Finished Season 2 of the CARMILLA web series. This season had much better production. Better lighting especially and more environment to traverse than just a bedroom. Hollstein spent most of it broken up but the storytelling comes first and what a story it was! The writing, once again, was very good. And the twist of the Dean body-snatching Perry and turning what I thought was a dead Danny into a vampire and then her killing Kirsch! I wanted it but I did not expect it to happen. Yes, sacrificing WLW representation for all of the supernatural storytelling was a choice but it was a necessary choice given the seriousness of the situation. It is a supernatural drama/horror after all.

There was a lot going on in this season and they made it work for them despite the fact they can’t have much actual action. Characterization still thrived regardless.

Enjoyed it immensely. Looking forward to Season 3.

Arthur Machen - Tales Of Horror and The Supernatural, Vol. 1 - Pinnacle - 1973

Today I offer you the following headcanon/scenario: Hob dislikes Shakespeare and criticises him, but not because he's jealous of Dream walking off with him in 1589... no, it's because he genuinely thinks the man was a talentless hack.

Let me elaborate.

Hob does like Shakespeare's plays, and grudgingly admits they're the work of a "half-decent playwright", judging from the 1789 scene. He does appreciate the craftsmanship.

The only trouble: Hob is of the opinion that it's not technically Will's work at all. It's His Stranger who had... well, some hand, at least, in the creation of those masterpieces, and Hob hates that Shakespeare gets the sole credit.

(Now, to be clear, I do think that all Dream did was lend Shakespeare support and inspiration and the power to put his own dreams and imaginations into words. It's absolutely still William Shakespeare's work at the core, and Dream's involvement is hardly much more than in any other story ever written - but Hob doesn't know exactly how this works, does he?)

Imagine his frustration. Imagine people praising Shakespeare as a genius in front of him, and Hob bursting to say "actually, he was total shite until he sold his soul or something to the maybe-devil in exchange for talent". He thinks he's the only human in the world who knows The Truth About Will Shaxberd, and it drives him mad that any attempt to explain it would make him sound like some conspiracy nut.

It's the sort of thing that could drive a man to irrationally hate a playwright and his ill-gotten gains, it really could.

(Which is highly hypocritical of him, seeing as he himself enjoys the boon of that very same maybe-devil - well, his sister’s, actually, not that Hob knows that - but it's aBOUT THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING-)

And that's how Hob ends up as his university's #1 Shakespeare Hater.

.

And perhaps, Dream eventually explains to him who he is and how his boons work, and Hob suddenly realises he has to revise his entire spiteful opinion of William Shakespeare, who may have had a certain spark of talent of his own, after all...

And then, groping desperately for some reason to cling on to his increasingly irrational dislike of the man, Hob recalls how Will stole his date back in 1589, and breathes a sigh of relief at the realisation that he can carry on hating Shakespeare just as much as before, only now for a different reason.

(Not that saying "I hate Shakespeare because he stole my boyfriend" will make him sound any less like a nutter than insisting his talent came from magical intervention... but, well, it's a step in the right direction, isn’t it.)

me and my sister finally watched the series finale of supernatural last night after 15 seasons of anticipation. we laughed, we cried, we yelled obnoxiously at the tv. i’ve come to the conclusion that what really happened is they got cass back and dean and him kissed and nobody died and the dog is there and they all lived happily ever after :) if you try to convince me otherwise i’ll drop kick you into the empty :)))

I might be into Wincest these days but first and foremost I am a supernatural fan. I loved the show before shipping ever became part of my life and I just don't understand people who skip the first 4 seasons to get to Cas. (Plus I know wincest is fanon not Canon unlike others...) I'm not trying to say anything bad about Cas, I actually love him, or destiel but to skip the first three seasons is crazy and you aren't a real fan of the show in my opinion. Without the setup from the first 3 seasons you aren't anywhere near as invested in the whole story. You don't understand what brought them to this point, and you miss the delicious details. If destieland Cas are as big as those fans say, then it can wait. Heck I would think Castiels arrival has a lot more significance when you are already invested. But basically these people that actually tell newbies to skip ahead are saying no other characters, including Sam and Dean, are important enough to watch from the beginning. And as a fan of the actual show that is really... upsetting. I find it worse than telling people to stop after season 5 which is also difficult for me because while yes overall its not as tight as 1-5 and has some definite low points, there is also SO much great stuff and awesome new characters after 5. Anyway that my rant that isn't even worth 2 cents but needed to get that out. Shipping is fun but my obsession with the show starts with the actual show.

i love that the episode about secrets comes immediately after the episode about fear. because if dean's fear is of losing his family and being alone, then this scene carries incredible meaning for him.

because secrets keep people apart. they're a rift in a relationship, a gap that can't be crossed. that gap leaves an uncertainty in the relationship, a lack of trust, a space separating two people. if dean is afraid of being apart from his family, then secrets are a threat to his security.

and to that end, dean's shock at the notion that sam hasn't told dean everything implies that this isn't a normal occurrence for them, that it's typical for sam, at least, to be open and honest with dean. if that's the case, then sam's college excursion has changed his attitude toward his brother, put some distance between them that dean clearly doesn't like and, based on the scene and what is later revealed about his character, has a hard time coping with.

this is the first time dean really makes an attempt to exert control over sam. he puts his foot down and tries to take the reins, and importantly this happens immediately after the security of his relationship with sam is threatened (or at least, he perceives it to be that way). this becomes a recurring theme throughout the series, so these early signs of this behavior pattern become retroactively strengthened through hindsight.

it's an interesting follow-up to phantom traveler, because now that seeds of doubt and conflict have been planted in dean's mind, his sense of security is breaking down and his fears are growing. sam is trying to put himself in harm's way, which could kill him: dean could lose sam in a very physical way. sam is keeping secrets from him, which is keeping them emotionally distant: dean could lose sam in an interpersonal way. his fear of losing his brother is being dangled twofold in front of him, and the threat of losing his dad is looming over them in the background.

the ground is crumbling under dean, and so he reacts the only way he knows how: by trying to take control of the situation, to protect his family and keep them by his side.

me to anyone who talks shit about Cas: "how could anyone know him and not love him?"

I'm gonna be on a Podcast!

I’m going to be interviewed a lead writer for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy on the Storyteller Conclave podcast!

We didn’t set it up like this on purpose, but it’s actually going to air live on the same day the Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy Kickstarter campaign is launching, starting on Wednesday, April 10th, 2024 at 7:00 PM EST!

You’ll get to hear us talk all about Eureka, A.N.I.M., and maybe some other stuff, but the really cool thing will be that the Eureka Kickstarter will be launch only a few hours before. (We are planning for that to launch at 3:00 PM EST.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is going to launch on Kickstarter on April 10th and we need all the help we can get. Set a reminder from the Kickstarter page through this link.

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, there’s plenty of ways to get one!

Subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

Donate to our ko-fi and send us an email with proof that you did, and we’ll email you back with the full Eureka prerelease package with the most updated version at the time of responding! (The email address can be found if you scroll down to the bottom of our website.)

Or, if you can’t afford any of that, join our TTRPG Book Club and then just ask. At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

I don't understand when people criticize Mystery Spot for "making light of Sam's suffering". Not like that Trickster guy is known for making light of people's suffering?

watcher lore dislikers are reported to be mildly scared and afraid during this season of life series

the thing that bothers me most about dabb era supernatural is that he treats the audience like we’re stupid. he makes the brothers caricatures of themselves so this brother is SMART and that brother is STUPID and this brother is RIGHT and that brother is WRONG. the moral lesson of every episode is spelled out for you a hundred times in giant blinking neon letters that you must B E L I E V E in YOURSELF and TRUST your FAMILY. the audience is incapable of reaching any conclusion about what they just saw without being handheld so characters are constantly saying “well what does this mean for us” “what happens now” etc.

like sure kripke thought we were stupid but at least he invented new ways to break the fourth wall and tell us that to our faces. dabb patronized us, which is somehow worse.

I have a lot of fondness for clunky Hallmark Christmas romance movies with rock bottom production values, vaguely established and extremely contrived plots, dodgy dialgoue, often questionable line readings, and child actors playing a kid who seems either three years younger or older than themselves. Hallmark have not undermined themselves with glib, self aware irony or attempted to "elevate" the delightful low artform that they excel in. Refreshing, honestly.

"Heihachi did nothing wrong by throwing that kid off a cliff" MAX I KNOW (AT LEAST I HOPE) YOURE JOKING BUT HEIHACHI LITERALLY KICKSTARTED THE WHOLE THING BY THROWING THAT KID OFF A CLIFF

i think we need to get out ahead of this and collectively accept that if there is a supernatural revival we're going to lose. best case scenario is they bring cas back and don't address the confession at all. i'm sorry i want to see those two pale coconuts collide more than anything too but after the way every mention of cas was viciously cut out from the last two episodes and every post-finale convention shitshow i just do not think there's a world where this hypothetical revival gives us what we want

Mario A. Pei - Tales of the Natural and Supernatural - The Devin-Adair Company - 1971 (designs by Laura Torbet)