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mscastriota · 2 years ago

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This three card spread in 1-2-3 order shows the current past, the present and the likely outcome if nothing changes.

Card 1 representing the near past is the 7 of Swords (reversed)

The suit of Swords marks change and its focus is primarily the mental processes of logic, intellect, reason, action & power which can be used for good or evil— Swords tells a tragic tale starting with the exploitation of intellect for good and ends with abject failure and disaster when intellect is used for evil.

The Sevens of each suit are less stable as they are further down on the tree of life. These cards address the desire nature: they will show something about how we desire, what we want, and how we use the force.

The 7 of Swords is called the Lord of Unstable Effort…wavering, un-commitment, self-justification, depicts theft, betrayal, dishonesty, deception and running away. Be cautious of deceit from others as well as utilizing it for one’s own gain. REVERSED: Cunning and devious behavior designed to harm other people. Disaster due to ambivalence. Seekers need to know that this card means to

Watch Out; something underhanded may be going on.

Card #2 reflecting the present state is the 5 of Coins (reversed)

The suit of Coins tells us about the physical manifestation of money, prosperity, wealth, health, security, stability & tangible possessions.

The 5s of each suit are severity or “tough love.” They each represent a test that yields a wisdom. Cabalists say the fives are the origin of evil because if the harshness, judgement, and assessment that, with necessity, comes with the 5’s is not balanced with the complete and utter gratuitous mercy of the 4’s—if the Severity of the 5’s are not checked by the Love of the 4’s then evil is the outcome. The severity of the 5’s is meant as a test to help you grow.

Specifically, the 5 of Coins, aka The Lord of Material Trouble, symbolizes worry, financial hardship, ill health, and feeling isolated. But this card is also called, “Adaptation,” because if you use the laws of the Universe, you can overcome almost anything. Looking at the people in the card, while their situation is awful, if they seek it, help is right there. The Anchor in the stained glass is called the Anchor of Hope. This card is a call to action: if they would turn inward, if they come to their spiritual source, then they could adapt.

As the 5 is in this reading, is REVERSED: real trouble with money, out in the cold, material calamity, reckless extravagance and wastefulness in the use of resources and self-indulgence.

The 3rd card representing the near future is the 6 of Wands.

The suit of Wands deals with the strength of passion, creativity energy, willpower, and character. Wands is a journey through personality traits and how they affect your plans and goals.

The 6s are connected to beauty which is at the center of the tree of life. Each of the Sixes is the most beautiful form of the suit. The sixes aim to raise you to the highest pinnacle of success with a greatness of heart.

Finally, the 6 of Wands is called the Lord of Victory. It signifies victory, good news, success on a very high level; success that is achieved with greatness of heart and public recognition. This card represents your expectations crowned with their own desire which is the crown of hope. This card urges you to be open to receiving praise.

For today:

Be aware under-handed things may have been going on

Examine yourself but turn to your spiritual source to overcome

Victory can be yours; be open to praise and recognition

#tarot reading #honesty hour #the true true

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ravynswag · 2 years ago

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how i approach a reading / the cards

do you feel overwhelmed when pulling cards?

are you a beginner and need a guide to get started?

read this to see how i personally do this and you might find something useful out of it!

thank you if you support! this took a lot of work so it means so much :)

for the most part this is just an educational guide but it’s also made for you to follow along with your cards to see a visual as you read. if you want to skip the info and just try an analysis with me , skip to - “SO YOU PULL ONE CARD - NOW WHAT???”

also : pinterest is a great way to find cheat sheets!

INCLUDES:

- using imagery + facial expressions and body language

- using colors

- using the suits/court + numbers (sometimes)

- using placement (in the spread)

- major and minor arcana differences + how to approach them separately

- using reversals

FIRST THINGS FIRST

get a deck with good imagery - rider waite preferably. pls do not get a deck made with a “pretty” look to it. these are nice for when you become accustomed to the cards and more intuitively aware.

for example, heres a deck I have that i would NOT use as a beginner. (not my pic)

2ND THING - SUPER IMPORTANT

Divination and spirituality are individual practices. No 2 people will do them the same or practice them the same. This is why its so important that you find what works for you and how your intuition works. For example, if someone is clairaudient (hears messages), that doesn't mean you will be. You could be clairvoyant (sees visions/pictures).

SPREADS - YES OR NO?

You may hear about celtic crosses and other big spreads, but for now I say keep it to 3 cards or less. Once you become more accustomed to the meanings, 5 should be okay. This is because you hardly know what they mean, why try to send your brain into overload? Lets honestly keep it to 1 or 2 when your first trying to wrap around how tarot works !

REVERSALS - YAY OR NAY?

As a beginner, I say no to reversals. I don't have a vendetta against reversals lol, you simply are already trying to learn 78 cards, doing 156 is really hard. plus, reversals usually aren't as easy as people think. later, if you find that they work for you and you like them pls use them!

MAJOR VS MINOR ARCANA

arcana = secrets —— major secrets and minor secrets

major are big things / occurrences , they overpower the minor arcana in the reading

minor are smaller, daily life things.

important things to realize/look into:

major:

- 0-21

- study the fools journey

- major will be harder to go off of imagery so i suggest reading my post before trying to analyze any major cards.

minor:

- contains 4 suits (wands, pentacles, cups, swords)

- each suit contains 4 court cards (page, knight, queen, king)

- easier to read off of imagery so i suggest going through each one with my suggestions below

THE 4 SUITS

it’s important to realize that each suit represents a different thing(s). once you learn each one, reading will become a lot easier. (especially court cards)

THE COURT CARDS

now that yk the suits, let’s tie them into the court cards.

the court cards can be confusing bc of a couple things: they can be seen as people in a reading, they can be yourself, they can be timing, they can be a quality of someone, etc… SO MANY THINGS. So study this cheat sheet below and see how they relate to each other!

NUMBERS MAY SOMETIMES BE OF IMPORTANCE

now i don't usually use the numbers in my analysis. yes, they are INSANELY important, but i have an understanding of the cards. I would suggest using a cheat sheet and memorizing it because a few of the numbers i actually find important. Aces, 5, tens. Aces are usually gifts/offers. I've found that about all the 5s are usually negative. Tens are big endings/beginnings in different forms. 10 of coins and cups are positive, while 10 of swords and wands are a bit more negative. Again, depends on how you take them in a reading.

ZODIAC SIGNS IN TAROT

there are 12 zodiac signs. in tarot, each zodiac sign has 1 major arcana card assigned to it. You can use these as recognizing people in a spread OR timing by using the dates in the zodiac. Keep in mind that just because the moon = pisces does not mean that that is the only meaning to the moon - just a helpful addition.

TIMING

tarot can also give insight on timing. Of course major arcana with a zodiac assigned might be easiest, but minor arcana can do just as well. Find a method that works for you, do you see wands as the fastest (days) and pentacles as the slowest (months/years)? or is it opposite? now that you have that in mind, use the number. for example - 5 of wands. 5 days. --- 6 of cups. 6 months. Really it depends on your meanings of timing so assign them and stick to it!

IMAGERY

so now that yk the basics let’s look at how the imagery reflects meaning of the card.

FIRST THING- this is why i preach having multiple decks if possible. this is bc the cards look different so, you use your intuition to grab the deck with the imagery you need for that card - the other decks imagery might not reflect the message they want to get across!

lets use these main questions / prompts when beginning to analyze a reading :

how many people are in this card?

what are they doing?

what are they looking at?

how are they standing/sitting? on what? or where?

what is the background?

what are they holding?

where are they looking? (different from what, i promise)

WHAT IS THEIR FACIAL EXPRESSION?

—————

so it’s a lot yes, but it’s so important and you will do it without realizing as you go.

let’s use this card for my example: (9 of swords)

let’s take notice of the main things we see : we see one man, he is in a bed with 9 swords above him.

by this- we can assume - he was sleeping and woke up from a nightmare or a night terror. we see that he is holding his face in agony or despair.

now this doesn’t literally mean a nightmare, he could be having anxiety or stress about something - the 9 swords could be pressuring him or are “heavy” on his mind. overall, the coloring in the card is dark and gloomy.

THE REASON I SAY WHERE INSTEAD OF WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING AT

this is only used by me when i have multiple cards in a spread. + when they fall out in their own formation/spread.

i will show an example below.

(this deck is not good for facial expressions, but their body language is useful for this example.) pay attention to the king of wands. he is pointing to another card in the spread - the queen of cups. So, for this example, i will say that the king of wands is a king who strives after what he wants. what does he want? the queen of cups.

That was just a small example out of many. one that i find happens more is an example below.

See how the woman in strength is looking towards the 4 of wands. This could mean like you finding the strength you need to work on making your family/relationship healthier and happier. Many meanings but its all how you interpret it with your intuition.

WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?

one of the biggest things you have to keep in mind when breaking down a card or a spread - is keeping what they are talking about in your head. The same spread will have a different message depending on whether its referring to love or finances. AS WELL as different people. The same cards pulled for me will NOT have the same message as the same cards pulled for my friend. Understand? So always keep the question in mind when breaking the cards down. Cards have so many meanings, don't want to get them mixed up lol.

SO YOU PULL ONE CARD - NOW WHAT???

Take into account everything said above.

whats the name of the card? sometimes the names say a lot more than we realize. For example- justice.

immediately recognize the suit and number. Use your knowledge of what these mean.

Now look at the people in the cards. How many people are there?

^^now go into what they are doing, their body language, their facial expression, where is their attention, what are they holding. What energy is this card giving off?

the colors and the background/underlying imagery in the card. Is the card overall dark and gloomy or colorful?

if you have multiple cards in a spread do this for all of them, and slowly find connections between the cards to unlock the meaning.

I will do an analysis on this card to give you one final big example

3 of swords*

we first notice this is swords and we know swords represent truth, clarity, communication, thoughts, etc...

there are no people in this card, but one heart. this heart is bright red, really the only color in this card. behind it are gloomy clouds pouring rain. 3 swords stabbing into the heart.

now lets use our knowledge on the connection between hearts and cups. and cups represent love, emotions, feelings, etc...

this card just reeks heartbreak. its like someone said something (swords - communication) and it was like swords stabbing into your heart and youre just heartbroken. the clouds are rolling in and youre sad and feel like it can't get any worse than this.

Okay I hope this helped a lot! I post readings and pick a piles so follow if you want to see more like this!

#tarot reading #tarot #tarot cards #tarot tips #divination #tarot beginner #beginner witch #spirituality #spiritualawakening #spiritualguidance

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miaulogy · 3 years ago

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☆ fnafambic (fnaf-ambeec) :

[ID: A flag with nine stripes, of which the first stripe is black, the second is grey, third one is a pattern of black and white squares, fourth one is white, and fifth one is red. The four lasting stripes are the same but in reverse order: white, square pattern, grey, and black. End ID]

I'm not very experienced with IDs, if someone wants to propose a better version that would be great! /gen

a gender related to fnaf 1's atmosphere: its hallways, office, party rooms, stage. the feeling of dread, fear, loneliness, and nostalgia tied to the game's ambience.

name derived from "fnaf" - the game -, and "ambic": from ambience.

some neopronouns for this gender may include 5,/5s, fear/fears, bot/bots, among others!

remember: you can use any pronoun(s) regardless of your gender! (o^_^)o

> 🐾 this is my first coining post! i'll open requests for term coining, neo suggestions and DNI banner making ;)

[DNI: Fatphobes, queerphobes, racists, ableists, anti-mogai, anti-endo, transmeds/truscums, terfs/swerfs/tehms, invalidate any mspec identity (including mspec lesbians/gays/straights), antisemites, proshippers/anti-antis.]

#fnaf #fnafgender #xenogender #gender coining #pride flag #neopronouns #radical inclusionist

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transgenderer · 3 years ago

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this is the lockheed c-5 galaxy, with its vast maw open. its so big you can drive a pretty sizable vehicle right up in there.

apparently it can carry six apache helicopters or five bradley tanks. also it can apparently carry this thing:

For its voracious consumption of fuel and its maintenance and reliability issues[52] the Galaxy's aircrews have nicknamed it "FRED", for Fucking[N 1] Ridiculous, Economic/Environmental Disaster.[52]

it has a bunch of design/development issues and a...pretty grisly history. some particular low points:

"After being one of the worst-run programs, ever, in its early years, it has evolved very slowly and with great difficulty into a nearly adequate strategic airlifter that unfortunately needs in-flight refueling or a ground stop for even the most routine long-distance flights. We spent a lot of money to make it capable of operating from unfinished airstrips near the front lines, when we never needed that capability or had any intention to use it." -Robert F. Dorr, aviation historian[15]

Cost overruns and technical problems of the C-5A were the subject of a congressional investigation in 1968 and 1969.[16][17] The C-5 program has the dubious distinction of being the first development program with a $1‑billion (equivalent to $7.1 billion today) overrun.[10][18]

On 17 October 1970, C-5A AF Serial No. 66-8303 was destroyed during a ground fire at the Lockheed Aircraft plant at Dobbins AFB in Marietta, Georgia. The fire started during maintenance in one of the aircraft's 12 fuel cells. One worker was killed and another injured. This was the first C-5 aircraft produced.[111]

In the final weeks of the war, prior to the Fall of Saigon, several C-5s were involved in evacuation efforts. During one such mission, a C-5A crashed while transporting a large number of orphans, with over 140 killed.[58][59]

On 29 August 1990, C-5A Serial No. 68-0228 crashed following an engine failure shortly after take-off. The aircraft took off from Ramstein Air Base in Germany in support of Operation Desert Shield. It was flown by a nine-member reserve crew from the 68th Airlift Squadron, 433d Airlift Wing based at Kelly AFB, Texas.[116] As the aircraft started to climb off the runway, one of the thrust reversers suddenly deployed. This resulted in loss of control of the aircraft and the subsequent crash. Of the 17 people on board, only four survived the crash.[117] All four were in the rear troop compartment. The sole crew member to survive, Staff Sgt. Lorenzo Galvan Jr., was awarded the Airman's Medal for his actions in evacuating the survivors from the wreckage.[111]

thats uh. thats lockheed for you :/

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funkymbtifiction · 3 years ago

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Firstly I wanna say congratulations on almost being done with your book! I’m looking forward to reading it to solve my dilemma haha. I also wanna say I think its great you’re still taking time to respond to everyone who sends messages asking for help, I don’t think I’d have the patience nor interest to go through so many messages. If you don’t mind being bothered with mine; I’m certain I’m a 5, and I know ENTP 5s are rarer but my friends think I have a higher Ne than Ti, and I can see it because I won’t dismiss things without mulling them over first but aside from that I’m not sure. Any advice that might lead me to the right direction?

Thanks. Have only two sections left to do, then some tightening and proof-reading. The extroverts went faster, because their dominant functions are so easily explained to people -- they're "out there for everyone to see and understand." The introverts are all more subjective so it took me longer to work through them. But progress is progress. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's a train.

Yeah, you're probably right. Most people aren't me and can't tolerate being asked, for the 10,000th time, what's the difference between an ENP and an INP? You don't mind me teasing you a bit, right? ;)

If you're sure of being a 5, and it fits you, and ENTP also fits you, go with it. 5 isn't as weird of a core for an ENTP as it would be for a feeling type. 5s pride themselves on their eccentric ideas, which pairs up naturally with any kind of NTP. (Was Stephen Hawking a 5? I know he was an ENTP. I see him mistyped as INTJ places and am just... like... no. The man argued a point, then wrote another paper shredding his own previous argument and reversed his position, multiple times. That's Ne-dom, folks.)

#question #entp #mbti #stephen hawking

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tenleaguesbeneath · 4 years ago

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On the one hand, I love random stat generation, especially for games where survival is not assured, but also, like, I like meeting my character for the first time when I roll for them.

on the other, 3d6 in order is a weird ritual that you do at the beginning of the game, before new players have any context for what that means.

I like the level 0 funnel I’m running. One thing that I’d change about it though is that it starts the PCs with major penalties to all stats b/c of severe dehydration; I’d change that to a straight reduction to minimum functional for all of them, and delay attribute rolling until they can drink.

Maybe even then. Maybe you get, like, roll 1d6 and 1d5 for one strength and one weakness (or a d30 table), then 3d6 twice. then you have a few choices:

- Put the better roll in the thing you’re better at and the worse in the thing you’re bad at

- Put the “reverse” of the worse roll (21 minus the roll) in the better attribute, and either the better roll or its reverse (whichever is lower) in the worse attribute.

There’s still a (not insignificant) risk that both will be about average; since results in the 9-12 range show up about half the time on 3d6, if we want to avoid this we can add another special rule, perhaps changing 3s to 2s and 4s to 5s (or even 1s and 6s) on die results that are in the 9-12 range (removing them entirely, going to a d4 marked 1,2,5,6, only reduces the odds of an average result to 3 times in 8).

Or just reroll if that happens, I guess. Since this system something changes every even number going up/odd going down, we’re only concerned with things piling into the 10-11 range. That only happens about a quarter of the time, so 1/16 on both results. which is rare enough to justify rerolling.

Then roll everything else when it comes up. If someone asks “who’s the strongest in the group” you can invite everyone who hasn’t rolled it yet to roll for strength. If people are looking for someone to try to translate an inscription, the same for intelligence.

#tenleagues musings

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itcars · 5 years ago

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Mazda Announces X-5 R-Sport Special Edition

As the world’s best-selling two-seater roadster enters its fourth decade on sale, Mazda UK has revealed the R-Sport special edition. Limited to just 150 examples, this stand-out MX-5 Convertible will feature free-of-charge Polymetal Grey metallic paint and a grey soft-top hood, while 16-inch RAYS gunmetal alloy wheels finish the unique exterior look of this special edition.

The Polymetal Grey color is a new edition to the 2020 Mazda MX-5 line up and on the R-Sport it is matched to piano black wing mirrors, while inside the R-Sport features burgundy Nappa leather seats with silver stitching, ensuring the interior has the same bespoke feel as the exterior. Based on the 1.5-litre 132ps Skyactiv-G Sport trim MX-5, the MX-5 R-Sport is the latest example of Mazda UK’s long tradition of offering personalized limited volume MX-5s.

Customers can register their interest in the £27,700 Mazda MX-5 R-Sport online now and UK deliveries will begin once the current retail restrictions come to an end. Commenting on the Mazda MX-5 R-Sport, Mazda Motors UK, Managing Director, Jeremy Thomson said: “I’m delighted that we can offer an exclusive MX-5 Convertible model to our customers. With it joining the rest of the Convertible and RF models in the line-up, we now have a great choice of MX-5s in our updated 2020 Mazda MX-5 range, which means that anyone wanting to drive a distinctive and stylish roadster can find what they need.”

Based on the 1.5-litre Sport, the R-Sport’s standard equipment tally includes navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android AutoTM, cruise control, heated seats and climate control. In addition to the R-Sport, the updated 2020 Mazda MX-5 range features a 10-model line-up - four Convertibles and six RFs - the 132ps 1.5-litre Convertible is offered in SE-L and Sport trim, while the 184ps 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G engine is matched to Sport Tech and the new range-topping GT Sport Tech trim. As with the Convertible, SE-L and Sport trim RF’s are powered by the 1.5-litre engine, while Sport Tech and GT Sport Tech come with the more powerful 2.0-litre engine. In addition, 2.0-liter RFs in both trim levels come with the option to choose an automatic gearbox.

New for the 2020 Mazda MX-5, the GT Sport Tech flagship model is marked out by 17-inch BBS alloy wheels and Burgundy Nappa leather seats, while across the whole range the MX-5 is available with Polymetal Grey Metallic paint for the first time. The updated version of Mazda’s sports car also benefits from extra standard safety equipment: from Sport models and above, the MX-5 features Front Smart City Brake Support, Lane Departure Warning System, Rear Smart City Brake Support, Traffic Sign Recognition and Driver Attention Alert. While Blind Spot Monitoring System with Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Adaptive LED headlights and a reversing camera are standard on Sport Tech and GT Sport Tech models.

As you’d expect for a car so famed for its dynamic abilities, the 2020 Mazda MX-5 R-Sport retains the same award-winning chassis and mechanical set up as the 1.5-liter Sport MX-5. And helped by the MX-5’s lightness, performance hasn’t come at the cost of efficiency, as fully homologated to the WLTP/RDE test cycle and equipped with Mazda’s i-ELOOP and i-stop kinetic recovery and stop-start technology as standard it emits 142g/km.

#Mazda X-5 R-Sport Special Edition #Mazda X-5 R-Sport #mazda #cars #miata #mx5 #news #first look #japan #japanese #convertibles #X-5 R-Sport

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bestgun01 · 4 years ago

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Browning A5 Shotgun History

Last week's Scottish Doubles post included a photo of the Browning Wicked Wing A5, and I didn't say a word about it. The A5 is Browning's inertia pistol. It shares the square receiver of the original Auto 5 and some of its features ("fast charge" and magazine cut), but in all other respects it is a different weapon. And, as much as I like the Auto 5s (I started photographing one), the new A5 deserves to be judged on its own merits, of which it has many.

This is a cutting pistol, which makes it easy to shoot well. Inertia pistols, which do not have a gas system at the front, can have thin ends that allow the pistol to sit in your hands and aim naturally. Out of the box, no problem with stock tight leggings, the A5 focused 5 targets for me the first time I shot it, and it was no different on ducks and geese.

The helmet release button is large and easy to find in front of the trigger guard. And the magazine spring, unlike many others, is flexible enough that it's easy to get cartridges into the magazine even with cold, numb thumbs, but the pistol still feeds reliably. The trigger pressure is 7 pounds, which may bother you, but it doesn't bother me at all. The safety button is large and, like the locks on the Gold and Maxus models, it is extremely easy to reverse if you are left-handed.

Overall this is a very practical and reliable duck pistol. I took it on the Etruscan double hunt because it was a cold, snowy morning, I had to walk a lot and carry decoys, and I didn't want to put in all that effort just to get in trouble with weapons. And I didn't have one. Everything I shot, except the pigeon that tried to land near my blind, completely hit the water or ice. The pigeon was scared.

One of the biggest differences between the A5 and the older Auto 5 is the weight. My "Light 12" Belgian Auto 5 weighed 8 pounds. The 3 ½-inch A5 has an alloy receiver and weighs only 6 ¾ pounds. This is fine until you have a 3 ½-inch peel on. I don't know who kicks more with the 3 1/2, the A5 or the Benelli Super Vinci, but both are horrible. Not just big, like 3 1/2 is on other guns, but horrible. Feed the A5 a reasonable diet of 2 and 3-inch shells, and that's all you want in a duck gun.

The version I filmed is the Wicked Wing, which comes complete with a camo stock and fore-end, a weather-resistant Cerakote finish on the metal, an enlarged release bolt, and engraved extended choke tubes. It sure is an eye-catching pistol, even to me, who prefer blue steel and choke it on my shotguns. Cerakote is a strong, rust resistant finish that makes it easy to maintain.

The 3 ½-inch Wicked Wing retails for $ 1,999. I have complained about the high price of stored plastic semi-cars in the past, and I realize that part of the problem is with me, whose ideas about the cost of a gun were formed around 1982. According to inflation calculators from Internet, $ 1,999 translates to $ 762 in 1982, which puts the price in slightly better perspective for me. Still, if I were to buy an A5, and be tempted, I would skip the undeniably cool look of the Wicked Wing pattern and 3 ½ chamber, and buy a basic 3-inch black pistol for $ 1539, which was roughly $ 587 in 1982.

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dashuisofanubis · 4 years ago

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Another ghost AU

Okay the premise for this one is sort of a what if they figured out Nina was the chosen one and performed the ritual, but its also an AU.

KT, Eddie and Willow move into a boarding house for the prestigious Ankh school. They notice there are a lot of awards and items in the school dedicated to a group of students.

It turns out that on the 7th of July, around 50 years ago, these 7 students were discovered dead. The cause was believed to be poisoning as the students were all from the same house and the two surviving students admitted to having skipped meals at the house that day. The house mother was arrested and sentenced for murder, despite rumours that she was innocent.

The truth of the tale is different:

An ancient Egyptian artefact was believed to have power beyond scientific knowledge, and, once assembled, was said to grant immortality. However, nature must maintain a balance, and for every life extended, another has to be cut short.

Despite all their research, the Secret Society were not aware of these consequences, or most likely were at some level but chose to ignore it. So, when the ritual took place and life was transferred, they had what they wanted, but at a cost.

The Immortals:

Victor Rodenmaar. Location unknown. Has been off the grid for 25 years after vanishing one night in the middle of the school year

Daphne Andrews. Still a teacher at Ankh. Taught many student's parents and has said she will retire next year for the past 20 years

Eric Sweet. Eddie's father, and a man he's always admired and looked up to. He's not what he seems, and is a lot older than Eddie believed.

Mercer, father to one of the lost students. Has realised immortality is not all it's cracked up to be. Having lost his wife 10 years ago, he lives a lonely life and regrets ever joining the society and offering up his daughter.

Jason Winkler. Joined due to degenerative illness, hoping this would be a cure. It was, and he lives a mostly happy life, when he can forget what part he played in the tragedy.

Doctor Delia. Now the CEO of the local hospital, she's experimented with her immortality, to see if there is a way to transfer part of her life to a patient. It took a lot of work, but 11 years ago, she finally had some success. 14 year old Sophia was fatally injured in a car crash, and Dr Delia used her blood in a transfusion, saving the girl.

Rufus Zeno is the final immortal. It was supposed to be Roebuck, but Rufus broke in and threatened the Chosen One, unless he got what he wanted. Wanting to save the girl, and being the only one who hadn't drunk from the cup, Roebuck sacrificed his chance.

(Had he known the girl would die anyway, it might have been different)

Rufus is out there, somewhere, and he's dangerous.

Back to the story:

(Idk what the plot really is but here goes)

The trio (Eddie, KT and Willow) discover the students used to live in Anubis House.

One night, they're playing truth or dare with their housemates: Stella, Marco, Anna, Raf and Peter. KT is dared to go down into the cellar, where she finds a secret panel. Behind it, she finds 7 balancing scales, an intricately decorated cup, and an empty bottle.

The scales have discs with names written on them. The names match those of the 7 students who died. However, the discs are only on one side of the scales, suggesting there were 7 more previously. KT takes the bottle to prove she went into the basement, and something compels her to take the discs as well, which she shows to Willow once they're back in their room.

They let Eddie know about it the next morning and the 3 begin to wonder if the students' deaths were really as they seemed.

Eddie is walking up the stairs when he trips on a loose floorboard. Annoyed, he goes to try and put it back into place when something catches his eye. It's a metal disc, tarnished with age. He cleans it up and sees the word Zeno printed on it.

He tells KT and Willow, and KT realises it must be from the scales she found. Something doesn't feel right, so they decide to investigate.

Eddie jokingly suggests they hold a seance, and despite Willows warnings, they do.

It doesn't seem to work.

The next day, Willow discovers an intruder in the house, someone who looks very similar to photos in the school...

Willow is unnerved but curious, so she says hey to them. They turn around, apparently spooked that someone can see them, and vanish.

Willow tells the others, who initially disbelieve her, but soon they come to meet the former residents of their boarding house.

The ghosts were obviously affected by their own deaths, and the fact that they're ghosts, but it's been 50 years now, so they're getting over it. They generally try to stay out of the students' ways, as they learnt that people generally freak out at the sight of ghosts.

They appeared as ghosts the same moment their lives transferred to the immortals, but were extremely weak and found it hard to keep themselves together. They were unable to dissipate completely though, something was keeping them there. They had to watch as Trudy was arrested; as their house was put out of action till an increase in students forced them to open it again 15 years later; as Victor still wandered the halls; as all the students came and grew and left while they were trapped in the house.

Unable to die, but unable to live.

Slowly, they began to gain more power, and for the past 10 years they've been able to hold a corporeal form for lengthening times, meaning they can actually do things and go places. They're capable of leaving the house for short distances and periods of time, though if they're out for too long they fade away and reappear back in the house with a killer headache.

They think (hope) this means the immortals are weakening, but it could just be they're getting used to the whole being dead thing.

Their lives were tied to the balancing scales and the person on the opposite side, so they each have some connection to an immortal

This means they get fleeting impressions/feelings from their immortal, which strengthens with their proximity.

Connected Immortal and Ghost:

Rodenmaar - Nina

Sweet - Fabian

Andrews - Amber

Delia - Alfie

Roebuck/Zeno - Jerome

Mercer - Joy

Winkler - Patricia

Amber gets the most impressions because Ms Andrews still teaches at the school

Nina and Jerome receive hardly any because both Zeno and Rodenmaar are unknowns

However, recently they've started getting fleeting emotions and visuals that aren't their own. The two missing immortals are becoming active and they're heading for the house.

The ghosts can't do much on their own so Eddie, KT and Willow have to be prepared to discover what these two immortals want and put a stop to it.

Eddie finds out that his dad was once Eric Sweet (he chose a different name after leaving the school, to distance himself), the former headmaster of the school and is horrified by the part he played in all this. A confrontation goes down.

There's a bit where they track down Mick and Mara, now in their 60s, and bring them back to Anubis House to reunite with their former housemates. It would be a really emotional scene because while most of them weren't close, you can't live in close quarters with people for a long time, without forming a bond. And when it ended so abruptly with no goodbyes...well.

They also track down the other immortals and bring them to the house to face their ghosts (literally). Ms Andrews regrets it immensely; Delia has no (some) regrets, but argues she's able to save many more lives this way, Jason is in denial.

Don't imagine immortal!Mercer finally seeing his daughter again, only she's a ghost and he caused her death. He's full of apologies, but they're all based around how he missed her, not how he cut her life short.

There would be a lot of regret and grief all round, and anger on the ghosts' part.

While Trudy probably wouldn't be alive after all this time, the trio and the ghosts want the immortals to clear her name.

Zeno and Rodenmaar arrive at the house. They're both searching for an ancient artefact hidden in the house.

(Is it the mask? Is it the Book of Isis? Robert Frobisher Smythe? Who knows? Not me.)

They also want to try and end the other because, why not. Grudges can last forever.

The trio also meet Sophia at some point, who is undergoing weird transitions as a result of the blood transfusion. Her body is fighting it while also trying to embrace it, and it causes her to randomly absorb life/energy from plants or other people. She can also transfer energy to other beings, but this causes her to collapse. She also still looks 14 when she should be in her 20s by now. The trio befriend her and try to figure out a cure.

While their existences are tainted with regret and bitterness, the ghosts still make their own fun. Sometimes they'll pull pranks on unsuspecting students, or just sit in the back of the class room to listen to the lessons like they're students again. They know for a fact Ms Andrews hasn't changed her curriculum in 50 years and can now recite her lessons by heart. They also like to play games in the house like tag or hide and seek, and they will admit its more fun when you can phase through walls.

When they reveal themselves to the trio, they enjoy tormenting them, but also help them with their games nights, charading the answers behind the other 5s backs. Everyone's had near misses with the 5, but somehow they remain oblivious to the SEVEN GHOSTS living in their house. But then again everyone else is oblivous to the fact the 5 are on some Arthurian quest.

I don't know how this story would end, but the best outcome is that they fight Zeno and Rodenmaar, and some truth comes out that Rodenmaar has discovered a way to reverse what was done and needs an artefact from the tunnels to conduct the ritual. Zeno, meanwhile has discovered another ritual that would give him the power from the other immortals to essentially make himself a god.

Naturally, both are trying to stop the other from achieving their goals.

Initially, KT, Eddie, Willow and the ghosts (and Sophia) attempt to stop both parties, but when they discover Victor's plan they work to take down Zeno. Once he's subdued (taken down by Sophia draining his energy), they summon the other 5 immortals.

Some of them take some convincing, but others are all too ready to give up this immortal life. They get time to tie off loose ends. Ms. Andrews hands in her resignation, Delia entrusts someone (Sophia?) with her work, Mercer has a long talk with his daughter, Eric has an even longer talk with his son. Victor spends his time in Anubis House, telling the kids his story and apologising for taking so long to fix his mistake.

Eventually, the ritual takes place, and the next day sees 7 new students enrolled who look uncannily like the students in the pictures.

(It takes them a while to adjust to the fact they can't walk through walls anymore)

#then KT's grandfather gives her a key and they're off on another adventure #house of anubis #long post #hoa #kt rush #eddie miller #willow jenks #i know this was my longest au but it somehow ended up longer #ghost au 2: electric boogaloo #this would be an epic 100k fic but alas i dont have the energy nor skill to do that so take the plotline instead #honestly though this would make a great buzzfeed unsolved episode #also im so sorry about the anglicised versions of de vijf but i think thats what they would have been called if there was an english remake #ive put the keep reading thing on this so many times but tumblr keeps removing it so sorry if you have to scroll #hoa au

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ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is · 4 years ago

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Hello - I'm a bit confused about the impact of function stack on enneagram and I wondered if you could help. I can understand how switched dom/aux and tert/inf functions might make a type more or less likely, but how can it be the difference between "one of the most common types" and "so unlikely as to indicate a mistype"? In the case of enneagram 3, for example, it's often listed as one of the most common types for ENTPs but seems almost unheard of in INTPs. (1 of 2)

Given that INTP and ENTP have the same functions in a very similar order it seems odd to me that an enneagram could be so common in one but almost impossible in the other. I can see how a leading extroverted function would make 3 (or 7) much more likely, but doesn't it seem like there should still be some instances of these types where the dom/aux functions are reversed? Thank you very much (and I hope this wasn't a stupid question). (2 of 2)

----------------------

Hi anon,

It’s because many enneatypes have a simple correlation with extroversion or introversion (for good reason), and because function order really does make a big difference.

A dominant introverted function means that someone will have a strong tendency to process or judge before they act, and on the flip side, a dominant extroverted function means that someone is going to be much more focused on acting in the real world than withdrawing from it, both of which have a huge impact on enneatype.

I think the best example of this is 5 and 7 - both are head types with a great deal of curiosity and a certain acquisitiveness, but one deals with it by analyzing, observing, and then withdrawing to obsess over it (an introverted response) and one by avoiding painful things through distraction and a scattered, “experience everything” approach to the world. I suspect that put in a similar situation, an introvert would become a 5 and an extrovert would become a 7 (and I should note that while standard introversion and extroversion aren’t perfectly correlated with MBTI introversion and extroversion, they’re very closely correlated, and I also think that a tendency towards introversion/extroversion is often present in childhood in away the full function stack isn’t). As a result, Ti doms are quite likely to be 5s, but their Ti-aux counterparts, while still analytical and curious about the world, are more likely to channel these same things into 7.

Another major case is 3, and 3s are as a rule concerned with how they appear to others but specifically in the realm of being valuable and competent. This correlates highly with the extroverted judging functions. It competes with the others in its triad - 2 (being loveable) and 4 (being unique). Which is another thing to bring up - you can only have one core enneatype, so it is necessarily a zero-sum game and so a part of the answer is as simple as “there aren’t a lot of IxTP 3s because so many are 5s.” But getting back to 3: an ExTP is going to have noticeable Fe, and additionally, most thinkers aren’t really focused on 2 motivations (they may want to be liked, but they don’t have that same self-sacrificing, others needs first all the time drive) nor 4 (or rather, their uniqueness tends to manifest as being valuable and they become 3w4s). So an ExTP who is very invested in what others think of them and has that heart triad motivation will usually become a 3.

Meanwhile, Ti-doms just...don’t care much what people think as a primary fear? They want validation - most people do - but it’s not on their radar in the same way it is for someone with high or even tert Fe. I suspect that if you managed to get a Ti-dom with a heart triad main fear they would end up being a 3 for the same reasons Ti-auxes are 3s rather than 2s or 4s, but that tert-Fe vs. inf-Fe does play a big role.

9 is another case -it’s not the most common in Te-auxes, but it’s quite rare in Te-doms, and that’s a fairly straightforward one where it’s defined by a certain inaction, which just isn’t what extroverts, especially Te doms - tend to do. An Ni or Si dom with aux Te is notably slower to act, more internally focused, and less likely to confront others than a Te-dom because Te is tempered by a function that tends to process things slowly and internally (and because their extroverted perceiving function is also lower).

I do want to quickly add - based on the information I have, 3 is one of the more common types for ENTP, so to speak but ENTP is highly concentrated in 7 and 8. The old eilamona MBTI/enneagram survey has over 50% of ENTPs enneatyping themselves as 7s, about 15% as 8s, and about 7% as 5s, and then another 6% or so as 3s (vs the roughly 1% of INTPs who say they are 3s). It’s the fourth most common but it’s not actually that common an enneatype in ENTP, it’s just more likely than say, enneagram 1. The fact that 7 is so prominent in ENTPs and then only accounts for around 1% of INTPs is a far more dramatic shift, but I hope my 5 and 7 talk covers that.

#mbti #enneagram #Anonymous

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a-certain-academy-city · 4 years ago

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Toaru Kagaku no Academy City - A City in Turmoil / Empowered Justice

Life in Academy City was becoming rather hectic in a lot of areas.

It had been almost three weeks since the mysterious organization/entity known as F.A.I.T.H had announced itself to the city, threatening to wage war and revealed the fact that Academy City was the last civilized human society on the planet, things were not the same as they used to be.

While the explanation as to why contact outside the city was cut, with internet and television stations being limited, and why people weren’t allowed to leave the city, even with the proper ways, it didn’t sit well with a lot of the residents at all.

There were millions of students, as well as faculty members like teachers and others who had families outside of Academy City, families that were supposed to be visiting them for the now canceled Daihasei festival. Now, they had learned the awful truth, that those family members and loved ones had been incinerated along with the rest of the world.

Some questioned how Academy City ended up being spared, how weather seemed to be normal whereas the outside was rendered inhospitable for human life, but it was the fact that people they knew were gone, and they were the last of mankind that didn't sit well for many at all.

Many fell into despair, some even became furious at the Board Chairman and the rest of Academy City officials such as the Board of Directors for not disclosing this information sooner. When it was revealed, it had already been months since the humanity incineration event happened, about around the start of the summer season. It was Fall now, and the fact that it took this long for such information to be disclosed set many a radical over the edge.

As such was the case of ZERO.

ZERO had only started off as a disorganized gang, not unlike Skill-Out which originally sought to take down the Espers of Level 3 and higher. They were apparently inspired by Level 0s who had managed to defeat the #1, #3, and #4 in battle and decided to carry out crimes in their name. They only knew of Hamazura Shiage, who defeated the #4, but did not know the name of the one who had defeated the previous two Level 5s.

ZERO had been around long before the supposed Incineration of Humanity took place, but they had recently grown in numbers, amassing weapons and resources from an unknown origin. By the time the reveal had been made, ZERO had grown into a full on terrorist organization.

Lost was the original idea of opposing Espers in the name of justice, but instead became about fighting off what they believed to be powerful oppressors. The Board Chairman who was not only the most powerful Esper in the City, but was the leader of the science side, and Violent Violet, a mysterious person who ended up becoming more or less a household name for the city, but was also recognized as a person with limitless strength, had most of ZERO’s hostility directed towards them. The organization believed them to be the worst of oppressors and that they had to be brought down from their position as the most powerful people in Academy City, which in essence, meant the world.

ZERO was no longer just a gang that was made up of primarily Level 0s and 1s. Instead, it went from being a gang, to a movement, to a hostile organization that even had Level 4s in its ranks. The separation of levels and rankings became irrelevant, for they were united in their effort of opposing their opressors.

ZERO had conducted all sorts of attacks around the City. Attacks were conducted on places lie the Agikade Research Centre in District 14, the Database for the Understanding of Cellular Research in District 17, the Hotsukichi Research Facility in District 7 and then there were numerous building collapses over the past few weeks that have been left unsolved.

A lot had been going on in Academy City, and it felt like they were at the tipping point of something big.

But even so, there were many in the city who were going to protect the city.

The city had some important heroes, of whom seemed to vanish off the face of the earth, but even so, even in their place, someone would step up.

“...Ever since it had been revealed that Academy City was the last City on Earth, things have been reaching a boiling point. Our families are gone, the world we came to know is also gone, and the prospect of Onee-sama being gone with it terrifies me so.”

As someone who had devoted her heart to Misaka Mikoto, Shirai Kuroko found the prospect of being separated from her for an unspecified, yet certainly extended period of time to not be appealing, but she respected her decision to leave through that strange Tower, a tower that had supposedly lead her to somewhere else unreachable for Shirai.

But with it being revealed that Academy City was the only man-made construct on this planet, with all other humans and life being wiped out, she was worried, no, feared for Mikoto’s well-being. Where exactly did she go? What happened to her when the incineration hit? These were questions that continued to fill her mind as the days go by, that lively dorm room in Tokiwadai having grown silent and lonely during Mikoto’s absence. Even though she would have the company of Uiharu Kazari, Saten Ruiko, the odd girl who often worked at the District 7 General Hospital, and even Kongo Mitsuko and her friends, as well as Hokaze Junko, it was Misaka Mikoto who left empty space on her life that was too big to ignore. Thus, it felt like she was lost.

Shirai was also worried about the City itself and its long term future. She was not aware of the forces that destroyed humanity nor the forces that may have been trying to undo that destruction, she understood that there was a possibility, a strong one in fact, that this destruction will have an impact on the city, if not already.

While Academy City was a self sustaining superpower, it required resources from the outside to do that. Forget scientific development, with all life dead, what were they going to do about food, water, and other basic necessities? Shirai knew of a similar event that happened to Academy City a few months back, in which the entire city was sent far into the future where human civilization had collapsed from disease and war. It was only thanks to the only human organization in that time period that Academy City was getting resources it needed to continue on for as long as it needed.

But now?

There was no organization supporting them from the outside. The world outside, unlike in the future, was completely dead, meaning no animal or plant life was around. Academy City was forced to rely on what they had in order to keep itself running, but that was only going to get them so far.

And when they ran out of resources for their basic needs and technological development, what would happen then?

“...But even so, I must do my part. As a member of Judgement, I will protect this city as best as I can. After all, it would be something that she would do if our positions were reversed.”

Shirai Kuroko did not know about the complex intricacies of the world. She had only caught a glimpse into it when she met the Board Chairman & First Ranked Level 5 for the first time and gotten involved with the incident surrounding a Magician and his familiar, but that was all she could see.

It was her role to be a symbol of Justice in this City that was on a crossroads in fate. And she would continue to enforce justice as she had always done.

She was not about to fall into despair and cry over a seemingly hopeless situation.

She would stand, and do her part to help the city she came to know and appreciate thrive. Her motivation was helped with the speech given by Violent Violet much after F.A.I.T.H’s, but also with hope that she may be reunited with her upperclassman.

#Toaru Kagaku no Academy City (Main Verse)#Devoted Underclassman of Tokiwadai's Ace // Shirai Kuroko

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sol1056 · 6 years ago

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S7: both here and there, pt1

The best word for S7 --- from a data standpoint --- is polarizing.

The datasets have been pretty volatile, and that’s telling in and of itself. I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the earliest Rotten Tomatoes’ score for S7, at 13%. As word spread, I’m not kidding when I say I gleefully refreshed every five minutes to watch the votes jump up another 200 or so --- while the actual score inched upwards like molasses in January.

Crowd-sourced ratings --- Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, Yelp, Good Reads, Amazon, etc --- aren’t unknown quantities anymore. We know the first round of reviews, the majority of the time, will produce the highest ratings. After that, it’ll slowly drop until it reaches an equilibrium (when a few votes could no longer tip the score). A break in that established pattern --- of the low votes coming in first --- is a bad sign. Displeased viewers are more likely to just turn off; it takes shit getting real --- or personal --- to get action from the angry ones.

A little context: the first 200 or so votes had an average of about 1.9, which is beyond abysmal. If it’d been a 2.5 to 3.0, that’d signal dislike. 1.9 is verging on serious rage --- and every time someone put out the cry that the average wasn’t climbing fast enough, it simply drew more attention to the developing schism.

S7 now has 2758 votes, 1.4 times more than S1-S6 put together. The fandom moved at a fever pitch, and many of those calls were exhorting fans to vote a flat 5. To still only get a 3.9 average means almost 700 people gave the season the lowest possible score. That’s one-quarter of the viewing populace. One-quarter.

Let’s hypothesize the first 250 or so votes were a single cranky group. If everyone else was generally happy to give 4s or 5s, S7 would be at 91% with a 4.2 average. Without access to the actual breakdown, the only conclusion is that there was no single negative push. The anger continued, even as a larger group tried to cloak that anger with inflated values.

And that’s just the simplest example of polarization and volatility I’m seeing in every dataset, which is why I waited a bit longer to report in. As a warning, there is no single value to say this season was good or bad; we’re going to have to consider all the data in context before we can pass judgment.

We’ll start with the usual datasets to get a sense of estimated viewership and audience engagement and get the broad strokes. In the follow-up I’ll get into more datasets that will round things out for a fuller picture.

an explanation about Netflix ratings

For those of you just tuning in, Netflix is a black box. They never share the specific viewership data, and even the ‘trending’ is calculated based on the viewer + other various data. (Your trending on Netflix is not automatically the same list as someone else’s.) The few times anyone’s tried to capture viewing data, naturally Netflix swears the numbers are all wrong.

The closest we can come is Wikipedia’s page analysis, which apparently correlates to Neilson ratings. That means we’re extrapolating that we could expect the same behaviors from viewers for digital shows. These aren’t the ‘real’ viewer numbers, but that’s fine. I’m using them for comparison, after all, so what really matters is the change, not the total.

a note about the two core datasets

The wikipedia dataset and the google dataset are essentially measuring audience engagement. The drawback is that past 90 days, google’s dataset is combined into weeks, plus it’s relative. To compare multiple seasons, I’m stuck with by-week values. I prefer wikipedia’s dataset for this finer-grained look, because I can get down to the day.

However, I’ve taken the two datasets, merged by week, and compared. They map almost exactly, with a caveat, The release-week values for wikipedia are always higher than google’s by around 5%, and the between-release lull values on google are higher than wikipedia’s by about the same. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, but without actual numbers from google, eyeballing is it probably good enough for my purposes.

post-release tails comparison

A little over two weeks in, first thing is we check the tails, which are a measure of how long engagement lasts after a season’s release. There’ll be a peak, and then interest will taper off until it hits a threshold, usually the level of audience engagement in the lull between seasons. Sometimes, the tail is relatively flat and long (ie S6). In others, the tail is a bit steeper, indicating a quick drop-off (S3-S5). But it’s also a factor of how high the peak reached, in that some seasons will have farther to go (S1, S2) before reaching that lull threshold where the ‘tail’ ends.

After S6 (yellow line) reversed the falling trend, S7 (dashed green line) is following the same path. If you were expecting a tremendous rise (or fall), you’d be disappointed; the surprise in S7 is that it has no surprises in this dataset. It’s holding the line established by S6, albeit at a higher engagement rate.

This graph takes the above, and adjusts so the peaks are equalized. Now we can see the tails in a better comparison.

S7 wobbles in equal measure to balance out S6; the most we could say is that S7 is holding the line. It neither gained, nor lost. Because the two graphs above are daily, there’s a bit of noise. To streamline that, we’ll take the same data but gathered into weeks (Friday to following Thursday, as releases are always Friday).

comparing the first four weeks of every season

Here we’re comparing the totals for the first week of all seven seasons, then the second week, etc. (S7′s data is incomplete for the 3rd week, so that green bar will probably increase.)

Even here, there are some interesting details hiding in the data. Basically, the rate at which S6 built on S5 is pretty close to the rate on which S7 is building on S6. And the fact is... that’s not how multi-seasons stories usually work.

comparing viewership peaks across seasons

As comparison, this is google’s interest over time tracker for House of Cards:

If a series is expected to go out with a bang, there's usually a spike for the final season, but all the seasons before will steadily degrade, and often by a regular percentage. A quick comparison of several multi-season, serial, shows (Orange is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Stranger Things, Daredevil, TrollHunters) seems to indicate the House of Cards pattern would be considered a successful show. Whenever it peaks, about 20% of those viewers will drop out, and after that, the numbers hold mostly steady, with perhaps a 5-10% drop at most. (Trollhunters breaks this mold with a 50% drop for S2, and a finale that almost matches its S1 peak.)

With that in mind, let’s look at the rate of change from one point to another: the peak of season A to the peak of season B. They’re floating so you can see better how the drop from one affected the next.

After S1, 31% of the audience dropped VLD. Of the remainder, 20% quit after S2; after S3, a further 20% didn’t come back for S4. This is where you can see S4's damage: 28% didn’t come back for S5. All told, between S1 and S5, 68% of the viewers quit the show. If VLD had been a Netflix original, S5 would have been its last season.

But thanks to marketing or hype, 17% of those lost viewers returned for S6, which in turn influenced the return of 22% more viewers for S7. None of the other shows had a mid-series rise, let alone a second increase. Viewership hasn’t caught back up to the levels after S2, though, but if I were to say any point turned around the sinking ship, it’s clearly S6.

It’s too soon to say whether S7 will take that further, or if S7 is just holding onto the lead S6 put in place. We won’t really know that until S8.

weekly rate of change to see patterns

Some of the seasons peaked on the 2nd or 3rd day, so I started from that point; starting on the release date (with lower numbers) would camouflage that peak and defeat the purpose of this comparison. The question here is: can we see a pattern in viewership engagement over the first month after a release?

With rate of change, the smaller the drop, the lower the difference. Frex, look at the 3rd and 4th weeks of S5. The difference between weeks 3 & 4, and weeks 4 & 5, is only 1%. That means the engagement level was dropping at a steady rate across those weeks.

Now you can see the real damage: S4. Basically, a week after S4′s release, 78% of the audience checked out. Next to that, S5 regains a tiny bit of ground, and S6 increased that. So far, S7 is holding steady with S6.

Again, S7 hasn’t lost ground, but it hasn’t really gained, either.

pre- and post-season context: measuring hype

What none of these graphs show, so far, is the context of each season. For that, we need to look across all the seasons. Again to reduce the noise (but not so much it’s flattened), I’ve collected days into weeks, starting on friday, ending the following thursday. The release week is marked with that season’s color.

I know it’s kinda hard to see, here, sorry. To throw in a different dataset for a moment, here’s a simple track of all searches for ‘voltron legendary defender’ from May 2018 to now.

This pattern echoes across several other datasets, btw. There’s a spike for S6, which never entirely drops off, and then we get a second spike for the premiere at SDCC. (Which is also the first time a between-season premiere has skyrocketed like that.) After SDCC, the base level stays high.

In other words, does S7 appear as a larger spike because it began from a higher base rate? How do we compare season-to-season, when one starts at a radically elevated position compared to the rest?

The question became how to untangle hype from viewer reaction to the season. Here’s the viewership levels for S5, S6, and S7, again consolidated into weeks.

After S5, things dropped pretty low. A week before S6, reviews, a trailer, and some wacky marketing hijinks lured a lot of people back in. Two things happened between S6 and S7 that are worth noting.

The first, two weeks after S6, was the announcement that Shiro was no longer a paladin, and his link with Black had been severed. This weekly graph blurs the details slightly, but the drop you see in the next two light-gray columns actually starts the day after that announcement.

The second gray bar is SDCC, where S7E1 premiered. In the gap between then and the week before release, the levels drop back to the new (higher) baseline. Excitement was high, propelling audience engagement. If hype is meant to increase engagement, and these datasets are capturing the same thing to some basic degree, there’s a value in what the pre-season week and post-season week could be telling us.

the narrative in the data

If the week-prior is high, it means audiences are engaged due to pre-season marketing, trailers, rumors, and reviews. If the week-after is high, it means audiences are excited and engaging directly with the show itself. In other words, you could say week-prior measures how much people are buzzing or getting ready, and week-after measures how much they’re re-watching or encouraging others to watch.

For S1 and S2, the week-prior was really low. After S1 there was a splash in October, but not big enough to keep energy up through to S2. Both S1 and S2 had much higher week-after rates. The simplest reason would be that people who’d seen the season were now talking about it and raising buzz on their own, thus propelling further engagement.

Until S7, S3 had the highest week-prior engagement --- and the first time there was a drop, comparatively, in the week-after. S4 follows that trend, with a much larger drop. S5′s before and after are close to equal, which to me says that whatever excitement was ginned up prior, the season didn’t have much of an impact one way or another. It feels almost apathetic, actually.

S6 reverses the trend; people went into it barely more excited than they had been after finishing S5, but for the first time since S2, there was a post-release rise. Audiences were engaged again. Even with the drop from the post-season news, it wasn’t so far SDCC couldn’t rocket it back up again. But if you look at the graph above for S7, once again there’s a slight drop in the week-after.

Given the level of week-prior excitement (especially with the SDCC spike still fresh in people’s minds), the lack of post-season buzz is noticeable.

To get a better look, I’ve isolated the rate of change for each season, comparing week-prior and week-after. S1 and S2 had such extreme amounts (744% and 156% increases, respectively) that it torqued the entire graph. I’ve left them off so we can focus on S3 through S7.

After S3, engagement dropped by 9%, indicating a less-enthused audience after seeing the season. S4 went further, dropping by 27%. S5 managed a small increase of 4%, and S6 increased engagement by 18%.

S7 has a 2% drop. Not as bad as S3′s, but nowhere near the huge spike we should’ve seen, had the pre-season hype been borne out in the season itself. That excitement didn’t quite pop like S4; it’s more like a slow leak.

comparing across datasets

One more thing before I wrap up this first post. Google’s data is on the left, and Wikipedia’s dataset is on the right, with the weeks marked that include the actual release date. (I did this in excel so the images don’t line up quite right, but hopefully it’s good enough to illustrate.)

With Wikipedia’s daily values added in a Fri-to-Thu week group, there’s only one week before a strong drop. With the Google calendar-style (Sun to Sat), S7′s second week goes even higher, and the drop is steep.

In the Google numbers, 2/7ths of the green bar is ‘now showing on Netflix,’ and the remaining 5/7ths is the hype-based engagement levels. The same goes for the week following, which in google’s dataset is even higher; 5/7ths of that, plus the last 2 days of the week before, equal the S7 green bar on the Wikipedia dataset, on the right.

And that means there was enough traffic in five days to propel an entire week to even higher than the week that contained the first two days of the season (which usually loom over all others by a noticeable degree). It’s even more remarkable when you look at the Wikipedia dataset, which is arranged to run from Friday to the following Thursday -- and which does have a drop-off.

I’ll be tapping a few more datasets to unpack this anomaly, in my next post. I’ll warn you now, they paint a very different picture of S7.

part 2 can be found here

#vld #voltron #doing the data cronch #sol explains things

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