But, Viktor isn’t the one Jayce is engaged to.

Piltover is ruled over by a council of family houses

While Zaun has One royal family that looks out for their people and keeps the Barons in line.

The council proposed arranged marriage, declaring it a wonderful way to reforge their once severed bond, as equals. And yet, the offer is for Jayce Talis, the 24 year old head of the lesser house Talis, to marry Violet, the newly 18 year old eldest princess and heir to the thrown of Zaun.

After the proposal King Vander has to talk his husband King Silco down from declaring war for the obvious fucking slight.

To offer such a minor house as the groom-to-be to their daughter and heir, as if the kingdom of Zaun is little more than a vassal state for them to exploit yet again. They did not fight and sacrifice so much for their sovereignty to be given such disrespect.

But there are trade relations to remember, and livelyhoods of their people to protect, so they begrudgingly accept the proposal after some serious haggling.

They demand for Jayce Talis to be who travels out to Zaun, instead of the suggested insulting idea of Violet going to Piltover, and for there to be an official courting period where princess Vi holds the right to cut off the engagement at the months end if she so chooses.

The council agrees and promptly ship Jayce Talis off to Zaun by the days end.

The expediency of his quick arrival does raises a few eyebrows as well as suspicion,

As it should… because had Zaun not agreed to the proposal, Jayce Talis would have instead been exiled for his crimes of attempting to create magic.

His trial had been a secret, as all house related trials are. His mothers pleas for mercy to not have her boy banished to some far off continent had been what had given the counselors the idea to use him instead as their political pawn.

But, if he fails to secure this engagement by the months end, then both he and his mother will be stripped of their house statues and banished.

So Jayce, force to surrender his life’s work in hextech (save for a single notebook he managed to hide), is escorted across the river to Zaun to woo a princess he has never met before. He doesn’t even get to say goodbye to his mother or his only friend Caitlyn.

Meanwhile, Viktor, respected inventor and tutor to the royal children of Zaun, (and the unofficial fifth adopted sibling if you asked those children) gets a front row seat to the explosive fallout from Vi learning about the engagement.

It’s obvious to everyone who knows her that she will absolutely be rejecting the proposal to this man the second she that can. But the fact that she has to court this Piltie pretty boy for entire month?? And he’s arriving TODAY???

How Viktor got roped into being the one to welcome Jayce to Zaun, he’ll never know.

Once Viktor believes his stalled long enough for Vi to agree to the charade, he brings the him to properly meet her. Jayce and Vi’s introduction and pre planned first date would be so fucking awkward and even hostile a first.

Jayce would be spiraling because he can tell how much she hates him and it’s becoming clearer and clearer the more he get to know her that there is NO CHANCE she’ll feel anything for him beyond friendship at best by the months end.

He’s set up for failure, there’s nothing he can do here to save his mother from His mistakes…

In a rush to excuse himself, his secreted notes gets left behind. Vi finds them and mistakes the scientific and mathematic notes to be something of Viktors so returns it to him.

Viktor is enthralled by the research he finds, surprised to discover this clearly belongs to Jayce (who signs every page of his notes). He simply must find Jayce to ask him about what this all means.

Viktor does not expect to find Jayce attempting to step over the railing of his fourth floor balcony.

Much like in Arcane, Viktor talks Jayce down off the ledge, inspiring him not give up and to continue his passion for science. Jayce opens up to Viktor, telling him the true reason he was chosen for the betrothal. How he was the expendable would-be exile with ideas too dangerous for Piltover.

“But not too dangerous for Zaun.” Viktor tells him

With those words the two dive into his research together, spending days in Viktors lab to recreate Jayce’s lost equipment before they’re finally able to test their theories.

Meanwhile, Vi cannot say she’s disappointed to be stood up for another of her and Jayce’s scheduled ‘dates’, but she is curious as to what the hell he’s up to. Not enough to investigate herself, no, she’s much happier running around Zaun with her siblings and checking in on her people.

Until she finds a young Piltie enforcer trying and failing to not draw attention to herself.

The enforcer, Caitlyn, informs Vi that she’s currently investigating a sensitive case regarding the relations between Piltover and Zaun and request Vi direct her to where she might fine a contact to the royal family house hold, if not Jayce Talis himself.

Vi, deeply amused by this topsider who clearly has no idea who she is, decides to spend the day giving her the run around for her own entertainment and to get more info from her.

Now, the truth of Jayce’s situation is incredibly dangerous for anyone to know. Offering a member of a lesser house for a princess heir’s hand in marriage is bad enough, but a criminal exile?? The uproar, the unrest, what were the counselors even thinking?? A sentiment that had been privately discussed between Caitlyn and the young counselor Mel Medarda. Mel had hoped talking with you younger Kiramman might give her insight on her mother’s ideals as well as Jayce’s character due to their friendship. Instead she inspired the young woman to take up the investigation personally.

Over the plot, Vi and Caitlyn grow closer to each other. The ladies both unaware of each others true statues as the Princess of Zaun and the High Counselors daughter of the Great House Kiramman.

Meanwhile Jayce and Viktor fully realize hextech and discuss the possibilities for it in Zaun, while also trying to figure out what to do about the engagement and how to save Jayce’s mother.

My plot ideas fizzle out here, however there is still the idea of Piltover still pushing for the engagement and throwing an ultra fancy ball to celebrate the desired couple’s official announcement once the courting period ends.

Everyone is invited, the councilors, heads of houses, the Zaun royalty and barons. All waiting in anticipation for Princess Vi’s arrival on the arm of her betrothed beau Jayce Talis.

Only for Vi to appear at her own engagement party with her betrothed beauty Caitlyn Kiramman on her arm. To Caitlyn’s mother’s horror and Vi’s fathers’ delight.

like a wildflower.

this:

would be the chart for vi and jinx's genes, PB being felicia (pink and blue) and BrBr being their father (brown, which is still a dominant trait, but yields to these other colors). when you chart it the genes exhibit that pink is dominant over brown and blue is dominant over brown, (and it doesnt matter what the fathers genes were, as in if he was carrying a recessive gene, it would still get overpowered by pink/blue)

there was always a 50% chance their child would have blue hair and a 50% chance their child would have pink hair

so clearly felicia has dominant traits, as hers are easily seen within both her daughters, although we dont see much of their father (like one drawing) and their physical appearances are very influenced by their environments (as we see in the happy au, with powder's skin being much healthier and not as sickly as jinx's)

this is also shown in the kirammans as caitlyn and her father both have dark blue hair and her mother has brown, greying hair, blue is either dominant or her mother carries a recessive blue allele.

i would be able to provide more examples but we dont see many peoples parents in this show. it is curious how "colored" hair (at least pink and blue) must be dominant even though there are less people with these traits, like straight hair vs curly hair, curly is dominant but not as common.

No matter who anyone believed who was at fault for the bridge… if Felicia knew that she and Connel were going to die that night, what is it that she would have wanted to happen after? For Violet and Powder?

Most likely them to be adopted by the couple she trusted most in the world, her very best friends, if not honorary brothers, Silco and Vander.

But what happened instead?

Vander betrayed Silco, tried to kill him in his blind rage, and then blamed Silco for Felicia’s death.

I think Vander clinging to Silco (and then later himself) being at fault for Felicia’s death might be tied to a layer of guilt that he had done something so unforgivable to Felicia. Shattered what would have been her wish for her children. For them to be raised by both of her dear friends. Healthy, safe, whole, and together.

But Vanders mad rage destroyed that

Like?? Imagine what Felicia’s reaction would be if she could meet who Vander and Silco became? If she saw Silco’s horrible scaring and infected eye?

She would be horrified, hold her friends face and ask what happened to him? Who hurt him??

And Silco would be faced with her caring for him, not blaming him for what happened.

I have problems with the people twisting the entirety of Caitlyn's narrative into "always was always will be 100% evil and should have died for it" and getting high on spewing neglectfully simple statements with extreme terms that don't apply in full or even at all, just because it makes them feel morally superior to anybody that allows even the slightest bit of room to acknowledge the complexity of a fictional character.

you don't have to like her or what she's done (and you shouldn't like what she's done, but at least get right what actually happened and why). at the same time, that doesn't make it impossible to still acknowledge she has (and was purposefully written with) goodness and compassion in the heart of her character. this was made abundantly clear all throughout season 1 and is something she absolutely compromised in season 2, BUT also realized she hated herself for and wants to do better going forward.

(and look, i understand longing for more meaningful reparations on-screen, but a fictional narrative doesn't owe you a perfectly depicted solved problem by the final frame. they gave us the first steps with a clear intention to continue improving (listen to Caitlyn's closing speech). not to mention it wouldn't make practical or narrative sense to deliver a giant montage of fixing every issue when arcane is ultimately a backstory and, to my knowledge, the piltover/zaun conflict is still part of current league lore and potentially other on-screen stories yet to tell.)

real evil does not experience remorse or make efforts to change. and making 1-for-1 comparisons of Caitlyn to.. certain real world figures & groups that don't do those things not only (1) is a huge failing of your own understanding of humanity, but also (2) severely undermines the severity and depth of those real world evils and ideologies.

(this show does not and never did intend to be a comprehensive and accurate depiction of real world issues, but references and makes parallels to it anyway. whether or not the way they executed that is a disservice in and of itself, is a far more important discussion than a single character's moral judgement. though I personally think the show did the best it could with the unfortunate original league lore.)

The Blanket tm

We got a cloak in canon that carries So Much meaning to Viktor that the man never took it off for an entire season/months in-story. A cloak he was wrapped in after his resurrection, then died in, resurrected again in, and then died in again alongside the man who gave it to him.

For the au, either Viktor is the selkie and Jayce is returning his pelt to him, wrapping it around his shoulders, totally unaware of the meaning of that, and is only trying to keep Viktor warm and safe with what he can find near by.

OR

For Viktor:

Viktor has a scar of the acceleration rune stone imprinted onto his left palm. Also starts to show small signs of being touched by the arcane (like his hair naturally growing those blonde streaks he had again)

Viktor was at first resistant to being loved and cared for after all he has done in his past life, but the adults are persistent. They see how he suffers from nightmares and struggles to even speak most days. They notice his talents for gadgets and are supportive. Vander introducing Viktor to Benzo and his shop while Silco has stolen engineering books smuggled in from Piltover.

The memories of Viktors past start to blur over time. No longer sharp enough to cut him as they once did. He often wonders about Jayce, and is often caught staring at his scarred hand. (He might tell his found family a lil about Jayce, being someone he was very close to and was separated from, but not much else)

Now, a fun overarching element to this story, to build up an antagonist for the extra Drama. After all, the goal is to soften up Silco by inflicting fatherhood onto him earlier, so this would be a great chance to introduce the other bad bitch chembaron of Zaun,

Renata Glasc

so yeah, this mess of a ramble goes out to all my fellow caitlyn analysis enthusiasts who care about nuance!

first, regarding the subject matter of my original post that this reply references:

i'll admit i'm not a fan of people completely glossing over cait's negative character arc or vi's own mistakes that tie into it. acknowledge the stuff, then move on and enjoy yourself. but also highkey i don't think the show itself glossed over it lmao? vi expressed clear resistance and reasoning for refusing the badge the first time. caitlyn should have thought better in the first place but she did regret it, expressing so in the scene after the memorial attack. and yes, for both personal and strategic reasons, at the expense of a moral sacrifice, vi ended up taking it in the end and that sucked. but based on everything that followed it sure seemed to me like she hated doing it the entire damn time. everyone acting like vi just freely and eagerly went for it immediately loses credibility in my mind because i simply did not witness that.

as for vi "ending up" with a police officer. are we really just ignoring the complexity (and malleability) of human morality to lock everyone in neatly labeled packages they can NEVER come back from these days? piltover's enforcers are fucked, police systems are fucked, ACAB, and all that, but are we forgetting what propaganda is? human beings don't just naturally hold beliefs and views like that, and if they can be built in the first place, they CAN be dismantled. also, seeing people try to equate an intentionally temporary period of (albeit brutal) martial law to both actual genocide and something as complex as real-world fascist regimes is batshit insane to me. find similarities and parallels, fine, but don't equate it. words lose meaning when you throw them around recklessly.

yes caitlyn had an intense negative character arc taking advantage of power in a way no one ever should. but s1 caitlyn doesn't just magically disappear or get canceled out because of the first half of s2. it doesn't make sense to me to write off the clearer conscience she started with to suddenly claim she's as bad as the rest of piltovan enforcers and high-society figures, who we've seen are far more viciously hateful and dehumanizing of zaunites as a whole than caitlyn ever was at any point in the show. to get into specifics: cait's "animals" comment was directed at those participating in the memorial attack, not at the entire city and i stand by that, even if the type of rhetoric heard growing up gave shape to that thought. and what she let happen during martial law was still centered on a single-target hunt, nor was it done without regret (see all of 2x04 & 2x05) or without feeling like it was the only option under pressure from both ambessa and the rest of piltover that looked up to her (showcased in the entire final scene of 2x01). legacy and a sense of duty drilled into you since childhood can fuck up a bitch.

we were unfortunately only shown the beginnings of caitlyn's turn-around and path to redemption on screen in the last two episodes, but they still exist. she was fixated on jinx the entire time and she allowed zaun to become a casualty in that mission, something she she came to regret deeply and literally hate herself for, which she admitted out fucking loud.