theriverdalereviewer

[theriverdalereviewer]

Second month of teaching down I am officially a jaded being

#if September was just anxiety and being lost and working myself like a horse #then October was just being annoyed and not caring and still working myself like a horse #this job is so 😑 #the amount of bullshit you’re dealing with is ridiculous #everyday is just make it to 2:00 / make it to the weekend / make it to the holiday / make it to break #and constantly waiting for time to pass is not the way I wanted to live my life #on the bright side I’ve developed a lot more confidence and less nerves #I feel a lot more comfortable with discipline now and less upset when students are being mean #but those insecurities are unfortunately still really strong #I don’t know I just had such strong rapport with students when I was student teaching/interning #and it’s been such an uphill battle trying to build that here #it makes me constantly wonder?? AM I UNLIKABLE???? #especially cause one teacher who I work with CONSTANTLYYY is so utterly good at building rapport #that the comparisons make it feel so fucking stark #what I have been told by the other teachers in the building is that I am too hard on myself #and I concentrate too much on the negatives #but I just feel like every compliment is FAKE! A LIE! UNTRUE! #YOU ARE JUST SAYING THIS TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER FUCK YOU! #and while I like being the youngest/smallest/extremely young looking teacher is that all of the veterans like to look out for me #but I worry that I come off as naive/stupid/easy to walk all over

[theriverdalereviewer]

it’s been a hard first month yall 😕

#SIGHHHHH #now true followers know what I mean but I had my first month of teaching #and calling it hard is an understatement #like the bar exam is hard training for the olympics is hard #this is like both of those things but if both of your hands were tied #I feel like I’m working constantlyyyy and the work life balance feels so nonexistent #and I feel like it’s something that I shouldn’t accept cause no job should be expecting that much #but also I have no choice because wtf else am I supposed to do about the millions of things that need to be done #but even with that it’s just I’m not enjoying it and that’s the one thing that would have kept me going 😕 #I enjoyed student teaching and internship but those were vastly different experiences #I know my cooperating teacher played a huge role in me having a positive experience during ST and I used to wonder if I would still like it #without her and I think I’m truly not happy on my own #I see now how much of the heavy lifting she truly did to make me feel like I had a balance in this job so now that’s it’s just me #it’s been like whiplash. like I was able to build strong rapport and have good classroom management through her #and the management has been such a struggle. not as much of a problem with my upperclassmen #but I have these two lower classmen classes that drive me insane #see I went to school to teach English but this particular class is like a community/study skills/intro to hs class #and the students hate it and I do too 😭 the work is not rigorous and frankly it’s boring #and the annoyance with the class is being projected onto me. but no matter how hard I try to make things interesting #the refusal is so blatant like GODDDD WHY DO I EVEN TRY? #I enjoy my English classes so much more cause a) it’s what I went to school for #b) the kids have a much easier time seeing the importance of English + the rigor vs this fucking class #I wanna reach out to you a few of my own mentors just to hear their thoughts on what I should do + other options #cause if you asked me right now I would say that the moment it turns june I would immediately resign #idk I’ve thought about it nonstop and maybe it’s just the specific classes or the subject maybe it’s the school but I’m not happy 😕 #and as sad as that makes me feel to say out loud it also feels kind of good to not be in denial about it

[theriverdalereviewer]

naomi clark has the most soul crushing arc you can put a mean girl through

#approaching the end of 90210 season 2 rn and its so sad knowing where the plot is going #to be honest naomi was a menace for most of season #like yes naomi you were cheated on and you had a fair reason to be mad at the people you *thought* were involved #but she was being a straight up bully 😭 and im not just talking about her making annie the school slut #like she was so mean to ivy constantly calling her a loser and pathetic cause liam chose to be with her instead of ivy #like wow naomi you’ve moved feminism decades back #but God nothingggg can prepare for the cannon storyline she does not deserve any of what happened to her #watching it again and tbh yeah canon didn’t tell naomi that she had to sleep with him #but he did insinuate that Naomi was trying to sleep with him #like I don’t blame Naomi for twisting his words knowing how inappropriate and weird it was in the first place to say that to her #but omg watching how it spins out of control and liam literally swings on canon for it its so bad for her #and the person comforting naomi when the entire school is calling her a liar is annie. annie you are literally mother theresa to me #im just soooo sad knowing that it ends with him actually sexually assaulting her 💔 I remember being 13 watching that for the first time #and I just remember I couldn’t sleep that night it was the first time I had watched something like that. and it wasn’t even graphic but #just so sad knowing that annalynne is a SA survivor and no one on set knew about it when they filmed but she had a breakdown filming it #honestly I don’t know if this storyline is kind of problematic in hindsight. like I know they wrote the storyline where Naomi first lied #and then no one believes her when shes actually telling the truth for dramatic purposes... but what are the implications of this? #somewhere they’re kinda sending the wrong message about SA survivors and how victims are liars idk #90210

[theriverdalereviewer]

read the riverdale finale spoilers. we all crode

#what kind of a shit ending is this #no resolution no catharsis no nostalgia #just UNFUCKINGSATISFYING #roberto aguirre sacasa do you know how lucky you are #do you? that you were told ahead of time that this was your final season #and that you would have 20 episodes to pull it off #but no rather than using this opportunity to wrap up the story and the arcs and loose ends #you wasted it! you wasted all 20 episodes on the fucking 1950s where it was just more useless and no fucking resolution #now spoiler alert here #BUT THE BARCHIEJERONICA FOURSOME? #the core four all fucked each other and were in a polygamous relationship #and then they all stopped and all married someone else or died alone #I commend ras for the last time he managed to do something that satisfied nobody #like what is the point of this #this just completely renders all of the other stories as being useless #I hate this man I hate this show #6 years later and they still now how to piss me off #honestly well done

[theriverdalereviewer]

list of worst lines of dialogue in riverdale:

“You’ve got some pretty big coconuts pulling that kind of stunt last night.”

“Bro I’m warning you. You don’t wanna start with me.”

“I was attacked by a bear.”

“That’s because the gargoyle king wants me and Jughead to be together. We’re gonna be a ship.”

“Ethelhead? In your dreams.”

“Because we’re endgame, Archie”

“Sardonic humor is just my way of relating to the world.”

“A vughead kiss, right now in the present might be precisely what it takes to save a future bughead from imploding.”

“I dropped out in the fourth grade to run drugs to support my nana.”

“That means you haven’t known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school football.”

“You’ve given me the kiss of life Archie Andrews. Now I’ve given it to your dad.”

“Because if you did I might have to punish you.”

“I’m coo coo bananas for you.”

“SHUT THE HELL UP IMPOSTER.”

“I’m gonna make my bones.”

“I’d recognize those abs anywhere.”

“Mr. Andrews, nice haircut. You’re looking extra DILFy today.”

“I am so over the toxic masculinity in this hallway right now.”

“I beg your misogynistic pardon?”

“The serpent queen is a warrior queen.”

“Don’t test us, mumzie. We know how to *pulls out a belt* dominate too.”

and of course

“In case you haven’t notice, I’m weird. I’m a weirdo. I don’t fit in and I don’t wanna fit in. Have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? That’s weird.”

#it’s only fitting I reblog this today #the post that made me the woman I am today #crazy thing is that most of these quotes are only from s1-2 #imagine if I made a post with every crazy line across all 7 seasons #I’d never finish it

[theriverdalereviewer]

let’s take a moment to mourn riverdale on here

#perhaps mourn isn’t the right word more like celebrate #I owe my whole career to riverdale #my identity #the epic highs and lows of my life to that show #because of riverdale I can’t drop this url my twin sister came up with when I was 16 #I also had many hit posts thanks to riverdale this show is so serious to me #okay but actually im kinda sad riverdale is ending which is crazy??? #idk not only is it like the last big show to have 22 episodes and back to back seasons #but it was also endearingly dumb #personally the show just stopped being for me halfway through season 2 when it seriously stopped making any sense #on one hand I can enjoy the camp aspects but I also wanted the show to stay grounded and it definitely wasn’t doing that during s2-onwards #I kinda like the fact that they distinguished themselves from all of the over teen shows by embracing its stupidity and genre shifts #but that was not what I signed up for when I first watched the show #also it was just annoying how messy the characterization and storylines got #onto the IMPORTANT!!! things though #the fact that the barchies won #if you were here for early riverdale you would know that the barchies were an oppressed class #everyone hated us no one thought we had a chance the writers wouldn’t touch us with a ten foot pole #and now look at us the underdogs the dark horse #victory is ours barchies

[theriverdalereviewer]

90210 season 2 was a drama only shakespeare could have penned

#I’m rewatching it right now and CHEFS KISS TO THE WRITING #see most shows have a golden first season and then season 2 goes so downhill and we don’t even talk about season 3 #cause nothing from that should be considered canon #but 90210 season 2 is some of the best television I’ve watched #like the liam/annie/naomi drama was a wonderful tale of betrayal and miscommunication amazing commentary on the human condition #like jen is angry that her 16 year old sister is throwing a prom after party #and to get back at her she ruins multiple people’s lives #like naomi tells jen a secret about liam #and jen pretends to be a neighbor and tells liam that she overheard naomi gossiping about him #and so to get back at his own girlfriend LIAM SLEEPS WITH JEN AND BRAGS ABOUT IT TO NAOMI? #and naomi finds annie’s scarf in the room and assum​es that annie was the girl he slept with #but it isn’t until after naomi leaves that jen comes back and tells liam that she isn’t actually naomi’s neighbor but is actually her sister #and now naomi is pissed off at annie because she thinks annie slept with her boyfriend #and Liam would rather let naomi think that he slept with her best friend bc the actual truth that he slept with her sister is even worse #and naomi goes on a tirade and starts bullying the shit out of annie to the point annie starts to go with the lie that she slept with liam #just to piss off naomi even more. AND JEN GETS AWAY WITH THE WHOLE THING 😭 #I saw that apparently pllos copies this storyline and it’s just like how dare you? only 90210 could pull off something like this

[theriverdalereviewer]

next person to use the term pretty privilege is getting DECKED in the face

#the term pretty privilege is yet another outcome of people not knowing feminist theory #like first of all I see people trying to uplift themselves by saying they have pretty privilege #which is like okay...? you do know that our perception of beauty is influenced by white supremacy/cisnormativity/fatphobia/abelism/ageism #that privilege you're talking about is from being white and skinny so maybe don’t brag about having privilege babe #aside from that I just saw a tweet that said that “pretty” women (again white and skinny) have it harder than “ugly” women #because they face more harassment stalking violence... Oh my God we need to tape your mouths shut #like are we seriously suggesting that "ugly” women are just living their best lives when they’ve been bullied and treated like subhuman #their entire life. are we seriously suggesting this #being stalked harassed harmed etc are outcomes of misogyny not BEAUTY???? this is such a rape culture talking point #you are literally saying the reason men harm you is because YOU are pretty implying that it is your own fault #like NO...? men harm literal babies and there is nothing remotely attractive or sexual about kids yet here we are #its about power and control hyper masculinity has conditioned men to target anyone they can overpower #women no matter what are at risk of being taken advantage of and harmed by men and to suggest that the most vulnerable women in our society #are actually the safest from this oh go to helllllll #and I also think its annoying that this user said that pretty privilege isn’t even a privilege. like you are just openly denying #that being white skinny able-bodied is not a privilege you hear yourself right #and yes frankly I have witnessed how being considered pretty can lead to bullying ok we’ve all been in high school we’ve seen this happen #but again this all comes back to misogyny. like ask yourself why conventionally attractive men don’t have these problems #yet conventionally attractive women do? oh! it’s because you’re a woman and no matter what you do you can’t win! #okay thats enough of this women lets start thinking harder from now on we got this

[theriverdalereviewer]

please tell me someone here has watched 90210 (the cw remake)

#I just watched the first episode season 2 for the first time in God knows how many years #and it was… fucking genius #not to sound like an old man screaming at clouds #but they don’t make teen dramas like this anymore #like naomi’s big sister jen gets back at naomi by lying to naomi’s boyfriend to get him to sleep with her #and then when Liam realizes that he slept with Naomi’s sister he lies and let’s people think he slept with Naomi’s best friend instead LMAO #and then no one believes annie when she says she didn’t sleep with liam so she calls the cops on the party naomi is throwing #and gets the entire school sent to summer school #and that same night she kills a homeless man in a hit and run #and weeks later starts dating a guy who happens to be the homeless man’s newphew #LIKE? WTF 😭 #and omg naomi was such a mean girl this season #like her tall ass looked ready to stomp over annie the loser #and what naomi did was so fucked up like she spread a naked picture of annie all over the school that’s actually deeply fucked up #and at that point annie stopped giving a fuck so she starts going along with the lie that she slept with Liam #just to piss off naomi even more you know what am you’re a queen for that one #no teen drama is touching that

[theriverdalereviewer]

just finished reading this book called the list by siobhan vivian and you know what I recommend even though I found the ending to be lackluster

#3/5 stars #its about this fucked up tradition at a high school where a list is posted that says who the prettiest and ugliest girl of every grade is #and the story takes us through the eight girls and their overlapping stories #and I liked how every girl has a very distinct relationship to beauty #the prettiest freshman is abby warner who puts intense effort into her appearance but not her grades #and being on the list makes her happy cause she finally gets to break free from her smarter older sisters shadow #the ugliest freshman is danielle demarco who’s an athlete that becomes self conscious about her appearance and her relationship with her bf #especially cause her boyfriend is embarrassed that the girl hes with is considered ugly #the prettiest sophomore is lauren finn who was a sheltered home schooled girl who just transferred to this school #and she basically goes from being ignored by the entire student body to being the center of attention with a bunch of friends #the ugliest sophomore is Candace Kincaid who ironically is not ugly. she was actually a shoe in for prettiest #but her mean girl attitude got her ugliest instead. and the moment shes been labeled ugly she instantly loses all of her friends #the prettiest junior is a girl named Bridget Honeycutt and Bridget had developed an eating disorder over the summer #and shes just started to recover. except now that shes been named prettiest it causes her to relapse in order to maintain her appearance #the ugliest junior is a girl named sarah who is very much a Non-Conformist. and when she gets picked as ugliest #she makes it her mission to be as ugly as possible to basically prove a point #the ugliest senior is jennifer briggis and jennifer was picked ugliest all 4 years of high school which made her an outcast #and after getting ugliest a fourth time the school starts to take pity on her and tries to make her win homecoming queen #the prettiest senior is margo gable. and margo is trying very hard to pretend that she doesn’t care about the list or winning hoco queen #but she actually cares a lot especially since jennifer (aka her ex middle school bff that she ditched for popularity) is now running too #anyways thats all 8 girls story and it was actually a pretty engaging read but the ending was so abrupt #like I turned the last page saw the acknowledgements and I gasped cause SURELY THIS COULD NOT BE THE ENDING? #idk majority of the girls stories felt unresolved and some of them (particularly margo and jennifer’s) were a bit polarizing #but I was enjoying it just up until the ending

[theriverdalereviewer]

just remembered how in the sixth grade there was a fucking riot in the cafeteria that ended in the entire grade getting silent lunch for like 3 months

#I think it was 3 months but it felt a lot longer. my god middle school was the school to prison pipeline at its finest #on one hand I think its unfair that we were all punished but to be fair the entire grade participated in this riot. I don't even remember #what we were rioting? I just remember a girl named whitney was involved and 1 thing led to another and whitney ran out of the cafeteria #and THE ENTIRE GRADE WENT AFTER HER 😭. myself included I didn’t even know why either but WE WERE AFTER THAT BITCH 😭 #it was so bad I remember everyone was heading one direction and then everyone started running back the other direction. #and I got knocked down in the process looking back this was really dangerous. but after that we got silent lunch for what felt like forever #like not only were we forced to sit with our homerooms (and some us didn’t even like our homeroom) but we couldn’t even talk to each other #which is honestly not good for socialization?? but again I can’t entirely blame them cause the situation was out of control. #but also shouldn’t the adults have had that thing under control??? anyways the person who ran silent lunch was the vice tyrant dr levine #he fucking hated us like that man was PISSED OFF and he made it clear cause if you made a sound during silent lunch #that man was gonna threaten you with detention extended detention ISS (aka in school suspension) #he didn’t even mean it but it was pretty good for instilling fear in us good kids. but one time I remember there was a kid who didn’t buy i #he didn’t give into levine’s fear tactic and levine started yelling “ISS!! OSS!! EXPULSION!!!!!” like calm down #I feel bad thinking about how so many kids who would ACCIDENTALLY make a sound were punished. and they were so damn terrified #cause it was like you were on your best behavior all of the time and then one noise and suddenly you had an out of school suspension #one time a boy named jc’s phone went off and he picked it up and it was his grandma asking him if he wanted ice cream 😭 no fucks given #and levine was screaming at him to hang up the phone and jc was like “this is my grandmother I can’t hang up" #and there came a time where we were finally off the hook and I just remember people in the cafeteria were clapping 😭 #like this was school sanctioned oppression and we were finally liberated... but then we were back to silent lunch and I don’t even know why #I remember once even I ended up in Levine’s office but I dont think its cause I was talking during silent lunch?? #I think it had something to do with bullying idk?? I just remember levine had my back during it and made the other kid cry and apologize #so shout out to levine. always good times goodbye!

[theriverdalereviewer]

What series are you looking forward to seeing this year?

Right now the biggest thing on my radar is Pyramid Game. It’s a kdrama coming out in early 2024 and it’s based on a webtoon. I read the webtoon and I so highly recommend everybody reads it as well. It’s set at an all girls high school where the protagonist, Suji, ends up in this class where all of the students participate in this monthly popularity poll that ranks each student into a pyramid. The student who gets the lowest votes is labeled an F which basically means it’s open season to bully the shit out of her. And Suji basically makes it her mission to dismantle this game.

I am just so thoroughly impressed with how well written this story was. It has a huge (all girls!!!!) cast and every single character is written with such nuance and depth. The writing has a lot of game theory and human psychology in it which is why I felt like I was reading a chess match. I really cannot emphasize it enough that everybody should read this story and for me, I really enjoyed that there was no romance. It’s kind of refreshing for a plot (especially one that’s all girls) to prove that you don’t need romance to make the story or the characters interesting and intense.

#PLSSSS READ IT

[theriverdalereviewer]

So, like, how are you feeling about the final season of HMT? I'll be honest, the way the show has kind of just fallen off during the years has made me a bit sad that I won't be as hyped as I wanted to be. But how do you feel?

The last time I watched the handmaid’s tale was about halfway into season 4 and I stopped an episode or two before fred died I think? I’ve lost investment in the show cause it just lacks tension now 😐 like back in season 1-2, I just remember feeling anxious watching and that’s a sign of me really enjoying a TV show. The tension was so high and the show really kept me on edge and when you watch the protagonist wear this amazing plot armor it kind of loses its intrigue. Besides that, the show kind of lost its ability to make meaningful commentary. I think I’ve said this before but the show did a good job at depicting an oppressive society but not a good job at depicting revolution. It’s all just too unrealistic to ignore.

#I’m curious to know how it’ll end #there’s no way serena is making it out of this show alive #and I don’t think june or luke or hannah are getting their happy ending #too much has happened for any of them to be the same now

[theriverdalereviewer]

Something I've been battling with is when I watch stories of Anti-heroes, whether fiction or non fiction, people are so much more willing to look sympathetically at white men for doing something terrible, than a woman who did something way less. Tony Soprano, Walter White were all abusive men we're willing to sympathize with them because society has always sympathized with them. Whereas their female counterparts will be lambasted for doing way less! It's so depressing because nothing changes.

Yeah that’s like the double edged sword that comes with watching any media about white men. Like on one hand, we can sympathize with them and humanize them. But then we have to remember that women usually don’t get half as much grace and it becomes a lot harder to connect

[theriverdalereviewer]

I think that the story probably won't glorify him, but genuinely my issue is that whether that's the intent or not, it really just won't matter. Whether it's Martin Scorsese filmography, or Christopher Nolan, we've always accepted and been far more willing to forgive white men who do terrible things. I'm not saying Oppenheimer is intended to, but people will no doubt view the US as the biggest victim there, not the countless others who have suffered already. That's what bums me out most.

No I understand your point. His intention doesn’t change the impact that it’ll have. And I see the concern that Oppenheimer could accidentally have a positive change on his legacy. And yeah, especially when the biggest victims of the AB are absent from the film, people would get the idea that they are the primary victims. It’s a valid concern.

[theriverdalereviewer]

I am so glad that you talked about Oppenheimer, because genuinely something has been grinding my gears for a long time, and I think Oppenheimer is another example of this. Films that centre about White dudes who have done bad things, but at the end of the day feel so much guilt and blah blah, always feel so tone deaf to me. It's like, I don't know, they aren't the ones who've suffered from their decisions, you know? They never will be. It's always the people beneath them. Oppenheimer talks about he's 'guilt' in a hypothetical way, but the damage was done before he even built that bomb.

My issue with stories like this is similar to true crime stories, you know? These films glorify these evil people, whether they admit to it or not, and they never want to centre on the actual victims. The victims are spoken about vaguely, but never centered on. Hearing this Twitter discourse is so frustrating and sad, because people just don't get it.

To be fair I haven’t watched Oppenheimer so I don’t know just how pro-imperialism, pro-atomic bomb, etc. the film was. Based on Twitter, it seems like the movie actually criticizes Oppenheimer and the US military industrial complex which I can appreciate. But you know I get it. White men have been the center of everything and society can just do away with making movies about them ever again 🤷🏻‍♀️ and if the communities that were directly impacted by this say that Nolan’s attempts were not enough then who am I to tell them no? I don’t know if Nolan was trying to glorify Oppenheimer (and like I said a lot of watchers have said the film doesn’t) but I’m sure there will be people who walk out of the theaters and honestly not get the point of the movie. Like American culture is still very ardently defending the decision to drop the atomic bomb so I don’t know how well Nolan’s decision to leave them completely out from the narrative actually correctly conveyed his point. I think it’s very natural for them to feel uncomfortable about the tragedy being depicted through the eyes of the white man and not being included in it at all. Like let’s have some sympathy here…

#I saw someone make a point that if someone did this exact same thing with 9/11 #how do you think Americans would feel? #and it’s like yeah you know they would be pissed that they’re absent from the film #and any depiction of the terrorists that even slightly humanizes them isn’t enough #again I believe nolan is criticizing imperialism militarism Oppenheimer etc. but I also think that if the victims think #that they should be included then how about we just hear them out and let them feel the way they do

[theriverdalereviewer]

seeing the discourse around whether oppenheimer should have represented japanese/indigenous americans and I just wanna say I think they can feel however they want about this film

#people are pointing out that Oppenheimer doesn’t represent JPN or indigenous peoples #and the reactions has been very aggressively “THE MOVIE IS CALLED OPPENHEIMER YOU IDIOT!!!! #like no fucking shit but can you not see things from their perspective are you as limited as oppenheimer himself #like yes I understand that it was Nolan’s intentional choice to center the movie so heavily around oppenheimer #to convey just how self-centered and unconcerned he and americans were about the lives of the JPN/IP #and so by not including them it is a direct representation of how absent they truly were in the eyes of americans #and the movie is strictly from Oppenheimer’s perspective it wouldn’t be historically accurate blah blah blah #okay I understand all that and it is reasonable #but imagine if you were part of either of these communities where the most devastating bombs were dropped on CIVILIANS #would nolan’s directing choices matter to you because I would not give a fuck #like you are not going to talk about the atomic bomb AND CENTER THE NARRATIVE AROUND THE WAR CRIMINAL??? #idgaf if it portrays him badly you need to make him seem even worse by portraying the victims #and especially when americans to this day still act like it was justified I especially understand why this remains a sensitive topic #and apparently there was a scene where americans were like “dont bomb kyoto cause we vacationed there #and the point is to depict just how utterly careless and selfish americans are when it came to human lives #but apparently people in the theaters laughed during this part #so that just goes to show effective nolan’s method was. like did we really think americans would understand the nuances #idk just my thoughts