#YEAAHHH SHES IN A SUIT

[artartblueyy]

AND SO SHE RETURNS💕💕

man i missed her soooosososo much aaa<33!!!! please give her some lovesaaaaa

[blacksuits]

AMPHIBIAN SHIRT

[sunnyloquart]

[woahjo]

you are SO right about the makki bassist take 😩 am currently clubbing my social anxiety down with a stick to be able to get to know the “real” goth girl bassist 🤪 she’s so hot and nice and funny (and she’s queer 😩) and and and hfjgbgnfnfnfmmmm

anyways, ummm, in light of your zombie apocalypse/twd!bnha au… got any spare thoughts? 👀 no pressure 🥰

- 🧶

what's not to love about you?? <33 i say go for it, worst that can happen is that there's not really a spark!

and i am SO GLAD YOU ASKED. I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE AU AND I HAVE BEEN DYING TO SPEAK ABOUT IT. i have 14k of it written and the major plot / emotional development events plotted... and i really feel that katsuki is so well-suited for a zombie au. there's something about his personality. daryl dixon adjacent at times, if you will. distant, but there's something about his mannerisms that make him undeniably caring. an acts of service guy.

GOD. and and and and it's the first fic in a while where i genuinely have so many thoughts and ideas that i don't want to stop writing and YEAAHHH IT FEELS GOOD.

anyway, tid bit is that the cast of characters consists of izuku, katsuki, mina, kiri, ochako, denki, momo, shoto, and sero. im doing my best to dive into all of them individually throughout the fic bc i have such an... image... about who i believe they would become in this type of event.

it's like... sexy sad idk how to describe it i am really excited about it and im excited for when y'all eventually get to read it !!!

[webbedphantom]

Jeez, this Spider-Man guy sounded really relatable to him right now. They'd probably gone through a lot of the same stuff. Almost like there was a reason for that...

Nah, it's probably a coincidence-

"I'll definitely be doing some research while I'm still in the country. It's... honestly kinda nice to know I'm not alone in all this."

At her mentioning a change in costume, he couldn't help but cringe a bit-

"Yeaahhh... about that. I kinda... can't? This costume I got on isn't exactly... normal."

Hoo boy, this was gonna be tough to explain.

"It's tied into that Persona thing I mentioned. This suit came with the powers, it's not actually a physical thing. It's more... a manifestation of how I view... rebellion-"

"I-I know that how that sounds, but that's just... what it is. The good thing about that is that I can put it on whenever I want, and when I take it off, there's no trace it ever existed. All my teammates have the same thing... well, aside from Sovereign, cause symbiote-"

"I can change small details about it. The red lines on the suit weren't there originally, and the eyes used to be a lot smaller and... creepier. Heck, that's how the eyes move at all. It's all a slight change in cognition. But big changes, like completely changing the color? Haven't been able to do that yet. And believe me, I've tried."

"I suppose I could get a regular costume, but... well, a big part of the reason I've been able to get away with all this is because of a lack of evidence. And... well, I can't risk getting caught. Even if I was able to avoid the murder charges, my life would be over, and my friends would pay the price. I can't take that chance."

His reaction to her offer wasn't exactly what one might expect. She'd already done so much for him, and he'd taken up so much of her time. Was it really okay to-

Just answer the damn question, Aaron. She's offering her help, so quit being... you, and just TAKE IT.

He sighed. He was really not used to this... to being helped. Not because he didn't usually need it, just that... well, outside of his aunt, and his friends (all of which he'd met in the last like... 5 months), no one had ever really offered before.

"Okay... I already owe you a lot, more than I can really express. But if you're sure it's no trouble... then ask away."

Yeesh. She does not miss being a moody teen. Nope. She's so glad she's past all this stuff.

"Okay, first and foremost, you need to do some real research on superheroes. Especially Spiderman, since he was vilified in the press for years and one of his main antagonists is literally a CEO of his own company. And just speaking from experience, I'm the daughter of one of the world's most dangerous serial killers; I understand bad press. It's part of the job, really; but I think part of your issue is that you're not connecting with anyone on this."

"Look, I'm the last person to have taken this advice myself, so I realize I'm being hypocritical giving you this advice. But you either need to connect with people in industry or positions of power like Iron Man, or you need to engender some love among the citizenry like Spiderman. You know why Spiderman can do what he does? Because people love that guy. Aside from the people who hate him. And well, a lot of those people started hating him ironically, and it became a thing."

"Now, I know I can't really speak about good costume ideas, because I've designed some terrible ones, but maybe dressing in all black like you're going through a bleak period isn't helping your image. Really, everything we do is kinda image based. If you want people to see you and like you, you can't also be terrifying."

"This is also where the whole having friends thing helps; heroes get accused of all kinds of stuff, and it helps to have people who you can call to help deal with it. For example, I've been to prison several times, because as I said, our system tends to be more fucked up than yours, and that's saying something. That said, I can give you some help, but you're going to have to decide to take it."

"I might be retired from the A-lister life, but I was still one of Canada's top heroes for a time, and you build a lot of connections. And when you're dealing with mental stuff, like mind control, you need to have everything locked down. Trust me, the 'actually I was mind controlled by purple girl' defense got old for me."

"So if you want me to, I'm going to ask you a simple question, and get your answer, and if it's the answer I hope it is, I can make a few phone calls and get you some connections. But you have to be willing to trust people. And you have to be willing to reach out first. If I get the answer I'm hoping for, you'll at least have one point in your favor; I always get the truth from people, and no one can dispute that."

[little-murmaider]

Got a Dethentines fic that loosely fits the prompt in under the wire eyyyy. Enjoy some more Tamika.

Abigail propped her phone up on the soundboard as Tamika’s face lit up her screen.

“Hiiiiiii whatcha doin’?”

“I’m at work.”

“Yeah, me too, what’s your point?” She flipped her camera around to show a vast sea of sad, ugly humps huddled mournfully at their cubicles. “You start that book I loaned you?”

“I’m picking my way through it.”

“Aaaaaaand?”

“And…it’s not as terrible as I thought it would be.”

“I TOLD you!” Her bright pink fingernail prodded her camera as if she were poking Abigail between the eyebrows. “I TOLD you you would like it!”

“I don’t like it. I just don’t hate it.”

“Still my desired outcome.”

“I have to say, when you said you wanted me to read a romance novel, I thought you were giving me a drug store bodice ripper.”

“Yeaahhh they’re okay, but I get frustrated with the historical inaccuracies.” Tamika uncapped her lip gloss and dabbed the wand to her mouth. “Like, if you’re going to set your story in 18th century France you need reflect the era’s tumultuous socio-political climate DEIRDRE.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m way more into the Adult Contemporary Romance genre. You know, rom-coms in text form. And I knew you would like that one.”

“Never said I liked it.” Abigail paused. “Why?”

“Ohhhhhh I don’t knoooooow.” She swiveled her office chair innocently. “Beautiful workaholic heroine finds herself working on the top secret project of a beautiful workaholic celebrity? Seemed like a narrative you’d connect with.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

“Nothing! Anyway what are you doing later? Wanna get drinks?”

“Kiki I am 5000 miles away.”

“So? Get that elven prince of yours to charter a jet. He can afford it.”

“He’s NOT—“ she scrambled to jam in her ear buds, leaning close to her phone and dropping her voice to a whisper, “First of all, that’s unethical.”

“Everything you’ve told me about this band and now you’re worried about ethics?”

“—Second! He’s not my anything. He’s just—he’s just a guy I work with. That’s all.”

“Uh-huh. You know, Damon used be ‘just a guy I worked with.’ But now he’s—“

“Your fiANceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Abigail pitched her voice high as it would go, holding up her left hand and waggling her fingers. On screen, Tamika did the same.

“—ceeeeeeeeeeeee oh. I see. You’re mocking me. I will remember this.”

The studio door whooshed open. Abigail startled, then relaxed.

“Oh, euegh, am I interrupting somet’ings?”

“No, you’re fine, I was just wrapping up.” She turned back. “I gotta go.”

Tamika’s focus had shifted. She beamed at something to her left, propping her chin on her fist.  “Same, some guy I work with is taking me to lunch.”

“Hi Abigail.”

Abigail waved, though she knew he could not see her.

“You wants to picks up where we lefts off?”

As he crossed from the threshold to the booth, Skwisgaar flitted, briefly, behind Abigail’s chair.

“IS THAT HIM?!?”

Putting in her ear buds was Abigail’s best and worst decision.

“Ohhhhhh I get it. Booked yourself a private session, huh?”

“Baby don’t be crude.”

“Sorry, baby.”

“GoodBYE!”

“Byeeeeeee love youuuuuu call me every day!”

The screen cut to black, and the call ended.

“Sorry about that.” She slipped her phone into the pocket of her suit jacket. “So did you want to start with Drinking The Blood Of My Enemies From a Gas Station Big Gulp or Knife Stab Stab Knife Stab Stab Stab (Death)?”

“Dat’s a working titles. What’s dis?”

Abigail froze. Her purse had tipped over, and poking out of it was Tamika’s book.

Skwisgaar smirked. “I dids not realize you was a fans of…romance.”

“It’s…a recent interest.”

“What’s it abouts?”

She swept her hair off her neck. “A beautiful workaholic heroine finds herself working on the top secret project of a beautiful workaholic celebrity.” Her faces burned under his inscrutable gaze. “I’m not very far.”

“Huh.” His mouth ticked up at the corners, a sparkle in his eyes that he seemed to reserve only for her. “You lets me know how it ends, ja?”

Tamika could never know about this.

[none-of-your-biscuits]

Something important: on the back of Sabrina's Miss Hound suit, she has a small tail. That is all.

YEAAHHH

[ironhusband]

what are your ideal plots for armor wars and Ironheart??? 👀👀👀

Anon! How could you have known?

(Thank you so much for asking)

~~~

I spent a long time thinking about my ideal plot for the Rhodey show. It makes me desperately want to write fic, and I already scrapped at least five ideas. My final choice? 

So, in this new phase of Marvel, there seems to not really any Avengers. There’s a lot of crossovers but not really a team (though they might be building up to some kind of Champions-Young Avengers mash up group). Plus, the whole compound is destroyed so even if they are still at team, they don’t have a building to assemble in. So Rhodey won’t be an Avenger anymore. He’s just Air-Force now. Which is fine, it is! It’s just that he doesn’t have much to do... 

He keeps seeing fights and new heroes on TV, but the Air-Force above his shoulder keeps telling him to not engage. And besides that, which he can’t engage in, Rhodey doesn’t really have what to fight. So War Machine becomes less prominent, and he feels like he’s stuck in a stupid desk job, which is endlessly frustrating to Rhodey. The fight needs to be fought and they won’t let him!

He reaches his boiling point, probably around seeing Riri. It’s not that he thinks Riri is unsuitable, but a kid is carrying on his best friend’s legacy and he can’t be there because of his orders. 

So he quits. If this is the only way to be War Machine, maybe it’s better if he isn’t one at all. 

Only to realize that was the military’s plan after all. The Air-Force has all the War Machine blueprints, and can probably make a War Machine suit all on their own. Hammer jumps on the chance to build the suits. Suddenly, there’s a new legion of War Machine suits, and who knows what the military would do with them. They haven’t learned their lesson in Iron Man 2. 

(Bonus points if Rhodey is blamed by the internet for becoming corrupt because the military forgot to tell people about the new War Machine suits. The suits are never shown together, so everyone just assumes it’s Rhodey being evil)

Rhodey is caught between his ideals, his duty, and his retirement, as he starts building his own suits, using his niece as the girl in his chair, taking out the entire corrupt military, meeting other iron people, and creating his own legacy. 

He’s fighting for his own name this time. 

~~~

Now, I’ve only read Invincible Iron Man: Ironheart, so I don’t know everything about Riri’s story, but I do know that she mirrors a lot of MCU Tony’s arc. She’s motivated by survivor guilt. Isolates herself through her suits. She built her first armor from scraps. Doesn’t really have a secret identity. She’s extremely creative and when she manages to defeats the bots AI Tony used to train her, she whoops in a way that reminded me of MCU Tony shouting “yeaahhh!” in Iron Man. She’s Tony Stark in every way that matters to me. 

But the thing is, 616 Riri met Tony. MCU Riri would likely not (unless they make them meet post IW but pre Endgame). Which means, Riri would be completely self made. Even if she gets hired by SI in the MCU, even if she gets a Tony AI, it’ll be 100% her at the beginning.

And I think that’s awesome. 

The show starts by showing Riri’s childhood. Showing her growing up as a lonely genius until she meets Natalia. Showing her tense relationship with her dad, her supportive but worried mom, showing her best friend, only friend, that seems to be the only one interested in her inventions instead of scared of them. Then... Natalie and her step dad die. She has to be torn away from Natalie’s body. Riri looks at the screen with superheroes fighting, heartbroken and quiet, telling the police officer that it should have been her. 

Riri starts building a suit of armor. That was one of her last conversations with Natalie. That she wants to fly. And she does. She wants it. And maybe if she’ll fly high enough, she’ll be close to Natalie again. Or at least she wouldn’t feel this empty. She finishes the suit and takes it for a spin. And it’s amazing. The wind isn’t in her hair, no, but the adrenaline is in her veins. She’s floating in the air, the jets chasing her heels. She smiles, for the first time in months. 

She spots someone with a gun cornering someone in an alley, and Riri flies down and immediately bends the gun in half. The person runs in horror, and she turns to the person she saved. “You’re safe now,” she tells them. She flies away. 

Riri goes viral on the internet, with that person’s witness making everyone freak out. Everyone sees it.

Or at least enough people so that SI can reach her. 

Riri is watching the news about her, complicating whether she wants to be a superhero, when Pepper Potts knocks on her door with a suitcase in hand, asking for her and Riri to have a chat and a gift exchange. They talk about what it means to be Iron Man and why she wants it. Pepper hands her the case and tells her, “my gift is only this; promise you’ll do right by his legacy.” Riri Williams, determined, tells her, “I will.”

Riri finds AI! Tony Stark and starts getting trained by him. Every episode she learns a new lesson from the AI or from her experience, and all through the training she shows off how creative, smart, quippy and excited she can be. AI! Tony and Riri’s friendship is a slow burn, from purely AI Tony who’s a little shit and Riri who really wishes Tony had a mute button, to AI Tony becoming Riri’s best friend and her sharing things with him. 

Meanwhile, an original villain watches Riri in the background. Their plan has to occur without an Iron Man and they can’t afford Riri. They need to take her down. They send small villains after her, thinking she can be taken down easily. Riri fights those smaller villains, all sent from the ultimate villain, and Tony teases her about this all being training. Riri grumbles about not being taken seriously. 

The finale episode deals with that villain, that tells her, “fine, I’ll do it myself”. In that season finale, Riri realizes what she’s fighting for: she’s fighting for the future and for the people who don’t want progress. 

Riri stands in the middle of the crowd and she says, “I am the future. You have me now.” And what she means is, “I have a future. I’m not alone anymore.”

[kaweeella]

To Be The Best Me

Here it is, that thing I was talking about earlier.

If you think of a cool title let me know. yeaahhh I thought of something but I’m still open to suggestions if you have one.

Chapter 1

~~~

Izumi looks at the paper in her hands. It was addressed to her father, but he’s been gone for years and her mother didn’t want to deal with it, so the responsibility of clearing things up fell to Izumi.

She looks out the window of the plane. She’s headed to the Veludo region. She stayed there with her dad a little when she was younger. It has a strong focus on the arts and has many different environments, so it has a lot of different pokemon.

Pokemon.

Her dad ran a school of sorts for pokemon trainers. That’s where she’s headed. His old school.

She probably could have sent a letter herself. She could have stayed home. But something compelled her to go in person.

The plane lands and everyone slowly shuffles off. Izumi grabs her pokeball belt out of the overhead bin and puts it back on. She didn’t want to put her pokemon in her luggage and wearing it the entire time would hurt.

After grabbing her bags she goes to the listed address. Mankai, it’s called.

When she finds the building, there are two men standing outside and a large backhoe. One man has messy brown hair. He’s wearing a green suit with patches and round glasses. The second man is blond with a black coat and rectangular glasses.

“No! Please! I just need a little more time!”

“You’ve had plenty of time.”

Izumi starts to slowly back away.

“Hey!” Shit. The messy haired man spotted her.

She walks over, showing him the letter. “I’m here by proxy for my father.”

“You are? Could you help?”

“With what?”

“The school!”

“There isn’t going to be a school anymore.” The blond man says. “Sakoda.”

The backhoe moves towards the building.

“Wait what’s happening?”

“This guy has a debt and the price to pay it off is the property.”

A dozen thoughts flow through her mind, one of which being that this isn’t even technically his property.

“Wait,” She speaks without thinking. “Couldn’t he pay in money?” She feels kinda stupid.

“It is an option, but he can’t afford it. That’s why we’re tearing the place down.”

“How much?”

He hands her a slip of paper. Jesus.

“How about a new deal?” She begs herself to stop talking.

“What’s the deal?”

“Give it just a little more time and I’ll have a full functioning school and your money.” Stop.

“You’re gonna help?” The messy haired man asks gratefully.

“Against my better judgment,” She mutters. “Yes.”

The blond man thinks it over. Izumi wonders how he’s gonna off her.

“Okay.” He says calmly. “You have ten months.” He turns back to the backhoe. “Sakoda, we’re leaving.”

“You’re the boss, boss!” The man leaves and the backhoe slowly backs away. After some time the backhoe disappears over the horizon.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” The man shouts.

“Yeah, don’t… don’t mention it.” She reaches out her hand. “I’m Izumi Tachibana.”

“Isuke Matsukawa.”

“Alright, let’s see the school.”

Inside the building Izumi finds what seems typical of a school. Desks, a teacher desk, a white board, shelves with books and such, just general classroom things. An odd thing she notices is that there is only one student.

“Hello!” He greets cheerily. “I’m Sakuya.”

“Hi.”

“Are you the teacher that Mr. Matsukawa was talking about?”

She’s not. In fact she’s not even licensed to teach. But they don’t need to know that.

“I’m assuming he told you about my father?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“But I am here to help!” She goes over to the teacher desk. “So what do you know already?” The good thing about having one student is that she could tailor the lessons specifically to help him. Unfortunately if she wants to run a proper school she’s gonna need to adjust it a little.

“Well there are a lot of types and some types are weak to some and strong against others, and that when pokemon get stronger they can evolve. Some have certain conditions to it like special items or trading.”

“Great! Now could you show me your pokemon?”

“I don’t have a pokemon.”

“You don’t have a pokemon.” She repeats. “Alright first lesson will be about catching pokemon.”

His face lights up. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda hard to be a pokemon trainer without any pokemon.”

They walk out to a nearby wild area and Izumi grabs her pokeballs from her belt. She also grabs an empty one from her bag and tosses it to Sakuya.

“Alright, typically you fight the pokemon to weaken it and throw a pokeball to catch it. You can catch it without fighting but it’s a little difficult.”

“How am I gonna weaken it without a pokemon?”

“Well you could use a stick if you really wanted to.” He looks so upset. “It was a joke. No, I’m going to weaken it for you to teach you how to battle.” She sends out her pokemon. A spinda and pachirisu.

“Cool!” He squats down to look at them.

“Eh… not really, but I love them.” She pats spinda on the head before she falls over.

They pause when they hear rustling in the bushes. Sakuya stands up and Izumi picks up spinda. Out of the bushes pops an eevee.

“Woah.” Sakuya admires it. He pauses. “It looks paler than other eevees I’ve seen.”

“It's shiny.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It’s purely cosmetic. Some look for them for aesthetic, others because it’s rare. It really doesn’t mean much, sometimes you can’t even tell unless you look close.”

The eevee drops into a fighting stance.

“Go on! Pachirisu!”

He jumps in front of her, electricity sparking from his fur.

“Let’s start this with status moves. Alright, use growl!”

He lets out a deep, low growl, staring daggers into his opponent.

“Growl lowers the target’s attack.”

The eevee runs round the area, kicking up dirt. The wind picks up and blows the sand towards the pachirisu.

“That's a sand attack,” She explains. “It lowers accuracy. Now for physical attacks. Use spark!”

The electricity in the pachirisu’s fur builds and he jumps up, using his tail to hit it. The electricity sparks and the eevee falls back some.

The eevee runs and tackles pachirisu, knocking him over a little.

“Alright Sakuya, now it’s your turn.”

He nods and throws the pokeball, hitting the eevee. It goes in, and the ball shakes some before going still. The ball lets out a little click.

“I did it?”

“Good job!”

“I did it!” He excitedly grabs the ball.

“Alright, now that you have a pokemon and some field experience, let’s head back in.” Izumi reaches down and pachirisu runs up her arm onto her shoulder.

“Can I let him out?”

“Yeah, if you want to. Just make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone or breaks anything.”

He lets out the eevee. He looks over him a little before smiling and jumping into his arms.

“Thank you, Ms. Tachibana!”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

[xiaolindude]

how would u describe the relationship that raimundo has with each of his love interests ? what's their "song ? can u see any possible ot3s ?

ooOOOOHHH DANG

first of all, nah, i can’t see any ot3s in all honesty! but HERE WE GO LADS, songs and descriptions. i’m just gonna organise this by person~

--

jack // rio verse // heylincorporated 

oh boy. how would i describe these two? 

DUMMIES. STUPID, CHAOTIC DUMMIES. they’re complete assholes, incredibly annoying (especially to each other) but damn if their chemistry isn’t off the damn charts. the thing is (based on the verse we built, not canon), they understand each other better than anyone else in the world pretty much?? they’ve seen each other at their lowest, been through that 5 year separation and got past that and now????? idiot husbands. and the amount of fun they have together!!!! iconic. there’s so much roasting and banter and silly games and playfulness and stupidity and they just have a huuuuuge amount of fun with each other. BUT they can also get super soft. it’s rarer, but they can be really gentle with each other and say nice things and make each other feel super loved and Seen and i’m :’) 

it’s fun to watch them develop too and see them at different times during their relationship? because they literally go from enemies to reluctant housemates to enemies who make out sometimes to kind of fwb ?? to More (but neither of them admit it), to then literally not seeing or hearing from each other for 5 years, then back to tentative lovers and thEN BASICALLY HUSBANDS just without the paperwork. they’re super well suited for each other.

idk there’s a lot to unpack with these two and i could go on and on but yEAAHHH.  i’m not playing favourites but rio verse fuckin kicks ass and i loVE IT SO MUCH DON’T LOOK @ ME 

song: i have many playlists for them rip here’s a playlist! 

--

rapunzel // leader/shoku verse (and older) // runningracingdancingchasing

soft, playful and supportive. they have very different experiences yet very similar fears and whatnot because of those experiences. they understand each other on a deeper level and are very accepting of each other. there’s also a fair amount of playful roasting which is good! there’s a mutual respect there for each other’s powers, intelligence, etc... they’re also both super fun and adventurous so things don’t get too stale! one issue is that rai struggles with softness and intimacy, which rapunzel wants more of. rai’s a little too jokey and won’t think too deeply about... pretty much anything fshfhdhf

song: they have a playlist~

--

poseida // villain verse // seaprofound

she’s not necessarily a love interest since he isn’t really capable of that level of affection in this verse tbh bUT ! 

they’re suuuuuuper fun. she’s chaotic good, he’s chaotic neutral. he’s more of a ‘bad guy’ than she is, and they kinda contrast in a lot of ways, especially their morals and mindsets. it starts off mainly sexual, bc they’re both hot n’ horny like 24/7 lmao. bUT they have a lot of fun together, too! rai  for one loves the sense of... idk, danger, almost? because she’s is vastly more powerful than he is, and that’s an incredibly rare find in this verse. so he loves challenging her and pushing her, knowing he’s kinda playing with fire. also they’re always up for destroying the idle rich together \o/

song: hmmmmmm... the world will remember us from bonnie and clyde tbh. also kinda meet me in the woods by lord huron

[idealisticrealism]

Blindspot 2x15 recap

(aka the one where the team does their own version of WifeSwap and also takes down a trafficking ring)

So I don't know if anyone is still interested in these (other than the couple of anons who have been gently reminding me about getting this done haha) but in honour of the new ep this week, here's my recap of last ep aka ~The Dream Team Reshuffle~

Okay so are these Kurt/Roman sparring sessions a spectator sport?? Because if so, seriously sign me up right now for a lifetime membership haha. Goddamn. And I just-- I mean, the level of trust here? The kindness? Weller understands that Roman needs both freedom and an outlet, so he gives him both, under the guise of 'triggering memories' for information on Sandstorm. Sure, that's the official explanation, but lbr he really just did it because he knows how he would feel being in Roman's shoes. And plus, what better way to get to know the brother of the woman he's in love with? ~Brother-in-law bonding time~ Aaww yeaahhh. I also love that he actually pins Roman-- Roman may be a trained warrior, but Weller's no slouch either. Just because he wears a suit most of the time doesn't erase the fact that he's literally one of the best agents the FBI has. And then ughhh Jane comes in just as he's got Roman pinned and I love that the vibe is instantly like "uh-oh, busted" haha. I love the shock in Jane’s voice though and the way she says 'Kurt'-- tbh I think it's both a "Kurt don't hurt him" and "Kurt is everything okay" because in that split second she doesn't know if this fight is just sparring or has turned real and there's just a flicker of panic where she doesn't know what to do and then Roman is all "we're fine" (aka ‘chill sis we're just engaging in manly bonding’) and she just stares, even more shocked, as Weller grins and pulls Roman to his feet. Like literally this scene has been going for like 30 seconds and I just love everything it has achieved-- Roman is proving to Weller that he can be trusted, bc he didn't try to hurt him or escape while they were sparring, Weller is proving to Roman that he understands and respects his needs and that they can be allies despite coming from opposing sides, and Weller's proving to Jane that he's good hubby material :P and obviously that he cares enough about her to go out of his way for the people she loves. Ugh. And when she suggests Roman going out into the field, he's so gentle and apologetic about why they can't allow that. And then he leaves her to take Roman back to the cell, showing trust in them both. Ugh. What a genius scene, to be so packed with meaning in such a short space of time. I also appreciate Roman trying to convince Jane to tell Weller the truth about Emma bc it’s the right thing to do (seriously woman he’s right, hurry up with that! I'm so annoyed about the lack of learning from past mistakes that's happening here like seriously this can only go badly ugh)

Wait Nas' source-phone is ringing?? Good thing she remembered the code phrase after all these months haha. Also considering that I'm still on the 'Remi was the source' bandwagon, I feel like this meet-up is a trap...

Naw Jeller walking to the lab together and then WAIT WHAT HE ASKED ABOUT THE DATE. Omg. The awkwardness level just shot through the roof (and probably continued up several floors) and Jane is staring at him bc lbr the ~thing~ between them is like the elephant in the room that goes carefully ignored and then suddenly he's asking about something that's directly elephant-adjacent and it's like is this really happening? and then she's still speechless and he assures her she doesn't have to talk about it with him (while looking like he's practically about to cry jesus christ what are you two doing to me) and then he tells her that her whole date thing got him ~thinking~ and her eyes go wide and she stops breathing because is he about to acknowledge the elephant and lbr she's so stunned at even the possibility that this could be happening but she's SO READY for it and ugh I bet her heart is racing rn and ugh ours certainly are because we're all like YES TELL HER ADMIT YOUR LOVE KISS HER KIIISSSSS HEERRRRRRR, and then--- "we need to be careful. Sandstorm is everywhee" and oh man. All that buildup just goes poof! and disappears. Goddammit, Weller, you stupid boy. Couldn't you see how loudly her eyes were screaming 'kiss me'?? Or maybe you could, and that's why you look so sad, because you believe that you two can/should never be together again. But more likely he just assumed that her stunned look was her being uncomfortable about discussing her love life with him. Ugh you two are IDIOTS. Idiots, I tell you. But lbr I do love the fact that Weller is telling her to stay away from Oliver to protect her, which I'm sure is entirely genuine-- or at least, he's convinced himself of that. I wonder if he's aware that he also just wants her far far away from any other man. And then omg Nas appears, interrupting their private moment (I love the look they exhange like they're not quite ready to let go of their connection just yet) and lol I just love that this single moment is like a total metaphor for Nas' involvement in this show, her very presence interrupting their progress back towards one another. Ugh. But anyway sidenote, it looks like when they head to the lab they actually all head back in the direction they had just come from in the first place?? Unless I got all turned around while I was focusing too closely on Jeller's intense eye contact lol, I mean that’s certainly a possibility

Anyhow they head into the lab and there's a conspicuous absence-- Reade is nowhere to be seen, which is no surprise to us, because that dude has become flakier than old paint, but it is to Weller, who has been a little too distracted in the recent weeks to have the team totally in grip like he used to. And luckily for Reade, he has Zapata to cover for him, who gives a hurried excuse of train delays. Ah, transport troubles. An oldie but a goodie. Patterson unwittingly helps by just getting straight down to business, directing all their attention to a photo of Jane's hip and thigh, meaning that they all have a clear view of the curve of her butt as well. I wonder if Jane is so used to this team seeing her body that she just doesn't even register the invasiveness of it anymore? Does Weller ever feel weird about looking so clinically and professionally at something that he would very much like to look at in a non-work setting?? But anyhow. I love that when Patterson's talking about the tattoo being a coin that has the date 1776, a hint of sarcasm creeps into her voice as she says 'the birth of our great nation'. I hope Ashley herself put that slight inflection (and social commentary) on it. Also yay Rich gets a small shoutout since he recognised the symbol from the center of the coin, which relates to some smuggler dude. I hope he’s happy back in whatever prison he’s in. And then there’s some complicated puzzle-solving involving another related tattoo that points them to some fancy medical clinic/heatlh spa thing. Jane reads the Greek off the tattoo because of course she can, and when she asks how it all ties together, Patterson quips, "It's all Greek to me!" and looks at big bro Weller with like an 'eh? eh??' expression. He's not amused, but dw Patterson, because we are. You're the cutest and it's great to see you getting your humour back. And then Weller decides they need to all split up-- a team to talk to some dude that has a connection to the smuggler, a team to check out the medispa, and a team to stay behind and coordinate everything and chase other leads as they arise. Naturally Patterson is the latter, and he pairs Jane and Tasha (yaaaaaasssss) to talk to the dude, but then rather than taking Nas with him to the medispa, he says he'll be taking Roman instead. I love that everyone's like 'whaaaaa?', especially us lol. And then he says that he got a call from Pellington threatening to give Roman to the CIA unless he starts giving them useful info and ugh I so want to know if that's true or if he just made it up so no one would try to fight him on his decision to take Roman on the mission?? Zapata's kinda against it but not firmly against it like she would have been a couple of weeks ago, and I'm super interested to see how she and Jane will work together given their conflicting opinions over Roman and their rocky relationship in the past. I have high hopes for some quality bonding time so please don’t let me down, show 

Ooh we're doing another timejumping episode like the college shooting one back in S1. Tasha is leaving a (well deserved) angry voicemail for Reade  while Jane delivers Roman to Weller and tells Weller to be safe out there. Which is her telling him to look out for both her brother and for himself and ugh I love being back to a place where these two are allowed to openly care about each other again rather than pretending like they don’t. And then naww speaking of caring, Jane checks to make sure Zapata is okay when she hears her sounding upset on the phone. Ugh yaaaayyy at them being friends aain. And then ugh they work together so well as they interrogate the prisoner guy (sidenote, I love the way Zapata says her own name. It’s hot.) and they're just so in sync and so great and just ugh. And then when they come out of the room Jane tentatively asks about Reade-- she knows something is going on and she wants to help because she cares. But she also knows that Zapata is protective of Reade and might push her away for pyring and ugh my little baby Jane just wants all of her family to be safe and happy and ughhhh she's the sweetest. I'm glad Zapata doesn't lash out, she just plays it off as no big deal, saying he just slept in. Jane knows it's not true but accepts it anyway (after making it clear she would help if help was needed). And then a new lead comes in and so they head out-- and omg Zapata is the one to reach out first, admitting it's kinda nice having Jane with her instead of Reade for a change, and then making sure she knows that she doesn't have anything against Roman anymore, she’s just worried about his former Sandstorm ties. Whaaaat. Zapata noticing that Jane is quiet/possibly upset and makes an effort to sort-of apologise to try to make her feel better? Amazing. And then Jane is honest with her about what's really bothering her-- that Weller (who is almost exclusively 'Kurt' to her these days ugh) warned her about trusting Oliver and risk of ties to sandstorm. And omg Zapata's immediate response is 'ooooh you're seeing someone?" and ugh I KNEW the ~supportive girlfriends~ connection between them was still in there. My beautiful supportive lady friends are back. She's happy for Jane, though she acknowledges that it's possible Weller has a point. And then omg they bond over the impossibility of having a life outside the job and Zapata tells Jane about her grandparents’ love story and how she has being single down to a science (me too girl, me toooo) and UGH THE BONDINGGGGGG THIS IS EVERYTHIG I'VE EVR WANTED. Anyway they arrive at the auction house place and tbh I love how small Zapata looks in this ep?? She's such a teeny pocket rocket haha. Then the blonde lady who just sounded very stressed on the phone shows them through to the back area (literally guys it's hard for anyone to believe that you're just two random peeps looking for a coin for Jane's 'dad'. You both have ~Badass Warrior Woman~ written all over you. But lucky they are so badass, because now they're in the middle of a gunfight. Which Jane has literally broguht a knife to. Help, I'm dying over the subtle comedic genius of this writing loll. Also Jane just used that knife to make a dude stab himself in the chest and then she threw him through a window. Good lord, have I mentioned lately how incredible this woman is?? Of course Zapata has held her own very well too, taking out the other dude with a crack shot before the two of them regroup and are like 'what the hell just happened??' lol

Oooh okay we've jumped back to 9am now, where a gorgeous woman is creeping out of Reade's coke-palace, while he pretends to be asleep til the door closes then groggily listens to Tasha's voicemail. Meanwhile, Patterson has been working hard because she's amazing and not flushing her life down the toilet despite the horrible things she’s gone through, and she cracks the tatt just as he gets there. She knows he's lying about his dentist appointment but she’s just like 'whatever bitch let's go, we got bad guys to hunt'. And then lol I love the fact that she's the one driving. She looks so tiny in this huge car. It's probably a good idea though-- are we sure he's sober enough to drive? But anyway she fills him in, and then gets interrupted by a call from Dr Sun, which makes me nervous. No one should be trusting Dr Sun ever. Therapy is great and I fully support it, but please honey go find a nice therapist faaaaaar removed from anything to do with Sandstorm or the FBI or Nas. Like how about my mother?? She'd love to go back to NYC for a while lol. But anyway I appreciate that Reade actually asks her how she's doing and genuinely cares about the answer. He might be living in an emotional trashcan at the moment but he still loves his team. But sigh, for a moment I was hopeful that Patterson's healthy approach to trauma would inspire him but instead he just tries to tell her she needs a night out. No Reade, your form of therapy is not good for anyone. Though I would be supportive of Patterson and Jane and Zapata having a nice little girls’ night in at some point... but anyway my genius baby can tell Reade's off but there's no time for that bc they're at the bad guy's house. But of course he walks up, talking on his phone to the blonde coin lady, just as they're at his door. So now we know who she was talking  to just as Jane and Zapata got there... Also man everyone's life would have been so much easier rn if this was the 80s and no one had mobile phones to coordinate with haha. Still, if Reade had been keeping a proper lookout... and then he gives chase and catches him, but somehow the guy mesmerises him with an emotional speech on hating himself and oh geez. Come on, Reade, you’re better than this. But nope, like an idiot he lowers his gun and is about to get shot when Patterson saves his ass (yeahhh, girl!). Back at the lab, he awkwardly thanks her and she responds by asking him if he's okay and trying to get him to get help with his problems. But of course he's not interested, and then someone comes and interrupts anyway, and now they have info on the smuggler person helping a cartel with something. Also lol Reade shows her a bill he found in that dudes apartment for some building, and its printed on perfectly clean, unfolded paper. Idk how you guys get your bills, but they sure don't look like that after being through the postal system. But anyway they send a raid on the building, finding a bunch of empty beds with handcuffs attached-- and then we see the people chained up in a van with the smuggler guy watching over them. Right, human trafficking it is...

Back to 9am (lol it's like a mini groundhog day for us) and Weller runs into Nas in the corridor, telling her to take backup to her meet while she's all 'yeah, nah' then tells him to watch his back with Roman. Bitch, he's much safer with Roman than he is with you! Ugh. And then Roman and Jane are in the elevator and he's so worried about letting Weller down and not remembering anything and being sent to the CIA and ugh my poor baby puppyyyy. And then naww Jane promises that she won’t let them take him away from her. Also it's interesting that the camera followed Jane there for a minute, showing us what we've already seen, rather than just following directly after Weller and Roman after Jane hands him over. Seemed kind of like unnecessary doubling up. But anyway ugh Roman and Weller getting into their cover outfits and talking about the plan and just overall working together and I'm so happy about it. But not as happy as I am about these GLASSES omg. Weller. Be still my heart. Lol but I’m laughing at “No weapon for me?" "Just act like you have one" bc now I'm picturing Roman with his hand hovering over his hip like a gunslinger, and like a balled up pair of socks shoved under his belt to make a bulge under his jacket hahaha. But then omg Roman thanks him for bringing him out and giving him a chance, and Weller says it's all about getting them closer to Shepherd so they can take sandstorm down and move on, but lbr that's only part of it. Part is that he feels for Roman and what he’s going through. And a big part is his feelings for Jane :P And aww I love that they made up a backstory for Roman, aka the bodyguard who is not even meant to speak. Who's gonna quiz him? Other than Weller, I mean lol. I love these two getting along. And lol "you're security, open the door" haha, he's already behaving like a pampered rich guy. Oooh this place has exactly the same security as the auction house, and the guy has the coin displayed on his desk?? Seems kinda arrogant when it's apparently the symbol of your shady dealings. And then Mr White Teeth gets all distracted by Roman's scar which is stupid bc he would never risk offending a rich client by wasting their time focusing on their bodyguard instead. And then Roman gets pissed and grabs him which earns them a timeout in the meditation room haha. A place that is clearly not very tranquil for Weller bc this time he's the one getting pissed and grabby-- and then Roman smugly presents the key-fob for the restricted area and Weller is all '...damn. I think I like this kid' lol. And then when they sneak into the area, Weller gets a call and the whole team does an adorable little conference call to update each other on what they've found out so far. While they're chatting Roman uses broken medical instruments to pick a lock on a cabinet and while that totally wouldn't work (trust me I'm a lockpick now lol) it's super cute that he opens it and then steps aside like it's an offering to Weller. And then he reappears a moment later with some medical files, allowing Weller to put together the answers-- that the cartel is trafficking people to be used as organ donors at this medispa. Then ta-da, the blonde woman appears, but by the time Roman and Weller get there, she's killed the doc and made a run for it. The badass bros-in-law chase her down and find her-- only to be tazed and kidnapped. Oops.

Back at the NYO, the team is set on finding the boys (especially Jane, which is unsurprising since it's the two people she loves most in the world). Nas has to go to meet her source and everyone is like "k, byeeee" and immediately forget about her the moment she leaves the room. Jane realises that the guy they interrogated earlier must know more than he let on so she and Tasha and Reade lean on him with their new info-- turns out his gf was doing all the trafficking stuff without his knowledge. I kinda feel sorry for the guy. Also I was gonna say he reminded me a little of Lin Manuel Miranda somehow and then I realised that it's because he's from Hamilton haha. Sigh, I will see it someday.... Anywho, he helps them by giving them a location where they can find the truck and therefore rescue the victims and their boys :)

Speaking of which, both Weller and Roman are chained up inside the truck with the others, and Roman is freaking out bc it's giving him flashbacks and ughhh Weller pulls him out of the memory and reassures him and ughhhhh my boys. And then the other prisoners help them figure out a way to escape and we find out Roman can speak Spanish bc he really is Jane’s brother (man I gotta start learning spanish so one day I can just randomly whip it out like that). Anyhow the team is at the site and are all spreading out ready to take down the bad guys and then ugh Jane sees Weller in the truck and there's a second of eye contact and then the team dives into a gunfight with the baddies (bc it's not Blindspot if there's not multiple epic showdowns per ep) and while they're engaged in that, Weller chases down the blonde and Roman goes for the smuggler, and Jane runs after them both bc she's gotta protect her boys. I love that Weller goes all Assassin's Creed and jumps from truck to truck, then pauses as he sees the blonde fleeing one way and Roman fighting a losing battle the other way-- so he directs Tasha and Reade after the woman and dives to Roman's rescue, shooting the bad guy a second before he cuts Roman's throat. And Jane is there a second later and ugh the fear in her voice as she yells Roman’s name and then ugh the way both she and Weller crouch over him ughhhh I know he's her brother but in a way they're both parent-figures to him and ugh I get emotional about it. Meanwhile Tasha and Reade are still searching for the blonde, who shoots Zapata in the freaking back, like seriously how dare she do that to my precious baby. Thank god she was wearing a vest. Reade is as pissed about it as I am, so he shoots the blonde in the back too which has just a hint of poetic justice to it tbh

Ughhhh Jeller finding each other in the hallway and she checks if he's okay and he immediately asks after Roman and she tells him that Roman's fine thanks to what he did (yes boy are you figuring out that the way back to this woman's heart is by caring about and protecting those she cares about?? Which includes yourself btw so no foolish business please). And then awwww he admits that he kinda enjoyed hanging out with Roman and he kinda likes him and she's THE CUTEST as she teases him about playing it cool so he doesn't come on too strong and ugh she jokes about it but I bet that his acceptance and liking of Roman means EVERYTHING to her. And then omg Weller brings up Oliver AGAIN (booooooiiiiii whatre u doingg) and then he tells her that though she should be careful she doesn't have to give up all aspects of her life for this fight and she's all 'so you think I should give him a chance?' (aka 'so you've definitely moved on then?') and he's all 'well that's up to you' (aka 'I literally want every man bar me to stay as far from you as possible but I can't even admit that to myself right now let alone to you so I'm gonna hedge hedge hedge') and then what the HELL is THIS bc he genuinely compliments her about always looking for the best in people and then says that it's ONE OF HIS FAVOURITE THINGS ABOUT HER. ONE OF MULTIPLE FAVOURITE THINGS. ABOUT HER. LORD SAVE ME FROM THIS HELL. AND UGH HER WHISPERED 'thank you' AND THE WAY HE SMILES AT HER WITH THE CRINKLY EYES AND THEN EVEN AS THEY WALK AWAY SHE LITERALLY PAUSES AND ALMOST TURNS BACK AND UGHHHHHH WHAT IS THIS BEAUTIFUL TORTURE I LOVE-HATE IT SO MUCH

Omg then the next thing Jane does is go to Tasha and ask for her help doing a background check on Oliver which is adorable and then they find out he changed his name (so he CHOSE the last name 'Kind'?? Literally what kind of damn pretentious... sigh nevermind) and Zapata tells her not to jump to conclusions about it and Jane just looks at her and is all 'would you' and she's all 'oh yeah' and ughhhhh these two cuties ughhh

Speaking of cute pairs, omg Weller is literally visiting roman in his cell with beers and asking him if he's okay and tells him he did good work and ugh they smile at each other and joke about the spanish thing and then Roman is honest about not wanting to remember the bad things he's done and ugh Weller shares some background on his shitty childhood and ugh LOOK AT THIS BONDING. LOOK AT IT, ANAKIN. And so clearly all the pairs are having a little post-mission ~moment~ rn bc now Patterson and Reade are talking in the locker room and firstly oooh Weller's having some drinks at his place tonight, I bet Jane is gonna be there. Ugh wait I wonder if that's why he brought the beers to Roman, bc he knows he couldn’t let Roman come but he wanted to share the moment with him somehow and ughhh help me. But anyway unlike the sweet bonding of the last two pairs, this is Patterson basically calling Reade out on his shit, which I am SUPER supportive of. Then he gets defensive and says she's being stupid, which I am not at all supportive of. But she ignores him and continues on, making it clear she knows what's going on. And omg she has a brother who's an addict and maaannn this is such fascinating backstory I want to hear 100% about this. But ugh then Reade gets even more defensive and basically tells her to shut up and bugger off and grrrr Reade I am really not a fan of you these days. I miss the Reade that was sweet and sassy and supportive and stupidly in love with Sarah Weller. I loved him, but I really don't like this guy much at all. Sigh.

Speaking of guys I don't like, Oliver shows up at Jane's apartment, and yet again when he speaks I'm reminded of that terrible terrible accent of his. But sigh I will acknowledge that he's kinda sweet and they are cute with their little hand-holding thing and whatever. But oooh she goes for it an asks him about the name change and he gets pisssssseeedddd. Lbr there's probably going to be some completely legit reason for it like he had a really terrible family situation or whatever, but lbr I don't really care bc it means it got him out of her apartment (a dinner-at-home date seems like the prime situation for some lovin', so I'm very glad that it crashed and burned lol)

Aaaand speaking of crashing and burning, the basically-forgotten Nas has reached her meet-point and is now being garrotted. Oh well. But then lbr we all know she doesn’t die so no point in getting excited. Er, I mean ‘worried’...