#stories galore

[brynthewriter]

Masterpost

Hi everyone! If you don't know me, my main blog is @op-sys-chaos and I write both original content and fanfiction. I wanted to have a blog specifically to talk about the things I'm writing, so that's this!

If you'd like to quickly recieve updates for any of my works, please subscribe to the individual post I'll be making for each of these that are incomplete! (I'll make a subscription post and a discussions post so people can have a place to follow for updates and a place to talk about it for each without spamming the subscribed people.) Updates will not be consistent for any of these.

Without further ado, here's the masterlist of everything I've created or am working on, with links attached to the titles and lists for the associated posts below:

Fics:

The Pit Made Me Do It (And I'm So Sorry)

Would you sacrifice someone’s life for the sake of your own sanity? What if it wasn’t your choice? Recovering from the Madness induced by the Pit now giving way to the second stage of revival. Pit Rage. A primal state numb to the world and driven only by the desire of one goal. Said goal once complete, would give Jason his emotions, his sanity, his life back. It should be easy, at least it would be if his goal was anything else. But the Pits cost is steep, and so is the burden of a mind set on watching the light drain from the eyes of Timothy Drake.

Chapters: 9/12

Words: 24,409

Fandom: DC

Beta reader: @batfambrainrotbeloved (they also wrote the summary for the fic!)

An AU where the Lazarus Pit effects work differently and it affects Jason Todd's journey.

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When You Break The Universe, The Universe Breaks You

Tim fractured the universe with a magical spell to swap his place with the place of Jason Todd moments before his death. What will happen?

Works Total in Series: 3

The Fragmentation (completed, chapters: 2/2, words: 2,376, written together but mostly by @brucewaynehater101)

Fragmented Universe: the Hope of a Wraith (chapters: 3/?, words: 6,246, written by me)

Fragmented Universe: It Simply Ends (completed, chapters: 1/1, words: 5,032, written by @brucewaynehater101)

Words Total: 13,654

Fandom: DC

Beta reader: @brucewaynehater101 and I are beta reading each others' fics in this series! @batfambrainrotbeloved is also helping to beta for the Hope of a Wraith.

A massive series of many AUs based off of that description! I’m writing this in collaboration with @brucewaynehater101 so go check them out!

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A Message From the Dead

Danny Fenton and Damian Wayne are long-lost twins. Damian thinks Danny died at 6. Danny thinks Damian is still in the League of Assassins. When a video message informing him of Danny's existence arrives in Bruce Wayne's inbox, having been auto-sent after 3 days of Danny being away from his computer, can he find his son in time?

Works Total in Series: 4

A Message From the Dead (completed, chapters: 1/1, words: 459, written by me)

A Message From the Dead: Looking for a Ghost (chapters: 2/?, words: 1,759, written by me)

A Message From the Dead: Biggest Regret (chapters: 1/?, words: 1,877, written by @rin-may-1103)

A Message From the Dead: A Sister's Love (chapters: 1/?, words: 686, written by me)

Words Total: 4,781

Fandom: DC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

Based off a prompt I posted on my main blog, @op-sys-chaos, I decided to write this out as a full fic. Other people also wrote their own versions, so I offered for them to join me in posting them together on AO3! So far, @thevoidstaredback and @rin-may-1103 are the only two people involved in the series, but if anyone else wants to be involved, let me know!

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Not So Artificial Intelligence

Technus traps Danny in the Batcomputer. For his own safety, he pretends to be a new AI system on their computer. This has consequences.

Chapters: 3/?

Words: 3,077

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

DPxDC fic based on this prompt by @corkinavoid!!

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Weirdly Competent

Danny Fenton studied medicine under Frostbite. Because of this, he has a lot of medical expertise when it comes to working with a lot of different species, including Kryptonians and Martians. The doctors on the Watchtower who hired him did not know that he had experience and thought he was just talking back, so they fired him on day one. A few days later they tried one of his suggestions. To their surprise, it worked. The Justice League now has questions about Danny, starting with "Why the hell did you fire him??"

Chapters: 5/?

Words: 3,017

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: @soupteeth

DPxDC Doctor!Danny fic based on this prompt by @bet-on-me-13!!

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A King, a Demon, and a Cult Walk Into a Summoning Circle

Danny is sacrificed by a cult to a demon as the batfamily rushes to save him. The terrifying demon demands that they put him back where they found him immediately.

Chapters: 2/?

Words: 2,030

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

Danny being a casual badass without lifting a finger, based on this prompt I wrote!

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Twins, or What It Takes to be Resurrected

Danny Fenton and Damian Wayne were twins, separated at 7 years old when Talia saw Danny's hesitation to kill and let him choose a normal life. Now, Damian Wayne has found his brother, and has come to him for help. Because Damian is dead, and his long lost twin is his only hope for resurrection. All Danny has to do to bring Damian back is to convincingly pretend to be his brother, who he hasn't seen for the better part of a decade, at a fancy gala. Can he do it, or will the twins be caught?

Chapters: 7/10

Words: 12,329

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

A demon twins au based on this prompt I wrote where Damian is dead and Danny has to pretend to be his long lost brother in order to bring him back.

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In Another Life

Danny Fenton died young. Wanting another chance at life, he reincarnated as Dick Grayson, not realizing that he would keep his powers when he did so. How does this affect the timeline? You'll see :)

Chapters: 13/22

Words: 25,919

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

Based on this prompt by by @indingojazz, @stealingyourbones, and me! Danny Fenton dies at 16 and, after dying so young, decides he wants another chance at life. So he reincarnates, becoming a young boy named Dick Grayson. Surely, his past won't ever become relevant. ...Right?

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Goodbye. Love, Tim

If you want pure angst, only read chapter one. The first line of this summary is for you. If you're like me and you want angst to have a happy ending, read the whole thing! The whole summary is for you. Tim's had enough. Enough of the murder attempts. Enough of his siblings doubting him. So he calls them to say he's leaving. Or, at least, that's what Dick hears Tim say over the phone. But is that really what he feels?

Chapters: 5/5

Words: 3,986

Fandom: DC

Beta reader: no beta reader, though I did give two people a sneak peek before posting it!

Obligatory "Tim's had enough and leaves the batfamily fic" but with a twist. If you just want the angst of him leaving, read chapter 1. But if you want the twist and the happy ending, read the whole thing! I promise it gets better. I also tried to use only canon content for this rather than making the batfamily treat Tim worse like most of these fics do.

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Watching Waynes

Dick Grayson has a great idea. Bruce has been acting like an idiot in public for a long time, and no one takes him seriously enough to think he's Batman. So what if the whole family did that? And what better way to do it than together? Taking inspiration from Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Dick convinces his family to create a reality TV show with him, centered around their lives. One which they would use to show the public that they're just too ridiculous to ever be superheroes. This story will follow a different format from the rest of my fics, since I'm actually describing the episodes. I'll mention things like camera angles and cuts between camera shots in the story. It may be a bit of a weird format to read it in, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! I'll also include people reflecting on the episodes at the end, whether it's the Waynes looking at what they've done or their superhero friends laughing at their nonsense. I hope you all enjoy!!

Chapters: 1/?

Words: 6,274

Fandom: DC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

Based on this prompt by @fckbatmanhiskidsareminenow, the Waynes create a reality show called Watching Waynes. It's based on the concept of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, where a film crew follows these celebrities around and films all of their nonsense.

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What Did He Do to Save Me?

Danny Fenton was reincarnated as Bruce Wayne's oldest biological child. This wouldn't be an issue for anyone, except Damian was born with a hole in his heart that could only be fixed by Danny splitting his core in half. Now, Danny is perpetually exhausted and barely able to move. But despite all of that, he still loves his siblings. And he's about to find out how much they love him back, when Damian finds out the lengths Danny went to to save him as a baby and decides to return the favor.

Chapters: 3/?

Words: 7,114

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

Based on this prompt by @hyperfixationherewecome and me! Danny Fenton as Danny Wayne sickfic, where the very person he became sick saving fights to save him in return!

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To Be a Parent

(title is a work in progress, I'd love suggestions!)

Jazz and Jason’s one night stand was just that, as far as Jason knew: a one night stand. They hadn’t exchanged numbers or last names, so he never expected to see her again. But to his surprise, he ran into her nearly six years later with a five year old girl named Ellie who, judging by the timing, is almost certainly his. Jason is a father. And he’s not sure he’s ready for it. Now, Jason is involved in Jazz’s life, trying to help raise his daughter and bonding with the woman he once fell for. But will it become something more? Or will Jason’s life as the Red Hood drag everything down? Jazz’s little sister Ellie, Danny’s clone, was dying. The only way to save her was to de-age her and put her core into the body of an unborn baby, allowing her to be born and live her life again. Jazz always wanted a kid anyway, so she volunteered to be the one to have the kid and raise Ellie. For the next five years, she raised her daughter as a single mother in college,. But now, the man she hooked up with is back in her life, and Jazz can’t say she’s upset about it. But can he handle her family’s weirdness? Or will he run before Jazz can get to know him better?

Chapters: 4/?

Words: 4,151 (910 written by @sistertotheknowitall)

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

Based on this prompt by @sistertotheknowitall, Jazz and Jason raise their daughter, a reborn Ellie. I'm also going to make this be an eventual Jazz/Jason/Roy fic because why not. I'm starting out with just Jazz/Jason though.

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Clones and Their Consequences

Danny Fenton is Bruce Wayne's clone, and the people who cloned him activated and then brainwashed Zur En Arrh to be a killer. Specifically, to kill Batman. Danny managed to regain control of his body and get away, being adopted by the Fentons. But while taking down a GIW base with Dani, he finds his creators, who activate Zur En Arrh once more. Will Danny ever be free of Zur En Arrh? Can Dani save her clone template's clone template from her clone template? ...And how on earth are they going to figure out that complicated dynamic? Will Batman learn about his clone? How will he react?

Chapters: 1/?

Words: 1,053

Fandom: DPxDC

Beta reader: n/a, message me if you want to!

Danny is a clone of Bruce Wayne, whose Zur En Arrh alternate personality was brainwashed to kill Bruce. He spent a lone time free. But when he gets rebrainwashed, Dani must free him before Danny can kill Bruce. And after that, they must find a way to get rid of Zur En Arrh.

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Original Works:

(I've posted all of these on StoryForge, so the links all redirect there. If you don't have an account, you should make one; it's free, and the platform is helping small writers get published!)

Aegis

When one of the leaders of the world's top hero team crashes back to the ground after a fight, everyone assumes he's dead. There was no way he survived at the speed he was falling. Except he did. And he woke up in a crater, no memory of his past and one of the leaders of the world's most infamous villain team standing over him, reaching out a hand. What happens when an amnesiac hero whose friends think he's dead is found by a group of supervillains? Especially when those supervillains have more to their story than meets the eye...

Chapters: Prologue only, on hiatus

Words: 657

Beta read by people in the discord server for it, message me if you want the link!

(I'm writing out character backstories in full before I write out any more of Aegis, so the novel itself is on hiatus. Please note, I will likely be making an audiobook version of it myself once it’s done and posting it on like YouTube or something. But you’re still welcome to do your own version of it if you want! Ik some people love making podfics and some people read exclusively audio content so I wanted to clarify.)

Feather: Hero of Old

Feather was a well-known hero 60 years ago. So how did they end up on a modern-day superhero team? This is Feather's journey that led up to them joining the Order of Aegis.

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 3,758

Beta read by people in the discord server for it, message me if you want the link!

Backstory for Aegis character Feather

Aberration and Maximum Security... House Arrest?

Before he joined the Order of Aegis, Aberration had a... complicated past. Although, after living for over 2000 years, who wouldn't? However, the most complicated part of his past was the part where he got stuck in jail for 400 years and how that sentence got downgraded to maximum security house arrest after some time. This is the story of how that happened. Trigger warnings: serial killer, jail, graphic descriptions of murder, miscellaneous violence. See story description for ways to avoid the triggering parts

Chapters: 8/8

Words: 20,056

Beta read by people in the discord server for it, message me if you want the link!

Backstory for Aegis character Aberration

The Queens of Saveria

So, I got inspired by @theactorbat on TikTok and wrote a short story. It's a story about two women who are pulled away from their girlfriends and into an arranged marriage with each other. They come up with a creative solution to make sure everyone's happy (and no, the solution is not them mutually running away with the one they love), and they get to have a happy ending. If you like fluffy romance stories, give it a read!

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 4,293

Not beta read, and finished already, but if you have edits let me know! It's basically a first draft since I barely edited it.

This is a short story I wrote in response to a writing prompt. It's very much a rough draft but if you want a short cute queer story, enjoy!

Gavin Song and The Hunted

Based on this writing prompt: "The leader of a group of vigilantes" [note: I completely ignored the "leader" part of this prompt] "has to reveal who they were before they put on the mask to save their crew. But they know their crew will never see them the same way once they know..." (Writing prompt by @your_local_writer_friend on TikTok/Instagram.) A team of vigilantes known as The Hunted lost a friend of theirs, Gavin Song, a long time ago. But when they get their first lead on him in a decade, their most mysterious team member starts freaking out. Why, and how is he connected to Gavin?

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 9,419

Not beta read, and finished already, but if you have edits let me know! It's basically a first draft since I barely edited it.

A short one-shot vigilante superhero story based on a writing prompt!

Works in Progress:

Level Clear

Doomed time loop, kind of. Not finished yet, but I’m in the editing stage now!

Narrators Inc.

Work in progress (by which I mean I have maybe half a chapter and a vague direction for the rest of the story). Basically, it's a story where the narrator showed up late and is desperately trying to figure out what's happening while attempting to narrate the story

Vegaciel Academy

Magic school murder mystery. Credit to my high school friend group for helping create this story; we were all going to write it together and outlined the characters and plot together. The project ended up being abandoned, but I got everyone else's permission to write it myself because I like the idea so much. It's been a while since I worked on it but I think I finished a chapter? I'm not sure if I'll post the chapters one at a time or wait until I finish the whole thing

The Helmund Labs Incident

A massive, interconnected 4-person backstory for Aegis! To be posted soon.

Other Notable Things:

I'm beta-reading @batfambrainrotbeloved's fic The Drake's Spoiled Brat and I highly recommend it!! It's really good :)

I hope y'all enjoy the stories I have created/am creating! If you want to see the writing prompts that interest me that I might work on in the future, I'll keep reblogging those on my main blog, but I'm mostly planning to keep this blog for stories I'm actually in the process of writing.

[heymacy]

IAN GALLAGHER + his journey with bipolar disorder

╰┈➤ “At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of." - Carrie Fisher

[dlldior]

the day people start depicting sebastian as the goth/punk baddie he is in modern aus is the day the angels will get their wings back

[lemotmo]

So this is my 1st season watching live after catching up through the hiatus and sorry if you're not comfortable answering but does the show always hype up eps like this and nothing come of it? As much as I love this show, I'm not gonna continue if there's a possibility of being baited into watching for views. Been there too many times to get any enjoyment or satisfaction out of that sort of promotion.

Yeah, it has happened before, but it isn't something that always happens. Once in a while the journalists will hype up an episode that turns out to be mediocre or they'll hype up a good episode to be 'fantastic'. Like last night's episode. It was good, but it certainly wasn't 'great'.

I always read the journalist's takes and sometimes they are spot on, but sometimes they overhype something to have more people read their articles. It happens. It's their job to make sure people watch the ep and read their articles, so there's that.

In this fandom we do tend to be too invested into what the journalists tease in their tweets. I admit that I'm guilty as well. I try to keep a healthy distance, but it's easy to get swept away in the excitement and teasing of it all.

Personally, I've already made the decision to stop being as invested in what the journalists write about new upcoming episodes on social media. Their tweets are usually vague and could mean anything, so I'm going to try to be more cautious about those tweets.

Ultimatelly the journalists don't know where the plot is going to go either. They'll hype something up, but I wouldn't exactly call it baiting. They only see the episodes a few days in advance and they tease us about it. That's it.

The actors don't bait either. They only know the parts they play, so for them some storylines can be fun and meaningful while the fans might not be as impressed. They remember taping those scenes and having fun doing that, which offers them a different experience.

Also, they don't always know the other storylines going on in the episode, so Oliver saying the ep would be fun means it was fun for him filming the Buck scenes, but he wasn't talking about the Denny storyline.

Last night's episode is obviously an episode that Oliver loved doing. I suspect it has to do with the weird Halloween elements of curses and diseases. He seems to like filming the mystery storylines. Good for him.

That being said though, it doesn't take away that Oliver said some very interesting things in recent interviews. The information we got about the slow burn relationships and how much he loves them is certainly intriguing. And the quote about Tommy not being helpful? We got to see that play out yesterday. The way he talks about Buck and Eddie's relationship in those interviews, compared to the BT relationship speaks volumes to me. Put that next to the all of the times that Eddie pops up in the BT narrative? There is definitely something there.

Conclusion? This wasn't baiting. So far I see no evidence of baiting. There's been hinting and teasing, but not baiting. Baiting is what happens when the show keeps promoting and using the two people in question to draw in viewers, but nothing comes of it in the end. But we're not at the end yet. We're only at episode 5.

We've had plenty of great Buddie scenes in season 7 and even a few really good ones in 8, like in last night's episode. All of these scenes were significant and loving. For now they aren't particularly romantic in nature, but it's still early days. Buck only came out last season and Eddie? Well, there's a lot to unpack there before we can get to the core of him. Episode 6 should offer us a glimpse into his psyche.

So no. We're not there... yet. If the show keeps on promoting the show by using Ryan and Oliver and if the actors and showrunners keep hinting at something more between Buddie, but they never go through with it? If we reach the last episodes of season 8 and there has never even been a hint of anything at all changing between the characters? Then we'll have something to talk about Nonny. Then we'll be able to open up this particular can of worms. Then we will have a reason to be angry.

But for now? Nah, we've only seen 5 episodes so far. Let's keep calm and see where this storyline is going.

[cannot-be-cyn]

orv fans 🤝🏻 kimcom: being greedy about kim dokja having a happy ending and living in the same house with his companions

[kedreeva]

Hey! So I've been following you since you posted a lot about good omens in 2019ish? I remember you talking about wing fics vividly, but I just want to ask:

How are you doing after season 2?

Good! I enjoyed season 2, and I look forward to seeing how things resolve in season 3.

I think there are a lot of folks upset about various things, for various reasons, a lot of which boil down to "the season didn't go how I wanted it to/thought it should go" or "the season didn't end wrapped up neatly like S1 did." Neither of which, imo, are fair judgments of a season that a) isn't that person's story and b) was meant to be a bridge not an ending. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, of course, and to their feelings, but I do wonder how many have taken honest assessment of those feelings and opinions.

In my opinion, it's unfair to claim a story is bad JUST because it didn't do what you wanted it to do. It's not a bad story just because characters didn't act how you predicted or wanted, either. Some of the responses I've seen hinge almost entirely on "but canon didn't do what fanon/I decided is best" usually with the caveat of "before I even saw the season" and that's... ignoble at best. It's fair to criticize poor storytelling, but I feel like you have to have the whole story, or most of it, to do that, and we don't have that. We're actually smack in the middle of the story, by my judgment.

This season was never meant to be The Whole Story, we have known for a long time that there is a season 3 planned (whether or not it's ever able to come to fruition is a separate issue, it has been planned since a long time ago). As such, I don't think it's fair at all to the story to be angry that the season didn't stop at a nice, neat, happily-ever-after, because this isn't the end of the story.

To quote one of my favorite authors, Peter S. Beagle: "Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story."

They cannot have a happy ending until they've fixed the problems, and even before the end scene there, problems abounded. The unicorns are still unrescued. It's still the middle of the story.

[no-where-new-hero]

what i love best about the fanfic mindset of "yes please give me many versions of the same trope" or "same characters in many tropes" is that its made me a lot more confident to just. write the same thing over and over and not be afraid of reusing the same motifs everywhere i go

[tikay21]

🐺Mayan Neetara

For you Sweetie @xshinx86 - i will love to see him acting ♥ > Story > Holy Wings by Shin hybrid - wizard/vamp

thanks to all for your creative work ♥♥♥

default skin @luumia facemask by @northernsiberiawinds eylashes by @kijiko-sims eyes - @pralinesims & seleng lips by @remussirion accessories - @pralinesims & @gorillax3-cc & simomo & liliili beard by @pralinesims hair by @o0corruptedghoul0o bodyhair by @s-club-tbrclub tattoo by @gossipgirl & @moonmoonsim poses by @helgatisha

clothing: @ashwwa @beto-ae0 @woosteru kleosims @wistfulpoltergeist @rona-sims mclaynesims @simdulgencemods @simmiev2

Mayan Neetara - Sim made by me @tikay21

[anto-pops]

you don't have to post this.

I'm just happy you nodded to how destructive that blog is. I'm glad to see some resistance to that blogs fucking existence.

I'm sorry anto. Parts of me is happy you've slightly moved on from HL just so that hopefully didn't barb you as bad as I'm sure "bitch of the blog" wanted it to.

Yes she self-submitted it. She does that with all her worst ones. It's for attention - and blatantly visible in her discord servers. Do not take it to heart.

I will post this because if you and I feel similarly about it, there’s bound to be others.

I’ll say it with my whole chest: that entire blog is a joke and an excuse for insecure, mean spirited people to harp on others. I blocked the entire page basically right at the beginning when I started seeing it pop up in my feed, but from what I gathered when my attention was dragged there by the anons in my own inbox, it’s full of people who:

A. Hate the game and all the characters

B. Are jealous of other creators and their success

C. Are too lazy to write their own stories yet have the gall to criticize other writers’ work

The fucking audacity to make a blog like that and defend the blatant bullying with “well we’re allowed to dislike things and have our own opinions” is so unbelievably lazy it’s not even funny. Nevermind the fact that there’s nothing anonymous about half the asks there— I could clearly tell who certain asks were referring to. Maybe the whole thing started with a few harmless polls (which is what I saw at the start) but it’s transformed into something so nasty that to defend it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Fuck that blog and fuck the people who feed into the toxicity.

[exhaustedwriterartist]

I may be tired and delusional, but I'm still alive and kicking.

[stilesdemonbaby]

Master Thief Stiles Snippet

A werewolf. A fucking werewolf. Obviously a werewolf now that Stiles is looking directly at his fangs and the pieces click into place in his mind. And yeah, this one’s on him. He’s usually smarter than this. But then, the dude lives alone. What kind of non-feral werewolf does that? None that Stiles knows and he knows a surprising amount of them, what with his best friend being the Alpha of a pack and all that.

Therefore Stiles knows that werewolves do not live by themselves in spacious penthouses with a view to die for, so he can be forgiven for not putting the pieces together sooner.

Not that it matters. Because he's going to die for breaking into a very angry werewolf's den. And all this for a book. Scott's going to be so mad.

[legobiwan]

“Please don’t let me be alone.”

“I’m right here, okay?”

“You’ve shown me what love can feel like.” Mario and Luigi.

(Completely 100% platonic. That last one can be them talking about things changing for them in the romance department, and worrying that's going to pull them away from each other. Just as an example. )

I decided to take this in a slightly different direction, anon :)

So, a bit of context. This takes place pre-SPM, but there's some foreshadowing in there, so probably a month or two before that whole series of events goes down.

While I know Luigi and Mario talk, we have evidence that Luigi keeps some things from his brother, mostly related to his more negative emotions, as shown in the diary scenes of Paper Mario 64. I kind of run a little bit with this idea here.

As to what Luigi is looking for in terms of love...I'll let you all decide. I'll say upfront that this is written as a purely platonic relationship between Luigi and Mario, and I know exactly who I am thinking of in those last lines, but that's - literally - another story.

Very little editing has been done here, caveat lector and all that jazz.

Also, poor Morel. He's trying. Probably too hard. You'll meet him soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Mario!”

The owner of the squeaky voice toddled up the path towards them, his small stature unbalanced by the large guitar strapped to his back, the neck of which seesawed with every step.

“Hi, there!” Mario greeted, the Toad letting out a small oomph as he half-collapsed against Mario’s side, hands on his knees, his ruby-red vest soaked with sweat.

Luigi really hoped the kid wouldn’t keel over this time. 

“Do - “ Morel panted, taking a large swallow before trying again. “Do you have a minute?”

At this point, it was part of their routine. He and his brother would decide to run an errand in the town, maybe check out one of their favorite spots. Let’s pick up some cherry juice from that cafe or Hey, how about we go to that market and see if the new sports equipment is in, his brother would say airily, as if it was going to be a quick thing, an easy jaunt into Mushroom Square and back home before the mail came.

These days, it was never a quick thing. Not with his brother around, at least. What had been maybe a weekly occurrence had exploded into a near-daily even, the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom stopping to ask his brother for a picture, or an autograph, or even a piece of advice in relation to plumbing, mechanics, or even relationships. 

As if being the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom made Mario some kind of expert in psychology.

Of course, this meant everyday chores that would have taken no more than ten minutes in Brooklyn bloated into an all-day activity, his brother unable to turn down the beaming faces and adulation of the Mushroom citizenry. In the end, Luigi had taken full control over the majority of the domestic duties in their shared house, if for no other reason than the fact he could get to the market and back in a reasonable amount of time.

No one ever stopped Luigi to ask for advice. Not usually, and if they did, it was quick and usually in relation to either his brother or, oddly enough, King Boo, whose name had become as synonymous with Luigi’s as the whispered commentary of “coward” and “oddball” that trailed him like toilet paper stuck on a shoe.

Most of the time, the Toads wanted to know what it was like being trapped in the painting, what horrors he saw there, if it was the afterlife, or something similar. Luigi had given up on trying to correct them after the first few times, giving out uninspired answers like “dark and scary,” which seemed to both placate the Mushroom Kingdom residents’ thirst for grisly gossip and align with their internal schema for who they thought Luigi was. 

It didn’t matter, in the end. He had saved his brother. Twice. The health and safety of everyone involved was more important than his ego.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from occasionally daydreaming about King Boo attacking the Mushroom Kingdom, just so Luigi could prove a point

“You know, Morel,” Luigi said, shaking thoughts of Toads screaming for his help from his mind, “we were on our way to pick up some - “

“It’s okay, Lou,” Mario interrupted with a brisk wave. “Shop doesn’t close for another hour and I’m sure Morel won’t take too much of our time.

Luigi was sure the opposite would be true, but far be it from him to be the bad guy and tell Morel to come back later. His reputation in the Mushroom Kingdom was dicey enough as it was - he wasn’t to exacerbate things by being mean to a teen Toad.

As Morel and his brother talked, Luigi let his thoughts wander. He nixed their shopping list, weighing the pros and cons of raiding the back of the cupboard for whatever dregs of food they had left. He wondered if Mario even remembered who Morel was, watching his brother make the appropriate gestures and smiling widely, that glimmer of recognition absent in his brother’s expression. He couldn’t really blame Mario, not for that. How many times can you be asked for an autograph or advice before all those faces blurred together? Even Luigi couldn’t always keep them straight, and he had a lot more time to quietly observe and register his brother’s admirers. 

Morel, however, was not to be forgotten. The last time he had accosted them, he had wanted to show off one of his many creative endeavors, this time an hour-long, abstruse interpretative dance performance that was somehow supposed to help with diplomatic relations at an upcoming summit between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Yoshis. 

Five minutes in, Mario’s eyes had glazed over. Ten minutes in and three pirouetting Piranhas later, Luigi found himself mentally running over a table for standard thermodynamic values in select substances. Carbon was always the hard one. Way too many possibilities.

Luigi bit the inside of his cheek, bringing his attention back to the conversation.

“So Mario,” Morel unsheathed his guitar from his back, pulling a crumpled piece of paper with multiple strikeouts from his pocket. “Have you ever liked a girl? Like, liked like?”

Luigi choked down a laugh. The Romeo of Room 312. That’s what he had called his brother back in middle school, who pined after a different girl every week. Vanessa Tuccio, Jackie Galagio, Stephanie Rizzo. None of them gave his brother the time of day, Mario still being in that awkward stage where he hadn’t made up for his lack of height with an abundance of muscle, his voice teetering somewhere between squeaky laryngitis and the hoarse, nasal tenor of a common cold.

By the time they hit high school (and Mario’s voice had finally dropped), that all changed, his brother doing pretty well himself in the dating department, at least as far as Luigi could tell. They weren’t as close those years, with he and Mario at different schools, Luigi buried in a mountain of chemistry and physics textbooks while his brother hung out with his jock friends at a ratty gym on 86th Street. 

But he had taken a nice girl to prom. Had had a few breakups, some of them Mario’s fault. All what Luigi assumed was normal teenage stuff.

Not that he really knew.

Luigi had tried dating a few girls in high school, girls with long hair, glasses, and a religious devotion to the periodic table. Nothing ever went past the clammy hand-holding stage and one very awkward kiss over a smuggled bottle of cheap wine on the Coney Island boardwalk, each girl in question giving him a polite brush-off after a week or two, only to attach themselves to some other guy who somehow seemed to know how to put the pieces of the puzzle together. 

Frankly, it was a miracle Luigi had lost his virginity at all by the time he graduated, his new-found, reckless courage bolstered by the death of his father and the whole shitstorm with the family business being ripped out from under their noses. He had barely finished senior year, whatever motivation he had once had to claw himself out of Bensonhurst and into Cooper Union whisked away once he was faced with the reality of being a seventeen year old orphan staring down a mountain of unpaid bills and a deceased father who may or may not have owed favors to the mob.

From that point onwards, he and Mario were focused on survival, on running a third-rate plumbing business out of a second-rate studio, Luigi elbows-deep in the guts of their father’s van more often than not, neither he nor Mario willing or able to shell out the cash for an actual mechanic. It was tenuous and relentless, and there was no way either of them had the energy or capacity to think about something as banal as dating when creditors and loan sharks were breathing down their neck every five days.

And then - their lives had been turned upside-down once again.

The concept of dating in the Mushroom Kingdom was laughable, and Luigi had resigned himself to a monastic existence while they figured out a way back to Brooklyn. There were so few humans around and it was clear from the outset that there something was going on between his brother and Peach, even if it had never advanced beyond hugs that lasted a few seconds too long to be called friendly and doe-eyed glances cast across the long tables of the the palace dining room.

Which left Luigi the odd man out, a situation he was overly-familiar with in this new world, his brother the famous hero of the Kingdom and Luigi himself an afterthought, at best. And sure, he had met a few other human women - smart, funny, beautiful human women who seemed to like talking with him, who, against all odds, found him genuinely interesting. 

But despite his brother egging him on, Luigi couldn’t quite find the motivation to try and turn that friendly flirting into anything more. Sure, Daisy was amazing and a force of nature. And Princess Eclair had been utterly captivating, to the point where Luigi wondered if she was some kind of enchantress. But for all of that, there was something missing, something he couldn’t quite make fit, a niggle in the back of his brain with his father’s voice, telling him to hit the gym, to put down his books and stop wearing those colorful socks or else he was going to get a reputation - the kind of reputation that ended with a fist in your face in a Brooklyn Heights Promenade bathroom.

There was something else, something more he wanted. But he was damned if was going to find it in the Mushroom Kingdom, and with the likelihood of them ever getting back to Brooklyn diminishing with each passing year - well, those monks didn’t have too bad a life, right?

“Okay, okay, are you guys ready?” Morel had sat himself on a small boulder, motioning for Luigi and Mario to follow suit. With his audience in place, the teen Toad strummed a few chords on his guitar, reaching up to adjust the tuning, then strumming again, then tuning, a process which took at least five minutes. Luigi was no musician, but even he was pretty sure Morel was just stalling at this point.

“Alright,” Morel sighed, breathy. “So, there’s this girl, right? And she’s really pretty. And I want to impress her, like, really impress her. She’s all into this band,” Morel’s face twisted, “Lion’s Mane and their front Toad is super cool and good-looking. I figure I can win her over if I show I can sing just as good as him, if I can write my own songs and everything! So here we go.”

Morel straightened, his small fingers digging into spaces above and below the frets. He took a large breath from his nose, held it, and then began play.

“Please don’t let me be alone.

I’ll talk to you on the phone.

I lose my spores,

When you walk on through those doors.

I’m right here, okay?

Right on the Mushroom Way.

It’s my time to say,

Chanterelle, you’re so swell!”

With a florid movement, Morel ran his thumb over the strings for the final chord, a broken set of notes that reminded Luigi of a dying carburetor he once tried to fix in his racing kart. Next to him, his brother’s smile was plastered on so tight Luigi thought his face might break in two if he tried any harder. 

“So what do you think, Mario? Do you think Chanterelle will date me?”

His brother’s eyes went wide, Mario’s smile growing even larger as he drummed his fingers on the knee of his pants. 

“I think,” Luigi offered, taking pity on his brother, “you put a lot of effort into this and Chanterelle will certainly be…surprised.”

Morel bounced up and down on his heels. “Do you think she’ll feel the love in this song?”

Luigi side-eyed his brother, who looked about one misplaced word away from bursting out in laughter. A small, vindictive part of Luigi wanted to pop the perfect persona his brother had cultivated, wanted the image of the hero be brought down to the level of the man he knew his brother was.

But looking at Morel’s shimmering eyes, the open admiration glowing from his small body - Luigi knew wasn’t going to do that to him. 

“You’ve certainly shown us what love can look like,” Luigi said, diplomatic. “And sound like.” Like you need a mechanic, he thought.

Morel punched the air. “Yes! Oh boy! Thank you! Thank you, Mario, you’re the best! I’m gonna go find Chanterelle right now!” The teen toad scrambled to get his guitar on his back, setting off in the direction of the Town Center, looking back every few seconds to give enthusiastic waves.

Mario let out a small laugh. “Thanks for the save, bro.”

“Eh,” Luigi shrugged. “I didn’t say anything untrue. He certainly demonstrated what love could be.”

“I just hope she lets him down easy. It’s a rough age for that stuff, human or Toad.”

Luigi hummed in response, looking out over the emerald-green hills that dotted the path to the Town Center. It was probably a rough age for that stuff at any age, trying to navigate love - to know another person and let them know you. 

“Hey Mario. While we’re on the topic, what about you and - “

“Still want to go to the market, Lou?” Mario asked, the slightest tremor of panic in his voice. Luigi had been trying, without success, to get his brother to open up about the whole situation with him and Peach had been trying to get him to shed the persona that was slowly taking over his everyday existence. Not that Mario was being mean or deliberately distant. He was still his brother, they still talked together, laughed together, occasionally cried together. But Luigi still couldn’t shake the feeling that things had changed. Something about the way Mario’s focus drifted every time they met up in Rogueport, or how he had come out of that painting the second time, vigorously shaking Luigi’s hand like he was running for political office. 

Luigi gave a silent nod, picking up his tote bag from the ground before following his brother’s lead, starting off in the direction of the town

Then again, maybe it was for the best. If Mario didn’t have to tell Luigi about his private life, then Luigi wouldn’t have to share his, wouldn’t have to get into the creeping insecurities and resentment that clouded parts of his existence in the Mushroom Kingdom. Wouldn’t have to explain that he didn’t know what love looked like, at least not the love he thought he was seeking, the part of him that craved understanding, with being known, unconditionally.

He had his brother. They were alive, healthy, and together. It would have to be enough.

[lemotmo]

Hello!

I’m just curious what your thoughts are if there is no signs of movement for Eddie in tomorrows episode? Like no hints at queer Eddie at all. No progress for Chris and him. No seeds being planted etc.

Does it change your mind any on timeline stuff with queer Eddie etc?

To be honest? I don't expect too much in tomorrow's episode. I think it'll be mostly focused on Eddie missing Chris and Buck being there for him. And that's enough for me. Their scenes together are always quite powerful and they always manage to convey so much emotion.

So no, I don't expect major revelations tomorrow. I do think we might get some tiny hints of Eddie struggling with something besides Chris being gone. But that's a storyline that I think will be more prominent in the following few episodes.

I think we will get clear hints of the BT storyline and those 'problems' Tim and Oliver talked about.

I've never expected this storyline to go quick. They have 18 episodes now. I hope they take their time to properly break up BT and to give Eddie some time to wrap his head around this new facet of who he truly is. Then, and only then, I expect something to click between Buck and Eddie.

So, timeline wise? The way I see it? I expect Buck and Eddie to figure out who they really are in 8A. We'll see something click between them or just for one of them to create more drama by the end of 8A. Then we'll have an entire hiatus to analyse, theorise and go nuts. 8B is where I think the Buddie storyline might be properly rolled out.

But remember Nonny! This is only speculation! I am not the showrunner. I'm only a fan. So take all of this with a big bag grain of salt. 😋

[kaykishi]

so i played underworld office and weeelllll you could tell i enjoyed it

(if it excludes the ads)

klug and eugene are both very nerd-like extreme insecure

[scarlettriot]

★ Hello, all you wonderful people. I know it's been a pretty long time since I've posted any kind of story or fic update. The inspiration well has been suffering a terrible drought, and then this idea hit me pretty hard, and I decided just to see where it would take me. Story will get smutty so, no minors or ageless blogs. ★ The world is entirely my own as it is part of another piece of fiction I am writing, however, @twisteddaydreams1135 & @meggsngrits have been helping so much with ideas and plot, it's not even funny. Thank you guys for your continual help. I know I wouldn't even have started this if it wasn't for you two. I also pulled some inspo from the incredible fantasy audio series by Yuzuya. ★ Below I give you a little taste of what is to come. The story will heavily follow the BakuSquad as well as some other beloved characters from the series. I really hope you all enjoy ♡

When you woke up this morning, this wasn't quite how you imagined your day would play out. It started normal, a bit exciting even. You had the opportunity to aid two travelers in locating information regarding some dragon clans, which just so happened to be your area of expertise.

But, you thought when they walked down the library's grand marble staircase and out into the crowded evening streets, it would be the end of the day's excitement. Truth be told, even if you were a senior librarian, nothing too thrilling ever really occurred within the city limits.

All of that changed just a few hours later.

Never in your life had your heart raced quite this fast. Then again, you'd never been running for your life before. Hand in hand with the very loud, and grouchy blonde you'd helped earlier in the day. Footfalls pounding against the cobblestone road in sync with each other, propelling yourselves forward, keeping just ahead of the six hunters that had cornered you not minutes before.

He pulled you through the city you'd always called home, the one you'd never left, making sharp turns down alleyways and cutting across roads without so much as a second thought. Anything he could think of to get them off your trail, he was trying, and yet nothing deterred them.

You were nearing the city limits. And it was only a limit because it was a cliffside. A massive one at that. Standing high above the sea with its unforgiving waves hundreds of feet below.

“When we get to the ledge, don't slow down. Just keep running and jump.”

Just when you thought it would burst, your heart sped up even more. He was insane. He had to be.

“Are you mad? That's a cliff, you know! We'll die!”

“Don't argue! Just do it!”

Before you could blink or hold him back, his free hand flung out behind you both, and magic exploded outward from his palm in a brilliant display of light and sparks that had citizens screaming and debris scattering in every direction. But, it afforded you time. Just precious seconds to create enough space between you and the hunters.

The ledge was a few meters away, there was no going back now. “JUST JUMP!” He screamed, and another blast went off powerful enough to launch the two of you right over the edge, and then you were free-falling through the open air.

Your stomach lurched, and your heart lodged itself in your throat as the wind tore through your hair and stung your skin like a thousand tiny needles. You had a death grip on the blonde's hand and just waited for the icy waters below to swallow you whole, but no chill came.

One moment you were falling, and the next, you were flying. Your body connected with something hard as the man held you in place. “Get up here. Can't have ya fallin' off.” You opened your eyes to see two massive ebony wings, dragon wings, carrying you away from the only home you'd ever known...