#she helped michelle find iris

[littleblackraincloudofcourse]

Really wish the Diaz parents were in Austin instead of El Paso

Obviously so Eddie could work with the 126 until he goes back to LA but more than that I want him to meet the curandera that will finally make him a believer

[ornii]

I don't know if you write for her, but if you write for MJ from the MCU, what would it be like if she had a brother who didn't disappear in the blip, became a hero, and MJ finds out when he's injured one night and tries to help him with the hero stuff?

You’re worthy , Loser.

“Mister Jones, can you tell us the definition of Biometric identification?”

You looked up from the football plays you were trying to remember in the middle of class, everyone turned to you and expected an answer.

“Oh, yeah it’s the process of verifying a person's identity through their unique biological characteristics such as fingerprints, iris scans, facial recognition, and voiceprints.” You replied, actually surprising most. You went back to your plays as per usual. Football wasn’t a major factor in your life as you could go without it, but anything for a scholarship you thought. It just so happens that you’re really good at it. Class ended pretty normally and now you had to go find your Sister. Walking down the halls of Midtown High. You didn’t spot her usual spot to brood so you had an idea of where she would be; Detention.

Peering into the Class you saw the substitute and of course M.J doodling. You leaned in the doorway.

“Trouble again?” You joked, MJ turned to you, that clandestine face.

“No I just like to come here and, sketch people in crisis.” She eyes the Substitute teacher. You roll your eyes and lean forward.

“Well if you’re done making people’s lives much harder than they already are, we have to get home. You have a trip or whatever to prep for.” You turned and walked away, knowing MJ was reluctantly behind you.

“So, did you actually make any friends?” You asked, you couldn’t see it but you could almost hear her slouch when you said it.

“Why does it matter if I had friends to you exactly?” She asked you.

“Because good friends keep you from doing really dumb things. And when I graduate I want to make sure you have a few good ones.” You turned around, walking backwards. MJ always hated that you did it.

“I highly doubt I’d do something that bad, plus our “Social circles” if you can call it that are in completely different places. And can you stop walking backwards it’s weird.”

“It’s not weird, you’re just bad at it.” You said, you side stepped, avoiding a branch.

“How do you do that?”

“It’s about knowing where you’re gonna be.” You replied. “Hey.. did you see the new Thor Display? Apparently they found his broken hammer and put the pieces on display. You think if it was back together that I could lift it?” You asked, MJ smirked.

“You think you’re a god?”

“Well, no.. isn’t the point is that you’re worthy or something?” You asked, you turned back around as you saw your apartment complex. “I’m selfless i think?”

“If you have to think, probably not.” She replied, and you turned back to her.

“But you never answered, do you think I’m worthy?” You said, and for a moment, MJ was actually honest.

“Fine.. I think you’re worthy, because when dad left.. you turned into the dad I needed.” She admitted, when your father left it was, hard. You did what you had to do, being the dad MJ never had, you couldn’t leave your sister and mom to do this alone. You actually had to fight back tears slightly, you smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

“Thanks Michelle. I mean it.” You replied, and she shrugged. “Yeah, but don’t call me Michelle.”

“Walls came back up huh? Okay MJ.” You opened the door to your home and stepped in, to eerie silence. “Mom?” You asked, but heard nothing, it was odd, she’s usually here before you got home, you heard a sudden thud and turned around.

“Hey MJ—“ you spoke but the words failed to erupt, she was gone, missing. Dust flew out of the doorway as you saw her notebook on the ground. Obviously you were confused, you rushed out the house to see it was fear, terror around the block, around the city, the state… the world. You wished it was just some nightmare, but you never knew it was the last time you ever saw your sister.

It took a year for you to come to terms with it all, half other world’s population, gone. Standing in the school you stood at the trophy case, seeing the Award Michelle won at the Decathlon. She always had this spark about her, she acts like she didn’t care but she did. The rage and grief you felt slowly began to brew into a thunderstorm of what’s real and what’s not.

What’s real; is that you lost your family, to some entity you didn’t even know existed, and you can never exact your revenge.

What’s unreal; is that you’re going to let this ever happen again. With a punch of anger a storm brews, as you scream in anger and pain lightning slams into the earth, and the pieces of Thors hammer slowly levitate and slam together, a weapon reborn not from grief and hate, ready to protect the world so that this will never happen again, you were worthy.

Five Years pass, joining the remaining avengers to go back in time before The Events leading to the Snap. Once the infinity stones were taken from Thanos, Tony made the ultimate sacrifice, putting the life of the entire universe before his, and died a Hero.

Flying desperately though the air you almost forgot how to land, you hit the ground hard, hammer still in hand. You turned to the door and took a step towards it. It’s been years since you entered your family home, it was never the same. You stopped seeing the doorknob twist, you held for breath and waited in fear of what you were going to see, but it was all just in your mind.

MJ opened the door, a bit puzzled. She looked at you, obviously not understanding what’s going on.

“Why are you dressed like you’re going to Comic con?” She said, “You look.. older too.” She stepped down, looking at you like a stranger.

“What’s with the beard? And the hammer?” MJ opened her mouth to say something else but you hugged her tight. Overwhelmed with all of it, how happy you were couldn’t be put into words.

“Holy shit.” You whispered, you let MJ go, somehow not crushing her with your new godlike powers.

“So… it’s been five years.” You said, which made her raise an eyebrow. “Five?”

“Yeah.. you uh, died. A lot of people died, but you’re back now so… damn this is hard to explain.” You rubbed your face, exhausted, MJ saw the look on yours.

“Just, come inside, you can explain it to me at your pace.” She calmly takes your hand leading you in, you did look exhausted, and probably traumatized. Five years of fighting to get your family back.

In my opinion, you are worthy.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Infiltration

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

Totally forgot to queue this last night, but an hour late isn't too bad XD Anyway, it's time. Schneep and JJ try to infiltrate IRIS to find Jackie, along with some help from Rama. And yeah. They find him, but does everything go well? I don't know. You'll have to read to find out :)c This is 7000 words of stuff happening, so have fun!

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter

“I am still surprised Marvin didn’t want to come,” Schneep muttered, staring out the car window at the fields passing by.

JJ turned around in the passenger seat so he could sign for Schneep in the back. I know. He was so insistent on being included when we thought we’d need to rescue Anti. But I think he’s discovered something new with his cards.

“Ah. That is probably a good thing to explore then. Besides, his leg is still broken, yes?”

JJ grinned. It wasn’t going to stop him before.

“I’m going off-road now,” Rama said. Even though it was JJ’s car, they were driving so Jameson could concentrate on the tracking spell. “There is a chance IRIS will have people on the road, it is better to deal with the grass.”

If my tires get popped I’m billing you, JJ said jokingly.

Rama laughed, and then turned off the small road and onto the grass. The shift was immediate, from mostly-smooth to increasingly bumpy.

“We should probably stop out of view of the facility,” Schneep suggested. “One person walking up is much less noticeable than a car.”

Jameson nodded slowly. Are you sure about going in alone? I can help, and I’m sure Rama would like to, as well.

“I very much would like to help, but I know that I probably won’t be able to,” Rama admitted. “You two have magic and weird electricity powers. Meanwhile, I don’t remember the last time I picked up anything heavier than Michelle’s backpack. The most I can do is wait out here to drive you away once you’ve found Jackie. But I still think Jameson should go in, too.”

Schneep shook his head. “We need to be fast. I know what to expect, and Jameson does not. That little bit of delay could be deadly.”

If you insist, JJ said. But I do have something that might help. I’ll wait until we park to get it out.

It didn’t take long. Sparse trees were starting to show up on the fields, getting closer together. Until the car dipped over the crest of a slight hill and the IRIS facility came into view, right on the edge of a larger forest. Schneep leaned forward to get a better look at it. All he could really see from this distance was the high wall, stone brick with a couple guard towers. “Looks like a prison,” Rama muttered.

I think it was, once, JJ said. IRIS must have repurposed it.

“Alright, what is the thing you wanted to show me?” Schneep asked.

JJ reached into his pocket and pulled out a small glass ball. Not his black crystal ball, this one was clear, and a bit smaller than his fist. He passed it back to Schneep, who turned it over in his hands. When I went to the Magic Circle for help finding the facility, Persephone gave me this, JJ explained. 

“What is it?” Schneep asked, examining it. There was some masking tape on its surface, with black marker reading BREAK ME. “I am supposed to break it? That will be difficult.”

It breaks easier than it should, JJ said. Magic and all that. This is a signal glass. Magician groups use them a lot, especially the Circle and the ABIM. When you break it, it sends out a pulse of magic attuned to one magician, telling them your location. Persephone helped me attune it to my magic. So if you get into trouble, smash the glass and I’ll be able to teleport right to you.

Rama raised an eyebrow. “You can teleport?”

JJ grimaced. I haven’t had too much practice... but if I know your location, it’ll help. 

“Why did this friend of yours give it to you?” Schneep asked.

She knew what we were planning. JJ looked at Rama. If I teleport away, you need to drive right up to the wall. Save time on the escape.

Rama nodded. “We should agree on a place to break in, then.”

“Around the back,” Schneep said, pointing. “It is not blocked off by trees, so the car can get there easily. And there is bound to be a back entrance of some sort.”

“Well, I suppose that’s the best we can do from this distance,” Rama said. They turned back to look at Schneep. “And you’re sure about being on your own?”

“Yes, I am completely sure,” Schneep said, irritated. He looked down at the signal glass and softened a bit. “But... if I need help, I will call you. Please come quickly.”

Of course, JJ said, nodding firmly. Good luck. Try finding an office area. I... think he might be there...

“Bring Jackie back to us,” Rama added.

“I will.” Schneep opened the car door and stepped out. He closed it behind him and started towards the facility.

It was a fairly long walk. Gave him plenty of time to think about what to expect. Though he’d already been thinking about that on the drive out. Really, it just gave him more time to wonder what the hell he was doing. He was walking straight into the lions’ den! And the lions inside probably knew that he’d escaped once before and would be all too eager to pounce the second they noticed him. The fear of that had been driving him crazy all morning, a sick, jittery feeling in every one of his nerves. But he wasn’t about to leave someone else to the lions. Especially not his friend, and especially not when his friend didn’t even know they were lions in the first place.

He circled around the facility through the forest, getting a good look at the wall. It really did look like something out of the prison. The facility up north was the same way. Maybe JJ was right and they’d been converted from abandoned prisons. That probably meant it would be hard getting in or out.

But, as he expected, IRIS had a back way in. They were too careful to have only one entrance to a place. It was on the corner of the back wall, sort of near the forest but not close enough that the trees would be a problem. It looked like a simple metal door in the stone wall. But Schneep knew better. There would be cameras everywhere. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any defense against said cameras. So speed was key here. Get in, find Jackie, and get out before IRIS could mobilize. This was a big facility, surely it would take a while for them to coordinate all the guards they surely had.

There wasn’t much cover to speak of, so Schneep took a deep breath and ran right up to the metal door. Locked, of course. But Schneep was familiar with IRIS’s locks—and their fatal flaw. Though it was a flaw that only he could exploit. He reached up past the top of the doorframe and pushed his hand against the stone above the middle of the door. It felt like normal stone. Schneep took a deep breath and sent a shock into the cold surface. Instantly, the surface warmed, and a light above the door’s handle went from red to green.

Electronic locks—and the batteries were always above the door. Disconnected from the main power grid so they could still lock in case of a breach. A good idea... if the intruder trying to breach the facility didn’t control electricity. Schneep grinned a bit as he slipped through the door. Funny that IRIS had created something that could exploit this weakness of theirs.

Through the door was a short hallway—with two people inside. They wore black uniforms with the IRIS logo on the sleeve in white. Guards. They were relaxed until they noticed them. “Hey!” One shouted, while the other reached for their belt.

Schneep leapt forward, grabbing each of their arms. He sent an electric shock through their systems. Both of them cried out and then fell to the ground.

He continued down the short hallway and out a door, arriving in an open green space. The wall wasn’t right up against the actual buildings. He glanced around, seeing no one, and then bolted, sprinting across the grass for the nearest door. It was about 20 meters of stress, and then he was there. He did the same unlocking trick and hurried inside the building.

Inside was... surprisingly normal. It looked like any other office building out there, with undecorated white walls and cheap carpet. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling were a bit dim, but that was all, really.

Office building... Offices. JJ said that Jackie might be in the office area. Well, looked like he lucked out, then. Schneep’s eyes darted around—then dropped as he noticed a camera dangling from the ceiling.

They knew.

He made sure that his cloth mask was sure, and then ran down the hall.

There were doors on either side of the corridor. Most of them were locked, and Schneep didn’t have the time to try and open them. Some of them were labeled with little plaques on the door—boring stuff, like ‘Janitor’ or ‘Computer Storage’—but most of them simply had a little black number stamped on the wood. As Schneep ran, turning corners at random, going deeper and deeper into the facility, the numbers decreased. They’d been in the 120s back near the entrance. Now he was seeing 116, 115, 114, etc. Some of these were unlocked. And through each of the numbered doors was an identical office space. This was what he was looking for.

He kept going, luckily not seeing any guards as he ran. That did make him a bit uneasy. But that feeling changed when he tried door 107. It was unlocked. But unlike the other unlocked doors, it was not empty.

The office was dark, but Schneep could see inside well enough. Filing cabinets lined the wall, and there was a trash bin in the corner overflowing with crumpled paper, but the main furniture was the desk with the computer. The only light in the room came from the pair of monitors on its surface. Their blue and orange glow lit up the face of the man sitting there. A face that Schneep almost didn’t recognize. Until the man looked up from the monitors and saw him. He blinked. “Wh... what the hell?”

“Jackie,” Schneep breathed. He couldn’t say anything else; the wave of relief he felt was too overwhelming. So he simply hurried over.

“H-hey.” Jackie stood up—causing some more crumpled paper to fall to the floor—and reached into his pocket. “Don’t come any closer.”

Schneep stopped, taken aback. Was it the mask? He quickly pulled it down. “Jackie, i-it is me. I’m here to—”

“Is it really you?” Jackie’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. His hair was a bit longer than it had been when Schneep last saw him, but not quite as long as it was before his disappearance. It just reached his chin, and was pulled into a half-up bun style.

“O-of course it is.” Schneep glanced back through the open doorway into the hallway. He quickly walked back over and started to close the door.

“Leave it,” Jackie said.

Schneep stopped. “Sorry.” He stepped away from the half-closed door. Jackie didn’t ask him to close it further. “I... I think I understand. The others—I-I was not there, of course, a-and I am so sorry for that, but the others said... you were worried about Distorter. Jackie, I promise you this is no trick. I am really here.”

“Why?” Jackie demanded. “If you’re really here, then why? A-and I can tell if you’re lying.”

Schneep didn’t doubt that. IRIS probably had that technology. He glanced around the room uneasily. There were no cameras in sight. But that didn’t make him feel better. “I... I came to see you,” he said slowly. “To... convince you to come back home.”

Jackie stared at him for a moment. He looked down. Schneep saw him take something out of his pocket and fiddle with it. He was tempted to step closer—the less time he spent here, the better—but he didn’t want to upset Jackie. After a moment, Jackie took a deep breath and looked back up at him. “Okay,” he said, nodding. “I believe you. And... you’re not Distorter?”

“No, I promise you, I am not,” Schneep said. 

Jackie glanced down again. Back up. “What are you doing here?”

“I—Jackie, I just told you.” Schneep glanced back at the door. He really didn’t like being in sight of it, so he walked up to the desk. Jackie tensed but didn’t move away. “I need you to leave this place. W-we need to go now. There is not much time before they realize I am here—”

“Wait, did you break in?” Jackie laughed. “Why did I expect anything different? You know you can apply for a visitor’s pass, right? Or you could’ve called me. Anyone could have—”

“No, we could not,” Schneep interrupted. “Again, I was not there for this, but the others have been trying to reach you since you left. Rama has been trying to reach you!”

Jackie blinked. His faint smile disappeared. “They... have?”

“Of course they have!” Schneep said, exasperated. “You mean to say you haven’t heard from your friends—from your spouse—in weeks? And you did not think that was odd? Rama and Jameson are outside right now! They are so worried about you!”

“I’ve been busy...” Jackie said slowly. He put the item in his hands on the desk and started digging in the pockets of his coat. A white coat, with IRIS’s logo on the sleeve. It made Schneep sick to see his friend wearing the same uniform as the people who’d tormented him. He walked a bit closer, circling around the desk. “Hang on,” Jackie said, holding up his hand. Schneep stopped, waiting, as Jackie took out his cell phone and started looking through things. “I don’t see any missed calls or texts. Huh. Weird. Y’know, I’ve been wondering if we’re in a bit of a dead zone out here, the WiFi is surprisingly bad—”

“Jackie, can you shut the fuck up?!” Schneep suddenly snapped. “Why are you—Y-you are being so—Do you not realize—”

Jackie took a step back from Schneep, looking at him with both concern and wariness. “Calm down, Volt. It was a mistake. A misunderstanding. I’m fine, see?” He gave him a reassuring smile. “These guys are alright. They’re a bit intense with their security, but it’s understandable, really.” The smile disappeared. “I... should’ve tried to call everyone earlier. But when I got here, I wasn’t... good, mentally, not really in a state to even think about that. And the longer this has gone on the more I’ve wondered what I could even say. They made me sign this pretty intense NDA a-and I didn’t want to slip up and...” He let out a breath. “I was just scared. I... didn’t want anyone to think I was... abandoning them.”

“That... deserves a conversation,” Schneep said, “but this is not the time for one! Jackie, their cameras here are—They will know I’m here soon! If they don’t already! We have to go!”

“What? No!” Jackie shook his head. “Look, I’ll call C&C and explain everything to them, you’re not going to be in trouble—”

Schneep laughed hysterically. “Oh, Jackie, you do not even know!”

“What the fuck do you mean? Did you assault someone getting in here?”

“No, and that is not what I am speaking about!” Schneep walked closer to Jackie, who once again tensed but didn’t move away. His hand drifted to one of his pockets. “Jackie! Jackie, you say these people are ‘alright.’ They are not. They are the farthest thing from ‘alright.’ If you get security in here, it will not end well. Definitely not for me, and maybe not for you, either.”

Jackie didn’t say anything. He glanced at the computer monitors. Schneep followed his gaze, hoping that there wasn’t some ‘Call Security’ option on the screen. There wasn’t. Instead, both of the monitors displayed a strange, shifting spiral of blue, orange, and yellow light, an angular tunnel constantly coming closer to the screen. Some sort of screen saver, maybe. Jackie looked away from it and back at Schneep. “I... don’t know what you—”

“They are evil, Jackie,” Schneep said vehemently.

“Jeez. Schneep, no corporation is gonna be truly good, per se, but IRIS isn’t evil.” Jackie reached out slowly, gently pushing Schneep away from him. 

“They are, Jackie.” Schneep grabbed Jackie’s wrist. Jackie’s eyes widened and he tried to tug his arm free. Only then did Schneep realize how tight he was squeezing. He immediately let go. “I-I am sorry. Did that... hurt?”

“Not too much,” Jackie said, flexing his hand. “Heh. Were you always that strong?”

“No.” Schneep took a deep breath. “And it is because of IRIS.”

Jackie looked at him, confused. “What? Wait, have you been here, too? But didn’t you break in—”

“I did not want to be here, Jackie!” Schneep grabbed Jackie by the shoulders—then backed away, remembering what just happened. “Jackie, I—They have done things to me, Jackie, things that cannot be undone.”

“I... what?” Jackie whispered. “Schneep, I’m sorry, I... don’t understand. IRIS wasn’t even in the area until a couple weeks ago, how could you have—”

“Jackie,” Schneep interrupted. He was shaking slightly, but he forced himself to be still. “Do you know about their office in Henshilling?”

“Huh? They don’t have a—”

“Of course you don’t.” Schneep laughed. “They would not tell you. Not too long after I left the city, I went there. I found them. People were going in that building, they were not coming out. I watched. Until I noticed two of their soldiers—because that is what they are, really—carrying out a long black bag in the dead of night, moving it to the incinerator. I knew I had to go in, then. So I did. A-and they saw me, Jackie. They saw me right away. They knew who I was. They said I-I had seen ALTR 53815, I did not know what that was, but they did not care.”

“What? No, you’ve never been in the house,” Jackie said. “They wouldn’t—even if this is true, they wouldn’t—”

“‘Even if this is true’?!” Schneep repeated incredulously. “Jackie, are you saying I am lying to you?!”

“No, I just—”

“I have never lied to you once, Jackie, you were the first I told about Von Voltage, you know I would tell you everything. And I assure you, I was on my medication.”

“I didn’t mean to say you weren’t,” Jackie said. “I just—If you were trespassing, of course they would interrogate you, and—and now that I’m thinking about it, with how much Distorter’s fucked with you, they would probably pick up traces of 53815 on you. But... you must’ve misunderstood what you saw. It probably looked like a body bag, but I bet it was something el—”

“You don’t know what they’ve done to me, Jackie!” Schneep screamed. He grabbed Jackie by the coat, pulling him closer. “Don’t you understand?! They cut me open, Jackie! They put things in there! I-I don’t even know what they were! I don’t know what is inside me, Jackie, a-and it’s—it’s fucking—I-I am sick just thinking about it! In my brain, Jackie! My hands, they—I-I could not control it for so long, I was hurting myself, and then they put something else in there and it no longer hurt at all.” Schneep gripped Jackie tighter. His vision was starting to blur as hot tears filled his eyes. “I-I do not—I remember it happening, once. Do you know what it is to lie there, when you cannot move, you cannot speak, you can only breathe and try to endure it a-as strangers tear the flesh above your spine and go poking around in there? No! Of course you don’t! A-and no one should, but I know—I know I was not the only one, there were other rooms down there, Jackie, a-and I had to leave them o-or I wouldn’t get out at all—Jackie, Jackie. Please, you cannot be one of them.” His knees felt weak. He let them collapse, falling to the floor, clinging tight to Jackie. “Please. Y-you are still my friend, right? You... I know you would not... do this. Right?”

Jackie was silent. Schneep didn’t look up at his face. Partly because he didn’t want to see his expression, partly because he didn’t want Jackie to see the tears flowing down his face. He closed his eyes, trying and failing to stifle the sobs that shook his body. 

“...Henrik.” Jackie’s voice was quiet. He gently pulled Schneep’s hands away from him and knelt down so the two of them were level. “Are... you... okay?”

Schneep finally looked up. Jackie was... horrified. There was no other word for it. “No,” he whispered. “And it is because of IRIS. Please, Jackie, I-I am not lying to you. This is not a trick, this is not a mistake. They have made me into something else. They could do the same to you. Even if you think you are safe now.”

Jackie stared at him. He wrapped Schneep’s hands in both of his. “Can you... show me?”

“H-huh?”

“I believe you,” Jackie said gently. “But... i-it’s hard for me to... IRIS has been so... helpful. I can’t imagine... but I believe you. I just... I can’t... Those two things don’t work in my brain. So... can you show me?”

Schneep took a breath, slow and shuddering. “This may hurt.”

“Wha—ow!” Jackie jumped, instinctively yanking his hands away from Schneep’s. “You—oh.” He realized it quickly. Schneep was not wearing his gloves. That shock came from his bare hands. “Oh. Oh.” He covered his mouth, eyes wide, face pale. “Oh god. I—They—f-fucking hell, I—oh, god. Oh god.”

Schneep wiped his eyes. “Th-there is no time,” he said. And, unfortunately, he was right. As much as he wanted to sit on the floor and break down, he couldn’t. Somehow he knew they were coming. “Jackie, will you leave with me?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah, holy shit, o-of course!” Jackie scrambled to his feet. He reached down and pulled Schneep up, too.

“Good. Let’s—”

“Hang on, i-if I’m leaving—I’m probably not going to be allowed back here anyway, so—” Jackie began picking up things from the desk surface—mostly pieces of paper, but there was also that thing that was in his pocket earlier—and shoving them into the various pockets on his coat. “Volt, open this bottom drawer and grab the headsets inside.” He kicked the side of the desk, indicating a drawer.

“Okay.” This was no time to ask what Jackie meant. Schneep pulled open the heavy drawer. It was one of those large drawers meant for files, but inside this one there were only two things. He first thought they were a pair of sleeping masks—one white, the other black—but then realized they were more like VR headsets. Just much smaller and thinner than the ones he’d seen before. The part that went over the eyes was no thicker than a phone case, curved to fit the average shape of someone’s face. Schneep stopped only long enough to take in these basic details before scooping them up. “What are these?”

“They’re—uh—it’s like—So you know how sometimes in scifi movies or shows there are things that can view other people’s memories?”

Before Schneep could respond to that, the half-closed door to the office swung open, slamming against the opposite wall. A figure in a black uniform stood there, the IRIS logo in white on their sleeve, their face hidden by a helmet with a reflective visor. They raised their hand to the side of their head. “Intruder found in—”

“No!” Schneep lunged forward, vaulting straight over the desk, knocking down one of the monitors, and was in front of the figure in seconds. He grabbed their wrist in one hand and their shoulder in the other. An electric snap! sounded off and the person dropped to the floor.

“Holy shit!” Jackie stared at Schneep, mouth open in shock. “What just—Are they—”

“They’re fine,” Schneep said curtly, pulling his mask up again. He was experienced with electricity by now and knew how much would stun a person. “But they’re not alone.” Outside the room were two other black-uniformed security guards. They were turning towards the sound. “Let’s go!”

Jackie nodded. He scooped up the headsets from where Schneep dropped them and ran after him. “Guess we’re doing this now, then!”

“Of course we are,” Schneep said. “Stay behind me!”

“Hey!” The two guards ran towards Schneep and Jackie the moment they entered the hallway.

Schneep pushed Jackie back a little and ran right at the guards. Each of them took something from their belt, a long baton-like object, but Schneep wasn’t worried. He jumped out of the way as one swung a baton and then ducked as the other did the same. Then he grabbed their hand as it flew past him and shocked them. That guard dropped immediately. The other one smacked him in the shoulder, causing a similar snap! sound as Schneep’s electricity. It hurt, but didn’t do much else. Schneep grabbed the guard’s arm and stunned them as well.

“Holy shit,” Jackie breathed. “Th-that was—How did you—fast???”

“No time to talk,” Schneep said. “Remember that I am different. Now let’s go!”

“R-right.” Jackie nodded.

The two of them broke into a run. Schneep had to force himself from blazing down the hallway so that Jackie wouldn’t be left behind. He’d been athletic before, but now, it was so easy to move quickly, to lift and push heavy things. No, this wasn’t the time to reflect on this! He had to be sure he wasn’t losing Jackie!

The two of them ran down the halls of IRIS. Schneep remembered the way he’d come in and was heading back there. Jackie didn’t question his sense of direction, just following. As they turned a corner, they ran right into a group of more of those guards—C&C, as Jackie had called them. There were four. “Here!” one of them barked, pulling out another baton.

Jackie slowed down. Good. Schneep didn’t want him to get caught up in the fight. He kept running right at the guards, throwing a punch at the nearest one and knocking them down. Two others hit him with those batons, causing more electric snap!s, but he simply kept moving. He ducked down and swept one’s legs, stunning them after they landed. Then he rolled out of the way of the other three attacking and yanked one of them down to the ground. Another stun. He quickly stood before the last two could hit him while he was down and briefly backed up before jumping forward again, launching himself at the last two. As soon as they made contact, he stunned them.

“Holy shit,” Jackie whispered. He crouched down and checked on one of the stunned guards. Then, reluctantly, he took their baton. “I should probably take this, just in case, right?”

“Good idea.” Schneep nodded. “But do not stop!”

They continued to run. Two more squads of guards tried to stop them—five people, then seven—but neither of the fights lasted longer than a minute. Schneep wondered if he should be worried about that. If he should take a moment and see if he was killing any of them, like how Jackie was doing. But there was no time. They had to get out. There would be so many more guards in a facility of this size. If he had to fight twenty people, or even ten people... well, he doubted those odds. The frantic fear of thinking about what would happen if they got caught spurred him onward. He wasn’t going to go back, and he wasn’t going to drag Jackie down with him.

They were almost to the door where Schneep had broken in, when another group of guards came out of a door on the side of the hallway. Only three, but one of them was wearing a slightly different uniform, with white highlights against the black, and the two others were holding strange guns with long, square barrels. Almost like a taser. “The EX subject is taking a staff member with him,” said the one in the different uniform, putting his hand to the side of his head. “Permissions?”

Schneep growled. “Get out of our way!” He jumped at the two guards. One of them fired their strange gun, but Schneep dodged the projectile and went for the other one, stunning them. It looked as though these strange guns were similar to tasers in what they fired, too. A long, thin metal string trailed from the end of the projectile, connecting it back to the barrel of the gun. But unlike tasers, the projectile more resembled some sort of thin dart. The guard who’d fired the gun pressed a different button and the string disconnected from the barrel.

“Understood,” the man in the different uniform said, and reached for his belt.

Schneep glanced at him, but then noticed the remaining guard’s posture tense. He whirled back around and darted forward, wrapping his hand around their wrist and shocking them just as they fired the gun again. They gasped and dropped to the floor. Schneep turned back to the remaining guard and—

AAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEE!

—he screamed, clapping his hands over his ears. What was that sound?! Where was it—AAIIEEE!—coming from?! It sounded like it was right next to—AAIIEEE!—him. He could feel it in his teeth, in his eyes, in—AAIIEEE!—his very bones.

“Schneep!” Jackie gasped.

“Ja—” AAIIEEE! Schneep cried out, staggering backwards. He soon lost his balance and collapsed to—AAIIEEE!—the floor, feeling suddenly weak and shivery. Tears came to—AAIIEEE!—his eyes. He couldn’t think! He couldn’t move! That sound was—AAIIEEE!

“Don’t worry, sir,” the guard said, clearly looking at Jackie. “He’s not going to hurt you.”

“I-I-I didn’t think he—”

AAIIEEE! Schneep twitched, wanting to scream. The sound was still going. A continuous screech. He wanted to shout—AAIIEEE!—at the guard, demand to know what happened, but he couldn’t move. All—AAIIEEE!—he could manage was a weak whimper.

“Schneep, are you okay?!” Jackie started for Schneep, but the guard stepped in front of him, stopping him. “What—What did you do?”

“It’s a disabling signal.” The guard held up the device he’d taken from his belt. Schneep could only catch a glance of it from here, and bizarrely, he was reminded of a Gameboy. “All of the EX subjects are built with them.”

Schneep tried to get to his hands and knee—AAIIEEE!—s, but collapsed. ‘Built’? He wasn’t built. Fuck these g—AAIIEEE!—uys. The guard was still saying som—AAIIEEE!—ething to Jackie,, but Schneep couldn’t focus enough to hear it. It—AAIIEEE!—... it hurt... It hurt... so much...

Jackie’s eyes kept darting between Schneep and the guard. The guard finished talking, and he stood there, looking unsure. Then he slowly nodded. The guard relaxed slightly, saying something more as he turned around—and Jackie immediately shoved the point of the baton he’d grabbed into the guard’s back. SNAP! The guard instantly collapsed, a soot-black circle on the white of his uniform. Jackie let go of the baton and grabbed the strange device from the floor where the guard dropped it. He fumbled with it for a moment.

AAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAI—The sound wasn’t stopping. The only thought passing through Schneep’s head was a directionless plea for it to stop hurting.

“Shit!” Jackie cursed. These buttons weren’t labeled! For all he knew, he was making it worse for Schneep, who was still lying on the ground. His eyes were rolling back in his head, tears flowing down his face. His body twitched occasionally, but other than that he was completely still. “Schneep, d-don’t worry, I-I’ll get you out of here!” Jackie stood up, grabbing Schneep. If he had to drag him out of here, he would!

Something rolled out of Schneep’s pocket and onto the floor. Jackie glanced down and saw a glass orb bump into his foot. He hesitated, then reached down and picked it up. There was some tape across its surface with black marker writing: BREAK ME.

...worth a shot, right?

Jackie threw the orb to the ground. It smashed immediately, even the tape disappearing, and a wave of bright blue light rippled out from the spot of impact. He’d know that shade of blue anywhere. Magic.

Suddenly, the hall was filled with blue smoke. Jackie coughed—more out of surprise than anything. And when the smoke disappeared, he saw JJ standing there, wearing his stage mask and looking ready to fight anything. He saw Jackie and Schneep immediately. His eyes flicked around the hall really fast to be sure no one was coming, then signed, What happened?

“I-I don’t—Sch-Schneep collapsed, they—there was a—something about a disabling signal?” Jackie stammered, just as shocked to see JJ as he was to see Schneep. But, thankfully, a lot more trusting. “Th-there’s this thing to control it, but I don’t—I don’t know how to—”

JJ nodded. You work on that, he signed, hands moving almost too fast to interpret. I’ll carry him. If we run into anyone I’m sure I can take care of them.

“Okay.” Jackie passed Schneep to JJ. He was still twitching slightly, breathing shakily. “Can you—how did you—”

Been practicing teleporting, JJ signed awkwardly. Don’t know if I can do it with others. So run!

“Right!” Jackie nodded. “I-I think Schneep was taking me to the side entrance. This way!” He started to run, trying to fumble with the device as he did.

They sprinted down the halls. Jackie knew them well by this point, so he didn’t need to fully concentrate on navigating them. What the hell was this device? Why was there a screen that wasn’t working? Why weren’t any of the buttons labeled? He was so focused on it that he almost didn’t notice when they turned the corner to the side entrance hallway. Almost.

The small space was absolutely crowded with C&C members. Most of them wore the standard black uniform, though Jackie could see a handful with that white-highlight outfit that the guard with the disabling signal had been wearing. He’d never seen that uniform before. Had there been people here with those outfits all this time? Why had he never seen them?

One of these new-uniformed guards raised a hand. “You are outnumbered,” she said. “Surrender peacefully and no harm will come to you.”

“Bullshit,” JJ spat, and Jackie’s head snapped to look at him. He’d never heard Jameson so angry before. He rarely heard JJ be angry at all, but the rage in his voice now... was only outmatched by the increasingly bright glow coming from his eyes.

Jackie’s own eyes widened and he scrambled backwards, giving Jameson space. Just in time, too. Jameson whistled sharply, and a flurry of bright blue magic burst outwards, shards of power flying forward. The C&C guards shouted, some of them aimed weapons, but they were too slow. The magical storm only lasted for a few seconds, but by the time it was done, every single guard was covered in a thin layer of crystalline blue magic. “Jesus fucking christ,” Jackie whispered. “Since when could you do that?”

Jameson shook his head, the glow from his eyes slowly fading. His hands were full, carrying Schneep, so he whispered in his hoarse voice, “Since... now, apparently. Move! It won’t last long.”

“Right!” Jackie nodded, and the two of them edged around the frozen C&C squads to the side entrance. Jackie reached into his pocket and pulled out a keycard in a plastic sleeve. He pressed it against the sensor... but nothing happened. Confused, he tried the door. It opened. Right, Schneep had broken in. Those efforts must’ve included breaking the door somehow. “Let’s go,” he said.

They stepped out into the courtyard and were immediately met by more C&C guards. So many more of them. A few raised gun-like objects and fired, but a crystalline shield weakly flickered into being just in time to stop the various projectiles. Jameson blinked. He was swaying a bit on his feet.

“What now?” Jackie whispered. They were completely surrounded! There had to be at least fifty guards between them and the outside wall. He didn’t know there were so many C&C members in this facility!

“...Run when I say run,” JJ rasped.

Jackie nodded slowly.

JJ took a deep breath. The shield expanded, surrounding the two of them and Schneep in a dome. Outside of their small safe haven, the guards were reloading weapons. One of them was shouting on a megaphone, but the magic shield muffled the sound. “Run!” JJ shouted.

They both broke into a sprint. And the magical dome came with them. Some of the C&C guards instinctively leapt out of the way of the rapidly-approaching glowing sphere. The ones that didn’t were forcibly pushed to the side. Jackie couldn’t help but be a bit worried... until he noticed that they were all recovering quickly and immediately attacking the dome with weapons. Mostly dart-like projectiles, but as they dashed towards the wall, a few real bullets ricocheted against the dome, causing small, inch-long cracks. Then, as they got closer, the darts stopped, leaving just the bullets.

Jameson was showing no sign of stopping as they approached the solid stone wall. Jackie glanced at him, concerned, but didn’t stop either. The wall was ten feet away—five feet—Jackie stumbled for a bit, balking, but then closed his eyes and forced himself to trust Jameson. He braced himself to smack against the wall in a most painful way—but he didn’t. Instead, everything went dark for a moment. He felt pressure in his ears, like elevation changing in the mountains—and then everything was light again. He opened his eyes and saw them on the other side of the wall.

Parked on the grass nearby was a car. Jameson’s car. They ran for it. The passenger side door was thrown open, and Jackie looked inside and saw Rama had leaned over to open it. The two of them held eye contact for a silent moment. And then Jameson’s shield died and he stumbled to the side, falling against Jackie for a second before righting himself. Rama looked at Jackie. “Open the door for them, corazon.”

Jackie’s heart leapt. He nodded, and opened the door for the back seat. JJ climbed in, taking Schneep with him, and Jackie got into the passenger seat.

As soon as everyone was inside Rama hit the gas, not even waiting for the doors to close. The tires skidded on the grass and then the car was off, the ground jolting beneath them.

Nobody said a word until they were back to the main road. While they were driving, Jackie continued trying to figure out the device, but it was like it wasn’t on at all. In frustration, he flipped the device over, found the battery compartment on the back, and opened it. IRIS didn’t use regular batteries, but the device still died when Jackie pulled out the power source: a pair of flat squares made out of green metal. They were glowing very slightly, angular patterns shifting on their surface. Jackie put them in his pocket.

In the backseat, Schneep gasped, bolting upright.

“Schneep!” Jackie gasped. “I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t figure it out! I-it might’ve been Locked, I’m—How do you feel?”

He didn’t answer. His wide eyes darted around the car. JJ, concerned, asked, Do you need any healing? I know some spells.

“N... nein, I mean no, I-I...” Schneep’s voice was quiet. “I think... it was just... in my head...”

“In your head? Y-you were clearly in pain,” Jackie said. “Is it... do you still feel?”

“No, i-it’s stopped,” he said. “J-Jamie, do not worry about me. You must be low on magic after all that you just did.”

Jameson nodded slowly. I think I’m just about out, he admitted. Once I’m sure we’re not being pursued... I’m going to sleep the rest of the way.

Schneep laughed.

“You are all safe, then?” Rama asked. “Besides... that?”

“Safe, yes.” Schneep nodded. “It did hurt, whatever that was, but it stopped the moment you broke that thing, Jackie. Thank you.” He paused. “And... thank you for coming with me.”

Jackie gave him and Jamie a nervous smile. Then he turned to look at Rama. They couldn’t fully look at him, needing their eyes on the road, but they were glancing at him as often as they could. “R... Rama, I...”

Rama shook their head. “Not now. They may be coming after us. We should wait until we are safe.” They paused. “But... know that I don’t blame you, Jackieboy. For anything.”

Jackie blinked. That felt like more than he deserved, honestly. But he nodded. “Alright. We can wait. A-are we going to meet up with the others?”

If by that you mean Marvin and Anti... you’re half right, JJ said.

“Huh?” Jackie blinked. “Wh-what do you mean? What happened?! Does Distorter still have Marvin?!” He shouldn’t have run out like that! He never should have—what the fuck was he thinking?! Well, he wasn’t thinking much, to be honest, but that wasn’t a fucking excuse—

“Calm down, Jackieboy,” Rama said. “Don’t panic. Things are... not good, but they’re not as bad as you’re thinking.”

Schneep sighed. “I suppose we must explain, Jamie. No nap for you yet.”

That’s fine, this is more important, JJ said, sitting up straight. Hold tight, Jackie. This is a long story.

[paperstorm]

I feel like maybe Liv herself just didn't know what to do with the character. The way Michelle is shown really does feel so disjointed. One minute she's a paramedic captain sparring Owen the next she's this one-woman crusader trying to find her missing sister. Even the way she was introduced set her up as a woman desperate to find her sister rather than the paramedic captain which I feel would've helped link her character to the show better. And in hindsight, there was very little setup for her interactions with Carlos. I know some people speculated back then that he was originally friends with Iris and that's why Michelle latched onto him but the way the show made it seem, he was Michelle's friend who barely knew Iris. And that led to the question of how Michelle who was very obviously much older than Carlos and didn't have anything in common with him would've even become so close to him as to confide in him about her missing sister. I like Liv Tyler a lot and I do think she's a great actress otherwise but Michelle as a character just didn't bring anything to the show and always seemed so disconnected from the show itself

Yeah I agree with this. She was a poorly written character. She was kind of all over the place, soft and sweet in some scenes and then weirdly mean and combative in others, sort of at random. They clearly set her up to potentially be a love interest for Owen but they had no chemistry and not much time was even devoted to that. Since Nancy and Tim were barely characters in the first season, we didn't get any of the same dynamic as we have now with Tommy being an awesome work mom to Nancy and TK. And I care about Iris now, but we were given absolutely no reason to care about her in season one, so I didn't. There were no stakes for the audience in her disappearance story. We'd never met her, and really Michelle was shown as being mostly a big annoyance to Carlos, a character who we were given reasons to care about, so that ended up working in the other direction - we the audience were more inclined to be on Carlos's side and find Michelle's obsession bothersome. Season one is amazing for lots of reasons but Michelle was really, really poorly written.

[loveisharderthanitlooks]

911 Lone Star rewatch - S01E10

TK breaks up with Carlos and the universe says Hell No.

Despite Michelle telling Carlos she never goes to the homeless encampment alone, she's at the homeless encampment alone.

Judd slaps his own face because he's surprised he's trying to make Owen talk about his feelings.

I really wish TK and Carlos had actually worked together in this rescue and it wasn't just TK with Carlos directing traffic. The whole 'we make a pretty good team' would have actually made sense then.

This show pretty much implies that everyone on the International Space Station dies and then just never mentions it again.

In this entire season, we learning nothing about Carlos. Not one thing.

My kingdom for the scene where TK and Carlos talk before Carlos shows up at the fire house.

Somebody I follow on Twitter tweeted a picture of TK and Carlos lying on top of Carlos's car at the end of the episode and when I saw it, I thought to myself, what show is this and where can I watch it? And that's how I came to 911 Lone Star.

The Iris Plothole: AKA I count all the times Carlos definitely wasn't married to Iris when they wrote this scene.

Michelle finds Iris, and she doesn't inform Carlos, he doesn't come see her at the hospital. There is a reference that Iris knows Carlos but nothing to indicate there's anything more than casual friendship. Not even that they're best friends.

Michelle telling Owen about finding Iris but not Carlos is bad enough anyway since he was the one helping her look for Iris, but it's a terrible writing decision if the writers thought Carlos and Iris were married.

Carlos's supposedly dead wife has just been found, Michelle watches him get together with TK and isn't like ' hey I need to tell you something real quick'.

Running total (24)

[historyhermann]

Gods' School Review

Gods' School is an indie animated series. It has elements of fantasy, mythology, and romance. 2D French animator Gaylord Cuvillier Philippe Libessart is the series creator. It received support from the French National Center for Cinema and Animation in 2018. Currently, seven episodes have aired on YouTube. This review will have spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the thirty-fifth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on June 13, 2023.

This series, which began airing in January 2019, is centered on Olympian gods. It is inspired by Greek mythology in Homer's Iliad and Hesiod's Theogony. The primary protagonist, Eris (voiced by Morgan Berry), is a teenage goddess of discord trying to find her place among the gods on Mount Olympus. This all changes when she meets Paris (voiced by Brandon Winckler), a young human on Mount Olympus. Both contend with the goddesses of beauty and love (Aphrodite), wisdom and battle (Athena), and marriage and family (Hera). Eris is helped by a sphinx named Sfiga (voiced by Lizzie Freeman).

The animation of this series is smooth, which fits with the adorable and cool nature of the animation itself, and its talented voice cast. Apart from those previously mentioned, there's Lizzie Freeman, Kira Buckland, Keenan Spencer, and Deneen Melody, who voice Aphrodite, Athena, Hera, and Demeter respectfully. Others, such as Melissa Sternberg, Ivy Dupler, Michele Knotz, Sean Chiplock, and Griffin Puatu lend their voices to the characters of Eos, Iris, Minthe, Persephone "Poppy", Apollo, and Ares, to give a few examples of the many characters within this series.

The first episode of Gods' School throws the viewer right into the action. Smart alecky talking columns, known as caryatids, claim to be sacred guardians of Olympus. They are hilariously scared off by Sfiga. It is easy to be drawn into the story, whether interpersonal conflicts or relationships between the gods. The story is set up so the viewer sympathizes with Eris, when Hera claims she is sneaky and cruel.

This exuberance is offset by the snobbishness of some goddesses, who detest humans, and jealousy. The latter is the case in the competition between Minthe and Persephone "Poppy", who both like Hades. In some ways, Gods' School shares themes with Lore Olympus, an ongoing popular webcomic by Rachel Smythe, although her webcomic has a fundamentally different perspective. As for Gods' School, these themes are reinforced by a careful focus on drama and music. The latter by Gold Tiger and SleepWalker.

Unlike other series based in Greek mythology, the characters in this series are all teenagers, and in a school environment like that Ever After High, except it is not as glitzy. As such, it is markedly tamer than mature series like Blood of Zeus. It is more akin to Disney series in that kids and family could watch this series with ease. This is not a surprise since the show's creator has said that Ariel, in The Little Mermaid (recently in the news because the live-action film adaptation), is his favorite character.

The importance of setting boundaries is a key theme. This is shown through Poppy's push against romantic advances by Hades. Eris also tells Paris to not touch Sfiga and treat her like a cat (and pet), but a living being. Gods' School makes clear that possessiveness is not acceptable. For instance, Poppy, who is easily influenced and intimidated, is pressured by Minthe, to leave Hades alone. Although Minthe declares that Hades is hers exclusively, Poppy still wants to be with Hades.

Like other fictional school environments, certain characters fulfill the "bad girl" and "bad boy" tropes. Some of those characters are bullies and their actions are not shown positively. Mount Olympus is not a peaceful place, but filled with discord. For example, Zeus commands Artemis to stay behind, even though she wants to fight the invaders of Mount Olympus.

The series promotes the value of self-acceptance, by stating that outcasts should not be rejected and that people should be true to themselves. All the while, men who flaunt their power for fun and two-timing men are criticized. In fact, the show's official Twitter account posted a video of Eris cutting her hair with two women's rights hashtags, while Artemis has a squad-of-sorts.

There is no easy division between good and evil in Gods' School. For instance, the Aloads want to take over Olympus, but would-be evildoers are scary and mysterious. For instance, Eris goes through a moral dilemma and lives with the consequences of telling Paris to go back to "where he came from", words which haunt her to no end. This dilemma first begins in the show's third episode, even going on a quest to find him while Olympus is under attack, but it fades after he is found injured. At the same time, Nyx, her mother, and goddess of night, is lording over her. She reminds me a bit of Orizaba in Elena of Avalor.

There are many secrets that each of the gods, and goddesses, try and keep from one another. To give one example, in the fourth episode, everyone is trying to stop Echo (voiced by Deneen Melody) from revealing unflattering information. Hera even mutes her, preventing her from speaking first ever again. This has a disastrous side effect that Hera never realized: it prevents her from warning those on Olympus about the coming danger!

Unlike other series, Gods' School features a disabled character, who uses a cane: Hephaestus (voiced by John Choi Carter). Premiering in the fifth episode, he listens to Aphrodite after her arguments with Ares, and tries to be understanding, after she enters his workshop. This humanizes him. It shows that the gods are not superhuman but can be physically disabled just like anyone else. In a conveyance that everyone is unique, he says that everyone has something that makes them special "even if they don't see it", which fits with the other themes of this series.

As one of the only indie animations currently airing, apart from Helluva Boss and Eddsworld, Gods' School already stands out from animations made by well-known and prominent companies, which I've often reviewed since I began writing pop culture reviews in 2020. The series' background designers, including Gavin O'Donnell and Libessart, also the animator and director, are skilled. Their work is showcased on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. As such, it is no surprise that some have even gone to the effort to draw fan art or fan fiction of the show's characters.

The series has aired in various languages. The English adaptation was headed by Brandon Winckler and Jenny Yokobori. There are different voice actors, including in French. There are also different episodes with French dubs, which means that the cast, and those who work on the series, is that much larger.

It is interesting that not all the episodes are necessarily sequential. Some of the shorter episodes focus on the growing relationship between Hephaestus and Aphrodite, the first meeting between Minthe and Hades, and the story of Hades with his previous lover, Leuke. While these episodes might be seen as "filler", they provide information which helps expand the story.

There is something missing through all of this: LGBTQ characters. There may be implied characters. Possibly, there is subtext between Paris and the person who brought him to Mount Olympus, Aeolos. However, no one is outwardly queer, as far as I can tell. So, that is an area for improvement.

Even so, there are people of color in the cast. Take, for example Kayla Pitts, who voices a nymph, John Choi who voices Hades, and Griffin Puatu who voices Ares. If High Guardian Spice, Young Justice, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power can have Black characters, then any series can have such characters. Hopefully, more characters of color appear in the future. After all, the show's creator previously condemned racism, White supremacy, and called for equal rights in a social media thread.

Although the series may not reach the original goal of "an animated webseries project of 25 episodes" at 12 minutes long as the original Kickstarter for the series, stated, due to various factors, there is no doubt that Gods' School will continue. The quality remains at a strong level, for a project primarily spearheaded by Libessart. This is evidenced in the latest episode which focuses on Nyx (voiced by Emily Wallace), dreaded goddess of night, and strained family dynamics. Although it appears this is all a nightmare dreamt of by Eris, her concerns appear to be dismissed. At first, Medusa (voiced by Crystal Jade Vaughan) asks if she is ok. Then she says she needs to "get it together" so she can sleep, making Eris feel bad about herself.

The episode raises a number of questions. Was any of Eris dreamed about real? Can the balance between light and dark be disrupted? Nyx would likely love to do the latter, and unseat the goddess of day, Hemera, or Helios the Sun. She may be content in her castle shrouded in dark clouds. Furthermore, the nightmare makes me think that Eris has deeper problems which are manifesting themselves in her dreams.

The recent episode introduced new voice actors like Hannah Reed (as Little Eris) and Laila Berzins (as Hypnos). Ihe next episode is scheduled for Fall 2023. It will likely be listed on the page for the series on TV Time. That app was one way I learned about the new episode premiere.

This series is more than a lovely series with amazing visuals showing the talent and passion behind it. For one, there is an amazing group of characters and the use of Toonboom for animation of the series. Secondly, the favorite character of the series creator in The Iliad is Cassandra. She is described as a "cursed Trojan princess".

It would be great to see Cassandra in a future episode. When I hear the character's name, I thought of the similarly named character in Tangled: The Series (also known as Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure). That Cassandra who had a major part in the series as the lady-in-waiting for Princess Rapunzel. That character is mentally manipulated by a demon named Zhan Tri to manifest her anger against Rapunzel in a violent, destructive manner. In that series, that Cassandra is a complex lesbian-coded character exploited by the aforementioned demon. It is not known if the Cassandra within Gods' School will go down a similar path or how her character will be different from other fictional Cassandras.

I am hopeful that Gods' School will get even better as it moves forward, earning it an even-higher rating on IMDB and other online review sites. Brandon Winckler and Jenny Yokobori, who worked on previous episodes as show writers, and led the effort to adapt the episodes into English, from their original French. They are known for their voice roles in Fena: Pirate Princess, Edens Zero, The Simpsons, or Central Park.

The show's cast have voiced English dubs of characters in Lycoris Recoil, Titan's Bride, In the Land of Leadale, Komi Can't Communicate, Re:Zero, and High-Rise Invasion. Others have voiced characters in Rainbow High, RWBY, Nomad of Nowhere, Megaton Girl, and The Loud House. Some cast members are new voice actors, like Vaughan.

With that all being said, I highly recommend Gods' School. I hope that it continues onward, with new episodes, characters, and plotlines.

Gods' School is currently streaming on YouTube and can be supported on Patreon.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[honeybee-taskforce]

1x02 Rewatch Thoughts and Feelings

same disclaimer i’m on my phone typos and grammar errors can be invoiced to my publicist for review (its me)

-I WHIP MY HAIR BACK AND FORTH I WHIP MY HAIR BACK AND FORTH what a fuckin fever dream hearing that song again

-oh wow they are grilling the hell out of him for this routine lmfao i forgot how much they tease him about all of this

-this was one of those scenes i mentioned where the emergency escalated so quick and was not what i expected it to be at all lmfao

-the aging with the bird box netflix comment zzzzzz i hate when media does this but i can overlook it here

-paul doing a thing we need another of these on season five. TWO if i may be so brave to request

-where the hell did this delivery driver even get the mercury for this now that i really think about it

-there’s some weird liberty mutual ad playing right now that has a baby talking about insurance im kind of in awe at the absurdity

-owen struggling to let go of his hair treatment goofy ass

-judd in therapy hits so hard ugh grace being there with him and he is truly trying and even has his comfort pillow for hugging because he needs something but it just isnt enough yet my heart hurts for him so much

-i forgot that grace is near sobbing when he leaves jesus christ that hurts too she loves this man so much and his pain is hers (and vice versa of course) i’m so glad that never goes away as the show goes on. Even if i could use more of it.

-michelle helping this little boy is a great foil to her introduction and i love it a lot, BUT overall i can’t find a way to care about this whole plot with Iris missing. Probably because i know it doesn’t go anywhere after this season except for the start of season 4…. I really wonder how different everything would have been had liv stayed and plot lines not adjusted accordingly. -“what the pissed off look on my fave aint enough proof” judd you teddy bear you know its not lmfao

-“he doesn’t know i’m sick” YOU NEED TO TELL HIMMMMMM

-my extended family cooks a pig just like this in a pit and everything and it tastes soooooo good

-“but just so you know i am a homosexual 😉” this whole bit is so silly and i like that they added it after a few intense back to back bits with the first emergency, michelle’s stuff, and owen’s chat with judd

-shakes ass to last night in my stillettos while these two hook up for the first and definitely not the last time

-tk give him back his damn belt you know that is not yours you rude city boy!

-carlos is all doe eye and soulmate smitten ahhhhh you cutie pie

-michelle goes to a psychic what the hell i dont remember this. BUT NOW IM REALIZING ITS THE SAME LADY WITH THE WORMS LATER ON IN THE SHOW HUHHHHH (right? Or am i losing my mind)

-spongebob movie voice: BALD BALD BALD BALD BALD

-the lady leaving herself to die in a fire because hes bald????? I know its a nightmare but wtf i forgot about all of that too 😭

-owen embracing this guy’s fantasy about the overlords but not being able to wrap his own head around his health’s reality is heartbreaking… at least he’s forced to address it once TK finds the meds

-owen and judd riding horses already getting that brotherly bond started ooooo i love them so much

-oh god first date time oh wow olay here we go CARLOS YOU'RE SO SMITTEN BUT NOWS NOT THE TIIIIME

-the boys miscommunicating for the first and certainly not the last time but its okay because it’s all a part of their story <3

-carlos calling this a hookup boy you know damn well that is not how you feel about this

-tk is so sad when he apologizes for the misunderstanding because the last thing he wants is to hurt anyone else but he can’t stop himself and it all just gets worse and worse in his eyes…. At least we know it gets better eventually. -grace helping judd count to 5 and she is so proud of him oh i love these two so goddamn much they are perfect and i need even more of them in season five

-does every episode of season 1 end with a song playing over a montage of stuff happening like did i just block that from my memory

-owen taking the first step to being more comfortable with his reality outside of the obvious therapy and treatments ugh so good.

god season one feels like a completely different show from the rest of it? Obviously the changes with casting and covid messed somethings up but i wonder how different everything would have been had the pandemic not happened and they were able to collow through on plot lines they wanted to from the beginning

[happilylovingchaos]

Post-ep Thoughts:

*: for plot points that might need suspension of disbelief

“I’m so fired.” On-nose, I like it. (What? It’s called levity)

Conflict of interest is probably gonna be one of those plot points where you have to suspend your disbelief— for instance, no way would Grace be allowed to take point on a call involving Judd. *

Oh god, Judd…

That’s some weird advice to give, making grand gestures. Also was this what TK talked about later, with the guy hanging off the tower? (“Y’know, I once rescued a window washer from the 44th floor of the Chrysler building.”)

I thought that Owen said, “Gotta love NY” but the Hulu captions say “God, I love NY”. ???

Honolulu’s Chinatown is probably up there with New York’s Chinatown in terms of apartment rent costs— but TK lucked out in his living situation. His unit looks nice, for how little it’s been shown. (And… I wonder if his OD would have happened the morning or so after he met with Alex?)

Side note on this: “Were you trying to kill yourself?” (From how TK acts later in the series, I think… yes but also no? I get some passive suicidal ideation from that previous OD).

Not that anyone cares much after 4 years, but looked up the actor who played that character— he’s Harrison Grant.

Now I get why some of y’all fanfic writers present Alex as low-grade ass. He was really just used as an inciting incident.

I don’t say much about Mateo, but I had no idea his character shared an actor in common until after. Also, I really wish I had your tenacity when it came to the JLPT, man.

Boy, I wonder if the ep director/ creators asked Liv to portray Michelle with a troubled vibe? I mean, I’ve heard that some fandom members think her character is not all there, or shallow… IMO it is kind of a unexpected but welcome play against her more pure-/ ethereal-/ wise- esque character types. (But, as much as I respect the missing-sister issue and grief, Michelle… you are really not helping your own case with that guy’s neighbors.)

With the benefit of hindsight, I think I see why some of you guys were caught off-guard with the Blakes being mentioned again in season 4– I did get the feeling that Carlos’ scene with Michelle was something you had to read between the lines to find context for. (Plus, aside from the interaction that shows he’s been her arresting officer long enough for both of them to treat it like routine, and his calling her constant searching “a rut”… maybe he did try, too, to look for Iris until the non-leads piled up too much for him. What is certain is that another party had a role in the disappearance but to what end, unclear.)

Related to the portrayal type: Michelle does have a soothing presence when she and her team have to treat patients. So… character is like

Marjan might need an agent at this point?? I wonder how long she’s been Firefox, or if she’s been allowed to film on calls.*

Paul sounds like he could be a Hero of Another Story, with the commendations he received, his gender identity, and how he dealt with the mean streets before joining Chicago FD.

TSP (Time Skip Passing): I’d guess it takes much longer IRL (edit: RFMarch mentions at least 1 year) to rebuild a damaged/ nonexistent firehouse, let alone assemble a new team. Since the old 126 hadn’t been touched for 6 months but presumably already most of the main appliances and furniture were functional… okay, that’s six months grievance + hiring processes of the new team + construction time + extra factors.

I’m using TSP for my own reference to figure out how much time passes between plot developments in this show. Note: I’m going with my gut and wits on this, so just know this is not a reliable thing. If you don’t agree with this, then that’s okay.

Adjusting to fit, I’m assuming the show’s timeline starts sometime in August 2018 (factory explosion around then in Austin, with Strands’ arrival occurring in March 2019 give or take a few days). 38 weeks + 6 weeks max hiring + expedited firehouse rebuild of 6-12 months (~52 weeks or 364 days)… and. Came out to 96 weeks.🤨🤔Pretty sure the showrunners aren’t gonna confirm, I just wanted to start somewhere.

I think Jim Parrack didn’t get enough mention for his acting. He plays off of Rob Lowe’s dead seriousness and goofy side so well, that their interactions really felt like a budding friendship (with Michelle? Let’s just say… she’s not as demure as she appears).

Emergency Notes:

Nice call forward to 4x15, but GOOD LORD. You men should just sell those peppers and stick to Tabasco from now on if you’re so set on vitriolically resolving your issues.

The logistics of the car accident aside, I’m just really grateful that that baby seat saved the baby’s life.

Episode 1x01 Pilot Discussion Thread

Please feel free to use the comment thread and tags of this post throughout the week as a place to liveblog while watching the episode, discuss with friends, post your metas and thoughts etc. Anything you’d like to discuss while watching the episode is welcome!!

Please reblog this post for visibility!!

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

hello! have you heard of triad verse? it's basically AU where polyamory is normal, even required, it's really interesting AU, someone came up with it here on tumblr, you can check it out on triadverse tumblr com - i binge read your garcyatt fics and i think this thing is right up your alley :)

Hello! I haven’t heard of this particular incarnation of the triad verse, but I have come across the trope previously. And by ‘previously’ I mean, when I read this ask I went “oh hey I think I read some fics with that premise way back in like ‘13” lol. It’s a very interesting AU and it would definitely work with Garcyatt (aww thank you for reading them that fills my heart with warm fuzzies!) but I’m not sure it would work with the other Timeless couples…

…although Riya could be an exception who stubbornly refuse to add a third because they’re happy just the way they are and that’s a part of their arc…

…Jess and Dave having Noah and then losing him and being heartbroken and then meeting Amy and slowly working their way back to happiness again…

ANON I HAVE SO MANY STORY IDEAS ALREADY WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME. *wails*

[doublel27]

Rites of Passage

Number of words: IDK, rating G

Pre-canon, Carlos x Iris (platonic), introspection, internalized homophobia

~*~

The camera flashed and Carlos felt his tie choking him slightly. Iris leaned into his side and laughed.

“¡Aye, que guapo!” His mom said, looking at the picture that popped up on the display of her digital camera.

“I know,” Mrs. Blake said, snapping a picture of her own.

“You make such a lovely couple. I think we could have prom king and queen here.”

Iris laughed warm and rich and Carlos should have been able to do the same but his voice stuck in his throat. “Like we’d ever get votes! We’re nerds.”

“But so pretty,” his mom shot back. “Don’t you think so, mi amor?”

“Of course, it’s the Reyes looks, you know.”

“Oh, is that it?”

Everyone continues talking and moving but Carlos feels frozen in time. He can’t remember the last time his father lumped them both together as Reyeses. Definitely before the terrible and awkward morning when he’d told them the truth he’d been hiding and they just acted like it was nothing.

A hand touches his face and Carlos startles back to Iris’s living room. Iris is peering up at him with those big eyes and soft smile. Her hair is piled on to her head in a bun with a few curls slipping down. She’s still the prettiest girl Carlos has ever known.

“Hey, you okay?” Iris whispers, not wanting to alert their parents. “You’ve got that buffering look.”

“I’m not buffering!”

“You totally are. What’s wrong? You know I’ll find out.”

“Just really glad you agreed to go with me. That’s all.”

“Okay, weirdo. I don’t believe you but I’ll let it go.” Iris narrows her eyes and tilts her head. “For now.”

Carlos can’t help but bark out a short laugh. “Okay.”

“You two ready to go? Don’t get up to any trouble.” His father holds out keys to the Camero. “No drinking.”

“Of course not, sir.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Iris says in a tone that suggests she has no less than three flasks on her. Carlos sends her a glare and she just winks.

Mr. Blake claps him on the shoulder. “Have fun. We know the two of you are responsible kids.”

“Yeah, she’s nothing like her older sister,” a whiskey voice comes from the back of the room.

Iris is across the room in a flash. “Michelle!”

“Couldn’t miss my baby sister going off to prom.” Michelle pulls Iris back and holds her shoulders. “Don’t do anything I would do.”

“I make no promises.”

“You should get going. You don’t want to be late.”

“Oh there’s nothing wrong with being fashionably late,” his mom says. “We could take more pictures?”

Carlos wonders what it would be like if this was real. If he was in love with Iris instead of just loving her. It would be so much easier if he was normal. Everything about who he is wouldn’t be under attack. He’d move up better in the ranks at the police academy.

“We should go. The princess has to get to the ball.”

Carlos takes Iris’s hand with the wrist corsage he and his mother solid time picking out just the right flowers to go with Iris’s dress. He leans over as he lifts her hand to press a kiss on its back. Iris giggles and blushes.

“You’re ridiculous!”

“Do you not want to go anymore? It’s a giant dance party.”

“Yes. I want to go! Where’s my purse!?”

There’s a scramble to find her purse and her shawl and their parents and Michelle talk around them as they head out to the drive. Carlos escorts Iris to the car and opens the door just like his father taught him to do for ladies. He holds her hand as she eases into the car and Carlos can almost imagine this as his life.

“So romantic,” Iris teases, her tone sarcastic, eyes crinkling in a smile.

“It is prom,” Carlos reminds her with the same tone Iris has used to talk about it since he tried to suggest they could skip it. Iris insisted it was a right of passage.

But it was just going to be the first of many rights of passage Carlos couldn’t have in his life as a gay man. He couldn’t marry a man, and even if he could, he couldn’t do it in the church. Adoption agencies wouldn’t let him have a kid. Why start talking about rights of passage and doing them when you couldn’t have them?

But Iris insisted that them going together was better than skipping it entirely.

As he slides into the seat next to her and starts the car, Carlos wonders if she’s on to something. Iris looks like a queen as the golden hour light plays over her skin. She’s his favorite person in the world and doesn’t have as much fun with anyone else as he does with her. His mom has always said you should marry your best friend.

[marchingatmidnight]

Obviously this is a controversial plot line and I’m sure we’ll have new things about it to hate or love after episode two but here’s how I’ve rationalized it to myself in case anyone is curious:

I can totally see Carlos entering into a sham marriage. Him feeling rejected by his family who didn’t acknowledge his sexuality in the way he hoped, in a state that has laws on the books to prevent him from ever having the happy life he wants, stuck between expectations of his family and his self. Had Obergefell not happened, I would have done the same thing.

And then things happened — I’m sure the Obergefell ruling had some impact, as did Carlos (and probably Iris) grew out of being scared kids. Clearly they “broke up” at some point, with Iris having seriously dated Dustin. I know of plenty of people who didn’t get divorced after separating from their partner for whatever reason. It does happen. I also think Carlos was probably like “maybe I can be happy”. I wonder if also Iris started having the very first symptoms of schizophrenia at this point — the personality changes that Dustin and to a lesser extent Michelle saw.

And then Iris was missing, and I think Carlos eventually wrote her off as dead and therefore their marriage was a non problem. And then Iris came back, but she didn’t really — she was living on the street and Michelle probably asked Carlos not to divorce her so she could get her help. And Carlos agreed. And I’m sure with Michelle leaving the 126, and Carlos starting the rest of his life with TK, and the pandemic, it was easy to become distanced from Michelle and Iris.

And then with all of the craziness, Carlos didn’t want to think about Iris. He didn’t want to find out that his best friend and wife was still dependent on him for health insurance, that she still needed him, because he wanted his new life with TK. The same way he didn’t want to think about not wanting to tell TK his parents never acknowledged his sexuality. He should have told TK. But I understand how it was easier, and possible, to just shove that part of his life into a box and not open it, until he was confronted with it against his will, as he seems to do with conflict.

I’ll be interested to see what other things we learn in this arc about Carlos.

[decafdino]

YES YES ALL OF THIS.

I really think the most important things Carlos does, he does them out of love. He’s a caretaker, and I’m sure part of that is how he was raised (so respectful he struggles to break certain habits ex. Always calling Owen ‘Captain Strand’) but it’s also because helping is in his nature.

There’s a dichotomy I’m seeing of people either being mad at TK for going to see Iris/wanting all of Carlos’ attention (which I personally believe he doesn’t; he’s comfortable with letting Carlos do what he needs to and there’s not really any hint of it besides certain shots. I think it’s mostly juggernaut Tarlos shippers projecting bc they’re upset it’s not ALL about just TK and Carlos) and then on the other hand people upset with Carlos for focusing on Iris when she’s hurt and not TK, who feels guilty that she’s hurt. Both I don’t really see in the context of the show, because as characters TK and Carlos are individuals with a sense of self.

What I do see is Carlos trying to protect and take care of the people he loves. He loves TK; as we’ve seen in the past, he’s always ready to be his rock when he’s insecure (the couch scene in 4.02, the convo about Nancy ‘hating’ him in s2) and he also doesn’t let TK get away with stupid self-sabotaging crap (that last comment in the police station in s1, !!!!!calling Cooper in 3.13!!!!!!).

But he also loves Iris— seriously. I was skeptical like a lot of other people at first, too, because up until 4.01 there had been no mention of their connection to each other outside of Carlos looking into the case for Michelle (something unfortunately always implied that he was doing a favor for a friend and not. yknow. Looking for his wife. ) but after seeing the way they interact, how they tease each other, how Carlos has an undying amount of faith that Iris wouldn’t walk off, that if she was experiencing schizophrenic flare ups she would’ve asked for help and reached out, I’m really convinced on their relationship. It’s clear that Carlos loves people with his whole heart; of course when one of the most important people in his life is in trouble, he’s immediately on the case.

It surprised me a fair amount after watching the episode to come on here and see people upset about the writing choices, because to me everything every character does in this episode makes perfect sense (yes, including Nancy fully overselling the sex doll ‘death’.) and the beauty of it is that the choices gel nicely together to tell a story that is cohesive and interesting about a group of people that are so far from perfect. I think sometimes we forget they’re just people, not innocent saints.

The thing I’m actually really excited for is to see what happens when Carlos completely loses control. We know he’s a control freak. We’ve seen how he was when he couldn’t find TK in 2.08. I want to know what he’s like when he’s alone, in danger, without any power. I want to see him desperate, I want to see him hurt, I want to see Carlos Reyes completely fucking terrified for his life. I want to know what kind of man he becomes in that situation.

Tl;dr yes I think actually that everything Carlos has done over the last three episodes actually makes a ton of sense, and while both Carlos and TK have done some stuff to upset each other, I’m not necessarily mad at either of them because those actions fit their characters.

The silver lining to all the fandom bullshit, for me, is that I came out of 4x03 loving both TK and Carlos a whole helluva lot more than I ever have… and also seeing the ways, across 4x01 to 4x03, that they love so fiercely - both each other and others - with their whole fucking hearts… and knowing that loving that hard, that intensely, means that it’s never perfect because it’s so easy for emotions to make things messy and complicated when it consumes you like that… but I’ve always said that I could go through any angst with these two as long as the love is still there… and oh boy is it still there. 

I just really fucking love them both, warts and all.

[More under the cut because I have too many thoughts:]

Keep reading

[reyesstrand]

I HAD A THEORY.

Iris did something bad when they were younger- not saying she murdered someone- but something bad. Carlos helped her cover it up (before he was a cop) and that person it affected comes back into her life/or Carlos runs into the person and it ties into the missing person stuff. It’s minor-ish on Carlos’ end and would kind of feed into a bigger story

yeah i think you’re onto something. like you said i doubt it’s something that’s like. an actual serious crime SKDNSK but i’m believing more and more that her connection to his past will be his secret.

idk i was casually rewatching season one as background noise and i paid closer attention to her scene with michelle in the hospital after she’s found in 1x10, and i think it’s interesting that after michelle informs iris that her being missing got her arrested several times (which…michelle got herself arrested for breaking a restraining order, but whatever) iris says “you know, i have to say, i’m mad at carlos for not keeping you out of trouble” and then after she finds out carlos was the arresting officer, she jokes that she’s “going to have words with him.” it pretty clearly confirms some sort of friendship between iris and carlos (especially since iris just drops his name in there without prompting) and also suggests that even before carlos was a cop, he was that someone to keep others grounded and safe and out of trouble. for iris, he was probably a supporting friend that believed in rules (very likely due to his upbringing with gabriel) and often reigned her in. so it’s not that far out of reach for me that they know of something or were involved in something peripherally that could come back now that iris presumably getting treatment and is trying to maintain a job and carlos is, obviously, on this track to getting married and getting farther in his own career. it’s also believable andrea would know about this friendship and wants carlos to do right by iris and their past.

so say iris comes back into carlos’ life and they work together on whatever this thing is despite iris’ likely sketchy track record in the eyes of everyone else around them, carlos is doing this for his own rep but also because he genuinely cares for his old friend. then obviously everything else happens with him getting hurt and what not. i’m pretty sure that the secret itself won’t be that big of a deal. honestly carlos might only be reminded of all of this when iris comes back into his life or because of a comment from andrea, not necessarily hiding something/having a secret on purpose. idk i think whatever it is will be glossed over, and tk will be fine with it, and it’s going to be its relation to the larger case carlos tries solving (as it deals with iris and whatever else happens before he gets hurt) that’ll be the more important thing narrative wise for this 4-episode arc.

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

I cannot stop laughing at the one scene with Michelle and Carlos in season 1 now where he's like "can you shut up about iris and ask me if i'm getting laid?"

Yeah 😂 It's definitely a situation of lazy writing making Carlos look pretty bad for not even caring about the disappearance of his best friend/wife.

I've been trying to come up with an explanation as to why Carlos acted so unconcerned about Iris in season 1. I mean, we know the actual reason was because the writers didn't know about Iris and Carlos being best friends/married at the time. But as for an in-universe explanation, I've decided that by the time we first meet Carlos in season 1, Carlos truly believed that Iris was either dead or would never be found, and probably both. It did seem like Michelle was really the only one who had much hope of finding Iris alive, so I think this is plausible. I'm sure Carlos would have done all he could to help find Iris and investigate her disappearance right at the start (once he was cleared from being a suspect, of course!) Since Iris had been missing for 3 years when season 1 started, I'm going to say that was enough time for Carlos to come to the conclusion that she was probably dead, grieve her death, accept it, and then repress any lingering feelings about it to try to move on. It's not quite satisfying, but I think it's the best I can do.

And what about the moment at the end of 1x10 when Carlos shows up at the firehouse? There's a shot of Michelle (who recently discovered that Iris is alive and in Austin) watching as her definitely-alive-sister's husband hugs his new boyfriend. Did Michelle let Carlos know Iris was found before this moment? Did she tell him later? Never mind, I don't even want to try to rationalize that one. 😂

[paperstorm]

Ofc you guys think the tk one was worse 💀😭

He hasn’t seen Iris in years, helped Michelle find her, and she’s using his insurance but she got mad cause he didn’t call? The phone works both ways. If anything the tks one was more called for he went behind is back and looked into his father

You are perfectly welcome to disagree.

[tarlossource]

It’s a secret that, Silva said, has been gestating for years. During the show’s freshman run, co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear pitched Carlos’ marriage to Iris as an off-screen explanation for why Carlos and Michelle, who have a significant age gap, are close friends. But the writers were pressed for time in the first 10 episodes, and Tyler’s departure between the first two seasons meant they couldn’t address that connection right away.

“So the story behind Carlos and Iris has been brewing,” Silva told NBC News in early January in a joint video interview with Rubinstein. “And it’s finally come to fruition now that Carlos and T.K. are on their path to becoming a legally unified couple.”

In the Jan. 24 episode of the hit Fox procedural drama, which finds the first responders dealing with rare and extreme weather events in Austin, Texas, Carlos discovers that the couple’s dream wedding venue, which originally had a waiting list of a year and a half, had an unexpected opening in eight weeks, prompting him to meet T.K. at the firehouse and confess privately to his marital status.

“When I came out [as gay] to my parents, and the way that they never talked about it again, it felt like I disappointed them,” Carlos tells T.K. in an emotional scene. “We loved each other … and we tried to convince ourselves that we could make it work. We were wrong.”

Carlos and Iris — who has a history of mental illness and was last seen living in a tent city during the first season finale — went to high school together and knew everything about each other, including his sexuality. After Iris disappeared and then reappeared at the end of the first season, they never got a divorce, because Carlos believed he was helping her get treatment for schizophrenia with his health insurance. It isn’t until Carlos arrives at a shelter where Iris was seeking treatment that he discovers she is not only doing well now but is also working there — with health benefits — to better serve people with similar conditions.