#arcane and androids

[thegoldenherd]

sketch of my Major Blue Dragon species

...as opposed to their cousins, the Minor Blue Dragons, which are based on velociraptors, and I am yet to draw.

the biggest inspiration for Major Blur Dragons was the Quetzalcoatlus, as I thought it was the best real-world reference for a large flying creature (they're so vindicating for dragon lovers). And like the Quetzalcoatlus, Major Blues are fish-eating and mainly live on cliff shores.

having my dragons be six-limbed has the fun perk of allowing me to give a creature wings and hands without the functions competing for space like they do on Owlba arms.

unlike my Black, Red, and Green Dragons, both Major and Minor Blue Dragons walk in an upright posture, which allows them to use their hands like we do. this gives them an advantage to civilization building over other species, and so they can be found all over the continent.

requested by @the-kirbe-anon <3

[thegoldenherd]

This is Logis!

His option on the poll isn't posted yet and won't be for a while, so I'll have to give all the information on him that I have.

I'm afraid I can't really linearly separate character information from world lore, so this may read a little weird...

the life and legal status of Androids in the Lazuli Empire (the one described in Adrian and Clair's entries) is complicated. for this setting they are people, but since the only way to make them is to build them, finding a balance between keeping android manufacturing profitable enough so they don't die out while restricting it enough to keep them ethically treated is so tricky even androids are divided on it.

selling generic models (like Clair) is allowed, but they're granted independence after 18 years. what most people consider the most ethical option to be is to build them yourself, which Logis was.

Logis is basically a super-computer hidden in a clock-making droid built to help the Night Lights' mission of exposing government secrets.

Another one of the big BIG, issues with Android life is that they're all constantly tracked. removing trackers is illegal. androids often get damaged or contract viruses from trojans when they try to get trackers removed by scammers.

so when Logis isn't making clocks or investigating cases, he works as a doctor/mechanic for androids dealing with trackers and other problems they can't get fixed conventionally.

Most androids can feel a wide range of emotion, but Logis doesn't, and he doesn't have much in the way of personal beliefs or morals (aside from what he was programmed with) either. So while he's generally very kind, it's really just because he doesn't care to be mean.

but he does have interests and passions! he appreciates art, especially mathematical art, to the point where he has a Barnsley Fern engraving on his back.

the exact plot beat is still being worked on, but eventually he experiences an awakening that radically changes him, and he starts holding morals and beliefs and even experiencing more emotions.

OC PROPAGANDA!!! I WANT OC PROPAGANDA RIGHT NOW! Everyone show me the oc blorbo!!! I gotta know everyone's OCS tell me why you're spinning them around in your head!!! I want propaganda!!!

Please and thank you 🙏

[gaydr0id]

viktor as an android just appeared to me in a vision and im obsessed. what if hes a scrapped prototype and there are no existing parts that fit him so thats why he needs mobility aids

[thegoldenherd]

Alrighty, fun art time!

A simple apron. it doesn't cover much, but is one of the easiest things for me to design

Hooded Poncho + skirt. Ponchos would be very common, the near equivalent of a T-shirt even.

A dress! The hood would fit right over it if extra warms was ever needed.

and finally...

...pants. They look pretty embarrassing to me as they can't cover their butts, but these would be useful as undergarments for a skirt if they needed even more warmth.

They're all feathered sure, but the lever of fluff varies from tribe to tribe, and they don't all live in the same temperature climate, so warmth would still be appreciated.

For maximum warmth, I'd stack the pants, dress, and hood.

Why is it whenever we design really non-humananoid or animal-like races, we’re always having them wear no clothes? Why do we assume the human form is the only form that could possibly make clothing work? Just because centaurs would find pants problematic, that means they wouldn’t invent dresses? Just because the dragon-people have wings for arms, they can’t have togas and shorts? Just because a creature is a tentacle monster or has a hard carapace, they have no sense of modesty? Give me alien/fantasy/anthro fashion, dangit!

[staff]

Tumblr! They’re here. Communities are finally here. 

Communities are a new and easy way to connect with the people on Tumblr who get it. You can invite mutuals who share your obsessions to a private Community or start a public Community for the things you love and watch all the new friends pile in. Like a clown car, Communities can fit (almost) as many people in ‘em as you want.

Today, we’re hatching Communities out of their beta shell and launching them at your collective Tumblr experience—for you to enjoy and tinker with as we continue to build them out. We’re talking globally, on web, iOS, and Android. Buckle up, baby. We’re going to be so normal about this.

You can make a Community for just about anything. Art. Gravity Falls. Knitting. Your current D&D campaign. Photography. Obscure ships. The gay people in your phone. Music. Science. Fashion. Design. Baldur’s Gate 3. You’re the wielder of your own destiny. And, thanks to our delightful early testing users, there are already so many for you to join. Hazbin Hotel? Check. Arcane? Check. The Phandom? Check, check, check.

How do you get started? 

You can browse Communities over here. 

Find specific Communities by tapping the Communities tab at the top of the search results page.

Want to create your very own Community? Right this way, maestro.

Here’s a help doc for any questions you might have.

We’re excited to see what you do with this. Go forth, hang out, have fun.

[komanda]

Tumblr! Они уже здесь. Сообщества наконец-то здесь! 

Сообщества — новый удобный способ находить друзей по интересам в Tumblr. Вы можете пригласить взаимных подписчиков, разделяющих ваши увлечения, в закрытое сообщество. Или создайте открытое сообщество, посвящённое всему, что вы любите, и смотрите, как растёт в нём количество новых друзей. Сообщества, как по волшебству, могут вместить в себя (почти) столько людей, сколько захотите.

Сегодня мы выпускаем сообщества из их бета-ракушки и запускаем полный доступ для всего Tumblr — чтобы вы могли радостно возиться с ними, пока мы продолжаем разработку. Речь идёт о глобальном запуске — в веб-версии, iOS и Android. Пристегните ремни, будет интересно!

Вы можете создать сообщество о чём угодно. Искусство. Gravity Falls. Вязание. Ваша кампания по D&D. Фотография. Малоизвестные корабли. Люди нетрадиционной ориентации. Музыка. Наука. Мода. Дизайн. Baldur’s Gate 3. Ваша судьба в ваших руках. А благодаря нашим прекрасным ранним тестировщикам, к вашим услугам уже множество готовых сообществ. Hazbin Hotel? Пожалуйста. Arcane? Есть. Фандом? Тоже есть. Заходите, смотрите, присоединяйтесь!

С чего начать? 

Вы можете поискать разные сообщества здесь. 

Найдите сообщества на конкретную тему, перейдя на вкладку "Сообщества" вверху страницы результатов поиска.

Хотите создать собственное сообщество? Вам сюда, маэстро.

А вот справочная статья, которая поможет вам разобраться, если возникнут вопросы.

Мы с нетерпением ждём, как вы воспользуетесь этой новой функцией. Вперёд — общайтесь, развлекайтесь!

[thegoldenherd]

I found my stylus again!

to celebrate, here's Logis getting stuck in a sweater.

his fingers are needle thin and pass between the fibers.

transparent versions where you can see more Logis:

[celira]

also: at this point any time you install a free app, you should check your settings for dogwhistles that they're selling your data or using it for AI - some words to look for are around "personalization", "enhancement", or "training". most of the time, there's a toggle you can turn off. Tumblr has one, most social media networks (IG, Twitter, LinkedIn, you name it) - the rabbithole runs deep.

remember! if an app is free, you are the product!

Oh _lovely_. Everyone go turn this off:

Enhanced Visual Search in Photos allows you to search for photos using landmarks or points of interest. Your device privately matches places in your photos to a global index Apple maintains on our servers. We apply homomorphic encryption and differential privacy, and use an OHTTP relay that hides [your] IP address. This prevents Apple from learning about the information in your photos. You can turn off Enhanced Visual Search at any time on your iOS or iPadOS device by going to Settings > Apps > Photos. On Mac, open Photos and go to Settings > General.

[equipo]

Buenas noticias, habitantes de Tumblr: ¡por fin están aquí las comunidades!

Las comunidades son una forma nueva y muy sencilla de conectar con otras personas que usan Tumblr y comparten vuestros mismos intereses e inquietudes. Podéis invitar a blogs con los que os seguís a una comunidad privada o abrir una pública sobre las cosas que os apasionan y ver cómo se llena de gente interesante. Es como el bolso de cierta institutriz británica: cabe (casi) de todo en ellas; sí, también un montón de integrantes.

Ayer, la versión de prueba de las comunidades se convirtió en una flamante función más al alcance de todas las personas que usáis Tumblr. Por fin podéis disfrutarlas y experimentar con ellas mientras seguimos, por supuesto, puliendo detalles y añadiendo novedades. En todas las plataformas, además: están disponibles en la versión web y las aplicaciones para iOS y Android. ¡Abrochaos los cinturones! Es muy probable que nos encontréis demostrando un entusiasmo desmedido por esta novedad a la mínima oportunidad.

Podéis crear comunidades de casi cualquier cosa que se os ocurra. Arte. Gravity Falls. Punto. Campañas de D&D. Fotografía. Shipeos. Colectivos. Música. Ciencia. Moda. Diseño.Baldur’s Gate 3. ¡Podríamos tirarnos aquí todo el día! En vuestras manos está decidir. Además, gracias a todas las personas que nos ayudaron a probar esta función antes de lanzarla, ya hay un montón creadas a las que podéis uniros. ¿Sois fans de Hazbin Hotel? Tenemos lo que buscáis. ¿Seguís sin superar Arcane? Sumaos a la lista. ¿Sois más de The Phandom? ¡Ahí queda eso!

¿No sabéis por dónde empezar? 

Podéis encontrar comunidades interesantes por aquí. 

También tenéis la opción de buscarlas: encontraréis comunidades relacionadas con el término de búsqueda que hayáis usado en la pestaña correspondiente de la página de resultados.

¡Otra posibilidad es crear una! Este enlace os llevará al lugar correcto.

Y, si tenéis cualquier duda, puede que este documento de ayuda os la resuelva.

¡Tenemos muchas ganas de descubrir qué hacéis con ellas! Ahora, a pasarlo bien y a participar.

[stillwattergossip]

MY PHONE & I;

> ARCANE CHARACTERS & THEIR PHONE / ONLINE BEHAVOIR HEADCANONS!

featuring Jinx, Vi and Caitlyn!

JINX

☆i just KNOW Jinx has tons of games on her phone, her poor storage always crying for help the moment she has to update them all..

☆i can imagine Jinx already having lots of phones from different companies (due to her blowing the others up-), she doesn't really have a preference.

☆loves to make her own phone cases, never buys one without the intention to paint them all up to make it unique.

☆a fast typer: Often answers before you're even able to type out the rest of your question.

☆with her, it's either two things: fully chronically online or not on the internet for days, if not even weeks, if she has her eyes on one of her new inventions again

☆Speaking of those, she 100% would share her progress here and then through her art account!!

☆loves pissing people off for fun: used the block button multiple times herself (only to unblock them later on again-)

VI

♡ She probably has one of those phone cases to hinder getting broken in any way, yet Vi somehow still managed to have some slits in the screen.

♡ always uses her fingerprints to open her phone cause she's too forgetful to remember her password (which got her into more problems than she could count.)

♡ Android User!!

♡ LOVESS to take pictures of her loved ones. In a modern AU, I remember her having a photo album reaching the days when her parents were still alive, thinking about old times.

♡ prefers calls over texting. She'd also be one to randomly start video calls to show you something!!

♡ Best believe she has her gym playlist ready for every single morning. WOuld probably wake up with the most stupid or cheeky song ever.

♡ not that big of a screentime tbh, she is more of a “living-in-the-moment” kind of person. She does love looking and liking Jinx posts in order to support her

♡ Certified funny Animals Clips Lover.

♡ after getting together with Caitlyn, she'd convince her to have matching wallpapers🤭

CAITLYN KIRAMMAN

♤ 100% an iPhone user. I don't make the rules ❗️🤷🏾‍♀️

♤ always got a new one every year from her parents. She does keep the same/familiar type of phone case: either a very simple one coloured one or something with her family's symbol.

♤ average to a big amount of screentime, depending on her mood. the more stressed she gets, the higher her urge to turn herself away from the real world as well.

♤ Has a decent number of followers on any platform: would get a ton of brand deals as well if she'd want to but decides to be one of those who post once a week/month.

♤ She does post more after she gets together with Vi: Her pictures turning from sceneries of Piltover or gatherings she had to attend to more domestic life-like pics where she actually smiles.

this gen made fun writing..might do something in the future with other characters if anyone's interested!^^

[oxenfreeao3]

LSTR-512

MNHR-516

So I had an idea.

(AU design free to a good home with credit for I am but a lowly doodler)

[christian-oc-tournament]

Please vote based on the picture AND the description!

Loch [Loch, Stock, and Gun Barrels @larissa-the-scribe]

The smallest little (autistic-coded) guy, despite being a centuries-old scottish water fae with a dragon friend (named Friend). Accidentally ended up in America, and is doing his best to learn about this new place by reading the New Testament and the Constitution--which might have been useful, if he hadn't ended up in the Wild West. He is now following around an outlaw and getting vocally bewildered by all the laws this guy is breaking.

Logis [Arcane and Androids @thegoldenherd]

while his creator publicly claims Logis was built for the purpose of making clocks, his true reason for creation was to uncover truths by utilizing pure logic. throughout his life he gets into trouble for his compulsion to uncover the truth, from minor invasions of privacy, all the way to state secrets and conspiracies, and eventually mystical truths beyond even his own understanding.

[omilkandhoneyteao]

I was watching the Marvel show What If…? Last night and tell me why Arcane Machine (Magic) Herald is literally Infinity Ultron

Both are “robots”/robotic (ik Ultron is an android just stay with me) who got cosmic powers and wanted to achieve “peace” but their visions got skewed and they decided the only way to achieve their goals was by wiping out all of humanity and at the end after everyone was gone they both realized there was nothing else to pursue after everyone was gone LIKE????

[ichorai]

OK COMPUTER ; the series.

a series based on the album ok computer by radiohead for our 8k milestone! fandoms included ; marvel, succession, harry potter, the walking dead, arcane, dc, game of thrones, and bridgerton.

main masterlist. about.

TRACKLIST.

ONE. airbag ; steve rogers (4.3k) five time steve tries to propose to you, and one time he actually does.

TWO. paranoid android ; coriolanus snow. (27k+) when you laughed, airy and light and reminiscent to that of wind chimes, coryo wished he could bottle up the sound and keep it as his, only his.

THREE. subterranean homesick alien ; fred weasley. you were looking up at the stars, and fred was staring right at you, a dopey, lovesick sort of smile playing at the corner of his lips. “do you think there’s life out there?” you asked, but instead of getting an answer, fred surged forward, a hand curling over the back of your neck to pull you closer, freckled nose bumping against your cheek, his warm lips slotting over yours, extinguishing any and all lingering existential questions on the tip of your tongue. 

FOUR. exit music (for a film) ; rick grimes. blood all over your torn shirt, giving way to teeth marks. his horrified eyes met yours. you were bit, it was clear as day—and you had to make sure rick knew a couple things before you left for good.

FIVE. let down ; viktor (arcane). it was his fault, really. he knew better than to fall in love with his coworker, who was just recently engaged to someone else. someone better than him.

SIX. karma police ; dick grayson. he skimmed his fingers down your side—your waist, your hips, your thighs. your chest was rising and falling rhythmically, features mellowed with sleep. he couldn’t help but wonder if “no strings attached” was really a good idea.

SEVEN. fitter happier ; miguel o’hara. there was a dangerous red glint to miguel’s eyes as you stepped between him and the kid. a muttered curse, a clenched fist, a twitching jaw. you weren’t afraid of the man you loved—but maybe you should be.

EIGHT. electioneering ; siobhan roy. tom had said he wanted to watch the two of you—but he didn’t exactly want to, not really. shiv didn’t quite care. it was his loss, after all.

NINE. climbing up the walls ; sansa stark. sansa begins to pull away from you after her father’s death.

TEN. no surprises ; sam wilson. the two of you go off to look for wanda, supposedly in a quaint little town called westview. but in a blink of an eye—you’re a smiling housewife and sam is your loving husband, trapped in a house that didn’t quite feel like home. 

ELEVEN. lucky ; theon greyjoy.  he thinks you look so very pretty laying on the snow, frost clinging to your lashes.

TWELVE. the tourist ; benedict bridgerton. it was typical of him, of course. to fall in love with the traveling artist with keen eyes and calloused hands.

[goodoldfashionedengineer]

Arcane x Detroit: Become Human AU anyone?

Viktor develops the first ever android: Blitzcrank

CyberLife uses the idea as their own and fire Viktor due to disagreements on their usage

Several years later, he hates CyberLife ever bit more so every year. Especially after their driverless cars were built to place a "value" on the humans they come across. And as a disabled guy, he obviously sees how fucked up this is.

He built Blitzcrank to do jobs that are too dangerous or too deteriorating for humans.

But now they're everywhere and the unemployment rate continues to climb.

Jayce is an android forger, who sees that those beings actually have a sense of humanity to them. He sees it as wrong how society treats them

[literallys-illiteracy]

Viktor in Arcane Season 2, Design and characterisation, an essay:

I do not like the Viktor redesign, nor his character within the show Arcane.

This is a thematic analysis of his design and depiction within the show which elaborates in moderacy why.

First and foremost, the design itself, before the character: Viktor, alongside his glorious arcane evolution in the show, is shown through an extremely organic, completely sleek design for his drones, and a membranal, coloured pattern for its corruption.

In both cases, I feel as if their design is stuck in the realm of purgatory in which it is not fully committed to either biomechanical replicants, eg. Androids, nor brutalistic utilitarian augments, eg. Adeptus Mechanicus.

As it stands, the droids in particular demonstrate this combination of themes, being almost entirely human in their appearance, showing no outward mechanical nor magical aspects in favour of a purely white, polished, mannequin-esque design.

In discussion of the droids, I want to note that for their themes of Viktor’s singularity and removal of humanity, this design does in fact work in their favour. This is particularly clear within the scenes presenting them in combat, and the moments in future when they are stalking Jayce through the world; In the final episode particularly, they are shown working in whole unison, scaling the towers and chasing people in a manner reminiscent of World War Z zombies, however in a more unified, hive mind-like manner, due to their purposeful manoeuvring acting as structure for another to get further.

These drone’s primary feature is their mask, being a visage vaguely akin to a humans, though unmoving and clearly artificial, which of course shows the inhumanity of this horde and Viktor’s rejection of human emotions – The lack of a face is an aspect that is used quite directly, most notably in Viktor’s bargaining with Mel and Jayce, alongside the skittering, almost insectoid movement that the droid features to avoid destruction.

While this singular theme of cohesion and inhumanity is in favour of these mannequin drone designs, there is more to Viktor’s characterisation than removing humanity as a blanket thought; Rather than removal for the sake of removal, rather than disdain for humanity in large, Viktor should be seeking to move to a state beyond humanity, which is shown in his own personal design.

The concept of moving beyond humanity is one that Viktor shares with Singed in this regard, being a vague dichotomy between the synthetic evolution and the biological evolution, punctuated by their respective epilogue scenes within act one particularly, however I feel as if these contrasting thoughts were intentional narrative choices, then the somewhat organic nature of the arcane evolution works against the contrast.

Before moving to Viktor’s personal design I want to share my own personal view of Viktor as a character.

I want to preface by saying that I am in no way a veteran of League itself, however I have been interested in the lore long before Arcane’s release, and Viktor’s characterisation since I learned of his character.

Viktor as a character was not always the most consistent, varying between benevolent and something near the utilitarianist machine lord we see in Arcane, his primary consistent trait was that of synthetic evolution and moving beyond humanity’s flaws, improving the human form with mechanical augmentations.

There are many routes that one may take this story path, in essence Viktor’s main consistent trait was his relation to an archetypal visionary, similar to Swain, but in the nature of humanity rather than Noxus; In all incarnations of Viktor, he should remain as this same archetypal character, in any shape or form, which all incarnations so far have successfully done.

I want to note something, there is the concept of characters who “Are created to embody an archetype not challenge it”, specifically, at least from what i've seen, popularised by TBskyen. I want to clarify that I am referring to archetypes in the psychological or unconscious storytelling sense, rather than the conscious character archetypes such as the “Nordic Viking” character archetype that Olaf embodies.

 I may write in depth at a later date relating the concept of archetypal characters to storytelling, moreso as templates from which character bases emerge, rather than the typical observation of a character itself, but I wanted to note this as writing about League made me remember Skyen’s phrase and I thought to clarify my meanings.

As i’m sure i have made abundantly clear, my personal preferred interpretation of Viktor’s character is that of the synthetic, syncretic and unifying ascension beyond humanity; Once again there are many pathways that this interpretation may lead to, notably, a utilitarian rejection of humanity is best based on one of two pathways, physiological imperfections or improvements, akin to the mechanicus, which is my preferred focus, which is akin to the Mechanicus in Warhammer, or the removal of unnecessary emotions for the sake of pure efficiency and cohesion, which reflects a character similar to HAL from a Space Odyssey – Neither of these interpretations of an inhuman herald is malicious, nor an incorrect interpretation, however i feel as if the new incarnation of Viktor leans too heavily into the purely unifying cause, when the synthetic evolution acts equally as important to the character in past and in theme.

While there is an element incorporated in the drones that Viktor creates, being faster and stronger than a human, there is a key trait of ascension beyond human limitations that these designs do not accomplish, as they are almost entirely human in design.

This improvement can be seen in the most crucial difference between Viktor and his drone’s designs, Viktor is not part of this unification, Viktor possesses differences, his walking stick, his differing mask, and his third arm, each of which marks him as separate from the surrounding evolution.

Viktor’s transformation seen in the final episodes of season 2 features many traits that I dislike for Viktor’s characterisation, especially when he takes the route of humanity’s emotions and differences being its downfall.

As mentioned above, Viktor hisself is not uniform in the same way that the drones are, being a wholly different colour, wearing a different mask, and featuring different kinds of synthetics to the rest of his flock.

Viktor’s departure from humanity is meant to be symbolised through his mask, being akin to those possessed by his drones, however having a large split, from which comes forth a decidedly inhuman remainder; the concept of his mask is one that was featured in the first act of the season notably, his suspension in the hexcore leaving nothing but his face, and his eyes glowing in the scene which he blessed the first sinn- healed the first wounded.

I feel as if, though conceptually this design is valid, the existence of his drone’s renders his divergence from the unity as antithetical to his own ideals; Though his motif if that of ascending beyond humanity, uncaring to human emotions and morals for the sake of evolution, he acts as the only synthetic which retains its humanity to any extent, while bearing the mask with the largest departure.

His gaining of this mask was a moment foreshadowed for a long time, being the only part of him that was uncorrupted by the arcane, being the only part of him visible properly during the astral sequences with Skye, and being the only part of him that is newly concealed after he abandons Skye once more; the leaving of Skye acts as his abandonment of humanity, his internal compass and anima, which is then followed by his later ascension, however as stated before, for someone who is meant to ascend beyond human individuality or emotion, he still remains as the only source of human individuality in the legion of synthetics.

I cannot stress enough this divergence, the fact that despite this incarnation of Viktor acting as an amoral, inhuman, “driven assimilator”, wanting to bring all others into the same fold, he is the only one who does not follow this tennant.

We can see this even further with the details of his colouration, his reborn body, and his augmentations; Viktor takes directly after the Hex core, being a greyish purple in colouration, with golden accents, which match in colour but not location to his drones.

Viktor’s body itself diverges from the standard drone we see, being extremely human in its design, appearing even biological, coated in metal, rather than a true biomechanical form due to its textured design, not present on his followers.

This leads to the primary problem that I have with this incarnation of Viktor, he is simply put, not the “machine herald”, and is hardly the ascensionist that defined the character for so long.

While I understand the choices made, the directions that Viktor was taken, I cannot help but think that he is simply lacking, in story and development; in thematics; and in what should be the singular unifier of these two aspects, his design.

His goal in this latest incarnation is more directly to remove weakness, rather than to build on existing strength, which both act as the plausible goals of an ascensionist herald such as Viktor, this is in large why his drones lack these same overtly mechanical, almost brutalistic design traits that are present in designs such as his Legend of Runeterra followers, yet at the same time, his own personal design features augments, rather than this same unifying design, with the third arm on his back.

While his archetypal story of ascension towards a vision remains in tact, seeking singularly to remove the human weakness of emotions and individuality, I cannot help but feel that his design does not share this trait, being the only individual in the world is not the removal of individuals, it is just the suppression.

-

Lore.

Though lore was somewhat discussed in the prior section, it was more so characterisation that was used argumentatively before this; My view of Viktor is one that I have made abundantly clear: “An ascensionist, visionary, who seeks to herald machines or augments”. 

I have no inherent problems with the incorporation of the arcane, with his mystical presentation, nor his outward depiction as a villain, in fact, i believe that this utilitarian bargaining and carelessness acts in his favour, being one of my favourite character tropes in fiction, “Doing the wrong things for the right reasons” (Oh, worm).

My problem comes twofold, in his depiction through the show both before and after ascension, and his rejection of this sought ideal.

To summarise the first point, while Viktor acts in a cold logical manner for the scenes immediately before his rebirth, these scenes exist as the primary example of his inhumanity, placing him in the body of his drone – This bargaining scene is another that i feel could have been improved on, most notably, the spliced scenes in which we see Viktor’s face in the astral plane or something(?), severing the dissociation that would have serviced this scene and the following act perfectly. Imagine if Viktor’s face, for the entirety of act 3 prior to the finale, in which Ekko fractures the mask, was hidden; The face acts as the gateway to the soul, being the primary feature used to punctuate a creatures humanity, if Viktor’s bargaining to Mel and Jayce were without this depiction, the rejection of humanity would work far more effectively, and would have helped to enforce his separation of emotions.

Following the ascension, which occurs immediately after this bargaining, Viktor’s design is revealed, which i have already addressed my stylistic problems with, however, in his interactions following this moment, he acts in a more human manner than during the prior scenes, still holding a hope to show Jayce this beauty that he has discovered, yet still waiting until he arrived at the roof to do so?.

Viktor’s motivation is never allowed to develop in whole for the same reason that i dislike this incarnation, he refuses to act in either archetypal role of a visionary or a humanist, while seemingly attempting to remain as both.

While he claims to have become more than he ever was, more than human, his design and characterisation fail to show this at almost every turn, with almost every scene bar two (the aforementioned conversation in the council room and the moment when Ekko throws the Z drive at him) showing him as equally human from before the transformation.

While he claims to want to remove human suffering, he acts only to remove humanity in whole, not improve any aspect of it, or build off of its design, only mimic its appearance.

Viktor’s realisation of humanities weaknesses was not one that was unforeseen, and there is a theoretical merit to the concept of one who wishes to remove humanities imperfections in a communal, hive minded nature, the abject removal of all humanities aside from his own is simply a flawed execution.

Viktor, even after his transformation, clings to his flaws and to his humanity, separating him once again, even further, from his vaunted perfection: Viktor’s irregular textured body compared to other synthetics, his ostentatious mask, his seeming care for outward design, and most damningly, his walking stick, all of which far from necessary in his new perfect form.

If Viktor were to wholly choose, either ascension or unity for humanity, then I would be more than fine with his incarnation, if he had been firmly humanist or inhuman for his goals, then I would have liked his character.

If Viktor were to truly reject humanity, then why not show it first with the removal of his own flaws, his own separation of humanity, from which follows his realisation about human emotions, why have Skye representative of his humanity, of his nature in all of its flaws, when he clings still to his walking stick that represented them from the start.

The Finale.

In the finale of the show, Viktor embraces his humanity, Ekko having shattered his mask and revealed his face, following which he sees Viktor in the future having come to realise his flaws.

I dislike this ending for one primary reason.

It was never our Viktor who learned this lesson. *OUR* Viktor was robbed of this realisation, and even a flawed conclusion it may be, we have still lost a pivotal development in Viktor’s character.

There is no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit.

And herein lies my biggest dislike of this characterisation.

Viktor’s future statement is one that has sat wrong with me since I heard it, and it is one that is a consequence directly of Viktor’s mischaracterized ascension discussed earlier.

Viktor’s sentiment is his desire to bring an end to suffering, hence that all suffering is derived from emotions, and from humanity.

And even in the end, Viktor describes this as “Perfection”. Viktor does not lament the loss of individuation, rather the loss of pursuit, that he had already completed his life’s goal.

And from this future revelation, Viktor chooses to abandon all his notions of improvement, in his future realisation borne of stagnancy, from the loss of a dream, he willingly abandons all notions of this dream.

This final speech of the future Viktor is one that almost in itself motivated me to write this discussion; should Viktor have simply lamented the loss of humanity, of minds to think, even of unpredictability, rather than the simple monotony of perfection; Should Viktor have understood the drive borne of emotions, from which progress is unattainable; Should Viktor have wished more outwardly to improve human flaws, to grow beyond human, in any way other than removing the “Human” aspect, then I would not dislike this character as much as i do.

Viktor’s design and mischaracterisation, in my opinion, are derived from a countless number of minor missteps and choices, wholly intertwined faucets of character which sought to represent discordant images of a person, souring both aspects in whole.

I do not hate Arcane, I loved it, and that is why I wish for its improvement, for its evolution beyond what it is, to improve its flaws and retain the core integrity of the show, to see it become what it could have been.

Also as a final message, having Jayce and Viktor kiss in the finale would have been infinitely better in the concept of humanity and the necessity for emotions, especially if it was preluded by a realisation of Viktor's actions and biases towards Jayce even following the transformation.

Let the men kiss riot.

Also small edit in post: I want to note that these statements are still for all intents and purposes, criticisms, however made with an attempt to remove any sort of knee jerk or personal reactions to the ending, I did not like the ending too much in general, however i tried to acknowledge those biases where possible and remove them where not.

Authors note: I am so sorry this is so much fucking longer than i thought it would be I didn't mean to ramble on for so long about him