#in this case it’s mostly the struggle of unlearning stuff that’s gotten ingrained into you tho so nothing too bad

[moreespressoformydepresso]

Since Lady Tremaine puts so much focus on Anthony’s appearance as a way to desperately cling to anything that resembles her former title and wealth, Anthony puts a lot of his worth in his appearance. Since Anastasia’s mentally checked out most of the time, little Anthony had to satisfy the need for love and affection all children have with his grandmother. Her “affection” is merely not being horrible, and she only shows it when Anthony is exactly what she wants him to be. Most of that centers around his appearance, although behavior’s also pretty big for her. This has two effects, with one of them being Anthony’s complete inability to handle emotions I’ve explained in two of my posts (one’s a while back). The other?

Most of Anthony’s self-worth is centered around his looks. Growing up, Lady Tremaine’s behavior taught him that if he’s not pretty enough he doesn’t deserve affection or love. Also, everywhere he goes, he’s always seen as “pretty” first, “person” last. And it’s an optional last too. Things go well for him when he looks good, things go horribly when he doesn’t (because of Lady Tremaine, mostly), so whenever he’s nervous Anthony will look in his compact mirror and fix his hair or his makeup. He’ll open and close the mirror compulsively to check he still looks perfect because when he doesn’t it never ends well. And when Anthony, for whatever reason, doesn’t look good?

He melts down, of course. Because no matter how many people tell you otherwise, when you’re raised to believe you’re nothing but a pretty face, that’s hard to let go of. To Anthony, his looks are the only thing about him that matters. When that’s gone, he has nothing. He is nothing. Now imagine a scenario where, in order to save people, Anthony has to ruin his own appearance. Perhaps even permanently…