You said to give you an excuse to yap about love's paradox viktor's family relationships so here I am asking can you please yap about that 🙏
Also I wonder what you're willing to do with albus ferros in this au? Absolutely hated his guts in LOR but dang was he good rep for the filthy rich of piltover.
Also not sure if you missed this but in Canon in s1 mels first ever scene we see that she already made connections with the ferros and I wonder if you're going to expand on that. My theory is that the ferros initially had a council seat but with bargaining mel managed to win then over with a deal although the show never really expands on this point
*ahem* Alright, let's talk about Viktor and his family.
To start with, his mother. Camille is for a lack of better words, probably not someone who should've been a mother. Or at least, not a mother to someone like Viktor who wants actual love and encouragement, and unfortunately, Camille's version of "love" and "encouragement" is a mix of sharp piercing scrutinization, passive aggressive comments that make it feel like you're losing health in a battle royale game, tense confidence-killing conservations where she makes you want to sink into the ground and completely disappear and never reappear again, and demanding upmost perfection at all times.
Part of why Viktor has such a great mask that helps him hide his real emotions is because of her. And one of the worst times when Viktor cried was because of her, and much to his dismay, he couldn't hold back his tears and cried in front of her and she did not react favorably to it...
He goes out of his way to stay off her radar and not make her upset (or too upset that is, since sometimes you have the brave the storm to get to the other side), but even then she would never let him go too far away from her. Where she can't control him. She let him go to the University of Piltover and work under Heimerdinger, only after Heimerdinger and Albus pushed her to. It would be fair to say that she treats Viktor more like a prop, extension of herself that she can't get rid of so she tries to make it "presentable" rather than an actual person.
I imagine that she treated him like a porcelain doll, but the kind that you treat as if it will shatter if you breathe on it wrong and the kind that you keep on a shelf since getting it.
I had one little scene of an alternative scene of kid Viktor and kid Jayce meeting for this AU, which didn't really happen, but its fun to play with scenarios. And Viktor complains about how his mother doesn't let him do anything, or even go outside of the house because she thinks the world will eat him the moment he goes outside and how he hates it. And Jayce questions how that's true is he's currently close to Zaun like he is right now, and Viktor just makes a face and doesn’t say anything, and after a moment Jayce is like "YOU SNUCK OUT?!?!" and Viktor goes "like it's hard?" all joking like.
Added with Viktor is the child of an impassioned, somewhat spontaneous affair Camille had with his father, Hakim Naderi, when she was younger. And that, she is very ashamed of that aspect of her younger days and the "embarrassment" she brought to the family by doing that instead of something like forming a relationship with another wealthy noble. Let alone conceiving a child out of wedlock like that, and deciding to keep him, which would create quite a scandal for your family to deal with. Can only imagine what the gossip and rumors must have been like. And how Viktor is probably more than aware of how high Piltovian society views him because of that among other factors, such as his disability. So, he already had all of these "lovely" rumors attached to him before he was even born.
And she refuses to ever talk about Hakim, so Viktor doesn't even know anything about his dad. Neither what he even looks like, or his name. I had this one scene in my head of Jayce and Viktor talking about their dads, and Viktor opening up after he sees Jayce getting emotional while talking about his dad and how he misses him. Telling Jayce that he often wonders about his father, and how he feels like he misses him even though he's never met him, and doesn't even know anything about him.
One of those things where you have never met one of your parents and you might fantasize about having a parent that actually makes you feel loved and seen. A parent that can give you what you need (which in Viktor's case is an actual sense of love and appreciation) that you aren't getting from the parent you do have.
What makes it more painful is while it seems like Viktor takes very much after his mother, he has his father's vibrant amber eyes and his beauty marks/moles. So, every time Camille looks at him, she can't help but think of Hakim and she both loves and hates it. Of course, Viktor isn't aware of that, but perhaps part of her distant and often cruel treatment towards him is due to the constant reminder of her past "mistakes" (her love for Hakim) whenever she looks at him.
Albus Ferros IS the absolute WORST and a very good representative of for what the filthy rich of Piltover would very likely behave and talk in terms of mentality and overall attitude, and that makes him perfect for an AU like this. I have actually mentioned him a few times in the fic series I made for this AU on my ao3 account. And his relationship with Viktor is actually more "stable" than Viktor's relationship to his own mother. That does not mean that Viktor agrees, or even likes, some of Albus's behavior or his attitude towards people who aren't direct family or in the same wealth class as them. But if you need any further proof of how strained and tense Viktor and Camille's relationship is, look at how Viktor would still choose Albus's company over hers.
Albus is kind of like that rich uncle, or older relative, you have who has less-than-good, very prejudiced views of other people, but he takes you on expensive trips and makes you sit through his talks with his other very wealthy and very prejudiced friends while they sip on very expensive cocktails and smoke top-class cigars. All while you just have to sit there and forcibly smile while holding the drink that you didn't even want, but you can't just reject it.
He is most likely going to be a corrupting force, especially in regards to the usage of Hextech and it being brought to the markets. Even more so, when it comest to weaponizing Hextech and making Hextech security (such as golems like Blitzcrank).
It will get worse whenever Albus interacts with Jayce and makes it pretty clear that he isn't really enthused about having a Zaunite working with his great-nephew on a project as big as Hextech.
And a lighter note, I am excited about the inclusion of Reggie, Albus's personal financier, because he is a minor character in LoL/LoR but he is such a delight. And I was planning for him to be friends with Viktor, but also to reveal the more under-the-table dirty dealings of the rich.
There is also Viktor's cousins, Celine and Edouard. They are the definition of appearing refined in public, but being pure menaces in private. They are both older than Viktor, and like to seek him out for the mere purpose of teasing/tormenting him at family gatherings and galas.
Viktor: Don't look, but my cousins are over there. They can be quite... a lot. So, it's best if we just avoid them. And if they come over, don't say anything. That just encourages them.
Jayce: *almost looks over at the two of them across the room*
Viktor: *quickly pulls Jayce away* No! Don't look! They sense fear and weakness.
Rule number one of avoiding having to talk to people is not looking at them and NEVER making eye contact lmao. They are like those rich kids at a high-end college who look down their noses at people who aren't from the best and most well-known families in the world. They are also pretty damn nosy, and always try to get up in Viktor's business or find some reason to come over and bug him about literally anything. Viktor considers them to be more thorns in his side, and if he could just tell them to shut up he would in a heartbeat.
Anyways, so, Mel is actually very well-acquainted with the Ferros and has established relations with them due to them being one of the most notorious houses in Piltover, and she is a close friend of Viktor's because of that. I have this one scene in my head of a younger Mel meeting a younger Viktor at the Ferros estate while she was there for one of the first meetings to establish relations.
I was thinking that a reason that the Ferros don't have a seat on the Council is because they already have immense control and power in Piltover even without a seat. Perhaps, it was part of the other houses trying to "stifle" their power a bit, but of course, eventually the Ferros are going to aim/push for Viktor to be on the Council. Even if Viktor doesn't want that really, but he might go along with it just because he also knows how politics work and that it could be advantageous for Hextech to be on the Council.
Viktor and Mel's relationship is interesting because they are on a more equal footing in this AU, and therefore the grounds for an actual friendship/alliance feels more plausible. And there's also, I think these two genuinely enjoy the other's company and would seek each other at events that they both go to and back the other up, such as what Mel does with getting the Council to agree to give Hextech a chance.
