"Low Lays The Devil" In Me Update

The fact that I am behind Critical Role’s new Calamity series should tell you how much of a choke hold Low Lays the Devil in Me has on me

Update. I figured it out. It did, indeed, make my brain go brrrrr 😂

Writing Rant

"Write a political intrigue in-universe CaitVi fic," my brain says. "Write and post 60,000 words in less than two weeks," my brain says.

"Have a huge gala scene with lots of characters and advance the intrigue and have Caitlyn and Vi be each other's date to it, so there's gotta be some tension, but also don't forget the plot, oh and make it opulent and majestic, but be sure that Vi has conflicted feelings about being at such a party because she's from Zaun, but also make sure her and Cassandra have some great moments, too. BUT DON'T FORGET THE PLOT!"

Sometimes I hate my brain.

Despite all that, it's still so fun :D makes my brain go brrrrr when I figure it all out

I’m going to try to get the next chapter of “Heart Made of Glass, My Mind of Stone” today, but it’ll most likely happen tomorrow. Fingers crossed I don’t have too much to edit.

I think it just really hit me how niche Low Lays the Devil and Heart Made of Glass are since I just I replied to a comment saying my CaitVi fic is a steam punk Romeo & Juliet inspired spy story 🤣😅

Ch. 27: Short Change Hero "Heart Made of Glass, My Mind of Stone" CaitVi Fic

She felt as if something in her mind turned off. Vander was here. He would make everything better. He always does. She stood up to go to him, but caught herself on the counter as a wave of dizziness hit her like an airship. “Vi? You’re covered in blood!” he exclaimed in horror. “I think I—I think I hit—” Vi stuttered, the room spinning more and more and her vision became spotted. The dull throbbing in the back of her head she had been ignoring for the last thirty minutes began to suddenly get worse. She felt Vander’s fingers run through her hair and pulled them back, crimson staining his hand. “I think I hit my head,” she muttered. Her eyes rolled back and her world turned black.

Heart Made of Glass, My Mind of Stone - Chapter 27 - Phoenix314 - Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) [Archive of Our Own]

The aftermath of the face off with Deckard.

Ch. 4 "Tethered" CaitVi FanFic

Caitlyn shrugged. “I don’t really get on with my peers.” “You do with Maddie.” She sighed. “I’ve told you. Maddie and I have an…arrangement. I don’t really have a lot of desire to use what little free time I have for a relationship, at least not with her. She can be fun and she is… experienced, as you’ve inferred.” Vi smirked and did a crude gesture with her fingers that made Caitlyn turn a bright red and Vi laughed. “But she’s better in small doses,” Caitlyn finished. She then looked at Vi hesitantly and slowly asked, “do you want to go to the Copper Kettle?” Vi shrugged. “I’m bored and I’ve been stuck inside for two days. You may not have a lot of free time, but my brothers, sister, and I have to find ways to entertain ourselves every day. I don’t handle boredom well.”

Tethered - Chapter 4 - caitlynkirammansrifle - Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) [Archive of Our Own]

Vi and Caitlyn have their first heart to heart and Caitlyn takes Vi around Piltover.

Okay, I know I don't owe anyone any explanations, but I do like to keep you all in the loop. I am having a hard time nailing down a really important series of small scenes in the Noxus chapters (which is currently 16,000+ words long pre-edit😬), and it's happening at a very busy week of work/personal life. So, I promise, this isn't me abandoning it. I'm still actively working on it, and even thinking about it when I'm not, but I just want it to turn out well, as much for you and for me. It'll make my brain go brrrrrrr when I figure it out, but I just need to get to that stage still lol reminds me a bit of the Kiramman Gala chapter in "Heart Made of Glass" 😂

This next chapter is taking longer than I thought because it’s going to be a doozy. I’m at 7300 words and I have lots more that needs to happen. I didn’t expect it to be that long but once I realized what I wanted to accomplish in Noxus, I realized it was going to be more like a short story inside the bigger story. I think you guys will like it though.

Ch. 9: Revelations and Evolutions "Tethered" CaitVi Fanfic

“I think it wants me to touch the tether.” Caitlyn’s eyes went wide in slight alarm. “I don’t know, Vi. Asking it questions is one thing, but this seems like it could be dangerous.” A soft plea pulled at her sternum, and Vi realized what it had been trying to ask her. She met Caitlyn’s concerned gaze, the Arcane scars in her blue irises glowing. “I think it’s asking me to trust it,” Vi stated carefully.

Tethered - Chapter 10 - caitlynkirammansrifle - Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) [Archive of Our Own]

Vi and Caitlyn finally discuss the tether.

Post About a Certain Acane Character in "Heart Made of Glass, My Mind of Stone"

I've been getting a lot of questions about a certain character from the show that hasn't been mentioned or introduced in my fic yet. If you want to know more/be spoiled a bit for this fic, more below the "keep reading" line. The spoiler will be about who that character is and why they're not in it/why I made that decision. The spoiler itself won't tell you anything I plan on doing for the story, though it will spoil you if you haven’t caught up on this fic, but will tell you what I don't plan on doing with the focus on this character.

Silco will not be in this fic. At least the first one. I hate to say "never" when writing, but he will most likely not be in the sequel either.

I think Silco is one of them most well portrayed villains ever written for television and the fact that we got him for just 9 episodes is fucking bonkers to me. He is one of the most incredibly well written characters in the whole show. He is a deeply complex character with sympathetic motives, but horrific means. It's a classic villain trope, but fuck does Arcane practically perfect that in Silco. I love to hate him and I hate to love him.

Now, that plays into why I don't want to write him:

I know myself well enough that I would not be happy with any kind of portrayal or twist I could put on him and it would frustrate me to the point that I could see myself abandoning the fic or not being happy with it like I am right now.

I don't see a need for him in my story. I am doing a different take on the story of Zaun vs Piltover, of the shimmer plot, and the political intrigue. Silco's story in all three of those areas was told already in the show, brilliantly. I have no want or desire to basically do what was in the show. The whole point of me writing this fic was a "what if" (more on this below)

Since I am drawing on a bit more LoL lore, I already have people other than Silco that I want to explore in this particular story/setting that I've changed up, twisted, what have you, but that will come up a bit more heavily in the sequel. In this one, the foil to Cassandra and her alliance are currently the Chembarons. They weren't really featured all that much in the show, save for few key moments, but overall, it was not much compared to Silco/Ambessa, and that makes me want to explore them more than Silco. I wanted them to be the antagonists of this fic. (You might notice that my fic has a lot of people featured in it that aren't primarily explore a lot in the show: Cassandra, Shoola, Grayson, etc. to name a few).

To state the obvious: this story I'm writing is similar to what the writers did in the Timebomb episode in season 2. My own "what if" story.

What if Caitlyn and Vi met as teenagers? What if Cassandra was the one who wanted to end corruption of Piltover instead of Jayce? What if Vander ended his revolution not because someone he loved took it too far, but because he took it too far and many more people died, including his best friends? What if Vander lived and helped Vi off of her dangerous path of rage and violence?

Etc., etc.

Lastly, I will just say that I use the tag feature on AO3 very, very intentionally! If you don't see a major character's name in the character tags, then they either haven't been introduced yet or they won't be in the fic at all. But typically, if I know they'll be in it, I will add their name to the tags as soon as I can.

Silco just won't be one of them.

Thank you all! <3 <3 <3

Alright, hoping to have the next chapter out soon of "Low Lays the Devil in Me." This one will be a lot more dialogue-heavy compared to our last super action-packed chapter, but it's necessary for you guys to get some answers. This is the penultimate chapter, though!! Just one more after this next one, and I do think I am going to go with an epilogue, so technically there are 3 more chapters left and we're done with this massive body of work 😱😱

After that, I will maybe write a quick one-shot as a palette cleanser, get a new chapter out for "Tethered," and then post the prologue of the Pirate AU!!