#morally ambiguous character

[phantom-z0ne]

Chapter 2: October 24, 20XX

Brooklynn picked at her lunch, a chicken sandwich paired with a salad bowl that her mother packed for her, as she listened to her friends bicker. They switched topics every couple of minutes, getting sidetracked with ever other comment. How they went from talking about the smell of Professor Lilac’s classroom to the pros and cons of industrialism, she has no idea. Her friends were just special, she supposed.

The cafeteria was loud, a cacophony of rambunctious students chatting with their friends and enjoying their lunch filled the room. The line for lunch was waning, most students having already grabbed some or brought their own from home, like Brooklynn. She could spot a couple of her classmates at the other side of the room, giving them a nod of acknowledgment when she caught their eye. She ignored the shenanigans some of the students were up to, like Maddison Lively trying to, once again, stain the school banner with food. 

Her post the other day had done surprisingly well, gaining hundreds of interactions. Though, it was mostly due to skeptic comments and those who used her post to troll others. Interspaced between those two types of comments, however, were the rare users who believed her warnings. Almost overnight, she had gained a small but trusting audience, something she thought would be impossible. Gothamites were notorious for hardly trusting anything, let alone someone foretelling the future online. If she weren’t the one who posted the prediction, she would have scoffed and believe it a scam. 

Brooklynn was drawn out of her thoughts by a nudge from Aaliyah, who said with a determined face, “Tell her I'm right!”

“Right about what?” Brooklynn questioned, setting down her fork. Max raised an eyebrow, asking, “Haven’t you been listening? The newest WaynePhone is a technological wonder and wayy better than an L-Phone and she’s obviously wrong to think otherwise!” 

“You’re asking me, who owns a WaynePhone if you haven't forgotten, whether an L-Phone or WaynePhone is better?” Brooklynn lifted an eyebrow in disbelief, a smirk tugging at her lips.

“Well, when you put it like that…” Aaliyah smiled sheepishly, her usual prim and proper aura softening slightly in embarrassment. Max’s eyes turned into crescents, snickering at the reply. 

Brooklynn shifted in her seat, leaning forward as she put her elbows on the table, cupping her head between her palms. Not a moment after she opened her mouth to tease her friends again, a sharp jab caught her in the side. She gasped, lukewarm liquid soaked her pleated skirt and dripped off her, smearing onto her shoes. Thankfully, only small droplets landed on her shirt, her uniform vest receiving most of the lunch soup. She shivered as thick, gooey vegetables slid down the sides of her legs.

An unnaturally pitched voice spoke up, “Oh! I wasn’t looking where I was going. My bad.” Brooklynn glared at the one and only Alexander Stone. Faux concern layered over his face, though his glee filled eyes betrayed the charade. She usually couldn't care less about him, but it was situations like this that reminded her why she avoided him. 

“Alexander.” Brooklynn grit out, an eye twitching in irritation. The rude bastard simply chirped “That’s me!”—it was strained, she noticed. He hated being called by his first name, preferring everyone instead call him Stone—and placed the lunch tray on the table, whipping out a white handkerchief from out of nowhere. 

“Let me help with that. It's only fair, since I was the one who—” Brooklynn only had a moment to glimpse the embroidery on the handkerchief before Alexander began to smear the vegetable soup where it hadn’t yet reached on her navy blue—now stained green—vest. That f—

She smacked his hand away from her, irritation lacing her voice as she practically shouted, “Don't—touch me!”

Alexander dropped the handkerchief, eyes going comically wide as the neighboring tables quieted and turned at the commotion. It was all just an act, one that she kept managing to stumble—more like shoved—right into. He always did this, pretending he was innocent despite being behind so much of the trouble. 

Brooklynn seemed to be his prime target, and she could see why. He was the rich, kind—she couldn't help but snort internally whenever he was described as such—student who could do no harm, while she was the scholarship student from The Bowery, someone who so many believed Gotham Academy could do without. It's no question the administrators believed his word over hers. He had gotten her into trouble multiple times, to the point that she could only have so many more demerits put in her record before her scholarship would be stripped and her kicked out of school.

Brooklynn stood abruptly, grimacing as the now cold soup trailed down her body. “You’re not helping.” She said stiffly. She couldn't make another scene, not with Alexander, especially when she was “known” for bullying him. Hah! It was the other way around. If the administrators could stop licking his fancy rich kid shoes, they would have been able to see that. Instead, they cower behind the veil of money his family sends them.

She turned away, fuming at how he’ll, once again, get away with treating her like this. Her friends scrambled after her after they shook themselves out of their shocked states. While they knew she had problems with Alexander, they certainly hadn't expected it to be like this. That was purposeful, though. Brooklynn didn't want them to be involved and ping on that self-absorbed bastard’s radar, instead reluctantly telling them a heavily edited version whenever they asked about it.

Aaliyah and Max fussed over her as she marched towards the locker room. It had a shower, thank god for rich people, and her gym clothes were tucked neatly away in her locker. After shooing away her worried but well-meaning friends with some well-timed assurances, she prepared her gym clothes and turned the shower on, checking the temperature with her forearm. 

Brooklynn stripped and stepped into the shower, careful not to let her hair anywhere near the hot stream of water. The last thing she wanted was to get her braids wet and have to redo them. 

It was a bit strange, Brooklynn thought as she scrubbed down her body quickly. Her visions were usually related to her or her surroundings, namely Gotham, and yet the earlier event caught her off guard. She didn't foresee it, despite it affecting her greatly.

Now that she thought about it, her visions never directly involved her. Usually, she was in the general vicinity—again, Gotham—of the visions’ location, but it abruptly ended or shifted away the few times when she would actually appear. Brooklynn scrubbed harder, brows knitted in thought. Did that mean she was her own blind spot? Why, no—how? Was that just how seeing the future worked? Did this happen to other seers?

Brooklynn let the thoughts stew in her mind as water flowed down her body, rinsing away the soapy suds, and reached for a towel. Once she dried herself off, she quickly changed into the yellow t-shirt and navy blue sweatpants, both with the Gotham Academy logo sewn onto them. Her shoes, however, she would just have to deal with until the end of the day. It still smelled slightly of the vegetable soup despite her attempting to clean it the best she could. Thankfully, she kept an extra pair of socks in her locker so she didn't have to wear her soggy, soup-soaked socks.

She jolted at the warning bell. Gathering her ruined belongings and storing them in an empty plastic bag, she slammed the locker door shut with a loud metallic thud. Brooklynn did not want to be late on top of everything that happened today. 

Quickly shouldering her thankfully untouched bookbag, she booked it to her next class, barely managing not running through Archie, a ghost she managed to somewhat befriend; he had a surprisingly hilarious sense of humor despite his gloomy appearance. She slid into the classroom just as the late bell rang, giving the frowning teacher a sheepish smile as she made her way to her seat. Despite the few pointed comments from both teachers and students alike, the school day flew by surprisingly fast. No other incident transpired, to her pleasant surprise. For Brooklynn, when it rained, it poured, so it was just a tad odd that not even a minor hiccup occurred. 

Brooklynn took her time packing away her notes, lingering behind as the rest of her classmates spilled out into the hallway. Her original plan for the day was to stay behind after school for club activities or study at the library, but after Alexander’s stunt, she was doubting whether to do so or not. On one hand, she had a couple projects to study for and homework to complete. On the other, her uniform needed to be cleaned that day since she only had one uniform, plus she didn't want to walk around in her gym uniform outside of club activities. 

Then again, Destiny had agreed to pick up Jayden in her place and Brooklynn had already set the time aside. She wasn't expected to be home until around 5 pm and she didn't want to ruin her carefully planned schedule. It irritated her to no end when her plans for the day were disturbed without warning and she had to redo her whole schedule. 

Destination set, she left the classroom. But first, she made a quick detour to the locker room. She wrapped her soiled clothes in a black trash bag, in case it seeped through the thin plastic she swaddled them in, and placed it at the bottom of her bookbag. 

Now that that was done, she finally made her way to the nearest library, Gotham City Public Library. It was her go-to library. One, because it was the closest to her school and home, and two, the staff were surprisingly kind. They offered assistance if they saw you struggling with something, or sometimes just popping up and handing you a small snacks unprompted. 

It was bare bones for librarians, she knows it's part of their jobs. But this was Gotham. No one gives out assistance, and especially not food, without wanting something in return. Kindness had a price in Gotham, one should never forget. Brooklynn would have summed it up as the staff being outsiders had it not been for their accents that just screamed Gothamite. Plus, she recognized most of them from her youth. She had been going to this particular library for years, and most of the employees had been working there before she was even born. 

Of the younger staff, those she did recognize were a couple years her senior and alumni from Gotham Academy. She remembered Barbara Gordon in particular, or rather, her and her father, Jim Gordon. The commissioner had been the one to break the unfortunate news of her father demise. 

Brooklynn remembered the day it happened. Destiny was in the other room, sulking because dad missed her dance recital that he promised to be at. Her tiny, 6-year-old self sat in the kitchen, not too interested in the large, ginger haired man who blocked the doorway. Instead, she had been invested in coloring a flower just right while waiting for her mama to finish up her conversation so she could pin the drawing she had been so proud of onto the fridge. That was until the glass cup in mama’s hand—her favorite, Brooklynn dimly remembered, because of the hand painted irises crawling up the sides—shattered. Her mama’s blood dripped onto the floor, once, twice, before the bloody hand was sluggishly raised to her chest. 

The man, Commissioner Gordon, she knows now, seemed flustered. He guided mama to the sink and helped rinse out the glass shards under Brooklynn’s shocked gaze. She had been frozen, unable to process why mama was hurt, why her blood was pooling atop their polished floors. The startled shout of her sister knocked her out of her stupor, and she rushed after Destiny towards her unconscious mother. 

The image of her mother that day had stuck with her since; small shards of glass pierced the bloody hand that laid atop her red stained shirt, her usual plump, rosy face replaced by an ashen pallor, and worse of all, her still, unmoving body, as if she were a puppet with its strings cut. 

Her sister turned on the commissioner when their mother wouldn't wake, angrily demanding what was said for her to collapse. He looked conflicted for a moment, she remembered, before steeling his face and lifting her mother into his arms. 

‘Your father passed away.’

The rest of that day went by in a daze. Brooklynn vaguely remembers being handed her baby brother, swaddled in his favorite mint green blanket, and being told to keep an eye on him as they were rushed to a hospital. She thinks she was guided to a waiting area as they checked over her mother, she had no memory of going there herself. Destiny eventually took over holding Jayden, occasionally bouncing him when he fussed. The only people who kept the three of them company were the commissioner and his daughter. The warm hand that squeezed hers reassuringly was something she often recalled for comfort in the coming times.

They spent the night at the hospital, Imani only waking up the next day. The next couple months, no, years even, were hard for a handful of reason, but the main being the loss of Carter Banks. He was the sun to them, someone who their whole lives revolved around. And just like that, he was gone, never to be seen again, leaving a black hole in the hearts of those who loved him. 

Fortunately—or unfortunately, it depended on how one saw it—her father hadn't reformed as a ghost. Brooklynn didn't know what she would have done if he had. What any of them would have done if he appeared before her as but a ghostly shade of himself. 

She used to have nightmares of her father haunting her, chasing her through her home as he wailed, “It's your fault! You turned me into this!” Of her touch transforming her mother, sister, brother into wailing, vengeful ghosts, like those who used to haunt her in her childhood.  

Brooklynn shook her head sharply, trying to dislodge those morbid times out of her head. Thinking of her father and everything that came with it always brought her to a mental stand-still, and right now, she needed to be productive. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a customary flash of grief for the man she could barely remember. 

Taking a deep breath, she marched up the stairs to the library and entered, making a beeline to her usual place; bookshelves cut off the old, wooden table, nestled deeply within a cozy nook, from the rest of the library. It gave her a view of almost the entire room, bar the spaces the bookshelves obstructed, which was why she used it so much. While she was used to having people just appear out of nowhere, it wasn’t something she very much liked.

Brooklynn sat down, unaffected by the groan the aged wooden chair unfailingly let out every time she visited. She laid her belongings before her, homework on her right, textbooks and notes to her left, and a laptop virtually smothered in stickers between them. At the very edge of the setup, she gingerly placed her water bottle, but not before making sure it was firmly closed.

She cracked her knuckles and stretched her fingers, warming them up. Brooklynn tended to immerse herself in her studying without realizing the passage of time, and that really does a number on her hands. Besides, she's gotten used to it. It's pretty much part of her study ritual at this point.

Grabbing a pencil and a worksheet, she got to work, mindlessly filling in the answers she knew and referring back to the textbook when needed. While it wasn't the most stimulating work, the satisfaction that came with the completion of a task motivated her. A sip of water moistened her dry throat and she continued, her pencil moving steadily across the creamy white paper. 

A rap against the wooden table freed her from her study induced trance. Brooklynn blinked before her gaze jerked towards the new presences. A tall, dark skinned boy practically towered over a tired looking boy holding a steaming cup of coffee and a blonde with her hair tied up, the one who caught her attention. 

The blonde smiled once Brooklynn turned towards her questioningly, “Hi! Do you mind if we sit here? The library’s surprisingly full today.”

“Go ahead.” Brooklynn gestured to the empty seats, trying not to stare as they settled themselves. A niggling feeling in the back of her mind told her she should recognize them, but she couldn't quite place their faces. She turned back to her notes, having more important things to worry about. Before she could resume, however, a bubbly voice asked, “Are you also a Gotham Academy student?”

The blonde eyed the sewn GA logo on her shirt, smiling again when Brooklynn looked the trio over. They all wore Gotham Academy uniforms, though slightly altered. Blonde added small embroidery to the hem of her collar, and if she looked closer, changed the buttons of her dress shirt. Fade clipped on little Robin and other vigilante pins to his vest, which she thought was quite cute. Brooklynn wondered where he bought them from, she wouldn't mind getting a couple if they weren't too expensive. Eyebags—she really needed to learn their names—wore a red hoodie under the gray blazer, a silver necklace peeking out from over his collar. If a professor paid close attention to these three, and if they actually cared, the modifications would be undoubtably be confiscated and a week's worth of detention would be thrown at their heads.

“Yeah, I am. You guys are, too?” Brooklynn answered, flushing a bit at the lame response. She wasn't usually this bad at socializing, her brain just needed a minute or two to get out of study mode. 

The three nodded, Blonde a tad more enthusiastic than the other two. “What grade are you in? I'm a senior, and so is he.” She jabbed Eyebags in the ribs just before he took a sip of his coffee. He yelped and nearly dropped the cup, glaring accusingly at Blonde after he juggled it between his hands and finally stabilized it. Brooklynn nearly giggled at the sight, instead smiling as Fade watched the two with amusement swirling in his eyes. 

Blonde turned to the other boy, eyes still twinkling with mischief. “And he's—” Fade hastily interrupted, his hands up placating as he said, “Junior! I'm a junior. Duke Thomas, nice to meet you.” Blonde lowered her elbow, giving Duke a look. 

“Likewise. Brooklynn Banks, also a senior.” Brooklynn smiled wider at the display. The three of them were clearly close, and it was pretty entertaining to watch their dynamics play out right in front of her.

“Stephanie Brown, but just call me Steph. Nobody younger than thirty calls me Stephanie.” She introduced herself, practically spitting out ‘Stephanie’ like a curse. Eyebags took a quick sip of his coffee, eyeing Stephanie dubiously, before clearing his throat. “Tim Drake. You're a fan of Batman?”

Brooklynn blinked. Stephanie and Duke stared at him, eyes wide. He made a face, “What? She has Batman stickers all over her laptop.”

“Two or three doesn’t count as ‘all over.’” Duke pointed out at the same time Stephanie exclaimed, “Oh my god, Tim, you can just ask people if they’re a fan of Batman!”

Brooklynn smothered a laugh behind her palm, eyes turning into crescents, at the reference. She wasn't the only one to laugh, Duke barked out a laugh as Tim snorted. Steph let out a toothy grin, triumph dancing in her eyes.

“I'm not the only one.” Brooklynn answered when she finally composed herself, though the smiled stayed on her lips. She pointed at pins adorning Duke’s vest. “Speaking of, where did you buy those? They look really well done.”

“They’re from a comic and print shop called Narrow’s Nook, on Davidson Ave. They sell a whole bunch of these—” He tapped one of his pins, “— and print out custom designs for cheap. You should definitely check it out sometime, it's pretty neat.”

Brooklynn hummed as she eyed the pins, memorizing the address as she thought over the offer. She had been meaning to buy something for her bookbag so it would match her laptop. She wondered if they sold keychains.

“I'll take you up on that, then.” She smiled lightly. Her smile slowly dropped at the extended silence, and she looked at the trio in puzzlement. Tim and Steph looked at her wide-eyed, before shooting each other a look. Duke himself was frozen, staring at nothing until they made eye contact. He was quick to look at anything but her. Weird.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.” Duke flustered, then cleared his throat and looked her in the eye. “Sure.” Steph shot him a wicked grin and held out her phone, encased in a sparkly, purple case. “Let's exchange numbers, ‘kay?” 

“Okay…?” Brooklynn handed Steph her phone when she made grabby hands towards her, exchanging it for Steph’s. She typed in her number, sending a smiley face to herself. Her phone chimed in Steph’s hands. Quickly adding Steph as a contact once it was handed back, she sent a text that read ‘Hi! This is Brooklynn.’ A wave of emojis the reply. Oddly enough, Brooklynn felt that it suited Steph.

She turned to Duke, ready to ask for his number too, when Steph said, “Don't worry about him, I already added him to your phone.” Surely enough, when she went to check, there Duke was, with an extreme amount of emojis next to his name. Brooklynn raised a brow at Steph, but all she did was give her an encouraging smile for some reason. The text she sent was similar to what she wrote for Steph, only meant to be a brief introduction.

Tim paused his furious typing to add her as a contact, his first text a short and simple ‘Hello.’

“So… I've been meaning to ask, what's with the gym clothes? Is PE your last class and you didn't feel like changing?” Steph asked innocently. Brooklynn grimaced, reminded of the awful encounter she had earlier that day. “No, I have PE third period. Some food spilled on my uniform, so I decided to change.”

Brooklynn ignored the pause in Tim’s typing, instead focusing on trailing the grains on the wooden table with her eyes.

“What other classes do you have?” Duke tilted his head slightly. He seemed to have gotten over whatever came over him earlier, thankfully. Brooklynn tapped her finger against the table, recalling her schedule. 

“I already said PE, so there’s Anatomy, History, Art, Precalc, Chemistry, Agriculture and… I think that's all. ”

Tim finally set down his phone face down on the table, ignoring the buzzing of incoming notifications that followed. “Do you have Professor Milo? Me and Steph have his Chemistry together. The class itself is easy, but his workload is insane.” 

Brooklynn nodded, “Right! How am I supposed to complete all those papers while juggling the rest of my classes, who also have heavy a workload?” 

Steph perked up, exclaiming, “Same! It's like he thinks we don't have lives outside of school.” She threw her hands up, dropping them as a nearby librarian hissed at the to quiet down. She gave the librarian a sheepish expression and turned back to them, saying this time with a lower voice, “I have Agriculture with Professor Brown, funnily enough.” 

“That's quite the coincidence.” Brooklynn grinned, mildly amused. Duke piped up, “If you have Professor Burner, we can work on Art together.” It was quite the coincidence that they had most of the same teachers, even if it were different periods. Most could go up a random student and realize they never attended the same class, let alone the same teachers. That was how large Gotham Academy was. It boggled her mind her freshmen year, she was used to the small, somewhat run down public schools in the Bowery, not such extravagence.

“So that's Art, Agriculture, and Chemistry we can all study together with, right?” She counted down with her fingers, only to look up and be faced with Steph trying and failing to contain her mirth, Tim once again typing extremely fast but this time snickering under his breath, and Duke repeating his strange behavior from earlier, looking at anything else but her. Still, that didn't stop the cozy feeling from settling in her stomach. She hadn't felt this comfortable with a group of strangers—could they even be considered strangers at this point?—in a long while, not since Max and Aaliyah.

A quick jingle emerged from her phone, interrupting her thoughts. It was Destiny, wondering whether she would be back soon. She checked the time then blinked, double-checking didn't change the time. She hadn't realized how long she’d been talking with the group. Two hours had passed by in the blink of an eye and before she knew it, the time she was meant to be home by had passed. 

Brooklynn bolted up, stuffing her belongings into her bookbag. Sending an apologetic look to the group, she explained, “I have to go, I've been here way longer than I should’ve.” 

“Don't worry about it, we were just about to leave too.” Steph assured her. Brooklynn smiled, threading her arms through the straps of her bag. “See you soon?” A chorus of agreement was their response. Waving goodbye to the trio as she bounded away from the isolated table, a lightness filled her chest. She wasn't the greatest at making friends—case in point, her only true friends being Max and Aaliyah—but she had a feeling that those three would become a staple in her life.

She paused, turning to rush back to the nook. “I almost forgot, when and where should we meet?” She paused, before rushing to clarify. “For the study session, I mean. I'm not always free after school.” 

Tim pursed his lips in thought. “All three of us are usually free on Wednesdays, are you?”

Monday and Thursday afternoons were off the table since she had club activities then, but Jayden’s soccer practice was on Wednesdays. If she really wanted to hang out with them, which she did, then she could meet them here after she dropped off Jayden. “I can make it work. If I can't make it, I’ll just text. So here's fine?”

The answer was a resounding yes. 

With that sorted out, she turned on her heel, tossing one last goodbye over her shoulder as a grin graced her lips. She gave Barbara a polite smile as she passed her restocking the bookshelves, receiving one in return. She headed for the exit, pushing open the large wooden doors and stepping onto Gotham’s shadowed streets. 

The walk home was spent tightly clutching her bag and scanning the corners for any lurking figures, as always. She regrets not bringing her bike, having to ditch it at home or risk missing the bus. Brooklynn shivered, rubbing her hands against her exposed arms. At least on her bike, she wouldn't feel the freezing winds whipping against her for as long.  

Despite needing to focus on scanning for potential dangers, her mind kept returning to her earlier conversation. She's still surprised by how quickly time passed when she was with them. That rarely happened on first meetings, where she was painstakingly aware of the passing of seconds. Still, it was a pleasant surprise, one she would welcome with open arms. 

Her mind wandered to the vigilante pins Duke had. She was right in that they were professionally done, and she hoped the price would be too high. The Batman and Robin pin especially would match with her laptop quite well. She supposed she should visit soon—

Brooklynn froze, the words ‘I'll take you up on that, then.’ repeating in her mind. Did she— no. No way. She did not just ask him out on a date. There's absolutely no way…

God, she did! No wonder he was acting like that! She must have seemed so weird. Who asks someone on a date on their first meeting?! She barely even knew the guy and she said something like that! 

Brooklynn flushed, her footsteps taking on a faster pace as if it would alleviate the mortification she felt. She rushed inside the moment she laid eyes on her house, bowling past her sister lounging on the couch, and slamming the bedroom door shut behind her. Her bookbag fell to the ground with a thud as Brooklynn launched herself onto her bed face first. She let loose a low groan into her plush pillows, embarrassment coursing through her. 

A sharp ‘ding’ sounded, cutting through her pity party. She scrambled for a minute trying to find where she threw her phone before untangling it from between her bedding. 10 new texts lined her notifications, all but one from a new group chat named ‘woe studying be upon ye’. The last was from Duke.

Brooklynn pressed her lips together, praying it wasn't what she thought it was, and opened the chat. ‘Are you free this weekend? I'm going to Narrow’s Nook and have time to show you around.’ Crap.

The text stared tauntingly at her frozen form until Brooklynn admitted defeat and buried her head into her pillow once again. Her mind raced to find a way to explain that she didn't mean to ask him out on a date! It was an accident, she swears!

Brooklynn let out a sigh into the pillows, unable to not take a moment to rub her face against them. They were brand new, bought just a day ago, and the texture felt heavenly against her skin. She couldn't help herself, okay?

She shook her head, hard. Back to the issue, Brooklynn! She needed to find a way to let him down gently. She genuinely had fun talking to him and didn't want to ruin the fledgling relationship they currently had over a misunderstanding. 

She laid on her belly, flipping her braids out of her face, and opened the chat again. Chewing on her lips, she began typing, pausing every minute or so to rephrase her text.

“Whatcha doing, Brooks?” A soft, melodic voice rang from over her shoulder.

Brooklynn yelp, fumbling to catch the phone she tossed in surprise. Once she made sure she didn't accidentally send anything, she tucked her phone under her legs. “Nyla! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

A young woman stood before her, the hem of her green flower dress brushing against her shins at the tiniest of movements. Her arms uncrossed as she climbed onto the bed, tossing her hip length locs over her shoulder as she did so, but the smirk stayed plastered on her face. “Texting boys, I see. Who’s the lucky boy?” Her voice lowered, as if sharing a particularly juicy secret. “You haven't gone to third base without telling me, right?”

“Nyla!” Brooklynn exclaimed, voice shrill, scandalized. She would’ve pushed her were she able to, but it would have no effect. Nyla Summers had died years ago, and funnily enough—according to Nyla—in the summer. Nyla had all but worn that particular joke to death. Brooklynn inwardly winced at the pun her ghostly pseudo-sister would surely snort at.

She had tried touching Nyla before, their first meeting in fact. She had been a curious child, with only a couple years of experience that told to grab onto the shiniest object nearby, which was at the time Nyla’s golden watch. Her arms had slipped straight through, terrifying her at her young age. Nyla was quick to calm her down at the time, though told her later on that being seen after so many years of drifting through the living had been a shock to her nonexistent systems. She had stuck by Brooklynn’s side ever since, likely because she was the only one who could see the dead in Gotham. 

Nyla leaned forward, leered at her until Brooklynn snapped, “What are you doing here? I thought you were haunting your niece.”

She rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath something that sounded suspiciously like buzzkill. Likely sensing Brooklynn’s annoyance beginning to bubble over, she explained, “I was with Amina, but something came up.” 

Brooklynn frowned, echoing, “Something came up?”

Nyla slid off the bed, floating a couple inches off the floor, and turned to her window, grimacing. “There’s someone you should meet.”

There wasn’t anyone there, she thought at first, just her sheer, blue curtains fluttering in the night wind. A figure, once hidden by shadows, slowly formed before her, perching on her windowsill. She noticed his eyes first, a startling, bright amber that flicked around her room. His expression was neutral at first glance, but his knit eyebrows and tightly pressed lips betrayed his unaffected facade. 

His gaze finally landed on her, dissecting eyes pinning her under his scrutiny. Brooklynn stayed silent, not breaking eye contact as he finished his inspection. He found what he was apparently looking for since he licked his lips, a nervous expression flitting across his face, and spoke.

“I need your help.”

This whole chapter was just Brooklynn taking things into her own hands and running with it. That bit about her father? NOT meant to be there, and neither was her whole thing with Duke. I may need to change the relationship tags if they keep this up, they were never meant to interact this way!! 

I hope that last part didn't come off too awkward. I was kinda drawing on my experience of being confessed to, the mortification I felt afterwords was unreal. Luckily for Brooklynn, she won't have to stew on it for too long, she has work to do >:3

Anyways, here are the ages for the batfam members that appeared this chapter:

Duke Thomas - 17 years old

Stephanie Brown -18 years old 

Tim Drake - 18 years old

Barbara Gordon - 24 years old

<< Chapter 1 | Masterpost | Chapter 3 >>

[0fps]

JANE DOE ❖ undercover r&b

The big bad daddy who cussed you out every day is gone and yet you still miss him. What are you, a bunch of daddy's boys?

[rystiel]

bro’s about to do something stupid (and likely illegal)

[ummyesisthisjasongrace]

"we need more complex characters" honey you couldn't even handle Albus Dumbledore

[skelecentral]

Wasn’t gonna post this because it’s only semi-UT related, but. I really wanted to lmaooo— here’s my faeu self insert (post-turned-fae!)

Faeu is by @/antlered-prince

[voided-peach]

“Before there was time, before there was anything, there was nothing. And before there was nothing, there were monsters.” -The Lich

[helpmeimblorboing]

“We want more unambiguously evil characters !!”Babe you can’t even handle the morally grey characters you HAVE

[prideprejudce]

the more i think about Oppenheimer the more disappointed i get because at its core it’s such an interesting story to tell. like the whole manhattan project catapulted the entire world into a new atomic era that we could never go back from whether we were ready for it or not. and the fallout from the project not only changed and devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of people (including of course the victims in hiroshima and nagasaki + the people living in new mexico where they tested the bomb) and the continued generational trauma of the bombs. also just the general mass panic and fear that the Cold War instilled into every citizen in the states who were literally waiting to one day be just annihilated by a nuclear attack. the whole creation of the atomic bomb had so much impact on the world. so doing a deep character study of both oppenheimer and his colleagues on the moral ambiguity of their work in the project and the outcome of it is such a great movie concept. but the film didn’t feel like that at all. instead Nolan gave us the watered down story that he’s best at and spent almost three hours forcing us to watch whether oppenheimer had to lose his disneyland government fast-pass due to his communist ties or not (spoiler: he does) and how strauss doesn’t like him because he got his feewlings hurt once. all the other scientists and physicists were given one or two minutes of screen time and were really just names to a face. the actual bombs creation was given a sidelong glance and trivial explanation at best. and of course to tie it all off the main female side characters were either naked/having sex for 80% of their screen time or was given the character depth of a piece of tissue paper

[fromtheseventhhell]

I can tell I'm Arya-pilled to the max because I'll see other Arya stans talking about the questionable morality of her executing Daeron and I'm just like "That was so Lady of Winterfell-coded"

[merilles]

May Le Fay

(For @queer-ragnelle's May Day Parade!)

The Queen of Avalon in all her sorceress glory with a raven companion, illuminated by the light of the stars and a crescent moon. Woe to any knight-errant who happens to come across her in the darkness of the forest!

[paradoxlemonade]

We are in a category 2 autism even about Skyblock kingdoms with an unconfirmed but high probability of advancing to a category 3. Followers are urged to seek shelter or become one with the storm, as damage to the Tumblr blog is likely.

[phantom-z0ne]

“She was conflicted. Ever since last month, she has been having these strange visions. At first, Brooklynn just thought it was just a dream or that her imagination was getting the best of her. But more and more, those visions played out faithfully right in front of her eyes. A child losing hold of their stuffed animal and dropping it into the mud, a man getting splashed with roadwater by a speeding car.  As she began to realize that it wasn't just a hallucination, the visions seemed to grow in length and occurrence, plus the increase of gravitas in the situations she foresaw. Brooklynn shivered at the amount of coverups she had witnessed unwillingly, wishing to bleach many of the crime scenes from her mind.” Or, With her new ability to see into the future, Brooklynn Banks sets out to help her fellow Gothamites. Gathering allies and making enemies, huge waves lie just under the surface of Gotham’s underbelly. Will she let her decision consume her life and face the repercussions? Or will she ascend in notoriety and come out unscathed?

Chapter 1: October 20, 20XX

Her phone sat heavily in her hand, the small light blinking innocently at her. Brooklynn sighed, shoving the damn phone in her pocket.

She was conflicted. Ever since last month, she has been having these strange visions. At first, Brooklynn just thought it was just a dream or that her imagination was getting the best of her. But more and more, those visions played out faithfully right in front of her eyes. A child losing hold of their stuffed animal and dropping it into the mud, a man getting splashed with roadwater by a speeding car. 

As she began to realize that it wasn't just a hallucination, the visions seemed to grow in length and occurrence, plus the increase of gravitas in the situations she foresaw. Brooklynn shivered at the amount of coverups she had witnessed unwillingly, wishing to bleach many of the crime scenes from her mind.

She couldn't even control it when it happened, the visions appeared at any time it wished. It was inconvenient at best and troublesome at worst. Brooklynn had even broken one of her favorite mugs and accidently hurt herself because a vision suddenly materialized!

Even her family was beginning to notice something was wrong. They remarked about her becoming more absentminded and distant, worrying about how she was doing lately. Brooklynn just brushed off the concerns, stating that she had a rough couple of days and she would be fine soon. It was true that she was having a tough time acclimating to the visions and what occurred in them. She didn't mind some of the lighter-hearted visions, those of which small mishaps occurred in a person's everyday life, but dreaded the appearance of visions that showed her someone's brutal murder. 

She was used to seeing some violence, she lived in Gotham for goodness sake, but murder wasn't something she was comfortable seeing. Of course, she saw the after effects, ghosts who roam around Gotham after having been murdered. They were surprisingly open to talk about said murders and who committed them. Brooklynn guessed it was the fact that she was willing to anonymously report it that made them so eager to tell her. They just wanted justice for their deaths after all.

Brooklynn managed to trace the beginning of the visions to when she pricked her finger on a strange figurine. The figurine, which she found in the alley near her house, looked old. Some pieces of it were chipped and rusty, others broken off entirely. Brooklynn had bet that if she cleaned it up nicely, it would have gleamed in the light. The pose it was in however, was odd. The figurine covered its eyes with its hands, while another pair of hands were cupped in front of it as if it was begging.

Of course, it intrigued her, and when she brought it home with her to restore it, she managed to hurt herself with it. With the pain in her finger brought forth a splitting headache that came out of nowhere, at least she thought so at the time. At that same moment, the figurine gained several more cracks, many of which Brooklynn fixed up when her headache wasn’t present anymore and her finger wrapped up. 

The next couple of weeks alerted her of the strangeness her life became after her encounter with the figurine, from which she deduced that the figurine was somehow magic. It looked much too old to be any type of technology, and she was sure it was made entirely of wood. Thus, magic. She guessed that the magic interfered with her meta gene, the ability to see and interact with ghosts, and somehow altered it for her to be able to see into the future.

Despite not being able to control the visions, Brooklynn wondered about the possibilities. Perhaps if she pushed the man further into the sidewalk, he wouldn’t have been splashed with roadwater and taken his frustrations out on another person. Or if she grabbed the stuffed animal the child dropped, the child wouldn't have cried and caused a startled worker to fall from her ladder in surprise.

It was those thoughts that led to Brooklynn sitting in her room, phone in hand, feeling unsure about what to do. Should she help the city out and post future occurrences with the possibility that she would be tracked down if it went against some strangers’ plot? Or should she just keep her head down and pretend to not see the visions, rejecting a freshly blossomed part of her?

“Brooklynn! It's time for school! Come down and eat!” A voice shouted from down the stairs. 

“Okay, Destiny!” Brooklynn yelled back, resuming dressing herself. Smoothening her uniform vest, she headed down the stairs, passing her sharply dressed sister, Destiny. She made a face at Destiny who returned it with a silly expression. They both laughed at their expressions before Destiny gave her a light swat on the arm. “Mom already left for work. Go eat, doofus, or you’ll be late.” 

“Alright, alright.” Brooklynn rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. She finally joined her brother, Jayden, at the breakfast table while Destiny went up the stairs to her room. Shoveling down her mother’s amazing cooking in a few bites, Brooklynn went to wash her plate and drink a cup of water. She grabbed her bag when she was done, locating her laptop and shoving it in along with her charger and respirator mask. You never knew when Scarecrow or Joker decided to strike. Better safe than sorry, her father always said.

Brooklynn checked her watch, noting that they only had twenty minutes till the bus arrived, though knowing Gotham, it would either arrive ten minutes early or two hours late. Jayden finished his food, humming as he washed his dishes. Brooklynn grabbed their bikes and carried them to the front door, careful not to let them touch the clean floor. Mom hated when they tracked their muddy bikes on the floor after she cleaned them. She sat down on a step, lacing up her shoes next to Jayden who was doing the same. 

Only one last step left. She gently strapped the respirator mask onto his face. Jayden was especially susceptible to Gotham’s pollution, his weak lungs unable to properly filter the ever-present smog. Then, it was time to go.

They were lucky that day, the bus decided to arrive earlier than expected. Some days, they had to wait an extra twenty minutes before deciding to bike to school. Those days, they were usually late. Jayden chattered excitedly next to her, content with her entertaining him with one or two worded answers. Brooklynn focused on watching the world pass outside the window, still turning over the thought of her visions over in her mind.

All too quickly, their stop arrived. Brooklynn unloaded their bikes from the front of the bus, handing one to her brother. While both of them attended Gotham Academy, grades K-8 had a separate building than those who attended 9th to 12th grade. The building was to the right and further down the road to the high school building.

Dropping Jayden off with a kiss to his head and instruction on when to take the respirator off, which he rolled his eyes to, Brooklynn watched Jayden until he entered the building, then set off for her own school. On the way there, she recognized a few faces, waving at them in greeting. Those who weren’t among the living, however, she simply nodded at. No need for others seeing her wave at an empty space, she didn't want to be labeled as crazy just yet.

Her first step into the building and Brooklynn fought back a disgusted face. Ugh, the first person she saw just had to be Alexander Stone. She wasn't sure what she had done to offend him that first week of school, but ever since, he hated her. He went out of his way to let her know it too, discrediting her to staff and students, vandalizing her locker, and just doing what he could without being caught. She tried to avoid him as best she could, but sometimes there were just situations where she couldn't, like now.

She quickly walked by him, making sure not to look in his direction and alert him to her presence, and said hello to Victor Moore, her classmate she was somewhat close to. A sudden weight on her back along with the pitched voice saying her name informed Brooklynn of her friend's presence. As she spun around to catch her balance, Brooklynn’s eyes were covered, the voice behind her asking, “Guess who~?”

In the most deadpan voice Brooklynn could muster, she said, “Hello, Max.” 

The hands withdrew and a pouting redhead entered her vision, “Aww. How did you guess so fast?”

“Maybe it's because you do this every morning?” Aaliyah said primly, appearing behind them while Brooklynn straightened her rumpled vest. 

“I’ve got to make my entrance special somehow.” Max said humorously, crossing her arms and cocking her hips, eliciting a smile from her two friends. 

Aaliyah frowned peering closer at Brooklynn, “Are you okay? You look tired.”

Brooklynn opened her mouth to reply before she was cut off by Max, “She’s right, Lynn. Are you feeling sick? Headache? Nausea?” 

“I'm fine. Just couldn't sleep last night. We’re going to be late if we don't hurry.” Brooklynn pointed out, lightly swatting Max’s hand away from her forehead. She didn't need her watch to know, there weren’t many people left in the halls, only a couple groups like them lingered. 

They said their goodbyes before separating as they had different homeroom classes. Max gave them both crushing hugs and advised her to drink some water and go to the nurse’s office if she needed to. Brooklynn lightly agreed before heading off to class.

Brooklynn skulked into the classroom from the back door and slid into her seat, unnoticed except to her seatmate, Joseph Hayes. He gave her a small nod, to which she returned with a smile. 

Classes flew by quickly, the teachers droning on monotonously about subjects they already learned. Brooklynn’s only reprieve was during lunch when she chatted with her friends, but even then, her undecided decision weighed on her. The evening classes went about the same as the mornings, boring Brooklynn despite her extensive notes. Even her favorite class, Anatomy, couldn’t rouse her attention for more than a couple minutes. 

The ending bell shocked her out of her thoughts, blinking a couple of times as her classmates moved around her. She quickly packed her notes into her backpack and lugged it over her shoulder, making her way through the crowd to the entrance. 

Waving goodbye to her departing friends, Brooklynn quickly grabbed her bike from where she stored it and made her way to Jayden’s building. Jayden stood at the entrance of the building with his bike, smiling as he spoke excitedly with another student. The student stood with his back straight and his arms clasped behind his back, a solemn expression on his face. He was oddly familiar, Brooklynn felt as if she should know him.

Rolling up to the pair, Brooklynn began to speak when she noticed the cracked eaves above them. Her eyes widened, remembering suddenly where she saw her brother’s new friend from. Dismounting her bike, she grabbed both of their arms and shoved them out of the way of falling concrete. The boy's disgruntled expression shifted as he eyed the broken pieces of concrete that landed where he stood just moments before. Jayden blinked in shock, still processing what had happened.

“Are you two alright?” Brooklynn asked worriedly, checking over her brother before she turned to his friend. He took a step back, brushing his vest clean from any dust he could find. “I am fine.”

“How did you spot that so quickly?” Jayden asked, his eyes shining as he stared at his sister. 

Brooklynn let her hands fall to her sides and looked at the pile of concrete. This was one of her earlier visions which is why it took her so long to realize. If she did, her brother's bike would have survived the encounter. It laid broken on its side, small pieces of concrete still atop it. “I was just lucky that I looked up. Who knows what would have happened if it didn't.”

The child frowned and crossed his arms, huffing, “We would have been fine without your aid, woman.”

Brooklynn blinked at the hostility, “Ah. You are…?”

“Oh! I can't believe I forgot!” Jayden said, facepalming, “This is Damian, my new friend.”

“We are anything but friends!” Damian scowled. Brooklynn’s lip twitched at their back and forth. Clearly, this one had trouble admitting his true feelings. She doubted he would stick around her brother if he truly didn't like him.

“Well, we have to go. It was nice meeting you Damian, even if the circumstances weren’t as great.” 

Damian pursed his lips and nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Banks.” He turned on his heel and marched away, Jayden waving goodbye enthusiastically. Cute kid, Brooklynn thought.

“Cmon Jayden, grab your bike and let's go. Let's hope it can be fixed by the local mechanic.” Brooklynn added on as an afterthought, lifting her own bike upright. Jayden pouted at his broken bike and agreed, wheeling it over to her.

The walk to the bus station was filled with the sound of a squeaky wheel, it was a relief to finally board the bus and be rid of that sound. The ride home went by surprisingly quick, Brooklynn lost in thought. 

In her vision, she was sure that Damian dodged the falling concrete by himself. Yet today, things went differently. She helped despite the fact that she knew he would have been fine. Perhaps the specific details don’t matter to her new ability? The end goal stayed the same, Damian remaining unharmed, so perhaps it didn't matter that she interfered? Or maybe because it was her that intervened that made the vision obsolete? After all, she could see into the future and saw that specific event. She couldn't be sure though. At least, not without testing the limits of her new powers.

The bus rolled to a stop and Brooklynn helped unmount the bikes from the bus. It was only a couple minutes walk before they arrived home, their mother welcoming them enthusiastically. 

“Mom!” Jayden whined, trying and failing to stop his mother from kissing his cheeks. Brooklynn laughed under her breath, feigning innocence when her brother pouted at her. Her mother moved on to Brooklynn, hugging her tightly. Brooklynn squeezed her mother just as tightly, pleased to see her after her long day. Jayden took his mother’s distraction to dart to his room. 

“What’s got you so excited?” Her mother, Imani, laughed. They separated, Imani looking her daughter over in appraisal. Whatever she was looking for, she deemed it satisfactory with a smile. 

“Nothing. I just missed you.” Brooklynn grinned bashfully, “We don't see you as much now that you’ve got that new job.”

Imani grabbed Brooklynn’s hands, holding them in her own. “Oh Brooks, baby, you know I'll be here in the afternoons.” 

Brooklynn hummed in agreement, “I'm just used to seeing you earlier in the day. The change is… weird, I guess.” 

Imani narrowed her eyes in thought, “I can’t switch jobs again since this one pays well…” She brightened, an idea forming, “But we can't spend more time together! How about next week, Saturday. We’re all free then, right?”

“I think so. Jayden doesn't have practice next week and neither do I. We’ll have to ask Destiny though.” Imani gestured with her hand as she looked here and there, eventually marching over to the kitchen to grab a notepad, Brooklynn trailing behind her. She scratched down a couple of ideas before turning to Brooklynn, “What do you think we should do?”

“Umm.” Brooklynn paused, thinking of places they should go for the outing. She picked the first that came to mind. “The park?”

Imani tapped the end of her pen on her chin contemplatively. “Hmm. That’ll depend on whether Poison Ivy is running loose or not, but I'll add it to the list. Anything else?” 

“The Zoo and Aquarium was fun when we last went. Or maybe the Observatory. Jayden would love that. You know how much he loves stars.”

“Those are definitely some good ideas. We’ll have to check if the Observatory is open on the weekends though.” Imani nodded, noting down the places.

“Why are we checking if the Observatory is open? Are we going somewhere?” Destiny asked, closing the front door behind her. She shucked off her shoes and walked behind Imani, holding her mother in a quick hug. Imani caressed her daughter’s face in greeting without looking away from her notepad. “We’re planning a trip next Saturday, are you free then?”

“I’ll have to check, but I might be.” Destiny placed her head on her mother’s shoulder, peering at the notepad. 

Brooklynn smiled at the domestic scene, soaking in the presence of her family. Her smile waned at the thought of those in her visions who were suddenly cut off from their family for a variety of reasons. Some were unfortunately murdered, their lives cut short, or witnessed the death of a family member. Others were separated from siblings and family from corrupt officers and thrown in detention centers.

“Is something wrong?” Imani asked, giving Brooklynn a look at her sudden frown. Destiny looked over too, raising an eyebrow in question.

“It’s nothing. I just forgot about the homework I was supposed to turn in. I’ll go and do it now.” Brooklynn beat a hasty retreat, her sister and mother sharing a bewildered glance behind her.

Brooklynn flopped face forward on her bed after locking the door behind her, letting out a groan of frustration. It was obvious that the right thing to do was to post the contents of her visions and help others. But some of the things she could post would just paint a target on her back. She didn’t want her family to get into harm's way because of her. 

She would have gone straight to the Bats with her information, but she had no idea how to contact them. They would’ve been able to help others faster, but she doubted it would be as widespread than if she just posted it for all to see.

Still, there was the matter of the account she makes being trackable. She bought an older model phone for that, with the hopes that it would be harder to trace than her WaynePhone. She doubted that an older phone would make it completely untraceable, but at least lessen the likelihood of her identity being exposed. She made sure to turn it completely off and take out the sim card each time she used it. 

Brooklynn sighed, resting her head on her arms. Who was she kidding? It was obvious that she would post her visions eventually. Otherwise, why else would she buy the second phone and go through so many precautions while using it?

She reached over to her bottom drawer, pulling out a small, discreet pouch and rifling through it. She took out a thick sock, removing her second phone from the layers of cloth. Grabbing the notebook and pen that sat on her drawer, she flipped the notebook open to a blank page, setting the phone on the next page. That notebook was the one that she used to keep track of her visions. 

Brooklynn penned down all the visions she had in the past two days, piecing them together with her older visions to figure out the approximate timeline of events. Many of her visions came out of order, but she had some clues. For example, the star of her recent vision had been reading a newspaper before vines attacked the populace. The newspaper was dated for the 28th of October, so assuming he was reading it the same day it was printed, then Poison Ivy would attack next Saturday. The same day her family would go on an outing…

Brooklynn shook her head, returning to her self-appointed task. She had to make the timeline and post it, for the safety of her family and Gotham. The task took hours, Brooklynn having to double back and redo some points of her timeline due to misinterpreting something or putting it in the wrong space. Her mother knocked on the door to call her for dinner, having to wrangle her down to the table when she didn't come in time. 

Eventually, she managed to make a rough timeline of events, though it was missing a couple visions that she couldn't make the date out of. What surprised her while making it was the fact that she didn't only see into the future, she saw into the past too. One of her visions, she dated back to the early 1900s, the architecture, slang, and outfits made it pretty obvious. Another was closer to her time, taking place in the late 1990s, showing the marriage of a lovely couple that sadly ended in tragedy. She managed to track down the actual cathedral where the ceremony took place, along with the names of the couple. 

Her timeline ranged from the 1800s to far in the future, the 30th century! Honestly, Broklynn didn't expect humanity to survive that far, least of all as such an advanced civilization. Though, those visions in the 30ths century ranged from few and far between. 

Finally, it was time to compose a coherent post, using only the information that she learned about the next day. It was easier than she thought to compile the info and write it out, since nothing big happens tomorrow. All she had to do now was create the account. 

Brooklynn unlocked the phone with a complex password she worked hard on to memorize, and paused. What social media platform should she use? She knew making her own blog would be putting too much energy into something that would have little payoff. Should she try Chirper? The algorithm there would make sure that her posts would go out to as many people as possible. Or maybe Tumbler, since the formatting and customization was very nice. She’ll just do both, she decided after some thought. It’ll spread her posts even farther if it's on both websites.

The name she chose was inspired from greek mythology, of which she was always a fan of. She always felt connected to the Oracle of Delphi since she could also see what others could not, but now it seems their similarities were more substantial. 

All that was left was posting her vision. Brooklynn’s hand hovered over the post button, she prayed she was doing the right thing. 

@PythiaPredicts 

Good evening Gotham! I am your bearer of news, Pythia. Tomorrow, Saturday October 21, there is a 100% chance of rain, so make sure to bring your umbrellas or find shelter until the rain stops at around 3 pm. For the temperature, highs are in the forties and lows in the mid tens. However, with windchill in effect, expect the temperature to range from about 35 to 21 degrees Fahrenheit.

Big news for tomorrow is that Wayne Enterprise will announce their collaboration with the Department of Public Utilities to create a project that will clean our waters. The waters that are planned for decontamination are the Gotham Bay, Gotham River, Sprang River, and the Finger River. The program will create new jobs and pay an astounding 23 dollars per hour for every worker. This project will run for the course of three years, even less if the amount of workers is high enough. Please keep this offer in the back of your mind. After all, who doesn't want a cleaner Gotham?

Another smaller, yet just as great, news is a new cure for the recent strain of Joker Venom will be released tomorrow afternoon. The co-creators of this, which will not be named for their wellbeing, have managed to create a cure that will reach pharmacies tomorrow at the low, low price of just 10 dollars per bottle. If you or a loved one have come in contact with the most recent strain of Joker Venom, I urge you to buy a bottle if you are unable to afford hospitalization.

Some not so great news is that the rogues Killer Croc and Mad Hatter are still at large and unlikely to be caught anytime soon. Let us just hope that our protectors will find them soon and without any harm to the general public.

And finally, a new book shop in Cherry Hill will be opening for its first day tomorrow. If you are interested in cozy places to read and classical books, make sure to give it a visit soon at 4179 Otterford Road.

— Yours truly, Pythia

Not much goes on in this but I wanted to introduce some plot points and recurring characters and settings. Don't worry, this fic will have canon characters as the focal point, I just needed to flesh out the people in Brooklynn’s life.

Wow, Imani just steamrolled her way into this chapter. She wasn't even meant to appear, she was supposed to be mentioned only!

As far as I can tell, Chirper is the in-universe name for Twitter(or X) and I couldn't find an in-universe name for Tumblr, so I just called it Tumbler, as in from the inspiration for tumblr, tumblelogs.

Characters introduced in order are:

Brooklynn Banks - our main character!! 18 years old, She/Her, Black

Destiny Banks - 25 years old, She/Her, Black

Jayden Banks - 12 years old, He/Him, Black

Alexander Stone - 18 years old, He/Him, Caucasian

Victor Moore - 17 years old, He/Him, Spanish

Maxwell “Max” Shepard - 17 years old, She/Her, Scottish

Aaliyah Price - 17 years old, She/Her, Black

Joseph Hayes - 16 years old, He/Him, French

Damian Wayne - 13 years old, He/Him, Chinese/Arab/White

Imani Banks - 43 years old, She/Her, Black

Masterpost | Chapter 2 >>

[probablyaparadox]

Shanks’ crew is really out here taking out every punk aesthetic pirate they see what did the punks ever do to you dress better than you???

[enchantrum]

aright so this is what I'm talking about

guys there's literally no reason to put stuff like this in the tags lol!

for those who may not understand tumblr culture: character specific tags are utilized mostly by FANS of the character to discuss the character, search out meta, or look for art and fic.

it's considered bad etiquette to post character hate into the tag for the character. but with characters who have a lot of people who hate them (like Emp), this is very hard for us to self-police. it's especially annoying because it can lead to the tumblr algorithm placing these posts directly into our timelines because of how they're tagged.

literally every day we see a handful of the exact same post:

[screenshots of Emp with someone's character.]

caption: god I fucking hate him I'm going to kill him soon grrr!!

even ignoring the bad-etiquette part of it, you're basically just spamming the tags with a post that's been made 1000s of times?

it's not at all conductive to building discussion or community.

squidfuckers are gently requesting you all stop doing this lol.

[soft-cryptids]

Ezra, Prospect (2018).

[spearsndragons]

rhaegar and elia + richard siken

inspired by sunset embers’ portrayal of rhaegar and elia’s marriage

was rereading crush by richard siken and i realized i subconsciously based the portrayal of their relationship based on many of siken’s works LOL (the “keeping the bullet” part is soooo elia)

also… why am i suddenly inspired to update sunset embers?