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#I like chelley more

thepacifistrouter · 7 days

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Hello!

This time, I'm bringing you a little practice painted doodle based in @shrimperini 's human Portal AU!

A little bit of chelley, of course. I mean, I can't think anything better to start with (I know is not... you know perfect, need a little more practice, but still hope you all like it)

Context: It's late and Chell found Wheatley asleep at his desk, the thing is that it's not normal, they aren't very busy those days at Aperture, but he has had too much work since he ended up getting involved in this for a... personal issue... I probably should have drawn a coffee mug 🤦🏽‍♀️... oh well (this from a little idea I have of a small story based on the AU, it still needs to be polished details, we'll see if I finally end up publishing it)

Again hope you like it, I'll probably do more in the future

See ya!!

#wheatley #portal #portal2 #chell #chelley #chell portal #shrimperini #portal human au #wheatley fanart #chell fanart #portal fanart

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employee052 · 8 months

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little poster for a minicomic im working on thats half au / half backstory for virgil and the tsp gang in my universe called "la vie en jaune" (or life in yellow in french) (i think) (idk i live in canada)

for a full infodump on this au ill put it under the cut bc this au is an amalgamation of portal 2 (which takes from cave johnson, caroline, aperture, while also taking from a chelley fic i read) , simon from adventure time, kingsman, and floating megane's ted nivison comics on insta.

the plot:

Virgil works at a company called Ouroboros Technologies, whos goal is to make gadgets that automate the process of buisnesses (though they never go beyond that explanation, it pays hella money so ppl dont question it).

Anyways, Virgil's job is to hire and manage the new employees in his division. And at his 427th employee he hires Stanley Rider (also rider is stanleys canonical last name apparently so might as well use that instead of parable). A 26 year old whos fresh out of university n is working as an intern. Getting coffee, flowers for the office, making sure everyone has enough whiteboard markers since ppl use that up like crazy, etc

The two get close to the point that Stanley becomes Virgil's assistant. Which helps a bit since both Stanley and Virgil are struggling to keep up with their (seperate n now combined) workload.

The company makes a prototype product which is a set of yellow glasses, which gives the user access to the whole company's building, files, and technology in an AR form that they can access at the blink of an eye. The Prototype AR Accessible Biotech Launcher Enviroment (or pARable for short) They give it to Virgil to test, and research finds that it improves productivity 110%. However, the tech begins to backfire as it slowly begins to change Virgil's attitude and body. His mind starts to forget the people and names around him, he starts becoming increasingly more anxious and self conscious of his work when in the presence of an audience, his body begins to rapidly age and drain his life from him, and he begins to crave the control that he is given with these glasses.

Stanley notices this, and pleads with Virgil to stop, which he does. However, it causes them to fall behind on their workload, and the higherups dont like it.

Eventually, as the company threatens to dock their pay, Virgil is forced to use the glasses again in order to keep up with the workload and feed both him and Stanley. At which, Virgil begins to lose himself more and more. Forgetting his name and instead calling himself the Narrator.

The only person that he remembers is Stanley.

One night, Virgil doesn't come home, and after filing a missing persons case, Stanley doesn't find him. (Although the usual silence from Ouroboros seems more ominous than usual)

The company begins to export and send pARables en masse to all its employees, and the company reaches a terrifying peak in efficiency. And Stanley follows. Yet the only difference is that his pARable is different than his coworkers. Where everyone else starts off at a narration explaining the device followed by a room that is designed to look exactly like the user's own bedroom. Stanley's starts off with a story, in an office that looks suspiciously like his.

And concerningly, he can only vaguely remember of his life before the pARable.

And so the game plays out like normal, except both Stanley and The Narrator cant help but shake the fact that the other feels so familiar somehow.

---

ive got one page already done so i might do some more doodles with the designs i have for these two later, but im just glad i got to put this down since this is how i saw virgils origins to be subconsciously

which reminds me i need to share what ive got written for my tsp portal au f U C K

#artswin #la vie en jaune au #lvej au #infodump #tsp narrator #tsp stanley #tsp au #tsp #tspud #the stanley parable #the stanley parable ultra deluxe #tspud narrator #tspud stanley #stanley parable #the narrator

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cappycapital · 4 months

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I know you liked Blue Sky, but what is your opinion on Chelley as a ship? Do you ship the them?

And have you developed any Wheatley headcanons?

*places potato in ur ask box* 🥔

I am saving most of my asks for when I can draw tomorrow but this one is more personal so I won’t illustrate it. Honestly? I don’t think anyone in portal, in canon, should / needs to be shipped with anyone. The story wouldn’t be improved with it, so there’s that, I don’t feel like anyone really needs to be together or whatever.

Chelley is definitely a ship that had to grow on me, I can only see it happening under specific circumstances and I’m not really one for human x inanimate non-human object so Wheatley being humanoid also is a necessity for me for me to enjoy it. overall though? I think if it’s done right it’s incredible, I’m a sucker for hetero ships that go against your usual stereotypes and this really can go a lot of ways, and can really dig into both Wheatley and chell as characters in ways that I feel the games simply couldn’t in any scenario! Chell is super put together and stern, Wheatley is very all over the place and can really use someone stable like chell to help him with any anxiety he would have, and she gets some weird little loser who she finds charming, win win.

Tl;dr I ship them in certain scenarios when Wheatley is more expanded as a character, I feel like they can work!! And they can work in lots of AUs too and stay pretty truthful.

Wheatley head canons is a toughie, I do feel like he’s the most shallow of the three main characters, not in a bad way, but you know everything he’s about by the end of the game really. I like the idea he was programmed to destroy himself after however long not plugged into chell, the scientists sort of just set him loose for some menial task thats out of the way and waited for him to break down, but he was so bad at it that he ended up not being able to / forgetting, so he assigned himself like “mhm yep I’m looking over the humans that’s what I do.” He calls them smelly because most of them are, well, corpses by the time he gets to many of them.

I also think that he likely has a Swiss Army knife of random functions that he can do that he still thinks he will die if he does them, like he’s just some generic core they downloaded some idiot AI into, they didn’t want Glados letting him eject (don’t eject from your rail or you will die) or using any other of his functions to her advantage, but instead of disabling them, which would take, you know, work- they just told him he would die.

omg potato 🥔

#Ask #portal chell #chell portal #portal #portal 2 #wheatley #chell x wheatley #portal wheatley #chelley

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madame-mongoose · 3 months

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Was trying to find your post about like, the hyper masculinization of the dca and how you see them as nonbinary or something 'cause I was talking with my friends about the Sun x Chica and Sun x Roxy ships and said this

Honestly I only ever like Sun x Chica and Sun x Roxy if it’s in a lesbian “girls night out that Sun joins because they’re not 100% a girl” way

I imagine Moon tries kissing Chica and Roxy one time and is like nope can’t do this y’all are strictly friends to me, if I’m joining any girls nights out it’s gotta be as a friend only, not a partner

Roxy is indifferent on it but Chica 100% agrees with Moon and is like yeah no kissing you is weird

(The comment about Moon were sprcifically about my au of them, not moon x them in general, in that au Sun is genderfluid and pan and poly and Moon is agender and demiromantic and demisexual and poly)

I said this after someone said something about shipping Roxy and Sun and Moon

Tbh I think my problem isn't with the ship so much as it is with like being reminded "oh people see the dca as a cis man and see this as a het ship" when I'm more of the opinion that the dca is nonbinary and all ships with them are queer in some way or another. So sometimes I get a bit uncomfy if people like really go out of their way to make the dca hyper cis masculine and het

But that's a me thing, it's not something other people need to or should be forced to conform to

One friend replied with "God you put it into words perfectly" and I was reminded of your post about this sorta thing

i tried to find the post but i couldnt either XP but yeah!!! exactly exactly my feelings! honestly i feel that way for a lot of characters. like wheatley is a funny example bc hes very obviously a lot more masculine than sun and moon. but i still feel mega uncomfy with very cis masculine depictions. probably one of the big reasons i dont like chelley. robots are the perfect partners bc they ARENT human and therefore dont typically have that same vibe as humans do gender wise. so its always very odd and uncomfy to me seeing hyper-masculinity being pushed onto characters im attracted to.

#ITS SO HARD BEING A LESBIAN AND IN LOVE WITH CHARACTERS PEOPLE VIEW AS CISHET #SO SO HARD #dca is nonbinary wheatley is whatever he is #like aughhhh #monnie answers

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dustydoop · 4 months

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A little Chelley Christmas ficlet

“Chell, love, it’s alright! I am more than capable of not destroying the house in the two hours you’ll be gone. You’ve left me here for longer than that and nothing happened.”

Chell humphed, true, but that was before he had limbs. Gangly, awkward, danger-inducing limbs. She rolled her eyes and began to put on her jacket. Fine…

Wheatley’s blue eyes lit up. “I promise, I won’t make a mess. Actually, it’ll look better than when you left it! Now go, you don’t want to be late to your office Christmas party. Mae’s going to be waiting for you, go!” He gently shoved Chell by the shoulders as she rushed to grab her stuff. Wheatley waved as she hopped in her car, waited until he couldn’t see her anymore, and ran back inside.

“K.A.N.A! K.A.N.A! K.A.N.A! K.A.N.A! Hey, hey, I have a question,” Wheatley said as he opened Chell’s laptop. “How does one decorate a house for these holidays Chell has been telling me about?”

K.A.N.A. whipped around, startled. “Ight man, slow down. Decorating? You sure?”

“Yes! She took me to the store two days ago after I said I wanted ou-her house to look like all the wintery movies that every channel has been playing this whole month. So, we have the tree made of plastic, some tiny light bulbs that are all together, shiny fluffy stuff, and ORBS!” Wheatley exclaimed as he showed off the ornaments they had chosen, one box of silver, one of blue, and one of orange.

K.A.N.A. sighed. “Alright, you’re going to want to put the layers of tree together into one big tree and set it… In that corner there, next to those posters. There’s an outlet for the lights and it’s open enough.

Wheatley set himself in doing just that. Eventually, he had the tree set up, and a bunch of lights in his hands.

“And now I wrap the tree in these lights? How on earth am I supposed to-” Wheatley began messing with the string. After around five minutes, it seemed as though there were more lights around him than the tree. “K.A.N.A, I think I need help.”

“Sorry, can’t.”

“And why not?”

K.A.N.A. raised her digital arms. “No physical body, doofus. You gotta figure it out yourself.”

“Ughhh, fine…”

“And you have to do the same thing with the tinsel.”

“... the what?”

Eventually, all of the decorations were on the tree. True, it took much longer than it should have, but at least he did it. Wheatley stepped back to look at his work. “Oh, this is great, isn’t it great, K.A.N.A?”

“Yeah, yeah it looks pretty good but uhh, where’s the angel?”

Wheatley glared at the avatar. “You never mentioned anything about that, what do you mean the angel?”

“You know, the Christmas tree angel. Pretty looking woman in a dress, she’s got wings, all that, goes on top of the tree.”

Wheatley ruffled through the bags, trying to find something that matched that description. “We don’t have one of those. K.A.N.A, what do I do, what do I do, ughh I’m going to ruin all this, aren’t I? Oh, of course I am, dumb little Wheatley tries to do something nice for Chell and it all turns to crap, why did I even bother?” He slumped into the couch, burying his head in his hands.

“Hold on, no, no, no, I got this, pretty woman with wings, right? Give me one second.”

Two hours had passed since Chell had left for her company Christmas party, and she was more than ready to leave. Even with her new-found appreciation for others, her social battery was drained. She drove home, ready to relax with the new vanilla honey scented candle she had received from the white elephant gift exchange. As she pulled into her driveway, Chell noticed a purple-ish glow behind the window curtains.

What had Wheatley done this time?

Chell opened the door, demanding to know what the heck Wheatley was up to. As she turned to look at the whole room, she realized where the colorful light had come from. Wheatley had set up their Christmas tree. Chell’s tone softened as she apologized for her tone, but her apology quickly turned to laughter as she realized what Wheatley was doing. He was standing on his tip-toes, about to use a rack of the bookshelf as a stepstool. One arm was stretched to the top, desperately trying to put something on the top of the tree.

Chell walked over and grabbed whatever it was in order to examine it. It was a piece of cardboard with a cardstock cone taped to the back. Turning it over, Chell realized the front had a picture of her taped to it, a photo Wheatley had taken soon after their escapade returning to Aperture. They went to a cute little cafe a town over, Chell even wore the only dress in her closet in celebration. Stock photo angel wings were glued behind her, vaguely near her shoulder blades. She chuckled as she asked Wheatley what this was supposed to be.

“Well, K.A.N.A. told me that, usually, you humans put a figurine of an angel on top of your holiday trees for whatever reason. BUT! We did not buy one, so I made one! See, pretty woman, wearing a dress, I put little wings on you, I’ll admit my arts and craft skills aren’t as fine tuned as I would like, but it’s the thought that counts. Now let me put this on the tre-” Wheatley cut off as he continued to reach the point of the tree. “How tall is this tree, nine feet tall? This is ridiculous.”

The tree was, in fact, only seven feet tall. Wheatley’s new body was just rather short. Chell took the homemade angel from him again and easily placed the cone on the one branch at the top of the tree. Wheatley stared up in awe as Chell reached above his head.

At the same time, Chell looked down, Wheatley’s face was radiating more heat than a bonfire as his jaw dropped. She was trapping him between the wall and herself, wasn’t she? She backed down, apologizing for getting in his personal space.

“Oh, no I don’t mind, do that all you want, love. I- uh, hope you like the tree.”

Chell gave Wheatley a quick peck on the cheek, reassuring how much she loved it. It really did bring their house together.

“Wait, our house?” Wheatley asked.

Chell grabbed his hand, of course this was his place too, if he wanted.

Wheatley’s face lit up as he wrapped his hand around Chell’s. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, love.” <3

#portal #portal 2 #chell #chell portal #wheatley #wheatly portal 2 #chelley #chelley portal #portal fanfiction #chelley fanfiction #dusty writes

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korkocartoons · 2 years

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almost done! I swear, CHELLEY is one of my hit. I wonder to know who would have been the first artist to plan what Wheatley would look like as a human being. I know well, that his appearance was taken from the dubbing actor. but who thought of it? he's a fucking genius.

Wheatley has that rare combination of beauty, attitude and sublime awkwardness. And next to Chell, that same one, is a total poem. I mean, she, Chell, is confident, tenacious, and smart. What more could you ask for from this duo?

#wheatly portal 2 #chelley #chell x wheatley #chell fanart #chell #wheatley #portal 2 #chell portal #portal

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soul-teller · 4 months

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Sorry you aren't feeling well. I know you interact with my Chelley/Blue Sky art a lot so here are some of my headcanons for after the fic:

Wheatley and Garrett run a little radio station together, called Foxglove Broadcasts. Wheatley wakes up a little bit before Chell so he can be running the station while she gets her baking done for the day- he knows she likes to listen to him ramble, and he make sure to play songs that she will enjoy. Her radio is always, without fail, tuned to his station.

Wheatleys feet hang off the end of the bed just a bit, so there is an extra stool at the end with some pillows propped up to keep him comfortable.

In the fic, Chell holds his head while he recalls his first memory, so I hc that she really likes holding onto the sides of his face and pulling him down a bit so she can give him a kiss.

Chell proposes in the middle of the night, she was having trouble sleeping and was looking around her little room that, for four years, had been empty with just a mattress on the ground, now full of colorful knick knacks, old furniture, and pictures hanging on the wall, and decides she likes the changes Wheatley has made. She wakes him up and asks if he would like to get married, which of course he enthusiastically says yes to. They start planning a quick, last-minute wedding for the next day. Chell borrows a dress from Romy and Garrett cries when Wheatley asks him to be the best man. Everyone in Eaden is invited. Aaron officiates. They have a wedding pie instead of cake.

Chell asks Wheatley if he's ever had any more memories of his previous life and he says no, but sometimes, in a rare, quiet moment, he will look at her and think "Oh my God, I'm with bagel girl"

They adopt a cat and name it Kevin. Wheatley takes him to work pretty often, and so you can often hear him meowing in the back of broadcasts.

They love watching cheesy old sci-fi movies with bad effects. Having loved through a real sci-fi nightmare, it's almost cathartic to make fun of the mad scientists and experiments gone wrong.

I hope you feel better soon and this helps even a little bit 💜

://0c

thank you so much for sharing these! they did make me feel better, and it felt very nostalgic <3

man, I need to reread Blue Sky... ahh, I miss those 2017 days

#got that feeling when a cool person you like interacts with you ://зс #thank you for keeping Chelley nation alive in these trying times 🍎🥯🦄

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asettledsky · 2 years

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Top 9 Romantic Ships

I got tagged by @gay-and-tiredaf

So here's my Top 9 Romantic ships that are sorta kinda in order (well, the top three definitely, the others have wiggle room)

9. Jack Daniels

They'd be a lot higher on this list except I don't go looking for the content as much as I used to. They're hilarious though and they play off of each other so well. One of my Top 10 fics I would recommend to most people is called "Doctor Jackson's Diary" and it's hilariously slapstick and has quite a lot of sex in it.

8. JohnLock

If you could see my AO3 history it would have a frankly embarrassing amount of these two in various convoluted (and not so convoluted) scenarios that end up with them getting it on.

I regret nothing. Or maybe I do a little, which is why they aren't higher on the list.

7. JDox

I just really like the whole "The grumpy one loves the sunshine one" trope. Also John C. McGinley is a hottie.

6. Shassie

See above Re: Sunshine/Grumpy. Also these two just take the sassy up to eleven somehow. They're both so snarky. Everything about the show Psych is just great. There are so many good fanfics for this pairing, but I particularly like "The Dah-Ling Store It Yourself" series.

5. Chelley

I have a few reasons for this one. But by far is the fanfic "Blue Sky" by Waffleguppies, I cannot possibly tell you how amazing that fanfic is.

4. The Love Square

I'm not posting 4 gifs for you guys to get the point. I love all iterations of these two dorks. (Though not equally, Ladrian is definitely my favorite dynamic). I could write a few thousand word essay on why they're the most annoying couple of dorks in all of fandom though. Miraculous Ladybug is an infuriating show to watch sometimes. I stand by my theory that it was specifically designed to spawn fanfiction with it's design, which is all build up and no resolution.

3. Hellstrop

(Not me choosing the saddest part of their relationship as the most romantic gif available, whaaa?)

The only reason this one isn't #2 is because I haven't been into The Good Place for very long. I feel like, given enough time, it'll outpace Beetlebabes just because Silverfox Ted Danson is more attractive than Alex Brightman. (Yes I did say that, no I won't take it back). Also because of Michael's completely Adorkable personality.

2. Beetlebabes

3 ships for the price of 1. My preference being musical, movie, then cartoon as a distant 3rd. They are all very different dynamics. I love their relationship in the musical. Totally toxic, but somehow they're still the best thing that has ever happened to each other.

And our GRAND FINALE.....

1. Quodo

When I say the relationship between these two idiots is always in the back of my mind I am probably not exaggerating.

Never have any two grumpy middle-aged men had such belligerent romantic tension.

These two have the relationship and communication skills of people who had been married for three decades and then had a messy divorce but still have to work together so they choose to needle each other every day because they refuse to admit they actually still like one another.

#quodo #beetlebabes #hellstrop #the love square #chelley #shassie #JDox #Johnlock #jack/daniel #all of my favorite ships

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amazingorangedangantrash · 9 months

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I saw a stephen merchant comedy on the tv last night and all i could hear was Wheatley and it got me thinking

DR Portal AU....

I feel like junko would be GLADoS because. Well. I dont see who else it would be.

I can see nagito as wheatley weirdly enough, i cant explain why. I think its because both him and wheatley have pretty bad luck and a (sort of) peppy attitude LOL. Also because junko/glados hates them.

Now, chell is where im stuck at bc i can see her being either makoto or hajime. I feel like hajime fits chell's personality more, but makoto fits her thematically (being a symbol of hope, being the primary opposition to the main antagonist). So i thought maybe they could split the role? Maybe with hajime showing up in portal 2 or smth?

Since i ship chelley (i always have LOL it was like one of my favourite ships as a kid and i still ship it today) i wanna make chell makoto for the sake of komaegi (i love komaegi i feel so obnoxious making everything komaegi related but i just do) so i guess hajime doesnt NEED to be there. I just like him.

If hajime is there tho i want chiaki to be there too bc i love hinanami. And she's already an AI so I'm sure she can be in there somewhere.

Or i could make it komahinaegi, which i also like.

Or komahinaeginami... but i typically avoid polyships just because they get too much and make my brain spin HDJSGDJSVS. I like to keep ships relatively simple because its easier to focus on at most 3 people, any more beyond that and it gets too complicated for me

...but i do like the idea...

But yeah maybe i'll ramble more about it later. I just like smashing together two of my favourite things!

#makoto naegi #nagito komaeda #hajime hinata #chiaki nanami #komaegi #hinanami #komahinaegi #komahinaeginami #idek if thats the name its so long #portal #portal 2 #portal au #au

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i-hate-wheatley · 10 months

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why does chelley have more fics on ao3 than anything else in portal. why do people like this stupid british ball so much. i don’t understand. there’s lesbians, do they not see the lesbians???? don’t even hate him that much- but people missed the point of the whole story and it’s themes so hard that they have made me hate him out of spite

i can tolerate wheatleyheads. even become good friends with them. but an ao3head AND a wheatleyhead?

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geomimetry · 1 year

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So I decided to advertise my chelley fic again since it's been a while since I did that.

I just published chapter 10, and there will be more to come! Here's the description of the fic:

Wheatley falls towards the earth at terminal velocity and passes out before he can hit the ground. When he wakes up, he has two hands, two feet, and a very human head.

Chell has been living a cozy life in a small village for the past three years when she sets out to investigate the object that streaked through the evening sky, crashing way too close to the facility for her liking.

#portal #portal 2 #wheatley #chell #chelley #my fics

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thepacifistrouter · 2 months

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The Spark (Wheatley The Best PM fanfic)

Hello!

I've been reading everything I could about Wheatley the Best PM, a Waffles AU from years ago (twitters, one-shots, questions, wiki, etc.) and, although I found it fun and interesting… I felt like it was missing something …I mean, yes, in itself it is unfinished, but I mean that an element was missing, perhaps even that affected the fact of being able to continue moving forward with the idea, I don't know. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that the story lacked… hope, especially for our protagonist, that it seemed that the negative things around him were much bigger and heavier than the positive ones (too many flaws, no friends real, or at least real support, his cat was killed, his plant, current pet missing and his grandmother is presumed dead, etc), there didn't seem to be any solid reasons for anyone to want to help him personally, not even Chell I'm not talking about a possible Chelley, I'm talking about Chell showing real interest, initiative in, not even being his friend, but at least wanting to help him, knowing the difficult situation he is in, I know he has his reasons, but still. It's difficult to work on unfinished material, but… for some reason, I wanted to try it and… I think I finally came up with a… plausible idea to add hope for our favorite Prime Minister and his story.

I clarify that I'm not even half as good writer as Waffles… and I'm sure she won't read this… but… I don't know, I wanted to publish it, I hope you like it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were a few thought weeks, really though weeks, 2 weeks to be precise, but not because of the cold and snow, nor because the work was particularly difficult (which technically, it wasn't), but because of her boss, the Prime Minister. The tallest and most idiotic Prime Minister the country could ever have, but it was only aware of the former. They were also not aware that the person in charge of the nation was, actually a being that was difficult to define as human, but who was the one who pulled the strings of everything under the shadows. She wasn't someone you wanted to be around, in fact, if it weren't for the Prime Minister having decided on her, she would never have taken that job on her behalf.

Curiously, until a few weeks before, her job had been up and down, but it was bearable, as was her boss. especially in the last week. When he regularly offered to take her home in the Sentinel, even though at first, she did not feel comfortable with that, it eventually became a pleasant time, but sadly, illusory and therefore, temporary.

After having to endure the wrath of Hurricane Caro, aka, his "best friend" all by himself, after having let her know his displeasure during that last Sentinel trip together, even though he tried to pretend nothing had happened the very next morning, things only got worse.

First, because the following days, from time to time, the Prime Minister was called to meet with Her, long and alone meetings, no one knew exactly what was being discussed there, but when they finished, it was clear that it couldn't be anything good. Especially because, due to the clear nerves he had when entering, he seems to had spilled coffee on his leg I none of them and, clumsily tried to hide it. And even without that, you could see a clear glow of satisfaction in Her eyes as She left, and something was changing in the Prime Minister's gaze and in his manners with others. At first was almost imperceptible, it was not very different from how he acted before, but this was just more... intense, less patient, more self-aware of his actions... in a bad way, he seemed to make more and more efforts to appear serious and imposing, trying to look more professional, which, for him, meant being more bossy, being more categorical when giving opinions or making decisions, etc. He didn't even post anything on his Twitter anymore.

Somehow, he managed to make this less noticeable by having public appearances, it was there, but it was still more like any other public appearance before those weeks, silly and lost. Still, Chell, being as sharp as she was, she saw it, she saw that it wasn't the same anymore.

She noticed how he corrected his posture much more often, looking for imperfections in his clothes, at some point he began to adjust his glasses every time it looked like he would say or do something, but he changed them at the last second for something else a little less like him; like being offered some biscuits, but in the last second, he ended up refusing them, saying that he would start a healthier diet soon and that it would be better to leave the biscuits to the children. Even once, on their way to an opening outside London, they spotted a circus in the distance, she could have bet she saw that spark of childish excitement in his eyes, only for him to, in the next breath, remark that he really liked them as a child, but now he had more interesting and important things to pay attention to.

Tension began to be felt in the No10 atmosphere, a tension that grew as the days passed, becoming palpable for anyone around, specially her.

She didn’t give a damn.

Maybe he was her boss, but she wasn't willing to let his stupid attitudes get to her, it already bothered her enough that she was affected by his tantrum at the Sentinel, no matter how sorry she was for him, no matter how much she could understand his situation, what happened was not her fault. It wasn't her fault that he wasn't able to open his eyes to his "best friend", it wasn't her fault that he was incapable of running his life, much less a nation, or that his will was so weak with what really mattered, he was not even able to ask for help other than some advice from time to time or for silly, irrelevant things or accidents he caused with his clumsiness. The only possible guilt she could really feel was not having done anything to try to change things or say something during the elections, perhaps that was the main reason, along with her own plans, why she had not tried to quit her job. He was not her responsibility out of what her work or her guts could demand, like saving his life of himself, which was still on her ‘not exactly something to be too proud of’ list of things.

It was true, after all, despite the time that had passed and there being something about him that could have made her consider to saving him as not a complete waste, from her point of view, that life was still a harmful and dangerous disaster, for himself and for the nation that, It is assumed that it was under his charge. Even taking his precious Caro out of the equation, who was the one who made him a danger to the general population, his position on her life and her mission doesn't change much... irrelevant, almost expendable. Remembering the times she saved him of problems that should only be problems for little kids and not for a ruler of an entire country, that he ignored obvious problems for him or blaming others for them because of his own insecurities and lack of self-steem, or when he began to become especially unbearable in the way he treated others, especially in the last week. She didn't hate him, he wasn't someone worth hating, but she wouldn't let someone so needy and annoying upset her, it was true that he had his more tractable moments where he can even feel friendly and kind, like someone to be nice with… but that was far too temporary, and still, again, even if it wasn’t… that didn't make him her responsibility… aside from her job. There were more important things to worry about, there was a whole nation full of people to worry about to. She couldn't, she didn't have to, she didn’t need to focus on his life problems.

The snow was beginning to fall in a foggy London, she was well dressed for the occasion, scarf, coat, gloves, etc. Luckily it was time to go home, she alone had to stop by to do a couple of purchases for herself. It wasn't her favourite activity, but it had to be done, and that same day she had to go shopping for clothes for her boss, who would say that buying a pair of packages of special-sized socks online was a mission of national importance.

At least she didn't have to deal with him anymore for today… or so she thought.

The streets were empty due to the hour, the snow and the fog, in the distance, at least from what could be seen, she saw some garbage containers, which told her that she was, more or less, halfway home. The containers were an expected sight for her, what she didn't expect was to see the lanky guy with glasses, overdressed in formal clothes - despite being outside of his working hours- standing in front of them, staring at them, as if he couldn't decide what would be his next step after getting there. She was about to cross the street, taking advantage of the fact that he hadn't seen her, so she could continue without having to go through an awkward encounter with her boss, but something protruding from the box he was carrying caught her attention. From the distance, it looked like just a piece of fabric, but she realized that it was a sleeve, a sleeve of a huge sweater that she had seen before, its size and its owner made it difficult to forget, after all.

She doesn't know what prompted her to move a little closer to be sure if she was seeing wrong instead of following her original plan to cross the street and quicken her pace. She regretted not doing so the second he became aware of her presence, although her reaction was a bit...unexpected?

“… Oh, hello… Michelle” He barely turns his head to look at her for a second and immediately return to the initial position. “You can continue your way, I just… took advantage of the hour… you know, lack of public hour… to get rid of… some trash I had at home, you know, free up some space… A-and I would ask someone else to do it! but… Well, it would’ve been like letting someone snoop though the Prime Minister’s garbage, that’d bee totally weird and controversial, right? Embarrassing paper news material…. No, it was best to do it myself, after all… it’s close to me…”. He adjusts his glasses “I-I mean, close to my home, not me, pfff! is just garbage, how could possibly be that close to me? Is close to my home, like… in the way home, that’s what I meant to say…”

What, this?" It's from my nan. She used to knit me jumpers for school, but she always had to make 'em bloody huge or I'd grow out of it in five minutes flat.

Chell notice how, while he was talking, something was missing in his look, something that had been there before, but seemed to be dismissing over time. She looked at the box, there were many things, some familiar to her, others not, a huge blue sweater, stratospheric blue like the eyes of its owner, long and colourful socks, with almost psychedelic and childlike patterns, one of them with what it seems to be a large coffee stain, she even though she saw a hair clip with a little frog, in a corner.

Something was wrong.

The Prime Minister noticed Chell's gaze towards the box. “Oi, oi!! it's private!! didn't your parents teach you to not look at other people's trash!?... and... and anyway, now that you did, which again, super rude, but since what's done is done, a little saying there, I guess you're wondering about the sweater, after all, you'd already seen it and it's hard not to notice it because the size and the loud colour and that… well, the thing’s that... after thinking about it well, I considered that, honestly, I didn't need it anymore… sentimental value is for people who can't afford actual value, after all, I mean, I'm the Prime Minister! I can buy a much better sweater, more suitable! This one is 2 bloody sizes too big for me! I looked ridiculous wearing it, didn't I? Heheheh... yeah, luckily no one else saw me with that... to be honest... it-it was about time to get rid of it… and-and I don't think my nan would mind, really, after all, she is... is…" He adjusts his glasses "Well, you already have your answer, don’t you? It's getting cold. I'll just... I'm trying to think if I forgot something to throw or if I get rid of something important by mistake, that's all, human mistake could happen even to me, so… you can continue your way home, like I said, nothing important happens here..."

Chell couldn't imagine why he would be taking this decision; it was clearly taking him a while to let go of that box. She was almost certain that he would never let Caro or anyone at No10 know of the existence of any of the things in the box, why would he be getting rid of them, then? The only plausible answer that her mind pictures was Her and their meetings those weeks.

Even though Chell was good at solving puzzles and unknowns, she enjoyed it to a certain extent, at that moment she didn't have much desire or energy to think further about it, it's not like the Prime Minister's clothes or trash were her business and, besides, he didn't seem in the best of moods at that moment; She noticed that ‘something’ that was missing again, that kind of spark that seemed to have been replaced by the small glint in his glasses reflected every time she adjusted them. His stare was almost dead.

She decided that she no longer wanted to be there, so she was about to return to her path, when they both heard something move and squeak that came from the container, they focused their sight on the place where the sound came from. It was a well tied plastic bag, in the middle of several bigger bags and some empty cans.

Chell didn't have much time to think about it when the Prime Minister spoke “Oh... that must be, without a doubt, a cat that someone threw in the trash, I know about this, remember I told you my father loves cats? Yeah, I told you that time when... nevermind, nevermind, thing is he used to pick up cats on his way home sometimes, and he would talk to us about what were the most common places, you know, the most repeated methods to get rid of a cat, he mentioned the use of tied bags in rivers, slopes, gutters, garbage cans, etc. So, I'm sure, 100% accuracy, that there is a cat in that bag" he says in an almost pretentious tone, Chell already saw that she’d have to take him out of the trash for trying to pick up the bag from where he is, instead of turning around to approach it, like someone who thinks before acting would do, but...

He adjusted his glasses "... Oh well... it's better… i-it’s better to finish this and go home, I was told that the snow should not take long to increase..." then, he proceeds to, slowly, place the box in the container, away from the moving bag, pretending he no longer saw it; they could even hear moans and squeaks from time to time.

Something was definitely wrong.

Chell couldn’t help but stare at him, he noticed it, then she looks at the bag “…What? The bag?... is… is just…“ He adjust his glasses “is just a stupid cat, isn’t it? W-What others do with their stuff is none of my business…”

She kept looking at him, he seemed to be, or trying to be, serious and she didn't see any intention in him of wanting to go for the bag, so she wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she decided to, at least, say something.

“How about a shelter?”

“Heh, nah, at this time? in this weather? The closest one would take too long to get here and I'm not going to waste my time on foot, much less picking up other people's trash and you shouldn't either… again, it's getting late...”

The bag moves again, but he turns to leave. She decides to try again.

“So... are you just going to leave it there?”

He stops, but at first he doesn't turn around. He adjusted his glasses and she could see a bit of the reflection of the light from the street spotlight in them.

“...Is funny, you know? Because I thought...I thought I was being clear about this...but okay, okay I'll take the time to be clearer anyway...so yeah...I'm going to leave it there...whatever happens to that bag... or that cat or whatever... it's not my problem... I have more important Prime Minister things to think about than… than a useless cat... be-besides, there must be a reason why they left it in garbage like that, shouldn’t it?" he turns to look at her "there must be a good reason, a very good reason why someone decided to get rid of their cat like that, probably several reasons... so why would I…"

“Such as?” She interrupts, maintaining her usual serious, cold, and calm tone and countenance, yet, somehow, there was a small hint of challenge in the way she asked it. It was involuntary, or that's what she wanted to believe.

“Such as? Well, that’s easy, actually, a really easy answer, to be honest, there are a lot of possible reasons… for-for example, and this is just the first things that comes to my mind, being very noisy, cats can be quite noisy, really, especially at night, have you ever heard a cat fight? Well, let me tell you, it is very noisy, or could just be one of those who do not stop meowing…. Anyway, other option here, It-it could also be one of those that spends its time scratching or biting things everywhere, like clothes, armchairs, curtains or walls, whatever, that's typical of cats, be destructive, small earthquakes, to be honest… you don't want that in your house... and... well, if I had to name something else, some other good reason that occurs to me, well... well it's still easy" he adjusts his glasses "it could… it could simply be a useless cat...like… like a cat too stupid to fulfil the main role of a cat, the traditional mouse catcher, be the pest controller… yeah… yeah, in fact I think it is the most plausible reason, because it would undoubtedly involve the other 2 reasons I already said, and… and not to also mention the waste of money, space and food!" He turns to look at the bag while saying this, with a look that seemed to have begun to bother with its contents, but even so, it almost seemed empty "Yes, without a doubt that must have been it, a useless cat that only got in the way and caused annoyance... I mean-I mean, just look at it! It's not even able to use the claws nature gave it to try to escape, it’s just a plastic bag! Even so, the moron is not capable of trying to use them to escape on its own" he looked with what seemed almost a look of hatred at the bag, which was moving and emitting squeaks less and less, as if it were getting tired “No, I have no reason worry about such a thing…”

Chell was struck by the hatred that began to appear in his voice and in his eyes, for something that was nothing more than a speculation, he was just assuming all those things... or perhaps more than that… but she didn't back down in this game because of it, although, at this point, she wasn't sure why.

"Even if it were like that… it's just a cat…”

“Yeah, you said it, just a cat” he interrupts “It's just a cat, the country… no, not even the country, we can reduce the population ratio for this, actually, let’s better say the city where we are right now, London, I meant London, is full of other cats, many in houses where they are wanted, many strays that have managed to survive on their own; in short, cats that have earned their place in this life on their own, that they have been useful for their purpose or the one that their owners gave them... this is not one of them... I don't see why... should we spend efforts on a hopeless case like this… it doesn’t deserve… is just not worth it... to be honest”.

It seemed like he was going to return to his path but noticing how the young woman continued to stare at him, he seemed to take that as an incentive to continue. He adjusts his glasses.

“Besides, even if I considered... which I'm not considering! Just to make that perfectly clear, I'm not considering anything! but... but if I did, I couldn't, like I said, I'm sure I mentioned it, I have more important things to worry about… like, vital nation things to take care of, important Prime Minister business, decisions to take… as you might already know, I couldn't take care of it, I don't have time to laze round, taking care of another cat that can't even catch mice… no, to be honest, it would… it would, without a doubt, be a waste of time for both of us…”

This time, he turned to look at her, that look that seemed dead, but now also showed a small hint of... irony? “And you... you are also here after all, don't think that I’m not considering you in the scheme of things, but-but I know that you would not take it either! I remember it well from those times, that big red sign of 'NO PETS ALLOWED’ in front of the building door, so no, hehe, you couldn't take it even if you wanted to, right? See? even for you it would be just troubles... because... be-because... let's say that for some reason, you decide to take it anyway, thinking that you could... I don't know, just hide it from the management, but ‘eeeh!’ bad news, and I think you can guess it too, you couldn't! You just couldn't hide it for long, plus it wouldn't be worth it!" A smile appears on his face, a smile she didn't like at all. "Like I said, cats, especially idiot cats like this, can be very loud... and you... you spend most of your day at work, how would you try to hide it while you're away?! A-and let's not mention everything you would have to teach it! to use the sand box, also difficult to hide, not to scratch things or bite them, not to throw things off the table... even though... even though he may be a sweet, innocent... happy... with that tender little face that welcomes you home every day..."

For a second, for that small moment when he said that and his voice seemed to even soften, she thought she saw that familiar silly, happy glint in his eyes, but as soon as it came, it was gone. He adjusted his glasses.

"It's just not worth it!! It's not bloody worth it! honestly, because the truth… the truth is that it would only cause problems!... Plus, it could have rabies or ringworm or something worse…” The snow begins to increase “No... it's not worth to even trying to help... to be honest..."

He turns to look at the bag again, this time with a rather tired tone, perhaps because of everything he said, perhaps because of the weather... or perhaps because of something else.

"Yeah... at this point, probably... the best we can do for it... for all the trouble it would entail... for being too weak, too idiotic to help himself... for be too useless to others... the best thing for everyone would be... not to help him at all...” Suddenly his voice lowered all its volume and the energy with which he spoke a few seconds ago, even sounded a little sad. The plastic bag hardly moved anymore. “No one would gain anything by helping him... but at the same time... no one would lose anything by not helping... leave it there and let destiny takes care of its misery... it's for the best..."

A short dead silence, you could almost hear the snow falling. He finally turns away and continues his way.

"I'm going home...see you...see you tomorrow at work...good night."

He walks with an almost robotic firmness, but determined, no longer wanting to wait. She watches him leave, then looks at the bag and decides to return to her own path at a fast pace, in the opposite direction, the way home, thinking about everything that just happened.

Although she was surprised by the coldness of the Prime Minister's words and movements that night, so unlike him and at the same time so typical of his way of carrying things out, but still. It's not that his life decisions were any of her business, it just caught her attention.

It was strange to say or think this about her boss, but he had a point. The nearest shelter would never arrive on time, especially not at that hour and weather. He, much to her surprise, really didn't seem to have a choice to do anything about it. It was true that she had no solid reason to think that the cat was everything he said it was, but she herself, at that moment, had nowhere to take the cat, it would be a problem for her to take it to her apartment due to the lack of space and the strict policy; she didn’t even know anyone else who could or would be willing to care for the cat, at least until it could be get to a shelter.

The snow and cold increased, as did her pace, she really had no good reason to go through so much trouble to help a being who couldn't help but give it, even if it was unintentional.

It'll probably die soon in this weather and no help... probably tonight she thought, without slowing her pace, feeling bad for no having someone to turn to to help the poor creature.

(…)Look at him, why would anyone not want a perfectly good little cat like that? (…)

Things like that made her doubt that she had any hope in him, that he could actually be more than just the lesser of two evils, watching how he was doing less and less of his part to believe it, to make her believe that he was worthy of any help... In the end it would just be a nuisance

(…) No. She’s never going to let me have a funeral for a bloody cat. ’Specially one that kept going out of his way to sick up on her handbag. I mean, I stuck up for him, I said it was just an unfortunate mistake- a- series of unfortunate mistakes (…)

Anyway, the important thing at that moment was to get home early, it was getting dark and cold.

She had plans to follow, people, an entire population to help, unlike what the Prime Minister believed he did. In her eyes, more than cruel, he was also being a great hypocrite, she knew that he did not take real actions for his people and, even if he did, she also knew that helping a helpless animal did not actually harm or affect to those people at all. It wasn't an attitude that completely surprised her coming from him, knowing that he wasn't capable of noticing how little or nothing he actually did right, of ignoring or blaming others, including things, for what goes wrong. He didn't do anything when he should and when he had a real opportunity to do something other than what his "best friend" told him, to really help with something - like now - he just made excuses not to do it...

(…)But- but sh-she- just said that- snfff- that at least that was one less thh… thing to laze round all day get-getting uh-uh-underfoot. Joking, obviously, just- just how she talks(…)

She had no real reasons, which for her was the same as saying, no practical reasons, for spending time or efforts on...thinking about helping...someone like that...

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Her step was quick and determined, just like her. She hoped she would be able to arrive in time, she was almost at the door of her apartment building when she decided to turn back, the probability that it would be too late was there, but she had never liked the idea of giving up when she set a goal, for however low the chances of success were, if they weren't 0, then it could happen, she would make it happen.

This mentality had always been a part of her, always, she didn't have an easy life, she just never let it stop her from moving forward, always being efficient, always with her eyes on her goal no matter what, no matter how difficult it could be, always looking for the best and most efficient solution possible in her hand, always seeking to remove any possible obstacle from her path or at least not let it disturb or interrupt her too much; After all, no matter how pessimistic - although she preferred to say 'realistic' - she might be, as she was taught to always guided by what she considered to be the right thing to do, she never let adversity get in the way of her principles.

Always seeking the greater good, always evaluating and classifying each cause and those involved in silence, drawing a line of action, based on the value and danger of each one for the cause, always seeking to go unnoticed, determined not to suffer any more inconvenience than the necessary - that is, those planned - as far as possible. If an unexpected problem arose, she would adapt, she was good at adapting to different situations, she knew how unpredictable and unfair life could be, she had internalized that… so internalized... that sometimes she forgot... the weight of other things of value in this life besides usefulness or practicality, even talking about such high and important roles in this society, such as being Prime Minister...

Sometimes she forgot that, as valuable and important her mission was, there were little things that worth fighting for, no matter how irrelevant or useless they seemed in other ways, even if they were a nuisance, even if they might be perceived as a waste of time... maybe they weren't so much, after all, it was those little details that had kept her from completely losing faith in people.... maybe...just maybe

She finally made it back to where the containers were, she didn't waste much time recovering breath and look, immediately, in the direction where the bag was, found what she was looking for, but not exactly in the way she expected.

Maybe there was still a little hope.

The bag was now untied and inside the box with the Prime Minister's things, half stuffed under the stratospheric blue sweater. She could also notice how the bag moved, how a feline nose peeked out, weakly, from the opening. The little one was still fighting, despite everything.

Chell looks around for a second in case she managed to see someone. There was no one. What she did see were large footprints on the ground, striding footprints of someone who came and left in a hurry. She couldn't help but feel a small wave of relief and gave a slight grin, but it was quick, after all, there wasn't much time to waste.

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She entered her small apartment, she was covered in a thin layer of snow, but it didn't matter. She carefully closed the door with her foot, and then went straight to her bed to leave the bulky bags with her purchases on her bed. She went to turn on a small heater that she had for days like this, while she shook off the snow and took off gloves and scarf. He went back to the bags and took out the box that was inside one of them. She removed the bulky sweater inside her a little to reveal the weak, thin cat beneath it, just enough to uncover his familiar orange head, then set it down near the heater.

The world was really very small, very small - she never thought that the cat in the container would be the missing little Kevin. She was sure that his mysterious disappearance meant he had died, probably because of Caro. She wasn't that far from the truth, but it was still quite a surprise, it would have been a pleasant surprise if it weren't for the implications of it.

The bag in which they found the small cat was not just any type of bag, it was for medical waste, and there were 2 of them (one inside the other), she noticed this after taking the small animal out of it, this not only implied that it was left there with the intention that he could not get out even if he tried, he would not be able to get out, but expecting for it to try - and she could see that he did try - but in addition, she noticed other details, such as that one of his hind legs had marks, as if someone had been had him tied up for a while. She also found very similar markings on the tip of his tail, which she was sure looked a little shorter. He seemed scared when she opened the bag wide to take it out, but luckily, after a quick smell, he seemed to have recognized her and didn't give her any major trouble.

The Prime Minister had many flaws, he was and could be many negative things, but she knew him well enough to know that he would never be so cruel, even leaving out the worst details. No, she knew, she was more than sure who had been the guilty even though she had no proof. After all, She loved to play with Her prey, slowly exhausting them, testing how far they could last until She got bored and then getting rid of them, abandoned to their fate, no longer having the tools or energy to fight back or at least, to move forward. Animal or human.

Chell used a small empty tupperware to give him water. She was sure that she had some grilled chicken that she had left over from the other day that would work for the occasion. The little feline, having already overcome the cold a little, thanks to the sweater and the heater, manages to drink. He was no kind of mouser, much less a Chief Mouser material... but even so, he seemed to refuse to let go his tinny little, he refused to give up, without thinking about it, without anyone asking him, he just did...

She knew that when he regained his strength, it would be harder to keep it hidden with everything he had to do, it would, definitely be a problem and a hassle, but something would occur to her, she had faced bigger problems and even the idiot who caused the most recent problems was able to deal with this for a while. She would figure it out, she will just have to be creative. With the cat... and with the idiot.

After all - despite everything, the adversity, the wear and tear, his own limitations - mental or physical -, despite having to deal DIRECTLY with HER, even seeming like all is lost in his most recent attitude... Even so, he shows a small spark of hope, involuntary, but existing… in his attitude, even in his look, the spark was weak… bit was still there.

She simply couldn't leave him on his own like this, knowing that there was something good to rescue, from her point of view, it was stupid to think that he didn't deserve her effort and her help to get out of the hole he was in, to be better, alone. she needed to think of a way to approach things that would work under the current circumstances, there had to be a way, there always was and she would find it. She knew that it would be difficult and that it would involve going through more than one disappointment and inconvenience... but she had to try...

Yes, it was stupid to think that, just because we had a larger cause on our hands, there was no value in also trying to deal with a small cause... especially if it was directly linked to the larger cause...

As stupid as thinking that you need a stupid, weak, squeaky cat to give you a solid, logical reason for you to take it out of the garbage in the middle of the snow.

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Aaand that was it, I know I'm like 10 years later, but if you read this... thanks you

hope you liked it or at least you found it good enough

thepacifistrouter out