#piltoversfinest

[lynsian]

Ooouu they’re blushiiiing 🤭

[nemotheii]

Oopsie, forgot to post here! Work from home CaitVi request!!

[bi-for-vi]

[nikoniko808]

based off of this pose from twit

patreon | twit | bsky | cara

[meg-noel-art]

Family day out on the town! 💙❤️ Vi spends the entire time telling stories I know it

[senhoraisaart]

✨fantastic✨

[schmiricle]

As part of the 3 things to do to gain trust, the first is "be honest, even if it means telling a self-righteous windbag that her breath smells like a cesspool"

Vi does exactly that when she runs back into Cait. She is honest to Cait's face and doesn't hold back and it starts with "on the job, I see" before she tells Cait she's rich, unhinged and a mongoose (a mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal). So that's a pretty honest insult.

And I started to wonder if Vi did this on purpose, as it's step 1 for her trust gaining, to see how Caitlyn would respond.

The fact that Caitlyn responds in exactly the same way to insult (or be honest, rather) Vi's hair...

... and if we look closely, Vi smiles about Cait's response. It was enough reason for her to tick that first box and means she can probably still trust Caitlyn here. She even uses "cupcake" because there's hope that Caitlyn hasn't all changed and there's still a bond here.

It's almost like it was a test to see if Vi can still recognise the Cait she fell for or not. And she does.

Gifs by @arcanegifs

[oxenfreeao3]

Her actions are egregious.

They are not out of character.

We are witnessing the making of the wolf Ambessa wanted.

Analysis:

This scene peels away the final scrim of veneer and reveals to us the ugly aggregate of Caitlyn’s flaws.

Why does she do what she does?

Caitlyn knows her affection for Vi is a weakness. She knows it compromises her. It has already cost her the life of her mother and the stability of the city.

But Caitlyn wants it all. She wants Vi, and she wants “justice.” And she’s not one to be denied.

So, she coerces Vi. She manipulates her. Lies to her. Anything to keep her within her sphere of control. Because if she can control Vi, if she can mold her into an extension of her own judgement, they can be together.

And for a while, it works. Vi, desperate for connection and affection and stability, yearning to atone for her percieved mistakes and serve the one she cares for, falls in line. Utterly lacking any moral alignment because all that truly drives her is love, she cleaves to Caitlyn’s authority.

Until she doesn’t.

When Vi breaks with Caitlyn, once again stopping her from doing what she feels must be done, the illusion shatters.

Caitlyn sees reality.

She cannot control Vi.

And so they cannot be together.

As a result, Caitlyn implodes into a cold, closed, compartmentalized fury. She is angry at herself because she lacks discipline. She is angry at her mother for all the ways she resembles her. She is angry at Vi because Vi made her vulnerable.

She directs all her anger into a calculated act of violence designed to sever the ties that bind.

It has to be brutal. A burned bridge. Irredeemable. Because she doesn’t want to tempt herself with a path to reconciliation. She does not trust herself.

Not when it comes to Vi.

Caitlyn is a nexus of privilege and ruthlessness and desire. This, paired with her arrogance and ignorance of statecraft, makes her a prime target for Ambessa and her machinations. I think Caitlyn is likely to look up and find herself a sheep in wolf’s clothing, the sacrificial knife at her throat.