Coming soon to Invidia TV...

[cancrymods]

Thanks to the Idol-ON girls doing their darnedest to overtake Esme in popularity and the Dad Squad doing their best to just flat out cancel her, things have been going well for the Executors. There's been no overnight explosion of popularity but thanks to Autumn and Clocks' guidance on this whole celebrity social media thing, things are ticking along quite nicely.

Which is why it's so out of the blue when, one day, the Idol-ON Caw just kind of... explodes. Notifications pour in from people saying they "heard the news" and they're so excited and they can't wait to see how it all goes and blah blah blah. Which is a little confusing because none of you have announced anything. But there's some talk of a announcement on TV... so what could it be?

Things unfortunately become clear once you tune into any of the screens in Invidia. Sure enough, it's not long before a flashy advertisement pops up declaring the start of a little show called Invidia Idol-Off! which will be a light hearted competition between everyone's beloved Esme (introduced with a string of lovingly filmed shots of Esme basically just sitting around and looking pretty) and the cute newcomers Idol-ON (who are introduced with a few supercut shots from a few of their videos, introducing each off the girls in turn). The winner will get to take her place at the top of Invidia and the losers... Well, they'll get to stay on the bottom. That's how a competition works after all.

The advertisement continues hyping this up for a bit before ending on a decisive "More information coming soon!" and the usual stream of Esme content continuing like normal.

This is all well and good but... well, I don't need to tell you that no one signed up to or agreed to this. So just what could be going on?

Comments

[phantasmagorial]

[ ... Okay that definitely wasn't part of the plan. They've just barely started getting their feet in the door and now they've been forcibly volunteered for something like this? ]

Wh--what does this even mean, "more information later"? What are we even supposed to do about this?!

[ is she about to pass out right in front of the TV??? She's fine, don't worry about it. ]

[crypddyd]

[Lion was asking similar questions on Caw before seeing her]

I have to assume she is doing it like this on purpose- taking away our time to prepare.

[phantasmagorial]

That's definitely... very Esme of her.

[ "the AUDACITY of this bitch" ]

But what does she get out of it, even if she wins? She's already the most famous person in Invidia. Beating us isn't going to change that.

[crosscutting]

Well, she wants us to panic, so that's exactly what we can't do right now.

[Much as she says that, though--yeah, Autumn is a bit nervous about this.]

We need to improvise...something. Or at least figure out what she's planning with this.

[phantasmagorial]

She's tried the brute force method... so maybe this is her way of trying to get rid of us indirectly?

[ Given that, you know, The Poisoning didn't work ]

What would we even do in a competition like this?

[schardynfreude]

She might pit you all against each other individually. For a centralized power, rather than have it spread in a group. Cause dissent, backstab. Something juicy for the viewers at home.

[crosscutting]

That would give her the advantage...our image is all built around the group dynamic.

[HMM. She chews on her thumb a little as she tries to think.]

How can we turn it back around against her? She's the established brand, even with the rumors you guys have been spreading.

[schardynfreude]

We could always...decline? But given her clout here, she'd be able to spin that against us.

[crosscutting]

No, that'd just put us in a bad light. We'd look like we're trying to snub her, or cancelling something last minute. ...can we make an announcement of our own about the competition? She didn't tell us it was going to happen, so we don't have to tell her how the game itself will work.

[schardynfreude]

Hm... We'd have to move fast, and we don't really have a surefire way to broadcast ourselves--there's the abandoned station [ABANDONED FOR A REASON] but I'm not sure if any of us know enough how to work it to...make it work, hijack whatever system's already in place.

[crosscutting]

Ugh...is it worth at least looking into? Unless we come up with some other thing to prepare first, it can't hurt to try, right?

[schardynfreude]

I'm not ruling it out entirely, mind. It might, in fact, behoove us to see if we can't figure it out to have a little fun with certain potentially broadcastable items during this whole... [He gives a little dismissive handflick.] Charade.

[phantasmagorial]

She can't really think we'd–

[ A pause, as she thinks about Esme's general personality for about two seconds. ]

... no, she absolutely would expect us to turn on each other like that.

[schardynfreude]

She very much would. It's quite cunning. If even one of your ladies lets the idea of power and fame get to you...

[...Hm-] Who all is in this little group again?

[phantasmagorial]

There's me, Ariel, Veil, Medic... Braniac and Autumn and Clocks have been helping too.

[ It's been... a process. ]

Why?

[schardynfreude]

[brightly:] Then it's all fine! I see little risk among the four of you. While Autumn I would be concerned about what might happen when we once again meet Esme, I don't necessarily peg her for being a backstabber.

Unless it's Esme's back being sheared by scissors.

[crosscutting]

[Bro she is Literally Right Here.]

I wouldn't do it on stage...

[daughterofthemark]

It likely means there are more details yet to be settled which will be announced once they've been determined.

[Valuable information!]

[phantasmagorial]

But what details? Surely this can't just be a friendly competition.

[daughterofthemark]

An... unfriendly competition, then? Perhaps she has some unfair advantage she believes will assure her victory.

[phantasmagorial]

If we're going by experience, then she's definitely got us beat. Not to mention how many fans she has...

[ Give her a moment to sigh before she continues. ]

She's almost guaranteed to win. But what does she even get out of it?

[daughterofthemark]

Perhaps she hopes to drive us away? She may believe we'll simply give up if she can win a decisive victory over us.

[phantasmagorial]

It... could be. I don't know if she's the type to rest on her laurels like that, but it's not like we can go any further down with Esme controlling everything. If she thinks she's blocked our path permanently then we really would have no choice but to give up.

[daughterofthemark]

I'm not at all certain what else she could be planning.

[It's a personal failing.]

Unless she means to poison us again, but surely she'd not expect us to fall for the same trick twice.

[phantasmagorial]

No, I don't think she would. Even if it was the only trick she had up her sleeve, it didn't work the first time, so I don't think she'd bother to waste her time trying it again. And I'm not sure when she'd get the opportunity, either.