“For some time, Hollywood has marketed family entertainment according to a two-pronged strategy, with cute stuff and kinetic motion for the kids and sly pop-cultural references and tame double entendres for mom and dad. Miyazaki has no interest in such trickery, or in the alternative method, most successfully deployed in Pixar features like Finding Nemo, Toy Story 3 and Inside/Out, of blending silliness with sentimentality.”

“Most films made for children are flashy adventure-comedies. Structurally and tonally, they feel almost exactly like blockbusters made for adults, scrubbed of any potentially offensive material. They aren’t so much made for children as they’re made to be not not for children. It’s perhaps telling that the genre is generally called “Family,” rather than “Children’s.” The films are designed to be pleasing to a broad, age-diverse audience, but they’re not necessarily specially made for young minds.”

“My Neighbor Totoro, on the other hand, is a genuine children’s film, attuned to child psychology. Satsuki and Mei move and speak like children: they run and romp, giggle and yell. The sibling dynamic is sensitively rendered: Satsuki is eager to impress her parents but sometimes succumbs to silliness, while Mei is Satsuki’s shadow and echo (with an independent streak). But perhaps most uniquely, My Neighbor Totoro follows children’s goals and concerns. Its protagonists aren’t given a mission or a call to adventure - in the absence of a larger drama, they create their own, as children in stable environments do. They play.”

“Consider the sequence just before Mei first encounters Totoro. Satsuki has left for school, and Dad is working from home, so Mei dons a hat and a shoulder bag and tells her father that she’s “off to run some errands” - The film is hers for the next ten minutes, with very little dialogue. She’s seized by ideas, and then abandons them; her goals switch from moment to moment. First she wants to play “flower shop” with her dad, but then she becomes distracted by a pool full of tadpoles. Then, of course, she needs a bucket to catch tadpoles in - but the bucket has a hole in it. And on it goes, but we’re never bored, because Mei is never bored.”

“[…] You can only ride a ride so many times before the thrill wears off. But a child can never exhaust the possibilities of a park or a neighborhood or a forest, and Totoro exists in this mode. The film is made up of travel and transit and exploration, set against lush, evocative landscapes that seem to extend far beyond the frame. We enter the film driving along a dirt road past houses and rice paddies; we follow Mei as she clambers through a thicket and into the forest; we walk home from school with the girls, ducking into a shrine to take shelter from the rain; we run past endless green fields with Satsuki as she searches for Mei. The psychic center of Totoro’s world is an impossibly giant camphor tree covered in moss. The girls climb over it, bow to it as a forest-guardian, and at one point fly high above it, with the help of Totoro. Much like Totoro himself, the tree is enormous and initially intimidating, but ultimately a source of shelter and inspiration.”

“My Neighbor Totoro has a story, but it’s the kind of story that a child might make up, or that a parent might tell as a bedtime story, prodded along by the refrain, “And then what happened?” This kind of whimsicality is actually baked into Miyazaki’s process: he begins animating his films before they’re fully written. Totoro has chase scenes and fantastical creatures, but these are flights of fancy rooted in a familiar world. A big part of being a kid is watching and waiting, and Miyazaki understands this. When Mei catches a glimpse of a small Totoro running under her house, she crouches down and stares into the gap, waiting. Miyazaki holds on this image: we wait with her. Magical things happen, but most of life happens in between those things—and there is a kind of gentle magic, for a child, in seeing those in-betweens brought to life truthfully on screen.”

A.O. Scott and Lauren Wilford on “My Neighbor Totoro”, 2017.  

i learned that each woman spends approximately $5,600 on her period over her lifetime (x)

this reminded me of the reason why i bought reusable menstrual pads in the first place

im so happy with my collection

where did you get them? theyre so cute I love!

@cerenae i got them here! i recommend 10/10!

Last period was the first time I didn’t use any non reusable products!

REUSABLE???? THERE’S REUSABLE ONES?????

I love reusable ones! Using them almost a year now!

WHAT!!!!

BROOOO

WHATTT

hop aboard the reusable menses product train y’all! boss up your coochie!! all joking aside though, i’ve saved money, no more cramping or inner thigh rashes from the dioxins and other weird chemicals and (pandemic related) fewer reasons to take impromptu trips out of the house. win-win all around.

i bought their trial pack (one of each pad size + pouch) just to see how these pads are like and just a day after using, i bought a starter pack (2 liner, 3 regular,  2 overnight + pouch)

i included a photo below beside my switch for comparison of how big the xl and overnight pads are (i love using both for for nighttime use). daily, i use my regular pads and when working out/post-period, i use the liners.

honestly these are such amazing investments. i cant see myself using commercial pads ever again. they dont stink nor leak and you just have to make sure youre not wearing lace or any flimsy underwear so they’ll stay in place. i totally recommend this!

You can really tell who’s never experienced poverty and food insecurity when it comes to discussions around food costs and how unhealthy food is cheaper. Some fucker always comes in with the price of like… lettuce or… apples. And it’s like yeah bitch but can you work an 11 hour shift after eating some salad and an apple!?! Find me something cheaper, and more filling than the broke ass staples of boxed mac and cheese, hot dogs, noodles, bread, beans, and rice. I’ll wait.

It also ignores the mental toll that poverty takes like maybe your home made veggie filled recipe isn’t crazy expensive but it also involves prep time and cooking time and organization in terms of fresh food that a lotta poor people can’t manage.

Not to mention if you can only afford to get to the store once every couple weeks via bus or cab then you can’t keep fresh veg on deck.

But ya know.. poor people are just dumb and lazy.

To everyone who is going out to the protests across the United States, especially in Portland, please remember:

1. Never talk to the cops. It doesn’t matter if you want to explain your side of the story, tell them off, or try to convince them to let you go. Say nothing. It’s almost impossible to talk yourself out of criminal charges. It’s very easy to talk yourself into them. Say. Nothing. 

2. If you are arrested, clearly say the words “I am invoking my right to silence, and I am invoking my right to a lawyer. I will not speak to you without a lawyer present.”. Ambiguous statements like “I think I need a lawyer” or “gimme a lawyer” have historically not held up in court. State very clearly that you are invoking your right to an attorney and will not answer questions without one. This is the only thing you will say, over and over again. 

3. Seriously, don’t talk to the cops. Saying that you are invoking your right to remain silent does not mean the cops have to stop questioning you. If you say that you are remaining silent, it’s up to you to actually remain silent. They will try very hard to get you to talk even after you’ve stated that you will be silent, and if they succeed, your words will be held against you. 

4. Do not lie to the cops. Lying to authorities is a felony. Best way to avoid lying? Say absolutely nothing. 

5. Take the biometric locks off your phone. If your phone can be unlocked with your face or fingerprint, police can force you to unlock your phone for them. If it opens only with a passcode or password, they cannot compel you to unlock the phone without a warrant. 

6. Livestream interactions with the cops, don’t just film with the camera app. Make sure all interactions with the cops are filmed, and make sure that the footage is being sent somewhere where it cannot be deleted or destroyed by police. 

7. Make sure that someone knows you are out protesting, and that this person knows your full legal name, date of birth, and what time to expect you home. If you are arrested, your loved ones will need this information to find you in the system. Don’t assume that your friends know your DOB and full legal name - send a picture of your ID to a trusted person who will not be protesting and let them know to start looking for you if you don’t check in a set time. Some protesters have also begun shouting this information as they are being arrested so other protesters can record it. 

8. Get the information for a pro-bono lawyer in your area and write it on your body. Several lawyers and firms have offered to defend anyone arrested at the protests for free. Write down the information of a free legal service on your body with permanent marker before you go to protest, ideally in a location like your shin or forearm where you won’t sweat it off - keeping the number in your phone is not helpful if your phone is confiscated, dead or damaged. 

9. Stay as safe as you can. Bring water and snacks, wear sunscreen, bring bus fare, wear your mask and take rests in the shade if it gets hot out. Bring a portable charger or backup battery if you have one, and make sure your phone is charged so you can film interactions with the police. Look out for your fellow protesters, and let other protesters know right away if you are injured or in need of assistance. Do whatever you can to make it back home safe.  Black Lives Matter.

A Japanese company sends a poll to their employees: “Should high heels be obligatory?” 76% of men and 23% of women vote in favour. “Per the poll, the new dress code will start Monday. We will provide you with shoes.” The men are directed to the counter with high heels, the women to flat shoes.

That’s the whole damn story

Me: “Here are some free masks if you didn’t bring your own.”

Father: “We can’t, we have medical issues.”

Son: “What? No we don’t.”

Hey so fun fact, the ADA does not protect your right to go inside a business/building without a mask during a pandemic. If you’re disabled and unable to wear a mask, the business or organization must do their best to provide an equivalent service - say curbside pickup of groceries or a food order, or providing the same information on paper for a nature center. They do not have to let you inside.

As a disabled person who educates on the ADA, this abuse of disability law by abled people who clearly don’t give a flying fuck about disabled people and our civil rights infuriates me. If your center requires a mask and they won’t (or can’t) wear one, kick them out.

Kick. Them. Out.

And if they Karen about it, remind them that you can refuse service to people who pose a public safety issue.

Not here. The mask mandate starts tomorrow but the police refuse to help people enforce it. If we say “you can’t come inside without a mask” and visitors say “actually, I’m going to anyway” we’ve been instructed to lock ourselves in the back room and wait for them to leave because there’s nothing we can do to stop them.

The filmmakers stated that ICE threatened to subpoena raw footage and “threatened legal action” if scenes that negatively portrayed their policies and actions were not removed. 

The pair went as far as to start using encrypted messenger services, installing cameras in their office and moving the raw footage to a secure location to thwart what they believed was very aggressive rhetoric by ICE through the negotiations around the finished film.

Reblogging again because it’s important. It comes out this Monday, August 3rd, on Netflix. It’s called Immigration Nation.

What the fuck?

defaulting to they/them pronouns when you don’t know the pronouns of the person you’re talking about it fine, there are plenty of reasons you might not be aware of or able to check someone’s pronouns.

using they/them pronouns for people who you know don’t use them is misgendering and a shitty thing to do, especially to trans folk who use binary pronouns or pronouns other than they/them.

THANK you

This is such an important and genuinely terrifying post. I could completely go off on the rise of anti-science, but for now I’ll just add: it isn’t just boomers that get deceived. This is a warning to all of us.

Pay ATTENTION to what you are being told. If you think you cannot be deceived, you leave yourself open to deception. Question, doubt, research research research. Learn about your personal biases, dig up any subconscious cognitive dissonance. Keep an eye on your mind.

It needs to be stressed that biases, not a lack of intelligence, is very much the issue here. Being aware of the need to fact check yourself is key: Intelligence won’t protect you from bad or unhealthy mental states, or keep you safe from cults of any sort. Intelligence will just make it easier for you to rationalize and attempt to justify the malformed tools you’ve taken/been given to yourself and others. You need to be wise enough to challenge yourself.

As a cult survivor, this is lethally accurate.

i??????? sksjsbzvsvshdhsbdb

update:

He did her right

“he”?

confirmed

y’all saying BLM for one situation just don’t sit right with me, it goes beyond police brutality!!! it’s Black women dying at a higher rate during childbirth. it’s Black people being exposed to COVID-19 at a higher rate. it’s Black people being forced into low income communities. it's Black people being denied job opportunities due to the name on their applications. it's Black people being denied into higher institutions despite having the same qualifications as their non-Black counterparts. it's Black people having their creations and ideas stolen without being given credit simply because a good percentage of society still believes in 2020 that Black people are not creative enough or smart enough or skilled enough. this isn't just about police brutality. this is deeper than that.

And when a six-foot tall Persian priestess with a fucking GOLD EYE speaks, you know you damn well listen to what she has to say.

LOOK WHO HAS SOMETHING DRAW. IT IS ME, MY GAY BITCHES.

Finally had a tiny break time.

So…. Anyone still up for golden eyed six foot tall priestess??

Please draw her more and color her.

Ok

My pentab going wonky so didnt get to color my janky ass sketch. but here is the sacrificial art to summon lesbian deity’s dead priestess. bonus: 6 foot high golden eye priestess looking down at all the smols.

I had no idea that chickens could?? float?? or swim??? I don’t know why I’ve never thought of chickens as buoyant. I never picture chickens anywhere near water. what else have I been missing

C'est les swimming poules

Reblogging for the pun and the pun alone