#unhinged Caitlyn

[chronicsyd]

Yk I find it funny the comparisons of Vi and Ellie as “angry redheaded lesbians with equally dead father figures” (yea yea I know Warwick’s still a thing but for all intensive purposes Vander is dead to Vi at this time) but I Do find it funny that Caitlyn’s probably going to mirror more of Ellie’s revenge thing in S2

Now is Caitlyn going to “murder everyone in Zaun to get to Jinx” in the same way Ellie did to Seattle? No… but an unhinged revenge lesbian is still an unhinged revenge lesbian 🤷‍♀️

(I Also want Soft Vi to deal with Caitlyn barreling headfirst into things like Cait did for Vi in S1… probably more of a dream than a reality but ya can’t blame a girl for dreaming!)

[arcanegifs]

ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: 2x01 - “Heavy is the Crown”

[oxenfreeao3]

I need Caitlyn “if I cannot become ungovernable I will become the government” Kiramman to have a full-on Machiavellian anti-hero arc so that The General Public finally takes her seriously.

Analysis:

I've mentioned it before, but Caitlyn's character embodies nearly all the traits of a Machiavellian with high cognitive empathy.

Firstly and most obviously, she manipulates systems and people to accomplish her goals. Vi would still be in Stillwater and much of Act II and III would not have happened if Caitlyn weren't willing to cleverly and unscrupulously lie and forge her way to success.

We can argue she's not a very good liar. I argue that doesn't really matter. One, her lies work. Two, she is clearly ready and willing to deceive so long as she thinks it's for a good reason. The inclination is what matters. I think the important question to ask is, "What is this character willing do to?"

Secondly, she's huge on agency. It's one of the main features of her character. She demonstrates (from the five-factor model): achievement-striving, assertiveness, self-confidence, emotional invulnerability, activity, and competence.

Regarding emotional invulnerability. I want to touch on this because I think it's missed. Caitlyn is an extremely guarded character. She reveals almost no personal information about herself, even to Vi. During high-stress situations, she flinches from her own vulnerability, tries to play it off, or compartmentalizes heavily.

Vi is the bleeding heart, the open book, the one who can't guard worth a damn (it's not even subtext, other characters say this to her face and I believe it has a dual meaning).

Meanwhile, Caitlyn waits until Vi is vulnerable with her and shows her respect before even giving Vi her name. (I have more to say about the "Cupcake" scene but that's for another time).

Other aspects of a Machiavellian character include:

Cynicism, selfishness, callousness, arrogance, deliberation and orderliness.

I argue that Caitlyn's character hints at the first one, gets away with the next three because she's "sweet," and blatantly embodies the last two.

Caitlyn in S1 is a sharp edge sheathed in kindness. We like what she's currently doing and think she's a Good Person because her trajectory aligns with our own sense of right and wrong. But Caitlyn is doing what she wants. What she thinks is right. Again, it's not subtext.

Marcus: "She does whatever she wants, I can't control her!"

And in S2, I think the same behaviors we currently love in her could easily be used to spin her down a corruption arc that leaves us a bit aghast -- but shouldn't leave us surprised.

I argue such an arc would be squarely in character.

Paraphrasing from the AMA:

"Everyone is a little bit opposite of who they are in Season One."

What will that mean for Caitlyn?

I don't know, but the recipe for a very interesting time is written all over her character.

[nathaniacolver]

guys i'm so sorry but "oinked poison" IS HILARIOUS

like i KNOW they're both MAD mad bc how do you not break at this 😭😭😭

(in her brain cait's already fucked her stupid)

((caitvi stop mentioning random animals challenge))

[xxadiaa]

day 3: caitlyn

[askinkiskarma]

This is the most real thing I’ve ever seen why is everyone getting hotter with each episode how am I supposed to focus on the plot????

[medjaiwarrior]

To anyone in a lesbian situationship - are you the "rich, unhinged mongoose" or the "angry oil slick"?

[thekirammanjinx]

She'll say "you've grown a bit predictable" then get her pussy ate... like girl what's predictable about that

[arianwells]

And I ain't afraid to lose a life or ten if it means that I get to win in the end

[meli-writes]

if cait ever asked vi, "would you still love me as a worm?" like you know vi's getting a room-sized terrarium built.

their whole s2 plot is basically that dialled up to "would you still love me if i spiralled into becoming a fascist dictator under the manipulative influence of a bloodthirsty warlord" and like the moment vi sees cait again after months of utter heartbreak she's calling her cupcake in seconds. the girl is a puppy.

you think she'd make worm cait a little worm-sized dictator coat?

[maxfieldparrishes]

there's absolutely nothing the writers could do to make me hate caitlyn bc unlike the rest of you i really AM a girl's girl

i support women's rights but it's for DAMN sure i support their wrongs even more 🥰

[chronicsyd]

oKaY, now that I'm done freaking the fuck out about the new teaser for S2 I didn't actually mention anything specific that I found in it (mainly cuz it is only 12 seconds and I was mainly having gay panic over Vi and Caitlyn) but there are a couple things that did stand out to me:

the outfits are a Significant improvement over what they had previously been wearing under Marcus, like why on earth were the women wearing Dresses? also the beret's be bomb as hell (Jinx will probably start on her "Hat Lady" tirade with Caitlyn lol) (I also want the "You're own WHAT?!" line but i don't think it's happening)

Vi definitely looks begrudging (is the best descriptor i think) in the few frames of this, like she doesn't look all that happy to be in an Enforcer uniform (not that I can blame her, all things considered)

solely based on Caitlyn's face, I can tell we're entering our "Unhinged Caitlyn" era and girl looks ready to be on the warpath to go after Jinx.

the only spoken dialogue is "we've got a few surprises of our own" does she specifically mean Vi here? or a new group of Enforcers all together. or maybe she's being warned to "not underestimate Jinx" and she's saying "we have a few tricks up our sleeve" as a response to it in some fashion.

people think the ginger on the left is Marcus's daughter, i don't think it is, his daughter looked to be around Powder's age in act 1 (around 11ish), and the other looks closer to Vi/Caitlyn's age and i don't think the jump in time (if there is one) would be That significant. (Edit: Actually i think I'm gonna redact my statement on this cuz looking again, Caitlyn does seem to have a more "mature face" to me so there might be a time jump where this particular scene comes up)

Caitlyn is clearly sporting a new hextech rifle to go along with Vi's gauntlets (which clearly have been fixed) (in fact the first shot of the gem is what's going into the gauntlet, from the looks of it)

the small callout to Vi's tutu thingy in her LOL design

the gem placing scene and the glove being moved to reveal Vi are two separate scenes, the gloved hand placing the gem back most definitely belongs to Jayce (seeing as he's probably the only one that knows how to fix it) (Also there's a very clear cut between the two scenes as the second clip's focus is on the upper part of the glove, not the gem)

(Sorry for just completely spamming today, I've just been overall freaking out, lol. god, if I'm This riled up over a 12 second teaser you guys are SO not ready for me when an Actual Trailer get's released! but that's all I have for the time being, se ya!)

[thanakite]

Vi calling Caitlyn a "Rich, unhinged, mongoose" is just utterly hilarious quite honestly

[vandersprodigy18]

Yeah, yeah ok. S2 Cait going through it. But someone explain to me why, when she’s being bad, she looks so damn good 👁️👄👁️

[dumpster-fire-sapphic-failgirl]

saw a post talking about how they didn’t like that Vi and Jinx didn’t talk about Caitlyn, why Vi was just cool with all that Jinx did to Cait, and honestly?

If you constantly refer to my people as animals, make me complicit in war crimes, shoot me in the bitch mitten when I try and stop you from shooting a kid, tell me that my blood is tainted bc I kept you from shooting through that kid to get your vigilante justice, and then (i shit you not, this is the technical term for what Cait did) buttstroke me in the gut probably right on top of a stab wound scar…

and then you become an apparent dictator with her foot on the neck of my people

and maybe I hear about you having a sunshine side piece

and this sets of a breakdown 7-12 years in the making and I end up in a malnourished, drunken, and badly beaten pile on the floor

and then my estranged sister, who I last saw pleading for the life of that child right after telling me that she was glad I was gonna be the one who killed her shows up and tries her fucked up best to make peace

you, cupcake, are gonna be the last thing I want to talk about or think about

[dpi-sam]

I've enjoyed arcane so far but having been unwillingly aware of the lore/"plot" of league since it's launch has made it very difficult to not find every heartfelt moment with Vi incredibly funny

like you're puppeting around the visage of Princess Police Brutality and trying to present her as like, morally grey. I get that she's not identical to her main series counterpart but the vi literally stands for violence. her abilities are called fucking excessive force and assault and battery. do not try and retcon jinx into being the only "unhinged" sister here

arcane spoilers below the cut

I will say though I did find the EDM police brutality montage kind of funny from a tonal whiplash perspective. "no cait... I could never be a police officer... alright maybe this once... yeah let's just go for gold on this one, send in the nerve gas"

like the implication is that the grey gives you semi permanent lung damage right. they pump that shit through all of zaun (which is very in character for in-game Vi) but then it's like "no cait... you can't fire towards a small child, what if you hit them? you can only eviscerate their lungs with nerve gas". do not lie to me vi I know deep down in that heart of yours you can approve of shooting kids in the name of the law. be unhinged my blorbo