Chapter Text
"CAITLYN KIRAMMAN!"
The name echoes through the theater as it was announced for the Oscars' Best Supporting Actress. She was ten years old and nominated for her very first movie, "Rose in the Garden," her first project ever.
Caitlyn stood, her small hands smoothing down the dress, as she was congratulated by her co-stars. When she reached the stage, the mic was so tall for her that she had to stand on her tiptoes.
Her acceptance speech was short and sweet, something the tabloids would hold onto later.
"I want to thank the cast and crew. I had so much fun, thank you." A big nervous smile spread across her face as she held an award she thought was way lighter when she saw it on TV.
The crowd erupted in awws and small laughs over Caitlyn's nervous demeanor.
However, Cassandra Kiramman didn't think it was so cute. They hadn't practiced a speech because they didn't think Caitlyn had any chance of winning. She was against "real actresses," her mother said.
So when Caitlyn heard her name called, she didn't know what to say; she hadn't expected to win.
Caitlyn was scouted for Rose in the Garden.
Her mother, Cassandra, and father, Tobias, were known for their expensive galas that Caitlyn was forced to attend for appearances.
A man came up to her, explaining that her personality and wit would be perfect for a role he was trying to cast in his new movie.
Cassandra wanted to say no at first; acting was a degenerate job to her, and she didn't want her young daughter to be overtaken by Hollywood. However, Caitlyn's father saw the excitement in his daughter's face and decided to at least let her audition.
The rest became history.
Caitlyn had forty acting credits by the time she handed in “Arcane” at twenty-two, almost twelve years after her initial Oscar win.
Everything she did after her “mess up” at the Oscars was perfectly polished. She now had an overbearing publicist, Elliot, an older man who had been working with her since she was thirteen.
She doesn't answer provocative questions; she's completely professional in interviews, and she also, out of respect for her mother, doesn't do sex scenes.
A clause written into every one of her contracts.
Caitlyn has had several onscreen relationships.
Whether they played high school sweethearts or college lovers, she's even played a few married women.
She has never played as a woman who likes other women.
In this new show she was doing just that; she would be playing a character ironically named Caitlyn who has a subtle relationship with Vi's character Alex Mercer.
Caitlyn was a lesbian—not just her character, but she, Caitlyn Kiramman, was a lesbian.
It was something she kind of always knew but really accepted at twelve. One day on set, she was working with a young woman in her early twenties whom she adored. Her heart did a little jump every time she talked to the young woman.
Caitlyn told herself it was just admiration until her costar's boyfriend came to set, and she cried in her trailer for an hour, delaying production because they had to redo her makeup.
That was when Caitlyn came to the conclusion that her admiration was indeed a crush.
Caitlyn always hid that part of herself from her family and from everyone. It didn't fit her perfect actress persona.
Now that she was in her early twenties, she didn't know how to approach it; she'd never dated anyone, and she'd never had sex.
She had her first kiss on set at thirteen with a stupid boy named Northley, who is now a stupid man and talks about it in almost every interview he does. His career did not take off as well as hers.
She had her second kiss with a girl named Isabella, who used to be her best friend, in a game of spin the bottle at a truth or dare at a sleepover.
She was never really able to do things like that because of her busy filming schedule; also, if her mother ever found out she was playing truth or dare spin the bottle, she would have killed her.
After begging for weeks, her mother finally said yes. Something Caitlyn regretted after she actually went.
She didn't know the other girls there.
Being a child actor left her only with the friends she had made in early elementary school.
She was mature for her age, not because she was necessarily smarter but because she's only ever been around adults. Isabella was also her neighbor and a close family friend, so they stayed in touch more than the other kids Caitlyn had once called friends.
When it was Isabella's turn to spin the bottle, it landed on Caitlyn. Where she then asked her "truth or dare," Caitlyn said "dare," trying to be seen as cool, which backfires after Isabella dares Caitlyn to kiss her.
Caitlyn, despite being named one of the best upcoming actresses that year, had absolutely no poker face. All the color drained out of her as her eyes darted to every single girl in this room with them. Caitlyn had always felt her feelings were predatory. She didn't have a crush on Isabella, and from what Caitlyn knew, Isabella was straight, so why would she even want this?
She felt like maybe she had said something or done something to make her think this or make her uncomfortable.
Before Caitlyn could genuinely create a thought of anything else besides "omg, I'm a predator," Isabella grabbed her by her pajama shirt and kissed her.
Her eyes closed instinctively, something she was taught she had to do when she kissed Northley the year prior.
All the other girls made fun of how much she looked like she enjoyed it, and Caitlyn freaked out for weeks thinking her sleepover activities would get back to her mother.
Luckily Caitlyn spent more of her time on sets than in school, so nobody actually got a chance to tease her about it, and her mother never found out; however, Caitlyn still feels insecure about that to this day, and Isabella still brings it up anytime they see each other.
She still doesn't want anyone to know except her now best friend Jayce. She works too much to date anyway.
Caitlyn’s favorite show is The L Word; she watches it on repeat. She tells him it fills the void of her own lack of lesbian love in L.A.
She was nervous about her new love interest, of course.
She thought Violet was attractive; who wouldn't?
She hadn't met Violet yet; they have their first chemistry reading and then a whole cast table read in a few days.
She kept checking Violet's Instagram, searching for something they had in common to spark a conversation, but all she found were thirst traps and photoshoots.
Pictures of Violet in perfectly fitting undershirts and in striped collared shirts, and a photoshoot taken by Vogue with the caption "Is she hot or what?!" Caitlyn couldn't help but say, "She is," under her breath as she kept scrolling through the rest of Violet's feed.