★ lyvvia's tumblr ☆

Tippy sleeps and Zelda's shrinking. Perhaps, one day, they'll meet once more. But for now, Zelda's heart's still laughing, and when I see her, I will hold the door.

[sadeolutola]

Hi this is a song I wrote and I’ll put out an mp3 download link for it REALLY soon. Tumblr music video pending too.🎀

okay currently stressing about an outfit for a show rn highkey ill do a better caption later im going 😭🎀

[ruled27]

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orange soda by baby keem: produced by ruled.

[berzattosmuse-deactivated202603]

WHITE CAT BY YVES official mv ✧ 7.24.25

[ruled27]

capybara that tonite

[ruled27]

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all mine by kanye west except it's way betterrr

[ruled27]

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hot by avril lavigne except i reproduced it to sound botanica and a bit indie lofi synth pop

[ruled27]

warsh_tippy and zelda

______________________________________________________________

last night i dreamt we did our laundry together

and we were singing the same song while we folded our clothes

as i recall, you looked like total doofus

which is pretty accurate

so i woke up feeling sad 'cause it never happened.

'cause it never happened.

[ruled27]

i can't be what you need i am stuck in a dream i am stuck in a dream don't you know she's been here all along in a dream? she belongs in a dream

every day i'll make promises that play on Sarah's heart so i can watch her fall apart 'cause i know when i break her down we'll spit on all the happy clowns that live around this money town she loves me like a dog.

[nuthouse1999]

im sick for you, baby

and its never gonna go away

[thelesigh]

THE LE SIGH’s debut zine has arrived, featuring original work from 12 artists surrounding the theme of “Beginnings”. To celebrate this release, we’re putting out a female-fronted tape compilation and hosting a showcase at The Silent Barn in Brooklyn. Come join us!

https://www.facebook.com/events/430283923760644/

[ruled27]

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remixed the suburbs by arcade fire except it sounds like mgmt on a budget. or like someone made a 2021 edit audio from an mgmt song.

[ruled27]

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i remixed thank u next by ariana grande except it sounds like a lofi bedroom cyberpop song.

[ruled27]

Shoplifters: A Portrait of a Happy Family.

I first watched Shoplifters when I was twelve, on All 4. It was 9:30 when I should’ve been sleeping, the sky was dark and my parents were upstairs, so I was all alone in my living room, lit by one dim lamp and nothing else. Those two hours were one of the most eye-opening moments in my life and struck a chord in my heart like very few films have ever done before.

For my first ever post, I thought it’d be nice to write about my favourite film, Shoplifters, which left a profound effect on me, by seeing me and reflecting back a portrait of a truly, happy family. This is a piece of media that shaped me, by showing me the nature of fulfilment and the quiet strength it holds. It it is an incredibly relevant reflection of finding real comfort within struggle in the 21st century, where short fixes for happiness are becoming more of a common resort than ever.

Before I continue, I’d like to give a disclaimer that there will be spoilers flying left, right and centre in this essay. So, click away now if you’d like to watch and come back later. Or don’t. But, here is a spoiler warning.

Shoplifters is poignant tale of a family who live a very impoverished life, illegally in an elderly woman’s rented home (for one), located on the outskirts of downtown Tokyo. It follows the story of:

· Osamu, a (temporarily) injured day labourer, currently unable to work.

· Nobuyo, who slaves away in an industrial laundry factory.

· Aki, a college aged girl, earning her money working at a hostess club.

· Shota, a boy who shoplifts with his father.

· Hatsue, an old lady acting as the matriarch of this makeshift family, who supports the rest of the Shibatas, with a place to live, and any profits she can make using her dead husband’s name.

The story begins when Osamu and Shota come across a young girl, Yuri, locked outside her house, shivering in the cold, one night after one of their many successful shoplifting sessions. They take pity on her, offering her a croquette and asking her to spend the night in their house, where she can have a warm meal and won’t freeze to death. As they go to return her back to her porch, at dusk, the next day, Yuri is reluctant to go back, and the family realise that she is abused by her parents, when hearing screams and shouts of two adults and objects shattering on the floor, from inside Yuri’s house. This is when Yuri and the make-shift family agree to adopt and take Yuri in as their own.

Throughout the film, the idea that Yuri chose to join the Shoplifters and that a chosen family have stronger bonds than a biological one is driven home multiple times in the film. All of the characters in the main ensemble have been rejected, neglected, or betrayed by their own blood families and sought comfort and happiness with each other, as people who have been brought together by circumstance but chose to stay with each other willfully through the struggles they endure.

There is a lot of beauty in the exposition of Shoplifters, even in the seemingly plotless domestic scenes, that make up just under half of this movie’s runtime, conveyed through the quiet, still shots under Hirokazu Koreeda’s direction. This time is carefully and thoughtfully used to flesh out the nature of the individual characters that make up the collective makeshift family, and lets the viewers understand the relationships between these characters, so we truly understand them in the same profound way they understand each other. Although there is little disturbance in the plot that visibly disturbs the Shibatas for a long time in Shoplifters, Koreeada studies the characters and their desires and struggles, through glimpses and scenes of their ordinary lives, and seemingly inconsequential moments that later turn out to matter. He masterfully sets the entire movie up, displaying potential flaws and cracks in the dynamic of the Shibatas, while driving home the undeniable connection these people all have with each other, despite their circumstances.

The conflict in Shoplifters starts to kick off when Hatsue dies, as this is the event that sets the plot on course for its beautiful, emotional climax. The dialogue in these scenes convey the hardships but also the pure small joys the family got to share with each other. These two dynamics: struggle and comfort are balanced with such perfect duality and truth, and it helped us understand, as viewers, the fulfilment this family structure brought for every character in the film.

Right up until the change of tone in the film, every minute is dedicated to showing the character’s dynamics with each other but also their morality, their worldview, and their own individuality, which will all be relevant after Hatsue dies and the consequences follow. All the characters had backstories and the viewer therefore understands how each character’s past could influence all of their actions later on.

For example, Osamu teaches Shota early on in the film that shoplifting is okay because in a shop, ‘an item doesn’t belong to anyone yet’, and unless it bankrupts the shop, it’s not bad to steal when you need it. However, after Hatsue’s death, the grown-ups of the family suddenly become blinded by greed and lose their morality at the prospect of gaining money. They start to steal directly from people, taking things that genuinely belong to someone. Osamu also starts stealing in excess from all shops, regardless of size and income. And Osamu being a huge influence and role model to Shota, he becomes very conflicted about the actions (and implications of those actions) he and his family have to resort to.

This cognitive dissonance only intensifies when he is told by an old man (whose stall Shota and Yuri stole from) not to teach his younger sister to shoplift. This man’s stall later goes bankrupt and closes. The effect these incidents had on Shota paired with his growing care for the addition in his family suddenly physicalize when he goes to shoplift food and Yuri follows and attempts to shoplift too. The insecurity he suffers, as a member of a poor family and a key influence on Yuri, makes him feel inadequate to take care of such a delicate, impressionable mind and ‘corrupt’ it with greed and stealing habits. This results in him purposefully causing a scene as he steals, getting caught by the police and essentially leading to the demise of the family. It was heart-breaking yet understandable to see Shota destroy relationships that brought him so much solace, for his sister that he grew to care: so much so that he would make a huge sacrifice that with the intent of bettering her future. (He was kind of wrong but it’s what he thought was right).

I love how this film weaves the cast’s emotions and logic into the storyline and uses those feelings as a drive for the plot: giving these humble characters power to direct where their story goes, in a world where they have none. I think Shoplifters portrayed logic and emotion in such a nuanced, subtle, yet powerful way, and I think the film mastered a perfect balance between the two. I also love how real the Shoplifters was; the way the film didn’t romanticize struggle or idolize the family. For example, the grown-ups in the family have been deprived their whole lives- their judgement can be clouded when it comes to money since they desire wealth so much. They aren’t saints and they will abandon their morals if it benefits them. Their connection with Yuri was so justified and made perfect sense, as did the reason Shota sabotaged the family. Although, Shoplifters is as realistic as can be, there remains a feeling of real beauty, and of meaning; in my opinion, the characters live more fulfilling lives than many people over the poverty line, and I so deeply admire the Shibatas for creating this small, mortal but powerful haven for themselves, in the deplorable world they live in.

There is a lot of depth to all of the characters in this familial ensemble. Osamu, a playful man, who bonds by shoplifting with Shota and later, including Yuri. He hopes and wishes that Shota would call him Dad or recognise him as his father. Shota is reluctant to do so for the majority of the film however he sees Osamu as a guidance figure that unites the family towards a common goal. Throughout the film, I was invested in Osamu’s and Shota’s father-son relationship and the dynamics and emotions involved in it. I especially loved the bus scene-as many others who watched the film did.

Another notable pair in the film is Aki (the college-aged, hostess club worker) and Grandma-figure, Hatsue. Both rejected by the same family, they end up relying on each other and relating to each other, forming an irreplaceable bond Aki will always mourn and hold in her heart with such fondness. I was incredibly moved when Aki was taken in by the police and informed about the manipulated version of her grandmother’s actions. The police fed Aki a story, placing Hatsue as a villain, “who only associated with Aki to get money from her family- all of whom are still guilty because her husband left her, to start a ‘more favourable’ life.” As Hatsue was always a scheming, deceptive woman, this was extremely plausible, and Aki is a naïve young girl, visibly upset at this news, believing the police’s crooked spin on the story. However, even taking Hatsue’s ‘betrayal’ into account, the first thing Aki does when she is let out, is visit her grandmother, buried in a secret compartment in the house, because she provided her with the care and acceptance that no one ever did. And although Aki never gets to see it, Hatsue is shown genuinely caring for Aki and the rest of the family, whispering softly, ‘thank you [for keeping me company during my dying days, and giving me comfort that I will pass, surrounded by people I love.]’

Even if Aki couldn’t witness it, us, as the audience, were blessed with watching and understanding that the relationship the two shared before Hatsue died, was true and undeniable.

The love this family shares for each other perseveres through all adversary, and though they could never stay together, forever, they are immortal in each character’s heart. They tried to win against moral strain, poverty, law, and so many more, even though they knew never win against these enemies, they know that living like the way they did, at least for a while, was worth it and is irreplaceable. The way all of this plays out is stated by Hatsue, before she dies, as ‘inevitable’ and bound to be, however the family’s separation still hits as hard because the connections shared in that family were so precious and genuine.

Now I’d like to talk about the political and social commentary Shoplifters can be interpreted as- on top of being a piece conveying community, emotion, and desire. Shoplifters is also perceived as a hate letter to Japan- especially the societal and legal tendency in the East, to destroy and discard ‘unpleasant’ things, without caring about the emotional damage it would cause for the people victimized, by the flawed system. As with any country, there seems to be a disregard and rejection of economical disgrace, and we wipe our hands of anyone struggling with poverty, not ever supporting them, or letting the genuine connections they form with people they empathize with, stay flourishing. The film portrays the Japanese system, tearing the Shibatas apart, as a destructor of real love, and as a deluded structure, which instead, chooses to preserve fickle, superficial ‘connections’ over what the Shibatas had.

Therefore, alongside many other interpretations, this film can be seen as a critique of the mindsets, traditionally held by hive-minded middle-upper class people, in power, that it’s okay to hurt or ditch your family in the mud, if they tarnish your reputation- and/or become unenjoyable.

It’s important to understand there could never really be a happy ending for the Shibatas because the economy and the law will always be against them; they won’t ever be able to lead a life without financial struggle, because the Shoplifters’ very existence in ‘free’ society is illegal, since the majority of the family are all supposed to be in jail anyway.

As Hirokazu Kore-ada (director of Shoplifters) said, ‘They compare me to Ozu, but I’m more of a Ken Loach.’ Whereas Yasujirō Ozu’s style is gentle, family-centred, and pensive, Ken Loach has a socially critical directing style, where socialist ethics are evident in his film treatment of issues such as poverty and homelessness.

In a sense, Kore-ada’s direction is essentially a fusion of both worlds, simultaneously creating a contemplative drama, yet one that puts a point across, criticizing our blindness to meaningful companionship and the struggle it takes to preserve it. Shoplifters successfully re-invents family values and opens its audience’s eyes, to what they truly should be, and I love the film for it.