personally i think it would be really funny if Danny Stoker encountered the fears without even realizing it while he was rapidly switching interests
like. sailing was one of the things he got into canonically. imagine if the lonely grabbed him and then spit hhim back out and he just went "huh." didnt think anything of it, and carried on. too focused on his next funky little hyperfixation
spelunking, mountain climbing, scuba diving, urban exploration. he probably could've gone through the whole LIST of fears and ccome out the other end and nobody would look twice at him. can you IMAGINE.
The Magnus Archives University au, a collection of random facts and headcanons ~
( uni au masterlist )
Just some basic setup so we have Jon (23), Sasha (25) and Tim (24) who's already friends and getting their PhD's sponsored but The Magnus institute
They're moving into a house share with Martin (23) and Melanie (22) who's getting their masters at the same uni, they got recommended as roommates from their common friend (and Jon's ex) Georgie (24)
Before Tim ended up studying the occult he wanted to be a vet, but realized he couldn't deal with the sadder cases on a long term basis
Martin have been seeing Jon and Tim around campus for as long as he's been at uni and he always thought they seem sooo cool
The reality check comes fast after moving into the same space as them tho lmao
When the timeline of the au starts Jon and Georgie have been broken up for about a year, but they didn't really have an awkward period after breaking up
Danny (21) is constantly having some sort of identity crisis, he's currently very into goth subcultures (wonder why hmm)
Melanie already knows Jon through Georgie and while he genuinely does annoy her a lot, she also loves to play it up to annoy him even more
She does definitely have a soft spot for him though, like she can bully him, but only she can?
He does not quite understand, but he kinda sees her as an annoying sibling at this point
Tim is currently working on educating Jon in pop-culture, they watch a lot of retrospects on YouTube and Tim thinks it's the cutest thing when Jon takes notes and takes it very seriously
Gerry is friends with Jon, Melanie and Danny, but none of them knows that he knows the others
He knows very well though, he's just waiting to see how long it takes for everyone to realize
People think Sasha is serious and studious and even a little boring, but she's actually the most nerdy, strange and impulsive out of all of them
She just presents very academic and serious when you don't know her, and she is smart and studious, but not boring
Melanie used to have really long hair, but she bleached and dyed it so much it got really broken so she cut it ti shoulder length recently, and she really likes it like that
Gerry works part-time at the university library, so he knows a thing or two about almost everyone at this point
Gerry and Melanie are very active in politics and goes to protests and demonstrations together
Martin collects pictures of people he doesn't know from thrift stores and writes little stories about them in his spare time
Jon's a good singer and great pianist
Tim and Danny likes to follow Bob Ross tutorials together to unwind and chill
Sasha, Melanie, Gerry and Danny are gamers
my ask box and dm’s are always open, I love talking about fandoms, fics and headcanons!
You guys ever think about the idea that after what happened at the Royal Opera House, every time Tim tried to remember and recall Danny, instead of a set image of him, it’s always a dash more colourful ? Like, imagining a figure that looks exactly like Danny more saturated, more colourful, moving as though animated through a flash of hues ? Yeah I’m normal guys how can you tell
What are Tim and Sasha's roles in the stardew au? I am asking for the reasons of a) There is no way that they can die in this one! and b) I love this au and them
the Stardew Valley au is a nobody dies au, so there's no need to fear!!!
Sasha runs the front desk at her parents carpenters shop. Tim and Danny run the saloon!
Running a gym is harder than expected, but especially when unpleasant clients start causing trouble.
TWs- homophobia (dw it's some rando but queer is used as a slur once), internalized homophobia, canon typical flesh and stranger content (body horror and implied cannibalism)
Also I'm American and know absolutely nothing about gym culture so don't come at me, I just wanna write gay stories lol
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"What the hell is that tiny twink doing in here?"
The question caught Jared off guard as he snapped out of his daze. He had spaced out while sitting at the reception desk, like he typically did when things were boring. His gym may have been a front to feed on fear, but he still had to run the place like a proper business, boring or not. It had been a longtime dream of Jared's to own a gym, he just hadn't expected running it to be quite so... dull. At least something seemed to be happening now?
"What's going on...?" Jared rumbled groggily, punctuating his question with a yawn. He hadn't sensed any change in the insecurity levels permeating the place, so it wasn't affecting his fear farming. No decreases, so he didn't need to mess with the lights or the music, and no increases, which meant one of the plentiful victims was ready for "harvest." Things were just... blah.
"Are you fucking stupid? I'm asking you what the hell this guy is doing in here!" The irate man, whose biceps were the same size as his shiny bald head, gestured toward a slender figure on the treadmill, wearing a shirt with stripes on it. He wasn't sure what it was, but Jared figured it was some kind of pride flag. He had a hard time keeping up with which one was which, so he never bothered with it. Gender and sexuality hardly mattered when everyone was a walking meat slab. (Though he did admire the dedication some had in the quest to obtain the perfect body.)
Jared watched the stranger jog for a moment, saw no immediate issue with his form, then looked blankly back at the client making the nebulous complaint. This guy's steroids were probably affecting his brain. Clients did get easier to persuade into new shapes after a while of using the stuff, though, but that also meant their tempers got worse and worse... Which meant Jared had to keep them in check.
The man stared at Jared expectantly, gesturing toward the treadmill once again, a little more rude this time. Without a beat, Jared answered. "Well, it looks like he's getting a better leg workout than you. Should work on that too, you look like you've skipped a couple leg days." The swell of self-consciousness coming off his customer made Jared grin. This guy could be sent over the edge from client to victim soon, Jared could practically taste it. These types of gym bros had such frail egos, which made it so easy to mess with them. Essentially, with lax gym rules, they flocked to this place like a fly to honey. It was like working at a fear buffet, and so long as he kept the lights on, he'd never have to worry about his next meal again. Those meatheads that ditched him for the ritual didn't know what they were missing. Not to mention he thought the whole ritual plan was stupid in the first place, a meat hole lacked any kind of imagination. It's like they didn't even try.
A shout from the other side of the room pulled Jared out of his residual anger regarding his recent abandonment, and he quickly realized that the guy he was mocking a second ago was about to go full 'roid rage. Lax rules or not, a fight would attract unwanted attention. Annoyed with the whole situation already, Jared hoisted himself out of his seat and pushed past the growing crowd of gym rats. He was fully prepared to wrench the tinier man from the larger patron's grasp, but to his surprise, the smaller of the two seemed to be holding his ground. This could get interesting.
In this very moment, Danny was facing down the goliath who had unceremoniously turned his treadmill off, pulling the plug at the source. At first he had assumed it was some sort of emergency, like a small personal object had rolled underneath the track, or even an electrical fire, but this was not the case. No, this asshole was just looking for a fight. Danny was hardly bothered, though, he'd been confronted by men this size before and thrown them for a loop, easy-peasy. The big lunk seemed awfully cocky too... Danny decided that a quick stretch wouldn't hurt, especially while this asshole was trying and failing to intimidate him.
"Are you even listening to me?! I said I want you outta my gym, fucking queer!" The man snarled, attempting to shove Danny back mid-stretch. Fortunately, Danny found it all too easy to evade his touch by purposefully dropping to the floor like a rag doll. Not far from the truth of the matter, he thought, contorting himself to be standing on all fours. It was in that very second that Jared realized that he had a Stranger in his gym, and that things were about to get weird.
The instigator stared at Danny in pure shock, and Danny seized the opportunity to have a little fun.
"I'd be listening if you had anything interesting to say!" He twisted his torso around a full 180 degrees, his legs following as if it were an afterthought. At this sight, a handful of the customers bolted out the door. "At least you noticed something right, big boy~" Danny winked at the man, laughing as his opponent's face got redder and redder. Jared wondered if the man might explode if his blood pressure got too high.
Unable to hold back panic and rage any longer, the man attempted to punt the Stranger in front of him, only managing to graze Danny as he deftly somersaulted backward and subsequently skittered up the shelf holding the hand weights, like some sort of feral animal. Danny goaded him on, throwing his head back and laughing between moments of making kissy noises. The man wasn't having any of that, and before anyone else could stop him, he hurled one of the benches in Danny's general direction. Unfortunately for Jared's wallet, the man missed his intended target and knocked down an entire row of exercise bikes, which fell with a terrible crunching noise.
"Alright, everyone get the fuck out of here." Jared bellowed, sending whatever bystanders were left running. They had seen Jared mad a handful of times, and knew better than to stand up to him. Jared was an enormous man, towering over even the strongest power lifter among them. Those who stood against him either disappeared completely or were hospitalized with severe injuries. Danny, however, knew no such fear, and continued his reign of chaos by launching himself directly onto his foe. The man attempted to avoid the sudden blow by turning away from his attacker, only for Danny to cling to the straps of his tank top like a maniacal little rodeo clown. The man scrambled to pull Danny off his back, but was unable to get a proper grasp on him. Bodybuilding came with an unfortunate price: his arms were so swollen that he could no longer reach the small of his back.
Jared attempted to pull the man back toward the office, but lost his grip when the man threw himself backward against the wall instead, desperate to get Danny off his back. Danny didn't seem to be in any distress at all as he was slammed repeatedly against the bricks, but in all fairness, he was gathering a good amount of fear from this nonsense. Jared cursed under his breath, pissed about what he was about to do, but there wasn't enough time to hesitate. The longer this fight went on, the more likely someone was gonna call the police. It had to be shut down RIGHT NOW.
With a single fluid motion, Jared ripped his baggy t-shirt off as easily as if it were made of tissue paper. What might have appeared as a beer gut beneath his tee (though he was not slender by any means) was actually a well hidden second set of arms, equally strong as his openly visible set. Mourning one of the few shirts that fit him decently well, Jared threw himself into the scuffle. His lower set of arms deftly grabbed the instigator's wrists, while his right hand gripped the man's throat, pinning him firmly against the wall. The remaining left hand pried Danny off the man's back as if he were a scruffed kitten. This was done with far less force considering Danny hadn't started this whole incident in the first place... and because most of Jared's strength was being put towards holding the bigot down.
Danny looked Jared up and down, the momentary peace finally giving him the chance to actually see the gym owner up close. Ripped, shirtless, and real handsy, Danny thought, realizing it was an excellent chance to shoot his shot.
"Finally!" He exclaimed, "A man who knows how to handle me!" A sly grin crossed Danny's face as he spoke. "You can handle me anytime. Nice grip."
Jared went bright red, his grasp on the human tightening out of surprise, the tendons in his hand bulging out. The suddenly strangled man gargled in protest, all the while Jared stared back at Danny, mouth hanging open. Girls had tried fawning over Jared a thousand times before, but this felt different. He couldn't figure out why, though... maybe it was all three of his hearts fluttering in unison. He tried desperately to ignore it, which was a little easier when the man he was holding down was trying to escape not one, but two monsters.
"Stop being so annoying, I'm trying to--" Jared growled as the man beneath him thrashed, to no avail against Jared's iron grip. "You know what? Fuck this."
Jared set Danny back on the ground, pointing at him, and then the front door. "Go lock the door and flip the closed sign for me while I shove this jackass in my office. I want a word with you." Danny saluted in response, which elicited a snort from Jared. The little guy was pretty funny, he couldn't deny that. Once everything was properly settled (aside from the muffled screams from the guy locked in the office), Jared sat down on one of the benches, gesturing for Danny to sit next to him. He tried to ignore his racing thoughts regarding the seating situation as well, shaking the idea and his shaggy brown hair out of the way.
"Sorry about your gym," Danny started, idly kicking his legs. "I didn't think I'd cause a scene so soon. I thought I was gonna mess with you, actually."
An abrupt half-snort, half-laugh escaped Jared's lips. Him? Scared? Impossible. "Yeah? " Jared challenged, grinning mischievously at the circus geek next to him. "What were you gonna do, huh?"
Flirtatiously walking his fingers up Jared's massive arm, Danny laid on the classic Stoker charm. "Oh, you know~ Wait until closing time, make you come over and tell me to leave, and just when you're about to tap me on the shoulder..." Danny suddenly let his upper half go slack, his neck hanging at an unnatural angle, like a marionette that suddenly had its strings cut. The surprise of it all made Jared laugh. It definitely wouldn't have scared him by any means, but it was still well executed.
"Hey, that's pretty good, man. The dead-eyed look sells it. Woulda scared the shit outta someone who didn't harvest organs for fun." Jared lightly elbowed him, prompting Danny to pull himself into a more natural position, giggling all the while. Man, that laugh was infectious.
"Do you want any of our extras? I mean, we try to use every bit at the Circus, but even Nikola doesn't really know what to do with a spare gallbladder-- Anyway, I could bring some to you as an apology for wrecking your place? Say... tomorrow at closing time?" Danny looked up at Jared with wide, sparkling eyes. Maybe a little too wide, revealing a sliver of the plastic that kept his frame together.
Jared didn't know what to say. Nobody had offered him anything before. In his life so far, if he wanted something, he had to get it himself, regardless of how legal it might be. It took clawing tooth and nail to get his gym, and he committed plenty of murder in the process. Yet here this Stranger was, wandering directly into his hunting grounds, and apologizing for causing trouble. To say it was a touching gesture was an understatement. Blinking in complete shock, Jared managed to blurt out an astonished "Yes??"
Danny squealed in pure joy, throwing himself against Jared in as big a hug he could give the man. It ended up closer to Danny face-planting himself against Jared's bare chest. Jared blushed again, staring at Danny momentarily before awkwardly giving him a pat on the shoulder. Were all Stranger avatars this touchy-feely? It wasn't that he hated it (though he'd never admit it), it just so happened that Jared wasn't used to this kind of contact. When his ex-friends were still around, the most positive contact he would get was a slap on the back. All of this was so new.
It took a moment of skin-to-peeled-skin contact for Danny to suddenly realize that Jared no longer had a shirt as a result of all the mayhem that had occurred mere minutes ago. Sure enough, the remaining shreds of it laid pitifully on the floor. The idea coagulated quickly in Danny's mind, and he gave Jared's chest a firm, friendly slap. Damn, this guy was solid as a rock under all that muscle.
"I can get you a new shirt too! The Circus is very good with a needle and thread, see?" To prove his point, Danny held his arm up to display his seams, which were almost impossible to see unless you were looking extremely close. Jared had to admit, it was pretty impressive.
"That'd be great," Jared confessed, "Pretty hard to find stuff I like in my size. Or anything in my size, really. Liked that shirt, too."
With a sense of determination, Danny picked up what remained of the shirt to keep as a template. By god, he was going to make things up to this man. "Then it's settled!" Danny announced triumphantly, "I'll bring you dinner and some new clothes tomorrow night, sound good?"
"Er- uh, yeah, sure." Jared stumbled over both his words and emotions, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "And, uh. You don't have to worry about seeing that guy ever again, I'll take care of him." A skillful press to his chin urged a sharp set of teeth forward, tusks much like a boar's erupting from his lower jaw. A crack of the neck, a shake of the head, and Jared looked like a new man.
"On the same note, wanna thank you for finding me an early lunch. Meat is meat, y'know." Jared chuckled and gestured back toward his office, where the locked door was being rattled desperately by the man trapped behind it. His fear was already delectable, but there was nothing like sinking your teeth into a nice, juicy cut of muscle and sinew. Something of a rare treat these days.
He had already thought Jared was particularly attractive, but the sharp teeth stopped Danny dead in his tracks. Sure, he was playfully flirting with the Flesh avatar before, but that smile had him falling hard and fast. If he had a heart, surely it would have been beating in double time. How was he hotter as a monster?! Danny was so doomed. He didn't even know if this man liked guys! Hell, they hadn't even exchanged names yet!
Fuck it, it was now or never. Danny awkwardly stuck his hand out to Jared for a handshake. You know, the most normal thing to do when you want to date a guy. He was already mentally kicking himself, but it was way too late to take this back now. "You can call me Danny."
"Jared," he grunted in reply, his enormous hand engulfing Danny's as he gave a firm shake. "Names don't mean much to me these days, so it's whatever." This made Danny giggle, perplexing Jared in the process.
"Sorry, sorry!" Danny continued to giggle, "It's just, you sound more like the Circus than I do with the whole name thing. My name's the only thing that sticks with me. Nikola says I'm a special case." He shook his head bashfully, letting his arms swing idly at his sides. "You're uh, you belong to Viscera right?"
"That's a real big word when all you gotta say is Flesh. That's me though. The Boneturner." The way Jared enunciated his title could have given Danny the shivers. Why was he so hot??? Even if this guy wasn't interested in men, his looks were going to haunt Danny's thoughts for the rest of his existence.
The electric lights buzzed around them as the tension grew thicker. There was definitely something blossoming between them, though neither could put it to words so soon. The door behind them continued to shake as its occupant tried to free himself.
"You, uh, you should probably take care of that guy, huh?" Danny gave an awkward smile, fidgeting with the t-shirt fabric in his hands. Jared nodded in agreement, feeling the hunger beginning to gnaw at him. The anticipation of a good meal practically had him drooling.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then...?" Jared trailed off, barely able to tear his eyes away from Danny as he spoke. It was so odd to see a Stranger with such an athletic physique, and the very concept was intriguing to him. Hopefully he'd learn more about him under less hectic circumstances.
"It's a date!" Danny beamed, bouncing on his toes as he made his way toward the door. "Maybe next time you can meet me at my place for gymnastics rehearsal! Bye, handsome~"
And before Jared could protest with so much as a 'no homo', Danny was out of the building. The thought of it festered in the back of his mind as he closed the gym up early. He thinks I'm handsome, was the first concept to sink in, offering a considerable ego boost. Danny saw him passing as a human and a bit of his monstrous form, and it didn't change his opinion a bit. The last time he heard that was from his surrogate mother, Angela, and mothers were basically obligated to say such things, even if she wasn't his real mother. She was just the avatar who helped him get back on his feet again, that's all.
The other phrase took a bit longer to grapple with, It's a date. Jared wasn't completely sure if Danny had meant it in a romantic sense or not, but considering the handsome comment that followed, it seemed pretty damn gay. Was Danny flirting with him? The feelings around that were incredibly murky. On one hand, it was just the two of them who knew, and nobody would ever find out... on the other, if it ever got out, his reputation could be destroyed in an instant, like his father would say. He never quite understood why his father hated queers so much, but the countless news stories and videos of the violence towards them were frightening enough that Jared had tried very hard not to be anything like that. He had wanted to make his father proud.
Granted, he had been kicked out for the weird magic bone book instead. The fear was still there, though.
You know what, Jared suddenly decided, This is too much to think about on an empty stomach or three. He had left his meal stewing in fear for long enough, it was high time he had a bite. This doubt was due to low blood sugar, surely that was it. Yeah, he'd be fine, the gay thoughts would go away if his head was clear. Definitely.
Forcing himself to relax, the crackle of bone could be heard beneath layers of muscle. The sharp edges jutted out of Jared's skin deliberately, just as artfully as he had intended. The perfect form was never quite complete by design, but he always did feel better appearing precisely how he wanted in the moment. He was bone-chilling, threatening, and no one in the world would ever dare touch him. Even better, he'd be able to show off the truly terrifying look to his latest victim.
On ep 104 of my relisten and as soon as Tim said “statement of Tim Stoker regarding the disappearance of my brother Danny” I decided to end it there for the day I cannot emotionally handle Tim angst rn 🤧
