#justzaunthings

Alright I woke up in a weird on edge and lowkey bitchy mood, and I’m trying to just vibe and chill until I settle back down but I’m in the mood to write stuff anyways so…. Here’s some details on what “my Zaun” would be like if I actually fully wrote it out/went properly canon divergent.

First, here’s some stuff in no particular order I’ve written before Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, and Here. Now I could probably turn this into a 3 post long essay, but let’s try to just hit the more important points.

A lot of the vendors, and merchants, and shop keepers, and people that fish or collect mushrooms or other “common” professions have a guild/union. The reason is simple. First, it’s a tradition left over from the Mining Days. Second, the vast majority of individual people in Zaun don’t have the money to order needed supplies from outside of Zaun. It’s easier, and over all cheaper for them to put their money together and order good to be shipped in. It can be as something like reliable iron stock to mix with their own less high quality stuff to craft fishing harpoons, or getting sufficient amounts of spices that they can’t grow enough of for certain foods, or wool from outside for clothing, or whatever else. Generally people are either part of a guild, rich, or run a small unique personal business that can get everything it needs from inside of Zaun. There are exceptions, but that’s generally how it works. The good part of this is the guilds and unions do help their members. The bad part is there’s varying levels of corruption, because Zaun and I’m not trying to make things “perfect and nice”, so money does get pulled out for other less “noble” reasons and also if you are trying to compete with them there’s a chance your business going to get burned down. Generally, the younger the leadership the more corrupt, but even with the ones that are the “most” corrupt the benefits still out weigh the negatives...for now.

((under cut for length))

So obligatory, this is just in my Zaun, doesn’t have to apply to others, etc.etc.

This is one of the first shots we get of Zaun proper and The Lanes.

Now is it always dark like this? No. This is set at night. Also there's a shot of Silco meeting with Marcus in which Marcus states it's the first time he's been invited down to The Lanes, and it's decently lit up. However with how tall that canyon is, and the buildings and all I'd argue that normally the areas of Zaun in which most people live don't get lit up as well as someplace like Piltover. I also would say the inhabitants have deliberately embraced that for one simple reason. Their lighting. A lot of the time green is used either in night vision stuff, or in flash lights and the like for night time usage while hiking and the like because it's easier to see with green light during low light situations without ruining your night vision. This has a bit of an explanation if you want.

To me that says not only does Zaun generally have a lower light setting than topside, but that the people of Zaun use that to their advantage. Not against each other a whole lot because all of them can see decently, but against Pilties and Outsiders that visit Zaun. It's a lot easier to pickpocket, mug, cheat, scam, or whatever else someone when their eyes are adjusting to a whole new lighting situation. Particularly as Zaun has a tendency to use green, and other colors as well.

In a way the entire core of Zaun is a deliberate expression of "fuck you for making our environment hostile now we are going to make it more hostile for you whenever you come down here" to me. Now the important thing here is that this how they grow up. They get used to these conditions, and their eyes become accustomed to it. They are used to blues, greens, reds and all of those are easier to see particularly in the conditions they live in. However because they are used to those conditions their eyes take a lot less time to adjust, and more often than not are already adjusted to darkness. When they go up topside though they have to take a bit more time to let their eyes adjust to the brightness, and some (my Silco) can be susceptible to migraines and the like.

I could go on, but basically what it comes down to is a cultural thing. Piltover is brightly lit with whites, and golds, and has lots of sunlight and everything so... to hell with them "we" will do the opposite, and deliberately create a confusing hard to navigate and handle environment for whenever they come down. It gives people from Zaun a distinct art style, and usage of color while also spitting in Piltover's face and incidentally makes it so Zaunites generally see better at low light because they are so used to it.

Depending on how long Zaun has been around you could also argue that the people that live there actually have started to get a small physical change to their eyes that literally makes them see better in low light. Which I do personally like the idea of that being part of things. However it's also still a cultural thing regardless.

We all talk about how polluted and toxic Zaun is, but I feel like something gets lost with that.

Zaun has

It's own unique

Ecosystem and sources of food

In it's rivers, and

The sea.

Lactose intolerance is a common thing in (my) Zaun due to lack of diary products in general. There is some diary but it's generally used to cook other dishes with to maximize what can be done with it. Normally it's used for baked goods and similar things, but no heavy creamy dishes. Jinx, and Silco are both lactose intolerant and try not to eat cheese and the like.

It's really interesting to me that this song has been around since 1931 (possibly 1912 and updated in 31 by the writer), was originally written by a woman (Florence Reece), and was written (Updated) because of the Harlan County War which was part of the "Coal wars" between miners trying to get decent working conditions and mine operators/nation guard/strike breakers. Just, there used to be SUCH a big thing about workers conditions and unions and all.

There's reasons I associate Silco so much with mining stuff.

So me being interested in small details went looking at ages, and noticed a few things.

Silco is roughly four years (give or take a year in either direction) younger then Vander. Sevika is about 5 years younger than Silco so nine years younger than Vander. Most of the chem barons besides from Renni are either noticeably younger than Silco (or in the case of Chross much older), and Marcus is about ten years younger. Why does this matter?…

I don’t think most people currently operating in Zaun or Piltover remember how things used to be anymore and those that do have enough money and power built up to have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. I don’t think Silco has any true peers he works with in terms of experience, age, personal convictions, and the like. Whatever connection Renni may have used to have with things she’s obviously lost after being more concerned with profits, and throwing in her lot with Finn. Sevika probably is one of the few people still operating that fought in the same conflicts that Vander did (besides from Silco of course), and Silco finds himself moving more and move into the status of let’s call it… the old guard, the OG, the “old man” who built things but now others want him gone.

In my opinion it says a lot that Finn says “I thought now here’s a man who knows how to run an enterprise, but time’s lapped you old man” while Silco has always talked about the Free Nation of Zaun. Finn is a good fifteen years younger than Silco. Finn is used to relative peace with Vander, and then business and profit with Silco. The idea of a Free Nation isn’t there for the simple reason Finn has the power and money he wants. What does he care about the others? Meanwhile Silco, hates him and the other chem-barons. There’s a reason he deliberately says “Now I’m forced to share the air with parasites like you who leech off their legacies.”

Silco respects the brothers and sisters of Zaun, and the people he fought alongside with back in the day. He knows Zaun wouldn’t be anything without their struggle, and that Finn and the others wouldn’t have the power or money or influence they have without that struggle. Silco doesn’t know their history he lived it… and he’s one of the last people who truly knows, remembers, and lived what happened. Silco lives, and breathes Zaun while being forced to share the air and power… with parasites who have no true understanding of what’s important and who leech off of the struggles of those who came before.

It makes me wonder if Silco had a blind spot. The blind spot being how much Zaun changed under Vander because of that relative peace, and how the younger generation didn’t have the same drive and need for freedom so long as they had some form of prosperity for themselves. Maybe his blind spot led him to pick chem-barons who had a drive to succeed yes, but not to drive things forward the way Silco needed because they just don’t. See. The. Need.