#the 'i'd never let anything happen to you' trope but it's her getting threatened with charges and him doing whatever he can to set her free

[thatsparrow]

[raphexim]

Literally the only Gosling film I'd ever seen before Barbie was Remember the Titans like 25 years ago.

Jesus that makes me feel old. I am. Christ.

(it's only 23 years? That's... not better)

Working my way through belatedly so imma just use this post to keep track of thoughts and feelings

The Gray Man: fucking loved it so much??? Murder weapon turned unwilling father figure??? Sad grumpy dads are my one trope to rule them all, particularly when bound with found family. I'd wanna play checkers with Six. Like the characters were super compelling to me, the way they showed development and how everything felt character driven to me? And there were such good unspoken implications that also expanded on these characters without burdening the storytelling. AND the lack of gore!!!! This was a super violent movie and it only got a PG-13 because you literally don't need to show that shit on a screen. Bless

The Nice Guys: I expected to be aced out by the whole porno thing, but it was more nudity with implications than *the do* and I guess that didn't cross the line for me. And honestly pretty mild at that. The plot has holes. So many holes. Russell Crowe's accent was distracting. And crazily, I didn't really care about any of that, because the characters and their dynamics and chemistry were just chef's kiss. I love Holland? And I love that he is a disaster. I would not like him in person. There is a little gore at the end, but if you consider physics, it's not realistic at all (crazy how you can convey a visual without having to emotionally scar your audience, who knew???). This is the only one I have re-watched so far, and now have the book so that I can consume my comfort in multiple forms.

La La Land: idk. The music was good. Ryan walks some kind of way. I was VERY impressed with his piano skills. (I was raised by a pianist, so I have to notice that stuff, which makes me sound pretentious I'm so sorry). Idk what happened. I have no idea what the message was, or if there even was one. It seemed like it was trying to have one?? But like "you can either fall in love, follow your dreams, or be successful, but only two out of three. And if you get rid of one, you're guaranteed to get the others." Idk. Very meh, probably won't watch again except for specifically the piano playing.

Lars and the Real Girl: tbh my only context for this movie was an episode of Pushing Daisies where a delusional guy used his doll to murder someone, so. I did not have high expectations. Also had no idea RG had anything to do with it. *And* my tolerance level for secondhand embarrassment is on the fucking floor so I expected to have to turn it off. I didn't. Fuck. This movie was so wholesome???? The treatment of a mental illness was so supportive and positive??? (Except for the touch thing, that was... Let people not want to be touched!)

The Notebook: hi, I hated the Notebook. I don't get the hype, I don't know why people treat it like the ultimate romance. Man coerces a girl into a date by threatening to kill himself, she retaliates by publicly humiliating him. They scream at each other a lot. Poor communication. Obsessive behavior?? Literally so creepy??? Anyway they're terrible for each other and it's an unhealthy relationship. Ryan with brown eyes. Only rewatching if it's to roast and drink.

Half Nelson: made me uncomfy, but that was the point, right? It's a white savior movie but it's about being a white savior movie. The racial subtext of a white guy stepping in inappropriately and what the fallout of that is; stack on the nuance of addiction, male entitlement. How powerful of a moment for Drey to ask "will I end up like my brother" and Dan being the one to make her so. (Also the performance by Shareeka Epps? Spellbinding.) The writer who became a teacher and then never got around to writing? Real. So was the fact that nothing happened professionally after he did what he did to his coworker. Very pre-Me Too. Anthony Mackey was both the most charismatic and, somehow, most responsible character in the entire thing. My only actual beef is the camera work. This last bit is petty - they finally gave me a RG character with a cat, and the cat dies (but, very single white bachelor to name him Dave omg.)

Crazy, Stupid Love: uhhhhh the children involved in this were... this wasn't good. There could have been good lessons for them (the son with consent maybe??) (*not* depicting a teenage girl giving suggestive photos to a child???) but there weren't. There were good aspects in the story, don't get me wrong: exploring relationships, trying to find your identity outside of just 'who you're married to'. I get it. Everything that wasn't actively trying to teach a lesson was funny. The parts that were meant to be heartfelt, did not age well and also probably weren't great to begin with. Maybe that's the male gaze idk. I wanted more of Jacob and Cal's actual relationship, because what was being suggested between the lines was way more interesting to me than the actual plot. Jacob with the family/bonding with Cal's kids completely off-screen, are you kidding me? Cal being a really weird, awkward stand-in for Jacob's father? Jacob accidentally being written demi-romantic and having a crisis about it? I'd love someone to remake this movie. Preferably women-directed. [But I am obsessed with the second Jacob heard David's name and had zero hesitation, just ring off 'we doin this'. He's a real one.]

Can you tell I have feelings about overuse of sex and gore? Esp how it's been the last few years? Ugh. Like I want to watch Drive bc it sounds like it's supposed to be an ✨iconic✨ role for him but I get squicked out by chunks/organs and stuff and I have no idea how graphic it is. Can we go back to shit being implied, off screen, or at least artistic again???

I'm not tagging this, it's for me lmao

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to Guiltrip!

Alright, so this one is a bit more of a serious one for me. But I'll be going in order of the episode so the more serious talk will be a bit further down! First thing we get is this lovely moment:

I've already addressed it in a post, but I'll say it again here. Guiltrip is episode 11, several episodes take place before Guiltrip that we haven't seen yet, so this is awhile after Marinette and Luka broke up. We also know that Marinette has always had feelings for Adrien, even when she was with Luka. Luka always knew that fact too. None of this is new and is to be expected, obviously, when Love Square is endgame. But! I also want to point out here that this is just a soft look. Very gentle, very common. I see people looking at each other both in real life and in other shows all the time. A look that says "I adore you". And I think it's sweet! Very subtle, but enough. Something's wrong with Rose. We never get told (in this episode anyway) what it is, but it's a chronic illness that's a worry in Rose's life, ever since she was young. I feel really bad for Juleka, knowing that her friend's been struggling with an illness, and whenever something happens she has to worry about it alone. Also that really sucks when you try to cheer somebody up and make a joke, that because you were mislead about a situation you end up making things worse. Poor Marinette. :c Adrien when he realizes he's bumped into someone (and the pink bubbles to remind us of Marinette's feelings for him):

Adrien when he realizes just who it was he bumped into!:

Scroll up now and look at how Marinette was looking at Adrien earlier that day. It's the exact same look. Yet, something feels different from usual to me, idk. But continuing on. Marinette gets slightly jumbled with her words, but manages to give herself a kick and says nope not now! Good for her! You can't expect to change overnight, but she's working on it.

She looks to the side, gathering her surroundings for a split second and she misses the top step. I'd like to say that this is just a joke for the show but well, this kind of thing has happened to me a lot because I'm that much of a klutz so I feel for her here. (On Halloween I forgot that there was another step as I was walking down as I wasn't paying attention. I couldn't walk on my foot for 2 weeks. It's a serious problem, guys. Really. xDD) Marinette had told Adrien she's concerned it was something she said that upset Juleka and Adrien tells her while sometimes she doesn't make sense, what she says is never mean. This scene reminds me of when Ladybug's worried about something and Chat Noir's there to keep her grounded and remind her of how things really are. I very much appreciate seeing such a scene with Adrienette! Makes the Love Square much more rounded. Also the way he stops her and says let him go talk to her to try to help the situation and any possible misunderstandings from taking place. ;-;

Can I just say... oh my gosh. He went from determined, to hearing Marinette trying to comfort her, to looking with confidence "This girl is amazing." and the whole Ladynoir vibe I'm getting from this scene makes me happy. The thing that's unrealistic about this scene though is you expect to tell me that 8 kids went down those stairs and came up behind them and Marinette, Adrien, and Juleka didn't hear? XD Now here's where the serious comes in. Rose is hospitalized with an illness we don't know about, but has been a long-term thing that has Juleka really worried a lot. That must be so stressful :c I'm going to be honest and say I never really saw Julerose romantically. Like I can see how people do, but to me, I could see that their bond was really unique. It didn't really fit completely in the "BFF" category either. But if felt like there was more to them that I didn't really understand. I think the best example off the top of my head was during Zombizou, when Rose was going to help Chloe after she slid down Chat's stick and she went too fast for him to catch her. Juleka seemed especially worried and concerned for her. Rose never seemed to get concerned about Juleka in the same way Juleka was about Rose. Juleka's always been more protective and worried and it was always one of those things that made me go "hmm, interesting". Now this episode finally explains why and I'm honestly super glad for it. Because this kind of a relationship is not a common one in media, especially kids media. Partially because having such serious illnesses in young people is not particularly common, and having someone who's so caring and protective of that person is even less common. And most people probably don't realize how amazing it is to have health problems and then have someone in their life who acts like Juleka does for Rose. I had a life-threatening illness as a kid, one that still affects me greatly today. When in school, my friends knew about it without me having to say anything unfortunately, and while they didn't usually treat me differently, sometimes they were pretty ignorant and didn't understand why I wasn't "normal" like them. They asked questions that were harder ones to answer, and tended to forget my answers. I got a lot of "I know you have X problem but I still don't see why you can't..." as well as thinking I was lying if I said I wasn't well and couldn't go to a party, and that was hard to deal with, being limited in what you can do which makes you different and being judged for things out of your control. So seeing these kids who only know something's wrong with her, but are willing to do so much to make her life better and happier, not judging her at all, wanting to take care of her no questions asked was really heart-warming for me. I only had one friend during that time that was anything close to this. I never had to explain anything to him if I didn't want to. He never asked me personal questions I didn't want to answer. And he seemed to know what he could do to make things for me easier if I was having a hard time without me ever saying so. And this is another reminder to me that this show is aimed at kids. To show kids that they'll likely encounter someone around their age that's going through something serious like a health problem, and what that kid needs most is kindness and not to be made to feel like they're even more different from the other kids than they already feel. The way they handled that aspect of it for such a short, limited intro to it, I think they did good. I discussed this next bit with a friend. She mentioned it first, the trope where those with chronic or serious illnesses are usually an "inspiration". With this episode, you kind of get the feeling that because Rose's been through so much, she's therefore a really positive and bubbly person and it kind of gives off the vibe that if you don't view things the way she does, then you're not doing it right. "What matters isn't the problem, but how you handle it." While I agree with this, and that when you come out of or regularly deal with

such hard times, automatically trying to see the world better and brighter can easily happen, but it's not exactly realistic either, at least not to the extent Rose and other people the media has portrayed. For one, I think you have to have always been more of that kind of person from the start to realistically be so positive. As my friend said and I agree, positivity is just who Rose is, she's not who she is just for the sake of a trope. But honestly, when you've gone through something so difficult, and if life continues to throw you more difficulties on top of it, being positive so much can sometimes turn into a negative and be harmful too. When you've been through a lot, it's important to allow yourself to feel the negative too because it's part of dealing with such problems. And if you've been through a lot in life and you haven't come out of it being all sunshine and rainbows, always looking on the brighter side of things, that's perfectly okay. Life's hard and tends not to work out how we'd like, or even for the better sometimes. If being positive and hopeful after struggling is hard to do, you're not bad or wrong for feeling that way, everybody handles things differently. c: ANYWAY, moving on to the rest of the episode! Juleka being all irritated and worried that the class was going to expose her spilling Rose's secret xD While the situation isn't ideal, it's nice that this is the most involved she's seemed with everyone in the entire duration of the show. But Rose knows something's up, and I love that she talks to her about it and realizes that she should've told everyone herself instead of Juleka being the only one who knew. Which has been such a burden on her. (Oh no, what if this is a reflection of Alya knowing Marinette's Ladybug later on? I'm hoping not.) Ugh these children and how much they care about Rose! These kids are the absolute best. But then they kind of ruin it a little with going overboard. Which, frankly, I think is just ignorance of her situation really. I mean, we don't know what exactly is wrong with Rose. Just that she ends up in the hospital. If they knew about her condition, what causes her to get sick, what to look out for, etc, they'd be much more informed and much less likely to be frantic whenever something's not perfectly "normal" with her. All of these kids are going to be overprotective parents someday, aren't they?

Okay so like... are Adrien and Marinette going to question at all how Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up immediately after Juleka was akumatized, and no damage had happened outside of the school for it to be known to the public? Literally the only ones that could've possibly known were the class to have shown up that fast. ??? I am confusion. "I can't help my best friend face his father." "No, Nino..." Two things: The fact that THIS is what he's feeling guilty about? My poor Nino! Dx I just love him, he really doesn't get enough love and appreciation imo. Also, um, isn't Ladybug like right by Chat? Didn't she hear that? What? Idk but I feel like we're really missing something here. Usually we get things that are kind of hints, that make us wonder if they know right, but this? This is a bit too blaring-in-your-face, and there's two major things so close together. Really strange. Chat about to use Cataclysm on himself. Good grief that was not expected. Chat Blanc threatened to destroy himself along with everything else. Now Chat Noir while affected with negative emotions from an akuma almost Cataclysmed himself. This show really is getting deep and dark isn't it. o.o Also is there something Adrien needs to work out with someone...? Daizzi and Rose saying the other's so cute, ugh they're both so cute! And Pigella's costume and transformation is so adorable omg. Okay so Pigella's power allows people to see their biggest wish, the thing that'd make them the most happy and feel positive emotions. I know some people probably think "That's it?" Considering that Shadow Moth preys on people's negative emotions, such a power is actually extremely useful facing Shadow Moth. (And let's not forget, that while that's her power, she has the ability to fight and make a difference just from being transformed too) BUT AWWW Juleka's wish! And her face when Pigella said it aloud. ;-; Am I the only one wondering if Pigella may someday use her power on Shadow Moth and that's how they learn his motive? I'm so impressed with how Rose knew how to handle everything. She knew she can't slip up with Juleka. She knew to sneak away to detransform and come back as Rose. She knew to subtly give the Miraculous back so nobody would ever know she had it. Even Chat Noir had no idea! I don't know why, I'm just so very proud of that. "She doesn't need a Miraculous to be a superhero." She really has the characteristics of one, and I can't wait to see more of Pigella. Also I'm really wondering. This scene here:

All the kids that are part of that friend group are there...except Marinette and Adrien, of course. Alya knows why Marinette isn't there. But is she wondering about why Adrien isn't there too? LOL Marinette being like "I'm taking your pillow back, sorry! Gotta wait for it like everyone else." and the boys being like LE GASP. Marinette's right, she's not fragile! The fact Rose jokes with her and makes everyone laugh, and Chloe saying "Hey, why doesn't everyone laugh when I say something like that?!" Adrien: Because in your case, it's never a joke. Chloe: Hm, that's true. Which is super funny, especially how he just so casually says it. But also it really shows again how Chloe wants to be liked. She wishes the kids would laugh when she makes comments, but it's because they're said in a serious/obnoxious way, instead of making light of something like in Rose's case here, that they don't. I know she talked about it with Ladybug in an episode, but it again shows that that's what she'd like. All that needs to happen is someone helping her get there. Maybe Zoe and Luka will somehow help with that later on. Anyway, this was a really great episode! I feel like some things might not make quite as much sense as they should if we got it in order, but what can you do when Gloob has to air them? Even a friend of mine who's been doing what she can to avoid spoilers, still got spoiled. She's having to delete tumblr to avoid future spoilers because people can't help themselves and tag things properly. So thanks Gloob. :P All we wanted was the episodes in order. We've waited this long for S4, we can wait a bit longer. But they gotta make money I guess. I'm glad other countries are trying their best to keep it in order anyway. c: Guiltrip also has some really great Adrienette moments, and covered a more serious topic which was really interesting and shows how much the show's changing. Especially with some of the choice of camera angles and movements! Like the zoom-in on the door with Adrien and Marinette, the boys LE GASP scene. Very cool artistic choices! Looking forward to the episodes that come before this one to try to help fill in some of the gaps! And apologies to those that frequently read these posts from me, I started writing it up late and couldn't finish so you get it the day after instead. xD

[grayintogreen]

How about something different this time? The Luidaeg for your new ask game. Or, I'd you prefer to stick with Critical Role, the Tombtaker twins.

Luidaeg is my sweet baby girl who has never done anything wrong, and I just finished WSC, SO I WILL GLADLY DO HER.

Why I like them

She's like a thousand of my favorite tropes stuffed into a pair of overalls and none of them are wearing a bra. She's an ancient being who chooses to look like a teenager. She's an angry misanthrope who is also soft. She threatens her friends and family with impunity. She's a troll.

Why I don’t

I... don't think there's anything I don't like about her?? She's a very complicated character, but she's never done anything I've blatantly hated that was actually her fault.

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

God this is hard. I think the scene in Winter Long when Toby figures out how to get around her geas briefly and she's super excited about it. Also her fight with Eira.

Favorite season/movie

Winter Long by a HUGE margin. Some delicious Luidaeg content in that one. Obviously. /looks at favorite scenes

Favorite line

I'm not gonna copy it out, but her speech at the end of When Sorrows Come GOT ME GOOD. But also her speech in the very first book when she's explaining how Maeve's children got a raw deal. She has a lot of good speeches.

Favorite outfit

THAT FUCKING CRAZY DRESS SHE WEARS IN... I don't remember which book it is now. The conovocation one. (It's Once Broken Faith. I had to dig through my books to remember. Damn I thought that was a more recent one.)

OTP

SHOCKING EVERYONE I DON'T HAVE ONE?? I'm kinda into her and Poppy, because I love Grumpy/Cheery ships, but idk how that's gonna work out. My real OTP is Luidaeg/Happiness, because she fucking deserves it.

Brotp

Her relationship with Toby means EVERYTHING to me.

Head Canon

I... don't have any??? I know right. Weird for me. My only real headcanon is that in my head she sounds like KT Vogt playing Washu in the OG Tenchi Muyo, because Washu is her EXACT energy (prefers to look younger than she is, snarky, grumpy, assists the protagonist in horrifying ways, and Washu was also a mom who lost her baby AND she’s actually a powerful goddess- in the OAV anyway).

Unpopular opinion

I'm not in this fandom beyond superficially so I don't know what's unpopular.

A wish

I hope her geas gets broken, which I'm sure is gonna happen eventually.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

DON'T LET HER DIE AGAIN.

5 words to best describe them

Snarky, angry, tragic, loving, complicated.

My nickname for them

I don't have one, but catch me in the club never fucking pronouncing her name correctly. Gaelic, why are you LIKE THIS. I have to remember it through knowing it sounds like "love shack."

[swan2swan]

Your post about Ripley kinda touched on this so I thought I'd give you a better explantation: The "mama bear" trope is not revolutionary, but as old and as sexist as the damsel in distress herself. The mama bear's value is defined by her children as the damsel's value is defined by her virginity. Stories about warrior mothers defending their children with force are millennia old because women defending their young is their "womanly duty" and men brag about how good they are at fulfilling it.

I’ve never seen it as particularly sexist, but more unappreciated. 

In the same way that being “the healer” became a diminished role due to sexism, being the caretaker of a child has become something “expected” rather than “admired” (as have a LOT of domestic duties, honestly, do you know how much power a woman had in a Roman household?). The more you make a joke of a woman’s duty, the less desirable it becomes, and then you take everything for granted. There’s that thing about how Native American tribes never sent the women out to hunt because the men were expendable and women kept things running…all of this ties into this particular zone.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the “mother bear” trope because it reminds you of the ultimate force protecting the weak. The problem arises when this is the only option left to them.

That’s why I have no problems calling Hera Syndulla Spacemom, because she can be Captain Punch-Punch at any point and is also the Best Pilot in the Galaxy–she’s all three rolled into one (quick reminder that she’s also the first character to fly all five letters of Rebel fighters, and she’s also flown a TIE Bomber and a TIE Fighter). She’s a Mama Bear, but only when her kids are threatened and she’s the last line of defense. Nothing wrong with that.

The problem was that Aliens and Terminator didn’t usher in a new wave of cinematic hero–probably because the monsters were the memorable parts of the films, and that Predator embraced the macho-man action-hero approach and proved that the women weren’t the essential key to success, but the monsters. Thus we had the nineties with Die Hard and Jurassic Park and X-Men all focusing on the men in the sagas. Then you had Star Wars which had to focus on Anakin Skywalker, and Lord of the Rings with its all-male cast, then Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom overshadowing Keira Knightley, and the dawn of the Fast franchise. All the while you had The Mummy, Mission Impossible, James Bond, and The Matrix continuing their franchises. Next up was Michael Bay’s chain that led to Transformers, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its lineup of white males named Chris dueling with Christopher Nolan’s Christian Bale films. Following that, you had the sequels to these Marvel films and the dawn of the Zack Snyder DCU, along with The Hobbit. 

Thus, for about thirty years there was a complete hungry monopoly on cinema and stories by white men about white men, largely set on harnessing nostalgia for an era that was also dominated by white men. 

So you see, the Mama Bear trope became the go-to because it was the only way for this to happen (looking back to classic Wonder Woman, Miss Marples, the Austen books, the Bronte books, and even the pulp comic era, you see a lot of different female heroes, for better or for worse).

Rey, Diana, Furiosa, and even Claire have thankfully broken some new ground. Hopefully we get some color diversity in here soon, but women are finally getting better treatment and are allowed to pick careers besides the Mama Bear. Jedi, superhero, warlord, CEO, spy-that-isn’t-ScarJo, these are all new and important roles that are being filled. Let’s give Rose Tico some love so we can have some mechanics in here. 

(Shout-out to Zoe Saldana for her multiple roles, too–Uhura and Gamora primarily, giving us a linguist and a murder-lady).

Still, though, I’ll always be thankful for the ray of light that was Sanaa Lathan in AvP. She wasn’t mothering anyone, she was a scientist who got herself a spear and shield and killed some aliens.

The bottom line is that I don’t like people stepping on the Mother Bear trope, because that could eventually be used to pit women against other women in the classic trap–having women say “Well, what, am I supposed to watch the kids? HA. That old sexist thing–” No. Watching the kids is AWESOME. It is IMPORTANT. It’s what men should BECOME capable of doing if they aren’t that way already. It’s half the plot of Kill Bill. Protecting what’s important is what every hero is supposed to do. The fact is that women just got to the Mama Bear role first and claimed it for their own, and in typical fashion, men would love to make it seem like that’s not something to be proud of. Nuh-uh. It doesn’t work like that. Take the loss, dudes. Saving the child is just as much of an achievement as saving the love interest. Honestly, we need more movies like Keanu where the protagonists are just trying to get their cat back. Key and Peele were there first. Final point: protecting a tiny little thing that can’t protect itself is a challenge as old as time itself, and you should be proud of it, whether you’re a man or a woman or anything else.