Reality shows; infamous, controversial, and exploiting. They prey on the naive and vainglorious, reeling them in with flashy cameras and tantalizing prizes which blind them to their sole purpose: as subjects of mockery. Whether they ever realize it or not, they are the pawns of a lucrative, low-brow entertainment industry that thrives off making fools of lesser folk for the enjoyment of coach potatoes, cynics and sadists who have nothing better to do but laugh at the expense of others so they don't have to look at themselves and cry. They are dark, twisted things that bring out the worst in pokemon and will continue to lower the bar until it breaks through the roof of Giratina's domain.

This is what David's mother told him before he told her to get stuffed, and she drove him out of the house while trying to lance him with her broom. But the dragonite wouldn't listen; he was a struggling actor with little exposure and an even littler amount of money, and the only way he had made progress in his career thus far was his good looks compensated for his subpar acting skills. Getting hired to host an upcoming T.V. program was his big break and required nothing more than to smile handsomely at the camera and recite a few lines of dialogue with minimal subjective acting, and any moral objections he might have had were forgotten when his mother kicked him from her living room couch and into a crummy hotel, telling him he could come back when her words got past his thick skull. He signed the contract that night. How ironic.

The show wasn't exactly anything unique and groundbreaking. It had a bunch of youths doing physical and mental challenges and games not unlike "Survivor" or "Total Pokemon", with eliminations and confession boxes and whatnot. Didn't matter to him, as long as he got paid, and he got to rub his success in his mother's disapproving face. Of course, she was still angry with him and had kicked him out of his only living quarters, so maybe he would leave out the gloating for another time.

He could appease his mother later; for now, he had to prepare for his upcoming role.

Rereading the contract over a green smoothie, he made an interesting discovery. While the show was obviously trying to scrounge off of the fame of well-established shows in the genre it did have some... interesting fine print... and when David inquired further on the phone with one of the execs she said it was trialled and approved. If they were looking to cause controversy, they were certainly asking for it. David just hoped it wouldn't reflect on his career too negatively.

A month later, teeth whitened, scales shined and stomach sucked, he left the makeup trailer as the dashingly handsome T.V. host David Dragonite, a mysterious face no one had ever heard of, exempting those who enjoyed watching absurd and trashy sitcoms that never made it past the first season. He flashed the audience a toothy grin, a generic signature shared by many in the industry. After smiling for a satisfactory amount of time he spoke, a dramatic lilt he had practised almost constantly until he had successfully emulated a narrator from a washing detergent commercial.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlepokes. I am David Dragonite, the host for an upcoming reality show set to take the world by storm. Do you want fame? Challenge? Money? Go to our website to send in an application for this thrilling new competition, and you just might be selected as a competitor for 500,000 pokes. Spots are limited, so don't wait, sign up now! For more information visit our website, at..."

By this time, most viewers had tuned out of the commercial or had muted it all together. But to some folks, an opportunity had presented itself. This was something more than some dumb ad interrupting their favourite evening show. Maybe it had taken one viewing or several, but they had decided to take a leap of faith and try something new. Dangerous. Exciting. Maybe the flashy cameras and tantalizing prizes distracted them from their sole purpose, or maybe they were well aware and willing to take that risk, to make fools of themselves or, perhaps, thought they were an exception.

Whatever reason, they filled out their forms and awaited their judgement. Each show needs contestants, and there are always people out there willing to fill the role.

So. I saw some people writing these kinds of stories and decided to take a crack at it myself. The use of other peoples' original characters seems fitting for an unoriginal writer like myself, and will certainly challenge me to write diversely. I'll put the form below (and if I get in trouble, I'll move it to my profile. Scandalous, isn't it?) but do read the rules first:

1. You can submit as many characters as you like, but I won't accept all of them, and might not accept any you give me at all. That's the way the bikkie breaks.

2. Don't give me "my character doesn't do this" or "my character hates that" when you never specified it in their character's application form. You can't just add bits as the story goes along, so get all their information in before sending me it. You have given me the creative freedom to further their character development in the way I see fit using the information you have given me. I'm not going to purposefully spit on your creation and change it, but if you feel at any point I have PM me about it and we can discuss the issue.

3. Challenge yourself! Subvert a stereotype, give a character clashing traits, and defenestrate Mr. Nice-But-Can-Be-Mean from the premises immediately! In other words, be creative. You might be surprised by what you make.

CHARACTER FORM

NAME:

SPECIES (NO LEGENDARIES):

SPECIAL TRAITS (SHINY VARIANT, ORNAMENTS, SCARS ETC):

GENDER:

SEXUALITY:

PERSONALITY:

BACKSTORY:

LIKES:

DISLIKES:

STRENGTHS/TALENTS:

WEAKNESSES:

FEARS:

FIGHT FAIR OR DIRTY?:

GAME STRATEGY:

RELATIONSHIP?:

WHAT WILL THEY DO IF THEY WIN THE MONEY:

POSSESSIONS/LUGGAGE? (A BASEBALL, STAMP COLLECTION ETC):

OTHER?:

I have eighteen spots open, 9 girls and 9 boys. I'll notify those who have been accepted.