#i feel like these movies kinda have the same protagonist and i love her and i want to see her again

[celine-song]

My Old Ass (2024) dir. Megan Park

[melancholic-fig]

What I loved about the Substance was that it took impossible body standards imposed on women seriously. It didn't treat me like a kid throwing a temper tantrum about not being sexy. It didn't try to tell me "everyone is beautiful" and "every body is a beach body" in a pitiable voice that makes it all worse. There's no one singing to me about how "I cannot see my own beauty", as if validation from men will ever be enough to cover the black hole in my stomach drilled by years of self-loathing, binging-purging cycles and appetite-suppression pills. It haven't stopped for a second to congratulate itself for platitudes.

The substance threw an ice bucket on my head, grabbed me by the shoulders, dragged me to the mirror and told me "look at what violence you're inflicting on yourself!". It showed me a perfect body, the carrot on the stick, and then it hit it with a sledgehammer in white neon light. Is it worth it? Aren't you mad? Look at how he eats shrimp and doesn't wash his hands - is this the person you want to be liked by? Is this what you deserve for being human, really?

I've seen this movie on Friday and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I haven't looked in the mirror the same again. Somehow this made me kinder to myself.

I've seen reviewers say that this movie counts as "male gaze" and "violence against women" but I think they don't see the forest from the trees here.

First the male gaze: it felt like a deconstruction, in the best way. Sue's butt was the least erotic thing ever put to screen. The soft porn dance studio was shot in a lifeless manner, I felt like my mom was reading the browse history. Personally, I'd never want to have Sue's job. Even the sexist dudes that watch the movie seem to "get it", that their overly sexual media diet looks embarassing under the microscope. The medium is the message, and the sound and visual cues are all there to make sex appeal look very unappealing and immature. There's nothing sexy in "Pump it up", it's catchy and fun and has sexual undertones, but not a hint of sensuality.

Then the violence against women: there is only one scene where a man attacks a woman, and I'll not spoil it, but i'll say it's so bizzare it feels too cartoony to count. The rest of the violence is all self-inflicted. Every step of the way. Women don't just suffer abuse under patriarchy from men, they self-inflict and reenforce the structures of their own suffering onto others. Elizabeth is a fitness coach actively making bank off of other women's fears, and in the process of telling everyone over x kg to skip lunch she's grown her own self-loathing too. It wasn't really the horny men watching the fitness show, isn't it? Sue is even worse, she goes on talk shows to tell women her looks come from being kind, a silly statement considering she injects herself daily with an old woman's spine liquid while loathing her for existing. Elizabeth and Sue are both victims and perpetuators of violence, and it's gruesome because it's not a silly feminine thing, it's all-encompassing and a matter of life and death. Without violence, what would be the message of the movie? "It kinda sucks to be a woman hating your body". Doesn't sting, isn't it? This is not chopping women and putting them in refrigerators to give the good guy a reason to kill the baddie, this has to be violent to show the depth of pain of the protagonist. It's necessary. And I like it, because crying and wallowing in pain is not the behaviour you want to see on screens, it feels lethargic and leads to the problem not being taken as seriously.

[celestetcetera]

🙋 i am curious

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED ‼️

So me and @happistar were chatting a bit ago and the topic somehow landed on Hey what if there was a Disney Channel Original adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Y'know, cuz they love loosely basing those off things you'd read in english class

We ended up with an entire plot summary. Below the cut bc I will not spare a single detail

Okay so this would be set in peak Disney Channel Original era, aka 2000-2010s, in highschool bc of course. Our protagonist is Henrietta Jekyll, a teen girl, bc that's your typical DCO protagonist.

She goes by Jekyll, because she hates her first name, and occasionally Dr. Jekyll, because her friends & chemistry teacher call her that as a quirky nickname for being very determined to get a PHD one day.

Jekyll's a certified Nerd™ who excels in chemistry, gets straight As, and participates in like 8 different clubs. Truly the academic pride of the school! She’s also overworked and definitely needs to take time for herself.

Her besties are Utterson and Lanyon, who tbh we never decided whether they get genderbent or not. They basically make up your bestie friend group of the DCO. The only bullet point I noted about Utterson is that they're like that one kid in good omens -- clearly born to do taxes. We know they're going to law school

So Jekyll wants to be popular, but her nerdiness keeps getting in the way. Like for instance, homecoming is on the horizon, and though her friends asked if she would go, she insists she can’t because she’s got too much homework (and is also kinda nervous).

So, with encouragement from her chemistry teacher, Mr. Stevenson (referencing RLS ofc), she creates a potion that will draw forth her Cool Side. This creates her alter ego, who names herself Emma Hyde. Emma because it's the name she's always liked, and Hyde because uhh… first thing that popped into her head?

Hyde has the cool goth/emo aesthetic, and with her laid back personality, easily slots into the Cool Kids. Oh, and among these cool kids is Dani Carew -- your typical bitchy popular girl.

(Do NOT question how signing up for class works at all. Hyde probably introduces herself as a transfer student (more like transformation student hahaha) and that’s all she needs because paperwork doesn’t exist in Disney Channel Original Movies.)

Cue your school based alter ego shenanigans. Jekyll likes the thrill of being Hyde but she's also worried because Hyde consistently ditches class, doesn't pay attention, and mouths off at the teachers. The only teacher that seems to even remotely like her is Stevenson, but he just likes everyone really. Jekyll is also frustrated because her grades are suffering.

Once homecoming comes around, Hyde's the one that ends up going. She has a great time! There’s a bit of a “oooh who’s this cool new kid” Cinderella moment. Jekyll wakes up feeling so alive after the experience!

There's probably a romantic love triangle thing going on as well, bc what's your DCO without romance. Not sure if both Jekyll and Hyde to have separate love interests or the same guy falls for both of them, but either way it is accidentally very polyamorous.

Anyway, at some point some drama between Jekyll & Carew escalates and Hyde decides to "murder" her. Since this is a DCO she will not be beating her to death with her cane, and instead just killing her popularity by spreading around an embarrassing photo or something.

This causes Lanyon to take issue with Jekyll's experiments, claiming she's gone too far. They have a fight that culminates in Lanyon exposing Jekyll/Hyde as the same person to the whole school.

Upset, Jekyll/Hyde have a Confrontation style fight before realizing that they have to accept each other to be their true self. They create a "cure" that merges them back together for a DCO happy ending. The moral is you have to embrace both sides of your personality, and Jekyll learns that while her school work is important, so is taking the time to have fun like Hyde. Post-merge, she retains Hyde's signature emo eyeshadow, and goes by Emma as often as Jekyll.

In like the last 5 minutes Mr. Stevenson reveals that he made the same potion back when he was a teen, which explains his affection for Hyde. We see a pic of his Hyde side, which is appropriately Cool for the 1970s. He also comments that he’s glad to see Jekyll has learned to take some time for herself. The end :)

[your-unfriendlyghost]

So I’ve read TWTTIN and the outsiders, but I’ve seen a lot of hubbub about Tex and Rumblefish. Are those the only two other SE Hinton books that are worth reading/watching?

I mean there ain’t many others, at least not in this genre/niche yk? I read Taming the Star Runner and Some of Tim’s Stories a few months ago too- I liked Taming the Star Runner fine, maybe more than Rumblefish. Not a lot happened- I mean I barely remember anything about the plot- but I liked the protagonist, he was pretty relatable to the point that it kinda freaked me out lol. It wasn’t as objectively good as Rumblefish, I think- Rumblefish had more to say and maybe some more profound insights- but Rumblefish made me sad. Taming the Star Runner was just…easier to relate to for me, I guess, while Rumblefish was like watching a car accident lol. Both are worth reading though, and the movie for Rumblefish was pretty rad. (Of course I’d say that tho, Tom Waits was in it lol)

Some of Tim’s Stories was…less entertaining for me personally. It wasn’t bad, and I liked the way the protagonist’s inner dialogue read, but it either had too much going on or not enough and I couldn’t tell you which if I tried. You hear the stories, and I guess if someone told me them verbally I’d feel connected, but as a book it just felt like..watching a plot through a window somehow. Like there’s a thick pane of glass between you and the story. God, I dunno. It’s hard to explain.

Then, finally, Tex. My beloved book Tex. I love Tex. It’s not much like The Outsiders, and I don’t like it in the same way that I like The Outsiders- but I still love Tex. It’s like the anti-TWTTIN, opposite in both setting and plot. It’s unhappy in some ways, realistic, and often sad, but like its protagonist, it always finds a way to bounce back. Tex looked at the despair of Rumblefish, the frustration of TWTTIN, and said “What if all these bad things happened and we just kept going? What if we just carried on?” Hinton described Tex himself as the least “tough” but most strong of her protagonists, and I think that that applies somehow to the whole book. It’s painfully relatable in some parts, frustrating, gut wrenching- but in the end, everything is okay. Not perfect, but you know Tex is gonna be alright. It’s a sweet story about a good kid who I loved being in the head of. The movie’s also pretty good.

So uh tl;dr- It’s up to you if Hinton’s other books are worth reading. I read them, and I’m glad I did, even for Some of Tim’s Stories which is probably my least favorite of her books- it was still a good experience, I guess. Idk, her books are what got me to read again after years of not liking books, so I’m biased, but there’s not one on this list that I regret having read.

[synergysilhouette]

Another 10 Disney hot takes/probably unpopular opinions

Not a fan of Meg and Hercules as a couple. I ADORE them having an innocent male lead and a jaded female love interest, but Meg's situation with Hades makes it feel very toxic. The movie is kinda confusing on whether or not she can refuse Hades; one minute he uses incentive to get her to do what she wants (which is bad enough; her freedom for Hercules' death), and then when she tells him the deal's off, he reminds her that she has no say in the matter. Following this, she rejects his deal and he forces her into being exposed so Hercules will make a deal. She does sacrifice herself for him in the end, but it still feels very iffy for me, particularly since the backbone of her resisting him isn't even "I can't let this guy get killed" but instead "I don't wanna fall in love after getting my heart broken and having sold my soul" (which is EXTREMELY valid, but so is the other point). Had Meg been a normal human and made a deal with Hades to save Hercules or help him earlier on during his training, it'd be so much better.

2. Disney needs needs to stop making sequels just because of financial success and actually work to craft a narrative that requires a sequel or two. It's risky (considering the first film could have negative critical or commercial success, as well as take time and resources away from other films at the studio), but would have a better payoff, imo. I enjoyed "Frozen 2" despite it's flaws, but the fact that it felt independent of the first film did make it feel like we could've used an entirely different cast and made the same story.

3. I need more musicals with a male lead--The last one we had was "Tarzan"--or "Hercules," depending on your criteria. The revival era has had female leads for all their musicals, with a male playing as a co-lead or a deuteragonist. I know the girls are MUCH more valuable at Disney due to the Disney princess line and musicals with a male lead may be harder to market (well, not really; "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" were the highest-grossing animated films at one point, and their remakes grossed over $1 billion).

4. "Moana" needed a bigger (main) roster--Something I love is a nice-sized amount of main characters in a movie. "Moana" only had Moana and Maui for most of the movie, and thus it wasn't as enjoyable for me in that respect. "Moana 2" is introducing new characters, so I hope they can hold my interest.

5. Involve the Anderson-Lopez team in more musicals outside of the "Frozen" franchise--they almost got to do this with "Gigantic," but it fell through. Their music has been great, so I really hope to see them in more musicals for Disney outside of Disney's "Frozen."

6. NEVER return to hybrid animation for a feature film--It's too disorienting for me personally, and while the animation for "Wish" wasn't bad, it definitely didn't have the storybook vibe it was going for except with backgrounds. It would look fine if it was a video game, though.

7. "Gigantic" should've been Disney's anniversary film instead of "Wish"-- I already did a post on this, so I'll just leave it at that.

8. Raya is one of the best Disney leads in a while--Granted, her movie could've been much better and I wish the color of her clothes reflected her culture instead of going for neutral colors, but Raya is the blueprint for a great protagonist. It's been mentioned before how she's a feminist icon without having to really show it in ways others have in films, by being a confident warrior with no discussion of marriage or gender inequality brought up in the film. She's also deliciously sassy and quick on her feet. I may have preferred her OG concept of being stoic, but her swagger makes her one of the more engaging Disney leads, particularly as the adorkable trait started to show up. Speaking of...

9. Ariel and Mulan are the best adorkable leads for a Disney protagonist--While I don't have much issue with Anna and Mirabel and don't really find Rapunzel or Moana that adorkable, Ariel and Mulan were the blueprints for a funny female lead, and they felt less forced than later leads.

10. Aladdin is one of the worst Disney princes--DON'T KILL ME! He used to be my favorite Disney prince, until I watched a "therapists react" video to Disney couples and they brought up the fact that Aladdin had lied to Jasmine several times over the course of the movie. Him being insecure is a great character trait (a common one with Disney leads since the 90s, really), but it's poor writing to make his romance with Jasmine be based on a lie. I'd rather he just kept tight-lipped about his identity when Jasmine caught him the first time rather than covering up with another lie.

[lara635kookie]

I didn't even watch "WISH" yet because in my country it will only be available at january, but people are saying it's a bad cliche so I probably won't watch at the cinema.

The thing is, even though I am a hopeless romantic, not everything has to have romance. There are princess who are perfectly fine without a prince, like Mirabel, Elsa, Merida, Moana and Raya(I do kinda like the idea of Raya with a girl, just not Namaari). But we were so robbed of seeing Asha and the star boy(he is literally a staR so I don't doubt Disney would call him StaN or something like that, so his name is Stan from now on, I am gonna call him like that, is easier than star boy). Asha and Stan had the potential to be the next Tianaveen and Rapunzel&Eugene (I don't know their ship name). The concept arts are the cutest thing I have ever seen. Also "At All Costs" (bop) would have been a love song between the two!!! Them singing it man. The pain I will feel when I don't see them passionately sing it, very "I see the light" coded, in the actual movie. Somehow, now is not feminist for a strong female character to have a male partner by her side. Like...This doesn't make sense! You can be a strong female character and have a man at the same time! Have y'all forgotten Mulan and Shang? Anna and Kristoff? Ariel and Eric? Jasmine and Aladdin? (There are more examples and I could go on all day, but you got what I meant already) I hate Disney for throwing good ideas at the trash and playing safe just for money(like Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk said "it's a metaphor for capitalism"). And as the guy looked blonde with blue/green eyes in the arts I have seen, and Asha is a black latina, they lost the opportunity of having a biracial couple ACTUALLY DONE RIGHT (Pocahontas and John Smith don't count, he is a collonizer with the most common name in the world, she deserves so much better). Like, if the thing is show how inclusive you are by having a black latina female protagonist for little girls to see and feel represented in a good way, you could have increased that feeling by making someone fall in love for her. Little girls would feel like they are beautiful and desired/desireable in a positive way and that they worthy of being loved and love and be with whoever they want to be with, even someone who has a different skin color.

I am also mad because we could have seen Disney's first evil villain COUPLE with King Magnifico and his wife, the queen(still don't know her name, sorry). Can't you guys imagine the HITS, THE FIRST PLACE OF BILLBOARD HOT 100 WORTHY songs, they would proportionate us? Even if only one song, it would be enough for me. But someone thought having a female villain would be anti-feminist and they discarded an original and authentic idea, which is what Disney built its empire on the first place. Come on Disney minorities don't want to be portrayed as those unrealistic superior beings, they want to be portrayed as real human beings with emotions, struggles, qualities and flaws. Having an iconic female villain like you guys always had(like Maleficent, Cruella De Vil, Ursula, Mother Gothel, Lady Tremaine, etc) and set her up with an iconic male villain(like Gaston, Doctor Facilier, Shan Yu, Jafar, Hans, etc) it would have been top notch, god tier. King Magnifico and the queen could have been like the Gomez and Morticia of evil. You could address so many topics by it. Like the kingdom being ruled by evil would have been a great social critic of some politicians out there, for example. And we could have had an iconic final boss battle between Asha and Stan VS Magnifico and the queen.

Anyway, what I mean by this is that if someone has fanarts or just ANY CONTENT, of Asha and Stan, tag me, reblog this or comment, I don't care, just warn me, because they are my new obsession. I will also write a fanfic about this movie with these ideas, but only after I have watched the movie so until them, please feed my hyperfixation in Stasha (Star boy/Stan×Asha), I'm begging y'all

[sillysymbol]

who's your favorite criminal clownery character to draw? favorite to write/think about? favorite dynamic? and can i get a fun fact or something you havent shared yet about them :]

YES YESSS SICKOS HAHA YESSS

my favs to draw are pirplexa and shirley for some reason. pirplexa because she's like a weird son to me (i'm very attached to her! shes like my favorite oc ever! i went off when i designed her!) + shirley because ever since i changed her hair style shes been a lot easier+more fun to draw. i think also carni i love drawing her w different hair styles and clothing.

my favorites to write for are pirplexa/carni/prince. that makes sense cuz theyre like. the Main protagonists+villain, but its really fun to explore their different personalities/backstories. Dude writing backstories especially for pirplexa and prince is so fun for me. also recently writing xio has been really fun n interesting to me. in general i think its fun to explore Why A Character is like That, why do they behave like that!

i got a lot of dynamics i like exploring but my favs are carni/pirplexa, carni/trill, prince/shirley, prince/xio and babs/miles. for carni dynamics its fun because she's one of the more happy/chipper characters, contrasted with pirplexa being more cold/untrusting and trill being more calm and collected. i plan for carni and trill to really dislike eachother at first, but eventually start to understand and fall for eachother <3 while with carni and pirplexa its more about pirplexa learning to trust and make friends again.

prince and shirley are siblings with extremely different world views and thought processes, they really dislike eachother. they grew up in the same enviroment yet reacted to it completely differently.

prince and xio is fun to me, ive been trying to give xio more of involved in the story+cast&crew while prince just thinks of her as his cute secretary. he sucks real bad! she doesnt like him she barely tolerates the others but he pays her to kill people so shes like whatever i can deal with this. and then she finds out he wants a consensual workplace relationship and shes like YAY HOW CAN I MANIPULATE THIS MAN!!!!!!!!!!!

babs/miles are dating at the beginning of cc, but their relationship gets a bit complicated due to babs being a little crazy about him and miles struggling with his sense of masculinity, its really not a relationship thats meant to last for long, its a bit tragic. (also why they are in love by david byrne is in both of their playlists LOL)

a few fun facts:

i dont think ive shared here is that prince and shirleys parents were movie stars! they met on the set of a film and had multiple movies with eachother. prince and shirley both had an odd childhood under a lot of surveillance from the public, plus their parents weren't very great parents. they both react to their trauma very differently, prince being "grateful" for it, giving him media training and feeling like his parents crafted him (even when he knows his parents didn't have much faith in him and bet a lot on shirley), while shirley absolutely despises the rest of her family. of course she'll go to the annual family dinner with prince, but that doesnt mean that she won't loathe every second of it.

pirplexa is a dog person! he loves dogs! he doesn't own one because he doesnt think hes in the right headspace to have one yet, but he will pet every random dog on the street. i like to think a few years after the events of cc when he's mentally better, he does adopt a dog.

miles and shirley don't get along very well, shirleys kinda like a bully older sister, she puts him in headlocks and stuff.

if you get the color symbolism (heh) in cc i will give you a badge. idk

shirley likes to write, babs likes to sing, miles likes to draw and design.

trill originally got a degree in botany, but realized she wanted to pursue comedy/acting instead. she can still correctly identify plants!!! yay!!!

[stitched-mouth]

TALK TO ME SPOILERS

Just watched Talk To Me, loved it. First horror movie in a while that actually scared me, that being said though it was VERY predictable.

And I don’t think it needs a sequel. Like a sequel would just be telling the exact same story with different characters, not interesting. If they could make a story continuing from Mia’s perspective as a ghost I’d love it though. But that’s a nearly impossible story to write.

Also one specific thing that I loved about this movie is how using the hand and temporarily connecting to spirits is framed like drug use. It’s the new drug teens use at parties and get hooked on and I just kinda loved that connection. Although I do see some people hating it as it is very cringy to see teens using drugs at party in movies but I think it was handed very well here.

And how the end references the beginning with the dying kangaroo. Mia is heavily encouraged to put the kangaroo out of it’s misery but opts not to, and kinda cruelly leaves it dying on the side of the road. But when she is encouraged to put her close friend out of their misery, she goes for it and things end badly for her. I strongly think she did actually try to kill Riley but had no control of her body anymore and when she throw Riley onto the road, she actually threw herself. Not her opting to throw herself after being unable to kill her close friend. She didn’t chicken out this time and it ended badly for her. It makes me think the writers have an issue with putting people and animals out of their misery, especially since Riley survives this and makes a full recovery. It’s like the writers are saying even if someone is on death’s doorstep they can still very much so recover and if you try to or actually put someone out of their misery, karma will get you. I don’t really believe in this message but I like that they had a message in there that explained the dying kangaroo in the beginning.

And I loved the bad ending. I want to see more protagonists end up as ghosts in the end. I don’t know why, it’s just a cool uncommon concept. That being said, I did feel very extremely bad for Mia and kinda wished she had a better ending.

Maybe this is a controversial opinion, but I hated Jade. She turns her back on Mia so quickly and never seemed like a good friend anyway. Also she treats her brother like shit. Like girl he’s 15, if you’re going to do ‘drugs’ in front of him you don’t get to act surprised if he asked to join in. And you can’t physically stop him, like he’s 15 and I know you started doing that shit at his age. Also how she just stood by looking all sad when her boyfriend was being humiliated. No wonder why he hates you touching him. Why did the writers make Jade so unlikeable?

Also Sue, I think she was straight up abusing and neglecting those kids. Mia seemed like she was parenting both Jade and Riley in the beginning of the movie; until she started playing with ghosts and Sue has the audacity to blame Mia. Like she wasn’t the hired babysitter, she is a teenager and your daughter’s best friend why are you leaving her to parent your kids?? And acting like she’s responsible when one gets hurt?? Like Sue can be mad at Mia was partying with her kids when she made it clear she didn’t want a party but she should be mad at all the teens for being irresponsible. Not solely mad at Mia as if it was her job to keep her kids out of trouble.

Wish Max had more screen time, cause his character made NO sense. But I was real sad when he got stabbed. Like he was running to help his daughter, found her in the same way he found his wife when she died and then she stabbed him 😭😭😭😭😭 I almost started crying in the cinema. He also looked a lot like my own Dad, who I have a complicated relationship with, so his and Mia’s relationship felt so similar to me and my Dad and it hurt

I was simping for Hayley for a lot of the movie. And I’m once again questioning my sexuality thanks to them. I’m hoping to see Zoe Terakes in a lot more movies, I’ve heard they are already well known in Australia but this was my first time seeing them so again I hope to see them again. I’m really disappointed the whole movie was ban in Kuwait just because the actor is gender non conforming. We still have transphobia in 2023? Wow.

(Credit to @louxkate for the gif)

edit: just found out I’m not the only one simping for Hayley’s actor, Zoe Terakes, which makes me feel better about not understanding my sexuality.

gonna go see this movie a second time now.

[tendoujo]

Watched the remake's first episode twice ( original + latin spanish dub ) and let me say that I got some thoughts, most of them positive of course. But before I dive into that, I heavily recommend anyone who hasn't watched Ranma 1 / 2 to give the netflix remake a chance ! It got that 80s slice of life humor plus a bit of romance on the side lines. It's called a classic for a reason ! Now, my thoughts under the read more ( pictures included so be aware of possible spoilers ) :

First and furthermost, Mappa did not disappoint with the animation. The fighting scenes we got so far are very fluid, particularly the fighting scenes with Genma and Ranma. Although at first I was a bit hesitant of the chosen color palette, I have to admit that it has grown on me. Actually, the color palette plus the "manga-like" stylized kanjis throughout the explosive emotions gives it a certain unique style that is fits perfectly with Ranma's whole vibe. They just know when to use it and the Akane scream is the perfect example of that:

( Also please look at the AKANE CHIBIS in the background. Gosh, so cute ! I doubt Mappa will release them so I might make it my personal mission to make them HD ).

The stylization feels rather close to the manga so I have no comment on that as it's my favorite Rumiko style. I have to confess that I kinda do prefer the REMAKE'S STYLE over the original's ( and with the original one I mean the style they used in most of the anime and movies, not the style that the original had in the first ten episodes ). Not to mention that certain scenes have almost the exact same framing and reactions from the manga which gives me some hope that they will stay truthful to the comics. Also the rumiko stylized reactions and chibis having a come back 🥺. . .

Like, c'mon, this type of reactions + pastel palette are perfect 🙏 🙏 🙏

Now, what makes me the most excited : AKANE'S FOCUS in the remake. I have always been vocal about my dislike on how they managed Akane in the original anime. She went from a main character and co-protagonist to giving all the spotlight to Ranma. And what infuriates me the most : Rumiko has mentioned how Ranma and Akane ARE EQUALS yet the 90s anime made it their goal to turn Akane into some damsel in distress that never knew how defend himself, never letting her fight back and always be the annoying jealous weak girl that she never was in the manga. Gotta point out how it was clear that the 90s anime preferred heavily Shampoo over Akane. . . She always got the pretty dresses, clothes and screentime, Akane at best got a jealous scene. They painted Shampoo as the main rival for Akane when in reality, Akane truly never had a "real rival" and it was more of her vs the REST of the rivals in equal parts.

Don't get me wrong, I like the original anime but certain aspects push me far away from their Akane's portrayal. The remake, however, seems to have other plans. The first sign ( besides trying to be faithful to the manga lol ), is how they gave Akane her deserved black belt. Then in the first episode and in the opening we have clear instances where we are pointed that she IS the main love interest, THE MAIN CHARACTER ALONGSIDE RANMA :

Notice the height difference omg. The opening continuously frames the two as the main characters + showing in the sidelines their rivals or other characters that will grow some interest on them.

Also this type of framings. . . Mappa draws her like she's the prettiest girl in the world and they are so right. Someone on twitter said that this remake was for the Akane fans and I'm glad to announce that they might be right. THIS WAS MADE FOR ME.

If that wasn't enough to prove my point then THE AMAZING ENDING will do so. It's ENTIRELY AKANE FOCUSED ( might make it my new mobile banner lol ). Only time will prove me wrong but so far, even the confirmed merch and Akane figurines is telling me that this time, Akane will get her chance to be the star.

Alright, alright, enough Akane chit chat and back to the usual production opinions. About the seiyus, they did an amazing job and it feels that their voices haven't aged AT ALL. The latin spanish on the other hand. . . feels cheap. They left the seiyu's screams and reactions and only dubbed the phrases so it's pretty obvious that there's two VAs with completely different tones. I was disappointed that from the original cast, only Akane's VA ( Rossy Aguirre ) came back and yet, I was willing to give it a chance but nop, not anymore. The audio mixing is not so good that I'll have to watch the rest of the series in JP. If there's a second season I do hope that this gets fixed.

If you managed to read all that, THANK YOU so much, that was a lot of ramblings OOOPS. Ranma 1/2 has always been my favorite manga so expect rambles like this for every episode.

[srhunt]

Haunted Mansion’s Biggest Issue (to me)

I was very excited to finally see Haunted Mansion this year. I had given up hope on ever seeing this new adaption in the 13 years since Guillermo Del Toro announced it with barely any news in between.

And I did very much enjoy it, it’s at least better than the 2003 film, which is all I wanted it to be.

However, there is one thing that stopped me from loving this movie, and that’s how they handled my favorite happy haunt, the Hatbox Ghost.

Now, design wise, he looks great. He’s intimidating, he’s creepy, all around they nailed it. Not thrilled that he’s played by Jared Leto, but thankfully he’s barely noticeable.

Where my issue begins is when they learn the Hatbox Ghost’s living name, Alistair Crump.

I’m not opposed with giving Hattie an actual name, mind you, and I do appreciate the nod to original Haunted Mansion Imagineer, Rolly Crump (though it’s kinda backhanded to name the villain of the movie after him). But from the moment they learn his name, he stops being the Hatbox Ghost and becomes Alistair Crump. Let me explain what I mean.

Alistair Crump was the child of a wealthy family. He was kicked out of his home by his father after crying too hard at his mother’s funeral. Cut off from his family, Crump had to climb his way back up from nothing. Meanwhile, he studied the dark arts. After his father died under mysterious circumstances, Crump gained control over his family estate. He’d throw lavish parties, inviting the people who turned his father against him. At these parties, he would murder the people he believed played a part in his father’s abandonment of him. Crump would bury the bodies under the house. This continued until his staff discovered his secret and turned against him, decapitating him and burying his remains in the same place he disposed of his victims.

Did you notice something was missing in this story?

Something very important to the Hatbox Ghost?

Like…a hatbox?

Yea, there’s no mention of a hatbox in his backstory.

This issue becomes even more glaring when the protagonists need to find an item that belonged to him in order to banish him.

You’re probably thinking it’s a hatbox, right?

No, it’s his top hat.

The top hat that’s still on his decapitated head.

Oh, is his head inside a hatbox?

No, it’s in the dirt under his old mansion.

Most of the time, ghosts are depicted with items important to them in life. Constance Hatchaway has her pearls and her hatchet, Madame Leota manifests in her crystal ball. And it’s not just the Haunted Mansion that does this, look at Thirteen Ghosts from 2001.

Each ghost has an in-depth backstory that can be found on the DVD’s bonus features, and each backstory explains how they died and why they were selected to fill a specific role in the Black Zodiac. They look the way they do because it reflects their past lives and their deaths.

So why does Alistair Crump carry a hatbox as a ghost if he had no ties to it in life?

This issue drives me nuts because it easily could’ve been fixed. Maybe when Alistair was kicked out of the house, he was only given a hatbox to carry what little he could, or maybe his staff hid his head inside a hatbox.

Crump only has the hatbox so he can do the gag with his head. That’s it. His titular hatbox holds no importance to him. He easily could’ve been swapped with any other ghost in the Mansion and nothing would feel out of place.

The hatbox is so unimportant to Crump that towards the end of the movie, he doesn’t even have it anymore. After we learn his backstory, he’s never seen with the hatbox again.

Even this new Funko Pop figure doesn’t have his hatbox but then labels him, “Hatbox Ghost.”

To me, Alistair Crump and the Hatbox Ghost are two different characters. Crump may look like Hattie, but he is not the Hatbox Ghost. Which is the biggest disappointment of this film to me.

Hattie is such a fascinating and mysterious character in the mansion. He has a backstory that’s never really explored. His role varies from story to story. Why is he in the attic with Constance? Was he one of Constance’s grooms? Why does he have that hatbox? Why did he disappear for so long in the context of the Mansion’s story? Where did he go and why did he come back? Was he a victim? A coconspirator that got betrayed? There were so many ways they could’ve taken his story and they picked probably the weakest one.

It does make me wonder what Guillermo Del Toro’s original vision for Hattie was. But alas, we may never know.

Maybe in another 20 years we’ll get a different take on the Mansion and Hattie.

[youngerfrankenstein]

So today I watched two movies where the deuteragonist goes kinda nuts and turns into a dragon thing, before the protagonist has to calm them down.

They were both a pretty fun time!

Promare is something I had been meaning to watch for quite a while but somehow never got around to. Glad I finally did!

Promare has quite possibly the Worst oppression allegory I have ever seen. A bunch of people are discriminated against because they burned half the world and killed billions (with a B!) of people. Also it’s not actually anything inherent to them it’s a bunch of alien parasites that will destroy the planet. However, since this is basically just an excuse for robots to fight other robots on fire… I can’t say I really care in the end. Promare is ENTIRELY style over substance, and I mean that in the best way.

The plot is breakneck and stupid. Most of the characters barely register as such. The dialogue is so dumb. And it FUCKING RULES! I’ve seen the film described as “Anime the Anime” and that does kind of sum it up. Everything feels like a ten year old boy smashing his action figures together and you can’t help but get swept up in the enthusiasm.

Helped by the absolutely (excuse the pun) FIRE soundtrack. The energy almost never lets up, and on-the-nose engrish lyrics just add to the experience. Even if you don’t watch the movie holy heck listen to the soundtrack.

The characters may be paper-thing but holy hell are they fun to watch. Our protagonist, Galo, himbo extraordinaire is as ridiculous as he is somehow charming. You can’t help but admire his drive to help people. And his foil, the ironically icy Lio, here to set fires and fight for his rights. Aina, a nice, spunky girl set up as a love interest for about five minutes before it turns out her character has more of a story based around her relationship with her sister. Which is a nice change! In fact the only romance in the story arguably involves CPR for plausible deniability. And our hero remembers to open the airway thank heck. Though whether intentional or just ship tease who knows? And who cares. You can guess who the villain is about ten seconds after he shows up and he is as much a blast to watch as the rest.

And really, this is a movie with a secret robot used to save the day called the Deus X Machina. A movie that ends with two shirtless guys setting the Earth on fire to stop the Earth from being set on fire. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and really neither should you. Let it sweep you away for almost two hours and you will feel much better afterwards.

-

I started reading Nimona around the time it was wrapping up as a webcomic. I have a copy of the graphic novel on my shelf. I was excited when I heard the movie had been greenlit (less so when I heard it was Blue Sky Studios), disappointed by the cancellation and, well, I’m happy it’s here now. While I’ve gotten grouchier over the years, it does make me smile to see these guys on my television, even if they’re not quite the same people either.

Because the movie is very different, and yet much of it feels similar as well. Certain scenes, like the board game, are almost directly from the comic, others are from the comic but not quite the same. The characters are different, Ballister is less jaded, Ambrosius less delusional and Nimona less, well, monstrous. She seems to more beat the snot out of people than commit mass murder. In the comic she’s every bit the monster people fear her to be, though a sympathetic one, and perhaps one who will heal someday. While the ending of the movie is far happier, it fits the new tone. And honestly? I need to stop making comparisons and judge the damn movie on its own merits. Of which it has many!

Our setup is fairly simple, Ballister BlackBoldheart is a new knight of the realm, who immediately gets framed for the murder of the queen and disarmed (heh) by his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, while on the lam he is approached by a shapeshifter called Nimona who is up for a little mayhem and hijinks. Together they try and clear his name.

My fist fear when I heard Blue Sky studios would be the ones releasing the movie was that a lot of the humour would be Quite Bad. And while there definitely is plenty of that, I think more gags hit than miss. Hell the movie got quite a few laughs out of my dad and he’s a fair bit less likely to chuckle than I am. It is quite a funny movie, which is good because it helps the harsher moments hit harder. Because there are also plenty of those, especially in the final act.

Speaking of, the film is somewhat surprisingly well paced. Scenes tend not to overstay their welcome and the movie flows well. What else flows well? The animation! (My segways not so much) Everything is very smooth, which is rather necessary for all the shapeshifting, and there’s quite an interesting scene made to look as if subway tiles are telling the story of Nimona’s origins (ish).

And the main trio really are quite fun to watch. Ballister, always the underdog, now a public enemy and trying to both clear his name and perhaps open his mind a bit. Ambrosius, golden boy, trying to do the right thing and not always doing a great job. And, of course, Nimona, who’s just here to break shit, though it is quickly clear there’s more underneath, also a pretty blatant trans allegory.

The relationships Ballister has with both the other two are sweet as heck, but also riddled with mistrust that they all have to work to overcome.

And while the movie does get a little preachy at times, it’s a kid’s movie. What do you expect? Rah rah fight the power, all that jazz. I may be too jaded for it but it certainly works.

—

Would recommend checking out both or either if they sound like something you’d enjoy!

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Who spoils who? Does their S/O tolerate it? Do they secretly enjoy it?

What's something that they don't really care for but tolerate because S/O has an interest?

Have they ever almost lost one another? How does it effect their relationship?

Hello! Sorry it took forever to respond. (OC relationship ask game here!)

Doing the couples canon to Part One.

55. Who spoils who? Does their S/O tolerate it? Do they secretly enjoy it?

Jazlyn/Ewan - Ewan absolutely spoils Jazlyn, and Jazlyn loves the attention.

Wade/Teo - They are both the type to spoil each other, so it depends on your definition of it, I think. Teo is more likely to shower Wade with spoils, but is more needy than Wade, and Wade is more likely to be a touch overbearing. I guess Teo?

Gwen/Akash - They're kinda the opposite of the previous. Neither are the type to spoil. They're just committed and take their relationship seriously. I guess Akash slightly because he's insecure and Wants To Make Sure Gwen Is Happy At All Times even though she's happy just being with him.

54. What's something that they don't really care for but tolerate because S/O has an interest?

Jazlyn/Ewan - Jazlyn likes music just fine, but not music theory. However, if Ewan wants to run a song he's working on by her, she's more than happy to listen to what he has to say and do, and she'll binge a show with him even though she'd rather be Doing something. Ewan also isn't the biggest fan of clubs or loud parties, but he's definitely gonna go to one if Jazlyn wants to go. Or if she wants to volunteer at a comedy show, he'll go up with her.

Wade/Teo - Teo does not like football but goes to all of Wade's games. He also allows Wade to make a pretty schedule for them. Wade isn't a D&D or LARPing person, but Teo is, so he'll definitely join him with that.

Gwen/Akash - Akash isn't a hiker or a museum person, but he'll join Gwen on a date that she'll remember. Gwen doesn't love watching sports, but she'll sit down and watch every baseball and soccer game of the seasons if Akash wants to.

84. Have they ever almost lost one another? How does it effect their relationship?

Uhhhhh

First of all, wrong effect. It's affect. Effect is a noun. Affect is a verb. Glad we're on the same page.

Alright I'll stop being a dick. I'm stalling.

Let's pretend this is hypothetical :)

Jazlyn/Ewan - Jazlyn would try to move on and pretend she's fine but fail miserably. Ewan would feel like his life lost meaning. Going forward, Jazlyn would get more overprotective of Ewan and more reckless than she already is. Ewan would also be clingy and overbearing and get a little shorter with Jazlyn, just to make sure she stays out of danger.

Wade/Teo - Wade would be fueled like a stereotypical male assassin protagonist whose wife was killed in the first five minutes of the movie. He might neglect all responsibilities and needs in order to bring whomever harmed Teo to justice. Teo would be driven to figure out what happened, perhaps being in denial of what's going on, and keep going through sheer willpower to bring people to...well, justice, again, they think alike. Going forward, they'd mourn what they lost but never let each other go again.

Gwen/Akash - Gwen would make her new purpose in life Akash. Akash would become her drive, her motivation, her fire burning inside spreading outward. She may lock herself away from others to make sure she made the system change for Akash's benefit, she's going to turn the place upside down to make sure that Akash is avenged. Akash on the other hand would probably lose all motivation if something happened to Gwen. He'd shut down. Their relationship would be on hold as they went through their own internal shit about losing each other, but they'd recover eventually.

Woo that was a lot. Thanks for the ask and for the wait! Not that you had a choice in the latter lol

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet

[teablogreal]

Roze episode 3 thoughts

Didn't get around to putting my thoughts on episode 2 down last week but basically Ash Phoenix is easily becoming my favorite character in the cast and also catherine is a little funny i think

Anyways as usual below this line will be spoiler talk

Ok so like episode 3 had a lot going on like WOW. LL's new fit looks better in the scene that he shows up in than the concept art ive seen floating around. I have seen some discussions on the lore discrepancies regarding lelouch bestowing the same geass he had onto sakuya/roze however i'll wait and see how things go before i decide my thoughts on that bit. I think throwing a fit over lore contradictions is a bit silly, personally.

The maid cafe section of the episode really brought back the goofy slice of life elements of code geass that you either dread or cherish. For me personally even if a lot of it leans onto fanservice I feel like the more comedic lighthearted moments are necessary to emphasize the drama that happens later. Having Sakuya be forced to balance working at a cafe and also larping as Ash's brother while also having to deal with Ash crushing on her waitress-sona is an entertaining scenario. Although not as layered as the school shenanigans in og Code Geass, they can definitely work with this for 12 episodes i feel. or 4 movies, depending on how you're viewing this.

Ash Phoenix. This character fucking baffles me, dude spends one episode cooking with the hardest one liners possible ("I'll show you that even iron bleeds" is the hardest shit like dude) and then goes into the next episode bumbling and infodumping over a crush. He's perhaps the most endearing character on the cast in my opinion, he's just a silly little guy who loves taking care of puppies and kittens and he loves cooking however he also is highly trained in military combat and has nearly inhuman reflexes (dude moved that coffee cup filled to the brim with coffee at high speeds and somehow DIDNT spill it) like he's just the funniest guy there at this point.

Catherine is another highlight this episode, she appeared with one big scene involving her but I already am enjoying how extra she is. She is like intentionally leaning in to the whole meangirl shtick and yknow what? i think its entertaining as shit personally speaking. like yeah shes a total asshole, everybody in neo britannia is. but that doesnt stop the fact that she is incredibly fucking silly to witness. like one of those characters that you love to shove down a flight of stairs.

Norland had his first speaking role here, I was completely caught off guard hearing Dan fucking Green voicing him. It genuinely took my some time to recognize his voice in the dub but shit man his voice was scary here. I was worried that neo britannia might just be a bit of a pushover going off of how the fights with arnold and the two other guys went, but if anything this episode makes it clear that from this point on, things will only get harder for the protagonists. I hope Norland leaves a lasting impact as what i assume is the main antagonist here.

Callis caught me off guard. His dynamic with Natalia was interesting however I did not expect them to kill him off instantly. Curious as to if this was an inside job or not, either way I expect there to be some moral opposition between Natalia and Sakuya because of this incident, even if Sakuya herself has nothing to do with it.

Also taking another moment to mention Mei because I feel like she's decent comic relief. Her shenanigans when helping Sakuya come up with a fake background for herself at the cafe were really funny to watch.

But yeah, i definitely enjoyed this one more than last week's episode, not that episode 2 was bad or anything I just thing that this one kinda topped it in terms of goofy comedy and also world and character building. I'm really glad the writers managed to recapture that same feel of the original series.

[bigfrozensix]

A part of me can't believe Frozen is 10 years old already, but another part of me literally can't imagine my life without it, because it's been such a huge part of it since 2013.

Even to this day it remains my most favourite movie ever, not just Disney, but in general.

Frozen is just the perfect movie for me (I'm not calling the movie perfect, I said FOR ME, so sit back down). I'm not always sure how to explain why, it's just a feeling I get, such an intense feeling of love I can't shake off. It was the exact movie I needed at that time in my life, and honestly needed my entire life.

Though the franchise still fails to (properly) acknowledge Anna's trauma, it still means so much to me to see an emotionally neglected character, specifically one who was neglected by people who genuinely love her, there were just a lot of mistakes and wrong choices made, who deals with her abandonment issues by hiding it behind a smile. A lot of people suffer in silence.

One of the last things my mother told me before she passed was how much little kid Anna is like little kid me. Anna is like a piece of myself I wish to regain and by watching Frozen I can at least pretend for a moment it was never lost in the first place.

Frozen is also the last movie I ever watched with my mother, that's how important this movie is to me, she wanted to understand this piece of me while she still could.

I know a lot of people claim Anna is a typical Disney protagonist, a Rapunzel knock-off, nothing special/unique compared to Elsa ect, but I couldn't disagree more. Rapunzel's parental abuse and isolation isn't the same as the emotional neglect Anna went through. I'd even argue their "quirkyness" is different, because Anna's is presented more as clumsy and Rapunzel's is presented more as charming. And that makes a HUGE difference to me as someone who was bullied and called weird for my "quirky traits".

And growing up emotionally neglected where you technically have people around you, but are still left all alone/told to go away all the time, because "you can handle yourself" and "your sister needs us more" (this is partly self-projecting, but if Disney didn't want me to see Frozen like this, they shouldn't have shown Anna constantly being all alone growing up and the parents constantly favouring Elsa/spending more time with her).

Anyway, this kinda turned into a vent. This movie is just so special to me, but from what I've seen not for the same reasons most people chesire it, and I just wanted to share my side.

[clairedaring]

Hi, I've seen your blog and it appears to me that you've watched a lot of gdh movies. So I was wondering this: what is your top 5 gdh movie? I, for my part, have only watched two so far: oh my girl ! and you, me and me which is one of my favorite movie this year so far.

it brings me to tears (happily) whenever someone talks to me about GDH films ಥ_ಥ so here are my favorite GDH films (in this order as of this moment, no. 2 to no. 5 interchange from time to time depending on my mood)

1. Bad Genius (2017) and Bad Genius: The Series (2020)

So whenever I'm asked about GDH, the first film I instantly recommend would be Bad Genius. Because not only is Bad Genius imho THE film that puts GDH on the map, I think it has a lot of influence on Thai cinematic works, and to some extent television works.

Essentially, Bad Genius is a story about Lin, a straight A student who team up with her friends to pull off a large scale cheating scheme on an SAT-like exam. It's a heist thriller drama that definitely leaves me feeling stressed out as hell as if I was there in the testing room with those students.

I know it's kind of a cheat to also add this, but whenever I recommend Bad Genius, I also must recommend Bad Genius: The Series which is a 12 episode series that serves as a more detailed+sequel version of the film. I love this series because the young actors of the series gave me a fresh take on the characters I already know and loved so I had a great time falling in love with all of them again. The series fixed a few plotholes/qualms I had with the cinematic version as well as an extensive background story on Bank (played by Nonkul Chanon in film, Jaonaay Jinjett in series), my favorite character from this franchise so Bad Genius: The Series is the one work I cannot recommend enough.

One of the things I love about the series as well is that it also maintained the exact same vibes and cinematography like color-grading, camerawork...

2. OMG! Oh My Girl (2022)

I am a sucker for 'seemingly unrequited love' and 'right person, wrong time' tropes so this film really hit ALL the spots for me at its release.

Stylisticaly speaking, I absolutely love the Wes Anderson-esque zoom-in-from-afar shots for comedic effect. many stellar comedic moments where i laughed out loud. I think the humor in this film is poignant, accompanied by great comedic timing from both leads.

One of the highlights of Oh My Girl aside from the many subversions to romcom clichés, I like how Guy (the ML played by the incredible Sky Wongravee) was a morally grey protagonist and that the film isn't afraid to call out his problematic "nice guy" facade. He's a self-aware jerk and I genuinely love his self-awareness.

3. One For The Road (2021)

So I didn't watch this at release and it took quite a while before I gathered the determination to sit down and watch this on Netflix on a late rainy evening. Little did I know, I would soon be crying screaming bawling my eyes.

One For The Road is about Aood (Ice Natara) who enlists his estranged friend, Boss (Tor Thanapob) on a road trip to return items to his exes before he dies.

If I had a nickel for every time GDH wanted to give me a selfish, jerky male protagonist, I would have like four or five nickels but it's crazy that it's happened so many times (formulaically one would say) and here I am still empathizing and crying over these kinda jerky male protagonists.

The soundtrack was just brilliant. To quote a review I once wrote, the director, the music score and composer were truly out for blood with the soundtrack for this movie and they did it. This film is a good example of how important soundtrack and film scores are to elevate the narrative being told.

There are so many things to praise about the production but if I had to choose one thing, it would be the excellent mise-en-scene of this film. Every shot is dazzling, intentional and fill with metaphors. It was truly beautiful.

4. Not Friends (2023) 

So I went into this thinking it would be Thai take on Dear Evan Hansen but I was so glad that it wasn't the case even though there are similarities.

Not Friends continues to deliver GDH's classic "selfish jerky male protagonist" with Pae (Anthony Buisseret) who just transferred to a new school in his last year of high school. Seeing no chances in getting into university through the entrance exam, Pae decides to enter a film contest by making a film about Joe (Jump Pisitpol), his seat mate who recently passed away.

The film had me bawling my eyes out in theatres by the end. I love that there were a lot philosophical questions like how much we value a friend's worth in the film. If you like Baipor/Anthony tandem in You & Me & Me, Not Friends is a must-watch for this acting duo reunion.

5. The Con-Heartist (2020) 

So for the last spot, I debated a lot between two romantic comedies (both starring Baifern Pimchanok), The Con-Heartist (2020) and Friend Zone (2019). I recently rewatched the former and was reminded by how much I love the zany humor in this film so she gets the last spot.

The Con-Heartist is about Noina (Baifern Pimchanok), who is in debt because of her ex-boyfriend so she hires a con artist, Tower (Nadech Kugimiya) to help her get revenge against her ex-boyfriend by swindling him.

Even though it's billed as a romantic comedy, I think it's more comedy-leaning compared to Friend Zone but I love the comedic moments the two leads, Baifern and Nadech. พี่ไม่หล่อลวง by BamBam is the OST song for the film and it has never left my Spotify Wrapped for the last 3 years 😭

+bonus: How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024)

This is the first GDH film from 2024 and although it comes out in like two weeks, I can feel it's going to dethrone one of the films in my top 5 list for sure. If you're thinking of going to watch something at the cinema soon, I hope you consider checking out Lahn Mah this April!

I hope you give one of these GDH films a chance. I love watching GDH films because although they can have different directors/team of scriptwriters, they always end up with certain similarities (be it cinematography or screenplay or characters). While not all GDH films are incredible masterpieces but out of the Thai production houses for films, I would say GDH 559 (and its predecessor GTH) has the most solid record of having strong and compelling cinematic works.

[synergysilhouette]

Plotting out "Crest" (Disney Movie)

Make sure to check out my summary of potential Disney reinvention era films here (which I will edit to better fit my fleshed out posts).

Background: Disney eventually decides to work on a Native American project, wanting to make one that's on the level of modern successes that they've made thus far. Based on a recommendation from Taika Waihiti (who did "Weaver" for Disney), Disney hires Sterlin Harjo to direct the film and co-write it with Jared Bush (juuuuust to have that Disney magic on it and his good track record) and additional story contributions made by Larissa FastHorse. Bush, coming off of the inspired by "Yaksha" and "The Princess and the Frog," decides that this could be another successful film adapting a (kinda) well-known fairy tale in another culture. As such, he eventually comes across the tale of "Mossycoat," and together with the other writers, they eventually come up with idea of the protagonist wearing a large cloak made of feathers of a Stellar's Jay. The film hits a controversial point in production when Disney suggests the tribe in film takes from various tribes in the continent. The film's team instead decides to make the lead characters from various tribes with regional influences: the protagonist's culture and tribe was originally inspired by Great Plains tribes like the Lakota, but was eventually altered to be inspired by Pacific Northwest tribes, specifically the Cree tribe of Canada (though they are spread throughout more than just western Canada), while her love interest's location--and most of the film's location--takes from Southwestern US tribes (at Harjo's suggestion), with particular emphasis on the Pubeloans people. When discovering that American Southwestern tribes have a high incidence of albinism (and recalling a scrapped albino male character in "Khoeli"), they decide to make the male lead albino. Along with this, the team opts for the pageantry of Powwow-inspired regalia for a colorful visual rather than traditional tans and beiges, with the protagonist's tribe having a triad of blue, black, and white, while her love interest's colors are gold, black, and red. It's a pretty easy for them to come to the consensus of making the film 3D, wanting to reach a wide audience about an underrepresented race.

(Note: I wanted to use Stephen Schwartz as the songwriter for the film, but I can imagine a desire for this to be an NA-dominant project, so perhaps an NA songwriter is brought on instead.)

Plot

When Ayamis' father died, he bequeathed her a magical cloak that could transform her into an animal of her choice. Interestingly, it almost always turns her into a Steller's Jay. That same day, when a shaman prophesizes a Stellar's Jay protecting a white fox from a rattlesnake, Ayamis' mother believes this has something to do with her, and sends her off to a the far-off empire of Oyira, where the chief's son is reputed to have skin and hair white as the clouds. She presents herself to the chief, who believes her and entrusts her safety to him, but she finds that the kingdom is threatened by raiders on their way to invade. On top of this, the chief's son does not seem eager to cooperate with Ayamis. This may be a harder journey than she thought...

Characters

Ayamis--Originally named "Chumani," she is the stoic and aloof guardian to Letaiyo. As her father's death occurred shortly before she came to Oyira and her mother rushed her along on a spiritual journey, she hasn't had time to process his death and is quite irritable. She finds that while she would've enjoyed the foreign kingdom otherwise, but her sense of self has been altered, her world having lost color. Often, she'll wear her cloak and transform into a Stellar's Jay when not guarding Letaiyo, as it's the only way she can feel close to her father. She hadn't expected to be caught in potential war, but strangely, she isn't bothered as much as she should be. It's something to take her frustration out on.

Letaiyo--Oriignally named "Naiche," he is the son of Chief Kaisa (technically Kai-Sa), he's an albino and often sheltered due to his condition making him sensitive to sunlight, though his condition is revered among his people, who see him as a "star child" (his official title is "Son of Heaven") an auspicious sign of good fortune and divine presence on Earth. While Ayamis expects him to be docile and shy, he's quite mischievous and playful, not to mention a fast runner, eager to explore and make Ayamis' job harder as a result. Of course, given his condition, where he goes and what he does during the day eventually becomes a pattern for her, much to his chagrin. But he finds himself developing feelings for her, becoming slightly jealous when she interacts with his siblings. As tough as he might act, he's a little sensitive.

Eknath--A warrior who seeks to make an empire of his own. Despite his seemingly ruthless reputation, it surprises everyone that he is a man of morals and order, disapproving of underhanded tactics such as deception and manipulation. It makes Ayamis frustrated that he isn't as cruel as she thought, since she can't take her anger out on him as well as if he had no honor. However, his team is not completed united in his direct way of fighting, with a small group wanting to capture Letaiyo, either to make Kaisa surrender or as a bargaining chip to spare them if they expose Eknath's hideout.

Songs

Take Flight--Ayamis' father dies from sickness, and she and her mother grieve terribly. But soon after, a sham prophesizes a vision that Ayamis' mother takes to believe is about her daughter, and sends her to venture to find out the meaning until she comes to the Kingdom of Oyira.

Son of Heaven--Ayamis explains the prophecy to Chief Kaisa, who believes it has to do with one of his children. Informing her that raiders plan to attack the kingdom soon, he asks her to not only guard his son, but participate in possible war.

Messenger Dance--Ayamis gets to know the people of Oyira, including Letaiyo's various siblings, who are both protective of him and annoyed by his reckless behavior. In between training for the war, Ayamis must also learn about her sneaky charge.

Meet me at Night--Having spent more time understanding each other, Letaiyo asks Ayamis to meet him outside of town when the night falls, and he can explore more without the concern of burning. In the night, they start to realize their feelings for each other, and Letaiyo admits vulnerability at seeing Ayamis as being powerful and beautiful while he was simply a delicate doll.

Love Lost--Eknath and Ayamis consider what drives him; Eknath believes Oyira is his kingdom to rule and has lost his sons in his years of conquest. Ayamis wonders if she's truly ready for war, and if she was too eager to participate rather than find a way to stop it.

The Conqueror--The war is almost upon Oyira, and with Letaiyo as a prisoner, Ayamis must find a way to sew the seeds of discourse in Eknath's group to divide and conquer them.

Hope you enjoyed this idea! "Verdant" isn't one I've fleshed out as much, so it may take me slightly longer to post it.