A/N: Okay, first thing I want to say: I thought a long time about this. Did Toni need another story? Did she need a chance to strike out on her own? Did she need a new group to work off of? The answer was, of course, no. But did I want to? Yes, I did. And did she have a dynamic that could work with the Gen 2 cast, even as host? Actually, yes. She's done junior hosting. It's time she had her own time to shine, and here it is.
Here's a few things before I give you the plot and disclaimer: First of all, I came under a lot of criticism for my earlier Revenge of The Island story about Danni, as she was clearly a Mary-Sue. I'm not going to let Toni get along with so many people, and she might like some characters you wouldn't expect…and second, elimination changes will be minimal as Toni has of a chance to change something she can't tip the balance in. There are tweaks to give storylines a chance, but I will justify them. Most of all, in an earlier story, Toni listed what she looked for in a romantic interest. By total coincidence, someone in this cast fits the profile pretty much perfectly…
Okay, now, plot: The producers are riding high off Total Drama World Tour and Toni's inclusion as a junior host to Chris. So when it gets to summer and Chris has accepted a movie deal that will keep him busy all summer, Toni is asked to host a half-length season all by herself, and she jumps at the chance. But last time, she knew most of the cast. This time, she's with thirteen different teenagers, and while she gets on well with some, that's not always a good thing…
Disclaimer: All I own is Antonia Grace McLean, Chris's teenage cousin. Everything else goes to Fresh TV.
I have to say, being on reality TV was a lot less stressful when you hosted, whether you had to demo or not. That's the reason why, when I was called up by the producers of Total Drama the spring after World Tour finished (the end of May, almost two months later) and they asked me to host a season with a whole new cast during the summer holidays, I was excited. I'd known Chris was busy with a movie deal because he'd told most of the family already, but I hadn't guessed they'd ask me to host, all on my own. I figured a fourth season would just be postponed for him.
"It'll only be thirteen episodes long, filmed every two days," the producers told me, "So it'll be four weeks. You'll have the challenges and information written up for you, but you can make tweaks if you want and pretty much free reign on your style of hosting."
This would be cool. Chris spent the whole of World Tour trying to make me feel small for not having the experience he had. Excuse me for still being in high school – he was thirteen years older than me! He also got on my case about calling him Chrissy, but seriously, he should have been used to that after fifteen years of it (I was sixteen and a half by now). It was time I got to try on my own. And the producers even said I could spend the days we didn't have challenges just being myself with the other contestants and getting to know them. Of course, it meant they might not treat me as much like a host, but I would rather socialize than do absolutely nothing.
Of course, before I actually got on the island, I had to watch every audition tape and read the thirteen names. They seemed mostly interesting. The auditions were in first name alphabetical order.
I started with Anne Maria, a girl with a bronzed fake tan, curly hair that was clearly secured to stay up, curves like Jessica Rabbit and an accent that made her sound like she'd spent her life in Atlantic City. She said she'd never really watched Total Drama, but her friends made her watch a World Tour episode and she decided the show needed her. Then she sang so horribly the camera lens broke. She seemed vain and a bit strange, but she also looked like she might be fun to hang out with.
Beverly, who apparently went by B, was a big guy who showed a lot of mechanics in his video, but never said a word. He had a nice face, though, very chill, calm and friendly, and if he'd made all those things, he had to be smart. I wondered if he'd talk much on the island. If he did, I was going to give him a chance.
Brick, the army cadet, was nice-looking, too, despite talking like he came from the Marines and wearing army khakis. He said he had years of training and could take anything thrown at him. He said nothing got past him – apart from the camera panning down to his boots, apparently. But despite being VERY old school army, he gave me the sense that he was a gentleman deep down.
Cameron, the teeny tiny "bubble boy", seemed okay. He'd apparently lived his whole life inside a plastic bubble and had never done anything at all before apart from read. Because of that, he was very excited to be on Total Drama – or to do anything a normal teenager would do. He was so little and scrawny, and apparently even a butterfly weighed him down, but I was more concerned about his survival than winning. He was nice and all and clearly very brainy, but he needed to be at least a bit strong to win a game like Total Drama.
I didn't like Dakota much at all. I mean, she was gorgeous – what I wouldn't do to have those big green eyes or especially get my black hair all glossy like her blonde mane instead of wiry and tangled – but she didn't seem particularly nice, or even interesting. She seemed like another alpha bitch, like Heather, or even Courtney. She just wanted to be on Total Drama to get a jumpstart on becoming famous. Well, I got a buzz from being in front of the camera, too, but I wasn't looking to get famous like her. Didn't she know what happened to young stars who couldn't handle the pressure?
Dawn, a tiny waif with long fair hair and pale skin, was basically the most adorable thing I'd ever seen. Like a fairy or a deity. Her voice, which was soft and cute, sounded almost ethereal, which reinforced her adorable fairy image. Even her plans for the money, to donate it to the environment, were adorable. I couldn't help thinking I would like her, even if she was a little strange.
I wasn't sure how to judge Jo, the girl in sweats with short hair and angry blue eyes. She said the producers would choose her because she was the best, strongest, smartest, meanest and would win, and demanded the money in "small, unmarked bills". Then she said they should just give her the money straight away because no one could possibly beat her, which made me giggle. I wasn't sure if I liked her, but she certainly looked like one to watch.
Lightning, a big black athletic dude who sat in the middle of a football field and ranted about how he'd carry his whole team and never give up, seemed more boring than anything. I hated egomaniacs, and I was wondering if he might turn out sexist, too. I mean, yes, he had muscle, and he sounded like he thought he'd do well in physical challenges, but he also seemed convinced he was the only one who would manage that. Maybe he'd get voted off early if his team saw it. Hopefully.
I was a little interested in Mike, a dark-skinned guy with messy spiky hair and a friendly face. He talked about all his skills, but then dropped some hint about his doctor – or psychiatrist – not wanting him to compete. As soon as he said that, he mentioned a do-over, but obviously something had changed if he'd sent this in. I got a little bit worried, and I even called the producers to check that Mike was supposed to be in there, but apparently nothing in his application sheet had brought up any red flags. I'd need to keep an eye on him, though, if only to find out what he'd been hinting at. The last thing I wanted was for his family to sue me over a panic attack or seizure I didn't know how to react to or anything. Plus there was his own wellbeing for me to worry about – if his psychiatrist didn't want him competing, why would that be? He wasn't wearing a Medic Alert bracelet (or any bracelet at all), so hopefully it wasn't something with medical effects.
Sam, the gamer, looked like any other gamer – overweight, with a bit of stubble. But he seemed very good-natured, just laughing when his multiple games blew a fuse. And he had to be talented, playing that many all at once. And he didn't come close to reaching Owen's weight. His easygoing air made me instantly like him. I didn't love all video games, but they were all right, so I'd probably get on with him all right, even if we weren't besties or anything.
I wasn't as keen on Scott, a red-haired guy who looked like he'd come from way out in the sticks. I mean, he actually looked a little like Duncan, but he didn't seem as much fun, and probably not as smart, either. All he did in his tape was run around his kitchen, chasing rats with a baseball bat. Actually, despite him making out the rats he chased were different ones, I had a suspicion he was just chasing the same one the whole time and kept missing. Maybe the producers hoped he'd be that weird guy who got too violent and had it backfire every time or something. The labels everyone got as contestants were decided in post-production (I was the "Host's Connection", being Chris' cousin and all and knowing a whole lot more about him than any of the other contestants), and there seemed to always be some klutz, like Tyler in the third season. Even when he wasn't around, like in the second season, someone like Owen or Harold would take his place. Scott seemed to be cut from the same cloth, but with a violent streak that made him less likable than any of them (true, I found Harold annoying, but he wasn't an terrible person, just awkward).
Staci, a pear-shaped girl with a bow in her hair, had the most annoying voice I'd ever heard. She went on and on about members of her family inventing different things, and I didn't think a word she said was actually true. Things had been around a lot longer than she claimed. She said she couldn't wait to impress everyone with her family stories, so she was obviously going to spend a lot of time lying or boasting. Needless to say, I didn't expect her to last long.
The last contestant on the list was a girl called Zoey. She had bright scarlet hair in little bunches with a pink flower attached on one side, and she even wore cute retro oval glasses with what looked like a rose tint to match her flower. She said she wanted to be on Total Drama to meet other teens who were into retro and hipster things. She added that her worst nightmare on the show would be if she got voted off by a jock, apparently because she didn't like the jocks in her own town. Well, if she wanted a discussion on retro fashion and indie music, she could get it from me.
Well, it seemed like an interesting group. It wouldn't be the same as my friends, of course. I still emailed Duncan from time to time (since we didn't live close to each other) and we sometimes Zoom chatted, and I'd met up with Bridgette a few times, fulfilling my promise of teaching her how to skateboard and she'd promised to take me surfing later in the summer. Gwen lived just close enough that I'd seen her once and we kept in touch, too. I mean, I was Facebook friends with most of the others, but I only really made an effort with the three that had I'd been closest to. But hey, I supposed, I could probably make friends among the new cast. I didn't know who I'd click with yet, but I could make some guesses. We had rest days between challenges, and I was going to make sure the contestants knew that when I wasn't their host, I was just like them. Another teen.
First impressions. Well, some were good, some were not. Also, the reason I gave Zoey little oval glasses was to relate to her old design, and make her look more indie. She mentioned retro stuff in her tape, so I had a look online and found a pair. Her old design had bigger semicircle glasses, but I got the idea from there. Part of my plan is to really make sure she really is the Indie Chick this time around, and not just some self-conscious sweetie with a gullible side (although those are all traits I share with her and it's what makes her interesting). Let me know who you think Toni is going to befriend and dislike! Oh, and her label…yeah, hard to decide on something good. Hope you like what I came up with. BTW, the reason I mentioned a Medic Alert bracelet not being on Mike is because some medical conditions go hand in hand with psychological ones. I recently met a neurodivergent girl who was wearing a Medic Alert bracelet for epilepsy – it was so pretty I didn't realize it was for medical purposes until she told me.
