User blog:Gideoncrawle/New Year's special - LTDI update and preview

It’s that time again—time for another status update and sneak preview of my TDI remake, The Legend of Total Drama Island (LTDI). This preview is the third in a series to tide you over until LTDI is ready for its official launch.

LTDI Status Update
LTDI currently stands at about 45,000 words. By comparison, that’s a little more than what Life After Lies currently has, and is fairly typical for a finished competition story. The difference, of course, is that LTDI is nowhere near finished.

I don’t have any finished episodes yet; but several episodes are pretty well advanced and the entire elimination order is set. The first challenge and the phobia challenge are still the furthest along, but the paintball deer hunt and the “scary movie” scenario are also well advanced. (Yes, Virginia, LTDI will have the Escaped Psycho Killer With a Chainsaw and a Hook. I simply get too much inspiration from that guy not to include him.)

LTDI is shaping up as a fairly dark story on the whole, but it has its share of lighter moments. Tonight’s preview scene is one of these.

Because this is a New Year’s weekend post, the scene I have chosen fits the “renewal” theme and also ties in with an impending event in my own life. I can’t tell you which episode this scene comes from because it mentions a challenge winner, and I don’t want to hand out spoilers.

The next preview is scheduled for Valentine’s Day, and will feature a scene or scenes appropriate to the date.

Earlier Previews
For anyone who missed them, I previously previewed a scene as part of my 1,000th Edit post and two additional scenes as part of my Halloween-themed 2,000th Edit post.

Tonight’s Preview
“Turning the Page” from undisclosed episode

After the campers had choked down their dinner, Hatchet announced that the dessert course would be something special. He then disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the campers to speculate worriedly on what was in store for them.

After a couple of minutes, Hatchet brought out a large, round, frosted cake, on which 16 candles burned cheerily. Chris prompted, “One…Two…Three,” and everyone began to sing:


 * Happy Birthday to you,
 * Happy Birthday to you,
 * Happy Birthday, dear Sadie,
 * Happy Birthday to you!

The Muskies sang politely, but without much enthusiasm, because the fact that Sadie’s birthday just happened to fall on the day of a challenge was the reason Chris had given for handing down a controversial ruling in favor of Sadie and the Eagles. Sadie’s teammates, by contrast, sang heartily for the same reason.

When the verse was concluded, Katie added the obligatory tag line, “And many more,” because, as Sadie’s BFF, it was her place. By this time, Hatchet had placed the cake on the table, in front of the birthday girl, and had withdrawn to the background.

“OK, Sadie,” Katie prompted, “Make your wish.”

“Oh, I wish—“ Sadie began excitedly.

“No, no, no, no, no,” LeShawna interrupted hastily. “You know better than that, girl. If you tell us your wish, it won’t come true.”

“Besides,” Beth added helpfully, “we already know what it is.”

That seemed true enough. Under the circumstances, it was inconceivable that Sadie’s birthday wish would be anything other than to reach the finals with Katie.

Sadie took a deep breath, leaned forward, and blew with all her might. She then gave a little cough, as commonly happens when someone has completely emptied her lungs, and straightened up to inspect her handiwork.

On one edge of the cake, three candles continued to burn.

After Sadie dispatched the holdouts with a second breath, Hatchet cut the cake and distributed pieces to everyone, including Chris and himself. The teens were pleasantly surprised to discover that the cake (a spice cake with buttercream frosting) was of high quality. Apparently, Hatchet could actually cook well when he cared to, and the campers now suspected that the unappetizing fare he usually served them was part of the master plan—a psychological hardship intended to help separate the game’s contenders from the pretenders.

By the time everyone had finished his or her cake, darkness had fallen, and Chris got back to business.

“OK, you know the drill,” he declared. “Muskies, to the bonfire.”

''NOTES:


 * ''The canon identifies all the contestants as being 16 years old. In LTDI, they have all just finished their sophomore year of high school. This is similar, but allows for 15-year-olds with summer birthdays. The canon actually alludes to this with the revelation that Katie has a driver’s license and Sadie doesn’t.
 * The birthday cake Chef serves is the author’s favorite recipe.