Chapter Text
[2024-12-04]
Welcome to the landing page for butterfly soup. Consider this place a bit of a dev diary. Skip to the next chapter if you're just here for the reading.
STATEMENT OF INTENT:
butterfly soup is about death being the end only if you assume the story is about you. It's about life only getting more complex and messy, not less. Never less. It's about love, change, and my slow death spiral as I read through League of Legends lore. It's also about plants.
More than anything, I need Viktor and Jayce to be extremely normal-abnormal about each other. But this fic is also going to explore a lot of the world that Arcane left us with, notably the Nation of Zaun plot that died with Silco, the consequences of Caitlyn and Vi's relationship as borne out through their family, and the aftermath of the Battle of the Hexgates even as it's made "palatably abstract". Just give me a second, let me cook, and we can all play in this space together. Deal?
TAGS/WARNINGS:
Everything that Arcane brings to the table, that's on the table here, too. Of note are violence, child death, and body horror. I love me some good, clean body horror. (melts ya boy like a popsicle) (what who said that)
CHARACTERS PRESENT THUS FAR (THE FACTS ARE THESE):
- Jayce and Viktor: as seen on TV. They call me the acceleration rune the way I cut and paste bitches between continuities.
- Vi and Ekko: ayo it's the remix.
- Caitlyn and Mel: waiting just off stage left.
- Jinx: don't worry about it (smile)
- Orianna: a non-character made extremely character.
- Callista and Atlas: if you're mean to my kids then I'm legally obligated to beat you to death.
[2024-12-08]
I've come to terms with how this story is a Jayce/Viktor fic masquerading as an exploration into the direction that Piltover and Zaun would head after the close of the series. The League of Legends got me; I bought the Runeterra lore book yesterday. I'm glad that I get to inherit Arcane's interest in Noxus, because that particular investigation into what an empire is culturally is so fascinating. Anyways, you know it's over for you when you're flipping through a book and out loud say to yourself "Oh, so they do capitalize Sump". Banish me to the woods with a hatchet and a Snickers bar.
[2024-12-15] Updated for Act II 2025-02-24.
THE PLAYLIST:
[ACT I]
Boreas by The Oh Hellos;
Maybe then my breath could embody
A wildfire starting
I'd sweep up the forest floor
And my body'd breathe life into the corners
Be a darker soil
Recover by CHVRCHES
And if I recover, will you be my comfort?
Or it can be over, or we can just leave it here
Press Restart by WALK THE MOON
Up-shift, and the wind in my face
I could use a little time and space
Just broke the hell out of my heart
Everything Goes On by Porter Robinson
But if I was gone tomorrow, won't the waves crash on?
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Someday I'll be overcast, but you won't have to cry
'Cause we'll do the grieving while I'm by your side
Into the Storm by Marianna's Trench
Below me, Below you
The old me, the old you
We never surrender
Just repeat this
Long goodbye
Soap by The Oh Hellos
I know, maybe you're not quite ready
To loosen your hold
On the safety blanket
You been keeping around your shoulders
But your sums and your pieces
Are enough to make you whole
You gotta let go
...
It's gonna hurt like hell
But we're gonna be well
I'll give you my best shot
Creator (Music Box Version) by Lena Raine
[Instrumental]
[ACT II]
Waterloo by ABBA
Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo, promise to love you forevermore
Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to
Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you
Nothing You Can Take From Me by Rachel Zegler & The Covey Band
Thinkin' you're so fine
Thinkin' you could have mine
Thinkin' you're in control
Thinkin' you'll change me
Maybe rearrange me
Think again if that's your goal
My Body's Made of Crushed Little Stars by Mitski
I work better under a deadline
I work better under a deadline
I pick an age when I'm gonna disappear
Until then I can try again
Until then I can try again
Bethlehem Steel by Delta Rae
A restless kid wants to use his hands
He's got a real quick trigger and some new demands
He grows up fast, and he grows up real
And when he comes around, he finds there's no more steelSoul-shaking, to his knees
He's got the same old rocket and a new disease
And he won't take it, on his neck
He's talking red hot whiskey, he's got no respect
Aristocrat by New Politics
Cause you’re a rich bitch and you’re super bad
With your black lips and your taxi cabs
I’m a quick fix for the shit you lack
Dirty porcelain, sick aristocrat
Empires on Fire by BANNERS
Like a city overthrown
We're turning buildings into stone
We leave the bodies to the crows
On a funeral of fireNow we're choking on the fumes
Spread the lie and kill the truth
They're in the ashes of the proof
We watch the flames rise higher
Years of War by Porter Robinson
Oh, two hundred years of war
Fight 'til we are no more
A curse on the streets of gold, oh, oh
Just know, that mine is a hand to hold
Take back what the kingdom stole
A curse on the streets of gold
Million Pieces by Bastille
It breaks my heart
Breaks my heart into
A million pieces, oh
It breaks my heart into
A million pieces
If it's gonna break me
Won't you let me go?
Leave it till the morning
I don't wanna know
Breaks my heart
Breaks my heart into
A million pieces
[25-01-23]
FURTHER READINGS/INSPIRATION BOARD
BOOKS:
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
bolobolo by Hans Widmer
Trans & Disabled: An Anthology of Identities & Experiences edited by Alex Iantaffi
FILM:
The Wind Rises from Studio Ghibli
Wolf Children from Studio Chizu
OTHER MEDIA:
SOMA from Frictional Games
INTERNET ACCOUTREMENTS
Mystery Flesh Pit National Park by Trevor Roberts
SCP-7408 / DR KONDRAKI CUT UP WHILE THINKING
Wolf 359 Ep.41 "Memoria" by Gabriel Urbina
[more entries to follow at a later date]