#so this is a fucking mess

[azraeldoesnotdispute]

y'all asked for it

okay, my bestie went back home, so I have some free time to write a fucking essay about this movie *cracks knuckles*

the barbie movie is not without it's issues, but overall, the movie perfectly points out imbalance, a mirrored world to our own. we have the patriarchy here in the real world and anyone with half a brain can see how unequal it is, for both woman and men. in barbieland, it's a bit more subtle, but it's definitely there and you really only need to lightly scratch the surface to see that.

I've had some people in the notes of my other post talking about how the matriarchy of barbieland isn't near as bad as the patriarchy that ken brought about, but it is bad, just differently than what you'd think. no, barbie's aren't gross and rapey towards ken's but they ignore them and use them just as props whenever they feel like it before ignoring them. can you tell me where the ken's live? because barbie couldn't tell me, hell even Ryan doesn't know. direct quote from an interview:

"We're still not sure what happens to the Kens when the Barbies go home. We think they huddle on the beach for warmth."

this is supported by the fact that when ken brings the patriarchy to barbieland, they don't "dudebro" up their own houses, they do it to the barbies houses. while we're on the topic of them being gross and rapey, some people are acting like that's the most unforgivable thing, but are ignoring the fact that they're only acting like that because they weren't taught any better. they learned about patriarchy from books that said that women have to be subservient, and their whole existence thus far has been them doing whatever the barbies wanted/striving to get the barbies attention, and then discarded when the barbies were done with them.

if you were treated like that, wouldn't you think, hm maybe it's our time to shine? except they did it in the worst possible way. so when I say the matriarchy is just as bad as the patriarchy, THAT'S what I mean. the kens were made to feel like less, just the way women are made to feel like less in the real world.

patriarchy teaches men that they should force themselves/their will onto women and men seen as "lesser" (see: Allen and the rejected Kens). matriarchy is more subtle, in that they used the kens as props and ignored the "lesser" men (see: Allen, and how no one ever really talked to him, not the barbies, and not the kens, who were likely just following the barbies lead.)

following up on the second part of my post: ken was never given any kind of identity outside of being barbie's boyfriend, which is both another stab at "matriarchy bad" and a reflection of how women in the real world are basically taught to put men (and children if they have them) first before themselves, which is so damaging. ken was literally created to just be barbie's boyfriend, she had no say in this, and she doesn't seem to be interested in him in the slightest, other than distant friendship, probably because he's basically an over eager puppy and she feels weird about it. BUT she also doesn't really like him when he's pretending to be all tough and badass either, she is disgusted.

the best part of the movie was that barbie told ken that he needed to find out who he was instead of constantly living her shadow, which I think is a lesson everyone should internalize. you can't know who you are if you're constantly trying to live for a single person, you have to know who you are before you can love yourself or anyone else.

also the story arc of sasha and gloria, such a wonderful one that deserves its own essay but I don't have the time to do so, just wanted to add that it was also a great way to show how both generations feel about this kind of them. us old folks want our childhood back, when it was simply playing with barbies and making up stories, while gen z is sorta jaded and sees everything in black and white instead of the grey areas between

[bigfatbreak]

they both got bonked for being silly.

[ahahnopenope]

here's the picture i couldn't get out of my head

[xxcrystalinerose]

Going back to Zag's romantic relationships from Mel is extremely hilarious to me because of how comparatively well-adjusted he was.

Sure he done fucked up with Meg in the past and they had to kill each other as part of the job description, his sudden leaving seriously hurt Than while also having communication issues w/ each other, and there's the matter of Dusa being a lowly servant of the House. But in the end, he sorted everything out with 0 grievances from all parties involved (that one dialogue where Than admits Meg is the one who tells him to finally pursue Zag seriously warms my heart). Got the Mom(s) Seal of Approval™ even, and from Achilles too!

Meanwhile I look at Melinoë and she has a frankly criminal amount of situationships. Her rizz level is insane and she goes straight for the throat when flirting yet somehow her dating life is simultaneously a mess and nonexistent. Nemesis regularly kicks her into the dirt verbally AND physically but is the only person to acknowledge how fucked up it is that Mel is sent out alone in the hopes of killing an all powerful Titan that took SIX gods to kill in the past. "Fuck you and fuck your stupid frog in particular" then turns around and gives free Death Defiances. Her and Moros try to flirt with each other but they kept missing the mark because sometimes one of them says something totally unhinged like it was normal (I don't think watching people die is an appropriate bathtime conversation topic, my man). Her and Eris are a hot mess—literally with all those rounds she shot at Mel AND without a basis of workplace professionalism. Icarus is one shot nerve away from accidentally proclaiming his undying (literally) love to her but his guilt complex is hanging on to that nerve. And then there's Arachne and her not so little crush warring with the fact that said crush is family with and is helping the gods who cursed her.

Never have I realized how important it is that Zag has become a minor god of relationship counselling until I look at his baby sister and think, "yeah girl you definitely need help for all that shit".

[haunted-xander]

Well, I guess you didn't have much of a choice either

[baihujun]

NEON RED // NEON STATE // NEON BLADE

Reposting these old pieces in honor of Jason's birthday

[novakiart]

hi I'm back with an epilogue

prev

[liauditore]

do you guys ever think about that time she said her backstory was that she was only partially zombiefied and was fully conscious mentally while she ate and killed her family. and that she was a princess. i do alot.

[connorsok]

before I played Disco Elysium, I thought Harry du Bois was a co-worker in the precinct you work at and, reading about him being such a fucked up guy, I was literally planning on avoiding him as much as possible in my playthrough... colour me surprised when I found the badge and found out the main character's name

[whilomm]

i like to think that the tentacles in dungeon meshi are kinda like mushrooms or perhaps even lichens in that they are very confusing to identifty and have 200 completely different species that look very similar ("delicious brown tentacle vs BROWN DEATH TENDRIL") and you need to be an Expert to determine the difference between some of the more confusing species and some of them have like 300 different sexes and some of them are actually composite creatures composed of several different species and somehow yeast is involved and also no one really knows half of whats going on with them and in like 50 years someones gonna figure out that uhm actually these are two completely different types of tentacle creatures that arent related like at All they jusf happen to look similar and oh btw that one common house mold is actually a tentacle

[hazel-callahan]

ruby cruz's different takes on hazel's introduction <33

[pegginghim]

i want to dig my hands into his pretty hips forcing the strap to go deeper and deeper while he begs mommy to please slow down

[umblrspectrum]

you'll never guess which movie i finally watched after 2 years of being lazy

[sbeana]

the pool scene

[tubbytarchia]

maybe. I hope you guys never stop asking for ranchers

[strongintherealgay]

"I don't condone Allison's actions but--" Well, I do. I think she should murder him. I hope she can bring him back to life so she can murder him 15 more times. In fact, Allison should be able to rob a bank and get away with it. Punch 50 more men in the nose. Burn down a business after stealing anything from it. Get her a house with a marble island stat!