#and no actual progress has been made

[hippopotomi]

Sometimes it just feels like everyone cares more about how good it feels to be angry than actually making the world a better place

[the-crooked-library]

okay but like, as much as I am a fervent proponent of “not every ship should get married and in fact some of them would Never” - especially in context of enemies-to-lovers - I hope that everyone who sees me posting like that knows I am not talking about Spuffy. in fact, I would go so far as to say they are the two characters most willing and even desperate to get married that I’ve ever seen.

one of Buffy’s most persistent struggles is her right to girlhood and the inevitable expiration date she faces as the Slayer. she’s forced to fight and claw for every possible milestone that other girls around her take for granted - trying out for the cheer squad, running for prom queen, going to college, etc. one of the nightmares she has after killing Angel is about being unable to be a bride and get married. in Something Blue, she throws herself into wedding planning with a passion that speaks to her having daydreamed about it. in most cases, her commitment issues veer toward clinging rather than avoidance, and marriage is absolutely one of those beautiful, unreachable things that were ripped away from her when the Powers chose her. it haunts her.

Spike is probably even more obvious - he’s a man from Victorian England, a society that held marriage on a pedestal. furthermore, he is fundamentally a creature of devotion, never straying from Drusilla for over a century, and then from Buffy even after she was dead. their desperation is also quite similar - Spike’s original community had considered him undesirable, barring him from a love match; and while a union may have been arranged for him as a human, his vampirism took that option away entirely, in the same way that Buffy’s becoming did it. during Something Blue, he is just as committed to planning the minutiae of the wedding as Buffy is, even though they could’ve just decided to do it at the courthouse and get it over with under a shoehorned pretext. he’s been dreaming of a wedding for 150 years, let’s be real

Spuffy would’ve gone insane about a wedding. they would’ve fallen in love worse. they would have threatened each other with divorce constantly but stayed married anyway for however long they lived. hell, they should’ve done it just for the CPS reasons in season 6, just imagine having to hide it from everyone except the government, lest Anya thinks they’re trying to steal her thunder

[joshuamj]

The Links (+ a Zelda!) from all the LoZ games I've played

[briskchips]

How do you make your animatics? :0

Like, are there any techniques you use to make your animatics and storyboards so expressive and fun? The way they move reminds me of Shandzii in a way :]

Thank you so much!! Shandzii is very very talented, I'm flattered!

I'm not sure how helpful this is, but I think a big portion of my creative process in terms of movement and expression comes from daydreaming! In my head, I'm not held back by my own skill level or motivation, so it can look exactly as extravagant and expressive as I want.

I usually spend upwards of a week just relistening to the song/dialogue I'm interested in using and watching it in my head, sort of "directing" the composition and character movement in my mind until it looks good and I have a specific vision for everything. I build it all out in my head first, so there's zero limits, before I ever pick up a pen and start drawing

If I don't marry myself to the perfect daydream version of an animatic in my head, then I'll subconsciously end up making a simpler, easier to draw version, and it'll overall end up looking a lot flatter and more boring

[fatedroses]

And some days, I just wish you wouldn't look at me at all.

[16archive]

nhl insider chris johnston on accusations that mitch had checked out of playing for the leafs before being traded

"how could you possibly have your heart and soul in this when you're a summer before talking about the next place you're gonna go? and I think it's because most fans have never been in that position ... but I feel like there is a seething resentment for, 'hey, so you weren't really in this anyway.'"

"I don't think the trade talks with vegas and toronto last summer were that real ... I think that that whole flare up around the trade deadline is where all this was like very much it could happen. everything before that was pretty hypothetical. it was, a lot of it was the stuff that gms are doing all the time. 'hey, would you ever think about this', you know ... I don't think it ever got to the point where it's like, 'hey, mitch, we got a deal, would you go to vegas?' so I don't know how much vegas was truly in marner's mind last summer. like it's not a mystery that he would want to play there, but frankly, right now, star players on lots of teams around the league probably hypothetically would be interested in playing in vegas."

"I don't believe that this is as nefarious as it looks. and, quite frankly, any player that's a pending ufa [unrestricted free agent], you could make the same point about. 'how much is his heart fully-?' I mean, he just had his best season, statistically. so I don't think you can say that mitch didn't hold up his end of the bargain. maybe you wanted more in the playoffs, but you've said that other years when you didn't question where his heart was. I mean, I don't think he did anything wrong in this circumstance ... maybe he was thinking 'maybe this is the year we go and win a cup and maybe I want to stay.'"

full transcript under the cut

"one of the things mitch talked about in his press conference was the fact that it seemed like there were trade, some sort of trade talk last year with, between the leafs and vegas, and that he and his family sort of mentioned, or, talked about the fact that they would be interested in that prospect. and obviously, nothing came of that, 'cause I believe the leafs reportedly wanted shea theodore, and vegas was like 'yeah, we're just not going to do that. we'll wait a year.' and obviously, that worked out for vegas pretty well, being patient on that. I think for a lot of leafs fans, chris, this feels like a guy that probably should have asked his way out knowing that in retrospect. because, for a lot of people-"

"but he didn't have to."

"I know, I know. so just let me, let me just pose this and then you can poke holes in it. because he didn't have to, but their thing is, how could you possibly have your heart and soul in this when you're a summer before talking about the next place you're gonna go? and I think it's because most fans have never been in that position. maybe that's a normal thing that players do and they talk about and whatever, but I feel like there is a seething resentment for, 'hey, so you weren't really in this anyway.'"

"well-"

"and is that a fair comment to make?"

"look it, I don't think the trade talks with vegas and toronto last summer were that real. like, there was, I think there was a discussion or discussions, but it wasn't like this was necessarily a real thing that was going to happen at that point. once it got into the season and marner wasn't negotiating, it became more urgent, obviously, for the leafs to try to get something back for him. and you had the carolina discussion, which he didn't want to go to carolina, and at that point in time, it was much more real where mitch knew, maybe there's a chance to go to vegas. and it was communicated one way or another, the leafs knew if they could make a trade work, he would go to vegas at that time. 'cause he didn't want to go somewhere where he wasn't gonna sign an extension and be long term-"

"and he wasn't going to do that here."

"-with a seven months pregnant wife."

"yeah."

"so, I think, I think that that whole flare up around the trade deadline is where all this was like very much it could happen. everything before that was pretty hypothetical. it was, a lot of it was the stuff that gms are doing all the time. 'hey, would you ever think about this', you know. that's literally-"

"'what would it look like if this...'"

"I think that's literally the way a lot of gms have to talk to each other, because you're almost just like postulating an idea. like, 'would you ever consider trading one of your star players, and if you did-', you know, like, I think that's how it kind of goes. it's not really like, 'alright, we want marner!'"

"[laughs]"

"and, I don't think it's, it's far more, almost like, 'hey, could we dream up a scenario that might work for everyone?' and I think it was very loose last summer, call it, and I don't think it ever got to the point where it's like, 'hey, mitch, we got a deal, would you go to vegas?' so I don't know how much vegas was truly in marner's mind last summer. like it's not a mystery that he would want to play there, but frankly, right now, star players on lots of teams around the league probably hypothetically would be interested in playing in vegas. for all the reasons mitch is there, but all the reasons that alex pietrangelo once signed there, and mark stone signed an eight year deal right after getting traded out of ottawa, and down the list. max pacioretty. I mean, like, they've always been able to attract top players. so, I don't think this was, in reverse it's getting written far more like this was destiny, it was always gonna go this way. first of all, I think mitch would have played in other cities. certainly I believe dallas is a place he would have played if there was a world where that made sense. it didn't make sense, they went and got rantanen at the deadline, they don't have the cap space, we all know what happened since. but, like, I don't think it was vegas or bust all along. I don't believe that this is as nefarious as it looks. and, quite frankly, any player that's a pending ufa [unrestricted free agent], you could make the same point about. 'how much is his heart fully-?' I mean, he just had his best season, statistically. so I don't think you can say that mitch didn't hold up his end of the bargain. maybe you wanted more in the playoffs, but you've said that other years when you didn't question where his heart was. I mean, I don't think he did anything wrong in this circumstance. I mean, if you wanted to try to have a cleaner exit, there was maybe that way. maybe you go to him last summer and say, 'hey look guys'."

"'I'm not going to sign here.'"

"but the one thing we don't know is in the back of his mind, maybe he was thinking 'maybe this is the year we go and win a cup and maybe I want to stay,' like. I don't know that he closed off the possibility."

"yeah."

"but it was another year of the same for him, too, right?"

[witless-winion1]

hi yeah. You guys remember when the Vengeance Saga came out and everyone physically felt the absence of the crew singing the “Make it back alive to our homeland!”

just wanted to see if anybody noticed. Poor Jonas :)

[vaggieslefteye]

CHARLIE MAGNE from HAZBIN HOTEL (2019): Pilot - "That's Entertainment" ↳ "So, I've been thinking: Isn't there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through... redemption?"

[weebsinstash]

I wonder how people feel when they read a few of my posts and they're like "oh this writing/yandere blog looks interesting, I'll go to their page and see what all they have" and it's me switching fandoms every other week, sometimes bitching about politics, and asking for money because my cat is sick

[immortalsins]

5k/10k of my thesis completed 👍 we might be so back (<- girl who has 3 days to do the rest)

[canisalbus]

Hello! I hope I won't sour your mood with this ask but I have been thinking a lot about your gay dogs this month especially.

I'll just try to keep the context short but in general I'm someone that has accepted being romantically undesireable. It was hard but in the end I have built my life just around me, my humble family and at this point in time I don't even think I have the time for a partner. And considering that it's the love month and a lot of people are preparing to celebrate it with their SOs I assumed that, actually, this is a thing that I sort of have in common with Machete.

From the miscellaneous lore on your profile I see Machete as someone that also has kind of rejected love. That also has built his life around his job, possibly hobbies, his family or mentors (depending if we're talking about canon or modern au). Who kind of forgot that relationships are a thing and that people bond with others in that way. Well, at least he did until meeting Vasco.

I just love thinking about their awkward beginnings. Machete being 100% sure that Vasco is just joking, maybe even sometimes teasing him (in a friendly banter type way) or just explaining to himself that all that kindness and interest is just him being a very considerate friend. And then we have Vasco that just tries to be subtle, as if he was trying to pass a fawn without it noticing and running away, but also with time gains confidence and tries more risque moves. Vasco being all smug and Machete being flustered when their hands or shoulders or tails brush in passing. And then when both are sure of their feelings we have Machete who has to choose between God and his love. Who, at first, unwillingly accepts that divine wrath will be worth their brief love.

I just love your boys. I swear they are all the love supply one might possibly need

Thank you for such a long and thoughtful message! I don't know why you thought you might accidentally sour my mood, I'm utterly delighted whenever I hear that someone has been pondering my little guys (rotating them in their head, as they say), and when they go through the trouble of sharing their findings and conclusions I'm so happy I could crawl up a wall.

I think you deciphered Machete's inner workings very well, especially those of the original canon version. The concept of love is of course prominent in Christianity, so even as a kid being raised in a religious environment that discouraged overt displays of affection and close personal bonds, Machete wasn't completely alienated from it. But it has always been a nebulous, unperceivable and unattainable thing for him. When he was old enough to lock down his career choice he readily accepted he'd never have romantic relationships, spouse or a family, and I think he must've been too young and socially inexperienced to think of it as a significant loss. Either he consciously blocked out the need for companionship by studying and working like his life depended on it, or he didn't really consider that being genuinely befriended, appreciated and loved as a person instead of a respectable and competent authority figure was even an option for him, at least not until Vasco came along.

[hangingslothcentral]

It's Trans Day of Visibility!

Today I want to talk about being overlooked, which feels like an odd thing to discuss on TDOV, but there we are.

I used to talk a lot about gender things, and I don't anymore. One reason is that it's just not as present a discomfort in my life, now: I went on T and I got top surgery and these things meant that I didn't feel that grating dissimilitude between who I am and what I appeared to be to other people the way I used to.

But it's not that I don't feel it at all. It's that the way it shows up is different. A disconnect between myself as I am and how I'm addressed by the world. Sure, some people misgender me still, but it's usually relatives wilfully resisting respecting my identity. By and large, strangers assume he/him pronouns for me, even if sometimes look at me with question marks in their eyes for a moment.

I'm a writer and I write queer stories. Those stories often have trans and nonbinary people in them because they are a part of the world, and so of course they're there. I also have the privilege of being surrounded by mostly queer people, so when I'm imagining any given group of friends or colleagues I assume they're about. 70% queer people? I think my data is skewed. Oh well!

The thing is, I'm not particularly interested in writing coming out stories or stories about the process of transition, at least not explicitly. Whilst arguably both Not Quite Dead and Spirit Box Radio handle these things thematically, neither is interested in the explicit process as literally experienced. Part of that is that I think queerness, transness, LGBTQness, it's simultaneously highly individualised and extremely broadly relateable. Whilst most people don't experience an extra puberty in their twenties or thirties, that feeling of learning who you are and being brave enough to become it is something that I think most people can find something powerful to relate to in. Especially when stories lean on the consequences of that decision of radical self-acceptance, which often leads to losing people and muddling up other things in your life, and is rarely as straightforward and affirming as it might seem.

Sometimes it feels like my transness swallows up other parts of my identity. Sometimes that happens on a personal level, where I feel like I can't do things or be a certain way simply by virtue of being trans. I felt this for a long time about dressing and moving in feminine ways. I felt they were not allowed for me in the way they are allowed for cis men. But more often its others' perception of me which is most impacted by transness' distorting lens. People make assumptions about the kinds of work I make, the kinds of characters I will write, because of my transness. They overlook my queerness and my stated attractions because of it, switching the labels I might use for myself into ones they deem more appropriate on the basis of my identity. They'll assume that because I have had access to gender affirming care, I come from a background of middle class privilege and stability, and respond with surprise when I explain I grew up mostly on a council estate in a bedroom with a mould problem so bad the back of my wardrobe was physically damp to the touch.

In my private experience of my transness, it's something which is mostly about other people and the barriers between what they see and assume about me, and who I am. It's often a positive thing; for example, it's part of the reason I am able to connect with and articulate my emotions the way some of my cis peers who are men struggle to without huge amounts of hard work.

To other people, though, it seems like it can get in the way of them understanding other things about who I am, parts of me which from my perspective are far more important and far more integral for understanding and grasping my identity and experience of the world. It means there are expectations on me that don't exist for my cis peers. At it's worst, it can lead people to want to distance themselves from me, whether out of conscious or unconscious bigotry or a fear of being seen as 'too political'. I've been passed over for jobs; awards; opportunities.

Most of these discriminations are subtle. They're usually not conscious. This doesn't make them better than out-and-out, mask-off bigotry, but it can make things more difficult to deal with and express to others who are not used to experiencing these kinds of things. It can be harder to criticise the people themselves for their behaviour, too. They're not doing it on purpose and it's not their intent so the response can often be vicious, defensive, and sometimes even violent, in response to a disconnect between how they perceive their actions and what you're telling them the consequences of their behaviour can be.

It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to suspect that your work might be able to reach more people, that your career might've progressed more smoothly, that you could be in a more safe and stable position, were it not for this one, unchangeable part of who you are. I am fiercely proud of who I am, but that doesn't change that it's made my life more difficult. These kinds of prejudices stack, too. My working class accent; my Jewish heritage; all of these things swirl into a pot of reasons that other people use to overlook me and my work. This things would be massively amplified if I were not from an English-speaking country; if I had not had access to higher education; and especially if I were not white.

It is extraordinarily important for Trans Day of Visibility to exist, because we are so often overlooked to the point of invisibility. It's not just about normalising the idea for cis people; it's not just about pointing out there are trans people everywhere. Those things are hugely important too! It's also about us. It's about the impact that lack of knowledge has on us, those in the closet and out, those stealth and those public about their identities, passing or not. All of us. This impacts *all of us*.

[junemary]

Fengcui are ridiculous. They're fully making out at this point but they REFUSE to acknowledge it out of pure spite they NEED to get the upper hand the other one must be the one to confess first!!!! Can you imagine? Sticking you tongue 5 inches down someone else's throat and still have the guts to say to THEIR FACE that they're the one coming onto you and you don't get it- have they fallen for you? Ooh how interesting, maybe elaborate on that? No? Well fuck you then. And then they do it again. And then they sacrifice themselves for each other MULTIPLE TIMES. Only to share the most disgustingly sweet romance that is CLEAR to everyone around them yet it remains!!!! Unspoken!!!! Even to each other!!!!

[idontmindifuforgetme]

I’m happy for the little life I built for myself

[iniziare]

I don't say this often, but dang, hello Hysilens.

[best-enemies]

The Deca itself amazes me, but its fandom is on a whole other level. We have one canon source material (and a few other mentions scattered throughout the Whoniverse), but the fans have managed to tinker with it so much that fanon is actually more popular than canon and more wildly accepted. And I love y'all for it