#aside from me bc i have no standards apparently

[acircusfullofdemons]

can't wait till I'm off my period i hate second guessing everything

[orcelito]

Does matcha know her impact in the world. Does matcha know what she means to me?

Constantly getting world shortages of matcha. But the true shortage. Is in my heart...

[waytootiredstudent]

Okay alright sorry for all the sudden German politics influx but lemme explain what happened so far and why Germans are losing it a bit:

The tldr? Our government is getting a divorce and it's turning messy with elections being called early and now being called even earlier.

The longer version?

Okay so, groundwork first:

in Germany there is a coalition currently in power called the Ampel(traffic lights) bc the colours of the party are red, yellow and green (or not anymore or for much longer??). They're centrist slightly more left leaning than right leaning. (You could argue about that I am aware). There has been infighting for as long as this coalition has been going on. It is also the first three party coalition since y know, the Last Time.

So. Enough groundwork. The yellow party (FDP) has a finance minister (Christiane Lindner) it's this guy

You will see him in memes I am sure. We don't like him. He's an asshole and has blocked every meaningful change that the coalition had been trying to accomplish. He also got his finance plan blocked by our highest court because parts were against our Constitution.

(.... I am oversimplifying hard here it's actually more complicated than that and not fully his fault, but it's also not the focus)

What WAS the fault though of him and the FDP was that they had a strong position of "saving money at all costs" which made bigger and bigger rifts with the two other coalition partners who were more leaftleaning. The war in Ukraine, Infrastructure, climate change - there were many places that needed more money and Lidner was like naaahhhhh for no fucking reason other than "oh we need to save money!!"

Long story short there have been arguing all the fucking time and therefore have started to lose approval. Drastically lose approval. As on for the first time since the Last Time there is a far right party in charge for part of the country that is also being investigated for being Nazis. (Oversimplifying again).

Which is. Worrying. You know. Especially with Trump now being elected. It has us all a little skittish.

The finance minister has also now been fired.

You see. We were all still trying to stomach Trump winning the US election, when Scholz, in the same fucking evening, fired Lindner.

And not in a polite way. Nah. Olaf fucking Scholz our Chancellor, notorious for saying literally nothing, and with a running joke that he regularly stops existing bc that man Does Not Take Stances, a spine of wet cardboard, delivered this yesterday evening:

(English subtitles by me you already got this far watch it I spent too much time on this lol)

And it is insane alright. For his standards and German politic standards thats the equivalent of calling Lindner a egomaniacal bitch that has only his self interest at heart and can not be trusted.

Lindner and his party have been pulverised in all recent elections. Which means that after he was fired, the FDP completely withdrew from the coalition and all minister from the FDP resigned.

....well all but one who apparently stayed in his positions because he's leaving the FDP over this. What sort of shitty backstabbing kindergarten fight is this. (Jokes aside hes the minister of transportation and says he needs to stay in office in important projects. Which. True. Having minister resigning en mass is not good)

Alright cool cool cool cool. Current situation yesterday is the following:

So. Trump is president. Fuck.

Lindner got fired! Yaaay!

Wait my goverment is now also falling apart! Fuck.

Which all lead to new elections being called in Germany.

Mind you, that's not usual ok. I know other countries have systems where they can call an election whenever but that is not a thing that normally happens here. We have a schedule alright. (Insert obligatory "Germans and their plans and structure" joke)

So new elections are called for spring, nearly a year early. Cool cool cool. With a right wing rising in Germany and deeply unpopular current leadership. On the eve of motherfucking trump getting elected.

Habeck, leader of the green party and one of the few policians in germany I think is vaguely liked by ppl (the general attitude in German politics is less "I like this guy" and more "you are the least shitty choice I guess") has appearently also nearly started crying after the news broke. So. Yeah.

Now. Let's make this shitshow complete,alright?

There is this party. CDU. They had been in charge for a very long time in Germany. Centrist, right leaning, with the afd on the rising even more right leaning than before. Their current leader is Friedrich Merz, as unpleasant as human beings can go.

He has now called for the new election to be not in a few months but like. To be called next week.

In the current climate.

So yeah. if you're German mutuals and friends are currently going through their own stages of grief - this is why.

[super-paper]

The Villains' Pastime: Gourmet Food Highlights

Another day, another event focused on the LOV and their targeted psychic attacks on Skeptic's blood pressure (+ ReDestro's wallet)

The event starts with the gang fully embracing the freeloader lifestyle: lounging around and playing cards, ordering premium food on the PLF's dime, and doing absolutely nothing to actually help out with running the organization they violently took over like a week ago.

Everyone praises Tomura for being good at cards, with Compress and Twice wondering how he can be so good at reading others even though most of them are wearing masks. Jin then proceeds to shout out what his hand is, solving part of the mystery behind Tomura's undefeated winning streak in record time.

They want to play another game, but Tomura shoots them down bc it's close to noon and he's hungry. They agree to stop playing cards and get some lunch, and start talking about what sort of gourmet (read: expensive) foods they should try next. Tomura breezily talks about how nice it is to finally have money to burn (he's the worst ♥️), which inevitably summons Skeptic from the fourth ring of hell to bitch everyone out about wasting the PLF's precious funds.

"Thanks a bunch~" If Skeptic murks you in your sleep, you really only have yourself to blame Mister.

No one does "endearing in a criminally insane way" quite like Tomura. 😬

Trumpet senses that things are about to get ugly (or that skeptic is about five seconds away from a full blown hypertensive crisis) and intervenes, suggesting that they play a game of cards-- If Tomura wins, the PLF will foot the bill. If Skeptic wins, they either have to pay for their own lunch or just go hungry.

Tomura (quite predictably) says "fuck that" and tells Spinner just to go buy them lunch at a convenience store.

>be me >be stuck in a secret base hidden deep in the mountains >be literally miles away from civilization and the nearest town >tfw warp gate is doing ten-to-life and warp sludge is being gatekept by the world's most toxic Ivo Robotnik cosplayer 😔 >my boss, fully aware of all the above, orders me to walk to the nearest town and buy him a frozen burrito from a gas station >mfw

IS THIS YOUR MAN, SPINNER.

Tomura lightly bullying his friends and making unreasonable requests is nothing new, but this one strikes me as hilariously mean spirited even by his standards bc it’s also implied Tomura expects Spinner to foot the bill on top of all that:

BRO FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE 😭

Trumpet eventually convinces Tomura that it would actually (read: obviously) be faster to just settle the issue with a game of cards-- Tomura finally gives in, and they settle on a game of blackjack.

Compress explains the rules of blackjack and offers to deal the cards-- Trumpet shuts this down immediately and says that HE will deal the cards, thank you very much:

As an aside, I love how utterly shameless they make Compress in these events lmao.

Tomura and Skeptic begin their game, and Tomura quickly makes it apparent that he approaches blackjack with the same suicidally reckless abandon as he does pretty much everything else:

Out of context MHA, eat your heart out.

Spinner, Compress, and Dabi all worry that Tomura has drawn too many cards and is gonna lose by default, but Jin and Himiko both express their faith in his abilities as an ill-gotten bread winner (<3)

Tomura and Skeptic both reveal their hands, and we hard cut to the aftermath where the LOV are gushing about all the high quality meat they bought on the PLF's dime while Skeptic seethes in the corner.

>Tomura

> making logical choices

well, there's your first mistake.

Trumpet tells Skeptic to stop being a hater and dig in, casually siding with the LOV now that they've won their premium beef:

Trumpet:

Like a true politician.

The lunch party continues until ReDestro enters the scene... gushing about some high quality meat he managed to get ahold of and asking the League if they'd like some hot pot. :) Skeptic realizes his life is a cosmic joke. The event ends.

Bonus Stuff:

This is starting to feel less like a case of the LOV simply liking sushi and more like a united effort to haze Dabi. Deserved, tbh.

Jin telling Himiko to eat her veggies and Compress fondly watching her eat her weight in meat......... they r SO cute wtf..................,😭

>I start joking about Tomura being the most rancid godawful tsundere in existence

>somewhere out there, apollo draws back his dodgeball arm

He sure complains a lot for someone who grumpily indulges their every whim, huh.

[ganondoodle]

(idk if anyone wants to keep hearing my opinions on totk book stuff but-)

apparently it says that rauru DID have kids, multiple even, which yeah... is kinda necessary for zelda to even be connected to them so much so that sonia can SENSE a blood connection (which, even with all the excuses with magic, is just a little too far for me to suspend my disbelief bc its over, OVER, ten thousand years worth of generations that seperate her from them that one lil touch of the hand can sense that (feels more like an attempt to make you care about them or .. see them as zeldas "better" parents just bc they exchange a few nice words, i never got the feeling they were 'better' parents and its also kinda disrespectful to her actual parents, like sure rhoam wasnt the best but i wouldnt call rauru better just bc he was polite)- i could see maybe the light power of hylia or sth but since its the coolest dude that ever lived rauru now that had it which still doesnt make sense and makes me unreasonably annoyed and she can sense BOTH of their powers in her? nah) the fact theres NOTHING about them in the game itself is just so ... no way they planned any of this

i dont think theres anything they can do or say that wont make be believe they either

are making it up alla 'fix it in post' mentality trying to hastily explain stuff the game never bothers to do to try and appease fans or let it appear as if they thought about it at all

something went really REALLY wrong during development, which kinda seems likely given how the game turned out (im sorry i cannot let go, its not just the writing, the game design too and how little was changed in the map while being so damn expensive, i dont know how people dont feel scammed q_q)

given that they (allegedly) spent the last entire year of development on polish (where??? where????? huh??? like it would make it more understandable (EXCEPT for the price) if there was alot of trouble, which was also bc it got delayed and ... turned out like this, but they dont want to say it, especially given their reputation, with that quote i have heard way too many times 'a delayed game blah blah') i just??

are they just gonna go and do it like they did with kashiwa (kass)? "they uuuh where flying around the whole time ony cool sonau tech maschines, you just dont see or hear from them ooooorrr they were uuuuh out of the country at the time" (sending invitations to other continents to join their glorious kingdom ;) )

(bet they are also gonna say they did all the stuff like ... moving the shrines around (lol?) and lifting the islands up into the sky- which is still weird bc ... didnt they also say they were living in the sky before coming to the surface?? so where?? did they park all their islands on the surface and the mystery kids had the keys so they had to repark them back into the sky after they returned off camera?? xD also why are the islands so different as an environment if they where from the surface? like even the STONE up there is different- and if they were first in the sky then on the surface and the nback in the sky .. why is there not a single yellow tree or grass in the past- you cant really argue that it changed bc they were up there so long bc .. nothing else changed, the suddendly and totally always there sonau buildings are largely in prime condition, only some slightly moldy, and what we see of the glorious past looks barely any different from the present, aside from like ... some standard trees shuffled, no castle yet and that glowy uwu filter DESPITE that stupidly long time frame between it)

[kamiversee]

SPILL ON UR LOVELIFE OMG WHAT 👀👀 I want fanfic moments too hsjjssj

Are you ready for a yap sesh…

Okay so do y’all rmb that 6ft tall guy I was talking to & said I MIGHT be in love w? Yeah so erm… He was wayyy to lusty for me, so much so that when we talked and he’d say how much he liked me— it just felt weird because it was like “wtf do you like about me aside from the fact that I’m nice & know how to dirty talk??”

And I thought it was ironic that he was too lusty for me even tho I write literal smut in my free time but y’all I’m not even exaggerating when I say nearly every convo w tht man was about sex. And if it wasn’t about sex then it was just about something pertaining to him in general.

Anything he knew about me was info I had to just throw out there to him yk? It was like he never really asked me anything about myself unless it was something sexual. Which irked my nerves so badly because, again, wth did he like about me? The guy didn’t even know my favorite color like ??

But in the beginning I was pretty blindsided by how good the conversations were and I was just happy to receive attention in all honesty.

Anywho tho, I told my bsf about the guy & he was telling me to stop talking to him because it’s going no where, or at least tell him that I want him to start asking things about me but uh…

I’m not that kinda person y’all. I dont want to have to tell someone to be curious about me if they claim to be interested in me. It was so apparent that he was only interested in the way I gave him a listening ear on his struggles & the way I engaged in sexual convos.

So, although I felt like shit for a while because I didn’t wanna be like his other exes tht just up & left him for no reason, I eventually told him I just couldn’t talk to him romantically anymore. NOW, this was damn there the icing on the cake.

While he was really mature about it ending & basically said he understood and wasn’t going to push me about staying or anything, y’all… he didn’t even ask why I wanted things to end. I wasn’t exactly looking for him to ask why but dude, if u claimed to like me as much as you did & were oh so infatuated with me, shouldn’t you wanna know why I suddenly wanna break things off w you??? 😐

Anyway, that ended & we decided to just stay friends. Our convos got shorter and shorter & nowadays he & I both moved on.

ONTO MY CURRENT LOVE INTEREST ��

Guys hes so.

We started talking from me giving him advice abt his ex and stuff & I met him literally right after that first guy so he even gave me advice abt him and when I told him I felt so shitty about leaving guy numb 1, he reassured me even tho he didn’t know me tht well at the time ^-^

Then from there we just became friends and would talk a lot bc he noticed my lil sugu obsession and told me he looked like him (He does lowk) which led to him sayin I should be obsessed w him instead of Sugu since he’s actually real… he lowk gagged me there guys

Aaaand we’d just talk every day more and more, all on discord btw bc it’s so silly over there (server coming when??) And like, I dont rmb when exactly he caught feelings for me but at some point I could just kinda tell.

The only thing was that it just felt too soon so when he actually confessed to me or wtv, I told him I still wanted to know more about him as a person and whatnot. AND GUYSGUYSGUYS.

So rmb guy1 right? & how he didn’t even know my fav color? I told guy2 about that and he immediately asked abt it. I KNOW that’s smth so small but pls, it was so sweet…. is the bar in hell? Idk, I swear I have standards 🙏

We even had a whole convo abt colors & it was just super cute! >< Another time, I vented and told him how guy1 didn’t rlly put in any effort to get to know me but claimed to like me and guy2 went out of his way to say how he wants to know everything about me

When I tell y’all his confession was like smth out of a damn fanfic. YALLLLLL. And it’s funny bc MLN is actually based on events tht’s happened in my life soo…

Anywho, guy2 is amazing and ilhsm. He’s so sweet and silly, I wanna eat him yall ☹️

We talk everyday & I’ve ruined my sleep schedule juust a bit for him (it was ruiened beforehand tbh)!

That’s pretty much how things r goin for me rn. Guy1 & guy2 did interact w each other at one point and it was sooo messy yall, I was not feelin it but thats a story for another time frfr

I hope you guys enjoyed my podcast :3

[horizon-verizon]

There is something funny about the fact that unlike most of the other bullied or abused characters, Aemond is bullied not out of misogyny or ableism or homophobia or parentage, but simply because he's "bullyable" and Alicent never put a stop to it on either end. Because any other Targaryen in his place would have been like, "Yeah I'm in a brothel. So are you. So what if I was feeling a little... nostalgic tonight. Now go away, I already paid for a second round."

But then again, not EVERY Targaryen. And that's where it gets kind of dark. Because the writing itself wants us to have far more sympathy for Aemond in that circumstance, than for Rhaenyra at the same age being accosted by Alicent for her own brothel visit, and this time Alicent has bigotry behind her.

And that's what annoys me with how the show wants you to sympathize with Aemond for being "uniquely" bullied. Because he's not. Because in the episode he's introduced, we're shown how Rhaenyra, Laenor, and their sons are being harassed and outright abused for misogyny, homophobia, and parentage, by adults wielding actual power. Hell, Viserys and Aegon are getting more elder and child abused than Aemond is in that episode. And I find it kind of fucked up that... the writers see the one character who isn't harassed or abused for being vulnerable or marginalized as the true "victim" in that regard.

I'm going to be honest with you. I have not seen this episode so aside form the fact that I know Aemond gets mocked by Aegon at the same brothel Dyana works at. HOWEVER, yes, the show has been doing stuff like this since at least episode 3 or 4. With Rhaenys speaking with Rhaenyra and acting as a sort of diegetic mouthpiece against Rhaenyra for not basically acting as if she has no chance of actually becoming queen. The show places her as the "voice of reason" when she herself has lost her seat bc a man, her own grandfather, made it happen--effectively justifying how misogyny doesn't really matter as much as conforming to the status quo and its threat of violence so you can avoid violence from said status quo...

Or how the Velaryons are apparently paternity tests to use against Rhaenyra's supposed proclivities as if Aegon isn't also having bastards he leaves to fight each other in pits.

This is what we mean when we say unchecked, patronizing sexism is built into the very ethos of this show as well as the moral standard the show is structuring all of its characters and the value of their actions on. This is pretty much what capitalism does--provide a sort of "space" or are of focus for its consumers, pretending that they are pointing out a discrimination when they are really using the consumer's extant biases already socially trained and advertised to them since childhood to sell the product. Makes for seemingly rationally written TV when it's all just shallow trash with glitter on it trying to to seem meagingful or making meaning.

[iraprince]

Hoya I'm currently saving up for a tablet aswell, because I'm drawing on my school's ipad that I have kept well past the due date, but have to give back now that I'm moving out of my boarding school that I'm sponsored to be in, and i wanted to ask for tips/recommendations what to get, because I have literally no money, and am scared to blow it on a tablet that sucks or something

advice on what to get can vary, but i am VERY opinionated on what not to get: fuck wacom lol. this from someone who's been on an intuos pro for years, but while they at least have longevity going for them, mine has had constant driver issues and a major hardware failing -- years ago the port for connecting it to the comp AND FOR CHARGING IT via usb failed for no reason, which is apparently a common issue for my model, so for years i have been forced to 1. only use it via wireless connection, which makes the driver fussiness WORSE and 2. buy a separate universal camera battery charger, bc w the port failing that was the only way to charge the thing. wacoms are fucking EXPENSIVE, and they're lovely to draw on, but imo for the price they should be massaging my balls as a bonus, not breaking constantly and making me tear my hair out. they are just not worth it unless you have the cash to burn and you're a HUUUUUUGE stickler on all the really technical stuff.

rant aside. i have heard nothing but lovely things about huion, which is why it's what i'm switching to now; here and there i've seen ppl say the drivers can be fussy on mac, but it doesn't seem like a dealbreaker. huions are also pretty damn affordable if you're looking at a standard tablet rather than a screen one.

if a huion is outside your budget, i think i can recommend a monoprice -- my first tablet ever was a tiny wacom bamboo, but my first "serious" tablet that i used constantly/daily was a monoprice. it was dirt cheap and it worked absolutely fine and it lasted me for ages. i haven't used one in a very long time, so i can't speak to if the quality is the same as when i used one, but i always think fondly of the one i had. i remember the first-time driver setup being awful, but once it got working i don't remember ever having issues with it again.

in terms of just general tips: get the biggest one you can afford. it's better for your wrist, and even though it's scary to invest in something when you're not sure you'll like it, it's usually worse to pay for something crappy that you'll end up wanting to replace eventually anyway. even when i've had really cramped workspaces or no real workspace at all, i've never found that the compact-ness of a tiny tablet has made up for how ergonomically shit it is to draw on one; i would rather awkwardly wrangle a slightly-too-big tablet any day.

good luck, i hope this is helpful!

[myidealhousehaschickenfeet]

Okay we're watching this skeleton crew show

here are thoughts and impressions:

First episode: very bad, did not like. The whole "quaint suburbia to make you feel grounded so we can tear it away later" thing got old about ten minutes in. I was then toggling between "why am i watching a bad malcolm in the middle episode" and "why am i watching the start of an even worse YA dystopia episode."

like if we're gonna do an *entire* first episode about 10 yr old standardized testing drama then it needs to be actually interesting standardized testing drama rather than cookie cutter stuff straight from the tin. Some stuff:

The Great Plan and The Assessment and The Barrier are all that really dumb YA-dystopia thing of capitalizing a random Thing to make it sound all-powerful and ominous. it doesn't. no one talks like that and it makes it sound dumb

The whole Assessment plotline is dumb and contrived.

a) tomorrow is Assessment where we decide what role you have in our society, 10 year olds!! this feels like. fuking. divergent or something. that level of dumb.

b) this is a world where apparently all 10 year olds dream of being data analysts. extremely contrived to make Wil seem weird and unpopular for (checks notes) being the most normal 10 year old to ever exist.

c) speaking of dumb. this is a world of standardized testing. something which i and any other american who was a schoolchild in the last 20 years is intimately familiar with. and you expect us to believe they've got no protocol for make-up tests??? this kid's dad has to negotiate special and he gets a FIFTY POINT PENALTY (apparently enough that only a PERFECT SCORE will PASS) in order to retake the damn test. You expect me to believe that no child has ever gotten sick ever????

d) this is all made worse by the fact that aside from setting up Wil's charcterization, I'm 1000% that no element of this dumb Assessment will ever come up ever again in the rest of the show. Because the home setting will never come up ever again in the rest of the show. because we're GONNA BE IN SPACE Y'ALL

this is my biggest problem with the episode. What is all this dumb as shit worldbuilding achieving? all it's giving us is "this is a restrictive but orderly/sheltered society that our main kid doesn't do well in."

that's it

that's literally IT

maybe i'm wrong. maybe. disney, i dare you to come back and make The Assessment (actually i'm wrong it's even dumber it's just Assessment, no 'the' capitalized or otherwise. literally it's "how did Assessment go?" which is the dumbest thing) be super important and plot relevant in the climax of the show. or even for one other episode besides this one. i DARE you.

but like. literally nothing is gained here that couldn't have been done way less heavy handedly by just having wil miss A Normal Test. like. a normal one.

no need for dumb worldbuilding.

and then have some Adult like the principle tell wil "You know tests are how we prepare you for being an Orderly member of our Orderly society where you will become An Accountant."

would accomplish LITERALLY the same thing

without artificial stakes

because these are CHILDREN. All stakes are high to them. you don't need to make it Divergent or whatever to make them high just have the characters be invested.

have Wil have a shot of being actually upset and disappointed that he can't seem to meet the standards of his dad etc no matter how hard he tries. have it come after Dad tells him how "mom knew he would succeed, and that means doing well on tests."

give it actual personal stakes, make us care about this dad other than just Generic Dad. make us care about Wil not fitting in other than just Generic Bullying and Generic Assessment bullshit.

as i said. this episode could have been 15 minutes of intro and it would've been BETTER for it

bc the writers would've been forced to write actual characterization done well and quickly and FOCUS on it. rather than wasting all this focus on a contrived dumb plot.

you want the scenes they should've kept? i'll tell you:

opening sequence with action figures, dad, cereal. excellent excellent frame setting, very very grounding, tells you lots about wil and his life very effective and efficient.

scene meeting Neel. excellent. fake lightsaber fight tells us lots about these two and their friendship, all the other kids stare. Great. that give us all we need to know.

seing Fern and KB on the motorbike. motorbike sequence. Fern's mom scene. All very brief, very effective.

Wil is late to school! oh no! esp with their maths test today! (this was not brought up prior bc it DOES NOT NEED TO BE) he takes the bike, maybe tries to mimic some moves he saw fern doing, crashes, finds the ship entrance thing.

scene outside principle's office. meeting Fern who makes up big lies (great character building moment for her)

principle is disappointed in will for missing test "again". dad sits him down to say he needs to try harder apply himself. his mom knew he'd be do great and succeed but that means he has to do well on tests. bonus points for "you've got a great mind in there, you just need to show them that" type thing.

if you want appropriate amounts of cliche you can add "i'm trying but it just feels like whatever i do is never right/enough/i'm never who you want me to be." and then wil is sad and looks at jedi minifigure when he thinks about "living up to his potential"

(this is both way more realistic, way less jarring, and WAY more relatable to an audience. if you're going for groundedness, GO FOR GROUNDEDNESS. either do the "suburbs and blue milk on cereal" thing or the "evil space test decides your fate" thing. trying both just destroys immersion.)

anyways then we see wil feeling bad, maybe his dad feeling bad/guilty too. wil looks between his study books and his jedi shit. and then cut to him sneaking to neel's house.

they get back to the ship, rest of the episode is unchanged. whole intro sequence took 15 minutes, it shows characterization motivation relation to the setting etc. and it isn't dumb and boring and such, and we get to the stuff we're actually here for!!! which is kids in space!!!!

Anyways with that rewrite of episode 1 done, here's another few things that I don't love

we got a whole episode that left all the kids feeling REALLY like stock characters from 20 years ago. stop me if you've heard this before:

Relatable TM little boy who's supposed to be taking tests but just wants advernture and to play with action figures

Sidekick whose traits are Cute and Cares About Main Boy. but don't worry he's not fat he's just an elephant! we aren't making fat jokes BUT he'll still fill the absolute same narrative role as the fat best friend with no internal characterization.

(seriously. Neel looks cute for the first like five minutes and then you realize how severly limited his facial expressions are? like i wish this shit was animated because he is SO unexpressive like this. or a good animatronic or practical effects or shit. He looks like one of those plush toys whose eyes are too big but HE DOESN"T HAVE ANY OTHER EXPRESSIONS. GODS. PLEASE. LET HIS DAMN FACE MOVE INSTEAD OF BEING ALL SMOOTH WITH BIG eYES ALL THE TIME)

Rebellious TM rich girl with high expectations from her parents. she's really smart but she just wants to be a Rebel. she's also got way more skills, good dialogue, interesting characterization etc than anyone else and she really should be the main character in all honesty. but uhhh sorry main character has to be Relatable TM adhd boy!! bc (checks notes) everyman and insecure male audiences probably

Asian kid who's good at tech stuff and hangs around Main Girl. yup that's her whole character all episode. Diversity Win! This Asian tech wizard is a girl!!

Like this doesn't need to be nearly as glaring an issue if you have ACTUAL STUFF happening in the first episode!!! i'd be so happy to watch a bunch of tin-can kid characters do space hijinks. I'm so excited to watch a tv show of that!! and maybe even actual character dynamics and character development if we're lucky!! (i'll still be annoyed about Asian Tech Girl and Totally Not The Fat Best Friend and Deserves To Be Main Character But Girl. but it will be very minor.)

but because you gave us NOTHING ELSE all first episode except the premise of Dumb Entirely Unrelated YA Dystopia Coming Of Age Sitcom

uhhhhh

NO

does not work

and i end up spending all my time making posts like this and analyzing the public transit available in space!suburbs and trying to figure out how this dumb society works and what damn monster invented *lawns* in space bc i fucking hate lawns SO much.

anyways i AM in fact excited for episode two. because this whole episode one was fully unncessary to what sounds like an actually great premise (unprepared kids in space)

[vanishingtwins]

mun intro / happy opening everyone! i’m anwar (not hadid! she/they, est) and i’m super excited to get this show on the road. i recently traveled halfway across the world and just arrived home with the most terrible case of jet lag (mind u, i’m -14 hours behind) so fair warning if replies may be spotty, but anywho! below is likely a novel pertaining to ikehata kana herself. annnnnnd feel free to like so i’ll head your way to plot!

links / full navigation — general

ikehata kana, 27, [set-04] makeup artist (extras)

background lots of implied sarcasm? fair warning

alright SO homegirl was born in yamagata prefecture to japan to a nervous young couple who (by this point) has been goin’ thru it. kana’s mother was pregnant with twins but one of the fetuses dies during the earlier stages of pregnancy so what does that entail? everybody repeat after me, vanishing twin syndrome yes yes that’s what we call that. where the mother and surviving child essentially absorb remnants of the deceased fetal tissue blah blah blah but what does this have to do with anything? well we’ll get to that in a bit aside from a clearly difficult pregnancy

kana makes it out a-okay, we love that. moving on! her father’s a healthcare salaryman who hung up his dream/ambitions/whatever to become a musician and found that being a coward was easier on his end. and this very much trickled into other aspects of his life such as settling down with a woman he isn’t in love with (in comparison to his first love, the one that got away haha) so you know. another case of men marrying what’s in front of them bc that’s how it be, convenience is convenience

has an odd relationship with her father? as in her father isn’t really a father in the disciplinary aspect. he spoils her, indulges her, takes her off the hook whenever her mother wrings her up there. he essentially doesn’t do the asswhooping in the house the way her mother (ikehata sakurai yukako) does (a stay-at-home-wife). ikehata isao (dad) is like one of those parents that failed to set the boundary and is highly passive so.. all of that on top of working a stressful full-time job where he basically puts childrearing in the backseat bc apparently being present emotionally/physically is only a woman’s job, right? and his only responsibility is to be the breadwinner, right? right

ffw to the birth of her little brother and boy is she excited to carry on the big sister role! she’s around 5~6, naive as hell, has no clue that her mother is about to bestow her as the surrogate mother to her lil brother because the realities of motherhood is hacking her mentally, emotionally, as well as physically. and, well. it’s abe shinzo’s japan, women being upfront about the bleakness of motherhood and childhood?? unheard of, we don’t bitch about stuff like that here while the country’s population is dwindling

looking after her brother is all fun and games until kana slowly starts to become her own person yadda yadda. wasn’t a looker back in high school, nor popular, but she did have a good support group of other girly pops. also wasn’t the smartest; average academically at best, hated studying, spent all of her conbini part-time job money on translated versions of love kills, grew incredibly frustrated with japan’s ultra-crazy academic pressure, u get it the whole nine yards. she wants to have a life outside of home with slow building ambitions and whatnot. so! that also means……. detaching herself from being a surrogate mom position for her brother like wtf do u mean i gotta bring him to a girls day and babysit him all the time??

so essentially her rls sours with her mother (i mean tbh she’s always had a rougher rls with her mom but now it’s gotten even worse) and yukako resents the shit out of kana for wanting stuff out of life outside of typical patriarchal standards of what a woman ought to do. but, hey, is it really yukako’s fault? she’s just a gen x woman from a highly conservative family who sold her the dream of being a housewife, a mother, a caretaker, etc. and that’s all she has because she hasn’t dreamt beyond that, nor had ambitions beyond such. a house, a distant husband, a loveless marriage, and a picket fence with two kids. and nothin’ else to her name.

well! kana eventually leaves her home in yamagata to get into an average university majoring in econ, but what the hell is she doing there? i don’t know. it’s especially wild for a girl who’d stay up at night experimenting different makeup styles, techniques, colors, invites her friends over to do such, y’know. i mean she does makeup for the theater crew back in high school and everybody thought she’d end up becoming the next takahashi ana.. so.. that’s not until she drops out bc wait a minute.. she has free will? but also she wants to be able to have a stable income so she can support her nagging mom because dad won’t be retiring anytime soon?? the realization hits her like a truck that she can’t seem to be cowardice and complacent like her father and ends up staying in osaka working 2 jobs (serving at a yakiniku restaurant that recently became popular thru tiktok so now rowdy tourists come on by + a dead-end pharmacy cashier gig) to save up for cosmetology school

news finds her dad and ofc he manages to pitch in with her tuition, and her mom helps her out too with rent as the very least that she can do. i think being in no contact with her mother solidified the wrongness between mother/daughter but will she apologize? no! kana also has your typical first born daughter guilt but she’s got this one shot at life, right. it’s fine if her brother ends up being her mom’s favorite. her family don’t reject what her future plans are post-cosmetology school, but they just don’t understand? even if kana were to explain herself that she finds makeup to be a form of self-expression when individuality is shamed from a societal standpoint…. sometimes you just can’t talk things through to people set in their beliefs, so, she leaves it at that

graduates from cosmetology school, gets a job working at a dior counter in a department store as a makeup artist based on appointments, things are going steady. bigger job opportunities await her such as working on-set for fashion magazines like vivi, nylon japan, and even high cut via korea in which she was based in sk solely to snatch up the makeup artist role @/sanguine studios. she’s built a humble name for herself while working professionally for 3 years, upping her resume with sanguine studios (never minding the history concerning the first rendition of the film umm head scratch) seems Really nice to get her foot in the door.

then lastly, of course, filming crashed possibly even harder than the first time about a decade ago. towards the ending she began to experience psychosis-like symptoms. this doesn’t alarm her in particular when her mother used to briefly bring up times when she’d hear things, see things that doesn’t exist, when the same “things” would be similar to what kana experiences. but of course, the two of them are deluded into thinking its some mumbo jumbo phenomenon with mom’s vanishing twin—but could it be something even crazier.. a disorder or ill-mechanism in the family genes? or something kana ought to confront now having arrived at the island? wallahi we’ll see

personality

very animated, very lively! speaks while using her hands often and is a naturally expressive person even if she does recoil back emotionally from time to time. gets energized by those around her, it’s no wonder that she’s an e for extrovert mbti-wise. known to tell it like it is, yes, she’s an honest gyal but her honesty never comes from a place of rudeness. we don’t do that around here. fiercely loyal of those whom she loves. remains hypercritical of her abilities concerning work and is often in her head about how she should’ve done this or that even better. isn’t necessarily hotheaded but tends to be on the debatey-side to get a strong opinion across?? idk man she’s a hardcore chronic canon-rememberer of love kills so good luck trying to convince her that the first film was awful bc it didn’t respect min taekwoo’s approach. knows that she can’t befriend everybody on set as that’s impossible, but would like to be respected by those that she works with and to also respect those in return. is a certified crash out behind closed doors probs as a result of being so damn self-critical but u know. reasonably: an optimist. seldomly: moody. naturally curious, also a lifelong learner: has to know why it’s like that, how can she get it to do this, and simply get to the bottom of anything she really wants to fuck around and find out it seems. curses like a sailor when you’ve gotten close to her. also not afraid to ask for no pickles in case if your burger came with them on accident #bruhgirl

[time-is-restored]

ted lasso 3x11

got through the latest episode tonight, below are unassorted ramblings abt a kansas ending (which i, despite being almost certain is where the show is heading, am still ardently rooting against):

so i was talking a little with my family abt the extremely likely kansas ending*, and was mentioning how much i really don't vibe with it. i said smth like 'i mean, what's even there for him in kansas?' to which they said (fairly, and rightfully!) 'his son!'. like, that's a pretty bulletproof argument, so i guess im just writing this to figure out why i feel like even that isn't. idk. enough?

[*though if that is the ending, what's the point of the cliffhanger? it's the most obvious + expected outcome, how would it be a 'reveal'? idk, some part of me is still praying for one of those classic Twists™ ig]

like. we've known that ted has a kid since day one. we've known that he loves + misses that kid since day one. according to the text, the number one reason ted left kansas was as a last ditch effort to save his marriage, by giving michelle as much space as humanly possible. they were divorced by the middle of the season, and ted chose to stay at the end.

so like. idk. am i missing something? did he just stay bc he felt an obligation to the team? and now that they're doing well (absurdly, breaking the bounds of belief well), he feels okay moving on? like many ppl have already pointed out, that's a pretty standard plot line in these kind of stories: the mary poppin's style exit stage right. but, say ted goes home (potentially even without beard???? agh??). what's happened to him, these past few seasons? what's different now?

like, it kind of feels like im only gonna be hurt by reading in between the lines here, but kansas doesn't seem to hold a lot of good associations for ted w/o the bedrock of his + michelle's marriage. he's reduced to a morose, spaced out mess within 5 minutes of talking with his mother, he very nearly goes through the Extremely fucked up move of paying someone to spy on michelle after seeing her + jake together for an afternoon, and ofc if anything even remotely reminds him of his dad he gets triggered really badly.

and of course, maybe the idea is 'well, he's started to cope with that all now, and he's starting to talk openly with his mum + grieve his dad, so he has the tools to return' but like. does he???? his support system are EXTREMELY london based. setting aside sharon since he could always telehealth w her, all of the positive progress he's made in his 'home' life seem to exclusively come after he talks w his support group at richmond.

he ended up admitting he was mad at michelle after speaking with the diamond dogs, he was pulled out of his obsessive spiral by rebecca, and he was able to put words to his feelings abt his mum by talking w jamie. to be clear, those are all massively positive things for ted to have done, and i think they at least make a good case for ted progressive positively w his mental health (even if its all gotten a bit tell don't show in this last season). but like. what happens when all that's on the other side of an ocean?

to be clear, from the perspective of real life, it absolutely makes sense that ted would want to return to his son. but on a narrative level, im just. i feel like im being expected to take certain things about ted + henry's relationship for granted, when the text itself hasn't even tried to make those things apparent.

is henry miserable or even generally upset when he has to leave his dad/go back to his mum? not that we ever see! im pretty sure the only time we've seen henry explicitly upset is when ted was ignoring him while he was like five feet away which, yeah, mood! and last we saw, henry even sees more enthused abt richmond winning the whole thing than ted is, so its not like he thinks his dad is just going away to do absolutely nothing of import.

do ted and henry not spend a lot of time together/talk very often? technically we don't see enough of ted's daily routine to know for sure, but the casual mention of playing roblox seems to imply they spend a lot of time together! and ofc none of their phone calls ever have the vibe of 'i haven't spoken to you in ages, here's ALL THE THINGS you've missed!'. they're almost all abt stuff that happened that day.

is ted struggling with being away from henry? well... yes, duh, but i don't even think this season's done particularly well establishing THAT (incredibly obvious and free) piece of ted characterisation.

is ted capable of feeling anything other than vague nostalgia (ie: all of his annecdotes being set there) or extreme distress wrt kansas? apparently not! like, seriously, what is there for him? does he have any friends? a job? family that isn't his mother? where's he gonna live? does he miss the weather? his neighbours? like i am literally on my hands and knees give me ONE (1) concrete opinion ted has about the fucking place that isn't about its FOOD (<- ESPECIALLY coming off the back of an episode where ted was able to experience texan food So Authentic™ that it inspired a literal career-changing epiphany?? like HOW are we supposed to take that as anything other than 'ted is at his best when he acknowledges BOTH of his lives rather than cutting one out in favour of the other'???).

idk. i guess my real problem this late in the game is i can see so many POTENTIAL versions of this show, but what ive been given doesn't feel like it matches up with any of them.

i can imagine a story in which ted's avoidance + variations upon running-away tactics for dealing w conflict get thoroughly deconstructed and challenged while in london, so at the end of the show he's finally emotionally prepared to return to his life in kansas even though it's never going to be a fairytale picturesque no-problems-ever ending again.

i can imagine a story in which going back to kansas isn't good for ted, and will be a major sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice he will be making with the support of his new friends + family, and something that he is determined to make in order to be there w his son, all meaningfully juxtaposed w how he feels his dad 'quit' on him.

i can imagine a story where ultimately, the life that ted's made alongside richmond is just as important to him as his life in kansas, and so he + michelle work out a more equal and long-term custody arangement* with henry (it definitely seems like the 'you get him for the whole year and i get him on school break' was something haphazardly worked out while they were both still under the assumption he'd be in richmond for less than a year), and they alternate who goes to whose home for holidays and shit.

[*side note, why hasn't that come up at all? i'd personally think somewhere around the six month mark of working overseas i'd want to have a talk w my expartner + kid about a schedule that isn't so much of a 80/20 split? like, it's fine if henry moving isn't on the table at all for one reason or another, but at least take the time to actually SAY that??? like, what does michelle do for a living? why is SHE so happy to stay there? give me Literally Anything here gang!!!]

...but ultimately what ive actually seen on screen feels like it fits into none of those categories. eleven hours (in as many episodes!! HOUR! long! episodes!!!!!!) in and i feel like i know infinitely less about ted + his mental state than i did in s1. like, from episode to episode, the writer's aren't sure if he's stuck, or progressing, or going through that classic recovery 'one step forwards, two steps back' dance, or just completely and utterly depressed. there's no continuity. nothing that happens to him in one episode seems to have literally any bearing at all on the ted in the next episode. if u scrubbed all of the notable Ted Scenes™ of any overarching plot references, and shuffled them all up, i genuinely think you would end up w a plateau of scenes totally indistinguishable from each other!*

[*of course, this is my main critique of s3 for like. literally everyone, but it's paticularly damning when im left feeling this lost about the main fucking guy.]

i don't know. i guess after the past few weeks of being really genuinely hurt + angry + upset abt the choices made this season, the feeling im left with near the end of it all is. underwhelmed. and im really not sure what 3x12 could possibly do to change that feeling... even if i am still regrettably, but sincerely rooting for a last minute switcheroo.

[buffyspeak]

for the Character Asks, how about I give you your pick of any/all of our 3 established Gossip Girl Main Characters bc we're writing a whole show about these 3 rich dysfunctional gays lmao

hello YES! i enjoy our rich disaster gay trio sitcom (/dramedy) headcanon chats! work with for the other two so it would largely be headcanons anyway. i decided to go with jenny since the others don't have much canon to work with.

How I feel about this character: my beloved <3 more seriously, she's the character in gossip girl i find most interesting so this is going to be. long. anyway. she can be flawed and self-righteous and self-destructive and petty and she can be awfully, egregiously cruel, she knows how to take someone's insecurities or mistakes and hit them where it already hurts -- and despite all that, she's so sympathetic. because she's also ambitious and creative and starts off the show so optimistic and relatively happy-go-lucky, even with her parents' separation. she's cutthroat because she HAS to be, because she would never be able to hang in the upper east side if she wasn't, and that's the path she sees towards her dreams and doesn't she deserve her dreams? she knows she can hack it if she can just GET THROUGH THE DOOR. she's funny and charming and witty and SAD, sadder than i think anyone in the show realizes until she's imploded by the end of season three. she develops this armor of black clothes and sharp eyeliner and bitchy witticisms in season two and season three even moreso and so many people see this as character derailment or think it makes her awful or irredeemable somehow but i look at her and see a girl who's been tread on too many times, with chuck and with damien and with agnes and the guys in the club and what they almost did. with her father, even, and his lack of ability or willingness to understand where she's coming from, that she's not just sad or lonely at school, she's in DANGER. (evidence: the reference to the fact that apparently everyone except two girls in her chem class apparently tried to light her hair on fire?) so she builds up walls and she isolates and she makes decisions that maybe aren't great but she doesn't have the support she needs and all of this makes me feel so soft and sad for her and protective OF her and protective, even, of her right to be flawed, of her right to make mistakes. every other character in the show has equally (or even worse) egregious flaws that get excused or hand-waved by not only the fandom, by the narrative. jenny is held to a much different standard. the narrative screws her and casts her aside (and yes, i get that taylor momsen wanted to leave, i respect it, and i even respect that it's a teen drama and her exit was always going to be a little dramatic, but they did not have to do what they did) and if they didn't think all of this was the perfect storm for me to emotionally adopt her into the list of blorbos in constant rotation in my head-oven well. they've got another thing coming. tldr; jenny is the Born To Die trope except it's more like Metaphysical Innocence Born To Be "Corrupted". it's so clear what they're doing even in the pilot. i will go to my grave defending her.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: jenny x therapy LMAO. actually answer is uhhh idk. might be easier to give a list of my DEFINITE NOTPS (easily guessable, i'd assume.) i simultaneously DO headcanon jenny as having had a crush on blair and think they have interesting dynamic (and lots of angst and turmoil and admiration/jealousy psuedo-political warfare that makes me understand why people DO ship it) while also not really wanting it be like. A Thing. (i also think their relationship was too fraught and blair in particular was too awful to jenny for them to ever have a healthy romantic relationship, so.) i have... a soft spot for nate and jenny let's say? i don't think canon was the right time for them to be together, obviously, and i can easily see how some of her feelings could come across as comphet (especially with him being so constantly unavailable). at the same time, i think they have a lot of sweet moments that are rooted in like, affection and genuinely liking who the other person is. he's very gentle with her and i think jenny could have used a lot more gentle moments in the show. at the same time, i'm not sure they're ultimately the right fit for each other, and i don't really imagine that they're "end game", so to speak, but i do like reading the occasional post-canon fic about them. so that's where i land on them, i supposed. in actuality, i think jenny probably realizes she's queer in some capacity eventually, but that's a whole other question lmao.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: jenny and eric! but also jenny and dan! but also jenny and serena!! it's hard to pick lmao. i think the show does a pretty decent job showing the complexities of the friendship between jenny and eric given eric's limited screentime lmao. i think they hit something very grounded and real with eric and jenny's back and forth, which how much they love and need each other and also can't stand each other half the time, how their introduction was a really simple moment of jenny showing him compassion and him meeting her back with that effort full-force, with how they both value each other more than is common in heterosexual romance-based western cultures but also can't or won't or don't know that they need to or how to admit that to one another. it's a very honest depiction of a friendship at this age and of this kind, at least for me.

i was about to say that my feelings about dan and jenny are simpler, but i don't know if that's true? i might be repeating myself here, but if there's one thing gossip girl does well, it's grounded and realistic dynamics. they tease each other lightly and they tease each other too harshly sometimes, they fight, and they try to understand each other but often can't, they secret-keep for each other until that's no longer viable, and they do their best to protect one another and it's all just so balanced. one scene that stands out to me is when jenny steals the dress in season one and dan goes into talk to her and it's so clear he's had to take on somewhat of a parental role with her since their mom has been gone? and i'm sure that's frustrating for both jenny and for dan. but despite taking on this role of care, he doesn't treat her condescendingly or with any ire, he tries to be understanding and careful and thoughtful where rufus couldn't be. and while i'd say the show does a disservice to their relationship as time wears on, i think when dan gets the CHANCE to be a good big brother to her, he always always is. he tries to do right by her and even in her harsher, more isolating days, she still tries to trust him and lets herself be jenny around him moreso than she knows how to do with other people.

with jenny and serena -- i think i love what their dynamic could have been more than what it was? watching the pilot for the first time, i was sure there were going to be more big sisterly moments between them, but they end up going for conflict instead. which is understandable; like i said, it IS a drama. but serena tries so hard to be kind to jenny in the first season and while jenny wants to BE blair, i think serena's kindness lets her hold onto her dream a little longer, imagine that there's a world where she gets in with the in-crowd and someone like serena is there to back her up. i also think there's a really intriguing theme of jenny's arc paralleling what's serena's been through in terms of assault and sexual exploitation. the "the sixteen year old virgin" really exemplifies how serena WANTS to protect jenny from going down a path of self-destruction that could lead to her getting hurt even more. and just. that's an interesting but woefully underexplored dynamic. she also has the best approach (at first) in that episode which is to just like. talk to jenny like a peer. explain her worries over a shared pint of ice cream. it's only when she panics and starts Plotting that it becomes Too Much. anyway. there's a world in which their relationship was meatier and i want to live in it!

My unpopular opinion about this character: she deserved way better than the narrative throwing her under the bus to prioritize ch*ck.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i think i wish dan would have found out somehow about jenny getting drugged by agnes. on the one hand, nate telling him maybe would Kind of Not Be Cool, buuut it's tv the characters are allowed to be flawed and messy. plus! it makes the most sense. i feel genuinely feel that if dan found that out, she would be able to open up to him and they would figure out what was best for her (going to stay with their mom for senior year, lots and lots of therapy) sooner and without the ch*ck of it all.

[nandorsjansport]

why are the wwdits writers/showrunners always so weird about the show and nandermo.... i too am getting kind of tired of all the horseshit. And why are they constantly addressing nandermo in so many interviews etc if they're apparently not interested in pursuing it? Like idk, if it were me, and i was in the middle of writing a will-they-won't-they plot, I'd be being incredibly coy and vague about it, rather than flat-out denying or confirming it. Idk if that's standard procedure for tv show writers discussing their shows, but if it's gonna happen in the show (or not), I would want to learn about it by actually watching the show, not from some random press junket. And vehement denial in an attempt to throw you off the scent also just seems stupid as hell as a strategy for keeping people in the dark. Like people are just gonna give up on the show if that's their strategy!

All that aside, does anyone else feel somewhat rankled by a show having lots of queer characters in it but you almost never get to see them do anything queer... i feel like shows nowadays seem to want accolades for having queer characters, but then they never get shown doing anything queer on-screen, like for example literally just kissing someone. it's all off-screen or referred to, but almost never shown. call me crazy but i want my gay characters to be able to express gay love on screen!!! that gets my goat tbh. but maybe that's just me! anyway i'm gonna keep watching bc laszlo is hot and im obsessed with him. (everyone else is hot too, just to be clear.) but im just... tired lol.

[lesvegas]

ritchie’s🎃💀 ABCs of Horror Movie Marathon!! 💀🎃

Horror movie challenge prompted by @quintsmachete

Day Thirteen - M is for My Bloody Valentine (1981)

I already passed up on one Canadian movie this month, there was no way I could skip another one. Especially not one that was filmed somewhere other than Quebec, Ontario, or BC. Especially especially not one that was apparently so violent it had ten whole minutes of film cut from most releases that were essentially lost media until they were re-released in the 2000s (and are notably grainier than the rest of the film as a result).

I'd heard of this movie before, and had avoided it for as long as I have because I heard it was notoriously gory and violent. With the tolerance I've acquired from other horror movies, I can safely say this one is pretty tame in comparison to others I've seen (keep in mind that I watch and rewatch Saw movies for fun these days; your mileage may vary) but I still enjoyed seeing where it went and I can understand why it was a bit much for some audiences back then. It was pretty funny being able to tell when something particularly gory was about to happen because the picture suddenly got a hell of a lot grainier, but I think that added to the enjoyment for me personally, and it could serve as easy warnings for anyone more squeamish who's hesitant to check this one out.

Gore and effects aside, this movie feels like a mostly standard slasher up against modern standards. What really sets it apart is the fact that it features a cast of working-class small town Nova-Scotian miners instead of middle class suburban teens or college students, and the fact that it's really Canadian. I haven't seen many other Canadian slashers so I don't have a good frame of reference here, but this movie really feels Canadian even outside the various brands seen here and there. That said, this movie could've easily have taken place in Newfoundland instead and I'd probably just be wondering why they don't sound very Newfie. This might not be a selling point for most people, but whenever I come across a Canadian movie that isn't ashamed of the fact that it's Canadian AND it's good, I have to hold onto it and not let go. I gotta cherish that shit, because it's so rare. There are tons of good Canadian movies out there, just not a lot of famous ones like this.

I don't really have much else to say about this movie, honestly. It's not too different from other slashers besides the level of violence and the setting, but I still think it's worth checking out and I'm really glad I did. If you like slashers at all, you should see this one if you somehow haven't already.

Will be seeing this again. Five, uh... valentine boxes? Outta five 💝💝💝💝💝

[overlyactivepingpongball]

ok ppl are asking for details so here, i’m half asleep so don’t expect it to be coherent lmao

i came in to find everyone was being all moody, they all told me some variation of “this sucks, OHS is here and now we’re not allowed to stand on the top rung of the ladder, i’m *height shorter than 5”9’*, how am i supposed to get up to the topshelves?”

i got all excited bc i didn’t even know we had an OHS officer, which we don’t, she’s from the local council office lmao

boss was getting chewed out bc OHS officer immediately saw my supervisor standing on the top rung of one of the rickety ass ladders and freaked out bc it’s so crazy unsafe, supervisor immediately ratted out the boss as the one that makes us stand up there bc he can’t be fucked ordering ladders that fit safety standards, so OHS officer drags him to the breakroom to bitch at him, other managers get called by supervisor bc he can’t do shit for the storewhile he’s being ripped apart by her

so i walk into the breakroom all nonchalant, “mornin, oh hi :)”

“hi, im _____ from the OHS office”

*trickery ensues*

*in a sincere voice, feigning ignorance* “you’re from OHS? oh shit does that mean we’re finally getting training?”

“excuse me?”

“you’re here to give us training right? fuck finally i’ve been asking for it for ages”

“you haven’t been trained?”

“none of us have? is that not the norm”

*side eyeing boss* “no it certainly is not”

“really? *while looking boss dead in the eye* bc we haven’t gotten any procedure training, OHS training, PPE, P&P, customer service or anything at all really”

at which point i book it tf out of there as she starts ripping into him again and i start my shift

other 2 managers show up, one of my coworkers almost immediately starts getting on their case bc they keep giving us conflicting orders, “don’t do cashout without purchase any more” “?? no he hasn’t mentioned that to me? just keep doing what you’re doing”, after which she tells them that boss is demanding that people stop asking me to cover their shifts, simply because he doesn’t like me, they apparently had no idea

boss eventually comes out and starts just acting like a world class bitch to everyone, but at that point everyone’s noticed that he’s on the defence so everyone starts telling him to shut the fuck up when he starts with his irritating ass sarcastic attitude, he starts sulking and retreats to his office to do the paperwork he couldn’t do in the mornings, we don’t see him much from then on aside from when brand representatives ask for him by name

i keep sticking my head through the door to the break room to tell the OHS officer more stuff the boss does to get him in more shit

“he sometimes makes us rush the cleaning of spills and breaks, sometimes tells us to skip cleaning if it’s smthn like water, because he thinks it’ll dry”

“we sometimes buy toiletries and medicinal stuff for the bathroom for everyone to use, deodorants, sweat rash creams, bandaids, antiseptics, sewing kits for our clothes, dental floss, mouthwash and the like, he almost always throws them in the trash when he sees them”

“he actively threatens us, threats of termination and vague threats of violence if he doesn’t get his way”

“he demands we don’t park in certain areas that he’s designated “customer parking”, even though he happily parks his dumbass lifted ford Everest, apparently the side parking used to be employee parking but he tore down the signs when he started working here”

“we have a pensioner discount but he demands we don’t give the discount to people with disability pension or veteran pension because they “don’t deserve it”, which is super illegal btw”

every time she notes it down in her phone while she’s doing a MOUNTAIN of paperwork

boss wants to go home at the end of his shift but OHS officer calls him back to the break room to sign more paperwork and get yelled at more

at the end of my shift i get her while she’s checking something in the office and tell her one more thing

“we have to do trolley runs to get all the trolleys from the carpark and the nearby area at the end of the night, he loves to make the under 18 girls go out and do it by themselves in the dark, loooves to mock them when they say they don’t wanna do it and refuses to let any of the adults do it in their place, this is one of the highest crime areas in the south metro btw OK BYE NICE MEETING YOU”

and i go home

last i heard the OHS officer pulled the other two managers (who are actually owners bc it’s all family owned) into the office to ask about their involvement with any of it, and they basically had no idea that he was doing any of that

i doubt he’d get fired bc he’s the son of one of the OG owners and this whole store is nepotistic as fuck but it’s nice to know i ruined his week 😈

and OHS is coming around a few times more soon to make sure we’re getting good ladders and being taught how to safely use them so theres a win there for sure

there’s a fucking OHS officer here THERE IS A FUCKING OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY OFFICER IN MY WORKPLACE PEOPLE I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS DAY SINCE I STARTED WORKING HERE

[mishkakagehishka]

And here's from the thread i posted on twt but slightly reworked bc i think i wasted it on twt lol but

There's the idea that speaking a dialect makes someone less educated or dumb. And asides from the fact that i just think kansai sounds Good, Mika subverts this trope of characters in media who are given dialectal speech as a symbol of "this character is meant to be dumb" because he is actually GENUINELY intelligent. I can name examples for three days, but in the end I always return to HE READ. THE MABINOGION. IN MIDDLE ENGLISH. And got into Yumenosaki which is apparently known for having an awfully difficult entrance exam. What i'm saying is, i appreciate SO MUCH that happyele didn't give him a "country" accent because they wanted us to know he's dumb in the simplest way they could show it. They actually let him have a personality that doesn't revolve around stereotypes. His dialect is treated as nothing more than his manner of speaking, not something that is tied into his intelligence or something we are supposed to judge his character based on. In fact, he himself has talked about how people see him and how they expect him to act just because of his accent - and he has mentioned that it's upsetting to him!!! It's refreshing to see this sort of stuff acknowledged in media when for so long, non-standard accents and dialects were just used as another way to present a character's lack of intelligence and education through speech characterisation.

And you know what - I think that fits very well into the other thing I really love ab him - he's a character based entirely on contrast and paradoxes. Not just the contrast between him speaking a dialect associated with certain characteristics (extroversion, humour, openness, but also stupidity) and being. Well. Shy and introverted and not very quick with coming up with funny quips and INTELLIGENT (i have eternal beef with everyone who falls for Mika's "uhm sorry I musta dropped my brain somewhere" act). But also so many other contrasts like. I don't care, I choose to believe his mismatched eyes are supposed to represent that. Asymmetric on the outside AND inside. We all know he loves creepy/cute, he often calls creepy stuff cute and he loves horror movies and he collects scary images/posters but he also LOVES cute things, he rescues plushies from the trash!! And fixes them and names them and loves them!!!!

But like whatever whatever he's a little orphan who lied to us ab getting adopted, who almost buried his roommate alive bc he thought he killed him, who threatened to kill himself or Shu's future spouse if he gets married, who has been obsessed with Some Guy since he saw him once in, like, elementary(?) school, who decided to enter Yumenosaki (AND MANAGED) almost on impulse, who loves the trash-picking part-time jobs bc he doesn't have to interact with anyone, who collects and fixes thrown away plushies, who apparently makes eroguro art, who wants to be a beacon of hope for all the children who were abandoned and feel as alone as he did, who manages to overcome shyness when he has to talk for TV bc Shu is too shy etc etc i actually adore him.

He means everything to me.