#stellar women

[autumnsup]

So.... I've been a little sleep-deprived lately, through no fault but my own, because my brain has decided that this is the week I try to catch up on the list of films I've been meaning to watch for ages. I've found myself gravitating towards the ones with stellar women actors, such as:

Toni Collette in Hereditary. Like, how does she do that? With her face, her voice, her way of walking, shambling, crouching, and floating across the screen? I was blown away by her performance in The Sixth Sense and The Staircase, but this one might be the most memorable one yet (in the horror movie genre anyhow). The whole look of the film was stunning too, in a dark, sinister way.

Margot Robbie in Barbie. Obvs she's a treat to look at, and while I'm still getting a sense of her range as an actor, some of her scenes in the Barbie movie just took my breath away. Including the ones with Kate McKinnon (who is of course a national treasure).

Saoirse Ronan in Greta Gerwig's Little Women. I've loved her performance in every film I've seen her in, but I watched this film specifically because I wanted to see how Gerwig interpreted such a classic tale. She did not disappoint, although I was initially a bit puzzled by some of her other casting choices. But it all came together in the end, in the most lovely (and quietly empowering) way. I will probably watch the 2017 BBC version next, if I can get access to it.

Cate Blanchett in Tár. She's another actor who knocks my socks off in pretty much every role I've ever seen her in, even if I didn't like the film as a whole. I am a bit on the fence about this one because of the subject matter and how it ends, but she did a fantastic job as always, and the fake interviews and "is Lydia Tár a real person?" articles that sprang up after its release are highly entertaining. I'm looking forward to watching her in a less villainous role in Carol, my next film on the list.

Alongside all these powerhouse performances, I've been enjoying fluffier fare in the form of Good Omens, season 1. I will of course be tuning in for season 2 when it drops this Friday, because it seems a shame not to support its continuation into the final season 3, after languishing in the shadows of Mr. Gaiman's imagination all these years. (Assuming that the writer's strike gets to a satisfactory place for everyone, that is).

It'll be a miracle if I still have eyeballs by the end of the week, but I'm kind of enjoying this cinematic spree while it lasts!

[citroncynique]

bad dreams in the night

[asianhaven4u]

LOOKING STELLAR👸🗡- Hane Ame

[maggiecheungs]

Nicole Beharie as Turquoise Jones

MISS JUNETEENTH (2020) dir. Channing Godfrey Peoples

[fyblackwomenart]

Vanessa by  Stellar Design Studio

[nychthemeron-rants]

I am so close to making a Hazbin AU where Angel is Niffty's dad because making this post and THIS vvvv

Fucking image made the idea go from "huh, funny coincidence" to full on brainrot.

[corpsentry]

there’s something so epic about hetero chinese period dramas and i think one part of it is that there is absolutely nowhere in the narrative i could exist.

lately i’ve been on a western media detox— i’ve cleaned english language music out of my playlists and have never been able to stomach western dramas anyway, so that part is easy— which might seem funny, because if i’m in singapore and i hate it and i won’t touch american music then what’s left? the answer is the false binarism of chinese period dramas, at least for me. the badly written ones are misogynistic and stupid and the better ones are less of those things, but regardless the world that emerges is clean-cut and easy to parse. there’s someone to root for and someone to hate. there’s a girl and a boy. there’s the comedy and the drama, the sheer thick drama, the music that signals to you precisely how to feel before the scene even starts going

try to jam a fifth culture transnational transgender they/them with 2 mental illness and 1 autoimmune disease into this world and it simply doesn’t work. and that’s kinda epic lolzers! it’s like watching high fantasy, or super hardcore sci-if. it both represents a simulacrum of the real world and is so far from the reality you know that you understand it as a hypothetical universe, one that disincludes you on principle. i exclude myself from the story and in doing so fangfei from moyuyunjian’s steely gaze becomes all the more important. i give so many shits and laugh and yell and spectate. but i am safe from the eyes of its inhabitants. if i entered the story it would break. so i sit outside of it, clapping by myself

in other news, we gave up on mysterious lotus casebook 16 episodes in. there are many character archetypes in these shows that i can no longer stand; the salacious sexy seductive supervillain lady is not necessarily one of them but the way they did miss ‘this man didn’t even Look at me when all men fall at my knees so i hated him’ ‘no one is allowed to steal buttchin from me’ jiao was way up there. surely a woman can have multiple personality traits and yet you would think from this drama that that is not at all true. and the strange harem that grew around li lianhua despite his absolute loser attitude— like i get it, he’s the gintoki of this show, that’s hot, but the way the women who were into him were written made me want to Eat Horse. it bothered me that di feisheng and lianhua’s homo as fuck dynamic was so intriguing and them + fang duobing was a winning trio but all the women in the show were written like complete fucking ass, and one of the big antagonists being a woman, the stakes throughout were not only lost to me but also Pissed Me Off. also, that case about the corpse flowers dragged on forever and all my pocky wilted

I Just Think, women deserve better in these damn stories. make them slutty as hell, sure, but make them other things too and i mean this in the most generous sense. slutty and proud. slutty and weird. slutty and oblivious. literally anything at all so they don’t come out cardboard flat from all angles. this is why i have a personal vendetta against the ditzy clueless female protagonist as well because if everything stems from the fact that she doesn’t know shit it’s like please someone Please tell her shit i’m on my hands and knees begging. give her more to chew on she’s dying of boredom over there

this is why i liked the so called antagonist of blossoms in adversity best (spoilers ahead). he was cruel as hell to huazhi and gu yanxi’s only parental figure. he was paranoid and selfish and lonely and craved a son’s love from the one person he couldn’t hold onto. in the end he is pushed further and further by huazhi, who won’t give in, to isolate yanxi from the people he loves and to lash out at those people as a way of punishing yanxi. and when he dies it’s because of his own distrust, his own negligent parenting, his absent cruelty from decades of insomnia and lack of faith in his people. but he cries for yanxi, and there’s something so human about that. to think of evil not as a first principle but rather an adjective for a verb that is set in motion by other events. to be honest, i haven’t seen such thoughtful writing in any chinese period drama before or after that and i strongly suspect i will never see such writing again in this genre but man, it was so fucking good (spoilers end).

in the meantime, i’ve dragged my mother to moyuyunjian/the double for the return casting of liu xiening and wang xingyue who are Eating so hard. they’ve got wang xingyue done up with the sluttiest makeup and liu xiening is breaking my heart with her pout and her Sassy Mean constitution and this is a revenge story, yes, but it’s a double revenge story. it’s a grief story. and fangfei is carrying more on her shoulders than lingbuyi imo, and doing so with much more grace too. her step mom’s a dick but she’s a smart, 5d chess playing dick who wears hot shades of green so i’m personally interested enough to keep watching (something lotus casebook DID NOT accomplish with their epic female antagonist…. mein gotte). and the princess too. unhinged as hell but god, so charismatic. and beautiful, with scary big eyes and the sweetest head tilt. fun fun fun! that’s fun character writing right there. the comedy might be too straightforward for my tastes but everything else is kind of hot and sexy And after the coming of age ceremony when jiangli appeared amidst the flowers i felt my throat close up even though we saw her for all of one (1) episode). i was like yes. they got me alright. i Care now

really that’s all that matters isn’t it. we want stories about people we care for. we want to give a shit. why else would we listen to the stories of other people. we are looking for us and the people we love in them

oh also moyuyunjian soundtrack goes hard as hell i love a little three step waltz. here’s a pic from the ‘gym’ for ur time. guten night

[tomboymikayla]

What’s a good subreddit name for women who love sexualized female characters?

[annnathegayblogger]

Heart edits!

1. Indiffgirl 2. Indiffboy 3. Girlcalicocat

4. Gymnophobia 5. Orange stripe aroace

6. Sunset aroace 7. Old sunrise aroace flag 8. New sunrise aroace flag

9. Lustringic 10. Adkingender

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Observations on ep 10:

(I'm sure that music was used in BBS...)

Redemption!

I've never really understood that arm/handholding thing that bl characters do...I've never questioned it before but the lingering camera shots on Top and Mew here has made me want to now...I think it bothers me. I find it odd from a body language perspective. Is it a cultural thing? I've never done it to someone or had it done to me - any thoughts from anyone else?

Oh and I find hugs where one person leaves their arms hanging are always awkward. If someone didn't put their arms around me I would break that hug so fast. I don't know how these characters stay hugging someone who doesn't hug them back. *shudders*

MOND!!

I've never heard those bass notes before the opening credits music kicks in! I'm sure it's just been silent before... *runs away to check* Oh, they've always been there but it's definitely louder on ep 10 than ep 1 - I've obviously had my volume too low to hear it before now.

"To solve the problem you must first admit there is one". And "I don't want to sing at your funeral". Sand slapping some truths on the table.

Why do I get the feeling that Boeing is a shit-stirrer?!

Now that it's come to mind, I can't stop thinking about Papang and Poppy together. Sorry Mark (and Pepper) but I'm rooting for a different ship now.

*incoherent screaming* I just love Khaotung as an actor!!

Oh Atom 😂 smh

I feel sorry for Boston tbh.

I somehow knew Mew was going to push Top in the pool. It's what I would have done. 😂 (But also, more bbs music).

Ooops, accidentally liking Boeing's photo. We've all been there Mew, we've all been there 😂

Yeah, Boeing wasn't 'stolen' from Sand by Top. He's a minx who likes to flirt and shit-stir and get around.

(Have I seen that stripy vest in MSP?)

Is that jealous Boston activated?! Me thinks they're not talking about phones and phone cases... OMG I love these two.

Boeing: 'be with someone who won't cheat on you'. Uh Mew...that is not Boeing. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

ANOTHER KISSING PAIR @ranchthoughts!! (I know you know but I need to shout at you anyway)

THAT'S THE DON'T SAY NO HOUSE @colourme-feral!! The 'holy guacamole' house!

Oh nooooooooo Ray's dad paid Sand to encourage Ray to go to rehab. Now Ray knows and it's going to deter him from going. Noooooooooo.

Oh wow. Oh....... Wow. Just wow. Khaotung and First. I just... WOW. But also, it's Ray's turn to slap some truths in Sand's face.

Oooo I don't trust Mew. I think Boeing got to him.

I do like Mond playing evil though.

Oh, ohhhhhhhhhh Boeing is vindictive. I want to feel sorry for Top but...I need more of their backstory first...and Top's motivations for being with Mew...so, the jury's out for now.

Neo does 'kicked puppy' really well.

Oh Mark is incredible. He does that switch from cocky to vulnerable so well.

Just, *takes a deep breath*, THIS SHOW IS SO FRICKING GOOOOOOOOD *incoherent screaming*

See my other post for an serious in-depth meta essay on this ep.

[divinekangaroo]

Surprised actually there’s no body-swap fic in PB fandom.

[loftwinglullaby]

wow thank you so much

[omg-hellgirl]

He’s an all-caps ladies’ man, impossibly magnetic, lovable, and unleavable. Despite his nonstellar looks (the raddled features of a very old chimp), he has been bathed in adoration by a long line of superior women, including his wife, Bianca, Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Carly Simon, Jerry Hall, Carla Bruni, and his current girlfriend of eight years, designer L’Wren Scott.

Betsy Prioleau, Swoon: Great Seducers and Why Women Love Them.

[vignetterose]

Bi Woman/Bi Sapphic Identities

Lunar Bisexual Sapphic (Fem Bisexual Sapphic)

Solar Bisexual Sapphic (Masc Bisexual Sapphic)

Stellar Bisexual Sapphic (Mascfem Bisexual Sapphic)

These are terms and flags to describe feminine, masculine, and masculine-feminine bi women/bi sapphics that aren't the lesbian terms butch and femme. I also couldn't find a term for what I experienced (both masculinity and femininity/fluctuating between the two) so I decided to create my own!

[shesthewindandsea]

someone come talk to me about The Ultimatum: Queer Love I’m so interested and invested in this show

[thisismisogynoir]

Wish I could have Halle Bailey as Ariel without that anti-Black bitch and her atrocious excuse for a rap. 🤦🏿‍♀️