#I've always wanted to write an adaptation of the Little Mermaid

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Kingdom Hearts 4 Challenge Day 6: A World to Revisit

Atlantica

(So, I swear all of my posts really aren't meant to be about Kairi. Like, I was going to make this cool manip where it looked like Sora was saving Melody from drowning, but my Sony Vegas refused to open for some reason? So I just decided to post these similar images of Melody and Kairi instead. That being said... while I don't need Kairi to be the one to go to a The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea world if we ever got one--I'd be more than okay with it being Sora--that would be cool. I'd love to see mermaid Kairi, since Kairi is named for the sea. And Kairi's name can even mean "melody." And she has a lot in common with Ariel. I even suspect she was somewhat based on Ariel, but anyway.)

The reason I would want Atlantica is honestly just because I would want a pretty underwater world again with the Unreal Engine graphics. And that can be a world that we've never been to before, like, Atlantis: The Lost Empire. But if we don't get a new one, then I would want an old one like Atlantica here. Plus... even though I don't think this movie is the greatest. At all. I feel like it's okay... and depending on how they handle it, the KH writers could potentially make it better, with what they add to it. Also, I feel like if we go to Atlantica one more time--with better swimming controls, and in an attempt that isn't a musical--we could finally redeem the world. And that would be great to see.

And now, for whatever reason, I'm going to list some other worlds I'd be more than okay with returning (even though I think we were only supposed to list one. Shh.)

Wonderland: But only if the world is expanded and it's a "sequel," via it being based on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Deep Jungle: I know this will surely never happen, since I know Disney has lost the rights to Tarzan. But on the off-chance they ever got the rights back somehow, I definitely wouldn't mind seeing this world back again, perhaps adapting some of the stories from the TV show, like the stuff with Princess La.

Agrabah: I definitely want to go here one more time and to have the "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" story depicted. (I probably would even prefer this even over Atlantica, actually, even though I want that pretty underwater level). This was one of the better Disney sequels, after all. And Sora most definitely deserves to be there for Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding.

Neverland: I wouldn't be opposed to the second Peter Pan movie being adapted.

The Land of Dragons: I'd be all for us having Mulan II, actually.

The Beast's Castle: I've always wanted "Beauty and the Beast and the Enchanted Christmas." I want to fight Forte. LOL. While I doubt it will happen, for obvious reasons, I feel like they could find a way to do it: like Belle writes Sora and the gang a part of her and the Beast's story that they don't know about (the Enchanted Christmas story) and sends it to them as a gift (maybe even for Christmas?), and once Sora opens it, he somehow gets pulled into said story.

Pirates of the Caribbean: I wouldn't mind a "Dead Men Tell No Tales" world.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride would be awesome.

I would also kill for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.

While part of me is loath to mention this one... I feel like no one was completely satisfied with the La Cité des Cloches world in Dream Drop Distance (because of lack of NPCs and that kind of thing). And there is a "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" that Disney made. Absolutely no one likes this movie, and for good reason. But I don't know... I would be willing to tolerate it, just to see this world in the quality it deserves. And maybe Square Enix could somehow make it better... actually, surely not. But like I said: I could tolerate this just to run around Notre Dame in pretty Unreal Engine graphics.

I know that originally with DDD, the plan was Sora to go to all of the original Fantasia locations and for Riku to go to the ones in Fantasia 2000. But then they realized there were enough locations in the first movie for them both to go to, and they didn't need to crank out the sequel after all (or something like that). So I certainly wouldn't mind getting Fantasia 2000 now, in KHIV.

Tangled I'd love to go here again, if we get to see some of the cool plots from the TV show, that I've watched on YouTube. LOL

Arendelle We all know we'll be going here. It isn't even a question. I just hope that this time, Disney gives Square Enix much more freedom (let Elsa and Anna be party members, please). Since Frozen II is kind of hit and miss. Square Enix could really make something cool with it--like they could have with Frozen in KHIII--if they're allowed some creativity.

Wreck-It Ralph Because no one, and I mean no one, wanted us to first experience this world in KHUX, tbh.

Radiant Garden I just really want to finish some of the plot threads there that are still hanging.

Destiny Islands I just really want to be able to go back here and play, dangit! And maybe finally get to explore the main island!

Shibuya Just let us meet Neku, Shiki, Beat, Joshua, and Rhyme in their Shibuya (even if it's an in the credits thing), if Quadratum isn't theirs and we're not going to meet them (or the Wicked Twisters) in the game, otherwise.

[lelouisi]

I guess I haven't started an online journal in a while. I thought maybe, best to? my wrists ache and my bones feel limper than usual. like there is the sudden implementation of age. maybe we should play catch up with each-other?

i wrote a film, studied it and decided to collaborate with Pablo in the proceedings. we shoot in early April, but for now i am a hunter gatherer. secession's of ideas illuminate the path and i am suddenly, and finally... ready?

i've weaved and patterned the agenda, to make all physical. and dance to that. a cheers in facts. i am nervous as ever. but i'm happy to have found a partner who just, in fact - gets it. i want to make fashion films. i was talking to Anto the other day and he suggested i become a runner, or become more involved with the possibility of assisting in film work. i felt slightly shunny of it. not to disregard, but i fear my thoughts will be congealed with the idea's the film world factory always produce. the factory like discharging of the little mermaid 2. or the nowness churn, where dance meets choreography. i guess i'm a little cautious of how and what i digest. i find fantasy in the ordinary. i suppose in working in my little shop there is a sense of perversity that gnaws deeply on my medicated working class knees. this sense of hyper vigilance stems not only with what films i watch and what books i read but even whittles down to the people i decide to surround myself with. i know pretty swiftly when i think someone else is pretty sweet or interesting. it's an ingrown spark that churns so neatly, that in it's repetition i decide in the space of minutes whether I was to be around that person or that group setting. Natasha Lyonne stated it pretty well in Conan Obrian's podcast. i'll link below to remind myself. i thought, in youth, i had super powers, i was a strict empath, an indigo child! who could read minds! but no, it's synonymous to growing up in an unkempt, shall we say, childhood.

i used to listen to the requiem for a dream soundtrack all the time. it soothed me. i supposed i need to remember what sooths me may not sooth others. i know when i know how and when to hang around. and sometimes just sometimes, i don't want to spend my time with uninspired people. i want to equate with the dreamers and the ecstatics. my ecstatics.

i'm now reading notes from the underground, bathed and reminding myself of Guy Bourdin's films. i like his angles and his measuring of what is scene is precise and divine. i've also come to realise i will not be letting many know my next steps. it feels nice to have secrets and to have inner longing's not encroached upon by reality or other people's dim perceptions of what can be conceived as reality. i will be writing here everyday because, i think, i forgot who i was for a time. and now i am ready to reclaim.

artists i am watching:

doris chase

david bryne

movies to watch:

career girls

adaption (i always love)

[andy-the-8th]

Hello! Always exciting to see more TTY artwork out there! I've seen/reblogged your two works for Secret Lives of Fish so it's nice to see a different take on the style, I love the concept of animated adaptations of live-action work so it's cool to go with a more cartoon look as you said. I love how you got the scales up and down his arms in the little patches, rather than just the fins, it's a really interesting and distinctive design to have the human skin and scales so interwoven with each other. You also did a great job rendering his face/body shape! I always love seeing artists catch the little character-actor details when reimagining a live-action character. It'd be easy to just go with a more generic style, so it's wonderful to see such attention to making the character distinct. The pose and expression is so wonderfully dynamic and playful; the movie spends a lot of time with Cody being scared/worried about being a merman, with bright spots of him feeling truly himself when he's in the water, so I love to imagine him more comfortable and happy and free in his full mer-form. This art really nails that! :D

Yeah, the movie went way over budget (I wonder sometimes if it was re-shooting because Chez's struggles with acting - they cast the boy because he could swim, not because he could act lol), so I'm not surprised they didn't/couldn't go for more detailed H2O style tails. I also love the smoothness of those, they look so good underwater! I have only seen season 1 of H2O but liked what I saw. I have also of course read Mysteries of the Deep, the crossover story with that series and The Thirteenth Year. Definitely a cool take on sewing those two different paradigms for how merpeople work, and the decision to have mermom be Julia after she chose the sea permanently? Galaxy-brain.

Stephanie Chantel Durelli (mermom) is, last I checked, still a professional mermaid! Her scenes definitely show a lot more comfort with the tail than Chez's. Also looks like they put a little more budget into her tail; there are a lot of lovely little differences in the stripes and patterns compared to her son's. It was up for sale a couple years ago from a prop supply warehouse! I think it ended up with a private collector, like a lot of such things.

(I do not own Stephanie Chantel Durelli's mermaid tail prop; I love the movie but am not a memorabilia-collecting sort of fan, also I don't have private prop auction money lol)

As someone who loves seeing the little details especially in bad resources-limited sci-fi and fantasy, there are more than a few little spots where you see the seams in this one. The other funny bit of tail-costume-failure I always found amusing is the very last shot of Cody and mermom swimming away: one of the plastic tips of one of the flukes is just broken and swinging around lol. That said, it took several rewatches to notice it, what with the wonderful music and overall composition of the shot of them swimming together toward the light. I thought it paired beautifully with the other underwater scenes, where mermom is always emerging from some ethereal light, so to have them disappearing into it together just feels like it closes that circle very nicely.

I'm assuming, since you tagged me, that you wanted me to respond to your thoughts about my series, so I can do that.

Thank you for at least partially reading it (not sure if that was what you meant, or if the length was an immediate dealbreaker, but I appreciate any fans of the movie engaging with it)! I also very much appreciate the review that you liked the writing itself and the expansiveness of building a universe around other related DCOMs. Like the way I approached the structure of TV series, I think think there are a few similar beats in other Disney movies from the time, and having those stories threaded together casts that kind of warm, fuzzy but very era-specific nostalgia vibes I think a lot of people come back to these movies to experience.

I'm sorry you found it too long or boring for your interests. I know the length is rather extreme (sorry, we're not close to done lol), so that's why I structure it as if it were a spinoff series to the movie, with more bite-sized episodes, sorted into larger seasons. Readers can pop in and stop or start as they like, much like old-school Disney Channel teen-slice-of-life stories with a little supernatural twist inserted into the real world. I don't think I ever caught such things in order (That's So Raven, Phil of the Future, Wizards of Waverly Place, American Dragon Jake Long, Kim Possible.....Disney really was into that premise for a bit I guess, and I think they've kept it up), just as re-runs. Of course, the series makes the most sense in order, but I liked that sort of homage to the kind of storytelling that I think makes a lot of now-old-school Disney Channel content so familiar.

As for slow-moving, it's a high school slice-of-life story: a lot of things are kind of low stakes and moved along by the passage of time and beats of growing up, not unlike the way the movie's sort-of-thin plot chugs along. I wanted it to, like the movie, spend time with showing those small character relationships and making the whole world feel very lived-in. The set design of the movie is one of my favorite subtler details, so exploring that by really bringing the town and all its characters to life was part of why things get so extensive. I also like letting characters have a web of other relationships outside each other - to me, it helps them feel more realistic.

If you meant slow-moving as in slow-to-update, I don't have anything more to say than, unfortunately, I have other things I have to be doing besides writing novels about a campy Disney TV movie, despite enjoying doing so lol.

As for not having enough merpeople content, I could say that it increases as the story moves on (it does; and I like letting the readers/characters slowly discover more over time, plus it follows the overall theme of learning more about oneself as you grow up, and the way those identiy realizations fit into various subcultures that intersect with one's identity) but I also will say it did not feel fitting to the spirit of the movie if there was a huge secret set of societies under the sea. Granted, the ocean is huge, and I have had a few moments where characters recognize that there could very well be such things out there, but I enjoy the quiet mysteriousness we get from mermom in the movie, as well as the way the world feels very realistic, with just the smallest spots of underwater fantasy peeking through. Though....like I said (and for any readers reading this).....we get more merpeople lore as the story goes along, and that trend may very well continue...... :D

Keeping merpeople in general (or, I will allude, the ones we meet, anyway) kind of inhuman and mysterious felt truer to the film than if we'd delved into a larger merpeople society worldbuilding direction. I've talked to other fans of the movie who have more thoughts like that, who someday may write some of it, so there's an exciting prospect of what might be to come next for the micro-fandom! :D

So! I'd like to link another, much shorter but beautifully-crafted and character-driven story for this movie by @magick-shoppe! They have a gorgeous, slightly-modified account of the end of the movie!

I'm sure by combing the tag you've found them, but there are also several other artists who have done fun explorations of these characters! What with it being MerMay and, I think, this being a common first-merman story for a lot of folks of a particular generation, it's great to see more art of the story.

Perhaps it is very on-brand that I would respond with a long-winded and overly-detailed post, so I'll add:

tl;dr: I love your art! Thank you for posting it, you really captured the character in a fun and detail-oriented way. Sorry the series isn't to your tastes, but I hope you enjoy this nice and much more succinct fic by another author!

Haven't done fan art of The Thirteenth Year in a long while. Granted, I thought I did everything I could with the concept, but looking back at my old artworks (plus surfing for any new The Thirteenth Year posts on Tumblr), I feel I can do better. Body proportions needed work, and I need to veer away from realistic style (which I found to not really work in hindsight due to uncanny valley) to a more cartoonish style that still keeps true to the movie.

The Thirteenth Year's merfolk design is unique enough to be easily identified anywhere online. From the silverly tail to the webbed arms and scaly palms, it was one of the first times I saw a mermaid/merman design that was truly like a sea creature and not just a lego combination of a human's top half and a fishy bottom half.

Of course, it was not the easiest design to translate as a drawing. Cody's tail in the finale, upon closer inspection, was clearly two legs in a tail wetsuit. You can see where Cody's knees and heels are, which ruins the illusion of Cody actually becoming a merman. I prefer a more fish-like tail streamlining like H2O: Just Add Water, but I wanted to stay true to the original design as I streamline it. You can see where the knees bent, but the heels are gone. As for the face, I went with simple eye dots. There's something Disney-esque about those eye dots that make it work for me. Maybe it's because everything else leans towards realism due to capturing the likeness of the actor, but I don't know for sure.

The pose was a mermaid pose I selected from @adorkastock's reference pic collection. There's actually a reason for this pose, which I will post later this month because it's Mermay 2024.

Oh, and just because @andy-the-8th's Creatures That Defy Logic series is the only major The Thirteenth Year fan fiction/fan work out there right now (after the other fanfics have either been abandoned or finished with no hints of a follow up), I might as well give my thoughts on that series.

It's an impressive feat to build an entire society and world of the movie based on other DCOMs, small prop lists, calendars, and certain events that are different from the real world. But I find it to be very slow-paced for me and I struggle to keep up with all the details at times, especially when it focuses on the land stories. I heard that the fan fiction series exceeded the length of Tolkien's entire The Lord Of the Rings work which, while impressive, is quite daunting since I also find Tolkien's work to very slow-placed and hard for me to keep interest.

That's not to say it's bad. It's actually well-written from what I can read. It's just I'm more at heart with the world of fantasy and the world of the mermaids stimulates my imagination.

[angst-fairygodmother]

The Sweet Kiss of Seafoam (a Geralt x Jaskier Little Mermaid AU)

A/N: Alright, if I stare at this any longer I’m going to do something dumb like delete the doc and start over. So here it is. Presenting: my entry to @the-winter-witcher‘s 2k follower writing challenge! Or part 1 of 2 of it anyway. Chosen prompt: “I’ve run out of words my song, just let me die, me die” Word count: 2793 Content Warning: None  Now cross-posted to AO3: here

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once upon a time, in the depths of the ocean, there lived a kingdom of merfolk. These merfolk were completely isolated from the surface, but thrived in their watery domain. There were many architects, sculptors, and other artists who were held in high esteem in the kingdom, but the most cherished and lauded of all the merfolk was the youngest prince, whose name was all but forgotten by the world who called him Jaskier, after the cheerful yellow flowers they had seen on their visits near the human lands.

Young Prince Jaskier was energetic and friendly, a lover of fine things and adornments, always eager to hear some new story from his people who roamed, desperate to go on grand adventures, to see more of the ocean and learn of the human lands. Sometimes he even wished he could explore their lands himself, or at least go to the shore and see the blossoms which his nickname made him into. But where his heart truly lay was in music. Gifted with instruments and voice, he sang so often there were jokes that he could not speak, and all who heard him were enthralled by the beauty he wove from sound.

His father, a widower, and his grandmother and his many brothers all loved the young prince very much, and wanted nothing more than to protect him and keep him safe beside them for all his days. But as he grew older, he became more curious and full of daydreams and his every song became about the world above. Knowing how important it had become to him, they agreed that for one night only, as a gift on his sixteenth year, he would be granted an escort of three of the best warriors, to take him to see the surface, but he could only glimpse if from afar, for fear that humans might see him.

On that fateful day, Jaskier could not contain his excitement as he flited from place to place, waiting impatiently for the time they would set out. Once they had, he carried on for the entire journey, speculating on what they would see and repeatedly stating what he was most excited for (which was never the same thing twice), much to his guards’ amused annoyance.

When they surfaced, Jaskier finally fell silent with a gasp, so awestruck that he found himself at a total loss for words. Above their heads, great ribbons of light danced through the starry night sky. The curtains of eerily glowing greens and purples and blues waved and warped through the pinprick lights in a haunting echo of the pattern of the water that the four merfolk floated in.

None of them had ever heard of such a thing in any tale of the world, and while Jaskier wanted nothing more than to stay there, entranced by it forever, his guards bristled defensively.

“We should retreat, Your Highness,” one of them cautioned.

“It could be some sort of devilish enchantment,” the second continued.

“Don’t be silly,” Jaskier finally breathed. “Nothing evil could be so…incredible.”

“Still, we should keep moving if you want to see land before we must escort you back.”

Reluctantly, Jaskier lowered his eyes from the strange lightshow and followed as his guards led him across the waves.

The sight of the great coastal city as the dawn broke behind it was equally as awestriking as the aurora had been. The whitewashed stone houses were dip-dyed in hues of pink and golden in the morning light, windows sparkling like an inlay of diamonds. The gentle breeze carried the expected smells of sound and sea, but also brought ones he had never encountered before but made his mouth water all the same: sweet fruits, the sour tang of baking bread, the rich smoke of cooking meats. From somewhere within, a dog barked. Overhead a gull cried. The church bells began their gentle morning peal, sonorous and striking. It was a symphony and a muse at once. People stirred all about as they watched from their distant vantage. And the young prince fell in love.

~

Jaskier took a deep breath and tried to quell the fear aching in his gut as he swam into the darkness of the Sea Witch’s lair, the thorns which made up the cavern around him reaching out as if to grab him, tearing at his fins and skin like teeth. No matter how much he had pleaded, his father and grandmother had refused to let him return to the surface, to help him follow his great dream. And so he had journeyed, a last resort, to the Sea Witch’s home, and he was determined not to let anything get in his way.

“Why have you come Mer-Prince?” a voice boomed, echoing around him before he had made it far from the entrance.

“I seek the Sea Witch. I…I need her help,” he called back, hating the tremor in his voice.

“Then you shall have it,” the voice around him laughed and the thorns withdrew suddenly, as if called back. “Enter.”

He stayed the course before him as best he could in the pitch-blackness. Just when he began to fear that he would be swimming in ink forever, the way opened up into a broad cavern, lit by the soft green glow of phosphorescence. At its center, lounged like a queen, on a throne made of the bow of a wrecked ship, cushioned with waterlogged purple velvet, sat the Sea Witch.

She was pale, almost the white of bone that had been stripped clean of blood and flesh and polished over time. Her lower half was less a mermaid and more an eel with tattered vertical flukes and mottled green and brown flesh. Her face was gaunt but somehow still beautiful, all sharp angles and hard lines. Her eyes were silvery, molten and hot and reflective in the algae’s glow. As he watched, he realized that what he thought was hair was actually long, dark tendrils of a jellyfish, swirling about her head like a deadly cloud. Violent red lips curled back around a needle-toothed smile.                                  

“Please,” he asked, trying to be brave as he bowed low to her. “My name is Julian, though all who know me call me Jaskier. I am one of the Princes of the Merfolk and I have come to ask a favor of the mighty Sea Witch.”

“Oh? And what would one of the great Merfolk need of me?” she asked, sonorous voice tinged in mockery.

“I wish to be human, for a time, so that I might explore the surface world and learn of its wonders.”

She laughed, and Jaskier felt a heat creeping across his face and neck. Much to his discomfort, the laughter continued for some time before finally she stopped, leveling her unnerving gaze at him as if she could see into his heart.

“Tell me Little Fish, why should I help you do this?”

“Because it is all my heart desires. I would give you anything in return for this.” He spoke without thinking, uncaring of the consequences.

“I will do you this favor, then,” the Sea Witch purred, a predatory smirk dancing on her features. “I will give you legs Little Fish, for as long as you like, and your fins shall return when you again touch the ocean of your birth. But if during your time on shore, you give your heart to another, and they do not return your love, your voice belongs to me, forever.”

Jaskier gulped. He knew that a deal with the Sea Witch always came at cost, but he hadn’t thought she would take that which was most precious to him. Still, he reasoned, his time on the surface would not be long and if he was careful, he would not risk his heart or his voice. So he agreed to the Sea Witch’s deal, offering her a drop of his blood to seal the contract.

With a few muttered words and a wave of her hands, the deed was done.

“You have twelve hours to reach land, Little Fish, lest you find yourself below the waves with useless feet and mortal lungs.” She laughed at this and he darted from her lair.

He did not have time to go back to his home, to say goodbye or collect any things. Instead, as soon as he had passed the Maelstrom that guarded the Sea Witch’s domain, he shot for the surface, swimming desperately until he broke through the waves, feeling a strange new burning in his lungs. Stars whorled above him, more than he had seen the first time or ever dreamed there could be in the sky; he sucked in a deep breath and fought hard the urge to just float on his back and stare at them until the sun rose. But he had heard enough stories of drowned men that he knew not to, pushing in a direction he hoped was shore, hoped he could reach in time. The sun began to peak over the horizon to his right, and on he swam. It rose high in the sky, beating down on him, burning his skin, so unused to its rays, and still he kept going. Never before had swimming been a challenge, a struggle.

He felt sore and more exhausted than he ever had when he finally dragged himself out of the surf. The sand beneath burned as badly as the sun but he was beyond caring. No sooner had he dropped to rest on the shore when his body convulsed, a piercing agony splitting through him like a thousand knives. He thought he might have screamed, but it became too much and his world fell to darkness.

~

When next young Jaskier woke, he was laying in an unfamiliar place. Every inch of his being ached, despite the softness of the mattress he rested on, the blanket draped gently over him. Blinking in the bright yellow light, he struggled to sit when a gentle hand pressed against his shoulder, guiding him to lie back down.

“You should remain lying down,” the voice was soft, sweet, feminine. “I don’t know how you ended up on our beach, especially so…bare, but you were in quite bad shape.”

“Where am I?” he croaked, voice rough from disuse, letting himself sag beneath her touch.

“Oh! You’re in Castle Lettenhove. My maid and I found you when we were out for our evening stroll. We thought you were dead at first!”

He nodded as if her naming of a location meant anything to him, and his head spun at the small movement. “Well, as you can see, I am not.”

“No, but you were badly burnt in the sun, and likely to be sick from the heat. You are welcome to rest here until you have recovered, and we’ll find you clothing that will fit since whatever happened to you – you don’t have to tell me, I will not pry – it destroyed everything you might have been wearing before.”

“Thank you,” he said softly, “that is very kind.” She spoke to him for a while, utter nonsense to him (more likely gossip about lands and people he knew nothing of he suspected) and gradually her dulcet tones lulled him back into a healing sleep.

~

The next time he woke, there was an older man leaning over him, inspecting him, and he jumped, shrinking away from the shrewd gaze under bushy eyebrows.

“Do not worry,” he said evenly. “I am a mage, a healer currently in the service of the masters of this castle. I just need to see how your burns and scrapes are doing.”

Jaskier nodded reluctantly, still feeling distrust for the man, but knowing that healers were overall good, and that he desperately needed the care.

~

The pattern continued for a week. Jaskier would sleep, waking occasionally to eat or drink water. Most times, it was the young woman who tended him with her soft touch and sweet smile and her musical voice. Occasionally, he would wake to the inspection of the healer, and it would leave him feeling unsettled, as if the man guessed more of Jaskier’s nature than was safe.

After a time, it was deemed that he could begin to move about. The first morning, the woman, Mirina she had introduced herself as, brought him a billowy white shirt and blue pants, blushing slightly as she offered them to him.

“I had to guess at your sizing,” she explained. “But these are some of my brother’s old things and they should fit you. I hope they’re not too heavy on your wounds…”

He smiled gratefully and threw back the blanket to stand, causing her to shriek and throw up her hands.

“Have I done something wrong?” he asked, tilting his head in puzzlement at her obvious distress.

“Yes!” her voice was high and tight and he frowned at having caused such a change to come over her. “You’re not wearing anything yet! I don’t know how things are done in whatever strange place you came from, but you can’t just…expose yourself to me!”

“Oh. My apologies,” he crooned, trying to set her at ease again. “I will cover myself over again until you leave the room then?”

She nodded rapidly, the red blush still patently obvious across her ears and neck and the bits of her face that peaked out from behind her hands. “Yes. Yes that would be good.”

Despite this incident, things were not awkward between the two young people. She stayed at his side, letting him lean upon her while he got used to the feeling of taking steps on feet, which he pretended was unsteadiness caused by his injuries and time abed and she resolutely did not mention the oddness of his repeated reminding her of that.

He learned that Mirina was a countess, and while the word itself meant nothing to him, he understood it to be a title of importance. And so he marveled at her willingness to spend her precious time with him, a boy whom to her knowledge was nothing and no one. It was one of many things about her that he marveled at if he was being honest, like her kindness and her beauty and her quick wit.

Soon, their friendship turned to romance, and one night, after a picnic on the very beach where she had found him, they had entwined, and she had taught him many things about how human pleasure (or maybe female pleasure, he didn’t know or dare to ask) differed from his own.

“Dandelion,” she murmured, wrapped in his arms later that evening, after several vigorous lessons. “You know that this cannot be, don’t you?”

“What do you mean?” he asked faux-innocently. Then with a chuckle he added, “I’d say it already is and has been.”

She sat up quickly then, one hand planted on his chest so she could stare back down into his blue eyes with a near-identical pair.

“I am serious. I am to marry a lord from a neighboring land, and while I may not ever love him, I will be a good wife, and that means I cannot love you either. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” He felt something bubbling in his chest and the air felt like it was pulled from his lungs. He sat up too now, bringing strong arms up to steady her as he did. He looked away from her, trying to crush the wide-eyed fright he felt.

“Jaskier…” her voice was something like a sigh or a groan but not quite either.

He sat in silence for a moment, swallowing several times and waiting.

“Maybe…maybe we should just head back inside…” he finally said.

Relief washed over him; he still had a voice. And yet, he sombered; he was going to lose the thing that was becoming precious to him, even if he did not love her yet.

It was not long after that when Mirina married Lord Vaughn, from some inland holding, and Jaskier attended the wedding, dressed in red and blue. Their romance had ended the night on the beach, almost as quickly as it had begun. Seeing how proud she was of her wedding, he felt happy for her, and genuinely wished her well as she boarded the carriage to her honeymoon and the start of her new life.

Shortly after that, he set out himself. He thanked the staff for all they had done for him, carefully avoiding the unnerving healer, and left Mirina a letter, explaining why he needed to go. After all, he had come to see human lands and go on grand adventures, and he had almost lost it all before he even left the seaside.

[whole-dip]

Some thoughts on every single disney animated feature film I've currently seen

-Snow White: This movie is nowhere near as boring as I expected it to be, but still pretty boring. Its technical innovations are incredible within context but it truly couldn't capture my attention whatsoever. The only reason I watched it is because I had to write a paper about it.

-Pinocchio: Clunky. There was a logic at the time at disney that the movies would more or less be a series of related cartoons tied together with a through-line and this is very much that. While it is still a cohesive narrative, it's very much a series of events rather than a story.

-Dumbo: More of a narrative here, but still very disjointed. The animation is good and it has much more personality since it's more or less a contemporary setting, but outside of the famous pink elephants sequence, it's not much.

-Bambi: This is what I'd consider to be the first truly cohesive story from disney's feature. This movie is truly phenomenal and well earned its way into the canon of epics. Bambi's journey from young fawn to prince of the forest is beautiful and moving. The jokes about dead moms only stick because this movie is just that good.

-Saludos Amigos: The first of the package films. Doesn't hold a candle to the superior Three Caballeros but still incredible in its own right. It's short enough to do a double feature with Three Caballeros so that's how I recommend viewing it.

-The Three Caballeros: Now THIS is what I'm talking about! The finale gets due recognition for being truly one of the best pieces of animation to come out of disney, but everything up to it is still pretty incredible. Horny donald is the best donald and I love the flying serape sequence.

-Melody Time: This one's very disjointed but Pecos Bill is one of the best and funniest shorts disney's ever made. I highly recommend at least watching just that segment.

-The Adventure of Ichabod and Mr. Toad: Sleepy Hollow's disney adaptation is the much more famous half of this feature but in reality, it's got practically nothing to do with the headless horseman. Mr Toad however, is truly phenomenal as an epic crime thriller that will keep you in suspense. I know that sounds like a joke but truly it's not. Go watch it.

-Cinderella: Boring

-Alice in Wonderland: Also boring

-Lady and the Tramp: I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this one. It's fun, cute, and even funny at times. It really drops the ball in the finale, but for the most part, this romantic comedy is a real gem and definitely holds up. I recommend to kids and adults alike.

-Sleeping Beauty: It's wild how contemporary this one feels. The first half is a teen romantic comedy about mistaken identity and sneaking away from strict parents to get some time with your secret crush, but the second half falls apart with its focus on action instead of the characters. Special shout out to the incredible colors and moving tapestry art style which is great throughout.

-One Hundred and One Dalmatians: Again, surprisingly contemporary. Disney's first foray into the 1960s gives us a fun romp with memorable characters and gorgeous animation that feels down to earth compared to the more fantasy driven works of before.

-The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Is Pooh disney's greatest character? That's hard to say but I wouldn't disagree with someone that thinks so. Cute, fun, and funny, this movie is truly a warm blanket. For as much as we give shit to sickly sweet disney, this movie doesn't pretend to be anything but a small little story of cute characters. The surprisingly somber ending will leave you more contemplative than you expected, but still content to have spent time in the hundred acre wood.

-The Little Mermaid: I am always saddened to remember that this movie doesn't hold up as much as I wish it did. For every memorable song or character moment, there's a piece of clunky animation or just plain weird dialogue. It's so clear the studio was trying to get back on its feet. This first step pushes forward, but not where it needs to be.

-Beauty and the Beast: A slow first act leads to a truly phenomenal second and third. A triumph in animation, songwriting, and the studio itself. Far more nuance and beauty in this story than detractors like to claim. Well deserving of its nomination.

-Aladdin: It's not a heartfelt movie with some laughs, it's a comedy with some heart. Great action sequences, stellar animation, and just plain fun. After the regal romance of beast a year earlier, Aladdin's vegas style romp is a welcome addition to a studio that often takes itself way too seriously

-The Lion King: Like with bambi, this coming of age story deserves all the praise it gets. Incredible music, awe inspiring animation, and a tight storyline with memorable characters make this movie worth watching over and over again.

-Pocahontas: Maybe the most contrived, try hard, fucking boring movie the studio has ever made. Almost unwatchable.

-The Hunchback of Notre Dame: I am always shocked to find out this movie isn't a beloved classic. Truly incredible art and an amazing score/soundtrack make this one an instant classic to me. If you haven't watched it since childhood, give it another shot.

-Hercules: If it was just funny and had good music this one would be good, but it also has some of disney's best characters and a beautiful story of dueling world views.

-Mulan: Would've been a 10/10 if it weren't for fucking Mushu which makes it a seven to me. Otherwise, a fun, story with great music and truly epic action scenes.

-Tarzan: Often considered the weakest of the renaissance, this adventure about identity and family features a great (if too in your face) phil collins soundtrack with truly amazing animation innovation being displayed.

-The Emperor's New Groove: It's not funny.

-Atlantis: The Lost Empire: I truly can't think of a single bad thing about this movie. Incredible art, one of disney's best scores, and a story that will keep you captivated on its adventure. This movie is near perfect.

-Lilo & Stich: I once heard someone say this is disney's best film and I'm inclined to agree. The gorgeous water color backgrounds and Chris Sanders' beautiful character design play out a beautiful story that reflects a story of two abandoned children, with nuance about colonization to boot. Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride might be the best original disney song too.

-Treasure Planet: Such a hit or miss movie. Amazing action set pieces, but contrived characters. A phenomenal score, but a terrible soundtrack. This might be the most studio noted film disney's done and it's all the worse for it.

-Brother Bear: Not perfect by any means, but the beautiful animation and even more beautiful backgrounds are worth a look. The story is a little too basic and a little too predictable, reeking of white writers.

-Chicken Little: This is the first time I realized movies could be bad.

-Meet the Robinsons: Your nostalgia lied to you.

-The Princess and the Frog: Way too many cooks in the kitchen. Everything is good, but it's all a little muddled. It's a shame to because Tiana deserves better.

-Tangled: Like with mermaid, this return to form isn't perfect but it moves the studio forward. Rapunzel and Flynn are great characters and the subtle tweaking of the "formula" show the studio's willingness to innovate.

-Winnie the Pooh: Cute, but a very pleasant, fine movie. Worth watching.

-Wreck-It Ralph: I applaud this one for being so different. Lots of comedy here and a far better response to dreamworks than chicken little ever was.

-Frozen: Unfortunately, this movie is worth the hype. Is it amazing? No, but it's certainly very good. It's easy to see why this was the phenomenon it became.

-Big Hero 6: One of many in the series of attempt for disney to do an action movie. This superhero coming of age is definitely one of the better superhero stories not explicitly based on a comic, but it still feels like a comic book themed movie rather than a story that truly connects to the media that inspires it.

-Zootopia: Nowhere near as poignant as it wants to be, but plenty of fun with a great score by Michael Giacchino.

-Moana: Easily the best of the new princesses and a damn shame that it hasn't gotten the recognition it deserves. Moana's stellar animation and blast of a soundtrack create a beautiful film that's perfect for young girls. Seemingly a stealth remake of mermaid by the original directors, this one deserves to be a classic.

-Ralph Breaks the Internet: A surreal comedy from disney with a weak story but certainly some story innovations you wouldn't expect from the company. Watch it if only to see something you'd never expect the studio to do.

-Frozen 2: A surprisingly lore driven film that I really didn't expect. Probably the closest thing the company has done to a lord of the rings style story in recent years and I'm excited to see what this potential leads to next.

-Raya and the Last Dragon: Rips off way too much from Last Airbender in a way that is never bad, but man it gets kinda borings. Can't focus on any one thing unfortunately.

[orionsangel86]

I've had this post sitting in my drafts for a while now as I wanted to take time to add my thoughts to it. I love all the commentary about Hans Christian Anderson and the nature of the Little Mermaid, and the rather interesting parallels to a certain depressed Lord of Dreams there. Though I wanted to check what the actual comment was on this because I don't recall it being a specific hatred of adaptations that was mentioned:

Arguably its not even clear that its Dream who Death is talking about, but she has three brothers and one of them is the Prince of Stories and based on what Dream says to Hob about the great stories always returning to their original form, I think its safe to assume its Dream she's referring to. She doesn't say he hates adaptations though, just that he is a purist about stories.

The way I interpret this is that Dream is a bit of a snob when it comes to changing the original meanings of stories. The original Little Mermaid is a tale with heavy meaning, smothered in devout Christian ideas. The Disney movie arguably removes a lot of the original meaning behind it. So I doubt Dream would like a dumbed down version of the story which was made specifically to appeal to a wider audience, but I don't think that means he hates all adaptations. After all, the nature of storytelling began by word of mouth, and by their very nature they are subject to change depending on who is telling it, how the story is remembered, and whether or not it was written down. The "great stories" that we know of, have been built from fragments of a forgotten past. Most Fairytales originally came from folk tales spread throughout communities and were not written down. Even the Greek epics by Homer are arguably considered to be older than even his writing, that he put together tales that were already well known to the Greeks at the time - he just wrote them down!

So when Dream says "The great stories will always return to their original forms" he's talking bullshit. What original forms? Stories adapt and change over time and its impossible to truly trace the true roots of them. Storytelling for all of modern history has been a giant game of telephone and Dream of the Endless should know better than to snub modern adaptations because they don't keep to whatever versions HE chooses to consider the originals (this has basically become a dig at Dream for being wrong lmao).

I totally agree that Destruction probably has more involvement than Dream would like to admit, like we concluded that Desire has involvement in romance and erotica regardless of whether Dream likes it or not.

As to anyone trying to use Death's Little Mermaid comment as a reason to hate on the Sandman show and any potential change of ending - to them I say - grow the fuck up. Which is ironically the same message I would tell Dream of the Endless to his face if I overheard him dismissing fanfiction, story adaptations, and happy endings.

So, while we're discussing the subject of what Dream of the Endless does or doesn't cover genre-wise (having determined that he would NOT discard the genre of romance from his repertoire), who do we think covers adaptations and fanfiction?

Because in the Death comics, which are as far as I know full canon, Death insists that Dream HATES adaptations or changes because they "ruin" the story's "true form". She specifically cites him hating Disney's The Little Mermaid, for changing the Hans Christian Andersen story.

(I've seen some "fans" use this as an excuse to hate on the Netflix show, since Dream hates any change to a story and even just adapting it to television would be a technical change...)

So, if he disowns adapted or altered storytelling...my guess is on Destruction. Because you're "destroying" an existing story and using the pieces to create a new one... and Destruction, IIRC, also embodies creation. Plus we know he likes making stuff for fun, regardless of the outcome, which feels very much in the spirit of fan-works.

But then again, it's also been stated by Neil that the ONLY Endless to care about stories at all is Dream... so does he just actively despise a subsection of his realm and the people who dwell in it? (I guess that might be part of why he hates his job so fucking much...) Are adaptational authors under the "no gods no kings" zone? How much strict adherence to canon does he demand--would filming a Shakespeare play with mostly the original script but a different setting be too spicy for him? Would filming what was intended to be a live play already be too much "change" to the "proper" form of the story?

I really think Neil's statement totally disregards Destruction's well established creative/artistic hobbies (or heck, even the way Desire tends to "live for the drama" could fall under the enjoyment of stories, since they enjoy seeing how people act out), but hey, I'm not the author...

Thoughts?

@duckland @orionsangel86 @academicblorbo @roguelov @notallsandmen