Why does Vi and Caitlyn's Arcane Relationship Work?

warning the following video features strong opinions that you may not agree with and is not recommended for people with pre-existing conditions of closed-mindedness your discretion is advised i'm gonna say something that not a lot of people are gonna agree with and some people may hate me for this relationship works not only does it work but it's one of the best on-screen beginnings to a relationship that i've seen in a while before you get your pitchforks torches and bibles out let me explain myself and my position in this matter i think this is a great example of two well-written characters that develop a relationship naturally which is sorely missing from gay on-screen relationships these days let's look at both characters what drives them what weakens them and why they would be driven towards each other vi is introduced as a straightforward strong leader problem with a thug punch him in the face problem with a friend punch him in the face problem with society if you guessed worked things out diplomatically and worked together for the common good of all citizens you'd be incorrect the correct answer is punch society in the face via grows up having been given the responsibility and pressure of leading their little family of misfits from the very beginning we see what makes vi vi she lives to protect the people around her to fight to give them a better life we see this best in the quiet scene on the bridge with vander after growing up under the thumb of topside vai is ready to punch back she pleads with vander wanting a better life for powder a life where she doesn't feel like a lesser person but vander's quiet response hits her hard i know you want to hurt the topsiders for what they've done to us but who are you willing to lose milo claggar powder this changes vi's thinking into being completely selfless now she doesn't really care what happens to herself in the process anymore so long as the ones closest to her are safe while this is an extremely altruistic and noble way of thinking it's also kind of her downfall when you combine it with her stubborn headstrong nature and the straightforwardness of her plans to you know punch the problem in the face it tends to put the very people that she wants to protect directly in danger example hard cut to watching your family die one by one and finding out that it was your sister that was responsible for killing them yeah a lot of people have criticized vi in this scene but i'd be pretty unhinged as well not saying that i'm defending her or what she did was right but uh yeah i get it she's horrified with herself and walks away so that she can calm down and not do serious harm to powder which would be the smart thing to do if silko didn't appear and then if she didn't get kidnapped to be protected in prison for the next decade or so so we have a altruistic protective bleeding heart leader that is willing to put herself in front of others and blames herself for everything that befalls those around her and feels responsible for their pain remember that caitlyn is the stereotypical rich sheltered girl that just wants to be her own individual she doesn't really have an identity because her parents assigned it to her she feels trapped isolated desperate she disobeys the will of her parents and takes a job with the enforcers trying to see the world and to do as much good in the world as she possibly can keep in mind she's been sheltered her whole life and doesn't know the horrors that the enforcers inflict and the corruption but that all doesn't really matter anyway because she becomes relegated to guard duties at the request of her controlling parents then as fate would have it a case drops into her lab she takes her chance going against the sheriff chase and her family she breaks a certain hot badass altruist out of prison to pursue the case on her own think about it if somebody breaks you out of prison you're gonna have an immediate feeling of gratefulness towards that person especially when later on you find out that they did so against orders and against the law just saying there is some general banter back and forth between the two jabs and general animosity which makes sense they've been told their whole lives that the other side of the bridge is evil completely devoid of humanity but caitlyn has shown that this isn't the case this strange brute from the undercity becomes her guide to the world showing her everything that she's been missing showing her the world that she so desperately wanted to experience now i don't know if this is a psychological thing or not but when you are sheltered growing up and you meet somebody that opens up the world to you and expands your narrow vision to what life could be and what life can offer that in a way gives you freedom to explore your own identity you begin to associate those positive experiences with that person then you become pretty attached to that person even if that person runs ahead to punch the problem in the face and gets herself stabbed caitlyn saves vi again and again there is banter between them but this time much softer and warmer now i'm no expert but when somebody saves your life you do tend to like them a little bit just a few scenes later we see caitlyn making a sacrifice to save vi's life again trading her only form of protection for medicine in small detail maybe but she puts vi's life ahead of her own without her rifle in a hostile place she is basically defenseless and in many ways she is putting herself in great danger to save vi there's also the adorable scene where caitlyn tries to give herself up for vi when they're kidnapped by echo just again mirroring vi's ideology about sacrificing yourself for others and this scene is just cute okay at this point in the story vi has quite literally given caitlyn the world and kaitlyn in return has continuously saved her life and in this conversation with ekko you can literally see the moment that vai gains an incredible amount of respect for her they are no longer enemies and because of the mutual physical attraction not really friends either and no you cannot tell me that they were not instantly physically attracted to each other my girl was staring straight at her double thick cupcakes from the beginning also i just have to say this my main love language is physical touch and if anyone ever touches me as softly and gently as these two constantly do i would instantly melt on the spot come on you two my hopeless romantic heart can only take so much sorry the scenes that really solidify their relationship for me are on the bridge and in caitlyn's room on the bridge they are saying what they believe is their last goodbye they don't want to separate but they think that they have to go their own separate ways in life at this point caitlyn then gives vi the most melting of all melting hugs and vai snuggles into her feeling it's a quick moment but one that speaks volumes because think about all of the trauma that vaya's had up until this point and the fact that she's willing to trust an enforcer you know the people that killed her parents back at katelyn's house they open up more to each other specifically vai opens up to caitlyn and for the first time since prison vi is truly vulnerable with someone she fully trusts caitlyn and caitlyn doesn't say a thing she listens empathizes with her and comforts her with a touch the breakup and shower scenes are believable for me as well because well the first really isn't even a breakup they aren't dating yet which i think is a point that a lot of people glaze over sure they're attracted to each other they have shared their moments but they aren't officially dating yet when caitlyn pleads with vai it's almost as if she's asking for a relationship as well as pleading for her to not leave her life but what do we know about she's gonna go do things in a very straightforward way and she wants to protect the people that she cares about she is on a crash course to go and punch silko in the face she wants to protect the people that she holds dear to her which now includes caitlyn so of course she's gonna leave in her mind she's doing what she can to protect her from her actions because again she blames herself for bringing misfortune upon everybody around her and then there's the infamous shower scene which has so many fun small visual storytelling details like the blood mixing in with the water kind of representing that they aren't really oil in water but more blood and water katelyn biting her lip and using very masculine postures and body language the whole wonderful reversal of time as if she's constantly reliving the moment over and over in her head both forwards and backwards it's just it's great this romance was set up from the moment that these two characters spoke to each other and yes it was fast taking place in probably about a week's worth of time it felt normal natural even by comparison mel forcing herself onto jace was way more jarring and it extremely pulled me out of the moment which later granted was justified by finding out that she was trying to use jace as a puppet and pull the femme fatale move by using her body to control him until she becomes too attracted to jace and ends up falling for him and his ideals but for whatever reason everybody takes issue with vi and caitlyn you could say well it's all the rednecks saying get these la dollar beans off my screen but i think it boils down to something much more nuanced than that and that is that people felt like it was rushed would i have liked to see more scenes of them interacting yes but considering they had such a limited screen time to show these two together as it wasn't really the main focus of the story i feel like they did an excellent job with the time that they had to develop their given relationship sure it was fast again about a week's worth of time but again there's a couple points i think a lot of people gloss over hey they weren't dating they were just attracted to each other and trying to see if they were compatible b when you go through a traumatic life-changing event with somebody yeah that kinda tends to make you fond of them and see they both cater to each other's desires and provide comfort to each other as they are overcoming traumas and are in a place of growth vine now has somebody that puts her life in front of her own she shows her kindness and compassion and is willing to take risks for her the first person really to do any of this since vander kaitlyn now has somebody that values her as an individual somebody that has shown her the world and its experiences somebody that has a good heart and looks after other people it also doesn't hurt that both of them are extremely hot and we're attracted to each other from the beginning what why are you booing me i'm right just look at that smirk on vaya she's walking away from caitlyn flirting with the girl in the brothel you can almost hear the so you're saying there's a chance look maybe i'm just a hopeless romantic but seeing the way that they look at each other makes my heart melt and i just can't understand people that say this was forced look at them caitlyn and vi work because we see them from the start as opposites oil and water but the common thread between them is the feeling of isolation even though they've been brought up believing in the lie that they were fed their entire lives the other side of the bridge being full of people completely devoid of all humanity they begin to see that humanity in each other caitlin sees vi the desire to protect others her good heart the quality that vi thought she had hardened and lost in prison by season caitlyn a world view of people united together working towards a common goal acting selflessly to aid one another she sees their kindness their interactions together feel natural and their progression from assigned enemies to friends to partners to potentially partners feels well real these are two well-written strong characters first and foremost they have goals motives weaknesses strengths motivations and their relationship is just one facet of their characterization in my opinion riot managed to avoid the stereotypical over sexualized token gay couple that so often gets thrown into shows these days honestly it's a breath of fresh air and undeserving of the hatred and backlash it has received but what do i know i'm just a random cis-gendered white male on the internet that likes good writing [Music] foreign [Music] you

Channel: Flying Walrus

Views: 139,744

Keywords: arcane relationship, arcane caitlyn and vi relationship, arcane relatiopnship, arcane caitlyn adn vi relationship, arcane, vi, Caitlyn, vi and caitlyn, vi and caitlyn relationship, vi and caitlyn relationship arcane, caitlyn and vi

Id: 1fb-q27BBHw

Length: 14min 21sec (861 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 31 2022