#like the character from Barbie: Life in Dream House

[salemqz]

Low-key? Want to post writing that I'm proud of.

Problem? Too anxious.

[thanergetic-hyperlinks]

Tamsyn Muir's writing beyond The Locked Tomb

Y'all, turns out there's lots of imagery and themes in TLT that Muir was already playing with in her earlier fiction. A lot of it is easily available online, in which case I'll link to it. (The short stories that aren't can also be easily read if googled, to be quite honest—that's how I read The Deepwater Bride and Why the Mermaids Left Boralus). • The House That Made the Sixteen Loops of Time (2011)

5K. Short sort-of-cozy romance (?) with (you guessed it) a time travel loop. Explores a very queer potential relationship. CamPal enjoyers might find a similar sweetness.

• The Magician's Apprentice (2012, Lightspeed Magazine)

5K. This is the one that stopped me dead on my tracks. It features an older, male mentor figure called John (a “very ordinary man” with “dark eyes”) who introduces the young, female main character to magic that has a terrible cost—and to literature such as Lolita. This excellent post by @familyabolisher does an incredible job of analyzing the very deliberate intertextual links between TLT and Lolita.

• The Woman in the Hill (2015, Lightspeed Magazine, originally for Dreams From the Witch House anthology of Lovecraftian horror by women)

4K. Possibly my favorite! It's a straightforward Lovecraftian horror, centered on the image of the woman (is it human though?) trapped in an unnatural pool inside a cursed cave. Chain imagery too. It does something different from Alecto, mind, but you can see links, ways of playing with facets of a strong central image. It's fun to consider how reliable the two narrators are. Here's an analysis and afterthought from Reactor Mag.

• Chew (2013) 4K. Zombie abuse and cannibalistic revenge story ft. an uncanny woman revenant, told from the eyes of a traumatized German boy. I was strongly reminded of Harrow's conversations with the Body. Tamsyn gave an interview on the themes and her intentions. Interesting to read in light of Alecto, I think, although I don't think she's going the same route in TLT: “the idea of post-war rebuilding connecting to rebuilding the body of the zombie; a Frankenstein who once rebuilt doesn’t act as planned or desired. […] I love cannibalism […] it’s innately spiritual […] any afterlife she goes to, he’s going too.”

• Apothecia (2014, published on Tumblr and tapas.io)

Short webcomic where an alien monster tries to corrupt the ruthless human girl who holds it captive. Musings on responsibility and murder, mention of child abuse. The alien's speech patterns remind me of a Resurrection Beast. You get wonderful dialogue like “Murder is a profession. Job. Employment, you tiny leg dog. There you are, walking along. Walk walk walk. Now you are a walker. Good job. Special child. Murder is like this.” Art by Shelby Cragg.

• The Deepwater Bride (2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine)

The opening line is: “In the time of our crawling Night Lord's ascendancy, foretold by exodus of starlight into his sucking astral wounds, I turned sixteen and received Barbie's Dream Car.” Need I say more? Extremely fun. A novelette where a young queer girl from a clairvoyant family struggles with an apocalyptic event while being annoyed by another very plucky girl. Lots of descriptions with nerdy marine zoology terms. Close in tone to Gideon. In the background, someone dies EXACTLY like that one death at the end of Gideon, which makes me wonder what happened to make Tamsyn interested in this particular image. I also liked that Tamsyn is aware of Nightwish. No link, but you'll get a PDF immediately if you Google.

• Union (2015, Clarkesworld Magazine)

5.5K. Very weird, extremely Kiwi story about a town that gets sent lab-grown wives by the government, but they're not made the usual way so they're Weird and people have feelings about it. Fascinating and eerie description of non-human (in some people's eyes, sub-human) women (?) who cannot be observed to have recognizable feelings or thoughts, yet have some sort of inner life. Quite touching, very uncanny.

• Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower (2020)

Short novel (~200 pages). Very funny. I was reminded of Coronabeth because the whole plot is “princess finds herself branching out into decidedly non-princess-like activities”, but other than that—this is a fairytale for adults about people who make eachother worse. No particular links to TLT but a very fun read with some gut punches. Extremely Tamsyn through and through, what with the dubious morality and all.

• Why the Mermaids Left Boralus (2021, in Folk & Fairy Tales of Azeroth by Blizzard Entertainment)

Set in the World of Warcraft universe. Haven't read this one yet, will report back lmao. As with The Deepwater Bride, no link but I easily found a PDF of the entire compilation. It's illustrated!

• Undercover (2022, from Into Shadow, Amazon Original Collection)

Haven't read it either. Will edit once I do.

[famemonsterrr]

Astrology observations part 13;

Pliz don’t copy my work and pliz don’t get offended if you can’t relate with my blog because they are my opinions and what I have seen around me

➶-͙˚ ༘✶

; I have noticed when you and ur partner have 8th house placements you tend to be really obsessed with each other even if you have broke up u probably can’t move on that easily. ✩

For example if you have Venus in the 8th house and your partner has mars in the 8th house or if you both have more than one of 8th house placements. This is could be a blessing or a curse ✩ I have seen this happening multiple times

; speaking of houses and couples/friends ✩ if you have the same houses then it means you have the same energy and understand each other really well ✩

; I don’t know it is me and all of my friends but libra moon are the most talkative out of the air signs ✩ They never stop communicating and sharing everything with their loved one✩ also they tend to overshare a lot ✩

; Virgo women are soo talented in everything without trying hard ✩ Let’s just say they are naturally talented but also they love to be perfect ✩

; air and fire signs can’t stay calm under serious situations ✩ water and earth signs are the ones who can deal with everything and stay strong no matter what ✩

; I know it’s overrated to say but never trust a men that is a Gemini or have Gemini placements ✩ from my personal experiences all the Gemini I had interactions or flirted with they end up being so psychotic ✩

➶-͙˚ ༘✶

; maybe it’s a mutable thing but I have noticed that Gemini, Pisces, Virgo and Sagittarius tend to have a hobby and then leave it for no reason and after few months they remember it again and get addicted ✩

Speaking of mutable signs I have to mention how funny it is that they try something new and they fail so badly. I’m a Pisces and I love cooking but the amount of times I have failed and burned food…on the other hand my bestie who is cancer she can do everything without trying hard.

; I know a lot will disagree with me but Aquarius placements either they will love astrology or they will say it’s stupid and they don’t believe it ✩

; you might not agree but the most dark and deepest out of all the zodiac signs is Scorpio ✩ They just are- and I remember once I asked a friend of mine who has Scorpio placements "what colour matches with the feeling of love?" and he answered "black because love is consuming and deep" ✩

; we all know that libra, Gemini and Aries are the most indecisive creatures but y’all forgot about Pisces ✩ THEY CANT decide anything ever ✩

; in my head libra and Pisces relationship is like Pam and Jim from the office ✩

; also two Pisces being in relationship reminds me of Ken and barbie from life in the dream house ✩ ironically both of them are Pisces indeed ✩

; 8th house and Scorpio placements tend to change friends every 2 years and that happens because themselves their are changing and so does the people who surround them ✩ These placements are about rebirth and involving ✩

; Gemini and Pisces are the signs who can’t end a show or movie ✩ like my mom she can’t watch a movie ✩ 3 minutes in and she has stopped watching it already ✩

; Leo , Capricorn and Virgo they look they have their shit together because they look so organised and "perfect" but they aren’t at all ✩ most the times are a mess but they know how to hide it better than the rest ✩ Leo with their confidence, Virgo with their clean and organised space and Capricorn with their decisive character ✩ I know u losing ur mind babes xoxo ✩

; water rising have the most beautiful eyes ever they look like they sparkling ✨

That’s all 💙

Thank you for reading so far and liking my blog ✩ I’m really grateful ✩ plz take into consideration that I’m not a professional astrologer and neither a Native American so I try my best to not make mistakes ✩ stay hydrated and health in these summer days ✩ send you love and light for y’all

Also here is my master-list if you are interested 💙

[iwannascreameurekaa]

pjo characters as quotes from my classmates, parents, siblings, and grandparents.

Yipee

Will: "does anybody need the heim-ill-ick?”

Hazel (prob to Nico): “i’ve never smoked… EVER. and if you smoke, i’ll hit you.”

Percy: “he looks like a street person?”

Leo: “i thought i got salt and pepper, turns out it was salt and salt.”

Piper: “i’ve never been attached to a cat.”  

Hazel: “The power of INTERNET👹”

Frank: “that was rude.” 

Percy: “every cat that doesn’t have a tail is named bobby.”

Piper: “just put your coins in your bucket.”

Jason: “if i was barbie, my feet would hurt all the time”

Nico: “it’s giving me skin cancer as we speak.”

Hazel: “she told me to give her when i die so i thought i might as well give it to her now.”

Piper: “did you steal my brush again? quit stealing my brush you little brush thief!”

Percy: “you’ve got 4 of grandma!”

Leo: “i’m a heavy drinker today” *takes a sip of his fourth glass of water*

Annabeth: “you squeezed her so hard she dropped a cheerio.” 

Leo: “and thoust asked if Jason was a cracker(a white person) and Jason replied”no i’m at least 2 or 3 whole crackers since there’s quite a bit more of me than you”

Hazel: "ohhhh my goodness don’t put your feet in her face.”

Leo talking about Piper: "she is a luddite, against technology, close with the Amish community."

Piper looking Leo and Jason directly in the eyes: “no dying allowed in here”

Percy after TOA: “if somebody wants to steal my car, i want them to steal it! not come in my house, shoot me, take my keys, and then take the car. LET ME SLEEP I DONT CARE!”

Will: “me and Nico go on dates to funeral homes”

Hazel: “you have a problem with a joint?” She was talking about her elbow 😭

Leo: “if i get hungry, rats will get skinned.”

Piper: “if this truck goes any slower it’ll have to put out a mailbox.”

Annabeth: “oh you stepped on the cow? well it’s better than the cow stepping on you”

Frank: “and it just sucked the carpet right up”

Hazel "back in my day" Levesque: “i had a lot of beagles when i was young, and finally i had one that lived.”

Leo: “are you looking for regular markies?”

Jason: “i’m gonna go to work tomorrow with a hangover.”

Will: “i’m not very artistic(autistic)”

Jason: “i never added salt to the pepper”

Piper: “keep your toes to yourself”

Piper: “you guys are an embarrassment.”

Jason: "can you pass the salt? i like my stuff salty”

Will: "The only Christian song I know is let it go" 

Context for the next one: my friend had a slick back high pony tail when we had this conversation so that gives you a visual of what Piper was

Leo "what's your next album gonna be called?"

Piper: "'my hair is straighter than my friend'."

Leo: 😦

Piper: "What in the gay man!"

Hazel: "If you stop being a karen then maybe you would actually be successful at life"

Piper: "You should start day dreaming about getting a husband"

Annabeth: "George Washington is the off brand version of me"

Hazel: "Ideas were such good ideas they became the symbol for ideas"

Leo: "did you mean lightbulbs"

Hazel: "..... yes"

Piper: "There's a fly on your butt" *waves at it and it flies away* "that's not your property sir"

Leo: "Yeah you gotta pay for that"

Nico: "Does he have a speech impediment?" 

Will: "He has a brain impediment"

Jason: "I bet he was having Funtime"

Piper: "why do you always say Funtime"

Jason: "I'm not saying sex!"

Leo prob to his tool belt: *suggestive voice* "give me that minty mint"

Leo to Hazel, who doesn't know what any modern slang means: "check it homeslice"

Hazel: "the gambling may run in the family, but at least pokers fun!"

Leo: "im a turkey... cock cock!"

that's all I have rn lmao

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I think it’s absurd that Thomas says “Adrien is a Ken, deal with it,” while also having the actual character feeling like garbage for being treated like a prop and *actively says* that he wants to be treated as important instead of replaceable, and gets angry about all the people pushing him off to the sidelines. If Adrien was the one deciding to have that role, like Ken in that one episode you mentioned in your previous post, then great! But, wait… no, that would actually be giving Adrien agency over his life 🙄 Because Thomas and the other writers seem determined to have choices made for him by other characters (which is not what Ken is). They set up a character whose life is strictly controlled, and wants independence and to be seen as trustworthy and competent- therefore setting up a potential character arc- only to double down on something eerily similar to the very thing he was fighting against (I.e. being relegated to following orders without question and having to accept not being privy to important info from people close to him).

Not to mention how they did actually set up an equal partnership idea simply because the ladybug and black cat are *yin and yang.* That’s not the dynamic of Barbie and Ken, what even Thomas.

(Before we begin, this is the 4-minute long Barbie episode in question and this is the post that spawned this ask in case anyone wants full context)

It's super weird. The reason Ken being Barbie's boyfriend and nothing else works is because Ken is ultimately just a random nice guy who is dating Barbie. He doesn't have any complex drama going on in his life so his background role doesn't come across like he's being treated poorly in most Barbie media (though there are some movies I have beefs with. Looking at you Fashion Fairytale. WTF kind of lesson was that?)

It also helps that Barbie media is all short form content. A one-off movie or stuff like the Life in the Dream House shorts. Media where there's simply not time for the side characters to get much development. Sometimes there's not even time for Barbie to get much development! That makes it a terrible comparison for a show like Miraculous whose current run time is over forty hours! (5 seasons of 26, 20-minute episodes is over 8 hours a season.)

If they wanted Adrien to be a Ken, then they needed to write him as a Ken: a nice guy without a whole lot going on in his life. Instead they gave Adrien the sort of complex backstory and narrative role that naturally makes everyone expect him to be a deuteragonist or even a co-protagonist! It's a fascinatingly bad writing choice.

[cipheramnesia]

Greener Grass (2019) doesn't beg comparison to other films and filmmakers as much as demand it, and it does so in the way of many unique works of art - not so much because of being derivative, but more because it inspires the same sense of disquiet and upset, hits on the same dark touchstones, as others have. We want something to articulate what exactly this experience is like, and there are few enough artists working in the same sandbox that the first response is something like "it's John Waters meets David Lynch."

As comparisons go, it's no detrimental. The less you know going in, the better, but those two names together I think evoke the mixture of highly stylized, deep running dread that characterizes Greener Grass. It's also a movie which invites an inventory of all the surreal directions it goes, but that kind of list feels shallow. Lots of media is filled with strange events, but not very many works sell it quite the same. Still, the opening of the movie, much like the basic comparison, immediately tells you what to expect in tone. Suburban mom Jill, baby on her lap, perfect pink barbie clothes, watches her son fall on the soccer field. Her face twitches and struggles behind a wide, blank smile that will remain in place for the majority of the film as she watches him laying in the grass, moving his limbs sluggishly, as if she is staring at a dying fish. She turns to Lisa, next to her, in perfect blue barbie clothes, and asks if Lisa wants her baby. Neither woman deviates from the blank smile, they both speak almost like actors struggling to keep in character, their faces twitch, everything about them undercuts their dialog their expressions, the mood of the bright sunny scene and cheerful sitcom score, and Lisa decides she will take the baby.

Everything about the scene screams about something terrible being wrong, both in obvious and subtle ways, and that's much of the movie itself. Greener Grass on its surface is about the comfortable lie of the suburbs and the upper middle class of the USA, but deeper down, it's about the surface in general, not just about how hard and sad life is for rich white women. While the movie is utilizing that imagery and those tropes specifically, it's to a larger purpose speaking to isolation and privilege, masking and social roles we use, toxic masculinity and microaggressions. The plot, such as it is, may be one woman slowly falling apart, but the meaning of the movie is much broader and more intriguing - and most importantly speaks to the world beyond only what's pretty and expensive and empty. All the characters are in a barbie dreamland, in barbie dream houses, but no matter where they go the reality of people who aren't neurotypical or white or able bodied or wealthy or straight is inescapable. The strangeness and dread that lurks under blank smiles never lets the viewer relax into comfortable satire or simplistic center left reassurance of one Bad Oppressor and one Good Oppressed. It's a movie constantly screaming, through clenched teeth, how all of us are being forced into this performance, the pretty lie, that claims everything about the USA is perfect and happy. It's an amazing work of art, highly recommend checking it out while it's still free on Tubi, or anywhere good movies can be pirated.

[ac3-76]

Legend of korra headcannons🐌

warnings: brief mention of drinking(kinda alcoholism), other than that nothing

(Most of these are in a modern setting)

Wing Beifong is a motorcycle guy and posts Aushen Ride type videos

Varrick is a coffee addict and he has awful coffee breath

Korra got a stingray tattooed on her upper back. the tail goes down her spine and the wings(?) are on her shoulder blades

If Formula 1 is a thing in their universe, Future Indistries is one of the og teams

Asami would have future industries make a feminine car for the races taking place in Women's History Month (march)

And for the cars used by the drivers outside of March there'd be something feminine on it, like a lip stick kiss mark

She started it because she wanted a more feminine touch in the sport to show that you can be a girly girl or a girly person and still enjoy and partake in something that's traditionally masculine

I feel like in general she uses her cars to bring awareness to things occurring in society

When Bolin got paid for the Nuktuk series one of the first things he bought was a high quality gaming set up that he had his eye on for years

Now he streams him playing video games and makes a fair bit of money from it

Sometimes the others will play games with him and make apperances on his streams

the fan favorite is Asami because she has the best builds in Minecraft and the best strategy in Call of Duty

Mako likes to watch Criminal Minds and other law/criminal shows to see if he can figure out where it's going and solve it before the characters do

Wu photoshops everything that he posts and is very active on all social media platforms

when Korra went on her own for 6 months after Zaheer tried to kill her, she started drinking because it made her sleepy

she didn't have to be awake and deal with her hallucinations, and when she slept it was nothing, no dreams, no nightmares, just hours of being away from her trauma

being with Toph in the swamp for a couple of weeks(or days?) was the start of her recovery from becoming reliant on drinking to avoid dealing with trauma

Opal collects cool rocks and crystals she finds in the places she travels to

She gets them as gifts for her mother

Also because she's an Air bender and thus follows the air nomad life style, she's always sure to say thank you to the land for allowing her to give the rock to her mom

Huan has had his art in museums and has sold some pieces to well known rich people

He gives most of the money to charity

Mako sleeps on silk sheets only

he was fine with cotton and other cheaper materials until he became Wus bodyguard

Wu insisted he sleep on silk sheets after Mako told him that he had never slept on silk, and now Mako needs silk sheets

Korra's had the same black 21 oz hyddroflask since she was 15

she refuses to buy another waterbottle

it's also covered in stickers

Bolin got Pabu a bed that was specially made for Pabus size, weight, and measurements

Kinda like the one Princess Anneliese had for her cat, Serafina, in Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

Korras favorite thing to do when she sees a book or something with words is to ask how much spice in it

She's at a restaurant with Asami, they just got the menu, Korra picks it up and displays the front cover to Asami before asking "Booktok girlys before I read this how much spice is in it?"

She thinks it's the funniest thing ever

Wei and Bolin stream and play video games together, Wei has very severe anger management issues when it comes to video games

Not punch a hole in the wall bad because Su got mad at him the one time he did punch the wall, so he's practiced restraint, but still pretty bad

Su has a wax warmer for the scented wax cube things in every room of her house

She makes sure the scent is changed every week, and it has to be the same scent throughout the whole house

Tenzin avoids using social media and most technologies, as do the air nomads and monks, but Kya did get Tenzin to allow her to make a social media account for the air nation

it's mostly run by Jinora and owned by Kya on Kyas phone

it's used to spread information about the air nation, their culture, beliefs, customs, history, etc.

Lin wears boxer briefs

Asami has endometriosis

Mako doesn't handle spicy food that we'll, which is odd considering he's a fire bender

Wei's really into photography and always has a compact camera on him

His favorite compact camera is his Panasonic Lumix TZ95

Wings not super into photography but knows his way around a camera because Wei has rambled on about cameras and angles to him so many times

Wing also has to take pictures for Weis Instagram so he's had training on how to use cameras from Wei

Korra goes through a lot of interest that last for a couple of months, one of those interest was wood working/carving

Korra made Jinora a wooden claw clip for her birthday once

it's the only claw clip Jinora has and she loves it

Makos biggest guilty pleasure is cross stitch and other embroidery styles, but mostly cross stitch

Bolins bed has an uncountable number of pillows on it

After Korra and Asami come back from their spirit world vacation, they decide to travel the world

They both only ever traveled for world saving business, and even then it was earth kingdom and water tribe areas only

So they spent the next year or two traveling the world to see it in a tourist way and not a fighting war way

[fandomchokehold]

Origin Characters as Streamers

Shadowheart

Stardew Valley ✨QUEEN✨ (1000% romances either Haley, Abigail, or Sam)

Plays Minecraft on creative mode, she’s just here to make a cute house, have every animal, and frolic in a cherry blossom forest

Also enjoys cozy games like Spirit Farer, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Cozy Grove, etc.

Her and Karlach sometimes play co-op horror games like Panicore, Phasmophobia, Escape the Backrooms because everything makes her scream and Karlach laughs at her (affectionately)

Gale

Absolutely DESTROYS old men in online chess

Plays Minecraft on hard mode and also BODIES Mario Maker (he has created the most sinister, infuriating, maddening levels)

Was definitely a Sonic kid, he knows the games are terrible but they’re so nostalgic and he loves making fun of them

Always tries to have a nice time playing Mario Party with Wyll, Karlach, & Astarion and they always end up screaming at each other

On the other hand he also does relaxing Pokémon card opening streams and cooking streams with Tara (he’s totally unaware of the tiktok thirst edits of him in his apron)

Karlach

Queen of first person shooters like Fortnite and Apex Legends, her and Wyll are unbeatable in DOOM (2016)

She more so likes cute cozy games that she can sip hot cocoa and snuggle up with a teddy bear while playing

Plays old shitty ps2 games based on media that chat requests like Bratz: Forever Diamondz, Barbie Horse Adventures, and Monsters, Inc.

Loves racing games (she’s terrible at them)

Loves fucking around in GTA 5 (she’s so good at it)

Every now and then does ghost hunting streams with whoever’s available (Shadowheart’s clinging to her the whole time, Gale is giving a thorough breakdown of the history of the location, Astarion is covering up his fear by saying everything’s the wind while also clinging to her, Lae’zel is actually looking for a living person in the building to fight, Wyll is cracking jokes and isn’t scared at all until he sees a door move and him and Astarion are in the car in 0.02 seconds)

Astarion

Loves visual novel romance games like Dream Daddy, Monster Prom, Raptor Boyfriend, etc.

Like Karlach he loves cozy games that let him get in his white girl autumn mode (lights off, candles lit, snuggled under a blanket, pumpkin spice latte and apple cider donuts nearby)

Definitely DOESNT CRY when he plays emotionally charged games especially where a beloved character dies, especially if it’s an animal, no he’s not pausing the stream to cry he just has to go pee-!

His most popular stream was playing A Way Out with Gale (he’d go from threatening Gale’s life for not being in sync to making jokes about the characters being them and also gay)

Does cosplay making streams, sews all of his costumes himself

Lae’zel

Queen of survival games like Subnautica, Rust, DayZ, Raft

Loves hand to hand and melee combat games like Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Dragon’s Dogma; specifically medieval setting games cuz she gets fully immersed and dives deep into character as a knight

She’s bad at racing games; Mario Kart with Wyll, Astarion, & Karlach usually ends with her threatening to dox Astarion

⚔️BLACKSMITHING STREAMS⚔️ most of her viewers for these streams are old men who deeply fear and respect her

Wyll

KING of first person shooters and racing games; Fortnite, Overwatch, PUBG, and Call of Duty ✨champion✨

Slays at Nascar Rumble for the ps2 he’s always got the chicken truck

Is a speed runner for sure and loves doing funky challenges like beating Zelda: BOTW without clothes or breaking the game to take Sidon to Gerudo Town (think PointCrow type challenge videos)

Also likes games with emotional plots like SOMA, Alan Wake, The First Tree, What Remains of Edith Finch, etc. and he will cry on camera

Loves playing two player games with Astarion like Shovel Knight, Snipperclips, Portal 2, and Overcooked

Does late night bedtime story streams, makes his room look super cozy and uses a special ASMR microphone to read stories; takes requests from chat and doesn’t make anyone feel bad for what they want to hear unless it’s smut

All of them at least once a week either get together for a D&D stream or do a multiplayer stream and play:

Lethal Company

Among Us

Content Warning

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Dead by Daylight

Red Dead Online

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

[ferventfox]

Saw the Barbie movie and enjoyed it a lot. 

Some people on the internet have charged it with being misandrist/man-hating/whatever word you want to use for it, and those people...are kind of correct. Sorry. (Spoilers for the Barbie movie btw)

The standard smug response is “omg sexist dudebros can’t stand that a movie is about women and they are too toxic to understand the message of the film and how it deals with the fact that patriarchy hurts men too.” And sure, it’s made explicit that being in charge and having the material trappings of patriarchal power does not make Ken happy on an existential level (because his real dream in life is to be a horse girl), but it’s not enough to cancel out that every single man in the film is portrayed as an incompetent moron. Stuff like “Men love explaining the Godfather and think playing the guitar is interesting and impressive to women” doesn’t bother me--these are jokes in a comedy film and the characters doing them are doll people who live on a plastic beach. But it’s not just the Kens that are stupid, the men from the real world are all stupid too. The husband of the America Ferrera character is essentially a real world Ken--there just to be there and someone neither the audience or the women in his life spare much of a thought for unless we are laughing at how ridiculous his existence is. The Barbie movie is only “not sexist” in that it’s not as bad as you might expect because the bar for these sorts of thing is so low it’s on the ground.

The messaging around the whole Ken takeover is extremely weird and confusing. As Ken observes, the real world is opposite from life in Barbieland; in Barbieland the Barbies are the patriarchs who occupy all the positions of power and Kens are the “women” in that they are second-class citizens whose lives and identities revolve around the Barbies because they’re not permitted to do anything fulfilling or interesting on their own. But when Ken turns Barbieland into Kendom, the plot seems to run on the assumption that the audience’s sympathies would naturally be with the Barbies fighting to restore the status quo and not with the Kens, who were an underclass until about a day ago. Yes the society they set up is bad--it’s just the reverse of the unfair system that existed before--but there is very little sense that the Barbies are getting a taste of their own medicine and instead the narrative is that it’s tragic that these strong women who have won Nobel prizes have to be nice and pay attention to the obviously stupid and boring Kens for even a day. The main character expresses that she feels bad for treating Ken poorly and this is shut down by another character (meant to be a real human woman from the real world) who basically says she shouldn’t feel bad because Ken stole her house and “brainwashed” her friends but isn’t it just one of the struggles of womanhood that we feel bad about how we treat shitty men~ . 

Like, what? All the Kens were homeless before this! I liked the Barbie character and all, but obviously I’m going to feel more sympathy for the person whose example of how the real world made him feel like someone is that a woman found his existence worthwhile enough to ask him for the time than for someone whose arc is dealing with her life being less than perfect for the first time.The former is both very sad and just more like a real experience that most people would have--a lifelong sense of inadequacy rather than having an idyllic existence that went suddenly wrong--yet it’s Barbie who is framed as the relatable one because, I suppose, she is a woman.  

I think the movie relies a little too much on this “sisterhood” idea that I’ve always hated. I’m sure I’m meant to be nodding my head at the little speech about the contradictory expectations placed on women and going “yes that’s just what it’s like!”...but I simply didn’t relate to it at all and was left thinking it was sort of a weak, lazy solution to a conflict that was already a bit contrived to begin with. That Barbies would be just as susceptible to rhetoric from some college freshman’s B+ women’s study’s paper as they were to instantly adopting patriarchal ideas actually makes sense, but I don’t think that’s the joke--we’re meant to find it profound. (The human characters in general are the weakest part of the movie. It feels almost like they are remnant of an earlier version of the story that got changed a lot, especially the Mattel executives). 

At the end there is some lip service to things not just going back to the way they were, but a Ken cannot have a seat on the supreme court. The point of this, I think, is supposed to be that just like a company releasing toy that is a woman president isn’t going to solve gender inequality, neither is this one event going to immediately change Barbieland into an egalitarian utopia; real equality is hard to to achieve and is a slow process of incremental changes. This is good, but it’s undercut by the movie wanting to have it’s cake and eat it too by having all these girlboss scenes where the Barbies are taking back Barbieland and are clearly better and smarter than the Kens. We’re meant to see them talk about “keeping Barbieland Barbieland” and getting to reinstate “their” constitution (that 0 Kens get to vote on) and feel...good? Inspired? 

I couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with how this plotline ended because the situation looks sort of grim.The only Barbie who is ever shown to have any empathy for a Ken leaves, and the Ken with the most personal development gives up leading anyone because it’s not his thing and cedes his leadership position to a Ken who doesn’t have the motivation not to build his life around Barbie that he does. I think I would’ve liked it more if Ken also left Barbieland. He had an existential crisis too;  he was also effected enough by his experience that he was capable of tears. If Stereotypical Barbie doesn’t feel like Barbie anymore, does Stereotypical Ken really feel like Ken? After having to completely redefine his entire reason for existing?  As it is, it almost feels like the film is saying that Ken is too simple to be irrevocably changed by what he’s been through, like only Barbie’s feelings are deep and meaningful. I just wanted a post-credits scene where he runs a horse ranch with Allan or something. 

[ru-fiction]

What do you do when your sister was made in opposition to your best friend and your brother to your crush? Can you really be evil if you were made to just play a part?

Playground Rivals: Ken x Reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Cast

Ken Carson

Played by Ryan Gosling

Barbie Handler

Played by Margot Robbie

Raquelle

Played by Camila Mendes

Ryan

Played by Nick Jonas

Y/N

I don't own the Barbie movie or its characters, this story will be based on the movie. I can't promise this story will be any good but I'm interested in Barbie rn so why not. I hope you guys enjoy.

Both stories follow the movie and have the same relationships with each character but sometimes the paths will be different. F y/n will be a pianist/cook and M y/n will be Ryan's backup singer/ guitarist. Again I do not own barbie or any of it's characters. I want to make this a little interactive so you can vote on what your character can do every now and then. This is my own interpretation of Raquelle and Ryan, they won't be exactly like the ones from Life in the dream house, Fairy Secret, or Fashion Fairytale.

Minors do not interact, 18+ only.

Female

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Male

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Gender Neutral

Chapter 1, Chapter 2,

Alternative Chapter [Second top vote]

Female

Chapter 2,

Male

Chapter 2,

Extra

Life, 2,

[uglynavel]

Probably a controversial opinion but I hate the way Ken and his and Barbie's relationship was portrayed in the movie. As someone who grew up with parents in a toxic relationship. Having a male character like Ken was such a breath of fresh air. It's so rare to see supportive, healthy male roles. (Only ones that come to mind is Ron Stoppable in Kim Possible and Emmet in Legally Blonde)

And i feel like with so may movies we have two relationship plots. Either the man is the main focus and he is the woman's entire world or he's the most toxic person ever and she breaks up with him and becomes this woman is independent and doesn't need a man. (which is still great to see from time to time)

I think I may be taking it too personal because I've been obsessed with Barbie forever and I truly love Ken as a character and I really clung onto him because I didn't have any positive male figures in my life growing up and Ken was my dream man lol. And as funny as the whole mojo dojo casa house thing was it felt like character assassination. I know I'm being dramatic but i got so emotional seeing Ken call Barbie baby and objectify her because Ken would NEVER! And I feel bad for ken and didn’t like how Barbie treated him. It felt uncharacteristic of her to do that.

I still think we could have had the Kens represent how women are treated in the real world but I would have rather a different Ken start the patriarchy and Ryan Gosling's Ken could've been the representation for positive masculinity and be a foil and show boys and men far more earlier in the movie instead of at the very end that it's ok to be in touch with your feminine side, to be emotionally available and that actually loving and supporting your partner isn't weak like so many of these alpha male podcasts try to say it is.

While I understand what message was being told, I was really excited to see a man be the wholesome supportive, himbo boyfriend who is obsessed with his girlfriend and I'm bummed we didn't get to see that with what i consider to be one of the most iconic relationships that started that trope.

[imsparky2002]

Barbie as Rapunzel: First Thoughts

The following is my thoughts while watching this for the first time.

Wow, already an upgrade in the shading and lighting judging by this intro alone.

And the CGI looks better too! Nice casual outfit Barbie’s got on.

I assume each special will start out with Barbie reassuring Kelly about something? Hope this doesn’t get stale soon.

Already this special feels like it has an upgraded sense of scale.

Ooh so instead of a tower, it’s a mansion protected by a magic barrier. That’s… actually pretty cool! A nice change from the original, even if the home seems pretty modern looking on the outside.

I find it humorous that the name of one of the coolest Spidermen ever is also the name of a cockney rabbit sidekick.

A sweet and colorful dragon portrayed by Cree Summer? I’m getting flashbacks to Sonic: SATAM.

Peneople looks like if a Dragon Tales character was in an early PS2 game and I like it. She’s so cute!

Remember how I joked about Disney copyright last time? Seems like Rapunzel did the idea of Gothel being an attractive witch first.

Ok this entrance of Gothel riding through the forest is way more metal than Tangled.

Interesting how this Rapunzel calls Gothel “m’lady” instead of “mother”.

Speaking of Disney, Gothel’s design reminds me a lot of Lady Tremaine.

The ferret sounds VERY fruity.

Man Hobie straight up wants Gothel to die. Pretty dark for a Barbie movie.

I find it funny that shenanigans with a tea set caused a secret entrance to be found.

Lol, I can relate to Penelope’s hatred of snakes.

The plot thickens as we see Rapunzel discovering a message from her real parents way earlier than in Tangled.

Heh, the ferret uses it’s tail as a sleeping mask for Gothel.

Once again, a new room discovered via accident.

Wow and she’s already out of the tower and discovered the kingdom. This thing’s going along fast!

Why is seeing the chef in his comically large hat standing in one spot with a goofy smile on his face causing me to mentally cackle like a loon?

Punzie, the cook wasn’t trying to poison you. It’s just a free sample.

I LOVE the “rabbit’s ear as a radio antenna” gag!

Wait, Penelope has a dad?

Looks like both Penelope and Rapunzel have parental issues.

I can relate to Penelope’s fear of heights. It’s ok, honey, we can curl up into a fetal position together.

Hobie: “Does he ever smile?” Penelope: “Not around me”. God my heart just broke into a million pieces at that line. Why does this hurt more than anything Gothel says to Rapunzel?

It’ll never not be odd to see all of these children with the same face.

The Prince looks just like the one from the Nutcracker. I wonder if that’s intentional?

Of course the kings are too stubborn to hash things out. As a result, you get death traps like that pit.

I love the way Otto pronounces “vill-oge”. Hilarious.

Nice showing of both Rapunzel reporting her day to her friends and Otto ratting her out to Gothel at the same time.

Damn, Gothel using her magic to destroy Rapunzel’s paintings of Penelope is cold! Honestly this Gothel seems a lot more menacing and realistic than the Disney version.

I like how this Rapunzel is not only selfless but also has a backbone.

Trippy visuals with Gothel making the house literally grow.

As Hugo was assigned by Gothel to guard the castle, all he could think was “fuck my life”.

Hang on, the little blond boy’s name is Tommy? Wasn’t that the name of the younger brother in Nutcracker?

This boy’s got the “Phantom Menace Anakin” haircut and the personality. Brings back memories of the Prequels. Poor Jake Lloyd…

I like the fact that Stefan and Tommy have the same relationship going on that Barbie and Kelly do IRL

How on earth did the prince find the tower? Isn’t it in the middle of nowhere?

Apparently he “searched everywhere”, but it would probably take ages to go around the entire kingdom. I feel like it’d have been better if maybe one of Rapunzel’s animal friends had been followed by him.

Oh, wait. It was a dream! Ok, that makes more sense. Once again, I should have not underestimated the intelligence of the writers.

Headcanon: (Unless Penelope's mom shows up) Hugo's ex-wife is the dragon from Shrek and they share custody of Penelope. Hugo really hates donkeys now.

Holy crap, this is a beautiful melody Penelope is singing.

The knights remind me of Bert and Ernie. I’ve always loved that dynamic.

The mental paintbrush is a really cool idea. More properties should use it.

Rapunzel straight up saying she’d rather be dead than be a prisoner. Respect.

See, now is Stefan tired and exhausted from actually looking everywhere.

Maybe Rapunzel doesn’t want to know Stefan’s name in case it’s a dream or so that she won’t hurt as much if she loses him.

Once again, we have a prince not telling Barbie’s character he’s royalty.

It saddens me to know that the silversmith is unable to visit or speak to his brother due to the ban on Wilhelm’s kingdom. It’s a realistic worry.

Now we’re getting elements of Cinderella with the masked ball. Once again, connections since Gothel reminds me of Tremaine.

Hobie, I don’t think that Gothel is going to care if you’re in pain. Woman’s a total sadist.

Did Otto just orgasm?

The paintbrush really is OP. It can make clothes!

The mystical music is funny because right now, they’re doing the “girl tries on new clothes” montage.

Eh the final dress is ok, but I actually think the first “simple” one looked the best.

Funny how in Tangled, Rapunzel's hair gets cut by Eugene to stop Gothel. Here, Rapunzel's hair gets cut by Gothel instead.

Gothel, maybe don’t piss off the big strong dragon who has been willingly helping you?

Now we’re finally seeing King Wilhelm. I wish we got some more of him earlier.

Ok, Gothel has to have some sort of spell activated because how the hell did Stefan not think “why does your face look so different?”.

Love to see Penelope call her dad out on his bullshit, and get through to his softer side.

Nice to see her get some love from her dad after all this time.

WOO! Tommy used his bow and arrow to save his big bro! Kid’s got guts.

And now the little children pelt her with fruit!

Really impressive sword choreography for a Barbie movie.

So Gothel just stole Rapunzel from Wilhelm because she hated being in the friend-zone. Ridiculously petty.

And Rapunzel STILL offers forgiveness to Gothel! She truly is an angel.

Honestly, the fact that this Gothel is trapped inside the tower due to her own spell for all eternity is WAY more of a scary way to go then falling out of the tower like Disney’s Gothel did.

What a wonderful ending! Seeing everyone reunited and hearing that wonderful credits score gave me such a smile.

Hopefully a full review will come out sometime this month. I've got other creative AUs to help with. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and reblogs. @msweebyness @artzychic27 @nerd-chocolate

[sadsoftserve]

just quick question...

WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP GETTING YOUR VA'S

I have not been able to find one tryout post on this page.

And I really (and I mean EXTREMELY wanna) try out for any future oc's you might make.

-confused anon

I use a couple of methods actually!

One- I go to yt and I look up voice reels/ voice actors/ ECT. And a lot of the time, some videos such as

Or

Videos like "the many voices of [VA NAME]" are super helpful. Videos (like the ones done by the Ytber RainyCat) are complications of characters voiced by one person, so I take those and go from there.

Another way is I take a character I really like, like Skipper from Barbie life in the Dream house and I find her VA, who is Kristin Day. I then take that and apply it to my characters, her voice being the one for Parker.

I hope this helped you confused anon!

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Astruc once tweeted that Adrien is Ken for Marinette's Barbie.

Idk about the Barbie movie so I'm not gonna say anything since I've never watch it but I think that analogy pretty fit for the dolls. because for many of the young girls who play Barbie doll (my young self especially) Ken is just an accessory, he was never a necessary. I have many Barbies back then and zero Ken, I never even think about buying him. My Barbies are just fine the way they are.

Perhaps that was why when he tweeted that I feel a bit sad. Because Adrien wasn't just an eye candy, an accessory for Marinette the way Ken was for my Barbie, he was a character of his own who has a personality and goal... Until the writers said he's not.

"Miraculous : Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir" is a big click bait when the show itself barely do anything with Cat Noir despite the lore is basically all about his family, even more so from season four onward. Marinette? She didn't seems to be bothered by the whole Superhero thing if Transmission showed her that she'd rather left her post as Ladybug and chase her love life than actually stay and collect back the Miraculous like she's supposed to do because she's the Guardian.

At this point the show should either just be called "Miraculous Ladybug" or "Miraculous : Tales of Ladybug and Rena Rouge" because Alya has been promoted from minor support character to deuteragonist since the show's slogan seems to support it what with "The power of love is so strong" and we've seen the power of Alya's love is the final.

I've heard about that tweet. It was not a good look and it came out before the movie, so I don't think it had anything to do with that. If anything, it was a reflection of the marketing for the Barbie movie which had a bunch of character pictures with lines like, "This Barbie is president!" and "This Barbie is a doctor!" While Ken got, "He's just Ken." Which is actually not what the message of the movie was. It was about Ken and Barbie learning to be valid people in their own rights, which is arguably a lesson the love square needs to learn after the disaster of season five.

As a fan of Barbie, Life in the Dream House, I'd be lying if I said that I can't stomach a show that really leans into "Ken's job is to be Barbie's boyfriend," because that is literally the "lesson" of an episode in that show. But even Life in the Dream House understood that Ken needed a personality and talents beyond arm candy if they wanted him to be a main character, which he is. And Barbie clearly respects him, too, which makes the bit work. If she treated him with disdain, then the show would be unwatchable.

Basically, your frustration/anger is valid as I really have no idea what the writing team is trying to do with Adrien. They did not set him up for the kind of role he has in season five. His season five role would make sense if Adrien was just the pretty boy damsel-in-distress that Marinette had been crushing on for five seasons, but he's not. He's a main character with power and agency. It's honestly impressive how much they failed his character because male love interests are rarely treated this poorly in "true" magical girl shows (aka, stuff where the main characters are the girls and the boys have minor supporting roles).

[fancylala4]

Why creepy dream (aka new dream or whatever the ship name is) from Tangled is an awful Disney ship:

For some reason, the Disney fandom find Rapunzel and Flynn to be the best Disney romance, but they are so wrong. This romance is the worst written romance Disney has ever written, and they are overrated. This is also based on a great article on Wattpad that was sadly taken down. So Here’s why creepy dream sucks:

The age gap! This is the number one criticism towards this ship, and it's not hard to see why. Rapunzel is 17 going on 18 in the movie, while Flynn is 26 years old. Why? It's so unnecessary and adds nothing to the story. It's also super creepy because Rapunzel has only interacted with one person for 18 years and is childish. I think Disney has realized how bad this looks because they tried to recon Flynn's true age by saying he's meant to be between his early to mid 20s and that he has no official age. However, this doesn't help their case because he still acts way older than Rapunzel, looks way older than her (especially when he's hand drawn) and treats her like a child in the first half of the movie! It also doesn't help that Rapunzel acts and looks way younger than she actually is. Look at this comic and see how much Flynn looks like a creeper. I still don't understand why the creators made him look so old and her so young. Like, what the hell were they thinking? Especially for a Disney princess movie.

The huge gap in maturity: As I stated before, Rapunzel is super childish in the movie. She looks way younger than she is, wears an ugly bootleg barbie as Rapunzel dress, and acts like a 5-year-old. Flynn acts as her babysitter through the first half of the movie and treats her like a child. We can see this when she was having her mood swings and the breakdown afterward.

The reasons for why they fall in love with each other are awful: Rapunzel likes Flynn because she thinks he likes her. That's it. That's basically what she told Gothel in the camp scene, and we have gotten no follow up on this. Well, it makes sense that she has a childish view of love, since Rapunzel acts like a five-year-old. On the other hand, Flynn likes Rapunzel because she likes his true self or something. It's not very clear in the movie why he likes her. It doesn't mean much in the end because she grew up in a tower alone for 18 years. Of course She's going to cling to the first person she comes across and likes whatever he's going to say. Thats basically how these “born sexy yesterday” romances work in movies. Also, what the hell does he find a barely 18-year-old girl who hasn't left her house attractive? He reminds me of those real life creeps who seek out younger girls because they would find anything the creeper does cool since the girls don't know any better. It also makes their love shallow. These characters would fall in love with anyone because any person could fil these desires. Rapunzel would like anyone because she thinks they like her, and Flynn would like anyone under 18 or barely that age because he believes they accepts his true self (whatever that is).

They are willing to give up their dreams and desires for someone they only knew for TWO days: Flynn gives up his trash ass dream of being an adventurer for a girl he knew for 2 days. Rapunzel was willing to go back into the tower because of one guy she knew for two days! Disney stans would criticize princesses like Ariel and Cinderella for falling in love and giving up their life for it. Why is creepy dream any different? It's worse because in the end, they both put their lives on the line for each other after 3 days of knowing each other. Rapunzel was going to be a prisoner so she can heal a creepy guy, and flynn's dumbass cut her hair without Rapunzel's consent before she can heal him. So he can prove his love and save her from gothel (even though he could have waited until Rapunzel healed him and protect her, just in case gothel lived but I digress). Wow, what a great message to send to little girls. Giving up their own life for some creepy guy they met two days ago, it's such a great message. For creepy guys I guess.

Bonus: look how old Flynn looks and tell me this isn’t creepy:

[babybabymerrychristmas]

i am starting to gather my thought about barbie (2023) and I have A LOT of thoughts about Barbieland in particular. spoilers below

first of all, before the movie came out greta gave an interview where she said that the film has a reverse genesis where woman was created first and man came after.

after seeing the film, I'd say Barbieland was created from the male perspective quite literally. There is a scene with the mattel ceo where he kind of boasts about how barbie cured sexism, basically. this is the lie upon which Barbieland is created but here is the thing... because Barbieland is controlled by an all-male perspective from the "real world" by men who have over 40 decades of sexist brainwashing in their heads, they cannot actually conceptualize a world where men and women are truly equal.

that is why Barbieland is set up the way that it is because men in the real world are the ones who are controlling the narrative from start to finish and they cannot imagine a world where both genders exist in harmony. they come into feminism thinking that men have to be disadvantaged in some way because that's what it means to be a "good" ally to women. however, this line of thinking literally breeds resentment in men and I am not fucking surprised someone like Ryan Gosling resonated so deeply with Ken's character arc because I'm sure he felt quite seen by the film as well.

Barbieland is set up from Ken's perspective from the beginning because Barbieland is controlled by Mattel and the board of that company is male, like the board of most companies in america are male. and Barbieland represents what MEN* think feminism is and has done for women, not what women think for themselves.

that much is obvious because even the way the characters are set up in the beginning are very shallow representations. All the Barbies have jobs but they are *defined* by their jobs because to men, once you're a woman scientist, that's all you are to them. They don't have thoughts, feelings, ideas, and opinions beyond "everything is great all the time!" because to men, Barbie is the solution.

OKAY, im getting excited now, when Barbie talks to Ken at the end of the film and she says "stop putting your value in your job, your car, your girlfriend" she is critiquing the very existence of Barbieland itself in that moment. because that is what Barbieland's value is. Barbieland is perfect because to men, all that matters is having the dream job, the dream house, the dream partner and the dream looks. they think that's all there is to being human!!!!!!!!!!

and so when Barbie is played with by a woman who has decades of experience under patriachy, she can finally wake up in her "utopia" and realize that hey, wait a minute! this is not what I think will bring me happiness. I don't care about having these materialistic things nor do I care about being an "alpha female" so why am I pretending like all this shallow shit is making me happy????

and that is why Barbieland changes to Kendom to begin with because the narrative was ALWAYS controlled by the Kens of the world and the movie basically starts there, with the assumption thst girlboss feminism and pink capitalism cured sexism and explores if that actually is "utopia" if it actually is a "dream life."

im going to end it here because i dont want to get too off topic but Barbieland is such a fantastic critique of patriarchy, it's actually insane. I love that Greta tackles it from the male gaze and works within the logic of men in this society to show why their beliefs of gender are severely lacking at the end of the day because they're focused on the wrong issue!!! its not about who has the power to get the job, get the house, get the girl, its about connecting with other people. its about experiencing every single emotion under the sun with everyone around you and talking about your feelings and just living with other humans in harmony.

it's so good, i could cry actually. greta deserves every single fucking award for this film and the writing holy shit.