#tobaw asks

[seleneprince]

What are Cassandra Cain thoughts on the Perez family and was she part of the batfam during the neglect?

She’s my precious baby, but I know she is loyal to Bruce. But also the Perez' wouldn't last if she was there, she knows everything.

So I'm wondering if like Duke she arrives later and decides to embrace them? Like, how can you look at Rosa loving her kids and not be like "I want that 😢." Specially with the insanity that are Cass' bio parents.

It would be funny because Cass isn't as sweet as she is usually portrayed, she can and will beat a bitch, (that bitch usually being Jason. I don't remember correctly but I think the only batboys she doesn't throw hands with are Tim and Duke) she is the same fighting level as Bruce too 😭

Also, she strikes me more as a mommy's girl than daddy's girl but I can't confirm, cause well, her mama is absent 😶

Oh boy, that's a good question.

First of all, I start this by admitting that I don't know about Cassandra as much as the other characters, so I apologise for any slight innacuracies. That said, it's hard to keep up with DC's canon these days. But I confirm, she's only chill with Tim, I think. She has thrown hands with all the batboys at some point, specially Jason ashsdf. Only Tim and Duke are safe as far I've seen.

Now, to answer the question:

Everyone in the family knows that Rosa forced Bruce into the marriage because she knows their identities and threatens to expose them otherwise. So, yeah, they're all kinda pissed at her and resentful. Cassandra is no exception. She first views her stepmother as this evil golden digger who used vile ways to get Bruce and her kids low-key as opportunists just like her, but the thing with Cassandra is, as we know, that she can see things most people can't.

Before Duke arrives, she already clocked the Perez family weren't all what they seemed. Like you said, Rosa has her flaws and she's not really a good person, but she loves her kids more than anything. Literally most of the shit she does is for them. Cassandra finds it hard to think of her as this pure evil villain when she sees her brushing her oldest daughter's hair before school even though she protests she's old enough, or when she ruffles Marco's hair with the softest eyes, or when she's teaching her youngest daughter how to bake sweets she likes as a bonding activity. She might be cold and untrustworthy with the Bruce, but when it comes to her children, she seems like an entirely different person. Her eyes turn the softest she's ever seen, and her hands are always so gentle and tender with them. Just the way she handles leaves no doubts that it's true love.

And Cassandra can't help but think that a woman capable of such love can't be all bad. And deep down, a part of her wishes she could have that. Regardless, she doesn't go out of her way to bond with her because, like you said, her loyalty is with Bruce first.

It's different with Bruce's daughter and the twins, since she doesn't really resent them at any moment. She out of all people can't blame others for their parents' crimes, but she's definitely part of the neglect. She doesn't do it on purpose, she just...doesn't know how to approach them. They have nothing in common. She can't relate to them the way she does with the others. For someone who already struggles with social interaction and mostly relies on hanging out with people equally fucked up as her (aka the batfam), well, you can guess.

Besides, reminder that the Perez family have resided on the other side of the manor since their arrival and have spent all the years until the current timeline leading separate lives from the Batfamily. The only times they're all in the room together are on the rare occassions they all have family dinners, because the Perez family go as far to make different schedules to never eat in the same table with them unless there's no choice. Cassandra only sees them when they cross paths around the house, which it's not often, and they barely talk. That doesn't give her enough material to read them properly and figure out their secrets. Plus, as bad as it sounds, she's not interested to. They're the normal ones of the family, who aren't involved in the bloody bussiness of crime fighting, who don't have to go through the same hell. They can simply enjoy the luxury and safety of being civilians.

They're not...tainted, like her.

In her head, she even convinces herself it's for protection. She doesn't want to ruin the perfect picture of normal family they have (again, she doesn't interact enough with them to notice the cracks), so she thinks its reasonable to keep them away. She can't bond with them anyway. Nor reach a mutual understanding. They're too different. Opposite worlds and all of that.

Instead, she's content on catching glimpses from afar, of what they have, what she could've had in another life, and move on.

That's it, until the Signal and Red Hood find her in that state after falling off the window. On the verge of death, and no one knows what happened or how, or why she was even there. Cassandra looks at her as she lays in the hospital bed, unconscious and recovering, and feels the crushing weight of her guilt. Her failure. Because she definitely blames herself, just like Jason. Ironic. She thinks she failed as a sister. That in her determination to keep her safe, she did the oppposite.

Eventually, when the Perez family are forced to interact more with the Batfam due to some circumstances that happen later, Cassandra gets to see them in another light. Now she interacts with them more often. There's no hiding, no running away, no avoiding. And being Cassandra, she's the first to clock the loopholes in their facade. She knows they're hiding something, have been for a long time, but can't figure out exactly what because they're elusive as fuck.

But she also sees more of Rosa's motherly affection, the twins being endearing (when they're not pranking the batfam) and N! Daughter being more than just this spoiled rich girl with no problems in her life. And the more she sees....the more she wants to be part of it.

[seleneprince]

Love this idea! Also now i can't stop to imagine how tim and N!kitty! Reader would interract.

The brainrot is getting worse for me, unfortunately. I'm one positive comment about the idea away from actually including it in the series.

Oh, I thought of that too. You know the character called Lynx? She's faced against Tim before, but if you look at the Red Robin runs they have an...interesting dynamic. Kinda like Batman and Catwoman 2.0, except Lynx is more proactive. Look it up if you don't know her yet👀

That's basically how the dynamic between Tim and Catgirl would be (she hates that name but I'm afraid it fits her too well lol), except Catgirl doesn't really like to be chased. Not like her mentor or Lynx does. She takes her heists very seriously, she's a huge perfectionist, and last thing she needs is an annoyingly persistent detective distracting her by trying to catch her.

Catgirl is only in it to learn from Selina, and improve her stealth and thievery skills until she's confident enough to go solo, because as brilliant of a hacker she is, there are places she can't reach through hacking alone. She has to sneak in and handle things manually sometimes, and she needs to move like a cat burglar to do it. And well, if she does actually steal some stuff here and there, only Catwoman is witness and she's no snitch.

Plus, since she's actively separating herself from the Batfamily as a whole, having the most brilliant member interested in her is a headache. She's trying really hard to keep her civilian identity as the clueless, spoiled rich daughter of Bruce Wayne that knows nothing of their world. But if she lets Tim Drake out of all people get close enough to Catgirl, how long until he guesses it? Until he begins to pay attention to her outside the suit too and notices the similarities, the mannerisms? The coincidences? She knows how he is when it comes to solving enigmas. Batman himself said Tim was a better detective than him. Catgirl is paranoid to say the least. She despises him. No matter how witty he is, how stimulating their arguments/fights are, how he's so damn intelligent that he's a threat but also can keep up with her in conversations, the smugness that he hardly conceals when he overpowers her (and how stupidly hot he looks in those moments)

Meanwhile, Red Robin treats her like a particularly tricky case. Catwoman doesn't take sidekicks, she works alone, everyone knows that. So who's Catgirl? Why did Selina take her in? What's her purpose? What's her ultimate goal? And why is he enjoying their encounters more than he should? Why doesn't he pull apart when she kisses him? The more she dodges him, the more determined he is to get her. He has ended with a few scars from her claws when she had enough of his presence, but those only increase his interest. How far can he push her? How long until she takes a wrong step and falls into his hands? He hates to admit he's a bit of eager for that to happen...because he's not entirely sure he wants to arrest her afterwards.

So, in short, Catgirl and Red Robin's dynamic is basically a cat-and-mouse game, except the roles are reversed because it feels like he's the cat more often than not. They're Batman and Catwoman second generation, except Catgirl refuses to admit they have that kind of tension and avoids him, while Red Robin wants to catch the kitty and maybe put a collar on her.

[seleneprince]

I'm new here so I should be patient but I really wanna know what Tim did to Lucia 😭

Ohoho, that's actually a nice question 👀

I haven't gotten to that part yet in the series, and unfortunately, it's not bound to happen until much later in the chapters. I actually want to wait until I flash it all out in the story and you get to read it for yourself...🌚

Buuuut it's also one of my favourite parts of the story, since it's going to considerably affect Lucia's life (among other reasons) so I'm really eager to talk about it and post stuff of it even though it's still not out. Even though, I can't exactly tell you because, well, it's a big spoiler. I'm forcing myself to be patient here🫠

All I can say is that don't worry, it's nothing too extreme. Just, remember that I said that not all the Batfam will be platonic yanderes depending on the Darling? Well....Tim isn't the platonic kind with Lucia.

Their relationship will be super messy and complicated, but not in the way it'll be with Jason, Dick or Damian. Nope. It's...quite different 👀👀

That's all I can say for now..

[seleneprince]

I just read the sun will sing and damn, that was amazing. Had me absolutely feral reading it, you created the bond between Duke and her so well to have the setup of finding her body so damaged, it had me choking in disbelief right beside Duke holding back tears. I am so excited to see the next part, whether it's Bruce's point of view and slight spiral or showing the lack of bonds between the two families after they are allowed to see her. I'm so excited to see what you write next, and hope the universe sends not just good vibes but the Narwhal of Inspiration!

JSDENMFD THANK YOUU!!!!😭🥺💕 OMG, I'm so glad I could make you react like that, I was bumping my head while writing because english it's not my first damn language and i struggled with finding the correct phrasing for a lot of the stuff I wanted to convey. I'm happy you liked it so much!! It means a lot, really🙏

(Not that I'm happy you almost cried, but I'm proud my writing could pull such emotion out of you because, really, that's the biggest compliment for a writer. That's what we intend)

Duke is my boy and I'm sick of him not being appreciated like he deserves. And also people watering down his character a lot, so in here, he's getting some loving 😤💖

His bond with N! Daughter is going to be very relevant in the story, because again, he's the only one out of the batfam she actually has a bond with. That's going to be obvious for everyone..👀 My intention is they ALL become yanderes at some point.

I'm hoping the universe sends me inspiration too. I have the draft for the next chapter already opened, so we'll see how far I get.

[seleneprince]

Sorry to send another ask, but I forgot to ask if I could be added to the tag list?

Already done!