Pirate fic

Chapter Three: Code Duello
Summary: Joe tries to help Hina prepare for the duel while Eiji confronts the Zangyack Count. Meanwhile, Marvelous struggles to deal with the full extent of what's at stake.

Customary birthday fic post. Happy birthday to me!

Mulan and Aladdin

The Laiha icon is apparently the only icon I have closest to Mulan now? So...okay. I think she'd be honored.

Watched two movies for my birthday with family. The original Mulan and the live action Aladdin. I'm mature enough to be able to accept the live action remakes for themselves and know that they can't erase the movies of my childhood. It's an alternative, not a replacement. And for what it's worth, I'm curious to see how the new Mulan is, and I liked the new Aladdin.

There are two things I do have to say, though. First, watching Mulan really made me miss the "Problematic Princess," and I wish Disney would go back to writing them. They're the female leads who we said should have been content or were rewarded for not really being good role models, etc. But they're interesting. I can't stand Tangled because Rapunzel just isn't interesting to me--she feels like she's too much of a "good role model" character. The same goes for Anna from Frozen. I'd prefer Ariel, who yes, is stubborn and disobedient, but interesting. She goes after what she wants. She's not rewarded for it at all--she has to take it and deal with the consequences. Mulan is that too, and that's the one thing that worries me about the new version--I'm worried they'll take away too much of this flawed young woman who always spoke up, did things her own way, and admits that maybe the real reason she ran away was to save herself, not her father. I'm worried they'll try to push her too far into the mold of the faithful daughter from the ballad, losing her personality in the process.

And as far as Aladdin goes, I liked it. A lot. It's probably the best of the remakes. Not because it tries to replace the original, but because it decides there's still more sides of the story to tell. Give Jasmine a story arc. Play with a different angle to Genie and Aladdin's relationship. After all, that's what the Broadway musical did too--it reworked things and changed Aladdin himself entirely, to fit around the theme of "Proud of Your Boy." What I think this new movie has over the Broadway version--which I adore, mind you--is that it fits in "A Whole New World" back in its place of glory, while building Aladdin and Jasmine's relationship in a similar way. Will Smith isn't out to replace Robin Williams any more than James Monroe Iglehart was. All three are the Genie, in my humble opinion.

I do have one little nit, though. In the Broadway version, Jasmine meets some other Prince whose name I don't recall right now. In the live action movie, it's Prince Anders. So...does no one remember Achmed?