#might continue this later idk

[queewp]

bill wanted to see Ford fly, not fly with him, smh

bill MIGHT have a fear of heights

[haveihitanerve]

Gotham Protects Her Own

“Gotham protects her own.” Bruce had whispered to him once, in a, at the time, not so rare moment of affection, cradling dick to his chest as they looked over his city. Their city. Batman and Robin. Dick had believed him, of course, but he hadn’t really felt it. Not until he had stood at the bats side for the second year in a row, and his cape had fluttered. Dicks cape had never fluttered while he was standing. Running across the rooftops? Sure. Jumping over a chimney? Most definitely. But just standing still, no movement? It had never happened. Bruce’s did, from the very beginning Bruce’s cape had flown behind him, flapping with grace in the wind that was not there. But dicks hadn’t. But now… Bruce smiled down at him, pride lining every line in his face, before he took off across the roof, a challenge and a test at the same time. Dick chased after him, and for the first time since he had become Robin, he flew. His feet barely touched down, cushioned by the roofs, by shadows, and he laughed, wild and bright and free, and Bruce joined him, laugh deep and rich and full. Dick belonged to Gotham now, the city had laid her claim on him, and as Batman and Robin flew across the city, Dick could hear a new laugh join them, light and happy and feminine, delighted by their delight, their acceptance. Gotham protects her own, and Dick Grayson-Wayne, the first Robin, had earned that right, that protection, with his leaps and jokes and belief in Batman, in a belief in the city, in the belief that it could be better. 

Gotham protects her own. Catherine Todd had murmured to him once, late one night, a bruise blossoming on her cheek, eyes heavy from drugs. She was close to death, Jason could feel it practically wafting off her, and he didn't think much of her last words, a hazy drugged hallucination, slurred speech. But then she had passed and Jason had left, choosing the street over his father and then he had understood. People came looking for him, naturally, even his father ventured out, but shadows seemed to envelop him, the streets opened to his footfalls, and he always found a safe place to sleep, never waking with his things stolen or suddenly kidnapped. Jason could feel the city, his very lifeblood, could hear her music in her traffic, felt her song in the earthquakes. Gotham cradled him, sheltered him, and when the time came, pushed him to a left unattended Batmobile, tempting him to steal the tires. For the first time, Jason doubted his city, hated her for sending him into a trap. But then he became Robin, and Gotham squealed in delight, and Jason watched in awe as Bruce flew, as Gotham made his cloak billow, as she nurtured her prodigal son. Batman had gotten injured, once, badly enough that he had struggled with his grapple line, and it had snapped. Jason had screamed, lunging for him, but it was too late. Before he could cry over the dead body of his mentor, he found Bruce at the bottom of the building, not much worse for wear at all. Gotham had cradled him, shadows leaping to cushion his fall. Jason had laughed with glee, rushing Bruce home as quickly as possible, and something had brushed his cheek, a faint kiss against his forehead. Gotham protects her own and Jason Todd-Wayne, the second Robin, had been born into that right, that protection, and felt her city pound through his body like blood, feeding his soul. 

Gotham protects her own. Tim had seen the slogan on a Wayne Enterprise billboard once, when he had been seven, an ad campaign promoting insurance and helpful housing. It had become a sort of mantra for him, something he whispered under his breath every time his father made a snide comment about Tim lacking proper talent or social skills, after every call his parents declined, after every fight that had him biting his lip to stop the tears and debate running away. Gotham protects her own. Became his lifeline, his mantra, a promise of a better life. It wasn't anything he ever believed, until he finally worked up the courage to approach Bruce Wayne about the secret. Tim slipped on the Robin uniform for the first time… And something inside him settled. A woman's voice in the back of Tim’s head squealed. But as he raced over the rooftops, finally at Batman's side as he always dreamed to be instead of a few feet behind, snapping pictures, his cape dancing with the wind, his feet hardly touching down, that mantra, that false belief of hope, of a better life, became truth. Gotham protects her own, and Tim Drake-Wayne, the third Robin, had believed in that truth his whole life, wishing with every fiber of his being that she would protect him, and she finally had. 

Gotham protects her own. David Cain had warned her once, telling her great stories of the city with air of midnight black, of water a putrid green, and of a people a hardy and tough. It hadn't been a compliment, just another obstacle she would need to overcome to fulfill her future missions. She had believed him, of course, but… she had never truly known what it meant. Not until she had stumbled into the city, hurt, bleeding, afraid, and she had felt that… otherworldly power. Reaching for her. Its tendrils soft and kind, like a mother, shadows stretching across her, shielding her, as the League prowled the streets. It wasn't until she saw him. The Bat. And his little Bird, brutal efficiency and yet mercy in every action, wasn't until she saw how Gotham cradled them, lifted them, helped them to fly. Gotham had been more accepting to her than she had thought. Maybe because she hadn't hurt her children. Maybe because she knew her pain. Maybe because Cass had been so afraid. But whatever the reason, when Cassandra Cain-Wayne took to the streets, a proud, blazing Bat on her chest, her cape billowing behind her, Gotham sang. 

“Gotham protects her own!” Arthur Brown had screamed once. It had been in a fit of rage, followed by the sounds of windows crashing and tables smashing against the wall. He had been angry, livid even, the sound of his footsteps heavy and hard on the floor as he stormed around, pissed that Batman was unreachable for him, untouchable, protected by the city he claimed to do the same to. Steph knew the truth in the words, had been protected by them her whole life, finding a window open right when her father got home, the closet door unlocked miraculously after her father had locked her up, alleyways opening for her to escape through when bigger kids picked on her, or the cops chased her. And it happened now, as Arthur Brown came storming for her, rage and malice and every evil intention written across his features. Steph could feel that tug, that indescribable feeling of home, and she took a step back, melting into the shadows as she fled, fled her home, fled her father, fled his wrath and everything wrong with the world. She settled on the roof, the way she always did when he got like this, and waited, as she always did. For it to end. For him to stop. It was that night that she saw him for the first time. Steph had heard of him, of course, the Batman was infamous throughout Gotham by now, but she had never seen him in person. Never watched his work. It was at Bethany’s house. Bethany’s father, Vincent, was screaming again. The way Arthur was. But Gotham, Gotham didn't protect Bethany the way she did Steph. Or maybe Bethany just didn't listen. But Batman.. Batman listened. Batman protected. Steph watched, wide eyed, as he jumped through the window, as he grabbed Vincent by the throat and slammed him against the wall, snarling in his face. Steph watched, hands clutching her teddy, wondering whether she would rather risk her father than this demon. But he stopped. Paused. Threw Vincent to the ground in disgust, unconscious, and turned to Bethany. Beth had stopped moving, the way she always did when Vincent got the way he did, dissociating so she wouldn't feel his hands on her. Steph didn't think it worked, but it was something. Batman bent down, gentle, slowly, a few feet away, extending a hand to Beth. Steph couldn't hear what he said, couldn't see his face, but Beth blinked at him. She blinked, and she walked closer, slowly. And Batman… Batman held her, held her until she was crying, held her through her tears and wiped her eyes and rubbed her back, held her until she was asleep without nightmares, and carried her to bed, tucking her in gently. Steph didn't know how long she sat there, watching as he cared for this little girl, forgoing the Bat Symbol in the sky, and his anger, for her. Gotham protects her own, Steph swore as she watched him drop from the window the same night, flitting away on shadows only she could see. Gotham protects her own, and she would protect Gotham. She would mold herself after the Bat, and help. 

[mmonsoon]

Hiya Misty! How's the weather up there? (<- is visibly shorter)

[kheprriverse]

I might be a little obsessed with this design...

[bloomfish]

It's so weird that in angel s5e2 they do a little flashback to Spike's blaze of glory moment in the last episode of Buffy... but they leave out Buffy saying "I love you". It's such a blatant omission, the ONLY omission from that scene, that it feels totally deliberate and kind of dishonest. Considering a lot of the Spike and Angel moments in S5 revolve around their jealousy and rivalry towards each other, and a LOT of that is to do with Buffy like... Why would you leave it out? It's a pretty big moment for Spike's character in general.

As far as I recall they don't even mention it, they just mention the fact that Spike and Buffy have had a lot of sex compared to bangel's ONE disastrous time (that they remember) but it does kind of cheapen it for Spike. A big motivation for him not leaving LA could have been him not wanting to hold Buffy to her words, since he clearly doesn't believe that she loves him (even though she does, as per Whedon). He presumably thinks she only said that to make him feel better in his final moments, because she wouldn't have to actually follow through on her words. Which is sad. But it makes much more sense as a motivation than the weird 'it cheapens my moment of glory' excuse like since when does spike give a shit about that

[antoineee-x3]

🪐.

hi, sorry for jumpscaring yall w angst here on main, have this as compensation.

[dykedvonte]

A crazy thing about Mouthwashing is that Pony Express lost communication with one of its freighters for months and didn’t send anyone to check.

A genuinely reputable company, or at the very least a decent one, would have sent someone, something out to check after about two weeks of silence. Two months is when the crew start questioning if they are even being looked for which implies they were already expecting it to take a while cause P.E just doesn’t care.

They don’t care about who they hire. They don’t care about the conditions they place their crew in or how safe the safety measures actually are. They just don’t care, made rules and regulations so they can care less and succeed in getting away with it with how little those ideas are discussed.

[ilikeacidcandy]

ALMOST FINISHED THE BOT

Intro needs some details and cleanse¿.

🚧6 March, added last image about pending changes

[skierisa]

Runaway - Lloyd x Valerie (oc) chapter 1

disclaimer: this is inspired by my 90s au, which does have a main story line, however I decided to tell it in a non linear way as I make things up (yeah not a smart move, I know). if you wish to know more about my ninjago 90s au before reading this, you can check the tag #n90sau in my blog! I may or may not come back here to correct spelling mistakes!

Valerie is an oc I shipp with Lloyd, you can check her character sheet for the og universe here! the only things that change in this au is that she isn't an assassin or a gang member and neither a werewolf, just a regular punk teen in the 90s.

also, i think it's my first time writing in english (not counting any translation i did), so i'm sorry for the spelling and gramatical errors! i also tend to mix british and american spelling. sorry again.

special thanks to @prii-arts for helping me with some of the writing!

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

summary: Lloyd and Valerie are running away after having arguments with their parents, both arguments somewhat related to their partner. However, they discover living like adults isn't easy, and Lloyd has been having a ton of nightmares lately...

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

It had been a while none of them said something, either asking each other if they were fine or asking something about the fights. Some music played on his car's radio, it was a random Sex Pistol's song Lloyd didn't know the name of. Or maybe he did, but he was too busy focusing on the road ahead swollen by the dark of the night to think about it. Besides the car lights, the only thing illuminating their way to –what they have been calling– “whatever” was the silver shine of the full moon above them.

He was afraid of looking at the passenger's seat for a few moments now. Not because he might crash into something, no, they were in the middle of the desert, afterall. The thing is, Valerie was sitting there, quiet. Too quiet. As someone who always had something to say about anything, even when she shouldn't, she was too quiet, just hugging her legs under a ball gown, gazing at the shining stars in the dark sky. A quiet Valerie was never a good thing. Whenever she was like this, there would be a cold and heavy thing in the air. 

It was understandable if she still was angry, though. Lloyd was waiting for her inside his car when the yelling started. It was muffled and he could only see them through the living room's window. They always gestured as they spoke, but this time, both of their movements were quick, stiff and violent. He had to hold himself back from going in there whenever the mother's hands came too close to hitting his girlfriend –by accident or not. When it was over, Valerie stomped out the front door with a bag full of clothes in one hand and a guitar case in the other, turning back to yell as if she was holding back tears that she wouldn't be back. Once in the car, she gave a brief explanation of the obvious: “we fought”. It was over something stupid again, but she refused to elaborate more than that, saying she would rather talk about it later, when she would be less exasperated. 

So he didn't ask anything about it for the past hour until that moment, even if bothered by her poorly filled silence. Lloyd finally realized he had been so distracted with all the thoughts about that night that he didn't notice the song had changed long ago.

“What?” Valerie finally asked, not moving her head from the window view.

Quickly, he turned his head to the road again.

“Nothing”.

“You're starring".

“No, I'm not. I'm driving, how could I?”

“Because you are. Well… were” She turned her face to him, finally, staring at him with her sky blue eyes and bored expression.

Valerie crossed her legs and raised her head, now staring at the ceiling of the car. She let her arms lazily fall on her lap; on her wrist, along with some bracelets, there was a corsage of blue and yellow flowers he gave her earlier that night. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

"... I mean, I don't want to force you, or anything.” He shrugged. “But it's okay if you don't, really.”

“Thanks…” She sighed, looking back to the window, frowning a bit. However, she quickly looked at him, one brow raised. “Do you… wanna talk about yours, then?"

Lloyd breathed deeply, holding it as he pondered the idea. 

While her fight was a mystery to him, his… could be perceived as worse, somehow. Thinking about it made Lloyd feel some anger flourish in his chest; just thinking about how they could be so wrong on so many levels about her would make his blood boil in his veins. Sure, his parents were right about one thing amongst all the annoying assumptions, but he was completely sure Valerie would never do what his ex did… She wouldn't, right?

“No” he finally answered, letting out his breath. "Not now, at least".

Valerie stayed quiet for a few seconds.

“Alrighty, then…" she mumbled.

“By the way, Val, um… do you perhaps know where we're going?”

She blinked her eyes slowly, raising her thin eyebrows in shock.

“I thought you did".

“Why did you think that?”

“‘Cause you simply started driving!” She exclaimed, waving her hands to the road.

“I thought you would come up with something!” He started laughing, nervously and loudly. 

Valerie puffed, grabbing a piece of her bangs and squeezing it in frustration. But she couldn't help but also laugh at the situation, cracking in mere seconds of hearing his laugh.

“Shit, we can't even run away properly…” she tried speaking amidst the laugh.

“It's… It's okay” he breathed, containing his laugh but still smiling. “But we can't keep on going like this".

“Do you have a map, or anything?”

“No, sorry”.

She sighed melancholically. 

“... Okay, we might need to spend the night in your car, then" She crossed her arms.

“We could also ask for directions to some motel, y'know…”

She turned her head to him.

“To whom, Lloyd?” She pointed outside with her hand.

Oh. That's true. We're in a desert. “I don't know".

“Now I'm thinking that staying over with my brother wouldn't be a bad idea…"

“I'm not turning back” He stated, giving her a quick look before turning to the dark road again.

“Didn't ask you to! Just really regretting not doing it". Valerie looked away. “Sorry, it's just that we've been here for an hour now, I bet you're tired too… Anyway, it was my idea running away, so let me come up with something…”

Finding a motel was their main option, especially because they had no idea where to go, and  Ignacia or Ninjago City weren't an option, since they were trying to leave those places behind forever. They needed somewhere to restart, but where? Not Stix, definitely not Stix. She had heard good things about the Kingdom of Shintaro by that time, maybe that could be an option. The idea of living in Jamanakai Village didn't sound like the end of the world, but they might still need to go back to the city to find jobs and to buy some things. 

But she was thinking too much ahead. She had time to think about this later, but it wouldn't be so long until it was the time to actually think about it. Okay, okay, okay, think, Val! She reminded herself. It was the highway, probably wouldn't take long before they found something like a convenience store or a diner to ask for directions. Not exactly directions, more like a recommendation of where they could sleep that night, be it a camping spot or a straight up motel. She was hoping for a diner, because her stomach had been growling for the past hours since the dance ended. 

“Do you think it'll take long before we find a diner?” She finally asked as she played with the flowers on her corsage.

“Did you forget to eat again?” Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

"... Maybe" She crossed her arms again, looking to the side.

“Dunno” he sighed. “Probably not long. I mean, how long have we been…”

“Oh, look over there!” She bent onward, pointing to the colourful billboard of a dinner.

He parked the car, and if she wasn't on hills, he was sure Valerie would've probably run inside the place. However, she quickly made her way towards him, taking his warm hand with a sweet smile on her face while he adjusted his suit. On the lapel, there was a green rose made of sattin she gave him earlier.

“So, did you come up with anything?” Lloyd asked as he chewed a piece of his burger.

They decided to eat inside the car while listening to some songs in a cassette they found lost in there. His car was a secondhand from the 80s, so who knows to whom it belonged to. It had mostly city pop songs, and each time it changed Valerie would sing along while jamming to it. Whoever it belonged to, the playlist wasn't bad. 

“Nope”. She covered her mouth as she chewed, looking away squinting her eyes. “I mean– Yeah, I did come up with a few ideas, but none are good". 

“Tell me anyway, they can't all be bad. I can give you some ideas too".

Valerie took a long sip of her soda cup.

“Okay, so, I heard good stuff about Shintaro. We could go there, maybe?” She raised an eyebrow, gesturing with the hand holding the cup.

“Kinda too far away from here… Maybe someday, but not now.”

“Hm, suppose you're right… I thought about Stix, but…”

“The only job there is fishing” Both said at the same time, nodding. 

Lloyd sighed.

"There's also Jamanakai Village" Valerie mentioned.

“Not a bad idea. But we might need to go to the city to buy… Well, anything".

“That's why I wasn't considering it that much…” Valerie hugged her knees again.

“What else?” He asked, taking some of their shared fries.

“Stay around here until we think of something better”.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, looking around. With another sigh, he said:

“I don't think we have any other option. But hey, it isn't bad. As long as we find a place to stay, we might be able to keep our jobs in the city…”

“Yes, it's easier… But I really didn't want to stay" She took another sip. "Especially because they are part time. We need cash if we're living on our own now".

“We don't have the option to go so far away, y'know… Nor have the experience for full time jobs. I mean, would you hire a seventeen year old full time?”.

“No, but it doesn't make it less disappointing, though”. Valerie frowned, putting her cup down. Seconds ago there seemed to be many doors for many different futures, but now all of those have closed.

He furrowed his eyebrows in worry, looking at her eyes; they were more shiny. Was she really holding back tears again? Of course she is, he thought to himself. Her gaze met his and it was like the shine disappeared in a second, giving up space for a grin.

“But it's okay, seriously” she bent over towards him. “I'm happy to be with you at least". She whispered.

Slowly, he leaned over closing his eyes and kissed her, not caring if her dark red lipstick would get on his lips.

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

criticism is welcomed! I really want to better my writing in english, specially because I know I can write better than this. This was also the first time I wrote Valerie in a super long time, so I really hope you liked her!

[solplease]

do you have any voice claims for any of your ocs?

omg... this is the first ask i've gotten about my ocs... i'm honoured...

but that's a great question actually!

i haven't thought about it too much haha but here's what i came up with for now!

rowan - he sounds like either light or mikami from death note!

nox - soft spoken, like xavier from love and deepspace

cecilia - clover from totally spies (my childhood....)

lune - nekozawa from ohshc lmao

aster - also soft spoken, maybe someone like kazuha from genshin?

it's really funny bc i think the voices fit but my ocs and these characters don't really have similar personalities LMFAOOO.

[nina-ya]

Thinking about virgin Zoro rn and big dick Zoro

Like,,, the first time you have sex with him you’re just struggling to take him and it might be a bit painful taking someone as big as him

So he has this worry in the back of his mind that he’s doing something wrong

After all, this is his first time so he doesn’t really have a reference to go off of

Probably takes him a lot of reassurance from your end that he’s doing great while you’re fighting back tears from being split in half

[seaofreverie]

I knew about the post concert depression but no one told me about the post concert constant feeling of AAAAAAAAAHHH that lasts days and makes everything much more bearable and beautiful and some sort of ethereal type of hope is restored into the world, or maybe it's just the "seeing your favourite band after first thinking that it would never happen and later spending many months waiting for it all the while fearing that it wouldn't happen after all because of circumstances outside my control or feeling like it was too beautiful and wonderful to be true so ofc it wouldn't come true" part of it all

[rowdy-ruff-boi]

I still think about how Travis McElroy has diagnosed NPD and people online are sooooo mean to him when he shows symptoms of it.

I don't make it a habit of defending white men but my goodness he tries so hard to be such a sweetheart and he does well imo. He apologized after the very few incidents he's had (which a lot of the little twinks yall idolize would never) and people still use the opportunity to shit on him.

You do not have to like the man, though, if you're interacting with the McElroy family content and you HATE him? Find a new source of entertainment and stop spreading your shit insults around the people who can be normal around nerodivergent symptoms they don't like.

[hag-darling]

future in-laws apparently hate the cute little wedding pikachus I got forever ago and don't want me to use them as decorations in the wedding

two 8 inch plushies is apparently just too tacky

I'm not going to listen to them and they will be put somewhere during the reception but I just. Hate how they care more about this wedding being generically picture perfect than me actually enjoying any aspect of it

[imwritesometimes]

I just want a life where my mom isn't so much of an asshole that on like a bi-monthly basis my eyes hurt by the end of the day from crying so hard cause she's such a fuckin giant dick

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

this is a subject change but also a question that for fandom-hermitage reasons i am genuinely curious as to the answers to, bc i don't think i've ever seen anyone have a conclusive hc about it. anyway,

if you're split between multiple regions choose the one that you lean more towards or that feels most likely to you to be the canon answer. also feel free to elaborate in tags/comments on your answer 👀