skills/ai-film-pipeline-master/references/phase-01-story-generation/INDEX.md

# Phase 01: Story Generation & Narrative Engine

This module governs high-level story generation, macro structure, character design, tension, openings, endings, reels engagement hooks, short-form retention craft, and heritage worldbuilding.

## Contents

**44 files · 1,332 craft cards.** Every file is linked directly, so nothing here is more than one hop from you.

| File | What it covers | Cards |
| :--- | :--- | ---: |
| [`interactive-and-branching.md`](interactive-and-branching.md) | **Interactive and branching narrative** — **Every `inter.*` card** - every piece the viewer navigates, on a feed or not: branching shape, agency, in-world writing, interactive nonfiction and testimony, generated and conversational pieces, second person, choice framing and option order, timed choices, string budgets, the meaningful-choice test. <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 74 |
| [`short-form-craft.md`](short-form-craft.md) | **Short-Form Craft & Scripting Cards — Master Edition** — High-retention hooks, micro-narratives, and vertical short-form beat compression <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 87 |
| [`structures.md`](structures.md) | **Structure systems** — Classic story structures: Three-Act, Hero's Journey, Save the Cat, and 5-Act forms <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 110 |
| [`cat-char.md`](cat-char.md) | **Character Design, Desire, Wound and Lie** — Fundamental character design: desire, core wound, lie believed, and primary motivation <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Novel, Limited Series / Drama, One-Hour Drama, among 12 formats* | 34 |
| [`cat-char-2.md`](cat-char-2.md) | **Character Design — Part 2** — Character flaws, secret wounds, psychological contradictions, and internal stakes <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Novel, Limited Series, One-Hour Drama, among 16 formats* | 40 |
| [`cat-char-3.md`](cat-char-3.md) | **Character Design — Part 3** — Advanced character craft: disguises, double identities, crowd roles, and moral drift <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 45 |
| [`cat-char-4.md`](cat-char-4.md) | **Character Design — Part 4** — Writing real and non-actor subjects: sayable lines, class tells, representative burden, audience review, language, and memory <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Limited Series, Novel, Heritage Documentary, among 19 formats* | 10 |
| [`cat-anta.md`](cat-anta.md) | **Antagonist, Opposition and Obstacle Design** — Antagonist design, nemesis profiles, opposing forces, and obstructive barriers <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 27 |
| [`cat-anta-2.md`](cat-anta-2.md) | **Antagonist and Opposition — Part 2** — Antagonist depth: justified motivations, philosophical foils, and systemic opposition <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 31 |
| [`cat-beat.md`](cat-beat.md) | **Beat Exchange, Action and Reaction** — Action-reaction beat exchanges, micro-negotiations, and momentum shifts <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly novel, screenplay, stage play, teleplay, among 11 formats* | 32 |
| [`cat-beat-2.md`](cat-beat-2.md) | **Beat Exchange, Action and Reaction — Part 2** — Ensemble, mediated and off-screen beats; beats in song and other media; handoffs, pressure, notation, and testing <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 39 |
| [`arcs.md`](arcs.md) | **Character Arcs** — Core character transformation arcs, positive/negative changes, and tragic trajectories <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 41 |
| [`arcs-2.md`](arcs-2.md) | **Character Arcs — Part 2** — Complex arc architectures: flat arcs, corrupted arcs, and collective community arcs <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Limited Series, Novel, Comics, Feature Film, among 33 formats* | 12 |
| [`cat-end.md`](cat-end.md) | **Endings, Payoff and Resolution** — Climax resolution, thematic payoffs, poetic justice, and emotional aftermath <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 24 |
| [`cat-end-2.md`](cat-end-2.md) | **Endings — Part 2** — Ending choices by genre and form, final-season and interactive endings, credits, short-form closes, and ending rewrites <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 40 |
| [`cat-end-3.md`](cat-end-3.md) | **Endings and Last Lines — Part 3** — The chapter ending as a prose-specific close and continuation device <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Long-Form Non-Fiction, Memoir, Middle Grade, Novel, among 6 formats* | 1 |
| [`cat-expo.md`](cat-expo.md) | **Exposition and World Delivery** — Exposition delivery: invisible exposition, scenic embedding, and lore distribution <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 33 |
| [`cat-expo-2.md`](cat-expo-2.md) | **Exposition and World Delivery — Part 2** — Exposition by genre and apparatus: casualties, jokes, incidents, canon assumptions, voiceover, interviews, graphics, framing text, and found documents <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Series, Feature Film, Novel, Documentary, among 48 formats* | 28 |
| [`cat-expo-3.md`](cat-expo-3.md) | **Exposition and World Delivery — Part 3** — Complex world exposition: esoteric magic, deep lore, and multi-generational history <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Educational, Explainer, Corporate, UX Writing, among 29 formats* | 12 |
| [`cat-expo-4.md`](cat-expo-4.md) | **Exposition and World Delivery — Part 4** — Written-form exposition: re-entering a novel after a gap and the framing furniture around a page <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Comics, Novel, Audiobook, Essay, among 10 formats* | 2 |
| [`cat-info.md`](cat-info.md) | **Information Control, Reveal and Withholding** — Information withholding, delayed disclosure, clues, and mystery architecture <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Novel, Limited Series, One-Hour Drama, among 13 formats* | 32 |
| [`cat-info-2.md`](cat-info-2.md) | **Information Control — Part 2** — Information control: reveals, secrets, dramatic irony, and audience knowledge asymmetry <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 38 |
| [`cat-info-3.md`](cat-info-3.md) | **Information Control, Reveal and Disclosure — Part 3** — Compelled information, trust and credibility budgets, corrections, sourcing, attribution, and unverifiable allegations <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Podcast, Documentary Series, Reportage, Documentary, among 32 formats* | 12 |
| [`cat-info-4.md`](cat-info-4.md) | **Information Control — Part 4** — Fact-check passes and handling a source whose name cannot be published <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Documentary, Long-Form Non-Fiction, Podcast, Reportage, among 8 formats* | 2 |
| [`cat-open.md`](cat-open.md) | **Openings, Hooks and First Pages** — First scene craft, initial status quo, inciting incidents, and call to adventure <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 28 |
| [`cat-open-2.md`](cat-open-2.md) | **Openings — Part 2** — Advanced opening hooks, cold opens, in-media-res entry points, and curiosity gaps <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 39 |
| [`cat-open-3.md`](cat-open-3.md) | **Openings — Part 3** — The nut graf: opening a reported or explanatory piece by stating why it matters <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Documentary, Essay, Explainer, Long-Form Non-Fiction, among 6 formats* | 1 |
| [`cat-rel.md`](cat-rel.md) | **Relationship and Ensemble Dynamics** — Relationship dynamics, alliances, power struggles, and relational polarity shifts <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 33 |
| [`cat-rel-2.md`](cat-rel-2.md) | **Relationship and Ensemble Dynamics — Part 2** — Ensemble cast dynamics, conflicting loyalties, trios, and institutional pressure <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Novel, Feature Film, Stage Play, Limited Series, among 20 formats* | 28 |
| [`cat-seq.md`](cat-seq.md) | **Sequence and Mid-Level Movement** — Mid-level sequence architecture, mission segments, and narrative blocks <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 33 |
| [`cat-seq-2.md`](cat-seq-2.md) | **Sequence and Mid-Level Movement — Part 2** — Sequence planning and placement: outlines, mid-run turns, entries, payoff ledgers, runtime counts, subplots, thematic runs, transposition, and embedded runs <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Limited Series, Novel, One-Hour Drama, among 36 formats* | 28 |
| [`cat-struct-2.md`](cat-struct-2.md) | **Structure — Forms and Doctrines** — Short written forms: flash fiction, linked collections, and Poe's unity of effect <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Short Story, Flash Fiction, Poetry, Advertising, among 12 formats* | 3 |
| [`cat-tens.md`](cat-tens.md) | **Tension, Suspense, Surprise and Dread** — Core narrative tension, conflict sources, anticipation, and threat mechanics <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Limited Series, Novel, One-Hour Drama, among 12 formats* | 31 |
| [`cat-tens-2.md`](cat-tens-2.md) | **Tension and Dread — Part 2** — Tension escalation, suspense mechanics, ticking clocks, and pressure amplification <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 39 |
| [`cat-tens-3.md`](cat-tens-3.md) | **Tension and Dread — Part 3** — Soft and dropped deadlines, visible consequences, confined pressure, sub-thirty-second tension, and instructions read under stress <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Novel, One-Hour Drama, Limited Series, among 23 formats* | 10 |
| [`cat-tens-4.md`](cat-tens-4.md) | **Tension, Suspense, Surprise and Dread — Part 4** — Deep psychological dread, paranoia, claustrophobic suspense, and unavoidable doom <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Novel, Stage Play, Feature Film, Limited Series, among 29 formats* | 20 |
| [`cat-tens-5.md`](cat-tens-5.md) | **Tension, Suspense, Surprise and Dread — Part 5** — Pursuits that pause, dream-logic suspense, tension against known outcomes, child-readable jeopardy, and subtitles that precede speech <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Feature Film, Limited Series, Animation Feature, Documentary, among 21 formats* | 5 |
| [`cat-theme.md`](cat-theme.md) | **Theme, Controlling Idea and Moral Argument** — Central theme definition, thematic premises, and moral choices testing characters <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 25 |
| [`cat-theme-2.md`](cat-theme-2.md) | **Theme and Meaning — Part 2** — Thematic resonance, symbolic motifs, moral arguments, and subtextual weight <br>*Cards scoped to: any format* | 31 |
| [`cat-time.md`](cat-time.md) | **Time, Chronology and Flashback** — Pacing time, story vs plot duration, ellipsis, and chronological progression <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly novel, feature film, short story, stage play, among 38 formats* | 32 |
| [`cat-time-2.md`](cat-time-2.md) | **Time, Chronology and Flashback — Part 2** — Temporal manipulation: non-linear timelines, flashbacks, memory frames, and time jumps <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Novel, Limited Series, Feature Film, Short Story, among 33 formats* | 33 |
| [`rights-and-permissions.md`](rights-and-permissions.md) | **Rights and permissions — optional craft for when a brief raises rights** — **What has to be settled before a shot list exists** - permission to film a protected site and who owns what an excavation produced, the provenance and licence terms of found material, the rights and the caption limits on a picture of an object, and the sequencing rule that puts all three before the design rather than before the delivery. States requirements and where the work hands over; no procedure. <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Documentary Feature, Documentary Series, Heritage / Historical Documentary, Museum Installation, among 16 formats* | 6 |
| [`secondary-world.md`](secondary-world.md) | **An invented world drawn from a real culture** - what may never be borrowed (every proper noun), what may (the materials, the light, the mass), and how an invented pantheon, calendar and script stay coherent across a series. Not the same job as fiction set inside the documented period, which is the canon's. <br>*Cards scoped to: mostly Animated Series, Comics, Game Narrative, Novel, among 12 formats* | 3 |
| [`situations.md`](situations.md) | **Dramatic Situations and Narrative Functions** — Universal dramatic situations, catalytic conflicts, and crisis generators | 98 |

---

## The cards, by file

### [interactive-and-branching.md](interactive-and-branching.md) — 74 cards

**Interactive and branching narrative** — **Every `inter.*` card** - every piece the viewer navigates, on a feed or not: branching shape, agency, in-world writing, interactive nonfiction and testimony, generated and conversational pieces, second person, choice framing and option order, timed choices, string budgets, the meaningful-choice test.

- `inter.choose_the_system_first` — **Choose the System, Then Take Its Parts**
- `inter.branch_and_bottleneck` — **Branch and Bottleneck**
- `inter.hub_and_spoke` — **Hub and Spoke**
- `inter.storylet` — **The Storylet**
- `inter.gauntlet` — **The Gauntlet**
- `inter.gated_progression` — **Gated Progression**
- `inter.quality_based_narrative` — **Quality-Based Narrative**
- `inter.combinatorial_explosion` — **The Combinatorial Explosion**
- `inter.ending_budget` — **The Ending Budget**
- `inter.canon_ending_problem` — **The Canon Ending Problem**
- `inter.state_flag` — **The State Flag**
- `inter.false_branch` — **The False Branch**
- `inter.flavour_choice` — **The Flavour Choice**
- `inter.path_that_omits` — **The Path That Omits**
- `inter.interactive_adaptation` — **Interactive Adaptation**
- `inter.player_driven_arc` — **The Player-Driven Arc**
- `inter.player_character_voice` — **The Player Character's Voice**
- `inter.agency_of_passage` — **The Agency of Passage**
- `inter.pacing_without_control` — **Pacing Without Control**
- `inter.permadeath_writing` — **Writing for Permadeath**
- `inter.save_scum_problem` — **The Save-Scum Problem**
- `inter.fail_state_as_story` — **Fail State as Story**
- `inter.ludonarrative_dissonance` — **Ludonarrative Dissonance**
- `inter.second_run_reward` — **The Second-Run Reward**
- `inter.clicked_therefore_understood` — **Clicked, Therefore Understood**
- `inter.environmental_storytelling` — **Environmental Storytelling**
- `inter.found_document` — **The Found Document**
- `inter.bark` — **The Bark**
- `inter.party_banter` — **Party Banter**
- `inter.diegetic_tutorial` — **The Diegetic Tutorial**
- `inter.presence_writing` — **Presence Writing**
- `inter.puzzle_construction` — **Puzzle Construction**
- `inter.boxed_read_aloud` — **The Boxed Read-Aloud**
- `inter.walk_up_entry` — **The Walk-Up Entry**
- `inter.accessible_interaction` — **Accessible Interaction**
- `inter.epilogue_card` — **The Epilogue Card**
- `inter.nonfiction_branch_contract` — **The Nonfiction Branch Contract**
- `inter.branch_sourcing` — **Branch Sourcing**
- `inter.symmetrical_fabrication` — **Symmetrical Fabrication**
- `inter.testimony_selector` — **The Testimony Selector**
- `inter.balance_cast_testimony` — **Balancing the Testimony Cast**
- `inter.consent_without_a_cut` — **Consent Without a Cut**
- `inter.archive_way_in` — **The Archive Way In**
- `inter.data_surface` — **The Data Surface**
- `inter.chosen_path_explainer` — **The Chosen-Path Explainer**
- `inter.visitor_arc` — **The Visitor Arc**
- `inter.user_asked_question` — **The User-Asked Question**
- `inter.conversational_persona` — **The Conversational Persona**
- `inter.guarded_generation` — **Guarded Generation**
- `inter.paraphrase_drift` — **Paraphrase Drift**
- `inter.voice_first_narrative` — **Voice-First Narrative**
- `inter.platform_contract` — **The Platform Contract**
- `inter.outlive_the_platform` — **Outliving the Platform**
- `inter.conditional_localisation` — **Conditional Localisation**
- `inter.personalisation_limit` — **The Personalisation Limit**
- `inter.session_recap` — **The Session Recap**
- `inter.designed_for_the_stitch` — **Designed for the Stitch**
- `inter.arg_pacing` — **ARG Pacing**
- `inter.second_person_default` — **The Second Person and Its Alternatives**
- `inter.choice_framing` — **Choice Framing and Option Order**
- `inter.timed_choice` — **The Timed Choice**
- `inter.chat_thread_fiction` — **Chat-Thread Fiction**
- `inter.meta_structure` — **Meta-Narrative and the Fourth Wall**
- `inter.rabbit_hole` — **The Rabbit Hole and the Trailhead**
- `inter.string_budget` — **The String-Length Budget**
- `inter.authored_reply` — **Writing the Reply as Part of the Post**
- `inter.audience_asked_to_act` — **Asking the Audience to Act**
- `inter.unchosen_path` — **The Unchosen Path as Content**
- `inter.depth_on_demand` — **Depth on Demand**
- `inter.meaningful_choice_test` — **The Meaningful Choice Test**
- `inter.no_good_option` — **The Choice With No Good Option**
- `inter.delayed_consequence` — **Delayed Consequence**
- `inter.illusion_of_agency` — **The Illusion of Agency**
- `inter.skippable_layering` — **Writing for the Skipper**

### [short-form-craft.md](short-form-craft.md) — 87 cards

**Short-Form Craft & Scripting Cards — Master Edition** — High-retention hooks, micro-narratives, and vertical short-form beat compression

- `sf.material_before_the_hook` — **Name the Material Before the Hook**
- `sf.first_line_both_ways` — **The First Line Works Twice**
- `sf.front_load` — **Front-Load the Payoff**
- `sf.contrarian_inversion` — **The Contrarian Inversion**
- `sf.micro_scenario` — **The Micro-Scenario Open**
- `sf.negative_framing` — **Negative Framing (Loss Aversion)**
- `sf.curiosity_gap_extreme` — **The Extreme Curiosity Gap**
- `sf.taboo_unspoken` — **The Taboo or Unspoken Reality**
- `sf.visual_paradox_hook` — **The Visual Paradox Open**
- `sf.hyper_specific_qualifier` — **The Hyper-Specific Audience Qualifier**
- `sf.sensory_shock` — **The Sensory Shock Hook**
- `sf.stakes_first` — **The Stakes-First Announcement**
- `sf.silent_text_assault` — **The Silent Text Assault**
- `sf.countdown_ultimatum` — **The Countdown Ultimatum**
- `sf.unresolved_argument` — **The Unresolved Argument (In Medias Res)**
- `sf.forbidden_warning` — **The Forbidden Warning**
- `sf.one_point` — **One Point, Not Three**
- `sf.every_word_earns` — **Every Word Earns Its Place**
- `sf.midroll_rehook` — **The Mid-Roll Re-Hook**
- `sf.open_loop_ladder` — **The Open-Loop Ladder**
- `sf.pacing_rollercoaster` — **The Pacing Rollercoaster**
- `sf.sub_second_cut` — **The Sub-Second Cut Test**
- `sf.progress_bar_psychology` — **Progress Bar Psychology**
- `sf.withheld_visual` — **The Withheld Visual Asset**
- `sf.information_density_wave` — **Information Density Wave**
- `sf.micro_callback` — **The 20-Second Micro-Callback**
- `sf.unexpected_pivot` — **The Unexpected Pivot**
- `sf.sensory_reset_point` — **The Sensory Reset Point**
- `sf.dopamine_escalator` — **The Dopamine Escalator**
- `sf.cognitive_refresh` — **The Cognitive Refresh**
- `sf.anticipation_hook` — **The Anticipation Hook**
- `sf.four_beat_reel` — **The 4-Beat Reel Architecture**
- `sf.exposition_as_accusation` — **Exposition as Accusation**
- `sf.immediate_antagonist` — **The Instant Opposing Force**
- `sf.value_turn_singular` — **The Single Value Turn**
- `sf.fantasy_one_rule` — **One Rule of the Invented World**
- `sf.compressed_timeline` — **The Compressed Timeline**
- `sf.dramatic_irony_reel` — **Micro Dramatic Irony**
- `sf.public_injustice_spark` — **The Public Injustice Spark**
- `sf.reversal_promise` — **The Reversal Promise**
- `sf.anchor_artifact` — **The Single Anchor Artifact**
- `sf.binary_stakes` — **Binary Stakes Only**
- `sf.emotional_anchor_close` — **The Emotional Anchor Close**
- `sf.cliffhanger_drop` — **The Mid-Sentence Cliffhanger**
- `sf.sensory_details_only` — **Sensory Concrete Details Only**
- `sf.bystander_perspective` — **The Unnamed Bystander Perspective**
- `sf.destiny_inversion` — **Destiny Inversion**
- `sf.polarizing_dilemma` — **The Polarizing Dilemma**
- `sf.deliberate_flaw` — **The Deliberate Flaw (Comment Magnet)**
- `sf.identity_mirror` — **The Identity Mirror**
- `sf.unsettled_debate` — **The Unsettled Academic Debate**
- `sf.save_trigger` — **The High-Utility Save Trigger**
- `sf.lineage_callout` — **The Lineage Callout**
- `sf.right_to_reply` — **The Right to Reply Challenge**
- `sf.stealth_micro_quiz` — **The Stealth Micro-Quiz**
- `sf.share_as_weapon` — **The Share-as-Proof Weapon**
- `sf.nostalgia_trigger` — **The Childhood Nostalgia Trigger**
- `sf.righteous_indignation` — **The Righteous Indignation Magnet**
- `sf.specific_comment_cta` — **The Non-Generic Comment CTA**
- `sf.grammatical_loop` — **The Grammatical Loop**
- `sf.audio_anchor_loop` — **The Audio Anchor Loop**
- `sf.visual_reset_vector` — **The Visual Reset Vector**
- `sf.button_punchline` — **The Button Punchline**
- `sf.causal_ouroboros` — **The Causal Ouroboros**
- `sf.ambient_drone_bridge` — **The Ambient Drone Bridge**
- `sf.in_medias_res_restart` — **In Medias Res Restart**
- `sf.echo_question_loop` — **The Echo Question Loop**
- `sf.whip_pan_reset` — **The Whip-Pan Reset**
- `sf.infinite_list_wrap` — **The Infinite List Wrap**
- `sf.kinetic_text_sync` — **Kinetic Text Synchrony**
- `sf.visual_disruption_interval` — **The Visual Disruption Interval**
- `sf.whisper_to_boom` — **Whisper-to-Boom Dynamics**
- `sf.deadpan_gravity` — **Deadpan Historical Gravity**
- `sf.cadence_staccato` — **The Staccato Cadence**
- `sf.frequency_dip_transition` — **The Low-Pass Frequency Dip**
- `sf.speech_rate_acceleration` — **Speech Rate Acceleration**
- `sf.deliberate_breath_pause` — **The Deliberate Breath Pause**
- `sf.assyria_heritage_reel` — **The Assyria Heritage Reel Engine**
- `sf.artifact_spotlight` — **The 45-Second Artifact Spotlight**
- `sf.kids_rhyme_hook` — **The Children's Rhyme Hook**
- `sf.kids_call_and_response` — **The Interactive Kid Call-and-Response**
- `sf.micro_doc_nineveh` — **The 60-Second Nineveh Siege Micro-Doc**
- `sf.myth_vs_shovel` — **Myth vs The Shovel**
- `sf.ancient_phonetic_echo` — **The Ancient Phonetic Echo**
- `sf.ancestral_geography_bridge` — **The Ancestral Geography Bridge**
- `sf.living_tradition_continuity` — **The Living Tradition Continuity**
- `sf.monumental_scale_contrast` — **Monumental Scale Contrast**

### [structures.md](structures.md) — 110 cards

**Structure systems** — Classic story structures: Three-Act, Hero's Journey, Save the Cat, and 5-Act forms

- `struct.system_before_beats` — **Pick the System, Then Take Its Beats**
- `struct.three_act` — **The Three-Act Paradigm**
- `struct.three_act_setup` — **Setup**
- `struct.three_act_inciting` — **Inciting Incident**
- `struct.three_act_pp1` — **Plot Point One**
- `struct.three_act_confrontation` — **Confrontation**
- `struct.three_act_midpoint` — **Midpoint**
- `struct.three_act_pp2` — **Plot Point Two**
- `struct.three_act_resolution` — **Resolution**
- `struct.save_the_cat` — **Save the Cat Beat Sheet**
- `struct.stc_opening_image` — **Opening Image**
- `struct.stc_theme_stated` — **Theme Stated**
- `struct.stc_setup` — **Set-Up**
- `struct.stc_catalyst` — **Catalyst**
- `struct.stc_debate` — **Debate**
- `struct.stc_break_two` — **Break into Two**
- `struct.stc_b_story` — **B Story**
- `struct.stc_fun_and_games` — **Fun and Games**
- `struct.stc_midpoint` — **Midpoint**
- `struct.stc_bad_guys_close_in` — **Bad Guys Close In**
- `struct.stc_all_is_lost` — **All Is Lost**
- `struct.stc_dark_night` — **Dark Night of the Soul**
- `struct.stc_break_three` — **Break into Three**
- `struct.stc_finale` — **Finale**
- `struct.stc_final_image` — **Final Image**
- `struct.story_circle` — **The Story Circle**
- `struct.circle_you` — **You**
- `struct.circle_need` — **Need**
- `struct.circle_go` — **Go**
- `struct.circle_search` — **Search**
- `struct.circle_find` — **Find**
- `struct.circle_take` — **Take**
- `struct.circle_return` — **Return**
- `struct.circle_change` — **Change**
- `struct.heros_journey` — **The Hero's Journey**
- `struct.hj_ordinary_world` — **Ordinary World**
- `struct.hj_call` — **Call to Adventure**
- `struct.hj_refusal` — **Refusal of the Call**
- `struct.hj_mentor` — **Meeting the Mentor**
- `struct.hj_threshold` — **Crossing the First Threshold**
- `struct.hj_tests_allies_enemies` — **Tests, Allies and Enemies**
- `struct.hj_approach` — **Approach to the Inmost Cave**
- `struct.hj_ordeal` — **The Ordeal**
- `struct.hj_reward` — **Reward (Seizing the Sword)**
- `struct.hj_road_back` — **The Road Back**
- `struct.hj_resurrection` — **Resurrection**
- `struct.hj_elixir` — **Return with the Elixir**
- `struct.truby_22` — **The 22 Building Blocks**
- `struct.truby_01_end_first` — **Self-revelation, need and desire**
- `struct.truby_02_ghost` — **Ghost and story world**
- `struct.truby_03_weakness` — **Weakness and need**
- `struct.truby_04_inciting` — **Inciting event**
- `struct.truby_05_desire` — **Desire**
- `struct.truby_06_ally` — **Ally or allies**
- `struct.truby_07_opponent` — **Opponent and/or mystery**
- `struct.truby_08_fake_ally` — **Fake-ally opponent**
- `struct.truby_09_first_revelation` — **First revelation and decision**
- `struct.truby_10_plan` — **Plan**
- `struct.truby_11_opponent_plan` — **Opponent's plan and main counterattack**
- `struct.truby_12_drive` — **Drive**
- `struct.truby_13_attack_by_ally` — **Attack by ally**
- `struct.truby_14_apparent_defeat` — **Apparent defeat**
- `struct.truby_15_second_revelation` — **Second revelation and decision**
- `struct.truby_16_audience_revelation` — **Audience revelation**
- `struct.truby_17_third_revelation` — **Third revelation and decision**
- `struct.truby_18_gate_gauntlet` — **Gate, gauntlet, visit to death**
- `struct.truby_19_battle` — **Battle**
- `struct.truby_20_self_revelation` — **Self-revelation**
- `struct.truby_21_moral_decision` — **Moral decision**
- `struct.truby_22_new_equilibrium` — **New equilibrium**
- `struct.sequence_approach` — **The Sequence Approach**
- `struct.seq_a` — **Sequence A — Status quo and inciting incident**
- `struct.seq_b` — **Sequence B — Predicament and lock-in**
- `struct.seq_c` — **Sequence C — First obstacle, raised stakes**
- `struct.seq_d` — **Sequence D — First culmination and midpoint**
- `struct.seq_e` — **Sequence E — Subplot and rising action**
- `struct.seq_f` — **Sequence F — Main culmination, end of Act Two**
- `struct.seq_g` — **Sequence G — New tension and highest point**
- `struct.seq_h` — **Sequence H — Resolution and false ending**
- `struct.freytag` — **Freytag's Pyramid**
- `struct.freytag_exposition` — **Exposition**
- `struct.freytag_rising` — **Rising Action**
- `struct.freytag_climax` — **Climax**
- `struct.freytag_falling` — **Falling Action**
- `struct.freytag_catastrophe` — **Catastrophe / Dénouement**
- `struct.kishotenketsu` — **Kishōtenketsu**
- `struct.kishoten_ki` — **Ki — Introduction**
- `struct.kishoten_sho` — **Shō — Development**
- `struct.kishoten_ten` — **Ten — Turn**
- `struct.kishoten_ketsu` — **Ketsu — Reconciliation**
- `struct.story_spine` — **The Story Spine**
- `struct.spine_once` — **Once upon a time**
- `struct.spine_every_day` — **Every day**
- `struct.spine_one_day` — **One day**
- `struct.spine_because` — **Because of that (×3)**
- `struct.spine_until_finally` — **Until finally**
- `struct.spine_ever_since` — **And ever since that day**
- `struct.four_act` — **Four-Act Structure**
- `struct.four_act_one` — **Act One — Setup**
- `struct.four_act_two_a` — **Act Two-A — Reaction**
- `struct.four_act_midpoint` — **Midpoint**
- `struct.four_act_two_b` — **Act Two-B — Action**
- `struct.four_act_three` — **Act Three — Resolution**
- `struct.mckee_hierarchy` — **McKee's Story Hierarchy**
- `struct.mckee_beat` — **Beat**
- `struct.mckee_scene` — **Scene**
- `struct.mckee_sequence` — **Sequence**
- `struct.mckee_act` — **Act**
- `struct.mckee_story_climax` — **Story climax**
- `struct.mckee_controlling_idea` — **Controlling idea**

### [cat-char.md](cat-char.md) — 34 cards

**Character Design, Desire, Wound and Lie** — Fundamental character design: desire, core wound, lie believed, and primary motivation

- `char.defining_action_entrance` — **The Defining Action Entrance**
- `char.entrance_against_type` — **Entrance Against Type**
- `char.competence_first` — **Competence First**
- `char.reputation_before_entrance` — **Reputation Before Entrance**
- `char.casting_line` — **The Casting Line**
- `char.sympathy_beat` — **The Sympathy Beat**
- `char.desire_made_physical` — **Desire Made Physical**
- `char.wound_as_rule` — **The Wound as a Rule of Conduct**
- `char.lie_in_one_line` — **The Lie in One Line**
- `char.never_list` — **The Never List**
- `char.passive_protagonist_fix` — **Curing the Passive Protagonist**
- `char.load_bearing_contradiction` — **The Load-Bearing Contradiction**
- `char.the_exception` — **The Exception**
- `char.incompetence_zone` — **The Incompetence Zone**
- `char.competence_cost` — **Competence Has a Price**
- `char.physical_signature` — **The Physical Signature**
- `char.stress_tell` — **The Stress Tell**
- `char.carried_object` — **The Carried Object**
- `char.what_they_notice` — **What They Notice**
- `char.alone_behaviour` — **What They Do Alone**
- `char.backstory_economy` — **Backstory Economy**
- `char.the_secret` — **The Secret**
- `char.name_as_design` — **The Name as Design**
- `char.relationship_self` — **A Different Self for Each Person**
- `char.status_transaction` — **The Status Transaction**
- `char.status_flip` — **The Status Flip**
- `char.ensemble_grid` — **The Ensemble Grid**
- `char.supporting_character_want` — **Give the Supporting Character One Want**
- `char.antagonist_case` — **The Antagonist With a Case**
- `char.tailored_opponent` — **The Tailored Opponent**
- `char.age_specific_logic` — **Age-Specific Logic: Children and Elders**
- `char.likeable_vs_interesting` — **Interesting Beats Likeable**
- `char.audience_surrogate_trap` — **The Audience Surrogate Trap**
- `char.real_person_composite` — **Real People and the Composite**

### [cat-char-2.md](cat-char-2.md) — 40 cards

**Character Design — Part 2** — Character flaws, secret wounds, psychological contradictions, and internal stakes

- `char.protagonist_test` — **The Protagonist Test**
- `char.who_pays_most` — **Who Pays the Most**
- `char.reluctant_protagonist` — **The Reluctant Protagonist**
- `char.protagonist_who_is_wrong` — **The Protagonist Who Is Wrong**
- `char.unlikeable_lead` — **Holding the Unlikeable Lead**
- `char.normal_baseline` — **What They Think Is Normal**
- `char.theory_of_others` — **The Theory of Other People**
- `char.superstition` — **The Private Superstition**
- `char.deserving_setting` — **What They Think They Deserve**
- `char.writing_the_believer` — **Writing the Believer**
- `char.occupational_perception` — **The Job Shapes the Eye**
- `char.trade_vocabulary` — **Trade Vocabulary**
- `char.money_specifics` — **Money on the Page**
- `char.cannot_afford` — **Defined by What They Cannot Afford**
- `char.hands_test` — **The Hands Test**
- `char.what_breaks_first` — **What Breaks First**
- `char.competence_fails` — **The Competence That Fails**
- `char.panic_behaviour` — **Panic Written From Inside**
- `char.frightened_alone` — **Frightened and Unobserved**
- `char.pressure_ladder` — **The Pressure Ladder**
- `char.cannot_change` — **The Character Who Cannot Change**
- `char.offstage_change` — **Change Offstage**
- `char.unearned_change` — **Unearned Change**
- `char.relapse_beat` — **The Relapse That Proves the Change**
- `char.ten_second_person` — **A Person in Ten Seconds**
- `char.vertical_archetype` — **The Vertical Archetype, Then the Complication**
- `char.long_series_character` — **The Character Across Eighty Episodes**
- `char.protected_static_role` — **The Recurring Character Who Must Not Develop**
- `char.community_built` — **Built by a Community, Not a Psychology**
- `char.inside_outside_culture` — **Inside and Outside a Culture**
- `char.diaspora_character` — **The Diaspora Character**
- `char.specificity_not_representation` — **Specificity, Not Representation**
- `char.exists_to_be_lost` — **The Character Who Exists to Be Lost**
- `char.the_missed_one` — **The One They Will Miss**
- `char.cast_size_limit` — **Cast Size and the Runtime**
- `char.combine_characters` — **Combine Two, Cut One**
- `char.mouthpiece` — **The Mouthpiece**
- `char.only_reacts` — **The Character Who Only Reacts**
- `char.trait_not_character` — **The Trait Mistaken for a Character**
- `char.informed_attribute` — **The Informed Attribute**

### [cat-char-3.md](cat-char-3.md) — 45 cards

**Character Design — Part 3** — Advanced character craft: disguises, double identities, crowd roles, and moral drift

- `char.limits_before_the_person` — **Name the Limits Before the Person**
- `char.idiolect_sheet` — **The Idiolect Sheet**
- `char.never_says` — **What They Never Say**
- `char.silence_as_trait` — **Silence as a Trait**
- `char.profanity_budget` — **The Profanity Budget**
- `char.condition_as_constraint` — **The Condition as a Constraint Set**
- `char.management_day` — **The Management Day**
- `char.disability_expertise` — **Disability as Accumulated Expertise**
- `char.pregnancy_clock` — **Pregnancy as a Clock Inside the Body**
- `char.addiction_logistics` — **Addiction Written as Logistics**
- `char.degraded_decision` — **Exhaustion, Hunger and the Degraded Decision**
- `char.pity_lever` — **The Condition as a Pity or Inspiration Lever**
- `char.costless_condition` — **The Condition That Costs Nothing**
- `char.desire_second_want` — **The Second Want**
- `char.courtship_behaviour` — **Courtship Behaviour**
- `char.seduction_competence` — **Seduction Competence, and Its Absence**
- `char.prize_love_interest` — **The Person Written as a Prize**
- `char.family_role` — **The Role the Family Assigned**
- `char.rank_and_person` — **The Person Inside the Rank**
- `char.unit_member` — **The Character a Unit Made**
- `char.crowd_member` — **One Face in the Crowd**
- `char.animal_character` — **The Animal With Its Own Want**
- `char.machine_character` — **The Machine and the Artificial Mind**
- `char.god_character` — **Writing a God**
- `char.species_logic` — **Species Logic in Children's Animation**
- `char.personified_place` — **The Place That Behaves Like a Person**
- `char.twins` — **Writing Twins**
- `char.the_double` — **The Double**
- `char.assumed_identity` — **The Assumed Identity**
- `char.evil_twin` — **The Evil Twin**
- `char.transliteration_choice` — **Spelling a Name in Another Alphabet**
- `char.honorific_system` — **The Honorific System as a Map of the World**
- `char.kinship_address` — **Kinship Terms for People Who Are Not Kin**
- `char.changed_name` — **The Name That Was Changed**
- `char.decorative_exotic_name` — **The Decorative Foreign Name**
- `char.bible_entry` — **The Show-Bible Character Entry**
- `char.behavioural_continuity` — **Behavioural Continuity Under Many Hands**
- `char.recasting` — **Recasting and the Character Rewritten for a New Actor**
- `char.write_for_known_actor` — **Writing For and Against a Known Actor**
- `char.agent_read` — **How the Role Reads to an Agent**
- `char.character_interview` — **The Character Interview**
- `char.wound_questionnaire` — **The Wound Questionnaire and Its Limits**
- `char.want_need_sheet` — **The Two-Column Want/Need Sheet**
- `char.audition_scene` — **The Audition Scene**
- `char.character_dossier` — **The Dossier Instead of a Draft**

### [cat-char-4.md](cat-char-4.md) — 10 cards

**Character Design — Part 4** — Writing real and non-actor subjects: sayable lines, class tells, representative burden, audience review, language, and memory

- `char.written_for_a_non_actor` — **The Part Written to Be Sayable**
- `char.coached_authenticity` — **The Real Person Given the Film's Line**
- `char.inherited_ease` — **Inherited Ease Against Earned Ease**
- `char.class_tell_survives_money` — **The Tell That Survives the Money**
- `char.wealth_as_objects` — **Wealth Written as Objects**
- `char.speaks_for_others` — **The Person Who Cannot Speak Only for Themselves**
- `char.living_subject_reader` — **The Subject Who Will Read It**
- `char.softened_for_the_reader` — **Softened for the Reader Who Will Read It**
- `char.smaller_in_this_language` — **The Character Who Is Smaller in This Language**
- `char.half_remembered_return` — **The Returning Minor Character**

### [cat-anta.md](cat-anta.md) — 27 cards

**Antagonist, Opposition and Obstacle Design** — Antagonist design, nemesis profiles, opposing forces, and obstructive barriers

- `anta.tailored_opponent` — **The Tailored Opponent**
- `anta.shared_want` — **The Opponent Who Shares the Want**
- `anta.institutional` — **The Institutional Antagonist**
- `anta.nature` — **Nature as Opposition**
- `anta.internal` — **The Internal Antagonist**
- `anta.beloved` — **The Beloved Antagonist**
- `anta.absent` — **The Absent Antagonist**
- `anta.time` — **The Time Antagonist**
- `anta.write_the_case` — **Write the Opponent's Case**
- `anta.opponents_plan` — **The Opponent's Plan**
- `anta.right_about_something` — **The Opponent Is Right About Something**
- `anta.better_version` — **The Opponent's Better Version**
- `anta.three_levels` — **Opposition at Every Level**
- `anta.fake_ally` — **The Fake Ally**
- `anta.future_self` — **The Opponent as Future Self**
- `anta.obstacle_ladder` — **The Obstacle Ladder**
- `anta.self_generated` — **Opposition From the Protagonist's Own Choice**
- `anta.opposition_wins` — **The Opposition Wins Something**
- `anta.ambient_pressure` — **The Pressure That Is Not Aimed**
- `anta.opposition_in_ally` — **Opposition Inside the Ally**
- `anta.multiple_one_question` — **Multiple Opponents, One Question**
- `anta.motiveless` — **The Motiveless Antagonist**
- `anta.incompetent` — **The Incompetent Opposition**
- `anta.late_arrival` — **The Late Antagonist**
- `anta.explains_themselves` — **The Opponent Who Explains Themselves**
- `anta.absent_stakes` — **The Absent Stakes**
- `anta.opposition_equals_villainy` — **Opposition Equals Villainy**

### [cat-anta-2.md](cat-anta-2.md) — 31 cards

**Antagonist and Opposition — Part 2** — Antagonist depth: justified motivations, philosophical foils, and systemic opposition

- `anta.function_before_figure` — **Function Before Figure**
- `anta.recurring_vs_episodic` — **The Recurring and the Episodic Opponent**
- `anta.procedural_opposition` — **Opposition in Procedural Formats**
- `anta.antagonist_arc` — **The Antagonist's Own Arc**
- `anta.retirement` — **Retiring an Antagonist**
- `anta.power_drift` — **The Opponent Whose Power Drifts**
- `anta.monster_rules` — **The Monster's Rules**
- `anta.withheld_appearance` — **The Withheld First Appearance**
- `anta.overexplained_monster` — **The Over-Explained Monster**
- `anta.comic_antagonist` — **The Comic Antagonist**
- `anta.rival_not_enemy` — **The Rival Who Is Not an Enemy**
- `anta.wins_argument` — **The Opponent Who Wins the Argument and Loses the Fight**
- `anta.bounded_threat` — **Bounded Threat**
- `anta.befriendable` — **The Opponent Who Can Be Befriended**
- `anta.preschool_problem` — **The Problem as Opponent in Preschool and Kids' Song**
- `anta.unresolved_kids_threat` — **The Threat Left Open in Children's Content**
- `anta.playable_side` — **The Antagonist the Player Can Side With**
- `anta.legible_boss` — **The Opponent Who Must Be Understood to Be Beaten**
- `anta.real_person_opposition` — **Opposition Drawn from Real People**
- `anta.documentary_opposition` — **Opposition in Documentary**
- `anta.problem_as_enemy` — **The Enemy Is a Problem, Not a Person**
- `anta.sympathetic_limit` — **The Sympathetic Villain and Its Limit**
- `anta.redemption` — **The Redeemed Antagonist**
- `anta.backstory_as_excuse` — **Backstory as Excuse**
- `anta.unearned_redemption` — **The Unearned Redemption**
- `anta.finite_resources` — **The Antagonist's Finite Resources**
- `anta.middle_tier` — **The Middle Tier**
- `anta.offscreen_shortform` — **The Offscreen Opponent in Short Form**
- `anta.fate` — **Fate as Opponent**
- `anta.the_crowd` — **The Crowd as Opponent**
- `anta.no_author` — **The Decision With No Author**

### [cat-beat.md](cat-beat.md) — 32 cards

**Beat Exchange, Action and Reaction** — Action-reaction beat exchanges, micro-negotiations, and momentum shifts

- `beat.action_reaction_exchange` — **The Action/Reaction Exchange**
- `beat.beat_change` — **The Beat Change**
- `beat.beat_count` — **Counting the Beats**
- `beat.tactic_beat` — **The Beat as Tactic**
- `beat.micro_turn` — **The Micro-Turn Inside a Beat**
- `beat.verb_naming` — **Naming Beats with Transitive Verbs**
- `beat.scene_beat_budget` — **The Scene Beat Budget**
- `beat.length_variation` — **Beat Length Variation**
- `beat.held_beat` — **The Held Beat**
- `beat.silent_beat` — **The Beat of Silence**
- `beat.physical_beat` — **The Physical Beat**
- `beat.object_beat` — **The Beat That Lands on an Object**
- `beat.reaction_beat` — **The Reaction Beat**
- `beat.beat_after_line` — **The Beat After the Line**
- `beat.exit_beat` — **The Beat Before the Exit**
- `beat.interrupted_beat` — **The Interrupted Beat**
- `beat.subtext_carry` — **Subtext Carried Across a Beat**
- `beat.escalation_step` — **The Escalation Step**
- `beat.beat_rhyme` — **The Beat Rhyme**
- `beat.redirect` — **The Redirected Beat**
- `beat.comic_third` — **The Comic Third Beat**
- `beat.action_sequence_beats` — **Beats in an Action Sequence**
- `beat.prose_vs_screenplay` — **Beats in Prose Versus Screenplay**
- `beat.notation` — **Beat Notation on the Page**
- `beat.prose_beat_density` — **Beat Density in Prose Dialogue**
- `beat.beat_marking_pass` — **The Beat-Marking Pass**
- `beat.scene_sheet_vs_story_sheet` — **Scene Beat Sheet Versus Story Beat Sheet**
- `beat.dead_beat` — **The Dead Beat**
- `beat.repeated_beat` — **The Repeated Beat**
- `beat.clipped_reaction` — **The Clipped Reaction**
- `beat.choreography_list` — **The Choreography List**
- `beat.beat_spam` — **Beat Parenthetical Spam**

### [cat-beat-2.md](cat-beat-2.md) — 39 cards

**Beat Exchange, Action and Reaction — Part 2** — Ensemble, mediated and off-screen beats; beats in song and other media; handoffs, pressure, notation, and testing

- `beat.answering_half` — **Name the Answering Half**
- `beat.triangulated_beat` — **The Triangulated Beat**
- `beat.reactor_choice` — **Choosing Who Reacts**
- `beat.beat_custody` — **Beat Custody in an Ensemble**
- `beat.crowd_reaction` — **The Crowd Reaction Beat**
- `beat.phone_beat` — **The Phone-Call Beat**
- `beat.lag_beat` — **The Lag Beat**
- `beat.offscreen_beat` — **The Off-Screen Beat**
- `beat.reported_beat` — **The Reported Beat**
- `beat.edit_carried_beat` — **The Beat Carried by the Cut**
- `beat.narrated_beat` — **The Narrated Beat**
- `beat.verse_beat` — **The Beat in Verse**
- `beat.lyric_beat` — **The Lyric Beat**
- `beat.song_entry_beat` — **The Beat Where Speech Becomes Song**
- `beat.panel_gutter` — **The Panel Gutter as the Reaction Beat**
- `beat.player_held_beat` — **The Player-Held Beat**
- `beat.branch_beat` — **The Branch Beat**
- `beat.audible_beat` — **The Audible Beat**
- `beat.shortform_beat` — **The Two-Second Beat**
- `beat.scene_handoff` — **The Out-Beat / In-Beat Pair**
- `beat.real_time_beat` — **The Real-Time Beat**
- `beat.clock_compression` — **Beats Under a Clock**
- `beat.solo_beat` — **The Solo Beat**
- `beat.environment_beat` — **The Environment as the Second Character**
- `beat.task_beat` — **The Task Beat**
- `beat.double_topper` — **The Topper on the Topper**
- `beat.runner_beat` — **The Runner**
- `beat.distant_callback` — **The Callback at Distance**
- `beat.decision_beat` — **The Decision Beat**
- `beat.exposition_beat` — **Beats in an Exposition-Carrying Scene**
- `beat.table_read_test` — **The Table-Read Test**
- `beat.beat_map` — **The Rehearsal Beat Map**
- `beat.notation_traditions` — **Beat Notation Across Traditions**
- `beat.preempted_beat` — **The Pre-Empted Beat**
- `beat.announced_beat` — **The Announced Beat**
- `beat.wrong_character_beat` — **The Beat Given to the Wrong Character**
- `beat.symmetry_fatigue` — **Beat Symmetry Fatigue**
- `beat.round_robin` — **The Ensemble Round Robin**
- `beat.orphaned_reaction` — **The Orphaned Reaction**

### [arcs.md](arcs.md) — 41 cards

**Character Arcs** — Core character transformation arcs, positive/negative changes, and tragic trajectories

- `arc.what_is_changing` — **Say What Is Changing Before You Name the Arc**
- `arc.positive_change` — **The Positive Change Arc**
- `arc.flat` — **The Flat Arc**
- `arc.disillusionment` — **The Disillusionment Arc**
- `arc.fall` — **The Fall Arc**
- `arc.corruption` — **The Corruption Arc**
- `arc.the_lie` — **The Lie**
- `arc.the_ghost` — **The Ghost**
- `arc.the_want` — **The Want**
- `arc.the_need` — **The Need**
- `arc.shared_want_opponent` — **The Opponent Who Shares the Want**
- `arc.moral_line` — **The Moral Line**
- `arc.mirror_character` — **The Mirror Character**
- `arc.cost_of_truth` — **The Cost of the Truth**
- `arc.turn_placement` — **Where the Arc's Turns Sit Against Structure**
- `arc.first_challenge` — **The First Serious Challenge to the Lie**
- `arc.lie_rewarded` — **The Win That Rewards the Lie**
- `arc.point_of_no_return` — **The Point of No Return**
- `arc.self_revelation` — **The Self-Revelation**
- `arc.the_choice` — **The Choice That Is the Change**
- `arc.proof_scene` — **The Proof Scene**
- `arc.growth_no_lie` — **The Growth Arc Without a Lie**
- `arc.acceptance` — **The Acceptance Arc**
- `arc.decision_arc` — **The Decision Arc**
- `arc.double_arc` — **The Double Arc**
- `arc.group_arc` — **The Group Arc**
- `arc.episode_vs_season` — **The Episode Arc Against the Season Arc**
- `arc.borrowed_arc` — **The Borrowed Arc**
- `arc.multi_book` — **The Arc Across a Trilogy or a Long Series**
- `arc.sub_minute` — **The Arc Under Sixty Seconds**
- `arc.lyric_arc` — **The Arc in a Lyric**
- `arc.supporting_arc` — **The Supporting Character's Arc**
- `arc.collision` — **Arc Collision**
- `arc.write_backwards` — **Writing the Arc Backwards**
- `arc.arc_statement` — **The Arc Statement**
- `arc.arc_audit` — **The Arc Audit**
- `arc.told_revelation` — **The Told Revelation**
- `arc.plot_solved_arc` — **The Arc the Plot Solves**
- `arc.unattacked_lie` — **The Lie Nobody Attacks**
- `arc.midpoint_peak` — **The Arc That Peaks at the Midpoint**
- `arc.padding_relapse` — **The Relapse as Padding**

### [arcs-2.md](arcs-2.md) — 12 cards

**Character Arcs — Part 2** — Complex arc architectures: flat arcs, corrupted arcs, and collective community arcs

- `arc.narrator_arc` — **The Narrator's Arc**
- `arc.player_arc` — **The Arc That Belongs to the Player**
- `arc.institutional_arc` — **The Institution as Arc-Bearer**
- `arc.role_arc` — **The Arc Carried by a Role**
- `arc.real_person_arc` — **The Real Person's Arc**
- `arc.reported_arc` — **The Arc Assembled From Witnesses**
- `arc.unfinished_arc` — **The Arc That Ends Before the Change**
- `arc.interrupted_arc` — **The Arc Cut Short by the Character**
- `arc.false_arc` — **The False Arc**
- `arc.sequel_reopening` — **Reopening a Closed Arc**
- `arc.arc_under_many_hands` — **The Arc Under Many Hands**
- `arc.imposed_arc` — **The Imposed Arc**

### [cat-end.md](cat-end.md) — 24 cards

**Endings, Payoff and Resolution** — Climax resolution, thematic payoffs, poetic justice, and emotional aftermath

- `end.earned_ending` — **The Earned Ending**
- `end.answer_the_question_asked` — **Answer the Question That Was Asked**
- `end.cost_paid` — **The Cost Paid**
- `end.value_landed` — **The Value Landed**
- `end.mirror_ending` — **The Mirror Ending**
- `end.scene_played_twice` — **The Scene Played Twice**
- `end.open_ending` — **The Open Ending**
- `end.twist_ending` — **The Twist Ending**
- `end.quiet_ending` — **The Quiet Ending**
- `end.handoff_ending` — **The Handoff Ending**
- `end.epilogue` — **The Epilogue**
- `end.season_ending` — **The Season Ending**
- `end.callback` — **The Callback**
- `end.unpaid_setup` — **The Setup You Forgot to Pay**
- `end.last_line` — **The Last Line**
- `end.who_speaks_last` — **Who Speaks Last**
- `end.final_image` — **The Final Image**
- `end.held_final_beat` — **The Held Final Beat**
- `end.rushed_ending` — **The Rushed Ending**
- `end.deus_ex_machina` — **Deus Ex Machina**
- `end.explained_ending` — **The Explained Ending**
- `end.reversed_arc` — **The Reversed Arc**
- `end.stolen_climax` — **The Ending That Belongs to Someone Else**
- `end.too_many_endings` — **The Too-Many-Endings Ending**

### [cat-end-2.md](cat-end-2.md) — 40 cards

**Endings — Part 2** — Ending choices by genre and form, final-season and interactive endings, credits, short-form closes, and ending rewrites

- `end.owed_before_shape` — **Name What Is Owed Before You Pick a Shape**
- `end.romance_ending` — **The Romance Ending**
- `end.crime_ending` — **The Crime Ending**
- `end.mystery_explanation` — **The Explanation and How Long It May Run**
- `end.horror_coda` — **The Horror Coda**
- `end.sports_final` — **The Sports Final**
- `end.comedy_restoration` — **The Comedy Restoration**
- `end.heist_reveal` — **The Heist Reveal**
- `end.genre_contract_broken` — **The Broken Genre Contract**
- `end.tragic_ending` — **The Tragic Ending**
- `end.catharsis` — **Catharsis and What It Requires**
- `end.sad_not_tragic` — **Sad Is Not Tragic**
- `end.multiple_endings` — **Multiple Endings by Design**
- `end.player_earned_ending` — **The Ending the Player Earns**
- `end.canonical_ending` — **The Canonical Ending Problem**
- `end.accumulated_choice_ending` — **The Accumulated-Choice Ending**
- `end.epilogue_slideshow` — **The Ending Slideshow**
- `end.series_finale` — **The Series Finale**
- `end.final_season` — **What the Final Season Owes**
- `end.retiring_a_character` — **Retiring a Character**
- `end.last_scene_of_a_decade` — **The Last Scene of a Decade**
- `end.resolvable_problem` — **The Resolvable Problem**
- `end.child_carry_ending` — **The Ending a Child Can Carry**
- `end.credits_sequence` — **The Credits as Structure**
- `end.post_credits_stinger` — **The Post-Credits Stinger**
- `end.essay_close` — **The Essay Close**
- `end.documentary_ending` — **The Documentary Ending**
- `end.explainer_close` — **The Explainer Close**
- `end.poem_landing` — **The Poem's Landing**
- `end.last_chorus` — **The Last Chorus**
- `end.brand_film_close` — **The Brand Film Close**
- `end.the_button` — **The Button**
- `end.loop_close` — **The Loop Close**
- `end.last_frame_as_thumbnail` — **The Last Frame That Has to Sell the Piece**
- `end.last_ten_pages_cold` — **Reading the Last Ten Pages Cold**
- `end.ending_three_scenes_earlier` — **The Ending Was Three Scenes Earlier**
- `end.theme_recited` — **The Recited Theme**
- `end.premature_ending` — **The Ending That Arrives Too Early**
- `end.sequel_bait_close` — **The Sequel-Bait Close**
- `end.cost_refunded` — **The Ending That Undoes the Cost**

### [cat-end-3.md](cat-end-3.md) — 1 card

**Endings and Last Lines — Part 3** — The chapter ending as a prose-specific close and continuation device

- `end.chapter_ending` — **The Chapter Ending**

### [cat-expo.md](cat-expo.md) — 33 cards

**Exposition and World Delivery** — Exposition delivery: invisible exposition, scenic embedding, and lore distribution

- `expo.name_the_fact_first` — **Name the Fact Before the Scene**
- `expo.iceberg_principle` — **The Iceberg Principle**
- `expo.need_to_know_ladder` — **Need-to-Know Ladder**
- `expo.proper_noun_budget` — **The Proper Noun Budget**
- `expo.implication_worldbuilding` — **Worldbuilding by Implication**
- `expo.rule_by_demonstration` — **Rule by Demonstration**
- `expo.rule_cost_demo` — **Show the Rule's Price**
- `expo.competent_walkthrough` — **The Competent-Character Walkthrough**
- `expo.newcomer_eye` — **The Newcomer's Eye**
- `expo.exposition_under_pressure` — **Exposition Under Pressure**
- `expo.coined_term_in_context` — **Coined Term in Context**
- `expo.jargon_threshold` — **The Jargon Threshold**
- `expo.familiar_anchor` — **Familiar Anchor, One Strange Word**
- `expo.glossary_crutch` — **The Glossary Crutch**
- `expo.optional_appendix` — **The Optional Appendix**
- `expo.environmental_detail` — **Environmental Exposition**
- `expo.diegetic_text` — **Diegetic Text**
- `expo.object_tells_rule` — **The Object That States the Rule**
- `expo.offscreen_world` — **The Off-Screen World**
- `expo.history_prologue` — **The Prologue of History**
- `expo.deferred_explanation` — **Deferred Explanation**
- `expo.absorb_into_argument` — **Absorb the Exposition into the Argument**
- `expo.doc_narration_contract` — **The Narration Contract**
- `expo.explainer_scaffold` — **The Explainer Scaffold**
- `expo.procedural_exposition` — **Procedural Exposition**
- `expo.short_form_frontload` — **Short-Form Front-Loading**
- `expo.heritage_specificity` — **Heritage Specificity**
- `expo.lore_dump` — **The Lore Dump**
- `expo.as_you_know` — **The "As You Know" Family**
- `expo.proper_noun_avalanche` — **The Proper Noun Avalanche**
- `expo.deletion_test` — **The Deletion Test**
- `expo.relocate_downstream` — **Move It Downstream**
- `expo.resistant_listener` — **Give the Listener a Reason to Resist**

### [cat-expo-2.md](cat-expo-2.md) — 28 cards

**Exposition and World Delivery — Part 2** — Exposition by genre and apparatus: casualties, jokes, incidents, canon assumptions, voiceover, interviews, graphics, framing text, and found documents

- `expo.horror_rule_victim` — **The Rule Taught on a Casualty**
- `expo.joke_carries_the_fact` — **The Joke That Carries the Fact**
- `expo.kids_repetition_ladder` — **Say It, See It, Ask For It**
- `expo.game_rule_commentary` — **Explain on the Incident**
- `expo.assumed_canon` — **Assume the Canon**
- `expo.character_voiceover` — **Voice-Over With a Standpoint**
- `expo.interview_cutaway` — **The Interview Cutaway**
- `expo.onscreen_graphics` — **On-Screen Graphics and Kinetic Text**
- `expo.framing_text_furniture` — **Framing Text Furniture**
- `expo.epistolary_delivery` — **Delivery by Found Document**
- `expo.two_touch_rule` — **The Two-Touch Rule**
- `expo.first_hearing_test` — **The First-Hearing Test**
- `expo.pilot_load_split` — **Pilot Load Versus Season Load**
- `expo.re_entry_exposition` — **Re-Entry at the Episode Opening**
- `expo.recap_sequence` — **The Recap Sequence**
- `expo.season_two_reteach` — **Re-Teaching in Season Two**
- `expo.tutorial_by_level_design` — **The Tutorial That Isn't One**
- `expo.codex_entry` — **The Codex Entry**
- `expo.skippable_by_design` — **Exposition the Player Can Skip**
- `expo.exposition_fairy` — **The Exposition Fairy**
- `expo.redundant_flashback` — **The Flashback That Explains What Was Clear**
- `expo.over_taught_rule` — **The Over-Taught Rule**
- `expo.retroactive_rule` — **Retroactive Rule Invention**
- `expo.spoiler_recap` — **The Recap That Spoils**
- `expo.translation_convention_breach` — **The Translation-Convention Breach**
- `expo.statement_into_question` — **Turn the Statement Into a Question**
- `expo.split_across_three_scenes` — **Split It Across Three Scenes**
- `expo.trade_paragraph_for_image` — **Trade the Paragraph for an Image**

### [cat-expo-3.md](cat-expo-3.md) — 12 cards

**Exposition and World Delivery — Part 3** — Complex world exposition: esoteric magic, deep lore, and multi-generational history

- `expo.numbered_step_list` — **The Numbered Step List**
- `expo.prerequisite_block` — **The Prerequisite Block**
- `expo.warning_notice` — **The Warning Notice**
- `expo.mechanism_statement` — **The Mechanism Statement**
- `expo.worked_example` — **The Worked Example**
- `expo.demo_as_scene` — **The Demo as a Scene**
- `expo.curriculum_hook` — **The Curriculum Hook**
- `expo.back_matter_craft` — **Back Matter as Craft**
- `expo.decodability_spec` — **The Decodability Specification**
- `expo.disclosed_staging_note` — **The Disclosed Staging Note**
- `expo.lapsed_learner_re_entry` — **Writing for the Return Visit**
- `expo.unread_instruction` — **The Instruction Nobody Reads**

### [cat-expo-4.md](cat-expo-4.md) — 2 cards

**Exposition and World Delivery — Part 4** — Written-form exposition: re-entering a novel after a gap and the framing furniture around a page

- `expo.book_re_entry` — **Re-Entering a Novel After a Gap**
- `expo.page_furniture` — **The Page's Framing Furniture**

### [cat-info.md](cat-info.md) — 32 cards

**Information Control, Reveal and Withholding** — Information withholding, delayed disclosure, clues, and mystery architecture

- `info.dramatic_irony` — **Dramatic Irony**
- `info.suspense_shared_knowledge` — **Suspense Through Shared Knowledge**
- `info.mystery_audience_behind` — **Mystery — The Audience Behind**
- `info.surprise` — **Surprise**
- `info.knowledge_ledger` — **The Knowledge Ledger**
- `info.plant_and_payoff` — **The Plant and the Payoff**
- `info.chekhovs_gun` — **Chekhov's Gun**
- `info.buried_plant` — **The Buried Plant**
- `info.foreshadowing` — **Foreshadowing**
- `info.telegraphing` — **Telegraphing**
- `info.rule_of_three_placements` — **The Rule of Three Placements**
- `info.red_herring` — **The Red Herring**
- `info.double_meaning_clue` — **The Double-Meaning Clue**
- `info.attention_misdirection` — **Misdirection by Attention**
- `info.lesser_guilt` — **The Lesser Guilt**
- `info.unreliable_narrator` — **The Unreliable Narrator**
- `info.naive_narrator` — **The Naive Narrator**
- `info.withheld_pov` — **The Withheld Point of View**
- `info.delayed_decoding` — **Delayed Decoding**
- `info.restricted_narration` — **Restricted Narration**
- `info.audience_only_secret` — **The Secret the Reader Holds**
- `info.recontextualising_reveal` — **The Recontextualising Reveal**
- `info.staged_reveal` — **The Staged Reveal**
- `info.double_reveal` — **The Double Reveal**
- `info.reveal_lands_on_character` — **Let the Reveal Land on a Character**
- `info.midpoint_reveal` — **The Midpoint Reveal**
- `info.character_asymmetry` — **Information Asymmetry Between Characters**
- `info.the_cheat` — **The Cheat**
- `info.fair_play_contract` — **The Fair-Play Contract**
- `info.cliffhanger_reveal` — **The Cliffhanger Reveal**
- `info.micro_reveal_ladder` — **The Micro-Reveal Ladder**
- `info.cold_open_reveal` — **The Cold-Open Reveal**

### [cat-info-2.md](cat-info-2.md) — 38 cards

**Information Control — Part 2** — Information control: reveals, secrets, dramatic irony, and audience knowledge asymmetry

- `info.gap_before_the_device` — **Name the Gap Before the Device**
- `info.information_map` — **The Information Map**
- `info.never_disclosed` — **What the Audience Never Learns**
- `info.deliberate_unanswered_question` — **The Deliberately Unanswered Question**
- `info.disclosure_budget` — **The Disclosure Budget**
- `info.cost_of_telling` — **The Cost of Telling**
- `info.binding_secret` — **The Secret That Binds**
- `info.isolating_secret` — **The Secret That Isolates**
- `info.the_confidant` — **The Confidant**
- `info.open_secret` — **The Open Secret**
- `info.credibility_ladder` — **The Credibility Ladder**
- `info.the_document` — **The Document**
- `info.the_witness` — **The Witness**
- `info.physical_proof` — **The Physical Proof**
- `info.contradictory_sources` — **Contradiction Between Sources**
- `info.doc_reveal_structure` — **Documentary Reveal Structure**
- `info.interview_admission` — **The Interview Admission**
- `info.archive_as_reveal` — **Archive as Reveal**
- `info.withholding_from_the_subject` — **Withholding From the Subject**
- `info.access_as_structure` — **Access as Structure**
- `info.between_episode_memory` — **What the Audience Carries Between Episodes**
- `info.recap_without_recap` — **Recap Without a Recap**
- `info.missable_reveal` — **The Reveal a Player May Never Reach**
- `info.multiple_paths_one_fact` — **Several Roads to One Fact**
- `info.the_retcon` — **The Retcon**
- `info.disproved_fact` — **The Fact That Turns Out To Be Wrong**
- `info.disputed_history` — **Disputed History**
- `info.rumour_chain` — **The Rumour Chain**
- `info.hearsay_evidence` — **Hearsay as Evidence**
- `info.communal_version` — **The Community's Version of a Person**
- `info.known_ending_structure` — **Structuring a Known Ending**
- `info.adaptation_double_audience` — **The Adaptation's Double Audience**
- `info.true_story_frame` — **The "Based on True Events" Frame**
- `info.heritage_audience_correction` — **The Audience That Will Correct You**
- `info.reveal_nobody_wanted` — **The Reveal Nobody Was Waiting For**
- `info.answer_to_unasked_question` — **The Answer to a Question Never Asked**
- `info.thrice_told_fact` — **The Fact Told Three Times**
- `info.mystery_without_stakes` — **The Mystery With No Stakes**

### [cat-info-3.md](cat-info-3.md) — 12 cards

**Information Control, Reveal and Disclosure — Part 3** — Compelled information, trust and credibility budgets, corrections, sourcing, attribution, and unverifiable allegations

- `info.disclosure_as_content` — **The Disclosure Written as Content**
- `info.embargoed_fact` — **The Fact You Are Not Allowed to State**
- `info.wholly_generated_piece` — **The Piece With Nothing Filmed**
- `info.platform_upload_switches` — **The Upload Switches: Made for Kids and the AI Label**
- `info.credibility_spend` — **The Credibility Spend**
- `info.damaging_admission` — **The Concession That Buys Belief**
- `info.the_correction` — **The Correction**
- `info.finding_the_moment` — **Finding Rather Than Writing**
- `info.source_on_screen` — **The Source on Screen**
- `info.unverified_allegation` — **The Allegation You Cannot Verify**
- `info.deducibility_audit` — **What the Audience Must Not Be Able to Work Out Yet**
- `info.bolted_on_disclaimer` — **The Bolted-On Disclaimer**

### [cat-info-4.md](cat-info-4.md) — 2 cards

**Information Control — Part 4** — Fact-check passes and handling a source whose name cannot be published

- `info.fact_check_pass` — **The Fact-Check Pass**
- `info.anonymity_decision` — **The Source You Cannot Name**

### [cat-open.md](cat-open.md) — 28 cards

**Openings, Hooks and First Pages** — First scene craft, initial status quo, inciting incidents, and call to adventure

- `open.contract_opening` — **The Contract Opening**
- `open.opening_image_answered` — **Opening Image, Answered**
- `open.question_planted_first` — **The Question Planted First**
- `open.theme_stated_early` — **Theme Stated Early**
- `open.character_hook` — **The Character Hook**
- `open.situation_hook` — **The Situation Hook**
- `open.voice_hook` — **The Voice Hook**
- `open.rule_of_the_world` — **The Rule of the World**
- `open.object_opening` — **The Object Opening**
- `open.ordinary_day_slightly_wrong` — **The Ordinary Day, Slightly Wrong**
- `open.cold_open` — **The Cold Open**
- `open.title_delayed` — **The Title-Delayed Open**
- `open.enter_on_the_answer` — **Enter on the Answer**
- `open.scale_reveal` — **The Scale Reveal Opening**
- `open.voiceover_open` — **The Voiceover Open**
- `open.first_second_hook` — **The First-Second Hook**
- `open.open_mid_situation` — **Open Mid-Situation**
- `open.stated_promise` — **The Stated Promise**
- `open.loop_opening` — **The Loop Opening**
- `open.false_start` — **The False Start**
- `open.backstory_open` — **The Backstory Open**
- `open.weather_open` — **The Weather Open**
- `open.overload_open` — **The Overload Open**
- `open.unearned_stakes` — **The Unearned Stakes Open**
- `open.series_opening` — **The Series Opening**
- `open.episode_opening` — **The Episode Opening**
- `open.chapter_opening` — **The Chapter Opening**
- `open.scene_opening` — **The Scene Opening**

### [cat-open-2.md](cat-open-2.md) — 39 cards

**Openings — Part 2** — Advanced opening hooks, cold opens, in-media-res entry points, and curiosity gaps

- `open.promise_before_the_move` — **Name the Promise Before the Move**
- `open.horror_cold_open` — **The Horror Cold Open**
- `open.the_meet` — **The Meet**
- `open.crew_assembly` — **The Crew Assembly**
- `open.procedural_body` — **The Body on Page One**
- `open.war_arrival` — **The Arrival**
- `open.comedy_premise_statement` — **The Premise Stated**
- `open.mystery_discovery` — **The Discovery Open**
- `open.last_ordinary_day` — **The Last Ordinary Day**
- `open.prologue_earned` — **The Prologue That Earns Itself**
- `open.prologue_other_register` — **The Prologue in Another Time or Register**
- `open.framing_prologue` — **The Framing Prologue**
- `open.prologue_disguised_chapter` — **The Prologue That Is Chapter One in Disguise**
- `open.first_line_job` — **What the First Line Must Do**
- `open.declarative_first_line` — **The Declarative Opening**
- `open.opening_question_line` — **The Opening Question**
- `open.mid_sentence_open` — **Opening Mid-Sentence**
- `open.voice_vs_plot_first_line` — **Voice-Promising Against Plot-Promising First Lines**
- `open.overwritten_first_line` — **The Over-Written First Line**
- `open.first_paragraph_contents` — **What Belongs in the First Paragraph**
- `open.information_order` — **The Order of Information**
- `open.orientation_vs_intrigue` — **Orientation Against Intrigue**
- `open.title_changes_meaning` — **The Title That Changes Meaning**
- `open.logline_diagnostic` — **The Logline as Diagnostic**
- `open.broken_logline_reading` — **Reading a Broken Logline**
- `open.title_genre_mismatch` — **The Title That Promises the Wrong Genre**
- `open.visual_promise` — **The Visual Promise**
- `open.title_thumbnail_contract` — **The Title-Thumbnail Contract**
- `open.package_undersell` — **The Package That Undersells the Work**
- `open.pitch_first_page` — **The First Page of a Pitch Document**
- `open.documentary_open` — **The Documentary Open**
- `open.essay_first_move` — **The Essay's First Move**
- `open.explainer_promise` — **The Explainer's Promise**
- `open.subtitled_open` — **The Opening Under Subtitles**
- `open.tutorial_as_scene` — **The Tutorial That Is a Scene**
- `open.first_choice` — **The First Choice**
- `open.wrong_promise` — **The Opening That Promises a Different Piece**
- `open.wrong_character_first` — **The Wrong Character First**
- `open.abandoned_device` — **The Device Used Once**

### [cat-open-3.md](cat-open-3.md) — 1 card

**Openings — Part 3** — The nut graf: opening a reported or explanatory piece by stating why it matters

- `open.nut_graf` — **The Nut Graf**

### [cat-rel.md](cat-rel.md) — 33 cards

**Relationship and Ensemble Dynamics** — Relationship dynamics, alliances, power struggles, and relational polarity shifts

- `rel.count_then_tilt` — **Count the Room, Then Find the Tilt**
- `rel.relationship_as_protagonist` — **The Relationship as Protagonist**
- `rel.relationship_want` — **What the Relationship Wants**
- `rel.relationship_arc` — **The Relationship Arc**
- `rel.founding_event` — **The Founding Event**
- `rel.unspoken_agreement` — **The Unspoken Agreement**
- `rel.the_debt` — **The Debt Between Them**
- `rel.asymmetric_investment` — **Asymmetric Investment**
- `rel.register_change` — **The Change of Register**
- `rel.locked_pair` — **The Pair Who Cannot Leave**
- `rel.triangle` — **The Triangle**
- `rel.marriage_on_the_page` — **The Long Marriage on the Page**
- `rel.parent_and_adult_child` — **Parent and Adult Child**
- `rel.sibling_order` — **Siblings and Position**
- `rel.mentor_and_student` — **Mentor and Student**
- `rel.professional_pair` — **The Professional Pair**
- `rel.rivalry_as_friendship` — **The Rivalry That Is a Friendship**
- `rel.chosen_family` — **Chosen Family**
- `rel.ensemble_as_system` — **The Ensemble as a System**
- `rel.group_secret` — **The Group with a Shared Secret**
- `rel.group_under_pressure` — **The Group Under Pressure**
- `rel.who_defends_whom` — **Who Defends Whom**
- `rel.outsider_in_the_group` — **The Outsider in the Group**
- `rel.group_hierarchy_display` — **Displaying the Hierarchy**
- `rel.shifting_coalition` — **The Shifting Coalition**
- `rel.ensemble_scene_legibility` — **Keeping the Group Scene Legible**
- `rel.more_than_five` — **Writing More Than Five**
- `rel.pair_off_the_room` — **Pairing Off the Room**
- `rel.rotating_spotlight` — **Rotating the Spotlight**
- `rel.pair_matrix` — **The Pair Matrix**
- `rel.relationship_with_no_want` — **The Relationship With No Want**
- `rel.everyone_agrees` — **The Ensemble Where Everyone Agrees**
- `rel.listener_friend` — **The Friend Who Exists to Listen**

### [cat-rel-2.md](cat-rel-2.md) — 28 cards

**Relationship and Ensemble Dynamics — Part 2** — Ensemble cast dynamics, conflicting loyalties, trios, and institutional pressure

- `rel.reunion_after_separation` — **The Reunion After Long Separation**
- `rel.correspondence_bond` — **The Correspondence Relationship**
- `rel.bond_with_the_dead` — **The Bond With the Dead**
- `rel.across_a_language` — **The Relationship Across a Language**
- `rel.class_divided_pair` — **The Pair Separated by Class**
- `rel.location_bound_bond` — **The Relationship That Only Works in One Place**
- `rel.bond_across_a_time_jump` — **The Bond Across a Time Jump**
- `rel.caretaker_and_cared_for` — **The Caretaker and the Cared-For**
- `rel.co_parents` — **The Pair With a Shared Child**
- `rel.institutional_bond` — **The Institutional Relationship**
- `rel.parasocial_bond` — **The Parasocial Bond**
- `rel.bond_through_a_go_between` — **The Relationship Conducted Through a Third Person**
- `rel.non_human_member` — **The Non-Human Member**
- `rel.first_meeting` — **The First Meeting That Is Not a Meet-Cute**
- `rel.breakup_architecture` — **The Architecture of the Breakup Scene**
- `rel.reconciliation_on_new_terms` — **The Reconciliation on New Terms**
- `rel.misnamed_relationship` — **The Pair Who Are Wrong About What They Are**
- `rel.public_face` — **The Public Version of the Relationship**
- `rel.third_wheel` — **The Third Wheel**
- `rel.mimetic_jealousy` — **Jealousy as a Three-Person Structure**
- `rel.expulsion` — **The Group That Expels a Member**
- `rel.succession_fight` — **The Succession Fight**
- `rel.leader_removed` — **The Ensemble That Loses Its Leader**
- `rel.ensemble_pilot` — **The Ensemble Pilot**
- `rel.reunion_ensemble` — **The Reunion Ensemble**
- `rel.admiration_chorus` — **The Admiration Chorus**
- `rel.rupture_without_aftermath` — **The Rupture With No Aftermath**
- `rel.instant_reconciliation` — **The One-Scene Reconciliation**

### [cat-seq.md](cat-seq.md) — 33 cards

**Sequence and Mid-Level Movement** — Mid-level sequence architecture, mission segments, and narrative blocks

- `seq.what_holds_the_run` — **What Holds the Run Together**
- `seq.sequence_unit` — **The Sequence Unit**
- `seq.sequence_question` — **The Sequence Question**
- `seq.sequence_spine` — **The Sequence Spine**
- `seq.sequence_climax` — **The Sequence Climax**
- `seq.short_film_model` — **Sequence as Short Film**
- `seq.partial_resolution` — **Partial Resolution**
- `seq.boundary_test` — **Finding the Boundaries**
- `seq.scene_welding` — **Welding Scenes into a Sequence**
- `seq.dangling_cause` — **The Dangling Cause**
- `seq.spanning_tension` — **Spanning Tension**
- `seq.unifying_frame` — **The Unifying Frame**
- `seq.internal_escalation` — **Internal Escalation**
- `seq.sequence_handoff` — **The Sequence Handoff**
- `seq.action_sequence` — **The Action Sequence**
- `seq.set_piece` — **The Set Piece**
- `seq.investigation_sequence` — **The Investigation Sequence**
- `seq.preparation_sequence` — **The Preparation Sequence**
- `seq.journey_sequence` — **The Journey Sequence**
- `seq.montage_sequence` — **The Montage as a Sequence**
- `seq.crosscut_sequence` — **The Crosscut Sequence**
- `seq.convergence_sequence` — **The Convergence Sequence**
- `seq.act_rhythm` — **Sequence Rhythm Across an Act**
- `seq.length_variation` — **Varying Sequence Length**
- `seq.breather_sequence` — **The Breather Sequence**
- `seq.tv_act_sequence` — **Sequences in Television Acts**
- `seq.shortform_serial` — **Sequences in Short-Form Serials**
- `seq.chapter_cluster` — **The Chapter Cluster**
- `seq.sequence_map` — **Sequence Mapping a Draft**
- `seq.inflated_sequence` — **The Inflated Sequence**
- `seq.crushed_sequence` — **The Crushed Sequence**
- `seq.climaxless_run` — **The Climaxless Run**
- `seq.errand_run` — **The Errand Run**

### [cat-seq-2.md](cat-seq-2.md) — 28 cards

**Sequence and Mid-Level Movement — Part 2** — Sequence planning and placement: outlines, mid-run turns, entries, payoff ledgers, runtime counts, subplots, thematic runs, transposition, and embedded runs

- `seq.sequence_outline` — **The Sequence Outline**
- `seq.mid_run_turn` — **The Mid-Run Turn**
- `seq.run_entry_context` — **Entering a Sequence**
- `seq.payoff_ledger` — **The Payoff Ledger**
- `seq.count_vs_runtime` — **Sequence Count Against Running Time**
- `seq.subplot_interleave` — **The Subplot Run**
- `seq.thematic_run` — **The Thematic Run**
- `seq.media_transposition` — **Transposing a Sequence Between Media**
- `seq.decision_run` — **The Decision Run**
- `seq.cold_open_sequence` — **The Cold-Open Sequence**
- `seq.embedded_past_run` — **The Embedded Past Run**
- `seq.imagined_sequence` — **The Imagined Sequence**
- `seq.ritual_sequence` — **The Ritual Sequence**
- `seq.hearing_sequence` — **The Hearing Sequence**
- `seq.negotiation_sequence` — **The Negotiation Sequence**
- `seq.siege_sequence` — **The Siege Sequence**
- `seq.infiltration_sequence` — **The Infiltration Sequence**
- `seq.escape_sequence` — **The Escape Sequence**
- `seq.comic_run` — **The Comic Run**
- `seq.stalk_sequence` — **The Stalk Sequence**
- `seq.kids_run` — **The Kids' Run**
- `seq.player_paced_run` — **The Player-Paced Run**
- `seq.documentary_sequence` — **The Documentary Sequence**
- `seq.repeated_sequence` — **The Repeated Sequence**
- `seq.orphaned_sequence` — **The Orphaned Sequence**
- `seq.premature_climax` — **The Premature Climax**
- `seq.full_resolution_stop` — **The Sequence That Closes the Story**
- `seq.false_convergence` — **The False Convergence**

### [cat-struct-2.md](cat-struct-2.md) — 3 cards

**Structure — Forms and Doctrines** — Short written forms: flash fiction, linked collections, and Poe's unity of effect

- `struct.flash_fiction` — **Flash Fiction**
- `struct.linked_collection` — **The Linked Collection**
- `struct.unity_of_effect` — **Unity of Effect**

### [cat-tens.md](cat-tens.md) — 31 cards

**Tension, Suspense, Surprise and Dread** — Core narrative tension, conflict sources, anticipation, and threat mechanics

- `tens.dread_over_shock` — **Dread Over Shock**
- `tens.bomb_under_table` — **The Bomb Under the Table**
- `tens.anticipation_vs_anxiety` — **Anticipation Versus Anxiety**
- `tens.promise_of_violence` — **The Promise of Violence**
- `tens.rule_demonstration` — **The Rule Demonstration**
- `tens.threat_with_rules` — **The Threat That Obeys Rules**
- `tens.earned_surprise` — **Surprise Paid For In Advance**
- `tens.wrongness_detail` — **The Wrongness Detail**
- `tens.corrupting_the_mundane` — **Corrupting the Mundane**
- `tens.unreliable_body` — **The Unreliable Body**
- `tens.thing_behind_character` — **The Thing Behind the Character**
- `tens.repeating_sound` — **The Sound That Repeats**
- `tens.smell_before_sight` — **Smell Before Sight**
- `tens.safe_space_violation` — **The Safe Space Violation**
- `tens.countdown` — **The Countdown**
- `tens.closing_space` — **The Closing Space**
- `tens.waiting_as_weapon` — **Waiting as a Weapon**
- `tens.delay_by_digression` — **Delay by Digression**
- `tens.shrinking_options` — **The Shrinking Option Set**
- `tens.interruption_clock` — **The Interruption Clock**
- `tens.social_dread` — **Social Dread**
- `tens.escalating_humiliation` — **Escalating Humiliation**
- `tens.tension_without_villain` — **Tension Without a Villain**
- `tens.polite_threat` — **The Polite Threat**
- `tens.known_outcome_dread` — **Dread of the Known Outcome**
- `tens.release_valve` — **The Release Valve**
- `tens.comic_relief_as_tension` — **Comic Relief as a Tension Tool**
- `tens.false_scare_cost` — **The False Scare and Its Cost**
- `tens.sustained_low_dread` — **Sustained Low Dread**
- `tens.first_five_seconds` — **Tension in the First Five Seconds**
- `tens.suspended_ending` — **The Suspended Ending**

### [cat-tens-2.md](cat-tens-2.md) — 39 cards

**Tension and Dread — Part 2** — Tension escalation, suspense mechanics, ticking clocks, and pressure amplification

- `tens.pressure_before_device` — **Name the Pressure Before the Device**
- `tens.closing_pursuit` — **The Pursuit That Closes**
- `tens.near_miss_economy` — **The Near-Miss Economy**
- `tens.costly_obstacle` — **The Obstacle That Costs Something**
- `tens.terrain_pressure` — **Terrain as Pressure**
- `tens.chase_turn` — **The Chase That Changes Its Question**
- `tens.specific_threat` — **Making a Threat Specific**
- `tens.adaptive_threat` — **The Threat That Adapts**
- `tens.embodied_vs_formless` — **Body or No Body**
- `tens.negotiable_threat` — **The Threat You Can Negotiate With**
- `tens.threat_scaling` — **Scaling a Threat Across a Work**
- `tens.credibility_economy` — **The Credibility Economy**
- `tens.suspect_ally` — **The Ally Who Might Not Be**
- `tens.untrustworthy_environment` — **The Environment That Lies**
- `tens.isolation_by_doubt` — **Isolation by Doubt**
- `tens.implication_over_depiction` — **Implication Over Depiction**
- `tens.aftermath_not_act` — **The Aftermath Instead of the Act**
- `tens.sound_not_sight` — **The Sound Instead of the Sight**
- `tens.honest_explicitness` — **When Explicitness Is the Honest Choice**
- `tens.disgust_not_fear` — **Disgust Standing In for Fear**
- `tens.scale_dread` — **Scale as the Threat**
- `tens.indifferent_force` — **The Indifferent Force**
- `tens.refusing_to_name` — **Refusing to Name It**
- `tens.real_condition_dread` — **Dread About a Real Condition**
- `tens.laugh_raises_ceiling` — **The Laugh That Raises the Ceiling**
- `tens.escalating_lie` — **The Escalating Lie**
- `tens.farce_pressure` — **Farce Pressure**
- `tens.premature_laugh` — **The Joke That Releases Too Early**
- `tens.tension_map` — **The Tension Map**
- `tens.trough_placement` — **Trough Placement**
- `tens.false_victory` — **The False Victory**
- `tens.season_long_pressure` — **Sustaining Across a Season**
- `tens.audio_no_offscreen` — **Audio Has No Offscreen**
- `tens.prose_no_soundtrack` — **Prose Has No Soundtrack**
- `tens.interactive_tension` — **Tension Under Player Control**
- `tens.stage_blackout` — **Tension in the Blackout**
- `tens.asserted_tension` — **Tension Asserted, Not Built**
- `tens.threat_never_acts` — **The Threat That Never Acts**
- `tens.dread_no_consequence` — **Dread With No Consequence**

### [cat-tens-3.md](cat-tens-3.md) — 10 cards

**Tension and Dread — Part 3** — Soft and dropped deadlines, visible consequences, confined pressure, sub-thirty-second tension, and instructions read under stress

- `tens.soft_deadline` — **The Soft Deadline**
- `tens.announced_deadline_dropped` — **The Deadline Announced and Then Dropped**
- `tens.human_deadline` — **The Person Who Will Ask Again**
- `tens.cost_of_waiting` — **The Rising Price of Waiting**
- `tens.picturable_consequence` — **The Consequence the Audience Can Picture**
- `tens.social_containment` — **The Room You Cannot Leave**
- `tens.micro_form_tension` — **Tension Under Thirty Seconds**
- `tens.instruction_under_stress` — **The Instruction Read Under Stress**
- `tens.warning_notice` — **The Warning Notice**
- `tens.warning_fatigue` — **Warning Fatigue**

### [cat-tens-4.md](cat-tens-4.md) — 20 cards

**Tension, Suspense, Surprise and Dread — Part 4** — Deep psychological dread, paranoia, claustrophobic suspense, and unavoidable doom

- `tens.hiding_beat` — **The Concealment Beat**
- `tens.sound_you_must_not_make` — **The Sound That Must Not Be Made**
- `tens.crowd_as_cover` — **Hiding in the Open**
- `tens.reveal_clock` — **The Reveal Clock**
- `tens.inferred_threat` — **The Threat You Only Ever Infer**
- `tens.threat_shown_too_early` — **The Threat Shown Too Early**
- `tens.being_watched` — **The Possibility of Being Watched**
- `tens.self_censorship` — **The Sentence Not Written**
- `tens.total_surveillance` — **The Watcher Who Sees Everything**
- `tens.almost_right_place` — **The Place That Is Almost Right**
- `tens.ritual_that_must_continue` — **The Ceremony Nobody Can Stop**
- `tens.post_climax_hold` — **Holding After the Climax**
- `tens.ensemble_jeopardy` — **Tension Across a Group**
- `tens.diluted_stakes` — **Everyone in Danger, Nobody at Risk**
- `tens.page_turn` — **The Page Turn as the Cut**
- `tens.reader_owns_the_clock` — **Who Owns the Clock**
- `tens.room_tone_silence` — **Room Tone Is the Only Silence**
- `tens.the_interval` — **The Interval**
- `tens.unearned_reprieve` — **The Unearned Reprieve**
- `tens.exhausting_draft` — **The Exhausting Draft**

### [cat-tens-5.md](cat-tens-5.md) — 5 cards

**Tension, Suspense, Surprise and Dread — Part 5** — Pursuits that pause, dream-logic suspense, tension against known outcomes, child-readable jeopardy, and subtitles that precede speech

- `tens.pursuit_that_pauses` — **The Pursuit That Pauses**
- `tens.dream_logic_cost` — **The Dream Logic Discount**
- `tens.known_outcome_documentary` — **Tension Against a Known Outcome**
- `tens.kids_bounded_threat` — **Jeopardy a Child Can Hold**
- `tens.subtitle_preempt` — **The Subtitle That Arrives Before the Line**

### [cat-theme.md](cat-theme.md) — 25 cards

**Theme, Controlling Idea and Moral Argument** — Central theme definition, thematic premises, and moral choices testing characters

- `theme.controlling_idea` — **The Controlling Idea**
- `theme.descriptive_not_prescriptive` — **Descriptive, Not Prescriptive**
- `theme.start_from_a_question` — **Start From a Question**
- `theme.anti_theme` — **The Anti-Theme**
- `theme.thematic_value` — **The Thematic Value**
- `theme.stated_rejected` — **Theme Stated, Rejected**
- `theme.argument_scene` — **The Thematic Argument Scene**
- `theme.moral_test` — **The Moral Test**
- `theme.object_carrier` — **Theme Carried by an Object**
- `theme.theme_in_structure` — **Theme in the Structure**
- `theme.through_the_ensemble` — **Theme Through the Ensemble**
- `theme.thematic_motif` — **The Thematic Motif**
- `theme.thematic_audit` — **The Thematic Audit**
- `theme.test_on_protagonist` — **Test the Theme on the Protagonist**
- `theme.theme_and_genre` — **Theme and Genre Together**
- `theme.series_consistency` — **Thematic Consistency Across a Series**
- `theme.theme_in_nonfiction` — **Theme in Non-Fiction**
- `theme.title_as_statement` — **The Title as Thematic Statement**
- `theme.explained_theme` — **The Explained Theme**
- `theme.rigged_argument` — **The Rigged Argument**
- `theme.symbol_without_function` — **Symbol Without Function**
- `theme.subject_mistaken_for_theme` — **The Subject Mistaken for a Theme**
- `theme.decided_before_story` — **Theme Decided Before the Story**
- `theme.competing_themes` — **Multiple Competing Themes**
- `theme.applied_only_to_others` — **Theme Applied Only to Others**

### [cat-theme-2.md](cat-theme-2.md) — 31 cards

**Theme and Meaning — Part 2** — Thematic resonance, symbolic motifs, moral arguments, and subtextual weight

- `theme.claim_before_carrier` — **Name the Claim Before the Carrier**
- `theme.comic_premise_argument` — **Theme in Comedy: the Premise Is the Argument**
- `theme.satire_claim` — **The Satirical Claim**
- `theme.irony_as_argument` — **Irony as the Thematic Instrument**
- `theme.satire_that_flatters` — **Satire That Flatters**
- `theme.allegory_build` — **Building an Allegory**
- `theme.fable_contract` — **The Fable Contract**
- `theme.keyed_allegory` — **The Keyed Allegory**
- `theme.preschool_claim` — **The Preschool Claim**
- `theme.realisation_not_lesson` — **Show the Realisation, Not the Lesson**
- `theme.tacked_on_moral` — **The Tacked-On Moral**
- `theme.organising_idea` — **The Single Organising Idea**
- `theme.implicit_ad_claim` — **The Ad's Implicit Claim**
- `theme.purpose_washing` — **Purpose-Washing**
- `theme.contradicting_material` — **Keeping the Material That Contradicts You**
- `theme.choice_as_argument` — **The Player's Choice as the Argument**
- `theme.monster_meaning` — **What the Monster Means**
- `theme.song_claim` — **The Song's Claim, and the Video's**
- `theme.adaptation_claim` — **Find the Source's Claim First**
- `theme.adaptation_shift` — **The Deliberate Thematic Shift**
- `theme.translation_survival` — **Writing a Claim That Survives Translation**
- `theme.untranslatable_value` — **The Untranslatable Moral Word**
- `theme.from_inside` — **Writing From Inside**
- `theme.from_outside` — **Writing From Outside**
- `theme.sacred_material` — **Sacred Material and the Limits of Argument**
- `theme.culture_as_lesson` — **The Culture as Lesson**
- `theme.arc_carries_claim` — **The Arc Is the Verdict**
- `theme.counter_example_character` — **The Counter-Example Character**
- `theme.earned_ambiguity` — **Earned Ambiguity**
- `theme.moral_shape_of_ending` — **The Ending's Moral Shape**
- `theme.propaganda` — **Propaganda**

### [cat-time.md](cat-time.md) — 32 cards

**Time, Chronology and Flashback** — Pacing time, story vs plot duration, ellipsis, and chronological progression

- `time.linear_spine` — **Linear Spine**
- `time.in_medias_res` — **In Medias Res**
- `time.nonlinear_assembly` — **Non-Linear Assembly**
- `time.reverse_chronology` — **Reverse Chronology**
- `time.frame_narrative` — **Frame Narrative**
- `time.dual_timeline` — **Dual Timeline**
- `time.parallel_now` — **Parallel Timelines**
- `time.anniversary_structure` — **Anniversary Structure**
- `time.dramatised_flashback` — **Dramatised Flashback**
- `time.cold_memory` — **Cold Memory**
- `time.flashback_trigger` — **Flashback Trigger**
- `time.double_anchor` — **Double Anchor**
- `time.withheld_flashback` — **Withheld Flashback**
- `time.recurring_fragment` — **Recurring Fragment**
- `time.unreliable_memory` — **Unreliable Memory**
- `time.flashforward` — **Flashforward**
- `time.scene_duration` — **Scene Duration**
- `time.summary_duration` — **Summary Duration**
- `time.ellipsis` — **Ellipsis**
- `time.dilation` — **Dilation**
- `time.real_time` — **Real Time**
- `time.iterative_habit` — **Iterative Time**
- `time.time_jump` — **Time Jump**
- `time.montage` — **Montage**
- `time.passage_marker` — **Passage Marker**
- `time.serial_clock` — **Serial Clock**
- `time.shortform_compression` — **Short-Form Compression**
- `time.interactive_rewind` — **Interactive Rewind**
- `time.unasked_flashback` — **The Flashback Nobody Asked For**
- `time.dead_strand` — **The Dead Strand**
- `time.unsignalled_jump` — **The Unsignalled Jump**
- `time.chapter_two_dump` — **The Chapter Two Backfill**

### [cat-time-2.md](cat-time-2.md) — 33 cards

**Time, Chronology and Flashback — Part 2** — Temporal manipulation: non-linear timelines, flashbacks, memory frames, and time jumps

- `time.present_tense` — **Present-Tense Narration**
- `time.tense_shift` — **The Shifting-Tense Structure**
- `time.historical_present` — **Historical Present**
- `time.time_loop` — **The Time Loop**
- `time.time_travel_rules` — **Time-Travel Chronology**
- `time.prophecy_structure` — **Prophecy as Structure**
- `time.single_day` — **The Single-Day Structure**
- `time.seasonal_cycle` — **The Seasonal Cycle**
- `time.generational_span` — **Generational Span**
- `time.life_review` — **The Life Review**
- `time.document_dating` — **Document-Dated Chronology**
- `time.log_time` — **Diary and Log Time**
- `time.calendar_translation` — **Chronology Across Calendars**
- `time.documentary_chronology` — **Documentary Chronology**
- `time.nested_flashback` — **Nested Flashback**
- `time.borrowed_memory` — **Borrowed Memory**
- `time.dream_sequence` — **The Dream Sequence**
- `time.descriptive_pause` — **Descriptive Pause**
- `time.chapter_length_clock` — **Chapter Length as Clock**
- `time.countdown_chapter` — **The Countdown Chapter**
- `time.temporal_cliffhanger` — **The Temporal Cliffhanger**
- `time.simultaneity_handling` — **The Meanwhile Problem**
- `time.ensemble_chronology` — **Ensemble Chronology**
- `time.ageing_on_page` — **Ageing on the Page**
- `time.performed_time` — **Performed Time**
- `time.timeline_audit` — **The Timeline Audit**
- `time.reader_timeline_aid` — **Reader-Facing Timeline Aid**
- `time.false_flashforward` — **The False Flashforward**
- `time.timeline_retcon` — **The Timeline Retcon**
- `time.unruled_time_travel` — **The Unruled Time Machine**
- `time.datestamp_crutch` — **The Ten-Years-Earlier Card**
- `time.calendar_drift` — **Calendar Drift**
- `time.timeline_aid_apology` — **The Family Tree as Apology**

### [rights-and-permissions.md](rights-and-permissions.md) — 6 cards

**Rights and permissions — optional craft for when a brief raises rights** — **What has to be settled before a shot list exists** - permission to film a protected site and who owns what an excavation produced, the provenance and licence terms of found material, the rights and the caption limits on a picture of an object, and the sequencing rule that puts all three before the design rather than before the delivery. States requirements and where the work hands over; no procedure.

- `rights.site_permission` — **Permission at a Protected Site**
- `rights.found_material_provenance` — **Found Material and Its Provenance**
- `rights.object_image` — **The Object in the Picture**
- `rights.reference_image_licence` — **The Reference Image and Its Licence**
- `rights.cleared_before_locked` — **Cleared Before It Is Locked**
- `rights.minor_on_screen` — **A Child in the Frame**

### [secondary-world.md](secondary-world.md) — 3 cards

**An invented world drawn from a real culture** - what may never be borrowed (every proper noun), what may (the materials, the light, the mass), and how an invented pantheon, calendar and script stay coherent across a series. Not the same job as fiction set inside the documented period, which is the canon's.

- `world.invent_every_name` — **Invent Every Name**
- `world.borrowed_material_culture` — **How Far the Borrowing Goes**
- `world.series_coherence` — **Keeping It Coherent Past One Piece**

### [situations.md](situations.md) — 98 cards

**Dramatic Situations and Narrative Functions** — Universal dramatic situations, catalytic conflicts, and crisis generators

- `sit.situation_before_shape` — **Name the Situation Before the Shape**
- `sit.polti_01_supplication` — **1. Supplication**
- `sit.polti_02_deliverance` — **2. Deliverance**
- `sit.polti_03_crime_pursued_by_vengeance` — **3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance**
- `sit.polti_04_vengeance_kin_upon_kin` — **4. Vengeance Taken for Kin Upon Kin**
- `sit.polti_05_pursuit` — **5. Pursuit**
- `sit.polti_06_disaster` — **6. Disaster**
- `sit.polti_07_falling_prey_to_cruelty` — **7. Falling Prey to Cruelty or Misfortune**
- `sit.polti_08_revolt` — **8. Revolt**
- `sit.polti_09_daring_enterprise` — **9. Daring Enterprise**
- `sit.polti_10_abduction` — **10. Abduction**
- `sit.polti_11_the_enigma` — **11. The Enigma**
- `sit.polti_12_obtaining` — **12. Obtaining**
- `sit.polti_13_enmity_of_kin` — **13. Enmity of Kin**
- `sit.polti_14_rivalry_of_kin` — **14. Rivalry of Kin**
- `sit.polti_15_murderous_adultery` — **15. Murderous Adultery**
- `sit.polti_16_madness` — **16. Madness**
- `sit.polti_17_fatal_imprudence` — **17. Fatal Imprudence**
- `sit.polti_18_involuntary_crimes_of_love` — **18. Involuntary Crimes of Love**
- `sit.polti_19_slaying_of_kin_unrecognized` — **19. Slaying of Kin Unrecognized**
- `sit.polti_20_self_sacrifice_for_ideal` — **20. Self-Sacrifice for an Ideal**
- `sit.polti_21_self_sacrifice_for_kin` — **21. Self-Sacrifice for Kin**
- `sit.polti_22_all_sacrificed_for_passion` — **22. All Sacrificed for Passion**
- `sit.polti_23_necessity_of_sacrificing_loved_ones` — **23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones**
- `sit.polti_24_rivalry_superior_inferior` — **24. Rivalry of Superior versus Inferior**
- `sit.polti_25_adultery` — **25. Adultery**
- `sit.polti_26_crimes_of_love` — **26. Crimes of Love**
- `sit.polti_27_discovery_of_dishonour` — **27. Discovery of the Dishonour of a Loved One**
- `sit.polti_28_obstacles_to_love` — **28. Obstacles to Love**
- `sit.polti_29_an_enemy_loved` — **29. An Enemy Loved**
- `sit.polti_30_ambition` — **30. Ambition**
- `sit.polti_31_conflict_with_a_god` — **31. Conflict with a God**
- `sit.polti_32_mistaken_jealousy` — **32. Mistaken Jealousy**
- `sit.polti_33_erroneous_judgment` — **33. Erroneous Judgment**
- `sit.polti_34_remorse` — **34. Remorse**
- `sit.polti_35_recovery_of_a_lost_one` — **35. Recovery of a Lost One**
- `sit.polti_36_loss_of_loved_ones` — **36. Loss of Loved Ones**
- `sit.propp_01_absentation` — **1. Absentation**
- `sit.propp_02_interdiction` — **2. Interdiction**
- `sit.propp_03_violation` — **3. Violation of Interdiction**
- `sit.propp_04_reconnaissance` — **4. Reconnaissance**
- `sit.propp_05_delivery` — **5. Delivery**
- `sit.propp_06_trickery` — **6. Trickery**
- `sit.propp_07_complicity` — **7. Complicity**
- `sit.propp_08_villainy_or_lacking` — **8. Villainy or Lacking**
- `sit.propp_09_mediation` — **9. Mediation**
- `sit.propp_10_beginning_counteraction` — **10. Beginning Counteraction**
- `sit.propp_11_departure` — **11. Departure**
- `sit.propp_12_donor_test` — **12. First Function of the Donor**
- `sit.propp_13_heros_reaction` — **13. Hero's Reaction**
- `sit.propp_14_magical_agent` — **14. Receipt of a Magical Agent**
- `sit.propp_15_guidance` — **15. Guidance**
- `sit.propp_16_struggle` — **16. Struggle**
- `sit.propp_17_branding` — **17. Branding**
- `sit.propp_18_victory` — **18. Victory**
- `sit.propp_19_liquidation` — **19. Liquidation**
- `sit.propp_20_return` — **20. Return**
- `sit.propp_21_pursuit` — **21. Pursuit**
- `sit.propp_22_rescue` — **22. Rescue**
- `sit.propp_23_unrecognized_arrival` — **23. Unrecognized Arrival**
- `sit.propp_24_unfounded_claims` — **24. Unfounded Claims**
- `sit.propp_25_difficult_task` — **25. Difficult Task**
- `sit.propp_26_solution` — **26. Solution**
- `sit.propp_27_recognition` — **27. Recognition**
- `sit.propp_28_exposure` — **28. Exposure**
- `sit.propp_29_transfiguration` — **29. Transfiguration**
- `sit.propp_30_punishment` — **30. Punishment**
- `sit.propp_31_wedding` — **31. Wedding**
- `sit.propp_roles` — **The seven roles**
- `sit.booker_overcoming_the_monster` — **Overcoming the Monster**
- `sit.booker_the_quest` — **The Quest**
- `sit.booker_voyage_and_return` — **Voyage and Return**
- `sit.booker_rags_to_riches` — **Rags to Riches**
- `sit.booker_rebirth` — **Rebirth**
- `sit.booker_comedy` — **Comedy**
- `sit.booker_tragedy` — **Tragedy**
- `sit.dramatic.plots_of_the_body` — **Plots of the body**
- `sit.tobias_quest` — **Quest**
- `sit.tobias_adventure` — **Adventure**
- `sit.tobias_pursuit` — **Pursuit**
- `sit.tobias_rescue` — **Rescue**
- `sit.tobias_escape` — **Escape**
- `sit.tobias_revenge` — **Revenge**
- `sit.tobias_riddle` — **The Riddle**
- `sit.tobias_rivalry` — **Rivalry**
- `sit.tobias_underdog` — **Underdog**
- `sit.tobias_wretched_excess` — **Wretched Excess**
- `sit.dramatic.plots_of_the_mind` — **Plots of the mind**
- `sit.tobias_temptation` — **Temptation**
- `sit.tobias_metamorphosis` — **Metamorphosis**
- `sit.tobias_transformation` — **Transformation**
- `sit.tobias_maturation` — **Maturation**
- `sit.tobias_love` — **Love**
- `sit.tobias_forbidden_love` — **Forbidden Love**
- `sit.tobias_sacrifice` — **Sacrifice**
- `sit.tobias_discovery` — **Discovery**
- `sit.tobias_ascension` — **Ascension**
- `sit.tobias_descension` — **Descension**

---

## Core Principles

- **Polish, Never Replace:** If the user provides a story premise, polish clarity, rhythm, and emotional force. Never silently rewrite characters, order, or endings.
- **Research First:** Verify period accuracy (330 BC cutoff) and heritage rules before drafting.
- **Hook at 0:00, on interrupted arrivals only:** On a piece the viewer did not choose - a feed, pre-roll, paid social - establish curiosity, question or shock immediately, using `short-form-craft.md`. On a piece the viewer chose - search, a subscription, a link someone sent - the three-second rule does not apply and the opening move takes its place; see `HOW-PHASE-1-WORKS.md` section 3.A. The test is how they arrived, not how long the piece is.