before we get into the video Major Spoilers for both seasons of Arcane male friendships can be beautiful and should be encouraged for a guys to create longlasting deep loving friendships however I don't think what Jace and Victor have can be described as just merely a friendship are they partners sure are they lovers worse the ending of Arcane has left fans wondering what is gayer Caitlyn and VI literally having gay sex or whatever Jason Victor have going on I think this joke is funny but it's also low-key kind of a joke about how often times queer characters are just left to subtext and Fantastical displays of love and affection that go beyond how straight relationships are typically depicted it's it's all relevant anyway jayc I love them my brother thinks I'm delusional my friends are disappointed mostly because they're Jace haters but I and many others are not just pulling this ship out of our asses and making things up just because we like the characters jayc has some pretty decent legs to stand on as a ship and I think we should talk about it Arcane two gay scientists magical girl anime and the Bible that's kind of the thesis statement of this video and I promise that string of words will make sense by the time we're done [Music] here so what is subtext subtext is the underlying or implicit meaning when writing you don't just want to serve the audience every single detail on a silver platter to do so insults the intelligence of the audience and despite the media literacy crisis we seem to be in media should and still does pick and choose what is explicitly stated and what is just shown for the audience to pick up on there's also the fact that often times in real life people don't say exactly what they mean to write in a way that is more direct feels a little bit unnatural especially when creating something for an audience that is not incredibly young and in need of having their handheld through a narrative the way a show is edited together is also an intentional choice that heightens the story being told further adding subtext the way shots are cut together tell us something about the situation and that is true for animation as well in Arcane a lot of character Nuance is actually conveyed to us through subtext shown through editing things a certain way leading the audience to make certain connections and draw parallels between characters or in the case of powder and Jinx different versions of the same person I'd also like to add that a relationship between two characters is more impactful when we see the depths of affection unfold through the subtleties and details like expressions and the potential deeper meaning behind what's actually said comes through with animation very clearly because all of the Expressions the micro Expressions the way the eyes light up when they look at someone is all very tediously drawn detail it's very intentional how many people are disappointed with a lot of endgame relationships that seemingly come out of nowhere two characters that have a relationship only because we're told they have one and it's not shown we don't see the way that they impact each other's lives they don't we don't see the way the love has grown and unfolded and the way they look at each other doesn't really tell us much subtext is a vital part of conveying the full depth of a story and a world without Exposition hell and talking down to the audience and Arcane does this very well so what am I supposed to take away from the sequence where Jace and Mel sleep together for the first time and how it intercuts shots of Victor working and essentially dying as if Jace is leaving Victor behind cheating on him if you read it that way okay sure Mel was mostly using Jace and Victor for hextech and her sleeping with Jace was a pivotal moment in her securing hextech for what she wanted but the equal focus on Mel and Victor conveys to me that Jace puts them on equal footing in his mind time and time again the show places Mel and Victor on the same if not similar levels for Jace's affection and Care the scene was edited together like a drama where one character is cheating on their partner with someone else or where one character was making a choice between two love interests consummating their relationship with one while leaving the other behind and don't even get me started on the scene where Mel morphs into Victor in Jason's imagination like yeah you should love your friends and your romantic partner should be like a best friend but to hold your explicitly romantic and sexual partner in the same space as your best friend more than friends situationship whatever you want to call it is the show directly Comm communicating with us that Jace loves Mel and he loves Victor I do think that Jace loved both Mel and Victor a bisexual and polyamorous King didn't know you were cool like that Jace it's clear that Jace trusts Mel she's the only person other than Victor and his mom that we see him really let his guard down around Jace looks at peace when he's around Mel like he can take the weight of the world off of his shoulder ERS for once let his worries be known and know that Mel has his back and I do think Mel did what she thought was best both regarding her ulterior motives but also for Jace as a person but we also see the way Jace absolutely Ador Victor the Comfort Victor's presence brings him and the way Victor allows Jace to just be a scientist not Jace the man of progress not Jace the councilman but Jace the idealist and eager scientist who just wants to learn as much as he can and help people along the way the very man jaay started out as before the events of the show took place having someone you can be yourself around revert back to who you are without the pressures of the world is a very special bond and we see Jace create a safe space for himself with Mel and Victor Mel just has the added bonus of being someone he can confide in with his worries for Victor and also they're straight passing so that's a whole lot of can of worms although Arcane is a universe that maybe isn't queer normative but definitely is a universe where we see queer characters get to live and Thrive and homophobia is not really a part of the narrative which is cool love to see it Jace is more upset that Victor died in the explosion then he is relieved that he and Mel are okay the fact that Mel could couldn't or didn't save Victor with her magic that she was not aware of at the time this is not her fault this was the whole basis for the great Mel and Jace divorce I kind of love the trend of people seeing serious conflict in relationships and just calling it a divorce even though they were never married nor did they actually break up gay or not jaay clearly loves Victor a great deal more than a friend or a coworker as soon as he realizes that Victor was harmed in the blast nothing else mattered no one else mattered Jace was willing to do anything to bring Victor back to save him willing to do something dangerous willing to experiment with something he'd promised Victor he would destroy willing to risk it all just for his partner to be back in his life he knew Victor had determined that hexcore was dangerous he knew that Victor needed him to destroy it but he was going to ignore all of that just for the chance at helping one of the people he cared the most for love makes you do crazy things or whatever it is they say Jace's heartbroken over Victor's fate over what has happened over what he has to do to stop the end of piltover Hell the end of the world he struggles but at the end of the day he cannot damn the world for the sake of Victor in fact destroying the hexe that has now bonded with Victor's body destroying Victor would be a mercy to him Victor had wanted this after all and it was a future version of Victor that put Jace on this mission in the first place all those years ago showing Jace magic and handing him the Rune that kickstarted it all Arcane has shown that they are not afraid to explicitly showcase queer relationships and in the case of VI and Caitlyn their relationship plays a major role in the character arcs VI shows Caitlyn the true injustices pilt over and the enforcers have committed against those from Zan and she also further shows Caitlyn the humanity of the oppressed something that is vital to Caitlyn's rise fall and Redemption as a character Caitlyn and her relationship with VI also serves as a major conflict with Jinx that lowkey kind of drives the plot them being romantic is vital to their story arc and since their relationship and dynamic happens fairly quickly there has to be a base attraction that the audience can identify with and understand how they grew such a bond so quickly however for Jason Victor we get to see their relationship grow over time it's not romantic or sexual interest that plays a vital role in their character arcs but instead it's their bond with the way Jason Victor's relationship plays into the over a plot and the themes of Arcane the writers don't have to be as explicit in the details they're allowed the space to show Jace and Victor grow close over years of working together instead of having to make a case for why they would be so close after after a day or two like with Caitlyn and VI there's also the fact that lesbian relationships are heavily ftiz in media at large and also more palatable for homophobic audiences so that's another lens you could compare the queer representation in the show with but we're not really talking about that all this to say that Jace and Victor's exact relationship status does not matter as much as other characters and that also gives room for Jace and Victor to have an undefined relationship a deep emotional connection love and adoration that they never explicitly put a label on which feels pretty in character for the two honestly they're just vibing Victor says it best when he says their paths diverged long ago and it was affection that held them together Victor grew frustrated with how Jace was being manipulated with how Jace folded for Mel and how those in power sought to use hect as a weapon taking Jace and Victor's creation and turning it into the complete antithesis to what Victor had set out to do but despite it all despite the changes each of them went through Jace and Victor stayed together because they both held affection for one another had diverged long ago it was affection that held us together but the real piece of subtext that I feel isn't even subtext is the fact that at the end of the show Jace and Victor literally have their souls meshed together two halves coming together to save the world they have a heart tohe heart and Jace talks about how all the imperfections that Victor sought to cure were things that made him beautiful Jace admired all of Victor's imperfections he admired every aspect of Victor and at the end of it all Jace just wants his partner back but you would have a broken Victor there is Beauty in imperfections they made you who you are an Inseparable piece of everything I admired about you love and affection spill from his voice adoration in his eyes as he's finally able to talk to Victor and for the first time since jinx's attack on the council it's just Jace and Victor together their love doomed the world and saved it at the same time they're literally soulmates I thought I wanted us to give magic to the world now all I want is my partner [Music] back you guys know those spot that difference games where you're shown two images or videos and have to compare them yeah I'm trying to play that right now when these are just the same video I can see it all now and I finally know I know all the things you've done for me throughout all those different timelines in all timelines in all [Music] possibilities only you contr show it's no secret that the creators of arcane were inspired by anime the studio has gone on paper to state that they were inspired by directors like Satoshi Kon KIRO otomo Mambu Hora and hayo mizaki while they never directly say they are inspired by maruka Maga it is stated they are inspired by the types of stories told in anime and the visuals that are unique to the medium but the part of all this that makes me feel very normal about Jace and Victor is the fact that Moka and homa's relationship has a very similar nature to Jace and Victor a deep bond and unconditional love and the undoing of one another it's pretty widely accepted that Homa is queer and in love with Muka she literally bends time forcing herself into a mind-numbing loop over and over and over and over again I think for like 12 years just to try and save moka's life to protect the girl she loves also spoiler Zone from Muka magika skip ahead to this time stamp if you don't want to be spoiled for How It Ends for like the series and also the movie like the third one eventually when Homa cannot stop Muka from becoming a magical girl and in turn becoming a god Hoda devotes herself to undoing Moka becoming a witch that's the Counterpoint to moka's God Powers becoming the villain in the story Jace becomes the one to undo Victor's godhood becoming the villain and those in his commune it's not a perfect matchup since Victor is in the wrong and I don't believe Hoda was successful it's been over a decade since I've seen the movie but I'm pretty sure she was not successful like Jace is but the similarities are too much to not bring up media also tends to make queer characters subtle in an attempt to appeal a more conservative and intolerant pocket book that funds these Productions and the society at large and MAA Maga did come out in 2011 so with this in mind many who watch Moda Maga are willing to call it a Yuri girls loving girls because that makes the most sense when looking at the dynamic between Muka and Homa and the links these girls go to for one another so if that's the common consensus for these two when Victor and jce mirror them it feels like an intentional reference to further contextualize their relationship be it an on the- noose reference or a subconscious reference I couldn't find a source that actually definitively says that Arcane took inspiration from Muka magika but the writing is all over the wall and we also know League of Legends as an IP is very familiar with magical girls in anime I mean star Guardian set I know that's more Sailor Moon but like all the magical girls we just hold hands if you like one you've probably consumed [Music] more so we're all in agreement when I say Victor is Jesus right he's a miracle worker Healing The Sick and Afflicted walking amongst the common folk bringing his light and salvation Victor spearheads his own spiritual commune much like how Jesus spearheads Christianity from a storytelling standpoint Victor is a direct parallel to Jesus so what does that make Jace the one who would bring about Victor's downfall the one who was once a close trusted partner it's not a Perfect Analogy but Jace would be the Judas figure here in Christian lore Judas is the apostle that brought about Jesus's downfall and crucifixion by selling him out Jace wasn't just a messenger though instead Jace sought to bring down Victor with his own bare hands okay so what does establishing biblical counterparts have to do with the idea that Jay and Victor are soulmates I am so glad you asked did you know that people are making the Bible gay before I move forward I am just talking about the Bible here as a work of literature not about the religions tied to the Bible or what these people would have been like for real if you believe they were real for all intents and purposes here the Bible is a well-known book and that is all I mean when I'm talking about it here books allow for a bit of leeway when it comes to interpretations of the text so like keep that in mind don't burn me at the Stak for blasphemy there is Merit in relating Jesus's story to our own experiences with queerness his love and Devotion to his beloved's disciple Teeters on the homoerotic side According to some and Scholars look to moments like Luke 23 where Jesus and his group are persecuted for perverting the nation or being different or a deviant and identify how he's being treated with the ostracization and othering of queer people if you're even somewhat familiar with the New Testament of the Bible you'll know that Jesus is out of place to say the least often persecuted and driven out of town the people in power see him as a weirdo and a threat it's an objective fact that Jesus is is a countercultural rebel within the context of the Bible itself and that's appealing and relatable to many queer folk all of this just to say some people enjoy taking a queer reading to Jesus and Judas and this is a genuine read of the pair not a joke or like a crack ship or anything like people are being genuine Jesus and Judas also play into a very popular romance tropes they share a relationship of worship a deep bond only for said bond to be severed by a grand Act of betrayal an act of betrayal that was low-key necessary in the whole grand scheme of things a betrayal that allowed the plot to happen in Jesus's case it's the Betrayal that led to his crucifixion and the means to which Christians would be able to be forgiven of their sins in Victor's case it's the Betrayal that he himself sought out in order to stop himself from destroying the world world it's a love doomed by The Narrative I feel like this is a fairly common ship amongst people reconciling their queer identities and their relationship with Christianity and that connecting javic to Jesus and Judas is an extra layer of subtext although I will admit this is more of an extra cherry on top instead of a main part of the cake I still wanted to bring it up because I think the connection is interesting and it places Jason Victor into a greater literary context Beyond muko Maga [Music] I don't think it would be fair to talk about Jace and Victor while ignoring the post-mortem sexuality label that the co-creator Christian link voiced in an interview Victor is asexual was always asexual behind the scenes as far as link was concerned this conflicts with how many fans see Victor to quote a common sentiment on Tik Tok that man is run through and he's having a great time evidence being the this isn't my bedroom comment he makes when Mel catches him and jaying into himr dinger's office a comment that implies on some level that Victor taking someone back to his room isn't too out of character for him to do something that could easily be an explanation for what he and Jace were doing allow me to provide some insight as an actual asexual person here asexuality literally just means little to no sexual attraction this doesn't have to mean an asexual person is never sexually active nor does it mean they can't enjoy physical intimacy all it means is that there is no physical attraction everyone can be right here but also just because Victor is Ace does not mean he can't love Jace While most people's romantic and sexual attraction matches those are in fact two different spectrums you can't can be asexual and still be heteroromantic homoromantic biromantic panromantic pretty much any sexuality does have a romantic counterpart because sexual and romantic attraction are two different things despite how often they tend to overlap link does follow up and explain that there is still love between Victor and Jace while he does state that a romantic relationship was never on the table for the two it comes off to me like he thinks asexual people don't love in a romantic sense I don't know the phrase Victor loves in a different way screams equating sex with love at the worst and a romantic at best either that or he was just not entirely on board with the jic ship but for the sake of analysis I will be charitable here let's say Victor was meant to be AO Ace and Link just didn't know the term for a Romanticism I'm also Arrow Ace so this is an area of love and life I know just a little bit too much about link is right to say that love and relationships are complicated Jas and Victor don't have to be romantic to be soulmates and many a-romantic people do still seek companionship that on the outside does resemble romantic relationships these are usually called queer platonic relationships and run a lot deeper than just a friendship queer platonic relationships are a commitment much like a romantic partner or spouse and function similarly just without romantic feelings I can't really explain how it feels different because I just simply don't know what it feels like to have genuine romantic feelings but I have dated people in the past a relationship is an active choice between two or more people to be devoted to one another to trust someone so deeply to share some form of emotional intimacy to be a safe space for one another ideally a functional and healthy relationship is a connection between two people who care a lot about one another a partnership built on Mutual trust adoration and a commitment to face life together none of that is inherently romantic I trust my friends and they trust me I adore my friends and I am committed to staying by my friends for as long as they want me around while romantic feelings can enhance this Dynamic it's not a necessity for a strong partnership and that's the idea behind queer platonic relationships and that also describes J and Victor regardless of how you read their Dynamic and feelings for one another Jace and Victor can be in love though they can have a beautiful romantic relationship without having sex physical intimacy isn't the only indicator of love either way I don't think the claim that Victor is aexual nor the way link described Victor's apparent a Romanticism discredits jvic as a ship it just recontextualizes their relationship in a way that defies societal norms Jason Victor have some sort of relationship that goes beyond friendship goes beyond Lab Partners and ignores the expectations of romantic Partners they're soulmates and that can mean anything for [Music] them so are they gay JB or JB not I think Jace is our bip poly King that is pretty clear to me and it is blatantly obvious that Jace and Victor care deeply for one another and love each other is that a romantic love possibly at the end of the day this is a ship built on subtext and not everyone will see subtext the exact same way I've made my case but that doesn't mean you have to walk away from Arcane with the exact same takeaways as I did in terms of Jace and Victor's relationship I mean the whole time I was scripting this video my brother kept saying Jas isn't gay and he has no idea what I'm going on about yes he's seen the show no he's not homophobic also I think he's just teasing me because he knows I'm like very very interested in Jason Victor right now anyway fandom is about having fun enjoying media is about whatever speaks to you and at the end of the day this is a show based on League of Legends so in a way we're all losers here don't come for me I've been playing League of Legends kind of poorly since 2015 this call is coming from inside the house anyway that's been my JVC video I if you guys are interested in more Arcane videos let me know because I would be interested in making more Arcane videos possibly very interested in Arcane right now anyway thank you guys so much for watching and also I think this is going to be uploaded like within the first week of 2025 so like happy New Year for those watching this when it is first uploaded anyway that's it for me I have no idea what my next video is going to be so I guess we'll find out together when it gets uploaded anyway bye