#david cain i will kill you... but i also need you back...

[casscainmainly]

Father and daughter 💔

Detective Comics (1937) #734 // Batgirl (2008) #6

[aingeal98]

What do you think of an au where cass ends up in another city instead of gotham and idolizes their respective hero and symbol instead of the bat

Like she ends up in star city and in star city and idolizes green arrow and tries to mimic him instead and (eventually) become a member of the arrowfam?

Or she ends up in coast city and somehow a green lantern ring chooses her and grows up as a green arrow

I mean we've already seen this semi-done with "cassandra lane" and her growing up in metropolis and lois and clark instead

But what about other cities? just wanted to hear your thoughts

Ooh both of those options sound interesting! Star City would be fun because Connor was also created by Puckett, and it would be interesting to see how he writes and contrasts them. If we place Cass in Star City around the same time she appeared in Gotham, then Oliver is dead, Dinah is working with Babs, Roy is with the Titans and Connor is the main Green Arrow but his series has ended. As far as I'm aware if Cass went to Star City instead of Gotham in 1999, she would have found it pretty empty. Dinah and Roy were the only arrowfam members appearing in comics that month.

So if we were swapping her from batfam to arrowfam, I'd probably have her appear in BOP first. She saves Dinah's life on a mission, Dinah takes her back to Babs, Babs names her Cass and Cass stops David Cain from killing Jim. Only this time instead of Bruce it's Dinah who's watching over her the entire time, and Dinah who ends up being her primary mentor/parent. When GA 2001 kicks off, Cass features primarily as Dinah's kid, with Connor and Mia as Ollie's. I feel like Cass wouldn't really see them as siblings the way she does the batfam. They're friends first and kind of step siblings second. Found family that doesn't need to be clearly defined. Sin on the other hand? Her little sister 100%. Having Cass heavily involved in the Shiva and Sin arcs would be so fun.

Green Lantern Cass would be interesting because at the time the only Lantern was Kyle. Like Kyle was meant to be the last of the entire Corps but suddenly Cass shows up with a ring and she can't explain why any better than he can. So screw it, I guess he has a partner now. A partner who's convinced her purpose is to take all the risks and die for him, which Kyle would not be too happy about.

So what would these changes mean for Cass? I think with Dinah there'd be a lot more focus on addressing her death wish and refusing to let her fight Shiva alone, compared to Bruce who felt so upset about her being a killer that he couldn't cope and refused to think about it. There would be a full fledged acceptance for Cass as a member of the family, over and over again despite Cass's fears. No hoops to jump through no standards she has to live up to. If anything the conflict would be trying to find ways to stop Cass from holding herself to said impossible standards, with limited success.

As for GL, I'm not as familiar with them so I could be very wrong, but I think being chosen to be a Lantern is the kind of duty teen Cass would cling to like a lifeline. Kyle would be the most important person to her, but at the same time she wouldn't really care about his personal life, and would be confused why he does. The burden of being the only remaining Lantern would be shared, but their personality differences would bring a whole new range of conflicts and challenges into their individual character arcs.

Thanks for the ask!

[aimedis]

redacted characters as things in my journal 🎀

relatively big tw - there's like vague to explicit mentions of su!cid3 and heavily implied mental self-esteem struggles in this one (i'm alright at the moment, promise) so if that's triggering to you, don't read. this is kinda heavy and maybe disturbing to read to some people i think.

i decided to do this because i though it was kinda fun and cool to like analyse my stuff and the characters a little bit. sorry if this offends anyone ig? idk 😭 i'll be back with the more lighthearted stuff in a couple days okay let's go ->

darlin: "my feelings aren't in my control most of the time. i don't know why i feel this way."

angel before they broke up with micheal: "i think is funny (but i also feel bad) that he's always talking about "getting married" and "forever" when i have a break up letter sitting in my notes."

freelancer: lyrics to "making the bed - olivia rodirgo"

darlin: "i don't wanna talk about him anymore."

damien: "i just want my mom. and i wish i could go up to her just bawling my fucking eyes out like i'm five-years-old without feeling like a fucking failure but i can't... i've survived long enough and i can do it some more."

darlin before sam: "and a part of me will always miss what once was or could have been. but i know they will never be long term, permanent, or reality. i wasn't created to have a happy ending... but i'm okay with this. it makes it easier to slip away and disappear."

cutie: i don't know what so say really. i just feel empty and alone often. i feel out of place. i feel like everything i do is humiliating or straight up wrong. i don't know what's wrong with me."

gavin: "try as i might, i still feel like i am not in my body. living vicariously... through myself?"

baabe: "i should know. my dad didn't want me enough to stay."

lasko: "man what a fucking baby. stop crying over shit that hasn't even happened."

damien before huxley: "i wish i was dead. do you think if [mom] knew she'd wish that too?" (knew that he was gay)

lovely: lyrics to "strangers - ethel cain"

darlin: "i hope it's not my fault when it's all over. i want one thing to not be my fault. but it probably will be."

angel: "why am i crying. again. over and over and over again. it's all i ever do. cry about this or cry about that."

milo post-inversion: "this hurts a lot more than i thought. the thought of feeling like this forever? it sucks."

freelancer: "fucking kill me. i can't breathe."

sam: "is it wrong to think i don't deserve this or that it's not my fault?"

lasko: "it feels like i'm always apologizing."

david: "it really hurts when i need to talk to [him] so bad but i can't."

huxley post-inversion/xavier's death: "is it just always going to feel like this? holy shit this hurts."

damien: "i'm sorry, mom, i'm sorry."

vincent: "the real me? i don't know who that is anymore."

angel: "one more or one less, nobody's worried. my tummy hurts."

darlin before sam: "i don't plan on feeling like this again. i don't plan on "being in love" ever again. as if i know what that feels like... it makes me feel like shit all the time."

cutie: "after this, i'll go back to being alone. like god intended."

asset: "it's kind of sad how i don't even feel like a person sometimes."

lovely: "every so often it hurts so much i think it's gonna rip me apart from the inside."

asher post-inversion: "and it's like, sometimes it straight up feels like i'm gonna die in that moment."

sweetheart: "my greatest sin to men was being a child."

damien: lyrics to "forwards beckon rebound - adrianne lenker"

[scrapyardboyfriends]

Yes i completely agree. If they are going to go with the hero complex explanation for John being a killer I think it will be very very boring. There is no way his character can stay on the show after killing Nate, chaining him up and dumping him in a lake. John's a goner one way or another and Oliver will be gone by the end of the summer when his year contract is up so they might as well go all out and make him a male version of Meena at least that would be more entertaining. I'm also thinking Cain might blame Aaron for getting involved with John, bringing him to the village in the first place and not realising what John was really like.

I just want there to be a point to it all. I want there to be a point to John being a Sugden. But even more than that, I want there to be a point to him being with Aaron. And a point to all of this for Aaron as a character. And I feel like I'm really going to get disappointed on that last front.

If John is just a guy with a hero complex gone wrong and he really is a Sugden and there's no more to this, then truly, what was the point for Aaron? He's barely gotten to react to this relationship like a normal person. This relationship has done absolutely nothing for his character. He's not gaining anything from it or building anything. He's not even really getting over his Robert feelings because they keep having him brush them aside. And what does he get out of this reveal? Other than some possible screen time, which he needs because he's not on much these days. But what does he get out of dating a serial killer?

I've said before that if this was his first post Robert relationship it could have been a good buffer relationship between Robert and a newer developed relationship. But now this is his third post Robert relationship that he's going to end up back at square one after. And he's gotten nothing out of any of them and they still won't let him deal with his Robert feelings.

And if you look at those involved in the Meena story, David was dating her but he was also getting close to Vic and he got a relationship out of it. Billy and Dawn got together because of Meena. Meena killed Manpreet's competition for Charles so they could get together. She got rid of Ben and fractured Aaron's relationship with Liv for his ext. They at least made some attempt to have there be some purpose to her being part of all of their stories.

Even if you look at something like the Belle and Tom story, at least they were able to claim that it was an awareness story. They're not going to have that luxury here.

It just makes me sad because Aaron has had virtually no character development in the last 5 years. Other than finding out he has the breast cancer gene, there's just nothing. And this John relationship is going to amount to nothing because we don't even really know how he feels about it. And everything else that they do with Aaron all hinges on the past. He came back with his angry at the world, pushing everyone away story. And that was all based on his past relationships and losses. His relationship with John hinges on the past with the Robert connection and some of the early interactions like the lay by and the barn etc. They certainly used it to bring Robert up. When Ross came back they brought Robert up again and Seb so that they could once again use his past to give Aaron scenes. And now with all of this Anthony stuff, they're relying on the Gordon story. And don't get me wrong, if they're going to do a csa story, especially within the family, it makes sense for Aaron to be a part of it. It's just yet another example of them using Aaron's past to give him content instead of building anything new for him. Even the stuff they gave him with Mack and the car stealing and such was just reverting back to an earlier version of his character.

I just want them to build new things for Aaron, especially if Ryan's not coming back. And I don't see how this story is going to do that.

Sigh...

[theyellowhedgehog]

Cass and Tim

Side piece of Ripple Effect AU. Deep dive into the relationship between Tim and Cass.

What make Fanon Cass great is that, she's tiny cinnamon roll but can kill you. Lots of fanfic also write her as a representation for a sign language user. Then, I might made you mad. Look, I'm just borrowing the skin of the characters, okay? And I'm trying to teach myself to make a plot driven character development. Yes, the origin stories are changed. Thus, it is a Reverse Robin + parallel universe.

Who is Cassandra Cain in the Ripple Effect AU?

R.E Au only reverse the age of the robins. Since Cass is no Robin she will remain as her original age. However! Instead of becoming Batgirl, she instead became a mercenary. At the age of 14 she realised what her father has been training her into. So, I made her hard nut to crack. She confronted her father head on, of course young Cass cannot win against David Cain. After escaping her near death, she left to find her mother. Shiva wasn't at all different from David. Cass stayed in hope to be near someone of family. She trained under her mother for 2 months. When Shiva started to see her daughter as competition, she tried to trick Cass into drinking poison but Cass found out so she left again.

All Cass knew in her life is killing. There was no good or bad in killing. So she took on kill quests and became a well-known-no-named mercenary.

She arrived to Gotham when she accept to hunt down Tim Drake for her client.

Can Cass speak?

Cass hasn't learn any language under David, and when she escaped to her mother, Shiva didn't bother to teach her either. So as Cass travelled, she ended up in a Russia gang. They were the first one to teach Cass speech. So, you can imagine Cassandra with a thick russian accent when she speak english.😏

From there on learning language is easy for her. The russian gang also become her first real family. And under them she became a mercenary.

Will Cass succeed in killing Tim?

Of course not. I can't let the story end like that. This AU is mainly focus on Damian and Tim so.

But let me describe how she approached Tim.

This is after Tim had successfully became the Grandmaster. Naturally, he will has many enemies. One of the Court of Owl members actually hired Cass because he wanted to become the Grandmaster.

Cass became a mercenary at 17, got to Gotham at 22. Tim is 25 then.

To approach Tim, Cass actually disguised herself as a bodyguard. And surprisingly she built a really solid portfolio that she pass the screening and got the job.

The day she got the job, there were set back she could've never imagined. As soon as Gotham Magazine saw Tim Drake had hired a female bodyguard, the press had a field day -with the next day front page being :

"TIM DRAKE ROLLING IN THE SHEET WITH HIS NEW FEMALE BODYGUARD???"

"CEO X BODYGUARD ROMANCE???"

The news became so sensational that it even reach the ear of David Cain. (Of course, hearing about his daughter rolling in the sheet with some random boy, he got mad.) I'm just joking, he got furious about the betrayal and that he finally found her and set out to Gotham to kill her.

So before Cassandra had any chance to act out her plan, David Cain crash through the window of Tim's floor. (He's in a new apartment, not the Drake manor) Hooray for Tim! He survive the unknown assassination due to Papa Cain.

Cass was losing the fight against a rage filed David Cain. But girl, did she put up one hell of a fight. The fight has come to an end when David has successfully pin down Cass crushing her airway. But like all supervillain, he had a monologue prepared.

Tim took the chance sneak behind David to knock him out with a steel barstool. David Cain actually manage to block against the stool but that was all Cass needed to lunge a knife into his guts and kick him away.

After stabbing her father to death multiple times, she thanked Tim. Saying that she would not kill him and would leave him alone. Tim suggested a better idea of hiring her as a real bodyguard and paying her more than her previous client.

Cass accepted, not because of the money but because of her life saving debt she's indebted to Tim.

After David Cain died, Cassandra became the new Orphan.

Will Cassandra ever become Batgirl and join the Batfam?

No, Cass won't become Batgirl. Barbara isn't crippled yet. Her relationship into becoming family with the Waynes has the same chance as Tim. But let me make it clear, even if she join the batfam, she would be Tim's person and not one of the Wayne.

Yellowhedgehog, are you trying to set up Tim and Cass as a pair?😬

Not in this AU, no. But I bet they would make one hell of a power couple.😁

News Headline :

"CEO TIM DRAKE GOT PRINCESS CARRY OUT OF A HOSTAGE SITUATION BY HIS BODYGUARD IN SHINY ARMOR, CASSANDRA CAIN!"

"CEO x BODYGUARD ROMANCE IS ALIVE AND THE SHIP IS SAILING!!"

[purple-crusader]

Stephcass Week day 6 is up! Today we deep dive into some fun stuff, which is my take on Cassie's problem with finding identity beside her vigilante persona. Like I said, very fun. It's focused on Steph and Cass' free time as civilians, so I think it fits the prompt, even if they are still vigilantes on the side.

Hope you like it!

STEPHCASS WEEK Day 6: Civilians

Words: 1,188

@stephcassweek

You know things got fucked up, when Cassandra Cain, Black Bat, the daughter of two of the deadliest assassins on Earth, Lady Shiva and David Cain, as well as trained from birth to be a living killing machine, comes back from a fight with a broken arm.

Bane returned to Gotham, with the most powerful version of Venom created yet in his veins and decided the best people to celebrate that occasion with are his friends from the local crime-fighting family. When Batman and Robin realized they could not defeat the man alone, they had to call for reinforcements, those being Red Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, Batwing, Batwoman and aformentioned Black Bat. It took around an hour of non-stop, brutal fighting and crashing most of the Gotham docks to finally put down the villain, but they managed to do it.

One of the factors in defeating him sadly being Cassandra's sacrifice by pushing away Damian from Bane's hit. She exposed herself, which gave the rest time to gather around the man and finally tie him down and inject an anti-Venom into his veins. Before that happened though, the hit landed on Cass' arm, breaking it and making her unconscious.

Fast forward 4 hours later, Cassandra woke up in the Bat-Cave's med-bay with Alfred and Bruce by her side, telling her what happened. "Your arm is broken in 6 different spots, Madame Cassandra. Recovering from that will take months..." Said Alfred. "I'm sorry, young lady, but in this time we need to put you off your vigilante activities."

It was the first time Cass had to hear those words during her vigilante career. She had never taken enough damage to get benched. Hell, she had never even caught a cold. Her training wouldn't allow it, but Cassandra herself was always incredibely careful with all of her moves, because she knew how much Gotham and her family needs her in the field. Now she's supposted to take a few months long break from that life? She did not answer any of Bruce or Alfred's further questions, just sat on the bed numbly.

For Cass it was like a death penalty, but someone took the news as an opportunity for good, this 'someone' being one and only Stephanie Brown, Cassandra's lovely girlfriend. It's not like she did not feel the pain her partner was experiencing, but she also thought that the dark-haired woman sooner or later needed a vacation and she did not want to wait for their honeymoon for that to happen (and even then Cass would probably pack her suit and change into it the moment she saw a kitten not able to get off a tree).

Cass was advised by Bruce to spend the next four months living in Stephanie's apartment, to be a bit further from the vigilante activity that she would be at home. It lined up perfectly with various activities Steph had planned for them to fill Cass' time during her treatment.

Besides vigilantism, Cassandra was taking online private classes to broaden her opportunities if she wanted to take on a job and generally were supposted to teach her more about the world. These taken up to five hours daily for her. Besides that? She was all free. Usually she'd spent the rest of that time training, working on cases, sleeping, so that she could then have no problem running around on patrols all night. Of course she also always tried to find time to spend with Stephanie, besides when they were cracking a case or playing rooftop tag, so it's not like she had no idea what to do in her free time. That didn't mean the first few days weren't rough for her.

That's where Stephanie came in. The activities she had prepared were generally stuff to bond over or use some skills for. It was stuff like learning to bake new things together, going on walks to the park, the library, the museum. Steph would love to teach Cass more about knitting (a little hobby of hers) but it was definitely hard with her broken hand. She loved to watch though. For lazier nights, Steph would put one of the films or TV shows on the long list she had prepared for her girlfriend to watch one day to be up to date with the pop culture.

And Cassandra absolutely loved all of these things and was really grateful how involved her partner was in making this time better for her. But she could not shake off the feeling that she should be out there, helping people, that she was... wasting time? No, Cass would never say that about time spent with Steph. Yet the feeling was still there.

Something almost broke when the women went on a quiet date in a local coffee shop. It did not end up as quiet as they wanted, when they saw Duke and Bruce drop into park across the street, fighting Mr. Freeze. They did not need help, so Steph was not running to change into her Batgirl suit. It was tempting to Cass. She got up and almost ran out of the shop, when Steph grabbed her healthy hand.

"What are you doing?!" She said quietly but firmly, for it to get to Cass' head. The woman was looking outside the window, as she saw the two vigilantes and the villain leave the park and her sight. She sat back with tears in her eyes. Steph was immediately alarmed. She slided over her chair to seat closer to Cass and hugged her, the dark-haired woman laying her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Cass finally raised her eyes to look at Stephanie. "I just- I'm... I love what you do for me." She said taking on of Steph's hands and caressing it. "But I miss this. I can't fight this feeling. I feel so useless... when I can't be out there." More tears rolled down her cheeks.

Steph felt pity for her girlfriend and wasn't really shocked. Cass was made for fighting. First as David Cain's weapon, then she forged it into her mission to help people of Gotham. She was never benched this long and it definitely made her undergo a little identity crisis. But what was Stephanie for, if not going through it with Cassandra?

"Listen, babe, it's okay you feel this way. I'm not mad, I know you have good intentions, but I need you to know, that you are someone bigger than just Black Bat. You are Cassandra Cain, a talented dancer, loving daughter, sister, friend and partner. You are your own person." Steph smiled fondly and kissed Cass on the forehead. She smiled as well.

It got kinda better for Cass after that. Sure, the need to come back to being a vigilante was tingling. But she knew it would come back to her soon. Right now, she had time to pursue things she never thought about before and she wanted to cherish that. Well, maybe even after coming back on the field, she could make some changes to her schedule. To find a moment for Cassandra Cain.

[tumblingxelian]

Okay so, given Mercury Black's and Cassandra Cain's backstories, what do you think both characters would feel after an encounter with each other where neither dies?

Sorry I've been neglecting asks recently, been kind of down and so just doing low effort reblogs with the occasional burst of energy.

Anyway!

This is a fun and interesting question I actually sought help in answering from but a humble good, who always has good Cass takes and loves RWBY!

Off the cuff and for anyone confused, the characters being asked about are:

Cassandra Cain - who was raised by master assassin David Cain to be the perfect killer. She was never taught to speak and only learned through physical action. Because of this she can essentially predict what a person will do before they act and she is functionally the best martial artist in the DC Universe, or always in the top 3. Said body language reading ability though also means she can experience her targets deaths by proxy which... Yeah basically led to her adopting a 100% no kill policy after her first mission. Thus leading her to running away, living homeless for several years before joining the Bat Clan and becoming Batgirl.

Mercury Black - Like Cassandra his father Marcus Black raised him to be an assassin like himself. Marcus may not have denied his son words but he instead stole the manifestation of his soul (His Semblance) claiming it was a "Crutch" and he would get it back eventually. He never got it back & instead had his lower legs mutilated to be replaced with robotic prosthetics which he then used to kill Marcus. Unlike Cass he's not the best of the best, but is definitely skilled & unlike her he's doggedly committed to the role of playing the villain with a veneer of jocularity he uses to hide that he can't imagine any other life.

Conclusion:

So we have two teens/young adults coming from very similar places as far as what they were trained and otherwise horrifically abused to be, but who ended up on seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum.

Cassandra's reaction when encountering most killers tends to be one of two things. A very stern "You need to grasp the enormity of what you are doing and stop or be stopped painfully." Or "Oh, you actually think this is in someway necessary, please do not do this, there is a way out, there has to be."

She's also very chill with people who did kill but choose not too, she's not... Preachy or judgmental in that sense, doing so would be hypocritical in her eyes.

So she'd likely emphasize a lot with Mercury, being able to see him as something of a "Therefore but for the grace of empathic body language go I." So she'd very much want to both stop him from killing but also show him that he can go down another path.

This doesn't mean she'd be inclined to be a doormat, quite the opposite but she'd definitely be working to communicate with him as much as fight him if she had to.

Mercury meanwhile would hate this. He is deep in denial about himself and hates being read for what he is, as local serial killer Tyrian Callows did in Volume 6:

Tyrian: (mocking) Oh yes, the world is mean, and I'm a big, bad man now just like the others. (laughs)

Mercury: (growls as he angrily walk over to Tyrian) How long have you been standing there?!

Tyrian: All you ever learned was pain and violence, and now you're too afraid to leave it. Such a tragedy.

Mercury: You don't know me!

So while he would see the connection the moment he had any details he'd throw up an aloof façade and claim Cass was weak and lacked the stomach for what he does or something to that effect.

Internally he'd be seething with resentment, or more, a blooming sense of inferiority about how someone who proves his beliefs wrong seems to so casually exists and wants to help him of all things.

He'd not welcome or trust her, not a first at least.

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #37

Batgirl (2000) #17 - August 2001 Writer: Kelley Puckett Pencils: Damion Scott inks: Robert Campanella Colors: Jason Wright

Cass's book as been pretty downbeat for the last few issues. The tone of Cass's book overall is pretty sad and heavy, and normally I'm all about that angst, but the book can't live on angst alone, so have to have some brighter moments for contrast, you've gotta take the pressure off every once in a while if you want to keep building it or you just burn out the scale. So this issue brings us a refreshing change of pace, if only to give Cass and the reader a bit of a breather.

Sorry if this one goes up late. I'm running behind time wise, but I don't want to take a minimal approach to this issue, it's pretty important and has a lot of great moments. Do pease read it for yourself first, though.

The issue starts with this pretty cool sequence showing Cass's perspective as she gets distracted by the woman running away and lets this random goon land a punch on her. I like how the slideshow effect of the three repeated panels really emphasizes how much time Cass had to dodge this punch.

Followed by this great 'like father like daughter moment after she knocks the guy out where Cass and Bruce both have the same surprised and befuddled "Hmm" reaction to what just happened, with the same expression on their face and everything.

The perfectly synchronized training afterwords is also great, as is Bruce's worried expression. I can't keep copying every page over, we'll be here all day, but this issue really is great. One of my favorites. Again, go read it for yourself if you haven't.

Anyway, on the one hand this is such an indictment of Bruce. We the audience know that 'somethings been wrong' with Cass for a while, basically the entire time. She's consumed by guilt to a near suicidal degree and the loneliness and isolation of her lifestyle - even before she was forced out of Bab's clock tower but especially since - has left her without any companionship beyond her own self destructive thoughts, and the mission she's so dedicated to as her only hope of redemption continuously exposes her to the worst of humanity. So yeah, that Bruce didn't already know something was wrong, that he didn't anticipate how his decisions were making things worse, that he only notices that anything's off at all once Cass's mental state is bad enough that it's affecting her performance on the job? Yeah, that's pretty bad, if also so completely him.

On the other hand, you can see the concern all over his face. He should have seen this coming, he should have noticed it sooner, but now that he has he is very genuinely worried on her behalf, and that does count for something, even if he'll need help figuring out what's wrong or what to do about it.

And that help just so happens to call in the form of Barbara Gordon, who can hack in to delete the government's digital records on Cass's face, but needs her to sneak in and destroy the physical records.

At first Cass and Bruce don't feel like this is worth bothering with, as neither sees any value in her potential future civilian persona worth taking this risk to get it back, but Babs points out how they might yet connect the data they have to Batgirl and that convinces Bruce, which in turn convinces Cassandra because she absolutely does not think for herself these days.

I love this Jab Babs gets in at Bruce as Cass leaves, though I do wish it was made a bit more explicit that the *reason* Bruce has been keeping Cass on such a 'short leash' is that he doesn't fully trust her ever since David sent the video of her killing that man way back in issue number 4. On the surface Bruce is still deep in denial over it, but some part of it has to know, has to doubt at least. As is I'm pretty sure that's intentional subtext but because it's not explicit in the text I could just be reading in something that isn't really there.

In infiltration mission is pretty cool, starting with this sequence where Cass steals a key card off of a guard's bead chain, copies it, and puts it back without him noticing, which has Barbara admitting that the 'short leash' is starting to make sense. Just what exactly would Cass be capable of if she were allowed to run free?

....

The mission is successful, the files and physical evidence destroyed, and Cass's out-of-costume persona is free and clear. She can visit Barbara again, can see the sun again. Can. But will she?

Babs clearly doesn't think she will, at least not on her own, and so she goes to Bruce about it

It's a nice scene. I've missed Bab's presence in Cass's book the last few issues. This 'arguing over what's best for Cass' bit is fun, and also important characterization. I love how Bruce's expression as he says "Mole creature?" makes clear that he recognizes Bab's comment as a criticism of him and his lifestyle.

Of course, Bruce has a different idea of what's been bothering Cass. Not the isolation, not how /he's/ been treating her, but the mission. Everything's the mission for Bruce, and Cass is just like Bruce after all. The thing is, as right as Barbara clearly is here, Bruce probably isn't wrong either. Cass, like Bruce, dwells on her 'failures'. But taking down the villain responsible never actually makes Bruce feel any better.

Barbara still presses him to just order Cass to get some sun. The fact that she shouldn't need Bruce to tell her to do that, that this level of devotion and lack of independent motivation is a bad thing in and of it self, is too big of a problem to tackle today.

And to his credit Bruce relents!

I love these panels. You can feel how overwhelming the light is after so long in the darkness. Also good work from the colorist, showing this transition by going from all dark and cool colors that dominate her book to these warm (but washed out and too bright as her eyes struggle to adjust) colors. I mean, it's a fairly obvious trick, like being wowed when a musician changes chords, but it just works so well here.

And it's not just the sun, it's the people. Not just cass literally going from darkness to light but also going from being surrounded by victims and criminals, by the suffering and the cruel, and emerging into a wider world full of all the breadth and diversity of the human experience, loud happy annoyed worried people walking and running and shouting and living their lives that Scott does such a great job conveying with just a single page full of different and interesting faces.

And afterwards she's so happy, having picked up a rose from, somewhere, we don't see that bit. But of course Bruce needs to interrupt this moment of happiness.

So Cass does go to confront gov't man.

but clearly she doesn't actually feel better about what happened afterwords.

Her symbolism happiness rose, only so recently acquired, is already wilting. It's clearly not the sort of thing she can go to Bruce about. So, for once, now that she can, Cass actually reaches out to Barbara for help. About the rose. About what it means that getting justice for repentant sniper man's death didn't make her feel any better about it.

It's a great little scene to end out the comic. Symbolism's a bit on the nose, but it works. it's sincere.

The angst and darkness of the last few issues has been a lot, but it makes this bit of brightness feel all the more impactful. The underlying issues aren't resolved, it's still a problem that Cass has basically slotted Bruce into exactly the same unhealthy role that David used to occupy in her life. It's still a problem that Bruce let her do that. A real confrontation when Bruce can no longer deny the fact that she killed someone is still looming, as is her death match with Lady Shiva. But she's not quite so isolated now, and she's re-established a connection with someone who might actually be able to help her work through some of this stuff.

This might be the issue that best demonstrates the importance of Barbara Gordon in Cass's story, the key role she plays balancing out Bruce's influence. these interpersonal relationships and how they feed off each other - Cass/Bruce/David, Cass/Bruce/Barbara, they're the core of what makes Cass's book and Cass as a character so compelling.

......

Side note: I've waffled in the past over how much crediting to put at the start of each of these posts in terms whether to include inker and/or colorist even though I rarely comment on those issues. I'm wondering if I should also list the editor each time, as they also potentially have a pretty big say over what does or doesn't end up in the books, and keeping track of changing editors might be informative as to other changes in direction, or might show why some of Cass's side appearances work better than others?

For the Record, at least as far as her solo book goes, the editor as of issue 17 is Michael Wright, who took over from Dennis O'Neil starting in issue 14, the one where Bruce moved Cass out of Barbara's clock tower and into her own cave. Dennis O'Neil had been the editor of the book since issue 3 and co-edited issue 2 with Darren Vincenzo, who was the editor for issue 1. I think Michael Wright stays as editor for the rest of Cass's Batgirl run, save maybe for some one off exceptions here or there? So noting editors would be more for the sake of guest appearances.

There's also the issue of who's in charge at DC. As of issue 17 that's still Jenette Khan as President and Editor in Chief, but eventually Dan DiDio takes over, and it'll be worth noting when that happens. The fandom tends to assign him a lot of the blame for 'ruining' Cass's character, but as mentioned a few times already they also tend to date that downturn purely to the end of her ongoing title and heel turn in 'One Year Later.' I claim the decline started setting in much sooner then that, but I don't remember whether it started before or after DiDio's tenure as EIC began.

That's still a long way off from where this blog currently is, though.

Thankfully.

[twineswine]

Dick Grayson raised by Catwoman. After the flying Graysons die he runs away but instead of being scooped up by billionaires he tries (very unsuccessfully) to scrape by on his own. Catwoman finds him and takes care of him. Call him Ocelot while he’s Robin age then some sort of big cat like Panther when he’s Nightwing era.

Jason Todd raised by Harley Quinn. NOT the Joker, Harley Quinn, or at least both at the start and ending with just her basically being the parent. He could be the catalyst for why she eventually decides she needs to leave the Joker, which is why Joker kills him, and either Todd comes back because Harley begs the al’Ghuls to in exchange for a way to get at the Joker, or because he’s a talented marital artist and they think having him would be a good asset. How he comes back is up to you. You could call him Jester at Robin age, Redhood would probably still work for late stage but instead of the cowl it could be a big red hat or something lmao.

Tim Drake could slot in with the Penguin pretty easily, since in the runs I’m familiar with, his family betrays the Penguin and they get put in witness protection. In the AU, instead of betraying him, Cobblepot could be his mentor or godfather or something.

Damian is pretty cut and dry, he just never leaves the League of Assassins.

Stephanie Brown, instead of being mad her dad was returning to crime, could actually help him out or just become the next Cluemaster.

Duke Thomas could be raised by his father Gnomon instead of his mom, but I’m not really that familiar with Gnomon or Duke.

Cassandra Cain could, like the last two, also follow in David Cain’s footsteps to become a top assassin.

Other options for Grayson and Todd could be:

Mister Freeze: They’re used as burglars to take equipment they need for Nora’s treatment that need a more subtle touch than a snowman in a power suit. They wind up being the son Freeze always wished he’d have with Nora.

The Riddler: I feel like this would go best with Jason, but the idea would be that the Riddler takes on a student or pupil to make someone with a mind that could rival his own. But, Jason gets smarter than him, which really REALLY makes Nigma mad, and it winds up being Riddler who kills his own student/son, which leads into Jason being revived and coming back as Hush.

I might put more in later, but those are the best ones I came up with. Hope this helps!

I’m definitely an au where some of the bat kids are villains or anti heroes and raised by various rogues instead of Bruce but I need some ideas

[casscainmainly]

Cass, Names, and the Black Bat Era

With a Black Bat mention in 2025 (read Batgirl (2024) #4!!), it seems as good a time as any to look back on one of Cass' most fleeting identities. We all know why Cass took up Batgirl and Orphan, but we don't get to see the thought process behind Black Bat. I'm going to consider why Cass might have chosen Black Bat as her name, and what it means for her relationship to Bruce and the Bat symbol.

This analysis will purely consider events from the characters' perspectives, ignoring authorial intent. There is like a negative percent chance any of the connections I make here were intended, and Black Bat probably was just a name they randomly picked. This is essentially me trying to make sense of the little Cass bits we get during the Batman Reborn era.

Background: Batgirl and Orphan

Growing up nameless, Cass associates names with personhood and autonomy. Batgirl was the first (and the most important), and a large part of Batgirl (2000) showed how Cass only thinks of herself as Batgirl.

Batgirl (2000) #7

"You need to relax, Cass--sorry--Batgirl." Barbara's 'sorry' indicates that Cass' identity is purely Batgirl, disliking any other name. (For a more in-depth exploration of this moment, see renaroo's meta!). This shows how it's not just the mantle, but the name - the actual word - that matters to Cass.

A very similar thing happens in Batman & Robin Eternal #26:

Once again, Cass is extremely particular about what people call her. And once again she rejects one identity in favour of another - she struggles with being more than one thing. Whatever identity she adopts, it contains her whole self.

Which is why when she loses herself, she becomes nameless:

Batgirl (2000) #73 / Red Robin #17

In the first panel, Cass has just 'killed' Shiva and forsaken Batgirl. "She thought she was a bat. But she came to find she wasn't that either." Without the bat, she becomes a girl "named Cain." While not technically nameless, Cain is just her father's last name - she has no first name of her own. This namelessness occurs again in Red Robin. After Bruce tells Cass to give Steph Batgirl, Cass is left without the bat again - and, again, she becomes nameless. Tim gives her a bat costume, asks her what she needs, and she says "to... just... be...".

If she takes up another name, she will become something - a name is not only identification, but transformation. When she has no idea who she is or who she wants to be (as seen in the end of Batgirl (2000) and Red Robin), she chooses namelessness.

The Gift

Cass remaining nameless not only shows her lack of identity, but her rejection of Bruce and the Batfamily.

Red Robin #17

Here, Tim says it doesn't matter what Cass calls herself, they'll always be family. Cass' answer is cryptic: "But family is not always home..." If we look at Cass' history, the only times she leaves her family is when their relationship becomes unbearable. She runs from David Cain because he makes her kill; she leaves Babs because she calls her stupid; she leaves Gotham the first time because of Steph's death; she goes to Hong Kong because Bruce makes her give away Batgirl. Family isn't home for Cass only when something awful happens.

For Cass, family and names have always been linked. In my gift post, I talked about how Batgirl was presented as a gift, and how Babs says gifts are things that make you "feel[...] not alone" (Azrael: Agent of the Bat #61). Batgirl, a gift, makes Cass feel "not alone." The mantle represents her connection to the Batfamily.

In fact, Red Robin parallels the original gifting of the Batgirl suit:

Legends of the Dark Knight #120 / Red Robin #17

Tim explicitly links the gift of the Bat symbol to family: "the...family... has settled down. I thought maybe... it was time to make it all official." (This also somewhat parallels Bruce's adoption of Cass, which Tim was also there for). But Cass doesn't accept the gift this time, telling Tim that Steph is already Batgirl, and that 'family isn't always home'. She keeps the suit, but the ambivalence in her response shows her ambivalence to her family.

Batgirl and Orphan are both familial names, one linked to the Bats, one linked to David Cain. Names to Cass represent both her own identity and her relationship to other people. When Batman took Batgirl away, he was essentially revoking her place in the family (Batman R.I.P happens right after her adoption too). Though we never explicitly get Cass' feelings, her hesitance at Tim's gift says a lot.

What Was Tim's Gift Anyway?

When Tim first sees Cass, he thinks to himself:

Red Robin #17

This is a great insight into what Tim was actually offering. The first thought reveals that Tim wasn't suggesting Cass be Batgirl again, which Cass assumed. He knows Cass doesn't want to be "who she was" - he thinks she's being true to what "she wanted to become."

What does he think Cass wants to become?

Batgirl (2000) #59

In Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood, Cass tells Tim the "the only thing" she's ever wanted was to be Batman. This is the only thing she wants - when Tim says she's being 'true to what she wanted to become', it's likely he's thinking of this conversation. So when Tim offers the batsuit, he's offering the bat mantle. He's offering what she always wanted to be: Batman.

But Cass' conception of Batman is clearly tied to Bruce ("take over for him when he's... done"), which in turn ties the concept of Batman to Gotham. Cass does become the Bat of Hong Kong, but she doesn't take the Batman name (which she totally could, since Bruce and Dick are sharing the name; or she could be 'the bat' or whatever).

Instead, she chooses Black Bat. Both Batgirl and Orphan are taken from other people, so this is strikingly the only name Cass invented (even Kasumi was probably not her invention? It was a disguise anyway). But was Black Bat actually Cass' invention?

Tai'Darshan All Along

Batgirl (2000) #40

Black Bat is also taken from someone - from Cass' first canon love interest, the one and only Tai'Darshan. I seriously don't think DC knew they were taking the name from him, but they did and that means Tai is extremely important to understanding Cass' Black Bat era.

Because Tai doesn't just represent teenage hormones. Like Lady Shiva, Tai'Darshan was a foil to Batman, someone who opposed him in almost every aspect. He is Cass' first proper rebellion, kickstarting the downfall of Cass and Bruce's relationship in Horrocks' run; he also died because of Bruce's interference, something that Bruce himself thinks is the reason Cass doesn't trust him anymore.

Batgirl (2000) #47

Though Bruce and Cass make up in #50, there is something permanently secretive about Black Wind and Cass' relationship. Bruce says "she won't tell me what" happened, and Tai's last conversation with Cass is about secrets:

Batgirl (2000) #44

Tai'Darshan represents Cass' secret side, a side "buried" from everyone (particularly Bruce). Tai's reference to Cass' "real name" is poignant - in a way, he was the first person who liked Cass for Cass, who asked her to take off her mask and admired her face underneath. He never knew who she really was, but he loved her anyway. The 'bat' in Black Bat doesn't refer to Bruce, but to Cass. It makes sense that at a time of complete identity loss - after giving up Batgirl at Bruce's orders - Cass would turn to a nickname from someone who caused her falling out with Bruce, who represents secrets, rebellion, and a self defined outside of Batman.

Black Bat

Gates of Gotham #4

I wrote elsewhere about how Gates of Gotham, and this conversation with Dick in particular, is Cass rebelling against Bruce's (and DC's) decision to boot her from Gotham. In GoG #5, she tells Tim she's staying. Black Bat as a mantle is not really Cass becoming 'the Bat' of any place - it's something different, something new. It's a reconfiguration of the Bat symbol as something that's hers.

I think Tim bookending this Black Bat experience is important, too. He gives her the Bat symbol in Hong Kong - she comes back to Gotham to tell him she's returning permanently. Black Bat and Red Robin are syntactically similar, and Black Bat is very similar to one of Tim's name suggestions ("Black Robin"). For Tim, Red Robin was punishment made into redemption; he took the name from Jason and made it his own. Black Bat, in its own way, is Cass doing the same. By taking a nickname from Tai'Darshan, she is using the bat name/symbol without attaching it to Bruce; in fact, the memory of Tai is against Bruce. She's taking back the symbol that means so much to her and making it her own.

Conclusion

This was honestly a big excuse to remind people that Black Bat comes from Tai'Darshan. As one of 4 Tai fans on this website, I just think his role in Cass' life is really interesting and underappreciated! His storyline may be awful in every way, but I'll always have a soft spot for him as a character.

Also I was writing this before Batgirl (2024) #4 came out and it does somewhat complicate this reading. Shiva is implying that Black Bat, like Orphan (and Kasumi) are identities that Cass affects, that she's "aspiring to be somebody else". I don't think Shiva is being quite fair - Orphan, for instance, is as much in defiance of David Cain as it is an homage to him. But it's interesting that even when Cass is constructing her own identity, she consistently defaults to using other people's names. In that way Shiva is right - for Cass, names are gifts, so she never tries to name herself. She also, even in this reading, clings to the image of the bat. I'm highly interested where Brombal's investigation into Cass' identity will take her, especially in regards to superhero and legacy mantles.

[aingeal98]

How would David Cain react to the post you made abt killer cass au? i already have my own thoughts but i really wanna hear your take

Shiva too i just realized (assuming shiva and cass do meet and shiva does give a fuck)

I feel like David would be much more hopeful than in canon, at least at first. Like sure Cass is spooked and runs away and hides from him but as he tracks her he keeps finding dead bodies and it gives him hope. He just needs to get to her and talk to her and his favourite experiment slash child will be back on track. But then when he chases her to Gotham and he does find her, Cass tries to kill him. And he's so proud but she's also blatantly distressed and Not Well while doing so and he's like hm. Maybe that kill did more damage than I thought.

I think he'd be a more active player in the custody battle in this au like he's convinced he knows how to get his kid back and Babs and Bruce are just temporary set backs. It takes a lot more stubborn refusals from Cass before he gives up and accepts his dream is dead. Cass hates killing, it torments her, and he wishes it didn't because she's so good at it but he can see it in her face every time they fight.

Meanwhile Shiva is like. Almost the same. Shows up in Gotham, fights Cass, is like damn you're holding back. How boring. Sees how similar they are, offers Cass a fight to the death in a year's time, Cass eagerly accepts. And then after she kills and revives Cass she's like great tell me how it was and Cass is like. Hyperventilating. I feel like Shiva would end up disappointed at first because she was hoping for a more interesting result than just crushing guilt. So when Cass does bounce back a few weeks later with a new sense of purpose she's relieved. Cass won't kill again sure whatever, as long as she's still willing to give Shiva a good fight whenever she stops by Gotham.

It does make Cass's mother issues a lot worse because Shiva is exactly like her here, except she's neutral about killing instead of horrified. A mirror into how Cass could be if she didn't have that one aspect, and she hates it.

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 207

King of the Damned

Truly, I could not have planned this weekend of HNT better. We’ve got David Tenant back tomorrow AND Metatron trying to convince an angel to help him fix heaven in TWO series…on GO2 release weekend

“King of the Damned”

Plot Description: Castiel captures one of Metatron’s angels and asks Sam and Dean for help. Meanwhile, Abaddon demands that Crowley help her kill Sam and Dean

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: as far as I know, I have no connection to anyone Abaddon personally wants dead, so I might be alright. That said, if she decided to kill me, she’s more than welcome to

Oh…these are all angels, and…this one’s being STUPIDLY braggy

Right? Like, don’t go around bragging about how you’re the right hand man for Metatron. Most angels don’t like him

I’m tired of Cas being forced into leadership roles. He fucks it up every time, but angels can’t help but want to follow him.

Cas showing affection still makes my heart melt. Omg. Please. Saying another angel can “be a little stuffy.”

I’m never going to be 100% comfortable with the interrogation (*coughtorturecough*) scenes, but now that the Mark of Cain is amplifying Dean’s actions, I’m even less comfortable with them

CROWLEY’S IN CLEVELAND?!?! …that’s not a real hotel here. (So after some research, looks like it’s modeled after a hotel that used to be here? Or is under a different name here and is super haunted apparently?? Because I needed to make sure before I posted this)

“Nobody in the history of torture has been tortured with the torture you’ll be tortured with” real dialogue from Crowley

Oh…that guy from the first five minutes was Crowley’s son. Ooooo, ok. I take it back. Abaddon can have a scene where she’s doing the torturing, as a treat

Omg. Forget playing whatever music for a Victorian orphan. Just be the king of hell, have your son from 200-some years ago get brought to 2015 or some shit and tell him you traded your soul for three extra inches of dick. It’s even better

Ok…I THOUGHT they left him fine…good to have that confirmation (I’ve been drinking wine so it…was a possibility i missed something)

Oh!! We get (possibly) our first mention of Rowena, Crowley’s mom!!

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SHIP, CROWLEY??

The way Cas sees some of himself in Gadreel is kinda cool

Uh oh boyyyyyyys, you got a hellhound on your tail?? Omg the way Crowley effortlessly controls it, but like…why was it there in the first place?

Idk I think Sam should take the blade. Like the few moments a different Sam had the One Ring. What if we get a “I can’t carry it but I can carry you” moment for these two??

Wait. Is Crowley’s son’s name actually Kevin? That makes all his torture of Kevin Tran even more SO SICK AND TWISTEEEEEEED. SICK AND TWISTED.

Also, who’s gonna tell this guy he’s already IN and actually PAST “the colonies”

Oh hell yeah!! I love that Abaddon pulled the “devils trap bullet” trick on Crowley while waiting for the Winchesters (I will be so sad to see her go and for however the boys take her out…)

I may not go downtown a whole lot but this…does not look like Cleveland

…but the power of the One Ring First Blade cannot be denied

Please tell me he’s—he’s gonna Jedi mind trick the Blade into his hand.

Please don’t show her too much…I know the First Blade is corrupting Dean but he didn’t need to stab her that much. So thankfully they didn’t linger on the wounds. RIP Abaddon 😭😭😭 you will be sorely missed by me

GAVIN MAKES WAY MORE SENSE FOR AN OLDE TIMEY NAME!!!! But it did sound a LOT like Kevin

Jesus, Deeeeeean. You’re allowed to go it alone but Sam always needs your help and intervention?? The way you’re saying this like y’all could afford to NOT close the gates of hell…I’m usually a Dean apologist, but Sam is in the right here.

Well, now you’re just being an ass by not allowing the blade out of your sight…

[bitter-hibiscus]

WELL I'M GLAD YOU ASKED-

I was thinking about a post I saw about how Willis wouldn't have hesitated to kill Joker and it got me Thinking:

Willis and David, despite both being abusive towards their children, loved them more than anything else in this world. They are horrible, terrible people, and their children are the most important thing to them.

AND!!!

The things that they love about their children are the worst parts of them.

Willis expresses his desire for Jason to be bigger than he was -- "a damned prince of Gotham," which Jason kind of literally becomes as Red Hood. Willis, from the tidbits we get of Jason's childhood, seemed to encourage selfishness in Jason, because he was willing to do anything for his boy. Willis appreciates the fight Jason has in Rebirth, despite the fact that we as the readers know that Jason's refusal to back down from a fight is the very thing that's ruining him. When Jason was Robin (esp on Starlin's run) you can practically see the parts of Willis that he carries with him, how there's this constant divide between the happiness Bruce has given him and the violence that Willis taught him. It's so good.

And with Cassandra, it's much the same. David also wanted her to be cruel and evil (he wouldn't call it that, of course, he was trying to create perfection) and those are the parts of Cass that he loves. He loves her strength, and her drive, and her devotion to a cause. He does not love that the cause she's chosen is Batman's. He, as a blog I can't quite recall pointed out before, is proud of Cassandra's ability to read body language -- of her inability to communicate normally. And when Cass comes to Bruce (and Barbara), they think it's something they have to fix in her, not something to be loved for. It creates this clean divide between evil David and good Bruce, narratively, but can you imagine what it must feel like to have the thing you thought was the best part of you become something to overcome?

Jason and Cassandra are both the better versions of their fathers. Willis "died" a crook, a nobody, despite according to canon spending years trying to climb up the ladder. Jason gave in to the selfishness and the obsession with power that he saw in Willis growing up, and took over Gotham's criminal empire in two weeks. David is a man who belives in himself and in his ideals, he's quick-witted, he's effective, and Cassandra is just that much more than him. She's better than Batman, she's the strongest fighter in the world, she's everything her father wanted her to become, with the sole exception of refusing to kill people the way he had hoped. She's David Cain in every way except for her kindness.

The place where they differ is: Jason is the worst version of his father, what Willis would have become if he'd succeeded. Cassandra is the good version of her father, the one he could have become if he had different goals for his life.

Jason was nothing like Willis when he was Robin, clinging onto all the love he had in his bleeding heart to be good. When he became Red Hood and let his obsession with Bruce, his need to be loved, take over the good in him, he went down the exact same path as Willis did. He started with a good cause (having enough money to raise his son vs giving the safety Bruce had given him back to the city) and ended up letting the effects of those decisions destroy them. Jason takes all the things Willis taught him and lets them take over his life just as much as his father did, but it's worse, because he's stronger and more powerful than Willis will ever be.

Cassandra, on the other hand, takes all the knowledge that David gave her and spits it back at him. The stubbornness she inherited from him is what she uses when she refuses to kill despite everything David did to her so she would do exactly that. She uses the fighting styles he taught her against David's own allies, the ones she was meant to work with. Despite having the same understanding of the world as David, despite knowing all the things her father does, she will never be the next version of David Cain, because she refused to let go of her inherent beliefs that the world is good and people deserve to be protected.

Also: Jason, in his efforts to not be like Bruce, becomes exactly like Willis. Cassandra, in her efforts to not be like David, becomes exactly like Bruce.

someone should ask me about the parallels of Jason-Willis and Cassandra-David

[gates-keeper]

Part 1: “Words of Affirmation” Destiel Quotes & Parallels

I’m sure someone’s done this before me and done it better, but I’m compiling a huge Destiel evidence docket for no reason. Anyone got any quotes to add?

Comments From Outside Characters

To Dean

Uriel: “He has this weakness. He likes you.” (4x10)

Balthazar: “You have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who’s in love with you.” (6x17)

Hester: “The first time Castiel laid a hand on you in Hell, he was lost.” (7x21)

Meg: “He was your boyfriend first.” (7x23)

Charlie: “What about Castiel? He seems helpful. And dreamy.” (8x20)

Marie: “Although we do explore the nature of Destiel in Act 2.” (10x5)

Sam: “Shouldn’t it be Deastiel?” He then goes on to tease Dean with “Sastiel” which Dean takes negatively. (10x5)

Dean: “This Cas is looking at me weird.” Sam: “So like the real Cas then.” (15x14) 

To Castiel

Hannah: “We gave you our trust. Don’t lose it over one man.” (9x22)

Metatron: “His true weakness is revealed. He’s in love…with humanity.” (9x22)

Metatron: “Oh, that’s right. To save Dean Winchester. That was your goal, right? I mean, you draped yourself in the flag of heaven, but, ultimately, it was about saving one human, right?” (9x23)

Ishim: “I’m going to cure you of your human weakness [i.e. Dean]” (12x10)

The Empty: “I have tiptoed through all your little tulips. Your memories, your little feelings, yes. I know what you hate. I know who you love…There is nothing for you back there.” (13x4)

Demon: “I thought you were joined at the… (looks down) everything.” (14x01)

There are also several instances where other characters try to poke at insecurities regarding their relationship.

Naomi: “You're hoping Castiel will return to you. I admire your loyalty. I only wish he felt the same way.” (8x19)

Casifer: “There comes a time when every relationship has run its course.” (11x18)

Michael!Dean: “You only tolerate the angel because you think you owe him, because he ‘gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition.’ Or whatever.” (14x10)

Comments From Dean

To Cas

“There are two things I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. And two, you are not going to die a virgin.” (5x03) 

“So what? I’m Thelma and you’re Louise and we’re just going to hold hands and sail off this cliff together?” (5x03)

“You know what? Blow me, Cas.” (5x18)

“Cas, not for nothing, but the last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid.” (5x18)

“Look, I don’t need to feel like hell for failing you, okay? For failing you like I’ve failed every other godforsaken thing that I care about! I don’t need it!” (8x07)

“We need you. I need you.” 

For more on this quote see the “We vs. I” section.

To Other Characters

Bobby: “I think maybe it’s time you made a call.” Dean: “Why does it always gotta be me that makes the call, huh? It’s not like Cas lives in my ass. The dude’s busy.” (Cas appears) Dean: “Get out of my ass.” Cas: “I was never in your… (head tilt)” (6x19)

“On my car…. He showed up naked… covered in bees.” (7x23)

While Cas suffered from some mental issues at the time, it seems somewhat significant that he sought Dean out under the circumstances, not Sam, etc.

“There’s things… people… feelings that I want to experience differently than I have before, or maybe even for the first time.” (10x16)

“My shy but devastatingly handsome friend here” (12x12)

“He came into my room and he played me.” (12x19)

“Let’s see. Crowley’s dead, Kelly’s dead, Cas is—Mom’s gone.” (13x01)

Dean’s inability to list Cas’s death singles him out as the most devastating of the losses.

“We’ve lost everything. And now you’re gonna bring him back.” (13x01)

While some people have heard this as “bring ‘em back”, the Netflix captions and transcripts I have been able to find say “him.”

“And Cas bought it. And you know what it got him? It got him dead! Now you may be able to forget about that, but I can't!” (13x03)

“I have a family.” (In response to John Winchester lamenting Dean doesn’t have a wife and kids) (14x13)

Comments From Cas

To Dean

“I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. You. They feel I've begun to express emotions. The doorways to doubt.” (4x16)

“I’m hunted. I rebelled. And I did it—all of it—for you.” (5x02)

“I gave everything for you. And this is what you give to me.” (5x18)

“I do everything that you ask. I always come when you call.” (6x21)

“So you will bow down and profess your love unto me, your Lord.” (6x22)

Before taking on the role of God, Cas seemed very concerned with Dean’s forgiveness/acceptance/love. It is interesting that, as God, that was the first thing he asked for, turning from Sam (who had just stabbed him) to Dean to ask for love.

“Sam, and everyone you know, everyone you love, they could be long dead. Everyone except me.” (10x22)

“I love you. I love all of you.” (Arguably to the group, but the first “I love you” can be seen as Dean-specific, especially since it cuts to Dean after being said.) (12x12)

“You mean too much to me. To everything.” (12x9) (To Mary, Sam, and Dean. However, the camera immediately cuts to Dean specifically, even though he is in the back of the group).

“I’m your Huckleberry.” (13x06)

Cas love confession (15x18)

To Other Characters

“Dean and I do share a more profound bond.” (6x03)

“I won’t hurt Dean.” (8x17)

This is said as Castiel is breaking away from Naomi’s mind control—mind control she fostered specifically by having Cas kill a thousand versions of Dean. This implies she knows that Cas’s strongest loyalty is to Dean, not Sam, or humans in general.

“The point is that they [Dean & Sam] were here at all and you got to know them, you -- When they're gone, it will hurt, but that hurt will remind you of how much you loved them.” (14x14)

“You know, Dean, he... he feels things more acutely than any human I've ever known.” (15x13)

Other Comments

Reaper: “How do I start looking for this... Castiel?” Bartholomew: “I got one word for you. Winchester.”

Rowena: “An Angel of the Lord, shattered at the altar of Winchester.”

Use of We vs. I

In the crypt scene in Season 8, Dean tells Cas, “We need you.” This is not enough to stop Cas’s actions. When the language switches to “I need you,” Cas drops the angel blade.

We can clearly see that Dean tries to put up barriers about how he really feels about Cas in his use of “We.” For example, after showing the audience many scenes of Dean, not Sam, frantically trying to call Cas, we get the following lines:

“So not only were you ditching us, but you were also ignoring us?”

“With everything that's going on, you can't just go dark like that. We didn't know what happened to you. We were worried. That's not okay.”

It’s clear that these “we’s” are really “I’s”

In the alternate future presented in 15x9, Sam asks Dean, “What’s happened to you Dean… ever since…?” to which Dean responds, “Ever since what? We lost pretty much everyone we’ve ever cared about? Ever since the Mark made Cas go crazy and I had to bury him in a Malak box… ever since then?” While he acknowledges Sam’s losses as well, his switch to “I” in reference to Cas implies that Cas’s loss belongs especially to him.

(Mostly) Verbal Parallels to Other Couples

In 1x01 (start at 2:27), Dean pulls Sam away from a dead Jess in a direct parallel to how Sam pulls Dean away from Cas in 12x23

Following Jessica’s death, Sam keeps seeing glimpses of her as he and Dean travel around in the Impala. Dean does the same in Season 8 following his return from Purgatory without Cas.

David from “Bloodlines” (9x20) tells his love interest, “I was there. Where were you?” which is the same thing Dean says to Cas in “The Man Who Would Be King” (6x20)

When asking Dean whether he’s in love with Cassie, Dean gives a similar response to what he will say in 10x5 when asked about Destiel.

Destiel is paralleled with their counterparts from the Supernatural play who are “a couple in real life” (10x5)

Cain compares himself to Dean in Season 10. He describes the significant kills of his life (The Knights of Hell, his wife Collette, and his brother Abel) and tells Dean that he will follow his same pattern by killing the King of Hell Crowley, Castiel, then Sam. It is also mentioned that all Collette asked of Cain was “to stop,” which is the same language Cas uses with Dean in 10x22.

Dean explains how his parents fell in love to prove his identity to Mary in 12x1, “He was cute and he knew the words to every Zeppelin song, so when he asked you for your number, you gave it to him, even though you knew your dad would be pissed.” Later in this same season (12x19), Dean gives Cas a homemade mixtape of his favorite Zeppelin songs.

Ishim fell in love with a human named Lily Sunder who ultimately left him for someone else. When trying to recruit Castiel, he compares Dean to her.

Dean questions how much of their life has been controlled by God. Cas states, “You asked, ‘What about all of this is real?’ We are.” (15x02) Later, they find out that God has been using Eileen to spy on the Winchesters. She says, “After what happened, I don’t know what’s real anymore.” Sam kisses her, stating “I know that was real.” (15x09)

PART 2 “Physical Touch” Now Finished

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Explaining Batfam lore to my sibling

(and also explaining Batfam lore for people who need a general idea of what’s going on)

Me: I’m meshing together multiple timelines so --

Them: timelineS?

Me: yeah, timelines plural, keep up

~

“The Rogues aren’t really important in explaining any of this but it’s important to me that you know them”

~

“So either Riddler was a guy who became a jewel thief for the gimmick or a guy with split personality where one side had a crush on a very nice lady and the other had a crush on murder”

~

Me: Poison Ivy got mad because Bruce got her lab torn down

Them: ew!

Me: well, it’s more like Harvey Dent got the lab torn down and Bruce was like “that’s my friend!”

~

“Joker is a bitch that fell in acid and then decided to make that his entire personality”

~

Me: Penguin just likes money

Them: good for him

Me, nodding: good for him

~

“Bane had a point about capitalism but then they realized that he did and made him decide to blow up a bunch of people to make him evil”

~

“Bruce was a happy child... until he wasn’t”

~

“Bruce was there when Dick’s parents fell because he was out with Girlfriend Number 454825 and he was like :(″

~

“After a few years of Bruce not figuring out much about the people who killed his parents Dick said ‘know what? Batman ain’t shit’ and then he became Robin”

~

“Babs appears around here and... does stuff. Kinda”

~

“And Dick — sick of Bruce’s shit — went off to Bludhaven, which is just Gotham but a little bit to the left”

~

“Bruce saw this kid stealing his tires and instantly decided to take him in”

~

Me: Jason is super sweet and he genuinely wants to help people because he doesn’t want them to suffer like he did

Them: aw... he dies, doesn’t he?

Me: I’M GETTING THERE

~

"Jason gets his birth certificate and he was like ‘wait a minute, Catherine doesn’t start with an S’"

~

“Bruce gets all angsty after Jason dies and almost kills the Joker for killing him but Superman stopped him because he’s a BITCH”

~

“Somehow Tim, at age 9, was the only person ever to figure out Batman’s identity”

~

“He essentially bullies Bruce into making him Robin”

~

Me: you see, Tim has a parent problem... his problem that his parents are still alive

Them: really?

Me: yeah... anyways his mom dies

~

“Tim’s dad decides to be better dad after his wife’s death. Which is unfortunate because he realizes Tim is Robin and immediately decides to keep Bruce away from him”

~

“Bruce gets another Robin, her name is Steph and she dies within 100 real world days for the crime of... being a Girl and a Robin”

~

“Tim goes back to being Robin despite his dad’s wishes but that’s okay because his dad is promptly killed off”

~

Me: there’s a new player in town and it turns out that it’s Jason

Them: but isn’t he dead?

Me: he’s alive because Superboy Prime punched the world really hard and broke reality, you’re just going to have to accept that

Them: ...

Me: ANYWAYS he’s bitter because Batman hasn’t killed the Joker yet to avenge him and so he decides to kill people that aren’t going to reform... he doesn’t succeed, unfortunately

~

“Steph’s actually alive, by the way, just unimportant”

~

"Alright, a guy named David Cain saw this lady called Lady Shiva and he wants to have a master martial artist for a daughter so he’s like ‘I’m a martial artist... you’re a martial artist... I’m going to kill your sister’”

~

“He raised this kid to be an assassin, do you really think he cared enough about her to teach her to speak?”

~

“Cass kills a guy and then promptly decides she doesn’t like that shit and runs away and ends up adopted by Bruce... because of course she does”

~

Me: Cass is suicidal for a while until Lady Shiva kills her and cures the problem

Them: no!

Me: but then Shiva wants a rematch because Cass wasn’t trying and then Cass beats but doesn’t kill her

Them: yes!

~

“She just kinda vibes with Babs and Steph for the rest of this. I’ll give you three guesses why they aren’t used more”

~

“Now we’re onto the murder child, Damian Wayne. He was raised by the League of Assassins and is Bruce’s blood son”

~

“He tries to kill Tim to get Robin from him a few times but it’s just kinda brushed aside... just like I’m going to brush it aside right now”

~

“Bruce dies and Dick is made Batman and his first act as New Dad Of The Family is to kick out Tim and make Damian Robin which I don’t like but I deal with because Dick and Damian are the cutest duo”

~

“Tim ruins everything between Dick and Damian by bringing Bruce back from where he was trapped in time...  no, I don’t really get it, either”

~

Me: Bruce and Damian are the Batman and Robin for a while but then Damian dies

Them: does he come back?

Me: of course he does it’s DC but first... it is time to introduce The Boy: Duke

~

“Duke and a bunch of other kids decided they were going to help out Gotham as unofficial vigilantes and a lot of them get seriously hurt but they’re irrelevant”

~

Me: I forget a lot of what happens during his plotline but he jumps out of a police car and jumps off a bridge and gets superpowers so --

Them: SUPERPOWERS?

Me: yeah, he makes comic history by being a black guy with powers that aren’t lightning or fire... instead he gets just plain light powers

~

Me: Duke has parents still

Them: do they die?

Me: no, actually

Them: wow --

Me: they go insane because of Joker Gas and try to kill him

~

“Alfred dies via Bane around here but because that’s a stupid decision I’ve elected to ignore it”

~

Them, after I finished: wow, a lot of people died and came back

Me: yeah, I actually left out a bunch of fakeout deaths along the way

Them: YOU LEFT SOME OUT?

[maxwell-grant]

Cass wouldn’t even begrudingly tolerate [the Black Bat], because she’s even less lenient than Bruce on killing and far more willing to throw down.' - THANK YOU for remembering that.

Cass is my favorite Batfam member, the only one really that I have an active interest in reading about. I'd be incredibly ignorant to not bring bring up such a crucial aspect of her characterization. And even if I didn't personally care for her, well, last thing I'd want is to be another source of frustration for Cass fans. Lord knows there's enough of those to go around.

mousebrass also asked: On that note, how do you imagine a meeting between Cass and the Shadow going?

Fair warning: This one took me 6 hours to write, and it became a hell of a lot longer than I imagined. I liked Cass a lot, but I never quite realized I had this many feelings regarding her until I was tasked with writing this, and a lot of things clicked for me regarding my plans for The Shadow thanks to this ask. @mousebrass, thank you. I mean it. I think I may have found something here I've spent years looking for. Hope you enjoy the post.

I'm thankful that this scenario is only really taking place in a hypothetical fanon where both characters can get a fair shot, because I wouldn't trust DC with this premise. I don't trust DC with either of them as is.

There's a lot of ways that this crossover could go on about taking place naturally, initially because Cass is already connected to some of Batman's pulpier elements, due to her connections to Lady Shiva and the League of Assassins, and one could connect Cass to Myra Reldon (who really should just be race swapped if ever brought back so she can stand out as the cool character she is, without the yellowface gimmick holding her back). There's two things I think are crucial to making the most of this idea, and the first of which has to do with the subject of killing. I usually don't like to come up with hypothetical team-ups for The Shadow that focus too much on the fact that he kills, because it's far from the most significant aspect of his character to focus on, much of it is written from a wrong understanding of the character, and it never amounts to anything other than perfunctory. But here, not only is it completely unavoidable to discuss, here there is actually a very, very substantial grounding as to why this has to be such a big part of the story.

The first and foremost thing that's gotta be established to everyone reading that doesn't know already is this: Cassandra Cain, more so than Batman, more so than any other DCU hero, has a tolerance towards murder lower than zero, and this is completely non-negotiable. She will throw herself on the path of an assault rifle to stop men trying to kill her from accidentally killing each other. The defining moment of her incredibly grim backstory is that she was trained from birth to be the world's greatest murderer, and her first kill traumatized her so badly that she has pivoted as far away from that as possible. I stress a lot that the Shadow should not be written as the trigger-happy maniac comics made him into and that the pulp version killed mostly to defend himself and others, generally left criminals to the police if possible, offered plenty of second-chances, had stories dedicated to the rehabilitation of criminals and so on, but none of this would matter to Cass.

Cass has literally chosen suicide over the prospect of living with murder on her hands time and time again, and The Shadow kills. When he kills, he does so without remorse, with unshakeable certainty. He hates death, he doesn't want lives to be at risk in the first place. But people will die if he doesn't do anything, and what he can do, what he exists to do, is turn the tools of evil against evil, and murder is the oldest tool of evil there is. He doesn't kill because a war scarred him, he doesn't kill because he's got a demon in his soul, he doesn't kill because he's mentally off balance, he doesn't kill because he's evil or sadistic or arrogant or anything of the sort. He kills because the men he fights chose death when they sought to harm innocents and fire guns at him. He kills because he is Death itself.

Regardless of how compassionate he is or can be, regardless of the fact that he's motivated by a desire to protect people, regardless of how justified he is, he is still dropping corpses and laughing maniacally doing so. Cass's real arch-enemy isn't Shiva or David Cain, it's Death, it's the thing that she's fundamentally most opposed to. And guess what The Shadow gets compared to often enough? Literally the very first line of the very first book where we get to see him, this is how we are introduced to him:

So the premise here is that we are taking a character who is defined by her fundamental opposition to death with every fiber of her being, who understands death on a level no other human being does, who is traumatized and hard-wired to detest death at all costs and to choose suicide over it, and asking her to team up with The Grim Reaper.

Even if he received the most abject lesson conceivable on the sheer wrongness of murder, even if he does put down the guns around Cass out of respect for her, he cannot protect his agents and others if he cannot shoot or kill those who try to harm them, and the protection of the agents is absolutely non-negotiable and not at all something he's willing to fuck around with by trying out gadget kung fu superhero alternatives. The Shadow has chosen to throw his life away for their sake time and time again, and no matter how appaling or disgusting Cass finds his deeds, even if he concedes that she's right and should be right on all accounts and that he is fundamentally a monster who has no right to judge others, he would not concede on his mission and he would make it very clear she would have to put him down violently to stop him from protecting others this way, and death has not stopped him before.

And to be upfront in case there's anyone who doubts it, Cass would kick The Shadow's ass, if they had to fight. She is the strongest fighter in the DCU, she lives and breathes fighting and combat in a way no one else does. And The Shadow's not one of those characters who is supposed to be invincible and the best at everything all the time always, he can and does lose fights and scrapes to people far less adept at it than Cass. He's a great fighter, obviously, he hauls bigger men than him through doors and was disabling people with Vulcan neck pinches decades before Spock, and he would definitely have an edge in other areas, but he's out of his league here. Frankly, I don't see The Shadow raising a finger against Cass unless she's been brainwashed into killing people by bad writing. Not because she's a woman, that doesn't really stop him from dealing with evil. But because, for one, she's practically a child compared to him age-wise. Two, he'd obviously know beforehand of her capabilities and how futile it would be to fight or even provoke her. And three, the Shadow's whole thing is knowing. The Shadow Knows and all that. Knowing comes with understanding.

He'd understand very quickly that there is no way someone this young could grow so quickly into the world's greatest fighter without horrific treatment that no one should ever be subjected to. He'd see the movements too practiced and quick, the self-control, the strength and speed far beyond even the trained warriors he's seen, the places where she's been scarred and is good at covering it up. Assuming he doesn't already know about her life story, any meeting between the two would lead to him very quickly figuring out that there's something much deeper about her opposition to killing than just moral reservations, something deeper than Bruce's own gun trauma.

Denny O'Neil's 2nd Batman and Shadow story was about The Shadow secretly helping Bruce overcome gun trauma, and Bruce rejecting The Shadow's intentions to hand him a gun. And to make it clear, people tend to assume that The Shadow only helps people for utilitarian reasons, which is not true as I've tried to demonstrate many times now. I don't want to convey that he would want to help Cass overcome her trauma just so she could be more efficient or something, absolutely no, he'd help her because he helps people in any way he can. I think a story with The Shadow and Cass might involve a similar premise, The Shadow understanding that she has been traumatized very deeply by death and refuses to accept it on any terms, trying to help her overcome it, only to learn that she does not want to "learn" anything she doesn't already know, that she has weaponized her trauma into a source of strength, and wishes nothing more than to help others with it.

And here's where we get to the part that allows the two to be on less antagonistic terms, because one thing that also very strongly defines Cass, at least the Cass I like reading most, is her stubborn, almost desperate need to believe in the best of people, that people can and will change for the better. Like The Shadow, her strength too is knowing, it's perception, the things that she knows about people that words cannot convey. Just as there are many things The Shadow would grow to understand about her that others would not, there would be many things that The Shadow would not be able to conceal from her. Things that no one but her would figure out. Things that, despite her age and lack of experience compared to him, he would have to defer to her knowledge on, which reverses the usual dynamic The Shadow has with people. And perhaps one aspect of that reversal, it's that maybe it's she who winds up secretly manipulating The Shadow into overcoming a deeper issue.

Cass's perspective on killing is shaped not just through trauma, but from a painfully intimate understanding of not just what happens to someone at the time of death, but the cost of murder upon the human soul, the ways it warps people into things they never should have been. Killing is a deeply, deeply serious matter, much more so than fiction seems ever willing to go into. Of course we suspend disbelief for fiction, there's nothing wrong with that, but if a story starts asking questions, starts poking holes into fantasies, they should not be disregarded.

And so it begs a question: How has it affected The Shadow? Is he really as remorseless as he appears to be? Is the fact that he's only killing evil people really of that much use? What's the cost of living as someone who has to know so much about so much evil in so many hearts? Knowledge never comes without price, and knowing evil is his tagline. When he enlists Harry Vincent, he makes it very clear that he has lost lives as he has saved them. From when is that regret coming from? What lives did he lose then? Is he saving people by damning his soul or merely prolonging the inevitable by piling corpses on another end of the scale?

If there's a character that could meaningfully start bringing these questions forth, who could ever truly get The Shadow to stop and reveal things to the audience he never would otherwise, maybe Cass could be that character. A girl who was raised to be a monster, who is treated as a monster and an aberration in-universe (and even outside of it), and turned that into a strength she uses to help others, who cares about everyone and refuses to let others be dehumanized as she was. Who better to know what lurks in the Shadow's heart?

Sometimes when I get an ask, I bullshit my way through infodump walls of text until I can structure it into something vaguely resembling a point. And sometimes, and I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I get a very, very clear word on my mind related to it before I start writing, that almost seems to be a beacon pointing where I need to get to, and I work my way into getting there. Once you sent me an ask about crossing over The Shadow with Cassandra Cain, the word that came to mind the very second was Language.

It's an interesting relation the two have with language. Language is of course a very substantial part of Cass's character, who does not process language and linguistic development the way most people do, and instead reads body language to the point of superpower. Many stories revolve around Cass's relation to the concept of language, the help she may require from others in getting around things beyond her upbringing, and ways in which she has mastered beyond anyone's scope. Though she is mute, language is her power, what makes her what she is, and she is someone that Batman freely admits could kick his ass if she ever felt like it.

For The Shadow, language is also his power. He speaks all languages and connects allies all over the world, he is an expert ventriloquist, he is able to project his voice beyond what's physically possible, he can imitate voices perfectly to the point of being able to conduct group conversations single-handedly well enough to fool even the people whose voices he's imitating, much of his presence and terror and manipulation are done through his voice, arguably the very reason he exists in the first place is entirely because a radio actor's voice performance was so good and captivating that it tricked people into thinking the character was a real star and not just a glorified narrator. The man you cannot see, but only hear, the perfect hero for radio. And then of course the laugh, which I have a whole separate post on and which, in many ways, acts as a substitute for language in the novels. He uses the laugh so often as a substitute for statements or words, even to himself, that it's pretty much his own personal language. And language is at the core of how he deals with people, as he knows the right language to use to manipulate and move and help them. He knows what to promise, what to reveal, what to omit. He knows what to say, how to say it, when to say it. Language is the strings by which he puppeteers the world around him (and he can talk to animals, at least of one kind).

The Shadow and Cassandra Cain have mastered two different types of Language as throughly as anyone can possibly master them. The Shadow can talk a group of hardened criminals into killing themselves, Cassandra can punch a heart into stopping without killing it. The Shadow echoes his voice "through everywhere and nowhere at once" to whip crowds of thugs into frenzies, Cassandra outraces missiles and was tanking bullets as a child. The Shadow can lie and usurp lives so masterfully to fool even the families of those he's passing off as, Cassandra is a living lie detector who gleams inner conversations from miniscule reactions. The Shadow can speak every language known, Cassandra is the greatest master of the world's most universal language other than music. The two are supposedly human, but every now and then, something comes along to call that into question because of the things they can achieve. They cannot hide secrets from each other the way they do to everyone else. They are driven by a deep desire to help others, to make something out of the circumstances of their lives. To weaponize that which dictates they should be evil and monstrous into a relentless force of good.

Language is the root of understanding. And if nothing else, as impossible as a conciliation of their approaches to crimefighting may be, I think there could be an unique understanding between the two. Perhaps, and this is a bit crazier a concept but one that seems to be where I might have been heading towards all along, even Cassandra Cain finding a calling away from the frayed dynamics of the Batfamily, away from the Bat's looming presence, to become The Shadow's successor, swearing to uphold a mission of justice through non-lethal tactics while he stays on the backseat guiding her. If The Shadow could trust the safety of his agents and the protection of the innocent at the hands of someone as capable and selfless and good-natured as Cassandra, I think he'd be all too happy to be able to trust someone in such a manner, to no longer be the Master of Darkness, but instead to serve the next generation that's weaponized darkness without submerging in it. To achieve, and perhaps return, to his strongest, highest self: A disembodied voice heard, but not seen. Once again the narrator, not the star.

It's a concept I've thought about very extensively for the years I've been a Shadow fan, but now it occurs to me that, if I had to appoint a successor of The Shadow, someone who could take up the mission but shine on their own right, even improve it with the right guidance and circumstances, it would be Cassandra Cain. The Orphan, The Shadow of the Batgirl. Daughter of the greatest assassins, meant to be the world's most lethal murderer, instead pivoted to being one of it's greatest heroes, but never allowed to shine as she should. But in the darker, less restrictive and wilder world of pulp heroes, in The Shadow's world, a beacon would shine all the harder. Perfect strengths attached to perfect opposites, joined together for a greater good, unstoppable after together having weaponized that which most take for granted: the power of language to move worlds.