#Keith absolutely fits the Viktor bill re: extremely passionate autistic cat

[cushfuddled]

DUDE DUDE DUDE THANK YOU! All your meta on Viktor makes me so happy.

Viktor can be closed off and callous, but what kills me is that he doesn't mean to come across that way. I think a lot of his comments look snide on paper, but are spoken with genuine care. Like their meeting from S1E2:

JAYCE: Who are you anyway? VIKTOR: I'm assistant to the Dean of the Academy—who it may serve you to remember is also head of the Council. He sent me here to ensure that anything dangerous is removed safely. Which, according to my list, includes you. JAYCE: What? How am I dangerous?! VIKTOR: That's for the council to decide.

In my memory, Viktor delivered these lines with a cavalier tone, like, "I'm the ASSISTANT to the HEAD OF THE COUNCIL who's gonna KICK YOUR ASS, rich boy." But look at Viktor's expressions as he delivers these lines!

"I'm assistant to the Dean of the Academy—who it may serve you to remember is also head of the Council. He sent me here to ensure that anything dangerous is removed safely. Which, according to my list, includes you."

There's maybe a tiny flicker of amusement as he reminds Jayce of his place, but I don't think that's Viktor relishing Jayce's plight. To me, these expressions are more contemplative with a tinge of surprise. Less like "haha, look at this dumb rich boy suffer consequences for the first time!" and more like "haha, this kid's got spunk!" He's not put off by Jayce's naive pigheadedness; he's fascinated by Jayce's work and endeared by his outbursts. He relates to Jayce's frustrations and his fighting spirit.

In other words, Viktor may not mean to reprimand Jayce so much as alert him to the gravity of his circumstances. The translation goes, "Don't underestimate the power of the forces you're up against. I'm here as a representative to the Council, which means 1. you're a threat to the oligarchy, and 2. as a man of my position, you can trust me when I say you need to take this situation very, very seriously."

And then look at Victor's face when he says, "That's for the council to decide."

There's no contempt or schadenfreude here. Viktor looks so SAD. To my eyes, this is the face of a man who's seen Jayce's rebuttal to a plea for caution, and knows Jayce won't be able to disguise his passion at the trial. This bright spark will be extinguished under the heel of the oligarchy, and that inspires a regretful tone, not a haughty one.

But again, the words themselves would lead anyone to believe Viktor spoke with derision. And I think this mismatch applies to a lot of Viktor's interactions with Jayce and Sky. Again, I remembered Viktor being aloof and snarky when he saved Jayce, but the reality was much less black and white. On rewatch, Viktor wasn't the pillar of snark from my memory. He seemed out of his depth.

"Am I interrupting?" no longer feels like snark, but a misfire. I don't think Viktor has a lot of experience with giving or receiving comfort, and I suspect his first instinct—even when faced with a scenario as dire as a man on a ledge—was to reach for something light and quippy to diffuse the tension. The "a bit egotistical" comment falls into this category for me too, especially with the way Viktor's eyes dart around as he delivers the line (and how Jayce's offense seems to catch him off guard).

VIKTOR: ...Every page, I might add. Eh, a little egotistical, don't you think?

JAYCE: Is that why you came? To insult me? VIKTOR: [Fervently] No, no.

VIKTOR: I was intrigued by what you said at the trial. JAYCE: [Shooting Viktor down again] That makes you the only one. VIKTOR: Yes, well, I wanted to talk about your work.

The awkwardness of Viktor's "...Yes, well," reads like course correction. If there's exasperation here, I think it's coming from a desire to reach Jayce, coupled with the terrifying knowledge that his failure could spell Jayce's death. He's tried to diffuse the situation, and now he's had to switch tactics; he'll convince Jayce to stay on the merits of his work. Except Jayce anticipates ill-intent and reacts defensively. From Viktor's POV he must feel like he's only pushing Jayce farther and farther away, and there's a desperation leaking into Viktor's expression as he says, "Yes, well, I wanted to talk about your work. This Hextech theory of yours."

Viktor steps closer and closer towards Jayce. But Jayce takes the peace offer as an insult. He's angry, convinced Viktor came here to antagonize him. "It's not a theory!"

But then Jayce gives Viktor an in: "You have no idea how beautiful it is. And now it's gone. No one believed me."

Here, Viktor gives up all pretense of detachment. He steps out of the shadows and joins Jayce in the revealing light of the ledge. He meets Jayce where he's at, and his vulnerability ("Nobody's ever believed in me. A poor cripple from the undercity. I was an outsider the moment I stepped foot in Piltover") is what allows Jayce to finally shift his perception of Viktor from a bully (here to pour salt in his wounds) to a comrade in arms (here to help him achieve his dream).

In general, Viktor strikes me as an autistic man...

with a passion for his work (cough special interest cough) so intense it can make it seem like he doesn't care about other people/being included/recognition/his own health

who sometimes misses key social cues (like when Sky offers to walk him home) and struggles to follow the "right" social scripts, with his flat affect and cut-to-the-chase approach often causing him to come across as detached or mean when he's really neither of those things

Viktor doesn't feel safe enough to show vulnerability very often, which also contributes to that aura of aloofness. He's absolutely got a sense of humor, and I think he can be snarky. Sometimes Viktor even defaults to snark and banter as a buffer between himself and his emotions. Big emotions have always frightened and frustrated Viktor on so many levels.

*whispers* Viktor never once says anything mean or belittling to Jayce after they become partners. Not one insulting "you" statement, not one disagreement where he doesn't remained focused on the point of contention. He never makes ad hominem attacks, he never insults Jayce's appearance or intelligence.

Literally the single meanest thing he says to Jayce that could be considered a "you" statement is "Your mind has become rigid." Basically, he's saying that Jayce has suffered so much recently that it's closed his mind to broader intellectual possibilities like, that is barely an insult, and clearly Viktor just means it as a statement of fact, if not a challenge for Jayce to joyously consider possibilities again. And by the way? That statement is when Viktor is in his full his villain arc. It's remarkable because it's the only time he's pointed out a perceived flaw in Jayce since the night when he questioned if Jayce signed his notes out of being egotistical.

From the moment Jayce told Viktor about how beautiful magic could be, arguably once Jayce became a person to Viktor rather than a subject of academic discipline or skepticism, Viktor has not once leveled a personal attack against him as a person. Not even during the fight on the bridge. Not even when he called Jayce's Councilor work a waste of our time. Not even when Jayce was considering making Hextech weapons, Viktor still remained focused on the substance of the argument, expressed incredulity, anger, even disgust that Jayce would consider making weapons, but he never said it was because Jayce was stupid or privileged or blind. He pointed out specifically that he knew Jayce felt trapped by the decision, he knew Jayce was being manipulated, and then, in a very pointed manner, Viktor reminded Jayce that there's always a choice, challenging Jayce to stand firm and do what was right.

Even when they parted ways in 2.02, Viktor didn't say there was anything wrong with Jayce. He just said their paths had diverged, again not saying anything was wrong with Jayce, or even his choices, but rather that they're two different people who had stayed together longer than their diverging goals normally would have allowed because of the affection they held for each other.

I don't know, I get why people write Viktor as catty or mean or dismissive of Jayce. There's definitely some quotes from the day they met, before they become partners, that lend to the idea that Viktor can be quite dry and sharp with others. And conflict is the stuff of good fiction so again, totally get putting some conflict between him and Jayce in fic.

But I also think there's a tendency in derivative works like fic to Flanderize the characters, or worse, put them into narrow archetype boxes that are vastly different from their more interesting and nuanced canon selves.

How many times have we seen a wiggly man/straight man or blue vs. red personality partnership duo? How often have we seen those partners not be able to fucking stand each other, who are bickering all the time, who are snide or backtalk, or are perpetually sarcastic?

It's so common that I get why people see it with Jayce and Viktor but that's why it's so damn fascinating to me that they aren't like that.

Jayce and Viktor don't suffer each other unwillingly at any point, even when they're having a goddamn flying superhero fight in the final episode they're talking about how they're happy to see each other and praying that the other will please step away from this destructive path! They don't want to hurt each other, even verbally!

During the years of their partnership, they're constantly delighted by the other's presence, they are instantly comfortable together and never have a bad word to say to or about each other. They actually don't bicker! When they have disagreements, they stay entirely focused on the point of the disagreement and they never dip into personal attacks of any kind.

Even the tone of the time Jayce yells at him on the bridge, arguably their most acrimonious moment in the whole first season, isn't an actual argument, no more than a parent yelling at their child for running into traffic is an argument. Jayce says awful things but it's clear his anger comes from fear for Viktor and for their precarious situation. And it's clear this is a deeply unusual moment for both of them, Viktor is taken aback at how unusual it is, Jayce once called out backs down immediately, arguably because it's so unnatural for them to fight at all that it takes the wind out of the sails of Jayce's anger instantly when he realizes he's crossed a line.

No one can drag a bad word about Viktor out of Jayce, and vice versa! When Singed implies that Viktor might lose loved ones over his choices, Viktor immediately (and correctly!) states that Jayce will understand.

They are rigorously protective of one another too. Arguably all the times Viktor excludes Jayce from his Hexcore experiments in S1 is to protect him from his reckless and likely illegal experiments (as well as not wanting Jayce to stop him and wanting to live, but it can be many things). Jayce constantly cites Viktor as his partner and constantly reiterates that Viktor is his priority in life, that saving Viktor comes first. Jayce overthrows the goddamn founder of the city in order to protect Viktor!

Jayce's love for Viktor is so extreme that literally in S2, the only person who can convince Jayce to hurt Viktor, after seeing the post-apocalyptic Hell of a future that is caused by him, is Viktor himself. Jayce doesn't even get mad at Viktor after he learns Viktor is the cause of what he saw! He is instead desperate to get back, to avert the damage caused by their joint work in Hextech, and saved Viktor from the fate worse than death that is Mage Viktor's total isolation in the aftermath. And every step of the way, even knowing what he knows it's clear he's in agony at the thought of having to raise a hand to Viktor at all.

Now of course I'm getting into just how insane their love for one another gets in S2, but I just feel so baffled sometimes reading fic where Viktor is constantly undercutting, insulting, or belittling Jayce every which way. He never once does that after the partnership begins. And it makes me so insane because we have so many partnerships in media that do devolve into sarcasm, cattiness, and backbiting but Jayce and Viktor aren't one of them and that's really really fucking interesting and worthy of exploration I think.