#cvam

[pritkinsprettydick]

Artemis + Aesthetic

[pritkinspalemoons]

cassieverse reread (4/?): tough cass

The air rang with gunshots and the sound of ripping paper until the clicking noise came again. I reloaded, my eyes smarting from the smoke, wishing life was that easy. Just fill up what was empty, replace what was lost. But it wasn’t. Some things couldn’t be replaced. So you had to make sure you didn’t lose them to begin with.

[halfincubus]

favourite Cassie moment

I have quite a few favourite Cassie moments, it’s hard to pick just one. Someone already mentioned the amazing moment in hunt the moon when Cassie realises the power belongs to her and kicks a spartoi’s ass, so I’m going to talk about one of my other faves. This one right here: “But this one,” Rosier said, grabbing the shoulder of the son who still hadn’t moved. “The one you took from me, as your mother took my sire— no. No, little child of Artemis, no. Him you do not take!” “I will take him,” I said, knocking Rosier’s hand away, “anywhere I damned well please, demon!” “Ah, there it is,” he hissed. “There it is! The arrogance of the goddess.”

What I love about this moment is this rare hint of cockiness to Cassie. This is a far cry from her usual demeanor when trying to get something she needs; she usually resorts to cajoling, reasoning or just plain old asking nicely. Sometimes she demands, but it isn’t with any real bite. This moment however, we see that ‘arrogance of the goddess’ that Rosier believes Cassie to be perfectly capable of, a sign of that divine half of Cassie which is so often swept under the rug by others. Sure she wields the power of a goddess, but how often do people admit that she can act like one too? Everyone is walking all over her now... but how long do you think it will be before the divine instincts start to act up a bit more and people begin to respect her new attitude? We definitely saw her standing up to people (coughJonascough) more after this moment in TTS, but this was the first hint that she was holding back this kind of attitude all along. And all it took was Rosier to bring it out! I’d love to see her ordering people around and demanding things occasionally, like a true goddess! I personally find it exciting that this might be one of the FLAWS of her divine side, because after all the Greek pantheon were famous for their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Hera was vengeful, Zeus was lecherous (who are we kidding most of them were), Aphrodite was vain...you get the idea.

[freespeechfandom-blog]

Favourite Cassie moment

My absolute favourite in the series has to be the revelation at the end of Hunt the Moon. It suddenly made everything fall into place and make sense, and rounded off a topic both highly relevant to the plot and very important to Cassie.

“My power wasn’t some alien thing, I thought, watching the sky in wonder. It wasn’t borrowed from another or stolen from a better candidate. There was no better candidate; there never would be. It had flowed away from Myra as soon as it saw me, like the tide when the moon comes out. Because it was mine—it was mine; it knew it was mine.” - Karen Chance, Hunt the Moon.

The revelation had such a cathartic, enlightening effect (literally enlightening too, note KC’s pathetic fallacy in relation to the Moon in the scene), and as Cassie’s thoughts summarize, she has finally understood her place in the world, accepted her role as her own, and found herself. Such an amazingly pivotal moment, coming so surprisingly late in the series (book 5!), it really raises huge questions as to what other major bombshells the series has in store.

[redorblue]

I discussed this with a friend yesterday (who really needs to get herself a tumblr ;)) and there’s two moments we particularly love in Fury’s Kiss.

1. I ignored them and knelt beside him, having no time for my usual squeamishness. And shoved my arm under his nose. Not that it did any good, other than to have him give me another weird look, confused and hopeful and wary and shocked, all rolled into one. It made him look constipated. “What are you waiting for?” I demanded. “I—what?” “Feed, damn it!” He stared at my arm; he stared up at me. He didn’t move. “Why are you doing this?” “I lost one partner this week. That’s my quota.”

2. He was going to be okay. He was Louis-freaking-Cesare. He was the ex-Enforcer of the European Senate, the only guy in memory to keep another first-level master as a servant, the guy who made other badasses suddenly remember their manners. He might look ornamental, but he was tough as nails and he was going to be okay. And so was Mircea. Because if things went south, I fully intended to grab them both and run like hell. Fuck the Senate; I was here for family.

Those two scenes are great because they’re a culmination of Dory’s arc so far. In the beginning, she was so hateful and aggressive towards all vamps, which is understandable giving her history and standing, but it was quite clear that she saw them as disgusting, in every important way less than human creatures. Prey, a way to make money, a whole bunch of things she’d never ever want to be. Not people worth protecting and getting herself in trouble for, and definitely not worth mourning.

While I’m pretty sure that her attitude towards vamps as a species needs some more time to change, it’s remarkable how her perception and her feelings for some of them have changed. Especially Mircea, Louis-Césare, Radu and Ray, of course, but also people like Marlowe, Zheng-Zi or Lawrence misplaced as that was to a degree. I hope this development continues (pretty confident though) and that it also helps her in bringing the two sides of her personality/mind/whatever together.

What’s great about these snippets is that Dory doesn’t even seem to realise what’s happening and how far she got in the last couple weeks (I think?). Like, she doesn’t hesitate to enter a building full of acidic vampire zombies because Radu’s in there calling for help, and she immediately offers her blood to Ray to help him heal - and much as I love Ray, much help in a fight he’s not. She does it because she’s somehow grown fond of him, because she feels responsible for him and doesn’t want to let him down, because he’s in pain - all of which require seeing him as someone worth saving despite the process being disgusting. It requires seeing him as someone period. Before, Dory didn’t really distinguish between vamps, they were all pretty much the same to her (except Mircea maybe, but not in a good way), but now they’re individuals. The ones she knows at least. That alone is a huge leap.

And then there’s the second scene. Dory has always perceived and also presented herself as apart from the family. Most of that wasn’t her doing, but I guess she’s turned their contempt for her into some kind of defense mechanism. It’s not only that they don’t want her, she also definitely doesn’t want them and distances herself from everything they are and everything they symbolize. Except she suddenly does now, or some of them. In this inner monologue she doesn’t even hesitate or realize that she just thought of Mircea and Louis-Césare as family, as someone to worry about, to take responsibility for, to protect. Even if it means getting herself into some serious trouble. And this unconscious affirmation that there’s something good and (hopefully) permanent between Dory and Mircea and Dory and Louis-Césare is just so, so beautiful.

[pritkinsprettydick]

Cassie + Tempt the Stars Aesthetic

[pritkinspalemoons]

cassieverse reread (3/?): Augustine

A row of other dots that I’d mistaken for buttons peeled away from her shoulder and followed. By the time the dress was buttoned up, the spiders had covered half the bodice with a tracery of black embroidery, as delicate and intricate as the cobwebs they mimicked. The designs were constantly being woven and unwoven, so quickly that it looked like silken foreworks were exploding all over the fabric, each blooming in a unique design before morphing into another even more elaborate.

[pritkinsprettydick]

Cassie Headcanons

- After Cassie saves Pritkin and he’s back in the fold, he’ll be able to feed/have sexy times again with no stipulations.

- Cassie realizes with a surprising pang of jealousy that she doesn’t want him to feed from others, but she’s still confused about her feelings for him (and Mircea). They begin an awkward, teasing flirtation (Pritkin of course is way beyond his denial and is therefore far less subtle).

- It inevitably leads to the term “emergency” having a much broader definition. Cassie gets a papercut? SHE MUST BE HEALED. Pritkin stubs his toe? WHAT IF HE BRUISES?!

- Eventually they realize they’re being dumb and transparent as hell, so they drop the act and just DATE already. They continue with the fake “emergency” sexy times because it’s fun. 

-Their children are super annoyed because “Seriously, why do Mom and Dad have to make out every time one of them sneezes?”

-Whenever Cassie wants to win an argument she just bumps her elbow and cocks an eyebrow. He rolls his eyes but heals her anyway, and the fight is forgotten. Cassie wins every argument.