𝔹𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝔹𝕒𝕣𝕓𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕

Prologue

In Barbieland, everyone had a job. A role they played to perfection. A job or trait that defined who they were, what they did, who they interacted with, and how they lived. Whether it was Doctor Barbie, President Barbie, Stereotypical Barbie, or even the Kens who did... beach. But not you. You were just... Barbie. Well, not really, as you weren't Stereotypical Barbie; no, you were Basic Barbie. In the Real World, you were introduced as a sort of "create-your-own Barbie", given a basic body and limited materials for the user to customize the doll. After a few months, Basic Barbie was pulled off the shelves due to poor sales and added to the list of discontinued dolls. It seemed that no one wanted a customizable Barbie when they had other Barbies who could be anyone.

You weren't angry about it as you could understand their thought process as to why you were less desirable than the others. There were already many types that could also be customized on their own, so there wasn't much of a point in being a whole new variation. You weren't ridiculed by the Barbies, called names, or mistreated (not that they did that anymore). In fact, you weren't treated in any way at all. They had little to no idea who you were (you were discontinued very quickly) or confused you for someone else. You were just a nobody. A lot of times, you doubted you were even a Barbie. Not that being a Barbie changed anything for you. Not wanting to be stuck with the name "Basic Barbie", you instead went by Y/n L/n; which was one of the first steps in discovering who you wanted to be. You didn't want to be "basic" or "boring". You wanted to be you, and you wished that was enough in Barbieland.

You'd been living with the other Barbies for a while and had had to face the fact that no one tried to remember who you were. Wherever you went, you hung around in the background, and no one asked a thing. How would they know you were discontinued when they'd never even heard of you? But amongst all of the unique plastics was a man who could only see you in a room full of others. Ken. Sweet, adorable, slightly dense, handsome Ken.

Stereotypical Ken.

But there was nothing stereotypical about him. He was a Ken who was passionate about beach, horses, others, and, more specifically, you. It had all started the day you were discontinued. You had started living with your best friend, Midge because you didn't have a house yet (because, yet again, no one knew you). Midge's husband, Allan, also lived there, and it was one day when you were leaving the house to take a walk and ponder why you were unknown and unwanted, that you bumped into Allan and Ken, the latter of whom you'd never met in person before.

You gathered your things, about to head out when you heard voices outside.

An unfamiliar voice spoke up. "Oh, c'mon, Allan, it's just one party! It'll be fun! And then we can go do beach with the other Kens and—"

"Maybe another night, Ken," A voice said (that you knew belonged to Allan).

Not wanting to seem like you were purposefully eavesdropping, you opened the front door, seeing Allan talking with a Ken, all six feet of muscled, blond, Ken. Typical, but cute. As they both walked inside the house, Ken saw you perform the most wondrous act in the world. It was amazing, and something he'd never seen before in Barbieland, like, ever. But there you were, in all of your normal beauty, standing there like a goddess and inadvertently blowing Ken's mind. Ken couldn't sleep that night at the beach, still lost in the way your actions affected him.

You had held the door open for him.

It was a simple, mundane act, but for a Ken, it was awe-inspiring. The Barbies never did it, as they were "self-sufficient", and the Kens didn't do it either. It was the first act of respect that Ken ever received, and ever since then, he'd been hooked. Even though you sometimes didn't think you were perfect, or pretty like the others, whenever Ken saw you around Barbieland after that, he thought you were absolutely gorgeous, inside and out. Little did he know, you felt the same way about him. Though there were ego clashes among the Kens and they were still coming out of it all (taking down patriarchy takes longer than building it), you could still notice the sweet, understanding guy underneath. Though you hadn't even had a conversation with the other person,

What connected you both the most was how you both knew what it felt like to be a zero; where no one noticed you or appreciated you. It was lonely and a bummer because even if you tried to fit in, no one would let you. It was like you had to be a certain way to be accepted, but there was always a small part of you both that didn't want to be like that. What was the point of being "perfect" when you didn't feel good about yourself? You both guessed that that was why you were outcasts in Barbieland. Both of you weren't perfect, but isn't that living? Purposefully trying not to fit in was a risky move for outcasts in Barbieland, where they would have been shunned even more. But as your paths would cross, you would both have to realize that staying true to yourself was what makes you unique, and you would always have the choice to be whoever you wanted to be. 

953 WORDS

DATE PUBLISHED: 08-08-2023 (MM/DD/YYYY)