not challenging her. Her demeanor's the same as when she and Vi used to spar: calm, level, blunt.

The bond between them doesn't go deep. Can't—given their convoluted history. Yet territorial as Sevika is, she takes care of her turf. Looks out for her own. Since Vi's return to the Lanes, she's treated her... not as an ally, but as a fellow Trencher.

They've both known hardship and come out stronger. They both understand that when disaster hits, it can make enemies out of friends—and friends out of enemies. 

Vi and Sevika are neither. They inhabit a shadowy zone in between. But that zone has its own language, and it's a clean one. No deadweight. No dredged-up debts.

Just the give-and-take of hard-hitting truth.

"It's funny," Sevika says. "The way folks throw that word around. Better. They're always thinking of what-ifs. What could be, instead of what is. Me, I like the facts. What's real, not what may come to pass."

"What's real is he's using you," Vi snaps. "Same as he uses everybody. He doesn't love you, Sevika."

"Love." Sevika's lip curls up at one corner. "What’s love got to do with it, little girl?"

"I—what?"

"You say Zaun's my big religion? Well, let me tell you. Love's yours. And it's got you—you, Jinx, Silco—so twisted up in knots, you're a fucking mess."

"I'm not a—"

"A fucking mess," Sevika repeats, and the tone brooks no argument. "All of you. That's the problem. You've got no perspective. No sense of self. No clue what's what. Everything's love, and you tote that word around like junkies with a fix. As if it's the answer to everything. The cure-all. Well, let me break it to you: it's not. Not even close."

"But—" Vi is stunned. "Then what's it for? What's the point?"

"There is no point," Sevika snaps. "Love's not a solution. It's not even a problem. It's just an emotion. And it's not the only one. There's rage. There's grief. There's hate. And they're just as real. Just another part of living." Her jaw hardens. "I loved my sister, Vi. Loved her enough that I'd strangle anybody who'd put a hand on her. Not because she was the best woman in the world—and she was—but because she was the best part of me. She was my family, same way Jinx is yours. When I lost her, I went to war. Didn't care if it was Enforcers, or Topside, or the whole goddamn world. I was ready to tear the planet down. Because I'd already been torn apart. I didn't have anything left."

"Sevika," Vi says, but doesn't finish.

She's been where Sevika has. She understands.

"I was broken," Sevika goes on. "I thought, without love, I'd stay broken. I was wrong. There's a whole lot more to life than that. And Silco..."

Her cadence doesn't waver. But there's a different undercurrent. Something raw, and blisteringly real.

"We had a thing, once," she says. "A shortlived thing. But that's the least of our history, Vi. It's not why I follow him. And it's not why I was with him last night."

"Why, then?" Vi's throat is tight. "Why stay with him?"

"Because… when I was broken, he knew what to do with the brokenness. He didn't ask me to be someone else. Didn't try to put me back together. He took me as I was. Because he understood that grief doesn't just end. It can't. There's no escaping it. But you can't let it end you, either. People have it worse; they have less. Me? I had more. When I had Nandi, I had everything. When I lost her, I lost it all. And what's left was an empty space, and filling it with something. Something that'd last the distance." She lets off a breath. A single strand of smoke uncurls. "Silco gave me that. He put his life in my hands. He laid his cause at my feet. He had faith in me. And that faith meant something."

"A way to go on," Vi says.

"That's the best anyone can ask for." Sevika smiles, and her hard face fills with soft lines. "Love's a fine thing, Vi. But it can't protect your family. It can't keep them safe. You gotta fight for that. And when you've fought as long as I have—taken more lives than you've seen years���it's not about the love. It's about what's left. About doing your part to keep it standing."

"Even if it means dying?"

Sevika doesn't miss a beat. "It's never about dying, Vi. It's about the life you choose before that."

"Silco can't give you a life."

"I know." Sevika's smile dwindles. The softness and hardness don't. "But he's given me everything else. The rest? I'll make do. My sister taught me how."

Vi says nothing. She's run out of arguments. Run, too, out of anger.

They sit in silence, watching the afternoon unfold.

[arcgayne]

arcane s2 act 3 feelings

‼️ SPOILERS BELOW ‼️

lowkey highkey actually kind of hated how it ended LOLLLLL

but there were some good things i guess

like mel being badass with her cool new powers (called ittttt)

oh and cait and mel working together to fight ambessa? HELL YEAH. SWAG.

vi and cait being horny in a jail cell was cool and all but also they deserve to do alla that in a king sized bed. just saying.

the reveal that maddie worked for ambessa the whole time was so funny to me like… gasp….. i am so Shocked and Surprised…….

tbh it kind of just annoyed me cuz i was like. ok duh can we move on.

not a single mention of isha: fucking hate it

jinx’s whole self sacrificing bullshit: fucking HATE. IT. actually fucking hate it so much. not fucking epic! not cute! not funny! i fucking hate it here! seriously FUCK THIS!!!

ekko saving the day: called it but also reeeeaally wishing we could’ve had some sort of z drive action right at the end of act 2. maybe prevent the whole like. ya know. the whole Thing

act 1 annoyed me lowkey because girl we do not have time for this. how are we gonna resolve all the things if this whole episode is spent doing fuck all

like yes it was important or whatever but jesus fucking christ man. can we pls.

the robots were stupid and i hated that whole thing. like first of all where did they come from. who made them and WHENNN??? EVEN????? WERE THEY MADE??????? makes no sense. annoying and dumb. cringe and fail

sevika joining the council was. alright i guess.

not a fan of mel going back to noxus to be the new leader or whatever. i hate that shit idc

are jayce and viktor like alive or…… like what even happened lol

where??? is ekko?????? in the final scenes????????

like we see vi and cait and mel and like uhhh sevika or whatever and we know that viktor and jayce are like. dead or in the void or something. but we get zero closure for ekko????? please where is he.

brain too tired to list all the things but basically in summary im feeling Annoyed by the way arcane ended. annoyed. very very annoyed.

[hxrpooner]

things in arcane s2 that pissed me offfff

in no particular order

warwick not going full wolf????? why!!!!

pussies wouldn't commit to jayvik kiss... ok.... what EVER

killing off characters just for shock value (jinx and heimer mainly)

cait losing her eye also felt like it was just for shock value

what is the message of jinx's death supposed to be? "there's no way for her to make up for the things she did, the only way for her to atone is to die"??? ok.

that "i'm always with you" line from jinx was FORCED holy shit

i absolutely do not believe that the hooded figure from jayce's childhood was viktor. i fully believe that they originally intended it to be ryze and then changed course last minute

sevika got shafted. she's super important for a while, then she just isn't. she barely shows up after "Paint the Town Blue"

the scene with mel using the black rose amulet on ambessa, and then going inside the vision...??? to kill leblanc or... something??? i just kinda.... huh??? what??? okay

a moment of silence for all the viktor enjoyers. they completely shafted his lore and changed his ENTIRE vibe as a character. and then they killed him off. and he's getting an ASU about it.

mel has an interesting thing going on in season 1. she's ambitious and kind of manipulative and it's clear that she's using jayce to her own ends, but the story was obviously building up some interesting motives behind it and i was curious to see where her arc was going to go. by comparison she felt very flat in season 2. the back half of her arc felt very rushed.

the anomaly is a stupid mcguffin. it came out of nowhere and was only brought in because they needed some existential threat for the characters to fight

ekko got shafted. the whole point of his original lore is that he's an idealist and a boy genius, and that he cobbles together the z-drive all on his own from scrap in his dinky little lab. but in arcane he can't figure it out without the help of a white woman and a yordle. fuck you actually.

too much of ekko's development was centered around his feelings for jinx.

unclear how characters like camille, ziggs, blitzcrank, zeri are supposed to fit in with this lore. renata especially pissed me off because we spent so much time on that stupid yordle chem baron, while the actual canon chem baron failed to make an appearance

the piltover/zaun v. noxus war would have been a GREAT opportunity to bring in urgot, considering his lore, but, nope.

hextech found dead in a ditch???

you can't just say "we're making arcane canon" and then proceed to fuck up the canon so profoundly!!!

i don't care for viktor's new aesthetic. the weird gold-and-porcelain thing doesn't suit him.

vander-warwick looks so fucking stupidddddd

sevika's fuck ass haircut

jinx's fuck ass haircut

isha's entire existence is a cheap sympathy-grab. introduce a cute child character, have her get close to the protagonist, then kill her off. egregiously lazy

would like an explanation as to why isha does not talk

actually would like an explanation as to literally anything about isha. she is a complete non-character

it felt like isha was shoehorning in on the vi/jinx/vander reunion

the alternate universe ekko gets stuck in is basically "wow everything is so much better if vi dies!!!" which like. the implications are CRAZY actually

alternate universe jinx was a bit too manic pixie dream girl for my taste. when she showed up in the leather jacket i was like. ok ramona flowers. (i have not seen scott pilgrim)

thematically/character-wise it seems like it would have made more sense for heimerdinger to stay in the alternate universe and live out his life happy and in peace, i don't understand why they had to kill him off instead. either way he's out of the story so what's the point?

having every episode open with an artsy music video... i felt like they saw that people liked the bridge scene from season 1 and went "okay let's just do that 9 more times then." no guys. it was so noticeable and so irritating.

there's a tweet that goes something like "arcane character: assaults someone and takes their money // arcane background music: i love assaulting people and taking their money". if i made a drinking game out of how many times that tweet became relevant while watching s2 i would die from alcohol poisoning

s2 does not have a silco. jinx went protagonist-mode and they were too wishy-washy with trying to make ambessa and viktor ambiguous. silco was such a larger-than-life figure in s1, i think they should have used that and had him haunt the narrative way more than he did. as it is s2 lacks a good villain and a compelling conflict and the story suffers for it

fucking jayce

a lot of the dialogue is SUPER on-the-nose or corny or is just like... people don't talk like that

too much of characters just explaining what is going on or saying the themes of the story out loud

lack of thematic cohesion

s1 sets up this really cool nuanced conflict between piltover and zaun, but s2 completely fails to properly address it, especially towards the end where out of the blue all the focus suddenly shifts away to the anomaly.

"hey guys i know we locked you all in a ghetto but can you pretty please come up topside to help us fight noxus? <3 thanks"

AND THAT WORKED?!?!! SOMEHOW

so many completely irrelevant characters (mostly caitlyn's squad, whose names i can't remember except for maddy)

i didn't feel that maddy's betrayal was properly built up to, but my friends disagree with me so. idk.

i'm getting a little tired of watching people get non-lethally stabbed in the abdomen

finale was mostly brainless epic battle fight epic fight battle fight. like girl... ok.

unclear on how sevika manages to get invited to these topside political get-togethers? shouldn't she be like public enemy number 2?

sevika dgaf about jinx at all after episode 4. it's crazy

there is no fucking way we got piltover councilor sevika. there is simply no fucking way. there are so many things wrong with this i don't even know where to begin.

i felt like a couple of things could be true: 1) they got a little too big for their britches, critiquing the evils of capitalism and the police state in s1, and somebody got nervous that they were going to be accused of being too Woke, so they had to dial it back. (less likely) 2) they found out about halfway through outlining the plot that they were only getting 2 seasons and had to drastically change course to wrap things up before then (more likely)

[thewistlingbadger]

Hoping on this to absolutely agree with you. Im NEVER going to shut up about the writing in this season because its genuinely so odd. Especially in comparison to season 1. Act 1 or 2 dont even COMPARE to last season's acts 1 and 2 bc we're lacking cohesiveness. Let's talk about what season 1 finale set up:

Silco is gone, there is no leader of the undercity anymore

Vi lost her sister

Jinx is going full rogue, full crazy now

War is about to fall between zaun and piltover

Now let's see what season 2 did with these:

We were briefly shown the divide in the undercity and the lack of unity. However, it's not touched upon not nearly enough and once it does what the writers desired (make jinx a figure, unite sevika isha and jinx), it's completely abandoned. The season has yet to commit to what they want to do with silco. Sometimes he's brought up and it's some really beautiful continuity (the burial and the office). But other scenes make it seem like they don't actually want to commit to exploring the true depth that Silco's absence has bc sometimes it just doesn't come up at all. The revival of Vander also seems like a complete slap to the face when it comes to this point bc we got him back so quickly and he's accomplished so much. He got the family back together and he unlocked a different version of Jinx. Last season discussed in LENGTH how silco was Jinx's dad and oh look here's vander, coming back to claim is title. ADDITIONALLY, the emphasis of silco and vander in ep5? WHY? Why are we getting this specific flashback and what does it do for the story they're trying to tell in this season? IT. DIDNT (and im saying this as a person who absolutely enjoyed it).

Oh man, FUCK. THIS POINT. Fumbled, severally. The fall out with Jinx should have lead to a lot of self reflection with vi and thus, loads of character development. But did that happen? No. Instead, we got Vi switching up on Jinx so many times. Vi goes from "we'll always be sisters" to "if you have an opening, take it" in ZERO TIME. WHY. WHY cant they spend the time to add some complexity to a character who sees a world with no greyness? If anyone needed the development, it was fucking her.

Pff. Jinx only damages piltover minimally. Only three councilors die. She spends most of the season in hiding and becomes a symbol because...huh. I actually have ZERO CLUE WHY bc she doesn't do ANYTHING to earn the people's love. She's not out there fighting with them, leading them, calling for vengeance or ANYTHING. She became a symbol bc why the hell not. I thought we were gonna see her become more like her League self, but the opposite happened. She got less violent, less unhinged. And yeah it's been nice to watch her heal and it's kinda in character but it isn't what was set up last season.

This is the greatest let down. You spent ALL. ALL of last season establishing this conflict. Just to abandon it in season 2. Jinx's first attack? Avenging silco. The chem barons? Bought by Ambessa. Jinx's second attack? A complete accident. The current piltover and zaun unrest? Due to noxian control. Why would you establish this kick ass conflict between these two cities ONLY for noxus to steal the show :((( why would you do this to us?????

I love arcane but act 3 cant save this we're in too deep. Season two is nowhere near the story quality of season one, and i have no idea why it's like this. Everything in s1 was woven together, where everything in s2 is falling apart. They've added so many things without explaining any of them and it's made people sour. No one understands the black rose bc it wasn't explained. No one understands the new hexcore shit bc IT WASN'T EXPLAINED. I cant recall being this confused in s1, can you? They need to stick to the core of this show: relationships and change. Im not sure why it's happened like this but it has. Whenever I watch s2, all i think about is this one qoute from s1

"In trying to do great, we failed to do good."

I think that in trying to make s2 a showstopper, they lost sight on what truly mattered.

season 2 has a structure problem and that makes act 1 flow naturally enough and it sets up the next acts perfectly well, but they wanted to do so much more than what they were

1. setting up

2. capable of doing in 9 episodes

had they just cut a few plot lines everything would've moved far easier. For example

1. cut the Smeech thing entirely. Sevika and Jinx don't need this to find themselves together and start a found family. That scene In Silcos office was so moving and everything I always loved about Arcane, stuff like this is what's needed. In fact move the prison break to act 1 and have them handle that together, Jinx can still make Sevika her arm, and everything could've still moved the same. It would've fit so much better and there also would've been so much more time to develop anything else with the magic system and act 2 wouldn't feel like it was overflowing with anything and everything. Isha is a character that as of in the show can be cut so easily and that's so sad because she'd be so interesting. Everything about her would've worked and SHOULD HAVE worked but she also just felt like Plot and a thing to make Jinx sad over again. Either don't do that or make Isha not a character like this???? I liked her scenes with Jinx so much and the scene with Jinx freaking out after finding out that Isha was taken to prison was genuinely so good, I'm still holding on to the hope that they didn't actually kill her

2. either cut that shit with the tree because let's be so honest that basically only happened so that Heimerdinger, Ekko and Jayce could meet, since we do NOT even really talk about the tree in act 2? that was so weird. Like either actually make it a thing or find different ways to let characters meet naturally. I dont know, the show was so good with that in season 1. And if they truly wanted the tree scene at least make it make sense and don't randomly drop it Idk.

3. I LOVE Mel she is like my favorite character but the plot with the black rose takes so much necessary time away from what we actually need to focus on. I heard they want to make different shows so they are setting this up but it just doesn't work. Mel could've so easily been integrated into the main plot line and it would've also made so much more sense at that. Though I'll just wait on act 3 before I judge too hard. (if they actually DARE to make her pregnant Istg)

4. Making Jinx that hero character for only like, what, a few seconds was so strange. I hope act 3 gets that better but that, first of all, happened mostly out of no where and a few touches to her shoulder after the prison scene was also not??? helping??? either set that up from the very start or don't do it at all. She isn't a hero, she is a tragedy and someone who needs help and room to breathe. The scenes where they tried to make that funny, in my opinion didn't land at all. She doesn't need a hero complex she needs calmness and stable relationships. Let Isha live I swear to GOD.

in fact that leads me into the next point

5. Have Vi realize she doesn't want to be an enforcerer sooner? I actually do like how rushed that part felt don't get me wrong, but if they wanted a reunion between Jinx and Vi don't randomly put it into act 2 with barely any build up. Let Jinx and Vi realize it during the fight, they kinda did do that but??? just didn't move that anywhere. it's so strange. If they had cut the Smeech stuff they could've easily used the third episode to make Jinx and Vi slowly reconcile. Which also means I think Vi would've been such a better "symbol" than Jinx. Vi and Jinx, for me, show what Zaun is made of, and Jinx is quite literally the valid pain, distrust and anger of Zaun, and she as well as Zaun desperately need healing. Like that would've been SO COOL. that's just my opinion though, so there is that.

6. If they had made Vi the symbol the conflict between Caitlyn and Vi would've felt a lot more natural as well. Like??? Also Caitlyn should've had so much more time if they wanted that switch up in the end to work. Cut the black rose stuff and that would've worked perfectly fine.

7. Now do NOT get me wrong, Ambessa's character is so interesting and I feel like exploring her is so cool but she and her plot just doesn't fit into the Piltover/Zaun thing. It makes it too big for what the show is. In fact I (and now this is just my opinion, anyone can have their own just saying lmao) would've either cut out Ambessa's character/plotline or subtly continued Ambessas drama with Mel, which would give Mel, who didn't get taken by the black rose in my version, a lot more to do and way more interesting stuff too. Again this is very much my opinion and doesn't mean anyone needs to share it, but I feel like they could've easily made Heimerdinger be the one who gets Caitlyn to where she was/is with Ambessa. It would've expanded Heimerdingers character and it would've stayed in the setting they already perfectly build up, Piltover and Zaun. Also, Heimerdinger wouldn't just feel like a random joke character anymore.

8. The Pit fight stuff could have been SO interesting and I feel had we not stayed with Viktor Christ so much which was also so weird at times, we could've gotten so much necessary insight on Vi. If we follow my idea it could've been Vi forced to be a symbol because of the person she is. The embodiment of Zauns loyalty, strength and resilience. And then the fights that will come out of that forcing Vi to face so much stuff she shouldn't etc etc (I haven't fleshed that one out yet don't come for me) and that could've ended in her pit fighting era, which should've taken at LEAST an episode and not a random montage that just gets forgotten??? for no reason at all. Really hope act 3 talks about that cause??? I feel with Vi as the leader the healing of Zaun would make so much sense, because Jinx realistically can't do that. The idea of Jinx being in that position IS interesting I just feel it wasn't established/developed enough.

9. I really really liked how from the very beginning Viktor's safe haven did not in fact feel safe. There was always a very uneasy feeling and that's what I love about the show. I was always waiting for the shoe to drop and it happened, that was amazing. Though I would've either established a lot of this way earlier on in the show or made it not so, and now walk with me here Ik its magic, unrealistic. That does sound strange but having Viktor suddenly float in space with white silver flowing hair and his dead assistent next to him was... very very out of no where. It was like a lazy show trying to get away with "yeah well it's magic so of course this works" and I hate that because even magic needs explanation and build up. So yeah. Either cut that shit out or have it established sooner. And while seeing the one person who helped Jayce as a kid did kind of help, it still wasn't enough for THIS, though again MY OPINION. Also we spent way too much time there, it was getting ridiculous. So much time could've easily been lent to stuff that actually needed it. I actually laughed out loud when Viktor started the healing process with Vander because come ON now, and I do not think they wanted me to laugh.

10. The stuff with Vander, Silco and Felicia (while cute) was unnecessary and weird. What I liked the most about Vander taking in Vi and Powder was the feeling that he didn't do it because he necessarily knew them very well but because he knew their mom was dead (that did show he and their mother did kind of know each other but so do like all the people in the lanes that is kind of established) and wanted to PROTECT. This new context sadly makes it feel like "well of course he stopped everything and took them with them and cared for them he knew them since birth, duh" when I always wanted to feel "well Vander is in his heart a good man who saw what terrible stuff this war and fighting did and then took in orphaned children because of course he would do that" if that makes sense? I feel this new thing took away so much from Vander, but again that's maybe just me.

11. So many jokes and scenes didn't land with me. The scene with Jinx trying to show Sevika her middle finger was SO GOOD and so Arcane that seeing the scene were they try to make it funny with Jinx's trousers and that enforcerer felt so out of place? Like what. That scene could have EASILY been cut and nothing would have changed at all. And that's what is the worst because there isn't one scene in season 1 that I feel could've been cut and there are so many of them in season 2.

12. Introducing Maddie in act 1 made me believe she'd be a bigger, even more of a threat to Zaun, character than she was and that's so sad. What I loved about season 1 is that every single character mattered. Even those we saw maybe once. This time around I hardly cared at all for any new character because they didn't feel like a Person anymore, they just felt like Plot. In season 1 episode 1 there is this scene, the first scene Vander gets to speak in. The only reason Huck meets the woman and the man to trait was basically so we get to know how the undercity works and establish Vander as basically its leader and protecter; The one people are loyal to etc. But it doesn't feel that way. It's something that naturally happens and every character in that scene, even the man and the woman we never see again, mattered and felt real.

yeah so those were really just my thoughts. I could very much go on but I also don't want to.

[wincestisasincest]

Waves on the Shore - Chapter 10 Sneak Peek

Aight so the update for this week is definitely going to be late. I will try to have it within 24 hours of the usual time, but no promises. I have spent half the week without my medication and the whole week with hay fever (rip allergies) but things are getting better and I will be more active now.

To celebrate my momentous return, enjoy a little bit of chapter 10.

WOTS masterlist // wc: 683 // triggers: dissecting animals, mention of Noxus being expansionist assholes // @edenstarkk, @modernamilf, @dedicated2viktor, @doctorho, @yeehawbvby, @arcaneparx

“Sounds good,” Jayce’s voice cut through Viktor’s thoughts, “any idea what happened?”

You sighed, picking the pieces that the explosion had rendered useless and dropping them into a pile.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, refusing to elaborate, “just gonna take a while to correct now. What about those Ionians?”

Viktor dropped his head back to the open mouse, continuing to prod its exposed systems for any lead. He remembered dissecting animals in one of the biology classes here, and he hated it as much then as he did now.

Even though they were dead, the poor animals looked so tortured, spread out on a table with formaldehyde fuming from their guts. It was paradoxical, how one could be reminded that this was a living being with just as much complexity as a human, and then told to break that being down until it no longer resembled anything with a conscience.

The skin underneath the mouse’s fur was so stretched and thin that it tore even in places that Viktor wasn’t investigating. He kept the conversation between you and Jayce on in the background as a distraction.

“What about ‘em?” Jayce crossed the room to you.

“Didn’t you say they like… needed help?”

Viktor clicked his tongue quietly. The mouse’s intestines still had bits of cheese in it, which should’ve been impossible with everything else that Viktor had uncovered.

“They do, but we don’t wanna rush things here,” Jayce said.

“Well, yeah, but couldn’t you send them some aid or something in the meantime?”

“No can do.”

“Why not?”

“Noxus. We would alienate them.”

Viktor checked his notes again, running his list. Flaky skin, lost hair, bloated belly, and, most importantly, tissue breakdown.

“And you’re not alienating them by aiding the refugees?”

“Not at all. Even Noxians don’t like casualties of civilians, so they’re fine with them being sheltered somewhere else temporarily. They know that if they eliminate everyone from the land, then there won’t really be anyone to have power over.”

“That’s disgusting,” you said flatly, “I hope the Ionians win.”

“That’s Noxus,” Jayce shrugged, “though, I’ll admit, I thought you’d be more on board with this whole thing.”

No, Viktor mentally corrected, Jayce thought that he knew you well enough to make predictions. Jayce thought that you were his friend.

“Why’s that?” you perched your chin on your hand.

“Prioritizes lives saved over everything else. Sounds like your brand.”

“I’ve got a brand now?” you deflected.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe you can draw me a logo.”

Shit, maybe you were Jayce’s friend, Viktor thought as Jayce chuckled at your remark.

“You’ve seen my work?” Jayce said cheekily.

“Uh, yeah,” you answered, and Viktor could practically hear you playfully roll your eyes, “every time I pass by your desk it looks like an art museum.”

Viktor noticed Jayce’s art too, when he first looked through his notes. It wasn’t exactly a hidden talent, but it wasn’t something that he advertised about himself either.

“What can I say? I’m a creative at heart.”

“I’ll try to keep up, then.”

“You keep up fine. I’ve seen your sketches before – way better than most engineering students.”

“I use a ruler to get the lines that straight.”

“Oh. Well, then, I guess their content will have to suffice.”

Viktor’s head was swimming in déjà vu as he listened to the banter. Jayce sounded just like he did when he and Viktor had begun to work together, and for some reason, that made him angry.

Exhaling with frustration, Viktor set his eyes and forced his train of thought back onto the rails.

The mouse’s death was impossible because it died of starvation.

“Pardon me.”

A new voice, slick but cautious, like honey seeping down the back of your throat, entered the room, shutting down the lightheartedness with formal sobriety. Viktor didn’t need to look up to know who it was, but he did anyway.

“What’s up?” Jayce asked, the edge of his question just a little too high for it to be natural.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Mel folded her hands, casting a long shadow into the hallway.

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

Anyway, the Crimson Cult

Legends of Runeterra is a card game based on League of Legends Lore. It’s pretty cool, and has some interesting characters adapted as cards.

The most interesting ones are probably the 4 members of the Crimson Cult.

The Crimson Cult is the private cult of big old vampire Vladimir, an actual LOL Champion.

Anyway, Vladimir is this, like... eminence in shadow figure, waits in his big old mansion in Noxus for centuries till something big is about to happen so he can show up and go “my job here is done” while everyone else wonders what exactly did he do at all, only to then get back in his mansion and become a shut in for another couple centuries or so.

That said, when Vladimir gets back into society and stops being a gross Hikikomori obsessed with bloodplay and having creepy portraits of himself commissioned like he’s the world most self centered furry, he becomes kind of a party animal and starts setting up some sort of cult of personality over him, based around the spooky forbidden knowledge he can offer over blood magic or some shit.

Most members of the cult just smile and nod along as they use this as a chance to get high.

Anyway, LoR introduced 4 Crimson Cult Characters, and much like cards like Tyari or Cytria, they all tell a story, so to speak.

They are also particularly interesting since their 4 collective lore blurbs are all interconnected conversations they have with each other over the course of their meetings.

Anyway, we have:

The Disciple.

Her name is Clara. Social Status Uncertain but probably of lower birth (If such a thing ever mattered in Trifariax Noxus). She’s an hedonist and has a good relationship with all other members. She claims, and I quote, that “(She)'ll try anyone once” but most importantly will go from  awkwardly flirt with Ophelia when they are paired together (”I like your stile” “I like your face...”) to outright “dating” her in the flavor text (Kinda). A balancing act between being constantly Horny and being constantly High. She also seems to have a long standing friendship with Edvin and knew him from before the cult.

Given how her effects has her take damage to activate it, and some of her most suggestive lines, she’s definitely a bottom and a sub. The collar is also a big tell.

Vladimir will refer to her as “Supper” when meeting her, but will also reprimand her for her carefree way to handle blood magic.

Bad Bi Rep? Maybe, but she’s an evil bisexual hedonist in a freaky blood cult in the most sexually permissive country on the planet, what did you expect?

Her Flavor Text is, like everyone’s else, a mess to navigate through, so I’ll try to present it in order via numbers and makes with the other 3 Flavor Texts.

1) "Edvin! There you are, handsome. I was just thinking of you!" (Responding to Edvin’s 1, responded by Edvin 2)

2) "Each of us can go, now…" (Responding to Edvin’s 3, Responded by Edvin’s 4)

3) "Escort me. I'll make it fun." (Responding to Ophelia’s 2, Responded by Ophelia’s 3)

4) "Or nothing at all?" (Responding to Ophelia’s 3, Responded by Edvin’s 5)

The Aristocrat.

The other female member of the gang. Her name has been revealed to be Ophelia but is never mentioned as such in the game. As the artwork suggests she’s WLW (hence the artwork being censored in the Chinese release by removing the lesbian subtext in the art and coloring the blood purple), but also has a fairly friendly relationship with Edvin, referring to him as “finally, someone with style”). She’s a member of the aristocracy, as her title suggests, and it seems her parents are also kind of homophobic and disproving of her lifestyle, which is kind of weird in Noxus but then again they are Aristocrats so they are probably still following the Pre-Trifariax Mindset. While she isn’t exactly unbothered by it, she also doesn’t want to be disowned out of their fortune. She is incredibly arrogant and will be catty toward everyone but Edvin and Clara, with Kye being a sort of middle ground (Her: “You’re Late.” Him. “Mhm, Knew you’d wait”).

Her effect deals damage to someone to empower it, making her a Top and, potentially, a Domme.

She has no interactions with Vladimir.

As for her Flavor Text:

1) "Ah, you too? To the Reveler's B--" (Responding to Edvin’s 2, Responded by Edvin’s 3)

2) "How am I to tolerate mine?" (Responding to Edvin’s 4, Responded by Clara’s 3)

3) "Respectfully, my dear, my father would disown me. ...perhaps we should wear matching dresses." (Responding to Clara’s 3, Responded by Clara’s 4).

The Curator.

Edvin. He is the richest member of the gang, and their unofficial weed dealer. His blood potions bring all the boys to the yard, so to speak, but he seems to have acquired all his wealth by himself. He seems to not have an affluent family such as Ophelia, and in fact seems to value the gang, his new family (His Bloodkin, as he calls them) more, making this an ACTUAL, FOUND FAMILY SCENARIO. He has great relationships with the other three members of the Gang, and will in fact lament more losing his friends than actually dying when his card, well, dies (”But... My Friends...).

Shaped like a friend, and his ability, while triggered by taking damage, actually allows him to call forth the gang by drawing them in hand.

Vladimir will comment on the richness of his blood.

Has the longest Flavour Text:

1)  "Beloved companions!" (Starting Line in the exchange, Responded by Clara’s 1)

2) "Were you? Well I received an invitation." (Responding to Clara’s 1, Responded by Ophelia’s 2)

3) "--Reveler's Ball! Yes!" (Responding to Ophelia’s 2, Responded by Clara’s 2)

4) "Then we must! I shall present my family." (Responding to Clara’s 2, Responded by Ophelia’s 3)

5) "Starters before dessert, my dear. And you, Kye? Will you attend?" (Responding to Clara’s 4, Responded by Kye’s 1).

The Awakener.

Kye. He’s the eldest of the gang, and the one with the most experience with the cult. She is your classical aloof loner in anime who pretends not to care about his so called friends when in fact he cares way too much. He will appear constantly bored and disillusioned with everything, even when meeting Vladimir, but will still have positive interactions with his friends (Teasing Ophelia, having some best bros talk with Edvin, and reminiscing about their lessons together with Clara). Probably the most stoner coded of the gang.

His ability has him deal damage to all friendly creatures in play as a additional cost to be played, thus triggering Edvin’s and Clara’s abilities, both of whom he spent expensive time teaching Blood Magic, and just annoying the top Ophelia, as he does.

Vladimir reminds him about the importance of manners, and is implied he was taught blood magic by him, just like he in turn has taught it to his friends.

That would make the Crimson Cult Runeterra first Weed Smoking Polycule based Pyramid Scheme.

He has only one interaction in the whole flavor text conversation with his friends, cementing the fact he prefers to hang in the sidelines of the gang despite his supposed role as leader.

1)  "Even if I said 'no', you'd drag me along. So... sure." (Responding to Edvin’s 5, concluding the conversation).

With this we can reconstruct the full conversation as:

Edvin: "Beloved companions!"

Clara: "Edvin! There you are, handsome. I was just thinking of you!"

Edvin:  "Were you? Well I received an invitation."

Ophelia: "Ah, you too? To the Reveler's B--"

Edvin: "--Reveler's Ball! Yes!"

Clara: "Each of us can go, now…"

Edvin: "Then we must! I shall present my family."

Ophelia: "How am I to tolerate mine?"

Clara: "Escort me. I'll make it fun."

Ophelia: "Respectfully, my dear, my father would disown me. ...perhaps we should wear matching dresses."

Clara: "Or nothing at all?"

Edvin: "Starters before dessert, my dear. And you, Kye? Will you attend?"

Kye: "Even if I said 'no', you'd drag me along. So... sure."

There is then a secret, last Flavor Text, coming from Vladimir’s upgraded art, about him probably overhearing some of his guests at the Reveler’s Ball from his creepy dark corner somewhere in his creepy dark vampire mansion and going, probably as a direct response to either Kye’s lack of enthusiasm or Ophelia’s arrogance:

Vladimir: “Do you find my little fête banal, darling? Then let me give you a real show!”

Anyway, this was the Crimson Cult. A found family story hidden in a card game depicting a gang of hedonist stoners who also happen to be fairly LGBT friendly.

[lightshielded]

jarvan iv’s new lore / the good, the bad and the oh?

i just wanted to make a more official post on the changes or expansions in his new bio and my own opinions on them and why i think they’re good or bad or if they’re confusing. i will be posting a like thing to the forums in hopes of getting some answers from riot.

THE GOOD !

JARVAN III ! riot has added further information about jarvan the third, the current king of demacia. it’s really nice to actually have some official information on the man who rules the entirety of demacia rather than having to infer things from a mix of slight mentions in character bios and old lore. we know he is a smart ruler, one with a strong political mind allowing him to prevent infighting between political houses. we now know him to a loving, if a bit absent father, and a devoted husband and is truly trying to do right by his son. man even seemed unfazed by his son bringing home a half dragon when the entire demacian court was questioning the wisdom of letting the prince have a dragon on his personal guard. i don’t know man, they’ve made jarvan iii chill and i like him.

XIN ZHAO EXISTS ! this is more existence xin has seen in years and look i know it’s a brief ass mention in jarvan’s lore on how y’know he is actually doing his job of the seneschal of demacia and the lightshield family’s steward and just looking after a young jarvan but damn. yes. give xin lore and give jarvan the personal relationships which should have been established before and did exist back in the old - old lore.

EXTRA DETAILS ! i do like the small extra details given to events in this new biography. for instance, before he warred in the areas to the south, now we know the true names of these areas and where he fought and that these were also the same lands jarvan i lost his head to sion fighting in. we know a little more about his childhood and his education and why things were the way they were. just nice little details which gives his early bits of lore some interesting bits and bobs.

THIS LINE ! ‘ and the king beginning to feel the weight of his years, the prince must ensure he is prepared to one day inherit the throne, and be crowned King Jarvan IV of Demacia. ’ this line right here. this makes me feel things, that is all. just damn, king jarvan iv of demacia. now ain’t that a mood.

THE BAD !

LADY CATHERINE ! now, jarvan’s mother was only once mentioned back in the journals of justice and i honestly thought riot had forgotten about her. yet, i still joked with the release of sylas that they do not touch her. and, you know what, they really shouldn’t have. i am happy she got mention but i hate that she was revived into lore purely for the trope of killing off female characters as some kind of poor excuse for development and angst in male character’s lives. like yes, demacia is low technology and anti - magic so childbirth is probably a dangerous thing which results in a great many more deaths than in the modern day, but it was wholly unnecessary for jarvan’s older lore did not require it so it was a detail cheaply used and unwarranted. 

NO CAPTURE ! jarvan’s narrative across all lores from the oldest to the one just prior to now have included him spending time in noxian custody due to a mistake on his part and him feeling the need for self - improvement and redemption. this has been his hallmark for many years and provided strong reason for character development by curbing his pride and his rash behaviour, showing his strong empathy for his fellow man and how that is both boon as well as cause cause him to make blind errors. each of these lores has provided us with a sheltered character pulled into a world far more gritty than he was living in, struggling, failing but rebuilding himself into a stronger person. yet here, jarvan barely fails. his ‘ downfall ’ moment is simply that his battalion gets splintered off after scores of victories which spread them too thin. that’s right, he won too much, got cocky and kept pressing forward. while it mentions he was troubled by what he saw there was no blind dash ignoring of orders cause he couldn’t let the murderers of his people walk free. nah, now it’s more an ego complex following a pledge to bring stability to the region and possibly regrouping when you hear the gates of mourning fell is not on the agenda when doing that. so instead, he is splintered off and he and some survivors wouldn’t surrender and escaped into the forests where they were hunted down and jarvan finally took an arrow to the knee side. here it catches up with the older lore and he lies dying in a fallen tree till our dragon friend comes to save him after mistaking him for food ( i hope they don’t remove that line from her lore when it gets updated i love it ). not to mention it removes his torture by noxus and i have no idea how swain’s line works anymore or how sion even exists.

NO VILLAGE ! so jarvan gets saved and brought to castle wrenwall which is where he combated yvva in older lore and not the small demacian village. this further changes jarvan’s narrative as they know who he is. the garrison commander instantly knows jarvan is the prince and thanks shyvana for saving her. her being a part of demacia no longer becomes because they saw her saving some random demacian and helping him and so having demacian like values and so inviting her to stay because she is a good person. it instead becomes well you saved the prince we are indebted to you. it also loses the charm of shyvana helping out in a village and the prince having to learn to live as a normal person since he is pretending to be so. it also squishes the timeline some but i’ll cover that in the next bit . . .

JARVAN’S SELFISH ! jarvan’s motivation to help shyvana is completely changed. i doubt this was intentional but the wording is very off. before: shyvana tries to leave because she knows the dragon attacks that have started happening are her fault. jarvan stops her, learns of her past and then pledges to help her because she is his friend and he owes his life to her. his own doesn’t matter, he will help her or die trying. now: the very recount heavy style of the rewriting of this new lore implies he sees yvva coming in the distance and he sees her as an opportunity to redeem himself, not help shyvana. in fact, in this new lore they barely interact. jarvan has no reason to care for her since he is still injured when yvva appears so they haven’t spent long together. like when i said the timeline is squashed i mean from several months down to maybe a couple weeks. there is no need for this reduction and all it does is hurt jarvan and shyvana’s friendship and turn jarvan into someone who cares more for his ego than his friend. what happened to learning about charity, huh?

GAREN BARELY EXISTS ! do i need to say more, jarvan’s old lore told much of their friendship and how garen’s efforts saved him but thats now deleted from the timeline and all jarvan is left with is a mention that they were friends, an almost copy paste from garen’s older lore which mentions he admires his fortitude and that now he is shield - captain so jarvan needs to shape up. it just doesn’t feel connected or personal. how am i meant to see that two people are friends if all you say is, yeah, they’re friends. how about some show not tell?

TOO MANY OTHER PEOPLE / REALLY RUSHED ! now i’m sure you’ll be surprised since i said i was happy to see stuff on jarvan iii and xin ( cause i am ) the issue is the writers are working under a kind of word limit system so while i love reading about other champions and characters, devoting several paragraphs of jarvan’s limited amount to other characters and info which is interesting but doesn’t push his story too much feels a little cheap. this rushed pace they then had to write with acts to flatten his character. things that were written once in beautiful detail are now reduced to recounted fact that lack the emotion of what the previous did. ie: CURRENT: ‘ He was devastated. He had failed his family, his kingdom, and his brothers-in-arms. ’ OLDER: ‘ As Jarvan was dragged further from Demacia during his weeks of captivity, he was ashamed that the rashness of his decision to pursue the Noxians had led to needless Demacian deaths. Crushed by the loss, he came to believe he no longer deserved to live in Demacia, let alone inherit its throne. ‘ even just this little bit on his emotions post failure. before it goes into how he stews in his grief for weeks. his shame. his loss. he no longer feels like he can be called demacian. now he is just devastated because he failed.

THE OH ?

JARVAN’S STANCE ON MAGIC IS KNOWN ? people know shyvana is a dragon now. all the nobles in attendance know. jarvan’s father knows. his friend who hates mages probably knows. literally anyone who can hear court or military gossip knows. how is this man left to do his shit when everyone knows that jarvan has a dragon on his personal guard ? this is the prince of a magic fearing nation, a nation who has in recent times made their laws significantly stricter. HOW IS HE JUST AROUND? DOES LUX KNOW THIS? DOES SYLAS KNOW ANY OF THIS? HOW IS SHYVANA NOT LOCKED UP WITH THE NEW STRICTER LAWS ??????????

IS THE KING / QUEEN STILL ELECTED ? a big part of jarvan’s character previously was that he had to toe around his nation’s views because his actions could easily be seen as treasonous or wrong and prevent him from being elected king when his father relinquishes the throne. but now it just mentions he is the heir and he is to inherit it, which it was mentioned in the other lore that he would inherit it ( or rather it was mentioned he didn’t feel like he could since it was mentioned when he was depressed ) so i don’t know if they have scrapped this part of demacian lore or if it just wasn’t mentioned. i have no idea.

[calucadu]

The Light’s Child - Chapter 6

The Light’s Child, a League of Legends Fanfic. Chapter 6.

Summary: Lux has some worrying symptoms, and she thinks she might just know what it’s all about. Katarina wants to find out the light mage’s dark secret, what will she do to discover it?

Pairings: Darius/Lux, Ezreal/Lux, implied Garen/Katarina

Characters: Darius, Lux, Ezreal, OCs, Garen, Katarina, Talon, Draven, Soraka, Ekko, Swain, Jinx, LeBlanc

Rating: Mature

First chapter // Previous chapter // Next chapter

Read on AO3

Read on fanfiction.net

Or read below the cut

Draven felt uneasy. His lucky axes had gone missing and he’d looked for them everywhere and still couldn’t find them. Unhappy, he went into his apartment, only to hear noises coming from his room. He pushed the door open and found Katarina lying on his bed smirking, twirling around his precious axes as if they were her daggers.

“Draaaaveeeeen” she purred, sitting up a little. “Looking for these?”

“Yeah, baby!” He licked his lips in anticipation, throwing himself on his own bed and eagerly crawling to her. He slammed his mouth against hers and forced his tongue to enter her.

“WHAT THE FUCK!? GET OFF OF ME!” She managed to say, once she dropped his axes to push him away, quickly recovering them.

“Hey, c’mon babe, you want it.”

“Why do you always perceive everything as being hit on?” She stared at him with a deadpan look.

“Who wouldn’t want to hit on Draven?” He chuckled, his face still too close to hers. She could feel his warm breath on her skin and it made her shudder. “I am glorious, as you know.”

“Enough.” She pushed him away, before she snarled, her gaze turning unforgivable. “You’re gonna pay for what you’ve done”

“What? For stealing a kiss?” The man smirked, shoving her against the bedframe with as much force as he could muster. A sly tongue slithered out of his mouth and licked his own lips, as if he were enjoying the rare view of a defenceless Sinister Blade. “Now I really know you’re hitting on me. Didn’t know you were into this, though.”

“No, you idiot. You raped Lux.” Kat muttered, her bangs covering part of her face as she forced the defiant look to not falter from her features.

“Pffft!” A rough snicker escaped his mouth as he rolled his eyes. “Bitch, what are you sayin’?”

“I know you did!” She raised her voice, only to be shoved harder against the bedframe, the back of her head hitting against something hard.

A strong hand grabbed her lower face with force, his thumb and fingers pressing her cheeks as he rolled her head over while he looked at her with disgust, his tongue clicking, voicing his discontent.

“Says who?” His low voice pierced her ears as he spoke loudly. “You’re wrong, Kat. I didn’t rape Lux. Didn’t even get the chance to fuck her stupid. Darius fucking stopped it and I’ll be damned if he’d ever let me touch her again.”

He released her as he moved away, letting her body go limp against his bed. She stopped her fall as she landed on her hands. She raised her head to look at him and he noted the red marks he’d left on her cheeks, pleased with himself.

“You gonna believe rumours or some shit over what I say?” He questioned, crossing his arms over his chest, an eyebrow raising slowly as his eyes bore into hers.

“I can tell you’re not lying.”

“And it’s not like I want anything to do with blonde bimbos.” Draven relaxed his posture, comfortably throwing himself on his own bed and stretching lazily.

“You did want her once, though.” She noted, distracted. She didn’t care about small talk, she was focused on figuring out what was going on. Something smelt really rotten but she couldn’t quite determine what it was.

“A fuck’s a fuck. She seemed available.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her, a smirk appearing on his face as a playful hand wandered to her waist. “Talking about fucks…”

“Don’t you fucking dare.” She shoved him away and got off the bed.

His gaze fell on his forgotten axes and he quickly recovered them, kissing each blade carefully, as if they’d been gone for ages and were his beloved children or something.

“Thanks for these.” He snickered, propping his body up slightly, adjusting his position to be more comfortable. “Anyway, why’re you here for?”

“I thought you were Ethanial’s father.” She huffed, sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing her legs.

A burst of laughter erupted from Draven.

“What on Runeterra ever made you think that?” He wheezed as the cackles slowly died down.

“I had my reasons.” Was all she said, her brow creased, annoyed at the fact that the man’s teasing had got to her. “Shut up.”

But then, it finally dawned on Katarina. The reason why it all seemed weird. She’d remembered Darius’s words from the previous day, realising she’d just got played. Why would a man like him sell out his brother so easily if not for his own motives? She balled her fists tightly, furious that she hadn’t noticed earlier. He’d steered her away from the truth. He gave the kid private teaching lessons. He…

“Draven.” She whispered slowly, frowning slightly. “What did you say again about bedding Lux?”

“This again? Look, trust me, I’m not that kid’s father…” He started but she interrupted him.

“Just tell me!”

“Sheesh! What do you want me to say? That I tried? That Darius stopped me?”

“Yes. Darius.” The confirmation she needed. She had to hear his name said out loud for it all to plop into place in her head. Everything else fitted perfectly. Noxian, strong, dark haired… it couldn’t be any other man.

“What of him?”

“Nothing! Well, won’t you look at the time?” She answered, running to the door and opening it quickly, getting out of his room.

“Wait, wait! Where are you going?” He called out, chasing after her.

“Canteen. It’s lunch time, right?” She smirked, turning round to look at the man briefly, the look on her face showing how completely focused she was on her next task. Darius was going to pay for playing her.

“Hey, wait! I know that look, you’re planning something. I’m going with you!” He shouted, rushing after her.

They made their way to the canteen and she grinned before opening the door and walking swiftly inside, followed by a curious and eager Draven.

Ethanial sighed, his head in his hands. He was currently sitting on his bed, feeling sorry for himself. He sometimes glanced up and looked at the amulet hanging on the wall. The one he’d been given on the day he was born and he was prohibited to touch. Somehow, looking at it made him feel worse and better at the same time. It filled him with dread, but it also made him feel hope. It was undeniably beautiful and there was something about it… that attracted him to it. He wanted so desperately to wrap his fingers around it.

He’d been feeling like this for the past few days, since the moment that thought had crossed his mind. A shiver run down his spine as he remembered what it was that was making him feel like this.

With one last glance at the amulet, he gathered enough courage to get up from the bed. He sighed and stretched lazily, trying to ease his numb body. How much time had he spent in that uncomfortable position, just moping? He wasn’t even sure of that. He needed to find out the truth. Hopefully it was just a crazy idea he’d had, and nothing more.

Frowning, he made his way to the training room, ready to face the facts, or, better still, to sigh in relief as he realised he’d been wrong all along.

The boy walked in with his usual swift stride, pausing only to stare at Darius before his brow creased and the older man met his gaze, confusion clear in his features. Before the older one could speak, the other was only a foot away from him and waving his hands in exasperation.

“You’re my father.” He finally said. They stared at each other for what seemed like a million years before the Noxian sighed and caressed a tender spot in his neck before lifting his gaze and facing the younger.

“Yes.” He nearly muttered, trying to shake off the feeling that had started in the very pit of his stomach and was working its way up. His eyebrows twitched slightly, as he watched his son’s reaction.

They stood there, perfectly still, both with their eyes set on each other before Darius decided to ask the lingering yet obvious question.

“How’d you find out?” He asked, gingerly lifting an eyebrow, noticing how the boy licked his lips and straightened his back slightly. The General came to the conclusion that Lux had accidentally let it slip out, but the way Ethanial was looking at him made him doubt it.

The boy stared into the deep green eyes of who he could now call his father and hesitated briefly before answering him.

“I don’t think we look much alike. I mean, maybe there’s a certain something that you have that I possess too, but what really made me realise was this.” He gestured frantically with his hands, forcing Darius to search whatever it was the boy meant. When the younger noticed his father wasn’t understanding him, he sighed and sat down on the bench.

“I mean, at first, I didn’t notice. But then it dawned on me. Why would a Noxian help out the son of a Demacian-born? Why give me special classes? I mulled it over for a bit and came out with a few possibilities.”

The General nodded, as if giving the other permission to continue with his speech.

“One. That you owed my mother a favour. But that didn’t make sense. How would you owe her anything, and even if you did, why would the way of paying the debt off be classes to her first son, when there are many other people that could train me? A Noxian training a Demacian, there must be some scandal caused by that anyway. Two. It was never anything you or my mother said, but the way I saw you looking at each other…”

Ethanial trailed off, his gaze going onto the floor before he continued to speak.

“And Lux has, from time to time, tried to teach me some of Noxus’ history, which, I’ve got to admit, caught me a bit off guard. To sum it up, I added two and two together, I just didn’t think you would admit it so quickly.”

The boy’s eyes were on the ground again, so Darius lifted his head up a bit roughly, grabbing him by the chin and staring into the blue he knew so well.

“You had a right to know. That’s my opinion. So yeah, there you have it. I am your father, and I’m proud that I am. I’m proud of you.”

He let go of his grip, leaving a slight mark on the boy’s chin, which he rubbed absentmindedly.

There was more silence, while they both inspected each other.

“Do you love her?” He asked, maybe catching Darius off guard, but he didn’t show it if it did.

“Yes.” He answered automatically, but truthfully. “Yet you understand we can’t be together and raise a child, right?”

“You take me for a fool.” The boy sounded older for a second, and more mature. “I thought I’d proven myself with this discovery.”

“I’m not taking you for anything. Just making sure you understand the reasons we did what we did.”

Ethanial got up and began stretching, lazily dragging his now heavier upper body, making it perform the same warm up activities it had been accustomed to do, but his father didn’t follow him, he just watched him do it.

“Does she love you back?” When he got no answer, Ethanial simply shrug and turned around, a wide smirk spread on his face. “Yeah, I never understood the thing with Ezreal either. What do you think they are?”

“A couple.” Darius answered, grabbing his axe and swinging it expertly, watching closely as the boy faced him, still with a slight glimmer in his eyes.

“And you’re ok with that?”

“Yes.”

There was a slight pause before the boy picked up his sword.

“I don’t get you. Why?”

“I could never be with Lux. Not in the way I want at least. So why not let someone who can, have her?”

Ethanial shrugged before continuing to speak. “I’ve seen the way she looks at Ezreal and it’s not even close to the way she looks at you.”

“People want what they can’t have. It would be the other way round if she couldn’t have him.”

“You’re stupid.” The boy huffed finally. His eyes were narrowed and his brow was furrowed as he spat those words out, as if they were the vilest thing ever.

“Excuse me!?” Darius raised his voice slightly, gripping his axe tighter in his hands.

“You heard me. You and Lux. You’re stupid.”

“We are, now, huh?” The Noxian relaxed, a gentle grin forming in the corner of his mouth as he joked.

“You should fight for your love.”

“You are definitely your mother’s son.”

Ethanial’s brow creased some more and he looked defiantly at his father.

“I’m your son, too!” He answered, the sword in his hand now more present all of a sudden.

“Well then, prove it to me. Stop saying stupid things and fight me. Do your training.”

There was a moment of silence before the boy breathed in a heavy sigh. The younger licked his lips, his eyes burning with a defiant fire in them.

“You know what.” He whispered, arrogantly straightening his back and looking deeply into Darius’ face. “I don’t care what you think. You don’t deserve my mother.”

“As if you could decide who does or who doesn’t deserve Lux.” The General spat, his eyes narrowing, threatening. “The only one who can is her. So, shut up and fight me.”

The boy looked at him in disgust, before staring at his sword for a good twenty seconds.

“No. I won’t shut up.” And with that, he threw his weapon to the floor and stormed off out of the training room, muttering curses to himself.

The Noxian sighed, dragging a hand over his face, annoyed. A mild sense of dread and discomfort had arisen in him, but he tried to push it away by putting his axe and the other’s sword away. He calmly took his armour off and walked out of the training room, the nagging feeling of something bad about to happen still making his brain go dizzy.

He’d made his decision. He ran his shacking hands through his hair and swallowed hard. Ethanial made his way to the canteen, ready for the performance of a life time. It was midday, and a small growl erupted from his stomach. When he opened the doors, he was greeted by champions, who smiled at him warmly. They’d known him ever since he was a baby, but he was convinced they didn’t really know him.

His whole fucking life had been a lie.

Someone patted his back, Ekko tried to fist bump him and Jinx pushed past him as she was running in the opposite direction. Nothing mattered. Ethanial was spaced out, unsure if what he was about to do was the right thing or not.

It didn’t fucking matter.

‘You have a right to know.’ Darius’ words echoed in his head.

‘They have a right to know.’ He thought, clenching his teeth and finally deciding it was for the best.

“Hey, you okay?” Ekko whispered, trying to grab his arm but Ethanial shook him away, ready to do what had to be done.

The boy walked to the closest table he could find and jumped onto it, forcing plates and glasses out of his way.

“Hey, watch it, you shitty-!” Someone said, but the younger one shut him up when he used all of his magical ability to throw a spark of light into the air, forcing everyone’s attention on him.

“Listen up!” He panted, exhausted by that little outburst of magic. His capabilities were limited, he knew. Maybe it was the serious look he had on his face or maybe it was his little performance but suddenly everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. “I am not who you think I am.”

“Is he coming out as gay or something?” Jayce joked in a whisper, not that interested in what the boy was about to say. Caitlyn, who was sitting next to him, elbowed him and the man rolled his eyes. “Sorry, sorry.”

“You all think you know me.” The boy began, turning around himself to make sure everyone’s eyes were on him. “You’ve seen me grow up, change, mature. You all know me as the son of Ezreal and Lux, but I’m about to reveal the ugly truth.”

He met with piercing eyes as he searched their faces. He found looks of interest, others of boredom and some of amusement. He was about to open his mouth when the doors of the canteen swung open and Katarina entered, followed by Draven. The Noxian woman and the boy stared at each other, her eyes piercing his face, trying to figure out what was going on. Everyone was now focused on the new scene, wandering why they were both silent now.

“Ethanial…” Kat muttered, taking a few steps closer, annoyed he was about to steal her spotlight. She would not let this happen. She had worked so hard to find out the truth and now she was about to have her moment taken away from her right under her eyes. “Don’t you dare!” She snarled at him, taking a few steps forward as she quickly took out one of her daggers.

Before either of them could react, they heard a familiar voice croak out his name.

“Ethanial?” Lux’s face was pale. She was holding a platter in both hands, which were now shaking visibly. “What is going on?” She’d just appeared from getting her food in line and hadn’t heard anything of what he had previously said.

“Mother.” He muttered, turning around and looking at her, his face showing how troubled he was feeling. “I know.”

“You know?” She questioned, her eyebrows raised. “You know what?”

“Darius is my father.” He quickly blurted out, only to regret it immediately when he saw his mother’s reaction.

The platter was the first thing to hit the floor. The crashing sound resonated more than his words as food was scattered all over the place. The next thing to fall was the limp body of a blonde light mage.

Ethanial watched as champions went to aid his fainted mother and he was about to go after her when he felt a dagger at his throat.

“And I thought you were good.” She hissed, pressing it slightly against his neck. She was so absurdly and uncontrollably angry she didn’t recognise herself. On the verge of killing a child over a silly thing like uncovering the truth?

The commotion had already started. There was an uproar in the canteen and the boy’s head started spinning as he felt her hands on his shoulder and her weapon about to slit his throat. But somehow, his eyes were wide and watching closely as Lux was hoisted up by Graves while Sona was trying to wake her up. The utter horror he felt was only intensified when he saw Garen push his way towards her and started shaking her while he screamed at her.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?” He shouted, tears in his eyes as he looked at his unresponsive sister. “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO DEMACIA? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR FAMILY? TO YOUR OWN BROTHER?”

The dagger pressed harder against his throat, the pain finally forcing him to focus on Katarina’s shacking hand holding the weapon and spitting in anger behind him. Two hands enveloped his body and the pressure against his neck was gone as he was grabbed by Leona and lowered onto the floor. His heart was beating fast in his chest as he looked at the furious Sinister Blade as she was forced kicking and snarling by a very patient Braum, stroking her head and whispering for her to calm down.

“Have you any idea what I had to do to figure it out, you little brat!?” She glared at him, her gaze boring into his.

Meanwhile, Darius got up, shoving his plate away. He got intercepted by Swain, who gently hit him with his cane on his arm as the General was about to leave.

“Is this true, General?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.

He grunted a response and tried to get through, but LeBlanc appeared out of nowhere, a dark smile on her lips as she leaned against him.

“You really did get that bitch pregnant!” She laughed, a hand covering her mouth as she did.

“Don’t call her a bitch!” Darius tried shoving her aside but she disappeared and reappeared on his other side, a smirk still prominent on her face.

“You’re only defending her because she gave you that rut.” She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. “But that explains why you were… unavailable…”

“YO! Darius!” Draven had made his way to his brother, a frown on his features. “This is the reason why condoms exist, you know? Fucking use them! We don’t want to get the enemy pregnant. Except maybe if it’s a tactical plan you haven’t told us, then it’s brilliant!”

The General finally pushed past them, not wanting to respond to anything, just in case he made the situation worse. Except he couldn’t come up with a worse scenario than the chaos that had just been caused by his irrational son.

‘And to think I thought he was smart…’ He growled to himself, pushing past champions as he fought to get to Lux. Ethanial was carried away as he passed him.

LeBlanc chuckled as she stared at Darius make his way past the crowd.

“You know, it’s one thing that he got her pregnant, but it’s even worse that he loves her.”

“Oh, please, don’t be daft. He doesn’t love her. C’mon, it’s Darius we’re talking about.” Swain commented, leaning on his cane.

“You’re getting old for matters of the heart.” The dark mage snickered. “Or you’re very blind. You choose.”

“Wait a second… I’m an uncle!” It finally dawned on Draven, who smacked his forehead with his hand. “I owe the little kid like… a billion presents…”

“It will be even funnier when they remember the other child.” LeBlanc muttered, turning away from the Executioner.

“How so?” Swain muttered, his face showing how troubled he was about the situation.

“That one’s Ezreal’s. How will the people take to that?” She smirked at him before disappearing.

Lux was dragged off to the hospital, seeing as she was still unconscious. Darius groaned, watching as she was taken away.

Ezreal had been staring at the scene from the distance, still sitting at the table, a fork in his hand. He hadn’t realised what the boy had been about to do, so he hadn’t had enough time to react. But when he heard those words, and after Lux’s reaction, he knew what it meant. He got up quickly, huffed, and, not knowing what to do, exited the canteen. He knew if he didn’t move, he’d be interrogated or harassed or whatever, and that’s the last thing he wanted.

Outside, the explorer started running. He didn’t know where to, but his feet started moving, taking him away. Tears sprung to his eyes and his hands started shaking as they tried to wipe the droplets away. What had first started as soft sobbing soon intensified and he was forced to come to a stop, his body trembling. He knew he had to do something.

Leona let Ethanial go, who started panting and quickly raised his hands to his neck. Luckily Katarina hadn’t drawn blood and he sighed before remembering the mess he’d caused. He shouldn’t have opened his mouth.

Looking around him in dread, he tried to figure out his next move. He bit his lower lip nervously and shoved his way past the people that were trying to get him to answer their questions. When he was finally outside, he felt like a huge weight had been removed from his shoulders, but champions started spilling out, wanting to know as much as they could. Frightened, the boy blinded a curious Cassiopeia before running towards his house. His room. He needed to get to his safe spot. He needed…

Panting, he nearly collapsed against the closed door of his room. His head hit the wood and his chest was still heaving when he growled in frustration.

Why!? Why had he even thought that telling the world that Darius was his father would be a good idea!? Why hadn’t he thought it through? Why hadn’t he thought of the consequences? Why was he so stupid?

A strangled scream escaped his lips as he threw himself against the bed and started punching and kicking it until tears started falling down his cheeks.

He wasn’t just angry at himself. At his own stupid actions. No, his chest was bubbling with all sorts of emotions. Hatred, rage, betrayal, resentment… He couldn’t even name most of what he was feeling.

Images of his past flooded his brain, forcing out even more tears. His only option was to force his face into his pillow, which also helped with the quite difficult task of quieting his shrieking voice.

He thought of Lux, of how he’d always trusted her and let her guide him and teach him. He thought of Ezreal, and how he’d been there for him, played the father figure, listened to him and… embarrassed, Ethanial’s face flushed when he remembered the day he’d asked him some pretty weird teenage questions. Because he thought he was his dad and he thought he could trust him.

But then, he heard a noise. He lifted his head and got up from the bed, shaking hands trying to dry the tears as his gaze fell on the amulet, the golden glimmer catching his eye. Without thinking about it, Ethanial rushed to it as if it had ordered him to, and raised his shaking hands to grab it. As soon as his fingers gingerly touched it, a bolt of electricity raised up his spine and an alarm went off in his brain.

‘Hello Ethanial.’ A voice called, and he wasn’t sure where it was coming from. He was tempted to let go of the amulet, but it felt so good in his hands. Warm and comforting. Just like what he needed right now. ‘So you’ve finally discovered the truth. I am here to guide you.’

“What?” the boy whispered, his head moving from side to side, trying to localize where the voice was coming from, although by now he was pretty sure it was coming from the amulet he held tightly in his hands.

‘You are confused, yes?’ the voice said, and Ethanial gently nodded, not sure if it mattered if he answered anyway. ‘I will solve all your problems.’

“How?” He asked, unsure. The warmth from his hands was starting to spread all over his body. His breathing intensified and his eyes closed, a light grin appearing on his face.

‘You are scared, as well. You are angry, sad, torn. I will help you. Put me on.’

The boy raised his hands and took a better look at the amulet. He sighed but clumsily dragged the gold chain over his neck and let it fall against his chest. As soon as it hit his skin and secured itself in place, Ethanial’s world went dark. His breathing got caught in his throat and he was forced to his knees, as everything started to shake around him.

‘Relax. It will all be over soon.’ The voice said.

The boy managed to start breathing again, but he shut his eyes closed and clenched his teeth, the dizziness not going away. When everything stopped spinning he raised his head and had a look around him.

He was in a place he’d never been before and couldn’t recognise. He slowly got up, and headed towards a figure hiding in the dark.

“Good boy.” The voice whispered, a hand reaching out to ruffle Ethanial’s hair. His apprehension left his body as he melted into the caress, his own fingers gently touching the amulet, the feeling soothing his soul.

Lux finally awoke in a hospital room a few minutes after she’d been taken in. She got up immediately, still shaken, but was forced to lay down again by a very calm Soraka. Sona was the other person in the room with her.

“Calm down, light mage, please.” The goat woman pleaded, patting her head soothingly.

“What… What’s going to happen?” Lux cried out, tears forming in her eyes as she looked at the two women.

“Nothing good, I’m afraid.” Soraka answered, patting her hand and looking into her eyes with concern. “How are you feeling?”

“How do you think? I need to get away from here! Where’s Ethanial?”

“I’m not sure. He ran away shortly after you fainted.”

“Ethanial…” Lux sighed, silent tears now flowing steadily.

“I SAID LET ME IN!”

“I can’t do that! I’ve been ordered to not let anyone in until she’s feeling better.” Janna was trying to reason with the screaming voice.

“I HEARD HER TALKING, I’M GOING IN.” Seconds later the door was broken down and Garen ran towards his sister, despair written on his features.

“Hello brother.” It came out bitterer than she’d intended, but she knew what was coming next.

“HOW DARE YOU.” He screamed, shoving past Soraka to look at Lux in the eyes. He was tempted to grab her by the wrists, but was scared he might break her. “HOW DARE YOU FUCK DARIUS?”

“How stupid do you think I am, brother?” She snorted, laughing bitterly in his face. “YOU fuck Katarina. And, here’s the difference: everyone fucking knows.”

“YOU BORE HIM A SON, LUXANNA. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?”

She stared at him in anger and quickly raised a hand to slap his face.

“STOP treating me like a child. I am not a baby. I am not stupid!” She shouted at him, her face red.

“After what you’ve done, I actually highly doubt every word you’ve just said.” He commented, his voice much lower than before, showing a much calmer Garen. His own hand raised to where he’d been slapped and he leaned towards her. “You’ve dishonoured the Crownguard family. To heck with that, you’ve dishonoured the whole of Demacia.”

“You HYPOCRITE!” The tears returned to her eyes again and her voice started shaking. “How dare you say that when YOU have been toying around with that Noxian tart? How dare YOU act like this?”

“I’m not the one that’s acted like a whore.” Garen spat, shoving himself apart from Lux and looking at her in disgust.

“The only difference in the way we’ve acted is the fact that you’re a man. So it’s not frowned at for you. You’re actually praised for fucking Kat.” Lux cried, smashing her fists against the bed. “But it’s always been like that. I have to be a lady while you can fuck around like a man.”

For a moment, Garen was silent. He watched as his sister bawled her eyes out and pity filled his chest.

“And it will always be like that. Just because I’m a woman.”

“A woman with a big problem. That little mongrel will cause a war.”

“How can you say that? He’s your family! You love him!” Lux whined.

“Used to. Now I’m not so sure. He’s tainted.”

“What changed? The fact that you knew?” She snorted, looking at him in disgust. “I’m discovering some very horrible things about you, Garen.”

“And I too, sister.” The pity he’d felt in his chest soon turned into disgust again. “Do you love him?”

“What? Of course I do! He is my SON.”

“Not Ethanial. Darius. The fucking cheating traitor.”

She was left speechless as he adjusted his posture and crossed his arms. When she didn’t respond, he sighed in defeat, knowing what that meant.

“I see.”

“Garen, I think you should leave. All you’ve done is say harsh words. Your sister needed you and this is what you did to her.” Soraka said, caressing Lux’s head.

“No, she did this to herself. But yes, I will leave.” He slowly turned around and started walking away. “Luxanna… just wait until Mum and Dad get the news.”

“Goodbye brother.”

The light mage frowned as she saw him leave the room, closing the broken door behind him, as best as he could.

Ezreal barged in, clearly unhappy about something. He noticed the broken door and asked himself who’d made that mess, Darius or Garen. Deciding he didn’t care, he walked over to where Lux was and looked into her blue eyes. The eyes he was sure he knew better than his own palm. The woman he thought he knew better than anyone. The woman he’d shared sixteen years of his life with. Sure, he still looked young, but now he felt betrayed. Looking at her face made him ponder if he actually still loved her.

‘Of course you do, you fool.’ He told himself. ‘Because you really couldn’t be any more stupid.’

“So” He begun, discarding the thoughts trying to make their way into his mind. He felt relieved that they were alone in the room, for he was about to say some very questionable things. “Did Darius rape you, Lux?”

She sighed. She knew this was coming. She deserved it, though. She knew all of this had to happen, she just didn’t want it to happen.

“Or maybe, you know, MAYBE” Suddenly his voice was tainted with bitterness, and for a second she thought she saw a much older Ezreal looking right back at her. “Maybe it wasn’t rape, yeah? Maybe you actually wanted to fuck him?”

Lux swallowed. With Garen, she could retort him anything, throw all his shit back at him, but to Ezreal? He’d been with her always, for everything. She did feel very cruel about the way she’d treated him.

“I don’t know, Lux!” He screamed, his tone now showing all of his despair. “I don’t know what to feel. Do you love him? Do you think HE DOES? You know, maybe it was rape, and maybe it was one time and maybe you just lied because you couldn’t live with the truth, but I’m having a hard time believing that now. So you fucked him.”

He made a weird sound, a mixture between a laugh that had got caught in his throat and a sob. He turned around, sighing. He wasn’t expecting an answer from her, he wanted to keep talking, to get those bubbling thoughts off of his mind.

“You fucked him. Was it once? Twice? Or maybe he was more than just a fuck. Maybe you fucking love him.” He scoffed, and then he laughed dryly. All the time, he watched her. He watched as she flinched with every word he said, but right now, her feelings didn’t matter to him. “And that’s when I ask myself, what am I to you?”

And again, she kept quiet, just biting her lip and staring into his eyes. She saw them sparkle in anger and what looked like disappointment.

“WHAT AM I TO YOU, LUX? Am I just a loser you fooled into being with you to take care of your bastard child? Am I just the guy you fuck when he can’t be bothered to have sex with you? WHAT AM I TO YOU? Or do you even care? How stupid do you think I am? Well, fuck me, I must be really retarded because you fucking tricked me and toyed around with me FOR YEARS. You know what, Lux? I would have followed you to the end of the world and back. That’s how much I loved you. And you fucking pissed on my love.”

Silent tears were now falling down her face but he continued speaking, his voice slowly getting higher.

“To Hell with that, you laughed in my face and you used me. I just can’t believe it.”

Ezreal had never been a violent person. Sure, he fought in the League but it wasn’t in his nature. Yet, out of anger, he punched the wall with all the strength he could master. It hurt so much he nearly saw stars, but instead of shouting, a light moan escaped his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut as his fist started throbbing and when he looked down at it, he noticed it was bleeding.

It wasn’t just anger he was feeling. It was hurt. So much of it. And to top it off, the person he loved, the person he thought loved him back was just staring at him in silence.

“And here comes another question.” His voice was shaking now, and he couldn’t tell if it was the pain in his hand, the tears begging to be released or the anger that was shaking his whole being but he managed to choke out those last words. “Is Candella mine or is she also Darius’?

“She… she’s yours.” She sobbed, her eyes surely red. So many tears were coming out she couldn’t see, her vision was all blurry. She didn’t want to see, anyway. Her companion, the man she thought was her lover was in a rage because of her. Of course she felt wretched.

“And how would I know if that’s true?” Again, bitterness tainted his words, but the anger and resentment were still there. “How can I fucking know if you’re not lying to me again, Lux?”

“It’s… it’s not a lie.” She whispered in between hiccups.

He hurried over to her bed and placed both his hands on each side of her pillow, staining it with his blood. He stood inches away from her face, trying to find the lie in her eyes. All he could see was pain.

“Then what is, Lux?” He spoke this time, not wanting to scare her into not answering. “Is your love for him a lie? Maybe it’s your love for me?”

“I… I love you both!” She sobbed and he snorted at her.

“Cut the act.” He grunted, pushing away from her. He still looked at her, disgust plainly written on his features. “And here’s another question. How do you think I feel? Do you even CARE?”

“Of course I care, Ezreal. I love you” She said, forcing herself to not cry through the sentence.

“I can’t take you seriously. I can’t believe you. I can’t do it. How would you be, in my position? You figure out the mother of your daughter has been fucking around with this man… and not just any man. A fucking Noxian. You know how much I hate those guys.”

“Darius isn’t who you think he is. He’s got a lovely heart.”

“My guess is he’s just got a huge cock.” Ezreal spat at her, but he’d calmed down slightly. Her words... he still believed her. He still thought she loved him.

“Lux?” Darius voice sounded rough as he knocked on the door.

“Come in.” She called from the inside, but the Noxian heard a whine which he assumed came from Ezreal. He entered and wasn’t surprised to see the explorer pacing up and down the room, his hand bloody, his hair ruffled.

“Bad day?” The General joked, a smirk spreading on his features. He wasn’t sure what had triggered his comment, maybe it was the actual fact that it had been the shittiest day he’d had in probably twenty years, or maybe it was due to a certain rivalry feeling he wasn’t sure he should feel or not.

“Bad day!?” Ezreal shouted at him, walking straight up to him, to stare deep into his eyes. The teenager looked slightly deranged as he screamed “GO FUCK YOURSELF.”

“I would answer with the obvious” Darius started, nodding his head in Lux’s direction, maybe to provoke the younger some more. “But I’ve something important to say.”

“What are you waiting for, then?” The girl raised her voice, a horrid feeling creeping up her chest.

“Ethanial has disappeared.”

“I might not be invited to this party.” A woman appeared in the room, her body leaning on the door frame, an amused spark tainting her otherwise monotone voice. “But I have some information I believe you will much appreciate.”

“LeBlanc!” Ezreal muttered, bearing his teeth. The day just kept getting better and better.

“The boy’s in Noxus.”

[freljordsking-blog]

Academy Blooms

This is a Darius x Kayn story I wrote for @axe-me-darius

It contains NSFW material under the cut. Please be warned as the NSFW material contains partial non con.

If you are troubled by anything above, then please do not continue reading under the cut.

Enjoy~!

The main door to the gym creaked open. It was after school hours, cheers coming from within the gym hall. There were loud squeaks of shoes across the lacquer polished wood flooring. Quietly a young man sneaked towards the large doors, other side where people loudly roared happily before a buzzer sounded. Slowly the door opened silently after a click of the bar unlocking. One foot creeped in, drawing no attention to the male who obviously didn’t belong.

Kayn was quiet, dressed in a black jacket, black skin tight jeans, and a deep grey side bag. The long black hair he had blended in with his dark outfit. The only indication of difference between hair and clothing was the long blue bang hanging over the right side of his face. His blue and red eyes observed the area.

Sixteen players stood on and next to the basketball court dressed in either red and black, or grey and blue. Two coaches stood on either sideline, groups of cheerleaders waving pompoms around. Crowds of people cluttered seating stands reaching up each wall. Kayn’s eyes observed each person, quickly scanning about.

People in the stands… The cheerleaders… Players… Female, male, female, male, male, male… Kayn had come searching for someone. But he couldn’t seem to find them…

Darius dribbled the basketball down the court length, brutishly defending the ball with his arm hooked out. Although the other team persisted to stop him, Darius was well known for being unstoppable once he started moving. Reaching the inner circle of the enemy’s hoop, he leaped up. Shoving a few people out of the way who were trying to stop him, the ball was slam dunked through the ring. Half the audience broke into an intense celebration, other half applauding at the impressive display. A whistle blew, buzzer sounded, and the score was increased. The scoreboard read 72 to 66 with only three minutes left on the clock in the final round.

The gothic looking boy walked up to the side of a stand, watching in awe of Darius’ powerful actions. He watched him carefully, unable to stop himself from staring. This guy had bullied him so many times before. But instead of keeping his distance, he couldn’t help coming back. A finger reached up and touched the black bruising around his left eye. Darius’ fist left the mark on him, although Kayn couldn’t stay away. He couldn’t only stay in a trance, watching the Noxus Academy student jogging back with his team as a multitude of them whacked his back encouragingly.

Kayn had been going to an academy nearby, however once he had met Darius, he was suddenly compelled to seek him out. It wasn’t long before Darius was actually transferred to the same academy as him. Although he still played basketball for his same team. Darius was a year above Kayn.

The male who stood in awe watched the Noxian stride along the court. He watched his legs carry him, powerful arms, solid build, attractive face, curl of his hair bouncing with each step… He was incredibly popular. Kayn, on the other hand, was not at all. He was picked on regularly, bullied relentlessly by Darius and his peers, and those similar. ‘Pretty boy’ he was called because of his blue hairs. ‘Just a woman wannabe’ his long hair in a braid sparked insults. But Kayn was by no means a weakling. He was well versed in martial arts. Despite his ongoing education, his off time was spent taking lessons from a man named Zed. Those lessons often left him with severe injuries for the week at the academy, leaving him to be further laughed at by Darius.

He was athletic and fit. But Darius was much larger. The Noxian was larger, bulkier, and obviously worked out regularly. However it wasn’t at all for show, despite the attention it got him. To Darius, it was about peak performance, being unstoppable, and never letting anyone best him.

Through Kayn’s thoughts and absentmindedness, he didn’t catch when two green orbs locked in on him. Darius looked somewhat confusingly at the dark haired male. “What are you doing here…?” He mumbled under his breath before honing his gaze angrily. “I’ll teach you to intrude on my turf. The gym is mine…” With that, someone down court called out for the team member to pass the ball down. With a wry smirk, the ball was hurled at an intense velocity. However, not to the one who requested it. Just above Kayn’s head, the orange ball slammed into the wall with a frightening bang. It bounced, clipping the male’s shoulder before cleverly reaching the hands of the one who asked for the ball in the first place.

The ninja in training’s shoulder erupted in pain. An injury from training left him vulnerable. Instead of drawing attention, he simply expelled all oxygen from his body and fell to the floor hidden by the stand. Darius let out a laugh, watching the shock on his face followed by him ducking to the ground, or so he thought.

The game continued, both teams tussling for the ball and having it go back and forth. With Noxus ahead and no further points scored, the final horn sounded for the game to be over. All members of the team grouped up and celebrated, joining in on the audience chanting “Noxus! Noxus! Noxus!” A minute passed by when everyone began to disperse. Both teams headed off to their respective locker rooms.

Passing across the gym from Kayn, Darius looked over to see him sat with his knees against his chest. His arm gripped the arm hit with the ball as a tear rolled down his cheek. With a smile, he joined his team and headed out to get changed. The black clothed boy grit his teeth. Zed had broken and dislocated his shoulder just days before. Normally ball hit would hurt and subside quickly, but like salt on a wound he was flooded with uncontrollable agony. “I-… I’ll make you pay. Y-You’ll pay you fucking asshole.”

Gym now clear of all people, Kayn was left completely alone. Both teams were in their changing rooms, some already leaving. The junior stood, storming towards the door and into the corridor. Down the hall was the entrance he sought. A few students exited, ignoring the smaller peer. He then took his chance to sneak in.

NSFW Content under read more

Darius slipped a white dress shirt on unbuttoned, placing the last of his shower items back into a sports bag. “Good shit big D!” A teammate walked up behind the notorious dunk master and slapped his back. “I heard some of the cheerleaders talkin’ about your performances recently. Seems like you’ve got yourself some more than just adoring fans. If you’re headed to your brother’s party tonight, you are SO going to get laid at least one of the girls! Hahaha! You player~! Plus you’re always so pent up and grumpy! Let loose and have a good time with someone for once!”

Darius simply smiled awkwardly and turned around. “You did great too, but I’m way more interested in action than I am in some stupid party. I’ll be there the day after having to clean up his mess as usual. Not to mention some dumb writing project that’s due tomorrow.”

“Come on man! Don’t be a pussy! There’s beer, chicks, music, it’ll be sick! You gotta come! You don’t really have a choice you know!”

“Yeah… I’ll think about it.”

“Alright. See you tonight then man! We gotta celebrate properly!” With that, the second last player exited the locker rooms, leaving Darius almost completely alone.

Behind a wall strolled Kayn, seeing the back of Darius who was placing the last of his sports clothes into his bag. A thud echoed through the empty room as the junior’s bag landed on the ground. Darius slowly turned around, seeing the younger man standing there with his fists up. It took a moment to register before the Noxian burst out into laughter. Leaning over his dress shirt hung open. Kayn could see the other’s chest and stomach heaving in and out as the hearty belly laugh mocked him relentlessly. Back up his back stretched, leaning back and holding his forehead in further mockery. Settling down finally, Darius shook his head in disbelief. “You’re kidding! Right?! Do you even have any idea what you’re doing right now?”

Instead of faltering, Kayn stood his ground. He even took a step forward with readied fists. “You’re a fucking idiot! Hahaha! I mean sure, if you really want to get beaten up again, let’s go. I had no idea you were such a glutton for punishment.” A devilish smile lit up his face, opting to roll up the sleeves of his dress shirt. Although not ideal fighting gear, as it gripped his arms tightly also restricting movement, having the shirt open allowed easier movement.

The shorter male suddenly launched a punch that connected with the other’s solid chest. Kayn grunted angrily, but the sudden stop sent force up to his shoulder. He winced and closed his blue eye, gasping in pain. Darius’ counter was a prompt fist in the gut. Winded, Kayn collapsed to the floor. One arm gripped his shoulder, the other holding his stomach. “What’s your problem?” Darius taunted, picking the male up by the collar and tossing him against the wall.

Through shallow breaths, Kayn winced and pulled his coat off. Desperate for more air, he undid one of the top buttons on his pearly white shirt. “Y-you…” He panted. “You’re my problem! You’re my entire problem! I-I can’t…”

“Fucking idiot. If that’s how it is, then I’ll make myself a real problem!” Grabbing the other’s right arm, he pulled it back and tossed him at the bench. And walking over to him. “You’re a real piece of work. Getting beaten up all week, then turning up after the weekend with more injuries! You’re a fuckin’ sadist aren’t you!” Darius only shook his head and strolled over. Gently pulling his shirt off, he rolled it up and placed it on his bag.

Meanwhile, Kayn coughed at the ground with both arms on the bench. Finally he could breathe, chest still aching. Darius then picked him up, turning him around so he was sitting on the ground. Fiddling with his waist, the button and zip promptly showed his large bulge contained within some black underwear. “Might as well make use of you.” Pulling his length out, Darius slapped his length against Kayn’s cheek. “I haven’t gotten off in weeks. And I gotta say, you’re not too bad. Yeah you’re a woman wannabe and a long haired freak, but you know, I like it.” The smile on Darius’ face widened, blood slowly surging to his loins. Already boasting a half stiff manhood, he promptly pushed it into Kayn’s mouth. There was little to no resistance, the junior taking it without moving at all. Still, only breathing, cock in his mouth.

“You gonna suck it you sadist?” Darius cooed, pulling it back out and stroking it idly.

“You’re fucking disgusting. Dickhead asshole perverted cunt bastard whore!” Kayn’s blood boiled, fuming with rage as he was unable to move due to the piercing pain coursing through his entire body. “I-I’ll fucking… Y-you can’t do this!!! Stop this!!!”

“Hey. You came to me, filthy mouth bitch.” Putting a hand to the blue hair, Darius gently pushed it out of the male’s face. “Definitely a pretty boy.” Once more, the erection was stuffed into Kayn’s mouth. Although inactive, the wetness of his tongue and saliva were covering the musky meat as Darius slowly guided it in and out. The feeling of the other’s tongue on his underside was incredible. He couldn’t help himself from entangling his fingers in the long black hair while rolling his hips back and forth.

The assassin in training sat completely still. His body was entirely limp. All he could do was breathe and blink, watching Darius’ muscular chest while the thick rod invaded his mouth. Although this wasn’t an ideal situation, Kayn couldn’t help but admire just how well toned and bulky the Noxian was. He had pecs, large biceps, and washboard abs. Then there was the V-line that directed attention to his thick manhood.

Eventually, Darius grew tired of the lifelessness, opting to start pumping faster. Noises started unintentionally being made, wet sounds and sloppy saliva being displaced. It was oddly arousing. But this was no fun. “Come on. If you’re gonna want it to hurt to get off, at least struggle. You’re making this really boring!” A while passed by with no changes.

Enough was enough and the Noxian pulled out and lifted Kayn up onto the bench with one hand. It was impressive to watch the man’s thick muscular arm flex as it lifted him. But as fast as he was picked up, the ninja in training was set down with his ass just off the seat. Darius stared down at him with a menacing smile, gripping the hem of the other’s pants and forcing them down. Pulling them all the way off, he was left with only a shirt on as his semi erect dick confusingly resisted the stimulation.

It wasn’t until there was a hard warmth at Kayn’s ass that he finally realised what was going on. “H-hey what are you-… S-sto… Please… D-d…“ The words trailed off as two athletic legs were lifted onto Darius’ broad shoulders. The Noxian entered his junior’s ass, struggling as the saliva was only partially sufficient for penetration.

The words Kayn spouted were futile as he lost his anal virginity, Darius losing his own virginity too. Red flooded the ninja in training’s face, blushing intensely and biting his lip. The cock plunged into him roughly, only half way in and it burned profusely. There was immense pain, but for some reason his own manhood was starting to grow. Tears began to form in the sides of his eyes as he watched Darius spit on his length for more lubricant.

“Oh fuck… I had no idea this felt so good…” Darius moaned, throbbing eagerly and grabbing Kayn’s hips. Beginning to move, he pulled out and pushed back in slowly. The other’s ass gripped around his dick like a vice, but it only made it all the better when he moved. It sent shivers up his spine. The Noxian flexed each time he thrust in, hungry to experience more.

“D-Darius… Please stop…”

The weeping words of Kayn softly flowed out of his lips and caressed Darius’ ears. It was then that he broke from the lusty stupor and began to realise what he was doing. He saw tears roll off his peer’s face. He saw the black ring around his eye. He saw the bruising on his neck, chest and shoulder. With a wet slop, he stepped back. Covering his mouth with his hand, Darius stood in shock before kneeling down.

“What have I done… Oh by the gods… What sort of monster am I…”

Although the other sobbed, the Noxian’s eyes welled with tears. “I-… I don’t know why I am an ass to you Kayn… Fuck… I didn’t mean to do something as fucked up as this… I just… Feel something about you and can only express it… But just doing this…” Two large hands cupped his face, leaning over and hanging his head in shame.

There was a moment of immense dread for the two of them. One almost used on the bench, the other helpless on the ground.

Kayn got up from his place, lowering to the ground and shuffling over to Darius. “Darius…” He finally spoke up, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I like you… That’s… Why I… Keep being around you. B-but…” There was a moment’s silence, neither moving. Without warning, Kayn grabbed Darius’ chin and turned it to face him.

“You’re not a monster. We’re just confused.” He stated before leaning in. There was a mere sliver of air between their lips. They both stared, both eyes locking. “If you like me too… Just kiss me…” Kayn whispered.

Darius waited some time. He looked down shamefully, looking back up sympathetically. Slowly his hand brushed up Kayn’s arm, stopping at the elbow and staring down. The other’s hand then pushed his wrist up further to his cheek. They stayed silent, gazing into each other’s eyes. Gently Kayn nuzzled his cheek into Darius’ palm. The act elicited a soft breath and smile from the both of them.  Both of the Noxian’s arms suddenly wrapped around the smaller male’s body. Lunging forth, he eagerly kissed while also drawing the other tightly to his exposed chest. Their lips smacked together, pressing, nipping, teasing, licking. Passionately their mouths danced together, the junior ending up in his senior’s lap.

Several minutes passed of their intimacy before Darius pulled back. “Come back to my room. I-… I um… I want to do this right.” But when Kayn looked down and saw Darius’ pulsating manhood pressed up against his body, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah. And I can help you with that project that’s keeping you busy tonight.” Kayn cooed.

“Wait, but I don’t have a project…”

“You do now~”