Go read ‘TheHomelyBadger’s -- Run At The Cup
First a synoposis: This fic takes place within a modern version of Runeterra where all of our favorite champions are hockey players within the Runeterra Hockey League (RHL), with Caitlyn and Vi being veterans with about a dozen years each in their respective clubs. Their rivalry is legendary within the RHL and they’re popular figures, but like in most sports, young blood is often more valuable than experience on the actual field, and both of them are left unprotected during an expansion draft, and are picked up by the brand new Zaunite club, the Sumprats, headed by Mel Medarda and coached by Sevika.
So right here, this is a really interesting premise. More than just being a premise, though, the combination of hockey lingo (which strikes a strong note at being both dense and perfectly understandable) and focus on the nit and grit of putting together a team makes this an incredibly immersive experience. Narratively it’s the most classic of classic sports-team underdog stories, and that is absolutely to its credit. This is a fired-up, feel-good novel quality piece of work, with different writing styles peppered through the prose to make the whole thing feel fun and exciting to read-through. Most chapters begin with a flash-forward or flash-back in the form of interviews, articles, and such. A couple of times we get a piece from ‘Steady Teddy’s blog regarding the game that reads like the best sort of armchair quarterback review of player picks and their histories.
And then there’s the character work. Run At The Cup has got a wildly weird and diverse cast of League characters, all playing different hockey positions and frankly speaking they are all characterized really well. It takes a lot of skill and talent at writing to maintain a strong ensemble cast and give them all really distinct voices and personalities, but Badger does it with aplomb. Not only are Caitlyn and Vi given realistic and sympathetic character portrayals that are both faithful enough to the source to be recognizable, and unique enough not to feel like a boilerplate rehash, their supporting cast is absolutely phenomenal.
Personally, my favorite supporting character has to be Graves as the weird old veteran Goalie, with Claggor and surprisingly Mylo being a close second and third. Mylo is given a sympathetically personable characterization as a young player hungry for success and insecure about his own future being paid to play the sport he loves, and it’s very relatable. Claggor by comparison is the stolid, reliable defender, and a very ‘never the bride’ sort of character who has accepted where his skillset lies.
The prosework is fantastic, and Badger keeps the story moving at a consistent clip, dangling plot threads for you to follow, leading them out, and then neatly tying them up with strong conclusions, and the whole of it is kept together by the running thread of desperately wanting to see the Zaunite Sumprats score their victories over the bigger, more successful, and more entrenched Piltovan Lone Stars or the Noxian War Horses with their ragtag team of misfit toys.
All in all, this is a story that is both worth reading and following for the longterm, and I can’t wait for the next chapter, I hope you all give it a chance.
You can find the fic at the link blow, give it a read, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Be aware that it is NSFW, has explicit sex scenes (not that I would assume that would deter any of you) but also know that it is probably the best CaitVi fic I’ve ever read, and I’ve read quite a few.
I sincere hope you all enjoy this story as much as I did, thank you for reading, and, as always,
ellievsbear
origamiaround
titsay
discoholicmusic
snowghoul
