#I hope you're not foreshadowing anything show!

[flanaganfilm]

Hi, I'm a big fan of your work. Sorry if this is a dumb question, why kill the kitties? I notice it a lot in horror in general, and it completely takes me out of the story and just makes me feel bad for the cat. I feel like I'm missing something.

Not a dumb question at all - and I knew I'd be getting some of this the moment we decided to include Poe's The Black Cat in TFOTHOU. The comments sections of the world are full of accusations that I hate cats and/or hands, and - well - neither is true. I've admittedly gotten a little flippant with my humor in the past when people have brought this up. My knee-jerk reaction is always to say something along the lines of "well, Websters defines 'horror' as..." But honestly, as far as I'm concerned, it's just not a thing.

A brief history of cats in my work:

HUSH - Maddie's beloved cat, "Bitch," escapes the danger of a home invader completely unharmed and is alive and well at the end of the movie. The last shot of the movie is Maddie lovingly petting the cat on the porch.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE - Yes, a malnourished stray kitten dies within Hill House, only to be horrifically reanimated. This was done to show the horrors of Hill House, serve as a warning to the family, and foreshadow the deaths of several human beings (who would meet more horrible fates) later. Hill House is an evil place, and it killed and collected all sorts of living things... there are dead humans aplenty, and also phantom dogs, which Stephen and the kids hear several times and see in episode six. I'd argue that Hill House is an equal-opportunity horror show.

DOCTOR SLEEP - Azzie the cat is a great friend to Dan Torrance. Azzie also has a "shine" of her own, and can sense when patients at the hospice are going to die, and goes into their rooms to comfort them. Azzie is never once in any danger throughout the film and, we presume, lives a long and happy life.

MIDNIGHT MASS - All of the residents of Crockett Island, which include 157 people, a huge population of stray cats, and at least one particularly sweet dog, do not fare so well in this show. But nothing against the cats - everybody dies. The arrival of a certain evil creature marks doom for literally every living thing on the island (except for two people). And yep, it started with the cats, because they were plentiful and would not alert anyone to its presence. We see its lair full of dead rats, birds, and raccoons as well, all eaten while the creature was in hiding.

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - we adapted The Black Cat, written by Edgar Allan Poe. If you're familiar with the Poe story, you know that it involves the horrible death of a cat, which then seems to get revenge from beyond the grave. This is Edgar Allan Poe's story - we did not write it. HOWEVER, we decided to make a huge change to Poe's story. At the end of our retelling, we reveal that Pluto the cat is alive and well (and still wearing the Gucci collar), and that the supposed violence against the cat existed entirely in the person's mind. Pluto 2 - the terrifying, supernatural replacement that stalked Leo - is not real either. It is just Verna, taking another form (hence the injury to VERNA'S eye). So in this show, not a single animal is harmed AT ALL. We did that on purpose. We decided to change Poe's classic story so that the cat lived. We went out of our way to do that. I truly don't have anything against cats. I do tell horror stories... but that's about it! I hope it doesn't make it more difficult to enjoy the story, and thank you for watching.

#the haunting of hill house #midnight mass #doctor sleep #the fall of the house of usher #cats

[greenhomeresident]

| 19th-25th sept. 2022 |

this week, i watched the first two episodes of happiness. so far, i’m intrigued by the process of transformation for infected (or drugged?) people, and keen to see how things develop. there was something so chilling about that one shot of an entire building with the windows full of people who’d been caught... i’m also deeply attached to both leads already, and i hope they can eventually be happy together!! i love that they’ve got this whole marriage of convenience thing going on.

i also watched episode 7 of little women. at this point, i really need to see jae-sang receive his own ominous blue orchid of doom. all these people dying, and yet he still lives?! aside from his bullshit, i loved the atmosphere of this episode - the attic with its little doll rooms and cut up photos, the hidden room in the great aunt’s house, the reveals about do-il’s parents... this show’s already taken us through so much, but i have a feeling there’s even more twists to come.

#kdrama review #little women #happiness #hoping i can get into ep8 soon because i need to know more!! #but also deeply concerned to because of what in-kyung's dude said in one scene of ep7 #all ~one of these days you're gonna get me killed~ like. #PLEASE don't let that be foreshadowing!! #there are so few sweet and good things on this show that haven't been hurt. i'd hate to see anything happen to this dude.

[dragon1d]

Things I have realized/just noticed while rewatching Good Omens Season 2

Episode 6 🥲

Beel cleaned up before arriving at the bookshop because they were told that Gabriel was there

Beelzebub says "look at you, you're perfect" to the fly that stores Gabriel's memories and this parallels Crowley saying "look at you, you're gorgeous" when he was working on space

^ could also be foreshadowing that ineffable bureaucracy will happen but the husbands won't (yet)

Beel's hopeful smile as Gabriel starts to recognize people

When everyone is arguing, Gabriel and Beelzebub have THEIR ARMS AROUND EACH OTHER'S WAISTS

THE FUCKING SMILE THAT AZI GIVES CROWLEY WHEN HE MENTIONS HOW HES ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO ALPHA CENTAURI

The way that Aziraphale stiffens up when he first starts to talk to the Metatron

So we know that Nina and Maggie are meant to be a parallel to Azi and Crow. And Nina calling Maggie "angel" shows that they are able to slowly approach the romance becaue of their communication with each other. That is why they want the other 2 to talk to each other

Muriel picked up the phrase "jolly good" from Azi

After Crowley walks out and the metatron comes back, AZIRAPHALE HAS TO TURN AROUND TO WIPE HIS EYES- HE STARTED CRYING

When the metatron asks Azi if he needs to bring anything with him, Aziraphale looks out the window, searching for Crowley

#good omens #good omens beelzebub #good omens gabriel #ineffable bureaucracy #anthony j crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #good omens maggie #good omens nina #good omens muriel #Muriel #the metatron #good omens spoilers #gos2 spoilers #the BEST omens

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi,I hope we are not too annoyed with all our questions.

I'm new to the fandom,and after watching the show I really thought that Loustat would be the popular ship.I know most people are multi-shipper here,but it's funny how Louis and Lestat are not popular together. It seems like you've been here longer than many of us (books and Tv show)from you observations do you see major differences between fans favorite in the show and the books?

Also,have you changed your opinion on a character because of the show?

Not really to the latter.

I think the show cast the characters perfectly, so they fit for me. :) I like this Louis more, if anything. They enhanced him (though they did enhance them all, imho).

We lucked out so badly.

As per Loustat... *sighs*

You have to understand that Lestat is seen by many as the big bad abuser ™, and nothing else. No matter how often cast, crew, writers and creators have said that we have seen only half the story, no matter how often errors in the tale have been pointed out, no matter how often I have dug out the episode insider with Rolin pointing out the "tinkering" even then... anyone who doubted Louis' tale in any kind of fashion was met with accusations of racism and slurs.

I'm not kidding. I wish I was. I still have comments on my fics that I left there, on purpose. I have the asks here. There are people who call themselves my "number one hate blog".

I don't want to rehash all that now.

But imagine trying to write coming from the books, knowing what will happen, seeing the "seeds" in the show (as Assad called it), reading the interviews, knowing the tale will shift... and being met with something like that.

And now imagine not having the book background, and being harassed on anon, or with comments. And not having the background to defend your ship.

And I don't even mean actual criticism here, if valid or not.

No, I mean harassment. Accusations, death threats. Comparisons to the KKK. Whole campaigns against me, and others. Not kidding. I put my rants into my bio if you're interested, lol.

This is the fandom where I started blocking in earnest, and I come from friggin' Hannibal.

A tale like this, with racial changes in a color-conscious way (which actually brought the difficult topics into play (and I love them for it!)), left hanging for 18 months... that didn't do the fandom any good.

And some of the comments in the podcast didn't do it any good either with the expectations it raised, and which will be now... well. Not wholly disappointed, but... some took that as gospel. When it's not. It will be a bit messy soon, and with what's to come wrt to Claudia, too.

Soooo... that is why Loustat isn't particularly popular right now.

That will change though.

Rolin, as well as Sam and Jacob keep repeating that this show is built around Loustat.

Loustat are at the heart. They are the heart.

The books start and end with them.

The show foreshadows their dance at the end.

I for one am continuing to write for them, even if I have currently hit a wall on my current fic, but I was mightily distracted by all the new content^^ (like everyone else I think^^).

I love that they are so complicated, and messy, and petty, and so, so IN LOVE.

Jacob called it that, too. "Petty and in love".

And they are.

PS: And no worries re asks :) I love talking to you guys^^

#Anonymous #asks #ask nalyra #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #iwtv 2022 #interview with the vampire #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #loustat #fandom wank

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I also saw someone say Adrien getting turned into a pigeon in the same Mr. Pigeon 72 episode was also foreshadowing for the sentitheory, what do you think?

I'm gonna be honest, I sat here staring at this ask for a solid minute trying to make sense of the words on my screen because this is one of the most nonsense things I've ever read. Media literacy can't actually be this bad, right?

No, Adrien being turned into a pigeon is not foreshadowing unless you think him being turned into a Reflecta clone and a Style Queen golden statue also mean something, which I highly doubt is the case. Turning people into things is just a standard akuma power and Adrien gets to be one of the victims from time to time in order to make an episode's plot work the same way he occasionally gets mind controlled. The fact that one of the things he got turned into was a bird doesn't foreshadow anything because that's not how foreshadowing works. Foreshadowing doesn't mean "I can find a way to loosely connect these two things!"

[image: the "I've connected two dots, you didn't connect shit" meme]

For the pigeon transformation to have meaning, it would - at the very least - need to be unique to Adrien in some way, but it's not. He's one of many identical pigeons and I'm guessing that this person wasn't claiming that they're all sentimonsters, right? If not, then how is it foreshadowing? What makes this transformation different on a rewatch now that we know Adrien's status? Because that's how foreshadowing works. It should play different once you know what it was setting up.

If you want an actual example of akuma-based foreshadowing, look at Wishmaker, which showed us Adrien's childhood dream vs everyone else's. The fact that Adrien has no hopes or dreams of his own while all of the real humans do is pretty clearly meant to make you go, "Huh, that's odd." Then, on a rewatch, you go, "Oh, this is because he's not a human!"

That's the way that foreshadowing is supposed to work. It's subtle or blatant highlighting of an oddity that will come to have meaning later on. You may be able to guess the meaning before the reveal, but it should play into the reveal in some way.

Another example of foreshadowing is how, in the later half of season four, the camera starts focusing on the Agreste's wedding rings every time Gabriel or Nathalie gives a command that Adrien then obeys. It's meant to make you go, "Huh, that's odd."

A weird*, but ultimately solid example of subtle foreshadowing is the butterfly logo on Adrien's shoes, hinting at his father's villain status. We know that Adrien probably only wears his father's brand and butterflies are a big deal in the show right from the start, so why would you give Adrien a butterfly on his outfit if that doesn't mean something about his father? You wouldn't, so it's obvious that this is a clue that Gabriel is Hawkmoth or at least involved with Hawkmoth. Let's compare that to the pigeon stuff to really highlight foreshadowing vs grasping at straws.

"Gabriel put subtle nods to his villainy in his clothing line because he's an egomaniac" is a really logical thing to assume. Similarly, "Everything on Adrien's body was put there with purpose by the animators because it had to be custom designed for him, so that butterfly is not an accident," is a solid logic. There is no reason for that butterfly to be there if it doesn't mean something.

"Emilie and Gabriel gave their magical designer baby a pigeon allergy to give viewers a subtle hint that he's a magical designer baby made from a peacock feather," sounds like the ramblings of a mad person. Do you also think that Adrien's inability to play soccer is going to come back to mean something outside of Penalteam? Or that him bragging about being good at physics in Evillustrator means that he's ultimately going to be a physicist*? You better or else you're cherry picking because the pigeon allergy is not given any more importance than those other little facts. Facts that were clearly only dropped for the sake of a joke.

Anyway, this is the problem with trying to claim that a random joke from a random episode must have deeper meaning. It certainly can, that's how subtle foreshadowing works, but for a thing to be foreshadowing, it has to create a clear association between A and B. It also needs to be logical. The pigeon stuff is neither clear nor logical.

Pigeon-related things that would actually count as foreshadowing in Mr. Pigeon 72 if they had been included:

Adrien!pigeon not responding to Mr. Pigeon's commands because Mr. Pigeon doesn't have Adrien's amok and that's the only way to control a sentimonster no matter their form (this would go against established lore since Adrien has been able to be mind controlled in the past, but I'm just spit-balling ideas here, okay? Work with me people! Miracular and the Paris special let him get cataclysmed without breaking like a normal senti, so retconing the rules for the sake of the plot is par for the course in my book)

Mr. Pigeon being unable to have a sentimonster because they're allergic to feathers combined with Adrien!Pigeon constantly sneezing, making him standout and be useless

Kagami being established to also have feather allergies since she's also at the pool in this episode, making it really freaking easy to establish this since Marinette is listing off random ass things that Kagami and Adrien have in common

If it doesn't result in an "oh!" or "I knew it" moment later on, then it ain't foreshadowing. But it could be something else.

*Let's circle back to the physics thing briefly because you might have thought, "Wait, that could be foreshadowing if he goes into physics, couldn't it?" And kind of! You're thinking of foreshadowing's parent technique, setup and payoff (or, at least, I've never seen it called something else.) The difference between general S&P and foreshadowing is that foreshadowing should stand out as odd like Adrien's shoes or the rings. It's something that's there to make you go, "Huh." Meanwhile, many of techniques used for setup and payoff don't require a "huh" feeling.

Allow me to explain!

Adrien being good at physics isn't weird, it's just a fun fact about him and it's normal to develop your characters as a story goes on just to flesh them out and make them feel more real. Every little thing you learn doesn't have to mean something about their ultimate fate. But sometimes the things you learn do lead to something bigger. That's just crafting a good, logical story. Knowing Adrien enjoyed physics class at 14 means nothing for his eventual career path, but if he does go into physics, it's now no longer out of the blue.

But it's also not foreshadowed. It's just setup.

An actual example of this type of thing is Marinette's diary. Her diary has been used as a nice little character quirk throughout the show. Then we get to the Paris special and - suddenly - the diary actually matters to the plot.

This isn't foreshadowing. The diary was never presented in a way that would make you think, "Huh, that's coming back later" or "Hmmm, that's odd." But it's still a satisfying moment to see her diary lead to something since it's been around for so long.

If we were never told that Marinette kept a diary and we only ever saw her hiding this pink book, then that would have been foreshadowing as we'd be thinking, "Huh, that's odd." Then we'd get to the Paris special and go, "Oh! That's what the book was!"

In other words, foreshadowing requires a reveal. I'll also note that there's no hard rules for this stuff. I tried to pick good examples that were clearly foreshadowing and clearly not, but there's grey area here, so it's okay if you disagree about some of these being foreshadowing. (except for if you disagree on the pigeon stuff. I will fight you about the pigeons!)

Another example of setup and payoff is Gabriel getting cataclysmed and then slowly dying throughout the season. His death isn't foreshadowed, it's just a thing that's happening. On the other hand, Nathalie dying via the peacock is used for foreshadowing because it leads to Adrien comparing Nathalie's illness to Emilie's, which is the setup for the reveal that Emilie used the peacock. Nathalie's illness is also just a non-foreshadowed setup for Emilie's reveal so that the peacock hurting people doesn't come out of nowhere, which is why setups are important. You can skip all foreshadowing and only use setups and still tell a good story.

The pigeon stuff was never foreshadowing, but if any of it had been revealed to mean something by the show, then it could be argued to be a situation where it was introduced as a setup for a later payoff. But the pigeon thing has f-all to do with sentimonsters, so once again, it's nonsense and people need to let it die! The pigeon thing has been used for its intended purpose: gags. That's why it came back in Mr. Pigeon 72! Mr. Pigeon 1 didn't foreshadow that, it just setup a gag that they decided to revisit it because this is a comedy and little kids probably find Adrien sneezing and messing things up funny.

*One final note: the reason I called Adrien's shoes "weird" is because the butterfly logo was great subtle foreshadowing back when people thought that was the logo for Gabriel's company. Now that the logo is a massive G, the butterfly raises questions about Gabriel's design choices since we never see it anywhere else. I've often wondered if this was originally meant to be Gabriel's logo, but they scrapped the idea for some reason. Either way, it's still foreshadowing, it's just slightly less good now that we have to ask, "Why did Gabriel put butterflies on these sneakers for teen boys and no where else?"

#ml writing salt #senti salt #ml writing critical #the pigeon thing #yeah it's getting a tag now!

[m4rs-ex3]

✨ rayllum ✨

whaddya want from me i have to talk about it rn. aaaaaaaaaaaaa🫶🫶🫶🫶 boundaries. trust. FINGERGUNS. they. them. my pronouns are they because i'll never be them. callum is done wasting time being mad and is now devoting all of his time remembering and/or discovering HOW MUCH HE LOVES THIS GIRL UGH 💕💞💖💗💞💕💖💝💝💘💖💓 he is the sweetest fucking thing rn oml he can see now that she will always be there for him and he wants her to know and im normal. aside from the core developments of their relationship omfg we were SERVED. the banter, the softness, the absolute bestie(+) behavior. let's review:

(e1) "practical? like what ; :)" that is the flirtiest fuckin face ive ever seen

"yes. you. uh.. rayla."

"i was lookin for you! uh.. callum." HIS FACEEEE HIS WIDDLE SMILE

"i can see that. let her go." ZERO hesitation. also mad foreshadowing

"she broke into the high mage's office." "no that's crazy. she can go in there any time she wants." UGH i expected a "no that's crazy she would never do that" but he's straight up like 'whats mine is urs bbg" 😭✋

"the elf stole it." oh.. ok his face doesn't look too happy there i wonder if "shes not 'the elf.' she's rayla." OH FUCK ME THEN

"and she was hiding a weapon" "so what? she always is?" IM SCREAMING I LOVE THEM SM

it doesn't even seem that for a second he was perturbed about rayla having the murder weapon, more so that he was looking straight at the murder weapon. she's always been in the clear 🫡

"if she didn't tell me... she has a good reason." THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE. THIS-- iiis getting its own post.

"it means i trust her. unconditionally." brb dying happy

his face when she unchained herself god he loves his non-law-abiding girlfriend

"you don't have to explain or justify anything to me. you can tell me when you're ready :)" what can i even say at this point

(e2) "well i'm glad you liked it :)" kill me now

"and now... here we are," there it is he still sees them as one unit, defying all odds and persevering all circumstances oh me oh my

stargazing obvi

(e3) RAYLA IN CALLUM'S DOODLE. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO ADD HER IN THERE YET THERE SHE IS LOOKING ADORABLE

"she can't stop us." "nobody can >:)" "so we're going to lux aurea right? ; :)" "too right we are >:)>:)>:)>:)"

their chaos <3

(e4) rayllum montage my beloved THAT MUSIC

if you guys have been weird please show me normal

"rayla, we've been through a lot, and a lot has changed, ah- um, well, some things have changed, but not.. everything. uh... i would do anything for you."

i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i would do anything for you i wo

this is not fucking real what the fuckity fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

they are The standard

i've seen a lot of ships in my day way too many perhaps but no one compares

he's so patient and respectful w her 😭 the way he just gently holds out his hands

she fully emphasized that freeing them wasn't her priority and yet just ZERO hesitation callum saw his girl in distress and dropped everything no second thought required

THE HAND HOLDDDD THAT WAS SO SOFT

HE WAS SO FRICKEN EXCITED TO HELP HER

about to die and only one priority mhm

THUMB RUB THUMB RUB THUMB RUB THUMB RUB THUMB RUB THUMB RUB THUMB RUB

"i waited too long" i am so absolutely insane feral indignant

"i hope you know-" "i know."

bury me

(e5) fist bump. thats it im done im gone oh m !!!!! FIST !!! BUMP !!!!! YOU ABSOLUTE DORKS YOU <3<3<3<3<3

i am weak and the water scene is literally my favorite

he IMMEDIATELY knows shes uncomfy

AND he waits for her

"i don't think i'm comfortable pushing- hey!" "see? i pushed you first! pushing is easy!"

12:06 ish that glance downward tho 👀

the hand snatch of the century. her face. his face. that squeeze. "together." that ttm parallel.

HE HELD HER HAND THE ENTIRE TIME 😭😭😭💗

"-the entire world would be in danger-" IM SORRY BUT HE LOOKED STRAIGHT. AT HER. THAT LOOK KILL ME

"an amulet. or, uh, is it a talisman? what's the difference?" HER SWEET LIL GIGGLE (might just be the last sweet moment i have to report on)

beginning o e7 they're standing together on deck what happened all last night i need to know

her catching him when he collapsed :') and holding him up the rest of the time

"LET HIM GO!"

so e8 🙂

so

e

8

🙂

female rage has nothing on callum.

5 seasons. so many characters. so many losses. we have never seen this much emotion from anyone. i can hardly joke right now but he really embodied "don't you just wanna go apeshit?" i consume so much fucking media and this is new even for me. callum has never even had a temper. through all of this--getting kidnapped, abused, mentally and physically, seeing what his friends are going through--he hasn't broke. and then, seeing his biggest fear, the thing he's been plagued with for years, the thing we've seen him throw away his life to prevent, comes true, and he loses it. the scream, grunt & inhale, the speed, the aggression, the fucking expression. it's not hard to see how what happened next happened, i'm surprised he didn't do worse.

“all that talk about how love makes you stronger, but the second you see that elf girl in pain, you completely lost yourself.” mitski miyawaki kindly carry me out

every threat or demand finnegrin has made and callum has done nothing but scour. he has been as strong as anyone can be. and all of a sudden here he is crying out for mercy, pleading, bargaining, the lowest we've ever seen him. it hurts, but finnegrin was right.

"just... just let her go."

"NO! NO"

his defeat. we know this is because of... literally everything he has ever stood for being demolished. but his personal moral catastrophe aside, don't you find it interesting how he did all of that to keep rayla safe, and yet he never once went to her? i made another post abt this but i'm saying it again: rayla told him not to. and she believed in him. she's safe, but i don't think he thought he really saved her. he doesn't think he deserves anything she's giving him. he refuses to indulge in her, he refuses to confide in her, he refuses to seek her out. but he just saved her life. but that's not enough. not enough to resolve this within himself, and apparently not enough for the girl who's life he has saved twice now, who has stuck by him for years, who has dedicated everything to him, to be able to be okay with it. and he just kind of... accepts it. he doesn't beg for forgiveness, that being said he doesn't tell her either. this may seem like he's protecting himself, that he really just doesn't want to lose her, that he doesn't want to face this at all, but maybe it's him not wanting to disappoint her. yknow i really hate to be one of those people who ignores how basically all of callum's character surrounds his own internal conflict in favor of rayllum fan service, but fuck it's hard no to sometimes. he wants to be her hero, but he isn't; not to himself, anyway. this would always be the case. and yet... he did it all anyway. if that isn't unconditional, i'm jumping off a bridge.

no matter who he's protecting he is still being so strong for her

"yeah. yeah, i'm okay. i am." no, that obviously wasn't the truth. but for a "horrible liar," he sure appeared at least a little bit better. at the end of the day, the end of the battle, rayla's okay. and that always seems to help.

face touch 🩷

that hug man. her deep sigh. his shame melting into unavoidable comfort. him letting go despite all his better judgement. also it was cute. homicidal. but cute.

THE OTHER WATER SCENE IM STARTING TO THINK I HAVE A TYPE

the "eyes on me" thing AUUUHGHHGHGHGHGH

"i-i'm getting out" 👏ZERO👏HES👏ITATION👏 AND THE THING THAT MADE HIM BREAK WAS THE FEAR/SADNESS IN HER VOICE. LIKE AT FIRST HE WAS JUS LIKE "U GOOD?" BUT THEN HE SAW HOW UPSET SHE WAS AND WAS ALL "FUCK THE FATE OF THE WORLD IM GIVING YOU A HUG"

the squad reunion post-claudia when rayla gives callum's arm an extra little squeeze 😭

the ending handhold 🫶 thereee'ssss my little married couple

welp i would say it's been fun but it's been more so absolutely excruciating so. it has been.

if i still had feelings i would be so happy <3

#tdp spoilers #s5 spoilers #tdp s5 spoilers #rayllum #tdp s5 #tdp season 5 #tdp #the dragon prince s5 #the dragon prince

[derekscorner]

Fated Rantings: Ground Zero

I finished Fate Zero

And what a ride that was. I don't even know where to start with all of this which shocks me because I went in knowing things would go to hell.

I started my whole Fate journey due to lore videos, curiosity and FGO so (just like the 2006 Fate Stay Night) I had a full grasp of what would happen. To be shocked anyway just goes to show that the cast and their dialogues sell this story.

There's a stark difference between hearing plot points and watching Gilgamesh slowly poke at Kirei's mentality. There's a difference between knowing that Blue Beard is summoned by a serial killer and seeing them discuss the nature of God.

And there's one hell of a difference between seeing memes of Iskander & Waver and seeing what is possibly the best bromance within Type-Moon.

I went into this expecting Saber to be a bit too idealistic and for Kiritsugu to be a badass only to leave it finding Kiritsugu the least interesting compared to everyone else.

Magus Killer Indeed

Now, I do not say that to imply that he lacks depth himself. Kiritsugu is unique in how he operates within his magic world and you're not supposed to view him as idealistically as Irisviel or Shirou do, he's a flawed man with a very fucked up history.

This man, like Shirou, wanted to be a hero of justice as a child. An innocent enough desire but one that was both never tempered in realism and was shattered by realism.

What I mean by that is that Kiritsugu is plagued by a paradox. Yes, the village being turned into ghouls and murdered was bad. Yes, Kiritsugu killing his own father because he felt that "he had too" is a very dark sign of his mentality even as a child.

But these things haunt him, they do not drive him. What drives him is his desire to be that hero. When his world is shattered he takes a dark approach to kill the few to save the many.

It's that pursuit that eventually shatters his goal with the realism of humanity. You can never truly save everyone, other humans will always ruin it.

But the realism that pushes him to try anyway is the grail. In this world the wish granter is real, tangible, thus the paradox. He fully believes the goal shattered by realism can be salvaged by the realism of the grail's existence.

He's usually so pessimistic and realistic in his approaches to the war and battles that it's almost jarring to see his character break once he learns that the grail can't just do anything. You can see that last bit of idealism in his soul die.

Worse, the grail taunts him. It can only grant a wish that a human themselves can understand. As an example;

you can't ask for fire if you do not know how fire operates.

Thus the grail shows him a way to grant his wish but that wish grants nothing. This is very crucial to his breakdown because the grail showed him in the purest terms that;

This is your way of saving others but ultimately it saves no one

That's the point of the boat example. No matter how many you sacrifice for the whole, the survives will further fracture. There will always be a minority and a majority, Kiritsugu's life was essentially pointless in the larger picture.

Now, it'd be too cruel to say his life had no meaning at all. He was willing to sacrifice his mother figure and mentor to stop an undead outbreak. He killed his father because he felt responsible for his actions and Shirley's death.

He had to have done some good, it just wasn't in the way he had hoped. The greatest tragedy here is possibly that he's unable to see it.

We the audience see it in those rare moments of him being a father to his daughter, to Shirou, or a husband to Irisviel. People were drawn to him and loved him and if he had stopped his pursuits for them he may have found a happier ending.

True Emptiness

Then there's this true demon of a man. For all the talk, the praise of their battle, and Kiritsugu's own foreshadowing, I expected a deeper connection between the two.

It's strange, you can't just bring up Kiritsugu's flawed mentality without mentioning Kirei's yet the two only physically met one time. It's fascinating because I expected a bigger grudge or more plot relevance to their dynamic.

Yet, at the same time, their lack of interaction makes the eventual fight more interesting because of where Kirei starts and where he ends.

Intriguingly, Kiritsugu pegs Kirei near instantly. He only had a mug shot and some info on his life but he could instantly tell that there was something very wrong with Kirei. He sensed the lack of love and emptiness and feared him the most.

In contrast, Kirei didn't know Kiritsugu as well as he believed. Half of his emotional journey is realizing that they're not as alike as he thought.

This is best shown in his battle with Irisviel and Maya. He assumes Kiritsugu sent them there to battle him and he can't comprehend it when that's not the case. In his mind he is fully incapable of understanding why those two women would choose to face him.

He can't comprehend the illogical actions love will drive one too.

That said, the far more interesting dynamic in Kirei's life is Gilgamesh. While Kirei fails in his assumption of Kiritsugu and lacks a full understanding of himself it is Gilgamesh who sees through Kirei instantly.

Their talks are some of the most interesting parts in the story because you can tell Gilgamesh is trying to make him realize his own nature. Gilgamesh has no grand reason for doing so, he's just bored.

For all the dorky shit Gilgamesh does, for all the moments of him being oddly good with kids, or a good king (in FGO) you can't forget that Gilgamesh defies morality. He's not above it he just does not consider it.

He seeks entertainment and Kirei is the most interesting thing there. A full grown man unable to feel yet subconsciously seeking too. The answer is always on the tip of Kirei's tongue. (he's in self denial)

It's truly fascinating to watch it unfold. This ancient demigod taking a mentorship-like role just so he can see what Kirei will do.

It's due to these talks of introspection and Kirei's other actions that I find it hard to see the duality of he and Kiritsugu. What ultimately awakens Kirei's understanding is watching Kariya's suffering.

Gilgamesh may point it out but that's moot. It's Kariya's motives that catch Kirei's attention most, it's the drama with Tokiomi that fascinates him, it's saving Kariya and using him later that makes it click for Kirei internally.

You could possibly argue the whole thing is Tokiomi's fault. He gave his daughter to the Matous and even if he was unaware of the torture she'd endure for years that- no wait.

He possibly went wrong the moment he schemed with the church. Watching the Tohsaka's and Kariya play out their drama awoke the monster that is Kirei but it was Tokiomi's fault Kirei was there at all.

It was also Tokiomi that summoned Gilgamesh....hmm there's a lot more to ponder there I guess but let's move on.

I can only praise the depiction of Kirei's awakening so far before it seems like I like his character or adore it. It's fascinating to watch but he's still a monster that shouldn't be walking among men.

The Best Fate Bro to ever live

I wanted to use the last section of this to talk about the best fucking boy. I do not care what anyone tells you, Iskandar is the best bro in the Fate universe.

The very first thing this man does upon being summoned is find a map. With the enthusiasm of a child he admires it looking for where his kingdom is now and seeing the world mapped out in whole.

There's something that is just genuinely pure about Iskandar in Fate/Zero. No heroic spirit is without questionable actions in the modern lens but this story does a good job of blending that by explaining Iskandar's motives.

He has a genuine love of seeing new things. That joy is so pure that his wish for the grail is to be reincarnated so that he can begin his conqueroring anew. I have no earthly clue how he thinks he'll be able to do that in a normal mortal body but no matter because I doubt he's thought that far ahead himself.

His patience in dealing with a prideful child is also second to none. His words are often full of small wisdom to the point I did not keep count of them all nor could I explore it all. He's always pushing his master to try new things and it takes root overtime.

It is very easy to see how Waver could become the popular Lord El-Melloi II in other materials. It all began here, regardless of timelines, there's usually a Waver that fought in the 4th Grail War with Iskander.

I'm not even sure what to write about Waver himself because so much of what made the impression was seeing him slowly changing due to Iskandar's influence.

In a mage society that belittles him for being "new blood" it is Iskandar that continually tries to open his eyes. That's highlighted best when Waver tracks down Caster easily using simpler methods due to his magical limitations.

He views it as bad but Iskandar makes a good point. To do something in a simpler yet equally relevant way (perhaps even better) is a talent worthy of praise. Waver doesn't recognize his own ingenuity nor does he realize that there's merit in someone who can think around their limitations.

It's the core of their dynamic and that moment when Waver goes from being his master mage to his subject is beautiful. That strong loyalty born over the story even saves Waver's life.

Gilgamesh spares him based on that undying loyalty alone. A far cry from where Waver starts.

Kingly Mentality

Before I lose myself in the praise I should point out that Iskandar is no fool. Yes, he rarely plans in Fate Zero and his pure love for the new and patience shapes his bond with his mage.

However, do not mistake that pureness for a simpleton. Iskander is simply straightforward to a fault. His greatest characteristic is that friendly straightforward nature he has.

He's the one servant that repeatedly stops to talk to the others, he's able to get them to talk when they normally wouldn't, and even when he expresses desire to take them into his army those present do not get that offended.

Gilgamesh, the king of arrogance, even begins to shrug this off. On some level he respects Iskandar's nature because he is true to himself.

Still, some do think his attitude toward Saber is bad in regards to the banquet of kings. Now this is tumblr which is bad for seeing what isn't there to begin with or it's twitter which has lost it's critical thinking skills long ago.

What do I mean by this? Simple, while Iskandar and Gilgamesh disagree they at least respect each other as kings. Similarly they disrespect Artoria as king but for differing reasons.

To Iskandar a king is someone who stands above men as a symbol of their ideals. Something to follow, a larger than life person to show them the way.

What lost Iskandar's respect for Artoria's kingship was her wish. Her desire to undo it all, even if for good reasons, is an insult to Iskandar. No matter how tragic he would not change one moment of his life because that would affect everyone that fought for him and with him.

He sees Artoria as a slave of her people and the ideals she was raised on rather than a king that's truly led and valued her men. It is here that some have issues.

We'll argue King Arthur another time, what's relevant is why Iskandar views it. The tragic thing being that he is not entirely wrong.

Artoria was raised to be a king, she was conceived in convoluted magic ways to be England's king, so when he says that he only "sees a girl who could not chase butterflies or fall in love" he is entirely correct.

I do not say that dismissing her choices mind you but she did sacrifice that normalcy regardless. Iskandar, as we've covered, enjoys life at it's core.

So what he sees in Saber is a girl who was denied life. She could not truly enjoy it which disconnected her from her people. He views it as sad and states that one reason for recruiting her into his army is to show her otherwise.

Now as to whether he could have is another topic entirely. What's important is that he can't respect her as a king because he sees a martyr not a king.

The Fate Route of the FSN justifies his views to an extent because Saber eventually finds some things she denied herself in Shirou. She ultimately just needed a chance to be a person and Iskandar wanted to help her do so.

There are some faults in his thinking, yes, but his intentions aren't negative nor his his disrespect of her kingship based on sex. He fully respected Saber as a king until he learned her wish.

Even after he respected her as a warrior and wanted to see her enjoy life...and cut down his enemies BUT STILL.

Conclusion?

Already? So abruptly? Kinda. This got too big to fit into one post and there's a lot I can't find a way to organically work in.

Such as Tokiomi's dumb ass making Kirei Rin's guardian when his wife is perfectly healthy and alive when he writes that will.

Or how Gilgamesh views Saber just as objectively and disrespectfully as you'd expect. His take on her kingship and sex is completely negative and objectifying, a contrast to Iskandar.

Hell the whole mutual respect and differences between Gilgamesh and Iskandar.

I also didn't get to the odd but unnervingly deep take on God between two mass murderers. (Caster & Ryuunosuke)

I definitely don't have it in me to cover Kiritsugu's family. Illyasviel is more of a FSN topic and Irisviel is hard for me to quantify. Her love for her husband and of the small things he showed her was beautiful though.

Oh well, ONTO PART TWO: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/post/737301977761005569/fated-rantings-seiba-pt-2#notes

=======================

For my other experiences with Fate go here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/tagged/fated-rantings

#fate series #fate zero #gilgamesh #fate saber #emiya kiritsugu #irisviel von einzbern #kotomine kirei #iskander #velvet waver #illyasviel von einzbern #fated rantings

[unlikelyjapan]

s2e1 rewatch notes

I had some wine tonight, but by the grace of God I had the wherewithal to wait a few hours to post my notes:

The forcefulness of Fak telling Carmy "It's a facelift AND a gut" is obviously needling us about how the character development on the show is going to roll, to varying degrees. The fact that Carmy is the one to be dismissive about the statement is foreshadowing I guess?

The same foreshadowing goes with Richie & Carmy - "I've got no purpose" and "you're going to wake up and drop my ass" fears are inverted between them by the end of the season.

Marcus and Sydney have honest heat/tenderness/tension in the first episode as she checks in on his mom - her own mother issues make it super awkward as the interaction closes, but it gives me more understanding as to why Marcus erupted as badly as he did in Ep10 (not like it was excusable, just relatable) - he's in a vulnerable state where her inquiries could definitely feel like overt cues.

Cicero totally looks like he knows what's happening between Carmy and Syd as they bicker during the pitch for more cash - Oliver Platt can play a smart (smug) motherfucker like no other, and I'm weirdly attracted to that.

Cicero was really ready/itching to tell them "the story of complete and utter failure" when Carmy cuts him off with the spontaneous '18-months to pay-out" deal during the same pitch. Knowing the Gonzalez/Bartman story was at the ready in episode 1 - and that, instead, we got Claire'd - is going to haunt my dreams for a while.

Syd asking Tina if she wanted to be her sous felt like the first time she was earnestly asking another woman to have a connection with her, and that earnestness was rewarded threefold *tears*

I love Ebra's consistent tenderness with Marcus so much - I hope they explore that bond more in season 3, as they've always been so gentle together. You can tell Ebra is very invested in Marcus' future, even though it's so divergent from the path he sees for himself at his stage in life.

Syd really needs Carmy to take the lead at the lockers when she says "Uh....what are you going to do?" - she lacks the emotional bandwidth to deal with the ambiguousness of "I have no idea", even though it's such a loaded statement coming from Carmy. He also says "I have no idea" to Claire in the next episode, when she asks "how's your life been, Berzatto?" but, of course, Claire DOES have the bandwidth/game to respond.

The exact lyrics when Sydney walks away from the lockers are talking about "transcendental blues" - I am deceased now.

Furthermore, the fact that the episode (at the point where they've constructed the new 3-month opening plan) is the first time we actually hear the lines from Refused's "New Noise" punctuate an episode with "Can I scream? Good frames won't save bad paintings" - ugh.

Afterthought:

Do you think any of anti-hero character development on the show echoes back to "The Adventures of Augie March" by Saul Bellow? I haven't read it in ages, but it's the most Chicago story ever, and Storer is SO REFERENTIAL about anything literary/cinematic to do with the city that I thought.....maybe kinda.

#the bear fx #the bear season 2 #the bear spoilers #the bear #carmy x sydney #carmen berzatto #carmy x claire #richie jerimovich #neil fak #tina the bear #claire the bear #syd x carmy #sugar berzatto

[conchelle]

I once saw someone on this site say if they were to rewrite Corpse Party, they would make Kizami show up in an earlier chapter because they thought he showed up out of nowhere in the game. It then occurred to me how little people appreciate the themes of each chapter.

Each chapter of Corpse Party does in fact have an overall theme that keeps the setting of Heavenly Host feeling fresh each chapter. It's how you can explore the area with each character and not get completely bored out of your mind with their similar reactions.

Chapter 1 essentially about isolation. The only living beings are Naomi and Seiko. There's barely any ghosts hanging around. Dead bodies aren't as excessive as other chapters. By the time the girls find any they're either dried to the bone or completely unrecognizable as a human. The whole chapter really hones in just how alone you are in Heavenly Host. The only other sign of human life is Yuka's voice being heard from afar but she's not even in the same school. Naomi is isolated at every single opportunity. It adds a moment of tension everytime you're alone. You wonder "What if something happened to Seiko. What if something happens to me?" Then you realize just how good Seiko was at lowering the tension whenever she was around. And then the whole ending happens and you know how that goes. By then end of the chapter Naomi has not only lost a friend but she's completely alone.

Chapter 2 is all about hostility and aggression. The ghosts and spirits and shit? Oh yeah they're actually evil this time. This is the chapter where everything is trying to kill you. While Chapter 1 is pretty linear with only one other bad ending- Chapter 2 has four of them. This chapter has at least four people occupying the same space but it comes with the dreading knowledge that anything bad can happen to them at anytime. Even your companion, Ayumi gets possessed every other scene.

I think it's also worth noting how in Chapter 1, the characters you followed were best friends while in this chapter these characters are...not as close with each other (Well it's more one-sided but if Corpse Party writers had the balls they would make Yoshiki start off as more in line with his PC-98 counterpart)

Chapter 3 is where the game decides to mix things up. We already spent two chapters exploring Heavenly Host and how icky and gross it is. By now it's not unlikely you remember the layout of the school. So this is the point the game throws a curveball and introduces a whole other second wing. This is also the first chapter where we're introduced to other characters besides the Kisaragi kids.

While Chapter 2 introduced how much of a threat ghosts really are, Chapter 3 spends its time showing that living people are just as bad- if not worse than the dead. Every other living person you come across just seems crazier than the last. No one is willing to become a new companion because the school has completely sapped them of the desire and hope of getting out of this school.

This is when Kizami is introduced I can't in good faith say that his introduction comes out of nowhere. In fact he's heavily foreshadowed in the previous chapter with dead bodies literally groaning out his name but due to the length of these chapters, the player has likely forgotten all about that. At this point, Kizami seems like the only normal living person occupying this space besides Yuka and Satoshi. It's almost fascinating how many players I've seen completely let their guard down the minute his character shows up on screen.

Honestly I'd go into a whole other rant about characterization how it's great in this game but I'm exhausted and last time I tried to post about this topic I ended drafting it from how long it got.

#corpse party #analysis? ig #long post idc tumblr has those expand thingies now

[highladyluck]

Season 2, Episode 8 Post-blog:

So I did not liveblog this episode since I had friends over to do a watch party, but here's everything I remembered that I wanted to talk about!

As far as I can tell, the two Seanchan sul'dam that got collared are not going to be found with the collar on them. (Not sure if Renna is dead or if Egwene chose to uncollar her, but either way she's not chained up in a basement with the collar on waiting to be discovered by her peers.) I was thinking at first that this had major implications for the rest of the Seanchan storyline. But really, it only has implications for Suroth, since in the books Suroth (and Alwhin, who is already her Voice in the show) sit on the information until Egeanin discovers it separately. Egeanin can still be the first Seanchan to know and do anything about it. I do think this lack of a dangling thread, Suroth's ship being blown up, and the way it's hard to get actors to come back seasons later make it more likely we've seen the last of Suroth. I would be happy to eat my words, though! Also, Egwene, Nyneave, and Elayne all know you can collar a sul'dam, and possibly Mat, Rand, and Perrin will soon as well if anyone remembers to communicate this information, so any one of them could spill the beans.

Major props to whoever hypothesized that Uno would be a Hero of the Horn; not sure if he's implied to be Gaidal Cain or not (possibly not? there was a blink-and-I-missed it moment of PDA between Birgitte and somebody but I am not sure if it was Uno or not).

I did not anticipate Mat making an ashandarai out of household objects and the dagger and I am EXTREMELY PROUD of him. Also proud of him for escaping traps! My boy is really coming into his own! I also really appreciate the classic blunder of doing the same thing to Mat again but worse- the Dark does not understand that my boy thrives when you do that. He solves his problems by escalating them in intensity or magnitude. You can only put him in a room with drugs once, if you put him in a room with drugs again he will use them in an unconventional manner to escape and also destroy his enemies.

Also props to whoever guessed that the Horn would trigger memories for Mat- I'm intrigued by where they are going with this. I hope it's not precluding the Aelfinn and Eelfinn, but given all the hanging foreshadowing, the makeshift ashandarai, and Lanfear yeeting Moiraine out of the waygate doorway, I don't really think they'd cut the Eelfinn. It's the Aelfinn that seem slightly less like a sure thing, and I'm going to be a little on edge until Mat gets the DotNM prophecy somehow. I don't think they'd cut the problematic fave; it's a juicy part, idk what Mat would even do if he weren't babysitting the Seanchan in the later plot, and they've been doing great with the 'you're wrong but I see where you're coming from' characters. But they've either cut or significantly changed the Moiraine/Thom relationship in the show, and the two relationships are kind of linked in my head for thematic reasons. I'm probably overthinking it though.

HOPPER T_T

Dain looked like a boy band member who fell off the stage and got trampled in the mosh pit.

Loved that Egwene got to face off against Ishamael! Loved Egwene all the time forever actually. I was also entertained that Egwene had like one semester of Magic College and used it to school the Seanchan on linking mechanics. She's right that the sul'dam don't know how to link properly and are weak little babies when it comes to channeling, and she should say it.

Nyneave and Elayne were great, as usual- very impressed with Elayne, who is finally living all her Battle Queen fantasies and is being very brave about how much they suck, actually. Nyneave is in for some self-loathing next season though, I'm afraid. I love that Rand and Elayne still get to have a meet-cute when she's treating his wounds. :P

I was very happy for Tumblr User Moghedien that we got to see Forsaken Moghedien. She's offputting and very gay, just like I imagined!

#wheel of time #wot on prime #wot book spoilers #wot on prime spoilers #wot on prime s2 #wot on prime s2e8

[ask-spoilt-pizza-au]

(( hey!

I forgot to give an update on where I've been or what's going on with the blog for a good while now, but you already noticed that much. you're probably curious to know why that is.

well, a bit anti-climactically, there is no real reason. I lost interest in Pizza Tower for the most part and have only really done anything related to it on the Chef's Kiss discord, contributing to that mod (all the titlecards for Pepperman are gonna be made by me, along with some miscellaneous sprites).

I have thought about this AU quite a bit though, and even I feel like just letting this blog kinda stay empty without any explanation to where it was leading up to would be uh, rather messed up.

so, there's really two options. technically probably only one.

I could give the whole story and plot and characters to someone else to make their own version of the occurences via askblog or some other medium. which isn't really an option cause I don't know anyone personally who'd do that.

or, the far more likely option, I'll make posts about how each character was gonna look and act and attach all the art I got done of them as I was getting to their introduction! some characters have far more to show than others, mainly ye ol' protagonist clone Peppino, but I still like em all, and have thought of em alot.

so ye, if the idea of me revealing the main plot and the foreshadowing of the plot points a character at a time interests you, then uh, like the post I guess.

I was gonna do a poll, but this really the only way I'd agree to do it.

sorry if you were expecting something more, but I really can't force myself to continue this, I really don't feel like continuing it any time soon. I hope that's okay. ))

#info #ooc post #spoilt pizza au #putting this in the main tag so it's more official #all the miscellaneous art plus some concepts I never ended up drawing might come afterwards too #only fair

[retrowhatever]

All the Horizon Fanfic Stats You Never Knew You Needed

So I did some data analysis. More graphs and lots of rambling below the cut.

I love graphs. And spreadsheets. And making my hobbies unnecessarily complicated. So obviously once I discovered that there's an unofficial ao3 api, I had to learn a new programming language so I could throw some math at my Horizon hyperfixation and make some graphs about fanfics. This post is the result of that rabbit hole, I hope you enjoy it!

Before we get started, I want to make one thing explicitly clear: this post is a celebration. It's a celebration of fanfic, authors, and the fandom in general. If you have something mean to say about a ship, a writer, or a fic, this ain't the place. I made these graphs and wrote this post as a love letter to a game I'm obsessed with and the incredible people who make the fan content that is my main form of sustenance these days lol, so let's keep the discussion positive.

One last thing: I generated these graphs from data that I pulled on Aug 4, 2022. Anything published after that won't be reflected here. Alright, here we go! Let's see some graphs!

Fanfic by Length

The first thing I wondered is what the average length of fic was. I did not include any fics below 100 words, assuming they were either art or placeholders, neither of which provide any useful information regarding number of words.

I defined the categories as follows:

Ficlet - less than 2000 words

Short Story - 2K-10K words

Novella - 10K-50K words

Novel - 50K-100K works

Behemoth (pun fully intended) - 100K+ words

Obviously, there's some blurriness at the category edges, but it's pretty clear most fics tend to be relatively short. I'm genuinely surprised by how many huge, sprawling works there are though - I definitely expected there to be a single-digit number of behemoth fics. Mad props to the folks writing those monstrosities for the rest of us to enjoy!

Fanfic by # of Chapters

This graph kind of underscores the point about most fics being relatively short. There are almost twice as many single chapter fics than all other fics put together.

A thing I think is relatively unique to fanfic as a medium though, is that a fair number of those single chapter fics are novella or even novel length. You're not often going to find a book at a bookstore that's tens of thousands of words and has no chapter divisions, but that's not unusual in fanfic.

Fanfic by Author

Okay, the first thing you need to understand about this graph is the following numbers:

1

2.6

Those are the median and mean fics published per author in the Horizon fandom, respectively. In case you slept through your stats class, what that means is most fanfic writers have written one or two Horizon fanfics. Now go back and look at the graph.

...yeah. We as fanfic lovers owe a lot to these folks. Most of them are on tumblr, so even if you don't have an ao3 account (same, babe, same) you have no excuse not to go show them some love!

Serie11 is @valaloy

SoupAndChaos is @soupandchaos

mythicait is @mythicaitt

DragonRose35 I couldn't find a tumblr for

Kittleskittle is @kittleskittle

VidalsQueen is @sun-and-shadow-aloy

NorthernGhost is @thatsgonnabeanogho

sunspot (unavoidedcrisis) is @sunspott

januarys I couldn't find a tumblr for

foibles_fables is @foibles-fables

unstable_grad I couldn't find a tumblr for

Pikapeppa is @pikapeppa

YoGrossDude is @yogrossdude

bioluminesce is @owlswatch

wandereringray is @wandereringray

escafiils is @chloefraazers

Fanfic by Rating

Okay, now things are getting spicy! First of all, if I'd had to guess the most popular rating, it probably wouldn't have been Teen. But, given how popular the "fluff" tag is (foreshadowing for the tag graph later in this post), I guess it shouldn't be that surprising.

Secondly, I'm clearly not the only one who struggles to understand what exactly the Mature rating is for, considering it's the least-used rating by a fair margin.

Fanfic by Ship

The most popular ships, colour-coded based on orientation. From left to right: mlm, straight, wlw, poly, machines(?????), unknown

I want to reiterate here that I made this post to celebrate the awesome Horizon fandom, so if you're thinking of using this graph to argue that one ship is better/more correct than another... just don't, k? Good.

I also combined similar tags, so if someone used all three of the tags "Aloy/Erend", "Aloy/Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn)", and "Aloy (Horizon: Zero Dawn)/Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn)" for the same fic, that's actually going to count as three fics in the Aloy/Erend column. I'll probably end up redoing this graph eventually with a less naive counting algorithm, but for now this is what we've got.

Now that we've got methodology out of the way, let's talk about some cool things this graph shows!

First, Kotaloy shippers obviously have a lot of things to say. Unlike the other five most popular ships, Aloy/Kotallo is the only one involving a character that wasn't in the first game. And it's the second most popular ship! Y'all are rabid and I love it.

Second, of the wlw ships, the second and third most popular ships involve a character from the DLC and a character who dies immediately after you meet her, respectively. You guys are out here making meals from crumbs and I am impressed. Also, though, why don't Petra and Vanasha get more love??? I'm unsurprised that Talanah and her favourite Thrush are the #1 ship, but I (a clueless straight, to be fair) loved both Petra and Vanasha and definitely expected to see more fic involving them.

Third, I love the variety here. This graph only includes ships with at least 10 fics, and there are so many different ships represented! There were tons more that had 5-10 fics too, and it honestly made me so happy to see that there were multiple fic options for almost any pairing in the game.

Fanfic by Tag

Y'all. Look at all the fluff. People always joke about making their blorbos go through it in their fanfic, but like. There is SO MUCH FLUFF. We all really just looked at these characters and went "well, they deserve nice things for a change", huh? I also love how popular canon divergence is - anecdotally, I usually see that tag on fics that are like "well, what if that shitty thing didn't happen?"

That's not to say it's all sunshine and rainbows. The next two most popular tropes are "angst" and "hurt/comfort", and as an enthusiastic consumer of both, I'm not surprised. But again, anecdotally I see a fair number of fics tagged with one or both of those and a "fluff" tag.

Going back to the ratings graph, where we learned that the most popular fic rating is Teen & Up, it shouldn't be surprising that both "First Kiss" and "First Time" are more popular tags than any of the more explicit sex ones. Also, given that Aloy grew up an outcast, I think the popularity of those tags speaks to how fun it is for both writers and readers to delve into what that means for her when it comes to sex and relationships.

Finally, the most-used content warning tags will surprise exactly no one, I think. Canon-typical violence (because duh), PTSD (growing up a literal outcast before finding out you're a clone made by an AI so you can save the entire world from extinction will do that to ya, not to mention all the shit Aloy's friends/lovers have been through in their own lives), and canonical character death (glares at GEMINI) are all pretty obvious choices.

Conclusion

Because I have zero impulse control, I'm already working on a part two for this post, where I will address such pressing questions as "Which ship has the most verbose authors?" and "Who's the gayest Horizon character?" as well as recklessly use the powers vested in me by the math and algorithm gods to find some hidden gem fics that you might not have read yet.

In the meantime, I would love to hear some more opinions on these graphs! I've commented on some of the things I found interesting, but there's lots more to address here, so feel free to reblog this post or snag any graph you find interesting to use in a post of your own. I only ask that you tag me if you do - because I want to read what you have to say!!

Also, if there's any stats or questions about Horizon fanfic that you're particularly curious about, let me know. I'm limited by the information available on ao3, but I will do my best to find you answers and include them in the next post.

Lastly, one final reminder that we're here to celebrate the awesomeness of Horizon fanfic, the fanfic authors, and the fandom in general. I will humbly accept all constructive criticism about my (somewhat questionable) statistical methods and data interpretation, but ask that you keep comments about ships, tags, authors, etc positive and productive. Remember these are real people creating free content for the rest of us, and don't yuck someone else's yum.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you found this half as interesting as I did!

#doing data analysis of fanfic? just really letting my nerd flag fly here #horizon #horizon zero dawn #horizon forbidden west #hzd #hfw #ao3 #fanfic #fanfiction #data analysis #plotly #aloy x avad #aloy/avad #alvad #aloy x erend #aloy/erend #ereloy #aloy x kotallo #aloy/kotallo #kotaloy #aloy x nil #aloy/nil #niloy #aloy x talanah #aloy/talanah #hawk and thrush #words i said #i made this

[frogadir]

I went back to reading my real book for adults so my warriors reread is on hold but I have a few things to say. So the early super editions (I reread bluestar yellowfang and crookedstar) are fucking awesome because I love how heavy-handed warriors in general is with foreshadowing but like in those books since they each tell a complete story (rather than being single installments in a series) they Love to hammer in The Ideas And The Themes. I don't even care that it isn't always subtle or tasteful because 1. it's funny and 2. the entire appeal of warriors to me at least is that it's greek tragedy bullshit at a fourth grade reading level like tell me why I was eight years old and reading about a mother blinding and then murdering her evil son. Yellowfang was always my favorite character as a kid and rereading the first arc I was like yeah I understand why. And then I reread her super edition and holy fuck I forgot how terrible things got for her. Made for a crazy warriors book though. There's the last chapter or so where brokenstar exiles her and she goes to thunderclan territory to die and then the book ends by retelling her first meeting with firepaw from her perspective. I was genuinely moved by him showing her mercy in that moment LOL and especially immediately after these passages about her passive suicidality, how she's lost the ability to even care enough to end things for herself and is just waiting for death... but yeah ending it with that meeting is nice you know she gets a chance to make things right. The ending of crookedstar's promise also really stuck with me because the more I think about it why was that just the end of evangelion for kids. I'm joking but also kind of not like it comes to a similar conclusion in a slightly different way because ok like crookedstar is at the point where he's lost almost everyone he loves either to mapleshade or terrible luck—most recently his mate willowbreeze, who has left him with one daughter. And even though crookedstar was himself rejected and abandoned by his mother as a kit, he refuses to get close to his daughter because horrible things happened to everyone he's ever gotten close to. And his brother oakheart tells him cut the bullshit you're not going to do to her what our mother did to you and crookedstar is like i can't because then she's going to be taken away from me in some horrible way and then they start battling it out warrior style in the middle of the camp and oakheart is like Well i'm your brother and i'm still here for you doesn't that mean anything. You and willowbreeze loved each other and she might be gone now but would you choose never to have loved her instead? To never have had that time with her, that experience that enriched your life? Would you erase every meaningful relationship you've ever had from your life just because it ended in pain? Are we not better for opening ourselves up to the possibility of love even though we know we might get hurt again? And crookedstar is like yeah you're right and it ends on a hopeful note of him choosing to build a relationship with his daughter (the irony here being that we know what ends up happening to silverstream LOL but also even as readers who know this would we tell crookedstar to stay away from her? Not me not after reading the ending of his book!) So it kind of is a similar message to evangelion if you think about it

#Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all!!

[satancopilotsmytardis]

How do you go about writing your fan fictions? I personally kind of just go for it, but I end up loosing the flow and it gets all jumbled up and doesn’t really make any sense.I’ve noticed in a few of your sneak-peaks sometimes your writing is written like a script, or they are random short snippets.

I’m hoping to fix the flow of my writing, and not loose motivation as quickly.

I also usually just start writing. For the most part what I publish is almost exactly what I wrote for my rough draft with just some grammar/spelling edited (if I remember to bother with it before just throwing it up, or if I'm not practically falling asleep before I publish it).

The screenshots that are snippets are taken from scenes that are already fully written, then I just decide on a paragraph or two that I think get the idea across most clearly. The screenshots of writing that looks like it's formatted like a script are probably specifically from my Data Leak WIP, where I'm showing text messages from the characters! That's a way to represent those texts stylistically, and not how I typically write/draft.

When you guys see anything with bullet points, that's my outlining process. Normally that happens after I've already written a chunk of the story and determine I need some of those notes to make sure I don't forget about elements that I was foreshadowing just in case I step away for a while. For example, here is the chapter summary/outline for chapter 3 of Dalliance:

I knew this one was going on the WIP rotation so I wrote down everything I remembered wanted to be in that scene so I had a play-by-play when I got back to it. If you struggle with maintaining motivation for projects, then outlining with a full chapter summary can help ensure that you remember where you wanted to go in case you take a step back for a while.

But if I know I'm doing something in a bigger chunk I don't bother with that and only make short notes. For the Pet!Shifter Dabi story, this is all I have for my outline:

It's just the bare minimum of notes, but they act as anchor points for my story. These are three scenes that I want to hit, anything around these scenes can change or be adapted, even these scenes themselves can be adjusted, it all just depends on what the narrative is doing once I get deeper into the writing. If you're struggling with your flow becoming incoherent, then setting anchor points in a loose outline can help with this. You can always look at the point you are aiming on getting to, look at your current trajectory and adjust accordingly. Sometimes you might notice that the original plan isn't working anymore, that's okay too, as long as you can replace the point you were originally going to with one that is as concrete/makes just as much sense, then making that change can help your story grow.

As far as losing motivation goes, it really, genuinely does help to share your work with a few people/online who motivate you to keep going. I know that when I was in college I was writing at a similar rate as I am now because I was working on my degree. However, once I left, I slowed down a lot until I finally started posting again over the last year. If you have other writer friends then sharing with them can be a great way to keep going!

And for anyone wondering why I'm working in Comic Sans: No joke, writing in Comic Sans can genuinely help you to write faster/not be as precious with your work. And I'm writing on green with gray text because it helps me with my eyestrain after spending so much time on my computer for writing and work!

I hope this can help, but everyone writes in very different ways, and it really, genuinely can take a while to figure out what works best for you! Good luck, you've got this!

#tanco speaks #ask #asks #writing asks

[sevensoulmates]

if the bi buck spec is true then tommy is literally the definition of a plot device meant for bucks development this season, which means he's probably done in the end of the season which makes sense why they've brought back a person who cameo'd in s2 to be a part of a characters arc in s7. i think by the end of the season buck will be confident in who he is thanks to his time with tommy and be open and comfortable with the idea of being with men meanwhile I think Eddie and Marisol will absolutely break up and why is going to be obvious to everyone but Eddie, setting us up for a season 8 that's going to tell the story they wanted to tell in S5 but the FOX network stopped them and that is the journey to Buddie getting together. This is going to be an angst filled season for sure, but by the end of it I fully expect we are fully on the road to Buddie. Hell the second Buck is kissed by a man, that's the moment Buddie is confirmed as the endgame because the only reason you even do this is because you fully intend to tell the story you've wanted to tell for multiple seasons and that is Buddie.

Good morning friend!

I'm really hoping the Buck/Tommy spec is true because you're absolutely right, he would absolutely be a temporary plot device for Buck's queer realization arc, and I'm 100% down for that. The GA (but honestly all viewers, even hardcore shippers) NEED something to happen on-screen that confirms queerness in one or both of Buck and Eddie. This is the very first step to signal to the audience that Buck's endgame person...just might be a man. And who do we know on this show who's a man who's perfect for Buck in literally every way? It will get people thinking, especially if Eddie is somehow peripherally involved in Buck's arc, even just as someone watching them.

I don't know what's gonna happen with that honestly, but if Buck is confirmed queer, I truly don't see how that won't have an effect on Eddie in some way. I don't know how, but if the writers play their cards right it could be a tandem queer realization (though maybe delayed in Eddie like you said cuz he's still gotta get over things with Marisol and on a more unconscious level, Shannon), but they really have set us up to come back full circle to season 5 if that's the case. Both Buck and Eddie need to make active choices about their relationships again.

Maybe this time, Eddie will be able to break up with Marisol knowing full well why his relationship with her won't work out. Maybe this time, Buck will be able to have a short-lived fling with Tommy, and be able to open his eyes to the fact that the love he actually wants is right in front of him (the calling back to Buck, Actually is getting my hopes SO HIGH and I'm trying my damndest not to get too caught up in it.)

I think season 7 could be the perfect transition season, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean in terms of setting us up for the story that wants and needs to be told in future seasons.

(again, I know this is all some serious spec built off some leaps of faith the fandom has taken with behind-the-scenes info) BUT if we get any of these things this season, I seriously believe we have a higher chance than ever of seeing canon buddie in season 8:

Queer Buck (whether it involves Tommy or someone else, etc.)

Eddie breaking up with Marisol by the end of the season (bonus points if it has anything to do with Buck/Buck's queerness, or happens prior to the wedding, or even at the wedding)

Queer Buck affecting Eddie in any way (even subtextually)

Any sort of big moment that signals a romantic shift in perspective toward the other one (could happen at literally any time)

It would also be amazing if they have any sort of moment at Chim's bachelor party or wedding (this is another popular spec, right? I've seen it going around) because those are both surrounded by themes of love and future commitment and could also be foreshadowing.

Season 7 honestly has the chance do something great and I'm okay with conflict getting in the way of that (Tommy, Natalia, Marisol, the ghost of Shannon, etc.) if it means they're setting up for buddie to actually happen in s8 or beyond.

#911 abc #buddie #again I realize this is all based on major speculation and we don't have anything concrete to go off of right now #but I'm telling you SOMETHING has shifted with this switch to abc #and if there was ever a perfect time to make big changes to any of the characters it's now #I believe in you abc and Tim #ask

[kidspawn]

this isn’t meant to be mean or anything but. “tag pjo spoilers” the books have been out for 18 years??? obviously i know some people are only just getting introduced to pjo but if they look up pjo on ANY socmed platform, there’s going to be posts dating back years full of spoilers? i think it’s common sense not to look into the tags of show you don’t want spoiled.

When I refer to tagging PJO spoilers, I'm referring to common etiquette for new posts when an adaptation is being made. While the books have been out for years, the tv show has not. There are some spoilers that will genuinely ruin the experience for people watching the show for the first time - people who, for whatever reason they chose, may decide NOT to read the books. I'm referring to tagging relevant spoilers (which I'll list some examples below) not just... everything. I'm not saying go through all our old posts and tag everything, but I am saying to think about tagging newer content!

People will watch the show on its own. It is a piece of media that will stand alone. Some may decide to read the books and it's not fair for them to go into it with spoilers. If they want to dip into the tag to discuss a new episode, I'd hope they wouldn't be bombarded with spoilers from recent posts.

People going into fandom for the first time have every right to experience the story spoiler-free for the first time, and while lifelong fans like us have no obligation to, I'd hope we would all have the compassion to cultivate a positive experience for PJO newcomers! We have the ability to cultivate a safe and wonderful place to enjoy this world! Why should we not?

If they want to go into the Percy Jackson and the Olympians tag and talk about the episodes, where they think the plot will go - why should they not have that right? Why should book readers gatekeep the fandom and prevent them enjoying this show? If they don't want to blacklist tagged spoilers or willing engage in posts marked with spoilers, that's one thing, but it's common etiquette to acknowledge that, in this environment, we can take a simple step and tag spoilers. It doesn't really take very long.

Hopefully, if they feel this is an accepting and warm fanbase, they'll decide to read the books. If not, who cares? They still deserve to read the story. The idea of "the books have been out long enough!!" is, frankly, a little "holier-than-thou" and condescending. It implies that you're only a real fan if you've read the book prior - which just isn't true!

There are some elements of the story that we can tease online (Dr. Kane, Blackjack, any Nico or Bianca reference, etc.) but there's a lot that forms the fabric of the story Rick Riordan and the team behind this show is trying to tell.

Some examples of spoilers I mean when I say to censor/tag: (You'll notice this is just a list of spoilers that would ruin the story to know ahead of time)

Luke betraying Percy (this one is pretty obvious to tag)

Luke's ultimate fate (I've seen this one get spoilers)

Kronos being the final villain (that's a well-written mystery in the books, unless you're like me and obsessed with greek myth)

Ares being a villain fake-out

Hades being a villain fake-out

Tyson being a cyclops and Percy's brother

Bianca Di Angelo. Specifically, her decision to join the hunters and her literal death.

Zoë's death. Zoë's backstory.

Most things Nico related. His villain fake-out in the fourth book, especially. That was so well written in the books. I ADORE Nico, he's my first little guy. He's so cool, and I want to see people fall in love with his arc in the same way we all got to!

Hate to say it, Nico is a walking spoiler lol.

Thalia coming back!! That was such a fun twist!

Pretty much the entire plot of the last book. I hate to say it, but that book is so well-written. There's so much foreshadowing. So much care put into crafting the story to erupt into what is one of the BEST books in the riordanverse, imo.

Notice I'm not saying anything too obvious - like certain character relationships (Percabeth is fair game, its iconic!) or even letting people know where the book differs. I'm talking about major plot elements. Major plot spoilers. If your friend was reading the books for the first time, what would you refrain from telling them?

Of course, there's no obligation to tag or censor your spoilers. I'm not telling anyone to do that. It's a gentle suggestion. I'm going to tag spoilers. That's just my choice, and i hope other people do but I'm not going to enforce it or start fights about it.

I do understand that if people want to avoid spoilers completely, they should stay away from main fandom spaces, but there are certain aspects of fandom that should be safe - like, somewhere online to gush about the show between seasons!

To reiterate: I'm not upset when people aren't tagging spoilers, I just think it'd be nice! Percy Jackson is one of the best fandoms I've been involved in! I hope other people experience that warmth and joy! One way to do that is by helping craft a courteous and spoiler-free experience.

#no one has any obligation to do this ofc but i didn't think tagging spoilers was so strenous #it's pretty simple to do. and not someting i expected anyone to get ruffled feathers over #i thought we all agreed we weren't going to make show-only individuals feel bad about not reading the books you know? #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo tv #pjo tv spoilers #riordanverse #pjo spoilers