i don't kill

what does he see?  the weapon she was forged to be.

or something m o r e 

Cass… didn’t get it. 

The robot. The glasses, he was hiding. He expected something and she didn’t get what she was supposed to do. 

Even his voice. It sounded different. Garbled. But still expectant. Like he was waiting for her to say something. 

“Sor-” her voice broke off in the middle of the word, “ry. I- not-”

Hiro sighed as he scratched the back of his neck. He had no idea what to even do at this point but it’d be rude to just walk away. Plus, he didn’t necessarily want to be all on his own again, either. He had to think.

Sure, she had slightly hurt his feelings in not accepting his gift, but possibly it was simply that she did not understand, not that she did not like it. He watched her for a moment as he chewed his lower lip.

“It’s okay,” he said to the girl, unsure if she’d understand him or not. If only he knew what language she could speak. He couldn’t really figure it out by asking  and it seemed she wasn’t going to say anything.

This was tricky. He wasn’t used to having to communicate with people like this. Then again, he didn’t get much socialization as it was so he was never taught what to do in this type of situation. Well, he could at least introduce himself.

She always felt bad when she saw their faces. She understood, but she did not- get it. It was always like this and she felt bad for making them confused.  

But now, she knew what to do. She had seen it the cue before. Bringing the tip of her thumb to her chest, she smiled aloofly and spewed out the line she had been schooled into memorizing, “Hello. I am... Cass.”

When she had first came here, it had been hard. But now, it was... less so.

He wasn’t there and then, now he was. It had culminated in a flash of light and a soft pop, a whimper after the noise Cass had created when she knocked down the entire tower of books. 

He was speaking… words. Not like the words she was used to hearing. But still not understandable. 

“Ohh I didn’t realize anyone else was here.” he says rising from the tiny stack he had already started.

People did not often surprise on her. From the rooftops or not. She could feel them. It was odd. In the midst of dizzying towers of odd trinkets, she felt lost. Like she didn’t belong. And at the same time, she wanted to do was know more.

The man was oblivious to all this, harried yet oddly expectant. She parroted  the hand motion, he was gesturing towards her. 

“He-” there was a break in her voice as she began,”llo. I-”

As soon as Ev began her display, Cass flinched. 

Almost automatically, Cass reached out to grab Ev’s hand, covering the fingergun within her own fist and shaking her head. 

“No,” she insisted as if saying it out loud would change things, “Not- like.”

“No?” No–okay.” she said softly, relaxing her hand under the other’s sudden, yet gentle grip over her own. “Okay…I’m sorry.” 

She looked around and held out her arms for a change in subject. With a sudden realization, she remembered the piece of paper the teachers had given her. Crumpled from being shoved into the pocket of the clothes they had given her, she held it out to Ev for Ev to interpret.

She smiled widely when he repeated her name and then introduced himself, before she realized she was leaving him behind. Slowing down, her eyes followed his to the ground. 

Falling into step beside him, reaching over and tilting his chin up, “No.”

Making a wide gesture to the world around them, the hot air and the foliage, she smiled widely before leaning to the ground. This place was- beautiful. She never used to notice things like this before, when she moved so much, she never got a chance to look or be off-guard. It felt nice. 

At Cassandra’s gesture, David was truly amazed. Though he had just arrived moments earlier, he had already began to take this place for granted. It truly was a beautiful place, and it was very different from New Jersey. It wasn’t hard for him to admit that he enjoyed the change of scenery. Deep down, he knew it was one of the reasons he had left. Little things about West Orange, ranging from the buildings and the trees, would remind him of the life he had lost during the accident. A life that he could never get back.

“Yes.”

The boy looked pensive, but he was smiling. She mirrored the smile back at him, a little self-satisfied, but still beaming.

Sometimes, she wished she could- understand what people said. He looked so sad and happy at the same time. She could read, but not see the context. Words would-

She stopped herself, balling her fists into her hands, as they rounded a corner.

“No,” she answered tentatively, unsure what the girl expected from her.

Dropping the pieces of bread on the table, Cass extended her hand in a fist rather formally, offering it to the girl in the same way others would a handshake.  

“Anyway, if I don’t make it like that I’m sure I’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll be a super-hero!” She laughed, more real this time, but still a twinge of awkward. Wow, her hopes sounded unlikely outloud. “And you, my hungry nude- eh, new friend?” Her smile wavered at the slip of the tongue.

She kept looking at the girl’s tapping hands and shaky voice, the nervousness ebbing off of her in waves. There was an underlying tension in the girl’s voice. And Cass followed the girl’s eyes to the wall behind her.

Did she do something wrong-- again? She never understood. She just- Ashamed. It washed over he.

“No,” Cass repeated, dejected and disappointed that the girl refused to look at her, “I-”

☔: my muses reaction to opening their front door and seeing yours drenched in rain

⚡: how my muse calms yours in a lightening storm while they’re pulled over on the side of the road

☆: my muse comforting yours while they get a tattoo

☏: my muse’s reaction to getting a phone call from the hospital about your muse

☯: what my muse says to yours after they haven’t spoken for five hours since a fight

✏: my muse’s letter to yours that they left after they passed away

⚰: my muse’s reaction to watching yours die from afar

✿: my muse’s reaction to leaving a cut on your muse’s body

♒: my muse’s reaction to finding your muse bruised and beaten on their doorstep

⚈: my muse’s reaction to finding drugs in your muse’s handbag

✺: my muse protecting yours from a sleaze at the club

☠: my muse’s reaction to being told that your muse is missing, and presumed dead

☺: my muse finding yours on the side of the road, hours away from home

✖: the last thing my muse says to yours before leaving for good

⌛: the voicemail my muse leaves on your phone when your muse hasn’t been heard from for the fifth night this week

☕: my muse comforting yours after the death of a loved one

⚱: my muse’s reaction to waking up to yours muse, beaten by mine, but my muse has no recollection of the night before

☉: my muse’s reaction to finding yours in a public bathroom, drugged and almost unconscious

Oh no, Kori thought as she gasped and put a hand over her mouth what had she just done to the settings on the danger room. Lights were flashing and more targets were being simulated. 

“Cass Look out!” she called as she floated and zipped to tackle the girl out of the way so she would not be fired upon. 

Cass was always diving out of the way when she felt the two warm hands surround her, interrupting her landing. Rebalancing herself, she looked around in shock as everything in the danger room started to malfunction. 

The door had been locked. And after Cass had attempted to turn the doorknob, she had thought about breaking down the door. 

But when she had done that before, they got… angry. And so, Cass scaled outside the building with what was essentially half the refrigerator stuffed into a plastic bag until she got to their window. In the dead of the night. 

Resting on the ledge, she rapped on their window twice, peering in to see if she could wake them up so she could have breakfast with them. 

To pass the time, he would usually simply sit around his dorm room, and from there he would either browse the internet on his phone, or watch whatever programs he could find on TV at such a late hour. This time it was the prior.

Although it was the dead of night, something happened. There was a knock on the door. No, not the door… The window. The boy averted his gaze from his phone and towards the source of the noise. When he finally made out who it was, a smile grew on his face. It was Cassandra, whom he had met the day he had arrived on campus.

She swung the bag in through the window first, the black trash bag landing on the floor, sloshing  and crinkling almost alarmingly. 

Easing herself into his room silently, she looked around before beaming at the boy through the darkness. 

Coming Home - Sjonni’s Friends

“Some say I’m a bit of a fool, sitting on a hill and counting raindrops. Keep thinking I just wanna go to the peaceful place I know, that I call home.”

To her? She couldn’t tell. His lips were moving and he was looking at her, but he seemed- lost. Not focused. 

She squinted at him and kept staring. 

Batman 1000 Sale: What to Buy for Cassandra Cain

It’s happened. A year and a half since I started making these posts, DC has finally put on a sale that not just features Cassandra Cain is actually making a point of putting every single issue of her 73-issue solo series as part of the sale.

This is honestly a fantastic and wonderful thing, something I have been hoping for now for a long time and is a great way to set the excitement and atmosphere for her (hopefully) triumphant return.

I am elated.

So there’s that and so much more with Cass in this sale that I really must excitedly point you in the direction of some comic rec lists I’ve done in the past for buying Cass comics on a budget, considering that the point of these particular lists are just to feature every appearance Cass has in the sale.

So if you’re interested in conserving with your wallet, please check out the following lists I’ve done:

[The Cassandra Cain Dichotomous Key] [Cass + Tim Readings] [Rena’s Favorite Cassandra Recs] [Rena’s BatFam Rec Masterpost] [Rena’s Subject-to-Change Top 10 Cass Issues]

Also keep in mind, Cass’ appearances in the Robin: Wanted storyline also happen to be on sale, however this is disregarded by fans in large swaths due to it being incredibly out of character, out of voice, and really was just an excuse to make Cass a Robin villain for no good reason. Unless you are a completionist, please don’t give money to this arc [Robin (1993-2009) #148-151 or 161-162]

That being said, let’s get to listing : ) 

Batgirl (2000-2006) #1-73

Cassandra’s solo series starred her for 73 issues (plus an annual and Secret Files that are not yet available through comixology) and is the ultimate source of Cass reading. I’ve talked about this series in detail on both this and my renaramblesaboutcomics blog rather extensively. There are few issues I don’t positively love of this series, but you should go in feeling pretty informed. The series is divided up (mostly) by its three head writers – for the first 37 issues that would be Kelley Puckett, then Dylan Horrocks until #57, then finishing us off is Andersen Gabrych. It’s a pretty fantastic series through and through that should be the source of your Cass Cain reading~

Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011) #1-5

Cass’ triumphant return to Gotham after years of being benched in the preboot universe. It’s a great story featuring the Wayne family of the time minus Bruce – Dick, Cass, Damian and Tim all must unite together to save Gotham and the Wayne family name from a threat only known as the Architect.

Nightwing (1996-2009) #81, 98

#81 is in the middle of the storyline “Venn Diagram”, and is honestly one of the best guest appearances Cass has in other comics period. It’s full of BatFamily moments, Cass fighting Deathstroke, and some great sibling interaction between Dick & Cass #98 is… not so fun. Not a high rec, but an appearance all the same. This is a War Games tie-in featuring Tarantula, be warned.

Robin (1996-2009) #70, 73, 86, 88, 98, 119, 127, 128, 132, 133, 148-151**, 161-162**

This is the good, the bad, and the ugly, folks. #70, 73 are No Man’s Land tie-ins and Cass’ first interactions with Tim. The first is a small cameo and the second is a full issue that has a lot of merit if you’re interested in the friendship that grows between the two over the years. #86 is Officer Down tie-in where Cass and Tim help the rest of the Bat Family track down the shooter of Jim Gordon #88 Cass and Stephanie meet for the first time, though not on such spectacular terms as Bruce begins training Steph. This is important to the development of their friendship and is how Cass learns Stephanie’s name #98 Cass and Steph meet again, though the tides have changed – another fairly big development before we see their friendship grow in Cass’ own solo series #119 Tim suspects someone betrays Batman in the future and decides to tail Cassandra to see if it’s her. Cass makes a game of it. #127-128 While Stephanie takes over being Robin, Cass shows up to be a sounding board for Tim and to protect him from an assassin. [Warning: these do feature Bruce manipulating and firing Steph for ??? idk setting up War Games] #132, 133 Part of Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood see below #148-151, 161-162 Adam Beechen Recommended Skip

Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood [Batgirl (2000-2006) #58-59, Robin (1993-2009) #132-133]

A fun crossover from when Tim and Cass took over Blüdhaven in Dick’s absence. It’s honestly one of my favorite comic storylines and I highly recommend it to people interested in either Tim or Cass

Batman (1940-2011) #600, 605, 607, 631, 632, 633, 635, 683, 686

#600, 605 are part of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive storyline that’s fairly lackluster, but I actually enjoy both of these issues a fair amount and there’s great stuff to dig into from a character perspective if you’re curious #607 is not a big Cass feature but an interesting follow up to the precious storyline #631, 632, 533 are War Games tie-ins #635 Cass has a minor cameo on one panel #683 Cass has a minor silhouette cameo in one panel #686 Cass has a minor cameo on one page and it looks like she is on the villain’s side of the funeral which is… not a good thing. Or even understandable

Superman/Batman (2003-2011) #5

THIS IS THE FIRST ISSUE I EVER READ WITH CASS IN IT. I love this comic so much it hurts. I adore this comic. I am a loser for this silly, fun, action filled amazing comic where the Super and Bat Families are in full stock and running around making puns while they attack the White House. This is fun. It’s hysterical. It’s completely stupid. I love it.