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local-lamppost · 4 months ago

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Act 3 Thoughts

Watched Wicked, came home, waited 20 minutes, binged Act 3. I do not recommend this lifestyle. Anyway...

I was so satisfied with where we ended up, but I would have also appreciated about 20 minutes to an hour more. It felt like some beats were skipped over, they wanted to get to specific endings and didn't have the time to wrap them up as neatly as I would've liked.

Maddie is a good example. She's a plant for Ambessa, okay but when and why did she become one? She couldn't have been one before Cait being named commander and when we next see her she's pushing for Cait to take power back from Ambessa. Did Ambessa just message her right after Cait and Vi started working together again as like a "the woman you love's actual love is back in the picture, you can either wallow or get revenge with me", but also made a smarmy remark about Cait 'at least being warm' or something. We didn't need to absolve Cait or villainize Maddie for their 'relationship' because they didn't even have a relationship-just a coping mechanism for Cait, similar to Vi's drinking. At best it was all unnecessary and at worst a waste of time.

Away from that, I want to focus on some good.

I am officially a JayVik shipper now. Them disappearing into a void together, encircled with each other, after Viktor spend however long within timelines/multiverses in hopes of finding a Jayce able to bring him back to his humanity? Come on, they needed to kiss. Especially after Jayce and Mel's low key break up. Honestly we were denied the three of them working together, because they would have been unstoppable.

Speaking of Mel, I love her. I love her design, her powers, her matricide, her taking command of Ambessa's armies, etc. I wish we could have seen more of her adapting to her new powers, finding peace with what she now is. There could have been a cool interaction with Viktor over how Arcane power has changed them both for better and worse.

I don't think Mel's story is done. With other characters, I can see them coming in for future story arcs as like, cameos or background details, but if the next LoL story is in Noxus I fully expect Mel to be a major player again.

Back to Jayce. I like Jayce, that could be my Arcane hot take, and I definitely want to write something more in depth on him. On all the characters really. For now, I'll just say that his determination to destroy everything he has built, because the only creation worth saving is his relationship with Viktor is just... glorious.

Viktor was amazing. I love Viktor in the lore, and they took his traits from the lore and amped them up to eleven. His body being destroyed and rebuilt, the process of which has chipped away his humanity and mutilated his dreams. He lives up to his own quote: "In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good. We have to make it right."

Ekko is a character I never realize I miss. That sounds mean, it probably is, but I am never the less so happy to see him every time. It's like finding the missing piece you didn't even know was lost: that is Ekko to me. His mini adventure in the parallel universe was adorable. Us getting to see what could've been alongside learning what matters most to Ekko, him getting a taste of a near perfect life and still choosing to return to his own time. That's why Ekko is the true hero of this story.

In terms of Jinx, I'll just say I'm not a hundred percent sure she's dead. The airship leaving at the end followed by her scribbled sign off, plus not getting a dead body shot. It was definitely left open ended. Her looking to do something good, to not mess up, alongside her fear of not wanting to try again because she is just tired of failure, of being a Jinx, was too real in many ways. I will go in depth on her at a later date.

Caitlyn's arc is going to be argued about, no question. It needed more time (see the start of this long post) to make her point of her anger burning away, of it not being sustainable, hit harder. I would have made her realize what her anger was doing to Vi, have Jinx point out that they really are acting the same in their treatment of Vi, and use the whole Ambessa was literally stoking the fires of her hatred to help fit what time they had left. Honestly just have Cait learn Ambessa was the one behind the memorial attack, that would be a much better way to explain her anger diminishing enough to look beyond her own hurt to realize and take account of her mistakes.

Vi, as usual, needed more screen time. Not necessarily because her story would've been helped by it like in act two, but just because I wanted her to have more time to enjoy her life. I went into act three with the sole hope that Vi would have a nice day, only for her to loose everything again. The only people she has left are Cait and Ekko, and god help anyone who tries something against those too now. Her ending being the chance to finally rest, to lean on someone else, was beautiful. She is my favorite character and please let her have only good things in the future, she was traumatized in almost every scene this season please-

Nobody tell Vi that in a universe where she died young everyone else ended up living. It would destroy her.

Vi and Cait relationship was great. I wouldn't say it was rushed in act three, because it felt like it was where it should be for a final batch of episodes, if that makes sense. It felt like the set up was Cait being genuinely remorseful and Vi just wanting someone in her life who wanted her in return. It helps that they have great chemistry and that when given the chance they fit so neatly together. I think Jinx encouraging Vi to be with Cait is what sold it to me. Jinx realizing how much Vi has given/sacrificed and giving her blessing for her sister to be happy with someone she disapproves of; not to mention Cait pulling the guards from their posts to give Vi the chance to actually meet Jinx in order to have that conversation. All in all, it comes down to Vi's "I don't care" because that's really all there is too it for them. Vi is done being miserable and Cait makes her happy, vice versa. Cait is someone Vi can rely on, Vi is someone Cait can find strength in.

Spitfire round:

Sevika being made a councilor

Every single one of Mel, Cait, and Jayce's designs were 10/10s

Vi not being given an actual uniform, just armor and the gloves

Jinx cutting her hair further to match Vi

Ekko getting his crystal sword/bats

Heimerdinger dying after living a life where he could make his city something to be proud of

I was fully expecting Vander and Silco to kiss in that one shot

Everything with Benzo

Loris' name being said

Vi humming the song and the song being their mother's lullaby

Viktor being held within the Herald

Sky leaving so Viktor was free to bring Jayce to his space mind palace

Caitlyn's rifle never surviving

Fishman McBlue being the only one of Cait's soldiers to stick to his guns and stay loyal

Sevika and Shoola side eyeing each other

Vander and little Vi and Powder with the bunny

The bunny being a passenger on Jinx's balloon

Singed's messed up family getting a happy ending

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kaoskuantico · 4 months ago

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I hate Act III, sorry. All the second season was too rushed and some characters that didn't deserve a happy ending got it, and those who have been suffering got the worst ending.

Acts I and II were good, but III is the worst.

I still think Arcane is one of the best shows we've gotten and will get for a long time, the art, animation, soundtrack, the characters...I love Arcane, that won't change. And that's exactly why I'm so critical with the second season, because I expected more and better, I know it could have been better. Maybe they only needed another season to not rush all the plot lines, or even discard some of them.

In case someone hasn't seen Act III yet, ARCANE ACT III SPOILERS

I made another post with the things I LIKED (click).

No one cares but here's a list of the things I hated:

Too rushed, I think we needed another season BEFORE this one

WTF Caitvi sex scene IN JINX'S CELL, RIGHT AFTER SHE LEFT. That's so disrespectful and stupid, Vi wasn't in the right state of mind, as much as I love Caitvi, putting that scene there was a mistake

I'm sorry but I also hate Timebomb (I'm a Lightcannon shipper, which is funny because Lux doesn't even show up in Arcane, but one can dream through fanarts)

Jinx surrendering (why we didn't even get a flashback scene?) and being imprisoned like a dog. Yet the enforcers were never punished

Vi not listening to Jinx telling her MULTIPLE TIMES to get out of there, and because of her, Jinx sacrifices herself (yes, I know she's most likely alive. But that brings my next point:)

Jinx not getting a happy ending at all. She lost everyone, right when she was about to get rehabilitated, Isha dies right in front of her. And we didn't get any Sevika dialogue with her, not even trying to save Jinx (Sevika surely didn't know, but at least a scene where she looks for Isha and Jinx???)

The final scene where Vi is only seen with Caitlyn. Yes, I knew they'd end up together and they deserve it, but what about everything that happened? Losing all her family? Learning to fight just to lose everything and everyone? Ekko not talking to Vi at all after the war? Vi not mourning Jinx?

Why make Jayce and Mel be together if they were going to forget about it and act like it didn't happen? (I prefer Jayvik, but that's another story)

Jinx saving Caitlyn, but apparently that didn't matter at all. Jinx killed her mother, yes. But enforcers killed countless of people, including Jinx and Vi's parents. Even if Jinx surrendered, why put her in that isolated jail? That was Caitlyn's grief acting

Honestly I don't know why Isha had to sacrifice herself, I feel it was too unnecessary, just to traumatize Jinx even more and kill Warwick again.

I wanted to see more of Vi, of her life in prison and before their parents died (besides Vander's memories). But they put too much focus on Caitlyn and the Caitvi. As if Vi's entire character is being Cait's girlfriend

Caitlyn (and every enforcer) didn't get punish at all for their crimes. Caitlyn became a dictator because Jinx killed her mother, but countless of children saw their own parents be murdered in front of them, and now they're the bad guys for attacking back? Mind you, at least Jinx aimed her weapon to the Council, the people who oppressed them.

But Piltover kills civilians like nothing, putting CHILDREN in jail. At the end, they end up like the good guys, giving Zaun a seat in the Council. When they should have fought for it, making Piltover pay for everything they've done. Which brings my next two points:

Zaun is never set free, it's still part of Piltover

Following the previous point: Caitlyn becomes a dictator, Viktor a cult god who almost destroys the world. But Jinx is so unredeemable???

Vi accepting Cait immediately, as if act I didn't happen. I understand they wanted to make Caitvi canon, but it was too rushed.

The 'good timeline' being like that because Vi died???? WTF the enforcers wanted a name, ANYONE to put the blame on, so the Council could 'make an example'. And now suddenly everything is okay? The abuse from Piltover is gone? But even if that were true, it's sad it would take Vi's death so peace could exist

Cait put Jinx, a traumatized, suicidal and schizophrenic girl in an ISOLATED CELL.

In a more relaxed note, I hate the design of Powder in the other timeline. I have to admit I absolutely love Jinx's design, with her bang and long braids but damn I expected a Powder with a single braid and a better sense of fashion xd

I understand Ambessa was behind everything, she was using Caitlyn recent grief to manipulate her. But she never apologized, her actions can't be erased, she said it herself.

Jinx giving 'her blessing' to Vi to be with Cait. Jinx has been feeling replaced by Cait since season 1 and right when we thought they could resolve this (before Act III), they do this. If anything, they confirm Cait replaced Jinx and that Jinx had every reason to feel like that

Jinx sacrificing herself (yeah, we know she isn't truly dead, but I'm talking about the symbolism) WASN'T REDEMPTION. IT WAS SUICIDE, A TRAGEDY. Just a few hours ago Jinx tried to kill herself five times, she just saw an opportunity to do it again and not making Vi fight for her, because Jinx feels she doesn't deserve Vi. It wasn't heroic, it was a suicide

Singed getting his happy ending. HIM, OF ALL PEOPLE. He created the Shimmer, made it a drug and created addicts in Zaun just so he could keep experimenting.

Dude, I get it, you want your daughter back, but at that point you should've just accepted she's gone. Vander is gone, Vi and Ekko are left alone (which brings my next point), Jinx killed herself, Jayce spent days, weeks or months alone in an apocalyptic world, Zaun is still under Piltover's power...And HE gets his happy ending? No consequences? No punishment for experimenting on dead bodies/potentially having killed them, for being in Ambessa's side????

Following point 7, why Vi is only seen with Cait at the end? Ekko is truly alone now, and Vi only has the enforcer who betrayed her and never apologized for her actions with her and Zaun. I get it, they wanted to please Caitvi's shippers, but shipping is not the only thing here (which why I hated Timebomb in the alternate timeline)

The whole Noxus thing. It took away the Piltover-Zaun conflict, and it felt too big to make it fit in the second season

Heimerdinger's death. It was so unnecessary and stupid

As I said in point 3, I hate Timebomb. But I expected they'd go this route. What I didn't like is how they made Ekko focus so much on the Firelights just to make it about Powder in the alternate timeline. As far as we were shown (in Arcane only, not counting LOL), Ekko maybe had a crush on her when they were kids, and since Powder went with Silco they were separated and even fighting.

Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't make sense to me why a childhood crush was so important that in the alternate timeline he doesn't hesitate to be with her. Why he doesn't look for the Firelight members, see if they're okay? AND HIS TREE???

Other fans say Ekko loves both Powder and Jinx, but I don't see it that way, even when he came back, he almost calls her Powder again. When he was the one saying she's Jinx now (back in season 1).

They didn't show the conversation after Ekko stopped her five suicide attempts, and even if the creators and writers say they did, I don't like when they don't show it but we have to make the scenes out of what they say afterwards.

Even if it's hinted in LOL, in Arcane there was not enough development to make it believable.

There are so many skipped scenes. Sevika went from leaving the room (not even saying a word, she didn't get any dialogue past Act II) to fighting along other Zaunites and Firelights against Ambessa. No reunion scene between Jinx and Sevika, no Sevika asking where the kid is, no them bonding a bit over the loss.

Maddie being a spy. I knew something was off with her in her first scene, but I feel her traitor reveal was so empty and meaningless.

As I said in other post: I liked how she was presented at first: a (probably) new and naive enforcer who wants to do better, who admires Caitlyn and because of that, she makes wrong decisions such as supporting Ambessa and the Martial Law.

Following in another post because I reached the character limit

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zaine-m · 3 months ago

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Modern university Au and Caitlyn's Very Bad semester

She was a straight A legacy student majoring in poli sci (forced to by her parents)

Caitlyn and Vi have been dating since first year

At the start of the second year her mother was killed in a car accident

Jinx had found Silco dead and in a bit of a psychotic episode and not knowing what else to do decided to go for a drive and drove through a stop sign, hitting and killing Cassandra

Caitlyn was distraught and decided to start an emotional support group on campus for people who've lost someone close to them with Vi's help

That's where she met Loris, Steb and Maddie

Loris lost his father at a young age to cancer and his mother more recently to suicide

In her note she said that she'd just been holding out till Loris was away at university and didn't need on her anymore

That really broke him up, especially because he did still need her deeply

Steb and Maddie both recently lost a close friend, Daisy to suicide

Maddie and Daisy started dating a few months before her passing

They were both closer to Daisy than each other but after her passing they bonded a lot over their shared grief

Along with processing their grief together they worked on anti-suicide and safe driving campaigns around campus

Eventually Jinx's trial comes around and she gets let free with no charges but some mandatory counseling

As she was in a psychotic episode her reckless driving was not seen as her fault so they didn't charge her

This really upsets Caitlyn but vi is happy her sister isn't being sent to jail

"how, how could they just let her walk away free? she killed my mother"

"come on Cait, you know she never wanted to hurt anyone. She had just lost her father, she wasn't in the right mind space"

"how could you defend her like that"

Cait slaps her in the face and they break up

Caitlyn continues running the group but a lot of people leave as she starts creating a more toxic environment with a lot of trauma comparisons and subtle shaming if she feels like that person didn't do enough to try to save their loved one or didn't mourn their loved one enough

Loris leaves with Vi and helps her through her stint of skipping all her classes and spending every night at some party or another

Caitlyn and Maddie end up getting together but Maddie quickly becomes manipulative in a way that hard for Caitlyn to see because Cait's also being an asshole

Caitlyn slowly starts to realize how bad she's being for the group but is pretty stuck in her situation because whenever she tries to talk to Maddie about it she'll either make an excuse for their actions or get angry that Caitlyn might be calling her a bad person

Eventually she goes to apologize to Vi and things go over pretty smoothly

Vi understands why she said that with all the grief she felt and agrees to come back to the support group to try to start making it a better environment again

Vi also doesn't have any hard feelings about Caitlyn moving on and dating Maddie, saying that that's just how things are in university

Maddie gets really upset when Vi comes back

Caitlyn tries to smooth over her fears but to be fair they are making eyes at each other during a lot of the meetings

Eventually Maddie loses it one night and smashes a bottle over Caitlyn's head before hitting her with it, doing serious damage to her eye

Maddie leaves her there bleeding for the night and Caitlyn decides to try to sneak out

She calls Vi sobbing on a street corner

"S-something happened, I need you"

"Cait, it's okay, just take a deep breath okay? What happened"

"god, I-I can't explain. I think I need to go to the hospital"

"okay, where are you? I'll pick you up"

"I'm at the corner of fourth and Stanwick... I fucked up Vi"

"no, you didn't"

"no... no... I did, I pushed you away. I fucked up all our work with the support group"

"that can all be fixed"

"god, I slapped you right in the face"

"you were grieving"

"...Maddie was a mistake"

*chuckled* "come on, is she really that bad in bed?"

*Vi arrives to find her covered in blood on a street corner* "oh my god..."

"she... she..."

"It's okay. This wasn't your fault, okay?"

"...okay" *Vi helps Caitlyn into the car*

Once Caitlyn is feeling a bit better they call Loris and Steb into the hospital

Loris always felt iffy about Maddie and this just confirmed his suspicions

Steb is hurt to learn that Maddie had been manipulating him but very much believes her and gets incredibly distraught realizing how the timing with Daisy's suicide lined up and that Maddie might have contributed to that

Caitlyn has a really hard time coming out of the relationship and dealing with losing her eye

She fails a class for the first time that semester

Vi helps her a lot through it, the feelings are still there between them but they both know it's not a good time for them to start dating

Loris and Steb on the other hand just show up one day with a noticeably different energy between them and Vi immediately calls out "you two fucked!"

After Cait eye socket fully heals she gets really into artificial eyes with designs, she gets one with her family's crest on it with a bit of her mom's ashes in it, one that's gold and blue to match most of her outfits, one that has part of a bullet in it

#I combined Maddie and Ambessa into one character cause that made more sense #arcane #caitlyn kiramman #caitvi #piltovers finest #loris arcane #steb arcane #maddie arcane #maddie hate #vi arcane #arcane vi

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inniezinnie · 3 months ago

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A CaitVi/Violyn Playlist (and the rationale behind each song choice)

https://youtu.be/pdXi4D58i9I?si=mmNtVaBrsrJnEjZt

The songs are chronological and are based on their canon story and some of my headcanons!

1. Fantastic by King Princess: Their main theme!!! Every love story has a theme 💓

2. Sinner by The Last Dinner Party: They're fated lovers. They're so different yet so empathetic towards each other. And they could've met when they were younger but didn't!

3. What Could I Do by The Corrs: They fall in love at first sight, and they're not sure what to do about it. They want to please each other, yet they irritate each other (in a positive way)

4. I Wanna Be With You by Mandy Moore: The attraction is getting stronger! There's romantic tension between them, and they can feel it slowly...

5. The Only Exception by Paramore: Cait saves Vi, they make eye contact... And then they look at each other's lips... Oh, they're falling deeper! They have THE heart to heart scene in Caitlyn's bedroom.

6. Ain't Together by King Princess: They still love each other, but they feel hopeless. Things are taking quite a bad turn...

7. Oil & Water by PVRIS: OIL AND WATER. DRAMATIC RAIN. VI DID YOU SAY THAT?!

8. YELLOW by Xana: Caitlyn is upset. Vi is upset. They still love each other, but can't. Cue the famous shower scene. Then Jinx kidnaps Cait, violates them, and then commits an act of terrorism. Everything becomes a blur. Caitlyn grieves as Vi comforts. Caitlyn swears vengeance while Vi watches in horror. They kiss, then they separate.

They still love each other, but can't.

They're hopeless.

9. I Don't Love You by My Chemical Romance: Vi's emo arc, and Cait's rise to power. Martial Law is never good, people!

10. The Reason by Hoobastank: Caitlyn slowly reflects her own decisions, and regrets them. Her rebound doesn't work because the reason of her peace is, and always will be, Vi. Despite their imperfections and imperfect lives, they are still meant to be.

11. Iris by Goo Goo Dolls: They reunite. They argue. They make up. Each word they speak is secretly a plead and confession of love.

12. Nothing Matters by The Last Dinner Party:

"Vi, when you were gone, I saw someone..."

"Cait, I don't f**king care!"

13. Everywhere by Michelle Branch: They are now a secure, established couple. They see each other in everything they do. They do everything together, including going to war...

14. Lovesong by The Cure: A mellow yet sweet love song, fitting for lovers separated by war, in my opinion.

15. Please Be Rude by Gigi Perez: They get through their grief of losing friends and family together post-war. They help each other through their trauma. They have their ups and downs, but they manage to keep the peace and love each other through and through. Being lovers takes time and effort.

Life is imperfect, but it's better when they're together. It finally feels... Perfect. The peaceful kind.

16. Capital Letters by Hailee Steinfield and BloodPop®: They're finally happy together! They give each ither cute pet names and act all cutesy around each other. They've found pure bliss together! Also, it's Hailee Steinfeld!

17. Slow Hands by Niall Horan: Domestic love. And whatever couples do together.

18. Afterlife by Hailee Steinfield: They're soulmates in every universe! Even after death, they'll somehow find each other. Also, it's Hailee Steinfeld!

19. The Cuppycake Song by Amy Castle: Cupcake. Self-explanatory.

#piltovers finest #piltover's finest #caitvi #violyn #i love them so much. they make me sick.

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jbk405 · 4 months ago

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Hmmmmm, "Finally Got the Name Right" started really strong, but fell apart pointlessly at the end.

The music video of the Enforcer Team was absolutely amazing at the opening, both the music itself and the animation. It also perfectly summed up what was actually going on with "The Grey", when it hadn't really been made clear last episode.

The Enforcer team was noticeably panicky and untrained in their actions, which lead back to my criticisms of the end of the first episode of the season, but then Vi pointed that out to Caitlyn and they sent them home. It makes including them at all kinda pointless, since they're introduced at the end of episode 1, skipped over in episode 2, and then dismissed in the opening to episode 3, but at least they didn't keep them around and talk about how they're an Elite Force while they're shivering and whimpering on-screen. So I was willing to call this a win and move on.

I honestly did not think we'd actually get a kiss between Vi and Caitlyn this early, I thought they'd continue to slowplay it for the whole rest of the season. But I'm ecstatic to get it now, so we can build from here for the rest of the show. I'm not sure if I think this was their first kiss or not: There was hesitancy there on both parts, and several small movements forward with pauses to reassess, but there was also no apparent surprise afterwards. Either way, the way Vi dropped her gauntlets really emphasized how big this is for her.

The Vi/Jinx and Caitlyn/Sevika fight was fascinating. Beautiful animation (as always) and complicated by the wonkiness of the magic. The complementary surrealism of Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger in the base of the hex-whatever just emphasized how everything was spinning out of control.

Jinx essentially being ready to die is tragic, but also reaches back to what I've said before about the show really emphasizing that she is a sick young woman. She is evil, and she does need to be stopped, but that doesn't change the fact that she's so hurt that she's hoping her sister is going to kill her.

But it started to all fall apart when Caitlyn turned on Vi when Vi tried to prevent her from taking the shot when that kid was in the way. I just don't believe this conflict, and it doesn't make sense. This is what they're fighting over? I would have accepted Vi realizing that she can't let Jinx die yet and stopping Caitlyn for that reason, and Caitlyn being furious at that betrayal after the death of her mother. I would have accepted Vi getting so overwhelmed that she was ready to kill this innocent kid and Cait trying to stop her, since we saw last season that Vi can get over-focused and ignore collateral damage when the she's striking back at the people that harmed her. But for it to play out this way and for Caitlyn to fall onto the (obviously racially-coded) 'you're one of them' remarks was just out of place and awkward after Vi stepped in to protect somebody else. I can't accept that this is what is leading to the breakdown of their relationship.

Then that big sequence where Ambessa is manipulating all of the Piltover nobles also doesn't make sense. I don't buy that Caitlyn can't see this. Her entire character in the first season was that she saw things. She pieced together the clues and figured out the truth on her own. And I don't mean that she should instantly deduce all of Ambessa's plans, because there's a whole lot of details that she has never seen, but it should be obvious to her that she's being manipulated. And even if you say "Sure she can tell, but she doesn't care because she's so grief stricken that she doesn't care" it's still not well-portrayed.

And during this moment where Caitlyn is getting the cheers from the crowd of people as she is essentially appointed dictator of the city, there's all these reaction shots of the three Enforcers to show how they're taking it. One is happy, and the other is kinda neutral, and there's one long, slow shot as one of them turns away in apparent shame....except we literally still do not know this guy's name. No background info, no history, nothing. Is he from the Undercity like Vi and joined in the hopes that by being a Good One he could protect the rest, and he now realizes that he was mistaken as he sees these people planning all-out war against the Undercity? Is he from Noxus and he fled to Piltover to escape their militant violence, only to see history repeating right here? WHY SHOULD WE CARE THAT HE ISN'T HAPPY HERE?

The episode was great until 30 minutes in, the just fell apart.

#Arcane #Season 2 #Finally Got the Name Right #Caitlyn Kirraman #Violet #Vi #Jinx #Sevika

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star55 · 1 month ago

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Fic: Misfits and Mishaps - Chapter Four

Title: Misfits and Mishaps Author: Star Chapter: Four/Twelve Word Count: 5,821/47,000+ Pairing: Cait/Vi Fandom: Arcane (League of Legends) Rating: Teen and up Chapter Warnings: none

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Chapter Four

Caitlyn is in the car on the way to visit Jayce at the lab when her phone buzzes in her pocket. She hopes it isn’t Jayce cancelling, she hasn’t seen in him a few weeks and wants to catch him up on the fact that she’s been in detention. He’ll get a kick out of that, she knows he will.

To her surprise, it’s Vi. They haven’t texted much since most of their time has been spent together in detention, but on Friday after their skipped class, they exchanged phone numbers. Vi said it’s because she tends to share a phone with her siblings – they each take it with them if they go out of the house alone. Which Caitlyn thinks is smart. It’s also a good way to stay off social media, she muses. Which she tries to do for herself, too.

Vi: Powder says thanks for the present. Attached is a photo of Powder using the art supplies that Caitlyn had gifted her. She has a smile on her face, but she isn’t looking at the camera, too focused on what she’s doing.

Caitlyn can’t help but smile at the photo, too. She was glad she got to be there for Powder’s birthday. After a few guests had left, Powder started asking Caitlyn all kinds of questions about what she liked, and what she did, and Caitlyn was more than happy to answer them. She liked how inquisitive Powder was. Vi was right – she was very smart. Caitlyn can’t help but think Powder and Viktor would get along. Even though her chaotic eleven-year-old energy might be a little too much for his introverted self.

Caitlyn’s thumbs fly across her screen as she types out a response.

Caitlyn: I’m glad she’s enjoying herself. Thank you for the cake, too. I had it with breakfast this morning.

She swipes over to her photo album, looking at the few photos she took of herself, Vi, and their afternoon yesterday. Caitlyn can’t remember the last time she had so much fun. It was all so normal. There was no Council members and their underhanded comments. There weren’t any important societal men trying to set her up with their sons – something she’s never been interested in. All of the sons of these men were all so boring to Caitlyn. She wants someone fun and exciting to talk to. Not talk about… whatever it is the boys talk about. She isn’t interested in that. She wants someone who will share her interests and someone she can share their interests, too. And every time one of those sons learns that she’s the best marksman for her age in the entirety of Runeterra, the conversations always die off.

So whenever there is a social event she absolutely has to attend, Caitlyn tries to stay by Jayce’s side as much as possible. She loves him like the brother she never had. He’s funny, kind, smart, and he cares about what she has to say.

She’s glad her parents chose him as their patron all those years ago.

Her phone buzzes again.

Vi: Cake for breakfast? Living up to your nickname there, Cupcake.

Caitlyn shakes her head and texts back.

Caitlyn: It’s unfair you have a nickname for me, I need one for you, too.

Her thumb taps on the dark screen, waiting for a text back.

Vi You’ll just have to keep thinking about it.

It buzzes again a second later.

Vi: Are you doing anything for Halloween? We’re going trick or treating in the Lanes. You can come if you want?

Caitlyn is typing out an emphatic “Yes!” before she even knows what her parents have on the social calendar for Halloween.

She swipes over to their shared calendar and sees that it is, thankfully, blank. Her father tends to work the night shift at Piltover General Hospital on Halloween, but she couldn’t be certain her mother didn’t have anything on the schedule already.

Tapping on the date, Caitlyn pops in her own entry of “Trick or Treating with Vi” and saving it. Her parents might not see the entry, but it’s there in case they look. Hopefully nothing will crop up between now and then.

Vi: Don’t forget to dress up as something scary! Powder wants us to do a family costume, so we’re all dressing up as werewolves.

Caitlyn smiles to herself as she pictures Powder as a werewolf. Then her mind shifts to Vi as a werewolf and her heart thuds a little harder in her chest, picturing Vi with fangs.

Fangs, Caitlyn thinks. She has the perfect costume idea. Thankfully she has most of the outfit at home already, she just needs to pick up something else to complete it.

The car pulls up outside of Jayce’s lab before Caitlyn knows it. She says goodbye to her driver and steps out, sliding her bag onto her shoulder as she goes, making sure not to jostle the box she’s carrying as well. She waves to the doorman and bypasses the information desk as she heads to the elevators. She uses her all-access pass – a Kiramman perk – and punches in the code to Jayce’s lab.

He’s such a paranoid nerd at times, she thinks as she rides the elevator up. Thankfully no one else gets on and she steps out onto his floor a few moments later.

“Jayce?” she calls out as she enters, not seeing him straight away.

“Just a sec!” Jayce calls back.

Caitlyn sets the box on a clear space of desk and waits. She looks around, taking in the details of the blackboard covered in Jayce and Viktor’s writing. It is a lot more crowded than the last time Caitlyn was here a few weeks ago. She’s positive that there was only half the blackboard filled when she was here last.

“Hey, Sprout! Sorry about the wait,” Jayce says as he wanders into the room. He has a mug full of coffee in one hand and what she hopes is a cup of tea for her in the other. “But I remembered your tea, milady.”

She rolls her eyes at him fondly. “Thank you.” She takes it from him and puts it next to the box of treats she brought with her. “This is all new,” she says, gesturing to the blackboard.

He nods. “Vik and I are working on a new design,” he starts. He launches into an explanation of what it is, and what they hope to achieve. Caitlyn wonders if he notices that he smiles every single time he mentions Viktor’s name.

“Well, it’s good to see my parents’ money is being well spent,” she says with a cheeky half smile in his direction when he pauses to take a breath.

“Sorry,” he says, scratching at the side back of his neck. “I got a little carried away.”

“It’s good. I like how passionate you are,” Caitlyn replies. “How is Viktor anyway?”

“He’s good. He’s at the doctors at the moment for some more pain medication,” Jayce replies.

“And have you told him you want to kiss him senseless yet?” Caitlyn asks. She reaches over to open the box of bakery treats she brought with her and selects a pink glazed doughnut.

“What? I… No,” he says on a sigh.

“You should get on that,” Caitlyn comments. “Before you spontaneously kiss him and take him by surprise.”

“Ha ha,” Jayce says, reaching into the box for a doughnut of his own. He takes a big bite and washes it down with a swig of his coffee. He promptly makes a face when he realises it’s cold. Caitlyn’s tea, however, was finished while he talked. “I’m just going to go heat this up. When I get back, I want to hear about what you’ve been up to.”

“Hmm, yes,” Caitlyn says. “It’s all very exciting over in the Kiramman house.”

“I notice that sarcasm, Cait,” he says as he disappears from view.

Caitlyn smiles to herself and picks another doughnut to eat. She’s just taken a mouthful when her phone buzzes in her pocket.

Vi: Piltie. Heard you’re trick or treating with us? What are you going as? I can’t have you being cooler than me.

Caitlyn frowns at the phone. She figures this isn’t Vi, and she didn’t really get a chance to talk to Claggor all that much. So she figures that it’s Mylo.

Caitlyn: I haven’t decided yet. But I doubt I’ll be cooler than a family of werewolves.

She doesn’t mind lying to Mylo about this. He doesn’t need to know what she’s going to be. Plus, she wants to see the look on Vi’s face when she sees her costume for the first time.

Vi: I’m not going as a werewolf. Family costumes are for when we’re kids. I’m going as a rock star.

Caitlyn: Then you’ll definitely be cooler than me.

Vi: And don’t you forget it. Vi says you have dogs. Can I have a photo?

Caitlyn smiles as she sends off a photo of her precious dogs. It’s a photo she took that morning after they’d gone for their morning run. Bullet’s head is resting on top of Trigger’s and they look so cute.

Vi: They’re huge!

Caitlyn: The one on the left is Bullet, the one on the right is Trigger. They’re big babies.

Vi: Remind me not to break into your place.

Caitlyn: Please don’t. Tell Vi she still owes me an answer, too.

Vi: ?? An answer for what??

Caitlyn: She knows what.

“Who are you texting?” Jayce asks as he walks back into the room. “A boy?”

Caitlyn reflexively makes a face. She isn’t interested in Mylo like that.

“Not a boy then?” Jayce counters. He sits down opposite her at the table and picks another doughnut from the box.

“It was a boy, but that��s only because he was the one with the family phone,” Caitlyn replies. “I definitely don’t like him like that.”

“A family phone?” Jayce asks. “Care to elaborate?”

“My friend Vi and her siblings all share a phone,” Caitlyn explains as she peels off chocolate icing with her thumb. “It was her brother, Mylo, who was texting me about Halloween just now.”

“I think you need to take a few steps back. Who’s Vi? And Mylo? And you have Halloween plans? Cait, that’s huge!”

When he says it like that, it makes Caitlyn feel like a friendless loser. She is a bit like that, but Jayce’s enthusiasm is just a stark reminder of what her life was like before Vi came into it.

“Vi’s a girl I met in detention,” she replies. “Well, technically the bathrooms at school.”

“Detention?” Jayce exclaims. “Cait, you had detention?”

She nods. “Two weeks’ worth.”

“What did you do to deserve detention?”

“Called Mr Edwards a bigot to his face. And then to the principal’s face.”

Jayce’s bug-eyed expression makes Caitlyn giggle. He puts his doughnut down and wipes his fingers on his trousers. “I’m going to need you to take it from the top.”

So Caitlyn does. She tells him about how she started noticing all of the little biases that certain teachers had towards the Zaun students. She explains how she got sent to the principal’s office, how her mother was proud of her for standing up for what was right (that bit still makes her chest ache with happiness) and how she’s spent every lunchtime detention with Vi, though she never knows why Vi is in detention in the first place considering they can’t all be uniform violations. Caitlyn’s been keeping close attention. She knows there was nothing wrong with Vi’s uniform on Thursday or Friday, so she was there for other reasons she didn’t elaborate on.

“And then I went to her sister’s birthday party yesterday,” Caitlyn continues. She mentions about Powder and shows the photo Vi had sent earlier of Powder with her gift.

When she finishes, Jayce is giving her a puzzled look.

“Do I have something on my face?” she asks, reaching for a paper napkin and wiping at her mouth.

“Cait,” Jayce starts slowly, like he’s trying to figure out how exactly to say what is on his mind. She’s seen this look on his face before – he’s working through something and about to come to a big realisation.

“Do you like her?”

“Vi? Of course! She’s great,” Caitlyn replies. “She’s really funny, and she doesn’t treat me the way everyone else does because of my name.”

“No, Cait. I mean. Do you like her?” Jayce repeats.

Caitlyn blinks at him. “What?” she says softly. He gives her a soft smile.

“It sounds like you have a crush,” he says.

“I don’t?” She doesn’t think she does? She’s never actually had a crush before. She figures it will happen eventually. A lot of the girls in her year level started talking about boys a few years ago, but Caitlyn never saw the appeal. There wasn’t a single boy who was cute enough, or worth her attention enough to consider giggling over like some of the other girls did.

“You know how you tease me about Viktor?” Jayce begins, still in a quieter tone than before. “You’re talking about Vi like that.”

Caitlyn feels her face heat up. She looks away, focusing on the blackboard full of scientific scribbles and formulae like it will give her the answer she’s looking for. Like the one Jayce is expecting of her.

Caitlyn bites her lip. She likes Vi – of course she does! Vi is wonderful. She’s smart, she’s kind, she has a massive heart. Caitlyn can tell that with every time she talks about her family. She’s thoughtful and doesn’t tease Caitlyn for being a Kiramman. And she stood up for Caitlyn against Asher in the bathrooms when they’d only just met.

And she has the loveliest smile Caitlyn has ever seen. It lights up her whole face when she thinks no one is looking. She can go from handsome to beautiful if she turns her head just right. And she’s tactile. Caitlyn doesn’t normally like people touching her without her permission, but Vi’s touch doesn’t make her feel itchy inside. It’s comforting. Like when their knees knock together as they sit, or when Vi put her arm around Caitlyn’s shoulder.

“Oh.”

Jayce’s hand reaches out and he puts it on top of hers. “Welcome to the gay club, kiddo! We have jackets.”

“Do you have a jacket?” Caitlyn asks, raising an eyebrow in his direction, knowing full well that it’s something Jayce would do.

“…I. Yes,” he says, sounding resigned.

Caitlyn bursts out laughing. “Then I’ll have a jacket, too,” she replies. “Then we can match like the siblings we are.”

He beams at her. “I have so many ideas.”

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” Caitlyn asks, sounding resigned. “I feel like I’m going to regret this.”

“Not at all,” Jayce says, but his thumbs are moving quickly over his phone and Caitlyn knows he’s about to ask for her measurements, so she derails him with the only piece of her story she hasn’t shared.

“I met Mel’s girlfriend yesterday.”

Jayce’s head shoots up, phone forgotten. “Sevika? She’s quite severe, isn’t she?”

Caitlyn shakes her head. “I didn’t really get to talk to her, but she’s Vi’s aunt.”

“Small world,” Jayce comments. “I guess the fruit doesn’t really fall far from the tree.” He bursts out laughing at his own joke and Caitlyn has no choice but to throw the balled-up napkin at his head. It hits, because she never misses, and he swats at it.

“Why do I put up with your terrible jokes?” Caitlyn grumbles as she closes the box of goodies up and pushing it towards Jayce’s side of the table.

“Because I’m the best big brother in the world,” Jayce replies. “But hey. I’m proud of you. You know that right?”

Caitlyn nods. “I know.”

“And not just for being queer,” he says. “But when you figure out a label, let me know, I want to order that jacket.”

Caitlyn can’t help but smile, grateful that she has Jayce in her life.

~*~

Caitlyn’s surprised when Vi slides into the seat next to her during her Monday detention. Her heart thuds a little in her chest as she takes in Vi’s appearance, mentally checking what’s wrong with her uniform but finding nothing out of the ordinary.

“Why are you here?” Caitlyn asks. “You said you were finished with detention.”

Vi shrugs and rolls up her shirt sleeve, showing off her pen ink covered right arm. “I got bored during biology.”

Caitlyn shakes her head, biting back a smile. “These are really cool,” she says, turning her body so she’s facing Vi. She gets a closer look at the little figures Vi has drawn on her arm. There are flowers, trees, people. It’s a mishmash of things, but somehow it suits Vi a lot.

“I thought I’d start practicing for when I get a tattoo,” Vi comments casually.

“You want a tattoo?”

Vi nods. “I’ve been designing pieces for years,” she replies. “Remind me to show you sometime.”

“Miss Kiramman, Miss Wolfe. Might I remind you both that this is detention,” Mrs Walker says with a sigh. She gives them a pointed look and sits down at the desk at the head of the room.

“This one is my favourite,” Caitlyn whispers when Mrs Walker opens her laptop to work. Caitlyn’s finger traces a rather large flower head that Vi drew on the inside of her arm. “I have an idea.” Without waiting for an answer, Caitlyn pulls out her pencil case and chooses a purple marker. She uncaps it and starts to colour in the petals. She takes her time, making sure to stay within the lines that Vi has already drawn. She switches out between a few different shades of purple markers, making sure to get the shading as best as she can. Vi really is a wonderful artist, she thinks as she finishes up the last petal.

She’s so focused that she doesn’t register how still Vi is until she looks up. Vi’s cheeks flush as their gazes meet and lock. She licks her lips and Caitlyn can’t help but stare.

“Uh, it looks good, Cupcake,” Vi says. “Thanks.”

Caitlyn nods. She puts the marker back in its spot and zips her pencil case up. Her heart is thudding in her chest and she isn’t sure why.

They’re silent for the rest of detention.

When Caitlyn gets home that day, she sequesters herself in her room with her laptop and opens an incognito window. Hoping that she doesn’t get anything that will scar her, she types in “how do I know I’m lesbian?”

She clicks through, reading articles and opinion pieces and even doing quizzes. It wasn’t something she’d really thought of before. She just figured that she was a late bloomer – seeing as she only got her period a few days after her fifteenth birthday, and she just would grow into liking boys like many others seemed to.

She knows that Runeterra is a widely diverse place, that there are many sexualities and genders, so she shouldn’t be thinking that liking boys is the norm, but it’s still there, in society, with heterosexuality being the most common sexuality.

Mel’s voice pops into her head, saying the word butch with such a loving timbre to her voice. That goes into the search bar next. And what she sees is Vi. Not photos of Vi, of course, but people who look like her.

She notices that most butches in these photos tend to have femme girlfriends, but Caitlyn doesn’t consider herself femme. Not really. The femmes in all of these photos are wearing makeup, and dresses or skirts. Even outside of her uniform – which is thankfully shorts or trousers – she doesn’t wear dresses or skirts that often. They’re not ideal for someone like her who runs a lot, who has shooting as one of her main sports.

Trying to find a label for herself outside of lesbian is proving more difficult than she hoped it would, so she closes her laptop. She heaves a sigh and Bullet looks up from the end of her bed where he’s resting. Trigger is asleep on the floor on his back his legs in the air – the only time he sleeps like that is in her room. She leans over, scratching at Bullet’s head, getting the spot behind his ears that she knows he loves. He yawns widely and gives her a happy smile. She leans over and kisses the top of his head.

She takes out her phone and snaps some photos of him, and of Trigger, who has started dreaming, his legs kicking in the air. She does a quick video and saves it, knowing that she can hear her own giggling in the video. But she sends all of them to Vi, even though she knows Vi might not get them, that Mylo or even Claggor could get them. She just hopes Vi sees them eventually and that it makes her smile.

Thinking of Vi makes her think of what Vi would say if she found out that Caitlyn is lesbian. She already knows Vi is – if Powder’s comment hadn’t confirmed it, the fact that Vi had hooked up with Asher in the past was a clear indicator, too.

Caitlyn can’t help but wonder if Asher is the type of girl Vi likes – hyper femme. Asher loves all her makeup and skirts and being as cute as possible. She’s completely different to Caitlyn.

She’s getting ahead of herself. She doesn’t even know if Vi is interested in her. She sighs and shakes her head. She’s being silly. Of course Vi doesn’t like her like that. They’re just friends. Nothing more.

That thought hurts more than Caitlyn would like to admit.

~*~

“Whoa! You have red eyes!” Powder exclaims as she looks up at Caitlyn. Caitlyn gives her a smile, showing off her full fangs. “Your fangs look so good!” she jabbers excitedly.

Caitlyn feels warm at that compliment. It was easy to decide to be a vampire for her costume. She already has a cloak that is a deep navy colour – it’s her House colours, and has the House emblem on the back, but it makes her look like a vampire. She was teased about it by some girls in her year level when they first saw it last year, but it feels right to reclaim that vampiric nature for tonight’s outing. Getting red contact lenses and the fangs was also easy for Caitlyn, and it completes her look. She feels bad that it isn’t as an elaborate costume as other people have, but vampires tend to wear normal clothes and just have fangs and different coloured eyes. So her white shirt and black trousers basic outfit underneath the cloak isn’t out of place, which she’s thankful for.

She’s still standing on the front porch of Vi’s family home, as Powder jabbers as she was the one to answer the door, in all her werewolf glory. She has fur stuck to her cheeks and everything. She looks like a cute puppy, really.

“You look great, Powder,” she says as Powder finally steps aside to let her in. She takes Caitlyn’s hand and leads her into the house much like she did during her birthday party. She hasn’t seen Powder since then, but Vi has texted her photos every now and then of her family members, and Caitlyn has done the same but with photos of her dogs.

“Thanks! Dad helped me stick my fur on because Vi was too busy doing her own,” Powder replies. Her entire costume is cute and Caitlyn wants to take some photos before they head out into the neighbourhood.

Caitlyn is led into the kitchen where Vi and Vander are putting some glow in the dark stickers on their trick or treat buckets.

“Cait!” Vi exclaims as she looks up. “Whoa, your eyes look so cool!”

Caitlyn smiles. “Powder said the same.”

“You should see her fangs, Vi! They’re way cooler than mine,” Powder exclaims. Caitlyn promptly bares her teeth, showing off her faux fangs and Vi smiles.

“They’re cool but we have cool fangs too, Pow,” Vi says, gesturing to the kitchen table where a few pairs of stick-in fangs rest.

“Are you lot ready, then?” Vander asks. He passes Caitlyn a bucket and she smiles at him.

Powder nods excitedly, her little wolf ears on top of her head looking too cute amongst all of her hair.

“Mylo and Claggor aren’t coming with us anymore,” Vi says. “They’re both at the arcade to pass out candy there. So it’s just us.”

Caitlyn nods. “Us girls will have more fun anyway,” she says conspiratorially, giving Powder a wink. Powder grins at her and gives Vander a big hug before grabbing her bucket off the table. It has her name on it in big glittery stickers.

“Take care of each other, and have fun,” Vander says. “And call if you need anything.”

“We will, Dad,” Vi says. She gives him a hug and rubs over the back of her hair with one of his hands. She swats at him, smiling, and smooths her hair back down. Her own wolf ear headband is nestled among her pink hair, which is out of its usual slicked back style and is messier. Caitlyn figures it’s to hide the headband better, but she has to admit, it looks good.

“Let’s go then,” Vi says.

Powder grabs Caitlyn’s free hand and leads her out the door. She feels a rush of affection for this little girl, wondering what Vi has said to Powder about her for her to be so kind towards Caitlyn.

Powder jabbers excitedly as they walk, telling her facts about all of their neighbours. She mentions where Sevika is and Caitlyn nods along. “But she’s not home. She and her girlfriend are spending the night at some fancy event in Piltover. Hey, why aren’t you at that event?”

“Thankfully it’s not for kids, just for adults,” Caitlyn replies. Powder starts swinging their joined hands. “My mother is there though.”

“What about your dad?” Powder asks, looking up at Caitlyn with a curious expression in her big eyes.

“He’s working tonight. He works at the hospital.”

“Oh cool! I’ve been there when I broke my arm falling off the monkey bars when I was seven,” Powder says. “I had a green cast. It was cool!”

She goes off on a tangent about how she broke her arm and the x-rays and how the doctor who put her cast on was super nice.

They approach another house and Powder stops talking long enough to knock on the door. Caitlyn is surprised every single time by how loud her knocking is, but it’s sweet. It suits her, somehow.

“Trick or treat!” Powder exclaims as an older woman comes into view, a large bowl of candy in her arms.

“Well look at you!” the woman says, smiling down at Powder. “You’re a very scary werewolf!”

“Thank you!” Powder replies.

“And, wow, those red eyes are startling, dear,” the woman says as she glances up at Caitlyn. “What are you supposed to be?”

“She’s a vampire!” Powder replies for her. “Show her your teeth!” Caitlyn happily obliges and the woman gasps.

“They’re very realistic,” she says. “You get two candy pieces for that.”

“Wow!” Powder exclaims as Caitlyn is passed two pieces.

“Thank you,” Caitlyn replies. She feels bad because Vi is hovering in the background, like she has been for the last three houses, but Powder has yet to let go of Caitlyn’s hand each time they approach a new house.

They say goodbye to the woman and she closes the door behind them.

“Here,” Caitlyn says, passing Vi one of the candy pieces. “Since you didn’t get any.”

Vi shoots her a surprised look. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“I don’t either,” Caitlyn replies. She slips the candy into Vi’s bucket and gives her a wink. She isn’t sure, as it’s getting dark, but she thinks she sees Vi blush.

“C’mon, slow pokes!” Powder says, breaking the moment.

They steadily make their way through the neighbourhood, Powder preening every time someone compliments her werewolf costume.

After an hour more, Caitlyn can feel Powder starting to slow down. She gently runs a hand over the back of Powder’s head, and says to her, “how about we go to one more house and then head home?”

“Okay,” Powder says, yawning widely.

On their way back to Vi’s house, Vi stops and gives Powder a piggy back. Caitlyn takes a moment to snap a photo of them. They look so cute with their matching wolf ears and little tufts of fur down their faces. Powder yawns again and buries her face in Vi’s neck, her eyes closed. Caitlyn takes a couple more discreet photos, vowing to show them to Vi later. She slips her phone back into her pocket and shuffles their buckets around so she’s carrying them in two hands rather than one.

Vander is sitting in the living room, watching the television when they enter the house.

“Good night?” he asks.

Vi nods. “I’m just going to put her to bed,” she says. “Cait, you can just stay down here.”

“Okay,” Caitlyn replies. “I’ll take the candy to the kitchen.”

Vi wanders off up the stairs and Caitlyn heads to the kitchen. She realises with a start that’s the second time tonight that Vi has called her Cait before. It makes her tummy tingle pleasantly.

“Would you care for a cup of tea?” Vander asks as he appears behind her.

“Oh, yes, please,” Caitlyn replies. She puts the buckets on the table, making sure that Powder’s is out of the way. She looks at her very full bucket and Vi’s mostly empty one. She tips her bucket into Vi’s, making sure she gets her fair share.

“That’s nice of you,” Vander says, startling Caitlyn. His back is to the kettle behind him, slowly burbling away. There are three mugs on the counter behind him, each with a teabag label hanging over the side.

“It’s only fair,” Caitlyn replies with a shrug. “Powder was quite insistent on holding my hand, which meant that Vi was left out a lot.”

Vander just nods, and turns back to the kettle. Caitlyn sorts the candies up, satisfied that Vi has her fair share. She wonders which ones are Vi’s favourites. She’ll happily trade with her.

“She’s out,” Vi says as she comes back into the kitchen. “Have you heard from the boys, Dad?”

Vander nods. He puts their mugs on the table, sliding one towards Caitlyn. “They’ll be out a bit longer, but they’re having fun.”

Vi smiles. “I’ll have to take you to the arcade soon,” she says to Caitlyn. She picks up her own mug and has a sip from it before wincing. “Too hot,” she mutters. “Hey, how come my bucket is full?”

“It’s only fair,” Caitlyn replies. “You didn’t get as much candy because you were hanging back a lot.”

“I don’t need all of this,” Vi protests, pushing the bucket back towards Caitlyn.

“I’ll leave you girls to it,” Vander says, interrupting what Caitlyn was about to say. He kisses Vi on the top of her head, and Caitlyn can’t help but smile because she’s still wearing her wolf ears. “Try and keep it down in here, it’s almost bed time for the lot of you.”

“Okay, Dad,” Vi replies. He takes his mug and wanders out of the kitchen.

“Cait,” Vi says, turning back to her. “I don’t want all of this candy.”

“Well, what are your favourites? We’ll divide them that way. I don’t eat anything with nuts, but my father loves them. Mother loves anything with nougat in it,” Caitlyn states.

“I love anything with caramel,” Vi replies. “I’m not fond of the ones with small nuts. But everything else is okay.”

“Alright then,” Caitlyn says. She takes both of their buckets and dumps the contents out on the table. Her fingers make quick work of dividing things up into what Vi likes, what she likes, and what they both dislike. It doesn’t take long, and soon their buckets are refilled with their selections.

“There. Done.”

“That was super fast,” Vi says, her tone impressed. “Are you sure you’re not a real vampire with super speed?”

Caitlyn purposefully bares her fangs. “You’ll never know.”

Vi shakes her head, smiling. “I’d better hide this from my brothers,” she says, nodding towards her bucket. “Mylo will eat everything if he can.”

“Then you definitely need to hide it,” Caitlyn agrees.

Vi glances up at her. “Thank you for coming tonight. Powder had a really good time.”

“I did too,” Caitlyn says. “It’s a first trick or treat experience to remember.” She picks up her tea and has a sip, enjoying the flavour. But mostly it’s so she has something to do with her hands, lest she reach over and take Vi’s in her own.

“I’m glad it was memorable,” Vi says. Her tone is soft, and she has a smile on her face that Caitlyn has only ever seen aimed towards Powder.

“I’d better go,” Caitlyn says after a beat of silence. “It’s getting late.” She pulls out her phone to message her driver to come and collect her. She slides her phone back into her pocket once she has a reply.

Vi nods and she passes Caitlyn her bucket. “We should do this again sometime.”

“What, go trick or treating?” Caitlyn teases.

Vi rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean.” Caitlyn does. And she does want to do this again. They make their way to the front door and Caitlyn turns back to face Vi.

“Would you like to come over to my house next weekend?” She asks. “You can finally meet my dogs.”

Vi’s face lights up at that. “I’d love that.”

Caitlyn lingers for a moment before she decides to go for it. She gives Vi a massive hug and is relieved when Vi hugs her back. They slowly part and Vi’s hand comes up, her thumb gently caressing the side of Caitlyn’s face. She can’t help but lean into it before slowly pulling back.

“Good night, Vi,” she says, glancing up into Vi’s light blue eyes.

“Night,” Vi replies. Caitlyn nods once, awkwardly, before leaving the house, realising that she desperately wanted to kiss Vi tonight.

Her driver pulls up a moment later, and the moment she’s able to, Caitlyn is unlocking her phone and swiping through the photos she took tonight, stopping on a selfie she had taken with Vi earlier, both of their fangs on display as they made silly faces at the camera. She sets it as her phone’s lock screen, her tummy tingling all the while.

#star writes fic #fic: misfits and mishaps #caitvi #caitvi fanfic #caitvi fic

4 notes · View notes

venomwrites · 2 months ago

Note

the time bomb AU 2x07 is so intriguing to just have a world where our characters can be happy. If Vi was alive in that AU, what do you think she would be doing, and do you think she would ever cross paths with Cait?

Its so intriguing! I tried to bring in a lot of the big beats with Anomalies where everyone lived. Instead of Vi dying, she turns herself in but she grows up away from Zaun.

Personally I have always thought Caitlyn was dead in that AU as well. It just never made sense for Vi's death to change everything so drastically. But Caitlyn getting blown up would have huge implications, especially for research the Kiramman's were funding. But okay let's say Vi survives and everyone comes together like in the AU and Vi gets to be a kid and the world gets happy again and let's say Caitlyn is injured but eventually recovers.

I think Vi would be, to put it mildly, a menace to society.

I will preface this by saying that all the parents in Vi's life seem to have tried really hard. No-one was intentionally treating her badly and this is the unfortunate reality of poverty. Yes they tried, no it wasn't enough.

Vi is a deeply tramatized, parentified kid since Powder's birth (probably before that). Like i'll just take an educated guess that the mines didn't have a great parental leave policy. Even if everything gets better after the explosion, Vi's childhood is gone. And she is visibly angry about it. She blames Piltover for it. And then Piltover comes in and makes everything magically better? Given what we've seen of Vi up to that point, I just don't see her being chill with that. She's given up literally everything, in a lot of ways all she has is anger and responsibility. So for Piltover to tell her those things are also now theirs? I feel like that might be the thing that makes Vi snap. Because Vi was going to snap either way.

Pitfighter Vi was, in my opinion, an inevitability.

It's like when a child star goes off the rails because they never got to be a kid. That was coming for Vi one way or another. I think the second Vander and Silco take over her job as a parent, Vi is going off the rails. Her entire life has been about denying what she wants and eventually the pendulum is going to swing the other way. Unfortunately it's often self destructive and I think for someone like Vi who deals in extremes, that's going that way.

In my head she breaks something gruesomely and winds up in whatever rehab facility Caitlyn sometimes has to go to because the explosion left her maimed in some way and she hates how the fancy doctors treat her. It's an efficient place, not a fancy one. They wind up there and bond because they hate being told what to do. Then they become workout buddies because neither is wigged out by each other's injuries. Then they bond and become girlfriends and help each other be better.

#deciding whether or not to fic it after i finish one my other ones #so no one touch #but i shall share

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the-dumpster-fire-of-life · 2 years ago

Note

Can I request for Jinx, Vi, and Cait having a Werewolf s/o, please? Like s/o is stoic and intimidating towards others, but is soft and sweet like a lovesick puppy towards the girls and would do anything for them. Thank you!

(Hey! i don't do werewolf thing's, sorry, I just thing they're kinda weird lmao. But the rest I can do, Enjoy!)

JINX, VI & CAITLYN X STOIC & INTIMIDATING S/O

Jinx

Before you two got together she first knew you as the “Quiet goon”

She didn’t see you socialize with literally anyone

You worked for Silco, if that isn’t obvious

She would mess with you a bit

Try and get you to open up or even crack a smile

You usually did intimidations with Sevika for information

She sometimes would tag along with Silco

She liked how it always worked, you were intimidating

She didn’t really get how stoic you were

She was pretty much the opposite

Always showing how she was feeling, in any setting, she didn’t care, except when she was sad and shit

But after you two got together

Whole other story with you

She noticed how you acted so differently with her

She would walk in and unlike before, you looked so happy and like you visibly lit up

She felt honored tbh

Showed how happy she was

She liked how sweet and happy you were with her after

And you actually laughed and goofed off with her?!

Oh my god

Jinx is in love

And if you set something on fire or explode something with her finally?

Jinx is never letting go

And you would do anything for her

Like she would do anything for you

Marriage

Now.

Vi always knew how you looked so quiet and stoic all the time

She never knew how the hell you were feeling

She didn’t really talk to you at first but you were friends with Caitlyn

So she then got to know how intimidating you were

And how much you intimidated a lot of people

She didn’t know how you felt towards her until she liked you and you liked her and one of you confessed

But then you started dating

And she was surprised when she saw how sweet and happy you were towards her

And how you would do anything she asked of you

She didn’t know how to feel ngl

But it was a nice turn around surprise

She loved it

She loved the affection 100%

She also liked how people would be surprised

Like imagine this person, looking like they wanna kill you by intimidation, only to light up and be all happy when Vi merely walked in the room

She felt so smug to everyone else

She teased you a bit at first

But like she is the only one who got that reaction out of you

And she’d be damned if she wouldn’t be able to take advantage of it

So safe to say she loved it so much

Caitlyn

Caitlyn was a bit intimidated by you

Maybe you were from the Undercity or maybe worked as a guard for her or her family

She was closer in age with you out of the rest there

But she was nervous and sorta reluctant to talk to you

Seeing how you were so quiet and you were intimidating as hell compared to the others

But after she got to know you a little bit she warmed up to you a lot more

And after you started dating, she was surprised and happy too after seeing the change

She saw how you were more sweet and soft towards her when you two got together

You did anything for her

And I mean anything

Stood up for her, yelled at dick asshole enforcers for her, got her random things because you thought she would like it

She didn’t like the money spending part, she would rather give you things

But she loved it in all its glory

She loved how she was the only one you were like this to

Like Vi, is smug about it

Gave a little teasing to you also

But don’t take it in a bad way!

She loves it so much

Plus, it’s her favorite romance movie dynamic

She seems ,like a hopeless romantic

So it all works out!

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hotxcheeto · 3 years ago

Note

If it's cool with you, I'd like to request a poly! Vi x fem reader x Caitlyn Headcanons either nsf or sfw your choice

━ 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐘𝐍 / 𝐕𝐈

𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜(𝙨) - Vi x G/N!Reader, Caitlyn x G/N!Reader, Vi x Caitlyn 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 - A few curse words, Mentions of being sad (Brief)

𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙? - Yeah/Nope

𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 - I'm in love with you for requesting this. Also first poly request! Excuse it if it isn't that good, my first time! Also I didn't do NSFW but if anyone wants that feel free to send it in!

You knew Vi first, having grown up with her

You had liked her since you were both kids but were far too afraid to ever say anything to her

You didn't want to lose her as a friend

But then she did it and you took it and ran, sprinted, and probably did a happy dance once you were alone

She got so scared you were gonna say no, but you didn't and jesus you nearly have her a heart attack in the meantime

But then the things with Vander happened, and you got separated, and then you thought she was dead

So you tried moving on, but never fully did and then she popped up

You didn't know whether to kiss her, hug her or slap her

You did a bit of all three

Then you met her friend, Caitlyn and you did not know what to think at first but Caitlyn did

She liked you, a lot

And so did Vi

And two tall beautiful women get flustered talking to you?

Time skip you guys are all in love

It was pretty obvious from the beginning and it just... happened

They both have different ways of showing their love

Vi shows it through actions more than words

Through her help in the kitchen when she comes in to bother you and you end up teaching her how to make actual cupcakes

Caitlyn is very affirmative and will straight up tell you she loves you and how amazing and good looking you are

And you do both, to both of them

Cuddling with them is a dream

Vi lays in the crook of your neck and Caitlyn holds the both of you close, preferably big spoon

Vi will sleep facing you mostly, while Caitlyn spoons one of you from behind and holds the others hand

They have to be touching you and each other at all times

Or Vi will have you both sleep on her chest when she's feeling especially down, just to hold you both like teddy bears

Everyone takes turn doing this honestly, whoever needs held is being held even if it's all of you

Caitlyn loves taking baths, especially together

Vi loves them too after rough days feeling yours or Caitlyn's hands in her hand, scrubbing with one of your guy's good smelling soaps is her favorite thing

Another is the massages you'll give her, after a really bad day when you grab the vanilla oil and sit on her, digging your hands into her back

it's something she treasures

And Cait likes the early mornings with you three all together before you part ways

Or the late nights where none of you can sleep and stay up talking and drinking some of Caitlyn's tea

Caitlyn loves running her hands through yours and Vi's hair when either of you are upset and lay on her chest

She's very comforting to the both of you

Caitlyn always makes sure you and Vi are okay

That you both have eaten and gotten sleep she's very on top of both of you

She's very much hopeless romantic

Likes going on dates here and there even if it's staying home and trying to cook something together or watching a movie

She likes you all to take time to spend together

They will absolutely smother you in their love no matter what

And you'd do the same

Vi has moments where she just needs both of you to sit with her, trace her tattoos and just honestly let her feel your love

And Caitlyn needs you both once the enforcers get into her head about not being that good at her job

And of course they'd always be there for you

You guys have regular cuddle sessions because of that reason

They both love stargazing, Vi will argue to the death about it but she secretly loves the look on both of your faces while the stars reflect in your eyes

You and Vi try to teach Caitlyn to jump across the roof tops

She tries really

And Vi how to defend yourself if you don't know how because she's worried that something will happen without her

Caitlyn loves give you things that remind her of you

She'll buy you and Vi trinkets she sees on the job or just in general while she's out

You both have a collection going

Vi is hilarious you cannot tell me otherwise

She has you and Caitlyn crying laughing sometimes just by being herself most of the time

They love you

You are like a mix of the both of them which is always great when it comes to mediating arguments that you get into once in a while

Usually about Vi being reckless, Caitlyn being a bit stuck up or little things that none of you can agree on

Vi calls Caitlyn Cupcake and you Sugar

You two are her sweets

In conclusion, separate they're amazing, together they're fucking incredible

Excuse my language

#vi x yn #arcane vi #vi arcane #vi x reader #vi x you #arcane league of legends #arcane netflix #arcane #caitvi #caitlyn #caitlyn kiramman x reader #caitlyn kiramman #special tag

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baezreal-blog · 6 years ago

Text

In the midst of three papers being due tomorrow and also an exam at 9 am tomorrow on top of other commitments, I need to keep myself sane. So, how will I do this you may ask?

Piltover Champion Reactions to/Interactions with Battle Academia Ezreal:

I apologize to any of you that may RP as these champions. Most of these things are my own headcanons or just... crack. Champions are listed alphabetically, hit CTRL/CMD + F if you want to quicksearch, and everything is under the cut...

Caitlyn:

Her: “Ezreal, might I ask what that is on the back of your head?”

Him: “Waddaya mean Cait?”

Her: “... I understand that you are a bit of an adventurous person, Ezreal, but to be completely honest, that ponytail is simply not flattering.”

Him: “Lux told me the other day that it looked good!”

Her, while sipping tea: “Well, people can lie, Ezreal.”

Her: “Would you like a hat?”

Her: “And what’s gotten into Jayce lately? You’re both acting quite... strange.”

Camille:

Probably hates everything that Ezreal stands for, it’s just not efficient.

“Ezreal, I’ve had ENOUGH of your antics. You will henceforth dress like a normal human being for the greater good of Piltover.”

If in a good mood, lowkey teaches Ezreal some techniques: how to rappel off of walls, how to evade an enemy, etc.

Only really teaches him because it’s painful to watch this boy thrash around with little to no technique or mastery.

He’s all about show, she’s all about precision.

Utterly horrified whenever she sees him miss a shot (which is often).

Heimerdinger:

Crazy hair buddies.

Heimer just wants to analyze the God-Weapons and understand how they came to be, what fuels them, etc.

Ez is there to entertain the dude.

Heimer just gets... so happy... when he’s able to examine new tech

Has tried secretly dismantling Ez’s gauntlet (cause he can put it back together anyway), but the gauntlet wouldn’t... dismantle. “Intriguing”

Jayce:

They’re gay. I don’t make the rules here. I only follow them.

The Japanese VA uses -senpai, and listen, Ezreal is supposed to use -senpai, per Japanese rules of formality, so....

“Jayce-senpai, please notice me!” -- “ ジェイス先輩、私に気づいてください！”

Ominous quote from Battle Academia Jayce bio: “He hopes his inventions will prevent the kind of tragedy that struck him in his youth...”

(Dramatic Anime Music)

Ezreal, reaching for Jayce’s hand: “You can trust me, Jayce. I’m all ears.”

Jayce, turns away: “No, I can’t relive that day.”

Ezreal: “You can’t keep your feelings buried forever.”

Jayce, dramatically punches a wall: “She was so young, Ez! My sister... she was so close... I had her in my arms and then she...”

Ezreal: “Shhhh shhhh.. it’s okay.”

Jayce, turning to him with tears: “Nothing is okay! Nothing can be okay anymore.”

Ezreal: “You need to learn to forgive yourself. You did all you could.”

Jayce: “I’ll never forget her voice... I’ll never forget her smile...”

Orianna

Orianna: “Ezreal, you have changed since I have last met you.”

Ezreal, chuckling awkwardly: “Y--yeah I guess I have Ori!”

Orianna: “The Ball asks why this came about.”

Ezreal, eyes gleaming: “I just wanted to find myself, y’know? I wanted to live out my dreams and find adventure in a place I’ve never been to.”

Orianna: “Where is that?”

Ezreal, triumphantly: “My heart.”

Orianna, blankly: “How did you travel to your own cardiovascular system.”

**Unending laughter.**

“Wh---who the hell does he think he is?? Some - pff - some super hero from an animated show, coming to save the world???”

**Laughter intensifies until it abruptly stops**

“Wait.. that’s exactly what he thinks he is.”

“Is that kid okay, do we finally need to find a therapist for him.”

#battle academia ezreal #piltover #league of legends #headcanons #caitlyn #camille #jayce #orianna #vi #crack?#crack.#crack #might continue this for other champs

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arcane-temp-fandomblog · 3 years ago

Text

yeah, yeah I've seen. but what is he supposed to say? No one will die and ie. spoiler the start of next Season. Especially for people that don't play league? That is what I get from it. It's the same as all prequels media like Black Sails or Star Wars. Darth Vader could die - for a twist, but could he? Would that make a good origin story?

Like the stakes in Arcane so far has never been surviving or being kept alive. All characters have completely different stakes than this, actually outside of horror - most stories do. But I'd love to see how they subvert that, just don't see it as preferable. Since Arcane is written imo. by extremely competent writers and it's actually harder to write a story about heroic characters where death is off the table.

Like I write a very, very crappy webcomic and I can already tell you everyone will live to the end in my story (at least in current beta edit no. 4 / no spoilers they all may die, I'm the god here). And since I know this, I know I can setup moments which will maybe (and hopefully) for some readers at least feel like one misstep will result in death. But it won't - since the story is not reliant on anyone dying to get the theme across and for characters to complete their narrative arcs, but it relies a bit on the reader thinking it's a possibility for the stakes.

Taking champions out of rotation would be weird, especially like when? Even if main league esports is not on for like 3 months, there are secondary and uni leagues ongoing. The professional players train in Solo Q. That would be a disaster.

Like if they wanted to be 'champion died' - Viktor with his masked appearance could be a possibility. He died and there's a fake Viktor now. But his story arc is shaping exactly the other way.

Dying is low stakes in most stories. Not completing your character arc is thou.

As a crap example I'll try to very widely - since I don't know what writers of Arcane have in mind - possible death and non death scenarios for Caitlyn. Caitlyn ends up as sheriff o Piltover so in Marcus' position, 3 possibilities how she can arrive at it:

1) Vi is killed by Jinx protecting Cait, Cait in retaliation takes up the position of sheriff to forever pursue Jinx. And to never let an act like that to happen again. She never learns, she is sad and she can never forgive herself, and that makes her another ruthless enforcer.

2) Cait never learns of Piltover's enforcement involvement in how Jinx became Jinx and takes Vi to live happily ever after in Piltover as the sheriff and the muscle. They never learn more deeply about each other or the world around them. But she is happy and content at her work and love life.

3) Cait solves what Jayce calls her 'Great Conspiracy' in which both Piltover and the enforcers are actively implicated in being the reason of misery of the undercity. All thanks to sharing with Vi about the impact of the death of her role model Greyson and Vi sharing about her and Jinx's tragic separation and death of own mentor Vander. Them together building and going from there, now that Silco - their great joint villain is dead. Then after Caitlyn solves her 'Great Conspiracy', builds up her relationship with Vi even more and is fully disillusioned with Piltover, the only way to protect Vi's life is to never speak of what they both discovered (alike Marcus) and take the role of sheriff of Piltover - which now is a ceremonial position. And from then on to do the dirty work of sweeping everything unseemly in Piltover under the rug, alike Marcus tried to do with the shipping manifests for the council. She becomes what she hated about Marcus and she is fully aware of that, and it's a cost worth in her eyes for Vi's life. All because a daughter of a high ranking house can't just disappear from the city of Progress and they can send someone to off Vi. She also has to live with the knowledge her actions took Vi out of her natural home - undercity, and locked her up in Piltover as an enforcer, when she unknowingly to how Piltover works led her before the council in Season 1 etc. They make up a weak and feeble story about Vi's "amnesia" to explain where she was when she was locked up in Stillwater and about her origin. But she completes her narrative arc and ends up in the place she is in lore.

So idk, anyone can die - but I personally don't see it as viable.

From what I see in arcane - and the show says that pretty directly - the end goals for satisfactory arc of at least 4 characters were stated:

Vi - protect family - aka her sister, not Powder (no one guaranteed they'll be able to stay together - sometimes staying mostly apart is what guarantees someone else safety)

Jayce - save and protect lives (Hextech magic or not included, imo. it exactly won't be with Hextech. Or at least not Hextech way he envisioned. Basically freezing any Hextech research and progress, something he loathed in the council in act 1 and his council archives.)

Caitlyn - solve her Grand Conspiracy (and no one will know / it won't change a thing)

Viktor - making the world a better place (not Hextech way he envisioned, actually being the scary monster that can retaliate with force if Piltover encroaches on Zaun's independence )

And provisionally I'll say for Ekko & Jinx - saving each other

Arcane framing / Piltover political speech / Diplomatic solutions

Characters in Arcane are cute, but my love will always be the politics in it. The speech and behaviours are as if watching real world politics, but at safe funny distance. Every single council member in this story, aside from the disaster man which is Jayce, sounds so reasonable and measured. Yet, the town is at a boiling point - something that everyone outside of Piltover can see. Thank you whoever are Mel's friends oversees and Ambessa. The the cherry on top is vying for economic perks over safety of their own city. Chefs kiss.

But since the whole political mess involves the undercity, what is actually the status of people of the undercity. Is it a district of Piltover or not?

So they are their constituents even if not preferred. Truly the council represents everyone equally in “Piltover the land of progress, equality, innovation.” (this is forever going to be my catchphrase, thank you Jayce).

I mean they are, until they show any bigger dissatisfaction with Piltover because of something that was done through the decree of Piltover's own not-president on advise of sheriff Marcus.

Apparently that's enough for people in the undercity to not be Piltover's people. They're the other people now. Like being from the undercity is pretty precarious situation all the time, as was shown in Act 1 - when even the leader of the Lanes had to make a choice to sacrifice either himself or his children.

I think 'own countermeasures the Piltover edition' don't need to be explained but just in case this is how countermeasures against undercity looked already, barricades & all:

I'm just pretty sure Mel, who may not think high of other councillors but thinks highly of Piltover - the city that represents more humane and upstanding governance than what her mother's rule is (or appears to be - like I'm not fan of Ambessa conquering ways, but I'd pick her over Piltover), does not realise it. Countermeasure are this, taking arms agains own civilians that are dissatisfied ends up like this in Piltover. Bloodshed and traumatised children, while the Piltover's council room is even spared looking at the carnage because of the smoke. It's always easier when one doesn't have to see the cost of war with own eyes.

Mel just wasn't in Piltover at the point of opening rebellion imo. and “Piltover the land of progress, equality, innovation.” would most likely hush extents of such events to the public. Appearances, Piltover can never do any wrong. If she ever discovers the truth - oh, she will be so pissed.

She's the newest addition to the council (aside form Jayce) and they defanged her over time with the way they have no vision. You can be the best political player in a room but if the game everyone is playing is self-interested shit - you can only play that one. And if someone is to blame for that - it's the father of Piltover - Heimerdinger.

But the peace - apparently - is broken because of inaction. I'll make small injection that the show clearly conveys that the inaction is the created economic disparity. But it has been created and there's no going back.

Or...

... they invade. I mean I always bark out ugly laugh that they consider going to a district they govern over an invasion. Yet, here we are - even to the political body - the undercity is a foreign land. Which it became in everything but name under Silco.

"The peace is already broken but it could trigger war". I do want to know what is name of a state that is neither peace or war? Anyway, jokes of this shows that include political speech/logic like this are golden.

This of course triggers in Mel reaction - same she has against her mother's invasion governance techniques. See countermeasures sound nice, invasion sounds like war. Same difference for the people in the undercity. But ie. to give real world example, highly precise drone warfare sounds much nicer than what it actually entails. Not to mention whenever governments decide to take actions against people they preside over.

I'm going to interject, that war against own people should never be last resort. That is a failure of governance within the country on the governing body. But as the Arcane shows us- undercity people are only sometimes Piltover's constituents and sometimes are not their people. Depends how wind blows.

And they will then become not their people in name too.

For now everyone agrees that war is a no, any other diplomatic solution is not proposed either. They all sound so reasonable. In this scene in comparison to Jayce, they are for sure. But just personal opinion - reasonable speech does not imply reasonable actions. Lack of action is action too.

And imo. aside from Mel and Jayce - some of these councillors were around for first rebellion. The strategy is to wait to boiling point and send the enforcers to clean up.

But that doesn't happen... because this does:

Look at these two idiots go "fix" the problem of the undercity.

This also results in the funniest Mel's and Ambessa's fight to date (these two give me life together), when Mel thinks Ambessa said something to Jayce to influence his actions, and Ambessa is like 'I accelerated the process you started'. The issue is Ambessa, while being honest about her opinion on Piltover's system with Jayce, said less to him than Mel.

The person that accelerated the process was Vi. I swear no one in higher up Piltover's politics thinks about undercity folk as people with agency.

Anyway thanks to the fiasco of the two disasters, Jayce & Vi, a diplomatic solution is proposed. Not by the council, but by Jayce. Without anyone's input from the political sphere, he goes to Silco

Well this took Jayce only two whole acts to learn.

After all the trial and tribulation, as council wanted - there will be no war and diplomatic solution can be reached maybe.

The diplomatic solution:

And the response, to this preferred to war, diplomatic solution from the councillors is as expected - elation and sigh of relief to have averted further bloodshed:

That's what winning looks like, right.

Is this not what they wanted?

He went and did what you asked of him in the end councillors.

Jayce Talis discovered economic lobbying and leverage power of Hexgates (right? why else they vote for Zaun's independence?), it's super effective.

That is why everyone on the council, maybe aside from Mel who - if Jayce leaves politics - will become the head of it and has a vision, votes for undecity's independence. Like what are they going to do? Not use Hexgates. haha... lobbing can be so fun. But not in real life, just in Arcane.

Anyway Jayce and Viktor will probably pay for this little stunt next season, but for a moment it was fun.

Arcane politics give me life, I hope it's continued next season. I really want to make a big post about cait & vi - non love angle centric - but too many screenshots.

also: I just adore Miyavi & PVRIS - Snakes song lyrics that imo are from Jayce's pov - boy at the tender age of 30+ discovers that not all people have his best interest at heart. True gold.

Whoever wrote this line, chef's kiss

'I’m nice but I can get wicked'

btw imo. first part is for Vi, rest is for the council? I think - in that song. Vi part below:

Know you got my blood running Turn the heat to 600 (...) My friend karma’s a bitch She’s got some lessons you’ll learn ‘em

Other posts by me - Arcane meta analysis posts - mostly politics, tech and character parallels

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