#chrono: or the way he covers up that he's the honest goods?

[fauvester]

🎵 EVERYONES A BIT OF A FIXER UPPER THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT🎵

[thotsforvillainrights]

I am such a huge sucker for the stuck on a deserted island romance trope. Could i please ask how that would work out if skeptic, overhaul, and twice met their s/o in this scenario? Im so glad youre still writing on here! Thanks for all your creative genius and A+ memes

(Ayo thank you! I don’t think I’d ever experienced/read this trope before so bear with me since this is my first time writing something like it haha. Thanks to watching old TV with my grandma (Gilligan’s island), I have developed something lol)

(btw nobody question why these villains are on a cruise. they just are okay?)

~Love on an Island~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

~Skeptic~

-Company retreat for team building his ass. He grumbled and re-settled himself in his chair on the deck while silently praying that the sun wouldn’t make its way near his side of the ship. “Just 3 more days and I can get back to work.” He grumbled to himself. Suddenly he felt something bump into his leg. Granted he was tall so they were sticking out, but still! He glared at you passing by. “Sorry about that!” You were on your way, ignoring the fact that he was glaring holes at you. He scoffed and tried to relax while waiting on dinner time. The ship would be docking on some sort of beautiful island or something tomorrow morning. Perhaps he would make time to admire nature for once. He cringed at his own thoughts. No it would be better to relax in the room. Well good news and bad news. Bad news, that little island tour changed from a few hours to a few days. The ship was having troubles and who knew how much longer it would be. The crew worked day and night to try and get an emergency transmission out for help. The good news was that the cruise had enough food and water to last everyone for months and that the cruise company would eventually notice one of their ships was missing for too long. All he had to do was sit back and wait it out whether that be for a few more days or a month or two. It was inconvenient to not be able to get his work done for who knows how long, and it was even more inconvenient that you seemed to be hovering around him. You were (to him) annoying. He’d rather be trapped out at sea than to be around you for any longer. Even as we speak he’s sitting there and boiling at having to listen to you ramble on and on. “Don’t you have anywhere else to be right now! You’re pissing me off. Go the fuck away.” He was blunt with you. You smiled and leaned to whisper in his ear. “When we run out of food, I’m going to eat you first asshole.” He stayed very far away from you for the next week or so. Eventually you gravitated back toward him and started chatting him up. It’s hard to say how in the hell he’d fallen for you through all of this. Maybe it was the delirium setting in. Maybe it was the hopelessness...the thought of being stuck here to perish. Either way, you’d become his annoyance and soon his lover. When the rescue came to help everyone out he’d decided to keep with you (delirium or not). 

~Overhaul~

-Pops probably dragged him onto the damned boat alongside Chrono. Yeah that sounds about right. Well to be honest with you, it was Chrono that connected with you first. Had it not been for Pops, Kai would’ve never even left the room. For a while it seemed like you and Chrono were hitting it off. But then (by the power of romance/because I said so) you and Kai laid eyes on each other and it was a wrap. He was fairly quiet every time you were around. You tried to stir up conversation but he barely ever spoke around you. Soon Chrono started to figure out what was wrong with his childhood friend. Even if you couldn’t see it, Hari could as plain as day. That mask may have been able to hide majority of his face but it didn’t cover the tips of his ears that turned pink when you were near. He also noticed the proximity of how close you two were...close enough for Kai to have usually broken out in hives but he didn’t. Hari also noticed the way Kai seemed to never make eye contact with you until you looked away from him. Hari smirked and quickly reported the news back to Pops. The old man was overjoyed at the thought of his troublemaker having finally being able to experience love. The old man started pushing Kai out to you basically. While eventually the ship stranded at the island tour dock, some people panicked but Pops saw it as a silver lining. “You look way too happy old man. We could die out here in as little as 5 months if we run out of the food and water.” Kai grumbled while Pops was trying to teach you to play an old card game. “I’m already on my last legs of life. I’d rather die out here on a cruise than in a hospital somewhere.” You chuckled at Pop’s morbid joke but Kai only sighed. You weren’t really stranded for too much longer since Kai basically offered to use his quirk to help repair whatever was needed to repair. When the ship made it back to land/home Kai nervously asked for your number. You didn’t hesitate to give it to him. Hopefully it wouldn’t take another ‘stranded at sea’ situation before he would officially call you and ask for a date.

~Twice~

-Who on Earth knows why he was on a cruise ship but it’s Bubaigawara so I suppose it’s not too surprising. To be honest, he stuck around you more than you did for him at first. You originally wanted to just enjoy your vacation to yourself when you ended up striking a conversation with the man in the all you can eat buffet. It was a rather populated cruise this go round so you offered for him to sit next to you instead of trying to find a seat somewhere else in the dining hall. Lucky him since it filled up pretty fast. He seemed like a pretty nice guy to connect with. He opened up a little too fast for your tastes but you didn’t mind it. He was honest, transparent with you. He had a way about him that made you want to do the same. The two of you spent your days with each other after connecting. You’d go to different cruise events and be your own little team. You met up for lunches and dinnertime and eventually started visiting each others rooms to watch movies together. Sometimes you’d sleep in each others rooms since, well...there were two separate beds in the rooms you had. When trouble struck and you found out you’d be stuck on the island for about a week or two (or maybe longer), you and Jin only seemed to get closer. His personality shifted and you soon found him slipping on makeshift masks over his head. It was odd but you still managed to find him a good person to be with/around. As his personality shifted so did his actions. He was more needy with you now. He was also torn in the way he spoke. It was funny but you tried not to laugh at him too often since it may be considered rude. At some point he started freaking out about being stranded and you had to help calm him down. Technically speaking, you’d both be fine for quite some time since the ship accounted for accidents like this. Somewhere along the lines he spilled his guts to you in a loving but overdramatic way. He literally asked your hand in marriage but you laughed it off and denied his offer. “Let’s just take it easy. How does a date sound? Say after we get off this island?” He nodded and gladly took you up on the offer.

[kannra21]

Sniperhaul fanfic

ˡᵐᵃᵒ ᶦ ᶜᵃⁿ'ᵗ ᵇᵉˡᶦᵉᵛᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶦ'ᵐ ᵈᵒᶦⁿᵍ ᵗʰᶦˢ

Overhoe finally broke out of Tartarus after a very long time. However, he couldn't have done it without the help of a certain villain mistress. 😏 Who's she and why did she choose to help this terrible (x2) man? Find out bellow.

characters: overhaul (chisaki kai) x sniper lady

word count: 3k

warnings: angst, past memories, handless overhaul, hurt, comfort, gangs, yakuza, just girl taking care of her mans

notes: I'd like to thank the person responsible for proofreading this work bc I'm supposed to keep their identity a secret. 😎 Thank you once again! And of course, the manga and characters belong to Kohei Horikoshi. @meefal you were excited to see the final product so here you go, hope you like it. 🖤

✂-------------------------------------------------------

Overhaul couldn't remember how long he'd been there, he'd lost count weeks ago. The only thing he knew was that he was in "Tartarus", a prison located 5km off the coast of the Mainland. It may function like a conventional prison, but in reality, those who're deemed a severe threat toward the safety of the nation were locked up and monitored closely, regardless of whether their sentence has been decided on yet. The facility was divided into 6 levels, where the potential threat level of criminals was deemed "higher" the further underground you go. It's a prison where, once you enter, there's no chance of leaving.

He sat there in his cell, B10 being the lowest level in solitary confinement. It was too cold for his head to function and too dark for his eyes to see, with the small window above the prison doors being his only source of light. There was also an opening where prisoners received their meals, but considering that he lost his hands, the guards could easily enter without worrying too much for their well-being. They'd leave whatever they offered that day and give him a disgusted look before locking the doors after themselves. He couldn't see his reflection nor touch his face, he probably looked like crap by now. His skin was itching and he felt disoriented from all the germs occupying this space, it's been a while since he's gone out for some fresh air. 

He was practically Quirkless and yet they locked him out in the worst, most dreadful place the isolation block had to offer. He couldn't even feed himself properly, he couldn't do anything by himself whatsoever. But there was only one thing left to him; he spent days and days thinking about pops, Chrono, yakuza and everything he could have if it weren't for those stupid heroes-- no, if it weren't for his plan that so grandiosely failed. It made him feel miserable, desperate even, and with grief soon followed acceptance. It was all his fault, and he needed to live with this burden for the rest of his life. Because of him, pops is still handicapped to the bed somewhere, wherever the heroes might have taken him. 

He stood up and started beating the cell with his leg, curing his frustrations. He didn't know why he was doing it, it was irrational and he's hurting himself unnecessarily, but for some reason it made him feel lighter. At least he could transfer some of his inner pain to the outside world. Other criminals laughed at his patheticness, especially since they knew why the guards were allowed to enter his cell. They shouted that it was impossible to escape, but he wasn't trying to. He knew that it was useless a long time ago. 

Midnight came and all the prisoners mostly fell asleep. Overhaul, however, couldn't sleep a wink. Because of the dark room he spent most of his days in, he lost his sense of time so he was pacing around, deep in thought. He couldn't dream of anything nice anyways. 

"Can't fall asleep either?" a feminine voice could be heard from the other side. Wait. They allowed women here? What could she have possibly done to deserve such punishment? 

He leaned his back on the doors and slid down to the floor, trying to find the right words.

"Yes." he sighed, enthusiasm lacking in his voice "But it's not like I need you to talk about my problems." 

"Hm, whatever. Go beat your head against the bars. Fall unconscious, loser."

The man snorted, which might as well be his first time he ever did that. 

"Well, this certainly sounds effective. It's not like I have anything to lose anyways." 

"Hey." the tone of her voice was earnest, and it aroused further questions in his jumbled up head. 

"What?"

"We're going to get out of here." 

Is she being serious now? "Really? Because as far as I know, we're locked out here for good. We don't even know the severity of our sentences. They can do whatever they want with us."

"Not quite. You know that they're being supervised by 'The Hearts and Mind' party offshoots. They can’t do a thing to us as long as they have their heads to the pikes." 

This might be true, but he didn't believe in anything the government's been telling them lately. It's only a matter of time before they switch their plans and play by their own rules, because stabbing people in the back was the only thing they've ever been good at. 

"How did you end up here?" 

Oh the long-awaited question. She wondered when he'd ask. 

"It's not like I need you to talk about my problems."

He smiled, he liked this vicious side of hers. But he also realized that she could be nice as well because if that wasn't the case, she wouldn't spread promises of the escape. At least that's what he thought. 

"Sorry about that." 

"It's okay. We've all been here for a very long time, now weren't we? We lose our cool and act like total assholes."

"Direct and straight to the point I see." his deadpan voice could be heard from the other side of the bars. 

"'Been raised this way, for the better or worse." it didn't sound like she was bragging, yet it felt like she was just talking about herself, honest and confident, to cover up what she felt was wrong. The incoming topic which she'd rather avoid. 

The villainess didn't want to open up about her past, so she just answered his question. 

"I killed people beyond counting, following AFO's orders. He always wished to become the world's greatest demon lord and thus promised us enormous change in the hero society. So in order to achieve that, he needed his underlings. And that's how I ended up here."

"You were loyal till the end."

"You know what they say; there can be no progress nor achievement without certain sacrifice."

Wise beyond her years and just as sad. He wondered how her face looked like, how the world's been treating her. 

"I had my own sacrifices as well."

"Do you regret them?"

...

"I do." 

Now it was her turn to snort "Really? And I thought that people situated this low couldn't have regrets. You remember what they said about us. 'Beasts in human clothing', 'Simply dreadful beings'." 

He felt insulted, maybe the things she said were true but it's not like he was anything similar to these pigs he shared the same air with, unfortunately.

"I regret hurting the person important to me. The old man who once took me in when I was very young. He was the infamous boss of Shie Hassaikai." 

Something clicked in her, it's such a small world they're living in, "Yakuza? I know you guys. We used to trade with you back in the days."

"Todou Gang?" 

"You said it."

"But... you were a force to be reckoned with. One day you just collapsed and not a single trace could be found. According to certain sources, there was no way anyone could determine the exact cause of your downfall. So what happened?" 

"I killed them all." 

... 

"AFO told me to kill them to prove my loyalty to him and, of course, to make sure that there was no one I could turn to other than himself." 

For some questionable reasons, and he didn't dare to admit that it was empathy he felt towards a random stranger and a former gang member he shared some history with, Overhaul wanted to fill the silence that lingered between them. Perhaps, because he felt guilty for making her reveal more than what she initially intended. 

"I used pops' niece, a 6-year-old girl who had an extraordinary Quirk; it allowed her to rewind a person's body back to a certain state. That means she could put a body back to before it was injured or before the person even developed a Quirk. With that, I wanted to create a Quirk-erasing drug to get rid of the Quirk society altogether and to make sure that yakuza could rise once again. I cut her skin every day to take blood samples and to test her regenerative abilities. However, pops didn't approve of it, so I handicapped him to the bed and planned on waking him up the moment I realized my plan, to make him proud of the achievement. Unfortunately, it didn't play out as I wanted and I never reached him."

The silence followed and the woman wore a disheartening smile on her face. It's not the answer she expected, she didn't ask for another sad story from another messed up person she's met in her life. But the intentions were pure and for her, it was good enough. 

"We both fought for something only to lose it all, huh?" she laughed, but it was prominent in her tone that it was bittersweet. 

"At least you're brought here in one piece." 

"At least you can still revive your parent."

Were they comforting each other? Were they jealous of each other? Were they wallowing in self-pity? They couldn't tell. The only thing they certainly could was the embarrassment they felt from the moment they realized that some of the prisoners were eavesdropping and making fun of their vulnerabilities. See? That's what they hated the most about opening up about themselves; they were worried about their feelings being perceived as a joke. The only way to protect themselves was to rise up the walls and never let anyone get closer, except they didn't regret exchanging a word or two, as long as it was the two of them. 

The next day, 8:34PM Mainland-side entrance, the guardians of 'The Bronze Gate' announced a code red security lockdown. Panic and shouting could be heard from across the hall and the security alarm announced the potential danger. 

"Close any and all passageways on each floor. All workers are to enforce strict measures to maintain order."

"The surveillance system is down! It seems like we've been hit by some sort of EMP attack!"

Static waves were spreading around the metal frames and the prison doors of the isolation block unlocked. Overhaul could hear the commotion outside and the villains leaving their cells in a hurry, but as much as he tried, he couldn't push the heavy doors open.

"3 seconds until we're back online- wait... What the... With the system down we can't monitor the inside!"

"Nice, 3 seconds be damned." he beat the door with his legs, pushed the surface with his shoulders, leaned all of his weight on the godforsaken thing just so it could finally open. Nothing. It seems like he lost a couple of pounds during his stay here. He couldn't believe his eyes, this couldn't be happening to him. After all this time of patient waiting and hoping to meet pops once again, it turns out he'd be the only one still trapped and all because he didn't have any hands. He panicked, he really couldn't decide on what to do next. But then he remembered-

"Go beat your head against the bars, loser."

That's it! This might be his only chance to escape! He didn't have much time left though, he could hear the shooting nearby so he definitely needed to hurry.

"The system won't come back on!! The ones in solitary confinement are breaking out!! Inside!"

"Control unit's on site!! Execute lockdown in the isolation block!"

"Follow procedure! If even one of them steps a foot outside their cell-"

"Fire!! Open fire!!"

Muscular threw whatever he could find in this messed up place back at them, excitement prominent in his big smile "You ain't gonna kill me with those puny toys! So how about you show me the exit already?!" 

Other villains were joining him, still overwhelmed by the sudden freedom they've been given "Dammit... After all that time..."

"Meat..." Moonfish mumbled as he cut his opponents with his blade-like teeth. 

The villain lady joined them in the run, still carefully examining her surroundings in case they were tricked into something, "The system isn't responding to my Quirk. 'Guess Tartarus really is falling." 

As she was running down the corridor, she could hear beating noises coming from one of the doors. It sounded dull so the person must have been using their head. 

"Eh, don't tell me the idiot actually listened to my advice. He must be desperate." 

She came to the doors and turned the circular lock in a hurry. She really didn't want to stay in this place any longer, but she couldn't leave him behind either. It's not like she could use him for anything since he was basically handless and Quirkless so why was she doing it? She didn't have an answer. Maybe it was their talk from the other day, maybe because they were both gang members with a history, maybe because of her regrets and her wish to do something right for once. Or maybe because she was just this kind. Nah, this couldn't be it, she never did anything in her life that didn't require a certain purpose. She cast her heart aside a long time ago and did what was necessary for the accomplishment of the mission. It would be weird if she suddenly started using her heart again, now wouldn't it? She was AFO's personal assassin, there was simply no way. 

He came out of the room with eyes wide in puzzlement. He was finally free and ready to find pops so he could possibly revive him and try to fix things as much as he could.

They looked at each other for the first time. They never said it aloud, godforbid, but they liked the other's eyes. And perhaps the eyes were a window to a person's soul, their broken souls, tormented by the life's temptations. They were still so young, probably in their twenties, and yet they looked older at the same time. Maybe because of the seriousness in their faces, their stronger stance, the way they defied their fate. They were destined to fall apart, no one would argue with it, but circumstances drove them to take action and rise from the bottomless chasm. And now they had each other. 

"We need to get out of here," she stated and pulled him by the sleeve that hung loosely from his shoulder. They escaped Tartarus and raided a small shop near the coast to change clothes and to mingle into the public unnoticed. She quickly picked out a dress and threw herself at work while Overhaul was still standing by the shop display, looking out for the potential intruders.

He couldn't erase the thought of this being some sort of a really weird first date; the girl coming out of the stall and the guy examining her looks. He shook his head, he never had this kind of thoughts in his entire life. He needed to pull himself together. 

The bob-hair came out and adjusted the ammo on her utility belt. He looked at her from the corner and she was stunning; intimidating with a tad bit of femininity in design. He stood there and watched how good it fit her curvy form. The thoughts wandering in his head sounded so wrong, terribly wrong. He needed to bring himself to stop. 

"Oh right, I almost forgot." she took a shirt off the shelf and came to him, showing him the garment in her hands "You need a little help, right?" 

"Sure.'' his voice was small and he stood still while she undid his buttons. Maybe from the outside he looked completely calm, but from the inside he was a complete mess. He looked at her face and wondered if she knew, the kind of effect she's having on him. She raised her head and he looked to the side, there's no way he could look her in the eyes at this point. He hoped she didn't notice. 

"You like this one, don't you?" she asked, filling the awkward silence. 

"Looks don't matter, the most important thing is to change and avoid getting caught." She looked annoyed. Great. He wanted to shove his head though the wall. Wait… Why was he thinking that? 

"I choose the clothes I like. It makes me feel better in my skin."

"You look good in it."

She looked at him surprised and he quickly corrected himself "the dress looks good."

"Sure." she trailed off and put the new shirt over his shoulders. She could feel his muscles tensing. This was probably because of the cool air, she assured herself. 

"Why did you break me out of Tartarus? It's not like I could be of any use to you." 

She buttoned up his shirt and fixed the wrinkled parts on the garment, hand accidentally brushing over the left side of his chest, feeling his heartbeat.

Well... that was a surprise.

"I thought that maybe you could be of some use to the demon lord. Not Quirk-wise, but you may offer a valuable set of information. Something that the demon lord would appreciate greatly." she could feel it slowing down and her heart dropped just as much.

"But also because I... liked you."

He looked at her incredulously and she smiled. She pinched him to bring him out of the trance and he complained. "Don't be awkward, say something."

"I like you too... I, this is my first time I ever said this to anyone. It's weird."

She slapped him gently on the shoulder and he reached to take it but, yea, no hands.

"What the hell?"

"You're the one who's weird. But I guess that I like you this way." she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek "Ew, you should definitely shave though. No doubt about it."

The former yakuza boss swore; he'll never understand women. But for some reason he couldn't deny that he was particularly drawn to this one. He wondered if pops would approve of her.

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Kai and angel on their honeymoon and the eight precepts especially rapa call them to check in or in rappa’s mission to prevent Kai from having a good time and for them not to bring home a future mini Kai, and Kai calls pops and throws his phone breaking it and relaxes since he knows only chrono, pops, nemoto and mimic have angels phone number

Mentions of sexy times and NSFW, you were alerted.

"Kai!" You waved from the sand, near the start of the ocean as he waved nonchantly from the balcony of the room the both of you had gotten for your honeymoon.

It was indeed a beautiful place you had chosen but it was just so fucking hot. His fear was to get a tan or a sunburn due to how pale he was and how easily he could burn his skin.

You pouted and hitted your feet on the sand, reminding him of a child as he chuckled under his breath. You wanted him to go in there surely...

He could take a shower after, he was just going to walk to you, feet protect by his shoes anyway so-

He flinched at the ring tone of his cellphone and furrowed his eyebrows at the device.. he gave orders and alerted Pops to NOT bother him while on his vacation if it wasn't a emergency... Picking it up to show you, he saw your mouth turn into a "O" shape and start to walk to the cabin.

"Spill it out." He answered the phone and grimace at the voice of the last person he wanted to hear.

"Good mornin'to ya too Overjerk."

"Rappa." He growled, breathing in and out with a hand pinching the middle of his eyebrows "Just say whatever it is..."

"Yeah whatever. The thing is that Tengai is being a bitch about being partner up with me and I agree with that-"

"rAPPA STOP INVENTING THINGS AND LEAVE MASTER ALON-" he winced at the shouts of Tengai and pushed away the cellphone from his ear just at the moment you entered.

"What is going on?" You whispered as he only shaked the cellphone to his hand.

"Take your problem to Nemoto or Chronostasis and don't you dare bother me anymore." Without waiting for a reply he ended the call with a sigh, noticing your smiling at him "What?" He spatted as you giggled.

"Nothing! Nothinh!" You shaked your hands as he scoffed at your attitude "since someone is too afraid of getting his feet on the ocean how about a hot spring? I heard that is good and no one can enter if there is a newly wed couple~" you singles the words as he arched one eyebrow, letting a sigh fall from his lips after wards and grabbing a towel.

"Then come take a shower first."

"Just the shower?" You pouted mockingly as he pulled his mask down to reveal a lustful smirk to pair up with his predatory gaze.

"Your choice."

.

.

.

"Isn't it better to take your cellphone?" You asked as he was grabbing the things to go.

"Huh?"

"Asides from that one call-" you giggled as he grimaced In anger at only remebering "Might happen something important. Pops can call and all." You shaked his cellphone slightly to emphasize as he only rolled his eyes, giving you a wave as if it was a whatever sign to take with you both as well.

He cant even remember if he was ever on a hit spring, but being with your significant other along on the hot water was something entirely pleasant to be honest.

... not even comenting about how he threaten the people of the resort that if that water wasn't clean he was going to commit a genocide.

"Enjoying yourself?" He muttered with closed eyes and head tilted back as he felt you nod, but soon cracked one of his eyes open when he felt you crawling your way up to his lap "What is my angel up to now? Only one wasn't enough?" He growled, hands founding your soft hips as you giggled not so innocently.

"Was it for you big boy?" His eyes narrowed with a smirk, pulling you closer to his naked and wet chest as he hesitated for a bit to kiss you until you fulfilled that hidden desire for him.

It was all so new to him... letting someone touch him, kiss him, please him even... and the more strange was that he felt the same desire of pleasing you... maybe it was the newly wed thing going on his mind. But heck, the lust felt too good to just stop.

The kiss was heated enough already with a battle of tongues which he won for the dominance, as usual the bastard, and just about when he decides to rut his hips on yours for just a little bit-

"Mister?" He froze and widened his eyes; pulling you to his chest as he glared at the poor employee whose yelped on his feet at the look he gave to him as he craddled your head on his neck and hidded your indecent alomg with the water and the steam.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry sir but is a call for y-you-!" The poor boy showed his cellphone and Chisaki snatched from his grip with a order to get the fuck out before you both sighed in annoyance.

"What now?" He growled, you still on his lap as he trailed his fingers up and down your spine as you listened along.

"So not wanting to interrupt your fucking but Tabe ate all the food-" his jaw clenched as he heard shouts from Nemoto from the background to leave him alone "I DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT YOU ALL WANTED TO ME TO CALL OVERHAUL-!"

"I dont care if all of you wanted to call me, but if the issue is about Tabe eating the food is not my problem and go talk with other person because I am fucking busy." He growled the words as glared at you when he felt your lips pecking and ocassionaly giving kitten lips on his jaw line and neck.

"Yeah but we also dont want little overhauls walking here for now so let's say is for a good reason-"

"You wHAT-" he bitted his bottom lip when he felt your hand trailing down further his member as yousucked on his earlobe. "Dont call me anymore for those s-stupid reasons Kendo Rappa I swear-" he ended the call as he let out a low growl when you dolled your hips against his as you giggled.

"Ops?" You tilted your head at him as he grabbed your hips and pulled against him with more force causing you to stiffle a moan.

"Not here naughty thing." He growled before kissing and sucking on your bottom lip before he despatched with drunk lustful eyes as he helped you get up to get out.

.

.

.

He was on the 8 sleep when he listened to the cursed ring tone again... grumbling turning away and searching limbs of arms and legs to extend his arm on the nightstand. Not even greeting as he waited for the other person to speak first.

"Hello? Master?"

"Nemoto this better be important..." he grumbled, bare hand brushing his messy brow looks and rubbing his eyes, still closed and his voice still husky and sore from sleep and... other things.

"So.. master... About the calls Rappa made to you... they were all, well. Collects calls..." he cracked his golden eyes open, glaring at the window door as if he was Rappa and poor Nemoto.

"It's just that?" He growled. Before Nemoto could even answer he listened to someone else's voice shouting and snatching the phone out of Nemoto.

"About the collect calls scree it but seriously dude keep it on your pants or-"

"GO TO HELL RAPPA!" he shouted and threw his phone at the wall in anger. Causing you to joint awake.

"What happened?!" You almost shouted if it wasn't for Chisaki patting your head as a signal it wasn't anything seriously before he got up and sized his cellphone back to normal.

"The precepts, especially that low life thug Rappa just giving me a headache." He grumbled as he growled at the calls on his cellphone.

"What's new huh?" You sleepily giggled while opening your arms at him "Cmon go back to sleep.."

He stared at his phone for a bit before leaving on the nightstand and getting under the covers with a sigh, letting you cuddled up to his chest even if he was extressed out.

Your movements of your hands on his back and the humming caused him to calm down and relax for a bit... not until the cellphone ringed again.

"Kai, honey calm down-" you tried to prevent before Chisaki got up abruptly and answered the call.

"FUCKING HELL WHAT NOW?!"

"..Jesus boy I was just calling to make sure you and (Y/n) were okay, did I wake you up or interrupted something?"

It was silence for a bit before Kai sitted back down on the bed with a mortified look, you crawled your way to sit besides him as he showed the contact name as you winced.

"Chisaki? Hello? Chrono is this thing really working?"

"... Apologies Pops..." your husband muttered and it would be comical if it wasn't tragically how loud Kai's shout was this time.

.

.

.

"Thanks for letting me know my boy, we will only call at (Y/n)'s number from now on."

"You have my gratitude..." he sighed before ending the call... staring at the device on his hand.

"K-Kai?" You went to poke his shoulder before yelping at when he smashed and destroyed his cellphone in one grip with a twitching eye. "You know you didn't had to do that, right?"

"I'm just tired of listening to this shit." He whispered, still with a twitching eye before relaxed a bit at your giggles and hugging his bare shoulders.

"Well, maybe we can get a bit more of peace at least." You whispered before planting a kiss right behind his ear and cheek.

"At least." He sighed, caging you on the bed and pointing you fervently "Come on angel, round 2 to distress." He growled on your lips as you giggled but accepted.

[i-need-entertainment]

Just Right

Character: Chronostasis x short reader

*In this story the reader is about 5′0, Chrono is in the 5′9-6′0 range*

*DISCLAIMER, I will do my absolute best to portray a short reader but I can only be so accurate...since I myself am 5′9..BUT I love the idea and will do my best! Thank you to @goblinchild99​ for requesting! I hope you enjoy it!!<3

TW- Mean words from dad, reader self doubts, mentions of insecurities

“Wait…what..?” Your heart shattered as you sat in front of your stone-faced parents. Your family was head of one of the many Yakuza of Japan, and your father was a cold and ruthless man not like your mother was much better. “You will be given to the Shie Hassaikai. What they do with you is none of my concern, but for our sake and for your own, behave. I know you are not wanted because of your…stature…but do not be a bother. I don’t want you being sent back h ere, I cannot imagine the shame you would bring to our name if you upset the new young leader.” 

You held back tears at your father’s decree. ‘Given…? Is that all I’m good for… To be given as a peace treaty when one of my brothers makes a mistake… Why do I have to pay the price for their actions…why am I just being used as compensation?’ Quickly wiping the tear that fell you stood up and left the room, going to your room to pack since you’d be leaving that evening. You sat down on your bed, sobs racking your body as you clutched your small frame. Your whole life you had been treated as an outcast, as the disappointment of the family. All because…because what? Because you were shorter than most? Because you were more ‘petite’? Just because you were small it didn’t make you any less important…any less deserving of love and affection. Instead you were being bargained off for ‘peace’. The sadness you felt was replaced by frustration. You angrily took out a suitcase and filled it with clothes, precious items, and whatever toiletries you knew you’d need. Without saying a word you rolled your suitcase out of your room, where an underling of some sort took it from your, and made your way to your parents. “Goodbye mom…dad…I wish you both the best.” You hugged your mom while your dad gave you a nod. “Make us proud, Y/n.” You held back your tears at your dad’s heartless reply and instead chose to nod, walking out the door and never looking back. After a good 2 ½ hour drive you made it to your new home, the Shie Hassaikai Headquarters. Where you would spend the rest of your life…Now anyone in your position would probably assume the worst..especially being a small female. But you were more afraid of being killed than…that. I mean, Overhaul was a major germaphobe so that stilled some worries you supposed…The car stopped and you shook yourself from your daydreams. Unbuckling your seat belt you exited the car, thanked the driver and made your way to the front gate. There to greet you was a man, who was much taller than you, wearing a white raincoat that reached just below his knees with black shiny boots. But the things that stood out to you the most was the hood he had covering his head, and the mask that covered his face. “Y/n L/n?” You looked up to the man, meekly nodding. He waved over one of the other masked associates, this time a man with a black mask, coat and hat to get your bag. The man in the white coat turned towards you. You couldn’t see his eyes but you could feel them burning holes through you. “Follow me, Overhaul would like to meet you.” You nodded, “But, put this on first…and don’t touch him, I imagine you wouldn’t like to die on your first day here.” You stilled as you shakily took the white medical mask and put it on, clasping your shaking hands together as you followed behind the strangely dressed man. “You don’t talk much…do you?” You looked up as you walked through the dim hallways of the Shie Hassaikai basement. “No…not to strangers, anyway…” You tried your best to sound normal, but you couldn’t deny you were scared. And rightfully so! “Yeah, well that might actually do you well here, you’re less likely to tick him off then.” You made a sound to let him know you understood, still not feeling well enough to answer him with a real response just yet. The two of you stopped at a door. Being raised in a Yakuza family you were no stranger to scary encounters, but this would be the scariest you’ve ever faced by far. Let alone faced by yourself. The man, who you had to have learned his name knocked on the door, answering that ‘L/n was there’ before the boss man told him (and you) to enter. Entering the office you were ushered over to the couch to sit down. So now here you were sitting directly across from a man that could kill you with a single touch. “L/n, I’m sure you know who I am, yes?” You nodded your head, looking down with your hands crossed in your lap. Overhaul may not have been the biggest guy, but he was still easily almost a foot taller than you…not to mention he had a fairly big build. “I won’t lie to you, I wasn’t fond of your fathers implications of why he was sending you here, but I assure you I have no intentions of following through with his original plans.” Your head shot up at this. “You may be small in stature, and it’s true that could be a weakness, but you also have a strong quirk. I’m offering you a place here, amongst me and the precepts…not everyone gets that opportunity. Should you choose to take it you will be taken care of, and your abilities will be praised.” You felt like you could cry, not from fear, but from being…wanted. “So? Will you join the Hassaikai, not as whatever it was your father wanted, but as apart of it?” Your face took on a determined look, “…I’ll do it. I know I’m not the strongest, and I’m not very strong, but I promise to do my best. Thank you..” Overhaul’s expression changed to a happy one. “Wonderful, I am aware of your inability to fight or defend yourself, so I’m putting you directly under Chronostasis,” He motioned for the said man to step forward. “Chrono, become acquainted with her, show her the ropes, teach her to fight, and utilize her natural abilities. Consider her your…assistant for now. Understood?” Chronostasis as you had learned his name was nodded, “Yes sir, come on L/n, I’ll show you around the base.” You nodded, standing up you bowed, “Thank you for this opportunity, I’ll do my best.” Overhaul nodded, walking passed you to his desk. “The pleasure is mine. You both are dismissed.” With that the two of you left the room and started navigating the hallways. “I’ll show you around first before getting started on what you’ll be doing here if that’s okay with you.” You nodded, “That’s fine.” You started walking, while you were talking he showed you the different rooms, which ones to avoid and which ones you’d be spending a lot of time in. “This is my office, which will be yours now too I guess.” He opened the door and stepped in. You didn’t follow. “…I’m sorry…” He turned around, “For what?” You nervously looked down, hands wringing together. “For being a burden…” He sighed, lightly guiding you into the room. “Listen, you’re not a burden, in all seriousness I could use the help, Overhaul gives me too much as it is anyways. And…I have a pretty good idea of how you were treated at your family’s Yakuza, and it kinda ticks me off. So I assure you, you’re not a bother.” You smiled at him, “Thank you…” “Yup.” He shut the door and sat down at his desk, motioning for you to do the same at the couch in the room. Without warning, he removed the mask he had on, the hood falling to his shoulders as he did so. “You can go ahead and take the mask off, I don’t wear mine when I’m not around Overhaul and he doesn’t care as long as you’re not interacting with him.” You sheepishly nodded, desperately trying to hide how flustered you were, because he was attractive. Not just the ‘oh yeah, he's good looking’ kind, more like the ‘Oh my gosh, I think I JUST DIED ‘ kind. He had the perfect proportions of traditional attractiveness and uniqueness to make him that much more appealing to you. He had sharp narrow dark gray-blue eyes, a jawline that could draw blood and a general intensity about him that made your heart stop beating. Remembering you were probably staring you quickly looked away. But something else about him caught your eye…his hair. It was a white silvery color, and medium in length, but as you examined him further you noticed the ends of his hair ended in arrow shapes. “Is that part of your quirk?” His dark eyes met yours, he figured you’d ask, most anyone who had ever seen him asked sooner or later. But when he looked at you, you weren’t looking at him like he was a freak. Your eyes held an innocent and honest curiosity. With no malice to be seen. “I’m sorry if that came off as weird or rude!! It’s just…I’ve never seen anything like it…” He nodded, “It’s fine, I kinda figured you would. My quirk is called Chronostasis. I can extend these clock needle things to pierce someone, but I need to be extremely still. If I do pierce someone I can slow them down, but the length depends on which hand I struck them with. If I use the minute,” He pointed to one of the ‘clock needles’ on the end of his hair, “They’re slowed for a minute, same thing if I use the hour.” He looked at you, noticing your expression. “I know it’s weird but-“ “I don’t think it’s weird.” He looked at you in shock, “You don’t? You can be honest, it’s pretty weird.” You shook your head, that honest and sincere glint never leaving your e/c eyes. “I think they’re really cool…beautiful…even..” In his 22 years of life, no one had ever told him his quirk was cool, let alone beautiful. If words could kill, Chronostasis would probably be dead. The red tint on his cheeks giving aware his flusteredness. “A-Uh..Thanks…What’s your quirk anyway?” “It’s called Seamless…Um basically I can sew without using needles, controlling the threads and what not…but it only works on sewing things, I can’t use it on people or anything..” You looked up, expecting him to be bored only to see interest gleaming in his eyes. “Sounds cool to me, useful too.” Never in your life had you felt so secure, safe, appreciated…it felt good. It felt good to know there were people out there who wanted you, even if it was just for work it still felt nice. Fast forward a bit, you’ve been with the Hassaikai for a year now. You had cemented your place here, and you felt great. You didn’t use your quirk too much, but you did save them a lot of money on clothes. You had also become a lot closer to Chrono, or Kurono Hari as you had learned his name was, and called him in private. You talked a lot, ranting to each other about your problems, spending time together even if it was just doing your own things in silent. It was safe to say the two of you had become good friends, but more than that you had developed feelings for the man. That was why you were on your current mission, making your way to Overhaul’s office. You knocked, and after hearing a ‘come in’ entered. He was sitting at his desk, fiddling with papers and what not. “Ah, L/n, what can I help you with?” You walked to stand in front of his desk, nervously messing with your fingers and fidgeting. “…I came to ask you something…” Overhaul sighed as he set his pen down, leaning to place his chin in his hand, which was propped up on his desk. “Oh? What is it? I take it everything is going fine?” Over the past year besides getting close to Chronostasis, you had also gotten close to Overhaul. Although you noticed he acted very protective of you, like an older brother. You had asked him about it a few months ago, he had simply told you he had met with your father a few years ago when he accompanied a business meeting with Pops. He had seen how you were treated and it made him sick especially because of how much potential you showed. In his own special way, you knew he cared somewhat about you. You nodded your head. “Everything’s fine, great, actually…I need to talk to you about something else…someone else….”. His eyebrow raised in interest, he pretended to act surprised but he had an inkling of why you were really here. “I want your permission to…to…” You opened your mouth to speak but ultimately chose to close it, not really knowing how to go forward. He sighed again, leaning back in his chair while his hands clasped together, resting by his mouth. “Let me guess…you’d like my permission to pursue a relationship with Chronostasis? Am I correct?” You felt heat raise to your face as you stiffened. ‘How did he…?’ “I may seclude myself to this office and limit my interactions with people to a minimum, but I’m not blind. I am well aware of he feelings the both of you have for each other.” You gulped, here it comes…”I don’t care, just don’t let it get in the way of your work. But if it ends the pitiful gazes and flirting between the two of you, by all means, get married for all I care.” Your eyes widened as your brain proceeded to implode. “A-are you sure?! You really don’t mind?!” He looked at you in disbelief before shrugging. “Nope, just don’t do any of that lovey-dovey stuff around me, affection like that makes me nauseas.” You nodded, “I promise.” He nodded and got up, walking you to the door. “…I’m trusting you won’t tell him what I’m about to say but, take care of him…He’s stupidly in love with you, so I know he’ll take care of you, but please be good to him…” You smiled, nodding your head. “I will…wait, did you say he’s in lo-“ “Time for you to go, goodbye L/n.” Before you could refute, he pushed you out of the room, shut the door and locked it. Sighing, you made you way to your and Chrono’s office, finally ready to tell the man of your dreams your feelings. To most you may be considered ‘short’ or ‘small’, and to some they might even think of you as ‘inadequate’ or ‘lesser’ than them. At one point you probably thought Chrono felt that way. (but as you were soon about to find out)But to Chrono? You were just right, just...perfect.

[glassartpeasants]

Crying In The Club .7

Yandere!Overhaul x F!Reader

*Part 1* *Part 2* *Part 3* *Part 4* *Part 5* *Part 6* *Part 7*

Warnings: Death, gore, yandere overhaul, kidnapping

A/N: Ah skeet skeet motherfuckers were back again. Here’s some more food for ya’ll. Enjoy. Sorry that its short again. I PROMISE PROMISE THAT TOMORROWS WILL BE LONGER

Taglist

@hello-lucky-luka @winchester-wifey

~~~

“Is the room ready Chrono?” Kai asked as he walked down the corridor. The sound of his shoes hitting the tile floor, making his footsteps wing through the entire compound.

“Yes Overhaul, the room’s all ready.” Chrono answered as he walked behind Kai. He was a little skeptical about the whole ordeal but would much rather have you then the one that Kai has now.

“Good.” Kai smiled under his mask. Your room was ready for you to come back and stay there. You were coming back to him and away from that scum. You would be much safer here where your pure body would not be tainted by the outside world anymore.

Kai had stopped right in front of the door of your soon to be new room. It had everything except things to contact anyone of course. You had the most expensive clothes and jewelry. Your bed was highly recommended, a desk and everything you could ever ask for. You would never need to leave your room.

“Kai my boy whats this?” Kai jumped at the sound of Pops coming near him. He quickly tired to figure out a lie that pops would believe. He didn’t want to seem suspicious and accidentally spill his plan.

“Him and (Y/N) are getting back together.” Chrono said quickly, covering for Kai.

‘Thank you Chrono.’ Kai sighed internally. 

“Thats great news! To be honest I liked her more then (R/N).” Pops laughed as he patted Kai on the shoulder. 

‘Good to know he likes her, since she’ll be staying with us for quite some time.’

“Well come get me when you bring her here again!”

“Will do.’

~~~

‘Okay so It’s his birthday today, what should I get him?’ You look through out the entire mall. Going in and out of stores. Nothing looking up to your standards. You want to get him something that he’ll cherish forever. Not something he’ll have for a few months then throw away like a video game.

Looking around trying to pinpoint the right store for your ever so loving boyfriend you get this sick feeling as if someones watching you. Goosebumps litter you skin as the feeling got stronger the longer you looked in front of you. You move your feet faster as you drag yourself to the food court.

As you take a seat on the cold leather booth near the back exit, you get the feeling again, just stronger. Sitting by the back exit will do you some good since you can run if you need to. Before you thought of what could give you this uneasy feeling a cold hand placed itself on your shoulder. You slowly snake your eyes towards the hand that adorned your shoulder before you felt your whole world shatter around you.

“K-Kai? What are you doing here” You say as you feel his gloved hand caress your skin gently. The feeling was anything less then welcoming.

“I’ve decided to take back whats rightfully mine. I can’t believe you would find some rat so soon.” If it weren’t for his mask you would have definitely felt his breath on your neck. Even if you couldn’t feel his breath, the warmth of his body surrounded around you. But instead of comforting you, it made your boy fill ice cold.

“I’m not yours...you let me go remember?” Your whole body shook as he motioned for you to stand up.. You obliged in fear of what he would do to you. No matter what kind of voice he talked to you in, you always got a horrific memory of what event happened when he used said voice.

“See still a good girl as always. Now come on, we’ve got to go back to the base. Everyone is waiting for your return.”

“But...what about-”

“Dead. I never want to hear you talk about him ever again understand? Don’t even mutter his name.” He gave your shoulder a squeeze. Making you let out a yelp of pain. Considering that it was the shoulder where he carved his initials into you, the pain was more severe that it would have been originally if it weren’t there at all. But since it was, it made a pain shoot up all the way into your shoulder and down your arm.

“Yes Kai, I understand.” Your voice more of a whisper as he lead you out of the mall and into the familiar black car. The car that once excited you now gave you a feeling of dread and fear.

You sit on the leather seats as you look away from the monster besides you. You curled your toes in your shoes as your fingernails dug into the leather seats. Your body shaking in fear. The warm air brushing against your the skin of your cheeks.

“Don’t look so scared my angel. Your going to be more safe with me then you ever where with that rat. I don’t need your replacement anymore now. THank god, she was annoying anyway.” You were going to scoot away from hiim only to have his arm wrap around your waist and pull you closer to him. He lifted you up and sat you on his lap. His strong arms showing no signs of releasing you.

“Your gonna love your new room angel.”

~~~

You step out of the car and your shoes hitting the ground. You felt yous legs turn into jelly. Fear making you so weak. YOu tried showing that you weren’t afraid that you were here on your own choice. But you were utterly terrified. Everything you’ve been through flashed before your eyes.

Your hands felt like they were holding satans. The latex of his gloves in between your fingers gave you a sickening feeling. The latex of his gloves made your skin prickle.

“Look happy angel. Pops will be home soon. Can’t have him seeing you scared face. Plus being scared isn’t a good look on you. I love your smile so much more.” You nodded as you try to put on a more convincing happy face as you walked towards the door.

It opens with a soft squeak and everyone looks at you, causing you to squirm and tense up. Kai growled as he gave everyone a glare that could kill and everyone immediately went back to work. 

You felt his strong hand pull you down the corridor. His thumb rubbing your knuckles. You wanted to vomit. Why did he think that you would so willing come back to him? You were just terrified of what he could do to you if you didn’t. You didn’t know what kind of drug he was on. Before you got even more lost in your thoughts a familiar voice rang through your ears and it hits you all at once.

“Kai lets go to the mall! I want new diamond earrings-why the hell is that wench doing here?” It was her. There was no fucking way. Out of everyone in Japan it had to be that bitch. That same bitch who posted pictures of your crying face all throughout the bar you use to work at. He really got her as your replacement. It kinda pissed you off in an unexplained way.

“Be careful of what you say (ex co-workers name), this is my angel and I will no longer be needing your services. Get out.” The last bit of Kai’s words sent a shiver down your spine. You hated when he used that threatening voice. You felt extremely uncomfortable when the girl looked your way. Her piercing eyes staring right through your soul. Making you feel so small.

“No longer be needing my services?! Well it would be a shame if someone were to tell Pops all about your little secret-” Her voice forever was silenced as her body turned into only a blood splat on the wall.

Her once alive body was now covering the walls, nothing but a big splatter of blood as it dripped down the walls. Her blood covered your face and some of your clothes. You felt her blood seep through your clothes and cover your face. You were speechless. You just witnessed Kai kill her. It’s not like you didn’t knwo he was a dangerous man but that didn’t mean him killing her in front of you wasn’t traumatizing. You would never get the image of her body turning into a puddle of blood.

“Disgusting. Finally she’s gone.” Kai grunted as he let go of your hand as he violently scratched at his skin. Trying to get her blood off his skin and clothes. Hives decorating his skin. He groaned before looking at you seeing you shake as you looked at your hands. Which were covered in her blood. Her blood covering a majority of your body.

“Don’t be scared my precious angel. I promise I will never do it to you again. I can’t even imagine seeing you in such a state in my own eyes again.” He grabbed your shoulder and brought you to his chest which was also covered in her blood. Smearing all over your face.

‘Please just let me go damnit. I was so close.’ Tears pour out of your eyes as they stream down your face when you felt his gloved hand pet his hair.

[steve0discusses]

The Fullmetal Alchemist Live Action Movie Part 9: Ctrl-Z

Well guys, we did it, this is the last installment of the FMA movie. Probably forever because this movie hella bombed and I am 99% positive they will not bring it back (and if they do, it will be a complete reboot because this is a mess) We are left with one burning question--how the hell can you resolve any of this?

Especially this alley of human corpses that you have to keep secret from the public:

PS, I did not skip really anything other than some closeups of them shooting stuff. We just have to trust that Hawkeye can just shoot 60,000 dudes with that tiny gun that probably only holds 6 bullets. (12 bullets? I know nothing about guns.)

But we’ll just have to assume that the corpses are dealt with in their own special way, because the movie will never address these again. So, meanwhile, back at the stone, Ed is dealing with how his MacGuffin is a mix of dead people.

Like this is an aside but dude--the drama that’s still boiling off of whatever is left of the hot turd that became Bon Appetit, like HOT DAMN. People always say everything you like will be problematic in 10 years but MAN. Fully expected for Scott Adams to get problematic. But Bon Appetit? The seemingly innocent cooking show?

Yo, I’m not over it.

Yo, I’m not over how much Bon Appetit lied directly to my face: that freakin smokescreen illusion of a perfect working environment. Cannot wait for the Netflix documentary that will inevitably come out.

So glad I was too lazy to make any fanart of that show. Or that I was not good enough at art to make fanart of Dilbert.

(I say knowing full well that the original English voice actor of Ed Elric had a huge ass harassment coverup that spans 15+ years and the legal followup and trial has been a huge mess.)

Anyway, Ed doesn’t even know how problematic that rock is. He doesn’t even know that the dead people in that stone are his distant relatives and that he’s one of the only living Xerxes’ians (Xerxicans? What do you call people from Xerxes anyway?) that are left on the planet, but it still carries weight. Not as much, but it still carries weight.

What follows is what the movie decided was the most important character development of Fullmetal Alchemist, mostly because it’s the only thing in FMA left after they did this massive edit.

(read more under the cut)

(If the rock were still active then Lust would not be dead, she’d just reform, we’ve been over this. And youknow it’s been a minute for me, maybe this was also a thing in the anime where you can still use stones that are from leftover dead homunculi...it just doesn’t make sense to me. They would reform. But I will let this go.)

And if you were like “Hey back in the anime, it felt like it was a lot harder to get into Truth Hut--didn’t you have to kill a guy most of the time?” and you would be correct! I guess the idea is that Ed doesn’t want to kill the souls already in that rock in order to do the exchange--but this idea is never said out loud in the movie, although it was clearly indicated in the anime. Kind of...something they should have mentioned.

But anyway, now we’re back in truth hut but this time Ed can wear pants.

Over in the corner we have Al’s body, confirmation that he is still a real boy.

I guess they had to put this in, since Al’s only character angst in this movie is whether or not he’s real. They can now at least give us some closure about that.

And as the spectral deity decides to make a bargain, Ed realizes that profiting off of war crimes is a bad look.

PS I really don’t know if I should cover the ass on Al’s body over there. It’s kind of got feet in front of it.

We know that’s a dude in a speedo, right? I don’t have to cover that up? Cuz I’m not.

And while we have closure for Al as being a real boy, we really don’t have a lot of closure for Ed. I’m proud of him for not doing a war crime, but it’s not like he freed any of the souls in that stone and it’s not like he got to the bottom of the conspiracy, and it’s not like we got any payback for Hughes.

Ed is still in emotional limbo at the end of this movie, which is pretty disappointing. But again, I think they were REALLY gunning for a second movie, because most of the stuff at the end of this is them hinting that they’re going to continue the story another time...

but like...they knew they weren’t gonna get a second one. There’s just no way they couldn’t have known after how poorly it did in box offices.

Gotta love anime and their refusal to let the not even real people kiss.

They’re not real. They’re characters in a movie. Let them kiss. It’s fine. No one will get arrested.

But whatever.

This hurts my eyes.

But don’t worry, even though that looks like the end, with that sort of crazy ass flare that allows us to hide any of the background we didn’t feel like drawing, it’s not the very, very end.

It just can’t be, not without out one of these:

That’s right it’s trains!

And also, look at this movie segueing right back into Yugioh. Look at that. We got a cursed demon child and Some Basic Girl playing cards on a moving vehicle? Just the way it should be.

So, that’s over--and honestly--this was a hard movie to make. I think they made a lot of good choices, being honest--but I also think they made a lot of bad ones that overshadow the good stuff by a whole lot.

And since this isn’t really a critique but just a deep dive, lets talk about what we would have done differently. Because honestly? There’s no right answer. You have 130 minutes to tell the whole story. What would you do? See I asked bro what he would have done and his answer was “I would make the only villain Shou and that first villain” who’s name I didn’t remember either, so I decided to look it up on the FMA wiki and I saw a big surprise!

That Adolf Hitler is listed as one of the villains of Fullmetal Alchemist??? Guys did I...am I reading that right on this Wikipedia page?

Is this is not the only Fullmetal Alchemist movie???????

OMG, guys there’s another Fullmetal Alchemist movie and I kid you not, it has Hitler in it.

I mean I’m not going to cap it because I got a list of other things to cap (as I know several of you are patiently waiting for) but like..........why have I never heard of this?

Anyway, bro would just condense everything to just the first 4 episodes and include scar and all the rest. Me? I would do the opposite and start at the very end right when Ed and Al meet up with their Dad, and only talk about Xerxes and the Homunculi and their family relationship and no one else.

I dunno if either of our ideas would work because obvi writing a movie is a lot more than just having an idea. You gotta get that through marketing, through people in suits who don’t know how stories work, through actors who’s hair will not hold a braid, etc etc. I mean one person just decided to put Hitler in it, and that movie got way better reviews so...hell do I know about writing anything?

But overall, the movie served it’s purpose by distracting me from the real world for a little while. So, thanks all for sitting on on this nice little excursion from our typical programming, been a weird year, so I was grateful for this buffer. We will go back to our Yugioh routine in the next update which will go up-----at some point. No idea when, I don’t have a schedule anymore for obvious reasons. But we made it to the start of the last season! Bakura’s in it? We see Pharaoh in actual Egyptian wear? I’m looking forward to a lot of really botched and questionable history, so I’ll see you there.

If you just got here and want to read the beginning of this Fullmetal Alchemist Movie journey with me you can here:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/fma/chrono

[secondarychristine]

CC - MatPat

Good day to all, and this is my first post in this account, talking about one of internet celebrities, a Youtuber, a content creator, MatPat

Matthew Robert Patrick, also known by MatPat, is an American internet celebrity and is well-known for his content The Game Theorists (or Game Theory) where he discuss on topics such as the logic and the lore of various video games.  His other channel s such as The Film Theorists (or Film Theory) or The Food Theorists ( or Food Theory) are his spinoffs that also discuss about similar subjects in filmography and food. He is also active in another social platforms such as Twitter (MatPatGT), Instagrams (matpatgt; MatPat (GameTheorists), and Facebook (Matthew Patrick).  In 2015, he created one of Youtube’s  live gaming channel, GTLive, and in 2016, he created Youtube Premium Series MatPat’s Game Lab.

He was born on November 15th, 1986, in Medina, Ohio, U.S.  Growing up, he took an interest in fine arts, especially musical theatre. He graduated from college on December 28, 2009, and moved to New York where he auditioned for theatrical roles. After two years of near-total unemployment, he uploaded the first episode of Game Theory.

He first created Youtube account under the name Matthew Patrick13 where he uploaded his performances on stages and singing. He married his college girlfriend, Stephanie Cordato on May 19, 2012 and has one child.  He quitted his job as a stage director and acting business to pursue another career. Inspired by the Youtube series Extra Credits episode “Tangential Learning”, he created Game Theory with the purpose of creating “gaming’s tangential learning experience”.  The Game Theorists reached 1 million subscribers on December 17, 2013, and 10 million in July 2018. Currently, The Game Theorists has 19.9 million subscribers and over 2.8 billion video views. His most viewed video is “Can Gamers SURVIVE the Real Mirror’s Edge?” which has 69 million views.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjhDUQktMs

His first content of Game Theory was uploaded 9 years ago titled ‘Is Chrono Trigger’s Time Travel Accurate?’. The video explained how time travel in Chrono Trigger works. The video has almost reached two million views.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgLSUuKqH4w

He then expanded to various games, such as Minecraft, Pokemon, Among Us, Portal, etc. He is very attached to video games. But, he took it to another level. He analyses the theories and fan theories in his video. His dedication of researching and gathering data is fascinating for me. The topics might sound trivial, but he manages to pique the interests of audience who have never thought about.

MatPat also holds the Youtube records for the most money donated in single charity livestreams. And his livestreams had many other popular Youtubers such as Markiplier and TheOdd1sOut. Even Scott Cawthon, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy’s, also had an appearance.

I was introduced to his content back when Five Nights at Freddy’s was a thing. Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) is an American media franchise created by Scott Cawthon, which began on 2014 when he created his first FNAF game, Five Night at Freddy’s (1). It quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The success of the video games led to another series of books, a guide book, an activity book and an anthology series. Other than the game mechanic of the player being near helpless, the games also have mysterious stories and plot that are very hard to solve, even to this day. Those complex stories caught the attention of MatPat. The total of his FNAF theories videos is 42 videos (and I think most of his videos cover FNAF). That is only discuss this one particular series, and to be honest I am losing a track of it because it is just that many and complicated for my brain. I think this series succeeded in gaining more audience and being known by lot of people, since the game has been people’s guilty pleasure. People say that the game sucks… ironically.

His first FNAF video was posted on October 23, 2014, goes by the title ‘Game Theory: Five Nights at Freddy’s SCARIEST Monster is You!’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th_LYe97ZVc

The video has reached 26 million. I discovered that there are still many new comments in this particular video. People love rewatching this particular series, because as I said the plot is too complex. So complex it takes 46 videos, and possibly more in the future just to ‘solve’ the mystery. The new game of FNAF is also coming soon, so best be prepared.

The list:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbc0sHjcmje6NCMaJdeLnCWejp5gQuknI

Another things that interest me are the editing and his tone when narrating. He sounds so enthusiastic when delivering his theories. He slips comedies in his discussion and it just makes me love listening to him talk even though I am a little bit confused. I can rewatch his videos whenever I like just to understand what the games all about.

About the editing…. I do not know anything about editing, so I am going to say that the way he deliver his videos is neat and cute. The pictures he uses make it more interesting to see and easy to understand.

This the picture of himself that he always uses in his video. You know when you watch his video. 

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Move on to his another channel is The Film Theorists where he discuss the logic, headcanons or other theories regarding films and cartoons. The recent videos he posted was movies from Godzilla vs Kong, “Why Godzilla Wins”, and a Disneyplus tv series called WandaVision, “The Secret THIRD Witch Revealed!” I rarely watch this channel, because I rarely watch films. If anything related to films, the videos I usually watch on Youtube are mostly reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAFv2T62Frc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaYsHV3rIYk

His third channel is called The Food Theorists. Anything interesting theories about food are all there. But, I never watched food theory so I cannot comment on anything. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHYoe8kQ-7Gn9ASOlmI0k6Q

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I can recommend you for those who never heard of this, go watch his FNAF theories. Though they are complicated, they are still my favourites. 

[jacksgreysays]

audiatur et altera pars "let the other side be heard also" (aka free pass to dig up and expand any of your previous works :p)

A/N: Hm, I do love digging through my own old work, anon, like a narcissistic raccoon, so having a pass to do so and further write about it is pretty nice :P

I will be honest though, a lot of my time was trying to figure out which previous work I wanted to do or which best fit the prompt or which I've been wanting to do and needed the excuse to touch back on...

So I narrowed it down to nine. Which isn't particularly narrow, but considering the list I started off with... is pretty good? (Although, one of the nine could be considered technically three for an actual total of eleven? But... uh... yeah...)

At this point I'm typing out my thought process so as to help me eliminate/figure out which 'verse I want to use for this prompt. And also, in a very meta way, this kind of fills the prompt since it's like the other side of the curtain? Anyway, here's the honorable mentions:

9. Torifu POV of Ascendant : an outside (but still close enough to witness) POV of Danzo is in theory a cool idea. Because he can't have always been that megalomaniacal sadistic bastard, surely. But for Torifu, depending on how much he knows about his former teammate/friend's actions, how sad this would be? Not just in seeing all of his former teammates/friends turn into increasingly bitter people but also, if he tried to save any of those ill-fated Hokage candidates it would just be a series of failures. And that's mondo depressing. Plus, part of the... fun? challenge?... that was the original Ascendant was to do a... not necessarily unreliable narrator but a villain's POV and mitigating it with Torifu's POV would peel back a layer unnecessarily.

8. rockstar!Shikaara AU AU : here's the problem, because it wasn't a full fic (this 'verse originated way back in the ask box three sentence fic event) I don't have a proper tag for the rockstar!Shikaara AU. Best way to find it is probably through the Sabaku No Gaara tag, chrono, and then search for rockstar!Shikaara. It is not a great method. However the reason why it came to mind was because of the literal "hearing" part of the prompt and, well, muuuuusic. So then I thought, hey, what if it's an AU of this AU in which Shikako is the rockstar? However, I think we've established that the Nara twins actually aren't that musical and I have to admit that I do still love Shikaara, I haven't been in those feels for a while. And I'll be honest, that ficlet would've been mostly froth.

7. The Saga of Windy Strife: I'm just very fond of them. Unfortunately, it does need to be revamped. And also, I haven't actually FFVII, not even the remake! Something about Windy Strife is just... they're always against something. Which is... there's a difference between being a champion of something vs being a soldier fighting something and they've always been in the latter. And I guess in that same literal "hearing" part of the prompt, it would work well to address the language barrier of Unto The Climate. But again, I'm just not vibing it :(

6. Tamed (aka, the fairy tale!AU) : There's no real plot to this one which was largely the problem. I was thinking about--hey, what if I added a war in there and the team of misfit fairy tale protagonists have to use their unique talents to stop the war before it consumes the land? But then that was a little meh... while there is some misunderstandings about Sasuke hating magic because of his brother and Shikako having magic its largely. That's just drama and rehashing friendship that I'm not so keen on.

5. dragon rider!AU (another one of those “lost” ‘verses): baaasically for the same reason as above but the conflict already exists there. And like, I'll be honest, I did have a little bit written which I've let stagnate on my laptop for literally years and given the premise of it was Shikako showing up and trying to convince the Sand dragons to aid against probably Akatsuki. And literally about getting herself heard by Sand's government. But again! A little meh!

4. Indelible: I mostly wanted to play around in this world because of how hyper-political it's become. I mean, I made it so of course I'm enjoying the drama, but it's one of those things where it's just--hey, a tiny thing can be blown so out of proportion and have so many consequences but it's not out of anything evil or mean. If anything Danzo's bullshit machinations were made obsolete because of this. Which is a little hilarious. The only reason why this didn't win at being the prompt fill is that, kind of like the Torifu POV for Ascendant, this fic would have to be either a Gaara/Sand POV during the chuunin exams (which is so far removed from the original butterfly flapping its wings) or a Nej POV as the only person other than the Nara twins to be in on the secret. And I don't really write Neji well... or at all...

And now for the top three, in no particular order:

Cadmium City/Counterclockwise/Ode to 11010201: ie, my original fiction world. Mostly because, uh, yeah. There's a lot that's happening in that which the prompt could apply to. I was thinking about using the framework of Twelve Sessions since of my original fiction series I think this one is the best received. And, also, the literal "hearing" this also applies to this in multiple ways. But for the prompt this would mean its about Curtis learning about Simone's backstory which isn't as fascinating as a literal superhero going to therapy. Maybe more of an exploration of the other Could/Should/Actually 'verses? Alternatively, and this is a little weirder, I was going back over the Ode to 11010201 'verse and just like. Realizing all the personal shit I put into its foundation and thus how inherently biased it is. I was considering trying to write from R's sister's POV but its almost too personal? Because then I'd have to reexamine the IRL analogue of the situation and consider what pushed me there in the first place. And why, conversely, I haven't written that much in that 'verse since. Emotional Maturity is not here right now.

Iron Will: the only thing stopping me here, tbh, is that I still haven't figured out which iteration of Tetsuki is the one I'm going with. Is she actually the semi-feral, Earth Kingdom, would be Freedom Fighter? Or is that a cover that the Fire Nation heiress uses to manipulate and murder on Azula's behalf? I legitimately do not know.

Primadonna Girl (Says No Thank You): specifically, the dark future AU. It's such a bonkers AU that I don't think I'll ever really be able to justify playing around in it, truly, but dang. I went real bleak with it.

... so less of a fill and more of a fanfic equivalent of a clip show, I guess. Sorry, anon. If any of these struck your fancy, let me know and I'll try my hand at it. Otherwise, uh, feel free to send in a different prompt.

Ask Box Advent Calendar 2020

[thotsforvillainrights]

Don't know if you take requests, but if so could you do a little scenario or something with Chisaki on his S/O's birthday? But one where like everything goes wrong and totally not as planned but at the end they get to relax with each other or something lol (I'd just like a fluff end to be honest, so it's up to you :D) Thanks💞💞

~Birthday Disaster~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

If Kai could present you with a specific trophy for tolerating his bullshit on a daily basis, then he would’ve done so by now. Instead he just settles for spoiling you. The only issue is that you’ve told him on multiple occasions not to spoil you so much. Finally it got through his head, and he reluctantly listened. However, this was on the count of 1 thing: holidays being the exception. He (and the rest of the Hassaikai) considered your birthday to be a holiday. In fact, it was one of the MOST important days aside from Christmas. Kai held this to be true as his gateway for spoiling the shit out of you to makeup for all the days you’ve loved him so much. “You had better not be thinking of going insane tomorrow.” You muttered as he turned the lights off for bed. He settled under the covers next to you and kissed the back of your neck gently. “Oh Angel, we had a deal. Remember? Tomorrow is one of the day’s I get to go wild on you. I’ve been saving up for it and everything.” You sighed and turned to face him with a gentle smile. “No, the deal was that you could get me a few more things than usual, not that you could go crazy. How about this...why don’t you just get a few expensive gifts instead of a hundred thousand moderate priced ones? Is that okay?” You looked at him with those soft pleading eyes, and how could he say no. “Very well then.” He smiled at you and kissed you softly. Then you two drifted to bed in no time. 

The morning came soon enough and just like Chisaki had intended, you were gone with Nemouto so he could take the time needed to prepare for your party. You only knew it was under the circumstances that Nemouto needed your opinion on new furniture at the underground base. A part of you secretly felt like it was because needed to prepare a party. Nonetheless, you loved furniture shopping and you liked hanging out with Nemouto so you agreed. Kai sighed in relief when he woke up and saw you were already gone. Everything seemed to be going according to plan for the most part. Suddenly he heard a knock on the bedroom door. He opened it to see Pops and Hari smiling at him. “Good morning to both of you, but Hari I gave you the day off today. Why are you here?” Kurono chuckled and shook his head. “You’re not just my boss, but my best friend too. I’m here to help out because I like y/n, and I’m happy she/he/they made you into a better person. Of course I wanna help make this party great.” 

Kai nodded, smirking but then looking over to the elder. Pops reached into his Hakama and pulled out a small box. HE handed it off to Kai and waited for the boy to open it. When he opened it, it revealed a tiny necklace in the design of the Hassaikai logo. There was some dust in the box which meant it had a bit of age to it. “This was mine. It was handed off to me from the old leader...my father. I wore it in my teen years but when you showed up in my elder years, I placed it away. Initially I was going to give it to you, but you were a difficult child and an even more difficult teen.” Kai took a moment to cringe at the stuff he put Pops through. “Anyhow, my boy. I want you to give it to y/n. No hard feelings, but I want to show y/n that the Yakuza welcomes them fully. As for you...well I’m sure taking leadership is better than some old necklace, right?” The geezer winked at Kai and he smiled before before putting the box into his jacket pocket. “Thanks old man. Kurono?” Kai turned his attention to Hari. “Round up my men. I’ve got some tasks for them before you and I leave.” Hari nodded and went to gather the precepts. Each of them was assigned a specific task as follows:

Tengai and Rappa-Decor

Setsuno and Tabe-Food

Mimic and Deidoro-Music

Hojo and Katsukame-Invitations

Pops-Party Games

Without a second thought, he was off with Chrono to the mall in search of a gift for your birthday. Meanwhile, you and Nemouto were face deep in the couch section of the furniture store...

that just so happens to be at

the

same

mall...

Of course Kai didn’t realize this until he and Chrono were leaving out of one of the stores and he and Nemouto locked eyes from across the way. You were looking forward at a gumball machine when suddenly Nemouto started pushing and shoving you forward. “Ah what the heck Shin!? Hey, isn’t that Kai over there???” You tried to get a better look, but he took evasive maneuvers and dipped between a crowd of people with Kurono. “No that’s not the young master! He’s currently at the base, your eyes are mistaken. Come, come!” He kept pushing you along. Eventually you got tired of it and informed him that you were going to go to the bathroom. Not even seconds later once you went into the restroom, Nemouto’s phone buzzed. He stepped a little further from the restroom and answered. “Nemouto, what the hell was that!?!?” Kai’s angry voice boomed over the phone. “Did she/he/they notice me?” Nemouto answered truthfully and Kai sighed. “Damn it. Now we have to get back earlier than you so y/n doesn’t suspect anything. I hope the others have the party together by then so we can-

“Shin? I can’t fully decided on any furniture. Can we just go back to the base now? We can do this another day. Besides, I miss Kai and I wanna spend the rest of my birthday with him.” You spoke as you got out of the bathroom. He quickly hung up his phone, knowing Kai must’ve heard you of course. Now he was on a race to distract you with fast food and red lights so Kai could make it back to the house faster than you did. When he made it back home with Kurono and your gift, it was complete and utter disaster. “What the hell is going on here?!?!?!?” Tabe was finishing off the food faster than Setsuno could put it on the table. Setsuno was cursing him out for it of course. Tengai had traditional and peaceful zen decor up on one side of the room while Rappa had wrestling, boxing, and cage fighting stuff up on the other side. His excuse was that they couldn’t decide so Tengai made him stay on one side of the room. Mimic and Deidoro had the most obscure rap music you could think of playing. I mean like ‘first off fuck your bitch and the click you claim’ type of rap. Hojo and Katsukame were creating hand made invitations as if they couldn’t have just called your friends by phone. “Sorry boss, I thought you wanted us on invitations.” And Pops? Well Pops had 2 party games out. One of them was SHogi, and the other one was Shogi but with different color game pieces. He was so proud of himself too. Kai groaned loudly and slapped a hand over his face. He reached into his pocket for his phone and began to panic when he realized the box that Pops had given him earlier that day must’ve slipped out and gotten lost. Not only was this party a disaster but he had also managed to lose an important Hassaikai heirloom as well. He actually wanted to cry for the first time in his adult life had it not been for the sound of your sudden voice from behind him.

“Kai? Is this all for me?” He turned to see you with expectations of displeasure, but you were so happy. “I love it.” You smiled at the others as well. “But...It’s not what I originally had in mind for your birthday, angel.” He frowned deeply. You just laughed and reached up to flick his beak. “I love it, silly! It shows that everyone put their own efforts into a party for me. Hey is that present for me?” You pointed at the bag Kurono was holding. Hari nodded and handed it to Kai so he could give it to you. When you pulled it out, you were relieved to find it was a simple gift. It was a purple build-a-bear with a matching jacket that resembled Kai’s. When you squeezed his paw, Kai’s recorded voice came out to say “My angel, I love you.” On the tag attached it said: “For the long nights I’m away on mission, or just for when I’m being annoying and I have to sleep on the couch. I love you.” You smiled widely with tears welling up in your eyes before you hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Chisaki.”

“Oh, speaking of presents!!!” You pulled away and quickly reached into your pocket to pull out the box he had lost. “I found this when me and Nemouto were coming into the driveway. I’m going to assume it’s one of my presents, right?” The relief on his face was unmatched when you pulled out the necklace and put it on. 

Although it seemed like a disaster to him, this was truly one of your best birthdays thus far. 

»—————————–———————————————————–✄

TIp Jar: https://cash.app/$YuTakeyama

[opheliancano]

    ❝  and there's nothing like a mad woman         what a shame she went mad         no one likes a mad woman         you made her like that ❞

CORINTH TASK: HEADCANONS

Andromeda: Talk about your character’s relationship with their siblings (if they have any).

Ophelia does not have any biological siblings that she knows of. She had adoptive siblings, but never had a particularly close relationship with any of them, as she was treated more like a nanny than a daughter. Once she left her hometown she never had contact with them again. 

Asclepius: Talk about your character’s morality. How do they decide who is morally good and who is not? What does “good” mean to them?

Ohhhhh god. This is... a good question, with kind of a complex answer I’m not sure I can put well into words? Which is kind of funny, because as a fury, Ophelia is all about justice, and she thinks that she has a good moral center. But it’s also unquestionably been warped by her own personal experiences in her human life, like a distrust for authority figures/law enforcement and the belief that following human rules do not automatically equal being a good person. She has very much her own moral code which she holds others to, in whether she deems them a “good” or not. I think it honestly just comes down to vibes, as kind of ridiculous as it sounds. She gets a feel for people and decides off of that? Which... is not the best method probably, consider how easily Ophelia could probably be manipulated. She’s one of those people who subconsciously looks for the good in others, and wants to believe it, even if she herself isn’t aware of that fact. So it’d be more easy to fool her into believing someone is good when they’re not than it would an older fury, probably. 

Atlas: Talk about how your character deals with their “responsibility” to either side of the war for the veil, if they are aware of it.

I think Ophelia sort of views herself as above it all? She’s definitely aware of it happening, has seen the power struggle between the gods in the near-century that she’s been a fury. But the way she sees it is that however it shakes out, it doesn’t really concern her? Her job is to protect the human world against these creatures the gods created to be their soldiers. On one hand, the elimination of the veil and subsequently all the supernatural creatures of the world would make it infinitely safer for humans. On the other hand, would Ophelia be considered one of the creatures that would cease to be? She was created as a sort of checks and balances to keep others from running wild, but still created into something other none the less. The question of what would happen to her should the veil fall is unclear, and while it troubles her at times, since it’s out of her grasp, she’s done a pretty good job at shoving it down and ignoring it. Her job is what matters, ultimately. 

Charon: Talk about your character’s greatest fears.

It depends on what type of fear you’re looking for, honestly. If we’re talking global scale, it’d be that something happens to herself and the other furies, and then there’s nothing left to enact justice in the mortal world. But as of right now, that doesn’t seem like much of a possibility, so it’s more of a worst case scenario type fear. On a personal level, deep down she’s concerned that she’s not particularly good at being a fury. Ophelia is aware of the fact that she has a lot of feelings, sometimes too many, and is concerned it can conflict with her ability to serve her leader properly. As much as she likes to comfort Alexios that he’ll find his footing in this new life he’s stepped into, that it only takes time and practices, there are sometimes when she wonders if that’s true. She has enough righteous fury to cover the planet and then some, sure, and when she acts out her role as a harbinger of justice, there’s no feeling like it. But sometimes the waters can get muddy, where her own emotions get involved and she’s not quite sure what the right decision would be. And she worries that she’s failing in her duty.

Chronos: Talk about how your character deals with their past.

Sad and soft immortal hours baby. That’s basically it, to be honest. She’s very reminiscent, and can get hit with bouts of nostalgia by even the littlest of triggers. It’s not something she tries to run from or even suppress, unless caught at an ill-opportune time. Ophelia probably has the healthiest coping mechanism of any of my characters, because unlike the others, she doesn’t try to pretend like those feelings don’t exist, but embraces them willingly.

Circe: Talk about how your character deals with betrayal.

She’d be heartbroken. And vengeful. Ophelia naively believes that she is a good judge of character, that the people she surrounds herself with are good people at their core. Like mentioned above, her soul wants to believe in the decency of people, even when her head tells her otherwise, which is how she could almost easily find herself falling into the trap of trusting someone she shouldn’t. So long as they don’t have a neon I’M A EVIL PERSON sign over their head, she’s usually open to giving people a fair chance. To have someone betray that trust would absolutely be a crushing experience, and greatly damage Ophelia’s faith in herself and her ability as a fury; that she would become so blind as to be fooled, when she is suppose to be acting as a hand of justice to judge the character of those around her. Depending on the betrayal, and just how deep of a wound it inflicts, it could set forth a chain reaction of her questioning every decision she’s ever made in her life as a fury, and no longer trusting her instincts. And there would absolutely be hell to pay. In the literal sense. Don’t cross someone capable of dragging your ass to the Underworld for eternal torment. 

Eros: Talk about your character’s love life, and how they see “love.”

Ophelia is a romantic at heart. I honestly believe she’s one of those people who could fall in love with anyone, because that’s just the type of heart she has. She’s had two serious relationships, both of which happened in her human life, that she put her heart and soul into in a way that hasn’t happened since. She’s had flings and relationships over the years of her immortality, and I think a part of her has fallen in love with each of them a little bit, all in different ways. But ultimately, none have been to the degree of her second love. As of right now, her girlfriend from her human life was the love of her life, and she still looks back on those memories in fondness and longing. At the same time though, she’s not crippled by it, and it hasn’t keep her from experiencing those emotions again with anyone else unlike Lykaon’s stubborn ass. She’s open to it, basically. Romanticizes it. 

Euryale: Talk about someone’s death that would hit your muse the hardest, or their greatest loss.

I don’t think Ophelia’s been exposed to much death, really. Not at least in terms of physically witnessing it. The one that hit her hardest would be the death of her first love, a soldier boy who died in World War I, but even then it almost seemed... unreal? That because there was never a body to bury that came back, she didn’t really have to acknowledge it. The same thing with her second love, the woman she knew in Chicago. Though rationally Ophelia thinks her to be dead at this point, under the assumption she lived out a normal human life, she never had to witness it firsthand. When or if it actually happens, I imagine it’ll be a sort of a reality shock. I could honestly see her even trying to travel to the Underworld to bargain with the furies for the soul of the person, if it’s someone she particularly cares about, or at least trying to seek permission to walk them through their passage into the afterlife. Losing any of the other furies would absolutely break her, but fortunately, their species is immortal with no known methods of killing them yet. 

Hektor: Talk about how your character deals with something that is out of their control.

There is very little Ophelia feels like she cannot control, in one way or another. Thus, when faced with such a problem, it perturbs her like nothing else. When something is truly, completely out of her hands, her method of dealing with it is to just ignore it. If she chooses not to acknowledge it, then it can’t affect her, right? Right. Excellent logic there.

Lamia: Talk about what other species your character would be/wants to be.

She’s very happy to be a fury, and I don’t think Ophelia would willingly trade it away for anything else. Despite the doubts she might have on whether she’s particularly good at it, she’s very grateful that Megaera gave her this gift, and would not give it up for anything. That being said, if I had to pick something else for her, when I was first playing with her character model I had her as a vampire. I think it would be interesting to mix in her strong sense of justice with a creature that’s less morally-aligned than furies are, especially one that has to feed on others to survive. Ophelia would probably be one of those vampires that’s constantly at war with her own nature, and yet using her compulsion as freely as she uses her mental manipulation currently. In her mind, she’d see herself as the hero of the story, but whether that would align with what others would view as “good” is... an interesting idea. 

Lethe: Talk about if your character would rather forget certain memories or hold on to them.

Ophelia would not give up any of her memories, not even the bad ones. Again, she’s very nostalgic by nature. Her thought process is that without the bad memories, the good ones would not hold so much meaning. You can’t experience true happiness without experiencing true sadness first, and all that type of philosophy. 

Medea: Talk about your characters thoughts on redemption, and if they think they need it or are worthy of it.

She is a big believer in redemption, though with her role as a fury, she does not think herself in need of it as Ophelia already views herself as on the right side. 

Philotes: Talk about your character’s best friends and what friendship means to them.

Again, undoubtedly the furies. @selaxamin and @alexiosflorus, in particular, although that’s easy to say when they’re the only other ones currently in the group right now. But even with others, I think it’d be true. Sela was the one that took Ophelia under her wing when she first became a fury, fulfilling the mentor role that Ophelia now serves as for Alexios. There’s few who she looks up to so reverently as Sela, and almost no one whose opinion she values more. And Alexios she’s almost completely adopted as her son, at this point. Outside of the furies, a few friends that she’s made that she’s already beginning to care a great deal for (or will come to care for) would be @silaskyun, @ajaxgriffin, @leonidaskaratasos, @winterdupont, and maybe @atlasxrose. Ophelia has never had a problem making friends wherever she goes, because the display she puts on most of the time is that of a charming, kind young woman. 

(The) Phonoi: Talk about your character’s view on murder.

Mixed. Unjustified murder is bad, obviously. She doesn’t have to be a follower of Tisiphone to know that. But at the same time, a murder can be justified. Like someone acting in retribution for a wrong. So long as it’s justifiable, or she can reason it, then Ophelia can condone it. There was actually a meme I answered on this scenario, where she walked in on Atlas committing a murder, and honestly it’s pretty accurate to how she would respond, especially if it were someone that she cares about. You can read it here if you want.

Ponos: Talk about what would make your character emotionally break.

Again, I feel like betrayal would be pretty high up there. But also, like previously mentioned as well, witnessing the death of someone she cared about. 

Tartarus: Talk about your character’s view on retribution.

It’s her whole thing, baby. What she’s been put on this earth to do. Retribution is a big part of who Ophelia is, to the point where if she witnesses an injustice happening, she cannot rest until she corrects it. It does not matter whether it happens to her, someone she knows, or even a stranger on the street. She cannot abide by immorality that harms others unnecessarily, and if the person that was wronged is unable to enact justice themselves, then she will be the one to do it. 

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Kai and Kaito are worry about Y/N because her mom is coming to visit her grandchild. But Y/N remembers that it is their first time meeting her mother. Also Y/N's mom wants to meet Pops as well. Basically she wants to meet everyone. Y/N's mom looks like a 12 year old. (Probabaly of her quirk and it's anime.) Pop's spit his tea when he ask how old she is. (She is older than Pops.) Y/N's mom treats everyone like children because she is the oldest out of the everyone.

Anime dynamics are just... weird.

"First time meeting your mother and the brat is almost losing it." Chisaki stated numbly as he looked over at his son.

"Well you do have to consider that this is his only grandmother.... and he is meeting her with two years." You giggled at his arched eyebrow and unamused face. "I'm going to get her... or else she won't even pass the gates." You mumbled before you left the house.

"Daddy you're scared?" The kid asked nonchalantly while staaring up at his father.

"Why would I even be? Is just a woman." He scoffed in slight offense at hearing his son comment.

"Because you have a drop of sweat on your temple." The kid yelped and pouted at the quick flip his father gave on his forehead, the man himself grabbing a handkerchief shortly after to wipe that drop off.

He wasn't scared.

You entered minutes later with a... young woman by your side?

"Mom, this is my husband Kai Chisaki, he is the leader of the yakusa while this little boy over here is my precious son Kaito." The woman smiled serenely at both before bowing in respect.

"Is such a pleasure to meet the man who made my daughter so happy all these years, forgive me you both for not coming to the weeding." You quickly interrupted her to say that it wasn't a bother and that you knew how busy she was.

While both of your dark brow haired boys blinked in confusion, sharing a confused look before refurning to look at the woman in your side.. even the voice sounded... younger.

What the actual heck?

The woman crouched down to Kaito's eye level before gently grabbing his cheeks in both hands.

"Why, aren't you the prettiest little thing? Is so nice to meet you." She smiled while Kaito returned it with his tiny smirk.

Chrono and Mimic just happened to be walking on the same room and immediately noticed the unfamiliar presence.

"Yo who is the chick?" Mimic asked while pointing at your mother.

Chisaki darkned his eyes and went to send him a threatening glare if it wasn't for your mother's laugh.

"Oh please young man don't be such a flatter!"

"What the-? Young man?" Mimic mumbled, not believing that the brat in front of him was calling him such a thing.

"And you two kids must be..?" She asked, leaving a confused as fuck Kurono and Mimic.

Kids? KIDS?

"She is the (Y/n)'s mother, bunch of incompetents." Kai growled and scoffed at the way both of the mans eyes widened in shock.

"WhAT ThE AcTUaL FuCK?!" Kai covered his son's while glaring at Mimic... the man himself.winced at knowing he fucked up.

"No offense but you look like you're (Y/n)'s sister or similiar because..." Chrono looked up and down at her wity a frow "Yeah..."

The woman giggled with a hand lose to her chest while the other waved it in fdont of her.

"Oh please, no. I'm not that young. Quite opposite actually! All of you kids are such gentlemans."

"Mom now you're just milking it." You deadpanned at her before sighing at the wink she gave it to you.

Kaito let himself be his grandmother's guide through the house while you and Chisaki walked just a bit behind them.

"How can she call me a kid? I am a grow adult with a child already." He growled before glaring at your quite giggling figurine.

"Is just her way." You smiled up at him while he scoffed.

"With how many years did she gave birth to you? Nine?"

"Actually no. Rude." You pouted mockingly "She actually had me in a very delayed age to be honest... dont even know how I was born health to be honest."

"Because you're a angel." He muttered numbly, smirking behind his mask at your faint blush.

"What was that?" You asked with a smile before huffing at the 'I said nothing.' From your husband.

Then you and your son are the brats huh? Damn hypocrite.

One door swinged open and Kaito opened his big smile at seing the elder getting out.

"Grandpa!" Pops looked down with a smirk before noticing that not only his favorite little family was there but also in the company of a fresh new face.

"Who do I have the honor of meeting?" He asked while pointing at the woman and looking at both of you.

"My mom." "(Y/n)'s mother." "Grandma."

Pops and you mom laughed at the simultaneous answers before both introduced themselves to each other.

"Mother? Aren't you quite too young for being the mother of my daughter in law mrs?"

"Same goes to you. Such a gentleman young man you created. A bit cold, but a gentleman no less."

You stiffled a laugh at the notocing your husband's jaw clenching and his glare.

"You all interested on some tea? I need to know more about my daughter in law after all." You gulped, not liking one bit to know that now your husband was smirking devilish at the statement.

~

"So your son doesn't visit you often?"

"No. When he married that woman of his he simply decided to forgot that I existed and simply... vanished." She spoke sadly but with a smile no less.

Pops hummed while furrowing his eyebrows in disgust of such actions "I quite understand you. Something similiar happened with me and my idiot daughter..."

You and Chisaki shared glances before your husband scolded Kaito for almost dropping his box of juice in his and your lap.

"I am sorry for that. Lucky us that we at least have something to be proud of." She smiled at you and you returned it with your own.

"Surely. And your daughter was quite a blessing on this house. Not going to lie, I enjoy and appreciate her company." He poured more of the drink while Kaito grunted at not getting the plastic out of the straw for him to drink his own juice.

You giggled and genrly took it from his hand and handed to him shortly after the box with the staw already sticked on it.

"Thanks mama!"

"He could have drinked some tea due to his manners." Kai comented numbly while staring in disgust at the nox in his son's hand.

"Its black tea Chisaki. I bet Kaito would not be much fun of it anyway."

"Agreed." Kaito mumbled before closing his lip on the straw not bothering with his father's glare as he snuggled on his mother's lap with a smug look.

Even in the front of others... this brat will see at night, not going to stay to block him from his wife.

Pops and your mother entered on another chat, you and Kai making some comments here and there while Kaito just distracted himself with playing with your fingers while he sitted on your lap... the box of juice still on his hand.

"Ah right." Pops laughed sarcastically "Like you would know what those ages are, you're might be the mother of my daughter in law but that doesn't make you that old." He brought the tea to his mouth.

"Why wouldn't I know? I have 82 years old. I guess that I would know how times on that year were mister."

You almost laughed at the way your son and husband's jaw almost fell while Pops ended up spitting his tea on the carpet with a cough, avoiding on spilling the hot fdrink along with his saliva at anyone while the younger boy accidentaly let the box in his hands fall.

Luckily it was empty and closed...

Pops coughed a few more tines to regain his breath before one of Kaito's comment let you and your mother laughing, you in nervous embarrassment whiel your mother just found it funny.

"Wow you old!" Kai snapped our of his shocked state and pinched his son ear. "Ow!"

"Chisaki Kaito. Take what you said back this instant and apologize." Chisaki growled while his son pouted at him.

"Why, no need to apologize! The kid is not wrong." Your mother said gently while Kai's eye twitched.

"82 years huh?" Pops coughed one last time with a chuckle "Geez lady tell me your secret because you're way older than me and I'm looking like I am about to go to the grave."

You and Kai winced at that before both of you knocked discretly on the woodem cofee table...

"Don't say that Pops." Kai comented numbly, hidding his concern whiel lowering his mask to take a sip of his own cup.

"Listen to your son, you're still on good shape." Your mother comented while Pops scoffed.

"Says the woman who looks at the same or even younger than her own daughter."

[i-need-entertainment]

Someday: Overhaul

You had been Overhaul’s assistant for two years now, you were also one of the few people closest to him. And by close I mean, non-expendable, not at a huge risk to be overhauled, and can give him advice that he (usually) takes. You knew Kai (Oh yeah, he also insisted that you call him by his name, but only around him or Chrono.) wasn’t exactly a heartfelt individual, yet you couldn’t help but fall for the Mysophobic, emotionless, cold young leader of the Shie Hassaikai. 

You knew he’d never feel the same, I mean, the guys borderline a sociopath, not to mention EXTREMELY dedicated to his goals. So you knew loving him wouldn’t end up great for you..but you mean what you say when you couldn’t help yourself. He was strong, charming, determined, not to mention handsome. Even only ever seeing from the bridge of his nose up, you could tell he was attractive. About a year or so ago, you had asked Hari, (his childhood friend) If he was hiding a scar or birth defect. But he said he just didn’t like breathing the same air as they did. Which seemed like overkill, but you weren’t one to judge. Currently you were making your way over to Overhaul’s office, he had said he needed your help with something. This wasn’t unusual, being called into his office. I mean, you were basically his secretary. But lately you noticed you had been getting called in more, and more. But not for phone calls, or paperwork, but simple things. Little things he could have easily done himself, or even gotten one of the precepts to do, but instead he insisted that it be you. After about five minutes of wandering the maze of a base, you got to his door and knocked. You used to have to wear a black surgical mask, and gloves, but over the years he got used to you and allowed you to not wear them. Oh yeah! You might want to know what you’re wearing, you wore a silky white dress shirt neatly tucked into a black pencil skirt that ended just above your knees, your hair was down, straightened and parted on the left, with the left side being sweetly tucked behind your ear. “Come in” The usual monotoned voice of Overhaul spoke up. You walked into the room and headed over to his desk. It was then you noticed he wasn’t wearing his plague mask, but his black surgical mask he wore under it. You always liked when he didn’t wear it because you got to see his nice features more clearly. He had also abandoned the jacket and tie, leaving his first few buttons undone. He was also holding a wad of gauze to his forehead. “Oh my gosh Kai, what happened?! You’re bleeding!” you scrambled to get the gauze and medical supplies he kept on hand “We had a couple…issues with the lab this morning, a vile of the drug exploded and it cut me on my forehead, and I think there’s some glass lodged in my shoulder” It was then you noticed he had also been holding his shoulder. “Yeah, I’d say! And you didn’t get any medical attention?! Why didn’t you fix your shoulder with your quirk!” “It was a vile of the quirk destroying drug, my quirk won’t be back until tomorrow, and I don’t think it’d be a good idea to wait until then to deal with it.” Luckily for both of you, you had taken an advanced course in first aid when you started working there, so you knew how to fix wounds like this, you just normally didn’t have to since overhaul could fix his wounds himself. “Okay then, I can help you but you’re going to have to let me touch you.” Just at the mention of the word ‘touch’ Overhaul could feel the hives just waiting to make their appearance. You see, the truth is, is that over the past two years, overhaul had developed feeling for you too, but being a villain and the leader of one of the most notorious gangs in history, he didn’t exactly know what to do. He had asked chrono what to do about it, and he said he should just tell her how he feels, especially since she was the only female, aside from Eri, in the Shie Hassaikai and she probably wouldn’t be single for long. Chrono had smoothly and stealthily found out that y/n was indeed single and liked overhaul back, and was more than happy to play match maker. (Listen, being stuck in this base can get boring real quick, real fast.) Y/n made her way over to the young boss. “Since it’s lodged pretty deep into your shoulder, you’re gonna have to take off your shirt..” y/n sheepishly looked away. Overhaul smirked, y/n was a usually confident and collected person, and there’s only one person whose been able to crack that façade and make her flustered, and that person is of course Kai Chisaki. “Are you sure its not just because you want to see me with my shirt off y/n? Hm?” The mention of Overhaul shirtless alone made y/n’s face go bright red, a sight that made Overhaul lightly chuckle. He took his shirt off and y/n’s blush only grew. The man was built. She knew he was in good shape, and probably had some muscle, but she hadn’t expected him to be in THAT good of shape! This reaction did not go unnoticed by him, and only boosted his ego of course. “Now, are you going to keep checking me out, or are you going to patch me up?” He asked in his usual monotone, but with a noticeable amount of amusement in his tone. “You really enjoy making me embarrassed don’t you?” you said as you started cleaning the wound “I must admit, it’s amusing to say the least. It’s not my fault your so easy to fluster y/n~” He said the last part in a deeper, maybe even seductive tone, the kind of tone that made y/n’s heart flutter, and get used to the blush, cause it ain’t leavin anytime soon. It was then you also noticed that kai…didn’t have any hives…. you were touching him…and he wasn’t covered in hives!!! It was then you also felt two arms snake their way around your waist. (Kai is sitting in his desk chair, and your standing in front of him patching him up) “U-uh k-kai” You stuttered out, face red beyond belief and with the heart beat to match. “Yes, y/n?” He answered, as if he hadn’t just made the smoothest move known to mankind. “D-doesn’t it bo-other you to t-touch me?” You had finished patching up the gash on his shoulder and forehead, you were about to move away, when strong arms pulled you to sit on his lap. “eep!” You squeaked as you felt him bury his head into your shoulder. “It doesn’t bother me y/n, you’re clean. Actually…I enjoy your touch…I enjoy being around you, y/n” he said, looking up and turning his golden gaze to match your shocked one. “Actually y/n, I’ve enjoyed your company for a while now, it hasn’t been until recently however that I knew why. Do you know why, y/n?” “U-um, w-why kai?” “It’s because I love you Y/n L/n. Or rather, I’m in love with you.” Hold up. Did he just- yup. He did. Kai Chisaki, the scary leader of the Shie Hassaikai just sMoOtH as butter confessed his love to you. You quickly turned to meet his gaze, filled with nothing but sincerity, and love. “…Do you really mean it?” “Every word. So?” “So..?” He playfully rolled his eyes “Do I really have to spell it out for you? I want to be your boyfriend, y/n. Although I must be honest, I can’t promise to want to be your boyfriend forever.” “Oh?....Why not?” “Simple, someday I’m going to want to be your husband instead.”………Y/n.exe has OFFICIALLY stopped working. “KAI CHISAKI ATLEAST GIVE ME A WARNING BEFORE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!” If the tone of her voice didn’t give it away, the FIERCE blush on her face did. “No, I’m only going to give you a warning if I’m teasing you, I see no reason to warn you if I’m being serious.” The son of a gun shrugged it off like he DIDN’T just say he was gonna marry you someday and moved on. “But, y/n, in all seriousness, I am completely sure in my feelings for you.” “I didn’t think you’d feel the same way..All this time, I thought it was one sided, guess I was wrong huh?” Y/n let out a happy giggle, the kind that made Kai’s heart overflow with love. Sure, he was a cold Yakuza leader, and yes he on occasion killed people, but if there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that he was hopelessly and utterly in love with Y/n L/n and he was going to make sure nothing EVER changed that. “….I…I Love you….y/n..” Although it was going to take him AWHILE to get used to…well emotions he knew that one day, someday you’d understand just how much he loved you. “I love you too, Kai Chisaki”. And right now, someday was getting closer and closer.

[shipaholic]

Omens Universe, Chapter 7

Pivotal chapter no. 1, here we go...

This chapter has drinking. So much drinking. Also, Crowley finally has the Bentley, so this will be the first chapter (of many?) in which he totally invents speeding.

The music in this chapter is V Stands For Victory

And I Could Write a Book (Eddy Duchin, 1941).

Link to next part at the end.

(From the beginning)

(last part)

(chrono)

---

Chapter 7

Crowley’s ridiculous contraption bombed down the street at ninety miles per hour. Aziraphale was hardly aware. His eyes were fixed on Crowley’s face as he drove.

This was bad, he thought, dreamily.

Telling himself that made no dent in his emotional state. His mind was wrapped in cotton candy. Cotton candy that was moving very fast… possibly still in the whirly machine they made it in… he shouldn’t try to devise metaphors at a time like this. The point was, despite Crowley being Demonic and Evil and the rest of the standard specs for a minion of Hell, upon realising he loved him, Aziraphale could not make himself feel anything other than Good. Both definitions. This was right. This was what he was made for.

It wasn’t as if Crowley had ever been capital-E Evil, really. In fact, so long as he was being honest with himself (a dreadful prospect, but it turned out love made him brave), he had known this ever since the first time they fused. All those thousands of years ago. That was probably a big part of the reason he had hit the proverbial roof. It was a blow to one’s identity as a font of goodness, to merge minds with your opposite number and learn that he had more in common with you, morally, than most of your allies. Back then, he had refused to accept being humbled and had lashed out at Crowley instead. He’d behaved terribly. Worse than he’d even admitted before now.

But that was in the past, and the present was a carousel, a delicious dreamscape, gliding through the velvet dark with Crowley beside him -

The Bentley screeched to a halt. Aziraphale nearly slammed into the windscreen.

“Home sweet home,” Crowley said, cheerfully.

It was fortunate he didn’t have to love everything about Crowley, because this infernal machine was definitely out.

Crowley peered out of the window. “Hasn’t changed a bit,” he said, approvingly. He opened his door and hopped out. “Coming?”

Aziraphale looked out. They were already at the bookshop. He hadn’t been paying attention.

He collected himself, and his bag of books. He opened the car door with trepidation, as if the handle might explode.

It didn’t. He got from the car and followed Crowley in a daze towards the shop.

Crowley snapped his fingers. A soundproof bubble settled over the shop. Another snap dropped the blinds, and a third clicked the door latch into place.

Aziraphale hovered near the entrance. His familiar space had just become soft and dark and intimate. He wasn’t sure what thresholds would be crossed if he went all the way inside.

It had been years since Crowley had been back here. He revolved, drinking it in.

“Ahh. Place looks good. Very… impenetrable.”

Aziraphale preened. “In its heyday, this place could go six months at a time without selling a single book.”

Crowley gave him a fond smile. Aziraphale was going to spontaneously combust before the night was over.

Crowley clapped his hands together. “So! What are you in the mood for?”

Aziraphale took a breath and tried for a normal answer. “Alcohol seems just the ticket.”

“No surprise there.” Crowley miracled up some brandy glasses.

“Well, of course. I was just in mortal peril, you know.” Aziraphale followed him to the back room.

“Immortal peril. Barely counts.”

~*~

It was an old, familiar scene.

Crowley took over the whole sofa in increasingly supine, twisty positions the drunker he got. Aziraphale sat in the armchair, head and surroundings merrily spinning. He wasn’t entirely sure what they were talking about, but he knew it involved vociferously nitpicking something one of them had said half an hour ago.

“Tha’snot true. Totally unfair. I was going to come by.”

“Lies.” Aziraphale poured another brandy and missed.

“I just fell asleep. For a few years. And forgot.”

“Wimped out, more like.”

“Wimped out? Me? What the Hell did you get up to in there?”

“I’ll never tell. Because you didn’t come by.”

Crowley tried to sit up, wrestled with the throw, and sunk back, defeated.

“I knew it wasn’t all games of Old Maid in there,” he said. “You dark horse.”

“We did some of that…” Aziraphale said, dreamily.

“You what?”

Perhaps he shouldn’t have said that. “Erm. We did - the Gavotte?”

“...Is that a euphemism?”

“No, it’s a jolly lovely time.”

An unbroken row of them, linking arms and kicking their feet. Aziraphale had been one of the better dancers by the end. It helped to be single-handed - no, minded...

He bolted upright. “Crowley! I should show you.”

“Whassat?”

Aziraphale sprung to his feet, after a couple of false starts. He took a moment to let the brandy inside him slosh back to an even level.

“The Gavotte. Watch me. Watch me, Crowley.”

He stepped over a few piles of books. He needed some room… was his shop always this cluttered? He pushed ineffectually at a small table covered in ornaments, then gave up and snapped his fingers. The furniture in the middle of the room obligingly tidied itself off to the side. V Stands For Victory parped its opening notes from the gramophone.

Crowley watched, mouth slightly agape, from halfway off the sofa. Aziraphale beckoned him with more and more insistence, until Crowley slid all the way off, crawled nearer and pulled himself up against the arm of Aziraphale’s chair.

Satisfied that Crowley could at least see, even if his eyes were unfocused, Aziraphale prepared himself. He bounced from his knees a few times and swung his elbows. He’d have to just imagine the rest of the chaps.

“A one, a two, a three, a four -”

Five energetic minutes passed.

Aziraphale thrust both arms towards Crowley in the universally recognised sign for ‘tah-dah!’ The gramophone tooted to a stop, sounding embarrassed.

Crowley’s mouth hung open.

“It’s better than your magic act, thank Satan,” he said at last.

“Oh, come now.” Aziraphale frowned.

Crowley groped for the nearest drink. “That’s cheered me up about giving the old club a miss.”

“You’re no fun. It’s better with more people.”

Perhaps a one-person Gavotte was too reliant on the imagination of the audience. Aziraphale thought for a moment. He pointed to the gramophone. It cranked reluctantly up again.

“This music is poor even by Heavenly standards,” Crowley said.

Aziraphale tripped forward before he could overthink it, and grabbed Crowley’s hand. They swayed, as though reaching for each other on a deck over choppy waters. Crowley’s face was scarlet from alcohol. He blinked at Aziraphale, his eyes a haze of gold.

“Dance with me.” Aziraphale meant to sound authoritative. It came out slightly breathless.

“Ngk,” said Crowley.

Aziraphale shuffled backwards. He felt self-conscious hanging onto Crowley’s hand, so tried to pull away unobtrusively. Drunk as they were, their fingers tangled together, and withdrawing his far-too-hot hand ended up being a bit of a nightmare. Crowley’s face was even redder by the time their hands loosened. Still he drifted towards Aziraphale as if the tether was still there.

The music was awfully trumpety, Aziraphale had to admit, as they stood face to face in the bit of floor space that was clear. He stepped up beside Crowley, and slipped his arm through his.

“Now, it’s not so hard. Even I got it in the end. You move like this -”

He took a step. Crowley stepped the other way, and collided with him.

Things did not improve. The gramophone sounded irritated by the third play through, and Aziraphale and Crowley had dissolved into arguing while Aziraphale tried to watch both their feet.

“This is stupid. Whoever invented this dance did not have demons in mind. Or humans. Maybe horses. This is a horse dance.”

“I doubt this dance was intended for horses - no, you do this with your arms. How many elbows do you have?”

“Two, or none, depending. Hmm. Would you say a snake is basically one long elbow?”

“Thinking about that is above my paygrade. Will you stop getting underfoot?”

“You’re stepping on my feet!”

“How am I supposed to avoid that? They’re everywhere.”

“This is why I never bloody turned up.”

“Honestly -”

Aziraphale held Crowley closer, hoping to wrangle him through the steps.

He really was all elbows and knees. And so warm, radiating hell’s heat through that sharp suit. No hat, no glasses, eyes like suns floating in a swamp. Strands of short red hair teased loose over his forehead. His brows had such character. They were scrunched in that bemused, slightly glum way Aziraphale had noted hundreds of times. He hadn’t quite known he was recording it. Crowley’s face, Crowley’s looks. His angelic memory was long, and its catalogue of Crowley was fathomless.

The music had changed. Someone crooned:

‘About the way you walk, and whisper, and look…’

That seemed unnecessarily on-the-nose.

Aziraphale wondered which of them had done that. He didn’t recall making a conscious attempt. Perhaps it had reacted to both of them.

He could no longer pretend what they were doing bore any resemblance to a Gavotte.

He ought to pull away. His eyes fixed on his hand, resting beside Crowley’s lapel. There was no heart beneath it; nothing so human. But something beat anyway. Something in Crowley was in rhythm with him. They pushed and pulled together. Despite a lack of innate ability, they danced.

He looked up, and searched Crowley’s face.

Crowley looked…

Stunned, a little. Fearful. Yearning.

He’d seen this look before. Stifled versions of it. So many times.

Aziraphale’s heart wrenched towards Crowley’s, and it made no difference that neither of them really had one.

~*~

The gramophone concluded that it would make two lovers of friends. The brilliant white glow that had flared into every corner of the room died away like the last light of summer.

Zadkiel twirled to a stop. He had wrapped his arms around himself. He sighed, and opened his eyes.

He was him. Again. Better and fuller and brighter than ever before.

It was like a loose connection in his brain had snapped into place, and lit up an entire circuit he didn’t know was there.

Of course they loved each other. Of course. He’d always known, without being truly allowed to know. Cognitive dissonance, that was the term. Normally, when people had it, it manifested as plain old denial. For Zadkiel, it was what happened when one of your component parts was very much aware they were in love, and the other part was utterly unaware, no matter how apparent it should have been to literally anyone.

No more. Now, their feelings were an open book. He was remade, and everything was different.

He couldn’t wait to get started.

He snapped his fingers at the gramophone. It gratefully fell silent.

Another snap, and Aziraphale’s furniture shuffled back into place. He had to hop about to avoid his shins getting bashed.

Finally, he snapped to unlock the door.

It fell ajar. The smell of night air stirred through the shop, dark as ink, and full of a thousand small noises.

Zadkiel turned in place. He drank in the long-loved sight of the bookshop. What a wonderful friend it had been. A true home, after centuries of wandering. If he could take it with him, he would.

He straightened his tie, banished the lingering alcohol from his bloodstream, and strode to the door.

His final act was to fish his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket. He left them on a table. He wouldn’t need them where he was going.

He exited the shop smartly. The door snapped shut behind him.

~*~

The street rolled away into the dark distance.

Zadkiel tilted his head up. The night sky was empty of stars and gods, and it was all waiting for him.

Both pairs of wings spread out behind him. He let them both have a good stretch. They’d need it.

He had loved the Earth. He always would. Still… time for something new.

He wished the world the fondest of farewells, and took off into the night.

---

(Link to next part)

[steve0discusses]

Live Action Fullmetal Alchemist Pt 2: Winry

OK, it appears tumblr will let me edit a draft again (yay!) So I can go ahead and quickly edit this post I made long ago, before this corona situation, when I was just...so happy...all of the time.

Anyway, it starts out with meeting a villain

So like, I don’t want to step on the toes of one of the biggest and most highly regarded fandoms but Lust wears more clothes than Envy and only seduced one idiot and yet her defining trait is that she’s Lust?

Just seems like she could’ve been more lusty.

And yeah she’s the first to die so it’s not like she had much time, but like, is she Lust just because she’s a lady with boobs? Boobs make you Lust? I see boobs every time I look in a mirror, and I’m pretty sure I’ve worn less clothes than lust on multiple occasions and I am a very prudish person. Whatever, that said, lets get to the good stuff, that’s right, it’s a train, this is what we’re all here for, step aside, Lust and your boobs, we want that good train action.

Damn look at that train. Look at that good train.

Last we left off, Al was cleaning up the mess Ed made, although I’m pretty sure in the anime, Ed could easily fix this stuff in like half a second. But in the movie, they removed that particular alchemy superpower and just kind of leave the town wrecked and go “sorry guys, we’re gonna just leave it like this so we can hold it over Ed later, sorry about the fruit stand. We gotta get realllll catty with my older brother.”

Which is when we introduce Winry.

So like...you can’t really tell from here but they decided to put rivets on everything Winry wears and that’s about all we have here to make her into the Winry I recognize, and that’s OK. It’s OK they stepped away from blonde. They were just so completely exhausted after how many times they had to stick Ed’s braid back on that they just...gave up. However, she is absolutely wearing fake bangs. Just throwing that out there, it’s not a bad look, and I’m a little jealous of them, but no one has bangs like that naturally, as a person who tried Zooey Deschenel bangs for 6 years.

And also--I got a comment on the last post that apparently a lot of Ed’s hair is REAL and they dyed it for the movie. I don’t know which parts exactly, I feel very suspicious of The Braid, but...that is so unfortunate.

So, lets see what Ed’s been up to, considering he left about 5 minutes ago.

(read more under the cut)

Yeah. Just don’t think about it. Maps don’t exist in this movie. It’s a little rough coming from the anime which was pretty map heavy, but this movie says “nah” to maps. This map doesn’t exist. The whole thing where they were making a big alchemy circle out of Amestris? Not a thing anymore, don’t think about it.

Ed and his substitute Dad, Roy Mustang, are too busy fighting about Ed’s only motivation in this movie. This scene happened in the anime as well, and it was sort of different, but again this movie has to abridge a hell ton of content so this is what we got.

Enter, Hughes.

So Hughes is great. Easily one of the best characters in the anime, who only exists just to die, and they made him just as likeable in this movie. This actor was clearly really jazzed to play a soon to be dead Hughes and he did a great job. Course, it’s a pretty wacky Hughes, but that’s fine, this is a weirdly wacky movie.

Also now this guy is here.

(and sorry to let you all down but Ed’s Real Dad or Ed’s Real Dad’s Clone does not even appear in this movie. I know. You might be wondering...so what else is left when you remove...all of that...don’t worry. We’ll get there.)

General Hakuro, I had to look up, because I had completely forgotten who this tool was. But it didn’t really matter, because in their attempt to shorten the anime, Hakuro ends up taking the part of like 10 other people in the original. I mean yeah, you gotta edit, but I just didn’t expect all those people to be played by the part of Hakuro.

No one expects the twists to be honest, it’s...it’s really freakin weird.

Anyways, at least we get to enjoy some Hughes time before he kicks it and this actor will absolutely get his Hughes fill out of every line because he knows he’ll be dead by Act 2. Ah Hughes, the worst spy. I love Hughes. This movie did such a good Hughes.

Listen I know that Winry and Ed are BELOVED. But like, I didn’t feel it in the anime. Be aware of my shipping immunity--I am sort of stone cold and I haven’t really shipped any fictional couples in my entire life. I have to really get sold on a ship to go for a ship, it’s just my weird superpower to be immune to shipping. I’m weird.

But I totally get that Ed and Winry are very beloved and so if you ship it, that’s wonderful. All ships are welcome here. However, this is a very different Ed and Winry dynamic. They’re actually attracted to each other from the get go and their dialogue is playful and they sync up really well like a married couple. And, they do all that without having Ed ignore her until she’s about to die and without any awkward underboob sequences (which was actually very funny in the anime, I’m not gonna lie). And again, this is entirely personal preference, but they do the bare minimum and it worked for me way better than the anime had in 50+ episodes.

Maybe it’s not for everyone, this, again, is just personal preference but...you do not need to torture your female protagonist to turn her into a romantic interest, you just have to have your characters romantically interested in each other. That’s really it. That’s the science. Yet, so many shows refuse to do the bare minimum.

Bear in mind, we also cover Yugioh here, so I might just be getting excited to actually cover a legit romance in a recap for once in my life that isn’t laced with so many bodies/cursed paper cards.

Also, while I make jokes about the sister vibes in the recap--the movie totally dropped any indication that they had been raised in the same house for a while (unlike the anime, which liked to remind you a lot).

Meanwhile, the General is having a really great conversation with himself and it’s like...all over the place. Maybe it was a translation error but this dialogue was kind of a mess.

props to this actor for doing a really good “Oh no she stabbed me through the head!” face. I imagine this face was half his audition. It’s good.

Anyways, as this guy gets eaten alive, Gluttony’s shadow reveals it has a hellton of teeth coming out of it’s stomach. I remember these teeth being a really neat reveal in the anime because it was like halfway through the series, but like, I think this movie kinda expects you to have already seen the anime, so they didn’t really bother hiding this.

Don’t worry we get to see real CGI teeth later and it is *bad*

By bad I mean really good.

Anyways, if you’re new here, I freakin love prop food and I will always take like a good minute to admire any food that is on set.

Like it’s pretty blurry but I’m pretty sure there’s two soups and two salads. Maybe they just decided to raid the actor’s buffet table for this scene but it’s just a really random assortment and also a really huge ass buffet for like 4 people since Al doesn’t eat.

Hughes’ cute girl was written out of the script but I don’t blame them because wow how many bad child actors do you need? That does mean we don’t get the sweet scene of Hughes pulling out his gun at a children’s birthday party, but this movie does have to end at some point so yes, the cute child antics got cut.

Much like moooooost of the people in this cast. At this point I’m just accepting it and moving forward.

Anyway, here’s a link you can click to read all of these in chrono order. There’s just 2 of them. I only have 2 left before I actually have to start watching this movie again so...hopefully by then I’ll...be better adjusted from this quarantine burn out I’ve been dealing with.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/FMA/chrono

[pikachunas]

Chrono Clobbered

“Are you gonna finish your french toast sticks?” 

Jay looked up from his tray. The Burger King was crowded for a Monday morning and he was eager to get home and sleep for the rest of his day off. “You can have em’” Jay muttered. “I’m not hungry.” Ennis sighed and reach across the booth to grab a french toast stick off of Jay’s tray. “It’s always hard at first, but this is a good time to focus on doing things you enjoy and pursuing stuff you’re passionate about.” Jay stared blankly into his lap. “Some people say getting back to work sooner than later can help occupy your mind.” Finally, Jay looked up “No” he insisted. “There are too many memories there… good and bad.” Ennis paused for a second. “I hate to see you like this, but I know that you’ll feel better with time.” Jay scoffed “The only time I’ll feel better is in the past. There’s nothing left for me to look forward to.”

 “I could tell you how to go back in time but you wouldn’t believe me.” Ennis teased. Jay raised an eyebrow and turned his palms upwards, shrugging. “You just have to take a punch.” Jay sighed “I would take a punch from present day Mike Tyson and then another one from 1991 Mike Tyson if it meant I could go back then and start over.” Ennis chuckled “then you’ll be relieved to learn that it’s not a Hall of Fame boxer you have to get slugged by.” 

“Alright, then who is it?”. Jay was genuinely curious. “Do you know Mike Moak?” Ennis asked. Jay nodded “I know of him, I’ve seen After the Fall a bunch of times but I’ve never spoken to him for longer than a couple of minutes.” Ennis put a hand on Jay’s shoulder “Then you know what you’re getting into.” Jay shook his head “I don’t understand. What does Mike Moak have to do with going back in time?” He was already upset but now he was confused and growing increasingly irritated. He had seen Mike Moak in person enough to know that he was much too small and out of shape to throw a punch that could knock someone to the ground, let alone break the time space continuum.

 “I know a guy who got in a fight with him in high school and he says he travelled back in time after MIke clocked him.” Jay was in no mood for jokes and he didn’t want to entertain this nonsense, but his curiosity was piqued.  “That doesn’t make any sense.” He pondered out loud “Did he not wake up after Mike hit him?” Ennis looked away and rubbed his chin pausing for a moment “of course he did, but he was different ever since. Something changed in him and he wasn’t shy about telling people he had gone back in time. He made a believer out of me.”  

“You believe him?” Jay asked. “Hell yes I do” Ennis replied emphatically. “He won $3,000 when he bet that the Giants would beat the undefeated 2007 Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.” Jay curled his lip “You’re telling me this guy knew for a fact the Giants were going to win as heavy underdogs and he still only won $3,000?” Ennis smirked and nodded “That’s what I’m telling you. That was not an easy call back then. They were 12 point underdogs.” Jay lifted himself out of his chair, almost jumping “If he travelled back in time from the future and knew for a certainty the Giants were gonna win that game, how come he didn’t bet everything he owned on it?” Ennis shrugged “I’m sure he did but he didn’t have that much to bet. It’s not like he knew he was gonna travel back in time, and I would venture to guess that if you get punched hard enough that it sends you back in time then you’re not exactly Stephen Hawking when you wake up…. At least not intellectually.”

Jay watched Ennis and waited for a smirk or giggle or some kind of tell that he was bluffing. Any indication that this was an act. “I believe him” Ennis doubled down “he’s just got that vibe like there’s something peculiar about him… like he really is from another time or dimension or something. You’ll understand when you meet him.” Jay thought for a second before pontificating “it’s just so absurd, I know it can’t be true, but I want to suspend disbelief and go into it with an open mind… just for the sake of his act.” Ennis slapped Jay on his back between his shoulders “If it’s an act then he deserves an Oscar for his commitment to the craft, because he’s living it.” Jay faked a smile “Snake oil salesman always do when they’re being watched.” he alleged. Ennis laughed and patted Jay’s back a few more times “That’s the thing about this guy, my friend… he’s got nothing to sell but a story and he’s giving it away to anyone who will listen.” 

Later that evening, still unconvinced, Jay invited his friend Teddy to get lunch the following afternoon. Teddy had always been more involved in the local music scene than he ever was, and she would surely be much more familiar with Mike Moak. They agreed to meet at the Iron Gate Cafe on Washington Ave in Albany. Jay arrived first and was seated at a table by the kitchen. When Teddy walked in, he waved to signal her and she walked over to greet him at the table. Before she finished hanging her purse on the back of her chair Jay asked “How will do you know Mike Moak? Do you still see him at shows?” Teddy froze and looked at Jay before taking her phone out of her purse and sitting down. “A little, not super well” she replied “I see him about once a month at a bar or a show I’d say.” “How big is he now, do you like him?” Jay inquired. “Not very” Teddy responded at once. “I mean, he’s chubby and moody and obnoxious, so I don’t talk to him if I don’t have to. He always kind of reminded me of the Mayor of Halloweentown from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Both in shape and attitude. Why the sudden interest in him?” she finally inquired.

“I might have to start a fight with him” Jay responded blankly. “Oh… ok” Teddy countered inquisitively uncertain of whether or not she wanted to know more. “Well, you’d probably win” she paused “he must cut his coke with powdered sugar because nobody that parties as much as him should be that overweight. He’s got the same body type and hairline as the Penguin from Batman Returns.” She took a sip of the coffee she ordered and moaned “I hate to do it but I have to ask. Why do you feel like you need to start a fight with Mike Moak?”

Jay crossed his hands on the table. “I met someone who says that Mike punched him in high school and it sent him back in time.” Teddy laughed out loud, cackling at the thought  “That’s great, but I don’t understand the joke” she chuckled  “why do you want to go back in time anyway?” Jay looked away “There’s just something… someone I need to start over with.” The room fell silent “Is it someone that passed away?” Teddy asked somberly. “No…nothing like that” Jay answered “It’s just something I can’t let go, and I’d rather risk the rest of my life than keep going on without them.” Teddy was silent for a second then pried “that’s sad, and strangely romantic, but can’t you just talk to them?” Jay shook his head “Too many things have happened that can’t be taken back… I may have said or done something wrong at some point, or I wasn’t honest enough with myself, or I came on too strong… I don’t know, but I know I could make it right.” Jay thought out loud. 

“Have you thought about talking to someone?” Teddy asked thoughtfully “Sometimes it can be really helpful to get an unbiased objective opinion.” Jay exhaled a frustrated sigh “There’s nobody else I want to talk to, just forget I said anything.” Teddy nodded “I’m not trying to second guess you, and you know I’ll support whatever you think you need to do, but you’re scaring me a little bit” She paused for a moment, shaking her head struggling to decide whether or not she should even continue to entertain this conversation. “I’ve never seen him swing on anyone but I don’t think he could throw a hard enough bare knuckle punch to knock you off your feet, let alone back in time.” She could tell Jay was anxious by the way he was toying with the straws and sugar packets. “I know that you know how silly this sounds and I hope that you know if you’re going through anything you can talk to me about it.” Jay looked into the distance before meeting Teddy’s eyes “Thank you” he murmured. He then shoved his money, the sugar packets and his still full cup of coffee to the center of the table in one thrust. “But I don’t want to talk about it, I want a chance to start over.”

Jay opened the door to Ennis’ 1984 Corolla and sat next to him in the passenger seat. “I have to remind you” Ennis warned “this guy is pretty wild. This is gonna be a fascinating experience for you. “I’m ready” Jay assured him. “I’m going in with an open mind and I’m willing to try anything.” The ride only lasted about 15 minutes from Jay’s Albany apartment before they parked in front of a modest single family home in the suburbs. “One last thing…” Ennis alerted “he goes by “The Chrone” Jay couldn’t help but break “Ha what?” he laughed “Why?” Ennis opened the door “Short for Chrononaut…. A Time Traveller” he responded stepping out of the car.  He was afraid if he thought about it too long he would be overcome by how preposterous this was and he would succumb to logic and reason. He stepped out of the car and followed Ennis to the front door. Ennis rang the bell and after a moment, a near-elderly woman in a light sweater with ducks on it appeared in the doorway. “You must be some of Gordie’s friends” she said smiling. “Come on in, I’ll show you to his room.” 

Jay entered the Chrone’s room and was overcome with nostalgic sentiment. He became fully engrossed in the atmosphere and found himself unable to look away from the E.T., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Surf Ninjas, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Super Mario World, the Legend of Zelda, Mortal Kombat,  X-Files and Resident Evil posters that covered the walls. The Chrone was laying spread eagle in a beanbag chair in the center of the room playing NHL 95 on Super Nintendo and listening to “...And Justice For All” by Metallica. He was wearing a Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness T-shirt and a Misfits Crimson Ghost hat. Strewn out on the coffee table in front of the Chrone were stacks of Pokemon cards and Nintendo Power magazines. Jay sat beside Ennis on a futon that was against the wall adjacent to where the Chrone was seated. 

“Welcome dudes” the Chrone said without looking away from the television. “Hey man! Thanks for letting me stop by” Jay replied enthusiastically. “Ness said you were interested in becoming a chrononaut.” Jay had picked up and was studying a Tamagotchi that was in the attached cup holder of the futon. “That’s why I’m here… it sounds too good to be true but I’m willing to try anything.” The Chrone stood up and walked over to the stereo that was resting in the center of a bookshelf that was spilling comic books from every shelf. He turned a knob to lower the volume and then looked at Jay, “I can only speak to my own experience, but I have no reason to believe the results couldn’t be replicated if the methods are the same.” Jay put the Tamagotchi down and looked at the Chrone to try and read any potential signs that this was a goof. The Chrone met Jay’s gaze “I wasn’t asking for it, and I didn’t want it… I was just a high school senior in 2007 trying to get laid and next thing I know it’s 1996 and I’m 12 years old again.” Jay stared at the Chrone for a minute and thought to himself before quizzing “If you went all the way back to 1996 why didn’t you invest in Microsoft or invent Google or something?” 

The Chrone had told this story and had therefore answered this exact question dozens of times “I tried that kind of thing for a while. I told my parents that Apple was a surefire investment but to them I was just a kid with a sudden and fleeting interest in business and they shrugged it off. I would have loved to invent the iPod or developed Amazon.com but I didn’t have the money or resources to capitalize on what little knowledge I had retained from the future and by the time I was old enough to earn my own money the only thing I could remember was that the Patriots lost the Superbowl after their undefeated 2007 season. I told everyone I knew and I saved as much as I could but I was only able to save a couple grand. By then I had been living in an apartment with two roommates and delivering pizzas. I still had to live my life and I wasn’t positive that going back hadn’t altered the current reality I was living in. I was confident, but if I did nothing but save money and then I lost it all in a bet it would take me years to recover. You don’t realize how much of your life becomes forgettable when it’s just the same routine day to day. There were moments and events that I thought I remembered but most of the time it was no different than experiencing Deja Vu.” 

Jay sat still and looked up at the Chrone. He hesitated for a moment then asked “I get this guy to hit me, then what?” The Chrone picked up a Dragonball Z Goku action figure that was on the bookshelf “if you do what I tell you then the same thing that happened to me will happen to you.” Jay was encouraged by the confidence with which the Chrone delivered this promise. He knew the story was laughably outrageous, but as far as he was concerned, he had run out of options and this was the desperate measure brought on by the desperate times in which he was living. . 

“What if he kills me?” Ennis whispered, staring at the ground. 

“Are you afraid to die?” the Chrone asked.

“I’m a little afraid of what comes next”

“If you believe what I’m telling you you’ll get a chance to live again however you choose”

“If you’re wrong, I’ll be humiliated or dead”

“Would you give what’s left of your life to relive the best times?”

“That’s why I’m here”

“Then do as I say”

Jay flipped his notepad open and tried to focus in spite of the millions of thoughts he had racing in his head. He exhaled “Mike seems like such a sensitive guy, how do I make him mad enough to hit me?” The Chrone sat back down in his bean bag chair and leaned back “There is only one way” he paused “You have to date his ex girlfriend.” Ennis froze, staring straight ahead. This wasn’t a qualifying objective that he was expecting to hear. He hadn’t had a girlfriend since high school and struggled to remember the last time he had even been on a date. After a moment, he flipped his notebook closed and asked, his voice breaking “I’m not very good with women, what if she doesn’t like me?” 

“She’s never met a man she doesn’t like” the Chrone assured him “Swooning her will be the easy part.”  

“What’s the hard part?” he asked nervously. 

The Chrone smiled “Faking it for long enough to draw his attention.” 

Again, Jay found the Chrone’s confidence to be encouraging “That’s ridiculous, how bad can she be?” he wondered out loud. 

“She’s cursed with the face and the odor of a sewer dwelling rodent. Are you attracted to Dave Grohl?”

“Jesus… no. I mean, I like the Foo Fighters but I never got into Nirvana”

“Then this is going to be very difficult for you.”

Jay rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand “Why does he like her so much then? He’s a talented, decent looking guy.” 

“He wanted a woman which no man would desire. He understands that his jealousy is a weakness that he’s unable to control.” 

Jay paced back and forth in a daze of bewilderment “None of this makes any sense, can’t I just hit him first or break one of his guitars or something?” 

“Nothing else will inspire the rage necessary to elicit the desired response. If you want to go back, this is the only way.” 

Jay sat down and cupped his nose and his mouth with his hands. He sat still for a moment and then released another heavy sigh “How do I find her?” 

The following Friday night Jay drove to the bar that the Chrone had told him about. The Chrone had assured him that Michelle hung out there every Friday night since she and Mike had broken up in an effort to meet guys in other bands. Jay wasn’t sure who was playing, but he was hopeful that he would find Michelle inside. Before he walked in he stopped to consider how long it had been since he had approached a woman he didn’t know with the intention of asking her out. Had he ever?

Reluctantly, he walked into the building. The room he entered was narrow with an elevated stage at the end opposite the entrance. There couldn’t have been fifteen people in the bar but there was a band playing that had two keyboards next to each other on stage. He walked to the bar and scanned the room. It didn’t take him long to notice a short girl with thick dark hair in a messy bun and eyeglasses that looked like they were bought at a Golden Girls celebrity auction. She was doing a dance that looked like she was running in place while goose-stepping. She was kicking her feet out in front of herself one after the other while swaying her folding arms back and forth as if she was jogging. He had seen it before at ska shows, but there was no brass in the band on stage, in fact, she was dancing visibly faster than the rhythm of the mellow shoegaze song that was playing.

Jay stood at the bar watching this girl dance and the realization seriously struck him that if he was going to have an opportunity to begin again he would have to spend enough time with her to elicit an emotional reaction from Mike. “Maybe things aren’t so bad” he bargained “maybe I’ve been so focused on starting over that I haven’t spent enough time thinking about how to improve things for myself going forward.” He couldn’t imagine approaching this women, or speaking to her. At this point, he would be surprised if she were capable of holding a conversation. “This girl has gotta have an extra chromosome” he thought to himself. Nevertheless, he was determined to make an impression. 

He stepped in front of her and tried to match her rhythm by swaying back and forth and shuffling his feet. For the first time, he looked into her almond eyes and not ten seconds passed before she lunged forward and planted an aggressive kiss on his mouth. Their teeth collided and there was an audible clank that compelled Jay to attempt to pull away. She mirrored the movement of his head and forced her tongue into his mouth. “This isn’t so bad” he tried to convince himself as she grinded their teeth together. After 30 seconds of her gnawing and breathing into his open mouth he slowly began to tilt his face back while gently pushing her away at the waist. He stepped backwards and as they parted she took her glasses off and bit her bottom lip. “Umm” he stuttered “Do you want a drink?” She rested the tip of her glasses frames on her cheek “Vodka soda” she demanded. 

Jay trudged to the bar in a stupor. He was relieved that the first, and ultimately most important, goal in his quest was accomplished so effortlessly, but the reality of what was to come was daunting. “I already wish I never met this girl, and I don’t think she even told me her name yet.” he pondered. “You alright?” the squirrely bartender with glasses and a considerable nose asked. “I don’t know, man” Jay responded without thinking “Do you ever feel like you’re already in over your head before you even get started with something?” The bartender twisted his mouth and nodded “hmmm” he mumbled “like when you start a new video game and you have no idea how to control your character or which direction to go and you’re not sure if it’s even gonna be worth playing because there are so many other games that you already know are good?” Jay stared blankly at the bartender for a moment before responding “.... I guess?” he muttered “It’s a little like that” The bartender smirked and nodded “Then yeah, I feel that way all the time. I find it’s best to give it a chance. If by the time you know what you’re doing it still doesn’t seem worth the time and energy, try something new or revert back to the classics…. Anyway, what can I get for you?” 

Jay considered what the bartender said and tried to decipher some meaning from his stoner philosophical musing. “I’d rather just give up now then spend any more time with this girl and then realize it’s not worth it, though” he conceded. “No” he asserted to himself “I’m not going to allow myself to be so easily dissuaded, and I’m not gonna quit just because this girl is insufferable. I’m gonna make her fall in love with me and I’m gonna flaunt it all over town so that Mike gets so incensed he slugs me back to the Mesozoic era.” He looked up at the bartender “One Vodka Soda” he commanded. 

When the bartender returned with the drink, Jay collected it and then walked back to the center of the room where Michelle was dancing. “Here ya go” he said, handing her the glass. She took a small sip to taste it and then drank the rest of the glass in one gulp. Before he could say anything she smiled and handed him the glass “Vodka soda” she repeated. “Um… OK” he mumbled before turning around and making his way back to the bar. Before he could say a word the lanky bartender had two vodka sodas waiting side by side  at the edge of the bar. “This should buy you a couple more minutes” he said with a grin. “What am I getting into?” he asked the bartender, exasperated. “Well..” he said smiling “That all depends on what you’re looking for.” Jay stopped to think of the best way to explain without giving away too many details. “She seems cool” he lied “I guess I’m just looking to get to know her.” The bartender was a aghast “Why?” he asked immediately, failing to mask the look of concern and confusion on his face. Jay was puzzled and disheartened by the bartenders reaction “I don’t know” he replied “she seems fun.” The bartender threw a towel over his shoulder “I guess it depends on how desperate you are… let me know if you need anything else.”

Jay returned to MIchelle with both drinks. He handed the first one to her and again she swallowed it in one gulp. Before he could move she reached for his hand “Is this one for me too?” she asked while ripping the glass from his hand and inhaling the second vodka soda. Jay looked had her wide-eyed for a moment before she spoke again “What’s a girl gotta do to get you to buy her another drink around here?” she asked. Jay was amazed and befuddled “Dude are you serious?” he asked without thinking “Can I at least get you something you can pace yourself with?” MIchelle shrugged and pursed her lips like she was thinking “You can buy me a snack” she answered before pausing “but first…. Vodka soda.” 

Jay waited for the band to finish their set before retreating to the bar to add a fourth vodka soda to his tab. When he turned to walk back towards the stage he noticed that MIchelle was kissing one of the guitar players in the band. “Jesus, what the fuck?” he cursed out loud. The squirrely bartender snickered “I could have told you that was gonna happen… she’s got a thing for dudes in bands.” Jay shook his head “I walked away for like two minutes, to get HER a drink” he was struggling to keep his voice down. “She’s moves quick” the bartender said “she’ll be bored with him before the next band is off the stage.” Jay ignored him and walked backed toward MIchelle, who had finished kissing the guitar player and was now chewing the straw from one of her drinks while he finished packing his gear. He handed her the drink “Do you know that guy?” he asked reluctantly. “Which guy?” she replied. “The guy you were just kissing?” he asked as monotone as he could. She looked at the guitar player and then back at Jay “I thought that was you” she said assuredly. Without thinking Jay snapped back “He’s like Asian or something and he’s six inches taller than me, are you feeling alright?” he inquired feigning concern. 

“I’d feel better if I had a snack” Jay covered his eyes with his left hand. He had spent less than an hour and $40 on drinks with Michelle and he was ready to ride his fixed gear bike into the Hudson River. “What do you want?” he asked patiently. “I don’t know” she replied “but I’m well hung.” Jay had already spent enough time with Michelle to know that correcting her on the application of that phrase was a fool’s errand so instead he took her by the hand and led her outside to his car. “Where are we going?” she wondered aloud. “I’m assuming I have to decide for you” he said before starting his car. “Do you want to just go to Bombers and then I’ll drop you off back here?”  Michelle shrugged in agreement.

“Would you like to sit upstairs or downstairs?” Jay asked after he parked in front of the restaurant. Michelle pursed her lip “The bar is upstairs” she asserted. “Alright” Jay replied holding the door open for her. While Jay was waiting for a host to seat them he turned and noticed that Michelle was no longer by his side. He scanned the room for a moment before noticing her in front of the bar with her arms around a chubby guy with a skull cap and a beard. She was thrusting her waist into the back of his legs and they were both laughing. “How many?” a waitress in a black tank top and cut off jean shorts asked. Jay looked up from the ground “Just two” he replied turning to look back at Michelle who was now taking a shot in unison with the bearded guy, their arms intertwined. “Follow me” she said and Jay followed her to a booth in the corner of the room. He sat alone for a minute confused at the behavior he was witnessing first hand, but moreso why anyone would want to date this person, and uncertain about what it is about her that someone would be willing to fight for. 

While he was lost in consideration, Michelle appeared across from him “Did you order me a drink yet?” she demanded. “No, I wasn’t sure what you’d want.” Michelle tucked her head into her chest and tightened her lips, almost resembling a turtle retreating into its shell. She lifted her necklace out from under her “Propaghandi” t-shirt. Hanging from the thin rope in chipped fool’s gold letters were the words “Vodka Soda” in script lettering. “I should have guessed” he chuckled trying to hide his smile. Just then the waitress reappeared “Are you guys ready to…” “NACHOS” Michelle interrupted, hollarring. The waitress laughed nervously “and for you?” she asked, turning her gaze toward Jay. “I’ll have a tofu burrito.. And can we get a Vodka soda and a PBR draft” he requested. “I’ll be right back with that” she promised walking away as quickly as possible. 

When Jay turned again to  look back at Michelle, she was leaning toward him with her elbows on the table. As she crept closer, he was overcome by the smell of a citrus fruit left to ferment in a fast food dumpster. “What are you doing?” he asked with a tremble in his voice. “Kiss me ya bum” she demanded before puckering her lips with her eyes closed. Jay ducked her attempt and rolled out of the booth. “I’m gonna grab some napkins, and wash my hands; do you need anything?” MIchelle looked in his direction without looking at him directly and shook her head. When Jay came back from the bathroom he found their food waiting on the table but Michelle was nowhere to be found. He checked the rest of the tables in the lobby and the bar but she wasn’t there. The women’s restroom door was ajar so he knew it was unoccupied.��

He walked downstairs to find Michelle sitting in a booth with two college aged men. When he stepped into the dimly lit room he saw that she was sitting on one man’s lap and either whispering into or nibbling on his ear.  He wasn’t sure why he was still surprised but her audacity was so foreign to him. He approached the table and ignoring the men looked at MIchelle “our food is upstairs, come up whenever you’re ready” before turning away and returning to their booth. He sat by himself for a few minutes, eager to enjoy his burrito but somehow still concerned about Michelle thinking it rude if he started eating without her. After 10 minutes she appeared in the doorway and took her seat across from him, her black lipstick was smeared all around her mouth who had just eaten a chocolate ice cream cone on a roller coaster. There were visible red marks on both sides of her neck “Maybe she’s having an allergic reaction to that dudes cologne” he considered but he knew the truth was that one,each, or both at the same time, of those guys were sucking on her neck. He didn’t mind, but suddenly the panic set in that he might have to sleep with her to keep her interest or for word to get back to Mike and besides the physical act of that likely being as fun and exciting as getting a tetanus shot at your grandmother’s funeral, he didn’t doubt for a second that she might be carrying… something. He had to distract himself from these excruciating thoughts so he quickly asked “Do you work or go to school?”.

“Both” she replied while balling some cheese from the top of her plate of nachos and popping it into her mouth. “Oh cool, what do you do for work?” he was sincerely curious. “I’m a teacher.” Jay wanted to laugh but he wasn’t rude by nature and he still wasn’t positive he had sealed the deal. “Do you teach a spin class or something?” He wondered out loud, trying to mask his sarcasm. “No, I teach English as a second language in an elementary school, I’m almost done with my masters.” He stared blankly at Michelle, hoping the shock he was feeling wasn’t displayed on his face. “Do you go to the University of Phoenix or Devry or something?” he had never been more puzzled. “UAlbany” she responded, stuffing a fistfull of nachos into her mouth. He was literally speechless that this person who had kissed half of Albany and had hardly uttered a coherent sentence in the last two hours provided such a valuable and formative service to children of the community. She didn’t seem to notice that they finished their meal and he payed the bill in silence. 

“You ready?” he asked, turning to step out of the booth. “Mmhmm” she mumbled before rubbing the last bit of salsa out of her side cup and then sucking on her finger. He wondered if she was trying to be seductive but she looked like a largemouth bass with human teeth struggling to swallow a breakfast sausage. Jay put on the Casket Lottery for the drive back to the bar. “This sucks” she concluded more than once on the ten minute ride. When he parked in front of the bar on Central Ave, one of the busiest roads in the city, Michelle reached over and began loosening the belt that held his corduroy pants up. “I’m kind of full” he squeaked, attempting to slunk away from her advances. “I”m not” she declared confidently. “I really think we should wait” he could feel the sweat pooling on his face. “Mmm mmm” she hummed still toiling with his belt. “Thank God the technology of a belt buckle is so perplexing to her” he obliged. He heard the thwip of his belt come undone and he could feel his pants loosen. 

Just then, in a state of panic he slammed his forearms onto the steering wheel and the horn blasted a long continuous note. It was the most satisfying abrasive E flat he thought he would ever hear and she jumped back at once. “Sorry…. I’m just a little nervous” he fibbed. “It’s ok ya freak, just relax” she returned, attempting to pacify him. “Yer gonna love it.” He found himself involuntarily balling his fists and tightening his arms against his upper body. “I need to get the fuck out of here” he knew, but he had never  hit a woman… or anyone, and he wasn’t about to start tonight. He opened his mouth to speak but she stopped him at once “no no no no no” she mumbled gripping at the front of his pants. In a disoriented and frantic daze he absent-mindedly wrapped his upper and lower arms around her forehead and began wrenching her head back and forth. At first she tried to wiggle free “oh, you like it rough, let’s see if you can ride this bull then” she laughed. Jay ignored her and continued to placidly swing her head back and forth close to his hip in rhythm with the song that was playing. After about 30 seconds, her body became limp and she fell asleep in his lap. 

He let go of a long satisfied sigh and rested his head against the back of his seat. He was profoundly relieved but too terrified of what might happen if he fell asleep so he opened the window hoping the cool air would refresh him. Suddenly, he heard a thunderous roar like a freight train colliding with a jet engine at a nuclear bomb test site. Bewildered he scanned the street only to realize that the sound was coming from his lap. Michelle had been passed out for no longer than a minute and she was already snoring like the Krakatoa volcano eruption. The rumble of her trumpeting appalled and paralyzed him. He shook his hips and she began to sway. Lifting her head she inquired “How long was I out for?” Jay was still in a fog of slackjawed confusion “Umm about two minutes” he replied. She smiled and sat up. He had had enough MIchelle for one night, and one lifetime, so he was eager to get home and die in his sleep. “You’ve been a lot of fun” he lied “I’ll text you tomorrow.” They exchanged numbers and she stumbled out of his car. 

The next day Jay was playing destiny 2 and enjoying a Nine Pin Signature Cider from his couch when his phone lit up. He hadn't lived alone long and it had not been a welcome change but listening to records and gaming were a welcome distraction. He checked his messages to see Michelle had sent him a picture. He expected to be disgusted, but was pleasantly surprised to see it was just a screenshot of a different text conversation. The wall of text were from an “MM” and read “That Jay kid, really? I’ll fucking lay him the fuck out” “He’ll never be in a good band because he has no talent and nobody likes him.” “I really need to die. Expire. Disappear.” Jay was concerned at first and then his heart began pounding and he began laughing to himself when he realized his plan was working exponentially quicker than he had expected. Then he saw the most recent message and a chill shot up his spine.  “I need to talk to you in person or I’m going to jump of the Patroon Island bridge.” His excitement was immediately curbed when he considered the possibility that he had spent a night with Michelle for no reason. “You should go talk to him” he texted her back “he seems really upset and there’s no reason to burn bridges…. No pun intended.” She responded a moment later “I guess. I need to get my Ipod anyway.” 

Michelle arrived at Mike’s apartment and parked on the lawn. She had lived there for four years so in spite of the circumstances, she had no problem walking in unannounced and found Mike sobbing in the kitchen. “I can’t even fucking buy milk that doesn’t expire, I should soak some marb reds in a pint glass and force them down my throat.” she could hear him cursing himself from the living room. He smirked when he stepped out of the kitchen and saw Michelle lighting up his bowl on the couch. “I knew you’d come back to me when you realized you would never find someone with my creative fun qualities.” Unsolicited, he went on “Anybody who has experienced any success will just lie and deceive you… they’ll be like “I love THICC” and then fucking ghost you.” She took a long hit. “Nobody will ever appreciate you like I do or give you a life as exciting as I did. Everything you have and everybody you know that means anything is because of me.” 

“Nobody will ever come close to my worth, and my talent, and my heart” Mike went on. “You fucked up. Enjoy your boring lonely bullshit life.” Mike picked the cat up off of the coffee table and held it up to his face. “Look what you’re doing to Henri” he said, rubbing the disinterested cat against his cheek. “We could have been a family… now you’ll never have anyone. Nobody is ever going to care about you as much as I did.” Michelle had become accustomed to tuning out Mike’s rambling and was crafting a paper boat out of a sheet of looseleaf paper that he had scribbled some lyrics on. The words “I’m still alone here waiting to feel the hype we once had both being psyched and in love” were visible on the starboard side of the vessel. Mike droned on “Just leave me alone unless you want to make me happy or make me cum” he proposed. “I’m stoney baloney” she announced, placing the boat on top of an empty vase that sat at the edge of the table. 

Mike put the cat down on the couch, turned away, and pounded his fist against the door frame “I wouldn’t take you back if you begged, fuck you” he roared “you gave up GOLD… I’m Mike fucking Moak… I hate your fucking guts.” He covered his face with both hands “There’s no escaping you and this crippling sadness and pain” He turned around and noticed he was alone in the room. “Look at this caterpillar!” he heard Michelle celebrate from the front yard. “I’m gonna drive it to my house!” she announced picking the caterpillar up and stuffing it into the pocket of her jean jacket. She climbed into her Nissan Versa and backed out of the yard, waving as she turned to drive away. “Why doesn’t she understand that she’s in love with me?” Mike wondered while he watched her from the doorway. “It’s like she doesn’t realize I could replace her tomorrow if I wanted to… she’s making the biggest mistake of her hopeless life.” He walked back into the house and sat on the couch next to Henry. 

By midnight Jay realized he hadn’t heard back from Michelle. He texted her “You alive? LOL?”. She replied less than a minute later “I forgot my Ipod but I got a caterpillar.” Before he could respond a second message came through “I crushed it in my pocket trying to find my juul though so I fed it to a toad.” Jay snickered and wrote back “Maybe if you kissed him he’d turn into a prince.” Michelle wrote back “I licked it but I didn’t feel anything and it didn’t eat the caterpillar.” and then “Do you want to come to Mike’s show tomorrow night? Everybody in his band is cool except for him.” Jay face lit up when he saw that. He couldn’t believe this plan would come to fruition so rapidly but he was glowing with delight. “You bet!” he responded. “I can’t wait!” He didn’t have to wait long for her reply “Great, I’ll pick you up at 7.”

The following night Mike was on stage when Jay and Michelle entered the bar. He was tuning his guitar and talking to the drummer of his band when Jay noticed the bass player make eye contact with Michelle. “Here we go” he thought “it’s all gonna pay off soon.” Just then the bass player walked over to Mike and said something to him. Mike spun around in a flash and ripped his guitar off his shoulder, tearing the loop of the strap.He stomped off the stage in a rage “What the fuck are you doing here?” He hollarred “Didn’t I tell you I’d fucking lay you the fuck out if I saw you?” Jay’s instincts were to run, but he had invested too much time and sacrificed too much of his pride to give up now. Suddenly he was overcome with a certainty that everything he had done in his life, and especially in the two days, had led him to this moment. “This is my manifest destiny” he thought to himself “I’ll never have to go to work, or wonder what went wrong, or kiss MIchelle again after tonight.”   He planted his feet and braced himself for a confrontation. “You trying to steal my 80-85?” Mike squealed. 

Jay tensed his upper body and with his newfound hardened will he held his ground “She’s my 80-85 now, motherfucker” wrapping his right arm around Michelle’s waist. Mike balled his fists and shuffled toward Jay. “I’m gonna knock you into last week” he threatened. “That’s not far enough you weeble-shaped invalid” Jay rebutted without thinking. Mike ignored the comment and stood nearly nose to nose with Jay. He exhaled, and Mike could smell onions and discount vodka on Jay’s breathe. This intense olfactory reminder of Michelle was enough to send him into a state of psychosis rage and in an instant he grit his teeth and pulled a punch with his right arm while grabbing Jay’s collar with his left. Jay’s instinct was to duck, but he knew that this moment was the culmination of everything he had endured. He flinched and turned his head slightly to the right wincing just as Mike’s closed fist connected with the left side of his face. 

Jay woke to the rumbling thunder of a passing train. He opened his eyes and lifted his head off the pillow to scan his surroundings. There were cd’s stacked on a desk by a computer and records in old milk crates on the floor. He rolled off the bed and walked to the window. Across the street he could see the Menands Little League Baseball field. He smiled and nodded before he paused and let go of a long slow sigh of relief. From outside his room he could hear voice, although it was too faint to decipher what was being said or who was speaking. He stepped over a collection of “A Song of Ice and Fire” books and pushed aside a hockey stick that was resting against the bedroom door. The voice grew louder as he stepped out of the room and into the hall. He walked passed a bathroom and a set of stairs and pressed his ear against the door from where the voice was coming. A tear came to his eye when he was certain recognized who was speaking. He waited for a moment and then knocked softly. From inside the room he heard Pat say “Hold on mom... JG is at my door.” 

Epilogue:

Mike sat on the couch in his empty apartment. He lifted his Gibson SG guitar off his lap and set it against the opposite armrest on the springs of the couch where a cushion was missing. He got up and walked down into the basement. He looked at the drum kit that was set up in the corner, a collection of guitar amplifiers, monitors, and speakers stood idle on both sides. “Nobody with my talent will ever use any of this stuff again.” he assured himself. “I might as well set this place on fire so nobody can taint the legacy I’m leaving behind here”. “No” he stopped himself “This place will be a historic site someday… a tribute to the monolithic phenomenon that I was and the heart and talent and greatness I left in my wake” He walked back up the stairs and closed the door behind him. 

He walked to Everett road and then down the exit ramp to Interstate 90 East. He stayed on the right shoulder, pausing every couple of minutes to catch his breath. “I should really work on my cardio” he admitted “not that it matters now.” When he got to the bridge that overlooked NY route 787 and ran parallel to the Hudson River he felt nervous for the first time. “Am I really gonna do this to all my fans” he wondered. “They’ll never find another recording artist that produces as much flawless content that’s as meaningful to them.” He looked over the three lane highway that was hundreds of feet below him. “This world doesn’t deserve me” he repeated to himself. “I’m too talented… and creative….and passionate. What a waste.” He stepped over the guardrail, reaching behind his elliptical body to grip it with both hands. “So many fucking posers in this town. Nobody would even be able to find Albany on a map if I didn’t live here.” He let go of the rail with one hand. “Doesn’t matter now… this whole fucking city might as well collapse into the Hudson River.” He leaned forward. “Later Dickheads” he said out loud. He let go. 

Michelle parked in front of her building and shut the engine down. She collected her jacket and purse from the passenger seat before stepping out of the car and making her way toward the entrance. She opened her purse to remove her keys and when she looked up she saw a small crate to the right of the front door. As she stepped closer, she saw that a cat was sitting on a couch cushion inside the crate. It mewed as she approached. When she got close enough to recognize him, she saw that a note was taped to the front of the cage over the latch with her name on it. 

She unfolded the note and read it to herself. “Henri has a vet appointment on Monday, please take care of him.” Taped to the bottom of the note was a card with the vet’s address and the appointment time and date. She put the card in her pocket and crumbled up the note before throwing it into the shrubs outside her building. She lifted the cage and carried Henri through the front door and into her apartment. She unhinged the latch and left the gate open so Henri could come out when he was ready. She paused as she poured a can of club soda into a half empty 200ml bottle of vodka.  “Who am I gonna buy cocaine from now?” she wondered.