#Episodic

[waifusplit]

That ending is priceless... Episode Gallery

[crag-dreams]

I miss truly episodic TV. Like, I’ve been re-watching Battlestar Galactica, and there’s an episode that’s nothing but boxing matches and flashbacks that do an insane amount of character and plot development. It makes the show even better. This episode would never get made in today’s 8-10 episodes per season, and it’s truly a loss.

[karanseraph]

Bumblebee but like the wandering hero trope

Think about the human companion characters Bee has had in various media. I know he's not the only one, but he's the popular obvious choice for this. Now, give him a series that is episodic and formulaic in the same way that old school Incredible Hulk and shows like that were.

Every week (episode) he's rediscovered in some parking lot or junkyard or campsite or car dealer. He may or may not be in rough shape from A events of last episode or B presumed encounters with bad humans or enemy combatant alien robots between episodes.

A human finds him.

Somehow a plot happens in which this humans most immediate problems are helped by Bee.

Like, Bee doesn't magically make wars end or replace loved ones you lost or make you a billionaire. But he's just sweet and protective and willing to go on a drive to get something done. This helps the human.

Then inevitably some government organization or aliens or bounty hunters show up.

Bee can best protect others by moving on.

It's like his movie, but every episode is a different human, with different problems, and often a different alt-mode for Bee.

Possibly this has already been done in a way I'm not aware of. But it seemed an obvious idea to pitch. So, someone probably has.

There's lots of Bumblebee acting genuinely curious and excited to learn new aspects of human cultures. And there's lots of scenes of humans gently trying to repair an alien robot who may often appear like a car.

[seancamerons]

DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION 6.03 TRUE COLORS // Sean Cameron & Emma Nelson "Nothing could replace the real thing."

[the-overanalyst]

character development in episodic shows is something that can be so personal

[revello-drive-1630]

Kindestod

Episodic art for BtVS 2x18 "Killed by Death". Part of my project to illustrate every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I started back in 2009.

This art is intended for personal use only as a desktop wallpaper. I do not gain any profit from it. All characters belong to their respective owners.

[open-hangar]

New Akkadian Lore Yushamin Ep. 8

SABBI SPECIALTY RECORDS

باسم الحياة العظيمة، عندما نجتمع معًا

Yushamin Aleph, Be, Gim, Xelq

Size: [REDACTED BY SABBI]

Power Output: [REDACTED BY SABBI]

Pilots: 1 active pilot, [REDACTED BY SABBI]

Weaponry and abilities: Highly mobile ground movement, modular weaponry and armor. Strength heavily dictated by [REDACTED BY SABBI]

Etc.: The system by which the Yushamin can be assigned to pilots may be confusing to some, please study and refer to appendix [REDACTED BY SABBI] for the ideal methodology. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE THE YUSHAMIN TO BE ALLOWED MORE THAN NECESSARY EXPOSURE TO UTHRA BODIES. EXTREME MEASURES MUST BE TAKEN TO PREVENT PROLONGED EXPOSURE.

Emergency claxons blare loudly as Waheeda and Syreeta climb into Yushamin Units Aleph and Beh. Waheeda, clad in her skintight, bladed pilot suit, slices her way through the thin membrane on top of Aleph’s head and slides into the warm fluid inside the machine’s cockpit. She closes her eyes, and does her best to begin her meditation and enter into a state where she can see through the statue’s eyes as her own. It takes a few seconds, but she gets there. With every mission, it gets slightly easier.

“Unit Aleph, are you ready?”

“Roger, command.”

“Unit Beh, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“The mission will begin as planned. Step into the launch zones.”

The two Yushamin stand with their backs to the wall of the hangar, when a series of clamps reach out and grab on the statues’ arms, legs, and wings. With explosive force, they are sent upwards to the surface, and further up into the sky and into the waiting grasp of a SABBI airship’s hanging cables.

“SABBI Command Airship Miriai, report.”

“Miriai here, we have the packages. On route to the battle zone.”

“Alepha and Beh, Miriai is in charge of this mission, treat their orders like our own. Over and out.”

The Miriai flies underneath Al’Ahdath Mosul, and swings into a north-eastern trajectory, sending the Yushamin through the tops of some pine-like trees. Obviously, there is no damage, but Aleph (with Waheeda’s mind) is still a bit annoyed. Hey, watch the merchandise.

After a short flight, they come upon the target, a massive feline-like beast. “We’ve identified this as an Uthra, as you’ve been briefed. The weakness appears to be on the back of the skull, so we’re dropping both of you directly on it. We’re dropping on the count of 3, Hayyi Rabbi guide you. 1, 2, 3!”

The clamps holding the Yushamin split open, and the two are within freefall. Beh calls out to Aleph as it pulls out its knife, “I’ll land on the back and go for the neck. You land in front and distract it.” Aleph calls back out in the affirmative, and twists its massive body to change its trajectory.

With a massive crash, the trees that Aleph lands on in front of the Uthra crumple into splinters. The beast reels back in shock, before letting out a splitting roar and raising its cockles. It is at this point that Aleph deeply regrets their choice of being the bait.

Yushamin are large, but this monstrosity was on a different level. Aleph stares down the beast, throwing its melee weapon from hand to hand, before the creature raises its cackles and unleashes a horrifying, disgusting roar. Aleph can only instinctively flinch, and collapse under the creature’s massive weight as it leaps forward and holds the living statue under its forelegs, mauling it with its forearms.

“Beh! Having a bit of a problem here!” Aleph exclaims as it struggles to protect its body from the claws. “I wasn’t expecting it to jump!”

“I understand,” Beh says in a monotone as it leaps onto the creature’s back and crawls along its spine. It bares its knife, and jams it into the back of the creature’s neck, doing little to slow its massive claws digging into Aleph’s armor.

“Hurry up and dig it out, already!” “I understand.”

Beh carves at the neck until it finds its core, a smooth, spherical stone connected to the beast’s body by a number of tendrils. Beh methodically cuts each tendril one by one as per usual, until it stops for some reason. “Yo, Beh, you good? Syreeta?”

The Beh’s claws dig into the stone, and begin scratching at it, as if trying to split it open. Scratch, tear, rip, until the core somehow split cleanly in half, revealing its inside, a geode crystal display of bright amethyst and emerald-like crystals. For a split second, Beh says, “It’s beau-” before the crystals erupt out of the core in a single massive spike, and puncture deep into the Yushamin’s chest.

Aleph and Waheeda watched, first with confusion and then with fear, as Beh’s mouth opened up. Not that mouth, not the humanoid one. The bottom of its chin separates and splits the Yushamin’s skull like a crocodile’s, revealing two long lines of sharp teeth. Two gems on the side of Beh’s head spin around to reveal their pupils, which focus on the core in front of them. Its jaw opens wide, and it bites into the core.

Aleph screams over the comms. “SYREETA! WHAT THE-”

The Miriai interrupts. “THE HELL?!”

Beh rips the core off of the crystal, and swallows it in one bite. Its true eyes manic, green and purple drool dripping out of its skill, the Yushamin digs into the monster’s dead body with a voracious hunger unseen by living creatures. “SYREETA, STOP! I’M STILL STUCK UNDER THIS THING! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

But it still tears chunks of the Uthra and shoves them into its mouth, until in its hunger it bites on one of its hands before it leaves its mouth. It pauses momentarily as it pulls away its severed wrist, but with a renewed vigor, it eats the rest of that arm, and then the other one, too. The Miriai chimes in over comms.

“Aleph! We’re coming to get you, grab onto the clamp!”

“But what about Syreeta?!”

“Leave it! The Yushamin’s chargon levels are off the hook, Syreeta’s almost certainly died of old age!”

Waheeda can hardly believe what she’s hearing, so badly that she momentarily disconnects from the consciousness of Aleph. Knowing, however, that that’s a death sentence, she tries her damndest to reconnect fast enough to grab onto the Miriai’s clamp before losing control again. From inside the Yushamin’s skull, she can feel the entire statue jostle and rise, and she takes the opportunity to crawl out the top.

As the airship flies away, she looks down at the Beh bleeding out on the monster’s corpse. She didn’t even know that Yushamin had blood.

—

1 WEEK LATER

Rami and Syreeta walked into the briefing room, him taking his usual spot at the lectern, while Syreeta sat down next to Waheeda. Tears filled Waheeda’s eyes as her arms began to tremble.

Art by @nebularobo

[worldanvil]

[bloomdigital]

We've updated our Steam page with new screen shots n_<

Can you guess some of the storylines?

[drink-n-watch]

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 14

Those consorts just can’t function without Maomao! I don’t blame them. I would also not be able to do anything without Maomao once I had a taste for her efficiency. She seems to make life a whole lot easier. Especially if you live in a palace and people are trying to assassinate you a lot. Like me! Continue reading Untitled

[filmseries]

Iwaju

I never know with Letterboxd so I'm logging this here too

This is so good. I watched it all in one sitting. It's so beautiful and dynamic. It reminded me of The Lion King and Aladdin: "I laugh in the face of danger"; Poor boy and rich girl; Poor boy shows rich girl the marketplace of the commoners. It's cute.

~ 3.4.24

[seancamerons]

[tapwrites]

Episodic vs Serialised Storytelling

One way of avoiding the dissonance between what the audience thought would happen in a later story, and what does happen in a later story... is to not set up any expectations in the first place.

Star Trek, and The Next Generation are told episode-by-episode. Almost all episodes are self-contained stories, with the only thing carrying over between stories being the characters themselves. And then, the characters don't have any real long-term goals or interpersonal drama carrying through.

So there are no expectations beyond the characters existing next time. That's an easy expectation to live up to, in the next episode.

Some film series are episodic too—think of Indiana Jones. Or Fast & Furious. Nothing changes permanently as a result of one part, at least not stuff that anyone cares about. So fans there aren't hints about what's coming next. And so, fans don't imagine their own stories that would happen next. And then when the sequel comes around, there's no bulldozing their fan-fic, and no let-down that the cool hinted thing wasn't there.

(I mean, Indiana Jones does its best to disappoint in other ways, but not because it's forgotten about the previous film.)

Instead of being left "open-ended," inviting the viewer to imagine what might happen next episode... they are "closed-ended."

Each story ends with the Cosmic Reset Button.

By the end of the episode, of film, or novel, everything's back to the way it was. And the audience can know exactly where they stand next time. Or—in the case of TV broadcast series—they can hop into any episode in any order and they'll never feel they missed something.

Episodic storytelling has its advantages and disadvantages...

Because each episode tells a complete story, the viewer is left satisfied. And, if they like the series, they're happy to enjoy another complete story next time.

The disadvantage is, you don't have hours on hours to build up the drama and suspense and mystery and whatever else you want to use to string the audience along and keep them watching week-to-week. All that's got to fit into 40 minutes. And the thing that keeps people coming back is that they like the characters.

But that's also its strength, as a format. You have to write solid, tight scenes. It has to be interesting all the way through, because you can only fit in the good parts. This is the same reason why novel writers cut things out—scenes, sub-plots, entire characters—to tighten up the narrative, and keep things interesting.

Star Trek Voyager had an over-arching plot about slowly travelling back home, which stayed in the background and poked its head in from time to time. But it wasn't something that weighed heavily on the characters' minds, and so wasn't an ongoing concern pulling on the viewer.

Star Trek Enterprise had 2 seasons with their own over-arching plots, which tied into each episode. But still, each episode was its own self-contained story, with a satisfying conclusion. (It struck a very good balance in my opinion.)

In the old days where everything was episodic, you might have a sprawling epic of a story you want to tell. But you have to cut the fat (boring parts that don't add to the story) to cram it into your 40 minutes runtime.

And you can't just run it over 5 episodes, because the requirements of the format is that each episode can be enjoyed by itself. So edit it down, tighten it up, or that story's getting canned!

With the advent of streaming services, the requirements of the format have changed. And episodic shows have changed with it.

Streaming episodes don't have to fit between adverts; they can be as long as the writer wants them to be. So all the flabby parts that don't need to be there stay in. What's up, Orville season 3?

And streaming series can have as many episodes as the budget allows. So you can take your way-too-long episode script and chop it into 3—who cares? Only now, those flabby boring scenes that don't need to be there take up entire episodes, before the "end" of that arc arrives and things actually happen. Hey there, Andor.

Since Lost started the trend, serialised shows (one longer story told in many parts) are a lot more popular nowadays. These longer stories can really grab your attention with their intricate plots and ongoing suspense over "What's going to happen next?" Although...

Serial writers often forget to make stories interesting as you watch them.

Game of Thrones has a strong over-arching narrative about houses vying for power, back-stabbing ne'er-do-wells, and shocking twists of main characters getting shuffled off the mortal coil. But in the early days, each episode followed one clear thread, ending in a satisfying (or maybe horrifying) conclusion.

As the seasons went on, however, the threads became more spread out. Instead of getting one arc from beginning to end, we would get the middle of 10 different arcs. And, as none of those arcs would end, not a lot of satisfaction would be gotten that way. All you'd have is a tiny bit of progress on all the different arcs, making each individual episode quite uneventful.

...Until the final episode of the season, where everything is--in theory--wrapped up in one go. That's a tall order! And if it isn't handled just right, the whole season, all those threads, all those hours of watch-time can feel like a huge waste of time.

I love slow-burn storytelling. But if the ends don't justify the means (or the ending doesn't justify the slowness of the burn), it's always going to be a let-down. And if the slowness is to the degree of 10 hours of watch-time over 10 weeks of your life... that pay-off better be darned mind-blowing!

[revello-drive-1630]

Single Mother

Episodic art for BtVS 2x12 "Bad Eggs". Part of my project to illustrate every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I started back in 2009.

This art is intended for personal use only as a desktop wallpaper. I do not gain any profit from it. All characters belong to their respective owners.

[open-hangar]

Space Defense Lanzer Ep. 6

LUNARIAN MECHANICAL RECORDS

Μακάριοι οι Παρατηρητές

Prototype Lanzer Type-Artemis

Size: 18m, 51 tons

Power Output: ~800 MW/minute onboard, [REDACTED]

Pilots: 1 active pilot

Weaponry and abilities: Space flight, limited atmospheric flight, modular weaponry and armor. Limited onboard weaponry.

Etc.: Despite appearances, this is NOT to be confused with the MP Synth-OSi-equipped Lanzers, which share lineage with the Artemis. Changes to this Lanzer by anyone other than Lt. j.g. Truth MUST be approved before implementation.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Elysian Truth stood at attention before their mother, as all Lunarian soldiers are trained to do. This is a monumental occasion, as few receive a personal briefing from any one member of the council like this. Elysian felt honored, and was dressed in their finest black flight suit, white cloak, and rebreather mask. They stand at full attention, waiting for an “at ease” that never comes.

Councilwoman Resplendent Truth snaps her fingers, and the room grows dark as a map of what was once known as the continent of Africa extends across the wall behind her. It zooms into the southern half, and then it goes further until it’s just the southernmost peninsula. A striped zone surrounds Kwazulu LBZ to represent Siyanqoba’s anti-air coverage, along with a small flag on its very outer edge.

“Our long campaign pushing the Earthling savages back to their wasteland has proven effective. Our battleships stationed above the LBZ’s ensure that nothing leaves the atmosphere, but our spy scopes believe that they might have figured out how to make their own Lanzers, instead of just digging them up out of the ground.”

Even if Elysian’s face were visible, it would be difficult to gauge his reaction to this. It’s difficult to imagine the Earthlings with anything approaching real technology, but the idea of some of them putting up a decent fight was a little exciting.

“You’re going on a special assignment,” Councilwoman Truth explained. “We believe that they’re planning on testing whatever they’re making outside of their protected area as bait. You and the Type-Artemis are going in alone and taking that bait.”

Elysian’s hand shot up to their chest in salute. “I will track this machine down and annihilate it.”

But their mother wasn’t fast enough to interrupt them. “Unlikely. The Type-Artemis is good, real good, but the smart move from the savages’ point of view is to send a small army along with… whatever they have to extend their anti-air coverage. That’s why once you confirm this thing’s existence, you’ll tag the entire area for orbital bombardment and get out. The Artemis is too valuable to let you destroy it.”

Their mother’s lack of respect for their piloting ability is what really hurts Elysian. With Luna’s help, the lieutenant has racked up a higher kill count than any other Lunarian over the course of the campaign… The councilwoman picked up on this slight hesitation.

“I will stand no showboating or hotdogging. The Synth-OSi AI is without a doubt our most valuable battlefield asset. If anything, ANYTHING, happens to it…”

She marches directly towards her child, and rips Elysian’s rebreather off of their face as a violet haze bellows out of it, and holds it above her head. “We both know the consequences.”

The lieutenant does their best to remain stoic, but the symptoms start kicking in in the predictable manner. First, it becomes harder to breathe. Shallow at first, but slowly growing into something like an asthma attack. Then, their vision starts to blur. Colors start to disappear, and everything becomes blurry and wobbling. And lastly, his muscles start to go. Elysian fights it for as long as possible before their knees start to buckle, and their beet-red face bursts out in shallow wheezing. Resplendent returns the mask to its normal resting spot.

“Dismissed.”

—

“Trajectory proceeding as calculated. Opening heat vents. Heat shield not necessary. Entering lower atmosphere in 5 minutes, approaching landing site in 20. Any further requests, Lt. Truth?”

Luna’s voice wasn’t comforting to most, but to Elysian, it was the sound of their oldest friend. “Nope, proceed as planned. Bring up the most up-to-date aerial map of the landing site, I want to see if our new friend is waiting for us.”

A map flickers open on one edge of the panoramic hud surrounding the pilot’s seat, and Lt. Truth flicks one of their fingers to drag it closer to the front.. It shows a grassland sparsely populated by trees, and is updated once every couple of seconds or so. Sure enough, there’s exactly 1 mechanical object resembling a Lanzer patrolling between two random trees.

“How far in can you zoom?”

The map expands to fill the entire hud, and then focuses in on the object, but it’s mostly just a blurry mess of pixels.

“Would you like me to digitally enhance it, Lt.?”

Elysian shakes their head, knowing that it would be pointless. “Don’t bother, your guess would be as good as mine.” They instead lean their head in and squint, comparing it to their mental database of pre-disaster Lanzer models. “It looks like it’s just a Ground Lanzer… Mark II? But it’s carrying something on its back.”

“Remember what the Councilwoman said, Lieutenant,” Luna proclaimed out of nowhere, almost instinctively reading Elysian’s intentions. They wave the invisible presence away.

“Yes, yes, I know.”

—

The retro-boosters in Type-Artemis’ legs ease its descent into the savanna with no problems, and the hud blinks a red triangle in the distance where the orbiting ships’ cameras spotted the target. Sure enough, it was a Ground Mark II with some sort of large backpack. The lieutenant sizes it up from a distance when a lunarian voice comes over comms. “Lt. Truth, this is the LMS Perseverantiae reporting that we’re ready for bombardment. Just fire the tracker at the location from the catapult equipped on the Type-Artemis from a safe location once you’ve determined the target and we’ll do this rest. Orbital ship out.”

A display on the hud listed all of the Type-Artemis’ weapons in a handy list. Beam rifle, beam sword, tracker catapult. The rifle and the sword were attached to the Lanzer’s power systems and were basically infinite if both reactors were activated (Elysian’s skin itched at the thought). The catapult had a big 1 next to it. After a second’s deliberation, the lieutenant switched over to the rifle, and the Type-Artemis automatically drew it and aimed it forward. It’s just one Ground Lanzer, Elysian thought to themself. Luna didn’t say anything as they marched into range, took aim, and fired.

Luna's aim assist sent the shot directly to where the enemy Lanzer was going to be based on its current trajectory, but it almost knew where that shot was going and zipped laterally, offering Elysian a better view of what was on its back. It was the shape of a turtle shell, covered in plated metal and glass. Is that a second cockpit? No… what good would that do? They didn’t have time to dwell on it before Ground Lanzer determined the Type-Artemis’ position and open fired with its machine gun and forced the lunarian to respond in kind.

The two danced in a violent ballet for several minutes, trading shots and dodging them in kind, all the while the two machines grew closer and closer until they were practically in range to touch. “Lieutenant, we are currently too close to the target. Retreat and fire the beacon.” Elysian didn’t have to voice their disagreement, they were already too focused, too excited, and having too much fun. “Fire the second reactor, Luna.” “That is not a wise course of action, Lieutenant. We are currently acting outside mission parameters.”

Elysian frowned. Luckily, they knew exactly what to do to get the machine’s AI to do what they wanted. He triggered the emergency unequip functions on the rifle and the catapule, which both launched well clear of the battlefield as the Type-Artemis automatically drew its melee weapon. Elysian could have sworn that they heard Luna groan as this happened. “Emergency situation detected. Activating second reactor.”

Magnets in Elysian’s flight suit yank them back into the cockpit’s seat, forcing them to sit at a reclining angle as a 6-pack configuration of large needles press themselves into Elysian’s back around their spine. It used to hurt, but now it feels exhilarating, like the fight was just now getting good. Violet crystals slowly creep in the edges of the pilot’s vision, and with a raspy yell, Elysian fires off a message across all open channels: “Let’s dance!”

Firing the second reactor in the Type-Artemis always had the same effects: Faster boosts, longer range beam sword, more powerful weapon blasts. But the most fun part was always Elysian’s radically improved reaction speeds. Everything moved in slow motion. Every other pilot was just a child in playground equipment. And this one was no different, as it seemed to just stand still and did its best to block and parry elongated sword attack with its pitiful axe.

But then it does something that the lunarian didn’t expect. With an almost pre-programmed motion, the Ground Lanzer grabs the Type-Artemis’ free arm after a wild sword swing, and brings it close into a tight hug. They were too close for the lunarian Lanzer to swing its powered up sword, and the machine’s faces grew close enough to kiss. “Wh… Get off! Savage scum!” Elysian charged up the boosters for a violent getaway, but it was too late.

The earthling machine’s turtle shell blasted off of its back, and swung up and around in a controlled rocket burst aided by a thick cable attacking it to the Ground Lanzer. It was already staring directly into the Type-Artemis’ back as a thick tentacle with its own beam sword ejected out of a metal panel and directly through the lunarian mecha’s head, killing all outside cameras feeding into the cockpit. “Disaster situation detected. Imminent mission failure, violent chargon leakage, emergenc-”

The entire cockpit fills with a thick grey fluid, the sound of igniting fuel, and then darkness.

Art by https://x.com/REEvolt119956

[rawralittlerawr]

Whispers: The United States of Christ on Kindle Vella

Dystopian / LGBTQ Fiction / Alternate History / Political Fiction

Read serialized fiction on Kindle Vella - The first three Episodes of EVERY Story are always FREE!

Alternate History / Dystopian / LGBTQ Fiction / Political Fiction

*A snippet from the Prologue in Episode 1 - "Dear Diary" *

Whispers: The United States of Christ on Kindle Vella

Thirteen years ago a radical religious group bribed and blackmailed three Supreme Court Justices to control the outcome of the civil rights case Obergefell v. Hodges. After their success in swaying the opinion of the court, the emboldened fanatics set their sights on the White House. 

Seven years after the bloody, Inauguration Eve coup, The United States of America no longer exists as a democracy. In 2028 things like freedom, liberty, and justice for all are just words without meaning, relics of the past.

For months there have been rumors that the madman in the White House has cancer, and will be dead before the new year. But his puppet masters are still alive and well, overseeing and controlling the daily lives of the People.

Welcome to The United States of Christ!

A cautionary tale set in an alternate Dark America

"This story feels timely and personal on so many levels for me, and I won't lie, I cried as I wrote the prologue and first chapter."

-Octavia Ambrose (pen)

Read the first three episodes for FREE and catch up before Episode 9 drops. Stay tuned for a recap of Season One so far, and a preview of what's coming up.