#nice one Jayce

[jayktoralldaylong]

Me to Jayce: No matter what happens, I'm going to stand with you till the end.

Act 2 Ep 6 happens

Me: And now you've gone and done too much. 💀

[mochasucculent]

Dumb thing that would not leave my brain

[itseghost]

only you.

my turn with soul touch jayvik :)

[meansevika]

okay so very long thinkpiece about meljay and jayce' treatment of mel / the writers treatment of mel and how i think that all things considered she hasnt really won as much as we think she did

the thing about this that makes me so mad or rather sad (both, actually) is that we learn in season 1 how mel was brought up, that she didn't get to be soft and kind, that her surroundings were hard and rough just like her mother was, that love isn't a thing she knows like that especially not in relation to vulnerability. now if you think about media in general there is a pattern we know. the black woman is always the strong woman, the independent woman, the woman who doesnt get to be vulnerable bc of the first two points. so here comes this man she's trying to use not just for her own endeavors but for the good of piltover, clearly having a different mindset than her mother, and he cracks her open just like that. he's vulnerable with her and he lets her be vulnerable with him and it allows this woman this kind of vulnerability that she was never allowed to feel. she feels and she loves and there is someone who holds her and looks out for her when things go bad. he is his first thought after the bombing and hes so loving and endearing unlike her mother who is concerned, of course, but straight back to business too. and oh what a lovely thing that was to watch as a black woman who to this day still doesn't get to see this as often as we really should

so mel gets to experience something she hasnt before and you can tell it means something to her because when she gets back in act 3 the first reaction to him is an excited, hopeful one.

this is the man she cares deeply for and it is also the man who shes comforted before many times. something she needs in those very confusing times too. something she might be looking out for. something she might hope to get herself. some comforting after what shes been through for months. someone to share what is going on with her and how confusing it is to find out all those lies and secrets about herself.

until she notices how changed he is, how different he looks, so instantly she is worried. of course! who wouldnt be! she very likely didnt even know he was missing since its the first time we see her back in the city so she must've assumed he has been here and well for the whole time being (does she even know how long its been?) but it isnt fine as we know. she puts herself second! immediately! (and rewatching that scene now it actually makes me mad how she does that. and how anyone can question any of her feelings for him when shes immediately all jayce. or how in general people think shes only interested in her own goals) she asks this man who has shown her to be vulnerable around him and it BEING FINE, what happened, shes opening herself up to him, again, over and over, and he not only tells her it doesnt matter (what happened to him) but TURNS HIS BACK ON HER. he is literally shutting her off. he is saying with his body she does not get to do that. and for someone who has grown up like this, with a mother cutting off any kind of displays of weakness, this must be a familiar feeling, something that goes off like a bell

but she still tries! she still tries! she sees something is wrong but she tries to get comfort anyway, because this is jayce, right, this is the man she cares for deeply, the man who has opened this door for her and the door she's let herself through, the man who has always had compassion for her. of course she tries again. why wouldn't she? so she starts that something has happened to her but he doesn't even let her tell him what happened (actually it makes me so mad seeing this again and how crazy hostile he is towards her, its like im looking at the mel hating part of arcanetwt and him repeating beat for beat what theyve been saying for years) he doesnt give her room to speak, just takes it for himself, prioritizing himself and his own feelings. and, yes, figuring out the bombing thing and wanting to talk about it is valid and i think in general this could've been a great angsty way to deal with this topic IF they would've had the opportunity to talk this out properly but what happens instead is that the man that makes mel feel safe starts INTERROGATING her like she is a criminal that should be held for trial FOR SAVING HIM something she doesnt even undestand herself. and suddenly she is in a whole different position and i think by now she knows that this kind of compassion and understanding and room for vulnerability isn't part of their conversation anymore

she loses her composure and that of course isnt a first because she has started to be less put together around him, allowing her more room to "sway" but this kind of destruction is a different one because she feels at trial, feels cornered, feels like she has to explain herself but - and thats what is important - isnt heard. and i think that is something she knows very well, something shes grown up with, trying to explain herself and not being heard.

all of that happens while he is, mind you, still holding onto that hammer. something she surely notices too. the man who's usually quick to let down his defences around her, who isnt councilor talis or mister talis but just jayce around her, is holding onto that hammer like shes a threat. so he tells her he thinks shes lying and she asks him why he would think she'd do that, obviously, because her understanding of their relationship and their trust is a different one than his or at least this jayce that has come back from the arcane, because clearly this kind of understanding comes from somewhere and it comes from the times they've spent together alone throughout season 1 and a little in the beginning of season 2.

he throws at her that shes been using him, something that surprises her, because clearly she doesnt know what has happened, but she tries to explain anyway, because she doesnt know what has happened at least not in full (as you can tell by her reaction to viktor appearing, sensing the hostile mood between both, but also the way she reacts when viktor mentions the noxians intentions), and you can see that these thoughts of his are a result of months in the arcane alone with them and imagining conversations over conversations (although for me its still hard to understand how he grew that hostile towards her this quickly as if she were responsible for everything that happened but those are thoughts for a different post). he crashes out during that conversation, his face is warped with hatred and that is. all. for. her. to. see. and then BOOM goes the hammer off. mid conversation. a conversation that should feel safe with a man she should feel safe with but none of that is there. there is no space for her. (and yes i know hes aiming at viktors puppet but that isnt somethng mel is aware in that moment)

it all leads up to a fight and eventually they walk together and he apologizes, although very distantly and without much explanation, and despite it all, despite having good reasons to shut off and not share what she's feeling, she does. she talks to him about what is on her mind and they have a short, bittersweet exchange but it's just nowhere to what they've established in the first season. as a shipper of course that is super frustrating, but as a mel fan it's just sad to see that the person she felt safe enough to seek comfort in is just so closed off. but not only that, it's obvious they're parting ways and it's very obvious this is coming from his side and i think that is also why she so wilingly accepts it. she doesn't fight much back throughout their whole fight earlier either, she tries to explain herself, but doesnt demand that room for herself even though in this relationship she should be able to take just as much room for herself and her feelings as he does, but she doesn't. she just lets it happen and i understand it bc you have this man you trust and probably love and his first reaction to you is hostile when hostile has never been a response to her. he made a complete u-turn and of course that's off putting, maybe even scary, of course it shuts her down, makes someone who's so good with words and fighting just try to cause as little damage as possible because that is how she's grown up, isn't it?

and that is why i am sad about this. she learned that love doesnt have to look like her mothers and that being vulnerable isnt a weakness and its his doing but here she is met by this kind of hostility she only knows from noxus and it hurts even more that it COMES FROM HIM and over something as SAVING HIS LIFE when its clearly was an act out of love and not investment bc if i'd would've been just that than she would've saved viktor as well? but it wasnt about that. it was her subconscious making a decision and it was something her mother would describe as an act of weakness (theres a reason she gets renni to attack him bc she sees how fond mel of him is maybe even because shes been fond of a man herself once and she knows what itll do) and i think the worst part about it is that she doesnt ever get to truly articulate this or anything else and now that jayce is gone (dead? in a stone? who knows?) she won't get to ever probably. she won't get to say what she thinks and explain herself truly and she won't have anyone to confide in, to be comforted by or comfort. elora is dead, kino wasn't real and the real one is actually dead too, jayce is well whatever he is, and her mother died in her arms. yes, mel is a mage and that is fucking awesome and i was so happy to see her go off and get so many spotlights in battle, but shes also so fucking tragic actually. because here she is with a fuck ton of weight on her shoulders, the noxian army looking up to her, the whole name, not knowing who her father is or what any of her powers mean, the whole black rose thing, everything unresolved between her and jayce, the death of the people she loves, and shes all alone with it. shes all alone with it and she gets no one. man im just fucking sad that this woman got a glimpse of what it could be like to be loved and have someone to "come home to" just for her to have literally no one left like why do you hate black women so much why cant they get a fucking good ending and why cant they be fucking loved even when things get hard

also im lowkey mad that jayce got to find comfort in her lap so many times and not once did she get that in return, not even a squeeze of her shoulder, but dont let me get started on that....

[akascow]

yanno the more i consider it the more i think jayce started hallucinating in that cave bc he was actually just incredibly sleep deprived... i mean i guess its not like they told us why he hallucinates melvik and i havent rlly seen anyone mention the why of it but like thats my idea at least HAHA

which uhh not only are hallucinations a very real symptom of sleep deprivation (like as early as like 2-3 days w/o sleep), but when considering the like cold rock floor, vomit inducing leg pain, dirty still water and raw lizard guts; he definitely was not in the most comfortable of positions to be sleeping (even if he was extremely tired lmao) also those fuckin Things watching over him while he wastes away. if u knew something was watching you would you be able to get a good nights rest lmfao

which ofc makes that whole scene even more depressing LMAO to me at least idk about yall kjdjlkjs

and it doesnt help that even before he got yeeted into the anomaly he was 1) staying up for multiple nights watching over SourdoughStarter!Viktor trying to figure out whats going on w him n then 2) 'sleeping' in his lab waiting for viktor to come back after their messy divorce scene

and i know he didnt sleep well bc of personal experience HAHA ive had a handful of times where ive been kept awake all night from stomach stuff (cramps or bloating or starving pains u name it lol) so like been there done that i can Relate.

yeah we got shots of him curled up in our signature period cramps pose or like very lethargically laying on the ground, but i can also relate to that bc theres times either in my oops i forgor food days where i just kinda rot in bed all day barely moving OR when im trying to got to sleep but cant so i just close my eyes for 4 hours despite my brain being awake the whole time and just existing between states of consciousness while not actively resting at all

and while we're here ik he has a bunch of things on his mind to theoretically cry about, but i have definitely cried from frustration of not being able to sleep like a good chunk of times in my life HAHA so

like omfg he hasnt had a decent sleep in MONTHS yall fhsjdjkdshkfj

[snidy]

mage viktor x au older jayce comic at 4/6 pgs, gettin’ close to done here!!!

[definetelynotavampire]

space :3

[mercutio-the-velaryon]

Meljayvik discourse reminds me a lot of those barely baked Challengers takes that said "Patrick loved Art, Art loved Tashi and Tashi loved tennis" in the sense that people love making these smart sounding little quips to surmise very complex relationships and they never land (and also tend to be very reductive especially about the female character in the dynamic).

[strayheat]

At the end of s1 Jayce gave his chair to Viktor to sit in, which caused him to be slightly further away from Mel, ergo the protective dome couldn't have reached him. This is the protected area:

And this is where I assumed everyone would have been at the time of explosion:

And then I wanted to find out how close exactly Viktor was to the dome (comparing to s1 finale) and, uh

Apparently Viktor would have been entirely covered by the dome? And out of the three of them Jayce would have been the one closest to its center.

From here I see two routes:

Mel moved towards Jayce before the worst hit (they did wake up lying close together)

Mel wasn't the source of the dome (Jayce was??)

In both cases there's the question of Viktor moving out of the safe zone, which I'm betting on it being caused by the knockback of the explosion (in scenario 1. Mel could also be pushed to the side by this same force. maybe?)

Anywho, unexpected find so I wanted to share :*)

[sharpace]

54. Windows

Did you ever look through windows on your drive home as a kid and marvel at all the grown ups and picture what you'd look like as a grown up? Yeah, me too.

Crank It Comics  |  Leave a tip! (Ko-Fi) |  Store |  Twitter  

[bonkalore]

So the scepter here is what makes you Primus, who is in charge of all of the magic world basically... and is also the key to opening the coffer to the rest of the Dread magic that Jayce has been trying to get this entire time. He thought it was something he could start "a new Golden Age of Magic" with, but eventually realized it would only do more harm than good and now is out of plans as he's being torn apart from the Dread.

In the AU towards the end of the story, he and Lucy got the scepter together but he's the one that technically got it, even tho he gave it to Lucy so she could become Primus and avoid further temptation.

So during Lucy's coronation, the scepter ends up shooting across the room into his hands in the audience bc he's the actual owner. This isn't just his nerves about becoming Primus instead and is FAR, far worst unfortunately... Apocalyptically bad even! 8')

Was everything he had wanted before and now it's a literal nightmare.

(Also "Everything You Ever" from Dr. Horrible's Sing-ALong Blog is very fitting for this part whoops.)

[le-fruit-de-la-passion]

Yes yes every character in Arcane is morally complex and has dealt with different types of trauma and are a product of their broken environment and their dysfunctional society and there's no such thing as black and white in ethics but FUCK YOU JAYCE

[cassettedude]

all of my designs for the mimic epilogue gang

[lab-gr0wn-lambs]

Arcane peaked at episode 3 I can't lie

[mylove-themoon]

The whole ending for the main timeline kinda sucks for Zaun, even the one good thing they get is backhanded as fuck.

Like sure, Sevika is on the council- but the council relies on majority vote, and every other member of the council only work in the interests of themselves or of piltover. Nobody else cares about Zaun, so nothing will change.

And Piltover shows they will alway protect and prioritize their own over everything else

Cait gets no consequences for her actions from the last two acts, despite doing many, many crimes. She released the Gray on the Undercity- which is going to cause disease, death, etc to many innocent people (the same disease Viktor was dying of, it was a direct result of Piltover’s oppression and the gray- I could go on and on about his ending but I shan’t.), arresting random Zaunites- including children- and just leaving them in prison, and even tho we hate Singed, threatening to throw him under the fucking prison was a little far. She gave him the opportunity to either join her or die. So the people of Zaun are animals and criminals until they’re useful?

And the scene of the Noxian guy (can’t remember his name) literally torturing that Jinxer??? Ambassa’s dead and so is he, so I guess thats their consequence, but nothing for Cait? No, Cait gets to have a nice life, she might feel guilty and maybe she’ll have a couple nightmares but really she’s not facing a single consequences You guys remember when Jayce almost got exiled for Hextech in season one? A crime in which nobody died or was grievously harmed? Yet there are no consequences Caitlyn hmmm

After everything the people of Zaun have gone through, they get nothing- they see their oppressor hailed as a hero, they see their children die of a disease that should never have touched the new generation (or just straight up suffocate while it was actively being deployed- if they get caught in that they are dead- little lungs and little legs yk- if they can’t escape it then they die) they see their only hope (Sevika) repeatedly shot down by the council, they see the abuse will continue. Even after everything they lost- all those who fought in Piltovers war- they get nothing. They helped, they worked with them when working against them didn’t work, and they still get nothing.

I think Ekko’s ending really drives it home- the ONE character who deserves the world above everybody else is sitting alone in the end. He did everything right but was still alone. If he -and Jinx- hadn’t rallied their forces and convinced the people of Zaun to fight then Piltover would have lost to Noxius. He convinced his people to fight and die for Piltover- but Cait’s the hero, and he’s still fighting for his own people.

[killapunk]

where is the poly jayce rep. like just as a concept.