bachelor4choice

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The villain swore that they would return in 1000 years to take revenge on the hero's descendants. When they wake up, however, they see another villain has already won, and the hero's descendants desperately need help.

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You are a state prosecutor who has consistently won against "vigilantes" and reckless "super heroes." Your reputation is well known. So you're not surprised when the latest rising star you're prosecuting ambushes you in the garage out of desperation. This was a big mistake on their part.

[bachelor4choice]

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OH MY GOD THE HAPPY TRAIL

@firnella

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Arcane is a masterclass in body language and how to properly use it in storytelling to get your message to your audience without thunking them over the head/spoon feeding it them.

Caitlyn's relationship to Vi vs her relationship to others is a great example.

Caitlyn is almost always trying to create less distance between Vi and her or "fill the gap" between them:

Cait steps over the red line in Stillwater to show Vi the evidence

After Vi ditches Cait in the brothel to jump Sevika, Cait seeks her out and saves her from Sevika

When she gives Vi the medicine for stab wound, they're breathing each other's air

She reaches across the space between them on her bed to caress Vi's face

She chases after Vi following the Council meeting not going their way

Fairly certain, she was going to go look for Vi after her shower if Jinx hadn't kidnapped her

She seeks out Vi after her dad, more or less, says he doesn't want Vi in their house. Not to kick her out but to find some comfort in being close to her (i think this is why she pushed so hard for her to be an enforcer, to keep her close)

Cait also does a fair share of looking at Vi's lips, slightly leaning in, and second guessing herself all within a span of a blink

Vi asks Cait not to change (she already has), so she closes the gap between them, and they share their first kiss as a form of reassurance

She takes down Vi mongoose style and again starts closing the gap between them by betraying Ambessa and helping Vander

Cait slightly/momentarily leans towards Vi's lips when she's pulling the bag over her head

Vi spits in her face and wipes it TOWARDS HER MOUTH and not away

After Jayce shoots Viktor and Ambessa attacks, Caitlyn has ample opportunity to go after Jinx, but she focuses on Vi and covering her back until she gets sliced across the abdomen and then she runs to her to help her to her feet

Now let's look at how Caitlyn creates gaps and space with Maddie even tho they're sleeping together:

Beginning of episode 4, while they're sitting in bed, Maddie tries to close the gap and create some intimacy. Caitlyn, in turn, leans away from her, creating space between them

Maddie is also the one trying to initiate/create emotional intimacy, and Caitlyn swerves her each time

Maddie kisses/nuzzles Caitlyn's neck, and in response, Caitlyn has the quickest expression of "eugh" before fixing her face and moving away from Maddie

Instead of leaning into the intimacy Maddie is trying to give her, Caitlyn gets up to work on something and says she'll come to bed soon

Caitlyn lets Ambessa dismiss Maddie from the room after (more than likely) overhearing the discussion about restarting the council (I really think if this were Vi, Caitlyn would've pulled rank and told her to stay)

Maddie is also very absent from the rest of s2p2, and given how we've seen Caitlyn actively seek out Vi in her absence, she honestly doesn't seem to care where Maddie is or how she's doing

And none of this is explicitly told to the audience thru dialog. All thru body language. And i just think that's really neat

[bachelor4choice]

Ok Caitlyn Kiramman, lol. Using gas because you feel justified for it... Except Cait actually did this with some plan and purpose. You just want punishment. In the end, Cait is BETTER than you.

other things that would have salvaged arcane season 2 for me: a single scene in the finale in which Caitlyn gets locked in a room full of the same poisonous gas she weaponized against the Zaunites, and either she gruesomely chokes to death or idk someone rescues her and she realizes what an unspeakably monstrous thing she did and apologises for it. prefer the former honestly but the latter would be ok i guess

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The Aftermath

(More blood under the cut for @venomwrites specifically)

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missing epilogue scene

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WHAT HAVE I BEEN SAYING!??? GUYS 😭

Can I say something? Everyone being so focused on Cait and not realizing how much Ambessa represents U.S. foreign policy SAYS A LOT! She literally invaded a place to gain access to a resource and instigated a dictatorship, and no one is even considering this in their takes. As a Brazilian THAT HITS HARD SIS!

Saw one TikTok pointing out, "Caitlyn haters, some of y'all hate Caitlyn because you are Caitlyn." IT'S SO GOOD! A LOT OF YOU WOULD FALL FOR AMBESSA SO FAST! Taking the moral high ground on a character that's supposed to show how dangerous that is IS INSANE!

[bachelor4choice]

Can I say something? Everyone being so focused on Cait and not realizing how much Ambessa represents U.S. foreign policy SAYS A LOT! She literally invaded a place to gain access to a resource and instigated a dictatorship, and no one is even considering this in their takes. As a Brazilian THAT HITS HARD SIS!

Saw one TikTok pointing out, "Caitlyn haters, some of y'all hate Caitlyn because you are Caitlyn." IT'S SO GOOD! A LOT OF YOU WOULD FALL FOR AMBESSA SO FAST! Taking the moral high ground on a character that's supposed to show how dangerous that is IS INSANE!

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So, Ellie, this is Cait.

Cait, this is Ellie.

Ellie, sweetheart, today I'm going to show you a way to NOT LOSE YOUR GIRL (and family) over revenge.

A body part? Well, it happens

[bachelor4choice]

So, we all can agree that Malini is a tall, dom, femme, right?

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Why did you do it?

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thank you Arcane Season 2 Episode 8 for confirming my theory that Caitvi are the kind of couple where you have to loudly announce your presence before entering a room because the chance that these two freaks are going at it is NEVER zero no matter where they are

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I love Jinx, my eternal Baby Blue, but I had to laugh at how much she got the biggest "Fuck around and found out" in the entire series.

Cait was there all innocent, ready to help, walking around Zaun with her beautiful bucht, until Jinx targeted her PERSONALLY, kidnapped her and then (unknowingly) killed her mother. The next minute Cait is launching gas at strategic points and establishing martial law in the city.

WILD!!!!

[bachelor4choice]

Do you think part of what made Vi sound so happy and endeared and almost amused when she said "Cait, I don't fucking care," was that in this moment, in the middle of making out, Caitlyn pulls away and stumbles out an honest explanation about how she had been with someone else?

This is the Caitlyn she knows. Not the puppet dictator, not the vengeful daughter, not even the suave girl who leaned against the wall and told her she's predictable a mere few seconds ago. This, the dorky, awkward, nervous Caitlyn is the one she first fell for, the one she first met. And yeah, Caitlyn is complex and can be dark and she's not the same, maybe she never was. But that part of her, the part that stuttered at Vi's flirting in the brothel, the part that tried to offer herself up to the Firelights in her place then sputtered in disbelief at Vi's appearance, the part that earned the name Cupcake, that part is real. Maybe it's tarnished, maybe it's changed, but it's still a part of her. And Vi had missed it desperately.

[bachelor4choice]

I have a thing to get to but had to get this out real quick