#before after and right now

[tic-toc-clock77]

Natalie Ouellette Clockwork's descent into madness • my personal creepypasta headcanons; before, after and right now.

Warnings; abuse, addiction, sex work, SA/rape, incestuous rape, descriptive murder

Before

Natalie Ouellette was born November 6th, 1996 in Windsor, Ontario CA. She lived with her father and mother, David and Mary-Beth and her older brother by 5 years, Lucas.

The family lived in Windsor for the first 6 years of Natalie's life before moving to Denver, Colorado. They had only moved because of Mary-Beth; being a stripper and a prostitute, she was nearly murdered by her pimp at the time and forced her family to move for her own safety and not theirs, making Natalie abandoned the very few friends she had made in school.

Shortly after moving into their new home, her father began taking a large sum of the money her mother earned through sex work to visit bars. Young and naive at the time, Natalie enjoyed drawing but without paper one night, she resorted to using the walls.

The night her father had first come home, his wife threatened to shoot him for taking her money, a physical fight ensued between the parents. Instead of continuing to fight his wife, David Ouellette bashed in the door to his daughter's room, running in and beating her with a sketchbook for drawing on his walls.

Another time, her father had beaten her especially hard, making her face a bloody mess. After looking at the destruction in the mirror, she gained new inspiration because of the feeling and started drawing gore.

The beatings would become commonplace in the household. Other than that, Mary-Beth had often tried living vicariously through her young daughter by buying her girly clothing and making her wear makeup at a young age. This spawned her hatred of girly things, such as dresses, the colour pink or make up. Once Natalie displayed her hate of the things her mother loved, she began to ignore her daughter's needs all together. Refusing to bathe or feed her.

When her father would come home threatening to beat her, she would run to her brother's room to hide. She found comfort in the normalcy of playing video games with her brother and talking about whatever interested them at the time. She would hide under his bed and he would take the hits for her.

When she was 9 and he was 14, having been just broken up with by his girlfriend he resorted to sexually abusing her for the next 4 years.

When she was 13 years old, her brother quit SA-ing her because she had become 'too old' for him. Her father, however, would continue beating her and the rest of her family up until she would kill them all at 17.

As a child in school, she became reclusive and had a bad reputation for being unlikable due to her miserable attitude and her gore filled drawings, after turning 10 those drawings would be the only thing keeping her sane. After the start of the SA she had tried to tell a group of girls who ended up cruelly bullying her until 8th grade.

Somewhere after turning 10, she began to wonder what her life would be like, she honestly she'd have killed herself by 18 or sooner.

Once she made it to high school at age 14, she displayed her drawings less, wasn't being bullied or SA'd and the beatings from her father would become less and less frequent but she was still miserable.

She did meet a group of girls who genuinely wanted to be friends with her and liked her art (when it wasn't gore filled, which they didn't know about), she wasn't too far gone at this point but she was reaching her breaking point and if anything went wrong, it would set her off as she had spent years bottling everything up.

She was brought to a party by her new friends where she met her first ever boyfriend, Chris. They had a functional relationship up until senior year of high school when she started to gain confidence in showing Chris her drawings of gore because of their shared interest in art.

After Chris had broken up with her for her negative qualities, her mental state had entirely broken and soon enough, she killed her family.

After

Clockwork gave up on trying to be Natalie Ouellette, she gave up on trying to be normal as she watched her old home burn to the ground. She realized her true passion was murder...

The next day after killing her family, she managed to get around unnoticed and on the news she had seen that people assumed she'd died in that fire but she kept herself hidden regardless.

That night, she went to take her revenge on Chris for making her snap. Explaining her plan to kill Chris as he was tied up in his room, Clockwork met Ticci Toby or Toby Rogers. He took her to what is known in fandom as the Slendermansion but in my AU, is the main cabin.

She had her own room and food to eat, all she had to do to stay that way was kill for the Slenderman and bring the bodies to him.

When killing, she liked to mess up the heads of her victims and for the first little while, she was mentored by Toby who would chop the victims heads off for her, due to Slenderman only wanting the bodies and their organs.

At first, she was shy around the other people of the main cabin but it was Sally and Jeff who she became closest with first and who helped her come out of her shell and began to go on many missions with her because they found her to be fun.

She kept drawing constantly, plotting how to mutilate her next victims, whether it'd be stabbing needle and thread through their eyes and taking them out or shoving knives down their throats.

Sally, Lulu and herself do girls days sometimes where they watch movies together, cook and draw. Sometimes Toby will come into the living room or kitchen, really wherever they are just to chill out with her.

After that became a pattern, where Toby would find any way to interact with her after he didn't have to mentor her anymore, they started dating and they a very solid relationship where they love each other a lot, good communication and all that junk (probably the last thing you'd expect from two murderers but hey, I love that kind of irony)

Right now

As of now, Clockwork is 26, soon to be 27, still dating Toby and pretty close with Jeff, they sort of view each other as siblings and they play video games with Ben a lot. She cares a lot about Sally too and they still do they're girls nights. :)

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

Physically? I am sitting in my bedroom. Mentally? Spiritually? I AM DEAD ON THE FLOOR!!!!! THESE TWO HAVE KILLED ME!!!!

(Another drawing! This was originally attempt #1 at drawing stan, and then fiddleford just showed up. Kinda feels like them five minutes after the above acting like nothing happened though, so it works sdjkgkjfshj)

[what-am-i-doing-in-this-fandom]

Suddenly, bell bottoms aren't so bad

Bonus sketch, because I had to vv

"Stop checking out my assistant, Stanley."

[cozylittleartblog]

not that we didn't already Know belos was full of shit, but it's even funnier knowing the titan was still alive the whole time and probably judging him

[egophiliac]

buckle up lads we're going BACK INTO THE BOOK

[ninjasmudge]

thats a red flag narinder, get that crown back while you still can

+ top panel without text below the cut

[xandrikart]

[hollytree33]

Ghilan'nain

So I read the Horror of Hormak

[buttercupshands]

I started drawing this next day after I finished Act 6

13 or so days and it's finished!

Main things are traditional and Loop's body was edited digitally after

Unedited it looks like this

I've been torn on how to do Loop's body for the entirety of lining, also

A bit sad the main lines are visible only as a wip, most of this thing is literally just a ton of sharp lines

I think it's also my first day of drawing, Loop is just a sketch here (feat. my leg)

I even finished the beans before it so they were a moral support, because if you let me things like this take a year

[excali8ur]

Weird dream.

[wistfulwatcher]

EMILY & HOTCH DANCING in 7.24 RUN

[vwoop-prince]

YJ S3 Dick, still in the midst of his fever dream, hides underneath the 'souvenir' instead of behind some boxes, and accidentally opens the airlock trying to take care of the Parademons. The others get it to close... but not before Nightwing is thrown into space.

There, he stares at the ship holding his friends and mentors. There, he wishes more than anything that he can, somehow, survive. There, he tries to live, if only so his family don't have to bury him like Jason.

There, Nightwing dies, wanting to save everyone, even with the cold seeping into his bones far too quickly for a regular section of space.

Then, Dick opens his eyes to... Earth? There's a little house, and grass, and trees, but there's a bubble of green over it all. Outside of that green was an entire castle, one that looked like it should have far more support beams than it does for even a hope that it stays standing.

And the sky was swirling shades of that same green. It makes him think of Lazarus.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day." He whips his head behind him, a bit too fast for Earth's atmosphere, but it doesn't hurt him. Past the bubble of green was a blue-skinned adult in purple robes, the insides of a grandfather-clock fitted inside their torso, and a black staff with a stopwatch on its top. Beside them was a man with snow white hair, glowing green eyes, a crown of frozen fire dancing above his head, and the most galaxy-like cloak Dick's ever seen clasped to his shoulders. He's wearing... a hazmat suit? Maybe? The twinkling stars and odd lighting of wherever he is were giving him a bit of a headache.

But in front of those two, within this bubble, was...

"DICK!" Wally shouted with unrestrained glee, a blur overtaking his spot for barely a heartbeat before Dick's stuck in a crushing hug that he reciprocates once his brain stops feeling like its melting.

He doesn't know how long it took for them to calm down, but the man with the crown spoke up after a time, as Wally was still wiping their faces free of tears. "Welcome to the Infinite Realms, Nightwing." Dick barely even registered that he was still wearing his suit, but now it felt suffocating. "I suppose you're the one Clockwork was holding out for; There shouldn't've been enough Ectoplasm around you to form a Ghost, and your physical body's still in space. I can see why you like this one, though, Clockie," he states flippantly, turning to his companion. Almost like he didn't expect Dick to pay too close attention to what he was saying.

"Either way, there's two options for you." The man didn't let Dick swallow his tears and question anything. Dick's not sure if he's grateful or not. "First: Stay in the Realms permanently. You'll see Kid Flash whenever you want and learn to be a Ghost with the denizens of the Realms. Maybe find your parents."

"But..." Dick pulls away from Wally, keeping him at arms length, eyes flitting between them. The two outside the bubble were distinctly... ghost-like, so the mentions of 'Ghosts' make sense. But Wally looked... alive. A bit pale, a bit thin... but alive. Dick can't see any of his own skin to see if it was blue or tinted that way, but the Nightwing symbol on his chest kept flickering between its own blue and this 'Realms' green. "But--What about the others? What about you? Why can't you come home?" The last two, he focuses on Wally, because now he can feel a heartbeat beneath his gloves. Wally's alive. He's alive.

His friend just shrugs. "Something about their portals not fit for the living? I'm meant to wait for someone to figure out a permanent portal, but they won't tell me how long that'll take." Wally glares at the... 'Ghosts'? There was a heat to it, but it also seemed like this was a well-worn argument.

"The permanent portal was always an 'if', Wallace West. And that is entirely dependent on if Richard Grayson takes the second option," the clock Ghost--Clockwork?--speaks up. But instead of the adult Dick was expecting, there was an elderly Ghost in their place. Still with the time motif. Was that... more literal than Dick took it?

"Yes, the second option..." The crowned man glares daggers at Clockwork. The temperature dips below comfortable. Dick tries to blink the spaceship and stars out of his sight, withdrawing his arms from Wally to try and warm himself. Tries to remember he's not in space. "The second option is that you return to your body... changed. You'll be able to protect Earth better, stay with your alive family, save the Lost Ones... for a price."

Dick doesn't know if he should ignore the plural in 'Lost Ones'. He doesn't know if he's reading too much into how, in this Realm, apparently only his parents were able to be found. Where's Jason? He doesn't dare hope, but...

"What's the price?"

The man smiles and a ring of blue forms around his waist. It splits in two and travels up and down his body, replacing the cloak and whatever clothes he was actually wearing with a NASA shirt, worn jeans, and red sneakers actually duct taped together. The blue tint to his otherwise tan skin fades completely. His hair turns black. His eyes turn blue.

He was like a taller, slightly slimmer, way hotter version of Bruce.

The man walks through the bubble, but doesn't disturb the grass beneath his feet. "You become the Ghost King's vassal." Dick flinches away and almost hides behind Wally. "Not my idea! But, well... it is either this, or your permanent death."

"What does becoming a vassal do to him?" Wally asks, gently trying to stop Dick from breaking his ribs with how tightly he was hugging himself. Does he even have ribs?

"He gains my powers. Ice, electricity, invisibility, intangibility, flight... He becomes a Halfa. He becomes what I was, in life. Just... needing to make offerings to me, now and then. Something like that, at least. I give him powers, he gives me a chunk of, I don't know, chocolate once a week. Like a warlock."

Wally keeps talking to the man, keeps getting information that he knows he should pay attention to, but something in his chest screams to accept this deal, and he can't focus on anything else.

Nightwing can protect. He can return to life and go back to Blüdhaven, be the Vigilante they need. He can visit Gotham every now and then, help with cases and stop criminals from harming others. He can see his brother. He can see his friends. He can eat Alfred's cookies, and have little get-togethers with Babs and the Team--hell, he can argue with Bruce.

And all he has to do is... give an offering to this guy? The Ghost King? Every once in a while?

"There's no other price?" The King turns his attention to Dick. His eyes had shifted to a blue-green that almost hypnotize him. The green swirls, the blue forms and melts like snowflakes, and he can't look away.

He takes another step forward and Wally steps to the side. There was familiarity between them. Wally deferred to him. Dick can't quite tell why. Though, with how Wally hasn't once looked at Clockwork, maybe it's because he's... grounded? Are all speedsters in trouble with, what, the Ghost of Time? That... actually makes perfect sense.

"I'll be honest, Nightwing: You've impressed me." The weight behind the King's words lifts the ones that've been on his shoulders since he was nine. "You remind me of myself. Maybe, if I wasn't a Halfa... If I had a mentor... I could've been like you.

"Despite Clockwork's insistence over the years that I get back in touch with the living, I've held off. When he eventually suggested that I help create another Halfa, I locked him in his tower for twenty years. I didn't want anyone to go through what I had. But, now... I see that you won't. You can't. Even if you hide this deal--our shared powers... You'll still have people by your side. Strong people. Smart people. You can already handle yourself. And I'd love to see what you can do--who you can save--with my help."

There was maybe two inches between their faces when the King finishes speaking. Dick roves his eyes across the other's face, trying to find the common and familiar ticks that show lies and deceit and manipulation. All he finds is sincerity and genuine care.

Wally plays with his fingers from the corner of his eye, gaze hopeful as he looks between the two of them. Wally, who was alive and breathing and able to leave if he accepts. Eventually. Somehow.

Dick Grayson sends a quiet apology to his parents and hopes they will forgive him for being a little bit selfish.

"I accept."

He flings his eyes open. Above him, domino mask too wobbly to be properly secured anymore, was Robin crying and begging him to wake up. His hands were sloppily placed over his heart. Batman was trying to drag him away, the firm set of his jaw screaming grief.

Nightwing gasps once he registers his lungs burning.

There's a large cacophony of noise, multiple bright suits and people hounding over him, and the distinct artificial taste of slightly-too-much oxygen that the ship with the Parademons had. That he flew out of and died. He was still too cold.

Someone moves their arm beneath his knees and shoulder and Dick passes out.

(Dick 'Nightwing' Grayson dies in space. Ghost King Danny Phantom likes this too-human Hero. They split their souls in half, take one piece of the others, and all they know is that Phantom is now Nightwing's Patron Deity. Danny uses ice, for electricity killed him. Dick uses electricity, for ice killed him. They are opposites, and yet so incredibly similar. Clockwork was looking forward to when Danny starts putting off his paperwork to hang out with his new 'friend'.)

[markscherz]

‘But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everyone & everything’

- Charles Darwin. Letter to Charles Lyell, 1 October 1861

[giddlygoat]

based on this au i made. don’t worry, i’m sure they’ll work it out

[gralixe]

Ronan & Adam, while Adam is mourning

[vaguely-concerned]

having seen at least the rough outlines of all the romances now I have to say that I think emmrich's is probably objectively the best in terms of coherence and completeness of story arc (with the understanding that ultimately the 'best' romance is whichever one makes YOUR heart sing anyway so objectivity is a silly thing to claim that way, it just felt like it's the arc with the most well-paced focused content and the least dangling threads)... but lucanis' is my favourite haha. just. the whole kneeling before your beloved full of reverence but without any of the distance that usually implies??? his complete undramatic certainty and calm in every scene with rook after this, having spent the whole game caught between fear and longing???? mr. lives in a pantry but it says nothing about my psyche don't worry about it it's purely for tactical reasons that I keep myself contained in a small dark room not entirely unlike a cell, love among the parsnips -- finally coming to rook in their room and it's so comfortable and comforting???? after all the times rook supports and comforts him through the game he's finally able to return the same to them when they need it while being so calm and steady and it's so fucking sweet and feels so effortless and with no price attached?????? he basically assigns himself the role of your bodyguard and he WILL stab a god over it??????????????? the turn to protector (which was in his heart all along longing to get out and find a place) of it all????? he sounds like he's found himself unexpectedly stumbling into such a soul-lightening state of revelatory existential relief, full on 'you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves' mary oliver style, and he goes and he shares that with rook and protectively envelops them in it when they're hurting??????????????????????????? hello for the maker's sake hello can anyone hear me?????