Mel Medarda/Sevika

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Pairing
Pairing: Mel Medarda/Sevika
Alternative name(s): Melvika
Gender category: femslash, f/f
Fandom: Arcane, League of Legends
Canonical?: no
Prevalence: rare
Archives: Melvika on AO3
Other:
"modern au melvika"
modern au melvika by grapesodda (2025)
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Mel Medarda/Sevika, also known as Melvika, is a ship from the animated series Arcane featuring the characters Mel Medarda and Sevika. This ship grew in popularity after Season 2 of Arcane.

Canon

The two characters do not have a canon interaction,[1] but both are/grow to be figures of power and council members, who are protective over their respective areas of the city.

Fandom

This ship is a common background ship for Caitlyn/Vi pairing fics - out of 246 Melvika fics, 135 are also tagged Caitlyn/Vi, with this being the main pairing in many of them.[2] It's particularly popular with Sapphic fans.

They are seen as characters who command respect yet are opposites of each other, with Mel being smooth and adept at playing politics and Sevika rougher and more direct in her approach. They're usually written in AUs where Sevika brokers or helps broker peace between Zaun and Piltover during Season 1, thus meeting Mel, or when both are in the council at the same time post Season 2.[3] Full AUs are also common. They are usually portrayed in an upper class femme x working class butch dynamic.

To some, it began as a crackship, and to some it remained, since they don't believe Sevika could ever put behind the fact that Mel had been part of the Council for years, and likely had a hand in several rulings that hurt or killed her people. Surprisingly, most arguments against Melvika, most commonly from Meljay fans, do not stem from this, but rather that some fans might be fake fans. This is because there's a belief amongst some fans that non-Jayce Mel pairings are used as fronts to Jayvik shipping. This has been criticised, as many fans have difficulty seeing putting in hours of effort into fanworks for a ship as simply "a front".

Sometime in April 2025, a visible number of Meljay fans joined the ship, seemingly through the Twitter (X) Mel Community. This shifted the dynamic between Meljay and Melvika fans on Twitter, leading to more acceptance of the femslash pairing and the creation of more fanworks. Even after this, there was still scrutiny against those who appeared to also be fans of Jayvik, with many anti fans doing "background checks" or undermining fans of the slash paring's enjoyment of Melvika - which some have called gatekeeping.

Sexualities

While there are no indications of Mel's sexuality apart from her relationship with Jayce, she's almost as often shipped with other women. It's a fandom headcanon that Mel is bisexual. If so, she's considered femme, as she can pass as straight because of their gender conformity. Sevika on the other hand, has has several canon interactions with women (in various degrees) that have hinted at her interest in women, such as when she dances with another woman in season 2. Thus, Sevika is headcanoned but also implied to be a lesbian.

Common Tropes and Themes

Since the two never interact in canon, most of the tropes are not canonical.

  • Toxic Yuri: Due to their opposition, many of their encounters or their actual relationship aren't depicted as healthy.
  • Enemies to Lovers: Because of the bad-blood between Zaun and Piltover, both start on opposite sides of a conflict. [4][5]
  • Smoking: Sevika smokes. Mel is portraited as enjoying watching her smoke or partaking in some works.[6]
  • Slow Burn: Many works, especially when looking for stories with the ship as the main pairing, use Slow Burn as a tag.
  • Kink: Many works are ranked Mature or Explicit, with various kinks being common. [7]
  • Canon Divergence: Mel not going to Noxus at the end of Season 2[8], Peace brokered before the end of Season 1.
  • Breaking of societal norms: Due to Mel's high status any relationship with Sevika usually implies the breaking of some unspoken high society rule.[9]
  • Painter Mel: Based on her activities/hobbies in canon, many fans give Mel's painting more emphasis in fanworks, sometimes having her retire from the council to work on painting as a job.[10]
  • Naughty by Night: Mel is frequently depicted using this trope, because of her position as part of the council.
  • Opposites Attract: Mel is a privileged, rich ruler from a distinguished bloodline, the Medardas, while Sevika, who doesn't even have a family name, is a bodyguard working for a drug lord, from the slums of the city Mel rules over, whose people are constantly oppressed by Council rulings. In season 2 Sevika becomes the leader of Zaun's revolution after Silco's death. Fans enjoy creating fanworks where the two are narrative foils to one another, and where the parts of their personalities that do match (self-assured, headstrong, good at leadership) are cause for attraction. Has some crossover with Star-Crossed Lovers.
  • Pillow Princess/Stone Butch: Mel can be depicted as a pampered lover, although also dominant. This comes from her general mannerisms and also her sex scene with Jayce, where she's never shown submissive and he's seen positioning himself to, supposedly, perform oral sex on her. Also due to Sevika's overall look and personality being more masculine than Mel's.

Fanworks

Fanfic

  • The Queen’s Own by Sevikasbeloved, the first main pairing Melvika fic on AO3, The crowded room all turned their head at once as a light illuminated on the corner, “Of course.” Sevika mumbled to herself. Mel Medarda. Sevikas mouth curled into an inconspicuous grin as she beheld the golden clad woman. Mel had been a driving force in getting Zaun the rights they deserved and as much as Sevika hated the elites, she hated Mel a little less. (2022)
  • Cold War, Warm Sheets by Calchexxis, Series, In an alternate universe where Piltover comes to the bargaining table over the Hextech gem, Mel Medarda is given the unenviable task to negotiating reparations from the Great Houses, and instead of Silco on the other side of the table, it's his right-hand woman, the uniquely infuriating Sevika. (2022-2024)
  • with strange tenderness by br_er, (...) In sleepy, small-town Zaun, nothing changes. Sevika never wanted to return to this shit-hole, but in the aftermath of Silco's execution, she didn't have much of a choice. With two new wards thrust upon her and a forced retirement, she wasn't sure what to make of her new life. She didn't expect much. She definitely didn't expect her. (2024-2025)
  • PAINT THE AGES, FIGHT THE WAVES and GOT WHAT I WANTED, the golden Age series, by ennabear, councilor!sevika x painter!mel
  • End Zone by SarcastCity, The high school football coach Sevika/cheerleading coach Mel AU. (2025)
  • House Medarda by Evilyoyo, a Caitvi, Lux/Jinx and Melvika adoption AU fic, Mel Medarda is freshly exiled when she finds two orphan girls hiding on her estate and in due time they become her daughters— despite the fact Mel has no idea what it means to be a good mother. (2025)

Fanart

Fanvids

Others

Events

Essays and Discussions

Archives & Fannish Links

References

  1. ^ Meme about their status as strangers in opposition to the "danger" of having met by sh1shi4 on Tumblr
  2. ^ Archived AO3 page, showing 229 Melvika fics to 127 Caitvi fics. From 9th February 2025
  3. ^ Example fic: What Happens During the Council Meeting... by crunchy_toast3
  4. ^ Example of Enemies to Lovers in fic: Ambessa Medarda Must Die by ThinCeiling
  5. ^ Example of Enemies to Lovers in fic: Reconcile by ShirelyButterfly
  6. ^ Example of Smoking in fic: Sweet Princess Mine by AlpakaAlex
  7. ^ Example of Dom/Sub, branding, choking and powerplay in fic: Power Fantasy by OpenLion
  8. ^ Example of Canon Divergence in fic: harness your hopes by faeor1e
  9. ^ Example of Breaking of societal norms in fic: Their First Date. by Sevikasbeloved
  10. ^ Example of Painter Mel in fic: Paint The Ages A Hundred Shades Of Gold by ennabear
Retrieved from "https://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Mel_Medarda/Sevika&oldid=2795533"