Chris pursed his lips as he looked down at a set of blueprints, inspecting them, hoping to find some work around his current issue. Next to him was a construction worker, who had to be in his early thirties at the latest. The two stood in a clearing that was surrounded by a dense forest.
A slight breeze carried through as Chris asked, "You sure we can't add that?" He had to raise his voice slightly since in the background there was a symphony of sounds ranging from the pounding of hammers to power saws cutting through wood. It was clear something big was being worked on.
"Afraid not sir." the construction worker told the host sheepishly. "The way the build is structured, that won't be able to be properly implemented."
Chris clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Well I guess I'll have to edit that challenge a bit...I'd say add a flamethrower in its place."
The worker nodded. "Yes sir!" With that, the worker took the blueprints from Chris and walked away just as Chef walked up next to Chris.
"Y'know I thought we'd finally enjoy a honeymoon, but clearly not." The burly man rolled his eyes. He clearly wasn't as happy about having to work.
"Chef, buddy, you know that I couldn't pass up this opportunity!" Chris responded. His grin was reminiscent of a kid in a candy store. "We get to put Total Drama back on television! This is big. And if we manage to single-handedly save the network, we could be renewed for infinite more seasons!"
Despite his former annoyed feelings, Chef softened up a bit and gave a small smile at Chris's excitement. He hadn't seen Chris this truly excited in a long time. Chris was working diligently to make sure this season was a success, and while some may think it's only because Chris finally gets to be on television again, Chef knows it's more than that. Total Drama is Chris's baby. He created it and he made it what it was. The host was proud of what he made.
Chef's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a phone.
Chris answered the phone and brought it up to his ear without looking at who was calling. "McLean speaking."
"Hello McLean, it's Miranda." The network producer replied. Her tone was less harsh than when the two had previously spoke back in her office, but it held a sort of curious tone to it.
"Sup brah?" Chris asked.
On the other end, Miranda frowned. Chris knows she despises when he calls her, or anyone for the fact, that. Some of the hostility came back to her voice "I was calling to see about your progress on this new season. I've heard some things through the grapevine, but I wanted to ask you directly." The real reason was that she heard Chris was apparently working hard on this new season. Supposedly he was working both day and night to see it come to fruition, and his work was apparently paying off. Admittedly, she had a hard time believing any of that.
"Well there are a couple hiccups with not getting everything I want, but everything is running smoothly other than that. We're on track to start filming in about a month I'd say." Chris answered, picking at a spec of dirt that made its way onto his shirt.
Miranda's eyes slightly widened. "A-a month!? How are you making so much progress so quickly? You were given the green-light three months ago, and from what I have heard, this is a humongous project."
"What can I say, I'm a passionate man." Chris told her, smirking into the phone. From next to him, Chef rolled his eyes and shook his head at the host's arrogance.
Miranda paused for a couple moments before speaking again. "I… have to give you that. I'm also surprised at how much of the budget is actually going to the season rather than into your pocket."
Chris shrugged. "I mean with the budget you guys gave me, I was still able to give both myself and Chef a raise, but most of it needs to go to what I got planned. As you said, it's a humongous project, and it requires a humongous amount of money."
"I see… Have you gotten a cast list ready?" asked the network producer. "Since you're planning on starting filming in a month, I'd say you should have that all ready."
"All finished, and each of the contestants have been contacted. I gotta say, this was the hardest list to narrow down." Chris told her. "I'll have Chef email it to you."
"Roger that." Miranda responded. "Well, I'll let you get back to the project."
"That'd be much appreciated." Chris told her. "Later." With that, he hung up.
Miranda, who had been standing and looking out of her office window during the phone call, turned towards her desk and sat down in her chair. She had to admit, she was quite surprised to see Chris working this hard. He seems to be working harder than he had ever done with the other seasons. Maybe she misjudged him.
A ding from her computer took her out of her thoughts. She sank down a little, expecting it to be an email from her boss putting even more on her plate. However, it turned out to be the cast list. Miranda perked up slightly, looking through the names and the "stereotypes" of all the contestants.
GIRLS:
1) Angel Hale "The Manipulative Backstabber" (Mr. Ruff)
2) Bekah 'Beek' "The Analytical Wildcard"(BeekerMaroo)
3) Brittany 'Bri' Drake "The Mob Boss" (LaViolaViolaRosa)
4) June Melane "The Dorky Gum-Lover" (SkyFan2077)
5) Claire 'Moony' Moonshine "The Gaming Streamer" (9fluffycloud9)
6) Tess Walker "The Travelling Artist" (Phoenix Writer GPH)
7) Sharron Magail "The Archer" (Tempokeep)
8) Erza Cooper "The Cunning Blonde" (Thunderstrike16)
9) Diamond Brown "The Sassy Programmer" (xXAceofRosesXx)
GUYS:
1) Caleb Davidson "The Child-Looking Chess Prodigy" (Musical-Total Drama Nerd)
2) Jacque Cortez Metoyer "The Sheisty Dude" (Mr. Ruff)
3) Joshua Sanders "The Timid Artist" (xXRocketshark216Xx)
4) Jeremiah 'Jeremy' Rose "The Musical Nerd" (Musical-Total Drama Nerd)
5) Kevin Falcone "The Edgy Pessimist" (Channel 101 Productions)
6) Kevin 'Kev' O'Shea "The Rowdy Irishman" (TheGrooveMaster)
7) Felix Han "The Old-Fashioned Culinarian" (Candela Monsoon)
8) Cary 'Kit" Slater "The Cynical Loner" (Mystique Monroe)
Miranda sat back in her chair, compelling the old piece of office furniture to squeak ever so slightly. "Well… certainly have an interesting bunch. I have to give it to Chris, he may be able to actually save the network."
She let herself give a small smile at the potential this season had. The last thing Miranda wanted to do is give the host any sort of credit, but Chris really could do it. He could save the network.
Aaand there we have it! Our full cast list. Oh Melora, y'all, I have to say that this was the single best group of applications I've received in all my SYOCs. There were so many amazing OCs and I had the hardest time narrowing it down. That's kinda why I bumped the number up to 17 contestants. I also had such great OCs coming in up until the last minute, and the list of ones that almost made it is quite long. Actually the list of OCs itself that I received was quite long. There were 41 ocs submitted to me this time around. That's definitely the most I've ever gotten. And like, the majority of them were so freaking great. But sadly, it had to come down to 17.
Congrats to those whose OCs got in! And sorry to those who didn't. But I really tried to take my time picking the cast. I wanted to make sure everyone was here for a reason and wasn't put in just for fodder. I think I have some… interesting ideas with this cast planned.
So now onto fully trying to plan out the season. I do have a lot of ideas so far, but I do like to try and have a clear path of where I want to go… Until it inevitably gets changed on a whim while I'm writing. But, tis the way of the SYOC. I hope you're as excited as I am! I'll start planning and working on the first chapter ASAP. It may take a minute since I gotta plan it out, but one of my goals for this SYOC is to not take too long with it. That's partially why I tried to do 14 OCs. But it is what it is. So until next time! ~MG