#mei told me to add that one why is there a 3 in it please enlighten me

[officerpuncake]

hi, i work on isolated incident too

i have nothing to animate btw so heres like. a behind the scenes think

.. i mean thing

from a few days ago

lil test animation with dave strider (i dont know if he is in this comic but i think not)

guest starring: Google Images Claymore (https://www.wholesaleblades.com/silver-william-wallace-braveheart-medieval-scottish-claymore-sword)

to be completely honest its not great. made dave's rig myself out of separated images and there just... weren't enough for all the actions.

so if i'm using any of these wrong, sorry.

i'm hoping as @crabbchips makes separated bits for the characters these will up significantly in quality.

if you wanna know more about our little webcomic thing see @meicottonsoul's blog. they direct the project and show regular updates when our ADHD asses can be bothered to do some work. they also host a google drive with every act so far, yet to be visualized, but still written in full.

[dollystuartwrites]

Not Holding Back - Chapter 09

#jackson wang#jackson wang

Pairing: Boss!JacksonWang x f!PersonalAssistant!reader

Genre: fluff, smut, obsessive behavior, Jackson-is-a-fashion-designerAU

Wordcount: 1068

Chapters: [1] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7] - [8] - [9] - [10] - [11] - [12] - [13] - [?]  MASTERLIST

Summary: When Y/N starts working as a personal assistant for the director of TEAM WANG DESIGN: Jackson Wang himself, she finds it hard to hide her secret. After all, she used to be a massive stan of her boss! But she's not the only one holding back...

Warnings: Swearing, degradation, sir kink, namecalling, masturbation, obsessive!Jackson, dirty talk, corruption kink?, praising, sexual fantasies, fingering, posessive!Jackson, grinding/humping by both parties, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, use of sex toys, lots of teasing, orgasm denial, breeding/impreg kink?, WILL ADD MORE AS STORY ADVANCES, PLEASE LMK IF I MISSED ANY

Hell.

You had gone to hell.

The devil had found you and pulled you under.

There had been no peace for you that night. After his words, Jackson had simply left. Not saying another word to you.

If it hadn't been for the extreme exhaustion of throwing up, the few hours you had slept had been non-existent.

Not that they had done you any good.

You were at your wit's end.

Mei had already called you several times, probably to hear you out about last night, but you hadn't picked up her calls.

You had no way of expllaining to her what had happened.

Several times you had come out of your fetal position to start packing your stuff, convinced you had to change your name and move to the other end of the earth.

But as soon as you had seen Jackson's posters staring at you, seemingly smirking darker than before, you froze and crawled back into bed, hiding from the world.

There was no way you could put this right.

No way you could explain this.

Sure you could try and point out the old dates in that cursed diary, but then why did you have the posters in your brand new apartment and why had you kept the diary?

He wouldn't believe you. You wouldn't even believe it yourself.

After firing you he would probably sue you for stalking.

You were pathetic.

You were nothing, no one to him.

Just a crazy stalker weirdo who had infiltrated his company.

Sure, he had been nice to his employee, his personal assistant, in time of need.

But as soon as he had found out about your embarrassing secret he had mocked you. Made a fool out of you. He had tested you to see if what he had read was true. And you had proved it with your pathetic moans and whimpers.

You could never show your face in the city ever again.

Your phone rang.

Numbly you looked down at it, expecting to see Mia's name again, but instead, it showed Elisabeth.

This was it.

The call firing you.

Best to get it over with.

You picked up the phone and held it to your ear.

'Oh my god, Y/n, thank god you picked up. It's me, Elisabeth. Do you have a cocktail dress?' Elisabeth asked quickly.

Completely put off and feeling extremely confused you hummed as confirmation.

'Oh thank god. Wait, what does it look like?' she asked.

'Erm,' you began completely flabbergasted, 'it's black... satin... kind of like a wrap dress... knee high... one shoulder covered with-' you summed up slowly.

'Yep, that should be fine,' Elisabeth interrupted you.

'Elisabeth what-' you began, but she interrupted you once more.

'No time to explain. Get dressed asap. Put on makeup-nothing heavy tho,' she commanded.

'Wait, what? Why?' you asked, brain starting to work a little faster now.

'Ugh! Jia'er needs you for an event, I told you, no time to explain!' she said hastily. You had never heard her this fierce and stressed and you tried to protest.

'Y/n! Stop whining! Jia'er needs you! I don't care if you're sick, or dying or have corona, but you HAVE to go,' she insisted.

'I-,' you stammered.

'Okay, good. I'll tell him you're getting ready. Bye!' she said simply and she hung up.

Utterly bewildered you stared at your phone.

Another text came in.

"GET READY NOW GIRL!" from Elisabeth.

This was insane.

There was no way you could go to an event with him.

He probably had just forgotten to tell her that he wanted to fire you.

Or maybe...

Dread and fear seeped into your soul.

Maybe it was his way to humiliate you.

In your imagination, you could see how you were standing at the middle of a ballroom, people surrounding you, laughing at you, pointing at you. Everyone would know, you're the crazy obsessed lying whore...

No, you wouldn't go.

No way.

xxx

An hour later you were sitting in the luxurious taxi that had been sent for you.

The tight cocktail dress was uncomfortable and there was no way to sit in it properly. You had had it for years, having bought it for your graduation from high school. Since it had been so expensive, you hadn't had the heart to throw it out.

You already knew you would be spending the entire night, trying to pull down the skirt and praying you wouldn’t rip out of it.

But that wasn't even the biggest of your worries.

You glanced out of the window nervously. You had no idea where you were going, but the driver seemed to know the destination.

Up ahead you could see a gathering of people and some security guards.

That had to be it.

Your heart was pounding in your chest as the taxi stopped at the roped-off area.

'We're here madam,' the cabbie spoke.

Your hands shaking slightly, you got out of the car.

A lot of fancy-looking people were standing around. Some you recognized as idols, others were designers.

Surprisingly there were no photographers in sight.

'And who might you be, pretty lady?' A friendly-looking man asked you smiling. He was wearing what looked like an expensive tux and was holding his hand out for you. His face seemed familiar but you couldn't quite place it.

Before you could even answer a voice spoke up.

'She's mine, Xander,' Jackson's unmistakable low husky voice came out of nowhere.

Within a few strides, Jackson was standing next to you. For a second you looked up at his face. You could see the muscles in his jaw tensing up.

He was probably angry to see you here.

Jackson laid his arm around your waist and pulled you towards him.

'Ah, Jackson, I'm not surprised to see such a beauty at your side,' the man, apparently named Xander, spoke jovially.

'Thank you Xander,' Jackson said, sounding slightly forced, 'I will introduce the two of you next time, but right now we'll have to excuse ourselves for a moment,'

With his arm around you, Jackson guided you away from the man and towards the building.

'Stay close to me,' Jackson said quietly so no one would hear. You couldn't read his tone. 'Don't talk to others. Laugh and smile when needed. Don't say who you are. Don't drink alcohol,' he commanded.

You could feel his arm tense up around you for a moment.

He had to be furious.

For a second you felt for Elisabeth, who hadn't been aware of the situation between the two of you and had made the mistake of calling you. You just hoped Jackson would spare her.

But then you thought of yourself. And what might happen here. And if not, what might happen after the event?

Dread settled into your stomach like a boulder.

[thebeautyoffanfics]

Hello! Love your work! Can I request Hanako, Yashiro, and Shijima when they find their s/o cutting themselves on their arm? :(

I understand if you feel uncomfortable with the request, so feel free to ignore.

But with Yashiro and Shijima can they just be best friends with the reader since they are two of my biggest comfort characters platonically…

Thank you! You can choose headcanons or oneshots

amane yugi/hanako x gn!reader, (platonic) yashiro nene and gn!reader, (platonic) shijima mei and gn!reader

a/n: thanks so much for the compliment! And sure thing, no worries! I do hope you’re doing alright, and always remember that you’re not alone :)) there are a lot of resources out there to help you, or anyone you may know, struggling, so never give up!! <3 still, i hope you enjoy these, and thank you for requesting!! <33

OH AND! I know you said Hanako, but I’m going to write him alive as Amane- for the sake of convenience I guess-? plus i miss the thought of living hanako, even if it’s the same person in the end-

warnings: self harm, panic attack

word count: 1,568

Amane Yugi <3

“(Y/N), I’m coming in,” Amane had spoken. His voice was sudden, and unexpected- you were home alone. You weren’t planning to have guests. In fact, the loneliness was a reason you had started crying in the first place- everything had spiraled before you realized it.

Little did you know, it was also a reason Amane wanted to check on you. Your last message to him was several hours ago, telling him that your parents were off at work, but their company would have been a bit more appreciated than the completely silent house. Amane knew what it was like to be alone, even for a little while, when you needed company most. He also knew what you had told him about all the other little things- things that he knew were bound to add up, and come collapsing down on you all at once.

“Hang on, plea-”

The two of you made direct eye contact, and you winced. Your arm was too sore to move so quickly. All you could do was sit there, bloodied pocket knife resting in one hand, open wounds dripping blood onto the other.

Amane would do his best to stay calm- he wouldn’t yell at you, he wouldn’t even raise his voice- he’d walk up to you, worry etched into his paleing face, and very carefully take the pocket knife from your hands. He’d pocket it, then wipe the tears from your face. It hurt him to see you in pain, but he knew whatever he felt wasn’t nearly as bad as you had to feel in that moment. All he wanted was to show you love.

“Can you stand up?” He asked, rubbing your back gently, and looking for something to wrap your arm in. You nodded, beginning to cry worse- it was almost embarrassing. No matter what sort of act you put up, having someone walk in on you at what felt like your most vulnerable moments wasn’t anything you wished to happen. He understood that.

“Alright,” Amane told you, offering a small smile, and helping you stand. “Then, let’s head to the bathroom. I’ll wash your arm off.”

He did just that. Leading you to the bathroom, gently hushing you when you cried, and holding your arm as if it were broken. As if it would shatter if he held it too hard, simply because he was terrified of hurting you.

“This is gonna sting a little bit. Is that alright?” He asked, turning on the sink, and grabbing two small washcloths and some bandages. You nodded once more, shaking slightly from an attempt to stop crying. At that, he’d run the water over the cuts, dampening the cloth with water and a small amount of soap, then wiping them off. The entire time he was silent, but not a judging sort of silence. He just wanted to understand why someone he loved so much wouldn’t love themself. Yet, he also understood that it was more complicated than that. He understood.

Once the blood was off of your arm, he’d turn off the sink, and dry your arm. He then bandaged it, as if he cared enough to bandage his own wounds.

“Talk to me, (Y/N)... you can cry. You don’t have to hold anything back. Just… tell me what’s wrong. I can’t solve your problems… I can’t do much of anything, but I can, and will, love and care for you. I can and will listen to you. As long as you need, whenever you need. I love you, and I’m always here for you.”

Yashiro Nene <3

When Yashiro entered your house, she knocked, calling out for you. Beforehand, she even sent several messages- your lack of response started to worry her, especially when she knew that you weren’t doing your best. But, as panic attacks do, everything felt muffled to you. The only thing keeping you somewhat grounded was, unfortunately, the pocket knife you kept in your nightstand.

“(Y/N)!” Yashiro called, nearing your room. A choked sob made her nerves increase, as she rushed towards your room, not thinking to knock before entering. Another panicked “(Y/N)?” left her mouth, as the door was pushed open.

“Yashiro,” You muttered, looking up at her from your crumpled spot on the floor.

Yashiro was slightly less composed than Hanako, concern and panic painfull evident on her face. She wasn’t disgusted- she wasn’t disappointed in you, nor upset. She was just worried. Yashiro rushed up to you, taking your hands and looking you in the eyes.

“(Y/N)? Wh- what’s wrong? Are you alright?” She asked, looking down at your arms, and shutting her mouth tightly. You continued to cry, shaking as Yashiro moved her hands up to your arm, and squeezed your shoulders very gently. She then rubbed her arms up and down your shoulder, hoping that it grounded you in some sort of way.

“I- I just- I’m sorry, Yashiro, I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Don’t apologize, (Y/N). Here- let’s try to calm down a bit, alright? Can we calm down in the bathroom?”

You nodded, letting Yashiro help you stand. She led you to the bathroom, motioning for you to sit down on the counter. Once you were seated, she grabbed a washcloth and ran it under water, then poured a small amount of soap on it. “Can you hold your arm over the sink?”

You obliged, letting Yashiro clean off the cuts and blood, as she attempted to calm you. Yashiro told you to breathe alongside her, as she steadied her own breathing, letting the sound of your shaky breaths and her slightly more steady ones be the only sound in the room. By the time she finished washing and wrapping your arm, you were a bit more calm, letting her dampen a paper towel and wipe off your eyes and tear-stained face. Her touch was gentle, almost motherly, and calmer than her eyes looked.

Once finished, she placed her hands on your shoulders once more, looking you in the eyes once she started to speak. “You know I’m here for you, (Y/N)... I’m not scolding you. I’m not going to correct you, since I have no idea what happened to make you panic like that. But, I’m here to listen. Tell me what you’re comfortable sharing, and I promise I’ll stand here and listen to every word. I’m here for you, (Y/N). You’re my best friend, and I love you dearly, so, please…”

Shijima Mei <3

You had pushed open what you thought was the old, unused classroom. You stumbled in, locking the door behind you as you crouched to the floor, your breathing heavy and sporadic. Everything was overwhelming. Too much had happened that day- it was all too much. And so much more was bound to happen once you reached your home. That was your only thought as you, without thinking, rolled up your sleeve, scratching aggressively. Reopening the fresher cuts, and creating even more with your nails.

You cried, hoping that the students who were there for after school activities would remain away from this floor of the school. At least until you calmed down- at least until you could hear yourself thinking clearly. You couldn’t bear to go home now. You just needed a minute.

As you closed your eyes tightly, dread and fear filling your mind and making you feel practically sick, you felt a shift in the air, as someone crouched in front of you. You opened your eyes, as Shijima carefully took your hands, holding them in hers silently.

“Shh, it’s alright, I’m here,” She spoke, her voice gentle and comforting. Soft and caring. Like a sister more than a friend in that moment. You looked around, realizing that you were in the classroom next to the old art room- you mentally cursed yourself, squeezing her hands a bit as you tried to ignore how badly you wanted to keep scratching your arm.

“It’s alright, (Y/N)... focus on your breathing.”

You did as she instructed, and Shijima remained mostly silent- breathing with you, hushing you lightheartedly when you shook or sobbed. Her hands never let go of yours, restraining you lightly so that you didn’t hurt yourself. Shijima remained there, doing just that, until you were no longer panicking. Her eyes met yours, and she smiled lightly, attempting to make you feel a bit better.

“Here,” She spoke, standing, then offering you her cold hand. In fact, the coolness of it was comforting against your hot, sweaty skin. Shijima didn’t let go of your hands, leading you to the bathroom and running the water over your arm, rubbing it with a feather-light touch. “Do you want to talk?” She asked, turning the water off, then drying your arm. “I’m here for you. I know you know that. Even if I’m no longer alive, I still care for you, just like any person could. I’ll listen to you, no matter what you have to say.”

You nodded, as she offered you a paper towel to wipe your eyes. Shijima took your hands once again, leading you to the art room, then sitting down next to you. She’d sit there, letting you talk and cry as hard as you need, for as long as you need- offering any advice she had, but willing to just be there. She knew as good as anyone that, sometimes, that was just what one needed.

[kamenriderlogik27]

FINALLY BACK IN SABER!!!

PrFor the past... two months?.... I’ve been taking a break from watching Saber. Mostly due to personal reasons but also because I hate it when a very dumb and small misunderstanding (especially when the cause is from a new outsider character that totally has evil intentions. looking at you Sabela +-+) ruins such good friendships and bonds. Anyway, I decided to get back into it ‘cause I was SUPER curious at what was going on AND and kinda had a feeling that the misunderstanding situation was about to end soon. and omgosh I’m so glad I took a break! If I had gone through with watching each ep every week, I would have gone crazy with stress! There’s so much going on!!! yet I’m also glad that Toei FINALLY calmed us down with the pacing! I’m gonna try to talk about everything regarding episode 16 up to 25 so please bare with me. I think I might end up talking about the Zi-o VS Decade and Zenkaiger stuff too after this post~

1. When I say that I hate it when a stupid misunderstanding causes friends to turn on each other, I mean it. I absolutely hate it when a story goes down this path. especially after an episode that basically sealed a strong bond between all the characters. But... honestly, after watching it in Saber.... it has a sort of beauty to it, if that makes any sense. Kind of like Mono No Aware. I honestly feel like this situation really fit well with the plot and we got to see our swordsmen struggle with their own logic and feelings. Especially Rintaro. Poor baby didn’t know what to do, and yet still believed in Touma. Omgosh that rooftop scene with him and Mei! <3 That was probably one of the best scenes this series ever produced! I also loved how we got to see Touma personally struggle about the whole situation instead of just being mad at his friends for attacking him and not trusting him. Which is what I originally thought would happen tbh which is why I was scared to watch this batch of episodes. I’m so glad I was wrong!!! 

2. Yuri! I honestly believe that Yuri is such a great addition to the cast! He’s logical, curious, and yet has a good open mind about things. Instead of going with what he USED to know, he’s willing to listen and learn from Touma. Which I really like! Plus, the comic relief he adds is so awesome! Every episode so far I’m also looking forward to what Yuri will do just out of his own curiosity or blunt attitude. 

3. speaking of attitude, I feel like Touma is showing more personality now than compared to the first few episodes. Which is a huge relief! He was starting off as a kind of boring main rider and seemed flat. He’s still got ways to go, but I think his personality is getting better. Plus, I’m really interested in his past. If Luna is really the one that got him into reading, then is he really from Wonderworld like we’re told? Just who is he really? Is his last name really Kamiyama? What happened to him after he lost his memories? Did he get adopted? There has to be a reason why Rekka and the wonder ridebooks keep chosing him. ugh! I’m so curious!!!!! 

4. I can’t remember her name right now, so I’ll just call her Sabela. But omgosh I don’t know whether to hate her or pity her. I feel like she can work as an awesome villain, but just like other posts I’ve seen, it’d be such a shame if she ended up like Yaiba Yua. And, I honestly don’t want her to randomly become a hero like Amatsu Gai. Toei please just keep her as an awesome villain! 

5. Rintaro and Mei! omgosh Toei BETTER get them a kiss scene or something because they’re TOTALLY falling in love and I wanna see a proper kiss scene!! If Takamichi Cristalia can kiss a pink ranger, the the secondary rider can kiss the main rider girl!! No joke though, sometimes I can’t help but feel like Touma has feelings for Mei..... which I know probably is just me overthinking, but that’d be a really interesting addition to the plot. Has there ever been a love triangle between the main rider, secondary rider and main rider girl before? hmm.... 

6. Primitive Dragon!!!!!!! holy crap!!!!!!! I don’t know if I’ve ever said this before, but I FRICKIN’ LOVE BERSERK FORMS!!!!!!! I don’t know why, but the idea of the main character obtaining a power that choses him and yet he has no way of controlling said power, just interests the heck out of me! I feel like Touma REALLY needed one too! Like I said before, his character has been really flat from the start, so when he obtained this strange, ancient power that he can’t control at all, so much more is added to his character! Fear of the unknown, fear of being the one that hurts his friends, an intent to find out what’s behind the power, curiosity of why it chose him. Just so much can be added! I haven’t been this excited since Metal Cluster hopper was introduced! XD 

7. The master of logos... or master logos? is it? he kind of gives off final boss vibes. But he could also be the sort of ‘misunderstood guy that’s just trying to do good things in a very... seemingly evil way’. if that makes any sense. I’m really looking forward to his involvement with everything. Especially if he’s like, Touma’s long-lost-brother or uncle. Low-key hoping that he’s related to Touma. (like I said, I REALLY wanna know more about Touma’s past)

8. Ren like always is being a brat. But I did like how he’s actually giving what Ogami said to him some thought. Ever since watching his episode of the swordsmen biographies, I honestly thought that Ren might just end up going off with Dissast and betraying everyone. But now, especially with Kento’s return, I feel like Ren might learn and mature a bit. Heck, he might even start looking up to Touma for all we know. (that’s just a theory) 

9. Storious so far is my favorite of the three Megido. I don’t know if it’s because he’s played by Robin or what, but I’m always looking forward to his scenes. The Megido also make me curious about their backstories. Just why are they looking for more power? why do they want to rewrite the world? I’m so excited to learn more about them!    

10. And finally!!! Kento’s back!!!!!! I know that he must be under some kind of influence via Kurayami ( or not considering what he’s had to go through) and probably isn’t all THAT back. but still! he’s back! Now Toei, put him back in the opening and ending credits! I had already theorized that he’d be the new Caliber, but now that I see it, I just want him to be Espada again. Poor baby. Though, considering that Sabela is the one that took Kurayami, does this mean that he’s under her influence and working for her? hmmm.... This is gonna get interesting~ 

[drkcnry67]

in truth...

title: in truth

pairing: dean x reader

fluff: in vino veritas

heaven and hell: book of the damned

rating: pg

tags: nothing really too major...

summery: not telling

@spnfluffbingo @heavenandhellbingo @sweetness47

You had to do something, you were not about to let the mark on the love of your life kill him… so you made a deal, you had gotten your hands on the book of the damned and you were now working with Rowena to try and remove the mark…

Rowena: are you sure you don't want to talk to Dean about this… I mean it's his life, his risks…

Yn: I know what he would say and I would rather just remove the mark and save his ass… so we can start the beginning of the rest of our lives together.

Rowena looks up from the book briefly…

Rowena: does that mean something happened, or is it something you learned?

Yn: its none of your concern, now lets just do this...

Rowena: ok fine, let's begin…

The spell’s list of ingredients were not long, but some had been lost to man for ages, centuries in fact:

Something made by God, but forbidden to man: the forbidden fruit-the apple from the garden which crowley had helped to procure for this spell

Something made by man, but forbidden by God: The remains of the golden calf idol, which was later destroyed

The caster's heart: The life of the thing the spell caster loves most

The fourth and final ingredient is a lock of hair from the target with the mark: you had taken a lock of hair from dean when you gave him a hair cut…

Rowena: yn since this is your spell, please tell me what have you brought that is the life of you

You present the case to rowena who opens it and smiles ever so slightly.

Rowena: so what being does this type of murder…

YN: one who wants to save the life of the father of her unborn baby…

Rowena: finally, how long have you known?

You had to take a breath, you were really overwhelmed…

Yn: about a week, since my last doctor appointment. Ive been waiting for the right time to tell Dean but the mark has to go away before dean and i can talk about this baby… cause the mark is causing him to for as hot as it is, be a lean mean hunting machine, talking to sam about this many nights after hunts, sam has told me that he has nearly been killed because dean just gets carried away. This mark needs to be removed and i know he would not listen to me if i tried to explain this…

Rowena: very well, but so you know, you and dean will still have more troubles once the mark goes away, the danger will still be ever present. The hunt doesnt stop when you remove the mark, it will intensify it in more ways then one.

You were now the one standing over the bowl where the ingredients you would be using were being placed with the following words:

YN: Ab manu Dei! (by the hand of God)

You placed the forbidden fruit the apple of the garden of eden into the bowl.

Yn: Ab manu hominis! (by the hand of man)

You placed the piece of the golden calf idol into the bowl

Yn: Ab cruore cordis mei ad fusuro in aeternum! (my bleeding heart i cast into eternity)

You opened the case and poured the heart of your own mother into the bowl.

YN: Tolle maledictionem tuam, ab hoc viro! (take your curse from this man)

Thats when you took the lock of deans hair and put that into the bowl. Suddenly a red blush colored light flew from the bowl, it flung you and rowena back, and left you both to go find dean. You got up and ran after it, you only hoped that you would get to dean before it got to dean…

you were scared, but you ran anyway, rowena on your tail, she had the book, she remembered your deal but she wanted to give you the book anyway. She didnt want it knowing that you were expecting.

You saw dean and dam arriving home at the bunker, you were half way down the road, you stopped suddenly, the red light flying over head… your only instinct was to yell.

YN: dean watch out… im sorry love i had to do it…

Thats when dean was struck by the red flash… once it was done with dean, it flew up into the sky, and suddenly the entire earth went dark as night. You ran a bit more but fell down closer to the impala…

You passed out from power exhaustion and from all that running. You woke up a few hours later only to find that you were on yours and dean bed… dean was just sitting there.

Dean: i know what you did, but i have to ask you why…

Yn: cause i didn't want you to go into the next phase of our lives together with that mark, it was changing you dean, it was changing you… do you know that you almost let your brother die last week during one of your hunts… never mind when me and you went to handle a demon a few days ago. I needed you to have a clear head for what i was gonna tell you.

Dean stands up… but before he could speak the words that you had been holding back for a while now just came spilling out.

Yn: we are pregnant!

This made dean stop dead in his tracks… this made his expressions change rapidly.

Dean: what did you just say?

You grabbed his hand and pulled him to sit on the bed as you looked into his eyes…

YN: i found out last week at the doctor, i am carrying your child dean winchester, and i know its not been that many years together and we haven't even discussed children as a future possibility but i totally understand if you don't want to raise this baby with me… and if that's the case then ill leave but on the off chance that i am wrong about you that you do want to raise this baby with me then please for the love of god understand now that what i did i'm removing the mark, i did it for us, for our future, for the life of our child.

All dean did was cup your cheek…

Dean: don't you dare think for one second that i would ever want your baby.. Hello yn… you don't know me but i know you… i also know that when you removed the mark off your boyfriend here, i was able to crawl into his body, he was supposed to keep the mark. You were not supposed to remove it… you didnt keep it locked up…

You reached round the back of your headboard, you grabbed the small vile and tilted his head back and dumped it down his throat.

Yn: in vino veritas… you just ingested truth serum. Now tell me the truth, who are you and what is coming, what did i unleash by removing the mark off of Dean…

Demon: i have no name, i am from the inner circle to the overlord, i am the one thing standing between you and your boyfriend here, who let me tell you is trying to fight his way out of my blockades. But to tell you the truth, the mark of cain held in the darkness, god’s sister, and without a host the darkness is free to destroy all she touches.

You lept off the bed, and revealed the devils trap beneath the bed. You did the exorcism and dean’s body fell lifeless on the bed. It was 3 minutes later that he sat shot straight up and he looked at you.

Dean: yn im so sorry, i didnt have any control, i heard everything that monster said… and im thrilled that you and i are going to be parents. Dont think for one second that anything the demon said was anything remotely close to what i want… i want you and this baby and we are gonna have the perfect life together you will see.

The rest of the day was spent cuddling in bed, you were discussing baby ideas, plans to add a doorway to the room next door, the plans grew and grew till you both passed out from mental and physical exhaustion.

No one thing would stop you and dean from living your best lives, no one would stop you guys from living eachother till the day you truly were to part.

[lurkerwithcomputer]

(1) Hi, I’m the anon who sent the MHA internship ask to hamliet. I don’t have a tumblr account, so sorry for this roundabout way of replying to your comment.

(2) I just wanted to say that you answered a lingering question I had about why Shouto would train his fire side under his father’s tutelage when Endeavor is the reason why he’s too traumatized to use his flames properly in the first place. Shouto’s probably hoping his peers would distract him from his PTSD triggers.

(3) I think that’s especially the case with Midoriya, since Izuku’s the one who inspired Shouto to summon his flames for the first time in years and forget Endeavor for a moment. Shouto may hope that Midoriya’s positive influence will negate Endeavor’s toxic one.

(4) Though I don’t think Shouto knows Bakugo heard his whole backstory from behind the corner, I do believe the former has come to trust the latter during their remedial lessons. Plus, Shouto saw that Bakugo wasn’t afraid of Endeavor when the flaming narcissist decided to drop in on their first hero license class.

(5) In other words, Bakugo won’t cower from or grovel toward Endeavor, which I assume would be a welcome change for Shouto. I am curious to see what would happen if Shouto found out Bakugo knows. I’m not sure if it would help them build a sense of understanding or just make things uncomfortable for them.

(6) What are your predictions for future chapters? Hawks says the League and Re-Destro’s Army will attack in 4 months, but I highly doubt Dabi’s going to wait that long. I mean, he has acted on his own before, but I don’t think he’s going to reuse the Noumu approach.

No worries Anon! I happily take discussions and asks as long as people aren’t being rude/trolls/jerkish behavior in general.

This is gonna be super long.

First things first - Shouto definitely doesn’t want to walk into the lion’s den alone, as it were. There are definitely ulterior motives on Shouto’s part, when asking Izuku and Bakugou specifically.

I very much think Shouto is looking to Endeavor for mentorship, but possibly in a “flip-the-script” way. Endeavor tried to use Shouto - so Shouto will use Endeavor to get stronger. If this is true I think it will backfire - because BNHA has repeatedly framed using people for what they can do, rather than seeing people as people - as a bad thing. Even the villains get this lesson - the Overhaul Arc taught the LoV that comrades are not disposable.

Yes, I agree again - Shouto trusts Izuku and Bakugou to counter Endeavor’s toxicity. (Some irony there, considering Bakugou’s own attitude and treatment of others). Shouto might be relying on his friends here, which is definitely growth for him. Also, Endeavor can’t pull much of his abusive bullshit if Shouto is never alone, something that I think factored into Shouto’s decision.

Will Shouto finding out that Bakugou knows about his home life end up causing friction or causing bonding? Honestly, both. Friction first, which the two of them need to work through, then a renewed, deeper trust. Regardless of that part, Shouto knows Bakugou won’t hesitate to call out Endeavor. I mean, the first thing Bakugou says about Endeavor when he shows up for the internship is “Dude’s a hard-ass.”

Now about part 6: I have lots of them - but predictions are a tricky thing, and I might get just about everything wrong. Here goes.

I definitely think we’re due for the Dabi-is-Touya grand reveal - Horikoshi has teased the audience for long enough that there’s plenty of evidence.

There’s some really blunt and pretty sinister foreshadowing by Glass Wizard Guy - Endeavor is definitely being set up for a hard fall. He even got the Number One spot, the thing he’s supposedly always wanted. The only way to go from the top... is down.

Dabi’s an impulsive guy - there’s no way he‘s going to wait four whole months if he spots an opening.

Hawks is probably going down, too - he’s got a bunch of Icarus symbolism around him and Endeavor, as a duo. Along with what could be Fallen Angel symbolism - his wings are shaded to look black quite a few times in recent chapters.

Oh, and this child-soldier stuff the Hero Commission is pulling with the UA kids? It’s gonna blow up in their faces because the UA kids are smart, headstrong and definitely not the kind of obedient that the Commission expects. Add in that the staff hate this idea even if they have no choice in the matter - I wouldn’t put it past the teachers to pull some under-the-radar interference to protect their students. Depends on how badly the Commission just turned the teachers against them.

Character interactions that need to happen because there’s set-up:

Dabi and Endeavor, of course. That’s likely the crux of this arc.

Dabi and Geten, because they’re mirrors of each other and both of them need to look at the toxic beliefs they’ve internalized.

Dabi and Shouto, because they’re both foils and family. I don’t think Dabi hates Shouto, and I think he’ll get less vitriolic in his attitude towards Shouto when he realizes that Shouto isn’t Endeavor 2.0.

Dabi and the League: time for burnt bacon to open up.

Himiko and the League: might be interesting, with the emphasis on the Todoroki family secrets, if Himiko open up about her estranged family.

Shouto and Endeavor: I think Endeavor needs a reminder that what Shouto wants to see out of his father is a better father, not a better Hero. Endeavor needs to actually listen to his family when they tell him how badly he done fucked things up.

Shouto and Bakugou: I do think Shouto will find out Bakugou knows about Endeavor’s abuse in this arc. See above for how I think that probably works out.

Bakugou and Endeavor: Bakugou needs to see that this guy isn’t who he wants to become - Bakugou is being shown someone who values nothing but power, his worst-possible-future-self incarnate, and he needs to reject that to have positive growth.

Izuku and Bakugou have had their fight and cooldown conversation about what went down in Kamino - but it never covered their past, not really. I think Izuku and Bakugou will end up fighting again, if not in this arc then at some point. It’s the only way Izuku can get through to Bakugou (unfortunately) - and for all his compassion, Izuku isn’t quite the cinnamon roll the fandom likes to treat him as. He’ll gladly throw hands, and Bakugou needs another wake-up call about how he treated Izuku.

When the Villain Crew crosses paths with the UA kids in this arc:

Himiko and Izuku: They’ve interacted at least three times so far, with set-up for more. Himiko has told Izuku her genuine thoughts and feelings twice so far. “Will you really save everyone?” and “I’m so happy, Izuku baby!” Izuku needs to give her an answer on that first one.

Himiko and Ochako: these two are another set of foils. Himiko even took Ochako’s form and used her Quirk in the Villain Academia Arc. Hopefully we don’t get some token catfight over who loves Izuku more. (Miss me with that tired stuff please). Let them have a serious, dangerous fight, and also at least attempt to communicate. Worth noting that Himiko has genuine, if quite warped, romantic interest in both Izuku and Ochako.

Things that are probably entirely wishful thinking but I want anyway:

A showdown between Twice, who can duplicate any person or object he knows accurate physical measurements for, VS Momo, who can create any object she knows the structure of? Perfect playground to get creative with their Quirks.

A battle of wits and hacking between that shaggy-hair hacker guy VS Principal Nezu and Hatsume Mei. Again, a playground for seeing smart, sneaky, creative Quirk use (and tech use.)

Mt. Lady VS Gigantomachia. An opportunity for one of BNHA’s chronically underplayed ladies to be an absolute powerhouse. Also just the sheer, Kaijuu-style spectacle of that fight.

[gastricpierrot]

Title: Heartbeat

Series: Promare

Pairing: GaloLio

Rating: T

Summary:

Lio turns himself in after the final battle, the start of a new life he must get used to.

This is a story of how Lio Fotia navigates through the days that follow, learns that support comes in more forms than he’s ever familiar with, and deals with his alarmingly developing feelings for Galo Thymos.

Also on AO3

[Prologue][Chapter 1][Chapter 2]

[Chapter 3]

“Get on, Lio. We’re gonna go have lunch with the boys.”

Is the first thing Galo says when Lio walks up to him. Lio fails to suppress a smile at his wording.

“Galo, what the heck,” he says, accepting the helmet Galo passes to him nonetheless. Galo straps on his gear as he explains.

“Gueira and Meis have been going on and on about treating you to something nice once you’re out so,” he seats himself, “lunch’s on them today. They should be waiting for us when we get there since it’s closer to their place.”

“I see.” Lio climbs on after Galo, putting his arms around his waist and interlocking his fingers. Galo starts up the engine and goes over the usual routines with habitual ease, then glances over his shoulder when he notices Lio slipping into silence.

“You okay?” his voice comes through a hidden speaker built in his helmet. And honestly? Lio isn’t quite sure himself. Everything still feels a bit unreal. The silence, the blue skies, the fact that he’s right here now and not at the site doing the labor that’s become a usual for him. Even the fact that he’s now speaking to someone else so freely without a time limit looming over them—Lio seems to have yet to process them all.

“Just a little tired,” Lio replies, which he guesses pretty much sums it up too.

“What, you’re that excited about today that you couldn’t sleep?” Galo teases, to which Lio only hums ambiguously because he’s not wrong but he doesn’t quite want to give him the satisfaction of being correct. “It’ll take a bit of time for us to get there so feel free to lean against me and get some rest. Just don’t forget to keep holding on, though—wouldn’t want you falling off halfway.”

And Lio only hums to that again, seizing the chance to get comfortable yet not too much so before Galo starts on their way to the diner.

It’s...been a while since he had such close contact with another person, it eventually dawns Lio as they cruise through the roads of the city. Galo’s so much different from the pillow he’s hugged for comfort on nights where his chest feels hollow enough to hurt. He's warmer, solid. Alive. There, with him.  

Lio holds Galo just a little tighter, leaning against his back as he’s offered. Just until the sudden wave of something in his chest goes away, just until the sounds of traffic around them and the rush of cool air against his skin could distract him again.

The pizza diner is a quaint little place in the middle of a lively district decorated with colorful banners and flowery bushes along the sidewalks. It looks like there’s either going to be a festival soon, or one has just passed. Galo manages to find a parking right outside the restaurant, and Lio has just climbed off and barely removed his helmet when he hears a couple of enthusiastic, familiar voices calling for their Boss.

He manages to put the helmet away just before Gueira and Meis sprint over and envelop him in a crushing three-person hug.

Everything about them screams familiarity: their touch, scent, warmth. It finally begins to sink in. How long Lio has actually been away, how long he’s been separated from the people he considers his family. They might have developed the habit of calling him their Boss, but  Gueira and Meis have always been more like his older brothers, his caretakers when he’s not out there presenting himself as the leader of Mad Burnish. They respected him, no doubt, but they also loved him as their own. Always supporting him in the wild things he does, always knowing when to make sure he doesn’t go overboard and hurt himself.

Lio misses them. He misses his brothers so much.

“You guys,” he swallows the lump in his throat, holding them closer, “it’s so good to see you again.”

“Bosssssssssssss!” Gueira proceeds to wail, almost overlapping with Meis’ demands of “Why did you suddenly run off and do that all by yourself!!!”

Lio does his best to calm them, promising he’ll tell them in a bit so why don’t they just go grab a bite first? The two are quick to start enthusiastically listing out recommendations as they start heading towards the diner, and part of Lio still can’t seem to get over how...unchanged they seem. It feels like home, with them. Safe, accepting, anchoring.

He turns around to prompt Galo to come along, too, and sees the fond smile he’s wearing while he watches them.

“Galo,” Lio feels himself returning the smile as he beckons him over, “let’s go.”

Meis has already made a reservation beforehand, so they’re immediately led to a table by the window once the staff confirms the details. Lio easily gets coaxed into being squished between his brothers on one side while Galo takes the other alone. Lio assures them he’s fine with anything when asked for any preferences, and in no time their orders are placed (with specific requests to exclude onions, of course; they still remember how much Lio dislikes them) and they finally have time to themselves.

Gueira and Meis are quick to resume their questions; Lio can’t blame them. He'd made that drastic, spontaneous decision all by himself back then, after all. Of course they’d still be in the dark with a lot of details. Gueira recounts how he’d actually decked Galo when he found out Lio had been arrested, thinking he had let it all happen despite having just teamed up with him to save the world (“Sorry ‘bout that, bro.” “I told you already, it’s cool bro.”) Meis apparently had even almost gone as far as planning to break into the detention center itself to get Lio out of there. It was a mess. It’d taken Burning Rescue a lot of yelling and reasoning to get the agitated Burnish to calm down and listen.

“We really thought they were going to lock you up for life, Boss,” Meis admits, staring at his own clasped hands on the table. “And I'm sure if it weren’t for the firefighters and that team of researchers, they would have.”

“I know we haven’t thanked you properly for all you’ve done for us and the Boss,” Gueira adds, then grimly faces Galo without a shred of hesitation. “So thanks, Galo. For all your help.”

“No, no need to thank me in particular! It’s all team effort!” Galo is, in true Galo fashion, instantly dismissive. “We couldn’t possibly have just left all of you by yourselves after all that. The Burnish had gone through enough as it was.”

“But what you have done,” Lio reminds him, “is keep me company through those five years. And that alone has saved me more than you can imagine.” He looks up to meet Galo’s gaze. “So thank you. Take credit for at least that.”

“It’s nothing, really!!” Galo insists, face turning slightly red from all the sudden gratitude directed at him. When he realizes this, he covers his face with his hands and just lets out a meaningful “AaaaaAAaaa!!”

“Just accept it, Thymos, because from now on we’d probably die for you.” Gueira says like it isn’t even a joke. “Right, Boss?”

“Please cherish your own lives and don’t do that,” Galo pleads. The pizzas arrive in that moment, giving him the chance to steer the conversation another direction. “A-Anyway, enough of all the serious stuff now that food is here! Let’s eat while it’s still fresh!”

And so they do. Lio pulls out a slice of pizza, still steaming hot and dripping with cheese. He's somewhat gotten used to the feeling of heat on his fingers now, though on some days it’d still feel so foreign and unfathomable. On some days he’s still inexplicably tempted to find out how far he can go before it’s unbearable, before his skin blisters and burns when he’s been immune to injuries like those almost half his life.

Lio takes his first bite, and immediately has to take a deep breath. He's gotten too used to the bland food of the detention center, he realizes. The richness of the cheese and the tomato paste and the olive oil simultaneously assaults his taste buds, and he’s almost overwhelmed.

Meis is the first to notice his lack of enthusiasm and quickly offers, “Boss, if you don’t like it we can—”

Lio raises a hand and shakes his head, stifling a burp. “It’s not that I don’t like it, Meis. I’m just...not used to it yet. I’m sure it’ll get better in a few minutes.”

“Just don’t force yourself if you really can’t have it, yeah?” Gueira insists, brow furrowed. “We can always get something easier to stomach for you, like garlic bread or something.”

“No need.” Lio is just as adamant. “You guys are sharing something you like with me. I can do at least this.”

He tries his best, with many sips of water in between. Their conversation eventually picks up again, and Lio lets himself to be distracted enough to ignore a portion of the pizza’s richness that’s making him sick. He encourages Meis and Gueira to share all about what they’ve been up to and they do; they’ve started out mostly acting as representatives of the former Burnish, aiding Heris and her team in their efforts by providing detailed testimonials of the terrors they had witnessed and experienced. Once that was mostly settled and they found they could not be much use anywhere else, they’d started looking for jobs, knowing they can never rely too much on provisions from an unstable government. Many other adult Burnish must’ve thought the same, gradually finding the courage to put themselves out there again when Heris’s campaign began gaining more momentum.

In Gueira and Meis’ case, there had been no question. Galo had told them about Lio’s community service and involvement in restoring destroyed infrastructure during his detention. They couldn’t let him carry such burden all by himself. So they’d found a company that couldn’t care less about them being past fire-wielding hooligans as long as they could do a good job and, like Lio, had learnt to rebuild instead of destroy.

Lio’s already heard about some of what they’ve been doing from Galo as soon as they got the job. It is his first time, however, hearing their motivations. If they couldn’t be close to Lio in person, they’d do it in spirit. They could indirectly share similar experiences, similar aches, even similar doubts and frustrations. He’s not alone. They refuse to let him be, even if he doesn’t realize it.

“You’d be dumb to think we’ll let you go off on your own so easily after everything.” Gueira ends his recollection with a grin, slinging an arm across Lio’s shoulders. “We’ll always be here for you, Boss. No matter what.”

And of all the times Lio has had the sudden, unexplainable urge to cry that day, this is the first where he fails to keep the tears back. Those five years...he’d been lonely. So ridiculously much so. He might’ve gotten used to being by himself, but that didn’t stop the invisible weight from pressing down on his chest, didn’t stop him from feeling like he’s so disconnected and isolated despite Galo’s fleeting presence. It all comes crashing over him like a tidal wave. The past five years hadn’t been extremely hard on him physically; he could bear with the soreness, the harassment, the other petty less-than-ideal things even in his standards. But it had been so unbearably lonesome.

No one makes a fuss when he cries. His brothers hold him, offering support in silence. Galo averts his gaze to give him some privacy, though if Lio had been looking he’d see how misty his eyes are, too.

Lio feels like a child again. It’s been so long since he’s had such a privilege; to just bask in their unwavering presence, their scent, their warmth, their affection—without having to worry about how weak he might look, how unreliable he’d seem to others if he ever bared the cracks in his being. Lio cries; he cries until his throat hurts and the cheese on the pizza tastes even worse than before.

And once it’s all over, once the knot in his chest has finally faded away, he laughs. And he admits he can’t stomach the pizza anymore.

“So what do you plan to do after this?” Galo asks a little later when Lio’s munching on the tuna sandwiches they ordered for him after he’s calmed down. Lio sniffs and takes a moment to think it over, not quite sure himself what’s going to happen next.

“Is there anyone who are still in the shelters? Maybe I could just drop by and see how they’re doing.” He decides that could be a good place to begin.

Meis and Gueira exchange a look at that. “As far as we know, most of us have already found our own places to stay,” Meis tells him, “the ones who remain are mostly those who aren’t willing to leave because they still get free provisions.”

Lio hums in more thought before deciding it’s still worth a try. “I want to have an idea of how it was for you guys when I was gone, anyway. Plus I'll need somewhere to stay at in the meantime, so I might as well.”

“You could always just stay with us, Boss! It’s really not a problem!” Gueira’s quick to offer, but Lio’s already made up his mind.

“You and Meis are both busy, and I'm sure you guys need your privacy too. It really doesn’t matter to me.”

They bicker back and forth about that for a bit; they’re understandably stubborn about not leaving Lio by himself. He’s been away for such a long while and all he’s got with him are the clothes on his back. They're the only people he has contact with, and the only people he can directly count on at the moment. Lio’s silly to still insist on trying to handle everything himself and refusing to rely on the only people he can, he knows. It’s just something he thinks he’s got to do, some rite of passage he thinks he must go through before he earns the right to ask for help.

“Lio, listen.”

Amongst the bickering, Galo eventually speaks up. He waits until they’ve quieted down, until Lio meets his gaze before he continues.

“Burning Rescue accepts recruits a few times a year, the next being in about a month,” he tells him. “There’s not much prior qualifications needed for the job as long as your physically fit and you’d get to stay in a dorm during the training period. If it’s something you want to try out, I can ask the Captain to throw in a recommendation for you.”

He then looks at the other two. “Meis, Gueira—this is still open to you guys, too.”

There he goes again, doing...this. Butting into people’s lives, needlessly trying to help even in the littlest ways.

“You don’t have to decide so quickly, though!” Galo hurriedly waves his hands in front of himself and adds when the others lapse into a minute of thoughtful silence. “Just know that if you have nowhere else to go, you guys are always welcomed in the FDPP.”

“That’s very reassuring.” Lio genuinely means it. “Thanks, Galo.”

Galo grins, and Lio is once again reminded of how fortunate he is to have him by his side. He’s always been there for them, always been ready to help without expecting anything in return. Lio’s hit by the sudden, overwhelming urge to give back to him; ten-fold, a thousand-fold. He isn’t sure how and if that’d even be possible in his lifetime, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to try.

If it’s for Galo, surely he’d be able to do anything at all.

xXx

They spend the next few hours more just talking about everything and anything, just sharing laughter and anecdotes. Just like every other group of close friends.

And then it’s time for Meis and Gueira to prepare for their shift in the evening, and they have to leave. Galo again offers Lio a ride since the shelter is a little out of the other two’s way to work. Though, it might be a little more accurate to say he’d insisted to do so, refusing to listen to even a syllable of argument from Lio about being a bother to him. It's been five years, and Lio still doesn’t know what he’s going to do with this childishly stubborn side of him.

“Lio.”

But there’s one thing he’s learnt, and that there’s always so much more of Galo under his daily boisterous façade. Lio once again catches of a glimpse of it when Galo calls his name a little while after he’s begun driving.

“It didn’t feel right for me to say this in front of the guys just now,” Galo starts, his voice calm and quiet through the speaker, “but you can always stay at my place too next time if you want. It’s pretty big and I live alone so it’s cool even if another person comes over.”

Galo doesn’t stop trying to keep giving and giving, especially to him. Part of Lio still can’t quite comprehend why he’s willing to go such lengths for his sake when he’s got nothing to gain from it. Doesn’t it grow tiring at some point? Isn't it enough that his entire career is based on the idea of helping others in need? Doesn’t it grow exhausting when he lets it extend to even personal matters like this?

“Galo,” Lio’s asking before he can even properly sort out his thoughts, “why are you so kind to me?”

“Mmm, isn’t that obvious?” Galo sounds genuinely confused that Lio doesn’t understand something so simple. “It’s because you’re my friend!”

Lio frowns. “That doesn’t mean you have to do so many things for my sake.”

“Lio, I don’t have to do it,” Galo says, patiently, “I want to do it. Also, don’t get so full of yourself—a lot of it is for my own sake too, y’know. I’m much more selfish than you might think.”

“That’s truly a surprise,” Lio can’t help but snark to that last bit, and it prompts a playful protest from Galo that leads to some laughter shared.

“Nah, but really,” Galo says once the mirth has faded away, voice taking that quiet, gentle tone once more. “I don’t get it all myself, but I just feel like the way our paths crossed, the way coincidences somehow brought us together to literally save the world—” he takes a breath— “don’t you think it feels a bit like destiny?”

Lio blinks, trying to process the actual words that’d just come out of Galo’s mouth. Destiny? It’s such a fantastical concept, something out of the fairy tales Lio had read when he was a little child. It’s something Lio doesn’t expect to hear in this day and age, yet it doesn’t sound too far-fetched to have come from Galo. Galo, who constantly boasts of other fantastical things like his burning spirit and blazing heart and being the best firefighter in the universe.

“Galo Thymos,” Lio observes, amused, “you’re a surprisingly romantic man.”

“Anything wrong with that?” The pout is evident in Galo’s response even though Lio can’t see it. He sighs, smiles.

“None at all.” You’re amazing the way you are, he manages to stop himself from adding despite truly believing so. He isn’t quite prepared to face the embarrassment of telling him that just yet. Perhaps the day will come when he is, perhaps it will never. Lio doesn’t bother mulling over it.

They soon slip into a comfortable silence, content with simply sharing the space, the moment. Galo must’ve heard Lio yawning at some point, pulling over to shrug off his jacket and tie its sleeves around both their waists. Lio figures it’s to help prevent him from falling off as easily if he passes out, and the comfort of knowing so eventually adds to the effects from his full belly and fading adrenaline. His eyelids grow heavier by the minute, and he finds himself nodding off.

And the next thing he knows, Galo waking him and telling him they’ve arrived at the shelter.

It’s not a very big place, though Lio understands that they’ve gradually downsized the premise as more and more people left. There’s a small reception space at the front, then a hallway that leads to a canteen, shower stalls, and the toilets. The sleeping quarters are further back, in what looks like a small hall with cement floors and large windows at intervals across the walls. There are some used blankets and mattresses strewn across the back corners of the hall, rubbish and dirty laundry littering the space around them. Compared to the rest of the place that’s maintained so perfectly, those areas seem like dumpsters.

“You sure you want to be here?” Galo asks one last time as Lio begins filling the paperwork, frowning in obvious disapproval at whoever’s been hanging around.

“I’m an ex-terrorist who's been in detention, Galo. I know how to take care of myself.” Lio assures as he finishes up and hands the documents back to the receptionist. He tries to ignore the uncomfortable stare he gets from him—maybe he shouldn’t have said that first bit out loud. Oops.

The pout in Galo’s frown intensifies as he tries to come up with more reasons to argue, but he ends up giving in this time. He instead asks for a pen and a piece of paper, scribbling down some things before handing it to Lio.

"Here’s Gueira and Meis’ numbers,” he says, shoving the note into Lio’s hands and folding his fingers over it. “Mine’s there, too. Call us anytime if you need us, alright? Use this place’s landline or a payphone or something since you don’t have a cellphone yet.”

He can be so overprotective at times, Lio muses. “Will you be dropping by every night again?”

He'd meant it mostly as a joke, but Galo’s serious when he answers, “If I can!”

“Please don’t,” Lio pleads, though he knows it’s mostly impossible to change his mind at this point.

“There’s no way for us to reach you if you suddenly up and disappear, Lio!” Galo’s a little more agitated than necessary when he reminds him. “What if something happens!!”

“It won’t,” Lio soothes, gesturing for him to lower his voice. “I’ll be fine, Galo. You’ve worried enough about me.”

“And you can’t expect me to stop now.” Galo crosses his arms across his chest.

Lio gives him a look, like really, what am I going to do with you. “Just go, Galo. It’s been a day for the both of us. I want to wind down soon too.”

“I’ll try to come here after work tomorrow—maybe around seven? We can have dinner together or something?” Galo asks as he lets Lio steer him around and gently push him towards the exit.

“Just do what you like.”

“It’s settled then!” Lio walks right into him when he suddenly plants his feet on the ground and stops to turn around and face him again. “Be careful if you’re going to go out wandering later, yeah?”

“Yes, yes.” Lio smiles crookedly.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Galo.”

Tomorrow. Yet another tomorrow with Galo to look forward to. Yet another thing that Lio’s glad remains unchanged.

[frekydeki]

Much Like Lightning

Summary: You were once someone who would laugh at the one bozo in seven hundred thousand that got struck by lightning... Except now, you are that bozo. Add to that the fact that you get thrown back into time where the comfy dungeon you're stuck in is visited by a certain earl and his butler, and the Queen of England decides they're the only ones fit to babysit you, makes your bad luck like a nice little sundae on a good ole rainy Sunday. You happen to fall in love with the sinfully beautiful butler and accidentally earn the affections of others along the way; hey, just think of it as the cherry on top of your very unlucky sundae.

Pairing: (Reader x Various) (Sebastian x Reader, more specifically)

| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4: Upcoming

The boy across the way has been drilling his gaze into your cheek the entire drive back to his estate. You, being the stubborn and nervous shit you are, keep your narrow sight on the passing fields with an irritated blush running over your cheeks. If you don't acknowledge their eyes on you, you won't have to answer any questions you don't know the answer to and the ride will be all that much more comfortable for you. Though, you do have a white knuckled grip on your knee while your other hand rests gently on your chin. Foot tapping relentlessly with your back slouched slightly in relaxation. Eyes intensely concentrating on whatever is outside of that window, but somehow very far off in thought; you're a freaking walking contradiction. 

"Do you consider yourself a hard working woman, (Y/N)?" Ciel questions across from you. You lift your chin from the palm of your hand and blink the daze from your sight. You sniff lightly and shrug, taking hold of a wrinkle in your light blue skirt and pinching it between your fingers. "I do what needs to be done." You answer curtly. You don't like going above and beyond much; it only leads to disappointment, falling a little short, never being good enough. You meet his eyes evenly, wondering just what he's thinking, looking at you with such an unreadable poker face. "Good." He says with a content nod before rolling his head to look out the window. "It will be needed now that you're a servant of the Phantomhive household." You stare at him... Being included in that phrase almost sends chills down your spine. What a legendary fucking group. When you would read about those servants or see them in the anime - the utter belief and trust he has in his servants abilities - you would always think that they could take down Sparta. An extraordinary group like them... And you're now a part of it. It's scary, almost. You're just a normal person with no special fighting talent or anything else at that. Eyes cast down at your hands, you nod slowly. "I guess I'll have to be hard working if I'm going to be cleaning up after those three." "You know them, then?" "Very well." "How?" The boy snaps. You draw back as your eyes almost fuse together your brow is pinched so tightly in irritation; just because he's Ciel Phantomhive with a demon butler that doesn't mean you're okay with him being a dick to you! You look him up and down, watching his hands wring at his walking stick, or his eyes search you for any sort of scam. Ironing out your face, you realize that if someone waltzed into your life claiming to know everything about you and even more that even you don't know, you'd be pretty irked too. A soft smile pulls on the corner of your lips; how arrogant it is of you. "I've seen them before." You answer in a soft tone. He doesn't respond, so you quickly jump on the opportunity to restart with Ciel; maybe he'll stop being such a brat if you both reach even grounds. "Master Phantomhive," You begin, drawing your heavy eyes to his, "I won't pretend to know you. While I might know everything that has happened to you, everything that will happen to you, the people who surround you, and even a few of your fears, I will never pretend to understand your emotions and thoughts." His wide eye shakes as he watches you with parted lips and stuttering breaths. "Please understand that I don't mean to offend you." "Very well." Ciel answers in a calmed tone. He flicks his chin at you, hand splayed over his jaw as he rest his elbow on the window ledge and jaw on the palm of his hand. "How do you know them?" You watch him, considering how to tell him that you watched them in cartoons and read them in books. You laugh while pressing your hand to the base of your head, looking out the window; squinting as if it's going to clear up the passing scenery and reveal the answer. "Pictures?" You question quietly, to which you shake your head and tap your fingers to your knee. "Visions?" "Clairvoyance?" Sebastian suggests to you. Your eyes turn to his quickly. Is that a super power? A lame super power, but it is one... One that's going to save your life. You nod and offer them a shut eyed smile. "Sure is! Clairvoyance is the word I was looking for. Thanks!" "You speak in a very unformal manner." Ciel grumbles. "Well we can't all grow up in a manor." You quip. Sapphire eyes jolt to yours, but you turn away as if to be oblivious to the irritation on his face. Damn, this is going to be really hard. Living through serving Ciel without being the snappy person you are, trying to stay on his good side, is going to be a trip... "Tell me... What are their names?" "Mey-Rin, Tanaka, Baldroy, and Finnian." "And do you know," He begins to shift in his seat, pulling part of his cloak from under him, "Why they are employed with me." Folding your hands in front of you, you prepare the speech you've given thousands of times over these three. "Where do I even start?" You laugh happily. "Mey-Rin has amazing visual acuity. So with a gun in her hand," You point finger guns at the two mindlessly, "She doesn't miss. You utilize her sight and skill in sniping, you line your roofs with rifles - no scope because she doesn't like them much - and she does a very good job protecting you and your estate... Though, you gave her a pair of thick glasses that impairs her sight... She treasures them, but they do make her pretty darn clumsy." The boys mouth opens and snaps shut as if he's an angry fish. He clears his throat and looks out the window. "Very good. And Finny?" "Ah! Finny! I love Finny! He's such a sweet guy!" You squeak under your breath. You stop and eye the two, who gawk at you in return. You clear your throat and continue on your way, "He's your gardener. He's very strong, uses anything nearby to hurdle at intruders... The straw hat you gave him, Master Phantomhive, covers his tattoo. The one he received while imprisoned at a facility. There... Terrible things were done to him and since you are well aware of it all I prefer not to go much further into it." You curtly end. "Baldroy is your chef... Not much of one since Sebastian does a majority of the cooking; rightly so since Baldroy doesn't understand a flame thrower isn't something you use in the kitchen. He's an American soldier... So he tends to like to rush things; get them done as fast as possible, hence the flamethrowers and such... He tends to give orders when the master isn't home, since he's a pretty good leader, like when the first- tiers from the cir-" You slap your hand tightly over your lips. A squeaky wheeze comes from you as your eyes - the size of the moon - shifts between the two men waiting for you to finish speaking. "Like what?" You push your chin out to Ciel's question, pretending to not understand him. "Like when the first-tiers... Etcetera etcetera." The boy rolls his wrist for you to continue. You suck your lips between your teeth and push your back against your seat. "Uh oh!" You chime, offering your hands up in a mischievous shrug, "I forgot what I was going to say." Ciel wants to have your head. You can tell, looking at the way his eyes are burning yours to a crisp with that glare. The shadows crossing his face are pretty severe, but you really can't say anything else too soon... Messing up that timeline is a no no. "I told you Sebastian would kill you." "Yes, but," You hold your hands out in front of you as if you're calming a frantic horse, "Sebastian," You look to him, "understands how detrimental it is for me to not tell you too much of the future..." The demon is silent. "Because some things should be left for the young master to come to understand when the time comes." Silence; holy crap who knew Sebastian would be so damn dense. That or he's playing stupid to make your time ten times more difficult. What a dick. But, he is a demon... You shouldn't be surprised but you are; you're so used to reading fanfictions where Sebastian is madly in love with you - the character - so he's so soft and mushy to you... Right now you feel like you're trying to work with a stone. You sigh heavily and push your eyes to Ciel's; you can't really depend on that man. "Young master, I will not tell you about the event I am referring to until after it happens, should I enjoy your company that long. I decide this because you will make your own decisions and learn from them; of yourself and of others. Should I tell you it all, it wouldn't be all that fun, would it?" "In the situation you were describing, what does Baldroy do?" "Your estate is under attack, and Baldroy tells Finny and Mey-Rin what do to eliminate the threat. And he does very well giving them orders." He smiles and returns his gaze outside, a small smirk on his lips. You move your strong gaze to Sebastian, allowing him to see the disappointment fresh on your expression. Those red eyes widen just a fraction. You snap your eyes away, trying to understand how a man as competent as Sebastian could be so incompetent when it comes to helping another person out... Then again, his only worry is Ciel. Your eyes, now taken over by a sad look, with eyebrows slack and mouth pressed lightly together, trail to examine the demon, who hasn't torn his eyes from you. An intense moment passes between the two of you; you're not quite sure what's going on in that demons head, but yours is filled to the brim with confusions between the Sebastian you thought you knew and with the one you know now. "Ah... Here we are." Sebastian announces as the carriage jumps to a halt, and the box darkens in the shadow of the large manor. The door swings open by Sebastian's hand, your cheeks being chilled by the hard breeze flowing in. Ciel exits first, you notice the worried pinch in his furrowed brow and the way his lip is settled into his cheek; must be worried about his servants. You take in a harsh breath as the demon's gloved hand appears in your vision. What does he want? Eying his hand, you raise a brow. So he can offer help over something so stupid as getting out of a carriage but not for something as detrimental as getting Ciel to shut up. Your hand latches onto his... His hand fits perfectly in his, so perfectly it should almost stay like this for eternity. You tighten your grip and then loosen it; just get out of the damn carriage and ignore the man is what you're thinking as you step from him with a hot blush on your cheeks... "Your face is red. You feel well?" Sebastian purrs in your ear. You harshly suck in a breath through your teeth and calmly turn to snap a severe look at him; remember, you're a terrible human and have no problem shutting men's advances down faster than memes spread. "Must be the cold wind." You dryly say, noticing that your face is getting hotter as you stare - no, glare - at Sebastian. A smirk lights his lips as he holds his hand out toward the opening door. "Then, let's get out of it!" His hand presses to your lower back and guides you inside, "Right this way, Madam." A slight growl fumbles from your lips and you march inside trying to remember if Sebastian was ever this touchy with guests or any women in the manga. "Meet the staff, (Y/N)." Ciel sneers at you. Eyes meeting in an electric battle, your lips pull down in a frustrated frown; why does this kid hate you so much. You bet he's going to spend every waking minute of his days with you trying to drive you insane. Your frown soon cracks into a pleasant smile as the four servants skid to a stop in front of you. "You four, meet (Y/N). She will be a new worker here at the estate. Please, treat her well and show her how it works around here." Sebastian states to the servants. "You'll be working with me, yes?" Mey-Rin's rough voice screeches to you, her red cheeks shining bright under her thick glasses. The same smile stays plastered on your lips, eyes shut in annoyance; you love Mey-Rin but some part of you assumes that you won't catch much silence with her clanking around you. "Yes. It will be a pleasure," The red haired girl opens her mouth to give her name, but you march through, mindlessly saying it, "Mey-Rin." "You know my name?" Your eyes snap open before you quickly cover it with a smile and motioning towards Sebastian, "Of course! Sebastian enlightened me to who I would be working with on the ride here!" You snatch her hands up, finding them surprisingly soft, "Let's be great friends, Mey-Rin!" Her blush deepens as her head begins to bob quickly. "Then you must know me, then!" Finny beams from your right. "Of course!" You smile gently down to him, "I hope you won't mind me coming out to help you every now and then... I love roses... I hear you keep them beautifully." "I do my best." "Very good, then." "Will you be joining me in the kitchen then? To help me mince the mushrooms?" Baldroy questions with a raise in his brow. Smiling, you nod and assure him that you would help to mince as many mushrooms as you can. Looking at the smile Sebastian is giving Baldroy, you can't help but remember the scene where he appears behind the chef to give him a good knuckle sandwich to the side of the face... You shutter and put your attention back to the blond man. "Though I should mention I prefer baking." The chef gives you a cheesy smile and scratches his neck. "If your baking makes deserts as sweet as you, I'm sure they'll taste better than Sebastian's." Swallowing, you do your best to ignore the cold air you feel moving hauntingly around you. Giggling, you turn your attention to the old man reaching to encase your hand in his. Shuffling through your introduction to Tanaka gracefully, the group breaks up with Finny running your small trunk - a gift from the queen who's taken an extreme liking to you - to your shared room with Mey-Rin, and Tanaka giving you a tour of the place. It's interesting for you to finally see how the manor is laid out, rather than only seeing a few rooms like you would in the manga or anime. The estate is grand. Fancier than the most expensive hotel you've stayed at, even; and that's saying a lot because you've been to Daytona and those hotel's sure weren't playing around. "What has Sebastian chosen you as a servant here for?" Tanaka questions as you stop outside of your room. You look to him; no point in hiding it from any of the staff to be honest. They know pretty well that being hand picked by the butler isn't just a random choice. "Clairvoyance." You curtly explain. "Ho?" The old man laughs. "That will be very handy to us! It will surely be a pleasure, Miss (Y/N). Goodnight." You smile shortly to him, watching as he slowly walks down the hall. You slouch heavily as you're finally left in peace, and you can now acknowledge how terribly your back and head is throbbing. "Your back hurts?" "Jesus!" You screech as you fling yourself away from Sebastian appearing behind you from seemingly no where. You point your finger at the tall man, "Listen here man! Just because I know the future doesn't mean I'm immune to jump scares." He chuckles in a very pleased manner as he bows; his hair glistens beautifully in the candlelight, and it lines his face perfectly when he looks down at you like this. But that doesn't matter. "I should change your bandages before you go to bed, (Y/N). You're wounds are severe, after all." You open your door, accepting that it's best you take really good care of your wounds, even if that means suffering the same embarrassment you did this morning. "I do, also, have some things to discuss with you in privacy." "Mhmm." You hum to him that you're listening as you unfasten your dress with frustrated huffs. His hands catch yours and place them at your side. "May I provide assistance?" With lidded eyes and slouched posture, you say, "Sure." "Since you're already aware, I will confirm that I am what you say." Your body runs cold; you did not expect to hear that so easily and casually. "But no other humans, other than young master, are aware. I beg you to have it remain so." "Don't worry. I don't really plan on sharing much of anything with anyone, let alone that." "You seem an honest enough woman." He smiles as your blue dress fumbles to the ground. He offers his hand out to a chair in front of a simple wooden table. "Now, since you're a servant of the estate I expect you to assist us in the maintenance of the building and the welfare of our master. Tomorrow Mey-Rin will help you with the duties, and I will keep a close eye on you." "I'm flattered." You mumble. "Young master would also like to speak with you further on your abilities in the evening tomorrow, after our guest leaves." "He does understand that I won't be telling him much of anything, right?" "My master is quite dense." "I'd call it more stubborn, independent, maybe even narrow-sighted." "Your tongue is slightly venomous." The demon chuckles as he removes your bandages. "If it weren't then I'd be lying." Silence falls between the two of you comfortably; you fantasize about a good nights rest as he dabs gently over your damaged skin. "Tomorrow, the guest you have visiting... Damian." The butler's hands stop what they're doing. "Listen to him closely. And..." You turn to look up at him, "Don't let Mey-Rin carry out the wine to pour." He raises an eyebrow at you, to which you smile sweetly, "Just a fair warning." "Yes." The suspicion in his voice is heavy as you turn away and allow him to finish up his quick work. "I've left your uniform in the chest. Mey-Rin will help you dress, I've explained to her that your wounds prevent you from doing so." With his materials gathered in his arms, he positions himself in your doorway, smiling to you with dark ruby eyes. You stare back with unreadable eyes. "Good night, (Y/N). "Goodnight, Sebastian." Seconds after the latch of the door, your buried in the blankets of your bed... Your sense of dread has somehow piqued your interests. While you're well aware you're in pretty deep shit, you're curious to see how it turns out. You roll on your side, wishing the exhausted Mey-Rin, who's just flopped into her bed, goodnight. You guess this kind of beats going to class and crying over textbooks. The only thing? You can't get black fur and blue wings, or ruby eyes out of your mind.

[tacticalgrandma]

New Pregame Interactions Masterpost

Anniversary added a bunch of new ones and I’m trying to find them all. I know If there are any others I’m missing, let me know! I’ll update this. Also a lot of these are from @agenthill or sent to me by @kinaesthetiq– thanks you two <3 **Edit 1: Updated with Zarya & Junkrat and Orisa & McCree interactions (thank you @tankdyke for the former, and Kina for still being on the grind!) People in the comments have said they’ve heard a variant of the Ana line with Tracer, a Symmetra & Doomfist interaction, and a Symmetra & Hanzo interaction, so if you have the transcript for any of those, please lmk! **Edit 2: @sombrashair​ got me Sombra’s half of a Sombra & Bastion interaction and possibly a whole Sombra & Pharah one, as well as Pharah’s half of a Pharah & Tracer, Pharah & Soldier: 76, and Pharah & Ana interaction. If anyone has the other halves of those, or confirmation on the Sombra & Pharah one, that would be awesome! In any case, thank you so much Lauren for my whole entire life <3 Also, putting this under a cut now, because it’s getting long.

**Edit 3: @sombrashair with mvp status getting me the other side of the Pharah & Ana interaction, as well as some Moira & Winston ones! Also @pointblankerror sent me the other half of the Pharah & Soldier interaction– thank you! Interactions that have been requested and completed have been strike through’d, the remaining bold ones are ones that I still need!

**Edit 4: Lauren got me (possibly) the other half of Ana & Tracer’s interaction and the other half of Tracer & Pharah’s, and @fearlessstateofmind came through with a bunch of really cool ones! Also @datnoise sent me a Genji and Zarya interaction. You guys are so awesome, thank you so much <3

**Edit 5: I am now legally required to buy @sombrashair a fruit basket. A bunch of Doomfist & Symmetra interactions have been added thanks to her, plus an adorable Orisa & Tracer one. @agenthill also confirmed the Ana & Tracer one and Pharah & Sombra one, as well as helped me narrow down a Doom interaction– thank you!! However, a Doomfist & Hanzo interaction and a Doomfist & Ana or Soldier: 76 interaction are incomplete. If you know these, the previous non struck through bold ones, or any ones we’re missing, please lmk!

**Edit 6: While I was at work, Lauren and a bunch of other people sent me more, so this is adding a lot! @theomnicode​, @kinaesthetiq​, and @crystallisedrain all sent in quotes– thank you guys! Also Doomfist & Hanzo has been completed and some lines have been corrected. We’re missing Orisa’s half of an Orisa & Genji interaction, and commenter also said that there was been a Brigitte & Pharah interaction (@fearlessstateofmind sent me what could be the Pharah side– thank you!) But as of now that, the other half of the Sombra & Bastion one, and the Symmetra & Hanzo one are the only ones I know are missing. 

**Edit 7: So right after I posted the last edit, I went to discord and saw the Hammeh video. That video does not have the rest Orisa & Genji interaction, or the Brigitte & Pharah one, but it does have some new ones that weren’t mentioned in the comments. We have the Junkrat & Genji interaction, the variants on Ana’s line, and a Doomfist line he didn’t, but I’m wiped and can’t be entirely sure if this list has any more the video doesn’t. In any case, I think it’s worth having transcriptions of them, so I’m going to keep it up and add the ones that weren’t on here before. Unless we get the missing ones mentioned, this should be the last update. Thank you so much to everyone who helped, especially @sombrashair, who did a ton of mining for this!

**Edit 8: @cameoappearance sent me a new Torbjorn & Bastion interaction, @chocobonoises sent me a variant on the Orisa & Doomfist interaction, and @angelic-nymphia clarified about the Brigitte & Pharah interaction– thank you all!

**Edit 9: Found new interactions in the main tag, from @aurous-android and @eridansquared! ( x . x . x )

Moira: Your condition seems relatively stable. Reaper: No one’s accused me of that in a long time.

Soldier: 76: You were a disgrace to Overwatch. If I had known what Reyes had been planning, I would never have allowed it. Moira: It seems to me that it was convenient for you not to look too closely into Gabriel’s business.

Moira: Well I won’t have to worry about my safety while the brave agents of Helix are with us. Fareeha: Don’t be so sure about that!

Ana: Ahh, youth truly is wasted on the young. Lúcio: Ana, have you SEEN my schedule? or D.va: Aw, come on, Ana! I bet you got up to all sorts of trouble when you were my age. or Tracer: At least statistically, i've wasted less than most.

Mercy: Lúcio, I never realized your father was the one who invented Vishkar’s sonic technology. Lúcio: The cortex was his life’s work, owned and patented by Vishkar… but it’s mine now.

Pharah: Helix should keep the peace in Vishkar developments. Symmetra: We do not need an army to keep the peace– we prefer our order.

Moira: Dr. Zhou. I’m interested in your colleague’s research into the long term effects of cryogenic freezing. Mei: Well.. yes… sure… maybe… *soft crying*

Mercy: Describing your work as unethical would be a kindness. Moira: But the true question is whether or not you can deny my discoveries. No. I didn’t think so.

Moira: Our courageous cowboy. The years haven’t changed you much, have they, Jesse? McCree: They certainly haven’t changed my feelings about working with you.

Orisa: Jesse McCree, outlaw. Bounty: $60 million. That would be enough to put Efi through college. McCree: Aw hey now, wait a minute.

Junkrat: I admire the way you deal with those bots. Wanna team up?. Zarya: Not if you were the last human on Earth.

Sombra: Pharah... ever wonder why you were never accepted into Overwatch? Almost like someone didn't want you to join. Pharah: Have you ever considered getting a new hobby?

Sombra: Ah... you'd make a good barista Bastion. Bastion: [growling noise]

Pharah: Tracer, have you thought about joining Helix? We could always use a good pilot. Tracer: Aww, i'm flattered, really! But I have some other things occupying my time now.

Pharah: I'm keeping an eye on you, [sarcastically] Soldier: 76. Soldier: 76: Now where have I heard that before?

Pharah: Mum... don't you think it's time you told Sam you're alive? Ana: You let me worry about what your father needs to know.

Winston: Overwatch had good reason to shut down your research. Moira: I shouldn't be surprised at such a narrow opinion coming from a jumped. up. ape.

Moira: Winston... you were never frustrated at the restrictions overwatch placed on your research? Winston: Of course. But sometimes, a measure of caution is needed in a scientist.

Ana: Are you behaving yourself Genji?  Genji: Heheh. On my best behavior, Captain.

Junkrat: You look like you bit off more than you can chew. Genji: I was a reckless youth. But you are something else entirely.

Torbjorn: McCree? What happened to your arm?  McCree: Always admired yours. Figured I'd get one of my own.

Zenyatta: Symmetra, you speak of law and of order, but you must know that life is chaotic by its very nature  Symmetra: Hmph. To be lectured about chaos and disorder from a machine.

Orisa: Tekhartha Zenyatta, I wish to learn about the Iris.  Zenyatta: I would be happy to teach you. It is rare that I meet one with such an unformed mind.

Doomfist: You know McCree the winning side would pay much better. Maybe buy yourself some real clothes. McCree: My clothes? Have you seen some of the things Talon wears?

Genji: How can I convince you that I am still a man? Zarya: I know what you are. I’m only sorry that you do not.

Lúcio: Vishkar's using you! Just like they used my father. Yeah you just wait, you'll see." Symmetra: Your father was a Vishkar employee. He understood our company's vision. A shame he never educated you.

Doomfist: Retirement suits you. Ana or Soldier: 76: or Torbjorn: And i think a hammer to the face suits you.

Doomfist: You disappoint me, Hanzo. With Talon, you could truly fulfil your destiny. Hanzo: Find another errand boy, Akande!

Doomfist: Watch my back out there, Lacroix. Widowmaker: Tell me what needs to be done, and I will do it.

Doomfist: Symmetra, I am familiar with your work. I look forward to seeing it in person. Symmetra: My purpose is to create order. You are the embodiment of chaos.

Symmetra: Doomfist, you are mistaken. only with order can humanity evolve. Doomfist: Order... chaos... means to an end.

Orisa: Tracer... is it wrong for us to operate outside the law? Tracer: That's a difficult question, Orisa. I think there are times when you just have to do what's right.

Orisa: Doomfist! You will be brought to justice.  Doomfist: We will all see justice done in the end. or Doomfist: Haha...I like you.

Torbjorn: You know, Fareeha, I could take a look at fixing up your suit if you'd like.  Pharah: And mess it up with a bunch of scrap metal bolted on the side? No thanks, I like it the way it is.

Zenyatta: I believe you could find peace… if you were to search within yourself.  Doomfist: What is tranquility but stagnation?

Genji: What does it feel like to be able to change the past?  Tracer: Sometimes the past doesn't want to change.

Genji: Orisa! You grow stronger each time I see you! Orisa: My artificial intelligence allows me to grow from my experiences and observations.

McCree: They wouldn't even have to pay me to put you away.  Doomfist: Then how would you afford the hospital bills?

Lúcio: What do you think, Pharah? Got time for a game?  Pharah: After the mission? You're on!

Zenyatta: Genji, how was your reunion with your brother? Genji: He is still not ready for time to flow forward again.

Winston: Tekhartha Zenyatta, do you believe that overwatch should return? Zenyatta: I believe that we must all do our part to find solutions to the troubles that are before us.

Orisa: Reinhardt, why is your shield so important to you? Reinhardt: It is a reminder of my duty. 

Orisa: Reinhardt, i have allocated my learning processes towards analyzing your combat performance! Reinhardt: What an odd compliment.

Symmetra: Order and discipline. That is the only way to live. Hanzo: I sense a kindred spirit.

Roadhog: Keep your stuff off the table. Junkrat: I’m hurt! I am nothing if not a courteous houseguest.

Zenyatta: I hear that you have taken in an Omnic, Torbjorn. Torbjorn: I don’t want to talk about it.

Torbjorn: Bastion. I bet you haven’t had a systems check in years. Who knows what kind of weird behaviors you picked up. Bastion: [sort of mm-hmm! beeping noise]

Junkrat: Don’t suppose you’d like to trade… fists, I mean. Doomfist: I don’t think you could handle it.

Junkrat: Bots. Dime a dozen. Orisa: Actually, Efi spent most of our Adawe foundation grant on me. It was not inexpensive.

[was in game before patch] Pharah: Brigitte, it’d be cool if you could take a look at my armor sometime. Brigitte: [no response]

Torbjörn: Hey! Stop following me around! Shoo!  Bastion: [whimpering beeping, similar to one of their critical health sounds] [on Hanamura attack]

D.Va: Genji, I heard you used to have all the high scores here! Genji: That’s right! Wait, used to? …Hey, where did they all go?!

Mei: Orisa, you are adorable! Orisa: I will pass your feedback onto Efi, I believe that she will be pleased! [on Junkertown]

Junkrat: You know, I never would have taken you for someone with such a homely home. Roadhog: If you don’t like it, stay in your room.

[kuroshitsuji-scenarios]

Hey! I've just recently binge-read the manga and I've only been following you for a few days but I was wondering if you can you do angst headcanons for Snake and Agni and their s/o when she finds them drunk and tries to console them when they get upset thinking about their pasts. Like, Agni and his regrets pre-Soma and Snake remembering his abusive/lonely upbringing. Oh my gosh writing about those two is making me so sad, those two precious cinnamon rolls who deserve protection and love 😭

I’m a dumbass and I didn’t realize you wanted headcanons so I made scenarios instead but I think this is actually a good mistake. Hope you enjoy anyways!

It worried you a little, the lightspreading on the floor, flowing from under the door leading to Agni’sbedroom in such a late hour. You were on your way just to get a glassof water, since merciless thirst didn’t allow you to sleep anylonger, forcing you to angrily wander through the long corridors, nowdrowned in the utter darkness diffused by the single oil lamp youheld in your hand. It was obvious that the day started for Agni muchearlier than for you, his duties calling out for him right after heopened his eyes but inspite of being a perfect butler and company forhis dear Prince Soma, he needed some rest like every other person.You could already imagine how hard it will be for him to focustomorrow if he still wasn’t sleeping at almost 3 a.m.

You knocked delicately and pushed thehandle, only to blink few times until your still asleep eyes adjustedto the warm lightness filling the bedroom. Agni’s silhouette wasclearly visible, leaned over the desk in almost pitiful manner, whichmade you realize that something has to be terribly wrong. Notbothering by saying anything, you stepped inside and rushed towardhim, placing a hand on his shoulder and causing him to gasp slightly,as if he wasn’t expecting your presence. Peeking at you over theshoulder, you could see how reddened his eyes were, how the tearswere still glistening in them, bringing the cold colour of steel.

„My dear, what has happened?” youinquired, brushing few white strands from his forehead, while hestraightened his back and inhaled deeply, trying to not lose hiscomposure anymore, not in front of you.

„It is nothing you should be concernedof,” was his reply, preceded by a sad smile.

„But I am concerned, nevertheless, soplease, let me help. Tell me what is wrong.”

Agni turned the head toward thecandelabra placed on the desk and almost touched the fire with hisindex finger, losing himself deep in his own thoughts. Few secondspassed and just when you were considering repeating the question, hefinally spoke, his voice a little bit hoarse and low.

„I am a very bad man. I made very badthings.”

„So did everyone,” you told him,sitting at the edge of the desk. „Your mistakes do not define you,they are hard and painful, yes, but they do not define you.”

„Things that I commited aremaking me a bad man,” he objected, looking at you almost angrily,but you knew better that the only anger he felt right now was the oneaimed at himself.

„No, they are not. What is importantis that, you learned your lesson and that you will never do themagain. This is relevant, not your past.”

He sighed, torn between the words he washearing from you, understanding that they were — they had to betrue — and the storm of his own emotions bringing chaos to hisheart. It was hard for him to accept his previous self, to not beable to cut if off and become just whom he was now. Maybe it was hispunishment, the torment created so he would never forget who he was,so he would never lose his path again.

„You are such a wise woman, mydearest…” he admitted, a single spark of happines appearing inhis eyes. „I am delighted to have you by my side and I doubt I willever be able to thank gods for sending you to me.”

You smiled to him and took his hand inyours, feeling how warm it was. This sweet, fleeting affection madehim lean toward you and put his cheek on your stomach, embracing youtightly and holding as close as possible, inhaling the scent of yourbody.

„And I am delighted to be with you,too,” you giggled, placing a hand on his turban, feeling theovewhelming warmness from where your bodies connected in such anintimate, magical moment when both your souls and minds kissed.

„I may not be able to change my past,”he continued quietly, stroking your side through the fabric of yournightgown. „But I will make sure that our future is as bright asthe sun. I want to grow old with you, my dearest, and spend my whole,new life with you.”

„Then we will grow old together. Thereis no need to worry about who we were because there are so manydecades of happiness ahead and I will love you in every single one ofthem.”

Snake hasn’t been seen anywhere sincethe morning and when he didn’t appear in the kitchen to help indinner preparations, you started to worry about him. It wasn’t thatuncommon for him to disappear from time to time, preferably to havesome time for himself and focus on his thoughts, but it never lastedfor almost half of the day. Plus, none of his snakes were anywherenearby and that was the reason why you asked Mey Rin to do your partof the job until you will be back from looking for him.

The rain poured outside but it didn’tstop you from running through the gardens with hysterically beatingheart when you still couldn’t find him in the mansion. Ignoring thewet hair on your face, droplets soaking through your clothes and somewater in your shoe, you reached to the glasshouse, lead by someunnamed feeling that this is a place where he might be.

After stepping inside, you immediatelyfelt the sultriness and scent of growing fruits, vegetables andherbs. Round tomatoes hanging from the sprouts, almost ready to bepicked, green cucumbers laying on the ground, leafs of the radishpeeking over the earth right next to the carrot’s and beetroot’s onesand finally, at the other end of the glasshouse, mint, sage, dill andonions with straightening chives. The sound of raindrops hitting thetransparent roof drown out your steps on the soft, dark ground,bending under your weight when you approached Snake, sittingpeacefully on the of the wooden benches and staring blankly at thebushes of aromatic basil.

„Snake?” you asked, but only Goetheon his shoulder turned his head curiously toward you. „Are youalright? What are you doing here?”

„I was wondering,” he answered andyou caught yourself on waiting for him to add the: „said Goethe”part which never came.

Oh dear, it was serious.

Slowly, you took a seat next to him andlooked at his profile, not finding there anything beside terrifyingemptiness. You pariently let him think, not pushing him intospeaking, aware that it would only do the opposite.

„I was wondering when I will stopbeing alone.”

You opened your mouth and immediatelyclosed it, considering what could you say to him to not harm hisfeelings nor make him feel worse than he already felt. You couldn’tgive him easy answers, the ones he heard many times in his life,before everyone who said that disappeared, you had to be differentand you had to prove him that.

„I am here. I am always here if youneed me and I do not plan on leaving anywhere.”

„Those are almost exact words myfamily said before they left me in the circus.”

Your heart clenched painfully in yourchest, a lump suddenly growing in your throat.

„They said I was the part of theirfamily. That I was one of them and I won’t be alone anymore. Andwhere are they now? They are all gone.”

Without a word you hugged him, naïvelyhoping that if you held him strong enough, he won’t shatter apart infront of you, but the only thing you felt, was how his body startedto tremble. At first you thought that he was crying but one look athis face was enough to understand that he was simply mad, so upsetthat the life has always been so unfair for him and him alone.

„Iwant them to come back,” he muttered, as if unconsciously. „Smilesaid that he will find them but it has been three years now. Exactlythree years since I am there. He won’t find them, will he? They won’tcome back…”

„Ilove you,” was the only thing you could say that came to your mindin that moment. You couldn’t find better words to describe yourfeelings, to comfort him because nothing was good enough. The path hewas on, was made to be walked alone and all you could to was to holdhis hand, promising yourself that no matter what, you can not leavehim — even if it meant fighting the death itself.

„Ilove you,” you repeated. „I will always love you. I will be yourfamily from now on and I won’t let anyone hurt you, not you norGoethe or Emily or Oscar or Wordsworth or Keats or Donne. Notanymore.”

His armslowly leaned on your shoulder and the slight squeeze he gave you wasa sign that he was probably going to be alright, just like he alwaysdid.

„Thankyou. I think I love you, too,” he whispered. „Says Goethe.”

[noidsome]

The big issue with the digimon tri movies, and why you should be pissed too.

I just finished watching the 5th digimon movie, and to put it short, i excpected nothing and im still let down. This is a big negative critique on what ive seen so far from the tri movies, but its also more of a vent for me, because theres something about these movies that really fucking grinds my gears and i feel i finally need to let that out somewhere. Look at this as a sort of....badly written analyctic rant. So far this movie, in short, was as i dreaded, 70% meiko bullshit and 20% kari...which is so fucking insulting i dont even know...but thats why im here.

Now before you assblast me with your stupid crap, please try to understand that as harsh as im writing this, im trying to look at this movie from a critical standpoint, and no im not going to put in the effort to be “nice” about it because if digimon tri can get away with half assing everything about itself, then wont bother. If you cant handle that, move on. If your interested, click the read more and we can begin this shit fest, because i think its about god damn time someone put these mediocre movies in their place.

The pacing.

I dont know about you guys, but to me it feels like these movies, or episodes, are either dragging on forever, or they rush really fast. This movie especially took its sweet ass time to give us 2 whole half an hour scenes of meiko being depressed about her shitty OC digimon, to leave the actual interesting fights and plot to 1 and a half episode, out of 4. Im sorry but i feel like ive been following this fucking story for 6 years, its so fucking slow and it drags on for fucking ever sometimes.

I do understand that its important to establish character interactions, and god damn does this fucking series need some, but sometimes it really stops the action dead in its tracks, and as much as i appriciate the movies giving each character some focus, it goes on for too long. the ending to movie 5 was....well rushed as shit. 

But despite all this, its just really frustrating that half the entire series is just them standing around and TALKING...talking talking talking, exposition exposition exposition. It also feels really slow and stagnated sometimes, and the cheesy music in the background of the sad scenes dont really help much. And other times things are glossed over so fast that im standing there wondering if i missed out on something because i accedently blinked. Like how they entered the digital world, only to just suddently fall out of it immediatly after from a big digital gate just like that. Or how meiko just...SUDDENTLY appeared in the digital world with no warning or real reason. huh?? shes here now?? what?? meicoomon is still infected? what?? gennai is back with the dark masters? what where did they come from? why are they following him!? WHAT?? HUH??? HELLO???

im just….frustrated. im frustrated that i have to wait for 6+ months every a new movie comes out, only for the movie to stall for fucking ever and leave the actual OH SHIT moments to the last part, AND END ON A CLIFFHANGER. Its such fucking god damn bait to get us to watch the other movies, its almost INSULTING how incredibly obvious it is. Last movie ended with gennai fucking around and choking meiko. Then, as i saw my fat ass down in the chair, waiting for the big battle, no meicoo just...opened portals and then left with her copy paste army. Oh well so much for that. 

Then the digidestined actually FALL OUT OF THE DIGITAL WORLD, and they are right back to standing around and getting chased by the cops...and then they spend THE REST OF THE EPISODES on meikos useless crying and baiting for meichi shipping material. im sorry but was that neccecary? was it neccecary to stop the entire god damn movie just so we could have tai standing there with spaghetti falling out of his pockets? and the mega evolutions for the other digimons felt really rushed too, i had hoped for more build up...but guess i get fuck alll.

The filler.

Now i do enjoy myself a little “filler” once in a while, i wont lie. and i will also not lie when i say that i really enjoyed seeing my boi tais hot nipple-less body. But, again…. DID WE NEED THE FIRST HALF BEING JUST THAT?! i swear to fucking god if you cut out all the filler content from these movies your going to get the entire series down to 5 episodes. Movie 2 was just...filler. fucking filler. i didnt have much issue with movie 3 but they just NEEDED to shove more meiko in..

movie 4 was kind of a bitch to sit trough because the whole damn “plot” made no sense. why was soras digimon the only one who was mad and while the others were just like before? why JUST her? why couldnt the others be like that too? Its just plot convenience at this point. and then it was pretty much just watching tai and matt spew spaghetti out of their pockets and be awkward because sora cant communicate with her friends like a normal person. Honestly it was a little charming at first but it got old pretty quickly…and then dark masters out of nowhere that died as fast as they came on. what a rushed little cameo for that extra nostalgia bait.

Honestly i found myself first liking the character interactions a little once the movies took a break from the action and fighting...but i much more often found myself angrily tapping my foot and going “REEEE MOVE ON.”

The god damn meiko.

Alright you all saw this one coming probably. Now let me just start by saying, i originally didnt mind meiko, or the idea of a new digitestined in the first place. Its welcoming to try and add something new to your otherwise soulless nostalgia cash grab. However we need to look at her from a critical stand point. im not trying to start a hate train, im just going to analyze her for how shes written as a character.

Im sorry to say this guys, but no matter how you look at her, shes a mary sue. Im sorry but all the tropes are there!! but why do i feel this way? heres why:

Her digimon is the sole reason for everything going to shit.

her digimon is in adult stage like gatomon just because.

essentially her digimon is “special”

all the other kids befriended her really fast just because.

everyone likes meiko and nobody seems to have a problem with her

shes the typical “uguu” shy type of girl.

her digimon OF COURSE won the costume contest in movie 2 or 3

leomon finds HER DIGIMON adorable enough to make the others run off... of course….

she cries constantly and does nothing but wine as the others hold her.

She takes up MAJORITY of the screentime for almost all movies. Almost.

POSSIBLY a relationship with the main character, if they actually are baiting us with those scenes in movie 5.

acts and feels like a self-insert OC in a canon universe.

The reason i dont like her is just because im SICK OF HER!! im sick of seeing her fucking face every god damn movie. im sick of the others shoving a friendship speech or talking about her belonging to them for the 700th GOD DAMN TIME, im sick of constantly hearing ME-MEI and MEIKOOOOOO, and im so fucking sick of seeing her sit down and cry or act sad and do NOTHING! shes just THERE TO BE THERE! her “cute little sneezing quirk” wasnt even something they bothered keeping any more. Shes so god damn obnoxious and shallow, and the ENTIRE HALF OF THE 5TH MOVIE WAS SPENT SHOVING MORE FRIENDSHIP SPEECHES IN HER FUCKING HEAD UNTIL SHE NUTTED UP AND STRAIGHT UP TOLD THE OTHERS TO AXE OFF MEICOOMON, while kari got 5 fucking minutes and got posessed or some shit i dont fucking know, does anyone care at this point?! 

shes such a god damn self insert its PAINFUL! and ive read plenty of crappy OC digimon fanfiction in my days to be able to tell when someone props their crappy OC in a canon story. IVE DONE IT MYSELF!! its INSULTING that im watching a canon produced digimon FANFICTION more then an actual OVA. If you like her, FINE, but you CANT ignore how incredibly shallow and flawed shes written. This isnt someone “hating female characters” this is someone whos frustrated a shittly written character who is just causing repetitive sob scenes over and over and over. im sorry but have we not gotten enough flashbacks from meiko and her digimon? do we need 4 more in the fifth movie??? WE GET IT! ITS SAD! SHES SAD!! THEY ARE FRIENDS! MOVE ON ALREADY!!

i dont feel bad for her anymore, its just getting repetitive now. She ate up the entire 5th movie and left nothing to kari but the sloppy leftovers at the end, and because she ran off like an idiot to meicoomon she got tai axed off too……………...but i will get to that.

The lack of animation.

The biggest insult, and this is….dare i say…….something coming from an animation student, is the insufferable animation. The first movie is fine, but from thereon, i feel like the quality dropped significantly. and oh boy, dont get me started on the amount of time they just pan a fucking picture instead of animating them doing shit.

im sorry but did i wait 4-6 months for a fucking clipshow? I know that animating is hard, and the animation industry in japan is absolute fucking shit, but come the fuck on guys. i think movie 5 had so many times where they just panned pictures of the digimon fighting, and the kids running. I guess when you put all your budget into overanimating the short action scenes you got, you dont have much left for them to trow a punch outside of that. and i wouldnt mind if they had just bothered not doing it so much. they do it WAY TOO OFTEN!

in the 4th move they didnt even fucking bother drawing the kids wet while they were in the water. no wet droopy hair, no indication the clothing was soaked, nothing. not a god damn fucking detail or anything.

The nostalgia bait

Hey kids, remember the bus in the digital world??? remember the gear desert? remember the house mimi was a princess in?? remember the pink forest? remember seadramon? remember the dark masters???? remember any of that shit!? remember primary village?! YEAH??? REMEMBER ALL THOSE COOL 01 THINGS??? ok cool, anyway moving on.

The lack of personality/soul

one thing im really passionate about is expressions. expressive characters and facial expressions i something i enjoy drawing a lot. in the original digimon, every character was spesifically designed to be its own thing. sure they stank of the 90s, but they wer UNIQUE. Digimon tri has trown all that shit out the window. Now they all look boring as hell. the only unique thing about them now is their hair. take that away, and you get a bunch of similar looking, boring samefaced characters.

the digimon movies are just so fucking SOULLESS! everyone looks so god damn watered down and tame compared to their former selves. everyone wears a school uniform even when they got summer vacation. they even wear school uniforms as they get to the digital world, and they have NO facial expressions. NONE! the way they talk and show emotions is almost nonexistant. even once they are seriously screaming at someone or focusing on something serious, they still have that stale, boring as shit facial expression. stone faced and COLD! its like you dont even care!! seriously its so frustrating to watch sometimes because they are so god damn bland and barely deviate at all from their typical “idle” face.

^count how many fucking times tai makes this face troughout the entire series. 

^am i the only one who thinks they looks very..bland and dull here? and this happens way too often.

seriously, watch the movies again and notice just how little the animators bothered giving them any fucking emotions. the screenshots here are just from a few minutes in the new movie.

And dont get me started on how everyone seemed so.........accepting of tais “death” i mean sure they might still be in shock,.....but......why did none of pic under appear???? 

WHy was everyone so.....noble??? except kari...who got....fucking owned.

and the digimon....most of them are just....comic relief now. i feel like most of them have little personality, but fucking agumon. what the FUCK have they done to agumon!? hes just a walking talking “i like to eat” joke. hes fucking nothinng. an empty boring sack of shit who just talks about food and NOTHING ELSE!! oh and maybe fights sometimes...but seriously.

The BAIT.

The trailers for these movies have made me fall into the bait they put out. But its getting infuriating now. All the trailer bait for movie 5 was just taken form the last 5 minutes of the film. that little teaser we all thought were going to show the dark ocean? yeah that was what….5 seconds at the very last minute of the movie? Hime was the one who went there, and they even rushed that part. 

remember when we all tought that tai was the kaiser because the animators thought they copy the excact same hairstyle? remember how they all baited us with the kaiser thinking we were gonna get some 02 action? i sure as FUCK do.

i LOVED the last minutes of the movies. i loved the last half of episode 3 and the entire episode 4… but im so fucking angry that i have to wait 4-6 months for the conclusion to when the movie was JUST GETTING INTERESTING! i fucking hate it!!

The 02 kids, or lack thereof.

Ok honestly ive completely forgotten about them, and i dont understand why they bothered putting them in this movie. and they give us absolutly nothing to go on for ALL of the movies! WHY? WHATS THE POINT?! with this series endless stalling, how can they possibly explain their absence or death or whatever in what little time we have left?! how will they half ass this?! i seriously dont get how they can begin with something so intense, only to give us absolutly nothing till the last movie, IF AT ALL!

Taichis “””””””””””””””””death.”””””””””””””””””

So the fuckers had the BALLS to kill off my boi tai. They actually went there. they fucking killed him off. AND LEFT IT ON A CLIFFHANGER! wow fucking good job guys, you sure got me there. i cant believe tai is fucking dead.

except wait a second here…..tai isnt dead. of course he fucking isnt. i mean come the fuck on, are you really expecting them to kill off their marketig king? the face of all their merc? PLEASE! we all fucking know that hes going to come back. THEY BASICALLY SPOILED THE MOVIES FOR US ALREADY, didnt they say in an interview far back that these movies were whats going to lead everyone up to their careers? so why the fuck would tai die when we know hes going to be an ambassador? 

i dont fucking understand why they even bothered with this fake ass death. WE KNOW HES GOING TO COME BACK! im not mad that tai “died,” im mad that they actually bothered making it a cliffhanger, as if we arent going to fucking figure out hes coming back in the next movie. WHATS THE POINT?! Are they going to just shove him off till the last 5 minutes of the last movie? is that it? are they going to do what they did to kari? or are we FINALLY going to see tai resolving his persional issues that have been shoved away to make room for everything else? who knows, who cares at this point?!

The conclusion

Digimon tri was something enjoyable for me to look forward to..but now, its just a bunch of frustrating, medicore, nostalgia cash-grabbing shitfests of movies, and i need to get it out of my system. 

Im angry because i have to wait 4-6 months between each movie only to get nothing. im angry that i have to wait 4-6 months for an hour long movie that has actual content thats 20 minutes long. im sick of having my excpectations set to low, only for them to be lowered even more. im sick of seeing meiko basically becoming the main characters as the others are somewhat side characters at this point. im sick of the shit-tier animation quality and the stone-bored dull surprise faces. im sick of wanting this to be good, only to see that the fucking directors and animators arent even fucking trying anymore. Im sad, that the sequel was put in the hands of incompetent fucks who only know digimon trough their most basic character traits, and nothing more.

i do like tri...and im sad to see it go so soon….but part of me wants to get this over with, because if you like it or not, tri isnt a passionate fan sequel. tri is a boring, mediocre cash grab, and im sad it cantt be more then that, and im sad its over soon...

[fullmetalgunfire]

Chapter 4 of my gift fic for @blackwolfchimera. Honestly this might be my favorite chapter so far, I had fun referencing audition songs... Also think it might be the longest one...

Chapter 1 (plus explanation) | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

The next few days were spent in a haze of bland routine. Go to class, be bored, rinse and repeat until he went home. The one thing that stood out was walking by that sign up sheet several times a day. He kept eyeing it, debating if he should write down his name. It wasn’t like he was that into theatre, but it’d please Winry if he at least tried. Get her off his back about it...

Yeah, that’s why he was interested in trying. It had nothing to do with vague hopes Roy was interested in doing it too. Or not much, anyway.

At lunchtime the day the auditions would be held, he was standing in front of the sheet of paper with a pencil in his hand, willing himself to actually write his name down.  

“Ed? Why are you standing in the middle of the hall?”

Ed jumped about a foot in the air, dropping his pencil in the process and then, somehow, managing to put his foot in exactly the wrong position to have the pencil roll underneath it and make his foot fly out from underneath him, crashing to the floor.

“Fuck! Ow!” He exclaimed with a grimace, pushing himself up, “I’m not doing anything. Why do you have to be such a... Sneaky bastard?”

Roy laughed and reached down to help him up with a shake of his head, “Not my fault you’re a klutz.”

“I’m not a klutz, you’re an asshole! A... Too quiet asshole!”

Roy just laughed again at that. “So, going to tell me what you were doing? Or are you gonna lie to me again?”

“Well… I was… I’m gonna give auditioning a shot,” he admitted, his cheeks coloring pink as he tried to shrug it off and act like it wasn’t a big deal, “I thought it could be fun. At least it’d get Winry off my back about it.”

“Mm, not a bad reason, I guess...” Roy hummed, glancing at the sheet himself. His face was oddly unreadable again, but Ed thought he could see wheels turning. Maybe... Considering?

“Were you gonna do it?” he asked slowly, trying not to get his hopes up. It was hard not to, though, when it was starting to look more and more like Roy wanted to do it, too. Between the way he sounded talking about karaoke, and that look on his face...

Roy shook himself out of his thoughts and glanced over at Ed, opening his mouth to speak just as the warning bell rang.  

“Shit, gotta go! See you later!” Ed called quickly as he took off down the hallway, a hopeful flutter starting in his stomach as he imagined himself at the auditions with Roy.

Later that day, after school was over, he walked slowly into the theatre and was a little surprised to hear Winry calling his name from where she’d crouched down in one of the aisles.

“Oh, hey,” he said, wandering over and blinking at her, “Why are you on the floor?”

“Oh, well, we’re not allowed to be working on stage during auditions,” she answered, gesturing to the piece of plywood she’s painting, which he guessed was part of the set, “But the sets are a lot more complicated than usual for this show, so we can’t just take the day off...”

“So you’re Ed,” the girl next to her said, smiling at him, “Winry told me about you, I didn’t think you’d show...”

“Wasn’t sure I was going to, but might as well audition...” he said, voice trailing off as the door opening again caught his attention, unable to help smiling as he saw Roy striding in, “Hey! Roy! Didn’t think you’d make it!”

“I got lucky, practice got canceled...” Roy said, coming over with a laugh, blinking in confusion when he came around and spotted the girls in the aisle, “What-”

“Working on something for the sets,” Winry answered quickly, “I’m Winry. Ed’s friend.”

“Oh! Right, he’s mentioned you...” Roy said, giving her a charming smile before turning to the other girl, “Are you a friend of Ed’s too?”

“Nah, we only just met...” she said, grinning at Roy in a way Ed really didn’t understand. It looked... Knowing.

“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you!” Winry said quickly, “Ed, this is my friend Paninya, she’s in the same tech class as me...”

“Nice to meet you,” she said cheerfully, “Seriously... I hope you two are good, because we could really use some new talent around here. Maybe we can finally do our sets justice!”

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Roy asked, frowning at them, “I thought the theatre department was good...”

“The tech department is. The actors... Not so much,” Winry explained, frowning back at him, “How do you not know that? Haven’t you been going here the whole time?”

“Well, yeah, but I... Never managed to make it to one of the shows...”

“People talk about it. All the time,” she said, giving him a skeptical look.

“I... Haven’t paid much attention to anything but basketball and class,” he admitted sheepishly after a long moment, mumbling as if he hoped they wouldn’t actually be able to hear him.

Both of the girls stared at him for a long moment before Paninya burst out laughing and Winry just turned to give Ed an incredulous look.

“Really Ed? This is what you’ve been flirting with?”

Ed immediately sputtered, turning red. “I haven’t been flirting with him!”

“Alright, everyone!” the teacher called out, cutting off their conversation before it could go any further, “We’d better get started... I hope you all put your name on the sign up form? I’ll be using that to keep track of your names...”

“Uh, excuse me?” Roy called out, “I didn’t put my name on... I wasn’t sure I’d be able to come...”

Mr. Garfiel gave him a displeased look that made Ed wince in sympathy. He was pretty sure the only reason Roy was spared any further wrath was the handful of other students making noises of agreement across the theatre.

“You’re all lucky I printed extras of everything,” he sighed, waving a hand toward the table set up at the front, “I put the sheet down there, hurry and add your names before we get started...”

Roy grimaced as he headed to the front with the handful of other students, and the teacher continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

“Now, the show we’re putting on this time is very special,” he said, beaming, “I’ve been trying to put on something like this for years...”

“Wait, why would he have to wait to put on a certain show?” Ed asked with a confused scowl, “Isn’t he in charge?”

“Ed, keep your voice down,” Winry shot back, keeping her voice low, “He is, but the administration still has to approve his choices. I don’t know if it was because he wanted to do a gay show or an original one, but they wouldn’t let him. Not until now, anyway...”

“He was gushing about it in class for a month before break,” Paninya commented, “Pretty much from the second he got approval...”

“Sounds kind of annoying...”

“Yeah, a bit. But mostly because we were supposed to be working...”

“Did I miss something?” Roy asked as he drifted back over to them.

“Just explaining something to Ed, don’t worry about it,” Winry said, waving a hand at him dismissively. He shrugged it off after a moment, leaning on the wall very close to Ed, who suddenly found it a bit hard to focus on what the teacher was saying. Not that he’d been paying much attention in the first place...

“I’d like to introduce our writer for this show, Mei Chang...” he said, gesturing to a girl who was absolutely tiny in every sense of the world and was glaring daggers at a boy in the front row, “She’s done an excellent job...”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind it sounding like a cheesy romance novel,” Winry snorted, not looking away from her work.

“I say fan fiction, personally,” Paninya commented mildly, poking up to look toward the stage, “And it’s not that bad, if it’s played right... Oh, the drama’s started up already. Great...”

“So that’s her cousin? Or whatever?” Ed asked, eyeing the boy she’d been glaring at.

“Yeah, that’s Ling,” Paninya hummed with a nod, “I really hope he doesn’t get the lead this time, for once. Sometimes I think it’s gone to his head a bit...”

“Wait, you two have already read the script?” Roy asked, leaning over to look past Ed at the girls.

Winry looked up with a frown. “Well yeah, it’s on the school website... Didn’t you? To prep for the audition?”

“We’re supposed to prepare?”

“Now if you could all take one of the forms on the table and fill it out,” Mr. Garfiel call out before anyone answered him, “It’s to provide more in depth information to help with my casting choices later. Previous experience, scheduling conflicts, that sort of thing...”

“Go on,” Winry said, giving them a sympathetic smile (which just left Ed dreading whatever it was she was doing that over), “Mr. Garfiel’s going to like you even less if you dawdle...”

“Right...” Ed sighed, following Roy over to the table, grumbling in frustration as people cut him off when he tried to grab a form.

“Hey Ed,” Roy called over from where he was standing, over to the side using the stage as a table to write on, “Over here, I grabbed a second one for you...”

“Oh. Thanks...” he said, wandering over and standing beside him, “You got a pen?”

“Yeah, just a second,” he said, frowning at the sheet in front of him, “You think I should put basketball practice on here? I mean, it’ll only be a problem until the game, then I’m free...”

“Uh... Yeah, just put it down to be safe,” Ed replied after a moment, glancing at the teacher, “I get the feeling we’re not going to be well liked around here, not for awhile... Better to not make it any worse, right?”

“Right,” Roy said with a sigh, scribbling it down before handing over the pen, “I think we’re getting in over our heads with this. Did you know we were supposed to prepare at all?”

“Not a clue,” Ed answered, shaking his head a bit and frowning down at his own page, “What do I even put if I have... Nothing?”

“No what?”

“No... Anything,” Ed said, gesturing vaguely at the page, “No experience, no conflicts...”

“I don’t know... That n-slash-a thing?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he sighed back, scribbling it down quickly and giving Roy back his pen, frowning at the almost blank paper in his hands, “This looks like shit.”

“No kidding,” Roy said, holding up his own sheet, which wasn’t much better, “At least you don’t have scheduling conflicts... So what now?”

“When you’re done, just put it in a stack on that table for me...” Mr. Garfiel called out a moment later, “Then take a seat somewhere near the stage, so you’re ready when I call on you...”

“Well, guess that answers that,” Ed said with a bit of a laugh, going over and starting the stack, Roy and a couple others following a moment later.

The pair of them managed to find seats at the front, falling silent as they waited. Not that it took long... It seemed like just about everyone was either heading up or heading back to their seats by the time they sat down. Apparently no one was taking that long with the form... Even Ling, who was the last one finished, was only a moment behind everyone else.

“Well, now that everyone is done with that,” Mr. Garfiel called out from his own seat, now holding the sign up sheet, “We’ll be starting with your audition songs. I’ll be calling on you in the order you signed up, please have sheet music ready if you want accompaniment...”

The teacher gestured to the piano on stage, and Ed looked over, feeling dread drop into his stomach. He hadn’t realized they’d want them to bring their own songs to sing. What the hell was he supposed to do?

“We’re supposed to bring music?” Roy said softly, echoing his thoughts and looking even more panicked than Ed felt, as they watched Ling go up and sing a song Ed didn’t recognize, “I had no idea we were supposed to bring music...”

“Me neither. Shit, what the fuck are we supposed to do?”

“I have no idea,” Roy replied as Ling was cut off by praise from Mr. Garfiel, and the next girl was called up, “At least it looks like we only have to sing a little bit of it...”

“Yeah, I guess that’s good...” Ed said slowly, making a face as the new girl started to sing, “Is she seriously doing that song from Frozen?”

“I guess...” Roy said, snorting as he glanced over at Mr. Garfiel’s much less pleased expression, “It looks like he’s not that happy with her choice...”

“Yeah. Probably heard it one too many times...” Ed said with a bit of a laugh, then shook his head, “Fuck, what are we supposed to pick that he will like?”

“I... Have no idea,” Roy replied slowly, watching the teacher sigh in exasperation as another girl came up and started singing that one song from Les Miserables everyone knew, “Guess not anything too popular...”

“The only theatre shit I know is the popular stuff!” Ed protested.

“I know...” Roy sighed, “I guess... Just try to sound good? He can’t hate it just on song choice, right?”

“Yeah, guess not...” Ed agreed slowly, “I mean... Everybody so far has kinda been only OK...”

“Right,” Roy said with a nod, “So try to sound good, and try to make a better impression with the rest of the audition.”

“Yeah... There’s got to be more than just this part, right?”

“Well, he did say we were starting with this...”

“Right,” Ed said, groaning a bit, “I still have no idea what I’m going to sing, though.”

“Neither do I...” Roy sighed, falling silent as they watched the other auditions, and the teacher’s reaction to them. There was one boy, a couple people after that, that seemed to be doing another of those stereotypical songs, but Mr. Garfiel’s face relaxed after his initial cringe, looking... Not really pleased, but at least satisfied. Ed immediately relaxed.

“I’m just going to sing whatever the person before me sang,” Ed said after a moment.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Roy asked, turning to frown at him.

Ed shrugged. “What else am I supposed to do? I don’t have sheet music on me. And everybody’s had the piano so far...”

“Good point. Probably look even more unprepared without it...” Roy sighed, “Still. What if it’s a girl? I mean, the song would be too high for us then, wouldn’t it?”

“Well... Just have to deal, I guess.”

Ed was called up a moment later.

“Well, guess it’s your lucky day,” Roy hummed after a moment, “Guess you’ll be singing Stars...”

“Right. Fuck...” he sighed, but stood anyway, giving him a halfhearted smile that verged on a cringe, “Wish me luck...”

He quickly headed up onto the stage, waving at the piano player, “Can you play that last one again?”

The girl blinked at him, surprised, but shrugged it off and kept playing.

Ed managed to make it through about as much of the song as the last guy had before the teacher cut him off, immediately wincing at his... Less than pleased tone. He hadn’t thought he’d sounded that bad, though admittedly he’d been more focused on trying to remember the words.

“What, was I awful?” he said as he sat back down beside Roy.

“I didn’t think so,” Roy shrugged, “I thought you sounded good. You were making a weird face though...”

“Was trying to remember the damn words...” he muttered, sinking down in his seat as he watched another girl, one of those that had added their names last minute, did a pretty damn good version of Part of Your World without accompaniment.

And when he glanced over, the teacher looked pleased.

“Well, I guess accompaniment isn’t as big a deal as we thought...” Roy said slowly as he watched the teacher’s reaction.

“Yeah. Damn it...” Ed muttered, looking irritated, “Guess at least you know that now...”

“Yeah...” Roy said, wincing as he was called up, “Guess I’m just going to have to do the first thing that comes to mind...”

“Good luck,” Ed replied, giving him a half smile as he walked up to the stage.

When Roy got up there, he just stood there for a long moment, looking almost panicked. Ed cringed in sympathy... Clearly he was having a hard time coming up with something to sing.

“Any time now,” the teacher said, sounding impatient.

Roy visibly shook himself out of it, hesitating a moment before singing a song Ed didn’t recognize at all. It... Wasn’t great. His voice sounded fine, of course, better than several of the others even, but the song choice was... Odd. And the look on Roy’s face, getting worse the longer he stood there, made it clear he was completely aware of this.

Ed was trying not to laugh at him. It wasn’t fair, not at the moment, but he just looked so... Uncharacteristically awkward.

“Well, I think that’s enough of that,” Mr. Garfiel interrupted briskly, noting something down.

Roy cringed and headed off stage, dropping into the seat beside Ed with a sigh. He paused for a minute, then turned to give him a look. “I can tell you want to laugh...”

“Sorry,” he said, the laughter slipping out as soon as he opened his mouth, “I swear I’m not laughing at you...”

“Yes you are.”

“No! I wanted to laugh at how awkward you looked!”

“That counts!”

“Well, maybe, but it was funny. Especially because you’re not usually like that...” he said, shrugging a bit, “What song was that, anyway? It was such a weird thing to sing...”

“First thing that popped into my head,” he mumbled, sighing a bit before he admitted, “It’s this... Opening to an anime. One of my aunt’s girls likes it, she was showing it to me yesterday, just sort of... Got stuck in my head.”

“Seriously?” Ed said, trying to fight off laughter again.

Roy turned to him with a halfhearted glare. “If you laugh again...”

“Oh come on, that one’s funny!”

It only takes a few more minutes to get through the rest of the songs, and then Mr. Garfiel cleared his throat.

“Well, that went... Well,” he said, “Now we’ll be moving on to dialogue... I’m going to pair everyone up based on their performance so far, and give you one of three short excerpts to do... One for two boys, one for two girls, one for a boy and a girl, that sort of thing. Just come up here to collect the scenes when I call your name, then take a few minutes to go over the scene with your partner and decide what you want to do.”

Then he started rattling off names, calling Roy and Ed up together toward the end of the list.

“I get the feeling we’re not doing well so far,” Ed commented as they sat back down to look over the scene, “He didn’t look pleased when he saw us...”

“No, he didn’t...” Roy sighed, flipping through the pages, “Wow, the girls... Really weren’t wrong about the way it sounds. Why is it so... Dramatic?”

“Well, it is drama...”

“Yeah, but... Look at it,” Roy huffed as Ed started reading and almost immediately winced, “Do people ever really talk like that?”

“Uh, not really...” Ed said slowly, “Though, I mean... Looks like it’s a fight? Those can get pretty dramatic...”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Roy sighed... frowning at the pages, “I don’t know what to do with this.”

“Me neither. I mean... What are they even fighting about?”

“Well they... Seem to be lovers? Fighting over... Something the one did. Or didn’t do...”

“Yeah, not a lot to go on... Guess we’ll just have to pick something to go with it. Who do you want to play?”

“I don’t know. Flip a coin?”

They didn’t actually flip a coin, mostly because neither one had one on them, but instead just picked at random. They read through the scene for a moment, both trying to decide what to do with it, until they were interrupted by the first pair being called up.

It was Ling and some other boy who hadn’t made an impression on Ed, and the scene was... Interesting. Ling spent the whole time laughing off the argument in a pretty over the top way, while the other guy... Well, he wasn’t bad, but he still didn’t leave an impression on Ed.

Other pairs went up, one by one, and they all started doing the same thing... Playing their scenes just as dramatically as Ling had, with mixed results.

After a couple pairs it started getting repetitive, and Ed tuned out. “We’ve got to figure out how to make this scene sound less stupid...”

“No kidding,” Roy sighed, shaking his head a little, “I don’t want to make it as dramatic as everyone else, but... I have no idea how. It’s a pretty dramatic scene...”

“Guess just... Try to make it sound like a real argument?” Ed offered.

They head up on stage a minute later, and as he’s walking up Ed still has no idea what they’re going to do. He ends up going for barely contained anger for his part... Because, well, every argument he’s ever gotten into has either involved him yelling or barely not yelling, so it seems like it would work. Roy sounds more pleading, like someone who knows he’s done wrong but is trying to make it seem like not that big a deal. Ed thinks it works... At least, it sounds more like a real, everyday argument then the rest of the scenes.

When he looks over at the table, though, his stomach drops. Mr. Garfiel looked, at best, unimpressed... The writer, Mei, looked a little bit happier with the performance, but she mostly just looked hopeful rather than actually pleased. It didn’t go well again.

“Well, at least we tried...” Roy sighed as they sat back down.

“Yeah. Winry can’t yell at me for not trying...” Ed said with a halfhearted little smile... He’d actually started to look forward to this. Or, well, he had started to look forward to the prospect of doing it with Roy.

“Well, that’s basically it...” Mr Garfiel called out a little later, after the last pair finished their scene, “The girls can leave if they want, but if I could ask the boys to stay just a little longer? I want to make sure our leads have chemistry, so I want you to pair up with the person you think you’d do best with and sing a bit of one of their duets... The song is attached to the scenes I gave you.”

Roy perked up a bit. “Last chance to prove ourselves?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ed said, smiling a bit again, “You and me? I mean, we did well with the karaoke, right?”

“Definitely.”

They reviewed the song for a minute, and Ed felt himself getting hopeful. They could really pull this one off... Especially with how overdramatic Ling and his partner made it, and how everyone followed their direction. He and Roy could do this, not make it stupid, and stand out. He waited, anticipating one of their names being called, as each pair went up to sing the duet.

“Well, that went... Well. I’d like to thank you all for auditioning...” Mr. Garfiel called out, gathering up his papers, when everyone except them had sung, “I’ll be either posting a cast list or a call back list in the next couple days, depending on how the decisions go...”

“Wait, what?” Ed blurted out in protest as the other students started filing out of the theatre, “What about us? We didn’t get a chance to do the duet...”

“Mei, could you clean up these scripts and forms for me, take them to my office?” the teacher said pleasantly before rounding on them, looking at them coldly, “You two are out of the running. For anything.”

“What?” Ed said, gaping, “I mean, I know we didn’t do great, but can’t we have a turn too? We should get another chance...”

“It would be fair, everyone else went,” Roy added, though his voice was lower, almost like he was commenting more to himself or Ed than to the teacher.

“No one else was as big a disaster as you two,” Mr. Garfiel replied harshly, “I’ve never seen a worse audition. I already gave you another chance! Your solos went bad enough, but I thought, maybe you could turn it around with the scene, but no. You didn’t even bother reading the summary of the script, did you?”

“We didn’t know-”

“The sign up sheet said it was available on the website. Right at the bottom.”

“What, seriously?” Ed said, jerking around to look at the sheet, which was still laying on the table nearby. He could see text now, but... “Oh come on, that’s so small! I can barely see it!”

“Regardless,” the teacher said dismissively, “You were massively unprepared, and I have no room in this production for people who can’t work hard and take this seriously.”

“But we can-” Ed started, but Mr. Garfiel just huffed and turned away.

“I have no reason to give you two any more chances.”

The teacher left without another word, leaving both of them sitting in stunned silence.

“That... May have been the worst scolding I’ve ever gotten,” Roy said after a long moment, “At least from a teacher...”

“Definitely up there...” Ed commented himself, cringing as he shook his head, “Damn it. We should have been prepared, this wouldn’t have turned into such a disaster...”

“Neither of us knew what we were getting into...” Roy tried to reassure him, sighing and running a hand through his hair with a sheepish look on his face, “I’ve got to admit... I was really hoping we’d both get cast. Maybe... Get to know each other...”

He smiled back, just a little. “Yeah, me-” he started, whipping around when he heard a noise from the stage, the writer girl having tripped on something and sent papers flying everywhere, “Too... Hey, are you alright?”

The girl’s head snapped up as he came rushing up on stage, immediately giving him a weird smile he... Really didn’t understand in the slightest.

“I’m fine,” she said, “Some id- Somebody just left their bag up here, I didn’t see it with all these papers...”

“What kind of moron just leaves their things laying around in people’s way?” Ed huffed, starting to pick up the papers, “Here, let me help you with that...”

“Oh thank you so much!” she gushed at him, which seemed pretty over the top for something so simple, then proceeded to completely ignore Roy as he came up to them and started to help.

“To be honest... Might not be fair to call whoever it was a moron...” she admitted after a long moment, “I kind of wasn’t paying attention...”

“Why not?” Ed blinked at her, “I mean, kind of seems like you should on a stage, especially when they’re working on the sets already...”

“I know...” she said, ducking her head and looking embarrassed, “I guess I’m just... Upset at the audition...”

Ed winced. “Yeah, sorry about that...”

“Oh, no no no, not you!” she rushed to exclaim, dropping some papers again as she waved her hands, “Well, I mean... You two were kind of a disaster, but I’m not upset about that! It’s... Stupid, stupid Ling...”

“Yeah, my friend mentioned you two didn’t get along...”

“That’s not just it!” she complained, looking miserable, “I’d put up with him if I had to, but did you see what he did with the script? The song? He’s going to ruin my show! Even if we don’t give him a lead, and no one else was that good, he’d still ruin it just... Just by existing! You saw what happened, how they all copied him... He’s always gotten the lead, so everyone thinks that’s what you’re supposed to do, and- Oh, I worked so hard on this!”

“It was pretty overdramatic...” Roy hummed in agreement, eyeing her thoughtfully for a moment before continuing, “Just out of curiosity, what’s it supposed to be like? We couldn’t figure out what the scene was about...”

“Oh, right, you two weren’t prepared...” she said before getting this dreamy look on her face as she continued, “Well, it starts with this rich boy who doesn’t care about anything or anyone except himself... All he wants is to party and have fun, and his mother is desperate to get him to change, even just a little, so she hires him a new tutor. He’s irritated at first, because he thinks he’s too old for tutors and it cuts into his time for himself, but the man she hires is surprisingly attractive so he decides to have some fun and seduce him, then use that to get what he wants. The tutor resists his advances at first, but then succumbs, only by then they’ve started to genuinely bond and instead of it being purely physical like the rich boy wanted, they enter into a real relationship. A secret, forbidden relationship... And as they get closer and closer, the rich boy starts seeing commitment on the horizon and, panicking, tries to keep his tutor at arms length. It all comes to a head at the end of the first act, when they argue about it and the rich boy tries to dismiss his concerns, unaware that his tutor has gotten an offer to study at a prestigious institution far away he’s always dreamed about, and is torn between staying and continuing their relationship or taking the offer, and is just desperately looking for some reason to believe his lover really feels the same for him...”

“Oh. Wow...” Ed said, blinking at her... Enthusiastic description of the plot. “Yeah, I can see why you’d be upset, playing that scene like that would be all kinds of wrong... Though we played it pretty wrong too...”

“Guess that explains why Mr. Garfiel wasn’t pleased with what we did...” Roy hummed, “So, that duet... I’m guessing it comes after?”

She hummed and nodded. “Beginning of act two. The tutor moved away to take the offer and is trying to move on with his life, but regrets how it ended and wishes it could have been different, while the distance makes the rich boy realize his mistake, and his feelings, so he travels to see him and try to set things right...”

“Doesn’t seem like there’d be a whole lot of plot after that...” Ed commented, frowning a bit, “Definitely not half the story...”

“Well, the tutor started dating somebody else in the meantime, and is really hurt over what happened,” Mei said with a shrug, “The second act mostly deals with the rich boy trying to separate the two of them, and slowly realizing he wants to do it because the relationship is making his former lover unhappy, not just so they’ll get back together, and that he wants him happy even if it’s not with him... Though, I mean, they do get back together. I wanted a happy ending...”

“That’s... Pretty good, actually,” Ed said, giving her a bit of a smile (and wondering why she ducked her head at that... Was she shy about people complimenting her work or something?), “Wish I could see it done right...”

“Why don’t we give it a try?” Roy offered, “The duet, at least. We’re here anyway, it’d be nice even if it is just us...”

“Well, you two were my favorite pair who did that scene...” she said slowly, “I mean, it was all wrong, but at least you didn’t turn it into some stupid, awful-”

“Yeah, what the hell, let’s do it,” Ed interrupted before she could ramp up any further, “Think you could play the song for us, Mei?”

“Oh, well... I’m not as good with piano, but...” she said, getting up and going over to the instrument, starting to play the intro to the song. It wasn’t as smooth as the girl who’d been playing for the auditions, but it was good enough for their little impromptu performance.

Roy found the lyrics on one of the little scripts Mei had been carrying when she’d tripped, and they started singing it as they leaned on the piano, standing close together to both see the paper. And it seemed to go well... Now that they had some context, they seemed to fall into the roles naturally, the performance coming easily.

“Oh, you were so good!” Mei cried out as soon as she got to the end, “Why can’t we cast you two, you’d actually do it right!”

“I’m starting to think the same thing.”

Ed jerked around to see Mr. Garfiel standing behind them. “Oh, shit, we... Uh...”

“Were giving the best audition of the day?” he offered with a bit of a smile, then sighed and shook his head, “I’ll admit you two have potential. If you weren’t so unreliable...”

“We didn’t really know what we were getting into, sir,” Roy pointed out slowly, “Neither of us has ever done this before... We should have done a better job, but we had no idea...”

The teacher hummed noncommittally, eyeing them critically for a long moment. “Alright. I’ll give you another chance.”

“Wait, seriously?” Ed exclaimed, eyes going wide.

“Well, that was the best duet by far. I’ll let you come back for callbacks...” he said before pointing at them accusingly, “But you have to prove to me you can commit to this show. Be prepared, be reliable, willing to work hard and be dedicated... If you don’t convince me you are, I don’t care how good you are, I won’t cast you in anything. Understand?”

“Absolutely.”

“Yeah, of course!”

“Alright... I’ll see you at callbacks, then,” he said, picking up the bag from the corner and heading back out of the theatre.

Mei almost squealed in delight. “Oh, this is going to be great! I’m practicing with you both so you have the best call backs ever... Don’t you dare back out, either! I’m counting on you two to save my show!”

“Yeah, alright,” Roy said with a bit of a chuckle, “Just tell us what you want us to do...”

[faulty-writes]

[So I decided to post another list of sentence prompts. Me and my genius self forgot to add information to the last one I posted. So that being said, this one will be more clear. Yours truly can sometimes be an idiot. Anywho.]

I will do almost any character, minus a few exceptions. 

Yes, I will do students [For example Bakugo, Midoriya, Kirishima] this also includes students like [Shinsou, Mei, or Reiko.]

I will do Pro Heros [For example All Might, Eraserhead, Present Mic] 

I will do Villains [For example Dabi, Shigaraki, Toga.] 

I will do both sfw and nsfw pieces. However, for the nsfw pieces if I find it to be over the top or the certain kink disgusting. I will not do it. 

I will do any gender, so if you want to request something with a female character or male character. It doesn’t matter to me. That being said, I am LGBT friendly. So if you wanted a female character with a female s/o or a male character with a male s/o I do not mind.

That being said, I will do reader inserts and ships. 

These requests will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, I usually take a handful of requests. Do them and then publish them all at once. 

[You may pick up to 3 prompts to use with whichever character you want.] 

SENTENCE PROMPTS 

81. “Are you just going to stand there the whole time?” 82. “What? Are you scared?” 83. “You don’t have to be afraid…” 84. “I told you to be quiet.” 85. “Is it really that bad? The idea of having a future with me?” 86. “Someone slept in late today.” 87. “I don’t belong to you.” 88. “I’m trying to save you and you won’t even let me!” 89. “I brought you a blanket.” 90. “Kindness is what we need in this world.” 91. “Put the book down and pay attention to me.” 92. “And you are mine?” 93. “Need an umbrella?” 94. “Come back here, don’t you run away from me.” 95. “You don’t need to keep this up.” 96. “I'm scared to ruin our friendship…” 97. “Life isn’t fair. suck it up.” 98. “I can’t believe I’m attracted to you.” 99. “I want to watch the world burn.” 100. “You can’t fix me, so stop trying.” 101. “Sorry, I’m late.” 102. “There’s only one career I know.” 103. “I’m just tired…” 104. “They’ve already forgotten you.” 105. “My light shines bright.” 106. “Well, this is awkward…” 107. “Now, close your eyes.” 108. “I love you because you are as broken as I am.” 109. “Is this your notebook?” 110. “You don’t like people?” 111. “Is that the best you can do?” 112. “Those bastards got what’s coming to them.” 113. “You’re in love with them.” 114. “Don’t lie to me again.” 115. “Unique just means alone.” 116. “I was doomed from the start.” 117. “Are you gonna be good for me?” 118. “I don’t need sleep, I need answers.” 119. “It wasn’t your fault.” 120. “You’ve come a long way, I know.” 121. “I think I’m in love with you and it’s terrifying.” 122. “Where did you come from?!” 123. “My instructions were clear!” 124. “Always know I have my eye on you.” 125. “Would holding my hand kill you?” 126. “I know I’m not the person you want, but I’m here.” 127. “I know it’s crazy and insane.” 128. “Forgive me if I hurt you.” 129. “Do you really think your opinion matters? Trust me, it doesn’t.” 130. “I think you made a mistake.” 131. “I don’t care what anyone thinks.” 132. “Feel sorry for me. It’s fine.” 133. “I’ll kiss each scar.” 134. “You were my first kiss.” 135. “Am  I  normal  or  not?” 136. “I need a cup of coffee.” 137. “Fuck it and fuck everything.” 138. “Smile, it increases your face value.” 139. “Why are you staring at me?” 140. “I can’t believe you’re such a shy person.” 141. “You broke my glasses!” 142. “I’ll do better, give me another shot, please?” 143. "Can I borrow a shirt?" 144. “I don’t have a fucking side.” 145. “I think it’s time I walk away” 146. “You’re my light in a world of darkness.” 147. “I just think….maybe you shouldn’t be around me.” 148. “You’re kind of an ugly crier.” 149. “I know you can do it!” 150. “Say you don’t love me. I dark you.” 151. This is the real me, baby.” 152. “You can’t joke about that.” 153. “You just saved me.” 154. “I can’t break what’s already broken.” 155. “Are you afraid of me?” 156. “I feel you on that.” 157. “I just really want a hug today. ” 158. “It’s nearly two in the morning, what are you doing up?” 159. “Is everything alright?” 160. "I can't marry you"

[yespleasefandomtrash]

AlMei Week 2017 - Hair/Travel

In this chapter you get see a few pieces of the puzzle start to fall together! Hopefully now you want to read it. Enjoy Day 4: Hair/Travel. Each prompt is addressed here, but briefly, and at the end and the beginning respectively (give or take).

Read this chapter on fanfiction.net here.

Read Day 3 here.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

xXxXxXx

Mei tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Alphonse to arrive at the station. It wasn’t that he was running late – if anything, she was excessively early – but she just felt unusually jumpy. At first she’d thought she was being watched or something of the sort, but quickly dismissed the idea as ludicrous. The more likely reason was that she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, which was unfortunately far too accurate.

Nightmares had tormented her. They flashed between Alphonse’s and Winry’s and Ling’s and even Edward’s dead bodies, all gruesomely stabbed to death like the victims of the serial killer. Despite how mature she considered herself to be, Mei knew that there was no way she’d ever be able to perform an autopsy on any of them. Ever. No matter what the circumstances were.

She shuddered. The thought made her nauseous.

She glanced at the watch on her wrist. There was still another thirty or so minutes before the train would leave. She was tempted to board then and there – anything to take her mind off her dreams from the night before – but knew she couldn’t just abandon Alphonse.

“Mei!”

The Xingese woman turned upon hearing her name, and a relieved smile broke out across her face when she saw a certain blonde Amestrian heading towards her. “Good morning to you, too, Alphonse.”

“I hope I’m not too late,” he apologized. “I overslept this time around. In my defense, however, it was Ed who ‘accidentally’ threw the alarm clock into the wall.”

Mei laughed, her depressed mood disappearing quickly now that Alphonse had arrived. “Don’t worry, you’re good – and I don’t even want to know how he tried to claim that was an ‘accident.’”

“Let’s just say he wasn’t very convincing,” Alphonse chuckled. “Anyways, at least I’ve finally arrived. Are you ready to board?”

“Obviously,” she smirked, rolling her eyes. “I’ve been here for ages now.”

The blonde flinched. “Wow. Way to make me feel guilty.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Oh please. Don’t blame me – you’re guilt-tripping yourself here. Let’s go.”

xXxXxXx

The train ride in itself was relatively uneventful. Being that it was so early in the morning and the fact that it was a weekday, few people were riding. On the bright side, it meant that the two had nearly an entire car to themselves.

Mei realized she had brought absolutely nothing to do – excepting paperwork, of course, which she could only work on for so long before it felt as if her brain was dying –, but thankfully Alphonse had thought to bring a deck of cards. The games got pretty intense.

But the trip was not a particularly long one, and in just over an hour they’d arrived at the station and were making their way into the town.

“Alright,” Mei said, pulling a folded piece of paper out of her back pocket. “I’ve written down Mrs. Hughes’ address on here. And although I want to go there right now...” She laughed awkwardly. “It’s barely six o’ clock right now. That’s a bit early.”

Alphonse snorted. “Right. Just a bit.”

“Ha ha.”

“I know. I’m hilarious.” He looked around. “Since it’s only a few minutes after six, want to get some breakfast? I’m sure there’s somewhere we can get some food from.”

Mei hesitated. When she’d woken up that morning she’d had no appetite – her nightmares had made sure of that. But she was feeling better, so... “Why not?”

After only ten minutes of searching they found a quaint little place that actually happened to serve breakfast all day, though it wasn’t necessary in their case. The two ordered their food, but quickly felt an awkward silence fall upon them when the waitress left.

Mei felt blood rush to her cheeks. Was this a date? Or just a casual outing with a close friend? Something awkwardly in between?

Unfortunately, the latter seemed to be the most likely..

Unable to stand the silence, Mei reached under her chair where she’d placed a small briefcase and opened it, pulling out a thick stack of papers. “Let’s go over what we know with this case.”

Alphonse chuckled. “What we know, or what we suspect?”

She smirked at him. “Hmm. Well, how about both?” The first page was a general summary of Hughes’ autopsy report that Riza had managed to obtain and had then faxed to her. “We know for certain that Hughes’ death was caused by the gunshot, not being stabbed. According to this it basically punctured his heart. We assume he was killed instantaneously, though there’s always the minuscule possibility he managed to survive for a few seconds after.”

“And after he died it’s likely the killer propped his body up in the phone booth,,” Alphonse continued. “Do you know if he died outside of it, though? Or was he on the floor inside?”

Mei flipped through the folder to the image of Hughes body that also showed much of the area surrounding it. “Hmm...” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Based on the amount of blood inside the booth, I think he was shot in there and then fell to the floor. After that our killer probably sat him up.”

“Why would they bother doing that?”

She shrugged in response. “Who knows? I can’t pretend to ever understand why sociopaths do what they do. My best guess is that there may have been some kind of evidence that would have been left behind had they not moved the body.”

“Maybe another print of some sort.”

“It’s certainly possible.”

“And like the other victims, he was stabbed a total of six times,” Alphonse continued. “But you suspect three of the wounds were created before he died.” He glanced up at her from the photograph he was studying. “I don’t think you’ve told me what made you think that. Like, what sent those red flags to you.”

Mei blinked. “Oh. You’re right. I don’t think I have.” She shuffled through the photos Fuery had provided them with until she found the close up of Hughes’ wounds. “Alright. Look at this.” She pointed to the three stab wounds with blood clotting around them. “If these had been made after his death, the blood shouldn’t be clotting. It would have continued to flow. This implies they’re premortem.”

Alphonse frowned. “How do you know the blood isn’t just dried?”

She bit her lip. “Technically speaking, I don’t, which is we really need to exhume his body. But many of the factors wouldn’t add up to the blood being able to dry in the first place. For one, the night he died was unusually humid – wet air would slow the process of blood drying. The paper Riza sent me also says Hughes was discovered approximately twenty minutes after his death. That’s not much time for blood to dry. Also, the other three don’t have dried blood around them – so why would these?”

He nodded. “I see. Then it is rather unusual for there to be blood like that.”

“Exactly. But, as I said, I can’t be completely sure until I perform an autopsy.” The Xingese woman sighed. “What I really want are valid suspects. Because right now we have none whatsoever. Luxure has an alibi, we have no real reason to suspect Neid besides instinct, and I’d swear a hundred times over in court that Yoki didn’t do it.”

Alphonse frowned before a smirk slowly crept onto his features. “I’d say we have a little more of a probable cause to suspect Neid than just instinct.”

She raised a brow at his comment. “Oh really? Like what?”

“Mismanagement of a crime scene.”

It took a moment for his words to sink in. When they did, she burst out laughing. “That’s very true, isn’t it?” She absentmindedly examined the photo of Hughes’ body. “That Neid guy really seemed off to me. His whole attitude reeked of something bad.”

“Maybe he needed a shower.”

Mei whacked the blonde with the folder. “I’m going to ask you to shut up, sir. I don’t need your sarcasm right now.”

Alphonse chuckled. “My bad. But I agree – he was definitely radiating suspicious vibes.”

“Yoki mentioned that he couldn’t tell whether the person who left with what we assume was Hughes’ autopsy report was a man or woman, and Neid seemed pretty androgynous to me, so...” She shrugged. “Not a defining factor, but something we shouldn’t dismiss immediately.”

“Most attorneys don’t have a case without circumstantial evidence,” he reminded her. “It’s always good to keep an open mind.”

“I know,” she replied. “But I want some concrete evidence as well. As soon as we’re able to get a court order and have Mrs. Hughes’ permission, I will dig Maes Hughes’ body up myself if I have to.”

The conversation ceased for a moment as their food was placed down in front of them. After thanking the waitress they watched until they were certain she was out of earshot before continuing.

“I want to examine his wounds first, clearly,” Mei said, taking a bite of the omelet she’d ordered. “The sooner I’m able to look those over those, the better. I’ll also check his body for trace evidence, but I doubt there will be any.”

“You can also see if there’s any DNA underneath his fingernails,” Alphonse suggested. “He might have put up fight.”

“The paper Riza sent me said that they found nothing, but I can’t say I trust the government as far as I can throw them. So I’ll definitely check.”

“Agreed.”

“I’m going to do everything that requires in-depth work before I check for latent prints, since the glue used can destroy trace evidence and might interfere with his wounds.” Mei snapped her fingers, putting her fork down to grab the close up of Hughes’ body. “I forgot to show you this. These three wounds. The ones I suspect are premortem.”

“What about them?”

“If you look carefully, they seem to be a slightly different shape then the others. It’s possible they were made by a different weapon.”

Alphonse frowned as he examined the photo. Then his eyes widened. “I see what you mean. The edges appear to be different on the sets of wounds.”

“Exactly,” she agreed, relieved he hadn’t dismissed her conclusion. “The three I suspect to be postmortem are much smoother compared to the other three, which are more jagged.”

“The ones with smooth edges almost look as if they were made by a sort of spear,” the Amestrian mused. “Interesting choice of weapon.”

Mei couldn’t help but laugh at his thoughts. “I’d say they align more with that of an ice pick or a similarly slender tool, but I do understand where you’re coming from.”

He flushed at her statement. ��Right. That makes a bit more sense.” His phone dinged, distracting him. “One sec.” He pulled it from his pocket and swiped, eye moving as he read the message on the screen. “Well, we’ve got some good news,” he said, a broad smile forming on his lips. “Ed managed to get a court order for us to exhume Hughes body!”

Mei beamed. “Perfect! Under what grounds?”

“Incomplete autopsy.”

She laughed. “Well, that’s close to enough to the truth.”

“Now all we need to do is get Mrs. Hughes permission,” Alphonse said as he tucked his cell phone away. “I don’t about you, but I’m just about ready to head to her house.”

Mei’s eyes sparkled. “Do you even have to ask?”

xXxXxXx

“You’re completely sure this is the right place?”

“Mei, you’re the one who gave me directions – which I followed exactly. Shouldn’t I be asking you if we’re at the right place?”

The Xingese doctor rolled her eyes in response. “You’re so funny, Alphonse. Been hilarious the entire day.”

“I’m well aware.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Mei took a deep breath before walking to the doorstep and rapping sharply on the wooden door, silently trying to figure out how to explain to the poor woman what exactly she needed to do with her husband’s body.

The door creaked as it slowly opened, revealing a little girl with dirty blonde pigtails and bright green eyes. “What do you want?” she said suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest. “My mommy’s tired right now so it better be important.”

“You must be Elicia,” Mei said as warmly as she could muster. “Elicia, I need to speak with your mother – it’s very important. Could you tell her Doctor Chang would like to see her?”

“And Alphonse Elric,” her Amestrian companion added.

Elicia’s eyes narrowed before she marched off into her house.

“Well, that was an interesting first encounter,” Alphonse remarked. “She’s a cute little girl, though.”

Mei nodded, though she’d only been halfway listening to him. It felt as if a mixture of guilt and anxiety were eating away at the inside of her stomach, and she was absolutely petrified of how she was going to talk to Gracia Hughes. She wanted to tell the woman the truth about how necessary it was to exhume he husband’s body, but wanted to soften the blow at least to a certain extent, and –

“Are you Doctor Chang?”

Mei felt a quiet squeak escape her lips. “Y-Yes ma’am. I am.”

Gracia Hughes was a tall and rather slender woman with short brown hair and warm eyes. “Let’s not talk out here,” she said, stepping out of the doorway. “Come on in. I’ve just put some tea on the stove.”

Mei followed her into the house, Alphonse right behind them. Gracia led the two to the main room, where Elicia was playing with building blocks in the corner.

“Please, sit down,” she said kindly. “I’ll be right back.”

They did as instructed, sitting next to each other on the couch.

“You seem a bit tense,” Alphonse murmured to her. “You sure you don’t want me to do the talking?”

Mei shook her head. “No. It was my idea to exhume his body, and I’m the one who will be performing the autopsy. I have to be the one to explain it.”

He hesitated, but nodded. “Alright.” He took her hand in his and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. “You’ve got this.”

She smiled softly, too anxious to be flustered. “Thank you.”

A few minutes later Gracia returned carrying a tray with three steaming cups of tea resting on top of it. “It’s green tea,” she said apologetically. “I did put a little honey in it, though.” She handed them each a cup before taking her own and sitting down in a chair across from them. “So what do you need, Doctor Chang?”

Mei bit her lip. “This might be a bit difficult for you to hear, Mrs. Hughes...” She ran a hand through her hair. “Sorry. I don’t know how to put this.”

Gracia smiled at her, and despite being warm it was also tired. “It’s fine, Doctor Chang. I know who you are and what your study lies in. In fact, I have a feeling I know why you’re here.”

Mei blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“I assume it’s about my husband’s death.”

Mei hesitated, then nodded. “To some extent, yes. Mrs. Hughes...” She took a deep breath, then said it. “I’d like your permission to exhume your husband’s body in order to perform a second autopsy.”

Gracia’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“We have reason to believe his first autopsy was deliberately performed incorrectly,” the Xingese woman explained. “He was the only victim of the serial killer who was not sent to my office, his autopsy report that I received from the FBI was stolen from me, and there are many inconsistencies in what we’ve heard from people who worked the scene compared to the pictures and basic report we managed to get together.”

Gracia placed her hand over her mouth. “You must be joking.”

Mei laughed bitterly. “If only, Mrs. Hughes.”

Silence filled the room, the only exception being the light taps that echoed from the corner of the room as Elicia stacked blocks together.

Gracia placed her cup down, her hands quivering. “Doctor Chang...”

“Ma’am?”

“If... If you exhume my husband’s body, will you be able to find out who killed him? And who killed all those other innocent people?”

Mei blinked in surprise, not expecting such a question. “I mean, I can’t make any promises, Mrs. Hughes, but –”

“Doctor Chang.” Gracia’s tone was a combination of stoic and pleading. “Tell me the truth.”

Mei didn’t know what to do. Was the woman referring to the real truth, or the truth she wanted to hear?

“Please.”

That sealed it.

“Mrs. Hughes, it is certainly possible that I will be able to track down your husband’s killer,” Mei said, “but on the other side of the coin, there is a chance I will not be able to do so. Trace evidence has almost certainly been removed from his body, and it’s highly unlikely I will find any DNA on him. But I may be able to find latent prints, and I suspect there’s some sort of value to be found within his wounds – I’m just not sure what.”

Gracia’s fingers were laced together and her entire body tense.

Alphonse spoke. “Mrs. Hughes. Mei Chang is not only the most skilled chief medical examiner I’ve ever met, but also an excellent detective. Anyone else would have reported the loss of the autopsy report and never thought about it again. She not only reported it missing, but helped find information about who might have taken it – including going to the FBI and continuing to ask questions there. And upon finding out that something was off about your husband’s death and that the government is somehow involved with it, she still continued to search for answers. I nearly drank a bottle of water mixed with cyanide that was meant for her – and she still refuses to give up. Trust me, Mrs. Hughes. She knows what she’s doing.”

Mei was speechless. Alphonse made her stubbornness and refusal to submit to the government sound almost revolutionary, when in reality there was no way it was even close to being that awe-inspiring.

Gracia sighed, carefully picking up her tea and staring into it. “My husband was a good man, you know. He loved Elicia and I more than anything else. There were times when I wondered if I really deserved him. When the news of his death was brought to my door I fainted on the spot.” She laughed half-heartedly. “Can you believe it?” She sighed a second time. “I was in shock. But above all else I wanted the person who murdered him caught. I wanted them to rot in prison for the rest of their days. The FBI agents who were working the case at the time assured me that they’d be able to catch the killer in no time.” Her grip tightened on the cup. “They lied. They lied because the person who killed my husband is someone within their ranks.” She stared at Mei, her green eyes fierce and yet lined with tears. “I know you can catch them, Doctor Chang. I’m sure of it.”

Mei smiled at the woman, certain her own eyes were brimming with tears as well. “I will. I promise.”

xXxXxXx

“That was quite the promise you made.”

The two were on the train back to Xing.

Mei sighed. “I know. I just hope I can keep it.”

“I’m sure you can.”

Mei hesitated, before slowly asking, “Alphonse... Did you mean what you said? About how I know what I’m doing and all that?”

Alphonse stared at the Xingese woman in surprise. “Of course I did. Why?”

A small, relieved smile fell on her lips. “No reason.”

Silence fell between them, neither one inclined to break it. It wasn’t awkward – simply there. Almost like a calm.

And calm it was – until Alphonse’s phone rang, startling the duo out of their reveries.

The Amestrian quickly pulled his phone from his pocket and answered. “Hello?” His brow furrowed in confusion. “Havoc? Is something wrong?” He paused. “Are you sure?” He sighed. “Alright. One moment, please.” He moved the phone from his ear and covered the mouthpiece before turning towards Mei. “Havoc wants to talk to you. It’s about Luxure.”

Mei’s eyes widened before narrowing in suspicion. “Alright.” She accepted the phone. “Good morning, Havoc.”

“It’s still morning?” There was a sigh from the other end of the line. “This day is moving by way too slowly.”

“Was there something you needed to speak to me about?”

“Right. Do you remember how I said Luxure and I were together the entire time three – four, now – nights ago?”

“I do.”

“Well, I was wrong. I forgot that around eleven at night she left to visit a friend or something, and didn’t return until almost two in the morning.”

Mei’s eyes widened. “Are you completely certain she was gone during that time?”

“Yes. Positive.”

“Thank you for notifying me of this, Havoc. You have no idea how helpful you’ve just been.”

“Right. Yeah.”

Mei’s heart sank as she heard the depressed tone in his voice. Whether Luxure was guilty or not, she may have just destroyed Havoc’s relationship with her. “Havoc...”

“I’ve got to go now, Doc. I’m glad I was able to help.”

She slowly handed the phone back to Alphonse, guilt weighing down on her chest. But what could she have done?

“Ed,” Alphonse said, not noticing Mei’s distress. “Do you know when a team will be sent to exhume Hughes’ body? Yes, we got Gracia’s permission.” His eyes widened. “Really? That’s going to be a definite help. Thanks for telling me. I’ll give you a call if there’s anything else we need.” He hung up. “Mei, I’ve got some good news – Hughes’ body is being exhumed as we speak. You might be able to perform the autopsy sometime this evening.”

“What?” she said, shocked. “Really?!”

“Yep.”

“Oh, this is brilliant!” The Xingese doctor grabbed the briefcase off the seat to her left and opened it, grabbing each and every sheet of paper within it. “I need to go over all the details of the case again. I want everything to be as fresh in my mind as it can.”

Alphonse rolled his eyes, chuckling. “I should have known.”

xXxXxXx

Mei held the door to the morgue open while Winry pushed the cart with Hughes body lying on it inside. Alphonse had offered to help, but Winry had refused – she’d been doing this for almost two years, after all. Instead Alphonse carried the bag that had been buried with Hughes into the room and set it on a side table.

“Alright,” Mei said, pulling on gloves and switching on the light above the body. “Let’s get started.”

The two girls began the long process of reverting Hughes to the state he’d been in before the funeral. That included undressing him, removing the glass caps from beneath his eyelids, and scrubbing the makeup from his face. Alphonse simply stood to the side and watched, not wanting to interfere.

Mei frowned as his wounds were revealed. “Why wasn’t the blood cleaned off his body?” A closer look revealed that it had been – but only in part. Dried blood still lined the edges of two of the wounds. “That’s rather odd.”

“But not unheard of,” Winry added, acting as the voice of reason. “If his autopsy was rushed and likely ‘forged’ as we suspect, then it makes sense that they wouldn’t bother to do a complete job.”

“Fair enough,” Mei conceded. “Can you grab the camera and take pictures? Get as much detail as you can in it.”

“Roger that.”

Mei started examining the gunshot wound in Hughes chest. Despite that he’d been in the ground for a few days, it was obvious to her experienced eye that the bullet had been the cause of his death and not the stab wounds. The government was not lying about that.

She noticed Winry had finished photographing the stab wounds and moved down to examine them in greater detail while her assistant moved to take pictures of the gunshot.

Just as in the images Fuery had given them, the three wounds she suspected to be premortem did not match the ones she considered postmortem. They also varied slightly in shape.

“They have to be from a different weapon,” she murmured. “There’s no way they’re the same.” The Xingese woman turned to face Alphonse. “Can you open the bag that was buried with Hughes? I have a sneaking suspicion I know what’s in it.”

The blonde officer nodded before carefully undoing the rope that kept the sack shut. After making sure his gloves were on completely, he removed a small knife from the bag, dried blood still coating the bottom half.

Mei took it from him and compared it to the wounds on Hughes’ body.

To her surprise, however, it did not match.

“What?” she said, confused. “How can it not...” She trailed off, her eyes widening. She spun on her heel. “Winry. I need you to test the blood on this knife and get a DNA sample.”

Winry frowned. “Why?”

“Because I don’t think this blood belongs to Hughes.”

Winry’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me.” She accepted the knife. “I’ll be right back.”

“Why do you think that blood isn’t Hughes’?” Alphonse asked curiously.

“For one, the edges on that knife don’t match up to the ones one his body,” Mei pointed out. “I’d bet some naive officer found it at the crime scene and put it in the wrong bag.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because everything else in that bag was a personal item of Hughes’, wasn’t it?” After seeing Alphonse nod, she laughed, shaking her head. “Wow. Do you have any idea how lucky we are that knife happened to be in the bag?”

Alphonse whistled. “That could certainly help progress this case.”

“Oh, you bet it could,” she agreed. “Anyways – I need to finish looking over him before I cut him open.”

The Amestrian flinched. “Thanks for that image.”

“You’re very welcome.” Mei picked up a magnifying class and slowly continued to examine the stab wounds. Minutes later, Winry ran back into the morgue.

“I’ve got some very interesting news for you, Mei,” she said, blue eyes gleaming in the bright light of the morgue. “You were right – this blood is not that of Maes Hughes. And guess what?” She held up a small plastic bag. “I found a hair stuck in it. Long, dark hair. And it doesn’t look like Hughes’ at all under the microscope.”

Mei and Alphonse exchanged excited looks.

“Were you able to find out whose DNA it is?” Mei asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Winry frowned.

“Alphonse?”

“Yes?”

“Call your brother and have him get DNA and hair samples from Luxure and Neid.”

“Way ahead of you, Mei.”

xXxXxXx

I have no idea how Winry got DNA results back so quickly. Story magic, I suppose.  I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll be back tomorrow with Day 5: Adventure/Home!

Read Day 5 here.

[joie-university-rp]

Dear, MIKE CHANG,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

–

Congratulations, MEG! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklistand send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

Name/Alias; preferred pronouns: Meg, she/her

Age, Timezone: 27, EST

Activity, short explanation: I work a full-time job (36 hours) Mon-Fri but I can usually be on at least one hour a day after work and sometimes even before work - and on the weekends, as I have no life, I can be on quite a bit more.

Ships: Tike, Cherry, Bike, Fabang, Mikitty, Changrose, Mikecedes, Bike Chanderson, Rutherchang, Mikurt, Puckerchang, Mike/Chemistry, Mike/Confidence

Anti-Ships: Mike/No Chemistry

Triggers: RFP

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link):https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/elle-harry-shum-jr-by-tyler-joe-001-1541717903.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=480:*

Anything else: Just that I thank you for reading this application, too :)

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Michael Robert Chang Jr.

FC: The absolutely underrated but extremely handsome Harry Shum Jr.

Age/Year at University (Freshman [1st Year], Sophomore, Junior, Senior, or Graduate Student): 23, Junior

Birth date: July 26th, 1996

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Chicago, Illinois

Gender/Pronouns: Cismale, He/Him

Sexuality: (Closeted) Pansexual

Major(s): Law

Minor(s) [optional]: N/A

Housing request (remember, only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Double suite in the Zeebee frat house

Extracurriculars (Click here for the list. Be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, secretary, etc.] If something isn’t listed, please put it here and we will add it to the masterlist!): Lacrosse (attacker), Football (wide receiver & co-captain), Chess Club, Mock UN, Student Government Association (Chief Justice),

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush): Zeta Sigma Beta, Vice President

CHARACTER PROFILE:

As the eldest born son to Michael Robert Chang Senior and Julia Qián, there had been a lot of pressure placed upon Mike’s shoulders - pressures to live up to his father’s legacy, but also pressure to exceed it. It was his duty to become a respectable member of society, someone that would take on a great job and someone that would bring honor to the family name. It was why, even as an elementary school student, he had had tutors - tutors to ensure that Mike would stay on track and stay ahead of the other kids in his school.

But there was a side to Mike… a side that wasn’t exactly something his father was proud of. He loved to dance, something he wound up getting from his mother - though that’s not something he knew about - and whenever he was alone in his bedroom, listening to music, he would let the music move him. It didn’t matter what it was, Mike always found himself moving and it became his own little escape - his way to let the stress out.

Dancing, however, was not an extracurricular his father allowed him to have. Sports were acceptable, of course, as schools loved to have a scholar athlete, and clubs that focused on building character and resumes were allowed but dancing? Well, his father thought that dancing would be detrimental on a college application, especially to schools looking for law or medical students. And Mike… well, Mike just wanted to please his parents, so he did what he could to please them.

Applying to Joie was just one of many things Mike did to please his father, as his father was an alumni of the school - and a famous one that had donated a wing to the library - and when he was accepted, the joy that overcame his father’s face was just perfect. It was enough to have Mike know that he was doing this for the right reason… to make his father proud, and so he told Joie that he was going to attend their school as a law student.

The first year at the school seemed to go over really well - between his positions on the lacrosse and football team (and him being a quick and nimble force to be reckoned with thanks to his secret recitals in his bedroom) Mike was becoming known for being quite the scholar athlete - especially since he was in a handful of other clubs and activities, as well, and he was rushing to his father’s fraternity, Zeta Sigma Beta, too.

Unfortunately, though, just a week before classes were supposed to pick up for his sophomore year, his maternal grandmother Xiu Mei Qián, fell ill and the family packed up their bags to head to Guangzhou to spend what little time with her they could. This gave Mike a chance to take a break from his rigorous school work - though his father did manage to quiz him every week just to keep his skills sharp - and he was able to realize there was more to life than just school. And the more time he spent with his dying grandmother, the more he realized that life is short.

His grandmother lived for two years, and he returned back to Ohio shortly after turning twenty-one - just in time for what should’ve been his senior year. Thankfully, his extracurriculars were happy to have him, and even the fraternity he had been accepted into welcomed him back as a brother and not another pledge, but he worked hard to prove himself. It seemed that his time in China had been long since forgotten as he worked to claim prominent positions in his various activities - from co-captain to the football team to vice president of the Zeebees to Chief Justice in the SGA - and Mike was back to proving that he was the scholar athlete that everyone knew he was.

But now that he’s going into his third year of school, his father is already beginning to pressure him into deciding what law school to go to upon graduation, and Mike’s not sure how to tell him that he doesn’t want to be a lawyer, or a doctor. No, Mike wants to be a dancer, and he wants, by the end of the year, to find enough courage to tell his father the truth. That is his overall goal, to be able to get underneath his father’s suffocating thumb and chase after his passion…

He’s just not hopeful it’ll happen.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY: (Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University? Well, my father went here… The Chang wing in the library was donated by him, and if a man as successful as my father went to school here, I knew that it would be the best thing for me.

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? My…. best traits? Well, I don’t really know if I have any. I’d like to think I’m intelligent, though I guess you have to be to graduate as valedictorian of your high school class and maintain a 4.1 GPA… I’d like to think that I’m good, too, and I’m pretty hard-working. My worst traits… well, I can be pretty stubborn, I guess… and I’ve been told I’m quiet - sometimes people won’t even realize I’m in the same room as them because I’m not really one for talking and… maybe selfless? Though some could say that’s a good trait, too, so… just ignore me. (He’s also insecure)

Which of your traits do you value most? Out of all my traits, I’d value my goodness, I guess? This world needs more good people so… it’s good that I’m good, right?

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole? Well, it might not affect the school now but when I’m a lawyer or a judge or sitting on the supreme court, I hope to use my goodness to pass laws that will benefit the entirety of the country and not just the school - to end a lot of the things that are dividing this country and make tougher restrictions on other things.

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU? I hope to meet all kinds of people in the hopes to build connections with potential clients for the future… and maybe graduate as a dance major and not a law major.

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you? “Quiet people have the loudest minds” - Stephen King

[galactic-glossolalia]

Tagged

by @viridiism thanks meme !!

Bajillion Questions Meme Rules: Answer all questions, add one question of your own and tag as many people as there are questions!

1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke

2. Disney or DreamWorks: Disney

3. Coffee or Tea: Tea

4. Books or Movies: Books are easier for me to follow,, with movies I can easily get overwhelmed.

5. Windows or Mac: Windows

6. DC or Marvel: Marvel.

7. Xbox or Playstation: I have no experience with either

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: Never played either, both sound really good.

9. Night Owl or Early Rise: Night owl for sure. It’s 1 am as I do this oh heck

10. Cards or Chess: Cards

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: chocolate all the way

12. Vans or Converse: tbh I don’t really care

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash or Adaar (dragon age): Never played Dragon Age.

14. Fluff or Angst: Fluff,, it’s ridiculous how excited I get whenever I’m reading or writing it

16. Dogs or Cats: Both!!!

17. Clear Skies or Rain: Rain

18. Cooking or Eating Out: Eating out but I’m trying to cook more

19. Spicy Food or Mild Food: I like spicy to a certain degree.

20. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Halloween!!! It’s a lot less stressful for me.

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: A little too cold, I cannot handle heat.

22. If you could have a superpower, what would it be: That’s tough. Time travel maybe? Being able to stop time at will.

23. Animation or Live Action: Animation

24. Paragon or Renegade (Mass Effect): I haven’t played Mass Effect.

25. Baths or Showers: Showers

26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: Iron Man, I guess?

27. Fantasy or Sci-fi: Both!!

28. Do you have three or four favorite quotes? If so, what are they?

Just two that come to mind. One serious and one.. not serious

“If you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you are only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”

“Do NOT insult my intelligence! I have very little of it and I don’t like when it’s insulted!!”

29. YouTube or Netflix: Youtube

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Don’t do this to me.

31. When Do You Feel Accomplished: The littlest things... Like sometimes I’ll just organize my closet and I’ll feel really good for the next week.

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Haven’t seen Star Trek, so I have to go with Star Wars since I’ve seen a little of it and like what I’ve seen.

33. Paperback Books or Hardback Books: Doesn’t matter.

34. Handwriting or Typing: Typing, it’s much faster.

35. Velvet or Satin: Velvet.

36. Video Games or Movies: Games

37. Would you rather be the dragon or own the dragon: Be a dragon

38. Sunrise or Sunset: I love both, but typically if I see the sunrise it means I’ve been awake too long.

39. What’s your favorite song: Changes all the time. Right now I can’t stop listening to Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by Set It Off.

40. Horror Movies, yes or no: No, they’ll stick with me and make it harder to sleep than it already is.

41. Long or Short Hair: Conflicted... I love my hair long but it is a nightmare to manage like this.

42. Opera or Theatre: Theatre.

43. Assuming the multiverse theory is true and that every story ever told has really happened somewhere, which one of the movie/book/tv show/game/etc worlds would you pick to travel to first: Invader Zim, hopefully as an Irken. I am IZ garbage.

44. If you had to eat only one thing for the rest of your life what would it be: Probably sushi. Does it still count if I eat different rolls every time?

45. Older guys/girls or younger guys/girls (I guess you can change this to your preference): Around my age please. Older but it can’t be by any more than three years or I’ll be really uncomfortable.

46. If you could erase any show from TV history, what would it be: Teen Titans Go.

47. Singing or Dancing: Singing, it’s the only one of the two that I’m decent at.

48. Instagram or Twitter: Don’t have either, probably Instagram though. It would be another platform for me to post my art.

49. Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit: I love The Hobbit, haven’t finished Lord of the Rings. Both are wonderful though.

50. If you could create either a sequel or bring back any tv show/movie, what would you choose: That’s hard, I don’t watch tv or movies much... I want to say Invader Zim, but I think the show would have declined in quality if it was still running.

51. Who is your movie/tv show character that you are looking up to and why? I can’t think of anyone at the moment. I know I’ve adopted characters as role models before, but I can’t come up with reasons for that.

52. If you were ever convicted of a crime, what would it be? Something really minor. Petty theft.

53. Anime- subbed or dubbed? Subbed.

54. City or countryside? City, there’s more to do.

55. What book have you read over and over? I used to read and reread this one children’s story collection... I’ve lost the book since then, but it was my favorite thing as a kid.

56. What is your personality type? Introverted, moody, but I can be very sweet once I warm up to someone.

57. Would you rather change a moment in time or have a glimpse into the future? Change a moment in time. I’m the kind of person to find fault in everything, so if I saw into the future I know I’d just be upset.

58. Is there a popular series that you just can’t get into? Any popular show. I don’t hate it for being popular, I just have difficulty getting interested until the hype dies down.

59. Dream job? I’d love to be a graphic designer or something, but I’m planning to go into a career for linguistics. Probably a translator.

60: Top three video games? Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Undertale, and Tomodachi Life. First two because they both have lovely stories, last one because it’s so weird, in a good way.

61: Favorite Pokemon? Dragonair for the aesthetic, Staraptor because the first Pokemon I ever caught was a Starly and I raised it to be a very powerful Staraptor. Her name is Starry and I love her.

62. Top 5 ships? I’d have to list OC ships to get five, oh no... but anyway, probably

Undyne x Alphys (Undertale)

Memoca x Dolphi (Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea)

Zarya x Mei (Overwatch)

Genji x Zenyatta (Overwatch)

aaaand Marcus x Damian (OC ship)

I’m not going to tag because that’s not really my thing, but please feel free to do this!!

My question:

63. Favorite outfit? (can be yours or one you’ve seen)

@clockworkfountain