Jayvik - Blog Posts
over winter break i started making these silly (stupid) arcane comics and ive decided im going to finish them
Viktor CANNOT be the bottom because his pelvis would shatter whereas Jayce has childbearing hips. send tweet.
I shine only with the light you gave me... or something like that
Pose reference link
Put both of them together in the same post bc they should never be separated idgaf
My take on a scene in “Stir the heart” by @weatheredlaw. We love some good old Regency yearning!
Zaun Jayce and Piltie Vik
Viks parents were respected high fashion tailors, he was from a comfortable family but not very rich, and has an accent since they are immigrants. hes a little near sighted, when he was a kid he stayed in the library for too long and read in his room at midnight even though his guardians told him to rest earlier. When vik went to the academy, he experienced academic plagiarism from one of his mentors...
Jayce's family was banished from Piltover, they still make hammers in Zaun.
And they were labmates
Enjoy my art? Buy me a ko-fi! ☕️
Bonus:
i comfort myself drawing hairy men kiss
in another life i would’ve loved just doing dishes with u
coming back after a year of not posting art with a shitpost,, hello jayvik nation
T4T jayvik my beloved
in another timeline, they got to grow old together
I had to make matching illustrations with those two !
I’m really proud of this one but I had to rework viktor ‘s one after that haha
I’m not sure about the tarot card choice but i wanted to make reference to the tarot cards sevika plays in s1 :)
Let me know what you think of it 🌼
JayVik
https://archiveofourown.org/works/60997216/chapters/155827075
Butterfly Nebulas (WIP 200k+ words); arcane retold if everyone had more friends and communicated a little better
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61125145/chapters/156181690
Say My Name (219,294 words); Jayce and Viktor come back with an arcane bond and have a lot of personal and political conflict to navigate
https://archiveofourown.org/works/44701480/chapters/112469554
Wedded Bliss (WIP 40k+ words); Viktor and Jayce have to get married in order for Viktor to collect some inheritance
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61255186
not even work husbands, just regular husbands (6,561 words); Viktor kisses Jayce when Mel catches them outside Heimerdinger’s office and now all of Piltover thinks they’re married
https://archiveofourown.org/works/60888046
Monuments (14,881 words), Jayce likes to make things for Viktor. He starts with a new cane after they use it to block Heimerdinger’s door and then steadily spirals out of control.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61767631
You’re the Sun (To Me) (10,186 words); Jayce thinks pomegranates are worth the effort it takes to eat them
https://archiveofourown.org/works/35978476
I don’t need to be your type (I’m already your partner) (12,228 words); Jayce and Viktor are partners and it’s not entirely Jayce’s fault that people think that means more than it does but it is mostly Jayce’s fault
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61181368/chapters/156339844
affection (16,521 words); Jayce and Viktor don’t really fall in love as much as they settle into it
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61066792
Spotlight (9,907 words); Viktor agrees to accompany Jayce to a gala out of concern that his partner’s boundaries are being violated at these events
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61036519/chapters/155930317
Stay Your Pretty Eyes On Course (66,857 words); Jayce wakes up on the day he met Viktor after the Hexcore collapses. Viktor doesn’t remember what they went through or will go through. Then he does.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61488289/chapters/157188160
The Firelight Tree (58,805 words); after the hexcore collapse Viktor, Ekko, and Jayce heal and support each other
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61315456
Silent Currents (20,947 words); Viktor takes a trip to the undercity and has a pretty bad go of things coming back
https://archiveofourown.org/works/59410696/chapters/151511995
Coming Home (But Not to You) (118,872 words); modern academia!au in which Jayce and Viktor are former lab partners who had a falling out and now have to be coworkers as professors
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61088311/chapters/156075370
Because you want to die for love, you always have (10,997 words); Jayce and Viktor loving and being loved through the years
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50431840
Local Gays Somehow Think They Share a Last Name Platonically (1,064 words); for the purposes of paperwork Viktor is Viktor Talis. I love this concept tbh
https://archiveofourown.org/works/35280274
Noble Affairs (1,396 words); similar premise to the above fic. You get it. I’d read a hundred of these if I could find them.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/35933506/chapters/89590369
knowledge (and all of its consequences) (23,233 words); Jayce in fics is as his best when he’s a total simp obsessed with his lab partner like all the best scientists are
https://archiveofourown.org/works/37194847/chapters/92796472
The Infamous Couch (10,408 words); 5 times they sleep on the couch in the lab +1 time they sleep somewhere else
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61023325/chapters/155893003
A silence so soft it’s only memory (81,101 words); Jayce is sent back in time and gets a chance to do things a little differently
https://archiveofourown.org/works/35262118/chapters/87876970
doctrine (73,784 words); Viktor is financing the firelights and ends up deeply involved as the conflicts evolve
https://archiveofourown.org/works/62889319/chapters/161033905
Oh, To Be Touched By You (24,088 words); Viktor worries he’s reading too much into physical affection from Jayce
https://archiveofourown.org/works/36112462/chapters/90022234
divine alchemy of the self (40,031 words); Jayce and Viktor desperately try to combat Viktor’s illness and keep him alive
https://archiveofourown.org/works/57677704
I prayed (God sent me right to voicemail) (5,156 words); academy era fic where winter is tough for Viktor but he and Jayce enjoy each other’s company
https://archiveofourown.org/works/62009713
Intertwined, Sewn Together (10,674 words); a blizzard, a cold, and a pain flare up means Viktor has to do his least favorite thing: be vulnerable, but Jayce gets to do his favorite thing: take care of someone he loves
Big stronk dude with his fuckass hammer and his stupid shoulder armor waiting on his knees for his eldritch god bf to materialize behind him and oh so tenderly penetrate his brain with his magic fingers
This is one of the sentences ever.
Since everyone is talking about that concept art of Jayce and Viktor fighting, it's useful to know that the concept artist, Suheb Zako, also posted it on their twitter with some context.
It is early concept art for a final fight between Jayce and Viktor in the hexzone sorry I'm not calling it that astral plane. There's a link in the twitter thread to an anime clip that gives you a sense of what the vibe would've been.
It's not totally clear when in the development/production process this art is from, but I wouldn't be surprised if Jayce and Viktor originally had a dynamic that was more like their game counterparts. In that case a knock-down-drag-out fight in the astral plane might've fit better. But in the final version of the show it wouldn't have worked anywhere near as well as what we got, and not just because it would have seemed out of character for what the characters and their relationship arc became in the finished show.
First of all, we already did have a knock-down-drag-out fight between them. That's the Council chamber fight scene. It would've felt like a repeated beat and that's the last thing you want in your big finale. When you have characters who fight each other multiple times, you want each fight to reflect a progression of their relationship.
Secondly, by the end of the show, Viktor is absurdly overpowered compared to any other character. Once he goes full Machine Herald he is basically a god. A conventional fight scene is just not gonna do it here. You need a twist, some way to win that doesn't involve being stronger than him. And the trump card being The Power of Unconditional Love (And Also This Time Machine Getting Chucked at Your Head) fits perfectly with the show's themes.
Thirdly, the final episode is ALL action. In an episode that's one massive battle, it takes a lot of work to make individual pieces of action stand out. (And generally, you do it not by making the fighting look Super Duper Extra Cool, but with character work.) But any scenes between the characters that are not action are automatically gonna pop because they're so different in pacing and energy from everything around them.
I haven't seen as many people discussing this set of keyframes, but the changes here are also fascinating:
Because Viktor assimilating Jayce as a battle move is almost the complete opposite of what we got in the finished show, and what we got in the finished show is so fucking good. It's one of my favorite moments in the whole damn series.
I've already written about it here, but playing it so that Jayce doesn't get surprised or overpowered but chooses to allow Viktor to bring him into the astral plane as a last-ditch effort to reach whatever is left of Viktor's humanity is sooooooo narratively sexy. (And also just. Sexy. Big stronk dude with his fuckass hammer and his stupid shoulder armor waiting on his knees for his eldritch god bf to materialize behind him and oh so tenderly penetrate his brain with his magic fingers, listen I am not making this up this is just what happens, no homoerotic fight scene could ever top this.)
It also fits with the motif of a number of characters winning their individual battles in the finale by surrender/submission/potential self-sacrifice. It fits with Caitlyn realizing that to cut the string of protective runes off Ambessa's arm she has to allow Ambessa to get within stabbing distance of her face. And of course, Jinx forcing Vi to let her go by popping the gemstone out of her gauntlet and letting herself fall with Warwick.
Arcane has fantastic action storytelling and part of good action storytelling is knowing when to have the character stop fighting each other. Seeing the early concept art is cool to see how much things evolved, but I'm glad they moved away from just trying to do an epic boss fight because what we ended up with is so much more interesting.
Personally for me it was absolutely not about favoring mlm vs. wlw. This is not simply about representation, it's about the stories. I loved CaitVi in S1 but for me in S2 they completely lacked chemistry and their ending felt unearned.
In Season 1 CaitVi told a beautiful story about two kind-hearted women overcoming their prejudice and seeing the person that was in front of them. I cherished every heartfelt glance between them, especially Vi being touched every time Cait proved to be so much better than most Piltovians and showing compassion towards the people of Zaun.
But then Season 2 came along and I lost all respect for Cait the moment she said "animals" in S2E1. AND THEN she gassed Zaun and became the Fuhrer. Her redemption scenepack (because I'm not calling that an arc) didn't really do it for me. I get what they were going for but I never regained my appreciation for Caityn after everything she's done in S2.
Vi also became way less compelling in S2. She went from being an awesome big sister and one of the main characters in S1 to being basically a device for other characters (Jinx, Cait, Warwick) to have their moments, with a montage of getting drunk in goth makeup and an underdeveloped friendship with Loris sprinkled in for good measure. She also made many out of character choices, the biggest ones being joining the Enforcers and giving up on Jinx and Zaun.
Cait and Vi's first kiss had no chemistry for me. I feel like they weren't really seeing each other in that scene. Vi asked Cait to promise she wouldn't change but Cait has already started to change by then. Cait kissed Vi as a confirmation of that promise even though you can't realistically promise someone that you won't change because it's near impossible.
Their reconcilliation in S2E6 was rushed. We've all seen the jokes that all it took for Cait to do a 180 was to hear Vi say the word "cupcake". And then the sex scene in S2E8 felt unearned and had a very awkward timing. There was so much misunderstanding that they should've addressed first but I guess they just really wanted to boink already. Or rather, the writers wanted them to boink. Even if it was in a prison cell right after Jinx pretty much implied to Vi that she's going to kill herself.
I have many problems with Arcane Season 2's writing and Cait and Vi's storylines are among them. Meanwhile the best thing that happened in that season was Jayce and Viktor's stories. They were very compelling separately (Viktor becoming Jesus and finally being able to help people in Zaun like he always wanted to, only to become lost and possessed by the Hexcore and crossing the line. Jayce seeing the unforseen tragic consequences of his idealism and ambition and coming out on the other side more mature and wanting to amend for the damage he's caused) as well as in relation to each other (Their perspectives clashing in the divorce scene. Them basically switching places and gaining understanding of each other's POV. Every time they hurt each other in any capacity in Episodes 6, 8 and 9 you could see how much pain it brought them. And then their final scene which was just poetic and tied their story perfectly, them sacrificing their lives in each other's arms to save the world from their shared dream that started it all.)
Enjoying a good story and disregarding a poorly-written one has nothing to do with biases.
im a huge jayvik fan and loved their gay ass ending but the way they get SO MUCH MORE TRACTION than the CANONICAL LESBIAN COUPLE at the center of the show is sooooo telling of everyone's biases. it's all talking about how there's not enough lesbian rep until you actually get lesbian rep and fully fucking ignore it to hype up the not even canonical gay ship. like ok !!!
alright here's my idea - an au where jayvik meet as kids, with viktor working for a street magician, rigging all the fake tricks behind the scenes, and jayce as a little magic fanboy 🪄✨
some thoughts on this au:
jayce has been obsessed with magic acts ever since his life was saved by a sorcerer. there's a new performer in town who can do tricks no one else can, and jayce in convinced he must be the real deal. one day he sneaks backstage in the hopes of finding evidence of real magic, but finds viktor instead, who he assumes must be the magician's apprentice!
viktor is torn because he doesn't want to ruin this kid's enthusiasm, or risk losing his job by revealing the truth. but he also... really doesn't want to be a wizard. so he comes clean. (lol)
jayce is a little bummed to find out it's not real, but when viktor shows him how the practical effects work, jayce becomes enchanted once more. they look so convincing!! technology that can replicate magic?? he thinks that's brilliant.
from then on viktor has a little tag-along at all of their shows, and jayce even starts calling himself viktor's apprentice. viktor's embarrassed, obviously, but also undeniably charmed. he and jayce become friends, him teaching jayce about engineering and jayce (trying to) teach him about the arcane.
they are earth shatteringly adorable the entire time 😔
This tiktok made me laugh thinking of Jayce and his desk in the fic and so i thought id share
(Only 6 chapter corrections to go before its public again!!!!)
Thank you for all the love you've expessed toward Ximena in my fic guys 🥹 her character weaving into the narrative was very unplanned and unexpected. Here's a bit of one of her letters to V post jayvik divorce
Direct link to the fic
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61602655/chapters/157489549
The way this bookmark made me CACKLE HAHAHAHA
Direct link for those who are into neurodivergency and emotional calamity I suppose 😂
Very* WIP for chapter 26 - who's ready for the divorce 😭
Direct Link
What happens when your lab partner watches you get in on from across the room? The gay awakening is what happens 😩
❄️ Modern au, high tension slowest of burns 🔞 (159k and counting), friends to enemies to friends to lovers, scientific competition, petty lab-wars, neurodivergence and demisexuality, major angst, major pinning, major yearning, soulmate connection.
Direct Link
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61602655/chapters/157489549
Ready for some audible oofs?
I'm close to being done 🕺 it's the longest chapter to date 😩 (WIP CH 25)
Direct link