Screenwriting, Lyrics, Art, and Investigation
Breakdown of television episodes using the Storytelling Enneagram formula.
Each tale, amazingly, has a mini-Enneagram. How charming!
The Tale of Toph and Katara
ONE
Aang shaves his head, Sokka shaves his meager mustache, and Katara arranges her hair loops.
TWO
Cut to Toph in bed, her hair like a wild animal pelt.
THREE
Katara suggests a girl’s day out.
FOUR
At the Fancy Lady’s Day Spa, the girls are pampered. (A pedicure for Toph, whose feet are her connection to seeing the world, does not go well.)
Continue reading “Tales of Ba Sing Se”ONE
Our group rides the train from the outer wall into Ba Sing Se. Sokka jokes about their bad luck, and Katara reassures Aang that they’ll find Appa. As the train passes through the inner wall, the city stretches before them for miles in each direction. Even a giant bison might be hard to find in such a dense metropolis.
They disembark at the train depot. Aang blows his bison whistle with no result.
TWO
An overly-smiling woman approaches. It’s Joo Dee, come to show the Avatar the city. She knows all their names. When Sokka interrupts, insisting they tell the Earth King about the coming invasion, Joo Dee ignores him. He tries again. The camera goes close on Joo Dee’s smiling face: the city is perfectly safe.
THREE
They tour the city in a carriage. Joo Dee explains that the city has many walls to help maintain order. Katara asks why all the poor people are blocked off into this part of the city?
Continue reading “City of Walls and Secrets”Although this is a stand alone episode of the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender, it’s also a continuation — a second part — of the last episode. I’ll look at the Story Enneagrams of both. Let’s start easy, though, with the episode in front of us.
ONE
Fire Nation tanks and the immense drill, looking like a Dune sand worm, drive across the cracked plain toward the wall of Ba Sing Se. Hissing, the drill expands with a steam mechanism.
TWO
In an overlook tower on the drill are Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. The War Minister in charge of the drill is unimpressed that earth benders prepare to attack, but Azula sends her gang out to take care of them.
THREE
In a small canyon, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and the refugees approach the wall. Aang and Momo fly up to meet them. He and Toph earth bend a rock platform with everyone on it up the side of the wall. When they get to the top, the gang gets a good view of the drill.
Continue reading “The Drill”Wow. It’s been almost two years since my previous Avatar: The Last Airbender post. I definitely intend to finish this second season no matter how long it takes, lol.
Since my last look, the live action version of Airbender has dropped. Of course I watched it immediately. Some day I may write an Enneagram Story Breakdown for the season. I would love to compare the two versions, including Character Enneagrams. What changed from animation to live action? And — spoiler — what was lost in the reboot that kept it from being as enjoyable?
For now, though, the guilty weight of the unfinished animation review takes precedence. Let’s go! The next two episodes run together under the title: “The Secret of the Fire Nation”. Will they each have an Enneagram, or are they one complete story?
ONE
The gang — Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Katara — rest and swim at a pool formed at the base of a waterfall. They seem congenial. Sokka looks at the map he stole from the Owl’s library that shows the location of Ba Sing Se. The only path through a series of lakes is “The Serpent’s Pass”, a thin bridge of land.
Sokka mentions that, without Appa’s flying, this is their only option. Katara shushes him, but Aang calmly says he’s okay. He just wants to get to Ba Sing Se and tell the king about the solar eclipse.
TWO
As they prepare to pack up, three “fellow refugees”, including a pregnant woman, greet them.
Continue reading “The Serpent’s Pass”Since I shared my great love of the first game in this series, I thought I’d write a few words about the sequel, which released a few months ago.
My sorcerer pawn and my toon, a Beastren (a cat person).
At level 86 on my second build (level 56 on my first) I can say I played a lot. It’s a fine game. The fight mechanics are good.
Lol, it’s obvious I’m disappointed. The story, which again centers on reincarnation, is not as complete or logical as the first game’s. The end game, the Unmoored World, is overly complicated and unsatisfying. Who thought a pus-dripping dragon fight was a good idea?? I’ve seen reviews that extol the variation available; that wasn’t my experience. The game became repetitive and the replay value dropped for me.
Perhaps, like DD1’s Dark Arisen, a DLC will release that takes the game to a whole new level.
It’s no surprise that playing DD2 only led me back to replaying DD1. The battles are more varied. The outfit options are more flattering. (Don’t underestimate the value of a cute avatar.) And the bread and butter — climbing on monsters and whaling on them — is more consistently designed.
This post is here to relive the glory of a fabulous gaming experience and to promote my Enneagram breakdown of it.
Also, my old lady witch pawn is totally cool.
Four main characters in Season One of Fallout have their own separate Story Enneagrams. In this case, Norm’s Enneagram is also the story of Vault 33.
ONE
Establishing the vault world is Norm’s One. He’s introduced as Lucy’s brother with no indication he’ll have any importance. Hank seems more critical, especially when he greets “Overseer” Moldaver. (Why doesn’t he recognize her from pre-apocalypse times? After watching the entire season we know that she was alive then, even if we don’t know how she managed it. She clearly says that she knows Hank.)
TWO
Norm wanders through the opened door into Vault 32. Moldaver and her raiders have already seemed suspicious. Now we know that the vault is derelict. Norm finds mutilated corpses and comes running home. The mystery of the Vault 31-32-33 triangle is the overall Trouble, but Norm is on his own detective’s journey that starts here.
Continue reading “Fallout Enneagram: NORM MACLEAN, SIX”Four main characters in Season One of Fallout have their own separate Story Enneagrams. We don’t meet Maximus until halfway through Episode One when he’s thrust upon us. It’s not a heroic introduction.
ONE
Fellow companions of the Brotherhood haze Maximus. In class he fails tests and looks like a dunce.
Continue reading “Fallout Enneagram: MAXIMUS, TWO”Four main characters in Season One of Fallout have their own separate Story Enneagrams. Lucy is the first post-apocalypse character we meet in the series.
ONE
Lucy is selected to breed. Let’s not sugarcoat her opening situation. Although she’s cheerful and spunky, she, like every other person of a certain age in the Vault 31-32-33 triangle, is forced to marry a stranger. The show encourages us to gloss over those details.
TWO
Continuing Episode One, Moldaver kidnaps Hank. Not until the final episode do we learn why. This is such very clear Trouble for Lucy. Even her violent raider husband wouldn’t prompt her to leave the vault. It’s only her beloved father who jump-starts her journey. Also, Moldaver tells her, “You look like your mother.” This is another mystery unsolved until the finale. Although it hides in the background, this comment is part of the Trouble.
THREE
Lucy exits the vault. The opening of the door to Vault 33 is the Three. Interestingly, it’s also Norm’s Three (which we’ll see in a later post). The Sixes for each character are very different. I really like that their stories lead them in different directions after they share this beat.
Continue reading “Fallout Enneagram: LUCY MACLEAN, ONE”Four main characters in Season One of Fallout have their own separate Story Enneagrams. The entire season begins with Coop, so let’s start with him. He’s the only character to have a —
LEFTOVER NINE
Cowboy Coop performing tricks for a child’s birthday party is a brilliant choice. We see the pre-apocalypse world, and then the moment when the bombs fall and it all ends. Clues about Coop are dropped: he’s paying alimony, he’s famous (or infamous) for a thumbs-up gesture, and he’s called a Commie. Much later in the season these quick throwaway lines will gain context. However, some moments aren’t explained. Where is Janey? How does Coop go from riding a horse ahead of the fallout to becoming a 200 year old ghoul? Structurally, this is a beautiful Leftover Nine. Hopefully, Season Two will have a Leftover Nine that continues to answer these questions.
ONE
The entirety of Episode One goes by before Coop returns. In the cemetery bounty hunters dig up Ghoul Coop. His character is completely changed, or so it seems.
Continue reading “Fallout Enneagram: COOPER HOWARD, THREE”Episode 8, the finale, of the Fallout TV series . . .
ONE
Maximus rides in a vertibird crossing the Wasteland. Two Knights in full battle armor stare at him with their inscrutable helmets.
He remembers his pleasant goodbye from Lucy. His hand rests on the mangled fake head.
They approach Filly, where an airship hovers above the town. The vertibird lands and Maximus exits, escorted by the Knights. The Brotherhood flag flies. The town has been taken over. Every member of the BoS lines the square; the Elder Cleric waits for Maximus.
Maximus kneels and presents the head. His old friend Dane takes it from him. Admitting that his Knight is dead, Maximus is chastised by the Elder. We’re reminded that Dane also was injured and that some blamed Maximus for it. An assistant verifies that the fake head holds no artifact.
Knights prepare to execute Maximus on the spot. Clerics recite prayers and sprinkle him with hyssop branches. Desperate, Maximus admits he can lead them to the real head. Dane, becoming more upset, kneels and claims that the razor in their boot was self-inflicted. Allowed to rise and live, Maximus again has a thousand thoughts cross his face as he looks at the Cleric and Dane.
Continue reading “The Beginning”