#viktor gets to be old and happy and Jayce is still a bottom

[strawberriesandstarsart]

Gross old man yaoi from my professor AU.

The local tavern HATES to see these two comin.

[possibilistfanfiction]

for the caitvi prompts: university

been really enjoying the light heartedness lol

[a little backstory! v cute! we love them! fits in this little au here & here, also now up on ao3 if that's a better place to stay organized w them lol]

//

it’s your favorite kind of day outside, gloomy and rainy without being freezing cold. cait holds your hand without asking today, which makes you smile into her shoulder and you kind of hate it, the butterflies that you’d assumed you were too old and too fucked up for, but you’re also, just, thankful. you’d climbed together this morning at the gym closest to your apartment, which is a little smaller and older than the one closer to cait’s, but she always compliments the route setting and is friendly with the staff, enjoying your friends’ happy teasing that of course you’re on a date climbing, vi. she loves it just as much as you do, so the embarrassment, at least in that way, has faded.

but still, you had showered back at your apartment together, changed, and are walking, even with her pouting about how the drizzle will make her hair frizzy, around the old buildings of the university campus nearby, wandering until it’s time to meet jinx, jayce, and viktor for lunch. it’s a date-date, it occurs to you, your third official one, even though it’s just barely noon and cait is in a simple turtleneck, a practical raincoat, and pair of jeans, rather than anything fancy: you’re getting to know her, to learn her, to listen and encourage and laugh and, quite literally, catch her when she falls.

you acquiesce to her pouting eventually — jinx teases you all the time for it, but her eyes are so blue and she’s so pretty — so you duck into jinx’s favorite coffee shop and get her a warm, honey and mint tea for the rest of your stroll. she smiles into the steam, then up at you, and it’s really, terrifyingly easy to kiss her while you hope, a little tug in your chest, that the days continue on and on like this.

‘did you study at university?’ she asks, sipping her tea once it’s cooled down. she says it conversationally, like she genuinely wants to know, but still, you scoff.

‘what makes you think someone like me went to school?’

‘well,’ she says, never one to back down, ‘your sister attends university, and also you’re quite smart.’

jinx and vander and your therapist are always on you about accepting compliments, leaning into the way people see you now: kind, competent, responsible, intelligent. you try to let this one sink in, to trust that caitlyn will still see you as those things after you tell her. you tug her to a bench under a pretty awning covered in ivy. ‘thank you.’

she hums.

‘i — i got my GED when i was incarcerated,’ you say, the simplest way to go about it. if things go bad, at least jinx is close by and would probably be more than happy to ditch her class; you could make an escape.

‘oh,’ caitlyn says and is quiet for one of the most frightening moments of your life; her face is calm and doesn’t give anything away. ‘i hate prisons,’ she says, finally, which abruptly makes you laugh, one hard bark of a thing. she squeezes your hand and smiles. ‘i am glad they offered that program for you, at least.’

‘i — whew,’ is all you can really say, breathing into the bottom of your spine like you help jinx practice when she’s feeling really overwhelmed. your eyes prick with tears and you duck to wipe them away. caitlyn allows you this, but when you get it together a little bit and lift your chin, she’s looking at you with curiosity and very distinct admiration, not pity or disgust, and you might start crying all over again. ‘i — sorry i waited to tell you, or whatever.’

‘there’s no need to apologize,’ she says, then frowns. ‘but did i do anything to make you think that might be a problem for me?’

you sigh and then gesture to the gorgeous, huge building across the courtyard. ‘your last name is on the library right there.’

‘ah.’

‘yeah.’

‘well, i am much more than my last name,’ she says, puffing out her chest a little in defiance, and very clearly you think i love you. it’s not the time, but you’ll remember it as the years go on. ‘and even with it, my mother has advocated for years for policy and programs to shorten or eliminate prison sentences, and social supports to decrease recidivism rates.’ you know this, objectively, but caitlyn’s mom might be the scariest person you’ve ever had to even think about meeting. ‘which i don’t think is nearly enough, by the way.’

she stops herself from going on a longer rant, turning to face you fully with a smile, a cold hand coming to brush the scar on your lip and hold your jaw in its palm.

‘i know you, violet.’ as simple as that. ‘would you like to tell me more about any of it?’

you don’t, not really, because you never talk about it if you don’t have to, but some of the things you experienced, things you were forced to experience, still color the worst of your days. so you tell her some of it, at least: how you were only seventeen but sentenced to an adult prison, with an agonizingly long six years of an adult sentence, for theft and assault felonies, some of which didn’t even happen. you tell her about how you had to ration food — she hums in some kind of present understanding; it dawns on you that she’s probably noticed you’re always hungry, that it feels an impossible feat to eat seconds, even if there’s plenty — and about how you were in a lot of fights. sometimes it was because you had to, to protect yourself, and sometimes it was just because you were angry, because you got the shit beat out of you constantly, because you spent at least half your time in solitary, because a scar through your brow or the needles and ink pressed into your skin was better than the horrible, terrifying nothingness. you got so, so strong because it wasn’t safe, physically or in your own mind, to be anything otherwise.

‘my sister is the only thing that kept me going, sometimes.’

cait sniffles, wipes her nose with a shy smile, a little embarrassed to be crying at your story, but you love her all the more for her empathy. ‘it’s clear to everyone how much you care for her.’

‘when i got out, she was — well, the details are hers to share,’ you say, not wanting to overstep. ‘she has some pretty severe mental health stuff, and it was bad. my dad pulled some strings and got me into the fire academy, though, and i was able to get a place for us to stay together and get her some real help.’

‘it seems, at least to me, like you’ve worked incredibly hard to build the two of you a really beautiful life, vi.’ when you nod, she leans forward to kiss you, softly and tenderly, a reassurance, an offering, a balm. ‘i’m quite lucky to be included in it.’

‘we’re lucky to have you.’ your voice is thick with tears but it’s worth saying anyway. ‘even if jinx is a brat about it sometimes.’

caitlyn laughs, unfazed.

‘that’s just her countenance,’ you say. ‘i’m glad you’re smart enough to not take it personal.’

‘i’m brilliant,’ she agrees, ‘even for a kiramman.’

you roll your eyes, groan appropriately. ‘hey,’ you say, squeezing her hand before you stand, your lunch time looming. ‘thank you.’

‘you must know by now, violet, that i am quite fond of you.’

‘i — yeah, i do. still, sometimes this — it changes things for people.’

she nods, assenting easily. ‘it only makes me care for you, and admire you, more, if anything.’

‘jinx is never going to let me hear the end of it if i’m actively crying when we walk in there, cupcake.’

caitlyn just laughs and pulls you in for another kiss. it’s raining harder now — you’ll have to dash through it — but the awning protects you for now, and there’s some kind of home in the warmth of her mouth.

[tartagilicious]

i stayed there (our minds conjoined)

9:02pm ✧･ﾟ: i should've asked you questions, i should've asked you how to be, 'cause every scrap of you would be taken from me. what died didn't stay dead, you're alive in my head. all your closets of backlogged dreams, and now you left them all to me.

-> so, my demons won LMAO - this story's details to tie into a previous work, right where you left me , but it can be read stand-alone! happy new years to everyone, this is my gift to you <3 / cw: death of a loved one, heavy angst.

-> synopsis: despite your best efforts, sickness is inevitable. your time together after you'd arrived back in piltover had been short-lived, and after viktor's condition takes him from you, you are left with the heavy promises you'd made to a dying man. the locket around your neck, a treatment that you were unable to devise in time, everything you'd vowed to do in his death is a piece of the puzzle towards solidifying the dream you'd always shared -- a life in death, and a dedication to the person who had urged you on all your life.

you hadn’t left the labs in days.

a part of your subconscious begs your body to take you somewhere new, somewhere that signs of the man’s existence aren’t so ripe — but your inability to comprehend everything keeps you planted.

jayce had accompanied you the first few days after the tragedy, suggesting that you move his friend's belongings to the side while offering himself up to listen to your grievances.

and your old self would have jumped at the offer of getting everything applicable to your lover out of your sight. no progress can be made if you’re stuck in the past. the motto of piltover has come to mind several times in the last couple of days, but humans aren’t such simple creatures.

it just wasn’t what you wanted.

you didn’t want to forget. perhaps you could move on eventually, or maybe you might take the sadness of viktor’s passing to your own grave. but whether each of those futures come to pass, you want to mourn him correctly, in the way that he deserves.

though, you aren’t quite sure how to get to that step.

as you sit idly on a stool in the lab, your lips thin in apprehension. there has been an ever-present tightness stuck in your chest ever since jayce came rushing into the lab a few days ago, speaking so quickly you could barely understand him. yet, you can still perfectly recall the moment at which your stomach dropped.

it had always been beyond viktor's control, his sickness. no matter the roundabout ways he attempted to cure it, tried to treat it and heal it, nothing acted as he wanted it to -- as you wanted it to. you'd promised on the day you met again that you would do whatever it took to save him, and yet, not even your minds conjoined had been enough.

every day, you wonder if there is something out there that you missed. some detail or phenomena that would give you the key to saving your lover’s life. had you not returned to him from silco’s clutches, would he have found a solution on his own? would he have found a more competent partner to assist him?

but, you know he would never blame you for the lack of a treatment — viktor might even scold you for having such thoughts. though of course, he will never again be there to hoist you out of your worries again.

your bottom lip shakes with unshed tears as your mind and body turn to mush.

it is your fault. you’d had ample opportunity to research a cure for him. almost a year had passed since you first reunited again, but you had been so preoccupied with indulging in the time you'd missed to realise the gravity of your futile searches -- all you could do was let the failed experiments pile up, even as viktor’s condition began to worsen.

a shaking hand reaches up to grip the locket that hangs from your neck, though you still aren't used to its absence. it had always been an object of importance concerning the two of you, containing a crudely cut picture that dated back to the first working invention you’d created together. but, you can barely even muster a smile as the image of a boat between your tiny arms materialises in your head.

you were only children then, creating only to satisfy your curiosity about the world. it’s truly cruel to think about how he had gone out doing the very thing that had brought you together, desperation fuelling him until the very end.

although he had given the piece of jewellery back to you fairly easily when you’d reunited outside the council room, it still felt wrong to wear it on your person. for so long, it had been a sign of your bond from afar. of your promise to always find your way back to him, no matter the problems that chased you.

it’s the very reason you had chosen to leave it with him.

you had made up your mind to leave one last promise to viktor before he had passed on, tucked in the form of a tiny locket in his shaking palm.

“you—“

he had tried to stop you, to give the piece of jewellery back to you while you still sat in front of him. but you refused. viktor had always said it was a physical symbol of your will to return to him, so the last time he reminded you of its connection to you, you explained that its original purpose wouldn’t be so easily forsaken.

“we will meet again.” you had assured him quietly, a tight smile twisting your lips as he frowned. viktor’s physical condition had been among the first signs that his sickness was progressing, and its full effects were visible in his last days.

the golden eyes you loved drooped with exhaustion even as he offered you a smile. the breathing tube that assisted him beeped faintly in the background.

“but,” you said it quietly in an attempt to hold back your sadness, but it had always been a useless game. viktor dropped the locket into his lap just to take your hand, thumbing away your tears with careful precision. “i’m afraid you’ll have to wait a lot longer to give this back to me this time.”

he mumbled your name gently, a sigh leaving his bruised lips -- yet another sign of his quickly impending fate.

"you have always been too sentimental." viktor mused, gaze training on the necklace on his lap before it flitted back up to your face. the words he said were chastising, but the look that traced his features was lined with grief.

he squeezed your hand as tightly as his body would allow.

viktor looked you in the eye as he promised, "i will return it, but i will do so when i am healthy again. is this something you'd like to refute?"

"...i'm sorry." head dropping over your conjoined hands, you sobbed quietly even as he placed a warm palm on your head. "i'll keep working, vik. i won't let anything happen to you. i promise."

hesitantly, his hand slid down to cup your cheek, forcing you to meet his gaze. you knew what you must've looked like -- eyes rimmed with red, cheeks puffed, and lips forever downturned into a regretful frown. but viktor's gaze on you has never been judging.

you whispered. "i love you."

"i know." he breathed, "i know."

however, your bad luck must have followed you from the slums of the undercity, because there was no saving viktor once his subconscious began to slip. you still doubt there's another feeling like it, the crushing sensation that came over the room the moment you watched the light leaving his eyes.

everything in you wanted to look away, to spare yourself the sight. but you were stuck even as the hand that wasn't tucked in yours unfurled, revealing a familiar piece of jewellery pressed into his palm.

a hand flew over your mouth as you choked out a sob. the locket that sat tucked into his palm seemed to mock you, reminding you that the next time you meet, it would likely be in another plane of existence.

but for now, you're simply back in the lab -- alone and waiting for change, waiting for the off chance that your lover will walk through the door and assure you that everything had simply been a bad dream. only, the lack of jewellery on your neck is enough to remind you it will never happen.

because the locket had been buried alongside viktor after all. the chain was wrapped intricately around his palm, almost as if to imply that it would remain there forever —and so long as you are not in the plot next to him, you believe it will.

it has always been your dream to better the lives of the people in the undercity, a goal that viktor had breathed new life into the moment he'd met you on the river bank all that time ago.

had you told your younger self that the shy boy you had to fight words from would grow into the man you would do anything for, you would have laughed. but it's true, viktor will always be your motivation to go on, and the reason you do what you do.

all he had ever wanted was to be remembered for his contributions. and while you will certainly never forget him, the duty of seeing that no one else does has fallen to you -- and as long as you continue to work, a piece of him will live on.

because everything you work to create, everything you spend long nights trying to piece together, is a product of his ingenious executions in you. it was your promise to him from beyond the grave: that you would never let his dreams of a better world falter.

so, you throw yourself into work not long after the day of his burial passes. the first of your advancements, you decide, will be the treatment for his illness that you'd both worked so hard to map out. it isn’t hard to find the basis for such a goal, but most of the time, you assume you will be entirely on your own.

your days are spent experimenting -- waiting for certain solutions to ferment long enough for effects to be visible, or toying with the hextech magic in an attempt to mould it to the frequency you're trying to meet.

jayce had been gracious enough to spare some of his time to help you. as a councilman, his hours are often booked long before you can even think of requesting his assistance, but he is frequently the key in making advancements.

"you're working your brain too hard, it can't even see simple things." jayce says one day, a disapproving frown pulling his dignified expression down. "take a break. you won't be helping anyone in that state."

it was true — anyone looking at you might think you’d contracted the same illness viktor had. sighing, you slump in your stool and let your head fall upon your arms.

“even if i rest..” you trail off, raising a hand half heartedly. “what good will it do? it’s like my brain has been rewired, i can’t think about anything else anymore.”

jayce is silent at your profession for a few minutes.

“…he would’ve wanted you to keep yourself healthy.”

blinking, your expression deflates, and you’re suddenly glad that your face his hidden from jayce’s view.

“that’s not fair at all.” you mutter bitterly, clearing your face and pushing yourself up to side eye the hextech creator. “viktor wanted a lot of things, jayce.”

he shrugs, deftly changing the subject. “even so, this is something i want too. will you turn me down?”

you begrudgingly lay your head in your lap once again, only intending to shut your eyes until jayce has taken his guard-like eyes off of you. but, against your own wishes, you fall into a deep sleep rather quickly.

there has been an influx of nights like this, ever since viktor’s passing — a ceremony of refusal and the eventual process of giving in, even if it’s not of your own volition. it’s a ruthless cycle that only inflames the pain in your chest.

but eventually, your dedication finally pays off.

it’s a muggy day in the city of progress, a thin sheen of moisture covering every available surface. the waves lap eagerly at the riverbanks far below as you enter the lab for the day. the sounds have always been fairly noticeable, but perhaps the degree of your findings has spurred a more emotional reaction from the familiar waters.

you follow a regular routine — hanging your coat on a rack made from repurposed metal scraps, then cranking open a window to rid the room of any unpleasant scents that linger. occasionally, if you let yourself, you’ll take a look at some of viktor’s more unfinished gadgets. but, it’s a rare occurrence.

in this instance, you waste no time.

you’d been hopeful recently, spurred on by the small developments in your solution. you’d taken great care in combining piltover’s modern medicine with the hextech’s magic, and piece by piece, your work had begun to show.

your newest sample sits protected in a small glass enclosure, wherein the arcane invention’s modified form mingles with any bacteria from the undercity you’d deemed harmful. you’d collected it through various means; and though not every specimen you gathered over time was what you were looking for, you had gleaned more than enough in the end.

ironically, you were fairly confident that this round’s result would fail, just as every other one had. but the low expectations don’t keep you from stopping in your tracks once you notice the unusual absence of residual bacteria in the container.

your mouth opens and closes as you work to formulate an explanation. curious hands lift the box to find the engraved number on the bottom, proving that it is indeed the same sample you’d set out a few days before.

setting it down, you crouch to be eye level with the enclosure. truly, the surface is completely clear for all but the slight blue tint of hextech magic that remains. your lips thin as a possibility comes to mind:

have you finally succeeded?

over the next few days, you eagerly put the arcane solution through various tests. jayce is hardly available to give a hand, being largely MIA due to the duties imposed on him by the council. you don’t blame him, of course, but the nervous tick of your throat doesn’t stop, not as long as you’re not confident that your solution is perfect.

four days later, you’re leaning from an open window, thick breath visible in the winter air. there are a few more tests to conduct, a combination of routes to take until you’re absolutely sure – but you’re unable to think of any more applicable procedures. you’d already gone through testing different types of bacteria, even the niche category of temperature had been visited.

it’s in moments like these that you truly realise viktor is gone for good. in the past, it was always exceptionally easy to find yourself in a slump and expect your lover to be lingering around, more than willing to assist. the both of you would always find yourself in similar situations, looking for that other set of eyes that had served well for years.

jayce is hardly a suitable substitute.

it’s out of the question to take a breather, but there is a period where you can’t muster the energy to even enter the lab. you’re fairly sure that the solution is what you’re looking for, but being medicinal, there are still many steps you need to take before it can reach those who need it.

however, when the sixth and final solution holds strong, all of those variables seem to vanish.

angry-half red moons settle into the thinner layers of your skin as you clench your fists, but not even the pain is enough to keep your emotions at bay. your heart quickly swells and you aren’t sure of its nature – excitement, relief, and even anger breaks loose in the form of hot tears.

you had been a mere two months too late to save him. two months. viktor had lived a decent life, but such a short period of time is unfortunately menial in the grand scheme of things. if you had taken that time earlier, perhaps he would be standing next to you now.

a stray palm wipes furiously at your eyes, keeping your tears of regret at bay for as long as you can muster.

but, at the very least, if you cannot help him, you will see that others like him do not share the same fate.

when you are finally able to muster the composure necessary to contact jayce, he is gracious in his arrival. you had ceased contacting him for an extended period of time, mostly assuming that he’d be too busy otherwise, and also simply not requiring his help. maybe his eagerness to attend to you is what made him apologise so profusely.

though, when jayce finally simmers down, you show him what you’d been working on. there are around six samples that have since piled up, and even at a glance, they seem perfect. he sneaks a glance at you as you take a step forward.

“...i don’t understand, they’re empty.”

you can’t help a smile as your careful hand groups the samples. “yes, that’s exactly it.”

viktor may be physically gone, but in spirit, he will always be with you.

it's why, after months of careful research, you had tearfully noted his name on your very first patent -- just as stubbornly as he had once noted yours. because the arcane solution in front of you, it is as much his work as it was yours.

weeks later, after the arcane solution has been passed under the eyes of the council, it is patented as a working medicine. it is advertised as something to treat the side effects of illnesses caused by the pollution of the undercity, and while a plethora of potential symptoms exist, the medicine you’ve created seeks out the root – eliminating the biggest problems before they can extend.

and even if the world forgets, you will always remember the cause of so many relieved patients, of the thanks you’ve received from their lovers and friends. your treatment has saved many, though it is a bitter feeling.

“i’m sure you’ve caught wind of this already.” you stand loosely, noting the fresh headstone in front of you. you had created the solution to save lives, and yet, the stone is undeniable proof that you’d been unable to help the one person who needed it most.

viktor’s grave lies in a private area, a few mere turns away from the alcove he had grown up in. you are amongst the most frequent of visitors for obvious reasons, but for now, he is celebrated. it warms your heart to notice frequent people pointing, recognising the name engraved.

“but i did it.” you admit quietly, unable to look directly at the grave. it’s almost as if viktor’s own eyes watch you while you talk, his influence evident in the way the trees shake in the wind above you. “i told you i’d keep working.”

maybe fate has something planned for everyone. you dread to think that viktor’s death had been unavoidable, but the cruel truth is that you will never know otherwise. you are only capable of taking the next steps forward, stepping away from your grievances and moving with the times – in the current of the city of tomorrow.

[viktormaru]

okay here’s my full character analysis??? Headcanons???? canon retelling with my shit slapped on??? on

VIKTOR LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

(under read more cause its gonna get long)

Viktor is said to be born in the borders of the Entresol level of Zaum (aka the middle), but I’m guessing that means the lower border because of how often he’d have to move or stay away from home due to accidents.

I assume Viktor had good parents. They were artisans and seemed to encourage his creative pursuits with robotics and so on. (I also believe he is trans and that his parents supported him in that as well haha).

So yes, we have this child who likes building things. And he lives in this place that is not healthy or safe for the people that live there. His parents probably go to the upper levels to work and Viktor gets a glimpse of a better place there. He sees where he’s at and at first, he is motivated by both kindness and frustration. He is a child with a passion and all these leaks and accidents are getting in the way! So he starts studying to see what he can do. Time passes though and he realizes the extent of those things, the casualities of those humam errors. So he takes his work more seriously and soon he is producing results. But of course no one takes a teen seriously, no matter how good he is.

Until someone does and it works. His inventions are good! So he keeps doing it! He’s awkward and socially anxious but he really LOVES building things so he does it and sells his work to the factories until he gets the attention of the Zaun academy of techmaturgy (this is canon btw). 

He goes into the academy and he’s.... awkward... Like, Zaun is full of weird people sure but Viktor is pretty bad at talking about anything but robotics and stuff and comes off as blunt often, so he’s kinda isolated by his peers. He doesn’t mind, he’s there to study. But professor stanwick approaches him with interest in his work and Viktor is happy he is recognized by a professional. He’s a little naive back then and trusts his teacher a lot. Which is why he is convinced to move to Piltover, despite a bit of his reluctance to leave his home. His parents wave him goodbye and he leaves.

He moves to Piltover and gets a better lab, more tools, more money and more people to help. His work just improves in time and he’s put to work with a lot of people. He once again fails incredibly of socializing properly and falls into isolation yet again (hello darkness my old friend). People end up working with him either because he’s really the best option or because they can stand him for the time he is needed {:- (

Well, that is, until he works with Jayce. Jayce is infurating and doesn’t do things the way Viktor likes doing and has this weird outlook on how things are done that sometimes just works despite it all. He’s a puzzle that doesn’t make sense and the two end up doing a lot of things together. And having a lot of discussions. A LOT of them. They are both kinda lonely. But its like.. they don’t dislike eachother?? Because they kind skipped some steps in how socializing usually goes so it just kinda worked. 

They could’ve kept going, getting comfortable in eachother’s spaces until they could just go out to chill together or something but neither of them was brave enough to try it (or smart enough to realize that could be good). 

But then at this time that awful chem spill happened in Zaun in the entresol level and Viktor rushes home to help.

I’d say this is where Viktor’s character starts like, solidifying I guess? Because I think for the first time, as a grown mature person, Viktor is seeing death and suffering with his own eyes. Death and suffering that could’ve been avoided. He’s watching all these people die and suffer and he can only do so much to repair the damage. If only it could’ve been avoided, could’ve been stopped. He knows it’s possible. Why didn’t anyone do it? 

He doesn’t find his parents either.

So he spends the next several months throwing all his energy and sanity into doing whatever he can to help these people. He builds blitzcrank and they fix evertyhign they can. It’s a fucking CHEM spill, can you imagine just how AWFUL it all was?? people were dying for several weeks after the accident , even after the damage to the structures were already fixed. These people were slowly suffering around him and he was trying and they kept dying around him. These are workers, families. It’s a pretty bad situation.

He learnes how to infuse mechanical parts with flesh in an astonishing way just to try to replace the rotten, sick parts of the people around him. Get rid of the parts that were kiling them.

And then! He finally goes back to Piltover, after it all, and the first thing he gets is the news that Stanwick stole credits on his invention of Blitzcrank.

Like.. the emotional toll of it all? He’s tired! He’s burdened with the ammount of death he saw and people wanna be shitty and play games like that for glory and fame! It’s stupid and he doesn’t understand it! He tries to fight for his right and loses because no one really bothered to support him through it (Jayce didn’t think he’d really have to and would you look at that).

He’s angry and upset and grieving and possibly traumatized. He keeps wondering why would people do that to eachother and comes up empty. So he’s here, obsessing with replacing every part of human error to garantee that people WILL live. Of course, he’s more isolated then ever and people don’t bother to sit down and listen, they just think he’s weird and obsessed and stuff like that.

So when he needs to do the colaboration on the dive suits with Jayce and they have their fight about free will, people side with Jayce quickly. They think Viktor is mad and they had seen it coming miles away. 

He gets fucking expelled from the Piltover academia and sent back to Zaun.

To his ruined home, alone, with nothing but his name and his thoughts.

Clearly that leads him into a deep depression. After all, he lost everything but he doesn’t understand why ! because sure these people in piltover like acting high and mighty and theorizing and politicizing but they didn’t have to watch children crying because they were coughing so much blood was coming out because their lungs were corroded and they wouldnt last another week. They thought viktor was mad. 

And viktor had a lot of time to wallow over it, and think about his failures and suffer on his own and he’s actual conclusion is that negative emotions ( envy, pride, sadness) clouded people’s judgemetns. They’d let others suffer for their own gain out of fear of losing. 

He thought that himself feeling sadness was just another obstacle to do what he had to: save people.

So he basically starts operating on himself until he can barely feel emotions anymore, removing his own happiness with it (but its not like he felt it anyway so what difference did it make). And then he starts plunging into work like never before, dedicated to this new cause that is the glorious evolution. He starts again from the bottom and once again he rises, because Viktor is a genious, and he is honest in his work, in his intentions. He wants to help.

 People were scared of the Mad Man Viktor, but Viktor would do anything he could to save you if you came to him. He understood limits though, he never imposed over people. Do no harm, as they say ( what would be the point of doing that?? )

And then the other toxic even happens in Sump, another really bad one, and Viktor rushes in to help. He’s keeping these people alive in his lab but he knows he doesnt have the power to keep them so. So he goes to Jayce after an energy source.

He thinks Jayce will listen to him now, now Viktor isn’t emotive and easily hurt, now he isn’t insecure, he has a cause, he has something he fights for. A brighter tomorrow.

And Jayce calls him mad. 

Viktor is kind of dissapointed, he’d think Jayce, who has always been so uncaring of people’s opinion’s would at least try to understand. He doesn’t. So he takes the crystal by force from Jayce (petty arguments can be saved for later, those people on his lab needed him NOW).

When Jayce follows him there with a hammer he understands the stakes. 

One life against hundreds is an easy math. Viktor chooses to sacrifice Jayce (Jayce chose to come here after all)

But then Jayce actually destroys his lab.

And like... imagine waking up to your laboratory destroyed, just dozens of corpses of innocent people laying around. yet another failure, yet another big price to pay.

He has to start from zero again. His reputation is completely stepped on ( he is truly crazy now by everyone’s eyes) and Jayce is a hero. Blitzcrank sticks around for a little while, moved by the same passion to help people, but blitzcrank can stand the deaths and the gruesomeness of viktor’s work, he leaves to try to help in other ways. Viktor lets him of course, blitz has free will and he isn’t anyone to stop him. 

Some people, desperate people, still come to him for help. He does his best to give them what they need. A strange cult forms and idolizes him, he hates it, he is no god, he is just another man. People thinking of him as an etheral being just proves his theory on how fear and wayward emotions lead to dumb, dangerous mistakes.

In the end, Viktor is trying to cheat suffering, cheat death at all costs.

I don’t believe he sent any golems or anything after Jayce, vengence is way too beneath him. Stealing? Maybe not, depends. I think Jayce became a bit paranoid after “defeating” viktor. Because Viktor said some big words and Jayce is suddenly realizing that truly, he has no purpose. He’s just a useless tool. He makes things sure, but what for? He’s raised as a hero but damn he doesn’t feel like it.

And to end it all, this is why I think Ekko and Viktor should sit down and chat at some point. They are so similar and so different all at once. They both love Zaun and its people, they both wanna protect them and have a passion for inventing. But while Viktor wants to reject his human side to achieve his goals, Ekko embraces it. Like, I don’t think Viktor shouldn’t even be his mentor, more like his colleague. Ekko is his own person and has a different way of doing things, but they could do a lot together as well. 

Also Ekko and Blitz are totally friends in canon so like.. yeah.. Zaun for life....

Anyway this is it thank tou all for reading this is UUUH like 1,8k words long 

extras or stuff I already said and will say again:

viktor is trans

he was an anxious yet hopeful (and maybe a bit naive) teenager

he still loves sweet things and thats canon.. he likes chilling sometimes

workaholic as seen

blames himself for literally everything like a dumbass

is kinda of very afraid of death in general

is not the kind of person that steals children to experiment on them cmon guys thats propaganda

is embarrassed of the cult following him

i guess he doesnt have his whole left arm anymore, chop chop it went

USED braces as  kid

loves blitzcrank like a son, doesnt realize it

I think thats all, sorry yall