User:Brodie-001/Notes

Stories, notes, thoughts.

Fate/Rebuild
(Okay it's just a working title for now, not necessarily an Evangelion reference)

So our initial Fate story kinda crashed and burned very early on due to (in my honest opinion) possibly too many characters with differing levels of development, not much planning and a general loss of interest from some of our writers. However, I'm sort of interested in writing a brand new story with a different - or rewritten - cast and setting. With Fate/Apocrypha's mention of there being a bunch of miniature Grail Wars since the Fuyuki War in the 1930s was ruined by the Yggdmillenia dude and his Nazi buddies interfering, perhaps this new one could take place during one of those? They're obviously on a much smaller scale than the Great Holy Grail War and there might not be as many Servants or uber-powerful masters, but it's an interesting setting to consider.

Adventure Story Thing
The moment he heard a car pull up in his driveway, Max Torben knew his day was ruined.

Sat out in his backyard, basking in the late August sunshine beside his pool, Max could only sigh as he slowly closed his book and heaved himself out of the lounger. By the time he was back inside, buttoning up his flowery aloha shirt, the doorbell was already ringing incessantly. Tutting with annoyance, Max had already loaded up some of his choicest insults as he pulled the door open, ready to loudly inform whatever salesman it was this time that a Sunday afternoon was no time to buy a vacuum cleaner. What he did not expect was a skinny, bedraggled figure in a patchy green coat, leaning on his porch for support.

"Can I help you?" Max asked sternly as he looked the man up and down.

The visitor stood up straight and clasped his hands together, giving a smile that revealed several missing teeth. Tufts of lank ginger hair poked out from under his baseball cap, while a heavy rucksack lay beside a pair of boot-clad feet.

"You don't recognise me, do you?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

Max glanced over to the horribly rusty van sitting in his driveway, and rolled his eyes. "No, I don't."

"C'mon Max," the vagrant spread his arms. "It's Tony! Tony Haveman."

There were a few seconds of complete silence as Max continued to stare, running a hand through his dark hair, slowly exhaling as he took in the appearance of the man standing before him. Twelve years ago, Anthony Haveman had been tall, muscular, and had a promising career ahead at some software company. What Max looked at now made him feel slightly queasy. He crossed his arms, thankful that none of his neighbours were out to see this.

"Can't say I recognised you there, Tone. Why're you here?"

"You're not gonna let me in, Max?" The smile vanished from Tony's face. "We're still friends, aren't we?"

Max found himself struggling to deny the access of his old school friend, even if they hadn't seen each other in over a decade. They had kept in touch irregularly online until last year, until Tony had suddenly vanished from social media. He hadn't seen it as a big deal; people did that sort of thing all the time, after all. Nonetheless, something irked him about this walking eyesore that he found rather unpleasant, prompting a few more moments of hesitation before he relented.

"Come in," Max said at last.

Tony obliged, grabbing his rucksack taking a few steps across the threshold and walking straight out into Max's kitchen before his host had even closed the door. He turned slowly, a pair of watery blue eyes roving over every wall and surface as he took in the well-appointed room. As Max caught up, watching him with some suspicion, Tony nodded in approval before looking back at him.

"Nice place you've got here."

"Thanks."

Suddenly feeling very awkward, Max shifted towards his fridge and opened it, putting on the air of a gracious host.

"So, d'you want a drink at all? I've got OJ, milk or beer if you-"

"Shower," Tony cut him off. "If you don't mind."

Judging by the smell, he hadn't bathed in some time. Max sighed, closed the fridge door and gestured towards his hallway.

"Bathroom's on the right, by the front. Should be towels in there too." He waited a moment before continuing. "You still haven't told me why you're here, Tony."

His old acquaintance simply waved his index finger in the air as he walked off, yawning loudly. The moment the bathroom door closed, Max walked over to Tony's rucksack, which he'd dumped on the kitchen floor. He quickly unzipped it, and upon peering inside found an assortment of old, weathered books, a box of VHS tapes and at the very bottom, a video player. One of the side pockets contained a map of the United States.