And My Heart Breaks Once Again

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my heart :)

Parallels between Jayvik and the Phantom of the Opera

I can't believe I haven't seen any discussion yet around the musical theater influences in Arcane S2 so far (besides my one mention of its parallels with Les Miserables).

So as a basic, Phantom of the Opera-loving bitch, can we please take a moment to examine the Phantom of the Opera parallels that are literally shoved in our faces during this opening sequence and what that means for Jayvik?

Viktor is the Phantom. The show opening outright says it. The parallels are there. They're impossible to miss.

And then, when you dig a little deeper, hooo boy those parallels become even more stark. Especially if you read Viktor as romantically pining after Jayce, which 99.9999% of humanity does.

To quickly summarize, Phantom of the Opera is the story of a deformed genius who falls in love with an opera singer, Christine, and then nurtures her talents, only for her to in turn fall in love with a nobleman, Raoul. The ensuing love triangle is the heart of the plot, with Raoul and the Phantom both vying for Christine's love.

This shouldn't be a hard one to see the parallels for.

Viktor = The Phantom. Literally a genius born with a disfigurement, in this case a disability he sees as a weakness and a disease that is sapping away his life and hope of a legacy. He is riddled with jealousy for the person trying to pull his scientific/musical partner away from him, a person who happens to be beautiful and live a life of privilege that Raoul/Mel could offer to Jayce/Christine instead.

Jayce = Christine. Instead of sharing genius in music, he and Viktor share genius in science. Like Christine, he is tugged between the glittering world of politics and privilege, vs his genius and love at a more esoteric skill, in this case science instead of music.

Mel = Raoul. Literally an aristocrat who is far more beautiful than the Phantom/Viktor, who steals away his partner's attention and offers them a glittering life of privilege in the public eye instead of the wonders of their joint musical/scientific pursuits. Whether or not Mel meant to embody this, or steal Jayce from Viktor, this is the role she fulfills in Viktor's view of the world.

But the most profound moment for me of, "Oh wow, they're doing Phantom of the Opera! Actually, they're not just doing Phantom, they're doing Phantom fixit fic?!" was this:

Which, if you'll forgive the potato quality of the screenshots, is literally the moment Viktor has his mask knocked away and then cringes in on himself to hide his exposed face from Jayce.

Which... is literally a scene in Phantom of the Opera? Just after "Music of the Night"?

But we're already in Phantom fixit territory, because Jayce doesn't recoil like Viktor expects! Instead, he embraces Viktor and loves him for all his self-perceived flaws.

And then, AND THEN, in a moment that made my Phantom-loving heart sing, Viktor tells Jayce to go!

And Jayce doesn't.

In the final song of the Phantom of the Opera musical, Christine is forced to choose between Raoul and the Phantom. She chooses the Phantom and kisses him. Flooded by remorse, the Phantom then relinquishes her to the man he knows she truly loves, and when Christine hesitates to leave, he shouts at her, "Go!" and then, of course, she and Raoul leave together.

Viktor is expecting that to happen! I think his order to Jayce very clearly implies that he thinks Mel and Jayce are still together. It's the classic, "Go be with the woman you love instead of staying here and dying with me," trope that we see over and over again in dramas.

But Jayce. Defies. The Trope.

Unlike Christine and just about every buddy war movie out there, he stays with Viktor. He chooses his scientific/artistic partner over the life of aristocracy and privilege that Mel would theoretically offer him. He chooses the masked genius with the disability and calls him perfect. He refuses to go when he is ordered to leave. He stays with Viktor until the end.

And I still can't believe that no one else is talking about this!

Favorite Arcane Scenes: 4/? ↳ Don't mess with Officer Cupcake.

i got possessed by the arcane finale and had to draw all the victor and jayce scenes in a single tarot card thing, ill draw a proper cleaned up version at some point but i had to get a messy idea down

also yes its very inspired by this from season one :)

there's an observation/headcanon going around that the celestial bodies react to emotions with color, interesting to think about this in regards to mage viktor who is void black

I hope now after Harry has once again confirmed that Viktor is soft-spoken and his anger is quiet anger that the fandom will stop writing him as aggressive, cold, rude, and angry in the form of cruelty or outbursts. it's literally so opposite his character I don't see how this portrayal of him persists so frequently. Canonically, when he's angry, we see him speak in low, controlled tones, or with words that are more sharp and hissed than his usual timbre but at the same quiet volume. The only times he raises his voice in the show are when he's alone, screaming from pain, fear, or emotional release. He never yells at anyone, that's why those rare moments where he does raise his voice hit so powerfully. He curls in on himself and makes himself smaller when upset and vulnerable, he doesn't lash out or intimidate others. He cries, he whimpers, he doesn't shout. He hyperventilates and throws up from nerves. Like how does so much of the fandom overlook this and somehow turn him into some sarcastic, aloof 'broody dark-haired boy' stereotype that hits people with his cane and insults Jayce. Please go back and rewatch the source material.

Am I interrupting?

The sheer and utter heartbreak I felt when he realized he was still seen as a weapon.

When he was the winter soldier, his skills and his ARM were two extreme marks of who he was. A killing machine trained to do nothing but obey orders. In the comics, this was especially true. Considering he had no serum in the comics, the only thing that brought him to the same level as super soldiers was his enhanced arm. No special serums, nothing but his incredible skill to kill. But his arm was what allowed him to be just that much more effective and efficient. It made him who he was. The Winter Soldier, not Bucky Barnes.

When he was in Wakanda. He rebuilt his life. He had peace. He wasn't being put in a freezer and being thrown into wars left and right. He got to go find peace. Calm. A place that allowed him to heal. And with that, he gained a new arm that was supposed to represent that new life. One that wasn't plagued by death and blood. One that represented him as Bucky. Not a weapon. Yes, it still acted similar due to Infinity War, but it's representation was clearly geared towards a new life. He was finally beginning to be himself again.

Only to have that ripped away at the sign of disobeying those of Wakanda. To remove his arm when he was seen as a threat. To be reminded that he will ALWAYS be seen as a monster. A killer. Nothing but the Winter Soldier to them. Even after all that time, he had that trust shattered while he was trying to COMMUNICATE WITH THEM. Not even while trying to hurt anyone. He wanted to de-escalate, and yet he was met with having his small sliver of peace ripped from him.

I hate this scene and the look on his face. It hurts so bad

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the birth of a jinx (based on Alexandre Cabanel’s Birth of Venus, 1863)