#calypsomancer

[doom-dreaming]

Ash’s (Borderlands) Writing Masterpost

Since I’ve had an influx of new followers and I’ve been spitting out fics like bullets from a Vladof rifle, I figured I’d group them all together for ease of navigation and all that jazz. I’ll give links to the Tumblr post(s) and Ao3 for all of them.

I have an open (but moderated) Ao3 collection for any and all writing involving the twins, if you’d like to add your work to it. I would ask that you read THIS POST before submitting.

This is a long post, so the lists will be under the cut, but if you wanted to be added to a tag list for any category (or multiple), just send me a message or comment and I’ll add you! :)

Things will be added to this, so I may reblog it from time to time. Feel free to reblog it, but just be aware that it will have additions that won’t make it into your reblog. Now that I’ve said ‘reblog’ 4 times in one paragraph, here are the actual lists:

Calypso Twins (No Ships):

Lifeline [tumblr] [ao3] - short little thing regarding my personal headcanon about the twins and how Tyreen cares for Troy

Paint It Black [tumblr] [ao3] - more headcanon, the twins have a specific ritual that sort of becomes a soothing mechanism whenever they deal with trauma

The Calypso Project [tumblr] [ao3] - an idea suggested by a friend, different take on an origin story for the twins - Tyreen is abducted by Atlas as an infant and Troy is actually a clone (Atlas’ attempt to fabricate a siren) - formatted like a bunch of archived audio logs

Joystick (aka: Chat Shenanigans) [tumblr] [ao3] - the twins jump into a game with some of their fans. The results are...interesting - (I would recommend reading on Tumblr because of the color formatting)

Too Strong To Be Denied [tumblr] [ao3] - BLOOD, TORTURE, BRAINWASHING; the twins capture you and immediately go to work making you into the perfect disciple

Troy and/or Tyreen x (Gender-Neutral) Reader:

Give Your Flesh [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [ao3] - in-progress; reader is a cult member who caught Troy’s attention; originally intended as p*rn, ended up developing a plot - smut smut smut

Faithful [tumblr] [ao3] - sin sin sin; Troy comes back from an unsuccessful raid and takes out his aggression on you

Hunting Ground [tumblr] [ao3] - GRAPHIC GORE; after a rough day, you find a semi-remote bar, planning only on passing through, but Troy has other plans

Obey [tumblr] [ao3] - when the God Queen gives an order, you obey. Best to remember that, pet

“Dear Digital Diary” [tumblr] [ao3] - smut alert; you’re the Twins’ video editor and you have a small crush on Troy. Nothing that’ll get in the way of your work...

Just A Diversion [tumblr] [ao3] - set vaguely in The Pet ‘Verse, you struggle with your feelings about Troy’s fling with Aurelia

Various AUs:

Test Drive (Vault Hunter AU) [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [ao3] - short Calypsomancer (Troy/Gaige) fic - Gaige builds Troy a new arm and he, uh....tests it out on her (kinda) - part 4 is smut

Human Disasters (College AU) [tumblr] [ao3] - a mostly twins-centric look into the lives of the students at Fyrestone University; the title is 100% because of Troy

Rhys/Fiona:

These aren’t connected per se, but I’ve listed them in order of where they would appear chronologically in-game. More will be added as I post them here. They’re already up on Ao3, I wrote them a couple years ago after I finished playing Tales.

Definitely Not Concerned [tumblr] [ao3] - Rhys comes down with a stomach bug on their way to get the first Gortys upgrade. Fiona doesn’t care. Really. He’s a Hyperion scumbag, after all, right? Yeah, she can’t even convince herself.

Hidden Away [tumblr] [ao3] - a rewrite of the ‘flower scene’ from Episode 3; Rhys confesses his feelings about Fiona to Sasha

After the Dust Has Settled [tumblr] [ao3] - post-game speculation; if Rhys and Fiona hadn’t vanished with the Vault, would they have acted on their feelings?

The Daring Truth [tumblr] [ao3] - post-game; the gang plays truth or dare and gets more than they bargained for...

Still [tumblr] [ao3] - post-game; Rhys struggles with the side-effects of destroying Jack’s AI

Second’s Not The Same [tumblr] [ao3] - post-game; Rhys and Fiona meet up in a bar years after they part ways and Fiona isn’t expecting her feelings to still be as strong as they were back then; INFIDELITY WARNING

The Sound of Silence [tumblr] [ao3] - post-game; AU; Siren!Rhys - the gifts of a Vault aren’t always expected. Or appreciated. SUICIDE WARNING

I think that’s everything big so far, but I’ve also posted little things that you’ll be able to find if you go through this tag > ‘borderlands drabbles.’ Also, I’ve collected all of these into one fic on Ao3 called Calypso Craze. Each chapter has its own warnings, etc.

Enjoy, everyone!

[doom-dreaming]

College AU - Margaritas, Mal, and Moze

@marigold-magpie HERE IT IS AND IT’S....it got away from me. and it’s more the girls making fun of Troy than anything else, honestly. also i’ve edited and edited this and i’m still not totally happy with it, but   w h a t e v e r

(Read it here on Ao3!)

“Ooh…margaritas!” Sasha practically pounced all the way from the door to the nearest blender.

“Courtesy of your selfless donations…” Tyreen tapped her knife against the edge of each as she listed them. “We got strawberry, lime, and…” She dipped her finger into the last one. “…peach! If you want some variety.”

“Straight tequila shots?”

Tyreen snatched the bottle away from Fiona’s wandering hand. “Nuh uh. We wanna have fun, not get shitfaced. Besides…” she tilted the bottle, frowning. “Miiiight not have enough for the rest of the mix—”

“What’s up, nerds?!”

“Funny, coming from you.” Tyreen raised an eyebrow, but didn't look up from the lime she was slicing.

Gaige huffed out a half-offended sound. “At least I’m not majoring in sociology, or whatever.” She dumped her backpack beside the couch. “What’re you gonna do with that, anyway?”

“Start a cult?”

“Yeah, good luck. I’ve seen your ECHOgram, you’ve only got, like, 500 followers.”

“Compared to your��what, fifty?” Tyreen leveled a smug grin at the redhead’s pout. “Nice try.” She licked the lime juice from her fingers and waved the knife at Moze, who was still standing semi-awkwardly near the door. “Just make yourself comfy, hon. Nothin’s off-limits. Except Troy’s room, but you don’t wanna go in there, anyway.”

“Uh…speaking of Troy…“ Sasha’s voice drifted over from the couch. "He’s got more followers than both of you.” She held up her phone. “743.”

Simultaneous cries of indignance flooded the small room.

“What the FUCK—”

“How in the hell—” Gaige beelined for the couch, her drink forgotten. Without hesitation, she vaulted over the back and landed next to Sasha. “I didn’t even know he had one! Lemme see. Oh, Ty, it’s you!”

Tyreen pinched the bridge of her nose. “Drunk karaoke? Yeah…” She moodily garnished her drink and joined the rest of them. “I just don’t get how he has more…” She mellowed into grumbling as she curled up on a chair in the corner of the room. “…fucker.”

Gaige snickered, popping back to her feet to retrieve her drink. “The fatal weakness in your perfect sibling relationship, huh?”

“I’m not that jealous, I just, y’know, spend hours doing tutorials and editing the videos and he records thirty seconds of me singing 'Hey, Mama’ after a dozen shots and…” She glowered at Sasha. “You and Fi would never—”

Fiona’s loud laughter cut her off. “Oh, I definitely would.”

Sasha agreed with a disappointed nod.

Tyreen sighed. “It’s petty and it shouldn’t bother me, but…”

“But that’s why we’re here,” Fiona reminded. “To drink and bitch!”

“To drink and bitch!” the rest of them echoed, raising their glasses.

“Or just drink,” Moze piped.

Fiona smirked. “I knew I liked you.”

“I mean, I just got here and so far? No complaints.”

Gaige plopped down beside her on the floor and patted her arm. “Valid.”

“Okay, then I’ll start.” Fiona took a long drink before setting the glass carefully onto the coffee table. “So...my ex—”

A collective groan rose from the group.

“—yeah, he swore up and down that he wouldn’t start shit with Rhys, but what does he do?” She didn’t let the question hang long. “Starts shit with Rhys!”

Sasha kicked her feet up. “Guy’s a fucking asshole. I don’t know what you ever saw in him, honestly.”

“Yeah, that makes two of us. Rhys is a dumbass, but at least he’s not a lying, cheating—”

The front door of the apartment opened just loudly enough to bring the conversation to a halt. Troy shuffled in with his bag hanging off of one arm and his jacket bundled in the other, oblivious to anyone else. He kicked the door shut, abandoned his bag next to the kitchen counter, and made it halfway across the apartment before Tyreen cleared her throat.

“…what’cha got there, bro?”

“Uh…”

“You look kinda...guilty.”

“No, I, um…” He tossed his hair. Readjusted his glasses. Heaved a defeated sigh. "...it's a cat.” Sure enough, the jacket mewled.

Instant mayhem.

“A cat?!”

“Don’t get it near me! I forgot to take my allergy meds!”

“I hope you don’t want to keep it—”

“Everybody shut the fuck up, you’re scaring him.” Troy elbowed his way past his sister, toward the coffee table. “I found him around the back of the building. We don’t have to keep him, I just figured I’d get him outta the cold." He set the jacket down, pulled back a few loosely-folded layers, and extracted a wiggling orange kitten. “Buuuut…I might’ve named him already…“

“Troy…”

He tucked the kitten to his chest, looking offended. "Just for tonight, Ty, I promise. In the morning I’ll take him to the shelter—don’t look at me like that.” He grabbed his jacket from the table and turned on his heel. “I’m gonna give him a bath.”

“Troy, you know campus policy—”

“Fuck campus policy! I’m not putting him back out!” The slam of the bathroom door sounded like an exclamation mark.

“Don’t get rabies!” Sasha called after him.

“Bold of you to assume he doesn’t already have it…” Tyreen dropped her head into her hands. “Fuckin’ idiot.”

Gaige’s grin was too wide to be innocent. “Hey, Troy! What’s his name!?”

“Mal!” came the muffled reply, followed by a sharp, “Oh, shit—ow!”

“Cute!”

“Stop encouraging him,” Tyreen groaned. “I’m at least ninety percent of his impulse control and I don’t need you making things worse.” She paused, then let her head fall back with a weary sigh. “But I guess as far as breakup behavior goes, rescuing a cat is better than rebounding…”

“How bad was that breakup, anyway?”

“Lethal, based on how he’s acting.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I…shouldn’t be mean. Troy gets invested. I think he was waaaay more into it than August was—”

Sasha nearly choked on her drink.

“You good?”

She brushed off Fiona’s back-patting. “Yeah, I’m good, I’m good. Just—” cough “—went the wrong way. All good.”

“You should let him have a couple drinks with us,” Moze suggested. “Maybe—”

Four voices shouted, “No!” in unison.

“Or…not?”

Tyreen huffed. “You know how most people have an alcohol tolerance? Troy has an alcohol intolerance. That first day you met us? Yeah, he was fucking trashed ‘cause he spent the whole night trying to drown his broken heart.”

Troy’s voice drifted out from behind the bathroom door. “…I heard that!”

“It’s not a secret!” Tyreen yelled back.

Troy grumbled something inaudible, then emerged. Shirtless. The kitten squirmed inside a towel. “Little dude scratches like a motherfucker… Someone wanna hold him while I…?” He motioned to the red slices across his chest with his free hand.

Tyreen glanced around the group. Fiona was still holding her hand over her nose and mouth, shaking her head. Moze was…definitely focused on Troy’s abs. “Anyone?” Gaige and Sasha just shrugged. She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re trying to trick me into keeping this cat, I swear to God… Fine. Hand him over.”

“You don't have to make such a huge fucking deal out of it,” Troy complained.

Tyreen's glare was downright scathing. “Then apparently you don't remember the baby bird. Or the snake. Or the—”

“Yeah, okay, whatever. Just take the cat.” He pushed the towel into her hands. “I swear it's only for tonight.”

“I don't believe you…!” she sang at his retreating back. He flipped her off before shutting the bathroom door again. She rolled her eyes.

Moze's voice was the first to break the silence. “So, uh...didn't know Troy wears glasses.”

“He doesn't, usually. But—oh no, no way—” Tyreen intercepted the kitten as it made an attempt to escape. “—he's blind as shit—”

“Heard that too!”

“—and wears contacts most the time.” She cocked an eyebrow at Moze. “But be honest, that's not what you were lookin’ at.”

The younger girl's face flushed a shade darker. She stirred at her drink, mumbling, “Just didn't expect he'd be…”

“Like that?” Gaige filled in. “Yeah, I didn't expect it either the first time—” She cut herself off abruptly. “Uh.”

“The first time what...?” Sasha asked cautiously.

Tyreen rolled her eyes, aware that she was the only one not acting like Gaige had just confessed to murder. “They hooked up. It was, like, a year ago.”

“WHAT?!”

“It was at an engineering thing! We were both drunk!” Gaige shrieked in an attempt to defend herself. “Neither of us remember anything about it! It just sorta..." She gestured helplessly. "We woke up with, like, half our clothes on the floor and honestly I wouldn't have believed anything happened except I had dried c—”

“OH MY GOD, SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Troy yelled. “Literally no one needs to know the details!”

“Yeah, I'm with him on that,” Sasha admitted, her expression sour.

Tyreen attempted to hide a snicker behind her hand. Her unoccupied hand. The hand that wasn't scratching the kitten behind the ears. “The only reason I found out was ‘cause as soon as he got back and had his head in the toilet, he started cryin’ about it—”

Troy stalked out of the bathroom, scowling. “I was not crying—”

“You were crying and puking and—”

“And now I'm leaving. Gimme the cat—wait, are you petting—?”

“Shut up. Take him.” The kitten, lulled by Tyreen's attention, gave a confused ‘mrrrp?’ as he was roused by yet another handoff. “Go...listen to some music or something.”

“So you can tell more lies about me? I see how it is.”

“Oh my God, would you just take your emotional support animal and go, already? Please?”

“C'mon, Mal,” Troy sniffed. “We don't need them anyway.”

Tyreen gulped down the rest of her drink as he disappeared into his room, half in an attempt to not snark back at him and half in an attempt to get buzzed. “Anyone want refills?” she sighed once he closed the door.

Fiona silently raised her empty glass.

“You know, you're the only one here with a brother,” Gaige mused.

“And ain't I lucky,” Tyreen drawled, taking Fiona's glass and slouching back into the kitchen. “I mean...I love him, obviously. But he's a pain in the ass.” She paused, cocking her head toward his bedroom door. “Okay, I think we're good. He can't hear us. What'd you have, Fi? Lime?”

“Yep.”

“So...should I or should I not try to...y'know.” Moze clicked her tongue and nodded in the direction of Troy's room.

“If you wanna go out with my brother, you have my blessing. Or...whatever. But...maybe don't go for the kill immediately? Give him some time. Get to know him first.”

“More like know what you're getting into,” Gaige joked.

“I...think I've got a pretty good idea.”

Tyreen tuned them out and took another long drink of her margarita. Troy's follower count was starting to make sense.

****** @corpseyb0nes @afterthedreamer @mischiefsilvertongue @tricerathotss @vanderlinde-exe @ayilachan @zipp0flare @luxury-of-insanity @vanillabuttercreamm @anni000001 @imchaoticnerd @pepper-demon 

[doom-dreaming]

Vault Hunter AU: Troy’s New Arm - Part 1

Part 1 of 4 - this first bit is just kinda....some vague exposition and Tyreen got a little angsty, but I just rolled with it.

******

“He'll be fine, Tyreen." Maya's voice was soft beside her. "He's in good hands."

She just nodded, not looking away from where Troy and Gaige were working. She knew she’d been staring, but she couldn’t help it. The last time she’d seen Troy without his arm was when he’d lost it. It had gone through various repairs since then, but had never fully come off. The past few days had been unsettling; his limbless, bandaged shoulder reminded her of darker times.

"I mean it," Maya pressed.

Tyreen sighed. "I know." Despite her assurance, she still worried. Troy had always been under her care, she alone knew him better than anyone else, and now that they were surrounded by the very people they'd been trying to... But nothing had happened yet, and Gaige's intentions were clearly benevolent. Still, it was hard to shake the feeling.

"I can make some adjustments after we get it hooked up if I have to, but I think it's all good to go..."

Tyreen watched Gaige fiddling with the shiny new prosthetic arm on the table in front of her. From the minute the twins had shown up at the Vault Hunters' door, the young mechanic had been fixated on building Troy a new arm. She'd promised it would be "stronger, sleeker, and sexier." He'd just laughed and told her to go wild.

It hadn't taken much. A few calls to Rhys for a shipment of materials from Atlas, a week of work, and there it was. Matte black with silver accents. Red lights glimmered in the seams, a callback to the aesthetic of the original arm.

Troy's expression had 'love' written all over it, but Tyreen wasn't sure whether it was directed at the arm...or at Gaige herself.

“…the hand is smaller and it’s got thirty different articulation points, so you should be able to pick things up easier now.”

“Including the sword, right?”

Troy’s teasing tone prompted a scoff. “I promised, didn’t I?”

“Hey, um…” Tyreen finally turned her attention to Maya. “Thanks, by the way. For what you did for Troy. He already looks…healthier.”

Maya shrugged, a soft smile on her lips. “Don’t mention it. Four sirens are better than one. No offense.”

“None taken,” Tyreen assured, though she felt a momentary surge of regret. How could she have been so selfish, taking the path she’d chosen when there were others just like her, ready and willing to help…? Circumstances, she reminded herself. She was here now, that's what mattered. “You know, if Lilith doesn’t wanna…” Tyreen gestured vaguely. “...contribute next time, she doesn’t have to.”

Maya snickered. “She was about ready to wring your neck when you showed up. You’d better thank Amara for holding her back.”

“I don’t blame her,” Tyreen admitted. “I’d hold a grudge too.”

“She’ll come around.” Maya flipped to the next page of her book. “Just give her some time.”

Tyreen stayed silent. How much time?

(Link to Part 2)

[doom-dreaming]

Vault Hunter AU: Troy’s New Arm - Part 3

Okay, I decided to split it into four parts. I know, it’s getting ridiculous, but I promise the fourth part will be the last (and then I’ll go back to GYF). I wish I had a more defined backstory for this AU, but since it’ll be rewritten once the game’s released, I guess it can stay vague for now.

(Link to Part 2)

******

“I got that one!”

“No, you winged it. I brought it down.” Gaige tossed her gun into the flatbed of the technical and clambered up after it. “You just gotta admit that you lost, dude.”

Troy heaved an exaggerated sigh, following her. They wouldn’t have even needed this technical if they hadn’t driven both of their runners into literal flames… Somehow, he’d still lost the race. He blamed it on adjusting to the new arm.

“It’s only fair,” Gaige continued, turning a smug grin toward Troy. “You’re still the newbie around here.”

He snorted. “Hardly.”

“Eh...new enough. Don’t get cocky.”

“Me?” He pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Never…”

An incredulous laugh was her only response before a comfortable silence settled between them. Troy settled back against the railing of the technical’s bed. A lazy breeze ruffled his hair. He didn’t bother to brush it out of his eyes. Pandora was a shithole, but it had its moments. Quiet desert nights counted as some of them.

“I don’t hate you guys, you know.”

He glanced at her. Her head was back, her eyes were closed. “I figured. Kinda surprising, given we tried to murder all of you, but…”

“Well, yeah, I totally get where the other guys are coming from. But I still don’t hate you.” A strange smile formed on her lips; it was almost sad. “Maybe I’m just naive.”

Troy stayed quiet, running his tongue across the back of his teeth. This had never been his strong point, the whole...empathy thing. That was Tyreen's arena. Made sense, given that he'd needed a hell of a lot of comforting throughout his life, between the sickness and...everything else. “Naive or not, I appreciate the good faith. Even if I don’t deserve it.”

“I’m not here to judge, dude. I learned that lesson. None of us are perfect people. Hell, half of us aren’t even good people.”

“Which one am I?”

She finally turned to study him, green eyes soft but contemplating. “Honestly? Not sure yet.”

“So the whole ‘trying to kill you’ thing doesn’t automatically land me in the ‘bad’ category?”

She didn’t say anything to that and Troy felt a brief twinge of worry that he’d somehow crossed a line. It was true, he felt out of place here. Subconsciously, his fight or flight response was still trying to convince him that it was all a trap. But...he’d been in a trap before and this didn’t feel like one, no matter how strange it was.

Gaige’s voice, although barely above a whisper, startled him out of his thoughts. “We'll worry about it later.” And then she was moving. Sliding into his lap, straddling his hips, cradling his jaw in her hands. “You wanna use that arm?” Her lips were mere inches from his own. “Use it on me.”

(Link to Part 4 - lemonsssss)

[doom-dreaming]

Addition: Their ship names sound bad with their actual names (Traige?? Ew. GrOY??? Gross!) So I'm suggesting......

Calypsomancer

Troy/Gaige. Thoughts?

I feel like she’d put his collar to good use.

[doom-dreaming]

Since I've had a few requests for more Calypso writing, here's the master list of everything I've done so far. Enjoy!

Ash’s (Borderlands) Writing Masterpost

Since I’ve had an influx of new followers and I’ve been spitting out fics like bullets from a Vladof rifle, I figured I’d group them all together for ease of navigation and all that jazz. I’ll give links to the Tumblr post(s) and Ao3 for all of them.

I have an open (but moderated) Ao3 collection for any and all writing involving the twins, if you’d like to add your work to it. I would ask that you read THIS POST before submitting.

This is a long post, so the lists will be under the cut, but if you wanted to be added to a tag list for any category (or multiple), just send me a message or comment and I’ll add you! :)

Things will be added to this, so I may reblog it from time to time. Feel free to reblog it, but just be aware that it will have additions that won’t make it into your reblog. Now that I’ve said ‘reblog’ 4 times in one paragraph, here are the actual lists:

Keep reading