grumpy/sunshine - Stories

The first time Niran Shin meets him, Kaleo Rana is having a meltdown of epic proportions. Breaking glass shelves with a baseball bat after a terrible breakup. Niran Shin loves Kaleo’s vibrant personality, but their worlds seem too far apart. Niran is on a path of vengeance and has no desire to pull Kaleo into his world. Then, a villain asks Niran for a favor that places Kaleo’s life in danger, and Niran has no choice but to pull Kaleo into his world. A world haunted by an unknown, vicious villain who threatens their future together. Will Kaleo ever choose him? And what will it cost him?

Ninety crew dead. Ten left. All men. The ship's held together with duct tape, the AI keeps suggesting they turn it off and on again, and the captain is a meteorologist who fought a can of ravioli with an axe and lost. They're lost in deep space, eating rat, and absolutely not qualified for this. But they're alive. For now.

Sugar, butter, flour. Love.

After losing their parents, 20 year-old Chase Hollow juggles odd jobs and late-night baking to care for his little sister, Prunella. He dreams of more — but dreams don’t pay bills.

When a job opens up as a bakery assistant at the upscale Keysbridge Inn, Chase applies on a whim… and finds himself clashing with the grumpy, polished Assistant Manager with a sharp tongue and colder stare.

But cookies and time have a way of softening edges.

Original story based on characters in “Cinderella Boy“ by Punko.

Love, magic, and chaos collide in this queer urban fantasy romp! When ex-cop Flynn O’Briain wakes up covered in mysterious runes with no memory of how he got there, he’s thrown into a wild chase through LA—with his snarky, fashion-obsessed fiancé Poitr in tow. Hunted by corrupt agents, dodging Hollywood disasters, and uncovering a sentient internet relic, these two disasters must survive space launches, flesh-crafting mishaps, and their own messy feelings.
"Doomscroll, AMEN!" "Pray to the Algorithm, let it wash you in your sins!"

Elliot Reyes and Theo Marchetti can't stand each other, apparently. Then, one ordinary Thursday night, in a London office tower that's emptied out for the evening, the power goes, and the only two people left in the building find themselves trapped in a stalled lift between the eighth and ninth floors, in the dark, for hours. Just two men, one torch, and the slow, terrifying business of being seen.

Half-elf ex-cop Flynn O'Briain is losing a war on a cellular level. His human DNA and Elven heritage are tearing each other apart.

When a murdered PI leaves Flynn a blueprint for a corporate energy project that uses magical beings as batteries, he and Poitr are pulled into a conspiracy that reaches from the streets of LA to the highest levels of power. The clock is ticking. Flynn's body is failing. And the only cure is in the hands of the woman they're trying to stop.

Zach was looking for a quiet night of cruising at a dive bar. He thinks he's found the perfect hookup with a cocky meathead—until a surprise Father's Day Strip-Off and his attention-seeking himbo father turn everything upside down. A story in three parts.

The siege is over. The city is theirs. But for Darien Haskal and his feral Vanguard, the real war has just begun. Raymond of Toulouse has seized the Holy Lance and declared himself God's chosen commander. Baldwin of Edessa plots from the north, hungry for revenge. And somewhere in the Sultan's tent, a prince's back is being carved open to pay for Antioch's fall. The Vanguard marches south alone—extorting coastal cities, hunting spies in the hills, and building a sanctuary for outcasts. Jerusalem waits. But the road is paved with fanatics, betrayal, and the corpses of kings.

Zereth has returned, and peace is over.

Prince Trillion has spent his life defying the fate chosen for him. The kingdom expects him to accept the bond that ties him to Ember, the god-marked boy he’s meant to love—his cousin.

But Trillion has never wanted a destiny he didn’t choose.

Now war is rising, and a weapon is turning bonds into something deadly.

They’re told to stay apart. To resist.

But the closer danger draws, the harder that becomes. Because in a war built to break bonds, loving each other might destroy them—or save them.