#i need to draw s1 jayvik

[reiganssillyankles]

ill be real i was not a jayvik truther in s1 and thats my fault. Like I could see why ppl shipped them but i didnt rlly go insane over them till s2. But then rewatching s1 and jayvik was so silly oh i miss them.

[svissalan]

not pictured: viktor watching his chest breasting boobily as he runs over to greet him

[syixxion]

He’s had a long day guys

[findthekeystopthekraang]

They make me ill

[gaypirate420]

Viktor running his fingers through m! Readers hair and Jayce is getting jealous of us so Viktor starts giving him a scalp massage too.

This was inspired by that viral post of Viktor High Key being a Dom.

Here nyehehehhe, very short I'm sorry.

Puppies// Jayvik

S1!Jayvik x male!reader.

Summary: Viktor has two puppies in a lab.

Suggestive. Fluff.

Viktor takes a small sip from his drink, the sugary taste of the sweet milk traveling down his mouth, his amber eyes looked down, you and Jayce where on the floor, a chalk in hand as each of you drew his notes on the literal floor of the lab, per his request, something about scaling.

"Is this big enough for you?" You asked a little breathlessly as you leaned back on your knees, going backwards trying not to mess the chalk drawing, a small pout adorning your face as you placed chalk, ruler and measuring tape to a side, you were the first one to protest against this idea.

"it gives me a better view, sweetling." The pale man answered back before returning his lips to his mug, Jayce sighed and shook his head, the sound of chalk and his tired breaths filling the air for a moment.

"Bigger papers exist, V." The tall one mumbled as he kept drawing, his knees already feeling a little sore after being in the cold floor of the lab.

"No need to whine, love, a little mopping will get rid of it." Viktor answered back before taking another sip, you rubbed your eyes, a soft yawn escapes your lips as you rest your head on his lap, avoiding his brace for an inch. His brows were furrowed deep in thought as he saw his blueprint on the floor.

"We have to take a break, we're going insane! We're drawing on the floor! We're scientists not cavemen." You mumbled against his thigh, the sound a little muffled. Viktor shushed you gently and returned to his own little mental palace, one of his hands left his mug, his pale and slender fingers finding your hair. He could feel your tired exhale against his leg.

His touch is gentle, slow, his eyes focused on your tense shoulders, he carefully digs deeper, massaging slowly. Almost as an apology for the burden of making you drag yourself around on the floor drawing.

Jayce finally finished his part, looking down at the whole layout and starting to take mental notes, he steps back to allow the zaunite to see the drawing completely. He claps his hands, getting rid of any chalk dust in them.

The taller man's hazel eyes catch the tender scene, you, on your knees by Viktor's side, your hair getting played with, he feels a warmth creeping on his cheeks, he looks away quickly and tries to focus on the drawing but something else start to brew. Jealousy.

"Hm." Jayce sat down on the floor too, perhaps a little inspired by you on Viktor's left side, he swallowed as his eyes focused on the drawing almost too much and too intensely. Viktor placed his mug between his thighs, he smirks ever so faintly and his hand goes to brush the taller one's hair back, the reaction is immediate, a soft sigh hangs on the air, he leans against his thigh too as Viktor brushes down his neck.

"I can picture your tails wagging perfectly." Viktor said with a teasing tone, you chuckled against him while Jayce whimpers and hides his face on his thigh. Both of you are blushing though, neither pulling away from his touch.

A/N: HEYYYY, hi, how are y'all...I know I KNOW I have some promised fics on the waiting but I'm picky and I want to enjoy my winter break I'm sorry, arrest me. Hope y'all liked this!

[avelera]

Okay so I recently got low-key obsessed with Jayvik and I’ve been liking your posts about them (top tier analysis btw). Anyway I’m curious about your opinions on a couple of things:

If Jayce’s love language is physical touch, what do you think Viktor’s love language is?

What do you think the Anomaly actually is? My headcanon is that it’s caused by all the paradoxes/timelines that Mad Wizard Viktor keeps making, but idk why it would only be under the Hexgates.

Hmm, when taking into account that the love languages thing is basically horoscopes for real people, but they may have informed how the characters were written, I'd say:

1 ) I completely agree that Jayce's love language is physical touch. That much is obvious.

Viktor's love language is Quality Time - that would explain why he starts getting irritated and hurt with Jayce near the end of S1 and why he's so moved and touched by them solving equations and spending time together pre-time skip. Actually, so much of Viktor's attitude towards Jayce is explained by him seeing Quality Time as a love language it's actually making me a bit dizzy, I need to think about this a lot more because I think this might have cracked something for me...

2 ) Hoooo boy, I actually have an answer for what the Anomaly is in my mind, but it's a lot less character driven and a more metaphysics driven because I was feral about Arcane S1 before I had anyone else to talk to about it online and I've spent a lot of time thinking about Hextech and Shimmer. OK, here goes:

Hextech is an axiomatic (lawful) channeling of forces of nature, namely magic. However, magic to stay pure and reliable requires an anarchic (chaotic) AND the axiomatic (lawful) balancing act for each use of its power if it's to stay "pure" and reliable. Otherwise, you invite chaos in. Namely, the Anomaly.

In addition, every use of magic/the Arcane puts off a certain amount of "car exhaust" for every use, this allows it from a Doylist perspective to be a climate change metaphor but it does go deeper than that and follows its own magical rules. If you look closely, overuse of Hextech always puts off smoke. Early uses don't do so as much, though. In my opinion, each puff of that "smoke" adds to a potential Anomaly.

Now if you're good at magic, and skilled with it, say if you're good mage, as seen with The Mage / Viktor in 1.02, you make a point of scooping up up all the exhaust from any use of rune magic and pouring it back into the spell.

Look at how the mage scoops up all the exhaust coming out of the spell here and weaves it back into the spell!

Hextech doesn't bother to do that! Because Jayce doesn't fundamentally understand that advanced level of magic! He just keeps calling on its energy without dealing with the output of smoke/chaos/Anomaly fumes so it's just hanging in the air.

By the way, all the smoke in Arcane is hand animated so to my eyes, all smoke actually matters. I'm actually a little bummed that S2 didn't go deeper into explaining the smoke that comes off of some uses of the Arcane but not others but I'm assuming they'll delve more into in future shows because The Arcane Is Awake Now, thanks to my brilliant science boy dipshits.

The cleanest, clearest use of Hextech we ever see is the first time the science boys use it to float:

I draw a few conclusions from this:

1 ) The first hit is always free - first time you use magic, magic is happy to help you out! It will do the thing you ask! No consequences!

2 ) Magic gets more and more angry the more times you use it. Actually, by the time we get to Vi using the Atlas Gauntlets repeatedly in S2, there's a little puff of smoke every. time. she uses. them.

3 ) Magic requires some balance. Breaking a window before it let the boys float? Cool, that's balance. But if you just have it doing the same constructive motion over and over, like sending out airships, but you don't let it break some things too? It gets annoyed.

4 ) If it doesn't get applied in a balanced way, magic/the Arcane gets mad. Ekko compared the Arcane's frustration to a sigh. That smoke? Is the sigh. Again, first time you use Hextech, magic which is at least semi-sentient, is MORE than happy to help! The more you keep demanding repeated axiomatic actions, the more it sighs in anger.

Then we get to the crux of your question: what is the Anomaly?

The Anomaly built up at the base of a tower stuffed full with polished, axiomatic, reinforced Hexgems that do one constructive task over and over and over again all day, every day: safely send ships from one place to another.

The Anomaly builds up from the frustration of not allowing magic to be free. Jayce is an axiomatic thinker, he sees magic as a tool, not as a force of nature, so he's been channeling it super precisely and not scooping up all that extra exhaust and channeling it back into the magic and that means it builds up this... pearl of an Anomaly which is all this wild magic with tons of chaotic potential that can do basically anything, including time and dimensional travel but it's gonna be super weird about it.

Soooo... thanks for giving me the chance to yell about Hextech, hope that was sort of what you had in mind!

[jacketpotatoo]

Initial Thoughts on Arcane S2 (spoilers)

I think season 1 was far stronger because it told a much more focused story and centred its themes on the relationships of the characters. What I love about s1 is that you could pick two characters from anywhere in the show, and they'd be foils of some kind, or parallel each other, etc. We don't get enough time with characters talking to each other for that in s2. In s1, so much of the insight we gain from characters is through their conversations with each other - this is effective because they're there and reacting to each other, so you get the deeping of their relationships alongside development of the plot. I think this is why people resonate so strongly with Ep7 - it's so contained. The expanded cast of characters and expanded plotlines mean that at times, it feels like they're checking off plot beats rather than letting the story develop as its characters do. But this is also why I find the jayvik storyline to be the most compelling part of s2 - it's this beautiful medley of greater themes and personal ambition wrapped around inextricably in the other. I found the show's thesis on healing and destruction and the cycles of human violence compelling, and I liked that magic was a sort of tech/industrialisation stand in. Viktor had some GREAT lines that I need to spend some more time unpacking. Cosmic yaoi soulmatism is beautiful. Also speaking of episode 7, I also thought Ekko's arc was incredible and the best and he's the best and I love him.

That being said, I definitely think the ball was dropped on the class commentary. The writers simply took on too much - just trying to explore the class tensions between Zaun and Piltover is enough to take up the entire season. And it's so deeply integral to the politics of the season, and to the balance of the relationships of various characters, that it's just a bit. sigh. Especially when nearly all the new characters introduced get killed off. And we don't get much focus at all on Sevika, who's one of the only main characters involved in revolution. I love Isha, but she felt so much to me like a plot device to me that i find it hard to reconcile. And the lack of class-commentary sours their portrayal of Caitvi alot for me. I personally think Cait's revenge to reconciliation arc was handled fine, and that a verbal apology wouldn't mean as much to vi as the action of freeing her sister did, but the last line of the show is hard for me. "I'm the dirt under your nails." I get that it can be interpreted multiple ways (see: non-problematically), but that had to have crossed the writers' minds. Is it intentional then? A reminder of Vi's insecurities, simply glossed over by Caitlyn? Does it just draw attention to the inequality of their relationship, indicate that there's further work to be done between them and individually? Honestly I feel the same way about where Zaun/Piltover is left off politically. This sort of ambivalent state that isn't endorsed (the sneers the council throws at Sevika are intentional), but is unfortunately realistic. I don't think the ending is a happy one at all. Ambivalent really is the word I'd use to describe it.

I also figure that I need to rewatch the show in full, including season 1. Thoughts might change! I'm still working things out in the brain. I do still think Arcane is a fucking beast and a triumph, and I will forever be inspired by it. I love these characters. every shipper won something and I think that's beautiful. Fortiche's animation is revolutionary.

[showsandstuff]

WHAT'S UP!

Welcome to my post where I praise the fanon original league version of Jayvik!!!

I'm gonna be real, I will miss the Og machine herald Viktor. I never played league, and I'm not going to, but before season 2 came out I read his lore and he's actually a pretty fun character.

Then after season two act 1 came out, I dove into the world of fanfiction cause I started shipping Jayvik and found kind a few fics about the league of legend versions of the characters. And here is what I will say.

If we go with fanon alone, I actually prefer the league versions.

League Viktor and League Jayce are actual enemies for most of the time. They used to be colleagues, then Viktor was getting into brainwashing whilst Jayce was a dick and got him kicked out of the academy. He also didn't speak up when some other scientist took credit of Viktors invention. Oh and there were misunderstandings about some crystal...

Long story short, they don't like each other. But in the fics they often times either clear the misunderstandings and make up or yearn for each other whilst on opposite sites. Or they fight each other which leads to make out sessions because why not.

The characters are also generally more fun to read about.

Jayce is a huge dick, that is literally his most defining personality trade. He is a cocky bastard and people like him until they get to know him because he's just such an asshole.

And Viktor is just... Really fucking silly. He wants to get rid of his emotions and says that he already did get rid off them, but then Jayce pisses him off and you can tell no way?? Where did you get rid off your emotions? You've been whining non stop. There's also still love, kindness and empathy within Viktor, but he somehow convinces himself that he is emotionless. It gets especially good when that's played for comedy, which it oftentimes is!

Also, the nicknames! They still call each other Jayce and Viktor but Viktor also calls Jayce "Defender" short for "Defender of tomorrow" which is jayces title, and Jayce calls him either V or Machine Herald, depending on the mood.

Arcane season 2 was too rushed and packed with so many seperate story lines that we didn't have enough time for the characters. We needed at least one more season.

But the fanon for the league version, as someone who never played it, gives me this huge time frame of them being enemies but they used to be colleagues or friends (or more than friends depending on the writer), and then a huge time frame of them being enemies.

Og machine herald League Viktor though??? PEAK, WHAT A FUNNY CRINGEFAIL LOSER!

Now more to Arcane...

I think as much as I love Jayvik there, it's all just too sad, especially if you don't necessarily want to read act 1 fanfictions or AUs.

Also Viktor is super hard to characterize because his personally changes with almost every act. That's why I don't buy it when people complain about the way he is characterized because Ik all yall want is sassy S1 Act 1 Viktor, but I prefer the less confident and workaholic Act 2 Viktor. We are not the same.

The Fanon of League is just, somehow, more consistent in a way, because it has existed just much longer and people probably get inspired by the same shippers for how to write their dynamic.

Arcane fics though depend on how the individual interprets the characters, and with characters whose arcs were rushed sm it's just impossible.

So Og machine herald Viktor, you will be missed. I hope people don't stop writing for them and drawing fanart!!

[myfairstarlight]

Loosened Inhibitions

AO3 Link.

Rated: T

Length: 3k

Pairing: jayvik

Canon Divergence / set between s1 act1 & 2

Summary:

Viktor ponders before he snorts and says, “Before I became Heimerdinger’s assistant and they were still figuring out what to do with a rogue Zaunite infiltrating the academy, Councillor Salo very, eh, strongly suggested that I become his escort.” Jayce almost chokes on nothing. Or. Late night conversations are not uncommon between them, surprising revelations are still shared.

*additional notes on ao3

── .𐀔. ── .𐀔. ──

He’s not sure exactly what the circumstances that led to this situation are. Jayce was a little drunk, and Viktor was heavily sleep-deprived, yet instead of going home to rest, they found themselves sprawled on the floor of the lab. It was not an odd occurrence; the peculiar situation came after that initial setting.

There is one solace to the investor galas that Jayce now must suffer through — the guarantee that once over, he can return to the quietness of the lab to unwind with his partner or fall asleep to the sound of Viktor’s tinkering. He should worry about that; Viktor tends to overwork himself and forget to go home for the night. It’s a nasty habit but it’s a habit that benefits Jayce and sometimes — read: a lot of times since Hextech has truly made its mark, and especially now that the Hexgates are in the final stage of installation — he’s a little selfish.

That evening though, he didn’t find Viktor working, no, the man was sitting on the floor, back against the couch and head thrown back, an unlit blunt hanging from his mouth. The room did not smell of weed, though.

“Need some fire?” Jayce asked, sitting next to him.

“Need a distraction,” Viktor replied, spitting the blunt out and gesturing to his leg. He’d unclasped the buckles of his brace but did not remove it completely yet. “Did you bring anything back?”

Jayce hummed, showing off a bottle of expensive wine he managed to steal from the buffet. From Noxus, he believes. He doesn’t really care.

So after helping Viktor remove his leg brace to be more comfortable, Jayce handed him the bottle with no intention of drinking further himself. In fact, he lay down on the floor with his legs haphazardly thrown on the couch.

So here they are now. Alone, on the cold harsh floor of their poorly lit lab. An image reminiscent of many other nights before this one.

But there is something different in the air that night. Jayce can’t pinpoint what, he simply embraces it as he watches Viktor’s slender hand draw absent circles on the floor.

“Might as well lie on the couch Itself,” Viktor comments eventually, though he seems amused by the display.

“It's comfortable,” Jayce replies. “Could ask you why I found you on the floor.”

“Missed the couch. Decided to stay there.”

A pause. Jayce hums. “Pain that bad tonight?” A grunt answers him before Viktor throws his bad leg into his open arms. “You could always ask Sky to help. We hired her for a reason.” And because Jayce has been spending less time in the lab as of late, not as a choice of his own, but…

“You know how I feel about asking for that sort of thing.”

“I do,” Jayce concedes, massaging his leg. “But you let me help.”

“Yes, well.” Viktor takes a swig of the wine. “You're you.”

Whatever that means, it makes Jayce smile.

“How was the party?” Viktor asks, swiftly changing the subject.

“Dreadful as always. Would be better with you.”

Viktor is silent for a few moments, looking at him. Jayce pretends to not notice by putting all his attention on his partner’s leg.

“You would think you would be used to it by now,” his partner says eventually.

“I am. Doesn't mean I like it,” Jayce points out. “Salo was particularly annoying tonight.”

“When is he not? Entitled and whiny…”

Jayce snorts at that. “You’ve known these guys longer than me… any funny anecdote?”

Viktor ponders before he snorts and says, “Before I became Heimerdinger’s assistant and they were still figuring out what to do with a rogue Zaunite infiltrating the academy, Councilor Salo very, eh, strongly suggested that I become his escort.”

Jayce almost chokes on nothing.

“What?!”

“Said no, of course, despite the very enticing pay.” Viktor wiggles his leg a little, making Jayce realise he quite literally froze. “Is it really that surprising?”

“No— I mean yes— I mean—”

“Breathe, Jayce.”

“It’s just— you seem… very nonchalant about this.”

Viktor raises an eyebrow. “Hardly something I did not get before.” Is Jayce crazy or does he hear a hint of pride in his partner’s voice? “Actually, Councillor Medarda made an offer as well. Minus the sex part, of course.”

“Mel?” Now that is new and truly surprising. “Why didn’t you take it, then? Being sponsored by the richest house in Piltover…”

“I would have been a political pawn,” Viktor answers. He shakes his head when Jayce makes a protesting noise, ready to defend someone. Not sure who yet. “I suppose that is not too different from an investment now. Anyhow. Back then, she was still growing her name. The infamous exiled Noxus princess, she had something to prove. She had people she needed to sway to her side, including…”

“The undercity? Wouldn’t that have benefited you anyway, to help your people like you’ve always wanted?”

“Perhaps,” Viktor admits. “I was a prideful little shit though. And maybe… maybe I resented where I came from, too, and didn’t want that to define me. I was desperate to escape it after all.”

“You love Zaun.” It’s a statement, Jayce knows. Viktor rarely ever leaves the lab or take days off but when he does he knows he goes back to Zaun. They never discuss who he visits, Jayce has never dared to push during the many years they’ve known each other now.

Frankly, a part of him worries that he would not be able to handle the idea of Viktor having a life of his own, without him, on the other side of that bridge. Afraid that, if push came to shove, perhaps he would not come back.

“I do,” Viktor confirms. “Now that my ungrateful self has had a taste of Piltover’s reality behind the Gilded Dream.” Jayce winces. Definitely something Viktor is repeating, he's guessing. “What I was ashamed of became my pride. It’s a good thing though, I would have been seen as a traitor to my people, a sellout, well, more than I currently am but at least my face isn’t advertised.” He takes another swig as he mocks an exaggerated shiver. “Who knows, if I had said yes, perhaps we’d be in the same situation. The poster boy of ‘look, not all scums from the undercity are bad, look how this one turned out thanks to our help’. A magnificent lie.”

“... Am I a lie?” Jayce asks.

A pause as their eyes meet.

Then Viktor tilts his head, in that familiar teasing way of his. “Was I talking about you? A little egotistical, don’t you think?”

Jayce huffs out a laugh. “It’s just… I always thought it was strange that Heimerdinger and Mel only pushed my face everywhere.” And Viktor never protested.

“Well, Hextech is your theory.”

“And it’s our dream.”

Viktor tenses, like he always does whenever Jayce reminds him of their partnership. A sense of doubt, of fear of belonging, always lingering. Then he pokes his nose. “Do not be daft, though. We both know why.”

“It doesn’t mean I like it. I am not originally from Piltover either, I mean I did… grow up here, but still. Mel settled here even later than me. How come people accept us but wouldn't accept you?” Maybe it makes him naive.

Viktor taps his shoulder pad — or more precisely, the sigil embedded at the top of it.

“A name. It makes you worth something. A pretty face, too.”

“You're pretty!”

Viktor scoffs. “Thanks.”

Jayce's face falls. “You don't believe me.”

“I do believe you. I also know it is not true. Both can coincide.”

“You got propositioned multiple times by your own admission and you're sitting here, telling me you being hot is a lie?”

Viktor raises an eyebrow. “It wasn't because I'm hot, it's because I'm from the undercity. In their eyes, if you're not a criminal, you're a whore.”

“Viktor…”

“By associating with Heimerdinger I avoided those accusations. Even if people didn't accept me they couldn't deny my intellect. They had to listen to me when I did lectures. Now I'm associated with you, and people talk, talk, talk… they think I do not hear.”

Jayce pauses at that, trying to meet his partner's eyes but Viktor keeps his gaze stubbornly on the floor. It would be lying if he said he hadn't heard rumours about them before. The Golden Boy and his elusive partner, always in the shadows. He's mostly ignored them, it is the fastest way for them to fade away eventually.

Or at least to not be as prominent as when they first began.

“Do you regret it now, then?”

“Never,” Viktor answers immediately, making Jayce relax, heart melting at the certainty. “What we do is important. Of course, teaching the future minds is important too but it was boring. And the entrance exam isn’t exactly fair, lots of bribing, lots of people there because their parents want them to be, not because they want to be here…”

That last part is muttered but Jayce hears it anyway— he’s aware of the corruption seething in these hallways now and the fact that any applicants from the undercity are denied. Viktor had to almost throttle Heimerdinger until the yordle finally agreed to review Sky’s application, later admitting he had never seen it in the first place, meaning someone must have discarded it in the acceptance process despite her test coming back almost perfect. The same way Viktor’s application was, all those years ago, until he took matters into his own hands and forced his way in.

Jayce likes to think that that has changed since, now that Viktor and Sky are important members of the academy. Maybe that makes him naive again.

“I don't care about what they say about me as long as our work makes a difference… one day,” Viktor continues, now staring at the ceiling with conflict in his eyes. There is a tinge of frustration and sadness in his voice.

Jayce tugs at his pants as he releases his leg, prompting Viktor to carefully lean down, the bottle of wine discarded on the side.

“Soon,” Jayce promises as Viktor lays his head on his chest with a huff. "We'll get to do what we actually want to do with our dream."

“I do hate it too, you know? That you need to kiss their asses so we get the damn money to continue our research. How one prissy Piltie gets pissed off and all our work could vanish. I just— I can’t do it.”

“I know,” Jayce murmurs. “I can handle it. In the meantime, our hands are tied.”

“Are they? We’re the ones with the knowledge and the tech. We’re the ones who could change everything with a simple flick of a switch. What happens if we just say no?”

Sometimes, Jayce thinks it's a miracle that Viktor has listened to what the Council wants for so long, considering his stubborn streak and love to break the rules. Sometimes, he wonders if this docile, complacent side of him is due to his respect for Heimerdinger... or, more egotistically perhaps, Jayce wonders if it is for him that Viktor has endured all of this.

“No money and no Hextech for anyone. And if all our stuff is confiscated, who knows in whose hands they might fall,” he rationalises.

"Just steal it back."

"And live our lives as outlaws escaping the enforcers? We'd barely have times to change others' lives."

Viktor groans. “I hate it when you make sense.”

Jayce snorts. “Nah. You love it.”

He means it in a teasing way, of course, but then Viktor chuckles softly, bringing a hand to his face as if hiding his expression when he answers, “I do.”

There is a shift in the air. Jayce feels his heart stutter and prays that Viktor cannot feel it from where he is resting his head. But then he sees his friend’s lips twitch, fighting a smile, and he knows the subtle change of pace in his heartbeat and breathing did not go unnoticed.

It’s a recurring occurrence again, one they have always left unsaid. A touch that lingers. Breathes that mingle as they look over notes. The one equation they have willingly ignored. Jayce doesn’t know Viktor’s reasons behind his restraint, but Jayce has always been afraid of messing up the perfect balance of partnership they have. Things consume him quickly, be it his work or his relationships, and Viktor sits right in the middle of these two, he represents what could easily become Jayce’s descent into madness if worst ever came to happen.

Though a part of him knows it is already a losing battle even if they never cross that line.

Jayce worries every day about what the next will bring. Viktor has an eagerness for it, for the future, always looking forward and never dwelling on what could go wrong.

Almost as if he didn’t have the time to.

“Viktor.”

Viktor shuffles closer. “Mm?”

“I really, really want to kiss you.”

A pause. Viktor exhales right into his mouth. “We're drunk.”

“Tipsy.” He’s only had… a lot of champagne and the wine Viktor has been drinking cannot be that strong if he’s still speaking fluently without occasionally slipping into his mother tongue.

“Still inebriated.”

“I will still want to kiss you when morning comes. I always do.”

The reaction he gets is not one he expects; Viktor lets out a frustrated sigh before sitting up again.

“Then we will see tomorrow. Correct?”

Jayce blinks at him. The moonlight gleams around Viktor like a halo, gentle and pure. He's temporarily distracted.

“I… don't wanna move,” he whispers like it’s a secret after what feels like hours.

“You'll complain about your back.” They both pause at the irony of Viktor being the one to say that. “At least muster the strength to crawl into the couch.”

“Stay?” Jayce asks softly.

A pause. A breath. A faint smile. “Alright.” Another pause. "Help me with my back brace, will you?"

── .𐀔. ── .𐀔. ──

The next day finds Jayce headache-free, which is a miracle in itself. As he blinks his eyes open to a still dark lab, he meets Viktor’s steady gaze, gold glinting into the darkness.

“Sleep well?” his partner asks from where he is lying on top of him. He weighs… almost nothing, Jayce doesn’t recall falling asleep like this.

“Did you sleep at all?” Jayce asks back.

“You snore.”

That doesn’t answer the question, but Viktor looks more rested and at peace than he did the night before, at least. When he makes a move to stand up, Jayce acts on instinct and grabs him, turning them over, nestling Viktor between him and the back of the couch. His partner gives him an unimpressed look.

“Now that’s just unfair of you,” he deadpans.

Jayce hesitates. “... Do you mind? Sorry, I can—”

“Breathe, Jayce.” Viktor snuggles to his side and he closes his eyes with a pleased hum as he winds his arms around Jayce’s chest. “Just teasing.”

Jayce smiles.

Then.

“Still wanna kiss you.”

Viktor doesn’t move for a beat. Eventually, he opens one eye, the corner of his lips lifting despite his valiant effort to remain impassive.

“Alright.”

Jayce holds back a whine at Viktor’s pretend nonchalance. He can feel the other’s heartbeat fasten, ever so slightly. “... So can I?”

“I don’t know, can you?”

He huffs. Fine.

Jayce carefully grabs his chin while his other hand snakes around the back of his skull, threading through a few knots in Viktor’s wild hair. Viktor hums, following the motion, not so much with eagerness, but more so naturally, as if they have done this before, as if it was just a simple fact of the world.

On a quiet morning, in an obscure lab, surrounded by complete silence, Jayce kisses Viktor. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe it’s both. Neither can tell.

It’s as chaste as can be, a simple press of the lips, lazily moving together. Viktor’s lips are slightly chapped, the taste of yesterday’s wine still lingering. Absent-mindedly, Jayce wonders if Viktor can taste the champagne on his.

Viktor is the first to pull away, giving him a kitten lick to startle him before chuckling at his flustered expression and kissing the corner of his mouth. “Not bad.”

“Not bad?!” Jayce repeats, making Viktor laugh again.

“Teasing, again.” His partner flicks him on the shoulder. “Your ego is big enough.”

Jayce pouts. “Y’know, I still can't believe Salo of all people dared to…” He can’t even finish that sentence. “Didn't know you were his type. The side-eyes have a new meaning now…”

Viktor blinks at him. “Is that truly what you wish to discuss first? Salo?”

“No, sorry, just— popped up in my mind.”

A pause. Viktor stares at him in that unnerving perceptive way of his. “Do not do anything stupid next time you see him.”

“Who said I would?”

“Jayce.”

He groans. “Fine. You may need to keep an eye on me though. Join me at the next gala, y’know, just to make sure.”

He expects Viktor to roll his eyes, maybe scoff at his ridiculous attempt to make him join in the misery of investor parties. Instead, Viktor looks uncomfortable, shrinking ever so slightly in his arms and avoiding his gaze.

“I… would rather not,” his partner says eventually.

Jayce frowns. “Viktor?”

“I know it is unfair of me to ask you to handle all that alone but… do not ask me to do this, please.”

For a moment, Jayce wants to protest, to say he simply wants his partner by his side, to show Viktor off to the world, as he deserves to be. If not his face, to at least have his name be recognised and whispered with reverence across the golden streets of Piltover.

It’s not even about him shouldering this burden alone, he gives no care for that, he just wants Viktor to get the credit he’s due, one that cannot be done only through word of mouth or a signature on a paper, the people need to see him.

But… one look at Viktor’s conflicted look and all his indignation vanishes.

“Ok… Ok,” Jayce whispers.

“One day… maybe,” Viktor concedes, though it doesn’t sound genuine, he’s trying. “It is one thing to know what they think, it is another to confront it… without risk of injuring someone with my cane.”

It’s a deflection, Jayce can tell, to distract him from the real root of Viktor’s feelings on the matter. He indulges him and doesn’t point it out, though. Not on this quiet morning, when everything feels so fragile. Instead, Jayce chuckles softly and kisses Viktor’s forehead.

“I’d take the blame.”

That gets his partner to snort. “Of course, you would. And they’d fawn over and apologise.”

“Full-proof plan!”

Viktor is smiling again. It’s all he needs for now.

That, and perhaps one more little selfish thing.

“How about… how about just out and about? If it’s not at extravagant parties and just us together on the streets or on the hallways of the academy. Is this…” Jayce grabs Viktor’s hand, gently resting it against his heart. “Okay?”

“What? Your incessant need to touch me? I hardly think it will be any different than before, will it?” If Jayce isn’t mistaken, there’s a hint of a challenge in Viktor’s voice.

Jayce hums, bringing Viktor’s wrist to his lips, leaving the ghost of a kiss on the mole he knows to be there. Viktor shudders, letting out a deep breath.

“Unless you’re uncomfortable with it, and you must tell me if you are, it’ll get worse. I will be insufferable.”

“Enough to start rumours all over again?”

“Not rumours, just the plain truth – that I’m the happiest with my beautiful and insanely smart partner. In every sense of the word.”

Adoration glints in the gold of Viktor’s eyes as he laughs and completely gives in to Jayce’s sappy ideals. “Well then, do your worst, Talis.”

[guileheroine]

arcane s2 act 1 thoughts

getting my impressions down before act 2 so i can remember how things felt at this point in time before everything gets blasted open :)

aughghhhhjjjjjjjjhhhhj

above all: it’s exciting to watch a show that’s technically incredible also be so tight in terms of writing, where you trust it enough to really immerse yourself w/o reservation. and moreso it’s so nice to be trusted to do some work as a viewer, interpret the ambiguities instead of being force-fed all the beats. and to have something so detail rich, dense and deftly constructed that you can mine it endlessly (as someone who’s seen s1 10-ish times lol)

they are packing so much story into these episodes compared to s1 act 1 and i won't be able to imagine all this tied up in 6 more eps until i see it - i wonder how it would feel as a slower paced show

the loungewear and rose petals really give the new opening a boudoir vibe. grateful!

no scene scratched my id like viktor leaving jayce — his open acknowledgement of their divergence (in those words no less) and the fact of their partnership being dead from the beginning

^for me the core of the story has long been what i call the two JV divergence arcs

relatedly, viktor in the black hood has there ever been a lük more instantly iconic. he has a STAGGERING face card. i look forward to further jayvik divorce proceedings but want him to meet the other undercity protags so bad, he seems poised to take on a similar role in the Cause as jinx

i really loved the opening scene between mel and jayce. it seems mel shielded him. i got tingly at her drawing the line at weaponising hextech and reaffirming her commitment to jayce and viktor's vision. their hextech dream, #ot3, # heres how meljayvik can still win!!!

the fight choreo, music, stylistic choices and just the marriage of form and content still feel thrilling. fortiche i am once again kissing your feet, vive la france

i dig this caitlyn arc. in s1 she didn’t quite pass muster against the rest of the cast bc it felt like the degree of naïveté needed to keep her as pure as it seemed they wanted her, was a hard sell in an ostensibly smart and capable character, in an ensemble where everyone else felt like much more textured products of their circumstances. i always thought that instead of the noble oblivious thing it would’ve been more seamless and meaningful if she’d been conscious but ambivalent about all the gross injustice, only digging deeper once it became personal via vi

and now!! feeling gratified bc i think they’re doing that arc, just in reverse: as soon as it becomes personal in the other direction, you see that her grip on the bigger picture is conditional and easily blinkered. it emphasises her previous passion about justice for zaun as deriving partly from the self-righteousness that's also an underacknowledged effect of privilege, instead of simple empathy. (plus the fairweather allyship is… a very resonant theme lmao and quite cool to see it depicted how the correct nudge, a taste of what the system deals out to others, will make the most earnest of listeners-and-learners retreat to their worst biases about the 'other'. the protofascist seed in every member of a cozy ruling class. honestly one of their most excellent writing choices)

i think cait hit vi on that stab wound from sevika which surely cannot have fully healed yet. ouch

absolutely loving jinx and sevika in the post-silco world, they are getting to come into their own in terms of motivations. absolutely obsessed with the smeech fight heheee

i can’t tell if jinx is doing better or worse. something soothing about the suicidal clarity though i don’t think her passivity is new—in s1 she was incredibly perceptive about what she was to silco but sort of resigned to it, so it's kinda exciting where she could go without his tether even though i miss silco sooooo much. i wonder if being in her Older Sibling Era (and vi being in her Abandoned Era) will help jinx and vi connect (🚨wishful thinking🚨, but somebody should write it)

“im glad it’s you / had to be you” has made me ILL since hearing it in that one teaser and now that it’s in context i might just throw up i cannot believeee we get a sister dynamic like this

vi rock bottom🤗 i couldn’t decide if she legit felt jinx was beyond the pale or did a hard swerve putting all her eggs in cait's basket, trying to bifurcate powder and jinx for the sake of, i guess, emotional self-preservation, with the notion of powder that had sustained her fully extinguished. love a protag so earthy and intense while being an unmitigated flop before the fateful tide of the story, and in that way she’s still very dean winchester-coded. also in that i want to see her bloody and crying, though at this point one win might be a relief

ambessa fox mode let’s goooo! i am curious if/when she’ll slip which i think could come down to something explosive with mel (🤞) or caitlyn realising she manipulated her in her griefblind state

idk if it just needs time or if it’s the unfillable silco-shaped hole, but so far the dialogue this season isn’t as sticky ?? (compared with s1 where they didn’t waste a word). but at least everyone’s hotter

i like heimerdinger more now that he’s ekko’s pet. i like jayce and ekko meeting lifetimes after “he didn’t even haggle”: they are just drinking tea and investigating the arcane not even realising their semi-interaction precipitated the instigating tragedy of Arcane. the world would never be the same. i hope they survive what may or may not be the time warp intact D:

the “it’s not supposed to be like that” with sevika and jinx and the bombs what is going on??? 👀👀

i'm glad theyre releasing this right in time to carry me through the winter. seasonal depression out, seasonal hyperfixation in

[hollow-lime-green]

Waitwaitwaitwaitwait HOLD ON. YOU WROTE A JAYVIK FIC?!?!?!? Any chance we can get more of your expertise with season 2 content...👀🙏

season 1 act 1 jayvik seized me with the uncontrollable urge to make them kiss in the study

I do want to write something for season 2, but to be honest I just haven't figured out what that is yet. I have played around a bit with alt timeline ideas but nothing solid. (S2 spoilers and ramble under the cut)

I'm actually as insufferable about league lore as I am about jjk lore. Slightly less but still definitely like, 'um ackshually'. Which is why for all of S2 (and since the end of S1) I was like, 'wait how the fuck are they going to get Viktor to his canon endgame appearance.' silly me they just said fuck canon (which I strongly respect and appreciate by the way - love the eldritch, love all the retcon, no notes. I love where they went with Viktor and how they gave nuance and depth to his character and didn't feel tied to the og jayce-viktor canon).

Anyway so I asked my friends "okay so where is Viktor in this alternate timeline?" Because I'm thinking, ooh I could do something with this. I could make him chemtech. He could be Singed's lab assistant. We could do a jaded poor street urchin take - hm but that doesn't work with the opportunities we see afforded to zaunite Ekko and Powder. But whatever I can make it work-

"well he's dead isn't he? they never cured his illness"

wait shit.

yeah.

people aren't talking about the fact that Viktor is just straight up dead in the fun ekko everyone's gay timeline. I mean it doesn't matter but it's kind of funny that I forgot that obviously that is what happens. that's the whole thing y'know, the good intentions paving jayce's path to hell. I can't believe I forgot the whole thing.

Anyway I might write something for S2. I just don't know what. I actually don't ship jayvik that hard. Not that I think there can't be romance there, but I mean it when I say I legit think it's a secret third thing that is indescribably complicated and I don't think romance is even near the top of what is most dominant in that dynamic. but consider: I would love to write jayce getting fucked by the void arm

Another thing like - this is just off the dome so don't judge my coherency here. Somehow powerbomb feels so incredibly gay? I don't know how to describe this but despite it being heterosexual, it draws me the way that only gay ships have ever done. And I think, if I had to guess, it is because Ekko is one of the first straight male characters that I've seen in a long time that gets to be like, scared and inexperienced with romance in the way that I would traditionally see in gay ships esp in the 2010s (my formative years as you know). Obviously they are giving insanely bi4bi energy. I don't think they let anyone in zaun be cishet, I think it's part of the alternate universe rules actually.

they did Ekko so fucking good in arcane. I liked him in S1 too, but man I was worried they were going to drop the ball and nope the writers are actually just great. I have never felt compelled to write and read het the way I felt in ep 7. I have never wanted a straight (bisexual) man to win the way I wanted Ekko to win. (This I think exacerbates the pacing complaints - because sharing this ep with jayce was an L because both sides could have had more exploration. Actually I think jayce needed it more because I believe Viktor is actually specifically using Void magic (as in kogmaw kaisa belveth void) and I think that would be much more clear and better if we had more time to make those connections. But I can rant about that other time)

And maybe part of that is self selected media, these moments and experiences aren't necessarily common in what I read/watch, esp since I am selecting for LGBT romance not het. but anyway, I feel like we criticize so often and so loudly when representation fails, and I want to point out that Arcane should really be celebrated for actively actively actively representing a.) nontoxic masculinity b.) POC in extremely powerful poitions in the narrative (ambessa, mel, ekko, SEVIKA MY FUCKING QUEEN)

P.s. I would also like to write about Sevika being softened by the touch of a woman but I cannot for the life of me figure out who that would be. I will talk more about Sevika some other time bc as an Indian woman myself I intensely intensely cherish portrayals of Indian women that are not "the smart rational one who imposes power with great control and distance". Not that Sevika isn't smart but she is also other things like strong and butch.