#so thats not a positive

[bedofthistles]

The Little White Horse: Robin Minette

In continuation with my analysis of the novel, the Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge, I want to cover the characters and the main themes of both the book and the movie.

Here's my thoughts and opinions one Robin De Noir, and Robin Minette, two wildly different characters

TL;DR

My enemy. 

My beloathed. 

The one I despise! 

This boy is insane, he is the definition of toxic masculinity, he’s only a child and already he sucks, and I know for a fact he will never get better because he is never punished for his actions. 

And what did he do wrong? 

Well first I would like to remind you all of my beautiful, wonderful, fantastic, baby-eyed Robin De Noir. I have no idea how we got Robin De Noir out of Robin Minette, but I am forever grateful. 

For starters, Robin De Noir takes the place of Mr. Cock in LWH. Where Mr. Cock has trapped the hare, Robin De Noir has, where Maria gets chased by Mr. Cock in the book, she gets chased by Robin De Noir in the movies (and yes, technically the Coeur De Noir and all of the De Noirs are chasing after her as well), where Maria and Mr. Cock run through the forest so she can show him the White Horse, she and Robin De Noir run through the forest in search of the pearls. Additionally, he is no longer Robin Minette, Loveday Minette’s son, but the son of the Coeur De Noir, and Loveday’s brother. 

One, this change is already ten times more dynamic. Throughout the book, we are only told that the De Noirs are wicked, and it isn’t until Maria’s last minute change of heart about them that suddenly they aren’t. Those poor people are demonized in the book, and are not given any sympathy. Now I hear you saying, the movie was the same! They were evil until Maria decided she needed Robin’s help! 

I need you to go back and give Augustus Prew his due, because that boy acted his ass off. I don’t think I’ll be able to go over all of his exemplary acting choices, and I may make a separate post for that, but that will require gifs and screengrabs. Anyway! There are several scenes that show us, the audience, that Robin De Noir is just a boy who is trying his damnedest to make his father proud of him. We see this when the Coeur De Noir calls him a ‘dolt’ after the rabbit trap, and you can see his face just fall, he is devastated, not that he lost the princess, but that he disappointed his father. 

We also see this when Robin quickly decides to help Maria. The very first time I watched this, I didn’t really understand his reasoning, but once I started thinking about it (probably about the time I started writing fic and needed to get inside of his head) I realized that he is fundamentally good, just born on the wrong side of the valley. Robin chooses the Valley over his father, he chooses to help Maria despite not even fully trusting her, he is beside her until the very end because he knows she is doing the right thing, because he loves the Valley and wants to save it. So, despite what we are told about the De Noirs (as by sir Benjamin, who calls them bandits, poachers, and plunderers) we know from visual cues, Robin De Noir’s desperation to be a good son, and his choices at the end, that the De Noirs are not purely wicked. 

Robin Minette on the other hand can die on a stick. Robin and Loveday Minette are actually a part of the Merryweather family (more on that later) and are not associated with the De Noirs at all. 

So what are all of Robin M’s sins? 

Well, if you’ve heard about the bird theory, it is the simple idea that when you call out “oh look, a bird!” the response of your partner/friend/companion should be “where!” Not because they are necessarily interested in the bird (though they should be) but because you are interested in the bird. The logic being that the person will listen to whatever random, boring, stupid thing you’re saying because they are interested in you, and are not looking at you as a source of entertainment. It’s a very simple, and beautiful concept, that shows a person who is interested in you, is interested in you! 

Robin Minette is not interested in Maria. 

I say this because in the book we are told multiple times that whenever Maria asks too many questions, Robin just walks away. He does not answer, or even asks her to stop, when he is astral projecting into Maria’s dreams, he just leaves the dream and wakes up. Again, this is in conjecture with one of Goudge’s morals: female curiosity is of the Devil. 

“All my life, Robin, I'll always tell you all about everything." “And I'll tell you," said Robin. “If I didn't you'd ask me so many questions that life would not be worth living."

This is not an okay lesson to teach to children, any boy or girl should not be learning that her voice does not matter, that her questions should be squashed, and that curiosity is a bad thing. I genuinely have no idea where Goudge got this idea from, other than it is just a very old and misogynist viewpoint. It’s not even Christian, as scripture encourages followers to study, and yes that includes women. 

I don’t think it is a harsh stance to take that a character who walks away from another while they are talking, is not interested, or in love with that character. Maybe possessive, but not in love, and it's certainly not the kind of love anyone should be idolizing. 

Furthermore, like most entitled men, Robin Minette has anger issues. I don’t want to quote the entire section, but I can post it somewhere because it is absolutely insane. 

After Robin and Maria defended Paradise Hill from the De Noirs, they go back to his house. Since it was raining, they had to change out of their wet clothes. For whatever reason, Loveday Minette decides to put her old wedding dress (that she never wore because she ran away) on Maria. 

Maria loves it, and asks if it can be her wedding dress, and Loveday M says yes. 

When Maria joins Robin in the kitchen so they can have tea, Robin asks what that is. 

“It's my wedding dress. I'm trying it on to see if it fits." "Are you going to be married?" asked Robin sharply, his munching jaws suddenly still. “Of course," said Maria, reaching for the cream. “You didn't expect me to be an old maid, did you?" “Are you being married today?" demanded Robin. “Of course she isn't being married today, Robin. She isn't old enough to be married yet. But when she is married she will wear that dress." [Loveday] “When you do marry, whom will you marry?" Robin asked Maria. Maria swallowed the last of her bread and cream and honey, put her head on one side and stirred her tea thoughtfully. “I have not quite decided yet," she said demurely, “but I think I shall marry a boy I knew in London." “What?" yelled Robin. “Marry some mincing nincompoop of a Londoner with silk stockings and pomade in his hair and a face like a Cheshire cheese?" The parkin stuck in his gullet and he choked so violently that Loveday had to pat him on the back and pour him out a fresh cup of tea. When he spoke again his face was absolutely scarlet, not only with the choke but with rage and jealousy and exasperation. “You dare do such a thing!" he exploded. "You--Maria --you-- if you marry a London man I'll wring his neck!"

Now, you’ll notice three things here: 

One, the fate of all Moon Princess’ is to get in a fight with her love, and if she doesn’t humble herself, she’ll be forced to leave Moonacre. This is something Maria knows at this point. 

Two, Robin is a thirteen, fourteen year old boy displaying this much anger, possessiveness, and audacity. This is not something he is punished for, and he gets away with this behavior. 

Three, his mother is right there???? And her chief concern is: 

“Robin," said his mother, “that's not at all the way to propose. You should go down on one knee and do it in a very gentle voice."  

Ma’am your son is a maniac and you’re giving him tips on how to propose properly? 

Now, I want to swing back to my first point. To state it very plainly, this is one of the reasons as to why people stay in abusive relationships for so long. Maria knows that if she and Robin hadn’t made up right then and there, she would have to leave Moonacre. This language and ideology puts the blame on the victim’s shoulders, making the victim feel as if they have to be the one to make amends, to fix what is broken, and appease the abuser. This is the cycle of abuse that is seen time and time again, and while Goudge does not frame this as an ideal relationship we can gather that based on all that Maria has learned, it is her job to keep the peace. 

Am I calling Robin Minette an abuser? Yes, yes I am. 

Maria immediately forgives his behavior, Loveday is obviously okay with it, because she does nothing to stop him or scold him, and Goudge obviously sees this as okay male behavior. 

It's preposterous and yet this book is only eighty years old, we can obviously see people who behave this way, and we all know people who are like this. However, I think we have finally pivoted to presenting this behavior as abusive in media and art. Too often we think of abuse as just physical, but so often it is emotional, financial, and sexual, and the consequence of that mentality is people suffering abuse thinking that they aren’t because they don’t get black eyes. 

Here, I would also like the mention the BBC miniseries, Moonacre. The Miniseries is boring, it’s praised for being a more direct adaptation of the book, however they do make some major changes, especially to the plot. They add this thing about the ‘Blackheart’s’ having their water supply being cut off, all their wells are saturated with saltwater, and they blame Sir Wrolf for cutting off a pipe that would lead freshwater back into the valley. In this, we do get Loveday and Robin (still mother and son) as De Noirs. Loveday is the direct descendant of Black William, and despite teaching her son to hate the Blackhearts, he is also a De Noir. Robin Minette in this movie is boring, he doesn’t get mad at Maria for asking questions, but all he really does is show up at convenient times to save her from the Blackhearts. He’s fine, he’s not as problematic as Robin in LWH, but his character is not as compelling as Robin De Noir in TSOM.

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Full wedding dress excerpt

#IM NOT SORRY #ROBIN MINETTE SUCKS AND I HATE HIM #the secret of moonacre #the little white horse #moonacre #TLWH dissertation #robin m actually reminds me of my absuvie ex boyfriend #so thats not a positive

[fairycosmos]

heres my positive thought for the day. trees blow in the wind all the time and you can watch for free

#right so thats my positive thought

[opikiquu]

more Penacony memes!!!! (yeah its still mostly aventurine)

#Im doing better! theres ONE non aventurine meme! #arent you all so proud of me? 🥹🥹🥹🩷 #2 if youre counting the ratio one #but anything ratio related is indirectly related to aventurine #i mean Look at him. Hes probably thinking about aventurine as we speak #★ arin rambles #★ memes #aventurine #star rail aventurine #hsr aventurine #aventurine honkai star rail #dr ratio #veritas ratio #ratiorine #aventio #hsr dr ratio #hsr misha #text posts #hsr memes #hsr penacony #penacony spoilers #references to The Note counter: Idk 700 at this point. I never shut up about it #‘do stay alive’ (Immediately collapses onto the floor clutching my chest) OH DEAR LORDDDD AAAHHHHH AHHH sOBS #<- thats positive i promise #★ arin makes stuff

[puppyeared]

axolotl

#covers my face. this is dumb theyre dumb idk what was going thru my mind making this.h #i like this brush tho i think ill keep using it #i had this thought awhile ago that axolotls kind of remind me of macs ears. and i had a nice thought that if wukong ever saw one #he'd say the same thing. and thats why im sitting here with my head in my hands #macaque doesnt know if hes embarassed amused or straight up smitten. its all 3 #i have such a hard time drawing necks and shoulders.. mac is supposed to kind of hunch up his shoulders #the way some ppl do when they bow their neck down kind oflike. defensive-tucking in position when theyre making themselves small #i cant really get it to look right so it kinda looks like his head is sunken too close to his shoulders. so i guess ill keep practising #maybe if i brought his head closer to the collarbone it will look better. but i struggle with foreshortening so theres a chance itll #just look like his neck starts at the collar. ughhh #god have mercy if i ever draw hugs. i hate positioning the shoulder i hate hate hate it. 10 dead 17 injured #i have new design note ideas for em but ill post another time #myart #doodles #lego monkie kid #lmk #monkie kid #shadowpeach #lmk sun wukong #lmk swk #lmk macaque #lmk six eared macaque #lmk liu er mihou

[fromsupernaturaltof1]

he wasn't hungover (as many believed) that's just how the man sleeps 😭

#he's so freaking adorable #thats not a healthy position to sleep in Daniel 😭 #he's a literal baby #never grew up #daniel ricciardo

[stil-lindigo]

Source

While reading this interview with a West Bank settler, it's important to remember her views do not represent those of all Israelis just like Israel does not represent all Jews. There has been sizeable protest in Tel Aviv against the genocide (quickly squashed under Netanyahu’s police force just like all other pro-palestinian sentiment) but it’s worth reading to get insight into the minds of average people who cheer on Palestinian deaths, and draw up a chair to watch hellfire rain down on innocents. This is the impact of years of settler-colonial propaganda - a complete dehumanisation of a scapegoat population.

It also has to be said that ALL colonialist countries are complicit in encouraging this kind of extremism, by facilitating and stoking the fires of islamophobia post-9/11. Israel is not an outlier - this kind of sentiment is festering EVERYWHERE and attempting to detach yourself and your country's identity from it is like burying your head in the sand.

If you stand on the side of Palestinians in this crisis, you have to be prepared to recognise the signs of islamophobia and fascism everywhere, and stand against them.

#we are ALL susceptible to propaganda #and israel has had decades to dehumanise palestinians into 'arabs' which is an umbrella term cloaking blatant islamophobia and racism #but still. this is a lot #“human rights should not be considered universal” like. thats a lot to unpack #im not trying to be humorous here like it's really a mentality that i dont know how to start untangling #but i know its possible ive seen ex zionist jews share their stories about how they broke free from the anti-palestinian messaging #you have to have empathy. you have to try to see how things got here. #i know its possible #so we have to have hope #we all have a responsiblity to recognise these horrors and their origins festering elsewhere #protect the marginalised in this time and if youre in a better position than them to do speak out #believe in a free palestine #free palestine #israel #gaza #west bank #palestine

[randomminty]

Yippee

#art tag #pokemon #pokespe #pokemon special #pokespe silver #spe silver sunday #hey. caught me at a really bad time. lots of enstars things happening #id love to talk abt spe silver my beloved but oh my god. oh my god #theres knight killers scout theres crossroads theres marionette getting fully voiced theyre not letting me rest literally #theyre senind kuro kiry at me from all angles its terrifying #anyways this post it about a differnet redhead my bad. have yoh seen this guy #i miss drawign art spreads like this its so fun #i shouldve drawn blue somewhere..... so sorry for not including her :( #and sorry for drawing silvers hgss design but gold and crystals gsc designs theyre simply easier to draw #thats all. not looking at this art anymore lest i start noticing mistakes and crying #for example his heads in a weird position on that middle drawign. goodbye❗️❗️❗️❗️ #happy spe silver sunday everyone

[sonknuxadow]

sorry not to be negative or anything i think a lot of the jokes about maria dying are funny but am i the only one who thinks that its taking it a liiiittle too far to flood the comments of the live action actors posts with stuff about how shes gonna get shot or you cant wait to see her die (and yes this is actually happening im not making up a guy to get mad at)

#i KNOW its in reference to the character not the actor in real life but its still weird? #like even if youre talking about the character youre still directing it at a real person. who is also a child . which just makes it worse #i feel like if i was in her position id be a bit freaked out #especially if i didnt know much about sonic and how important/iconic maria dying is #like the top comment on her isntagram post confirming her role is just ''LMAO SHES IN A BODY BAG '' #and theres a bunch of other jokes under that about her dying. most of the comments section is just jokes about her dying actually #with a few people congratulating her and stuff but mostly jokes about her dying .... its weird #and about waht she was wearing maybe she Was making a joke there #but i feel like its just as likely that she was on set in costume at the time #and isnt allowed to show what maria looks like yet and thats why she had her face and body covered #theres not really anything wrong with these jokes on their own but why are hundreds if not thousands of people #insistent on making sure the actor herself knows how much you wanna see her die . its so weird

[dreamsy990]

some of the less nice thoughts about being aroace

extras below the cut

sketch

closeups on my favorite panels

bonus: adios

#doodles #kingdom hearts #roxas #axel #olette #aromantic #asexual #aroace #do i tag pence. hes in the background of one panel #ehhhh sorry pence no tag for you #also not tagging soriku and namixi #i mean by the logic of 'theyre in one panel so i wont tag them' i also shouldnt tag axel but. he has dialogue so #anyways i have a very irrational love of olette whenever i need a random side character in a kh comic? olette #i think she uses webmd. anyways im done talking about olette #so let me clarify about this comic #im aroace. this is all just things ive thought before #im not saying in any way these thoughts are real. theyre just thoughts #thats why it ends with 'but there isnt. its just me.' there IS nothing wrong with being aroace. even if it feels like it sometimes #im not trying to send a message im just trying to express a feeling ive had for a while #anyways. the aroace community is super positive and i like that. but not everything i feel about it is that positive #sometimes it feels like im missing something yknow #this comic seems like its about roxas. but its about me. congrats youve been fooled #drafted something similar to this for aro week but didnt finish it in time so this is spiritually part of asaw 2024 #btw sorry im not posting as many drawings lately #schools kinda stressful im pretty tired and busy most the time #i am throwing this drawing to you like a slab of meat to a pack of hungry dogs. take this meager ration in these trying times #alright i think thats it bye now

[mushiemellows]

Hey bros, does turning the bottom half of your legs into tracked treads count as an assistive mobility device?

Sketch dump from an old unfinished series I like to call "One Piece AU in which everything is the same but we let the quadruple amputee go at his own pace for a goddam second"

He knows all the tricks. But he should have made the grade on that ramp slide a little less steep.

#him hands so big to hold his forearm crutches of course #uh don't look at that brook too close it was my very first try at drawing him #thats actually not an excuse these were my very first franky studies too #i was like let me try and draw something hard and then I'm going to put him in a chair which is also notoriously hard to draw #i just think hes neat #one piece #cyborg franky #soul king brook #straw hat pirates #disability positivity #i do not personally have a mobility disability but these were a fun study for me #my art

[sampilled]

whenever sam brings up his childhood, its always like "awww so cute <3333" followed by "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST" approximately 2 seconds later

like "awww he had an imaginary friend, thats so sweet! i love sully!" and then "oh jesus, his imaginary friend is real and was there to fill in the gaps so that sam didn't fall through them :((("

or "aww sam had a dog friend" followed by "sam lived with his dog friend in an abandoned house cause he ran away for TWO WEEKS, apparently one of his happiest childhood memories wtf"

or "awww dean read to him" and then "oh the whole time he was thinking about how he was dirty and wrong haha 0_0"

#it definitely works for his character since he is so sweet on the surface especially in the early seasons but jeeze #watching flashback episodes like i couldve raised him :( i couldve made sure he was ok :( #i also think its important to his character that he does kinda look for positive moments in his life and holds onto them and really #does appreciate them like remembering one teacher out of hundreds who said something impactful to him and wanting to thank him #and remembering being in theatre and how it gave him a chance to play and have fun #and all these little moments (and keeping very important things in a memry box:(. ) in his life which has been so tragic #and always having hope because of them #like sam being the “heart” and the hopeful one is so important to me <33333 #thats my fucking baby

[maigetheplatypus57]

i think the craziest part of ice ado cancellation to me is like. i remember checking the yoi tag last year and was disappointed by just. the absolute flood of "i lost my passion for this show my inner yoi fan is going into hibernation until ice ado comes out" type posts, but just kinda shrugged and went on because hey, i kinda moved on to different fandoms too.

but than the cancellation news dropped and i check the tag and yeah. there's a lot of people expressing their disappointment and anger with mappa, but there's also so much new art, new posts of people expressing their love for the show and what we were so fortunate to have been given despite everything and i just.

can we promise to keep this fandom alive? to survive just like we did back in 2017-2019 when there was nothing new but the occasional official promo art or a stage play or even skygem's retirement au? older fandoms than us have survived for longer with their newest canon content being decades ago, surely we can all have fun rediscovering and continuing our love for this wonderful story of rediscovering and reinventing what the word love means, whether on the ice or off it.

#yuri on ice #maige's posts #wanted to make a somewhat more positive post for the tag #like yeah im mourning and angry. but that grief and anger comes from the genuine love i have for this anime #for the show who gave hope to a deeply closeted and uncertain 11yo me and for the show thats suddenly so much more relatable now to me #as a finally openly queer person whose abt to enter their 20's and try to discover what i want out of #love and life. i hold this show and its characters so so deeply in my heart and im using this news as an opportunity to finally express tha

[jebiknights]

Sometimes I just remember that oh right it's apparently a slightly controversial opinion that I think if Palpatine hadn't been involved at all that Anakin could've been perfectly happy and fulfilled with the Jedi.

Like just from rots we see Anakin want to follow Jedi ideals, to seek advice and even help from the very Jedi that fandom loves to act like he hates and who hate him in return, and we see the Jedi around him actually have a lot of respect for him! But every time he makes progress Palpatine is whispering in his ear and pulling out the stitches and re-opening the wounds, making it near impossible for him to actually grow as a Jedi and instead he grows closer to Falling. Not to mention the war, which was orchestrated in part to actively challenge the Jedi's morals and make them make bad and questionable choices.

Plenty of Legends canon and even current canon in things like the marvel comics show Anakin actively wrestling and considering Jedi philosophy, the pros and cons, and working through all his trauma and trying to figure out what's right for him and what the Jedi code actually means. People act like he only ever does lightsaber training and that he never picked up a book in his entire padawanship (which not only is just not how the Jedi Order works from what we see but honestly is just a boring take on the character imo).

Like, I just don't think that Anakin is actually incompatible with the Jedi Order! I think he could've thrived there if he wasn't being actively sabotaged and also had more time.

#anakin skywalker #jedi positive #pro jedi #anyway i also dont think that the jedi order is incompatible with romance just that anakin has trauma about #his interpersonal attachments and that he didnt get a great teaching on it in canon bc obi wan needs therapy #nd so never really discussed it with anakin #which is not necessarily a shot at obi wan i just think that entire lineage has communication issues lmao #like obi wan has both trauma and oin legends actual healthy relationships and exes he no longer dates #who were jedi! #but like he doesnt actually discuss this with anakin? #and tbh thats the most canon to me lmao obi wan just doesnt realize he needs to talk about it or maybe how? #anakin #sw meta #sorta lmao #jedi order

[woennix]

every single time i hear slimecicle sing i understand the feeling of being mad at someone's talent bc wdym this man is funny, talented, has good improv, witty, is handsome, a good person, good at acting/roleplay, creating stories, AND a good singer (without barely any training afaik)

#i will actually fight him #i mean this in the most positive way possible hes so cool #just too cool #so cool its frustrating lmao #slimecicle #woe's thoughts #btw i know the ''good person'' part is just as far as we know but it still adds to my frustration bc he seems nice added to all of this #and thats fucked up/j

[dyketubbo]

sunny also makes me insane bc like. little kids pick up on how others act around them so easily. and under all that bravado shes such an insecure kid and they want to come off as confident and only caring about money but they care so so much about having connections and of course they do. bc shes just a kid. she wants to come off as a cool kid who puts money and riches first but ultimately shes a daddys girl who just wants to be cared about

#something something little kids dont understand that what helps them the most is positive reassurance #so all kids like sunny are able to process is that being praised feels good #and being avoided feels bad (unless theyre taught that being feared is a good thing) #and so tubbo treating her like a little princess of course she loves him more than anyone else in the world #but then it makes it sting even more when she runs into situations like phil talking up em more than her #and tallulah being hesitant to befriend her #sunny doesnt have all the knowledge to understand that tallulahs paranoid/traumatized and sunnys just coming off- #-a bit strong #all she knows is tallulah doesnt seem to like her and phil seems to like empanada more #so of course thats going to sting. of course. and i feel her so much abt it. poor girl #mask mews #qsmp #sunny qsmp #sunnysideup qsmp

[oddly-casual]

Trolls Band Together Spoilers

(Clay and Bruce trying their best)

One thing I’ve been dying to talk about are the little ways Bruce and a lay take care of their other siblings and why.

It’s all in the little stuff! Like I am of the belief that Bruce and Clay are so close is because they could only really find solidarity in each other. Growing up no one liked how JD pushed them to be perfect, but Bruce and Clay were the only ones who felt pushed in a box, they were the only ones who got angry.

Floyd was always the peace maker and Branch was a baby so the only ones who understood their anger was each other.

Clay and Bruce always have each others backs, but I wanna talk about how they take care of baby Branch.

Like when Branch is listening to the broad cast with Velvet and Veeneer, Bruce notices Branch’s worry and turns off the radio. (Bruce also carried around Tiny bc he is a true dad.)

During the ‘It takes two’ song, Branch pulls out his blue prints and John Dory immediately pushes Branch out of the way to take control and you can see Clay and Bruce wince like they know it’s a bad idea before Clay pulls John away for the transition shot.

Not to mention Clay and Bruce seem so unironically excited to see Baby Branch that they side like JD, and I know that was probably because they’re still on weird terms with JD, but I don’t think their happiness to see BB was only for pettiness sake.

Maybe there’s some stuff I missed because I only saw the movie once and I looked down at some points to take notes so may haps I missed some back ground stuff but if there is please tell me!

#trolls spoilers #trolls band together #dreamworks trolls #I like calling Branch Baby Branch I’m sorry #trolls bruce #trolls clay #trolls Branch #trolls john dory #I Wanna go more into depth abt how JD became a parent child and how that affected his relationship with his brothers #BECAUSE ITS SO INTERESTING PLEASE #Like the concept of how these siblings grew apart but do deeply care for each other means so much #Floyd was probably the one who was there for Branch the most! #Bruce and Clay felt a bond bc they both were in happy! #JD felt alone because of his position and even tried to go back to see Branch and Rosiepuff only to think that they died!!! #Thats sick and twisted!!!! #They all still treat branch like a baby bc they never saw him grow up!!! #except for Floyd who’s the emotional intelligence of the brothers #and bruce only had smaller children so he doesn’t know how to take his baby brother growing up