#calling out vi for accepting cop badge

[nthflower]

Her saying stay with me to Ambessa 😭

[wingedshadowfan]

Hi! I've read some of your Arcane takes and I was curious to ask what do you think/how do you interpret Vi rejoining the enforcers after the breakup? I haven't read anyone doing an actual analysis on it, most people complain that she's "washed" or that the writers hate her, which doesn't feel like doing a deep dive into her character at all. Thank you! Have a lovely day.

ooh thank you for this ask!! i hope you have a great day too <33

i have a post (and a jokey joke) touching on why "vi's views suddenly changed" from her childhood disdain for enforcers to joining the hellfire squad.

here i'd like to also remind vi originally refused to join the enforcers after jinx bombed the council (caitlyn even seemed to understand/reflect on it in her conversation w/ jayce and apologized for offering it later on, despite having logical and utilitarian reasons for suggesting it - "no matter which way i slice it, one of us comes back in a box"): vi accepted the badge and joined the hellfire squad, which was a specific mission/operation, not a full time position, only after the memorial massacre, where she saw how unprepared piltover was to handle what she thought was jinx/silco's goons and how powerless she was in that situation. and in those posts i don't even delve into her guilt for what jinx has done, her fear of losing caitlyn to jinx and her conversation with maddie, which also affect her decision but don't exactly answer your question:

why does she rejoin the enforcers after the breakup?

i have two answers and one of them is kind of a cop-out, so let's start there:

she doesn't.

i know she's an enforcer in league lore, but arcane lore (which overrides league lore) didn't explicitly show her becoming an enforcer. it showed us she was there in the strategy planning stage of the war with mel and jayce - this wasn't an enforcer-only meeting, and she was likely allowed to be there because of caitlyn and due to her fighting ability (the fact she's the only person we've seen wield the atlas gauntlets and wreak absolute havoc with them) and her desire to help.

during the battle for the hexgates itself, she wore the badge (which she also kept and wore in her pitfighter era, just flipped backwards) but no enforcers uniform. now, even if we make the argument that she was just dressed differently for other armor-related reasons, it could've still just been for that battle (bcuz there was no post-war indication of her being an enforcer).

i couldn't find it but i had another post where i talked abt why other zaunites, firelights and jinxers alike, put on enforcer uniforms when they joined the war, and the short answer is, again, ✨utilitarian reasons✨ in order to effectively fight in that battle for a chance at saving their lives but also all of humanity - bcuz viktor would not have spared the undercity lol - they needed to receive training, weapons/equipment, be easily identifiable, have some sort of shared identity for morale, be told the plan/battle strategy, assigned what to do, etc. they did not willingly, fully, effectively, ideologically or longterm become enforcers, and i think this was the case for vi too.

she joins the enforcers to try and change something.

if we take it that vi did join the enforcers longterm after the war like she does in league lore, and we only didn't see it because she was still grieving, then this could tie in with caitlyn's "are you still in this fight, violet?" - which i personally interpreted as caitlyn and vi using their influence and knowledge post-war to try and change the oppressive systems and institutions of piltover. i think such an effort is a great reason for vi to rejoin the enforcers. like, she can't live in the kirammam mansion and do nothing all day every day, right? at some point she needs to find her calling. she can oversee the enforcers and work to reform them from within. she's a character built on the idea of protecting others and fighting, so under the condition that she can enact change within the system, i think her place is there. it's autonomous enough that she doesn't feel like an extension of caitlyn, and it's close enough to her for comfort too.

[ferociousmilfpope]

Nothing gets you into back into writing and creating quite like watching a good show. The first batch of episodes for season 2 came out today (November 9th, 2024) and I've binged it all without breaks, and here is all the thoughts I have 5 minutes after finishing.

They did not make Vi a cop. Read: she never accepts the lie of peace through violent 'peacemaking'. Her character was set up in such a way that she can't, and they stay loyal to that. Vi refuses the enforcers, refuses invasion, refuses shelter in Caitlyn's house to defy her, refuses the badge that would grant her everything she wants, refuses Caitlyn herself, refuses to take the easy 'violent' way out. Her cop art is two episodes long, and it involves her joining a small task force that does what would be considered minimal damage. All in line with both hers and the show's morals.

They made Caitlyn a cop. Read: in the push and pull of power, she chooses power. During the scene where Vi is talking to the 'good' cops the cute girl with the bright eyes mentions that Caitlyn bailed her by threating to withhold her families funding--she bribed them. It's funny. Vi acts as her control. She outright refuses and walks away from Caitlyn when she offers for her to join the forces. She talks her down from a full on enforcer attack to a small strike force comprising of herself, Caitlyn, the 'good' cops, and a poor alcoholic man off the street. When Caitlyn starts abusing her authority again when arresting some poor man left for dead in a vent, Vi cools her down again, deescalating the whole action further by telling her to call the rest of the strike force off now that they served their use. Caitlyn backs down again. Finally, when she gets so close to her goal of killing Jinx, and a final obstacle appears in front of her, seeing that the gun in her hand gives her the power to clear it, she decides to take the shot. This is Caitlyn's true turning point. When she shoots Vi, and then when she tries too shoot the at the kid and Jinx. The scene where they kiss is fits into this theme too: Vi begs her not to change, and Caitlyn tells her she wont. And she doesn't.

There is a difference between what a story portrays and what it says about what its portraying. All this to say this is politically, socially, philosophically conscious writing. For example, the beginning of episode two is a 'cool' montage of the strike force committing violence on the undercity. But it begins with the Kiramman ancestor's saying "the people of the undercity deserve to breath," and then cuts to Caitlyn using the vents to choke them. No matter how styling the montage is, the irony of the juxtaposition hits deep. At the end of episode two, Jinx mocks Vi for this specific fact, "you're poisoning us too now?" The

And therein lies their tension: Vi is never seduced by power or lofty visions. Caitlyn is, both to cope with her personal tragedy, and because it comes easy to her. It is all tied together by the motif of the vents and the smog. Finally, despite the depth of their interpersonal conflicts, and their personal psychologies and aspirations--there are the people of Zaun, and the poison they ingest. 'Janna's' wind blows away Caitlyn (and Vi) and all the smog, and redirects it towards the surface. And it is the perfect tie: scoping out from interpersonal drama to games of power.

Everybody is sort of pushed around in the aforementioned games of power. Caitlyn by the specter of her mother and her legacy (and love); Vi by her 'guilt by taint' connection to Jinx and love for Caitlyn, Jinx by her filial love for Silco, Jayce by his public expectations. Whatever their crimes and mistakes we can at least sympathize with their reluctance at their inclusion in the game. The active player in the first season was Mel--here, its Ambessa. And unlike Mel, her sights are on war and power at all costs. She moves all the pawn pieces: orchestrates the attack on the memorial, manipulates the sole remaining council member, and finally recruits Caitlyn as her mask, as a symbol to hide behind and maneuver with even more freedom. The scene where Ambessa calls out for war and invites Caitlyn, intercut with all the moves she made to get everyone here, is one the my favorite scenes ever. Ambessa you're so sexy pls become more evil.

The fundamental lesson: Summed up for me in the title of S1E3: 'The Base Violence Necessary for Change'.

The connective thread is betrayal of love for something greater. Ambessa abandons Mel in her pursuit of power (despite her claims to the contrary). Caitlyn abandons Vi in her pursuit of power. Victor abandons Jayce to ????. And, the central conflict of the show, Vi abandons Jinx in her adherence to her morals and self-ascribed protector role. Unlike any of them though,--unlike Cait who butts Vi in her old wound, or Vi does not manage to actually punch Jinx when she gets the chance. Maybe the greater good should include the things we love? Is it worth anything if it doesn't?

Arcane has an amazing team of artists and writers behind it. Whatever fumbles it has are directorial. Victor's arc continues to be this. I wanted machine herald, not arcane jesus. I can appreciate the 'close call with the void brought me enlightenment concerning the weakness of the human conditions', but that isn't how they've gone about it so far so. I don't think we're getting machine herald from this, and I hope I'm wrong.

Closing remarks:

It continues to amaze me that I got exactly the show I wanted, with exactly the characters I wanted, with exactly the region I wanted explored, with exactly the themes and politics I wanted explored. THEY MADE A SHOW ABOUT MY FAVORITE CHARACTER, MY FAVORITE LESBIANS IN LEAGUE, and my favorite geopolitical conflict in league. I tear up a little when I think about it. This show feels like it was made specifically for me.

The budged thrown towards this thing shows like in no other production.

The character designs are AMAZINGGGGGG. The chem barons are my favorite.

Them including Janna's story, especially with such an important thematic role, is very meaningful to me.