#and i used to be obsessed with different popular disney princess tumblr posts

[calico-kiwi]

i don’t know the official day i started using tumblr (my very first account has long since been lost to the sands of time after being overrun by cobwebs) but after digging through my emails i know i’ve been here since at least May 23rd of 2020 and though that’s not nearly as long as other people, it feels like an eternity.

Happy (late) four year tumblr anniversary to me, it truly has felt i’ve been here so much longer and i love how engrained this place is in my heart

unless the site is burned to the ground with nothing left i’m pretty sure i’ll never leave <3 (despite the fact there are still problems here)

[laurenhufflepuff2]

A list of fandoms I'm in (in no particular order, will probably be updated regularly. Some fandoms are more intense and some are more casual. Depending on the fandom, I could go on and on about fandom topics for HOURS. Let's get into it!)

Harry Potter, Disney, Marvel, DC comics, Miraculous Ladybug, Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, Star Wars, Literature, Winx Club, Nintendo, Minecraft, Little Witch Academia, Voltron, Coraline

Details:

Harry Potter- I got into Harry Potter in 7th grade and now I am the resident expert in my family and in my friend group. I read all the books, watched all the movies (notably the British version), and I've seen the Fantastic Beasts films as well. I've also read Tales of Beedle the Bard (the Warlock's Hairy Heart was traumatizing) along with the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook (plus an updated edition). I also read The Cursed Child script and while I mean no hate to anyone that liked it, I hated what it did to the canon. I am in Hufflepuff with some Ravenclaw tendencies (I took the Pottermore quiz 3 times, 2 out of 3 I got Hufflepuff, the other time was Ravenclaw). I had a pottermore account and I was so upset when it got converted to the Wizarding World page. I cosplayed Hermione in 7th grade complete with British accent and even monologued as her for a talent show (classmates and teachers would recognize me as the Hermione girl all the way through high school). I was obsessed and I still love it even if J.K. Rowling has gone off the deep end on Twitter... yeah... my favorite character is Hermione but I also relate to Luna

Disney- there's so much that goes into the Disney part of my fandom list. I'm excluding Marvel and Star Wars from this part as they were originally separate entities before Disney got the rights to them. I have seen almost every animated Disney film ever and often use random movie quotes in conversation. My favorite villain is Maleficent, my favorite princess is Ariel (followed by Belle, Rapunzel, and Anna). I relate to so many of the characters. I'm not sure who my favorite Pixar character is though (I love Violet, Sadness, Dory, and Piper (from the short)). My favorite Disney fairy is Fawn. My favorite characters overall are Ariel and Stitch. Disney is definitely on the list as one of my biggest obsessions. My favorite movies are Lilo and Stitch, the Little Mermaid, Inside Out, Alice in Wonderland (original), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Marvel- I mostly get my Marvel exposure through the MCU, other movies, and animated TV shows. I have difficulty reading graphic novels so most of my comic book knowledge comes from friends, posts, or wikis. My favorite characters are Spider-Man, Captain America, Peggy Carter, and Scarlet Witch. I also like Gwenpool, Deadpool, Spider-Gwen/ Ghost-Spider, Venom, Squirrel Girl, Daredevil, Mantis, Gamora, Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, Loki, Bucky, Black Panther, and most MCU characters. Out of the X-men I really like Professor X, Wolverine, Mystique, Magneto, Nightcrawler, and Quicksilver (either version- MCU or Fox).

DC- this was the franchise I was more familiar with growing up but again, graphic novels aren't easy for me to read so most of my knowledge comes from information pages about the comics or from tv/movies. My earliest experience with DC came from the 60s Batman series, with Catwoman and Robin being my favorites. I also watched the Wonder Woman series from the 70s and a handful of CW shows, my favorite of which being the Flash and Arrow. I also managed to watch all 5 seasons of the Teen Titans Cartoon Network series from 2003. With that being said, my favorite characters are Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Flash, Batman, Nightwing/Robin (Dick Grayson), Green Arrow, Starfire, Raven, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Alfred. I also like most of the bat family, and when it comes to CW I LOVE Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost and Cisco.

Miraculous- this is one of my guilty fandoms but since this is Tumblr I'm not too worried about it. I love Marinette and I relate to her on an astoundingly deep level (minus the stalking and obsession with potential lovers, that's creepy). If I had a miraculous, I'd probably want the Ladybug one, but the Cat miraculous, fox miraculous, and snake miraculous are good too. My favorite character is Marinette/Ladybug.

Atla/Tlok- I jumped on the avatar bandwagon just when it was starting to get popular, so I managed to get through the series before the memes took over everything. Same with Tlok, although i couldn't completely avoid the spoilers for that when i started it. I've been wanting to get into the comics because of the short story comics I've read, they seem easier to read than superhero comics. My favorite characters are Aang, Katara, Ty Lee, Iroh, Korra, Jinora, Asami, Suki, Appa, Momo, Naga, and Pabu. I also like Sokka, Mai, Zuko, Lin, Kuvira, Varrick, Zhu Lee, and Azula. I feel really sorry for her and while I understand that a redemption arc would undermine the importance of her corruption arc, I still wish she could have one. I would love to be a waterbender or an airbender... maybe a waterbender raised in the air nation? Obviously, being the avatar itself would be awesome. The show has taught me a lot of great lessons and put a lot of stuff into perspective for me.

Star Wars- oh boy, talking about this one is dangerous. I've seen firsthand the horrors of the Star Wars fandom but then again no one will probably see this anyway so... I've seen all the movies and I remember watching the clone wars series with my brother when I was younger but we fell wayyy behind and it's taking us forever to get back into it. I've also seen the Mandalorian and quite enjoyed it. I like the prequels unironically, in fact, the prequels are some of my favorite movies. I especially like how they switched from lightsabers being heavy weapons to light weapons that can be used for all kinds of tricks that make for epic battles like the ones we see in Revenge of the Sith. The sequels were fun to watch but when I would analyze them along side their predecessors, I came to the conclusion that, for me, they were good to watch but did not do anything good for the rest of the franchise. My favorite characters are prequels/clone wars Obi Wan and Anakin, Padme, Ashoka, Leia, R2D2, BB-8, R4-P17, the Mandalorian (Din Djarin), and Grogu. If I had a lightsaber I'd want it to be blue, but when I was little I got a purple one like Mace Windu because it was closer to pink and I was into pink at the time. I still have that lightsaber and none of my friends have a purple one so it's one of my flexes. I feel like I wouldn't make a good jedi because of attachments being forbidden, so I'd probably become a grey jedi.

Literature- this is a broad term I use to cover all the random books and stories I liked reading and have studied. So we have Shakespeare (Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet), The Great Gatsby (bored while reading, loved to analyze), Grendel (HATED reading, loved to analyze, Grendel really needed a hug and a friend), The Crucible, Fahrenheit 451, Dark Life (+ the sequel Riptide, both are by Kat Falls good reads, sci-fi and kind of dystopian), The Once and Future King

Winx Club- I think the show is trashy but I still love watching it. I haven't been able to get through season 6 though and I hated what they did with season 8 and Fate: the Winx Saga. My favorite character is Bloom along with Stella and Flora. I prefer rai to nick. My favorite transformations are magic winx, enchantix, and harmonix. My favorite member of the Trix is Icy followed by Darcy. My favorite Pixies are Chatta and Lockette.

Nintendo- mainly Pokémon above all else, followed by Animal Crossing. I have also played (mostly as player 2 or just never beat or watched my brother play) mario games, legend of zelda, pikmin, and kirby. Games I haven't played but I just liked the characters/the lore and probably learned about through Super Smash Bros. are Fire Emblem (Lucina mostly), Metroid (Samus and baby metroid), and Kid Icarus. Pokémon is where I'm most knowledgeable but you'll most likely beat me in battle. I am however great at MarioKart and I always destroy my friends at it. Terrible at fighting games though.

Minecraft- I like playing this casually. Sure, I'll play for hours and hours on end for months, but I prefer to stay exclusively in peaceful when playing Survival mode and I don't make anything too ambitious in Creative mode. I like to write, so sometimes I'll make a rough layout of the settings of my stories in different worlds. I prefer interior design and decorating when building, and when in survival mode I focus more on mining and gathering while my brother works on ambitious building projects. I just bring him the raw materials and furnish the interior when he finishes the outside.

Little Witch Academia- this takes up a smaller portion of my fandom list because there were only 2 seasons and a couple movies and I watched the whole series years ago, but I still enjoy it. At one point I wanted to cosplay Akko, and I loved the nod at Twilight through the Nightfall series. And I especially liked the twist that Shiny Chariot was Ursula, which I suspected for some time. The blend between magic and technology was fun to see, but I was so sad that the series ended RIGHT when Akko finally showed signs of magic proficiency. Also, Shiny Chariot being the reason Akko couldn't do magic was heartbreaking.

Voltron- this takes up a much smaller portion of my fandom list mainly because I haven't even finished it. I know hardly anything about Transformers aside from the Bumblebee movie so to me I just watch it for fun. It reminds me of power rangers, star wars, and star trek, and then there's just a transformer insert. But I don't know anything about Transformers so maybe the show is more rooted in canon than I think.

Coraline- I am in a love-hate relationship with Coraline. I have watched the movie several times, I've read the book, I've watched hours of theories and analyses on youtube, I've watched behind the scenes videos by Laika, and I even wrote a script for a fan film parody. I am amazed at how original the story is and how impressive the stop motion animation is but I also have recurring nightmares from it and it scares me/creeps me out to the max. If anyone asks what my scariness limit is, it's definitely Coraline.

[targsdaenerys]

let me tell you all a story. a story of my experience with ouat.

2012.

in fourth grade, i was watching american idol. during commercials, i viewed a promo consisting of a dragon and unicorns. now, at the time, unicorns were my ver y favorite, so of course, i was intrigued. i told my mom that i heard about a show with unicrons, but that i didnt know what it was called. she told me how she had heard of it and wanted to check it out. after watching the season one interviews between red and snow, she believed it was too old for me. i agreed. no unicorns. not what i was expecting.

2013.

a year passes. fifth grade was a blur, and all i know is that we went to disney. i had no idea what would change since then.

2014.

my friends are suddenly starting to talk about this kid’s eyebrows. how they are “so hot” and “sexy”. she showed me a picture off of robbie kay’s instagram and i laughed. ha, peter pan? whatever.

but then, it started to reoccur each monday, they would talk about it. i actually started to look forward to monday lunch periods. i begged them to discuss what they thought of the episode. once again, i was intrigued. 

so of course, i wanted to see what the fuss was about. whats this big deal with peter pan? and who the hell’s rumple after only a few clips, i suddenly loved snow and charming. i needed more. i needed to watch.

so i tried. desperately.  i only had an ipad, and was unaware it was on netlfix, so i tried to watch the first episode of the series by typing in “once upon a time season 1 episode one online free to any platform.i actually was able to find it and went in excitedly the next day to tell my friends. that was when i learned it was on netflix and thati could not wait to get home and watch it. so i did. but the thing is, i was only there for snow and charming scenes.  i literally only skipped to their scenes. thats how i watched the show.

but then, as i was scrolling around youtube one day looking forsscenes for them, i came across “Emma and Hook Kiss scene” my frirst thought? it was between “ew”and “serioulsy?”

i watched it anyway.

and to behonest, it was kind of just a “okay, that happened” kind of thing. it wasnt until my friend told me after the season 3 finle that emma and hook kissed again before i got alitle excited. not much more, though.

then months pass, and suddenly, scrolling around netflix, i come across the hunger games. i held a grudge against the series since it became big with the popular group in my school that year. but i was thirsty for romance. and i heard it had some.

and thats how i fell in love with everlark. one night. the next morning i started following pages on instagram. i look up the ship on googlge. and tumblr posts pop up. i make a tumblr.

i start to follow pages on there with everlark, but then i start to see things on both platforms. emma and hook. and then, i slowly started to fall in love. not much. i just watch a couple of their scenes during season three, come across their second kiss. getting really, really excitated for the fourth season.

at the point, i had written about two everlark fanfictions. i wanted to write one about emma and hook, but i had no i dea how. or what .

but then tumblr inspired me. to the point where i started to freak out over every episode no matter how small the scenes were. in october of seventh grade, i wrote my first captain swan fanifction. i also drew my first drawing that i never thought i was able to do. sure, it was with a sketchbook my aunt got me in second grade and a #2 pecil, but i believe its still beautiful. it wasnt long after i actually found the name, captain swan, rather than using “kemma” or “killimma”.

2015.

and from there, my obsession sky rocketed. i stayed up until four every night after an episode, despite schol the next morning. i wrote little drabbles that arelong since gone ever since my laptop broke. i drew more drawings, i rewatched every scene until thats all that was in my head.the s4 finale was as hard on me as everyone else, and i tried to write a specualtion fic to the s5 premiere. i neverfinshed. although, looking back at the writing now, i can still feel the pain i was in by it.

and then season five started. again, i freaked out as much as everyone else. every episode. i still remeber the week after the first episode, we lost someone int he fandom. we miss you, love.

and then it was late october.saturday the 22nd, my mom came into my room to ask me if id seen my friend alyssa that day. she was a year older than me, afreshman in highschool. i didnt, so i told her. i didnt ever think what might have been.the following day, i was working at the food pantry when my mom caled me.they had found alyssa. but she wasnt okay.maybe in her mind she may have been the best shes ever been, but to us,she wasnt.

no one else knew, and i had to walk home in silence. i didnt cry because at the time we werent as close as the year before and it didnt hit me.but then my mother’s words repeated in my head. “Alyssa died, sweetie.” it was asentence i never forgot.

im not the best at keeping my emtions with myself. i always think people will judge me and call me selfish if i cry, and i didnt want it to be like that. so i kept it in.i kept the tears in for so, so long, even to the point here i didnt even cry at her wake where she looked like an angel although the scarf around her neck was something shed never wear. and what kept my sanity? once upon a time. it was then when i realized it was my anchor. 

2016.

back in 2015 my mother made me audtion for a vocational school. earlier that year i had found its dance program and wanted to go, but along the way my intrest dwindled. she told me to give it a shot anyway because i had a very low chance of making it in due to my grades at the time. 

i made it in. 

the following months were the worst of my life. every day on the way home from dance wed fight about which high school was better, and although she was right about me going to the vocational one, i wanted to stay in my district. lets just say the only thing that kept me from following alyssa into the darkness was dance competitions. oh, and what else. the damn once upon a time episodes.

she forced me to go to that school, by the way. sure, i enjoy it now, but the people there suck and i still do not like how she went at it.

that fall, i take my friend to our first convention.since i started watching oneupon a time, i wanted others to watch it, and my one friend agreed to. until the end of the neverland arc.  and peter pan died. no more ouat for her. but, since robbie was going to be there, lets go. she got a picture with him, i got a picture with bex. yayay.

2017.

last week, we experienced the best sunday of our life. a wedding we never really thought would happen. it was unbelievable. emma got her happy ending(or beginning) aand we got ours. it was so thrilling that even my friend who stopped watching in season three was excited. but as much as it was unbeliable the night, the following morning was too.

that was the most giddiest i had ever felt for school. every more we have a forty five minute bus ride and the but whole time i listened to the musical on repeat. but then, as i looked down to pause the music as we pulled into school, i saw my friends text. Jen’s facebook post.

i was in a daze all day.

it wasnt until lunch, the last period since it was a half day, where i just broke down. people asked me what was wrong and i explained as best i could, but shitty people have shitty outlooks on things and they didnt understand. it was the loneliest ive ever felt.

my mom kind of comforted me, telling me how she felt the same when parent hood ended and that ill find a new show ill like just the same, but one upon a time is special. no show can replace or even add onto what kind of mark it had left on me. it was what started my career in wririting and drawing. in someways it kept me alive. and what did people do when i told them this? they laughed.

it was tuesday night when i ran down stairs, telling my mom about convention tickets for colin and jen photo op i found on sale. we had them in mind for awhile, but never got them. she told me wed look into it. we missed the sale.

so here we were, here i was, aall i was able to think about was how id never meet the people who played the characters that shaped me and my future. until the next morning, my birthday, where i was given the tickets.

and today,to night, was pretty much the end of the storybook. im not going to go into it because i have it on a post from about an hour ago. but thank you everyone, for helping me be me. and thank you for this blessed oppurtuniy, in which i had never and will never take for granted, to be a part of such a magical communtiy. because of this platform i have aspired my career of writing, drawing, and fulfilling my dreams of being a princess by being able to contact disney about the program.if it wasnt for this damned, beautiful fucking shwow, i would probably bedrastically different. this story we created is timeless, a neverending fairytale in both real life and on screen. the story contiues for ever and ever in our hearts and writing and drawing and all of the incredible talents we all have.

[jessicakehoe]

Everything That Upset the Internet This Week

What is the web-o-sphere angry about this week? From the casting of a black actress as a fictional mermaid to another Taylor Swift feud, here’s everything you need to know:

Disney casts Halle Bailey in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid

THE STORY: Halle Bailey, one half of musical duo Chloe x Halle, was just announced as the new Ariel in Disney’s upcoming live action remake of the popular fairytale and people are upset—because she’s black. Some of them are going as far as “using science” to prove that she couldn’t possibly be black because she lives so far under the ocean that she wouldn’t have enough sun exposure to get darker skin. #NotMyAriel began trending on Twitter, not just because of the racist objections, but because of the many hilarious memes and tweets users fired back in defense of Bailey’s casting.

THE REACTION:

In my opinion, Ariel should look like Merida: White skin and red hair. #NotMyAriel pic.twitter.com/w86xobxMeI

— Kawhi to the Lakers (@Kawhi_to_LA) July 5, 2019

I'm offended by the casting of a woman of colour as Ariel.

They should have used an ACTUAL, real mermaid.

Sick and tired of this human privilege.#NotMyAriel

— ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) July 5, 2019

#NotMyAriel ??? You remember when they painted Jake Gyllenhaal orange and called him Prince of Persia? Take a seat.

— erfan (@ETGIA) July 4, 2019

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: This marks the first time Disney has cast a woman of colour in the role of a traditionally white princess character for one of its new remakes (the last time was Brandy as Cinderella in 1997), and is a huge win for people who never get to see themselves represented in children’s fairytales, whose characters tend to be overwhelmingly white. The fact that this furor is happening over a character that’s not even human—she’s an entirely fictional mermaid—makes the pushback even more absurd.

Ed Sheeran gets pulled into the Taylor Swift-Scooter Braun Feud

THE STORY: Earlier this week Taylor Swift shared a lengthy and emotional post on Tumblr explaining that the music from her last six albums—from her time at record label Big Machine Records—would now be owned by Scooter Braun, a music industry executive at whose hands she says she suffered “incessant, manipulative bullying.” A whole host of celebs jumped in with their own two cents on the matter, from Justin Bieber to Demi Lovato to Cara Delevingne. But for some reason the person most of the internet got mad at was… Ed Sheeran.

THE REACTION:

Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes were both opening acts for Taylor Swift's tours and it's no doubt that she give them so much support when they were small artists and needed it but yet they both remain silent when she needs their support. Trash.

— emma stands with taylor 🦋 (@shookswiftie) July 1, 2019

It's kind of ironic that @edsheeran wouldn't be where he is if it wasn't for @taylorswift13 and now he's making music with @justinbieber. Reason no. one million why I've never really liked Ed. He's just another male asshole in the music industry. #IStandWithTaylor #Lover pic.twitter.com/4h7U27zusc

— Perfectly Imperfect 🇩🇪#WeStandWithTaylor (@Aquarian_Lady) June 30, 2019

Fuck Ed Sheeran he’s never stood up for Taylor ever. she fucking took him on tour and featured him on her album when he was growing his career. he writes his music just as well, only difference is as a man he got the pretty side of the coin and gets praise from being a writer

— ⋆ taylor swift’s lawyer (@iwishyouwoulds) July 1, 2019

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: Though he has not yet said anything publicly, Sheeran did respond to an Instagram comment on his account, saying “I have been speaking directly to her, like I always do,” which, fine. Instead of pointing fingers at all the secondary characters in this very public feud though, perhaps Swift fans should spend some more time actually looking into the specifics of the whole messy situation and Swift’s role in it as more than just a person wronged. Of course she has every reason to be upset that someone else legally owns the rights to (and will profit off) the music she spent years making but as Vox notes, it’s not uncommon for record companies to own an artist’s master recordings. It’s also hard to ignore the fact that a lot of this feud seems to be fuelled more by, ahem, bad blood than righteous indignation. In a lengthy piece on Complex.com titled “Taylor Swift Has a Long History of Omitting Facts to Fit Her Own Narrative,” the writer expounds on Swift’s tendency to play the victim and twist facts to suit her image. [For those looking to follow every step of this feud, journalist Yashar Ali has a handy thread going on Twitter.]

An animated sex scene in Euphoria

THE STORY: The new HBO show starring Zendaya and Storm Reid has been raising eyebrows since episode 1, when 30 penises were featured in a single scene. The latest to get the internet buzzing is an animated scene featuring the likenesses of Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction. A character’s narrative arc on the show involves her penchant for creating One Direction fan fiction, illustrated in the show by a sex scene between Styles and Tomlinson. Fans were peeved, and Tomlinson himself took to Twitter to say: “I can categorically say that I was not contacted nor did I approve it.”

THE REACTION:

I’m? So? Confused? Who allowed Euphoria to use Harry & Louis’ names? Are lou & harry aware that this happened? Like they must be-it’s hbo so they probably had to like have some form of permission from lou & harry’s management or them themselves but why would anyone allow that?

— yaz ◟̽◞̽ (@kindlyloubear) June 30, 2019

@euphoriaHBO bruv you guys are old enough atleast think before you do something, isn’t that what old people tell us think first ? Just be respectful and delete the whole thing. @Harry_Styles @Louis_Tomlinson sorry for all this shit pic.twitter.com/7WCg4o8983

— adiba (@adiba_baba) July 1, 2019

i’ve never watched euphoria and i don’t plan on watching it,, but this shit is so nasty and embarrassing. things like this are the reason why they’re not close anymore. and the fact that they used harry and louis’ real names makes it worse. lawsuit wya ? pic.twitter.com/AWZnciMLfg

— nicole (@wybnicole) July 1, 2019

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: Euphoria is a show that’s fully committed to portraying the dark, messy lives of teenagers, and what’s a more realistic reflection of teens’ weird obsessions than their love for explicit, detailed, NSFW fanfic? Throughout their time as bandmates in One Direction, Styles and Tomlinson were often “shipped” together in fanfic about them secretly being in a gay relationship. Larry Stylinson, a portmanteau of their names, became “a widespread conspiracy theory as One Direction grew more popular,” explains Vulture, with fans “overanalyz[ing] every single interaction between the two men.” Apparently it got to the point where Tomlinson said that his relationship with Styles suffered. “It made everything, I think on both fences, a little bit more unapproachable.” So it makes sense that he would be upset to see the fanfic resurrected, but the outrage of the fans themselves is a bit mystifying, considering they’re the ones responsible for hatching the theory in the first place.

The post Everything That Upset the Internet This Week appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Everything That Upset the Internet This Week published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

[wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog]

'Disneybounding' is how fashionable adults satisfy their Disney obsession

Tatiana Kelley is a full-time mother of two toddlers. And while the 33-year-old Orange County resident has paused her career as a therapist for special-needs kids in order to manage her own, she’s made room for another passion: going to Disneyland at least once a week (thrice a week in summer). And to be clear, that’s for her — not her kids.

“I fell in love, and it’s become an outlet for me to go out and meet new people, make new friends,” Kelley tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The Disney community is welcoming and full of positivity, and that’s something that’s nice and cool that I want to be a part of.”

Leslie Kay, who started “Disneybounding,” dresses in an Alice in Wonderland-inspired outfit. (Photos: Leslie Kay via Instagram, Everett Collection)

Kelley is what’s known as a “Disneybounder,” someone who dresses in regular clothing — as opposed to costumes — but styles them in ways inspired by Disney characters. That means wearing, say, an A-line pleated turquoise dress and gold jewelry — not a crop top and harem pants — as an ode to Princess Jasmine of Aladdin.

This palace life is gettin old…especially when your best friend is a tiger… (Jk! Love you Rajah ) • • • : @disneylandmermaid

A post shared by ❤️Tatiana❤️ (@dapperonthedaily) on Aug 16, 2017 at 5:26pm PDT

Disneybounding is interpretive, not literal, and it’s become a phenomenon among adults. It’s also a function of the fact that Disney park attendees are prohibited from dressing in character costumes — for safety reasons, as well as to ensure brand integrity.

Leslie Kay, a 28-year-old living in Toronto, coined the term “Disneybound” over six years ago, when she started a Tumblr page devoted to all things Disney. The noun became a verb, as Kay started putting outfits together and posting them on her page. Soon after, a media outlet (the name of which Kay can no longer remember) discovered her and helped her go viral. Across Kay’s social media accounts, she now has more than 500,000 followers.

That may not sound like much when you compare it to someone like Kendall Jenner, who has 83 million followers and counting, but it’s enough that Kay’s been able to turn her hobby into a full-time job. Once an executive assistant at a law firm, she now spends her days managing Disneybound accounts and acting as the director of marketing for online retailer Cakeworthy, which caters to Disneybounders. Cakeworthy started as the ultimate Disney fan’s go-to shopping destination; now it’s an official partner.

The site sells graphic shirts and accessories with sayings that reference Disney’s most iconic titles (“Never grow up,” “Take me to Wonderland”). But it’s not the only option for shoppers who want Disney-inspired or official Disney-licensed merch outside of the 350 official Disney stores worldwide. There are accessibly priced wears at Uniqlo, for example, which sells $15 Mickey Mouse T-shirts.

For those with elevated tastes and a budget to match, there are $3,978 Beauty and the Beast–inspired Christopher Kane dresses (currently discounted) ; $500 Alice in Wonderland–inspired Marc Jacobs sweaters; $200 Comme des Garçons camouflage T-shirts that, if you look closely, are comprised of dozens of abstract Mickey mice; or, most recently, Muppets by Miu Miu (Disney owns Muppets).

#TheMuppetsWoreMiuMiu might be our favorite tag of all time Swipe to see more from @themuppets' Love Magazine feature, starring @realmisspiggy!

A post shared by Disney Style (@disneystyle) on Jul 27, 2017 at 4:52pm PDT

And that list is far from exhaustive. There has been a 150 percent increase in Disney new-product arrivals across the apparel space for the first half of 2017 compared to first half of 2015, according to data from research firm Edited.

“Nostalgia themes are prevalent right now,” Edited senior retail analyst Katie Smith tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “Whether that’s through Disney-style outfits or throwback trends on the runways, by wearing these products, customers are seeking comfort and reassurance, particularly in today’s climate.”

The Disney company declined to comment for this story. But according to the most recent annual filing, its consumer-products segment, which includes licensed apparel, generated the least revenue for the company (after studio entertainment, parks and resorts, and media networks). Still, it accounted for $5.5 billion of Disney’s $55 billion revenue.

To be sure, Disneybounding doesn’t require participants to wear Disney-licensed merch. In fact, it’s actually encouraged that you rely on non-Disney apparel to create on-trend outfits, says Kelley, noting that she doesn’t usually splurge on high-ticket items unless she thinks she’ll be able to reuse them for different characters. Instead, she prefers thrifting — unlike Kay, who splurged on a pair of Alexander Wang boots for a Princess and the Frog outfit and says she maintains separate Disneybound and non-Disneybound closets in her home.

The most popular characters for Disneybound folks are the classics: Snow White, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Mickey Mouse, according to the number of Disneybound outfit sets created on social shopping site Polyvore. But Disneybounders also embrace newer Disney characters like Baymax, a creature from the movie Big Hero 6 that looks like a 21st-century Icon Ghost, and characters from Frozen, the highest grossing animated film of all time.

Bottom line, says Kay: “Disneybounding is a fun way to express yourself. You’re allowed to have fun and break the rules. Isn’t that what fashion is all about?”

Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:

Why this business woman says it’s a ‘disservice’ to go to ‘the man’ with a big idea

It’s ‘very, very rare’ for a brand to include size 30 clothes for women

‘Body pressure is just wrong,’ says Lane Bryant CMO Brian Beitler

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.

Alexandra Mondalek is a writer for Yahoo Style + Beauty. Follow her on Twitter @amondalek.

[lifessentence-blog]

Black History Month: “Through Woke Eyes From Different Sides” Part 4

“Did you know black is ugly?” 

These words came from what is one of the biggest moments in my life that really cemented my knowledge of what people think of color– darkness to be more specific. This is a moment I shared with Desiree and a moment I’ve been longing to share for a long time. I figured we could talk about the importance of self-love, hatred of dark skin and the obsession with all things light, while were at it. But first let’s go back to that night. . .

As any other night during finals, we were exhausted from studying and this night we just needed a break. As it was pretty late we decided to walk down the street to get a snack and talk about things other than the steps to marketing online or how being a fashion buyer is definitely not in our future. 

So now I want you to step into our shoes. Just imagine, taking a late night break from studying with your friend to get some food. Imagine sitting in the establishment, with your friend, minding your own business, chatting about school and how stressful it is. Then imagine someone walking up to you and sitting down at your table and staring at you and your friend. Now imagine this person spurting out a statement of how your skin tone, religion, ethnicity, or belief system is ugly. How would you react?

“Did you know black is ugly?” is what this brown (I’m assuming Afro-latino) man had said to my friend and I. Immediately we are set back but tried to avoid eye contact with this man and continued our conversation. He continues to say how ugly black is. At this moment I have this sharp pain in my stomach and feel disgusted, I look over at my friend and look at her face. This man is sitting right next to her and telling her, right in her ear, how ugly black is. Now, of course we end up walking out, after we were not able to get him to leave us alone. We ended up forgetting about homework, and spent the rest of the night venting to each other and our close friend about what had happened.

I often look back at this moment and think what I could have done. What I should have said. I also look back at how ironic it is that he too, was a brown man. I think about how every day, young dark-skinned girls are told literally and subliminally they are not beautiful. Which is not true. Look at the lists created by major publications of the “World’s Most Beautiful People.” On these lists you might find a couple women of color, however the three most popular you will find are all close to a caramel or light skin tone; Halle Berry, Beyonce, and  Rihanna. In the year 2009, black girls were finally able to see a Disney Princess that looked like them--it hasn’t even been a decade. Look at the imagery of black love shown to so many girls on the internet and more often than not, you will see a light-skinned woman with a dark-skinned man. For the most part white is used to represent something that is pure and nice where black is seen as bad and evil. Just look at how a bride wears white on her wedding day or how we wear black at funerals to show that we are in mourning. Think about the Yin Yang symbol and what each side represents. Listen to hip-hop music where woman are probably some of their biggest supporters. The music boasts about light skin or exotic woman, or there’s similar ideas shown through the imagery in the music videos.

I’ve recently thought about the times I’ve been told I was beautiful and how many of those times were also shared with comments about how exotic I looked, my “perfect shade of skin,” how I “don’t even look black,” or how my hair can resemble a white girls’. Then I thought about how dark-skinned black girls are labeled, and under-appreciated unless it’s for Instagram likes or Tumblr posts. Why do we envy European images, but love African culture? Why is it cool to have a girl who has the “right black features” but is not black? Or if she is black, let’s only put her on a pedestal if she’s “yellow” or a “redbone.” Why do we accept back-handed compliments for our dark-skinned women? Why can they only be “pretty for a black girl” and not just beautiful. When will we take these deeply rooted ideas and messages out of our vocabulary and life, and make it a habit to love all complexions in all cultures. When will we erase history, when it comes to idolizing those who can “pass” or those with less melanin? 

Of course this isn’t just about colorism issues for women, men go through it too. What we are introduced to everyday in our magazines, movies, and even news stories can really turn us against each other. Why is it important to pay attention to the shade of black one is when at the end of the day we are all the same. These things we are shown are ways to divide a community or culture, whether it be black or brown. Colorism is a weapon and a deadly one at that.

If people of color could completely forget about the images we are given, and uplift each other we could become a much less self-destructive community and in return become unstoppable. We could achieve the things we have yet to accomplish. This is already happening today across the globe; people of all ethnicities and backgrounds are coming together to fight for the rights of blacks, immigrants, transgender people, and Native Americans. In order to gain equality, I truly believe we need it in our own community first. We must love ourselves. We must love and respect each other, in order to continue our fight for true respect and equality amongst the masses. 

After some of the experiences I have had combined with what I’ve seen on the news and on social media everyday, I sometimes even find myself angry. I noticed other people becoming fed up with mistreatment that they buckle under pressure and only become a villain in the end. I think one of my biggest critiques for myself is that I need to not immediately become upset and react out of anger, but instead take my passion and put it into a positive message. I think it’s easy to become outraged, which I do believe is warranted in many of the situations across the globe, however it’s much harder to remain level-headed and a strong leader. It’s great that you can become outraged over something you believe in, because that means you are paying attention; that you care. Also, I know that not everybody will see what I see, or think the things I mentioned in our entire series on colorism is wrong or an issue at all, and I have to accept that. The importance of speaking out is not to open everybody’s eyes, but to open those that are willing to listen and accept the message. I truly believe the youth has it in their power to make a big change for our future grandkids and their children and so on. They are willing to speak up and promote change! This is so exciting, because these are the people who others will read about in the future! History is being made every day! I suggest you find what you are passionate about and be a part of the change! 

NOTE: These opinions are my own and do not depict all experiences or situations. Of course there are people who show the exact opposite of what was mentioned above, however the issues stated are still very much relevant today. That is the point. Please share your thoughts as always through twitter or on our Facebook pages. I have had a wonderful time with this series and I’m so glad I was able to share it with Desiree and you. These topics we touched upon are very close to my heart and I’m glad we could shed even just a little light on them. If you are interested in different topics you can contact me here: askchelseakrieger@gmail.com. Thank you for following along with us this month! 

-Chelsea