#Viktor realizes this earlier and so leaves Piltover

[bloomiii]

How do I keep seeing people saying that Jayce loved Viktor too late or Viktor realized Jayce cared about him too late? Like that's NOT what their split is about. Viktor said it himself "it was affection that held us together." The tragedy of their relationship is that they both cared for each other, but it wasn't enough, especially for Viktor. Viktor is a scientist who wants to improve the future at heart, its why he got into Piltover by tricking them, despite it being dangerous for him. It's why he says "don't ask for permission when trying to change the world." Affection and personal happiness could never fulfill a purpose in life for him, could never be enough.

[omilkandhoneyteao]

I need to add on to the Viktor thing cause that’s literally my man and the direction they went with him is something I can’t grasp

ARCANE SEASON 2 SPOILERS

I’m sorry but the machine herald wasn’t even machine, it was magic!!! He’s not the Magic Herald, he’s the machine herald and yet they didn’t include any of that??

Correct me if I’m wrong because I don’t play League but isn’t the Machine Herald’s whole thing still being a man but wanting to IMPROVE humanity by taking away their weaker parts by exchanging them for machinery? And yet, in arcane, he doesn’t give a fuck and is just turning in to the people he “helped” in to mindless husks? Also when he got blown to bits by Jayce, I really thought he was gonna replace himself with mechanical parts but NO THEY JUST MADE HIM EVEN MORE MAGIC???

Like it’s so weird that they also kinda tried to make it seem like it was Viktor’s fault for becoming what he became when like

That man just wanted to get better??? Like the scenes with Jayce were sweet but the whole “you were trying to perfect yourself” NO SIR HE WANTED TO STOP AN ILLNESS THAT WAS CAUSING A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH??? Like idk if people realize this but Viktor was GRIEVING like he found out he was dying which is a gigantic pill to swallow and clearly he wasn’t in his right state of mine and then when he finally accepted his fate, his already short life span was cut SHORTER by the explosion and even then, I feel like it was the scene with the hexcore that took away HIS choice of 1) wanting to just die and 2) destroying the hexcore!

I also fully believe that while Viktor was doing bad things, I think the Arcane was a corrupt form of magic (we’ve seen that there IS good magic like Mel’s) and it was corrupting Viktor in a way that made him think what he was doing was the ONLY way and that he HAD to do because again, he wasn’t in a clear state of mind so I fully believe that he was aware of what he was doing but he truly believed this was the ONLY way (like I’ve mentioned earlier it’s so similar to Wanda with the Darkhold and how it was corrupting her when she was at her most vulnerable by showing her what she wanted and that by doing all those bad things, it’s the only way she could get her wish)

Another thing I hated was them revealing that the Mage wasn’t Ryze (IT SHOULD’VE BEEN HE WOULD’VE MESHED SO WELL WITH THE STORY) but Viktor and that he just kept going back in time so Jayce could stop him which is so ???

Like I’m sorry but that’s literally so dumb because it just makes the world of Arcane seem even smaller! Like the way season 2 has been trying to make connections that didn’t need to be there makes it seem like Piltover and Zaun as a whole have a population of 30!

Like it would’ve been so much sweeter (lowkey power of friendship type ship but I’ll leave it at that) if Jayce and Viktor CHOSE to be partners and brothers and friends and whatever it is you see them as and that it wasn’t forced because of “fate” but because of THEIR choice! Like it lowkey just takes away the characters autonomy cause it’s like “well yeah you actually didn’t pick this person it was predestined!!!”

It’s just so disheartening because Viktor is such a good character and to just take away all the good things they could’ve done with him is just upsetting.

[jamdragon]

Wait so people think anyone in arcane got a happy ending?? Okay, let's role call

Massive arcane spoilers!!

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Jinx is presumed dead by everyone (except Caitlyn, who is smart enough to realize she might have escaped). She's free from her past and free to start a new life, but she's lost everyone. She had to cut every last thread from her old life to finally have hope for a better future for herself.

Vi has also lost everyone. I can't imagine the weight of blame she's gotta feel for Jinx's "death" since it is technically her fault - if she had just listened to her and got off that ledge, things would be okay. Yes, she does also have a chance to start a new life with Caitlyn, but like she said in episode one, the hole gets smaller but you never fill it.

Jayce and Viktor are dead or trapped in a rune or scattered across the universe or some shit idk. Disintigrated

Mel lost her mother and has to shoulder the responsibility she left behind when all she wanted for a long time was her approval. She loves Piltover but has to leave for Noxus to continue her own fight. Whether that's with the black rose or in her mothers place, I think we might know more in the future.

Ekko gave up his own happy ending to save everyone. The real MVP ends up alone and mourning. He saved his community and gave Zaun a bright future, but he is fully aware of everything it cost.

Caitlyn lost an eye and has to shoulder a lot of guilt and blame for her actions earlier in the season. I think she got closest to a happy ending though because she now has the opportunity to really fight for Zaun with Vi at her side. Someone did a read of the ending that Sevika is taking the Kiramman seat because Caitlyn is starting her work in the uplifting of Zaun. Still, she has a lot to account for.

Singed got everything he wanted. Only fucking person that truly got their happy ideal ending.

Arcane has always taken a realistic approach to things and has always acknowledged that good things don't always happen to good people. Everyone's ending had both good and bad to it - except Singed, funnily enough, who, despite objectively being the worst person in this show, got what he wanted in the end. It's not fair. But literally when has arcane been fair? Did anyone really expect anyone to have a perfect ending? Because I certainly didn't. And though I wish that jinx could have reconciled with vi, that Caitlyn could have talked it out and apologized, that ekko could have had something with jinx in the end, I understand and acknowledge that the way it ended stayed true to one of the things arcane has always been about - the light and dark in all of us and the beautiful imperfections of life.

[styrofauxm]

So my major issue with act 3 was that it sidelined Vi and Jinx’s story for the stories of side characters, with the central conflict barely even involving them. And here’s how I would fix that, while still keeping the time limit and plotlines.

Keep episode 7 mostly the same, a break from the formula, but make Mel get sucked into the hex core like Jayce, Ekko, and Heimmerdinger. She gets an alternate reality too, one where her brother is actually still alive. Alternate Ambessa spills the beans about Mel being a mage (idk why, this is broadstrokes). Mel gets transported back. We the viewers can tell she’s still grappling with all this in her actions up until the finale

Resolve the Jayce/Viktor/Hexcore plot in episode 6. Jayce fails to kill Viktor, but realizes that if he does, everyone Viktor helped will die too. Jayce still gets his speech, still convinces Viktor to release his hold. They decide to find and destroy all Hextech. What he doesn’t realize is that Viktor didn’t quite take it all to heart. Viktor lives, but begins plans for the Machine Herald.

Caitlyn/Ambessa don’t storm in episode 6. Instead we see them planning a small scale invasion of zaun to capture Vander, then a large scale invasion to fully quash any resistance for the foreseeable future. They openly discuss obvious war crimes, this is where we see Caitlyn grow increasingly uncomfortable. Maybe an insistence that she was wrong for using the Grey earlier. But Ambessa successfully manipulates her.

Episode 8 the invasion happens. Zaun loses, Vi and Jinx lose Vander again. They, especially with Isha’s insistence, finally truly become revolutionaries. They are going to be the generation that creates Zaun. Sevika and Ekko are the brains, but Jinx is the figurehead. Caitlyn learns that Vander is lucid, that he’s Vi’s (and Powder/Jinx’s) father that he won’t fight for Piltover. Her resolve finally breaks. She realizes she was wrong. She makes the mistake of telling Maddie.

Episode 9, Zaun finally fights Piltover. Sevika leads. Mel and Cait both turn traitor, and Ambessa still has Maddie attempt to execute Cait, Mel still parries it.

Viktor and Jayce use the commotion to destroy the hexgates, and their designs for anything that relied on Hextech. Jayce does not notice Viktor stashing some crystals away. This sets up a Jayce/Viktor spin off.

Jinx, Vi, and Isha make it to Vander. They save him, but they save Singe too. The healed blood turns out to be the secret ingredient instead. This sets up the Orriana plot.

They rejoin the fight. Vi tries to fight Cait until she realizes she’s on her side. Things won’t ever be the same, but they can still reconcile some day. During the fight, they try to get Isha out, but fail. She dies.

Mel defeats Ambessa, gets Ambessa’s dying speech. This is the end of set up for her arc in the next show. It also causes Piltover to surrender.

Jinx has her whole deciding to die thing. She leaves, literally walking away somewhere calm and private. Ekko still talks her down. Jinx and Vi are finally, finally okay. So much still hurts, so much is still to be resolved, but for now, they are okay.

Zaun gets a semi-independent status. Sevika sits on the council, as does Ekko. It’s going to be a long and hard road, but they are going to build a better world.

[danothan]

For the ask game, Jayce and Mel? 🥺

a lot of this will be similar if not identical to f0r’s meljay/jayvik hcs, we basically fleshed out our arcane thoughts together. whoops!

who’s the cuddler: well viktor’s obviously out bc as touch-starved as he is, he doesn’t rly like to reach out to others (however the look on his face whenever jayce gets close to him is priceless, just hug him back silly). so that leaves mel and jayce, who are both very physically affectionate with each other, but i’m giving this one to jayce bc he doesn’t even realize how often he does it, while mel is much more deliberate and flirtatious with her touch. it’s like second nature to him

who makes the bed: the housekeeper 😓 viktor has better things to do, jayce was kind of a slob in college, and mel was raised rich. i will say tho, mel is probably the most likely just bc she seems like the kind of person to like to do a lot of things herself (she literally makes her own paints wth?)

who wakes up first: viktor for sure, jayce is a heavy sleeper and mel might be too considering she didn’t hear the guard come in to notify jayce abt viktor. even then, viktor gets like 4-6 hrs of sleep on a regular day

who has the weird taste in music: i loove f0r’s take on jayce being a basic mainstream music enjoyer and mel + viktor having strange music taste from their respective cultures (piltover’s top 40 vs undercity edm and noxian opera)

who is more protective: ive made this joke before, but whatever mel does to jayce, jayce does to viktor. mel is always saving his oblivious ass (her doing damage control everytime he puts his neck out on the political chopping board 😭) and jayce is always worrying himself sick abt viktor’s health

who sings in the shower: jayce, his passion makes up for his lack of skill. mel finds it endearing and might even join him (in either sense 👀) and viktor would find it annoying if he hadn’t already woken up earlier and taken his coffee. now he considers it a familiar comfort in his morning routine <3

who cries during movies: jayce tears up so easily, i think i counted like 3 times in ep 2 alone (the babygirl episode). stealing from f0r again, but viktor doesn’t allow himself to be vulnerable around others, so he might let it affect him in private. mel is the same way, but i don’t think she’s as moved by fiction in general. jayce is just so easily immersed (sidenote, i LOVE when he starts explaining his work to others bc twice now he’s lost himself in his explanation and just starts rambling almost forgetting his own audience and i. love him.)

who spends the most while out shopping: mel then jayce then viktor. viktor would use smth until it was broken to purchase anything, and even then he would reuse the spare parts

who kisses more roughly: omg whaat kissing omg idk 🙈 uuhhhhm viktor that’s all i’ll say on that

who is more dominant: mel in the gentle guiding way, altho she rly deserves to have someone else take the initiative (but it’s also partly on her for not being able to let go of control). viktor is vaguely dominant in a need-for-control kind of way too, he definitely dislikes the unknown and being in control helps him navigate things his way. poor jayce, prefers doing all the work for his loved ones but they rarely give him the chance 😔 (insert “they were all tops” meme /j)

rating: 10/10 easily the best ship in arcane and one of the best ships in anything ever??!?! top 5 in general, there i said it

[aevallare]

Oh the jayvik prompts........ bed sharing.......

hi sage!!! sorry this took so long - there are many more in my inbox still languishing :C still! this was a really fun one and i hope you enjoy it

tw: alcohol mention

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A quarter of the housing allotted for students burns down in one night.

It’s late when there’s a knock on the door to Jayce’s dorm. Initially, he thinks it’s his roommate who had left hours earlier for a party.

“Reyn, I’ll let you in this time, but you’ve got to start remembering your–” When the door swings open, he finds Viktor. He looks amused and not sheepish at all, considering he has just showed up at Jayce’s door at three in the morning. “–keys?” Jayce finishes.

Viktor doesn’t even say hello. He says, “Someone burned down a significant portion of student housing.”

“Yeah. I heard the sirens.”

“The someone who did it might have been me.”

Jayce barks out a laugh before the realization that Viktor isn’t joking washes over him. “You’re serious.”

“I’m serious, and I also have nowhere to stay tonight. Can I sleep here?”

Viktor is immensely prideful. Jayce knows that asking at all is a concession. He also knows that Viktor has almost no one he can turn to for help in Piltover. “Um. Sure.” Jayce steps aside without really considering the logistics, and Viktor walks in. “I don’t know if Reyn is coming home tonight. You can have my bed and I’ll take his.”

Raising an eyebrow, Viktor says, “Why wouldn’t you just sleep in your own bed?”

“Because if he wanders in here drunk out of his mind, it’s going to be easier to explain that I’m in his bed than that a stranger is.”

It’s rare that he and Viktor see each other outside of the lab. Having Viktor in his dorm is weird. “Do you want something to drink?” Jayce asks awkwardly.

But Viktor shakes his head. “No, thanks. If I can’t work, I’d like to just sleep.”

Jayce nods and gestures over his shoulder with his thumb towards his desk. “Is it going to bother you if I leave a light on and keep studying for a little bit?”

“No.” Viktor sets his cane down against the wall and sets his shoes next to it before laying on the bed. Jayce watches him loosen his cravat before sitting back down at the desk.

To call Viktor an enigma is an understatement. He doesn’t care about rules or protocol, and he’ll do almost anything for progress, but even he isn’t in the habit of burning down buildings.

Jayce turns back around. Viktor’s staring at the ceiling, his arms behind his head. Jayce starts, “How did you–”

Viktor doesn’t turn his head, but he sets his mouth in a line and looks at Jayce out of the corner of his eye, and Jayce holds up his hands in surrender even though curiosity gnaws at him. Jayce reads a textbook for a class that probably doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, and thankfully, unlike Reyn, Viktor doesn’t snore. He gets in an hour and a half of uninterrupted studying before pushing away from the desk, stretching his arms above his head.

In the same second that Jayce decides that he is going to go to bed, a key turns in the door. Reyn stumbles through shortly after.

“Hey,” he slurs, and Jayce fights the urge to take the key from Reyn’s hand, spin him 180°, push him outside, and lock the door behind him. “Did you hear that basically half of academy housing’s burned down?”

Instead, Jayce says, “Hey. Yeah. A quarter of it, last I heard. Do you have someplace else you can stay tonight?”

“What–” Reyn squints, alcohol apparently impairing his vision, and finally he notices Viktor, still asleep under Jayce’s covers. “Oh. Your lay break bad?”

“He’s not–” Jayce pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales. “He’s not a hook-up.”

“Right. Which is why he’s in your bed,” Reyn laughs. After a moment, his lips part. “Wait. Isn’t that the TA for Computational Fluid Dynamics?”

“I don’t know. Probably,” Jayce says. Viktor teaches a couple of classes, as far as he’s aware. “His place caught fire tonight. Isn’t there somewhere else you can sleep? I need to borrow your bed and I know you’ve got family nearby.”

“If you think you’re convincing me not to sleep in my own bed, Talis–”

“Well, I’m not telling a guy whose bed is ashes right now that he has to share with me, and I’m also not kicking him out.”

“S’fine, Jayce.” Viktor’s voice is bleary, as close to not put together as Jayce has ever heard him sound; he and Reyn have obviously woken him. “Can’t imagine I’m the first lab partner you’ve crawled into bed with.”

That’s all the invitation that Reyn needs to toss himself into his own bed, leaving Jayce gobsmacked and staring at Viktor, who doesn’t bother saying anything else before moving closer to the wall.

“I can find a way to get to my mom’s,” Jayce says, and Viktor cracks his eyes open enough that Jayce can watch him roll them.

“Jayce. The sun is almost certainly about to come up. Don’t be stupid.”

“Shut up,” Reyn drunkenly groans from across the room. “I’m trying to sleep.”

And Jayce, without much other choice, strips off his jacket and gets into bed with the TA for Computational Fluid Dynamics. Viktor turns to the side, facing the wall, his back to Jayce, and Jayce mirrors him. The bed’s little; Jayce tries to make himself as small as possible.

Viktor seems not to be affected in the slightest, while Jayce is hyper-aware that there are only a few layers of clothing and a centimeter of space between them.

But Viktor has always noticed when Jayce is uncomfortable, even when he himself is the reason. Quietly enough that Reyn probably can’t hear, he says, “If you really want to know how I set a not-insignificant portion of the Academy on fire, I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Jayce laughs, and there’s not any extra room in the bed. When he does, his back presses up against Viktor’s. Viktor doesn’t try to move away, and Jayce has grown more than comfortable following his lead.

In the morning, word spreads that the fire was deemed electrical, the result of faulty wiring rather than negligence on any specific person’s part.

[tsscat]

You know I see a lot of people criticizing Jayce’s decision to try to make peace with Silco and Zaun as an act of cowardice and while Jayce has made many decisions out of cowardice during this season and I don’t think leaving Zaun in the hands of Silco is the most optimal solution, I do think Jayce’s decision here is actually if anything a sign of humility (or something similar) and a step in the right direction.

I think what you have to understand is while Jayce and Vi seem to have the same goal when they team up, they have completely different motivations. Vi wants war because she wants to save her home, Zaun, from Silco. Jayce wants to fight because he wants to protect Piltover from Zaun; he still sees Zaun as this force of evil, who aim to attack Piltover and steal their prosperity. If anything, Jayce’s desire for war is out of cowardice.

But when Jayce sees the destruction caused by his attack, I think that perception of Zaun shatters. He starts to see the massive power imbalance between Piltover and Zaun, and that Piltover can never be in danger from Zaun like Zaun is from Piltover. He also realizes that there is no way Piltover could ever help or “fix” Zaun through war. Any attempt by Piltover to destroy the evils within Zaun will result in every other Zaunite being brutalized and killed in the process. As Jayce says to Silco later, “Your people wouldn’t stand a chance”.

And I think this is also when Jayce starts to understand that despite the gangs and drugs and crime that happens in Zaun, the biggest reason for Zaun’s suffering is not any evil that resides within Zaun, but Piltover. In order for Piltover to truly make amends, the first step would have to be granting Zaun autonomy and independence; with the leaching force gone, they would finally be able to heal.

What’s also interesting about Jayce’s decision here is how it mirrors another one of his actions earlier in the series. When Jinx’s attack happens, Jayce’s first instinct is to actually shutdown all of hextech, his life’s work, so that Piltover can remain safe. Both then and with Zaun later, he is sacrificing his egotistical ambitions and viewpoints for the sake of the well-being of a people. His choice at the beginning of the series is a return to his old self, before he got swept up in politics and as Viktor put it, was more concerned about being great than being good.