#but imo it has gotten a lot better in the past couple years

[teenagefeeling]

just finished a book i won in a goodreads giveaway so i felt obligated to review it there and man. i just like storygraph so much more. not a fan of goodreads' ui at all

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I told my dad how I feel about my stepmom?

🐍 ✨ <- For finding later

I (18X) have had a bit of a strained relationship with my father (54M) for the last few years. Part of this is due to political differences, my father is very right wing, and I am not. Recently however, we've agreed to stop discussing politics as it just ends up upsetting both of us. The other thing that has been getting in the way of my father and I's relationship is my stepmom, Jenny (fake name obv).

For context, my father is a military veteran and suffers from severe PTSD. And when I say severe, I mean severe. He is also physically disabled, and Jenny helps him a lot with day to day life. I know they love each other, and my dad wouldn't be able to do nearly as much without her around. However, her and my dad's relationship was a bit of a sudden thing. My dad and I were very close (we hung out one-on-one whenever we were able), then Jenny came around and seemed almost glued to the hip with my father. My dad was constantly around her, and even when I asked for us to have time alone together, he either ignored the request or had Jenny there anyway.

Jenny and I have never really gotten along. We've had several fights over the years (one of which ended with her having a fight with my dad for being on my side of the argument, where she left home and stole my dad's dog before returning the next day), and I still somewhat resent her for taking away my time with my dad. She has also said that she never wanted kids, so I don't think she ever liked my siblings and I very much. My dad always seems to be on her side as well, after the aforementioned fight where she stole his dog, he accepted her back home seemingly without much of a fuss (despite being very sad/upset after the fight the night before). They fight more than the average couple as well IMO, but maybe that's just how they function as people (idk). I understand that she helps my father a lot, but it was a rough adjustment when she came around. I've had almost zero one-on-one time with my dad in the last five-ish years (and yes, I've asked for it, multiple times), so that combined with our political differences has led us to not speak for a good while.

Recently, my father reached out to me and asked to reconnect. He apologized for things he did in the past, and asked what he could do to make things better. I was mostly honest with him, except for everything I've said here about Jenny. I want to tell him how I feel, but I think I'd be TA if I said I really dislike his wife and main support system. I definitely think it'd be unfair to make him choose between me and her, as no matter how you slice it, he very likely will still need/want her around. If I ask my dad to hang out (again) without Jenny there though, I feel like that'd be inviting that question. Still, I cannot stand having to hang out with her, and don't want to meet with my dad if I know she will be there.

So: WIBTA if I told my dad how I feel about my stepmom?

[fersauce47mediatalk]

About Will Wood's "The Normal Album"

Yesterday on my main blog I said “I personally think that ‘Love me, Normally’ should have been the final song of The Normal Album. Have it switch places with Memento Mori, because it better encapsulates and summarizes the album.” because I was relistening to The Normal Album. 

I’ve been relistening to Will Wood a lot recently. Over the past couple days I’ve relistened to most of his music, and also listened to the remake of The Normal Album: The New Normal! Will Wood and his Tapeworms have been on repeat in my headphones for the past 2 weeks, and I’m sure everyone I know personally has gotten tired of hearing about him. Anyway, I thought it was high time to review one of my all time favorite albums. 

The Normal Album was released on July 10th, separately from the Will Wood and the Tapeworm albums. Most of the songs on this album have been in the works for years. It is 45 minutes long, and has 10 songs. The songs are mostly long. The shortest is “The most important thing in the world” at 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Though the longest song is “Suburbia Overture” at 6 minutes and 16 seconds. The average song on the album is in the 4-5 minute zone. 

I’d recommend this album to my friends, without a doubt. For those of you who don’t know of Will Wood’s music, he can be included in the same “Autistic gay people music” category as people like Lemon Demon, Tally Hall, Jack Stauber, Bo Burnham, etc. 

He has a very unique sound. He mixes Jazz, Rock, Blues, and Indie campfire guitar music all into one kick ass discography. All of his music is a unique experience, and I personally don’t see how someone couldn’t like it. Actually, it is quite overstimulating. Here’s the summary of Will Wood: Imagine really Jazzy rock music that’s overstimulating as hell. His music has humour and dark undertones, and I love it for that. 

That being said, I realize that a lot of the people I find myself interacting with here on Tumblr are fellow Will Wood glazers. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you already know WAY too much about Will Wood’s music, because he’s been your hyperfixation for a good little bit. 

I love Will Wood in interviews. He has a certain vibe to him, and whenever he gets to speaking about something that he actually cares about, he’s one hell of a speaker. There’s a lot of clips of him sitting like a bisexual and vibing while being interrogated, such clips are my guilty pleasures. God, I love his style. 

You know, I should probably talk about The Normal Album itself. That’s what you came here for, isn’t it? The album is about the societal push on people to be normal instead of just to be. It’s about desperately trying to fit in. I have to thank @rowansinjune for educating me on that in the comments of my post about Love Me, Normally. 

As per usual, I’ve picked out the top 5 songs for the people who can’t be bothered to listen to music at its finest. I will say that if you want to get the entire view of the album’s theme, you need to listen to the other songs. These ones are mostly my personal favorites. 

1- Second Sight Seer: Second Sight Seer is very jazzy. It’s one of those songs that convey the album’s theme, although it’s not inherently obvious. 

2- Laplace’s Angel: This might be the best song on the album IMO. It also sounds the most like a Will Wood and the Tapeworms song, specifically from Self-ish. 

3- I/Me/Myself: This song is more comical than most of the others. It’s about a trans woman, but as far as I’ve heard, the trans community not only approves of it, but loves how well the lyrics handle the subject. Correct me if I’m wrong, please. 

4- Love me, Normally: I’ve already talked about how I think that this should’ve been the real end to the album, since it encapsulates the theme so well. To me, it sounds the most like a traditional rock and roll song. 

5- BlackBoxWarrior: This song feels oddly ominous. Between the piano and Will’s tone, it seems like it could be a really fun villain’s theme. 

In conclusion, listen to Will Wood! Any song will do, they’re all great! 

Well, that was fun, goodbye!

[fersauce47]

About Will Wood's "The Normal Album"

Yesterday on my main blog I said “I personally think that ‘Love me, Normally’ should have been the final song of The Normal Album. Have it switch places with Memento Mori, because it better encapsulates and summarizes the album.” because I was relistening to The Normal Album. 

I’ve been relistening to Will Wood a lot recently. Over the past couple days I’ve relistened to most of his music, and also listened to the remake of The Normal Album: The New Normal! Will Wood and his Tapeworms have been on repeat in my headphones for the past 2 weeks, and I’m sure everyone I know personally has gotten tired of hearing about him. Anyway, I thought it was high time to review one of my all time favorite albums. 

The Normal Album was released on July 10th, separately from the Will Wood and the Tapeworm albums. Most of the songs on this album have been in the works for years. It is 45 minutes long, and has 10 songs. The songs are mostly long. The shortest is “The most important thing in the world” at 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Though the longest song is “Suburbia Overture” at 6 minutes and 16 seconds. The average song on the album is in the 4-5 minute zone. 

I’d recommend this album to my friends, without a doubt. For those of you who don’t know of Will Wood’s music, he can be included in the same “Autistic gay people music” category as people like Lemon Demon, Tally Hall, Jack Stauber, Bo Burnham, etc. 

He has a very unique sound. He mixes Jazz, Rock, Blues, and Indie campfire guitar music all into one kick ass discography. All of his music is a unique experience, and I personally don’t see how someone couldn’t like it. Actually, it is quite overstimulating. Here’s the summary of Will Wood: Imagine really Jazzy rock music that’s overstimulating as hell. His music has humour and dark undertones, and I love it for that. 

That being said, I realize that a lot of the people I find myself interacting with here on Tumblr are fellow Will Wood glazers. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you already know WAY too much about Will Wood’s music, because he’s been your hyperfixation for a good little bit. 

I love Will Wood in interviews. He has a certain vibe to him, and whenever he gets to speaking about something that he actually cares about, he’s one hell of a speaker. There’s a lot of clips of him sitting like a bisexual and vibing while being interrogated, such clips are my guilty pleasures. God, I love his style. 

You know, I should probably talk about The Normal Album itself. That’s what you came here for, isn’t it? The album is about the societal push on people to be normal instead of just to be. It’s about desperately trying to fit in. I have to thank @rowansinjune for educating me on that in the comments of my post about Love Me, Normally. 

As per usual, I’ve picked out the top 5 songs for the people who can’t be bothered to listen to music at its finest. I will say that if you want to get the entire view of the album’s theme, you need to listen to the other songs. These ones are mostly my personal favorites. 

1- Second Sight Seer: Second Sight Seer is very jazzy. It’s one of those songs that convey the album’s theme, although it’s not inherently obvious. 

2- Laplace’s Angel: This might be the best song on the album IMO. It also sounds the most like a Will Wood and the Tapeworms song, specifically from Self-ish. 

3- I/Me/Myself: This song is more comical than most of the others. It’s about a trans woman, but as far as I’ve heard, the trans community not only approves of it, but loves how well the lyrics handle the subject. Correct me if I’m wrong, please. 

4- Love me, Normally: I’ve already talked about how I think that this should’ve been the real end to the album, since it encapsulates the theme so well. To me, it sounds the most like a traditional rock and roll song. 

5- BlackBoxWarrior: This song feels oddly ominous. Between the piano and Will’s tone, it seems like it could be a really fun villain’s theme. 

In conclusion, listen to Will Wood! Any song will do, they’re all great! 

Well, that was fun, goodbye!

[decepti-thots]

I was in the tumblr tf fandom for a hot second a few years ago and i just wanted to ask, is it still really aggressive here? because back then there was a lot of shipping drama, there were a few callout posts going around (can't really remember about what) and just...a lot of bad stuff. I personally had someone tell me to kill myself because I liked one of the villains. guess I'm just wondering if, in your opinion, things have chilled out? Cuz I'd like to get back into it but I'm a little hesitant;;;

I'm going to try and give the fullest answer I can in the best faith to this! For context, this blog is a couple years old now, I have enough followers that I get a lot of active engagement on my posts etc, I am very active in TF fandom here, Twitter, and IRL, and while I did not used to be active I have been lurking in TF fandom as long as I have been on Tumblr.

There is absolutely still some toxicity; all fandoms have their bad faith actors, their drama hounds, their shipping Diskhorsers TM. I have gotten hate mail, I know folks who have issue with weird anon haters who are persistent, whatever. But no, it is not as bad as it has been in the past, IMO, not at ALL, and it is 100% possible to have an active, sociable and nice time in this fandom so long as you curate your engagement, with basically no drama at all. Many of the worst folks burned out and left when the fandom got less active and their shitstirring paid lesser and lesser dividends, IME.

People sometimes ask how I maintain such a vocal presence without falling into the still-there drama, and I have some advice that I promise you will mitigate like, 99% of the possible issues you could encounter:

Block whenever you feel like blocking. If you get a bad vibe, if you just don't personally like someone and don't wanna see them, if you see them throwing what looks like a temper tantrum you don't want in on, just block 'em. Remember: blocking is nothing personal towards the person you are blocking. It is not insulting and doesn't need to be 'earned'. Block every single person you think not blocking might even just theoretically cause stress or drama. (I am blocked by several people for reasons no more serious than 'I hate your OTP', and I commend every one of them for doing it and having a better time on this site!)

Delete any and all anon hate. Block anyone and everyone who sends you hate. No exceptions. No witty comebacks. No takedowns. Nothing. You see it and the actual literal second you do, you block and delete. None of it is worth one second of your time. Deprived of the oxygen, they will leave. And you won't be tempted to re-read it and stress out.

In that same vein, if it causes issues, just turn anon off! Turn it off. Personally I keep it on because I simply do not care about the odd troll, but if you care even slightly? Fuck 'em, turn it off, anon is a privilege your followers need to earn by acting in good faith.

Find people you like and follow them, ignore blatant shitstirring in the maintags (again: block people!) and try to curate content and follows and mutuals based on what you do like and not what you don't. Curate positive engagement; do not rely on the general fandom slurry, find what you like and hang out in your own corner of things that bring you joy. If the maintag stresses you out: don't check it. Check the blogs of folks you know are cool instead. Stuff like that.

Fandom should be fun. Fandom should be finding people you like and sharing good times with them, not stressing about avoiding folks you hate, or who hate you. Tumblr lets you moderate how you engage, when, and where more than almost any current social media site; now you can even turn off reblogs and oh my GOD is that a lifesaver function btw. If you want, you can make your blog unsearchable! It means you will need to be more proactive in making friends. But TF fandom is pretty tight knit these days, and folks want to talk a lot of the time. You'll still be able to engage with cool people.

There's way less aggro losers around these days, but more to the point, you can absolutely avoid the ones that still insist on being annoying and starve them out without much effort, tbh.

[blackbackedjackal]

I couldn't find anything online, but I'm wondering if I can freeze already-tanned pelts or furs? I've found five beetles (carpet and larder species) the past couple weeks so I'm a bit nervous that my pelts could be infested and they're hard to inspect thoroughly. So I'm hoping that maybe I can just freeze them in a plastic bag for a week or two to kill anything off that's on them but... not sure if I can do that or not. What do you think? (thank you in advance! I'd be happy to toss a kofi donation or two your way if you've got any advice, I'm a little desperate)

Heya! So sorry to hear that. Bug issues are insanely frustrating to deal with >:(

I've had multiple infestations of clothes moths as well as carpet beetles once that have gotten into a few of my furs/mummified bits. I called an exterminator and he recommended using Bedlam Plus since he has a friend with a lot of taxidermy who had the same issue. It has worked WONDERS. I sprayed the top and bottom of the fur side and leather side of the hides, paying close attention to the ears, paws, and tails as that's where carpet beetles and moths are more likely to lay eggs and cause damage. With the tails especially I've found the best way to deal with them is to comb them out a bit to make sure there aren't and larva/eggs at the base of the leather and saturate the leather very well. I've yet to have to freeze anything since spraying. I mist over my pelts and taxidermy every spring/summer since that's when you're most likely to have infestations, and I haven't had any major issues since then. You can also freeze tanned hides, but you have to freeze them for about a week, take them out for a day, and then refreeze them to make sure the eggs are killed since they can lie dormant when frozen. The Bedlam has just been easier and more reliable imo.

Also remember to wear gloves and a mask or ideally a respirator while spraying. It's not a super harmful spray but with chemicals it's always better safe than sorry. I still have the occasional moth get into the room where I keep my hides, but they've yet to cause any major damage since before I was spraying and absolutely 0 signs of carpet beetles since I sprayed them a few years ago.

[cinnamonest]

hi lena! if u used any sites for chinese, could u please reccomend them?

- a chinese person struggling to chinese 🥲

Ahhh sorry I had a couple of asks like these buried! Ok so since I'm in a university setting we don't really use a ton of websites, HOWEVER I can highly recommend Pleco! It's a dictionary app and it's literally gotten me through the past few years, and is even recommended by my professors to use for help with our work. It's highly accurate, contains some grammar constructions and not just single words, and most helpfully imo has example sentences which is a lifesaver, there's something way better about being able to see it used in a sentence.

As far as books, this series is used by most universities in the United States. There are cheaper versions available on sites like Chegg or amazon! Honestly as someone who dabbled in a lot of language classes before deciding on one (I took French, Spanish and Latin in high school, participated in a Dutch class, and tried Russian, Japanese and Chinese in college lol), this is by far the most well-constructed, easy-to-understand language textbook I've ever worked with.

[tonyglowheart]

okay the more I think about this, the more I like this idea

So, premise is that I'm not sold on Tim as Red Hood in reverse batfam AUs, since like if any of them Get why Batman can't kill (both as like the symbol/title bc otherwise GPD couldn't be friendly or tolerant of the Bat as an official stance, and as like a personal line for Bruce), it'd be Tim imo.

so I'm thinking, it'd be interesting if his death wasn't caused by Joker (passe, tired, society has progressed past the need for Joker), and instead the second Batlad's death was caused by a freak accident in the middle of a Riddler scheme. It's the kind of thing where, yeah Riddler caused them to be in the situation, but the death itself isn't *really* Riddler's fault. It's tragic and a lot of blame all around and a lot of ppl blaming themselves. Riddler retires from villainy afterwards out of grief and guilt tho.

Years later, when Jason is the new Batlad (I think he still tried to steal the wheels off the Batmobile, but he gave Bruce a much-needed wakeup call when he like hit him with a tire iron and shouted how everyone on the streets knows to avoid the Bat now since Batlad died, everyone knows he's gotten more brutal and less discerning and almost as bad as the villains, or even worse bc at least some of the rogues abide by honor amongst thieves/the street folk. etc etc Batman takes him to Bruce who takes him in, Jason is suspicious bc why would the Bat take him to Bruce of all ppl even tho it's an open secret the Bat is funded by Wayne, maybe even a rumor that the Bat IS Bruce Wayne, and he finds the Cave and extorts Bruce into taking him on as Batlad, partly so Jason can also give back and partly so he can keep an eye on Bruce, the big dummy)-

But years later, a new.... villain? vigilante? antihero? emerges, calling himself Enigma. He sets up these elaborate tests of morality for bad guys - not necessarily rogues but like. corrupt politicians, dirty cops, biased judges or prosecutors, etc. - wherein they're given an elaborate scheme, kind of like a Saw trap ig but it's always fair, there's always a chance for the person to make a moral choice/personal sacrifice that shows they're more than just corrupt or self-serving. Batman thinks it's Edward Nygma, come out of retirement to dabble in the antihero field, and tracks him down- but no, he is retired, and has been growing his business designing and selling escape room designs for years now. He has no clue who this new guy is or what his deal is. So back to square one.

The first couple times, this new Engima guy is pretty good at diverting Batman from interfering and his schemes go off, more often to the detriment/death of the guy being tested- tho a couple times it did work and the ppl in it came out changed. Traumatized, ofc lol, but like with a change in perspective and priority. But eventually, Batman starts wising up to the diversions, and eventually it's revealed that Enigma is Tim. And, well, the clues WERE there for Bruce to see, if he'd just seen them.

I think this works w Tim not being able to fully return to the fold, bc like having died himself he knows just how incentivizing for personal change the threat of real actual death can be. He may not be setting out to kill people, but he's also not averse to setting up situations where they may well die. Maybe as he starts returning more to the fold, he pivots to being sort of Oracle-like, where he deals more with information and giving the Batfam tip-offs and leads or info support, in addition to like patrolling on the ground maybe. But like, patrolling wouldn't be his main gig, I feel like he'd become sort of information mastermind/broker, the way Jason took on being like a mob boss so he could control the trade better to prevent kids from getting involved, etc.

But anyway, for me I feel like this works as a concept better, where Tim is the one who died and came back and then occupies a sort of Batfam adjacent but unable to bring himself back fully into the fold concept, vs a straight "Tim is Red Hood" concept.

[aelaer]

Hi friend! You seem vast in your knowledge of Stephen and willing to share so please enlighten me as I don’t read the comics but I do watch the mcu movies, and do love Stephen.

I know he’s erratic and impulsive and reckless sometimes but didnt we already complete this arc in his first movie? Especially since we’ve watched him deal with the consequences of his actions for the entirety of the film and end of the movie Stephen was a different Stephen from the beginning of the movie.

IW Stephen seemed like a more mature version of the man we’ve met at the end of his first movie, a linear progression of the character, more responsible.

The spider man trailer is just a few minutes so I’ll further reserve judgment till I see the film, but he seems.. silly almost? I’m aware he has his funny moments but I’m just nervous they’re gonna make him the joke instead of having him make the jokes.

Do you notice anything weird about how the adults act in these newer marvel projects.? (I’m thinking of loki specifically) they all have a silly undertone to them? I cant put my finger on it but it’s definitely new and ..off

Is this a constant characterization for Stephen in the comics? Is this what he’s like all the time?

Regardless, thank you for your time if you see this xx

Oh yeah, Stephen's my favorite subject at the moment so I'm happy to give my thoughts!

Note that my answers apply to MCU!Stephen and what we've seen in the four films he's been in.

I know he’s erratic and impulsive and reckless sometimes but didnt we already complete this arc in his first movie? Especially since we’ve watched him deal with the consequences of his actions for the entirety of the film and end of the movie Stephen was a different Stephen from the beginning of the movie.

In my experience of just living, there are personality quirks that can be tempered out and made better, but not entirely eliminated, even if it's undesirable. In my opinion, Stephen's need to push himself and prove that he can Do A Thing is a trait that won't ever go away--especially as that trait has helped him more than hindered him. Examples would include the more mundane such as getting through a combined MD/PhD program and inventing surgical procedures at what is still a really young age for a neurosurgeon. We don't have a canonical age for Stephen, but Benedict was 40 when Doctor Strange was filmed and released; even if he's canonically in his mid-40s, that's still very young for him to be at his caliber after the necessary years of med school and residency in the United States. He's young and nowhere near the end of his career when he gets in the car crash. So with that information in mind, we know that he's very ambitious and throws himself into doing difficult work with gusto. That doesn't even go into everything he did as a sorcerer.

Why get into all of this? Because while we, the viewer who has seen the multiverse open at... some point (possibly, in a rewritten timeline, it's always been open now with what happened in Loki!), we have seen just how nuts it gets. We have seen the consequences. Stephen's smart, but I don't think it's a matter of strictly recklessness and more a combination of ignorance on this specific subject (erasing memories across the world or slightly rewriting time-- we don't know how he's doing it, but a memory spell makes more sense to me), hubris (of course), and the real desire to help Peter out. The latter two traits combined in intelligent people have proven bad in both fiction and reality.

The reason I don't think it's pure impulsiveness is because in the trailer, we see Stephen doing some meditation type thing in the underground area before the spell. He's also always doing research and as he tells Peter he'll help him, he clearly knows of a spell already and has some working knowledge of how it works. The conversation with Wong wouldn't have happened otherwise. But I personally get the vibe off him that he'd not do it without being very confident that he can do it -- and his history in the films has shown 0 failures in any of his spells once he's past novice-level, so in that aspect, his confidence makes sense. If he *should* do the spell due to the risks of failure, and lack of practicing precaution in the face of his confidence, is where his flaws lie, IMO. And in that sense people could say he was reckless for deciding to perform a complicated, dangerous spell, but that follows his M.O. completely -- he performed a very complicated, dangerous spell consistently with the Time Stone again and again, from how the sorcerers spoke about the Infinity Stone (and he casually just... throws himself into a time loop, then to look through time. He takes calculated risks, but they are very much risks).

One last thought on this statement - the biggest, biggest lesson that Stephen learned in his first film was that it was not about him. There was more to the world than his glory and his brilliance and even his happiness. He started doing things for the greater good rather than himself. And he started doing things for others -- fighting for the Sanctum in his own film, and protecting the Earth. Serving something greater than himself. But that doesn't make him suddenly humble, and it doesn't suddenly take away his strange (hah) sense of humor.

IW Stephen seemed like a more mature version of the man we’ve met at the end of his first movie, a linear progression of the character, more responsible.

He was more serious in that film. So was Tony. They still had some quips and arguments, but they were very serious. And it makes sense as to why -- it was the end of the world. So the mood of the setting would change anyone's demeanour. But he had very little chance to unwind in that film, considering that he was trying to protect one of six items that would destroy the universe, and also got freaking tortured in the middle of the film with little time to recover. But nearly every Avenger was super serious in that film, and for good reason.

It's a completely different setting from what is now Stephen's life which, from what little we've seen in the trailer, is weird enough that he got a magical snowstorm in the Sanctum. It's safe enough that Wong's off on vacation. It's been nearly a year since he returned from the dead. He's either figured out how to move on in the last year or, as some prefer, has gotten good enough to put on a facade and bury the trauma so far down that he's putting on a normal act - but that's up to debate until MoM. And we have no idea if old traumas are going to be brought up there or if it's just the new things.

I think the point is that it's possible to be both a responsible person and also to make colossal mistakes due to either emotional connections or hubris (or both - we don't know which way the film will go, if they'll explain it at all). They're not mutually exclusive. He can be protecting reality fantastically, while also believing that he's skilled enough to pull off the ability to pull off a dangerous spell which he did in his own film and in IW. He's guided the timeline down a specific path in IW/Endgame, after all - what's a little identity item compared to the fate of the universe, after all? Removing the Spider-Man/Peter association is, in comparison, child's play I imagine to a man like Stephen.

The spider man trailer is just a few minutes so I’ll further reserve judgment till I see the film, but he seems.. silly almost? I’m aware he has his funny moments but I’m just nervous they’re gonna make him the joke instead of having him make the jokes.

Do you notice anything weird about how the adults act in these newer marvel projects.? (I’m thinking of loki specifically) they all have a silly undertone to them? I cant put my finger on it but it’s definitely new and ..off

He was definitely silly in his own film. He was constantly trying to get Wong to laugh and there was a banter between Stephen and Christine after he gets stabbed. He's always been a bit awkward and a bit jokey--I think Thor showed that combination of humorous snark and good research rather well, though he was flippant in a way that didn't get to show his kinder side that is better established in his film. And now we get to see that sympathy in his agreement to help Peter (at least, in my opinion).

Because he was doing an amazing awesome spell not once, not twice, but *three* times in the trailer alone, I am not worried about Stephen just being a joke. He seems just as powerful as he was in IW and Endgame. The rest of the world is just getting reminded that he's definitely a bit of a socially awkward duck at times (or, if you prefer, Putting On a "I'm Fine" Front And It's Coming Across As Weird). So him being a big joke is not something I am personally worried about.

Situational humor has been a staple of Marvel films since Iron Man. I watched the films casually before 2016 when I fell head deep into Stephen Strange (or well, 2018/9 is more accurate as that's when I *really* went nuts), and my viewings before that time and after that time was a lot more analytical. And it's very easy to see where the silliness started, all the way back when Tony crashed into his own car and Dum-E sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. Thor was the butt of the joke in the "fish out of water" scene in a good, good chunk of the film. Even Captain America had some situational humor. And remember that Guardians of the Galaxy was back in 2014, which was halfway through the MCU's time thus far. The stars of these films are almost always the butt of some joke a couple times and do things that could be viewed as childish.

I don't know your age at all, but if you were born after 1990, what might be happening, rather, is that they are not getting sillier, but that you may be getting older. I was an adult (legally, at least) in 2008, but the way I view the adults of the films throughout the early 2010s as compared to now is night and day. It's just come with my own life experience, and wider understanding to media tropes. The jump is even more significant if you were younger in Iron Man/Avengers days and are an adult now. If you're an older adult than me, then I'd argue it's the matter of life experience adding to your overall knowledge of media plus, potentially, rose-tinted glasses giving you a better vision of the older movies while forgetting that the older movies had plenty of their own flaws (and silliness). Could be a lot of things- it's too individual to really say why your perspective has changed. But I don't think the MCU's largely changed their comedy formula since 2012/2013.

Is this a constant characterization for Stephen in the comics? Is this what he’s like all the time?

Oh the comics are a mess of characterizations. It's very difficult to find full consistency across writers, and some writers did him much better than others. At the moment, Jason Aaron's 2015 run is viewed as very good by a large amount of fans, while Waid's 2018 run is viewed with mixed reviews. It's largely a matter of preference as you'll see traits that are just so uncharacteristic in an arc and then it never happens again. He takes on secret identities, he kills billions to save trillions (along with the other Avengers!), he sells his soul, he's in a steady relationship for 30 years, then he's sleeping with a new woman every arc he co-stars in-- it's just so dependent on the writer over the decades. What Marvel thinks will sell. Right now Marvel thinks his death is gonna sell issues, so yeah :P You pick and choose with the comics and build a personality from there.

Thank you for the thoughtful ask. I hope this wasn't too much of a drag to read through; I get rambly on my favorite subjects. Or anything, really.

[formulaoneisajoke]

I've been thinking a lot about your last "Lando sucks 😡" anon and I need to talk about something. I'm a member of a huge McLaren group on facebook, it has over 40,000 members. It can be categorised into three groups: McLaren fans, Lando fans and Daniel fans. I'm part of the first two, and as a McLaren fan I want Daniel to do well. I don't go out of my way to look for gifs of him or spend hours watching anything DR related on youtube, like I do with Lando 😅 The past couple of years were a lot of fun in this group. There were a lot of Carlos fans that migrated back in 2018 but everything was civil and the atmosphere was great. Fast forward to 2020 when DR fans migrated over and the group is a war zone. People make posts legitimately criticising DR and they're slammed as disgusting fake fans (some of the posts are def too much but those are called out by everyone). No one can post anything about Lando without being told they're plastic fan girls who don't support the whole team. 50% of the comments on Lando posts are: "Danny will wipe the floor with him when he gets used to the car" (Is this the only phrase they know?), "The car is designed for Lando, ofc Danny is having a hard time", "Danny has won SEVEN races, talk to me when Lando has won anything" (Just for comparison it took DR 4 seasons to get his first podium which also happened in a Red Bull which was a top 2 car through his stint there. With this I'm def not saying he wasn't real good back then because he was. Red Bull Danny was top tier imo), And the new favorite of the group, with 5 articles being shared every hour is ---> "Lando is a pay driver. His dad pays him so McLaren doesn't have to. That's why he's at McLaren, because it's cheap for them. He wouldn't even be in F1 if it wasn't for daddy dearest. He couldn't even win in F2, Russell is much better than him" (and they always manage to bring Russell into it like??? ok? and has he not grown since then?? is he not a better driver now than he was in 2018?? Russell won F2 and Lando is currently doing better in F1, can two things not be true at the same time? George had the better car in F2, Lando has the better car in F1 🤷‍♀️) "McLaren are giving Danny a much worse car than Lando, they're sabotaging him!!!!" Like sir or madam, you think a team is paying DR £15,000,000 just to put him in a worse car so a 21 year old gremlin (who is allegedly being paid £2,000,000!!?) can one up him? Isn't it possible, even just slightly possible that yes Lando has been in the car longer, and yes he's helped design it but that also he's gotten better? That he has the drive and desire to become the best he can? That the thought, and reality, of having DR as a teammate actually made him push himself more? Or maybe, god forbid, he's actually better than DR? Let me tell you, I've learned to spot an Australian a mile away in any comment section, and they're not as laidback as they'd like you to believe, at least not F1 fans. Oh, and the newest thing (and it's on twitter and tumblr also) is that DR is being emotionally abused and exploited by the engineers and the social media team. I'd be more concerned about Checo and the way he's being treated at RB than DR any day of the week.

This really turned into an essay, I should've bought a diary instead 😭

yeh ive always found that dan fans seem to be the most argumentative and rude if you even say one negative thing about him. or even if you just compliment lando without even mentioning dan they get offended, i constantly have anons come to my inbox telling me how much better dan is than lando but unfortunately for them they can waste their breath as much as they want the talking is done on track as all the drivers like to say. and while lando is barrelling down the road screaming dan is listening to classic fm driving like my nan.

i always find it a stupid argument to be like oh well dan scored 7 wins over 10 years so he’s clearly better than lando who has never won but only been in the sport 3 years even though dan has had 2 podiums the past 3 years and lando has had 4, 3 of which have been while dan was his teammate. like they pick and choose when they want the argument to be valid.

the whole mclaren sabotage thing i just find hilarious because as you say the team spend so much money on him and for what just do they can sabotage and lose more money and get lower in constructors cause yeh that makes a lot of sense. i reckon part of the reason lando has improved so much on last year is because of the fact dan came to mclaren and not in a “the teams favouring him” way but because EVERYONE thought dan would beat him so he got his head down over the break and during game the season and worked hard so that he could be the best he’s ever been.

also last year carlos was beating lando in the same car that dan can’t and i know drivers have different things they like on the car but the mclaren isn’t only drivable by lando which is what lots of people try to make it out to be. and it’s always “when dan gets used to the car” as if it’s not been 11 races already and then “oh he’s back on form” when he scores a p6 or higher which is mad to me cause like that’s not the “on form” dan that his fans seem to constantly go on about since he’s future wdc but then they think p6 is his “on form” which makes zero sense. and then he’ll go back to being “off form” and it’s “oh mclarens sabotaging him” “he could have won if xyz didn’t happen” they’re all just delusional with they’re arguments most of the time too

also i wanna clear up i’ve never once sat here and said dan’s a shit driver cause that wouldn’t be true but dan fans are stuck still believing dan’s in his prime when it’s just not true anymore. they need to realise that other drivers are coming into the sport and with that dan needs to grow as to not just be a midfield driver who’s past his prime.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being harsh to one of my group mates?

(📳🎓)

For context, this is in uni, and most of us are between 18 to 20 years old. We've been assigned a group project we need to do basically, and while there were originally 8 of us, for the longest time there were only 5 of us. The other 3 were unavailable for a variety of reasons - until within the past two or so weeks, one of them (I'll call A) started showing up to some lectures. Not all of them mind you, but a couple of them.

Initially I was a bit 'ehhh' on A, simply because he hasn't shown up until now. However the rest of the group wanted to give him a chance, and for the sake of fairness we did. And for the most part, imo, he's been unreliable. He showed up recently to one of our more important sessions (the session essentially being producing a bulk of the work we'd need to do) and was genuinely helpful, but for me the pressing issues I have with him are that

1. He's inconsistent. He only got to that session because we prodded him about it on WhatsApp, and I'm sure that if we didn't he wouldn't have turned up at all

2. He rarely if at all communicates with us. He responded to one person (who I'll call D) twice and another person once. While in person he's a lot better, getting in touch with him otherwise is essentially impossible.

The kicker recently is that in person, we agreed to have a one on one meeting where we'd talk about what we've done so far and what he'll be able to help out with in the future. I arrived to the location, and waited... He never showed up. I texted him multiple times to let him know that if he's late he needs to tell me, and as I'm writing this he still hasn't even bothered to read the messages at all. I let D, who's our group leader, know and they believe he shouldnt share our grade. I agree.

However, the reason why I feel I'm the AH is because he says he's been having some mental health issues. He didn't specify what, just that it's 'been hard getting out of bed' and the like. He may have mentioned depression, but I also can't 100% confirm it. The rest of the group believe we should give him another chance, saying that depression is hard and that we can't expect him to be fine 100% now, and they've even said that D themself is inconsistent when it comes to showing up to meetings, which is true. They say that they themselves have had similar struggles in the past and they sympathise.

While that's fair, I'm also of the opinion that well... He hasn't even done a lot of work. Like at all. He helped during that session but has otherwise done fuck all. From a practical standpoint he doesn't deserve a grade simply because he's done essentially nothing since we started, even if it is because he's been having a bad time. However, he also hasn't had much time to prove himself that he is capable of helping, so it could be that I'm just pre-judging him out of cynicism.

It might also not help that I'm a very practical person when it comes to mental health - I deal with my own shit, tend not to burden anyone with my issues if I can, and just get on with things. My anxieties were rough before uni, and while it's gotten better in some areas it's gotten worse in others. Yknow, stuff like money, if I'm even eating properly, general life, personal circumstances, all that shit. However it might be that A is the type to get buried in his feelings, and my more practical viewpoint is me being way too harsh on someone who is struggling.

While I understand where my group is coming from, I still don't think A should share our grade. Imo he hasnt shown much initiative if at all for the group, and even if he was struggling the fact that he just generally hasn't done anything means I don't think he should share our grade. AITA?

TLDR: Guy in a group has done not much in terms of participating in our group project, because he's been struggling mentally up until now. Group is mostly sympathetic and wants to give him another chance, while I think otherwise, believing he's had enough chances already.

What are these acronyms?

[dontshootmespence]

Which Fic

I was tagged by @stusbunker and @there-must-be-a-lock!

I’ll do a mix of CM and SPN fics.

Which of your fics…

…did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it got?

For SPN, I think Never Saw Blue Like That Before. It’s Destiel, which is obviously a big SPN ship and I was really happy with how it came out.

For Criminal Minds, basically any series I’ve done that isn’t smut. But the three I’m happiest with are Upheaval, a season 13 ender fix it fic.

After a rollercoaster year filled with departing friends, jail time, and one of the most notorious killers the team has ever faced, the last thing anyone needs is this. A truck barrels toward a group of them, leaving their future uncertain, while others stand by unable to help in any way. What crosses their minds when their lives flash before their eyes? Even if the physical injuries don’t kill them, will they be able to recover?

Coercion - Started from a one line challenge.

You are just about to start your new job at the BAU after years of working to get there, when a man you don’t know approaches you with an evil plan and knowledge of every sordid detail of your past. What will you do? Will you give into the man’s demands? Or will you be able to find another way out?

And Caged

Years after Spencer’s wife is kidnapped, there’s a break in her case and she comes home. Or does she? Is she the same woman she was before her ordeal?

…got a better reaction than you expected?

For SPN, it’s probably The Perfect Storm, an Alpha!Sam x Omega!Reader. It has about 260 notes but it was my first ABO fic and I was so fucking nervous about posting it, so I was surprised at the success it had.

For CM, honestly there are a bunch of smuts that I’m like...okay I wrote that and they BLEW UP. Most recently was Phone Calls Be Damned. I wrote it in like 20 minutes...it has nearly 900 notes. I work for ages on some pieces that BARELY get a tenth of that.

…is your funniest?

For CM, a lot of my general CM fics involving the whole team tend to be on the funnier side. I love Prank War, Secrets of the Bullpen, Pics Or It Didn’t Happen and In The Middle of the Night.

For SPN, I don’t have a ton of funny. But I think You Win or You Die is pretty funny.

…is your darkest or angstiest?

For CM, I’d have to go with Candyfloss and Novocaine, which was a collab with the lovely @cherrybombs-and-rabbitholes. 

For SPN, I’m working on what I think will be my angstiest to date, but the current one is Salvation, a Sam x Reader. I don’t really do angst super well. IMO, it’s my worst genre.

…is your absolute favorite?

For CM, it is impossible to pick. After 6 years writing CM, I have 1,000+ fics to choose from. Anything I’ve written as a request to “help” someone or make them feel better about themselves is important to me though.

For CM, it’s a Cas x Reader fic called Beauty In Stillness.

…is your least favorite?

Again, it’s hard to choose with Criminal Minds because I have so many, But I have a couple crossovers that I wrote early on in my writing that I don’t think are that good.

For SPN, it’s probably Searching for Oblivion. It was a Dean smut and one of my first forays into SPN writing. I don’t think it’s awful, but I can do better.

…was the easiest to write?

For Criminal Minds, the easiest to write was probably Passive Aggressive Partnership. I remember that one flowing pretty quickly.

For Supernatural, it has to be Cherry Red.

…was hardest to write?

For Criminal Minds, the hardest thing to write was Article of Faith.

For SPN, the hardest was Teetering on the Edge, another ABO, but I’m SO FUCKING HAPPY with how it came out.

…has your favorite lines/exchange/paragraph? (share it!)

For Criminal Minds, I am proud of a lot, but out of all the stuff I’ve written, a section from chapter 5 of Coercion stands out.

With the floodgates open, you couldn’t stop yourself from screaming. You stood up and got right up into Spencer’s face just as he’d done to you. Hotch had gotten up from his seat, thinking you were going to attempt to hurt Spencer, but you couldn’t Of course they couldn’t believe that under the circumstances. “I’ve been beaten! I’ve had my bones broken by the men that paid for me. I’ve been raped. I’ve had knives used against my skin because the rush of torturing and raping a 15-year-old girl got my clients off. I’ve been left on the side of the road with my thighs and vagina in too much pain to walk! I’ve been used as a drug mule! My only friend on the streets was murdered in front of me because I asked for a break and she had offered to take my client to let me rest. After all that, I tried to kill myself!” Your throat was raw, but you couldn’t stop. “But I had nothing. I had no money. So the only way I could think of doing it was to swallow the half a bottle of sleeping pills I had found in the trash. The next morning, I woke up in a pool of my own vomit. I took it was a sign that I was meant to do something with my life, so I pushed myself up. I walked away from the town I grew up in. Hid in sewers and pipes and abandoned buildings to make sure my pimp wouldn’t find me and kill me, or worse, rape me too, because he liked to do that if I haven’t mentioned it already, and send me back to my old life. I clawed my way up. I begged and cried and bled to get where I am now, and then that bastard came up to me and threatened to take it all away or he’d expose my past and kill you.

For SPN, there’s a section of Teetering on the Edge that JUST...I did it, man.

“Don’t you fucking dare pull that neanderthal bullshit with me, Alpha!” You yelled your throat hoarse. Sam dipped out of the area and back toward his bedroom. It didn’t matter. Whether he was here or not, you’d be seething. “You don’t get to decide my life for me! Have you ever thought that maybe I’d rather be in danger with you than safe without you?” He readied himself to respond but you pushed against his shoulder with a force that startled even you. “Did you ever stop to think that I’ve waited my entire life to find the person I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with? And that now that I found him, I’ll be damned if I let him go?”

You were on a roll. Dean wanted to speak, but you wouldn’t let him. “No! You didn’t fucking think about what I want! Because your number one priority is to make sure you don’t have anymore blood on your hands. Well, guess what. You don’t get to do that. Not with me! When you care, you get blood on your hands. That’s just the way it is. I get to make my own damn decisions!” It all just exploded out of you. You kept screaming and crying and drinking to the point where you weren’t even sure what you were saying anymore. As you kept going, your arguments shifted from his demeanor to your own health. “You claimed me,” you said, pulling your sleeve aside to shove the mark in his face. “You know what’ll happen to me without you? I could fucking die!”

Dean waited for you to stop ranting, steadily finishing his beer. Once you were all yelled out, he chose his words wisely. “There’s medication. You’ll be fine. You’re not going to change my mind,” he said flatly, trying to keep any sense of emotion out of his voice, even though you could tell he was right on the edge of acknowledging every amazing and shit feeling he was feeling in this moment. “I need you to get out of the bunker as soon as possible. For your own good.”

Without thinking, you reeled back and slapped him, open palm to cheek, relishing in the sound of the crack that reverberated throughout the bunker. “Fuck you, Alpha! Fuck. You.”

…have you reread the most?

For CM, I tend to only re-read things rarely when other people reblog. I’ll read something that they liked from a while ago and go, hell fucking yea. I wrote that.

For SPN, I re-read a lot of my Cas stuff because he’s my fucking angel :D

…would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time?

For Criminal Minds, read all the general fic. I think it gives a taste of how I write the entire team. Though given how much I write Spencer I think I have his characterization down most.

For SPN, I think I’d go with Beauty In Stillness for fluff, Salvation for angst and Satisfaction Comes From Sharing With Others for smutttt.

…are you most proud of?

For CM, overall, I think I’d go with Upheaval.

For SPN, it’s definitely, Beauty in Stillness, Salvation and Teetering on the Edge.

Okay, this was BALLS hard, but I enjoyed :D

I’m tagging @heycasbutt @impala-dreamer @because-imma-lady-assface @covered-byroses and @illegalcerebral 

[bigskydreaming]

I was about to say, I can't see Jason letting his guard down as much as intoxication would. I CAN see Jason drinking apple juice and pretending to be drunk. (Funny how I can remember Dick drinking, never more than one or two drinks, and Jason refusing wine, but the fanfic writers get it al wrong.)

Yeah, tbh, I don’t really see any of the Batkids ever being or becoming even casual drinkers. They all value control too much, and have too much experience with mind and mood-altering substances for it to be appealing to them in my personal opinion. 

Just my personal headcanon is like, they tend to treat drinking as like, another skill to acquire. They try it to maybe just have enough experience with it that they can fake it undercover and know what they’re doing, or that if they end up in a situation where they have to take at least a quick drink to sell their cover like, they’re not going to be totally blind-sided by the taste or sensation, especially because most of their reputations don’t or aren’t likely to lend themselves to being completely unfamiliar with alcohol. And maybe they occasionally make an point to build up a tolerance in case for some reason they need it, but I honestly can’t really ever buy any of them as casual drinkers.

I mean, I focus a lot on Dick’s times brainwashed or under someone else’s control, and also his rigid insistence on self-determination in his life, and I just can’t honestly see any mindset where he’s like yes, lowering my inhibitions and lessening my ability to be in control of myself is exactly what I’m looking for. Its kinda like how I drastically disagree with takes on him as submissive in any kind of dom/sub fic, lol. Its not about the partner, its about the fact that Dick isn’t the kind of control freak who looks for opportunities to take a break from the stresses of holding such an iron control over his self.....rather, IMO, Dick is that way BECAUSE of how often he’s had virtually NO control of himself or what happens to him, and how much that always....sucks for him. 

He tries to maintain self-control and control stuff in his life wherever and whenever he can because he’s not about to lose any of the basically rare opportunities to not HAVE to push back against someone else’s will or expectations for him, where he can just be uncontested in being in charge of his autonomy and own destiny. And I honestly have never seen anything in his character that suggests he’d ever remotely be looking for or welcome to opportunities to basically just....willingly hand over the control of himself that he fights soooo damn hard to obtain and maintain....because when has that EVER ended well for him, you know? So I just....don’t buy sub Dick and never have, and I don’t buy Dick as a casual drinker even, for pretty much the same exact reasons.

Jason I see as a bit more complicated, because of a couple factors. First, there’s the presence of drugs and alcohol in his early life and how much that affected his life as just a bystander, essentially. And its not like every child of an alcoholic parent grows up to be hostile to alcohol, etc. But in Jason’s case I feel that he would be, like he’d almost personify drugs and alcohols as an actual antagonist in his life that have made him suffer, been the actual enemy that prevented him from having a real go at a family with his first parents. And thus he’d just be viciously opposed to them in their entirety, like even as a expansive, nebulous concept of them and everything related to them. Which would also play into things like his insistence that drug dealers in Gotham not sell to kids, etc.

Also, there’s the fact that Jason kinda ended up with....gap years in his development, where the normal linear timeline of developing as a teenager was derailed by his death and then supplanted by a very unorthodox later development that was guided by assassins and influenced by an external-turned-internal force that had a definite influence on his emotions and thought patterns at times. So Jason kinda missed out on a number of years where he could have potentially worked through a lot of his childhood issues with abuse, his parents and drugs and alcohol to a degree further than he did in canon, but just......never got the opportunity to. So it was like....hitting pause on all of that and then unpause when he actually came back to Gotham and rejoined society in his own way, as that put him around these kinds of things again and forced an internal confrontation with how he felt about them now.

And then there’s also the matter of the Pit itself.....much like Dick, but in entirely different ways, Jason has been extremely impacted by things that are not his fault or choosing, that originate OUTSIDE of him and end up controlling or influencing him internally, again through no choice of his own.....and thus, same as Dick, I don’t see how any substance that lessened his control over himself during the times he actually HAS it, would like....remotely appeal to him.

But then again on the other hand, I do think Jason is very self-destructive at times, not more so than Dick, as he can be very self-destructive as well, but just in different ways. Like, Dick IMO is someone who self-destructs quietly and over time. Suffering in silence, not availing himself of any of the opportunities he has to get help from others in various matters because he either doesn’t trust that they’ll prioritize him or he doesn’t feel that he deserves to be, or a combination of both. Jason, IMO, is neither innately more self-destructive or less, its just that....his tendency towards self-destruction manifests pretty explosively, like, in singular burning bright kind of instances that flare up, are just colossally bad decisions that he very quickly regrets, but then die back down and leave him cleaning up the aftermath, but at least having gotten whatever caused that particular turn towards self-destruction like, kinda out of his system.

So his means of self-destruction tend to just be LOUDER, and more.....in your face...but they also come and go more quickly, IMO. And one of those are pretty much the only time or reason I can see for him ever engaging in drinking or voluntarily giving up control.....like, the appeal specifically is a kind of self-punishment, and thus makes for an ideal weapon of choice at least once.....BUT again, the caveat there is like I said, I view Jason as someone who cycles through periods of self-destruction, but then he like...moves past it (or at least on a surface level, like, he FEELS like he has, though the initial problem often stil remains under the surface). But the point is, I think he regrets these instances of self-destruction soon after they happen....and I also think he’s someone who believes very strongly in not making the same mistakes twice. 

Like, he knows not to take things for granted better than anyone. Shit doesn’t go according to plan, my personal headcanon for him is his ideal followup is the immediate realization well, that didn’t work, time for something completely different....and then he does something completely different in the hopes of getting closer to his actual desired result. So I could see him doing something like getting black out drunk, etc, as one of these bouts of self-destruction....but the key in my mind, is I could only see him doing that ONCE. Once he’d done it and regretted it, it’d be crystallized in his mind as a Mistake and like, nope, not doing that again. Even when having another tendency towards self-destruction at a later date....I think he’d do it in a different way.

Also, I’ve never bought Jason as a smoker, like, I could see him faking it for The Mood or whatever, lol, but like.......this is a kid who grew up malnourished and thus had to take on criminals as a very under-sized Robin. He comes back after the Pit like, over six feet tall and well-oiled muscle that makes it SO much easier to kick ass as a vigilante? Why the FUCK would he ever screw that up by messing with his lungs or anything else, you know? If anything, I see Jason as being like, as much a ‘my body is my temple’ kind of guy as Dick is, just for different reasons.

I’ve always said I see Dick and Jason having a lot more in common than they’re usually credited with, and all of this is a huge part of why. They both just have HUGE issues with control in regards to themselves and their lives, and just being able to HAVE it and to take advantage of it, do what THEY want to do rather than constantly being moved about by the whims of others and having to always adjust or adapt to whatever everyone else was doing or the box they were being forced in by situations, etc. They’ve BEEN without control, self-autonomy, in ways and to degrees most people couldn’t imagine, so, like....its IMO more likely to be that much more precious and valuable to them than it is even to most people? Like, these are two men who I don’t see ever giving it up without a fight, and thus, they’re just like.....I’m gonna hard pass on the alcohol, etc.

And its got nothing to do with judgment on their part, I don’t think, like, other than the fact that they can’t personally relate to seeing the appeal. Its just the end result of lowered inhibitions/loss of self control or autonomy that they’re like...yeah, that’s what we’re not on board with, thanks but no thanks. Not for us.

I don’t have as strong of headcanons about the other kids just because they’re either too young or it just doesn’t come up as much, such as with Cass (though you can probably guess my headcanon for Cass there given that I talk about the similarities ALL three of the eldest Wayne kids share in a lot of ways, lol) but honestly I think it’d be more of the same with all of them, even if not always for quite the same reasons or quite as strong of reasons. Like, they’ve all been raised with too much reason to value self-control and too little cause to see lowered inhibitions as appealing, so the Batfam as a whole I personally headcanon as being nah, we get our highs from adrenaline and being weird as fuck, thanks though.

[edenstorm]

Guess I’ll put this out there since the game’s been out for a few weeks.

Honestly? I don’t see DV lasting long as a site. At least not as it is now.

This is just reiterating a lot of sentiments I’ve seen elsewhere, but... I see it going the way of Aywas, Sylestia, FV, and sites like that. After the launch hype dies down (in 3-6mo) there’ll be... maybe a couple hundred people tops online at a time.

Why? Well I mean. I’m not sure exactly how much content DV has at present and how much they plan to release in the next couple months, but unless that amount is much higher than I suspect it is (one, maybe two towns past the obvious underwater place no one’s gotten to yet) there just isn’t enough content to keep people around. Once people start achieving their goals and the actual content of the site runs dry, and later town stuff becomes available to everyone via the speed runners, I suspect the site will start to die. There’s just not enough content to keep people engaged, and the constant grinding to get anywhere past the stat gates gets boring after a while.

As much as I hate to admit it, FR does just have a better formula. The content is user-made, goals are set by individuals, and because of how the breeding/geneing system is, there is *always* new content if you just look for it. It’s almost impossible to run out of things to work towards. Sure, I grew bored of FR, but it wasn’t because of a lack of content. I didn’t quit out of boredom (like I did at the Sylvie’s Mine stat gates during DV’s beta) or frustration with the mechanics/community/staff (as I’m seeing a lot of people do now with the premium gacha) but instead because I just... grew out of it, I guess. Even then, it took me *6+ YEARS* to do so, just because I was never bored or confused on what to do next. There was always new content and 9/10 times I was excited about it.

Dappervolk doesn’t have that going for it. The way I see things going down is a new town added once, maybe twice a year, seasonal events a few times a year, and new premium items once a month. You can collect all the items, all the pets, maybe save up for the really expensive stuff... but beyond that (very limited) set of things to do, what is there? Besides the forums of course, but you can find forums on every other petsite. The community would have to be truly outstanding for it to draw in any number of users on its own merit, imo.

Really, besides a short story and an (inconsistent) art style, what does DV have going for it?

I think the best comparison I can make here is that DV plays like a Pokémon game and FR plays like an MMO, and that’s why one is a success and the other is almost doomed to fail.

Pokémon games have short stories and a limited number of tasks you can complete (of varying difficulty) before you’re just... done. DV only differs in that there’s a forum instead of replayability - you can’t reset your DV account just to play through the story, at least not with any level of ease. They’re limited because they’re meant to be played for a short time before they’re dropped and the next game in the franchise is picked up. This tactic, unfortunately, does not work for a browser game, because there is no next generation of games to buy.

MMORPGs have a story, usually, though by and large it’s optional to the player’s enjoyment of the game. There’s a lot of customization and nearly every character is unique. Everyone has a different playstyle and aesthetic, and new content is released frequently. They don’t want you to put down the game and pick up another, they want to keep selling you things from *this* game, so their goal is to keep you actively engaged. This tactic works well for a browser game, or really any game that aims to stick around for a while.

That, of course, isn’t even touching the fact that DV DARED to add a premium gacha to the site after the backlash that they got during beta, or the fact that the art style they promised isn’t even really what was delivered, or the fact that customs still aren’t open and I haven’t seen anything as far as an ETA on that... but then again, I also haven’t said much about the issues with FR’s management, so fair’s fair I guess.

Anyhow, soapbox rant over. I’m personally enjoying the game thus far, I just suspect it’s not gonna end up staying like that for very long if things keep going the way they are now. I sincerely hope DV gets better because I think the concept is cool and the art has potential (if they’d just go back to the more painterly art style from the beta...) but I’m not gonna hold my breath.

[comicteaparty]

Art Resources

Check out this plethora of art-related resources archived from Comic Tea Party’s Art Resources Channel!

RebelVampire

starting this channel off with @Kabocha 's site http://www.shooting-stars.org/ lots of fantastic brushes and materials to use for both photoshop and clip studio(edited)

https://inkarnate.com/ - a nifty site for creating maps. while there is a pro version, the free version still has a lot of features if you just need a map for personal use to reference for your stories.(edited)

https://bodykunposeoftheday.tumblr.com/ - lots of pose photos of the SH Figuarts Body-Kun figures. really great if you want to get some anatomy and pose practice in!(edited)

http://blog.studiominiboss.com/pixelart - if you're a fan of pixel art, this is a hugely great collection of tutorials by Pedro Medeiros. it's got everything from process explanations, animation tips, shading, and more.(edited)

http://terawell.net/terawell/ - Design Doll, a great 3d program solely focused on doll posing. learning to pose the dolls can be a bit of a learning curve, but it can be fantastic if you really need a specific pose reference.(edited)

http://www.yeoldemapmaker.com/ - another map making website. this one is a lot better for interiors, especially if what you want is to just understand the base layout of a room for reference.(edited)

https://www.textures.com/ - a good site for textures. you have to make an account to download them, unfortunately. however, theres tons upon tons of them. for comics they should be safe, but would recommend checking terms for other things.(edited)

Kabocha

Free Software: I have not personally tested all of these programs. Download at your own risk. indicates that I have used it. Pixia: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mighty/knight/index.html Artweaver: https://www.artweaver.de/en (has paid version) Medibang Paint: https://medibangpaint.com/en/ Krita: https://krita.org/en/ MyPaint: http://mypaint.org/ (Pressure does not work properly on Surface devices newer than the Surface 3) SmoothDraw: http://www.smoothdraw.com/sd Paint.Net: https://www.getpaint.net/ GIMP: https://www.gimp.org/ Pinta: https://pinta-project.com/pintaproject/pinta/ Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/en/

RebelVampire

https://nattosoup.blogspot.com/ - If you aren't familiar with Becca's blog yet, it's really great. while there is an emphasis on watercolor and traditional art supplies, theres honestly just great information all around. processes, supply reviews, and so on!

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

http://leifandthorn.com/2018/07/resources-for-making-webcomics/ - resources I've collected over the years. Mostly art stuff (fonts, color harmony, body types, etc), plus some help with website accessibility and some general webcomic podcasts.

Desnik

This is not a free resource so I hope it's okay, but in just a couple of days poring over the first two pages of this book, I'm really feeling a difference in the elasticity of my character's poses. It doesn't get bogged down by medical terminology and sorts parts of the body by 'landmark' instead: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23580472-anatomy-for-sculptors-understanding-the-human-figure

this is speaking as someone who has multiple years of figure drawing practice from life...I wish this book had been out much earlier, it's just amazing

JaSketch

https://www.calligraphr.com/en/ Here’s a free to use website that turns your handwriting into a legit text font, and it works too!

keltyzoid!

speaking of fonts i've actually made a few that are free to use. there's a couple of webcomics i know of that use them. should can i post them?

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r8wmj4kp2566jbn/AACCrP70zPVLr8h2f5F4d6BIa?dl=0

they're free, no license or credit necessary

kayotics

this is a pretty basic level "how I do comics" but i like to reference these how-to's from Mad Rupert sometimes as a refresh on comics: http://mynameismad.tumblr.com/post/163801383099/hello-in-case-you-havent-heard-the-sakana

lonelytuatara

for any fellow photoshop users who wanna get better at perspective, this video's been really helpful for me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upxBGNcryRs

Delphina

Really helpful Twitter thread about effective paneling! https://twitter.com/h0lysarthole/status/1117464886123089921

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Install old versions of Adobe products for free: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs2-product-downloads.html?promoid=19SCDRQK There are terms & conditions, but the programs don't actually check if you fulfill them. It's up to you to know how much money you've given them, and what you're ethically clear to download in return.

Kabocha

If we're talking about Image Editors, a not-free alternative is Affinity Photo, which is reasonably priced. (I'd look for it to go on sale, but $50 for a perpetual license isn't bad at all!) https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/ Their indesign competitor is in free Beta right now, too: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/publisher/

Paint.net also still exists: https://www.getpaint.net/

https://www.patreon.com/posts/26834357 In the meantime, here's a post for alternatives to adobe.

https://twitter.com/robochai/status/1124044195092672515

JUNK

https://blog.reimenayee.com/graphic-novel-outline-onion-method/ neat

Hey, I'm sure everyone already knows, but clip studio is on sale for $25 right now! It is (imo) one of the best programs out there for making comics! https://twitter.com/clipstudiopaint/status/1169159411304210432?s=19

MJ Massey

if you're looking for a new display tablet, I found this useful site with tons of tablet reviews! They're organized by size and look at several different brands http://brad.site/reviews/wacom-cintiq-alternatives.html

Attila Polyák

How to draw good looking lightning/electricity! https://www.facebook.com/leesartandmore/photos/a.1370091679712083/2411389295582311/?type=3&theater

seetherabbit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk

DaeofthePast

Free to use comic font http://purastik.net/ames/e.html

MJ Massey

If you haven't watched Jake Parker's videos, I highly recommend them. They are very informative AND relaxing and encouraging https://www.youtube.com/user/jakeparker44

MJ Massey

GESTURE DRAWINGS! They're important for art practice, especially if you are looking to improve your forms! https://www.quickposes.com/en is my favorite. It has a feature where you can set it to show you different photos every 30-300 seconds to practice gesture drawing!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Just saw this on Twitter. Haven't actually gotten a chance to look at it closely, but I thought other people might also want to take a look https://twitter.com/Worstwizard/status/1183475129084329984?s=09

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

https://twitter.com/noahbradley/status/1185286707819827201?s=09

Attila Polyák

Loads of useful facebbok stuff I meant to post a long time ago, but never got around doing it: https://www.facebook.com/AikaLockheart/photos/a.413147142066258/2235198713194416/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=472362883489284&set=a.130547804337462&type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/geektower/photos/pcb.1089341477902964/1089341267902985/?type=3&theater

MJ Massey

picking pens! From Jake Parker himself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNgYvTI09XE

MJ Massey

for anyone who likes podcasts, I enjoy 3 Point Perspective, particularly their most recent episode on building an online store and making sales https://open.spotify.com/episode/2twCBBjRWZlmzbvWkRoARG?si=N7PiY3UoTJCzq0zZovXsdg

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Here's a good reference generator: https://line-of-action.com/

SAWHAND

Hope this counts as a resource, here's a list of Best Comic Covers in a given month by Paste magazine, it goes up to June 2019. It was really helping me get ideas for covers! https://www.pastemagazine.com/search?t=Best+Comic+Book+Covers&m=Galleries

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

This is great!

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Ooh, yeah, those are great.

I did a redraw where I added another 7, for shots that aren't in the original that I also get a ton of use out of: https://www.deviantart.com/erinptah/art/29-Panels-That-Always-Work-748887838

carcarchu

ooooh https://twitter.com/cathygjohn/status/1216093817734139904?s=20

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/ClipStudioTips/status/1217058241613651969

renieplayerone

This may have been shared before but i am a HUGE fan of SenshiStock. Their references are so good and ive used their stock photos for a ton of studies and practice too https://twitter.com/SenshiStock

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/celesse/status/1219674655663042561

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/dankelby/status/1220254171049418752

mariah (rainy day dreams)

https://kingofooo.tumblr.com/post/161105648449/by-storyboard-supervisor-erik-fountain-a-few

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

https://twitter.com/ImRachelBradley/status/1216042005698174977?s=19

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/cyanparade/status/1229450046480867328

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

@Feather J. Fern This is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEvMHRgPdyk

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

@Javi An oldie I still find useful for learning how to draw people: https://archive.org/details/andrew-loomis-drawing-the-head-hands/mode/2up

Nutty (Court of Roses)

https://twitter.com/Lowtwait/status/1232479451721502725

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlh4PO-ISCA

video that looks into this current humble bundle pack

looks kind of interesting

doomedfrgarden

I'm not sure if Borodante's Over-Paint series has been posted here (I didn't see it, but I don't have my glasses so I can't promise a thorough search), but his digital painting tips have been incredibly helpful and inspiring to me, so I hope it helps someone else here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDKgohjbwY8&list=PL26-CxnLWOfD_h42yjpO44dPAo3-pijgb&index=23

Feather J. Fern

Found something that explains Bleed for comics. https://makingcomics.spiltink.org/pgtemplates/

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

A soft-shading demo I made for@Feather J. Fern & @Artem Ficta (Ring Spell) Sorry this took so long to complete! https://youtu.be/Cyc9EVissw0

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/hanari0716/status/931463182354227201

Mei

For people like me who mess up their bleeds and have to fix them in post, I had this lying in my bookmarks! https://twitter.com/TheDamnThinGuy/status/1190321427314032646?s=20

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

There are lots of guides to tangents, and here is one I like a lot! http://curiousoldlibrary.blogspot.com/2011/10/schweizer-guide-to-spotting-tangents.html

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/Sasquatchiix/status/1236987090874667008 This is a visual novel zine but section 2 on resources actually has a lot of cross-over in terms of usability for comic creators, check it out if you feel like testing out some new tools! Update - I read through the articles now and I actually really recommend checking them out too for advice when it comes to story-writing and how to lay it all out(edited)

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

Want to share this with you all! https://creatureartteacher.com/product/fundamentals-of-animation/?fbclid=IwAR0ahSOtdTBPmi0cHQlBpyMK7RveLZXptqcLrFX559KQMOkp-oLjGG9JA_0 Fundamentals of Animation Course Aron Blaise a big disney animator, has an animation Course that take you through the princibles of animation. This course is free for a limited time if you want to learn about animation!

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Really cool video I found about pricing your commissions: https://youtu.be/pN4P82Y_3k0

carcarchu

a handy tool for those who work in clip https://twitter.com/2TooToo2/status/1243101802435727360

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I'm not sure if this is the right channel, but I'm going around shouting about how Adobe users can get two months free because of the pandemic this morning. Here's an article about how to do it! https://www.creativebloq.com/news/adobe-payment-holiday?fbclid=IwAR108UH-2fQfvQzyc2STIHZh9H7LOzr1xvOoLPM_7pylHNoQ9isvMDT4wRw

I also made a tweet for easy sharing if you don't want to type your own. https://twitter.com/RainyDayMariah/status/1243573425697742848?s=20

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

https://twitter.com/metalsorcery/status/1247930202073829377?s=19 This is a survey to answer for webcomic creators to get their work featured in this newsletter! Open to every one!

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

@Miranda (Into the Swell) This one's pretty good: https://www.deviantart.com/theinkyway/art/Manga-Studio-5-Clip-Studio-Paint-Brush-Pack-619455926

carcarchu

@Miranda (Into the Swell) this is my ultimate fave http://fav.me/d7s799d

carcarchu

this is handy reference image account that only posts pictures of suits and mundane things https://twitter.com/madarameBK

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Follow Art of Webcomics (on Twitter) which help independent creators host a site and share your page updates: https://series.artofwebcomics.com/(edited)

carcarchu

https://assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/detail?id=1725189 a handy sfx brush for clip studio paint that can help save some time with your process (it's got various effects built in the brush itself so you don't have to have several stroke layers to achieve the effect) it costs 2 dollars

SaltySalmonella

I made an SFX (sound effect) booklet for comic artists who are having difficulty visualizing sounds for their comics. It's free to download on Gumroad! https://gumroad.com/SaltySalmonella#VOZQM

Elliot

https://twitter.com/nicparris/status/1253710231781036043

CoppertheCarutor

I'm not sure if this goes in writing or art resources because it's art based, but the focus is on using colors to aid the story, but I thought this was a pretty neat video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgFcNUWqX0&feature=emb_logo

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I was looking up some moonlight tutorials for an illustration last night. Figured I'd share~ https://tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/1684

https://www.deviantart.com/ryky/art/MOON-easy-tutorial-399161176

carcarchu

https://youtu.be/LokpJy7KHpE Shilin talks about her thought processes when laying out her comic panels

carcarchu

some free flower assets for clip https://assets.clip-studio.com/ko-kr/search?user=miyage3&order=new

carcarchu

Reimena Yee did an interesting thread on the visual language used in comics https://twitter.com/reimenayee/status/1263755464853995521(edited)

sierrabravo (Hans Vogel is Dead)

yess I was hoping someone would put that up here!!! such a good resource

that reminded me of the 22 panels that always work, something I've been trying to utilize more when I get stuck working: https://cloudfour.com/thinks/22-panels-that-always-work-wally-woods-legendary-productivity-hack/

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

It's so reliable, last year I was able to recreate the whole thing using only pre-existing panels from Leif & Thorn. (Then added another row because there were a few other shots I keep coming back to...) https://leifandthorn.com/comic/erin-ptahs-29-panels-that-always-work/

(Note, there's a horizontal scrollbar under the image, since I uploaded the big version.)

DaeofthePast

found this tutorial/tips on drawing scars that I found useful https://jetfeather.tumblr.com/post/163383759536/i-have-a-hard-time-drawing-scars-how-do-you-do

carcarchu

For those who suffer from pain while drawing: https://twitter.com/lost_paw/status/1271540123688210433

Evil_Chippy (My Hero!)

https://twitter.com/Darchala/status/1272257378881175552?s=20

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

@Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§ Here's the brush pack. The one I used is called "Pensona": https://www.deviantart.com/theinkyway/art/Manga-Studio-5-Clip-Studio-Paint-Brush-Pack-619455926

carcarchu

How to draw a lot of books https://twitter.com/yoshida_seiji/status/1200432951671939073

carcarchu

Mentorship directory for this interested in that kind of thing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vfcr_F0utixw7D-rsbUoId1kwU2Ee_c_jXy2r5df-Jc/edit?usp=sharing

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

https://www.lackadaisy.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=333 A fun tutorial on drawing expressions

carcarchu

A really comprehensive look into the panel border tool in clip https://professorfaf.tumblr.com/post/178927411355/comic-paneling-tools-in-clip-studio-paint Great for beginners but even if you're already acquainted with them it's helpful for finding out things you may not have even realized

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED289uthfNQ&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1ka0j6gwtFcj5aXS8wIj-zpgwaYiI2ncP-g4Tn6hL0h4VFa-rKn6MM_1Q this is my old illustration instructor who did a tutorial on watercolour if anyone was interested in the medium! her stuff is so vibrant and solid, and i was so happy to have her as my old prof!

CoppertheCarutor

Light bounce! https://twitter.com/KikiDoodleTweet/status/1276565894051753984?s=19

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/Ghadaaax/status/1277158331761807360 helpful tips!

cAPSLOCK (Tailslide)

Colorist K Michael Russell has been streaming nightly as he colors pages from comics he's working on, while giving tips and insight into his thought process: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCps08eOJfFRm00TE5LStIIg

carcarchu

Advice on how to utilize speedlines https://youtu.be/Y_3Rbjn_0r0

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I just have to plug this amazing program here: https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/publisher/ It's basically a replacement program for Adobe inDesign, but waaay cheaper. If you're like me and have sworn off Adobe, I highly recommend it. I've been messing with it all day to begin setting up my first volume for print, and I love it so far, especially after trying other budget publishing softwares. Can't recommend it enough.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

hii! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m8yv10gevqv2x5s/AACVoWTvK-B7qB1yRGUZadB5a?dl=0 Here is a little gallery of fat bodies!

carcarchu

world building tool thing https://www.worldanvil.com/artist i haven't tried it out yet but it looks interesting!

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/soteikat/status/1285036231592558592 takie made some free to use comic resources!

carcarchu

https://twitter.com/aeipathea/status/1285048061518061569

carcarchu

it is a website that shares dimensions for things. Helpful for referencing proportions https://www.dimensions.com/(edited)

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I don't necessarily agreed with everything they said, but it's still a good video, and I definitely agree with many of the points they brought up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZQKeHnKK90

Especically the "stop drawing _" advice

I dealt with that a lot in school

[canonicallysoulmates]

Supernatural 15.11

This is an okay, kind of entertaining but pretty forgettable episode that could have been better but was still a massive improvement over 15.10.

Allow me to try and explain what I mean, and forgive me if it’s a little all over the place; the episode itself as a whole is not bad, it’s not something to sing praises about (unless compared side by side to 15.10 in which case I’ll sing it’s praises like a canary) but it has its entertaining moments, the plot is borderline interesting, and it’s not an insulting mess.

This is what 15.10 should, and could, have been, in this episode the boys still have bad luck but it’s not taken to the extreme Dabb took it too, the boys are not made into jokes because of it, they’re not dumbed down, they don’t need to be rescued- they go head to head against a Goddess in her own house and they win. Without anybody else’s help. Change a bit of its wording, and the mini speech Dean gave Sam in the last epi would have been much more fitting in this episode instead imo.

To me personally, this episode shows how unnecessary and pointless the last epi was; the last epi could have been something like this where they have no luck but are still badasses, and they’re still smart.  

It’s a pity because I feel like if the last epi had been better then this one could have been really shined instead of just being okay but as it is I feel like it’s weighed down by its predecessor, the main problems I had with this ep can be tied back to the events in the past ep starting with the convoluted luck thing; as previously said here the boys have bad luck but it’s much more toned down at a difference from the extreme bad luck they had in the past episode this is both a blessing and a curse, a blessing because I hated how this was done in 15.10 and I was happy to see my boys almost back to normal, a curse because it’s sort of inconsistent, yeah they still have bad luck but it’s no where near the same degree even though nothing had changed it’s like Chuck decided he was bored of them having the worst of the worst luck.

In the past episode their luck and abilities seemed to be synonymous with a lot of emphasis's being placed on their abilities, here it’s more a case of bad luck and they seem to still have their skills like hustling pool- I guess Chuck was selective in what he took away 🤷‍♀️ - and were even able to sneak up behind the Goddesses son, something I’m pretty confident in saying they wouldn’t have been able to do in the last epi.

It’s little blink and you’ll miss it inconsistencies (in my opinion these are inconsistencies you don’t have to agree i don’t care) that work in the favor of the show cause how horrible would it have been to have gotten two 15.10?! At that point just set the whole thing on fire! UGH! But also sort of irk me, I can’t really fault this episode for these because it’s working with what was pre-established so I won’t count it as sins (I will however totally add them to the sin pile of the previous episode) and I also won’t fault it for irking me since my irk comes from you guessed it: the events of the last episode.

But that’s enough of talking about 15.10 and how it affects this episode, let’s talk about the episode itself because it does have it’s own problems; the story line of the pool hall could have been more developed; I love Jack and I’m happy to see him back but his story in this ep was booooooring, I wish they had just left it out completely and used that time to work and develop more the lucky pool thing which was way more interesting and just have him show up at the Bunker at the end, and I have the feeling Dabb only kept him around so he could be the loop hole used to end Chuck which I’m not okay with but it’d be a very Dabb thing to take the victory away from the boys.

The exposition of the pagan Gods relationship to the Judeo-Christian God was completely unnecessary and I wish hadn’t been added, not everything needs to be explained a simple Fortuna doesn’t like him cause he’s a prick would have sufficed; God is supposed to be all seeing and all knowing but somehow he doesn’t know Jack is back Chuck continues to be the lamest most wasted opportunity of a villain this show has ever had.

Eileen and Sam texting back and forth annoyed me. That’s just a personal complaint.

These little things- and they are relatively little things, and very me specific things like if you didn’t mind the past episode you probably won’t agree/understand or have a problem with any of the things that I have a problem with and that’s ok this ain’t gospel it’s just an opinion. As I was saying, these little things aside the episode as a whole is not bad. It even got some laughs and smiles out of me!

There were a couple of things I really liked, like the mention of the PBR (Professional Bull Riding). The actress who played Fortuna was really good, I actually wouldn’t mind seeing more of Fortuna to be honest.

There’s not a specific highlight but my favorite scenes (oh yes, there are favorite scenes! I can’t even remember the last time i typed up those words regarding this show) were the ones where the boys played pool, and apparently it was actually Jared and Jensen doing that which if true is so cool (and sexy af 🔥🔥🔥), I really enjoyed those scenes.

I loved the Sam-Jack hug SON AND PAPA TOGETHER AGAIN 😭😭😭😭

And I loved the proper acknowledgement that the boys are heroes! I love that they walked out thinking they lost but they didn’t, they made Fortuna believe in heroes like those of old again enough that she let the people free and shut down the place that’s - MY BOYS ARE SELF MADE HEROES 😭❤

I loved that the boys were side by side during the whole episode and while there weren’t any big moments between them, they had lots of little ones that were cute like Dean saying he’s proud of Sam, or Sam saying he learned pool from the best, or the little protective Dean moment when Fortuna wants to play against Sam, they were little moments but I thoroughly enjoyed them (and can definitely work with 😏[those who know me know what I mean ]).

It could have been better. It could have been much worst. To be honest, I could see myself re-watching this episode a year or two, or three or more depending on how bad the finale is, down the line if I stumbled upon it on tv.

You don’t have to watch it, but you don’t lose anything by checking it out. Good news is you have six weeks to decide, because the show has gone on break.

A fact I am personally thankful for...