once killer.

" you are what you choose to be. "

[batcain]

crowbcrs‌:

Jason would hardly admit it out loud, but he’s a little nervous as Cass takes the seat opposite to him. In many ways, more so than Dick, she’s everything he couldn’t be. She’s been at the bottom of a darker and grimmer pit than Jason’s and still managed to climb back out of it without the stench of anger and bitterness trailing behind her. If he ever pauses before squeezing a trigger, it’s because of her story lurking in the back of his mind – after everything she’s been through, she can still believe in justice without murder, so why can’t he?

It’s hard not to concede a little ground – to give her space and a gentler voice, free of the mocking and ridicule he lodges at their other brothers.

“Not usually. Not today,” Jason shakes his head, though his brow furls slightly in concern. A broken apart memory floats back to him, and for a second he’s twelve years old and laid up in bed with a concussion while Alfred reads Anne of Green Gables by his bedside. Something in his chest clenches tight for a minute and then releases, pain that’s more like the memory of hurting than anything else. “Is it always like that for you?”

    “barbara tried to teach me.”  cass is lucky, she supposes, that she feels more comfortable thinking these days, but she’s intensely aware of the things she can’t do, as compared to the rest of her family.  still, they’ve worked to accommodate her, regardless, so there’s not much worth complaining about.  her mind wanders, too, to the evenings spent curled up by dick’s side, listening to him read fairy-tales.  it makes her smile despite her sour mood.  “most of the time.  it’s like...” she hums, searching for the words, “it’s just lines.  squiggles.”

she rests her elbows on the table and pillows her chin on my interlocked fingers.  “i have to learn.  eventually.”

[batcain]

brdwctcher‌:

Dick’s gotten used to his family’s little… changes, in how they spend time with him. He knows Damian’s following him around on patrol, he knows Jason’s keeping his apartment stocked with food, he knows Bruce is tracking his movements. And he knows.. Cass’s presence here, her insistence on sitting as close to him as possible, is her way of staying close to him. And.. he gets it. He gave everyone a bit of a scare. If anything he’s beyond touched that they’re keeping so close to him. Offering his sister a smile, Dick bumps his shoulder back against hers. Company on patrol would be more than welcome, but.. not tonight. “Taking a night off. I thought I could spend some time vegging out.”

It’s not entirely a lie. He does need a break - as much as he’s glad to be out on patrol again, he doesn’t want to push it too hard too quickly. And now that Cass is here, Dick would rather spend a little time with her instead. He needs it. Maybe they both do. “You feel like keeping me company? I’ll even let you pick what you want for dinner, order from wherever you want.”

vegging out.  cass tucks the pair of words away to examine later.  she’s not sure she’s heard that one before.  she smiles when dick’s shoulder bumps hers, surprised still at how easy casual affection comes to her now.  it’s a testament to how much kindness lays at the heart of this family. 

“i’ll keep you company,” she agrees. flashing a broad smile, one that lights up even further when he mentions dinner.  “pizza,” she suggests automatically.  and there will be pineapple on it, or cass will throw dick over the back of the couch, head injury or not.

[batcain]

notyourweapcn‌:

Laura had often been advised against people watching, told that it could be seen as rude or weird to simply sit somewhere and stare at strangers all day. For a while, the warnings had convinced her and Laura worked on not allowing her gaze to linger, rarely spending any unnecessary time in public areas to avoid unconsciously falling into the habit. But through the years, Laura learned to be more independent with her opinions and behaviors, choosing how to spend her time however she saw fit.

Central Park was one of her favorite places to go to, as there were always all kinds of people around, and most barely ever noticed if someone else was watching them. As odd as it probably sounded, it felt peaceful. That particular day however, interacting with others seemed inevitable, the brunette feeling compelled to talk to the nearest person when she found a phone on one of the benches. “Is it yours?”

Cass knows plenty about the allure of people-watching.  It’s gotten her into trouble more times than she can count.  But it’s impossible to turn off the urge, trying to understand those around her by the tells in their posture, by the way they shift or gesture.  She jumps a little in surprise when she’s addressed directly, and stutters a little when she reaches for the phone.  

“Um, yes,” Cass says, double checking the back to ascertain it’s the familiar case.  “Sorry.  Thank you.”  She’s a little embarrassed to have dropped it in the first place.  It’s a very specialized piece of equipment, below an ordinary exterior.  

[batcain]

ncighbourhoodspidey‌:

Sometimes patrols weren’t the most exciting things in the world. It was probably for the best, it meant that the world as a whole was safer than normal, but Peter also kinda loved the thrill of heroism. He’d gotten used to always being busy, hunting down robbers and drug dealers and whoever else crossed his path. It was like a never-ending game of cops and robbers!

Except for tonight.

Right now, he was hanging upside down from a web, reading an Intro to Chem textbook for uni. Yawning, Peter looked around his book and noticed a person striding towards him. “‘Sup?” Peter greeted, dropping the book so he could wave. “How’s it hanging?”

Nearly silent, Cass walks over to man hanging on what looks to be rope of some sort.  Her own grappling hook doesn’t have nearly as springy of a look to it, though, and she finds herself staring at the webbing for a while before even acknowledging the man.  

His costume is ridiculous, that’s the first thing that comes to mind when Cass looks at his face.  There doesn’t seem to be any sort of kevlar.  And it’s so bright.  It’s an invitation to get shot.  “Hello.”  Cass doesn’t have much else to say to that; he’s the one hanging.  So she pokes him hard near the shoulder to see how the webbing reacts.   

“What are you?” she demands, almost irritated by the unknown of it all.

[batcain]

crowbcrs‌:

@batcain​

Jason has tea with Alfred once a week, and though, in those first years following his return to Gotham, he requested Alfred come to him, in more recent months he’s been making semi-frequent trips to the manor in kind. He has a complicated relationship with the place (and the people in it), but there’s still something inside him that whispers home at the sight of those tall gothic spires.

He’s sitting in the kitchen, sipping on lukewarm tea and flipping through a beat up paperback, when he first catches sight of Cass. “Hey,” he greets quietly, glancing up from the pages in front of him. “Think there’s still a little tea left, if you want it. It’s some fancy shit that’s been steeped in rose petals for a pretentious amount of time.” He pauses, looks briefly out the window. “Alfred’s out running errands.”

    cass has a complicated relationship with jason, which is not to say that there’s anything contentious between them.  but jason is an enigma to cass -- wearing their symbol and not obeying by their rules.  even more than she hates that contradiction, she can’t comprehend how jason can bear it, how the thought doesn’t fill him with nausea.  cass still wakes up with shaking hands at the memory of her own actions occasionally.  she gives a quiet hum of understanding, gliding through the kitchen and fixing herself a cup of tea.  

“ hey, ” she echoes gently.  she slides into the seat opposite jason and peers curiously at the pages.  a frustrated noise, much rougher around the edges than her greeting, leaves her through her nose.  the fine print swims in front of her eyes incomprehensibly, and she rolls her eyes up at the ceiling.  “ it doesn’t give you a headache?”

[batcain]

@brdwctcher

    cass knows she’s been lurking around dick’s apartment more than usual lately.  her motivation isn’t exactly to keep an eye on dick; she knows that dick is more than capable of taking care of himself, even in a slightly diminished state.  but the near-loss of dick makes her feel, well, something adjacent to clingy.  dick has been a source of patience in her life.  her throat feels tight now, remembering the days dick spent reading to her from a book of fairytales, doing all the voices.  never impatient with her, even when she should have learned to read on her own.  she wedges her way between dick and the arm of his couch, knees drawn up towards her chest.  she shoves her shoulder against his in a show of familiarity.  

          “ patrol tonight ? ”  she’s learned to mark her questions with an upward inflection at the end, to make them sound like requests and not demands.  she points to dick and then herself.  both, them.  a team of two.

[batcain]

   starter call for miss cass cain !!  let me know who you want it for, if you play more than one character.

[batcain]

@rcdrxbin​

    cassandra fidgets nervously, slinging a discreetly grey duffle bag over her shoulder and looks hopefully at tim.  usually cass walks to the ballet studio  -- she isn’t keen to explain to the others where she goes, but.  but it’s tim, it should be fine.  “ can you -- can you drive?”  she’s seen him ride a motorcycle, but as far as she knows, that might just be robin business.  

[batcain]

@xdinah-lancex​

   it’s no shock that cassandra tends to be enraptured when she watches dinah fight.  there are things in the way that black canary moves that are reminiscent of cassandra’s mother, and that fills cass with equal parts awe and dread.  she drops down from her perch and flashes a small smile, one obscured by her cowl.  

“ where did you learn ?? ” she asks curiously, hands on her hips as she surveys the scene. 

[batcain]

@hauntedknight​

   cassandra opens her mouth, like she’s about to speak, but she changes her mind with a minute, private shake of her head.  she doesn’t have anything to say, exactly, so whats the point of trying to form the sentence?  instead, cassandra enjoys the comfortable silence for a few moments more.  of all the things she loves respects about bruce, his ability to be so comfortable in silence is one of the greater.  it feels homey.  

it’s odd, really, how different silences can be.  her father’s had felt cold && sharp as a knife, the obvious absence of affection -- this is different.  cassandra wishes she could find the word for it.  gently, she taps bruce’s hand with her her knuckles to get his attention.  she doesn’t mention that he looks tired, even though he does.  “ fight ?? ” she requests with a meaningful look at the open center of the room. 

[batcain]

( brianne tju / 20 / she/her ) – hey, have you noticed BATGIRL around lately? rumor is they’re from GOTHAM/BLUDHAVEN.  out of costume, i think they go by CASSANDRA CAIN !! their ADVANCED MARTIAL ARTS PROFICIENCY makes them a perfect fit for THE BATFAMILY .

 so i’m gonna keep this about as quick and simple as possible because i’m lazy !!

     - i haven’t seen the birds of prey movie, so it has no influence on how i play cass !!  ive heard its not very true to her character, so it’ll probably stay that way even after i see the movie.       - i play her as primarily based on her pre-52 history.  cass is the daughter of lady shiva and david cain, to world-renowned assassins.  in attempt to sharpen her abilities as a fighter early, her father raised her devoid of language.  his intention was to  make fighting and body-language her first language.  cassandra is incredibly adept at reading tells in other people.  cassandra has a unique form of dyslexia, as a result, that hampers her ability to read/write/speak.       - she can speak / read / write now, but it’s not always the easiest, and it’s not always accurate.  she hates reading and writing, but she will speak.  she just chooses to communicate nonverbally more often than not.      - at age eight, cass was pushed into killing a man.  however, cass has a VERY strict no-killing policy.  she ran away from her father shortly after killing a man at eight, and she spent the next several years on the run, in hiding, and homeless.      - in gotham, cass ended up kind of latching on to barbara gordon and bruce wayne.  she became batgirl, learned to function w/ the rest of the batfamily.     - cass is incredibly loyal to the idea of batman, and to bruce and barbara specifically.  she has very little room for forgiveness when she perceives one of the other members of the family as having betrayed what they stand for.  she takes being batgirl extremely seriously.      - after a psychic fiddled with cass’ brain so she could better understand spoken/written language, she had to be retrained.  her mother did most of the retraining, but only under the agreement that a year after, cassandra would fight her to the death.     - lady shiva kills cass during the fight -- then resurrected her.  then cass defeated shiva but didn’t kill her, so now her mom isn’t thrilled w/ her.  because their family is a fucked up mess.     - cass struggles with guilt over her past and is incredibly insecure about her position in gotham and w/ the batfam; she feels like she’s always in danger of being kicked out if she doesn’t perform well enough.      - tiny lesbian.      - she loves her siblings and her New dad a lot.  stephanie brown is her best friend. <3