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dershternen.bsky.social
Shtern
@dershternen.bsky.social
23 followers 56 following 69 posts
tall snake / EN/RU / 🔞 / multifandom / I play and draw and talk and go on hiatuses 😔✨
just going through it

art @shtern-and-art.bsky.social
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dershternen.bsky.social
Yes, this is amazing, bless u op, I am Looking
January 28, 2025 at 11:04 AM
dershternen.bsky.social
Been staring at this art for a bit, so here's a little mindmelt I had about the bottom left sketch
So. Vik comes to the lab, and Jayce is already there deep in work after some business meeting. Shirt indecently unbuttoned, because she was hot after wearing the stuffy suit. And Jayce isn't even aware of her state of undress until Vik is also in the lab and she's not listening to Jayce's rambling, just staring silently. So Jayce rambles some excuses, and then awkwardly trails off and goes quiet. And Vik looks her up and down very slowly. And goes "You should unbutton it a bit more then. To feel more comfortable." And Jayce does. "And a bit more", says Vik. Jayce, her hands trembling, does. And when the shirt is holding on, semi-closed, only because it's tucked in the pants, and Jayce is all excited and full of anticipation. Vik says "Alright. You can go back to work." And walks to her table to start on her work too. This is like burning incense - freshens up the atmosphere. Raises the energy of the room. Not the productivity, though.
January 28, 2025 at 9:02 AM
dershternen.bsky.social
Me, at any given chance: wanna know what his waxed armpits mean in the sociopolitical sense in the story? :3c

#jaycetalis
January 3, 2025 at 3:57 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
just saying

#arcane #jayvik
January 1, 2025 at 11:05 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
sending this out into the universe

#jayvik
January 1, 2025 at 11:04 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
wait, no. gotta expand the sketch part of the fandom wall even more
January 1, 2025 at 8:09 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
that's it. my life is complete now
January 1, 2025 at 8:09 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
night
January 1, 2025 at 7:20 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
Not his legacy. Not his name. Not his family. Not even his hammer!
December 26, 2024 at 2:39 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
Who are you, you mean autistic beast (/pos) moulded into a money making machine for the elite (/neg)??? Do you know it yourself?????

Were were you born? Who were your parents? How is working for the mafia (let's be real here) to better the lives of the common people working out for you?
December 26, 2024 at 2:39 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
morning
December 19, 2024 at 11:46 AM
dershternen.bsky.social
December 13, 2024 at 5:29 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
please consider

#jayvik #jaycetalis #viktorarcane
Love all the "Jayce taking care of Viktor" headcanons and art, they are delightful. But let's be real. This man leaves his (mom made, I bet) sandwiches on the messy worktable right over the blueprints. Jayce and Viktor are both out there in the lab at 3 am eating instant noodles right off the table those spilled onto, because there is no time to waste and no fucks to give, really. When there's a time crunch on a project, the lab gets filled with the Man of Progress mugs with the remains of Maggi chicken stock cubes in various stages of decay. And I think that's beautiful.
December 10, 2024 at 8:58 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
(3/3)
And when he faced his fears and desires and came back to himself fully - the blanket is gone. Because Viktor doesn't need the externalised symbol of everything he's trying to let go off. All the yearning and desire to live is within him now (also Jayce is actually there with him, bet that helps). I think this is the major point I disagree with in other, more pessimistic reads of the show's themes. That it's a story about oppressed people lashing out and breaking themselves in various ways to escape the pressure and threat of death from the world. That it doesn't go anywhere but conformity or death. Oh, I can write another separate essay about how Viktor and Jayce didn't die at the end and how important it is that it didn't happen (and i did!). This whole rant is part of it, too. And I mean, bad things do happen to people in the story, they do lash out and break. And yet, Viktor wears the blanket. Clings to it so strongly it becomes part of his godhood. Strong enough to eventually tell about it all (back in time) to Jayce. And yet, even under unimaginable pressure, after breaking completely, Viktor is still holding on to that blanket. Is still human. Despite what the world told him all his life. Despite the world wanting him dead, gone, forgotten, not caring one bit, despite Viktor agreeing with all this eventually. He holds the blanket close. Despite Viktor becoming a monster in everyone else's minds, a real threat to the proper Piltover society and his own people in Zaun. Despite all that, Jayce can still look at Viktor at his worst, most distant and cruel and say "I see you. I need you. As you are". Despite Viktor going past any possible point of no return, destroying his body and mind, and being ready to destroy the world, too, despite giving in to everything he feared. Viktor can still hear it from Jayce and realise he was wrong. Despite fucking it up infinite amount of times, there was still always the chance to get it right, and they found it. ---- Like. Isn't it wild. No amount of dehumanisation or cruelty you experienced can make you less human. Less worthy of care and love. That blanket, man. I can't.
December 10, 2024 at 4:37 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
(2/3)
This contradiction is so human. It's like. No matter how strongly Viktor might want to destroy himself, his self who is weak and not needed. There was this one gesture of kindness towards him. At, probably, one of the most terrible moments of his life. When he was accepted and cared for as he is, even if Viktor couldn't bear it at the moment. Idk, man. Now pull the blanket tight. Even when Sky (symbolic representation of Viktor's guilt and desire for connection) was gone, he kept the blanket. On his soul now. The braces on Viktor's god-self mean several things at once (not getting into it here, maybe in another post). But the blanket moving to that plane, too? Viktor's subconscious clutching at it, despite everything? Like he actually never could let go of his humanity. Like it's impossible, when there's at least one little lifeline left. A glimmer of hope, of desire Viktor wouldn't even acknowledge to have. Not even talking about the great gay love here. Viktor wearing the blanket, pulling it tighter each time he essentially tried to kill himself. Means that he wants it. That connection. That kindness. Means that he wants to live. Despite everything. If Viktor really fully lost himself in his ascension, his older self wouldn't have been able to recognise that desire. Viktor's tragedy is not in him losing his humanity. It's in the fact that this goal, this Perfection is impossible to achieve to begin with. (The dehumanised ableist perfection of capitalistic ideal life, and "fitting in" lies in this grave, too.) He has to keep choosing to accept to not be human, each time at each turn. Accept it from the world, the system of power. From himself. And yet, he never can. Not fully. This is why the grand lie of it all is Viktor's salvation, too. As soon as Viktor regained his (human) perception of himself, the blanket disappeared almost completely.
December 10, 2024 at 4:37 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
more thoughts from tumblr - about the blanket and what in means in the narrative and for Viktor (1/3)

#arcane #jayvik #viktorarcane
I think there's just something in it. This blanket. When Viktor rejects his past, his job, his social standing, his academic ambitions - all that and more. He goes to live his new life fully naked. Only with that blanket in tow. But when Viktor starts to build his new life, and his new self, closer to his actual goals (at least so he thinks at the moment), he doesn't get any new clothes. People in the commune did. Sort of. They have redressed for the new life. And Viktor keeps wearing the only thing he brought over from the previous one. The cane doesn't count here, it also transformed into it's new self. But the blanket is still the same blanket. Just wrapped more securely around Viktor to give more coverage and protection like clothes would. I'd say the commune followed Viktor's lead in ditching their old fashion styles and wrapping themselves in loose fabrics, like monks. For them it was abandoning their past. For Viktor it was not letting go of his. Not completely at least. There's something, s o m e t h i n g in this, you know? He was wearing that blanket and only it. It became part of his divine (?) soul. We don't see it on him in the arcane mindscape, where Viktor is happy and exploring with Sky (like he wanted to do with Jayce). We don't see it on him, when they talk honestly with Jayce. Viktor is actually naked there, soul bare, doing what he always wanted to do. But each time Viktor tries to reject and diminish himself and his humanity, the blanket is there on his shoulders. And I don't mean it in the soft "Jayce is always there caring about Viktor's wellbeing" way (even though it's totally true). Maybe Jayce did put that blanket on him the first time, but Viktor did it himself all the times after that. He kept the blanket and wore it in the commune. His mind created his celestial body on the arcane-plane, where the blanket wrapped around him like flesh. His divine evolved self picked the blanket up from the floor it fell on, after Viktor stepped out of the cocoon fully naked, not needing anything in life anymore but his goals.
December 10, 2024 at 4:37 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
(4/4)
Viktor accepting Jayce's care and love, accepting that Jayce is staying with him, was Viktor accepting that he's worth it. That his life is worth it. (Choosing to move on from the pain and trauma, that's what got me so strongly in the finale of the season, ugh.) What they did wasn't a sacrifice, it was proof of life. That's what saved the world. And that's why they could only do it together. (And with Ekko and Jinx going through the similar journey parallel to them. I'll get to that post, because fr) Perhaps, they thought they might die. But narratively, thematically, and within their universe's established laws they actually did the opposite. Because it was never about single individuals breaking the cycle, the wheel, the cog spinning it all. Never about one person stopping it, and saving everyone who needs it, be it through progress, through evolution, through war, or dang capitalism and politics. It was about finding the courage to trust and rely on others, to keep caring about each other. To work together like one, like two wings. To create a community, however small, that will allow you to make choices outside of the pressure the cycle of death and oppression is grinding you under. And how that brings actual meaningful change to the world, the fact that we make it happen together, and care for each other throughout. It was about the butterfly, in the end. P.S. Jokes about gay situationship destroying the world and then saving it after are fun and all. But there is SOMETHING in how it would've been so much simpler for Viktor to let Jayce die on that mountain. To let himself die of his illness later. To let the world be safe from both of them. To spare them both the pain of what will happen in the rest of their lives. And yet Viktor comes back, and tries again and again to find a timeline where they both survive, and stay human, and don't destroy the world. Even if it will be almost too late, even if a lot of mistakes still happen. How about that - from the terminally ill suicidal man the world tried to convince that he's better off dead? (Yes, we're judging Heimerbitch hard in this house) Anyways. #JayvikLived, love wins, see you all later ✨
December 10, 2024 at 4:19 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
(3/4)
And this time, in this timeline, of all the possible (sometimes, I bet, deadly) purposes their rune was the rune of acceleration. Of, you know. Moving somewhere. Through time and space. And it wouldn't have work if they didn't activate it together. And to do it they had to, symbolically, choose to walk away. Move on. Together. Not from life, like Jinx tried after her inner-Silco's monologue. She was wrong in thinking her death will stop the disasters she brings, it would've just added to this cycle, keeping her within it instead. And similarly, Jayce and Viktor choosing to die, and then actually dying to save everyone would've been antithetical to everything we were told beforehand. (And oh, one day I'll compile all my notes on Jinx-Viktor/timebomb-jayvik parallels I've been clocking since season 1. This season just polished it all into crystal clear shining thread that ties the story's themes together.) They chose to move on from the pain, the pride, the insecurities, from everything that didn't let them choose life. Everything, that pushed them away from it and towards the ledge. Viktor was ready to let Jayce walk away, and then throw his own life on the barricades to make up for what he has done. And Jayce said "No. You don't have to do it alone".
December 10, 2024 at 4:19 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
(2/4)
The way Jayce put hexcore into Viktor, even though it would change him, and derail his life. Even though it would doom Viktor and them both. Because Jayce couldn't do anything else. Because Jayce would love him anyway. The way Viktor kept coming back to save Jayce when he was a child, kept giving him the crystal. Even though it would change him irrevocably, derail his life forever. Even though it would doom Jayce and them both. Because Viktor couldn't do anything else. Because Viktor loves him anyway. And in the end we saw that holding on to that love, like a lifeline, through all the mistakes they've made along the way, can save them both from the endless cycle of death and pain. It was affection that held them together. Held them both from breaking into pieces and losing themselves. I know people keep saying that it is left ambiguous if Jayce and Viktor died, or became celestial beings together, or teleported into some other time and space. But I think it is explicitly narratively clear that they didn't die in the end. And maybe, if Jayce left, and Viktor tried to activate the rune on his own they both would've died, yes. But their whole story is about how they help each other choose life. Literally and figuratively. By giving inspiration, by force, by just asking. It is about the butterfly coming together, and actually flying on its own, without the magic or technology. Viktor saved Jayce on the mountain and gave him his dream. Viktor took Jayce off the ledge, and gave him his dream again. Jayce took Viktor off the ledge, when he also wanted to go. Comforted him and showed him that he can stay, even if it hurts right now. Jayce literally tore Viktor's death away from him, thrusting the new life and new fate into his hands. And this cycle kept repeating over and over, because they refused to let each other go, yes. But in the end Jayce clawed and tore himself to pieces to get into Viktor's soul to once again say "Your life is precious to me, no matter how bad things can get. Please see how valuable it is".
December 10, 2024 at 4:19 PM
dershternen.bsky.social
bringing my thoughts from tumblr - #JayvikLived and why it makes the most sense (1/4)

#arcane #jayvik #viktorarcane #jaycetalis
ON COGS, BUTTERFLIES, AND THE NATURE OF THE SHARED DREAM #JayvikLived and why it makes the most sense What if saving you will doom me and the entire world, but I will still do it anyway, in every universe in every timeline, always. What if I do it again and again until I find the one where you can save me back. Because I don't want to do it without you. --- In all timelines including the one we saw in the show, Jayce keeps fucking up, making mistakes and wrong calls. Oftentimes because of his fixation on the miracle that happened to him in his childhood. And in all timelines, in all realities Viktor keeps saving him. With that miracle. Their recursive dream is always collapsing on itself. Viktor saved Jayce because they had the hextech dream already, and in doing so gave Jayce this dream. They are infinite in their paradox. And they managed to walk away from it only when they did it together. Because their actual dream, the real one, was not the hextech itself, not a cog (in the system that's bringing money for the people in power), but a butterfly. A living thing. The man, not the machine. It was never about the tech, two ways of using it, never about two sides of the cog and choosing between one or the other. It was about two wings learning to work together. See, Jayce got his (somewhat naive) dream of saving the world because he was saved as a child. But Viktor saved him then because their dream was always, from the very start - to help and save each other. It was the butterfly all along. It was there when Jayce opened his eyes in the field. Not an omen of death, but of the human soul, rebirth. Of infinite consequences unraveling into the future. The way the butterfly was corrupted through focusing on the technology, and the way technology eroded, reshaped itself into what it actually strives to be.
December 10, 2024 at 4:19 PM