(Total Drama Headquarters; Friday, June 9, 2017; 12:30 PM)
"Toxic waste? Mutated creatures? And you accepted the offer?"
The voice of a shocked Josh can be heard. At the moment, he and Blaineley are standing outside of the Total Drama Headquarters, located in the heart of Canada: Toronto, Ontario. Both of them are dressed in formal attire, leaning against a wall and looking up at the bright sky on occasion. Also on occasion, a cool breeze blows by.
Not that it affects Blaineley from smoking a cigarette. After puffing, she turns to her friend, raising a brow. "Is there an issue?" She points at him with the cigarette. "You said you would support me for this." Then she takes another huff.
Josh raises his hands in defense. "I am! I'm happy that you got a good offer and accepted it!" He gives her a supportive smile. "I mean, getting paid more than Chris and living away from the radiation? That's great!" He's using hand gestures to get the point across better.
A nod from Blaineley as she exhales the smoke. "You're also protected too." She sees him nod in agreement. "So what more do you want?"
"I-It's not about something I don't have, and more so um…" Nervous sweat runs down the face of Josh's as he tries not to let Blaineley's stern expression intimidate him. He scratches the back of his head, struggling to compose an answer. "You're not afraid?"
"No." A moment of silence passes before Blaineley gives her response, taking a deep breath first. "Look, I'm not thrilled about hosting on an island that's near radioactive waste or creatures that look like my exes." She looks up at the sky, forming a hopeful smile. "But this will elevate me to a new level of stardom."
"But it's not like Celebrity Manhunt is losing steam, or will lose steam anytime soon." Josh counters, giving her a concerned look. To accept an offer that'll put her life at risk is one thing, but to also do that and leave Celebrity Manhunt behind is another thing.
Blaineley takes another huff, then looks at him, puffing. "It's about receiving more offers, Josh. I know Celebrity Manhunt isn't going anywhere. But there are more opportunities out there in the entertainment industry." She explains, attempting to ease his worries.
"So it's like… traveling to other countries after living in Canada your whole life?" Josh tries to use the best analogy he can brainstorm.
A nod from Blaineley. "Besides, if the waste or creatures aren't kept under control, we'll have a guaranteed winning lawsuit." She smirks a little.
Taking a moment to let the answer, and her other answers simmer in, Josh realizes that maybe she's right. No, she is right. He's been worried for nothing. His concern fades and he takes a deep breath before smiling at her. "You're right. Maybe I should stop being scared. We'll be safe, and nothing like last season will happen."
"Good." Blaineley flicks the cigarette. So much for disposing it in an ash tray. She gives him a dangerous smile. "I wouldn't be pleased if you dropped out or continued being a coward."
"Of course." Josh chuckles. "Just gotta remind myself that we have guaranteed protection."
Another moment of silence. As both of them gaze upward at the sky again, their gleeful expressions seem to tell different stories. Whereas Josh is attempting to simmer down his concern about this ordeal, Blaineley is looking forward to a golden opportunity. In fact, she seems too gleeful for getting to host at an island near radioactive fuel. Too gleeful.
Soon enough, Blaineley breaks the silence. "So, shall we grab lunch? I'm craving Mexican food, so let's head to the one my co-worker told me about." She pulls out her phone and inputs something, then shows him the restaurant. "Los Compadres." A 4.6 star rating out of about 1.5k users on Google and pictures of rather high-quality food.
"Ooo! I've heard of that one! You should try the Carne Asada burrito!" Josh suggests, now more excited than usual, as the two head away from the building.
"All of that meat? Are you trying to get me to gain weight?" Blaineley has an offended tone. She shakes her head. "And before I host…" Further and further the two move from the headquarters, the less audible their conversation is.
(Los Compadres Restaurant; Friday, June 9, 2017; 1:00 PM)
Crunch; crunch; crunch.
Crunch; crunch; crunch.
Ian Vestogator smiles as he watches his mom's expression shift from curious to delight as she does a taste test on a tortilla chip. A classic at the Los Compadres restaurant.
"See, Mom? The chips are really good." He beams with a proud look, relishing the happy smile on her face. Then he nudges the basket of tortilla chips over to her side of the table. His eyes gesture down to them. "You can have more if you like."
Mama Vestogator shakes her head. "It's fine. Eat as much as you want." Her smile matches her tone: sweet and gentle. "You've been working so hard-" When her son tries to open his mouth to counter, she raises a finger. "No arguing back."
She nudges the basket back to his side of the table. "Besides, as good as those chips are, I'm sticking with the fries." A gesture to the crisp french fries on her plate. No burger or even an entrée. Just a plate of fries with a side of ketchup.
Ian does relent, but has a bit of a disappointed look on his face. "If you insist." A sigh from him as he frowns. "It's just that it's been a while since we've done this."
An apologetic look forms on Mama Vestogator's face. "And you know I appreciate it very much." She leans over and gives him a gentle kiss on his forehead. "But I think spending time with me is already enough. This past year has been a lot for you, both at work and personally. So that's why I want to spoil you and make you understand that I'll be there if you ever feel overwhelmed." She assures him.
A nod from Ian as a hand of his grips the cloth of the table. "Yeah." But then as time passes and his head thinks more, his mind diving deeper into the past…
Past year.
Past.
Despite the rather cool temperature in the building, he seems to be sweating. A lot more than usual. His grip on the cloth tightens, but he can't feel the cloth. No tightness, no feeling at all. It's like the cloth doesn't exist anymore.
But there is tightness elsewhere: in his chest. He tries to use his other hand to massage his chest, but to no avail. Everything around him seems to become a blur, all of the chatter around him has become faint, and the only loud, audible sound is the crunching of the french fries. Crunch; crunch; crunch.
Crunch; crunch; crunch.
His eyes trail to the ketchup. Red and flavorful, a good condiment. But he doesn't think that, no matter how much he tries otherwise. What he's reminded of instead…
Blood.
"No. Please not now." He murmurs, begging to himself. His eyes close as he tries to focus back on the present. Leave the past.
His figure trembles, his breathing becomes shortened, hitched.
"Ian?" He can hear a different sound that's audible. "Sweetie? Look at mom and think positive." It's his mom. His eyes open to see her looking concerned. But his vision is still a blur. She's gotten out of her seat and is holding his hand. "Think about the chips, or the tacos we're going to eat, or-or how gorgeous the lighting is in this restaurant-"
"I-I'm fine." Ian forces himself to assure her. He tries to get his breathing under control, get his composure together. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." Is what he keeps muttering to escape the past and return to the present. "Just eat your fries, or…"
He trails off, then shakes his head. "Let's order the tacos now. We can save the fries and chips for later." A forced smile forms as well.
But Mama Vestogator doesn't seem convinced. "You're sweating a lot." She uses a napkin to wipe off the sweat on his face.
"Mom." Ian gives her a stern look, gently pushing away the napkin. "I said I'm fine."
"It's okay if you're not fine." Mama Vestogator gives him a warm, comforting look, not trying again with the napkin. "That's why I'm here. To make sure you're at ease." She gives his hand a gentle squeeze. "Is it because of this past year?"
Out of instinct, Ian tenses, and his mom can feel it in his hand. She gives it gentle squeezes in an attempt to keep him calm. "Just…" He realizes there's no point in hiding it from his mom. A sigh. "Don't bring it up too much." Then he sees her remorseful expression. "And don't apologize, I know you didn't mean it."
Mama Vestogator sits back down, shaking her head. "I hope they never make you work on a case like that again. God forbid they make you investigate a radiation leakage or something along those lines." She returns to eating her fries, keeping an eye on her son.
Ian raises a brow. "That's really specific."
"You haven't heard the news of a science experiment being conducted? Something about ocean creatures becoming mutated and using radioactive fuel as source?" Mama Vestogator explains, also raising a brow of her own.
"Ah, that." A nod from Ian. "I've heard of it." He nudges the basket of tortilla chips to the edge. "But as far as the main concern goes, they're not making me do anything like that." A hopeful smile forms on his face. "This summer will be better."
"Good. Otherwise, I would've told you to tell them to kick rocks and find a different company." After the two share a laugh, right on time, their waitress comes by to their table. But before she can speak, Mama Vestogator beats her to the punch. "Ah, just in time! I think we're ready to move on to entrée!"
As she places her order, Ian glances down at his phone, heading to the Notes application. He gives his mom a quick apologetic look before frowning down at the content on the app.
On it are two sections, each providing detailed information about the individual.
The first one is Edward Bundy.
The second one is Gold Grayson.
(Infirmary, Camp Wawanakwa; Sunday, June 11, 2017; 12:30 PM)
"So he's not coming back, huh?"
"Nope."
The voices of Preston Smokevin and Nathan DeCourier respectively can be heard from inside the medical tent, their go-to break spot most of the time. It's a hot Sunday afternoon and both men seem to be on the brink of exhaustion.
Letting out a humph and crossing his arms, Preston shakes his head. "Good riddance to that asshole. He caused so much damage to all of us. The contestants, the staff, the police-" He can't contain a furious growl. "Piece of shit." Then he drinks a massive amount from his water bottle. "If I see him again, I will take that mask and shove it up his ass."
Nathan, sitting on the floor rather than the bed across from Preston, remains stoic as his co-intern rants. "Golden on the outside, but has a heart of darkness." He adds.
"A heart of darkness that no light can fix." Preston tightens his hand into a fist and his figure tenses in anger. But a few seconds later, a stinging pain strikes his shoulder. "Goddammit my shoulder." He mutters, gripping the scapula part of his right shoulder.
A raised brow from Nathan. "How bad does it hurt?"
"Not as much as before, obviously." Preston answers as he gently massages the scapula, taking quiet deep breaths to calm himself down. "But I still gotta take it easy. Don't get too worked up or do too much work." He takes another sip of his water bottle. "So don't be surprised if I ask you every now and then to help out. I won't ask too much cos I know you gotta do the big brain tasks."
"That's fine." Nathan replies. Then a short pause before continuing. "There's a chance Josh could be good in the kitchen. You could also ask a contestant if one of them is good at cooking." Suggestions from him.
Preston gives it a bit to consider the suggestions, stroking his chin. "I could, but I'm not sure if that'll be allowed." He frowns. "Worst case, I'm in the kitchen alone, it's not a big deal for me." A shrug, then he lies on the bed.
After a moment of silence, he turns his head. "How's your relationship going?"
"It's good." Nathan answers, again, having that same stoic expression. Not even a smile, which surprises the culinarian intern.
A nod and smile from Preston. "Dope. You gonna miss her while you're here?"
A nod from Nathan, and the culinarian intern swears he can see him frown. "Yeah. It'll be lonely, but I'll get used to it." Better not to push it.
"Hopefully this summer will be less chaotic." Preston replies, glancing up at the ceiling. He closes his eyes and murmurs a hopeful prayer. Then he opens them. "I know working on an island near toxic waste is dangerous, more dangerous than dealing with a serial killer if you ask me, but as long as it's under control and we're all protected from it, we should be good."
"It has been mentioned that security will be tightened because of what happened last season." Nathan adds, as if this is his approach to providing assurance. Logic. After another moment of silence, he rises to his feet. "I should get back to work. I'll see you at the meeting." He holds his hand up as a sign of saying bye, then leaves the medical tent.
Preston raises a hand in response. "Take care, man." Once his co-intern is out of sight, he removes his shirt to unveil a large scar on his right shoulder area. He takes a deep breath and soon, wears his shirt again. Like the scar, everything will heal soon. He's confident this summer will be much better and no one will get hurt like last time.
While he's feeling positive about this upcoming season, Nathan on the other hand, seems to feel the opposite. A pessimistic frown is on his face; he has a bad gut feeling. "I know everything is going to go wrong again." He sighs, then wears his earbuds after connecting them to his phone in the pocket of his pants.
(?)
Experiment room is what one would call the area of a science facility where experimented creatures are contained. There seems to be a dozen of creatures contained in human-sized tubes, one animal for each tube. From a rabbit to a squirrel to a shark, each one of them is in a tube that has a green glow emitting from it.
Radioactive fuel.
"Oh my God…" A female scientist approaches the shark tube, wearing a hazmat suit and a horrified expression. "A shark turned into that?" Her figure is trembling as she points at an experiment result. The shark, compared to a normal one, has larger eyes, that of a human, and limbs. It has arms and legs, in addition to the tail, plus fin.
A nod from a male scientist next to her, who seems to be in the middle of writing down observations in a notebook. He gestures to the mutated shark, smiling. "Isn't it beautiful? We could've made history decades ago if we realized nuclear fuel had this much power."
The female scientist gives him a sharp glare, almost intense. "It's cruel. Nuclear fuel also caused a lot of deaths." She points out.
A shrug from the male scientist. "Then it seems like our definitions of power are different. You see it as a weapon of mass destruction. I see it as an advancement in science."
"It's not." The female scientist doesn't let up her glare. "Advancement in science is better understanding the radioactive energy so we can properly control the radiation levels and avoid disaster." She manages to adjust her glasses.
Roll of the eyes from the male scientist. "It's a shark. We're not using humans, pets, or even endangered species." He shakes his head. "A shark family might be missing a child, relative, or parent, but that's life." Another shrug from him.
This callous nature of his is pissing her off. "That one shark will eventually turn into several, then dozens. More and more sharks will be used, alongside other ocean creatures might I add." She counters, attempting to fight the urge to get in his face or yell at him.
A sigh from him. He's getting sick of this self-righteous behavior. "You signed up for this. You knew what you were getting into." He takes a quick pause before continuing. "Dr. Bundy has a few screws loose in his head, I don't disagree-"
"He's a psychopath." She interrupts. "And to make it clear, I signed up to improve my knowledge in nuclear radiation. This project isn't exclusive to experimenting on animals."
He shakes his head. "That's not a satisfiable answer. You accepted this offer, knowing that animals will be experimented on. If you're so adamant on condemning animal cruelty, why didn't you reject the offer?" His arms cross, raising a brow.
A moment of silence, as if he had gotten her. Gotcha question, in interview terms. She takes a deep breath. "I had a golden opportunity to make a lot of money while working in a field I'm passionate about. Even if it meant having to let a few creatures getting mutated slide." As soon as she finishes her confession, she points at his face. "But don't you dare ever assume I am okay with anything more than this, or remarks that defend this. As soon as this project is over, we are moving on."
Yet again, a shrug from him. "Good luck convincing our boss." He turns back to look at his notes and continues writing. "I'm not interested in helping you."
Her fist tightens. "I can do it on my own."
"Cool." He gives an uncaring response. "Now let me get back to writing my observations."
Her eye twitches from the lack of empathy and she turns her back on him, walking away. Part of her believes that deep down, maybe it's not worth it. She chose to sign up for this, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop those animals from being mutated.
But she also believes that more damage can be avoided. "Monsters. Every single last one of them." She murmurs as she storms her way out of the experiment room.
Once he hears the door shut behind him, he sighs in relief. Good riddance. As he writes line after line of analysis, he glances up at the human-like shark. He can't help but see it as a pet. Something worth giving a name to.
"I think I should give you a name. Hmm…" He takes a moment to brainstorm before soon nodding. "Yeah." The male scientist grins at the mutated shark. "I know you and most of the others will like it." At the top of the current page, he writes the following…
Fang.
Author's Note: Here is my update for the month! It's been real hectic in my college classes, so progress has been slow for both stories. But at least for Canon Route, I'm one-third of the way done for the next chapter, so it won't take too long before that updates. So given my schedule, you might be wondering, "Why is this man adding a third story to the rotation?" My answer is that I'm not. You see, we have been in an SYOC drought for a long time, and I decided to be the one to end it. Even if it means placing this on the backburner until I finish or make sufficient progress for my other two stories.
Therefore if you don't mind submitting and waiting for a while, then more information will be down below. Who knows though? My muse could end up taking me here and you might get a surprise update sooner than later.
Also, don't worry about being spoiled for season one for the first few episodes. At least in terms of the big plot stuff. Once we get to the final 12 or near the merge, that'll be a different story. Rest assured though, I'll make sure to finish season one before I cross that bridge. No exceptions, I've even made a massive note on my outline to not go any further than the final light-spoiler chapter in case I ever get that temptation.
Last but not least before I post the information about the SYOC, the theme. The main theme is summer camp. It's not required, but if you're interested in submitting a character based on the theme, then here it is. Yes it will be under a radioactive setting, but that's more of a gimmick.
Now, onto the rules!
Rules
01.) You have three weeks to submit a character to me if you're interested. So from October 24 - November 14. If any circumstances arise, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Any apps sent to me after the deadline will not be considered.
02.) Do not submit an app through the review system. No matter how good it is, it will never have a shot of making it in. Submit via PM or if you can't access it for some reason, but you have me on another platform (e.g. Discord), then through there is fine.
03.) Use my app! If you use a different app for whatever reason, I will warn you once to use my app for the character. Don't take that warning for granted.
04.) You can submit up to three apps! Whatever gender ratio (e.g. all men, two women and one man, etc.) is up to you. Choose carefully, for as any fourth app or beyond will not be taken into consideration. Note that each creator will have one character accepted at maximum (unless turnout for this story is super low).
05.) As a forewarning, if you have a character in season one, then your chances of getting in will be lower than those who haven't gotten in yet. It's still possible and I don't want to discourage anyone from competing for a spot. But I also want to give other people a chance.
06.) Don't be an asshole. Aside from being a decent person, if you provoke me (e.g. asking me over and over if your character makes it in, snarking if I ask a question for clarification, etc.), I can reserve the right to disqualify you. So let's keep it civil. You don't have to be all sweet, but if you're having a bad day, take it out on someone else.
Application
Basic
01.) Birth Name:
02.) Nickname(s): [Not required.]
03.) Gender:
04.) Sexual Orientation:
05.) Ethnicity:
06.) Stereotype:
07.) Age (18 - 21): [It's recommended to submit someone from that age range, but not required.]
08.) Hometown:
Physical Appearance
09.) Skin Tone:
10.) Body Description:
11.) Hair Description:
12.) Facial Description:
13.) Height:
14.) Body Mark(s): [Not required.]
15.) Makeup: [Not required.]
16.) Anything Else: [Not required.]
Personality
17.) Normal Outfit:
18.) Sleeping Outfit:
19.) Swimming Outfit:
20.) Item(s):
21.) Personality:
22.) Backstory:
23.) Strength(s):
24.) Flaw(s):
Uniqueness
25.) Talent(s):
26.) Phobia(s):
27.) Relationship Status:
28.) Ideal Love Interest:
29.) Game Plan:
30.) Ideal Plotline:
31.) Dialogue Example(s):
32.) Theme Song: [Not required.]
Final Stuff
33.) Money Plan(s):
34.) Moral Alignment:
35.) Character Inspiration: [Not required.]
36.) Anything Else: [Not required.]