#Kocoum was so fine

[sunofpandora]

Indigenous Men.

This is a rant but but me simp for a minute yall please.

Now, as a child who grew up in an indigenous household, I’ve had my share of exposure to fictional indigenous men.

(That’s maybe why I write fanfic about tall, blue, indigenous men but idk it’s just a theory.)

I was little when I first watched avatar but lemme tell yall one thing.

I was not looking at Mr. Sully. No sir.

You know who I was looking at?

C’mon now Mr. Thick slick and handsome don’t act like you don’t see me 🫶🏽🤭

I was down so BAD for this man. I used to draw him with my little box of crayons when I was a kid and pretend we got married.

He’s a warrior.

He’s strong.

Hes so fucking hot guys you can’t even fight me on this one.

It always kinda made me mad as a kid when a character choose someone else over the clear, green flagged indigenous male character.

Now, Neytiri is NOT an example of this. She never loved Tsu’tey romantically, and Jake was a better choice for her of course.

But you know what movie pissed me off the MOST when it came to this trope?

No, scratch that, the og of this trope??

Now I could spend hours talking about this movie and how incredibly fucked up it is. But we’re not gonna go there rn.

(That movie cover actually brings back so many memories for me. We had VHS when I was a kid and we used to draw with whiteboard markers on the vhs box movie covers and make fun of John smith.)

I watched this movie for one sole purpose when I was little.

And no. It wasn’t for John Smith’s tea drinking pudding ass.

IT WAS FOR HIM

I used to get so peeved at ‘Pocahontas’ (her name was Matoaka.)

This was the man of 8 year old me’s DREAMS and we’re going after Mr. Ken the Colonizer!?

Like c’mere baby boy if she don’t want you I’ll take you 🤷🏽‍♀️😔

And Mrs. Neytiri, Mrs. Fictional adaption of Matoaka that I no longer associate with the real person,

Trust me, I get it, I really do. I too have a white (half white, he’s mixed but he’s got an Italian accent, straight hair and slightly tanned skin.)

I too have a snow bunny man on my roster. He do be feeding be pasta and lobster.

If it ain’t snowing I might not be going.

But indigenous men will always have my heart 👆🏽😭

In conclusion

[fangirlstarot]

KNIGHT OF PENTACLES

"A handsome sturdy husband who builds handsome sturdy walls." - Pocahontas

The Knight of Pentacles represents someone in your life who is hardworking, reliable and steadfast. He is patient and cautious, the very embodiment of "slow and steady wins the race". He is very responsible, loyal and persistent. He knows relies on his discipline and practicality, though he can be a bit stubborn and slow. He enters your life to tell you that dreams come true when you wait for them and put your persistence and hard work to good, solid use. He is okay with not jumping in right away because he is willing to look at all the facts before he does so.

::Who's Who On This Card::

1. Wall-e from Wall-e - Wall-e spent 700 years cleaning up planet Earth, one trash cube at a time. He has a job to do and he plods along at this task, not really developing much of a personality until halfway through the film. He is persistent in everything he does though, standing firm and not quitting until whatever job he sets his mind to is done.

2. Kocoum from Pocahontas - Though everyone in Pocahontas' village knew Kocoum would make a fine husband, still like even Grandmother Willow said, "but he's so serious!" The Knight of Pentacles often has trouble showing emotion because he is such a hard worker, which Pocahontas makes light of when she jokes, "I especially love his smile." Kocoum also overall represented the tried and true route for Pocahontas, the "responsible" course of action, which she states would have been, "the smoothest course, steady as the beating drum". He's a very handsome man, but often forgets life should also be fun.

3. Simon Tam from Firefly - The manicured, ambitious valedictorian and bookish Simon Tam was very devoted to his studies all his life, growing up to be a doctor eventually. He works hard for what he wants, can be a bit of a stick in the mud and the first thing that he did that really stepped out of line was rescuing his sister and escaping on Serenity. He's not much of a dreamer, but he gets the job done.

4. Appalachian Coal Miners - The man of simple means but who worked unwaveringly to build America, the coal miners are a bit of Americana folklore. They toiled away, day after day, providing for their families while following tradition and conservative values. Disciplined and stubborn, the old stories tell of men like this who were patient, reliable and steadfast.

5. The Tortoise from The Tortoise and the Hare - One of Aesop's fables, this old story shows the thought patterns of the how the slow and steady can and do win the race. The Knight of Pentacles may be slow, but his slowness is his power. He always finishes what he starts and will beat any rabbit through persistence and putting one foot in front of the other carefully and diligently.

6. Aaron Burr from Hamilton - Aaron Burr is hands down the most Knight of Pentacles character I've ever come across! He is the exact spitting image of this trope! Throughout Hamilton, he is shown to be self-disciplined, methodical and guarded-- sticking to his belief in patient hard work to reach his goals. His song "Wait For It" in the musical is a love song to the ideals of the Knight of Pentacles. As he himself sings, "I'm not falling behind or running late, I'm not standing still-- I am lying in wait."

[the-unconquered-queen]

Have you heard of any of these Disney remakes/live-action coming soon? Aladdin 2, The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, Rapunzel/Tangled. Also there was a rumor about a "reimagined" Pocahontas live-action remake.

I hadn’t heard of a sequel to the live action Aladdin, though I suppose if it’s true, the animated Aladdin is a trilogy, so they could take it up to three; I heard of The Little Mermaid, but I’m not excited about it (really, I’m already tired of all these back-to-back remakes); I saw an announcement for a Lilo and Stitch remake but I thought it was fake so I might have to revisit that; hadn’t heard of the Tangled one but I wish they’d just invest their time in producing new and original content; and a Pocahontas remake, assuming it keeps to the story from the original movie, is almost bound to create a huge controversy for Disney over historical inaccuracy, also I don’t think I could handle watching Pocahontas choose John Smith’s busted ass over fine-as-hell Kocoum again but in live action.

Basically, my attitude toward these remakes has changed a lot over time. At the beginning, when Maleficent came out, I loved it and was super pumped for the idea because I thought the new trend would be to take their original stories and twist them around to show them from a different perspective, then Cinderella came along and it was closer to the original while still keeping it fresh, but then when Beauty and the Beast was an exact copy/paste situation and it became clear that’s what they were going for, I really got sick of it, especially when they suddenly started announcing remakes for all of their movies one after the other. Now I’m just mad when they announce them. For example, I didn’t like the Hercules remake announcement because I know it’s gonna be a huge disrespect to the original myth (like the animated version), and they had the nerve to announce a remake for my favorite Disney movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which I feel in my heart they’re gonna ruin unless they make it exactly like the stage version instead.

I wish that if Disney felt that live action was infinitely superior to animation (which they’re kinda saying with all these remakes), they’d at least space them out more. Like maybe one or two every few years, but instead we get several a year and several announcements more, which makes them gradually lose their appeal (to me) and they could really be putting that energy into other things, expanding their horizons.

[daughtersofauradon]

@wearethedescendants liked this for a starter || Kocoum of Neverland & The Girls (The NeverQuest)

The car had been left at a friend’s house, one who lived close enough to the Darling Coast to make walking the rest of the way a possibility and who wouldn’t find the fact the girls were headed to the Darling Coast suspicious. In that was old school friends who were semi-acquaintances were great. They were just happy to catch up and have dinner without asking too many questions.

Questions being exactly what the girls wanted to avoid.

Approaching the water’s edge, Storm frowned. They could, of course, see Neverland in the distance but were without any means to reach it. “So what do we do now? Swim? Cause I like pool time as much as the next person, but none of us are prepared to swim that distance.”

“I could.” Melody looked over from where she had pulled off her shoes and was already beginning to dip her toes in the water.

“Okay, fine. I stand corrected. None of us except Flipper are prepared to swim that distance.”

“Hey!”

With a grin, Storm made a kissing ‘love you’ motion at Melody, even while the other brunette continued to pout. 

Seeing as she’d better break this up sooner rather than later, Fay nodded. “We’re not swimming. And before you ask, no. We’re not flying either. Kocoum’s coming to escort us over the bridge.”

“What bridge?” Poppy frowned. “Fay, honey. I know we had a bit of lilac wine with dinner last night...but there’s no bridge.”

“Just wait...”

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Journey - A Namiku Story Chapter 5

Naminé’s PoV

If Naminé had to describe the man who had shot her—though in the end, she only saw him out of her peripheral—she would have said he was a serial killer.

But aside from the fact that he had just attacked her—though Naminé wanted to believe it could’ve been an accident—she had no reason to believe that… except for stereotypical ideas that she felt bad about holding onto.

But what could she say? He did seem to fit the bill.

He had a sort of mousey hair color—and it was unwashed, with specks of something in it: like he’d been out in the woods and chopping up people—and a face that was cute… with a bit of an Aristocratic nose and big eyes… But at the same time, it wasn’t really noticeable, which would probably be perfect for his “line of work”—if it was what she thought it was.

And his eyes had looked… dead. There had been enough in them, that hinted that they liked some things—sizing something up, perhaps—but they also appeared soulless. And this was coming from someone who’d thought she didn’t have a soul for most of her life.

“Naminé!” Riku was finally calling her name, and coming to her side: And it seemed like this should have happened ages ago, so Naminé could only assume that time must have slowed down for her when her adrenaline had kicked in.

“Nami, here. Let me look at your cuts!” Though Riku did more than just that. As he’d begged her to let him see her wounds, he actually healed them… Though Naminé suspected that scars would remain, since the cuts had been so deep: That was one thing even a Curaga couldn’t touch.

And the tone of his voice… was Naminé imagining it, or did Riku sound like he regretted much?

And she should have cared about this—she really should have, since hadn’t she just decided to sacrifice her own wants for Riku’s again?—but she found that she couldn’t as much as she would have liked, for she felt the assailant who had done this to her might be much the same as Riku in some ways.

“I’m… fine, Riku. Don’t worry. It still stings a bit, but you got rid of most of the damage. And at least less people will confuse me for Kairi now.”

But the denizens of the world didn’t seem to share Naminé’s thoughts about her “being fine” at all.

In fact, they seemed to misunderstand greatly.

These natives—who were somewhat darker in skin tone—rushed to Naminé and checked her over, pushing Riku away to do so.

And they talked of how “the white man”—which Naminé wasn’t entirely sure what they meant by this—“hurt even their own, it seemed”… And said they wanted to whisk her away for more treatment on her scars.

Naminé wanted to tell them this was unnecessary, but she found that she couldn’t. And it quickly occurred to her that they weren’t speaking in a language that she knew at all… And she could only somehow get pieces of it, by playing back the memories they’d just given her, since she was the Memory Witch. But she didn’t know how to speak to them herself.

Before Naminé knew what was happening, a number of these men—and even a few women—had come between her and Riku and were brandishing spears at him, as they yelled.

And though Riku tried to bat these spears away with his Keyblade, it seemed to be too much for him.

And then a giant image of a bear was before them all! …And Naminé was now somehow elsewhere with those who would protect her…

If only they’d realize she didn’t need protecting from Riku!

…

A few hours later

Naminé watched on, horrified—as the kind men trying to aid her—showed how they were getting blown away by pale people (she thought this was what they meant by “white men”?)

It made her think of Xigbar’s own weapon and deeds, and how bad she felt for ever having felt sympathy towards him.

But while Naminé thought these magic users were well-intentioned to try and warn her away from what they thought was danger, she hated that they were maybe trying to change her opinion about Riku so.

Naminé magicked her sketchbook into her hands, and attempted to use it to draw and explain her version of things. They themselves used arts after all, right? It hadbeen an illusion that had allowed them to escape from Riku, as he’d stared at the “bear”.

Naminé drew Riku handing her his metaphorical heart and then showed it off—falling in love all over again as she did.

Finally, one seemed to look at her with much sympathy. And only in listening with her heart—Naminé taking a page out of Princess of Heart Kairi’s book—did she understand him.

“My name is Kocoum… And may I be the first to offer you my understanding, in trying to give them a chance. When my people first went down to see what they were doing with our land, we offered no signs of aggression. When it was clear they didn’t feel the same way about peace… even then we did not go all out. But they did not share our hesitance. They released a sort of power that none should have access to, and returned many of ours to the ground. Not such a loss—since we all start out as dirt and must return to it—but painful all the same. They’ll do the same to you, if you are not careful.”

…They were clearly xenophobic here—Naminé thought she’d heard Sora or Aqua use that term before, even if she didn’t know what it meant exactly—so that should have been her first sign not to do this. (1)

But since they seemed to be ruled by magic such as she was, Naminé thought if she explained the situation well, they would let her be with Riku.

“The truth is… Riku and I aren’t divided into the different kind of men here. We’re from… another planet, I think you’d understand it as. Riku in particular goes from planet to planet, defeating enemies that would take others’ hearts if given the chance. Perhaps you’ve seen them creatures that do this? …And him helping to get my heart back, in a roundabout way, is how we found each other.”

The leader of this group, if Naminé was guessing correctly, responded to this in particular as his jaw clenched. It reminded her of what she’d seen in Sora’s memories about Tarzan, and how he’d had such a way of understanding things: knowing exactly what the Keyblade wielder needed, and about Clayton’s fall from grace.

“We did not know how to put into words what was happening to our comrades there… But I think you just did so for us. Thank you.”

And with that, the Chief walked over to Naminé—and put a hand on her back, signaling that she should stand up—and began leading her out of the tent, to presumably find Riku.

…

Riku’s PoV

Riku woke up after having passed out (ugh. Why had he even done that to begin with?! He didn’t even remember. And he needed to find Naminé!), and he soon saw a handsome blond man standing over him and offering a hand.

“So, you’ve fallen in love with one of them too, huh? I think I can help you out.”

Author’s Note: I hated writing that thought of Naminé’s there. But with her little understanding of the situation right now, I couldn’t help thinking that was how she’d feel. But soon she should see that the Native Americans are definitely moreso the victims here.

Also… I debated about whether or not I wanted Naminé to understand another language as easily as Pocahontas did in the movie.

At first, I thought “no”, which is why I was only having her getting bits and pieces of it through her memory powers, but then I thought this section would be near impossible otherwise.

So, a compromise: She doesn’t understand at first, but she does now. And maybe she doesn’t understand perfectly, and what she can glean of it from her memory powers helps her fill in the gaps?

[hamliet]

Disney Princesses as Strong Women: Pocahontas’s Power to Choose Her Path

That one Disney Princess movie without a happy ending.

As per my requisite disclaimer, there is absolutely room for (a lot of) legitimate criticism of Pocahontas, especially around its portrayal of culture, history, and race, and this is not going to invalidate any valid criticism of the film or of Pocahontas, but rather offer a different perspective on her film and specifically on Pocahontas as a Disney character in the Disney film, not as a real person.

Out of all the Disney films, though, I do want to add an extra disclaimer for Pocahontas. It has a lot of cringe-worthy and outright inaccurate and offensive racial portrayals. The song “Savages” in addition to having extremely racist terms used in it, equates Native Americans with the colonists, and while the message of the song would make sense in the Romeo and Juliet situation the film portrays it as, it does not work in the context of a real historical issue where there was a clear aggressively racist, genocidal, and plain morally wrong side (the colonists), especially when the oppression of Native Americans is still very much a thing. However, I want to focus this meta on Pocahontas’s fictional character within the film, because I think there’s a lot to like in terms of who she is. That being said, divorcing from context is hard, so there’s a tension there. If anything I say is insensitive, please let me know.

So Pocahontas opens with the colonizers setting sail from England with the song “Virginia Company,” which includes the lyrics:

For the New World is like heaven And we'll all be rich and free Or so we have been told By the Virginia Company So we have been told by the Virginia Company

The emphasis on “so we have been told” sets up one of the themes Pocahontas’s character exemplifies: the idea of choosing your path versus following lies and promises given by people who are probably motivated by their own selfish desires (Governor Radcliffe). The riches the song describes are, of course, not there, but the colonists follow the hope of it and wind up missing the forest for the trees. Essentially, Pocahontas encourages critical thinking and moving one’s concerns from just one’s own life to one’s place in the world.

The beginning also sets up John Smith as a foil to Pocahontas. From the very beginning, he’s fundamentally concerned about himself, constantly talking about his wants and adventures. In the song, “Mine,” which emphasizes the greed of the colonists, Smith, who has no interest in gold, chimes in “hundreds of dangers await/And I don’t plan to miss one!” He’s only thinking about his own desire for the next thrill, telling the other colonists that he’s “been to dozens of new worlds” and doubts this one will be unique, and comments that he expects the Native Americans to be basically the same as other people: “If they’re anything like the [people] I’ve fought before...” His perspective is entirely centered on himself: he views adventures and new lands and other people also as things for himself, instead of seeing himself as part of a whole world.

Pocahontas is a bit different, but she also struggles to learn responsibility throughout the film. It’s noted to Powhatan in his introduction (when he asks where his daughter is) that she “takes after her mother” and “goes wherever the wind takes her.” Cut to Pocahontas and Nakoma (a good friend, this movie miiiiight pass the Bechdel test? It’s kinda borderline), and Pocahontas jumps off a cliff. However, Meeko jumps after her and is terrified, symbolically warning that even though her freedom is not the selfishness of John Smith, her choices still affect others both positively and negatively at times as well, as we’ll see them affecting her father, Kocoum, Nakoma, and more.

Powhatan tells her "you are the daughter of the chief. It is time for you to take your place among the people," and gives her the necklace that belonged to her mother. Pocahontas is often compared to her mother: the first two scenes I mentioned, and Grandmother Willow also tells Pocahontas her mother once asked her the same question about what path to take in life. There is perhaps the suggestion that people are expecting Pocahontas to take her mother’s path, but as Grandmother Willow encourages, she has her own choices to make.

The answer, after all, as Grandmother Willow says, is to “listen.” Empathy and learning are paths to being able to make wise decisions, after all. This will be emphasized later when she begs her father to “try talking to [the colonists]” instead of resorting to war. Towards the climax of the film, Smith comments that the colonists won’t want to listen to reason because "everything about this land has them spooked." A creepy figure then appears, howling as if to emphasize his words--but it turns out to be Percy, Radcliffe’s dog, symbolizing that what’s really spooking the colonists is themselves.

When Smith and Pocahontas meet, he almost shoots her, and then falls in love with her, which is the story calling him out on the violence he previously bragged about.

When she runs, he tries to stop her from leaving by forcing her to stay via grabbing her canoe.

But Pocahontas is not having that. He tries to speak to her in English and they realize they can’t understand each other, so he offers her his hand--symbolic of listening. Notably after this the language issue goes away which again, don’t think too hard about it it’s a children’s story, but symbolically it seems to represent the idea that once they’re listening to each other, they can understand each other.

When Smith goes all White Savior on Pocahontas, claiming that “we'll show your people how to use this land properly... build houses” and Pocahontas points out their houses are just fine, he patronizing counters “you think that your houses are fine only because you don't know any better." And she leaves. Pocahontas is not here for your racist patronization instead of listening to her. They then launch into “Colors of the Wind,” with its fitting lyrics about how they all have a place in the world, but it’s essentially not all about them and encourages respect for “every rock and tree and creature.” You desires matter, but so do other people’s.

When she says she has to go because she can hear the drums signifying that her people are in trouble, the exact same scene as their first meeting plays out, except this time he lets her leave instead of trying to stop her. He lets her make her own choices. 

When Pocahontas starts spending more and more time with John Smith, Kocoum warns Nakoma “tell her not to run of... she listens to you.” In response Nakoma snorts and says, “Sure she does,” because well, Pocahontas doesn’t, and she doesn’t tell her best friend what’s going on until it’s too late. This leads to tragedy when Nakoma tries to help her by sending Kocoum to help her because she worries for her friend’s safety, and Kocoum is killed. As he dies, he tears Pocahontas’s necklace from her neck, symbolically threatening to tear her connection with her mother’s free path.

And yet John Smith is unquestionably the one more at fault for bringing about the tragedy. Radcliffe tells an impressionable Thomas that “a man's not a man unless he learns how to shoot.” Oh hey white America hasn’t changed at all.

Smith then gives him advice, teaching him how to shoot from his presumably many experiences shooting...

...but Thomas then uses the gun to save Smith but kill Kocoum.

Smith then takes the blame for Thomas, sacrificing himself for a kid who’s really naive and was only trying to follow in the footsteps of Smith, his idol. And Pocahontas then throws herself onto Smith, protecting him at the risk of her own life as well. As she runs to save him, she sings “I don’t t know what I can do/Still i know I've got to try" jumping over a gap between two rocks because symbolism.

This shows Pocahontas growing, taking responsibility for what is about to happen to Smith. They stop the war, but Smith is shot because he again realizes that he should take responsibility because he’s the one who came here in the first place (and the... smokescreen... reason the colonists were marching on them) and jumps in front of Powhatan to save him.

He asks Pocahontas to return with him. Her father gives her his blessing to do so. But she turns him down, though she loves him, because she says, “my place is with my people.” But instead of having her path written for her, she has made her own choice, and she made it by listening. It was time she take her place among her people, but she needed to define that place herself, and listen to the world around her to arrive there, instead of simply acquiescing. 

And so he leaves and cue a tragic ending, but for the children. But Pocahontas’s character has a lot of power and emphasis on growing up and what that entails: learning, listening, guidance, making mistakes and growing from them. I really like her character a lot, and it’s certainly one of the more thematically... realistic as opposed to optimistic Disney films.

Up next, one of my favorites: Esmeralda! Yes I know she isn’t technically a princess but to quote the Genie from Aladdin, she’s a prince[ss] to me, so I’m writing about her :P For previous entries in this series, see here:

Snow White’s Self-Esteem

Cinderella’s Courage and Compassion

Aurora’s Autonomy

Ariel’s Adventurous Spirit

Belle’s Bravery (and Boundaries)

Jasmine’s Justice

[lordofthechips]

you KNOW my mans John Smith fucks with the way he kisses so good Pocahontas said fuck Kocoum’s fine ass 😩 I need to try me some of this white dick 🙈 don’t play

i was gonna make this like two weeks ago but forgot until tonight. anyway fight me about it i’m bored.

[mearnsblog]

“Pocahontas” (1995)

I have a bit of a funny relationship with "Pocahontas." Unlike all previous Disney movies, I definitely remember when this came out, and it was a big deal. Disney had produced hit after hit after hit, and there wasn't much to indicate that they'd be slowing down. Even after its somewhat disappointing critical reception, "Pocahontas" was still super popular. My kindergarten actually put on a mini-production of it at the end of the year*, and subsequently, the movie soundtrack my mom bought became one of the most frequently-played CDs in my room growing up.

*I played Kocoum. No, they didn't have me die in it, though in hindsight, that'd be hilarious. "Guess what, kids? Andrew's going to die in this scene!" Instead, they just had me arrest John Smith to get him into captivity or something like that. Not as interesting.

All that nostalgia aside though, one thing is evident: the story of Pocahontas should probably have not been made into a Disney film. Perusing the history of Disney canon, "Pocahontas" is pretty much the only one to be based on a real person. Given the colonists' shoddy history with Pocahontas and the Powhatan, this seems ill-advised and would likely not be attempted nowadays.

The Powhatan and Pocahontas herself suffered poor fates, and while it's nice that Disney portrayed them as having been thrown into an awful situation by the English invaders, to make a cutesy movie with all that lingering as the elephant in the room is honestly in poor taste. In one sense, it's throwing an emoji on the overall story of a tragedy, especially since we don't know if the positive climax in this situation -- Pocahontas saving John Smith -- even happened. There are so many wonderful Native American stories out there that they could've turned into a Disney film and represented their people in a much better fashion.**

**Pocahontas being the first non-white Disney princess is not nothing, and should be acknowledged. There's no doubt that Disney has struggled with representation over the years, and including someone like Pocahontas in their many branding efforts is important.

But, well, that's the '90s for you. What's done is done. So with all that being acknowledged as a caveat, is the fictional story any good?

Eh. A major weaknesses of "Pocahontas" is that it's relying too much on its leads (one of whom is voiced by human garbage Mel Gibson), and neither is that compelling. Think about the other great Disney movies of this period. They all had tremendous side characters who could not only carry some of the emotion of the movie, but also add to the story. I did like the "Looney Tunes"-esque comedy of Meeko, Percy, and Flit, but they don't measure up to the members of the household in "Beauty and the Beast" or the supporting cast of "Lion King." The same goes for the human side characters, who are at a bit of drag in comparison to, say, Sebastian and even the Sultan. They're fine, just not stand-outs.

Ratcliffe does check the boxes of an evil villain having a smashing time being a bastard, and you can tell that David Ogden Stiers (the former voice of Cogsworth) loves doing the back-and-forth dialogue between Ratcliffe and his butler all on his own. "Mine, Mine, Mine" is musically mediocre, but also pure lol. Once again, while he's not as good a villain as others of this period, he's at least on par with the similarly named (and animated) Ratigan from "Great Mouse Detective."

Despite my love of the soundtrack when I was little, I'd only grade it about a B. "Just Around the Riverbend" is a good, fast-paced hopeful ballad, and "Colors of the Wind" is a decent enough lead hit, even if the lyrics don't make much sense after the beginning. I also like its audio-only placement at the very end of the movie. Between that and the "Virginia Company" opening, the team did an excellent job of setting some stakes and going all-out with a grand finale. (So much of the movie's problem is its middle; the decision to not have Pocahontas go off to England with John was actually quite daring for the time, and I respect it.)

The rest of the songs aren't that good, and the less said about the heavy-handed "Savages," the better. The implication that the Powhatan were getting as bad as the settlers is... not great.

It's possible that the string of incredible Disney movies in a row has taken the shine off of "Pocahontas" in a way that I might not have noticed had it been thrown in the middle of a more mediocre stretch. However, I think I'm rating it correctly. Despite strong moments here and there, its entire premise is flawed, and it just leaves a lot to be desired.

Meeko forever though.

Best song: “Just Around the Riverbend”

Updated ranking

1. “Beauty and the Beast” (review) 2. “The Lion King” (review) 3. “The Little Mermaid” (review) 4. “Cinderella” (review) 5. “Sleeping Beauty” (review) 6. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (review) 7. “Aladdin” (review) 8. “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (review) 9. “The Jungle Book” (review) 10. “The Great Mouse Detective” (review) 11. “Fantasia” (review) 12. “The Rescuers Down Under” (review) 13. “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” (review) 14. “Alice in Wonderland” (review) 15. “Lady and the Tramp” (review) 16. “Pinocchio” (review) 17. “Robin Hood” (review) 18. “Oliver & Company” (review) 19. “Pocahontas” 20. “The Rescuers” (review) 21. “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” (review) 22. “Bambi” (review) 23. “The Aristocats” (review) 24. “Dumbo” (review) 25. “Peter Pan” (review) 26. “Fun and Fancy Free” (review) 27. “The Fox and the Hound” (review) 28. “The Sword in the Stone” (review) 29. “The Three Caballeros” (review) 30. “Make Mine Music” (review) 31. “The Black Cauldron” (review) 32. “Saludos Amigos” (review) 33. “Melody Time” (review)

[cowboy-ish]

She chose the "sad piece of white bread over your fine man Kocoum" because she didn't love him. That "sad piece of white bread" was different to her. It was exciting and she wanted to have different in her life and then she fell in love. The whole point of her falling in love shows that things that are seen as "enemies" to others aren't always terrible. She showed that. PLUS WILLOW SAID IT WAS COOL SO. WILLOW KNOWS BEST. DON'T ARGUE WITH WILLOW.

okkkkkk thx lol

[murfeelee]

Bang, Marry, or Kill: Disney Princes

I was organizing my downloads from @silsharkie84’s Disney uploads, and it got me thinking about a conversation I had with someone once about which Disney princes I’d Bang, Marry, or Kill.

And since I have nothing better to do with my life, I decided to make this post.

KILL

Let’s just get the annoying ones out of the way. I would totally kill, because these guys got on my g-d nerves:

10: John Smith (Pocahontas) - freaking bigot. Totally foreshadowed Mel Gibson’s racist-a** tirades. Not only that, but they completely romanticize his story and his FACE, cuz RL John Smith was NOT that fine. At all. I’d totally Marry John Rolfe though; I liked the sequel, I don’t care. At least Pocahontas actually married Rolfe IRL. I doubt she and troll-face Smith were banging IRL though. Unless he raped her, which wouldn’t surprise me. Anyway, he’s not even royalty! He and Pocahontas didn’t even stay together in the cartoon, why is he considered a Disney Prince, the hell?

9: Prince Charming (Cinderella) - the man was useless. His castle’s the most interesting thing about him -- and everyone calls it Cinderella’s Castle anyways, so nya-nya. Freaking tool. I mean, how are you so “in love“ with this chick, yet you don’t even BOTHER with asking her name, her address, her zodiac sign...NOTHING. A few dances and you know you don’t know the first thing about Cinderella, but you wanna marry her? Then you couldn’t even be effed to hunting her down yourself -- as if she’s the only wench in the kingdom who wears Size 6 shoes. Would’ve served him right if Lady Tremaine’s feet fit in them just fine! XP (I LOVE Shrek’s Prince Charming though! Totally Bang him! XD)

8: Naveen (Princess & the Frog) - jfc, I’d take Dr. Facilier over this guy; Keith David���s the best. Disney just HAD to go and make their first black human prince an idiot though. Yeah, Naveen’s hella pretty, but he’s broke, shiftless, a frikkin frog for a good chunk of the movie, and did I mention he’s an idiot? I see you, Disney. <_<

HONORABLE MENTION: Prince Hans (Frozen) - THIS SNAAAAAKE! Omg I did NOT see that coming! I would have MARRIED him! Omgomgomg; that was the best part of the whole show, next to that song people won’t let go of. (Pfft) I don’t like Kristoff at all, but THIS mofo...? KILL. On SIGHT. Before it’s too late!

Bang

7: Eugene (Tangled) - possibly the funniest and most fully realized prince (consort) Disney ever made. But the man’s a total clown. I could never take a guy like that seriously. I’M a total clown! I know clowns when I see them! We’d probably have some booze-induced romp and wake up hungover the next day, freak the eff out, and solemnly vow to NEVER mention what happened for as long as we both shall live, amen, pass the toothpaste.

6: Prince Eric (Little Mermaid) - Eric is actually the hottest Disney Prince -- MALE, Period -- I think they ever made. Totally swoon-worthy. And his castle is swaaanky~! But ISTG this Judas has zero sense, and is just as vapid as Prince Charming. You were barely conscious and this girl dragged your guppy butt out of the freaking ocean, and you barely got a good glimpse of her, but you’re ready to devote the rest of your useless life to finding her, rather than getting with the perfectly adorable (though albeit mute) chick WHO IS THE SAME REDHEAD YOU’RE LOOKING FOR YOU BLIND FOOL?!?! Omg spare me. Ursula/Vanessa didn’t even have red hair! So, yeah, he’s an idiot. But a hot one. 10/10, would do again.

5: Prince Ali/Aladdin (Aladdin) - if you’re gonna be a broke street rat, at least be the best street rat, y’know? Aladdin was probably the smartest Disney prince EVER. A bit of a liar, so we’d have to work on that “Do You Trust Me~~” shtick, but yeah. He just had a rough life (thanks to his jerkface SEXY BAMF daddy, Cassim, the King of Thieves, who I would immediately Bang, but not Marry, since Cassim ditched his wife to go treasure hunting and she died and Aladdin had to grow up an orphan all those years, the eff, frikkin scrub). But Aladdin’s freaking cute, so if I was some lonely street ratress I’d tap that. Even though I was squicked out when I heard that Disney based Aladdin’s face on Tom effing Cruise, which made me vomit a bit in my mouth. But yeah.

HONORABLE MENTION: Phoebus (Hunchback of Notre Dame) - He’s not a prince since Esmeralda’s not a princess, but he was hot, and up until Tangled I thought he was the funniest love interest Disney had. I loved his antics with his horse Achilles, and his general reactions to the shenanigans going on in that abysmally underrated show. I can’t decide if I’d just Bang him or Marry him, cuz he made me feel so bad for Quasimodo, who I would certainly Marry. But Phoebus is definitely getting Banged.

MARRY

4: The Prince (Ferdinand/Florian) (Snow White) - The original True Love’s Kiss. We know next to nothing about this dude and his magic lips, but you know what? The woodland animals liked him, and the dwarves liked him (and they hate everybody), and Snow White liked him, so I like him too. And he dressed really well, so he was probably loaded.

3: Prince Phillip (Sleeping Beauty) - I know Sleeping Beauty’s my favorite Disney film EVER, but Phil only barely gets a pass into my Top 3/4, and that’s mostly because 1: anyone who can defeat MY BISH Maleficent is a BAMF, and 2: I liked his scenes with his horse Samson -- which were interestingly enough lampshaded with Eugene and Maximus, AND Phoebus and Achilles -- I see you, Disney! But other than that I thought he was just alright. I didn’t hate him. And 3: I love his impromptu “duet” with Aurora in Once Upon a Dream; dude could sing.

2: The Beast/Prince Adam - I'm just gonna come out and say it: Is it just me, or was this dude sexier as The Beast than he was as a human? O_O

Awwww yeeeah.... I’m sorry, maybe I need to pray for my soul a little bit, but I’m just saying. Beauty and the Beast might just be the greatest Disney cartoon of all time, IMO. The Beast was freaking COOL, fighting packs of wolves and nonsense to save his bae. Also, his castle was THE BEST. Oh, so Cinderella’s castle has a ballroom -- EFF that wack-a** ballroom! The Beast’s was WAY better! It’s GOLD PLATED! He’s got enchanted servants on standby and feasts with FRENCH CHEFS and everything! Not to mention, it’s got a LIBRARY. AND there’s a dungeon. Talk about GRAVITAS. The Beast would totally go medieval on someone, I love it. Belle’s over there crying and mess. I’d be like HALLELUJAH, such a step up from Gaston~~! ^0^ The wild part is that apparently the whole story is supposed to symbolize arranged marriages, where the bride is terrified of her seemingly “beastly“ stranger of a husband, but over time gets to know him and realizes he’s not a complete and total douchelord. Just 75% douche and 25% lord. Which is way better than Gaston’s 100% doucheness, amirite.

HONORABLE MENTION: Kocoum (Pocahontas) - I kid you not, I rage-cried when Kocoum died. This SEXY HALF-NEKKID WARRIOR WITH TATTS OMFG TAKE ME NOOOW! Pocahontas was a complete IDIOT; I’d Marry his #FOINE behind and give him an effton of babies! Sexy warrior babies! *shrill battle cry* That was the most aggravating death ever, Disney. What a waste of good genes.

#1: LI SHANG (Mulan) - I would bite this man. I bought that crappy straight-to-video sequel just so I could keep staring at Li Shang, I’m not even lying. He was fully realized, hot as all get out, could kick the tastebuds out of the Huns, had THE BEST SONG Disney ever gave a dude, and I’m sure I said he was hot, right? Well, it bears repeating. Marry. Wed. Espoused. Eloped. Mated. Bonded. Holy Matrimony. SINFUL Matrimony. Everything. We’re doing it all! SIGN. ME. UP.

Lawd have all the mercy. Make whatever you frikkin want out of me, Shang! (*3*)/

So, how about y’all? Which cartoon characters are y’all pervving over?

[bitch-sexy-blog1]

Day 1 - Angie

Monday 8:48 am:

Text from Dom:  ���Hola!!! I miss you!  So curious how you be, wanna catch up? <3”

I wake up to this text.  3 mosquito bites on my forehead.  Some IG memes.  Snapchats.  Along with a slight depression because I am still funemployed and I hate not working.  Oh, and to texts from my other ex-boyfriend Jake who reached out because his step-father passed away this week.  

*Mind tries to swallow these feels*

9:50 am: Sends Mila a screenshot of Quinn’s text

9:53 am: Mila:  Oh my god.  Are you going to respond???????

*falls back asleep until MUFUGGING 4 PM* WHO THE FUK AM I.

(Dom is a well-known (I guess you could say famous) DJ ex-boyfriend of mine whom I asked to never reach out to me again back in January after the X-Games.  That was my breaking point of our “trying to be friends after dating” situation.  He is the reason I have an unordinarily negative outlook on love, relationships, and men.  And yet I still compare every guy I date to him.  How obsessed we were with each other, how we communicated, how we loved...I can’t put into words how it felt.  The best part was that it was mutual each step of the way.  But as time went on, we both changed.  Unfortunately for me, he turned into a lying, egotistical fuckboi.  He was a world-class manipulator and controlled my every move like I was his personal puppet.   He was also the *only* person who could make me cum in 30 seconds.  Yay for me.  After I found out about his sleezy nature and about all the PLUR baby girls he was banging, I could no longer cum.  Not even once.  That was it.  The flame burnt out.  Sexually, mentally, emotionally.  We tried and tried and tried and it just wouldn’t happen.  You can still try to love when your mind’s not in it, but when your heart’s not in it too, that’s when it’s game over.  Time to move on.  I appreciate the times we had because now I know how to love deeply.  I also knew what it felt like to be vulnerable, for once.  

Year 1 and 2 he showed me what true love was like.

Year 3 he tried to have an open relationship with me (with it being open on his end only, mind you) and consistently told me it’s natural for men to have multiple partners because they crave “sexual diversity”.  Even though he thought I was perfect, he still wanted a taste of something different.  He would tell me “if you don’t want any guy to cheat on you, you’re gonna have to get with a plumber.  Because guys in this day in age, if they’re successful, attractive, and are charming, they are going to have multiple partners.  That’s how it should be.”  He told me, “I become even more addicted to YOU, because of how free you allow me to be.”  

Pshhh, keep that shit away from me mayne.

Here is where my negative outlook on men began to cultivate.

Anyway, so I wanted him out of my life.  I felt like he was toxic to my mind and I just didn’t want him to flood my thoughts anymore.  I politely asked him to stop reaching out weekly and he freaked out.   He tried to text me four or five times after, and my short and disinterested responses seemed to have worked.  I haven’t heard from him since April.  And it’s been great!

However, it’s hard to escape his entirety.  My friends in Atlanta are all obsessed with his music.  He developed a friendship with my brother.  I still even enjoy his music.  His old body guard still messages me.  I can’t escape Stage Name, but I can still try and escape Dom.).

This text was like woah for me this morn.  

Rewind two days:

I had just talked with the guy I’ve been seeing Quinn (who is also in the music industry) about how Dom and I don’t talk anymore.  He seemed curious about it and said, “Doesn’t he live like 20 min away from you?”  I said yes, but trust me, he doesn’t know I live out here.  And I asked him not to reach out to me a while ago.  He hasn’t.  It’s fine.  Don’t worry.”   This happened Saturday night as I lay in his lap, listening to Deadmau5, looking up at the sky (and his cute ass face).  He was asking me all sorts of questions.  How many relationships have you been in, how long were they, etc.  

Soon after, we all packed into Dan’s car heading to an after-party at Mike’s loft.  As I sat on Quinn, knee to face and ass in lap, he bit my ear, kissed my neck, kept turning my head to make out with me...all in front of everyone.  After we had talked about how he doesn’t need to worry about Quinn, how I’m a good girl that doesn’t just hook up, and how I’m a deep girl with deep feelings, he seemed to have no worries at all.  I liked that.  He couldn’t stop hugging me.  I noticed that I didn’t care about PDA at all either, which is unusual for me.  PDA?  Me?  Naw…..well, I suppose yes with him :)

We hung out on the rooftop overlooking the ATL skyline.  Soon we both got tired and head to bed.  Of course, we ended up having sex even though the bedroom had missing walls (I get that it’s a loft but like, what about privacy?  Y tho).  Pretty sure people heard us.  But, again…..we didn’t care.   

Sunday:

*Alarm goes off* 12:10pm

Angie:  Shit.  Need to get up.  Guess I’ll get up and see how I look.  *Looks in mirror*  Okay, not too bad.  We can make this work.  A little foundation, brushed teeth, and change of clothes and I’ll be Gucci.

12:15pm: *whispers to Quinn*

Yo...we have to leave in 15.  You don’t have to come, but just letting you know.

Quinn: Wakes up all squinty-eyed.  Curly-headed mess.  Zombie walks to the bathroom and moans.  Walks back to bed.

I sift through my tiny gym bag of necessities (thanks to Skiplagged even tho I love you Skiplagged) and find a cute, chill outfit to wear.  In 10 min, I look gewwwwwd.  Slight bags underneath my eyes but that’s inevitable after a festival weekend.

I tap on Quinn to let him know I’m calling the Lyft.  He gets up, stares at the wall for 30 seconds (I look at him like ...da fuq.  He spaces off randomly and IDK if he’s really not thinking about anything or what but...I curious about you sometimes dawg) but then he finally makes moves and puts his shoes on, and says “Mmmk.  I’m ready.”

We meet my mom and brother for lunch.  My mom is being extra cute and Asian and Quinn just giggles and stares at me the whole time.  I keep putting food on his plate to eat (Korean style) and he just kept eating.  What a doll.  He tried everything too.  What. A. Doll.  Even though he’s the second guy I’ve ever introduced to my family, my fam kept it pretty chill.  I think they know not to get attached to any guy I talk to now ‘til it’s reaaaal.  But still.  Props to my fam.  They were very welcoming and adorable.  I knew he really liked them.

My brother drops us off at the loft again and we pass out for a couple hours.  <Insert last quiet attempt at sex here>   We did ittttttt.  Both came too.  Tehe.  I still couldn’t get on top because the bed squeaked too much, but still.  Fun times.

We both head to the airport and he’s constantly touching and grabbing me along the way.  He asked, “You think we’ll have time to dine?” I smiled, “Dine?...Yes, I think so.”  And he smiled back.

We “dined” at Grindhouse Killer Burgers and just chatted.  Kept looking at the time, hoping time would pass slower.

I had 5 minutes until boarding ended, so we started to walk towards my gate.  Right before we got there, he asked when I’d see him again.  Of course I agreed to come down to LA.  We kissed goodbye and I hopped on my flight just in the knick of time.  Had bitch seat in between one chick playing loud ass electronic music and another watching football on her phone the whole time chewing her gum like Cardi B would (one of my biggest pet peeves).  And no TV.  So I decided to just try and sleep the entire way.

Decide to take BART home.  I see McD’s next to the station...so I decide to make moves.

Get home to wifey Mila.  I have a McDouble in hand.  I plop down on the couch and eat my burgz.  I barely ate all weekend so it was pretty fucking delicious.  We talk some then both decide to go to sleep.

I had awful sleep because I kept getting mufugging bit in the face by mosquitoes lurking in my room.  

I woke up Monday like…………………..is this for real?  Universe.  I see you.

Dom...really?  Now?

Also, last time I got bit in my face by a mosquito was when I was with Quinn on a hike a couple years ago and my forehead literally grew an inch because of how I react to mosquito bites.  He constantly laughed at me because of how cute it was to him.  Was this foreshadow, Universe?  Cuz...I still see you.

Anyway, all this is making me question if I could be with someone in the music industry again.  I lurked Quinn’s IG haaaard the other day and it was all fest/show life.  

I really dig Quinn, but during this next trip, I want to get to know him more and see what his everyday life is like.  And what his normal communication is like.  I can’t tell if he’s just shy and quiet or if he likes to keep the game interesting by being quiet.  I told Mila I want to have a communication level to a degree where Quinn and I shared, and she was like, “You compare every guy to Quinn,” and I was like…damn, you’re right.  But just because I want that communication level doesn’t mean I want a guy like Quinn.  Quinn is a broken dude who will always be broken.  I just look for the way our convo flowed.  Kinda like the way Mila and my convo flows.  I need that.  

So, bought my flight to LA (exact same one as Mila cuz she’ll be there for her poker playaz) today.  

Oct. 13…………oh lordt.

(I also messaged my bartending connect today.  We are meeting this weekend.  I think I’m gonna go this route for now.  Fukkkk sales.  I mentioned this so you don’t think I’m a lazy POS, lulz).  But really.  I am excited to see where this goes.

11:20pm:  Mila’s Jonah Hill doppelgänger just called.  He’s totally in love and trying to pay for her flight out this weekend.  She’s playing it cool by saying she has to check with her boss (which I’m sure she does) but I can tell wifey needs to think a lil about it.  I’m so curious to see how this weekend would go for her if she decides to go.  He’s suggesting she stay a good amount of time.  Her and this super sexy dark Kocoum look-a-like (who is roomies with Jonah at the cheez mansion) have this intense chemistry going on, and I’m sooooo curious to see how it unravels.  If she doesn’t go this weekend, Mila and I are both going to be in LA Oct. 13th wknd.  We are gonna have two completely different blog entries, I can tell ya that much, lolz.  I’ll be with Quinn mostly and she’s gonna have to fend off Chuck and Jonah, but try and sneak away with Kocoum.  Also while trying to slay at poker.  I happened to be at this mansion during fight night in LA a couple weeks before with Quinn and met all these guys.  Completely randomly with different connects.  The one guy I noticed and thought was cute was the guy she picked out--Kocoum.  Go Mila :) 

Arrrittttee.

****Time to sign off****

-Angie

[titoslondon-blog]

New Post has been published on Titos London

#Blog New Post has been published on http://www.titoslondon.com/whos-the-most-feminist-disney-princess-of-them-all/

Who’s The Most Feminist Disney Princess Of Them All?

Rex Features

When the first trailer for the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast was released last November, the two-minute clip set a new record for most views in its first 24 hours alone.

Since then, the remake, which sees Emma Watson playing the bookish heroine, has supplied us with plenty of 1998 nostalgia–illustrating, once again, the remarkable staying power of the Disney princess. But with Beauty and the Beast's entrance into the modern era–and what a tumultuous and monumental era it is–our childhood protagonists are now subject to modern scrutiny.

While Belle serves as the poster child for brains-before-beauty, Watson has given the princess a more realistic, feminist makeover for the revamp. “In the animated movie, it’s her father who is the inventor, and we actually co-opted that for Belle,” Watson told Entertainment Weekly. “I was like, ‘Well, there was never very much information or detail at the beginning of the story as to why Belle didn’t fit in, other than she liked books. Also, what is she doing with her time?’ So, we created a backstory for her, which was that she had invented a kind of washing machine, so that, instead of doing laundry, she could sit and use that time to read instead. So, yeah, we made Belle an inventor.”

The original set of princesses were created between 1937 and 1998, meaning that the OG fairytale leads lack the advantage of more modern Disney ladies like Tiana, Rapunzel, Ella, and Merida, who lean more heroine than princess simply because of the time they were sketched. But with the imminent arrival of Beauty and the Beast, we found ourselves wondering: How do Disney's original princesses stack up in 2017? To be respectful of each princess' circumstance–they're all feisty in their own right–we created a matrix that compares their level of defiance to their intentions.

Read on for our full analysis of the original eight, their stories, and their fairytale flaws.



1. MULAN


Backstory Refresh: When the Huns invade China, the government calls for one man from every family to join the Chinese army. In order to keep her aging father home, Mulan bandages down her breasts, lobs her hair with a literal sword, and goes full male to join the forces. Even though her initial military skills are weak and she needs to endure daily training sessions where in her captain repeatedly sings that he’ll make a man out of her, Mulan becomes a pretty badass warrior. Her true gender is only ever discovered after she is slashed in the chest by the Hun leader. Ultimately, she is the key player in rescuing the Imperial City and Emperor and her super buff captain falls in love with her.


Fairytale Flaw: N/A. At no point her story does Mulan stray from her true feminist ideals and strong family values.


Modern Day Translation: Modern day Mulan would stick to her non-gender conforming standards of style and behavior even when she develops a baby crush on the stereotypical hot jock. She would put her family and friends over herself and throw support behind their causes.



 

 




2. BELLE 


Backstory Refresh: When her father is trapped in the Beast’s castle, bookish Belle sacrifices herself to take his place. When she’s not gossiping with the fine China, she is gradually befriending the Beast, who is a total jerk (albeit his mood has certainly suffered from being shunned from society). When Belle finds out her father is in danger, she returns to the city. Meanwhile, Gaston, the vain village hottie who feels entitled to Belle’s affection, goes after the Beast but ultimately dies because he hates books and you can’t survive in this world without intellect. Belle, apparently chill with body hair, smooches the Beast and he returns to his true chiseled form, Prince Adam.


Fairytale Flaw: Although Belle ultimately falls for a man well outside of society’s traditional standards of attraction, she also falls for a man who is totally domineering and emotionally immature because she believes she can change him.


Modern Day Translation: Belle can spot and take down a misogynist at the drop of a baguette. But her determination to better a man who treats her poorly despite how it may inconvenience her (like being held prisoner in a castle) is a bit naive.



 

 




3. JASMINE




Backstory Refresh: Princess Jasmine spends her days avoiding arranged marriages to high falutin royal suitors and her nights sneaking out of the castle to hobnob with the middle class of Agrabah. Here, she meets man-of-the-street Aladdin who shows her common decency and so she falls for him. Still, he requests that his genie make him into a prince so he can deceive Jasmine into loving him, but she assumes he’s just another royal and is uninterested in his newly gained socioeconomic status. Ultimately, Jasmine is awarded the opportunity to choose who she wants to marry (her father literally changes the law that said she couldn’t) and she chooses “street rat” Aladdin.


Fairytale Flaw: Jasmine pretty much holds her own against the oppressive standards, which pretty much say her marriageability defines her status as a woman. She does, though, at one point, reduce herself to an object of sexual desire in order to seduce Jafar.


Modern Day Translation: Jasmine is a strong, empowered woman who believes you can be equal parts smart and sexy. She chooses a poor boyfriend to financially support, going against the traditional man-saves-a-woman narrative because he emotionally supports her. Unfortunately, sometimes the only power a woman can wield over a man is physical, but Jasmine uses her sexuality for a pretty noble cause.



 

 




4. CINDERELLA


Backstory Refresh: After her father dies, Cinderella lives and works for her evil stepmother and stepsisters. She is literally enslaved and used as the family servant. With the help of a fairy godmother, though, she is able to attend the royal ball where she encounters a prince who becomes immediately smitten with her. She only has until midnight and flees the ball, leaving behind her trendy, but definitely uncomfortable, glass slipper. The obsessed prince uses his privilege to force every eligible maiden to try it on until he finds Cinderella and marries her.


Fairytale Flaw: TBH, Cinderella doesn’t have too much opportunity to stand her ground as a captive in her own home. But she does defiantly make it to the ball, even if she only wanted to go to find a man.


Modern Day Translation: It might not push the most progressive narrative, but you can’t knock a girl for wanting a night on the town to manhunt with her friends.



 

 




5. POCAHONTAS 


Backstory Refresh: Pocahontas is the original free spirit. She is a walking flower crown full of beauty and good vibes, which is exactly why she doesn’t want to marry stern warrior Kocoum. When the white English settlers come and set up shop on Native American land, Pocahontas encounters the very Aryan John Smith, whom she quickly becomes enamored with. They kiss and basically set off a war between the settlers and the tribe. Smith is sentenced to death, but Pocahontas stops her father (the tribe’s chief!) just as he is about to kill him. When Smith asks Pocahontas to return to England with him, she declines, choosing instead to stay with her tribe.


Fairytale Flaw: Although regarded and remembered as one of the fiercer Disney princesses, Pocahontas endangers her entire tribe and actually gets a couple people killed to be with a guy.


Modern Day Translation: There’s no denying Pocahontas is a true badass female. But a man is rarely worth losing your connection to your family and friends. She makes the right decision to ultimately put her romance to the side and stay with them, but she sort of owed it to them after all the drama.



 

 



6. SNOW WHITE


Backstory Refresh: In order to avoid having her heart cut from her chest (upsetting!) by for her evil, super vain stepmother, Snow White flees into the forest. There, she encounters seven dwarves whom she befriends. She works in their cottage, cooking and cleaning, while they mine diamonds during the day. She’s poisoned by the queen, though, and falls asleep. The dwarves think she’s dead and build a rather stunning glass coffin to lay her to rest above ground. A year later (!!!), she is visited by a prince she met prior to her escape into the forest who smooches her and wakes her from her slumber. They live happily ever after even though Snow White was essentially decaying for an entire year.


Fairytale Flaw: Snow White is the most passive of all Disney’s leading ladies. She never tries to escape her servitude to her nasty stepmother and her first instinct upon arriving at a cottage full of little men is to cook and clean for them.


Modern Day Translation: She might be the most passive, but she’s also Disney’s oldest (Snow White and Seven Dwarves was released in 1937) so we’ll give her a pass on the lack of progression.



 

 




7. AURORA, "SLEEPING BEAUTY"


Backstory Refresh: After Maleficent basically condemns Aurora to die on her 16th birthday (by a sewing wheel of all things), another fairy alters the curse to have her fall into a deep sleep instead, only to be awoken by true love’s first kiss. Aurora is then raised by that fairy and her two fairy sisters and essentially exists to aimlessly walk about a beautiful scenic forest while singing, which she genuinely seems okay with. She meets and immediately falls in love with a charming man with an impressive tenor. After the fairies tell her she can’t see him again, Aurora runs off and is, of course, manipulated and led to the spinning wheel where she pricks her finger and falls asleep until prince man wakes her up with his mouth.


Fairytale Flaw: Sleeping Beauty shows absolutely no real drive or need to create or find a purpose for herself. She only displays any level of passion when she, as a teenager, is told she can’t date the random singing boy she met in the wilderness.


Modern Day Translation: Sleeping Beauty aimlessly wanders through life until she falls victim to her own naivete and needs to be saved by a man.



 





8. ARIEL


Backstory Refresh: Fiery red-headed mermaid Ariel is fiercely curious and interested in a world beyond her own. In fact, she hates her own neighborhood so much and wants to be human so badly that she’ll do anything to be “part of that world,” even if it means disobeying her king dad and regularly spending time at the surface of the ocean gazing at humans. Without any contact at all, Ariel falls in love with human man Eric, who has two legs and well-coiffed hair. She visits sea witch Ursula and trades her magical singing voice for a pair of legs to woo him with. After a ton of drama and her father being turned into a polyp on the floor of the ocean, Ariel is actually saved by Eric. Her excessively forgiving father turns her fin into permanent legs so she can marry him.


Fairytale Flaw: Although inspiring in her rebellious nature, Ariel misdirects her defiance, risking her and her father’s life for a dreamy land-boy. She trades her voice and her home to be with a stranger she saw playing flute for a few minutes from a distance.


Modern Day Translation: Impetuous and passionate as she may be, Ariel committed the most disempowering sin when she gave up her voice for a man. And then, after all that trouble, her father still has to grant her freedom.





This article by Lindsay Dolak originally appeared on InStyle.com.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Journey: A Namiku Story Part 8

https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/18977464/chapters/45060730

Painting a Picture Naminé’s PoV Naminé noticed that the first thing Riku did when the gunshot went off, was to run towards her and catch her in his arms—as he desperately looked her over—and Naminé was taken aback by it. After all, from what that voice had just told her—and even from things she’d witnessed herself—Naminé had begun to think that Riku didn’t care about her much at all. But here he was, very clearly proving that notion wrong as he held her and shivered with the fear he’d felt for her life, and still seemed to. Even Sora was concerned about Naminé… and didn’t seem to be paying attention to the blond man telling the redheaded one to let him take the fall for him, as he was taken away by the natives of this land, but Naminé was. As always, Naminé paid attention to everything. “Naminé, are you okay?” Sora asked, as he extended a hand in her way… and it wasn’t unlike when he’d held her hand on his memory of the Island all those years ago. “I-I’m fine,” Naminé admitted as she reluctantly shook Riku off of her, since they had more important things they needed to worry about right now. “But shouldn’t we be stopping the dear people I was just with? …They’re going to kill that man, I know it, and he didn’t do anything wrong. If nothing else… maybe I can calm down the distressing woman.” It was the same woman that Naminé had seen before—with the long hair and big brown eyes—who had said she was trying to help her people. It was clear that she was distressed at Kocoum’s death, even though she clearly didn’t blame her lover for it. And Naminé understood this, as she was sad about Kocoum, too. Riku shook his head at Naminé’s question, as he pulled her and Sora behind a tree so the growing crowd wouldn’t see them. “I don’t think they’re in the mood to listen right now, Naminé. And while Sora and I could probably stop them from taking John Smith with our Keyblades, we’d probably have to kill most of them to do so. Let’s just tail them and figure out where they take John, and figure the rest out later.” And so they did. And thankfully, the rain stopped as they did so… because it had been getting so bad, that Naminé had thought about asking Riku if she could borrow his jacket, she was getting so cold, but she also didn’t dare. She didn’t know quite what to make of him, after all. … “…Does anyone else feel like this is what we heard about Agnarr and Iduna in Arendelle?” Naminé asked her friends as they were trying to see if they could get in to see John Smith after Pocahontas—and yes, Naminé had figured out she was the Chief’s daughter—was done talking to him. But she also wasn’t sure how they were going to do this… because John Smith would clearly want to see Riku or Sora since he knew them, unlike her, but Chief Powhatan thought that Riku was an enemy… so perhaps Sora was their best bet. “You’re- you’re right!” Sora said with an amazed lilt to his voice, first with an astonished look on his face but then a wink Naminé’s way when he seemed to decide that of course she’d figure that out. “Naminé… I think if you tell everyone here that, you have a better chance of getting through to them than Riku or I do. Think you can do that for John Smith?” “I- I can try,” Naminé muttered, feeling some of her old self-consciousness coming through again and wishing it would go away, as she put a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll go to Chief Powhatan and talk to him… I do think he likes me. But it’ll have to be fast. With this amount of darkness everywhere, you know a giant Heartless showing up here soon isn’t out of the question.” And later, Naminé would wish she hadn’t said that. For perhaps she had brought that exact situation to life with her words. But right now, Naminé could tell that Riku and Sora were both reluctant to let her go. But suddenly feeling much better, she walked past them with a sweet smile on her face. … As Naminé walked through the Chief’s tent—after knocking, of course—she couldn’t help feeling that it looked the color of blood in this lighting, and now it was her time to shiver. But she pushed that thought back, and tried to gracefully walk into the place as she was ushered in. “Naminé!” the Chief exclaimed the moment he saw her. “I’m glad to see you’re alright. I thought those savages had- well, I’m glad that wasn’t the case.”  Sweat gathered on the man’s brow, and Naminé wondered if more wrinkles had appeared there in just a few hours, but Naminé supposed it made sense for him to be stressed… seeing as how his daughter was involved in all of this. “Sir… there’s something I wanted to talk to you about, when it comes to this dire situation, if I may. “ Chief Powhatan blinked owlishly at Naminé after she’d spoken. But he indicated with two hand motions that she should have a seat and continue on. And Naminé did both. “I- I don’t know how much you care about young people who are in love. In some ways, it might seem silly to you now… especially in those who won’t conform to doing things the ‘right way’. “I could tell you how Riku and my love has been challenged, even though we’re so much better together, just because I couldn’t… feel my heart at first, so to speak.” And here Chief Powhatan smiled sympathetically at Naminé’s way, as if he had any idea what she was talking about… but then again, maybe he did. “But moreover, I’ll tell you about… friends from another place: Iduna and Agnarr. “Agnarr was royalty like you and Pocahontas are, but Iduna was just from an enchanted forest… that somewhat reminds me of this place, perhaps. Anyway, the place that Agnarr was from secretly feared the forest. So, his grandfather ‘gifted’ the Northuldra—those of the enchanted forest—a dam, that he told them would benefit their land. However, it was a ruse to lure all the Northuldra out, so the people of Arendelle—their rival—could kill them all. “But… the prince of Arendelle was innocent, and one of the Northuldra children saw that and saved his life, when otherwise he would have died with most of the rest of his people. He, Agnarr, that is, became king. And since through her actions, Agnarr had fallen in love with her, he married her and Iduna became queen… “But the enchanted forest still resented all of the bloodshed, even though it had gifted Agnarr and Iduna’s daughter with powers that made her a bridge between the two places, and when they went out to find answers for their daughter… it was really the Forest that killed them. Please don’t let your Pocahontas and this John Smith be the same way at all.” To be honest, Naminé had worried that the Chief would scoff at her comment, or say he’d never even allow his daughter to get that far with the condemned man, but instead he walked over to her and patted her head… and even complimented her. “You have a good heart, Naminé. Despite what you might have been told in the past. And while my daughter and- and that man are not children, I will try to show mercy if this ‘John’s’ people will show some themselves. I don’t want this kind of bloodshed for my daughter, either. No.” And in thinking that that was probably the best answer she was going to get—and not knowing what else she could do now—Naminé left after bowing and saying “thank you”, and went back outside to find Riku and Sora… who just happened to be running her way. “Naminé, that took forever!” Sora shouted, as he waved Naminé down. “Pocahontas has disappeared… and this Ratcliff guy is insane! He won’t stand down no matter how hard we try to show him not to bring guns to a knife fight. Just because he wants gold, war’s coming at dawn. And…” “And it looks like you weren’t wrong about a giant Heartless getting summoned,” Riku finished, as he indicated a massive purple dragon that was standing next to a man who was wearing armor about the same color. Ratcliff, Naminé guessed. “Come on!” Naminé bellowed as she was the first to begin running towards the beast for some reason. “Let’s go slay it, so everyone else has a fighting chance.” In some ways, this Heartless was much like the Invisibles that Naminé had heard horror stories about and seen in Sora's memories—or worse, like the Orcuses that Roxas and Xion had had to face—and she sighed, in thinking that of course this would happen at the most inopportune time… in the worst world they'd been in. Naminé could only pray that this Heartless wouldn't take the form of Sora or Riku, to make them accidentally fight each other instead, or however that had worked for Roxas and Xion. "Do you two want me to try and break its heart the way that I did the Riku Replica’s before?” Naminé asked, even while she tried not to flashback to the greatest mistake of her life but to rather let it go. “I mean, Heartless actually have hearts. But since I can only mess with the hearts and memories of Sora and his friends… maybe if Sora tried to befriend it-" "Not happening, Naminé!" Sora swiftly shot down her plea, as he tried to climb up the large scales that this giant Heartless had on its neck and then shoot Thunder on the one just behind him. Riku, meanwhile, was dark rolling all around the Heartless—which kept him safe and even hit the monster some. And seeing that her idea about breaking the Heartless’ heart wouldn’t come to pass, Naminé decided to take a page out of Kairi’s book and learn how to fight some. And as Naminé picked up another stick, she prepared to do just that. …But Sora must have made some connection with the monster, for something suddenly became clear in Naminé’s mind and she tried to tell Riku and Sora it as soon as it did. “Stay away from the thing’s tongue! It causes status ailments, you two!” And it was almost as though it had understood that Naminé had given away its secret, because almost instantly it began alligator rolling with Sora beneath him. “Sora!” both Naminé and Riku shouted at the same time. And Riku began using Dark Aura—something that Naminé had thought he had banned himself from using anymore until this moment—to try and free Sora, and Naminé used her stick to try and stab at any vulnerable place on the Heartless that she could find… which wasn’t a lot. And before either of them could stop the Heartless from thrashing about, it ended up piercing on of its own tusks through Sora's heart. And through Kairi's memories that Naminé could still see, she remembered what it had looked like when Sora had stabbed himself with the Keyblade of People's Hearts in order to save Kairi. She also recalled what it had been like when Sora had essentially torn his heart apart to save them all during the Keyblade War. And this alone was almost enough to make Naminé try and do something more. But when the Heartless started literally pulling Riku into the darkness—something that she thought he had conquered with her help!—Naminé lost it. With a guttural cry that she couldn't even believe had come from her, Naminé tried to pull on the light—which she could reach, as she’d always had more light to her than any other Nobody—and reached piano-like strings of them and pulled them down down down onto the vulnerable parts of the Heartless, and even with some spots of darkness in there that almost made her pass out, but she didn’t. And then the Heartless vanished. "What... just happened?" Sora was the first of them to ask, since he'd always been the most vocal of the group. "Naminé... I don’t mean to insult you. But to me, it looked like the Heartless was disappearing even before you attacked it… Did it leave, and maybe even let you find your strength in battling it, because it… cares about you?” And at that, Riku gave Sora a look and shoved his arm. But then he dropped the façade that he was really upset with Sora, and healed him… But then he did still have to rib Sora some. “Gee, Sora, of course that's what happened! Because Heartless definitely have mental faculties like that!" "Oww!" Sora complained, as he rubbed his arm in mock offense. And while Naminé was somewhat annoyed that he was making light of the situation, she also thought that maybe it was the best thing in this situation… Sora was giving them what he always did: hope. But still… "We've spent too much time here," Naminé reminded her friends more gently than she thought she could, as she started running off in the direction she thought she needed to. "Our friends could have started slaughtering each other, while we fought the most ridiculously strong Heartless ever. But it might not be too late. Let’s go!" …And it didn't take too long for Naminé to see what she had said, had—unfortunately—been right: on a hill nearby, she could make out fire and a throng of people… and she thought she could hear screaming. For some reason, it reminded her of when Riku Replica and Sora had been fighting over her to the death, until she had hurt the Riku Replica to stop it... and yes, it still made her taste bile in her mouth. "Oh, no! I think the Chief is going to kill John Smith!" Sora cried—as Naminé nearly tripped over her shoelaces in trying to see for herself and stop it in time, if that was what was happening. But just as Naminé was about to be like a lot of her friends, and throw herself atop the man to save him, Pocahontas beat her to the punch. "Stand down, daughter!" Chief Powhatan demanded. And it was like a dagger in Naminé's heart to hear it, since she had hoped their conversation would stop this outcome. Maybe she’d just been a fool to believe that. But Pocahontas argued her point well—a point that Ansem the Wise had had to learn in the end. And how glad Naminé was, that he had. "I won't! I love him, father. Look around you! See where the path of hatred has gotten us. I know my path. What will yours be?!" Chief Powhatan spoke then, as Naminé watched with bated breath, about how Pocahontas was wise beyond her years… and had come to this place with love and understanding, which Naminé of course agreed with, and she wanted to be appreciating the moment. But she couldn't. Not when Ratcliff had summoned such a powerful Heartless just a moment ago, and still might be able to… or to do something much worse, she saw. "Look out!" Naminé begged, as she fell to her knees—as she’d been told to do if anyone ever tried to kidnap her again—so that she’d hopefully be noticed and people would react in time. "Ratcliff is going to shoot Chief Pow-" But it was too late. The shot had already gone off, and Sora had reacted instinctively to protect Naminé, as he pulled her into his arms. And Riku had summoned his Keyblade to fight, but it was clear he hadn't known what Naminé was indicating... so he hadn't been in time, either. John Smith had been, though, and he took the bullet intended for the Chief. And his wound was so grave, that Naminé didn't know how he hadn't died in that instant... but he hadn't. It must have been the love he bore Pocahontas, that made him want to live. And it hadn't been the promise that Riku loved her, that made Naminé come back? Thankfully, the warring sides didn't take this as a hint that they needed to continue what they'd started here. Instead, the blame was laid where it belonged: with Ratcliff, as he was bound and gagged. And Naminé even found herself helping with that unconsciously, as Sora and Riku tried to use healing magic to make all of John's pain away but to no avail. And then it became too much for Naminé. "Ugh! Riku, Sora I feel we weren't even supposed to be in this world at all, but here we were: to witness this mess. It's too much... let's- let's go somewhere else. Please." But even while Naminé was beyond upset, she couldn't leave things as they were, either. So she said some heartfelt goodbyes with her friends, and she thought Riku in particular was doing the same. And—even though she didn't have any healing magic, per se—Naminé tampered with some of their memories so this experience would be less traumatic when they looked back on it someday. And then, perhaps selfishly—because maybe she had been selfish to try and make this trip all about herself, when Riku had been the one to want to world hop. Not her—she gave all the kids paints to play with, so they could create a better picture if they wanted to. And then she got on Sora’s gummi ship with the boys (Riku said the King would pick up theirs and take it back to Disney Castle), with Riku and Sora giving her concerned looks all the while. But once there… she nearly instantaneously felt a little bit better, as she saw someone coming out in the ship's "living room" and smirking now. "Y'all didn't forget little old me, did you?" "Kairi!" Author’s Note: I apologize for how long this update took. A lot of it was that I hand wrote a lot of this chapter, and couldn’t bring myself to type it up until today. Which is dumb, I know. And also because I have a million other stories I’m working on. I’m never abandoning this fic, but updates may take some time for that reason. I’m sorry.