New Name is a-go!/ My own Wonderland (Part 1)

[mad_tea_party]

I would like to first thank lockedgroove for the rename token! Already this journal feels more like me as I currently am.

So I guess now I'll explain more why the change. The Robas are always going to be a big part of my life. There is no denying that. Of my three Yu gi oh DVDs, that is the one I chose to save when I moved. I haven't watched it in years, but it's the security of knowing it's there when I need it. That's the same way I Feel about my Jinzo card.

It's a comfort to know that these pieces of the Robas and my teen years are never going to be too far away.

Now about this Alice in Wonderland thing. As I mentioned in my last entry it started with the 2010 Tim Burton movie, and only grew when the new movie came out last year. In fact, I really think the second movie is what really got me going for a number of reasons. As I'm getting older, and new responsibilities such as being an aunt to nieces and nephews, my ever changing (not necessarily for the better) health and taking care of myself, I'm always finding ways to "escape" from the reality of things. But even in my escapes in books or my own writing, I find myself dealing with the situations at hand in some form or fashion. The same could have been said for the heroine, Alice Kingsleigh in the Burton movies.

Maybe in some respects I've created my own "Wonderland" in my mind where I go to solve my mundane problems. Sure they're more or less Victoria's problems, but when I've had a good day with writing, I feel like the problems I face are less troubling than what I have put my own characters through, give or take a few things.

Now let me talk a little bit about some of the characters. Tarrant Hightopp comes to mind first and foremost. Tarrant is the name given to the Mad Hatter in the Burton films. The truth of the matter is that until these movies came out, i could take or leave the Hatter. I never quite cared for him in the 1951 Disney classic, preferring the Cheshire Cat instead.

When Johnny Depp took the role of the Mad Hatter, Tarrant, things changed dramatically. Was he a lunatic? Yes. Was he, indeed, Mad? Yes. But. Depp also put a touch of heart into the character that I felt was lacking in my original introduction to the character as a child. Am I saying that I wouldn't have liked the character if someone else (ie: Jimmy Carrey) were to have taken the part? No. It's just for some reason, probably the same reason why I still love his Jack Sparrow character, Depp has a way of making you FEEL his characters, no matter what role it is.

I feel like in a lot of ways, the Mad Hatter represents Alice's father in the films. In the beginning of the first film, Charles Kingsleigh has died, leaving Alice a depressed, withdrawn thing. Then she has to save Wonderland from the REd Queen's tyranny by restoring rule to the White Queen. When she comes back to Wonderland, Alice has forgotten what makes her, her. Her "muchness", as Tarrant puts it. When Stayne, the Red Queen's consort comes hunting Alice to prevent her from becoming the White Queen's champion, the Hatter is quick to protect her. But he is also the one who reminds her the most of who she is, much like her father had over the years before his passing.

And in that sense, Tarrant...as a headspace bond (yes, soul bond, don't look at me like that!) he is constantly putting me in mind of the things that I am known for. My writing, my creating, my imagination. Things that have served me well through the years, and sometimes I don't see in myself due to depression or anxiety.

There is so much more I want to tell you guys about how this fandom has helped me, but at hte moment, I can't focus anymore. So I'll continue this either later today, or tomorrow.