wharf-rat

[wharf-rat]

Act 2 Short Bios

Just realized I forgot to post these literally anywhere.. whoops! Here’s the short bios for Act 2 - still only doing non-champion characters.

The Cogsworth Brothers (Ballistic Bot)

Born in the pits of Zaun, Axel was determined to give his mother and brother Ernest the lives they deserved. He took a job in Lower Piltover as a paper pusher, sending money and letters home whenever he could — until one day, he stopped getting any letters in return. When he returned to his family home, he found his parents dead and his brother missing, the only clue left behind were traces of noxious green fumes. He searched desperately for his brothers, following the recollections of strangers until he found his brother’s mutilated body in a waste pile in the Sumps. Despite suffering injuries that should have left him long dead, Ernest still showed faint traces of life — and so Axel desperately took him to the only person he knew that could help: the man on Emberflit Alley.

Andrej von Yipp

A former-professor-now-cat due to what he considers an ‘experiment gone right’, von Yipp considers himself Viktor’s most loyal companion. Drawn together by a love for science and a complete lack of regard for safety standards, they’ve been churning out scientific discoveries at a furocious speed thanks to their novel combination of both Piltover machinery and illicit Zaun materials. While Viktor might understand machines more than anyone else in the Twin Cities, it was von Yipp who encouraged him to seek out more sentient allies, in the hopes of completing what they consider their grandest — and most important — pawject yet.

[wharf-rat]

Receding Tides Act Two is OUT!

Sorry it took so damn long! Time really just keeps moving, huh?

Anyway I’m thrilled that Riot is making them canon and (seemingly) giving us an elaborate awkward emotionally stunted slowburn of their own, but I’m still going to write this because I’m having fun (and also already fleshed out 350k words of plot, so...)

Anyway, enjoy chapter 2! After narrowly avoiding a clawful death last chapter, this time our boys find themselves in even more hairy situations...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36387265/chapters/94156336

[wharf-rat]

Hay I just wanted to say I loved chapter 1. Twistedgraves is a ship in dire need of more long fics and I'm really happy to see you meeting that demand

Hi! Thank you so much! I completely agree with you, I'm honestly surprised they don't have more longfics already. I've also been especially desperate for more action/adventure league longfics, so I'm doing my best to take out two birds with one stone.

I also wanted to drop in just to say I haven't dropped this project! I was planning a monthly release schedule, then last month absolutely kicked my ass. But, the next chapter should be out a little less than a week from now. After some minor demon related tribulations, we're finally in Piltover - here's a quick preview for who we're going to be dealing with this time around...

[wharf-rat]

I read the fic on ao3 and it is SO good so far!!! I can't wait for the rest of the chapters to release. I love how you characterize Graves and TF and Tahm Kench and even the more minor ones. And the side characters and shit from LOR too i love how they're integrated into the story!! Keep writin man you're doin an amazin job

Oh my gosh I didn't see this! I'm still learning how Tumblr works.

Thank you for the compliment! I am trying to do a serious introspective on all the characters I write into the story, so I'm glad people are enjoying that part. T.F. and Graves are very funny and entertaining on their own, but I also think they are the perfect lens to tell a story through about Runeterra: who gets to do, see, and meet as many cool things than travelling mercenaries?

Tangentially, while I've been writing this, and planning out all the crazy hijinks that will happen, I've repeatedly thought about how absolutely insane it is that Graves, growing up in *Bilgewater* of all places, decided 'eh, this backstabbing and constant fighting and eldritch horror monster shit is getting kind of boring, I need to go find something ACTUALLY EXCITING to do'. And then he did! Truly a remarkable specimen of mankind.

[wharf-rat]

T.F. Yellow Card Concept

While writing I realized we never got any concept art for what T.F.'s yellow card looks like in the cinematics (which I consider their canon appearance because let's be honest they are far cooler and better than the simplified in game versions). I cannot draw at all, but I had a mental idea of what it should look like that I felt a desperate need to get on paper, so this is my rough mock up attempt:

It would also have the thin border around the card that the beautiful ones Maisie Yang created do, and would of course be a mix of gold and yellow colors (tertiary color being brown). The eye on this one is rotated to a different orientation than the other two, because I wanted to give it a more sinister intent. I liked the idea of something being 'chained up' instead of being as straightforwardly helpful towards T.F. like the other two cards. When the card is inert, the eye is closed and the chains are loose. When activated, eye opens and the hand begins to outstretch, but the chains tighten. I like to think all of the eyes on the cards can move if they want, but this one does so unpromptedly, flickering it's gaze around like it's trying to devise a way to escape.

[wharf-rat]

Act 1 Short Bios

As part of my writing process I tend to write a backstory for the non-champion characters who show up to help flesh out their characters more. I’ve cleaned up the three I wrote for the first act, for anyone who’s interested (obviously a bit of a spoiler if you haven’t read it).

Jack the Winner

Once known as the ‘king of the ring’ across the port towns of Bilgewater, Jack now runs the seedy gambling ship known as The King’s Court. While he may be able to take down a dozen men with his bare hands, he didn’t get to where he was today alone — it was only with the help of his dear friend and gluttonous demon Tahm Kench that he was able to navigate the waters of Bilgewater’s politics. Even though his contract gave him everything he wanted, for the mere price of letting Tahm use his business as a hunting grounds, the idea of being under someone else’s thumb gnaws at Jack like a teething razorfin. During Tahm’s frequent visits, they often end up playing a game of cards or dice over dinner. The stakes are simple: if Jack wins, his side of the contract is voided. Tahm Kench asks for something different every time — but it’s always a low price. It’s been many years and Jack hasn’t won yet, but he’s not at all worried - all he needs is one lucky hand.

The Sharkling Crew (Sleep with the Fishes)

The creatures that keep The King’s Court afloat are shrouded in mystery - no one knows where they came from or what they are, including themselves. All they know is they awoke one day to a boat to run, and they’ve been doing it ever since. It’s fulfilling work, with more than enough bloodshed to go around, and for nearly a decade they’ve been happy enough to never step foot off the boat. Jack’s always been a generous captain, feeding his crew only the finest of scraps — but recently, it seems all of his time has been consumed at the card table with his suspicious green friend. The sharklings have been forced to pick up his slack while receiving less satisfying pay, and patrons of the ship have heard whispered plans about them renegotiating the value of their labor.

Marnie (Smooth Soloist)

A bard well-known across Cardsharp Lane, Marnie is not a musical prodigy — she’s an artist who honed her craft through centuries of hard work and dedication. However, as times pass, popular interests change, and her instrument of choice - her tribe’s traditional string instrument, the Sai’dir - fell out of favor with Bilgewater’s patrons. Mistaking a lack of interest for a lack of talent, Marnie desperately sought out another way to improve her abilities. That’s when she met the mysterious fellow Tahm Kench, who promised her that, in exchange for a small fee, not a man in Bilgewater would be able to tear their eyes away from tonight’s performance. She was initially skeptical, but it worked exactly as he said — and she knew she couldn’t go back. Night after night she sought him out, and the price crept higher and higher. As long as she kept playing, she was able to quickly repay her debts — until one unfortunate night on a gambling ship left her with only a single coin and a shattered instrument. Though she scrambled for a way to make up the difference, when it came time to collect she approached Tahm Kench empty-handed. Unfortunately, the costs of leaving the demon hungry are dire, and it appears this might be the end of her tale…

[wharf-rat]

Receding Tides - Road to El Dorado, but for Pirates

Hello Tumblr! Someone recommended to me to make an account here to advertise my fanfiction, as this site is allegedly where writers spend their time nowadays. So, without further ado, I’m excited to announce a project I’m working on: a far too ambitious, novel length, heavily lore based fanfic around everyone’s two favorite Runeterran pirates/cowboys/mercenaries/idiots: T.F. and Graves! And the adventures they have across Valoran, Bilgewater, and the Shuriman continent after the events of Burning Tides. The link to the first chapter is here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36387265/chapters/90720892

This blog will mostly be used for uploading chapters and posting additional worldbuilding info for those interested in League of Legends lore, as well as my own personal headcanons (very normal things, like excel spreadsheets of made up fantasy card games or biographies for LoR cards). I might also post some shorter, independent League-inspired stories every now and then. I’d also love to connect with other lore enthusiasts/fanfic writers - talking to other people always helps with writers block, and my friends are getting sick of me. I’m not quite sure how to go about getting into a community here - think you’re supposed to use tags, so I’m just going to tag this post with a bunch of stuff!