Proof that the remaining 10% is worth venturing into Zaun for here.
These are recommendations made by Tropers for Arcane fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic to the list, but remember to use the template found here.
You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.
Status guide:
- Complete: Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Ongoing: The fic is being updated on a regular basisnote , or has received an update after a significant absence.
- Dormant: The fic has not been updated in a fairly long time (several months to a year or more) but the author has not pronounced it dead.
- Dead: The fic has not been updated in several years, or the author has specifically said that it will not be updated.
Note: Fics listed as Dormant or Dead will be changed to Ongoing if/when they receive updates. If you see a rec with a blank status, and you're familiar with the fanfic, please add the correct status.
Authors and Websites
- Recommended by Meshakhad
- Nilo writes Caitlyn/Vi Alternate Universe stories, usually with an emphasis on slow burn, angst, and smut. These are mostly posted to her Twitter account, but some have been mirrored on her AO3 account
. Many of their stories portray Vi as transmasculine in some way. Please be aware that all of her stories are very much of the explicit variety.
From the Ashes (I Rise) by Lullabyes.
- Recommended by chillblain
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Six years—how time flies! Yet he sees her clearly. Jinx—his Jinx—as she will always be. A live grenade of a girl, all fire and flux to his bilgewater and brimstone. He remembers their first meeting at the factory. The blistering explosion. The afterbirth of spilled shimmer and strewn corpses. The girl in the rain: blood-scummed and bawling like a newborn flung from Hell.
- Comments: Probably one of the best and most unsentimental looks at Silco and Jinx's relationship that this troper has read so far. The author takes both Silco and Jinx for all their parts - the good, bad and the hella ugly - and throws in excellent character study to boot.
Pieces Alone by Szept.
- Recommended by: ssjSega
- Status: Ongoing
- Pairing: Jinx/Luxanna "Lux" Crownguard
- Synopsis: The invention of hextech has drawn the eyes of all of Runeterra, but it’s the Hexgates that made Piltover the centre of the world, bringing with it untold opportunity, and unknown dangers. A young agent of the Illuminators volunteers for a covert mission to the City of Progress, a city which has not left her mind since her visit there as a child. She’s in for far more than she’s ever bargained for.
Ill-Omen's Light by SuspiciousZucchini
- Recommended by: ssjSega
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Jinx/Luxanna "Lux" Crownguard, Caitlyn Kiramman/Vi
- Synopsis: One year after she shattered Piltover's complacency with a roar of grief and fury, the Loose Cannon re-emerges to challenge Piltover's new Sheriff and her rough-and-ready deputy to a game of cat and mouse with deadly stakes. But plans, even crazy ones, don't always go to plan - Jinx finds her paths crossing with an unexpected soul.
Heavy with guilt for her role in the bloody rebellion gripping her homeland, Lux flees to Piltover with the help of a charming stranger. But plans, especially desperate ones, don't always go to plan - and she'll soon find herself tangled in a story she never imagined she'd be a part of. - TV Tropes page here.
- Now has a sequel: Ill-Omen's Game (Ongoing)
Little Crow by Seicchanart.
- Recommended by Pufferpop
- Status: Ongoing
- Pairing: Ekko/Jinx
- Synopsis: There’s a monster under his bed.
- Where Ekko is in a feverish state, he's haunted by his old friend.
The answer by Rebuke X 7.
- Recommended by EdwardGrave
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Taking a break from terrorizing the architecture of Piltover, Jinx stumbles across a little girl like no other in Noxus' Frontier. Deciding to pay forward a favor that was done for her, Jinx takes the girl in without a second thought. After all, motherhood can't be that hard, right? Jinx soon learns that yes, yes it is, but good thing she knows just the person to kidnap-er-get to help.
Alternate Universe
Stories where one fundamental aspect of the series is completely overhauled from its point of origin.Fathers and Daughters by Blue Daddys Girl
- Recommended by: Copperhead045
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Vi is freed after only two months, without explanations. Back to the Lanes, she heads to the Last Drop in search of her sister. She's only got two goals now: to care for Powder and get even with Silco.
Things get complicated when she realises she might have to pick and chose.
Or how Silco ends up with two daughters, one somewhat less enthusiastic than the other...
by ukulele_villian- Recommended by: Euric 87
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: In the explosion that destroyed Jayce's lab, Powder was left behind - presumed dead by her family. She was fished out of the rubble by a concerned Viktor. Much changes, and yet much stays the same.
- Comments: Though the author makes light of Powder's intellectual prowess in my opinion, that is the only issue I have with this amazing story. Everyone's characterizations, including how they change in response to Powder's presence in their lives are organic and believable. It is cathartic to read about how Powder might have turned out, if she had been raised in Piltover by big brother Viktor instead of turning into the psychotic Jinx.
Smoke and Mirrors by cryptiddentalstudent
- Recommended by: crazysnakey
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: An AU where Vi managed to go back for Powder at the end of Episode 3, which leads to both of them being captured by Silco. Powder is put in Stillwater and Vi is forced to work for Silco, but Powder doesn't intend to just sit by while she and her sister are forced to work and suffer at the whim of the man who ruined their family...
- Comments: Extremely well-written, this is consistent with its characters, especially Mel and Powder, and manages to write realistic dialogue both in political and casual discussions, as well as building relationships in an interesting way. The fic as a whole is very engaging and fascinating, both in the sense that Powder and Vi's relationship and care for each other isn't as broken as in the TV show and that characters grow and learn more through their interactions with each other. This is a series, with 3 part fics (in an imitation of the 3 Acts from the series) currently on Part 2.
The Threads of Fate Tangle and Twist by Misthios
- Recommended by: Meshakhad
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Vi/Caitlyn
- Synopsis: Half a decade into Vi's stay in Stillwater, a topsider turns up, raving about being a Councillor's daughter.
- Comments: Excellently written and presents a brutal depiction of life in Stillwater and how Caitlyn is affected by it. Vi and Caitlyn's relationship isn't rushed, but given time to develop. Fair warning, the rating reaches explicit later on.
Picking up the Pieces by Joedonfred12345
- Recommended by: Theriocephalus
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Powder Medarda never thought she'd see her biological family again. When she does, it's not what any of them were expecting.
Powder stays home during the raid on Silco's hideout. An Enforcer patrol finds her and, assuming that she was left to take the fall for whatever gang may have been staying here, take her back to Piltover. Taken in by Mel, who eventually adopts her as her sister, she finds kindred minds at the Academy and builds a new life there. It is only much later that news of her trickle back to the Undercity, where her family, who had assumed her dead when Silco's goons burned the Last Drop to the ground, decide to head uptown to rescue her. Imagine Powder's reaction when her long-vanished family, who abandoned her to the Enforcers all those years ago, just so happen to turn back up now that she's become accomplished and influential... - Comments: A fun what-if scenario; Powder's tech savviness is a natural fit among the Hextech researchers. Reunions, of course, are still messy and painful; this is Arcane, after all.
Run at the Cup by TheHomelyBadger
- Recommended by: Meshakhad
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Hockey AU. The Runeterra Hockey League is expanding, and both Caitlyn and Vi are up for grabs, their rivalry being a well documented storyline in the RHL for twelve years. What happens, however, when they're both taken to a new team? What happens when a relationship forged in belief of only seeing each other once in a while on road games is faced with playing beside each other every day?
- Comments: I know jack shit about hockey, but this story has me enthralled. Badger weaves together multiple plot threads - the Zaun Sumprats' run for the cup, Caitlyn and Vi's enemies-with-benefits relationship, the history and rivalry between Zaun and Piltover, and Caitlyn's relationship with her former captain.
- Recommended by: Meshakhad
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Vi is just trying to get through her final year with good enough grades to graduate so she can get out of the hellhole that is Stillwater High School and leave all her shitty classmates behind.
Meanwhile Caitlyn is counting down the days until school finishes, and she can leave Piltover, finally getting out of her parents’ shadow.
They both just want to keep their heads down, stay out of trouble and get through the year without any drama. Unfortunately for them, it just doesn’t seem to work out that way. - Comments: A bit darker than normal for a High School AU. Includes Caitlyn and Vi dealing with both homophobia and Powder's mental illness, along with their own feelings for each other.
Forward but Never Forget/XOXO by Lullabyes
- Recommended by: chillblain
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Revolution is like love. It's not about revenge. It's about the equity of suffering. If you owe, you pay the cost.
- Comments: Amazingly written story. Canon divergent after episode 8. Zaun becomes an independent nation, and Silco confronts the consequences of his choices. I have no interest in politics, but the intrigue and worldbuilding in this story are fantastic. Fair warning for explicit violence, sex and depictions of mental illness.
Hellhound of the Underground by kerosene_dream
- Recommended by: crazysnakey
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Roleswap AU between Vi and Powder. Like a classic Greek tragedy, Vander's daughters were bound to be separated. But Silco chose Vi that night—Marcus took Powder. And Caitlyn Kiramman had always been destined to be stuck in the middle of the two sisters' family drama. So when a Hextech gemstone goes missing, stolen by a pink-haired stranger, Caitlyn and Powder strike out on a hunt for answers. But in the meantime, Vi has been picking up where Vander left off: battling her own guilt and playing lapdog to Silco. And he's not about to let her go. The Hound is dead, long live the Hellhound.
- Comments: Incredibly tragic and character-driven story that really focuses on the pain the sisters experience from their trauma and loss of their family, especially Vi and her struggle to reconcile between her place in the Undercity under Silco and the freedom and love she craves at times. May seem to drag things out too long for unnecessary suspense a few times, but overall it's definitely worth a read.
Until Our Enemies Are Destroyed by Qurvaceous
- Crossover with: Attack on Titan
- Recommended by: East 44
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Silco saw a reflection of himself in the boy. A soul that yearned for a better future. For freedom. And for revenge. But Eren Jaeger yearns for things even Silco dares not dream of, and he will not rest until the sons and daughters of Zaun are safe, and Piltover is burnt to the ground. No matter what sort of monster he has to become...
- Comments: An excellent story. The Attack on Titan characters fit perfectly in the Arcane setting in addition to some of the Arcane characters backgrounds being more explored.
This And That by AhmedMootaz and DoctorXIII
- Crossover with: Library of Ruina
- Recommended by: TrueChaos
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: At one moment in Zaun, Powder's life was falling apart. Her family was basically dead save for Vi, who wanted nothing to do with her at the moment, the guilt was eating her from the inside out, and the voices in her mind were yelling, screaming at her that it was all over. At the same moment in the City, Angela's life was just about to start after it was denied for a million years. When a stroke of coincidence and, perhaps more accurately, fate intervene by inviting a particularly small, blue-haired guest from across half of earth before the Library's grand opening, she can only trust her Library to know what it was doing. Bear witness as both of their lives are changed forever in a journey of wonder, longing, and forgiveness, forged by their own fears and pain, and how it goes on to change both of their world, much like it changed them. A journey of humour, sacrifice, and learning.
