Don’t forget we invade the Fire Nation today

Ohio Total Solar Eclipse

The crazy thing about Society of the Snow is that it so could’ve easily been nominated for the majority of the categories for the regular films (outside of best supporting actress, best actress, original screenplay, and best original song). It’s got the strong main actors, like Enzo, Matias, and Agustin. And it has strong supporting actors like Esteban Bigliardi (Javier) and Esteban Kukuriczka (Fito). The score was amazing and unique. The cinematography was beautiful yet jarring at the same time. And I’m honestly surprised it wasn’t nominated for best sound. J.A. Bayona’s direction gave as much accuracy and respect to the true story as he could. And his direction had power that made us feel like we were there with the survivors as they were fighting for their lives and tackling their morals. As for the adapted screenplay, Numa’s narration, Arturo’s monologue, Javier’s monologue was peak writing

Just sayin.

Romanticizing your life sounds so stupid but it will help you cope. Taking extra time to make a yummie coffee in the morning, sitting outide observing the wind in the trees, writing poems, going to old book stores, watching your childhood favourite movies, listening to romantic jazz, writing in a coffee shop, making sure you have moody lighting in your room, putting on asmr rooms as a background noise while you work. It's not a solution, but it makes things a bit better.

Listen to me: You get good at things by being bad at them. You learn by failing. You gain competency and a sense of mastery by failing at something many times and in many interesting ways.

The sooner you are able to laugh at your own failures, to enjoy the process of messing up, the easier life will be. Because you'll no longer be afraid of learning.

And once you're no longer afraid of failing, you can learn anything.

At the end of the day, are you your own worst enemy or a friend to yourself ? Are you talking yourself down, or are you comforting your hurt feelings ? Do you repeat the mean things people say to you or do you find nice words for yourself ? It matters. What you say, what you think about yourself, it matters, it shapes your reality, and this year, let's all make an effort to make that reality a little more supportive, a little more gentle.

Romanticizing life and finding happiness and aesthetic in lots of things is what makes life worth living, what helps us cope when we feel miserable a lot. You have a breakdown, then sit outside and a soft breeze hits you, the clouds look pretty, maybe everything isn't so bad. It doesn't fix things, but it makes us feel better. You stargaze a little, paint funny looking art, all of a sudden you feel different, better. Like some things are bad but some things are also good. Had a rough day, now I am making my favorite tea, listening to the animal crossing soundtrack. Life offers you comfort in many ways, interesting to think about.

You deserve a warm life, a cozy life, a life free of pain and full of people who genuinely care. A world where, when you experience pain, people are still there for you. You will find a soft future. It will be a slow process, full of missteps and fumbling, but someday you will look around and realize that you were right to keep on going.

Also self care SUCKS most of the time. Like it’s not fun at all. It’s doing the stuff you don’t want to, like cleaning your room, submitting that form, going to the gym that first time, having that conversation you avoided or making that call. It’s doing stuff that lets you unwind and stop worrying, and most of the time, that involves confronting and overcoming something you really would rather avoid.

Everybody leaves and I am so alone. Happy New Year everyone.

Virginia Woolf, from a diary entry written c. July 1935 featured in Selected Diaries

"there was the myth of a land without a people for a people without a land. but there were people on this land, and they are the palestinian people" — nada tarbush, palestine diplomat

Virginia Woolf, from a diary entry written c. July 1935 featured in Selected Diaries

the epic highs and tragic lows of literally just being in my head on a perfectly my normal day

I think what I like so much about the ballad of songbirds and snakes is that it shows the true extent of corruption and how it pollutes the soul. Snow wasn't born evil. He was undoubtedly prejudiced against the districts. He was certainly ambitious and snobby. But I think what I find most satisfying about his arc is that - to me at least - there are moments of genuine goodness on his part, or at least the potential to be good.

I think on some level, he did genuinely care about Lucy Gray. He did care Sejanus too, I think, though he didn't want to. Obviously all of this is complicated by his own toxicity and prejudices, but I think Suzanne Collins wanted to highlight the power of choices.

Snow could have chosen love and friendship. He an ample opportunity to. Those seeds of potential to do better and be better could have blossomed. but it didn't because of his own choices. because of what he valued.

I don't think Snow was born as the monster he eventually became, and I certainly don't think these moments of genuine care and affection on his part when he was younger excuses the irredeemable things he did when he was in power. But I think the great tragedy for everyone around him that were most affected by his actions (that knew him personally)- Lucy Gray, Sejanus, Tigris - is that those glimmers of goodness they saw in him that inspired them to attach themselves to Snow in the first place were, to some extent, real.

He just decided not to care anymore. He decided to complete/encourage the system instead of trying to dismantle it. Instead of seeing Lucy Gray as proof that his prejudices against the districts were wrong, he sees her as the exception. Instead of acknowledging Tigris and appreciating the sacrifices she made for him, he chose to honour his reputation and "pride" more. I could go on, really.

But part of the reason why I loved this book so much and that I'm still thinking about it months later is because it shows that Snow actively chose to become what he did. He didn't do it out of vengeance or some tragic revenge plot against the districts. He did it because ultimately he loved power more.