#soulmates!brotzly

[benjiedrawings]

It’ll always be you, won’t it? Time and time and time again [ID: Digital drawing in a cartoony art stylle of Todd and Dirk. They’re despicted in full body and hold hands while looking at each other. Todd, to the left, holds an air gun up and smiles fondly at Dirk, his eyes are blue and he is white with short brown hair. He wears a striped hoodie in light blue and white, dark blue jeans with ripped knees and black sneakers, and he has black earrings and black nail polish on. Dirk has his eyes closed and smiles at Todd while holding a magnifying glass, he is white with short slightly red brown hair and he has yellow nailpolish on. He wears a yellow leather jacket over a button up with a pink tie with a cookie cat print, brown jeans with a black belt and brown dress shoes. A light yellow square is behind them and there is red string looping around the whole illustration, each end tied to their pinkie fingers.]

[roadworkaheadyea]

Todd and Dirk in the Cardenas basement and Priest yelling Svlad Cjelli and Todd going wide eyed cause oh shit that’s the name on his wrist

[protecticarus]

You know that au where you see color the first time you see your soulmate? Imagine Todd denying the fact he sees color and Dirk announcing very loudly that Todd is his soulmate in season one.

ok but this could 100% be canon.

i’m not sure if you meant this as a prompt but i like it so here’s a little thing i wrote based on your great thing.

just to clear things up as dghda is the loveable shitshow of confusion it is: dirk first started seeing color when he ran into one-week-into-the-future!todd and himself at the hotel, as that is the first time he sees todd, even though it is the future version him. todd’s first time seeing dirk is at his apartment, as even though timeline-wise the hotel thing happens first, todd has lived meeting dirk at his apartment already in the future because of the time travel aspect of it all. make sense? none whatsoever? that’s dghda for you.

anyway, happy new year everyone! enjoy this lowkey angst disguised as fluff!

~

Somewhere between walking in on his house being broken into and throwing said intruder out of the front door, Todd’s apartment had gone from existing as varying shades of grey to vibrant with color. A quick glance outside of the window confirmed what Todd had feared. It wasn’t just his apartment that had suddenly exploded into color. The streetlights outside glowed yellow and the tree leaves mocked him with their greeness.

Leave it to Todd to have an insane criminal as a soulmate. The universe had a cruel sense of humor.

Come to think of it, it had to be a fluke. Maybe there was someone behind the British guy visible from Todd’s window. Maybe there was something wrong with Todd’s eyes. That’s gotta be it.

Yeah right, said the voice inside Todd’s head. It sounded suspiciously like his sister. Todd sighed. As if today hadn’t been complicated enough.

No one needs to know though, do they? Chimed in another voice inside Todd’s head, this one sounding more like himself. His weak, pathetic self. But his weak, pathetic self had a point. No one knew about the change in Todd’s vision, how could they? This didn’t have to be a thing. Like so many other things in his life, Todd could just pretend it was different than it actually was. A wave of shame washed through Todd. Best not open that door right now.

No one needs to know, Todd assured himself. It would be fine. Nothing needed to change.

It wasn’t until the next day that Todd realized there was a fundamental flaw in his plan.

Dirk Gently.

It had slipped Todd’s mind that in the business of soulmates, there was always another person involved. And his other person was especially... A lot.

Somehow Todd’s definitely-not-soulmate had managed to convince Todd to give him a ride to his sister’s house. Todd had no intention of spending any more time with Dirk Gently than the time it had taken to throw him out of his apartment, and yet here he was, sitting in Dirk Gently’s car.

It was hard for Todd not to think about what having met Dirk Gently meant, when the route to his sister’s house seemed completely new despite Todd having traveled it several times before. Only everything outside of the window had always been in shades of grey. Now, in daylight, Todd was fully taking in what the world looked like after last night’s development. It was overwhelming. He could barely concentrate on what Dirk was saying and the man talked non-stop.

Once they reached their destination, after a strict command to Dirk Gently to please just stay in the car, Todd made his way towards his sister’s house. He mentally prepared himself to shift his focus on his sister instead of the insanity going on in his own life right now. He definitely should not think about Dirk Gently waiting for him in the car or how he’d never known the tiles on his sister’s house were red.

Just as he’d knocked on the door, his plan went flying out the window.

“Ring the doorbell.” Said Dirk Gently’s voice right next to his ear.

“What the hell!” Todd exclaimed. “You said you’d stay in the car!”

“I lied though.” Shrugged Dirk.

“What?” Todd replied, exasperated at being ignored.

“Did you see how I snuck up? I was trained as a ninja by the CIA.” Said Dirk. Then he cringed, as if disappointed in himself. “Sorry, that’s a lie too.” He admitted.

Todd could not understand how he’d gotten to be in this situation.

“Just go back to the car!” Todd snapped and pointed towards the parked car, which was bright blue, by the way.

Just then his sister opened the door.

Todd took in a deep breath and plastered a small smile on his face as he turned to greet his sister.

“Hi. You came!” His sister exclaimed happily as she reached out to pull Todd into a hug.

“Yeah, of course I came.” Todd assured her as he hugged back. “You didn’t think I would come?” He asked.

Once they let go of each other, Todd’s sister’s eyes landed on Dirk. Todd felt a prickle of anxiety in the pit of his stomach.

“Who’s this?” His sister asked with a questioning look now directed at Todd.

“It’s uh...” Todd began and awkwardly shifted on his feet. “It’s Dirk Gently.” He finally gave in.

His sister blinked in confusion. “Dirk- Okay. Hi.” She then said to the man in question. “Sorry. I’m Amanda.” She said with a genuine smile.

“Hi.” Dirk said and went to give Amanda his business card.

Todd slapped his hand away. “No, don’t.” He said sternly. Dirk looked offended. Todd tried to not care.

“Don’t say hello?” Amanda asked, furrowing her brows at her brother.

“Hello, Amanda.” Dirk repeated politely and once again offered his business card to Amanda, which she took, while Todd rolled his eyes.

Amanda looked between the men, trying to make sense of the situation. “Are you friends?” She asked.

“No.” Said Todd.

“Yes.” Said Dirk.

“No.” Said Todd louder this time.

“Yes.” Said Dirk again.

They went on to give their respective answers a few more times, speaking on top of each other, before Todd got frustrated and punched Dirk on the arm after Dirk claimed them to be ‘very good friends.’

“OW!” exclaimed Dirk, obviously offended. “You’re a terrible assis-friend.” He stated.

Amanda just stared at them. “Okay.” She deadpanned.

Todd sighed. “We are not friends.”

Dirk shrugged. “I suppose you’re right. But we will be. Aren’t all soulmates also friends in the end?” He said.

Todd froze. Fuck. He’d forgotten that he wasn’t the only one who’s vision must have changed when they met. Right. This shit worked both ways. Fuck fuck fuck.

“Soulmates?” Amanda repeated, her shocked tone matching her wide eyes.

“Yes.” Said Dirk.

“No!” Said Todd.

“Yes.” Said Dirk, now frowning.

“No.” Todd insisted.

Dirk sighed dramatically. “Can we not do this again?”

“Todd.” Amanda interrupted. “Is he-“

“No.” Todd replied.

Amanda blinked. “Well, then, why does he-“

“I don’t know, he’s weird.” Todd shrugged, praying that Amanda would drop the subject.

“Hey!” Dirk exclaimed. Then he shrugged. “Alright, fair enough. But that doesn’t make me wrong.” He said.

“Yes, it does.” Todd argued.

Dirk shook his finger at Todd. “No, no it doesn’t! I only found out this jacket of mine was a terrific shade of yellow after meeting you! Ergo, you’re my soulmate.” Dirk insisted.

Fuck fuck fuck.

“Really?” Amanda asked, raising her eyebrows and turning to grin at Todd.

“Yeah, well, maybe you’re just wrong.” Todd tried pathetically.

“I assure you I am not.” Dirk said matter-of-factly.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, I don’t see anything different.” Todd said, trying his hardest to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Suddenly Dirk looked like he’d been slapped. “You don’t?” He asked.

Todd swallowed. “Nope.”

Dirk looked down at his bright yellow jacket. “Oh.”

Todd felt awful. Downright terrible.

“Look, dude, I’m sorry, I just-“ Todd tried to justify his actions.

“No, it’s quite alright.” Dirk interrupted and looked up, seemingly composing himself and plastering a fake smile on his face. “It makes sense, actually.” He shrugged.

Todd blinked. “It does?” Maybe there was a way out of this?

Dirk nodded slowly, deep in thought, his eyes fixed somewhere over Todd’s shoulder. “Yes. Figures. The universe likes to, ahem, trick me, play with me, I guess. It is indeed not that surprising that it would give me a soulmate but not make me my soulmate’s soulmate. Now that I think about it, it seems rather on-brand for the universe when it comes to me. How... delightfully... tricky.” Dirk explained, his voice getting more and more quiet towards the end.

Well fuck.

Amanda looked horrified on Dirk’s behalf. She turned to look at Todd with a million questions in her eyes.

Todd wanted to die. He was such an asshole for doing this to Dirk. And more than that... Let’s face it, whether he wanted it or not, he actually was Dirk’s soulmate, meaning Dirk was stuck with an asshole like Todd.

Todd sighed. Leave it to Todd to break his soulmate’s heart before even knowing him for a full 24 hours.

“Dirk...” Todd said.

“It’s quite alright, Todd, I will go wait in the car-“ Dirk said as he turned back towards the car.

“Your jacket is really yellow.” Todd said.

Dirk froze before turning back slowly. Amanda gasped softly. Todd swallowed the lump of pure panic in his throat.

“Like it’s... Obnoxiously bright.” Todd continued. “And... Your hair’s a weird mix of colors. Is it auburn? I don’t know. It’s really specific.” He muttered.

Dirk’s eyes were watering with unshed tears. “So... You do see colors?” He asked carefully.

“Yeah.” Todd said. He hated how quiet his voice sounded.

“Since when d-“ Dirk started asking.

“Since you fucking Spider-Maned your way into my apartment, obviously.” Todd rolled his eyes.

“Oh.” Dirk said softly. Then he smiled carefully. “Oh.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Todd mumbled and scratched the back of his neck.

Despite Todd denying their soulmate status just minutes before, Dirk was already looking at him like he hung the moon and the stars. Todd did not feel like he deserved to be looked at like that. Dirk should absolutely not be as excited about this as he seemed to be. He would only be disappointed in the end.

He was brought out of his thoughts and tender staring contest with Dirk by a painful punch on his arm.

“Ow!” He exclaimed and turned to look at Amanda.

Amanda rolled her eyes. “You deserve it! Only your self-hating ass would lie to your soulmate about being his soulmate! Fucking idiot.” She said.

“I don’t-“

“Why would you hate yourself! You’re wonderful!” Dirk exclaimed.

“We literally just met.” Todd mumbled.

“I guess I’m biased.” Dirk blushed.

Todd did not blush. He didn’t.

“Dirk.” Amanda said and leaned out of the door to wrap her hand around the Brit’s shoulders. “Come in. Let’s do this whole introductions shit over. I can’t wait to get to know you better now that I know who the hell you are!” She said.

“That sounds lovely!” Dirk exclaimed and allowed himself to be guided into the house.

Todd was left standing at the doorway, staring after his sister and his... Dirk.

There was a title for Dirk in Todd’s life, that much was obvious, and Amanda’s preciously dark grey now green hallway wall was proof of that, but Todd would need some time before he could use that word for Dirk.

But he knew he would. Eventually.

~

send me prompts! my inbox is always open! x

[superhiro]

Do you ever stop and realize just how accurate Dirk’s “We’re meant to know each other!” line to Todd is?

Because when you think about it, Dirk has seen himself and Todd in the future, so he knows that they do end up working together, that they are meant to be friends because that’s what he was told.

But let's get one thing straight: Time travel doesn't make much sense. At the very best of times it is hard to wrap your head around fully, even in its milder forms. When I get too deep into wondering how exactly it works I end up with a headache and more questions than I had before.

Dirk Gently’s presents us with a fixed timeline and a time loop. This implies that nothing happening in the loop can be changed, it has simply always been that way, and always will be. 

Dirk runs into a future version of himself and Todd. He later goes to find Todd and officially jump start their relationship, only because he told himself to. But how can that be when it all doubles back? Where does this loop begin? 

Well, it doesn’t really. There is no beginning and end to it, like I said, it’s just a permanent fixture that has always been there and will always remain there. Those versions of Dirk and Todd were always there. There was no point where they met outside of this, and there really is no logical explanation for any of it. 

Dirk and Todd becoming aware of each other is a fixed point in time caused by an inexplicable and unalterable phenomenon. 

They were meant to know each other.

[pixeliis]

are there any of those red string of fate brotzly fics

[industryhbo]

Words: 4 056

Rating: T for language

“Great show,” Dirk said, and pulled Todd into a hug. And with those words, Todd felt something he'd never felt before.

Or, the one where Todd was destined to be a musician from day 1.

[twink-blaster]

Kick at the Darkness Till it Bleeds Daylight by cosmicocean and princessparadox

Brotzly, two chapters

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11864082/chapters/26817084

This fan fiction lemme tell ya...

Takes place directly after season one when Dirk is kidnapped by Blackwing, doesn’t follow the events of the second season. In a soulmate au, where the name of your soulmate appears somewhere on your body in there handwriting at a young age, Dirk was one of the only people who didn’t have a Name, or so he thought. When he finds out that Todd has the Name Svlad Cjelli on his back...

INCREDIBLY angsty, but also incredibly sweet. This fic right here broke my heart ten times to Sunday and by the end made me want to thank the author for literally murdering all of my emotions. Really good read, but a long one too and it’s one you can’t stop reading when you finally start, so prepare yourself, make sure you have all your homework done when you start reading because there is no putting it down. I really adored the second chapter and the rebuilding of relationships that are tentative and domestic but undeniably sweet.

[clowniconography]

brotzly has to be canon

normal, platonic people don’t look deeply into each other’s eyes that much

[cake-snake]

This is all thrown out the window (or, rather, the windshield) when the driver slams on the brakes, very suddenly, and the entire bus lurches to a stop, barely avoiding slamming right into a red headed man with an armful of lobsters. The man stumbles and drops his lobsters, giving the bus an incredibly shocked look.

And the man sprints away, clutching his lobsters to his chest. Todd can’t really be sure, he hit his head pretty hard against the floor, but the red headed man looked very familiar.

(In which Todd labels himself a Salmon of Doubt and Dirk doesn’t know how to take care of a baby)

[dont-offend-the-bees]

For the WIP game. . . "play!"

Thank you, dear! This word DOES crop up in a WIP, but not exactly in a polished written sentence- just in one of my blocks of planning!

But clearly there’s something else at play here, what with what he saw earlier… something tells him his soulmate plays a role in this somehow, and not just because he’s currently wandering round with Dirk’s body.

[charlieism]

ok in a world where the universe is an actual canonical character who mystically brings people together a brotzly soulmate au is 1) not that far from reality and 2) sooooo juicy

[sacred-algae]

todd brotzman for the character breakdown

Opinions On:

I love Todd so much. Seriously so so much. I can’t put it into words

Ships:

Dirk. I absolutely love Brotzly. They’re my favorite ship in general, I think their love is something so beautiful and ugh. I could talk about Brotzly for ages

Platonic Pairings:

Farah and Dirk, they’re all soulmates (platonic in the case of Farah) and you can’t tell me otherwise

Unpopular Opinions:

Less of an unpopular opinion and more of an uncommon headcanon. Todd is abro, not bi (though bisexuality is something that plays into it). Here’s my post explaining it

Things I Want To See:

Todd, sweetie, you need therapy. But seriously, I want to see Todd learning to forgive himself. I also really really want to see Mexican Funeral flash backs

Character Break Down Asks

[farahblack]

"Have we met? You seem—familiar." "No. No, no I—I don't believe we have."

here’s a reincarnation brotzly soulmate au bc!! i wanted to ahah

[dirkgentlysholisticlibrary]

Pray For The Rain by cartouche

Todd's parents see in colour. They do their feeble best to explain to Todd the unknown concepts of red and purple and green. 

Todd can recite off by heart which colours match where, that bananas and lemons and daffodils are yellow while the sky and the sea and the scuffed shoes that he slips on to his feet are blue. 

Despite this they all remain in the same stubborn range of washed out greys, dull and boring and empty.

[pixeliis]

brotzly soulmate au where your soulmates name is written on your wrist. the name on todds wrist is “svlad”, so he knows for sure that it isn’t dirk and is slightly disappointed, except he only finds out that his soulmate is dirk after priest calls out “poor little svlad cjelli”

[actualbird]

That trope trends post has got me wondering what the niche tropes might be for the DGHDA fandom? Case fics are popular, of course, and maybe soulmate AUs because of the interconnectedness theme, but are there any unexpected/ inexplicable ones? I know that Bedsharing Bros is such a favourite Brotzly trope (WHICH I LOVE) that I sometimes forget Dirk and Todd have never actually shared a bed in canon. Any others?

oh man first off i agree so much on the case fics and especially soulmate AUs. how can soulmate AUs not be popular when dirk says, in canon “we were meant to know each other!” 

as for the bedsharing i love SO MUCH how bedsharing is so popular, but one lovely specific thing i see is that a lot of the bedsharing isnt the usual “oh no, there was only one bed” BUT INSTEAD “we are sharing the bed because one of us got a nightmare or feels unsafe/anxious/upset and sleeping together is how we find comfort.” make no mistake, there Are other beds available, but they want to be Together. which then leads to some good ol pining and “two brossssss~ sharing a beddddddd~ no feet apart because they are gay but also because they feel safest around each other” i clap my hands like an excited seal every time it happens

WINGFIC was a surprise for me when i first got into this fandom until i realized that oooooohhh yeaaahhh icarus. why not make the icarus symbol just a teensy bit more literal. i, personally, thrive for it. 

oh!! and references from the books/other canons! i assume that somebody who had no encounter/knowledge of the books would wonder just why in the world several fics reference either an illogically wedged couch or a disgusting fridge or horses appearing where horses shouldnt be.

i cant think of any more patterns, but maybe i havent read enough fic!!! if more seasoned fanfic readers can think of any, please, tell us.