#sorry for being a downer...

[mzannthropy]

Guys. I'm worried that the third Sherlock Holmes film with RDJ and Jude Law is the next Winds of Winter. Meaning it will never see the light of day...

[mollyjames]

From a purely cynical perspective, I get it. Magic's original sets haven't been performing very well. If you look at this last year alone: Bloomburrow was a hit, but Outlaws and Murders were both poorly received, and while Duskmorne has its fans, it also has its detractors. 1.5/4 isn't a great hit rate for standard sets. And then on the other hand, you look at best selling set of all time Lord of the Rings and... something like this was probably inevitable.

To be honest, I dont think there's really much that can be done here. My preference would be for Wizards to stop printing so many Magic cards and refocus those resources back to making quality standard sets, but it's too late for that to have made any difference. It's also, admittedly, a bit gouache to be declaring this the death of Magic: The Gathering before the sets even come out (you never know, it might be fun!) but idk. It might not be the death of Magic the brand, but it's the death of... something, I think. I don't like it very much.

[ezlo-x]

WAIT NO THIS GAME CAN DO WHAT MAIN TOTK COULDNT AND EXPAND ON GANON & RAURU! WE COULD ACTUALLY GET A GOOD PREQUEL AND NOT WHAT AGE OF CALAMITY WAS! THERES A CHANCE AND HOPE!

Anon imma be real I need them to officially move on from botw/totk

I KNOW this game was gonna happen cause ppl online have been asking for it

They had one chance with totk and they blew it

I know how this game is gonna go theyre only showing characters from the past (similar to how they did to AoC) then all present/future characters show up as a twist

I SOUND SO NEGATIVE BUT I REALLY DONT WANNA CARE if some bs lore comes out i think i will be mad cause you mean to tell me i have to buy a different game to know more about the world and story that was poorly developed on a 70 dollar game cause they prioritized the gameplay mechanics. Also the fact that whoever you ask majority don’t take the Hyrule Warrior games as canon me included, at best i consider it as half-canon or an AU of sorts.

Majority agree that Age of Calamity is kind of like a fix it fic au i dont Rlly recall they expanded any lore on botw on AoC, maybe cause i was just there smashing things. But I had fun with the story, I don’t think its great but it was fun nonetheless, i think this game is just going to be whimsy and fun.

[hazbinbabbling4ever]

Spoilers below, beware! So, now that more than half of the season is out, I have to say that this last season so far has been... Kind of a bummer? The usual jokes fall flat, whatever made the show interesting (the dynamics between the main cast) has been dialed down noticeably, the whole Guillermo side story-line at the Canon offices is feeling like a filler with no direction just to close the season and I'm low key considering it a character assassination (he used to be so cool, wtf happened?), Nandor's "love plights" are the lamest yet and... I don't know. I feel like this show is going out with a fizzle and it kind of makes me sad, that they had no direction at all to make at least one entertaining and interesting last season.

[iamespecter]

Words can't summarize how absolutely, monumentally pissed and devastated I am right now. My mom's business was broken in to, and according to her the 'thief' stole most of the supplies, 2 cashboxes and presumably used the back window of the store to break in.

She suspects that the thief is the only boy staff we have, because of many things, but it's mostly because he's a convicted felon with 2 counts of murder, out for "good behavior".

Other reasons include: failure to act professionally in a professional setting, not dressing in proper work uniform, bad personal hygiene (refraining from taking a bath), refusal to perform daily tasks, taking and eating parts of the food he's supposed to ONLY cook, talking back against my mom --who is his employer-- when she talks to him about these things, misogynistic and predatory behavior against the female staff (and even to my mom, I witnessed this firsthand) and even trying to conspire with my brother to take money from the cashbox FOR CIGARETTES.

And before anyone points out why my mom couldn't just "fire him" on the spot, 1) My mom was forced to take him in because he was recommended to her by a relative of ours, thinking his good behavior was good enough to be hired in a proper job, 2) HE'S A CONVICTED FELON WHO'S ALREADY MURDERED 2 PEOPLE. MY FAMILY COULD BE NEXT so right now, we're walking on eggshells around this fucker.

Why am I fucking talking about this? BECAUSE NOT ONLY WAS OUR LIVELIHOOD COMPROMISED, I'M ON THE FUCKING RECEIVING END FROM ALL OF THIS. I HAVE TO GET MONEY TODAY TO IMPROVE THE SECURITY OF THE STORE, BECAUSE THE CASHBOX --WHICH CONTAINS MOST OF MY MOM'S MONEY-- WAS STOLEN BY THIS SHIT STAIN OF A HUMAN BEING. AL-FUCKING-LEGEDLY.

I'm at a fucking loss on what to do. Everytime something slightly good happens, a worse problem presents itself at my door and it's getting harder and harder to live positively. I know this is all private matter but how can I fucking keep this all to myself when I have to deal with all of this shit life keeps throwing at me? I'm just broken.

I don't know what to do. I don't fucking know what to do.

[anonymocha]

It’s my birthday so I get to draw whatever I want 🎂🎉🎊🎁🥳

[henryhengli]

This is really the first time I’ve had worries about BT beyond ‘is this reconciliation going to happen.’ Now that I’m fairly sure it will, suddenly I’m realizing how anxious I am about it being done well. This might sound ridiculous, and I admit that I am very overinvested in this particular plot on this particular show because of where I am in my life, but I would like to look back on this love story and be proud that I was there to see it play out. I don’t want to think that I spent all this time and energy betting on a lame horse. I wouldn’t have watched a single second of 911 if it weren’t for the fact that there was a man dating another man, and I don’t want to feel like I’m a sucker for buying into it on that basis. Maybe my expectations are totally out of whack, but I am starving for gay romances that are done as well if not better than their heterosexual counterparts. I hope this one can deliver that.

[spotsandsocks]

You should feel excited about a new episode but seeing those stills and I’m just worried and sad about it I have no trust in the writing or plot anymore. Really hoping that changes soon. I never watched h50 after chin and kono left. Greys after derek… I don’t want to go bring back the comfort

I just need the show to have some reassuring tags like on a03 at this point and I’d be ok

[fractualized]

Alright. Let's break down this "oh" of an ending. NEGATIVE NANCY, COMING THROUGH

Spoilers, ho!

Ending a story is hard, if they're long or short. Whether you wrap up key threads or leave them open, you want some kind of takeaway that puts a period on things. Even in comics, where we know these characters will go on and on, ideally a story will end in a way that just... fits. Even amateur fic writers have loads of WIPs just sitting there because exactly how to end this damn thing eludes them.

I don't know if Rosenberg had an ending in mind when he started The Man Who Stopped Laughing. I don't know if he decided he'd figure it out by the end of it's year-long run. I don't know if DC Editorial lets people do that; it sounds insane, but if you've been paying attention to their current level of editorial "oversight," which I imagine is supposed to make concurrent titles mesh together reasonably well, I wouldn't be shocked if they let people wing it. Or, more likely, perhaps DC Editorial swooped in and made Rosenberg change the ending he had planned and that's why the result falls flat.

In any case, after 11 issues of enjoying myself, I'm left feeling deflated.

But let's start where #12 does, with the Joker who's been told he's John Keyser, a toxin'd henchmen that the real Joker made into a doppelganger for funsies. He approaches a hotdog vendor.

I'm stuck on "Hello. I've been looking for you"?? I didn't catch that on my first read. Joker has a favorite hotdog vendor? lol

Shut up, Waffles!! All we have is your word for it!!

In any case, hey, Keyser Joker has already been Jokering this long, so yeah, why not keep going? And why not with help from poor woobie Jason, fresh from nearly getting himself killed in Gotham War?

Bruce did not fix Jason at the end of Gotham War, so his adrenaline is still triggering fear in his brain. But Keyser Joker has a solution for that!

It's a tiny dose of Joker toxin to take the edge off of Bruce's programming. Joker makes a point of saying that the effects are only temporary, though. (And like, I assume this is just the quick-fix solution Rosenberg came up with to pull off his own ending when told Bruce's plans for Jason over in the other titles.) Jason is skeptical of this "help," naturally, but Keyser Joker brings up their matching interest: getting rid of the other Joker.

Jason, why you gotta ruin Albert's good time? 🙄

Cut to Red Hood dragging a clown henchman through the streets of Gotham.

But "his" face being blacked out and some of the dialogue clue the reader in: things aren't what they seem.

DERAIL TIME: what is up with this batmobile?

Like from some other angles, it looks sportier, but in most of the panels it looks like an old Buick? lol ANYWAY.

With the flaily way this person jumps off the bike and runs, I was sure that this was Keyser Joker and we might see Batman interact with him. Alas.

It's Ravager, who survived last issue's explosion. She's helping Jason 1) distract Batman and 2) get Albert out of harm's way, far from Keyser Joker's plan.

Naturally Keyser Joker is planning something more destructive than he's led Jason to believe. Also like…

The idea that Keyser Joker really is this John guy, not the real deal, is still not sitting fucking right with me. Seeing him here in another costume, with a goofy death train with mismatched eyes just like his, it feels like a signal that he actually is Joker and Waffles is either lying or mistaken somehow. Like compared to the other Joker, who we haven't seen in a costume? Who left Gotham for weird reasons? I really thought there was going to be a reverse reveal.

And since it doesn't come, I guess it's a good time to mention that! There is no reverse reveal of who the real Joker is. Things get a little muddy later, but…. hrm. HRM.

That said, the other Joker does something pretty dang Jokery: he shows up in a dirigible with his face on it.

Killer Moth and a bunch of clown goons (that aren't supposed to be available because of Gotham War but WHATEVER) attach the dirigible to the train and it's pretty chaotic!

I love when villains are like, "Look I may kill people, but an endangered gorilla?! Get outta here!" 😂

Jason also arrives in style.

I guess he was observing Ravager's distraction?? Which feels like it defeats part of the purpose of having her do the distraction. But then he couldn't have this cool entrance in which he bludgeons people with a motorcycle. Trade offs!

Meanwhile, Real Joker makes it to the front of the train to confront Keyser Joker. One of Real's goons offers to shoot Keyser, but Real Joker wants to make this personal and kills the poor hench so he can do it himself.

Jason coming in like YEEEEEAAAAHHHHH 😎

Then he gets the bad news.

Keyser is as casually suicidal as your average Joker! Also "Real" Joker never acknowledges Red Hood's identity, afaik. It's always Keyser Joker. Details like this got me thinking that reverse reveal was coming, AND YET.

That aside, next comes a fun comedy beat.

Real Joker going right for the hair!

Jason isn't going to let this be the end of it, of course, and once again Killer Moth must suffer at his hands.

Jason shoots so many clowns. Just never the one he wants. 😞

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaait wait wait. You're telling me that Bruce knew about the imminent TWO JOKERS situation. But he decided to prioritize a report of Red Hood dragging a clown through the streets. When in the same breath he's saying there are other people coming to the scene with him, so he obviously could've sent someone else? On the same day Batman #139 is like "oooh Bruce is totally onto Joker now"? This is what you're telling me?? Augh.

Well, we can't rely on Batman right now, clearly, so it's up to Jason.

Meanwhile, Keyser Joker has told the other one that he actually does have a secret way off the runaway train safely. After they fight some more, the tune starts to change.

Alright so, this "deal," which would sort of start them back at square one, doesn't bother me because obviously it's on shaky-ass ground and one of them is definitely killing the other before this issue is over. What does bug me is the "franchising" line, for two reasons:

1) Is this supposed to imply that Real Joker is the one who was behind Joker Incorporated in the Batman Incorporated issues, not a third one?

2) I was just SO SURE it was another indication we were getting a reverse reveal. Joker absolutely does not love the franchising idea. That's kind of been the point of this whole series. The genuine Joker in Keyser Joker's hallucination/memory said that having two Jokers around is stupid. HRRRRMMM.

Anyhow, they leave the train together, though the escape plan is literally just jumping off, which has more issues than they bargained for.

So do you think, assuming the Gotham War writers actually communicated at least a little, that Zdarsky asked Rosenberg what he needed Jason for at the end of TMWSL, and Rosenberg was like, "oh I need him to heroically crash a toxic blimp and almost die?" And then Zdarsky was like, "er, I need him to heroically fly a plane into a magic meteor and almost die?" And then they just shrugged and closed the Zoom?

But yeah, the blimp crashes, and I'm sort of confused because I thought that earlier Bruce was saying that even if the toxin gets into the water, it'll still make it's way to the city. So for one thing, it's still exploding in the air and it's still gonna drift. And the parts that dissolve in water are still gonna drift. There's a part to the equation missing here.

But these two are just thrilled at the excitement.

Until the sudden yet inevitable betrayal.

BUT WHO WAS JOKE

Shortly after this, Ravager shows up with Manhunter, who also survived last issue's explosion. (It just doesn't come up at all. Like it doesn't have to, I guess, but it's just weird that there's not a word or wound about it.) Ravager dives into the water looking for Jason, because she instinctually knows he did something grand and dumb. She finds him among the clown bodies and brings him to shore.

Nothing can kill this man! He came back from the dead with nine lives! And also maybe that Lazarus resin from TFZ is still helping, I dunno.

Elsewhere along the shore, what's left of both Jokers' crews find themselves waiting in the same spot for the Joker they expect to be triumphant.

You know what. I'm soured on Waffles now. Leave him.

And then, from the water…

And that's it. That's how it ends. With a sort of snide cop-out?

Like, it's Joker's POV, so yeah, you could say the dickish tone is just him. But following this story for a year, and then seeing it end with simply the old "you'll never know which Joker prevailed," it doesn't feel clever or whatever this is going for. It just feels obnoxious.

Honestly, it feels like the same takeaway as freaking Three Jokers. 😐 That it doesn't matter who Joker is. All the lead-up to this, where maybe we get a tiny bit of depth and development, even if just in this story, eh. Doesn't matter! We're ending this with blah payoff.

On the other hand, the part of about about there being more questions, about this ending not being tidy, makes me think that this is leaving open the possibility that Keyser Joker actually was the real one. After all, we don't get a flashback to the actual events. The events we see are part of a hallucination, and Keyser never said he had clear memories of being the real or the fake one. He just went from assuming he was the real one to taking Waffles' word for it that he was the henchman.

Also, Keyser Joker was always the Joker giving narration. And the narration boxes for the Final Joker at the end remain in his style. So it seems like we actually have a huge indication of which Joker prevailed-- unless we're meant to assume that if the other Joker prevailed, he merely took over the narration.

I mean, this is what we have. So if I can just choose what I want to believe, I'm going to believe both that Keyser was actually the real guy and that he won. But it puts a real sour taste in my mouth to be super engaged with a story and wanting an ending that says something about Joker's character… and the ending is just that one murders the other and you don't know who, neener neener. It's anticlimactic. It's a predictable direction that I thought SURELY Rosenberg wouldn't go in. It feels like a dick move.

And... what else is there to say? So ends my year of consistently buying a comic, I guess. Nothing else has really grabbed me like TMWSL did, though City of Madness looks promising. After the multiverse and Gotham War stuff, I'm not about to start picking up Zdarsky's Batman. #139 had plenty I should enjoy, but it's soured by Zdarsky deciding to bring a canonical take to the three Jokers concept for some ungodly reason.

A new three Jokers take feels extra stupid after a year of a story about two Jokers. And the second Joker in TMWSL isn't even taken into account in Zdarsky's story. Based off that #135 scene, it really looks like he's going to say that Darwin Halliday accidentally copied TKJ Joker somehow. lmao Why. Why do we have to do this. Why can't this just be one of the things that gets retconned away. I just want my murderclown to be fun.

I need to get back to my list of unread older comics. Or read One Operation Joker! I didn't think I was interested, but I think a random goofy premise is actually just what I need.

[sapnapstummy]

it's lowkey so crazy how quickly fics lose momentum after only a few days. i have works in the spider-man fandom that still get near daily kudos even though they're 8 years old. and im thankful for them ofc but it is a little demotivating to post a new fic and know im not getting anymore comments on it when it hits three days old.

maybe it's just because people aren't browsing ao3 tags as often or my works just aren't appealing (smaller ships and complicated plots, i get it) or maybe people do like them but they just don't leave comments, but i do find it hard to put so much work into a fic just for 2 people to say they liked it and then it dies before it's a week old.

i like writing but it tends to take a backseat to my other obligations and it's hard to get back into it when i'm so demotivated 😔

[stebbinsgreyhoundfursuit]

One of my favorite little moments in the long walk

Is when Baker rightfully wants to p!ss on the Major garratys like "weeeeelll you legally consented,so he didn't force you sooooo you have no right to hate him 🤓🤓🤓" & baker rightfully raises his voice at him for the first time ,then then curtly tells him to shut up and garraty IMMEDIATELY does (note garraty doesn't get upset by the yelling only when baker tells him to shut up + also when baker tells an out of line walker to quiet down or skedaddle then theres an emphasis on how they immediately did what he said happens multiple times like bros sweet cutiepattotie southern rizz is so powerful its insane😫🙌 )& he is geunily heartbroken that BAKER would push him away & be upsetat him , And hix extra self is like rubbing his neck & dramiticly staring into the sky & then his dramitic ahh makes the stupid display of sadly turning up his canteen & pouring it out (that visual makes me laugh so hard especiallyhow i picture his sad little face ,& how deep he probaly thought he looked OMG lil bro does not need to be doing all that 😭🙏),

Only for Baker to IMMEDIATELY apologize (& he only raised his voice cause he Yknow PAINFULLY DYING & is feeling a little cranky & considers people's charchters changing one of the worst things about the walk WAAAAAAAHH HES SO SWEET I CANT EVEN---)

& just the 35 seconds garraty thought baker was upset with him had him now exhausted & closing his eyes 😮‍💨God the amount of emotional devastation garraty was able to go through in that short interaction will never not be funny to me omg

[thefiresontheheight]

.

[residentialsinyomakai]

Yokai to Human Form Tidbit

Ok so there's human designs/ forms for Caspian's yokai friends 1, for fun, and 2, cause there's some situations where it's convenient/just better to have some in human forms (EX: Whisper coming to Caspian's choir concerts and conferences bc his parents are. fairly absent). Everyone has their own opinions on it and stuff and in this post I'ma talk about Baddinyan's!!

So fun little fact he does Not Like being human. This is mostly for body dysphoria adjacent feelings, like all of a sudden he has different hair, no fur, different ear placement, etc. The 'phantom limb' thing tends to happen with his tails, too, which is trippy and kinda uncomfortable. He also hates that a lot of his senses are dulled. smell, hearing, sight (especially in the dark), it makes everything feel kinda hazy and causes him to be a lot more stressed about everything.

Idk maybe I just think it's kinda funny to see a character thrown into a whole new form and reasonably be like. what. the hell this sucks. His easygoing (nice way of me saying his lazy ahh) and usually pretty chill/surprisingly level-headed mood is def worsened when he's constantly feeling skin that doesn't technically belong to him. A form he shouldn't really have.

As a result, he's oftentimes irritable and anxious in this form, with some days being better than others. He typically avoids having to use it unless he needs to though, and refuses to take his glasses off for anything. Has to be bribed with a Chocobar to enma forbid go out in public. He's also less used to it than most due to his extreme aversion to it. He just hates it and everything is physically gross and cloudy and nothing's in the right place and he can't explain why.

Badude, on the other hand, doesn't mind being human! It feels more similar to his body than it does for Baddinyan, and is kind of a fun change of pace every now and then. He's Baddinyan's like. closest friend besides Caspian in this AU, so he's typically who's convincing him to not kill everyone in the room and/or take off the stupid leaf in public lol. Their convos can sometimes go like

"C'mon, it's just until we get outta the store. Don't get your non-existent tails in a twist-"

"Shut up and do nyot remind me right nyeow."

"(Oh it's like. that kind of day whoopsies) Mbmb, we can ditch these nerds and go look at the candy isle or somethin' for a bit..?"

He stinks at comforting people or anything like that but tries. Sometimes. idiots

I'm working on references, but all I have to say about their designs for now is vitiligo Black-Mexican Baddinyan and Mexican-Japanese Badude CANON!!! See you for now! :) Have a radtastical day out there, don't implode or get rocks thrown into your inbox!! (again for some of you...)

[philcoulson-redtapeninja]

Rooster from Top Gun 2, for the head canon ask game?

Headcanon 1:  Realistic

This man can carry a grudge like no other(canon), but he doesn't really hold a grudge for little things. Forget to payback the five dollars you borrowed? No big deal, just pay it back eventually. Accidentally trip him in the hallway? Eh, its cramped. No problem. Something big like dissing his parents? Boy howdy, is that going to bite you in five years. He is like a bulldog. Once someones in his teeth, he is not letting go.

Headcanon 2: May or not be realistic, is definitely funny (at least to me)

His call sign came from him stumbling around the barracks one night and waking his entire unit up. Listen, it was dark and he needed the restroom. Because of his call sign, he often mistaken for an early bird. He is emphatically not. A tornado couldn't raise him when he's not deployed. Deployed he needs about 4 alarms before he will actually wake up.

Headcanon 3: Evil and heart-breaking why would you do this

I think Carol would be disappointed in him. The last thing she wanted was for her baby to be wrapped up in the mess that killed her husband, but here he is. Angry, bitter, willing to kill himself to make a point, a warped reflection from the happy child he once was. If he time traveled back to before she died, I doubt she'd recognize him.

Headcanon 4: Doesn't align with canon (or maybe even reality) but I do what I want

He and Hangman got together during their first stent at Top Gun. It was passionate and, while they might be a good match, they tried to commit to too much to soon and both spooked themselves. Both claim its the others fault for the breakup, but they also mostly blame themselves.

Okay, so this was a little hard for me. I absolutely live the flight scenes from Top Gun Maverick, but, and I know this is a deeply unpopular opinion, I don't like Rooster. Just never could get a feel for him, other than 'Pass'.

Maybe its because my favorite characters are Goose and Carol. Maybe its because of my own struggles with college and uni(Had to medically withdraw a grand total of 7 semesters over 10 odd years and still don't have a degree). Maybe its maybelline.

Anyway, I tried to be unbiased for all but the evil one. Sorry for being such a bummer about him.

[crystallizsch]

every time i look at my pfp of jamil's blazing jewel pose i just laugh

when someone pointed out he looks like he's having a migraine i just accepted it hshhd

[69slaysoulsister69]

“Buck contemplates where he’s supposed to be”

No because I can’t do this I am genuinely crashing out because WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE CONTEMPLATES WHERE HES SUPPOSED TO BE I can’t do this I want to have hope so bad but I don’t believe in anything anymore after last weeks episode and I’m pretty sure this is just going to be another one of their sick jokes… I’m convinced Eddie is going to move back and my the end of the episode Buck is going to be moved out because that’s just the way things are going and it will actually destroy me bc we could have had it all but they took it away from us