dyingchemist

[dyingchemist]

Time for another seasonal Chemist’s rant.

With it being pride month (happy pride y’all <3), I have noticed an even greater uptick in the fanbase’s misogynist behavior. There has been active censorship with in the fandom and on subreddits of CaitVi official pride art from LoL, yet they complain about there being no JayVik. Well if anything they are queer platonic. Also I think we should talk about how the staff of the show and voice actors are indirectly enabling this sexism with in the fanbase as well as the perpetual reframing of what Christian Linke said regarding viewing Viktor as asexual. I have seen many posts saying that Linke states that viktor is unable to love which isn’t true and he said “To me, Viktor was always asexual, and that was always something we talked about from the very beginning. So, a romantic relationship between Jayce and Viktor was just never part of it. There is a love, absolutely, but we also found it a bit... Love and relationships are so complex and take so many different forms. Viktor loves in a different way.” I’m not sure what the issue is with that is, he LITERALLY said viktor loves just different.

I honestly think that with the show being done that the creators of the show and the VA just need to let it be done and stop enabling this horrid fanbase that I have a low-key toxic relationship with because I keep coming back (I am somewhat self aware. The brainworms won’t let me leave.)

But returning to misogyny, the show does not help this as in the case of Sky, they used her as a plot point for Viktor, which while I understand, it seemed very meaningless with how they did not flesh out their dynamic at all to make her death impactful beyond whoops someone died. While I do believe if my actions led to someone dying I would be very depressed as well, I don’t find Viktor’s reactions with in the context of the show and what we’ve seen proportional for Sky to just be a meaningless plot point that even the creators reduced her too. For example Jayce literally killed a child and basically was like oh no anyways let me go talk to viktor about how we’re being shitty. Meanwhile Viktor was about to throw himself off a ledge. With Sky making an appearance in the second season they really squandered this opportunity to show Viktor wanting to redeem himself and do right by Sky as at the point of the commune Viktor was still good and had peoples interests at heart. And I really don’t like how they reduce Viktor obviously being distressed about Sky being destroyed to “haha sky called him gay and left”…she knew he wouldn’t miss her because he was destroying his humanity, his ability to love and miss people for what he thought was the greater good. Sigh. At least Viktor talks about sky fondly in the game.

Now for a more spicy hot take on a common headcanon I’ve seen, Viktor being trans. Now hold your horses, this is perfectly fine and I vibe with it tbh. However I do not vibe with the reasons people headcanon this as they kinda leave a yucky taste in my mouth and I find them to be rather ableist and something along the lines of sexist in a way. For example someone said viktor in a way “a cis man wouldn’t”…how exactly is a cisman supposed to act? How does a trans man act??? Also saying that he’s acts feminine, and saying that he must be a trans man is not helping the issue of forcing men of all kind to act in toxic masculine ways, and also feels a touch transphobic to me as it is implying trans men are inherently feminine which is…a thought. I think he’s very “manly” in the sense he is determined to work through his many adversities. He’s feminine because he’s cried on screen? Or is he feminine because he’s a sassy introvert? I don’t know, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that is difficult to articulate. Now, I understand that a lot of people relate to viktor and see his metamorphosis as an allegory for transition and I think that’s totally understandable!

And lastly to sort of continuation of my rant regarding misogyny and gender in general. Jayce. Fucking. Talis. Explain to me why we are centering the most milk toast male protagonist ever. In season one I wanted to throw this man down the stairs and I think they redeemed his character in season two. However, I DETEST that Mel and Viktor’s stories revolve around Jayce in the narrative of the fanbase (and by proximity Sky’s as well.) Mel is seen as the villain for the yaoi shippers when in reality she is a beautiful and complex character with complicated motivations and a positive character arc. I hate that her and Jayce’s relationship also sort of got pushed to the way side in the end and also the fact that people say they didn’t care about each other when they did. Also it irks me that people said Jayce look disgusted when he caught her after she exhausted herself using her powers. MF JAYCE HAS A BROKEN LEG HE SHOULDNT EVEN BE STANDING ON AND UNEXPECTEDLY CAUGHT THE WEIGHT OF A GROWN WOMAN ARE YOU DUMB?! Anyways. She is another character that I feel that the show really rushed her screen time and said anyways move for our star boys here. They really botched how they handled the female characters in Arcane and continue to do so with post production statements. Just leave the show alone and stop adding to it. Let people speculate and have fun with it. Justice for Mel and especially Sky. Jayce is a pretty mid character IMO in a collection of great characters and everything revolves around him in this fanbase. “Viktor made his puppets to appeal to Jayce because they look like Mel” or maybe they are supposed to be perfectly androgynous angelic beings with ideal proportions and elegance…. “Viktor kept the cog”…it literally fell off the water pump jinx was messing with and he was fidgeting with it and it was meant to be a parallel as it was covered in arcane marks… “Viktor did this for Jayce and this for Jayce and this for Jayce…” actually I think viktor just didn’t want to die and then was pissed Jayce violated his autonomy and boundaries multiple times. “Mel is just an obstacle for Jayce and viktor” well they all have two (three in some cases) hands so.

I’m tired of Jayvik shippers always having something to say on posts and in spaces that arent meant for them. Y’all would have not survived in OG anime fanbases like Naruto where Sasuke and Naruto canonically kissed twice (for a bit but still lol).

Anyways, everyone who is in the likely silent majority of the fanbase, keep doing y’all and just block the annoying JayVik shippers. (The normal ones can stay y’all are cool.)

Love,

a dying chemist.

[dyingchemist]

Why the Arcane fandom sucks, an essay.

There is no way to enjoy anything in this fandom I feel, and frankly as someone who isn’t a shipper in any fandom I find it suffocating that the jayvik discourse snuffs everything else out. I also find it disgusting how everyone bullies the non-shippers or OC shippers/self shippers in this fandom I’ve notice. I have also noticed a fair bit of misogyny as well, whether it’s from people who are against Mel and Jayce or Sky and Viktor, or people invading the Jayce x reader and Viktor x reader (especially the fem!reader) tags with jayvik ship material. It’s exhausting if I’m honest. I also hate how the fandom uses any shred of media interviews to basically “go see see look you’re wrong,” to anyone who just wants to enjoy the original media in the way they want to and share it with others. Regarding the post production statements from cast and crew, my personal opinion is that they often try to give relatively (key word relatively) open ended statements while also giving the statement that would be most popular. You forget these people are PR trained. Now I think it’s perfectly fine if the cast and crew think it should be one way or another and I believe it’s still left just open ended enough for everyone to enjoy things how they want. I think I just get frustrated that people are a bit too stupid to see that people will always give the most PR popular answer (except the main writer apparently who I love how his statement is always like yeahhhhh anyways shut up, but everyone else’s statements are law? Idk kinda weird.)

I just think I’m very disappointed that my favorite show is slowly becoming something I hate because of the fanbase and I feel like I and other women are not allowed to enjoy it or our comfort characters unless they shut up and agree. And honestly I am disappointed that people on either side demand answers or for things to be official rather than letting everyone be happy. It’s called headcanon for a reason.

As someone who is ND and has hyper fixations it is hard to cope with this and it’s frankly frustrating and sort of embarrassing I get in such a tizzy that I feel like I can’t just go on IG or even Pinterest and enjoy just Viktor art without it behind shipping art. And I think it’s also ridiculous that I feel like I have to explain that no, it’s not me hating two men being shipped, frankly I think some of the art is adorable, is the fact I’ll put not interested in IG and I’ll get 20 more posts, or on posts that are like Sky x Viktor there will always be some jayvik shipper screeching there. At the end of the day it’s just annoying that no one is allowed to enjoy the same show we all love in a different way and are practically forced out of the internet spaces. I don’t even go on IG anymore because it was making me sort of upset, and tumblr is on thin ice but at least I can filter tags here. (But sometimes I would like a cheeky poly fic so I don’t really filter HAHA.) What I mean to say is that the rabid shippers are pushing BNHA levels, and what I mean by that is how feral they are and if you disagree they double down and sort of terrorize the rest of the fandom which frankly I don’t think is that small of a sect. (Those the disgusting and problematic stuff is not remotely on the same scale. The worst is misogyny and at times racism.)

Fandom and specifically fanfic has always been very fem coded in my experience and it makes me feel queasy that the fanbase for my favorite show actively seems to hate women. For example there was something on tiktok or IG about an artist drawing a racist depiction of Cait and then vitkor beautifully, or the fact shippers are racist towards Mel and Sky. I see SQUAT about time bomb or CaitVi, hell even Vander and Silco! I guess the crux of it is, a little diversity would be nice, character analyses that don’t revolve around sexuality or shipping, theory’s or expansions upon characters that sort of got back burnered like Sky or other councilors or more about the sort of rebellion and why Silco and Vander had a falling out. Writing critique on the show even considering that second season was so rushed imo!

Just let the women be in the fanbase bro. I don’t care that y’all are shipping two men, great, so you shouldn’t care what I and other women are doing too! You should be like cool we love the same show!

I am curious how women/fems/or just anyone burnt out from fandom and shipping feels and copes with this. Saying cope feels sort of cringe and like it’s causing me a mental breakdown, it’s more so the “bro please let me enjoy my favorite thing too,” feeling. We should make our own community with in the fandom so we can enjoy things as well with other people too. It’s okay and it makes me want to finally share my own writings I just don’t know where to start since I’ve been a lurker for 10+ years.

Love,

A Dying Chemist

[dyingchemist]

Me: shipping is fine I don’t mind it I think some of the viktor and Jayce stuff is cute just not my cup of tea

shippers: tag their NSFW Jayvik shipping art with viktor x reader or Jayce x reader

Also me:

Tbh I’m realizing that for me personally it’s not the ship, or the shipping that’s the issue, it’s the getting flashbanged with nsfw yaoi of my comfort character when I’m not looking for it, is what’s irking me so much about the fanbase. And no, not finding yaoi appealing as a woman doesn’t mean I’m phobic. Keep your tags to yourself, and stop diluting other tags. The fandom is for everyone not just shipping so please stay in your lane. Bro please let me enjoy our shared media the way I like and you enjoy it the way you like bro please.

love,

a dying chemist

[dyingchemist]

I’m so glad jayvik will never canon because I like to see racists, misogynists, and people that fetishize male friendships and relationships suffer. anyways mel medarda >>>

[dyingchemist]

A hyperfixated fandom lurker’s exhausted (but hopefully kind and understood) opinion on fandom behavior and a sort of media fatigue

Arcane is my hyper fixation at the moment and I have been pondering a lot so let’s be kind to each other! And if you respond I would really appreciate if you’re kind and respectful so we can engage with each other as fandoms should, and I also don’t think anyone will change anyone’s perspective to be honest

To start: there is nothing wrong with shipping, theorizing, analyzing, and enjoying media in however you interpreted it. What is wrong is treating fellow fans poorly or alienating them for disagreeing and this goes for pro and anti shippers across all fandoms, and using bigotry and or hate as an argument because you can’t seem to articulate why you don’t like something or are just a jerk. And for transparency I am a MASSIVE viktor simp and former Jayce hater so I’ve done a lot more digging and thinking and analyzing on viktor as my sort of comfort character I think is the term.

I definitely think there was possible some baiting with the author confirming it to not be romantic COMBINED with how partner was used interchangeably with best friend, as established by Jayce calling Viktor his best friend and then partner in the span of seconds during Viktor's departure. I also viewed the burning in the fire scene as Jayce feeling like he's lost his two most important people, or that his priority was shifting from his relationship with Mel and thinking about how he has abandoned Viktor (bros before heaux if you will) especially since in the alternate timeline Jayce is experiencing everything Viktor has had to (solitude and his leg being busted.) But it is up for interpretation PURPOSELY, I don't view this as "an agenda" rather intentional ambiguity to milk engagement and appease as many viewers as possible because at the end of day it is Riot and Netflix and they want good views, engagement, and everything that comes along with that. It's soft baiting and remember corporations don’t care about our opinions they just want our engagement!

I also think that as people who are discussing this, we should take note that Cait and Vi's relationship is a relatively prominent storyline, Jinx and Ekko's alternate timeline romance was also an event, and then on top of that Jayce and Mel's relationship and then a handful of other sexual relationships and themes implied here and there, so I do not think that the creators would have shied away from making Jayce and Viktor's relationship genuinely romantic. But I’ve also been hearing that a lot of media tends to over look MLM compared to WLW which is also fair. I personally think I would have been disappointed if it was made romantic regardless of gender because it would have felt sort of cheap and last minute (we all know the one.)

I always read Jayce and Viktor's dynamic two men who have and will save each other's lives over and over again as they discussed and they are two sides of the same coin that complement and balance each other out and there is a lot of symbolism in regards to Jayce progressing and Viktor getting left behind. Jayce is a relatively privileged man from Piltover from a lesser house and likely a reasonable fortune and had a patron, able bodied and healthy etc. Viktor was a disabled and chronically ill man from the undercity and likely from poverty or lower class in general and was practically killing himself to reach his ambitions. Jayce got to the top at a price, one of his only genuine connections regardless of what the nature of it was. I also viewed Viktor's path splitting off as him being tired of his autonomy constantly being violated by Jayce and just in general (not destroying the hex core, not letting him die, making weapons twice.) I also think that the romance vs bromance debate is reductive to the beauty of the dynamic the authors crafted and also shows that affection, love, what have you, can transcend concepts that can be verbalized because at the end of the day it is an abstract construct and everyone experiences love in different ways. I PERSONALLY think viewing it as an amazingly well written story about two people regardless of gender is what’s most important along with an understanding that not everything has to be romantic, sexual or platonic and can be fluid. Now given the alternate timeline thing i definitely thing there’s timelines where everyone’s opinion is right probably since there never was any specific confirmation of sexuality except for Jayce and Mel’s relationship and I personally view viktor as probably asexual if not someone who probably doesn’t really feel those things to be important. I mean mans was killing himself for the grind I don’t think romance and sex was on his radar. I also think there is a level of them both being so intellectually gifted that they probably have a level of respect and affection for each other as kindred spirits as intellect can be a heavy burden. A last little tidbit of opinion rather than analysis is that tbh idk how I feel about them changing viktors lore, where’s my baby Blitz? I also felt like they probably were going to go with it originally considering they had him make the hexclaw in season one and changed it for some reason.

Shifting gears a little, I personally was surprised that Viktor and Sky didn't have more explicit romantic undertones and I do have to wonder about that, if it was a sort of budding romance that was nipped in the bud because of obvious events. My reason for pondering was because they knew each other since childhood and also the fact she very obviously had interest in him. But the main reason I was wondering about this, or rather Sky's place in Viktor's story, was that she was rather symbolic when he decided to evolve and her saying that he wouldn't miss her was that I interpreted this as him throwing away what was left of his heart and humanity as when he was following after what was basically her ghost he was still focused on genuinely trying to help people. I also viewed parts of the song that accompanied this portion of the episode as from Viktor to Sky and him wanting her to not be there for this and to remember him as the image she had of him. This just all feels like a loose thread that got cut down for run time.

I think shipping is generally harmless it's only annoying when people are barbaric (on either side) and demand they are right and prevent other people from enjoying the same media in how they want to. I personally I find it frustrating when I am looking for fan art and I'm getting flooded with Jayce and Viktor fan art or when I am looking for fanfics and the tags I am looking through are flooded with people basically mistagging things. (I.e. looking for x reader or x OC and then finding shipping stuff in there.) I wouldn't mind it so much if it I could enjoy what I PERSONALLY like. It would be great if everyone just stayed in their lane. live and let live (easier said than done I know.) I would simply like to be able to enjoy what I like and my interpretation of things without being suffocated by shippers and frankly to me personally it doesn't matter the orientation of the ship or fandom to me, I just don't think every single relationship needs to be romantic and it is also a bit frustrating that there is this undertone of friendship or platonic partnership being less important, powerful, fulfilling and intimate than romantic and sexual with in fanbases and society in general, and I think you can hold these feelings without being hateful (side eyeing some commentary I’ve seen). I can say it is just genuinely that it feels like people who are in the same camp (being charitable, hopefully kind, wanting harmony and just doesn’t view it as romantic personally but is okay with people viewing it that way) as me are not given respect as fellow fans I guess? I'm not sure how to verbalize that aspect of it to be honest.

I also think that the behavior of people who participate in shipping really do turn people off from participating in fandom as well, simply because of the lack of kindness from any perspective I’ve noticed and it’s exhausting as someone who usually is a lurker. And it also is tired to be accused of being hateful when I simply don’t really like a ship and find the behavior of the fandom (mostly on other platforms) to be disgusting. Are people cringe for saying phobic things? Absolutely. Are people who are screaming it’s canon annoying? For sure. I personally believe it was left for interpretation so we ALL can enjoy Viktor and Jayce in the ways fans do either with shipping them with each other, their love interest(s?) or even their OCs/reader inserts. The constant bombarding with shipping material and arguments and general aggression when I’m just trying to enjoy the media we all are clearly very passionate makes it hard to enjoy and is alienating at times. I personally respect what the author said, and agree with it because that was MY interpretation based on my experiences and also how I viewed the story. But you know what else? If you want to ship them and think it was romantic that’s totally okay and valid too!

At the end of the day if my friend and I were about to be vaporized and were accepting that we're about to die as the consequences of our actions I would be holding on and being affectionate in our last moments as well which I think is something that they captured well in the show and is something that might be overlooked. I am also slightly biased as a Viktor simp with media fatigue and just want to enjoy my comfort character in peace like the total dork I am. (And tbh if my friend was walking around the lab with a new body that is a literal scientific anomaly all nakie like and his hexticles got evaporated I’d notice too LMAO)

No one is wrong except for the aggressive weridos and bigots and I hope that we all can be a good fandom here on this platform at least because the other ones scared me!

Love, a dying chemist