#and you know these are the same dudes who are always like 'panel shows were better 10-15 years ago when people could say what they wanted!!'

[teenagefeeling]

im gonna start hunting men who don't like daisy may cooper for sport

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 2: Stitched Revisited

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

Alt feels that same jolt as he passes through darkness as he did last time. The blackness is very short. When it clears up, he's standing in a kitchen/dining room combination. There's an old floral wallpaper on the upper half of the walls, the bottom half being wood paneling. A window in the dining room shows a street of townhouses outside. No doubt he is in another townhouse. The whole place seems vaguely old-fashioned, in a sort of cozy way. 

"Alt?" The voice, crackling with static, comes from his pocket. No, wait. It comes from his phone in his pocket.

Alt can’t help but stiffen a bit as he hears static come from his phone. Couldn’t the red Anti talk through phones? He shakily reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone.

The screen is on, and... Anti is there. Not the red one, the one with the green scarf. He stands in front of the home screen, on top of the task bar at the bottom. It's like one of those programs where you get a little companion to walk around on your computer screen. But with a phone instead. Anti raises his hand and makes a motion like he's knocking on the glass of the screen. "Okay good you can hear me. Seems it's easy enough for me to manipulate your phone speaker." 

Alt relaxes as he sees its the other Anti and he smiles. “oh h-hey! Dude that was… I-insane back there! Is that why you’re in my phone?” He laughs, “you look like a shimeji-“

"A what? Oh, one of those browser pets? I mean... I guess I could be?" Anti idly taps the edge of one of Alt's apps, making it wiggle. "Well. Yeah. That was insane. And the most insane part of it... is that the fucker managed to drain a lot of my energy. I... don't think I can be physical right now. So... shimeji it is."

“Jesus…” Alt sighs, keeping his phone open in his palm. “He’s as bad as Mag… I-i don’t get why he can’t drain my power but I-I guess that’s a blessing for now…” He looks outside the window, “And at least this is another world we’ve been to… but I don’t know who’s house this is…”

"Probably something about you being either a Glitch or from another world," Anti says. "Maybe both. As for whose house we're in..." He turns around on the screen, and Alt's camera function opens up, showing the view to Anti. "Hm... looks like a JJ-style place. But I think he has a shop in this world, so it can't be him." 

“…you know you controlling my screen like this is like- prime horror game fodder,” Alt comments with a light laugh. 

Footsteps come from the hallway. "Ah, well, maybe you can go ask, then," Anti says, hearing them.

Alt then freezes a bit at the sound of footsteps- ah fuck…! He hates intruding like this- it always freaks people out. “U-Um… hello?” Might as well bite the bullet-

A man pokes his head into the dining room doorway. He's wearing a red hoodie, and has brown hair long enough to pull back into a small manbun. There's some sort of amulet around his neck, clearly magic but cracked, non-functional. His eyes widen. "What the fuck?! Who are you?!"

Alt glitches back and holds up his hands, which means he ends up holding up his phone too. “Uh hi! I-I’m Alt? I… I’m looking for uh- S-Schneep?” The red hoodie has him thinking this is a Jackie… but… 

oh- 

His eyes widen, breath hitching. 

"Alt? I don't know an--" The man stops, his eyes also widening. "W...wait a minute. You're the third one--I mean, you're one of those visitors, f-from the other world. And Schneep--he was with you, he--oh." 

Alt’s stomach drops- that confirms it. He glitches back even more, trying not to panic. “Y-you were him- you… w-we were-“ 

A moment passes. Then the man notices the movement on Alt's phone screen. He laughs a little. "What the hell? D'you have a little guy on your phone?" 

Anti waves.

Alt blinks and holds back up the phone. “o-oh yeah uh- that’s Anti- a good one! I mean- he… he needs to rest in here.”

"Anti?" The man goes a bit pale, but shakes it off. "Well, uh... hi, Anti. I'm... Jackie. Good to... meet you." Jackie looks at Alt. "And, uh... nice to... meet you too?" He's not sure how to address this. After all, they've already met each other, in a way. 

“Y-Yeah good to… o-officially meet you, Jackie…” Alt says quietly.

"Um. You were looking for Schneep? I can text him or something. Tell him you're here."

“Uh d-does texting work for Schneep? Cuz uh… eyes…?”

"He has a screen reader app. But, uh, yeah. Probably better to call him." Jackie takes his phone out of his pocket. "Um... do you want to sit down in the living room? Or, uh, I could get you something to eat? Since we're in the kitchen?"

“I-I’m okay on food, t-thank you though…” Alt says. Then he laughs a bit, “Huh I… I appeared in a kitchen the first time I was here too…”

Jackie laughs. "Yeah, Jack told me. That's weird, isn't it? Guess something about you just screams 'kitchen' to the universe." 

Alt laughs a little more, “Y-Yeah I guess so…” 

Jackie starts to dial a number on his phone--then stops. "Oh, I should probably tell Marvin that you're here. He's upstairs right now. Oh yeah, this is our house, by the way." 

"Ahhh, that makes sense," Anti says from Alt's phone.

Alt stiffens a bit but nods, “Oh yeah uh- whatever you need to do. But uh… it’s a nice place-“

"Right. Yeah. Thanks." Jackie smiles a bit, trying to be reassuring. "This whole neighborhood was refurbished recently. Jameson pointed it out to us. Nice place. I'll, uh... be right back. Make yourself at home." He disappears from the doorway. 

Alt tries to smile back- and lets its drop as soon as he’s gone. 

After a moment, Anti speaks up. "Not exactly comfortable with him, are you?"

Alt cringes a bit as Anti calls him out and he glares at the screen. “Look, it's… complicated. Last time I was here we… I-I got fused together with him and Marvin and… I-it wasn’t a great experience…” He closes his eyes and lets out a shuddery breath, “I… I still have nightmares about it… but that’s… not necessarily exclusive to here…” he mumbles quietly, leaning against the wall.

"I remember. You told me about that." Anti's voice softens a bit. "If it helps, it was just as bad for them, too. And they were stuck as Stitches even after you left. They'd understand."

Alt stays quiet for a beat, fiddling with his mask idly. “Yeah I know… t-they had it worst… it’s just… hard. I’m sure I’ll get over it…” he sighs.

"Well. Don't force yourself. They definitely feel just as awkward around you." Anti sits down on the taskbar. 

Footsteps soon echo outside the hallway, and Jackie returns--with Marvin in tow this time. He's wearing a long-sleeve blue shirt and has an identical broken amulet around his neck... a neck which has a long scar across it. "Holy shit, it's actually you," he says, eyes wide. "What're you doing back here?" 

"He's looking for Schneep, I told you that," Jackie says, nudging him slightly.

Alt can’t help but flinch as Marvin comes in but tries to give him a smile. “Y-Yeah uh.. S-Schneep was helping us find something we need so we can fix our traveling device.”

"Yeah, he mentioned something like that." Marvin nods. "Well... guess we'll call him." 

"Y-yeah, I can do that." Jackie is already dialing. 

Marvin shifts awkwardly. He was a bit slow to catch up on Alt's flinch, but he's there now, and he's starting to feel the same thing Jackie is. "S-so uh... This is our house. Welcome. Uh... Schneep and Jack have apartments, and Chase rents a house, and of course JJ has his shop and the flat above that. We, um... all... yeah. So... if anyone else came with you, they'll probably be at those places."

“Thanks- Oh yeah uh… my brother is here, Bro uh… so m-maybe I can call to see where he is.” Alt says timidly. He then blinks and looks down at his phone, “…can I still use my phone like normal if you’re in there?” He asks Anti.

"Should work," Anti says, shrugging. 

"Gah!" Marvin jumps in surprise. Jackie reaches over and puts a calming hand on his shoulder. "Sorry. I just--I know Jackie said there was a--the voice--sorry." 

"...Didn't mean to scare you," Anti says in a slightly softer voice.

Alt jumps with Marvin jumps and then looks apologetic. “oh right uh.. sorry-“ He then pulls up his speed dial and goes to call Chase.

Meanwhile, Jackie pulls his phone away from his ear and frowns. He dials again. 

----------- 

Bro appears in a living room. No, wait. This is a shop of some kind that just happens to look a lot like a living room from the early twentieth century. What gives it away is the counter with a cash register. That, and the price tags on the various knickknacks scattered on the tables. It looks pleasant, pastel blue in color and well-lit with yellow lamps. A front window lets in some sunlight. 

Bro blinks and looks around the space, whistling a bit. “oh- this is a nice place!”

A door behind the counter opens, and a man walks out carrying a box. He's wearing a snapback cap and a purple bandanna around his neck. He starts walking, then stops when he sees Bro. His eyes widen. "Whoa! Hey!" He puts the box down on the counter and points at Bro, making a perfect pog face. "You're that other me!"

When Chase comes in and pogs- Bro copies him then bursts into laughter. “Hello again! How’s it going?”

"It's going great, Bro! It's so good to see you again!" Chase smiles. "Oh, hang on." He goes back to the doorway and shouts, "Jack! JJ! The other me is here again!" 

There's the sound of feet on stairs, and Jack and JJ appear from the doorway. "Hey!" Jack smiles. "You're here!" 

Henrik said you might be here some time! JJ's eyes crinkle in a smile--the actual smile being hidden by the mask he always wears.

Bro brightens as he sees the others. He gives them a two fingered salute and a cheeky grin. “Yo! Good to see you guys!”

"Yeah! Feels like it's been a while." Jack laughs. "I mean--like JJ said, Schneep told us you might be here some time. It's been about... two weeks since he showed up again after that disappearance of his?" 

“Oh wow- it’s been two months for us!” Bro laughs, “Time differences between dimensions are always so weird!”

You're here to see if Henrik found that thing, right? JJ says. And I'm guessing your brother came with you?

“yup! sure Alt is around here somewhere… and Schneep! We’re excited to see him again!”

"Nice!" Chase grins. "So, if you guys appear near people who are like you or your friends, then he's either by Schneep right now, or he's at Jackie and Marvin's house." 

JJ winces slightly. If it's the latter... that will probably be... well, awkward. 

“Oh… yeah-“ Bro says with an awkward smile, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh. Right." Jack nods. "Well... I'm sure they'll figure it out." He takes out his phone. "Hang on, I'll text Schneep, ask if Alt is with him." 

“That’d be great, Jack, thanks!” Then, the hero blinks slowly, “…wait, Schneep can read texts…?” He frowns, making a confused face. “…he can do lots of stuff but I didn’t know he could do that…”

Jack laughs. "He has a screen reader app. If he gets a text there's a voice that reads out the notification. 'Message from: Jack', stuff like that." 

“Ooh! Like Siri!” Bro laughs. 

"Are you guys gonna stay for longer this time?" Chase asks. "Schneep will be so excited to see you again--metaphorically, of course." 

“I dunno how long we’ll stay but,.. maybe longer this time? Uh- we kinda got chased down in the last world though so I dunno…” Bro says. 

JJ sighs. Looks like we'll have to put inventory on hold, no matter what.

Bro blinks and waves his hand, “oh! This is your shop then?? And I interrupted sorry!!”

JJ's eyes crinkle some more. Yes, this is my shop! he says proudly. I built it up myself. Well, my grandfather left me the building, but the business is all mine. 

"We came here years ago to ask for help with Anti, and that's how we met Jays," Chase says. "Man... meeting you was one of the few good things to come out of that." 

Oh, thank you. JJ blushes a little behind his mask. Don't worry about it, other Chase. We were just moving some things from my storage in my flat down here for sale.

“Oh okay- as long as it’s not a big deal-“ Bro says, smiling. “man- it’s so nice to see you all… happy! You guys were… not in the best place last time we were here. But look at you all now!” He grins wide.

"Yeah, it's great to be back." Jack smiles. "Things were crazy there for a while. We had to process what Anti was, and then Schneep disappeared for a while, we stayed with Chase's ex, then we finally got rid of Anti only for some magicians to show up and start asking us about him! But it's all over now." 

"You should meet Marvin and Jackie, Bro," Chase says. "I think you'd like them. Probably get along really well with Jackie, haha." 

“Oh damn yeah that’s a lot!” Bro laughs, “But I’d love to meet them! Typically Jackies and me just click heh-“

JJ leans over to Jack. Has Schneep replied yet? 

"Nope." Jack shakes his head. "He must be busy; he usually replies fast."

Bro blinks at Jack then tilts his head, “Huh… wonder what he’s busy with… you guys know where he is? Maybe we can just pop by! Or maybe the uh- other Anti we brought is with him already.”

Jack blinks. "You brought another Anti?" 

Of course, it must be that one who helped you out when you were stuck in that place between worlds, right? JJ asks. 

“Yes! Schneep apparently met him a while ago too!” Bro says brightly. 

"Schneep is probably at his apartment," Chase says. "I can drive us over there--I got a rental car lately, using my license again." He smiles proudly.

Bro smiles at Chase and laughs. “Sure thing bro, that’d be great!”

"Alright, let's go, then!" Chase claps his hands together. "We should all fit in there."

As the group walks outside onto the street, Bro's phone starts to ring.Bro starts to follow then pauses and pulls out his phone. “Oh one sec! Maybe this is Alt.” He perks up when he sees it is. “Hey bro! Where did you end up?”

 "Tell Alt we say hi," Chase says. 

Bro laughs, “The others say hi-“ 

“Hey- I’m with Marvin and Jackie in their apartment and Anti is with me. The other one apparently drained him so he’s hanging out in my phone.” Alt’s voice answers. 

Bro stops in his tracks again, “…Anti’s with you? …huh- then… is no one actually near Schneep then?” 

“Huh? You’re not with him?” 

“No I ran into everyone else though - Jack, other me and JJ.“ 

No one is with Henrik? JJ repeats, a feeling of dread pooling in his stomach. 

Back on Alt's end of the phone call, Jackie slowly lowers his own phone. "Uh... Schneep's not picking up. He usually picks up." 

Marvin frowns. "He's probably just busy." 

But static crackles from Alt's phone speakers as Anti frowns.

“Yeah uh-” Alt listens to Jackie and feels a bit of anxiety in his stomach as he hears the static from his phone. “Have you guys heard anything from Schneep yet?” 

“No… Jack said he tried to text him. Thought it was weird he didn’t answer right away… we’re driving over to his apartment.” Bro says.

Jack checks his phone again. "Yeah, no, he still hasn't replied." He frowns. 

Marvin leans to the side. "Did I hear your Chase say they were going over to Schneep's apartment? That's probably a good idea. We can head over there, too." 

Jackie tries calling Schneep again, but shakes his head, now looking worried. "It's entirely possible that he put his phone in the other room or something, but...it's been ringing for a while. And he doesn't wear headphones. So he probably should've heard it by now."

Alt frowns, “yeah l-let’s head over there too… I-I’m worried.” 

“I’m sure he’s fine, Alt.” Bro tries to reassure him. “But, we’ll meet you all over there okay?” 

“Okay- s-see you soon…” Alt says before hanging up. He frowns at the phone, “…I-I have a really bad feeling…”

Marvin nodded slowly. "I, uh... I can probably teleport us. Not all the way there, that's a bit too far for my range, but if we take a bus halfway I can get us the rest of the way there."

“If you all have been there before then- I can glitch us there.” Alt says sheepishly. “I-if that’s okay with both of you…”

"Oh! R-right, yeah." Jackie nods. "I... Yeah, you can do that." He hesitates, then looks at Marvin. "Are... you okay with that?" 

"I did just suggest the teleporting," Marvin says. 

"Yeah, but... glitching..." 

"It'll be fine, Jackie," Marvin says softly. 

Jackie took a deep breath. "Right. Yeah." He nods and looks at Alt. "We'll do that. Chase and the others will have to catch up."

Alt nods. He hesitates then holds out a hand- “um… f-for me to take you with me we gotta uh… touch somehow.” He says awkwardly, looking away. 

"'Course. That makes sense." Jackie grabs Marvin's hand in his left, then reaches out with his right and takes Alt's. His grip is loose, hesitant. "Let's go."

Alt tries not to jolt at all when Jackie takes his hand. “Okay just- picture what his place looks like… that helps.” He then closes his eyes and in a quick flash of green- all 3 of them glitch away to Schneep’s apartment.

The next thing they know, the three of them are in a living room apartment. It's fairly expansive, modern in design with a wall that's entirely windows, leading out to a balcony overlooking the street below. The lights are off--though, since Schneep is blind, that's to be expected, not a sign of anything wrong. On the wall opposite the windows is the front door and an ajar door showing a bathroom. To the left is a small steel kitchenette and a table. To the right are two closed doors. 

"Schneep?" Jackie calls out. "You home?" 

Silence.

Alt let’s go of the others and starts to glitch around, “Schneep? I-it’s Alt! We’ve been trying to reach you! Are you okay??”

More silence. 

Marvin hurries over to the two doors, opening them up one at a time. One is a bedroom, the other a small sort of office. "He's not in here," he says, looking back at the others. "Not unless he suddenly decided that he likes pranks and jumpscares." 

Jackie takes a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. That's--He could just be out on errands or something." 

"Out doing errands and not answering his phone?" Marvin says doubtfully. 

"I don't know! Maybe? Or maybe he has a job interview?" 

"He'd tell us about that."

Alt can’t hide how worried he is now as he glitches back other to Marvin and Jackie. “Well then where is he? He can’t-“ then he pauses, eyes widening as he pulls out his tracker from Sam. “Wait h-he has the other TRVLR piece! Maybe this can help us find him!” He places a finger over the iris of the tracker.

Alt instantly knows that the TRVLR piece is underground, beneath a building at the address 380 Harbinger Street. 

Alt’s eyebrows furrow, “…it’s underground…?” He says quietly. 

His phone crackles. "You know, there's no guarantee that he has the piece right now, right?" Anti points out. 

Alt snorts at Anti. “I mean I-I know but-“ 

"JJ knows a great tracking spell, h-he can find him if Schneep doesn't have that piece thing," Marvin says. "But--it's a lead, I guess? What is that thing, anyway?" He points at the glass eye tracker. "Some sort of talisman?" 

Alt blinks and then holds out the tracker for Marvin to see. “it’s a tracker our friend Sam gave us to help us find the pieces we’re looking for. Cuz They know where they are… They just need some help getting them. And Schneep offered to help Them too… ” 

Marvin leans down to look at the tracker, eyes wide and sparkling with fascination. 

Alt hums and looks at Jackie and Marvin better, “Do you guys know what something on 380 Harbringer Street might be?”

"Harbringer Street?" Jackie leans back, thinking. "That's sort of north-center in the city. Back when I was a vigilante, the area was known for being vaguely shady. There were a lot of businesses that were fronts for things. You know. Underground organizations." He pales. "That's... Is this TRVLR piece there? If Schneep is there too..."

Alt catches on, his eyes widening. “..h-he could be in trouble…!” He stuffs the tracker back in his pocket, his shoulders shuddering with glitches. “W-We should check there next then! Have you been in that area before, Jackie?”

"Yeah, but... it's... been a while," Jackie says slowly. "And, uh, my memory hasn't been the best ever since..." He trails off. 

"If we can get close, we can walk the rest of the way, it's fine," Marvin says. "This is urgent. Shit, we should call the others and tell them to meet us there!"

“We can do that once we’re there!” Alt says, taking Marvin and Jackie’s hands quickly and concentrating on glitching them over to that side of town.

Suddenly, they're outside, standing on a sidewalk. This part of the city looks a bit more run-down. There are a lot of closed shop fronts, and even the ones that are open have peeling paint and dirty bricks. A storefront nearby is blocked up with plywood that's been spray-painted with graffiti. 

Jackie looks around. "I... don't know if this is the right place," he says slowly. "We need to find a street sign." 

"Use your GPS on your phones," Anti's voice says. 

"Oh, right." Jackie takes out his phone, opening up Maps. After a bit of typing, he frowns. "We're a couple of blocks off. We need to walk for a while then turn left."

Alt shakes himself off then nods, “O-Okay… that doable I guess- better than nothing.” Alt starts to walk, pulling out his phone to text Bro: Schnepp not there. Tracker says address for TRVLR is 380 Harbringer St. heading there now.

----------- 

"Is that Alt? What did he text you?" Jack asks, turning around in the passenger seat to look at Bro in the backseat as his text tone rang out.

Bro pulls out his phone to read and then looks confused. “Schneep isn’t home… Alt says they’re searching on …Harbringer street?”

"Ohhhhh." Chase purses his lips. "That's not a...good part of town..." 

"Really?" Jack looks over at him. 

"It's in the north, and I'm sure you remember Jackie complaining about that place back in the vigilante days." 

"Oh." 

Growing up, I was always told to avoid that area, JJ says. 

"I'm gonna put on some speed, 'kay?" Chase is already pushing on the gas. "I've never been happier that people don't drive a lot in this city." 

“Oh- Jesus… do you guys think Schneep ran into trouble there??” Bro says with worry.

"That's possible," Jack says. "If it's a bad place, I can imagine a lot of assholes messing with him—or worse." 

But Henrik can handle himself, JJ says. Especially with his abilities. He pauses. Do you think I should use a tracking spell?

“…probably better safe than sorry,” Bro nods, “even if Schneep is capable… I feel like he would have told all you guys about going to a place like this… right?”

"Yeah," Chase mutters. "He definitely would've." 

JJ closes his eyes. He makes a gesture like he's holding an invisible plate, and a glowing blue disk forms in his hands. He pulls an arm back and throws it like a frisbee. The disk passes through the windshield like it's not there at all and continues down the street, staying within eyesight but still far ahead. It turns right up ahead and Chase follows it.

Bro fidgets a bit with his jacket. “God… I’m really worried- this… doesn’t seem like Schneep- right? I mean you all know him better than me but… “

"No, you're right, it really doesn't." Jack shakes his head. "He told us he was looking for that TRVLR thing, and he told us where he was looking, but... it wasn't anywhere in the north of the city..." 

Chase and JJ don't say anything, an uneasy silence surrounding the two of them. The car continues north, and the buildings slowly become more and more rundown. There are no pedestrians around... but, as they turn a corner, they see three people waiting in front of a building, a business of some kind. A business with a symbol on the glass window... a symbol that looks a bit like an eye, with three circles forming three irises. 

Bro looks even more worried. Once they pull up in front of the building- Bro’s stomach drops fast as he sees the symbol. “O-Oh no-!” He hurries out of the car and rushes to the others, “Alt! And oh- Jackie and Marvin right? I’m Bro-“ he says quickly. 

"Yep, that's us," Jackie says. 

Marvin raises a hand. "Good to meet you. Wish it was better circumstances." 

“Likewise,” Bro mumbles. Then he gestures at the symbo, looking at Altl. “Um???” 

Alt nods gravelly, “I-I know… t-this isn’t good…”

"What is this place?" Jack gets out of the car, reading the writing on the sign above the door. 

"IRIS Technologies...?" Chase frowns. "I've heard of these guys. They make cameras and shit." He looks at Bro and Alt. "Why... isn't it... good?" The disk from JJ's tracking spell goes straight through the door. 

Alt’s eyebrows furrow, “Cuz as far as we know… IRIS is a fucked up company who has hurt some of our friends… and it could mean Schneep is in a massive amount of danger..!” Glitches fizzle across his skin as Alt looks ready to tear apart the building to search for him. 

Chase pales. "Well... shit. I-I mean... other worlds and all that, but if there's even a chance that he's in danger, we got to look into it." 

JJ looks through the front windows. My tracking spell went through that door at the back. He points it out for the others to see. 

The interior of the business is a waiting area, very plain and generic, with a circular desk where a young woman sits, typing at a clunky-looking computer. Posters on the wall advertise IRIS products. This isn't a store; it looks like a place where you'd go if you had an appointment. 

Marvin grabs the door, testing it. And it opens up. He looks back at the others. "They're open, I guess." 

"Let's go," Jackie says. 

“Alright… let’s see what we can find out then.” Bro mutters, heading inside. Alt looks at the door JJ pointed to, tempted to just go ahead and glitch past it.

"Hi!" The young woman at the desk says in a chipper customer-service voice as everyone walks in. "Wow, big group today. How can I help you?" 

"We're just, uh... checking this place out," Jack says. "Heard about it from a friend." 

"What's behind that door?" Marvin asks, pointing at it. 

"Oh, you'll need a booking to go past there," the woman says. "Do you have a name I can get?" She puts her hands on the keyboard, ready to look things up.

Bro hesitates and then leans on the counter by the woman, grinning charmingly, “Hey~ yeah, you can just put uh… Kieran Brennan. That’s me- you doing okay today?” He puts on the charm big time, briefly glancing at Alt before looking back at her. “And can I just say? Wow- you’re like, stunning…! What's a girl like you doing working in this part of town?” 

"Oh! Oh, um..." The woman blinks in confusion. "I, uh... Mr. Brennan, alright." She types it into her computer. "Thank you very much, sir. I do enjoy this job, it pays very well." She laughs nervously. 

Alt blinks and then nods subtly and while Bro is distracting the woman- he tries to see if he can glitch past the door.

As Alt glitches through the door, he finds himself in a staircase leading downward. The walls are made of a strange white material, and the floor is a dull gray carpet. There's a clunky-looking camera with a blinking red light facing the door--that he just glitched directly in sight of.

“Well that’s good to hear!” Bro grins, trying to keep up the facade. “I’ve had a couple jobs like that- pays good but the area around is kinda shit you know?” He laughs. 

"Haha yeah. It's worth the commute." The young woman quickly finishes typing. "Hmm, I'm not seeing your name coming up. Are you sure you booked it properly?" 

Alt looks around quickly then freezes as he sees the light- he quickly reaches out to see if he can try to destroy it before it captures anything-!

But Alt's magic just bounces off the camera, not even rattling it. And immediately, an alarm goes off, red light flashing. 

“Shit!” Alt curses and then he quickly starts to glitch down the stairs, looking for any sign of Schneep.

"H-huh?" The woman looks over towards the door, alarmed and confused.

"Well--no more time for subtleties!" Jackie declares, and rushes for the door, trying to open it but finding it locked from this side.

Bro’s expression changes on a dime as he now vaults over the counter and goes to try to kick the door open.

The door slams to the side. Most of the group hurries after Bro, but Jack quickly approaches the woman, leaning close. "You should probably get out of here, just in case," he says. 

"U-um--okay!" She grabs a backpack from under the desk and hurries out the front door. As soon as she's gone, Jack hurries after the others. 

The stairs end in an intersection. Three white hallways extend forward, left, and right. Two more branch off left and right at the end of the forward hallway. Doors line the walls. There are small signs on the wall right by the corner. 

TECHNOLOGY STORAGE > 

^ STAFF QUARTERS ^ 

< POSSIBLE ALTR HOLDING

Alt looks between all the options then quickly chooses to go down the possible ALTR holding- that feels like a place that could have Schneep. He’s panicking, the alarm making him glitch and run as fast as he can. “Schneep!! SCHNEEP!” 

Bro hurries down the stairs and is momentarily confused before he hears Alt and scrambles to follow after his voice. “this way guys!”

The others quickly catch up and keep pace with Bro. The hall continues for a while before turning right at the end. The doorways lining these walls are metal, shiny and solid-looking. Each one has a light above it. Most of them are green, but there are two that are red, one before the corner, one after. 

"Hey--maybe these are like--availabilities?" Chase says, pointing at the lights above the doors. 

"Alt, did you hear that?!" Jackie shouts after him. "The red light ones probably have stuff in them!"

Alt looks up to notice this and nods quickly skirting to try to glitch inside the first red light door.

The room beyond has more blank white walls and another camera in the corner. There's a bed with attached straps--how menacing--but nobody is in it. But there is something on the table nearby. A small glass terrarium, like one you'd keep a lizard in. The inside isn't decorated at all. Leaving the small thing inside perfectly visible. A golfball-sized eyeball with a green sclera, blue iris, and long tail-like optic nerve. It hops over to the glass wall of the terrarium as Alt appears, checking him out.

Alt’s eyes widen as he glitches over to the terrarium, “S-Sam?!” He whispers.

The eyeball hops. 

Outside, the group stops by the door Alt glitched through. Jackie tries the door, but of course, it's locked. "Fucking hell!" he curses. "Alt, can you open it from this side?!" 

"Probably not," Marvin says. 

Hang on. Jameson steps up, conjuring up another glowing blue disk. It slides into the crack in the door behind the handle, and there's a CLUNK of a lock undoing. Jackie tries the door again, and this time it opens up. 

"What's in there?" Jack, at the back of the group, tries peering over the others. At the sound of his voice, the little eyeball hops faster. "Huh? Who said that?!" 

"Who said what?" Chase asks, looking back at Jack in confusion. 

"You guys didn't hear someone say my name?" 

Bro hurries in and then his eyes widen, “What?? There’s a Sam here too??” 

Alt looks at the others and then back at the eyeball- until Jack started talking. He blinks back and then shakes his head. “No dude we… didn’t hear anything-“ he looks back at the eyeball and then pulls out his pocket knife and tries to use it to crack the glass.

"Someone is saying my name really excitedly," Jack says, pushing through the others. He gasps. "Eyeball?!" He blinks, confused. 

"Is it talking in your head?" Chase asks. 

"I-I guess so??? It--they're saying that they're my eye?" 

Marvin gasps and goes a little pale. 

“What the hell does that mean?!” Bro asks.

"J-Jack... lost an eye," Marvin says shakily to Bro. "A-A-Anti... did it." 

Jack blinks. "...huh?" 

"He didn't... get rid of it," Marvin whispers. "But... when that weird place collapsed when Anti... d-disappeared... I thought the eye was... taken down with it..." 

Meanwhile, the glass is too solid for Alt's knife to even make a scratch. 

"Here, can I try, Alt?" Jackie asks, walking over. He holds out his hand... and in his grip appears a curved blade made of red light. He brings it down on glass, cutting a hole in it.

Alt blinks and lets Jackie try- then whistles a bit at the blade. “woah- that’s wicked.” He grins. Then he remembers why they’re here and looks to Bro before hurrying out and glitching into the other cell. “you guys help Sam!”

“Wh--dude you can't just keep going without us!" Chase calls after Alt. He looks at Jameson. "Open that door to the other room?" JJ nods and hurries after Alt. Marvin, looking shaken by this whole thing, also heads that way.  

The other occupied room does not have a terrarium... but it does have a man lying on the bed, strapped down, seemingly asleep. His sleeve is rolled up, and an IV feeds into his forearm from a bag hanging on a pole nearby.

Alt stumbles into the room, breathing heavily and then freezes when he sees Schneep lying on the table- strapped down. Anger fills up his whole body rapidly, and lightning crackles around him dangerously like live wires. It snaps and tries to crack at the walls and ceilings as Alt’s magic reacts wildly to his emotions. “These fuckers-!” He growls and then glitches over and quickly tries to cut through the straps holding Schneep down.

The straps are made of the same sort of material as seatbelts are. His magic slices through them easily. While he does that, there’s another CLUNK behind him as JJ unlocks the door. He and Marvin pour into the room. 

Marvin gasps in shock. “These bastards! I-is he okay?” 

Schneep is still asleep.

Alt has to take a couple calming breaths to get his magic to die now from how badly he wants to just explode. 

After a few seconds he glitches back over and tries to shake Schneep awake. “H-Henrik! Hen it’s- it’s us! Alt and all your friends! Can you hear us?!”

Schneep still doesn’t wake up. 

“Maybe it’s this IV thing?” Marvin says. “Maybe it’s keeping him asleep?” JJ immediately springs into action. He nudges Alt aside so he can get close to the spot where the IV goes into Schneep’s arm. He presses down on the spot and slowly withdraws the needle. 

“Okay, try again!” Marvin hurries over. “Schneep!” He looks at Alt. “I-I don’t know any wake-up spells anymore, can you do something?”

Alt nods and gently takes Schneep’s wrist and then whispers, “Sorry Schneep-“ and gives him a little shock to try to wake him up. 

Back in the other room, Jack walks forward, a bit in a daze, and reaches out a hand. The tiny eyeball hops through the hole Jackie cut, landing in Jack's palm. "...huh. So... you're alive now."

 He pauses. 

"Um... they're calling you Sam. Is that your name?" 

Another pause. 

"Well, I think it suits you, so if you want to be Sam, you can be." 

Bro looks freaked out but he sticks with Jack. He walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “…you’re taking the ‘finding out I have a sentient eye’ thing really well-“ he tries to laugh. 

“I… think I’m in shock,” Jack says slowly. 

“Yeah… we’ve been through a lot but that’s weird,” Jackie agrees. 

“Can you just like… put them in your pocket?” Chase asks. 

Jack tries, but Sam’s nerve-tail wraps around his fingers as they hold tight to him. “Uh… clingy, I guess. They’re telling me they don’t want to be in a small space. That’s fine. I’ll just carry them, I guess.” 

“Uh yeah- whatever makes the little guy- comfy I guess? Not fun they’ve kept something… alive like this in a cage.” Bro mumbles. Then he turns to hurry out the door after the others. “C’mon let’s see if they found Schneep!” 

“Right!” Jack nods, and he, Chase, and Jackie hurry after Alt—

“Halt!” But, coming around the corner are two… guards, that’s the only way to put it. They’re wearing black military-like uniforms with the IRIS logo on their shoulders in white, and helmets with mirrored visors hide the upper halves of their faces. Each of them are armed with something that looks like a stun gun—which are now pointed at the group. Mainly Bro, as they’ve clocked him as the biggest threat. “Put the creature down and leave, otherwise we will be forced to engage.”

Jackie stops, throwing his arms out in front of Chase and Jack and glaring. His eyes flicker with red light. Chase mutters something about how he should've brought his gun. 

Bro skids to a stop too and holds a hand out to protect the others, moving to be in front. His eyes spark blue, “You have our friend so- we’re not leaving!” He puts his fists up and gets into a fighting stance. He smirks crookedly, “You dudes don’t wanna fight me, so stand down.” 

"Intruders are being hostile, using force!" one of the guards says, and they both fire their weapons, launching stun-gun-like wires at Bro and Jackie. 

Jackie yelps, the wires sending a shock into his system. He falls back, and Chase catches him.

“Alright, sorry not sorry for this!” Bro shouts as he just barely dodges the wire and leaps at one of the guards, sending a super powered punch towards his face. 

The guard withdraws the wires back into the stun gun and aims at Jack next--only to get punched in the face by Bro and knocked to the ground. The other guard swivels around and tries to fire at Bro again. 

Bro yells out as he gets shocked- and falls to the ground. 

Back in the room, Schneep jerks, gasps, and his eyelids flutter. "W...was?" His eyes move randomly beneath the eyelids. "Was passiert?" He tries to get up, but his arms are too weak to lift him up. 

"Schneep!" Marvin gasps. 

"M-Marvin?" Schneep's soul sense finally kicks in. "A-and Alt? Jameson? Alt?" He faces Alt and smiles weakly. "I-I found your thing..."

Alt quickly helps support Schneep and tries to help him up. He tries to smile back. “T-That’s great Hen- l-let’s get you out of here, okay?”

"J-ja." Schneep nods slowly. JJ hurries over and helps support Schneep from the other side. 

Marvin looks back out the door. He hurries out and shouts, "Holy shit! There's guys!" His eyes glow blue and he lunges forward. Blue magic wraps around the guard that Bro knocked down, tying him up.

Now, Alt hears Bro yell and almost glitches out there but he tries to keep Schneep back, “F-Fuck- I… I can try to glitch us out of here!”

Schneep's eyes widen. "N-no, wait, I--I th-think these people took the item! W-we need to find it!" 

“Of course they did… fucking hell-!” Alt growls.

Jackie shakes himself awake again. "Hey!" His eyes flash red, and a handful of curved light, sharp as blades, flies towards the guard that's still up. Some of them miss, but the ones that hit just seem to lodge in the armor. 

JJ rushes out of the room and throws his hand out, conjuring a shield to block the two guards off from the rest of the group.

Alt hobbles Schneep out into the hall once the shield is up and starts to go to the opposite hallway- he remembers the sign said something about technology that way. 

Bro shakes himself awake and pushes himself up- blinking in confusion at the shield. He shakily pulls himself up using the wall and tries to push the others away. “l-Let’s go, hurry!”

"How long can you keep that up, JJ?" Chase asks as they hurry down the hallway. 

A long while, assuming they can't break through, JJ says. But there might be other ways to us! 

The whole group circles around, turning another corner and following the signs to a different section where the doors are plain wood, some with windows in them. 

"Schneep, wh-what exactly is this thing you found?" Marvin asks. 

"It is a small red chip, like something for a computer or a phone," Schneep says. 

"How are we supposed to find something small like that?!" Jackie cries. 

Bro fumbles into his utility belt and pulls out the tracker- maybe it can give him a more exact place where it is? He touches the pupil-

He immediately knows that the chip is behind the door labeled 08, in a small box on a shelf.

“Got it!” Bro says brightly, “Door says 08- it’s in a small box on a shelf!” 

Alt laughs, “God bless Sam oh my god those trackers are amazing??” 

Bro laughs too then tries to speed ahead to look for the door. …god why does it feel like he’s slower than before?

"There!" Jack spots it first, pointing at a door down the hallway. Once they reach it, Jameson immediately does the same unlocking spell he'd done before, and everyone spills into the room. The walls are lined with shelves, full of random computer-like parts--but there is only one box, white and about the size of a phone.

Bro hurries over to the box and opens it to look inside. “Small red chip??”

Yep, there it is; a small red microchip. 

Jackie looks over Bro's shoulder. "That has to be it!" he says. "Damn, Schneep, how did you find that?" 

"Oh, it took a long time," Schneep mumbles. "I might not have found it if I did not notice these strangers digging through the trash." 

“Is that how they found you?” Bro asks quietly. 

Schneep doesn't say anything, simply nods slowly. 

"Okay, we got it, let's get out of here now!" Jack shouts.

Alt quickly grabs the chip and puts it in the bag before shoving that back in his pocket. “Okay uh- everyone link up! I think I can get us back to… to Schneep’s house?”

"Great, let's all think about it and we should get there," Jackie says, grabbing onto Marvin and Chase. Everyone else slowly joins up from there. Heavy footsteps echo down the hallway. 

Bro rushes over to grab on and Alt closes his eyes and in a bright flash of green they all disappear-

-and arrive back in the living room area of Schneep's apartment. "Holy shit, what a rush." Jackie shakes his head. "Fucking insane." 

Alt sways a bit then crashes to his knees, blinking spots out of his eyes. “T-That could have gone s-so bad…” he mumbles. Bro kneels down next to him and pats his back.

"We are... home?" Schneep asks. 

"Yeah, we're home," Jack says. "Your couch's over here." 

"Ah. Good. I am going to sit down." And Schneep does so, stumbling over to the sofa and immediately collapsing onto it. "My head... f-feels... fuzzy."

Are you okay, Alt? JJ asks. Is there anything we can do to help? 

Alt smiles at them weakly, a bit dizzy, “I’m fine… just a lot of glitching… I… m-maybe some food would be good…”

"You need energy for magic, right?" Marvin says. "Schneep, can we use your food?" 

Schneep laughs at Marvin's comment. 

Bro looks back at Schneep, “Do you remember anything Schneep? Like how long you were there or what they did or… if they put anything like… in you I guess?”

Schneep becomes serious again at Bro's questions. "I... do not remember much. I fought the strangers, but there were too many of them a-and they put something in the air that I breathed... everything since then is blank." 

"You can't have been there that long," Chase says. "We talked yesterday normally enough. Oh, it's the ninth, by the way." 

"Hmm. I think... it was late at night on the eighth when I was caught..." Schneep says slowly. 

Bro sighs a bit in relief, “G-Good- I mean not good you got caught but I’m glad it wasn’t for too long!” 

A voice crackles from Alt's phone. "That seemed like an outreach base," Anti says. "Not a main compound. They were probably holding you and Sam there until they could determine where to put you. You're all very lucky. It wasn't nearly as secure as it could have been." 

Alt pulls out his phone to hear Anti better and nods, “Yeah I… I was worried it would have been worse… t-they had a… an Iv in Schneep though… how are you feeling, Hen?”

"Fuzzy," Schneep mumbles. "Tired. Must have been... some sort of drug. Might feel... bad later. But just fuzzy now. You all can use my food, by the way." 

"Right." Chase hurries over to the kitchenette. "What are your snack foods? You have like... cheese and crackers and shit. Not really a sweets guy. Oh, I can probably make a sandwich. Is that okay, Alt?" 

“Y-Yeah that’s good, thanks-“ Alt replies. 

"That IV was probably to keep him unconscious," Anti guesses. "IRIS wouldn't want to take risks with him getting away." 

"Bastards," Jackie mutters. 

"Fucking bastards," Marvin agrees. 

"So that Anti is here too," Schneep says idly. "I could not sense you. Cannot sense your... soul." 

"Oh, I don't have one," Anti says casually.

“It probably doesn’t help that he’s in my p-phone right now,” Alt says. 

Bro blinks at Anti, “I’ve never heard someone say they don’t have a soul so nonchalant-ly… that’d be worrying to hear from anyone but you, Anti.” He laughs. 

Anti grins on Alt's screen. "I'm unique. There's nothing like me in the world. Though there are things like me in the multiverse." 

Alt rolls his eyes slightly but smiles at Anti, “Don’t get a big head about it-“

"Can you sense Sam, though?" Anti asks Schneep. 

"Uh... I am not sure." Schneep pauses. "There is something... small... with Jack, I think." 

"Yeah." Jack holds up Sam in his hand. "That's... them."

“Oh by the way Schneep… Sam is… is an eye- like the big Sam. This guy is real little though… reminds me of a baby Sam.”

Schneep blinks. "...oh. So... there is... that now." 

"Apparently they were the eye that Anti took from me," Jack says quietly. "I... don't know how they're alive now. And they don't know, either. Here." He walks over to the sofa and sits down next to Schneep. "Hold out your hand. 

Schneep does so, and Sam hops onto it. "Oh!" Schneep's eyes widen. "That feels so strange. I was expecting something... sticky." 

"Nope. They do seem squishy, though, so be careful," Jack says. 

"Don't worry, I will be." 

“Yeah they feel weird huh?” Bro laughs. 

"If your Sam is like the Sam in my world--which I'm guessing they are," Anti says. "Then they're just an anomaly. They happen sometimes. Strange shit happens for no reason. Though... I do wonder if the smaller Sams exist because of the larger one somehow." 

Bro listens to Anti and nods, “Like- Sam’s their parents and has lots of baby Sams! …that helps me forget that this was once Jack’s eye-“ 

Chase walks over with a plate. "Here, Alt. Turkey sandwich and crackers. Hope that's enough."

Alt blinks but then smiles gratefully at Chase, “This should be plenty, thanks.” He digs in, sitting cross legged on the floor.

"...you can sit on a chair, you know," Schneep says. "I do not mind." 

"Sometimes people are more comfortable on the floor, dude." Jackie laughs. 

“I would but I wasn’t sure if my legs would make it-“ Alt comments as he eats. 

"So... you guys have your TRVLR part now," Jack says. "Does that mean you're good to go whenever?" 

Bro shrugs, “Probably?”

"Oh, put that in the bag with the others, by the say," Anti suggests.

“Already did!” Alt says in between bites. “‘M not risking losing a single bit of this-“

"Great," Anti says.

“I uh- don’t know how we’re getting to the next world though- are you taking us Anti?” Bro asks. 

 "... I should still be able to contact Sam. We've built up a connection while I was searching for the other parts." He pauses. Alt's phone screen is briefly covered by colorful static before turning normal again. "Yeah, I can reach Them. When you all are ready to go I'll let Them know and They'll open up a rift to the next world." He pauses. "They also said that They managed to push out that other version of me, but... that he might still be looking for us."

Alt pauses in his eating and shivers, hunching up a bit. “G-Great… I love being chased down by an evil version of myself…” he grumbles. 

“Well- at least we can hang out for a bit?” Bro tries to say cheerfully.

"Not much to do in my apartment, I'm afraid..." Schneep says, slowly closing his eyes. 

Jack nudges him awake again. "If you guys want to, uh, hang out, we can," Jackie says. "I'd like to really get to know you guys. But uh... yeah, I'm not sure what we'd do, other than just chill and talk. We need like, a plan for this thing." 

"We could play cards?" Marvin suggests, and suddenly there's a puff of blue smoke and he's holding a deck of cards in his hand. 

JJ looks impressed. That's a new spell! 

"Thanks, I've been working on it." 

Alt can’t help but laugh, “Man- Marvins are obsessed with games I’m learning-“ 

"Really?" Marvin blinks, then smiles. "H-hey, good to know that that's... a thing for Marvins."

Schneep chuckles. "That other Jameson, the magician one? While we were by ourselves, he told me that his Marvin enjoys card games. So it definitely seems a trait." 

Bro looks at Jackie, Marvin and Schneep sympathetically. “It’d be real cool to get to know you guys… but I think Schneep needs to rest… he’s just been through a lot.” He sighs but then tries to brighten up, “But! We’re going to get the TRVLR fixed! Which means we can come back again real soon! To properly hang you know?”

"Yeah, that'd be great." Jack grins. "I think we have to adjust to some stuff, anyway. Like this little guy." Sam bounces into his hand again. 

And that IRIS place, JJ says. 

"Yeah, I had no idea they were fucked up like that," Chase mumbles. "I thought they just make tech."

“That’s how they get you,” Alt sighs, finishing up, “These companies usually hide like this… underneath these seemingly innocent projects and tech and.. hospitals. It’s sick-“ 

Bro smiles, “yeah… lots to deal with- but uh- now we can make sure we actually have a good meet up next time! No antis, no Iris- just chill~”

"I would like that," Schneep says softly. "It has been... good to see you two again. If only for a few moments." 

"D'you think we could pit the ABIM against IRIS?" Marvin wonders. "They'd probably take issue with someone kidnapping magical people." 

Worth contacting them, I suppose, JJ says.

“Oh fuck yeah- pit them against each other and watch the chaos,” Alt grins. His face then softens and he sighs, “I wish it could have been longer Schneep but… you need your rest… I’m so glad we found you before… anything really bad happened.”

Schneep nods. "I do remember Jamie--the other Jamie--talking about IRIS. If... this place was like the one in his world..." He shudders. 

"You're safe now, Hen," Chase reassures him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll make sure they don't bother you. Or the rest of us." 

"Hell yeah." Jackie nods firmly. "We've been through a lot, we're not gonna let these guys scare us."

Bro smiles, “you guys can handle those fuckers- I believe in you.” 

Alt nods with a bit of a smile. Then he frowns, “Next time I go to one of those places… I’m looking for a way to inter dimensionally talk… that way you guys can call if you’re ever in trouble. Cuz- we’ll be there.”

"...thanks, Alt," Marvin says quietly. "That's... that's so nice of you." The others all look touched as well. 

A moment passes in silence, then Jack clears his throat. "Well. You guys should probably head out soon. I mean, it sucks, but you guys have a job to do, and I'd hate to delay you." 

"Faster would be better," Anti says, voice crackling through Alt's phone speakers.

“Alright alright-“ Alt sighs. He glitches to his feet and adjusts his backpack, checking to make sure he has everything. “I’m ready.” 

Bro hops to his feet too and smiles at the others, “Thanks for helping us, guys. But we’ll see you again soon, alright?”

It'll be nice to see you again! JJ says, smiling. 

"Yeah, what JJ said!" Chase laughs. "We'll look forward to it." 

"And we will stay safe until then," Schneep promises. 

"Sam says thank you for helping," Jack reports. 

"We can get to know each other more next time," Jackie says. Marvin nods in agreement. 

Alt smiles and nods, “Yeah, I’d like that.” 

Alt's phone screen becomes static again for a moment. Then some green electricity flickers over by the window wall. A black rift forms as the lightning opens up a way out of this world.

“We’ll have a proper blast next time!” Bro says happily, throwing up his hands. “It’ll be great! Until next time!!” 

Alt laughs and starts to pull Bro into the rift. He waves to the others before they walk through.

The others all wave back. 

"Goodbye!" Schneep says. "Until next time."

[stillness-in-green]

Months later and still kinda salty about the Advisers treatment in S6 since its very clear they were not on the team's mind: not including Bindi with Amplivolt against Edgeshot, not including Hole guy's panel about to ambush Orca (so he just got beat out of nowhere), not including the panel of Cabbie Hat and Fox guy running off, Hose Face not speaking before he killed Midnight, heck even messing up who gets captured in the end. I know they aren't super relevant, but S6 didn't help them either.

Man, I completely fell off of watching the anime even for the purposes of criticism, so thank you for this update to clarify for me that only disappointment waits if and when I ever bother.  I did get curious and look up who gets captured in the end, and wow, they really did comprehensively fuck that up, didn’t they? I know you know because you wrote me this nice ask about it, but for everyone else, take a look at this nonsense:

(Note that, as ever when I'm replying to asks from my dear fellow advisor fan @shockersalvage, the PLF codenames below are pure headcanon.)

I am agog at how huge and accessible and openable those windows look. Why on earth would you use vehicles like that for prisoner transport?) Are they just packing dangerous terrorists back onto the same buses the Heroes used to get up here, or what?

Comparing that to the equivalent shot in the manga, they didn’t get any of these people right. (Excluding the Heroes, who get relatively faithful if slightly less detailed renditions.  Because of course they do.)

Look at the windows on these transports and laugh with me about how ridiculous the ones in the anime are in comparison. Also, I notice that while the anime got Tartarus Hat: The Capture Tape Hero's look right, they did fail to notice that the restraints dangling loose from his wrists are the same as those the PLF captives are bound with.

Not every person on the ground here is tentatively identifiable as a ranked advisor—only, you know, five out of seven of them, the entire middle group.  The two on the back right are really obviously Galvanize and Piercings Dude (Compress’s #1 and Dabi’s #3), and given the visual similarities and the grouping, I’m pretty confident the others are Fray (Toga’s #3), Red (Skeptic’s #1) and Band Jacket Guy (Compress’s #2).

Yet even given the anime’s sloppy, ugly coloring decisions for the advisors they did show, they didn’t even accidentally get any of these right.  Band Jacket Guy and Fray are both dark-haired in the anime, while Red’s honey blonde and Piercings Dude is silver-haired with a striped coat jacket.  I would almost venture to guess that the anime intended the dude they gave the handlebar mustache to above (Galvanize in the manga, as apparent by his forelock and forehead scar) to be Sanctum, save that they didn’t those colors right, either!  They have Sanctum in white in the opening attack scene and in blue in Twice’s imagine spot.

Just an impressively thorough failure to realize the manga’s intention.

One thing you didn’t mention that I wondered about was Scarecrow’s first scene of note, so I also looked that up—I wanted to see if he had a voice actor yet, given how important his voice would turn out to be! 

Lo and behind, I find that the anime—while at least including Scarecrow, absolutely not guaranteed, as the above dissection shows!—gave what I had always assumed to be his dialogue to Re-Destro instead.  Which, I guess, looking at the manga again, could be the intention?  But I don’t really read it that way.

It’s certainly flowery enough to be Re-Destro!  He definitely talks like that!  But, as we later find out, Scarecrow absolutely talks like that too.  And here, looking at the paneling and the way the talk bubbles fall within it, we can see that Re-Destro’s obvious dialogue (“What did you pesky Heroes do to our savior and liberator?!”) breaks out of the panel binding, overlapping into the scene change to Gigantomachia’s rampage.

That’s what I would expect to be the case if the next line (“After Gigantomachia, Liberation warriors!  Our revolution is at hand!”) was also meant to be his, ringing out so loudly over the battlefield that even out in the forest, it’s still audible above the sounds of pitched, widespread conflict.

Instead of being overlaid across the panel borders like the others, though, it’s fully contained within the panels, visually implying that the line is being delivered by someone within that same scene/panel, for which the most obvious candidate is the guy prominently foregrounded in it.  I suppose the counter-argument is that there aren’t any obvious tails to the talk bubble that would link it to him, as with the bubbles in final panel with Kamui Woods and Midnight, but then, Re-Destro’s shouting doesn’t have any tails, either!

Overall, I guess it’s a valid read, but I frankly just don’t like it as much as I do the dialogue serving as an early indicator of Scarecrow’s personality.  Also, while it surely pleases me to contemplate that Re-Destro loves Shigaraki so much that he’d order a sizeable chunk of his own army to abandon him in favor of going to his savior and liberator, I have to think that if he did give that order, considerably more than a piddling 132 out of 17,000 people at the Villa would have successfully prioritized escape!

Sorry for taking so long with this one, shockersalvage!  My plan was to respond to it when I got back to PLF Spotting posts, but I just don’t think I can be arsed with those at this point. I kind of unreasonably hate the stupid puce-colored arm the anime saddled Shigaraki with for some godforsaken reason, and I’ve not yet forgiven the show for giving Re-Destro an anime-original scene but fucking it up by having him identify Destro Classic as his literal father. Also, while the anime transparently doesn’t care about the PLF, it’s only emulating its source material in that regard, so it's hard to muster up too much righteous indignation on the manga's behalf.

Regardless, thank you as always for the ask and your patience! Please do feel free to report back in with any further PLF Erasure Crimes the anime commits; I'm not expecting to pay it much attention at this point save probably ducking in to watch Scarecrow's wonderful rooftop speech at the hospital riot.

(You know, assuming they let him keep it.)

[arezenithofyouthlove]

Congratulation manhwa. You managed to turn hell arc, one of the most emotional parts of the novel, into some half-half shitty ass comedy show. I'm so disappointed I swear. My quick review of current arc, beware of strong language

Chap 112: overuse of Lloyd's face as normal. Javier has better interaction with a demon than with his master???

Chap 113: using the information in the hell Internet with only 40% true to bet for your life is stupid Lloyd. Why don't they just stick to the original where Lloyd knew Helkaro's personality through the Knight of Blood and Iron novel??? Wouldn't that make so much more sense??? All Helkaro's inner thoughts were removed. Javier casually asked Lloyd about his real identity. Urgh Lloyd's faces again 🤢

Chap 114: I don't think in the novel Lloyd acting like that or it's just manhwa adaption. But the fact they draw Lloyd tried to kill a satan crossing the lava river is disgusting. Also Lloyd's face 😮‍💨

Chap 115: the reaper adaptation is fucking stupid if you are asking me. Why didn't the reaper get that dark wizard dude soul from before? So if you practice dark magic you won't be dragged to hell at all? And you can stay on the living realm killing more people??? And the reaper talk with ogLloyd. Please shut up. Pretending to be a meaningful life lesson but it just didn't work. If Suho has system power back in Korea would he still be hardworking? Or will he also get corrupted by it too? That hypothetical question is so stupid. They are trying to make original Lloyd to be less hate-able. Since when did him care about the estate at all? Why do you need to reduce his crime?

Chap 116: this is when I feel they massacre Lloyd's character trait the most. They already did it for a long time but I will focus on this chap. How he treat to ogLloyd is completely different to the novel. Novel Lloyd knew he stole OgLloyd body so he tried to find a way to compensate him back, but manhwa Lloyd just told him to get lost cuz he didn't gain anything from doing that? Suho would never say something like that. Deep inside he is a kind hearted so he always felt guilty and wanted to help ogLloyd if he could. But look at him now? He only helped OgLloyd cuz he think he is a nuisance. Next we have the rail building situation. Lloyd was clearly in the wrong side but he acting like a real scum. He didn't even say sorry and just told the lava monster to accept it? And told Javier to kill it? For real? I can understand in the novel it was self defence since the lava monster didn't accept Lloyd's apologies but I can't make any excuse for his wrong doing in the manhwa. Are they trying to make him look like a jerk as much as possible in front of the satan eyes? Even Javier knew what Lloyd doing was wrong. Lloyd even shoved the satan to the ground while he is running away. Where is his "safety first" rule now? I know they are in hell but he didn't care about life of other at all. Novel Lloyd even built a grave for the unlucky satans died in the lava monster attack in secret but I guess doing that is too ooc with the current manhwa version of him.

Chap 117: Really? They draw Javier having fun by putting Lloyd in danger? Is this really the same Javier who swear he will protect Lloyd with his own life? And let Javier question that? This is just absurd and not funny at all. They are too focusing on drawing "comedy panel" to the point of making a person who already read the novel like me get sick of it. What irritating me is the fact that the adaption team knew they are ruining the novel source just so they can make Lloyd a money-making machine for them. Manhwa good art can't save it completely from a badly written plot lack of character development and interaction.

Chap 118: The summon acting like Lloyd. Also it seems like they forgot Bibelhyung original size is a giant beaver so they just draw the chibi version of him. Lloyd and OgLloyd talk... I wanna to strangle LHM so bad. This is not my Lloyd at all! HE DID NOT TREATING OGLLOYD LIKE THAT IN THE NOVEL. Now helping ogLloyd is just he doing free charity, oh how noble of him is that? Here come Helkaro and thing about system. I can see the adaption team try to make thing more interesting by bullshiting all the stuff about higher-being and upper side but I think it won't come to anywhere. The system is helping Lloyd too much, acting just like a convenient plot armor. This bring me back to the Destiny Point system, another stupid adaption in my opinion. It's an attempt of them to spoiler about the Prince Making Drug sequel, which in turn end up a total plot destroyer. It is literally a free version of Ending Spoiler now since it could notice Lloyd something bad happen in the future. The way it works is also questionable. How long can the butterfly effect last? The way it calculate the number of people life like mere data? Isn't it behaving like a chain sackle Lloyd at a predestined future now? It appeared after Alicia got that eyes but it didn't take that into calculation?

Phew. I will wait for chap 119 to get translated first then continue to vent, unless Tumble shadowban me like last time lol

[wendys-ash]

daddy you forgot my FUCKING TUCKBOX 🤣

that dude in the pink shirt walking past Oliver

this part makes me remember my first day at uni WHICH WAS THE SAME YEAR 2006

oh look at Farleigh being unnecessarily rude as usual

FOOKIN ASK ME A SOOM, THEN! he’s so creepy

Oliver looks so beautiful in his tie and shirt and he’s got glasses on at the beginning where do they go later in the movie? Felix get him contacts?

Merseyside… that’s where the Beatles are from (by the way hello I like the Beatles) ���

Farleigh has a Lucozade.

The way the professor says “Frederica CAHtthn”

Oliver’s essay is so poetic! “To look as if it were alive,” I want him to write an essay about Sylvia Plath

Oh look at Farleigh being rude again. he’s wrong here. and Oliver’s essay style is POETIC.

“fucking loooooosers” MICHAEL EATS THE FUCKING CRUNCHIE THE WRONG WAY EW EW EW -

The cheeky Christmas song is surprisingly catchy!

Felix be like “siiiiiiighhhhhh” “siiiiiiighhhhh” big brown eyes

But look he’s so sweet “CHEERS OLLIE!” 😁

CanyougetmeanotherpintpleezOlivuh

Oh look at Farleigh forcing Oliver to buy the most expensive drink ever, even in 2007 it was like £6-7 for a Jägerbomb IIRC

THANK-YOU OLLEH whoa!

Oliver waking up and remembering and being all happy is so lovely

Omg this music is so beautiful, favourite part of the score I think

“I’ve not sucked any teachers off.” “Not yet, you ‘aven’t…” 😋 GET THAT SHIT OUT OF HERE FELIX JESUS

Ollie still has his glasses on when do they disappear

“Was it was it was it was it awful?” How many times did he say was it?

no one ever said chirpsing at my uni 😂 I did not go to Oxford

I think Oliver is wearing Felix’s hoodie because Jack Wills was quite sought after back then…

What if Felix looked outside and saw the cherry of Oliver’s ciggie in the dark, that’s fanfic fuel!

“UUUhm…”

IT’S DISGUSTIN FELIX

Ollie’s face after Felix yells at him

Fuucking wood fucking panelling

I don’t like this bit. 😠

Oh look at Farleigh, he’s actually got a nice cardigan on here!

The use of colour in this film drives me nuts, the blue and red light on Ollie’s face when he leaves the pub

From experience, drinking vodka like that at 18/19 most certainly leads to vomit in high places. Awful stuff.

More red. I want to go through the movie and go red red red red 😂 Felix has a red shirt on.

Fucking - I’ve historically been disgusted by men’s body hair but Ollie’s is… acceptable and by that I mean hot.

“Always check the sleeeeeeeeves!” He actually isn’t directly nasty here but still condescending

When they’re running to the bridge it’s one of the most beautiful shots in the movie. And when they’re standing by the bridge. it makes Barry’s eyes pop.

The way Ollie says “it’s not stupid. thank you.” no idea why that’s significant but I just love the way he says it.

“And I believed him.” You can never leave Saltburn, Ollie. Even if you leave that house, you will never leave that house. 🖤

Duncan. Is. So. Scary. What if he’s a ghost who comes with the house like in American Horror Story? Omg

Felix’s tour makes me so happy “Henry VIII’s sPUnk”

I wish we got a better look at Felix’s room. But the bathroom is where the magic happens.

“A sort of… hellish SQUOT.”

Venetia’s EYES and her TEETH and I want to know what she’s reading (or pretending to read)

They all throw innuendos at Oliver until James stops them also “oh my god she’ll die.” SHE FKN DOES DIE and Elspeth’s way of saying “drAping”.

Oh look at Farleigh being rude some more

“It’s rooooood!”

I forgot to check when Ollie’s glasses disappeared

The face Ollie makes after Felix says “Duncan will be thrilled.”

Of course he doesn’t have fucking CUFFLINKS FELIX

Love Pamela’s high collar feather thing here and also I love her hair

Venetia is perfect Venetia is perfect Venetia is perfect WHY DIDN’T OLLIE PUT SOME CLOTHES ON was he trying to show off his physique to Venetia?

“Sweet.” aw I love her

“Niiiiiight…” 😍😍😍😍

James says “morning,” so sweetly!

Oh look at Farleigh being rude again how the fuck was Oliver supposed to know how breakfast is served in Rich Land?

Venetia’s shirt is something I would wear.

“Look, Pamela.” “Oh nooo…”

Those eggs are really undercooked, I wouldn’t eat them either. They’re not over easy at all. They’re extremely sunny side up.

Sorry but Venetia’s legs and flowers in her hair she looks like Ophelia

EVERYONE was reading the last Harry Potter that summer and we all asked questions like that and made dirty jokes! so much nostalgia!

Venetia leaning through the harp and being scared of The Ring… 😍😭😍🥰

All dressed in their finery playing tennis! They all fuck. And sleep in a hamster pile.

“Yes! Do you know him?” 😁 James is so excited and happy about things, I love him!

THE LABYRINTH OF SALTBURN first Theseus ref I caught

Oh here we go

No one can convince me that Felix didn’t do this hoping Ollie would walk in and catch him so he could be like “why don’t you join me,” and that’s fanfic fuel

How many times does Felix bare his neck in the film

Also this has been said by someone else much more eloquently but people who squick at the 🛁 have obviously never felt desire that hurts and EATS you and makes you want to rip their face off and throw up on their shoes and that’s why Saltburn is so compelling to me

(I had to pause here while I got deep)

Elspeth’s drink matches her dress. This scene is so beautiful and the colours are bloody gorgeous and again making Barry’s eyes pop!

“Sexually incontinent” 😬

Those flowers next to Ollie 💖 match the cushions oh god 💖

“Men are so lovely and dry,” says Elspeth. THEY’RE NOT. Not in this movie anyway.

Bye bye Pamela, I wonder if she had to go through the servant’s entrance.

I could just look at Elspeth forever in this scene…

The vampire scene is unspeakably erotic, I don’t make the rules

The light reflected in Venetia’s eyes 🤩

They definitely went all the way after this and Farleigh watched - whoops, another fanfic idea.

The sex music is so sinister!

AGAIN Venetia looks like a goddess.

Oh look at Farleigh GLOWERING at Oliver. so rude.

Felix flings his napkin like a child! 😂

Farleigh is wearing all beige.

“I can wear my suit of armour, Elspeth!” James being a ray of sunshine again

Felix sat over there pretending to be Lolita srsly

Ollie implies Venetia is out of his league but Felix clearly thinks she’s not and also Felix is so jealous here it’s coming out of his hair

Felix’s sideburns ugh 💖

Venetia must be cold on that step 😕

Farleigh is still wearing beige but I like his jumper. Felix’s orange jumper is not his colour.

“But…”

That shot of Oliver

More gushing about how fucking flawless Venetia is but that’s probably getting old now if anyone’s actually reading this good god my ego

I’ve seen Henry before but I can’t remember where. Something funny.

“She had two arseholes!” excuse me what the FUCK

Low was EVERYWHERE THEN. Perfect choice.

Farleigh fancies the fuck out of Oliver. Look at him manipulating the shit out of the spoiled beige-wearing twink!

“I don’t hate you,” no you fancy him

Henry’s sad face when Farleigh snatches the mic.

James is so excited about karaoke.

There was absolutely no reason for Ollie to sing “I need it,” that way.

And. And. “I love you. You pay my rent.” I can’t explain why that does this to me.

Feeelix and Veneeetia waving their arms together is just so very lovely.

What’s Farleigh wearing on his head in bed? Genuine question.

Also no one can convince me Ollie didn’t ride him here I mean who said that (fanfic idea) him and his fucking mad top energy

I expected someone to throw themselves down the spiral staircase if I’m honest. Or Ollie to throw someone down it.

Venetia among the lily pads 🪷🪷🪷🪷

It was pretty hot in 2007 but I don’t think it was hotter than Barbados…

Brit pop is not a band…

I saw Pulp and Sophie Ellis-Bextor last year at Latitude. 💖💖

“PamelaDIED?!”

The wallpaper in the sacred bathroom is just gorgeous. I want it.

Ollie bowtie 😍

Oh wow that little Felix x Oliver montage made me want Atonement AU with Farleigh watching them fuck in the library

I don’t like this bit either. Not good with secondhand shame and embarrassment.

“Always beetling off by himself,” I could write an essay about the insect symbolism in Saltburn

Is Ollie’s dad the same dad from It’s A Sin?

The talking and ringing is so much like sensory overload in real life!

Red and blue again! Same shirt! And Ollie is in blue and framed in blue.

The black splatty painting next to them… 🤩

This song is such a BANGER! I was not a club girl so I didn’t know it before this.

What did the orchid do to offend Elspeth?

Ollie’s jacket is like something Neil Perry would wear in a dream… 🌿

The light flashes off Farleigh’s ring just before Oliver says hello!

Why would Oliver have fat kids? So rude!! Again!

That’s why Farleigh’s hair is so big, it’s full of secrets!

Barry’s FACE. Just his facial structure. The close-ups of his face are just… chefskiss

Duncan doesn’t feel like dancing dancing miniminiminiminiminiminoo 🎶

Most beautiful shots in the movie of Oliver lurking in the shadows 💙 skulking

“You two are fucking gross!” India knows what’s up

OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE JUST KISS YOU MORONS

there’s a lot of fingers in mouths here that I’ve not linked together before…

Felix still cares about Oliver enough to ask him if he feels better 🥺

The carnage after that party, good god.

That magenta colour is everywhere here. The robe, the flowers, the streamers and balloons and debris on the lawn. it’s perfect.

I love the Minotaur statue so much.

Music here reminds me of the soundtrack of Perfume, which came out in 2006.

The sideways shot with the looming Minotaur is pure art.

“Felix, darling, where’s your jumper?” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Horrible pie 🤮

Horrible everything

I had a cardigan like Venetia’s back then

I feel physical pain during this scene. my beautiful posh trashy eccentric darling family is breaking apart. 💔

Venetia pouring the wine is so disturbing to me.

James is no longer a ray of sunshine 😭😭😭

Oliver really unleashes the fury on Farleigh. See, being rude gets you nowhere. Hannibal would eat you, Farleigh.

Oh GOD, this HYMN. It’s so beautiful.

James carrying the coffin 😭 and Venetia’s chipped black nail varnish. Poetry about Venetia’s chipped black nail varnish.

Ollie doesn’t get to come to the stone ritual

*siiiiigh* how can something so bizarre be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen?

I have to make a joke because I’m uncomfortable, sliiiiightly worried about Ollie getting dirt in places it shouldn’t be and having to make up lies to a doctor about how he got mud in his urethra 😬

Sad room 💔

Venetia be like wtf at Ollie asking about the font

See this is my favourite bit (the whole movie is my favourite bit)

I have fanfic planned about this scene. It will be sad and hot and fucked up.

Venetia’s flushed cheeks 💖😭

Ollie barely reacts when she splashed him in the face. How did he not flinch? He has so much control at this point and he knows it.

More fingers in mouth.

Why is this kiss so hot? And the one tear on Ollie’s cheek… 😭

Ohhh I do not like seeing dead Venetia.

James has no sparkle left 😭 he has a signet ring too though

“BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE TO MOVE ON”

That gardener doing a stupid wave at Ollie 🤔

Ollie doing his Tom Ripley as Dickie Greenleaf bit, he’s even got the hair.

Duncan is still there BECAUSE HE IS A GHOST!

Do we think Ollie slowly poisoned Elspeth? Do we think he slept with her? I think so.

On Ollie’s nonsense screen in the coffee shop the only thing coherent is “milk and cookies”!

“I hated all of you,”

When he pulls the tube out it mirrors the statue I think?? One of the statues.

here we go with the magnificent penis

The euphoria I feel at this ending I swear to god

Holy shit this got long

I asked my SO what it feels like to fling your penis about and he didn’t give me a serious answer

Barry’s arse is ridiculous. 🤬

It’s ridiculous.

I’m gonna make some rocks with the Catton’s names on.

And that is that.

[mamajake]

ships: (I'm unoriginal) SONAZE !

Whoo okay, I know I said two cents but I'm gonna give you a dollar. Only because this ship makes 100% cents (I'm sorry lmao)

Abcense is to love what wind is to fire, it extinguishes the small and kindles the great

Sonic, in almost every sense, makes Blaze burn Brighter. Whether it is wind fueling the flames, or the beauty of Sonic (and his friends) helping her control the emeralds and become Burning Blaze.

After her first transformation, I always imagine Blaze looking at herself in awe, with Sonic gazing at her and reminiscing about the first time he transformed. I'm in love with their kinship.

Sonic has done nothing but raise her up, teaching her to trust. No matter how many times she fought back, he was still there with a smile, wanting to help.

Even when they actually fought, I like to think that Sonic only fought back in the same way that he fought Chaos. He opened her heart.

Unwanted Contact

Blaze, being a person of solitude, strikes me as a person that doesn't care much for touch. She'll happily give a hand shake as thanks or a hug just for Cream and Marine, but she keeps to herself mainly.

Now she is almost always seen holding hands with sonic and I'm all for it. It's affirmation of the trust they share.

With all their hand holding and trust, it makes this panel more impactful for me. I don't think she would lean in that close to anybody, but it just shows how comfortable she is with Sonic. (Also look at that lil blush!)

This final scene in Sonic Rush lives rent free in my head. The fact that Sonic clings on with his other hand shocks me. He knows what's at stake if they don't seperate, and yet he still holds on. Sonic doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve, but he definitely shows it through his actions. He doesn't want her to leave.

The Tragedy

Ah yes, the nitty gritty, the stuff that makes it canon for me.

The two are different sides of the same coin. Guardians with amazing abilities who kick ass and take names. The difference? Sonic is free, he's not duty bound. Blaze doesn't live a bad life, but I'd bet it's not the one she wants. There's an envy she has for the blue dude.

Blaze sees her pyrokenesis as a curse, Sonic sees his as a gift, something that grants him freedom. Sonic lives life to his fullest, while Blaze has a whole ass kingdom to run.

I wholeheartedly believe that there's feelings for each other in canon, but what makes it work is the wall between them. They can't stay together, it wouldn't work for multie reasons. Blaze can't abandon her kingdom, Sonic wouldn't want to rule, and oh yeah, the likelihood of dimensional demolition.

Sonic isn't a character who should be in a relationship, it's not his style. If he were in a relationship, it would have to be with someone who allows him his freedom, and could keep up with him. In fact, it's why I ship Sonadow (ooh just wait until I start talking about that).

Shadow and Blaze are people who would keep up with him and keep to themselves at the same time. However, as I said, the wall between Sonic and Blaze is what makes the feelings real for me. It keeps the characters in their lines without changing things.

Suggested reading

Sonaze is my life blood and every few months I'll browse for a big ol' chunky fic to binge through. Sadly there isn't a whole lot of Sonaze around, so for everybody, I'm gonna post some suggestions.

Scars

By yours truly, unshameful plug ;)

Don't leave me alone

By @marinaiguess

Need to want

By The Maxx

Winds to my flame

By Crimsonmoon3540

Never Alone - The 100 Sonic & Blaze Story

By WolfChalk

[mdhwrites]

I heard Dana gave toh fans the freedom to consider their headcanons canon, or smth like that. There's probably more info on twitter but I don't use the app. What do you think?

So what I've heard is that it's not entirely this. It is just saying that whatever Dana says outside of the show, like in livestreams, panels, etc. don't count as canon. The only things that are explicitly canon is that which is in the show. Otherwise, everything else is her personal headcanons which are just as valid as any fans'. I was introduced to this a few days ago by someone sharing it with me (this was apparently said in a livestream btw so will almost certainly get lost to time) a tweet with me about someone being happy about their fan children being 'canon' It was cute and I didn't check what the ships were. I mostly responded to that person being happy that they could headcanon Lumischa as having eventually happened because that was more fun for me especially with my hands being bad. Besides, I think the statement is dumb on multiple levels that I'll get to eventually. Reading this question, I spent more than a single second thinking about it and went "Wait, but Amity is only a lesbian because Dana says so. This is absolutely going to make 70% of the fandom choose to make her bi because then they can ship her with whoever they want." AND GUESS WHAT SHIP THE TWEET WAS ABOUT!? FUCKING AMITER! It has always been a problem for the show that Amity's sexuality is not stated in it. It creates a similar excuse to what people who have to defend stuff like SasuNaru (my introduction to shipping through my older sister btw) of "They don't have a canon sexuality." Well... No longer does Amity. We do know she's interested in girls but that doesn't mean she isn't pan or bi.

I personally do not agree with this interpretation. For me, changing characters who appear to commonly be straight to gay is fine... Because there's close to zero gay characters in most genres, let alone mainstream popular shows. How many are in Shounen anime in general? Okay now remove the villains who are queer coded and tell me again. If the LGBTQIA+ (which I want to remind you I'm not a part of so I don't benefit from this interpretation) want to tell their stories within the media they like, they HAVE to change sexualities. They have no other choice. Meanwhile, Amity is not a particularly special archtype so if you're a straight dude wanting to ship her with yourself, you can find that elsewhere. Even within the same show, just use Lilith who in S1 was similar to Amity. Though yes, Lilith is technically aro/ace but only by decree from Dana and the show never actually sways one way or another on her feelings on relationships because... Why the fuck would it? It's a comedy adventure. Which brings us to the complicated question of what is right to include in a story or not (which I could go into a LOT more in a different blog). It's not like everyone is constantly stating their sexualities in real life after all. It's a rough place for a lot of creators, just like saying if a character is nuerodivergent. A lot of stories just don't have a place for that sort of exposition and honestly the author letting us know outside of the work IS useful for that. Would it be better if it were stated in the show? In TOH's case, because of how much it stakes its reputation on representation, YES. For most? Not really but most don't court the romance genre, where saying those sexualities is more reasonable, like TOH does.

So that's one reason why I don't like the statement. Dana sticking to her guns on her ideas is one of the few saving graces I could give her and just saying "Fuck it, you all decide what you want to be canon so long as it isn't in the show" is just... not that. Not unless she was going to go whole hog and say that the IP was in the public domain so LITERALLY MAKE THE CANON YOU WANT! Which would have been novel but is also NEVER going to happen. Instead, her statement amounts to "I officially give you permission to make fanworks." Which... Lady, you don't get to decide that. No creative does. If people want to make work off of your story, they're gonna do that regardless of what you say. The creator of Calvin and Hobbes is FAMOUS for how anti-commercial he was of his work and spent much of his career making sure that his strips, panels, characters etc. didn't appear on t-shirts. And he still failed mostly because stopping EVERY avenue was simply impossible.

Also Dana has not really put much authoritatively on the scales besides the sexualities, making the statement even more pointless. If she's dropped giant lore dumps, I haven't heard about them and I've been in this fandom long enough that I feel like I should have heard about them. Instead we got small things like Amity dying her hair because her mom forced her to. That isn't going to break anyone's story and I even personally used it as a bonding moment between the two because I made Odalia neurotic about stuff like that.

So I guess my big question is... Who cares? Unless you actively don't like the few answers we've been given by the crew. And if that's the case... That's what fanworks are for. For when you don't like canon and want to change it. You don't need permission for that. You never have. =========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[m1ckeyb3rry]

All hail Mira I’m so psyched to read it and see the wc….trust I will be back here screaming my head off with commentary….fr getting spoiled with your inaccurate wcs (MAKING OTOYAS LOOK SHORT??? BRO)

NO BECAUSE THAT IM SAYING??? Kaneshiro were claiming copyright for our ideas please pay us in a Karasu awakening

LMFAOO that panel visual is literally just hollyhock Otoya??? I think your blog may just be magical like the entire BLLK editorial/pr/creation team just stalking you atp but THE KARASU PANELS >>>>>> ugh he looks so GOOD I forgot to mention I noticed how in the headers of your fics you’ll have a (very aesthetically pleasing) mini collage of the character and now you’ve got more karasu materials for that HAHA

And FR really hope that they’ll explore more duos and pairs in the future! I get that the popular matchups are usually there also for marketing purposes but it would fr be nice to see them interacting with others and maybe not just having like, 1 singular bestie LOL

Omg the Rin Sae parallel I see the vision….ugh someone bring Kunigami back I bet he’d have some really funny/interesting dynamics with other characters!! Another gentleman omg….theres just something in the Akita waters….

LMFAO Nagi just being there to hear the tea and listen to the gossip is so real like he’s not moving a MUSCLE to do anything he’s just enjoying the drama….the few words he says plus both y/n and karasu being oblivious idiots is truly THE most chaotic scenario HAHA karasu being in such disbelief that any one of the wingman could give an exact description of him and he’d be like “you mean she knows another dude who plays soccer from Osaka who’s tall has dark hair and is named after a bird???”

Omg talk about a strong pill LOL but YAY omg glad it was fun it sounds so cool!!! Minus the barfing part LOL (ok sorry but I have to ask was it MIDAIR?? I’m just imagining you pulling out a bag while cruising over the scenery LMAO) and ohhhhhhh side effects that makes sense….i wonder if maybe a different brand would have less side effects? But yeah giving your doc a call sounds like a good idea! Hopefully they have a solution for you!!!

MANIFESTING BABY SO HARD!! I agree like seeing the little interactions between other players and people too he actually seems like such a sweet/pure boy? Like if he actually knew how to show affection or what it was I feel like it’d definitely show in his relationships in a way….idk like the way he bonded with chigiri kinda quickly after the 3v3 in the second selection where they’re like testing what he’s able to trap LOL I’m trying to think of more examples off the top of my head but there were definitely moments that made me say “omg wait??” Seriously makes me wonder where people pull all those red flag headcanons from **their asses** but anyways…

I’m crying imagine it’s wavy but because his parents dgaf they just go with the bowl it regardless so you just see the little waves and then at some point they just abruptly cut off (it’s giving like…..a pre-boiled block of instant noodles LMAO)

This is also kinda unrelated/unprompted but everyday I’m thinking of when the next LN is gonna be announced….im lowk trying to see at what intervals they announced the previous ones (iirc the one with yuki was announced pretty fast which caught me off guard so im hoping the next one comes soon!!!)

-Karasu anon

I LIKE AM ACTUALLY CLOSE TO FINISHING I THINK!! FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY!!! but then i’m going to have to try and squeeze proofreading in around vacation activities so it’ll still be a sec until it’s properly posted…even then though i think the day is approaching 🤩 my hope is to have it done by karasu’s birthday at the very latest 😩

episode nagi manga panels always come through for my little headers!! i’ve started trying to experiment more beyond just having the basic three panel + lines setup…the header for karasu’s version of bfb is the same as otoya’s but with blue lines instead of green!! it’s fun to come up with different little graphics hehe i enjoy it as much as writing tbh

OUR CONVOS HAVE BEEN TAPPED BY THE CIA (bllk manga authors) they are onto us…HOW did they know to draw otoya as an actual ninja??? did they read hollyhock??? 😳😟🤨🫣 the manifestations go crazy around here fr

i agree that it’s def partially a marketing thing but also there’s just sooo many characters that it’s probably hard to play out all possible combos naturally!! i pray for the day that kunigami actually does smth meaningful again and also for the whole wildcard thing to get explained 😔 i feel like it was just an opportunity to create tension but it hasn’t been truly expanded upon so it just feels kinda random almost

HELP karasu is like “6ft tall…speaks with a kansai dialect…gets along well with people…has unusual hair…named after an animal…YO HIORI 🤔😨⁉️” (iirc hiori’s first name means sheep) i think nagi yuki and barou just give up at that point because bro is fr saying anything and missing the obvious answer sooo badly 😭

IT WAS MIDAIR 😭😭😭 we drove to italy today and i took a diff medicine and i got so dizzy it was like the world was straight up cartwheeling 😰 but it’s much flatter and smoother here so it should be good to go from here on out!! and yes i hope the doctors have a solution for it because i’m sure i’m not the first person who’s had a similar problem ☝🏻

i think for me it’s the way he was able to connect w zantetsu so quickly…like he genuinely just listened to him and didn’t judge unlike reo and literally everyone else, which is how team v trio was even able to function in the first place 🥹 plus him w isagi and chigiri in second selection as well as his implied dynamic with karasu during the day off is just so CUTE to me like he’s honestly pretty good with people he’s just also really confused about it at times 😭 idk maybe i’m biased because i like him sm but to me he’ll always just be awkward and standoffish because he doesn’t know any better/different not because he doesn’t care 😪

pov baby nagi had the niko haircut 😭😭💔💔 nooo i’m manifesting a cute little way curly bird’s nest thing going on with like super round cheeks and big eyes 😩🙏🏻 baby nagi w instant ramen hair will haunt my dreams though 😓 sleep paralysis demon fr

I NEED IT TO BE SOON AND I NEED KARASU AND OTOYA TO BE IN IT!! i’ll be sad because i do think a karasu ln will make some of my stories for him not as close to canon as they are rn?? especially bfb…but a) how many people read the ln’s, b) they’re already aus, and c) that just means i can write him even better in the future!! plus given our track record at manifesting things i think i should be pretty safe 🤞🏻

[butwhyduh]

Getting tall

Summary: Damian finally hits his growth spurts and the fam have opinions. Some damijon, timkon, jaytemis, and dickori mentioned.

Damian was an adorable tiny murder baby when he first showed up at the manor. Like a feral kitten. Short end of normal growth at 10 years old and thin too, Dr Leslie found. Make sure he eats 3 square meals and snacks when he wants and he’ll be just fine. Alfred had made it his mission, as he had done for both Jason and Tim, to put weight on Damian.

The first family member he outgrew was Cass. She reached over to ruffle his hair only to reach up above her head rather than below it. She didn’t mind. 5’4 isn’t very tall. She’d just have to remember that the next time they spar. Height wasn’t an important factor to her.

It was a few months later that Damian hit a massive growth spurt and grew 4 inches. He passed by 5’6 Stephanie.

“Hey little dude. What are they puttin in your food, miracle grow?” She asked when she noted how tall he was and how big his feet had gotten. Damian was a bit like the giant puppies all gangly. Alfred was adjusting the Robin costume monthly after Damian rushed to put it on for patrol one day and every time he raised his arms he felt his stomach show. Clothes were constantly being bought that met his newest height increase. The Kents were very appreciative of the barely worn clothing Jon got as Damian went through another pair.

“I’m perfectly normal in growth,” he said pulling on the hem of his shirt that was growing shorter by the day. Stephanie eyed him but left it. Tim hated the height jokes they would make when everyone started passing him in height. Nowadays Tim just rolled his eyes and deferred all short jokes to Bart who Damian was now taller than. Bart didn’t care at all because he was short but he was also at least top 3 faster people ever so who cares right?

For a very short time, Damian was taller than Jon. He liked that. Jon thought it was pretty funny.

“D, I’m going to be taller. My dad and mom are both taller than yours. I’ll be taller in the end,” Jon said with a grin before Damian pushed him off the roof. Jon giggled and stared at Damian with obvious heart eyes. The kid was definitely smitten.

Tim was half an inch taller. He didn’t acknowledge it in any way. But it wasn’t surprising. His mother was tiny, his father lower end of average, and Tim probably skipped too many meals with working during an important growth phase while he was becoming Robin. 5’8.5 is a perfectly normal height for a man. He had an easier time with stealth.

Bruce watched as his son grew more handsome and taller everyday. He recognized things he hadn’t taken the time to see with Dick or Jason and had missed completely with Tim. Aftershave, cologne, and deodorant budget went up exponentially and Damian was barred from bringing any of his shoes in the house and his Robin uniform had to double washed occasionally. He spent far longer in the bathroom doing his hair and agonizing over any spot on his face.

Bruce even once caught Damian do the lean on the doorframe while talking to someone they like when Jon visited once. He had to give the worst birds and bees talk of all time. Bruce also noted how Damian had Talia’s nose and his lip curled the same way hers did when he smiled. He stretched when walking to the breakfast table the same way Dick did.

Damian didn’t get another true growth spurt for 2 years. There was plenty of jokes that he jumped up to his height and didn’t move again. Jon was once again taller than Damian. Alfred was ready this time with the massive amount of food the 15 year old could put away and panels in his costume for easier adjustments.

Talia smiled proudly at her son as he grew taller than her. He was turning out handsome like his father but kept her feature and in her mind, that was the perfect combo. She never told Damian because she didn’t him to grow arrogant.

Dick didn’t notice it right away. He was so busy with Bludhaven and the Titans that he didn’t notice Damian had gotten a full inch taller than him. He only realized when him and Damian practiced a complex move that required a taller and shorter partner while training. They paired up as they always did and the maneuver completely fell apart. Dick was mentally putting together why it failed when Damian walked over and it clicked. Little D was not so little anymore.

“You’re taller than me,” he said brightly. Damian immediately grinned.

“So now you’re little D,” Damian said back. Dick laughed at that one.

“Don’t let it go to your head. I can throw you around like a tilt-a-whirl,” Dick warned. Of course, that’s exactly what happened the next time they sparred when Damian tried to use his height advantage.

“I can beat Jason so don’t think you can beat me just by being bigger,” Dick said standing over Damian who rolled his eyes.

Dick had no problem with Damian getting taller. It was his own height he had a complicated relationship with. See, Dick grew up as an acrobat. Being tall is a disadvantage. More weight to swing, more body to move. And his father had told him growing up that almost every Grayson man has been 5’8. It’s a legacy as strong as flying above the circus crowd.

And so when at 15, Dick was very distraught with the fact that he hadn’t stopped growing at 5’8. It felt like a part of his history and family legacy had died. He wasn’t one of the 5’8 Grayson men. He never told anyone beside Kori, late at night where she told him she loved him tall or small. She had already far outpaced Dick and was on her way to being 6’4.

Duke and Alfred and Damian were the same height for a short while. Duke would joke that he could just wear the Robin’s costume since they were the same size. Damian would threaten to disembowel him if he touched it and that made Duke laugh even more.

When he grew taller Duke once again joked with Damian calling him a not so jolly green giant and Alfred considered his nutrition attempt a complete success. Damian went from a tiny kid to a tall strong young man.

Damian and Jon were practically the same size for a while. Jon barely bent his neck to rest his chin on Damian’s shoulder as his partner worked on a complex mechanical part. Then Jon hit another growth spurt to end in his final height of 6’2, same as Bruce and his father. Damian enjoyed having a taller boyfriend for a while but would never say anything. High school dances were nice.

Bruce could see Damian getting taller and stronger and was practically grown. Dr Leslie warned Bruce that growth could continue until Damian was in his early 20s and he could end up a quite tall young man or stop tomorrow.

Jason liked being the tallest and biggest in the family. He had an entire inch in height on Bruce and was at least 20 lbs heavier. He was built like tank. When Jason had died at 15, he was terrifyingly thin. Alfred had tried his best but Jason had suffered malnutrition and hunger from practically birth. He was short and thin and Dr Leslie had told Bruce he probably always would be. And so when Jason came back to life a giant 6’3 and over 200 lbs, it was a shock. It took him forever to accept his size as anything more than an amour to create fear in his enemies. The first time he had accidentally scared a woman walking in the street at night, Jason had hated that he was so big. But within his family, it had become a source of pride. He was certainly taller than Dick and Alfred and even Bruce.

So when he visited Cass’s birthday party and Jason stood next to Damian and realized that the kid was taller than him, he was a little shocked. Damian had reached his final height of 6’4.

“When the hell did you get so big?” Jason asked while cake was being served. Dick nosed in the conversation.

“Little D is taller than you now,” he said with a teasing grin at Jason.

“And yet you insist on calling me Little D,” Damian said with an eye roll.

“I call him Big D,” Jon said with a smile. Dick blanched and Jason coughed out an awkward laugh.

“Good for you, bro,” he said patting Damian on the back. Jon blushed at the sudden understanding.

“No! I mean- he’s taller than me. I didn’t mean- uh,” Jon stuttered. Damian grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away from his brothers who were laughing.

“It’s weird you know,” Jason admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

“The fact that he is dating Jon?”

“No, they’ve been together forever. That he’s taller than me,” Jason said.

“Are you- does it bother you that you aren’t the tallest?” Dick asked with a gleeful smile.

“No,” Jason said abruptly.

“It could be like how I learned my little brother was bigger than me,” Dick teased. “All of a sudden you were just massive. My tiny little brother was this big dude. Good thing I’m comfortable with my masculinity.”

“Your girlfriend is like 6 inches taller than you. If that isn’t emasculating then there’s nothing I could do,” Jason answered.

“Yeah, she’s always been taller than me,” Dick said with a fond smile. “You can’t talk with the Amazon you’ve been hanging with.” He pushed Jason’s shoulder with a grin.

“We’re just friends-I guess,” Jason said uncomfortable. “That’s not the same-“

“Well at least Tim will always be our little brother,” Dick changed the subject but mentally noted Jason’s reaction to the mention of Artemis.

“Yeah, he’ll always be a shrimp,” Jason agreed.

“Honestly fuck you both,” Tim said from across the room. With Kon standing next to him he certainly looked tiny.

“Hey, it’s my birthday and I am the shortest and I can still kick all of your butts,” Cassandra reminded them both and they laughed but neither corrected her because they knew she was right.

[cooloddball]

You said, j2 are also not ashamed to share their weird-ass stories with each other. It's not a competition, but do Jensen and Misha share the same stories with each other?

Sometimes it's hard to decipher whether some asks are meant to be wank or whether they are genuine. But let me give you the benefit of the doubt and just answer.

Jensen and Misha almost never share about hanging out outside of work.

Long before I joined this fandom and even now, there was speculation that Jensen hated Misha because there were never photos or any evidence that they were friends outside of work. To date, antis use that as their only argument against cockles. However, their arguments are moot and here's why:

Jensen and Misha hang out outside work.

For a long time, the anti-cockles brigade believed that Jensen went to Vatican with Jarpad as a romantic getaway. It gets funnier, apparently, they ditched Misha and left him with rest of the cast to tour Rome alone. The truth was revealed in a EW interview where Jensen and Misha reminisce about that tour that Dee (aww, she's wife goals) had organized for the two of them. The mass was conducted under the Michelangelo mural of Michael slaying Lucifer.

Now the strange thing about the whole thing is that years ago. I think in 2011, Jensen told the story of how he went with friends for a private mass at the Vatican. So why didn't he say it was Misha? I mean if he had gone with Jarpad, Jason or Steve or anyone else he would've said it. So did they have a private wedding or? Like why hide who he went with just to reveal it years later? Not sus at all.

When West Misha's son fell IN Jensen's pool and hit his head. Jensen and Misha dived in to save him.

That time West peed in Jensen's flower bed.

West being Dee's best friend.

When Dee said Misha and Vicki helped with the brewery.

The things they do with each other are just not not gay

I mean explain how this is dude bro behaviour to me.

Or this or this

That time Misha showed Jensen his crotch and Jensen almost swallowed his tongue. Then Misha was late for his panel.

Or that time Jensen lay down so Misha could straddle him and he got a boner. Like, is that normal behaviour among friends to you?

Or that time Misha took that topless photo of Jensen 👀

They can't tell us when they hang out because when they hang out they don't do things that just friends do.

I mean J/2 are not ashamed to say they shared underwear that one time but cockles sharing clothes became a whole spectacle.

J/2 joke all the time about how they are in love even on Magazines and the journalists know they are joking but cockles never joke about it. Like this interview with CNN about the show ending when they joked about falling in love with each other:

Remember that time Jensen told Misha he loved him on MTV?

The many times Jarpad has teased them about their relationship?

Their castmates implying that cockles is a thing.

People who visit the set saying that cockles are always so close together, moving together, sitting together while Jarpad is on his own. Hmm...wonder why.

I could spend eternity here trying to prove something that is so blatant so I'll end it here but I hope you get my point.

[eyrieofsynapses]

Redemption Panel Highlights and Reactions

GATORS

i.e., Beth Riesgraf and Christian Kane (mostly Beth) talking about filming the scenes in (what I presume is) The Rollin’ on the River Job, where they’re pulling some stuff out of the water, and finding out the next day that there was an absolutely massive alligator pulled out of the same place just a little while after they filmed it

Beth’s impression of the wildlife folks warning them about the alligators

Beth scaring the hell out of Noah Wyle by yelling “GATOR” at him just after he finished his scene

seriously that was an absolutely WILD part of the panel

Everyone showering Aleyse Shannon with literally all the love!

Aldis Hodge in particular big-brothering her, and also the older actors calling her out for not giving herself enough credit, and Dean Devlin talking about how she blew him away at the auditions with her ability to turn on a dime

Seeing Kane with his glasses off wiping at his eyes, momentarily thinking “you okay dude?” and then realizing that he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes

(same)

The The Bucket Job clip! I’ve been a bit meh on a lot of Redemption, just in how it didn’t feel quite right, but that is possibly the absolute closest I’ve seen it get to the original in the best way. Brilliant

Which comes as no surprise since BETH RIESGRAF directed the episode!!! And apparently put an insane amount of effort in!

Beth’s utter delight and joy at both directing the episode and having the crew behind her

THE CHAIR

So apparently she and Christian went to town on the fight scene and he winds up tied up in a chair somewhere along the line and there’s a whole wild scene, which I am really looking forward to

Beth knowing how insanely particular he’d be about things like zip ties vs rope and what kind of rope e.t.c. e.t.c.

Apparently this is also tied into a VERY DEEP scene with Eliot? It sounds like they’re going to go super hard on his backstory, which is terrifyingly exciting

Just. Beth and Christian going very hard on that episode together

Speaking of: the panel’s going amazingly, I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts, things are relatively light, and then, of fucking course—

Kane hitting us over the head about Eliot being a mass murderer who can’t be redeemed, is trying to stay static so that he can maintain the place he’s in, and is thus LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH HARRY

What the FUCK. This is of course incredibly insightful and perfectly on point (because it’s Kane) but also, EXCUSE ME, OUCH, why would you DO THAT to us?

Everyone talking about having their families on set and their kids!

Beth’s son growing up on the original Leverage set and now going into being a director himself!

Gina’s daughter also growing up on set!

Noah Wyle’s daughter is playing Harry’s daughter I REPEAT NOAH WYLE’S ACTUAL DAUGHTER IS PLAYING AS HARRY’S DAUGHTER

Gina Bellman remaining relatively stoic throughout much of the panel (seriously, this woman, how the heck does she do it) and then losing it when they’re asked about running/inside jokes

A lot of them are, of course, apparently not appropriate to be spoken on-panel

(A lot of the others are the little inside ones that are special enough not to be ones they want to share, which is sweet!)

Everyone collectively losing it over having LeVar Burton on for The Bucket Job

Devlin and everyone laughing about collecting the various Star Trek people on Leverage

Beth talking about Burton coming over while she’s getting ready and asking her if she’s living on coffee and water, her laughing because he was absolutely right, and then him gently reminding her to remember to eat, which is the sweetest thing in the world oh my gods

Kane apparently choreographing an intense scene with Burton and being scared out of his mind, because Burton really wanted to go for it, but to Kane it was like he’s a figurine that’s not to be messed with because he was so worried about hurting him

Kane choreographing a massive amount of the show, which I knew already, but seriously, this guy blows me away

Gina and the crew talking about how he’d be away for a day of shooting a fight and all of them would be missing him and thinking about him

Family Vibes

Everyone talking about how they’re very noisy and loud together on set and it’s a bit like walking into a group of people having Christmas dinner (or something to that effect) because they’re just Like That together

Aleyse being the most surprised by Beth when she met her because she was like a little angel of light during the auditions but turned out to be an absolute ball of wild energy on set

Gina going “wait you were a MODEL” at Beth

Aldis talking about how much he loved how Parker and Hardison’s relationship had developed and grown!

Also, Aldis apologizing when the New York (iirc) background noise got loud and everyone going “no no we get you”

His outfit is ON POINT today

Gina saying that Christian is the goofiest and wildest out of them in terms of humor

(she goes “some of you may not know this,” which, fair, but also, if you’ve seen more than ten minutes of this guy outside of character you know he’s an absolute ball of sunshine)

Gina, Beth, and Christian talking about how they’d challenge each other to stay off sweets back on the original set, because they knew they needed to stay in shape and also just because they’re competitive (apparently all of them are major sweet tooths) and hide brownies and things from each other, while Aldis is just. doing pushups. eating all the healthy stuff. and then wanders into the room with a literal cupful of chocolates

(and Aldis going “well yeah I have to work off the sweets SOMEHOW”)

Beth explaining that sometimes they’d order a “Kane burrito” from Christian and he’d alter it slightly

Like, you know, chopping up hot jalapenos super fine and mixing them in, and Beth practically not being able to talk after the first bite

Apparently Aldis still went back a lot even after that

(Christian just seems very pleased with himself over it)

(THESE PEOPLE)

Gina goes “hey we should have an episode where we all swap roles,” Devlin going “WAIT FOR SEASON ONE TO BE DONE,” and then somebody (maybe the moderator?? I don’t remember exactly) going “uh actually. We did that”

Cue immediate scramble of “WAIT WHICH JOB WAS THAT”

(paraphrasing) “Yeah you remember the bit where you put on Parker’s harness and went off a building?”

Turns out half the cast had actually forgotten that that existed and only remember when reminded

The original cast all think of the episodes as “jobs”!!!!

Everyone talking over each other, Devlin going “it was with Sterling when we blew up the offices,” deciding that it was the season one finale, and then trying to figure out what episode title it was (eventually they figure out it’s the David jobs)

Moderator and Devlin accurately commenting that the fans know the show much better than they do

Noah Wyle very correctly explaining how Electric Entertainment is like a family and Devlin just. Keeps people

Aleyse and Aldis talking about typing when they’re hacking and going “WHAT THE HECK DO WE TYPE”

Aldis goes “yeah I just type all the bad words that we’re not allowed to say”

Aleyse saying that she’s always a little worried they’re hiding a Word document behind the blue screen and they’re going to pull up what she’s typing at the end of the day and print it out and put it in her trailer going “what the HECK is this”

Noah talking about filming The Golf Job and just getting to direct Jason Marsters and Christian together

Apparently their dynamic in that episode accurately mirrors the one with their characters in Angel!

Which promptly goes straight to the comment that it was very hard to make Marsters look like a golfer (pfft)

(Also apparently Christian plays golf for fun with his friends? Not necessarily something I would’ve thought of!)

Aleyse happily talking about how she loved the dynamic on set and it was very different from what she was used to

Also Aleyse talking about doing stunts and everyone else praising her for going whole hog

Beth especially praising her for the bit where she’s hit with the paralysis injection (I don’t remember which ep it’s from) and her acting for it, because it was incredibly hard to drop off screen in the particular way she did

Aleyse promptly answers that she was terrified with some of those, especially one where she had to keep a clock from falling and breaking

Everyone discussing how they see a new aspect of Breanna’s character in The Train Job

Also, to get serious for a moment, Kate Rorick in particular talks about how Breanna’s part of Gen Z and how we didn’t get the “days of yore” where everything was chill. We’ve basically been living in a world of hostility the whole time. It’s something I deeply appreciate, as someone who’s part of that group, and I love how they emphasize that for us.

This panel was pure chaos and I loved every moment of it! My stomach was actually hurting from laughing so hard, I swear. They had me cackling well over half the time. I would happily take panels double or triple the length of this, this was amazing. I also adore how the second you drop these six people in a room together, they immediately take off and literally just run and give you everything you wanted and more. (It is also evidently very hard to get them to STOP talking.)

I’m also just going to stop and take a second to fawn over the effects for the 3D room. It’s gorgeous—I love how they replicated the headquarters, especially with the stained glass ceilings! Super impressive, especially with all the photos, and I just love the whole thing. Kudos to whoever put that together.

Anyway, I’m definitely missing some stuff too; seriously, there wasn’t a second wasted in this thing, they were cracking some kind of joke or dropping some really interesting piece of information practically every thirty seconds. (And I haven’t even gotten into the clips OR the bloopers. I miiiight do a separate reaction purely for those.) It’s still up right now if you missed it and you want to watch it! I’ll probably watch it again, honestly.

[nagichi-boop]

Ahem, hope it’s okay to add on-

His special interest also extends to just machinery in general. He modded his own hoverboard. He doesn’t need a motorbike (he runs plenty fast) but he has one and he keeps it in good condition. And I have no evidence, but I’m gonna assume he also upkeeps that, too. (Based on this post)

Doesn’t like people touching him. I like to imagine he likes physical touch, but only on his terms and with certain people. Otherwise he will force them off.

The dude isn’t the best at communicating. As you said, he is mostly non-verbal, but he also isn’t super good at explaining himself. (I mean, in Sonic Prime, he probably thinks he’s getting through to Sonic and it’s only not working cuz Sonic has adhd isn’t listening, but I think I’d be confused about Shadow’s message too if I were Sonic. /nm)

He has a strong sense of justice. Sure, it’s not always placed correctly and he doesn’t always ‘appropriately’ handle things, but he very much has it. In his introduction, he wanted justice for Maria and did everything he could to fulfil that. Then when he realised Maria wanted him to protect humanity, he sacrificed his own life to do that. And after that, he does everything he can to uphold that promise. In the IDW comics, he argues with Sonic because he doesn’t think that Eggman should be forgiven because of what he’s done, though he does finally concede.

Speaking of social rules, Shadow doesn’t necessarily get them (same dude, some of them make no sense). The idea that he has to make eye contact or response to indicate he’s listening doesn’t occur to him. Cuz like…you can listen without doing either of those things, and maybe it’s actually more comfortable for him to not make eye contact, but he feels he has to a lot of the time.

More of a headcanon, but I imagine when he has meltdowns, it’s more of the lash out type, but Shadow seems like the type to be logical about things, so even if he doesn’t know what it is, I imagine he gets away from people and just smashed rocks or smth until the meltdown wears off.

A lot of these points were inspired by this post btw, I recommend reading it. :>

Edit: Uhm imma try add image IDs but I’ve never made them before and am currently very anxious because I feel bad for not adding them before. Please tell me if I’ve done them wrong. Sorry for not adding them before.

[ID for image 1 - A screenshot taken from the Sonic IDW comics. In the first panel, Sonic is pushing Shadow from behind with a text bubble from Sonic that reads, “Yeah- okay- fair point, but he-”. The second panel shows Shadow angrily swiping Sonic off of him, the later off balance and leaning forward.]

[ID for image 2 - A screenshot taken from the Sonic IDW comics. In the first panel, Sonic is shown leaning against a tree, wincing and holding his stomach with stars around his head depicting him being in pain. The second panel shows Shadow slamming Sonic against the wall with a karate chop/his arm with an angered expression while Sonic’s face shows his eyes widened and his mouth open as if he has been winded. The third panel shows a close up of Shadow’s angry face and has a text bubble which reads, “Have you forgotten that he made you suffer? That he’s tried to destroy you - multiple times? How can you even suggest leniency for him after all that?”]

[ID for image 3 - A screenshot taken from the Sonic IDW comics (I believe?). In the first panel, Rouge is winking but with an angered expression and standing behind and to the side of Shadow, who is staring forwards with an unbothered expression. She has a text bubble that reads, “You can be a pain to track down, y’know?” The next panel is a side view of Rouge, still angry. She has two text bubbles, the first reads, “Things seemed to have settled down. And the bad guys are in hiding. At least they’re not causing trouble.” The second text bubble reads, “But…I can’t find any sign of Sonic or Omega.” The third panel shows Rouge looking to her side at Shadow, who is still looking forward with his eyelids still lowered to indicate he is unbothered. The fourth and final panel shows Rouge turned towards Shadow, who’s back is shown in the panel. She has a text bubble that reads, “Did you hear a word I said?” Shadow has a single text bubble that reads, “Yes.” Rouge has another text bubble under that which reads, “What’s up? You’re even more brooding than usual.”]

tell me about the hedgehog neurodivergence

THANK YOU SO MUCH MY GOOD FRIEND so i have ways to back up my claims when i say shadow the hedgehog is autistic and i dont mean “oh im autistic so my favorite character gets to be too” ALTHOUGH THAT IS VERY VALID THATS NOT WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT. before i keep going please keep in mind im basing this off of my own experiences as an autistic person mwah anyway so what im talkin about, specifically, is:

shadow is shown stimming (the thing he does when he slicks back his quills? stimming.)

constantly speaks in a monotone voice

not very varied expressions

eye contact that is VERY intense to the point where it looks trained

rarely seeks out interaction, tends to speak in short sentences and cut straight to the point, and is otherwise very nonverbal

this one is very much so a headcanon but idc thats what im here for. the reason why shadow used guns that one time? his special interest is guns. theres your answer. thats it it was the autism.

[wemakeitupaswego]

This is gonna sound ridiculous, but I'm starting to think that j2 is having a polyamory relationship. i think that their wives also know about this relationship and consent to it. After the last con I started to think about this seriously

Another copypasta.

Yeah totally poly because you know.... nothing says polyamorous jtwo like tunnels under Austin right?

Some day I wanna have a drink with Jensen joking about that story.

One thing you have to remember is jred in no way gives out either queer and polyamorous vibes at all. His family strikes as the perfect example of monogamy.

And seriously anon even after that fallout, you think they are having a relationship ? Not that couples don't have fights. But that wasn't a fight was it? That was the last stage of I don't talk to my coworker anymore . Dude that incident right there screams that they were out of sync for months.

Look at yesterdays panel, none of the mutual stories are new ones since the show ended. It's just the old same old glory of pranking, set stories, their language. The two buddies who ran a show together that ended what a year ago? Jensen was in Austin and didn't drop by? That's the vibe there. The lack of new stories scream that they haven't been in touch for awhile.

Now look at Denvercon, Jensen and Misha the 10 minutes they were on stage, Jenmish shared a story they shared together after the show ended indicating they keep in touch. The soldier boy muscles story was one of many. Misha knew what Jensen was talking about in that story, just like they used to. Montha and months later they still keep up... that's what I call being in sync.

I am no expert but polyamory doesn't work if you're out of sync. Jenmish hasn't lost that despite been away for a long time as far as we know they didn't meet up until the night before dencon although I believe they met before that.

I have been watching cons for a long time anon and never have I seen jtwo this out of sync. I mean yesterdays con was much better considering Denvercon. That was a snooze fest. And Jensen was the one snoozing.

I sincerely hope they are still friends and remain that way. They always will be at each others back. They shared a bond that's too strong for a fallout to break. But that doesn't mean it didn't crack.. and although the dispute is gone the crack is still there.

Their photo ops are a bit distant than usual while jred is reaching but Jensen isn't. He touches jred only when necessary while the opposite happens in Jenmish ops. Jensen is very clingy around Misha according to many fans who took ops.

So no.. I don't think jtwo are in a polyamorous relationship. Many ppl around here who are experts would guarantee you at that. It's ok if u think so. God knows how ppl cope their favourite duo falling out these days.

[makeste]

BnHA 326: What’s up Kids, It’s Me, Your Old Pal Stain

Previously on BnHA: Ochako shamed the U.A. Clown Mob into letting Deku go back inside his own fucking school by giving them an hour-long speech about how not to be humongous dickheads. Kouta and Gigantic Fox Lady saved the manga by being the only ones brave enough to give Deku a hug. Shouto was all “man, all this togetherness sure does remind me of that promise you made that we would handle Touya together which you immediately bailed on, doesn’t it, Dad.” Aizawa was all, “for the one and a half people out there who thought that my losing an eye and a leg might actually make me less sexy, I’m very happy to prove you wrong.” All Might was all, “[standing outside the U.A. fortress alone in the rain talking to someone or something??].” Like seriously, what was up with that though.

Today on BnHA: All Might is all “here I am in Kamino having a belated mid-life crisis because Deku abandoned me and I’m a terrible mentor and everything sucks and I hate myself.” Stain is all, “don’t make me come over there and give you a ten page speech about why you’re still the goat while menacingly holding you at swordpoint the entire time” because idk if you knew this guys, but Stain is pretty crazy actually. Anyway so he does that, and then All Might gets all emotional, and then the lady from chapter 92 shows up and gives All Might’s statue an encouraging pep talk, and then Horikoshi is all “and it even stopped raining lol can you believe this shit I’m not even a little bit subtle,” and he really isn’t. But I still got emotional anyway, because seeing people reassure All Might that everything he’s struggled for his entire life hasn’t been in vain just got to me okay. Horikoshi knows I am weak to the All Might feels and he just goes for the jugular every time, that bastard.

lmao. “in the neverending downpour, All Might is...” yeah, thank you, glad we’re getting right to that then

“All Might is driving 95 mph in his busted ass car in the pouring rain, is what he’s doing.” huh

so basically a day or two after his adopted child refused to accept the handmade bento that he packed with love, my man is out here acting like he’s got nothing to live for anymore. this sure bodes well for certain prophecies on which the clock is still ominously ticking down

his fucking face though omg. is it weird that I’m kind of hoping more people ambush him just because I think it’d be funny to see them get their asses kicked like the last bunch

(ETA: or maybe he will just stand there openly not giving a fuck and basically daring them to stab him!! get it together please All Might.)

side note, “anti-hero supporters” is such a strange way of saying “people who hate heroes”, which I’m assuming is what they actually wanted to say?? this makes it sound like it’s a group that really loves antiheroes. “these Hannibal stans have been a real menace lately. time to go deal with them”

ha ha ha, fucking ouch

are you really gonna do it Horikoshi you bastard. are you really going to let that be the final encounter between the two characters whose relationship you once described as the vertical axis of the entire fucking story. are you really gonna?? huh??

huh

you’re telling me you were driving 112 mph and you still didn’t get there in time. you’re losing your touch old man. lol Todo’s ice is almost fully melted already, how late were you

(ETA: so apparently this is taking place after the end of chapter 325, meaning he went to U.A., hung out for a bit, saw the kids come back with his bedraggled half-dead protégé in tow, watched as they shamed the civilians into some long-overdue character development, and then was all “welp, time to go argue with the hero-hating faction or something because I’m feeling useless.” and Edge just let him go, just like that. though to be fair I have to imagine it’s pretty hard to say no to All Fucking Might.)

also belated lol at the fact that the kids were all “yeahhhhhhh we are definitely not gonna touch that thing, let’s just leave it here, he doesn’t need it anyway.” probably the right call to make since they couldn’t get a hazmat team on such short notice

fuck. ha ha ha fucking ouch part two

All Might please put that thing down before you get gangrene. also yeah, you dropped the ball, good for you to acknowledge it. nobody’s perfect and you did your best. but yeah you could have handled a lot of things completely differently. but I still love you

is Horikoshi really putting this flashback here. are you serious. what kind of fucking sadist

look, I swear I’m not one of those people that runs up and down the street shouting “DEATH FLAG!!” at every third panel lol. but this shit screamed Death Flag when we originally got it, and it’s screaming DEATH FLAG!!! even more now. like with the capital letters and exclamation marks and all. and that’s just a fact. I don’t like it but that’s how it is

ffkdjslk

“DID YOU READ THE SIGN??!” Horikoshi asks while zooming in maniacally because he thinks we’re blind or something. lol what

-- though actually, it only just occurred to me that this sign is actually written in English. I never really paid attention up until now and had been assuming it was written in Japanese and translated by the scanlators, but the writing here is clearly part of the original image. anyway so maybe that’s why he’s zooming in?? just to make sure everybody pays attention lol

okay fuck this

see, this is the whole problem right here. once again All Might is all on his own. Deku’s self-destructive angst spiral was fortunately brought to a grinding halt because he actually has support from his friends and family and teachers and classmates. but All Might never had that same kind of support, and it’s made all the difference between the two of them, and not in a good way. Katsuki wasn’t wrong when he said All Might and Deku were both cut from the same cloth. but now when it’s All Might’s turn to go all “I WALK A LONELY ROAD~~” once again, there’s nobody in sight

just, after forty plus years of him carrying this torch, I just wish someone would finally come along to let him know he doesn’t have to. all those things that he wanted to say to Deku are also things that he needs and deserves to hear himself. Aizawa was making a little progress there, but now he’s got his sad zombie cloud boyfriend situation to deal with, and we can’t expect him and his perfect hair to solve all our problems. someone else has gotta step up

oh my god

“you rang?” never mind I take it all back sob

omg why am I laughing. shit

this man truly has the best PR game in the series. we were truly convinced he was gonna suddenly become a good guy and defend All Might against the other villains or some nonsense. as if this wasn’t the same man who decided on a whim that Iida Tensei deserved to be paralyzed, and that his fifteen-year-old brother deserved to die for daring to be upset about it

lol even All Might is all “I genuinely never saw this coming” lmao

just want to say, for the record, I have always harbored a very sensible hatred toward Stain. feeling very vindicated right now. good job Past Me

adsfklwkfsdwgkj

ffffwefjslkg. ghsdlkg. dsfkkkslkjldwkjrg

STAIN: heard you talking shit old man

ME: smh that’s what I thought you’d say you dumb fucking Stain

STAIN: how dare you talk about All Might that way

ME: gljfljgk

(ETA: in hindsight I have no idea how I didn’t clue in sooner that he didn’t recognize him -- or, well, ~didn’t recognize~ him, to be more accurate lol. I think it was the whole “is that a slight against the heroes?” thing that threw me. Viz’s translation makes it much clearer that he’s offended on behalf of All Might specifically, not heroes in general. anyways.)

sob. so All Might is all “yeah I don’t blame you for not recognizing me in this sweet leather jacket”

good thing he still knows how to do this party trick

A+ reflexes on Stain’s part presumably pulling the sword back a few inches to keep this dumbass from impaling himself with his whole pufferfish routine. can you imagine if that was the gruesome death Nighteye foresaw. and he was just too embarrassed to say anything

lol anyways guess I was wrong about Stain everyone

way to fucking go, Past Me. you really biffed this one

oh wait

Stain sure is one wacky rollercoaster ride

oh fuck me lol I forgot how much I did not miss this

(ETA: “this here is the sacred ground where All Might gave up the last of his power and turned into a shriveled old man!! please ignore the part where I admit to knowing all about that, and yet pretend not to recognize said man when he’s standing two feet in front of me.”)

Past Me, I know we’ve had our ups and downs these past ninety seconds, but I’m really starting to think you were on to something. this dude has always been kind of insufferable. always acting like his high horse is a fucking giraffe when it’s actually a Shetland pony

dammit now he’s got All Might going off on a depressed monologue

oh my god my heart

shit

why the fuck does that hit so hard. he became a hero because he couldn’t bear to just sit back and let bad things happen to people who didn’t deserve it. I mean that’s basically the same as every hero ever, right? so why does it still hit so fucking hard every single time though. what is it about seeing someone so determined to stand up for other people and fight on their behalf. it just never loses its impact no matter how many times I see that determination mirrored in so many of my favorite characters

“I wanted to make the world a better place.” omg. but you did, though. like seriously, I feel like people are always dogging on him for not being 100% perfect, and fandom really doesn’t give him enough credit for everything he still managed to accomplish. this man came of age at a time when Japan was by all accounts a total shitshow, and singlehandedly managed to bring about an era of peace that lasted for four fucking decades. can you imagine having peace for that long?? that’s longer than I’ve been alive. shit

and he gave people hope. he inspired them and protected them and made them feel safe. and no, he couldn’t save everyone, because he’s only one fucking dude (and also because the whole time AFO was also out there desperately working to undermine him so that he could keep preaching his narrative of “heroes are bad actually”). but you know what he did do, is inspire multiple new generations of heroes who, if they can all manage to work together, will finally be able to accomplish everything he never could

so yeah. forty years of peace, and inspired the “that’s how we all became the greatest heroes” generation -- that’s a fucking win in my book. talk about having a net positive impact on the world. lol anyways now I’m all fired up and ready to fight anyone who tries to talk any shit about you, All Might

“but what if I talk shit about myself” okay listen up All Might I’m gonna need you to try just a little bit harder to work with me here okay. please calm down and stop blaming yourself for every single bad thing that’s ever happened in the world. do you remember that time Bakugou was blaming himself for Kamino, and you gave him a hug and told him it wasn’t his fault, and that he was only a boy, and that even though he was strong, even strong people can struggle with the burdens they place on themselves, and that you were sorry for not seeing that earlier? do you remember all of that? that’s what I want someone to tell you too, dammit. anyway please stop breaking my heart please and thanks

wtf

are you dead All Might

um

I don’t even have the slightest idea what’s happening lol

oh snap did he grab him so they could hide??

hold the fucking phone. don’t tell me this person in the background with the umbrella is here to actually do something decent??

oh my godddd

and here come the feels. oh boy. okay don’t mind me, I’m just gonna sit here sobbing over this fictional lady and her simple act of kindness in this weekly shounen manga that I care about way too much

FUCKING DAMMIT AND HERE’S A SECOND HELPING

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST GETTING DISPROPORTIONATELY EMOTIONAL OVER THIS WOMAN’S DETERMINATION TO HONOR A MAN WHO SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO SAVE HER AND COUNTLESS OTHERS. I’M JUST HAVING SOME FEELS OVER HERE ABOUT HER HEARTFELT, DOESN’T-EVEN-KNOW-ANYONE-ELSE-IS-WATCHING FEELINGS OF GRATITUDE THAT COMPELLED HER TO COME OUT HERE AND MAKE THIS SMALL BUT POWERFUL GESTURE. I’M JUST OUT HERE GETTING ALL PROFOUNDLY WORKED UP ABOUT STATUE MAINTENANCE AND THE HUMAN RACE. NEVER MIND. JUST IGNORE ME AND CARRY ON

holy shit. I was not even remotely prepared. you can’t just do that to me. you can’t just leave all these death flags on my lawn and then suddenly shift gears to show me the best of humanity in a chapter where I was expecting the worst. that fucks a person up lol

OH ARE WE STILL GOING

my heart. you see that, All Might. your legacy is so much more powerful and meaningful than you think

...has. has Stain actually been giving All Might a pep talk this entire time

I give up lol. this dude is a fucking enigma

YAYYY

it may just be a metaphor panel, but I’ll take it lol. I missed them. nice to see the traffic light trio front and off-center. I know the whole “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes” thing had left some questioning whether certain characters would continue to play a central role in the narrative, and hopefully this will help to ease those concerns just a bit

anyway, so idk if it’s getting a bit chilly down there in hell, but damned if Stain didn’t just give an actual decent fucking speech

I have to say, earlier when I was whining about All Might not having a support squad, I really was not expecting Stain to be the one to come over and pat his head and reassure him that he made the world a better place

-- okay LISTEN

YOU CAN’T JUST COME INTO MY HOUSE AND HIT ME WITH THOSE ALL MIGHT TEARS AGAIN GODDAMMIT THIS ISN’T FAIR. my god. first 317 and now this

holy fucking shit

“I’m just gonna pretend like I haven’t been stalking him for two days and didn’t see the entire Deku bentogate thing go down, and then I’ll give him the whole big speech that I rehearsed, and then I’ll turn around and be all ‘BUT IF YOU’RE A TRUE HERO’, and then I’ll toss him the super-secret AFO wifi password that I stole from Tartarus. god I’m such a badass. fucking give myself chills”

so basically what you’re telling me is that this whole time my “what’s up kids” characterization of Stain from this shitpost has actually been 100% accurate. just want to make sure I’m understanding this right. okay then

“and then I’ll dramatically spin around and be all NOW COME KILL ME BITCH”

it must be so much fun to write Stain. drawing this coked-out maniac who talks like a chatbot that was trained to speak by reading Alan Moore monologues. that must be a trip

anyway so All Might is still crying, the awesome lady from chapter 92 is admiring her handiwork totally oblivious to the batshit insanity going on fifty meters to her right, and it’s finally stopped raining lol

“THE RAIN WAS A METAPHOR YOU SEE” yes, yes, we got it lol. thanks for that Horikoshi. don’t think we needed any help putting the pieces together on that one but I appreciate the effort

so that’s the end! and as I mentioned in another post, I had the count off by one chapter, but next week should be cliffhanger week! so break out your U.A. Traitor bingo cards, friends and fiends. either that or something else happens that I’m completely not expecting at all. which, based on my success rate with Stain predictions, I’d say is more than likely lol

mmm but anyway, so now that the Hug Deku 2021 campaign has finally come to an end, what’s it gonna take to get a hug for my struggling bento-preparing jacket-rocking world-weary death-flag-waving husband who is the worthiest man to ever live and deserves the fucking world, goddammit

[archer12xx]

Letters to Tobias...

--

1

--

Yo! I'm bored so I thought of writing you some letters. Of course, I won't give them to you~ Like I'd want you to read this stuff. Lol (also not sure whether you'd read them so...)

Anyway, I was at the mall with my friend the other day and I saw this pair of cool sunglasses and it reminded me of you. Then I wonder... When did things start reminding me of you? Still don't know the answer so I let it go.

Don't ask me if I bought the sunglasses. Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. Who knows? My lips are sealed. :P

Welp that's all for today. I hope Vegas is fun for you~

-Me.

--

2

--

Heya~ Saw you on TV today! Man, you're really good at what you do, aren't you? Makes me wanna watch you in person. But we both know that's...

Anyway, today's my day off and I didn't really have anything planned. Talked to the others a bit but since most of them are busy (esp Brooklyn) we ended up splitting right away. Why weren't you there, btw? You're usually online even when you're up in the air... Uh no, I'm not saying I miss you. Uh... Maybe I do...? Lol jk I don't. It's just weird not to have you around, I guess. Got used to your presence, and by your I mean the six of you. So if one of you guys isn't around, it doesn't really feel right.

I guess.

Anyway, hope you're well and come online already!!

-Me.

--

3

--

Yo! Why did you suddenly leave the chat earlier? Did something happen? I'm so curious but at the same time I'm not sure if it's okay to ask or if you'll even tell me. I couldn't follow your conversation with Rory since Leo and I are talking about the game he was recommending. Did he say something to upset you? Or...? Ugh I really don't know. I hope you could just tell me.

You know you can tell me when something's wrong or bothering you, right? I hope so...

Anyway, please take care always.

-Me.

--

4

--

Dude, really... What's wrong? I messaged you after my last letter but you didn't reply. Until now you're not talking to me. Did something really happen? Did I say or do something wrong? I feel like you're avoiding me, avoiding to talk to me for some reason.

I don't understand.

You're in Vegas again today, right? Hope you're having fun. Then at least one of us is... :(

-Me.

--

5

--

I can't open the messenger. No, it's not broken or anything... I just won't. I haven't been opening it. I can see some of the messages on my notification panel though, but I can't get myself to open it.

For some reason... I don't wanna see our conversation being left unread. I don't wanna see that you haven't replied on my messages.

Am I overreacting? I don't understand myself anymore...

Saw you on TV again today, btw. You seem okay so I'm glad. Take care always, Tobias.

-Me.

--

6

--

I was out getting groceries today and when I was looking for some snacks, I unconsciously grabbed a packet of mini m&ms. When I put them on my cart, I realized I don't really eat those... So why am I buying them? Then I remembered a photo you sent in the chat while you were on set before...

Ugh, I really need to go online.

-Me.

--

7

--

Hey. So... We're back to normal. We're talking as if nothing happened... Well, nothing really happened. Apparently it was just me.

When I got back I saw loads of messages from you and for some reason the heavy feeling that I have been carrying in my heart in the past few days have been lifted. I guess now I can't deny it. I really did miss you. Too bad, I'm not telling you. :P

Hope you get enough rest this weekend~ You've been working hard a lot. I'm happy that the show's doing well. Good job, Tobias. ;)

-Me.

--

8

--

So... I didn't mean that. I didn't mean to snap at you. I was just really annoyed for some reason. Plus I wasn't in the mood to joke around to begin with. But still, I'm really sorry. I know I already apologized and you said it was alright and that you're sorry too but I can't help but feel bad.

What was I annoyed at anyway? You've always had a lot of fans asking for your autograph and taking pictures with you. You're a celebrity, that's normal. I don't understand why it was annoying for me that you (and Leo) accused me of being jealous. Still I'm sorry...

Damn, now I think I'm being guilty. Am I jealous? Was I? I... I really don't know anymore.

Anyway, be safe and take care always~

-Me.

--

9

--

What do you do once you find out you have a crush on someone? I don't know what to do. This is... crazy. Wait... Is it a crush or plain admiration? I'm not sure. The line is so thin I can barely see it.

You're a celebrity. You're (obviously) handsome. You have a good personality. I mean you're fun to talk to and everything. Although sometimes your mischief annoys people (ehem Rory), you don't mean harm. And I know deep down that there's more to you than meets the eye. And I wanna know more about you. I wanna see the person behind every smile in front of the camera. I wanna know Tobias not The Fox nor Prince of Vegas. I wanna know you... Everything about you. The good, the bad, the happy, and the sad... I hope you'll let me though.

Anyway, I'm gonna go freak out now. Bye bye~

-Me.

--

10

--

I knew it. This is bad. Milo noticed. And now Milo knows. Why is that guy so perceptive anyway? Ugh...

This is bad. It's also kind of scary... What should I do? I mean, it's not like I'm in love with you or something... Wait... No... I'm... No... No!

Maybe I like... You...? But I'm not in love with you. That's too fast. Do feelings grow faster than plants? Should I ask Brooklyn about this? Ugh, no. I don't... Shoot. This is really bad.

Stay safe and don't catch feelings Tobias. Lol

-Me.

--

11

--

Yo! Heard about the news and saw that everyone's congratulating you. I haven't though. Because you haven't confirmed nor denied it. It's still a 50-50 chance that it was just a rumor. For some reason, my chest hurts. And I feel like crying. And my mind keeps telling me that I don't want you to be with someone else. Why am I thinking this way? If you're really going out with them, and if you're happy, I should be happy for you. Right? You're my friend after all but...

I might be a bad person. Don't get involved with me, Tobias. I'm sorry but I can't be happy for you if it turns out you're dating someone else. I'm selfish and I want to keep you all to myself...

But of course I'm not going to. I'm probably just going to lie and congratulate you and tell you I'm happy for you. Maybe joke around and tell you to behave yourself and everything.

And if the rumors aren't true, still... If you ever find someone, I'll be happy for you even if it breaks my heart. I think that's one of the bitter parts of being in love.

Wait did I just say love...? Oh what the hell...

Anyway, this has gotten longer so I'll stop here. Be happy always, Tobias.

-Me.

--

12

--

So it wasn't true after all. But then you confessed something to the group.

There's actually someone that you like. And you sound so happy about it, so I'm still glad. You're wrong though. You said they might not like you back but I think there's no reason for them not to. Not that I'm saying it was me you like but either way... I already like you. Anyway, I'm sure that person will end up liking you back. You're pretty cool, after all. Lol and that car 👀 come on! Hahaha jk like I said in that other letter, there's more to you and I'm sure that this person will see it as well.

I wish you well, Tobi.

-Me.

--

13

--

I was out to deliver some documents to our client today and guess what...? While I was on my way to their office, I got on the elevator and it broke. There was another guy in there actually. So I was stuck with him for a whole hour.

That was the longest hour of my life. Though he's so nice to talk to me the whole time and keep my mind out of the situation, I still couldn't help but panic. I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. I think he noticed how nervous I was and he offered to hold my hand. I was tempted but still refused because I might end up doing more than just taking his hand. Don't go getting jealous now, because it was you. Yes. I can't believe it either! Apparently you had a photoshoot at the same building. That coincidence is too much of a coincidence that my heart believes it to be fate. Was I wrong to refuse to hold your hand? I'm kind of regretting it right now. But I guess an hour of being in the same space with you was enough... For now at least.

You really are the best, Tobias. Despite not knowing who I was, you still showed me how good of a person you are. I think I just fell in love with you all over again.

-Me.

P. S - do you know now why I panicked? Lol

--

14

--

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. You're hinting at something and I'm pretending not to know. But little did you know I'm one step ahead of you.

But the thing is... Should I really do this? It's not about being misunderstood but mostly about being known. Do I want you to know about how I feel? Maybe this is a good time to do it. But the real question is... Am I ready? Are we both ready for it?

Man, being in love is a lot of work. Should I just play an otoge? Ugh... Sorry I got sidetracked there. Anyway, have a happy weekend Foxy. :*

-Me.

--

15

--

This is going to be the last letter that I'm going to write to you.

Today is February 15, 3am... And yes I'm not asleep yet. But you are, on my couch. Why? How did that happen? I don't exactly remember how. I just know that the moment I gave you the chocolate I made and told you how I feel, you're already holding out a bouquet of red roses and the largest chocolate box I've ever seen in my life. The next thing I know you were telling me you like me, too, and you want to go out with me. I think the words got lost on the papers I used to write these letters that I couldn't find some to say. So speechless, so happy, that all I could do was run to you and wrap you in a hug. And here we are. We spent the whole night sitting on my couch, and movies that we don't really watched played on the tv as we talked the night away. We also ate the chocolates we gave each other. And this is one of the best things that ever happened in my life.

This is the last letter I'm writing to you because from now on, I will be able to tell you how I feel.

I love you, Tobias. Always have, always will. I don't have to say take care always now, because I'll just do it myself. ;) Sweet dreams, my love.

-Me.

--

The End.

--

So instead of Halloween on Christmas we're having Valentine's on Halloween. 😂

[stxleslyds]

Robin Jason, a friend and ally of the Titans.

PART 1.

Last Friday I was feeling extra rage-y after the news about the Titans mini with the Titans show line-up of heroes. I still think that a) Jason shouldn’t be considered a Titan or be in the team as Red Hood and b) that him going back to wearing a bat symbol on his chest is just bad but as @randomlut said there is a possibility of that book not being set in DC’s current universe and if that’s the case then okay, I will not complain about it anymore.

But this post isn’t about that Titans book it’s about Jason’s Robin’s appearances in volume two of the New Teen Titans!

Now, this won’t be an in-depth review of those issues from a story point of view, it will be a post in which I talk about Jason’s characterization and interactions with the Titans. Maybe I will even dive a little bit into why I think that the interactions that Jason and Roy have in those issues makes the relationship that they had in New52 very out of place.

Let’s begin!

·         NTT (1984) #19

Jason as Robin appears here only in the last page of the issue. After the current team of the Titans appears to be falling apart Donna calls Jason and others to help in a mission, this team that she puts together resembles the “original” line-up with Robin, Speedy, (Kid) Flash, Aqualad and Hawk.

·         NTT (1884) #20-21

Jason appears in the Titans tower along the OG Titans, when Donna finally tells them what the mission is all about (stopping Cheshire from interrupting a meeting) she asks if they are in on the job, Jason is not only excited about being there but about Batman actually letting him come all the way to the tower. A little bit of what Jason thinks or saw in Bruce is shown when Wally says that he “didn’t think the Batman could be thrilled by anything. He is always so grim.”

Basically, what Jason says is that the Bat isn’t that bad if you get to know him and that he cares about Jason’s education outside of vigilantism. Also, Jason seems to be grateful and very receptive of the things that Bruce taught him, he regards him as a very good mentor.

After everyone decides to help, they get on their jet. Here we have a very important interaction between Jason and Donna, she is telling him how she is feeling about the attitude of the rest of the team and about how she is a little bit lost now that she is in charge of the Titans and then she asks what Robin thinks about the whole thing, Jason is obviously thrilled once more, someone as experienced as Donna is asking him for his opinion? It blows his mind away! Batman never does that, he is always following his lead and never has a say on what they do so, to him, helping the Titans is only getting better and maybe he will ask the Bat to let him join them permanently.

Because they were talking Donna wasn’t paying much attention while flying and after they barely avoid crashing the jet, she apologizes to everyone and once more looks for reassurance with Jason, this time Jason is caught off guard but after Hawk teases him about his hesitation he tells her that “everything’s okay”.

When they arrive to Switzerland (where the meeting will be held) we have Jason’s first interaction with Roy Harper and him also slowly transforming into a burrito, that boy was cold and pissed off about it!

It’s really funny to me that Roy talking about Oliver’s pervy arrows is his very first interaction with Jason, who would have thought that a mad man would later make them besties?

They all go inside a building to get warm and for a while Jason is just chilling while the other Titans are all having an existential crisis, because here is the thing, Jason is a kid, he was presumably 14 here while all the other are in their twenties. Donna is having trouble with her new position as leader of the Titans, Wally is trying to live up to Barry, Garth is grieving his love, Roy is still very uncomfortable about being on a mission that involves Cheshire and Hank is just crazy. The others are trying to complete a mission while their real-life problems loom over them and Jason is just on an adventure with cool people.

Its not much later than Cheshire attacks the Titans, she first takes on Wally because he is her biggest threat and then detonates a bomb, now here I will give a little bit of context, Cheshire does not want to kill the Titans as of now, she just wants to incapacitate them because them being there is making her own mission more complicated, all I will say is that she doesn’t truly have villainous intentions and that she has a very weak spot for Roy.

Anyway, the bomb incapacitates Garth and Roy and Cheshire also managed to shoot Wally so only Donna, Hank and Jason are left standing to capture Cheshire, but here is the thing, Hank doesn’t want to capture her, he wants to kill her.

Jason has interacted very few times with Hank so far and it has always been Hank teasing him but now as Jason is going to fight Cheshire Hank interrupts him telling him that he will do “what has to be done”. Cheshire of course wont fall easily and I think that at this very moment she is thinking that killing Hank wouldn’t be a bad idea because he is going to mess her plans up! But not to worry as she is raising her gun Jason comes in to save his ass!

Jason is not a match for Cheshire and after that she quickly subdues him. But what’s important here is two things, first Jason doesn’t want or consider the idea of killing Jade, he just wants to capture her and bring her to justice, secondly, he doesn’t even want her to kill Hank, who has been violent towards every Titan and rude to Jason every single time that he has interacted with him. What I am trying to say is that this IS Robin Jason, he doesn’t think or act the same as Red Hood will in the future, he has his opinions on what punishments killers should get but he is not there to kill anyone himself.

There is this whole page where Donna beats Hank against a tree so he stops killing, because that’s not what the Titans do, she explains that if they do that then the public (that is already quite afraid of them) will just fear them more and they don’t need that, plus she believes that he is acting that way out of grief after losing his brother, as she is saying all of this though she is putting quite a lot of pressure on his chest and that might have ended up in her actually killing Hank if Jason hasn’t been there to stop her.

Donna is obviously not having a good time and after this she says that she “has had it” and that from now on Robin should “take command” because “its his group anyway”. Oh man…its clear to the reader that Donna is not having a good time being team leader but she also misses a certain person a lot. She is obviously not seeing Jason there, she is seeing Dick, the person that she is used to take orders from but he is not there.

Jason is aware of this, he might be a kid and might not have as many problems as the other Titans as of now but he is not a fool and he doesn’t want people to see someone else when they look at him, so he confronts Donna about what she just said/did.

Jason is just great in this scene; he just doesn’t want people that he admires to treat him as if he were someone that he isn’t. Just because Dick isn’t there doesn’t mean that he (because he is Robin) can replace him, they are not the same person and they do not have the same experience. He calls out Donna on her behaviour towards him and Donna being an adult takes responsibly for her actions and understands that ultimately, she was hurting Jason’s feelings. We have a kinda wholesome moment when they hug but because this is written by Marv Wolfman and he just can’t help himself, he proceeds to write Jason as a horny teenager. What a way to ruin the moment Marv…

Back to Cheshire, she is about to kick Wally’s face in when she decides to first tell him what he has to tell the others when they wake up, which is “Cheshire remembers”.

Wally tells the Titans Cheshire’s message but none of them truly understands what it means, Hank says that he doesn’t even understand why they are alive. Donna comes to the conclusion that Cheshire might want something from them and this is where Jason gives his thoughts, he says “Doesn’t matter what she wants. We take care of her. She’s a killer.”, its clear once more than although Jason (as Robin) wouldn’t kill anyone he does feel a certain type of way about criminals and wants them to be locked up.

After yet another verbal fight between Hank and Donna the Titans take a cable car to their next location, Jason is shown as exited about the view and the whole experience once more. When they arrive, they find Faraday (the guy that called Donna for help in #19) and he explains a bit more the situation but Jason once more is having trouble staying warm so he goes to the cable car tunnel nearby, but he doesn’t go alone, Roy goes with him because his “costume wasn’t made for this kind of weather either”, in this second interaction between these two we get to see Jason’s detective skills shine.

Jason has been watching Roy and he found his reaction to Cheshire’s message quite sus. Not only is he showing his detective skills here but he also said in a previous panel this: “The Batman keeps telling me to watch people’s eyes. And every so often I notice you become awfully agitated…like something was going on you didn’t want to be part of”.  Zdarsky, hey pal, I am talking to you, look at this dude! He read Roy like an open book, this is Robin Jason, he likes being Robin and he is brilliant at it, he is methodical because he learnt from paying attention and working with Batman, so, you sir are wrong, not only did UtRH disprove your dumb narrative but so does this interaction (along all his appearances in this book).

Roy is impressed by the kid, and yeah, he calls him kid because he is a kid…Roy is visibly older than Jason as he should, do you see it Lobdell? Yeah, there is no dubious age gap between those two as you made it seem. Roy is impressed because between both of them he is the one that is most experienced, not the other way around. How did Lobdell manage to make up a whole as run where not only were Roy and Jason close in age and besties but also Jason was better at vigilantism than Roy and Roy was the one being impressed. It’s wild, wild and bad.

Back to the issue, Jason taken out of the fight quite fast once more by Cheshire and she proceeds to talk to Roy, that’s where we find out that they were lovers and that she feels weak when she is around him because he makes her feel feelings but that’s not all, she tells Roy that he is “the man that fathered my child” …Oh and now she does want to kill him. That’s where #20 ends, so let’s see what happens with Jason in #21.

In the beginning of #21 Jason is conscious once more and when he hears Cheshire’s threat, he attacks her so she can’t shoot Roy, he also says this “Sorry ‘cat’ that’s a definite no-no. Don’t you know mommy’s and daddies should never fight” I, I don’t know why he had to say it like that…the 80s were weird. While Jason is being himself Roy is thinking “Don’t be cocky kid, Jade hasn’t got a sense of humour…” but because he wants to talk to Jade, he tells Jason to go, that he will handle Cheshire and he leaves.

Roy and Jade talk, Donna and Hawk are fighting bad guys and each other and at some point, Jason joins Garth and helps him take down a couple of guys, he also tries to make conversation with him but Garth is still not talking to anybody.

Cheshire tells Roy that he will never hear about their child again and that he needs to let her do her thing and stay out of it because he doesn’t understand what’s going on, Roy doesn’t do what she asks and she “poisons” him. Donna saves a guy that Hank was trying to kill. After Cheshire leaves Roy comes to the conclusion that she wasn’t there to kill the people from the meeting or that she poisoned him, but because they were there and everything went to shit now the people that were getting together are blaming the Titans for the interruption. The whole thing is a mess and the news channel are not nice about the Titans as a whole, but I am not interested in exploring that here. All you need to know is that the people that made Cheshire do what she did to the Titans were the Brother Blood people.

It’s on the jet that we see Jason again, he and the others are going back to the tower. Because the news are painting the Titans as bad when they are arriving to the tower Jason sees a lot of people protesting about them and he feels bad. This was his first job with the Titans and he is a kid, imagine how sad it would make you if you wanted to help and after getting the job done people were mad at you. But even though he is sad about that he takes time to ask Roy if he is okay after he sees him almost running away from the tower, he doesn’t get a response but he isn’t mad about it.

Jason’s stay with the Titans comes to and end and he says that he loved hanging out with them and is grateful for having been invited, he is so sweet!

·         NTT (1884) #24

Here, for some reason, we see Jason saying goodbye to the Titans again and unlike at the end of #21 Roy is there to see him leave.

I am not going to lie though; I liked this goodbye better it feels like it’s more complete than the other one. Here he says that Batman wants him back in Gotham but that if the Titans ever need him again all they need to do is call. He also mentions Nightwing which is funny because he will be called by Donna again in #26 to help the Titans get Dick back from Brother Bloods Church.

I am going to cut this part here because issues 26 to 31 have a lot of Jason content that I want to explore and I can’t put any more pictures here, also this post is already long as it is now!

I just love Jason’s little moments in these issues, him confronting Donna and reading Roy like and open book in #20 are my absolute favourite, I just think this is a nice way to kinda show how wrong some current characterizations of Robin Jason are and what better way to do that than reading and looking into some good stories.

Oh! Before I forget, in #21 Roy leaves the Titans’ tower to go see Jade and he actually gets to meet his daughter Lian for the first time, so yeah, that was a wholesome moment!