#cassius x mustang

[sad-endings-suck]

ship wars and love triangles confuse me, because nine times out of ten the answer is always polyamory

[vices-aand-virtues]

Red Rising Characters + Reductress headlines

Kavax

Fitchner

Diomedes

Darrow

Victra & Sevro

Cassius & Darrow – Virginia & Victra

Roque

Lorn

Red Rising Characters + Reductress headlines (2/?)

[darthmatthewtwihard]

[vesperpharsalius]

“the ring exchange was their wedding” cassius taking darrow’s house mars ring at the end of gs thinking darrow killed all of his family: “I’m breaking this engagement”. jokes aside cannot wait for you to get to this parts in your fanfic it’s sooo good and i can’t wait to get emotionally destroyed!!

Anon, you had me screaming—literally, I laughed out loud! Tysm for the ask!

For the record, I was referring to the ring exchange referenced in IG, where Darrow mentions that Cassius sent back his House ring, even though Darrow asked him to keep both—placing the ring into his palm and closing his hand around it as they gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes—at the end of MS.

(Y’know, a completely heterosexual interaction—just two bros, tenderly and tacitly proclaiming their undying love.)

I like to imagine that Cassius actually sent his ring back, which would mean that Mustang (because Darrow gave it to her—iirc, essentially, as a wedding ring) is actually wearing Cassius’, and Cassius is wearing Darrow’s. Big throuple energy.

But now, anon—you’ve got me thinking. Should I have them exchange earlier, at the Institute? It is… tempting. Maybe.

This part of the fanfic is, admittedly, eons away at this point, but yes—expect to be emotionally destroyed! I have been informed that I possess a hefty measure of PB’s capacity for cruelty, so I don’t think it will disappoint.

(But I’m not jinxing myself! Gotta stay humble 🙏)

[swimmingintheocean]

Pierce is a coward for not making them a throuple I will die on this hill

they need a lover arc

[andieburky]

Cassius x Mustang | Golden Son

Not really a scene but a moment Mustang described to Darrow that I wanted to capture! Poor Cassius always getting the short end of the stick :’(

*Do not print/copy/download/reupload to any platform

[happy-shitting]

who would wear a fuck ton of rings, Darrow or Cassius?

[rrrhysand]

books I read in 2018: Red Rising, Pierce Brown

“Sharpened by hate. Strengthened by love.”

add me on goodreads

[igotthis2]

Thank you for these scenes I was 100% thinking off :D Love also how people keep teasing them ("will you save the flirting for later?" and a "where's your boyfriend" comment to Darrow about Cassius). Everyone else sees the chemistry too. "I wish it was easier to hate you" is "I love you" in Bellona. ... I have fic ideas. It's a problem.

Something I find incredibly funny about Cassius and Darrow is that for one and a half books their interactions are limited to:

Cassius shows up, Darrow (or friend) grievously injure him, Darrow ponders about how he really doesn't care if Cassius dies (even if he's really hot), and then Cassius survives anyways.

And then when Darrow and Cassius are on the same side Darrow immediately falls back to "we are so in sync in battle, we complete each other". Also love how they cut off each other's hands, fair is fair and all that, lol.

[sad-endings-suck]

Mustang x Darrow x Cassius may never be a canon throuple, but they are canon in my heart. 💗💗

[hic-sunt-leones]

Welp. I did it. I made a Red Rising blog. I've held out. I've told myself I have too many blogs already but.

Fuck it.

Lo Howlers!

[vesperpharsalius]

As for the pregnancy twist, the willful ignorance of some people in this fandom, especially on the subreddit, continues to astound me. I’ve seen multiple posts advocating for this theory; naturally, they are immediately slain, blasted into smithereens, but... somehow, that doesn’t discourage them? They keep posting! Although, thankfully, less so—they’ve relented.

Definitely don’t ever worry that your RR knowledge’s sub–par; there are people out here reading with their brains off, I swear. One of my friends was very confused reading IG, years back, because he’d forgotten about Darrow’s destruction of the Ganymede Docks and that Mustang became Sovereign. He’d just re–read MS!

As for Cassius x Lyria, I agree that there was potential for romance. Back when I was blissfully ignorant of LB’s ending, it seemed likely that their relationship would eventually become romantic, if they both lived. I doubted that Pierce would leave Cassius and Lyria unpaired—although, as far as I’m concerned, they were both perfectly fine that way. I’m all for combating amatonormativity; brotherly/sisterly love is love; again for the people in the back. But I agree that both time and healing was needed before a romantic twist could happen.

Tbh, I was worried Pierce might jump the gun in LB, given how flirtatious their banter seemed, that he might get overexcited and pair them too early, which, I agree (for the reasons you listed above), would’ve been inappropriate and uncomfortable for me. But… obviously, my fears were unjustified.

Personally, I would’ve preferred their relationship stay platonic. I’m biased, of course, because I’m a Dassius Whore™️; it’s the crack–ship I live for, the hill I’ll die on, even now.

But, from my admittedly flawed perspective, Cassius and Lyria’s relationship felt very much mentee/mentor, with Lyria filling the void Lysander left in a wholesome way, because Cassius chose her, whereas Lysander was more of an obligation, and Lyria genuinely loved/respected him, in a wholehearted way Lysander couldn’t, because of his unforgiving nature and their terrible history.

Despite seeming so radically different, they actually have lots in common. They were both the crux of families that were slaughtered in a way they couldn’t have foreseen or prevented but they blame themselves, still, and resent their own survival, suffering from gnawing emptiness and loneliness and guilt; they also both got ‘vengeance’ that tasted bittersweet because it meant fuck–all.

They’ve both been victims of manipulation, too, and repeatedly exploited by people that didn’t reciprocate their love, that robbed them of their agency and used them to achieve their own ends. They also both struggle with their identities because they’ve been contorted into so many different shapes by necessity, by domineering abuse and conflicting expectations and hardship, that left them with an uncertain understanding of themselves, who they are and want they actually want from life.

Their mentee/mentor connection, Lyria filling Cassius’ Lysander–void and Cassius filling Lyria’s Eph–void, was very healing, for both of them. Because they chose each other, to an extent; they were forced into proximity, of course, but they weren’t forced to bond; their friendship is actually one of the only choices either of them, characters that have basically been rawdogged by the narrative since the start, ever made. Compare this to Lysander and Eph, where Lysander was Cassius’ penitential obligation and Lyria was literally Eph’s mark, even though he did care about her; both of those relationships were too forced to ever be healthy.

And they also empowered each other. Cassius never infantilized, dismissed, or mocked Lyria’s ambitions. He taught her how to fly and celebrated her progress; he supported her commitment to helping Volga. And Lyria is the only one that believed Cassius’ altruism was legitimately selfless and worthy of admiration; she defended him when Sevro came for his scalp, literally and figuratively.

They treated each other as equals when everyone else pitied/doubted them and found understanding and acceptance in each other on equal footing, too, because their relationship was balanced; neither of them ‘owed’ the other or needed to earn forgiveness, to redeem themselves; they could just… be.

They were both outsiders—Cassius as the ‘Bellona’ in the Augustus crowd, the Betrayer; Lyria, as a Gamma, partially responsible for the kidnapping of Pax and Electra—who found an advocate in each other, someone to defend them from criticism and protect them from exclusion, to make them feel welcome and safe and comfortable, a true friend that always had their six, someone who genuinely enjoyed their company to the extent that there’s nowhere else they’d rather be. Neither of them had ever had that type of relationship before, not even Cassius with Darrow; as much as I love them, there’s no denying that Darrow, especially LB Darrow, wasted most of his time with Cassius wishing he was somewhere else with someone else.

Fool.

I’ve never been the greatest fan of Lyria, but her relationship with Cassius was so heartwarming and endearing that I genuinely started liking her (rather than just appreciating her importance to the story) and thinking critically enough about her character that it snowballed into love. And that’s saying something, because I despised her in IG.

Growth—for us both, I’d say.

One of the things I love most about Cassius and Lyria's relationship in Light Bringer is how, yes, Cassius is protective of Lyria because she is younger and smaller and Cassius just can't help being a big brother, but Lyria is just as protective of him. Because she's a protector too. They are the same in that way.

[vesperpharsalius]

speaking of darrow and cassius at the gala, i think i’ve found a comment from you on reddit (i think that was you, the name and the pfp were the same, if not then apologies because this will be nonsense😭) on one of the countless discussion on cassius and mustang at the gala together. the majority of the people were just bashing mustang for being with cassius (average level of reddit misogyny) but you (if that was you) said something on how it felt incomplete that mustang pov was never properly addressed concerning that moment. i do agree with you but on the other side it’s funny how that scene got people screaming crying throwing up on reddit for the “love triangle”, calling mustang a bitch and cassius a dickhead, then in lb you have cassius and darrow for no reason at all “hey do you remember the gala? lol”

it’s such a dassius moment i think pierce has forgotten mustang was there too

Thanks for the ask!

It was me! Honestly, I’d be surprised if someone else was ever using my username, because it’s referencing an original character from an original work, which I haven’t published or teased or even talked that much about, online. So. It’d be a little spooky.

But, yes, I remember—that upsurge of interest in the Mustang x Cassius after LB came out. I was fairly new to the subreddit, not yet accustomed to the braindead takes. There I was, trying to have a thoughtful discussion about their relationship; after a few days of wading through, I went ahead and jumped into the pond, like the silly little 🪿 I am.

But one thing that astonishes me is how many people still believe that Darrow and Cassius were fighting over Mustang at the Gala, that PB introduced a love–triangle here, because that is just… so wrong? Baseless. Literally, refuted multiple times; before, during, after.

For the record, I am one of the few people that do people there was some truth in Casstang; that Mustang felt more for Cassius and that their connection was deeper that she claimed in GS.

But PB couldn’t have been clearer about how absolutely hopeless—DOA, non–starter, sunk like the bloodydamn Titanic—Casstang was. This was never supposed to be perceived as a threat to ReaperStang.

Some people really read with their eyes closed 😩

Of course, there’s countless undercurrents and nuances, juicy tensions and delicious subplots throughout the whole episode, but one thing made abundantly clear—and she literally complains about this—is that Mustang’s being ignored. It’s almost screamed at full volume that it’s not about her, for her, over her.

She tries to defuse the situation (which, as far as she knows, is wrecking her otherwise–successful schemes to save her family from ruin) but she keeps getting sidelined, especially by Darrow, who’s blind and deaf to her—to everyone, really, except for his bad man.

I’m not saying that Mustang didn’t play a significant role at the Gala; hell, she saved Cassius and basically ignited the civil war by intervening. But this is a Dassius moment. My God, there’s simply too much (flirtatious?) banter in this chapter to cover, but I would be remiss not to mention this—

I cock my head at him. “Come now, brother. Don’t you want to see how well I can really fight?”

And this? What is this?! This loaded–fucking–gun of UST?

Women are screaming for Cassius. Lovers he has had in his youth, who now watch the man they grew with, the man who bedded them, left them with false promises, and made them think they'd just lost the strongest of a generation. They watch as another man turns him into a throbbing mess of blood.

Bonus points for this banger, which still makes me swoon, even in–context—

“You will not steal what is mine.”

All this to say, I’m not averse to the OT3, but this is Dassius fuel. It’s giving disaster–date vibes in LB as it should.

[lyssybug]

Just read the preview from Iron Gold by Pierce Brown (January 2018). Excited to see what’s next for the Red Rising crew.

Red Rising is one of my top 5 series. It is the perfect middle ground between YA and “adult��� books. Amazing character development and world building.

Check it out—- http://www.randomhousebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IRON-GOLD_excerpt.pdf

http://piercebrownbooks.com/#_=_

[m-austinbooks]

Can you tell us some of your favorite things about the Red Rising trilogy? Like awesome things which made you adore this trilogy? If you feel like it of course.

Eh, I’ll give it a go.

The moment I went from interested to complete hooked was during the Institute when Pierce began scaling up the plot action like crazy. He always takes the narrative arc further than I can initially conceive. I expect Darrow to win the game, but instead he breaks it. And the pattern just continues with each new book until the whole Solar System becomes the playing field. 

But the plot events are all logical extensions of so many intelligent characters’ beliefs, agendas and actions. It’s rare to see an author write such a diverse range of ideologies and intellects so convincingly. The aspiring tyrant can explain his views just as well as the noble freedom fighter. With so many fascinating characters, it would be easy for Darrow to get lost in the mix, but I genuinely think he’s a fantastic MC. His development is constant; everything and everyone shapes him in some way. His struggle with his identity and morality takes him beyond a collection of personality traits and really brings him to life. 

And the relationships, God, not just his amazing friendships with Sevro, Ragnar, Lorn, Victra, the Howlers, Roque etc., but the fascinating dynamics he has with those who oppose him. The uneasy kinship between him and the Jackal is so good, and his fraught relationship with Cassius. And how can I forget Reaper x Mustang? It never felt forced or inserted to fill some obligated romance requirement. They just complement each other so well. One of my very few ships.  

The world-building is so good, especially in Iron Gold, but I’m especially impressed with the Society. There’s a reason it exists beyond being a flashy new concept to pitch to the publishers and put in a blurb. The system is shown to work in its own terrible way and some of the values the Golds embody are truly worthy, and Darrow comes to adopt them too. The main tension seems not to be about which parts of the Society are unjust - that’s obvious - but which parts should be saved. 

And then there are the little atypical cultural nods to everything from Greco-Roman mythology to Ice Cube in Friday. And stuff like listing (Ender) Wiggin as a prominent military commander and having the characters listen to Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms!). 

Plus it’s really funny. And also heart-warming. And heart-breaking. Pierce warms the hearts so that they can break!

This isn’t even half of it, but the rest takes natural form in wild gestures, sound effects and stick drawings. 

What about you? I know you post quite prolifically about this trilogy, but I don’t think I’ve seen a definitive list.

[digthe60s]

1967

The continued presence of American troops increased further and a total of 475,000 were serving in Vietnam. The peace rallies were multiplying as the number of protesters against the war increased. In the middle east, Israel also went to war with Syria, Egypt and Jordan in the six-day war, and when it was over Israel controlled and occupied a lot more territory than before the war. In the summer, cities throughout America exploded in rioting and looting, the worst being in Detroit on July 23, where 7,000 national guards were bought in to restore law and order on the streets. In England, a new type of model became a fashion sensation by the name of Twiggy, and miniskirts continued to get shorter and even more popular. Also during this year, new discotheques and singles bars appeared across cities around the world, and the Beatles continued to reign supreme with the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 1967 was coined the “Summer of Love” when young teenagers got friendly, smoked pot and grooved to the music of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Byrds. The movie industry moved with the times and produced movies that would appeal to this younger audience, including The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, and Cool Hand Luke. TV shows included The Fugitive and The Monkees, and color television sets became popular as the price came down and more programs were made in color.

Major events

• Arab forces attack Israel, beginning the Yom Kippur War.

• Ariel-3, the first all-British made satellite, was launched into an orbit around the Earth during May. The satellite was launched with the help of NASA from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and it carried five experiments from British universities. The experiments measured atmospheric noise, high altitude oxygen levels, low frequency radiation, medium frequency waves, and electron density and temperature. After its launch it orbited the Earth every 95 minutes and relayed data back to the United Kingdom until 1970, when it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.

• The first successful human-to-human heart transplant takes place in December. Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the operation on the 53-year-old patient Louis Washkansky. The operation took place at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. The transplant was successful and Washkansky’s body did not reject the organ, although he did die just 18 days later due to double pneumonia brought on by the immunosuppressive drugs that he had to take. After the success, Barnard continued to perform successful heart transplants with the survival times of patients increasing gradually as technology advanced.

• The arguments in the Loving v. Virginia case were argued at the U.S. Supreme Court in April. The case centered on Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving, an interracial couple from Virginia that got married in Washington, D.C., in the late 1950s. When they went back to Virginia they were charged with breaking the state’s law which banned interracial marriage and were jailed. The Lovings sued the state of Virginia and argued that the ban violated the Fourteenth Amendment and was unconstitutional. In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that state bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional and that they were solely based on racial discrimination. The decision made interracial marriage legal throughout the United States.

• The publication of Ralph Nader’s book Unsafe at Any Speed puts pressure on the government and the automobile industry to improve safety in cars.

• Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Pirate radio stations become illegal.

• On March 18, the SS Torrey Canyon supertanker runs aground off the South of England, causing a large oil spill and ecological disaster. The tanker leaked over 100,000 tons of crude oil into the sea. The oil reached the coasts of the Channel Islands and France, and the oil slick spanned about 270 square miles. The spill was the worst in history at that time and prompted tighter international regulations for ships.

• NASA launches the Lunar Orbiter 3 spacecraft.

• Gibraltar holds referendum on staying with Britain or joining Spain.

• The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of rock’s most acclaimed albums.

• The Expo 67 begins during April in Montreal, Canada.

• The town of Winneconne in the state of Wisconsin declares its sovereignty in July.

• The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine is released.

• Dr. James H. Bedford became the first person to be cryonically preserved after his death in January. Bedford, a 73-year-old psychology professor who died of kidney cancer, asked to be preserved with the hope that he could be revived in the future. He was frozen within hours of his death by the Cryonics Society of California. Robert Prehoda, Dr. Dante Brunol, Robert Nelson, and Dr. Renault Able all took part in the process, during which Bedford’s body was injected with chemicals meant to help preserve him better in cold temperatures, stored in a “cryocapsule” and kept in a bath of liquid nitrogen at -196º C. He has remained at the Alcor Life Preservation Foundation since 1982, after being transferred to several different facilities.

• A series of tornadoes strike the Chicago area, killing more than 60 people and creating millions of dollars worth of damage.

• The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which deals with succession to the Presidency, is ratified.

• Teachers go on strike throughout the U.S., demanding pay increases to keep pace with inflation.

• Cassius Clay is stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing induction into the U.S. Army.

• The RMS Queen Elizabeth II is launched by Cunard.

• Francis Chichester arrives back in Plymouth, after sailing round the world single-handed.

• President Lyndon B. Johnson asks for a 6% increase on taxes to support the Vietnam War.

• The Public Broadcasting Act establishes the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

• Inflation costs of living range from 1.8% to 5.8%.

• Biafra proclaims its independence from Nigeria.

• Race riots break out in a number of cities in the U.S., including Cleveland, Newark, and Detroit.

• United Kingdom and Ireland apply officially for EEC membership.

• Typhoon Emma leaves 140,000 homeless and more than 300 dead.

• The People’s Republic of China tests its first hydrogen bomb.

• Britain devalues the pound by lowering the exchange rate from $2.80 to $2.40.

• The British Road Safety Act, which allows for the use of the “breathalyser” to detect motorists over the legal limit of alcohol, goes into effect.

• 40,000 anti-Vietnam war protesters fill the Kezar Stadium in San Fransisco, California.

• U.S. Navy pilot John McCain is shot down in his A-4 over North Vietnam and spends 5 ½ years in prison.

• A soccer riot in Sivas, Turkey, kills 41 people.

• The Monterey International Pop Festival in California features ‘60s music icons including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, The Steve Miller Band, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Grateful Dead.

• Otis Reading dies in a plane crash, aged 26.

• Barbra Streisand performs on Central Park before an audience of 135,000 people.

• The Carrol Shelby Mustang GT-500 Fastback is released.

• The musical Hair opens off-Broadway.

Top 10 highest-grossing films in the U.S.

1. The Graduate (dir. Mike Nichols)

2. The Jungle Book (dir. Wolfgang Reitherman)

3. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (dir. Stanley Kramer)

4. Bonnie and Clyde (dir. Arthur Penn)

5. The Dirty Dozen (dir. Robert Aldrich)

6. Valley of the Dolls (dir. Mark Robson)

7. You Only Live Twice (dir. Lewis Gilbert)

8. To Sir, with Love (dir. James Clavell)

9. The Born Losers (dir. T. C. Frank)

10. Thoroughly Modern Millie (dir. George Roy Hill)

Billboard’s number-one music albums (in chronological order)

1. “The Monkees” by The Monkees

2. “More of The Monkees” by The Monkees

3. “Sounds Like…” Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

4. “Headquarters” by The Monkees

5. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by The Beatles

6. “Ode to Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry

7. “Diana Ross & the Supremes: Greatest Hits” by The Supremes

8. “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” by The Monkees

Source: [x]