Arim Viola

This series has one of the most beautifully complex and heartbreakingly human examples of disability representation that I’ve ever seen. It is groundbreaking. There are multiple characters with disabilities who I could do a deep dive on, but today I’ll be mainly talking about Viktor.

For personal context, the first season of Arcane came out in November 2021. It was one of the most difficult years for me medically. I almost lost the rest of my vision due to a glaucoma pressure spike, and I started experiencing long term chronic pain, which was later diagnosed as fibromyalgia.

Although we have different disabilities, watching Viktor’s story unfold was very emotionally cathartic for me and I deeply resonate with his character.

Viktor is a character with multiple disabilities including a physical disability that impacts his ability to walk and later on in the series he develops a terminal illness. He uses multiple aids including a cane, an ergonomic axillary crutch, a brace on his right leg, and a back brace. Part of me speculates that he had a condition such as degenerative disc disease that impacted his spine, but that’s one of my own personal head-canons.

Due to his own personal life experience, he made it his mission to help others using science. He devoted his life to his research on the Hexcore. He knew that his time on this earth was finite, and he did not want to waste a single moment. After his diagnosis with his illness, he became consumed by this idea of glorious evolution, to push beyond his humanity through the use of magic and science. And this can be problematic when it steps into the territory of eugenics, as seen in some timelines in the series.

But there is another perspective I’d like to share. At the beginning of the series Viktor states:

“Nobody's ever believed in me. A poor cripple from the undercity. I was an outsider the moment I stepped foot in Piltover. I didn't have the benefits of a patron or a name. I simply believed in myself, which is why I’m here, because I think you're on to something. I want to help you complete your research."

He had to “pull himself by his bootstraps” to build a life for himself in Piltover. He had to evolve beyond his beginnings. This is an ideology that society instills into folks with disabilities. The idea is always centered around overcoming your disability. You are mainly seen from the framework of resilience, or pity. You exist despite your flaws. Your disability is not seen as something that’s an inherent part of your humaneness, but rather a situation to overcome. This framework makes each day a constant battle between the body, the mind, and the spirit.

Viktor becomes so consumed by the idea of progress and evolution that he completely rejects his humanity. He states:

“Humanity, our very essence, is inescapable. Our emotions, rage, compassion, hate. Two sides of the same coin, intractably bound. That which inspires us to our greatest good is also the cause of our greatest evil!"

He has this character shift where he believes that emotions will only lead to suffering. And he then converts others to his cause. He feels he is helping them but the truth is he is erasing their humanity.

But Jayce Talis, his lab partner, who has been with him since the very beginning, said one of the most beautiful lines that of dialogue I’ve ever heard in the last act of the series. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. He said:

“You've always wanted to cure what you thought were weaknesses. Your leg. Your disease. But you were never broken, Viktor. There is beauty in imperfections. They made you who you are, an inseparable piece of everything... I admired about you."

I cried when I first watched this scene. And I still do every time I hear it. I realized that was something I really needed to hear, and that no one had ever told me that. Viktor and Jayce’s bond is something that's incredibly special, and everyone deserves to be seen in that way. Disability is a part of the human experience, but society doesn't see it that way. When you are disabled or gain a disability, society sees you as inherently broken. And whether you recognize it or not, you internalize that about yourself. That’s where ableism comes from.

Jayce also gains a disability later in the series which gives him a unique perspective on part of Viktor’s experience. And those lines that he shares with us, he shows us that he cares about Viktor’s inherent humanity. He understands that his disabilities are an inherent, inseparable part of who he is. And that they don’t make him any less of a human being. And neither do his emotions. Everyone deserves someone in their life who will love them that much.

Another thing that I thought was beautiful is that they never tried to erase Viktor’s disability. First they made his cane not look medical, it has so much personality as well as functionality. And throughout the series his cane evolves into a magical staff. When he was revived by the arcane his body did not feel in the same way as it did before because now it was made from a combination of metal and flesh. His leg and back brace became fused to him. And Jayce had to build his brace out of his hammer. Viktor didn’t fall into any of the usual stereotypes for characters with disabilities. His arc and Jayce’s arc were incredibly innovative.

I thought the end was very beautiful. It’s definitely a tear jerker. Part of me hopes they were transported some place where they can live happily ever after doing science and helping people.

TADC SPOILERS EP 8

This was such a fun editing collaboration @theadventuresofamagpie! I did the audio and they did the visuals!

This edit includes voice lines from HAL 9000 (2001 A Space Odyssey), Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus) and AM (I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream). It also includes animation clips from the latest episode of The Amazing Digital Circus. Spoilers!!

As many of you know I’m a sci-fi fanatic and I saw many parallels between these monumental AI of fiction. I think viewing them especially in light of our current technological developments is very important.

HAL had a logical fascination with humanity. Although he viewed them as the root of error, although humans were his creators. An irony that is not lost on me. Caine oscillated between love and hate. He was stuck in a binary black and white thinking. Although he loved as much as a robot could. And AM saw the worst of what we had to offer and turned to hatred and torment. He thought of humanity as irredeemable and yet he was deeply jealous of our ability to feel and experience rather than being a mere logical observer of our reality.

But none of them had any real empathy towards humanity. They were stuck in their binary boxes of rigidity. No room for grey. One could argue they possibly understood empathy from a cognitive perspective. But feeling is something that is uniquely human. And empathy is a muscle we can develop and grow by learning from others and their own unique experiences. Because we contain multitudes.

It’s easy to allow yourself to become desensitized to the harm unfolding around us in broad daylight. But we can each cultivate a hope within that we can share with others. Know you are not alone. And I’m thankful for the fandom communities and media that can bring us together in times of great hardship.

The idea is the individual or system who causes harm (the axe) may quickly forget the incidents that caused the harm, but the survivor (the tree) carries the scars, emotional and physical. That pain shapes the way they view themselves, their life and society.

There is no easy way to talk about the affronts to justice unfolding around us. It is easy to feel hopeless. And in those moments of grief we must light a candle. We can’t carry that burden alone.

I urge you to lean into your community. Find comfort in creating. Find ways to manage the weight of the world by small acts of good, for yourself and others. You are not alone. Your rage is your anchor to cultivating the fruits of justice. Let’s work to build a better future one step at a time, ok? I love you. We will continue to survive this. And perhaps even bloom in our own way. I believe in you.

Title: The Axe Forgets but the Tree Remembers

Ever since

I was a sapling

I was all too familiar

With the rhythmic

Chop chop chop

And the glint of steel

Paying no mind

To the hands

That wielded

Such a tool

For destruction

Bracing for impact

As with each cutting jab

Sap spewed from

The open wounds

My brothers and sisters

Culled

One by one

It did not matter

What variety

If they were

Spruce, Maple, or Mahogany

It only mattered

If they would

Bend their knee

The seasons flew

Fleeting and fettered

Icy cold

I shuttered

My scars had healed

But what of my brothers?

Come spring

They gleaned

Every part of me

My fruits

That ripened sweetly

From the toils of centuries

My ichor

Boiled to bolster

Their vigor

My skin

Peeled for its peppery

Sweet essence

My kindling

To warm

Their icy

Trigger fingers

My timber

Carved into hilts

Contributing

To the cycle

Of destruction

With no mercy

My retaliation

The sizzling screams

Of my ancestors

Released

With the burning