#but yeah I don't think barbie is going to save me and I also don't think she's going to corrupt me

[avatar-state-kate]

No that Barbie gendered criticsm post was in specific reference to a post where someone accused people—critical of the Barbie movie for being a commercial/just Not being indie arthaus groundbreaking cinema—of being misogynistic because “no one does this for transformers or marvel” (which seems misogynistic as well. Comic books aren’t “for boys” dolls aren’t “for girls” but the way these products are being marketed to us as freethinking adults is perhaps something we should question)

Oh, I got that, my tags were more in reference to the "consumerism seems girl-coded and military propaganda boy-coded" bit. That joke format implies that people are projecting gendered stereotypes onto something, except the idea of their being a gender link to these properties is by design - Barbie is being marketed to women and girls, and the cultural idea of what women and girls do/should like and Marvel is marketed to the cultural idea of what men and boys do/should like.

I'm not disagreeing with OP of that post, I'm disagreeing with the idea that there is no gendered level, especially with what is being marketed - consumerism is much more aggressively marketed to women ("women be shopping", the pink tax, women as responsible for household shopping etc.) and the military is marketed more to men. I think this level of analysis is being ignored in favour of calling anyone excited for the Barbie movie stupid for not knowing it's an ad. Which that's a case-by-base basis, definitely most people are going in uncritical but that's true of most media so I wouldn't call anyone out here for being especially stupid.

But yeah, people have always pointed out that toy brand shows are just ads, and we have been complaining about the military-industrial complex in film, but also with everything when its a "girl" (and like again this is marketing, I never liked barbie or girl toys as a child so like my girlhood isn't being represented here, and maybe the idea that brands get to decide what girlhood and boyhood is is a more interesting discussion) property the analysis gets weird - like you have good faith criticism and then people being much more aggressive then the conversation might need.

Like the movie hasn't come out yet and we have already gone from the over-praising the thing to backlash/hatred of the thing - again both phases have genuine and reasonable arguments to them - be excited for a movie with practical sets in a CGI cinema landscape, to see some of our biggest stars together, to see a movie that looks fun- be critical of a film that is a 2-hour long commercial for a doll brand, be critical of a film that supports rampant consumerism and the beauty industry - but the intensity is...a lot already, again for a movie we haven't actually seen yet

TLDR: I don't think it is sexist to critique this movie, or the existence of criticism or a backlash is wholly sexist, however, like with most things parsing out where the genuine feelings stop and sexism ramps them up is an impossible thing to parse. I can believe this while also feeling like anyone trying to say there is no gender element is wrong - like it's Barbie, a toy that even girls who don't play with Barbie are told is representative of their childhoods - like gender analysis is called for but just maybe not the one that is happening.

[sol-consort]

Yeah, hi me again, dragon age girl. Unfortunately I have to tell you that I think I wanna squirt straight on that bald dude's head, even though I'm 128% sure it's gonna end badly because I was watching edits of them (and accidentally spoiled myself I'm pretty sure😐) and they're all angsty so I think he's gonna betray me in some way. But oh well, I love a doomed lovers moment. I can't wait to complain and cry about it later.

"I wanna squirt straight on that bald dude's head" - Anon, 2024.

When I tell you this line alone convinced me to go install the game and try it out because there is no way boiled egg of a man could ever pull this tremendously

And oh.

Oh.

Was I wrong.

I never thought I liked assertive passive-aggressive men until now...damn. The way he so causally takes your hand and does what he does. No explanation. Eggboi kinda hot.

But then, out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed the most amazing perfect pair of tits to ever exist, and my brain did a complete factory reset.

FORGET BALDIE BASICS I WANT HIM I WANT TO SUCK ON HIS—

God. What a big juicy personality. I bet his heart is just as massive. They're staring at me, I just can't stop looking. Don't ask me what colour anything is idk man his eyes were purple maybe uhhh milk

BUT ALSO...also there is the hot ruggish knight woman whom I want to protect me and carry me to safety in her arms <3 also let me ride her thigh, the armour stays ON during smooch sex.

Lastly, my toxic trait is that I simply cannot play a game without creating the most gorgeous barbie-esque doll of a character. Pretty ladies all around! Brown hair my beloved. I clearly have a type but shhh

LOOK AT HER MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT. My pretty doll! My bratz girlie!! A snotty noble human who's completely ignorant of the way of the world but thinks she knows it all + doesn't want to be here and would rather be back home in her privileged cushy life sipping on margaritas in pool parties, but forced to be the hero against her will. So she pretends to care and says what others want to hear.

I plan for her not to take anything seriously until the realisation of how dire this situation is, all the deaths and tragedies, make her have a change of heart and actually tries to help and save others. Becoming more jaded with time and losing that innocent naivety and arrogance.

Oh and double blade rouge bc dagger go swoosh swoosh aka she doesn't wanna carry a sword (it might break a nail) and never cared much for bows (splinters might make her fingertips calloused) and can't do magic for shit (magic?? HERESY! BURN THE WITCH NOW <- most normal aristocratic family teaching)

Sp daggers/theif bc she may or may not have used to lock pick her mother's sweets box as kid to steal candy, but we don't talk about that...or how the dress she's wearing rn is her older sister's, she took it from her closest without permission. Aka, why the blood splatters are okay with her.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Same anon with that whole "bit" thing. As a fellow Solar simp, your feelings are totally valid. Solar even had to repeatedly say "He was literally going to kill me" regarding the Monty from his dimension. Honestly, the only lighthearted question in that entire podcast was "how do you feel about coffee?" And probably the whole bald thing.

But can I just say that when I heard Solar say that he learned the toxic masculinity from the Barbie movie, I am 100% sure that Earth got him to watch with her because I don't think he would watch it otherwise on his own. And it made me think of how underappreciated the fact that Earth has a really good influence on Sun, Moon, Lunar, and Solar with regards to, you know, the experiences of women, patriarchy, and such. I might sound stupid right now and I know there are people who will eye-roll this but I believe Earth being unapologetically feminine in a "household" full of men is a great thing.

The other lighthearted question was about anime, but that was fairly ruined.

Puppet could have had an anime buddy and blew it cus of Monty.

(and my 15 year old self is just crying cus Solar doesn't like naruto. ;w; But also as a naruto fan... Like... I GET IT.. I totally get it)

But yeah. Solar's whole podcast felt like an interrogation, at least compared to the others. So I wouldn't be too shocked if Monty just hates Solar's guts off the grounds that he's an Eclipse.

And yeah, he mostly watched the Barbie Movie with Earth. Like Earth has literally made everyone watch the Barbie movies with her. (long term hyperfixations for the win)

And yes, I like that Earth is unapologetically feminine. It's one of her best features! I honestly think that by Solar's definition, that would define Old Moon as Toxically Masculine as well in a way. Since he insisted on doing things on his own and he had to be the one to "save" his brother. Moon had to be the strong and smart one, Sun had to be the dumb and happy one to keep him happy.

And Old Moon I don't think did that maliciously. (maybe sometimes) but I do think he genuinely loved Sun.

Earth has really been a positive influence on Sun when he was greiving, Moon, as he was just coming into himself as a new person, and Lunar who revived from the dead. Earth was also very helpful in making Solar feel welcomed in this dimension. (so fuck off Monty really. Your GF likes Solar here.)

Sun and Moon properly communicating with eachother, and Sun actually having a lot better coping mechanisms are a direct result of Earth's influence.

Sun is even healthy to the point out in Castor faults in himself and then direct those coping techniques he learned outwards to help other people.

And that is 100% due to Earth's influence, empathy and femineity.

Earth is great honestly.

[oswanily]

So...

(sorry this is going to be long but overall positive things are happening)

I wanted to wait to tell yall for it to be done, so I could provide pictures, but I can't wait any longer... I'm getting my very own kitten! He is four months old and he is perfect and I will get him on Wednesday. This is part of the reason why I haven't been active here, I have been running around getting the necessary stuff and getting my apartment ready for him.

Another reason is, I am trying to get back to school, already had my interview with the school, the lady told me I am accepted if i find a way to pay for it (it's a one year degree and costs around 3000 euros, this is a good time to remind you I have a kofi page where i take cc commissions 😇) so I have been filing paperwork and meeting with my job advisors to find a way to pay for the school.

Now onto the main reason why I haven't been playing Sims... Time to stop making excuses, I just have too much CC and my game is laggy as heck. I mean, I play on a mid-range laptop and the game is not extra fluid even without cc... and i have like 30 GB. I did remove some but it is still lagging, especially when I load the Barbie Legacy house: it has 3 inhabitable floors + one floor that is there for roofing, and I have never had my game lag so bad on this computer. I basically have to pause and queue everyone's interactions, wait for them to do them, then pause again, repeat. Really not a fun way to play.

I have also started making a vanilla save file (I have been watching french youtuber and save maker NS a lot and it inspired me), but for now I can't convince myself to go fully vanilla or restart my mods folder in my gameplay save... I don't know what to do. As I said I did some CC cleaning, but it isn't enough... Also I think that house the Barbie family lives in would still lag even without CC. My computer is just not powerful enough to run the game smoothly anymore. I do plan on getting a new computer, but that will probably not happen till the end of the year at least (probably even later if I am being realistic).

So yeah, that's what I've been up to. My health is good, life is busy, and the only issue in my life right now is that my computer can't handle sims anymore and I need to mentally ready myself to say goodbye to most of my mods folder. I will be back with gameplay as soon as I figure that out.

And i just realized I basically wrote an essay about myself... Don't know what to make of that. Oh well.

[measureformeasure]

@lesbiancassius' (very late) february reads

yes I will do this monthly now.

books (as it turns out, I was busy. one book)

Enter Ghost, Isabella Hammad - An actor, Sonia, returns to visit her sister Haneen in Haifa and gets caught up in playing Gertrude in a Hamlet production in the West Bank. Stellar.

short fiction & poetry

Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole, Isabel J. Kim - obsessed with this on title alone. It has such a feel to it in the way it moves that I envy.

Parthenogenesis, Piya Patel - horror that makes me want to peel out of my skin and/or get a hysterectomy.

Eschatology, Eve L. Ewing - poem that was circulating recently and God. Fuck, dude. Yeah. Yeah.

Ouroboros, Megan Xing - The to-do lists in this got me because I was having my little freak out before my show went up where you think you can fix everything with to-do lists. Also heavily feeling replacing ineffective psych meds with yogurt, a pickle, and two advil.

I also read Cancer Buffet by Mary Hannah Terzino and Soft Opening by Elle Nash, but I was tired and don’t remember them.

(some) articles

Who Was Barbie? (A Symposium), n+1 magazine - this cemented to me that I truly, truly do not care about Barbie or the Barbie movie and if I have to hear anything about it ever again I'm smashing a bowl on purpose

A bunch of Hera Lindsay Bird’s advice column, which is delightful.

Let’s talk about Goodreads, Nicole Brinkley. There are many days I am glad I do not want to pursue a career as solely an author of novels. Godspeed to the authors out there you're braver than I will ever be.

Saving a Life, Patricia Lockwood - my god I have got to read a Patricia Lockwood book, and also my god getting grievously ill on vacation is one of my greatest fears so this one made me a little bit crazy.

The Secret Life: On the poet Molly Brodak, Patricia Lockwood - again, my god, I need to read a Patricia Lockwood book.

A Final Checklist Before You Print up Your Play, Rick Roberts - this reminded me so much of Joshua McGuire’s Rules For Writing Libretto, which I think of a lot.

“I think the word is dignity” — Rachel Corrie’s Letters from Gaza — I don’t know what to say. Read these if you can. They’re striking.

The Sexual Status of Aeschylus’ Cassandra, Paula Debnar - I can put an academic paper here you're not the boss of me. why I opened this one I don't remember but I was fervently texting friends in the middle of a certainly unrelated class about it because I've never been normal about Kassandra and Klytemnestra and I'm not going to start now.

tv/movies

Rewatching Severance, slowly.

Rewatching Sort Of, less slowly - this is probably niche to non-Canadian readers but it is a very good show.

Watched The Prince, which was a long time coming, and then wrote a paper about it. Bless.

tbr/nightstand

in the midst of Salvage the Bones, which is of course very good

Helen of Troy: from Homer to Hollywood

I'm gonna be rereading like every play off my Shakespeare class syllabus for the final which I wish I was more excited about

[ikamigami]

I swear...People look at Earth getting super giddy with Moon about Barbies and go "see she already replaced Nexus" when...Honestly, it seems innocent, we know Earth has a hyperfixation with Barbie, and considering the other person who shared that fixation literally tried to burn her alive a few days...Weeks? Ago, I don't blame her much for seeing someone else she can share her hyperfixation with and getting excited to bond with this person who's supposed to be her other brother, she's also probably still reeling from the fact that one of the closest people in her life tried to murder her in cold blood without hesitation or remorse at least in the moment And people saying Moon's situation of getting info-dumped is the same as Nexus and no it isn't, it is similar but there are several key differences, such as how nobody is new to the situation, nobody just recently died, and everything was explained to Moon rather than him being told to watch the show, Earth was completely new to everything when Moon died and Sun at the same moment Nexus came online learned his brother was full-on dead and he really did fail to save him and Killcode is alive instead, and before anyone tries to blame those two for how they handled Nexus and go "see Nexus got it worse!", you try explaining to your amnesiac sibling who wears your dead sibling's face and has his voice the entire screwed up abusive history of your lives up to that point right after learning your old sibling is dead and its your fault, or at least you blame yourself for it, or being in Earth's shoes and having no idea what's going on whatsoever having just got back from the middle of nowhere after having your first introduction to your other brother...Who was suffering a catastrophic meltdown, Moon's current situation was far less novel or messy than that, and Nexus handled it all pretty well all things considered, things only went to crap after Solar died, he talked with Moon, had that weird waking dream, and then flipped a switch decided to toss everyone away, which wasn't connected since all the problems in the early days were resolved before that point

You're absolutely right, dear anon 👏

Yeah, Earth probably is also latching onto this Moon because he looks like New Moon.. so I think that she dissociates from the fact that New Moon almost killed her.. and she finds comfort in talking with Moon and Moon being so open also helps her feeling more comfortable..

I see similarly to Lunar's relationship with Solar.. because Earth did exactly the same thing Lunar did - she told her trauma right at the beginning just like Lunar told his trauma to Solar..

(this reminds me once again that with Solar it was different.. his relationship with New Moon wasn't as close and honest like many people like to think.. for me it looked like Solar treated Sun and Moon the way he did because of his trauma and I think that he saw it as the opportunity to not repeat the same "mistakes" though he wasn't at fault but still.. that's why he pushed away Sun so Sun wouldn't end up just like his Sun and that's also why he was hanging out with Moon a lot and tried to please him so Moon wouldn't end up just like his Moon - imagine how Solar will feel when he'll find out what New Moon did 😬)

And I absolutely agree that Old Moon's situation is completely different than New Moon's.. Old Moon was filled in the gaps but he isn't fresh new.. he dealt with various threats and tough situations before so it's nothing new to him..

New Moon on the other hand was.. new.. and he didn't experience anything yet so it was a lot to deal with when he had to already deal with a threat to his family and all that stuff.. and also he knew that he previously was an awful individual.. so he felt under the pressure but later things were okay.. his issues were addressed and Earth gave him support he needed.. but because Moon is paranoid and he has an ego.. things strated to slowly pile up after his conversation with Dark Sun - because it all started back then.. Solar's death was a final straw.. but tbh I don't think so exactly.. because he was allowed to grieve.. he was offered support and help and Sun even told him that they won't think any less of him because he can't bring Solar back because no one will sacrifice themselves.. and Moon even had mental breakdown - which was a good thing in such situation cause it let Moon out these emotions and frustrations that come with the struggle with loss and hopelessness caused by not being able to bring back a dear family member.. everything seemed rather okay even if Moon was grieving hard..

But then that talk with Old Moon made his insecurities even worse and then was that vivid dream - waking dream.. and I think that someone took advantage of Moon's vulnerable state.. personally I think it was Creator - or Sun really is a carrier for virus because of Creator's doing and when he took care of Moon after his mental breakdown (they were very close to each other then - Sun had to take Moon upstairs so he was touching him and we still don't know how the virus can be passed exactly from the carrier and what's worth to note is that Moon and Sun weren't all touchy with each other because of Sun's trauma - Sun didn't like to be touched by Moon that much)..

Virus still doesn't excuse Moon's actions because like we saw in Ruin's dimension that infected animatronics still were capable of making their own decisions and like Ruin's Creator said they could rebel against him.. so Moon could've fight with the urges.. but he gave into these desires pretty quickly - probably because Moons have the tendency to quickly give up when it comes to them putting some greater effort into something.. it's because of their egos - just like Eclipse said that Moon has a big ego just like him..

I also absolutely agree that Sun and Earth did their best with New Moon at the beginning.. Earth immediately tried to help both of them because she was created for that.. and Sun given his loss of his brothers which he felt guilty for and that he had psychotic episode back then and that New Moon looked and sometimes even reacted the same as Old Moon.. he did the best he could.. and he absolutely cared and loved New Moon (so people who say otherwise stfu) like he was always scared for New Moon's life and he trusted to leave things to New Moon and Solar because he knew that Solar will help and take care of Moon - imagine why Sun felt useless and an awful brother and why he thought that Moon might despise him /sarcasm

You're absolutely right about everything, dear anon. I wish more people would see that. Thank you for this ask/analysis ^^

[dorayakimanjiro]

Imagine Revali watching the Barbie Movie

After watching the Barbie Movie myself, I got curious if Revali would be willing to go to the movie.... it's been like 3 weeks since I watched the movie but school's been awful with homework and team assingments. Finally found the motivation to finish this :)

Enjoy^^

This was the pinkiest photo I found of Revali *.*

"Hey Revali! Lets go watch the Barbie movie"

"Is this a serios suggestion? You think that a champion as great as I would even consider watching such... such tripe?" His in denial at first.

You try gaslighting him with "All the other champions are gonna watch it, even Link and Princess Zelda"

"Don't be absurd. I'm not going to be wasting my time with a girl's movie"

"Excuse ME?!? The Barbie Movie is an cinematic masterpiece fyi, everyone honors it by wearing pink clothes to the theater, it's way superior than all your mocking nonsense" your confidence on to cuz NO ONE has the right to insult the Barbie Movie.

"Very well, if you wish. But know my reputation and dignity wil be tarnished in the process, because it's nothing more than a silly, feminine diversion. Nothing of importance"

'THIS LITTEL BI-...' you save the thought.

"I have you know that even the king of Hyrule, King Rhoam loved the Barbie movie, that man has good taste. PERIODT.

Revali sights in defeat, tired of your whims "Whatever, let's just watch this"

"YAS! That's the spirit! Now... we need to change into something pink and I just have the perfect outfit for myself!"

Revali rolls his eyes "Ugh! Changing clothes... You can't be serious?

You slowly reveal a pink scarf that has been hiding in your back.

A big mischievous smile on your face.

"No, absolutely NOT!" Revali stutters at seeing the scarf.

"Yes, absolutely YES!"

"I refuse the scarf! There's no way in hell I'm wearing-"

You both are in the theater buying your movie tickets with Revali wearing his pink scarf.

"I- this is ridiculous!" Looks around, sees everyone's wearing pink clothes.

"Why did I let you drag me into this?!"

"Cuz I'm ur cool friend who keeps you updated with the latest trends and besides, you had all the right to refuse it yet here you are~" cheeky smiles at him.

"Because you were persistent..." he mutters under his breath.

"Hmm yeah, whatever. Lets go to the movie!!"

"Alright, fine" he groans and walk's after her to the theater, "So... this movie is about Barbie? A doll?" he asks.

"Exactly! A live-action movie about the doll"

"...And let me guess. Barbie has a lot of adventures?

"She is EVERYTHING you could ever dreamt of being; she's an astronaut, a doctor, a firefighter, a lawyer, she graduated from every possible career" they enter to the movie theater.

"Wait... she graduated from being..what?-"

"Look! Everyone's in pink clothing! How cool is that!?"

"Why did I agree to this?" he mutters to himself.

They sit of their assigned seats.

"You're not seriously going to... enjoy this?" Revali asks.

"I'm gonna enjoy this with. every. single. cell. in my body-" interrupting your menancing speak, you turn to the source who called you out.

It was Urbosa!!! With Link and Zelda seating besides her.

"Gurl! What are you doing here?! Zelda and Link! Hii guys!" you happily greet and wave at them.

"Wait...why are they here too?"

The guy in the fronts seats recognizes your voice and turns around to greet you, it was Daruk!

"Ayo Daruk! You're also here?! Gosh this is epic" High-fives Daruk.

You feel a gentle hand poking your head, turning you head, Mipha and Sidon were also here!! Seating behind us.

"GUYS!! All the homies are in the house! Let's freaking GOOO!"

Revali is genuinely puzzled at this point "What in the... Why is everyone here?"

All the champions congratulate you for convincing Revali to come watch Barbie "I told you all I could easily managed it! Piece of cake" you brag.

Revali sighs in resignations "This is a nightmare"

"This gotta be the best day of my life!" you rejoice.

"I'm gonna to die of embarrasment. What will everyone think of me now that I've been seen in pink and attending some ridiculous girlie movie that's supposed to be entertaining?! Oh Goddess...

Raising your eyebrow and asks shamelessly to the champions, "Do you guys think Revali's ridiculous for wearing pink and coming to the Barbie movie?"

"Don't you DARE-"

Revali's threat was cutoff by the champions replies.

Urbosa feels glad Revali's here, she thinks his mind need a break from all his intense training and champion's duties. Daruk comments he's glad Revali is trying new stuff out of training stuff. Everyone agrees with both champion's statements.

"Told ya"

Revali is too stunned to say anything, he still can't believe this situation you dragged him into..... or that he's wearing pink.

"You're a little to hard on yourself, just relax" Offers him popcorn.

Taking the popcorn, still shocked and embarrassed, he quietly looks down, a low "...thank you" comes out of his peak.

"It's nothing. Oh! The movie's about to start!"

The movie starts and he's secretly watching it.

After 20 minutes into the movie he slowly starts enjoying it, even admiting to himsef it's quite comical.

He gives up and finally admits he IS enjoying the movie.

Thinks about the Mojo Dojo Casa House a lot.

Eventually chuckles at the funny scenes, keeps it lowkey.

Once the movie is over, you DEFINETELY tease him about how he actually liked the movie.

Even thought he tried to be annoyed, he can't hide the fact he liked it.

And for the cherry on top, you both went to have dinner in a spicy fried chicken restaurant and had a competition of how could it the chicken the fastest....

And of course Revali won, has an advantage considering his peak.

[pearldog30]

Johnny (soap) Mctavish head Cannon

I know, I said this was going to be out a lot sooner. butttt I got distracted so here we are with our soapy boy, and I hope y'all enjoy! As always this is going to be realistic as possible! (Also let me know if you would like to see some NSFW head cannons and I might put those in the works soon 👀)

Other works 👉Master list

Warnings| PTSD, and alcohol.

This is soaps love song cannot convince me otherwise. (Okay I was actually reading a soap fanfic. and this song came on, and I'm like it's perfect. anyways if the thing doesn't work it's I wanna be yours by Arctic monkeys slow)

I am going to start this off by saying. THE SASS THIS MAN HAS. I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THE GIFT HE SCREAMS SASSY! Oh and don't get me started. when he's trying to give attitude. He has the kind of sass that gives a drag queen, a run for their money. I LOVE IT

Contrary to what everybody might think of him, he's actually really fuckin smart. HE'S A SAS DEMOLITION SNIPER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW SMART YOU HAVE TO BE, ESPECIALLY WITH MATH FOR THAT SHIT! So yeah he's not a dumbass to say the least.

BUT! With that being said he's low key oblivious as fuck, when it comes to day to day life. like yeah he may be able to do math perfectly, plan out war plans, be able to tell an enemy in a room within a second, but for the love of God. do not leave this man alone to clean the house without adult supervision. something's bound to end up broken/all disorganized on how you had it, it's going to be a new house when you come back.

He is the definition of doesn't follow instructions. Sooo unless if you want to be spending money on takeout, don't let him cook without your supervision. He cannot cook to save his life. (I said what I said)

This may not come as a surprise at all, but he is observant as fuck. it's the sniper in him, when you have the job he has you have to be always on guard. so a lot like ghost even when you guys are home/go out as civilians, he's always going to be on guard, observing every situation. but this man knows how to cover it up, and make it seem like he's not, it's concerning.

Since he is observant as hell, he notices every. single. little. detail. about yourself. Oh you got new lipstick, he'll be the first to say you look stunning. and to kiss that pretty lip color (he says he's just testing it. But we all know it's an excuse cuz he wants to kiss you) got some new jeans/leggings he'll definitely notice and be staring. So yeah he notices everything. even the stuff you do to the house, when he comes back home from deployment. This man is the definition of photographic memory!

and with the observant topic. if y'all are at a bar. and you're trying to make him jealous. don't, just don't, you're going to lose. this man does not get jealous, if anything he'll take it as a challenge. knowing you're trying to get him jealous, it ends up in you getting jealous. (he's a little shit and it's annoying)

I'm probably going to be the first to say this. and it's going to burst a lot of y'all's bubbles. but he does not, AND I MEAN DOES NOT, HAVE ADHD! (I'm pretty sure if you have ADHD, you actually can't do a lot of the stuff that he does. from what I've been told. so no he does not have it)

And if y'all ever somehow go on a road trip together. He doesn't know how to shut the fuck up. He's either cracking jokes or screaming music (more than likely it's Barbie girl or some other ridiculous song he uses to bother ghost with) bonus points if you join in with him, safe to say it's never a boring car ride with him.

Now when y'all have fights. It doesn't matter how they start, what they are about, what it was. this man always comes back to apologize first. It often has you questioning why, even if you knew you were in the wrong, you still wonder why he's apologizing to you, when you should be apologizing to him. and he'll never let you apologize, almost never!

Since he has this job. he does he struggles a lot with PTSD. Out of all the men he's definitely the most emotional, but not at the same time, it's weird. With his mental health he often bottles everything up, he never had a good experience with talking about it. and in his past either people looked at him like he's some crazy monster, or they just pushed him away. so this often brings him to he either drinks it away, and then forgets about it the next day. or has a complete breakdown.

Now I'm not saying he's an alcoholic, no. but he can't help it, when he comes home and those dark thoughts won't leave, and it goes to dark places. To where he sometimes (a lot of times let's be honest. That was before you came into the picture) turn to alcohol. Mainly it's just to forget about the fact he felt like he let his team down. cuz someone died on a rough mission he had no control over, and it kills him every time. Every time that does happen he wishes it was him.

But if he doesn't, then he'll often just lock himself in his office/shower. he'll silent cry to himself, and have a panic attack, rocking back and forth on the floor/on the shower floor. and you have caught him like that more than once. each time you did, he tried telling you he was okay, ushering you away from him. but you wouldn't budge, you would just hold him and let him cry it out/talk it out if he wanted. you really are his safe place in those situations.

So he often goes through one of those two scenarios, every time he comes home from a mission. and each time you see him like that it takes a little piece away from you, killing you a little, as it does for him. And it does kind of scare him to death that you see him like that. So he worries that you'll leave him, because he is going through such a hard time. so you have to reassure him a lot.

He's actually probably one of the only guys that doesn't really get night terrors/nightmares. Too often, I mean yeah he'll get them every once, in awhile but nowhere near as bad as the rest. he is the definition of heavy sleeper, unless of course he's on the field.

He's also the definition of clingy. You and Alejandro's partner, once had a competition, to see who was more clinger. and soap won that by an inch.

✨Middle child vibes✨ that's all I'm going to say.

Love language. Physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation.

All right that's going to be the it for this. I hope you all enjoyed it! and wherever you are in the world I hope you're having a good day/night reblogs and comments are always appreciated! 🖤

[shylittlefrogg]

I just found out there was a new animated barbie movie???

And it's not even new, it's from last year - and honestly, I'm having a stroke over Barbie: Mermaid Power.

So come with me going crazy with my 8 year old self And since this movie is good and bad at the same time.

First of all I love that both barbies are in this movie, partly because my first thought when I saw the cover on Netflix was 'Hello island, Meet my girlfriend, Barbie. Barbie, Meet Isla, my girlfriend'

Yes Mattel, let Barbie have all the girlfriends she wants-- (Although it makes me sad that they hardly interacted-)

But let's go to one of the points that concerns me. First.

Why is it bad?

I really had no expectations because it's a current Barbie movie and because I just found out about its existence today. But dude, the plot and story leaves a lot to be desired.

The main thing here is that it is trying to promote the care of the oceans and I am happy about that!

But for the plot that doesn't seem relevant except at the beginning and at the end.

One of the things I thought was that there would really be negative effects on the place far beyond just getting dark.

Do you know the garbage Islands? (plastic islands, toxic islands, there are several in many parts of the ocean that are worrisome)

Those are more dangerous in real life than in this movie.

Animals and fauna tend to be harmed by all that pollution and I really would have put a little more emphasis on why it is important to clean up the rubbish, giving a message that humans can also help make changes, what they should do to help. Why is it important for mermaids to solve this problem

(the only thing about the moon seems important to they??? Your Honor--there is probably a turtle drowning in some cans, help-)

It would have been nice if there were more aid campaign-style humans with Barbie, who would obviously stay on top while the plot unfolds without them knowing. But that they are there, and the mermaids see that humans are not bad as some think, that they are also trying, that we are trying...

It really would have been cute and it would have been a good message...

But well, what it's done, is done.

The next thing I hate is the mermaid tradition, YOUR HONOR I HAVE WORDS ON THIS, MY 8 YEAR OLD ME WAS YELLING BECAUSE SHE HAS HER OWN WORDS-

So I'll try to make sense of her screams.

The Moon thing isn't really fully explained, as I said before, there's no precedent for what can go wrong if they don't do the ritual, so it takes a bit of the worry away.

The fact that air mermaids are the only ones that can breathe does not make sense because in the end all mermaids are out of water???? Like, maybe it would serve more like the air ones are the only ones that can form legs or something.

I don't like the 'transformation' after discovering the power. I like how it looks with the pictures and the effect. But I don't like girls getting a crown and guys getting wristbands and nothing else, I'll literally scream for them to get cool fins and tails that relate to their power. It would really be much better and useful for mermaids.

To finish what I don't like about this movie.

Marlo's redemption.

I actually like redemption! I love when a series or movie knows how to do it well!!

That does not happen here and I refuse to explain why it is obviously meaningless.

Why this is good

Now let's go to why it's good. The characters, they are the only thing that saves this movie from being my worst nightmare about mermaids.

I loved the characters here, hell yeah!

I really like Aquaryah specific , she's a mermaid with a prosthesis!! That's pretty cool and puts her in a good place in my heart (even though looking at her face just sends me into the uncanny valley-)

I really think they could have used more of jer characters, like her father creating her prosthetic!

If he was added to injured animals and fish or mermaids, because of the garbage, to which he makes prostheses, it would have been interesting.

But I'm not complaining.

And!!

I love all the Barbie sisters here.

Yes Chelsea, I understand you, I also had a super mermaid stage.

It's interesting how at one point Barbie seems to feel less after her sisters get their powers! I didn't really know how to explain it but hit close with Skipper saying the 'oh wow, I did something before you, that never happens' thing.

As I said before! I also like transformations! Super cute and quite nice!

And I think good elements they chosen for each one.

Brooklin is emotional and explosive, so I can easily see how her personality aligns with the fire.

Skipper is laid back and tends to move with the tide, so air is pretty much on par with her attitude. (Though she does have a bit of simmering rage)?)

Stacie is tough, she has her thoughts and actions well defined and will stand up for them and fight for them, as well as being somewhat headstrong in some ways so the earth comes as a ring to the finger.

Chelsea is a baby and thanks heavens for her existence, but I honestly can't place anything that defines a water mermaid for her. Maybe they really care about animals? But that's all mermaids.

Barbie in Barbie, she is a tidal wave of changes since she was created, she is like the wind that always continues.

I would have liked a bit more exploration on other characters, but we barely had them with the mermaid group-

It was enjoyable.

thank you for coming to my Ted Talk about me going crazy over a kids movie

[sailorsunspot]

barbie spoilers ahead, these are my general thoughts on the movie

DO NOT READ IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS FOR BARBIE

The GOOD:

Sasha

Biggest note is I don't know why the movie wasn't about her???

I thought she felt really true and honest and a great representation of the unique position Gen Z have been put in.

Her preteen disaffected angst and disillusion felt SO correct, both because at that age you just feel jaded and angst but also? Because she's right to be jaded and angsty in a lot of ways. All the stuff she's been told and promised? DONT work out the way it should

I think they kind of missed the mark on really digging into her and her relationship with Gloria and her relationship with Barbie (which is a proxy for womanhood). Think you could have had an incredible movie talking about all the ways the concept of Barbie serves/hurts women through different generational lenses. Because Barbie was useful to Gloria but was also a cudgel (as it was a major plot point, her making these "wrong" Barbie's as a coping mechanism). And we know how Sasha felt with her iconic Sasha rant, but also, she wound up missing the whimsy and the joy and the inspiration Barbie offers

ANYWAY I love Sasha so much, I wish the movie featured her more, and I thought her journey when it came to getting closer to her mother by protecting her mother's ideals and wants and intentionally trying to make space for other women (she did that with both her mom AND ALSO with Barbie at the end, where she was literally the only character like: "Okay, but what about what Barbie wants???") was extremely well written and touching.

The Humor & Style

Not all the bits landed for me, but I generally loved the pro-camp and playful tone of the movie, and genuinely laughed at several points

Genuinely loved the style and the visuals - 10/10

The Content Editting

Tbh, I thought it was smart that they were like: yep, nope, we're not touching racism/ablism in this movie, we're just cool with it. Because…there's just so much to discuss, and no one story can service all things.

The BAD

Barbie's roll as a protaganist

I think this was intentional, but she was the most passive protaganist I've ever seen? Thoughts on this was she was just kind of like…an object to be projected onto so this kind of tracks with the theming of the movie right - like she was forced to go on her heroes journey against her will, when she returns home, she doesn't "save" Barbie-land, she gives up and it's actually Sasha and Gloria and Weird Barbie that does the saving (both because they want to try and also they come up with the plan). I think the most agency she shows in the movie is going to console Ken (which…will talk on that point more later), until the VERY end, when she chooses to become a real "woman". Really her role is more of the witness in the movie?

The Mattel thing

Originally I hated this and would have cut the entire Will Farrel thing, but my friend brought up some interesting points about how that might've been an intentional dig on the uselessness of corporate structure, etc. I still woulda cut it, but that at least makes it an interesting thought experiment tbh.

The Focus on Barbieland

Yeah I know it's like impossible to solve like…Patriarchy in the real world so in that sense it's smart to limit the scope of the danger to a play world where change can actually happen in a satisfying way overnight but like…

In the end, I feel like i dont know anything about Gloria and Sasha other than what I, a reasonably learned media consumer, can infer from the context? Idk, felt like a missed opportunity to dig more into their actual real life experience with womanhood instead of saving the fake construct idea of womanhood, because then we lack context on why the way Barbieland has "changed" is for the better. Since Barbieland and Barbie as a whole is a proxy for the idea of "woman", it felt like we needed more

The plot is supposed to be a reflection of the internal struggle, also known as the "story". How does saving Barbieland reflect onto the main characters of the story, (Barbie, I guess?) Is it just that she realized she no longer wanted to serve the ideal and

the UGLY:

Very VERY narrow definition of Womanhood

This is partially intentional cause of the dolls, but, lol, you cannot have a feminist movie and not cover things like queerness, GNC, etc. Or I guess you can, but it just comes off as the most superficial white liberal version of feminism imaginable. Disappointing, considering the movie did a good job of saying "we're not touching racism and ableism, not because it doesnt exist but because there's only so much we can fit in a movie" but it at least acknowledged those things with their active presence in the movie.

ESPECIALLY since Barbie = the proxy for womanhood, I guess fuck me i'm not a woman then haha

I KNOW that the cast included a trans actor, but that that means nothing within the context of the story other than, congrats show-runners for correctly identifying women, lmao.

Similarly, you absolute CAN have a million and one queer "interpretations" of Barbie, of the Kens, of Allen in particular. Still, it's all on the person who interprets it, not actually in the subtext of the story. Yeah sorry in the year of 2023 I dont give properties props for making me do the work for them, that's some tumblr ass bullshit i cannot abide by. Support my reading with the text or it doesn't count.

Literally all you needed was a single barbie who expanded the view of a woman was, a single Barbie who was like "actually maybe i want to wear Ken's clothes" or "maybe I dont want to hang out with Ken maybe I want to hang out with this other Barbie winkyface".

Ken

Why

No seriously, why

Why does even the Barbie movie, made for Barbie, made for girls, have to cater to the opinions and emotions of fucking MEN?

I have a lot to say about this, but instead of railing on this ad nauseam the big things are:

Ken literally never even apologized for intentionally using the patriarchy to intentionally hurt barbie.

Barbie had to apologize to ken??? For accidentally hurting his feeling by not giving him the attention he wanted?

How did they turn this "feminist" movie into such fucking incel bait holy shit

They were clearly doing the "patriarchy hurts everyone" bullshit but like, they literally covered that with Allan???

so it just makes it feel more BS when they, literally in the fucking text of the movie, have to remind Barbie with Gloria saying "hi, stop infantalizing/mothering your babymanchild he stole your home, fucked up your life, ruined your town" and Barbie was like Yeah you right girl and then not 20- minutes later GAVE IN ANYWAY.

I know im a man hating dyke but fuck. when they make THE LITERAL BARBIE MOVIE about making men comfortable then i think i am 100% in the right to be fucking pissy about this

[lovemesomesurveys]

How old were you when you learned how to drive? I don't drive.

Have you ever been to a baby shower? What was the baby’s name? Yeah, I've been to a few.

What mode of transport did you take to high school? My mom took me majority of the time, but occasionally my dad or aunt did.

Name a personality trait of yours that you like. I think I'm a good listener.

Name something about your physical attraction that you dislike. My physical appearance? Uh, like everything. My smile is a big one.

What’s in your purse right now? I use a mini backpack, which right now has my wallet, a thing with some of my medicine, a 2 pack of Reese's (lol), and a Barbie pin I still need to put on the front of my backpack.

Do you vote in your country’s elections? Yes.

What was your first kiss like? It was unexpected and awkward, but I was just giddy about having had my first kiss. It's not like I had anything to compare it to.

Shuffle your music and skip twice. What song is playing? Nah.

Have you ever been a freelancer? No.

What mood were you in when you woke up today? I felt okay.

What storey is your bedroom on? I live in a one-story house.

What gifts do you usually receive at Easter? Gift cards and something like a stuffed animal and/or a shirt.

Do you use a planner to keep track of your life? I use the calendar app to remind me when my bills are due, and I also use the notes and reminders app for stuff.

Who was the last person you sent an email to? I don't recall the last time I sent an email.

Are there any posters in your bedroom? Yeah, I have a few canvas painting and framed ones. Most of them are giraffes, but I also have some beach ones, a couple paintings my uncle did for me, and a Stranger Things poster (the well-known ABCs on the wall one with the strung lights).

What was your favourite fairytale as a kid? I've always liked Alice in Wonderland.

Is there anything in your freezer that you really need to get rid of? I have no idea what's even in my freezer. I'm still mostly bedridden and need help transferring and when I'm up in my chair checking the freezer isn't something I've had a need to do in awhile. I just haven't had a reason to; if I want something I'd just ask someone.

Have you ever played Second Life? No. I'm a Sims gal.

What do you like about the town or city you live in? Just the fact a lot of my family is here.

What do you dislike about the town or city you live in? My town is awful. It's not known for anything good.

Are your parents good cooks? Yes.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person? >> this will vary from person to person <<<

Have you ever been to a chiropractor? Did you like it? I have not.

What is your favourite museum? I don't have a particular favorite, though I've only been to a few. I enjoy historical type ones with artifacts and whatnot. I think I'd love The Smithsonian if I ever get to go one day. I love all that kind of stuff.

Do you know anyone who is an actor? No.

Have your wisdom teeth come through yet? I had those taken out when I was a young teenager.

How many weddings have you been to? Just three.

Do you watch Youtube? What channels do you like? I watch a shit ton of YouTube. I'm subscribed to many channels of various types. I like ASMR (a lot of ASMR channels), vlogs/lifestyle, hauls, mukbangs, abandoned places, Disney history and related stuff.... stuff like that.

What’s your alcohol of choice? Barf, none. I don't drink.

Have you ever used a public pay phone? Yeah. It was like back in 2010, I think. The community college I attended had a few and I needed to use it cause my phone had died.

Which one item would you save from your burning house? This is such a hard question cause I'd wanna try and grab so many things.

Do you have a Twitter account? Yeah, or "X" as it's called now. *eye roll* I don't go on it much anymore.

What is your hair like right now? Short and no real style to it right now. I'm in the process of growing it out after cutting it like pixie cut short over a year ago for reasons. It's in that awkward phase, but it is starting to really grow out.

How do you like your eggs cooked? Over-easy, scrambled, hard boiled, deviled, egg salad. I like eggs.

What’s the longest you’ve been without showering? A few months while in the hospital. Like an actual shower I mean. I had bed baths of course.

Name one of your guilty pleasure songs. I didn't want to admit to liking some Justin Bieber songs at first like when his Purpose album came out. lol. I don't care now.

Have you ever made an item of clothing? No. I've never tried to learn or attempt to.

What was the most expensive bill you paid within the last month? I have a few high credit card payments. :X

[punkrogue]

Same anon who used to hate Roguneto. Idk if you care, but I also used to hate Gambit and Lila Cheney together in AoA and say they lacked "chemistry" (back when I used to wear Romy shipping goggles🤦‍♀️). But now rereading AoA and the more recent Gambit solo by Chris Claremont, I think Remy actually has more chemistry with Lila, even as just friends, than he does with his own wife. I also liked how in the original AoA, he sacrificed his love for Rogue to save Lila (but more recent AoA writers just had to retcon Lila out of existence so Remy could go back to being a Rogue simp and the same writers killed off Roguneto and their son, probably to punish Rogue for choosing Magneto 🙄). I think with Lila, Remy isn't portrayed as a bumbling sitcom husband, and Rogue herself actually seems to enjoy Magneto's company more than she enjoyed Gambit's.

Yeah I can see how Remy/Lila would work and not just because they're both thieves but just like, there's something about her vibes that feels like it would work well with Remy. I can see their ideas of both "hanging out" and "partying" lining up really well lol. I would be cool with seeing them test the waters more with them in the future if they ever wanted to. I'm also in the camp that Storm/Gambit has more chemistry and more chemistry that's like, consistently positive and interesting than romy but that's just me.

Yeah I don't like the general trend to scrabbling to bring back and make money off of the older big events/universes/comics/etc. I'm not surprised though that they felt the need to go back into AoA and bastardize it. A lot of these guys don't understand that an AU means it's not....... 616...... it works differently...... canon 616 ships don't have to exist in an AU. But these guys have the One Version they like and understand of characters and no imagination so lol rip to the lot of us I guess.

Yeah really part of why I like the non-romy ships for both Gambit and Rogue like Remy/Lila and Gamquick and Roguneto mainly because they don't seem to trigger the same "write them like a miserable sitcom couple" instinct that Romy for some reason. When they're not written together as a couple and instead written against other romantic partners or close platonic partners they just work so much better. They're like, allowed to be characters again with personalities. It's wild I don't get how people keep thinking mashing them together like barbie dolls is a good idea.

[sailor-toni]

Introducing The Amazing Half-Ghost Drag Queen: Cosmonaut Bethany!

You can also read this on A03, FF.NET, and Wattpad

After his identity is revealed in Phantom Planet, Danny wishes to go back to living a double life. While at college he finds it ion an unexpected way. Through the wonders of Drag shows.

Written for @ectoblastfromthepast for Phicc Phight

Original Prompt: Everyone knows Danny is Phantom. But they don't know about his *other* double life

In the mirror he practiced his routine with his lips, watching as the layers of make up easily moved on his face. If he showed up with cracking makeup the ladies would drag him for miles. Ivana would be the one at the helm, with her tacky ass platform shoes slamming him against the pavement. Danny placed the long flashy lashes on his lash line, fighting the urge to blink. 

For years Danny lived a double life, by day he was a normal C average student, and by night he fought ghosts and monsters that traveled into their world. It was a thrilling life full of dangers and violence, and great friends. Although he was paying for it now. The first time he slipped a pale blue strapless gown on, he shuddered at the sight of his muscles poking out of it. He was a cross dressing man who looked like a crossdressing man. And with how he had to fold his dick and with how much that dress cost. He did not want to look like a crossdressing man. He could’ve asked Jazz for help… but she put so little makeup on, Danny didn’t think she knew how to help him. Sam was a second option but he didn’t want to look goth, or emo. Tucker only knew how to make fursuits, and Valerie hated his guts. A lot of people hated his guts when everything was revealed. 

Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom! Who could have known! The town shouted. I knew! Wes shouted, and the town continued to cry, who could’ve known! They looked sooooooooo different! Hate and fame were given to him at a half-life as former friendly classmates turned on him. 

“Did you not trust me?” They asked. “Why did you never tell me?” 

“You know, I always knew you were more than meets the eye,” Dash was the first of the bullies to kiss his ass. The rest soon follow with their own bland lies and brown noses. 

Danny begged God for things to change at college. And the monkey paw curled his finger as well; he may not have had history with these people. Everyone wanted to be BFFs with the Ghost Hero who saved the planet from a ghost rock. 

Why couldn’t things go back? Danny thought. Back to when he was a nobody could change face and live a completely different life. Then he saw it. Tucker’s Mom had gotten his mom addicted to watching Rupaul's Drag Race. The makeup and hair hid their faces better than his powers could do and they looked like they were having fun. 

“Hold still while I get this,” Paulina said, bending her body over his to apply the 35 fake stick-on diamonds to his face.

Yeah, Danny only knew of one person who was an expert at makeup and dresses. Paulina acted like a child at the candy store when Danny sunk into her dorm room with a duffle bag of supplies. She had a sketchbook of looks, ideas, and makeup looks she printed off the internet. Sometimes Danny felt like her personal full size barbie doll. One time she made him a candy land inspired look, complete with a six-foot-tall lollipop wand for him to pole dance around. That was not to say he didn’t have a say in what he could wear. For Paulina’s 21st birthday, he, or should he say, Bethany showed up in full Paulina Sanchez drag. Complete with oversize balloons stuffed into his chest. 

No one knew who Bethany actually was. They assumed she was a college friend of Paulia’s. Someone who was a stranger to her old highschool friends. Dash never realized that it was actually Danny under the wig and makeup, not even when he drunkenly began fondling the balloon breasts. 

Danny never told his friends or family about the drag either. His parents and friends would accept him of course. But it wouldn’t be a true double life if everyone knew. Just like his performance the double life, the secrets, the moments where if they had come in at the wrong moment. He would have been caught. The thrill of it all gave him a burst of joy. A reminder of what life used to be. 

Paulina pushed herself off him and grabbed the mirror. “How do you look?” she asked. 

Danny wore an orange 50’s inspired space dress that jumped straight out of an old movie. His star studded wig was contained in a plastic helmet, with a hole cut out for his orange and navy makeup. Finally he stood on high go-go platform boots. 

“I like it,” Danny said, giving it a twirl. 

“Perfect! Now remember, if you win the prize, I want to try on the crown!” Paulina said. 

“Of course. But no instagram pics with it.” 

“I got it! Now do your ghost thing and let me know what happens.” 

“I will, thank you by the way.” 

“Don’t mention it.” 

Danny phased out of her room, his go-go boots slid on the air, invisible to the city under him. Nerves inginiting in his stomach, threatening to burst till he was on the stage of the night club, dancing to girls just wanna have fun. The crowd cheered at his flips, kicks, and his ‘magic’ tricks. The cards hidden within the fabric of his dress phased through the fabric and into his hands. His muscles allowed him to handstand on stage and twerk in the air. His final act of a triple flip ending in a split sent the crowd into a firestorm. The dollar bills rained down on him. 

This morning he was Danny Fenton the hero of the world, but right now he was Cosmonaut Bethany, participating before a crowd. Bethany didn’t win the crown for the next upcoming Miss Amity Park, but Danny had a great time with the other queens afterwards. 

[loorain]

Barbie Legacy - Big Update!

Sooooooooo I know I said I wasn't going to update much on the Barbie save, but I have a big update to things!

Firstly, the kids are doing a lot better than when I explained last. Barbie seems to be getting along better with her siblings; their relationships have generally been improving. In less than a week, Barbie will be aging into a teen and thus will begin the first phases of the 2nd gen tasks. That includes joining the cheerleading team.

Stevie, the resident class clown, loves making his sisters laugh. I can really envision him being a comedian later in life. Charlie remains the sufferer of the stereotypical middle-child syndrome. Still, she's doing well.

Now this isn't the big update, though these are all big positives with the save. No no, the big news is...

Barbie is pregnant again!

This was a genuine surprise for me. I'm not even sure when she and Akira woohooed (or even had the time to do so with three kids and doing a million odd jobs alongside their part-time jobs). I must have been so focused on the kids that I missed it, but later I noticed the tell-tale signs of a sim pregnancy occurring (hunger going down really fast, bladder also going down quickly), so a test was necessary. And lo and behold, there's a new nooboo joining the household!

Akira was surprisingly excited about it all, which was relieving, I suppose. They hadn't both agreed to have another kid, though Barbie rolled the whim. I wasn't going to allow it unless Akira also did so.

The kids all also reacted positively to getting a new sibling, much to my surprise as well! Barbie told each kid one by one and they were all excited, though Barbie was the most excited of them all (shocking, I know). Since the family is happy about it I'm not too stressed about anything, but that does mean some changes to the house. Charlie will now have to give up her bedroom and share with Barbie. Barbie had the largest bedroom and Charlie didn't have many things, so it was an easy decision. We'll see how this setup is as they age. The youngest member will get Charlie's old room, which is the tiniest room in the house.

So yeah! Nooboo loading at the Barbie house! I still need to decide on names and I don't know the sex yet. I think I'll keep it a surprise, but we'll see!

[miniwolfsbane]

I need to stay awake, so here's a list of things we should have gotten in The Sims 4's Growing together that would have improved it even more! (Also pleading in some spots. If they could just refresh it slightly, that would be boss.):

An easier (even customizable) compatibility system. (I loved the idea, but trying to get one of my sims to have mutual dislike with his future-son-in law is like trying to find chicken lips. I even changed his traits, but it didn't help. Unless my game was glitched, IDK. I haven't looked at that save file in months.)

Gender reveal parties (Because let's bring the chaos of those into sims. Fits perfectly!

New careers would've been fire. (Something similar to an OBGYN, if EA is so scared of scarring special snowflakes and supposed children playing this freaking game (GIVE US BURGLARS BACK YOU COWARDS!!), call it a baby doctor and give us real ultrasounds already. I mostly play on console, so mods aren't an option.

LESS infant milestones. (I understand that they were clearly going for realism and longform play, but I think I got my favorite (and only) mermaid twins to do nearly all of the applicable ones (with my game glitching slightly because it didn't register the first trip to the park) before turning them into toddlers. But if you have your sims on non-aging, it can get tedious. I had to cheat needs to do all that, keeping them awake constantly and they still got the tired moodlet as infants. They should have cut them back by 10 or 12 and not gone so hard on this. We love our realism as players, but sometimes enough is enough. Also the standing up milestone is broken on console. Ugh.)

This or HSY would have been the perfect EP to put driving lessons. Even if we don't have cars yet...well...was gonna say it wouldn't make sense, but it could have just been a rabbit hole to driver's ed or driving school. (Just writing those words gives me PTSD. I had a hard time of things.)

They could have really expanded on stuff for kids. The toy options are endless. Hula hoops, new teddy bears that are actually useable, dolls (knock off Barbie maybe?), new action figures for boys (and girls), more toddler specific toys, And we got bikes? BIKES?! I know 4 Rent was awful for bugs, but at least they gave us marbles and hopscotch. Better than nothing. Glad modders exist, but that doesn't help people who play exclusively on console because of disabilities or other reasons.

Maybe pregnancy specific clothes, I dunno. Seems pointless, but also sounds cute.

Bring back the dang pregnancy cravings (unless I imagined these?), and add in some mood swings. Teenagers get mood swings, but pregnant women don't? Yeah, nice going EA. *Sarcastic clap*

On that note, as long as it's from my head, we could have used some more realism, if just slightly. (Keep in mind I've never been preggers and haven't had anyone close to me be pregnant, just parent's friends or people older than me at the time. Edit and family members out-of-state many years ago.) Sore boob moodlets, milk pumps, swollen feet, real back aches and not just stretching, baby books (I miss those!!), maybe some stuff for the dads to be but I can't think of anything off had atm but books? Maybe some "I want to teach my kid about repair skills" want or moodlet when they hit the child stage, pacifiers (the CC ones are so cute!), teething if we didn't get it already I can't remember, teething toys, being able to put infants/toddlers on beds (mixed bag because in real life you shouldn't have babies in bed with you because it's dangerous. Saw a story about it.), more stuff for grandparents, plus the canes from TS3 and so on.

Okay, I might edit this later. Starting to feel tapped out for ideas

[sureuncertainty]

but that (and going thru the comments on the youtube video) got me thinking about how fucking SICK I am of this cynical attitude towards art and stories and media today. the whole idea that things were just better in the good ol' days. one commenter says "this is exactly what's wrong with the disney parks today, bc everything is a cash grab" like yeah? it's a company? and like yeah capitalism is bad, and yes it ruins things a lot of the time, and yes it can feel hopeless but you are SO WRONG if you think that the disney parks as they stand today do not have some of if not THE best examples of incredible detailed immersive storytelling in their lands and attractions

defunctland's video talks about how impressive the original space mountain in disneyland paris based on the jules verne novel was, and how it saved the park from bankruptcy because of its success and specifically talks about how impressive its storytelling was, managing to tell a story while also being a thrill ride. which made me think of guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind, which is imo one of the best examples of immersive storytelling while also being a thrilling coaster AND having an absolutely banging soundtrack (bc if you say you don't want to ride a rollercoaster to one way or another by blondie you're lying).

like disney is making new things that are ALSO REALLY REALLY COOL, and there's always gonna be new things that replace old things, because things CHANGE that's just life.

this goes for literally all kinds of art, like it makes me think of those stupid tumblr posts that are all cynical and 'capitalism has ruined art" and "everything is soulless" and "every movie is a cash grab" and "don't watch barbie bc it's just an advertisement" etc. etc. etc. like oh my GOD this year has been an amazing year for film and TV and there are SO MANY amazing stories and storytellers and movies and shows and books and video games and theme parks and attractions and theater and musicals that are being made and coming out right now by passionate creatives who CARE SO MUCH and i'm so SICK of this attitude that none of that matters actually bc capitalism

like yes, be critical of capitalism, yes be upset about poor marketing decisions, be angry when your favorite show that means so much to you gets cancelled, mourn the loss of art that you loved, but you can't live in the past or the good ol' days, and if you do you're just gonna miss all of the amazing art that is right in front of you.

good stories have been told since the beginning of time and will be told until the end of time. and like not to be dramatic but capitalism is not the death of art because art will never die.