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callsign-venus · 9 months

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Put a Bow on It | Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Reader

Summary: You find out that Bradley's present-wrapping skills are... less than stellar, so it's up to you to save Christmas.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: fluff, a few very light sexual references, incompetence of a grown man, fluffy fluff fluff

a/n: Thank you for the love on my previous posts — I’m really thankful to everyone who reads my silly little stories. Hope y’all enjoy this one, Merry Christmas!

“You can’t look at me like that,” Bradley says.

“Like what?” You ask, though you know exactly what he means.

It’s not that you mean to look at him with such pity, but who can blame you?

You weren’t exactly sure how he got himself into such a mess when you were only in the kitchen making coffees. Wedged between a stack of boxed Barbies and no less than 12 rolls of wrapping paper scattered across your living room floor, Bradley looks less competent aviator and more like an unsupervised 5th grader. Tattered strips of Santa wrapping paper curl around him, scraps of tape line both of his exposed thighs, and he’s so flustered he hasn’t even removed the bright red bow you tied around his head earlier. You both look down at the lumpy present sitting on the rug in front of him. For all his efforts, it wasn’t a spectacular result.

“You did great.” You have to hide your face with a drawn-out sip of coffee because you know if he catches a glimpse of your expression, he will call you out for your bald-faced lie.

He can tell anyway. “I’m not sure lying is the best way to get on the nice list.”

You do feel bad. It was your idea to get involved in the neighborhood toy drive, and despite his protests, you pleaded for Bradley to help.

“It will be fun,” you said before kissing his pouty lips. “I’ll make us coffees and you can light a fire and it’ll be so festive.”

“I’m sure it will be,” he cupped your face with his hands, “but I’m not lying when I say I can’t wrap a present to save my life.”

“You’ll do great.” You gave him another quick kiss and considered the matter over.

So, he didn’t do great. Could you really blame him? He tried to let you know beforehand, and it’s not like his military career was spent doing arts and crafts. You take another sip of your coffee before setting both mugs down and padding over to sit on the floor next to him.

“Am I off the wrapping duties?” He gives you a lopsided smile and slides his hand around your waist.

“You wish.” You reach over his lap and undo his wrapping job. “Get ready to learn a thing or two.”

He laughs when you use his own words against him, as you have throughout your entire relationship.

When you two weren’t yet dating – but still very much infatuated with each other – Bradley used pool as an excuse to get close to you, though no excuses were needed. You were putty in his hands already.

“Get ready to learn a thing or two,” he’d murmured in your ear. It was a Friday evening and The Hard Deck was packed, so he had to get close — mustache-ticking-your-ear close — so you could hear him over the rowdy crowd of sailors. And he was teaching you how to make a combination shot, so he had to wrap his arms around you so he could guide you through the motions. And you were a receptive student, so you had to lean against him so he could feel the curve of your ass — just so he knew his technique was working.

Now, nearly a year later on the rug of your living room, you slide up behind Bradley like he did that Friday night, your fingers gliding down his thick biceps towards his hands. They’re huge under yours, earning a laugh from both of you.

“Sweet girl, I’m not sure this is gonna work,” he says as you rest your chin on his shoulder. The curled ribbon from the bow in his hair tickles your check.

“Well, I know how to play pool thanks to this little trick. I’m sure I can use it to teach you how to wrap a present.”

You guide one of his hands toward the pair of scissors and another towards the pile of wrapping paper.

“Since I’m a great teacher, I’ll even let you pick which paper to use,” you say.

He lingers over the rolls for a moment, ultimately choosing a cranberry red paper with prints of cars carrying snow-dusted Christmas trees.

“Ok, now let’s roll it out. Look at me, Bradley.”

He pulls back a little so you can make complete eye contact. Even after months of dating, his warm brown eyes undo something in you, leaving you feeling like you’re brushing shoulders with the clouds. How did you ever get so lucky?

“It’s very important to measure the paper before cutting,” your voice softens as you drop the strict teacher act. “Put the Barbie at the edge of the wrapping paper, then you kinda fold up the other edge and see if it’s long enough.”

He takes a moment to soak you in before he can bring his attention back to the present. Up close, he can fully appreciate the graceful curve of your lips, the exact shade of your eyes. In the weepy, late morning sunlight, you are radiant.

The fire crackles in the background. The only other sound is your synchronous breathing.

You lean in slightly. “I don’t mean to ruin the moment, but I promised Cathy that we’d deliver the presents by 2, so you need to get moving.”

“You should boss me around more often.” He stares at you for a second longer before turning his attention back to the present.

You’re glad he turns around so he can’t witness the violent shade of red your face flushes — nearly as red as the wrapping paper.

Once the paper’s measured, you show him how to cut it with one swooshing glide of the scissors.

“It’s like I’m a professional,” he says.

“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.” You squeeze his hands gently. “We’ve still got to tape this sucker up.”

He groans as you peel the scraps of tape off his thigh.

“How did you even do this to yourself?” You collect all the tape into one big wad. “You’re a grown man”

He shrugs. “I guess my mom was gone before she could teach me.”

At the mention of his mom, your heart melts. What you wouldn’t give to have her here for him, to walk him through this process he should have learned years ago. To spend another Christmas with her boy. You run your fingers through his sun-lightened locks. One night when you two first started dating, you sat on your porch alone. Under soft-falling moonlight, you promised Carole that you’d be there for her son; promised her that she and Goose could count on you to make sure he’d always be ok.

Something in Bradley’s face makes you think you were doing just fine on your promise. You can’t help the heat that rises to your checks when you catch him staring at you.

Then, with a mischievous smile, he swipes the tape wad from you, aims it, and launches it right at your face.

You try to get mad, to lecture him about the children who will be let down on Christmas morning without their Barbie doll, but the grin on his lips washes away any amount of anger you could dredge up. He wags his eyebrows and you can’t contain your laughter as it spills out of you and fills up the living room.

“You can’t be trusted with this dangerous weapon.” You grab the tape dispenser and wipe a tear from your eye. “I’ll rip the tape for you so you can just focus on folding.”

He kisses the crown of your head. “I’m actually trusted with dangerous weapons daily at work.”

You roll your eyes, but to his credit, Bradley is willing to learn. You gently guide him through the folds, but he picks it up pretty quick given that he doesn’t have to juggle the wrapping paper and the tape.

“That’s pretty good, if I do say so myself.” He holds up the present, admiring the sharp folds and the perfectly festive wrapping paper. “And I’ve got the perfect girl to thank.”

You dodge his incoming kiss, instead patting his cheek and standing up.

His brows knot in confusion before he realizes what you’ve gotten up to retrieve: a roll of velvety green ribbon.

You hold it up triumphantly. “One final touch.”

The absolute pain on his face steals the grin off yours.

You sink back down to the floor and wrap him tight in your arms, sliding your hand up his back to rub circles between his shoulders.

“Sweet girl,” he murmurs against your chest, “I really don’t have that in me.”

You kiss the top of his head. If Bradley draws the line here, you’re more than happy to finish the wrapping. Hell, you’d even lace his fucking shoes if it spared him the torture of tying any more bows. You are head-over-heels for Bradley Bradshaw, and you know he knows it. It’s a good thing he’s equally head-over-heels for you.

“Ok, Bradshaw, I’ll tie the bow, but I’ll need a little help.” You break away from him and begin unspooling the ribbon. “I know your mom taught you this.”

And he smiles because he knows what’s coming.

You twist the ribbon around the package, cross-crossing it over the top. You look to him, and already he’s jumping into action. He ceremoniously raises a finger and plants it perfectly on the intersection of the ribbon.

“Perfect.” You steadily finish the bow. It’s really good, you have to admit: entirely symmetrical, huge and bouncy like a cartoon.

And then Bradley is on top of you, pulling you into his lap, smushing kisses along your jaw, working his way to your lips. His kisses are hungry, but not sinfully so. You’re hungry too. Hungry to share the rest of your lives together. To wrap presents for your kids on Christmas Eve while they pretend to be asleep down the hall. To savor early Christmas mornings in matching pajamas, sipping hot chocolate while a fire sings in the hearth. Late Christmas evenings where he pulls you into his lap on the piano bench and plays your favorite carols — a little sloppily from the spiked eggnog and having to reach around you.

“I’m not in your way?” You would ask, already knowing his answer.

“No, you are right where you need to be.”

And he would play long into the night, celebrating the fact that he gets to spend Christmas with his sweet girl. No December 26th would pass without you waking up to find you had both lost your voices.

Your phone rings, rudely barging into your domestic dreams of the future. You’re tempted to ignore it, but Bradley accepts the call and brings it to your ear, leans his forehead against yours.

“Hey, Cathy,” you say.

“Is there any chance you can get the presents here sooner?” You and Bradley can both hear how harried the toy drive organizer sounds. “Sorry to even ask, you know I appreciate you, but some paperwork got messed up and —”

“Sure thing, don’t worry about it.” You break in to spare her the breath.

“Thank you,” she says. “And bring that sailor of yours, too. I might need help loading the truck.”

You laugh. “I’ll make sure to bring him along.”

“Thank you so much, sweetie. See ya soon.”

“See you soon.” You hang up your phone and toss it on the floor.

You peck Bradley on the check. “Ok, ready to put those new skills to good use?”

“Ready.” He smiles and runs his hands through your hair. “Ready to do anything for you.”

You scramble out of his lap because if he keeps looking at you like that, you definitely won’t get the presents to Cathy on time.

You turn on the TV and fetch your still-steaming coffees from the table. Quickly, you and Bradley settle into an easy wrapping rhythm, the hum of a carol floating out of your TV, accompanied by the silent promise of all your Christmases — and many wrapped presents — to come.

#bradley bradshaw fanfiction #rooster x reader #bradley bradshaw x reader #fluff #rooster fluff #rooster fanfic #top gun maverick fanfiction

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chaifootsteps · 2 months

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hb could have actually worked Stolas in to the 'Blitz needs to believe people can love him so he won't die alone' plot without it being so disgusting and yucky

OK so hear me out - everything plays out the same up to Ozzie's

then in s2-4 instead of doing The Circus and making Stolas the main character, we stay with Blitz. if S1 was about who he's hurt in the past s2 is the point at which he begins trying to mend fences, but actively instead of the writers just forcing him to do it because he realized in Ozzie's he doesn't like how things are now

have the 'crashed Moxxie's anniversary' actually pay off with M&M being frostier than usual and Blitz being afraid he's about to lose them too. have Loona be annoyed when Blitz is overbearing when she's trying to make new friendships and accidentally sabotaging them with his over-protectiveness

have it be a story of Blitz simultaenously trying to make it up to people from the past (not all of whom forgive him) while he's trying to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the present with his new family

have the circus accident be more directly his fault - maybe he's practicing a stunt to win his father's love and causes the fire that way, even though he obviously didn't mean to

and have him begin to be emotionally vulnerable in small ways and he feels it pay off when others respond in kind instead of mocking or hating him like he fears. Trash 'Oops' as an episode but keep the emotional beat of Fizz forgiving him being the turning point for Blitz forgiving himself a bit, too, because Fizz's forgiveness is the thing he's secretly longed for during the entire show (next to Barbie's, who should also get vastly more screentime). have arcs to handle each of the main cast and flesh out IMP first and foremost

then as he begins to heal and treat people better, return to the Ozzie's plotline. have it be a thread throughout s2 of following Blitz's perspective of the fallout, not Stolas'. Show how confused he is by what Stolas is doing and why he's so happy to avoid him for those months off. have him make small comments to the people in his life about how deeply unhappy Stolas makes him and have them actually notice, because Blitz hated himself so much before he just rationalized what was being done to him as something he deserved

have the full moon argument play out as-is, but instead of what happens during apology tour, have Blitz think what he needs to do is apologize to Stolas to complete his character growth and love someone. Except make it clear to the audience that he has nagging doubts about all this - especially when Stolas pulls the 'I can't believe you didn't ditch taking your daughter to the doctor's office to come save me despite sending your employees to help because I fundamentally don't value your family or your time' card

And then right when it looks like he's about to cave and give Stolas what he wants - he doesn't.

He tells Stolas now he's learnt to love himself and he has people in his life again who've proven to him that he can be cherished and his worst self won't be rejected so long as he puts the work in to make things right when he screws up. He tells Stolas he used to think the owl was the closest thing to real love he could ever have - feeling used, abused and degraded. But he knows better than that now and he isn't about to let a pompous self absorbed royal bully him into being the perfect consort he wants. He goes further than that, even, telling Stolas he was bought to be his friend and pitied him from the start - and even now he wouldn't trade places with him even if he could

Because Blitz has rebuilt his life by looking in the mirror, holding himself to task and trying to be better. Meanwhile Stolas - who has had every advantage Blitz hadn't and could have chosen every step to do things differently - has actively pushed away both Via and Blitz with his 'never my fault, promise to do differently while getting worse all the time' behavior

Then Blitz walks out of his life for good, because now he has regained a sense of self worth he can see that he deserves better than the "love" Stolas was offering

and the one person he does apologize to, besides Barbie/Fizz/Moxxie/Verosika/etc? Striker. He apologizes for calling him a supremacist (still happens in this rewrite but as a sign of how hard Blitz is trying not to think that Striker has a point about Stolas) and that he isn't interested in fighting with him any longer

And Striker just responds with a smile, because he knows it means what he hoped all along would happen, has happened. Blitz is finally free from Stolas - and when he's ready he can move on to a love who respects him instead of just wanting to use him

I want this. If we can't have this in canon because Viv is Viv, I'm glad we have it here and now.

#Anonymous #image reply #viv stuff #stolitz critical

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mikeandikeschmidt · 10 months

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Mike Schmidt: Headcanons & Rant

•Was not tall enough to ride the big rides at the amusement park for most of his childhood. His mom used to tell him he wasn’t getting any taller because he didn’t eat all his food at dinner

•(Going off of one of Abby’s drawings on the wall) One time, Mike was hurrying to make breakfast and in his rush, accidentally dropped some eggs. And he had a mini-meltdown or something b/c for whatever reason, him dropping the eggs was funny enough for Abby to laugh at him and draw a picture about it

•(Going off another picture) When Abby gets sick, Mike will bring her soup in bed and it’s one of the things Abby appreciates the most. He is very nurturing with his sister, and his soft side comes out the most at times like these

•Mike doesn’t actually have anger issues. Everyone thinks he does b/c of what happened at the mall, but he’s actually very patient. (The mall was b/c of trauma, not anger) but even when Aunt Jane is screaming and slandering his name and threatening to take away Abby forever, he doesn’t let it bring him down to her level (and that is so admirable my gosh) The manager at Tire Zone was just a demanding jerk but no one listens to Mike b/c of his history

•Mike is very picky about who he dates. People would think he doesn’t get a lot of girls b/c of what happened but girls get crushes on him all the time. I mean, look at the girl at Dairy Freeze in the mall.

He is just very particular about the kind of girls he brings home. Since he’s raising his little sister, he wants to make sure he gives his heart to someone who would be a good role model for Abby, and wouldn’t mistreat her. At this time of his life, he’s not looking for a girlfriend anyway. Until my fanfics say so💀

•Mike has played Barbies before, and still will if Abby asks him to. And there are no witnesses. He has a “girl voice” he has to use or else Abby will scold him. (you know the meme)

•Mike has to drink a lot of caffeine. Coffee, soda, energy drinks. Using those pills of his often leave lasting effects throughout the rest of the day and the night shifts at Freddy’s only make things worse, so yeah. Mike needs caffeine and don’t we all? 😭

•(After Freddy’s)Before bed, Mike always has to double-check the locks on the door and the windows. It’s borderline OCD for him at this point, b/c if he doesn’t check, then he gets nagging thoughts of William coming in to attack them. Once he quits the pills, he’ll get up in the middle of the night to check the doors one more time.

•Mike still lets Abby sleep in his room when she gets scared or has a nightmare.

•When Abby does the kid thing of saying there’s a monster in her room, Mike is nervous for a half a second b/c…yeah. That’s not unusual in their lives. He’s half-worried when he checks her closet, imagining Foxy sticking his snout in the doors but is always relieved when there’s nothing there.

•Mike cannot sing to save his life. If he does, it’s when he’s in a really good mood and he’s trying to mess with Abby, b/c it’s a running joke how much she hates his singing.

#josh hutcherson #mike schmidt #mike schmidt fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #fnaf movie #mike and abby schmidt #mike schmidt fluff #mike schmidt headcanons #fnaf headcanons #fnaf theories #fnaf theory #totally canon

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thewintersoldierdisaster · 1 year

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all my svech fics are linked below with a word count and little summary. i’ll add to the list as fics get written. hope you all enjoy 🫶🏻

* indicates smut

love me tender love me sweet* (2.7k)

after andrei’s skate cut injury, you take care of him

i love you i love you i love you like never before* (3.8k)

you surprise andrei at a home game with your daughter in tow

miami vices* (7.6k)

all-star game 2023 is in miami and you join andrei for the weekend and bye-week

little rabbit (7.2k)

the birth of yours and andrei’s first child

at the heart of all my joy* (8.1k)

andrei’s 1000th game and celebration

around the sun with you* (1.8k)

yours and andrei’s birthdays are two days apart and you celebrate them

in that lavender haze* (9.1k)

yours and andrei’s wedding and greecian honeymoon

a sunday kind of love (3.4k)

mother’s day in the svechnikov house

hat tricks and treats (2.2k)

andrei surprises you and the girls after a game

delightful menace in the air (2.3k)

andrei watches the four kids alone for a few hours and you come home to delightful chaos

thank god for giving me you* (5.5k)

andrei can only keep a good attitude about missing the playoffs for so long

9 p.m. in vancouver (7k)

on a mini trip to vancouver to watch andrei play, you suffer the worst loss of your life. andrei is your rock throughout the ordeal

svyazat’ menya* (5.5k)

andrei ties you up and has his way with you

third sunday in june (4k)

it’s andrei’s first father’s day and you and evie celebrate him all day long

golden retriever boy (3k)

when he’s on the road, andrei never misses a facetime call with you and the kids

homecoming (1.7k)

andrei comes home late one night and finds his favorite sight on the couch

it’s cold outside but it’s warm in here* (3.9k)

christmas eve at the svechnikov house is a chaotic but fun affair

high speed* (4.9k)

date night with andrei gets raunchy when you decide to be exhibitionists

count down from ten (6.6k)

when you have a medical scare, it’s andrei’s turn to take care of you

little brother (6.4k)

it’s time for baby svechnikov number four to make their entrance into the world and of course it’s chaos in the best possible way

ante up* (5.7k)

during the canes bash, andrei steals you away for some private time

headcanons

andrei and mini-golfing

evie’s first day of school

spending an off-day with andrei

taking the kids on vacation

andrei and a size kink*

andrei and your nickname

pet names

andrei and sundress season*

andrei when you’re stressed out

andrei and cock warming**

the babies and their crosses

girl dad andrei

andrei giving you lingerie*

horny post-game andrei*

andrei all tied up**

andrei finding out about each pregnancy

andrei getting hurt during a game

mama svech as a grandma

protective andrei*

pre-game emoji tradition

boy dad andrei

svech babies + zodiac

tattoos for the svech babies

andrei and the first date

svech family and the barbie movie

dog dad andrei

andrei and public sex*

andrei and you in his jersey*

svechnikov family halloweens

andrei taking care of you when you’re sick

andrei when he realizes you’re the one

andrei on his birthday

andrei and a dick molding kit*

andrei when evie has a crush

svech babies as adults

andrei being protective in public

#andrei svechnikov x reader #andrei svechnikov x you #andrei svechnikov imagine #andrei svechnikov fic #andrei svechnikov

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icanseethefuture333 · 1 year

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The Astrological Observation of Gen Z, (a series)

Part I 👼🏽🩷:

The rise & fall of "chick flicks" & the possible resurgence of those films thanks to Barbie? 💗 + Victoria's Secret Angels/fashion show makes a come back, will it succeed 👼🏽?

SPOILER ALERT

Here is the birth chart (placidus) of the most loved and adored doll of all time, Barbie! The Barbie movie begun filming in March 2022, had it's first premiere on July 9th, 2023, and was aired officially on July 21st, 2023. If the movie started to be filmed in March 2022, then that means the movie would have been created during Barbie's solar return. The movie was going to have a big impact on the world from the moment it was produced. Although, yes of course it's Barbie who's super famous, but I believe that the intention behind the film was more sincere than other movies in comparison. In Barbie's solar return chart, there is a fear of being "forgotten" or "lost", which is exactly what Barbie struggled with in the movie. There is an Aquarius dominance and a 11th and 9th house stellium. Her North node, Moon, and Uranus are in her 12th house which deals with the subconscious. In the film, Barbie and the woman who owned her as a little girl had a telepathic connection (Aquarius Venus at 2° in the 9th house), which she did not know until she started having "oppressive thoughts about death" (Aquarius Mercury in the 10th house at 28°). Which Weird Barbie gives her a "choice" of going back to normal or knowing the secrets of the universe (a spiritual awakening). Which then explains how her 11th house and 9th house partnered together in the film. Friendship, philosophy, and wisdom all being important lessons that Barbie was forced to experience. Barbie's journey throughout the movie was painful and scary. She wasn't able to be the one to give advice or help little girls anymore, this time - people had to help her, which gave her the confidence to become the woman she wanted to become (Barbie has so many squares and conjuctions in her solar return chart, like let me go buy a Barbie doll and tell her how much I love her, I'm so sorryyyy 💔😭).

Barbie's transits on the day of the Barbie movie's official release. Aspects that are standing out to me are Part of Fortune sextile Pluto, Uranus sextile Moon, Pluto sextile Jupiter, Mercury trine Venus, and Mars square Ascendant. The movie will go down as a cult classic. It globally is a big hit on social media and caused people to even dress, think, and feel differently (especially regarding their femininity). The mars square ascendant could be why men or people with internalized toxic masculinity feel uncomfortable with the movie. It triggers something in them and I feel like secretly that men who say they hate Barbie, actually love her??? They could be remembering childhood memories of the doll and possibly even wanted to play with one but weren't allowed to or wished they spent more time with their moms or sisters. The Mercury trine Venus represents how the film was able to convey women's thoughts well and the things they wish they could say but were suppressed due to the patriarchy. Women as a whole really love Barbie or think highly of her. The film's hypothetical birth chart has a 12th house stellium and still conveys the significance of intuition and the subconscious mind. What's beautiful is the film's Pluto is in the 5th house at 29° in retrograde. If they intended to have people reconnect with their inner child, then it was done successfully. Which confirms my belief and also hope for sweet, sappy, inspiring chick flicks about friendships and self love happening again.

This wouldn't be a post about the 2000's if we didn't discuss the Victoria Secret's fashion show. The first episode was released on August 1st, 1995 during prime time so around 8 pm PST / 10 pm EST. Here is the hypothetical chart (placidus) of the Victoria's Secret Fashion show. I have never in my life seen so many retrogrades before, YIKES! The show has a lot of karmic debt and with the amount of scandals the company had, I'm not even surprised. Saturn in the 1st house, so there is a strict beauty standard that the show wants to uphold and dislikes when someone else tries to break the mold. I watched the Victoria Secret documentary and this is what was said as well. The women who worked there tried to bring more inclusivity to the company and the men acted very pompous and stubborn whenever they tried to create positive changes. They wanted to get away with their cookie cutter looks and corrupted desires. North node being at 0° the fashion show was supposed to embrace change and throughout the years resisted it's main intention or purpose of making women feel sexy. Now that they are trying to rebrand, they'd really have to really get over their ego in order to succeed. The exact date and time of the upcoming fashion show is unsure but it will be aired sometime in the fall. With the Victoria Secret's Fashion Show Sun sign being in Leo, then that means the episode will air right after it's solar return (I'm noticing a pattern here of companies releasing projects after it's solar return👀). Things seem to be going in the show's favor and it will be fair or more inclusive as they said it would be. There is a 7th house stellium here and a Moon in the 1st house so it seems as though they want to come off as genuine as possible. Saturn still remains in the 1st house, so there is still some stern energy here, maybe the rules for the models is strict or there is some sort of tight schedule for the show? Jupiter in the 3rd house, people will be talking about it or there's going to be articles/podcasts about the show. Pluto square South Node, the company's past scandals will still linger in the air. Uranus trine Chiron, someone in PR could write formal apologies to the staff? Saturn square Jupiter, Saturn is not done with them yet. It's literally grabbing them by the throat and saying "repent for your sins". It's not great, but not terrible either, but I'm leaning towards the fashion show will do just fine. The women will be exceptionally beautiful and the style of the clothes is gonna be different. It could take some time for people to be on board again with the show airing due to past controversies. Some will enjoy it for nostalgia, while others will not care to watch because it's not their thing or won't watch out of support for the victims.

The Tour '23's birth chart (whole sign)

The show having its Aquarius Moon in the 12th house 24° is very significant in my opinion given the fact it displays the hidden nature of women and the different aspects of the divine feminine. I watched it today and there was a lot of focus on motherhood, feeling unique or out of place in the world (a lot of people saying they felt like an alien), and having different body types, attributes, or features being seen. With an Aries chiron and north node, I feel their way of approaching things was more blunt and why they were more comfortable exhibiting/talking about scars, stretch marks, protesting, and (tw:) eating disorders. Another interesting aspect I noticed was mostly the narrator Gigi Hadid and the show has a Virgo Mercury in the 7th house 16°. Quite a few of the women narrating were mothers themselves, such as Gigi Hadid. Gigi has her Mercury in the 1st house and she has a Taurus stellium. The 7th house is connected to Venus and it is known for beauty, femininity, and love. There was also 5 segments all around the world but the show made its debut in Lagos, Nigeria. The Pisces ascendant I believe explains the fluidity and ability to transform or adapt to your environment. As well as being sensitive, free spirited, and having spiritual consciousness, for example, there was the use of Yoruba and Igbo mythology in the fashion show. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show originally had a Leo stellium and it was more superficial, a lot of hyper focus on glitz and glam. Where as now there is a Pisces stellium and still has a familiarity of signs from its original birth chart (the essence of Libra, Taurus, and Leo still being there). The Capricorn Pluto in the 11th house 27° acknowledges what they have done in the past and their problematic behavior. With 27° being a Gemini degree, its as if the company is wanting to say to the generation: "Let's talk about it". The fashion designers in the documentary all discussed the importance of self expression and their hardships to get there. Doja Cat being the main performer of the series isn't surprising given the fact she is also a Libra Sun. Similar to the show, Doja and Victoria's Secret, are both known for being quite controversial (perfect pair, don't you think?). With The Tour 23's Sun being in the 8th house, it feels that it is the death of their ego. A new chapter for the company, while still keeping some parts of itself and it's past. Neptune and Saturn being in the 1st house explains why everyone was so vulnerable about their journey, insecurities, and dealing with self criticism. With its ascendant being a leo degree (5°) I believe it will gain some traction or buzz because of the individualistic style and fresh new faces / designers, but it won't be anything that will people talk about long term.

#astrology #astro observations #astrology observations #placidus astrology #barbie #barbie movie #margot robbie #victoria's secret #victoria's sceret angels #victoria's secet model #Victoria secret: the tour '23 #2000s #y2k

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hererafjastori · 10 months

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The movie Barbie in Princess and the Pauper is deeply misunderstood. In this essay I will…

No but like, seriously. I have come across too many people making fun of “I’m just like you” and fundamentally misunderstanding both the meaning of the song, and Annalise as a character, by acting like Annalise is a rich brat who doesn’t know to be grateful for what she has. So we are going to take an in-depth look at the song, Annalise, Erika, their situations and their character, and make a few things clear.

Let’s start with the above mentioned song, and the widespread opinion, that the girls and the movie act like there is no difference between Annelise living in constant luxury, and Erika suffering the life of an indentured servant. But what is happening has a lot more nuance.

First of: Annelise is not the instigator for this compare and contrast. Note how it’s Erika who starts comparing their lives, not Annelise, who reacts very perplexed. Annelise would have been fine with Erika never figuring out she was a princess, and only starts talking about the luxuries that being a princess grants her, after Erika prompts her. This is not Annalise bragging about her life, downplaying the privilege she enjoys or whining about how hard her situation is. This is her replying to Erikas enquire by both, acknowledging the vast difference there is between their lives, but also by underlining the ridiculousness that is such luxury. We can see later, in the movie, when Erika gets her breakfast, that there are no fucking minstrels. And Erika is totally on board with that, she even plays around with her, look at the way she interacts with the ‘omelet’ Analise presents her with. And later in the song, Erika acknowledges that the ‘married to a total stranger’ situation sucks.

But let’s take a look at the ways they recognize that they are the same. What are their similarities?

“I’m just like you, you’re just like me, there’s somewhere else we’d rather be. Somewhere that’s ours, somewhere that dreams come true, yes I am a girl like you. You’d never think, that it was so, but now I’ve met you and I know. […] ”

“I would never tell my mother. I wouldn’t wanna disappoint her.” “I completely understand.”

“[…]We take responsibility. We carry through, do what we need to do, yes I am a girl like you […] It’s something anyone can see. A heart that beats, a voice that speaks the truth”

So, what are their stated similarities:

They are in a situation they desperately want to escape. They see no option of realizing their dreams and fulfilling their desires or even have a perspective of leading a happy life.

Others lean, depend on and draw from their strength, so they have little to no opportunity of sharing that burden

They recognize that there is a reason they have these duties, and their conscience won’t allow them to even try and shirk said duties. They take up this responsibility that they never wanted, fully aware of the sacrifices that they will have to make.

Throughout it all, they make the active choice not to complain, to stay optimistic, to not loose hope and to carry their burden with dignity and integrity

Nobody disputes that they life very different lives. The first minute of their interaction makes that abundantly clear. Erika even sings “You’d never think that it was so”. Them coming from very different places was never up for debate. What they are comparing is the way they deal with it.

This willingness to endure under the pressure and expectations placed upon them without allowing to loose themselves, is the very core of both of these characters!

And we can see all of this throughout the movie, especially in ‘Free’.

[1] I don’t think I have to explain Erika. We see the direness of her situation in the way Mdm. Karp treats her the times she finds her singing, her threatening to use the excuse of interest to keep her prisoner for basically the rest of her life, the way she treats Annelise, thinking she is talking to Erika after she fled, the fact that she locks her seamstresses in often enough, that there is a routine in place to allow at least Wolfie an escape.

But Annalise is just as worked to the bone as Erika, if in a different way. Her day is planned through, down to the literal minute. Just listen to the start of Free. Her greatest wish is to have one day without work, because she hasn’t had that in living memory. And yes, most of it is studies and keeping up appearances, but in “to be a princess” we get an impression of how much thought and energy that takes. (“be charming, but detached and yet amused […] Never be confused”, “Never fall, don’t ever stray from protocol. All through the day, there’s just one way you must behave” “Never crack” “Never show a thing you feel inside. Glide.” “to be a princess is to never get to rest” “Never squirm […] Speak and be clever, never at a loss for words” “Never show dismay and be there when people call, be prepared whatever royal life may bring” “Never ever turn your back. There’s a time and place and way for everything”)

She has to be flawless, confident, and composed throughout the day without the slightest hint of being imperfect. She has little to no privacy, she is constantly observed, perceived, judged by far more metrics than pretty much anyone else, and is she falls short of them and say, worsens relationships with another kingdom, makes a bad decision in ruling the kingdom, makes the kingdom appear weak in any way, her people will be the ones to pay the prize. And all that is without taking the marriage into consideration. She doesn’t know who Dominic is! We know that he is a great guy, but for all Annelise knows, he could be the kind of person Preminger reveals himself to be. Even if he is a decent guy, it would likely be a loveless marriage. That is a sacrifice (as we can see when her mother is forces into the very same position), especially if it means sacrificing her relationship with Julian, her childhood friend, who shares her interests, helps her through all that nonsense, and understands her better than anyone. On screen, he is the only person she truly opens up with, other than Serafina (who is a cat), and Erika (who she only met that day, and has little emotional investment in the whole thing). Erika and Dominic sing a whole duet about the importance of knowing each other in order to have a functioning relationship, and she has had that with Julian for years. They both (Julian is clearly just as devoted and self-sacrificing as she is) accept to let this unspoken thing between them slip through their fingers, with no hope of ever finding something comparable, and the prospect of drifting apart with time, all for the sake of the kingdom.

And in terms of hope for the future, Annelise is just as bad of, if not worse than Erika. Erika has been working continuously to escape her situation, and never given up hope (“My determination’s strong. People will gather around the world to hear my song! Soon I will forever be free). And in the meantime, she has found small ways to fight back against Mdm. Karp (She can never stop my schemes). How realistic it is to ever pay off Mdm. Karp is a different matter, but she still has a fighting spirit. Annelise meets Erika, while in the process of making peace with the fact, that this was it for her, and there will be no coming back from this (“Now I fear I’ll never be Free” “I’m savoring a first and last taste of freedom”).

[2] In terms of hope and determination, Erika is doing the emotional heavy lifting for both herself, and the other seamstress. And Annelise is putting up a strong façade for even her mother, because in the face of the lack of options, she doesn’t want to burden her mother with the knowledge that she is damning her daughter to an unhappy life.

[3] I already explained Annelise’s situation in detail. Because she was born in royalty, she is tasked with a lot of responsibility, and even though she had no choice in the matter, she still accepts her cross to bear, and does so silently knowing the great personal cost she’ll have to pay. For Erika, they kind of fumbled the ball with the duties she chooses to accept, seeing as pretty much the sole person to suffer from her just, running away and ignorin her 'duties' would be her active abuser. Even if she has yet to pay back all the money her parents borrowed from Mdm. Karp (something she had no say or choice in), she has more than done her time in emotional suffering, and saying that staying in this toxic environment is her duty is not a message I agree with. But in-universe she explicitly states such convictions, so any and all points on the matter of her dutiful behavior still stand. One might be able to twist her duty to be to not leave the other seamstress to suffer alone, but that has no textual evidence. But we see this willingness to sacrifice for the sake of duty and responsibility most strongly, when she agrees to help Julian out and take Annelise’s place. There are two ways this could play out: she get’s away with it, or she doesn’t. We see both, her options are being thrown into the royal dungeon for treason, or being locked away by Mdm. Karp for running away, and knowing those where her prospects, she still chose to do this for the sake of both Annelise and the kingdom.

[4] Just, listen to free, watch the movie. These two girls prove their inner strength and endurance time and time again. They always keep going, searching for solution after solution, no matter what obstacles lie in their way (Being sent away at the palace gates, escaping Mdm. Karp, escaping the mines, escaping the dungeon, etc.). Their drive, determination, endurance and unbendable spirit are admirable.

“I close my eyes, and feel myself fly a thousand miles away. I could take flight, but would it be right, my conscience tells me stay. I’ll remain forever royal. I’ll repay my parents debt. Duty means doing the things your heart may well regret. But I’ll never stop believing/ she can never stop my schemes. There’s more to living than gloves and gowns and thread and seams, in my dreams, I’ll be free”

This is the end of free, the core of them, and the thing they recognize in each other, and I will no longer allow any slander against either them!

#barbie #barbie princess and the pauper #princess and the pauper #barbie movies #character analysis #erika and annelise #annelise and erika #Annelise #Erika

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dyemelikeasunset · 4 months

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I'm curious about the zombie and ghost motifs for Dom and mor! Also the mannequin and ragdoll motifs as well.

So, why did you pick those motifs for them?

Whew, here are some of my personal essays about my symbolism!

spoilers and upsetting themes under the readmore

Ghost & Zombie:

Because they meet after near-death experiences, they have a lot of motifs about the afterlife (I mean their prequel series is titled "It Was You & I & The Afterlife")

Mor represents the corporeal or physical plane, so her undead theme revolves around a zombie, an undead being that still has a body. Zombies also have folklore origins in the Carribean and further back to central Africa, which is Mor's family heritage (Jamaican with possible roots from Congo)

Dom represents the spiritual and immaterial plane, so her undead theme revolves around ghosts, usually severed from their bodies. She's specifically a Diao Si Gui, or Chinese ghost of a person who was hung to death

in you&i, they are tortured by conflicts from their opposite planes. Mor is tortued by spirital and immaterial problems, while Dom is tortured by physical and corporeal problems. They slowly lead the other to a middle ground, where they can protect each other from their opposing traumas

Mannequin & Ragdoll:

This theme is focused around lack of self ownership, something they both struggle with. It has a lot to do with sexuality, race, and personal dissociation

Mor's lack of identity often centers around love, as dolls are meant to be loved and cradled but often tossed aside as they get worn and used. Morgan puts a lot of her self worth into her romantic relationships, and feels very empty and worthless when she's single. A lot of this comes from her abandoning parts of her identity in the pursuit of (and hope for) an ideal love A constant motif for her is how she struggles with her racial identity and her queer identity, represented by her strained, back-and-forth relationship with her mother and her euphoric-then-tumultuous dating history The ragdoll imagery combines her compartmentalized identity (a major overarching theme that runs through most of her other subthemes) with her visual characterization of having stitches everywhere. There is also a mental health metaphor for "unraveling" and her "fabric of reality coming undone" Deep down, Morgan wants to be a princess and a Barbie, but in the end she feels more like a fabric doll that gets used and discarded easily

For Dom, the fashion mannequinn metaphor is pretty obvious, but I centered most of the visualization on vintage mannequins that resemble empty cages. Dom has a visual subtheme of a hollow ribcage, partly to reflect how she doesn't understand love in any form, but it also represents the fact that she lacks passion and love for life. She is largely defined by her job-- which uses and objectifies her but also gives her meaning Unlike Morgan's Ragdoll, which is meant to be held, Dom's Mannequin is only meant to be looked at, touched only by the people posing her for display. This plays into Dom's touch starvation and her not understanding how to fulfill that deep human need without relationships that prioritize sex The mannequin does purposefully combine bits of "porcelain doll" imagery to reflect the way that Dominique's race plays into the specific exotified objectification she suffers in her industry

Ultimately this theme dyad represents the unique connection they find in each other, as women who don't belong to themselves. It represents their desire for some form of love and recognition, something gentler than what they've experienced throughout their lives

#dom and mor #it was you and i and the afterlife #text heavy /#long post /

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kai-anderson-whore · 1 year

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Hi love, can I have a really fluffy Evan imagine? I am 22 years old and a first year teacher who teaches first grade. Could it start out where she trashed college. It then transition to him helping her set up her classroom, and then once the years starts where she is overwhelmed being a first year teacher so he does all this sweet stuff and comforts her? Thanks!!

Yes of course hope you enjoy ☺️

Teaching the first grade (evan peters x teacher reader)

Summary: evan helps you set up your classroom for your first day of being a first grad teacher

Warnings: none really

Word count:1,9k

A/n: it’s officially spooky season feel free to sent some requests. I have somethings in the works for Halloween ☺️

•¤❅¤•.•°˚˚°•..•°˚˚°•.•¤❅¤•.•¤❅¤•.•°˚˚°•.

For as long as you could remember you wanted to be a teacher helping children be educated and progress in their lives. Help them be something spark their curiosity about what they wanted to be. So when you made it to college you knew that you wanted to study education mostly for younger children such as first graders.

But college life outside of classes got the best of you struggling to keep up with classes sure you managed to pass most of your classes. But being late to most of them and finding things hard. You made loads of friends even met people who didn't go to college such as Evan peters who then progressed to become your boyfriend later on.

Even though you failed some classes you were determined to full-fill your dreams in becoming a teacher. Asking to take extra time in your work to get the grades you needed to seek further in your education. In which all paid off well.

...

After a few years of studying you finally made it in your dreams. Getting a job as a first grade teacher you were nervous about how it would play out but Evan stood by your side throughout the process. Helping you set up your classroom. "Where do you want this?" He asked holding a box filled with things to decorate your classroom. "On one of the desks at the back please" you answered stapling some things on the wall to give the glum looking room some character for the children.

You and Evan spent the day moving desks so the tables would be in groups of four. You had a whole idea set up, a vision of how to make the class fun for the children yet still educational. "I'm so nervous for Monday" you said finishing the last piece of wall decoration. "You'll do amazingly, I mean when I was in first grade I didn't have superheroes and barbie dolls in my classroom, you'll be the best teacher ever" Evan reassures you his hands on your shoulders placing a chaste kiss on your cheeks.

You felt anxious and overwhelmed by the whole situation, sure this is what you wanted but now that it's officially happening the reality was setting in. It wasn't going to be easy by any means being responsible for a class of 20-25 children. "I hope you" you sighed finishing off the last pieces of your classroom.

...

Monday soon rolled around fast, the first school year. You woken up early barely able to even sleep due to your nerves. Picking out some dress pants and a white shirt you quickly got changed and applied some light makeup straightening your hair. Evan was still asleep light snores echoed through the room.

You went into the kitchen to make some coffee and eat your overnight oats for breakfast. You were to busy looking Through emails before you had to leave you didn't see Evan sluggishly walking into the kitchen. "Morning babe" he yawned running his tired eyes.

"Good morning" anxiety seeped through your tone Evan took notice wrapping his arms around your waist. "You'll do amazingly those kids are going to have the best teacher ever" he praised placing a kiss on your cheek. "You really think so?" You asked your hands on top of his on your waist. "I know so you'll take to it like a fish in water".

You were in your classroom getting everything prepared for your class coming in. You felt more nervous than before, hands trembling wiping over each desk. The clock showed 7:49am, ten minutes before your class officially starts you prepared all the last minute details such as pencils and paper for drawings.

8:00am rolled around you stood outside your classroom waiting on the children to arrive. Seeing all the children lined up outside the classroom smiles on their faces guided by the older grade as their buddy for a few weeks while they all settle into the school.

"Hello everyone I'm ms y/l/n come on in and I'll sort you all in your seating plan" you said in a comforting manner. All the children followed you in the room, you had instructed them to line up at the back of the class room and you will call out their names.

"Tommy merland?" You called a little boy with dirty blonde hair stepped forward shyly. "You come sit over here" you smiled. You called out each of the children's names one by one. The seating plan went as two boy and two girls on each table. All the children chatted amongst themselves getting to know everyone.

You nerves calmed down a little. Clearing your throat "okay class I want you all, in your groups come up with a name for your group and that will be the name of the group for awards and games- now this can be a character from your favourite show, game or favourite singer" you instructed "yes miss" the children called all chatting amongst themselves coming up with a group name.

After about five minutes you gained the children's attention. "Okay so Corey's table what name have you chosen?" You asked all the children seemed excited to share their names. "Spongebob" the little boy called out. "Amazing group one SpongeBob group" you said writing it down so you could put a picture on their pots in the middle of the table.

"Millie's group what did you pick?".

"Tom and Jerry". The brunette girl called. "Hey we wanted Tom and Jerry" a boy called out in a huff. Before you knew it a argument broke out between the two children. "Okay children is there another name you would like?" You asked hoping they may have picked a backup. "No we wanted Tom and Jerry".

You tried to resolve the small issue with brainstorming ideas but they weren't having it, still bickering over the topic. "Everyone hands on your heads" the children followed your attention exercise. "Hands on nose, on lips". All the children fell silent waiting on your next words.

You felt stressed out but an idea came to your head. "How about one group will be Tom and the other one be Jerry?" The children considered your suggestion one group picked Tom the other Jerry.

Later on in the classroom you were teaching the children their handwriting skills before lunch. All the children were doing great. You went round each group to see if they needed some help. "Great job everyone, now please put your pencils away and get ready for lunch" you called the class put all their things away getting ready for that lunch time bell to ring.

During lunch out let out a sigh finally being alone to think and take a breather. You heard your cellphone ringing in your bag fishing out for it. Evan's screen name shone on the device a smile on your lips answering the phone.

"Hey babe how is it so far?" He asked, you could practically hear the smile through the phone.

"I'm overwhelmed by it all, don't get me wrong I love it but it's so stressful I had to settle an argument on what group can be Tom and Jerry" you giggled.

"Tom and Jerry?" Evan asked. "Yeah in the group the kids would pick what their group would be called there's SpongeBob, queen elsa, and of course Tom and Jerry" you explained. Wiping over the whiteboard to start the next lesson.

"Well hopefully you don't have to settle more arguments on Tom and Jerry" he chuckles you giggled back. You and Evan bet your goodbyes hanging up the phone just in time for the children to come back.

Hours had past you felt exhausted, the drive home was quiet. You couldn't wait to get home and relax with Evan for a while. Pulling up along your driveway, eyes barely open your feet ached from standing most of the day. Exiting the car you locked it behind you making your way to your home.

Pushing the door open you were greeted by the comforting aroma of cooking. You closed the door leaving your shoes by the door entering the kitchen. You saw Evan plating up some food. A warm smile invaded your lips placing your handbag on the counter. "How was work?" He asked. "Stressful but good" you sighed wrapping your arms around his waist nuzzling your head on his back.

"Dinner smells good" you hummed taking in his scent- woody cologne mixed with a faint cigarette. "I hope it tastes as good as it smells" Evan chuckles handing you your plate. You ate a forkful a delightful moan left your lips "this is really good babe" you said nodding.

"So how was your day?" You asked taking about bite of your food.

"It was alright just ran some errands and got some things for you" he shrugged.

"For me?" You asked with a furrow brow, "yeah I thought maybe we could have a pamper night together since you wanted to do so for a while and I bought some snacks and stuff" your heart melted hearing him say that. "Aww Evan thank you" you beamed finishing the last of your dinner.

Later on you and Evan sat on your shared bed with a bunch of snacks and skin care products. "What do I do with this?" He asked holding a bottle of cleanser. "It's a cleaner you use a cotton pad and it takes all the dirt off your face" you explained handing him a cotton pad.

Evan poured some on gesturing you to come closer. You shimmied yourself closer feeling the cold pad wipe gently over your face. "Your turn" you said repeating the process on Evan's face.

You took two sheet face masks out handing Evan one, opening it up placing it over your faces. "It's cold" Evan cringed but placed it on his face anyway. "It was in the fridge Evan" you giggled. "Why was it in the fridge?" He asked confused. "Because it will depuff your face, now this has to be on for ten minutes" you answered laying back on the bed.

During those ten minutes your and Evan munched on the snacks he purchased earlier today talking about random things. You felt so much better than earlier taking off your face masks after ten minutes, moving on to the next step. "This is retinol it stops aging" you informed using the dropper from the glass bottle to drop some of the product on your hand.

You applied it on Evan's face a satisfied hum leaving his lips “that feels nice”. You smiled massaging the serum into his skin.

You and Evan took turns applying the rest of the products on each other. Placing everything back we’re they belong. You rushed right back to bed, under the covers snuggling up with your boyfriend with heavy eyes. A random rom-com playing quietly in the background.

“Thank you for this Evan i really needed this today was overwhelming” you sighed happily your chin rested on his chest looking up at him through your eyelashes. “I’m glad to help, hopefully tomorrow isn’t too bad first days are stressful but you did amazing” he smiled stroking your hair comforting you.

You averted your attention back to the tv in your bedroom, evan still stroking your hair. You felt your eyes shutting trying to hold them open but it was no use, slumber took over you. Evan smiled hearing your soft snores gently moving you aside so he could turn the tv off. Crawling back into bed tucking his arm back under your head drifting off to sleep.

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filmswithrem · 5 months

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girlhood in old barbie films

when greta gerwig’s barbie adaptation was first announced, everyone was talking about how barbie will become a feminist icon. it didn’t make sense to me at all, since growing up with the dolls and movies i never saw barbie as anti-feminist or some thing i needed to compare myself to. her characters in the old films were always ones i looked up to as a little girl.

the old films are very overlooked when it comes to the actual stories and messages in the plot. due to the low-budget animation, people assume they have badly written stories. no hate to greta gerwig, i loved the barbie movie but the storylines in a lot of the older movies were more well-developed. a majority of the classic barbie films are adaptations of popular fairytale stories, just with some different takes. all the main characters (played by barbie, who’s an actress in this universe) are their own characters, with different issues, flaws, and personalities. they all have character depth and development throughout the stories.

maybe due to the super pink and girly style of the films, they’re seen as shallow. but all the movies have such interesting stories and themes. they also don’t all follow the typical damsel in distress plot line, some do but others have completely different endings. they show that there’s many different ways a girl can live her life. for example, the 2004 film princess and the pauper. the two main characters, anneliese (the princess) and erika (the pauper) both have different endings. anneliese goes on to marry her best friend, rather than the king she had an arranged marriage with. erika gets engaged to the king, but decides she needs to live her life as a singer first, then return to marry him. in the 2008 diamond castle film, both main characters don’t end up with their love interests, and go on to live in a cottage together. some of them end up marrying their princes, while some go on to travel the world. or both.

another big thing is the flawed characters. none of them are perfect, they’re all 16-17 year old girls so it’s defeated more realistic. in the princess and the pop star, a film that is a bit hated, the main character tori acts immature and is very out of touch on what’s going on in her kingdom. in magic of the pegasus, the main character annika is very reckless and sarcastic. in princess charm school, blair is very clumsy and is struggling a lot on school. even barbie in a christmas carol, where barbie basically plays a villain. all the characters have development throughout the story. same with the characters relationships, they all have different dynamics. my personal favorite is in magic of pegasus. anika and aiden are stuck having to do a quest together, there’s so much banter between them and it takes them a while to start liking each other.

obviously when talking about the feminism in barbie, i need to mention the feminist MASTERPIECE, barbie in the three musketeers. in this, barbie and her friends are training to become musketeers in Paris. throughout the entirety of the film they have all these men telling them they can’t fight cause they’re girls. my favorite part is that if this were any other film, barbie’s character probably would have ended up with the misogynistic prince. he does learn that his opinions were wrong but they don’t have anything going on with each other.

personally, i found the feminist takes in the new barbie movie to be very surface level. it wasn’t bad, just not as revolutionary as people made it out to be. the whole idea of trying to “rebrand” barbie into a feminist makes no sense to me, since she was never anti-feminist. there’s such a big stereotype in media about barbie or princesses and dolls and how “harmful” they are to young girls. none of me or any friends of mine saw barbies as something degrading. the dolls, and films especially were such a big part of me and so many people’s childhoods. i looked up to the barbie protagonists so much and i feel that they were a better representation of barbies brand than in the new movie.

#barbie #barbie movies #old barbie movies #2000s barbie #film #animation

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theyhavetakenovermylife · 6 months

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What are your favorite things about the turtles that you like about them individually starting with Leonardo and then Donatello and then Michelangelo and then Raphael

My favorite things about the individual turtles (or things I associate with them)

Warnings: Somewhat emotional, talks of bullying by adults.

All Turtles:

I feel like this is very important to mention first, as it speaks a lot about my love for the turtles in general. All of these reasons are very much personal, and have very little to do with the turtles personalities, and more memories I have with them and other people in my life.

I have been a TMNT fan ever since kindergarten. I was 2 years old when 2003 turtles first came on television, so when I started in kindergarten at 3, they were already pretty established not just for me, but all of the other kids in kindergarten, especially the boys. And that leads us to another important point - I was a tomboy when I was young, and to a certain degree I still am to this day. I hated pink, and would scream and yell if I was put into a dress. But I did enjoy “boy clothes”, and I did ask my mom to only buy me “boy clothes”, so she did. I also played with action figures or played “rough” with the Barbie dolls, and my closest friends were all boys, or girls that somewhat understood my way of playing.

Now, being a tomboy is nowhere special or anything abnormal, but in the kindergarten I was in, the adults not only saw it as abnormal and concerning. I was never bullied by the kids in my kindergarten, but I was by the adults. They sang songs that made me cry, and they tried to force me to play with toys a certain way. At times I even tried to run away from my kindergarten, going so far as to jump the fence and run home. It got so bad that my dad, who at the time worked at the city council, had to step in and threaten them with legal action, just to make them stop singing the song that continuously made me cry.

But throughout all of this, every high and low in kindergarten, I clung onto TMNT. It was how I could play with both boys and girls, and became my first hyper fication. It even led to a description of me that the other kids would use when describing me to the new kinds; “This is (...). She wears boy clothes, hates Barbie dolls and loves Ninja Turtles”.

TL;DR, TMNT became my comfort obsession during bullying from adults in kindergarten, and it has stuck ever since, coming back during my depressive episode in 2023.

Leonardo:

Leo has always been my favorite ninja turtle. My favorite color was and is still blue, and I like to think he had something to do with it. He was the turtle I would dress up as at Fastelavn, and I really looked up to his views on honor and responsibilities. Back then I was the oldest child in the family, and I took my role as big sister very seriously, often seeking to protect my little brother.

I will even go so far as to say that Leonardo was my first fictional crush. I still remember watching 2003 in the living room, and getting somewhat irritated that he wasn’t real. Even more irritated when people had to bring up that none of the turtles were real. Way to kill the vibe for a 3 - 5 year old, lol.

In kindergarten, I would hide the Leonardo figure, or just walk around with it in my pocket. I clung to it, and got really sad when someone wanted to take it, since they were playing with the other turtles. Not long ago my brother dug through our old toys, and found the Leo figure my parents got me when I was young. It is now sitting in a bowl next to a Barbie doll I won at drag bingo, lol.

To this day Leo is still my favorite. I resonate with him and his struggles quite a lot. Each version of him always struck something with me, providing me with some sense of comfort. Maybe it is because he wants to protect, and that made me feel protected? Or he seems very driven by rules and morality, in a way that I do too. If I don’t, I get really anxious, so it’s nice to see someone else do it.

Donatello:

My love for Donatello is relatively new. I’ve always loved him, but for the little version of me, he was often forgotten. He was the last figure I would react for, and was the last turtle who’s name I remembered, often referred to as “the purple one”. Generally, in the kindergarten I went to, it was the fewest who showed interest in Donatello, always fighting over the other turtles.

However, as an adult, I’ve come to admire Donatello much more. It took quite some time before I came to realize the importance of him, and I would like to say that Rise played a big part of that. Up until then, I remembered Donnie as being shown as the “least coolest” (which I know now is very much not true”.

With Rise Donnie being coded with autism, my brother suddenly had a turtle to mirror with. While I had Leonardo in my childhood, my brother now had Donatello in his teenage years, and to be honest, that means a lot to me. To me, Donnie has now become a character that symbolizes late but powerful blooming. My brother is first now finding himself, and he turned 20 a month ago, so when he tells me that Rise Donnie makes him feel represented, and showed him that someone like him could be loved, it really touched me.

MM Donnie is currently the turtle in the keychain I’ve attached to my backpack, and is the turtle that has made my brother interested in TMNT. I sat with my almost 2 year old niece, and she noticed the Donnie on my backpack. She started to play with it, and it very quickly became a great bonding experience. So to me, Donnie is closely tied with personal growth and bonding.

Michelangelo:

I’ve come to realize that I have much more in common with Michelangelo than I first thought I had. First of all, he is the orange turtle, and I’m a natural redhead, so we match. Second of all is ADHD. It wasn’t until I was 21 that I learned I have ADHD, and just before I learned how to tackle it, I was hit with the death of my grandma, and had to quit work due to stress which turned into a pretty bad depression.

Those that have read my Bayverse Children Series, know that I’ve called Mikey’s daughter Sunny and his son Luis, both names that I connect with ideas of the sun. Sunny because it sounds like the sun, and Luis because it makes me think of king Louis the XIV, aka, the sun king. That is because I see Mikey as a very happy guy. Obviously, he is not happy all the time, and when we do experience him being sad or mad, we know that something is very wrong. But he generally has a very upbeat personality that reminds me of the sun, or maybe even just sunlight.

If Leo is the comfort and a personality I can see myself in, and Donnie is personal growth and bonding, then I see Mikey as the light at the end of the tunnel. An friendly and sympathetic person that wants the best for you, and will help you on the road to recovery. That’s at least how I see him and his brothers, as imaginary friends that have wished me the best.

Doesn’t hurt that he is a cat person. Every moment or scene with Mikey talking to or helping a cat, very much reminded me of me and my own cat. Me and my cat was just as close as Mikey and all of his cats are. RIP Mini💔

Raphael:

Leo is my comfort and the turtle I mirror in, Donnie is growth and bonding, Mikey is a helping hand through the darkness, then Raph is personal drive and passion.

In kindergarten, Raphael was my second favorite turtle, but I do remember that he was many of my friends' favorit. During my internship at a different kindergarten, I learned that he was all of the kids' favorit. And honestly, I see why. To me, he is the stereotypical young kid that doesn’t know how to express his emotions in a healthy way, leaving them with a lot of strong emotions that only keeps building and building, until it reaches a boiling point. And I’m pretty sure that a lot of people can see themselves in that.

Like many people we meet in our life, Raph has a really hard exterior, but is truly a really emotional guy on the inside. I think many kids see themselves in his emotional outbursts, and understand the frustration and build up he can feel. But that doesn’t make him less of a good person.

At my internship, I learned that one of the kids from last year that is now in school (I never met him), was actually named Raphael. I’ve told this before, but he was a big TMNT fan and would carry plastic sais to kindergarten. I later learned from the adult working there, that he also had the personality of Raphael, and was in some ways just as “hot tempered”. He had a hard time communicating with the other kids, as his emotions would often get in the way, causing him to lash out due to his frustration. And yup, he did throw one of his fake sais ast one of the kids once. But like the turtle, it didn’t make him any less good. From what I’ve been told, he was very passionate about whatever he did, and was very good at involving other kids in whatever he was playing or doing. He has obviously had a big impact on said kindergarten, as even a year after he left, they are still talking about him. And honestly, I get it. If his anything like the turtle Raphael, he is obviously lovable, even if he could be a bit of a hard nail sometimes.

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt raph #tmnt donnie #tmnt mikey #tmnt leo

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agent-calivide · 10 months

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So- normally this blog is exclusively for IEYTD content- but I think I'm gonna shift to just be my interests, because there is one thing that I'm absolutely feral about and desperately need to scream into the void over.

Discussion surrounding the 2004 film Barbie Princess and the Pauper makes me irrationally angry.

Barbie’s Princess and the Pauper is a surprisingly decent film for being made purely to shill doll, with music that's absolutely gorgeous and a story that's a bit less dark than the original novel it's parodying.

A brief summary for those who don’t know- though if my YouTube recommended’s anything to go by Barbie is taking over the collective hivemind of nostalgia at the moment- Barbie Princess and the Pauper is the story of two young women, Anneliese and Erica, living two completely separate lives, one being a princess and one being a pauper. The twist, however, is that they were completely identical, save for their hair and a shockingly relevant birthmark for only being mentioned twice.

Erica is a poor seamstress who’s worked like a dog by her wicked boss, Madame Carp, trying to pay off her parent’s debts so she can pursue life as a singer. Truly, the best rep for anyone who’s suffered through retail with a shitty boss. Annelise meanwhile, is a princess who spends her days being lavishly spoiled as a princess typically would, but she doesn’t want to be spoiled. On the contrary, she would rather spend her day studying than getting her feet massaged and faffing about. At least- that’s what the song “I am a girl like you” and most of the fandom would have you believe.

In the song “I am a girl like you", we start with Annelise and Erica meeting, Annelise saying that she’s not looking forward to marrying this king and Erica responding with “At least you’re not an indentured servant”. Annelise asks for elaboration, and the song starts. Erica talks about how her mornings start with paying her boss money for a hot breakfast, then having to get up, walk a mile through cold, wet roads just to get the eggs for breakfast and then come back when all she wants to do is sleep in. Once again, relatable. She then looks at Annelise and asks her how her morning starts. Annelise pauses, and is visibly bashful, clearly hesitant to share, but Erica asks her to go on. Then, Annelise tells Erica that if she wants eggs she rings a bell and her maid runs in with breakfast and cookies, and while she eats she gets a foot rub and has live music being played for her, but she doesn’t want to be spoiled and doted on, she wants to be in the library!

If this was the beginning and ending of Annelise’s characterization? I’d get it. If Erica thought Annelise was spoiled, I’d get it. But she doesn’t. On the contrary, Erica hears this rich girl complaining about how she doesn’t like her life but is aware of how good she has it, and chooses to reach out. To say “hey, I can relate to that." “There’s somewhere else we’d rather be, somewhere that’s our, somewhere that dreams come true” If anything, this is a testament to Erica’s empathy, her kindness, and her ability to put herself in someone else’s shoes even when they objectively have it better. Throughout this song Erica will talk about work and Annelise will talk about the lighthearted fun parts of being a princess, but will casually mention how she’s in a position that she doesn’t want. Erica has to walk through the mud every morning for breakfast, Annelise gets it served literally on a silver platter, Erica has to make dresses, Annelise gets to dance around in frilly dresses. But Annelise also mentions that she’d rather be in the library and get to marry who she chooses, not be betrothed for the sake of her kingdom, more on that in a minute.

And time and time again, I see people talk about how Annelise is tone deaf, how she’s complaining about what is, objectively, a better situation. But honestly, I find this stance to be major character assassination, and is one that I’m seeing more and more frequently in regards to Annelise and most other “rich” characters quite frankly. Now, normally I don’t mind opinions like “this character is spoiled and should have more development than just crappy parents” or “it’s bad that they rushed this antagonistic character’s ark so they can have them for the series finale” I think that argument works just fine on the spoiled rich girl archetype, like Pacifica Northwest and Sasha Waybright, but I see a lot of people slapping that sticker onto any character that grew up wealthy regardless if they were an antagonist or not.

I get not liking a character if they’re antagonistic, or relating better to a character who had to work for everything they had. Most of us didn’t grow up as princesses in fancy castles and have been stuck with horrible bosses. I understand why people relate to Erica more, especially as someone who worked at a fabric shop with a crappy manager. But on more than one occasion I’ve seen people take the stance that Annelise’s part in the song “just like you” is insensitive and Erica should’ve shouted at Annelise, reminded her of her privilege, “laid the verbal smackdown on her and show her how hard it was being a peasant” before quickly following it up with a “I was just kidding!” when anyone calls out that Annelise isn’t a one dimensional privileged white girl. And if that was the only context we got of Annelise, I’d understand where it came from.

But if we look at Annelise throughout the course of the whole movie, that’s not true at all, quite the opposite. Our first scene we get of Annelise is her, getting fitted for a wedding gown to marry a man she doesn’t want to be with while a servant is fretting over her schedule for the day. That doesn’t sound like the typical Disney princess who gets to spend her days doing whatever she wants post-coronation. This is an actual princess, with real responsibilities. She has to give speeches, attend meetings, speak with upper class societies, and all she wants, the first thing she says in the introduction song “Free”, is “all my life I’ve always wanted to have one day just for me, nothing to do and for once nowhere I need to be”.

While she is bemoaning to herself, she’s not exactly fighting her scheduler on this either. She doesn’t complain, she doesn’t fight back, no quips or whining or witty banter, she simply accepts that she has to do what is told and dreams of a world where she doesn’t have to do all that. And that’s the big point that I see a lot of people ignoring. She is absolutely busting her ass every day, in and out, doing as told and not getting a second to breathe.

Let’s look at the one day we see that is truly just Annelise in her environment. She is getting a fitting for a wedding dress to marry some king while the royal scheduler tells her she has to give a speech at the Historical Society, then has to rush over to a Horticultural Society Tea, then has Math lessons, Geography lessons, and presumably much more after if we’re basing it off the massive to-do list of parchment we see. As someone who survived the public education system, the thought of giving a speech, going to a high pressure lunch that’s basically a work meeting, then having to do a full day of school after that makes me want to simply wither away and cry. She’s not sitting around, looking pretty and riding horses all day. She has responsibilities, duties, commitments to her mother and her kingdom.

We then cut to Erica, who shares much of the same sentiment. “All my life I’ve always wanted to have one day for myself, not waking up with a pile of work on every shelf” before singing about all the work she has to do as a low-class seamstress. This is what we’d expect from the pauper side of things. Erica works hard to earn a living at a small seamstress shop and wishes she could be doing something more with her life. This is when Madame Carp walks in and we see a glint of Erica’s personality. She’s spunky, she talks back, she calls Madame Carp’s dress shop a debtor’s prison to her face and argues about her parent’s debts. While she is committed to paying back her parent’s debts, she’s not taking it lying down, and that is a fundamental difference between Annelise and Erica.

While Erica will see a problem and call out that it really sucks, Annelise will look at a problem and simply accept that she has to fix it with little more than a comment to herself. Both of these girls are dreaming about freedom, but Erica is fighting for her freedom while to Annelise, it’s little more than a fantasy.

And that includes the freedom to marry whom she chooses. And this is when we see just how far Annelise will go to please her mother, as she looks out and sees the love of her life, her tutor, Julian. Julian is implied to be a good friend who’s been her teacher for a long while, and he feeds her passions. He teaches her, he encourages her to learn, he is one of the few people in her life who feels joy in Annelise’s happiness. Because, truly, when we see the way she interacts with the other servants and maids, she doesn’t have many friends. She doesn’t have anyone to talk to about her grievances, her lack of freedom, any of it. All she has is Julian, and she likely will lose him in the marriage to King Dominick. He's already calling her "your highness" like an authority figure rather and Annelise, his friend, and she hasn't even met the king yet.

She can’t even have her fantasy to marry Julian, as it’s quickly interrupted by her mother cutting her off and saying “I’m so sorry my darling, but as you know, it is vital you marry king Dominick. It is the only way to take care of our people”. And Annelise just accepts this. She just goes “yeah, I know, I have to do this for the kingdom” and pushes her fantasies away. And the very next line is Annelise talking about how she knows she’s lucky, she knows she’s privileged to have all of this nice stuff, this nice life, but is quickly realizing that every present comes with strings. While she may get to have a lavish life, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

We then see Erica, who’s talking about how while she doesn’t have nice things, she has spirit, determination, and she will achieve her dreams no matter what. This song truly establishes just how different the girls are, specifically in regards to their challenges and the obstacles they encounter. Erica, though currently trapped by her parents' debts at Madam Carp’s, has a fire, a will, a determination. She, though in debt as a pauper, isn’t willing to give up on her goal and aspirations of being a professional singer.

Annelise meanwhile, could have resources. She could reach out and get help, or run away with Julian, or do something to get out of her situation, but she refuses to. She can’t get past this mental barrier of duty and responsibility, and even while downright miserable, she won’t complain and won’t voice her needs. But the kicker is truly in the bridge of Free. Erica says “Soon I will forever be free” while Annelise says “Now I fear I’ll never be free” Erica is damn near counting the days, she’s looking at freedom as an inevitability, something that she will be getting soon. Annelise knows and accepts that freedom simply isn’t in the cards for her. In the end, both girls dream of leaving their situations, but they both decide to stay in their respective positions for the good of those around them. They both are committed to their duties, but Erica’s duty will hopefully finish in the near future, while Annelise’s duty is her entire life.

Later in the film, Erica takes Annelise’s place at the castle as Annelise has been kidnapped by Priminger and Julian needs someone to pretend to be the princess so the king doesn’t leave. In “To be a princess” he proceeds to educate Erica on a lot of aspects of being a princess. This pertains but is not limited to: be charming but detached and yet amused, do keep a grip and never crack, always look your best, never get to rest, never show dismay, be there when people call, and never show a thing you feel inside. With lessons like that, it’s no wonder that Annelise feels an absolute commitment to being a princess and never has a day to herself. Everything and everyone around her, including her best friend, says that she’s not allowed to feel, to breathe, to relax. She always has to be alert, aware, she has to have a thought and a response for every single possible comment and retort. And when Erica’s taught all this, it’s painted as overwhelming to learn, but imagine that being every day of your life for every week of every month of every year. That sounds absolutely crushing. Erica at least gets to let off some steam. She snaps at Madame Carp, she jokes with Bertie, she sneaks out to town square and sings. She has outlets away from work that Annelise simply does not have.

Okay, so Annelise is completely committed to her job as a princess, big whoop. She still is filthy stinking rich and royals were married to people they didn’t like all the time, she still is incredibly privileged. Maybe so, however, there’s more to this marriage than just some sort of uniting of kingdoms or prior arrangement. The reason that she’s getting married to Dominick is the kingdom has fallen bankrupt. Why has it gone bankrupt? Has the queen spent an egregious amount of money on castles? Was the king a warmonger who put all their funds into their armies? Does princess Annelise have a penchant for expensive travel and one of a kind crowns?

No.

The kingdom is bankrupt because the queen’s advisor has mined their mines dry of gold in hopes of taking over the kingdom. With no gold coming in, there was nothing to exchange, and the queen had to fix the problem before it started to hurt her people more than it already has. Her solution? The only one. Marry Annelise off to the nearest wealthy suitor and hope that it injects money into their economy.

The royals of this kingdom did nothing wrong, other than letting an evil man have so much access to power, which I don’t think any of us have the right to judge. If anything, the only one who’s privileged and trying to take advantage of it is the royal advisor Preminger. He talks about how he’s scraped by for years to climb the ranks and deserves to be a king, but in that same vein he doesn’t care about the kingdom, the people who are affected by his decisions. He’s so hellbent on becoming king, he doesn’t think about the fact that for all intents and purposes, he’s made it. He’s wealthy, absurdly so unlike Erica, but he’s also not a royal and thus has no duties to do any work he doesn’t feel like it, able to disappear for weeks on end and not have anyone on his back unlike Annelise. He has everything the girls want, but it’s not enough for him. He wants more.

Annelise meanwhile, is very aware of her privilege as a princess and tries to relate to those around her, even if she’s a bit unsuccessful at it. Before Annelise meets King Dominick, Julian decides that, as her friend, he thinks she needs some air. To get out of this stuffy castle and go see the kingdom as a normal girl before she loses it all. So, he gets her a cloak and takes her down to the nearby village, and here we can really see that she’s aware of her privileges when she’s outside of the castle.

As she and Julien walk around the town she asks him which house is his and he says “more of a room really, we couldn’t afford a house.” and immediately Annelise feels guilty, backtracking and starting to apologize for assuming he had a house. She doesn’t look at him in confusion or make fun of him for not having a house to himself, she instantly realizes that she was “in the wrong” to assume and tries to apologize for being presumptuous or assuming he was wealthier than he was. But Julien doesn’t laugh at her, doesn’t scoff, doesn’t tell her to “check her privilege”. He simply gives her a small smile and says “I know”. He assures her that, as his friend, she didn’t cause offense, he’s aware that she simply didn’t know he was in that bad of a financial situation growing up. He simply laughs it off then carries on with the conversation.

And this entire next section is Julien just being the absolute best. He engages with her interests, he gets Annelise her favorite flower, he calls the flower by its (fake) scientific name as he hands it off to her and he knows that it’s her favorite and that she'd appreciate him talking about science with her. He’s simply engaging with her as a mutual, a friend, and shows interest in her- well- interests. She gets to happily indulge in fantasy for a moment, but it’s quickly ripped away as she looks around the market and notices that the kingdom’s bankruptcy is already setting in. Shops are getting boarded up, families are being forced to leave, and she’s reminded that she has to get married to King Dominick for their sake. And she is visibly saddened by this. Not that she has to marry Dominick, but that her people are suffering over something that she and her mother couldn’t have possibly prevented.

Her train of thought gets interrupted by Erica singing in town square, Erica having snuck out from work to sing in the town square for coin, and she is doing a damn good job. We see she earns a decent amount of money for just singing on the road. People gather around Erica and listen to her song, she gives a sense of hope, she is pursuing her own freedom and people are enjoying it. Erica once again gets a reminder that her dream of freedom is not only soon, but achievable. It’s in reach, it’s not a completely absurd notion like Annelise's freedom. This is quickly interrupted by Madame Carp stepping in and yelling at Erica for leaving work, stealing her hard earned money and telling her to get back to work- which on one hand, bitch. On the other, Erica leaving work in the middle of the day to sing in town square is… a choice.

But, regardless, Erica’s left with nothing and is alone on the street, and who steps in to put coins in her cup after Madame Carp’s left? Annelise! She comes over, gives Erica money, and the two talk for a bit. Erica finds out Annelise is the princess and asks why she’s outside the castle, and Annelise says “I’m savoring my first and last taste of freedom before getting married next week… to a total stranger.”

Note that she didn’t say “I’m getting a breather” or “I'm taking a break”. She said “I’m getting my first and last taste of freedom before getting married NEXT. WEEK. She has never, ever, ever gotten a day off, taken a break, gotten to truly rest and get a breather. Us viewers? We get weekends, holidays, a day off on occasion, but Annelise doesn’t. She doesn’t get a moment’s rest because her life is her job. She’s never even been outside the castle walls until this day! Her whole life has been work and has been dedicated to her kingdom, to her mother’s expectations. While yes she is definitely more privileged than Erica, it’s not fun and games. If anything, it’s a 24/7, 365 job, every day of the year. And then this happens. “At least you’re not an indentured servant”

This. This one line. Drives. Me. Insane. And I think this line primes people to take the stance that Annelise is simply spoiled. Just because your arm is broken, doesn’t mean my sprained ankle doesn’t hurt.

This is when “Girl like you” starts, and this is also what most people use as reference to say Annelise is spoiled and tone deaf. Because here’s the thing, Annelise never says she has it bad, she never claims that her life sucks. And when Erica tells her her morning routine, Annelise is visibly apprehensive to share her morning routine, because she is aware that it’s rather tone deaf to say that her life sucks because she’s marrying some guy she doesn’t know after hearing how Erica’s morning starts every. Single. Day. She clearly knows how absurd it is to complain, most likely because she’s friends with Julian, who seems to have also been a pauper before getting hired to tutor Annelise. But Erica presses so she folds and shares her morning routine and actively chooses to complain about something little, almost diminishing her misery in a way. Like “Oh, haha, yeah my morning’s pretty good, but I just want to do what I want to do for once rather than follow my mother’s schedule- but it’s fine! I’m fine!” And that is why it’s so important for Erica to reach out first and say “I’m just like you, you’re just like me”

Because it’s not just about reading science books. It’s Annelise wanting to rest, to pursue her interests, not the interests of her mother or her kingdom. Erica sees right through Annalise’s act and finds solidarity in it. She opens up about how miserable it is working at Madame Carp’s and Annalise, excited that she can actually carry this conversation, happily talks about how she loves Madame Carp’s dresses.

This is the other point I see a lot of people reference, as Erica talks about how abusive Madame Carp is and Annelise cuts in to say she loves the dresses that wicked woman sells. This, honestly, is just a mood to me. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been excited to carry on a conversation, only to immediately put my foot in my mouth as I realize I misread the tone. But once again, rather than Erica getting snobby, going “Did you not hear me? I just called it a penitentiary.” She simply smiles at the naïve princess and tells her she made the dress the princess was wearing.

Annelise proceeds to compliment her work, praise it for its detailing, and the two continue to talk, Erica talking bout how she has little issue with making dresses while Annelise has fun wearing them, and the two actually talk about her getting to “imagine life without the strife of an unfamiliar groom”.

Erica recognizes that Annelise’s situation, though much more comfortable than hers, absolutely sucks. That all of those privileges come at a cost and honestly questions if they’re worth it. And then Annelise proceeds to say “but I’d never let my mother know, I wouldn’t want to disappoint her!”

Once again, Annelise is not only diminishing her needs and putting her happiness aside for her mother’s happiness, but she shows that all of her issues are mental blocks. Social pressures that have been put on her from her life being raised as a princess. She’s not singing on a corner for pennies, but she also isn’t allowed to pursue her own happiness. She’s a tool, not a person.

And after these two talk and bond and get to know each other, what happens? Annelise uses her privilege to help Erica. She tells Erica “hey, I love your singing, I want you to perform at the castle, I’ll send someone to bring you up to the castle and perform”

This offer would be life changing for Erica. Having Erica come up to the castle, perform, and probably get paid quite a handsome sum for it? To a seamstress and street singer like Erica, that could literally get her out of debt and onto stage that much sooner. Annelise, rather than going “oh, she’s poor, I don’t want to be seen with her” like a stereotypical rich girl archetype says “Come, sing for us, you’re talented and I want to share your gift with others”. And Erica is rightfully ecstatic at that offer, and is over the moon when Annelise says she’ll send someone to get her.

Later, due to plot purposes, Annelise and Erica get mixed up, Anneilse stuck in the streets and Erica up in the castle. Annelise, in a moment of desperation, goes to Madame Carp’s dress emporium for shelter. The problem? Madame Carp thinks Annelise is Erica, and locks her in the back of the shop with the other seamstress, Bertie. While Bertie does think it’s Erica at first, Annelise tells Bertie the whole story (presumably) and proceeds to do exactly as instructed. She doesn’t throw a fit or refuse to help, she sits down, grabs a needle, and gets to work. Sloppy work, but work nonetheless. Even when Bertie tells Annelise that she doesn’t have to work on the dresses, she insists on helping. She doesn’t once say “I’m a princess, I shouldn’t be doing this” she simply accepts that this is her work now and adds it onto her plate. Even when she’s not in the castle, she thinks it’s her job to take on work that she’s assigned, and while it’s painted as a moment of empathy and kindness, Annelise is shown to put her desires as the very last thing to prioritize.

Eventually she’s released from Madam Carp’s by Preminger and he immediately locks her in a mine shaft and tries to murder her and Julian. Yes, he’s gone full blown Disney villain and locks the two away in a mineshaft then causes a cave in. Annelise and Julian are locked in a shaft in a caved in mine. Can I say this one more time: Annelise and Julian are buried alive in a m i n e. Most people in this situation would be panicking, crying, generally reacting distressed, we can see Julian sure as hell is, as he grabs a pick and immediately tries to dig himself and Annelise out. What is Annelise doing during all of this? Staying calm, comforting Julian, and finding her kingdom’s solution to bankruptcy.

Say what you will about how “it’s just a movie” but I know that were I trapped in a caved in mine, my mind would not be on how to fix a problem that looked like it wasn’t gonna be my issue very, very soon. But not only does Annelise use the rock as a touching analogy to make Julian feel better about himself, she keeps the crystals in mind and when they escape the mine collapse- due to cat shenaniganry- and informs her mother of them to solve the kingdom’s gold issues.

Here, Annelise once again is solving a problem that she didn’t even cause to get her happily ever after. She is truly doing all of the work on this school project, and people are digging at how she was raised in a fancy castle rather than acknowledging that Annelise did a lot of hard work. One video I saw was someone talking about how if they were Erika they would’ve stayed in Annelise’s position to “earn that bag” and make some actual changes to improve the kingdom, but Annelise does make changes to help the kingdom!

She finds a new export, saves her kingdom’s market from completely crashing, helps revitalize the economy, and because of all of that people can move back home and re-open their shops! We don’t know much about how this kingdom is run, but we do know that the royalty feel a duty to help their people, to do what is best for the masses regardless of how much they don’t want to do it. This isn’t like the modern day one percent where people tear down historical sites to make room for their mega yachts. The reason Annelise and the Queen are rich is they are the government. They are a monarchy. We don’t see any massive balls or galas like we do in Island Princess or Cinderella, they’re not just throwing money around for the amusement of it.

They’re bankrupt because their mines ran dry, and they managed to save their kingdom by finding a new export. “Why don’t they use their own money to help people if they’re so fabulously wealthy?” While that idea could be a good bandaid, eventually that money would also run out and then not only would the kingdom be bankrupt, but there’d be no incentive for any nearby kingdoms to marry Annelise because she’d be a poor princess to a broke kingdom that would offer effectively no benefits to any allyship. The best, and most to the point plan that the queen comes up with is to marry her daughter off so her kingdom would get an injection of money as soon as possible, because they effectively had no other solutions. They didn’t know about the crystal mines, and they didn’t know Preminger was fabulously wealthy. The only solution was to make themselves look good, like a viable, healthy(ish) kingdom and hope that Dominick would accept the proposal and save their kingdom.

And that leads me to Dominick. Dominick, unlike Annelise, doesn’t use his privilege to help anyone other than himself and Erica. And even then, that privilege mostly amounts to him getting to do what he wants. While Annelise simply accepts that she has to marry this king, Dominick goes out of his way to disguise himself as a page boy so he could get to know Annelise before agreeing to anything. Dominick preemptively gives himself an out and chooses to test Annelise, while Annelise has to take the hand she’s given and not complain. In all of this, Annelise isn’t the one with a choice, ever. Her mother chooses to marry her off, her mother chooses king Dominick, Dominick chooses to disguise himself, and then Preminger chooses to kidnap her so she can’t marry Dominick. She has no agency in her life.

The only reason Dominick reveals himself to Erica (who is pretending to be Annelise at the moment so the marriage to save the kingdom doesn’t get called off) is because he thinks Annelise ran away because she didn’t want to marry a stranger. But he still is the one with the agency, and he only reveals his true self when he thinks that Annelise acted on her own behalf.

So Annelies isn’t allowed to have her own agency, but is spoiled because she’s rich, meanwhile Dominick is a king who practices his own agency regularly throughout the movie and he is rarely if ever criticized for it. He gets to meet Erica, fall in love with her, he gets to choose her, and when Erica is revealed to be a pauper and thrown in the dungeon he gets to use a suit of armor to sneak in and get her out of the prison safely. While I don’t think he got permission to break her out, he still was allowed to use his resources to go back to Annelise’s castle and get a suit of armor to sneak into the dungeon and break Erica out.

No one else in this film would’ve had access to resources like that other than maybe Annelise, and yet I don’t see anyone saying that Erica should check King Dominick’s privilege and lecture him on how he was lucky that he was allowed to get have the money to be a king and access to a suit of armor to sneak into the dungeons and save her from probably a death sentence. In this situation, Dominick is purely using his privileges for himself. Yes, he saves Erica, but at this point he’s also in love with her, and he’s saving her not just because she’s a good person, but because he’s fallen in love with her and doesn’t want to lose her.

When she’s accused of killing Annelise, he is distraught. He doesn’t believe it, he can’t fathom that this sweet young lady that he’s spent the week with would do something so horrid. That is why he saves her. Not because of some sense of justice, it’s because he’s smitten with her. Yes, he uses his privilege to help someone in a worse position than him, but according to people who are criticizing Annelise, that’s not enough. Especially when it’s a decision made out of self interest.

At the end of the film, Annelise and Dominick both help Erica with her situation. The royal family, having found out that Madame Carp’s business is corrupt at best, stops purchasing from her and she goes out of business. I can already hear people saying “The family shouldn’t have been buying dresses from Madame Carp in the first place! She’s vindictive and cruel to her workers!” and to that I raise you: How many beauty influencers and brands these days do something sketchy, and it’s later revealed that they were a horrible person or a bad corporation?

My first thought, as someone who wears alternative fashion, is DollsKill. I can admit that I’ve purchased things off of their website before I found out how unethical they are. Should I have done more research? Yes. And I don’t shop with them any more because of it. But if I, and many other people, were able to make that mistake in the year of 2023 with access to infinite information on the internet, then it’s easy to see how someone in the 1700’s could’ve made the same folly.

Especially since Madame Carp doesn’t exactly go around bragging that she abuses her seamstresses. We know that Annelise never met Madame Carp before the film, as Madame Carp claims she’s the princess’s “close personal friend” while actively calling Annelise "Erica" and refusing to believe it’s actually the princess in her boutique. Realistically, Annelise and the queen likely don’t even go shopping, they probably have a servant go into the market, buy a few gowns for upcoming events, and only know the gowns by their brands.

I do wonder what happened to Bertie after all of this, but she seems pretty happy that Madame Carp has to leave, so perhaps she has a backup plan or some sort of safety net. Maybe she was also in debt to Madame Carp and was just looking forward to paying off her debts before starting her own dress emporium, we don’t really know. Either way, the dress shop closing gives Erica the freedom to pursue her music career that she was being held back from and she does so. But that still leaves our boy Dominick. He talks to Erica, tries to convince her to stay with him, but she tells him that her dream is to travel and sing. He does eventually acquiesce and gives her an engagement ring, telling her that it was for her anyways, and that it wasn’t a promise nor pressure, simply a gift. In the end, after performing for a long while, Erica decides that she wants to be with Dominick and travels to his kingdom to marry him.

I think that Annelise and Dominick are both good people for being Monarchs that put the interest of those around them before themselves. But for some reason, Annelise is held to a much higher standard than Dominick, even when she makes very human mistakes. They both are raised as royalty, King Dominick likely even more so as he’s king of a wealthy kingdom, but he is never put under the same scrutiny as Annelise. Sure, he never claims to relate to Julian, but Annelise never claimed to relate to Erica until she suggested it.

And Annelise’s privileges aren’t always a good thing. I feel like people neglect the whole section of the story where she was kidnapped and held prisoner because of her mother’s advisor. Not figuratively, literally. Taken from her home and locked in a random cabin because Preminger wanted to be king and figured that kidnapping her was the wisest choice rather than just advising the queen to not marry her off. Annelise is actively put in danger and harm’s way because of her status.

Honestly, Annelise really gets the shaft, full pun intended, in the second half of the film, a lot of time being spent on Erica and King Dominick’s relationship. Despite being The Princess and the Pauper, Annelise’s story is really the B plot to Erica’s love story. This makes sense, after all, she spends a lot of time just kidnapped and locked in various rooms, but in a weird way this just shows yet again that she has no autonomy even in her own story. And yet, she’s the one who’s scorned for being spoiled.

“Well, she is spoiled. She had a roof over her head and warm food and we see how Erika is baffled at the spoils when she’s a princess” But I'm gonna say something that's likely gonna get the pitchforks out: Money doesn't buy happiness. Before anyone hits me with a “I’d rather cry in a bugatti than a gutter”, let me explain.

The phrase “money can’t buy happiness” has two very different interpretations, and I find that both sides refuse to listen to the other even though both have valid arguments. There’s the stance that it can buy happiness, as money provides all sorts of things. On the surface, it’s shallow things, jewelry, gaming consoles, toys, fashion, knick knacks and trinkets that provide short term serotonin by buying something that you really want. But dig a bit deeper, and it gives more than that. Money is stability, shelter, food, water. It’s hard to be happy if you can’t have those things. To further elaborate, if you’re in a bad enough position that you can’t afford to heat your home, or buy a meal, or get clean drinking water, being able to afford that, either by your own means or by having someone else get it for you, is something that can’t be put into a monetary value- even if it literally is given a price. Getting to have access to water, shelter, knowing that you’ll have food in the morning, that’s something that you likely won’t understand the value of if you’ve always had it. Money may not buy literal happiness, but it provides security, and that security can lead to happiness.

Then there’s the argument that it can’t buy happiness, and people who have this opinion usually aren’t wondering where their next meal will be coming from or if they can pay rent this month. This stance is usually painted as privileged and spoiled because “well, you can say that because you’ve never had to worry about paying to survive”, but in my experience it’s quite the contrary. Most people I’ve met who say “money can’t buy happiness” usually include a caveat that if someone is in a position where they can’t afford food or shelter then of course money buys happiness. Stability is the foundation of comfort and comfort leads to happiness. No one is saying that someone’s ridiculous for being happy they can afford to live. And if you have seen that stance, then I'm sorry humans just suck.

Rather, “money can’t buy happiness” means that material objects cannot replace emotional intimacy or support. Surface level items have short-term pleasure that cannot be sustainable as the happiness lasts less and less with each material object. And this feeling of dissatisfaction only increases the more things you get. This is especially true when it comes to gifts. While gift giving is a valid love language, the whole point of it is giving or receiving items that have sentimental value more than monetary value. A pebble that’s their favorite color means way more than a PS5 when they exclusively use Nintendo products.

But when you don’t have a support system, healthy relationships, and the people you do have around you try to replace emotional intimacy with shallow gifts that don’t amount to anything, you find yourself downright miserable. Most people that I’ve met that have the stance that money can’t buy happiness tend to reach that conclusion after a guardian figure causes intense emotional distress or neglect then tries to purchase love with a shallow but expensive gift. It’s not that money can’t provide you with things that make you happy, it’s that money can’t provide emotional intimacy or a genuine support system.

If anything, Princess and the Pauper is the perfect allegory for this phrase, as Erica, though poor and struggling to get by, has emotional support in Bertie, her singing, her dreams. But, she doesn’t have access to security, stability, physical comforts, and is blocked from pursuing her goals because of external factors. Annelise meanwhile, is in a position of comfort and stability, but doesn’t have any emotional support nor outlets, her only friend being her teacher and her mother having a strict regime for her to follow regardless of her desires while being surrounded by luxurious gifts from other royalty that are ultimately empty gestures.

All of this to say, while Annelise is a princess who lives with the privileges of being a rich, upper class girl with access to many things that Erica could only dream of, her life isn’t one of luxury and spoils. She doesn’t get to indulge in her pleasures and can only appreciate things on a surface level because that is all she has time for. I don’t think most of the people who criticize Annelise could actually handle her schedule every day of every month of every year. She’s not some Disney princess who’s only job is to be pretty and interesting for the male love interest, she has duty. Responsibility. A full time job that dictates her sleep schedule.

She’s not unaware of her privileges and if anything is always using them to help everyone else, and at the end of the film she still doesn’t get that freedom that she’s searching for. She invites a pauper to sing at the castle, she tries to find solutions to the kingdom’s bankruptcy for her people, she goes out of her way to help when she can, and she’s not completely insensitive to the struggles of her friends. Even when she’s supposed to be taking a break, or is in a dire situation, she’s still constantly thinking of how to help others first.

Yes, she gets to marry Julian, but she’s still a princess and still likely follows her royal schedule to a T. While Erica got to learn what it’s like to be a princess, got to pursue her music, and got to marry King Dominick, becoming a princess herself, Annelise’s conclusion is ultimately that she managed to solve the kingdom’s bankruptcy so she could marry whom she chooses and then proceeds to fall back into the same routine of fixing everything for everyone else. She only gets freedom in one aspect, and we never see her actually get a day to herself, a day to relax. The only “relaxation” we see happening is with Erica while she spends time with Dominick, and that week likely was going to be Annelise’s only break before the marriage. So even after saving the day, Annelise still doesn’t get what she wants, and yet supposedly she’s spoiled rotten.

Truly, she does do what she says in the first song Free. “I’ll remain forever royal… Duty means doing the things your heart may well regret.” Erica never actually repays her parent’s debts, Madame Carp goes out of business and Erica gets let off the hook probably because she has two very powerful royals on her side. And this once again is Annelise using her privileges to help those who don't have the same as her by choosing to not support a business that is bad for its workers.

Erica gets released from her servitude early and then gets to chase after her dreams, but Annelise only gets to marry Julian after putting in the work to solve the bankruptcy so she doesn’t have to marry some other rich king that isn’t the one who fell for her best friend.

#barbie #barbie princess and the pauper #barbie analysis #barbie 2004 #character analysis #I forgot too include this in the main post #but the only place we really see Annelise being spoiled is when Erica wakes up in Annelise's shoes #and she's baffled by the spoils in the big breakfast #but that's not something Annelise decided to do #it likely was a lifestyle encouraged/enforced by her parents #and how would she know any different if she was raised that way #If you say she's spoiled because she doesn't give the maid a portion of her breakfast every morning #when the servants were very likely fed well and the maid was SUPER weirded out by Erica's attitude then idk what to tell you #mild rant #probably too passionate about this

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