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WATCHHHHH NIIIMOOOOONAAAAAAAAAAAAAA God they all are so nice and dorky and auudgsasaherrrrrrrrrrrrrr my babies. They all kinda have a gay uncle swag (yeah, Nimona included)

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📣 What to Read After Watching: Nimona 🎞️

🩷 I stumbled upon She-Ra and the Princesses of Power from creator, showrunner, and executive producer ND Stevenson in 2018 and never looked back. It was one of the few projects, let alone animations, I ever watched that so blatantly flipped the script by highlighting inclusivity without needing to say it outright. Queerness was simply a way of human existence; representation mattered but didn't need to be outrightly defined. Again, ND Stevenson has flipped the script, this time by bringing his webcomic from page to screen. The story became an outlet for Stevenson to express his own nonconforming gender identity. The shape-shifting title character, Nimona, is a stunning example of unapologetic transness and gender fluidity, again, without needing to say it outright. If you haven't watched it yet, Nimona is now available on Netflix, with the original comic available online and in stores.

🩷 If you HAVE seen it and adored Nimonia's punk-pop chaos, don't worry; there's plenty more where that came from! Here are a few options you should consider reading after watching Nimona!

🩷 The Girl From the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag 🩷 Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker 🩷 CosmoKnights by Hannah Templer 🩷 The Night Eaters by Marjorie Liu 🩷 Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Gus Allen, and ND Stevenson 🩷 Save Yourself! by Bones Leopard 🩷 Kim Reaper by Sarah Graley 🩷 Moonstruck by Grace Ellis and Shae Beagle 🩷 Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

i keep seeing (hopefully mostly unintentional) whitewashed fanart of Ballister from the Nimona movie and i’d just like to remind any white people who may be doing fanart -

Ballister being brown is a very important part of the film. i know his skin is much lighter in the graphic novel, but as a brown person who watched the film it’s pretty obvious that they cast a Pakistani man to play him because on top of being a trans allegory, it’s also an allegory for racism. it’s intrinsic to the story told in the film.

same thing with Ambrosius being Korean. the story being told with the casting of Riz Ahmed as Ballister and Eugene Lee Yang as Ambrosius is of a brown man being framed to keep the power in the hands of white people, and of those in power using east asians (see: the model minority myth) to prop up white supremacy.

i could go on but i think you get the point. all that to say - the color of Ballister’s skin wasn’t just a choice made in passing to make the cast more diverse. same with Ambrosius. please make sure you’re representing that in your art.

biggest book -> movie change

AO3 is back up but I’m still writing Nimona headcanons

I feel like the main trio are all really bad at taking care of themselves 

Nimona can go a long time without eating drinking or sleeping so it’s really easy for her to fall into a pattern of not taking care of herself until she’s sluggish and snappy

At first it was really hard for the boys to distinguish her food withdrawals from her normal chaos 

When they do figure it out they make sure she eats and drinks at least once a day even if it small

It took a minute for her to adapt to this because she views taking care of herself as a hobby

But after a while she realizes that they’re just looking out for her so she goes along with it

Every once and a while Bal gets hyper-fixated on certain projects which causes him to forget to eat and sleep

Nimona once asked Ambrosius why he doesn’t do anything to stop these habits to which he responded “Oh believe me Nim I’ve tried it’s better to just let him get it out of his system”

Nimona still didn’t understand this and tried to force Bal to get up and take care of himself 

Which just ended with Nimona being on the other side of a verbal thrashing and then quickly shoved out of Bal’s workspace

Ambrosius didn’t even bat an eye 

Just walked around Nimona into the room with some food and water and then quickly left him alone

After that Nimona started to leave Bal snacks and pillows in his workshop when he eventually crashed  

(And occasionally carrying him to his room when Ambrosius was too tired to carry him) 

Bal also forgets to charge his arm 

So it’s not uncommon for his arm to die and stay locked in that position 

One time Ambrosius walked into the kitchen to find Bal hunched in an awkward position over his coffee and he didn’t flinch 

Just gave him a straw and a kiss on his head before he left for work

Another time Nimona walked into the living room to find them cuddled on the couch 

And they start their normal rant of “Ew gross get a room” 

To which Ambrosius replied “I would if I could Nim” 

She was quietly informed that Bal fell asleep and his arm died shortly after and Ambrosius has been stuck like this for hours waiting for Bal to wake up

Nimona laughed so hard they almost woke Bal up

They started storing chargers all around the house after that 

So I have a headcanon that I kind of hinted at in my other post 

But I’m fully convinced that Ambrosius’ shoulder is fucked after the movie (he also has scars because I said so)

Because no way in hell can this man take a blast like that to his shoulder and walk away perfectly fine 

Nah that man will be doing PT exercises for the rest of his life 

And this dork forgets to do his exercises until he’s literally on the floor writhing in pain

Bal has tried just about everything to get him to remember 

He’ll leave notes around the house, he’ll remind him before he leaves for work, writing it into his workout routine 

Nimona told him “Boss you’re being too soft” and quickly switched tactics 

Now you might be wondering what method Nimona used and that’s simple he started blackmailing Ambrosius 

Nimona started to warn Ambrosius “If you don’t do your exercises I’ll tell boss what happened to the last slice of cake” or “I’ll release the video of you singing at the top of your lungs while cleaning the house” 

And the stupid thing is it worked 

Ambrosius always says shit like “I should have left you in that box on the side of the road” to which Nimona responds with “Nah you’d miss me too much”

He also had a bad habit of getting sucked into little projects like trying to rebuild the city and fixing all the brainwashing that’s been going on since the institute was created

You know small tasks for one person

And this dork will stay locked in his office until Nimona and Bal drag his overdramatic ass out

He always makes a big deal about it too screaming shit like “Oh please help me the heroes of the realm are kidnapping me an innocent bystander while I was simply doing my job!”

I feel like Bal and Ambrosius have a lot of nicknames for Nimona “Nim” is the most common 

“Hun” and “kid” are used a couple of times but not nearly as often as the weird ones 

Like “tornado” “tsunami” “hurricane” and “forest fire”

And if we’re getting really sappy “starlight”

Now if you’re wondering where this one came from I’ll tell you 

When Bal and Ambrosius were little beans Bal called Ambrosius “sunshine” 

It was supposed to be ironic but after that he started calling Bal “moonbeam” 

And Ambrosius jokes that Nimona completes their little astronomy shtick 

She pretended to be grossed out and lets Bal hug her and Bal and Ambrosius pretended not to notice the tears on Bals shirt

(spoilers for the Barbie movie)

As a trans-masc non-binary person, I saw myself in Allan. I’m a boy but not a Ken, I'm Ken-like but not quite.

Allan’s role of being awkward, unsure and a little out of his element but still trying to help the Barbies through the chaos and events caused by the Kens, is how I feel as a trans-masc person who is still trying to advocate for women and discuss the issues they face.

I don't identify as a woman anymore but I still grew up as a girl, I lived as a young woman for 14 years, and people continue to be misogynistic towards me when they think I am one-- customers will talk to my male coworkers instead of me, when I’m the person with the answers

I wasn’t expecting to see myself, in terms of gender, in the character often described as Ken’s boyfriend, though it is said in a more playful, joking way rather than any attempt at representation. I’m gay and this version of Allan is definitely queer as well. Yet, that’s a separate story which has already been written, here’s an excellent article about that. [LINK]

Allan isn’t Ken, and he isn’t Barbie either. Allan is simply Allan, an idea with both masc and femme traits. He doesn’t fit into anything specific, he just is. Allan can wear Ken’s clothes but also Barbie’s pink jumpsuit-- but when he's not doing that undercover mission with the Barbies, we only ever see him wearing his own clothes. A set of clothes worn only by him, that iconic striped outfit that is signature to the real Allan doll.

Additionally, notice the horse patch on the front of his shirt, he never changed his clothes unlike the rest of the Kens when they discovered the patriarchy and a new version of masculinity, a toxic and destructive one. Allan only added something to his clothes to “fit in” or act as if he did, but he hated what the Kens did to Barbieland. He also wasn't brainwashed and never acted upon those destructive abilities that were laid out for him. He could've just joined the Kens and broke stuff and drank copious amounts of "brewskis" but he didn't.

Allan is different and it's constantly stated, "there's only one Allan" in this world of Kens (and Barbies).

I will never be Ken nor will I ever be a Barbie again, I’m not happy in either. I’ve tried both, neither is my style (or title). I wear Ken’s clothes as well as Barbie’s, and sometimes I wear Allan’s.

But, I like Allan’s clothes best, they fit me well.