Tales of Daring Do

Okay, but Disney movies literally do it all the time in 90 minutes. That's the norm for most animated films. It's ABSOLUTELY possible to use a ninety minute runtime wisely and make it feel like a satisfying story. You just have to make it focused and trim away the side quests unless they contribute in an important way to our understanding of theme or character.

What exactly did the subplot about Crowley losing the Bentley actually contribute? I'm not just trying to be snide here, I am actually truly wondering, what was the POINT?

(My point is, dolphins)

Obviously the answer is, it was probably one of the original six episodes that comprised Season 3, so they kept it in despite having to trim so much of it away that might have given it relevance. But why keep it in at all??

That entire sequence with the crime boss wasted SO MUCH of the precious runtime, time that could have been spent better elsewhere. Like, I dunno, maybe having Crowley and Aziraphale actually reconciling?? Or actually developing Michael's motivation as a villain?? Or giving poor Jesus an actual conclusion to his arc instead of Thanos-snapping him away before he ever "finds the lady"?

I just. I went into the finale feeling SO easy to please. I could have forgiven a rushed plot, bad special effects, some mysteries from S2 never being solved because there wasn't time. I could've even forgiven the fact that some major characters didn't make an appearance again, due to budget constraints and actors not wanting to return.

It didn't need to be Objectively Good for me to enjoy it! Truly!

I would've hand-waved it all away...if they had only given me the one thing I wanted in the end: Crowley and Aziraphale living in peace together for eternity.

We are doing something. We’re rejecting allonormative ideals and that’s a massive thing to do. We’re actively fighting not just to help other aspecs, but to help everyone, because amatonormativity (and allonormativity as a whole) hurt everyone. Single people who want to find a partner but can’t also deserve to be able to exist.

There are so many issues with the expectation of marriage, including:

A single income isn't enough to get by anymore

Having a spouse is almost necessary under the current medical system

Society shames and pressures people who are single to get into relationships constantly

Rejecting allonormativity means fighting against these things that hurt everyone.

At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.

At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.

“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.

The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.

I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.

I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.

I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht. 

i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.

as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.

disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.

at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.

i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.

i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.