#the freaks who live in the clocktower

[rowanthestrange]

yo look at her that’s an actual house

[ketchup-monthly]

Batfam members favorite/most used item from Bath and Body Works

with the help of @space-specs

Bruce- Car insert that the kids gave him. its in the Batmobile and its shaped like a dinosaur. the smell is apple :) (idk what kind of apple. it just smells like apple and Dick switches it out for a new one every few months. anyone who rides in the Batmobile that doesn’t know about the clip is so confused)

Dick- several one single wick candles in The Perfect Christmas scent that he uses year-round (fragrance notes: pine, cinnamon sugar,] toasted marshmallow)(the other batkids try to confiscate his candles when it isn’t the holiday season but somehow he always has more)

Babs- 3-wick candle in the Birchwood Forest scent that Steph got for her (fragrance notes: vanilla, white birch trees, bergamot)(it makes the clocktower smell so nice and that helps with the long hours of Oracle-ing. plus Cass says that the color of the jar matches the Oracle color)

Jason- Teakwood cologne that he wears in costume as well in his normal day (fragrance notes: mahogany, black teakwood, lavender)(when hes early on patrol, people are like "huh, the Red Hood smells weirdly good?" and he has to live with that)(no i totally didn’t make my fav batkid use the same cologne that i do shut up specs (totally lying) -ketchup)

Tim- Warm Vanilla Sugar wall air freshener that Steph got him that she moves and he has never been able to find and destroy (fragrance notes: vanilla, white orchid, sugar, jasmine, sandalwood)(we promise this was a Steph prank. neither of us can stand this smell -ketchup)

Cass- Black Tie 3-in-1 face, hair, and bodywash because she just doesn’t see  the practicality of using several different soaps, Babs (she also has a veritable army of single wick candles in her closet) (fragrance notes: sage, dark tonka bean, sandalwood)(Steph later introduced her to a better conditioner later, when she was first learning to take care of herself, the 3-in-1 soap was the best option)( @godlytomatoes​ contributed to this, as well as the army of candles idea)

Steph- the notorious Blueberry Sugar Pancake scent in a shower gel (fragrance notes: blueberries, sugar, pancakes, caramel cream)(this scent is so strong jfc)(unrelated, but Steph’s shampoo smells like strawberries)

Duke- giant bottle of Orange Blossom hand sanitizer that he's had since 2011 (fragrance notes: idk it smells like orange and orange flowers?)(tbh we know this used to be a scent bc specs’s grandmother had it and yeah. sunshine scent for sunshine boy!)

Damian- White Tea and Sage foaming hand soap that he keeps in his personal bathroom for when he just needs to wash his hands during the day (fragrance notes: tea, lemon, herbs)(he has other soaps for after he uses the restroom or for when he washes his paintbrushes, but the foaming soap is for just washing his hands when he feels that they're dirty)(is this giving us the hc that Dami is a bit of a germaphobe? yes. and we wholeheartedly accept it)

Cullen- Rainbow Waves pocket hand sanitizer in the crab case. its attached to his lanyard (fragrance notes: sangria, melon, misty waters)(its gay and was a gift during pride month and it smells very good)

Harper- Dark Kiss body mist for date night *winky face* (fragrance notes: black raspberry, burgundy rose, bergamot incense, dark vanilla bean, plum musk)(it sounds like it smells so freaking good and its purple and shes purple. it fits)

Kate- Pure Wonder body scrub bc it makes her sparkly and is great before a night of patrol or date night (fragrance notes: rosé, star jasmine, white amber)(she prettyyyy and deserves a pretty and sparkly body scrub to clear her skin and stuff. smell nice and sparkly)(like a vampire)

Alfred- wall plug from Jason in the shape of an old fashioned lantern in his personal quarters with the scent Laundry Day (fragrance notes: fresh air, eucalyptus, lavender)(his rooms smell so clean without him needing to constantly clean them. the scent is also particularly relaxing, and is stress relieving!)

Terry McGinnis- he carries around Sunshine and Lemons hand sanitizer spray on patrol as Batman but also for Matt (fragrance notes: yuzu, grapefruit, sunrays)(what do sunrays smell like??? idk but Batman just whipping out citrus hand sanitizer spray to clean things is funny)

Matt McGinnis- Salted Butterscotch single wick candle to annoy Terry (fragrance notes: warm brown sugar, sweet cream, sea salt, melted butter)(it started as him being a little brother pain in the ass, but he does eventually grow to like the smell, even though it kinda makes him hungry)

Jarro- Vanilla Bean Noel lotion (“what else would an alien starfish possibly need???” -specs)(fragrance notes: vanilla bean, caramel, sugar cookies, whipped cream, snow-kissed musk)

Drake Winston- Ocean in a lotion because working at the garage is tough on his hands :( (fragrance notes: blue cypress, vetiver, coastal air)(this smells very fresh, but he only uses it after a day of work and/or patrol, when hes going to go to sleep so the texture doesn't bother him bc BaBW is notoriously oily, at least in my opinion -ketchup)

Carrie Kelley- Black Chamomile aromatherapy bubble bath (fragrance notes: chamomile, bergamot)(its calming, and after roaming Gotham with only a slingshot for protection, she really needs it, and bubble baths are so fun!)(if someone says that you're too old for bubble baths, they're dirty rotten liars and have no joy in their lives. bubble baths are for everyone! -ketchup)

Jim Gordon- Babs got him a wall plug with the Smoked Vanilla Whisky scent for Christmas two years ago, but somehow the scent hasn't gone away yet (its a night light shaped like the bat signal) (fragrance notes: dark oak, bourbon, smoked vanilla)(the night light plug is specific to Gotham and shines a little bat signal onto the ceiling)

Bette Kane- Orange Ginger lotion bc it smells good and moisturizing is important (fragrance notes: orange, ginger)(smells nice and is energizing, which is a great pick-me-up in the morning when she needs to get ready for school or work)

Luke Fox- Vintage hand soap bc smell good :) (fragrance notes: blue lavender, pepper, vintage woods)(idk ive never smelled this but i want to so bad bc they sound like they would smell so good together and BaBW usually hits when it comes to the men’s fragrances -ketchup)

[asoulofatlantis]

I have a few words to say about chapter 14...

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILER FOR FINAL FANTASY 7 REBIRTH. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

As you know... I've been a Clerith shipper. I started shipping them while playing Kingdom Hearts - as I never managed to get past the Nibelheim-Flashback in the original game many years ago and can barely remember it I do not now if I shipped them back then already, to be honest - and FF7 Remake made me feel right about that choice. I loved the playful banter Cloud and Aerith had on the rooftops. I loved the way Cloud acted with and around her. I loved how when Tifa wanted an high five, he stoically ignored her (not saying that he didn't care that she was sad, but obviously not enough to get out of his shell) but when Aerith was disappointed that he wasn't giving in to it he actually put in the afford and was willing to go out of his way to give her that high five she wanted. I loved how he never once denied them being a couple or anything, when people hinted at that. I loved how he insisted to save Aerith from Shinra when even her own mother was at first to stupid to see what dangers she would be in as Hojos labrat. I loved how he asked Barett - who he had a heard time with so far - to get Aerith to safety. I loved the that Aerith and Cloud were always so touchy touchy even tho when it actually mattered, there hands never met and yet they touched each others hands and arms many times. (Not saying that Tifa and Cloud felt wrong, as I do believe that both ships are valid and there scenes should be seen, acknowledged and respected.)

Going into Rebirth I've already noticed that in most of the trailers we have been focusing on Tifa. The ones that focused on Aerith were amazing and full of great Clerith moments of course, but it were few. But as this is a game with a dating-mechanic, I knew we would still get our fill and I was enjoying the few but wonderfully shippy moments. From their "Date" in the Clocktower, to them coming back to the conversation about what Cloud will do if Aerith won't make it back on her own. I enjoyed them all. I really did.

But over time I've got a bit frustrated with how the game was handling things. I found Aerith holding on to Cloud after her "sort of date" - confirmation, even tho both he and Aeriths friend Tifa obviously felt uncomfortable about it absolutely out of character. She is a tease without any doubt, but that was plain mean. I also do not like that Aerith sad "Maybe" when Cloud asked her for her feelings for Zack. He was gone for 5 years without so much as a word and she said himself that it was time to move on and look towards the past and I get that with that somewhat connection to the Zack-Timeline it was getting harder to let go of the past. But either Aerith wants to move on and find the real Cloud or she doesn't. There is no MAYBE in the question if you love someone or not. I didn't like it that Clerith had a scene that gave you points with Aerith on that freaking Watertower. That is Tifas and Clouds place and the fact that they talked about Tifa and some shippiness from Cloud regarding Tifa doesn't change the fact that This conversation with Aerith should have happened inside the house, while Tifas conversation should have happened on the Watertower. I did not understand what SE was planning with doing that, but just EVERYTHING was actually wrong about this scene in the way it was. Also, despite Cloud almost killing her, after the "almost kissscene" with Tifa, she totally took over. Even after seeing how she slowly but surely lost control over Cloud even with bodycontact she still was the one trying to stop Cloud when he lost it, even tho in both Remake and Rebirth we saw that Aerith touching Clouds hand has always worked so far. But Aerith stood in the background, barely even said anything, while Tifa did all the work and that was no way in hell to make the ships feel balanced. In fact, after Tifas little trip to the live stream, the balance was almost completely gone as it has shifted over to Tifa almost completely, with only a few small minor moments for Aerith left here and there.

The fandom was saying that chapter 14 would be worth it. That Clerith would have a special date all to themselves and were celebrating this date - despite the bittersweetness, but beggars can't be choosers I guess. So I too was looking forward to this so called "date" and enjoyed what little shippiness we had in that weirdness of a dream.

Only for my Friends to make me face reality. My Friends are Diehard Clothi Shippers. And that's fine. Once again, both ships are valid in my eyes. HOWEVER, they have been heard over heels about their Tifa-scenes and I get why, I would have done the same. But I was sure they would come down a bit after chapter 14. Its a Clerith date after all, right? There is no way to ignore it, right? WRONG! This so called date, was almost a one to one repeat of a date Aerith had with Zack in crisis core. Only with the difference that Cloud didn't get any of the things he wanted and Zack did. With got a cheap Zack and Aerith Date copy and the whole Clerith-Fandom made it out to be THE Moment in the game. HOW? How is that a Clerith moment, when Aerith, who said she is searching for the real Cloud, chose to repeat her Zack-Date with Cloud in her own dream? And how on gods earith did no one mention that in any of the many posts and tweets and whatnot I have read about that date?

When my friends told me about it - and I got it confirmed as well - it felt like someone punched me in the gut. The scene that every Clerith shipper was celebrating that one moment were I thought all the Tifa scenes were worth it... turned out to be a Zack-Copy-Date with a Zack-Copy-Cloud. SE gave us what the Clothi-Shipper have always used against Clerith. A moment were Aerith does with Cloud, what she did with Zack, like he really is just a cheap copy of the man she actually loved.

And I do not know what diappointed me more. The fact that SE did that. That they were so cruel to us, so shortly before Aeriths death? Or that no one in the Clerith-fandom had the guts to stand to the fact that this date was a copy of a Zack-Date and yet made the best out of it, proving that our ship isn't that weak!

Why did no one say, that Aerith might have been in a pinch, given that they have been basically falling to their deaths and knowing that her time was running out and just wanted them to have one more memory together just the two of them. But as her only dating-experience was with Zack, she chose to copy the date, as she couldn't come up with anything different on short notice and it was a situation that she herself enjoyed once, but also kind of fit Clouds description of how a date should look like for him. And that the reason Cloud didn't get what he wanted wasn't because it was telling him that he can't get Aerith, because apparently only Zack gets what he wants but that instead, Cloud didn't get what he wanted because he wasn't Zack so of course things are different for him. Instead of replacing the hair-ribbon Aerith actually got from Zack, he gets her something knew. A broche that uses her flowers, which is the symbol of lover reuiniting, giving us a sign, that Clerith might reunite eventually. Then with the sweets, yes, it wasn't what they chose and the sweets actually didn't taste nice, but Aerith and Cloud both agreed on that one so it still shows that they have a similar taste. And with that stupid foto... Aerith wanted to make it look like the date of a happy couple. Buying gifts, holding hands, just enjoying their time - as the time unbeknownst to Cloud was running out on them - BUT that wasn't a happy couple date. That was them spending her last hours together with Sephiroth chasing them. She was trying to be cheerful and enjoy this little bit of time with Cloud, but her head wasn't fully in the game, because of the circumstances and that was why they didn't get the picture and not because it didn't click between them or anything like that. ALSO yes, the spot that Cloud shares with Aerith is also Zacks spot. Given circumstances, they mirror each other, nothing to be done about it. BUT even when you chose Tifa in your game, Cloud still considers having a "next time", meaning that despite him noticing that something was wrong, he still had a good time. Even tho he didn't get what he wanted. He didn't need to get what Zack got, to still enjoy spending time with Aerith.

So why did no one say, that Aerith chose this date, to see how she feels towards Cloud compared to Zack and that they way she acted in the end did show, that she did love the real Cloud and didn't just chose him as a Zack replacement? Instead, people acted like this date had never been a copy of the Zack-Date to begin with. That makes it look like you have nothing to say to defend our ship? Are we that weak? After all those years defining Clerith in front of everyone who said Aerith only loved Cloud because of Zack and would treat him in a heartbeat, you didn't manage to say: "Yes, it was a repeat of the Zack date. But IF Aerith truly actually wanted a Zack-Date, she could have chosen a timeline were Zack was there, willing to spend time with her, while she left Cloud behind "to rest" or something."? I am not just disappointed in how SE handled our ship, I am also disappointed in the fact that the fandom wasn't even willing to fight for our date, but instead just ignored the facts.

This whole mess ruined it all for me. And no matter what the future holds... I will not return to what will likely be FF7 Reunion. Because I can not take how badly SE treats us (saying that "No promises to keep" is not a lovesong, despite the connection to loveless is not just hurting is, it is also hurting the people who thought Aerith sings about Zack. And for what? To avoid getting beheaded by the shipping-war-mop?) and our ship but also because I am so damn disappointed in the Clerith-Shipper-Community.

[pandemi-writes]

The Bell Toller

[Danny Phantom one-shot, just over 600 words]  [Danny, Dani, Clockwork, unnamed ghost] 

“Wow, I didn’t think that Danny Phantom, Hero of the Ghost Zone would be a Bell Toller.”

Both Danny and Dani looked up from their conversation to see a vaguely humanoid ghost stopped in front of them.

Dani had just gotten back from Paris, and was going to stay in Amity for a few days before moving on to Seoul. They thought it might be easier to speak freely and catch up with each other if they were in the Ghost Zone, instead of on the streets of Amity, where someone could overhear the recounts of their ghostly adventures over the past couple of months. It was Danny’s turn to talk, and they were just leisurely floating along a path in the Ghost Zone equivalent to a park.

“A what?” Danny asked dumbly.

“A Bell Toller is someone who rings bells, usually in old churches or clocktowers,” Dani unhelpfully explained. Danny glared at her, who just smiled back.

“I mean, what does that have to do with me?” He was genuinely curious about different names and titles given to people in the various parts of the Zone, but this also sounded like an insult.

The ghost rolled their… eyes? And folded four of their six arms, leaving the last two on their hips.

“Come on, I just heard you talking about “Clockwork” to your friend over there,” they actually used air quotes surrounding Clockwork’s name. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so loud when you’re talking about crazy conspiracy theories, then maybe people might start respecting you more,” they said with a surprisingly passive-aggressive tone.

Danny and Dani looked at each other for a moment.

“You mean… you don’t believe that Clockwork even… exists?” Danny asked haltingly, incredulity coloring his face.

The ghost gave him a Look™. 

“So you really think that there’s a ghost here that can control time and has an army of eyeballs at his beck and call?”

“Well, Clockwork essentially works for the Observants, and they actually make his job harder, so I wouldn’t say that they’re at his beck and call…”

The ghost moved part of their face probably meant to resemble the raising of an eyebrow.

“Wow, you’re like, really deep into this one huh? Do you also think he controls all the living governments, too?” they said mockingly.

Danny made a face while Dani glared intensely at the rude ghost.

“Hey assh—” she started before Danny covered her mouth and put on a strained smile.

“Dani, do you want to see what Pandora’s been up to?”

Irritation forgotten, the girl squealed and started tugging him in the direction of her favorite, most badass ghost in the Zone, according to her.

Danny quickly dropped her off at the Acropolis, and with a “I just need to call someone really quick, I’ll be right back,” he left, despite her squawk of indignation.

…

Danny threw open the doors of the Clocktower, and started yelling into the empty rooms, knowing that Clockwork would still hear him.

“YOU’RE A FREAKING CONSPIRACY THEORY??”

He moved to a different room.

“HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME THAT YOU’RE A CRYPTID!!”

He found Clockwork in the room of Mirrors. The elder ghost did not turn his way, but Danny still glared at him all the same.

“Well?” He tapped his foot impatiently.

“Hello Daniel,” Clockwork greeted, finally facing the teen. “To answer your questions: Yes, and… I do hope we’re in the timeline where you forgive me, but, I thought it would be funny.”

“You thought it would be funny?!”

“Yes.”

“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?!”

“I was correct.”

 The End

[raven-frost-21]

Can you marry me? Chapter 2 pt 4

They sat on the one arm chair left in the sitting room they had all gathered in. Selina looked angrily at Bruce who still rubbed his freshly popped in place jaw. Tim raised a brow at Marinette sitting on Dicks lap like it was a normal occurrence. Marinette caught sight of it and motioned for him to come talk to her.

“You wonder why I’m sitting like this?”

Tim nodded and Dick rolled his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his wife and buried his face in her shoulder, it had been a long day and an even longer night of working the night shift and his last cup of coffee was wearing off. She reached a hand up and started to run her fingers through his hair before she turned her eyes back to Tim.

“When I was in the circus we were never not with each other. If one of us was alone, usually something was wrong. I was with him for 8 years. When I was 9 we had a performance in London. Now we wore masks as Robin and Sparrow and no one knows who we were. Dick performed with his parents under the Flying Graysons. My parents happened to be at that performance and snuck backstage because Sparrow was familiar.  When they saw I was Sparrow, my father ripped me from Dicks hug and carried me to their hotel room. When I found Dick again and we started to live together we haven’t been able to seperate for long since. Or sleep without each other. I’ve slept better this past semester than I have in nine years. (They are done with their first year of college. They ran into each other at the end of the first semester and this is a couple weeks from the end of the second. THere are only two semesters in a year.) That and Dick freaks if he doesn’t get cuddles when he’s tired. He’s had a long 24 hours.”

The entire room was shocked by her story. That was awful. Damian spoke next,

“Is something wrong? Why hasn’t Grayson slept?”

Marinette sighed. Her husband had fallen asleep wrapped around her like a koala.

“We both have to work three jobs to pay for college, food, and for repairs to our apartment building. We’re the landlords. Last night he had the night shift at his favorite job. Security at WE. Says it’s the best, he gets to see his family everyday and protect them.”

The family looked down, angry at themselves for not noticing their brothers face guarding the building they all work in. They looked up again when Marinette yawned and started to snuggle into Dick’s arms.

“Sorry. Fox needed me to work all night last night as well. She loves having Dick and I work for her. Dick is her bodyguard most of the time. ‘Cept for when Tim or one of you guys come. Then he hides under my desk.”

She finished with a yawn and kicked off her heels. In seconds she was out cold snuggled against Dick. Damian smirked and draped Dick’s discarded suitcoat over the two. Alfred shuffled into the room and smiled. He quickly snapped a picture of the two before motioning for Jason and Tim to carry the two to Dick’s old room.

Bruce was staunchly ignored by everyone and ended up patrolling the entire city alone. Except for the radio from Oracle in the Clocktower. She wasn’t ready to come back to the cave and work with anyone else yet.

In the middle of the night, the door to Dick’s room opened. And a small figure darted in, crawling in between the two already on the bed. A few minutes later another figure cuddled up. Another two coming in five minutes later. Finally a large figure snuck in and shut the door. Snuggling into the rest of his siblings at the foot of the bed. Barely missing stepping on his sleeping stepmother curled up on the floor.

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 6x11 Tougher than the Rest

August, I love you but please help this kid.

Oh, maybe he did?

That lady looks a lot like Umbridge. That reminds me, gonna watch Order of the Phoenix for the gazillionth time tonight! It’s probably my least favourite Potter movie apart from the end but my literal ocd ass has gotta watch them in order. It’s one of my favourite Potter books though. I love how long it is! 

I digress. Back to the rewatch!

So, is Emma technically Wish Henry’s mother as well, since she is also Wish Emma? 

Yes, why didn’t he age?

There’s no time to wake up Snow, Killian. The hooded figure is out there right now!

Oh! Charming’s wish brought Gideon there!

Poor Gideon is so traumatised by the Black Fairy. I don’t remember/understand why she was so cruel to him. I thought her goal was protecting Rumple. So why torment her grandson?

I don’t think that’s how being a Savior works. I don’t think killing the Savior would make Gideon a Savior. Surely that goes against everything a Savior stands for.

Does Emma still have the memories of her life in the Wish Realm? 

Oh! She does! That’s a lot of jumbled up memories in her head. Does she have memories from the Heroes and Villains world too?

How the hell did Regina have time to right that long ass note in the two seconds she was off camera?? Magic, I guess.

Regina should have used a glamour spell.

How did that tree manage to survive after it was cut down for the first wardrobe? Must be magic! 

Wish Hook! 

Gideon, you angsty boy.

Wtf Rumple!! Why are you hitting your son?! He would never have done that to Baelfire. It seems kinda out of character. He’s not gonna win Gideon’s affections or get him to listen to him that way.

I wonder if the Wish Hook storyline was planned yet.

Okay, so a bit on my thoughts on the Wish Realm and Wish Hook plot holes: When the Evil Queen made the wish on behalf of Emma that supposedly created the Wish Realm she must have made it many years in the past as compared to the Wish Realm we see in 6x10 and 6x11. What I mean is, when the Evil Queen makes the wish, Emma not only ends up in a different realm, she ends up at least 10 years in the future. Why at least ten years? The only way the Wish Realm could have been created by a wish is if it was created before Alice was born. The only way to make that the case is if Emma created that place at least 10 years before visiting because Wish Hook looks older than he did when he was forced away from Alice in ‘Knightfall’. The reason the Wish Realm has to have been created before Alice was born (I’m still not entirely convinced it didn’t always exist) is because Gothel is Alice’s biological mother and Gothel is not from the Wish Realm so Alice cannot have been created by a wish. If Wish Hook was created by a wish, then that wish had to have been made at least 10 years before the events of 6x10 and 6x11. And Wish Hook likely did a little time travelling himself. I think Emma travelled 20 years into the future and Hook travelled 10 years into the future. I explain this more in my s7 timeline meta here.

Wish Pinocchio: “I’m sorry you put your faith in me, Emma. I hope you never make that mistake again.” Wtf Pinocchio?! That was so ominous. What does it mean?! Does she ever put her faith in any version of him again?! Is he suggesting he’s been shady in all realms all along??

Is it bad that I prefer this Robin Hood to the one Regina fell in love with? He’s kind of what I wanted from the other one, who started off a bit like this, someone a bit more villainous to pair with Regina. It makes him more interesting.

What happened to Wish Belle is so awful. 

That is an inconsistency. A true love’s kiss on the forehead should have awoken Snow and made David sleep, like Emma’s true love’s kiss to Henry’s forehead woke him.

Regina certainly seems to see this Robin as real, going so far as to care about his happiness. Why couldn’t she have given Wish Snowing the sane courtesy?

Regina came just in time. 

More than two can go through this wardrobe?

Do they ever explain why this Robin hasn’t aged? Is he using the six-leaf clover as a glamour? But then there would have to be a Wish Oz. Maybe it is because part of Robin’s soul lives on in Wish Robin as they suggested. That’s cool. They are pretty different though so it’s hard to believe.

Omg wish Pinocchio is right! Emma should have left the sword there! It’s unlikely Gideon would be able to find it! Why didn’t you Emma?

I wonder if Regina thinks the reason Wish Robin didn’t come through the wardrobe at the same time of her was because he wasn’t real or because he just didn’t wanna come.

Storybrooke looks huge from up there.

I told Emma she should have left the sword!

I love sword fights though! 

Uh oh! He’s got the sword!

Why does Gideon always feel like he belongs in Star Wars to me? I don’t even know, I know very little about Star Wars, he just looks like a Star Wars villain from what I’ve seen.

Use your magic Emma!

That was cool! Gideon’s magic is so pretty.

She broke the sword!

“Daaaaad, I don’t need your help.” hehe. 

Isn’t it a bit weird to kinda grab an alternate version of your dead significant other to potentially be your replacement boyfriend? Idk, feels a bit weird but if that’s your jam, Regina, go for it, girl!

How freaking loud is that typewriter if you can hear it down the street, lol?

Oh, he did tell her to go to the police station as a kid.

Belle is so freaking done with everything.

My boy Gideon’s just having a tantrum at the clock tower. That poor clocktower’s been through a lot. 

Gideon say grrrrrr. 

[kickthecan-revolution]

I’ve been searching for a home for a really long time. I had the chance back in 2008 to purchase a unit in this building right above me, and I didn’t do it. I kicked myself for years for not. Then with rents skyrocketing, I impulsively bought the Clocktower unit at the highest point in the market for a price I should not have paid - I didn’t do enough research, I went there on my own and just bid on it and bought it as is, because it was so close to the freeway, the city owned it and can only auction property off. That turned out to be one of the most stressful experiences in my life as anyone who has been reading this knows. 

There is a unit upstairs that has been on the market for months. It was priced way, way, way too high. Then they got an offer pre-covid  that fell through. Now they’ve substantially reduced it and in two weeks, are going to put it on a non-distressed auction. It’s really old and needs a ton of work, the layout is bizarre but it’s got views of the bay and the outdoor space - in the banana belt part of the city - is pretty unheard of. 

There are a lot of cons living in this building. Parking is an issue, it’s a historic brick and timber so people have a real love and hate relationship with it. But it also feels safe, I know it, the neighborhood lends itself to a great commute. 

I have been SO anxious as I process this rather massive decision, terrified I’d make a mistake like I did with the Clocktower. Making these decisions without a lot of community around me is scary. BND is always a naysayer so he’s no help. R has sticker shock when it comes to SF real estate (who doesn’t), so can’t wrap her mind around it. Kimo is not someone with whom I discuss finances. Simone in Seattle thinks it’s a really good move.  My realtor just lost her fiancé in a freak circumstance, a rare genetic condition so bothering her wasn’t something I could conceive of, and the auction is being held Sep 24. I was feeling pressed to put an offer in before then. 

I bit the bullet and texted my realtor, asking if she is working. She is. My neighbor who knows this building like the back of his hand also came up and looked. They both recommended that I not put an offer in now and wait and see what happens in the auction and if there are no bids, then go in with a low offer after that.  

I felt this instant wave of relief that they both said that. Now I have a plan. I will have serious FOMO if someone makes an offer and I don’t get it but if that happens, I’ll just keep it moving as I do. 

[phantomphangphucker]

Round 2

Danny gets up from his desk and slowly walks up to the front, “okay, so you’re telling me-”, Danny gestures erratically to Vlad, who's tied up on the floor and in ghost form, “-that you overshadowed ClockWork-”, gesturing even more erratically at ClockWork, who’s just sitting on a desk and inspecting their nails, “-so you could travel to the future, to team up with your future self and bring him back here-”, Danny points both hands at the floor a bit aggressively, “-so you could tag-team pulverise a teenager-”, Danny gestures at the future Vlad, who’s glaring bloody murder at normal timeline floor Vlad, “-but said future you instead assaulted ClockWork”, glaring at floor Vlad harder, “so you used ClockWork’s powers at random and just came back to this timeline?”.

Kwan adds in, “through the ceiling”.

Floor Vlad manages to spit out his gag, “well they somehow tossed me out of their body immediately after! I mean the audacity! And this Cheesehead-”, jerkily attempting to nod or point at the scruffy-looking future Vlad, “-gets more pissed and assaults me, ME! Instead of you”.

Future Vlad kicks him and snarls, “it’s been two years in this timeline! TWO! I stopped with the stupid fiddlediddling after six months!”.

Dash snorts, “why would a ghost even want to assault Fentit”.

Danny meanwhile, throws his hands out to the side, “of course that happened!”, then gesturing toward ClockWork, “you can’t overshadow ClockWork, that’s not even possible! They literally had to have allowed you to”, actually turning to glare slightly at ClockWork, “why, I haven’t a shot-glass of pennies close to a clue”.

Floor Vlad looks to future Vlad, “you can’t judge me, you fudge-bucket of a hypocrite”.

Danny rolls his eyes and snorts, “that’s not even pot calling kettle black, that’s a wad of chewed gum calling a fork an unchewed stick of gum, and actually expecting that insult to stick”. Danny then squints and turns to ClockWork, “wait”, pointing emphatically at future Vlad, “how does he even exist?!?!?”.

Future Vlad squints at him, looking affronted, “why wouldn’t I?!?”.

Danny turns to him and waves his hands around wildly, “THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU UNRAVEL TEN YEARS OF TIME! THOSE THINGS AND PEOPLE GO POOF!”.

ClockWork sticks up a finger, “that’s not how time works”.

Danny and both Vlads’ turn to ClockWork, both Danny and future Vlad pointing aggressively, “YOU STAY OUT OF THIS! THIS DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!”.

Nathan mutters, “or the rest of the class apparently”.

ClockWork smirks, “pretty sure the author disagrees on that one”. Everyone squints at them but goes back to bickering. Danny throws his hands up before gesturing at floor Vlad, “plus! You’re still here! And still A CRAZED UP FRUITLOOPY DICK!”.

Floor Vlad, looking a bit insulted, “language my boy”. Danny just looks down and knocks a desk over onto him.

Mr. Lancer coughs, “um? There are other people here you know”.

Floor Vlad glances at him, “no one but us and dear Maddie qualify as people”.

Danny sputters incredulously while ClockWork points at floor Vlad, “and that is not how classifications of species and words work”.

Future Vlad throws his hands up and walks around, “this me’s insane! Wonderful!”.

Valerie snickers into her hand, “I want to get involved but...”.

Danny snorts, “you hadn’t already figured that out when he decided to abduct and control the body of the dude who controls time itself and oversees everyone’s futures. A literal living legend and basically a god?”,

Floor Vlad screws up his face and wiggles in the bindings some before squinting at Danny, “wait a biscuit buttering second, how do you even know about the ghost from the clocktower?”, sputtering and squirming, “how do know their name?!? Even I didn’t! Daniel what in the name of Gouda?!?”.

Danny deadpans, “oh don’t you use that tone with me, mister. You’re not my father”, gesturing at ClockWork, “and of course I do! They’re my Time Daddy!”.

Everyone goes silent immediately and you could hear a pin drop. Instead, a different voice breaks the silence, “wow! Didn’t know you had another dad, son!”.

Both halfas and the ex-halfa turn slowly and look at the doorway, where one Jack Fenton is standing and munching on fudge like he’s engrossed in an intense tv show.

Danny blinks and sputters, “how long have you been there?”.

Floor Vlad also sputters in utter disbelief, “this, that, THIS IS NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!”.

Future Vlad blinks at Jack, “why are you not freaking out over the ghosts?”.

Star sighs, “are they really just ignoring that none of us have been freaking out?”.

Jack shrugs, “one’s tied up and the other gave me fudge”. Floor Vlad just shrieks in frustration and disbelief. While Danny gives a dramatic thumbs up to ClockWork, even going so far as to use a little ecto-energy to make his thumb sparkle like some anime bullshit.

Future Vlad kicks floor Vlad but speaks to Jack, “well if it’s anything, I’m not a ghost or half of one”.

Multiple people mutter, “half ghosts are a thing?”, while Valerie grins like a loon.

Floor Vlad shrieking, “WHAT?!?!?!”.

Future Vlad looks down at him but points at Danny, “he ripped out and ate Plasmius”.

Danny blinks and gestures wildly at his dad, “are we just ignoring the uniformed third party?!?”.

Mr. Lancer glares, “the class has been here the whole time”.

ClockWork smirks, “Vlad’s the authors' bitch right now so...yes”.

While floor Vlad gapes at Danny, “YOU DID WHAT NOW?!?!?”.

Danny throws his hands up exaggeratedly, “NOT IN THIS TIMELINE!”.

Valerie gets up and smacks both Vlads’ over the head, which just turns into an all-out fistfight. Well okay, floor Vlad is just squirming in his bindings and kicking like a feral rabbit, but still.

Valerie steps back and nudges Danny, “who you wanna bet on to win?”.

Danny snorts, “future Vlad, based on sheer tenacity”.

ClockWork smirks and points a finger to the ceiling, “that’s my bet”, another portal opening up and yet another Vlad falling through and landing on the two others in a heap; knocking all three out, floor Vlad finally transforming back human. Danny looks to them, “the fuck is wrong with you?”.

While Maddie’s voice mutters from the doorway, “oh my Zone, Vlad?!?!”. Standing next to yet another interviewer from Genius Magazine: For Women Geniuses, By Women Geniuses; who slowly lifts up her phone and snaps a photo, while patting the pocket where her recorder is.

[lonely-bored-writer]

Casper High Ch. 7

Sam Winchester was always good at reading people, even when he was a little kid. Walking into a room, he could assess and categorize people and situations. Regardless of how bad that might sound, it has helped him survive the multitude of schools he went to over the years and it even saved his life a few times. Even if the trait didn't help find the monster, it did help with spotting when or hiding information. It came to help him more times than he could count.

Then there was Danny Fenton. He can't seem to read the other teen, no matter how hard he tried. He'd figure something out, just to have the smaller kid do something that completely threw off his assumptions, always sending him back to square one. The more he got to know him, the more confusing things got. It didn't bother him, he oddly liked the challenge, but this was something he wouldn't have expected. Sam resolutely didn't want this to be Danny's life, the too constant to be healthy changing, because the ramifications of such a fact could be harrowing and dangerous. And he was a hunter.

The youngest Winchester found himself working methodically with his older brother to patch up his friend. The two of them worked in sync, Dean doing the sewing, taping, and wound care while Sam mostly kept the area clean and gathered any soiled items such as gauze and tape from his brother's space. As they worked, Sam was able to block his emotions for the moment, focusing solely on helping his friend, and making sure Danny would be okay.

After quite some time, the patch job was finished. Sam's eyes glanced over his brother's stern stance before landing on Danny. Danny. The teen sat in one of Sam's shirts, too large for the smaller boy, but the only option for the moment seeing as Dean's wouldn't be much better. He was shrunk in on himself, shoulders hunched up to his ears, body folding in as to take up the least amount of space, and his eyes were glued to the ground. Now, without the distraction of patching up Danny's horrifically wounded back, Sam's mind could now race with all the possible things that could have happened to Danny. How did this seemingly okay teen end up with such harsh injuries? His eyes raked over the bruises visible along Danny's arms, places that were hidden with the teen's original jacket, the random collection of small scrapes on elbows and even on his shoulders, and the hint of fading bruising that the two brothers saw on the Danny's ribs gave Sam a sinking feeling in his stomach that this was deeper than he thought at first glance.

"Explain." Dean's voice broke the silence, voice gruff and to the point, the tension growing even more. Danny somehow shrunk back into himself even more, trying to hide from the stares of the Winchesters. Sam could hear Danny swallow in the still silence.

What could have happened? Did Danny get attacked? Was he in danger? Who could have done this in such a small sleepy town, where everyone knew everything?

It wasn't like Sam saw the other teen with many people, aside from himself and Dean; the smaller boy didn't seem to have friends, if anything he was excluded and bullied, the butt of the school's jokes. His mind flipped through memories to try and pinpoint the one person that could have done this. It clearly wasn't Danny's best friends, they were in other states- not that Sam could even imagine the two of them doing it, they obviously loved their best friend way too much to even do so. That leaves only really two people who could...

Then the pieces slowly fell into place. Sam's blood running cold with the realization; it was the only thing that made any sense. Small interactions that he originally ignored now coming into place; the small winces, the limping, chronic lateness, the excuses of his parents needing him for experiments yet being absent whenever they weren't 'conducting' one. His stomach drop at the full realization.

"Your parents." Sam uttered before he could stop himself, and wished he could take it back, seeing Danny tense immediately. The black haired head snapped up fast, wide eyes meeting his. Sam could very clearly read the emotions in those glassy eyes. Surprise, fear, pain. His heart stopped at the realization that he hit the nail on the head.

"Your parents did this?" Dean growled, anger dripping from his words. Sam watched Danny's panicked gaze falling on Dean. Danny's mouth flopped open and closed like a fish out of water as he tried to figure out what to say. "Don't. Lie." Dean growled, angry at the situation, but not at the struggling teen in front of him. Sam watched as all the resolve seemed to leave Danny at once, his body going limp as a deep sigh left him.

"I... yeah." He spoke, eyes falling back to the carpeted floor, the resolve, the fight going out of the teen. Sam felt his heart stop, while he knew he was right, it was different to have Danny confirm it. "I just...It's just... Don't tell anyone. Please." Danny begged, eyes flying back up to meet the brothers. Once again Sam could read the emotions in those blue eyes as clear as day.

"Danny, they are hurting you." Sam spoke, disbelief clear in his voice. He knows the challenges of having complicated family, he really does, but everything has a limit. If the people who were supposed to love was inflicting this much pain on you, it needs to stop. "It's bad, you can't stay there!"

"This is my last year here, guys please." Danny spoke, eyes burrowing into Sam's. "I only have one semester to go through, then I graduate and it's over. Just please... Don't tell anyone." Sam stared back in disbelief, he couldn't imagine leaving Danny alone to whatever his parents might do in the upcoming days.

"Danny-" Sam started, before his words were cut short by a glance from his brother. Sam might know what he wants, but he trusts Dean to know how to handle this better than he would. He might not admit it, but he knows that he'll more likely give into his anger then logically think this through seeing as he was much closer to the issue than Dean was.

"Plus," Danny cut in hurriedly, "I met some people- they are a pair of friends that live together in a house, and they are willing to take me in. My parents would absolutely freak out if they even offered to take custody of me. Charles and Pandora have been wanting to at least have one of them gain custody of me when I was fourteen, and have been willing to fight my parents for it. Trust me guys, I have some people in my corner." Since Danny wasn't exactly lying- just stretching the truth, neither Winchester sensed that the kid wasn't telling the full truth. Clockwork and Pandora were basically his parents at this point, the two Ancients of Time and Hope, respectively, staking their claim over him as his ghostly parents. And they were a damn sight better than Jack and Maddie, but that was another matter altogether.

Pandora offered rooms in her Grecian kingdom of a lair and Clockwork offered a room in his Clocktower. Hell, even Frostbite offered him a place within his tribe to stay. Now it was just a waiting game until he could get the hell out of dodge and into the Ghost Zone. "Seriously, please don't do anything. I'm just fine right now."

"Fine." Dean spoke, making sure to make eye contact with Danny. "But if you need somewhere to go, your first choice better be getting your ass here. And you'd better let us as long as we're in town." The reminder of leaving hit Sam hard. He forgot for a split second that their stay here was never guaranteed.

"Yeah okay... I promise." Danny responded with a nod, eyes flipping between the brothers before he offered a small smile. "Thanks for the help."

"Danny-" Sam was once more interrupted but this time from a loud ringtone cutting through the tension. Sam watched Danny jump before frantically scrambling to answer his phone.

"Hey mom... That was today? No sorry, I forgot..." Danny's eyebrows furrowed, but Sam couldn't help the heaviness he felt as Danny spoke, just knowing that Danny would be facing his parents when he got home. "No no, I can head back home... Yeah we got most of it done... Okay yea, I'll be home soon... Love you, bye." Danny sighed once he hung up and turned to the brothers.

"Promise that you will." Dean spoke, eyes trained on the nervous teen.

"I forgot I promised I'll help my dad clean out the Lab closet." Danny answered, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, the Winchester brothers catching it and sharing a saddened look. "I promised you guys, and I'll hold up to it." Danny said, gathering his things. Sam watched in shock as the teen just packed up as if nothing had happened.

"You better. We won't stay quiet if you don't." Dean threatened. Danny nodded vigorously in response, still pale at the thought of someone finding out.

"I'll see you at school Sam?" Danny offered, a nervous, shaky smile on his lips. Sam held back his feelings, offering his own smile, if only to comfort his friend.

"Yeah, Danny..." Sam paused, before added. "Stay safe." Danny grinned and nodded, tossing a 'bye!' to Dean before rushing out the door. Sam sighed, taking a seat on his bed.

"You okay?" Dean asked, settling next to his little brother, bumping their shoulders together.

"This is bullshit." Sam growled, shaking his head. "He's in danger and we're just letting him go back there. He says that his parents have him help with 'experiments!' We're supposed to save people Dean!" Dean froze before forcefully relaxing; he hadn't thought of the implications of having scientists for parents, much less Danny supposedly having to help his parents in their work. The elder Winchester brother hated thinking about what he allowed Danny to go back to- possibly being tested on his actual joke of parents, who just so happened to be the absolute craziest, most utterly inept people in town. Having immoral and frankly awful scientists who couldn't do the smallest of things right for parents only meant worse treatment for Danny, no matter how much the kid excused them.

"We can't save everyone, I'm not saying we don't try our damned best, but it is statistically impossible to save everyone." Dean said, glancing towards the door, already world weary with his much longer experience with hunting than his younger brother had. "Especially those that don't want to be saved. It's not our place to try if he doesn't want us to. Sometimes helping will just hurt a person more."

"I know..." Sam said, the anger and worry bubbling inside him. It had been so long since he felt this helpless, it felt like he was letting his friend walk towards his death sentence "It's just... Fuck." Sam dropped his head into his hands, mind racing to try and figure out how to word his thoughts and feelings.

"Does this have anything to do with what happened with Danny the other day?" Dean asked, eyebrow raised at his little brother. Sam sighed, turning to look at his brother. He knew Dean wasn't stupid- he knew that Dean was going to bring this up sooner or later.

"Yeah." Sam confirmed, shaking his head. "I just... I don't know how to explain it."

"How bout this." Dean turned facing his brother. "Just say the first thing that comes to mind."

"Dean, I don't think that'll help." Sam said, raising his own brow.

"Come on, humor me." Dean lightly shoved his brother's side. Sam shook his head, but he couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, okay. Fine." Sam paused, taking a breath before blurting out the first thing that came to mind when he thought about Danny. "I like him." Sam felt his face heat up, dropping his gaze to his hands.

"Like... Like like?" Dean asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah..." Sam shrugged, turning to look at his brother to try and figure out what the older was thinking, nervous fingers twisting each other together.

"Does he know?" Dean asked.

"No..." Sam sighed. "I don't even know if he's gay." Sam spoke the words before he realized what he was saying.

"Are you?"

"No... I don't know." Sam swallowed, he hadn't thought of his own sexuality; this was all so new to him. "Danny's the first guy I've liked... If I was though, would that be a problem?" Sam added as an afterthought.

"Dude!" Dean spoke, looking shocked, as if he was insulted that Sam thought that he would even care about romantic or sexual orientation. He shoved his brother again, before continuing. "I don't care who you're into, besides Danny's a cool kid... But you know how you feel right?"

"Yeah, I know Dean." Sam sighed, before giving his brother a small smile. "Thanks."

"Okay, enough of the chick-flick moment." Dean shook his head, quickly ruffling Sam's hair before grabbing the long forgotten food he brought back. "Let's eat." Sam laughed, shaking his head while following his brother to the kitchen area.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

[talistheintrovert]

Tick Tock

My good bitch wife @chase-the-windandtouch-the-sky asked for a Bones/Bellarke fusion and my wife gets what she asks for because I LOVE AND ADORE HER, so here you go my love!

******

Clarke observed the bones before her, taking in the nicks and edges, and trying to figure out exactly how he died. It had been a tricky one, and most of the rest of the team had gone home for the night - although Monty had left her some food in the fridge if she needed it - but she couldn’t leave until she’d cracked it. 

She noticed that one of the head wounds was at a strange angle and leaned closer, thinking, thinking, thinking-

“Hey Doc, you planning on staring at those forever, or can you give me a murder weapon?” Bellamy’s voice cut through her concentration, and she straightened, glaring. 

He smiled and she tried to maintain her annoyance but that had been getting harder and harder lately. In the five years they’d been working together, ever since he turned up one day flashing a badge and demanding answers from her and her team, they’d developed a partnership and she didn’t want to jeopardise that. Which is why it was so frustrating that she was ridiculously in love with him. 

“Do you think I can just magic it up, Blake?” She asked, making sure to give it more of an edge than usual. 

“Of course not, Clarke, I know you don’t believe in magic.” He leaned against the nearest shelf. “But you’ve been staring at those bones for hours and we’ve still got nothing.”

“We?”

He shrugged. 

“What about your side of things - means, motive, opportunity?” She asked.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Everyone loved the guy; he was building a new orphanage, for god’s sake! As for means, I need your findings to work that out, and opportunity is the worst because anyone had the opportunity to kill him if they knew what his schedule was - the man ran like clockwork.”

She sighed and leaned back over the skull, frowning at one of the marks. She hummed, brain whirring through ideas. “Clockwork.”

Bellamy made a face. “It’s an expression, Princess.”

“I know that, Bellamy, and don’t call me Princess.” She snapped. 

He raised his arms in surrender. “Alright, alright. What about clockwork?”

She tilted her head, idea still not yet fully formed. “We estimated time of death at 11pm, right? Because of the heat down by the construction site?”

His arms lowered slightly. “Yeah, why?”

“What if… what if we’re wrong about the time of death.” She suggested, trying to remember what the victim’s routine was. “In the evenings, he meets with the night shift workers at about 11pm, right? But he never did, or at least, no-one’s admitted to speaking with him. That’s why we figured everyone had opportunity, because he was onsite in a busy, dark construction area.”

“What’s your point, Princess?” He asked, earning a withering look from her that only served to make him smirk. 

She held her hand out for the file under his arm and he passed it over. “My point is, what was he doing before that?”

Bellamy came around to her side of the table, standing incredibly close to her, and leaned down to look at the schedule. His finger trailed over the list until he reached the correct time slot. “His wife told us he visited his first ever architectural success once a week, on the day he was killed.”

Clarke snapped her fingers. “That’s the clocktower.”

He glanced over at her, and wow his face was close. “How do you know that?”

“There’s a plaque.” She said, matter-of-fact. 

“That doesn’t really answer my question, Princess.”

“My parents used to take me there, when I was little. The plaque was exactly my height, I remember it clear as day - his name, and the dates of construction and…” She trailed off. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“And the name of the man who died during the fitting of the clock face. Some kind of freak accident, the papers said, although some people thought they’d been cutting safety regulations. Maybe-”

“-the victim’s family thought he was to blame. Decided to get some revenge.” He finished for her.

She hesitated. “But that doesn’t make sense, why wait twenty years?”

She had him there. He froze, and he was still so close to her and she wasn’t sure what to do about it, but she definitely wasn’t planning to move further away. She found herself leaning in more, just fractionally, but he caught it, eyes dropping to the distance between them and back up to her face. 

Something occurred to him; she saw it happen, the way his eyes lit up. “You were just a kid when your parents took you to the clocktower.” 

“So maybe the killer was too.” She realised with him, and he grabbed the folder and started jogging towards the exit. She tore off her lab coat and followed him, everything slotting into place as they headed for his car. “So the kid grows up and sees the architect who, in his eyes, caused his father’s death, and decides to take the opportunity?”

Bellamy shook his head, sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. “No, like you said, everybody knew his routine, this wasn’t random opportunity, this was - seatbelt, Princess - this was planned.” 

He pulled out into the road, siren blaring. 

“But, wait, if he was killed at the clocktower and then moved to the construction site, why didn’t we catch that earlier?”

“We were running under the assumption that he was killed there, because some workers claimed to remember seeing him around in his big blue coat, but if that was the killer, then-”

“-then the reasonable assumption is that he was killed earlier, I read your book, Princess. But still, how did Raven get the time of death wrong?”

“Temperature.” She explained holding tight to the handle as he rounded a corner. “The warmth at the site made it appear a certain way, but if he was killed somewhere up high, somewhere cold, then it would throw the time of death off by an hour or two.”

“Which narrows down means, because there’s only one person inside the clocktower that late at night.”

“And he’s just the right age.” 

“Motive, means, opportunity.” He said, shooting a smile at her. “Well, now that you’ve helped me do my job, are you any closer to figuring out the murder weapon?”

“Clockwork.” 

“What?”

“The wounds on his head were caused by the cogs of an enormous clock. He was pushed into the face of the clock that killed the worker twenty years ago. What’s that thing you say all the time - poetic justice?”

Bellamy set his jaw. 

In the moving light from the streetlights they passed, he looked like a noir hero, readying himself for a final battle, and she found herself completely captivated by the curls at the nape of his neck. Trying not to be in love with him was hard. It was time consuming. And she didn’t want to do it anymore.

She made a decision. “Hey, when this is over and you’ve arrested the guy, I think we should go out.”

He frowned. “Yeah, I know, Clarke, we do it every time we solve a case, you don’t need to remind me.”

“No, I mean,” she swallowed, “I think you should date me.”

He tapped a little too hard on the brake as they approached the building, making them both lurch forward as the car came to a stop. 

“What?” 

“Well, I mean, I’m in love with you, and I have been for a while, and we’re a good team and I think you should date me. But if you’re not interested then we can just move on and forget I ever said anything.”

“Clarke, I-” 

But he cut himself off when he glimpsed the suspect running back into the clocktower. 

“Stay in the car!” He snapped, leaping out and giving chase. 

                                                   *** *** *** *** ***

Later that night, after Bellamy had caught the guy and they took him back to the FBI, and Clarke had finished clearing up her work, she ended up at the same 24 hour diner they always did after big cases. 

She stared into the bottom of her coffee and cursed the fact that evolution had ever granted her the proclivity for speech. 

She couldn’t fathom why she’d picked that moment, of all the time she spent with Bellamy, to tell him she loved him. And he hadn’t said a word about it afterwards. In fact, he’d been incredibly quiet for the rest of the time they spent together, which was highly irregular where Bellamy was concerned. 

She didn’t really expect him to turn up at the diner either, which is why she wasn’t disappointed when she got up to leave and he still hadn’t made an appearance. 

She wasn’t. 

It was just past midnight and she’d been awake for hours - she probably just needed to rest. 

But she’d barely been home long enough to get out of her work clothes, when there was a knock at her door. 

She trudged over, socks sliding a little on the hardwood floor, and opened it. 

Bellamy was standing on the other side, still in his usual FBI suit and tie. He was holding a bottle of wine. “Hey Princess. Nice pyjamas.”

He smiled as he brushed past her into the living room, nudging the door closed and putting the bottle of wine on the nearest counter.

“Bellamy, what are you doing here?”

“You were serious about that, right? In the car?”

“Yes, I was serious. In the car.” 

“Good.” He retorted. “Because I’ve arrested the guy, and you said once I’d done that, we could go out.”

“I went out, you didn’t show.” She pointed out. 

“That’s not what I meant.” He said, looking at her meaningfully. 

She narrowed her eyes at him in confusion, still not getting it, and repeated her initial question. 

“Bellamy, what are you doing here?”

He caught the edge of her sleeve and tugged her into his arms, and suddenly they were kissing and she wasn’t really sure what was going on but it was perfect and she wasn’t going to stop even if the world fell apart around her ears. 

When he finally did break the kiss, he didn’t go far, nose brushing her cheek. 

“I’m dating you.” He answered, matter-of-fact, and it took her a moment to remember that she’d even asked a question.

“Oh.” She breathed. 

“Because, well, I’m in love with you, and have been for a while, and we make a good team and I think you should let me date you.” They were the same words she’d said in the car when she was fumbling over herself, but in his mouth they sounded romantic. “That alright with you, Princess?”

She was already dragging his head down to kiss him again, and she mumbled her reply against his lips. “Works for me.”

[yenrz1314]

LET’S (attempt to) FIX/REWRITE KH 358/2 DAYS

Let me preface this: I love Roxas, Xion, and Axel A LOT. I have been thoroughly blinded by nostalgia as much as you have and I don’t really care. I’ll continue to love them even after I’m finished destroying their game here. Keep in mind I’m not hatin’. And, fun fact, I think that Days is perhaps the best written game in the series regarding character writing. Still doesn’t mean I think it’s actually good though.

I’m going to start off saying something kind of controversial. Axel, Roxas, and Xion weren't that great of friends. 

Yes they were the best friends that they ever had, but when you're constantly surrounded by the melancholic mundane, any sort of friendship is the great friendship. They weren't that great at being friends to each other because they dealt with conflict in the most incompetent way possible. As far as I know, there was barely any communication whatsoever between them, which is really disappointing because Roxas is like the most understanding person ever. Most of their conversations concerned small talk. Not necessarily boring small talk, but small talk.

I really wish we could at least have gotten a talk between Xion and Roxas when he was on that mission to chase her down before Axel came in and knocked her out. The only real communication about Xion’s situation is between her and Axel, and we rarely get to see any camaraderie between her and Roxas. We do see a decent amount between Roxas and Axel but I’ll just attribute to the fact that they’ve existed as characters longer than Xion has.

Xion’s inherently pretty bad at communicating. To Roxas especially. Even though Axel tried to talk her down, she didn't really explain herself much. Axel honestly had to figure it out himself.

If Days gets remade I hope to death that we have at least one scene of Roxas and Xion having more meaningful talks. Alone. They were close. Its just that Xion kept stonewalling, and Axel would always be dodgy with his answers, which makes you question if they’re truly all that close. I mean, you wouldn’t just not tell one of your best friends anything about something you’re really struggling about.

Though I guess you can’t blame them since they had no memories of their past and were learning based off of watching those around them, and they did live with the organization

And to be fair, you’re a part of an organization with a leader the answers basic questions like “Who is Sora?” with vague af answers like "the connection".

Also they’re stupid teenagers. I’m already giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Honestly I would normally be fine with her lack of communication and accept it as an character flaw.  In fact, under normal circumstances, it would be a reason for me to be invested in her character. But the truth is that we don't see enough scenes of him and Xion having meaningful bonding time for me to be accepting of that lack of communication. There was that one absolutely adorable scene of Roxas and Xion on the clocktower discussing about how much they worry about each other...but the rest of the time they spent together is superficial, mostly consisting of just kind of empty small talk. It’s kind of rare that we see them actually talk about their relationship and/or any chemistry. A lot was just them sitting next to each other eating ice cream or on missions and we did have a lot of skips of one of them being asleep or missing.

The main problem KH has in its writing is that it really likes to display the cute little quirks or tressings of a relationship but absolutely fails to write any core to that relationship. Like, for example, the seashells they leave for each other when they’re sleeping is absolutely precious, but there’s not that much of a core dynamic between these characters that this really cute character interaction can be built upon. And in the end, but just because something is tragic doesn't mean it has substance

Because Days doesn't give me enough meat of writing to bite into, it just ends up as a frustrating tale of Roxas just being confused the whole time. Sure, Roxas is the main character, but he literally has almost no agency throughout the entire game. And I find that pretty insulting to his character. This guy is literally one of the most well written in the series. And no, I’m not pulling the ‘xion’s a mary sue stealing the spotlight’ card. I’m totally fine with her existing, but dang if I had the opportunity to change ONE THING about Days I would totally rewrite the cutscene Fracture on day 298, the day when Xion was captured.

So the original scene goes like this: Roxas tracks her down, asks her to come back, he tries to comfort her, asking why she won’t come back to him. She just says "I can't" and GETS SCARED WHEN THE MOST TRUSTED PERSON IN HER LIFE REACHES OUT TO HER. Okay. breathe. I understand if she’s scared. It’s a bit of a stretch, yes, if we take into account that she’s in the depths of emotional turmoil trying decide between her friends or Sora. I understand if she really doesn’t want to go back to the organization. My problem is that Roxas really doesn’t pose a threat to her at all here.

But then again, it could be that Xion’s a very delicate person, emotionally. And that she’s easily disturbed and is flighty. BUT THE THING IS: We don’t see this anywhere else. Days, as is, doesn’t really do a good job of establishing Xion’s personality at all anyways. So we can throw that excuse out the window.

BUT. BUT BUT BUT. THE ABSOLUTE WORST WAS WHEN SHE TURNED HER KEYBLADE ON ROXAS.

SERIOUSLY I would have totally been fine with everything up to this point except her turning on him like that

Again, he is literally no threat to her at all! I can understand her being scared, but he didn’t threaten to take her back or yell at her or anything

Like why. Why isn’t she willing to tell him anything about the truth about her existence. It's not like she's trying to keep it a secret. I understand how jarring it must have been for her to have that sort of existential crisis knowing that she’s just a puppet created to copy...But telling Roxas absolutely nothing is ridiculous. ESPECIALLY because Roxas was the one who always was breaking his back for her. He was the one who first approached her to join him at the clock tower, he was always trying to reach out to her, understand her. Heck, even when Xion was the aggressor, both times in Fracture and in the final battle, Roxas still sees her as the victim, the one who was in the right, and it's both very sweet and a bit unhealthy that he views her in such a positive light. He always does his best to give her the benefit of the doubt. And this is clearly shown in his actions.

I would rewrite it like this:

Keep everything the same up to the point right before she turns on him. She walks away and he stops her and everything, but after that she stops and thinks for a moment. And she asks quietly for him to let her go. Roxas, of course, let's her go because he's freaking Roxas

And she tries explaining to him what's going on in a very roundabout way, for the sake of being consistent with her established character. I'm not asking for her to explain it word for word. She's as flighty as a deer. I understand her not being direct. And then Roxas tries talking to her how they could work this out. Hell, this would be the PERFECT TIME to incorporate that scene from the manga when Roxas proposes they run away together. Xion is shocked and ask if he is serious, and he says yes. And THAT'S when Axel comes in and stops the party, and everything plays out the same till the end of the cutscene.

Also if this writing was implemented, then that would be a payoff point. The pacing in Days’ story is kind of whack, and adding a breakthrough moment like this would be super satisfying to the viewer.

Also it makes sense that Axel would come in then because he can't just accept both of his friends leaving like that. In the og game, Axel pretty much just let his two best friends walk away from him.  The only time he shows any protest is when he is ordered by his superiors to go after them. Xion in particular. Sure this works, as it’s implied that Axel is respecting his friends’ autonomy by letting them go.

But maybe we could make it better by having Axel go through a mini arc where he accepts his friends' departure with a bit of a struggle. You’ll see more below.

The only change that would have to be made is that the organization would have to actively keep Roxas and Xion apart to keep them from conspiring together. Or when they're together, always have a third party member to keep a watchful eye. I’m guessing this would mean no more ice cream time either. For now.

Xion’s communication is just a trickle the first few days, but over time it slowly opens up, gradually telling more as they interact when they have the occasional mission together. She would mutter things like 

“The organization is keeping so much from us, Roxas…” 

or telling snippits like that when the third party member/chaperone isn’t watching.

Eventually, the organization takes note of this and orders for the two to be kept completely separate at all times, and Axel knows that this will absolutely kill their friendship so he does a solid by confronting Saix about it to propose a compromise. He’s like: 

"I'm a trusted member of this organization. Hell, I brought them back for you.  So how about this: I'll watch them for you instead" 

And Saix accepts that compromise. And the result of that compromise is that we get more trio missions, something we ALL LOVED. And also those would be opportunities for them to talk. ALL THREE OF THEM

Okay so the three talk on missions and at the clocktower again, Xion knows her purpose and desperately wants to leave. She won’t disclose Riku or Namine's location. Axel protests fiercely to the thought of her leaving. Meanwhile Roxas is trying to mediate as always, but he leans more towards helping Xion leave at least. However, he would still show how he emotionally would rather have her stay. He has an internal struggle when Xion tries to explain their connection with Sora and how they need to go back during a few talks with them alone that Axel allows. She needs to be the one who tells him he needs to come back to Sora.  Someone who he trusts and can help him through this process. Not a stranger like Riku or Namine.

And then this time of communication all abruptly comes to a halt when the Org. starts pitting Roxas and Xion against each other in missions. Also, let's have Xion be less heartless to Roxas here and not be so eager to leave. Of course, she desperately still wants to, but Roxas is her anchor keeping her there. She knows that it'll all be for naught if Roxas doesn't go with her anyways. Also she doesn't want to hurt him by just leaving like that. She cares.

So, back to the rewrite, the talks stop when the organization starts pitting roxas and Xion against each other in those missions. Axel stops them like he did originally, and they have a talk about how crazy ridiculous this all is. Roxas agrees with Xion and Axel agrees too but hides it because he's a coward and is the org's lapdog, and just tries as hard as he can to keep them together. Roxas is dismayed that his existence is possibly ending, but at the same time agrees with Xion that this is all crazy. Axel shuts them down for the day. 

And the next day is the day Xigbar, Axel and Xion go on that mission.

But instead of Xion jumping ship, Riku comes in to take Xion, kidnapping her without a fight because he knows he can't take survive one against two other org. members. Axel doesn't do anything to stop her because he's accepted it at this point. Also seeing Xion as Ven really made him realize the gravity of the situation.

This really upsets Roxas because he thinks Xion was taken against her will. Axel doesn’t have the heart to tell him about Xion’s current extremely unstable state. And this sets him off since he's been putting up with so much BS at this point and he runs away as originally written as well as to search for Xion, because he knows the org. will never let him look for her himself. Everything plays out the same after that.

 On the clocktower where Roxas and Xion meet, there's one change. When she shows him that she's almost Sora, she *explains* as best as she can what’s happened to her, since she’s under the control of the org. now. She makes him realize that it's inevitable that she must die or she'll cease to be herself. And then they fight as originally scripted, Roxas’ motive for fighting being that there still might be a chance for them to go on if he finishes things himself.

When the fight is over and she begins to die, Xion's final request is that he join back with Sora. That is were it this all leads and she knows it. We're changing that because in the original she, when Roxas and Riku are fighting, for some dumb reason, retracts her final wish???? Like… that's got to be one of the most contrived things in this story.

Also I'd like to cut that dumb pointless plot device that Roxas forgets who Xion is right after finishing his final battle with her, Because by golly did the writing team really want Roxas to be as clueless as possible even as his best friend is dying. Geez wtf.

Honestly, you can keep the memory loss, just please make it so that he remembers her SOONER, so they can actually COMMUNICATE AND SO THAT HE CAN ACTUALLY SAY GOODBYE.

FUACK.

“Promise me...you’ll come back...to Sora. That way...we can be together again...”

Or something like that, make me cry more. 。ﾟ(ﾟﾉД｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡

But then what would Roxas’s motive be for going back to The World That Never Was and fighting Riku then? Just wait a moment and hold on to your seat because I’m going to take the original situation and make it even more badass AND make it work with my rewrite.

Also this blog is finally almost done good job for making it this far.

Let's have Roxas know about the heartless nobody cycle. He can have learned this after maybe sifting through the organization’s research files or something. It wouldn’t be hard to stick it in the story somewhere. 

What was the most heartwrenching thing about Roxas’s final day in the real world? I would say his rage, grief, and desperation over his entire life. So let’s take that, and multiply it by a couple dozen times. After Xion's death, his motive to destroy the organization will be more about his rage at the unjust way he was treated. Him and Xion. They messed up his and his friends’ lives.

“Well if I die, then whatever I'll just go back to Sora. Kill two birds with one stone.”

Regardless of however you write Days, angsty, bloodthirsty Roxas is a requirement. It’s what makes Roxas Roxas. And as a result his grief is amplified tenfold. He doesn't even care about preserving his own life anymore.

And Riku confronts him. Asks him what the hell he's doing. He tells him he's going to fuck up the organization. And Riku's like ‘don't be stupid they'll just capture you and hold you hostage to keep Sora from waking’

Roxas looks at him, points one of his keyblades towards him.

"You don't know that." 

"I'll end every single one of them before they get the chance. You want me to prove it..? WELL HERE'S MY PROOF!” 

AND THEN HE FREAKING STRIKES,

AND THAT’S THE FIGHT

And let's hammer in the fact that Roxas is his own freaking person. Instead of the line "C'mon Sora! I thought you were stronger than that!" from Riku, instead he says to Roxas something akin to this:

"C'mon Sora...I know you're stupid, but not to this extent!"

And then Roxas doesn't give him a Sora-ish line.

“You’re the one calling me by the wrong name.”

Riku sits defeated and despondent on the ground.

"...Why...? It's not supposed to be this way...Sora..."

This breaks a nerve in Roxas.

"This again?! I'm me. NOBODY ELSE. Get that through YOUR thick head!"

And the rest is history...

..................

THAT’S THE REWRITE KIDS.  YOU’RE FINALLY FINISHED READING THIS RIDICULOUSLY LONG BLOG. THANK YOU FOR READING \o/

Fun fact, this was all borne out of a late night discord chat with a friend of mine.

Edit: this is the headcanon for what happened in Days now. Goodnight.

[bad-hair-day-headcanons]

Can I have hcs for reader in a poly relationship with Axel and Roxas? Or maybe you think Roxas is too young for something like this? In that case I totally understand, you only have to write things you're comfortable with :)

Notes: Hello! Yes, I do write poly with AkuRoku, I ship it super hard. I always age Roxas up in situations like this, and I will mainly write him in modern!AU to keep from screwing up the timeline. I actually have a lot to say on the whole subject of properly aging your characters up and whether or not you should or should not keep them canon, but that’s a topic for another time. For now, please enjoy this set! (Also this is a long one, PLEASE ENJOY!)

How you met:

When you first met Axel and Roxas, they had already been dating for a year, and it showed.

These two dorks would push and pull at each other, making sarcastic, almost rude comments.

At first, you thought they were brothers, then you saw them holding hands one day.

‘Okay,’ you thought to yourself. ‘Sometimes brothers hold hands.’

Alas, you were quite wrong when Axel leaned down to kiss Roxas full on the mouth, while Roxas held onto him by the collar.

‘Nope, definitely not brothers.’

And yet you couldn’t stop yourself from wanting in the middle of that sandwich.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to notice you, or rather for Axel to notice you and start teasing you about always being where they were.

You quickly all became friends, eating ice cream on the clock tower together while the two cuddled, you felt a bit like the odd one out.

How you got together:

The three of you had been hanging out on the clocktower like usual, chatting about nothing when Roxas and Axel decided to bear down on you with some very unusual questions.

“Hey [Y/N], are you dating anyone?”

“Wh-what?”

“What Roxas means is that you’re always free to hang out and we never see you with anyone but us,” Axel stated as if it was it was the most obvious thing.

“I-”

“Easier question,” Roxas said. “Do you like anyone?”

“I’m more offended that you don’t think I have any other friends!”

The three of you laugh at this for a good minute, before things get serious again.

“But really, do you like anyone?”

Your face is as red as the sunset, you couldn’t tell them that you liked them, that would be so weird and possibly ruin your friendship, so instead, you decide to give them a vague answer.

“Actually, I like two people.”

Bad choice [Y/N].

“Oh?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Who?”

“No one you two know.”

The two were excited after hearing that their friend had not one- but two crushes. Even if they didn’t know the people, they wanted to know everything, how they walked, talked, why you liked them, how you met, what you thought of them, what effect they had on you, how long you knew them. EVERYTHING.

It wasn’t until a week later that you finally gave into their pestering.

“Okay! Okay! Stop already, I’ll tell you! Just don’t be mad.”

You were on the Clocktower again, and it was like keeping puppies in a bathtub trying not to tell them any chance you got.

But now was the perfect time, just the three of you, sea-salt ice cream, and the sunset.

“I like you, Axel-”

“YOU LIKE AXEL?” Roxas shouted.

“LET ME FINISH!” You smacked Roxas’s arm playfully.

“And I like you, Roxas.”

You all sat in an uncomfortable silence for a while, it was the first time that you truly felt like you wished you had never become friends with them in the first place. However, your fears were put to rest after Roxas put a hand on your shoulder, bringing you back to reality.

“Don’t freak out, we like you too.”

You were so taken aback that you almost fell off the clocktower completely, luckily, you didn’t.

“Wh-what?”

“Yeah, we’ve been talking about it when you weren’t here, we like you, as more than a friend and if it’s cool, we’d like to-”

“DO MORE THAN JUST SIT HERE AND EAT FREAKING ICE CREAM!” Axel interjects loudly.

Roxas shoots a glare at Axel.

You burst out laughing. They really had been thinking about this.

All of you begin laughing and joking as Roxas tries to grab Axel’s ice cream, saying that if he hated sitting around eating it so much that he should hand it over.

Dating Axel and Roxas:

Things start out slow between the three of you, you’re not used to dating two guys at once and for most of your life you had been taught that it was cheating, so you had to ease your way into it.

Axel and Roxas apparently had a few other people that they had dated before you, but they don’t mention them if you don’t want to. They do however try their best to explain the ins and outs of polyamorous dating, which you learn is the name for it.

Things like how Axel and Roxas are primary partners, meaning that their relationship comes first for them, and your relationship is secondary, but not any less important to them.

Also that your relationship between the three of you is special and even though people around you may not understand or comprehend it, it doesn’t make it any less valid.

Another thing you learned is that polyamory is not polygamy. Something you didn’t know before and were actually quite happy to know.

Aside from the learning aspect of your relationship, lots of little things were discussed.

Like how Axel does get jealous on occasion, but it can be easily managed by scheduling everyone’s time wisely.

You all decided to have every three days (Sunday, Wednesday/Monday, Thursday/Tuesday, Friday) be your set schedules, while Saturday was the day that you all three had together. (A better explanation would be Axel and Roxas are in the same room the first day then it’s Axel and you, then Roxas and you, then it goes again, and finally, you have the all together day.)

For your shared night the three of you would either have a stay in movie night or go out and eat sea-salt ice cream on the clock tower and then come home and play video games.

You quickly learned that these two are homebodies and would even work from home given the chance.

Food is never a problem, mostly because of Axel’s inability to stay out of the grocery store whenever he passes it, but also because Roxas has a hidden talent for baking.

Speaking of hidden talents, did I mention the two are musically blessed?

I didn’t?

Well now I have, Roxas will sing in the shower, while baking, while taking a poop, you name it, he’s singing while doing it.

Axel, on the other hand, is not quite so gifted, think Fiona in Shrek where she kills a bird with her voice. Not that it’s lack of trying, it’s more, the lack of being able to hear past your own hair. Yet somehow he can play the keyboard that is tucked away in the corner of the living room all covered in dust.

You’ve heard them do a duet before, it was on your birthday, Axel pulled out the old keyboard, and Roxas sat next to him on the bench. They sang a love song that they had heard on the radio and you were in tears by the end of it.

That was also the night that you told them that you loved them.

And they told you right back, with just as much love.

You didn’t make it to the bedroom that night. ;)

These two are so dorky sometimes when they say that they love you, especially now that they’ve said it already. Axel will take things out of your reach and ask you for a peck on the cheek before giving it back. You’ll glare at him and Roxas will roll his eyes in the corner. Then you’ll give in and give him the peck on the peck on the cheek that he wanted so much before he said that you only put up with him because you love him.

“And what would give you the impression that I love you?”

You’ll say.

Axel will mock hurt and Roxas will roll his eyes, AGAIN, before telling Axel that he still loves him.

Roxas is actually worse when it comes to getting you to tell him that you love him.

He will jump on the bed, straddle you, and start tickling you until you say that you love him. Sometimes this can go on for 30 minutes or more because Axel will hear the giggling and join in.

Sleeping in the same bed is a mess! Tangled limbs, covers going every which way, people on top of each other, it’s like a hurricane of sweat and body parts.

Axel likes to be in the middle with both of you on either side unless you’re spooning in which case it goes Axel, Roxas, You and then you’ll occasionally all turn around.

After a while, you’ll realize that this relationship is meant to last and you won’t ever want to leave them. The three of you make each other very happy and you can’t imagine ever being anywhere but with these two goofballs.

[mayor-crumblepot]

Honeythief by Halou + Valeyne

i’ve literally never heard of this song before, and it totally isn’t my style, but i definitely can go places with it for sure.

Bruce will never admit it, but he knows that he’s a control freak. Most people are more than happy to let him have his way— He watched his parents die, it only makes sense that he’ll act this way. 

There’s something to be said about the fact that people are only willing to indulge him after he lost his parents, after he sat in an alleyway with his mother’s blood on his hands; he tries not to think about it. Instead, he keeps everything he loves under lock and key, under intense security, lest he lose that too. 

It isn’t materialism, it’s self preservation. 

And, you know, it works. More or less. 

Bruce still has his parents’ room exactly how it was the night he lost them— his mothers’ second choice dress is laying over the seat of her vanity, his father’s box of cufflinks is sitting open on the dresser. It feels easier this way, easier to pretend, in the middle of the night, that they’re just out late at a gala, alive and well, laughing and very much in love. 

(Bruce knows this is unhealthy. He knows that he shouldn’t be pretending, he knows that he needs to face the truth and accept that nothing will ever be the same. Still, sometimes, he finds himself in their bed, all these years later.)

He knows that he’s too old for dramatics. Alfred will remind him of it, most days, albeit gently. 

The only thing that Bruce has left that he doesn’t protect is his own life. 

That choice, in and of itself, counts as the most extensive form of dramatics that Bruce can think of. Nobody can ever tell him what to do with his life, though, so he lives on the edge and accepts that this might be the only way he can accept what’s happened to him.

If he tempts fate, forever and ever, with the offering of his own life, it’s the only way he’ll be able to balance the scales. If the universe could take him away at any time, but it chooses not to, that’s the only way he can feel like he’s truly supposed to still be alive. 

This is hope he copes. 

And then, he meets Jerome. 

He meets Jerome, a boy who burns down the house to get to the basement, born from violence from all angles and a missing sense of empathy. A boy whose entire identity is built around how much damage he can cause, about how many lives he can ruin, how many nightmares he can make true. 

Jerome wants to thrust the entire world into darkness and Bruce wants to understand. It’s a wreck, and it’s doomed from the start. They both know it, they both know that if they keep circling they’re going to end up together in the same grave, bleeding all over the stones and one another— they’ll rot together, and they don’t mind. 

So it goes. 

Every time Bruce sees Jerome, it seems like there’s more blood on his hands. Ultimately, he doesn’t know what he’s expecting— Jerome is a criminal, a murderer and a vagrant, a curse with legs. The list goes on, and even though every title added is more cruel than the next, it all sounds like poetry to Bruce. 

“He’s fucking crazy,” Selina tells him, dirty shoes propped up on the vintage lounge, “he doesn’t deserve your time.”

“Sometimes, I think what happened to me made me crazy, too,” he can’t face her, instead presses his nose further into the books lining the walls. “I don’t know if he and I are very different.”

The sound that Selina makes is full of aggression, a snort so hard that Bruce thinks it might hurt her. “Just because you’re both fucked up doesn’t mean you’re the same,” she takes a handful of what’s in the candy dish and then makes for the window, “he handles pressure a whole lot differently than you do, B.” 

Upon reflection, Bruce realizes that she’s right. Jerome isn’t a mirror, he’s an inversion. He’s the same image cropped and reversed, doused in blood and godlessness— Bruce wonders how he’d look under similar conditions. What imagery would he cling to, who would he be casting the blame onto; who made him what he is? 

Faintly, he wonders if Jerome knows the answers, himself. Probably not. 

“You’re just going to kill me, without an audience?” Bruce asks Jerome, head held high but still not tall enough to hold his unfocused gaze. 

“I was thinkin’ we could get a little time alone,” Jerome chucks his knife somewhere, likely landing it in the stomach of one of his various goons, “and who said anything about killing you?” 

“I mean,” as the hired muscle leaves the room, Bruce wonders exactly how Jerome managed to gather all these people up, “the knife to my throat had a certain implication.” 

“There were plans, I’ll admit,” he settles into the tattered remains of the couch, as if he were in his own home, “but you’ve got this— you’ve got chutzpah.”

“You don’t pronounce the ‘c’ like that,” Bruce tells him, still standing against his desk, fingers running over the new cuts on the surface, “it’s all wrong.” 

“If you come sit down, I’ll let you tell me all about it.” And of course, Bruce does. 

Jerome is convinced to leave Bruce out of his plans, this time. He leaves Alfred unconscious in the kitchen, makes his men put back most of what they had intended to steal, and Bruce thanks him. 

“Next time,” Jerome says, waggling another knife in his hand as he leaves, “I might not be so charitable.” 

To his credit, Jerome holds true to his word. Barely a few months later, Bruce is hauled off by idiots in stupid clown masks, dumped in a warehouse, and left to wait. It wouldn’t be the first time that Bruce is taken against his will, or the last; the entire city knows how wealthy he is, and it’s his own fault for walking around the narrows without any kind of protection. 

“What a difference a few months makes,” Jerome says, face scarred but still mostly intact. “My, how you’ve grown.” 

“You haven’t,” it’s hard for Bruce to inject an edge into his voice when he’s tied up, but he tries his best. 

“Don’t give me an attitude,” he warns, looking over at the men who brought Bruce to him. “What happened here?” There’s blood dripping from Bruce’s nose, a wound on his otherwise clean skin, “Did the boys not behave?”  

“I also had a Rolex on when they picked me up,” Bruce isn’t all that sure if the question was serious, but he figures it’s worth the effort to be honest. 

“Oh, poor baby,” with a gesture of his hand, Jerome has someone marching over to his kidnappers, violently killing them. “You won’t be getting that back.” 

“Figures,” he tries not to seem afraid when Jerome comes close to untie him, tries not to focus on the fact that he smells like blood and crisp dollar bills. “What do you want?” 

“Rude. Can’t I just want to see you?” The air leaves Bruce’s lungs, like he’s been thrown off of the clocktower in the middle of town. That can’t be all this is.

“You don’t have to kidnap me to get a date,” he counters, stretching his arms out and popping the kinks from his joints, “you could just ask.” 

“I don’t know if you noticed, darling,” the term of endearment doesn’t sound quite right on Jerome’s tongue, but Bruce is willing to listen to it every day, “but I’m not exactly a public figure. More like public enemy.” 

“You could always ask for my phone number—”

“As if you’d give it to me—”

“Give me a pen.” They sit for a moment, frozen, as if waiting to call each others’ bluff but the time never comes. Jerome has a sharpie tucked behind his ear and he holds it out to Bruce with an unsteady hand. On the back of one of his business cards, Bruce scribbles his cell phone number, signing it with a handsome flourish of a signature. 

Maybe it’s because Bruce has never had a “proper” relationship, but he welcomes Jerome’s off-color courtship. Deep down, he disagrees with everything Jerome is doing, and he knows that if their lives were normal, he’d be fully in opposition. Right now, though, he knows that he has no room to judge. Instead, he only hopes that things can get better. 

It’s a lofty dream, but he’s willing to try. 

At night, on the phone, he listens to Jerome argue with himself over plans, listens to him talk through ideas and designs for weapons. It all sounds very childish, but he can just as easily hear the slight tinge of genius. Jerome plans his way around technological failures, builds things with his bare hands, plans a night’s mayhem only hours before it’s set to begin. 

And one night, it goes wrong. It goes wrong, and there’s fire, brimstone, police, and the threat of death, so Bruce does something monumentally stupid; “You can come here,” he says, holding his phone against his shoulder and drawing a robe around himself, “come here, right now. Please.” And Jerome does, mainly out of desperation. 

“I’m not afraid to die,” Jerome says, bleeding on Bruce’s floor, “but I don’t want to go out without a bang.” 

“Be quiet,” dragging Jerome through the empty house, Bruce repeatedly has to shush him, “Alfred will kill me if he sees you.” 

“How do you balance the risk?” Bruce asks, rinsing dirt and debris out of open wounds. “How do you decide what’s worth doing?” 

“You’re adorable,” through gritted teeth, Jerome tries to seem as though he isn’t in pain, “thinking that’s what I do.” 

“What, then?” His cheeks burn, bottom lip caught between his teeth, “You just do everything you think of?” 

“It’s all chaos, sweetheart,” Jerome is grinning, eerie and just a step away from the abyss, “and that’s what I’m about.”

“Chaos needs to wait,” snippily, Bruce gives Jerome a heavy eye roll, “for as long as you can stand it. You’re a mess.” 

“If I have you to keep me company, I think I can manage.” He plants a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kiss on Bruce, on the corner of his mouth, and Jerome tastes like gunpowder and dirt. Bruce goes back for seconds. 

He knows that no matter how long he can keep Jerome holed up in a guest room, eventually, he’ll have to let him go. He’ll have to watch Jerome walk right back out into the city, into a teeming mass of snakes and scorpions, men who shoot first and ask questions later. The most he can hope is that Jerome is faster than the people who want him dead— Bruce knows he has no control, once Jerome leaves. 

And what’s the world without him? If Bruce is the moon, then Jerome is the sun; the vibrant mania that Bruce can only hope to reflect, to project through a filter. Without Jerome, what does he have to keep him interesting? What does he have to guide him further away from him past? 

“You think too much,” Jerome tells him, swallowed up by fancy pillows and bedsheets, “you’re making my head spin, and I don’t even know what you’re thinking about.” 

“You,” he says truthfully, running a hand through his hair. 

“Trying to rationalize being in love with a murderer?” He laughs, but surprisingly, it doesn’t quite sound like he thinks it’s funny. 

“Who said I was in love with you?” Bruce is smiling, and when Jerome laughs again, it’s sincere and knowing. 

[generousqueen21]

Welcome to Gotham

Requested by @queenayles: So if you live in Gotham for a while you see some stuff and pretty much get used to vigilantes and villains running around. Can I have a “Welcome To Gotham” fic where the reader is completely new to Gotham and is “meeting” the Robins for the first time? Thanks <3

Masterlist (still updating!)

Batboys x Reader 

Summary: Gotham City is weirder than you though - good thing your there to change it for the better. 

Word Count: 1165

Warnings: A little fighting? It’s Gotham, guys.

Tags: Request if you wanna be tagged permanently!

@jasonsredhoodie

@writingtheworks

@queenayles

Gotham City. 

When you'd told your parents that you were moving to a place full of crime and murder, dangerous people and corrupt systems, you hadn't expected anything from them other than to panic and beg you to change your mind. You were questioning the decision yourself, but as the top graduate in Criminal Justice field at Metropolis University, you knew you had to channel your talent somewhere. Metropolis would be fine without another police officer. Gotham, on the other hand, could use some work. You groaned as your parents continued to plead and bargain with you. "My god..." you muttered, running your fingers through your hair. "I've been working hard for years just to get this degree, Mom and Dad, and Metropolis doesn't need a police officer. We got Superman, for crying out loud!" "Exactly!" Your Dad argued, throwing his hands in the air. "And what does Gotham City have? Batman? When has that freak done anything for - " "(Y/D/N), Hush!" Your mom scolded, slapping his arm. She turned to you, smiling weakly. "Honey, at least when you were here, we knew that that city, including you, had Superman to protect us. We don't know a thing about Batman, or if he really will protect you. In fact, it seems that the GCPD seems to be cleaning up his mess." "Mom, come on! Guys, Gotham could use someone like me! And all those years of karate..." You looked at both your parents with imploring wide eyes. "I can do this, and I promise I'll call you at least once a week." Your parents glanced at each other, looking back at you. "Twice," your mom piped. "And please, at least carry pepper spray..." Your growing grin stretched across your face as you reached forward and gave your parents a firm hug. "Thank you! I will, I swear." You had no idea what you were in for.

You layed across your new bed, admiring the glow-in-the-dark stars that you'd scattered across your bedroom ceiling. Moving in and unpacking all your belongings had not been as enjoyable as you'd hoped, but now that you had finally finished, you could relax a bit in your new apartment. You'd been lucky enough to find a flat with a stunning view. From your bedroom, you could see Wayne Enterprises and the Clocktower. The smog in the air gave the sky a dull, murky look. You scrunched your nose up in disgust as you glanced out your window. "Some view this is..." you grumbled. Lost in thought, you barely felt your stomach grumble. "Man, is it time for dinner already?" You proclaimed to yourself. You sighed, walking to the entrance of your apartment, and put on your coat and grabbed your apartment keys. "Well, let's hope this city has good food."

Walking down the street, you tapped your phone frantically, hoping for a signal. Unfortunately, Gotham did not have the best cell service. "How the hell am I supposed to find a restaurant now, huh!" You yelled at your phone, stopping your foot. Your rage and anger had consumed you to the point where you weren't even hungry anymore. Fuming, you continued to walk down the street, unaware that one of Joker's goons had been following you. "Hey-HHHMMMPPHH!" You cried out as a hand grabbed you by the collar and another went over your mouth, muffling your screams. The man tightened his grip on your mouth while pulling you back, and grunted into your ear. "Hand over your money. Stop struggling, and I won't shoot you. Understand?" Before you could give him a piece of your mind, a shadow appeared down the alleyway. The goon swore, quickly pushing you up onto the fire escape ladder. You gasped as he suddenly released his hold on you, and swiftly turned around, inching away from the scene in front of you. The shadow had kicked the gun right out of the criminal’s grasp, rendering him unarmed. The goon stepped back, clutching his hand in immense pain. “Hey birdbrain, take this!” He threw a punch aimed at the shadows head, missing entirely. The shadow scoffed, and quickly jabbed the man in the neck, knocking him out. The man fell unconscious to ground with a sickening crunch.

You flinched as the shadow man inched slowly toward you. “Are you okay?” He asked, reaching a hand out carefully. "Who the hell are you?" You demanded, leaning away from his hand. "And why was that man wearing... face paint?" The shadow man's jaw dropped, and as he began to stutter, you couldn't help but notice the blue symbol across his chest. "You don't know who I am? That explains how well you managed to defend yourself from that criminal." The man scoffed, crossing his arms. "The name's Nightwing, hon." You scrunched your face up in disgust. "Do not call me that ever again, Nightwing, or whatever your name is. And I did my best to defend myself, ok! Are you sure you're not a Batman wannabe? "Hey now," Nightwing replied, clearing insulted. "I worked by his side for quite some time now. I was the first Robin!" "So there are other Robins?" You requested. "Then why are people still getting mugged, huh?" Nightwing opened his mouth to answer but sighed as his earpiece hummed. He put his finger up to his ear, turning his back to you and muttering to himself. "Yeah, I was just - ok! I'm in an alley, ok? I couldn't see the Bat Signal. I'm coming!" You snorted as he turned back to you. "Bat Signal? What's that, a swarm of bats or something?" Nightwing rolled his eyes, and he pulled out his grappling hook. "Sorry, duty calls with the Bat. And here's the part where we keep people from getting mugged." He pulled the trigger, the line shooting out and attaching to a building. Nightwing grinned back at your flabbergasted expression. As he shot off into the distance, you could still hear him zoning out. "Welcome to Gotham!"

Bonus:

"So you all just know how to fight? And you just go out at night to keep people safe?" You asked, bewildered. "Also, why are Gotham's villains so weird?" You couldn't understand how everyone in Gotham lived in this hellhole every day with people dressed like plants and cats and even worse, clowns. The three boys to Nightwing's right glanced over at him as he shrugged. "She's new, but I think she'll like it here.”

 "Tt." The shortest boy grunted, cocking his head. 

You scowled back at him, putting your hands on your hips."Are the police here not doing their jobs?" The boy with the red helmet burst out laughing.

 "Hey, she figured it out. Ding Ding Ding! We have a lucky winner!" You smirked, knowing what had to be done. 

"GCPD, here I come."

Gotham City had a new (guy/gal) in town.

[bloodontheclocktower]

UKGE, USA, and Stats Stats Stats!

Hello! Evin here again with another update for where we're at with Blood on the Clocktower. Given that a huge part of this year for us is about getting out to heaps of conventions and different cities and sharing the game with as many people as possible, much of this post is about where we've been and where we'll be.

But, there is a tidbit at the end about where we're at with that statistics we've been recording on each game we play.

PAX East and USA Wrap-Up

Steven and Eden, Blood on the Clocktower's creator and our Management Minion, both returned from PAX East and the United States just full of awesome vibes. Eden got back here first and by far my favorite story from her was a tale of something that has never happened in a game of Clocktower before: A new player sat down and PAX East and, completely without prompting, began to intensely roleplay her character (the Virgin).

Just to be clear: Blood on the Clocktower is not an RPG.

Eden was running the game and called for 'Eyes open' on the first day, and this woman launched into “I awake yawning from my slumber in my comfortable bed, the sun streams in through my windows...”, and she committed to this so hard that all the other players started role-playing their characters – and their bluffs – as well. Completely unnecessary but kind of fantastic.

After PAX East in Boston, Steven went on to run games in (and have a rad time in) New York and San Francisco. My favorite story from him was that when he was running games at MIT, someone leapt up from their chair after receiving the Chef's information (who learns how pairs of evil players are neighboring each other) to calculate on a white board the statistical probability of the minion sitting next to the demon.

The MIT games group loved Clocktower so much we left a copy of the game with them and they're running a bunch of games now. Plus, there were heaps of people Steven and Eden met at PAX East who were keen to run games in Boston, so if you're in Boston keep your eyes peeled on social media or MeetUp for details of more games soon.

That, and he enjoyed Sleep No More in New York as much as I did. That show is rad. Seriously check that out.

More expo updates and cool game statistics under the cut!

UK Games Expo and Summer in the U.S.

No sooner than Steven and Eden are back from the U.S., I'm going over. In two weeks I'll head out of Sydney for three months to hit a bunch more conventions to demo Blood on the Clocktower and run games in even more cities.

First up, I'll be making a brief detour through England to demonstrate Blood on the Clocktower (with some assistance from our friend Sarah) at the UK Games Expo in Birmingham from June 1-3. We'll be at stand 2-B19 in Hall 2 for anyone who wants to come and play. See us and some of the other great games that will be at UKGE on @Slickerdrips' preview list.

I'll be in New York City from June 4-11 and will run a few games while I'm there (if I'm not at Sleep No More every night), then it's off to Columbus, Ohio where I'll be living for the summer.

I wanted to show a picture of Columbus, but wanted it to be in theme with the game, so I Googled ‘Columbus Ohio Gothic’ and voila. It’s in the Short North Arts District.

Here are some of the highlights of where I'll be then, and where you can play Blood on the Clocktower:

Origins Games Fair runs in Columbus from June 13-17. I'll aim to run a game or two during that week, and we'll be featured in the BoardGameGeek Origins Livestream on Wednesday June 13 at 2:40pm!

I'm looking to be in Toronto, Canada, and run a game there over the July 20-22 weekend.

I'll be demonstrating at GenCon in Indianapolis with my friend David from August 2-5. We'll be running as many games as humanly possible so come and get stuck in.

Some time over the summer – possibly in August but possibly another time – I'm getting down to Nashville to run games at the Meeple Mountain Nashville Game Night. I'm particularly looking forward to that trip because man have I heard some great things about Nashville.

August 31 to September 3 will see me in Seattle, Washington, running games at PAX West before heading back to Sydney (possibly via New Zealand – so shout out to us if you're in New Zealand and I can try and run a game for you there).

Oh, and, just a little further on PAX – We plan to be at every PAX for the rest of the year. PAX West, PAX Australia, and PAX Unplugged. We are all about PAX. PAX is awesome. Hey come to PAX, it's awesome.

FREAKING STATS! (We Love Stats)

About a year ago we made the decision to start recording statistics on the games of Clocktower we played. There have been well over a thousand games played at this point and we had a good feeling that the game was balanced at a 50/50 win rate for Good and Evil, but we wanted to be certain. Plus there are other things we wanted to be able to figure out – such win rates for individual characters, which character the Drunk thinks they are in each game, etc.

For each game we record when it was played, the team that won, how they won (in case of a character-based victory condition such as the Mayor or the Saint), the number of players in the game, what characters were in it (including Fabled and Travelers), and a few specific things like the identity of the Drunk and the character the Philosopher chooses to turn into. As the game’s getting more known and more popular we are developing a pretty massive data set.

After a year of recording stats we've logged over 350 plays of the first three editions – Trouble Brewing (266), Sects & Violets (60), and Bad Moon Rising (31). Trouble Brewing has logged so many more plays because it's the simplest version and the one we put new players through when demonstrating the game.

Happily, our suspicions have so far been thoroughly confirmed: The win rate between Good and Evil within each edition, and overall, is very close to 50%.

Trouble Brewing – 132 Good wins and 134 Evil wins:

Sects & Violets – 31 Good wins and 29 Evil wins:

Bad Moon Rising – 15 Good wins and 16 Evil Wins:

This means that when you pull your token out of the bag at the start of the game, whether it's red or blue, you have as much chance of winning as anyone else there.

See you in the U.S.

If you're at any of the conventions or any of the cities I mentioned over the summer, please come say hi to me and play a game. I’m very friendly and keen to meet people.

There'll be plenty of action in Australia over the middle of the year too – more details will be in a future post and on our Where to Play page.

Until next time,

Evin Donohoe Social Minion for Blood on the Clocktower

[everly-kindred]

Eve’s Diary - Entry #92

Date: 6th of March, 2028

Dear Diary, 

So much has happened that I have to tell you about! I’ve been so scattered and busy with school and friends and the task coming up that I haven’t had a chance to write, but I’ll try to where I can! 

So we had Hufflepuff Hangout, and I talked to Marigold, Siren, Caitlin and Quinn about my worries with Bobby and Ruby. Well, they basically said that I could be worrying myself over nothing, and that I should just talk to Ruby and see how he actually feels. So I did! And we also made chocolates, I made mine in the shape of bunnies and frogs. 

Anyways, I talked to Ruby in the library. Told him he was my best friend and I love him but also that I fancy him, and Bobby too. He seemed supportive and didn’t say anything about feeling the same way! Seemed like he was just happy for me, which was great. I felt much less stressed out about it. So I gave him my chocolates and everything was good! 

And then I went to talk to Bobby in the caves. I told him I do fancy him and I guess we’re gonna just see what happens? It’s all exciting and makes me feel like I’ve eaten butterflies. Swallowed them whole, anyways. I don’t like the thought of chewing on them. I bet it tastes gross and feels weird, plus, that’s sad. But yeah! We haven’t kissed or anything, just on the cheek and stuff. And he calls me little fairy? Which makes me ridiculously happy. I wish I really was a fairy, still, and spring is coming which means they’ll be hatching soon! Oh, he calls me little egg, too, speaking of hatching. I just find that nickname funny. 

Oh and we had Defense Against the Dark Arts, and met a fifteen year old vampire named Ricky! He was just turned a year or two ago when he was fourteen! And he had pale blond hair and these huge red eyes, and he talked to me a lot during class when we were all asking questions. I think he was flirting with me? And he asked me if I wanted to live forever, so I was kind of an idiot and wondered about what would happen if the sun swallowed the earth, would all vampires just become stars? But then!! He wrote me a love letter! I’ve never gotten a love letter before! Anyways, I’ll clip it here. 

Ever-lina, 

Fitting name for a girl who might want to live forever. 

I'm off now, but I'll keep your precious face in my heart, when the nights go from mystical to haunting, and from thrilling to lonely.

One day, some day, one night, some night,

We will meet again.

Look to the stars and think of me.

Yours,

Ricky

[The diary entry picks up again in a different shade of ink, and Eve’s handwriting is a little more calm and less messy.] 

I never finished my last entry, but, we had the task! We all went out to the lake into this stadium, and it was in a big ring and then we could look into the water like it was a television. The champions had to get into the water and it turns out they had to rescue people! Lars wore this mask thing, and Cardan rode a shark which was pretty cool. Everyone got really emotional, though, because it looked like the captives were drowning or something. But anyways, it was all okay in the end. Oh! And the Durmstrang Headmaster, the one who died? He’s back, but he’s a ghost! Apparently Jamie took it really hard and he doesn’t understand why everyone cries when he’s around. I think it’s kind of cool, to be honest. I wonder if he’ll stay at Hogwarts, or if he’ll haunt Durmstrang when it’s time to go back? 

We also had another Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and we talked about hypnosis, which made me think about astral travel, lucid dreaming and how that might work together. Like, if you could just project your soul out of your body to avoid being hypnotised. How would that work? 

Oh, and I lost my parent’s engagement ring, which is making me really sad. I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find it! I hope my mum and dad don’t notice. I mean obviously they’re not married anymore, but it had my birthstone in it, and I’ve never not worn it! 

[There’s another break before the entry picks up once again in another shade of ink. Eve’s handwriting is messy and some of the words are splotched from tears.] 

Everything has gotten… Bad. I don’t even know where to start, because I want it to just be a bad dream. 

I was talking to Ruby in the clocktower, and we started talking about my family. Somehow, he didn’t know that I was a halfblood and… He scared me really badly. He started freaking out, hurting himself, told me I lied to him and I just wanted to steal his magic and it was just like his guardian told him, that everyone was trying to trick him and I… I don’t know, it all sounded absolutely mad. I begged him to go to the Hospital Wing with me, but he kept trying to get away from me, and tried to cast everte statum on me twice. In the end, he accidentally broke his wand and then pushed me to the ground. I got a big splinter in my hand, I think from his wand. 

So I ran away. I ran all the way back to the common room, and Bobby was there, and he held me and bandaged my hand and we ended up falling asleep in the common room. I really hoped that when I woke up today, it would just be a bad dream. That it wouldn’t be real. I don’t know what to do now knowing that it is. 

It just doesn’t make sense to me. All I can think about is how Ruby and I used to explore the summer before Hogwarts, or how we made promises to each other under the new years fireworks, or when he held me when I cried because of what had happened with Octavia. And he threw all of that away because of something I have no control over, and all this mad paranoia stuff that I don’t understand at all. 

He kept calling me the M word. Not even halfbreed. He went straight for… Mudblood. And he said he hated me. I’ve never felt this kind of pain before. It’s like my Ruby is gone and I don’t know where he is but he’s been replaced by a stranger. I can’t imagine living in a world where Ruby and I aren’t friends, even less so a world where he hates me and wants to hurt me. 

I don’t know what to do, but… I’m exhausted. I’m glad yesterday was Friday. I think I might just sleep today. I’m scared to leave my common room. I don’t want to see him. The clock tower used to be my favourite place in the school, but now it’s just like a graveyard where our friendship was murdered. That sounds really dramatic, but it’s how I feel. 

Much love, Everly

[ Eve’s Wiki Page ] 

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