Journal

Lately, everyone has been talking about Lilo and Stitch because of the recent remake. This made me remember that I have never seen the priginal movie! It's strange, because I have always been fascinated by the sea - I'm told I spent half a year watching Finding Nemo three times a day when I was really young, and after that I got into a cartoon spinoff of Flipper. My mother said that whenever she put it on I'd ask her to turn it off immediately, which means I never saw anything beyond the trial scene. One reason for this might be that I didn't like anything that didn't star animals at that time, and when I got over this mental block my mother and stepfather had found other things to show me.

One thing I do remember - and since I remember it, I must've been around eight or older - is playing a lot of official games centered around Lilo and Stitch: the famous sandwich stacking one, of course, but many others as well. I also read illustrated books with the characters and likely saw bits of the show in passing, so there was a familiarity.

Either way, I knew I had to catch up. I don't watch things made for kids unless I'm in a specific mood, so I didn't know what to expect. With these premises, here are some observations:

One: I was captivated immediately. I usually struggle with my attention span, but watching this I didn't feel the need to look away once. I would joke that it's like Cocomelon, but it wasn't desperately flashy loud like that sort of content is: it's just visually gorgeous and the pacing is good. The scenes are full because there's a lot of substance, it's not just empty key-jingling.

Two: on the subject of quality, I have to say that it's a really good movie. There are a lot of "childish" things I like that I wouldn't recommend to adults (the My Little Pony shorts are an example), but this one is not one of them. While a lot of children's stories are peddled as "working on an adult level too", I feel like this one is a real example of that concept: the plot revolving around Nani and Lilo facilitates this, because a child might relate to Lilo and not understand the implications of the adults' conversations, and an adult will understand what's being said and not feel condescended to by the movie. The dialogue is by no means complex, but the subtext is not spelled out the way it is in many adult films today: it's easy to understand, and you feel like you're watching a story, not listening to an explanation of one.
In short: it's nice to see a movie made primarily for kids that doesn't talk down to them, and that adults will likely also find touching and fun.

Three: the whole time, and still now, I'm sad I didn't grow up with this movie. The characters were a part of my childhood, and I have vague memories and photographic evidence of liking the franchise, but it wasn't the same. Plato's cave and all that. I know I would've loved it if I had tried watching it a little later (takes place near the ocean, family problems, socially troubled young protagonist, aliens), but I remember by that time I didn't like movies anymore, preferring comics and books instead. I'm glad I watched it now, but I think it would've made me so happy if I'd seen it then. The games and books were nice, but the movie is a work of art that I missed out on until now. It's like when new cartoons come out and people say "I wish this had come out when I was a kid", except it did, and in another timeline I did get to enjoy it back then.

Four: one thing I don't think I've mentioned before (but I might write about at some point) is that I'm prone to dissociation and age regression, both separately and connected to each other. Not all my childish interests are caused by age regression, but the way I approach them shifts as my mental state does; at the same time, my age regression is not always caused by dissociation, but sometimes it is, and it makes the experience different. In this case, though, there was some light dissociation thrown into the mix.
My theory is that seeing something that was so familiar and reminiscent of my childhood and yet completely new confused my brain, which sent me into a regressed haze for the rest of the day. It wasn't so bad, as I was home alone and had already done my things to do for the day, but I didn't expect it. I would say, though, that since I was "normal" when I started watching it and I enjoyed the entirety of it, this doesn't impact my judgement on whether regular adults might like it.

This was not a review: much has been said about Lilo and Stitch by people who know more than me about many things (I recommend this video by ModernGurlz, a Hawaiian youtuber I've been following for some time, for an insightful comparison between the original and the remake). You know which page you're on, this is a journal. If you happen to also not have seen this extremely popular movie for some reason, and you're not completely put off by cartoons, you should give it a try.

A few days ago I went to Sheffield, having been invited to a friend's wedding. I've been to England several times, it is likely the foreign country I've visited the most, but I'd never been to the north of the country. It's sort of the opposite of many other places: the furthest North you go, the nicer the people are. And how nice the people of Sheffield are indeed! Not just at the wedding - where nearly everyone had tattoos and a cool story to tell - but in the streets as well: my boyfriend and I kept nudging at each other to catch a glimpse of middle aged men in battle vests and girls with dyed hair. On the train to Sheffield from Manchester, the person reading the stops would read the stops like so: "Stockport, Dore & Totley, and the wonderful town of Sheffield!" It is safe to say it did not disappoint.

I brought a camcorder with me, but most of the footage turned out to be of my boyfriend standing around and smoking. I don't mind that at all.

The wedding

My friend and I met through fandom (some guests really liked it when I told them we went to Twitter together): we became mutuals around two years ago after a brief discussion that is now partly lost due to their account getting nuked, after I'd read some of their fanfiction. They are an incredibly skilled writer, and while I will not reveal their username here for privacy reasons, anyone who has found their writing and read it is very lucky. We met in person while they were vacationing with their partner in my country and I found that they're not only very talented and cool, but also very nice! When they invited me to their wedding I was so excited.

The ceremony was beautiful: the usually cloudy English sky opened up when they exchanged their vows, showering them in golden light that lasted until the late dusk. Everyone could feel their love for each other as they read poems they'd picked for the occasion and put on the rings. After that we got to hug and chat, and although they were very busy chatting with all the guests as well, we were happy to see each other. I also got to see other online friends of mine I hadn't been able to keep much in touch with! I mostly talked with one of them, we caught up after a year of not talking to each other and they were so fun in person too.
At lunch, one of the people who was supposed to be sitting at our table, a certain Brian, did not show up. We constructed a mythology of Brian over the course of the day, thanking him for the food of his we got to share and making up stories about why he wasn't at the wedding - we found out he was in Poland, for some reason. After the lunch, I got to talk more to my friends and catch up. The music started soon enough, and we danced for hours. I don't think I've ever been to such a large event with such good music. My friend joked that I'm a bit older than I actually am, as I have the tastes of a millennial. Later in the evening I Miss You by Blink-182 and ten of us got into a circle and screamed the lyrics in our thick accents. Even my boyfriend, who's usually too shy to dance, loosened up and danced with me. I also shared a dance with some people I didn't know, and with my friend (not the bride) - we spun each other around and jumped and swung. When Buddy Holly by Weezer came on I rushed inside and my friend (the bride) said, "I forgot you're the number one Weezer fan!" and they picked me up and spun me around, which I did not expect! They're deceptively strong!

The day after

While we had planned to go on a walk in the morning, everyone was too knackered to leave the house before around six p.m. We filmed a few buildings on the way to the restaurant - one simply called Pho, located in a lovely little square - and I was very happy to see my friends again! We talked a lot, took a selfie which the waitress photobombed from behind the counter (very appreciated), and went to get bubble tea after. We ran into a random Ed Sheeran concert on the way there! We couldn't see him, but we saw his guitar, which he swung in the air. While he was playing, us non-brits took pictures in a phone booth nearby. We walked our friends home and got to see the town from above with the sunset lighting its silhouette. What a beautiful sight!

I was very sad to say goodbye to my friends, though. I feel a bit childish saying it, but they are just so nice and fun and cool, I wish we lived closer to each other. I can only hope one of us will get the chance to visit the other(s) again soon. In the meantime, we will text and I will wait impatiently for their new writing.

The food

People are always surprised when I say this, but I love British food. I love pies and gravy and parsnips and, as I found out a few days ago, Scotch eggs! It's a shame no British restaurants exist in my city, because no Brit is coming over here to open a restaurant. When I told the other people at my table at lunch, they were very excited for me to try the custard. It is really good, although it's not much different from the thicker version we have over here. All the food at the wedding was delightful too. On the last evening, when we had dinner together, I got to try pho as well. At least that's one thing I can hope to find back home!

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