Some Fanart For My Fav VikJayce Fanfic “The Pulse Of The Machine” By @bringthekaos. That Fic Is So

I'm starting to get a little silly w/ them.

Happy Holiday from the Homoerotic arch-nemesis coworkers (League! Jayvik) and Queerplatonic lab partners (Arcane! Jayvik). ~🔧

Part 2/3

Angst is fun to make :)

So Ximena got mentioned not so long ago and now I’m wondering what you think her relationship with Viktor looked like? Like, she obviously had to know he was important to Jayce which would endear him to her. But do you think they got close at all? Like, I can see her inviting him to dinner or something, but would Viktor feel comfortable accepting that?

Like, they both love Jayce, they both have disabilities, from what little we see of Ximena, I think she cares a lot. Would she try to mother him and would he hate that? Did she ever tease Jayce about making an honest man of Viktor? Did Jayce ever drop the “he saved my life” line and make her realize how close she came to losing her son? Because she would love Viktor for that alone.

Idk, I just had thoughts.

I think ultimately it would come down to what a fic writer is trying to accomplish, because I don't think there's canon for it, it would really come down to the kind of story you want to tell.

For example:

I can see a take where Viktor is quite close with Ximena. Jayce invites him over often, she either sees Viktor as a second son (either as a brother to Jayce or a son-in-law) and is constantly insisting that Jayce bring him by. And like you said, especially if Ximena learned that Viktor is basically single-handedly the reason Jayce is alive (and HER for that matter lol) then I could see her being a huge fan of his.

I can see a take where despite Ximena and Jayce's best efforts, Viktor's self-isolating tendencies prohibit a closer relationship. Jayce invites him over a lot, but Viktor holds himself back. He knows her a bit from certain events, but he's only ever made small talk with her. In such a world too, they could just be tepid because technically, Viktor is Jayce's co-worker and I personally don't really introduce my co-workers to my mom, that feels very weird.

I can even, in THEORY, see a case where Ximena doesn't like Viktor. She was trying to get Jayce to give up on Hextech entirely when Viktor swooped in and encouraged him. Now, I find this one the least realistic. Ximena is proud of Jayce for Hextech by the time we get to Progress Day, and Viktor definitely saved Jayce from jumping. But I just throw it out there cuz a lot of fics I guess had Caitlyn's dad liking Vi a lot only for S2 to show he doesn't like her AT ALL, so y'know, I'd reserve a wild card space for "Ximena is prejudiced against the undercity too, she's wary of Viktor because of how he encouraged Jayce's dangerous obsession with magic, and Viktor is just generally stand-offish and unpleasant with her so they rarely interact." It's as valid a take as the others.

gay

i think a lot about how ultimately, league jayce and viktor’s story was about elitism in academia — more than that, it has a lot to say about restrictions that are created in sponsor-ship based academia, which ultimately creates restrictions based on the “acceptability” or “fundability” of research, which ultimately leads to an academia that only serves the elite.

like, jayce (both in arcane and league) is a member of the middle class. whether or not its blue collar or upper middle class remains to be seen/up to interpretation, but the fact remains that he’s NOT a member of the elite. viktor is also NOT a member of the elite, he’s from the literal lowest echelon of their society. but the difference between them is the veneer of respectability politics. jayce ingratiates himself to piltover’s elite, becomes an apprenta for them, takes on the name of one of the highest houses in piltover’s upper class (giopara) and later moves to work directly under a house even more revered (ferros), thanks to their tireless work in keeping the lower caste (zaun) oppressed.

viktor, on the other hand, is ousted from the academic circle both he and jayce operated within when his work is STOLEN by stanwick, who is a professor with familial ties TO piltover’s elite, and also in a position of much higher authority by virtue of being a professor. viktor represents grassroots, anti-establishment academia, which is both entirely unregulated (an issue in and of itself! by the way!) but also in no way even allowed to sniff at the kinds of legitimacy only conferred to academics in that circle of elites.

both jayce and viktor are brilliant. but it’s also because of that ever present boot on the neck of academic progress (the rich) that neither of their work is actually able to do any of the good both aspire to. league jayce is a glorified weapons maker and superhero. viktor is reduced to a madman with no regard for free will, his actual contributions left in the dirt because they are “unappealing.” meanwhile, the real problem — camille ferros, for one — profits off the both of them.

do NOT get me started on how this manifests in arcane.

i missed this on my first read,, look at the little baby ☹️☹️

I think Raditz would make an okay parent if he had the chance to have his own child. He would be far from perfect, but he still tries his best.

tbh i feel like the reason why original lore jayvik is still so much better than arcane jayvik is that they have FAR STRONGER motivations. They both want to be the best at what they do, they make a rivalry of it, and they despise the political games surrounding them in equal measure.

League vik/jayce who bond over openly mocking high-society parties. Who are just barely humoring their stupid investors so they have an excuse to keep working together. League vik/jayce who firmly believe only ONE guy on earth understands them enough to operate on the same level. Who will chase each other to the ends of this universe, and through all the others.

Viktor wants to make the world perfect. His idealism is so great that it sways Jayce from his lonely cynicism, makes him fall head over heels --- while Jayce is increasingly afraid that Vik's growing idea of perfection means becoming the very unjust totalitarian power he's always hated. Their conflict works because in deep and persistent way they know part of the other is right.

Its just completely ridiculous to me how the show dropped their ying/yang balance to throw in... a dumb council-assistant and politician plot 🙄 Viktor would never swallow being a traitor to his own homeland like that! Jayce's *entire thing* is that he chooses to believe in humanity's goodness and capacity to make things right over forcibly ordering them around! THAT'S WHY THEY WANT TO KISS EACHOTHER IN THE MOUTH.

Noticing a pattern this year...