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raayllum · 8 months

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I love how we are basically opposites on the whole theory thing :

You predict plot points by making jokes that end up coming true

meanwhile me and my overdramatic mind obssesses over dark scenarios that would never fit into 9 episodes and then I'm surprised when they don't happen XD

Listen as long as you're enjoying what you're doing, I say have all the fun you want in fanon and taking insp from canon! That's the best part sometimes! <3

Although I have some things that started out as jokes that ended up being canon (my absolute favourite of which being this joke I made about Ezran in 2x04 that was then an actual thing in the s2 novelization) the weirdest thing for me has been like... the ultra specific thing / things I thought would be more metaphorical that ended up being more literal

AKA a list in no particular order

Me assuming since Through the Moon came out that Callum would inevitably play into Aaravos's hands and that the struggle to not do so would be his main conflict in arc 2 (which looking back, the possession plot line seems so thematically obvious I am genuinely a little sheepish I didn't see it coming)

The game motif being my favourite motif and then s4 fucking Delivered it was beautiful

Viren's atonement arc because of his eye symbolism

That the rune cube placement could be trusted to foreshadow things, specifically the Ocean rune in finding the prison and in foreshadowing Callum's dark magic use

Me going "Hey wouldn't it be Fucked Up if whatever comes out of the cocoon is like a child version of Aaravos?" (hi Sir Sparklepuff my beloved)

For that matter: that Aaravos would ask one of the mage fam to kill Sir Sparklepuff for a deep magic spell, and that they'd refuse to do so

Callum's interplay with freedom being too tethered to Rayla that I banked on her eventually being taken hostage and Callum doing morally ambiguous shit to save her like 3+ years in advance

Seeing Callum's S4 design for the first time and noting that the circlets around his wrists invoke chain symbolism but thinking "Nah him and Rayla being in chains like tarot cards will just be metaphoric right". Haha, no!

Ezran as the embodiment of Justice / the series' Witness (hell yeah thank you 4x03 & TOX for making Justice his highest value)

Predicting Rayla's entire arc 2 arc thus far re: her paranoid and restless nature being what puts them on the path to finding Viren and her wanting a rematch, the coins, and her self worth issues, written March 2020 (months before TTM came out)

Callum and Viren as each other's primary foils (begun before this but started being highlighted further from Nov 2019 onwards with specifically thinking that S4, as opposed to s3, would crank it up to an 11)

Rayla and Callum's whole ass light-dark motif that I thought would be a fun consistency in the background rather than a whole ass arc defining Thing

Characterization wise but Ezran as an Enneagram Nine The Peacemaker personality wise (once again thank u 4x03)

Back in Aug 2021 I noticed that bloodbending had thematic similarities to dark magic (in terms of framing, notions of control & agency) but again, didn't think it'd amount to literal likewise puppeteering (Aaravos is/was even imprisoned like Hama too!)

Seeing parallels between dark magic and thematic/metaphorical cannibalism / positing Aaravos as a cannibal in a fic I wrote in 2019 but never ever thinking it'd be more than metaphorical bc kids show, am I right? (when I tell you I screamed)

Like 3 weeks post s3 I came up with Political Trio Theory in which Ezran and Rayla are at odds about something and Callum is caught in the middle, as he agrees more with Rayla but feels like he should side more with Ezran, which an Ezran / trio centric conflict along those lines seems to be what we're going to get personally with Runaan / the coins in future seasons

Which, not only is it mostly to keep my English major-y brain sharp and my enclosure enriched (parallels are my perpetual hamster wheel), but it's also like... obviously predicting from theme/motifs isn't perfect, but it does mean you have all the right pieces. Then it just comes from running through the options to assemble what the puzzle might look like, & also thinking through the constraints of structure and run time (ergo I wasn't surprised when Callum didn't figure out the mirror himself in early S4 cause I just didn't think the show would have time for that kind of slow build).

Like following S2 I never really thought Callum's journey with dark magic was precisely over, firstly because I saw him absolutely as someone who would do dark magic / things he morally is against again if put in the exact circumstances he was in S5 (hence the CHET predictions post up above), but also because as our primary mage character and with dark magic being the core ethical dilemma for mage characters in the show, it just didn't make sense to assume that it'd be entirely resolved with a neat little bow 2/6 (since at the time we thought it'd be 6 seasons) in. Like - what? So that's something from an analytical standpoint of characterization, theme, and structure, for example, and TDP gives us a decent amount of time to get used to all those things especially in the first three seasons and then we can kind of build our predictions neatly from there.

So what usually happens is that I'll have a passing thought / gut reaction, think "huh maybe it's something," and then actually think about it for like 2 days to 2 weeks and realize that it loops back in with a lot of other stray thoughts and that there's something Substantial there. It never stops being wild

Anyway this was definitely way too long a response so TLDR; I'm always pleasantly surprised / excited whenever I predict anything correctly and also adore when the show throws me a curve ball (hi Terry <3), and the fun of theorizing (and sometimes throwing spaghetti at the wall) for me comes down to the themes and parallels and fun (fanon if nothing else) possibilities I can find. I love writing meta, speculative or purely analytical, even if/when they're often time consuming. My instincts haven't steered me too 'wrong' with TDP thus far, and I don't think they ever will!

#predictions achieved #tdp #the dragon prince #thanks for asking #firerose #masterpost #arc 1 #arc 2 #that said i did always think if claudia was going to have a partner it should be something tethered to the earth/nature in some way #bc of her mindset(s) and bc of her nature motif in her character design #so terry was both a surprise but not entirely unexpected on that level i suppose. i just never thought she'd have a canon partner #mini meta #analysis series #analysis

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the-paris-of-people · 1 year

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8,12, and 17 for the nhie ask game 💕

8. What is your most unpopular opinion?

Oh boy, I have a lot.

Honestly my most unpopular opinion right now is that I don't think it would make sense for Manish and Kamala to get married at the end of nhie s4, and also I would be 100% fine with them splitting. I love Manish and Kamala individually a lot, but I'm not particuarly attached to them as a couple, and maybe it's just me projecting onto the characters, but Kamala's hesitancy to get married anytime soon/valuing her independence and agency is a journey I love and have taken and would love if the show focused more on that in the last leg rather than her and Manish's relationship, and I don't care if that occurs with or without him. I wouldn't mind if she and Manish ended up together though, as long as it was conducive to Kamala's journey.

My second unpopular opinion is that I'm a liiiiiiiiiiittle excited to see Ben and Margot date? Don't get me wrong, I 100% would prefer if Ben and Devi dated the entire season 4 (I stg if they don't have them interact until the last couple episodes I will scream) but I would like Ben to have a Des type experience where he gains confidence and realizes he's not this dick he makes himself out to be. Also I'm toxic and I want jealous Devi. Okay?? Selfishly, I just want her pining. But only for 3-4 episodes then they need to get it together.

12. What season has been your favorite so far?

UGH DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE!!! This was so hard because s1 had the most airtight plot and the experience of watching Devi as a protagonist was so special to to me, s2 was when I first started seeing the FULL POTENTIAL of Benvi and gave me some cxgf vibes, and s3 was when all the characters had the most amazing arcs, Nalini and Devi became closer, and we got that epic romcom finale so I'll have to choose s3. That was so hard though!

17. Anything you want to rant about? (Aka more unpopular opinions)

This is more fandom related, but I wish more people wrote adult Benvi! There are so many fics of them from when they were teens and younger and while I like that I would love more fics of them grown-up and happy! Also very few people can write Ben and Devi well, I feel like sometimes they're just general fics with their names in there and I wish there were more highly character specific fics.

Another unpopular opinion but I think Ben's episode in s3 was my least favorite s3 episode. I absolutely loved his s1 episode about his home life and I really liked the message of the s3 episode and his interactions with Devi and Paxton but I find Ben's internal monologue about pressure not as fun or interesting to watch as Devi's shenanigans. Honestly, now that I am writing it, I think it's bc the episode was about school that's why I didn't care as much LOL. I also am not the biggest fan of the redemption arc for his dad- like it annoys me that Ben needed that external validation to have the stress lifted off his shoulders when Howard has been a shitty parent. Not that it's not realistic but it was annoying.

I personally don't believe that Ben was in love with Devi or vice versa before that moment in the principal's office that piqued his interest in episode 2, just because I think love is a very deep emotion and I like the idea of them falling in love as they got to know each other than I like the idea of them being in love (whatever that means to you as a kid) and realizing it suddenly.

Not unpopular, but we need to have a discussion about how Devi has heart eyes tm jealousy tm love tm for Ben, and how the rest of the love interests serve to strengthen their relationship which I honestly kind of love. Essentially, there's not enough Devi loves Ben discussion on here so I need to see it. Going into my next point, Devi NEEDS to tell Ben how she feels. I need her to tell Ben when they're both finally single that she wants to be with him the last couple months they have of college, I need her to make a big dramatic love confession, I need her to explain her feelings and why she dated other people instead of him and how she wanted to date him. Like I need her leading the charge on all of this (and I'm 99% sure she will)

#yikes these unpopular opinions might get me canceled #ask #answered #never have i ever #benvi

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incarnateirony · 4 years

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If you had the chance to ask Dabb if he was intentionally using hermeticism/alchemy/gnosticism (spelling?) would you?

I mean not really. If I were to sit down with Andrew Dabb, I wouldn’t ask it at all. Kinda ridiculous from my POV. I’d sit down and ask why, and who introduced the idea, not *if* it was being used. Asking *if* it was being used at our current junction would be like sitting down with Kripke and asking if he intentionally used biblical inspirations. It’s fairly absurdist when you know the source text to do so and it subsumes the entire show (most flagrantly S4-5 on the christian lensing.)

Like, it’s everything from the story structure, the cosmogeny, various dogmatic quotes straight out of famous/key sources, various books Sam has had in study piles nearby, major imagery, names of temporary villains and challenges, you name it.

How that’s different from S4-5 story structure, cosmogeny, various dogmatic quotes straight out of famous/key scripture, times the bible was being studied, crosses in the background, or names of villains and challenges, I’m very unclear.

Hell, back in Kripke era they weren’t naming episodes after associated critical dogmatic/philosophical ideas routinely nor applying color coding based on the path, so rack that up in Dabb era’s favor on why it’s not even something to ask.

It’s similar to the weird expectation that gayness has to prove or question itself more than straightness, which comes with some weird concept of straight supremacy. Christian culture has similar ramifications.

But no. I wouldn’t ask him If. I would sit down and get straight down into the fine details like who proposed it, who on crew practices it with the naturalized lens it has (seriously I would bet a whole month’s income on one person on crew being a magister or adeptus of some related path with how well executed it all is), which specific denominations if any they were pulling their reads from beyond general gnostic/hermetic dual paths, etc.

For years now, and I do mean years, the various SPN games I’ve run have religiously predicted show elements throughout Dabb era. My S12 plot rolled around S13. My S13 plot rolled around S14. My S14 plot– you get the idea.

So there’s four options here.

1. I’m a psychic who is hiding my ability and not winning the lottery to keep my cover

2. I’ve had script leaks for like 4 years

3. I’m the smartest goddamn meta person in the history of ever (protip: I’m not)

4. Dabb is using the same playbook.

I didn’t do it on purpose, it’s the same style of playbook I’ve always incorporated due to my natural lens. I didn’t expect SPN to suddenly onboard it in its end days. Hell when it first started happening I started flipping the fuck out because I didn’t catch at first he was straight-up using the same book and didn’t let myself believe it until mid-S-14. But it is what it is lmao

And I don’t mean vague like “I predicted the Darkness would show up lolol bc darkness” I mean straight up full plot runs, associations, even dialogue used in the show or the introduction of certain entities. Belphegor made people that know me shit their pants top to bottom. Chuck. Blossom. Marriage. Ouroboros. Serpent bearer. Cages. Matrixes. other shit older than that, I could go on for a small eternity but it’d sound like I’m bragging and that’s well beyond the point, because realistically, it’s not worth /bragging/ about as much as admitting: I’m not actually some kind of super genius, I’ve just naturalized into this for decades of my life long before anybody was arguing about gay angels.

Several years ago I introduced Hermes referencing himself as Baal Peor, while using the alias Jack (which I quickly had to change, thanks S12) “Oh, everybody says Hermes is younger than Apollon, like it’s a fact, like I wasn’t some protoindoeuropean god of giant penises and outcroppings of stone long before anybody was ever speaking greek.” and “Everyone calls Dionysus a god of fertility, when’s the last time you saw your grapes bumping and grinding in the vineyard? I am THE god of the dick, three actually, one for each ‘path’. If your flocks are many you know what they did down at the watering hole. Hell, sometimes they’d just carve a dick, if they didn’t have time to carve a whole dude.”

Everyone lauded how well he’d work in the show. I said, “nahhhh, if he’d been introduced years ago, sure, but this late in the game they’d use one of his christianized/demonized aspects and he’d be a contagonist turned antagonist dead within three episodes.”

Belphegor: Sup

Did this video seem sassier than normal? There’s a reason

youtube

Like is this meta or is this an RP fanvid at this point, what is the difference, please let me out of this box. I DONT LIKE IT ANYMORE

Literally my first livetweet on the fucking season be like

When 15.09 aired and me and my Dean ran screaming yelling “HOLY SHIT WE JUST WATCHED FRIDAY HAPPEN ON TV TOP TO BOTTOM AAAAAAAA” it just was what it was (Friday being the nickname of a famous RP advent/day from like a season and a half ago)

So again it just is what it is, and it’s far wider spread than I think people not in the given tradition can wrap their heads around.

I literally just left like 3 group chats I’ve been in for the past several years because I’ve reached my wits end with casual microaggressions or dismissals or intentional bad faith readings which essentially turn into attacks on the faith itself while people say it’s about their reading of the show, or turn around and accuse dogmatic behavior simply for pointing out the base cords that are wall to wall in S15 and how it’s driving the overall story notes of the show the same as you would christian stuff in S5. Can’t deal with it anymore.

I’m so far past asking *if* it’s what they intended. I’m just done being exposed to supposed friendlies still trying to dismiss that it *is.* It’s one thing to not understand it all. That’s fine. I don’t expect people to understand it all. It’s a whole other kettle of fish to dismiss it out of hand because it’s not what you want and slap it away. This fandom loses their shit when it’s done over queer content to queer people with queer lenses but there’s literally nobody to play defense or protect us when it’s done to people who have their entire lives vested in a belief system that this fandom runs around shitting all over persistently, slapping down, insulting, intentionally reading in the worst light without any good faith attempts at figuring out what the invested party is saying, etc. SKDJfskjdfs I’ve been about half a hair from ragequitting fandom over it tbh.

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frankensteined · 7 years

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RULES: 1. Answer the new questions given by the previous person 2. Write 11 new questions 3. Tag 11 people

tagged by @sharkodactyl AND @shkodrans like two days ago but i suck at memes so here we are

NATALIE’S QUESTIONS:

1. if you had the ability to control your dreams, what would you dream about?

i would literally just hang out with my favourite fictional characters all the time. “you know what would make this thing better? me.”

2. what’s your favorite myth or fairy tale?

the lady of shalott doesn’t really count, cuz the whole plot of it is from a ballad poem thing, but it’s based off of an arthurian legend, so i’m taking it. gal wants friends, goes outside, becomes the center of attention and dies? #relatable.

3. what’s a song you love right now?

i. don’t know?? i’ve just been listening to instrumental soundtracks lately! i need song recommendations!

4. if you could suddenly gain the ability to EITHER bake breads & pastries perfectly OR be able to dance with perfect rhythm, which would you choose?

baking perfectly, because terrible dancing while baking is endearing, while terrible baking while dancing is weird and frowned upon. also: pastries.

5. what’s your favorite painting?

HA. since i already brought her up, any of waterhouse’s lady of shalott paintings! good theme for today: “i am half-sick of shadows”

6. if you were a pokemon trainer, what would your team be? if you don’t know anything about pokemon, make up six pokemon you would want. no, you can’t pick pikachu, put some effort in

oh no oh no limiting myself to 6…do i do a team of I Love Them, Forget Team Balance or a team of Destroy Everything???

okay whatever i’ll just go with ones that i’d wanna travel with places:

flareon

skiddo (eventually GOGOAT. stop me from nicknaming her “go-go the gogoat”)

altaria

houndoom

dwebble

spheal

BUT i’m waffling on the dwebble due to my fondness for nidoran♀ and alolan rattata. but look at dwebble!

7. do you wear socks when you go to sleep?

only sometimes in winter, because Canada is Cold. but even then i usually kick them off in my sleep because, subconsciously, i hate it.

8. how fast a walker are you?

according to people, i am a speedy walker, but that’s because my legs are short and i’ve got something to prove. and that thing is: out of my way, tall people.

9. what is your next meal going to be?

lunch-supper hybrid maybe? or maybe just a smoothie so i can skip the chewing part of eating.

10. what’s your favorite part of your own blog?

the part where 90% of any post is in the tags because i can never shut up in them ever

11. if you could suddenly create – without having to sit down and write/draw/etc. – one beautiful piece of fanwork (fic, art, etc.), what would it be?

“adventures in offscreensville”, that joke!au where all the characters and plots that ob has absolutely dropped without mention over the years have come together into one neighbourhood to live out the rest of their lives. it’s the real place that helena went off to for most of s4 (she was staying with mark and gracie). it’s where vic bumped into tony and tony winked at him when he did a double take. it’s where angie is off investigating the murder of amelia. shay’s got a holistic something or other business there.

jason kellerman is not there.

it’s a good au.

JAMES’ QUESTIONS:

1. what’s ur favorite meme

i’m a sucker for the good ol’ fashioned “applicable text post photoshopped over appropriate picture of fictional character” meme. that’s a good time every time.

2. what show/movie/album are u most looking forward to this year, you can answer all three of these things or just two or only just one whichever u prefer

i’d say “literally only orphan black”, but i’m also looking forward to wynonna earp’s return too, but ob is still #1 for me always

3. what conspiracy theory are u most intrigued by

THIS ONE because i googled “conspiracy theories” and this was right at the top of the page and it’s amazing.

4. are you drinking enough water today? i only ask bc i care

…okay….no, BUT. i will. and i did yesterday! so. soon??

5. what is ur go-to song to play loudly and scream along to as a form of catharsis

…the first thing to pop into my head was “you stupid bitch” from crazy ex-girlfriend, but i do not regularly jam out to self loathing power ballads, i promise.

6. when the aliens finally reach out to us (provided they’re the friendly sort) and the world needs to assemble a group of people to represent the best of humanity and it was somehow up to you to choose this group, who would you choose, i promise in this fictional scenario the aliens will not kill any of these people

dwayne “the rock” johnson, mark hamill, lupita nyong’o, lin manuel miranda, cher, laverne cox, george takei, and amal clooney

also andy samberg, cuz i wanna see the brooklyn nine-nine episode about this

7. what is ur dream cast of actors in whichever type of film you want? you also have access to a time machine so you could, say, have 80′s harrison ford with modern day folk, if that’s what you want. or if a certain actor is just dead present day bc sometimes it be like that

i can’t personally think of anyone, but i’d bring gene kelly back for my best friend’s sake. and then i’d let her cast the rest of this movie, too, cuz it’d be all her own show after he showed up.

8. i can’t think of eleven questions but you did great answering the rest of these, good job

thank u friend thank u :’)

OKAY NOW MY QUESTIONS FOR PEOPLE:

you get to ride one animal into battle, regardless of size or where it lives. what animal do you choose?

if you could be historically infamous for one thing what would it be?

what is your favourite curse word?

what's your favourite cryptid?

what's scarier: clowns or ventriloquist dummies?

what's the one tv show or movie from your childhood that you think best shaped you? (doesn't need to necessarily have been something made for kids! just the one that you look back on and can go "ah. yeah, that's where that trait/interest/aesthetic came from")

if you could be drawn in any popular cartoon style, which style would you pick?

do you love the colour of the sky is there a popular tumblr post that you just can’t stand?

forget the zombie apocalypse: if you could pick a fictional character to escape a haunted house with, who would you choose?

what is the one ridiculous rom-com cliche that you secretly (or not-so secretly) would be down for happening to you?

what is the one type of food or specific dish that you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?

tagging: @gwendolinechristie, @bhavvyyy, @epiphanygreaves @batsonthebrain, @andocado, @willwriteforruns, @mercurygray, @milkteaaa, @labratslabcoat, @professionaltimetraveler, @wanderingdame

and anyone else who might want to answer!

#sharkodactyl #shkodrans

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