#incendiary au

[filijester]

Vi: *covered in soot* In my defense, I was left unsupervised.

Jayce: Wasn't Viktor with you?

Viktor: *also covered in soot* In my defense, I was also left unsupervised.

the energy that a vi + viktor duo are bringing to the table = they cause their own brand of chaos together (they set some stuff on fire for experimental purposes and caused a small explosion)

[filijester]

Headcanon is that mage VI’s presence in Hextech development basically gives Jayce and Viktor the small push needed to indulge in Mythbusters esque experiments

I can definitely say that things got 10x more chaotic in the labs when Vi joined the duo and they all became a trio.

Early stage of Hextech Jayce and Viktor + A teen Vi = chaotic family trio who start to have fun together with crazy science-magic experiments

After they all fell into a rhythm and Vi started to warm up to Jayce and Viktor. And Jayce and Viktor took to being like Vi’s older brother figures who support her in her efforts to figure out her magic abilities while also letting her enjoy being a teen and start to have fun again.

———

Jayce: *after he was doing a fire magic test with Vi* Am I... missing... an eyebrow?

Vi: *trying not the laugh* Yep.

—

Jayce: I just had another one of those "what the hell are we doing?!" moments.

—

Jayce: Do you even watch any sports?

Viktor: Robot combat. *pause* It's a sport!

—

Viktor: I'm going to make a robot, of course.

—

Viktor: Gimme a countdown.

Vi: 2, 3, 1. *fires chicken cannon*

—

Viktor: I Love...Consistent...DATA! HAHAHAHA!

—

Jayce: Remember, kids, the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.

—

Vi: It always brightens my mood when we get to break out the sledgehammer.

———

[filijester]

Vi: I know what you two are.

Jayce & Viktor: ???

Vi: [*insert gay/bi flag*]

teen vi would be a menace and she would definitely pick up on the vibes jayce and viktor have going on (even if they aren’t quite aware of it yet)

[filijester]

Just found out that Vi is based on Hellboy, so here’s an au idea. The explosion that kills Claggor and Mylo also awakens Vi as a fire mage. So after a year of Stillwater burning, the council has her sedated, caged, and sent to Jayce and Viktor in the hopes that they can research and contain “the demon mage of Stillwater,” and apply her magic to Hextech.

Oh, is she really? That’s interesting. I didn’t know that.

Quite an interesting AU idea there. I’m all for it.

I can see Jayce and Viktor both being very shocked to learn that the so called “demon mage of Stillwater” is really just a teenager. An actual child. Why not take this opportunity to have Jayce’s big brother instincts come into play. After all, Vi and Caitlyn are close to the same age, so I’m sure he’d see a girl close to Caitlyn’s age (someone he already views as a sister) and be reminded of her.

I can see the two of them not knowing quite what to do here, but trying to treat Vi decently and like an actual person. Meanwhile, she’s snapping at them and just not wanting to do anything they ask. She distrusts them and thinks this is all some cruel trick of some sort.

I can see Jayce insisting on Vi being treated like an actual person, while most in Piltover just see her as this unstable and scary fire monster. If the Council tells him that he should just give up on the girl because she’s too unpredictable and dangerous, him actually putting his foot down and going “no, she can do it, we just need more time.” And he’s kind of not even doing it for Hextech anymore, he just doesn’t want Vi to go back to how she was treated before.

Maybe Viktor tries to relate to her by bringing up that he’s also from Zaun. To try and establish some kind of common ground with her. It likely doesn’t make her open to him immediately, but it establishes a common background. He also is not wanting Vi to be treated like a demon, because it’s just reminding him all too much about how Piltover views those of Zaun as just demons in the basement rather than actual people.

Maybe Jayce brings her to his forge as part of seeing her fire magic. But then it just delves into him showing her his projects and just talking to her. Him explaining them to her and what he plans to do with them once they’re finished.

Later in the labs, him and Viktor explaining some of their prototypes to her and it reminding her of Powder’s own tinkering.

Jayce lending Vi some of his durable fireproof/heat-resistant work gloves from the forge (modified to be her size of course) as a way to help her feel more comfortable to touch things again without fear of accidentally setting them on fire. At least until she can better control her magic. Perhaps Viktor even fashions a pair of his science goggles for her to wear to help protect her eyes from the light of the fire and prevent eye strain.

Vi does not trust them immediately and she fully expects for them to just treat her like a test subject rather than a person. Even after they’re repeatedly kind to her, she is still wary and distrustful. Very slowly and eventually, she does begin to warm up to them, but she still keeps some of her walls up as she isn’t completely sure if she can trust them yet.

[filijester]

An interesting possibility for the Incendiary au is to show how Piltover canonically treats the people of Zaun depending on their circumstances. Most are ignored, but those who have something valuable are usually put in one of two categories. For people like Viktor who are seen as weak but useful, he is tolerated and given some respect because he isn’t a danger to the status quo yet. But for people like Jinx, Herald Viktor, and fire mage Vi, they’re seen as threats to be contained or stamped out unless they can be exploited. Because they’re a dangerous combination of powerful and unwilling to play by Piltover’s rules. Could be interesting if the council only speaks to Jayce when they want to say something to Vi or Viktor because of fear.

Yeah, a very interesting and very plausible possibility.

You have the different ends of the spectrum (or as you said, categories) of where Zaunites tend to fall/be treated in Piltovian society. They are either "useful, but not threats to the status quo" or they are "threats to be stamped out and controlled".

I think it would be very likely that the Council only really cares about Jayce's opinion and what HE has to say, as opposed to even Viktor. Who is literally the other co-creator of Hextech, but he is also a Zaunite and that alone is enough to make him "less valuable" in the eyes of upper Piltovian society. He is still valuable, and therefore allowed to exist in Piltover because he does work for them, but that doesn't meant that they are going to treat him the same as they do Jayce.

Can literally see this represented with the scene of Mel and Jayce and Viktor in the labs looking at one of the bombs Jinx made. Mel and Jayce are towering over Viktor while they talk, granted that is because they are both standing up and he's sitting, but the visual meaning is there. And added with Mel tells Jayce "The decision is YOURS" only while looking at JAYCE. Not Viktor. Which can easily be read as her excluding him from the decision when it comes to what will be done with inventions that Viktor also helped to make.

There is also the thing of Piltovians, at least with what we see from enforcers, don't seem to view Zaunite children as children. We get several scenes, both brief and not-so brief, of enforcers treating children from Zaun as if they are dangerous criminals. The scene from the Enemy music video of them forcing a child Powder and a teenaged Vi against a fence. Them chasing and trying to grab the kids in the Arcade. Them being FULLY WILLING to throw a teenager into one of the worst prisons just because she's a Zaunite. And for all we know, no one even knew what Vi had done, but that doesn't matter. They were completely fine with throwing a child in a prison with adult prisoners who could very well hurt or even try to kill her due to prison violence and adult guards who see nothing wrong with beating her up. And she has no one to protect her or rely on, or anywhere to escape to. She is trapped in that prison with no way out.

And going back to Vi being brought to Jayce and Viktor, it would very likely lead to some kind of realization on Jayce's part about how differently they are treating Vi, even though she's a kid. While it is just as likely that Jayce has some kind of internalized prejudice against Zaun, we also see that he is perfectly willing to go into Zaun to buy from a store (Benzo's store) there. Now, this doesn't fully mean that he's completely without prejudice, but an important thing is people can unlearn prejudice. And having to see first-hand how the Council and the enforcers are treating Vi, it would be eye-opening.

You might think that "oh but he could just ignore all of that" but I don't think he would. If he is getting repeatedly slapped in the face with the awful treatment, I think that Jayce would start to rethink quite a few things. Even if Jayce does have some prejudice, he is not incapable of change and he is also not incapable of unlearning harmful beliefs or getting through his own naivety to see the more awful parts of his society. There is also that Jayce is a kind individual who does genuinely want to help people (even if he has a bit of an idealistic viewpoint of that), so he isn't a full-blown jerk.

And then, I'm sure that Viktor would kind of be resigned in a way to the reveal of how Vi has been treated. Or he isn't very surprised by it. He probably wasn't expecting Vi to be a child, but he isn't exactly shocked by how she was literally sedated and chained up. Which, probably would lead to him and Jayce having a few conservations about that and Viktor going "This is how Piltover treats us, Jayce. It's nothing new." and of course, Viktor isn't happy about it, but he isn't blind to the reality of how Piltover treats Zaunites. And that would just add to the very big slap of reality that keeps hitting Jayce over the head now.

[filijester]

Mel checking in on progress in the lab only to see three Machine Herald looking welding masks staring back at her with glowing eyes.

I’m sure that was the last thing she expected to see. Though I bet she’s just happy that they haven’t all gone up in flames or something chaotic like that.

The scene of Mel being her beautiful self and walking in all elegant like and it’s just met with a chaotic trio looking at her with welding masks with the glowing eyes. And all while they’re in the middle of probably doing something that involves fire to some degree.

I also love the implication/idea of all three of them (Jayce, Viktor, and Vi) having matching welding masks. A trio should have a matching set of welding masks in my opinion, for when they do fire magic experiments and Hextech prototype trial runs.

Who is the most chaotic of the three? It’s a trick question. They’re all their own brand of it and they will cause problems for everyone else.

[filijester]

The Incendiary au is a fun name because there’s a choice in what the name really means. Does it refer to VI’s powers? Or does it refer to Viktor and Vi radicalizing Jayce against the corruption of Piltover by revealing the truth of the undercity?

Well, I intentionally intended it to be a reference to Vi’s fire powers. But that second one is pretty fun too, so, why not both?

I do think that Vi entering the equation made Jayce a bit more aware of how badly Piltover tends to treat Zaunites. Like they literally treated Vi like she was some dangerous creature rather than the scared teenager that she was. And I’m all for protective big brother Jayce (and Viktor), so he is not about to let the Council or anyone treat Vi poorly again.

And that also opened the discussion of how Piltover treats Zaunites, and it just went from there. So, Jayce is probably more aware of Piltover’s corruption here. And if he helps Vi and Viktor out Piltover by revealing the truths about life in the Undercity? Yeah, he will stand by them.

[filijester]

vi accidentally burning jayce and her fully expecting him to get angry and lash out at her or send her back to stillwater. but he just tells her that it’s not her fault and he goes to treat his burn and later comes back and asks her if she’s doing okay after what happened.

and maybe she just looks at him and than yells at him and asks what his deal is and why he’s not angry with her and if he’s just waiting for her to let her guard down before punishing her. and jayce is taken aback, but he just says that he isn’t mad at her and that it was his fault for getting too close.