#episodic structure

[stuff-of-legends]

My Persona 6 pitch

My take would probably be a political thriller. The player character would be the newest recruit for a government response team for the supernatural. He is between post high school-early 20s. Their starting persona is Gawain of Arthurian legend.

While P5 was about rebelling against the system, P6 is about changing the system from the inside.

The plot structure is episodic with a series of 5 seperate cases that tie together in the end chapter (which is the jan-march months in the past games).

Gawain was famous for the story Gawain and the Green Knight which has him face a series of dillemas before facing the titular character. In modern takes, these dilemmas take on an ethical dimension which my story will have as well.

The rerelease would be an interquel with a different protagonist- a female activist on the streets. She and the other player character knew each other because they both awakened their personas years before. They serve a similar role to Tatsuya and Maya from P2. They would pop up in each other's stories but not playable.

The government response team could be a new iteration of the shadow operatives but im not sure if P5 was connected to P3 and P4. Either way the player characters will be new characters.

The velvet room is a office space with the attendant being estranged from the other attendants from previous games.

The mascot is either a centuries old mythological creature that hints at other Persona stories set before any of the other games or a fussy AI that lives in a wristwatch.

Iany thoughts, suggestions, critiques are welcome.

[leonardcohenofficial]

the hate for the most recent episode of severance is so silly to me sorry i don't watch this show for ships and you all don't like kitchen sink drama with greek tragedy level stakes and also hate women <3

[biblicalhorror]

Thinking about how Pete used to be a priest and Kevin's (unnamed) mom was a nun. The fact that Pete was clearly stripped of his title. And we don't hear anything about Kevin's mother beyond the fact that she's dead. Thinking about how Diane says that she thinks of Pete as her "creepy uncle" and hates him. Thinking about how Kevin being born was likely a huge scandal for Pete and his mother and led to him being kicked out of the church. Thinking about how Pete doesn't seem to have any remorse at all for the potential abuse of power that occurred which led to Kevin's conception. Thinking about how Pete was the one most likely to make jokes objectifying women with Kevin. Thinking about how Kevin was likely raised believing he was some sort of miracle or chosen one, destined for great things solely because acknowledgment of the shame surrounding the circumstances of his birth would require Pete admitting fault. Thinking about how normalized it must have been in his childhood to see women being talked down to, objectified, sexualized and made into nothing more than plot devices to powerful men. Thinking about the sense of entitlement he must have had baked into him, and the deep fear hiding underneath all of it that one day everyone is going to realize he's his father's biggest skeleton in the closet. Thinking about this show having one of the most nuanced and complex portrayals of the cycle of abuse and patriarchal violence that I've ever seen!!!

[starleska]

it is so funny to me that in the second episode of each of his seasons, the Fifteenth Doctor has been tied up by a member of the Pantheon of Discord in some fun 'rope' related to their powers...and this isn't the first time a villain has done this to the Doctor full stop!! RTD, your The End of Time is showing 😳

[lesbiradshaw]

my favorite unwilling duo <3

[fatalism-and-villainy]

We watched Doctor Bashir I Presume the other night and jesus christ I forgot how much this episode makes me want to rip things apart with my teeth on Bashir's behalf

[rainscenes]

the thing is that i wouldn't put it past buddie to be so linked that they both end up at the conclusion of it all separately from each other but at the same time. and then they'll both go home to the house that they're living in together with the intention of confessing and go. i have something to share. and then the other one says, i also have something to share. and then they'll stand there like those couples that were planning to propose to each other on the same day

[ouidamforeman]

I keep remembering various DW expanded universe material where time lords are compared to Christian priests in different ways and it’s like ????? That is Always on my mind. Always. Time Lordism as religion. As asceticism. As being pure and holier than thou and strict and adherent. As puritanism. As deprivation and isolation and devotion. I am Thinking about it!!!!!!

[writing-is-hard-af]

Apparently an unpopular opinion in the Fandom rn, but I actually think the lack of focus on characters besides Athena and Chim beyond the bits we get made sense. (Though, this opinion may shift if the next two episodes do not focus more on the other characters).

Because Athena and Chim were the ones most directly involved in Bobby's death, and I think they couldn't have logically focused on any other characters' grief above these two in this episode without it feeling disjointed. I understand the little focus we get on Eddie, Buck, and Hen's grief. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy we haven't seen it yet, but I do strongly believe that the next two episodes will dive into theirs more closely. Because this episode had to be about Athena and Chimney.

Chimney’s survivor guilt had to be addressed first because it would be tormenting him no matter how little he wanted to accept any of it. There was no logical way around that for his character.

We needed to see Athena process it all first because no matter how important Bobby is to the rest of them, he truly is most important to her, and she lost him right as they were about to start fully living their lives together on their own terms, their own soil. It’s tragic and painful and a cruel fate for him, but with it nonetheless happening, they had to focus on her most. And she deserved the focus of this episode. I get that the case/procedural kind of plot wasn't received super well, but I really do feel like it made some amount of sense. Could it have been told differently? Yes, I think they could've done a different case, a different person's grief. But I do think seeing Athena burying her grief in another person's and doing everything she can to help someone else and avoid her own is the only way they could have written her grieving in character. The way Athena has always coped in this show is by throwing herself into work, into helping other people resolve their struggles before she even tries to face her own. And while I think the specific plot was a bit odd of a choice for this kind of plot when Athena herself was not in a state of denial but rather avoidance, it truly showed the way Athena grieves. And while much of the funeral was rushed, not given the screen time it deserved, for any of them, the scene in Minessota was just. So achingly painful but beautiful at the same time. This episode was genuinely good and gutwrenching and the cast all did a phenomenal job with it.

This episode did not need scenes of Buck and Eddie's reunion, or much of their interactions. Not because it isn't important, but because this episode was not about their grief, not quite. I truly believe that theirs will be the focus of the last two episodes. This first episode after Bobby's death was about Athena. It had to be. And Bobby's death broke apart the team, it sent cracks between them. None of them were together when it happened. And honestly, I think that's part of the point of showing them individually grieving, splitting apart the grief. Because even though they are a family with and without Bobby, his death splintered them in a way that they are going to have to heal from and healing is not going to be something any of these characters immediately seek out others for. All of them, despite loving each other fiercely, have always stubbornly held their fears and pain within themselves to deal with alone.

Buck is clearly pushing his emotions as far down as possible to be there for the rest of them, because that's what he thinks Bobby told him to do. The others need him, so his grief comes last. Eddie wasn't there, his grief is so wrapped up in his own guilt that the grief is buried. Not quite denial, I think, but close to it. Hen is processing it, but she so clearly is in a similar boat to Buck, of burying her own feelings about it deep to try to be the steady rock for the rest of them. The three of them will have their grief, but truly I think theirs needed to be after the funeral, after he was buried and they all need to figure out how to go on, now that, in a way, it's really final, official.

This episode was Athena’s and Chim’s. The rest will come. And through that, they'll come out on the other side together. Pushing all of their grief into one singular episode would have been a disservice to them. And while sidelining main characters is not necessarily something I enjoy on this show, I do think in this specific episode, it made sense for the majority of it.

You don't have to agree with me. It's okay to be upset and angry, and I truly get it because I am too. But I also think we need to look a bit more into this episode beyond the idea that they didn't focus on these characters, and they added a plot beyond the funeral, so it's bad. Because there is more to what is there than what wasn't there yet.

[stardatez3ro]

D A T A L O R E 🤖🎭

(click on the img for better quality // reblogs appreciated !!)

[hoarding-stories]

I will never not be quietly obsessed with wtnv's "A Story About-" series (13, 45, 109, 130, 246, 269)

The framing and narrator shifts that allow for a broader perspective, the fun meta-ish poking at Cecil narrating everything, and especially because I'm a sucker for a good death allegory

[fagulaa]

Something I really love about the Silt Verses is how, in a world of gods and monsters, how grounded Faulkner's trauma [and relationship with his father] is. Especially as the season moves on, and the stakes amp up [and up] its so unexpectedly piercing to be presented with this exploration of childhood abandonment/negligence, inter-generational trauma, the indignities and stress that comes with unexpected elder care/early onset Alzheimer's. You're so locked in to these grander, more abstract concepts that your defenses are down! Mine were, anyway. TSV is so good at cutting its grand, complex plotlines with simpler [but not shallower] gutpunches, and it just grounds the whole thing.

[shannonsketches]

Rewatching Battle of the Gods and mAN. If you're ever scrolling my dbTag and going 'Sketches, what do you mean Toei does the same plot but completely changes the story, that makes no sense.' I'm talking about Character-Driven Storytelling. And the difference between Toriyama's Character-Driven Story and Toei's Plot-Driven Story is Most Glaring in comparing Super's movies and the anime retellings of Super's movies, because the screenplays for the last four movies were written by Toriyama, and obviously the show was not.

I saw BotG back first when it came out, before the anime was released, and The Point Of It was that it was the very first Dragon Ball story in which Goku failed and Vegeta was left in the position of The Protagonist, due to all of the growth he experienced in DBZ (Beerus in this movie takes Goku down immediately, and does not compliment him at all. King Kai, in this movie, has nothing rude to say about Vegeta and just warns him not to engage with Beerus because Goku just tried and lost, which freaks Vegeta out). So even while Goku still is the guy who gets to fight Beerus in the end, the majority of the movie is about Vegeta's efforts to not have a fight at all.

Like this is the Whole Thesis of Super (as Toriyama wrote it). Vegeta is being handed the mantle of Earth's Guardian (because as Piccolo points out later, he was a Prince and is becoming nostalgic as he gets older (as so many do), so his role is slowly coming full circle back to a proud inherited leadership position, which Goku has no interest in.)

You may have seen me complain about Vegeta and Bulma's dynamic being weird and bad in the anime despite them having been married for ~12 years by this point.

That's because the reason for and the dialogue from when Vegeta gets to the party was completely revised. In the show, Vegeta goes because Bulma yelled at him.

In the movie, he is still wearing his armor because he left training and went straight to the party with the Express Purpose of keeping everyone safe. Bulma not only knew Vegeta was training and expected would be there eventually, but also immediately recognizes something is wrong when he does finally arrive, because he is still wearing his armor, and she notes that him being broody like this is, by this point, unusual.

His behavior is, of course, is because he because he is trying to sense Beerus -- who he has just been told would destroy the Earth if anyone engaged with him. The game of the whole movie becomes Vegeta acting Completely Insane and throwing his pride aside to make sure everyone is safe, because protecting Earth and his family has become his top priority.

His frustration isn't because he finds her or any of the Z Fighters annoying. It's because he is trying to manage a problem that he can't tell anyone about, for fear that the other fighters will get involved and try and solve the problem -- especially if they learn this man's harmed Goku -- and Vegeta knows their good intentions will only make matters worse.

His outburst is because Bulma is (two glasses of champagne into her day and) trying to talk to him while he's trying to concentrate on locating this massive incoming threat he can't find. And what's more is that his raising his voice to Bulma is a shock to everyone.

Including Bulma.

Because the point is he is not normally like this.

And even though Vegeta can't sense Beerus' ki, he knows when Beerus is present, because he is suddenly terrified.

And then the gag becomes that Beerus speaks to Vegeta only, and Vegeta doesn't yet remember exactly who Beerus is or what he looks like, so he looks Completely Insane trying to find him,

When Vegeta does finally find Beerus, he immediately remembers who he is and treats him with the utmost respect, because he understands how Heirarchy works (this is completely changed in the anime, and turned into an attempted fight, for some reason).

Because he will not tell anybody what's going on, who Beerus is, or why he's there, because the risk is JUST too high, he just plays along with Bulma's assumption that they're friends of his. Which means Bulma (who is absolutely plastered) happily invites them to come party with everyone, leaving Vegeta the incredibly comedic task of running context-free interference for the universe's most temperamental god while the most fight-minded people on the planet are getting drunk.

Toei loves pretending Vegeta can't interact with people in a normal way, but Toriyama loved reminding the class that Vegeta is a seasoned professional with 25+ years in a semi-corporate military force who can and regularly does behave as one.

The whole bit of this arc is Vegeta being so scared of his planet and his family being destroyed (again) that he is willing to sacrifice his pride to herd a cat, because Dragon Ball has always been a comedy and Toei is so bad at remembering it's a comedy

I will also die mad that in the anime Gotenks fights first, when in the movie Trunks (as he has before) got involved when he saw Beerus beat his dad, and Vegeta begged him not to fight. Gotenks getting spanked (literally and figuratively) by Beerus is also what got Vegeta back on his feet.

Then there's this (y'all when I tell you someone at Toei fucking hates Vegeta,,)

For context, in the anime Beerus compliments Goku and insults Vegeta. Surprisingly no one, in the movie it is The Opposite. Beerus never says a bad word about Vegeta (and doesn't say anything to Goku after their first fight), and compliments his fighting instincts. And that's before Bulma gets hit.

In the anime, Vegeta can't do anything to Beerus, who drags him for like two minutes straight. Then he walks away from Vegeta, who cannot bring himself to stand, and takes his aim.

In the movie, Vegeta gets back up when Gotenks is knocked down, compliments Beerus, and accepts that the gap is too wide between them. Beerus decides it's time to be done here and charges directly at Vegeta.

Vegeta does not defend himself, does not dodge, does not flinch, and does not break eye contact. Then he says it might be an honor to be killed by Beerus (complimenting Beerus) (where in the anime he says it might be a proud way to go (complimenting himself)), and is ready to die on his feet.

(note: He doesn't say anything about pride, because his actions speak for him, as is very commonly the case with Toriyama's Vegeta, whose pride is loudest in his quiet confidence, not in his insecure outbursts).

The other major difference I absolutely hate in the anime is that for some reason they decided Beerus hitting Bulma was a long, drawn out, dramatic thing.

In the anime almost a full minute passes between her hitting him and him hitting her back. She hits him first, then lectures him, then the rest of that time is spent cutting between Beerus winding up and Vegeta reacting to him winding up, despite The Rest of the Party standing Right There and anyone could've easily pulled her away (Piccolo, for example, is unharmed and standing, and is literally like ten feet from where it happens. He has expanding limbs. Non-Issue of Moving Bulma).

NO. [spray bottle sounds] BAD WRITING.

The point of that moment, in the movie, is that it's a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment. THREE SECONDS pass between the moment she strikes Beerus and the moment he hits back. Vegeta only has time to be shocked that Bulma slapped him, because Beerus' rebuttal happens So Quickly, absolutely no one could've reacted fast enough to stop it. And even if it had been more drawn out -- because Vegeta had Beerus follow him away from the party to fight so that nobody else got hurt, Gotenks and Bulma both end up following him out there, and while everyone else stayed back and watched, nobody was close enough to stop it.

The point of that moment is to be Shocking. There is no wind up, there's no drama, there's not even a music cue. It is Completely Unexpected, for the characters and the audience alike, and that's why Vegeta has such an extreme reaction. He had No Time to brace himself for what was about to go down and No Time to change it.

This is another scene that was fully About Vegeta that Toei made About Someone Else (Beerus), changing the shot to a group shot of his power up and immediately having Beerus block all of the attacks, where Toriyama said, "Vegeta's strength scared the SHIT out of Beerus for a hot sec"

And if you've been following along in my vent tags about why Toei's writing is so bad and what they constantly center everything around, you can probably guess why the premise for this movie was changed so dramatically. But if you're new here, it's this:

It's because Vegeta's SSJ1 could do what Goku's SSJ3 couldn't.

And Vegeta didn't even notice, because he is not Trying to beat Goku. After his own fight and until he shows back up, Goku's probably only mentioned twice, because this ain't about him. Vegeta's not even really trying to beat Beerus here. He's not trying to prove anything. It's not about power or pride or saiyans or being the best, it's PURELY about protecting the people (specifically in this instance, the woman) he loves. ALL of which become the theme of, "Vegeta you are stupid powerful when you can stop overthinking everything."

But that's not allowed in Toei's writing room, nO SIR!!!

Bonus Part 1: Someone at Toei Hates Vegeta part 41238712: The episode About Vegeta's Response to Bulma Getting Hurt is basically titled 'Yay, Goku's Back', because despite stretching this 1hr45m movie out into 14 Episodes, the one that is about Vegeta surpassing Goku (in the movie) and fighting to defend his wife of Over a Decade is a five minute fight scene followed by twelve minutes of Oolong's two minute rock-paper-scissor gag.

What was the fight scene, you may ask??? Instead of having Vegeta know he's not strong enough and still stand in Beerus' way, for Beerus to say 'chill out, I told you it's over' and tap Geets on the forehead to knock him out cold, like the movie --

They decide to have Vegeta just stop trying mid-fight, have Beerus tell him he's too weak to be a threat, then add that he had more fun fighting Goku before knocking Vegeta on the chin and having him land on his back fully conscious.

God I hate Toei's writing aksldjlaskdalkj

Bonus Part 2: That thing Vegeta spent the entire movie trying to avoid telling his wife because it would've scared the shit out her and ruined her party, scares the shit out of her and definitely would've ruined her party.

Crazy that he knew that and did everything in his power to keep it from becoming her problem. He treats her like she's his wife or something ahahaha 🔪 toei 🔪 hahaha

anyway if you figure you've seen the anime so you don't need to watch the movies cause they're basically the same no they're not they're only the same in terms of Basic Plot Points, PLEASE do yourself and your writing skills a favor and watch the movies

[cesaray]

[deancasforcutie]

a very happy Destiel Decennial to the jilted lover what team is he playing for beef jerky and menthols episode! anyway Dean and Cas fucked in the first episode of the guy who made them canon 😌

[iinryer]

like genuinely. did something get fucked up in the editing portion of making this episode or what. I know we’ve been poorly paced for a while but that was something else. i cannot get over buck explaining the baking thing TWICE. that is just. completely incorrect for tv format storytelling. unless they were going to keep bringing it up with the same wording as a running gag, we as the audience have that information already. the rest of the characters should have been credited with that knowledge already that’s how it WORKS ON TV. why did they give it to us in two scenes in the exact same way. what is going on. I feel crazy