No Mama Tran? If you're talking about stress, I think that she was a bit of a contributor. Not that I didn't love her.

I'm assuming the apron strings allude to her, but I wouldn't line her up with the other stressors myself either. It's a different impact, and I think putting the Winchesters side by side with demon and Leviathan is telling in a different way from apron strings.

eta: IO9 has an article about lovable characters that became jerks, and I stayed long enough for the Castiel mention and will rebut that as long as they engage me. I was really looking for a John mention. But it was swiftly followed by Sam and Dean, and I'm out.

But but but, Cas started out as a jerk! Actually, at some point in his first season he became a loveable jerk, which then retroactively applied to his first appearance.

And then he became adorkable and the butt of jokes and became extra tragic and frustrating, but I don't think I'd quantify his various betrayals of Dean as "becoming a jerk". He became megalomaniacal for all of three minutes before disappearing. And then he was sad and crazy and repentant.

The article was not an article, to be accurate--it was a picture of Buffy and a request for people to submit their candidates.

Most of the Cas complainers were non-sustaining, which is why I picked that fight. If you want Cas to be always powered up, in every episode, on the boys' side all the time, and you think he was ruined after season five, then a) you plot out the subsequent seasons without being cancelled and b) you convince father of two small kids to take that job for how little you can afford to pay him.

I'm not getting into Sam or Dean fights, but f they want to say John started out lovable I will go to the mat on that one too.

Wait -- they're saying Buffy was a jerk? What the fuck?

Off to find this article...

I'm assuming the apron strings allude to her, but I wouldn't line her up with the other stressors myself either. It's a different impact, and I think putting the Winchesters side by side with demon and Leviathan is telling in a different way from apron strings.

Exactly, Mrs. Tran will already be represented symbolically in the foreground with Kevin. She's a part of his life in an up-close and personal way, not a more remote influence based on allied or antagonistic principle rather than personal relationship.

I am off balance because my headache just kicked into fourth gear, and I'm going to assume that's why this [link] garnered a (sniffly) emotional response.

I think I need to find the picture of Misha "playing" guitar and spam my tumblr with it.

Fucking shit. Either fancier editing than I can pick apart, or he's legit got another thing on his CV: [link] West sure likes it.

(I tuned out before the GISHWES stuff)

I need some help. I'm looking for pictures of the boys (separate) that would make good badass silhouettes. Either via obvious weapon, or their stance. But just by silhouette..I tried this [link] for example, and you really can't tell what's going on with the gun, so no win.

If I can't find those shots, it's possible I could have the Winchester silhouetted and the weapon in a flat block of another colour. But that's more technically complex than I've tried before, so, not unless I can't do it any other way.

Anything come to mind?

This [link] and this [link] are what I mean, but full length. I'm looking to superimpose (or maybe sub, dunno) them with a happy all-our-parents-are-alive tableau.