I was about to make a deep serious critique going over EVERYTHING wrong with the most recent Cornflakes episode.
But the post was getting so long I started thinking about making that into my own CinemaSins-like video.
Would yall watch that? I think it’d be maybe 10-15 min bc I am getting very anal with this, going over every tiny thing.

Question by @asticknodesuser2 (FireDragon)
*”CAN YOU POST ADVICE ON HOW TO WRITE FORESHADOWING?”*

Of course!!

Theres multiple different ways to write foreshadowing. I dont exactly got an idea on how I will explain it so I will give you 3 separate examples.
One from a piece of media, one from me, and a made up one.
This first one I am going to be using the internet show Red Vs Blue as an example. Blatant spoilers for this show.

A new character joined the main ensamble cast after they crash landed to protect them form dangerous forces.
This new guy gave the cast information, supplies, and even taken bullets to the leg for them.
So this guy he warns of an incoming battle and that they need to get prepared.
The main cast now trusts this guy, they give him a list of all the ammo and weapons on hand and potential weak points in the canyon.
So they fortified the canyon and fight the incoming battle only to lose.

Turns out when its revealed next season that this guy and the opposing army is working together. So when he gained their trust he was able to get the details of all their weapons and supplies to the enemy so they will be outmatched.

Now foreshadowing dont have to be always upfront in your face.
Some background foreshadowing;
This is a example from my future Halloween themed series. It is a spoiler but it’d be revealed within the first few episodes so-

Context:
(Part of the reason why this is a revelation is bc God ONLY exist before the big bang. Any time after the big bang God no longer exists.)

In the show there is a PLETHORA of animals and types of people in every scene almost. In the background you will always see an animal watching the main characters.
Maybe one animal is watching them, then just stops then a completely other random animal starts watching the main characters.
But an animal is always watching. Sometimes though it is just a normal animal just taking a look.
Anyways who is watching them? Its one of the Gods. And then it turns out that if God can always be watching the main characters, whos to say God isnt watching everyone all the time?

Heres a completely made up just now example.

Say in the beginning of a story a monster BURSTS from the ground, its dazed and causing havoc. The havoc only causes the monster to be more distressed.
Later in the story you learn that its afraid of needles and knives.
Then you learn it hates older men.
And then finnaly you learn that it was a son of a scientist who experimented on him with needles and knives. The son mutated bc of it and died quickly after and the father buried him in the forest.

I hope these examples are a good idea on how to do some foreshadowing.

Make sure your characters are people by themselves before writing them.
So slight spoilers for Cornflakes but as an example I’ll use Spookus and Ginger.
Their dynamic is the typical optimistic happy one, and the more serious pessimistic one.
Thats a great END GOAL for when *creating the characters*
Now that you have your goal, how will you get there?
Well start with WHY the characters are the way they are.
Ginger has a troubled background, put down for his autism and is eccentric for himself sure, but he acts like that for the approval of others. Its a form of masking.
Wanting to move out of his enviroment he looked for roommates and found Spookus.
(Sorry for the spoiler lol)

Now that we know WHO he is and WHY he acts the way he does. Its time to turn those things, into more flaws/conflicts.
Ginger throughout the series, because of his eccentric attitude and his selfish need for approval (instead of getting it from himself) and his boundaries always pushed as a child, causes Ginger to forget what other peoples anatomy truly is. What he is doing is no where near as bad as his past, so in his mind he’s doing great, which he is for the most part.
But he still results, weather intentional or not, pushing other peoples boundaries.
And thats his character and his personal arc.

Now onto Spookus. He and many other characters come from where King Harrow brutally rules as immigrants w their parents. That orgin place already has a effect on a lot of characters. The way it effected Spookus is that he’s less jokey, headstrong, and super focused. Which results in him forgetting his own and other peoples emotions when things are heated.

So how do these two characters mingle?
Their first meeting point was through the need of a roof over their heads and became roommates.
Ginger gives Spookus the excitement and emotion he needs in life.
Spookus gives Ginger the groundedness and level-headedness Ginger needs in life.
But the characters personalities and strengths at this point should highlight where they can or even would clash.

Maybe Ginger gets pissed as Spookus for not taking him seriously or that Spookus can be more emotionally considerate.

Or maybe Spookus gets mad at Ginger for not thinking something through completely or just ignoring what Spookus suggests completely in favor for theatrics or just being the funny guy.

Now that we know who our characters are, why they act that way, now lastly, where are they going?
Your character dont need a big motivation at first, it can be just that “They just wanna get through life.”
Nearly any motivation is valid as long youre able to justify it.

Ginger don’t have goals cause he’s too focused on the now and how he’s perceived.

Spookus wants to eventually make a life for himself, maybe doing some protection or something bigger.

Idfk how to end todays talk, so I’ll just end it here.
Always make sure your characters are people that can stand by themselves that gives the reasoning for why they are where they are and why they are who they are.