#and she still dreams

[midnight-mismanagement]

I know this has been talked about a lot but just been thinking about how Something Blue is like a fanfic writer going “haha what if I shipped this wouldn’t it be wild jk” and then it spiralling wildly out of control. It is a crack ship eventually treated seriously and I find that hilarious. 

And also just, how does the Will Be Done spell even work. The parameters. I’ve been thinking about it, and Willow only said “why doesn’t she just go marry him” (or something to that effect) not “why don’t they fall hopelessly in love with each other and get married.” They could’ve easily had it where they both maintained their enemy dynamic and been very confused and angry the entire way to getting a marriage certificate, and I think it’s that the concept of marriage and the action of it have to align with the person’s internal logic in some way. Buffy does not believe she will get married, she is the Slayer, she can fantasize but she will most likely die young. So marriage in her head is a Big Fantasy Thing that should only be done if you are Truly In Love and it must require all the wedding planning and the beautiful white dress and all the bells and whistles because the improbability of it happening just fuels the abstract fantasy. She comes across as So Happy and it’s the happiest she’s ever been because on some level she cannot imagine herself being that happy and she cannot imagine a wedding without being that happy, so it’s designated into this little Buffy Fantasy Box Scenario. 

And Spike has loved Dru for a hundred years and never needed a wedding or marriage because that is a Human Concept that he probably also fantasized about as a human but hasn’t really thought of since (and has probably had to abandon). Their love doesn’t need a silly paper, they are having a wedding everyday, they celebrate their love everyday, it’s about the constant displays of devotion. So in this made up marriage scenario, Spike can only imagine himself as initiating a proposal if he is In Love and Devoted (and probably secretly wishes he and Dru did have some kind of wedding but would never admit that. Thinking about Angelus telling him: “you can take what you want, have what you want, but nothing is yours. Not even her [dru].”)

Basically, Spike and Buffy as they are would only consider marriage if they are truly in love with someone and they both have a little tentatively abstract Wedding Fantasy that lives rent free in their brains that they would never admit exists there in the first place. And it’s why both of them act like a CoupleTM and do all the Wedding Planning ThingsTM because that’s what a wedding should be, right? 

They shouldn’t be a Thing [couple/in love] and yet they are meeting each other halfway in indulging this Thing [wedding/marriage/”normal” life] that can never be.  

[kaahmbem]

legend has it that the young witch circe and the once beautiful nymph scylla shared a complicated past...

[bigfatbreak]

How does nooroo feel about Tom in your villian dad au?

After initial introductions, Tom basically thinks Nooroo is a figment of his imagination and a testament to his mind crumbling from the grief of losing Sabine. Nooroo gets an inside look on what really matters to tom, though

Tom uses the butterfly miraculous not for himself, but for the benefit of his daughter. The vengeance he's trying to take on "Hawkmoth" isn't quite as simple as "you're responsible for the death of my wife," it stems from a very, very different source - which makes Nooroo more sympathetic to helping him.

He's still not thrilled, but, Marinette and Tom are so kind to him, he really can't find it in himself to complain.

[petrichara]

Trying to remember the last time I played hide and seek. The last time I said hi to everyone on the street or saw the girls I spent every day of six years with. The last time my dad picked me up, or my mum brushed my hair. When was the last time I dressed without consideration? There is so much to think about now. I remember falling on the grass at school and making stories with the clouds. Hanging upside down from the swing and realising how big the world was. I wonder on the path of growing when we stop feeling big. I am taller now, smaller still.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Alas, this beautiful dream could not last.

[tealgoat]

Had a weird dream

[kangel92]

Do drones dream of fake contentedness?

[sorrelpaws]

TRY TO FORGET HER (hey!)

[undeadlaudna]

Had a horrible thought -

What if - Imogen cannot maintain control. Predathos takes over completely. They have to fight their friend, their girlfriend. Its long. Its tough. Its hard. But they do it. Predathos goes down.

Imogen's body remains, cold, lifeless. They beg someone to heal her, resurrect her.

But no Gods answer their call. They just released something to destroy the Gods, so why would any God answer their pleas?

[hey-hey-j]

she still won't let him hold her but she's okay with hand holding

(★ my Kofi)

[kit-screams-into-the-future]

was having trans marty thoughts again and i came to a realization about this scene

[cozylittleartblog]

noodle stopper figures are SO cute 💙

[commsroom]

peace and (relative) quiet 🌌 (by @kalidels)

[loosescrewslefty]

[gcballet]

Red Dwarf as tweets/textposts pt.7

<- | RD | ->

[inkskinned]

one of the things that i think we should pay attention to, socially, about the disney v. desantis thing is that it is really highlighting the importance of remembering nuance.

in a purely neutral sense, if you engage in something problematic, that does not mean you are necessarily agreeing with what makes it problematic. and i am worried that we have become... so afraid of any form of nuance.

disney isn't my friend, they're a corporate monopoly that bastardized copyright laws for their own benefit, ruin the environment, and abuse their workers (... and many other things). this isn't a hypothetical for me - i grew up in florida. i also worked for the actual Walt Disney World; like, in the parks. i am keenly aware of the ways they hurt people, because they hurt me. i fully believe that part of the reason florida is so conservative is because it's been an "open secret" for years now that disney lobbies the government to keep minimum wage down, and i know they worked hard to keep the parks unmasked and open during the worst parts of Covid. they purposefully keep their employees in poverty. they are in part responsible for the way the floridian government works.

desantis is still, by a margin that is frankly daunting, way worse. the alternative here isn't just "republicans win", it's actual fascism.

in a case like this, where the alternative is to allow actual fascism into united states legislation - where, if desantis wins, there are huge and legal ramifications - it's tempting to minimize the harm disney is also doing, because... well, it's not fascism. but disney isn't the good guy, either, which means republicans are having a field day asking activists oh, so you think their treatment of their employees is okay?

we have been trained there is a right answer. you're right! you're in the good group, and you're winning at having an opinion.

except i have the Internet Prophecy that in 2-3 months, even left-wing people will be ripping apart activists for having "taken disney's side". aren't i an anti-capitalist? aren't i pro-union? aren't i one of the good ones? removed from context and nuance (that in this particular situation i am forced to side with disney, until an other option reveals itself), my act of being like "i hope they have goofy rip his throat out onstage, shaking his lifeless body like a dog toy" - how quickly does that seem like i actually do support disney?

and what about you! at home, reading this. are you experiencing the Thought Crime of... actually liking some of the things disney has made? your memories of days at the parks, or of good movies, or of your favorite show growing up. maybe you are also evil, if you ever enjoyed anything, ever, at all.

to some degree, the binary idealization/vilification of individual motive and meaning already exists in the desantis case. i have seen people saying not to go to the disney pride events because they're cash grabs (they are). i've seen people saying you have to go because they're a way to protest. there isn't a lot of internet understanding of nuance. instead it's just "good show of support" or "evil bootlicking."

this binary understanding is how you can become radicalized. when we fear nuance and disorder, we're allowing ourselves the safety of assuming that the world must exist in binary - good or bad, problematic or "not" problematic. and unfortunately, bigots want you to see the world in this binary ideal. they want you to get mad at me because "disney is taking a risk for our community but you won't sing their praises" and they want me to get mad at you for not respecting the legit personal trauma that disney forced me through.

in a grander scheme outside of disney: what happens is a horrific splintering within activist groups. we bicker with each other about minimal-harm minimal-impact ideologies, like which depiction of bisexuality is the most-true. we gratuitously analyze the personal lives of activists for any sign they might be "problematic". we get spooked because someone was in a dog collar at pride. we wring our hands about setting an empty shopping mall on fire. we tell each other what words we may identify ourselves by. we get fuckin steven universe disk horse when in reality it is a waste of our collective time.

the bigots want you to spend all your time focusing on how pristine and pretty you and your interests are. they want us at each other's throats instead of hand in hand. they want to say see? nothing is ever fucking good enough for these people.

and they want their followers to think in binary as well - a binary that's much easier to follow. see, in our spaces, we attack each other over "proper" behavior. but in bigoted groups? they attack outwards. they have someone they hate, and it is us. they hate you, specifically, and you are why they have problems - not the other people in their group. and that's a part of how they fucking keep winning.

some of the things that are beloved to you have a backbone in something terrible. the music industry is a wasteland. the publishing industry is a bastion of white supremacy. video games run off of unpaid labor and abuse.

the point of activism was always to bring to light that abuse and try to stop it from happening, not to condemn those who engage in the content that comes from those industries. "there is no ethical consumption under late capitalism" also applies to media. your childhood (and maybe current!) love of the little mermaid isn't something you should now flinch from, worried you'll be a "disney adult". wanting the music industry to change for the better does not require that you reject all popular music until that change occurs. you can acknowledge the harm something might cause - and celebrate the love that it has brought into your life.

we must detach an acknowledgment of nuance from a sense of shame and disgust. we must. punishing individual people for their harmless passions is not doing good work. encouraging more thoughtful, empathetic consumption does not mean people should feel ashamed of their basic human capacities and desires. it should never have even been about the individual when the corporation is so obviously the actual evil. this sense that we must live in shame and dread of our personal nuances - it just makes people bitter and hopeless. do you have any idea how scared i am to post this? to just acknowledge the idea of nuance? that i might like something nuanced, and engage in it joyfully? and, at the same time, that i'm brutally aware of the harm that they're doing?

"so what do i do?" ... well, often there isn't a right answer. i mean in this case, i hope mickey chops off ron's head and then does a little giggle. but truth be told, often our opinions on nuanced subjects will differ. you might be able to engage in things that i can't because the nuance doesn't sit right with me. i might think taylor swift is a great performer and a lot of fun, and you might be like "raquel, the jet fuel emissions". we are both correct; neither of us have any actual sway in this. and i think it's important to remember that - the actual scope of individual responsibility. like, i also love going to the parks. Thunder Mountain is so fun. you (just a person) are not responsible for the harm that Disney (the billion dollar corporation) caused me. i don't know. i think it's possible to both enjoy your memories and interrogate the current state of their employment policies.

there is no right way to interrogate or engage with nuance - i just hope you embrace it readily.