rionaleonhart | HORSE NOSTRIL FOREVER

I want an episode of Misfits in which the Misfits' powers are all somehow swapped around. This is largely because I want to see how Simon would cope with Kelly's power of reading thoughts. It would be horrible for him, poor thing. Alisha should get Simon's power of invisibility; that would be interesting. No idea about the other three, though; I especially don't know what to do with Alisha's power. Maybe Nathan should get it; the idea of Nathan Young with the power of irresistible sexual desirability is terrifying and awful, frankly, but Misfits has never shied away from terrifying and awful things.

Speaking of Misfits, something almost entirely unlike Misfits: I watched Tangled recently with

reipan and

yuffie_starfish! I adored it. Executed correctly, a Disney film can have me on the verge of tears within ten minutes, and the execution of Tangled was absolutely correct.

Also, Rapunzel is adorable. It's a little odd; the promotional materials - the trailer, the pre-release images - all made Rapunzel look very smirky and badass and asskicking, when in fact she's a very sweet, innocent girl. I like sweet and innocent girls (nothing at all against badassness, but I tend to become more attached to the character who beats an intruder up with a frying pan despite being terrified than to the character who beats an intruder up with a frying pan without breaking a sweat), so it was a pleasant surprise, but I'm wondering why it needed to be a surprise. What with the misrepresentation of Rapunzel's character and the film's name-change from Rapunzel to Tangled, the entire marketing campaign has a desperate air of WE HAVE TO TRICK PEOPLE INTO WATCHING THIS FILM hanging about it. Which is a shame, because it's a delightful film and really shouldn't require deception.

I could be incredibly fond of Flynn/Rapunzel, but I'd have liked to see a bit more of their relationship developing. That's what fanfiction is for, I suppose. Perhaps I should write some?

Finally, I have been playing Ōkamiden, the DS sequel to Ōkami! The original Ōkami is probably my favourite videogame of all time, so I was a little worried about how Ōkamiden would match up, but I'm really enjoying it. The graphics aren't quite as good, but that's only because the DS is more graphically limited than the PS2 as a console; they're still stunning for a DS game. Also, it makes up for the graphical limitations with adorable baby animals. You play as a tiny wolf cub! You learn new brush techniques from baby mice and baby boars and all sorts! (And of course the DS is brilliantly suited for use of the Celestial Brush.)

It features an unsuccessful demonic bone-merchant saying 'I chalk it up to the economic downturn' in its demonic voice. What more do you need? MAYBE A DEMONIC BOUNCER SAYING 'I DON'T LIKE YOUR FACE'? BECAUSE, GUESS WHAT, IT HAS THAT TOO.

Ōkamiden doesn't appear to be available in shops in the UK, weirdly; you have to order it online. Honestly, Ōkami series, do you even want to be successful? The games are excellent, but your marketing is absolutely terrible.

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...okay, that's it. I need a DS.

Yes. Yes, you do.

(Are you going to be around for tonight's episode of Waterloo Road?)

(Ōkamiden features an entire sequence in which you infiltrate a demon market, incidentally. You have to wear a mask, which you get to draw yourself, so I was running around with a :p face stuck on. One demon snaps at you for passing up its wares and then apologises for being in a bad mood. It made me feel a bit bad about fighting them elsewhere in the game.)

I am afraid that I have foolishly made plans for this evening, so we shall have to reminisce about Waterloo Road once I've caught up. (I've been sent some birthday money! IT IS NOW DS MONEY.)

I've been trying to find a copy of Ōkamiden since it came out but when I went in the shops it was either sold out or not existing but apparently it says on the website from only shop I didn't went to yet that they have it. So I hope I'll be able to get the game this weekend

Good luck getting hold of it! It's a delightful game.

I think Nathan with the sex powers would constantly have Alisha after him, invisibly pulling all the girls away, and slapping him while wearing a glove.

WRITE TANGLED FANFICTION! DO IT NOW!!

I KIND OF WANT SIMON TO HAVE ALISHA'S POWER only I don't think it'd really work because he's not the sort for, y'know, touching people. At all.

TANGLED! Tangled is a lovely film. I am especially fond of the montage of Rapunzel trying to get an unconcious Flynn into the wardrobe.

Oh, no, Simon with Alisha's power would be so distressing. He'd work up the courage to touch someone and then hate himself for ever.

It's funny, Okami series and Disney have that we are SO BAD AT MARKETING thing in spades. ~~In case you did not know, Tangled happened to come out a couple of days AFTER HP 7-1. Just like The Frog Princess came out at the same time as AVATAR. Dear Disney. GET A CLUE.~~

I adored Tangled so I'm very glad you enjoyed it! It is made of cuteness and excellent humor and kind of makes a fabulous step forward for Disney by admitting that blood exists. What I love about it, and The Frog Princess, is that both the lady and the fellow are real, likeable, fun characters. Older Disney always sort of suffered from that Prince Charming problem. I am certainly not saying I don't want the ladies to be the main characters in Disney films-- simply not true! -- but if there must be romance, I am all about that romance being with men worth having, and not just pretty pieces of cardboard. Arguably, we have too many girls in society right now who are totally fine with pretty pieces of cardboard and value looks above substance.

Also I clearly need to pick up Okamiden next chance I have, because that sounds SO SUPER CUTE.

~~Oh, I see! It was released a couple of months after the Harry Potter film over here, so I hadn't realised that. That is a bit silly.~~

both the lady and the fellow are real, likeable, fun characters

That's an excellent point! I was surprised by how charmed I was by the Rapunzel-Flynn relationship, given that the central romance plots in Disney's animated canon rarely really catch my interest; it hadn't occurred to me that in The Little Mermaid, for example, Prince Eric might as well be an attractive rock. (Then again, whilst obviously 'both characters are interesting' is the ideal outcome, it's sort of nice that the devoid-of-personality participant in Disney's romances does tend to be the man, given that 'she's hot' is considered sufficient characterisation for a woman in far too much media.)

Ōkamiden is adorable and I highly recommend it!

~~Yeah, you'd think in their so-called 'home market' they'd have the wit not to try to compete with what they expect to be blockbusters.~~

Oh, Prince Eric. : / You silly cad. I do feel like they made steps with even Eric, though. He was an irresponsible dreamer, but he wasn't a board. Then you have Aladdin and Jasmine, who are both awesome, and Beauty and the Beast, who are both wonderfully bullheaded. (AND of course you have Gaston because who could forget that hairy, hairy chest?)

I definitely prefer to see the female characters taking the lead though, since it doesn't happen often enough. I am a huge fan of gender equality and interchangeability!

Squee, I can't wait until I get paid and can spare some change for it. :)

It's not just Disney, it's most 'princess' stories. I was watching this Princess Movie collection my niece has, the Snow White one, and five minutes after exchanging four words with Snow White, PC is all "What is this feeling? Is this love?" and I was all "NO THAT'S NOT LOVE YOU'VE KNOWN HER ALL OF FIVE SECONDS, YOU'VE NOT ACTUALLY MET, AND YOU'RE MAIN ATTRACTION IS THAT SHE'S PRETTY. THAT'S AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FEELING YOU'VE GOT." My mom actually got onto me cause I kept making smartass comments and she didn't want me to ruin it for my niece. But I don't think it's really fair that my three-and-one-year-old nieces are essentially being taught that the best way to win over a man is to be pretty. (This always bugged me, but when I got two nieces suddenly it seemed a lot more important.)

I mean, my nieces look like me so it's not like they won't be good-looking, and I'm not going to deny being a bit shallow myself, but I don't want them to grow up thinking looks are the be-all end-all of romance because they're NOT.

/rant from a total stranger

Edited 2011-03-31 21:33 (UTC)

I...think we're kind of talking about two different, though definitely valid, problems here? I'm talking about the importance of characters with depths from a purely story-driven perspective, and Disney's traditional lack of success in creating interesting male characters to accompany the female characters. :)

We're not TOTAL strangers...after all...we met before...Once Upon a Dream! /ludicrous movie quotes

...I think that started off being relevant, like, the main focus of their personalities was that they were beautiful (hence why all the prince's fall in love with them; PC spent the whole night dancing with Cinderella and never even recognized her when he saw her in her civvies) and then I got all ranty and OT.

I don't remember. :/

HORSE NOSTRIL FOREVER

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