#not arcane

[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

Viktor at one of his workstations

[sheriff-caitlyn]

There is something inherently important about Caitlyn and Vi's respective natures and personalities that make them Piltover's Finest. Caitlyn was released Jan 2011, and Vi in December 2012, so Riot had plenty of time to make Vi a proper narrative foil to one of the original Champions. And yet it seems like the most important aspects of their characterisation are forgotten, glossed over, or outright ignored in how Caitlyn and Vi are depicted.

Caitlyn is Intention, Vi is Impulse.

The sniper rifle is a tool to handle problems from a long distance away; magnifying lenses on a hat help bring small details in to focus. Caitlyn focuses on a goal, and then looks at every step in the long and short term to achieve that goal. She has single-minded purpose but is able to cover a lot of ground, to have unique perspectives on and multiple opportunities for her desired end result because she has a view of the big picture. She sees how everything is connected, no matter how arbitrary. Every move she makes - socially, politically, nationally, and even on the Fields of Justice - is both deliberate and carefully-deliberated. She leaves nothing to chance. Everything is calculated. Her intention is what matters most; her intent is what makes her powerful, dangerous, unstoppable.

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

"Me, miss? Not by a long shot."

"I have the tools for the job."

"Nowhere to hide."

"Go ahead. Run. I'll give you a five minute head start."

Fists are up close, personal; the gauntlets are hand-crafted, engineered by Vi's own hands to suit her own hands. Vi is reactionary, surrounding herself by the world, immersing herself in sound and sensation and situation and choosing to act in accordance with what feels the most urgent. Vi acts on whatever is closest to her reach or nearest to her immediate needs; she prefers short-term solutions because those are, in her mind, the most necessary solutions. Immediate needs should be met immediately. She doesn't look for the easiest solution, but she looks for the simplest one, the most expedient one. She is adaptive, and quick-witted, and capable of handing upsets and change step by step, without flinching. Vi's impulses guide her every step, trusting chance and circumstance and personal talent to back her up and make her next step possible. Her adaptability and her willingness to be personally-involved is the reason that her 'one foot in front of the other' style of action is so powerful.

"Sometimes you gotta make a door."

"One girl wrecking crew!"

"Let's get crackin'!"

"I like your smile. Makes a nice target."

"Plan? I don't need a plan."

Personified by their weapons of choice, these women are both forces of change in their respective cities. They are both incredibly effective on their own. Caitlyn had her plan and her rules and her methods that involved no-one but herself, and Vi was quick to repeatedly declare 'I'm my own backup'. They do not need each other in order to get things done, to have a wide positive impact on their community or for the people they care about.

And yet, they can do more together than they would apart.

Caitlyn can be distant from those she loves and those she is trying to save, can come across as cold and detached. She does not show her emotions well, if at all; she has more in common with the hextech rifle she carries than with other people. Caitlyn was capable of changing Piltover and becoming Sheriff all on her own, but she was not liked or respected by the people she was trying to save until she had a more-humanising force by her side. A short-sighted answer might be that Vi was so violent and dangerous it made the calmer Caitlyn more appealing by comparison, but that isn't the case at all.

Vi's past is lost to shadow, stolen by those in power who sculpted in misery, so to fight this aching void she surrounds herself with people who need help. She's used to being the underdog, to having the deck stacked against her, but she has built herself to be the strength of others, to fight on their behalf. She looks for joy and resistance in equal measure. Vi is smart, and intuitive, and has a very strong moral compass, even if - especially if - it causes her to clash with the powers that be, those in charge who don't do things they right way or for the right reason.

Both of them are raging against the world in their way. Both of them see potential in the world, for it and for everyone in it, to be better.

It is Caitlyn's intention and methodology that gives Vi the opportunity to do something bigger than the most-immediate threat in Zaun. It is Vi's impulse to send Piltover's trash back across the bay that connects her to Caitlyn, that gives Caitlyn the idea and means to encourage others and affect greater change. Like iron sharpening iron, the two of them improved each other as they began to interact. Of course they clashed when they first met, when Vi found Caitlyn too rigid and Caitlyn found Vi too reckless, but it was in these clashes that they learned to work together, to see from new perspectives. A sniper can't watch her own back. A boxer can't see beyond the ring. But together, they're more powerful than they would be apart. They've got each others' backs, they mitigate each others' weaknesses and boost each others' strengths, and they learn from each other.

Caitlyn is one of the few who can see, acknowledge, and respect the intelligence Vi is trying to hide, both in terms of Vi being an incredibly-talented engineer but also in Vi's social adeptness and comprehension of human motivations. It's Vi who can see Caitlyn's self-imposed isolation for what it is, and call her out on times when a more personal touch is necessary. Caitlyn has learned to be 'more human', to see the impact beyond just statistics and social change, to learn to accept other people into her life. Vi has had the chance to see that structure and morals can co-exist, that not every rule needs to be broken, that sometimes stillness and quietness can be productive.

Caitlyn and Vi are still their own people. Caitlyn will always lead with her intention, and Vi will always follow her impulse, but they'll do it together, mindful of each others' thoughts and methodologies. They've had years to turn their partnership into a kind of dance. It's not perfect, but they know each other so well, to the point of anticipation in movement and thought and action. Caitlyn - in purple, with her sniper rifle - and Vi - in pink, with her gauntlets - are the perfect team, and together they've brought Piltover into a (near-literal) Golden Age as well as been there to lead the city-state through disaster and reconstruction. They've even started making headway into helping those in Zaun, or at least inspiring others to step up and see them as a challenge to be equalled. They are Piltover's Finest, because they match and rival and equal each other, as foils, as partners, as symbols.

And that's something that Arcane absolutely failed to understand.

[arowyn-m]

I just watched the first episode of tua and Five looks like the Onceler sorry

[thejinxadventures]

Jinx's fashion ✨️

[becoming-the-herald-comic]

Have a meme format which I really like!

(Hans helping Viktor with programming)

[loveandlegacy]

briefly deviating from arcane my sibling was visiting me last week and we watched scavengers reign together last week for the first time and we were legit screaming at the TV like it was a football game during the climax of the final episode. like i think we scared the dogs

[purpleshimmer]

sorry this isn't arcane related but has anyone seen the new Batman show

I feel like hardly anyone is talking about it but it's soooo good; it reminds me of the older scooby doo shows at times which was really fun to watch

[cmykristyart]

A shot at game-lore (slightly pre-)Prototype Viktor

[gingersforeverbox]

Ok listen, hear me out

I know I said I was gonna try and write for more arcane and the witcher this summer, but it turns out that I'm back in my Oscar Isaac simping phase thanks to watching the new Spiderman movie. Like usual I am simping over one of the most toxic bastards he has ever played *cough cough Nathan Bateman from Ex Machina cough*.

SO anyways I may or may not be wanting to write for him because there isn't a whole bunch of content for him, (which is understandable, the movie is about 9 years old now and wasn't as popular as some of Oscar Issac's other roles), and I am gonna be taking requests for him on top of arcane and the witcher.

When I said I was becoming multi-fandom, I meant that shit lmao.

[bringthekaos]

*looks at your likes and interests*

If you’d ever consider giving audio dramas a go, there’s a show called Hello from the Hallowoods you might like. It’s about the day to day lives of a group of people 20 years after a supernatural apocalypse. The first three episodes are mid quality but it picks up to a top notch show after that. It’s listed as horror but that’s just because it has some horror tropes in it, Arcane is scarier then hfth.

Nooooot a huge horror fan, but like… I can handle some. And if Arcane is scarier, I could probably handle it! And I do have an hour-long commute (fuck the back in the office movement so SO MUCH), so I could do with something to listen to.

Thanks for the tip! 🥰

[bringthekaos]

I’ve been saying Merry Chrysler for so long that I had forgotten where it came from. Fkn legacy post

#Merry crisis

[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

WIP | Viktor the Machine Herald, thinking | original 2011. lore

The mask as well as its frame are longer than his jaw, to allow the mouth to be able to open!

[sheriff-caitlyn]

[x]

[arowyn-m]

dude ur webtoon!!!!….its so yummy i love the artstyle, and the sirens designs r so interestinggggg the lore is so cool 🙏🙏

(this is @mybeautifulwifearcane btw)

AAAAA THANK YOUU I’ve been working on the story for about 6 years give or take so there is quite extensive lore and stuff to go over—I’ve been moving houses and I got a full-time job recently, so finding time to dedicate to Syrenics has been difficult but I hope to get back to it soon!

tbh if eps 6-9 of Arcane get leaked it would be the best thing for my comic because i would be forced to turn off my phone, shut up and just work on it

[bloodlessdeity]

made another in honor of season 2. everyone sucks. i love them.