The Marshmallow Ranch Gazette (Patreon)

Volume 4, Issue 11 - Thursday, July 25th, 2019

Howdy, patrons!

"Crushing The Competition" Episode 18 will be coming a little later this evening, if you're curious! In this one, we continue the shopping montage with Ralph, Claire, and Lisa. Ralph learns a few things about both of them that makes him feel even more conflicted and awkward about his position at Titan Northern, because of course the snow leopard can never catch a break. 

Ryan and I have fallen in love with the Arrowverse shows this summer. We just finished season 4 of "Arrow" and season 2 of "The Flash", and now we're digging into season 1 of "Legends of Tomorrow" -- which I'm sure will turn out to be my favorite of them all. It's great to see Arthur Darvill displaying so much ATTITUDE after getting only small tastes of it in "Doctor Who"; Brandon Routh is actually perfect as The Atom, and after seeing him here I get why Bryan Singer cast him for "Superman Returns" -- he has this good-natured goofiness that's really disarming, but when he goes into hero mode being a bad ass has never looked so graceful; and of course, Wentworth Miller is devouring ALL of the scenery as Leonard Snart/Captain Cold. It's great fun, and I'm impressed with the way the first season balances arcs for each member of the team with an over-arching story. Each member has to deal with their own flaws, but also learn how to work with each other. The pairings for each part of a mission reveal new shades within the characters wonderfully.

As I continue work on "Boundaries", I've become quite interested in the structure of the television episode and season. I've also been watching old episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to get a better feel of the stories being told there -- and to see the progression of the characters throughout the seasons. First season TNG is...quite rough, especially at first, but it's rewarding to see how the writers and actors steadily grow more comfortable with their characters and the world of Starfleet in general. It reminds me that it's OK if a story doesn't come out fully formed right from the start. Sometimes, you have to work on something for a minute before everything clicks. 

I've also been taking note of impressive scenes in the Arrowverse shows to get a better sense of dialogue and character interaction. With "CTC", I'd like to focus on making each character distinct and planting a subplot with each interaction. Each scene should, of course, pull the story forward, but it should also push certain tensions or flaws into the foreground as well. With the current arc I want to use each episode to build towards the Quarterly Mixer in a specific way, so that everything that happens at the party shades or pays off what's come before and introduces new complications to generate more story. Over time, I think I'll get better at hiding the seams on this but for now I just want to do the best job at establishing character, relationships, and stakes as well as I can.

Next month I'll start posting exclusive content for patrons at the Captain Crunch and Lucky Charm levels. Right now it'll be some rougher stuff I'm noodling around with or stories that I'm still trying to shape. BUT "Boundaries" is coming, and I hope folks dig it when it does. Stay tuned for more on that in August. 

That's it for now, patrons! See you later this evening with the next episode of "Crushing The Competition"!

• Jakebe