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dailyadventureprompts · 2 months

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Tableskills: Making a Game of It

Recently I learned a bit of an unspoken truth that I'd brushed up against in my many years of being a dungeonmaster that I'd never seen put into words before: If you want to liven up whatever's going on in your adventure, figure out a way to engage the players in some kind of game. It's simultaneously the best way to provide a roadblock while making your player's victories feel earned.

This might seem redundant, since you're already playing d&d but give a moment of thought to exactly what portions of d&d are gamified. Once you learn your way around the system, it becomes apparent that D&D really only has three modes of play:

Pure roleplay/storytelling, driven by whatever feels best for the narrative. Which is not technically a game, nor should it (IMO) be gamified.

Tactical combat with a robust rules system, the most gamelike aspect.

A mostly light weight skills based system for overcoming challenges that sits between the two in terms of complexity.

The problem is that there's quite a lot of things that happen in d&d that don't fall neatly into these three systems, the best example being exploration which was supposed to be a "pillar" of gameplay but somehow got lost along the way . This is a glaring omission given how much of the core fantasy of the game (not to mention fantasy in general) is the thrill of discovery, contrasted with the rigours of travelling to/through wondrous locations. How empty is it to have your party play out the fantasy of being on a magical odyssey or delving the unknown when you end up handwaving any actual travel because base d&d doesn't provide a satisfying framework for going from A to B besides skillchecks and random encounters (shameless plug for my own exploration system and the dungeon design framework that goes with it).

The secret sauce that's made d&d and other ttrpgs so enduring is how they fuse the dramatic conventions of storytelling with the dynamics of play. The combat system gives weight and risk to those epic confrontations, and because the players can both get good at combat and are at risk of losing it lets them engage with the moment to moment action far more than pure narration or a single skill roll ever could.

I'm not saying that we need to go as in depth as combat for every gamified narrative beat (the more light weight the better IMO) but having a toolbox full of minigames we can draw upon gives us something to fall back on when we're doing our prep, or when we need to improvise. I've found having this arsenal at hand as imortant as my ability to make memorable NPCs on the fly or rework vital plothooks the party would otherwise miss.

What I'd encourage you as a DM to do is to start building a list of light weight setups/minigames for situations you often find yourself encountering: chase scenes, drinking contests, fair games, anything you think would be useful. Either make them yourself or source them from somewhere on the web, pack your DM binder full of them as needed. While not all players are utterly thrilled by combat, everyone likes having some structured game time thrown in there along with the freeform storytelling and jokes about how that one NPC's name sounds like a sex act.

A quick minigame is likewise a great way to give structure to a session when your party ends up taking a shortcut around your prepared material. Oh they didn't take that monster hunter contract in the sewers and instead want to follow up on rumours about a local caravan? The wagon hands are playing a marble game while their boss negotiates with some local mercahnts, offering to let the party play while they wait. The heroes want to sail out to the island dungeon you don't have prepped yet? Well it looks like the navigator has gone on a bit of a bender, and the party not only need to track them down but also piece together where they left the charts from their drunken remembrances as a form of a logic puzzle.

Artsource

#tableskills #tabletop inspiration #dnd #dm tip #dm tips #dm toolbox #d&d #dungeons and dragons

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sleepy-wyvern · 1 year

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Method Acting | Jack Champion x female!Reader

First pic jacks insta, Second pic

Available on: AO3, Wattpad

Summary: You’re an actress playing Ethan Landry's lover so you and Jack Champion start “fake dating” to help your role for Scream 6. Although you detest the idea of love you can’t help but start falling for his charm. At what point is it real, what is fake, and what is acting? Surely he can’t feel the same way… right?

A/N: This fic is intended to be a romance for my babes depressed you can’t be with your favorite celebrity right now, who are so in love with them it hurts. This fic does not contain descriptive sex scenes but does contain descriptive make out! There are clear references to sex as they film a sex scene!

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to (and inspired by a prompt from) my loyal reader over on ao3, Vanttier. Thanks for all of the comments without you I wouldn't be so motivated to write💙

Disclaimer: All characters sharing names with real people in this work are fictional characters I created and are not intended to reflect the views/opinions/actions of the real actors. I know absolutely nothing about acting or movie making so this is all improvised and likely not accurate at all. The point isn’t to be accurate but just for fun so please be gentle 💙

NOTICE: This fic is based off of the Love Interest, you don't have to read it to understand this fic but this fic contains spoilers for that one, so if you want to read an overprotective!ethan landry x female!reader go check that out out first on AO3 or Wattpad!

ALL CHARACTERS IN THIS FIC ARE 18+!!! MINORS DNI!

“Jack Champion,” the name hummed over and over in your head. He was the one to play the role of your lover and today you were to meet him.

To be honest you weren’t sure that you ever wanted to play a part in a cheesy romance movie. Horror had your heart and you were such a big fan of scream that it was impossible to turn down the role. That and your manager would have your ass for turning down such a legendary role most would only ever dream of.

You weren’t sure how you felt going from a nobody actor to an A-list movie star overnight practically. It really wasn’t something you ever thought of. Sure you dreamt of it from time to time, especially when you were little and your mother held you by the hand to bring you to various auditions as a child. You never thought it would actually happen and never really desired it either. You had fun acting and being in movies bringing characters to life but you were content with just enough to get by.

The only problem with this gig was it was a romantic role and you despised the concept of love. What was the point of it and why was the world so obsessed with it? When all love stories end in tragedy if you wait long enough.

Still, a role was a role. You’ve kissed people on set for movies before with small relationships on screen but never the main romantic protagonist. Especially for being the first movie protagonist without Neve Campbell there were big shoes to fill and surely your social media would be flooded with hate and undesired criticism. Frankly, you would’ve turned down the role in a heartbeat if it wasn’t your favourite franchise.

Anyways, today was the day you were to meet Jack, running through your lines together in the first scene where your character meets his; Ethan Landry. Nerdy cute boy who held a deep dark secret.

Jack was the same age as you, 18, but he had practically grown up on set, and while you were familiar with it since a child you had mainly worked on smaller, more indie films until somehow being noticed. So it was more than a little daunting to meet him, compared to you he was a professional. So were you nervous to meet him? More than a little.

You practically held your breath as the door opened, doing your best to keep looking at your lap as he stepped through the door. How long should I wait until looking…? You wondered.

“Jack,” the script-manager stood to their feet, going to meet him.

You stood to your feet allowing yourself to give him a glance over while he was shaking hands. You’ve seen him in photos where he looked pretty much like a generic gym guy. In person though he was much softer. He looked nerdy and cute with his curly fluffy hair but clearly his toned frame underneath made you feel a little intimidated. First impressions were important, especially with your destined lover.

You fluttered your eyelashes a little shy as his brown eyes looked into yours. The moment he spoke you realized that despite your nerves he was adorable and sweet, seemingly awkward but that just added to it.

“Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Jack.” The words were simple but as he held his hand out to yours his voice seemed to hum through your body.

Your eyes catch for a moment on the metal chain around his neck as you move your hand to his. His grip was just firm enough as if he noticed how timid you were.

His eyes seemed to shine in the light while you spoke “Hey, I’m y/n but you probably already know that.”

You feel heat rise to your cheeks as you wonder if you unintentionally came off way too cocky. He seemed to find it amusing though as he let out a small chuckle.

The director seemed to find this a good sign as they glanced between us “good, you’re acquainted. Are you ready?”

It dawned on you again that this was the guy you were going to be having to do sex scenes with.

“Yeah, I think so,” his voice answered and you were too afraid that if you tried to speak a squeak would come out of your throat instead.

“Don’t worry,” his voice was softer than you expected, he must've noticed your nerves. “I don’t bite.”

“But do you stab?” You found yourself wide eyed and he laughed; the sound hummed through your entire body again, swirling around your heart like silk.

“Sometimes,” he replied slyly and you mirrored his smile, tucking your hair behind your ear nervously. It was then that you noticed he was wearing a black Stabathon shirt that seemed to frame his body perfectly.

You tried to distract yourself by focusing on the character you were to play. She was meant to reflect on the average female viewer of the movie and an insertion of the average scream horror fan. It was a total “I can fix him” plot line with a cheesy romance of a girl stopping a boy from being a mass murderer. Completely unrealistic and if anything just plain bad advice, if you felt like living anyways. Still, you liked her and her strength in the script especially towards the end.

Your nerves were still fluttering when you sat across from Jack at the table. You didn’t realize how tightly you held the paper script until you noticed there were wrinkles in the corners.

Relax, y/n. Nothing you haven’t done before and nothing you can’t handle.

Amongst all of the stress with Jack you almost forgot your other co stars were there too including Devyn. She was to be Anika, your Instagram model roommate. Essentially the polar opposite of who you were to play; you were someone who wore horror movie shirts and ripped jeans while she was always trendy. You were thankful for the comfortable wardrobe at least. Even though your characters were totally different, you grew together that way encouraging growth and adventure.

“Hey, y/n,” Devyn had a sweet smile and comforting aura about her that you enjoyed.

“Hey,” you smiled softly.

“Ready?” Jack asked. He was looking at you intently and you forgot how to form words for a second.

Devyn glanced between you both and it took all of your willpower to not blush. It felt like everyone at the table was thinking about the same thing: the fact that you two were going to have to have sex together.

You nod though with wide scared eyes “as I’ll ever be.”

Devyn laughed leaning over to touch your arm gently.

Someone read out loud the setting and you weren’t sure who. Your eyes were reading your first line over and over in your head. When it came your turn to speak though the words came easy. At least with Devyn aka Anika it had. She made it feel like you were already best friends and roommates. She suggested you room together too to help even further.

The wandering thoughts somehow helped distract you from the guy sitting across from you, puzzling over his script like it was a crossword. It took all of your strength to ignore the way his muscles flexed when he moved.

“Come on, it’ll be fun. There will be lots of boys there.” Devyns voice next to you piped up “you like boys right?”

“Sometimes,” you said with a sly undertone the exact way Jack had said to you earlier. The idea had popped into your head the moment before you said your line, and although you were looking at Devyn you felt him look up from his script with a smile.

While you did take the tone and attitude from him, it was your head-canon that your character was bisexual even though the line likely just meant that she wasn’t interested in the types of boys these parties attracted.

The next lines seemed to come more naturally as you played off one another. She was the encouraging roommate trying to get the shy one to go with her to the party. Really Anika was a great friend to your character and you admired that, perhaps wished you had it yourself.

When you reach the scene where you both pour a glass of alcohol you find yourself wishing you had one, knowing it was soon to be the first dialogue between you and Jack.

You effortlessly deterred the fuckboy in the script that was later to harass Tara when you found your heart started to race, pounding louder and louder in your eardrums.

“What kind of boys do you like then?” Anika asked.

“Cute, nerdy, fluffy haired boys,” you answered. The words came naturally because it was true for you too. You avoided looking across the table.

“Ah, the first murder suspects.” She replied and you wondered how your character didn’t take the hint then and there. “Well, let’s drink to you finding a boyfriend. Or at least some good dick.”

She held up her water bottle to you and you laughed genuinely, doing the same as you clinked your bottles.

“Perfect,” the script director commented while you drank.

Out of the corner of your eye though as you drank you met his gaze, forgetting your unspoken rule to not look across the table. Brown and soft, his eyes made you feel like there was no one else in the room except you both. Your heart seemed to catch in your throat as he smiled softly.

Too quickly the moment had passed though as someone’s voice narrating the scene popped the bubble you shared together. You looked down at your script biting your lip knowing what was to come.

Jasmin had spoken up for her first dialogue with you as Mindy. Her voice was very different when she acted, more confident and cocky as her character was especially about horror movies. You knew your character couldn’t compete with her on trivia but she had the same adoration for horror. The lines of your shy character came easy, especially with your genuine discomfort with romantic relationships.

But now you knew it was time. Your first lines with Jack.

While Anika and Mindy have their playful conversation you imagine being there at the party. Loud sounds, people talking, constant movements and noise. Usually you would try to avoid letting yourself feel this anxious but it was important for the script.

You imagined yourself flopping against the old college couch as the script manager narrated.

Jack's voice was suddenly different, softer this time and more nervous as he looked at you but not into your eyes as if suddenly nervous.

“You look like you’d rather be anywhere than here,” he said with a cautious smile.

“Yeah, well, you’re not far off.” Part of you wondered if you were having a real conversation or were acting. “I’d rather be watching scary movies. I'm only here because Anika invited me,” and because your manager would kill you if you turned down this opportunity.

“Me too,” his eyes sparkled as he looked at you before glancing down to his lap “oh, uh, I mean about the scary movie part.”

“Oh yeah?” Despite your character's confidence you felt your arms start to shake, trying your best to suppress it. “What one’s?”

You found yourself leaning across the table pressing your elbows into the sturdy wood to hide your shaking. You held your head in your hands as if actually on a date with him, curiosity mixed with shyness. A date with Jack Champion…

“Slashers,” he admitted, only making careful glances into your eyes as his character Ethan would. Jack gestured to his Stabathon shirt playfully and it took all of your being to not giggle.

You channel your laughter into excitement for your line “I love slashers! They’re like my comfort movies.”

Somehow, some way, he started to make you feel more comfortable just sitting here talking to him.

“I would’ve panned you for more a Quentin Tarantino fan,” he admitted and you remembered you were supposed to be dressed as Mia Wallace.

“Oh don’t worry, I am. D’Jango? Kill Bill? How could I not be!” You exclaimed “you have me there. Slashers though, they have my heart, truly. Just I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to dress as Uma Thurman.”

“Understandable, pulp fiction is what really got me into movies.” He smiled looking into your eyes the steadiest he has since reading the script. “What’s your favourite slasher?”

“Hmm, I have to say stab.” When you answer Jack's face turns into surprise and shock as he gestured playfully to his shirt again.

“Really?” He says with eyebrows raised and you swallow your laughter.

Talking to him was so… natural. So fun as you bounced off of each other's lines so effortlessly. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as difficult as you thought it would be.

In fact when the narrator started reading the scuffle between Sam and the fuckboy you started looking forward to more small talk with him, something you normally dreaded.

“Hey,” you whisper to Jack loud enough for the others to hear. He leaned forward across the table playfully as if to listen to your secret “uh, how about that movie?”

Mason, who played Chad, looked at Jack with an impressed gasp. Devyn did the same to you but hers was more shock that melted into approval.

“Y-yeah, I’d love to,” for some reason hearing Jack stutter made something stir in your stomach.

That’s when you realize the racing in your heart, the way your cheeks heated when you looked at him and the light fuzzy feeling in your stomach.

No. No way I was in love with Jack Champion. No, no, no, no. Your thoughts buzz and spiral as you recite your lines. This can’t be happening.

“Wonderful,” the director praised as the scene ended, “If I didn’t know any better I could’ve sworn you were actually nervous with a crush on Jack,” he chuckled.

You felt Jack’s brown eyes on you as you looked at the director, swallowing hard before you spoke “thanks. I practiced.”

CONTINUE READING ON: AO3, Wattpad

===

Thanks so much for reading, read the rest over on AO3 or wattpad!

Hope you enjoyed and had a great day my lovely reader!

-Wyv

💙💙💙💙

#jack champion #jack champion imagine #jack champion x female!reader #jack champion x reader #ethan landry x reader #ethan landry x female!reader #ethan landry #scream 6 #scream vi #scream 6 spoilers #scream vi spoilers #jack champion x actress!reader #fake dating

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vintagetvstars · 9 days

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Nichelle Nichols Vs. Yvonne Craig

Propaganda

Nichelle Nichols - (Star Trek) - She speaks for herself. Legendary, iconic, at the forefront of feminism and civil rights in the 60s, she is a triple threat who did so much more. She volunteered from 1977 to promote recruitment diversity within NASA, including some of the first female and ethnic minority astronauts. Martin Luther King Jr. compared her work on Star Trek as a 'vital role model' to the civil rights marches. She refused to be dismissed, fought for visibility and shone whilst doing so. As a woman in stem, and simply a woman she means the world and stars above to me.

Yvonne Craig - (Batman, Star Trek) - 7 year old me didn't know she was a lesbian but she sure knew she liked batgirl

Master Poll List of the Hot Vintage TV Ladies Bracket

Additional propaganda below the cut

Nichelle Nichols:

She is the original badass babe. She was a black woman in a leading role on TV in the 60s, a trailblazer for black actresses for years to come. She is so beautiful and so awesome.

she's fantastic. have you seen her? paved the way for black actresses on TV even while her lines and scenes were being cut and improvised the most iconic uhura line in the series. (sulu: "I'll save you, fair maiden!" uhura, pushing him away: "sorry, neither!") she's incredibly talented and it's a crime the show didn't give her more screen time (or make her sing more often because she also has a beautiful voice!)

“Sorry, neither” in response to “fair maiden” was ad libbed by her. There’s a lot more I could say but what else do you need??

A sci-fi icon!

She was such a trailblazer, and Uhura was such an important character for so many people to be able to see on TV. Apparently Mae Jemison (the first African American woman to go into space) cited her as a reason she wanted to become an astronaut. She was just an absolute legend!

The story of Martin Luther King telling her not to quit Star Trek gives me chills. Representation matters. “Thank you so much, Dr. King. I’m really going to miss my co-stars.” Dr. King's smile, Nichols recalled, vanished from his face. "He said, 'What are you talking about?'" the actress explained. "I told him. He said, 'You cannot,' and so help me, this man practically repeated verbatim what Gene said. He said, 'Don’t you see what this man is doing, who has written this? This is the future. He has established us as we should be seen. 300 years from now, we are here. We are marching. And this is the first step. When we see you, we see ourselves, and we see ourselves as intelligent and beautiful and proud.' He goes on and I’m looking at him and my knees are buckling. I said, 'I…, I…' And he said, 'You turn on your television and the news comes on and you see us marching and peaceful, you see the peaceful civil disobedience, and you see the dogs and see the fire hoses, and we all know they cannot destroy us because we are there in the 23rd Century.'"

She shared the first interracial kiss on Star Trek, helped propel real life African American women into space-related careers, and looks divine in a mini skirt.

HOW DID UHURA WALK BACKWARDS SO FAR??? WOW!

#vintage tv stars poll #tv ladies 1 #nichelle nichols #yvonne craig

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lordystrange · 1 year

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10 best byler proofs by me

10. The cast, especially David (who knows the ending) and Finn (who might know something), are always so happy talking about Byler. They wouldn’t be if Will ended up dying alone as a sad gay. Also no one likes milkvan except maybe Millie unless she’s acting… Caleb even said ”Lucas and Max’s love is real unlike Milkvan’s”.

9. Mike has been queercoded throughout the whole series. Especially with queer colors, he spent s4 dressed as a gay pride flag. Also bi and pan colors are associated with him. Also Ted’s ”our son with a girl?” and everything Eddie said about forced conformity etc

8. Byler parallelling other romantic ships like Jancy, Jopper and Lumax. I’m not listing examples because there are SO MANY! (Also Milkvan parallelling all the platonic/dead ships)

7. Mileven being bones. We have nothing that shows their actual, deep love they’re ”supposed to have”. We don’t know what Mike loves about El and what El loves about Mike. We don’t know what makes them a compatible match romantically. We only know things that don’t make them compatible: El feeling the need to lie to Mike, Mike feeling embarrassed of his nerdy self with El, El feeling unloved by Mike, Mike feeling inferior to El…

6. The desert scenes. The triple take ofc, but also the car roof top convo with Will (jancy parallell). Will is talking about how it’s scary to say how you really feel because what if they don’t like the truth. And Mike NODS. If the truth was that he loved El exactly like El wanted, El would like that truth. So what is the truth Mike is worried that El doesn’t like…?

5. Mike’s monologue. He had to be pushed by Will to open his mouth. He lied about him loving her at first sight. He copied the t-shirt part from Eddie. He kept saying she’s his superhero which El doesn’t wanna be. He didn’t include anything personal about El and their relationship after the t-shirt thing… Also El didn’t seem to like what she heard and their love didn’t save the world. And they didn’t even talk after it. And while filming it they didn’t focus on just the couple (like they did with byler in s2 shed scene) and they let Finn improvise as if it wasn’t that important (as important as the van scene…)

4. Mike would be so poorly written if he wasn’t into Will and I don’t think the Duffers would just ignore his character. Also all the lip glances and heart eyes wouldn’t make sense.

3. Byler/Milkvan contrast. When Will was gone and they found his ”body”, Mike heard Will breathing in a radio channel and believed he was alive. He didn’t rest for a second, he did everything he could to find him. When he thought El was dead, he didn’t go looking for her, even tho a couple times he actually saw her. Also in s3 when Milkvan had a fight, Max said Mike will be crawling back to her begging for forgiveness in no time. Instead Mike laid on a sofa and ate and complained. When Byler had a fight… well we all know what Mike did then.

2. Mike and Will’s relationship has always been different from other friendships. They’ve said it themselves (”pls don’t tell the others, they wouldn’t understand”, ”Hawkins is not the same without you”, ”you make her me feel better for being different”). Also their scenes together have always been a big deal (van scene took an entire day to film, crazy together was written before s1 was even filmed) and they are shot in a really romantic way (music, lighting…)

1. In the beginning of s3, Will said to Joyce that he’s not gonna fall in love. That made his arc about romance. We know now that he already fell in love, but he doesn’t believe it’s requited. If s5 goes from ”i don’t think he loves me back” to ”he doesn’t love me back” we get literally nowhere and the entire storyline (since s1) would be useless and waste of time and money. They wouldn’t make Will suffer 4 seasons and then suffer some more. So believe me when I say it goes ”I don’t think he loves me back” to ”He does love me back!”

I wish you all a very merry byler endgame in s5! 💚

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profwonderbearthementalista · 2 months

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Mentalist Trivia - Improvised Scenes

For @katebeckets and @whydoyouhavetobefictional.

All the improvised scenes (that I know about) in the show. If you know anymore, please let me know. If I remember any more, I will add them to the list.

1x14 - 'There's no business like Cho business' is an adlib from Simon Baker

S1 - the conversation between Wayne and Grace about carrots and the bloopers of this scene is hilarious.

5x02 - when Charlotte (Dove Cameron) rolls her eyes at Jane (Simon) and he says don't roll your eyes at me

5x04 - Jane's handshake with the mob boss

EDIT 5x14 - the poker scene that was gifed by @tmsource and @katebeckets. Robin dealt those cards to Simon on their second take and Jimmy Gadd (our lovely editor) decided to use the scene in the show.

EDIT 5x21 - when Robin hits Simon on the arm as she is driving and her smile immediately afterwards. He then mentions anger management classes referring back to 3x20 Redacted which is her punishment for punching a suspect for Jane.

ADDED 5x22 - Robin had a hand injury which is why she is wearing a cast on her wrist so the dialogue between her and Simon about it was improvised.

ADDED 6x22 - according to a tweet by Emily Swallow, Simon actually hurt his ankle when filming the airport scene so Jane limping and sitting with his leg propped up is not scripted!

7x05 - the final scene when Jisbon are talking about their future plans. You can tell as Simon's accent slips into Aussie and he directed the episode so kept it in.

7x13 - the crazy dancing of the cast was scripted but the selfie between Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt was an improv.

ADDED 7x13 - the triple kiss between Jane and Lisbon was an improv according to a tweet by Robin Tunney as she stated she had 'never seen a lip wipe in a script'.

@magicandmaybe

@backgroundagent3

#the mentalist #tmsource #jisbon #patrick jane #teresa lisbon #robin tunney #simon baker #jane x lisbon #lisbon x jane #amanda righetti #owain yeoman #wayne rigsby #grace van pelt #tim kang #dove cameron

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escapetothelake · 3 months

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I want to go home.

VANDERBOOM CLAN APPRECIATION └ LEONARD VANDERBOOM

leonard :( i had to improvise with his quote, but i took it from the trenches scene where he thinks of the vanderboom home. god, he just breaks my heart... he deserved so much better. consequentially, he's one of the most enjoyable vanderbooms to speculate on. there's just so much potential there.

if you want to take part in vanderboom appreciation month, the prompt list is here, or located at @rustylakeappreciation's blog.

bonus:

leonard loves pigeons :>

(source)

#tw blood #tw death #rusty lake #cube escape #rusty lake roots #leonard vanderboom headcanons (mine)#leonard vanderboom #my headcanons #my graphics #gif #rustylakeappreciation #vanderboommonth2024

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redux-iterum · 19 days

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if you dont mind me asking, how do you plan what to write? im trying to do my own rewrite but i'm struggling a bit

So I’ll cover how I do a rewrite specifically, since that’s a little different from original works like a webcomic or a book. What I use personally is the “Snowflake Method” – start big, go small.

Start by figuring out what you want to do with your rewrite. Are you trying to make the story better? Is it an AU with one major change that alters the course of history? Are you just adding mythology? What’s your goal here? Rewrites should have a point that will help define how your story shakes out. For the purposes of this ask, we’re going to assume it’s just a major-change AU.

Once you have the purpose, you can start planning. The first important thing is to get a general, overall idea of how the story will go – something basic like “Firepaw joins ShadowClan right when Brokenstar comes into power, and he ends up leading a rebellion and defeating Brokenstar and his lackeys”.

You may have ideas at this point for small scenes and snippets of dialog (God knows I always do), so write all the little things you want to have happen down in no specific order, just as they occur to you. Save those for later.

With your general idea, start breaking it up into somewhat smaller story beats. “So Firepaw joins ShadowClan, then he’s taught how to fight, and he struggles because the fighting is so violent and cruel and he’s so young. Then he sees how Brokenstar leads and doesn’t like it, and he talks to his Clanmates and discovers they don’t like it either.” And so on, until you get to your ending. Remember, you don’t need to get too detailed right now; you’re just cutting the pie into smaller pieces over time. Those slices can get smaller as you go on.

If you have those small scenes and ideas laying around, start going over the generally-planned stuff and seeing where you can add in those things. Some of them, you’ll have to get rid of, because they don’t work or make sense, or they’re not fitting to the tone of the story. That’s totally fine. Killing darlings is part of the process. Those you can keep will help connect things together.

Continue getting more and more specific as far as you need to. “Firepaw fails his first fighting lesson, then he goes home in shame, then he’s talked to by Nightpelt who is sympathetic to his shame and admits he doesn’t like Brokenstar’s leading methods, which causes a small idea of changing things to bloom in Firepaw’s head”, etc. If you’re a thorough architect like me, you need as many details as you can get, but some people are good to stop at this point, or even before it, with vague notions they can write down and improvise in.

If you feel it would help, at this point you can write a detailed synopsis for the entire story – I do it chapter-by-chapter, listing everything that happens in each chapter so that I have bite-sized summaries that are easy to look through and change things in. Some people just need a general idea and they’re good to go, and that’s fine.

The one thing I want to emphasize is to keep in mind that you're doing a rewrite, and so you should ideally have something that makes your version stand out from canon. Things are a little easier because you have bedrock to work with that you can alter or discard as you like, but you still have to alter if you want your rewrite to not just be "canon but one tiny thing is different".

I hope this helps! Apologies if it's a little scattered, I'm very tired and distracted today.

#ask #bearoftheages #i speak #writing

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phoebepheebsphibs · 5 months

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Hide & Seek references compendium

I put so many little easter eggs and hidden things in my Hide and Seek fic, so here is my little ongoing list of references I purposefully put in the fic for those of you who like this kind of thing idk man

Chapter 1, Disney's Hercules: "Hey, Mack! Ya wanna buy a sundial?" Disney's Jungle Cruise: “Trader Sam’s! Come shop at Trader Sam’s! He’ll give you a great deal on shrunken heads! Two of his heads for one of yours!” the Holmes Hotel, Hugh's Pies is a reference to Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron series, Lilo's Stitches and Embroidery is a nod to Disney's Lilo and Stitch, "Crusty the Crab" is a nod to Spongebob Squarepants, Chell's Portal Stop is a reference to the game series Portal, and the final scene is from the ROTTMNT episode "Hidden City's Most Wanted".

Though this is not technically a reference or Easter egg, I wanted to add this note… I made a point of referring to Splinter as Lou Jitsu when he was mad or angry or selfish, and as Hamato Yoshi when he was scared or sad.

Chapter 2, Leo's determination to have Raph call him "the world's greatest ninja" is a reference to the film, Leo's quote "Land safely!" is taken from the episode "Mystic Mayhem" as well as the episode "The Evil League of Mutants", Leo's complaining to be leader is a nod to his future role, Raph referring to his father as a "sewer monster" is a reference to the episode "Man vs. Sewer", Splinter has a flashback from the episode "Goyles, Goyles, Goyles" and the line "OW! Why, you little--!" is also taken from that same episode.

Chapter 3, Mikey's dream is obviously a nod to all that he will do in the future.

Chapter 4, The origin of Lace Face from the episode "Man vs. Sewer".

Chapter 5, Phineas and Ferb "Escape from Phineas Tower": "That's some mole!" The line "Raph! Your enormous body is crushing me!!” is a reference to Disney's Lilo and Stitch, "sweater town" is a reference to the Gravity Falls episode "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel", the line "I didn't want to believe it, but... *sigh* science." is taken directly from the ROTTMNT film as well as a moment when Leo mentions that Donnie was wrong, Donnie uses two really's, a reference from the episode "Breaking Purple", Donnie gives Leo the comic seen in the episode "Jupiter Jim Ahoy!"

Chapter 6, Splinter's tv flips through several channels which include clips from media. These include a Thomas Sanders vine with "Weatherman Al", the quote "My leg!" from Spongebob Squarepants, part of the Fairly Odd Parents' theme song, Mrs. Cuddles' catchphrase "Let's be friends forever!", "I've got bad feeling about this" is a quote from Star Wars, the fake show about "Goosey" is an easter egg to @gooeseyleo and her Gooseyleo series. When Leo goes onstage, he does "a few improvised dance moves", which is a nod to Ben Schwartz and some dance moves he did in the Netflix improv comedy special "Middleditch and Schwartz”. The Lou Jitsu play the boys perform is a parody of the Godzilla franchise and the Pacific Rim films. Donnie's line "I strive for accuracy" is a reference to @sleepis4theweak 's comic (which I think about every gosh darn day), Horsebot-3000 and Splinter's line "I liked Horsebot-3000" are references to the show Community, season 3 episode 7: "Studies in Modern Movement".

Chapter 7, in the illustration Leo and Donnie are wearing Transformer and Decepticon t-shirts, respectively, and in the background you can see spray paint that spells out "Atomic Lass", as well as a drawing of the turtles' weapons.

Chapter 8, a young BEBOP AND ROCKSTEADY make an appearance, as does a very young Harvey Hokum from the ROTTMNT comics. When Bebop tries to sell Leo, he calls him “Shelly”, a reference to my pet turtle of the same name. In the illustration you can see a goldfish on the shelf, which is meant to be Piebald.

Chapter 9, How It's Made, APRIL O'NEIIIIILLLL, Harvey Hokum, Warren Stone and Kendra are referenced, "Operation Blue Suede Shoes" contains the title of a song, a reference to how in the show there are several similar code-names used for the characters ("Purple Rain" for Donnie, "Yellow Submarine" for April, etc.) Leo says that Mikey has empathy amplified, a reference to the fanfiction of the same name written by @filsa-mek on AO3.

Chapter 10, the boys watch "Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit". Leo promises to never leave Raphael alone and to always find him. Raph offers several scenarios that actually happen in the future where Leo searches for Raph - sewer monsters (a reference to the episode Man Vs. Sewer), getting captured by bad guys (the episode Bug Busters), and aliens attacking (the events of the film). The chapter as a whole is also based off of a few sketches I made - one of which shows the boys watching the film with Splinter, and one where Raph has a bad dream and wakes up to seeing he hurt Leo, who offers to help and gets the bros together for a turtle pile.

Chapter 11, the episode is heavily inspired by an episode of the audio drama series Adventures in Odyssey, specifically the episode "Mandy's Debut". The line "Wow, the shortcake of death" is a reference taken from said same episode! During Leo's flashback, a reference to the meme "She knocked that smug look off my face, but fourtunately I had a smaller smug look underneath" when Leo takes off his sunglasses to reveal a cooler pair of sunglasses underneath. Leo and Raph make a note to the fact that Leo is not the eldest in this universe.

Chapter 12, Raph, Leo, and Mikey teach April a game they play in the episode "Late Fee". When using sign language, Donnie tells Leo to "Stop yelling at me", which is inspired by a moment in Spy Kids 4. April introduces Raph to Ghostbear's starting career. Mikey repeats a line from the episode "Bug Busters", which is "Remind me not to ask questions anymore." Mikey uses the phrase "hydrate or die-drate", which is taken from a meme but is also something I say constantly as well. When in the Hidden City, Splinter hears people calling out to customers, one uses the lyrics to the Fairly Odd Parents' theme song, another is selling Mary Poppins' umbrella, a third is selling the three mystery journals from Gravity Falls, the fourth is selling Cinderella's glass slippers, and the last one is selling the Stanley Parable bucket of reassurance. Ochimizu is a Japanese mythical elixir of eternal life. The introduction and origins of Loathsome Leonard and the Mud Dogs. Malicious Mickey uses the "creepy doctor" line from "Stuck on You".

Chapter 13, Donnie delirium is directly based off of my own experiences with delirium, as well as his and Leo's conversation about whether or not Leo would miss him when he dies (which was an actual conversation I had with my mother when I was sick with croup as a little girl). The second half of that conversation was adapted from a scrapped fic called "The Kids Are All Dying". Donnie references the song "Big Yellow Taxi". The seven-tailed fox comes from Japanese folklore, but specifically this one was a reference to Naruto! Mikey sings the first line of the "Wonderfilled" song by Owl City. The secret ingredient being a discontinued soda was inspired by the ending of the musical "Be More Chill". The toad yokai becomes Heinous Green.

Short story, in the illustration you can see several signatures and sketches on Leo's cast, such as Raph signing "Mad Dawgs" and Mikey drawing his stickers. On the wall behind Leo is an eye exam that has the words "RISE" and "PHOEBE" on it. There's also a computer monitor in the back with Leo's vitals on it, as well as a notification about the trackers, and a list of all Hamatos Donnie tagged.

I will update more when I post new chapters... ;)

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #tutant meenage neetle teetles #rottmnt raph #rottmnt leo #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt fic #rottmnt fanfic #fanfiction #i understood that reference #reference #easter eggs #hidden refrences #did you catch that?

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