PSA - Everyone needs to be reminded or informed that the lining of Frenchie's s1 jacket looks like this:

From day one, he was trying his best to be a fashion icon with whatever he had! No wonder he put on a fancy suit at the first opportunity and Did the Absolute Most decorating his Kraken crew coat.

Whoa, that's so cool! I knew about the Jimi Hendrix inspiration for his s2 looks, but I didn't know about his s1 costume. Love it!

Pieces made for @thevelvetcompote Blood & Brocade: IWTV, zine - Digital edition now available.

Prints: X + X

Boy (2010) dir. Taika Waititi

On Trollied, we see a number of characters make fun of Leighton at different points. He’s really easy to prank—because he always says what he means, he assumes other people do too and takes them at their word. In one episode, Kieran sends Julie on a wild goose chase by telling Leighton some of the egg cartons have eggs missing. Vehemently thanking Kieran, Leighton runs off to tell Julie, and they waste a bunch of time needlessly checking egg cartons. In another episode, Leighton is honored that Gavin asked him to help out with some photocopying and envelope-stuffing, a job he takes incredibly seriously. But when Lisa stops by the office, she decides to mess with him, crying, “Oh no, Leighton! What’ve you done? Well, you’ve copied it all upside-down!” This is of course a silly trick that makes Leighton seem super gullible, but 1) he has zero experience with admin work and is desperate not to let Gavin down, and 2) he thinks Lisa must have his best interests in mind, so he believes her, regardless of how obvious the lie is. This sends the poor guy into a spiral, and he goes to Julie to tearfully admit his “mistake.”

(This, by the way, is where the honesty of Joel Fry's performance is crucial. Even in plotlines that flirt with making Leighton seem too stupid, he sells the emotional reaction with such sincerity that it makes sense that Leighton would believe it, even when it's painfully clear that he's being tricked.)

Beyond that, there are times when characters simply insult him to his face. Leighton doesn’t always pick up on this—for instance, one of the bakers exclusively calls him “Lay-turd,” and while this bothers him, he also finds it confusing, because he doesn’t understand how she keeps “forgetting” his name. “Leighton! It’s Leighton!” he calls after her. “It even says it on my badge.” It never occurs to him that she’s doing it on purpose. And over the course of the series, Leighton is hit with a lot of mean (usually ableist) taunts, especially from a few particularly loathsome characters:

Now, there’s just the playground-bully instinct to pick on anyone who’s different, of course. Leighton is pretty obviously autistic—he’s a weird guy, and his trusting nature/tendency to take things literally makes him an easy target. And some of the characters who mess with him are simply mean people, so it makes sense that they’d zero in on him. But someone like Kieran is meant to be a “good” character, and while he likes ragging on people in general, it’s on more equal footing when he goes after his officious superior Julie or trades gibes at the butcher counter with Andy, who gives as good as he gets. When Kieran goes after sweet, anxious Leighton, whose only crime is being odd, it feels a lot more like punching down. Picking on his disabled coworker (who's also the only Black character on the show, btw)? Not a good look for one of the leads of the series.

This is my attempt to understand it, besides the other characters just being dicks. Leighton’s boundless enthusiasm for Valco and constant desire to give his all is entirely without ego—he does it purely for the love of his workplace. When he suggests new ideas, he’s beside himself at the thought of them being accepted by head office, not because he's maneuvering to climb the corporate ladder, but because he cares so damn much. He works harder than everyone else, not to be a goody-two-shoes or make anyone else look bad, but because he’s just that dedicated. The thing is, though, none of his coworkers can see that because none of them care about Valco the way Leighton does. 

Leighton is nothing but wholehearted enthusiasm and trust, which the others find suspicious because they’re bored and cynical. When they see his excitable go-getter nature, I think they assume he must be self-serving, he must think he’s better than all of them, because why else would he do it? Likewise, when the store is introducing a new product range and Leighton says, “Boss, can I just say what an honor it is to be working on a day like this?”, his coarse new manager assumes he must be taking the piss, because she can’t grasp that he really is that devoted to this supermarket job. Which, I have to say, is a pretty autistic experience—having allistic folks assign hidden motives to your straightforward actions.

I haven't watched this series yet (it's quite difficult to find it with Russian subtitles or dubbing), but damn, it all sounds so familiar!

It sounds like a description of my youth, my first jobs and my first working relationships with colleagues.

I need to find this series and watch it as soon as possible.

Oof, yeah that's rough. I really hope you can find it! Leighton is an incredible character, and Joel Fry is just amazing in the role! Absolutely one of my favorites from him.

And yes, some of these scenes are very familiar. Leighton adores is job and is always friendly and enthusiastic with his coworkers, and he often doesn't realize they're making fun of him 🥺

Jim my beloved