Aladdin Central Messageboard

[AladdinsGenie]

*refrains from ranting* A LOT-Especially in certain fanfiction

[Husse]

*shruggle* Fanfiction doesn't count to me...
_________________
You can never have too much Baklava.

NO YOU CAN'T!

YES I CAAAAAAAAAAAN!

[AladdinsGenie]

But when you make a story that deals with characters that have a personality and character already set up, at least TRY to make it them. I don't care if it's them cursing, doing the barbarian thing, getting drunk off their butts and not remembering what they did that night, smut (although I think you can debate that one), and anything else not shown or heard on Disney or in the fandom, they do still have CHARACTER. There are still things that their CHARACTER will and will not do. Just don't slop anything on the page and say the character said it. The littlest things can ruin the whole experience. Like, I can't hear Jasmine calling the sultan 'daddy'. You know why? Because she never has. It's ALWAYS been father-even when she was little. Part of her character is that she is a princess, so she has been raised to speak formally and address elders as such no matter who they are. It's like people just forget that and put what they'd say rather than what the character would say.


....I just ranted, didn't I?

[Hourglass]

It's alright Mariposa, we've all done it at one point or another.

I write a good deal of fan-fiction, and I can't remember ever having Aladdin cry either... it's just not him.
_________________
MysticMeg's Stories on THE LIBRARY OF AGRABAH!!!

MEESH AND MYSTICMEG'S COMBINED STORY!!!

Just another weird lil' fanfiction obsession of mine...

[Jas]

[Calluna]

[AladdinsGenie]

[Ariellen]

*hangs head re: fanfic, as she has made Al cry, no longer thinks it necessarily works, and knows she'll never do the reworkings she'd like to...*

Anyway, one thing that I saw as a great demonstration of Al's character is that he INSTANTLY refers to his father as "Dad" when they meet. Even if he's hurt that his father did walk out on his family, and has no reason to presume that they will be close, as they'd just met and already Cassim seemed quite OK with letting his gang kill his son. I think he's A. forgiving and B. naive enough to jump write to the "Dad" phase. And I've always found it intriguing. Is it excitement of having someone to call "Dad" at all? Is it in hopes that his father will BE a "Dad"? Regardless, I really like and am fascinated by the fact that Cassim was instantly "Dad." The Al/Cassim dynamic is my favourite part of KoT...and probably not like anything we'll ever see again in a Disney sequel. Though, as much as 'children sequels' are annoying, I'm glad KoT didn't spawn a chain of 'long lost parent' sequels, because it would have only been a matter of time before they sucked that up, too. I like that our fandom gets to be unique AND good.

[AladdinsGenie]

*is surprised Samantha hasn't said something yet* SA'LUK SUCKS!! There, she should be here any minute now

I hope you guys are comfy cause this is long. I've been feeling Aladdiny all day

It's like at first Aladdin has this great image of what Cassim was like before his "death". (It actually makes me wonder what exactly his mother or someone told him happened to his father. Especially with Cassim telling Aladdin's mother to give him the dagger once he was born) And he talks about how he wishes his father was here to see his wedding and what he's accomplished in life, give him tips, etc, etc.--A role I think Genie has filled in since he has known him, but it's never gonna be his father, you know?

Then he finds out he is still alive.

Now he's not sure if he wants to know him because that image he has had in his head this whole time is wrong. The man he wanted to have show him how to raise a family ran away from his own before Aladdin was even born. Then he starts thinking about if Cassim even cared. But then Jasmine convinces him it's worth a shot and to think about all the things he can learn about his past--stuff he has been wanting to know for a while now.

Then he mets him and almost looses him just as quick. Although it was a plan to keep Aladdin alive because he did intrude and was about to be killed on the spot, he did just put his son's life on the line, so I’d be pretty pissed too. I love the irony when Aladdin is climbing back up the cliff and he glares at the dagger. It’s like Cassim saved his life in more ways than one, but he looks pretty ticked when he does see it though. I’m guessing that’s because he didn’t expect to go there and have to kill someone just to talk to his father who is the LEADER OF THE FORTY THIEVES! You’d think he’d find another way to save his son, but since he was just called out as being weak, I guess that would be the best time to prove that he's not by putting his own son’s--who he has not seen in for 20 something years--life on the line.

He then is introuduced to his father’s obsession with the Hand of Midas and getting his “ultimate treasure”, which is then followed by Cassim’s line that totally blows my mind: “You don't understand. You don't know what it's like to have nothing. To stare up at the palace and know you deserve more….to be called ‘street rat’.” Ok….so…how would he not know if Cassim’s who reason behind leaving was he wanted the best for his family, didn’t want to be poor anymore and wanting to change it for his family? Did he assume Aladdin has been taken well-care of his whole life and this whole “marry the princess” plan has been in effect forever? I’m wondering if Cassim would still have made that comment if he saw Aladdin in his street rat clothes.

But yeah, then Aladdin openly accepts him into his life. He already starts with the dad calling and other typical father and son moments like talking about past grandfathers and to get carpet before he breaks his neck . Aladdin basically offers him a second chance to start his life in Agrabah again. So, Cassim isn’t so sure about letting some kid come into his life after all he has built, or going into Aladdin’s for that matter after all he has built, but then he is given the opportunity to be one step closer to his “ultimate treasure” by doing so, so he goes back.

Then Cassim has a whole “Aladdin complex” of changing his clothes, impressing the royalty, making him out to be something he is not (something I think Aladdin would have been the first to be like ‘Dudes..this isn’t going to work’ ), all the while still having your true self shine, which in this case, is the king of thieves and he knows that. They BOTH know that, but Aladdin disreguarded it thinking that Cassim would change now.

Aladdin then realizes why his father really came back once he is seized in the treasure room, which obviously wasn’t for him all the way. (I don’t think Cassim was looking for anything long term and didn’t except to get as close to Aladdin as he did. He was probably going to skip out once he got what he wanted again, but that’s just what I think. ) This part is followed by GREAT Jasmine character development because if this would have happened a few years earlier, she would have bite his head off for lying again, but she doesn’t and instead asks him about it. So great! I also love how no one thinks to ask GENIE or IAGO if they knew, but it’s not like either one of them would have said something. But yeah, back on topic. This is about Aladdin and Cassim!

And comes one of my personal favorite scenes when Aladdin is so disgusted by his father and how he almost ruined everything he’s been working for, that he is ready to let him out of his life just as easily as he let him in. (which again can be referred back to on how he grew up with people coming and going in his life and learning to let people go really fast) So, he has to revert back to his old “disobeying the law” self to let him back out of his life. Something I'm sure he was pissed about having to do-going back to his past and old ways to fix his future. Personally, I think it would have pissed him off even more knowing the father who came back for treasure and not him is in the dungeon in the same palace that he is now sultan over, so breaking him out would have been the best thing for both of them.

After that is my favorite scene from KOT and Aladdin/Cassim interaction in general. Everything just hits the fan It’s almost as if Cassim expects Aladdin to just drop everything and travel around the desert as criminals, just as Aladdin expected Cassim to just drop everything and start-over in Agrabah earlier. And then this complex of love or money comes up again for Aladdin once again (See “Raiders of the Lost Shark”) and now for Cassim. Aladdin once again chooses Jasmine, of course, and Cassim chooses the money by taking the oracle (Which I want to know how he got!). Now, if this was the same Aladdin from the first movie…I think he would have left. He let Jasmine go at the end in the first movie, so it wouldn’t have been any harder if this situation happened then. Plus, he’s never had to care for another human being up until Jasmine, so continuing that wouldn’t have been all that hard. He’d be a little sad, yes, but would eventually let it go because he has a tendency to let people go easily.

Aladdin also gives Cassim back the dagger that he hasn’t had to use UNTIL he met his father. It's almost one of those "I don't need your help, or this memory of you anymore so you can take it back". So great. But all of that isn’t before Aladdin takes the opportunity to tell him he will not run away from his problems like Cassim did with the family because things weren’t going right and he couldn’t take the pressure or the thought that he possibly failed at life. I guess Cassim figured the only way they’d truly be closer is if Aladdin “lived his life” so he’d know what it’s like, but Cassim doesn’t realize that in a way Aladdin has already and he has learned from it. But out of all of that, Aladdin shows Cassim what he should be showing him, which is to go back and face your problems no matter what. Deal with them. Don’t run away and hope they leave. Soo, sooo great. That, and Aladdin is probably pissed that he had two chances to go on his honeymoon and Cassim has singlehandedly ruined both

Aladdin goes back and faces the music, although I don’t think he had much music to face because everyone being there helped, but the sultan did applaude him for coming back reguardless. Then Iago shows up and tells him Cassim has been captured not too long after just departing ways, in which Aladdin really doesn’t gives a crap. It seems rathers cold, and it is, but I personally understand this because I’m like that too. Once I’ve made the decision for you to be out of my life-that’s it. Game over . It’s a little cut throat, but that’s just how I deal with people who I think are going to be a negative influence or impression on my life. You don’t need to be surrounded by that, you know? But yeah, back to them. He ultimately makes the decision to help him out because Cassim did save him a couple times, he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing he could have done something and didn't, and he realized that now he was running away from his problems, which in a losely based sense was Cassim.

But yeah, to make this short cause I think I just typed like 2 pages worth of me talking , Aladdin once again lets Cassim back in his life, but this time with looser expectations and no strings attached because that’s just how Cassim operates his own life. And Cassim finally realizes that Aladdin is his ultimate treasure and that he can be a part of his life and vice versa. He even came back to Agrabah to see Aladdin’s wedding knowing he was a wanted criminal, but just to show he did care.

I love these guys.

But yeah-no more talking for me for like…a week,

[Salukfan]

[Husse]

Oh....wow, AG, that was amazing...that should be framed...somewhere in Disneyworld or something...

Ask anyone, the BIGGEST aspect of any story to me is character development...so I DEFINITELY see where you're coming from, just not about THESE characters, because I've only seen that film once...
_________________
You can never have too much Baklava.

NO YOU CAN'T!

YES I CAAAAAAAAAAAN!

[Mariposa79]

Gee, AG. Was there a voice in your head that made you write all this until it's completely satisfied?

Talk about character. *views my fanfics to see if I got it right*

[AladdinsGenie]

It's not that serious. I just wrote my take on it because I was bored last night and was feeling really Aladdiny . It's so not the pennicle of all characterization correctness. I just love Aladdin and studying his character...along with other things *shifty eyes* . I'm a fangirl-what can I say?

I'm sure Samantha's will be different considering she's studied Cassim more than I think a normal human being can possibly understand

[Husse]

Lol...I've been known to drive many a person mad with my character evaluations, usually for Zelda and Animorphs.

But for other fanboys, I'm a real hero in debates. I swear, I get e-mails from the fellow dorks at the LoZ board like, "Zythe is being stupid again. He started some argument that Ganondorf isn't really evil, will you come clobber him?"

But Aladdin-wise, I guess I don't take it seriously enough because it's all comedy and heart to me, rather than drama. But it pisses me off when ANYBODY completely misjudges a character in ANYTHING...
_________________
You can never have too much Baklava.

NO YOU CAN'T!

YES I CAAAAAAAAAAAN!

[AladdinsGenie]

I didn't really get into the really deep character analysis thing until I entered the Aladdin fandom through the internet and was able to talk to other people about it. I thought I was nuts with all these thoughts . It started off with Genie and trying to figure out how Genie's magic works and functions in certain situations (which I STILL haven't been able to figure out all the way ), how he reacts to things, when he is and isn't trying to make people laugh, etc. and has moved on to other relationships and characters. I've only really thought about Aladdin and Genie right cause once I get them squared away, everything else just kinda fall into place