#she would follow me to fucking antartica if she could

[insoupid]

My mom is so obsessed with me it's so fucking annoying

[paingoes]

Rubies

Settling

(Content: living weapon whumpee, conditioning, past abuse, brief hanging/death mention, brief nsfw talk)

“Home sweet home,” Apollo coughed up the dust that had rained on him just as soon as he’d crossed the threshold. Delta trailed quietly behind him.

Despite Apollo’s warnings about the house, Delta couldn’t find much wrong with it. Apollo had assumed he was very accustomed to the luxury that Empire’s elite resided in and had been rather apologetic about the downgrade. That assumption was correct, but Delta had very rarely been inside anyone’s actual house before. He had no real point of comparison. For what it was, it suited him just fine.

The verdict had been passed down just yesterday. Iza’s crew were all free to go; they had just been following her orders. Iza herself was on unpaid leave for a month, after which she would probably be reassigned to somewhere in Antartica until Levon decided she’d had enough. Kitty and Apollo had both been given two months of unpaid leave. Delta was to stay with them during that period.

“It’s not the worst thing in the world,” Apollo had said to Delta when the two of them were alone, “Me and Iza have somewhere to stay. He’s just docking our pay, which wasn’t that much to begin with. It’s kind of a fucked up thing to do to Kitty, though. Levon knows she doesn’t have a place.”

Delta nodded. The same conduct within Empire would invariably be met with death by hanging. He did not mention this. 

Kitty dragged the suitcase into the house just after them. She sneezed the same way kittens do — a sharp, soft sound. 

“Bless you. Yeah, it needs to be cleaned,” Apollo acknowledged, “I really didn’t think it’d been that long since I stopped by. Time flies, I guess.”

Delta nodded. It would be difficult with his arm in the cast, but he was used to working through injuries. It was more common than not, as of recently. He drifted around the kitchen island and knelt down to retrieve the chemicals from the sink. Apollo and Kitty had both disappeared by the time he rose up again. 

He dampened the cloth, careful to avoid wetting the bandages. It was easier to start with the counters; all the excess dust would get onto the floor where it could be vacuumed. He winced. It would be really painful to scrub the floor tiles the way his ribs were now. It had hurt enough just to bow; maintaining that position for several hours might not be feasible. One thing at a time, though. He focused solely on the granite surface. The shine immediately returned to it as soon as he pressed the cloth against it, highlighting just how bad the rest of the kitchen had gotten. Two hours, minimum. He bit his lip, forcing his own patience.

“Babe, not you,” Kitty said, popping back into the kitchen, “We’ll do it. You’re injured.”

He failed to see the relevance of that last part, but was grateful nonetheless. He put the cloth down gingerly. She had indicated that he follow her. He did so.

There was a single downstairs bedroom. Apollo was drawing back the curtains. He twisted abruptly around like he was surprised to see them somehow. He wiped his hands off on his jeans.

“I thought it would be easier for you if you take downstairs. You wouldn’t have to move around so much. I’ll try to make the room less impersonal? But you can take me or Lun’s room upstairs if you want. Your call.”

Delta blinked. No, it wasn’t. It was Apollo’s house. He’d go where he wanted him and it was obvious he wanted him here.

“Yes, sir.” He lowered his eyes. He’d been muttering a lot, recently. He knew he wasn’t supposed to. The words just kept getting caught somewhere.

“You don’t have to call me that,” Apollo said hurriedly, “And this’ll be the last move for a while, I promise.”

The exhaustion must have shown on his face. From the battleship into the jet into the safehouse into the jet into the base into the shuttle into the house. Half of it had spent in delirium, the other half spent in its afterglow. Delta felt as if he had been tripping for a week straight.

“Do you want to lay down for a little bit?” Kitty asked. Her tail flickered into a question mark shape behind her.

“Yes, miss.” His voice did not come out any louder, no matter how hard he tried. “Please.”

============

He woke up into darkness with only a few strands of moonlight to illuminate the room. Again, he was momentarily panicked, without any idea where he was or why it looked different. He sat up in the darkness. He could hear faint voices coming from the other room. He did not feel the subtle movements of a ship. Grounded, then. Right. Sunny’s house.

He relaxed a little. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness. The door was closed. He assumed it was locked and did not move to check otherwise. The doorknob was the kind that would rattle if he turned it. It’d be much too conspicuous. He had not been given permission to leave and he wouldn’t attempt to — definitely not so early on. 

Still, there were voices. He slid silently off the bed to press his ear to the door. He would not give up the eavesdropping habit, not for his life.

“-I always thought it was like, a sex thing. But then I tried it and I just got really bad burns all over my mouth.”

“That sounds like oral allergy syndrome.”

“No, but we BOTH got it.”

“So what happened to the worm?”

Delta pulled away from the door.

He sat back on the bed. He realized for the first time that he did not own anything anymore. Every single one of his possessions had been left back on the Thorn. Iza and Apollo had cut off the clothes he had come in with; they’d been too waterlogged to wear, even if they weren’t so impractical. He didn’t have any of his books. Most importantly, he did not have the laptop. He felt a small twinge of fear as he thought of who would find it when they inevitably cleaned out his room. It would have been locked up tight enough that its contents remained hidden, but its lone physical presence would be cause for concern. 

Maybe they’d think nothing of it. He tried to imagine who would actually know what to make of the find. Martino was dead. Delta had personally made sure of that. Paris was dead — presumably. Simon would still be alive, though. He’d know Delta wasn’t supposed to have the laptop, but Delta doubted he’d be able to piece together the story afterwards. He’d just promised to quit, anyway. Something sharp pinched at Delta’s heart. He had never gotten to say goodbye to him. 

It had to be this way. He knew it. It didn’t matter what he had wanted or wanted now. What mattered was getting out to somewhere that he would not be forced to kill in Empire’s name. He was here now and he had not planned any further ahead.

Without the laptop, without his books, without anything of substance in the room, he had nothing else to think about. It was so dark in the room. He’d been subjected to sensory deprivation before, both as practice and as punishment. At times, it had been badly needed. Other times, it would just send him deeper into a spiral. He could not decide which way it was leaning this time.

Delta had been sitting upright on the bed in complete darkness when the door cracked open.

“Oh!” Apollo was clearly startled to see him like that, “How long have you been up?”

No clock. He didn’t know, didn’t respond.

“Do you want to come out?” Apollo hung in the doorway, “We’re just chilling.”

Delta’s head fell a little bit, more from exhaustion than anything else. He didn’t think he understood the question. He didn’t think he understood much of anything anymore. He did not like to be left alone in the dark room with nothing to do, though he’d accepted that position as gracefully as he did anything else. Still, it was so draining to be around people. It wasn’t any fault of their own. It was simply the way every interaction came with its own set of rules. Delta had gotten used to the baseline exhaustion it caused within him. He had learned how to manage it with his teachers, with his handlers, with the Emperor, with Paris. But he did not like the idea of having to sleuth out the new terms of engagement with them, re-entering that rough adjustment period, and of risking punishment because they would not simply tell him the rules. He’d rather just stay in the dark.

“…Do you want something to eat?” Apollo asked.

Delta realized he had not said a single thing aloud. He’d been told how creepy it was when he stared off into space like that. He felt a sudden twinge of shame at having slipped into it so early with Apollo.

“Yes, sir,” he answered softly.

===========

Perhaps sensing his agoraphobia, Apollo brought the food into his room for him. Delta had barely eaten at all that week. He’d been unconscious or sick for most of it. They had tried to coax him into drinking broth while in Galatea’s medbay, but it hadn’t been enough. He wasn’t trying to be difficult. He just didn’t feel well enough to keep anything down.

The meal he’d been given was mostly sprouts and proteins. It was surprisingly nutritionally balanced, despite the general state of disuse the kitchen had been in. Delta remembered that Apollo was actually a medic and — at least partially — knew what he was doing. It was kind of reassuring. He’d gotten to be very wary of doctors, to the point where he’d deliberately hide his illness to avoid seeing Martino. It would be nice to not have to do that anymore.

Apollo’s words seemed to contradict the thought, though.

“I’m sorry it took so long to get you settled. The last couple days have been way harder than they should’ve been. It’s my fault everything got so haphazard.” He tapped his neck, “Levon said I should apologize too, but I was going to do it anyway. We got really out of our depth with this. I know it could’ve gone smoother. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Delta was quiet. It still felt so incredibly unnatural to have someone apologize to him. It had felt strange even through the screen and it was a million times worse when Apollo was actually in front of him. It all seemed a bit besides the point, anyway. He’d been out like that before. The powers were rough and unpredictable even when constrained; it was not the first time they’d made him feverish. The timing was unfortunate, but he could hardly blame Apollo for that. He felt like maybe he should be the one to apologize for making their lives so difficult. It had taken an entire professional team to care for him when the powers had first kicked in. Asking the same thing of a hastily assembled and ill-informed rebel group wasn’t fair to do.

He’d forgotten to respond, again. He was truly at a loss. 

“It’s okay, Delta. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” Apollo said, catching the worry in his expression. “…Are you sure you want to be called that?”

Delta. He’d seemed upset when he’d said it the first time. He hadn’t challenged it, but he also hadn’t used it. None of them had. It was just a call sign, after all. He didn’t technically have a name. But all the other Δ assignments numbered 0 through 500 had all been felled or buried. He knew he was the only one who still had claims to the title. He still liked the way it sounded.

“I do,” Delta said. It was the strongest he’d gotten his voice to be all day.

………………..

tags:

@catnykit@indigoviolet311@snakebites-and-ink@vivulapom@scoundrelwithboba@whatwhump@pumpkin-spice-whump @deluxewhump @fuckass1000 @fuckcapitalismasshole @defire

@micechomper

[fkevin073]

Raquel got me into snowbaird so here I am! Lol

Okay so👀

1, 2, 10, 14, 23?

But also nickziggy!😭

1, 21, 23?

omg lol welcome to the club and to another tragic ship for us nickziggy girlies!!

here we go!

snowbaird

who brought up marriage first?

I think I've answered this before so apologies for the short answer but I think definitely Coriolanus. for as cold and rational that he is he just wants to possess her all the time and 'make her his' (because he's a weirdo like that) so he's ready to pop the question at any given moment. I do think in canon universe Lucy Gray would also bring it up because marriage provides her a protection just being his girl doesn't afford her. so that too!

which one proposed? was it private or public?

I think private in every universe - like them in the districts, in the capitol, modern universe, etc. Coriolanus may appreciate a good public image and has interest in selling the narrative, but I think he's also pretty private in his own way, and that's not a moment he or Lucy gray would like to share. I don't think they want to perform their genuine moments after all they've been through, though I don't think Coriolanus is above making them redo it publicly after he's already asked her in private, just for the publicity and all. also Coriolanus definitely proposes because he's too traditional and anal not to.

do they get married through court? church? secret third option?

I don't think there is Church or religion in Panem, so probably the court? I can't imagine either of them being really religious in modern day, but maybe Coriolanus would do it just for appearances... as for secret third option, in canon universe I think Lucy Gray would have them do the toasting ritual from twelve, because even though the covey aren't from there I imagine she'd like it for some reason.

do they follow any familiar, religious or cultural traditions at the wedding?

hmm. we talked about the toasting before. Maybe the covey have some private cultural traditions before hand? Maybe she writes a song as her vows or something, and Coriolanus has to write a poem for her (something he'd only deliver to her privately because again, he's very deeply weird). and maybe for the Snows there's a private tradition of her picking her wedding bouquet from the roses they grow on their rooftop? I like that headcanon

if the couple could describe their wedding in one sentence, how would they?

oou. this is hard. um..... I imagine Coriolanus would be very dry about it because he's a very private person, and Lucy Gray would lean into the romance a bit more. I'm not too sure about this one :/

now for nickziggy

who brought up marriage first?

omg nick hands down no question! he's insane like that. ziggy is more skeptical and non-traditional 100%, but I do think he'd give up marriage if she really didn't want to.

do they have a honeymoon? where to? how soon after?

I think right after the wedding tbh because ziggy doesn't want to have to deal with people coming to say congratulations constantly. about where.... uh, anywhere other than shadyside or Sunnyvale would be great I think for either of them. tbh I think they'd love doing like some cross-country book tour of houses authors they loved live in - or even going to England and doing that. or maybe doing something others rarely do, like going to Antartica or something. anything private - I think a private island would be nick's cup of tea.

if the couple could describe their wedding in one sentence, how would they?

nick - "a dream come true".

ziggy - "none of your fucking business".

:)

thanks for the ask!! ♥️

[the-spooky-alien]

Day 14 of Fictober !

Fandom : X-Files with the prompt "Yes. No. I don't know."

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober2022

-

Scully's words kept echoing in his mind as she left, her heels clicking harshly against the floor. Underneath it, he heard her quiet sniffle.

That was what forced him into action. He could count on one hand the times Scully cried, and most of them had been after traumatic experiences. He couldn't let this be one for her.

He couldn't watch her walk away from him feeling like he didn't need her. When in fact, he needed her more than air or food or the warmth of the sun.

''Do you really believe this ?'' he called, following her, unable to care about how loud his voice rang in the hallway.

Scully stopped, abruptly, but didn't turn towards him. He could almost distinguish the tension in her back despite her blazer. ''What, Mulder ?''

''That I don't need you ?'' Even if it wasn't coming from him, each words tasted like acid on his tongue. The prospect of thinking of her, of the woman he loved most, as dispensable was making his stomach churn. ''That you've always held me back ? That you aren't the one who keeps saving me again and again ? That you aren't the only person in this world I trust with my life ?'' Punctuating every question with a step in her direction, he ended up just behind her, close enough to feel her warmth. ''Do you truly believe you've always been a hindrance to me ?''

Her head snapped to his, her lips turned downwards as if she was trying to keep from bursting into tears. From the tears pooling into her eyes, he wasn't wrong.

(Oh, how he hated being right.)

''Yes,'' Scully spat, her eyes darting away, focusing on a point above his shoulder. ''No.'' She shook her head, frowning. ''I don't know, Mulder ! I've been assigned to debunk your work, I never believe in your theories, and the X-files aren't my quest, as you often like to remind me !''

He winced, recoiling from the venom seeping from her tone. ''Scully-''

''Why does it surprise you so much ?'' she asked, and her voice wobbled and her face wavered, and for a brief second, he thought she would lose her fight with her tears. ''For God's sake, Mulder, why- I don't understand-''

''Scully...''

He wished he could hold her against him until she could feel how his body melted for her, how pliant it became underneath her touch. How he would follow her everywhere in the whole damn world, even to fucking freezing Antartica, if it meant keeping her happy and safe.

''I just don't understand how you can't see it'', she whispered, the skin of her throat tightening around the lump he could discern in her voice. ''You don't need me to be with you, you just need someone. It doesn't-'' And then, her eyes flickered to his, allowing him to witness the raw fear swimming in her icy blue stare. ''It doesn't have to be me.''

He would have laughed at her if she wasn't so grave. He would have laughed and pointed out to her how clingy and needy he had been since they met. How he couldn't bear to have her away from him, so he had to call her every night. How he couldn't spend a day without seeing her smile and laugh and roll her eyes at his stupid jokes.

How fucking in love he was with her.

Instead, he smiled gently and, with one hand, cupped her soft cheek. Her eyes widened, but even she wouldn't be able to deny how she leaned into his hand. ''Of course it has to be you.'' His voice came out hoarse, weighed down by years of memories and feelings he tried so much to keep hidden deep within himself. ''Scully, it's always been you. From the first day we met.''

''Mulder...'' It came out choked and broken, like a plea for reassurance.

Without hesitation, he grabbed all of himself and laid everything bare in front of her intense gaze, allowing her to see what he was, thanks to her.

''I need you.'' And it was that simple really. He needed her, and he needed her to know it. ''I don't just need someone, it has to be you. You and your goddamn rationalism, and your obtuse science, and your fierce compassion and bravery.'' His other hand cupped her neck, tugging her closer until their chests brushed against each other's. Could she feel how hard his heart beat for her ? ''Hell, I wouldn't be standing here right now if it wasn't for you and all the times you saved me. Scully, you're everything to me.'' A tear rolled out, landing on his own skin, scorching. He wanted to kiss her. ''How could you ever think otherwise ?''

Scully closed her eyes, her chest expanding against his as she inhaled deeply, as if to steel herself against the corrosive love he threw her way.

''I...'' Her eyes opened, glinting, and her lips parted, and her hands wandered over his chest, landing on his shoulders, and he felt the muscles of her abdomen contract as she raised herself on her tip-toes, and she leaned towards him, the ghost of her breath hitting his own lips, warm, and- ''Ow !''

She jerked away from him, clasping a hand to her neck. His stomach burned with the weight of disappointment. It quickly spread to his entire body the moment she collapsed into his arms, muttering about pain in her chest.

And then, there wasn't time to think anymore.

[hithisisleon]

RESIDENT EVIL COMING TO DEAD BY DAYLIGHT POST

Hey I'm coming back from the dead as Leon The White to talk about the best part of the Resident Evil showcase : Resident Evil coming to Dead By Daylight !

Yes yes we all saw the trailer, we can't wait to attach that sweet Umbrella Corp charm to our survivors and our killer's hooks but I want to talk to you about the possibilites regarding Survivors, Killer and Map !

SURVIVORS :

Yes I know we all have our preferences as to who we would like to see introduced as survivors and since it's a special occasion, Resident Evil's 25th Anniversary, we'll probably get 2 survivors like the Stranger Things DLC ( which can also mean that we could get other characters skins on top of said characters like Heather Mason getting Alessa Gillespie, Cybil Bennett and Lisa Garland skins ).

Our number one pick is the most obvious, at the end of the showcase, Matthieu Côté delivers this line :

Look, you have two choices here : kill or be killed. It's your call !

Does it sounds familiar ? I hope it does because it's coming directly from this :

So it's safe to assume that our number one character is going to be Claire Redfield !

As for number two, they'll probably pick a male character and huh... Yeah yeah you know what I mean, it's going to be Leon Kennedy.

It makes perfect sense : he's the other part of the duo from Resident Evil 2, the most popular old school RE, and the main protagonist of Resident Evil 4, the game who revolutionized the gaming industry and which brought fresh air to the franchise.

Another reason why it makes perfect sense for this duo to be in this game is that around the same time we will get Infinite Darkness, which features Leon and Claire ! Perfect promotion.

Also don't lie, if they get alternate costumes, you're going to love to play as Leon in his RE4 outfit with the jacket and Claire in her Let Me Live outfit... And the Cleon shippers will be happy.

As for those who would have prefered others like Jill or Chris, or even Rebecca and Billy why not, I'm sure they will be available as Legendary Skins.

KILLER :

Now this one is a particuliar case, and I'm thinking the same thing regarding the map.

They can go the way they did with the Silent Hill chapter and pick something different from the best games : Midwich Elementary School from Silent Hill 1 for the map, Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2 as the killer and Heather Mason from Silent Hill 3 as the survivor.

If we go by popularity it would be either Mr.X or Nemesis ( No I'm not counting Lady Dumitrescu because the game isn't out yet and don't lie, her popularity is 100% due to how horny on main you freaks are )

Mr.X will have to be punching survivors as his main attack but as for his secondary I dunno... Maybe mutated Mr.X instead so he could do more damage ? And that way you could have the classic Tyrant from RE1 as a skin ?

As for his Mori it'll probably be a head grab and him crushing your head or he might impale you with his mutated hand/claw before tossing you aside.

( Also you know his chase music is going to be modded into "X gonna give it to ya" )

Nemesis will punch and/or use tentacles to whip you good or catch you, either way he's going to do some damage and you know you will shit your pants when you hear him scream "STAAAAAAAAAARS !" from a distance.

His mori will probably be an oldie but goldie and by that I mean he will grab survivors like Brad and tentacle-throat them to death.

BONUS :

The characters I want for killers here are just ideas I came up with and whom I know will probably not get picked but it's worth mentioning them because you'll agree that they would make great killers.

1/ Nosferatu ( Code Veronica X )

I don't think I have to remind you the fucking bone chilling screams he make when you see him for the first time as Claire in Code Veronica, nor how creepy is his theme during the boss fight ?

Now imagine that in a game where he chase you around with a new rendition of his theme and his tentacles swinging around and attacking you while the others hear him screaming at you in the distance.

Not to forget he could also poison you with the spores he just released so like The Plague he could make you go around the map to find a way to cleanse yourself and here we could see blue herbs being used !

His mori could be one of the death animations from his boss fight in Code Veronica where he brings Claire close to him and impale her with his big tentacle before giving her the "This bitch empty, YEET" treatment.

2/ Alexia Ashford ( Code Veronica X )

Oh boy look at that, another character from Code Veronica, who would have guessed ? ( It's in my TOP 3 RE games so my bad )

Alright Alexia has always been one of my favorites bosses from the Resident Evil series and I think she's honestly one of the best, her design is nasty, her mutations are disgusting and her orchestral theme is just GORGEOUS ( "Ironic" Palpatine said )

Imagine her normal attack being bitchslaps like she gives to Wesker in Code Veronica, nice right ? But for her secondary attack like in the game she throw her blood in a direction and trace a fire line with it, something that can work in DBD since Pyramid Head does something similar with his great knife.

Her mori will probably be her summoning those tentacles from the ground to impale you or grab your leg and smash you on the ground on repeat until you die, or if we stay classic, she can grab you by the throat and light you on fire, burning you alive.

MAP :

As I said earlier during the killer part, they might follow the Silent Hill chapter formula, picking one bit of each game so here are some neat locations to pick from.

1/ The Spencer Mansion

a) The Mansion

It's just too iconic.

b) The Arklay Lab

I will shit myself if I see a Tyrant coming at me while I'm on a gen.

2/ Raccoon City

a) The streets of Raccoon City

You think you can hide but he will find you.

b) The RPD

Nothing better than exploring the corridors of the RPD and seeing a licker passing by a window while trying to sneak around to avoid the killer right ?

3/Rockfort Island

a) Prison Camp

Perfect for the sadistic pleasures of the Entity !

b) Private Residence

I really want to hear another rendition of "The Suspended Doll" when I join the map 👉👈 ... Special mentions to other maps that I can't show because tumblr doesn't allow more than 10 pics :

RE1 Guardhouse, RE2 Lab, RE3 Clock tower, RE Outbreak Jack's Bar, RE Code Veronica Antartica Mansion, RE4 Village, RE4 Castle, RE4 Island

[hopeatermeetsgodzilla]

Chapter 6

Emma took a deep breath, fiddling with the can of pepper spray she kept with her in case of self-defense as she eyed the helicopter pilot. It was now or never. Right now, they were on way to San Francisco, Serizawa having given Emma the permission to leave due to her daughter going missing. The plan, of course, was all other.

“Hey.” The scientist started, putting a hand on the pilot’s helmet and getting it off.

The pilot turned toward her, consterned. “Ma’am, I need that- ACK!” Emma sprayed the pepper spray in his face, blinding him before she reversed her grip and hit him as hard as she could in the face with the can.

The pilot fell to the ground, unconscious as Emma took his place. She immediately changed course, heading for Antartica. She took a deep breath. Hang on Madison, I’m coming!

-

Madison quickly slipped out of her cell, shivering and pulling her sweater closer to her. She had memorized the guard’s rounds, and they hadn’t taken her hairpins out, and she needed to figure out where she was.

She quickly walked across the base, looking around. They were multiple sideway hourglasses symbols stamped across the corridors, the word ‘monarch’ in all caps written underneath it. A few had colorful tags reading ‘Titan Liberation Front’ across them, the paint clearly more recent than the symbols. She just needed to find a map of the place.

She quickly hid as a pair of guards passed by, holding her breath until they were gone. She breathed a sigh of relief, and saw a door hanging half-open. She looked around her, and made a beeline for it.

As Madison hid behind the door, having heard guards coming by, she looked at the inside of the room. And nearly threw up. There was a small mountain of corpses here, most of them starting to freeze over from the cold and decompose from the lack of care. “Oh, god...”

“Well, what are you doing here?” Madison jumped, turning toward the the voice and shrinking in terror at what she saw. A strange, towering golden spirit with three pairs of pitch black eyes and what looked like an upside-down crescent moon on it’s forehead. It towered over her, tendril-like hair moving behind it’s head as if they were underwater.

And looking at it filled Madison with a bone-deep, primal fear. “Wh- What are you?” The spirit’s bell-like giggle did not do anything to assuage that fear.

“Why, I’m Ghidorah, of course!” The spirit informed her, a clawed hand attached to a long arm suddenly manifesting as it did so. The spirit’s claw tilted Madison’s head up, forcing her to make direct eye contact with it as an electric shock ran through her body. “And you would be?”

(Ichi would think about the fact that he could physically interact with this tiny human in his intangible spirit form later. Probably between getting out of here and killing the weak king. For now, he had to play a role, and if he had to defend the only human who had the good sense to fear him from the idiots who did not to play it convincingly, then so be it.)

“I- I’m Madison Russell.”

“Madison Russell...” Ghidorah tilted it’s head, it’s eyes blinking in quick succession. “Interesting. So you’re the human child... I thought you were supposed to be in a cage?”

The girl steeled herself. “I escaped. And I’m not going back until I know what’s going on! For example: what are you!? A ghost?” She whispered-yell.

Ghidorah giggled again. “No, not exactly. You are aware of what astral projection is, yes?” Madison nodded. “As for what I am, I believe the closest word you humans have is ‘god’.”

“... I see. And why are you talking to me?”

(The little human was much more wary and perceptive than the others, but she was also younger. Exploiting that should be easy, he just needed to channel his inner San, maybe cut down on the lying a bit, and think about the deplorable state his brothers’ psyches were in when he re-established the connection-)

“I’m just trying to get out of my icy prison, along with my brothers.” Ghidorah started, its eyes taking a downturned quality to them. Was it... sad? “Other gods, jealous of our power and bond, tricked us, and froze us within the ice of this place. We just want to get out and feel the sun on our face again.” It seemed to cheer up at that. “And that’s where you come in.”

Madison lowered a guard just a little bit. “Okay... how?”

“I asked the humans living here to help me free myself, but I had no idea they would kidnap you! Honest!” Ghidorah reassured her, claws grabbing her wrists and dragging her up. “But one of your parents- the female one- has come here to free you. Come on, let’s go.”

“Wait, my mom’s here!?” Madison exclaimed, baffled. All she knew about her mother’s current job was that it was 1) governmental, and 2) very secret. Did this have something to do with it?

Ghidorah giggled once again. “Yes! And she is waiting for you! Let’s go!” The specter took a wisp like form, some of it’s tendrils wrapped around Madison’s arms, dragging her behind it and outside of that horrible room.

She stumbled a bit, but followed behind it, the two speeding through corridors. Finally, they arrived before a locked door, Ghidorah taking back a more humanoid form and phasing through it. When the door opened a few minutes later, Madison rushed past the man that had opened it, throwing herself at her mother. “Mom!”

“Madison!” Emma exclaimed, hugging her daughter as tightly as she could. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you?”

“I- I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Madison reassured her mother, sending a doubtful look at Ghidorah, who seemed to be in an argument with the old man that had opened the door, about whether or not it should’ve brought her here. “Do you know what that is?” She asked her mother, pointing at the specter.

“I... believe that would be one of the Antartica Titans.” Emma started. “We don’t know a lot about the them, but apparently, they have psychic powers.”

“Is that how you’re calling us, now?” Ghidorah asked, turning toward the two Russell with an inquisitive head tilt.

“I-” Emma turned toward her daughter, who nodded. Madison didn’t know how, but she knew Ghidorah was sincere with at least this question. “Yes. It was the most appropriate word we could find to describe your kind.”

Ghidorah’s eyes narrowed, but the specter otherwise didn’t change. “Where did that word come from?”

“It’s how the parents of the Gods are called, in Greek mythology. It’s also used as an adjective for ‘big’.” Emma explained, the spirit straightening it’s posture and eyes widening into their normal form. 

(The predecessors of those who rule the universe? Oh, Ichi liked that one, at least enough to allow the mistake that he and the weak king were of the same breed. He’d have to remember it, his brothers would surely like it too.)

“I see.” The specter finally said, a hint of satisfaction in it’s voice. “Yes, Titan will do nicely.”

“Well,” the old man suddenly started, Emma hugging her daughter just a bit tighter as he spoke. “Now that you have your daughter back, where’s the ORCA? Because I don’t see anything.”

“The ORCA,” Emma started, getting out the device Florès had given her out of her bag “is right here.”

Madison watched as the old man raised an unimpressed eyebrow, while Ghidorah tilted it’s head in confusion. “I thought it was bigger.” The specter commented.

The old man snarled. “Do you think I’m a fool, Dr. Russell?”

“Well, seeing as you’re trying to free three creatures no one knows anything about, and that you had perfectly good hostages you decided to kill before the time was up forcing you to abduct my daughter, yes.” Emma deadpanned, face not showing any emotions. “And- it’s a prototype for the ORCA’s final model I stole from Florès.” She explained. “He created it to make sure he could effectively downsize something as complex as the ORCA.”

“We’ll see about that. You two, follow me.” The old man told Emma and Madison, the three getting out of the room. They quickly made their way to an observation chamber, the window giving them an excellent view on a gigantic, seemingly glowing glacier where three shadows were visible. “Well? What are you waiting for? You want your daughter back, don’t you?”

Emma narrowed her eyes, but turned on the device, and turned the frequency up to the point nothing else could be heard as everyone looked at the glacier. In the suspense of waiting, no one noticed a terrifying smile etching itself onto Ghidorah just as he faded away.

-

A sound burrowed itself deep in the ice, artificial and deafening and awakening the bodies of the three creatures stuck within it.

{Brothers? It’s time.}

Three pairs of red eyes opened.

[Fucking finally.]

Fingers twitched, creating small cracks in the ice.

(Alright! On three?)

Small, microscopic cracks spread, reaching the surface of the glacier.

{[(One...)]}

The microscopic contact with the outside was all they need to start absorbing energy.

{[(Two...)]}

Energy flowed from outside to their heart and to their fingertips.

{[(THREE!)]}

They released the energy, and the ice exploded in a flash of lightning.

[writethehousedown]

Steady by your side, keep me in the light (Jaida x Nicky)

A/N: Jaida and Nicky hold eachother up through the worse of senior year

Nicky was not stupid. Jaida knew that, their friends knew that, and, at a rational level, Nicky herself knew that too. It was just their teachers who seemed to disagree.

Since moving to the States, she had been struggling with most subjects. Studying in her second language took her twice as long and left her exhausted, and sometimes she gave up halfway through the unit and researched the topic in online French textbooks, hoping they covered everything her teachers would ask from her. Her grades had taken a nosedive and her current GPA was barely hanging above the 3.63 required by her first choice college.

Jaida did her best to help her, but between basketball practice, her internship and her own load of high school work, they barely had enough time for two study dates a week. Nevermind actual dates. Senior year was riding them hard and there was no break in sight. On the rare moments of peace (about five minutes long each), Jaida daydreamed about the summer she would spend with her girlfriend. Two months of getting drunk with their friends and laying next to the pool without moving a muscle to recover from the mental wreckage of senior year, before everyone packed up their whole lives and moved away.

But first, they had finals to pass.

Jaida sat on her bedroom desk, with her laptop open to a new document and a copy of The Old Man and the Sea, which she was coloring with annotated post-its. Every couple of minutes, she glanced at her phone. Nicky was supposed to have joined her half an hour ago, and she hadn’t even texted. Jaida forced herself not to worry; she knew Nicky had stayed after class to talk to her civics teacher about an assignment for extra credit.

If she doesn’t show signs of life in the next fifteen minutes, I’m calling her.

She didn’t have to, because just a few minutes later, she heard the front door opening and the voices of her mom and her girlfriend talking, followed by steps approaching her room.

The door flew open and Nicky dragged her feet to the bed, where she flopped face down. Jaida watched her dramatics, amused.

“Sooo, how did it go?”

“Hmhht mhmhnt,” said Nicky, face buried into the mattress.

“Come again? Maybe lift your head.”

“I got the assignment.”

“Why so down, then?”

Nicky rolled onto her back and faced her girlfriend. “He wants me to write about threats to democracy, which sounds extremely depressing. And we’re both getting fashion bachelors! Why do we need to understand gerrymandering?”

“Because we live in Missouri. Why did you even take AP government?”

“I freaked out about the GPA, because I’m dumb.”

Jaida raised an eyebrow at her. “Nicolette.”

Nicky closed her eyes and breathed out.

“I’m not dumb. I’m smart. I’m just stressed, and that’s okay.”

Jaida’s expression softened as she walked towards the bed. “That’s better,” she praised, sitting next to her. “Let’s get the lit essay over with, then I’ll help you with civics.”

Nicky sat up and collapsed against Jaida. “D’accord. Hemingway can suck a dick, though.”

Jaida smiled and pressed her lips against Nicky’s temple. “On that, we can agree.”

____________________________________________________

Two thousand words each and a coffee break later, the girls sat on the bed, facing the laptop.

“You misspelled ‘onomatopoeia’, here,” said Jaida, pointing at the screen. Nicky leaned forward to fix it.

backspace backspace backspace

“You also used ‘allusion’ instead of ‘allegory’.”

Nicky frowned.

“Allusions describe ideas through characters and storylines, no?”

“No, that’s allegories. Allusions are just references to important people or events.”

backspace backspace backspace

“And you listed foreshadowing under figures of speech, but it isn’t.”

“Why did I… oh,” said Nicky, closing her fists and rubbing her eyes. “It’s préfiguration in French. I got confused. I hate this fucking language.”

Nicky fell onto Jaida and buried her face on her neck. Jaida started playing with Nicky’s hair with one hand and kept marking the essay with the other. She corrected one, two, three misspellings before she felt kisses along her neck clouding her judgement.

“Baby, focus, come on,” she said, jolting her shoulder. Nicky persisted.

“Nooo. You’re much more interesting than Hemingway.”

“Girl, the bar is so low…”

“Five minute break?” asked Nicky, and grazed Jaida’s skin with her teeth.

That was a step too far, because Jaida pulled away and grabbed Nicky’s face in her hands.

“Nicolette. Behave.”

Nicky huffed and fell face down on the bed, screaming into the pillow. Jaida rolled her eyes and poked her side.

“Get up, drama club. We’re not done.” Jaida slapped Nicky’s thigh, expecting her to sit up and retaliate.

Instead, Jaida noticed, her back started shaking.

“Nicks?” she said, laying down next to her.

The only response was a sob.

“Oh, baby, no, come here…” Jaida pulled Nicky close, until she could press kisses all over her face.

They stayed like that, with Jaida rubbing circles on Nicky’s back, until the sobs subsided and Nicky could speak again.

“I’m sorry, I know I’m acting like a brat,” she said, wiping her eyes forcefully.

“You’re not a brat, you’re a senior in finals,” said Jaida, kissing her hairline. “I cried in the gym showers twice this week; you’re doing just fine. What’s going on?”

“I’m scared about this class. It took me forever to read that stupid book, I even had to read a summary in French because I kept getting lost. And I still have to memorize the forty fucking words there are to say ‘metaphor’ and I’m already getting a headache.”

Jaida laughed and rolled onto her back, dragging Nicky with her.

“There’s only five, we’ll go over them later.” Nicky hummed in agreement and settled on her girlfriend’s chest.

A few moments later, she broke the silence.

“So… why were you crying?”

Nicky felt Jaida’s breathing stutter under her cheek. She ran her nails between Jaida’s clavicles and waited.

Jadia took a moment to answer.

“Bio’s kicking my ass,” she sighed. “Mrs. Jensen’s been lenient, but…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “She’s not gonna bump up my grade just ‘cause I ask her. I either do well in the final, or I kiss you and our college goodbye.”

Nicky propped herself up and looked at Jaida, who wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“What did you say?”

Jaida stared at the wall and shrugged dismissively.

“We never discussed long-distance. All of our plans assume we’ll be living on the same campus, but if I don’t get in and you do, I don’t- I’m not sure what that’s gonna look like.”

Jaida feels Nicky’s hand on her cheek, tilting her face forward.

“First of all, I’ve seen your grades. You just need an eight. You’re getting an eight, Jaida, it’s you. And second of all,” she dropped ‘till their noses were touching, “it’s cute how you think that long distance is enough to get rid of me,” Nicky said, poking her tongue out and licking Jaida’s lips.

Jaida grinned, big and toothy, and pushed Nicky off. Her girlfriend fell on her back, laughing.

“Fuck off, I’m trying to open up, bitch.”

Nicky took her hand and smiled at her “I know. I love you.” She turned to face her. “I’m going to be serious, now.”

“Oh, no…”

Nicky lightly bumped Jaida’s chin with her knuckles. “Whatever the next years will look like, here, in Missouri, in fucking Antartica, I don’t see a life without you in it. I love my family, and our friends, but you’re the person who’s made these past years bearable.”

Jaida smiled and squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to get emotional at the memory of little fifteen-year-old Nicky. Jaida had seen her all lonely and lost that first week of class and sauntered into her life, and they just hadn’t parted ways since.

“Remember when you first moved here? You were so quiet and shy, it was adorable. Now I can never get you to shut up.”

“You have your methods,” Nicky smirked. “Speaking of which…”

“We’re not done with your essay, Nicks.”

Nicky pouted and put on her best puppy eyes. Jaida could feel her resolve slipping.

“Don’t give me those eyes, that’s not fair…”

Nicky leaned in to kiss Jaida’s nose, her cheek, the corner of her mouth.

“Break now?”

Jaida moved on top of Nicky and kissed her back, slow and sweet.

“You get ten minutes.”

“Fine by me.”

[zoeygreensimblr]

Cruel Summer (Episode 54)

"I invited your parents over for dinner tonight" Angus drops this bombshell on me as we are walking into the OBGYN, "I feel like we need to tell them about the baby because Annabelle was grilling me yesterday about why you weren't drinking at two events now and how Steph swears she got your measurements right for your costume, if they've figured it out then it's only a matter of time before your parents do too and I'd rather it come from us first." I'd been trying to avoid having to announce the pregnancy to my parents, my mother especially, considering how elated she had been on Monday, finding out I had gotten into Brichester.

"Great, so I'm going to announce to my mother that I, her 19 year old daughter who just got into Uni, is pregnant with her first grandchild and I have to do this without any alcohol to calm my nerves" I stress, we step onto the elevator and he takes my hand.

"It will all be ok Princess, I'll be with you and so will Tess and Brian" He tries to reassure me but I can feel the panic rising inside me. We reach the level that the doctors offices are on and check in with the receptionist, she hands us a form to fill out.

"Oh, your surname's Green? That's my husbands surname too" The receptionist remarks when I hand the form back to her filled in, I take a look at her name tag, oh shit!!

"Just a coincidence I'm sure" I tell her, knowing exactly who she is referring to, "Can I ask who I'm seeing today?" Please don't say Dr Green, please don't say Dr Green.

"You're seeing Dr Candice Ashbury" Eliza Pancakes, the receptionist tells me and I feel relieved.

We take our seats in the waiting area, our appointment is still another ten minutes away, I rest my head on Angus' shoulder.

"So, it turns out today can get worse, My Father is a doctor here" I tell Angus, feeling even more on edge now.

"Are you sure?" Angus questions me, he places his arm around me.

"The receptionist is the woman he left My Mother for, she worked for him, or at the same clinic, well that's how I remember hearing the story" I explain, it all happened so long ago.

"You never told me that your Father was a doctor" Angus remarks.

"I think I blocked it out but when the receptionist said her husband's surname was Green it all came flooding back to me, His name is Liam Green" I tell Angus, pointing to a plaque that confirms that Dr. L. Green does work there.

"Fuck" Angus exclaims before looking over at me, "Are you alright baby?"

"I am if I don't have to see him but the longer we sit here chances are I'm going to lay eyes on the dirtbag and I don't think I can hold back" I fret. I see two doctors, one male, the other female, approach the desk and grab patient files.

"Zoey Green" The female doctor calls out, Angus and I jump to our feet and begin to follow the doctor to her office but I'm fully aware that the male doctor is watching us and we lock eyes as I walk past him, I take in his appearance, grey hair, tall and skinny, well dressed, he looks different from the man I remember but I recognise his eyes because they match my own.

Once inside the the doctors office I relax slightly but still worry that he could get a hold of my information, that he could find out where we live, not that I think he would be a threat to either Tess or myself but I really don't want anything to do with him.

"Good Morning Zoey and Angus, My name is Dr Ashbury but you can call me Candice because we are going to be spending a lot of time together over the next year" Candice introduces herself, "Zoey I'll get you to lay on the table here and I'm going to examine you"

I make my way over to the examining table as Candice looks over my file.

"So you're around 4 to 5 weeks pregnant I see, is this your first pregnancy?" She asks me.

"Yes, so I have really no idea what to expect" I tell her

"Well feel free to ask me any questions, even if you think they are stupid questions, they're not, your concerns are important to me and I've heard it all" She says as she rolls up my t-shirt and squirts some cold liquid onto my belly.

"I have a question but it's not about the baby" I say nervously, Angus comes to stand on the other side of the table and takes my hand.

"Shoot" Candice prompts me as she goes over my belly, doing an ultrasound.

"No-one else can access our personal information can they? I mean no other doctor who works here can look up my address or contact information?" I fret to my doctor and she looks at me with curiosity.

"Zoey's estranged Father is a doctor here, we didn't know until today" Angus explains to Candice

"Ah ok, well I will lock your file with a password so no-one but myself can access it" Candice reassures me, "Now are you ready for some big news?" She asks us.

"That I'm pregnant?" I laugh, five weeks in and it's less scary hearing it from doctors.

"That you're pregnant with twins" Candice says, pointing to two small spots on the monitor. I look up at Angus, his eyes wide, mouth gapping open.

"We're having twins" I whisper to him, I had prepared myself for one baby, never considering there could be more than one. Angus looks down at me and smiles widely.

"We're having twins Princess" He says to me, putting my nerves at ease, he leans down and kisses me.

Candice prints out our scan and puts it into a small folder for us to take home.

"Three more weeks and we will be able to hear the heartbeats" Candice tells us, "How are you coping with the morning sickness?"

"Some days it's good, I eat small meals and stay away from certain foods, plus I drink a lot of peppermint tea and eat dry crackers but other days it's so intense and nothing helps" I complain.

"I can prescribe something for you if you want" Candice offers but I shake my head

"I can handle it for now but I'll keep that in mind" I say, still trying to wrap my head around the news.

We thank Candice and leave her office, making sure that my Father is nowhere in sight but as we are stepping into the elevator there he is, already waiting inside.

"Going down?" He asks us, waiting to push the button.

"Ah yeah, thanks" Angus says, putting his arm around me, we ride in silence until we reach the parking lot in the basement.

"I have a daughter named Zoey, she'd be around your age too" My father decides to tell me once we are off the elevator

"You've got some nerve, making claims on a child you abandoned" Angus yells at Liam.

"So you are her? You're my daughter?" Liam asks me, ignoring Angus

"I'm Ruth and Don's daughter, you're nothing to me" I scream at him, "You made no effort to be part of our lives so don't you dare think you're entitled to call yourself my Father"

"Is that what your mother told you? That I made no effort? I tried to get shared custody and she blocked me and placed a restraining order against me, she and that nasty fucker she married stopped me from seeing my girls" Liam tells me but I don't believe him, I know my mother would never have stopped us from seeing him, he was the one who left us and never came back.

"You're a liar, you cheated on my Mother and left her to raise two children on her own without any money and Don stepped up and raised your children while you were fucking your receptionist"  I say as I storm off towards my car, Angus close behind me.

I'm so angry on the drive home, going over what that lying dirtbag said, how he claimed he made effort but my Mother blocked him from seeing us.

"I'll call around and try to get us a new doctor" Angus offers but I shake my head

"No, I like Candice, I won't let him win" I say firmly

"Did your Mum ever say anything about him, other than he cheated on her and left her for someone else?" Angus questions me and my mind races with what little information I can remember, Tess and I were only kids when it all happened but I know my Mother, she's never lied to us.

"My Mother told us the truth Angus" I snap back at him, why would he even need to doubt her, he knows her.

"I'm sorry baby, you're right, I know Ruth, this guy is just a lying sack of shit" He apologies to me and I instantly feel terrible.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, it's been a stressful morning and I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you" I tell him, "Thank you for yelling at him too, I love that you stood up for me"

I pull into our driveway, turn the car off but just cant bring myself to get out.

"Lets take our mind off the bad thing that happened today and focus on the good" Angus urges me, pulling our scan out of the folder.

"I seriously thought you were going to pass out when Candice pointed out the two spots on the ultrasound" I laugh

"Well it was a bit of a shock at first but I'm happy, just more people for us to love" He says, putting a positive spin on things but I can sense that he's just as scared as I am, I take his hand in mine and kiss it.

"You're going to be a great dad Angus, our children will be so lucky to have you" I reassure him.

"And you will be the best Mum My Princess but if we stay in this car any longer we are going to  start to melt" He says, wiping sweat from his brow, the Summer heat is blazing today.

We rush from the car into the house, luckily Tess has the air conditioner pumping as she's painting in the basement. We collapse on the lounge together, staying two feet apart so we don't sweat all over each other.

"The weather channel said there's a cool change coming tonight" Angus tells me.

"Well it cant come soon enough, my body is over heating already, trying to incubate two little people as well as suffering through this endless Summer" I complain, it hadn't rained since before Christmas and the heat was making it hard to sleep at night so I'd started taking a swim before bed each night.

"I know you're uncomfortable baby, do you wanna go away for the weekend, somewhere cool?" He asks me and I think at this point I'd be happy to go Antartica just to escape this heatwave.

"Yes please and please make it somewhere where we can be alone because I have some needs that really need to be attended to" I tell him and he just laughs

"Zo, I could attend to those needs right now" He offers but I just shake my head.

"It's way too hot, remember when we did that on Monday night? It was just unbearable, I can hold out until the weekend but you better pack the goody bag" I suggest as he searches places on his phone.

"I found the perfect place, up in the mountains so it will be a lot cooler and far away from everything, we will drive up Saturday and come back Monday" He says as he books the log cabin in the woods.

"Can we bring Lily?" I ask, I don't want to leave my fur baby at home, I love having her around, I even moved her bed into our bedroom.

"First thing I searched for was pet friendly places Zo, I wouldn't dream of leaving her at home" He assured me.

It was just too hot to even think about putting the oven on so we ordered dinner, roast lamb with green beans, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, corn broccoli and cauliflower with gravy, Tess and I set the table together, I wanted to tell her what happened before our parents arrived.

"I saw Liam today, at the clinic I went to to see the OBGYN" I tell her.

"Liam? As in the sperm donor?" She questions me, she had refused to call him our Father for many years, not since she had changed her surname.

"Yes, that's the one" I confirm to her.

"Oh the things I'd love to say to that arsehole, starting with why he decided to name me Teresa knowing our surname was going to be Green, you got lucky Zoey, Mum picked your name" Tess laughs.

"Well I did yell at him but he still kept talking, he said that he tried to see us but Mum stopped him and got a restraining order against him" I explain to her and she looks at me in complete shock.

"That lying sack of shit, if any of that happened we would of known, we were kids but we still understood what was going on" Tess states

"What if he's not lying though?" I ask her, I don't want to doubt my Mother and what she told us about him but why would he bring up a restraining order, knowing that that's something we could look into.

"Well I want nothing to do with him, I have a father and it's Don, we don't need Liam, we got by just fine without him" Tess says firmly, throwing the cutlery down on the table and storming off.

My parents arrive to the sound of Tess slamming her bedroom door.

"Well I see some things never change" Don laughs, handing Angus a bottle of red wine.

"I'll go talk to her" Brian offers, coming in the door behind my parents.

"I'll go, you've been at work all day and I'm the one who upset her so it's only right that I fix it" I tell him

The others move into the dinning room to give us privacy and I knock on Tess' bedroom door.

"Go away Zoey" She yells through the door, I ignore her request though and open the door. I hate that I've caused her to be upset.

"How did you know it was me?" I ask her once inside the room.

"I know your knock" She states, laying on her bed, facing the wall, refusing to look at me.

"I'm sorry I upset you Tess, it wasn't my intention, you're the last person I would ever want to hurt" I apologise to her and she rolls over, I can see she's been crying, her mascara has run a little.

"I'm not angry at you Zoey, I'm angry at him and how he lied to you and made you doubt Mum" Tess explains to me, I climb into bed and lay beside her, wiping away her tears.

"Don is our dad, Liam is nothing to us" I assure her and she smiles at me, "But I need you to come out and have dinner with us because I'm going to tell Mum and Don that I'm pregnant with twins and I need my own twin sister to be there as support" I watch Tess as her eyes go wide.

"Twins?" She screams at me

"Shh yes, twins, now lets get you fixed up so we can face the world together" I say, grabbing a tissue from her nightstand and wiping the mascara streaks from her cheeks.

We join the others in the dinning room, Angus has opened the bottle of wine and hands Tess a glass as we take our seats, Brian places a plate in front of us, it smells so good.

"Thank you for inviting us to dinner" My Mother says to Angus.

"You're welcome Ruth, we just thought it would be a great opportunity to talk" Angus says, jumping straight in but I'm not ready yet.

"Talk about what, this sounds serious, is everything alright?" Don frets, looking at each of us.

"I saw Liam today" I blurt out, it seemed like the safer subject to start with

"Where?" My Mother asks me, I can see the panic coming across her face, Don reaches over and takes her hand and whispers something to her.

"At that clinic downtown" I tell her.

"Why were you at the clinic downtown Zoey? Mum asks me worried, "Is Liam your doctor?"

"Liam isn't my doctor Mum but he was working at the clinic" I explain

"Did he talk to you?" Don asks me, he's trying to keep calm but even he is nervous, I've never seen Don lose his cool.

"He did, when we were leaving, he recognised my name when it was called and confronted us in the carpark, making false claims" I tell my parents.

"What did he say Zoey?" My mum asks nervously, I can see she's trembling

"He said he tried to see us and you stopped him and got a restraining order, I told him that he was a lying dirtbag" I say but I can see on her face, she afraid, the truth is out.

"Ruth it's alright" Don whispers to Mum in a soothing tone.

"Is it true?" Tess asks our parents, "Did he try to see us?"

"Yes" My Mother admits before breaking down in tears

"I don't understand, you told us that he wanted nothing to do with us" Tess yells at Mum

"I was protecting you" My Mother says in a tiny voice, her head hung low, she looks up and her eyes meet mine "Why were you even there Zoey, that clinic is for pregnant women"

"Ah, well that's what we wanted to talk to you about" Angus speaks up, trying to get the conversation back onto it's original course.

"Please don't tell me that you got my 19 year old daughter pregnant after you made promises to us that her education would be a priority" My Mother says to Angus in a tone I'd never heard her use before, she was more angry than what I was expecting, "We trusted you"

"Really? You want to talk about trust Mum? You who lied to your daughters about their own father wanting to be in their lives because you were a bitter bitch who got cheated on" Tess screams at Mum, Brian puts his arms around her to try and calm her but she's too enraged.

"Teresa for once in your life would you shut up" Mum yells at my sister.

"Like you did?" I yell back at Mum, "You kept your mouth shut for years, knowing the truth so you don't get the right to come into my house and yell at my sister. I think you should leave, you've ruined dinner anyway."

My Mother gets to her feet and walks out of our house, leaving Don alone with us.

"Your Mum loves you girls, please remember that and I love you too" Don says to Tess and I before leaving the house.

We cover the food and place it in the fridge, no-one was feeling hungry after what happened tonight.

"I'll call Immie and let her know I'm not coming in tomorrow, we can get away a day earlier that way" Angus offers after we've cleaned the kitchen

I'm sorry Angus, I'm so sorry my Mum yelled at you, this isn't your fault" I tell him, feeling the tears stinging my eyes.

"Your mum is just in shock Zoey, it was a lot to dump on her tonight and I know that she didn't mean anything by what she said, I love your Mum" Angus says, taking me into his arms to comfort me.

"I'll never trust her again, she lied to us for years" I cry

"I think there's more to this than what we know, I don't think your Mum is the bad guy" Angus tells me but I'm too angry to see her in any other light

[sheepydraws]

I'll Kick Your Ass! I'll Kick My Fiancee's Ass! I'll Kick My Own Ass!(5/11)

Last Chapter 

Next Chapter

October

Facebook messenger:

Akane: I think I’m getting somewhere with Ryoga.

Ranma: Should you really be messaging me during class? Don’t you think I might be trying to pay attention?

Akane: You’re playing tetris, like you do every class, because you’re just that lame.

Ranma: And you are somehow taking notes and im-ing me, because you are just THAT lame.

Akane: It’s called multitasking. I’m earning a degree, and breaking off my engagement at the same time.

Ranma: So when is this guy gonna challenge me again? ‘Cause it’s getting too cold for this shit.

Akane: He’s coming along. He’s recovered physically, now I think he needs just another little confidence boost and he’ll be ready to go again.

Akane: I have a plan.

Ranma: I have to make a fool of myself, don’t I?

Akane: No. Just make a mess of your next challenge. Almost lose.

Ranma: You can’t see it, but I’m rolling my eyes.

Akane: You’re right. All I can see is the porn on your tumblr dash.

Ranma: I follow a lot of artists. It’s artistic nudity!!!

Akane: It’s tentabulges, Ranma.

Akane: Grow up and get ready to throw some fights

Genma’s phone———— > Ranma’s phone

Soun and I are coming for the

parent day thing to get my car

back.

                                                                                         Cool. I’ll tell everyone        

                                                                                         you’re my gay uncles.

No, you will not. I was thinking

we could spar. If you win you

get a cheat day.

                                                                                            You’re on.

Kuno’s phone——->Nabiki’s phone

Nabiki Tendo, are you the person

to whom I should submit my

desire to challenge Ranma?

                                                                                       I can tell you’re Kuno

                                                                                       but I have no idea how        

                                                                                       you got this number.

Sister. Has a friend who has a

friend.

Where do I submit?

                                                                                        At my feet.

You keep thr box is there?

                                                                                       Are you okay?

I go my head hit. Mmmask broke.

Remembered I had to tallk to YOU.

                                                                                       Where are you?

Health cenydr cengwe cen

                                                                                    Do you have a concussion?

                                                                                     Kuno?

Kodachi’s Journal:

My only brother!

Twisted as you are

I believed you to be impervious from harm

And guarded against deceit.

But it seems you are as many faced as a hindu god

Yet as weak as a mere mortal.

I have no words for what I’ve seen

or rather i am brimming with unsaid words

But you are deaf to them

(Cause you’re asleep. And I have to sit here at your desk and make sure you can wake up and it’s tedious as fuck and I should really get you to do something for me after this, once you explain why the fuck Nabiki Tendo was the one who told me you had hit your head again. I really can’t figure out how to make a poem about that. I mean, what the fuck? Why was she at the health center, her face all pinched and weird? Then she saw me and she was like, okay, this is everything I know about concussions cause my dad runs a dojo and blah blah blah and I had to sit there for like an hour as she explained everything that the nurse would then spend, like, another hour saying. AND I’VE ALREADY DONE THIS ONCE THIS YEAR. Why does it take so long to say, he needs to rest but not too much? UUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH)

My brother is not impervious without his helmet.

Without him I won’t be either.

Nabiki’s phone———->Ranma’s phone

Kuno may have a concussion, but

he wants to duel you.

                                                                                           Again???

I don’t fucking know. Now you’d be

dueling for Akane instead of his

sister’s honor or whatever, right?

                                                                                I mean, he must have a head

                                                                                injury if he wants to take me    .                                                                               again.

Dude…Shut up.

                                                                                            What?

I was scared, okay? Only for a

minute, but I was really

freaked out when he was

texting me gibberish.

Goddamnit, Tatewaki Kuno

is MINE. The only person

who gets to kill him is

ME.

                                                                                       Jesus christ, Nabiki.    .        .                                                                                      And you tell me I should  .                                                                                      get therapy.

You should.

                                                                               Bet we could get a group rate.

From: Prettyporkchop@gmail.com

To: TexmexTesco@gmail.com

Dear Ryoga,

You haven’t written in a while, is everything alright? You’re making friends, right? I mean, you’re not lonely, are you? You aren’t always great at being social. I know. I had to practically drag you out of the library and shove you into that booth at Ronnie’s for our first date. Of course, later, I really loved that unlike a lot of my friends boyfriends, you weren’t a skirt chaser. You never looked at another girl.

I totally botched the Creamfield bake-off. By the time the buzzer went off the only thing that was done was me. Three weeks of perfecting that custard and it didn’t set. The humidity, I suppose. Or maybe it was me. My cooking has gone completely off the rails. I can barely make a proper sponge turn out. It’s like I’ve been cursed.

Of course, this happens from time to time. I just hoe you’re doing better than me.

Best wishes,

Akari.

——I feel like I’m just missing/something whenever you leave/You’ve got all the ingredients/except you needing me

Mousse’s phone——> Shampoo’s phone

Are you really not going to come

home until Thanksgiving break?

                                                                                    Yes.

We’re literally an hour away.

I’ll make the drive.

                                                                Look. I have a boyfriend, and he’s going

                                                                 overseas for winter break, so I have to

                                                                 make the most of our weekends.

You? A boyfriend? That’s

rich.

                                                                                     So’s he. And British.

Oh, yeah, and I’ll never see him

because he’s always in England?

At least I don’t lie to you.

                                                                I’m not lying. I could ask him if he wants

                                                                 to come over for Thanksgiving break.

Sure. When he respectfully

declines you should consider

coming home this weekend.

Facebook Messenger:

Shampoo: Ryoga, I need you to text this number and say you would love to see us for Thanksgiving break, but you’re going to be in England.

Ryoga: But I won’t be. I have to stay with my mom upstate.

Shampoo: Sure. Say that. Hell, that’s more believable.

Ryoga: Wait, could I stay with you over the break?

Shampoo: No, you have to see your mom, remember? Why wouldn’t you want to see your mom?

Ryoga: We’ve never been close. Not in a bad way, she’s just never around. I don’t really know her.

Shampoo: Didn’t you come here to be closer to her? This is your chance!

Ryoga: Actually, I came here because…I don’t know. I was looking at college applications and Akari wanted us to go together, and I love Akari, but…

Shampoo: But you needed to bond with your mother!

Ryoga: No, I was thinking about how, when I was a kid my parents dragged me from here to kingdom come because of their jobs. Then they split and my dad took me to England. Then one day this girl kind of decided I was her boyfriend, and then she wanted to decide the rest of my life.

Ryoga: I felt like I had never chosen anything for myself. So I made the craziest decision I could. A choice no one would have made for me. That’s why I’m here.

Shampoo: Touching, riveting stuff, Ry-Ry. Really. You should write a book.

Shampoo: TEXT THE NUMBER.

To: Prettyporkchop@gmail.com

From: TexmexTesco@gmail.com

Dear Akari,

Of course there aren’t any other girls [deleted].

Akari, I would never cheat on you. I know you were being a little flippant in your last e-mail, but I’m serious. There are pretty girls here, of course. There are pretty girls from the end of Africa to the tip of Antartica, but I would never touch a single one if I was dating someone else.

I’m sorry to hear about the bake off. Maybe you should make something you never make so that even if it isn’t perfect you won’t be able to tell.

There was a lot of excitement here today. Long story short, one of my friends and her boyfriend [deleted] friend [deleted] and my roommate got thrown in a pond. It was terrifying. Everyone thought they were going to die, or catch pneumonia and then die.

I’ll tell you the whole story when we see each other over winter break. Sorry I won’t be home for the Thanksgiving break they’re giving us (can you imagine?) I want to spend it with my mom. We’ve really been getting on together.

See you soon

Ryoga

Akane’s Diary:

Today was…not a good day.

You’d think a day that ends curled up writing in your diary with someone’s head in your lap would be pretty decent, but so far this is the nicest thing that has happened.

Well, that and the fact that there were crepes at breakfast. You know how in Catcher in the Rye the school always served them steak before the parents showed up, so that if their parents asked what they had eaten for dinner last night they would say steak? Well damnit if it isn’t true. The food was fantastic today: roasted potatoes and cheesecake and chicken tenders and a beef roast. And a crepe bar.

It would have tasted a lot better if I hadn’t been panicking the entire time dad and Nabiki and I were eating lunch. Kuno and Ranma were going to duel at 1:45 (Kuno figured it was when the dining hall would be the most packed so no parents would catch them), and I had to make sure Ryoga showed up and saw Ranma slipping. I wonder if Kuno arranged for the duel to be today because he knew his father would be busy?

Anyway. So I’m sitting there wolfing down my potatoes and half listening to my dad tell me about how things are back home, when Genma Saotome plopped down at our table.

Plopped is not the right word for it. Genma is explosive. He plunks down, tossing his keys onto the table, where they smack into and almost topple my milk glass, then throws one arm over the back of his chair and places the other on the table, taking up as much space as humanly possible before he says, “ ‘Kane, do you know where Ranma is?”

I keep eating. Genma never figured out my deadname, or doesn’t remember it, or maybe just says ‘Kane because he thinks it will get a bigger rise out of me. I don’t know. But I don’t dignify taunts with a response.

Nabiki stabbed a bit of her roast and said, “I can’t imagine why you think Akane would know.”

“My car keys were on his bed-do any of you lock your doors?-but I can’t find him. I’ve been texting him and he knew we were coming, so he must be hiding.” Then Genma laughed that awful laugh of his. Super loud, but grating instead of infectious like a good loud laugh should be. “Scared to take on his old man. Can you imagine?”

“I’m sorry, dad,” I said, standing up and pushing my chair in, “Can you hang out with Nabiki for a bit? I told a friend of mine I would help him study.”

“Didn’t you just finish midterms?” My dad said with a sip of milk, “I thought that was why this was scheduled for today, so you wouldn’t be too worried about class.”

“Yeah, he thinks he really fucked up, so we were going to go over some stuff to calm him down. It shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

My dad shrugged. I call him pretty regularly, so it wasn’t like we had a ton of catching up to do. I think he really came to get Genma’s car back and seeing Nabiki and I was just a bonus. “Alright. I’ll be with Nabiki till dinner, then I’m leaving.”

Nabiki made an interesting face, which may have had something to do with all the contraband in her room, but I couldn’t help her. I had to run down to Ryoga’s room and tell him to watch the duel today.

“Isn’t this a re-run?” Ryoga asked, without looking up from his computer.

“That’s why I want to see it. I’ve heard Kuno intends to win this time.”

“Good for him.”

Obviously Ryoga did not see this as the rematch of the century, so I changed tracks. “Please do this with me, I need some time away from Ranma’s father.”

That got his attention. “Ranma’s father?”

“Yeah. He came down with my dad and is stuck to his side and he’s-“ I made vague hand gestures. I mean, there are words for Genma Saotome, but they are best barked in German, not whined in English.

Ryoga shrugged and stretched and looked around for his jacket. “I guess if you need a break that bad…This won’t take long right?”

“Nope.” I said, although I assumed it would be longer than the last couple of duels. If Ranma was going to fuck around and almost lose it would probably take a while to put on a good show.

Then again, I feel like Ranma has been dealing with these fights faster and faster the colder it gets. He does not like shivering.

We get to the expected spot by the lake and Ranma and Kuno are there, and they’ve decided to wait until two to start, since a lot of people apparently wanted to come to this one. I don’t know how Nabiki gets the word out about these things, but she sure does a good job of it.

Ranma kept checking the clock on his phone, then regretting it and stuffing his fingers back into his pockets.

Ryoga asked me if I was cold like five times, but I was staying warm making faces at Ranma, trying to convey how badly I wanted them to JUST START ALREADY. Ranma says I looked like I was trying not to sneeze.

Finally it was either two or Ranma was really sick of waiting, because he asked for someone to count down from three.

“Should only one of you have a sword?” I said before anyone could start counting.

Ranma gave me a cocky grin. “I can handle him, and his wood. Count us in, darlin’.”

Considering what happened later I feel pretty stupid for blushing at that.

As soon as I said ‘three’, Kuno lunged. He is not a subtle fighter. He refused to go on the defensive. To be fair, his sword did give him a much bigger reach, but it also gave Ranma some time to play up how weak he had gotten. He was slow and wobbly, barely dodging Kuno’s swings, and when he jumped out of the way he couldn’t stick his landings. He didn’t even try to attack, as though Kuno was too fast for him.

“Is he hungover again?” Ryoga whispered to me.

“I don’t think he’s been training.” I whispered back. It was hard to keep a straight face as I said that. I would bet my sister-hell, both of them-on Ranma running, stretching, and lifting weights everyday. Ranma doesn’t do cheat days, and he does not skip leg day.

But he was putting on a good performance, staying just ahead of Kuno, but close enough that even I thought he might lose.

Which meant Kuno thought that too, so he got even more reckless, and in one ill-timed swing and a well timed kick, he was down for the count.

“Goddamnit,” He said as he got up off the ground, “I came here to defend Miss Tendo’s honor. I think of her—“

“Is that the best you can do?”

I froze. Not that I wanted to hear Kuno talk about my porcelain flower or whatever weird metaphor he was about to get into, but I’d take him over Genma Saotome any day.

“Run home to mommy, you fucking pansy.” Genma said to Kuno as he took Kuno’s place in the center of the unofficial ring.

Kuno looked shocked. I don’t think anyone has ever taken that tone with him. Sneering and cruel. Even Nabiki can’t talk like that, like her words are made of splinters.

Kuno drew himself up to his full height. “I take unction at your tone-“ He looked Genma up and down, and made his distain clear before he graciously added, “-sir.”

“And I take unction at you still being in my ring.” Genma went to shove Kuno and Kuno dodged, just as Genma knew he would. Kuno took a sharp kick to the stomach, and though he walked out of the ring with his head held high, he had a look on his face that said he would much rather have doubled over.

“You see?” Genma said, turning to Ranma. “That’s how you deal with a guy like that. None of this wobbling all over the place. Who trained you, kid? ‘Cause it sure as hell wasn’t me.”

“Who the hell are you?!” Ryoga yelled, pretty freaked out.

Genma glared at him. “Genma Saotome. I thought I was Ranma’s teacher, but he clearly hasn’t learned jack shit.” He looked from me to Ryoga and smirked, “This the friend you were helping, Akane?”

“How did you even get here?”

He shrugged. “Heard some kids talking about a duel. I figured Ranma would be around.” He turned to address the crowd at large. “Shows over, by the way. Ranma and I have some family business to settle, so I suggest you all move along.”

I don’t think anyone wanted to be around Genma a minute longer than they had to. I actually had to grab Ryoga’s coat to keep him still. I wasn’t going anywhere. I could see Ranma over Genma’s shoulder, stock still, head down, centering himself. He was preparing for a serious fight. I wasn’t about to leave him alone in it.

Genma saw we weren’t leaving and decided to ignore us. “Might as well have you count us in,” He grunted at me. He took off his coat and tossed it to the side. The man is getting into his fifties, but he is still packed with muscle you can see right through his shirt.

I counted them in, but after I finished they just circled each other. They went around and around, waiting for the first move.

I don’t want to write what happened after that. I’m a little queasy just remembering it. I had thought for a minute that it would be like when my dad and I sparred. Fun and fast, me showboating a little and desperately looking for the upper hand as my father carefully blocked me and sent quick hits my way. My dad’s always gone easy on me—no, my dad always protected me. He could have thrashed me soundly, but he didn’t, because what kind of a sick fuck would do that to their own kid?

Not that Ranma wasn’t giving as good as he got, mind you. He’s been training with his dad his whole life. Still, every time his dad landed a hit I would gasp and grab Ryoga’s sleeve. Genma may have taught Ranma how to dodge, but he’s not as good at taking a punch, and Genma played to that.

I don’t know why my stomach clenched every time Ranma got hit. Maybe it was because it was his dad, and there is something about watching someone’s parents beat them up that makes me viscerally ill. Maybe it’s because I used to be scared of my dad. Not that he had ever threatened me, but, well, Genma’s the worst, but judging by the people dad used to hang out with, he wasn’t always the nicest person, either. There was no telling what he was going to do when I came out.

He cried. It was the last thing I was expecting. Questions, I think. Shock and a long string of questions.

Instead he burst into tears and kept talking about my mom. He didn’t make a lot of sense, and I wasn’t sure what to do, so I poured a bowl of potato chips and cracked open a beer for him. Kasumi usually cooks when people are sad, but that’s about the extent of my culinary skills.

Anyway, at some point my dad calmed down a little and said, “I’m sorry, Akane. When you have kids all you want for them is the best life possible. Then their mothers pass away, and they tell you things like that, and you know their lives are going to be that much harder.”

So I said, “You know, by you being okay with this you’re making my life a lot easier already, right?” and we shared a smile, and for a minute there I felt really good, like everything was going to work out.

I don’t know what Genma said when Ranma came out to him, but for some reason while they fought I started trying to imagine it. Every scenario I came up with made me madder and madder. Chest shaking, vision blurring mad. Rage. I wanted to plough my fists into his chest. I wanted to crack his skull like a cinder block.

That was when Ranma bounced off a tree and flew towards his father. It would have doubled his power if he’d actually hit his dad, but a move like that gave Genma plenty of time to react.

Genma threw Ranma into the lake.

I screamed.

Both Ryoga and Genma jumped.

I think I was screaming words?

Genma blocked as I ran past him.

You ever jumped into a half-frozen pond? Rage can’t keep you warm in there. I swear my heart stopped for a minute. By that point Ryoga was screaming too. Although he was screaming my name and telling me to stop and that he would call security or whatever.

I can’t swim, but I can tread water a little, and that’s all you really need to drag a guy out of a shallow lake.

For a minute Ranma lay on the shore and I kneeled there, shaking and gasping, and thinking, At least if I throw up it’ll be warm.

“We have to get you in a hot shower,” Ryoga said as he tried to pull me to my feet.

“Blankets,” I gasped. My chest was doing that awful thing where you shiver right down to your spine, causing your ribs to vibrate against each other. “A hot shower could put us into shock.”

“Is that what’s happening to Ranma?”

Ranma didn’t look good, but aside from his lips being blue, he didn’t look bad, either. Just dazed. He waved a hand limply and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but his teeth just chattered so loudly it seemed theatrical. A skull shouldn’t make that noise unless someone is clacking it’s jaw together and reciting shakespeare.

Ryoga helped him up and the three of us staggered to the closest dorm, which was Ryoga and Ranma’s.

Once we were in their room I told Ryoga to go get the pile of blankets on top of my dresser, and tell Nabiki and dad what had happened.

By the time he left the room Ranma had his shirt off and was fumbling with the edge of his binder. Between his numb fingers and the water plastering it to his skin I was the one who had to wrestle it off of him. While Ranma rummaged around for another clean shirt I stripped off my tights, and discarded them next to his binder.

“Do you have a shirt I could wear?” I whispered. The last thing you would expect ice water to affect is your voice, but it closes off your throat like a fist.

Ranma didn’t say anything. He went over to his closet and dragged a big flannel robe off the top shelf.

For a few minutes it felt like a locker room after pe in highschool, both of us carefully moving around each other and pointedly not looking at anything in particular. Except instead of heading off to biology we had to sit there on Ranma’s bed, waiting for Ryoga to come back with all my stuff.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Ranma said as he wrung his hair out in a scratchy white towel.

“I thought your heart might have stopped or something.”

“It wasn’t that cold.”

“I guess.”

I toyed with a loose thread on the robe. I was also wrapped in the comforter off Ryoga’s bed, but underneath my skin still felt cold and clammy where it overlapped.

“Where’d you pick up that blanket thing?” Ranma asked, passing me the towel. “I thought for hypothermia you were supposed to get naked and share body heat.”

I snorted. “Sure, Ranma, but I don’t have a pile of pretty naked people on my dresser.”

“You could if you wanted to.” Ranma said with a wink. I would have laughed if the wink hadn’t made him wince.

“Did he have to hit your face?” I said, softly, as though that would make it less awful.

Ranma touched the spot where he would soon have a shiner. “Well, yeah. I left it open.”

I wanted to scream for a second. Tell him that was the worst thing I had ever heard, but what could he have said? Like it was his fault his father was disgusting.

“Stand up.” Ranma said, and I got off the bed. He gently took Ryoga’s comforter from me and spread it over his bed. Then he climbed back into the bed and scooted over so there was room for me to join him.

I stood there for a minute, weighing the desire to be warm against my desire for things to not be even more awkward, when Ryoga returned with the blankets, my clothes, and my family. He also had this book. I had forgotten I shoved it between the folds of the blankets till it fell out as he unfolded one.

Nabiki immediately ran over and cradled my face in her hands, demanding to know what had happened. I told her while dad checked Ranma and started layering him with blankets. By the time he was done all that stuck out was Ranma’s hair. With all those blankets on top of him, and his hair half red and half black with his roots coming in, my bed looked like we were putting on a production of  the Princess and the Chile Pepper.

Then dad made me get in the bed and worried over us for a little longer, asking if we needed anything, if we were getting warmer, until he had to go get dinner and go home. He kissed us both on the forehead like we were sick kids. Which I guess we were.

Nabiki promised that she would make sure we were okay, and saw him out. On the way they bumbped into Kodachi Kuno of all people, who showed up with two plates full of food from the dining hall. She was all blushey and stuttery, and it was kind of adorable.

Maybe Ranma will go out with her someday. It might be cute.

Don’t tell Ranma, but he’s kind of cute when he sleeps. He doesn’t look like he’s about to start a fight. Slack-jawed and innocent, like everyone else.

Right now I’m sitting up in bed with Ranma’s head on my thigh, and Ryoga typing something at his desk. It’s not just warm, it’s downright cozy in here. I’m probably going to fall asleep like this, because I am far too comfortable to move.

Although lying down would mean moving Ranma’s head.

I’d have to touch it.

I bet his hair is really soft.

No, wait, it got bleached to put the red in.

(It’s really soft).

Ryoga’s phone——->Mousse’s phone

Hey, it’s Ryoga. I’m coming

over with Shampoo for

Thanksgiving. How is that

going to work? Are you

going to pick us up? what

time? Where?

                                                             Who is this? How do you

                                                             know Shampoo?

Well, we met cause I’m

friends with her room

mate.

                                                             Are you the boyfriend she

                                                             was talking about?

Sure. Why not.

                                                             Shampoo’s grandmother will

                                                             be horrified. Let me ask her

                                                             what she thinks.

Mousse’s phone——-> Grandmother’s phone

Grandmother, Shampoo

wants to bring a boy

home for Thanksgiving

break!!!

                                                               How nice. I’d love to see what kind

                                                               of boy could capture her heart.

                                                               Wild as a horse, fickle as a cat.

                                                               Let’s see the man who’d propose

                                                               to tame her.

Grandmother, it’s disgust-

ing!!! They may be having

sex! They might have it

under your roof!!!

                                                              Easy on the exclamation points, son.

                                                              I wouldn’t mind some great

                                                              grandchildren!

                                                              Now stop texting and get back here.

                                                              This lemon chicken won’t deliver itself!

Mousse’s phone——->Ryoga’s phone.

Lot outside the girls dorm,

Friday, four pm. Don’t be

late. I will leave without

you.

A small white spiral bound notebook with ‘Ranma Saotome’ written along the top edge of the cover in block letters with a black sharpie.

I always thought diaries were just plot devices, but Akane actually keeps one and she’s a lot better adjusted than me, so I thought I’d try it for a while.

I’ve never slept with a girl before. Ukyo and I had sex, but that was always in the middle of the afternoon, or in a parked car, or whatever. We never slept with each other.

I guess what I’m really thinking about is that I woke up with a girl. It was weird. I didn’t see Akane the second I woke up. I was staring at the ceiling, one leg and like twenty blankets hanging over the edge of the bed. I was trying to remember the dream I’d been having or some other dumb shit like that, and then I turned over and was nose to nose with Akane.

She looked different with her hair all messed up and pillow creases on her face. She’s usually perfect. Hair tucked back, just a teeny bit of make up, pressed dress. She looked kind of funny drooling on my pillow.

Then she woke up and I freaked out. I mean, all I did was freeze up, but I was sure she was about to scream at me or something.

She smiled. This big, goony smile, like she’d just buried her face in a dog’s belly or had a sip of sweet, creamy, hot chocolate.

“Hey.” She whispered.

“Hey.”

She has huge eyes. Huge and dark with super long lashes.

“You feel okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. You?”

She stretched her arms over the head, pressing her palms against the wall. Then she went back to smiling. “I feel way too relaxed. I have like two essays due this week.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah. We’re taking the same classes.”

I think I blushed. My face definitely got warmer. I’m a fucking idiot.

“Ranma,” Akane said, and the way she was looking at me was soft and intense at once. Cow eyes? I don’t know. Like a soap opera. I thought she was going to tell me she was pregnant, or maybe start crying.

She touched my face. The crest of bone just under my eye. I’m not sure what the word is for something like that. Intimate, maybe. It felt like the most intimate I had ever been with someone.

Then she broke it. Whatever that moment was. She sat up and stretched again, and said, “I should really get to the library and start on that Ottoman essay. I hate research essays. I can never get good sources.” She climbed over me and started gathering up all her stuff. Including a little black book.

“Is that your diary?” I asked, because for some reason I needed to keep talking.

She frowned and shoved it under her coat. “It’s nothing. Make sure Ryoga doesn’t forget my quilts when he comes over.”

Then she left. I’m sure it was a diary, so I figured I would try writing stuff down too and dug out this notebook.

I think this top blanket here is homemade. I think most of these are. They look knit or crochet or something. I wonder if Kasumi made them.

Well. I wrote everything down and I still feel as crazy as ever. I’m gonna go for a run. That always does the trick.

Facebook Messenger:

Shampoo: I JUST GOT MY COSTUME!!!!

Ukyo: Cool. I’m in class.

Shampoo: I LOOK SO GOOD!!! THERE’S THIS HUGE PARTY AT SOMEONE’S HOUSE OFF CAMPUS. YOU, ME, BANGING COSTUMES, DRINKS, DANCING, BOYS? GIRLS? INSANITY!!!

Ukyo: I did bring my costume from last year…

Shampoo: YEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!

Shampoo: Should I invite Ryoga?

Ukyo: I think he’d like that

Ukyo: But he has to wear a costume. Tell him it’s mandatory!

Facebook messenger, Royga:

Shampoo: PARTY!!! YOU ME UKYO DRINKS DANCING MAKING OUT!!!

Ryoga: When?!!

Shampoo: HALLOWEEN! YOU NEED A COSTUME!

Ryoga: Shit. Where would I get a costume?

Shampoo: Oh, baby, do I have you covered.

Ryoga: Can I bring Akane?

Ryoga: Wait, can I do the masked man thing?

Shampoo: You’ll have a mask alright.

Ryoga: No, I mean, the thing where we meet at a party and she doesn’t recognize me and I talk to her and she falls in love with me, and the next day I reveal myself!

Ryoga: This is brilliant! Shampoo, thank you so much!!!

Shampoo: wut.

Shampoo: Nm, you are going to look so hot in this costume you probably will score with Akane.

Kodachi’s Journal

All Hallows Eve

The most wretched of days

When man’s sins run amuck

Lust in the corner with the slutty nurses,

Gluttony lurking by the candy bowl,

Sloth hidden in the cheap hoodies and ski masks

Pride catching on the sequins and cardboard

Of those most fanciful designs

Envy trailing just behind them

Greed stretched across the faces of those

Who would make a quick buck

On shoddy material and cheap sugar

And wrath

Anywhere you don’t expect

Waiting to spring out at you

On the only night of the year when a murder in a ally

Might be performance art

I’m staying in my room,

Windows barred

Poker drawn

Netflix blazing.

Ranma’s Diary

I’m so glad I threw together a costume this year.

There was this really big party, which Kuno of all people clued me in on, cause he was eating breakfast with his sister, and they were talking about how neither of them wanted to go to this big party (although once I got there…well, that’s none of my business), so I asked around and kicked my costume making into high gear.

I had a cape. It was rad.

I don’t regret the costume, but I’m not sure how I feel about how I acted. Bad. But what kind of bad?

Okay, lemme unpack this.

I go to the party. It’s intense. Huge house, filled to the brim with loud, angry, horny, sweaty college students, most of them wearing masks. You walk inside and you get a contact high. I danced for a while, found some people I see at the gym a lot, and that really cool guy who is probably keeping me from failing math, but then I thought, ‘I need a real buzz’, and even I wouldn’t blame myself for having a few sips at a party like this.

Cause I wasn’t Ranma Saotome who has to watch his weight and stay hydrated.

Nah. I was BATMAN.

So I get a beer, and as I’m opening it I bump into someone, and it’s Zelda. And who hasn’t wanted to hit on Zelda? So she says, “Can you grab me one?” and I pass her the already open beer and say, “As you wish my liege,” except I said it in a batman voice.

And do you know what she fucking says?

She laughs and says, “I love that voice.”

“Oh really?” Which is lame, but I said it in the voice, so it was all good.

“Yeah,” And she looks at her beer, and then takes a swig, and I can tell she’s a little embarrassed but she says this anyway, she says, “Batman is really sexy. Not like I want to marry him and deal with his issues, but, I get why Catwoman is always throwing him up against walls.”

Which meant she was calling me sexy.

So I say, “Don’t you think Link might get a little suspicious when the heir to the throne has black hair?”

And I thought she would say something about at least pointy ears running in the family, but instead she got a little closer and said, “I think Link’s busy banging that Zora girl.”

And I said, “Good, because his princess is going to be in another bedroom.”

Which is when she shoved me a little, you know, playfully, and said, “Slow down. Let her majesty finish her beer first.”

When she shoved me I could feel how strong she was. Like, it was probably a challenge for her to not knock me into the drink table. Fuck that was hot.

So we go into the kitchen and talk, me still totally doing my batman voice because I am not about to drop a good thing when I have it. She was pretty cool. We didn’t talk about much, just school, and video games, and comics, which was all in between me flirting with her as hard as I could.

Then she finished her beer, and she put it down very slowly and she said, “There is a trampoline out back, but no one is out there because they think it’s too cold.

Like many college boys, I would gladly freeze my nads off to kiss Zelda.

So we go outside, and there was some light from the stars and the kitchen windows, but where the trampoline is it was pretty dark. We bounced onto it, and kind of rolled around a little before we got into a good kissing position, with her on top and my mask shoved up to the top of my head, and we got a lot of short, stuttery, laughing kisses, and it was great

For like five seconds, before I smelled it.

I mean, there was the weird rubber plastic smell of the trampoline, and me, and my sweat, and the rubber of my mask, and the cheap fabric smell of at least one of our costumes, but then her hair slipped out from under her wig, releasing the scent of her perfume and shampoo. Something in my brain short circuited and I was back on Akane’s bed with ten quilts on top of me, instead of on a trampoline with Akane on top of me.

I keep thinking I should have known somehow. Even with the wig and the make up and yelling over the music, some part of me should have known I was talking to Akane before I was tongue deep in her.

So then I panicked and shoved her off of me, and for a second she was lying there on the trampoline, and I was sitting up panting, because what the fuck had I done?, and she said, “Are you alright?” and it was so exactly her voice, it was so so obviously her, because who else could sound that worried about some rando she was making out with on a trampoline?

I ran. Tore through the garden, jumped a fence, and I was gone.

I can’t tell her. Maybe she doesn’t hate me as much as she used to, but this would just bring all those shitty memories roaring back, right? She would be pissed and betrayed, and no matter what I said about me having no idea until that second, she would never believe me.

Okay, so that’s decided. I just won’t tell her about it and it’ll be like it never happened.

Ranma, that is a great plan.

Latest post from fuckboisgetmoney.tumblr.com

A picture of Nabiki’s legs in sheer black pantyhose and sky high red heels. The picture ends just as the curve of her thigh becomes her ass, and there are some huge pink feathers curling over the top of her thigh.

#her name was lola…. #I still love this costume

Last five posts from okinomiyakimeansiloveyou.tumblr.com

5. A selfie of Ukyo in an Ichigo costume, with five more pictures of her huge replicas of Ichigo’s two swords. #shit you can’t get away with in highschool!

4. A neon colored deluge of artfully arranged candy wrappers

3. A photo of Shampoo looking adorable as Sailor moon in her “by the power of the moon” pose. Then another of her leaning against her bed, boots sprawled out in front of her, looking far more relaxed than Usigai ever did.

2. A picture of Shampoo putting her hair up in sailor moon buns. Her hair has already been parted and now she has gathered half of it in her hand, strands spilling out between her fingers. Only half her makeup is on. Red lipstick, but naked lids. You can just see the bright orange cover of Ukyo’s phone reflected in the mirror she’s using.

1. Read more

———————————————————————————————-

I think that was the most….eventful Halloween I’ve ever had.

It was a really cool party, and some guy asked me if I knew knife tricks, and fuck if I’m bringing TWO swords to a party and not knowing any tricks. I was having a really good time, and drinking mildly spiked soda, so I had a little buzz, I had a little sugar rush—and that was when I saw him.

Tuxedo Mask.

He was leaned up against the kitchen doorway, and he could not have looked more perfect if he tried. I went right up to him, stuck a sword in his face and said, “You have to meet my friend.”

Even Tuxedo Mask doesn’t argue when Ichigo Kurosaki has him at knifepoint. I mean, Ichigo is totally winning that fight.

I must have dragged that guy over the whole house, but we could not find Shampoo. He was getting more and more impatient, but I kept insisting that he had to meet my friend.

Then we were in the backyard. Just us and some dark shapes, and the flickering lights from the kitchen.

“Was this a joke?” Tuxedo Mask asked me.

I think a lot of things happened at once. Running all over the house caused my sugar high to crash, and I think I’m a weepy drunk, and I felt so stupid. I saw this guy and suddenly I’m writing a romance novel in my head. Like he and Shampoo were going to see each other, their eyes would meet, and they would fall madly in love. It just seemed so perfect.

I’m such an idiot. I had thought that for some reason Halloween could make love real, but something like love isn’t going to start existing because of matching costumes.

I started crying, and I think that freaked Tuxedo Mask out a bit.

“I’m sorry!” I blubbered. “I swear my friend was here dressed as Sailor Moon!” and then I think I said that stuff I just wrote about love and halloween.

Instead of running for the hills, which I would have understood at that point, Tuxedo Mask said, “How can you not believe in love?” Which was properly Tuxedo Mask-y, but not what I wanted to hear.

“Love isn’t something worth believing in.” I snapped.

“But it’s apparently worth grabbing strangers at parties. I don’t know how long you’ve known this girl, but already you seem to love her very much.”

That made me stop crying for a minute. I squinted at him, trying to see past his mask and the shadows of the backyard. I hadn’t noticed before, but he wasn’t wearing a domino, like the real tuxedo mask. His mask covered almost everything but his mouth.

He gave me the hanky from his pocket, and patted my head, like he wasn’t sure how to comfort humans. That thought made me laugh, and then his hand slipped a little and cradled the back of my skull. The atmosphere between us shifted. It wasn’t romantic or sexual. It was that feeling when someone touches you at a spot where your skin is stretched thin over your bones and your body asks you if you should smash their skull in before they get yours, or if you can relax.

I relaxed.

It was so comforting I almost forgot all that stuff about love and destiny. Right then it just felt good to have a cool breeze on my tear tracks and a kind person touching me.

Tuxedo Mask smiled, and swept towards the kitchen door, saying, “I see my job here is done.”

It took me a minute to get it, but I yelled before he went back inside, “You didn’t do anything!”

I hadn’t stopped laughing when Shampoo found me.

To: TKuno

From: NabikiTendo

Thought you might like to look at these before I send them to the dean. Do you think I should edit them a little or just send them as is?

Attachment: Two photos. One of Kuno, who is clearly himself, even in a loose kimono and face paint that makes him look like an opera mask. He’s in a poorly lit dining room, standing in front of a beer pong game, although it’s not clear if he’s playing or not.

The next one has Nabiki sitting on his lap in a showgirl outfit that is mostly feathers and a leotard. His paint is a little smeared, and he looks like he would fall over if the chair he was sitting on didn’t have a back. He doesn’t have an arm around Nabiki’s back, as courtesy would demand since she is sitting sideways, because he is holding both her drink and his own. Quite enough evidence for the kendo team to cut him for failing to adhere to the guidelines of the club.

From: TKuno

To: NabikiTendo

What do I have to pay you?

From: NabikiTendo

To: TKuno

You don’t. I will release these photos whenever I see fit.

You’re paying back my sister in fear and stress and wondering when your life will be ruined.

From: TKuno

To: NabikiTendo

What did I ever do to your sister? Didn’t I fight for her honor recently.

From: NabikiTendo

To: TKuno

If you hadn’t gone prying into my sister’s life she never would have been forced out of the closet.

Stew on that while you wonder if I’ve already sent the photos to your father.

P.S. I can’t believe you thought I didn’t recognize you. You deserve it all for falling for that ‘do you work out?’ line.

MY DIARY:

Dear Diary,

Today I did something I am deeply ashamed of.

I went to Nabiki Tendo on my hands and knees and begged.

I have never felt less dignified in my life than I did, my nose not one inch from the worn linoleum of her floor, breathing the scent of fear and regret (which was remarkably similar to fruity perfume and sweaty feet).

“Kuno, babe,” She said, drawing the word out like she was a gangster from an old movie, “There is nothing you could give me that I want more than this.”

“Please, Nabiki Tendo,” I said, trying to meet her eyes, only to see her silhouette against the fluorescent light, “Do not take kendo from me. It has given me everything.”

She shrugged, “You did this to yourself.”

Which is shamefully true. I did go to a party and partake in alcoholic beverages underage, of my own volition.

And, what Nabiki Tendo doesn’t know, is that this is was a ritual of mine. It is the one night of the year I do foolish things. I drink, and I speak in a throughly ungentlemanly way to young women, although I try to refrain from being a lout, and I get to pretend I am one of the great samurais from my dramas.

For the last three years it has been the perfect way to relax and resist doing something even more foolish.

I got cocky. That is all I can say. I saw Nabiki Tendo, and I panicked, of course, but when she did not seem to recognize me I fell right into her trap. I thought it would be my little secret. Whenever Nabiki Tendo berated me I could think, ‘Ah, but little do you know that you once sat in my lap and pressed your cleavage into my chin with a gusto I have never known before’. The cleavage part is still true, but I am too concerned about losing my scholarship, status, friends, and the codes I live for to enjoy it.

“There must be something I can offer you.” I tried, once more, “I would run around campus naked, I would destroy your  enemies, I would give my father a dressing down in front of the entire school. Please do not do this to me.”

Nabiki Tendo was sitting in the swivel chair at her desk as I knelt before her, and she swiveled to the side so she could place her ankle on my shoulder. Her toes are absurdly long and painted devil red. The woman is related to demons, mark my words.

“All I want is to see you doing this for a little while. Then, whenever I get bored, I’ll send the pictures in. I mean, you can come in here every night and do this whole spiel, and whenever I get tired of it you can do it for your dad.”

At that I rose swiftly and dramatically, an action whose drama was somewhat lessened by the fact that it threw Nabiki Tendo backwards and she smacked her head against the wall and I had to make sure she was alright before I could continue. (Take it from a man who has sustained many, head injuries are no joke).

“I see you leave me no choice, Nabiki Tendo, since you will not accept my offer of a fair trade, I will have to create an unfair one.”

“The fuck does that mean?” She said as I turned on my heel to leave, sounding utterly uninterested in my threat.

“It means,” I replied over my shoulder, “That I shall have to find something horrible about you and create mutually assured destruction.”

Nabiki Tendo snorted and turned back to her computer. Her parting words to me were, “Using cold war terms won’t make you any scarier, buddy.”

Now I must do something even more shameful than groveling at Nabiki Tendo’s feet: I must find out something about her that is so awful she will give me those photos back in the hopes that my knowledge will never being released to the public. This is not the sort of errand I ever wished to dirty my hands with, but now it is the only thing to be done.

Facebook Messenger:

Shampoo: You never told me how Halloween went. Did you get to seduce Akane Masked Man Style?

Ryoga: No. I never told you because it didn’t work out like I’d hoped. I did see Akane, but she seemed distracted, and since I couldn’t tell her who I was she got bored with me and left.

Shampoo: :( Boo. I was really rooting for you guys. Guess there’s nothing left to do but ASK HER OUT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.

Ryoga: You do not get to yell at me—you encouraged me! Also, YOU ARE CONSIDERING PROPOSITIONING YOUR ROOMMATE, SOMETHING WHICH NEVER ENDS WELL!!!

Shampoo: I am not! I mean, I would ask her on a date LIKE A NORMAL PERSON, but she doesn’t do dating anymore. After one bad breakup! I broke up with a guy I was young and stupid enough to think I was in love with, and yeah, he’s still hanging around, and yeah, I’m going to have to spend most of Thanksgiving break with him, but, like, I moved on.

Ryoga: How bad was it?

Shampoo: It wasn’t bad. Just stupid. It was really stupid. We were dating, like, our whole lives. I don’t know why. It was one of those marriage proposals on the playground things, and I never started to dislike Mousse or feel like we were growing apart, or like being without him would be better than being with him, but we were in our senior year and he basically said, “When do you think we’ll get married?” and I realized that all I ever wanted Mousse to be was some guy I dated in high school.

Shampoo: So I dumped him.

Ryoga: Okay, so, basically, it was nothing like what happened to Ukyo, yet you’re comparing it to what happened to Ukyo.

Shampoo: Okay, it wasn’t the same thing, but it wasn’t a clean break, either. You’ve had a rough breakup before, right?

Ryoga: No, but I’m probably due.

Shampoo: Well, trust me, a bad breakup does not suddenly make you aromantic or asexual. It may make you wish you were, but it doesn’t, and Ukyo needs to understand that she isn’t automatically going to get hurt because she puts herself out there again.

Ryoga: Would you care this much if you weren’t interested in her?

Shampoo: She is a wonderful person, and she is doing the world a disservice by acting like she murdered love and must forever repent for her sin.

Ryoga: She would not like that analogy.

Shampoo: Tell me you haven’t noticed how pretty she is. Or how nice or sweet or funny.

Ryoga: She is very sweet. She has a nice neck when she puts her hair up.

Shampoo: Very random compliment, but I’m glad you understand.

Ryoga: Careful, you don’t want me turning into your competition.

Shampoo: Don’t get greedy pretty boy, I know you’re already trying to juggle two girls at once.

Ryoga: 1. HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT??!! 2. Do you really think I’m pretty?

Shampoo: Dude, we’re friends on facebook. I got a ‘you have a mutual friend’ notification, and you may have scrubbed your profile, but your girlfriend sure didn’t.

Shampoo: Also, obviously you’re pretty. Although I should probably be calling you dirty boy, or pig boy or something, since you think you can have all the girls.

Ryoga: Oh, god, please don’t tell Akari. I’ve been meaning to, the time just hasn’t been right.

Shampoo: Not that I actually want to be involved, but what you should really be worried about is me telling Akane.

Akane’s Diary

Do not watch the dark knight trilogy because you’re desperate, do not watch the dark knight trilogy because you’re desperate do not watch the dark knight trilogy bec

To be fair, I’m mostly bored. Everyone is exhausted, because if they’re not worrying about finals they’re still burnt out after Halloween. Meanwhile I’ve got all my homework done, and it’s just not worth it to freak out about finals before Thanksgiving break. Refusing to worry about finals until it’s over is what Thanksgiving break is for.

Still, I shouldn’t go looking at everything batman related like that’s going to bring this guy back, or explain what the fuck happened.

He was nice. Like, he recognized the absurdity of making out on a trampoline, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t trying really, really hard. That was sweet, that earnestness.

I don’t know. I spent like an hour with him. It’s stupid, building him up as this perfect guy, but I can’t help it. I know he was fun to talk to, and even with my Zelda armor digging into my shoulders I felt comfortable with him, but because I know nothing about him I can fill in the gaps with whatever I want. I can pretend he’s an only child, and he won’t freak out when I tell him I’m trans, and he likes the idea of being married and having kids, but probably only two, because he understands I think it’s good for a kid to have a sibling, but two is plenty, and….

See? Too easy.

Maybe he’s in a relationship and a wave of guilt hit him.

Or maybe he remembered he had to feed his cat.

Or maybe he had an anxiety attack.

Or maybe I’m going to watch the dark knight trilogy because between that and thinking about this guy all night I should probably chose the option that’s easier on my sanity.

From TKuno

To: Dean

Sir, as one of your students I would like to bring to your attention that another student, Nabiki Tendo, has been selling contraband out of her dorm room and has probably made thousands selling alcohol and other drugs to minors.

Sincerely,

Tatewaki Kuno.

From Dean

To TKuno

Kuno, why did you put this in a email? Is this a prank? Nabiki Tendo has been accused of this several times before, but her room has never turned up any contraband materials, nor has anyone every given us any proof that she sells contraband.

You wouldn’t be trying to harm another student for some petty reason, would you?

From Tkuno

To Dean

I’m sorry, that was foolish of me. I know that Nabiki Tendo is not the sort of person who would be caught doing things like that. I was being thoughtless. I will consider my words more carefully next time.

From TKuno

To Ghostunkugi

Is it true that you can compile an account of another person’s life for a fair price?

From Ghostunkugi

To TKuno

All social media accounts, anything on public record related to them in anyway, and any thing else that seems interesting. 150

Shadowing, 100 for a day, 650 for a week

Photos +50 dollars every day. 150 for a full week.

Confidentiality assured, unless you murder someone and I have to talk to the cops again.

From TKuno

To Ghostunkugi

Just the first option for now. I will throw in a bonus if you can find any potentially life ruining information.

From Ghostunkugi

To Tkuno

One of those jobs. I get it. [Paypal information] Please pay in a prompt manner. Due to school I probably won’t have a complete file until after Thanksgiving Break.

Kodachi’s Journal

I fear that that which I once loved

That flower that bloomed so boldly

Is wilting in my hands.

Now that our yearly cycle has spun us into

Those brief six weeks

When we all pretend to care about

Peace, love, and good will toward men

(even our families)

It makes me realize that the spring of our love

Gave way not to a passionate summer

But to the bleakness of a winter without you

Ranma

I trace your name on fogged windows at my gymnasium

But I worry I have sucked all strength from it

Like a sweet drained of it’s syrupy filling.

I shall take my time in repose

With my father and brother

And wrapped in their tenuous, florid, masculine embrace

I recall that all men appreciate a swift hard strike when they least expect it.

[californiadreaminghq]

Oh good, you made it!

Did you guys know Joss was coming? She brought Lowell Crane, The Hurricane! And just on time! Grab a drink, find a spot, and make sure you finish everything on thechecklist. The band is just getting started – you have 24 hours to send in your account! We’re so glad you’re here!

                                       I. OUT OF THE STUDIO

NAME/ALIAS: Joss

AGE: 32

PRONOUNS: She/her

                                                II. ON STAGE

NAME: Lowell Crane

FACE CLAIM: Henry Cavill (first choice), Chris Evans, Dan Stevens

AGE: 35

TITLE: The Hurricane

DREAM: Lowell wants to be a Somebody, but is too afraid to try again

OCCUPATION: Owner of Daredevil’s Bar

                                              III. INTERVIEW

Answer the following questions in your character’s voice:

If you could do anything in the world for a living, what would it be?

“Well, ain’t that a question. Not sure how to answer that. I could say I wanna be a lighthouse keeper, or a park ranger in Antartica. Or an astronaut. But that’s not really an answer, is it? Cuz nothing’s holding me back from, well, maybe the lighthouse keeper, and the rest, never gonna happen, and maybe I wouldn’t really like it anyway. Be a trip though, floating in space. Can’t imagine anything else feels quite the same, except maybe acid. I could say I wanna hit that perfect note, and it rings like a bell inside your chest, and everyone else is hitting it too, and you all just float in that perfect sound as long as you can. But I don’t think that’s really a job description. Or I could just say fuck it, I wanna be a rock star, cuz isn’t that what we all want, at least a little, if we’re still here? Can’t imagine a reason to stick around otherwise.”

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

“Vietnam. I know, not the ideal vacation spot. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna go full Jane Fonda or anything. I went to some protests and sit-ins, but I can’t even claim I was that invested. That’s fucked up, right? If you fight for something, you should at least have conviction. Not like I’m pro-Nixon or anything, but I just … it was what everyone else was doing. And people liked to listen to my songs. What bullshit. I was cribbing off Dylan half the time anyway. We all were, but it doesn’t exactly make you proud, you know? I was running around playing flower child the whole time, and Mick was off getting his ass blown up in Khe Sanh. Or God knows where, everything was redacted, so fuck if I know. You know? Sorry, I can’t answer a question to save my life. Probably why I’m here and not an accountant like Ma always wanted me to be.Vietnam. I wanna go to see where he was, before he got sent home in a pine box. He was just a kid, he was supposed to be the smart one, he was supposed to get out of Texas and come see me and I was supposed to be his impressive older brother. Fuck, I sound like a bad country western song. Ignore me.”

What is one thing that makes you different than anyone else?

I can eat 50 eggs. (Author’s note: this is a reference to Cool Hand Luke, a 1967 film which in many ways encapsulates Lowell’s aesthetic and ethos. He’s also just a huge fan of Paul Newman and if he had any acting talent whatsoever, he’d want to be him.)

                                              IV. BACKSTAGE

Lowell Crane grew up in the unusually average town of Ding Dong, Texas, an hour outside of Austin. He was the first boy, the second child, and grew up singing in choir and learning to play the guitar, though admittedly he was hardly dedicated to the pursuit. It wasn’t until he hit puberty and discovered girls that musical talent became something he valued. Though he was born in Holland, he was often told he had ‘all-American’ looks, and even spoke Dutch, his first language, with a soft southern twang. He didn’t really consider it a career, but liked playing at parties and joined a band with his friends on a whim. They were just good enough to get to tour parts of Texas, and Lowell caught the fame bug. By the time he was in his early 20s, he wanted to take it further. As it so happened, he had a cousin in California who invited him to come out and stay for a while.

The California music scene was a hard hit of culture shock for Lowell, and he bounced around different bands, never quite fitting in, never really making a splash with anyone, but continuing because people said he had talent. He joined a band, The Lonely Boys, who were in need of a guitarist, and they toured for a couple of years before breaking up because nothing was happening, quite discouraged. Lowell took a plane to New York just in time for the Summer of Love, and all of a sudden, he was a flower child. Somehow that alchemical magic happened and he took off. He had a recording contract with a big name, he played at Woodstock, he was going to be another Bob Dylan. Then he got the news his younger brother, Mick, was dead, and simply … dropped out of his own life. He was just another broken person left behind by the hippie movement, and it took him until 1972 to drag himself back to something like normalcy. He ended up in an ashram in Southern California getting clean and seeking enlightenment. He got clean, but as for enlightenment, all he got were the keys to a dive bar in Los Angeles that one of the new converts no longer wanted.

Lowell has spent the last year building up Daredevil’s Bar as a venue for up-and-coming musicians, and it’s now one of those places where you “pay your dues” in the rock scene. People even say some of the big name studios scout there sometimes. Lowell is just the owner and the guy behind the bar who can tune your guitar, help you break down your setup after a show, and who only occasionally has to threaten the crowd with a baseball bat when they get rowdy. He’s still putting the pieces of his life together, and he’s aware on some level that his music career is done, but he can’t quite give it up. He’ll provide backup guitar for any of the bands doing shows at his bar in a pinch, but he doesn’t perform by himself at the bar, though sometimes he will hit up a late open-mic or jam with the few friends he has in town, or the odd person who remembers who he used to be.

                                                  V. ENCORE

Headcanons:

Lowell can play by ear and can play a song if he’s heard it once. He isn’t as good at remembering lyrics and will sometimes make up his own if he can’t remember them.

The last name “Crane” is an anglicized form of Krane or Krahn, which is Dutch. His family fled Holland after the war. Lowell’s parents lost most if not all of the rest of their family during the war. The effect on the Crane children of being the children of survivors has left the family split between those who strive to be as American and unobjectionable as possible, like their parents, or those who reject their parents’ attitudes and seek to be as unusual as possible.

Lowell is the second of five children, with three sisters and one brother, Michael Crane, now deceased. His sisters are Emmeline, Virginia, and Dorothy. Emmeline and Virginia are married and live in Texas, Dorothy currently lives in upstate New York on a commune with her female lover, and is estranged from her family, other than Lowell, who lived with her during his period of “dropping out”.

Lowell’s favourite food is peanut butter, and he eats it straight from the jar, to the consternation of his family and roommates over the years, as he often double dips the spoon to lay claim to a jar.

Childhood music: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWSV3Tk4GO2fq?si=qDmRsNAZS9-XTnB27Abs0Q

Playlist reference/requests that Lowell will play: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX504r1DvyvxG?si=7xvqYDnBSxmyQ5WxX5He-w

Voice reference: Lowell sounds similar to, and his songs resemble, those of Nick Drake.

[hopeatermeetsgodzilla]

Chapter 8

“So your brother’s not awake?” Mothra nodded at Anguirus, who sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good to- Goji!” The aquatic reptile was walking out of the water, turning toward his friend and mate as they came to him. “So, what’s the situation on- man?”

Godzilla had a haunted look on his face. Mothra frowned, cradling his face in one of her hands. “Is everything alright, my love?”

“Ghidorah, they’re... I don’t know how it happened, there was just a strange sound, and then they- they-” Godzilla took a deep breath, before steeling himself. “The Golden Demise is free again. And we are in no shape to take him on now.”

Mothra and Anguirus looked at each other with horrified expressions. Ghidorah? Free!? “Do you know where they’re planning on going next?” Anguirus asked, visibly distressed. He clearly still remembered Left’s words from that one time he tried to fight them, accusing him of playing second fiddle to more powerful Titans because he couldn’t handle leading anyone while literally kicking him down.

Godzilla shook his head, and Mothra frowned. These shits had caused her death more than once, either kicking her mate into a depression or sending either of her brothers into a rampage- expected from Battra, but always a surprise from Leo- and she was not anywhere near forgetting those slights toward herself or those she cared about. “Well, let’s think of our options. Who would they go after?”

Anguirus seems deep in thought for a moment. “They’d go either after you or one of your brothers. Battra tends to be more aggressive and actively provoke them, but Leo actually succeeded in beating them once, so honestly? Both options are equally as likely.”

“They’d go after Mothra first either way.” Godzilla then added, starting to slip into his role of King. “She actively helps me- no offense to Leo.” He added, Mothra nodding in understanding. “And Right actively wants to make my blood spill. He’s good at hiding it, but I’m pretty sure he gets off of violence.”

“Oh, that’s gross.” Anguirus commented, wrinkling his nose as Mothra facepalmed.

“Well, it’s true.”

“Dear? Anguirus? Focus.” Mothra told them, both nodding. “Anyway, they can’t find our nests, and they know it. We only show our homes to the ones we trust, and none of us trust Ghidorah. Personally, I was thinking they would end up going to the monkeys’ island, due to it not sleeping.”

“You think they would go to the city where the underwater humans used to live?” Anguirus asked. “I mean, they got sealed before Battra decided to go on that rampage.”

“Unlikely, but possible.” Mothra noted. “Godzilla? Do you have any idea?”

“... They mentioned Rodan, and I think he’s the one they’re gonna go after.”

“Why would they go after Rod- Oh.” Anguirus eyes widened in realization and terror as he too remembered that Rodan was not a confrontational asshole with magma for blood the last time the Golden Demise had seen him. “Oh, Terra.”

“Alright, let’s do like that, then: Anguirus, you go to the ruins of Megalon’s worshippers. Godzilla, you go to Rodan’s nest. I will go the monkey’s island. Any objection?”

“No.”

“‘Course not.”

“Then, let’s go.”

-

The helicopter landed at Castle Bravo, Emma sighing and wondering ho the hell she was going to explain what had happened to Serizawa. It really didn’t help that the original helicopter pilot had been executed my Alan Jonah’s men, along with the original hostages. At least, Madison was safe...

The two of them were still shaken from seeing the Antartica Titans freeing themselves and just what they could do, especially Madison. Just as they had left, the one who stood in the middle had turned just the slightest bit toward her, a cruel smile on his face as his voice flooded her mind.

She could still hear his voice ringing in her head. Enjoy whatever time you have left with your mother, Madison. There’s not much left, after all.

“Alright Madison, let’s go.” Emma finally said, getting out of the helicopter. Madison nodded, getting out next and following her mother onto what looked like an oil rig.

“... Is this where you work?” Madison asked, confused. “I thought you worked for the government.”

“Oh no, not the government.” Emma answered, shaking her head and swiping a card in front of a camera, the door she was standing in front of sliding open. “Monarch. Come on, let’s go.”

Madison nodded, following her mother into the elevator. It stopped as they were only a few levels down, the doors sliding open to reveal a man with brow skin and dyed purple hair, who looked at Emma for a few seconds, visibly shocked before entering, typing his own stop. “... Dr. Russell.”

“Florès.” She answered back, not looking at him as Madison kept a laser-like focus on him.

“... Is that your daughter?” He asked, sending a quick look at Madison who averted her eyes.

“Yes.”

“I’d expect her to be younger...” He commented under his breath. “If you want, I can keep an eye on her in my office while you go explain... everything, I guess?”

Emma raised an eyebrow. “You’re not scared she’s going to disturb your working space?”

“Meh, she’s twelve and is recovering from a kidnapping. If she wants to know what I’m working on, I’ll just tell her. Or let her use one of my personal computers, I have to work on the ORCA plans anyway.” Florès turned toward the girl, smiling. “You’ll be fine if I just let you do whatever on a computer, right?”

“Y- yeah.” The teenager answered. She needed to distract herself from the three red-eyed Titans, and going on YouTube or watching this guy do whatever his job was seemed like it would work.

The door opened, Florès walking out and Madison following. “Good luck with explaining to Serizawa what the fuck that was about!”

“I appreciate the sentiment.” Emma told him, the doors closing as she leaned against one of the elevator’s walls. What the fuck that was about, indeed...

The elevator finally reached the main lobby, Emma walking out before stopping. There was a man arguing with Colonel Foster and Serizawa, and she knew that voice.

“Both my wife and daughter went missing, you have no idea where they are, you think terrorists might be involved, you knew my family could be a target, and you’re doing nothing to try and find them?” Mark Russell, her husband, snapped at them, panic evident in his tone.

“Mark?” Her husband turned toward her, relief visibly flooding him as Emma came closer. “What are you doing here?”

“The military brought me in when you went missing.” Mark explained, Emma nodding in understanding as she turned toward Serizawa.

“Sir? I need to talk to you about something in private.”

Serizawa shook his head, turning back toward the screen. “I understand, but we’re currently busy trying to determine where the Antartica Titans went-”

“Yes, well...” Emma hissed through her teeth. Here goes nothing. “It’s about the Antartica Titans...”

-

Ghidorah landed, Ichi floating down to the ground, Ni doing a three-point landing, and San falling unceremoniously on the ground, a small cloud of sand puffing up where he landed, groaning. Ichi looked at his brother critically. “Why did you turn your gravity back on if you were going to land like an idiot?”

“I wanted to do something cool like Ni...” San whimpered, leaning into Ni’s touch as he pat him reassuringly on the head. The younger brother opened his eyes, pouting at Ichi. “Why did you bring us to a desert!?”

“... San.”

“What?”

“This is a beach. The ocean is right there.” Ichi blankly informed his brother, pointing at said sea as he waited for the dots to connect inside of San’s head.

And connect they did. “The beach... !? We’re at the beach!?” He suddenly sat up nearly headbutting Ichi who had bent down to look at him. A big smile appeared on his face. “We’re at the beach!”

“I heard brother Ichi the first time, brother San.” Ni deadpanned, even if he was smiling a bit as he watched San running toward the water, giggling to himself as he reached it.

“San, come back here.” Ichi called his brother, who just groaned and continued forward, water eventually reaching his knees. “San.”

“But we just got out!” He whined, before immediately going back to advancing, Ichi growling when he saw he was now waist deep.

“SAN!” SPLAT! Ichi recoiled in shock, before looking down to see what San had thrown at him. “Did... did you just throw a crab at my face!?”

“And if you yell at me again, I’ll throw another one!” San threatened, a huge smile on his face and a crab in his hand.

“Stars damn it- do you remember that these idiotic Titan’s belief that this planet is alive and gives them life has actual basis to it!? If we don’t resume terraforming this place as soon as we can, we’ll-” Suddenly, a rock was thrown at him from another direction. In fact, in came from where Ni was seated. Ichi turned toward his other brother with a scandalized expression. “Ni!?” 

“Yes, brother Ichi.” Ni deadpanned. “Taking the time to relax and enjoy our freedom is going to make us weak and dependent on this planet. I can feel my soul linking itself to it’s core. Terra is speaking to me, do you want to know what She’s saying?”

“Ni-”

“Those weakling’s god is telling me you’re being paranoid and also a killjoy. Let brother San flounder in water if he wants, we just got out of our prison.” Ni finished, San laughing from where he stood in the water.

“Killjoy! Killjoy!” San chanted from where he was.

Ichi groaned. “Whatever. Don’t you have ice to get out of your pants?”

“It’s the next thing I’m throwing at you.”

“Thank you for the heads-up.” Ichi snarked, Ni standing up and undoing his belts to- you guessed it- get whatever ice hadn’t melted already out of his pants. True to his words, Ni threw the piece at his older brother’s head, Ichi not budging as the ice shattered upon impact and San laughed from a distance.

“... why did you refer to them as ‘Titans’?” Ni suddenly asked as he put his pants back on, taking a hold of Ichi’s wrist and starting to bring him closer to the water so they could keep a close eye on San. “I thought humans referred to them- and us- as gods?”

“Well, they changed words. Idiots do that, sometimes.” Ichi noted, Ni nodding in agreement.

(What does it mean?) San asked telepathically, still focused on looking through the water and occasionally getting things out to take a closer look at them.

“Those who came before the gods. Not bad, right?”

(Brother Ichi, that’s terrible.)

“I’m with San on that one.”

“... would either of you bother to explain your reasoning?” Ichi asked, feeling anger well up inside of him.

(The Gods don’t precede anything. Titans do. It implies we’re gonna get defeated.) Ni nodded at that

“How the hell didn’t I realize that sooner.” Ichi asked himself, Ni patting him reassuringly on the back as San came closer. “I’m going to have to personally kill that human now.”

“As always, humans are wrong: there is nothing that will defeat us.” Ni reassured his older brother, who sighed.

“And you shouldn’t bother yourself with personally going after humans.” San added, nearing his brothers and putting a hand on each one’s shoulder, which they quickly reciprocated. “We’re above that. Anyway, what are we gonna do next?”

“How about we go after that little bird you fancy so much?” Ichi proposed, a smile appearing on his face. “It is rather rare for you to personally use lightning on someone. Not even the weak king’s friend got that honor.”

“Really!?” San asked, looking very enthusiastic at the idea of finding the bird- Rodan- again.

“I still don’t understand why you fancy him so much.” Ni commented. “He’s weak.”

“I don’t know either, it’s just- his mind.” San started, looking as if he was about to drool. “It’s brighter than a star and so full of fire, it’s like a beacon- you’d think something so weak would let those flames go out easily, but they don’t- I must have those flames- I need to have that bird-!”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Ni calmed down San, both with words and through their link. “Do we even know where he is now?”

“Oh...” San smiled. “Somewhere near a volcano in the middle of the ocean~ I’ll lead the way.”

“Well then,” Ichi started, arms sliding down to hold his brother’s hands instead. “Shall we go?”

[hopeatermeetsgodzilla]

Chapter 9

“- and that’s pretty much how the ORCA is supposed to work.”

“Why’s it called the ORCA?”

“I based the prototype’s plans on a machine your parents created.” Florès answered, a smile on his face. “A machine supposed to allow one to listen to whale songs. Another name for orca’s are ‘killer whales’, and since one of the most plausible theory about Titans is that they could easily destroy us if they wanted to... it seemed appropriate.”

“Orcas aren’t actually whales, you know?” Madison told him. “They’re actually a sub-species of dolphins. They just look like whales. It proves that us trying to classify things based on their physical appearance is moot.”

“It’s still appropriate then: Titans look like giant humans, but according to your mother, they’re not.” Madison nodded as Florès went back to typing on his computer. “Also, if the 14 feet tall guy who can bath in lava ends up being a human, I’m gonna have a stroke.” He added, the teenager snorting.

The door of the lab opened, Stanton walking in. “Hey, Florès- is that a teenager.”

“She’s Dr. Russell’s daughter, don’t be fucking rude.” Florès snapped at him, before getting up. “You got new sound-banks?”

“Yeah.” He handed what looked like a disc to the programmer. “The Antartica Titans went free, and fought the Japanese Sea one.”

“We really need to find them names that aren’t just their location.”

“Well, do you have any ideas?”

“... Kevin.”

“Alright, I’m gonna tell Graham, but I don’t think she’s gonna like it.” Stanton commented, Florès shrugging and taking the disc. “Anyway, they fought, Antartica won, and we got a ton of new stuff to work with.”

“Please tell me there’s a video I can go off of for context on these noises in there.”

“Oh yeah, you should be fine.”

“Alright, cool.” There was a pause. “Get out of my office.”

As the mechanic turned back around, sitting at his computer and putting his headphones one as Stanton left, Madison spoke. “Laughing.”

“... what?”

“The Titan that fights the blue-haired one. He just laughs the entire time.”

“... right, you were there.” Florès remembered. “Is there anything more you think you can tell me about these guys?”

-

“- so yeah. We don’t know where the Iwato Titan went, just that he went underground, the Infant Titan is currently flying to Skull Island, the Japanese sea Titan is going back to Isla de Mara, and we also don’t know where the Antartica Titan is.” A scientist explained to Serizawa, who nodded as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

First, Emma goes rogue and frees the Antartica Titan, and now the only Titan who’s not on the move was the Mara one!? At least, they were getting a lot of data on Titans out of this mess. 

And the government deciding to get involved in their business now really did not help. “So not only have you lost sight of over half of the Titans currently known Titans, but one of your officials caused the early awakening of three!?”

“My daughter’s life was on the line, and seeing as they already killed a good chunk of our staff because your military thought we were overreacting and refused to act in time, I had reasons to believe they would not hesitate on following through with those threats.” Emma retorted, standing next to Serizawa with an unrepentant expression. Her husband was standing back a bit, clearly overwhelmed with what his wife had been doing.

“Everyone, we’ll focus on what to do with Dr. Russell once we have the situation back under control.” Graham intervened. “For now, we need to find where the Antartica Titans went, especially since the only thing we know for sure about them is that they’re brothers-”

“SERIZAWA!!!” Said scientist turned in shock, seeing Florès tumble out of the elevator and run toward him, before stopping. He was visibly out of breath as he tried to speak, and English seemed to escape him. “Titanes... tormentas... ubicación...”

“Take a deep breath, Florès.” The older man told him, the mechanic nodding and taking a large gulp of air before resuming.

“Are there any freak electrical storms that started over the last few hours?” He suddenly asked, looking extremely worried.

“I-” They turned toward the computer screen, pulling up a map of the planet. Indeed, there was what looked like a rapidly growing storm slowly moving away from the South African coast. “... Yes. How did you-”

“We have a base around there, right?” Florès asked again, Graham the one nodding this time. “Can we use that base to send one of those super-fast drone after the storm?”

“Why?”

“I think it’s where the Antartica Titans are hiding.” Was all the mechanic said. Graham looked at Serizawa for a moment, unsure, but sent out the order to send out a drone the moment he nodded. When the beeping point reached the border of the storm, she pulled up a small video, showing the inside of said storm.

As the drone advanced in the storm, it eventually found three shadows in it’s center, only illuminated by the occasional flash of lightning. They seemed to be walking on the clouds, golden hair moving behind them as if they were underwater and rain drops highlighting their silhouette. 

Suddenly, a faint noise, somewhere between a chirp and a growl could be heard, following by the silhouette on the right turning toward the drone and sending an electrical bolt toward it. Contact was lost soon after.

They all turned toward the programmer “How did you know they would be within a storm?” Mark asked Florès, who shook his head.

“That’s not important. What’s important is: where are they heading?” Florès asked, Graham immediately checking the map.

“North-west.” She answered as Mark came closer.

“Is there anything of note in that direction? Like another Titan?” He asked, and realization struck Serizawa.

“... Isla de Mara.” The older scientist muttered under his breath, horrified.

“What could they possibly have to do with the Mara Titan!?”

“Well, you said Titans showed animalistic behavior, right?” Mark asked, Emma nodding as he turned back toward the screen. “If that’s the case, he’s probably going there for food, a fight, or a f- something more intimate.”

The look on Florès’ face was almost comical in it’s sheer terror. “You really need to learn how to steel your nerves.” Serizawa commented, turning toward the younger man and making him snap out of his thoughts.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Florès started, visibly at the end of his patience. “Am I the only one who remembers that the Mara Titan LIVES IN AN ACTIVE VOLCANO!? If the Antartica ones are going there for any of those options, and considering that all four of them are already fucking with the laws of reality by existing, none of these options look good!”

“Especially if they land on Mara.” Emma continued, horror slowly dawning on her. “Whatever they’re planning on doing to the Mara Titan- Florès stop making that face, it’s probably fighting- we need to find a way to draw them away from it.”

“Or move the Mara one!” Florès exclaimed, turning toward Serizawa. “I- we could use the ORCA to draw the Mara Titan away from it’s territory and into the storm, taking their fighting away from civilians, buying us time to evacuate the island and maybe an opportunity to kill them.”

“What!?” Serizawa exclaimed, turning toward Florès as if he had just spouted something ridiculous. “You do realize that killing a Titan could have devastating ecological consequences-”

“Mara lives in a volcano, and I’m pretty sure Antartica has been frozen for longer than the current continents have been a thing. I doubt either of their death would cause such a big impact.” Florès countered, frowning. “Plus, we didn’t know the Mara Titan was a thing, right? Maybe there’s others that are still hibernating.”

“You don’t get it.” Graham started, pulling a few files out of her desk and handing them to the younger man to read. “Back when Monarch was first formed, we did try to kill one of the Titans in 1954, by dropping an atomic bomb on it. Not only did it not work, the Titan ended up absorbing the energy and leaving no trace of it ever being set off behind!”

“Mierda...” He muttered under his breath.

“Still, with the kind of storm they’re setting off,” Admiral Stenz started, everyone turning toward the screen, “It would be in everyone’s best interest if you were to get rid of them.”

“Didn’t you hear Graham?” Emma snapped. “Atomic weapons won’t work.”

“... well...” Serizawa muttered to himself... “I might have an idea... Colonel Foster! We’re going to need the Argo, and an emergency evacuation of Isla de Mara.” The colonel nodded, getting her talkie-walkie out and directing the soldiers around the base of Serizawa’s instructions. “Graham, go get Coleman and Stanton. Florès, you’re coming with me, and remember to take the ORCA. Russell, after the stunt you pulled, you need to stay here.”

“Can I come?” Mark asked, Serizawa nodding.

“We’ll need as much help as we can with what’s coming.”