#i could've included panels and really gotten into things but i did not have the spoons for that

[necrotic-nephilim]

What are your opinions on Casstim?

i LOVE CassTim. i've actually written a CassTim fic that's mostly just fluff and smut, but i have a lot of ideas/thoughts about them that play with the more complicated aspects of them.

i'm of the opinion that Tim and Cass were a potential romance that DC left the door open for before Tim got adopted by Bruce. (and tbh, even after he got adopted there were certain interactions in Red Robin (2009) that felt romantically implied) a lot of their interactions have implied feelings on both sides so of all Batcest ships, i think this one has a *lot* of genuine canon backing despite it being one of the most underrated ships of the fandom.

the dynamic between Cass and Tim is really interesting to me because Tim doesn't want to be Batman in any capacity and thinks that goal is actually incredibly unhealthy and unachievable, whereas to Cass it's the thing she strives for the most and if anything she wants to be even more than that. (Batgirl (2000) #59 actually has a really interesting discussion about that and that whole post-War Games arc is fun for understanding how Tim and Cass feel about each other) so a lot of their interactions clash because of that and they can't always see eye to eye on what vigilante justice and Batman's vision should look like. their relationship with each other is always going to be dependant on their relationship with Bruce first, as well as the Batman mantle as a whole. so for them to love each other (which, they do without a doubt, romantic or not) they have to accept where they don't agree with each other.

there's such a gentleness to CassTim, i think? not because i think Cass (or Tim tbh) is gentle, but i think for the exact opposite reason. there is this fullness and drivenness in the way she loves and her undying devotion to them. she would do anything to protect her loved ones. and when you combine that with Tim, who's pretty self-sacrificial at his worst, you have some interesting conflict because they're both too-willing to die for the other. their lives are defined by violence, *especially* Cass', so for her to finally let herself be loved and protected by someone else as much as she loves others is something that simply makes me feral.

they've both been trained by Shiva, which i don't think gets explored enough because it's fun for exploring the way they fight and think in a fight being potentially similar. Cass is *far* smarter than anyone gives her credit for being, and has detective skills on par with Tim, in my opinion. they balance each other out in a lot of ways. they're two people who have *chosen* this fight more than a lot of the rest of the Batfamily. being Batgirl is so important to Cass and it's something she chose because of her desperate want to be good. and Tim chose to be Robin because he knew Gotham and Bruce needed that. while they don't always agree on it, i would argue Cass and Tim understand the nuances of the Batman mantle and what it represents deeper than almost anyone else. because of that i'm particularly interested in a future CassTim, where Cass becomes Batman and Tim is in a weird limbo where he wants to stop being a vigilante but can't seem to quite let go of the life and how they end up meeting in the middle of that. i think it could be really fun with a lot of complicated arguments between them that end in a slow burn romance.

idk man this is baseless rambling, but tldr i love them so dearly and there's so much that can be explored between them. also, i think TimKonCass should be a thing. i like KonCass more than most people do (why do y'all hate this ship it's so good pls hear me out-) and i think as a complicated weird throuple they'd be fun.

[general-cyno]

ehh it's just me musing but. I do find it a little curious that (depending on who likes whom I guess) cora is usually either seen as some saintly flawless goofy figure or a brainwashed cop who got killed because he refused to try and save his brother. I do think his character is not exactly easy to pinpoint, considering he appears for a very short time and in a flashback nonetheless, plus the fact that he's dead means no further fleshing out of his character - broadly speaking - outside of the people who knew him and are willing to provide insight on what he was like, though that'd still be kinda biased.

however I believe there's actually a bunch of things that were straight up shown and some that can be pieced together from what little panel/screen time he had: ie how he's seemingly more bad tempered, impulsive and violent than he's portrayed as in fanon at times, albeit motivated by his own priorities at the moment (trying to kick the shit out of law to stop him from exposing cora to doflamingo) + his sense of what's right and wrong and to whom it applies (punching medical staff and setting hospitals on fire for mistreating law, whom he'd been trying to help).

specifically about the navy and doflamingo part... it irks me a little, tbh. partly because it removes what little agency cora had during the flashbacks and sort of waters down his motivation to stop his brother. it's not just whatever crimes doflamingo was committing or planning to back then and the navy wanting to put a stop to that - the thing is that cora was influenced, at least to an extent, to oppose doflamingo based on their childhood experiences with (ofc) the more negative ones, which include doffy murdering their father right in front of him, overshadowing anything else. as he tells law, cora can't fathom how their kind parents could've borne someone as evil as his brother. and yet. that's the other thing. cora was very much a child, and younger than doflamingo at that, when the elder DQs chose to leave marijoa and all that it entailed after. between all the traumatic events he lived through and later being raised by a marine (sengoku of all people), I'll be the first to say his perception of those events, of their parents and doffy himself is not really the most unbiased or reliable. we don't see him questioning the existence of celestial dragons (beyond warning law he's in danger when cora finds out about the D) nor the nature of the WG/the marines and the antagonistic role they play in OP's universe. we didn't have him long enough for those things to be put to question deeply anyway, especially not wrt to doflamingo, so imo it makes sense that his focus wasn't on "saving" but stopping him.

that said... he does witness the worst of it, kind of. through law. law is the very reason why I don't agree with the idea of cora being simply a brainwashed cop. this guy watched how people (those who should care) mistreated, dehumanized and demonized a sick child over prejudices caused by the lies the nobles and WG itself relied on to sweep their own corruption under the rug. he saw first hand how all those doctors ran to call the WG to kill the child and how they answered to do that. and what did he do? he lied and betrayed the organization he'd been part of (presumably for more than the years he spent undercover) and the man who'd raised him like a son just to save the kid that everyone, even the so called justice, had turned his back on and would've gotten rid of if given the chance. heck, when he first brought up the topic of law with sengoku, the man basically told him not to favor him too much for it could jeopardize his mission.

but perhaps the biggest proof is that he lied to law about being a marine when the latter directly asked if cora was one. as he later admits, cora lied to him about this because he didn't want law to hate him - and knowing all law lived through (flevance), seeing some of it himself (their hospital shenanigans) and what law told him as well, cora knew he had plenty of understandable and justified reasons to hate anyone ever slightly associated with the marines or the WG, including cora. to me, someone who's completely blinded by the navy/WG propaganda and follows their every order to the letter without thought wouldn't have denied his own affiliation nor been so determined to ditch being a marine and make an enemy out of those institutions (even if that also meant betraying his father figure) just to save, protect and do right by a child who'd been clearly failed by them. at no point did cora ever try to argue that Not All Marines, much less express any other sentiments of that sort to law.

on a similar vein, despite insisting doflamingo was evil and an agent of destruction - law is also the proof cora was somewhat aware that his brother (and people like doflamingo) normally don't pop out of nowhere and do Terrible Things just because. that maybe in other (better) circumstances, doffy might've become someone different and/or made different choices. after all, cora is the one who points out the similarities between doflamingo and law, and eventually does his best to turn law's life around so that he won't follow the same path. should he have tried to save doflamingo as well? when? how? would it have worked? who knows. and if you ask me, regardless of their similarities at that moment in time, doffy was already a grown ass man compared to law and cora himself was just an even younger kid when shit hit the fan in their childhood. I'm not sure doflamingo (as an adult) would've been particularly receptive of "help" either, considering his disdain for the kindness in cora and their father that he saw as a weakness. not to mention waaay too many other factors that come into play also (trebol and co's grooming and influence for example). still, one of them did pull the literal trigger in the end and it wasn't cora, so there's that.

all in all, for a character with such a short lived amount of time in the story - cora is quite the complex one and so very compelling. characterizing him as just strictly one thing or the other can be a little reductive but the fact that his character can be explored beyond that in the first place (once more, despite his lil bit of alive and onscreen moments) is what's fun and says a lot about the writing itself.

[joynershats]

so i feel like ive seen plenty of people talk about alex borrowing one of lukes cutoffs and flipping the roles and making willie bluescreen and of course im all for that absolutely love it but i feel like i havent seen enough about if willie borrowed one of lukes cutoffs??? like if alex bluescreens normally when just seeing his bf flip his hair or wear his usual crop top i would love to see his reaction to him in that scrap of fabric fully arms out like oh god hot bf extreme gay panic. truly there can never be enough of these two simping over each other

hello!

I loved this prompt and maybe I was a little too self indulgent because of my love for Booboo but here you are. I shall include visuals i used as inspo just for the thrill of it, enjoy!

Alex was fine with Willie's and Luke's friendship.

The two hadn't gotten along immediately, some sort of tension going on as Willie could feel there was a past between the guitarist and Alex, but once they had clicked, it had been impossible to keep them away from one another.

They had the same energy — maybe Alex had a pattern in the boys he liked — but unfortunately that meant double mischief, and constantly conspiring against the drummer's mental health.

But one thing was planning on leaving the two alone as much as possible, and another was what happened that evening.

Alex and Julie had been on a binge watch of Gilmore Girls. She had proposed out of nowhere, but who was Alex to refuse, really? It wasn't like he could've imagined she was conspiring against him with Willie and Luke.

"Are you sure he's gonna like this?" Willie asked as they gazed into the mirror. The tank top revealed more than they would've thought, but Luke sure did have a passion for any shirt that was as little as possible a shirt.

This one, of a band they'd only heard about but never listened to any of their music, was tied together at the hem, displaying entire panels of tan skin and tattoos that their usual crop tops wouldn't give away.

"He's gonna love it, or he's gonna have a stroke, but he's already dead so either way it's fine!" Luke grabbed their shoulders in an encouraging gesture, then patted them before leaving them to gaze at their reflection.

"You know, when you proposed this I wasn't sure, because I haven't played in a long time, but I'm kinda digging it. Next thing you know I'm joining jatp."

Luke chuckled. "As much as that would be rad, Alex would be useless if he'd keep staring at you jumping around the stage, so we'll have to pass."

Willie considered it, a smile growing on their lips, then turned to Luke, their hair caressing their biceps in the process.

"Let's go then."

Now, Willie was no talented musician. They loved art, for sure, any kind of, they were amazing at drawing, and graffiti-ing especially, but for music specifically they weren't as talented as any of the members of the band.

That surely didn't stop them from shredding a little guitar, had discovered Luke at some point. So in secret he'd started planning Alex's doom, giving the skater lessons when Alex wasn't around.

They grabbed the black, shiny electric guitar they'd been generously given by Luke — not after threatening them of murdering them again if one scratch was on it after they'd used it — and admired it.

Then they started playing together.

From inside the house, Alex rose from his leaning position, hearing the phantom of the music.

"I thought Reggie was with Ray, are they rehearsing without me?" he asked Julie, who just shrugged. She was faking interest in the TV all too well.

A slight feeling of discomfort bubbled in the pit of the drummer's stomach, who out of the blue poofed away. Julie smirked as soon as she was left alone.

He had been ready to make a scene to his two band mates when he raised his head and the scene in front of him wasn't the one he'd been expecting.

Luke, he was always there, was surely playing, but not with Reggie.

At this side, fucking Willie was playing an intricate riff Luke had written for one of their newer songs, but that didn't quite go with the vibe of it.

Alex was almost sure he was going to faint.

Willie, his Willie, boyfriend Willie, was playing the guitar, with his best friend, and they were doing it wearing one of his sleeveless thirst traps.

And it looked like they knew what they were doing.

Their long hair flipped as they moved along the music, a concentrated expression on their face like they were trying to impress even the furniture.

Suddenly it was like the first time once again: he couldn't tear his eyes off the skater, he couldn't breathe but he wasn't sure ghosts could breathe to begin with, he couldn't even think if the thoughts weren't how absolutely stunning they looked. How much in their element they seemed.

"Oh hey hot dog!" they greeted with enthusiasm like the usual. He hadn't even noticed they had finished playing the chorus, and now the duo was staring at him intensely.

Alex had to blink another hundred of times to be able to form sounds. "You...?"

He vaguely gestured to the set up, and Luke smiled mischievously. "Gave him a couple lessons, you didn't tell me your boyfriend was a natural talent."

Alex stayed silent for another solid minute, just staring.

Abs. Tattoos. Skin.

"My... yea, my boyfriend." he nodded, still distracted. Willie walked in his direction, fixing the hair fallen on top of their forehead with a hand.

"This new song is freakin dope, while Reggie isn't there, do you mind if I play with you guys? I wanna hear how it is with the drums."

Alex was still there standing, big light eyes staring.

"I'll go grab Julie, you start in the meantime."

Luke winked in the direction of the two, leaving them alone in the garage.

Alone.

[saucylittlesmile]

All discussion about Sochi and its results are a moot point. Meryl was dating Marina's son. They were going to win if they skated clean, regardless of what VM did. They knew it and still found it in them to deliver the skates that they did. Igor saw it coming and she got rid of him unceremoniously. VM were in an impossible situation. They could've had the most epic free dance music and still would've had to satisfy with silver. Thankfully, fate had other plans. They've been vindicated.

So I was avoiding answering this for a while to think through my answer, because it’s not something I totally agree with.  

I feel like what you have going on in your ask is two separate things.  If I’m reading you right, you:

1.  Feel that because Meryl was with Fedor, Marina was at worst sabotaging VM, or at best, not giving them her better work and that

2.  VM would have gotten 2nd no matter what, at Sochi.

I think many of us can agree that Marina seemed to have a stronger interest in DW, but I don’t think we can narrow it down to just who her son was dating.  There could have been any number of other factors, including pressure from USFSA, or her own desire to have coached two teams to Olympic gold.  

And regardless of what Marina did or didn’t do for VM, ice dance politicks is always bigger than one coach, so I can’t whole blame at her door.  Even if behind the scenes, she campaigned hard for DW, there’s still a whole panel of judges that would need to be on board - or at least, a majority, and then there would have been the pressure of the rest of the coaches and countries to contend with, too.

As for Igor, we never got a... full story.  We got a little bit of the he said/she said, and then there was a settlement and that was that.  However, for all the fans feeling that DW were “Igor’s team” and VM were Marina’s, obviously, both teams stayed with Marina.  VM won 2012 Worlds and the beginning of the 2012/2013 season had mostly positive press about the potential of Carmen, and Igor was let go in May/June of 2012; that would have been quite the foresight.   

And also - we have to remember that VM were adults, making their own decisions too.  No one forced them to stay with Marina; no one made them choose to skate to Seasons.  

Still, we will always know that really, VM had two brilliant skates in Sochi, no matter what the results say, and yet, those results probably helped push them into the comeback, so I will always be grateful for that.