Ain't Nothin' But A Heartache.

[rionaleonhart]

Puzzling autopilot malfunction recently: sitting on the loo, I took off my socks, neatly tucked one inside the other, and tossed them into the bathroom bin.

I think in my head I was changing my sanitary towel.


I watched Your Name for a third time, started crying approximately one second in, and was a sobbing mess over the closing credits. (Fortunately, I did most of my crying at the start and end; I was a little afraid at first that I'd just be bawling non-stop for the full two hours.)

It's my favourite film; I think it always will be. Nothing else has ever hit me in quite the same way. I've never wished for a sequel, or gone looking for fanfiction; it's absolutely self-contained and absolutely perfect.

I mentioned my passion for this film to my housemates afterwards.

Ginger: I've never seen Your Name.
Riona: Did we not watch it as a household?
Ginger: I don't think so. I remember we watched... er, it's not called Mambo No. 5.
(long pause)
Riona: I really want to know what you're thinking of.
(long pause)
Ginger: Big Hero 6.


Dontnod, the developers of Life Is Strange, have put out a trailer for a new game: Tell Me Why, due out in summer 2020.

It's another game about siblings! You're spoiling me, Dontnod! In fact, it's about identical twins, one of whom is trans, which seems like an interesting dynamic. Apparently it's the first ever trans protagonist from a major videogame developer.

It's a Microsoft exclusive, unfortunately. This is very much a Sony household, and I doubt my laptop has the power to run it. But Ginger's also intrigued by the concept and has a gaming laptop, so I'll probably end up watching them play.

(I can't believe the last instalment of Life Is Strange 2 is out in eighteen days. I'll never be ready. I'm far too invested in Sean and Daniel, and I really hope I can get a good ending for these boys.)


Coming back to the opening of this entry: if you have any stories of bizarre things you've caught yourself doing while your mind was elsewhere, I'd love to hear them!

Comments

[bladespark]

I once threw the coffee maker's filter basket(I use an aeropress) into the trash instead of the spent grounds after making coffee. I normally take off lid, set aside, then empty grounds into the trash, but this time I emptied the basket into the trash instead.

Fortunately I realized almost immediately, since I was still standing there with an aeropress full of wet coffee grounds, so I fished it back out, otherwise I'd have been in trouble. It doesn't work without the filter basket!

[rionaleonhart]

Fortunately I realized almost immediately, since I was still standing there with an aeropress full of wet coffee grounds

I haven't done this specifically, but I definitely know that moment of grinding realisation. 'Wait, I threw this away, why is it still in my ha... oh no.'

[graveexcitement]

Once opened the bathroom door at the same time that I attempted to step through the door. Unfortunately the door swung inwards, and so I opened the door into my own face. The pair of glasses I was wearing, which I wore for another year or two after this, bore a tiny crack at the bottom of one lens from that day onward...

[rionaleonhart]

I have done exactly this, although fortunately my glasses survived.

[enemyofperfect]

Oh no, I have so far managed not to get drawn into any of Dontnod's games, but if there's a trans protagonist I may not be able to resist any longer! I assume this means that suffering lies in my future.

More than once, I have caught myself moments before throwing metal flatware in the trash. I also not infrequently look for my glasses when I'm already wearing them if something has disrupted my morning routine, but that feels slightly different: a merely superfluous task rather than an actively undesirable one.

[rionaleonhart]

Dontnod's games are full of suffering, it's true. I suspect Tell Me Why will be in a similar vein to Life Is Strange; the first chapter of the first game is free if you want to test it and see if you're interested in the Dontnod style.

I think looking for your glasses when you're wearing them counts; there wasn't anything about undesirability in the question! I've gone 'oh no, where's my phone?' when I'm... talking on the phone.

[nrgburst]

I’ve thrown lots of things in the trash when they were meant to go in the laundry instead. But the worst autopilot was when I was driving- we had just moved back to Canada and I dropped my kid off at camp early one morning and ended up autopiloting into the opposite lane, facing a traffic light, until some old guy pulled up next to me and gave me a WTFFFFF look. The streets were mostly empty which was probably a contributing factor- it’s easier to remember which side of the road when there is oncoming traffic to avoid and you’re not sleepy! I just backed up and pulled in behind him after doing a literal facepalm.

You’ve only seen Your Name three times? Whaaat

[rionaleonhart]

Oh noooooo!

On multiple occasions, on family holidays to countries that drive on the right, we've all had to yell frantically at my dad when he starts driving on the left. It's pretty alarming!

I can't rewatch Your Name too frequently because I'm afraid it might lose its power over me, although so far I think it's hit me harder every time I've watched it.

[stunt_muppet]

My brother lent me his Bluray of Your Name and I still have not watched it even though I know it's good because I'm just not sure I'm prepared to feel that much.

The worst autopilot malfunction I ever had was driving somewhere and making what I thought was my usual right turn back to my campus except there was no turn lane there and I wandered clear off the road instead. No damage, fortunately, only embarrassment.

[rionaleonhart]

I hope you do watch it! I love it so, so much.

Half the reason I've never learnt to drive is my conviction that I would be doing stuff like this constantly. I can't even walk through a doorway without bumping into it; I keep forgetting I have shoulders.

[marginaliana]

At the last place I worked there was a wall of glass panes. One of them shattered and while we were waiting for it to get replaced, my boss and I got into the habit of taking a shortcut through the open space. When it was replaced I said, "I wonder who is going to be the first idiot to forget that there's glass there again."

Yeeeeeah.

[rionaleonhart]

Of all the stories in these comments, this one is my favourite.

[wolfy_writing]

Dontnod, the developers of Life Is Strange, have put out a trailer for a new game: Tell Me Why, due out in summer 2020.

It's another game about siblings! You're spoiling me, Dontnod!

This gaming company loves you and wants you to be happy!

(Currently blanking on funny autopilot moments.)

[rionaleonhart]

Dontnod really do seem to be huge fans of this household in particular. Ginger loves queer coming-of-age stories; they released Life Is Strange. Ginger also loves vampires, Victorian London and Gothic aesthetics; they released Vampyr. I love siblings and teenage suffering; they released Life Is Strange 2. Now they're coming out with a game that's a sibling narrative and a queer narrative, in an effort to delight me and Ginger simultaneously. I don't know what we've done to deserve this, but I appreciate it.

[thenicochan]

I liked Your Name, though I wasn't particularly blown away by it. I think my problem was I saw it as a double feature with Wolf Children, which I preferred (it made me cry like five times) so it hasn't been able to get over that association. (If you get the chance and you haven't, consider watching Wolf Children!)

I've done a lot of stupid things when my mind goes on autopilot. I've answered my personal phone with my work greeting, and have also done that... when I'd left and started working at a different job. Whoops. I've also ended calls with clients by accidentally saying "I love you" ... on more than one occasion. One guy was actually like "I have a feeling you didn't mean to say that, but I've had such a fucked couple of weeks and I just... really needed to hear that. Thank you man. I love you too." which got me all misty eyed haha. I've also done the usual "walking in to the shower with glasses on and swearing I'd gone blind".

Oh! I worked in a restaurant for almost seven years and we would shout "Corner!" when we turned corners (...obviously...) so we wouldn't run in to each other. One time while walking around Target I turned into an aisle and shouted "Corner!!!" really loudly and got a couple stares. Cue super embarrassed shuffling away.

[rionaleonhart]

I have not seen Wolf Children! I'll keep an eye out. Although I'm slightly concerned that I'll have the opposite problem; I'd never heard of Wolf Children before now, so it's now going to be associated in my head with Your Name, film of my heart, and there's a risk I'll just watch it and resent it for not being Your Name.

I've also ended calls with clients by accidentally saying "I love you" ... on more than one occasion. One guy was actually like "I have a feeling you didn't mean to say that, but I've had such a fucked couple of weeks and I just... really needed to hear that. Thank you man. I love you too." which got me all misty eyed haha.

This is such a charming story! I haven't said it to a client yet, but it's been a close thing sometimes. I'm also delighted by the 'Corner!' story.

[thenicochan]

It's entirely possible! If so, I will accept full blame haha.

Yeah, it's a favorite story of mine. I think I auto-pilot way more than is probably healthy. It's just A Thing heh.