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Amanda Overton on the decision to make Caitlyn call Vi "Violet" in the final scene.

⤷ From Amanda Overton's Q&A with Still Caitvi Discord

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Hello all!

No new discussion or Arcane content- just rambling

Nothing of note to say. Only that I have been MIA for a bit and hope you are all doing well. I finally ordered a copy of the artbook so am hoping to see that soon! It is nice to see the love for this wonderful story continue. I am hoping we get some news on the Noxus show soon!

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Letting Go...Going Home: Chapter 9

Non-Canon Compliant Arcane Fanfic: Warnings for Blood/Gore and such *For the very few who probably care I am SO SORRY that this took so dang long. Life hit me like a damn truck but I am getting back on track! As always I welcome any constructive criticism*

The air was burning.

It was something other people couldn’t really understand, she knew. Something you could only see if you could move with the perversion of Shimmer in your veins like she could.

It was that speed that saved her and Vi’s life.

And it was that speed that showed her the flame turning those who had followed her into charred and blackened husks.

Jinx was almost glad for the roar of the missiles that continued to turn the island into a ruin, because it drowned out the screams of the burning.

She cradled Vi’s fragile form to her chest with every ounce of strength in her body as she hurtled back through the entryway of the prison, stumbling with the shockwave of the first round of explosions and losing her footing as she crossed the threshold.

She turned and landed hard on her side, shielding Vi from the impact, her ears ringing and an all-too-familiar sticky warmth blooming on the side of her head.

Survivors poured into the dark of Stillwater around her, coursing over the bodies of the fallen. The breach Jinx and Ekko had created above showed the sky now choked with smoke and flame, like the eye of a vengeful god staring down at them.

The whole building shook and rubble fell in shifting tides as the deafening terror continued. Jinx tried to rise, still holding Vi, and found her traitorous legs shaky and weak.

“I got her, kid,” a rough but comfortingly familiar voice said.

Sevika leaned down, scooping Vi up easily and letting Jinx hook one weary arm around her shoulder, rising and supporting both sisters at once.

“We gotta move deeper in! Everybody in!” Sevika roared over the din as people continued to rush back.

Jinx leaned on Sevika, groaning from the pain in her head. She looked at the older woman tentatively. “Ekko?”

Sevika frowned. “Last I saw he was flying out into it trying to help his people who had been scouting the perimeter… I don’t know after that. It got too thick to see and I had to get as many in as I could.”

A deep and hungry fear raised its head in Jinx’s mind, hopefully urging her to picture Ekko’s mangled body out there among the carnage. But she threaded her fingers through Vi’s and squeezed her sister’s hand, growling.

“He will make it.”

The huddled masses moved further and further until they were in the rotunda of the low-security wing. Massive dark steel with encircling rows of cells rose up, but the roof itself, still high above, seemed to be holding steady.

“They don’t seem to be shelling this far back,” Jinx panted, leaning against a wall gratefully and sliding down.

Sevika nodded. “They can’t bring the whole building down. That bitch is brutal, but she’s not stupid. She still needs to come out looking legitimate when all of this is done. Can’t cross the line from taking back control for public safety to extermination.”

Sevika slid next to Jinx and laid Vi’s head in her lap. “They’re softening us up. Then they’ll come.”

Jinx nodded quietly, looking out over the crowded survivors huddling together. Torchlight cast their faces in flickering glimpses of nightmare and pain.

Some seemed only mildly injured—bruises and lacerations of various kinds, ash-blackened clothing and faces, and eyes that would never forget. Others were worse. Much worse.

A Zaunite no older than Jinx and likely even younger lay on his back fifty yards away or so, screaming into bloodied cloth placed in his mouth to bite on while a grizzled older woman wrapped the ruin that was once his left leg to stop him from bleeding out.

Worse were those who would never scream again… lying under anything they could find to cover them in the oppressive dark.

Jinx covered her face with her hands. “I did this. I led them here.” Her shoulders shook. “Look at them. We can’t hold the Noxians back. Not like this.”

Sevika laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. “We don’t have a choice, kid… and before you go painting yourself as the villain, remember. Every fighter here wanted to be here. Some for you, some for Vi, and many for Zaun. You asked your people to fight alongside you and they said yes. So you don’t get to blame yourself, Jinx. We aren’t dead yet.”

Jinx wiped a quiet tear away and smiled.

“Vi is never gonna believe how nice you are when she’s not awake to hear it.”

Sevika scowled, but Jinx could see the small smile in the low light. “Don’t you worry. She’ll be awake soon enough, and we can get back to punching each other.”

Jinx stood. “Not if we don’t figure something out.” She paced back and forth, still trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her head.

Hopefully, more had lived and were scattered in other chambers and floors of the prison. But before her, only twenty or so fighters remained—and almost none of them in good condition.

She heard voices, banging and yelling. And realized with a start that the inmates in this block hadn’t been cleared before the bombardment began. Dirty and bedraggled faces watched from behind bars at the newcomers. Some yelled and demanded release.

Most were just terrified.

Jinx looked at them all, looked back at Sevika still cradling Violet, and took a long, deep breath. Then exhaled slowly.

The shelling had stopped. They were coming.

She walked back to Sevika and hunkered down, kissing Vi’s forehead.

Vi murmured… hands clenching gently, and for a moment Jinx thought she might wake. But not yet.

Jinx cradled her cheek with one hand. “That’s okay, Vi. Take all the time you need, you big lug.”

She looked back at Sevika. “You need to get them out of here. I don’t know how. I don’t know where. But there has to be another way out. Hell, even if you lead them down and stage a defense from there—I don’t know, but there has to be something. You can’t just sit here waiting to die.”

“There’s probably some tunnels or something, sure. But what will you be doing?” Sevika asked.

“What I have to.”

Jinx stood as Sevika’s face contorted in confusion and then a rage so clearly born of fear for her it was almost enough to make her stop.

Sevika started to rise. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but whatever it is, don’t be fucking stupid.”

Jinx turned like lightning and kicked Sevika’s leg out from under her, dropping her back to her ass hard.

“I need you to do this! I’m not a leader. I’m not a commander. But you are. You can save these people. You… you can save her.” She looked at Vi and sighed.

“I’m Jinx. You’ve been telling me for years I’m a symbol,” Jinx said the last word mockingly but grinned, letting a tear fall. “Time for me to go be one.”

Sevika glared up at her, her breath ragged, her chest heaving. “And what the fuck am I supposed to tell Vi when she wakes up and you’re gone?” she asked quietly.

Jinx grinned. “Tell her I love her.”

And turned from the chamber at a full jog, the light of the breach like a distant beacon as she approached from the dark.

Jinx was many things depending on who you asked: A terrorist… Silco’s mad daughter… The heir to the Eye of Zaun…

But in that moment, letting the Shimmer start to burn in her blood, her senses sharpening, the lethargy and pain in her muscles strangled and forced down as she hurtled toward that distant glow—those weren’t the things that mattered.

She was Isha’s guardian… Violet’s sister… And just maybe, if she survived this, she could even be something to Ekko as well.

Thinking of those she loved, Jinx launched herself up the pile of scorched stone and rock, up through the breach into the eye of that angry god, and emerged into the hellscape the Noxians had created.

Devastation reigned. Massive plumes of smoke choked the air. Craters the size of ships marred the ground in all directions, the stench of acrid smoke and burning flesh filling her nostrils.

And through the smoke and flame, like the goddess of death herself, marched Ambessa Medarda, at the head of a full contingent of Noxian soldiers, with more following from the shore.

Fear bloomed in Jinx’s heart.

Fear she would never see Vi’s eyes open, or feel Isha’s arms around her neck, or know the feel of Ekko’s lips on her skin again.

But it was for them that she put those fears away.

Become what they fear.

It was for them that her face stretched into a grin just a bit too wide for her face. And she ran with Shimmer-assisted grace, leaping down across massive bits of fallen stone until she landed in front of the now-blocked entrance to Stillwater itself, sitting on the lip of a barricade, kicking her feet and humming.

The heavy impact of armored boots came to a halt before her, a tall shadow cast over her whole body.

“My, my… I have wondered when we would meet,” a warm voice chuckled that made Jinx’s blood run cold.

Jinx smiled and looked up. Ambessa stood tall and strong, gold war mask glinting in the light, her fearsome chain blades coiled tightly in her grip.

Jinx sprang to her feet so fast the soldiers lined up behind Ambessa seemed to twitch almost as one.

Jinx laughed. “Relax, kiddoes, I’ll behave. I just wanna talk to mommy here.”

She looked at Ambessa and cocked her head to one side. “You wanted to meet me, you coulda just asked. The fireworks are a bit strong for a first date.”

Ambessa was quiet a moment, then threw her head back and laughed. She removed her golden mask, her sharp and clever gaze falling on Jinx like a falcon on a mouse.

“Simply matching your preferred method of communication, my dear. You are, after all, quite well known for your theatrics. Now then, what say you be a good girl and throw down those pistols, and order your surviving fighters outside to do the same? This is over.”

Jinx felt the snarling, hungry darkness rear in her mind and forced it into submission. “No… No, I don’t think so. I’m not big on sharing. I wanna play. Just you. And me. You Noxians are big on the strongest should rule and all that crap. Well! Prove it. You and me. Sister-napping, scheming bitch versus Jinx.”

Ambessa’s grin widened without reaching her eyes. “Now, now, let us remain polite. Your sister was taken as a tool, yes, but I assure you, I could have treated her much worse. Explain to me why I would entertain this clear ploy for time?”

“Because, like it or not, I’m the face of the rebellion, toots. You and your men sweep in and slaughter everyone with your explosions and overwhelming numbers, I’ll be a legend. Oh, especially if you execute me in front of a crowd! All formal and everything. They’ll never stop blowing up buildings in my name. But you crush me one on one? Prove your dominance? You crush their hope”

Ambessa pondered a moment. “Obvious baiting aside, in truth, I have long wondered if you are as good as they make you out to be.” She turned to her soldiers. “If I fall, you return to the ships and leave this land at once. Do I make myself clear?”

As one, the soldiers met shields with spears. A deal struck.

Ambessa dropped her mask and rotated her arms, her heavy chain blades falling into a ready position.

“Come, child. Let us end this.”

Jinx nodded, stepped forward, and placed her hands on her guns.

A breath… Please let her be slow…

That Jinx was faster was the only reason she didn’t die in the first moments of the fight.

Ambessa’s blade whipped out like a viper, cutting deep into a broken column of stone where her neck had been only a second before.

She danced back as the blades whipped through the air, one slithering past, opening a searing line of agony across her midsection—but not deep enough to cut deeply.

Jinx swore, jumping back, firing a quick volley of shots, only for Ambessa to rotate out, the shield on her arm flaring with a green hiss as the shots dispersed across the runes carved there.

Ambessa laughed.

Jinx rotated and moved as a blur up a nearby fallen column and off of it, firing down at Ambessa as she arced overhead.

One shot seared into Ambessa’s calf, and the woman buckled with a hiss of pain as Jinx landed—confidence rushing back for the blink of an eye—until she realized, with horror—

The warlord had faked the pain.

Just as Jinx registered the threat, both blades came down as one, and Jinx barely managed to cross her guns over her head in time, the impact knocking her flat on her back.

Fear and pain washed over Jinx as she tried to catch her breath. The blades were wrenched back, and her guns flew from her grip in pieces.

She tried to force the fuzziness and nausea away, reaching for the knife in her belt—only to have it kicked out of her grip and feel a terrible, crushing weight bear down on her hand. She screamed as something started to break.

“This is the great champion of Zaun?” Ambessa asked those watching, her tone soft with confusion.

Jinx bared her teeth. “You fucking—” Ambessa kicked her in the mouth hard, sending her head back onto the blood-stained stone.

Ambessa leaned down over her, now planting a foot on her chest. “Manners, child. How we leave this world is just as important as how we enter it, and how we conduct ourselves while we are here.”

Jinx laughed, eyes wide with panic, trying to push on the armored boot squeezing the life from her. “Then boy am I screwed.”

Ambessa raised an eyebrow and shrugged, bearing down more.

Jinx tried to hold out, but a wheezing scream ripped from her lungs.

Her vision went dark at the edges and her hearing went fuzzy. Tears of pain ran from her eyes. Somewhere in her mind, she prayed they were going to make it out. She prayed that Violet would know how hard she tried… how badly she wanted to make things right.

Over Ambessa’s shoulder, even though everything else was fuzzy… it was crystal clear when she saw Vi standing there, tall and strong with her big goofy smile, Isha riding on her shoulders waving, and Vander next to them, his eyes warm.

“It’s okay to be afraid, my girl. It’s okay.” His voice comforted her as she started to slip beneath the waves.

In her reverie, Jinx didn’t hear the low rumble and mechanical hum that drew Ambessa’s attention.

She didn’t see the green glow as it rocketed up over the top of Stillwater, dropping toward them like a bird of prey.

But she heard the crack of steel against a jaw—just as she felt the weight suddenly vanish from her chest, letting her breathe through bruised and very likely several broken ribs.

And she heard Ekko’s voice, flat and cold, the eager thrum of his sword bat arcing figure eights through the air, glistening with Ambessa’s blood.

“Hah. The Commander of the Firelights himself! Truly, I am blessed on this day,” Ambessa said, rising to her feet, grinning through blood-stained and broken teeth.

“Come on then. Let’s see if you can end the rebellion here and now, you fucking monster,” Ekko growled.

Ambessa nodded. “It will be my pleasure.”

As she stepped forward, there was a click… a beeping… louder.

Ambessa turned. “BACK!”

Ekko threw himself over Jinx as the entry to Stillwater exploded. And from the chaos, the surviving warriors of Zaun poured forth, bolstered by countless inmates—Topside and Zaun alike all victims of Ambessa’s abuse and treachery.

Sevika strode forward, her arm converted back to the blade. She smiled down at Jinx. “You did good, kid. The wounded are safe, and Vi is with them.” She stared back ahead as Ekko helped Jinx to her feet.

“Now we finish this.”

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Beautiful

Never shared that one before. Gosh I hate rendering hairs as you can tell lmao

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“People often fail to realize, they aren’t just grieving the one they lost. They are grieving who they were when this person was still in their life”

Hello all! Nothing new for anyone who follows me but I saw this quote and it reminded me of Caitlyn and her story. This is hardly some ground-breaking insight and it very likely came from a motivational poster or bumper sticker. But the point stands.

I have been EXTREMELY clear about my hatred of boiling all of Caitlyn’s trauma down to the loss of her mother. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a momentous and life-changing incident.

When you really consider the fact that her perception of reality was suddenly and violently altered in a very short period of time, it really isn’t that confusing that she fell prey to Ambessa.

Anyway, I can’t be around as much lately but still lurk and hope to finish my fanfic this week!

Take care

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The amount of people who totally disregard the whole speech leading up this moment make me question my own sanity.

I'm not doing a deep-dive. I've talked about this a lot. But Ambessa stands up in front of the rich and powerful of Piltover and plays them like a fucking fiddle. She stokes their fear. Justifies their rage. Promises them safety. And she caps it all off with convincing them to turn over "control" (while of course taking it for herself the whole time) to a traumatized young woman in her early twenties whose ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE just got blown apart.

It isn't complicated. You just need to watch the show. As a reminder, this is Ambessa when she realizes she has won-

"I would set the world ablaze to protect our family"- Ambessa Medarda

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I don't have the same amount of time to get on here lately but after reading through this..

Well... less questions I suppose. More points of confusion. How on earth you get Caitlyn is the reason everything goes wrong in season two is totally baffling.

Does Caitlyn do bad things? Obviously

Does she make mistakes? Obviously

Does she fail to see how she is being manipulated and played until a tremendous amount of damage has already been done? Obviously

But she is the reason everything goes wrong? Please share your mental process of logic explaining that conclusion. Because I cannot possibly imagine how you reached it.

In regards to your nifty list of choices Caitlyn made, first let me say your last one is incorrect. Go back and watch the scene where Ambessa manipulates the elite of Piltover into declaring Martial Law.

You may notice something odd...

Caitlyn isn't there making choices and telling people what to do. Where is our sneaky little dictator?

Oh that's right! Standing with the other Enforcers in no way in a position of power to declare Martial Law. Looking completely shocked and more than a tad scared at this turn of events. How strange.

Anyway moving on!

I have done extremely detailed arguments on the events you mention and can do so again if needed but for now, I will say this. Totally disregarding context doesn't make you more correct. Just more proud of your incorrectness.

If you can't make the point when considering all of what we are given, it's probably a bad point.

Who's gonna tell em about Caitlyn?💀🙏🏾

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Oh look! Pain!

ARCANE (2024)

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reunited

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Just a quick thing since I have seen a random boom of people defending this lately.

If you are defending Jinx abducting Caitlyn, and you are an adult (I’m not ragging on the obvious youngster portion of the fandom), you need to examine that.

And I’m not talking about people saying something like this-

“What Jinx did was terrible. But it is important to remember for honest discussion that she was an extremely mentally ill young woman. Who due to a lifetime of violence, loss, guilt and pain was overcome by her worst impulses and did something horrendous. Also, it’s important to note that Silco and Sevika both contributed to Jinx’s paranoia and fear over Caitlyn’s presence with Vi, making everything worse”.

That is legitimate and honest discussion based in the content and totally worth exploring regarding Jinx as a character.

But this?-

“Sorry not sorry. Caitlyn put on a uniform of a clearly oppressive system that ruined Jinx’s life. She got what she deserved. I don’t feel bad for her”.

I don’t have time at the moment to do my usual detailed explanation as to why this is so mind-numbingly idiotic. So, if you say this when you see a naked young woman kidnapped from her bathroom, held for close to a day, possibly tortured (i admit that one is fan-canon only at this point), dressed in her uniform ,bound and gagged and made to listen as her abductor tries to convince the woman she has feelings for to murder her……..

YOU ARE A CREEP

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I’ve said it on many occasions, but this has been my first time participating in a fandom. I have “met” a lot of really wonderful, insightful, and extremely creative people whose passion for this story has been a real positive in my life.

That being said, I truly NEVER expected the outrageous degree to which people misunderstand and misrepresent this story. It is so bad I and many of you have frequently wondered if it’s intentional.

Arcane is a highly detailed and layered story with wonderfully complex characters. But it isn’t subtle in its overall messaging whatsoever.

To @sapphiresaphics specific example, you have to be TRYING to miss the point if you don’t get this.

“I learned from someone… very special. No matter what happened in the past, its never too late to build something new”

The entire point of Arcane is about promoting the idea that no matter how much bad shit you’ve caused, it’s never too late to do something good.

And yet there are still people in the fandom that despise Caitlyn because she doesn’t fall on her hands and knees groveling and begging for forgiveness for her mistakes.

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Very cool read!

Let’s break down VI’s fight style!

Hi, I’m a long time mma fighter, blackbelt and weightlifter. Here’s some thoughts about how our favorite girl fights.

Basics first!

Vi was canonically trained by Vander.

She’s often smaller than her opponents.

Vi, like many female fighters in co-ed combat sports, relies on speed.

She’s fast, very fucking fast.

The speed of her throwing motion is immaculate, a quick get in motion. Designed to slip under the guard of an opponent.

She does very well with larger opponents and tends to throw hits in an upward motion, even keeping herself low on purpose.

This keeps larger opponents off balance, either having to bring themselves down to her or lean and throw off their center of gravity.

Vi, throws fast, but her return speed is horrible. Especially when she’s younger.

Her pullback should be twice as fast as her throw. It’s not.

She drops her guard when she goes for a hook, and almost every single time she dodges.

That’s bad, she’s leaving herself open to a lot of bad blows, and over-relining on her speed to keep her clear of hits.

Here we begin to see some refinement in her fighting. That speed is still there, but that bad habit of hesitation on her return is gone.

Her hits are targeted and concise, she’s going for vital organs.

This fight is actually one of my favorites because it’s one of the rare times we don’t see Vi rely on her power/strength. Sevika matches and outpaces her on that.

Interestingly sevika shows the same issue with her guard. At nearly the exact same stance/throws that Vi does.

While I do think Vander handled the brunt of her training, sevika was definitely part of that training. Both women exhibit the same base style, with obvious adaptations over time spent in different circumstances.

This is where Vi differs from both vander and sevika.

This is a incredibly distinctive choice, she’s not only subverting her normal style, but she’s directly contradicting it.

One of the things that allows Vi a leg up is this sudden shift.

She goes from a low level close quarter opponent, who relys on speed.

To a dynamic, light footed, heavy hit opponent.

Absolutely insane choice but it works incredibly well. You don’t expect a fighter to vary their style that wildly.

This is a Vi specific move. She uses this over and over again against almost every opponent we see her take on.

These dynamic blows throw her entire body weight into that hit, as well as keep the opponent off guard.

Her gauntlets didn’t change this!

She not only has increased power behind those hits, but added agility from the strength of the propelling push.

This allows her to grab onto this very effective sequence and use it over and over again with fantastic success.

Vi is not only a good fighter but she’s SMART she knows the game and can play it well. This is someone who knows how to clock an opponents fighting strategy.

Okay final thing. Violet is an incredible fighter but what stands out to me the most, is the story her fight style tells. She was a child fighting with adults for most of her primary learning years. She knows that she can be easily overpowered. She never takes her opponent to the ground because of this. She throws upward because the people she’s fought are always bigger and taller. She relys on speed and targeted hits because she has too.

Mostly, she’s mad. She fights like every blow is a personal fuck you. This is someone who was a scared child that became angry and violent to protect herself.

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Letting Go... Going Home: Chapter 8

*Non-Canon Arcane Fanfic*

*Warning for Blood/Gore/Big sadness*

*Long*

Back In The Hideout As The Battle Commences:

This deep into Zaun, Caitlyn can almost pretend the far distant rumbling of explosions and the bark of gunfire are just thunder and lightning. A storm come to wash away the old and make way for the new.

It wasn’t completely incorrect, she has to admit.

Loris sits quietly, his gun resting across his lap, his chair facing the door just out of view of the window. He’s been there since the others left. Caitlyn had offered to take shifts keeping watch so he could rest, and he’d refused.

“I’ll rest when it’s done. One way or another,” he chuckled, leaning back and sighing.

Her rifle lies on the table in front of her, shining and lethal. She’s checked it over half a dozen times since the others left, trying to take her mind off what was going on across the water.

Off of Vi…

A particularly violent explosion sounds loud enough that it isn’t as easy to pretend. Caitlyn’s eyes snap to the window involuntarily, and even Loris sits up a little straighter.

Caitlyn hears a muffled cry from the small room in back. Oh, you selfish fool. Here you are worrying about your own fears, and there is a child in this place.

Caitlyn stands slowly, wincing and bracing herself on the wall as she walks back into the shadows and the small door in back. She hears the crying forcibly muffled at the sounds of her approaching steps.

She doesn’t want to look weak.

Caitlyn knocks. “Isha. It’s Caitlyn, I’m coming inside.” She opens the door slowly.

There are no windows. It’s a small storeroom more than anything, with a toilet behind a privacy curtain and a large pile of cushions and blankets in the corner. The only light comes from a small lamp casting pale yellow waves over the gloom.

Isha sits huddled in the pile of blankets, holding a scraggly stuffed rabbit tight under her arm. Caitlyn shuts the door gently.

“May I join you?”

Isha wipes a thin trail of tears from her face and nods. Caitlyn smiles and walks forward carefully.

“I know you are afraid for them—Jinx and Sevika.” Isha signs something and makes a fearsome face. Caitlyn barely contains her smile.

“It’s okay to be afraid for people you care about. You care for them, don’t you?”

Isha is still for a while. She hugs the rabbit to her chest and looks off into the corner.

Caitlyn nods before continuing in a light-hearted tone. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m afraid. Someone very special to me is in the place Jinx and Sevika went to save her. I’m afraid because I love her and don’t want her to be hurt. Is that how you feel about Jinx and Sevika?”

Isha grunts tentatively and nods.

Caitlyn smiles. “Does your friend there help you feel brave? May I see?”

Isha turns toward her and cautiously extends the rabbit.

Caitlyn gently runs a finger along the rough edge of the toy. Her finger catches a stained and faded tag, and when she turns to the small lamp, she fails to catch the small gasp before it escapes her, nor the tears that fall from her eyes. “Vi.”

Another boom sounds, and Caitlyn cannot help but think of the last time she saw Vi—looking up at her with tear-filled eyes, stunned by her betrayal. And the same thought Caitlyn has been trying to drive away since this started wriggles through her defenses:

What if it’s too late?

She feels something rough and small pressed into her arms and looks down to see the scruffy little bunny, pushed into her arms by Isha, looking resolute.

Caitlyn smiles warmly. “You are very kind. But I wouldn’t want you to be without your friend here.” Isha presses harder until Caitlyn takes it, then traces Caitlyn’s own tear with her finger and signs, It’s okay to be afraid.

Caitlyn smiles and nods. “Why don’t you come into the main room with Loris and me? I’m sure there’s an inch of his gun you haven’t festooned with bright colors yet.”

Isha scrambles off the pallet, nodding and reaching for her markers, her enthusiasm making Caitlyn laugh as they walk out into the room.

What Caitlyn sees makes her go immediately stiff and silent, sweeping Isha behind her with an arm. Loris stands to one side of the window, the shades still drawn, his massive gun in his hands. Every latch on the door is thrown closed, securing it like a fortress. He turns back to them and cocks his head to the window.

“Looks like your friends from the estate found us,” he whispers.

Caitlyn nods. She quickly turns and gently presses the bunny into Isha’s arms.

“Go in back and don’t come out until we get you.”

The little girl, thankfully, understands this sort of tone after months of life with Jinx, and fades back into the small room, clutching the small knife she carries and the rabbit under one arm.

Caitlyn moves as smoothly as she can. She lifts her rifle and takes up position on the other side of the window, looking cautiously between the wall and the shade.

Her stomach drops.

Lt. Shaim—tall and lean, his pale skin almost shining in the sun—looks up at their hideout. At his side are two Noxian trackers and their hounds.

“Commander Kiramman. Please surrender yourself at once so we may put an end to this unpleasantness.”

Caitlyn swears and flattens herself against the wall.

“Commander. Your rescuer was quite careful in your escape, but you know well these hounds cannot be lost when they have the blood of their prey. And your blood was as rain to the soil of this land. Even in the waning storm. I know you are inside. If you surrender, I will grant your allies a clean death. If you do not, I make no such promise.”

Caitlyn’s eyes widen and she sighs. She should have known… should have foreseen. She considers their options. Those are Ambessa’s top trackers out there. They weren’t getting away. Loris, hobbled with a leg wound, and she, still wounded herself, had no chance of outrunning them. And there was Isha to consider.

Caitlyn swears. Her mind rages. She would throw herself on Ambessa’s blades rather than see anyone else hurt for her mistakes. She takes a deep breath and calls out,

“Lieutenant. I will surrender myself if you grant the people in this building mercy!”

Shaim bows his head. “Alas, I cannot. The General’s orders were quite plain. But you have my word: no savagery or cruelty will be shown to them. A clean death.”

Caitlyn stills. She thinks desperately for options but can find only one. She thinks of the little girl in the back room. And of her own gun shoved in that same child’s face.

Never again.

Caitlyn takes a deep breath and turns to Loris.

“The trackers are fast. They normally only carry hand-crossbows to bring prey down and short swords to finish them. They only wear light armor under those cloaks. The hounds are a different problem. Kill them first. If we have any hope of getting away, those damn things cannot be breathing when we run.”

Loris thumbs back the hammers of his gun.

Caitlyn lifts her rifle and inhales slowly.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5…

She exhales.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

She spins in one smooth motion, driving her rifle through the windowpane in a shriek of shattered glass and fires.

The shot that should have taken Shaim’s head is so close the heat of it singes his skin as he spins out of the way.

He grins and nods in respect.

Smoke grenades crash into the room through the window from hidden Noxian scouts further back in the shadows of the streets, and the room quickly fills with choking dark smoke.

Caitlyn covers her mouth and backs up, flipping the table as she does and firing over it, dropping a sprinting scout with a clean shot through the heart.

Loris’s gun roars. A hound in mid-air is blown back through the window in a spray of viscera. He chokes down a scream as a crossbow bolt hisses through the air, burying itself in his side.

Caitlyn leans up over the table, laying down fire through the window as something heavy impacts the door.

“Loris, move back!”

Loris nods, heavy footfalls thudding back through the room, growling as another bolt pierces his shoulder. He falls, diving behind the table. He crashes down as Caitlyn continues to fire, loading another shot into his gun.

“Commander, this wasn’t needed,” a voice calls loud and strong from the street.

“I’ll see you bleed before this is through!” Caitlyn roars.

A blur of motion, and a Noxian tracker dives through the window, coming to their feet with terrifying swiftness.

Caitlyn falls back, firing but narrowly misses.

The tracker lunges, short sword in hand, only to be grabbed by Loris’s massive strength around the neck and thrown back into the wall.

Loris draws a large, thick bowie knife from his belt and stumbles forward, bleeding from his many wounds and roaring like a bear, driving the knife into the scout’s neck and slamming the body down in front of the door before sliding down next to it.

Caitlyn’s breath is ragged and her eyes wide. She sees movement through the smoke and lays down fire but can barely breathe at this point. She hears sobbing from the back and looks for only a moment when a savage growl breaks through the tumult as the second hound scrambles through the shattered window.

Caitlyn puts a shot into its flank, but it turns and leaps, teeth bared, landing on the lip of the table, jaws snapping only inches from her. She scrambles back, hitting the stone hard and brings her rifle to bear, firing so close it blinds her momentarily.

The steaming neck of the creature hangs over the table, limp and terrible.

She wipes the blood from her face and leans on the wall, standing on shaking legs.

“Go, Caitlyn,” Loris says, chuckling in a hoarse tone.

She looks at him in confusion as she moves closer.

“I think I’m done runnin’,” he says, smiling.

Her eyes travel downward and she stifles a sob. The tracker’s short sword is buried in Loris’s belly up to the hilt. The man is so strong he didn’t buckle, but Caitlyn can see it now. He is dying.

Tears sting her eyes. “I can’t leave you here.”

He smiles again. “You gotta live, boss. You gotta be here when Vi comes home. And you gotta get that little girl out. You’re the only chance she has right now.”

He braces himself and rises slowly, clearly biting down on the pain. “They aren’t coming through the window. They’re regrouping. We’ve got two minutes, tops. You have to get her out.”

Caitlyn stands, looking from the back room to Loris, wanting to scream. “Why did you trust me? After all that I did?”

He shakes his head. “I helped ‘cause I knew who you really were. I saw you lose your way, sure, but I also saw how you cared for us and fought for us. I just couldn’t be there to watch that bitch twist you up. But when you came to me, I could tell you found it again. It’s been an honor, boss. Now save that girl’s life.”

Loris growls, yanking the tracker’s body over and taking the hand crossbow, leaning and firing out the window, grinning when he hears a scream. Caitlyn forces herself to her feet, slinging the rifle over her shoulder.

She stumbles through the smoke to the back room, kicking in the door.

“Isha! Come on, we have to go!”

Isha springs out from her shelter, sputtering and coughing.

Caitlyn lifts her onto her shoulder and moves as fast as she can to the escape hatch out into the ventilation. She tries not to look through the smoke to where Loris is still acting as a bulwark, firing bolts, bullets, and anything he can get at anyone who tries to come through the window while the door continues to buckle.

Isha looks, seeing him, as Caitlyn starts frantically turning the wheel to open the hatch door.

She signs, Tiny?

He grins. “You go on, kid. I’ll be fine. I’ve got your protection after all,” and he flashes the colorful handle of the gun.

But Isha has seen far too much death for one so young, and her eyes fill with tears, realizing what’s happening. She cries out as Caitlyn lifts her into the air, reaching for Loris, who grins warmly. Caitlyn pushes Isha up and levers herself into the hatch after, reaching and slamming it shut.

Loris nods as they vanish from view. He’d lived a long, hard life. But he figured dying protecting those he’d come to care for was as good a reason as any.

He loads another shot into the blunderbuss and forces his bleeding body back to the shadows as the door starts to shudder.

Boom.

Boom.

BOOM!

The door flies open in an explosion of wood and steel.

Loris’s shot turns a scout’s head into pink mist.

The next man through the door dies with a bolt to the neck.

Down to his knife, Loris growls, holding it in one hand and rushing forward, lifting the table even though blood runs from countless wounds at the exertion, slamming it into the breach where the door used to be, holding it for all he’s worth.

A blade lunges from the smoke, cutting deep into his ribs. He forces his shoulder into the table to pin it and reaches over it, grabbing the arm of his attacker and yanking hard. Popping bone and rending tissue are heard with a screech of agony.

His feet slide on the blood-slicked floor from the strength of his own form holding the table in place. Another tracker dives through the window, sprinting back toward the hatch opening.

Loris swears, turning and chucking the knife for all he’s worth, smiling as it slams into the scout’s back, dropping him twitching.

A long blade punches through Loris’s back and out his belly.

He gasps, dropping slowly to his knees.

Other attackers flood in around him—lesser in number than before, but still too many. The blade is ripped clean, and he crumples slowly, his vision swimming.

The tall, lean man Caitlyn had challenged walks slowly into view, leaning down over him, wiping his blade. There is no sneer, no smirk or grin. Only reverence. He drops to one knee in the pooled blood as his men flood the room.

“Would that you had been born Noxian, great warrior. You would have been revered,” he says softly.

In his last moments, Loris chuckles, spitting blood.

“Never would have worked. You people talk too much.”

Shaim looks genuinely surprised, then laughs. He takes the squat, shorter blade he keeps at his other hip and levels it to Loris’s heart.

“Go in peace, brave one.”

And drives it home.

Caitlyn and Isha emerge from the ventilation system that connected the hideout out onto a long stretch of rooftop. They are several buildings down, but not nearly far enough.

Caitlyn chokes, still sputtering from smoke, and turns to Isha, who’s been crawling behind her.

The little girl’s hair is wild and coarse from the smoke, her eyes red and teary, holding her knife aloft like an enemy could spring from anywhere, her precious rabbit tucked into her belt.

She isn’t wrong.

Caitlyn goes to her quickly. “Hey, it’s… it’s okay. We’re gonna be okay. But I need you to come with me now, alright? It isn’t safe.” Isha looks at her, breath ragged, but she nods. Caitlyn sighs in relief.

“Okay, we need to move. Let’s—”

Caitlyn grabs Isha and spins, putting her own back to the dark figures she saw in the distance, crying out as a bolt grazes her cheek.

At the far opposite end of the stretch of rooftop, three scouts and Shaim himself have emerged.

Fear grips Caitlyn. She slings her rifle up and fires, dropping one and pinning the others down. She turns to Isha.

“RUN!!!”

Isha takes off behind her as Caitlyn backs up, the enemy returning fire, only narrowly missing. Caitlyn shuffles back. Everything is pain and heat.

She can hear Isha’s footsteps growing fainter and prays the little girl gets away.

Caitlyn’s rifle is a superior weapon at a distance, so the Noxians are unable to advance. But more of them are coming. Caitlyn continues to fall back, hoping, praying for a tactical position to take advantage of.

She shears away one man’s jaw.

She blows a hole through another’s stomach.

A bolt whistles by, grazing her cheek and making her stumble for just a moment, and in that hesitation, their pursuers are moving.

Sprinting low, firing, Caitlyn turns and forces herself on, lungs screaming and muscles feeling as if they’ve been wrapped in briars.

She comes to a tightly spiraled staircase from the rooftop up into a narrow path of rigging. There is no sign of Isha as she climbs.

Please be far from here.

Another bolt soars wide of her, and she fires straight down the stairs, leaving a man choking on his own blood.

She comes out from the staircase onto the rigging, turning and firing as she goes, but she can hear the footsteps drawing closer.

At the end of the rigging is a flat rooftop looking out over an open expanse of Zaun. From behind a large shipping container, she sees Isha peek out.

Caitlyn pushes herself.

Faster—you have to keep her safe!

Caitlyn thunders down the rigging and turns as she spills out onto the platform, placing shot after shot.

The first man dies.

Then the next.

Another leaps and is driven back as his left leg is blown off from the knee down.

Caitlyn stands, dropping her rifle, seeing the others across the rooftops, and draws the knife she’d threatened Jinx with, quickly slashing at the ropes.

The rigging groans, and in a squeal of metal and snapping cable, falls.

The men still on it scream as they plummet, and Caitlyn raises the knife in challenge.

They did it.

Caitlyn turns to face Isha and sees horror in the child’s eyes.

She turns back to see Shaim levering over the lip of the platform.

He’d come under the rigging.

Her rifle is on the ground where he stands. All she has is the knife. She backs up toward Isha, keeping the blade raised.

Shaim looks at her calmly. “I expected no less of a defense from one the General has personally trained. You should be very proud. But this is over now. Your friend has fallen. Submit, and I will still grant the child a merciful death.”

Caitlyn snarls. “You will die for Loris. And for my father.”

Shaim walks closer. “To die courageously in battle is a gift, Commander. One I was honored to bestow upon them.”

Caitlyn shakes her head. “You snuffed out lives. Killing isn’t mercy, and it certainly isn’t a gift.”

Shaim advances even closer, not even drawing his sword. “You are wounded, you are tired, and you are young. I have my orders, but if you force my hand, I will not spare you.”

As he approaches, Caitlyn slashes out with the knife.

He steps in quickly on the balls of his feet, catching her wrist with one hand and slamming a fist like iron into her belly. Her knife clatters to the ground.

Caitlyn groans as breath leaves her. She tries to remain standing, and he follows with a brutal hook to her chin. The breaking of bone heard from her already wounded jaw almost makes her vomit.

She crashes to the ground, seeing stars.

He sighs, drawing his sword and walking toward her. Suddenly he cries out and turns, giving Isha a brutal slap across the face, knocking her to her back, her small knife buried in Shaim’s calf.

Caitlyn roars, forcing herself to her feet and tackling the taller man to the edge of the platform, locking one hand on the knife in his calf and twisting, making him scream.

On impact, his sword leaves his hand and Caitlyn frantically shoves it over the edge.

As they land, she screams in rage and desperation, sinking her teeth into his cheek and ripping away flesh in a spray of blood.

He screams, throwing her as her hands lose their grip, drawing his own knife and slashing her twice on her outstretched hand and arm, making her cry out.

She scrambles back, hand grasping her fallen knife as she forces her body forward and stands, trying to back away from him as he rises. He throws his body forward into a roll and lunges at her. She feels the air knocked from her as a horrible, sickly pressure impacts her stomach like a hammer blow.

She looks down. His knife is buried to the hilt in her stomach.

She buckles, stifling a sob of pain, and screams, trying to drive her blade into his chest—only for him to step quickly into her range, twisting the knife out of her hand and bringing it down hard across one of her eyes.

Caitlyn’s world is fire and pain.

She falls, her back slamming hard into the stone rooftop, gasping for air.

Shaim stumbles forward—bleeding, bruised—and lowers down, straddling her waist, raising her own knife high.

“You are worthy of your father’s sacrifice. Go in peace.”

Caitlyn bites down on the sob of pain and fear inside her and snarls.

“He deserved better than to be ended by you.”

Shaim nods. He arcs the blade downward only to be driven off course as a small blur of howling rage smashes into him, just hard enough for the blade to go to the side. The desperate fear and bravery of the small child saves Caitlyn from certain death yet again.

Isha tears and bites at him with all the fury and terror in her body. He lifts her by the shirt collar, tossing her through the air and sending her rolling.

Caitlyn snarls and bucks her hips, driving him forward enough to get a foot onto his hip, pushing herself to the side and sliding to his back.

She locks her long legs around his waist, digging her heels into his hips and locking her arms around his neck in the distraction.

Her vision blurs from the weight of him, blood seeping from her terrible wounds. She bites down so hard her lips bleed, desperation and rage fueling her.

He wheezes from the sudden pressure. He tries to roll, and Caitlyn pulls the knife from her own waist, screaming and slamming it into his neck.

He stiffens. His blood runs over her as she rips the blade free and slams it home again and again as he dies.

Adrenaline firing in her muscles as she twists the blade and rips it free, jerking his ear to her as the light leaves him.

“For my father.” And rips the knife through his throat from ear to ear.

For a moment, all is still.

She tries to push him off of her, but she is just… so tired. Her head lolls to the side as her remaining eye blinks slowly, trying to see through the blood.

She hears small footsteps and panicked grunting as she feels Shaim’s body shifting slightly.

Caitlyn summons the last of her strength and the corpse is rolled off of her. Caitlyn smiles weakly.

“You’re okay…”

Isha nods. Her face is fairly bruised but otherwise she is unharmed. She looks at Caitlyn, her big eyes filled with panic at the terrible wounds.

Caitlyn takes her hand. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Isha takes off her small coat, pressing it to Caitlyn’s stab wound, making her wince. Caitlyn coughs roughly.

“You need to find your way down when it’s safe. But f-first you need to hide. I don’t know if they can get up here, but they may come looking for him if there were others.”

Isha frantically cries, trying to stop the bleeding, and Caitlyn takes her hand. “Remember… it’s okay to be afraid.”

Caitlyn’s vision darkens around the edges. Although she cannot see it, she feels a small, ragged little bunny shoved into her arms as a terrified little girl tries frantically to save her.

The last thing Caitlyn feels as unconsciousness takes her is a calloused hand cupping her cheek,,, soft sheets, and the feel of the one she loves in her own hand.

As in her mind’s eye, the beautiful blue-grey eyes of the person holding her cheek stare at her quietly, full of pride.

[bwat5-blog]

Arcane (2021 - 2024) -> Eyes of Vi.

[bwat5-blog]

I agree it doesn’t for sure!

However, you mention revenge. And again, it isn’t about justifying. Vi is actually my favorite character, and I assure you I have NEVER said hitting her was justified lol. But, I do think you are wayyy over-simplifying what happened.

I can get more detailed but just the cliff notes:

1. Jinx has almost killed Caitlyn repeatedly

2. Jinx almost killed Vi repeatedly

3. Jinx killed a ton of Enforcers

4. Jinx abducts Caitlyn nude from her own bathroom.

5. Jinx gags and binds Caitlyn, then makes her listen while she tries to convince Vi to kill Caitlyn

**Now let’s pause here a moment just to remember, Caitlyn has done NOTHING to Jinx at this time. All of the horror that has occurred is because of Jinx own rage, fear and instability (and the people who manipulated her). Okay back to it!!**

6. Caitlyn has Jinx at gun-point and spares her life. At Vi’s pleading. And how is that mercy repaid?

7. Jinx knocks her out, kills three councilors including her mother, maims two others, seriously wounds at least Viktor but who knows how many others, and destroys the chamber.

8. Caitlyn blames herself for her mother’s death. They show us this in the lyrics of “I can’t hear it now” and if you want more direct proof look at the conversation between she and her father.

9. A peaceful memorial is attacked by Zaun. More death and violence. We know Jinx isn’t involved, but it seems basically impossible they wouldn’t have at least assumed she helped plan it. Given her recent killings of other councilors and connections to Silco.

10. The woman she loves (Vi) tells Caitlyn that she has to figure out a way to stop the invasion. (Blames herself for her mothers death, now its on her to stop the invasion to)

11. *** I am NOT justifying/validating/defending the strike team or their actions here. But on a simple human level violence impacts you. So yes the several days or a week or whatever of fighting in Zaun push her even more. And we see this clearly as she grows more and more angry***

12. Before the fight, Vi tells Caitlyn she’s ready and that she knows it has to end.

13. Caitlyn shows clear evidence of being out of control emotionally during the fight- she never verbally acknowledges Isha’s presence (just keeps saying move, she’s not getting away again), she fires even with Vi there including through Vi’s gauntlet, you get it.

14. Caitlyn is hates and is afraid of Jinx. See the scene in the garden talking to Jayce and her panicked hyperventilating shooting in the arcade.

Conclusion:

So! How does it all come together? Caitlyn comes face to face with the monster of her nightmares. The woman who has DEEPLY traumatized her. She has the opportunity to destroy her, to avenge her mother (which she also blames herself for), to stop the invasion of Zaun, and in her mind to bring peace. And then even though it’s for a good reason, Vi stops her. Vi who convinced her to spare Jinx the first time, and who swore she was ready for things to end. Then as you say, take all of those feeling Caitlyn has about Jinx and Vi tells her she’s acting like her and grabs her arm.

And that DOESN’T make it okay. Vi was right to stop her, Caitlyn said terrible things as well, and Vi was clearly not posing any physical threat to Caitlyn just trying to get her to wait.

The point is that Caitlyn was so clearly spiraling out of control. Just because she wasn’t yelling and there wasn’t active violence in that moment doesn’t mean she was of sound mind. And if you take the totality of everything that occurred leading up to the hit that is easy to see. It’s considerably more involved than being denied her revenge and harsh words.

CaitVi fans defending Cait hitting Vi are the worst shippers in existence , continuing to ship CaitVi cause you think Cait had a redemption ( you’re acknowledging what Cait did is wrong ) is different than thinking Cait hitting Vi is okay and not a bad action.

“it’s like any hit!” , No it isn’t , none of the characters who have hit each other were on the same side of things and were kissing each other 10mins ago, it’s not the same as jinx hitting Vi in the cell , cause of the reasoning jinx used it to get away , so she can go off herself so Vi can be happy, Cait didn’t have to hit Vi to get away, Vi was holding her arm very gently a simple tug would have sufficed, plus she was mad at Vi for stopping her from endangering a child in the name of revenge or justice , also Cait hit Vi way stronger with a butt of a Rifle. Context is very important.

And it’s far from young Vi slapping powder in S1 act 1 , they’re so different in terms of circumstances.

[bwat5-blog]

I’m not defending it certainly. But if you are gonna say “Context is very important” you should probably actually give the whole context for that incident. Cause it’s quite a bit more than being mad about stopping her from endangering a child.

CaitVi fans defending Cait hitting Vi are the worst shippers in existence , continuing to ship CaitVi cause you think Cait had a redemption ( you’re acknowledging what Cait did is wrong ) is different than thinking Cait hitting Vi is okay and not a bad action.

“it’s like any hit!” , No it isn’t , none of the characters who have hit each other were on the same side of things and were kissing each other 10mins ago, it’s not the same as jinx hitting Vi in the cell , cause of the reasoning jinx used it to get away , so she can go off herself so Vi can be happy, Cait didn’t have to hit Vi to get away, Vi was holding her arm very gently a simple tug would have sufficed, plus she was mad at Vi for stopping her from endangering a child in the name of revenge or justice , also Cait hit Vi way stronger with a butt of a Rifle. Context is very important.

And it’s far from young Vi slapping powder in S1 act 1 , they’re so different in terms of circumstances.

[bwat5-blog]

Listen I've spoken my piece plenty about Silco and Jinx. Not going there right now. But this scene randomly crossed my mind this morning. This scene is so fucking sad. Putting aside any of the "Silco-ness" of the situation at the end of the day Jinx loved him. It sucks to watch her in so much pain, torn over what she feels her duty to him is versus trying to hold on to the scrap of happiness she found. All while still dealing with the immensely complicated grief of his loss.