#unbreakable cycle

[flwrkid14]

Tim and Danny: The Couple That Could Have Been

Tim Drake and Danny Fenton weren’t just Gotham’s it couple—they were the couple.

Tim, the poised and brilliant CEO, and Danny, the charismatic streamer with a chaotic streak, were the kind of pair that inspired faith in love. Their relationship was public but never performative. The candid photos, the impromptu livestreams where Danny would drag Tim into the frame to tease him about his “ridiculously expensive suits,” the way Tim would smile when he thought no one was looking—it all seemed so real, so untouchable.

For years, they were inseparable, the picture of what love should look like. And Gotham believed in them. People joked that they’d be together in every timeline, every universe, because how could they not be? They were made for each other.

So when Danny uploaded a new video one unassuming Tuesday, everyone thought they knew what was coming.

The engagement announcement.

Danny’s setup was different this time—gone were the familiar vibrant backgrounds and playful chaos. The walls were bare, his face somber, his voice quieter than anyone had ever heard.

“Tim and I…” He paused, swallowing hard. “We’ve decided to go our separate ways.”

What?

No, that couldn’t be right.

This was Tim and Danny. The couple everyone was convinced would make it through anything. The couple people joked would find each other in every timeline, every universe, because it was always them.

But Danny kept talking, his voice trembling as he explained—without really explaining—that they couldn’t make it work. No details, no messy drama, just a quiet goodbye that left everyone feeling like the air had been stolen from the room.

———

The Batfamily found out the same way everyone else did—through Danny’s video. They hadn’t even realized anything was wrong. The last time they saw Tim and Danny together, they’d been the same as always: teasing, bantering, comfortable in each other’s presence.

Bruce was the first to confront Tim about it, cornering him in the Manor with that familiar stern frown.

“Tim, what happened?”

Tim didn’t answer. He couldn’t.

Because he didn’t know either.

Danny had been the one to end it. One day they were fine—perfect, even—and the next, he was breaking up with Tim over coffee, quiet and somber, like he was grieving something Tim couldn’t see.

“I just… we can’t,” Danny had said, his voice trembling. “I’m sorry, Tim. I love you. I’ll always love you. But we can’t keep doing this.”

And that was it. No further explanation.

Now, Tim was left packing up his things from the apartment they’d shared, trying to piece together what went wrong. Danny was on the other side of the room, just as quiet, boxing up his own belongings. They didn’t speak. Couldn’t.

The space between them had never felt so vast.

“I love you,” Danny had said, his voice breaking. “I’ll always love you. But I can’t… we can’t keep doing this.”

And just like that, it was over.

And Danny? Danny knew exactly why.

———

Danny Fenton was a coward.

He’d gone to Clockwork for help after the first heartbreak, unable to bear the thought of living in a world without Tim Drake. He couldn’t undo the pain of losing Tim to the Justice League’s doomed mission, but he could relive the good years.

Clockwork had hesitated.

“This is dangerous, Daniel,” he warned, but Danny didn’t care. He didn’t want to forget Tim. He didn’t want to move on.

So Clockwork granted him his wish.

Again and again, Danny went back. Every time their relationship reached the point of no return—where Tim’s inevitable death loomed on the horizon—Danny would break up with him, retreat to Clockwork, and start over. He couldn’t bear to see Tim die, not again.

But the cycle wasn’t perfect. The cracks showed with each repetition. Danny’s breakups became harder to explain, his excuses more transparent. He could see the hurt in Tim’s eyes, the way his walls went up higher and higher with every iteration.

And still, Danny went back.

Because he couldn’t stop.

Because he couldn’t let go.

———

This time, though, it was different.

This time, as he packed his things, Danny felt the weight of what he’d done pressing down on him like never before. Tim wasn’t angry. He wasn’t even questioning it anymore.

He just looked tired.

And Danny hated himself for being the reason why.

The world moved on, but Gotham felt the loss of Tim and Danny like a phantom limb.

The bats watched Tim retreat further into himself, his work becoming his sole focus, an impenetrable wall between him and everyone else. They wanted answers, but Tim wouldn’t give them. And Danny? Danny disappeared from Gotham entirely, his absence leaving a wound that never seemed to heal. Maybe that’s why Tim would find himself on that mission, before Danny's loop restarted everything again—caught in the endless cycle of fate, unaware of how close he was to losing it all for good.

Clockwork didn’t say anything when Danny returned again, his face pale and his hands shaking. He just stared at Danny with quiet pity, his form shifting through time as if he were trying to decide what version of himself could make Danny stop.

“You can’t keep doing this, Daniel,” Clockwork said softly.

Danny didn’t answer.

Because he knew he’d be back.

Because he couldn’t stop.

Because he’d rather relive the heartbreak a thousand times than face another world where Tim Drake was gone for good.

[tojisun]

“we've both done it all a hundred times before” — two slow dancers, mitski

(01, 02)

[oltammefru]

Some dots to connect:

[vasira96]

can't stop daydreaming about a soulslike zelda game yall i'm so normal about this

[0vergrowngraveyard]

this just in: local blue hedgehog has to talk about his feelings because he can’t hide a damn thing from his little brother no matter how hard he tries to. and now for the weather

[cojode]

being in your 20s is just

[fridayiminlovemp3]

fall out boy is like yay!!! my silly little friends !! yay!!!!!! :) but panic at the disco is ancient tragedy that has haunted me my whole life. if you’re raised with an angry man in your house, there will always be an angry man in your house. you will find him even when he is not there.

[pr4yerp0sition]

        𝐍𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐙𝐞𝐧'𝐢𝐧 (visual concepts // short bio): When  one  thinks  of  inheritance,  they  think  of  possessions,  wealth,  but  for  Naoto  he  dreamed  of  a  higher  standing.  A  child  of  shadows  that  was  born  into  the  Zen’in  Clan,  the  middle  of  Naobito’s  sons,  he  knew  from  an  early  age  to  contend  &&  show  his  worth  amongst  the  many  who  would  try  to  grab  his  birthright.  Devoted,  skilled,  loved,  he  would  spend  his  early  years  in  the  arms  of  his  mother  who  sated  each  emotional  need  the  fragile  boy  held.  In  return,  he  gave  her  unwavering  devotion,  agonizing  through  the  grueling  militaristic  training  boys  of  the  Zen’in  clan  would  endure  for  a  shred  of  glory.  Within  his  early  20’s,  Naoto  was  given  a  chance  to  lead  the  Hei  with  his  older  brother  for  whom  he  would  never  stray  from,  never  would  he  think  the  usurper  would  be  by  blood.  Stripped  of  his  social  standing,  he  was  deemed  a  useless  son,  too  gaudy,  too  flashy,  too  much  of  everything  &&  the  small  but  quaint  world  of  his  was  shattered. 

    A  loveless  marriage  while  thrust  into  intel  gathering,  Naoto’s  life  was  void,  hollow,  he  was  free  to  pursue  whatever  he  wanted  -  nothing  mattered  anymore.  Spiteful  to  the  very  end,  he  would  support  his  younger  brother’s  claim  as  the  heritor  of  the  Zen’in  Clan  solely  because  it  was  willed.  A  man  that  strived  for  structure,  tradition,  a  relic  of  yore,  all  he  had  was  a  faithful  attendant  that  would  not  leave  him  even  in  his  sorrow  &&  madness.  Now,  in  his  older  years,  he  still  stands  a  formidable  opponent,  lurking  within  the  shadows  &&  slaughtering  his  enemies  in  a  precision  that  a  sword  would  be  envious  of.  A  nothing  soul  that  wanders  the  ancestral  land,  a  wolf  without  claim,  ever  hungry  &&  ever  in  pursuit. 

     Naoto  specializes  in  the  reclamation  of  cursed  tools  &&  hand  to  hand  combat,  his  cursed  technique  relies  on  the  vantage  points  of  the  darkness,  manipulating  them  in  order  to  create  weaponry.  He  is  most  renowned  for  his  shadow  cache  where  he  tends  to  keep  tools,  he  is  never  not  armed,  all  assumptions  else  wise  are  considered  one’s  own  fatal  flaw.   

[taintedtowers]

* (It's a coffin.)

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Babey Vic!

:D !

[constehlla]

Missing eternalduo, mourning what could have been

They were so cool and for what

[kendallville]

And the cycle continues. Nothing changed, everything changed. Doomed by the narrative.

S01E01 /S04e02

[igixri]

honestly even as a #vincehead I’m not an el camino fan lol. like it was pretty good but I stand by that it just didn’t need to exist…like the finale of breaking bad tells you everything you need to know about what happened to jesse, what happens after the fact is just window dressing

[mikarchive2]

every day i tell myself . this time i am not going to pick the pasta option in the cafeteria . and then i fail . 💖 .

[nonbinarycharmybee]

does trip wear full body armor bc they clumsy or r they clumsy because theyre wearing metal shoes and a helmet that obscures their face. discuss /hj

[ryungseo]

i don't like it when my mutuals have cute boy problems because it makes ME have cute boy problems :///