Writing Confessions

Man, I just remembered the dude who used to be like super obsessed with Alex. Like the doctor dude or something.

I always wondered who's alt that was *LOL*

This McDonald's alignment chart is hilarious. I really wish to see where everyone's main on here lmao. But anyway's, here's one for all of my accounts:

Wish I still had Corel Paintshop

@ultra-woman:

@the_beedee:

Mike Perry vs Darren Till would have the funniest pre-fight build, ever.

I've always thought of Dustin as older than he actually is.

@jeremiah_silver: Best of luck in the Marines, Lamar. :)

@the_beedee:

...You make it sound like imma die....

There's too much inspiration to feel unique -_-

I adore the concept of a villain with low self-esteem and self-hatred.

@supreme_sapien: The Boys return September 4th!

@rosso: The trailers look lit. I've seen the first 3 minutes of S2 episode 1. It featured Black Noir.

@supreme_sapien: I haven't seen the trailers or the footage yet! I just read an article, but now that I'm home...

@adepta-occulta: I wanna see the Deep heal turn and form an evil 7

@supreme_sapien: That clip totally reminded me of some plot points I forgot from last season!

And I already love Stormfront. But I didn't see Black Noir anywhere?

I can see how I missed a bit in the outline.

@supreme_sapien: Oh that's a whole different clip than I saw!

And hey! Gus!

That clip [both of them, really] perfectly captures exactly what I loved about the show in the first season, and about concepts like Selebrity.

Superheroes as cultural icons, the livestreaming Stormfront, subtly behaviorally clashing with Maeve and Homelander, her irreverence contrasted with their squeaky clean [a lot more old-fashioned] image and sensibilities...and then on the other hand you have Black Noir gruesomely murdering those in the compound without discrimination. The folks in the boardroom meticulously combing over details, both for public perception and the legal matters. Obsessing over the smallest of details--"we'd like stronger wording" while Gus [whatever his name is here, but I'm calling him Gus for now because Breaking Bad] plays the field himself--even putting an actual secret number on how many people they'd be okay with letting die (while keeping that under the table). It feels real. Even down to the supervillains trying to come up with their own ways to reach the most people.

Love it.

@trinity-blue: I really liked that boardroom scene with Stan Edgar (Gus). The contract negotiations gave me all kinds of ideas for Selebrity.

Im so tired right now. It burns my eyes to read

Actual Writing Confession: Everything under the sun has been done in some form or another. So, with that said, I don't care if something is cliche and been done before because I'm going do it it anyway and put my own spin on it.

So you are making another CVnU spider-character?

Same. Its why at some point I'mma break my Iron Man alt out

@gordon_knott: Hehe, no. I already have one. I retired her but I can always bring her back.

Wow, he actually constructed a halfway wholesome backstory.

In Memoriam, At the Dawn of a New Season:

To Mercy and her beloved New England Patriots, now that their god and savior Tom Brady has taken his talents closer to South Beach and left them quarterbacked by a former 4th round pick with a whopping total of 4 career pass attempts to his name.

That their nearly as beloved Gronk only came out of retirement, if he could play with Brady on another team.

Mourn as a dynasty goes to ash in a blink of an eye, mourn the bitter thoughts of enduring the first rebuild of your adult life, mourn all the now..deflated..Pats fans.

Welcome to the territory of a Lions fan, your hopes and dreams of gridiron glory ground down to the sad truth of "Mediocracy At Best", "Maybe make the playoffs as a wildcard only to get blown out.", but hey, at least we still have a real quarterback.

All those av bets won on the back of your mid-western demigod? Gone.

All the crowing the next day? Vanished.

Teasing Gambler about the Lions? Nope, welcome to the club.

Love, Dad :)

@_mercy_@nemesis_liafador

Did that age well?

@armistice: LOL

Lions need to sign Cam Newton

If they had a team that could contend, and Stafford's back proves to have not really healed or permanently limited him, maybe.

But they are not a contender with a healthy Stafford, we still don't know what Cam will look like after his injury, and if both were healthy I'd still take Stafford at this point in their careers.

Stafford took a long while, but finally got past his bad gunslinger mentality, Cam on the other hand shows no sign of cleaning up the bad decisions that mar his Greek god physical gifts.

Finishing 6-10, 7-9, 8-8 every year does nothing but doom you to continue to mire in mediocrity. Other teams that have better front offices can pull plus starters and even stars from the mid to late rounds, but the Lions draft record sucks and the only way they are drafting franchise players is being so high up in the draft order they fall in their laps.

The Lions don't have the young core that could take the next step, if Stafford is permanently broken better to rebuild than stick Cam in and still have no chance of anything IMO.

@armistice: Nah Stafford is garbage. A glorified stat stuffer how cant get his team past the 1st round of the playoffs and that was when he was healthy. Coming off a broken back? I'll take Cam anyday over that. Cam's got an MVP and a trip to the superbowl. Stafford will never get a wiff of either. We shored up the D through the draft and the core not being young would be a plus for Cam. They already know the playbook so Cam could actually take a little longer to learn the offense as he'd be the only one.

Stafford will put up huge individual numbers (if he can stay healthy) but we've seen that show before. It ends with either missing the playoffs completely, or getting unceremoniously bounced in a Wild Card game. Cam is gonna shock some people this upcoming season. I just hope he's wearing a Lions jersey when he does.

@aranae

I haven’t forgotten about our interaction, I’ll have a post up today or tomorrow

@supreme_sapien:

First half of his career, yes, I'll agree with you on Stafford, he had all of Brett Favre's bad habits and little of the upside. He had impressive counting stats, but was not efficient and wiped out drives by throwing unnecessary picks trying to thread the needle instead of making the smart play.

Second half though, he has become much more efficient, cut down the turnovers, and become a much better quarterback. Not getting the Lions into or deeper in the playoffs is not on him, he rarely has enough to work with to really have a chance. Lions were constant disappointments long before he got there. He never sniffed having talent around him like Cam did like in 2015.

If we are spotting both of them being healthy post-injury, Stafford does not have Cam's ceiling (few do) but his floor his higher. Stafford is not going to miracle wins like Cam can, but he also is not going to implode games either. Plus if we are both being honest, neither QB is going to make the Lions even a fringe contender, they don't have the rest of the pieces in place. Also neither will be near their peak by the time the Lions put the pieces in place, they aren't the Ravens who year in and year out stack up their roster through the draft regardless of pick position.

Could Cam (if healthy and still has his mobility intact) shock people this season with a big comeback year, sure, but only on the right team and the Lions are not it. Bad coaches, lukewarm receiver core, no running game, offensive line is average at best, there is nothing that tells me he can walk in, learn the system, and succeed. Cam needs a stable system, not the constant dysfunction that is the Lions (and Matt Patricia's useless ass), he would be better off with the Pats (even with their questionable talent) simply to play under Belichick who would build the offense to suit him and maximize his talents.

Now if I was the Lions GM? I'd trade Stafford if anyone would give me two decent picks for him and rebuild, they are not going anywhere with him, or with Cam, so changing one vet for another is just delaying the inevitable.

Only its not a str8 up swap of one vet for another. You'd be trading in a vet who's never won (collage or pro's) for a former Heisman trophy winner/MVP/ and a superstar who was one bad game away from being a superbowl champion. Look at last year. Lamar Jackson and Patty Mahomes set the NFL on fire. One of em won MVP the other the superbowl. Cam's style is nearly identical. The era of flat footed QB's is over. Its the time of the scrambling QB. Read options and play action w/ the QB being a real threat to break off and scramble for 50+ yards. And come on dude, we both know that the QB gets the praise when they win and the hate when they lose. Stafford doesnt get a pass. Other QB's have done more with less.

Now if you wanna rebuild the Lions (which has been done time and time again with 0 results) you gotta start with the front office. Management and the owners. Lions have had the alltime leader in receiving, nothing to show for it. Alltime leader in rushing, nothing to show for it. Alltime leader in points, nothing to show for it. Since 0'3 they've had the second pick of the draft 3 times. The first pick twice. The 3rd pick, picks in the top 10 like 4 or 5 times. Nothing to show for any of it. All they do is rebuild, but they keep rebuilding the wrong area. They need to rebuild the front office. Bring in a winning culture cause otherwise its just more of the same rinse wash and repeat.

They dont even need to bring Cam in to immediately replace Stafford. Just back him up cause by week 5 Stafford will go down with some injury, its inevitable. At least this way the season isnt washed because of it.

MVP > DNP

Not my place to jump in, but it's not like Cam can stay healthy either, hence why he's been a free agent so long until today.

@mockingjay: Whaaaat? Until last year he was one of the most durable QB's in the NFL. He started 48 consecutive games lol 2014 he suffered injuries but nothing that knocked him out for any substantial time. He came back the next season (2015) and won the MVP.

He's been a free agent so long because we're suffering a global pandemic. Meaning coaches and staff arent able to look him over. Arent able to give him a physical. Cant bring him in and have their medical staff evaluate him. Saying Cam is injury prone isnt accurate IMO. And especially nowhere near the level of Stafford. That dude gets knocked out every other week with a concussion.

@supreme_sapien:

The fact he was a Hesiman winner 10 years ago and an MVP 5 years ago are....pretty much meaningless. Don't make the mistake bad GM's make, paying for past performance. If I had the choice of drafting Cam or Stafford as a rookie, I'd take Cam in an instant, if I had the choice after the 2015 season to get either under a long term deal, I'd pick Cam all day (even if that in hindsight would have been a disaster), but this is the here and now.

Since 2015 Cam's performance trended downward significantly for 3 straight years and then 2019 was pretty much wiped out due to injury. He has never been accurate as a passer, and accuracy is just as critical as scrambling ability in today's offenses. He also has 10 seasons under his belt and age robs the legs of a QB far faster than the arm. Without elite mobility Cam's value plummets and now he has a decade of wear and tear to add to the lost last season. Even if he comes back with mobility intact (best case scenario), how long will it last, and will he even be useful by the time the Lions manage to give him a roster to make a run with that suits him?

Stafford is Stafford, steady but not overly impressive, if the Lions are not willing to rebuild he is still the best option to maintain some level of capability and not bringing in a new QB to learn a system on the fly. That said, it is still a mistake, trade him to a solid team in need of an upgrade at QB and get in a position to draft a rookie with franchise potential. He has value, just not to the Lions at this point.

The comparison to Mahomes and Jackson is an insult to them. Mahomes walked into the league a unicorn and day one complete player (no one saw him being this good this fast, utter freak) and Jackson showed more growth as a QB between his rookie and 2nd year than either Newton or Stafford have over their entire careers. Cam can't pass well enough to even compare to the two of them, and Stafford, while a better passer than Cam, is a pocket passer only.

Yes, quarterbacks have traditionally been given more credit or blame than they deserve by the talking heads and sportscasters, so what? Never made sense then and doesn't now. This isn't basketball where one franchise player can turn a 25 win team into a 50 win team, in football no single player makes a team a contender without talent around them.

As for the Lions front office, agreed, from the top down, owners to scouts need to get drop-kicked to the curb. I have little faith the current regime can execute a proper rebuild, but what we have now is .500 at best and replacing Stafford with Cam is not going to change that fr even the mid-term. Best case is Cam comes in, plays well under the 1 year deal, and then he is gone to greener pastures after rebuilding his value some, he isn't signing long-term in Detroit. At that point we lose Stafford, Cam signs a multi-year deal with a better franchise, and we are rebuilding anyways.

Also the MVP > DNP comment....come on...Stafford missed 8 games in 2019 and before than had not missed a game in 7 years (after his first 2 years being hampered by injury, no question). Cam missed 14 games in 2019 alone so lets pretend that didn't happen.

Also it seems since this discussion started Cam signed a 1 year deal with the Pats, best thing his agent could do for him IMO. They are still in a win now if possible mode and if Cam is healthy I see the Hoodie getting the most of out him as well as being the best possible person to finally work out his worst passing traits.

Cam does not deserve the injury-prone tag, agreed, just coming off an injury.

But he also sat out there for more than just not being able to be given a physical

It shows a winning pattern (along with the other accolades I laid out). I agree that winning the Heisman 'alone' doesnt mean much. But in the context of what I said, it shows that Cam knows how to win. You have to know how to win before you can be a champion of anything. Wait wait, if you'd draft Cam over Staff, why wouldnt you trade em str8 up now? Cam's only gotten better.

Depends on the stats. After 2015 his completion percentage went up. Panthers also let their O-line become one of the worst in the league. And still Cam's numbers didnt dip that low. Especially in 2018. And again, if you want glorified numbers then its no wonder you're ride or die for Stafford. Cause thats all he does. Pad his own stats while the team continues to lose.

If you think Cam has wear and tear then what you must think of Stafford. He's been around a couple years longer with more games missed. Not to mention a broken back last year. He'll never comeback the same. Even if he did all he'd do is throw for a ton of yards and miss the playoffs. Lions could plug Cam in right now and the offense would instantly be better and their revamped Defense could carry em into a deep playoff run.

Hahaha draft? The Lions? All they do is squander draft picks. Check out their draft history. Its horrifying that a team could have had that many top ten draft picks and have nothing to show for it.

All three are mobile QB's. Jackson's accuracy is so bad the team rebuilt not only the roster, but the playbook itself to fit his style. A style that is a mirror of Cams. Just the 2.0 version. Cam came into the league a unicorn as well. He broke alltime records as a rookie. He won the MVP and took his squad to the superbowl. All three have won the MVP. Two of them (cam and mahomes) have been to the superbowl (mahomes won). The comparison is not only on point, I kinda undersold it to be honest.

2018, Lamar had a 58.2 completion percentage. Cam's was 67.5

Yup. Cam had a season ending injury. And before that I believe he missed 1 game his entire career. With that o-line in Carolina, thats amazing.

Holy ish, the Pats signed him. I mean...that kinda proves I was right then. If the greatest NFL franchise, with the greatest coach signed him to replace Brady, I mean....kinda goes without saying that he's a baaaaaad man

@supreme_sapien:

The "secret" to "knowing how to win" is a combination of getting good enough yourself, combined with being on a team with enough talent to make a run and having both peak at the same time. During Cam's tenure with the Panthers they finished over .500 only 3 times in 9 seasons, does that mean he forgot how to win 2/3'rds of the time? No, he peaked at the same time his team did and took them to a championship, you don't base a player off their best or worst season, you base them off their career as a whole and the direction it is trending.

Cam proved that he is good enough to lead a team to a super bowl at his peak, but nothing says he is at or even close to his peak at this point. If last season mirrored 2015 this would not even be a debate and we would both each grab an arm and jettison Stafford with a quickness to get Newton, that isn't the case.

I wouldn't trade Cam for Stafford because neither one is in the best interest of the Lions, best case Cam plays one year for the Lions, makes them slightly better but wins nothing, and leaves in free agency. The Lions are not the Bucs, a talented team in need of a QB where picking up Brady for a 2-3 year run tops makes some sense. They are better off bringing Stafford back, hope he comes back healthy and rebuilds his trade value, then trade him for picks and rebuild.

Cams completion percentage went down two seasons and then rebounded very well in 2018 (the rest of his stats, not really), if he did the same in 2019 this would be a different conversation, instead he went down so hard to say if that was an outlier or a sign he was trending upwards again. He has struggled to crack 60% over his career and by today's standards that is hilariously low.

Again you are talking about early Stafford and not later Stafford. His raw yards have gone down as he is no longer gunslinging, his completion percentage has went up, and he is throwing less picks. Still not great but your assessment is about 5 years out of date.

Also how is saying "I'd trade Stafford for 2 decent picks" considered "ride or die" LOL, I flat out said I'd actively move him if I could.

Neither of us has any idea how either of them are going to come back from injury, your making it sound like Cam is guaranteed to come back a stud and Stafford is destined to be washed up, which is bs. They are both coming into the season with question marks, they could both come back fine, both come back washed, or anywhere in between.

The Lions draft history is a comedy of errors, but, the only way you build sustained success is through the draft. Maintaining a mediocre core with free agents is how countless teams spent a decade plus floating between 5-11 and 9-7 and went nowhere, it is sports no-mans-land, every competent GM in every sport has realized this and acted accordingly. I'd rather them use the blueprint quality franchises follow and fail, then follow the blueprint to go nowhere and stay there.

Mahomes and Jackson are mobile QB's with no mileage on them, Cam has a decade of mileage and coming off a season ending injury. Mahomes and Jackson also had better seasons in 2019 (in their second seasons) than Cam has ever had, even his MVP season. Now I'm not pretending to know how the next 8 years will go for either, but comparing Cam of today to them moving forward other than "back in the day he was more like them" is disingenuous.

Cam missed 5 games other than last season, not 1, but either way I agree he is overall proven to be a durable QB, the injury-prone tag does not apply. But, until I see how he looks after losing nearly a full season to a foot injury, I'm not sold on him. He has value if he comes back healthy, but again, on the right team and in the right situation, the Lions are not it.

So the Pats are so enamored with Cam that they waited all this time to sign him, and then did so under a 1 year, low base salary and incentive laden contract. The literal definition of a "tryout contract" where they have little downside if he flops and no leverage if he is a stud because then they are bidding on him against the rest of the league next year. If he was the chosen heir apparent, they would have inked him to a multi-year deal so after he had a great year (as they would assume an heir apparent would have) they would not then have to pay through the nose on a new deal.

You are making it sound like the Pats had their choice of any QB in the league and chose Cam over all of them to replace Brady, when all they really had to choose from was the remaining free agent QB's and that is not exactly filled with confidence inspiring names.

Drew Stanton, Trevor Simian, Blake Bortles, Matt More, Cody Kessler...this is what was available, of course they signed Cam over them, the whole list are made up of washed or never was QB's.

Look, Cam is a good, low risk signing for the Pats, he fits where they are as a team and as a franchise, and IMO in the best spot for him to comeback and have the best year he could. Players do not have the same value, or same potential on every team the same. Cam is just a better fit on the Pats than the Lions, thats it.

When society asks “how are you“, they don’t really care, they just want to hear your mindless response of content. They have enough energy to confront the truth, unless that truth isn’t what they wanted to hear.

Yes, I know, I’m cynical as hell.

There's really no secret to learning how to win. The phrase is typically used when referencing high leverage or championship games. The playoffs, elimination matches, etc. The only real way to learn how to win championships is by playing in those types of intense pressurized games. The secret to winning is experience. But its not really a secret at all. I'm lost though cause you literally just said that the Heisman and the MVP dont mean anything cause they happened in the past. But now you're saying we need to use the total sum of their career as a base. Which is exactly why I brought up the Heisman in the first place. To show a pattern that throughout Cam's career, he's won at the highest levels. Especially when compared to Stafford. No Heisman. No MVP. No trip to the superbowl. Thats strike 1,2,3 right there. The Lions had almost an identical record over the same period of time only they never won the division. Never went to the superbowl. And went 0-3 in the post season (wild card games early outs).

And I know you know the game, so when you make a comment like 'he's only finished over .500 3 times,' I know you're trying to be slick. Cause even with sub-500 records teams can and sometimes do finish at the top of their division. The Panthers were 7- 8 in 2014 and still won the division. They were 11-5 in 2017 but finished 2nd in the division.

This is moot however cause you yourself said you take the totality of the player's career. I did that already and you pushed back. Gotta pick a lane man cant have it both ways.

Nope. You're right. I dont recall ever saying he was at his peak or going to be at his peak either. We can apply the same logic to Stafford though. Nothing says he's recovered from having his back broke. Nothing indicates Stafford is going to be peak. A lesser version of Cam is still better then a lesser version of Stafford.

I wouldnt 'trade' for Cam either. The Lions wouldnt of had to trade a thing however, as Cam was a free agent. I'm curious which teams you think would trade for Stafford? He's washed and coming off a catastrophic injury. He's not a great or even good scrambler so he's gonna get lit up again. I guess I trust a younger more athletic Cam to make a full recovery from a fracture in his foot, then an old hobbled Stafford recovering from a broken back. hahahah you keep talking about rebuilding as if the Lions havent rebuilt every 5 years or so since the 80's. All they do is rebuild. They might as well start now with Stafford if thats the case.

And who was Cam throwing to? Any pro-bowlers? Any superstar WR's? If Cam had Megatron like Stafford did then Carolina would have won at least two rings. 2018 Cam had his highest completion percentage since entering the league. His QBR was the second highest its ever been. Only finishing behind his MVP season. So going into the 2019 season he was right on track. His numbers were excellent actually. Trending upwards.

Is it? I dont see how. They finished with a losing record in 18 and still finished 3rd in the division. Finished 1st with a losing record in 14. Staffords only been to the post season 3 times during his career. Now thats hilarious. All the talent and weapon's he's had over the years and he cant get the Lions outta the Wildcard? I'd damn near trade Stafford for Andy Dalton.

Styles man. Styles. I said their styles were the same. Scrambling QB's. Not that Cam is as good. Not that Cam is better. I said the trio have the same style. Again, I'm not comparing stats or which outta Mahomes, Jackson, or Newton had the better career. Nope. I'm saying they have the same style. A style that got all three an MVP. And 2 outta the 3 to the superbowl with one winning it. You make it sound as if Cam's been playing for decades. He's played 7 seasons. 8 really but he was injured. There's nothing disingenuous about saying Cam Newton has the same style as Mahomes and Jackson. Its fact.

They actually waited for the market to smooth itself out and then got Cam on the cheap. Almost no risk and all reward. It was a smart move. Pats already had the heir apparent but Brady sabotaged that. He's now in San Fran. Beilick doesnt take flyers out on people though. If Cam's there its cause Bill sees something. Believes he can do some things with a former MVP. I'm making it sound exactly how it is. The greatest franchise in the NFL with the greatest coach just signed a former MVP. The Pats dont play. They cut pro-bowlers for breakfast. They literally just let the greatest QB of alltime go. Pats do business like no one else in the league and have the hardware to prove it works. It wouldnt matter if they signed Cam to the practice squad, it would still mean something.

I actually think the Lions would have been a better fit for Cam. Little to no pressure there. Following Stafford he could sh!t the bed for at least 3 seasons before it became an issue. In New England their gonna have some unreal expectations and the pressure is gonna be huge. If Cam isnt 100% we're gonna find out real quick.

@turren: How r u?

@turren:

How are you?

@supreme_sapien:

Hehe we're funny