#i survived the jayce war i can survive this

[bibibbon]

In light of recent events, this will be my contribution to the ATLA fandom.

These events are the avatar seven haven leaks

Pick your side (you better not pick red!)

[avelera]

I don't think Jayce was ever the one who was against Hextech weapons. I think that was always Viktor's side of the partnership, and I think this for a few reasons:

1 ) Jayce comes from a family of tool makers. Weapons are tools. Jayce's earliest drawings of himself as a mage is him holding a magical hammer. I don't think Jayce set out to make magical weapons but I think he was always open to the idea as that drawing shows us.

2 ) Viktor comes from the undercity, which no matter how you look at when he would have left it for Piltover, was often damaged and harassed by armed Enforcers. Just based on his upbringing, Viktor would be very aware of the fact that any weapons made for Piltover will almost certainly be put in the hands of Enforcers and those will be used against people in the undercity. Jayce does not have this social awareness. I don't think Jayce was at all malicious, just naive,. According to Caitlyn, he had zero political interest before becoming a Councilor and really everything he knew or thought about the undercity came from his partnership and love for Viktor.

3 ) Jayce is genuinely torn on the need for Hextech weapons because again, this isn't a deeply held belief for him in S1, this is him being supportive of Viktor's vision for their shared dream.

Jayce let Viktor be the moral guide for something he didn't really have a strong feeling about one way or the other. This is why he's so torn in S1 when it seems like they might actually need Hextech weapons in Piltover to survive against a Shimmer-armed undercity (in a classic theme of arms race escalation and all it entails that permeates the show). The narrative demonstrates though that this is Jayce's naiveté at play to think the weapons could be used only against their intended targets. Weapons once made will always be used, including against children. Viktor already has this awareness that weapons will be used against the undercity, Jayce gains it through the attack on the Shimmer factory and the death of a child bystander who looks like Viktor. To Mel's credit, she also urges caution and backpedals on her own desire for Hextech weapons in a bid to deescalate the conflict.

4 ) In S2 Act 1, Jayce is all-in on Viktor's vision for Hextech, because he's mourning Viktor who is non-responsive in the Hex cocoon and close to death. Mel, who in 1.09 realized that Jayce and Piltover matter more to her than her mother's approval, also stands up against Hextech weapons.

5 ) But, and this is critical, Jayce has always fundamentally seen Hextech as a tool that can be used for many purposes. That's why when the situation escalates, he pushes back on Hextech weapons on a broader scale, but he is willing to bend enough to make weapons for Caitlyn and her strike team, because he loves Caitlyn and he sees this as a defensive tool to keep her safe, in my opinion, and as an alternative to a war that would be worse.

This is critical to note because Jayce doesn't have an iron spine when it comes to resisting Hextech weapons because it's not his deeply held philosophical belief the way it is for Viktor. It is a received belief that he holds to honor Viktor, out of love for him, and that can be swayed if the specter of protecting another loved one arises. Jayce is wildly conflicted about this, I believe, based on his expression in the forge after he makes Caitlyn's gun, but this is a man who cannot bear the thought of losing another loved one after everything he has gone through.

Hextech was always about love for Jayce, not philosophy, because he is not ideologically driven and never has been, it was always Viktor's ideals he was supporting and he would never fight as hard on that point as Viktor would as a result.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk ;P

[galactic-magick]

I Love You, I'm Sorry: Viktor x Reader

Based off of this reply on my last Viktor fic:

@lillycore : Duddee, imagine after the final scene between Viktor and Jayce they just disappear (I refuse to believe they both died, I’m just going believe, until it’s confirmed, that they simply teleported somewhere else), leaving reader alone without a chance to confront Viktor and believing they both died. So now, reader is left to pick up the pieces of her closest friend and love of her life gone, while believing Viktor no longer loves her (he does though, he was just a little confused with everything, but he still loves her)

Words: 1.2k

Author's Notes: Thank you all so much for the notes and kind words on my last Viktor fic, it truly means the world to me as a writer to see so many people touched by my writing. I hope you enjoy this equally devastating part 2.

They’re gone. They’re really gone.

No family, no friends, not a single loved one of yours survived this damn war. All this world has done is take, take, take.

You’re haunted by the last time you saw your beloved Viktor—completely unrecognizable. He had turned himself into a monster, disappearing with Jayce trying to save him. You didn’t even get to say goodbye, you didn’t even get to tell him you still love him.

Or ask if he still loved you.

You don’t know what would hurt less, believing he stopped loving you, or believing he did everything he did while loving you.

-

“Why can’t she hear me?” Viktor shouts into the void. He’s been calling your name for what feels like an eternity, his voice no longer carrying to your world.

Jayce puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, “You don’t have vessels to speak through anymore. She probably thinks we’re dead. Well, maybe we are…”

“No, no, this can’t be the end,” Viktor shakes his head vigorously. “I have to get back to her. She...she needs to know I love her. She needs to know I’m sorry.”

He falls to his knees amongst the stars, cursing himself for everything. How could he choose the hexcore over you? Why didn’t he seek you out when he survived the explosion? How did he let himself descend so far into madness that he forgot about your importance to him?

He’s now desperate for you to hear him, pleading the forces that bind his consciousness to this astral plane for another chance. He searches this dimension he’s come to know so well, looking for a loophole or tear in the fabric, but it’s no use. Everything has been closed—his supposed eternal consequence for his abuse of power.

Jayce saved him from himself, a feat he will forever be indebted to him for, but what is the point of redemption if he cannot live it out in his own flesh?

Would there have been a body left for him anyway? Would you still have loved him as the monstrosity he became?

Why must he still be cursed with the full vision of the universe? He sees you continue your life so clearly, but he can’t touch you, can’t speak to you. Your form shines the brightest light he’s ever seem in this dimension, an achievement that is not easily matched. He wonders if you can feel him reaching out to you, some sort of spiritual pull back to him. He will do anything to find a way to talk to you again.

-

You’ve been having dreams—dreams you can’t explain. Ever since Viktor’s disappearance, he’s tormented you day and night, constantly occupying your thoughts without mercy. You can hear his voice, but it sounds so far away you can never make out the words. You just wish it would all stop. You wish you could just erase him and all of the pain from your memory.

Sometimes you still feel a presence, the feeling you used to feel when he was in the same vicinity with you, admiring you from across a room. It’s a familiar warmth that used to wash you with peace, whereas now it makes your heart ache. You suppose it’s a normal symptom of grief, subconsciously denying that he’s really gone.

You start to go through his things he left at your house, beginning with his various textbooks and notebooks he would bring over for studying. Seeing his scribbles and handwriting again brings tears to your eyes, a single drop falling onto the paper as you read.

You blink a few times, seeing a couple of letters on the page start to glow. You must be seeing things, hallucinating from sleep deprivation. You close the journal and open it again, but the glowing letters are still there.

You grab a separate piece of paper and write down each glowing letter, finding fifteen total.

“I - L-O-V-E - Y-O-U - I-M - S-O-R-R-Y”

This isn’t happening. It can’t be.

-

“It’s working! She got my message!” Viktor exclaims.

“How...how are you doing that?” Jayce asks.

“Tiny rips in space—not big enough for either of us to escape through—but certainly big enough to briefly touch that reality,” Viktor pauses, still waiting for a response from you, but it doesn’t come.

-

You close the journal and sob, praying for an end to this misery. Your mind is playing tricks on you, deceiving you to a level you never thought possible. Must you be haunted by this forever? Must you endure the aftermath of this trauma?

You open it once again, the letters still glowing, but they start to fade right in front of your eyes. A new set of letters begin to glow, so you write those down as well.

“I-T-S - M-E - D-A-R-L-I-N-G”

And then another set of letters.

“P-L-E-A-S-E - T-A-L-K - T-O - M-E”

Maybe you’re not imagining.

You’ve heard of magicians who can converse with the dead, and the possibility of other dimensional planes and universes. Viktor himself had some theories about it, although he never pursued proving them. Could it really be possible that your beloved was speaking to you?

“Viktor?” you say out loud. “Are you...are you alive?”

“I - D-O-N-T - K-N-O-W”

The pencil drops from your hand again as your head falls to the table. His consciousness is somehow alive, clearly, but there’s no way he can explain to you where he is and how to get him out one letter at a time. You’re nowhere near his level of intellect—even if he explained how to rescue him like you’re five years old—you fear you still would mess something up.

“Viktor...I can’t do this. You can’t do this to me,” you sigh, daring to look at the words again. “You abandoned me, and now my life is a living hell because of the destruction you helped cause. I want nothing to do with your war and stupid glorious evolution. So if you’re not here to take me away from this life, please go away.”

The same original words start glowing again, brighter each time they sequence:

I love you, I’m sorry.

I love you, I’m sorry.

I love you, I’m sorry.

“Love doesn’t do what you did. Love doesn’t abandon its humanity for power.”

Please forgive me.

“I do forgive you for everything, Viktor. That’s exactly why I need to forget about you, because I will never stop loving you and hurting for it if I don’t.”

With blurry eyes, you close the journal and throw it into the fireplace, regretting it almost immediately. You grab a stick and pull it out, your tears falling onto the soot-stained cover.

“Please, just...find a way back to me.”

I will.

[jayktoralldaylong]

Alright, there's something I'd like to talk about, and let's come at it with an open mind. When Season one of Arcane ended I was 99% sure that Mel was not going to make it to this season. I was praying for every kind of miracle that could happen just to keep that beautiful goddess on screen but she was the first line of contact for that bomb.

Now that everything has been revealed, I want to talk about that bomb.

Ironically, Season two episode one starts with the exact same shine of gold that ended season one.

See, season one:

Season two:

And when the smoke clears we can see her leaning really close to Jayce, like she got blasted towards him.

Now, looking at the seat arrangements from Season one, I can actually see it a lot better now that I'm taking a second look. We can see that she is standing directly in the line of fire, Jayce is standing to her left and Viktor is sitting in his chair, Jayce's chair. Just about everyone sitting by her right died, Salo is sitting furthest away from the blast, opposite her. He probably saw it just a few seconds before she did.

And when she wakes up, all groggy and out of focus, her hands are on his shoulder. They been there, she did not just put them there, she already had her hands on him. Protecting him.

But what I really want to pay attention to, is the look on Mel's face when she and Jayce take in the damage.

The entire place burned down. Realistically, not a single person should have survived that, especially not unharmed.

Then the damage starts sinking in (Don't look at Jayce, look at Mel):

Look at Mel, as they look around the room of injured Councillors.

Jayce is panicking, full on panicking, he's had his nerves rattled, he's never seen anything like this (unlike Mel who, if the audience remembers, grew up in Noxus). And the sweetest thing is how she follows him around, trying to comfort him, while he's trying to shake Cassandra awake.

And she stays right there by his side, until her mother pulls her away (foreshadowing about their duties pulling them apart perhaps?)

Now, imagine you were in the middle of a disaster, a terrible disaster, and you had the power to save every single person in that room, but you did not know this because no one ever bothered once telling you that you had powers. However, in that moment, you did indeed save one person, without knowing, without even thinking. Who did Mel save?

She saved Jayce. (The craziest thing about that.....is that.... Viktor was literally right beside him. He was right beside Jayce OMG 😭😭).

Watching this scene, I cannot imagine the amount of guilt that threatened to swallow Mel whole ever0y time she saw the aftermath of what happened and a small part of her brain would nag her that she could have prevented it, that she could have protected Jayce's friend.

So why Jayce? Why ONLY Jayce?

"Because she loves him."

Obvious answer, two plus two equals four, but this is Arcane we're talking about, there is more to this simple equation and it is plain to see in their reactions in the aftermath.

Jayce is devastated. He is new to war, he does not know shit about it, it scares him to see all the people that he respects flattened like they are nothing. The Piltover Council means something to Jayce.

To Mel, they are colleagues. They are.... people with names and faces and power. They are people she would help on a normal day, but at the first sign of danger she clung to one person.

Jayce was Viktor's first friend, and he was Mel's too. He was the first person to tell her that she was not crazy. The first person to strangely believe in her dreams, to pour out affection not out of arrogance but genuine care that he was not ashamed or even hesitant to show her. He fought for peace when she began to doubt. When she felt unstable, his naivete and pure heart steadied her.

Mel loved Jayce. Loved him so much that she did not freak out when he was tweaking cause of the Arcane. So much that she fought for him when he was getting outright dominated by his ex. 💀💀 And while it is not the space shattering world changing soul bonded union of javik, I think it is beautiful that Mek loved Jayce.

I think it's ironic that the brotherly love that people keep trying to achieve with Jayce and Viktor was represented so well with Jayce and Mel. I think it's iconic that a male and female character that banged on screen can go their separate ways without a dramatic breakup and without losing the entirety of their care for one another (cause some of it was definitely damaged after their individual trauma).

What I'm trying to say is that Mel loved Jayce. The love was there. Call it romantic or platonic or whatever but she cared about him more than she cared about anyone in that room when that bomb went off.

And it just twists something in my heart....that Jayce was so loved by the two people that meant so much to him. That he gave all of his heart out and they gave everything back because of how selfless his love was. Everyone says Viktor and Mel are out of Jayce's league but they both keep putting him first. (⁠T⁠T⁠) They just cannot resist that all encompassing love of his. It saved Viktor, and it saved Mel who finally found her truth, and lost him to find it.

[thomas-jefferson-miku-binder]

I hate Mel Medarda discourse because she’s an insanely well-written character with a lot of depth, but people almost always have only two things to say about her: 1) evil girlboss or 2) never did anything wrong. both make me want to krill myself 🦐

In front of you, there’s a female character born of war who rejects the physical brutality of her family’s name and the regime she was born under. except said violence never really goes away because if it ever does leave, nothing else would remain

This character can and will reproduce the hatred she has always known, just in more palpable ways, ways where she’s allowed to look away — or even better, ways where she’s so distanced from the action itself that where she “looks” doesn’t even matter

It’s also so interesting to think that maybe Mel doesn’t dislike physical violence because it’s “bad” but simply because she does not excel at it The thought that if Mel was maybe stronger or a more skilled fighter, she would be just like her mother tickles my brain. yaaaas Although, to me, that's a more "what-if" scenario than the actual characterization Arcane deceipts

By the way, I do not think Mel is a monster. She clearly does try to be what she considers a "good" person, but the violence she’s always known sometimes escapes (just like in the Viktor scene above — she does not like to be disagreed with).

Sooo insane that she’s a diplomat/politician because yes. what other job in the world would allow her to exercise that repressed violence while also giving her the sense of duty—of goodness.

Mel is stuck at the scene of the execution form her childhood. All she does is repeat the same scenario in her head with different outcomes: sometimes one where she saves the prisoner, another where she doesn’t hesitate (that being the keyword here) to kill her

This reverberation of the violence she suffered is just her manner of coping with that traumatic scene. a way of lessening the pain without actually confronting its cause.

I feel like I need to clarify that no, I do not think Mel is “evil”. I don’t even think she is intentionally manipulative (most of the time), I think she handles people the only way she knows how to, which is probably one of the only reasons she survived Noxus at all (as, to how I see it, there's only a certain extent your House will guarantee your protection in Noxus).

I know the fandom talks a lot about Viktor and Jayce being idealistic, but I rarely see people mention how Mel is just as romantic. Jesus- that’s literally a huge source of conflict with her mother: Ambessa thinks Mel is naive, which to her means weakness, which to her is unacceptable.

I hate that Mel Medarda is forced to be subjected to fandom spaces, because, no, she is not a small bean. no, she’s not an evil girlboss.

Do I believe she is a good person? I think she tries to be (even if her notion of goodness is so heavily aligned with honor, too), and that tells me a lot more about her character than how successful she is at it

[just-french-me-up]

now u have fully descended into arcane hell (affectionate)…. may i humbly request ur jayvik fic recs queen? 👉👈

oh friend, i'm FLATTERED my descent into madness has not gone unnoticed, I feel so seen :') Though I'm afraid I have nothing much to offer here, cause I've mostly been reading what I feel like are the most widely read ones? So it's probably something new but... hey, you're giving me the opportunity, so I might as well send more love their way:

POST-CANON | Wait, we're alive?

This trope gets its own category, cause it's my ultimate weakness, I will read EVERYTHING that goes under that umbrella

A New Knife by surveycorpsjean 20k | E | One Shot | Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Smut, PTSD Jayce and Viktor try to rebuild a life, hidden from the world, after the events of season 2, while Viktor struggles to come to terms with what he did and who he's become. Very bitterweet at times, but always delicious

In the After by queercatfan 11K | E | One Shot | Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Smut, Fluff After the arcane spits them out, Jayce and Viktor find a refuge and try to regain strength and a sense of themselves. And then there's the matter of those feelings they confessed earlier in the astral plane

the line is covered in jellyfish by staroverlord 54k | M | WIP | Slow burn, Angst, Pining, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together It's not all meadows and gentle breeze when the Arcane spits them out. Jayce and Viktor are stranded in a blizzard, and all there is is snow. As they struggle for survival, they also struggle with the state of their relationship, after everything that happened. A story of slowly rebuilding partnership and love, out there in the tundra

nobody here but us chickens by @antisocialfrog and @boomotherfucker 31k | E | Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Domesticity After the war, Jayce and Viktor are sent into exile. Jayce rents a cottage and buys a few chickens. They're chicken farmers now, or at least they try to be. In the midst of all this proximity and feelings they keep having to deal with. Can't resist the cottagecore vibes

Arranged Marriage AU

I'm weak for them, what can I say?

Cup Rune Over by surveycorpsjean 52k | E | King Jayce, Mage Viktor, Fantasy AU When peace is brokered between Piltover and Zaun, it is sealed with marriage. Viktor did not expect to be on the list of possible brides. Nor for his future husband to be so... palatable. A tale of falling in love, cultural differences and finding out that your husband is a nerd

heavy crown by vavavavoom 21k | E | Slow burn, Mutual Pining, Fake Dating of sorts Neither Jayce nor Viktor get to choose their spouse, when it comes to seal the peace between Piltover and Zaun. And Viktor is unreadable, secretive and overall a mystery to Jayce. And he's a great liar. Too good. And it unnerves him. Too much

Canon Compliant of sorts

Differential Burdens in Displacement by RhapsodyInWaves @yallstar 24k | T | Pining, Friendship, Feelings realisation The first time Jayce kisses him, Viktor is caught completely offguard. And then life goes on. As if nothing ever happened. Until Jayce kisses him again. And again. And again

the heart is hard to translate by jasspurr 7.5k | M | Fluff, Mutual Pining, Getting together, Love languages Viktor keeps doing things for Jayce. Many things. A myriad of things. And he can't quite figure out why

Alternate Universes

Coming Home (But Not to You) by queercatfan 119k | E | Modern Setting, College Professors, Friends to Enemies to Friends to Lovers Viktor comes back to Piltover and the Academy with the promise of a job and an office. Both are true. But the office is shared. Jayce Talis occupies half of it, along with enough bad blood, resentment and unconfessed feelings to make the room burst. Honestly what can I say about this fic that hasn't been said already? It feels like a warm hug in the back of my mind. The world is just... So FULL. And it has an even warmer sequel in Someplace New

Long, Long Time by TheTrickyOwl 40K | E | The Last of Us AU, you know the one, the third episode that felt like an entire movie | Domestic Fluff, Falling in Love Jayce falls into one of Viktor's trap. Viktor allows him to stay the night. Jayce never leaves. And they lived happily forever after, my hEART

The Oathbreaker by queercatfan 28.5k | WIP | E | Fantasy AU, Knight Jayce, Healer Viktor When Jayce nearly dies on a mission and breaks his leg, he is sent straight into the medical ward of the Palace in Piltover. That healer from Zaun intrigues him. Fascinates him. And there's more about him than meets the eye.

Love was the Law by ruinthatboy 7k | E | Season 2 Jayce meets season 1 Viktor, Smut, Angst The Anomaly sends Jayce too far back. To a time Viktor has not yet touched the Hexcore. To a time of partnership, affection and unconfessed love. And he can't go without getting a taste of it

I am, at my core, a slow reader, but I may update this list in a few months with more discoveries!

[filipfatalattractionrblog]

The thing about Episode 7, Jayvik and Timebomb

We like to joke about the whiplash from constantly shifting between Ekko's visit in paradise and Jayce's suffering, but....

I actually have to put the shipping googles back on for this one.

When Ekko and Jayce meet, Timebomb and Jayvik have basically been torpedoed. Ekko almost killed Jinx last season, and only hesitated at the last moment. He spent so much time telling himself Powder is dead and Jinx killed her, but now he is no longer so sure. Jayce meanwhile kept drifting away from Viktor and every time he thought he would bring them back together, he would fumble, last time they meet he was yelling, unable to understand why Viktor given up on him, as if Jayce haven't broken every promise he made to him by not destorying the hexcore and by weaponizing hextech. Ships aren't completely sunk, but they're gaining water fast.

And then the Wild Rune sent Jayce and Ekko to different worlds. Ekko gets the world that could have been, Jayce gets one that may be.

Ekko's life in a near-utopian version of Zaun quickly focuses on him falling in love with Powder that could have been. And why wouldn't he fall in love with her? Shems a genius, she's funny, she's creative...but I think with time he realizes that all these things can still be found in Jinx. He realizes Jinx didn't kill Powder, Jinx is Powder lashing out in pain.

And yet, this Powder is not free of pain either. It's different pain, that he actually stupidly pokes early on. Pain caused by different trauma, which she got to deal with, while having a better support network, but sitll present (I have seen somewhere a good argument she shows signs of depression, but forgot where). It's not that she deals with her pain better than Jinx, it's just different. And I see with time Ekko realizes that and realizes how wrong it would be to give up on Jinx, that the same person he loves is in her world, but she has no one to be for her what this Powder has in her Ekko, Mylo, Claggor, Vander and Silco (that last one is an assumption on my part, it's unclear how close he is with Powder in this world, but considering he apparently co-runs the bar with Vander, he has to be present in her life in some way). When Ekko decides to come back, he isn't doing it only because it would be unfair to Ekko of this timeline and to Powder and everyone who loves that Ekko. He also does it because he realzied what an asshole he'd be to give up on Jinx.

And remember, he has no fucking idea about the seven hells of bullshit that went down in his world when he was absent. He doesn't know about martial law, about Warwick, about Viktor, about Noxus. He's coming back expecting to deal with his tree being sick and Chem-Barons war.

Now let's look what Jayce goes through. He gets sent to hell where his dream goes horribly wrong, yes. But what quickly happens to him? He breaks his leg falling down the chasm. He ends at the very bottom of where Piltover used to be. Correction, where Zaun used to be. The enviroment is slowly poisoning him. He is forced to fight every second to survive. Poisoned by enviroment, limping, forced to use leg splint and a staff as a crutch. Sounds familiar? Moreover, he is then forced to climb his way from the bottom all the way to the highest tower of Piltover. I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this, the metaphor is laid down pretty thick. Jayce gets crash course version of Viktor's life, he is literally forced to walk miles after miles in his shoes. They even made his leg splint look like one League of Legends' Viktor had until 2024.

he never really could understand where Viktor is coming from, even at his lowest he still was a minor noble house, he still lived in good part of the town. And sure, he and Viktor became close, but then Jayce got seduced by the fame, by glamour, by being man of progress, by being savior of the future, by cushy council seat. Power makes it hard to see evil, and privledge makes you blind to human the suffering. This experience was eye-opening to Jayce. I wonder how many times he must have stopped himself and realize this is what Viktor goes through on daily basis. And, as we learned later, after Jayce climbed this way to the top of hell, he saw how much HE means to Viktor, how HE is the only person who can give Viktor hope and save him from his own internalized ableism. He goes back to save the world, but he also goes back to save Viktor.

These stories weren't paired jsut to fuck with us, they're pararells. Jayce and Ekko both were blinded, one by glamour, the other by hardship, they could no longer see real Viktor and Jinx, too wrapped up in the people the world forced them to become. Each one was forcefully stripped from his ideantity, and therefore his biases, and forced to actually SEE the person they love, not the false image they built, but real them. And then each one went back and each one reached to their respective love and save them. And jsut like Ekko went back in time over and over to make Jinx see he's there for her even if she hates herself, Jayce was willing to sacrifice it all to show Viktor he doesn't need to be perfect to be loved, because for Jayce he always was beautiful.

And I could probably write a whole separate essay about how this theme of tearing through your own bullshit and actually SEEING the other person is present in this season. How Jinx and Vi are forced to go through microcosm of each other's experience to rebuild their love. How Caitlyn is saved from her own descent into villainy by being forced to see how much pain she caused Vi, see a human in Warwick, see a wounded child in woman who killed her mother. How Vi stops her self-destruction by trusting Jinx and seeing Vander in Warwick. How Mel literally has to fight Illusionary Sorceres, a.k.a. LeBlac THE DECEIVER and defeats her with words "I see you". How Ambessa is the only person who doesn't go through this identity destruction this season, even i nthe opening proudly wearing red of Noxus, and that's why she fails. How Maddie being a spy is telegraphed from her first appearance, where she's blocking the sun, effectively obscuring Vi's vision and making herself harder to be seen. How Jinx and Sevika are forced to see people in one another now that Silco's gone. How even during sesbian lex Vi doesn't let Cait get bogged down in guilt because she sees the woman she loves and that's all that matters. How Ekko defeats Viktor by showing him he's wrong to think only he can achieve power of Wild Rune, but also by literally tearing off the mask of god from his eyes, so that Viktor can SEE Jayce again.

But it's 4 in the morning as I type this and I'm no longer being coherent. Episode 7 is literally the microcosm of the whole season and Ekko and Jayce go through the same character arc in it.

[chimuelo2005-blog]

MelJayVik Supremacy: The power trio we deserved

Look, I talk a lot about JayVik and MelJay, but can we take a moment to appreciate the potential of MelJayVik? Because the way these three orbit each other is insane, and if they just worked together instead of being torn apart by politics and tragedy, they would be unstoppable.

Like, imagine a world where they actually get to be happy:

Mel, Jayce, and Viktor balance each other perfectly. Mel brings strategy and vision. Jayce brings action and passion. Viktor brings invention and depth. Together, they could change the world—not for power, not for war, but because they believe in something greater than themselves.

Mel would fund and protect Viktor’s research, ensuring his work isn’t just revolutionary but safe; no reckless self-experimentation because she wouldn’t let him throw himself away. Jayce would bring his endless energy and optimism, pushing Viktor’s ideas forward with the kind of political influence only he has. And Viktor? Viktor would inspire them both, reminding them why they started all of this in the first place.

And in return? Jayce would be the first to make sure Mel isn’t just carrying the weight of leadership alone. Viktor would remind her that power isn’t just about control, it’s about creation. And Mel? Mel would make sure these two absolute disasters survive their own brilliance long enough to actually see their dreams realized.

Like, imagine late nights in the lab, the three of them arguing over the future of Hextech, Jayce bringing coffee, Mel making sure they don’t forget to sleep, Viktor getting exasperated with them both but secretly loving it. Imagine a world where they support each other instead of being divided.

We were robbed. I was robbed. I'm gonna sue.

[colorfulwastelandvoid]

I’m just gonna post this now cause I saw something that irritated me and I’m about to spiral. Mel thee Medarda😍.

What this fandom has done to her… Is the exact reason why existing as a black fem in a predominantly white ( including white gay) fanbase should come with reparations. This woman is a child of war and pilgrimage. It doesn’t matter that she was a Medarda. she was still a child! That ish will change you and it’s clear in her interactions with her mother she at the very least saw the endings of wars and campaigns, I can’t imagine those being pretty. Mel being the black sheep and lowkey scapegoat child of her family is not talked about either. As a teen she is sent away from the only support system she knows doesn’t matter if it was toxic, it was still familiar, to a brand new land where she had to build herself up again as a TEEN (probably since they never stated when she was casted out)! She spent her formative years in Noxus, where the strong survive. It is not surprising that while she detest violence and aggression, she uses her guile/ persuasion aggressively. By the time Arcane season 1 starts Mel is a young woman in her 20s on the council (the youngest council member too) and like Tok’s said Mel is a young woman who is extremely sure of herself… as a front. Mel is a woman who actually hates herself or at the very least is an extremely aware of how little all this means to the people that matter to her. We see this in the first scene of Mel in the show, where Elora reminds her of the fact she is the richest person in Piltover and Mel quickly remarked saying “And yet I remained the poorest Medarda”. The fandom quickly took that as Mel being power/money hungry when in reality that self depreciation was coming from a real place of insecurity. She knows how the Medardas’ are and how little they care for the fox and it bothers her. She’s not doing this for power in the way that it is presented. She’s doing this to prove a point. That her mother is wrong and the fox can be powerful. She is also trying to convince herself of that too.

From what we can gather in the show through her flashback and interactions with Ambessa, it’s clear that Mel definitely was considered to weak willed and soft spined for Noxus. I mean Ambessa says that to her before she casted her out. The fact that Mel apparently can still say the quote verbatim shows how scarring it was.

Mel is a woman caught in the extremes. She wants to uplift Piltover to prove herself to her family but also knowing what that means she also wants to protect Piltover from Noxus.She is a woman who has a love overflowing but has nowhere to pour into until she meets Jayce ( I’ll save that for a MelJay post though). I think because of how reserved Mel is,due to her upbringing and Ambessa literally discouraging, it’s not really discussed how Mel is probably emotionally stunted.

I have a lot more I can say about Mel as a character, she is literally my number 1 since season 1 but this post is already long and all over the place but this is a tip of an iceberg of how I digested her as a character.

Ps someone on TikTok said Mel was the Arcane version of Apollo and it makes so much sense(she is the beautiful child of an affair but is also the light bringer and a patron of the arts). Her and Ambessa was definitely a Greek Tragedy, at least to me.

[simplysamiblog]

The weight of a perfect goodbye

Before I even begin sharing my thoughts, I need to make one very important thing clear: I am a firm believer in the theory that Jayce and Viktor survived the ending of Arcane. As far as I’m concerned, they were teleported through time and space and are now slowly, painstakingly rebuilding their lives. Together, of course.

I’ve read dozens of (amazing) fanfics where this is exactly how their story unfolds, and some are so well-written that I honestly consider them canon.

That said.

I’ve seen several discussions online about this very topic:

"The creators confirmed it: they’re dead."

"The creators don’t know anything, they’re alive."

"Accept it, they were disintegrated by the Rune."

And so on.

But here’s what I think (not that it matters to anyone or carries any weight at all):

We can’t completely dismiss or outright reject the idea that, yes, Jayce and Viktor are, unfortunately, dead. At some level, we need to accept it—to believe it.

But let me explain why.

Not out of respect for the creators, the canon, the fandom, or anything like that. But out of love for the story, for the essence of their narrative.

At the risk of sounding cliché, do you really think Arcane would have been just as special if Jayce and Viktor had survived? Can you picture the scene? The protagonists recover, the fog of war and chaos clears, and there they are—Jayce and Viktor—standing atop the Hexgates, smiling. Ah, what a happy ending. What a good ending.

Sure. Nice. Nothing more.

Or imagine if we had gotten something like: "And they remained like brothers forever." Ugh.

It’s cruel, it’s unfair, it’s heartbreaking—

But it’s perfect.

The chain of events (cough) that led to that moment, the sacrifice that sealed their fate—

The relationship between Jayce and Viktor would never have been as impactful otherwise. Personally, I don’t think I fully grasped the depth of their bond until their foreheads rested against each other. In that moment of resignation, of acceptance.

Their story, their magic, was beautiful precisely because it ended right then, in that instant.

Jayce asked Viktor, "Why did you ever give me this?"

He could have let him die in the storm. Or, if he wanted to be more merciful, he could have simply saved him without giving him the Rune—

The world would have been safe. The world would have been saved.

But…

The world wasn’t as important as the moments they shared. Their friendship, their collaboration, their bond.

Viktor couldn’t deny another Viktor those moments. That brief but immense joy. Those years in which he had truly lived.

They were stronger than everything—stronger than everyone—

Even stronger than death.

And that’s why, in a way, their death is precisely what makes them so wonderful.

Call it cliché or a bit of a stretch, but the first comparison that comes to mind is Romeo and Juliet. Would it really be the most famous love story if they hadn’t met their tragic end?

"Happily ever after."

Or—

"Never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Sure, they might have survived, somewhere. And it’s absolutely valid to believe that.

But if not for that ending, for that terrible, heartbreaking moment, how much would we have missed out on? How many incredible fanfictions wouldn’t exist? How many fanarts, how many works of art would we have been unknowingly deprived of?

We’ll never know, and I don’t want to know.

Because what we have is amazing.

So yes, I accept the idea that they’re dead—because it makes the fantasy that they’re alive and in love so much sweeter.

But most of all, it makes their relationship a game of fate, something they built around each other. A perfect circle, an inseparable chain binding them as one.

Pulling them together, pushing them apart—only to bring them back to each other again.

Over and over.

Forever.

[bruisedswan]

a (𝔴)✶lƒ h͟α͟†͟h͟ ⁿ̛̩̣̜͈̈̇͋ᵒ̛̹̐̀̕ ʎɔɹǝɯ ... 𓇢𓆸 RUNETERRA REALITY

𓇢𓆸 NOW PLAYING :: LA FEMME RESORT - la femme

"... there was a sniffling child standing out among the burly sea of my mother's greatest warriors. to noxus' elite, it was known that, despite the girl's frail frame, she had the strength of a dozen soldiers and the rage of a thousand suns, as though the embodiment of mars. the tears running down the chosen wolf's face was not of despair but of fury..."

— mel medarda to jayce talis, piltover

✶ DISCORDIA'S MORTAL CHILD ... she can only be described as a double-edged dagger. strong, the blade paper thin with an uncanny ability to pierce the heart of the desired target while simultaneously piercing her own — if she had one. an ethereal beauty with the ferocity, intelligence, and rage of an apex predator. the chosen wolf, the youngest of three capable prodigies produced to bring pride to the medarda name. out of all three, she remains the only one tied not by blood but by name. a dagger among spears.

in the ashes of war, ambessa medarda found and saw in an infant strength and survival, and named the child lycia as tribute to the medarda name and the twin figures of death: the kindred, namely the wolf, derived from lykōs. the lamb carried souls to the afterlife, but it is the wolf who sought them out. lycia laid in the presence of death before she could even speak, branded a wolf before she could walk, made a tool of war before her hands could properly hold its hilt. little medarda was a double-edged blade indeed, a wolf indeed. and ambessa wielded the dagger with efficiency, tamed the wolf with precision. until the warlord realised that the blade was emergent, newly formed, and metal still hot to the touch — rebellious. lycia medarda was, in lack of any better terms, a wild card. despite her timidness, her sole existence relied on chaos. it fuelled the bright white inferno that was her soul, made the stale dull air feel like lightning igniting in her lungs. she could not live without the mayhem and rage that clawed in her chest. she was the lightning in the tempest that brought down temples of false gods.

the young medarda is a wolf in sheep's clothing: a captivating blend of ethereal allure and fawn-like delicacy, features soft. a porcelain mask carefully crafted to hide sharp intellect, a sharper tongue, and a pit of fire waiting to burn all that opposed her. honing this angelic innocence like a knife, she is a master in the art of manipulation. she embodies the calm before the storm and the tempest itself. she smells of azaleas, pomegranate, citrus and the overwhelming fear of religion and her makers. even before obtaining the title of balance keeper, she was known as the deadliest of the medarda children.

𓇢𓆸 NOW PLAYING :: INSIDE OUT - martin dupont

"...you do not just tip the scales, you are the scale. you are the opposing forces that givern all things. you are the empty space in between... you, and those who came before and will come after you, are the catalysts leading the arcane to its inevitable equilibrium... you must be the temple and the priestess and the lamb and the knife and the almighty deity that which the creatures of death follow..."

— the forgotten to lycia medarda, between space & time

✶ EQUILIBRIUM CODEX ... "the forgotten are described vaguely in texts throughout history as primordial entities that exist beyond the veil of space, time and mortal comprehension. known by many names — whisperers beyond, the watchers — these beings represent the ultimate balance across all realms. their very existence is tied to the delicate dance of creation and destruction, beginning and end, life and death. these voices do not speak in words but in intentions, threading themselves into the minds of chosen individuals deemed balance keepers...

the forgotten are said to have come into existence at the inception of the cosmos, birthed alongside the arcane forces that govern all creation. neither deities nor mortals, they occupy the liminal spaces between realms, monitoring the equilibrium that sustains existence. their purpose is singular yet monumental: to preserve balance within the interconnected forces that define reality. they do not act directly within the mortal world, for their touch would fracture the fragile threads of existence. instead, they choose intermediaries — balance keepers — empowered to act on their behalf..."

"in the cycles of creation and decay, a figure has always emerged when the balance between order and chaos tilts beyond repair. her existence is not one of choice but of cosmic design— one of many souls bound to the forgotten, those ancient entities who dwell between realms, where time and space converge into infinite possibility. the forgotten themselves are said to have crafted this role, infusing the chosen keeper with fragments of their essence. it is through this connection that the keeper stands as a bridge between worlds, capable of seeing both the infinite chaos that threatens creation and the suffocating order that risks stagnation...

the keeper exists to recalibrate the natural order when it falters. while many see chaos as destruction and order as peace, the keeper understands that true harmony lies in the interplay of the two forces. her purpose is not to eliminate one in favor of the other but to ensure their dance remains. when chaos consumes, she summons control. when stagnation reigns, she breathes life through upheaval. the keeper wields her connection to the forgotten to act where mortal intervention fails—whether through subtle manipulation of events, the quiet guidance of those in power, or direct intervention with her abilities. her powers are a manifestation of this balance. she is not a savior, nor is she a destroyer but the fulcrum — the axis upon which the balance turns..."

now, lycia believed in no religion, not entirely. she couldn't even devote herself to the beings that instilled their divination in her bones, couldn't kneel at their altar nor find the words to whisper false promises of worship and blessings. for there was no real benevolence in beings like the forgotten, no malevolence either. they stayed in their neutrality and watched as their forces balanced the scale of absolute equilibrium. instead, she found herself centered around the raw purity of the kindred. the hunt of ani, the light embrace of ina. they were who she found herself crawling to when the rotting discord in her soul spread like poison in her spirit, a poison not even she could break down. the twin faces of death saw the unbinding of eternal energy in her being like something coming undone.

when the lykōs could feel like her sense of awareness splitting and tearing at invisible seams between the living's mayhem and death's serene quiet, soul torn and dissipating. it was fascinating to them, for no keeper had ever built a nexus of energy within itself only to break it apart and split into different selves (not in this lifetime). kindred never before seen a being choose both sides of the veil, of both lamb and wolf, ina and ani, karma and vengeance. a being so close to true balance that it baffled even them. in the the paradox of space and time, they forgone all previous procedures just for this one living dead girl: they let her choose both sides of existence.

𓇢𓆸 NOW PLAYING :: HARDLY EVER SMILE (without you) - poison girl friend

"...never did i think i'd find my mind whirling with thoughts of them. a hurricane of images underneath my eyelids — snippets of raven and pink and storms of blue and grey and bone and blood and gun powder. i think i'd risk getting washed away in the havoc of my psyche if it meant i could see through the veil of beautiful distortion in its eye..."

— lycia medarda in journal entry xxv, piltover

✶ JOURNAL OF THE FULCRUM: ENTRY XXXIX ... "i've always known myself to be what has been branded on my existence. the chosen wolf, the wolf in silk, the silver serpent etc etc... i am no more than a title, a shell of excellence, rotting flesh inside the perfect skin of fruit. yet, somehow, i have found sanctity in the presence of two other souls — found purity and cleanliness and holiness inside twin flames as if a temple. for the first time since i've entered the threads of existence, i have found peace and my soul is quiet..."

"...the kindred's favourite daughter was known to be a cold-hearted one, soul weighted with the pillars of death, of ani and ina, wolf and lamb. her methods of ensuring balance were so calculated, as sharp as her blade bellona concealed in her bodice, that it was almost as if they were meant to happen. there were rumors through both districts of piltover and zaun that she was a living time paradox, her inner eyes holding the power of prescience as she glided through the here. both districts thought her callous, conniving, dead, and just a body corroding from the inside out. for, if she communed with those passed, surely a piece of her had passed too. except piltover's finest, of course. while every single soul of the districts saw a goddess of war and blood, her beloveds saw a girl: one of smiles and snorted giggles, one in love with poetry and metaphysics, enjoyed cigarettes in the quiet of the birth of the day, who loved azaleas and earl grey tea and the sharp sound of thunder before piercing webs of lightning. while the world saw the lykōs, violet lanes and caitlyn kiramman saw lycia, their lyla..."

𓅔 inspired HEAVILY by: @hrrtshape <33 aka the loml/jk (no im not) 𓅔 dedicated to my shayla aka: @cocozydiaries (for my sanity can we act like this isn't like 200000 years overdue 💀)

[avelera]

(Arcane Meta) I don't think anyone knew Viktor was the Herald

I've seen some presumptions that if Viktor didn't teleport away with Jayce at the end of 2.09 that he would have been brought up on charges.

And, to be sure, I think if he had been dropped off right where he was with Jayce at the top of the tower, people would have been able to put 2+2 together and figure out it was him, especially if Jayce was unconscious or otherwise unable to intervene to stop this. I also wouldn't put it past Viktor to turn himself in.

So I'm prefacing all of this by saying, for fanfic purposes, I find it completely plausible that Viktor could face consequences if he remained Piltover or he still looked like the Herald of course (I'm sort of going off the idea he wouldn't look like the Herald anymore but if he did, that of course debunks a lot of my points, which assume he's shed that appearance).

However, I think for the same reason we lament that Viktor doesn't get acknowledged as Jayce's partner or the co-founder of Hextech, that very same anonymity would be Viktor's shield when it comes to connecting him to the Herald.

Here's what people know:

1 ) Jayce Talis, Man of Progress, founder of Hextech, and at one point most powerful man in the city, who even months after resigning from his post was able to muster an army and mobilize the forces of Piltover as if it was all under his control, at one point had a scientific partner. (I only make this point about Jayce to also point out what kind of forces Viktor has on his side as far as powerful friends.)

2) Thing is, as far as we can tell, most people outside their lab don't know who Viktor is because he purposefully flees the spotlight. So right off the bat if you start with, "Y'know, Viktor, Jayce Talis's partner, the other Hextech mind??" You're going to get blank looks from someone who wasn't deeply informed on the like, corporate history of the founding of Hextech. So anyone outside the Council, including Mel and Heimerdinger, probably doesn't know who the fuck Viktor is and it's actually a bit doubtful if Salo or Hoskel knew who Viktor was even when they were in the same room with him ffs.

3) A bomb hits the Council Chamber. First of all, no one would necessarily know Viktor was there in the first place since he seemed like a last minute addition, but of those who knew, 3/8 of them are alive between Salo, Jayce, and Mel, and I doubt any of them were advertising his presence in the aftermath. So even if someone DID know about Viktor, they don't necessarily know he was blown up too.

4) If they DID know he was blown up too, they'd probably assume he's dead like most of the people in that room.

5) If they DO know he survived, which is probably limited to very close associates, like Jayce, Mel, and Caitlyn, they're APPARENTLY ok with Jayce just fucking experimenting on his partner to bring him back to life. There's no other next of kin or person with authority to intervene. I imagine since there's a lot of sketchy forbidden science involved, the circle of people who know Jayce is keeping Viktor alive through sketchy means is also by necessity pretty small.

6) Viktor up and leaves, wearing only a blanket, to wander around the undercity until he finds Huck and the Shimmer victims and starts his cult. No one, as far as we know, refers to Viktor as anything except The Herald and know one he encountered there knew him as the co-founder of Hextech, so that's another possible recognition link severed.

7) Literally, the ONE PERSON who could possibly know that Viktor the Hextech Guy and The Herald, leader of a healing cult in the undercity, are the same person is Salo. And Salo gets assimilated and then later squished, so there's no way HE'S talking.

8) At the War Council, which had only Vi, Mel, Caitlyn and Jayce in the room, all people who care for Jayce and who would probably cover for him, only Caitlyn even figured out that Viktor was somehow connected to all of this, and Jayce didn't elaborate. Mel knew that Viktor was a robot or something and that he was in the orb. Of those people, Mel then takes off from Piltover. So for word to get out that Viktor = the Machine Herald it would require Vi or Caitlyn holding enough of a grudge and deciding he deserves retribution.

Again, I'm not saying it's IMPOSSIBLE, it just requires Caitlyn caring more about bringing Viktor to justice than about caring for Jayce, which given she just let JINX go, seems unlikely given where she stands in her arc. Not impossible, but I'd need the fic to confirm for me that Caitlyn is feeling bad about letting one criminal like Jinx go just because they're the most important person of a loved one so she's for some reason decided that she's given out all her free passes and Jayce's special person needs to go down.

Likewise, Vi I can see going either way, that's assuming she's not in a depression pit of apathy after. She COULD decide that the Machine Herald is to blame for her dad getting assimilated and Jinx dying and he needs to go down. She MIGHT even be able to convince Caitlyn too. Then again, Viktor in his right mind tried to help Vander more than almost anyone, and Vi is completely familiar with the possibility that someone can have "fucked up brainwashing" in their head making them act differently than they normally would. So I think it would take Viktor's help turning himself in and Viktor insisting he deserve retribution, for Vi's need for vengeance to overwhelm her understanding of the position Jayce is in and how similar it is to the position she was so recently in with not only Jinx but ALSO Caitlyn being a person she loves who does terrible things possibly while being manipulated.

Basically, I think if Vi's in anything less than a blind rage, she could be talked down.

TL;DR Really, in a theoretical situation where Viktor and Jayce crash-land on top of the tower and have even a moment to come up with a story as to why Viktor is mysteriously there, and assuming Viktor doesn't turn himself in and insist on being punished, I'm pretty sure Viktor and Jayce could easily hide him amongst the chaos as just another victim. No one has a trail of custody as to where Viktor's been or even who he is because of his reclusiveness, no one who isn't close to Jayce knows Viktor was the Herald, and assuming Viktor doesn't look like the Herald anymore, there's pretty much nothing to link him to the Herald if he doesn't confess and insist on punishment.

Fics where Viktor gets punished are still completely plausible for all the reasons listed above BUT I'm just saying, if Viktor was at all disinterested in throwing himself on the mercy of the Piltover courts and letting them punish him, even if he crash landed right in the middle of the city, I'm pretty sure he and Jayce could get out of there with no one the wiser.

[bloodied-terrors]

Something interesting about the raids on Zaun is that Shimmer, the thing Caitlyn states she'll dismantle? Is actually the only shown version of medication that Zaun has. Let me like explain cause like I keep thinking about it.

When Vi is injured in season one by Sevika and she and Caitlyn hide from Silcos men they see how the shimmer has absolutely destroyed people's lives due to the lanes being flooded (and let's be real, people seeking it out to nullify the suffering they experience in their impoverished neighborhood). People relying on it to live another day. Then we are shown a little further on that Shimmer can heal people if given the right amount I.E. that medication that Caitlyn uses on Vi. Showing both that in minimal amounts it can save lives and the fact that this may likely be the only source of medication the undercity has as any alternatives are not shown or stated within the show.

So, to me, when season two Caitlyn wages a war against Jinx, Chembarons and Shimmer. The only medicine that the people of the undercity have to survive. It is downright malicious behavior making Caitlyn's actions even worse. Not only is she gassing a city claiming only to attack the criminals (Yeah gas doesn't work like that so she definitely fucked up a bunch of innocent civilians. That gas that was killing Victor. The one that can burn holes in your lungs and cause a painful death even if you survive the initial attack.) she's actively depriving people of their medication. That is totally fucked.

Would it have been more interesting if instead she was against Jayce, who wants them all dismantled, and she fights with him because while she's seen the harm it can do to people she also knows it can help them? Yes absolutely, it would have challenged the both of them especially since they would probably be discussing it due to the raids Caitlyn sends (perhaps to State that Jinx killed Silco and they'd pay anyone for any information on her whereabouts before they escalate due to some losing people at the memorial) would be attacked by Shimmer warriors of the undercity. I dunno it just would have been way more interesting if they focused on that dilemma instead of speedrunning it all.

[rowentheraccoon71]

So I haven't really posted anything for Arcane yet, but here's a letter that I'm writing for an AU where Jayce survived but Viktor did not, and Jayce is stuck in the aftermath of the war writing letters to Viktor every night because he's in extreme and painful denial.

TW: hints of suicidal thoughts

Dearest Viktor,

The days have been hard and heavy with the burden of grief and responsibility without you here. We lit pieces of paper with the names of everyone who had been lost to this bloody, unfortunate war, as a way to respect, to remember. Well, I guess not everyone. I still don't remember seeing your name on a single slip of paper except for mine. I hope you'll forgive me for surviving, but not living. Not after this, at least. I can never truly live with your absence, but instead only survive for the people around me. I have to keep pushing, no matter how impossible it may seem. But its difficult, especially when I know that if I couldn't go on like this, if I decided to cross the bridge between life and death, you wouldn't be here to interrupt me.

I'm going to find a way to fix this, to help Topside and the Undercity. We all will, although there's not many of us left alive in the rubble of the war. I wonder, why is it that peace is always the excuse for violence? Or at least that's what Cait always says. Speaking of which, I should probably go check up on her, and lots of others sooner or later.

But please know that what I'm doing here, or at least what me and the others will try and do to fix all of this, it's all for you. It always has been for you, even if it was hard to tell at times. Even when the voices in my head were louder than the smallest grain of sense I had left, everything I did somehow always pointed back to you.

I hope you know that I will continue to write, no matter what. I don't care that I can't see or hear you physically, because I can feel you, I know I can. And I will always be here with my pen and paper, every night, waiting for the sound of your voice or your cane clinking against the marble floors.

I refuse to accept that you have left me here alone to deal with the mess you have made. To deal with the damage of your dream that you have forced on so many innocent civilians, so many lives that have been taken. But I am far from hating you, or even blaming you. You were just desperate, Viktor, and reflected your own insecurities of what you called your imperfections onto Piltover. I understand where you were coming from, and I understand that your intentions were nothing but pure, but there's so much damage that has been done, and so little people left to clean up the aftermath.

And yet, even if Topside doesn't forgive you, Viktor, I do.

I already have.

Your partner,

Sincerely,

Jayce

[askjonathancrane]

Incorrect Arcane Quotes which may not be 100% in character but I don’t care: part 1/?

Singed: Mint is just cold spicy.

The Squad: ...

Heimerdinger: What the actual fuck is wrong with you.

Caitlyn: I dare you-

Silco: Singed is not allowed to accept dares anymore.

Caitlyn: Why not?

Singed: "I have no regard for my own or others personal safety", as some would say.

Mel: Hey, let’s mess with Viktor, guys!

Jayce: Hey, Viktor, your momma so fat-

Viktor: My mom committed multiple war crimes and is now locked in solitary confinement in a Bolivian prison.

Jinx: Well, uh- your dad-

Viktor: My father left when I was two to be captured and consequentially sacrificed by a group of feral ferrets.

Jayce: The fuck-

Ambessa: Well then...

Mel: Stop, Ambessa!

Ambessa: Your grandparents so-

Viktor: My grandmother floated into the sky like a balloon with too much helium when my grandfather spontaneously combusted.

Viktor: You cannot best me, mortals.

Caitlyn: Just took a personality test and got an A+.

Jayce: Poison is a magic transmutation potion that turns people into corpses.

Singed: This knife is actually a magic wand.

Silco: Meet me in the Denny’s parking lot for a wizard duel.

Vi: *cocks gun* Magic missile.

Heimerdinger: What the fuck is wrong with you people.

Viktor: Anyone else feel good when their brain releases a bunch of endorphins?

Vi: Can't relate.

Jinx: Why would my brain release a bunch of dolphins?

Jayce: New challenge! Don't say stupid shit for 24 hours!

Jinx: You’re mean!

Singed: You’re meaner!

Jinx: Yeah, well, you’re ugly too!

Singed: You’re uglier!

Jinx: You’re a dumbass!

Singed: You’re a dumberass!

Jinx: You think “dumberass” is a good insult!

Vi: I made tea.

Ekko: I don't want tea.

Vi: I didn't make you tea. This is my tea.

Ekko: Then why did you tell me?

Vi: It's a conversation starter.

Ekko: It's a horrible conversation starter.

Vi: Oh, is it? We're conversing. Checkmate.

*At a bank teller window*

Jayce, in a bad Italian accent: I'd like-a to make-a da deposit!

Silco: HEY BUDDY, WAIT, I REMEMBER YOU!

Jayce: *Frantically pours marinara sauce into the vacuum tube*

Silco: GODDAMMIT, IT'S THEM AGAIN!

Jayce: Are you this rude to everyone?!

Ambessa: Yup.

Ambessa: Don't think you're special.

Ekko: Hey, how are you doing today?

Vi: Can we change the subject before I start crying?

Jinx: What’s the status up here?

Vi: Fucked up, about to die, Singed’s a nerd. The usual.

Ambessa: Today at 7 am, Ekko poured a Monster energy drink in their coffee, said "I'm going to die" and drank the whole thing.

Silco: I watched Ekko brew their coffee with Monster instead of water. Three cups in two hours. I think they ascended into the astral realm.

Caitlyn: The survivability of the human race never fails to amaze me.

[drossna]

that final jayvik scene, disability, and a world with pyramids

Bear with me for a second, doomed yaoi fans, I’m one of you.

The one thing that bothered me about the final scene between Jayce and Viktor is how Jayce calls Viktor’s leg and his disease “imperfections”. It feels dismissive, like these are superficial traits and not facts of life that Viktor had to deal with every day. They were a part of him, yes, but they hurt him, hampered him, and were literally killing him in the end. Viktor is allowed to have a complicated relationship with his disability. 

It was a poor choice of words on Jayce’s part—that’s my explanation. 

The best way I can reckon with Arcane conflating imperfection and disability/disease is by thinking about it in terms of a world with or without pyramids. 

This idea comes from The Wind Rises, my favourite Ghibli film. There’s a lot of ways you can interpret the meaning of that film, but here’s how I do it. 

Jiro, the protagonist of The Wind Rises, faces two terrible choices in the film. The first is whether to continue to design the airplanes he loves even when they will be used to kill, and the second is whether to allow his wife to stay with him even though she’s dying from tuberculosis and might survive longer if she lived in a sanatorium. 

In both cases, he chooses the thing he loves. He designs his Zero planes and contributes massively to the field of aeronautics, and then the planes are sent to war. He lives together happily with his wife, and she passes away quickly. There is no correct choice for Jiro, but he chose a world with pyramids. 

(sidenote: Jiro working on schematics with one hand so he can hold Nahoko’s in his other while she rests is jayvik coded)

See, the pyramids came at a huge human cost, but their cultural and historical value is undeniable. Their non-existence, just like the cost of their construction, would be a heavy thing. 

The world where Viktor grows up, uses a cane, studies, uses a crutch, perseveres, ails, and dies, that is a world with pyramids. 

The world where the Machine Herald erases all human suffering, that is a world without pyramids. 

What I take away from Jayce and Viktor’s final scene ISN’T that Viktor’s disability is inconsequential, but that it’s worth it. That Jayce believes he’s worth it. And that he wants Viktor to believe he’s worth it, too.