#stopped clock au

[salemoleander]

Joel is lounging around on Potato Pier, evening darkening to purple as Jimmy and Grian argue about something stupid in the background. He dips a hand in and out of the water elevator, in and out, and again; and after every splash he's seeing the same numbers.

"Time's stopped," Joel says absently. The lulling noise of the background conversation grinds to a halt.

"Sorry, what?" Jimmy asks.

"I said, the blimming-" Joel realizes what he's saying as he says it, snapped from dreamy to alert in a moment. Grian's head whips up.

Jimmy looks down at his own arm. "The time's stopped. The time has stopped? Grian?"

Already reaching for his comm, Grian says with a forcedly casual tone, "No it hasn't."

Then he blanches, eyes flicking over the screen.

"WHAT."

Joel snorts and looks out over the map. No one is noticeably freaking out yet- the only group he can see out and about this late in the day is the Clockers, busy fixing up the cliff face on their side of the No-Man's-Land with Pearl and BigB. He watches as Bdubs falls in the chicken pit for the umpteenth time. Joel snickers.

He looks up, and catches sight of Grian's expression. He stops snickering.

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

"What do you MEAN," Cleo yells, "that the clocks have stopped?" One of their arms is looped firmly around Scar's shoulders, which seems prudent given his tendency to wander off and either explode or kill whoever he bumps into. He still looks slightly singed from earlier, giving an overall impression of a puppy that cannot be left alone with electric cords.

Slumped against a rough stone wall reloading a crossbow, Joel scoffs. "What do you bloody well think it means?"

"HEY," Bdubs exclaims, "Don't talk to-" Aaand he's in the horse pit.

"It's fine Bdubs." Cleo rolls her eyes. "My fault. What I meant to ask is, why are you-" she points to Grian, who squawks, "-telling us about it? Why aren't you just fixing it?"

"Well he can't, can he?" Jimmy pipes up from his seat at the dining table. "Else he would. He's in here with us, though."

Cleo doesn't stop staring at Grian, and boy is Joel glad he's not Grian right now. Both because being himself is obviously the best option always, and because an angry Cleo is a very scary Cleo.

Reluctantly, slowly, Grian nods. "I can't fix it."

No one says anything.

The dripping from the ceiling to the floor makes Joel think someone really ought to fix up the roof. They'll have the time for it, he reckons. Then Joel remembers that the Bad Boys had, in fact, bombed the clocktower not an hour before, and decides now is really not the time to mention it.

Finally: "I really can't. It's not-" Grian sighs. "I set this thing up. It can run just fine on autopilot, pretty much. If I were on the outside as an admin-" he grimaces, "...like I should be, it wouldn't be an issue. But it's like the pilot is locked inside the bathroom while the plane-" Grian stops talking.

"Crashes? While it crashes." Cleo sounds displeased. Joel starts drafting an obituary. Bdubs has clambered up from the horse pit by now and is sitting on the edge of it, nervously messing with a janky old pocket watch.

"I would really prefer not to be stuck in an airplane bathroom forever," Scar says forlornly.

"Oh for goodness' sake," Joel says. "There has to be someone on this server who can fix this. Grian can't be the first idiot who's ever done something this stupid."

"I'll take that bet," Bdubs mutters darkly. Cleo shoots him a look, and he raises both hands and scoots forward to disappear down into the horse pit again.

Cleo pinches the bridge of their nose. "Alright, let's go find out if someone else on this server has already been a bigger idiot than Grian."

(Part 1)

[iamhereinthebg]

I LOVE THEM SM THE CLOCK KEEPERS FAM AAAAH

Mirai is so cute here I am ascending

Anyways, I will be honest I have some mixt feeling rn :00

About the clock keepers themselves?? I don't have that much fear tbh, they are supernaturals in their boundary, and contrary to number 3 they don't have hearts that Tsukasa or anyone else can consume. I think they will be fine (or I am being delusionnal to protect myself, you choose rip) I love them very much they will always live in my heart.

I was REALLY not happy with chapter 109, having to be focused on little crumbs was really hard when I have been waiting for their focus for more than 4 years. Having the joke that is chapter 109 absolutely destroyed me, they are my fav mysteries and I want something good for them, unfortunately I am not sure they will get it.

Chapter 110 gave me some hope because yes what is happening is not normal, and I am glad it was adressed. For me it was obvious af it' wasn't, but I really needed confirmation from the author to be sure.

I have always said that the clock keepers were unique and Teru confirms it in this chapter with the official translation:

'The clock keepers are clearly unique even among the school mysteries, and go beyond the average supernaturals'

They are n°1, the only mystery with three beings in it and with a human, one of the last two mysteries left with the other one being the main focus on the manga. Of course something is strange with how they are treated right now. What is happening?

None of them used their time powers expect for Mirai once as the judgment. The stuff they are saying to punish Tsukasa seems more like jokes and they aren't treating the trial as they should be (but this may be just because chapter 109 is bad af lol). Mirai can litteraly see the future if she wants to.

The owls, their shikigami/familiars don't move at all when their masters are attacked, they are in their own boundary, their shrine. Maybe their powers are related to the clock Natsuhiko destroyed (and I would be sad af if this is the reason and nothing can be done) we just don't know what is happening. Do they have a plan? Are they playing a part (which would be funny because some stuff about the clock keepers are related to theaters and plays) Did someone forced them to do something? We don't know anything about the clock keeper, them being in the same spot as n°6 before we got to his story.

We just know they are special among the mysteries, they are the oldest ones, Kako and Mirai are made of gears and a human has a seat in it.

I am pretty sure Teru had this conversation with Akane here because he knows the clock keepers are special.

The two mysteries being the more visible here being the god of death and the clock keepers.

It's also the only mystery Hanako didn't want to destroy right away because they could be useful. All mysteries had their yorishiro destroyed/were planned to be destroyed once they got students in danger. (expect for Tsuchigomori who just, accepted it as a precaution rip) The clock keepers are the only ones who got a free pass on this even after getting the whole school involved.

Their powers are just above a lot of the others, and everyone know how useful it can be, so once again why aren't they using it?

Not caring about their yorishiro is also super strange. Especially when the one the most against Hanako's plan to destroy the yorishiros in the manga is Kako.

A mystery has to choose a yorishiro to be a proxy of the gods, to be able to have this status.

They have to choose a yorishiro so they don't run away from the job, it's the thing the most important to them so they would never destroy it. They have to protect it. Teru assuming they don't care is just so so strange. Why wouldn't they? That's the whole point of what a yorishiro is! They even hide it in one of them as an extra precaution! A lot of things go against what has been established before for yorishiros it's just plain out suspicious.

Kako and Akane are also really really duty centered characters. Akane will do a job even if he doesn't want to if he is asked to do it and Kako is the one being represented as the observator over the mysteries to see if they are respecting their sworn duty.

I also don't know what to think about their yorishiro for now. What does it open? A door to another room? Is it to protect something? Is it to activate another automaton? Can it be related somehow to the old clock keeper of the present? (delulu land again)

Idk I am really curious. I really hope we won't have the answer right away though, they were defeeated way too quickly and I hope they have more stuff to them. We got Hakubo's and Sumire's story and a part of the Yugi twins beforec their yorishiro got destroyed, so I hope it will be the same for them. That we will have time to get to know them a little bit more.

And after all, neither Nene or Hanako want to destroy any more yorishiro for now, and Tsukasa apparently lost it at the end of the chapter (we can see the hand who had it being empty. But AidaIro has sometimes a problem of coherence with their right and left and objects disappearing and appearing which I can understand with the rythm they have to keep with the manga, so I am not sure)

I have a lot of fears about this tbh, because maybe AidaIro will just give us the reason why they are weak rn and continue the story without explaining anything about them, not giving them the spotlight I think they truly deserve. The worst for me would be they work for Sakura, I really really hope it's not this, but I am really scared :///

So I will go for this for now, even if this is really depressing for me, but I don't want to have my hopes up with how the writing have been really ups and downs since the start of this arc (the only good chapter for me being chapter 108).

I am still really intrigued by what is Akane's real duty and why is he so reluctant to do it but still does it? Why Akane said they had to do the trials now? Honestly I have a lot of questions and I know no matter what happens, the clock keepers make me super sad (in a good way) and happy at the same time. And this last chapter with Mirai and Akane was a blast (I am actually writing a whole document on them rn it's long I will link it later ahah)

I also wonder if any of the clock keepers can use the others' clocks or not? Does this mean like Kako can go full OP while using all three powers at the same time? (let's go grandpa give us everything) I am curious since they are a mystery where having an object is important for their powers (Kako and Mirai being able to use their with bare hands because they have their clocks on them, I can be wrong about it though)

We are also left with only Akane as n°1 rn and idk what it will mean for him.

So yes full of fears, but also I know I will find crumbs to go delulu on :DD I would try to stay full positive but with the focus being on Tsukasa and on how secondary characters rn are mostly as 'objects for the plot' (I mean, look at Nene :')) I can't really ://

But be sure, I will forever love the clock keepers even if the plots are not respecting them

[rosaacicularis]

thinking about writing a third act break up/make up scarian fic rn…… like where they both realise that they miss and love each other at the same time and their respective best friends have to tell the other “he just left to go find you” and when they finally meet back up it’s a passionate kiss and a breathless apology and confession and maybe it’s raining and maybe they don’t care and maybe they’re getting soaked but they’re laughing and they’re together……

[aftout]

I like drawing him with a ponytail because it makes no sense. Did you know that he’s an avid reddit user?

[missingmywing]

Much shorter today, but both soft and angsty.

Ryomina Day 2: Stargazing/First Kiss (Ao3 Link)

These are all going to be continuations of Day 1 because I wanna explore this au more.

The amount of flipflopping I did trying to figure out if it’s even possible to see the stars in Kyoto - even at the stargazing spots - was… a lot, and I still didn’t get a definitive answer. All the pictures I looked at said no, but I also acknowledge that cameras aren’t always great, and they are called stargazing lookouts on various tourist sites. And the game and movie both show stars at night so we’re going to set aside the potential realities of light pollution and say that you can. And the first day of the trip is a new moon too, so it’d be a waste not to take advantage of that.

The hiking trail Ryoji drags Minato up against his will:https://www.insidekyoto.com/shogunzuka-seiryuden-hike-chion-temple

Also as usual, the song I listened to while writing this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox7Wt6fsm_A

Ryomina to Kimi no Na wa is somehow even more devastating.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

Minato had never really gotten attached to things before this year - aside from the mp3 player and Death/Thanatos - so he didn’t really miss anything from his childhood. But the one good thing that he could admit to missing, if he thought about it, was wandering the streets of Inagawa at night and looking up at the stars.

The green distortion of the dark hour tended to obscure the light of the stars, but even when it didn’t the light pollution of Tokyo not far away - plus Tatsumi Port Island itself - largely blocked them out.

Which meant that when they went to Kyoto for the school trip, Ryoji apparently decided on his own that that meant they should sneak out and go to the nearby Shogunzuka Seiryuden Temple to see if they could see any. Apparently it was the best lookout in the city, and a good place to stargaze.

Minato had his doubts given how bright the city was, but Ryoji seemed excited so he didn’t argue and just let the Shadow-turned-Persona-turned-boy sneak them out of the inn on the first night there to drag him on the long walk to the foot of the temple, then the half hour hike up to the temple itself.

If it had been anyone else Minato would have been annoyed and turned around. Ryoji was very lucky Minato liked him so much.

… especially after those six days where he’d been convinced that he’d lost him after Thanatos just vanished from his soul before Ryoji just showed up to school (which he still hadn’t explained and probably wouldn’t).

But Ryoji hadn’t let go of his hand the whole time they’d been walking, fingers intertwined and arms swinging as he chattered about the various things he’d been doing and exploring around Iwatodai and Tatsumi Port Island in the ten or so days he’d been consciously physical. It was almost surprising to hear how much he’d been doing without Minato - it had felt almost like they’d been glued together since the moment Ryoji walked into class with a grin and flirty line.

(It had taken an enormous amount of restraint for Minato not to throw himself out of desk and storm up to the front demanding to know where he’d been - the sudden flood of emotions he’d been struggling with since Thanatos vanished and suddenly whatever emotional suppression effect he’d had on Minato had vanished along with him had been difficult - but he’d managed to limit his reaction to a narrowed-eyed glare. They’d all thought Aigis was going to break cover and shoot him on the spot before she’d managed to get her own instinctual reaction under control.)

But they still spent a decent amount of time apart, given how busy Minato was helping various Social Links and Ryoji flirting his way through getting to know the entire school - how he was doing that without getting murdered by half the school population Minato neither knew nor cared - so it shouldn’t have been the surprise it was to realize that Ryoji somehow knew an entire year’s worth of drama that he hadn’t been around for.

Minato really didn’t care about the breakups and revenge plots and planned confessions of various couples around the school but Ryoji looked like he was having fun so he let him talk and only partially tuned him out.

When he’d come on the Kyoto trip he really hadn’t expected to be dragged on a multi-kilometer hike, but… well it wasn’t awful. The air was chilly enough that he wasn’t hot, and the months they’d spent sprinting up floor after floor of Tartarus meant he could easily handle the hike.

It just would have been nice to have some forewarning - or even just taken a taxi up.

But Ryoji was determined to have as many experiences as possible in the three months they had before The Fall, and Minato couldn’t fault him for it.

No one could escape time, not even the two of them, so they might as well make the most of it.

The downward turn of his thoughts must have been apparent to Ryoji - of course they were, he’d spent ten years sharing Minato’s soul - because the boy squeezed his hand with a sad smile and then yanked him forward.

Minato yelped and scrambled to catch his balance, and then they were running. Sprinting up the stairs, chilly autumn air whipping at their cheeks and red leaves and stone path blurring around them as Ryoji laughed and led the way and Minato couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed as he rushed to keep up.

It was exhausting and exhilarating, the world blurring and fading away until all he could feel were the pounding of his heart and the slap of his shoes against the stone pathway and Ryoji’s hand in his, all he could see was Ryoji’s beaming smile and eerie two-toned blue eyes glowing in the dark.

When they finally reached the top Minato had to stop and double over to clutch at his side as he gasped for breath. Sometimes it was easy to forget just how not human Ryoji was.

There was a reason only Aigis could keep up with him.

“Sorry,” the Shadow-turned-boy offered sheepishly. “You alright?”

“F-Fine,” Minato panted. “Just… just give me… a minute…” Too many nights running from the Reaper had given him stamina at least, and the sudden thought made him snort.

Ryoji tilted his head questioningly.

Minato finally managed to straighten and begin to even out his breaths. “Usually I’m running away from the Reaper, not trying to catch up to him.”

That drew a startled laugh from Ryoji as he set his hands on his hips. “I’m not the Reaper! I mean I’m kind of similar I guess, but we’re still different! The Reaper doesn’t come from Nyx, I don’t think.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Not that I know of,” Ryoji shrugged. “I think it just comes from… elsewhere, like most Shadows,” he waved his hand vaguely in the air, “-and is drawn to places where Shadows gather.”

“Huh… well, you’re still kind of a reaper, even if you aren’t the Reaper.”

Ryoji stuck his tongue out at him. “Fair enough I guess. Now come on, we’re almost there!” He grabbed Minato’s hand and returned to pulling him forward towards the path opening up into the viewpoint area.

It was a small observational area overlooking the southern sector of Kyoto, and in the far distance he could even make out the glittering lights of Osaka in the clear, moonless night.

The important thing, though, was the endless expanse of stars above them that he hadn’t expected to see.

Minato stared wide-eyed, slowly walking forward towards the railing with Ryoji trailing behind him.

They weren’t quite as clear as they’d been in Inagawa, but they were there and sparkling like thousands of tiny fireflies in the far distance.

He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed being able to see them, and was even more startled by the sudden choking well of emotion rising from his chest to his throat and spilling out from his eyes. Was he really crying over the stars?

The sudden unpracticed ability to feel a full range of emotion again was becoming inconvenient.

He reached up to scrub at his eyes and tried not to jump when he felt arms wrap unexpected around his waist as Ryoji rested his chin on his shoulder.

“It’s fine, you know,” he murmured in his ear.

“They’re just stars,” Minato shot back, leaning into his hug. “They’re pretty, but it’s not worth crying over.”

“Isn’t it?” Ryoji countered. “You’ve missed them haven’t you. What wrong with that?”

… what indeed.

“It’s not like they’ve gone anywhere. I just couldn’t see them.”

“That doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to miss them.”

Minato had a feeling they weren’t just talking about the stars anymore.

Sighing, Minato reached down to intertwine their fingers. “It’s still annoying that I can’t control my emotions anymore.”

Ryoji snorted and pressed his face to Minato’s shoulder. “You mean that you have emotions again. You’ll get used to it - they aren’t bad.”

“Easy for you to say.” But Minato didn’t argue with him, just tipped his head back to stare up at the stars and try to remember the patterns of constellations. He could remember a few, tracing their paths with his eyes, and it was comfortable in the silence between them as he looked up at the twinkling lights in the sky and Ryoji looked down at the glittering lights of the city.

“It’s ironic,” Ryoji murmured finally. “I bet none of the scientists ever thought that the personification of Death could learn to value life, could learn to want to live and want humanity to live. I love you and I love them, and ten years ago I couldn’t have even imagined that I would be able to.”

Minato tightened his grip reflexively, trying to ignore the sudden burning behind his eyes and throat at the reminder. “I bet they’d be mortified,” he murmured. “Strega and Ikutsuki sure were.”

A wet laugh tumbled from the boy behind him. “Yeah, yeah they were. But I do. I do want to live. I want to live, and keep learning about people, seeing how they live and what they think. And I want to keep waking up every day with you and going down to the lobby to eat breakfast that Shinji made everyone while Yukari and Junpei argue and Akihiko and Mitsuru ignore them, and Fuuka tries to keep the peace while Ken sneaks Koromaru food from his plate, and Aigis tries to figure out why they’re arguing this time.” He was shaking, burying his face in Minato’s shoulder to hide his tears. “I want to stay with you forever, just like this.”

The tears had won the battle against Minato and they streaked down his face and turned the stars above them into a blur. He swallowed the knot in his throat and whispered, “Me too. I don’t want you to leave me too. I want to keep you here.” Wanted to drag Thanatos back into his soul, entwine them so strongly once more that he couldn’t leave him behind again. But they both knew he couldn’t - Ryoji’s very existence was proof that Death was whole once more, and a single human soul couldn’t contain Death without destroying itself.

But that didn’t mean he was willing to let go either.

Minato turned suddenly, startling Ryoji into loosening his grip, until they were facing each other. And it was a whim, a thoughtless, desperate motion to connect them once more that made Minato reach up to wrap his arms around Ryoji’s neck and pull him down to press their lips together for the first time. Ryoji froze for a moment before clinging more tightly to Minato’s waist and pulling him as close as he could.

And the kiss was awkward, wet with their shared tears and neither knowing what exactly they were supposed to do, but that wasn’t the point of it. Minato just wanted to be as close to him as he could in that moment, even if he couldn’t rejoin their souls. So it was awkward and desperate and not really good but it made him feel a little better to know it wasn’t just him.

That they were still the same even broken apart as they were.

When they pulled apart Minato tucked his head against Ryoji’s neck and just breathed. Ryoji clung to him just as tightly as he matched their breaths and they stood there. Together.

It wasn’t fair, none of it was fair, but they both knew that. There was nothing they could do about it - time came for them all in the end and they couldn’t close their eyes and cover their ears to hide from it. All they could do was live as much as they could until the end.

Minato found himself being dragged down as Ryoji suddenly fell backwards, until they were both sprawled on the concrete staring up at the stars once more. Minato’s arm was used as Ryoji’s cushion and his head was tucked against his shoulder and it wasn’t the most comfortable position but he didn’t want to move.

They just laid there, Ryoji occasionally pointing up to draw his attention to a constellation he either remembered or made up, and it was the calmest Minato had felt in weeks.

Time ticked ever onward though, and eventually Ryoji sighed and turned to press his lips to Minato’s head and murmured, “It’s almost midnight. Once the Dark Hour hits, I can fly us back.” His lips pulled up into a small smirk. “Save you the exhaustion of walking anywhere.”

Minato had complained about long walks to places before, even in his head, and while he didn’t hate exercise he wasn’t particularly thrilled with it either. Any other time he’d have been relieved at the offer.

But right here and now, in this extended fragile moment between them, with time ticking ever forward against them, he wanted to draw this out a little longer. Pretend for as long as possible that it was just the two of them and they had infinite time ahead of them.

So he just shrugged and said, “I can walk.”

Ryoji’s raised brow almost immediately morphed into understanding - of course it did - and his expression softened into something warm and pained. “If you’re sure. If we get back during the Dark Hour maybe Mitsuru won’t lecture us too badly about sneaking out.”

“And who’s fault was that?”

“I’ll take responsibility!”

“Somehow I don’t think that will save us,” Minato sighed, reluctantly sitting up. “We should go then. It’s around an hour to walk back so we’ll be cutting it close even if we leave now.”

“Good point. If we get too close I’ll just fly us the rest of the way, though.” Ryoji stretched his arms over his head and hopped to his feet, offering a hand to Minato. He accepted it and was pulled easily to his feet - but stilled as Ryoji suddenly too the opportunity to lean down and press another soft kiss to his lips. It was short, only a lingering moment, but something about it made his throat tight again and he pressed their foreheads together.

They lingered for another minute before reluctantly parting and turning to walk back.

The Dark Hour hit somewhere along the way, but alone on the trails with no coffins or Shadows around it felt distant and unobtrusive. The minutes stretched long and comfortable between them just as Minato had hoped they would, until they finally reached the city and its many coffins again.

They did not manage to sneak back to their room without Mitsuru noticing, but for once she didn’t lecture them. Just gave them a knowing look and told them not to sneak off under the teachers’ supervision. She looked… tired.

But then, most of SEES did after the harrowing few weeks and many revelations and near-fatalities they’d had.

They both reminded each other to rest at the same moment, and Mitsuru laughed softly as her expression lightened. It made something ease in his own chest.

They made it back to their room without further incident - other than Junpei made an excessive show of scanning them up and down as though looking for signs of indecency which made Ryoji wink and laugh and Minato throw a pillow at him - before finally collapsing on a futon and passing out.

He distantly heard Junpei trying to tease them for sharing a futon, but Minato was already falling asleep and Ryoji was more than capable of keeping up with Junpei.

He didn’t see the big deal - they’d technically been sharing a futon or bed for years whenever Death manifested, and Ryoji had basically moved into his room in the dorms by this point. But those two seemed to have fun with it so… whatever.

Minato was just satisfied to have Ryoji’s warmth against him as he fell into sleep.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

Much shorter, and more bittersweet than outright angsty than the last one. And very obvious Ryomina rather than implied.

It is still pretty sad though, I know, but that’s unfortunately what happens when you take an angst writer and ask them to try and write fluff.

So it may be obvious by now, but the idea is that this is an everyone lives/no one (on our side) dies route. Ikutsuki, Takaya, and Jin still die, but Shinji (if you want to reference my other fic Numb that’s basically what happens in this route, except add in some flashbacks towards his cousin too), Chidori, and Mitsuru’s father survive because as soon as Minato wakes up with SEES on crosses and Aigis under control he and Thanatos flip out and Ikutsuki ends up with the controller destroyed and himself very very dead.

Evokers might help with Persona evocation, but they aren’t necessary when someone gets in an unstable enough mental state and also has an excessively powerful and autonomous Shadow-turned-Persona in their head. SEES gets a little scared but Thanatos has gone rogue before and never attacked them so…

It’s a whole ordeal but Ikutsuki is the only one that ends up dead, so win?

(The “no one dies” thing does apply to Minato and Ryoji too though so there’s a lot of existential angst here for something that’s not going to happen. Minato and Ryoji are going to pull a Yu and Marie, and Ryoji’s going to absorb Nyx while Minato connects to the Universe and helps him fundamentally change how the draw towards humanity’s death works. Ryoji’s an eventual inevitable heat death situation for humanity somewhere along the line, but that’s so far into the future it’s not even foreseeable so it’s fine.)

[recurring-polynya]

Re: clock in captaon's office, i think byakuya just intrinsically knows the time via some finely tuned internal sense thanks to senbonzakura, but ONLY in the spring. When it's not spring he needs to look outside and calculate the angles of sunbeams and cast shadows and stuff. All of his subordinates can suck it bc if their soul pagers can check the time then why would he, kuchiki byakuya, ruin the perfect aesthetic of his office by installing something so crass as a clock. ~LexiLopezi

[int., Squad 6 Offices]

Byakuya: ...which made *me* three minutes late, and ruined the entire evening. I fear I can never have firefly squid again without thinking about it.

Renji: Y'know, I happened to mention your "perfectly calibrated inner timeclock but only in the springtime" thing to Akon at pub trivia the other night--

Byakuya: At what?

Renji: --and he said that probably what's goin' on is that you experience time funky.

Byakuya: I experience time correctly, Lieutenant.

Renji: No, no, see. Most of us, we're kinda hooked into the natural flow of time. Like during the winter, when time speeds up during the day and slows down at night, so we can rest more in the sleepy part of the year. But you feel time as this, like, steady beat, like this artificial order imposed on the universe. Which. You know. Tracks.

Byakuya: That sounds like, as Rukia would say, some hot nonsense. My sense of chronology is perfectly attuned with the vernal rhythm.

Renji: Yeah, because the equinox, which is in the spring, is when the day and the night are the same length, so it's the one time your weird brain clock happens to line up with the real one.

Byakuya: ...

Renji: Akon says that's actually how they keep time in the World of the Living. That's actually how time works in the world of the Living, atomic decay, so on and so forth. He says there's an entire team of people at the Twelfth whose job it is to try to keep our clocks synched with the ones in the World of the Living. He says you should come down and have a chat with them, they're real nice and they always have interesting snacks.

Byakuya: I really do wish you would stop fraternizing with that man.

[rexila-rites]

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: The Stanley Parable, Clock 0ut Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Stanley (Clock 0ut), The Narrator (Clock 0ut), The Curator | The Female Narrator (Stanley Parable), Mariella (The Stanley Parable) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Stanley's power is coming back to life just fine, extremely casual attitude towards death and dying, tactical use of resurrection, No Betas we die like Stanley, Partial Mind Control, they steal things, Eventual Relationships, god willing i mean you know how it is trying to make two characters do something, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Video Series: Clock 0ut (SAD-ist) Summary:

"I think you’re missing what Curator wanted out of you. You managed to walk out of her museum with something you shouldn’t have, and I suspect hiring you was more about giving you motive not to do that again than anything else.”

Stanley considered this, and concluded: “You’re just mad she dragged you back to work, aren’t you?”

Narrator said, “Curator is paying us both very generously,” and that seemed to be addressed to himself as much as it was to Stanley.

-

If you have super powers, why not don a mask and cause some trouble? Unfortunately, Stanley robbed the wrong museum, and now he's being put to work in the 'Special Acquisitions' department, stealing objects of great importance or power from private collectors and bringing them back to the safety and security of his new employer's museum.

Narrator has been trying to quit this type of work for years now, and yet, here he is. He's here to support and train the reckless new agent, and good god he already needs a raise.

--

Hey! Why not post the other fic i’ve been working on while I’m here?

This one is more of a collection of ‘episodes’ than a continuous storyline like Jailbreak! I have a few little bits written up that I’ll be posting over the course of this week, so stay tuned for more!

[bam-stroker]

y'all I really gotta come up with a proper name for this diner / motel au because I wrote some more and sweet lord. It's giving me 1950s house wife realness of the isolation of capitalism and idolization of a false American dream but like... they're a robot at a theme park cheap resort

Sun really is going through it y'all... I guess this one is gonna be my throws the blorbo in a jar and shakes them fic

[snugglebabylink]

hashtag family friendly

[senseiwu]

What if,,, matchy matchy

I don't know how tall 4 year olds are compared to 14 year olds

[salemoleander]

Chapter 2 of With Soul Intent

Ultimately, they decide as a group to head to TIES. Tango’s admin expertise and Etho’s everything-else expertise make them the clear people to start with, especially as they both also fall in the rarified category of ‘potential to make worse technical choices than Grian’. (Much of the delay in heading over was due to Bdubs, who kept interrupting the discussion to insist that Etho would never be that dumb.)

They’ve only just made it to the river bed when Pearl and Bigb pop out of seemingly nowhere to the side of the group.

“What’s all this then?” Pearl asks, the latter half of her question difficult to hear due to the matching screeches of surprise Bdubs and Joel emit. (Joel isn’t that surprised; he just thinks yelling is fun.)

Walking at the front of the group, Grian keeps moving, calling back, “Walk and talk, people, come on.”

Pearl rolls her eyes at the dismissal, staying stubbornly put, and turns her attention to Jimmy for an explanation.

“Server’s haunted,” Jimmy says solemnly.

“Sorry, what?” Bigb asks.

Joel nods, suppressing a grin. “Server’s haunted.”

Pearl and Bigb rotate their attention to Cleo, who is surreptitiously trying to fix their war paint, and mostly just spreading the blood and/or paint ominously over their cheeks. Joel approves of the look.

Cleo nods. “Yup, server’s haunted.”

“Oh, would you- it’s not haunted, guys,” Grian says, having fallen back when no one followed him. Muttering, he adds, “Ghosts would be way easier.”

“Um, why is the time stopped?” Bigb asks, nervously checking his wrist and looking around like it’s a prank one of them will cop to. Which, Joel has to admit, if he had admin privileges on here that is absolutely something he would do.

“Grian broke the server,” Scar says eagerly.

“I did not! Scar, that’s-“

“I regret going along with the joke now, congrats everyone.” Cleo sighs, aura of responsibility slightly undermined by half of her face being red now. Turning to the Neighbors, she says, “Clocks stopped, Grian is in here with us so he can’t fix it, we’re going to ask Tango or Etho for help because they’ve done weird admin tech stuff before. That’s all.”

“Also you can come with, if you like,” Jimmy pipes up. “Probably should, so if anything changes or we all need to weigh in we’re together already.”

Pearl and Bigb fall in behind their motley crew, and they continue the trek over to TIES Tower. Joel keeps a watchful eye on the group, as they bicker and joke their way forward. He’s not good at details, and can’t figure out who exactly is giving weird vibes, but something feels… off, and he keeps worrying the idea like a loose tooth. It feels tense, like the moment between making eye contact with an enderman and getting your ass beat by said enderman.

It could simply be the lack of time passing that’s putting him off-kilter. Standing to the side of the bridge waiting for the others to cross, he stares west at the setting sun. It lazes on the horizon, frozen in the sky like some great big ominous orange. Yeah, Joel reckons that could be it.

“TIESSS, where are ya?” Pearl calls, directing her yell vaguely in the direction of their underground base.

A muffled, agreeable response echoes up from below. The group shuffles unenthusiastically towards the edge of the sandbar, everyone looking down at the water and the faint light emanating from the hidden doorway they are all (by now) aware of.

“You know, everyone complains about the frog noses being creepy,” Bigb says, “but at least our door isn’t underwater.”

“UGH,” Joel says, and plunges into the ocean. It’s not terribly cold, but with the low angles of light from the sunset, and silt kicked up as others enter the water, visibility is terrible. He grabs onto kelp and seagrass, pulling himself over to the ‘secret’ entrance.

Emerging dripping seawater onto the stone floor, Joel spares half a moment to worry about pressure plates – but the ground is solid underfoot.

Someone shoves at his shoulder from behind, and he shuffles quickly forward to make way for Grian and the others. As everyone makes their soggy way in, Impulse emerges from a side hallway. Halfway to raising his hand in greeting, he freezes for a moment upon seeing the crowd of wet mostly-enemies.

“Uhhh, hey, what’s the idea here? I thought I heard Pearl ask to come in, not-“ he gestures to the packed hallway.

“I am here!” Pearl calls from the back, busy squeezing water out of her hair.

Grian marches a few purposeful steps forward, and Joel cocks his head when Impulse stays put. More guts than he’d have guessed.

“Impulse the server is messed up – time’s not working right now.” As Impulse raises his own wrist to check, Grian continues, “I was hoping to talk with Tango or Etho, see if they might know how to fix it.”

Impulse looks a bit crestfallen at this, and Grian awkwardly tacks on, “Or- or you, or anyone, I just thought-“

Cleo chimes in, “We didn’t think you’d ever been stupider than Grian, to have caused something like this before. You’re too sensible.” Despite their sardonic tone, Impulse brightens considerably at the addition.

“Well, I guess that kind of explains the entourage. Tango and Skizz are down mining, but Etho is-“ He stops.

“Etho is…?” Grian prompts.

A divot appears between Impulse’s eyebrows. Joel thinks it makes him look like some kind of weird, consternated fish.

“I’m not actually sure?” Impulse says, tone rising. “He was hanging around, but I don’t think I’ve seen him for at least a couple hours. Which is weird. Hey, as much as I love having a bunch of visitors who may be motivated to kill me, do you all have to be right here?”

“Impulse! I am shocked, shocked, that you would think our plans are anything less than gentlemanly,” Scar proclaims, picking back up the pressure plate he’s just placed down.

Cleo rolls her eyes. Then she blanches, which is concerning. Joel didn’t know zombies could blanch.

“Where’s Bdubs?” she asks, gently pushing Jimmy out of the way to look behind him, like Bdubs could’ve somehow gotten lost in the group like an errant suitcase.

Joel feels a jolt as he realizes – Bdubs has been gone for a while. “At least since the bridge, he’s been gone,” he says, feeling uncharacteristic concern. He wouldn’t normally care if Bdubs wandered off- or got killed, for that matter- but it feels… off, for him to do it when they’re dealing with an actual problem.

Impulse groans. “That’s gotta be where Etho is, too. Those two are-“ He shakes his head.

Grian raises a finger and starts to respond, when everything is cut short by the arrival of two chat messages.

Tango tried to swim in lava to escape Skizzleman

Skizzleman tried to swim in lava

The room around the corner and down the stairs is suddenly filled with sound.

“I am SO sorry dude, I didn’t mean to-“ That’s Skizz, voice strident and apologetic.

“Hey no, you’re go- We’ve got company.” Aaand Tango.

Impulse yells, “What happened?” down the stairs, and after a few moments they both emerge from the depths of the base.

Skizz looks chagrined, and Tango looks… Joel isn’t sure what Tango looks like. His expression seems blank, and then lurches suddenly into a grin.

“This goofball broke the wrong block, and my stupid flailing got us both killed! We're a bunch of- bunch a clowns!”

Standing near the back, Scar speaks up, confusion evident. “Why didn’t your timers go down?”

Scrambling to check, they both raise their wrists to reveal… well, Joel isn’t 100% what their times were before, because he’s only really been tracking his own, Grian’s, and Jimmy’s. But based on the shocked gasps Skizz and Tango give, Scar is right.

“Is that… expected, given the timers are paused?” Impulse asks Grian, who looks vaguely ill in the flickering torchlight.

“Not really,” he says. “It means- it means something is really broken.”

Everyone starts talking and yelling at once.

[ AO3 Link | Chapter 1 ]

[notxyourxdevilxdoll]

Til Death Do Us Part~

{Muse Bio | Rules | Mains | Headcannons/Verses/ AUs | Playlist}

[marbleheavy]

now what do i call the new fic

[aftout]

CHRIISTT DUDE IM THINNING ABOUT HOW ACC WANDA SUCCUMBS TO WHAT SHE DOES OUT OF LITERAL DESPERATION. IT WAS AN EPISOOODDEEE. HER GRANDMOTHER’S PASSING AND HER THERAPIST REMINDING HER THAT HER 40TH BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP SOON . REEMIIINDERS OF HER MORTALITYYY. SHE HAD A HICCUP IN HER HEALING PROCESS AND THE TIME TRAVEL FACTS JUST SO HAPPENED TO REACH HER IN THE WRONG MOMENT FUUUUCK. FUUUUCKK (takes a long drag from my cigar) FUUUUUUCKKKKK SHE’S SO AFRAID OF THE INEVITABLE SHE IS SO TERRIFIED OF CHANGE SHE KEEPS REVERTING BACK TO OLD WAYS BECAUSE SHE’S SO DESPERATE TO MAINTAIN HER YOUTH BECAUSE SHE IS SO SCARED OF DEATH FUCKKKKKK

[its-pip-art]

Stop The Clocks

Sasuke Uchiha x OC (Amaya Haruko) Teacher AU

Chapter One

Chapter Two

“Okay everyone, before you head out for lunch please remember I need your permission slips for the onsen trip.” Amaya announced with excitement and she was met with groans, “I know it’s not for another month but I still have almost half outstanding.” 

“I don’t want to go to an onsen! You should have chosen somewhere better!.” 

Amaya shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t want to spend four days with bratty kids but we all have to make sacrifices for knowledge.” Amaya was handed a few slips of paper from a student at the front desk. “Thank you, Aiko.” She looked back to the rest of the class, who were now packing their bags, “so I’m at twenty responses now. Ten more to go!” She spotted Sasuke in the doorway and she sighed, “all right guys, enjoy your lunch!” She dismissed them and watched a few of the girls swoon as they passed Sasuke. She packed up her things and met Sasuke at the door, “how was your morning?” 

Sasuke walked beside Amaya down the hall, “very good, the kids here are well behaved.”

“Jealous!”

Sasuke laughed and he changed the subject, “your class is going on a trip?

Amaya nodded, “if I can get all of their slips in - but yes, to an onsen in the north. We will be learning about myths and legends and how important they are within the culture.” 

Sasuke felt his stomach rumble, “I hope you have fun, an onsen in the winter is amazing.”

Amaya grinned and gave Sasuke’s arm a nudge, “I do need a helper. Nobody else wants to go.” 

Sasuke mulled the proposition and pictured Amaya sitting on the water's edge in a yukata. “I’ll come.” He watched as Amaya pumped her fists in the air and he was glad he agreed, her smile was wide and lit up her whole face. He walked with her into the staff room, which was mostly empty, he took his sandwich out of the fridge and sat opposite Amaya. He watched her tuck into a huge bento, he admired her appetite and began to wolf down his own fully packed sandwich. 

Lunch passed quickly, much to his displeasure, and soon he found himself at the adjoining doors again. “Thank you for lunch.” 

Amaya waved it off, “If I hadn't spent it with you old Satsu would have eaten you for lunch! She was very complimentary about you after the interview.” 

Sasuke snorted and leaned against the doorframe, “I’ll keep an eye out for her.” 

“I’ll protect you, don’t worry.” She glanced over her shoulder when a student passing by made kissing noises. “I’ll put you in detention, Haru!” 

Sasuke suppressed a grin at the harsh tone Amaya’s voice had taken on. He watched the student continue to mock Amaya and he made to step in but Amaya held out her hand. “Are you going to do anything?” 

Amaya shook her head, “he has already been suspended this month, and he has three other detentions.” Amaya said with a sigh, “he has a troubled home life, his mother passed away early in the year and his father has taken it hard.” She quietly explained as they both watched Haru wander off down the corridor, “he was the first to hand in his slip for the trip...” Amaya trailed off and looked back at Sasuke with a smile. “I’m hoping it will be a nice break for him.” She jumped when the bell rang and she shifted her bag on her shoulder. “I better-...”

“I should-...” Sasuke spoke in unison with Amaya and cut himself off when she did, he looked down and scratched his head. “I’ll see you later.” He bade farewell and passed into his classroom and looked at the bare desk, he had brought in nothing to symbolise his personality and he had thought throughout breaks in the lessons what he might bring in to add to the room.

Afternoon lessons passed quickly and soon the final bell of the day rang, he packed his bag and stifled a yawn - he had spent long hours on patrol and had seldom been tired, but today he felt more tired than he had ever been before. He packed his bag, put on his jacket and slung his bag over his shoulder. He flicked off the light to the classroom and went to Amaya’s door, he watched her through the window tidying her desk up, he knocked on the glass and opened the door when she waved him in. “I was thinking during the lesson - do you not drive?”

Amaya pulled a face and laughed to hide her embarrassment, “I took a few lessons when I was a teenager but I was too scared to carry on so I stopped.” Amaya admitted but she held up a determined fist, “I do want to give it another go though.” 

Sasuke waited for Amaya to put on her coat and he left the room with her, switching off the light behind them. “Do you enjoy getting the bus?” 

Amaya shrugged an idle shoulder, “in the summer it gets quite hot on the bus and on busy days you end up touching sweaty people and there’s something a bit wrong knowing your own sweat has been mixed with someone else’s sweat...but I do get to read or mark homework so you can make use of the time.” She explained with a slow nod, “I would not have to touch sweaty people if I could drive, but I wouldn’t be able to read or mark homework if I did drive - so it kind of balances itself out.” 

Sasuke digested her explanation and listened to her tell a particularly harrowing story about the time a man fell on her when the bus slammed on its brakes suddenly during a hot summer day and that he was so sweaty he slid off her in a way that made it seem like a planned comedy sketch. 

Before he knew it they were outside, the rain clouds from that morning had all but disappeared and the sky above them was red, purple and peach and the sun was sunk behind the school. Bathed in the warm light Sasuke looked to Amaya and smiled gratefully, “thank you for today.” 

Amaya smiled widely and shook it off. “It’s my pleasure.” She pocketed her hands and pointed over her shoulder, “I’m this way,” the bus stop was not far up the road. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“See you tomorrow, bus stop girl.” Sasuke opened up his car door.

Amaya waved, “later traffic guy!” 

***** 

Morning broke and Amaya flung herself out of bed, dressed quickly and made her way down the numerous flights of stairs that led to street level. She ambled down the road and felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She knew it was her friend, Kaori. She took the phone to her ear and wished her friend good morning. 

“How do you think you can get away with texting me ‘traffic guy is the new teacher and think I wouldn’t need way more information.” 

Amaya chuckled and looked down the path, “I don’t know much about him, his name is Sasuke and he used to be a police officer.” She heard Kaori shriek in response and was glad that she hadn’t been the only one impressed with his previous line of work.

“Is he muscly? You could never really tell when he was in the car.” 

Amaya ruminated for a moment, “he’s not jacked, he looks like he does go to the gym though.” She recalled being able to see some pretty nice biceps underneath his shirt. “He’s offered to come on the trip to the onsen.” 

“Are you serious?” 

Amaya giggled childishly but as she got to the bus stop she hushed her tone, “I doubt we will have a lot of time to get to know each other, we will be looking after thirty kids.” 

“Kids need a lot of sleep, Amaya.” 

Amaya choked and she dismissed the amorous thoughts of what might happen when it was just herself and Sasuke. “Besides, I have to be careful - I don’t want anything weird to happen or for me to make a move and have him knock me back. I can’t deal with the emotional stress of seeing someone that hot every day knowing that he doesn’t like me in that way-...” Her throat seized up as the all too familiar black car came into view. “He’s about to drive past.” Amaya wheezed.

“Be cool.” 

“I don’t know how. It was fine before because he was just a hot stranger but now he’s a hot colleague.” Amaya squeaked and she grew more nervous as the car drew closer. She watched as the window rolled down and her mouth hung, she could hear Kaori’s laboured breathing on the line.

“I’ll drive you in, makes no sense for you to wait for a bus,” Sasuke called through the window.

Amaya winced as Kaori released a scream and she stepped down off the curb, “I’ve got to go I will text you later.” She hung up the phone and peered through Sasuke’s window, “are you sure? The bus will be here soon.” A car honked behind Sasuke and she panicked and got in the car. She was stiff for a while, not knowing where to set down her bag or even to put her phone away. The vibrating of frantic texts coming from Kaori reanimated her and she quickly hid her phone away in her pocket and put on her seatbelt. She relaxed into the warmth of the car and looked around it in awe. “You have a really nice car.” 

“Thank you.” He said quietly and drove forward at the light changing green. “I thought about it last night…I can pick you up in the mornings and drive you back if you want. That way you can still mark or read and being in here with just me eliminates anybody falling on you.” He felt his heart pound when Amaya laughed, “is that okay?” 

Amaya nodded gratefully, “very okay...thank you, Sasuke.” 

Sasuke stilled when she said his name, her voice had a natural cadence to it and hearing his name dance to the music that her voice made sent goosebumps up his arms.

[zombified-queer]

The Bellhop can have some gay thoughts about the Auditor while being bored. As a treat! <3