#but jinx is so intimidating to me bc although i see a lot of jinx in my friends and family members irl

[caitlynxviolet]

I really love your huge essays about CaitVi and Arcane <3 It feels like you can really defend a doctoral dissertation on this.

I wanted to know what you think about Vi's reaction when Jinx has a breakdown after Vi touches her. If you look frame by frame, you can see how surprised(?) and scared she is. Considering that Vi didn't see Powder's breakdown in episode 3, did she even know about them? I just imagine how much guilt Vi feels and how upset she is about all this, considering that it happens after she finds out that her sister is now calling herself Jinx.

(omg I’m so late to this I’m so sorry!! I was moving :/)

my huge essays askdnadsk im over here clogging everybody's dashboards :/ *expand* Thank you :') I'm glad you're loving these as much as I'm loving writing them.

Oof, yeah. Their reunion is heartbreaking in a lot of ways, but Jinx rejecting Vi's affection after being tormented by her own trauma is devastating for many reasons.

We've already established that Vi's love language is physical touch. She's affectionate with everyone she cares about, as we've seen in her relationship with Powder, Vander, Ekko and Caitlyn. This is important because that's how Jinx remembers Vi before physical touch was used against her. 

Vi is not used to having this type of affection denied. We haven’t seen a single instance of Powder rejecting Vi’s touch when she was younger. On the contrary, this is likely how Vi would initiate conflict resolution and attempt to defuse tension between them - through touch.

Powder loved Vi’s affection and she used to seek it too. She immediately physically comforted Vi in a moment of great distress. See how she melted in the palm of Vi’s hand there? Touch is how they convey their love for each other and how they comfort their loved ones.

So for Vi to reach out and have her method of conflict resolution denied is a pretty big deal. She doesn’t understand what’s going on with Jinx. Words aren’t helping. At this point, gestures aren’t either. It’s causing Jinx even more distress. Jinx’s sense of reality, her feeling of betrayal, and her trauma are blending together in her mind and nothing that Vi could do in this moment would soothe her little sister because she needs time out. 

Jinx would have needed space here. I need to think.

I truly think this is one aspect of Jinx that has changed significantly. Without Vi around and with a father figure as cold as Silco, Jinx didn’t have a person in her life to reciprocate that type of affection and she needs it. We see her seek Silco’s affection a lot more than we see her receiving physical touch as a form of affection from anyone. 

So now, Jinx is much more likely to fear physical touch and to perceive it as something negative. It hasn’t been reinforced as a powerful way to connect with the people she loves since Vi. She lost this means of comfort almost entirely.

It isn’t surprising that Vi would be taken aback when facing a reaction like this. I don’t think she’s ever seen Powder act this way. It hurts even more to think about how Jinx rejects Vi’s affection here specifically because she feels like it isn’t special anymore. It’s not their thing anymore, because she cares about the Enforcer too.