#bardockarts

.:Come Be Lonely With Me:. [Mario Franchise]   

Soft dirt squished between nimble digits, spreading the topsoil evenly around the base of the newest addition to the Mario household. Vibrant red thistles stood out proudly amongst a sea of black-eyed susans and lamb’s ear– the prickly flower swaying gently in the breeze. Luigi couldn’t help but smile fondly at them from under his sun hat, firmly patting the earth as if tucking his children into bed. He supposed in a way he was, with it being a flower bed and all .

The man huffed softly in his own amusement, gently wiping his hands onto his overalls, before surveying his handiwork.

Luigi’s yard was separated accordingly: closer towards their home housed a small closed off plot of land for vegetables– specifically set aside for cooking. While Luigi was perfectly fine with going to the market to pick up most of their needs, he had insisted on a spot for tomatoes and squash– a common ingredient in most of the meals he and his brother prepared. It was a meager selection of crops, but Luigi couldn’t help but smile when remembering the last time Mario complimented how flavorful and ripe the tomatoes were. How he loved how their aroma filled their whole home when he stewed them.

An overall important and fruitful investment.

.:Same Man I Was Before:. [Mario Franchise]

Luigi liked living a quiet life. He wasn’t as gung-ho as his brother, who constantly found himself on the call of adventure– saving other kingdoms from their own tyranny. There was a reason Mario was the hero with Luigi being okey dokey playing his part as sidekick: Mario fit the role. He was outgoing, a real people person in every sense of the word; rooms filled with excitement and cheer the moment he’d enter. Big Bro was also fearless, taking charge and tackling all obstacles in his way. There weren’t problems in his world, only tasks that would be conquered.

Luigi admired his brother, sometimes even wanting to  be him. Luigi couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be able to stare down his fears with nothing but gusto. To live for adrenaline thrills was such a foreign concept– heck, Luigi couldn’t even schedule appointments with Doctor Toad without fighting off a bout of the nerves! A guy he had known for years and still worried about bothering the doctor with his troubles.

No, Luigi simply wasn’t built with courage in mind and that was that.

The Rise and Fall of the King's Court

[DC Comics/Superman; co-written with @bardockarts ]

Decided to use the first line I wrote for the first chapter, since I didn’t want to take credit away from Bardock for their amazing Toyman.

Luthor had always been a man that could see an opportunity when it presented itself, no matter how ridiculous it might seem to most. He saw himself as someone constantly on the move, finding pieces and pawns to place about in his nationwide game of chess. So when Graves handed him a particular file, brow arched in that way that told Lex there was something very peculiar afoot, his curiosity piqued in a way that told him he was holding onto something special. A mere peek at the childish scrawl was enough to break his silence.

“And what do we have here, exactly?” Luthor asked the woman next to him, still reading over the application. Graves slid in closer, pulling up her tablet as she explained.

“Jack Nimball, 26. High school diploma on record, though nothing beyond that. No name or startups that would indicate anything of note for the company.”

Lex lets out a huff of amusement, side-eyeing his assistant.

“But you wouldn’t have brought this to my attention if that was all  there was to it.”

Rumor Has It

[My Hero Academia; cowritten with @swampy-tiefling ]

Shota Aizawa considered himself a very levelheaded man. No matter the aspect of his life, he chose to live it through logic alone. Eri moving in with him once she was released from the hospital had followed this pattern-- Eraser was, after all, the only one who could help manage her quirk. It would have been irresponsible to send the child off to an orphanage, just waiting for her powers to emerge again and cause problems.

Then of course, there was the concern of being a guardian. Which consisted of encouraging a healthy mental development. Eri had already been emotionally stunted from abuse, so it had only made sense to work on setting up a safe environment. Which was exactly why Aizawa’s dorm apartment had slowly, but surely, transformed from a minimalist’s dream, to becoming filled with furniture and trinkets to bring the girl comfort. This too had been logical to him, it was about helping create a sense of want. Children should want things. Toys, affection, to be the one to pick what bedtime story is read--  even if it was one she had chosen every night for weeks on end . Learning one mattered was the first step in the foundation of survival. To want is to not give up, to strive for self preservation. And in turn, to protect oneself.

These behaviors made sense, so the hero never questioned it.

What didn’t make sense was the fact Aizawa was staring down at a black fish that happened to share his name.

Did You Hear...?

[My Hero Academia; cowritten with @swampy-tiefling​ ]

 A sigh of amusement escaped Toshinori Yagi--  better known to the public as All Might--as he allowed himself the opportunity to read over the message again. Sunken eyes fixed to the screen, the skeletal man’s nimble fingers went to grab the cup of tea resting next to the monitor. The warmth, while pleasant, didn’t seem to hold a candle to the feeling he had over reading Mrs. Modoriya’s words. Though Toshinori only had the opportunity to meet the woman in person a couple of times, the hero could still hear her voice. The squeaky pitch it gave when she was floundering for words, the bouncy hum of pleasure that she shared with her son. It was enough to make him smile into the lip of the mug.

 “Hmph. I should think it’s you comforting me this time around, “ the hero whispered to himself, thankful that his mutterings couldn’t be heard by anyone else within the empty teachers’ lounge. “I believe I’m starting to see where Young Midoriya gets it from.”