#about mine

If Harley hadn't known Cass was going to kill them, the two would have still clashed personality-wise, but they wouldn't have hated him the same. Therefore, he might not have returned that feeling so strongly. Would he still have killed them? Was it inevitable that their life led up to being a step in Cass' plan for escape?

Or might it have turned out differently, and it was the fact of their knowledge and resultant hatred which caused their own death?

It's impossible to know and I love it.

What's Harley's view of the future they predict?

How about Cass'?

I love this ask so much, thank you for sending it! ah!

You're absolutely right. Without the precognition, Harley wouldn't have hated Cass the same. But they still would've hated him, if only for the fact that they are constantly second place to him. They can be as perfect as anything while the golden boy is nothing but snark and attitude and Christopher will still prefer Cassius.

Cass never hated Harley. In fact, he quite liked them. But it deeply hurt that they wanted nothing to do with him, no matter what he did. And by the end, he just resented the way they treated him, and they resented the ways that Christopher pitted them against each other.

Cass doesn't 100% know what Harley has predicted until the moment that it happens. He only knows that he's going to do something bad to them, and he believes them when they say it's hating him for. At the time that he kills them, Cass actually thinks he's already done the worst thing. Killing them isn't exactly an accident, but it isn't premeditated either.

In a world where Harvey didn't die, and they had gotten out with Cass, they and Cass probably could've grown to be really good friends, or at least two people who were incredibly important to each other in a rivalrous, ride or die sort of way. They would have ridden out the storm together until they both founf solid ground and eventually gone their separate ways, staying in touch the way old school friends might.

But Harley, of course, does not survive. Harley will always die because Harley was written to die. They will always hate Cass because they see the end coming before he does, and so do we.

So I really miss having active artist friends. Like back when I was on deviantart and talking to my pals all the time and collaborating with them or just shooting headcanons each others way or just actively talking or trading fanart of each others OCs

I still have many of those friends from my DA days! And we talk occasionally, but we’re also busy adults and we’re tired and just trying our best. And I make new friends but they’re also busy adults and talking with them is often put on the back burner (majority of the time)

And honestly its harder now for me to make new art friends than it was. Sometimes I’ll make a new art friend but then I always think “They’re way better than me why are they my friend? They probably just tolerate me? And they’re my friend because they have such a larger following and its humbling to them to have me as their friend” EVEN THOUGH people are my friend for more than my art abilities! Or their art abilities! Maybe they think I’m hilarious. (I am hilarious). Maybe they’re my friend because they like talking to me or hanging out with me. Maybe they like the weird rants I go on about books or shows or hey I just got some new house plants let me shove them in your face!

But because of my dumb anxiety, it keeps me from wanting to interact with them ever. And then it turns into “We’re mutuals” territory because I just! Don’t talk to them! or comment! on their posts! or do anything!

I LOVE MY FRIENDO

*she doesn't know about mine

I love how he can come across arrogantly, and his need to be held and touched, and how he drives a lot of people crazy, and how he predicts human behaviour so well yet struggles with his own introspection. I definitely need to read more!

Can I ask how Cassius came to the Bergen estate or is that part of the mystery? You mentioned he might have been in jail at some point I think

Oh I love this question and I love these comments on Cass! You’re soo on the money and I love very much that he feels so real to you.

Once upon a time it was part of the mystery! But I am so far beyond keeping mysteries with this story anymore. You could probably ask me anything and I’d answer it. I’d much prefer it was out in the world than trapped in my head forever

Cass came to the Bergen Estate via the bridge program that Christopher runs. On paper, The Brighter Horizons program takes in young men with “potential” who have “lost their way” and helps them get back on the right track. Think of the camp from Holes. It’s not juvie, but it’s… not any kind summer camp.

On paper, the program is there to bridge the gap between , often taking young men who are too old for the juvenile detention system, or are just about to age out of it because their sentence is longer than that. There are usually about a dozen living on his property at a given time, usually between the ages of 18 and 25.

Boys in the program live on the Estate for the duration of their contract, under the proviso they commit to their education (delivered by tutors employed by the Estate) and a five year internship at Christopher’s behest after they graduate the program.

As you’ve possibly already seen the program… a little bit more than what it appears on paper.

Cass was onboarded to the program a few months before he turned 18. At the time, he was about to age out of juvenile detention while serving time for a shoplifting charge, and assaulting a police officer. Christopher picked him up specifically, though, because he was flagged by Christopher’s people as being the brother of Henri, who was already in Christopher’s program. Christopher already liked Henri and decided to go and meet the little brother.

Also, I love the detail that his Mandarin is better, both with how logical its grammar is, and also I assume that characters suit his dyslexia better than French spelling. There's something fun and unexpected about Cass projecting nonchalance yet enjoying a language which is tonal. For a person from a non-tonal language, especially the relative flatness of English, Mandarin demands a kind of rhythm and attention which doesn't come naturally.

Also also, who do the tutors who come to the Estate tend to be? How much do they know/suspect?

Future Cass absolutely maintains his languages! He falls off the wagon a little while he's at the Facility, but his languages are actually one of the things he comes back to through his recovery later on, and maintaining them become really important to him. I've had in my head for a while that he probably joins a Tai Chi class so he has a bit more of an excuse to maintain the Mandarin.

Cass has a talent for languages, which Christopher figures out and encourages him toward, because he knows its a lucrative skill. Cass learns mostly aurally from language tapes and conversation, which means he speaks both languages better than he can write or read them.

He's better at Mandarin than French, and generally prefers it too. He really likes the tonality of it, and copying the sounds just so is something he gets fixated on early on while learning it. He also likes that he's better at picking it up than some of the other charges who pick up the same languages. It's not often he feels book-smart, so he latches to it

The tutors are just tutors! They are carefully vetted and have... an awful lot of NDAs to sign. For the privacy of the charges of course, they understand. And they're also prepped and primed for tall tales their students might spin about how they're treated on grounds. But they've seen the facilities. Does it look like anyone's getting abused?