#I want Cassandra not to be viewed as a toxic parent or anything

[movedtoferinehuntress]

[ Headcanon ] A MOTHER'S EXPERIENCE .

Cassandra isn't unaware of the dangers of Zaun, in fact, when she was younger, around eighteen and a rebellious daughter of House Kiramman, she decided to take a trip to Zaun. She, too, felt the hint of the thrill of it that her mother never engaged in, she wanted to see the streets and find something of interest. To grab at her very heart and take her for an experience. Zaun wasn't like Silco's Zaun, it was still inherently violent and dangerous if one wasn't careful.

The Piltovan elite had no idea what she was stepping into. She had been curious and wanted to see what the whole hype about the undercity and her mother demanded never to cross the bridge. The place was to be seen, but never heard from. Still, Cassandra wanted to know! What if they had something of use, what if they could provide more for Piltover? What commerce and political gain could be extended to help them? So despite all the rules, Cassandra descended into the city, wanting to go to the shop that she had heard from one of the Zaunites topside.

However, along the way, Cassandra was attacked. She had never been taught how to fight back, she knew how to handle a rifle but she didn't bring it with her. Cassandra had been stabbed with a bladed hand and her money ripped from her clutches. It left the councillor's heiress shaken when she was young (before she was a councilor). No one helped her, as she limped back through the streets, the way she was ignored, and scowled at, even the children running from her; no one cared she was bleeding all over their ground. Her mother had the best physician and doctors tended to her, stitching up the stab wound on her right abdomen and a hardened lesson.

Zaun was dangerous; it was filled with thieves and killers and dangers no one could anticipate. At that point, Cassandra no longer saw interest in Zaun, her adventuring and rebellious nature immediately quenched like a fire doused by water. At that point, Cassandra's eyes no longer saw interest in Zaun but only the dangers within. She understood why her mother often told her not to deal with the undercity as they were filled with monsters and animals; the savage nature of that city was not for the cultured Piltovans.

Cassandra's hardened views made her determined to protect Caitlyn from that city. It's why she's suspicious of anyone who is a Zaunite and why she curses them under her breath. It's why, when she stated to the council, that "the undercity cannot be controlled by us," and his displeased appearance of Vi when Caitlyn brought her home. To Cassandra, the undercity is its city and she not be interfered with. They are their people, and Piltover should stay on its side. It is why she was so headstrong in protecting Caitlyn from the dangers of the undercity and the threats that linger down there.

She is not coming from an ignorant standpoint. Cassandra was in the undercity, she saw its people, and she witnessed its violence firsthand. She knows of it and what it stands for and she actively tries to protect Piltover and her daughter from the dangers there. There is no surprise when she finds out about the violence nor does she have an interest in providing a working setting between them. The undercity is its own and Piltover is its own; that is how she believes it should be. And Most of all, she wants her daughter nowhere near it out of worry that she might become a victim of the violence.

[chekovbeforeyouwrekovyourself]

So I’m like 3 episodes into fhjy and can I just talk about Kristen? I gotta talk about Kristen.

I think that Ally Beardsley is just one of the fucking greats, man. Not like in a technical proficiency kind of way, but in playing a character so true. I grew up going to Catholic school and then was a little atheist sapphicly inclined teen dipshit, and I just feel such a connection to Kristen Applebees. The sort of teenage invincibility of disconnecting from a toxic family and a religious view that’s been pushed on you since before you could string together a cogent sentence. The way she is with Cassandra and how that reflects in her relationship with Tracker, is a sublime amount of what feels like a fumbling intentionality.

Ally plays Kristen with such nuanced and multifaceted conviction. When you have that type of devotion and it’s running parallel to this sort of self interested (almost selfish) need to figure yourself out and to not be wrong, to not FEEL wrong.

It’s saying sorry (to your god and your girlfriend) when you don’t have any real remorse because you’re not feeling anything. You’re disowned by your parents, you are deeply traumatized by the universe, you just want to understand something for fucking once, without it becoming another wrong choice, another mistake. That conviction that runs as deep as your fear, it’s so wild to feel, so you’re just trying to get through it.

I just see a lot of my teenage self in Kristen. Now I’m a 26 year old non binary dipshit who feels a deep spirituality with no real central focus or authored tenets, I’m estranged from my family in multiple senses, and somewhere, deep inside there’s still that scared teen who just wants to feel like I’m doing the right thing, the good thing for me. I think it’s hard to align the good thing and the things in your best interests sometimes. Especially when you’re so divorced from yourself as a person, y’know?

Anyway, I just think the world of Ally Beardsley and how they play Kristen, and I’m sure as I watch more of Junior Year I’ll have more to say about it all.

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

Hi, hello! As some of you may know, I like to do ✨️the writing✨️ very much. And I love Skyrim very much, but I also love Dragon Age! And I have some DA: Inquisition micro-fics ready and I'm seriously thinking of posting them on Ao3 because I like them very much. But before all that, I want you to meet one of my all time favourite ocs: Max Trevelyan!

More lore and information about this sweetheart below the cut!

His full name is Maxwell Trevelyan. He comes from a noble family in Ostwick. He is the seventh and youngest son. There is a pretty big age difference between his age and his sibling’s. Being the youngest one in a noble, posh family who cared more about their wealth and reputation, he became the scrape goat of the family. Frustrated, negligent parents and siblings who are extremely done with him made his home a very toxic environment. 

This made him a bit reckless and sarcastic. This way he got a bit of attention. Bad attention, but at least it was something, but as time went on, everyone blamed everything bad happening on him. This made him incredibly kind to anyone and everyone. He hated the way he was treated, and so he swore never to treat anyone like that, because he knew how it felt all too well.

So personality-wise, he is a reckless spirit, refusing to be anyone else other than himself. He hated the dancing lessons and dining rules. What he has always loved is nature, climbing trees and helping people and animals. He used to go to a nearby forest whenever home was too much to handle (which was very often) and climb trees and just enjoy the view and the marvel of nature. He saved so many animals on his nature walks. Always hiding them in his room or in the basement of the family mansion until they got better. He even befriended a bear and kept giving her food!

He refused to learn how to wield a sword and shield, preferring to stay as far away from battle as possible, so he taught himself how to use a bow and arrows and developed his own style. 

Besides being reckless and nonconforming, he is a very gentle and sensitive spirit deep down. He may mask it with jokes, because growing up, he was never allowed to complain about anything or have any negative reactions. He does have a very low opinion of himself and thinks he is annoying everyone, being stressed constantly whenever he has a conversation with anyone, believing that he is just annoying them. He was also made to believe that he is worthless. So, imagine his surprise when he finds out that he has a destiny to fulfill and close the breach with the mark. It was a lot to take in, as was having a mark that was slowly killing him, as Cassandra said. (don’t worry about the ‘killing him’ though ;) )

As for how he got the mark in the first place: someone had to go to the important meeting at the Conclave, and of course his family sent him. Whenever they needed to send someone to do their dirty work, they sent him. But he never complained. Time spent as far away from home as possible was always welcome. And getting the mark is weirdly the best thing that’s ever happened to him. He never got to return home, he found his real family in the Inquisition, he found real friends and people who really care about him, and he fell absolutely head over heels in love with a certain Tevinter mage. But more about them in my fics, if I do decide to post them.

A random fact about him: he has a ridiculously low tolerance to alcohol. He gets drunk *very* easily.

That’s it for now, I plan on posting about him more because I love him so, so much. He is my precious boy ;’). If you read this, thank you so much! Likes and comments are very much appreciated, it really motivates me.

[minchen0897]

Family

Hey there! It’s Batfam week and i decided to try and participate. (I am not sure if i can write something to every prompt, but i wanted to try - and will do again next year so maybe i get better). Again, i tried. This is for Prompt 1: Family  -  Gen, 1321 words TW: well, there is some not so friendly talk in the beginning. So i guess if you are sensitive to that, you have been warned. 

“Urgh...i can’t believe it! My family is so annoying, and now that woman gives us an essay on family!” Damian overheard Chris saying while they left the classroom. Chris was one of his classmates and fit the definition of ‘snotty, spoiled brat’ perfectly. He also wasn’t done lamenting his misery to everyone in his near vicinity. “Mom just yesterday wanted to know why i was buying another knife. Like, duh - i am collecting them! Obviously! Also it is better to have a weapon on yourself in this city” - well, Damian could sort of understand his point in that, but one look at his classmate was enough to determine that he would not stand a chance in a fight against even a newbie henchman. “And Dad is always asking me these weird questions. I think he suspects i am gay. Which i am obviously not. And when we’re eating in a restaurant they are always so embarrassing! I wish they were dead, i swear.”

Chris rambled on and on, but Damian had heard enough, and it left him frowning. Though not only the nonsense Chris spewed, but also the problem that he had no idea how to fill even one page on the topic of family yet. There was simply no way to exactly describe his family dynamics without endangering their nightlife identity, and the one they maintained when there were cameras near was just not so interesting. Plus, thanks to media, people already knew a lot about the ‘spotlight’ family. Walking to the car with which Pennyworth was waiting for him, Damian pondered further on the issue at hand. The teacher had said the topic had to be family. There had been no word about describing the dynamics of his own family. He could also answer a question, something like ‘what does family mean’ or ‘what is family’ - a more theoretical approach to the topic, maybe. His mind made up, he greeted Pennyworth and they drove home.

 The next day, a saturday, Damian got to work on the essay. He had thought it would be easy - the more theoretical approach. Yet here he was, sitting at the kitchen table, an empty document in front of him and thoughts in his mind that could not be written on paper since he could not even grasp them fully. And he hated it. Pennyworth currently was the only one accompanying him, reading a book - The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis apparently - while drinking a cup of tea.

“There seems to be a problem, hindering you to write your essay. Can i be of any help, Master Damian?”, the british butler asked suddenly, pulling Damian out of thoughts he had not realised he needed to be pulled out of. The youngest Wayne scoffed. “No, i don’t require help.” “Very well then.” Excluding the rhythmic ticking of the clock at the wall and the returning sound of flipping book pages, silence returned to the room.

In the end - roughly thirty minutes later - Damian packed his things and headed back into his room, a heavy frown attached to his forehead.

He was not getting anything done just staring at the blank page, that was obvious. Yet he was determined to finish this task, and today nonetheless. Preferably before 10 pm; he was required on patrol.

Without a start there was no finish.

And so he began to type.

 What is family?

 Immediately he deleted the sentence. A minute later he typed it again, sighing passive aggressively.

 Humans are known to live in larger groups ever since evolution allowed it; one can say that family association are as old as humankind itself. Over the course of several thousands of years, more than one definition of family, often differing from one individual to another, was made. These definitions are not only reserved for humans. Animals, too, can have a similar concept to ‘family’. One of the first things coming to mind regarding that probably would be a pack of wolves; but it does not always have to be a bigger ‘family’. Swans are known to choose a partner for a lifetime, and crows tend to visit their parents even after leaving the nest for the final time.

 Damian spent the next three minutes thinking about a way to not stray further from the topic of the human definition of family.

 As the given examples above show, there are different ways and sizes to see ‘family’.

 Probably not his best transition.

 For some people family might mean only the closest relatives; for some family might mean including the second cousin of their grandmother’s uncle.

 Maybe he was exaggerating a bit, but there probably was someone out there who counted them as family.

 For some people the concept might mean only relatives through blood, for others the bloodline does not matter at all. Instead they focus on a bond formed through shared moments. It has been written before that ‘friends are the family you choose’, so for some their friends might be more of a family than their actual relatives. Adopted children also count as family, as a matter of fact.

 He thought of Grayson - and subsequently also of the rest of his brothers and sister(s).

 How one sees family might change in time, given certain circumstances apply or situations differ from before.

As a member of a family that is mostly composed of adopted people, i can say with certainty that it is not different from other families, as far as i heard reports about the life of those other families. Arguments take place nearly every day. Team ups against siblings too.

 At this point Damian had long since decided to never show this essay anyone. He would bribe his teacher to not speak to anyone about it.

 Tragedies strike an adopted family as hard as those who are considered ‘normal’ families. Why there is a need to differ between certain kinds of family has yet to be explained, just as much as why there appear to be several kinds of family.

 Damian was not content with his essay. Not at all. He felt like there were things missing, like he couldn’t write exactly what he was thinking.

 Family is a net of special bonds shared between several people. It does not matter who these people are, if they are relatives, if they share special characteristics, or how many people share it, as long as it is shared by more than just one person.

Family can grow.

Views on family can change.

Adopted family members are still family members, even though it might take a while for everyone to ‘warm up to each other’.

 He was never letting anyone see this. Especially not his brothers. He would never hear the end of it. Thinking about it, Cassandra and Stephanie would also never see this. He would print exactly one exemplar of the document to give to the teacher, and then erase every trace might left.

 As shown in human evolution, family is necessary to survive. It can be a source of comfort, though there also are cases in which family relationships have shown to be toxic and dangerous to the health of certain members.

In conclusion, Family is a complicated concept to which everyone sooner or later forms an opinion that can differ greatly from person to person.

 It was no masterpiece, and Damian still was not content with it, but he deduced that his teacher would find it suitable work.

Looking at his alarm clock Damian quickly got to work on removing every trace of this essay. It was already 9 pm, and he needed to prepare for patrol. Before he stepped into the cave he pushed every confusing thought about the concept he just spent several hours thinking about into the farthest corner of his mind.

The focus on his job as Robin took over, and the nightlife began.