So - the world is on fire.
Like, literally.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released this week, is bleak.
The outlook on climate change is bad. Humans are the cause.
We may already be too late to fix some of the affects, we're running out of time to stop others.
We need governments and industry to make massive changes. Fast.
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June was awful.
I lost my grandmother, and everything is just that little bit harder, y'know?
I know a lot of people have been through some sh** in the last year and a half - but that doesn't make it any easier.
It's been an extremely rough week.
And I'm emotionally exhausted, at this point.
My grandmother passed away last weekend.
And even though we'd known, for a while, that it was coming - even though we'd almost lost her twice this year already - it still hurts like hell.
Yes! It's here! The final part of 'I Watched Jojo Rabbit' aka Cee can't stop rabbiting on about this film!
If you want to catch up on Part 1 - which is a general look at the hope and humanity of the film Jojo Rabbit - you can do that here.
...Honestly I could've kept talking about this film and issues it brings up for the rest of my life, but let's hope 3 parts is enough!
(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19)
May was one of those in-betweeny months - as lots of months have seemed to be lately.
Here in Wales we had a Senedd/Parliament election, allowing Mark Drakeford (aka everyone's uncle,) to form another consecutive government, and giving him the mandate to continue with his cautious Covid approach.
It also means that while Labour's struggling nationally, Welsh Labour are the strongest they've ever been.
Which means that while England is increasingly voting for the Conservative party (the party our current Prime Minister Boris Johnson leads,) which is the party on the right of UK politics, Wales are sat here being a Socialist democracy and happy with it!
(This is your regular reminder that Socialism =/= Communism, Communism is a form of Socialism.)
Welcome to the next instalment of I Watched Jojo Rabbit, aka 'Cee rabbits on about Jojo Rabbit!*'
(And no, I could not resist the pun.)
While you don't need to have read Part 1 of this mini-post-series in order to understand this part, I do recommend reading it (which I would do, because I wrote it,) to get a more generalised view of Jojo Rabbit as a film.
Jojo Rabbit is a funny and heart-warming film, with a dark and deeply uncomfortable edge.
And this post? This post looks at that darker part of Jojo Rabbit - from the controversial premise to the dark nature of this darkest period of history.
We're gonna get uncomfortable, dearest nerdlets, fair warning.
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(Warning: due to the subject matter of the film Jojo Rabbit, this post discusses: war, Nazis, Hitler, the Holocaust, bigotry, indoctrination)
I watched Jojo Rabbit...
Jojo Rabbit* is a 2019 film written, directed, and starring the legendary Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi.
(It's inspired by, rather than based on, the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens.)
It is a comedy about Nazis.
And yes, you read that right.
It is a comedy about Nazis.
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"Holy sh**!"
These are the words I've just written on paper. Hand-written, in ballpoint pen, in my multi-coloured Crayola notebook (all the cool kids have them! 😉😎)
They're words I've given to one of the characters from my Work in Progress (WIP), Dan, as he realises something ground-breaking that makes everyone look at the situation entirely differently.
...It's a sentiment I fully endorse, because I have no clue where this plot twist came from.
And, with wide eyes, my only statement at this moment can only be an echoed, 'Holy sh**.'
(Only I can't swear because my mother, so it was more like 'Holy...' and then trailing off.)
(Warning: this post discusses political struggle, including murder by the military. It also refers to historical capital punishment and torture.)
On the night of 4th of November, 1839, somewhere between 1000 and 5000 men from the South Wales valleys marched to the Westgate Hotel in Newport.
By morning, at least 22 of them would be dead.
They were killed by the British army on British soil.
This was the Newport Rising.
This is the story of the right to vote in the UK - not just for women, but for the majority of the men in this country, too.
And it's long, and it's bloody, and it's rarely taught in schools.
But it's our history - not the history of the rich, who had long had the right to vote and the ability to stand for parliament - but the history of the working people of this country.
(Warning: this post briefly discusses Covid 19/Coronavirus and Lockdowns, and mental health problems)
April was a mixed month.
Not only did we have snow, hail, rain, and blazing warm sunshine on the same day, but the uncertain opening-up after Lockdown etc. still meant that things felt hecka odd.
We're in that odd position where we're (hopefully) beyond the worst of it, but it's also uber-important not to move too fast, y'know?
(Warning: as you can probably tell from the title, this post discusses Covid 19/Coronavirus, vaccination, needles, and needlephobia.
It also talks about Anxiety and Depression, and mentions being a smol closeted Queer chick, because I'm perfectly capable of going off on tangents.)
I have my vaccine appointment!
At the end of this week, I will be getting my first dose.
(Yes, I am still in my 20s, and Wales started with the over 80s.
The Welsh vaccination programme is working like a well-oiled machine! (I think the small population also probably helps.))
(Warning: this post discusses true crime, and though it avoids details of murders, it does reference various topics surrounding true crime. This post also discusses Depression/Anxiety.
Any links to other websites may have further details of true crime, though I've tried to avoid anything graphic; I am not responsible for the content on these sites.)
I find true crime media weirdly helpful with combatting the affects of my mental health problems.
I put true crime shows on the TV sometimes in the evening, to wind down before falling asleep.
I clamour to Netflix true crime to calm my Anxiety.
I watch true crime docs or YouTube videos while I'm working to help me concentrate.
(Warning: this post discusses death (which you probably figured out,) suicide, grief, mourning, online abuse, domestic abuse, racism, colonisation, ableism, ageism)
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died on Friday. He was 99 years old, nearly 100.
...As seems to be the norm, the world then descended into extreme points of view.
Especially the Internet, obviously, because the Internet is like every extreme dialled up to the max.
(Warning: this post briefly discusses family ill health, mental health problems, and Covid 19)
So, dearest nerdlets: March!
March was better for me personally as Nan's health, although still exceptionally fragile, has been a little better and more stable. Hopefully it'll stay that way and/or keep improving.
(Warning: this post briefly discusses the day-to-day affects of Depression/Anxiety)
Some of you might think this blogpost topic (i.e., blogging ideas) is a bit of a cheat – which, honestly? It kind of is.
But… that’s kind of the point? I guess?
No matter how long you’ve been blogging, you’ll have moments when you just don’t know what to blog about.
Either because your brain is producing nothing but white noise in answer to your increasingly frantic requests for blogging material...
...or because you can’t seem to string your ethereal ideas together into something readable, or at the very least coherent.
(Warning: this post references Covid 19/Coronavirus, and Depression/Anxiety)
"How old are you then?" the adult asks; she's jolly, I do not appreciate forced jolliness. It's inauthentic.
"Six," I say... only it comes out 'thickth' because I've lost some of my baby teeth, and I have a decent gap between my front teeth anyway.
"Thickth," the adult responds, laughing.
I really do not approve of this mocking.
(Warning: scratch the surface of Disney films, and there can be some very dark things underneath, so this post discusses: forced marriage, including to underage girls; murder; the fur industry; genocide.
There may also be SPOILERS for Disney films.)
Think of a Disney villain - there are a few great ones, right?
And I'm sure that we all have our faves, our least faves, our problematic faves.
And a Disney villain, at least traditionally in their animated movies, is as cut-and-dry good-vs-evil as you can get.
But I've noticed something lately - the motivations of Disney's female villains are a lot different to the male ones.
Quick Note: Yes, I'm using male and female as gendered terms synonymous with men and women, on account of social and practical interchangeability.
