Damn OP, go off.
I definitely agree that having caitlyn’s character take that dark turn is interesting. I would like it if she actually suffered consequences from the narrative about it tho. Like yes, on her part, its a morally grey, “lesser evil” choice to prevent the Noxian invasion. And arcane is full of morally grey characters and choices. But usually, the difference is that said moral-grayness is acknowledged in canon in some way. While we the viewers know what Caitlyn did was wrong/cruel/morally grey, she isnt actually punished for it. Nobody calls her out for it to any significance. While i dislike the “dictator cait” takes that come in tandem with writing off jinx and viktor’s actions, i can see why the phenomenon has arisen when the latter are punished for their actions while the former is really not.
to continue talking about why i believe the political commentary of arcane is flawed, i want to discuss how the piltover-zaun conflict not getting a satisfying resolution hurts caitvi’s writing as a couple. i want to talk about them specifically bc they’re the only endgame couple in arcane and the worst takes i see about the show’s political commentary usually comes from caitvi shippers. i will start by saying that i LOVED caitvi in s1, which is why i’m so disappointed by how they were written in s2. while i understood why people were uncomfortable with caitvi due to caitlyn’s position as an enforcer and vi being a victim of police brutality, it didn’t bother me when i first watched s1 because caitlyn fit into the “good cop” trope and i believed that the series would end with her reforming the police force in piltover. my expectations ended up being subverted when i watched act 1 of s2 after seeing the dark turn her character had. i actually liked seeing caitlyn’s descent into darkness in act 1 because it demonstrated that even “good” people in corrupt systems can still abuse their power. i thought that she would eventually be redeemed since caitvi is the endgame pairing and that is the only way i could see the couple working. after watching act 2, i became less confident that caitlyn would get a proper redemption arc since we only see the aftermath of her actions and she gets offscreen development. again, it makes sense that she would grow less skeptical of the crackdown from noxus after 3-6 months, but it would be more impactful we see what led her there when in ep 3 she used the grey against civilians, threatened heenot, and nearly shot a child. i need to emphasize that the grey WAS used against civilians since the mv montage shows regular civilians running away from it and vi says it was used to “clear the streets”. even if the grey was only used against criminals, it is still a war crime because the use of chemical weapons is prohibited under the geneva conventions. the last time vi and caitlyn were together, caitlyn hit vi with her rifle on a place that vi was already deeply wounded from. the fact that their reunion is caitlyn hitting vi multiple times is a good example of how vi’s trauma is rarely explored by the writers, especially since she is so nonchalant about it. during her time in stillwater, vi was regularly beaten by enforcers, she should’ve been a lot more hostile towards caitlyn when they meet again. vi was one of the main characters who confronted piltover about their oppression of zaunites in s1, but in s2 when caitlyn becomes everything vi hates about piltover, it doesn't harm vi's perception of caitlyn at all. another thing i hated was vi having sex with caitlyn in a jail cell knowing that jinx is going to commit suicide. not only is it ooc for vi since she is shown to be very loyal to her family and is a victim of police brutality, but sexual assault by cops is very prevalent in prisons so it's tone deaf to viewers who experienced police violence. i know that the scene is supposed to be vi “reclaiming her trauma”, but is it really reclamation when her trauma is rarely explored? caitlyn is NEVER confronted by anyone for gassing civilians, falsely imprisoning zaunites, torturing zaunites, and raiding their homes; the fact that she never comes to terms with harming zaunites makes it feel like vi is settling. i understand that lesbian representation is important, but that doesn’t mean that we have to excuse bad writing, especially when said pairing is wrapped up in bad political commentary. pinkwashing and homonationalism are real problems and the way caitvi shippers become apologists of fascism and police brutality is reminiscent of how oppressive power structures justify xenophobia, racism, and aporophobia in the name of “protecting” queer people.
brett being support bf
Source: Twitter
It supposed to be like this, y'know..
Justice for mylo!! They could never make me hate you.
I find Jinx's relationship with Sevika to be fascinating given her relationship with Mylo. Mylo was Jinx's older brother and all he ever did was shit on her at every possible chance. He made her feel like shit all of the time. He blamed her for every single major and minor inconvenience. It was so bad that she still hears his taunts in her head years after he's died.
Now compare Mylo's treatment to Sevika's. It's pretty identical. Sevika is constantly bringing down Jinx and shitting on her. She sees Jinx as below her and she resents her because despite her flaws, she is favored above Sevika by Silco. This mirrors how despite the fact that Jinx always fucked things up as a kid, Vi always viewed her as faultless and instead took it out on her other siblings. Mylo and Sevika both have to do double the work just to stay in Vi/Silco's good graces because of Jinx, and no matter how much effort they put in they'll never be desired in the way Jinx is. Both Mylo and Sevika make sure to complain extensively about Jinx while in private and front of Vi/Silco. Sevika personally gets joy out of shit talking Jinx directly to her face.
But this is what makes their relationship so interesting. Because while we see Jinx was deeply bothered by Mylo's shit talking as a child, she isn't even slightly phased by Sevika's shit talking. She straight up doesn't care and doesn't take a single thing Sevika says to heart. She knows Sevika is just shitting on her for the sake of shitting on her. She knows Sevika is full of shit. I think that's really compelling and I also believe it speaks to how much Jinx's confidence and self image has grown in the few years it's been.
here are my stupid and dumb Carmen & Player friendship head canons:
Carmen rarely uses Google. If she wants to know something, she asks Player and he looks it up if he doesn't know it. This habit formed in the early days after escaping V.I.L.E, and Player never corrected it bc he thinks it's funny.
Player refuses the play board or card games with her because he knows she cheats. No one else believes him because she never gets caught and no one knows better than Player that underneath it all, Carmen is actually a mischievous bitch. Shadowsan knows she cheats too, but who is he to call out the skills he taught her?
They frequently start phone calls that last hours long in which they don't actually say much, they're just chilling in each other's company.
The others won't always know she's on the phone with him until she responds to something he says and they're like "Dude. How long has Player been here?"
They're both good liars but can't seem to lie to one another.
They play Minecraft :)
And Stardew Valley
Player keeps score of every time she does something reckless.
Carmen will be like, "Hey, I'm not reckless! I always think things through!"
And Player is like, "Oh yeah? Care to explain your actions on March 22, 20--"
"--Shut up."
Carmen started the habit of info-dumping about geography and Player picked up on it to support her.
Player speaks French ❤️
They gossip in French together.
Carmen learned French from France whereas Player learned Canadian French.
das it
i miss her
Carmen Sandiego (2019-…)
THIS HAS NO RIGHT TO BE THIS ACCURATE
SONS:
FATHERS:
WHY ARE THEY ALL SO FABULOUS THO
We can all paint a smile in each other's hearts. Artist Qian Shi.
I agree with all of this but i think in a way ekko and mel WERE kinda treated like after thoughts by the writers themselves compared to the main 5. Well, ekko at least, altho i have a few problems with mel’s s2 arc being too convenient. They definitely both deserved better.
Just wanna say that I think Ekko and Mel slander makes sense when you understand that 85% of the Arcane fandom views both of them as characters less worthy of fandom attention.
In their eyes, they are afterthoughts to more interesting relationships, so when someone in the 15% dares to give them anything outside of dutiful lamentations ("Mel and Ekko deserved better!"), they can't help but feel those analysis would be better suited for a character they *actually* like and so they lash out.
Fans of both characters have to constantly argue that these characters have loved and have been loved. They want Mel "independent" because she doesn't "need love" and they want Ekko focused on The Tree and the unnamed Firelights because they want it to be easier to carve both of them out of the interpersonal narratives that attaches fandoms to characters in the first place.
They want Mel and Ekko to "save the day" because they don't want their roles in the story to interfere with other characters that they like. Better for them to beat the Bad Guys™ than to be given more material that would validate their personal connections with other characters in ways that the fandom would prefer to ignore.
And the fact that Ekko and Mel are completely different characters who have never once interacted with each other and yet somehow both of them are being treated the same way with how the fandom constantly diminishes their relationships with the rest of the main cast leads me to believe that it does have something to do with the One Trait they do share.
WAIT. YES.
my tired, stressed out, bisexual, daddy issues gfs that are secretly fucking their overly happy-go-lucky male co-workers
She/her - Writer (ao3 @AgraAFTERdark), yapper, bottom feeder. Sometimes i serious but mostly i shitpost.
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