#with all Jinx has done there's still something in there he admires and that's. just. yeah. yeah.

[jicklet]

This is the little Ekko/Jinx moment that's been sticking with me:

Because on first watch, I expected this was going to be something negative. Ekko trying to defend why he'd been so hostile to Powder. 'You're not the kind of person who helps... because you destroy things,' or something to that effect.

But no.

oh

What a way to look at Jinx?? Even with everything she's done... He looks at this well-adjusted, 'ideal' Powder, and still thinks she's missing something that his Jinx has. The Powder that he knew was so determined to make something that mattered... it's a Powder who's content to play second-fiddle to the people around her, a Powder that settles that feels off to him.

And that ties into why he can't stay here. Our Ekko isn't the kind of person who settles either.

[therealmylesmorales]

Dating Loser!Vi Headcannons

A lot of this was thought about with the homie @ficsonpost-its, kind of a way for us to cope with the ending of Arcane 🙃

And I never cared enough to follow the plot so this is a college!au where everyone is alive and (maybe) happy

Warnings: Vi herself is kind of a warning, masc4masc couple if it matters, maybe suggestive at some parts, some parts with Jayce are inspired by “the blind leading the blind” stuff one tictok

She met you through Ekko. You were his (adoptive, biological wtfever shut up) sister and safe to say, she was borderline obsessed with you. But, she didn’t know how to approach you at first. Her very obvious crush on you was noticed by both Ekko and Jinx so they took it upon themselves to help her out.

To get some extra money, she works at her dad’s bar, The Last Drop. She’s a bouncer and whenever she’s around, people tend to behave themselves. It was a normal night until Vi saw you chatting up a storm to Vander and she immediately started to panic. But it all seemed to go on well, seeing how the night ended with your number in her pocket.

Vi can count all of the friends she has on one hand, one of them being her sister. So safe to say, when she admitted that she somehow has a girlfriend, none of them believed her. Jayce even called her a liar until she pulled up pictures.

Vi was out one day when she bought you both matching boxers. She cherishes them like it’s her most prized possession, next to you and the brass knuckles Vander gave her.

���Vi, what are these?”

”Batman boxers!”

You couldn’t help but match her wide smile. “Why Batman?”

”Cause he’s a fucking goat.”

Vi will full on body slam or suplex you, carefully, on the nearest couch or bed whenever you seem to be minding your business. The first few times caught you by surprise but now, it’s almost a daily occurrence that you look forward to.

Vi’s fashion taste is something you admire; from the ripped jeans to the cropped muscle shirts that she cut herself, you have nothing but good things to say about her clothes. However, in the comfort of her own home, she never wears a shirt. It’s even rare to find her in her sports bra while she’s lounging around.

“It’s nine in the morning, why are your tits out?”

”Are you complaining?”

”Of course not. But Jayce is coming over so he might.”

You can hear her groaning the entire time but she’ll do it.

Speaking of Jayce, it’s never a good idea to leave them alone for too long or else something would happen. Separately, they’re geniuses but together…those brain cells are nonexistent.

“Vi, it’s been fourteen hours, where the hell were you?”

”Oh, I was getting that tattoo I told you about.”

”For fourteen hours?”

”Yeah, Jayce was with me and he thought it was a good idea to get it done in one sitting. He even got something!”

Needless to say, both you, Mel and Viktor always expect something to go wrong with those two. (Have we lost the art of a good poly-ship? Jayce has two hand so just kiss and shut up)

Do not EVER call her Violet, she’ll think you are upset with her and will probably tweak out and cry. The only acceptable names to call her are Vi, obviously, or ‘Pretty Girl.’ You were only a few months into your relationship when you called her that, she spent like 5 minutes in straight silence not really sure how to react; something you did notice was that her face was as red as her hair.

Vi will also lay her complete body weight on top of you when you lay down; it's one of her favorite ways of cuddling. (For my gamer!readers) Especially if you’re playing a game, you will wrap your arms around her with the controller laying on her back. The both of you will stay there for hours.

“Motherfucker.”

”Die again, cupcake?” She muttered into your chest.

“Radahn is ass.”

A little something extra for my black!readers that love Vi 🫶🏾

Say you can’t find your bonnet. You looked all up and down the apartment, pretty much flipping it over but it was still nowhere to be found. And seeing how it was your favorite, you were a little upset that it was gone. Until Vi came out of the bathroom, said bonnet on her head, giving you a small smile, completely unaware of what she was doing.

[vellichor74]

Arcane - S.2 Ep.2 Opening

Something that I’ve always admired about Arcane is its ability to tap into the most heartbreaking concepts, and portray them in a breathtaking way that puts across the stark reality of such concepts, yet blends in the beauty of visual symbolism, dialogue, and emotional complexity.

The opening scene of S.2, Ep.2 is a brilliant example of heartbreak and grief, with Jinx’s farewell to Silco cutting deeply to the core of her character. Her words, especially, “Except this time, you aren’t here to put it all back together, because someone put all those holes in you,” carry a devastating emotional weight. What makes this line so heart-wrenchingly haunting is its childlike simplicity, masking the violent nature of Silco’s death behind a tone of innocence.

The phrasing feels almost as though a child were trying to make sense of something incomprehensible, softening the horror of death by turning it into something more clear and manageable. “Put it all back together” evokes the imagery of broken toys, where fixing things can be an act of reassurance and love. Silco was the one who used to ‘put her back together’ when her mind fractured, acting as both a caretaker and the very creator of her evolving identity. Now, the reversal is straight-up cruel; she quite frankly cannot repair him, and the finality of “all those holes in you” is heartbreakingly literal, yet phrased as if a child were describing a once revered doll, lost by damage.

This childlike lens shines a tragic contrast with the reality of Jinx’s world. It’s a brutal, unforgiving place that has stolen her innocence time and time again, yet in this moment, the words suggest a yearning to escape the harshness. This juxtaposition mirrors her core struggle - wavering between a fractured, older psyche, and the lost, uncertain child she once was.

Visually, the scene is amplified with its soft, muted underwater setting, a place where her words like bubbles seem to float, untethered by logic or chronology. It’s as if she’s clinging to the last remnants of her childhood: words, images, and a desperate belief that things can be undone, even when they can’t. In the water, time itself seems irrelevant, just as it does in grief.

This quote also ties directly to Silco’s role in her life. Despite his manipulations, he became a parental figure who accepted her for all her chaos. Her phrasing suggests she still sees him in this light, not as the dangerous and cunning underlord of Zaun, but as a steady, almost mythical presence who was always there to catch her when she fell. This childlike portrayal of Silco’s death renders it even more tragic. She simplifies the trauma into something she can understand and endure; a defense mechanism as fragile and devastating as Powder’s remaining sense of self.

I just love how this moment captures so much of what makes Arcane unforgettable. It is raw and poetic, balancing emotional complexity with a delicate touch of innocence that both humanises Jinx and deepens the tragedy of her world. I swear this kind of portrayal is so rarely done well, and oh my goodness when it is..

[srslylini]

okay in all honesty Sevika's character is so interesting and one of the things I loved the most about season 2 is watching her.

We see her character as soon as act 1 in season 1 and we also know that she used to be loyal to Vander, but because she is a character who rightfully wants to fight she sees Vander as someone who she can't continue to be loyal to

"Vander had his chance"

she hands the people she follows/gives her loyalty to chances. We see it time and time again with Silco. We see her loyalty waver but we also see it strengthen. She is extremely smart and cunning. She knew immediately what kind of powerplay Finn wanted to start and played along with it, so he wouldn't catch on (letting him light her cigar, dusting of his place before he sits down during that scene with Silco where Finn then gets killed)

But she also made a display infront of Silco to show him her patience is running thin. One of the reasons she went along with Finn is to show Silco that, while Finn isn't the one, there is always others. This also shows how damn respected she actually is, like lets imagine basically any other character having such a severe power play with Silco, she knew that he knew that there was a possibility she could kill him.

Her patience for Silco is also mostly running thin because of Jinx. Not because she genuinely just hates Jinx but more so because Jinx is in fact a disaster (sorry sorry) and DOES get in between her missions. And well Silco basically shrugs and goes your fault have fun cleaning that mess up. If we go and only take season 1 it's actually easy to think that Sevika really dislikes Jinx but with context from season 2 I just don't think that was the case and it was moreso frustration.

and now Silco is dead and she has placed her hope in him and his nation of Zaun. That talk with Jinx in season 2 is genuinely one of the best, if not the best, scenes out of that season. Her and Jinx begrudgingly get closer. She is still loyal to Zaun and well they don't give up their people and Jinx is one of them.

As early as act one she is shown to literally be ready to jump to death if necessary to be of use and like??? they utilized her character perfectly in season 2 before they decided to write her out of act 2 for what ever reason (still salty about that)

Their little found family coming because Sevika is admirably loyal and extremely smart but also just unwilling to relent to anyone and still always the fighter is the best the writers could have done.

edit: lol dumb thing to forget, genuinely I'm tired but the continuity of her gambling addiction and it also being a thing Jinx and her bond over in season 2 because Jinx gifted her a gambling arm was genuinely peak writing. Also there is something to be said how she also gambles with the lives of others (Silco in that scene, cause he HAD no idea if he would survive "where you tempted" "not for a worm like him but there will be others" like OKAY DAMN) and how she ALSO uses her own experiences to guide others, sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much.

just in general, I appreciate her character so much and I hope they don't disappoint in act 3

[zilonking]

Heres the first page, had this done along with the Cynder Community Day art. Happy how it looks so far when working on it. I will take a break for a day or not since it took me longer to finish this.

Start: https://www.tumblr.com/zilonking/763175802771750912/heres-the-cover-for-chapter-1-been-waiting-to?source=share

Next:

“The winds breeze through the clouds, freedom and awe is felt through. Watching the demons as they fly along with them, admiring the nature of the world. To a destination yet to be seen beyond the horizon, as Lilith takes them towards it” ...

“Vee watches from the balcony of the airship, admiring the demons that are present. A snallygaster flaps its wing along, the Ant-Lion buzzes through, and The Jabberwocky flys with grace. She lets out a sigh of happiness, as she and the demons feel freedom above the sky” ...

Cae/Collector: “Whatcha watching Vee”?

Vee: “Oh, just a couple demons flying, nothing much since we’ve been flying for a bit”.

Cae/Collector: “Can you tell what they are”?

Vee: Sure Cae, you see that weird bird there? That's a snallygaster.

Cae/Collector: “Ooooh, what are those two then”?

Vee: “That one buzzing, that's an Antlion, and that big one that has a fish for a head? That's a Jabberwocky”.

Cae/Collector: “Cool! I’ve never seen them before outside of the Boiling Isles”.

Vee: “Well that's because we haven’t left anywhere outside of the Boiling Isles. It's the first time for me and everyone here, well except King when he went with Luz that one time”.

“King overhears Vee and walks towards her”.

King: “And Lilith when she left two days ago. Then came back two days later to bring us with her”?

Vee: “Yeah…, she did say she found something when she came back. Wanted to bring you and Cae along, which I wonder why she wanted me and Gus to come along as well”.

“Lilith overhearing King and Vee”.

Lilith: “Well, I wanted you two to also have a chance to see outside the Boiling Isles, and what I found, I’ve never felt this excited to show you all something!

Gus: “No kidding, you were way too excited like you were in a hurry to show us”.

Gus: “I do wonder, why did we have to bring King’s scary bodyguard as well”?

“Jean Luc looks towards Gus then back to King”

Vee: “Yeah… I get unsettled enough just by looking at him, he doesn’t even blink. How did you bring him back alive again”?

King: “Well… I’m not really sure, I’m still not used to my titan magic. All I can remember happening is that I accidentally removed the spell that didn’t allow him to go outside of where I hatched. I have no idea how I did it”.

King: “And it's not like I can make him stop, he follows me everywhere I go. The only time he doesn’t is when I leave to the human realm or somewhere far without him knowing”.

Hooty: “You could always put a mirror close to him, he looks at it for hours upon hours”.

King: “Thats torture for him, and he gets defensive when you take it away”.

Gus: “We’ll it's hours with him staring at us flying around, even when we're sleeping. That's how long you know we’ve been flying with him”.

King: “Speaking of flying around, Lilith what exactly did you say you found again”?

Lilith: “We’ll if I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise, it's something you will dearly enjoy seeing”!

Hooty: “And I swore Lulu for a basket full of beetles I wouldn’t either”.

Cae/Collector: “Well how much longer before we get there Auntie Lily”?

Lilith: “We’ll be there soon enough. I'm starting to see titan bones in the distance”.

Hooty: “We could go faster if a stormnado came or a sky eater to run away from”.

Gus: “Don’t jinx it Hooty, the weather already feels breezy enough”.

Vee: “And with the demons around I think they would be sensitive to hear that”.

Lilith: “Well we should be fine, and we should be about there, the demons are starting to fly downwards”.

King: “Ready to see what’s on another titan Cae”?

Cae/Collector: “Yeah! Haven’t been on another titan since the Boiling Isles with my bestie”!

Lilith: “Well onwards then”!

“Lilith begins to lower the Airship, as the demons around begin to fly downwards from the clouds above. The winds become less breezy, the ocean closer, and the world below can be seen more. Arriving at their destination soon enough, to see what Lilith had brought them for” ...

[kaoskuantico]

In case someone hasn’t seen Act III yet, ARCANE ACT III SPOILERS

Mirroring my previous post about things I hated about Season 2 (click), here's another list with the things I LIKED

The art, animation, soundtrack...I think we can all agree Arcane created a before and after in the Animation industry and artists all over the world (although I only liked Ashes and Blood, Isha's song and Remember Me. The rest are a bit meh for me)

Jinx realizing she can be a good person when she met Isha. And she almost realized she doesn't have to choose between Powder and Jinx personas, she's both.

Sevika bonding with Jinx, both of them mourning Silco and getting to work together. Jinx making a whole new arm for her, basically.

Vi realizing Jinx has good in her when she saw how Jinx treated Isha.

Ekko stopping Jinx from killing herself five times and being patient with her.

I don't like Timebomb, but the dance scene being at 4 fps representing Ekko's ability to rewind time 4 seconds was on top.

Ekko not even hesitating to find the way back home, choosing to leave this perfect life and timeline behind.

The pianist who went to the war. He wasn't made for this, but he chose to be there.

Loris leaving Vi when she pushed him away. Loris tried to help her, but she refused it, so he had to leave for his own good.

That Jinx's follower who first touched her shoulder in prison, dying just like that during the attack. I liked how they showed people were dying without it being spectacular, they're just gone.

Vi trusting in Jinx when Vander/Warwick found them in the mines and was berserk. Vi chose to hug him instead of fighting, as she has always done with every conflict.

Jinx's first action when she found out Vander is alive being to look for her sister and find him together, not wanting to commit the same mistake.

Jinx being unable to shoot Vi when she had the opportunity to do so, in Act I.

Sevika ignoring the original plan and protecting both Jinx and Isha.

The Jinx vs Vi fight from Act I, they weren't trying, at least not as hard as Sevika and Cait. Vi had Jinx at her mercy a few times but didn't kill her, and in the second half of the fight, Jinx basically only slaps her face.

Jinx and Vi's interaction in Act II. It felt refreshing, seeing them 'fight' in a much lighter tone.

Jayce telling Viktor there's beauty in imperfections, that he admired him. It contrasts with Viktor's desire to make everything perfect (but including Viktor's terminal disease was weird).

Viktor and Jayce meeting in every timeline, Jayce being Viktor's salvation.

Viktor saying that trying to heal Warwick was a risk worth taking.

Isha seeing Jinx beyond the Powder/Jinx dichotomy and being the one to bring that happy nature from her (I loved Jinx acting as commentator just to make it fun for Isha).

Jinx being OFFENDED because an enforcer insulted her pants.

Jinx using her new mechanical finger (with a face painted on it) to give the middle finger to the enforcer who hit on her.

Sevika knowing how much Isha meant for Jinx, and Sevika not making fun of her when Jinx had another hallucination (after months of not having them). Sevika looked concerned.

Jinx protecting Caitlyn in Act II (although Cait never did something similar for her).

Mel's story centered on her family and not any romance.

Jinx's skills with her gun and her enhanced abilities thanks to the shimmer. She's so cool with her gun and managed to stay on her feet against Warwick at the beginning.

Jinx writing her name on her cheek just like Vi did (and it's funnier because Jinx did it by following the image in the mirror).

The voice acting. Especially Ella Purnell (Jinx's voice actress). They're all perfect for the roles, and Ella's raspy voice is the cherry on top.

Powder in the other timeline still having the hallucinations but showing she became Jinx because of her environment. She's much healthier and se's a genius in both timelines, it's her environment which decides if she'll use it to create weapons or to have a fun science competition.

In Act II, when Jinx and Sevika go to save Isha and the others, when the Enforcer they want to use to get arrested and taken to Stillwater: I liked how she relaxed once she saw Jinx, not firing at her immediately and even...Having a normal conversation with her

The designs. They made Vi SO MUCH BETTER. And I absolutely love Jinx's design as well, they're so perfect

When they were fighting in the mines and Jinx slaps Vi's cheek, the cave glows. And then they start fighting pathetically on the floor like actual sisters and the cave glows at the rhythm of their hits xd

I'll keep updating the list for a few days.

[violetsastrocytes]

unhinged regulus (my fave)

hey hello i thought i'd quickly talk about regulus in my lotss fic... i feel like people are gonna have problems with him—so here's some musings/ramblings etc!

so i really enjoy the idea of exploring human nature, and to me this means a flawed character. in lotss regulus is not a good person. there's good in him, sure, but on the whole he's morally corrupt and has a detrimental fuck-it-we-ball attitude. he relishes in destruction and indulges in his volatility. like he persuaded sirius to literally bind them together with a potentially fatal and 100% illegal spell at ten fucking years old, because he was like whelp. i'm gonna miss you when you go to highschool. and he's manipulative as shit, because sirius was like oh yeah, horcruxes, solid plan, and then does it.

regulus joins the army, yes to protect sirius, yes so sirius doesn't have to, but he would've joined anyway. he LOVES the power it gives him. he finds murdering fun. genuinely fun. he likes to tease his victims, he likes to draw their death out, he thinks it's hilarious when they cry and beg. and sure, okay, these are unambiuously bad people, veela traffickers etc, reg doesn't feel this way when he's on the battlefield and it's basically soldiers just like him. but still, it does take a certain character to not only carry out, but relish in murder.

i took a lot of inspiration for his and General Riddle's relationship from Silko and Jinx (from Arcane). i thought that dynamic was the best ever, like here are two hurt, damaged, chaotic and morally deranged people. they enable each other, they care for each other (genuinely). i'm obsessed with Arcane so think about it way too much, but Silko's last words to Jinx "you're perfect" make me wanna scream. because to him she is. that's what a daughter is to a father—a true father. flawed and tainted and morally ugly, blood all over her hands—but she is still his daughter, he forgives her, he loves her. despite, because of, regardless.

anyway my whole point with this ramble—i feel like lots of marauders fics ive read ultimately try and either validate, justify or redeem a character's unjust actions or corrupt nature. that's totally valid obviously, but that's not what i've done in lotss. regulus never regrets his behaviour, even when it ends up costing him someone he really, really loves. even then he continues to do it, he continues to enjoy it. he never has any big revelation and goes fuck. i messed up.

and general riddle—we've seen him manipulate, coerce and trap nagini. so we're against him. but then we see him from regulus' pov—who admires and trusts him—and he seems like a nice guy. so then we're like okay, is he a dick or is he nice? but isn't everyone both sides of that coin?

i really tried to show that while, on the whole, he's an upstanding leader, fighting for good causes (and is non-discriminative: there's a vast and inclusive representation of genders and races in the death eater army, something which is notably absent from the ministry-affiliated order and bmaf) even then riddle's hungry for more power. he wants to experiment and test the limits of his magic. my whole moral of the story thing with lotss is that power corrupts. there is NO GOOD SIDE. i'll say it again: no one wins in war.

like that line in hotd, where alicent says wtf are we even fighting for anymore? and rhaenyra is like lol idk. i was reading about the vietnam war recently: america and australia sent all those men in, then realised they were being fucking decimated and were like, oh fuck, and pulled them out again. thousands dead. literally for fucking what. anyway, all that to say: i'm not trying to use a character (regulus) who is generally well-liked by the fandom in order to try and justify or advocate for violence. his behaviour is just me experimenting with another way trauma can play out, like don't forget the circumstances of his birth, or the fact that he had to watch sirius being abused. sirius' magic was tested by orion to the point where he almost died multiple times. it effected sirius one way, it effected regulus another.

anyway! it's a story loves, not meant to be serious xo as i said before, take it all with a pinch of salt. and if you happen to watch arcane, tell me so we can try about it together!

[monstress]

arcane s2 thoughts

prayinggg we get a no soundtrack version because while i do like a few of the tracks (yes even Enemy!!!), there are more duds than hits and they take me out each time

also obviously i'm a Jinx Is Alive truther because of the ending scene of cait staring at the air ducts to the hextech tower fiddling with a fragment of her bomb...come on. jinx has said in the start of the season that she wanted to leave piltover/zaun and with isha gone and her sister happy, she can finally do that

i am very invested in jinx and vi's relationship so when jinx without any hesitation chose to let herself go from vi's grasp and destroy warwick (both something that vi could not do) which in one fell swoop legitimizes her agency, protects vi from a monster, saves vander from eternal hell - i'm like yea...[sniffs] that's a redemption arc baby

jinx and vi. piltover and zaun. they'll always be sisters...yea....

i admire the open ending with the airship. but she did say she'll ride one of those things one day. yay.

maybe an unpopular opinion but i liked cait this season. finally some bite and controversy and trauma to her choices. she was way tooooo comfortable in s1. while she's still a cop, at least she's interesting now!

also ok....yelled and hollered when lesbian sex is finally happening. rejoice guys - i thought we will never get it

the writing pace of this show is bonkers and i understand they need to keep it tight because of animation budget but what the helllllll was that viktor machine herald speedrun. it felt like it needed a good one more season to incubate and i was overwhelmed with that + jayce's heel turn + mel's superpower reveal like hold on hold the fuck onnnnnn what does this meannnnnn

gay sex in hextech void deus ex machina goes crazy tho

like oh yeah i am cosmically tied to only one man in this world and he alone can guide me to the error of my ways in any universe

ok!

mel being the most specialest princess in the entire world seems right imo. i can easily be riled up to sycophantic fervor to serve in her army just say the word ma'am 🫡

let's not forget the tragic irony that Mel was exiled by her mother and has tried to carve her own path through diplomacy and peace in defiance but ends up finding herself sitting in her mother's steel ship in her colors with her army with so much power in her veins and now leaves the city she loved that her mother ruined too. mel merdada one of the characters of all time......

and i am a number one sap so!!!!!!! the flashback scenes this season got me hurting real bad. when i thought i was devastated by Remember Me...here comes s2e7 to punch me in the gut

the fact happiness and normalcy was possible for powder...the fact that powder will never use hexcore because of what happened to vi and it made all the difference. vi's death unknowingly protecting her sister (and the world!) from beyond the grave...i am sobbing my eyes out

also as a season one timebomb shipper, thank youuuu arcane writers i didnt expect this at ALLLLLLLLLL???? it was written like everyone knows they were an item except themselves??? i have done nothing to deserve this but thank you

UPDATE: i hv been informed that they are already dating in the alternative universe from background details. even more delicious

i am just happy to be here and prepared to be devastated

vanderco Real. like don't even waste your breath to say they aren't when they look like they are glowing in domestic bliss. what's some light stabbing and drowning between married couples amirite fellas

claggor and mylo!!!! i didn't expect to get emotional seeing them since idrc but seeing them grown up like ohhhh these are vi and jinx's brothers...and they'll never know this life...okay.....

the alternative timeline pretty much put a bandaid to the pain and suffering for the past 2 seasons and as contrast for more suffering. i love it. the writers are so diabolical

heimerdinger sacrificing himself for ekko is ok for me lol idc abt him goodbye cheesepuff

i still need to process the Ambessa vs MelCait fight. im quite sure there's some great parallels there

but Ambessa as a character is sooooo fascinating. while i hv qualms making a prominently Black character be an imperalist warlord (othering her with her accent too), Ambessa i fear is so so very cool and i was slightly rooting for her ngl like i can't hate a cunning ambitious woman it's against my nature!!!!!

i am gonna think abt mel holding up ambessa like repin's painting of ivan the terrible for a longggg time

side note: i love that sevika finally got what silco wanted all along - a seat at the (council)table. like that's my wifeeeeeee. lib ending i know i know since the best ending is a free state of zaun but like narrative wise it would notttt make sense at the point of time. but also since they never confirmed anything, i wanna say they'll have a go at dismantling the power structure that is oppressing zaun with sevika keeping an eye on it. not a perfect solution but i'll take it rather than leave it

so will i watch another show on LoL?

mmmm.......anyways guys watch Penelope of Sparta!

[her-devils-advocate]

Through the Mist | Part 1

pairings: Femshep x Garrus

summary: When a routine mission to rescue and recruit a handful of scientists goes wrong, Shepard and her team are left to fight against something they had never expected to face. Now stranded on a heavily fog-covered planet, they realise there is more to the strange weather than they originally thought, especially when they hear things from beyond the fog; calling for them.

word count: 4,213

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60592000/chapters/154704487

“Commander, a handful of scientists are located in a remote facility near you. Their knowledge is invaluable, and we could use them for the crucible. I’ll send you all the information I have, Hackett out.” 

The blue holographic display fizzles away, leaving Shepard alone in the QEC as she mutters out a quiet “Yes, sir.” to the air. She heaves out a sigh before opening her comms, “Joker, we have a new destination. Set course for the Rosetta Nebula.”

“Aw, seriously, Shepard?” He groans, the sound coming out muffled and even without seeing him Shepard can tell he’s rubbing his face. Exhaustion has quickly become more prevalent across her crew, the war wearing them down physically and emotionally, especially after losing a lot more than just their pride to Cerberus. A fact that still gnaws away at her, despite her brave mask which has since been carefully reinforced to keep up what morale is left in her crew.

“Yes, seriously. Orders from Hackett,” she replies, her voice tense. She bites her lip before forcing out a smile, hoping it comes across in her voice. “I don’t like this any more than you Joker, but it needs to be done and it’s better to do it now while we’re nearby. Think of the fuel prices otherwise.”

“You’re buying me three drinks next time, each with their own little umbrella.” He declares, pausing for a moment before adding, “And a damn good dinner, you’re killing me here, Raven.”

Shepard snorts just before the line drops, letting herself flop against the railing in front of her, safe in the privacy of the war room. She feels Garrus approach her slumped form, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. 

“Let me guess, one more mission and then we’ll go to the Citadel for shore leave?” He asks, his fingers drawing comforting circles against her waist.

She gives him an apologetic smile as she leans into him, resting her head against the cool plating of his armour. “It will be quick and easy, we just need to pick up a small group and drop them off. We might as well do it now and then take them with us to the Citadel, though I don’t like putting off shore leave like this.”

“Well, at least the wait will be worth it,” he jokes, catching her tired expression. “Hackett just wants you to collect some people? Sounds like he’s going easy on you with this one.”

“God, please don’t jinx us, Garrus.” She laughs, letting him hold most of her weight against him. 

“Me? Never…” 

From what is visible, the planet appears to be a desolate wasteland; all grey stone and barren of all signs of life. She has yet to learn what the scientists have been working on here and regrets not pressing Hackett for more information, despite the Admiral sending all he had. A high clearance team, working on something secret. A weapon, she theorises, maybe something even shady.

Liara was not much help either, finding very little about the base besides a suspicious number of funds being funnelled into the group from an unknown benefactor; all of which does little to calm the annoyance beginning to build. Discomfort twirls in her gut as a familiar and hated group springs to mind.

“If this is Cerberus again, I think I'm going to lose it,” She mumbles under her breath as she looks through the available data they have about the planet; a base temperature of twelve degrees, breathable air, and splatters of human colonies slowly being formed across the rock.

Shepard hates going in blind and it’s almost as if the planet has decided to use that against her, taunting her. The shuttle shudders as it approaches the ground. She can hear Cortez mutter a swear under his breath as he battles to control the vehicle, her grip tightening on the handrail above. Without any warning, she is thrown against her seat, her knees buckle as they hit the object and she comes crashing down into it. Garrus’ hand is instantly on her shoulder, stabilising her with a strong grip. She gives him a thankful nod and leans back in her seat.

“Everyone alright?” She asks, watching as James knocks his head against the back of his seat before giving her a thumbs up with one hand, the other rubbing at the base of his skull.

Despite the turbulence hellbent on giving them a few bruises before the mission can properly start, they touch down without any other issues. She lets out a small sigh of relief, biting back a smile when she hears her crew do the same. Shepard is quick to leave her seat, giving orders for Cortez to return to the Normandy until they signal for extraction, hopefully with the scientists, before hopping out onto the unknown planet. 

A thick fog instantly wraps itself around Shepard and her squad, drifting to and fro and obscuring their vision. They instinctively move closer to her, almost standing shoulder-to-shoulder while their eyes dart around the blank landscape. The area is silent, not a single bird chirping or a tree swaying its leaves in the wind; as life itself has abandoned the planet.

She can see James nervously glancing around as if expecting an ambush from beyond the thin barrier, despite their lonely landing zone. Their battle-trained senses are useless to them now, sending them into a state of high alert, and if the disconcerted grumble from her sniper is any indication, his visor is doing very little to aid him. He catches her questioning gaze through the blue display and shakes his head.

“I’m getting no readings through my visor, Shepard,” He confirms, his hand raised against the metal frame to fiddle with its settings.

“I’m not surprised. Good to know that we don’t need to worry about any surprises so soon, at least.” She says, securing her Mattock onto her back with ease. 

“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m not getting any readings through this thing, including your own.” She watches as his brow plates come together in a small frown, his hand dropping in defeat as the tech continues to fight against him. “As long as you are suited up and we’re not lightyears apart, my visor will display your vitals. There’s no reason for it to not show while you’re standing in front of me. The thing still works, the kill counter and the current galactic time are still lit up…All biometric data, however…”

The air chills and a thick tension is carried over to them with the gentle breeze. She opens her comm link to the ship, hoping EDI can have more luck scouting the place than they will. 

“EDI, we’re going to need some guidance here. Are you able to lead us to the closest structure?”

A loud buzzing sparks from her comms in response, along with a barely audible voice fighting through the interference, “Comman… We can’t… Unable to…Signal is…”

Shepard drops the link with a frown, her mind running through a million scenarios and plans as she speaks. “Okay, we are effectively cut off from the Normandy, so we’re on our own until we reach our targets. They are our best shot at the moment.” 

"Shepard," Garrus mutters warily and she can hear the concern buzzing through his sub-vocals as he begins to expect the worst, "This isn't the ideal place for a firefight, we are completely blinded."

"I hear you. While it may seem quiet, something’s not right. Everyone stay close and on alert. If you hear or see anything, we avoid it for now." She clenches her fists, quelling the urge to wrap everyone up in her biotics before something has the chance to strike first. She bites back a groan as she rolls her neck, the last thing she wants is to reveal their position if something lurks in the distance. “Maybe the weather can be used to our advantage here,” she mutters as she turns from the group.

She steps further into the fog, waving her hand in front of her and slicing through it with ease. She watches as it parts around her hand before forming again shortly after, dancing around them in a thick haze. An unusual silence hangs around them as no one dares to speak and break it; their footfalls are amplified with every step, almost echoing around them. 

They keep moving, the rhythmic clunking of their armour accompanying every step before James suddenly comes to a halt, groaning in frustration. “This is loco. How are we supposed to find anything when we don’t even know how far we’ve been walking?”

“I don’t know, but what I do know is that we need those scientists. You’re not afraid of a little bit of fog, are you, Vega?” She throws him a smirk from over her shoulder, her smile widening when she hears Garrus chuckling beside her. She much prefers that sound to the empty nothingness that’s been following them.

“You never know, Shepard. He might be, what you humans say, a chicken.”

“Oh low blow, Scars. You don’t even know what that is.”

“According to the extranet, it’s a bird from Earth that is usually killed for food. According to humans, everything tastes like it and they are fearful creatures.” He casually retorts, grinning triumphantly when James scoffs in defeat.

“You spend too much time with Lola.” James gives Garrus a small nudge, grimacing when the impact of their armour rings through the air.

“And you say that as if it’s a bad thing, Jimmy.” 

Shepard rolls her eyes at their back and forth, biting down a laugh at the unique insults being playfully tossed around. She has to step away from the group to focus, she hears Garrus shift to keep her in his line of sight before the familiar warm glow of her omni-tool causes the fog to light up around her. She lets out a small huff as it does nothing to improve their vision, somehow making things worse.

She shuffles back to the duo and glances between them, James half-heartedly glaring at Garrus, and finally spots the outline of a large, grey building, highlighted by the smothered rays of sunlight. Frustration rattles around in her brain at the obvious structure hiding in plain sight, a structure she is positive she would have noticed, yet she does what she does best and throws her emotions into yet another bottle.

"There, ahead of us. That must be the research base." She looks back at Garrus and James, making sure they can see where she’s pointing. An uneasy feeling begins to snake around her heart when she glances back at their destination. Their previous banter had helped to lighten the tense atmosphere surrounding them, but with each ebb and flow of the fog, the thin relief begins to crack again as they approach the base.

"You know, Shepard. We should find some rope and use it to keep us all together." As if reading her mind, Garrus' duel-toned voice breaks her out of her worry and she gives a low chuckle at the suggestion, not entirely disagreeing.

"Uh, no offence, Garrus. What you and Lola do in your free time is up to you, but I don't want to be involved." James says with a cheeky smile that only grows when both Shepard and Garrus roll their eyes at him.

“Very funny, Vega. We’ll just leave you behind then,” Garrus drawls out, his shoulders finally dropping as he relaxes. He catches Shepard’s eye and she gives him a gentle nod, the pair almost speaking without words. Yes, this is weird, and yes, I’m alright.

Shepard is quick to open the structure’s door and usher the others inside, the fog stalking them in through the wide entrance and dissipating into the room. The room is dark, with only the emergency signs providing any light, casting shadows up onto the steel walls around them. There are no other doors within the small room, just a few windows that have since been securely boarded up.

The air within is still and stale, and Shepard grimaces when she catches a hint of something slightly rancid. She glances around and spots a dozen datapads littering the surfaces. Chairs are stranded away from the desks and numerous personal belongings have been left behind. She picks up one of the datapads, a large crack running across the screen, and begins to read aloud what remains of the corrupted file.

“...Day 5, no progress has been made. My head has been killing me, but I refuse to rest until we get results.

“...Day 8, we might finally have good news. Callum from base two has made some improvements. We will need to make adjustments to the formula, but any news is good news at this point.”

The words begin to blur, seemingly dancing across the cracked screen, the flickering worsens the longer she reads before the datapad goes black, cutting her off. She lets herself relax for a moment, holding back a scoff for being so on edge.

She catches Garrus roaming the room out of the corner of her eye before becoming rigid. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stick up once more, a shiver creeping down her spine as he speaks. 

“Spirits… Shepard, you should come and see this.”

She’s quick to reach his side and spots a body curled up in the small space between the wall and one of the desks. His head is leant back against the cold steel, letting them see more than they wish to. His skin is pale, almost taking on a grey tone. There are visible veins under his paperlike skin, bulging along his neck, trying to break free. His eyebrows are pulled together, almost impossibly close. Sending unnatural wrinkles along his forehead. The body is young, too young to have such deep lines.

The worst part is his mouth. It hangs open in a silent scream while his glazed-over eyes are open wide in pure terror. 

She moves closer, keeping her footing light as she approaches the body to read the name badge across the arm of his attire. Without any warning, the man’s head rolls forward. Greying hair falls with it, covering his face. The group instantly jump back, aiming their rifles towards the body and waiting with bated breath for any more movement. After a minute of stillness, Shepard raises her hand, signalling for them to holster their guns.

“He’s dressed in uniform, this must have been one of the researchers. What happened here?” She says softly, leaning down to carefully make a note of the man's name for her report before she stands back up and steps away from the sight.

“No clue, Commander. Half of these datapads are damaged. Some have been trampled on, whatever spooked these people spooked them badly. Bad enough to leave in a hurry.” James appears behind her with a worried frown. 

She takes a moment to think, gently tapping the datapad against her thigh in concentration before a sound breaks her attention. The noticeable whirl of a nearby shuttle flying overhead. She tosses the datapad onto the table and quickly signals for them to follow her as she rushes out of the building, peering up at the sky. Garrus falls into position on her right, gazing down at her oddly before shrugging at James.

Everything is silent, even the breeze that had greeted them has since fallen still. She wanders away from the building, hearing her team scramble to stay close. She continues to watch the sky, her confusion is evident on her face as no shuttle is fast enough to vanish that quickly. 

The more she stares into the white void around her, the more she notices that the fog has grown thicker. It has started to take on an almost yellow hue as it blocks out more of the sunlight. She can feel it glide over the exposed skin of her face, leaving goosebumps in its wake. She feels her spine straighten and her jaw tightens, confusion flowing around the group.

Out of nowhere, she hears footsteps and her head snaps around to trace the sound. She sees nothing out in the distance, but the sound grows louder as it approaches them.

She is quick to grab her pistol, ignoring the alarmed two-toned rumble from her right.

She keeps it low, her finger away from the trigger as she listens. She signals for the others to remain silent, her heart pounding. 

The beating of the organ is loud in her ears, almost to a painful degree. Yet the footsteps grow louder.

She is almost a statue, eyes alert and trained on the direction of the sound, yet she sees nothing as the mysterious figure darts past them and deeper into the fog. In her peripheral she can see her squad standing still, Garrus’ eyes are locked onto her, his mandibles fluttering with uncertainty, while James is frantically looking around, trying to follow her line of sight. 

She swallows down her unease and turns to face them fully, “One of the researchers must still be out here. They were heading north, so that could be where the other base is. We can’t know for sure if that was a researcher or what killed the team, so be careful.” 

Garrus and James glance at one another momentarily before they nod and continue to follow her deeper into the unknown. Unease stalks their every step, their postures rigid and on high alert. A new building reveals itself before them, grey steel walls reflecting the now-setting sun like a beacon awaiting their arrival. A hastily drawn number two sits just above the door, the paint beginning to chip after being left to withstand the elements.

“Let’s hope this is the right place, I don’t enjoy the idea of wandering out here for much longer. You’re certain the person ran this way, Shepard?” Garrus mumbles, back pressed against the wall next to the door. 

“I know what I heard, Garrus,” she mutters as she watches James take his position against the wall on the other side, awaiting her signal. “Even if this isn’t the building they ran to, there’s got to be something here that would explain what happened.”

“...Heard?” He questions, his mandibles flaring in badly concealed bewilderment.

She cocks her head at him, pausing for a second. Shepard gives him a careful nod and bangs a fist against the red omni-lock to open the door, hoping they don’t have to fight against firewalls to gain access. Much to the group's surprise, the lock flashes red a few times before it complies and turns green, the door opening with a small groan.

“A technical malfunction or a research base that has very little security?” Shepard questions, opening up her omni-tool to provide her with some light as she peers into the room.

James shrugs, his back pressed firmly against the wall. “Who knows? Possibly both with how quick the other team was to leave, they probably didn’t have time to properly lock the place up. That or they didn’t think they would have to, with how remote they are out here and all. Can’t imagine anyone loco enough to visit.”

“And whoever we were following probably didn’t expect us to make our way here without getting lost first, giving them no time to fix any issues,” Garrus adds.

She signals for the two men to stay put as she begins to stalk into the room. Even with the door open, it’s darker than the previous base, all the technology within has since lost power after being abandoned. This room is larger, with another door leading deeper into the structure. 

“Hello?” She calls out, her hand hovering close to her pistol, just in case. “I’m Commander Shepard, I’m with the Alliance Navy.”

Silence answers her and she holds back a sigh as she creeps deeper into the building, away from the safety of the door and checks out the room, her omni-tool guiding her every move. Unlike the previous base, this one is relatively clean. It shows no signs of struggle or distress, no corpses hiding away in the shadowed corners.

The base is tidy, too tidy, she notes. Not a single data pad has been left behind, and with the power drained, they are left with no way of accessing the consoles to read through their logs. Shepard runs an armoured hand through her hair as she turns to the entrance, waving the others in.

“This is getting us nowhere. James, stay here and guard the exit while we check out the other room.” She says as she approaches the door, exhaling in relief when it opens without a fight.

“Aye aye, Commander. Leave this mess with me.” He gives her a playful salute before throwing himself down into one of the office chairs, facing the exit. His grip on his Revenant is tight, and the skin stretching over his knuckles turns pale.

There’s only a short corridor connecting the rooms, but the air within is thick and old. As if it hasn’t been disrupted in weeks. A thin layer of dust covers everything in sight, not a single surface is safe from the fluffy, grey specs; a sharp contrast to the room a few metres away. 

The room itself is tiny, barely containing more than three desks pressed tightly against the walls.

“There’s no one here,” Garrus whispers, double-checking all the corners and under the desks. “Looks like this is just an extension of the other room…Just as empty as well.”

“Not quite,” Shepard says as she spots a rectangular object, obscured by a thick layer of dust. She brushes it off, cringing as some of it sticks to the fabric of her gloves. She suddenly spins to face Garrus, waving the half-dead datapad in front of him with a victorious smile. He gives her a smile in return as he moves closer to read over her shoulder.

“...Day 20, we messed up. I don’t know what went wrong, maybe it was our calculations, or maybe it was… Either way, it doesn’t matter anymore.

…Day 21, if you… read… We…can’t…It’s too late.”

“Well, that’s horribly ominous,” Garrus states as Shepard finishes reading. He glances down at her and spots the telltale sign of exhaustion creeping across her expression. Another dead end, another failure. He gently bumps his shoulder against hers, keeping his voice light. “They could have fled, abandoned the bases and left. Or they were relocated to another project after this one. With the Reapers here, it would make sense why Hackett and Liara couldn’t trace them.”

“Maybe…Let’s grab James and get out of here. Liara might have found something by now. There’s no point standing around in a dusty room and possibly catching something.” 

She opens up her comm to try and contact the Normandy once more, wincing at the static rumbling through the line. She listens closely, her focus stolen by the white noise. For a moment she swears she can hear a voice calling out to her. The voice is low and feminine, but not the smooth, metallic tone that she is accustomed to with EDI.

This voice is old and familiar. A memory that had faded with time, crawling back into the present through the static.

“Raven.”

She freezes, feeling like a bucket of ice has been thrown over her, or just injected directly into her veins instead. Tears instinctively rise through her ducts and it takes all that she has to force them back down, doing all she can to hold her commander mask firmly in place. The galaxy hasn’t broken her yet and she refuses to let this planet be the tipping point, not after everything that's happened.

With more force than what is needed, she quickly cuts the comm link. 

Sensing her growing distress, Garrus gently places his hand under her chin, raising it so he can meet her gaze. She lets him manoeuvre her but refuses to meet his eyes. He lets out a quiet sigh and she can feel his concern in the tender action when his thumb brushes against her cheek.

“I think the stress is getting to me. I made a bad call, we should have done this after our shore leave. When everyone is better rested and more focused,” she admits and attempts to hang her head in shame, getting nowhere thanks to his strong grip keeping her head held high.

“I’m not sure, Shepard… I’ve been getting bad vibes from this place. I’ve not once doubted your judgement and I’m certainly not going to start now.”

She gives him a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, feeling his body relax at her attempt. He reluctantly releases her after quickly pressing his forehead against hers, doing all he can to give her some reassurance while she secures her mask of authority once more, feeling slightly pissed at how often she’s let it slip on this mission. It’s rare for something to get under her skin, yet she begins to feel as if the planet was designed purely to do just that.

[iztarshi]

Viktor observations (S1, Act 3)

Viktor seems to be showing all of his notes on the hexcore to Singed, although I don’t think he trusts him. For one thing he’s also having this entire conversation while standing in front of Rio’s chamber and staring at her, so he has a definite reminder of how things ended up last time.

I’m not sure how Singed feels about Viktor these days. He was fond of him as a child - Singed seems to genuinely like children - but here he’s both definitely using Viktor himself as an experiment and warning him that he will be despised for it, giving him a choice. I don’t think Viktor knows what to make of Singed’s attitude towards him either.

“Jayce will understand.” Aah. The thing is, he would have done. He would have understood because it’s Viktor and everything is personal for Jayce. His feelings about shimmer or about the undercity would never change his feelings about Viktor.

*

Jayce telling Mel that Viktor’s disappeared and “he does that sometimes” has interesting implications, assuming it’s true. And it seems likely to be true, since it would be an odd way of covering for Viktor if that’s what Jayce is doing. I don’t know where Viktor would go - it’s possible this has been him hiding the extent of his illness.

*

The bridge scene is so bad. It’s not a power play, Jayce would never, but dear god does it wind up having the elements of one. Making Viktor wait in an unsafe area where he can see the violence being inflicted by enforcers. Making it clear he needs Jayce’s permission to go home. Jayce standing over him and scolding him. Viktor actually handles it really well, considering how much this set up could be frightening and humiliating.

Even though Viktor’s been detained in an unsafe area and is being affected by the aerosol weapons he seems more disgusted than scared by the blockade. Then again, he is staring at the handle of his crutch where he’s got the shimmer hidden, so he’s definitely aware he could be in a precarious position here.

Jayce’s arrival and the reveal Jayce is responsible for the blockade seems to baffle Viktor mostly. Why is Jayce behind something like this? Why does it suddenly make a difference to Jayce that someone is from the undercity?

To Jayce protecting Piltover from the undercity includes protecting Viktor because Viktor is in Piltover. To Viktor that’s not how it works, violence against people from the undercity is inevitably going to include violence against him because that’s what happens when people are stirred up against outsiders. As has been demonstrated by Viktor getting accidentally caught in the blockade (which he did not violate because he had no idea it existed! how many other people got caught on the wrong side visiting family or friends?)

I think this is the first time Jayce has reached out to Viktor - in this case to help him up - and been pushed away. Jayce apologises immediately in the face of Viktor’s anger and hurt, but still doesn’t really understand what he’s done. He drops his own anger, which was mostly born of worry (although that does not give him the right to scold Viktor like a child), but has no idea how deeply he’s broken Viktor’s trust in him.

Viktor’s relationship with his identity as someone from the undercity is complicated. It’s not nationalist, which is why I didn’t say “as someone from Zaun”, part of Viktor’s confusion in this scene is that to him they’re two parts of one city (and the more they stop being that they more he ends up stranded in between). But it’s still very real, a fact about him that doesn’t stop being true when he no longer lives there. Jayce just thinks of it as Viktor’s origin, he’s in Piltover now, but to Viktor they don’t stop being his people.

*

It’s implied Viktor is better at dismantling explosives than Jayce, since Jayce says he’d tried earlier and it nearly killed him. Clearly he’s been waiting for Viktor to look at it.

I like that Viktor seems to admire Jinx’s skills, although he’s surprisingly dismissive of the idea she could crack hextech.

Jayce and Mel literally talking over Viktor’s head for a minute before Viktor realises Mel’s suggesting they make weapons. There’s always something a little innocent about Viktor’s reaction to violence, like it surprises him every time that anyone thinks of that as a solution. Sometimes it makes me wonder how he got by in the undercity, but then the undercity does have people like the old lady with the cane living there and it doesn’t automatically destroy everyone who can’t fight. Shimmer addicts have made it worse because they really are desperate enough to attack people who have nothing but most of its inhabitants don’t.

Mel says “Heimerdinger’s inaction is what brought us here, you said so yourself,” to Jayce and Viktor is immediately craning to look at Jayce because, wait, what? I presume he finds out what Jayce did to Heimerdinger at some point, but I don’t think he knows yet.

For a brief moment, Jayce and Viktor are completely united about the idea of hextech weapons, they’re both horrified Mel suggested it. Mel… decides immediately on who is persuadable and ignores Viktor completely from now on.

Oh my god, actually, she’s being horrible. It’s funny, because she was being sweet earlier, telling Jayce he should be with Viktor, but this is politics and she’s ruthless. Stepping into Jayce’s space, flattering him. “The decision is yours,” she says to Jayce, and moves her eyes subtly to look down at Viktor who she’s just defeated. Viktor is disgusted with Jayce for falling for it.

Viktor’s upset enough about Jayce considering making weapons he nearly does mess up taking the grenade apart, but he keeps calm and manages to defuse it.

“There is always a choice.” This sort of feels like a way-marker in Viktor’s character arc. This is where he’s at right now, it’s in direct contrast to where he is as the Herald, we’ll see if it’s convincing how he gets there.

*

Viktor’s so scared when he injects himself with shimmer. He doesn’t scare easily, the enforcers on the bridge didn’t scare him, but he’s terrified of what he’s doing to himself.

*

Viktor seems to vanish for a whole day in between injecting himself and testing his new leg on the docks. He misses Jinx’s attack on the bridge, Ambessa’s arrival and Vi and Caitlyn’s return completely.

Starting with his leg rather than his lungs may be an attempt at caution, since if it goes wrong it at least won’t kill him. Although maybe it doesn’t show the most foresight since he’s now used up his shimmer, and he does know there’s going to be difficulty getting more.

Viktor’s run on the dock is beautifully done in terms of emotion, watching him go from nervous and hopeful to screaming with exhilaration as he runs.

He goes straight back to fix the rest of him, and now that he knows it works he’s much less nervous, at least until he realises he’s out of shimmer. The decision to go ahead anyway is definitely emotional rather than rational, he wants to do this now. I think he’s still caught up in the feeling of running. Getting more shimmer would be hard, but not impossible, even if he didn’t tell Jayce everything, he could tell Jayce he needed to visit the undercity again and it’s not like Jayce would confine him to Piltover. But he’s partway through modifying himself, he’s already carved the runes, and it only takes one impulsive decision to go ahead.

I don’t think Sky was ever going to get Viktor to love her the way she wanted, but showing him her projects as a way to get his attention is actually very smart. Like reading Jayce’s journal before really talking to Jayce, or thinking Vander is wonderful because of what Viktor saw in his dreams, this is how Viktor relates to people.

*

Viktor breaks down completely over Sky’s death and I don’t think he ever really recovers. It gets hard to parse out from the hexcore’s influence on him, but I think some of his behavioural changes in season 2 come back to this more than to that.

The hexcore hurting Viktor is the biggest indicator of sapience from it, because it reacts threateningly to his attempt to destroy it but doesn’t hurt him until after he’s already given up. That’s not an instinctive attempt to defend itself, that’s a warning and a punishment. Viktor’s terrified at the realisation he’s let something into his body that is capable of malice towards him.

*

It took me far too long to wonder whether Sky had people in her life who would have liked to hold a funeral for her. Viktor’s sorry he doesn’t know where she would have wanted her ashes scattered, but even though he’s broken up enough about this to consider killing himself he doesn’t consider confessing or letting anyone at all know what happened to her.

Viktor’s struggling to stand even with his cane. It’s not clear whether this is the result of the hexcore punishing him, or whether the transformation didn’t work (we don’t see him stand properly afterwards even before the hexcore punishes him), or whether this is psychological because of the shock of Sky’s death. He had to work, on the dock, not to limp on his new leg just because of the muscle memory, so it’s not implausible that not accepting what happened would stop him being able to take advantage of a fix.

Viktor’s reaction to Jayce turning up is what I mean about his behaviour changing now rather than post-resurrection. For most of this season he’s been struggling, scared by his impending death and desperate to either survive or accomplish something while he still can, but he’s also been confident. He’s believed that he was right, that he had the moral high ground, and he’s been frustrated and sometimes disgusted with Jayce’s choices. Right now he’s ashamed. His reaction to Jayce is to turn away, hide his face, almost flinch, and to hide Sky’s journal. He’s quiet, subdued, sad.

As bookends, it’s interesting that Viktor prevented Jayce’s suicide attempt once with the offer of a future, but what Jayce offers is their shared past.

Asking Jayce to destroy the hexcore is the first time Viktor really asks for anything and in doing so he admits weakness. “I can’t do it… you have to… please…”

I wonder what Jayce thinks has happened here? He promises to destroy the hexcore more as a reaction to how distressed Viktor is than out of any understanding about why Viktor is giving up on curing himself. Initially he might have thought that Viktor knew what Jayce had done, that this was a reaction to knowing hextech had been weaponised, but the hexcore being involved makes it clear it isn’t.

Having completely moved out of one another’s plots for a little while, Viktor and Jayce are together again now. They’re both just so sorry. There’s nothing to fight about right now when their certainty of their own rightness has been shattered.

*

I think the decision to push for Zaunite independence is probably something that Jayce and Viktor came up with between them, the end result of “we have to make it right”. Not entirely what either of them might want, but the best they can do, and both of them know things that the other doesn’t that might lead to that conclusion. Viktor, what it’s like to live in Zaun, and Jayce, what current events have been.

Viktor is in Jayce’s council seat, which I love, and he speaks for Zaun since he’s the closest thing they’ve got to someone who could. He’s also still notably subdued - which might be stage-fright, but he’s spoken in front of the council before.

Viktor and Jayce both smiling at Mel because the proposal is about to go through is so sweet and so sad in context. They got so close. They have this one moment where all three of them are in accord and they got so close to changing everything.

[zoryak]

Sevika x Silco's daughter! OC (Gaia)

Artist: Ko Mie (fb)

Warnings: 18+, Toxic relationship, rape (briefly, talk about), dead dove, Gaia called Sevika "mother", Sevika was being emotionally abused and more idk what to tag.

This is not my original plot for my yumeship and i'm practicing to write in English also. Sorry if the grammar is weird and bad.

=========

It's been months since he's gone, Silco, drifted away with all the rubbish in the river. His memories, his legacy yet still here, passed among his daughters, Jinx, Gaia and 2 more of his girls. No one could believe that a man like Silco could raise not one but four daughters and they all see him as a loving father to him.

Not all of them, my bad.

Gaia, the eldest, the one that sold her life to his so her younger sibling, Vesna, could became one of his daughter and having a better live in the Undercity. He ended up taking in both of them and a younger kid later on. Gaia life was totally different from all the sisters, unlike Jinx going all around the world with those shimmer shipments or her youngers with their studies and invention. Gaia learns her way to be the younger version of Silco. More charming with words, more intimidating with every action, mind caculating how and when she can be worthy enough for everything she owns him.

But there's distraction, his right hand woman, Gaia first love. Stern, bold and cocky yet her confident smirk is charming, Gaia could spend hours just to admiring this woman in the bar or even, followed her to the brothel, watching her having fun with her whores and dream. But Sevika know her place, doesn't want to mess around with Silco's daughters which to her is "a headace and a kick in the ball." kind of trouble. Gaia is childish, she's still young after all but in that wicked and twisted mind of her, if she wanted something, she will take it no matter what. Even if it's turning Sevika's life upside down.

Sevika can't count how many time Gaia has haunt her in her sleep. She weeping figure, naked, bruised, curled on her bed sheet, her marks is everywhere on her body like a chewing toy. Mascaras and lipstick smeared all over her face with tears and brutal kisses.

"You rape me" - Gaia said, her sobbing wouldn't stop but there was something felt so wrong about Gaia, like her feeling wasn't true. But Sevika can't help, she doesn't remembered what she had done to the younger girl. They have had too many drinks, shot even, memories of them fucking is a blur.

"I-.. I'm so sorry Gaia, i-"

"I won't tell father but... I have a deal for you."

====

Years after the deal, like Sevika had signed her life away with the devil.

"You have to stay by my side, no matter what."

That's the deal, simple but tormented. The constant reminder of her crime cause to Gaia, the sultry tone in her voice, hands warm against Sevika's cheeks everytime the girl talk to her. Sevika tried to keep her cool, Gaia is a brat, the little devil, the bitch and a pain, her words tight like a rope strangling on Sevika's throat and eyes like thorns pricking on that tough outer skin. Everytime Sevika fight back, pushing the girl away or just raised her voice, those shimmer drunk irises stare into her as she down into it like falling into an abyss.

For once, Sevika slapped the girl as she getting on her nerves, her hand printed on the pale cheek of Gaia, redden in seconds but the girl never get angry. Her eyes sulking for its owner as her voice remains calm, it's soft and intimidating in every words. Gaia is still Silco daughter's after all.

"Mother... You hurt me... I thought you love me?"

Sevika swears on her pride that this... feeling of her isn't love. Love does not haunting her everyday with guilt and obsession. Love does not makes her feel pain, regret and so scare to face it. Everytime they kisses, tounges dancing in the heat of their passion, Sevika felt only anger, to brutally ruined her because this is the only time Sevika is in control.

This is not love, Sevika knew it.

Things changed when Silco's gone. For the first time in many years, Gaia keeps her distance from Sevika. She wants the end their relationship, her voice hoarsed due to her constant panic attack, her mental state is always on thin ice. The girl sits on her father chair, sinking into its cushion, those eyes losing all of its sparks, her pain screaming out loud without a sound.

"What do you want, kiddo?"

"Our deal is over, mother. We could stop this pain of yours now."

Sevika raises her brow in confusion, frustration circling in her mind. Her mouth slightly opened, forming a "Why" but Gaia continued before she could speak.

"You know too well what i've done to you, mother. Beside, you don't love me at all, so why bother?"

Sevika stares at the girl, reading her posture to find just an anxious cue so Sevika can understand her more. For years Sevika had tried to learn more about this girl, to know her more than just an successor of Silco. She understand why Silco was so proud and trusted in Gaia, even when the girl is emotionally hurt, she still calm, voice linger in that intimidating tone, her smile carried her sorrow, she can't hide that but her intention is hidden too well.

If this is some kind of new plan to bind Sevika with her again, Sevika would fall again but no.

"We're through, no more nights you have to spend with me, no more bodyguard duty... But if you planned to serve me as the new leader, i'm more than welcome."

Sevika had wished to end her torment but now it's gone, she felt like a hole was craved right out of her body. Mixed feelings, mixed emotions. Sevika wanted to asked more but as her gaze lays on the younger girl, it was respond with a smile, so fake that her doll face wears it so well.

"See you around, Sevika..."

The "i love you" lingers in her throat is a pain. As it will never reaches Sevika again.

[stealerofthe2ndbraincell]

Back to business

Jinx saving Vi was so sweet that it almost distracted me from how stressed I was. Almost. 😀

I'm not too sure of the physical capabilities of these beings, but there is something to be said that they're all jumping for her. No hint of hesitation to the danger they're in by doing so. In ep6 (and 5 with Salo) before they were made into literal Cybermen (lol), they showed very little self preservation and survival instincts. E.g. When Jayce pointed his gun-hammer at a child and neither the child nor the onlookers had any real reaction.

The Caitlyn and Mel team up was exactly what I needed.

The fact that Caitlyn is still somewhat holding her own despite being gassed and stabbed not too long beforehand is impressive.

Why is it such a struggle for me to work out what part of Viktor this is. Is it a hand?? Does he just have an extra limb? That wouldn't surprise me...

He's really hyping up the hivemind. It sounds like he's still, after all this time and conflict, trying to persuade Jayce on it.

Was it right about it being an extra limb???

That eye bit made me so fucking squeamish what. Incredible. I'm not going to forget it at all but wow.

I already have an irrational thing about things going too close to my eyes, the only reason I don't have contacts, so that especially freaked me out.

"A wolf has no mercy" O O O H. GET HER.

I might need a rewatch to fully understand the Black Roses beyond this, but does this imply that she was still showing mercy up until that point. In hopes her Mother would stop.

I don't know what I was originally expecting but yeah, it would have felt weird to have Mel not involved with the death of her Mother.

Omg I was right when the extra limb.

I have nothing to say. Look at 'em

Warwick's stillness is so intimidating.

WAIT IS EKKO OKAY???

The noise being distorted when the gravity has been affected (?) is so clever here.

Jayce and Viktor popping up briefly mid Vi, Jinx and Warwick fight is so amusing for some reason. Briefly eavesdropping before continuing their own fight.

What has really hit me is the lack of fluidity (in a good way). Despite the tech and magic, a lot of the fights this episode still feel like regular scraps. They don't feel like epic and unrealistic anime fight scenes I mean, if that makes sense.

Love the shot of those creatures just waiting up at the top.. Curious why some of these have head wear and most don't.

So, judging by the fact that Caitlyn and Mel were both hit by that beam (?) does it mean that, after Viktor's "Glorious Evolution" was complete anyone could be sucked into the hivemind, regardless of if they were touched by those robots or previously healed?

JINX AND VI TOO

Ekko please

Why has Jayce not been hit by it? He's the closest human to it all, so unless he purposefully wasn't for a reason, it should have hit him first.

OKAY THERE WAS A REASON. I NEED TO SHUT MY TRAP BEFORE I FINISH WATCHING

Btw can I note that, before that, he looks so resigned to his fate. He failed and he's going to die for it.

Why is his hair white and his beard isn't. Lol

I've had the same laptop background for three years. It has to change to this once this is done.

"You were never broken, Viktor. There is beauty in imperfections. They made you who you are; an inseparable piece of everything I admired about you"

I'm honest to god surprised that I hadn't started crying until now.

Also this entire thing, because I can't stop comparing this Act to Doctor Who for some reason, reminds me of this bit during The End of Time towards The Master :((

Being seen as beautiful because of your weakness not in spite of it.

THANK GOD FOR EKKO. WHERE WE BE.

I SPOKE TOO SOON. HOPE YOU'RE OKAY, BUDDY.

I'M NOT TOO SURE WHAT HE JUST DID IN THIS MOMENT, BUT THANK YOU!

"Now all I want is my partner back?" "Why do you persist, after everything I've done?" :'(((((

WAIT SO VIKTOR IS THE MAGE.

Damn bearded Viktor is a good look.

ANYWAY VIKTOR HAS BEEN THERE FOR HIM TECHNICALLY SINCE HE WAS A CHILD! HE SAVED HIS LIFE AND WAS THE REASON HE GOT INTO THIS.

HE MENTIONS DIFFERENT TIMELINES WITH DIFFERENT CRYSTALS BEING DROPPED. SO TECHNICALLY THE TIME LOOP THEORY OF SOMEONE GOING BACK OVER AND OVER WAS CLOSER TO WHAT VIKTOR DID RATHER THAN JAYCE!!?

Sorry I'm not coping well if you can't tell lol

"Only you can show me this" :((((. They're INTERTWINED.

HE PUTS IT IN VIKTOR'S HAND THIS TIME!!

"We finish this together"

Are they going to JMart me???

WAIT I WAS JOKING ARE THEY

This sketched sequence is so beautiful.

Died 2021, Revived 2024: Welcome back The Magnus Archives episode 200.

I am devastated. Destroyed. Absolutely decimated.

SEVIKA IS OKAY AT LEAST.

Oh no.

VI, LISTEN TO YOUR SISTER.

VI LISTEN.

MOURN YOUR DEAD WOLF DAD LATER. PLEASE LISTEN TO JINX.

WHAT. HE'S STILL THERE

Oh no. The redux.

No words I can type can translate what this is making me feel.

I am torn up. Heavily so.

I knew she wasn't making it out of Act 3 but still!!

THAT'S JAYCE'S MUM.

At least random piano boy is okay...

EKKO HAS A BIT OF PAPER FOR JINX TO LIGHT UP. END ME.

Sevika deserved to be all right. I hope she does well.

How the hell did Singed survive.

Mel's now Noxian uniform is so interesting. I like that she doesn't definitively put on the mask her Mother wore as well. She just examines it.

"Is that singing?" Of course, did you see Vi's VA?

SHE CALLED HER VIOLET.

<33333333 at least we still have them....

Well. Wow. Considering the kind of off pacing of act 2 (not too much for me personally but I see where people are coming from with that criticism), that was a way better ending than I thought it would be. Devastating, but still.

Thanks for sticking around for my ramblings. I hope you enjoyed this almost as much as I have lol 👋

So Heimerdinger's dead... Right????? :(

ARCANE ACT 3

LIVEBLOG TIME ❤️❤️❤️

The final episode wow.

I am not ready for this in the slightest.

One thing before I get into this:

Regardless of how this show ends, it's still going to be one of my favourites of all time and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

I think it's a true testament to how good Arcane is in so many areas that I fully believe a bad ending won't spoil it for me. Although, that may be naive, who knows.

Arcane Season 2, Episode 9: The Dirt Under Your Nails.

I am so nervous. (Also I've had a couple of drinks in-between lol)

IMMEDIATELY a beautiful Jinx shot. Notably without the usual intro.

Oh I have such a bad feeling. Well we know what she meant by burning it all down then....

She's already cut her hair by this point.

EKKO!! THE KING RETURNS.

He's using his time travel!!

GIRL YOU'RE STRESSING ME OUT.

I'm not getting over the monkey toy. Never.

These little flashes forward are making me even more nervous.

I'm not knowledgeable in weapon design, but the difference between the Noxian weapon choice and Piltover's is immediately a detail I find quite interesting.

Why do I have a bad feeling Loris is going to die in this scene.

Holy shit Ambessa.

I do like that the big battles aren't really going the same route as s1's final act if that makes sense.

I completely forgot about shimmer wow.

DAMN IT I KNEW IT. LORIS :(((

Oh no STEB!

Of course the bomb wasn't going to work. it's not even a third into the episode...

I'm surprised Stb survived the gas.

MADDIE

(insert that Jürgen Leitner rant except specifically aimed at Maddie)

"I did appreciate your warmth" MADDIE THE FUCK

H a h.

That was Mel, right???

IT WAS MEL.

"(chaotic humming in the distance)" I KNEW IT was Jinx based solely on that subtitle.

I AM OBSESSED

This was exactly what I wanted, thank you.

Timebomb to the RESCUE OMG

YES RANDOM PIANO BOY WHOSE NAME I CAN'T THINK OF (I'm so sorry if he's a reoccurring character that I've completely blanked)

OH GOD VIKTOR IS OUT OF THE ORB

I'm genuinely at a loss as to how Ambessa would be taken down rn.

Speaking of new looks that I'm utterly in love with:

I am so worried for Steb

AND I WAS RIGHT TO BE THE CYBERMEN ARE BACK

SEVIKA NO

No

She's alright

Right????

RIGHT????

"You are no Medarda" obsessed. Her turning those words on her MOTHER was superb.

Okay hands down the funniest bit this entire season. This is the reason you don't have a villain monologue in the middle of a war! :D

NO RANDOM PIANO BOY!!!

Absolutely gobsmacked.

So much of this episode so far has left my jaw on the floor WOW.

Okay so I've run the limit on images being used, so I'm going to post this and then add to it in a reblog. I would usually plan to just cut them down , but I have so much I want to point out in this finale.

[buzzthetower]

Fuck it AU where Mav and Ice get to be happy and married together in public

Both of them constantly try to introduce each other to people as ‘my husband’ people see Mav at formal events and two minutes into the conversation he casually asks if they’ve all met his husband and usually the last thing people expect is for him to whip an admiral out. 

Ice is much more subtle about it, he’ll just casually drop mid-conversation something about 'my husband' and no one really knows what to expect from him either, but it is also not Captain Pete Mitchell, because if you haven’t heard of him you at least have a friend of a friend who could tell you some batshit story about him.

Of course, all of the officers who have known them for longer are very aware they’re married and Maverick will still start the ‘my husband this’ and ‘my husband that’ as soon as he gets the chance. Everyone does their best not to roll their eyes.

Maverick enjoys getting to hang off of Ice's arm just a little bit too much because Ice secretly loves having Maverick hanging onto him for everyone to see and also because it's best not to try to cause a scene with him in public by trying to get him to stop.

Ice hates Maverick’s bike, thinks it's a deathtrap, and has to be baited onto it every time they go somewhere on it. 

When they first started dating, Maverick would pick him up on it and definitely not drive a little bit too fast just to see if he could get Ice to hold onto him tighter and, “really come on Ice, you’re telling me the top pilot of his class is afraid of going five over the speed limit?”

When they’re older, Maverick teaches at Top Gun and whenever he gets a particularly unruly batch of kids he starts casually threatening that they should really be on their toes because you never know when higher-ups and Admirals might be visiting, and to be specific do you really want to look like a shit head in front of the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet?

Some of them assume it's all talk until said Admiral is sitting quietly in the corner of the mess hall on a random Wednesday afternoon across from Maverick talking over lesson plans and suddenly class on Thursday morning is very well behaved. 

Because there's one thing worse than having Maverick ride your ass for doing something stupid, it's a disappointed look from Admiral Kazansky.

Maverick likes to stake out a corner of Ice’s office because “Ice, it's so much bigger than mine, what are you even going to do with all this space anyways?” and while it's not entirely conducive to Ice getting work done, he has found a significant decrease in the number of people that demand to have meetings with him when they find out Maverick is laid across the couch doing his own reports.

Maverick claims he’s more productive with Ice around, Ice thinks he's full of bullshit but he doesn’t want to jinx the fact Maverick is actually doing paperwork for once so he decides to put up with it.

Maverick is very much on a first-name basis with Ice’s secretary, she’ll sometimes call Maverick if she knows Ice has had meetings all day and hasn’t had time for lunch or anything like that. If Maverick is free he comes over with food for Ice and usually a candy bar for her that he tosses onto her desk with a wink before busting into Ice’s office. Ice thinks this should count as a conspiracy to commit treason against him, Maverick thinks he should stop skipping breakfast and lunch.

[thedreamermusing]

Harry identified with and reluctantly admired Snape even before ‘The Prince’s Tale’

So, 'Albus Severus' is admittedly is a controversial name in fandom due to Snape's own dubious morality. And people also think that Harry going from hatred to admiration of Snape so quickly is unrealistic. But, that's not true. There's no doubt that Harry hated Snape, but amid that hatred, there was also reluctant admiration and even identification with Snape. Let's see a few examples:

Harry did not speak; he felt that to say anything might be dangerous. He was sure he had just broken into Snape’s memories, that he had just seen scenes from Snape’s childhood, and it was unnerving to think that the crying little boy who had watched his parents shouting was actually standing in front of him with such loathing in his eyes. . . .

Probably the first time Harry is looking at Snape as anything more than his hated Potions professor. But it is still significant considering Harry's own abusive childhood.

His reaction to Snape's Worst Memory:

What was making Harry feel so horrified and unhappy was not being shouted at or having jars thrown at him — it was that he knew how it felt to be humiliated in the middle of a circle of onlookers, knew exactly how Snape had felt as his father had taunted him, and that judging from what he had just seen, his father had been every bit as arrogant as Snape had always told him.

His immediate reaction after watching Snape's memory is to empathise with Snape, because he knows what it's like to be bullied in front of a crowd.

We also get hints of how similar Snape and Harry are. Even Hermione comments on it:

Did you hear him talking about the Dark Arts? He loves them! All that unfixed, indestructible stuff —” “Well,” said Hermione, “I thought he sounded a bit like you.”

“Like me?”

“Yes, when you were telling us what it’s like to face Voldemort. You said it wasn’t just memorizing a bunch of spells, you said it was just you and your brains and your guts - well, wasn’t that what Snape was saying? That it really comes down to being brave and quick-thinking?”

Hermione comments on how they both sound similar. Snape and Harry do have a lot in common as we will find out later, but this is one of the first hints of another character noticing it.

But imo, the largest culmination of Harry's reluctant admiration is in the case Snape's old textbook, when he called himself the Half-blood Prince. This is teen Snape; Snape as Lily knew him, Snape without all the baggage that he has with Harry. And what is Harry's opinion of him?

Harry woke early on the morning of the trip, which was proving stormy, and whiled away the time until breakfast by reading his copy of Advanced Potion-Making. He did not usually lie in bed reading his textbooks; that sort of behavior, as Ron rightly said, was indecent in anybody except Hermione, who was simply weird that way. Harry felt, however, that the Half-Blood Princes copy of Advanced Potion-Making hardly qualified as a textbook. The more Harry pored over the book, the more he realized how much was in there, not only the handy hints and shortcuts on potions that was earning him such a glowing reputation with Slughorn, but also the imaginative little jinxes and hexes scribbled in the margins, which Harry was sure, judging by the crossings-out and revisions, that the Prince had invented himself.

Harry's admiration is practically dripping through the pages. He's staying up at night reading the book, admiring the boy who was so clever.

One of the most interesting lines is also this:

“My dad used this spell,” said Harry. “I — Lupin told me.” This last part was not true; in fact, Harry had seen his father use the spell on Snape, but he had never told Ron and Hermione about that particular excursion into the Pensieve. Now, however, a wonderful possibility occurred to him. Could the Half-Blood Prince possibly be —?

Harry is so attached to Snape's old textbook that he wishes it was his father. Harry is hungry for father figures and the fact that he elevates the Prince to this kind of figure from just his textbook is significant. It shows the lost potential between Harry and Snape. Who is the Prince but a younger Snape? It shows that had Snape been a little less bitter and damaged, he could have been a mentor figure for Harry.

These two have so much in common: their lives are defined by Voldemort and they're not truly free until he's dead, they're both half-bloods who grew up in the muggle world, they both suffered abusive childhoods, they were both bullied, they're both sarcastic and dry, they both can get very vicious (Snape more so obviously), they're both completely loyal to Dumbledore, they're both brave and stubborn as hell. I truly believe that had Snape not been so blind, he could have been a great father figure for Harry simply because of how similar they are and how much they could relate to each other.

He felt stunned; it was as though a beloved pet had turned suddenly savage; what had the Prince been thinking to copy such a spell into his book? And what would happen when Snape saw it? Would he tell Slughorn — Harry’s stomach churned — how Harry had been achieving such good results in Potions all year? Would he confiscate or destroy the book that had taught Harry so much…the book that had become a kind of guide and friend? Harry could not let it happen…He could not…

Harry thinks of the Prince as a friend and guide.

“Will you stop harping on about the book!” snapped Harry. “The Prince only copied it out! It’s not like he was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he was making a note of something that had been used against him!”

“I don’t believe this,” said Hermione. “You’re actually defending —“

“I’m not defending what I did!” said Harry quickly. “I wish I hadn’t done it, and not just because I’ve got about a dozen detentions. You know I wouldn’t’ve used a spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you can’t blame the Prince, he hadn’t written ‘try this out, it’s really good’ — he was just making notes for himself, wasn’t he, not for anyone else…”

Even after 'Sectumsempra', Harry defends the Prince like this. As a side note, I also think that Harry's relationship with the Prince somewhat mirrors Lily's relationship with Snape. They both admired and loved the boy who was so clever and imaginative and were willing to blind themselves as that boy went deeper into the dark side.

He broke off, looking out of the window. He could not stop himself dwelling upon Dumbledore’s inexcusable trust in Snape…but as Hermione had just inadvertently reminded him, he, Harry, had been taken in just the same…in spite of the increasing nastiness of those scribbled spells, he had refused to believe ill of the boy who had been so clever, who had helped him so much..

This is after Snape killed Dumbledore, and Harry's primary feeling about the Prince is one of betrayal. Ultimately, I believe Harry's relationship with the Prince is pivotal in his understanding of Snape, and I firmly believe that this also informed his decision to name his son after Snape. After watching Snape's dying memories, Harry's admiration of the Prince returned and merged with his feelings towards Snape. It is no coincidence that the chapter revealing Snape's true allegiance is called 'The Prince's Tale', telling us that Snape truly is the same Prince Harry admired and wished was his father.

Harry's feelings towards Snape after the Prince's tale is obvious. Throughout Snape's memories, he identifies with him, not James. He immediately notices that James has an air of being loved and adored while Snape conspicuously lacks it. He cannot bring himself to watch Snape's Worst Memory again. After watching the memories, he identifies with both Snape and Tom Riddle as 'the abandoned boys' who were outcasts and only found their home in Hogwarts.

In short, I believe Harry's admiration of Snape was not sudden or inexplicable but something he always reluctantly felt. He identified with Snape even when he hated him. Once he saw Snape's memories in his entirety, he understood and identified with them even more because Harry has been in Snape's shoes. He's been a dark-haired, abused, bullied, half-blood outcast. And he knows how hard it is to be brave in those circumstances. While the readers might have trouble understanding why Snape would have a child named after him, Harry doing so is not a surprise.

[minyoongees]

comethru || myg

✧ pairing: manager!yoongi x worker!reader

✧ genre: slight angst? hurt/comfort, pathetic attempt at crack, barely there fluff

✧ word count: 2k

✧ summary: Yoongi saves you from heinous karens

✧ snip: "We have a coupon for a free meal at your restaurant and we demand you open it right now!!" this bitch—

✧ warnings: karens, oc gets all panicky, bubbling anxiety, rude af people, unhealthy relations with parents, unrequited love? (oc doesn’t really know)

This fic was genuinely fun to write! I know I did not do a very good job on this it’s lengthy with useless info but it just felt important. Let me know what you think of this!

Also, the title is inspired by Jeremy Zucker's comethru

As a new worker in a big restaurant, there are a few words one could dread to hear. For example, 'You're fired' sounds horrifying, gut wrenching, all your student loans flash before your eyes. It's scary, yes, but it's not as dreadful as the infamous —

"Can I see your manager?"

"Ma'am I already told you the restaurant opens at 11:30 am, and none of the staff arrives before 11, but I'd be happy to serve you at 11:30" you assured.

BANG!

One of the three ladies with a blonde bob cut hit at the door again.

"We don't talk to low class workers, call your manager!" Called out another from the group while the bangs continued. It was so loud you were almost afraid that they will tear this place down.

"Because of the unavailability of the manager, a low class worker is all you'll have to speak to for now," you spat, "but I'd be happiest if you don't speak to me at all"

Numerous loud gasps were heard. If the head chef heard you talking like this, you'll be out of the restaurant sooner than these karens can call your manager.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK LIKE THAT TO A CUSTOMER???"

"Ma'am since you have not walked into the restaurant yet, you are not our customer." you tried to explain, "The restaurant opens at 11:30 ma'am which is just in an hour and a half, I suggest you wait outside on one of the tables."

Even though it was kinda against the rules to sit on the tables unless you eat at the restaurant, but you desperately needed to get rid of the situation. The restaurant didn't even open yet, so what could be the big deal about them sitting on the benches outside. You were just hoping your manager would be understanding.

Anticipating another harsh string of words from them, the total silence that hit you surprised you. You pulled the blinds lower and peeked through them. The ladies were seated on the chairs outside, looking through their phones. Even though a bit shocked that they decided to do what you asked so easily, you didn't wanna jinx it. You thanked your lucky stars and moved on to getting the coffee machine started.

The day hasn't even started yet and the karens are here to disrupt the place already. Being the newbie, you have to come early to get this place started and on top of that, people like them are making it even harder. You clearly don't get paid enough for this.

Moving on to wiping all the tables, you were wishing that when your manger arrives, he'll understand the situation. To come to think of it, he's actually a good man and been nothing but nice to you since you joined here a month ago. He even covered up for you when you broke a plate. Another time he took the blame upon himself when you put a bit too much salt in of the dishes and a few people left unsatisfied. He's been sheltering you ever since you joined here and you've been enjoying this more than you should. Yet you still can't help but hope he handles it this time too and saves you from these heinous Karens.

brrring brrring brrring!!

The sounds catches you off guard not because of it's sudden penetration into the too good to be true silence, but because it shouldn't be ringing when it's the restaurant's hours closed. Nevertheless against your better judgement you pick it up and place the receiver between your ear and shoulder.

"Thanks for calling the Nile's! My name is y/n, how can I help you today?"

"We have a coupon for a free meal at your restaurant and we demand you open it right now!!"

this bitch—

"Ma'am as I explained already, the restaurant opens at 11:30 and if you walk in by then, I'll be happy to serve you and make use of your coupons too." Is it too early to quit?

"Am I talking to the manager?" she asked penetratingly.

"The manager is not here yet, but as soon as he arrives, I'll make sure you're the first person he talks to." you tried calmly hoping it would help.

The woman on the line took a deep breath but nothing could prepare you for the coming onslaught of distress.

"Missy you've been saying this to us since the morning and yet your manager isn't here. You should not open a restaurant when you do not know how to run it.”

She was so loud you couldn't even hear yourself losing the will to live.

"You do not know my husband. If he gets to know about the way you've treated me today, your restaurant will be closed forever." She threatened and you could hear her talking from the outside. Did she know that you did not own the restaurant?? "You should be grateful to me for not telling. Now open this damn door RIGHT NOW!!”

Another round of bangs started ringing and it echoed through the walls. They seemed louder than you know they should've been. And it was the trigger. The helplessness of the situation created panic. Your eyes unfocused, your stomach churned and your heartbeat escalated. You felt trapped.

Her shrill sound coming from the phone felt like it was piercing your ear drums and you could no longer understand what she was saying. So you slammed the receiver back into place, not knowing what to do anymore.

The grip on the cloth between your fingers seemed weak. You have always been a strong woman, dealing with irrational people all your life since you spent most of it around such people. But the karens have been tormenting you since the past 30 minutes and it was bound to get to you, sooner or later. Though you'd hoped for later rather than sooner. They way they started banging on the door while demanding something from you seemed so familiar to the way your parents banged on your bedroom door when you locked yourself in to save yourself from them.

Anywho, the situation is delayed for now and you have to calm down and start working again or you won't be done till the rest of the staff comes around. You don't know till when you'll be living under Yoongi's shadows and he'll be protecting you.

You put your hands on your face and let out a deep breath. Back to work bitches.

You started wiping the tables again, trying to think about something else. That 'something else' had a lot of options for you like, how are you going to repay your student loan that you took to go to college and didn't even help you land a decent job, or how your mom has been pestering you since months to get married and you haven't the found the best way to tell her yet that you wanna focus on your career for now and become a chef, or... well let's just say you had better things to worry about. But your train off thoughts was cut short when the phone rang again.

You already knew who was calling, so you decided against picking up. The ear splitting sound of the phone again echoed through the walls and it made you want to throw the phone against a wall. You know the restaurant phones should be loud enough to be heard by the staff even when the place is busy, but it did not help with the way it was making you feel.

After what seemed like forever, it stopped ringing and you went on to work again. The phone rang several times after that and with each ring, you felt your patience slipping farther away from you. You had half the mind to pick up the phone and tell them off, but you knew it would only anger them further. Yet you couldn't let this go on so after at least a dozen calls, you decided to pick it up.

"Thanks for calling at the Nile's! My name is y/n how can I help you today?" you spoke through a sigh.

"I'VE BEEN CALLING AT THIS DAMN RESTAURANT SINCE THE PAST 2 HOURS AND NOBODY HAS PICKED IT UP." she bellowed. If you thought she was loud and shrill earlier, you would change your mind now. Also, 2 hours????? you weren’t even here 2 hours ago!

"I HAVE GOT ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE ON MY PHONE AND I WILL POST THIS ALL ON FACEBOOK THE WAY YOU HAVE TREATED ME IS NOT AT ALL A WAY TO TREAT A CUSTOMER." she didn't even pause for a breath "WAIT TILL MY HUSBAND HEARS ABOUT THIS."

You didn't dare say anything for the fear that anything that may come out of your mouth right now, may anger her further, considering, you were not the manager she hoped to talk to.

There was small hustle on the other end. You could hear the ladies outside arguing a little. After a short pause, someone spoke again.

"Am I talking to manager?" this was not the woman who yelled at you earlier but someone else.

"Yes you are, ma'am"

You let out a small shriek. Surprised to see the receiver that was in your hands a moment ago, placed against Yoongi's ear. When the hell did he get here and how did you not even realize?? Even so, a strange feeling of safety filled up your chest at the sight of him and you felt like you could breath again.

"No ma'am, we cannot do that for you. As y/n here explained to you, the restaurant opens at 11:30 and no exceptions will be made for anyone." he explained calmly and it had you hoping that they'd listen to him if not you.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused to you ma'am."

You just stood being a witness to one side of the conversation. You could hear someone talking outside the restaurant as well, but couldn't make out their exact words.

You admired his calm even in such a patronizing situation. At least to you, it was that way. In your eyes, he seemed so serene, his lips moved to utter the most calming sounds and you felt like you'd hand over your life to him if he asked you for it.

You really needed to practice professional work ethics when it came to him.

"Yes we will take care of this in the future, thank you for your suggestion."

"Ma'am we do not accept any kind of coupons for any of the meals provided here. Are you sure it is the same restaurant?"

Wait. But we do accept coupons here at the Nile's...

"No ma'am we cannot do that for you. There is no such policy, and we do not accept coupons."

"You can totally go ahead and call the police for yourself and we'll be sure to tell them how have harassed one of our workers over here." He said in an unbothered tone, gaze floating to you and you strangely found yourself looking away.

"Sure thing. Thank you for calling!"

And he placed the receiver back, as if job accomplished.

"Are you okay y/n?" He questioned. In his deep eyes, you saw genuine concern for yourself and you wanted to stay there for some while more. His voice was music to your ears and you did not want your own voice to taint the air around.

But he asked you something.

"Yeah." you said breathlessly and cleared your throat. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks for the help Yoongi"

It was something he insisted you call him even though the rules say he is your senior and should be addressed as so.

"Such people are so irritating and do not deserve to be let out of their homes. What kind of a husband would it be, huh!" he wondered, "though I question if there is any husband at all or she was just bluffing."

"Yeah I know right?" you didn't know what to say. "Though it was really impressive the way you handled them, I could never!"

He laughed at that. Sounded so heavenly, your knees kind of gave out.

And it was another day when he saved you. Why does he do that for you? Why was he here here so early? Why does he even try to get to close to you?

These are questions you do not have the answers to yet. You hope to get them someday. But you are happy they you are right now. Or maybe you are too afraid that the answers to these questions wouldn't be what you'd like to hear. Maybe he was just being nice and you being a horndog took the hint wrong way.

But for now, you have all the time (45 mins max before some other employee comes) to enjoy this moment with him alone in the closed restaurant, surrounded by the smell of food and his cologne and you have no idea which you like better. You wouldn't have it any other way.

masterlist | fin. 

[itsme-tori]

You know what makes me really sad about Silco? The fact how he can't let go of Vander even after the whole betrayal. How's he all "Yeah I def got over it." Or "You hurt me but due to that I became stronger thx bro <3"

He even brings Vander to the cannery to show him how much he has prepared for Nation of Zaun over the years they've been apart. He thinks Vander became soft because he couldn't fight anymore, that Vander is just pretanding to be this nice man who choses peace instead of the violent man he used to admire (which I think his whole "I'll show you what you really are." line means). He shows Vander the shimmer ("We can finally realize our dream, brother.") as a way to tell him "You don't gotta worry about Piltover anymore once I release this bad boy into the open. Pretty cool plan, don't you agree Vander?"

He really wants Vander to join him on his side again even after all that's happened. To be brothers fighting for their shared goal again, like they did all those years ago.

He can't accept that Vander has changed.

Yes, Vander can still be violent (as showed in the fight against shimmerfied Deckard) but he isn't violent to be some bloodthirsty monster seeking revenge, he only chooses to fight to protect his last living child, Vi. Vander can still use his fists but the reason why he does is different.

However Silco doesn't think that at all. His line of " I knew you still had it in you." almost sounds like he's relieved to know that he was right, that Vander still has parts of his old self in him, even if he just tried to strangle Silco again. But Vander proves him wrong again when he chooses to save Vi instead of going to rip Silco in shreads, something that the old Vander probably would have done.

This is something that he shares with Jinx, they both don't accept that their sibling has changed (Vi being able to now work with enforcers and Vander not being some violent man). However, Jinx does come to the conclusion that they have both changed and so has their relationship after only three days(?) of seeing Vi again. Silco doesn't realize why Vander gave up on the cause until many years later, in which it was already too late.