#especially Abby’s reaction she just says ‘ew’ ����

[chloesimaginationthings]

FNAF movie Vanessa’s thoughts when meeting Abby..

[inact-ice]

Episode 9!! Almost done the season thank god bc I’m flagging

- ABBY WE GET TO START WITH AN ABBY MONOLOGUE YIPPEY! Hens monologues being metaphors for her cheating made them so painful omg

- remember kids, even the nicest cops will still kick a homeless man off of a bench while it’s raining

- how do they know which truck he’s in?

- buck was so respectful to that garbage collector, I feel like his relationship with Abby’s making him especially considerate towards other community service workers❤️ ugh the Abby effect love it (I know Abby’s leaving and I am literally gonna be so bored when she’s gone)

- love how people just gather around at these scenes, like what is this guy had been squished

- HI ABBY! HI ABBYS MOM! oh my god??? Oh poor Abby, that sounded like it hit kinda hard jesus

- hello hens cheating arc😞 are they at booster juice? Oh no the cups are just a really bright yellow. Can we wrap this cheating arc up Jesus, I know what happens, I don’t have it in me to care. Athena I hope you get railed too! I could make you feel like a woman too, if you quit the police force

- oooh this is gonna be an interesting elevator emergency, I hope it doesn’t end with the kid accepting his lot under capitalism. Oh this poor kid wait- I can’t handle kid/parent trauma like this

- anyways, bobby didn’t erupt when he heard how badly the building was maintained! Ok growth!

- this kids doing a great job at keeping his mom calm. Ew toilet water in bucks chronically agape mouth ew

- oh it ended with him accepting his lot in capitalism welp

- Athena this guy has a cop fetish. Omg he wants you to dom him… THIS IS THE EPISODE WHERE SHE GETS HANDCUFFED TO THE BED LMAO SO THAT WAS THE CONTEXT

- Angela basset, your boobs look fantastic ma’am.

- ABBY! Abby you would freak out if you knew what was happening right now lmao

- hello Henrietta. I love hens sqwacking laugh

- Athena has so much chemistry with this pretty bald man omg, but is she allowed to bring the uniform for sex stuff?

- ABBY!!!! Girl that hat is so cuteee! Hi buck! Is this a graveyard picnic? ….are those crosses? Ohhh, ok it’s a fun little air balloon date. Noooo, Alzheimer’s is so mean. Buck please, Abby has other things to worry about.

- buck that was the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever heard you say. Never talk about Abby like that ever again, you signed up for this when you agreed to date her! If buck cheats on abby I'm blowing up 911 studio headquarters

- whats going on here? underground bunker? ohhh he's a hoarder! 5 second confused abby reaction shot, i appreciate you so much

- oh no buck! that was a hard hit, is he ok?

- he's blind??? how'd he set up all these traps? i need a tv show about these brothers fr

- chimney to the rescue! so glad it's his to shine! aw i really hope the brother isnt dead. he's alive!! and worried about his brother aw, siblings❤️

- are they twins? aww brothers, omg im gonna cry

- ABBY! buck stop making her feel bad, she's going through it. Abigail please don't sabotage your relationships, you're so deserving of all the kids of love! aw buck, that was so sweeeeet, i hope you get railed after this :)

- hello Athena's pretty bald boyfriend! ope- athena is so mature and upfront about this, and i love that shes just taking the time to heal emotionally while getting some good dick. she's a role-model for sure

- ughhhh hello hen's cheating arc. ugh FINALLY, are hen and karen gonna get back together yet or what

- aw, i wish all the best for those brothers!

- abbys mom is gonna be dead right? yep. rip abbys mom, i really liked her.

that was kinda good, i liked the booby trap brothers and the little bit of a abby

[reki-of-the-valley]

My thoughts on Turning Red

Before I jump into this, I wanna say that 1) this is salt-free. I genuinely loved the movie and found it super cute and deeply resonated with me so I'm just gonna talk about what I found cool and stuff, 2) this is the opinion of a half Chinese Canadian who is not from Toronto, so there might have been some Toronto stuff that I missed, and who is not a 90s kid, but the experience was still pretty similar, 3) I don't know how coherent any of this is going to be

Also, under cut because spoilers and it got long

I'll start with general praise of the animation, visuals, and everything: The body diversity was amazing.

I'm going to be totally honest: Disney has not always been the best with body diversity. All the protagonists and princesses that I grew up with were (mostly white) skinny girls with Barbie proportions. So seeing this cast of girls with totally different body types just made me so happy. Growing up, I looked a lot like Abby, from being a heavier girl to being one of the shortest of my class to the long hair and fringe, and I also acted a lot like her (highly energetic and borderline violent), so seeing an Asian kid who reminded me of me was really cool. And while my experience aligned more with Meilin's (y'know from being a Chinese Canadian and stuff), visually and personality-wise, Abby really resonated with me.

Also, about the bodies, I actually adored that you could see these were girls going through puberty but not at the same speed. It's dumb to get fixated on this, but boobs. 13 is a hella weird age because of puberty and some girls look more child-like while others look a lot older because of bodily changes, and I just really liked that the girls didn't all have the same chest size or a tiny waist. Especially given that if you look up Disney princesses, they all have pretty much the same body. So it was really cool to me that these girls were all so different (also 2 East Asian girls and a South Asian girl!!!)

Also also, not much to say but THEIR NOSES!!!!! I love how they all had different noses!! It was just 💛💛 I liked that a lot

Next: the tween/teen experience

So I won't lie: I cringed so hard while watching this movie. But I didn't cringe because "ew, that's so bad." I cringed because my brain immediately reminded me that "Hey dumbass, look, you did the exact same thing when you were 13."

I won't hide it: I'm someone who is not (and probably never was) attracted to men. Still, that didn't stop me from having a Boy-Crazy phase, except that it was towards fictional men. But how I acted about these boys I had a "crush" on was pretty much the same as how these girls. I'd see fanart about my fictional crushes and call them hot and sexy (which, unrelated to this point, was so weird and amazing to hear in a PG Disney movie). And yeah, I too drew self-insert fanart and wrote self-insert fanfiction with these crushes. Which is totally cringe but totally a 13 (and 14 and just teenage) year old thing to do. And if you think I didn't call my most intense crush the father of my children (be they be plushies or characters in video games, kinda like Mei's Tomagatchi) then you'd be totally wrong. So that? Spot on. 100% the 13-year-old girl experience

The way they act was just so. On point too. I know people have talked about the reaction any middle-schooler would have to see a giant red panda would be to squeal and call it cute, and I totally agree, but I won't be talking about that. I'm mostly thinking about the start of the movie. I'm talking about when Mei says "Ha! Except I'm not like that!" and when the title comes up, she does all those just so typically Weird Teen things. I used to act like that when I was 13. So yes, I cringed so much, but because it was spot on. And again, Abby, how she acts in her introduction (and just generally throughout the movie) was 100% 13 y/o Ellie. I used to scream and intimidate the other kids, except I wasn't screaming in another language because I never learned my ""Asian Language"" (Abby is Korean, but I would have learned Cantonese if my family didn't go out of its way to completely whitewash us because being Asian was Bad(tm) and knowing Cantonese would have been an invitation to bully us). But yeah, tiny cutesie bully girl deeply resonated with me and just gave me flashbacks to being 13.

I won't talk too much about this because I don't have much to say but even the vocabulary was so 13 year old. I counted 3 crap throughout the movie but I really liked how Mei didn't just say crap. She also used crud which I found really funny because it's just so... tween of her. Like, the age where you start swearing but there's still that lingering "wait that's a bad word" so you replace it with something close but not bad? (I remember replacing shit with shiitake mushroom which totally ruined the flow of a sentence, but it was the early censoring). And there were other expressions that we used as tweens (but in the early 2010s, not early 2000s) like "the bomb dot com." It was really cool that even the vocabulary was pretty spot on.

Period talk and being overly emotional

I could but this with the whole tween thing, but I want to make it its own category. Not only did I find it super impressive that periods were discussed in a PG Disney movie (which will lessen the tabooness of the subject) but they didn't make it totally ridiculous and horrible. Like, yeah, they ridiculed it and made it a bit of a mortifying thing, but it wasn't SO bad. Like. I laughed because I remember how embarrassing it was at first and I hid it for so long from my parents. There was no discussing that, so seeing Ming talk to Mei about her changing body and showing all these pads? Kinda cool, ngl. So maybe in the future, it'll be less embarrassing for kids to talk about menstruation? I sure hope so

I also loved how messy the emotions were in this movie. From Mei's uncontrollable crying to her anger to her joy, it was just so, so good. And even seeing her sorta exploring her sexuality? 10/10. loved it. I don't know what to say, but I'm so happy that she wasn't the stereotypical overly zen or no emotions Chinese girl, even if the whole point of the movie was her controlling her emotions. Because while she was supposed to control them, she never really did. She controlled them enough to not harm others, but even then, sometimes she would lose control, which is, again, a very teenager thing to do. Hormones make them snappier and they're going through so much, so it was cool seeing that happen on a screen.

Now, the good stuff. The Canadian Chinese representation in the movie.

That was my biggest fear when starting this movie: I was terrified that they were going to butcher the Chinese Canadian experience. I was terrified that they were going to make it totally stereotypical and just completely disconnected. But they didn't! They actually did a super good job with the Chinese rep!

On the more superficial side of things: the decor was spot on. The house just. I could smell my grandparents' house just from looking at the Lee house. A lot of small details that made me smile: the random orchid, the Chinese calendar on the wall, the kitchenware, Mei's room, the bathroom. And how they were always wearing slippers? Very Chinese. Even the car, the beads on the driver seat? Such a small detail that just had me going "oh wow, I forgot about those." And the temple? Now, I don't remember when's the last time I walked into a temple, it was probably when I went to China, so idk what a temple of the sort would look like in Canada since our China Town sucks ass, but I still got the whole vibe. And you know when they're praying to the ancestors with the fire thingies (I never know what they're actually called)? Spot on. We don't do it at a temple, but whenever we go to the graveyard, exactly that + another extra food ritual. It was so weird to see it happening in an animated kids' movie, but it was also so cool. So I really liked that.

I also highly enjoyed how much Cantonese was being thrown around in the background and how there was the presence of Asian accents. The one I noticed most was Jin (the dad). He doesn't talk much, but he has a slight accent which made me smile like a dumbass. It doesn't change much, but I liked that there was that little bit, that they didn't just take white VAs or Asians without accents. Felt a little more like home? Idk. I liked it.

Also, on the note of language: Mei-Mei. Idk if it's the same in Mandarin, but in Cantonese, repeating a word is like a childish/cutesie way of saying things. So when talking to a kid, you might go "do you want milk-milk?" or "do you want a blanket-blanket?" so Mei-Mei would be a cute diminutive to Meilin that is really rooted in Cantonese tradition of saying things childishly or cutely. And I found that detail really cute.

Also also on the note of language: Mommy. idk if it's only a Chinese thing, but man. Even if I refer to my parents as Mom/Dad, whenever something goes wrong or I want some kind of attention, it's automatically Mommy/Daddy, which you can see Mei do. Like when she's crying in bed? She cries Mommy, but otherwise, she refers to her mother as mom. Also, the way Ming refers to herself as Mommy really hits home for me. My parents don't do that, but my grandparents do, so whenever I'm talking about my parents to them, it's automatically Mommy/Daddy, even if I'm not a little kid anymore. So yeah, another little language thing I really liked.

I know this is a stereotype, but it's true: Food. Always more food. And even the food that was being thrown around, it was all foods I know. From the dumplings (At first I thought they were Har Gow but I think they were just soup dumplings or something) to the oranges, I really laughed because that's the foods that my grandparents shove in my face whenever I see them. Again, not much to say, but it did make me smile a lot to see that. (Also that cooking scene was so sexy??? I could watch it for hours on end and it totally made me want to go make dumplings)

Another little detail that made my heart jump was the Aunties. From the way they appeared to how they acted towards Mei? Very auntie-like. All that would have been missing for it to truly be the Auntie Experience is for Mei to ask "so who is that?" only to be told that it's "your grandmother's friend's sister's best friend" or something like that. And also, how they were dressed?? I have 100% seen Aunties dressed like that so it was hilarious to see.

A more Chinese thing superstition, but the number 4. I missed it the first time, but the way the grandmother says "Four is the worst number"??? Just. Just so true. So for anyone who doesn't know, the number four sounds a lot like death in Cantonese (and maybe also in Mandarin, but idk Mandarin at all, so idk). So four is the worst number ever and even if I'm not superstitious, even I avoid the number four if I can. So seeing that acknowledged was kinda wild and made me weirdly happy.

I also really adored the jade jewelry. It was a nice touch that was to be expected, but still made me smile.

Now, the generational trauma. I cannot not acknowledge it. so here's a little bit on that.

Honor. Honoring your parents. Doing everything they want. Now, that's not just a Chinese thing, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a very Chinese experience. I too was a straight-A student like Mei who was particularly good at math. The only thing was that I had no musical talent and my parents never wanted to pay for the lessons, but that's the whitewashing. But yeah, had to have the best grades to make the parents proud. It was always all about searching for parental approval, especially maternal approval, which can be seen in this movie.

Now, I should say this: my mother is white. My father is Chinese, my mother is white. So my experience doesn't exactly align with the big Chinese Canadian experience, but I still think that I have something to say. Because despite the fact that my mother is white, she very much adopted the Chinese way of raising us, aka extremely high expectations and never letting us go out like the other kids. And, much like Ming, she is big on the gaslighting. (see Ming's "Don't blame me" for how Mei is feeling and how she feels like she was missing out on the teenage experience and stuff)

But anyway, the way I cried when hearing lines like "I never went to concerts. I put my family first. I tried to be a good daughter!" and "Sorry I'm not perfect! Sorry I'm not good enough! Sorry I'll never be like you!" Because those sound like lines I've either heard from my mother or from my (Chinese) aunt or lines I've said. "Sorry I'm not perfect" is definitely something I have said. So seeing such a horrible thing on a screen and then seeing it repaired? Man. I cried like a dumbass.

But more about the wanting mother's approval. Short anecdote: the first time I saw Turning Red, I saw it with my mother. she couldn't relate to anything and immediately went "That was a terribly disappointing movie" and of course, still wanting my mother's approval, I agreed. I was ready to call it disappointing at best, but then I realized that no, I will enjoy this movie. I will enjoy this movie that has a girl that's so much like me, hence the rewatch 24 hours later. But can you see how the desire for approval is just ingrained in me? So hearing more lines like "I'm so sick of being perfect. I'm never gonna be good enough for her. Or anyone" really just took me out. It was the little things and the bigger things that made me enjoy this movie so so much

So TL;DR the Chinese Canadian rep was amazing and I highly enjoyed Turning Red. I haven't often seen protagonists that represent me, so it was kinda amazing to see. I just really really liked this movie, from the wonderful representation of the 13-year-old Fangirl Weird Girl experience to the Asian experience. It was a really cool and cute movie and I highly recommend it, even if Disney as a company sucks ass. so yeah! That's what I thought about the movie!