#ilwd2k21updates

      “all right. we’ve got five contestants so far, so it’s time to start picking rooms! here are a few of opelucid’s finest that i’ve had my eye on:

      “for the minimalist, there’s this room in the shades of grey luxury suites:

      “for any scifi lovers among you, the cosmic expedition hotel has a wonderful outer space-themed room for your enjoyment:

      “and then there’s a taste of shanghai, run by the city’s proudest shanghainese, whose penthouse even has its own pool:

      “but if you want something a little more classical, there’s this suite in the grand european:

      “and, lastly, my favorite: the famous ‘purple room’ in opelucid’s house of royal reveries!”

[Warning: Very suggestive content during Ursula’s performance. No, she’s not naked, but she almost is, and her dance moves don’t make it any better. If you want to skip that, Ctrl + F the timestamp [1:55], which should take you to Zoey’s part.]

Because I forgot to post this before I posted the performances, since it happens before the Themes and Freestyles. Pre show………GO!

@imbicilite@aquaviolent@caelumsaltator@kalosian-writer@yellraiser@invictarre@151seen@drkvoids@thelittlestdemon@cosmacy@aeshmedai@a-hell-of-a-lot-of-muses@corvidmagicae @dragonskxn​ @necromagicae@twinleaf-royalty@raysofpokemuse​ @fallenxspirit​ 

so, usually before the performances in my contests, there’s a party with a buffet where all the coordinators and spectators can come together. however, unfortunately, i’ll be largely unavailable for that because quite frankly today is going to suck. one, i’m applying to law school, and taking care of that stuff is probably going to take all morning. then in the afternoon, right after lunch, my family is dragging me on a small trip to a place that’s about an hour away from here, making for a 2-hour round trip. honest to god, i only get one day off and it seems that every time it rolls around it either goes by too fast or i have a shitton of things i don’t want to do that starts clogging it up. but it has to be done.

i will try to create a sentence starters meme on my lunch break, but no guarantees. this is because my days off are the most comfortable time to do all my judging, and i will probably use any free time i have today to pre-judge the three newest appeals that are going to be released tomorrow. (this is especially since i won’t have computer-with-internet access for most of today.) lowkey, if anyone would like to do a sentence starters meme for me or help me make one, please go ahead i will thank you forever.

@imbicilite @aquaviolent @orresnatcher @diamontha @caelumsaltator @kalosian-writer @pokepolemis @yellraiser @invictarre @151seen @drkvoids @aeshmedai @a-hell-of-a-lot-of-muses @corvidmagicae @dragonskxn @necromagicae @twinleaf-royalty @raysofpokemuse 

so, i’ve been thinking……there will undoubtedly be hundreds of nameless spectators at the event, and a lot of actual muses watching too, but in-universe, what makes the ones who registered OOC-ly distinct from the others? i was thinking that the 10 people are VIPs. one VIP slot went to ghetsis of course, because he’s the king, and another went to palmer/twinleaf-royalty because he’s a co-sponsor. but the other 8 were open to the public and issued by lottery with an entry payment--and all of the proceeds would be donated to charity. the perks of being a VIP spectator include:

entry into the official sweet love soiree group chat, where they can mingle with contestants and judges.

entry into the official sweet love soiree opening gala (the coordinator meet-and-greet).

room and board in the finest hotel rooms that opelucid has to offer, starting one week before the contest. (more penthouse suites? maybe……i’ll think about it :3)

front row center seats to the performance itself, with free in-house catering. (literally, the front row seats of the mendelssohn auditorium are freaking dining tables where you can get served food during a performance. and some of that food is from the family’s very own farm & garden.)

the opportunity to meet the judges and performers while they are preparing, plus backstage after the showcase is done for an exclusive look behind the scenes.

@imbicilite @aquaviolent @orresnatcher @diamontha @caelumsaltator @kalosian-writer @pokepolemis @yellraiser @invictarre @aeshmedai @a-hell-of-a-lot-of-muses @corvidmagicae @dragonskxn @necromagicae here comes the first announcement of the contest! this is how it works. every judge is now going to get a JUDGE’S CHOICE +15 bonus that they can give out to their single favorite performance. essentially, this is a mechanic in lieu of voting. the judges’ votes will be given out after all the performances are over. so if you think you did badly, or if you’re missing out on a top 3 spot by just a few points, not all hope is lost: catching the attention of a judge could be a real game-changer!

the performances are in the order that i have read and/or judged them, with a couple of exceptions. these exceptions are that whitley/imbicilite has asked to go last, and then there’s UG’s shylow, who is currently receiving medical attention. which means…

@drkvoids​ / tobias

@thelittlestdemon / shylow

@kalosian-writer / jules

@aquaviolent / wallace

@yellraiser / piers

INTERMISSION

leon / @invictarre 

spirit / @fallenxspirit 

birdy / @cosmacy, red / @151seen OR kamui / @caelumsaltator 

same as above

same as above

fabien / @imbicilite 

EMERGENCY BREAK

The lights go down. The music starts to play. A single spotlight opens up onstage, on Ursula in a skimpy crystal bikini, one that looks as though it’s about to burst at the seams of her fake chest and ass…although, given the kind of news she wants to spill, how she managed to stand still long enough for the rest of her to be painted in gold-and-silver glitter is a mystery. She struts forward and swings her hips, as though about to start performing. The Poké Balls clipped to the infinitesimally thin string of each side of her bikini jiggle with her.

And then……

“Cut! Cut!”

She means to say ‘cut the music,’ but in her rage, that’s all that comes out. Meanwhile, Tobias and Zoey come on from backstage, Tobias in a fresh martial arts suit, Zoey in a new figure skate outfit--this time masculine rather than feminine.

“What’s going on?” Zoey says. “Aren’t we doing the closing show?”

“We will,” Ursula says. “Just as soon as I make this announcement!”

Zoey looks at Tobias. Something isn’t right here.

“Ursula, you can announce it after the performance,” he says. “I don’t know what it is, but it can’t be that important.”

“It is that important,” she insists.

“Well, what the heck is it that’s soooooooo important that you want to interrupt your own show like this?” Tobias asks.

“Just let me finish!” she screams.

Zoey shoots her a look, like a mother looking at her disobedient child. “No, Ursula. Get back in your place. It’s not too late to do this over.  Please, step back to center stage and we’ll go right back to where we’re supposed to be.”

“OH YEAH? WAIT UNTIL YOU FUCKING SEE THIS!!!”

THE DISASTER TO END ALL DISASTERS CONTINUES HERE!

@imbicilite@aquaviolent@caelumsaltator@kalosian-writer@yellraiser@invictarre@151seen@drkvoids@thelittlestdemon@cosmacy@aeshmedai@a-hell-of-a-lot-of-muses@corvidmagicae @dragonskxn​ @necromagicae@twinleaf-royalty@raysofpokemuse @fallenxspirit

“so! i’ll start,” zoey says, trying to ignore the still-sobbing ursula in the background. “i think you all will find it no surprise that my judge’s choice award goes to LEON. your performance perfectly encapsulated everything that this contest was supposed to stand for--reconciliation, forgiveness, moving on, and of course, since this is valentine’s day, unbreakable bonds. while i did have some minor criticisms, that doesn’t take away from the fact that your performance is quite easily the most memorable and uplifting of the night. you couldn’t have picked a better time to send this message, and it’s one i’m sure will resonate with your fans for many years to come. well done!”

the audience applauds in approval. tobias is next, but he’s taking his sweet time waiting for the applause to die down. with leon netting that +15 bonus, he’s pretty far ahead--so the real contest, he supposes, would be for second and third, and if he’s to achieve maximum saltiness from ursula, he really has only three choices: birdy, jules or fabien. well, 15 points isn’t enough to put jules in the running, so she’s out…hm, which would piss ursula off more? birdy being lifted to second place? or fabien being lifted to the top 4, a scenario in which both appeals aimed at ursula would receive awards? choices, choices……

as soon as the applause dies down, though, he seems to have made up his mind.

“an excellent assessment there, and i’d give my bonus to leon as well, but i want to give some love to a performance that’s been rather underappreciated,” he says. “one that clearly drew its attention to the past events of this contest, the tangled history of the sweet love soiree. one that leaped to new heights in its defiance and daring, representing a victory not only moral but personal over the abuse rained down by an uncaring world. i was truly moved by the performance of which i speak, and i can tell it’s one that the audience will never forget. and so, it’s my great pleasure and honor to award my judge’s choice bonus to FABIEN!”

“HUH?????” ursula yells. “are you trying to screw me over again?”

“name the first time i tried to screw you over,” tobias says airily.

“well--that’s--” when you made a fucking group chat just to hate on me, she wants to say, but she’s barely managing to save that exposé for when the time is right. “who cares? you obviously only picked fabien just to piss me off. just like you only gave him a good score because he tried to piss me off!”

“excuse me?” tobias says, flawlessly feigning offendedness. “that sounds like the sort of shoddy judging you would do, ursula. don’t drag me down because you think i’m just as bad.”

“well, i don’t believe you,” ursula snaps. “if you get to pick someone just to piss off another judge, i get to do that too! and so, my judge’s choice award goes to TOBIAS!”

“what?!” lobias looks more confused than angry.

“’cause he’s not your friend anymore. how’d you like that?” she says smugly.

“well, if you were looking to make a supereffective hit, let’s just say i’m actually immune,” he grumbles. but no. he’s so not immune. he can’t stand the thought of an ex-friend getting those precious fifteen points.

“ursula, please reconsider,” zoey says, rubbing her forehead. “why don’t you give those points to wallace? or spirit? or kamui? you really seemed to like those three…”

“NO. TOBIAS. ONLY TOBIAS,” ursula huffs.

“ursula, stop being unprofessional,” lobias says. as if he’s any better.

“well, if we wanna talk professionalism, what about the fact that three people did performances just to upset me in the first place? isn’t taking out your grudges on a judge the most unprofessional as you can be?”

“i’ve already commented on how i think that’s wrong. but that doesn’t give you license to do the exact same right back,” zoey sighs. 

“UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” she groans. “you know what, if you’re gonna be like that, i’m going to go backstage and i won’t come back out for the ending until you let me keep my score!” and with that, she runs offstage.

“wait! ursula! come back!” zoey cries, running after her and leaving lobias alone at the table.

“there’ll be no convincing her, clearly, so i guess that settles it,” he says with a shrug.