Ok but Viktor is so DELICIOUSLY mischievous in Arcane???
Like, I think a lot of us went into the show with the impression that he was going to be this no-nonsense, stoic counterpart to Jayce's brash personality, and while Viktor is level-headed and calm, he has such a biting humor that gives him so much personality and life (at this point I think Viktor is responsible for 90% of the sassy and funny quips in the show).
And I really enjoy the fact that the writers gave him this liveliness and soft-spoken charm (and how well Harry Lloyd voiced the lines), because it makes Viktor so human, so optimistic, and so kind, especially when you consider how he literally talked Jayce down from committing suicide. You can feel the passion and energy bubbling underneath his calm exterior, and the little details (like Viktor being ready to risk his own position to help Jayce by sneaking into Heimer's lab only to come up with the ridiculous but hilarious lie of "Oh silly me! I thought I was going into my bedroom but I was actually unlocking a restricted area using these oversized keys" when he gets caught red-handed) is so...perfect? Like you can easily imagine that, as a kid in Zaun, Viktor was likely just as mischievous and willing to get into hijinks as Ekko or Powder. XDD
And OH MY GOD CAN WE TALK ABOUT "TIME TO CRANK IT"??? Again, Harry Lloyd's soft-spoken delivery and gentle accent for Viktor is so perfectly executed for the joke. So the setup in ep 3 is this: when they're working on the hextech research, Jayce exclaims that they'll need to "crank it" (referring to the stabiliser machine, I believe), and Viktor, caught off-guard in his thoughts, says, "Yes, yes, we need to...cRANK it," and what's so perfect about this scene is the awkwardness that Viktor gives to the word. Like, it comes across as Jayce using "slang" or very casual language in his excitement that Viktor finds really amusing and charmingly unexpected, so Viktor tries to emulate the way Jayce says "crank it," but he has a tiny voice crack when he says the phrase (as he's holding in his laugh) that makes the scene so adorable. And then later, the payoff is that right before they test the stabiliser, when Jayce is nervous and stone-faced, Viktor lightens the mood by saying "Time to cRANK it", with his emphasis on awkward syllables, but he says this with, again, that delightful humor and mischief in his eyes. It's such a wonderful and cute scene, and it really captures how Viktor and Jayce are bouncing ideas and emotions off of each other as Science Boyfriends and how Viktor is VERY empathetic, in-tune with social cues and sensitive to other people's feelings (at this point Viktor is so supportive and encouraging of Jayce, and I think that's really important given how Viktor himself may have been at Jayce's low point before he went to Piltover because of his own difficult circumstances).
Anyways, this is to say that once these two have the worst breakup ever according to lore and Viktor falls into a deep depression without any help from Jayce I will look back at these early interactions and cry my eyes out for the hurt that Viktor, a rational but charming innovator who saved a man's life by believing in him when no one else would, will ultimately experience.
Edit: The way Viktor acts and carries himself ISN'T reflective of a man detached from himself and humanity, or a man broken by poverty or his disability. His playfulness, his joy - this is someone filled with happiness, youth, silliness, curiosity, and most importantly, a belief in and love for the world.
