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higuchisora · 25 days ago

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In a season without a Noxus plot line, The Hunt for Jinx becomes the story. Without having to rush everything for the dramatic invasion ending, I'd like to imagine they'd have more time to focus on the actual important stuff. Like the development of these characters (primarily the sisters and Caitlyn).

In this, I'd imagine the time skips are longer here. Act 1's major story beats will probably be relatively the same (save for some fiddling, such as making it take longer for Vi to become an enforcer, Caitlyn being less blatantly elitist, etc.). The only extremely significant plot difference is that the confrontation with Jinx doesn't end with Caitlyn hitting Vi and abandoning her. But from there onwards it's entirely different. Tensions between Piltover and Zaun become beyond hostile- they're in an outright civil war. No one can pass between the two cities safely. Blood stains both streets. The bridge hasn't just been closed- it's entirely destroyed, blown up in yet another one of Jinx's big acts.

This is where we get a somewhat similar reading of the sisters to the game. Like in League, Jinx has become the "Joker" to Caitlyn and Vi's "Batman/Robin" (in terms of going out of her way to specifically menace them, etc.), and she seems to be the only one capable of slipping between the two cities and making it out alive. Her acts range from "loud/annoying but harmless" to "loud, annoying, and devastatingly deadly" with seemingly no pattern to it.

As this continues, Caitlyn becomes more irate, more unhinged, more obsessed with catching Jinx to the point that she can hardly function anymore outside of fixating on her evidence boards or patrolling through the streets. This creates a rift between her and Vi pretty quickly, though they both try to brush it under the rug, until eventually they just can't. Vi has been struggling with her own actions for a while now (as well as Caitlyn's), trying to justify them and being less and less convincing to herself each time.

She tries to bottle it, first out of guilt towards Caitlyn and eventually out of guilt for everything and everyone else. People she's hurt, people she's lost, people she misses. She no longer remembers when she was last able to recognize her own image in the mirror. She finds herself to be beyond redemption. After all, Jinx- grave as her sins may be- Jinx was many things. But a traitor wasn't one of them.

As someone who values loyalty so much, to Vi, a traitor is the worst thing anyone could be. Unfortunately, she realizes she's become the thing she hated most. With this self-hatred fueling her thoughts, Vi slowly begins to pull back from Caitlyn. She initially clung to her, seeing her as the only constant left in her life, but after not being able to look at herself the same, she begins to look at Caitlyn- and realizes she doesn't recognize her anymore, either.

She makes a few attempts at trying to rectify this, a part of her not wanting to give up on Caitlyn (or herself) without trying. After all, it was never too late to change, right? To do better? Even if it didn't undo the past, it could keep the future from being worse. However, all of her attempts get soundly rebuffed by Caitlyn, each response being harsher than the last. The last one- whether it's gassing someone, or shooting at a kid, or what have you- ends with Caitlyn hitting Vi. It shocks both of them in that moment, so much so that neither of them seem to breathe for what feels like an entire minute.

Just as quickly, Caitlyn rushes to comfort Vi, apologizing profusely, begging for forgiveness, fussing over her- and Vi lets her do so, lets Caitlyn lead her back home to get her checked and rested. She doesn't address it again- but it's too late. This is Vi's last straw.

She doesn't say anything, but Caitlyn seems to realize she's lost her. She tries to coax Vi back onto her side, "Are you still in this fight, Violet?" And Vi tells her she's "the dirt beneath your nails, Cupcake." It's not romantic. Caitlyn doesn't know what to make of it. She puts Vi on leave to recuperate, opting to lead the strike teams alone, still hunting for Jinx.

Jinx, on the other hand, notices her sister's absence immediately. She tries to tell herself she doesn't care, but that lasts about five seconds before she all but loses it to her own paranoia. Where is she? Jinx's last stunt couldn't have gone that poorly. It wasn't even her worst- it wasn't like she was counting, but she hadn't even brought the nail bombs that time. She doubted more than a handful of people died. (Silco had even bitched about it, the way he usually does when he thinks she's "wasting time" playing around so much. He finds her smaller stunts to be juvenile, and though he never bats an eye at her conduct, he's always insistent on her doing things for "the cause." Like reaching out to Sevika. Or being more strategic with her assaults on Piltover).

Vi couldn't have been injured, couldn't have died. Did she abandon her again? Did she finally grow tired of Jinx?

It drives her up the wall, sends her into the kind of frenzy she hasn't experienced since that wretched dinner party. Who the fuck does Vi think she is, leaving Jinx behind? What gave her the right? What, was she trying to move on? To forget about her sister? Did she really think it'd be that easy? That Jinx would let her walk away? If anyone was supposed to leave, it was Jinx! It was her turn to leave her sister in the dust! To leave Vi begging and pleading on the ground, haunted and so alone. To have her chasing Jinx's shadow, the way Jinx chased hers for years! This wasn't fair, what the fuck, how dare she?

Jinx goes ballistic. Her next act is reckless, more than ever before. She walks right into the heart of Piltover, blowing up important buildings (government, law enforcement, memorials. All of it will go down in a blaze. She'll take them down with her if it's the last thing she does-) cutting enforcers down left and right. She lights everything up around her, blue smoke curling into the sky. She's not leaving until she gets what she came for. She's not leaving until Vi looks her in the goddamn eyes and says it- so Jinx can finally put a bullet in both of their skulls.

This can go several ways. Maybe Vi does go out there, unprepared and horrified, eyes locked on that rising smoke, without so much as her gauntlets as she flies through the streets, desperate to stop her sister- or maybe she doesn't. Maybe she was more injured than she'd previously realized, from not only her previous battle but from years- a lifetime, even- of abuse, of subpar and inhumane conditions, of sleepless nights and skipped meals and constantly running on empty. Of years of stress and grief and anxiety and rage and exhaustion and betrayal. Perhaps that blow to the stomach wasn't all that hard, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. The last push that sent that massive tree crashing to the ground, if only someone were nearby to hear it.

So for the first time, Vi is told to rest, and she stays there. Not really resting, exactly, she's not very relaxed- but maybe "benched," at the moment. Vi confronting Jinx could go a range of ways that would be delightful to explore, but I'd like to consider what would happen if she doesn't go.

The smoke rises, the city burns, the people scream- and Vi isn't there. Enforcers- whatever remains of them- flood the streets, but Jinx only sees shadows and lights and bodies, bodies, bodies. That she-devil is there, saying something, screaming it, but it doesn't matter. None of it matters, because Vi isn't there.

The voices get louder. Jinx turns up the volume. They're not the only ones who can scream. She sprays brass at the flocking masses of demons. Lets loose another volley of explosives. She's almost out, could only carry so much with her- but Vi. Isn't. There.

Jinx won't be able to recollect what happens next, but eventually it all goes dark. She wakes to the cold concrete of a prison cell floor. In the prison uniform, she's ironically more covered than she's been in years, but bereft of her weaponry, she feels utterly naked. Her braids are gone- not just untied, but chopped off, as if they were afraid she could hide things in them (she could. She has). She tunes Silco out. She doesn't feel like hearing him nag. She doesn't have it in her to feel bad for making him all worried and upset. She doesn't feel like doing anything, at the moment.

People come in and out of the prison, including the she-devil. But none of them are Vi. She tunes them out, too. It's all a blur.

It isn't that the rage is gone. It probably never would be. But it's distant. She's lost the energy to wield it. All that's left is the exhaustion. It consumes her, not unlike a weighted blanket. Or the shackles on her wrists and ankles.

Vi, meanwhile, has regained consciousness. She wakes to fresh destruction around her, breathing in the tang of iron and dust. The taste of ash is impossible to swallow down. Not even moments later, she learns Jinx is in custody, awaiting execution. She feels hollow as she watches the Piltovans celebrate. She ignores the protesting of her limbs, climbing out of bed. She slinks through winding halls with nostalgic ease. It didn't matter how many years its been, her muscles still remember how to sneak through places where her kind are unwelcome. With the right timing, she makes it in unnoticed.

Vi sees her there.

Jinx looks smaller than she has in years. Curled up and despondent. She doesn't turn to the sound of the door opening- it's unclear if she's ignoring it, or if she hasn't even registered the noise. Her hair is all but shorn off. Her hair always grew fast- give it a few weeks, and she'd have a bob, not unlike the one she had as a toddler. Vi approaches after a moment of taking in the sight of her, unnaturally still.

As with many points within this story, this meeting could go several ways. Maybe Jinx doesn't even belive she's actually seeing Vi, and so she doesn't respond for a while. Maybe she tries to muster up some cruel barbs, a cutting remark. Maybe she actually does manage to summon her emotions, maybe she's simply burnt out. But it doesn't really matter what she says or how, or if she says anything at all- ultimately, I think it would end with Vi unlocking the cell door. Perhaps similarly to canon, Vi takes Jinx into her arms. There's no “changing the story” talks, or “using her explosives for good”- Vi buries her face into blue hair, and hugs her sister.

If you prefer tragedies, this could be the perfect “rejected last chance” moment. Maybe Jinx tells Vi to fuck off, or she accepts her fate, having lost all hope, and gets executed, Vi following shortly thereafter in some fashion (by her own hands). Maybe Vi disappears after Jinx's death, from both Piltover and Zaun. But I'm personally very picky when it comes to how tragedies play out, and usually don't prefer them. And so I'll indulge myself with musing a more hopeful alternative.

Many (such as Overton herself) claim the sex scene in the cell to be Vi's “chance to be selfish” and to “Finally get to choose what she wants.” I'm personally of the belief that she's clearly shown time and time again in season 1 (and even a good amount of season 2) that her main desire, above all else, has consistently been to reconcile with her sister. As such, her “selfish moment” in this storyline would be, most likely, to unlock Jinx's shackles. Eyes blurry with tears, she'd fumble to unlock them, and all but rips them off.

Jinx doesn't know what to make of it, if she even wants to- she's tired of hoping. But Vi is here, visibly battered, but here. And Jinx has never really stopped craving Vi's attention, not really. Even if it meant dying by her hands (“it had to be you.”). Even if she tries to verbally protest, she won't stop Vi from releasing her from the cuffs. She won't complain about the hug, though the accusations would start to fly. “Of course,” Jinx might say. Of course, Vi is here now, at the last minute, trying to play hero. Did the cop girl dump her or something?

Vi is past the point of wanting to argue, though. She's all but blubbering. Nothing she says really makes sense. The only thing that's clear is that she's sorry (for what, is unintelligible), that she just wants Jinx back, no matter what form that takes. Jinx might find that too good to be true. But Vi is unyielding. She's at a point where Jinx could probably kill her, maybe take them both out, and she probably wouldn't fight back. Might see it, even, as the better option. They've both stained themselves in blood, now. Zaun reviles them both, Vi the most, but Jinx not far off- she's killed more than Piltovans, and though they stand behind her attack on the Council, some will never forgive or forget.

Vi isn't sure if there's a way out. If any of it even matters anymore. If her and Jinx can ever be “better,” if they could do anything other than die miserably. But she doesn't care anymore, either. Let Ekko pull Zaun back together. Let Caitlyn dive headfirst into battles until she breathes her last- did Vi even have a right to care about anything anymore, with how thoroughly she'd abandoned everything that once mattered to her?

She grasps Jinx’s face. The gentlest hold, on the one last precious thing in the world to her. She's abandoned so many things. Zaun. Her people. Her values. Whatever wasn't already ripped viciously out of her hands, she'd let go of, in the foolish search for comfort, for familiarity, for stability, for everything to be “right” and “make sense” again, in a way it hadn't since it all went up in flames.

Couldn't she just have her sister? If nothing else, could this be the one thing she got to have? Even if Jinx ran off, wanted nothing to do with her ever again- to see her run free, even just in fleeting moments for the rest of her life- she just wanted her sister back.

By the time the guards return, Vi and Jinx would be missing.

#i wrote this all in one sitting and im not sure if i even make sense anymore. its very late and i feel like ive been struck by lighting #probably will wake up later and wonder what i was thinking #arcane #arcane critical #arcane s2 #vi #jinx #vi and jinx #i just hated the noxus plotline. and the abandonment of the sisters' story #long post #im trying my best to salvage s2 #idk if its working #ngl im just a jinx enjoyer i dont consume thinkpieces on her and shes a very tricky character #so i have no idea if i will ever grasp her true full nature but this is my version of her and im sticking with it #fic idea #for someone anyway #this post was a fucking behemoth holy shit #my fingers ache ok bye

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cienie-isengardu · 4 months ago

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Khaos Reigns and the matter of Lin Kuei

Warning: rant not spoiler free!

I said it before and I will say it again: Netherrealm Studio does not utilize the plot of Lin Kuei brothers to its fullest potential. And by brothers I don’t just mean Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. Mind you, their Khaos Reigns’ strained relationship comes back to Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) mess, so it’s not that there is no sense in how they interact. I’m frustrated by it but my frustration is not directed at characters itself but at NRS that does all in their power to *not* give us the heartbreaking story of shattered brotherhood - and it says a lot that we have much more wholesome relationship between Bi-Han/Noob and Sektor or Kuai Liang and Cyrax than we have with brothers themselves.

This is however not the most frustrating thing about the Lin Kuei brothers plot for me but how the previous game established Smoke and Kuai Liang as the “true brothers” and then Khaos Reigns ignores Tomas even more than the last time. And let’s be honest here: last time Tomas already was shoved hardy to the background.

The thing about Khaos Reigns that killed the most my enthusiasm is not actually Bi-Han/Noob & Kuai Liang subplot (as frankly, I did except the worst), nor even how NRS handled Noob after “mending his mind”. I’m fully disappointed and absolutely frustrated how the new part of Liu Kang’s timeline is heavily centered at Lin Kuei and TOMAS IS NOT THERE AT ALL. Everyone, including Scorpion, totally ignore his existence during the meeting before the mission to Chaosrealm.

The scene I’m talking about went like this:

Kitana: Which is why you believe we need Sektor. Liu Kang: As Lin Kuei, she and Cyrax are trained for this type of mission. And they have the benefit of being with us, here. I can send them immediately, under Scorpion’s command -- Scorpion: I want neither’s help. I will go alone. Liu Kang: That would be unwise.

See? Not for the first time we hear that Lin Kuei were trained since childhood for that kind of mission, so Kuai Liang and Sektor are natural choice, sure, but no one even for a moment thought about including Tomas - whose BIO specifically said he “chose to make the Lin Kuei’s mission his own. But as he lacked his brothers' innate supernatural abilities, he set out to master practical magic. Having done so, he now joins them in Earthrealm's defense."

There is a reasonable excuse or two to leave him behind I can make out of my head within seconds. For example, as a backup plan if the mission has failed, so there is someone to command Shirai Ryu during battle. Or leaving Smoke behind to keep Harumi and/or their clan safe, as Scorpion can’t trust there won’t be another attack of Lin Kuei. But apparently even for a second it did not cross Kuai Liang’s mind to take Tomas - his trusted, loyal brother - with himself, as counterargument to taking Cyrax and Sektor on a deadly mission. That Kuai Liang did not trust his former comrades makes absolutely sense, but this is why Smoke’s presence could be a good preventive measure. Scorpion did not ever utter any wish to have Tomas there at his side. Instead, Kuai Liang wanted to go alone (a mindset actually shared with Bi-Han!) and we got the Lin Kuei storyline with Tomas BEING THE ONLY ONE (EX)LIN KUEI NOT INCLUDED AT ALL.

Remember when the fandom was so angry at Bi-Han for not considering Tomas to be true Lin Kuei ("Mind your place, Tomas. Father may have taken you in, made you one of us... but your blood will never be Lin Kuei.”)? One year later, this exact scene on one hand actually backs up Sub-Zero’s claim, as even Kuai Liang does not consider Tomas to have at his side in a dire situation and opting to go alone. Which is why NRS should in my opinion allow *any* character to excuse the lack of Smoke at Mileena’s palace or why Liu Kang couldn’t teleport him there to aid Scorpion in his mission.

On another hand, the Khaos Reigns is about Lin Kuei more than ever while Tomas has barely few speaking lines and is totally removed from Lin Kuei brotherhood storyline. This was the perfect opportunity to add Smoke into the main group and expand our understanding of the relationship and history of characters. And hey, Bi-Han and Tomas too were once brothers and it would be really nice, if their brotherhood got some focus too, instead of excluding Smoke from it completely. Which again, adds a new layer to how hypocritical Kuai Liang was in the first game, with all the declaration how he and Tomas may not share a blood but they were brothers, when Scorpion A) has never once(?) mention Smoke through the new storyline nor B) even for a moment considered how Bi-Han’s death - his choice to not save their brother - could affect Tomas who, as intro dialogues imply, wished Scorpion and Sub-Zero could reconcile. I understand why NRS put the focus on blood brothers, but it is the studio’s own choice to add Tomas to said brotherhood in the first place and by excluding him, they paint Scorpion as very self-centered and selfish man that is so focused on himself and his anger at Bi-Han, he literally gives no fucks about Tomas’ feelings on the matter. Which is… a surprising choice to say at least.

We literally could have all Lin Kuei main heroes interacting on the same mission. A chance that most likely won’t happen too soon, if ever again.

So, yeah, I’m disappointed in that regard, as Tomas and Bi-Han once again got the short end of the stick from all the available Lin Kuei characters. With the one difference that Bi-Han, whatever presented as a good or bad person, brings some weight and impact on the storyline and other heroes. Tomas though? He could be cut away and his absence would change literally nothing.

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