#and now they're just using him for a second of random comic relief here or there

[fiona-fififi]

I love Ravi, but I wish they'd, like, DO something with his character.

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

I've been seeing a lot of people talk about how Hazel is a boring protagonist(or I guess more like... people complaining about how other people are saying that? Idk I'm not on Twitter), and at first I kind of agreed with those takes because all I had seen were random clips. BUT, now that I've watched the show, I disagree. I don't think Hazel is a boring character, at least not conceptually. I think the issue is that the majority of her RELATIONSHIPS are really boring.

Hazel on her own has a lot of potential. She's caring, she's funny, she has a tendancy to overthink, her design is really good, she has realistic problems most people can relate to... she's just all around a really well built character. The problem is that almost none of the characters she interacts with consistently have any depth, and that causes her relationships with them to fall flat, which causes HER to fall flat because at the end of the day, a character is only as strong as their relationships with other characters. We're TOLD what her relationships with others are like, we're TOLD what the other characters' personality traits are, but we're never SHOWN those things. I think the episode where they deal with Jasmine's fears is probably the biggest offender. Jasmine herself acts as more of a plot device then anything else, with her fears being used as a stepping stone to teach HAZEL a lesson, rather then allowing the episode to focus on Jasmine overcoming those fears. The scene where Jasmine actually FACES those fears ends up being just thrown in at the end as a way to solve the conflict, which tbh wasn't that engaging in the first place because Hazel had no personal attatchment to any of Jasmine's fears... that's just kind of a bad episode overall tbh it's where all of the shows flaws are the most prominent but I DIGRESS-

Another really good example of the poor relationship building is her relationship with her brother, Antony, who we literally don't even get to SEE until well into the second half of the season. I haven't actually gotten to that episode yet, so I can't really judge Antony as a character, but I CAN judge how they've been setting him up so far! Which hasn't been very good! Instead of SHOWING US Hazel's relationship with him through flashbacks or something, the writers just have Hazel TELL US how she feels about her brother and things they used to do together. It just doesn't have the same impact as actually seeing their relationship play out would, y'know? They've been telling us about Hazel's relationships with other characters instead of showing us those relationships, and it's been hurting Hazel as a character.

The only relationships she has that we actually get to watch her BUILD are her relationship with Cosmo & Wanda and her relationship with Dev, which, while the ladder is genuinely really well done and interesting(aside from a couple pacing issues but honestly the show is chock full of those so whatever), the former ALSO falls really flat because Cosmo & Wanda aren't really... characters. They're iconic, sure, and they're really funny, but they're also mostly just plot devices. They're here to grant Hazel's wishes(aka cause the plot of the episode) and be funny. That's it. Which is fine, those kinds of characters obviously have their place, but when they're the only ones your main character consistently interacts with? That causes some problems. It's like if, in the movie Aladdin, instead of focusing mostly on the relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine, they focused entirely on his relationship with the Genie. The Genie is mostly just here to move the plot along and say funny things, so having him be the character Aladdin interacts with the MOST kind of breaks the movie. Having a story where almost all the interactions are between the main character and the comic relief just doesn't work.

Honestly I think the issues with Hazel's relationships are probably why people are more drawn to Dev as a character then they are to Hazel, because while Hazel almost exclusively interacts with characters who could be replaced by cardboard cutouts and nobody would tell the difference, Dev doesn't. Dev's relationships are a lot more engaging because all of the characters he interacts with are SIGNIFICANTLY more fleshed out then the ones Hazel interacts with. His relationship with Hazel is engaging because it's an emotional rollercoaster for both of them. His relationship with Peri is interesting because Peri is much newer to being a fairy godparent then Cosmo & Wanda are, meaning he's more likely to make mistakes. His relationship with his dad is interesting because it's literally the main motivation for his character, and we actually get to SEE WHY THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS THE WAY IT IS. His relationship with Irep is more interesting because Irep is a weird little shit who's mostly just using Dev to take over fairyworld, and he also has an interesting dynamic with Peri! Dev's relationships are all WAY better executed then Hazel's, and honestly I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Dev is an antagonist who mostly interacts with other antagonists. He's at the center of almost every single ongoing conflict in the show, which is often times what makes a character and their relationships interesting: conflict. I also think he benefits from getting expanded on LATER in the show, since by that point all of the writers would've had a much better feel for all of the characters, making it easier for them to actually show what his relationships are like instead of outright telling us skgnvkdmfkekfndn

Now, was the point of all this to say that I think Dev would be a better protagonist then Hazel? No. Absolutely not no- he has a more interesting, better executed story then Hazel does so far, sure, but he just. Wouldn't be able to carry an episodic show like FOP on his own I'm sorry- we've seen the kind of wishes he makes, they're not particularly interesting. Because he's a rich kid who can do basically whatever he wants. Plus, his conflict with Peri just isn't really built to be stretched out over an entire season, which it would HAVE to be if Dev was the protagonist of a Fairly Oddparents, because the entire premise of the show is "this kid gets a Fairy Godparent, what kind of wacky hijinks will they get up to now?" Plus there's the fact that the narrative has been treating his parental neglect with a lot more gravity then Timmy's ever was, meaning if the show was from his perspective they'd have to tone down the things that make him interesting to keep the show from getting outright miserable- Dev is not a good character to make carry that kind of show. Dev should not be the main character. HOWEVER! Do I think the show would be more interesting if we got more episodes featuring him and Hazel hanging out together? Yes absolutely. They bounce off of eachother incredibly well, and once Peri is introduced we also get to see Peri's relationship with his parents and how THEY interact, and it's just. So much more interesting then seeing just Hazel and CosWan. Or Hazel's cardboard cutout friends. Honestly I'd go as far as to say he should've been Hazel's dueteragonist instead of just a recurring character, kinda like a(hopefully) better executed Chloe. It'd give Hazel a more interesting character to bounce off of then Cosmo & Wanda. Either that or I think Peri should've been Hazel's fairy godparent instead of Cosmo & Wanda, because he has more room to grow and develope as a character then they do, making his potential dynamic with Hazel a lot more interesting. Idk just in general I think having Hazel interact almost exclusively with Cosmo & Wanda was a mistake-

Also should be noted; I am saying this as someone who has never seen the original Fairly Oddparents. I don't know if the original show had these issues aswell or not, everything I know about the original comes from random YouTube videos I watched out of curiousity/boredom. Either way if the original DID have issues with Timmy's relationships being really boring then uh. That's not an excuse for A New Wish to do the same, I guess. Idk where I'm going with this... also sorry if this essay is incoherent! I have a lot of thoughts about how Hazel's relationships are really poorly executed and I just needed to get them out skfnvdkdjfndn- if you want me to elaborate on anything feel free to leave a comment or send me an ask :)

[sonosvegliato]

Currently rereading "to an athlete dying young" and going absolutely insane over it, it is so well written!

I have yet to find anyone who is even half as good as you are at establishing insanely high tension/stakes while also doing comedic relief the way you do, every single interaction absolutely kills me. Especially Tim's interactions with Jason and Bruce are so incredibly interesting, you really nail those!!!!!

Reading your fic isn't enough, I need to print it out & eat it.

That being said, what does your writing process look like, if you don't mind me asking?

This is a question I only imagined getting once I have my original work published, so thank you for stoking the ever-hotter flames of my ego while I shoot into the stratosphere.

When I am famous with 10 books published and documentaries are made about me, I dream I will have a well-polished answer for to this question. SYKE.

Process:

F around and find out. Not in a threatening way. Just like—playing around with ideas like they're Legos and you are a three year old baby.

A lot of the time I get a snippet of something and I do a "sketch" of it before I forget it. I have a lot of these, and some of them are impossible to interconnect, so I literally take apart the story and rearrange it, and will do this once, twice, or five times to get through a single scene. I read this writing advice once where if you're stuck on a scene than the problem you really have is a chapter back, and I'm not much for universal writing advice, but I do believe that if I'm stuck in a place, then something else has got to be better. Sort of like pulling a car in park over and over again until you sorta get in in between the lines. I am really bad at parking. Literally not figuratively.

To an Athlete Dying Young is probably the closest to plotting I've ever been, since I'm using what actually happened in the comics as a loose guide for the events in the series. But I still write snippets that I jam together and take apart and peel and stick. My document looks like [LINKS NOTES RESEARCH] [STORY STORY STORY STORY] [RANDOM SCENE] [STORY] [SNIPPET SNIPPET SNIPPET SNIPPET] with some hyping myself up in between. Example of my "plotting", pure and unedited:

^ wouldn't you like to know where this is from

And here's a snippet that was possibly going to be in hold the low lintel up. I was going to have Tim move in with Jason. This is everything I wrote for it, so you're not missing any context:

“I’ve had to move out of my house,” Tim continues. 

“That’s…a change. Can I ask what—”

“My uncle isn’t real,” Tim says.

Hood lifts his hands. They pause in the air for twenty seconds before he lowers them, fingers extended towards Tim. “What?”

“My uncle’s fake. I made him up. They’d’ve made me live somewhere else, otherwise,” Tim says. “I…I don’t want to live there.”

He leans against the warehouse wall, feels the dusty wood under the flat of his hands. “So, anyway, I was just wondering…” He glances at his shoes, then back to Hood. Nervousness, with an ounce of confidence. Just a pinch, not too much. Very little trust can take you very far. “If it were maybe possible…”

He trails off just as Hood starts to lean forward. Hook, line—

“Could I stay with you?”

—and sinker.

“I don’t think so,” Hood says.“Why not move in with your brother?”

“He’s working. I couldn’t do that to him.” And he lives too far away. 

“I’m working, too,” Hood says. “And I can guarantee I’m not doing the kind of things your cop brother will like.”

“Alright. Well, if you want to find me, you can find me in the Bowery, where that old church is. I don’t think any rogues have made their hideouts there, but I guess I’ll find out.” 

“Park Row isn’t safest place in the world right now,” Hood says. “You know there’s a reason people call it Crime Alley, right?”

“I’ve been around here longer than you think.”

“Look. Kid. You can’t stay with me. And with all these new murders, I don’t think it’s a good idea you’re even coming here. I get it. You don’t want child services sniffing your ass. I get that more than anybody, but. There are people out there, strangers even, who are willing to help you.”

It’s not a guilt trip. It’s a gentle emotional suggestion. It’s taking Hood by the collar and throwing him over Tim’s shoulder to slam him into a giant guilt pit that only gets deeper the more he struggles. Tim’s English teacher calls it pathos. 

Then the suit for an extra layer of DRAMA.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, Tim and Superboy were supposed to be better friends and have sleepovers.

“You were sleep talking,” Superboy says. “It woke me up.”

“Sorry,” Tim says. 

“You don’t look so good, bro. You going to be sick or something?”

“No.”

“What were you dreaming about?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Tim hears the sheets shift as Superboy turns over. 

“I don’t have dreams,” he says. “I hear they can be pretty gnarly though. Was yours gnarly?”

“Yeah.”

“You drink apple juice before bed?”

“No.”

“Good. I hear apple juice fucks you up.” 

They fall silent. Tim doesn’t have his phone to distract him. He stares in the darkness at the blank wall. 

“And cheese,” Superboy says. “Cheese will make you dream some wild shit. Again, can’t say if it’s true. But that’s what the internet told me. I learn a lot of things on the internet.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, Black Canary was going to have a role similar to the one she has in Young Justice.

I actually have quite a few snippets of her being sort of Tim's therapist, stereotypical Couch of Mental Breakdowns included, but it never got included into the story, just remained outlier scenes. Also Tim was not very receptive to talking it out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary: If I'm bored in the story, I throw a firecracker and watch stuff blow up ✌️

Thank you for asking! And it's an absolute honor to have written a story that's both worth a reread and being eaten. Hope this entertains you until I get the next part up!

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door" from The Owl House

Wow. They are really pushing it for that secret message, huh?

Anywho--Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

I think it goes without saying at this point that Season Two of The Owl House is setting itself up as a season without filler. Now, filler episodes aren't always bad. Yes, it hurts when a series turns away from the main plot for a week. But at best, they're utilized as a chance for the writers to play around with the characters and developing said characters without it relating to the overarching story. So, some people who see that consider it a bad thing that a series doesn't have that many filler episodes.

I like to call those people: F**king morons.

Don't get me wrong, I see where some of you are coming from. And I'd be willing to agree...if The Owl House was a plot-driven series. Which it's not. It is a character-driven series. Because for every plot thread and narrative that the show presents, they always relate to the characters and develop them further each time these threads get brought up. For example, look at "Knock Knock Knockin’ on Hooty's Door" (It pains me just to write that). Several narratives move forward, and it’s all done to make the characters grow. And to explain how requires going into spoilers. So keep that in mind as you continue reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Hooty: Might as well start with the character that this episode is about.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't a huge fan when I found out we're getting a Hooty-centered episode. I've grown to love him over time, but he is a comedic character that's best used in small doses. Primarily due to how his voice is grating to me (My ears are still bleeding...). With that said, I do really love his contributions in "Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door" (Seriously, there couldn't have been a less awkward title?). Hooty's antics when trying to help everyone are as hilarious as they are heartwarming. He deeply cares for his friends but just doesn't understand how his plans could do some unintended harm, which is pretty lovable if you ask me. We also get some surprisingly great insight into his character, as he feels insecure about basically being the comic relief who doesn't really do that much other than being funny. Rarely do you get that level of dimension from a comedic character, and it's even more uncommon for that to work out as well as it does here. It once again proves just how competent the writing is in this series to the point where we get an episode about Hooty, and it's funny and heartwarming instead of being annoying. And whoever is responsible for that, you're the best.

Lilith’s Letter to Hooty: I mean it when I say that I love how Lilith kept her word about her and Hooty becoming penpals. Their friendship was something I would have never expected to love, and I'm still shocked that it works so well, so seeing it continue like this just warms me to the bone. Plus, it is pretty sweet that Lilith's kind words are what inspired Hooty to do what he's done in this episode...meaning it's Lilith we should thank here--SON OF A WITCH! Even when she's gone, she's still working her way into my heart!

King going through Puberty: What?! KING IS EVOLVING!

(There, I made a Pokemon reference. Do I get my cookie now?)

Eda Keeping Herself Awake to Train Herself: I'm willing to bet a large sum of money that this has everything to with Raine getting captured last week. If Eda was still the most powerful witch in the Isles, she might have actually saved them. But she isn't, and now the love of her life is in the clutches of a tyrant planning something that could potentially be the end of everything. So I can understand Eda pushing herself to her limit to get back on top again, as I would probably do the same. It's not healthy in any way, and Eda would be doing more harm than good. But when it comes to the people you love, logic doesn't always win out in the end.

Luz Wanting to Make her Way into Amity’s Heart by Making the Echo Mouse Happy: ...That's it. I Just...I just love everything about it, ok?

This was also when I knew that I was wrong to doubt that there would be zero Lumity in this episode. I realize my follies now, and I humbly apologize.

Hooty Teaching King About Demons: This was so funny. So, so funny. Probably doesn't come as a surprise, especially since The Owl House proves itself as a comedy before, but the jokes have never hit as frequently and as hard as they did here. From Hooty getting offended by King's dance to him and Dana's insert wanting a "DNA sample," everything managed to successfully make me lose my s**t. It does come at the expense of King suffering, but I can stomach that much more than if it were Eda or Luz. And, as a bonus, we get lore about how demons work, added with another great joke of King getting in trouble with Hooty for saying he already knows this stuff. Humor isn't always the show's strong suit, but when it works, it f**king works.

King Wanting to Know What he Is: But despite how funny King's vignette was, we still get to see more of his character grow. We learn that he's frustrated now that there's this big question mark over his life now, feeling extra angry that his father "abandoned" him to leave such a present mystery. It shows the hidden resentment he has that Lilith inadvertently brought out, made even worse when King's father hasn't responded to the video yet. King hasn't really gotten that much development until "Echoes of the Past," so it's pretty cool that the writers haven't really slowed down on it. Especially when it leads to these great moments of King venting his frustrations.

King’s Shouting Powers: KING learned FUS RO DAH!

(And now that's a Pokemon reference AND a Skyrim reference. WHERE'S MY GOSH DANG COOKIE!?)

Eda’s Nightmare: If King's vignette hits you hard with the laughs, Eda's will absolutely hit you harder with the feels (never make me say "feels" unironically again). Knowing that Eda's life got thoroughly screwed over by the curse is something we could figure out on her own. But seeing just how much the curse ruined her life and tore apart relationships that mean the world to her really does a swell job at ripping apart the soul. What's even more tragic is, technically speaking, it's all sort of Eda's fault too. She kept hiding the curse, refusing to be a burden to others who would do all they could to help. If she had only been open and honest, things probably wouldn't have changed much, but they most likely would have been better than they are now.

Eda Attacked her Father as the Owl Beast: ...I don't know what I was expecting when "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" hinted that there was some possible tension between Eda and her father...but it definitely wasn't this.

The fact that we see blood where his eye used to be doesn't make things any happier, either.

Raine Broke Up with Eda: Before we get into anything else, let's celebrate the fact that it's now confirmed that Eda and Raine really did use to date in the past. Because this show is just f**king phenomenal with its LGBTQA+ representation!

But, seriously, this is a fantastic reveal that goes far beyond just shipping...well, sort of. It shines a new light on Eda and Raine's interactions from last week, revealing that while they're not a couple anymore, they still very much love each other. It helps make their last interaction especially tragic, as they were both on the same page now and could very well be together again. Only for them to be forced apart for the second time in a way that's much worse than the first. And I frickin' adore that this series changes the impact of one episode one week later. Again, it shows just how competent these writers are, and kudos to them for making something so...perfect.

The Moon Person: WHO THE FU--Nope. Nope! We have more than enough mystery bulls**t to deal with through CreepyLuz and Philip Wittebane, so I am PUTTING YOU ON THE BACKBURNER FOR NOW!

(They're probably nothing more than a one-off character, anyway)

The Owl Beast and Eda are Connected: Through visuals alone, we, the audience, can clue into what the curse really means. The Owl Beast doesn't want to be a part of Eda as much as she doesn't want it to be a part of her. Whether they like it or not, and they very much don't, they're stuck together. The thing is, and this is what I love the most, they still decide to make the best of their situation rather than let it ruin their lives even more. This might be the best possible turn Eda's curse could have made. It'll still affect her, and there are probably more negatives than positives, but at least now, it's not the worst thing in the world. And I feel like that's all anyone can ask when in a position like her own.

Eda's “Pretty Dream”: I don't know what emotions are toiling inside me more with this moment. Awe and wonder over how beautiful Eda's dream is, or heartbreak over the implication that she has only had nightmares since getting cursed...I'm gonna say both. Yeah, it's definitely both.

Eda’s Harpie Form: Well, fan artists are gonna have a field day with this...especially the freaks.

(You know who you are. And you're weird!)

Luz Calling Amity a “Cotton-Candy Haired Goddess”: ...Have I ever mentioned how much I love this show?

Hooty Kidnapped Amity: ...Hooty, if your stupidity wasn't charming, I would be more than willing to call the authorities over how you kidnapped a girl in your version of a knapsack and locked her in the basement. For that is going to ring SO MANY alarm bells in people's heads.

Amity and Luz Stuck in a Tunnel of Love: *Smacks lips* Mmm. The adorable awkwardness of this moment is just *chef's kiss* magnifique!

Luz being afraid of getting made fun of:

Amity’s look of hope: I mean...just...f**king--LOOK AT HER:

That is the look of a girl who, while embarrassed as hell, still is ecstatic to learn for a brief moment, everything that she is hoping for has a high chance of being real. Who, in their right mind, wouldn't go "Aw!" at something so pure and innocent?!

Luz Destroying the Tunnel of Love: This is how to effectively utilize dramatic irony. The audience can understand why Luz is tearing the place apart because she explicitly states that she's afraid of Amity rejecting her in the end. They also know that's bogus, thus making it extra painful to watch Amity's heart break more and more with each second (which is perfectly represented through Amity's expressions). You feel bad for both of them, and even worse when you know that it can easily be prevented by the simple art of communication. That's what makes it great dramatic irony. Knowing the point of view of each character results in a scene that evokes emotions in two different ways.

Hooty’s Breakdown: This was...genuinely hard to watch. Not that it was badly written, far from it. It just...hurt seeing how destroyed Hooty was when he realized he failed the people he has such an admiration for. On the upside, a wholesome moment follows soon after as the Owl House gang tries to reassure Hooty that he's done a lot of good that night. It's a pure action that shows even though Hooty gets on their nerves all the time, they still care about him...damn it. I think I'm gonna cry.

Eda’s Advice for Luz: ...Eda...You're the best.

You found out that your surrogate daughter wants to ask a girl out, and not only were you quick to deliver the best possible advice ("Just go for it!"), but you also quickly reassure her that it doesn't need to be perfect.

And you know what? That's it. Eda is the best cartoon mom! She might not technically be Luz's mom, but I don't give a s**t because she is the best!

Luz and Amity Ask Each Other Out: Shh-sh-sh-sh...

Do you hear that?

...

...

...It's the sound of dozens of Lumity fans collectively losing their s**t...and I'm one of them.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!

IT!

IS!

CANON!

AH-HAHAHAHAHA!

HOLY S**T! Holy s**t! Holy s**t...might just be the best way I could possibly describe this! Finally, after all the waiting, speculating, and praying, THESE TWO IDIOTS FINALLY GOT TOGETHER! AND IT WAS PERFECT! I mean, it was awkward as s**t, but that's what makes it perfect! You know why? You wanna--Hey! *snaps fingers*. You want to know why? It's because they're teenagers. Of f**king course, it's going to be awkward! This is their first relationship, so there will be a lot of missteps along the way. And that, in itself, brings me to the best (second best part?) thing about it happening in episode eight of the new seasons. Most endgame couples get together in the climax or even at the end of the series. But to have them get together this early on, means there will be quite a few episodes dedicated to showing them grow as a couple.

And better than that--EVEN F**KING BETTER THAN THAT--dozens of kids are going to see these two, a realistic depiction of young love that just so happens to involve two girls, and are going to learn once and for all that there is nothing wrong with being who they are. That fact alone is f**king incredible. Yes, it sucks that season three got cut short, and we'll have even less time with Luz and Amity, but knowing how many kids have felt seen today almost makes it worth it in the end.

And if I see one mother f**ker saying this was poorly paced, I might just hunt them down for SPORT...Sorry if that was an overreaction. I'M JUST SO HAPPY! Because they're happy! Look at them. Listen to them! It's so...GAH-HAHAHA!

“They’re adorable! And deserve all the happiness!”: You're darn right, Hooty! You're darn right.

King’s Father(?) Shows Up: What the--WHAT?! They're doing this now?! Here?! After everything else?

Oh, man. What could this mean? What dynamic changes will this cause in the main cast? How could the writers fit this in during the next two episodes? And what--

Hooty Eats the Letter: ...Pfffft--HAHAHAHA!

Oh, man...I should be mad, and I wouldn't blame others if they are...but that is too much of a brilliant f**k you that I can't help but appreciate it. Bravo writers. Bravo.

WHAT I DISLIKED

...Dislikes? Dislikes? You would honestly believe that after everything I witnessed in this episode, that I would have the gull to list anything wrong with it?!

HOW DARE YOU ASSUME THAT I WOULD BE SO CALLUS TO--Actually, I do kind of have an issue with the episode's title. It's just too much of an awkward mouthful for me to get behind. I understand that the writers wanted to sneak the K into the secret message, but were there really no other titles starting with K that they couldn't come up with?

But that's just a personal issue, and in no way do I think anybody else would feel the same way. Especially with how well-written everything else is anyway.

IN CONCLUSION

"Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's Door" (title aside) is another A+ episode. It was hilarious, heart-wrenching, and downright adorable while keeping me entertained with every minute. I'm sure there are some issues I was willing to ignore due to how expertly written everything else was, but why bother looking for the chinks in the armor when I could just enjoy a perfect episode for being so...perfect! Some of you might be willing to disagree with me, but to that, I say: Don't knock it till you've tried it.

(Now, if you don't excuse me, I'm going to go lie down. It's...It's been a day.)

[these-are-the-first-steps]

*Claps hands* OK, LET'S TALK about the Obi-wan show...

This show is a mixed bag in every sense of the word, all the way down to acting, script, presentation, etc. So let's get as briefly as possible into it:

(MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT-- good things talked about at the end. Proceed with caution!!!)

Acting: This is probably the strangest bit of the whole show- either you have people absolutely killing it like Ewan McGregor (obligatory), Indira Varma (standout for such a brief time on screen as our regretful Imperial officer), and Baby Leia herself Vivien Blair, or you're stuck with really, and I mean really, stiff performances like whatever's going on with all those inquisitor actors. Then there's folks like Kumail Nanjiani who does a great and admirable job as Haja trying his best to throw a little bit of light comic relief into an extremely dark story. It's truly a bizarre, full-spectrum of acting abilities both good, bad, and in the middle. And the episodes are only about 30 min long so the whiplash from talent to talent really hits you like a mack truck. It's really, really weird. Was this cast in a hurry? I don't know what to make of it. "Bizarre" really is the best word for it.

Script: 30 minute show, but there's this remarkable "hurry up and wait" aspect to every episode. Either things are happening break-neck or we're spending 50 fucking years in a chase scene. I was actively fast-forwarding through a lot of those moments of just....people aimlessly running around very fast or slinking around very slowly....and missed absolutely nothing. And yet there's this feeling, this press, that somehow they *still* didn't "have enough time" to do everything they wanted in an episode? God forbid you cut down one of those chase scenes, though- the whole show might collapse! /sarcasm

The lines are also interesting, and I believe there's a strong correlation between their quality and the actor saying them as goes with a lot of the nature of star wars- but not always. One of the final lines of ep. 3 of "Now we'll never catch him!!" was so fucking random and cliche- not to mention wrong!! (y'all have been chasing his ass across planets for three episodes- what do you mean one more jump makes it suddenly impossible now? What?? xDD), that I actually laughed out loud when I heard it. Absolutely terrible. But then on the other side you have great performances out of Ewan, and the guy playing Uncle Owen, etc. where the cliche star wars angst comes out beautifully cooked. There seems to be a strong vibe of actors who get what they're doing here in Star Wars, and actors who are absolutely lost for how to be in this world, especially out of the villains. Even now I'm sitting here trying to figure out what's going on....maybe the writer/s just can't do bad guys?? Which is a shame because Star Wars badguys are always some of the best. Well, not in this show! It's a mess!

Presentation: This is not a show for the casual TV viewer. This isn't even a show for someone who's watched all nine movies and maybe some of the side movies. If you were a casual viewer, or even a casual star wars fan, you would hate the shit out of this- for all of the reasons mentioned above, it runs so hot cold, and quality whips back and forth so hard....if you came into this looking for a Highly Polished, Quality TV Show, you will throw your remote away in disgust. BUT!! Are you one of those dumb fuckin weirdos like me who lives for more lore crumbs and reaches for them with greedy little raccoon hands no matter how ridiculous the script and bad some of the performances are? Are you someone who knew, the second the first episode started, that you were watching the execution of Order 66 before they even said anything? And other shit like that? Then this show, quite literally, is made for you. There is so much going on, so many small details, that if you weren't one of us who has spent literal hours writing meta about stupid fucking star wars over the past few years, it would all go over your head, and possibly even confuse you, further ruining your enjoyment of this show. This is a show made for the nerds who read way too much into things. And that is why the bits of bad script and moments of shit acting don't matter. Because we, the nerd fans, aren't in it for that, not really. All we need is Obi-wan to be legit, for Anakin to be as close to legit as possible (and he definitely is that), and for Baby Leia to be lovable and we're golden- so long as you stuff us full of lore, niche references, and more pieces of the giant main-story star wars puzzle. That's yet another reason why casual viewers will not like this show. It's quite clearly not meant for you.

The Good Things: Jamesssss Earl Jones, boys and girls!!! I was screaming! No one can handle a stilted star wars script and make it sound good like that man, and we needed him on this show so I'm glad he's here. Hayden also being the one under the armor is a nice touch, too, although it's hard for him to really shine under there- he's an emotive actor (which happily we get to see a sliver of in the field) and doesn't really have the physicality, I don't think, of Adam Driver, to pierce through the costume, plus it's a bulkier getup so he's already on hard mode and going to have a tougher time. While you could argue that there's already a precedent for Vader's body language, that's far, far into the future meaning he could really go to town now if he wanted. But eh, like I said. If anything it's a nitpick- no harm no foul. I think everybody's just happy it's Hayden and JEJ driving this character, as they should.

The sets are really cool on this show- you can see that's where the budget went. It's the only thing that's really made me go wow. These are feature-grade sets and it shows. Was it wasted on a 30min per ep 6 ep series? Ehhhhh.....depends on how recyclable all the pieces they made are. We'll never know. The sets are probably the only thing maintaining consistent quality on this show lol.

Obi-wan and Baby Leia are brilliant together and I'm loving all of it.

I AM LIVING FOR THE ORGANAS!! THE ORIGINAL ACTORS ARE BACK AND I LOVE THEM BOTH SO MUCH BAIL ORGANA IS THE GOAT AND BREHA IS ALSO THE OG ACTRESS AND SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN SO PRETTY I CAN'T STOP LOOKING AT HER WHEN SHE'S ON SCREENNNNNNNN. Anyway I love them, perfect, excellence incarnate.

A lot of the featured background are better actors than some of the billed actors and that is LOL.

The Vader-Obiwan chase and fight at the end of ep 3 is, quite honestly, how I envisioned the chase between Kylo and Rey to go down in what I anticipated Episode VIII to be. I was watching it like "Yes!! They feel each other around in the Force like a punch in the heart!! This is so personal!! It's incredible love/connection gone twisted from anguish and tragedy!! Look at the desperation!!" Those are exactly the themes that should have played out between Kylo and Rey in Ep8 in a tone exactly as dark, menacing, and exquisitely painful/horrifying as that. That was the correct pitch!!! Although we never got to have that, it was nice to see it happen in SW at least SOMEWHERE, so that was a little cathartic. Part of me really felt like "Ah, the writer of this episode/scene understood what Ep8 was supposed to be and it's been translated here instead" haha. Ah well. It's just more fodder for all of us to gnaw on and use elsewhere.

I really really really really like how dark this show is. We hit the ground running starting scene 1 with the infanticide of Order 66, the intermezzo is a jedi teenager strung up over the gate of the town, a storm trooper gets sliced clean in half and the camera actually lingers on it (I laughed pretty hard, it was so extra I loved it), and then we have the emotional heart-stabbing between Anakin and Obi-wan that keeps hitting both of them over and over until Obi-wan is dragged, literally, through the embers himself. YES!! Gimme that dark shit!! Make it darker!! (but with good actors!) The ST should have had this tone!!! And I think the writer/s know this- this may all be their way of subtly righting that wrong how they can and I tip my non-existent hat at that. Thanks guys- we absolutely need more of this. And Ewan is the perfect person for all of this to play through and for Obi-wan to witness. And Obi-wan is the witness here- all he can do is stand back and watch, and that's what makes it even more brutal.

So! Do I recommend this show? That depends:

Are you a star wars meta writer? Yes, watch this show.

Are you a star wars fanfic writer? Yes, absolutely watch this show.

Are you obsessed with the lore and want all the pieces of the puzzle you can get? Yes, yes, watch this show!!

Are you someone who's watched all 9 sw films and thought they were pretty good and hey maybe you'll give this obi-wan show a shot? No, this show is not for you. The quality isn't good enough for that, and the information presented in it is so niche that what little of it is good will be lost on you because you haven't read the laundry list of books out there that would have filled in a lot of the gaps for you. This is not a show with explanation- this is a show that immediately drops you in a moment in time and expects you to already know how to swim.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on eps 1-3. I feel like at this point we know the sort of quality and experience we're getting here. See you at the end in about three weeks!

[iphoenixrising]

Look, Distractions? That is my JAM okay? So if you ever feel like it. I would KILL for your opinion on Fracture!Tim meeting Detective Comics!Tim. Like would he get mad the bats have up that quick considering they're dynamic? Or would he just save the info for later in his world (fight with Jay/Dick and dammit it counts as evidence that THIS might not work.) just Timmy. Because honestly it could go a lot of ways. Babe, you rock! 😘😘

There you are, babe. Ah, I’m such a bad writer and I’m sorry. I remembered this thing vaguely and um…wrote a thing. (I forget about Asks so much and I’m so sorry to anyone that I’ve missed). So, said thing that I wrote was kind of complex and I’m stupidly proud of it okay because I was seriously not cool with the current incarnation of Tim Drake wearing the original Robin suit from the 90′s repurposed with the RR. Like, I’m so pissed off about that. SERIOUSLY >.

**

He literally gets the first sip at wonderful,blessed caffeine—before the glowy circle of light just appears in his damnkitchen, illuminating a gentle red that looks totally ominous and terrifying.

His mug falls to the linoleum with a crash andspilled heaven.

Welp, there goes that ‘Uncle of the Year’mug. Dammit. Layla worked so hard on it.

“Dick! Jay! Got a little sitch in here.”He yells, frozen to the spot where the circle has him penned in at the counter,eyes wide with what the fuck is this now?

In all his time as a doctor to, you know,vigilantes and superheroes, he’s never seen anything like this. If he’slearned anything in that time, it’s curiosity might take an appendage. Watchyour ass around things that might smell of alien tech or evil bad guys (thatjewel was from some guy name Booster. Just really?).

He must have sounded as desperate as herealistically feels because bare feet are pounding down the hallway ofhis penthouse just as the circle flares crimson and starts to suck him in.

He knows he yells something back at hisvigilante boyfriends because he does get a warped sound of them calling for himjust as he gets sucked inside.

**

The pain in his head is real when hefinally comes to with a groan.

The hard cement floor isn’t doing him anyfavors.

Like, at all.

But memory kicks in and Dr. Drake is pushinghimself up on weak arms, hair in his face, looking around with wide,calculating eyes before he realizes—

He isn’t alone.

The doctor is up on his feet, blinking, turningon one bare heel to take in the other four bodies lying haphazardly in heaps onthe grungy floor around him, all in various states of look at those birdies.

He has approximately ten seconds to take in theclothes, tech, and other miscellaneous gear, but gets it in five. At this pointin the game, he’s very familiar with things like utility belts, armored tunics,and the like, so he knows what he’s looking at. The question is reallywhether or not he’s in with heroes or terrible bad guys, and those answerswon’t be forthcoming until they’re all out of la la land.

Which could be enough time to steal shitfrom their utility belts to use against them or get them all the fuckout of here.

It’s 50/50 really.

But his legs are already moving him across thecold floor because assessment takes precedent over neat potentially fatalgadgets, taking a knee beside the first one that has a full cowl. Since he hassome experience with cowls, he knows the right place to wiggle hisfingers in to get a bead on the his pulse (until the doctor knows forsure, bad guy or good guy, no trying to get into the suits probably riddledwith security traps unless it’s go time, but the utility belt doesn’tshock the ever-loving fuck out of him, so he already has a plan).Breathing looks good, no signs of medical distress, no tears in the suit, nobloodstains. The harness is pretty cool, but that insignia? What the hell is thatsupposed to be?

Whatever. This potential bad guy checks out, soon to the next one.

The second has on a domino with the whiteoutsdown and an odd-looking cape, like panels or something? Yeah, okay, whatever.This guy gets to be Mr. Terrible Style. He gets the same careful check— andoddly enough has the same insignia on his utility belt but a completelydifferent kind of harness (so maybe they’re a group, like the JL or the Titans?Or the Legion of Evil…? Shit, he is not up to playing Pet Doctor to agroup of baddies. Again. It didn’t end well last time—you know, for the badguys).

Okay then. Take a breath, Doc. Plenty of time tounravel the fuckery later.

The third has a similar red and black thinggoing on, same damn insignia, but he has an additional wicked cowl-like,almost helmet thing that is shaped more like a bird’s face and head with a beakthan questionable unconscious guy number one (his cowl is just straight-up unimpressive.C’mon bad guys need to have better imagination than that). The lenses,he notices are red rather than the usual white, so well there’s that.The suit, however, doesn’t have the armored tunic covering a bodysuit, but isjust modified with light armor instead. It reminds him of Jason’s Red Hood bodysuit, the armor in the potentially fatal places. Good call.

The last body breathing is completely outof the pattern (one of these things is not like the others… damn you,Sesame Street, well-played). He’s got some standard black, pocketedpants and heavy boots, like ninja suit-ish or something. The plain rope iscoiled over his hip from a pocketed belt that doesn’t look as advanced as theothers. He doesn’t have any insignia Tim can plainly see. He’s also not wearinggauntlets and only half-fingered leather gloves, so checking his wrist for hispulse is easier than the cowls. (Bandaged fingers, not bleeding badly enough tobe a problem, but he clocks the deets for later).

“Ooowwfuck,” comes from over his shoulderwhile he’s trying to feel out the black suit in a non-pervy way and see ifthere might be, you know, blood or something because it is seriously dimin this little dungeon-y vacay spot, and Tim spins abruptly, eyes dartingaround for something to use as a weapon or maybe to duck behind so he caneavesdrop to figure out what the fuck he’s dealing with.

The cowled man sits up, rubbing the back of hishead, the whiteouts going around the closed-off room—

And lands right on the frozen doctor.

“I’m unarmed, don’t kick my ass,” he puts upboth palms in that just a civilian, don’t kill me pose. “If you’re hurt,I’m a doctor, and maybe if you know how I got here and why, thatwould be just super helpful at this juncture in the glowy circlekidnapping plot. Though I am seriously not the person you’re lookingfor. I have a sweet fire escape, but no nifty suit. Sorry ‘bout it.” He defdoes not mention the part where letting him go would be in theguy’s best interest since his wonderful significant others can get a little testyif he’s in things like, well, immediate fucking peril. He likes thebaddies to be surprised when Nightwing and the Red Hood bust down theirdoor.

The guy’s mouth drops open a little and just a blinkbefore awake good/bad dude is literally right in front of him.

If he hadn’t seen Dick and Jay move whenthey’re in the masks, he would have been totally more fanboy-ing it upthan he is right now.

“Holy shit, you’re fast!” Tim eyes theperson that could probably snap his spine with, like, a pinky or in some othercrazily specific way. “Seriously, this is a mistake. I’m a damn good surgeon,but like, dungeons?, I got nothing.”

The cowled vigilante, still feeling fractured asfuck with the waking up in who knows where, chuffs a laughbecause what the shit did he get into this time? (Well, lookingat himself, it’s going to be ‘What is multiversing for $1000, Alex.’) Hejust has no room on his already full plate for things like, randomportals showing up to take him right off the back of Jay’s Ducati from behind(which, come to think of it, is actually a nice little relief withwhatever is going on with those two and the almost, sort-of, couldhave been maybe trying to-to kiss him…or something?) when there’s somecrime fighting going down. Terrorists and meta-inducing tech are keeping himnice and busy fuck-you very much.

But this other him that is a little shorter,eyes going unconsciously to his utility belt like he’s making a plan isprobably going to need some deets before he’s in a fight-for-his-lifeessentially against, you know, himself. One hand goes to the cowl,pressing what he needs to deactivate the security—

And pulls it off.

That leave Dr. Tim looking right into his own face.

“What. The. Fuck?!” He scrabblesback, almost tripping over his own feet and the unconscious guy on the groundwhen this guy that is basically him, moves so fast again,and grabs his arm to keep him from falling.

“Hey. Hi there. Tim, right? Yeah, me too.Welcome to the multiverse. Really, it’s scientifically fucked up, but a good lessonfor the kids on what not to do with space/time.”

The doctor sputters, “multi-what now?!Wh— I— This is…this isn’t…this isn’t possible.”

The cowled version of him chuckles a little,grinning while rubbing the back of his head, “first time multiversing? It’scool, you’ll get used to it. Things to remember: dick bag aliens suck in allrealities, Luthor is totally a tool no matter where you go, and don’t fuck withthe Red Hood just in case he’s still a little pissed about the wholeRobin thing. That? Was not the best lesson.”

Now his brain is a puddle of mush, thanks…him.“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m a…you’re a vigilante, too? Like-like Nightwingand the Red Hood and-and Batman?”

And the doctor swallows hard because—

(He was Robin).

This vigilante version of him completely stops.Just. Creepy complete stillness.

“Uh, hello? You with me, uh…Tim?”

The second groan is followed by, “it’s okay,give him a minute. He’s probably not used to a world where we’re notpart of the Bat-clan.” The one with the weird cape is sitting up lookingaround. “Well, it could still be a post-Apocalyptic world, but it’s anyones’guess at this juncture.”

The voice is completely his yet again andDr. Drake’s eyes go to the other two still out.

“You too?” He asks, mindblown, “another…”his hands waffle back and forth, “another Tim Drake? I mean, all of youare Tim Drake?”

“Seems that way,” the other stands up, stretcheshis back and goes to the impressive computer on his wrist. Sooo, half-robotsare totally a possibility maybe? Ives is going to shit kittens.“I was already kind of in a multiverse where some alien assholes took over theplanet. We just had a massively awesome war and sent them packing, so I reallydidn’t expect to end up anywhere else but my original universe. This is kindof…strange. I checked the coordinates on the portal three times justto make sure.”

“H-how is this…possible, I mean, the physicsdon’t even support something like this! The-the doppelganger effect and-and!”

Dominoed Tim just waves the doctor into silence,“like I said, I was already in a multiverse, and two Tims can exist in the samespace. Well, obviously more than two, but it is what it is.” He goesback to the computer on his wrist, trying to get his head in this gameafter what he’d just left behind (that version of Dick holding him up, tellinghim he’ always have a place there if he ever wanted to come back.That version of him welcoming him with open fucking arms if he did wantto stay; a world where he would never have to go for a weapon againstJason Todd, and fuck, fuck…Dami was his brother.)

De-cowled Tim gives the doctor his attentionafter subtly moving to check the other two still breathing but out cold, “thinkof it like this: every major decision you make could go a few different ways.For each option, a separate reality breaks off. These what-ifs create athing called the multiverse, multiple universes with sometimes subtle,sometimes catastrophic differences.” He gestures to the dominoed Tim who givesa little wave.

The doctor blinks hard, his hands curl intofists by his sides, “so there’s a reality out there somewhere…there’s areality where I let Nightwing bleed to death on my fire escape or called anambulance and got his ident compromised, or a reality where—”

“Whoa,” dominoed Tim looks up from his wristcomputer and raises the whiteouts, “bled to death on your fire escape?”

“That’s…that’s how I kind of met him in themask. Anyway—”

“So you’re not—?”

“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” he shrugs, whichis only slightly untrue. “I’m not,” and he waves a hand at the two ofthem, “this. What you are. I went to Med School instead of Crime FightingAcademy or whatever.”

De-cowled Tim laughs out loud, shaking his head.“I was Robin first, five and a half years. The new name is Red Robin, and I’mwith the Titans more than in Gotham—” but he pauses with it because, welp,that’s not really as true as it used to be, is it?

Domino Tim shrugs, goes back to his wristcomputer, but his shoulders are tight, “same mostly. Robin, whole lot of crimefighting, Red Robin, and I’m exclusively with the Titans. I only go back toGotham if the call goes out, and even then, I fight like fuck and goback home. This ah, alien multiverse thing just happened to…come upunexpectedly.”

De-cowled Tim gasps in a breath, “whoa, do youmean the—”

“Insurgents,” domino Tim replies softly,carefully.

“Wow. The Mind Trap is such a pain in thedick.”

“Tell me about it. Gotta love when it’s Hood andthe current Robin inside because those two.”

“Oh fuck, dude are you even okay rightnow? How long ago was—?” De-cowled Tim grips the other vigilante version by theforearm, bending just slightly over him while the doctor watches, wonders whatthese aliens, these Insurgents are to them and why they’re so dangerous.

“Fine,” the domino replies, but his voice is…off.“As soon as we figure out how the hell we got here, I’ll be even better.”

“Okay,” the cowled Tim starts slowly, seeingmaybe more than he should, but he respects his other self trying to keephis shit together when he’s very, very obviously not fine. Nowisn’t the time for it, instead it’s time to get their fractured thoughtstogether and figure out all the main points, “All right Doc, tell us what youwere doing and what happened to bring you here.”

Still checking on the two other unconsciousvigilantes, he does just that, mentions calling for his boyfriends before the“portal” (and this? Is his life right now) sucked him in.

De-cowled Tim has a small grin on his face whilehe surveys the cell they’re in, and domino Tim’s frown gets painful while he’strying to get some kind of results on his computer.

“There’s a few things we can work with, but I’vegot no obvious feeds here. We need to wait until the others come to before wemake a move.”

“Good plan.”

“Agreed. I don’t have anything I would need toassess them any further. I don’t see any signs of distress yet, so we’re goodso far.”

Both vigilantes start digging in their utilitybelts, but the doctor holds up a hand, “the supplies aren’t the problem. X-ray,CAT scans, those type of things would be stellar. But, I’m allout at the moment because smart bad guys are a pain in the ass.”

“True story,” the two Tims echo.

“All right, so from the readings just before Ihitched a ride here, it looks like a disruption in space/time—” the domino Timtaps on his computer.

“Like a shockwave,” the other Tim supplies.

“—could have crossed two paths, but fourof them? That’s—”

“Statistically impossible,” the third one withthe sweet helmet-cowl is up, bracing himself on his hands. Dr. Drake catchessomething off immediately, the way his head tilts to the side.

“Exactly,” the other two say in tandem again,seriously shaking him up.

“Someone probably planned this,” de-cowled Timlooks at them, “we’re here for a reason.”

“As much as I’d like to stay and figure out why,I have a really important meeting to attend tomorrow,” the helmeted Tim gets tohis feet, his body a strange kind of taunt.

In his peripheral, he sees the other two Timsfigure it out, too.

Dr. Drake crosses his arms over his chest, “theroom we’re in is concrete or stone, floors and 100-foot or so ceilings. There’sa transparent door to your right, approximately twenty feet, no discernable wayout.”

The red lenses swing to him but stray just overhis shoulder. The blind crime fighter smirks at him, “did you say you’re nota vigilante?”

He huffs out since well, he’s the onlyone apparently, “I’m a surgeon. I just…have other hobbies. Like dating crimefighters, and playing Pet Doctor for superhero groups. You just…you aren’tlooking at me.”

The other two Tims nod in agreement.

“You were balancing like the King Snake when youstood up,” de-cowled Tim adds almost gently.

Domino Tim folds his arms over his chest, “thefingertips on your gloves are…modified. You can probably read braille throughthem, can’t you?”

The fourth grins wider and laughs a littlebecause, well, trust someone like himself to get the tech. “I made aspecial pad to help me hack again, too. It’s good stuff.”

“Like you really need it?” The de-cowledone grins.

“Always have a plan.”

The three vigilantes share a half-assed laugh asthe fourth Tim removes the specially made cowl.

“Fuck,” domino Tim blinks, “I think I canhazard a guess.”

“We’re all probably aware the Wanderer is an asshat.” And he already knows what they’re looking at, the milky haze overhis unfocused eyes. The radar net gives him good intel, outlines andimpressions, not depth or detail. For that, he moves closer to the gathering,listening for the sounds of air rushing or gears grinding, anything to givethem an out while placing the smallest differences in each figure. The doctorone smells like sandalwood and antiseptic. The one to his right with a bareface sounds oddly…calm. The contentment is in his voice. The one already inanother multiverse did come from a war, the scent of the fight, the heatof pain not on his skin makes his voice get tight at moments (well, asthe one that lost his sight trying to get B back from time—he totally getsthat type of pain because one of them��maybe even two of them couldrealistically stand to be anywhere near Dick).

And him? He’s just the guy that’s going to findtheir way out of here so they can all get a little bit of why the utter fuck?

“He took out your eyes instead of your spleen,”domino Tim observes, swallowing down the situation he just left, the twofrom that world where he could have stayed and helped rebuild—

Not the time for regrets, asshole. Let’s justfocus on the here and now.

“I would have been better with the spleen, butit’s fine at this point.” And the de-cowled vigilante exchanges an eye slidewith the dominoed one because it’s very obvious the guy is bullshittingthem (but well, who else would catch it other than the dudes that lie toBatman?) “Luckily for me, Tam is the most bitchin’ PA ever.”

“She keeps everyone’s shit together.”

“She multitasks like a boss.”

“Glad she rocks us in most universes. Stellar.So, how about we figure out how to get the hell out of here so she doesn’teviscerate us? I, for one, am not on that train.”

“Uh,” Dr, Drake blinks, feeling like he’swatching tennis or something, Wanderer? Losing a spleen or sight? Whothe fuck is Tam? But the other three converge in a circle to start making plans,the de-cowled Tim pulling him along in by his bicep.

Domino Tim gestures to his half-destroyed wristcomputer, “the only readings I’m getting are nil and none. I can’t place whereor when we are in the time stream. I’ve got readings on the physicallayout, but…that’s it.”

Since his tech is obviously boss enoughto get him through another multiverse, the others realize it might just be astep closer to oh shit time.

“That doesn’t sound any kind of promising,” thelast one of them is finally up and on his feet, holding his abdomen gingerly,“I, for one, am not a fan of the decor. Too medieval for my taste.”

The other three tense immediately, subtle slidesof gloves in belts, the move for a bo, the shift of feet, and sway of hip for arighteous roundhouse to the face.

De-cowled Tim groans a little, “shit, I knewI was going to go villain in at least one reality—”

“That costume isn’t going to make good guysquake in their boots, dude—”

“You’re not instilling confidence here. Iexpected better style from a bad guy,” the sightless vigilante sighs.

“Whoa, villain?” The dark suited Timthrows up both hands, “how fucking insulting. I am not a bad guy,I’m a solo vigilante fuck you very much”

Three of the five Tim’s eyes are huge.

“Wait, so you didn’t start out with the Bats?”De-cowled Tim is blinking because, well yeah, he could totally see aworld where he decided to be bad ass on his own.

Dark Tim’s eyes swing over, whiteouts raised, “Iwas a Bat at one time,” but his his voice is clipped, tight.

“Did…did you take on something other than RedRobin when Dick—” Domino Tim takes an anxious step forward because yes,that? So many possibilities. (And what would his team of loveableassholes care if he…if he changed his ident, too? The Bats, hisworld’s Dick, Jason, B, and Dami wouldn’t give two fucks anyway).

The dark Tim glances away, his expression goingcompletely neutral, “it’s…a long story. I was that name for about a minute,just long enough to peg B down and bring him back from random time fuckery.Gave it up right after.”

De-cowled Tim straightens a little, “were youRed Robin when you took out Ra’s and saved Wayne Enterprises?”

The dark Tim blinks and shakes his shaggy head,“I—I didn’t become CEO, not of Wayne Enterprises. I brought B back right afterI took the League down. He was able to prove himself legally alive and save WEon his own. He sure as fuck didn’t need my help to do it.”

“That sucks,” blind Tim is already turned towardthe creaks and groans of their prison, trying to get a peg on what couldpossibly be outside. “I’m not a fan of it, but Dick wasn’t taking up the CEOreign, so—” he give it a there you have it flourish.

The awful tension in dark Tim’s spine tells a hellof a lot more than he probably means to,“Dick and I… I’ll leave it alone. Thedetails don’t matter, but needless to say it’s fine. I know where myplace is, where it’s always been.”

“Please don’t tell me Hood laid it out for youwith sharp, pointy things?” Domino Tim bites out, his upper body tensewith pain of his injuries and old burdens.

Dark Tim’s teeth flash white in a dangerous grin,“up-close-and-personal right after I found Bruce. He wanted to congratulateme on how smart it was to get out before they dumped me in the garbage, whichis probably true anyway.”

The doctor’s eyes are wide, his stomach churningwith the bitter, angry acceptance right there for him to see. The fact two ofthe Tims reach for a the thin, nearly imperceptible scar at their throats giveshim enough detail to see where things for them went. His fist tightens when hecatches the moves, hastily aborted before it could be obvious.

“I’m sorry,” he interjects quietly, making theother four turn to him, “I’m sorry you don’t have what I do. Those two…aregood to me. Better than good. Granted, I patch them up on a regular. Titans andJL too. Sometimes the Outlaws, but when—when it was the Joker…they came forme. They didn’t stop trying to find me, so…yeah, I’m sorry you don’t havethat.”

Dark Tim straightens, tries to be neutral, “ifthey’ve got your back, then good on you, Doc. I’m better being out of the Batsactually. It’s probably something I should have done when Dad died, given upthe R, let Damian the fuck have it.” He shakes his head a little.

“My life…is better now���,” Dr. Drakeadmits before any of the others can give into their own curiosity, “Before itwas…it was fine. I worked, and took care of Steph and Layla, I gamedwith Ives, and did the hardcore things on my time off. It was…it was a good lifeand I made it for myself. But when I found Dick laying out on my fire escape,dying, I…nothing would ever be the same. I don’t think I could go back to before,not now that I have them,” he shrugs. “It’s the best relationship I’ve everhad.”  And it’s true enough that he can’t imagine a world where he’s nottotally in love with Dick or Jay, and watching the others get anxious or angryat the mention of his name (except for the cowled one, so maybe hope?) makeshis chest tight.

The dark Tim takes a few steps closer, tilts hischin so the doctor doesn’t have to look up, “I hope,” the unnamed vigilante beginshoarsely, “I hope they love you like you deserve for the rest of yourlife, and never turn you the fuck out.”

The doctor sucks in a breath, his chest aching.

“I hope Dick…realizes what he’s got.”And the this time hovers above him, around him because even though he’stried to move on, tried to keep putting one foot in front of the other,tried to keep one step ahead of the pain, the betrayal, the loss likeit’s his fucking spleen, it kills him that in some other world, he getsto have it…and keep it.

De-cowled Tim crosses his arms and glances atthe doctor, “Dick… some of us may have a sore spot with Dick. He ah, he tookthe Robin mantle in a slightly douchey way. There was…a lot of reasons behindit, but still.”

The dark Tim laughs, a very unfunnyha-ha. “Sore spot,” he literally fucked me before he took my cape,“sounds…about right.” It sends a chill through the doctor, makes the blindone’s jaw tighten enough that a muscle jumps, makes the de-cowled one…blush?

“My multiverse one is better than the one frommy universe,” the domino Tim shrugs, but it hitches as does his voice when hetries to be light, to be funny, “but they thought their Tim wasseriously dead, so…There’s that.”

And the weak interruption breaks up the TimDrake pow-wow: “Sss’okay. Mine…mine does too,”

The voice echoes off the walls, makes thevigilantes strike really impressive, dangerous-looking poses before they alljust vanish, and the doctor’s mouth drops open because holy shit.

Holy shit.

There’s worlds out there where he…He was Robin.(And the point hits home when he sees the version in familiar red, gold,and green, when he realizes this is what the rest of them might havelooked like at one time–that all of them wore the R). And he’s verycarefully, very methodically not going to think about all the old painand injuries— lack of spleen and eye sight—that are obviously marringeach of the Tims he’s met in some way

Mentally, while the others gather around thetransparent door keeping them in the cell, the doctor reboots because fanboyingover himself is just totally pathetic.

He makes his way to the transparent caging themin, the light dim and just enough to make out another cell across from themwith someone chained up with some impressive looking manacles inside.

“Whoa,” two of the four Robins manage when theysee the last Tim restrained and out of their reach. He looks beaten andbattered, bloody and…young.

“He’s still Robin apparently,” domino Tim muses,bends his knees and leaps up to hang from the top of the door, looking for away to get them out.

The youngest spits a mouthful of blood, “neverRobin. R-Red Robin.”

The vigilantes all look at him and theexpressions aren’t…positive.

De-cowled Tim’s jaw goes tight, a musclejumping, “you don’t say? Too bad, I have a lot of good memories beating theshit out of the Rogue Gallery. They’re not fans of the R either.”

“Got to love how they fucked up my suit.”Dark Tim nudges the blind Tim, whispers a few deets about the younger versionof them across the prison space. “A few details are off, but it’s the red tunicand green tights, black boots, with two shuriken R’s over the heart.”

“That’s pretty fucking insulting,” theblind vigilante, folds his arms and lowers the radar array back over his face,hits the system to check if his gear can find some inconsistencies.

Domino Tim just sneers, “right? ‘Never Robin’ myass. I bled for that fucking cape, for that name, man.That is just some bullshit B pulled on you isn’t it? Oh, I can’t have anotherRobin after Jason fucking died, so have another—”

“M-my call,” the youngest coughs out, his eyesbloodshot behind the domino. “Didn’t wanna be in those boots.”

“Fuck that,” all of the vigilantes echoas they climb, jump, move, and try to figure a way to get to the next one.

“It’s okay, I was never Robin either,” Dr. Drakethrows in, also looking for a way to get through the door, “but just keeptalking, okay? We’re going to get to you soon.”

“Oz is going to come back,” the youngest of themsays quietly, “and when he does, we all going to die.”

**

He catches it without the help of the radararray, his enhanced senses painfully alert with the bloody Red Robin in theprison cell across from theirs in need of medical attention (and isn’t it justa bonus that one of them really is a doctor? Not a vigilante, butbetter than a villain any day). But the barely-there sigh nabs his attentionjust as he’s climbing up the far wall to try looking for some hidden catchbecause, well, no vents dammit.

“Got it,” he deadpans, shoving the end of hisgrapple in the ceiling and letting out just a little line. He jumps it getenough momentum for both feet to hit. The others are gathering below him whenhe gives it a second go, feeling whatever material used to patch over the oldline start to give. One more hit and he breaks through for the blessed feel ofopenness.

“Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?”Domino Tim follows up after, leaning down to offer a hand to the doctor.

“Please tell me you don’t just make witty banterback-and-forth while you fight crime?” He takes the offered hand, slightlyamazed at how this version is seriously back-bending like a boss.

“Are you kidding?” De-cowled Tim grins upat them while the doctor scrambles for some kind of footing since, you know,he’s rocking pjs and shit. “It’s really the most effective weapon in myarsenal.”  

“Aside from bombs and multiple types of fightingstyles,” dark Tim fills in, standing slightly back, the lenses in his dominostill up.

“That too, but the banter takes real thought.”

“Bombs are more fun.”

De-cowled Tim jumps up into the vent, “I thinkyou’re my favorite. We should make bombs together if this whole situation pansout for us.”

Dark Tim might chuff a laugh as he follows.

Once the dominoed Tim lowers him down to theblind one waiting to get him to ground level, the doctor is taking off to othercell, looking over the battered younger version of him (them) with acritical eye.

“You’ve got some bad contusions,” he notes,“want to tell us about this Oz guy and what the hell happened to you?”

“Oz…isn’t a fan of my come-backs.” The youngerRed Robin replies, the one that might actually belong here.

Wherever here is.

Blind Tim pulls the cover off the door’s controlpanel and flips out the hack-pad. As observed, the tips of his gloves arethinner than the rest by a mile, allowing him to feel the movement ofthe pad as it spits out code.

De-cowled Tim kneels by the doctor, flipping outsome impressive-looking tool that looks very similar to his bat-a-thing in hisvigilante-only doctor’s bag.

“Okay, I have plenty of pocket-space in thesepj’s,” his eyes don’t leave the hurt vigilante manacled down, already plottingwhere to start once they get inside. He flaps a hand at the others around himworking on the door. “Give me stuff in case we get separated. Like things thatwill explode without killing me preferably.”

“Almost,” blind Tim is working with the radararray focused on the youngest of them. “There’s a bypass to trigger an alarm.”

“Of course there is,” the others grumble.

Domino Tim, leaner than the rest, is standing onDark Tim’s shoulders while the two of them re-direct the security systemsembedded in the door frames where most people probably wouldn’t clockthem.

Dark Tim reaches in a pocket of his belt, andshoves a handful of pellets at the doctor, “keep them all separated ifyou can, but you can tell these because they have one indent for your thumb.”

“What do they do?”

“Smoke. If you get pinned down, put your thumbin the indent, press, and throw it on the ground. Got it?”

“Yup.”

Domino Tim pulls something out of a compartmentof his harness, “here. This is a grapple. Point it at a wall or somethingmostly stable, thumb here, press and hold on. It’ll kick back at youwhen it fires, but it’ll fix in where you point it. Aim high. This button willreel you in so whatever you do, don’t let it go.”

“Thanks. Get-the-fuck-away tech is really niceto have.”

“Security protocol deactivated,” blind Timinforms and holds up slim, cylindrical thing. It looks like one of Nightwing’sescrima sticks, only shorter. He works the coding with his other hand. “This isa collapsible bo. Even if you don’t really know how to use one like the rest ofus probably do, I have faith you’ll be a natural.”

The doctor takes it as the door gives a fewboops and starts to slide up.

“Jackpot,” two of the Tims deadpan.

Domino Tim hops off Dark Tim’s shoulders, buteven though, you know, vigilantes, the doctor is the first one throughthe door.

The others are cautious while he’s kneeling bythe obviously aching vigilante tied down with only his suit and a very distinctlack of weapons, gauntlets, and gloves.

“It’s mostly bumps and bruises,” the teenagerinforms the doctor, “getting out of the chains would be just stellar.”

“What,” the doctor chuffs back, looking aroundfor approximately two seconds before he snags a whirlybird out of De-cowledTim’s belt and starts to cut through the impressive if not torn armor, “need towork on your sweet dance moves, Tim? I think the party can waituntil we make sure you’re not going to pass out, right?”

The hurt vigilante snickers, winces, andsnickers again.

De-cowled Tim is already working on manaclenumber one while domino Tim is working on manacle number two. Blind Tim isskimming the room for any camera, vents, scary secret passageways, something elsethat could be thwarted by some meddling kids.

“Okay, this is going to hurt,” the doctor warnsin advance, lifting the vigilante’s leg, “but the good part about it isreally,” he jerks fast and efficient with sure hands, earning a muffled cryfrom the youngest, “is that I can do it fast. Sorry about that, Tim.”

“S–S’okay, thanks. That already feels less likeass.”

“No sign of your gear,” blind Tim crosses hisarms in frustration, red lenses swinging over to their general location.

Dark Tim gives a wave, “I’m going to check theother cell. We might have another prisoner to worry about.”

The hurt Red Robin grunts, “he’s got otherheroes stuck throughout the building. N-Not sure how many. Only said it wasinterrupting his plan.”

“You were getting too close so he nabbed you,”de-cowled Tim puts the thing back over his eyes while handing the doctorsupplies from his belt.

“Mmhm, think he…think he’s trying to–” a longsigh out and the vigilante slumps against the manacles.

“Shit!” blind Tim takes a knee on the otherside, “hey, c’mon. You have to wake up. Tell us what you know about his plan.”

“He’s out. Concussion, contusions. No seriousbleeders or broken bones. Whoever kept him here wanted him alive.” The doctorhates working without gloves, but douses the wounds with the antiseptic wipes,“he won’t die from these.”

“That doesn’t make the sitch any better,”de-cowled Tim pulls the cowl back over his face to secure it since they’remobile now and bad guys have a terrible tendency to fuck with important peoplewhen the ident is compromised. You know, previous experience and shit.

“No, but at least we can move him, and startchecking out the territory.” Blind Tim is already pulling the youngest up,maneuvering the limp Red Robin over a shoulder. He’s very carefully notbeing completely pissed off about the suit. Nope. Nothing to see here.

Meanwhile, Dark Tim takes approximately twoseconds to look at the shadowy figure laying full out in the other cell in thiscreepy little hallway. His heart slams painfully, and a gasp torn from him,eyes wide behind the domino.

He’s already working on the door, fast andefficient, pulling up the old knowledge, the old experience he hasn’t used in monthsof being on his own, of just taking to the streets instead of taking down thebig, bad evils of the world. (He’d wanted something simple, something toremind him where his roots were, something he could do without being a Bat).

But at the moment, there’s nothing moreimportant than kicking it up a fucking notch. He triggers the door toopen once security is deactivated, almost vibrating with energy.

“C’mon, c’mon,” is a fervent prayer under hisbreath because please, please be alive.

“Whoa! Dude, did you hit the jackpot or what?”

But he doesn’t even pay attention to the otherscoming out of prison cell #2 or pause once the door is high enough for him toduck under.

“Shit,” cowled Tim growls, “he’s got somethinggood,” and follows while the doctor and blind Tim get their younger counterpartthe fuck out of that cell.

What he finds makes him pause in the doorway, agasp caught in his throat.

Dark Tim is cradling Kon-El’s face between hispalms, talking gently to the woozy-looking clone.

“Kryptonite. That douche bag has to havekryptonite in here somewhere to keep him down,” domino Tim joins the hunt,letting the nameless one of them do his thing.

“Superboy!?” The doctor, however, takes a knee,takes in the sluggishly moving eyes, takes in the manacles and bodysuit, theslight green tint to the clone’s veins.

“He’s bordering on Kryptonite poisoning. We needto get him out and fast,” the doctor takes the clone’s face from dark Tim andtilts him closer to the light, watches the pupils react sluggishly.

Dark Tim is all aboard that train, thismission now seemingly priority one.

“M’ seeing double,” the clone (who doesn’t know whythe other guy called him Kon or Conner, why this one called him…Superboy? Hedoesn’t know those names, doesn’t know why the hold on his face is gentle,easy. Nothing has been gentle since he was brought here.) “Who…who areyou?”

Dark Tim gets the first unlocked with his jaw tight,“in my world…I’m your best friend. Me and Bart. You…you’re importantto me there.”

The clone blinks up at him owlishly.

“You hit a bad fight in my world,” the doctorfills in, unabashedly pulling at the suit to make sure he’s not missingsomething else. “The Titans called me to help unscramble your DNA when somekind of magic made you human. We totally played Mario Kart for hours,dude.”

“Y-Your world?”

“Long explanation. We’ll give you the deets onceyou’re away from the bad green glowy rock.”

“It’s under the floorboards,” cowled Tim isright there when the second manacle unlocks, helping to pull the weak clone tohis feet. “Hopefully, he’ll start to get his strength back once we get him farenough away.”

“W-who…?” His eyes are inexplicably drawn todark Tim, blue eyes taking in the vigilante that is on his other side, alreadypulling the clone’s arm around his shoulders and walking him to the door.

“Tim,” the dark one fills in softly. “I’m TimDrake. We…we all are in one way or another. We’re all from different worldsand in each of them, you are important to us, okay? Can we go with that fornow?”

The clone blinks at the whiteouts while heshuffles forward, already feeling better with each step away from the meteorembedded in the center of the room. “You’re…one of the good guys. Thanks fornot leaving me here.” His hand firms on dark Tim’s shoulder, and he quirks asmall smile at the vigilante.

“Leave you here? No way in hell, Kon,ah… Your name is Kon-El in my world, or Conner, but–”

“I’ll go with it. S’ better than Project 13.”

Blind Tim resets the door to close and lock whenthey’re out, adjusting the unconscious version of them over his shoulder.

“Since we’re, you know, trying to figure out whothe fuck is behind this, why not tell us what you know, Kon?” But blind Timalready has some theories going, his mind working at why his radar array isgoing haywire with configurations.

The corridor is full of shadows, each of theTim’s narrowed-eyed, trying to keep to the dimness.

“…his called himself Dr. Oz,” even though theclone is feeling better, he keeps his arm over dark Tim’s shoulder, doesn’tpull out of the hold on his wrist. “He said he had to make sure time was‘appropriately in his order’ for the plan to work. He broke into CADMUS, brokeme out of the generation tube. He…he said I had a purpose. I don’t–Idon’t know…”

“That’s good deets, man,” dark Tim tightens thearm around Kon’s (he could get use to that as a name) waist, “he broke you outof the lab. He needs someone with super strength and senses. Someone close toinvulnerable.”

“He’s fucking with space/time,” dominoed Timfurthers the theory. “That’s probably how we all got here instead ofthat Tim’s real world,” he hitches a thumb at the Tim laying over blind Tim’sshoulder. “My readings are still off the charts, so it seems like we’re–”

“Outside of time.” Cowled Tim finishes softly.

Blind Tim pauses when the body over his shouldershudders, “it’s…I remember trying to–to solve a case. The missing heroesand…” the youngest leans up, braces himself when blind Tim bends his knees toput him on his feet, braces him with an arm.

“There’s something working in this universe,”blind Tim makes a shooing motion, gets the rest of them walking, “my radararray is also giving screwy readings, like it can’t connect a consistenttimeline. Like there’s…some spans missing.”

Domino Tim nods in agreement as they take aturn, pacing carefully.

“Can you re-configure your radar to hone in on acontrol room or something?” Dark Tim glances over his shoulder. “If wecan find out where his bad guy head office is, we can–”

“I,” Kon hesitates slightly, “I have, um, X-rayvision? Like the real Superman. I mean, I can try–”

Doctor Tim’s gaze snaps over to the clone, “you do?That is so sweet, man. How about you take a look at this guy for me first,okay?” He hitches a thumb to the hurt vigilante, “just to ease my conscienceabout him not having broken anything?”

“Oh.” The clone unconsciously squeezes darkTim’s shoulder before he lets go and turns. “Hi. I’m…um. Hi. Are youalso…Tim?”

The youngest vigilante gives a half-grin andstraightens up to stick out a hand, “when I’m not in the mask, yeah. Yeah, I am,but when I’ve got this kick ass suit on, you can call me Red, okay?”

The clone blinks at him and then down to hishand. He tilts his head like a puppy, not sure what to do.

“Like this, man. Just a way to greet people forthe first time,” and this world’s Tim pulls up the clone’s hand, grips it, andshakes. He grins wider when the clone grins back.

“It’s nice to meet you,Kon. I’m Red Robin, and it looks like we’re going to have to save our universewith the help of some friends.” The youngest, beaten and bruised, but grinninglike mad with blood on his teeth, glances around at the other hims andback to the clone. “You with us, man? Because believe me, the fight? Isgoing to be totally fucking sweet, and you are definitely going to want in.”