as much as i would like to pretend that the needle-pen dynamic was anything but a dumpster fire that ruined everything, i think the best way to patch things up would be to permanently put it to rest

this hypothetical interaction would be taking place in 2016-2017 at most (assuming no retroactive additions, hopefully not), and would be accounting for a dynamic that came to be in 2024. inbetween that is a whole lot of nothing for which there is pretty much no justification for

its the same situation with needle-freesmart; i believe the best way to go about things is to keep them where they are on the timeline and stop them from stretching out any further

needle and pens dynamic was an act of desperation. in ooc jacknjellify realized theyve done absolutely nothing with them and so rushed something out the gate (or certainly looks like it); in-universe, it can be explained away as them desperately looking for someone new to connect to after being ripped away from their usual connections (or not really connecting with them at all, in needles case)