#except Jayce we on the outs right now

[kurthummeldeservesbetter]

other ideas for what happens after Viktor wakes up:

He and Jayce make out passionately and get the hell out of piltover and then they go spend the rest of their days as a small mechanics/toy shop owners.

Jayce says lmao nah bro you clearly aren’t in the right headspace right now at least rest for a day before leaving and Viktor is like whelp can’t argue against that logic

Viktor is like you want to be the John the Baptist to my Jesus and Jayce is like I don’t know what the fuck that is but sure

Jayce gives him a fluffy robe instead of that magic sheet cloak and Viktor realizes he can’t be a cult leader looking like that so he just pouts in the lab for the rest of time

Viktor amnesia AU????? Oh the possibilities. He’s like hi I just got here and I’m purple. why am I naked and also who are you. Who am I. Do I have a name, a last name too perhaps? oooooo and jayce is like well we’re partners. And Viktor is like married? And Jayce is like whelp fuck it yeah. Married! (That way he can also solve the problem of Viktor not having a last name)

OOOOO Viktor’s magic/hexcore cult also affects Jayce? Feels compelled to follow him no matter what? And Viktor is now Came Back Different and is like well don’t know what to do about that!

Viktor gets out of the hexcore 3d painting whatever the fuck he was in and he’s just. Back to normal. Regular healthy man. Viktor is like well my terminal illness and chronic pain is gone but now how do I style myself without my cane?? he leaves to go figure it out lmao

Viktor gets out and everything is the same except he’s got a Jersey accent. Like a deep one. He doesn’t know it’s changed. Jayce is like well fuck. *contemplates pushing him back in to try and reverse it*

Viktor gets out and he’s like well I’m pissed you didn’t destroy it and also made more weapons but I’d likely use it to save you too (debatable for some but work with me here) let’s just start fresh and also I need real clothes before we stop this war. (He and Jayce also make out in this one too.)

Viktor gets out and he’s a cat. Jayce is happy. (He’s allergic to dogs).

[rnadett]

Here is your Big Fat Hero- Cailtyn 'defender' post

I somehow get that you think Caitlyn went too far, but so did the fandom. A lot of you talk about her as a 'dictator' and compare her use of The Grey to make her sound like Hitler, it seems people forget that she purposely used it only on her targets, not on civilians or all of Zaun. In fact, she even did a bit of a favor for Zaunites in the long term.

So let’s start analyzing the important aspects in a somewhat objective way. (Don’t mind my profile picture—I promise I'll try to be objective… or maybe not, who knows?)

EVEN after her mother died, Caitlyn still tried to protect the innocent in Zaun and tried to convincing the council not to start an invasion.

She even disagreed with Vi’s opinion on using the gauntlet (Hextech as a weapon), which we saw when she discussed it with Jayce.

This was her last scene before the attack on the memorial.

After that, we can clearly see how much it affected her; it fueled her anger (Good job, Ambessa—a true politician! No wonder Mel learned from her - except she is using it for better reasons). Yet, her anger wasn’t directed at civilians or all of Zaun.

Even then, she managed to call off the invasion, which she didn’t support in the first place. And after the attack, Vi talked her down in just two minutes—a point that hasn’t gotten enough credit, especially since it was her mother’s memorial.

This scene is also telling: there’s a storm brewing inside her, and while she wants to do the right thing, like protecting innocents from war, events escalate too quickly for her to reason through them and find a solution alone. Vi staying as her only remaining pillar in all this madness.

But yeah, her anger hasn’t faded just jet, but with Vi, they found an alternative—morally gray, but still better than risking a massacre between Zaun and Piltover.

And this is what they did. In the clip at the beginning of Episode 3, we see that they targeted ONLY gang members, not civilians in Zaun. I need to mention this a few times because there's already a misconception that Caitlyn and Vi are targeting or harming civilians.

But if you look at every frame, you’ll only see them going after gang members responsible for suffering and exploitation—Margot's and Chross's gangs, for example.

Oh, and let’s not forget, these were the people Isha was running from in the first place. A children!

So, Overall, this is just a continuation of what Vi tried to do in Season 1, but now with Caitlyn instead of Jayce (or alone).

So why does Caitlyn get all the blame?

As I see it, these actions were not hers alone; Vi was part of it too. In fact, this was Vi’s original plan (except the Jinx part, of course).

So, the point of my post is this: Yes, Caitlyn is heading in a bad direction, and killing—even gang members— with gas isn’t a good thing. But at this point, she and Vi haven’t harmed innocents. Despite how it looks, at least these actions prevent more innocent children, like Isha, from being harmed. Another question is where things will go now that Caitlyn has pushed Vi away (which I think was her only truly wrong action in Act 1).

Now Ambessa has taken Vi's place (in meaning of influence, not in any other way you little pervert) , and rather than calming her, Ambessa will fuel Caitlyn’s anger, grief, and self-hatred even more.

Oh my god, I love this scene. You can see the micro-expression on Ambessa's face, how satisfied she is, knowing how good she’s pulling the strings so far.

But I think we all feel that this match is far from over.

I also leave this here:

In the end, though, I believe that Caitlyn, no matter who’s currently influencing her, will have to decide her own path and who she truly is—without relying on anyone else. Even if we love her with Vi, this is something she needs to figure out ALONE.

Anyway, I might have written more in detail if Tumblr didn’t have a 10-image/post limit. Maybe I’ll make another post about the things I left out or would have expanded on.

[thatneoncrisis]

Sorry to keep dragging you through Arcane hell (the new season is... oof) but I am curious what your thoughts on silco are? Realising more and more that silco and sevika are the only part of the show I gave a fuck about and my love of season one was really just those two.

i keep putting things under a readmore so if ppl dont want to see me go "damn this was good i wish it was better" they dont have to

i think silco on paper has potential to be one of my favorite characters on the show, and barring that at least one of the most layered and well crafted. his and vanders dynamic is by no means unique, its very professor x and magneto, which is already something i can take or leave. "oh we were childhood friends and allies fighting for a better future but one of us got soft while the other became hardned and radicalized" the narrative of the terrorist freedom fighter, one corrupted by power is done a Lot bc of a general apprehension in shows like this to endorse violence on the behalf of the oppressed class BUT i think his relationship with jinx was a good addition and if like one or two changes were made it could have been some of the best the show has to offer

for the sake of this post, im going to ignore the reveal that silco knew jinxs mother before her death i think that was dumb and bad. essentially, the show begins with silco and vander at odds- they both are doing what they believe needs to be done in order to secure zauns future, and both of them are ultimatrly hurting zauns people; silco is flooding the streets with shimmer and vander is working with enforcers. silco is primarily motivated by power, but vander is motivated by his love for his kids, this is the only way he has even the slightest assurance that he can keep them from run ins with the law, a law that has a precedent for tossing children in maximum sexurity prisons.

vanders death and silcos subsequent acqusition of jinx flips the coin. there is now something in his life to love, to protect, to care for. he is falling into the same behavior that vander was, even if he is far worse at it bc hes a terrible father whos also a drug lord and just kind of lets his unstable daughter sit in a. ave and build bombs all day. hes not *good* but he *cares* evidenced by him literally needing to be sedated when jinx gets surgery so he didnt flip the fuck out

in a straightforward narrative, this is a story about a man having to choose between his daughter and his passion project. zaun is something he has given his life for, hed do anything to have it succeed... except one thing. that one thing. "there is nothing so undoing as a daughter" is probably one of my favorite lines in the show. i really do wish we had gotten More of them, especially at the beginning when she was a baby and silco doesnt really know what to do with her, which brings me to my next bit-

i think sevika is an indespensible part of the triangle of silco and jinx triangle. i find her position interesting as she is not only second in command, but second to jinx, a literal child. she can be the best right hand man a guy could ask for, she is so dedicated to his cause she betrayed vander, she has given her life and limb for this shit. but she will never be jinx. and i think the conversation of like, how far will silco go before he is forced to choose is kind of awesome. the ultimatum jayce gives him is good it is the breaking point of him trying to do both. he is directly responsible for the "monster" piltover is hunting, he didnt try to keep her in line, he let her do whatever she wanted and he is now directly reaping the consequences. frankly, i think sevika should have been present for that choice in some capacity, eavesdropping or something, so certain that hell make the right choice, its just a girl. and she sees him falter. him not choosing is a choice, he cannot actually make the sacrifices required to get shit done. hed orphan a thousand children to build his utopia, but he cant let go of his girl

anyway all of that was really cool and interesting so you imagine my frustration when his choice is taken from him via jinx flipping out, kidnapping him then shooting him. it was so. anticlimatic. it *feels* like its supposed to be a tragedy, oh she assumes the worst when he was actually going to choose her, but those conclusions feel too. private. like he dies with basically no one knowing he was this close to selling zaun up a river for his girl. i dont think he should have died i think he should have been disgraced for daring to have it all. anyway i think instead of jinx overhearing him talk outloud and coming to the wrong conclusion sevika should have deliberately led her there 1. to piss her off on purpose and 2. prove a point to silco that jinx is unstable and a liability, but not assume shed go far enough to kill him, bc they both still care about him.

overall any of my issues with how his story goes is just a combination of my distaste for that particular archetype, where he is so incredibly comically evil i cannot take a single one of his points seriously even though they Are correct (killmonger. its just killmonger again) and the show just once again not having time for anything with him that is not The Plot. the fondness he has for jinx is apparent i just wish it could COOK longer i wanted MORE, i wanted to see him foster that love of inventing in her, even though it is clearly just because the weapons she makes are helpful to his cause, i want to see her genuinely give input on his ideas, i want to see them talk about vander. his human elements are like too sparse for me to latch on to its like the Idea of them, i go oh i see what you guys are Trying to do. there is too little of him i see him cooing over his daughter then going back to his crack cocaine mines staffed by orphan children and i ask does the show jave anything to say about this cognative dissonance? no? i find it really telling that one chem baron was pissed at the enforcers for her son dying, and yes they were Definitely a factor but WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR SON WORKING IN THE CRACK COCAINE MINES MAAM. YOU WERE KIND OF ASKING FOR IT. theres no like, conversation about what the corrupting influences of power does to the next generation even when the best of intentions are had. jinx constantly taking shimmer in season 2 for power ups, a direct product of her fathers worst tendancies, and it having NO ill effects on her, shes not reduced to the animalistic state of the drug addicts we are CONSTANTLY seeing on the streets bc. why. is she built different. the metaphor is RIGHT THERE her father/shimmer enable her but they are also killing her from the inside mein GOTT.

also the first time i watched this show i kept confusing him with viktor lol

[low-budget-korra]

My comments on Arcane s01

-Vi is the sister I wish I had, fr. And as an lesbian older sister myself, it wasn't hard for me to connect with her from the very first episode.And now that I've watched the show, I don't understand how some people blame her for wherever she did to Jinx. Yeah, Jinx was just a kid but guess what, so was Vi. Jinx lost everything? So has Vi.

"but Violet abandoned Powder" No! She was protecting her lil sister. And she just saw her sister murder their entire family, how y'all think she feels? And she was about to save Powder before she was kidnapped.

And the fact that she manages to be so soft and good besides everything she went through... Vi is THE exception.

-Powder/Jinx was just a kid and all but damn. Vi forgives it all she has done, and in the one time Vi needs her forgiveness, she's so quick to hate her for good. Did she really realize what she had done?

Well, now I see why some people compared her to Azula. The difference is that Azula never had anything like Vander or Vi, Jinx had that and still went nuts. And also, Azula never goes for the murder, not really when it was expected (like when she was betrayed by Mai and Ty Lee). While Jinx would give 2 shits about kill people for funzies.

Yes, I feel sympathy for her, just as much as I feel anger towards her. She is a complex character that's for sure. And mentally ill

And my hate for her is mostly for the way she treats Vi honestly

Anyway, there's this joke on Brazilian fandom that Jinx is homophobic and that's why she can't stand Caitlyn and can't stand seeing her with Vi, and I think it's honestly hilarious

-CaitVi is a wonderful ship. Nothing against the explicit and big gestures such as kissing and all but damn, I missed the subtlety. The minor and meaningful touches, the gazes...it reminded me so much of Korrasami

-I loved Jayce and Caitlyn's relationship. When united, gays and lesbians are strong.

And I still don't get why people keep pretending Caitlyn actions on s2(as far as I saw in the trailers) aren't justified. Her mom was murdered by the people she tried to help, if it was me, I would also raise hell upon them. Anyway, let's talk about s1 Caitlyn and she is just so adorable.

She really wanted to make a difference, to help. She got out of her bubble and got a taste of the real world, and I bet it hurt. She just wanted to help and to do what's right but she paid the high price and has all the right to me mad at s2

And from the way she flinched at Jinx during the "dinner" scene, at bet the hours she spent under Jinx mercy weren't nice

-Im sorry, I didn't care much about the hextec plot. I know it's important and it's what makes the character on the road but their inner struggles and their subplots are far better to watch.

The only interesting part of them was Jayce cuz he is such an interesting character. For the way I've seen people talk about them, I thought he was gonna be the worst but no. You can see he struggles with some decisions. He ain't bad, he just does bad decisions

-Ekko is such a G man. If something happens to him in s2, I will riot. I like how he is the exact opposite of Jinx.

Ekko also lost everything and everyone, but instead of Jinx, he turned his pain into something good, into helping others the way Vander and Benzo helped him and the other kids.

I wasn't expecting him to be friends with Heimerdinger but I love that for him

-Lets talk about something serious, Jinx was right in her anger towards the upper class but blowing things up was not the answer. Vander knew and saw things how it was, making deals is better than having innocent blood in the streets.In fact, I saw a lot of simplified comments about the politics and social aspects of Arcane and now that I've watched the show I see how damn immature and naive a lot of them are.

Do not get me wrong, we should rebel every time we need and violence is a part of that. No revolution happened without it. But we should be wise about the battles we pick.

Let's look at Caitlyn for example, she is born rich and a good person. It's naive to expect someone born with everything and disconnected with the lower class problems and needs, to all of sudden be an ally to social causes. Born rich and privileged doesn't necessarily mean you are born a bad person, just as much as born poor doesn't automatically make you a good person.

Now, do you think Caitlyn deserved to lose her mother like that? Do you think she deserves what Jinx did to her just because she was from Piltover? That's when you lose potential allies and gain strong enemiesIt's not that simple. Social problems such as class differences, poverty, violence...it's not something that you can fix that easily. Oh man, I wish it was but it ain't.

With all that said, Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, Ekko, Vander...none of them are evil and most of their actions (if not all of them) have a solid reason behind it, but this doesn't mean they were the best thing to do.

-Fuck you Silco. He is what happens when you put a "wherever it cost" mentality, cuz sometimes the cost is high. Too high. Also, he doesn't want justice or revenge, he wants power

-The animation and sound design is a masterpiece too. And the fight choreography? Damn shit was fire

[littlemissrbf]

Arcane S2 Ep 4 Thoughts

This will be a lot more professional than my previous post

(Spoilers ahead)

Episode 1: Paint the Town Blue

The opening music video with blue spray paint and scribbles over the black and white images looked so cool I'm sure there's an english teacher out there that can explain the symbolism- but all I can think about is Jinx/Isha drawing a damn mustache and angry eyes on Ambessa

OoOOOo Maddie get it girl- honestly these two are super cute together but I don't think they're gonna last, either Maddie dies (please riot don't do this) or Caitlyn leaves her for Vi.

Jinx and Isha are playing the monster game that Vi and Powder played as kids (except this time with bugs)

Isha wearing bunny ears is really hammering in the Powder-Isha parallels- "you kinda remind me of her"

Isha is using sign language- when Jinx goes to throw the bug off the ledge Isha pulls her back and signs what looks like a variation of "CONSERVE" and then "GAME" which would translate to "save for game". Later after their handshake, Isha uses "HOLD ON" to tell Jinx to wait while she gets her gun for her to fix. After Jinx asks if Sevika put her up to this she rolls her eyes, shakes her head no, and signs "FIGHT" and points down which could be her sign for "NOW"

Isha and Jinx's little handshake is so cute

"Jinx is dead." WHAT DO YOU MEAN ?!?! Don't worry, you're not alone, your sister is also having an identity crisis right about now.

Ambessa being 100% sure that the Black Rose is behind Jayce and Heimerdingers disappearance is so fucking hilarious- "It's no coincidence." Ma'am you just picked the worst time to seize control, the only two scientists who developed and actually understand hextech are either busy becoming Zaun Jesus or stuck in the damn quantum realm inside the hexcore.

Lest fans rejoice she's back, also Salo being the undercity's biggest hater AND NOW going to the undercity to be healed by Viktor- the fucking audacity.

Y'ALL THE BATMAN FIRELIGHT DUDE WEARING A NEWSIE CAP IS SO FUCKING FUNNY FOR NO REASON

"It's her's. I'd recognize it anywhere" Caitlyn, sweetheart, that was made by a literal 7 year old

Jinx trying to flip Sevika off with her left hand and then realizing that her middle finger is literally missing was a solid way to censor a flip off and was probably the main reason that she decided to make a prosthetic for herself

Damn Sevika just can't seem to keep her left arm- every single time she gets a new prosthetic it gets destroyed

JINX FAILING TO FLIP OFF SEVIKA AND THEN FLIPPING OFF THE ENFORCER WITH HER NEW PROSTHETIC MIDDLE FINGER IS THE FUNNIEST SET UP AND PAYOFF IN THE SERIES

Okay we all know that Sevika is hot but something about Sevika at the end of the episode in a tank top with her new haircut is sO HOT OMG RIOT THANK YOU

Okay Warwick is fucking horrifying- his pov shots in red, the sound design, and the absolutely brutal way he kills by mauling and slashing like a damn bear on steroids

Hearing Vander's voice again and the fact that he recognizes Powder was absolutely devastating, thanks a lot riot

(okay this ended up so long and it was only episode 4 sheesh)

[sokuly419]

**Anything mentioned in this post related to season 2 is strictly my own speculation unless it was in the official trailers and teasers. I know there were some leaks. I’ve heard some but I won’t be repeating any of of the things I personally heard about.**

Since we’re 6 days away from Arcane’s return, I think everyone needs to be aware of some things. There are going to be a ton of Cait haters for whatever reason. Both Vi and Cait are going to be painted as the “bad guy”. It’s already happening. And it’s really not fair to either of them.

This is not meant to be an anti-Jinx post, but just something to think about.

Cait is, as far as we know, the only one of those three not directly responsible for someone’s death. She could have killed Sevika but didn’t. We know she’s an excellent shot. Cait spared her, even if she was moments from killing Vi. She shows compassion constantly, and to a fault at times.

Vi has both killed and severely hurt plenty of people. When she went to save Vander, fighting with Jayce (who also killed people), and knocking that big ass sign down on Silco’s shimmer goons just to name a few instances.

Jinx, as we should all know, has killed a lot of people. Two were her friends that were practically family, an accident. Then several Enforcers during Progress Day. More Enforcers at the bridge scene when Marcus is killed. Yeah, yeah, ACAB and all that. But that doesn’t mean she should be free of the murders. Neither should Vi. But what about Jinx’s mental state? That is a factor, yes. But not a complete excuse seeing as she shows little to no remorse, even seeming to enjoy it.

Again, not anti-Jinx post. I like her character but she’s not my favorite. She’s complex. She’s interesting. She’s chaotic. I love it. Unfortunately, I’ve been seeing A LOT of Jinx followers that are just brushing it off and painting her as some “hero” figure. Not all are like that, of course, but I’ve seen a lot personally and it’s just… frustrating that they’re almost ignoring what Jinx has done. Again, this is not every Jinx fan. I know some of y’all are cool about it.

Cait gets a lot of hate because 1) she comes from money and 2) cop. I’m sure there’s other reasons but those are the main two I see. But what’s not coming up in Jinx fan-circles is that Cait definitely changed once she saw what was actually happening in Zaun. She even called her own mother out about the government that doesn’t give a shit. Cait herself is traumatized directly related to Jinx. Again, Enforcers being killed in front of her AND Jinx kidnapping her from her fucking shower. She didn’t even have time to get dressed. I imagine Jinx made her get dressed at gunpoint but that’s my own theory. And now, if Cassandra is dead (likely based on trailers), Cait has every single right to want revenge. Jinx killer her colleagues, violated her privacy, and then (presumably) killed her mother. Cait has her own trauma break because of it and wants revenge.

Yes, Jinx is 100% traumatized and that plays a huge part in her character. But Cait and Vi are also traumatized as fuck. They all handle it in different ways.

I think in season 2 we’re going to see Cait likely killing people and showing us how good of a shot she really is. We already know Vi is going to have a moment where she breaks too, but turns to pit fighting and alcohol. Jinx… feels like a wildcard again. Especially once Noxus gets involved.

Not a single person in Arcane is completely “good” or “bad”. I can’t speak much on the other characters in depth like Cait, Vi, and Jinx since I’m not nearly as invested in them.

If you made it this far and are thinking of dropping spoilers to get me to hate Cait, I’ve heard more than I wanted to already. And I’m still going to defend her from the unbridled hate she’s probably going to get again. She’s grieving. She has trauma. She’s allowed to be pissed the fuck off and want revenge. She’s not the bad guy. No one is (except maybe Noxus???). And no one is the good guy.

So let’s all just get along and enjoy the damn show.

For the record, Cait isn’t my favorite either. She’s a close second. It’s gotta be Vi for me. Sorry, not sorry.

Edit: any spoilers from the leaks that are put in the comments will be deleted as soon as I see them. Immediately and without hesitation. Things may have been ruined for you, but don’t ruin it for others. I’ve seen and heard about some of the leaks. I don’t need to be told about what some individuals do.

Keep that shit to yourself. Not everyone wants the spoilers.

[justanerddummie]

Ok, I'm going to ramble once again, about the new amazing sneak peak that at least to me feels like Vi is kind of trying to put herself in jail once again, it's pretty long so I'll put a cut.

It's kind of the perfect parallel with s1 if you think about it, except this time it's not Marcus that drags her in Stillwater but it's Vi who creates a weird version of it by herself.

"So you just wave an arm, have someone dragged out, don't bother to find out what it does to someone being stuffed in a stone box for weeks, months or even years" this is what Vi tells jayce after he threatened her to have her arrested and it's kind of what we see in the sneak peak. Vi locks herself in her one bedroom apartment and slowly loses her sanity with every passing second, only to go downstairs when she can't take it anymore - no one can convince me that the apartment isn't right above the fighting pit - and either gets herself beat up until she looses consciousness or drinks enough to pass out.

The fact that she hallucinates Caitlyn makes me think that she's going to blame herself for Cait's villain era, almost as if she created not just Jinx but another monster, and in a weird and fucked up way I think this is also Vi's way of getting a time-out from being herself, from being the reason everybody goes batshit crazy and the only way she can do it is by locking herself away in the deepest pit the underground has to offer, a place where her actions affects her and only her (somebody please go check on her).

In Vi's head it all makes sense, and I don't think this is an identy crisis, I think this is the end of a cycle for her, (like if you think abt s1 it's pretty obvious how the "kids" are making the same choices of their parents with a few differences here and there but with the same results, and then the cycle starts again) this is the end of the story of her trying to save her sister and accidentally turning the naive, bright eyed enforcer that got her out of jail in an even bigger monster, so she decides to lock herself up, to punish herself.

This is the pinnacle of Vander's education (don't get me wrong I love the guy, but in trying to teach Vi what he learned from his mistakes he forgot to teach her that other's people actions are not her fault), now what remains to be seen is if this is just another beginning of the same cycle or if she'll manage to break it.

Because at the end of the day I think Vi's the only character who can manage that, she's the link between top side and underground and possibly one the few characters who is capable of forgiveness, not for herself unfortunately but for others, yes, she is.

[arowyn-m]

Jayce/Viktor/Hexcore situation in S2

Okay I've seen a lot of S2 theories circulating so I just wanted to get my two cents out there before we get any new information beyond the most recent teaser!

Lots of this is speculation loosely based on lore and possible foreshadowing. I'm not 100% convinced any of this is going to happen, but I do think some parts of it are more likely than not. Here's the gist of what I think will happen over the course of the 3 acts. (Buckle up because this is a long post)

ACT I:

Act I opens with the council attack. Everyone is dead except for Jayce, Mel, Viktor and maybe one other lucky but irrelevant councilor (probably Shoola if Mel’s armor protection has this radius)

Shoola is the closest councilor on Mel’s right.

In the German version of the trailer, Ambessa says “Half of your council is dead.” There are 7 councilors. At least 3 would have to survive for the council to be considered “half” annihilated. Although it could be a statement Ambessa’s trying to make, implying that just Jayce and Mel make up at least half of the council’s power. Either way—Jayce, Mel and Viktor survive, if barely.

Jayce makes it out with largely superficial injuries. Though they make it out alive, Mel and Viktor are badly injured in the explosion. Mel is expected to recover, but Viktor is not. Both are in a coma or at least bedridden at the beginning of the season. Despite the good news for her daughter, Ambessa is furious about her daughter’s injuries.

Jayce somehow finds out about the extent of Viktor’s Hexcore experimentation, either by finding his research notes or by seeing his modifications and putting two and two together.

Jayce uses the Hexcore to save his friend. Viktor wakes up not relieved or grateful like Jayce expects, but outraged.

Viktor sees Jayce’s decision as a blatant betrayal of his promise to destroy the Hexcore, and so decides the device would be better off in his care than in the clutches of someone he now sees as faithless. He returns to the Undercity, presumably for good.

Jayce stays topside and begins building Hextech weapons (like Caitlyn’s acceleration gate rifle we saw in the teaser) in earnest.

I’ve seen some speculation that this hooded figure is Jinx, but I really can’t see her skulking around the Undercity in a cloak. We know we get Jinx in a hood at some point in the series (due to reports from the Annecy event) but this cloak in particular doesn’t seem her style—and we see Viktor in a similar-looking cloak later in the teaser. This, paired with the convincing theories that Viktor and Jinx will at very least interact in S2 leads me to think that this is just Viktor standing in the aftermath of some Jinx shenanigans.

Later in the act is when we get hooded Viktor. He uses the Hexcore to heal some of the addicts living near the fissures, unintentionally rallying them to his cause. I think Huck is the person Viktor is healing or changing here ->

The character on the bottom middle seems to have a similar build. This may lead to Huck being the cult leader for the Gloriously Evolved.

I think it’s likely that this ^ shot is from the same scene where Viktor’s using magic in the sump. The primary lighting is a different color, but the Hexcore has given off both purple and blue light before. Heimer also looks like he’s in a dark environment where he wants to be hidden, so it wouldn’t make sense for this to take place in Piltover or in Ekko’s oasis. He’s somewhere in Zaun.

We see some foreshadowing to the Hexcore corrupting Viktor. Heimerdinger expresses worry about the whole thing and once again proposes the Hexcore be destroyed. This time, Viktor outright refuses.

ACT II:

Here’s where things get a little muddy and speculative. Arcane is obsessed with parallels, so it’s likely that the writers are going to try to replicate the same structure S1 had. Here we’ll have another timeskip mirroring the one in S1–about 6-10 years in duration. This would but Jaycr and Viktor into their late 30s/early 40s (closer to their in-game ages)

Both characters will have realized a design closely resembling their in-game counterparts. Viktor and Jayce are now full-on enemies, but how they got to that point will only be told through subtextual clues and maybe a flashback.

Either during this Act or within the timejump preceding, Viktor builds Blitzcrank.

I looked at Blitz’s wiki to find out why exactly Viktor built them, and it turns out they were built not as a weapon or shield, but as a means of disposing of hazardous waste. I wonder if one of Viktor’s main motivations in S2 will be making Zaun more habitable as well as healing its citizens.

Despite Viktor’s good intentions, the Hexcore will have corrupted/connected itself to him to some extent. Whether for good or ill (probably ill), it’ll become apparent that Viktor and the Hexcore are irreparably connected.

ACT III:

This is where the theory gets controversial. I’ve seen a lot of people predicting that Riot won’t choose to kill any champion characters in Arcane because it puts an end to their lore and makes them unmarketable. I wholeheartedly disagree, and here’s why: Arcane and subsequent stories based on League are going to be primarily about the champions. There are more than 140 champs in LoL. If Riot plans to make shows or movies about even half of these champions, the plot armor for each will become increasingly obvious. I don’t think Riot is going to shy away from killing champions, especially not when they’ve made it clear they don’t have a problem with showing drastic time jumps. Immense amounts of lore can happen (and have happened) within timeskips, especially ones that are 6+ years long.

Knowing that Arcane ends with season 2, it’s likely that all the main characters’ arcs will be wrapped up by the end of the season. Christian Linke mentioned that Riot and Fortiche have plans for other League-related projects, but I don’t see the characters of Arcane becoming involved enough in another show to complete a personal arc or resolve a major plot point from THIS show. The most I can see is cameos, honestly. I hope I’m wrong because I love these characters…but yeah.

So with those points in mind…I think Viktor dies at the very end of this season. Viktor has always been on a path of carrying out experiments farther than he should and creating things much too strong or volatile for him to handle safely. Jinx is on a similar trajectory, but she at least has some form of self-preservation, which is something Viktor has grown to lack. At some point, his luck will run out and his technology will be the end of him.

Towards the end of the series, Jayce and Viktor will have their final showdown, and Jayce will destroy the Hexcore. Because Viktor and the device are so interconnected to one another, destroying the Hexcore will kill him. Viktor dies to a fault in his technology, and Jayce keeps his promise in the end.

[cinamun]

girl wtaf is going on in ur country though fr! but I enjoyed the update today. I really was wondring like is hope okay since its mainly been mercy and jayce. anyways I hope you had a good day.

I had a good day friend thank you! I'm always glad when folks give feedback on the story so I appreciate you.

*clears throat* Chile...

So basically, bro showed up to the debate elderly

the media ran with it and spun it like that one washer nobody uses in the laundry room with the spin cycle that sounds like a 1987 pontiac

next thing we know all these dems is like 'nah homie gotta give it up'

whole time kamala lookin mad presidential right? but she's also complicit in genocide and prison funding

so the head boomer in charge (HBIC) officially dropped out today and threw his support behind pink chucks

now we got the aka vs the kkk and everybody is losing their fuckin minds

because she could be the first Black woman prez

except they threw her less than 4 months to fix the shit like the sisters from hidden figures

i can hear the skee wees from my bedroom and

in conclusion they already looking for her birth certificate, the misogynoir is ramping up and the racist dogwhistles got louder as i'm typing this

[great20sworld]

LIVING THE DREAM

A Viktor x Reader fanfiction

Author's note: Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6 chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9 and chapter 10 are available in my Tumblr page along with summary.

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️: Depictions of pain, gore and syringes.

⚠️ Disclaimer ⚠️: Emphasis on Science Fiction and not Science Fact. All intended for literary purposes.

Chapter 11: Of Cupcakes and Crystals

__________________________________

“And…Fire!” Jayce shouts the command.

You pulled the lever, making the charged metallic strips pulled back by springs, spring forward connecting with the huge circular ring in the centre, the arcs of azure dancing along it's circumference, as the charges whizz past the right and left coils towards the collision point.

“Approaching collision point…” Sky calls out, her eyes shining behind the heavily tinted goggles with anticipation. “Viktor…!”

“Got it!” Viktor says back to her, hands deftly turning knobs and adjusting levers to stretch apart the springs coiled to calibrate the energy pulses.

“Ow! Too fast, too fast!” You say, as the heat waves emanating from the lever you were supposed to control makes it scaldingly hot. You pull away your hands, shaking it and blowing in it, lightly burned.

“Oh sorry! Forgot the rheostat coils!” Jayce sends a sheepish grin your way, before pushing the block on the rheostat to maximum extent, giving it maximum length. The charges start to dissipate, the sparks glowing along the rim with more stability than the previous attempt, making the ring glow blue, as you regret your decision in peeking out of your goggles.

“Now! Now!” Sky says frantically to Viktor who cranks up the brass dials to maximum intensity, and then all eyes turn to the ring with anticipation.

The pen which stood at the point of collision of the two charges rattled as the metal which it was situated upon thrummed with the sheer energy coursing towards it- it's metallic grip shining, reflecting its approaching doom- unaware of how much anticipation bubbled within the four sets of gazes directed towards it. The collision occurs, a soft fizzle spluttering from the point where charge meets ink and the faint smell of burnt metal fills the air, the space in which the pen stood completely empty except for the burn marks on the metal, splatters of shards of small metallic parts with ink stains in the surroundings. The dials of the mechanical gauges pulled back to zero almost instantly, the hum of machinery quietening down to a murmur as you pull back the lever, disappointment etched in your face.

“See, it doesn't work that way…” Jayce says, removing his goggles and looking your direction, as he makes his way towards you and Viktor and Sky descends from their stations.

“It… I don't know, that's generally how subatomic particles function, it's supposed to run through the pen…” you scratch the back of your head, trying somehow to refresh your memory of the particle accelerator enhancements back in your earth.

“Subatomic?” Jayce says incredulously. “Sorry, but may I remind you that electron is as far as it goes.” He smirks.

“No! It isn't! There is stuff that makes up the electrons!” You argue, waving your hand.

How would a man from this world ever understand?

“We've tried this twice- and now you owe Viktor a new pen.” Jayce says, pointing at the splintered remains of what used to be a normal pen.

“Atleast we learnt how to dissipate the charges without making any explosions!” Viktor says, approaching Jayce and patting him on the shoulder. “And while I do need a new pen, I think we could give Y/N one more chance- I think there's something to it.” He shakes his head towards the ring.

“Did we isolate the circuitry correctly? Made enough room?” He turns to Sky, who was cleaning out the dials which has splattered remains of ink on it.

“I checked it, and yes, we did. This time.” Sky offers helpfully, handing him a the circuit diagrams. You move towards Viktor, peering over his shoulder to look at the diagrams as he held it out for you.

“M-maybe the collision energy was off by some nanovolts, maybe the pressure was off? There's so many things…!” You tap at the corresponding depictions on paper as you speak.

“We checked those last time- are you sure you didn't get these from a science fiction text rather than a science text?” Jayce questions again, raising his brow at you, but there's no malice behind it, just the lilt of a teasing remark. You huff in response, shoulders tense.

“Anything is possible, right?” The soft voice of reason chimes from between you, smiling lightly at his partner. “If hextech can have bizarre proerperties, why is the prospect of it teleporting things so far fetched?”

“I don't know Vik…” Jayce sighs softly.

“Let's just see.” Viktor settles, defending you.

Almost three weeks had passed since you started working with your new partners, as Viktor's new assistant, progress was rapid, even the most miniscule of discoveries such as the crystal’s containment and charge extraction being counted as new feats in the eyes of the academy and in the eyes of the professor who watches over his students like an inventor over a ticking time bomb- with contained fear yet dangerous anticipation. Over the days, you found little sources of delight in working alongside your “fictional” idols, Sky being one whom you could relate to the most.

She was dedicated and excellent in keeping track of instruments in the lab, and taking readings- making her fantastic in the process of checking up on everything else other than the core process so that nothing explodes. You almost revered her sense of patience when Viktor and Jayce sometimes went overboard with dancing around the lines of lab safety. However, she was more than fine with cleaning up the mess, remaking gently that her own pet projects in bio-engineering fields would be greatly benefitted from this.

Your role was comically crucial, in the best way possible. Making what seemed to be wild claims to their ears, but with a certain glint in your eyes, prompting them to do as you say. However, those “wild claims” most of the times were proven true by experimentation which leads to further instances of them seeking out your bold claims. When you weren't making bold claims (when the lingering sense of caution catches up to you), you find yourself working alongside Sky as Viktor and Jayce worked in the frontlines.

In those moments, as your eyes wander towards what happened before you, your mind tries to convince you that what captivated you incessantly were the towering ornate windows of the lab, mind claiming that its architecture made the sunlight streaming in through it look like a golden waterfall was what attracted you- and not the absolute paragon of the lab with his side to you, hunched over whatever new circuitry that needed enhancements, graceful features slightly pressured within facial muscles as concentration weighed down on them, dark auburn hair tangled softly in long fingers which absentmindedly ran through them every once in a while.

Sometimes boyish, sometimes sober and sometimes with barely contained glee, his smiles captivated you to no end, as you wonder how a man managed to look carefree and sagely simultaneously. Your hands would slow down on whatever task it was occupied with as your gaze follows his, until something makes him tilt his pretty head in your direction, making you throw your gaze pointedly to the task back at hand.

When he stands next to you, pointing out something or making slight quips about your work, your mind lingers trying to clutch at whatever it could from him, leaving you wondering what his delicate hands would do to guide you through the work, craving laughs in the sound of that voice. Left you to blissfully smile to yourself stupidly after making sure no one beheld your pining. Eyes following him with...

No. Not pining.

Just admiration. Respect- yes. You reassure yourself.

Viktor would be the first person to greet you in the lab early morning, his home being in the academy itself as he served more purposes there and your memory didn't fail to register his handwritten comments over your English notes (compared to his, Jayce's and sometimes Sky's scribbles in a language you regarded as gibberish for your eyes) improving or referring to them in English as well, or the times when he would leave books in your table which you had referred to in passing while rambling about research and even catch him making an extra cup of coffee early in the morning which shows up at your desk as he takes his.

The light was probably playing tricks on you because why did it seem like his gaze stayed on the back of your head when you turn?

“Teleportation is possible if we quantum tunnel those particles from our current station to the desired location.” You say to him, back at the present.

“If we rip apart the molecules and atoms of the said object, wouldn't it be destroyed, even when reassembled would it be with life?” Viktor questions.

You go silent, your lips slightly pouting.

He chuckles and Jayce shakes his head.

“I think we all deserve a break.” Jayce says finally, taking the clipboard from Viktor's hands and putting them away on his table. “Maybe let's all go out and have tea to clear our heads.”

“Sure. I know a good cafe nearby…” Viktor says, which rings bells in your head. Oh you were supposed to be there today- Gina had helped you with learning baking a few days ago, and she expected you to do a follow up soon. You didn't want to disappoint her.

“Eh, yes, I too had something coming up…” you laugh awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck. “I promise I’ll be right back after you guys get back from your break.” Viktor nods, giving you permission to leave. “Don't forget to sign the register.” He reminds you.

“I won't!” You say quickly before turning to the door, giving Sky a little wave and vanishing out of the lab. You were glad you mentioned working at a second job (though you didn't specify which) to Viktor so that complications could be avoided.

After you left, Jayce removed his lab coat. “So you were saying?” He smiles at Viktor.

“Ah yes, I said I know a place very close to your old laboratory.” Viktor confirms before he, Sky and Jayce start to tidy up before leaving.

_______________________________

Blown to bits at the core of his own sanctuary, the flesh clinging to the bones of his face, wet bandages clad over them creating a rough resemblance of a discernible face as his gaze skittered over the tanks filled with purple poison. Singed was no stranger to the acrid fumes of sickening chemicals and faint metallic tang of blood. He had managed to escape multiple chem spills, and managed to avoid many in his own accord as the eye of Zaun commands him to. To think a random explosion from one of the scuffles broke free from the restraints of the forging area where Silco fought Vander and took most of his hard work and his face along with it was mildly infuriating.

The rusted metal table which functioned as whatever the moment called for it to, held captive a humongous man, strapped to its cold surface with wires and leathers. It was not Singed's intentions, but he has learnt to accept that the more pain a subject has, the more it struggled for life; life which was wasted in his laboratory. Thus he did not desire it. However, the subject at hand was not related to anything he deemed an improvement, or a necessity.

Oh, how he hated distractions.

The thrashing around from the human in the metal desk was getting rougher, fear etched into every crevice of his scarred face- mirrors in his mind reflecting his past agony in this very same lab. The blue gem which was thrown at him while he was fighting the woman had lead to him plummeting down to pain, as he wished to get evaporated in the next fight, if he were to loose. Any ill fate was better than this.

Singed approaches the table, a syringe filled with purple agony at hand, expression unreadable under the bandages pulled over his face and layers of cloth covering the mouth area. The man didn't need to see his face in order to start screaming.

"The less you move, the better." An uncaring cold scientist's words, ringing like thousand screams in the man's ear. Lucky were the ones already gone.

The clinical voice says, as the syringe enters the man's already purplish veins with a soft pop, trickling the contents of it in thick streams into his body, gutteral screams emanating from the throat of the tortured.

"Tame the demons within at your will."

________________________________

“Is this much sugar even necessary?”

You ask Gina who was holding in a laugh as she faces your apron wrapped, covered in batter countenance. It would've been better for her if she hadn't let you work in the environment of a kitchen where you struggled to keep up with her expertise and art of baking, yet she found something adorably endearing in moments like these when you stuck around, however ridiculously amateur your skills in baking were.

Your incredulous stares, overly concentrated face at the rising yeast, absolutely poor baking puns and laughter synchronizing with hers made her feel lighter. The influx of difficult customers, keeping tabs on the cash register, dirty dishes that didn't seem to end and many more undesirables which came packaged along with her passion of baking were still there- ever present. However, with you, it didn't seem to bother her that much- as if the demon lost its horns and fangs.

She would never let her soft heart full of friendliness sweet as her pastries flutter about you outwardly, but its existence is made evident in her presence next to you.

From your side, you adored her company, and knew that she would feel guilty in keeping you in her cafe if she found out you work in the high priority glittering hextech department now. So, you keep your mouth sealed about the matter.

“You have no idea how bland it would be if you didn't add that much- I mean it's the kind of product that matters.” She smiles, as she restocks the front shelves of red velvet cakes.

“I’m going to get diabetes.” You groan.

“Oh? I didn't hear that when you ate my sweetest cupcakes this morning!” she chuckles, “working with them is what gives you diabetes?” you carefully stifle a chuckle.

Suddenly, the bell on top of the entrance dings and Gina quickly stands up, going to greet new customers in the front as you resume your work in the kitchen as she said.

“Hello there, welcome!” You could hear her cheery voice from the kitchen as you struggled to hold the bowl still as you whisked the mixture inside it, but what she says next makes you almost drop it.

“Oh hi, Viktor! You're early…and you brought friends!”

What are they doing over here?!

Oh wait, you were in a cafe. As a temporary Baker. You mentally facepalm.

Continuing to do whatever you were doing, but slower so that you could hear the voices of your friends from the other room, ordering their food and chatting away with Gina and each other. You hoped they wouldn't come to the kitchen. Compared to Gina who managed to look absolutely lovely even after spending hours baking and managing her store, you looked like you were hit by a hurricane of baking products, and you had only managed to bake one batch of the cupcakes, with yellow frosting over them. By this time Gina would have had multiple batches up and ready, the previous set already flying off the shelves.

Again, mixed with the panic of letting her down, you clatter around with pots and pans frantically, accidentally dropping the ladle on the counter, which splatters a dollop of cream on your face.

“What was that?” Jayce's curious voice.

“Oh! It's my friend- and my helper.” Gina's cheerful laugh. “That reminds me! She has been making something brand new, and I need someone to taste test it besides myself…” you are very familiar with the gentle hum at the end of her sentence, the face she makes when trying to convince someone.

“Oh why not!” The equally oblivious Sky says.

No. No. No…

“Yes. I would like to meet her too, if she is willing.” The soft clipped accent, which seemed innocently curious about his friend's new friend.

You would've ran out of there, but the windows were too small and breaking the concrete with your bare fists (while actually possible) would disrupt Gina's bakery.

Gina hurries into the kitchen, grinning excitedly as she takes the tray and puts it in your hands, hurriedly pushing you towards the door, a delighted smile on her beautiful face.

“G-Gina…I…I don't…!”

“Hey it's okay! I know these people, they're fine!” Gina responds, presuming that you were unfamiliar with the three people who sat in the next room.

Though, why were you so nervous, and your hands tensing around the tray of cupcakes?

“And here she is!” Gina presents you before then with a flourish as a stunned silence falls over the room before Sky and Jayce simultaneously go, “Y/N?!”

“What? You know her?” Gina asks, her eyes wide.

“That's our partner in the hextech research facility!” Jayce says delightfully, smiling at you and Gina as you let out a sigh.

“Hextech research?!” Gina exclaims, her eyes darting from your sheepish smile to Jayce.

“Yes, she and I both were included together.” Sky smiles.

“Oh…!”

“I didn't know you baked.” Every head turns towards the differently abled scientist, who sat with his chin on top of his fist, on a propped up arm on the table, his eyes fixed on the tray you held.

“I…I don't. Gina taught me.” You explain quickly.

“Hmm? Let me see.” Viktor's hand reaches out and your breath hitches as he picks one of the cupcakes from the tray. You suddenly snap out of his peculiar gaze and quickly offer Jayce and Sky a cupcake each as well. You followed their gestures with your gaze as they ate and Jayce spoke first.

“It isn't half bad!” He offers, as Sky also joins in, “I love the sweetness…” as more mild compliments come from the two, your ego begins to rise again.

You're strong, working in the highest department of this place and a good Baker? The smallest of self assured smirks which ranged back from the fight you had with one of Silco's goons was traveling to your lips when suddenly…

“This lacks in texture, appearance and flavor. The frosting seems overly gritty and the overall issue seems to be the texture of cardboard.”

All heads turn towards the man once more, stunned into silence at what he just said.

“Viktor! Come on, it's not that bad!” Sky tries, but Viktor takes another bite from the cupcake before meeting your gaze again. “She added too much sugar and let it sit in the oven too long.” Says the man who was voluntarily or involuntarily subjected to little lessons about baking from his friend and favourite cafe owner.

“Vik, why…” Jayce sighs, but then is immediately interrupted by your confused voice.

“N-no… he's… he's actually right!” Even though Gina had insisted on certain measurements for sweetening and softening, you hadn't particularly stuck to it as you should have, and being called out on it was strangely…

Relieving.

It wasn't sugarcoated, or just being kind to spare your feelings. It was actual advice on and pin point info on where you could improve, giving you soft butterflies in your stomach rather than a sting as you expected.

“Maybe stick to teleportation for now, particles as you said?” Golden eyes were still lingering.

“Okay, first off- mango flavors are exotic, and you know how hard it is to perfect-” Gina’s defense for you is suddenly cut short by your exclamation.

“Wait! What did you say?”

“Umm… mango flavors are exotic…”

“Exotic…” you repeat softly, the gears in your head turning.

Matter was theoretically transported through wormholes in the space time continuum in your realm. Something which connected space and time, as one single entity and punctured a hole through the fabric of it; much like the one which took you here. Exotic matter was something completely theoretical and only existed in paper in your dimension. Something which could enable man made wormholes- something with properties so bizarre, so outlandish and probably dangerous.

The hex crystal energy…

“Viktor!” You put down the tray suddenly, leaning towards him. “Have we tested the charge isolation to be of negative mass?”

Viktor's eyes widen, as well as Jayce's and Sky’s. “Negative mass? You mean if it could repel…? The space could be kept open!”

“We haven't tested analogously to electric charges…” Jayce says suddenly, standing up.

“Why don't we apply that property somehow into the ring?” You say and Sky grins. “We could try!”

Excitement courses through your veins at their words. However, suddenly reality strikes you. You cannot leave right now- you were on duty in the cafe.

“You…you guys go.” You say softly, before you feel an arm on your shoulder.

“What! No, you go with them, silly! What is this? You drop that idea and stay here? No!” Gina's voice makes your heart swell at her kindness. “But…” you start.

“No buts! Get out, you have something to do!” Gina giggles, shaking your shoulders slightly as you laugh. “O-okay…”

“Besides, you said you'll be back after our break.” Viktor interjects, also standing up. “Obey the rules, assistant.”

“Sure, boss…” you smirk.

“Let me just pay for this, and I'll catch up with you all. You go.” Viktor gestures for you, Sky and Jayce to head out.

“You'll pay for my coffee too?” Jayce exaggeratedly pulls an expression of surprise. “Oh, my gosh Vik…!”

“keep up that attitude and I won't, Mr.Talice.” Viktor's brows furrow but his irritated expression is ruined by the slight upward curve of the corner of his lips.

“Touché.” Jayce grins. “Come on guys, let's go.”

As the three of you head out, Viktor turns to the counter top to face Gina who was still grinning with the enthusiastic excitement over hex crystals; apparently contagious.

“Gina…”

“Yes?”

“Could you please pack all of these for me, to go?”

Gina looks confusedly at what Viktor was gesturing at. The tray full of yellow frosted cupcakes you made.

“Wait, but you said…” she starts, one eyebrow raised.

“I know what I said- just, please?”

Gina's eager gaze didn't miss the slight dust of pink in his hollow cheeks, as he tried to school his expression to one of sobriety. A grin spreads on her own face, eyes narrowing.

“Sure sure…” She says in a sing-song voice, as she picks up the tray of cupcakes you made, going to pack it up neatly- as she hoped you would catch glimpse of it in Viktor's hands.

_______________________________

Chapter 12 is available NOW on my Tumblr page.

[valaruakars]

We Have Chemistry (Together)

A bonus chapter/prequel oneshot for Let's Get Physical

Gen || Jayce & Viktor || 3.7k || Modern/College AU || Ao3 Link Tags: Baby frat boy Jayce, developing friendships, misunderstandings, emotional hurt/comfort (shitty), hazing, underage drinking (for us USAmericans), alternating POV, no Beef!Reader today sorry babes

Help is high on the list of what people typically want from Viktor. Usually in class. Sometimes in the elevator beforehand or in the hallway after, or following a light tap on the shoulder in the library. All academic help, strictly speaking. But this wasn't about their lab report.

Sweaty palms, shaky hands—he’s got one shot at this. One phone call. He knows the landline and his mom’s cell by heart, but he can’t call her. Can’t let her see him like this. Can’t think of who the hell else to call—who even memorizes phone numbers anymore?—so maybe he’d better get comfortable with sleeping upright and a permanent wedgie. There are worse things, like the disappointed purse of her lips; the way she sighs and bows her head and makes him wonder if it’s his fault her hair’s already shot through with gray.

Except.

Area code, same as the rest. Dorm number. Cait’s birthday.

He types it out. It looks as familiar on the screen now as the first time he saw that string of numbers, when the coincidences jumped out at him as the patterns in numbers always do. Enough to make an impression, apparently. Just like the person it belongs to.

Who, in all likelihood, won’t be thrilled about this.

But he decides then and there that he’s just desperate enough for normal underwear and his too-firm twin XL bed—and, fuck, there’s a quiz in materials performance first thing in the morning so he really needs the sleep—to hit call.

It rings three times. He feels a hot surge of nausea two in, the rising urge to puke into his purple foam hat. It’s bitter in his throat like those IPAs he didn’t want to drink in the first place, but he’s never been great with peer pressure.

And on the fourth, above the rustling:

“Hello?”

He sounds annoyed.

He usually sounds annoyed, but sometimes Jayce wonders if it’s all in his head, because Viktor’s voice softens when he explains the equations to the girl that sits next to him and snaps her gum too loud and misses every other class. He’s heard it gently ask the professor for a letter of recommendation in the hall after lecture, and lilt into the phone—in what? Russian?—on the bench outside before it. It’s only when Viktor’s talking to him, which is already rare, does it get quick and terse.

But maybe he hears it wrong half the time because there’s part of him that’s been intimidated since day one. That first day of class, when he’d taken the last seat at the front and stuck his hand out to the guy beside him. He was nervous. It felt like the right thing to do. But those egg-yolk eyes had ticked curtly from Jayce’s hand to the professor he’d just introduced himself to, with a detour to his crooked pink bow tie. Maybe it was a little much with the blazer and ironed slacks in sweltering August. And in hindsight, yeah, maybe shaking the professor’s hand and explaining how this class fit into his three year plan was definitely too much, but Jesus fucking Christ *was it also too much to just come out and call him egotistical *for it.

Without even shaking his hand! Who does that?

Really, he’s just trying to make this feel like a good idea. It’s not.

It’s also too late to back out. “Hey—Hi, yeah, it’s Jayce… Your lab partner. From chemistry?” He’s already started running his mouth.

“Ah. I realize.”

He wrings the hat in his lap. The iron-on stars are starting to peel off. Glitter flakes cling in the creases of his wet palms. It’s delusional, isn’t it, to imagine that Viktor doesn’t hate him.

Only with a deep breath can he get himself to say, “I know it’s late…”

“It is.”

“But I really need your help.”

—

Help is high on the list of what people typically want from Viktor.

It’s what he’s good for—all those questions along the lines of, ‘Did you do the homework?’ which means, ‘Can I copy it?’ (No.) Or, ‘Do you know what he’s talking about?’ which means, ‘Can you explain it like I’m five?’ (Yes, but try to keep up.) *Sometimes it’s, *‘Have you taken any of Heimer’s classes?’ which either means, ‘Can you give me the study guides?’ (There aren’t any.) or ‘Can you tutor me, but we somehow hook up and never speak of it again?’ (Depends.)

That’s usually in class. Sometimes in the elevator beforehand, or in the hallway after, or following a light tap on the shoulder in the library. All academic help, strictly speaking.

But this wasn’t about their lab report.

If anything, it should’ve been about their lab report. Because what else could Jayce Talis—who moved seats after the first day of class and made a face like a whipped animal when they were partnered for lab work last week, who pledged a fraternity (abhorrent) and has his pick of pretty friends—possibly want from him?

It feels as though he blinks and thirty five minutes of his life have just dissolved* since he hung up the call, so lost in theoreticals of *why *and *me that curiosity itself must’ve found his pants and his wallet and led him here by the hand. Rumpled, but fully clothed. This is novel and extremely necessary considering he’s standing in a squat, brutalist building at the front desk of campus security.

All because Jayce asked, ‘Can you come pick me up?’

And Viktor simply agreed.

There’s no bail, no paperwork, no real formality here. The only requirement to walk Jayce out is to be over the age of eighteen, and he clears that easily enough. The state ID he hands though the sliding glass window of reception says as much, but he still has to remind the campus cop who flips it over three times like there’s something confusing about it that it’s just as legitimate as a driver’s license, thank you.

“Time to go, Talis,” the man bellows, snapping Viktor’s ID onto the counter with thick fingers and no further acknowledgement. As he pockets it, a metal chair scrapes across the linoleum somewhere out of frame, behind a door with a decades old pin-punch lock.

“You’re a lucky one, kid,” the officer chuckles, deep and phlegmy with the sound of black lung. “If I hadn’t laughed so hard you’d be at county intake right now.”

“Do I… Um, do I need to sign something?” Jayce asks. His voice is world-weary more than ass-kissing.

“You want this on record?”

“No, sir.”

“Then there’s the exit.”

By that point, Viktor’s already tapping his way to it. Jayce will follow, and with his long legged stride, he will catch up easily. Probably to thank him with that performative politeness that drives him to say ma’am or sir *or to *shake the hands of strangers, and then they’ll go their separate ways after has Viktor served his purpose. Like whatever this was never happened.

Behind him, a hydraulic arm shrieks, the intake door claps shut, and Jayce whispers an apology to no one for rattling the lobby’s musty silence as Viktor pushes outside. The tepid night air rushing against his face, and because he’s not rude, he holds the door open for Jayce.

But Viktor gets stuck. Or maybe stunned. Perhaps it’s flummoxed, or even transfixed. There’s no one perfect word to describe why he’s stopped, blocking the door and staring, which is rude, but happens to him with enough regularity that he’s owed a pass or five, and he’s using one now.

He blinks.

Blinks again.

Once more, and yes, Jayce is still standing in the doorway clutching a cheap wizard hat in his hand and a child sized blanket around his body. It strains around the bulk of his arms, stretching, cracking the gold vinyl stars. It matches the purple beneath his eyes, complements the tawny red his face is turning, and does not, in fact, reach low enough to cover his too small speedo.

Or the knee high boots.

A cape, Viktor realizes. Not that he’s just eyed Jayce from top to bottom with enough scrutiny to notice that he’s unnaturally hairless and his thighs are ribbed with stretch marks, or that his own face is set in a hard frown like this is all somehow unsavory. (It’s… not. Definitely not.) No, Viktor simply notices that the starry patterned blanket has a collar, which makes it a cape.

And despite this revelation, the fact that Jayce is mostly naked remains unchanged.

‘Why’ is on the tip of his tongue. It usually is; its natural habitat is in his mouth. But Jayce’s eyes flit from Viktor’s down to his pointy toed boots, then back up again, and he preemptively explains, bitterly, “Nothing in the lost and found fit.” Which actually explains nothing.

Viktor nods as though he understands (he doesn’t), and forces himself to just start walking.

Jayce tails him down the sidewalk in uncomfortable silence. It’s when they pass the parking lot that Jayce picks up the pace, falling into stride side by side. The pieces fall into place too—late night, terrible costume, and now, the acerbic smell of stale beer wafting off him. Frat party.

It’s worse on Jayce’s breath. “So…” A tight, tried sort of impatience undercuts his attempt to sound casual. It’s familiar. Understandable, too, after sitting through a scared straight experience on a weeknight. “Where’d you park?” Jayce asks.

Lack of a car notwithstanding, the implication he’d ever be swindled out of eight hundred dollars a semester to park on campus is a joke. Not a laughable one. “I took the bus,” he flatly answers.

“Oh.”

For a moment, Viktor can ignore the palpable disappointment—that he is disappointing. He can even empathize with the situation. Riding public transit dressed like that isn’t exactly ideal. But then Jayce asks, “They run this late?”

“The city ones do.”

And then Jayce says, “It’s just… I don’t have any money.”

“They’re free to students.”

And then Jayce mutters, “Uh, cool. Good to know,” because he doesn’t have to know, has never had to know. And suddenly Viktor doesn’t feel so bad for him anymore, that he gets to learn tonight that need-based scholarships don’t buy cars or taxis, and that sometimes it’s slightly inconvenient when you fuck up. Perhaps that should be more obvious to someone who just lucked out with a slap on the wrist for flagrant underage drinking.

Except they stop and Jayce takes one look at the bus stop bench; notices—what is hopefully just—dried, congealed soda spilled across one side. He asks, “Do you want to sit?” because he’s ignorant, yes, but not the worst to ever live.

Viktor says, “No, thank you,” knowing what Jayce doesn’t: the bus schedule, and that up and down in short order won’t feel particularly good.

When it grinds to a halt at the curb two minutes later, Jayce pulls his student ID out of his boot and soldiers onboard with his head down. He collapses full bodied onto the seats running parallel down the center aisle the same way he'd collapsed on the bench outside: hunched over with his face in his hands. Luckily, people are sparse at this hour, and there is nobody sitting across from them. Unluckily, someone in the back laughs openly.

With so much space, Viktor leaves an open seat between them. It feels right. But in the awful fluorescence before the lights wink out, Jayce’s skin looks waxy and his shoulders rise and fall with the deep, intentional breaths, and Viktor is struck by how alone he is—how strange it is that he’s alone in this. Where are the drunk friends that should’ve been picked up with him, or the cavalry that should’ve pulled up in a dirty Jeep with Greek letters on the bumper to save him?

He sits up as the dark bus drives on, soberly tucking his cape and forearms over his stomach, and Viktor snatches his eyes away. It doesn’t add up—not really. Jayce* does not particularly like him*, and Jayce has other friends.

He should probably ask which dorm is Jayce’s or if he knows what stop to get off at, but he knows the right question now. “May I ask—?” Viktor tries.

Only to be shot down with a clipped, “No,” which is strange to be on the other side of, but he’ll learn nothing from it.

Viktor nods and sits back quietly, the plexiglass window cool against his skull. The vibrations ghost shifting patterns behind his eyes. The silence is filled with the rumble of the engine accelerating, and the time with drafting a polite, impersonal email in his head to request they not be partnered together in the future.

At the next stop, two people get off, and when the bus drives on the silence is different. It lacks the subtle undertone of whispers and snickering, of other passengers entirely. Viktor opens his eyes to find there’s no one else left but the driver with her headphones in.

“Okay, fine,” Jayce suddenly sighs, like he’s been holding his breath the whole time. “Ask.”

They don’t look at each other. Viktor watches the traffic light ahead tick to green out of the corner of his eye. “Why did you call me?”

Jayce leans back and groans, pained, into his hands. “No, about the outfit. You’re supposed to ask about the outfit, or the night, or how I got caught.” He pulls the tiny cape tightly around himself again. It doesn’t contain how badly he smells of pore-distilled alcohol and nervous sweat. “Any of those.”

He considers, briefly. “Explain the night, then.”

“I went to this pledge party…”

“On a Wednesday?” admonishes Viktor, who is known to stay out at the library until they banish him at close and sleeps the minimal amount to function most days of the week; who smokes and drinks and fucks enough for at least two frat boys, just in a wholly different context. Who is, sometimes, kind of a hypocrite.

“It’s Thursday now,” Jayce corrects as if it matters, stalling for seconds. “It was mandatory, okay?” He’s embarrassed, shrinking in his seat. “They had us drink, then confiscated our phones and gave us these costumes. I was supposed to do magic—” which explains the conical wizard hat, ”—but I wasn’t doing a good enough job, so I had to go out onto campus on a special errand,” he accentuates with limp, one handed air quotes, “to, uh, get something.”

“Is that not considered, eh…?” Viktor forgets the word. It doesn’t have much of a place in his vocabulary; was never really relevant during freshman year orientation.

“Yeah, it’s hazing, but it’s not a big deal,” Jayce snaps, filling it in defensively. He deflates just as quickly, resigning to his lot. “It’s just something that happens.”

But Viktor shrugs, “I see no benefit to the situation.” That’s putting it mildly. He’d rather amputate his own leg than be humiliated and told what to do. “Quit.”

This is, apparently, an offensive suggestion. “It’s—No, it’s about the connections.” Jayce is resolute. “Networking. Knowing the right people who can probably get me in the door at the places I want to be one day.”

One word stands out: “Probably?”

“It’s not exactly guaranteed, but if it means the odds are better…”Jayce is less resolute. Like he’s trying to convince himself, confidence in his own choices waxing and waning fretfully.

“And,” asks Viktor, “you think this is worth it?”

“I don’t know,” Jayce whispers in a small, scratchy, tired voice. He knows what this means. The heinous costume; risking his academic career; having to embarrass himself in front of a classmate he hardly knows or cares about. “I just… I thought it would make it easier to make friends, but I don’t want the whole *parties and drinking and girls and ‘haha, isn’t it funny I failed that test?’ *experience.” For a moment he looks like he wants to put his face into the hat in his lap and scream. Instead, he pinches his eyes shut. “They pushed me harder than anyone else tonight, because they know I don’t belong. My grades just bring up their stupid academic average.”

Viktor doesn’t know what to say. It’s not uncommon, this helpless sensation of floundering when confided in, when faced with the enormity of things outside his ability to change or control. He didn’t know what to say when the girl he was tutoring last year told him she lost her scholarship, or when he caught Heimerdinger’s last TA sitting shell shocked on the bathroom floor after finding out their partner cheated. He didn’t know what to say when his mother told him babička wanted to go home home to die (she’s fine, just dramatic and bitter about getting old), or when she saw him changing his shirt while they were packing up the apartment and cried for how she failed him (she didn’t).

He does know that saying I’m sorry never feels right. That it’s empty, and nobody really feels better hearing it. But Jayce is smart and attractive and also, perhaps, just dramatic too. He belongs somewhere, even if he hasn’t found that place yet. “How valuable could these, eh, connections with stupid people be, hm?”

“I mean,” Jayce mutters, “it’s not that they’re stupid—”

“Don’t argue. I’m aware of nepotism and how it functions,” Viktor huffs, tempered by Jayce’s soft laugh of the same quality. “There are always other avenues to get what or where you want. Find them. Your time is better spent than,” he gestures broadly, “on this.”

“Yeah…” Jayce nods. It’s a kinder resignation this time. The troubled creases in his face start to ease away. “Okay.”

Cars pass. Silence settles, strange in that it’s easy. Or, it starts to. But Jayce takes a breath. Hesitates. Takes another one that turns into, “There was no one I could call.” He crosses his legs. Uncrosses them again. Can’t get comfortable with himself or the admission:* *“Not because they took my phone, there just isn’t anyone else.”

“Your friends?”

“Still in high school, and she’s not even old enough to drive yet.” He finds himself on the receiving end of a curious stare, and gets the why of it wrong. “It’s not like that, I swear,” he cringes. “She’s a lesbian, Viktor.” Which is all fine and good, but has nothing to do with why Jayce is speaking in singular. He asked about the plural.

“Your roommate?” he tries.

“Dropped out two weeks ago, and please don’t suggest my mom next.” Jayce rolls his eyes, and they don’t find their way back. He stares off, down at the floor, canting his head away. There’s glitter in his hair. “Trust me on this. It’s not like I wanted someone who hates me but has an oddly memorable phone number to be my one phone call tonight.”

He would’ve been allowed multiple phone calls is the first thing that Viktor thinks. The second: “I don’t dislike you.”

Another eye roll. “You gave me a look.”

“I look at plenty of people,” Viktor hand waves.

“No, a look,” he insists. “It was this ‘if we were in a Russian prison right now, I would shank you’ kind of look.” Viktor narrows his eyes, so he specifies, “When we got assigned in lab?”

“Why,” Viktor asks slowly, “is the prison Russian in this scenario?”

“Because you’re—”

“No. Do not finish that sentence.” Wildly rude and too common of an assumption, but, “In the spirit of forgiveness, I will let that slide,” he holds up a slender finger, “once.” Jayce mouths sorry as Viktor considers the sort of look his face is being accused of. “I…” But he only remembers reading the clear disappointment on Jayce’s. “Was probably thinking about something at the time,” Viktor shrugs.

“How much you wish I’d switch majors?”

“Mm, no. It was the end of class, so probably how much homework I could accomplish before work study, or how late to my next class I could reasonably be if I showed up with coffee from the dining hall.”

“Yeah, but…” He pivots in his seat. His thighs squeak on the plastic. “But you still called me egotistical on the first day of class!”

Yes, when Jayce made a painful show of ingratiating himself to the professor before class. Jayce throws that in his face like some sort of gotcha; in reality, it ranks one of his top ten social failures. “It was a question.” He was simply asking if, in hindsight, the action could be misconstrued as egotistical. “Not a criticism.”

But Jayce scoffs, “How was I supposed to think that when you wouldn’t even shake my hand?”

“It was stuck.” Viktor lifts up his right hand. Empty, but the cane still comes with it, dangling where it’s looped around his wrist. “You took yours away before I could get it out of the strap.”

“But I didn’t know yet that you—” Jayce scrubs his hand down his face, quiet until he whispers a revelatory, “Fuck.” Then a slightly hysterical, breathy, “Fuck,” and he’s smiling, gap-toothed and too brilliant for the lateness of hour.

“Eh, still a weird thing to do, though,” Viktor shrugs. He’s smiling a little too. It’s a private, wry thing. It’s a start.

And by the time they finish, on the other side of campus, on a sidewalk, at a bus stop much like the one they came from, things are very different.

For instance, Jayce has put the horrible wizard hat on. Ironically, of course.

They meander past the library, its windows tall and dark, cutting across the quad in front of it toward the residence halls. “What was your special errand, anyhow?” Viktor asks. “You never said. I’m curious.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to forget the horrors. Y’know, of getting caught trying to break into a building with my entire ass out,” he says sheepishly, catching the hat as it starts to slip. It’s not his entire ass. Only about eighty five percent. “I had to borrow something.”

There’s a word he’s avoiding. “What, exactly, were you trying to steal?”

“Borrow,” Jayce counters. “There’s this paperweight in Heimer’s office. Looks kind of like chalcedony, but it does have these faint striations, so I think it might be agate—

“I’m familiar.”

“Anyways, that. I was supposed to get that. Probably because it was impossible.”

“Mm, no, not impossible,” Viktor hums. “You should’ve called me sooner,” he says, dragging a carabiner from his pocket, stripped of paint and utterly ancient. When he holds it up, the street lights catch on tens of little metal teeth. “I have the key.”

[clonerightsagenda]

Arcane S2E5

Oh hey it's the guy whose jaw Vi broke last season. He's got a metal jaw now. I relate to him.

Vi looks like she's doing awesome. Of course living in the underground she's constantly bombarded by either people cosplaying her sister or her ex establishing military law.

Are these drunken hallucinations, or does Vi also have elements of her sister's psychosis, and she just wasn't under the right kind of stressors to bring it out before?

Oh man Mel your skin has gone so ashy, have you been in a coma with no lotion for the entirety of the timeskip

What exactly did the doctor do to Jinx to save her life? She's corpse pale, and I don't like the look of those veins around her eyes. Did she die?

Journey into the transgender cave (trans flag walls)

Sibling behavior

Singed and Hilbert should hang out

That's… not really her brother is it

Nice, Mel caught on quick and immediately went for the kill, she internalized at least a little bit of being mommy's little monster. Not everyone could immediately smash the head of someone who looks like their brother

Oh hey, Mel has magic powers? Iirc she wasn't a LoL character pre-show so I figured she'd be normal

Unrelated but having rewatched s1 where Jinx was driven to a jealous frenzy over Caitlyn and Vi standing next to each other I'm surprised she threw in that "I hope you at least got to have gay sex before I kill you <3" comment. You'd think she'd be in more of a love loses mood.

Oh god I can only imagine how many people are now thirsting over scarless young Silco. Young Vander on the other hand is objectively a downgrade imo

Not sure how I feel about Vander and Silco knowing Vi and Jinx's mom beforehand. I kind of liked them just picking up random kids off the street rather than doing it because 'hey I know that kid'. Vander in the spirit of community mutual support, Silco because he has problems

Appreciate that Warwick comes with color coded mood signifiers

I'm sure this one moment of the sisters happily hugging their werewolf zombie dad is the last hope spot for the next 4 episodes. Since I just read Anne Carson's Antigone and it is On My Mind I'm thinking about the chorus while all the characters rush offscreen hoping to make it in time to stop the tragedy (they won't. it's a tragedy. they were all doomed from the beginning) going "we're still here, we're all fine, we're standing in the nick of time"

Aaaaaaand nick over, we are now in the industrial chamber of doom

Oh hey when the transgender furry mentioned a good doctor I thought she meant Singed, not Viktor. Well, enjoy your new legs I guess, elf council guy. Possibly evil legs? Because all prosthetics in this show are Sinister except Jayce's mom's fingers. Actually Jinx's finger is fine. You heard it here folks: fingers! the one body mod the showrunners don't think is too scary

Jayce is back from the shadow realm. Is he… glitching?

Jayce what the fuck man

Wait if Jayce was in some weird nightmare dimension that he just popped out of was he... in.... hammerspace........... (I'll see myself out)

[frogtender]

HI I WATCHED S2 ACT ONE

and i'm going to be rewatching it multiple times before the next arc comes out bc omg mama we have been fed so fucking good i am REELING I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH

i want to interact with the arcane fandom on here more!!! but please keep in mind my takes are silly and surface-level bc my knowledge of lore is not that good and i'm not that smart <3

my thoughts and feelings below the cut. 100% spoilers livetweeted to my girlfriend so it speaks to her directly in some places but i'm not about to type out any other thinkpiece about this omg

- vi come to our reality bc u would love King for a Day by Pierce the Veil and Kellin Quinn (2012)

- jayce was saying to mel "how is viktor like basically fucking Dead and i wasn't hurt at all??? it should be ME in there (the hex core bacta tank)" and mel was like "there's no sense in things like this it's pointless to speculate" which would be a true and meaningful statement EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT people speculate her shining gold metal back and arm appliqués stuff is a Solarian shield (idk jack shit about Solaris but it's a thing i guess idk) so there is SUCH a chance that jayce was shielded by it but not viktor... which like... would be a dramatic reveal if mel was like "yeah i actually didn't want him to survive so i chose to only shield you" but why the fuck would she do that??? but in the very first shot which is of jayce coming back to awareness he is already Standing Up and mel is standing right next to him while everyone else has been blown tf around so. i am pretty confident that she shielded just the two of them... i hope jayce finds out and resents mel for it while still resenting viktor's machine herald shit omfg what if he blames mel for viktor becoming robot king... like viktor told jayce "i was supposed to die u promised to destroy the hex core" so viktor blames jayce but what if jayce blames mel WHY CANT EVERYONE KISS AND MAKE UP COME TF ON....TOXIC THROUPLE TOXIC THROUPLE

- the important character development of s2e1 was cait being really scared and intimidated about filling her mom's shoes but then by the end she is Girlbossified and has a hextech rifle... with three sights on it??? like regular glass sights but there are three of them? i have no idea how that would be more effective than just a single sight with a really clear lens but i also don't know shit about guns LOL. anyway she marched into the council meeting at the end like "YES I AM A GIRLBOSS AND HERE IS MY PLAN" and ambessa was looking at her a bit concerned... if there ends up being a power showdown between ambessa and cait it will be so fucking wild bc tbh cait is NOT very scary lololol like she's angry and she's got a gun but imo she's still the kind of person who would hesitate before kicking someones teeth in

- ok episode 2 zaun is going full mad max AND steampunk w half people wearing bondage gear and the other half being top hat bespectacled steampunk gentlemen.. its like a chem baron fight for power thing except they all fucking suck and i'm excited for jinx to kill them all (she kills 1/3 of the remaining ones in s2e2)

- VIKTOR IS MACHINE BOYYYYYYYYYYYYY "WHAT AM I" YOU ARE MY PERFECT BEAUTIFUL BOY SON!!!!

- i am so sorry and so delighted to announce that viktor in this form has somehow reached PEAK PATHETIC WET MEOW MEOW HE LOOKS SO GOOD

- i can't believe VIKTOR is being the lead toxic in the yaoi WHAT DO U MEAN U HAVE TO GO... THE ONLY THING KEEPING U TOGETHER WAS AFFECTION.... BRO MARCH UR NEWLY METAL ASS BACK IN THERE AND SMOOCH UR BOYFRIEND HE SAVED YOUR LIFE‼️‼️ augh okay i guess viktor will be an emo cult leader now

- sevika is TOTALLY becoming a new champion she HAS to jinx gave her a really cool new arm... its very silly but very cool i think u will like its concept.. but sevika and jinx team-up goes crazy actually i am a Big Fan‼️‼️

- VIKTOR IS MAKING ALL THE SHIMMER ADDICTS INTO MACHINE PEOPLE..... and it completely heals them and makes them young??????? broski WHAT like that is cool as hell!!! they look super badass after The Transformation even if i wasnt a shimmer addict i'd want him to do that shit to me... no wonder he becomes a cult leader he's earned it

- another episode ending with a vander werewolf tease SHOW ME THE WOLF ‼️‼️‼️ SHOW ME THE WOLFFFF i know at the end of episode 3 these bitches are gonna release da vander and then i will have to wait a week to see him forreal augh

- okay its 1:52pm im terrified to watch this tbh but this is the last minute i can start before hockey game

- EXTREMELY COOL ANIMATIC OMFG AND THE SONG RULES HELLO.... babe u HAVE to see this you'd LOVE IT OMFGGGG ITS SO GOOD

- ooh the dead son is a real dead son and also that old lady with the too young voice (amara i guess) was in fact related to the scary goddess thingy people were hypothesizing??? i think??? but thats who the medarda family has blood feud with ig we don't know much else yet

- YURI KISS OMG CAITVI KISS YURI CONFIRMED YAAAAY THEY GOT THEIR LITTLE DRAMATIC FIRST KISS SCENE WOOOOOO YEAH i was worried they were gonna make us wait for that but hell ya

- omfg there is a CRAAAAZY furry design in this bitch hello... who is she and why is she such a queen

- okay maybe ur right jayce does look unnervingly human LOL there was a scene between him and ekko where he looked WAY too good

- TOXIC YURI TOXIC YURI vi stopped cait from shooting jinx and also btw cait has been on a Being A Bitch arc omfg they were making out 10 minutes ago now they are BROKEN UPPP!!! because a random child has trauma-bonded to jinx as an older sister figure HOW THE TURN TABLES and she shielded jinx w herself and seeing that a child cared that much for jinx made vi falter about killing jinx. who is reckless to an apathetically suicidal degree now

- also um. jayce and da scientists seem to have touched the arcane a little too close bc?? they got transported into a Nothing Dimension and then the very nature of reality started glitching in a CRAZY acid trip sequence while jinx vs vi and cait vs sevika fight was happening... it seemed very much like an Into the Spiderverse kind of thing... very interested to see how this will continue to manifest in the remaining two arcs

- mel was just kidnapped by the black rose (??? cult???) which are the ones ambessa is beefing with.. they better not kill her i love mel i want her back safe she's too beautiful to die

- ambessa is in War Mode and she looks extremely badass even if i think she's at least 70% evil

- also cait shot off jinx's middle finger

- in an EXTREMELY bold move, ambessa appointed CAIT AS GENERAL IN PILTOVER WHICH IS NOW UNDER MARTIAL LAW????? bruh cait is getting an insane arc this season.. she went from naive to vengeance-driven and impulsively violent in 3 episodes

- oh my christ cait is fucking queen of cops now... this is so unfortunate for her character arc and so unfortunate for lesbianism

- ANOTHER VANDER TEASE ARE U FUCKING KIDDING MEEEEEEEE I SAID SHOW ME THE GODDAMN WOLF BRO

- okay so it seems like ambessa has realized that she can use cait as a militant pawn using her grief over her mother's death, bc she sees a ruthless quality in her... srsly cait's arc is insane rn

[golden-forge]

Another MelJay Micro fic, fairytale/folktale and the word prompt “Cruel.”

Once, Jayce believed in magic.

He believed that their world had magic everywhere, in the air, in the woods, in their very blood. That communities formed a sort of communal magic when they decided to band together with common goals and take care of each other. He supposed, as he laid in the back of a wagon, his head pounding from being knocked out and coming to as the wheels ran over some rock or other, that the community was still taking care of each other.

Except now at the cost of one individual.

“Wait, where -?” He tried getting his thoughts in order so he could speak but his head was still pounding. He made to rub his temples but his hands were bound behind his back. “What?”

The cart stopped. He groaned as the cloth flap was pulled aside. Bright moonlight made him close his eyes. If only his head would stop pounding.

”Let’s go, Talis.”

He’s abruptly pulled out of the cart and to his feet. He started to fall but there’s two pairs of hands pulling him back up and dragging him along. He can hear the sand as they walk. There was only one area near the town that had this much sand. He felt the blood in his face drop down and into the ground.

”What’s happening? What are you doing?”

His voice is rough and full of panic that he can’t quite hide. It makes the men chuckle.

”Why, Talis. Instead of banishment you’ve been chosen.”

Jayce grunts as he’s pushed against a stake. “No, wait, there’s been a mistake -“

”Oh there’s no mistake,” the other man cackles as he ties him to the stake. Jayce tried fighting it but it’s hard with your hands already behind your back. “The crops have been dying, the reservoir dry. It’s very clear that you’ve angered the gods. So to the gods you’ll be sent to directly to rectify it.”

”Human sacrifice is an old, outdated -“

”It’s tradition, Talis. It’s what Piltover has done before. Not that you ever respect tradition.”

“This isn’t right! It’s barbaric! Does Heimerdinger know -”

The man in front of him tsks and wags his finger. “Oh of course the founder of our fine town knows, Talis. You forget, back in his day it’s considered an honor. Better than banishment so your dear mother can still show her face.”

”You can’t be so selfish, Talis.”

The men chuckled.

”Please, don’t do this. My mother needs me. I-I’ll stop my studies all together!”

”We don’t need anything else from you other than this.”

“Come dawn, you’ll save us all, Jayce Talis.”

”Damn both of you!” Jayce struggled against his bonds. “Damn Heimerdinger and the cruelty of this damned town!”

”Did you hear that? He’s still trying to curse us.”

”That won’t do at all.”

Jayce was hit hard into unconsciousness.

***

The next things he was partially aware of, he couldn’t quite understand.

The sun must have been up for he felt the warmth. But then the ropes around his wrists sizzled and he could smell the burnt fibers - then he was lifted up somehow, no hands or arms were there - and he was in the air, looking down at the sands, his head aching doubly from getting hit twice and dizzy -

He blacked out.

There was a woman’s voice talking in a low tone. ”-blood in his hair, Elora.”

”Someone must have hit him, my goddess.”

There were fingers against the side of his face. The first voice was closer now.

”How cruel and then to tie him up at the edge of the desert.” He lightly groaned. “No, you need to rest,” her voice soothed, her fingers going over his eyelids to close them. “Your body needs it. Elora will look after you.”

He fell asleep.

***

I’ll update this once I add it to ao3. I hope to write more in this au.

[shimmerofstars]

Upon rewatch, Arcane actually has two layers with regards to Jayce, Mel and Viktor. The framing of the show suggests one thing, and depicts another. Watching Viktor cough up blood in between Mel and Jayce making out makes the whole experience uncomfortable at best and suggests Jayce is choosing Mel over Viktor or his science work, especially when later, Jayce going to Mel for comfort over Viktor's prognosis fades from this (Jayce laying on Mel's lap):

To this (Viktor sitting alone in front of hextech mixed with his blood):

except...

Jayce was with Viktor, spending time with Viktor by his bed at the hospital right before he went to Mel for emotional support.

And that scene where Jayce makes love with Mel? That's literally in the middle of the night- the stars are out. He's not at work because he's not on work hours. He's not choosing anyone over anything, he's having a romantic life and events outside of his work while also maintaining his friendships.

Or the framing of this scene in episode 5:

Jayce: Yesterday's smuggling fiasco was nothing. These manifests are full of discrepancies, dating back months.

Viktor: This is a poor use of out time.

Jayce: I'm a councilor now, Viktor. It's my responsibility to make sure the hexgates are safe and protected.

Viktor: What about our pledge to improve lives, for those in need? For the undercity?

Jayce: [sighs] Look, I'm sorry I didn't announce our other projects in my speech. Soon we can do everything we-

Viktor: Soon? There are people who need our help now, Jayce.

Which can be interpreted as Jayce thinks trade discrepancies are of equal or more pressing concern than the lives of those in the undercity or that Jayce is prioritizing the lives of future citizens over the people he could help now, except...

Before Mel suggests that Jayce, a scientist who's familiar with the technology and is proficient enough in social situations and public speaking that Heimderdinger allowed him to give the annual Progress Day speech, should be elevated to the position of councilor and specifically given the responsibility of tracking down the person who stole the hexgem, the two options were:

a) do nothing about the fact that the hexgem, which is extremely powerful and can power almost anything (including weaponry) has been stolen by someone willing to kill six people to get it

or

b) shut down everything powered by the hexgems so that they can't be accessed by the thief until they find the missing hexgem

The council controls all of the activities of hextech and has the ability to control if, when and how the technology is used, which would include the distribution of hextech into the hands of the people. Considering the fact that the council is already highly wary of magic and currently believes that the stolen hexgem will likely be used as a superweapon, there is a zero percent chance that the council would approve of mass producing hextech to distribute to the people, especially for people of the undercity, who the council likely perceives as inherently more dangerous or less worthy, or both. Jayce being a councilor and taking his duties as councilor seriously gives hextech its only chance at independence (as Mel put it: "With that comes the potential to shape your own destiny") and distribution to the people living in the undercity. Which would only be possible if 1. Jayce gives the council the reassurance they need that the technology will be safe in the people's hands by addressing or catching the thief and 2. Jayce having a vote himself increases the chances that a motion to distribute the technology would get passed. Meaning that Jayce needs to take his duties as councilor seriously to achieve his and Viktor's dreams of helping the people, and he is just as concerned as Viktor is. Even if Jayce gave up his councilor duties/work to achieve the ultimate form of hextech with Viktor (like Viktor wanted him to) that's the perfect medicine/healing technology, it wouldn't mean anything if none of it could get to the people because the council believes it's too dangerous.

Anyways I just can't quite figure out why Arcane is sort of framing Jayce as someone who's prioritizes Mel/his councilor work over Viktor/helping the people while showing that Jayce's councilor work is important to helping people and dedicating multiple scenes to show that Jayce does hangout with/work with Viktor.

[tiger-is-a-certified-idiot]

Hey [fairly long] little Arcane something I’ve never seen anyone point out…

VIKTOR IS JUST AS EGOTISTICAL AS JAYCE IS!

(And I can prove it)

.

.

.

Showing this is the entire point of Sky’s existence in the show…she was always there for him, there was always another person who wanted to be there with him, but he never noticed because he was always to focused on himself.

Then, when he’s finally an adult, he claims his life’s dream is to “make the world a better place” and that the work he is doing is to help the undercity. But before any of that, it’s “do you think it was my life’s dream to become an assistant?”

And it is worth noting at that point, that Sky is Still There. She follows him all the way to the top, and he still doesn’t notice. Instead he, entirely in his own interest, seeks out Jayce. Someone he has never met or talked to before, simply because his story intrigued him.

Sure, Jayce signed every page of his notes, he assumed he was a moral exception to the city’s safety regulations, he thought a little speech could change the councilor’s minds, he abandoned his work for his girlfriend.

But Viktor isn’t a selfless martyr, and id argue he’s really not much better than Jayce. He worked his way out of the undercity because he “believed in himself,” not in his city nor his family, he wanted to prove HIMSELF. And he did, and it wasn’t enough for him. So he decided he was a moral exception to breaking and entering laws. And what do you know, that wasn’t enough. He kept raising the bar. True, he didn’t go on stage, but it’s because his ego doesn’t involve his image the way it does for Jayce. He doesn’t care who knows his face, but not having his invention shown was brutal to him. It isn’t enough. Eventually he realized he’s dying and immediately decided he would pour every ounce of his life into extending it rather than going out with a bang. He manages to kill Sky, symbolically proving just how little other people mattered to him compared to his own life. When he pours out her ashes, he talks to Heimerdinger, and he’s starting to realize just how badly he fucked up. But all he can find to talk to the professor about is the unfairness of death and the professor’s opinion on his own contributions. Not his and Jayce’s, or on Humanity’s or anything like that. At the end of his rope he still can’t let go of this overwhelming fear that he hasn’t done enough. It’s always personal.

Breakdown of their final scene:

Now this is why I love that final scene with Jayce and Viktor sitting in the skull-shaped pipe above the gorge Viktor grew up playing in. Viktor sees the place he had never thought was good enough somehow drained of all the life and color he hadn’t noticed was there. And Jayce, more afraid of death than anything else in the world, is sitting above a valley symbolically teeming with it. And they both finally come to the end of their egotist character arcs. It’s no longer Did I Do Enough. It’s no longer How Do I Fix This. It’s “We lost ourselves, We lost our dream, in the pursuit of Great, we failed to do Good.” They realize they’ve both fucked up, together. They’ve both been terrible, together. They know that nothing, not one thing they have done to this world has improved it. They are killers, egotists, villains. Their dreams are dead and their visions of their lives and of themselves are dead. Yes, Viktor is dying too, but I don’t think that’s the point. They set themselves the one task of saving lives and all they managed to do was kill.

So they, now changed men, make a vow. They’re going to make it right. Or Viktor does, anyway. But Jayce promises him he’ll destroy the hexcore which I think could mayyyybe possibly mean he’s tied himself into the promise as well i Sincerely Hope.

Have they made up? Yes, I think they have. They are not naive anymore at the very least and are going to handle both their relationship and their respective jobs responsibly and like adults. Does this mean they will manage it? I doubt it, to be honest. If we do end up getting the Machine Herald in any similar way to League, Jayce does have to be his narrative foil, and I don’t think the little moments of going behind each other’s backs and doing things the other wouldn’t approve of + their bridge argument are going to just not affect their relationship. I would be incredibly surprised if the Divorce doesn’t happen. Will they resolve it? No idea. I haven’t decided if I’m in camp Arcane Will Have a Good Ending or Arcane Will Have a Bad Ending yet. Either way, I do hope their relationship stays layered and complex and that they never lose respect and admiration for each other. They are narratively Two Halves of a Whole and it would honestly break my heart if they were to stop being written that way. I do hope they make up in the end, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

Thank you for reading! I am aware that my analysis are very opinion oriented and not particularly objective at all, I enjoy sharing my interpretation of the show as much as I can. That being said, there is a lot of room for discussion here because it’s all opinions, and I would love to hear yours. <33