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calliecat93 · 4 years

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Callie’s Disney Princess Retrospective: The Little Mermaid

(Snow White) (Cinderella) (Sleeping Beauty)

By the time of 1989, The Walt Disney Company was in it’s Dark Age. Walt had passed, the Nine Old Men were retiring, and their films were viewed as jokes. The Dark Age tends to get what I feel is an overly harsh reputation, but that’s not what we’re here for. The cold hard truth is Disney was a shadow of its former self. Their films just weren’t getting the same praise as they once did, and now with Don Bluth gaining success, with films like An American Tale and The Land Before Time, they weren’t even the top studio anymore. Their lowest point was the colossal failure of The Black Cauldron and while films like The Great Mouse Detective earned some praise, it was just never enough. They’d start getting some steam with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? but considering that they commissioned Richard William’s studio in England over Disney’s own animation studio, it seemed that even the company itself was losing faith in their own talents.

That all changed, however, with the release of their 28th animated feature. This would be the film that changed everything. It brought Disney back into prominence after years of being laughing stocks. It would enter the animation medium into its Renaissance, a time still fondly remembered by many. And for the purposes of this series, it is the film that both resurrected and revitalized the Disney Princess franchise. All of this would be due to 1989’s The Little Mermaid.

Overview

Ariel is a mermaid, but she dreams of one day being able to be part of the human world. Always collecting whatever surface world treasures she can find, to her father’s disapproval, Ariel one day stumbles upon a ship celebrating the birthday of the handsome Prince Eric. It’s love at first sight, but as he is a human, her father King Triton reacts negatively. Hurt, Ariel goes to the sea witch Ursula, who grants her human legs at the cost of her voice. To remain human, Ariel has three days to get Eric to fall in love with her and kiss her. But Ursula has her own wicked plans for Ariel, plans that will endanger both land and sea. Will Ariel be able to get Eric to fall in love with her and become part of his world? Or will Ursula triumph?

Review

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I have been waiting for this day for SO LONG. Do you want to know why I decided to do this series, to begin with? Aside from 2020 driving me to insanity? It’s because while the complaints against the Disney Princesses in general have frustrated me for as long as I can remember, there were two in particular that always made my blood boil because they made no sense. Cinderella was the first one, which I already covered. The other? Ariel. I think you all know what I’m referring to here, but let’s put a pin in it for now. We have a LOT to discuss before we get to analyzing Ariel herself. First, let's go over the film.

The film is based on the story of the same name by Hans Christian Anderson. Walt himself had actually planned it long before, but sadly was never able to make it a reality. When the directors pitched it, at first it was denied due to Disney having already releasing a mermaid film called Splash not too long ago. But it was allowed to continue to be worked on as a future project and after a great deal of tweaking, expansion, and reworking, it was approved as a feature film to come out after Oliver and Company. There were a LOT of changes from the original story. The sea witch went from neutral to the villain, characters were expanded and added, and of course the story of unrequited love that ended with the little mermaid committing suicide was thrown out all together. A lot of the story basis was still there, but Disney was taking it and making it their own arguably even moreso than with the Classic Three.

The animation is fantastic. Many of the films prior like The Rescuers and Oliver and Company, while they looked nice, had this… roughness to it. I mean they were outright recycling animation for a good while, with Robin Hood being the biggest example. But the animation here is some of the nicest, most fluid that they’ve had in quite a long time. It’s colorful, expressive, and grand in feel. This is especially true with the musical numbers. I mean Under the Sea has SO much going on, and it is a true spectacle! It’s especially prominent when Ariel is mute. Since she can’t express herself with words, the animation had to be on point so that we could still understand her thoughts and feelings. They did an amazing job. From things like her visual glee at being human when going to bed the first night, to her annoyingly blowing her bangs during the canoe ride, turning into excited glee when Eric guesses her name. It helps Ariel feel more like a three-dimensional character and illustrates everything to us that words couldn’t at that point.

The biggest animation challenge for this film would be to convincingly portray the illusion of being under water. They had to convince us that Ariel was living under the sea, and I’d say they did a pretty good job. It is no easy task and trying to describe it is… hard. But I never had any doubt that they were underwater, especially compared to the scenes that were on the surface/ just look at how Ariel's hair is constantly flowing compared to how it sits when on the surface. It’s that attention to detail that I always appreciate. The opening especially, seeing the underwater landscape thriving as we see the silhouetted merpeople until the grand reveal of King Triton’s castle. Not to mention the seashore setting of Eric’s own castle and kingdom, a perfect match for this sort of movie. As someone who loves water/seaside settings, it’s always a joy to see!

While several of these people worked on the Dark Age films, this is really the first film that allows the then-new talent of Disney to shine. The directors were John Musker and Ron Clements, who are VERY important names to the Princess line. They not only gave us Ariel but also Jasmine, Tiana, and Moana. They’ve been attached to many of Disney’s most beloved films and event cult classics like The Great Mouse Detective and Treasure Planet (both of which you should watch). You also have animators such as Glen Keane, who would go on to animate Pocahontas and Rapunzel and work on some of the future princes (The Beast and Aladdin), and Mark Henn who would animate Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas (alongside Keane), Mulan, and Tiana. They both would be the supervising animators for Ariel, and go on to have very successful careers in future productions.

But this film also gave us what may have been the best decision that the new management ever made. For the music, they hired lyricist Howard Ashman, who chose composer Alan Menken to collaborate with him. I cannot stress enough how important these two’s contributions were for this (and the next film we’ll be discussing) production, especially the former. Ashman became very passionate about this project and was very influential on it’s direction to the point of being credited as a producer. Menken of course would go on to have a LONG, successful career as a composer on many of the Renaissance films. Many of which we’ll be touching on in this retrospective. These guys won two Oscars for The Little Mermaid for a reason.

I haven’t talked a whole lot about the music in these films outside a little bit about the main song. That’s because while not unimportant, the music didn’t really move the story along. Like Someday My Prince Will Come/ is cute, but does it really drive anything forward? Or tell us anything about Snow White that we didn’t already know from I’m Wishing? Not really. Ashman, using his stage musical experience, wanted to use that kind of styling with The Little Mermaid. To use music to add depth to both the characters and to the story. We’re all used to most Disney films being this Broadway-esque spectacle nowadays, but this film was the first to truly do so. Considering how this formula is still being used to this day, I think it’s safe to say that it was VERY successful. Again, the music won two Oscars for a reason. Heck for a LONG time, the music was all that Disney was able to win from The Academy, so that says a LOT as to how good this was.

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So now that we’ve made it here, I’m going to discuss the vocal tracks individually and give my thoughts on each of the major ones:

Fathoms Below: Might be the most underrated song of the bunch. It’s in the style of a sea-shanty discussing the legends of what is below the sea. It’s a great intro to the film, letting us know right off the bat what kind of movie we are in for. I know that it sure had me invested~

Part of Your World/Reprise: I’m gonna go more into depth on the song’s meanings when we analyze Ariel, but this song is perfect. It’s the song that tells us Ariel’s wants and dreams and Jodi Benson does such a great job putting so many different emotions into it. The animators also did a fantastic job with the expressions, fully showcasing Ariel’s longing, sadness, and desperation to be part of a world that she cannot. The reprise equally does a great job showcasing her evolving revolve, going from ‘longing’ to ‘determined’. The song is fondly remembered for a reason… and it almost didn’t make it into the film. During screen testings, Jeffrey Katzenberg (the studio head at the time) wanted the sequence cut as the kid audience was ‘bored’ and ‘restless’. The directors and Ashman HEAVILY disagreed and argued back, with Glen Keane ultimately being the one to convince Katzenberg to keep the scene. Thank God for it because this adds such a strong, emotional core to both the story and to Ariel’s character and it would have taken so much away if removed. I love it~

Under the Sea: This was the number that won the Oscar. I… find it the most overrated track tbh. Not that it’s bad, FAR from it. It’s probably the best animation-wise with how much is going on. Sebastian somehow managed to conduct… all the sea life into a mass spectacle that certainly had me convinced to living under the sea. The calypso style is very fitting and fun, and Samuel E Wright sings it with so much passion. I guess that I find it overrated because I just like other songs more, but this is still a true showstopper that’s worth revisiting.

Poor Unfortunate Souls: Aside from I think Cruella DeVille (and even then Roger’s the one singing it), I think that this is the first true villain song in a Disney film. If so, then they started on a GLORIOUS note. I love this song! It was THE perfect song for Ursula. The first half with her fake reformed villain act but with this condescending air to it (Pat Carroll’s delivery with the ‘Pathetic’ line is perfection) was already grand, but the second half? Pat Carroll just lets loose and goes utterly insane. It is AMAZING and has so much charisma to it that you can’t help but be invested. It’s also very creepy, especially in the end with Ursula's cauldron bubbling and especially how she takes Ariel’s voice. This would inspire many great villain songs in the future and to this day remains one of the all-time greats.

Les Poissons: I never thought that seeing a chef cook would be so horrifying… the song is fine. It’s a silly sequence, albeit morbid from poor Sebastian’s perspective, and Rene Auberjonois did a fantastic job despite the song being pretty short. It’s my least favorite track, mainly because it doesn’t really add or enhance anything. But it was fun… poor Senastian though XD

Kiss the Girl: The love song of the film. I love the animation for this one. I mean what’s more romantic than taking a canoe out on the lake? That’s where I’d want my first date to end! The mood is set so well with the use of shadows and once more, Sebastian is able to conduct a spectacle effortlessly. Once more Samuel E Wright does a fabulous job singing, this time with a serenade style. Even if poor Scuttle didn’t get the appreciation that he deserved. Let the seagull sing, dang it! The only thing that ruins it is the eels capsizing the canoe, jerks! But yeah a beautiful serenade that is bound to convince anyone to… well, kiss the girl XD

And that’s not even getting into Alan Menken’s score! Alan Menken is my favorite composer of all time, so I love everything that he has ever done. I still remember the opening, hearing the instrumental of Part of Your World and immediately became invested in this film. The man is an EGOT for a reason, and this is only one of the many fantastic soundtracks that we’ll be discussing in this review. He also did some additional music for the Broadway version of the film, and there’s a whole body of demo work that he and Ashman did that you can probably find on Youtube, Spotify, or whatever music streaming service you use. Listen to Ashman’s rendition of Part of Your World, you WILL be driven to tears.

So now we get to characters… and HO BOY do we have a lot. For the sake of this review we will be going over King Triton, Sebastian, Flounder, Scuttle, Ursula, Prince Eric, and as per usual Ariel will have her own section at the end.

King Triton, while not evil, serves as an antagonist early on in the film. By all appearances, Triton is a capable ruler who wields a great deal of power due to his triton. He appears just, and for the most part he is as well as a caring father. The only problem is… well, his anger issues. Triton HATES humans and the surface world. We’re never told why aside from him calling them ‘fish-eaters’ (the DTV prequel suggests it’s due to the death of his wife, but the canonicity is debatable), but considering that his youngest daughter’s greatest passion is learning about the surface world… yeah. Needless to say, they have issues between them. But he is otherwise loving and was even excited that Ariel may have found love until he found out about their species. With how overprotective he is, that was a nice subversion despite how brief it was.

Triton often gets the ‘abusive’ label thrown against him and while I do think that that’s a little too strong, there is no denying that his hatred and anger affects Ariel emotionally. He may have seen destroying Ariel’s grotto as for her own good and is likely the culmination of however long Ariel’s been going to the surface finally boiling over. But to do this right in front of her when she is begging him to stop and outright ridiculing her for saving Eric’s life… yeah. It’s… it’s a horrifying scene that does NOT make Triton look good and is what pushes Ariel into seeing Ursula. It doesn’t matter the reason, destroying your children’s things is something that WILL scar them emotionally. To be far, the moment Ariel breaks down Triton clearly realizes that he crossed the line, but he just leaves because… yeah there was NO WAY that they were reaching a reconciliation at that moment.

Triton has a lot of issues, but the reason I don’t call him abusive and like him as a character is because after the grotto scene, he was clearly remorseful. After Ariel goes missing, he outright says ‘What have I done?” and his demeanor expresses a lot of remorse. If that wasn’t enough, I think that him both selling his soul to free Ariel AND turning her human after realizing how much she loved Eric more than showed that he has learned his lesson. Triton had to learn to allow Ariel to grow up and choose her own direction in life, even if he didn’t like said direction. It’s very relatable to how some parents struggle to let go of their children as they grow up. My only real complaint is, as I said, we don’t know why Triton hates humans so much. If we did and saw him work through it, it may have helped us understand why he was so against Ariel’s passions and not come off as needlessly cruel as he did. Nevertheless, he realized his wrongs and made it right. His hug with Ariel at the end is one that gets me every time.

The sidekicks of the film are Flounder, Scuttle, and Sebastian. IDK why they named Flounder Flounder because he isn’t… well, a flounder. He looks like some kind of tropical fish. Flounder is kind of the kid appeal character, even being voiced by a child in all incarnations except Return to the Sea since he had grown up. He is Ariel’s best friend who goes with her on her adventures, despite almost always being easily frightened. He’s well-meaning, but can cause more trouble like when he accidentally exposed Ariel’s excursion during the concert. But he’s also a sweet little guy and very loyal to Ariel. The kid outright went out of his way to somehow recover the Eric statue, which is ten times his size, and deliver it to her grotto to make her happy. That is friendship. He doesn’t really develop, but he’s a nice supporting character.

Scuttle is… well, dumb. But a fun dumb. He’s a surface creature and thus has more knowledge about surface world items than Ariel does… except he doesn’t. He’s not smart, but they manage to keep him entertaining because he’s so sure that he knows what he’s talking about. Imo, dinglehoppers are a MUCH better name for forks than forks, dang it! He tries to help, like it was his idea to try the serenade during the canoe ride… too bad that he can’t hold a note. Poor bird tried. They also DO allow him to be useful at the end, discovering that Ursula had tricked Eric and he amassed one heck of an army to humiliate her long enough for Ariel to reach the ship. It is one of the funniest AND most awesome moments in the whole film. Scuttle is just fun comedic relief who doesn’t overstay his welcome and his VA Buddy Hackett did such a great job~

But if there’s any character aside from Ariel that we remember from this film, it’s Sebastian. This Jamaican crab is the royal musical conductor and Triton’s advisor. He’s often the one who has to watch over Ariel, which clearly frustrates him on multiple occasions. Tbh, Sebastian probably has the most character development in the film. In the beginning, while understandably upset that Ariel being a no-show ruined his conducting debut (though tbf… NO ONE bothered to make sure she was in place? Really?), he’s mainly upset that /he/ looked bad. After the storm, he’s more concerned about getting into trouble with Triton than about Ariel herself. He knows how much the human world means to her, and while one can argue that Ariel /should/ be more aware of how her actions affect others, Sebastian isn’t much better. He only discourages her to save his own shell, not for her own good. Which eventually leads to him breaking and exposing what happened during the storm when he should know damn well that Triton will explode. Yeah it was because he misunderstood, but still.

However, Sebastian isn’t a bad crab. After the grotto's destruction, he immediately feels guilty and tries to apologize to Ariel, but she angrily dismisses him. He tries to convince Ariel to not go to Ursula, but as she’s still upset she bitterly brushes him off and tells him to get her father since he’s good at that. He therefore follows with only Flounder and at first, panics after Ariel is human. It’s understandable because… yeah, that’s bad. His first reaction is to get Triton to fix this, with Ariel trying to stop him. Once he sees the heartbroken look on her face, Sebastian realizes just how miserable Ariel would be back home. At this point, it's reasonable to assume that Triton will only be stricter about letting her have her ventures, and thus she’d be stuck in an unhappy life. This, along with the situation at least being partially his fault, convinces Sebastian to hold off and help Ariel win Eric over. Which he certainly tries his best.

One of my favorite scenes is Ariel going to bed and being so excited to experience these new things as Sebastian tries to advise her on getting Eric to kiss her. But he stops when he sees that Ariel has fallen asleep with the biggest smile on her face, and he just affectionately calls her a ‘hopeless child’. The affection in his expressions and Samuel E Wright’s delivery is just so sincere and it really shows that for all his bluster, Sebastian does care for Ariel. The crab is also a seriously talented conductor. Like I said, he put together both Under the Sea AND Kiss the Girl in zero time and they’re both amazing numbers because of it. He really tries hard to help Ariel and once Ursula strikes again, he decides it’s finally been long enough and gets King Triton. Sure that doesn’t go well, but at that point it was absolutely the right call. He also helps fight off Flotsam and Jetsam, willing to put himself in harm’s way to help both Ariel and Eric.

Sebastian became a much more understanding, more selfless crab over the course of the film, realizing that he needs to care less about saving his own skin and to understand why Ariel does what she does. It’s especially notable at the end. In the beginning, he advised Triton to keep a firm grip on Ariel when he asks if he was too harsh. At the end? He advises him that children have to be free to lead their own lives, which is what convinces Triton to grant Ariel legs. It’s a really nice character arc and this along with Sebastian’s two spectacular musical numbers leaves no question as to why he’s so beloved.

But what’s a great film without a great villain? For that we get one of the best, Ursula the Sea Witch. She is a fantastic villainess. She’s a large octopus woman who used to work in the palace, but for reasons unknown got banished. In early versions, she was going to be Triton’s sister which would have added a VERY twisted dynamic to the whole thing. Maybe that’s where they got the idea for Scar in The Lion King… anyways! Her design was based on Drag Queen Divine who was also going to be the VA for Ursula, but she sadly passed away of an enlarged heart before any recording to be done. After going through various performers, the production staff settled on actress Pat Carroll, who did a spectacular job. You can just tell that she is loving every single second of this role, and she has always happily returned whenever they need new Ursula material like in House of Mouse or in the parks. Just listen as she goes off the chain in Poor Unfortunate Souls that is some amazing acting.

Ursula is confident, manipulative, and a true actress. Her entire gimmick is manipulating vulnerable, insecure people into making deals with her. Deals that are pretty much impossible to keep and thus, she claims them as hers and adds them to her ‘garden’. She targets Ariel specifically because of her passion for the surface world and since she likely knows of Triton’s hatred for it AND of his anger problems, she’s just waiting for the day he screws up and Ariel is vulnerable. I’m gonna go MUCH more in depth with this when we get to Ariel, but this is SO important to note. Ursula struck when Ariel was hurt, emotional, and not thinking straight. It shows just how manipulative she can be. This is who she preys on. She knows how to sway them to act how she wants them to. She’s a saleswoman, and BOY does she sell it. It doesn't help that she gives Ariel very little personal space and manipulates her feelings for Eric to be further swayed. Yet Ariel is the stupid one because she was manipulated by a master manipulator… patience Callie, you’re gonna be able to let it out soon enough…

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Ursula works so well as a villain because of how smart and manipulative she is. Like I said, she knows how to prey on the vulnerable and insecure. But she also knows when to get herself involved. After Ariel almost kisses Eric on the second day, Ursula disguises herself and uses Ariel’s voice to hypnotize Eric. And even though Scuttle and his undersea army humiliate her and Ariel gets her voice back, she bought just enough time for the sun to set and the spell breaks. Ursula won. She captured Ariel, forced Triton to sell himself to save his daughter, and claimed ultimate power. It was a truly methodical plan that ultimately succeeded. You gotta give her props for that.

Don’t make any mistakes though. While Ursula is intelligent and confident, she /is/ still evil. I’ve seen people say that she should have won just because they don’t like the ‘abusive tyrant’ Triton. Aside from what I already said about Triton above, Ursula is shown to be far, FAR worse. I mean… I hate to use the term, but she essentially s***-shames Ariel throughout Poor Unfortunate Souls. I mean she outright calls her a ‘little tramp’ after the canoe scene, which in this context is a G-Rated way of calling her a s***. To a sixteen year old. Yeah… plus we saw how power-mad she went once she got the triton, and it didn’t bode well for either land or sea. Triton’s temperamental, but he isn’t a tyrant. Ursula’s only redeeming trait is that she DOES care for her henchmen Flotsam and Jetsam, and their death at Ariel’s hand is what provoked her to go mad with power. This was ultimately her undoing as she was so focused on tormenting Ariel that it allowed Eric to take his ship and kill her. It’s a pretty gruesome Disney Villain Death (we outright see her SKELETON FLASHING at one point), but she brought it upon herself.

If you asked me what villain helped shape many of the ones we got during the Renaissance… I’d say Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective. But Ursula was the first Renaissance villain, and she started it off right. She’s enjoyable enough that we love it when she’s on screen, but still detestable enough that we want her to lose. Many complain about doing ‘purely evil’ villains. That villains HAVE to be sympathetic or nuanced, otherwise they are poorly written. While there’s nothing wrong with sympathetic, or even redeemable villains, having a purely evil one is also perfectly fine. Disney is the master of this. Ursula’s motivation is strictly to gain power, but it works because they give her character so much personality and charisma. Petty motivation, but excellent character writing that makes us not mind. I’d say if you want to learn how to do a Pure Evil character right, study Ursula in particular along with Jafar and Hades. They’re all great examples of how to do it right.

Finally we come to our leading man, Prince Eric. So far the Disney Princes have acted more as a necessity than anything. It’s as I said in the Sleeping Beauty Review, Florian and Charming fill out a plot point and while he was more proactive in comparison, Phillip fell into the same trap. Did Eric finally break the curse? Well… yes and no. He's a firm middle ground between ‘necessity’ and ‘actual character’. He’s allowed FAR more than any of the other princes thus far. Eric is a seasman, he loves going out on the ocean in his ships. He’s adventurous, good-looking, and an overall nice guy. We see that he isn’t really into fancy stuff, outright cringing when Grimsby unveils the statue. He also isn’t interested in Grimsby trying to set him up with various noble women. Like Jasmine and to a degree Prince Charming, he wants to find love for love, but on his own time. These are the traits that attract Ariel to him. Plus he’s also heroic, going back to a BURNING SHIP in order to save his dog Max… yeah I’d fall in love with him too.

After Ariel saves him, Eric becomes determined to find her. But he only briefly saw her face and heard her voice. Funny how NO ONE gets on Eric for this while hating on Ariel, but again we’ll get to that soon enough. When he meets Ariel he recognizes her face… but since she can’t talk, assumes that she can’t be the mystery girl. Still, being a good person, he takes her back to the palace to give her shelter. It’s not long before he becomes endeared by her though. She’s pretty, sweet, and even though she can’t talk he has a good time showing her around the kingdom. It's so clear by /Kiss the Girl/ that he has fallen for her, to the point that even Grimsby points it out to him. It gets him to give up on the mystery girl which is VERY important. It shows us that Eric didn’t fall for Ariel because she happened to be the girl he was looking for, but because of who she is as a person. It shows the audience that his feelings are genuine which makes us further root for him and Ariel… too bad that Ursula goes and ruins it.

As far as personality goes, Eric is more fun than his predecessors, but he’s still stuck with the standard prince-like personality. He’s given more lines than all of them combined and has a real charm to him. You can see why Ariel would like a guy like him. He’s kind, fun, adventurous, and even a little rebellious. He is her ideal vision of what humans are like. The end of the film lets him prove himself as well, going out to help Ariel despite the danger and of course using his own ship to kill Ursula. It does cause Ariel to be a bit of a Damsel in Distress, but she DID save him much earlier and she stops Ursula from blasting him to smithereens, so it balances out. It was enough to prove himself to Triton, at least. So Eric is a nice step up as far as princes go, but we’re not quite out of the well with them yet. But it won’t be much longer, heehee XD

There’s other supporting characters that I really don't have much to say about. Ariel’s sisters are nicely designed, but ultimately bland. I think the series and Ariel’s Beginning did more with them, but otherwise there’s not anything to discuss. Grimsby is fine enough, being the closest thing that Eric has to a parental figure (where ARE Eric’s parents in all of this anyways?) and is stuffy, but otherwise a decent guy. Chef Louie is… crazy. That’s all that I can say. This film has a lot of characters, let’s put it that way. But of course, we have one more to go over. The titular little mermaid herself. I’ve been hinting at this throughout the review, so I think you all know exactly how this will go…

Ariel Analysis

I cannot stress enough how massive a step Ariel was for the Disney Princess line. As much as I have defended the Classic Three and standby all of that, there is certainly some repetition going one with them. All three are beautiful, passive, and can’t directly do much to accomplish their dreams. And at least two of them are dreaming mainly about a man, which is NOT a bad thing, but it was certainly getting old. Feminism has also been evolving since 1959, the last time a Disney Princess film came out. A lot had changed in those thirty years. Women in media could now be more proactive, take matters into their own hands, and have their own hopes and dreams that weren’t just about love while still being allowed to find love. Simply put, as much as I love Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora, the times had changed and it was time for Disney to get with those times. Thus we got Ariel, and she was exactly the right princess to take the line into a whole new direction.

The beginning of the film is a pretty clever way to set her up. The Classic Three are known for being angelic singers, and for good reason. It’s pretty much the first thing they do when we meet them (well, as an adult in Aurora’s case) so the concert sets this up. It’s Ariel’s ‘debut” and her sisters all have the looks and angelic voices that fit the archetypal Disney Princess. But then the shell opens up… and is empty. Then we cut to Ariel, who is about to go inside a sunken ship to look for surface world artifacts. It is an excellent subversion, setting up a Classic Princess move and flipping it on it’s head. It’s shown very quickly that Ariel is adventurous and actively seeking out her dreams despite her situation instead of trying to just make do with the way things were and hoping for the best. We also get a fun sequence of her and Flounder escaping a shark, so first time a Princess got an action scene as well.

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The film very quickly establishes Ariel’s love and fascination with the surface world. Exploring sunken ships, going to Scuttle to get more information, later we see her grotto that is filled with so many items that we would consider standard, but that she considers treasures. These mean so much to her. She finds the surface world ‘wonderful’. But there are setbacks and consequences for her actions, in this case her forgetting about the concert. She didn't mean to and feels bad about it, and Flounder mentioning the reason why didn’t help. It’s clear that Ariel and Triton have been arguing about this for a long time, the latter failing to understand how much this means to Ariel and is at his wit’s end. His demands for her to stop upset her, causing her to storm out of the throne room and head for her grotto.

This leads to Part of Your World. This song/sequence is vital to understand Ariel’s character. This is the song where she expresses all her hopes and dreams. How she wants to be human. How she wants to learn more about the surface world. How she wants to experience things like walking down a street or finding out how a fire can burn. Throughout the film, we never learn how Ariel got so interested in human culture and just why she’s so passionate about it. But we really don’t need an in-depth explanation because this song conveys so much sincerity and emotion that it makes us believe in her passion. We understand how much this matters to her, and in turn it makes it matter to us. It’s why if it had gotten removed, it would have robbed Ariel of this depth and in turn, rob the film of something essential to its story. Thank God it remained intact.

This is a good time to talk about Ariel’s voice actress, Jodi Benson. Having originally been in Howard Ashman’s failed musical Smile, she was brought in originally as Ariel’s singing voice before being promoted to also doing the speaking the lines. This was not only her voice acting debut, but as far as I can tell her film debut as well. She did such a lovely job in the role. She perfectly conveys Ariel’s passion, drive, and sincerity while still coming off as a sixteen year old girl. Her singing voice has been rightfully praised, and to this day Ariel is often considered the best singer among the princesses. Benson has gone on to do other voice roles such as Barbie in the Toy Story films, Patsy and Ms. Doe in Camp Lazlo, and Aquagirl in Batman Beyond. She has continued to reprise Ariel to this day when needed and has always expressed so much love and gratitude for the film and her part in it, She’s also supported others who have done the role like Auli’i Cravallho (aka Moana) for the ABC Musical and Halle Bailey for the upcoming live-action remake. She’s a lovely woman and may she continue to do well~

Going back to the film, Ariel finds herself at a ship and this is where she sees Eric for the first time. It’s love at first sight. Of the Renaissance Era Princesses, Ariel is the one who gets the ‘love at first sight’ critique levied at her the most. Belle and Mulan of course didn’t have that issue and I usually see Jasmine and Pocahontas be given a free pass in this regard. Now of the five, The Little Mermaid IS the most blatant with the trope, but let’s look at it through Ariel’s POV. This is the first time that she’s seen so many humans up close. Eric is around her age (to my knowledge, at least. His VA was 16 at the time IIRC). It is very quickly established that Eric is jovial, uninterested in things like statues in his image, rebellious as he has rejected all the women Grimsby has arranged him with, and wants to find love for himself. He has many of the traits that Ariel herself has, being a rebellious, free-spirit teen herself. But most of all he is heroic, as demonstrated when he goes back to his burning ship to save his dog.

In other words, Eric is Ariel’s ideal vision of what people are like. She saves him from drowning, the first time that a Princess has saved her Prince, and is able to look at him more closely. She is clearly infatuated and seeing this man, this good-hearted, handsome young man who is everything that she ever dreamed of. This is what pushes her from just dreaming about being human to swearing that somehow she /will/ be human. Yes, she gets motivated by love, but the goal was there before this moment. It just became a solidified goal. One that she is going to make a reality someway, somehow. She even notes in the Part of Your World Reprise that she doesn’t know when or how, but it doesn’t matter. Compared to how fleeting her hopes were in the main song, the reprise is so much more triumphant and determined and continues to show just how important this truly is to Ariel.

Sadly however she still has one obstacle in between her and her dream; her father. The next day she is so happy and lovesick and it’s really cute, but Sebastian knows that this is going to cause major issues with her father. His big Under the Sea plea goes ignored, and Ariel is led to her grotto by Flounder, who has brought her the Eric statue. She’s so happy and acting like… well, a teenager in love. But unfortunately due to Sebastian jumping the gun, Triton finds out and he is enraged. Not only is he angry that Ariel again went to the surface, but she both saved and fell in love with a human. Thus we get the dark scene of Triton, in his rage, destroying the grotto. Every item, treasure, and relic that Ariel has gathered for who knows how long has become nothing but a pile of dust. Including the statue of the man she loves.

Say what you want about ‘love at first sight’ or Ariel being a lovesick dummy, but this is outright traumatizing. This sixteen year old girl, a girl who aside from forgetting a few engagements has done nothing wrong, had all of her hopes and dreams shattered by her own father all because of his own blind hatred. Imagine being a teenager and your parents destroying everything you love all because they hated something that you loved. Even if Triton regretted it, it doesn’t change the pain that he inflicted upon his own daughter as she breaks down. She’s so upset that she rejects Sebastian trying to apologize and just tells him and Flounder to go away. They comply, leaving Ariel to cry in her now bare grotto… that is, until Flotsam and Jetsam appear.

So.. let’s now talk about Ariel going to Ursula and accepting the deal. First, her going in the first place. When Flotsam and Jetsam bring Ursula up, Ariel… /refuses/ to go. She is aware that Ursula is bad news. She had no intention of going to her at first and outright tells the eels to leave. What makes her agree? The two knocking the remains of the Eric statue in front of her. At this point, Ariel’s pretty much been rejected by her father and all of her treasures that kept her seabound are gone, so… what’s she got left to lose? She follows and naturally Sebastian tries to stop her, but she just angrily tells him to get her father since he’s good at that.

Ariel enters Ursula’s domain, and we come to the scene. Ursula declares to have changed, demonstrates her power, and offers Ariel the deal to become human for three days and it’ll be permanent if Eric kisses her. If Ariel fails, she not only becomes a mermaid again, but she belongs to Ursula. She also has to give up her voice as payment. Now we all know the big criticism against this, that being Ariel selling her voice and leaving behind her family and all that she ever knew and loved… for some prince that she hasn’t even really met yet, let alone spoken to. Now do I see why people dislike this? Yes. It’s a very rash, very stupid decision not just for those factors, but the fact that Ariel is essentially selling herself to the devil for this one thing. None of this is a good thing… but here is the big question, does the film do enough that this makes sense for Ariel’s character? Is this something that I can see her doing?

Yes, yes I can.

Let’s look at this piece by piece. First, Ariel is clearly uncomfortable the entire time that she is in Ursula’s lair. Ursula continuously gets into her personal space, laying on the manipulation at every step. When she lays out the deal, Ariel is at first hesitant. She herself brings up that if she takes it, she’ll likely never see her family again. She’s also hesitant when Ursula lays out the terms of payment, not just because she has no idea how she’d woo Eric without it, but just the concept of losing her voice clearly unnerves her. Look at her face when she grabs at her own throat, she is NOT okay with this. Even when Ursula begins to create the brew and poof sup the contract, Ariel isn’t excited or just jumps to it without thinking. She is VERY CLEARLY hesitant and unnerved about everything.

So… why does she do it then? Well remember, she’s still emotional after her confrontation with her father. Her father has rejected her in her eyes and destroyed everything that she had worked for. At this point, her dreams and feelings for Eric are all that she has. She is hurt, emotional, and desperate and when we are hurt, emotional, and desperate we tend to make rash, even outright stupid decisions. Especially when we’re teenagers. Ursula waited to strike at this very moment for this exact reason; so that Ariel wouldn’t be thinking rationally. These are the exact kind of people that Ursula preys on, and as I said above, she knows how to manipulate them to act how she wants. She gives Ariel the offer of her dreams, assures her that she can woo Eric without talking, poofs Eric’s image up at one point, and makes it clear that she’s giving her very little time to think it over.

With absolutely nothing left to lose and it being clear that her father will never support her dreams, Ariel reluctantly signs the contract. She outright turns her head away when she signs. She KNOWS that she’s making a big choice and she isn’t 100% okay with it. She didn’t just give up her life callously for a man like some like to make out. It was a rash choice, but she had reluctance and fears about it. But it’s the only chance she’ll get to get her dream of being human and being happy, which is what ultimately drives her to make her choice. Given how she risked her life already against a shark, this is in-character for her and shows how far she’ll go for her dreams. And as we’ll see, this is going to have consequences as we near the end of the film.

So the deal is made. Ariel loses her voice and is transformed into a human. Once she makes it to shore, she gets to see her new legs, and for the first time since the confrontation, is happy. She has legs. She is human. The one thing that she had wanted for so, so long has finally come true. Naturally Sebastian wants to get Triton, but she stops him and gives him the saddest, most pleading look that I think I’ve ever seen. This is Ariel’s one and only chance to get what she dreamed of. Triton would not only stop her, but considering what happened before, who knows what else he’d do if he saw her as a human. It is 10% understandable why Ariel doesn't want him involved, especially once it would just lead her back to a life of misery. Sebastian realizes this and agrees to help her, which pretty much gets her to forgive him for what happened before.

Thus, we get to the first true meeting between Ariel and Eric. Of course, Ariel can’t explain who she is because of her voice being gone, so Eric assumes that she can’t be the same girl he saw despite her looking like her. But he sees her in the makeshift dress that Scuttle got her into and assumes that she’s shipwrecked, especially since she can’t walk well. So he takes her to the palace, and Ariel is able to get refreshed and get used to walking on legs. She is clearly delighted by everything. She is now part of the world that she longed for,, and she is loving every second of it. Sure she quickly finds out that forks aren’t combs, but hey she’s learning exactly what she wanted to learn. She is in utter bliss throughout the two days that she’s on the surface, doing thinks like learn to dance and ride a horse-drawn carriage. It’s all she ever hopes it would be.

But of course, Ariel still needs to get Eric to kiss her, or all of her dreams will end. She almost makes it with Kiss the Girl, which despite not being able to talk she made it pretty clear that she was willing and ready for Eric to kiss her. Ursula ruins that, but Ariel HAS endeared herself to Eric and he even prepares to go to her after giving up on the mystery mermaid. But of course, Ursula disguises herself as Vanessa via Ariel’s voice and hypnotizes Eric into marrying her. It’s sad because when Scuttle informs her of the proposal, Ariel is elated. She runs down the stairs, excited and gleeful… then she sees Eric and Vanessa, and you can see her heart break in two. It especially hits hard as she watches the ship take off, broken-hearted. She’s lost the man she loves, in moments she will be a mermaid again, and she will belong to Ursula fair and square. She pursued her dream, and it all seemed for naught.

But once Scuttle finds out about Ursula, Ariel quickly springs into action. With her friend's help, she reaches the ship just as Ursula’s necklace gets broken. This is a nitpick but I don’t like how Ariel ultimately wasn’t very active in helping rescuer Eric. Tbf IDK what she could have done, but I’d have liked to see her stand against Ursula before things go downhill. Otherwise it feels like this and the other events after… kind if feel handed to her by convenience and luck. But regardless she gets her voice back… but she fails to kiss Eric before the sun sets. That’s right folks, the so-called selfish, stupid deal that Ariel made? She failed to uphold it. She reverts to a Mermaid and now belongs to Ursula, and Triton can’t break it as it’s legally binding. So even if you DO think that Ariel made a bad choice, the film shows that yes, it WAS bad and she is now paying the consequences. Sure Triton sacrifices himself to take her place, but that still means that Ursula not only gets power, but her father is now a husk.

Ariel is enraged at this. Despite everything, I don’t think there’s any doubt that Ariel still loves her daddy. She was reluctant about never seeing him again before, and now seeing how her deal has lead to his fate upsets her. One big issue with Ariel is how… well, the film doesn’t make it clear that Ariel grew or learned anything. Sure there are consequences to her actions, but we don’t see her ponder over them. This is the closest we get to her showing regret as she tries to apologize to Triton and outright attacks Ursula for what she did to him. But she doesn’t express true regret for her actions. She doesn’t have a true reconciliation with her father so that the two can reach a resolution. I guess we can blame timing since we’re in the final ten or so minutes here, but it makes the end feel… convenient.

Eric saves Ariel from getting blasted by Ursula, and she manages to save him from Flotst and Jetsam. How? Bu yanking Ursula back and causing her to kill her own minions. Sure it’s not the Big Bad, but again Ariel marks a First in Disney Princess History by indirectly killing a villain. This provokes Ursula to go kaiju and essentially torment Ariel, who is unable to do anything at this point as she’s caught in a raging whirlpool. While one CAN say she’s a Damsel-in-Distress here (hence why I suggested Ariel should have gotten to do more in the wedding crash), she HAS saved Eric twice now. Plus by allowing Eric to kill Ursula, he essentially proves his worth by saving both the ocean AND the surface, and it contributes to Triton’s ultimate decision.

So yeah, Ursula dies, Triton corrects his wrongs by making Ariel human, and Ariel and Eric can live happily ever after. As I said, it /does/ kind of hurt Ariel’s character as she doesn’t really learn a lesson and it feels like she got incredibly lucky at the end. But at the same time Ariel is still a good character, and she marks a LOT of progression for the Disney Princess line. Sure she is a little selfish (though she usually means no harm), but she’s also someone who actively goes after her dreams. She doesn’t have to wait for it, nor does it center on love. Sure Eric is the catalyst, but that’s it. A catalyst. She’s allowed to rescue her prince. She’s allowed to fight against the villain. Sure she’s still emotional, falls in love, and needs her friends help. But she is also a very proactive, curious, and ambitious girl. Her dream was by far the most impossible of the Princesses thus far, but she still managed to achieve it.

Ariel is divisive, and I get why. The film DOES have some narrative problems (minor, but still) and I get why Ariel may rub some the wrong way. Me personally? I love her. She was a refreshing breath of air in the Princess line. She’s different from the Classic Three. She’s a bit more bratty and far less classy, but she also feels the most like a teenager and she follows her dreams in a very different manner. She’s still a good-hearted person, but she’s a flawed person. That’s what I love about her, she’s imperfect. Could more have been done to develop her? Maybe. But her flaws aren’t so bad that she’s a bad character or unlikeable. Her actions make sense and stay true to her character. I understand why she does what she does. I care for her because I see the sincerity in her. I relate to her longing for something that seems out of reach. And while it was nowhere near as conflicted, I know what it’s like to be in conflict with my father who loved me, but never truly understood who I was. But I loved him, he loved me, he ultimately would have let me lead the life I wanted, and in the end that’s what matters. It’s why Ariel and Triton at the wedding always makes me cry. Yeah, watching this two years after my dad passed… really hit hard.

The point is, I cared about Ariel. I related to Ariel. I did when I was a child, and I still do as an adult. Anyone who loves something or someone despite everyone around you not understanding or being against it I think can relate to Ariel and her position. Plus again, she set forward a new direction for the Disney Princesses. It’s a precedent that stands strong to this day. I’ve done my best to shed light onto Ariel, but it won’t convince everyone. If you hate her, fine. I can’t change your mind and tour free to make all the arguments you want. But I’m allowed to stand by my argument, and I am. Ariel is one of my favorites. She inspires kids to follow their curiosity and their ambitions. It teachers parents to accept their children and who/what they love, and to let them go forward in their lives. One can even argue that her film teaches kids to be careful when emotional to avoid the mistakes that she made, but still achieve a happy ending as well. Either way, I think that the hate against this little mermaid is far too harsh and it ALWAYS centers on the deal without taking anything else into account. It’s time we change that.

Final Thoughts

I love this film. The animation is lovely, the music fantastic, and despite a few issues here and there the story is sound. I don’t remember when I first saw it (it came out four years before I was born so not then), but I’ve loved it since that first time. I’m pretty sure I love the ocean and mermaids in general because of this film. Sure it diverts a good deal from the original Hans Christian Anderson story, but honestly? As someone who found that story unnecessarily cruel? I will take this version any day (no offense to those who like the original story, this is just me talking). It is a masterpiece that changed the game for Disney, for animation, and for the Disney Princesses. Ariel was very much a huge inspiration for many of her successors, and I am grateful for all that this little mermaid did.

Upon its release, Disney was FINALLY able to step into the light after spending over 20 years stuck in the dark. The film was a monumental success. The biggest success that Feature Animation had had since Walt’s days. They also finally beat Don Bluth, winning in the box office over All Dogs Go to Heaven, and returned to the top of the animation world. The Disney Renaissance had officially begun, and it wasn’t even close to slowing down. Just two years later, another Disney Princess film would be released. One that would achieve greatness, but also face great tragedy. So come and be our guest as when we return, we discuss a tale as old as time with 1991’s Beauty and the Beast.

Image Sources: Disney Wiki, Animation Screencaps Other Sources: The Making of The Little Mermaid: Treasures Untold

#disney princess #disney princess reviews #callie reviews #the little mermaid

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rebelcourtesan · 5 years

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Why Entrapdak Works for Me part 1

It’s been a while since I wrote an essay and since I’m almost done with Nanowrimo for today, I decided to so some Entrapdak writing.

Long Post Below

There’s been some naysayers about the Entradak pairing that has been growing as one of the top ships of She-Ra PoP

A year ago, when the first season dropped on season 1, the number one ship had been Catadora and I can see why that ship is popular. It’s consists of betrayal, forbidden love, angst, and chemistry.

Then a pairing that came out of nowhere took center stage. Entrapdak, the pairing that NO ONE saw coming.

Season 1, we were introduced to our fated lovers who would have little to no interaction with each other for the duration of the season. We’re introduced to them as Entrapta, the quirky princess and Hordak, fearsome warlord of the Evil Horde.

Hordak is impressed with Entrapta to the point that he allows her to ‘tinker’ with whatever she wants.

I just want to back up and say that I love how Season 1 fooled us with Hordak. We were led to believe he was this powerful, evil, warlord seek power for his own gain. We only see him in a handful of scenes (Shadow Weaver serving as the main antagonist for season 1) and when we do see him, it’s under his own volition and on his terms. He’s seen via monitors from the waist up and usually when he’s sitting down.

Even his throne room is high up, with extended stairs because he doesn’t want anyone close enough to see the flaws of himself.

He presents himself as a pragmatic, no nonsense leader. When Adora defects, instead of going with Shadow Weaver’s wish to retrieve Adora, he simply gives the promotion to Catra. Entrapta who defected to the Horde demonstrates her prowess with machines, he lets her work on them. And he wields his power by threatening Shadow Weaver when she disobeys orders by taking away the rune stone.

Then we get to season 2 when we start seeing the layers being peeled back. He learn that his motivation lie beyond seizing power in Etheria and how weak he truly is. My favorite episode in season 2 is when Entrapta first interacts with Hordak.

In “Signal”, we first see him working on a project and becoming frustrated with it. When Entrapta sneaks into his Sanctum and works on the device, we first see Hordak having the rug pulled out from under him.

This is the first time we see his eyes become round. He’s confused, surprised, and not sure how to handle this. Entrapta isn’t intimidated by him and seems to care more about finishing her repair job.

I want to point out that not once, during this exchange had he been violent with her or threaten to use violence. He could have easily backhanded her or grab her by the hair and haul her out of there. Instead, he shouted at her to get out and promised punishment for breach of conduct. As if he was going to report her to a superior, when he is the superior.

Maybe this was a peek at some honor that he never knew he had. Just pointing it out.

Does this not remind of another pairing in Beauty and the Beast where the Belle refuses to be intimidated by the Beast even though the other characters are scared shitless of them? It’s similar to a lot of stories that follow the same trope, but very different. This isn’t your typical Beauty and the Beast story.

Entrapta isn’t being strong of willed or refusing to be intimidate. She simply isn’t. I love her morality in seeing a science experiment in need of some help and went to it. She’s have done the same if it was Pidge from Voltron Legendary Defender or Lex Luther from Superman.

And best of all, she doesn’t set to CHANGE Hordak like the Beauty did to Beast by turning him into a handsome prince. By teaching him not to give into anger, be nicer, and selfless. Hordak is no prince, never has been and never will be, but in being his friend and close to him, she was able to let him discover himself.

It’s in this scene that Hordak realizes Entrapta’s ability with working Horde tech with Etheria magic and enlists her with aiding him on the portal. Initially, we’re led to believe that he’s using her skills to further his own ends.

Now this does lead into another trope of the bad guy tricking a good guy into aiding them in some master scheme. Like Ursula using Ariel to get her father’s source of power, Triton.

Or Supreme Chancellor Palpatine uses all the characters in Clone Wars to further his goal to create the Empire.

However, turning this trope on its ear, Hordak TELLS Entrapta his intentions with the portal, that he intends to summon Horde Prime to Etheria to conquer it. He doesn’t hide it and she STILL helps him.

Entrapta isn’t an innocent or unwitting pawn. She sees Hordak for what he is and she ACCEPTS him for it. She doesn’t try to talk him out of his mission, until she realized it was too dangerous for them both.

In any other trope or cliche, the Beauty would have convinced the Beast to change his ways or have a change of heart, but Entrapta doesn’t do that. She doesn’t try to redeem him nor rehabilitate him. She accepts him for who he is and does not make him earn her love or friendship by changing his ways.

As she said it herself, Imperfection is beautiful and she loves Hordak despite his insecurities, defects, and morality. She’s in it for the long run and I will be cheering when these two reunite in season 5.

(Please, Noelle?)

#Entrapdak #essay #beauty and beast trope #she-ra and the princesses of power

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themattress · 5 years

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Because it’s the 30th anniversary of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and the (sigh) live-action remake is being cast, I thought it would be a good time to re-iterate why every point made by so-called-”feminists” to claim that Ariel is an “anti-feminist, bad role model for girls” is BS.

“She just wanted to become human for a man!”

This one is truly bizarre given that the scene before Ariel lays eyes on Eric was entirely devoted to her famous song, “Part of Your World”. The song in which she sings her heart out about how badly she wants to become human (”Flippin’ your fins you don’t get too far, legs are required for jumpin’, dancin’, strollin’ along on those - what’s that word again? - streets”) Falling in love was just the push for her to swear to achieve her goal instead of just dreaming.

“She risked it all for a man she didn’t even know!”

For one thing, her father’s rules forbidding contact with surface-dwellers was what was preventing her from getting to know him. But she was still planning on breaking that rule as a mermaid anyway (more on that later). And it’s not like she married him without getting to know him either, they spent an extended amount of time together prior to the wedding. Finally, the biggest “WTF?” fallacy I’ve seen is people claiming that Ariel was being shallow by assuming he was a good guy because he was so handsome, and for all she knew he could have been a total jerk. This is willfully ignoring that she saw the man almost die saving his dog from a burning ship that was about to explode! I honestly think it’s safe to assume that anyone who does that is a good person who is worth getting to know better.

“She traded her voice for legs, how sexist!”

As I mentioned before, that wasn’t her Plan A. She was originally going to break her father’s rules again and introduce herself to Eric as a mermaid (”I gotta see him again - tonight! Scuttle knows where he lives. I'll swim up to his castle. Then Flounder will splash around to get his attention, and then with -”) Then her father broke her spirit with an abusive display of violence toward her belongings, and it left her open to manipulation from Ursula. Even then, the “sexist” part of the deal, the notion that women shouldn’t bother speaking and just focus on pleasing men, is all suggested by Ursula, the villain. Ariel doesn’t even adhere to it, as even without her voice she expresses her own personality and personal interests very vividly, and that’s why Eric falls in love with her, not because she was submissive to him in any way.

“She disobeyed and betrayed her wise, kind, protective father!”

This always pisses me off whenever it comes up from so-called “feminists”. King Triton wasn’t a bad guy but he was highly flawed: emotionally abusive, racist and xenophobic, patriarchal and authoritative. These are all qualities that these people speak out against in real life, and yet they’ll ignore or defend in a fictional character? I’m serious here: how do these people justify Triton destroying all of Ariel’s belongings in order to “get through to her”? Triton saying that humans are “They're all the same! Spineless, savage, harpooning, fish-eaters, incapable of any feeling!”? Triton expecting Ariel to not pursue her own interests and instead be the pretty centerpiece of a musical performance where all of his daughters sing his praises? They actually seem to think he was right about humans and the surface world being dangerous for Ariel, and think he was only doing his parental duty to protect her...except that he had absolutely no basis for these fears other than bigotry, and the only danger Ariel ends up getting into in the surface world is caused by Ursula, who is only able to cause it because of Triton’s own actions! It’s the same mentality some people have about Romeo and Juliet: considering them to be dumbass kids who are to blame for their fatal tragedy while ignoring that it wouldn’t have happened if not for the dumbass, prejudiced adults in their lives!

“She is ungrateful for the good life and privileges she has as a mermaid!”

So basically, in addition to supporting abuse, racism, and the patriarchy, these idiots are also in support of transphobia, since they’re basically saying “Who cares if you don’t feel right the way you were born? You’ve got it good as what you are now, so suck it up and stop whining!”

“She never learns anything, never changes!”

That’s more because the movie ends before we can see her change, as it’s only at the end that she experiences and apologizes for the consequences of her actions, and only at the end that she gets to be fully human, complete with a voice this time, so that she can lead her own life. That’s even the film’s message: “Children got to be free to lead their own lives.” Ariel couldn’t begin to grow and change until her father grew and changed. He was the one who needed to learn a lesson in the story, not Ariel. The story was firmly and rightfully on her side.

“She’s a selfish and stupid teenage girl!”

She can be selfish and she can be stupid, and that’s because she’s a teenage girl. Teenagers of both genders are going to be selfish and stupid at times. Excuse her for being realistic. Should all of her many strengths and admirable qualities be forgotten just because she also has flaws? IMO, it’s not feminist to want female characters to be perfect and infallible. A real strong female character is a three-dimensional one, and that includes negative qualities.

So yeah, fauxminists can suck it. Ariel will always rock.

#Disney #The Little Mermaid #Ariel #Defense #Truthbomb #This has been a PSA

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fearsbellsarchived · 5 years

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[me? Thinking about a gf fairytales au instead of being productive? More likely than u think!!! think ou.at buT BETTER and w/o the real world dimension hopping part. under the cut bc i just copy/pasted my tags from forever ago to put them in one place

mabel and dipper are hansel and gretal

paz is sleeping beauty

bill is maleficient

if we’re gonna get disney about it wendy as merida

i LOVE the idea of tambry as rapunzel???

mabel can also be like...eric from the little mermaid

so mermando can be ariel

gIDEON AS URSULA/VANESSA IN THAT VEIN THO

bill is also rumplestilskin

stan can be the huntsman (idk from which story cause theres a fEW BUT)

ford is the sorcerer from fanstasia

ford is teaching dipper magic....and instead of a true love’s kiss that’s how he wakes paz (maybe?)

the northwests made a deal w bill like in the most famous version of rumplestilskin but instead of wanting paz for himself he just wanted to steal her body at 16

so when they lose the deal they ask for help from ford and ford’s like “yo i can maybe change the deal??? a little bit???” so instead of bill taking her over when he goes to she falls asleep

so dipper wasnt supposed to wake her up but he found her and fords notes and he and mabel went on an adventure

bill is all the villains

billains

so stan has to leave mabel and dipper in the woods (idk y it wasnt for long the twins are just impatient) so stan disappears and the twins are like “lETS EXPLORE THE WOODS”

they come across some creepy old house w a lot of spiderwebs (can u guess the villain yet?)

an older woman comes out and is like “why are you guys lost in the forest?”

mabel points to the glitter trail “we’re not lost”

dipper looks behind them ‘mabel!!! where’s all the glitter?!”

(ACTUALLY MAYBE ITS YARN???)

so they lose the trail

meanwhile stan is losing his fucking mind

he follows the stray glitter but it’s blown all over

he feels “LOST IN THE WOOOOODDDS!!!”

so the old lady offers for them to stay the night bc its getting late

dipper is SUPER sus but he plays it cool surprisingly

mabel is So In!

long short...stan eventually saves them from darlene’s trap

usually shes just a maneater but look

when u live in the woods u do what u can

so stan hauls them back to their cottage

dipper knew there was weird shit out there but he wants MORE

he starts going through his great-uncle’s journals (*cue the dipper squee*)

he reads about bill and his deal w paz’s parents

he’s like....’maybe we should rescue her?’

ford wont tell him why they cant

so dipper and mabel sneak out

they steal the grunkles’ boat

mabel falls over board???

dipper tries like HELL to save her

but then he sees mermando save her

SO MABEL IS SAVED BY MERMANDO!!!

gideon (who had long-loved mabel from afar) finds out

he visits the merman to trick him

all mabel remembers is his voice

so YES mermando trades his voice for legs just like the movie

sue me okay w his distinct accent it makes sense!!!

so the twins get sidetracked bc mermando shows up out of nowhere

they dock on a small island for a pit stop and thats when ‘kiss the girl’ happens

they dont kiss so they move on

they dock on another stretch of land the next day

AND GIDEON APPEARS

the twins have only heard about him from their grunkles so mabel hears his voice and goes *heart eyes*

mermando is Distressed

dipper is Focused on getting to this sleeping princess

mabel makes fun of him for liking her

SO GIDEON HAS MERMANDOS VOICE!

at one point dipper catches him w/o the amulet that makes him sound like mermando

and he tells mabel and its kinda like “the hand that rocks the mabel” or whatever the ep was called

it takes dipper and mermando being threatened (and gideons voice slipping) for her to catch on and she breaks up w him

dipper wants to throw him overboard

they just leave him on the next inhabited island they find

mermando got his kiss but decides to go back to the ocean anyway

he promises to write

mabel is Sad

SO BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED ADVENTURE!

the twins come across a land near the one paz is on and decide to stop for food and to stretch their legs and other hygiene things

they find out there’s some archery thing going on and mabel is like ’ooooh can we try?!’

turns out its for neighboring kingdoms’ princes to win a princess

mabel and dipper think this is RIDICULOUS so they crash it

mabel steps up to shoot and everyone’s like ‘wHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?’

then dipper steps up beside her. neither of them have shot a bow before

they shoot at the same time. mabel’s like thisclose to the bullseye. dippers too far right

THEN!!! PRINCESS WENDY COMES OUT OF NOWHERE

DIPPER AND MABEL ARE IN AWE OF THIS VALKYRIE. THEYRE BOTH READY FOR HER TO KILL THEM BC THEY THINK ITLL BE AWESOME

but wendy is like ‘ACTUALLY ILL SHOOT FOR MYSELF THANKS’ and splits like three arrows down the middle w her accuracy

she looks at mabel and dipper and is like ‘u dudes look fun! ive never seen u before who are u???’

and they’re like ‘WELL!’ and launch into detail about their adventure w overlapping voices and sound affects and VAST description

anyways. i cant decide how old people are rn okay

so wendy is like “hey dad??? im going on an adventure w these guys!” and her dad is like “unusual but u DID just win ur own hand. so ill allow it”

“YES! can i take soos too?!”

“sure!”

sO THEYRE OFF AGAIN!!! lemme tell u the ship is filling faST!!!

they get to paz’s land. and the first thing they find is a girl in a tower with long purple hair.

everyone is pretty much just making ‘wtf’ faces for like....ten minutes.

finally wendy calls up the tower like “YO! WHATS W ALL THE HAIR?!”

tambry leans out the window w a bored expression and goes “its mine. im tambry. who r u?”

they introduce themselves and are like “u wanna come on our adventure?”

then....ROBBIE APPEARS!

and he knows where the princess is!!!

”oh yeah. her. shes also in a tower. its got a door but its guarded by gnomes.”

then robbie climbs tambrys hair pecks her cheek and ducks in the tower

they decide to head for the tower robbie directed them to. but they have to pass the castle. Northwest Castle

robbie warned them about the northwests. said that the princess was one and before she disappeared she was the snottiest brat hed ever met

so they became friends despite the fact that he plays music for a living (and not very well either)

her parents told her of the spell when she was twelve

so robbie’s like “they are not nice people and neither was she??? most of the townsfolk are glad shes asleep tbh”

but dammit! dipper came here for an adventure!!! he wasnt going to stop just bc the princess wasnt what he expected!

so they continue on!

mabel is like “maybe she doesnt KNOW how to be nice!”

and soos is just excited to be there!

and wendy is just...u kno...chill

they start to get close to the castle and they feel like they’re being watched

and then soos notices the PEACOCKS!

they assume theyre spies for the king and queen. which is half true?

they can also warn bill if someone is near pacifica

oh damn imagine that

being stuck asleep w a DREAM DEMON in ur head

sorry for the accidental psychological torture paz

WHICH IS THE ONLY TORTURE SHES HAD!

i think to make up for risking her life as a baby ther parents were like “we’re just gonna spoil u rotten and PRETEND u do no wrong eVERYTHING IS FINE”

so dipper is reading the journal and he FINALLY gets to the true loves kiss part of the deal

and he looks around at the party like “oh shit true love what do we do???”

mabel suggests he at least try and everyone agrees that yeah okay thats the back up plan

but dipper wants to use a SPELL!!!

so the king and queen see him w the journal and remember ford having the same one

so everyone is brought to the king and queen

theyre like “pRINCESS GWENDOLYN?!”

bc this is MY STORY and if i wanna give wendy a more princess-y name thEN I WILL

i say as i continue to refer to mason as DIPPER!!!

SO THEYRE MEETING THE NORTHWESTS!!!

wendys like “yes that is me the princess” and then everyone else introduces themselves...w dipper introducing himself as mason bc it just sounds more fairytale-y

soos is jesus (hey zeus! not jee sus)

soos is like....wendys bff/personal servant but mostly bff

so they explain their adventure to the northwests as quickly as possible

preston is no patient man and he’s is like “tbh its probably important she be here for her 18th bday soooo??? as long as she wakes up by next year why not???”

but only bc dipper was like “i wANNA USE MAGIC I DONT WANNA KISS HER THATS PLAN B!!!”

plus u kno...even if he DOES whats the guarantee itll work???

the guarantee is me being a filthy shipper tHATS WHAT!!!

so they continue to the tower!

there is probably a sidequest thingy with giffany bc i liked that episode

also soos needs more screentime im sorry

SO THEN!!! FINALLY!!!! THEY MAKE IT TO THE TOWER!!!

WHICH IS!!!

IN FACT!!!

GUARDED

GNOMES!]

also theres a manotaur/multi-bear sidequest i just thought of bc i like THAT episode!!!

is this gf, a fairytale, sk.yrim, or a d.n.d campaign now??? WHO KNOWS!!! ITS NOT ME!!!

SO THEY GOTTA GET PAST THE GNOMES!

first they offer safe passage in exchange for mabel as their queen

after thats declined theyre like “or the redhead. well take her!”

this is also declined

finally jeff tells them to attack

at first the party tries to fight them off and they do okay

uNTIL SOME GNOME WEAPONIZED SCHMEBULOCKS RAINBOW PUKE!!! (i think it’s toxic tbh but i dONT REMEMBER)

finally mabel just pulls out her trusty crosSbow (aka “GRAPPLING HOOK!”) and they just make a tightrope to the window above the door

wendy goes first and NAILS it

then everyone else follows

soos almost falls and gets left to the gnomes but everyone helps him balance and they all make it through the window

coincidentally. the window leads to the princess’s room

OH MAN WHY DIDNT I USE THE PTERODACTYL?!

oh well. anyways.

everyone is looking around the room and like...taking it all in

dipper takes a moment...then walks over to the princess

he isnt sure if waking her will also wake the demon

crossover even more w my old paciphera au??? idk probably not

so dipper tries the spells he narrowed it down to

none of them work

all his friends have returned to the princess’s room and mabel is like “u gotta kiss her brobro!”

so dipper...poor poor dipper...just leans forward and kisses her

paz pretty much snaps her eyes open when dipper is a half inch from her face while he’s pulling back

and even tho she was forewarned she wasnt expecting DIPPER so she SCREAMS

dippers ears are ringing

she shuts her eyes and stills her breathing and sits up.

AND SEES EVERYONE ELSE AND SCREAMS AGAIN

“i dIDNT EXPECT U TO BRING *FRIENDS*!”

so once shes a little more calm they explain the whole adventure to her

paz feels a little honored they came all this way just for her

also since True Love beats everything bill is like.....back in his home dimension. also paz has been fighting him for like....over a year.

so paz is like....ready to Go. u kno. just wants to go HOME.

they get pazs shit together and exit the tower through the door

she says goodbye to the gnomes. all by name.

“oh yeah mom and dad made them my personal guard when i was like...eight. theyve been prepping for this my whole life. they’ll meet me back at the castle.” so then she starts telling them about herself and her last like

two years of being asleep w a DREAM DEMON

“sometimes i got the weirdest nightmares??? and they never ended. but when i woke up i couldnt remember anything specific.”

she and dipper talk away from the group. he tells her about how hes her true love and everything “okay well. we’ll have to lie to my parents and say it was a spell. bc they will NOT approve of us being true loves and if they hurt you...”

“then they hurt *you* too!” dipper finishes (idk maybe a combo w a soulmate au thing?)

meanwhile mabel is like...whining about boy problems??? and wendy is like “this is y boys r dumb.”

soos is like...wandering off. I WANNA INCORPORATE MELODY BUT WHO SHOULD SHE BE?!

paz and dipper start like....arguing about how to deal w her parents

apparently they actually ARENT that nice. if she doesnt marry a prince they’ll give her over to bill completely...or something idk

SO theyre nearing the castle!!!

theyve written theyre grunkles okay no worries. also mermando.

thats y mabels complaing about boys.

mermando and that manatee wife of his!!!

paz is not exactly ready to face her parents so she convinces the party (roll for charisma) to go the long way

which is actually just circles

anyways

we run back in to melody and soos and the party is like ‘wHOOPS WE DIDNT EVEN NOTICE GLAD U DIDNT GET EATEN BY A SPIDER LADY!

maybe melody is like....a fairy???

something light and ‘childish’ bc thatd fit her personality

soos is like “ive BEEN here. u dudes have been going in circles.” and everyone glares at paz.

“im sorry!!! i just dont want to go back!!!”

“ur dad made us promise to have u back for ur 18th bday.” says dipper while he tries to stay mad at his future wife

paz is like “YEAH SO HE CAN MARRY ME OFF TO A PRINCE!!!”

idk why paz and dips are being better at being soulmates here okay i was like....sleep-drunk when i first wrote this

so the party has a choice to make.

take paz back home where she wont be able to be w her TL (which in some cases has probably led to death) OR!!!

sneak her out and take her home w them?!

wendys probably gotta go back to her own kingdom tho.

and soos wants to stay w melody

U KNOW WHAT I JUST REALIZED?!

sTAN NEVER GOT TO BE SOOS’S DAD!!!!

SORRY SOOS!!!

so anyways

mabel and dipper decide to help her sneak out

luckily she knows all the blindspots

it takes longer but they finally make it back to their ship

they say theyre goodbyes to soos and melody and paz wishes them well in her kingdom. she promises to return when shes ready to rule

they load the ship and sail to wendys kingdom next

they stay a few days to recuperate

paz has trouble sleeping bc when she does the nightmares come back.

cue a kat.niss/pee.ta thing where paz sleeps next to dips bc it keeps the nightmares away

wendy has to explain why soos isnt w them to her dad who kinda shrugs it off?

“u proved u can protect urself.” or something.

after like.....a whole fucking year the twins are heading home.

paz and dipper sleep together on the ship too bc its just fucking easier

paz is nervous to meet the grunks

she and dipper arent exactly....dating??? its def more like soulmate au

where theyre AWARE theyre supposed to be together but they dont even rly know if they WANT to be together.

paz is p much “i dont rly wanna be w anyone else. ill let u kno if that changes.” and dips is like “tbh same.”

mabel is already planning a big royal wedding.

iDK Y BUT I WANT THEM TO FIND OUT THEYVE BEEN ROYALTY ALL THIS TIME??? probably just bc i LOVE that trope!!! but theyre not so its whateves.

so they FINALLY get home. mabel has been writing letters this whole time. to mermanso. to soos and melody. to wendy.

shes the captain of the dip.ifica ship and shes gotta keep her crewmembers in the know!!!

the twins also wrote to the grunks the whole time so!!!! no worries!!!

paz tries writing to her parents...but she can never find the right words.

meeting the grunks isnt as bad as she thought???

stan loves her off the bat. partially bc shes rich and bc she doesnt take shit

ford is pleased to meet the girl he saved and shes v v thankful to him for saving her life as best he could.

it takes her like a YEAR to write the letter.

she promises her parents she’ll return. AFTER shes married.

at this point she and dipper ARE together. they figured all theyre confusion out and are just living the good life!

mabel and wendy are doing the long distance thing. shes still friends w mermando.

robbie and tambry found paz and they write back and forth.

u CAN TAKE ROBBIE AND PAZ SIBLINGS FROM MY DECOMPOSING HANDS!!!

everything is as happily ever after as it can get.

and then dipper proposes despite knowing what it means.

BUT THATS A WHOLE OTHER ADVENTURE!!!!

*end credits roll. an epic theme song starts playing*

#💎 OUT OF DIAMONDS. ╱ out.#[i did this forever ago anD I FINALLY MOVED IT TO AN ACTUAL POST OF IT'S OWN]#[im planning on writing this tbh but if u got some rp ideas hum <<]

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darkspellmaster · 6 years

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In defense of the Disney Princesses -Ariel from the Little Mermaid

Ariel is one character that I don’t get the hate for. I do get the idea of older people going “You’re 16, you haven’t experienced enough yet to understand all the complications of life” in regard to her feelings regarding her father’s want of protecting her, especially after understanding what happened with her mother. However what I’ve never understood is this desire to rip apart this movie or it’s heroine. It seems like everyone has it out for Ariel, ignoring the fact that at the time she was far more independent than a lot of lead female characters in live action movies of the era.

This is not to mention that if you view this movie through the lens of someone in the LGBTQ+ community, and given that the lyricist Howard Ashman was gay, it becomes almost a situation where someone who is in the closet is trying to get out and live a normal life. (Keep in mind that I’m going to focus more on Ariel here regarding her as a female character below I just want to point this out before I go forward with it.)

So in regards to this idea, if you look at the story and put it in that context…

You have Ariel who could represent a lot of closeted teens at the time wanting to become part of society where they could live normally, and get some understanding of the world that is out of the closet with people that are like them. You can argue that Triton is a father that hasn’t yet come to terms with his child’s status, the Songs Part of your world, Under the Sea, Poor unfortunate souls, Kiss the girl, etc. can take on a whole new meaning in this light. Hell you can even argue that the death of Ursula is the destruction of social norms that keep people apart because of their evil and vile ways.

But again I’m not going to sit here and do that because that’s a whole other essay on it’s own. Instead let’s focus on why Ariel and The Little Mermaid is actually more of a strong character story than people give her credit for.

She’s not independent enough

This I feel is one of the oddest complaints about this movie. Ariel starts off as ditching her family function, and clearly is the best singer there and plays an important role in the festivities. What’s clear is that she is both independent and irresponsible, which is something that follows her along with her flaws until the end of the movie where she realizes that her actions nearly cost her not only her father’s life but Eric’s and her friends as well. This is something that I think a lot of people miss about Ariel, she’s not very responsible as she’s so independent and her desires for her own needs trump those of others around her, forgetting the world around her at times.

However it’s her independence that pushes this movie forward. We see that rather than be at the performance, she’s off with Flounder her best friend exploring the sunken ships for items. The thing that’s interesting about this moment is that she willingly goes where danger is. Ariel is, for better or worse, a risk taker by all accounts. We know from her books and the tv series as well as the movie that this area is not looked fondly upon by anyone as it’s got sharks another dangerous creatures that live there and can eat you. Yet Ariel heads in and collects things from these sunken ships so that she can learn more about the surface world.

Saying she’s not independent ignores the reality of what’s on screen. Not only is she curious about the world above, she actively on her own seeks out answers when she can’t get them from others, showing that she’s more than capable of thinking critically by herself. Even when she learns about something she does what any collector does and catalogues it in her collection, putting it with stuff that matches. Her eye for things ranges from the mundane, a pipe, to the exotic, to the artistic (the painting of the woman with the fire) and on top of all of that she reads. We see her going through books (though I question how those pages with the writing are intact but it’s a movie so let’s move on) and actively learning new words for, what essentially is, a foreign language to her. In Atlantica there is no fire, they don’t have to keep warm as their bodies are built for the cold much like fish, so naturally she’s not going to know what fire is and wants to know more about it.

We even see her wanting to learn more about the culture above, stressing that she wants to dance and walk down a street. While some of the song points to the idea of her not understanding that people above do scold and keep their daughters in line, we also see that she points out the idea of

“Bright young women, sick of Swimming, ready to stand. And ready to know what the people know, ask them my questions and get some answers…”

We know that she sees the women above as strong independent people that are ready to get answers to their questions. This song is an anthem to the idea of people being curious of the world, not just women but also everyone who feels that they are being looked down upon and are unable to enter into that world that they want to learn about. Ariel embodies this with her view of wanting to be a part of it, to learn from the people that live up there, and become connected to both parts of it. Her desires to be a part of their world, just as we the audience want to be a part of her world, this magical place below the waves.

Later in the movie we see her dealing with her father, and while her line about not being a child anymore points to someone who is still quiet young, we see that she’s ready to be treated as an equal rather than looked down upon as if she doesn’t understand the world in general. Her begging her father to understand her case, to point out that they’re not just bad people is something that has been argued time and again about different minorities and other groups. And her trying to get her father’s prejudice to die down and to give the surface world a chance, means that she’s focusing on trying to make him see that the surface dwellers and the merpeople are not all that different.

When she’s confronted with her father wrecking her grotto, her stubborn independence is shown to be part of her own flaws as she’s unwilling to listen to others that are warning her against her actions. But these are actions she takes of her own free will and not one she’s pulled to or bewitched upon. Ariel knows that Ursula is dangerous and yet she willingly goes there because she believes this is the best solution and a way to say, well “Fuck you” to her father and his actions.

Even during the song about Poor Unfortunate soul we see that Ursula has to work pretty damn hard to convince her. One can point out to the fact that she’s actually critically thinking about things “If I don’t have my voice how will I…?” communicate with him. Ursula has to point out body language and such, something that Ariel clearly knows something about as she’s read the books from above, so she knows how surface dwelling communication works. So Ursula has to actually work more to sell her the idea.

Even when she signs the contract, we see her looking away not only at the glow, but also at the aspect that she’s almost afraid to do this because she knows, deep down, that this woman is not to be trusted.

Even without her voice she shows a great deal of independence as when she makes her first mistake with the fork because she remembers what Scuttle says and does what she thinks it normal behavior for someone from the surface, trying to show she understands what the forks use is for to the humans that are around her. It’s only when she gets weird looks that she loses some confidence in her actions. Even still when Eric offers her a ride around town, she actively pulls him from place to place to make her inquires even unable to speak. They buy food she’s never had before, dance, walk around the street and sees the sights that she wants to see.

When she rescues Eric at the very start of the movie she also makes the active choice to go and get close enough to watch the people there to learn what she can, showing that she’s done this before, and probably thought that it was cool to see. It just so happens in this case she finds herself attracted to Eric. To add to this, when the ship goes down she actually deals with fire and the possibility of boiling water to save his life and bring him on shore to get him help so he can breathe. (In addition, if I recall thanks to Scuttle knocking out the water in his body Eric can breathe.) It’s also important to note that while a lot of people point out the second part of the Part of your world song as being connected to her desire to be with Eric, after he’s gone, the rest of the song comes out as

“I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I know something’s starting right now. Watch and you’ll see, someday I’ll be part of your world.”

And I think this is an important factor that people tend to ignore. At this point of the story while she desires to be with Eric, she doesn’t know when or how it will happen, but she will make it happen. Not only because she wants to be with him, that’s a bonus to her, but because she desires to be up there. He’s the push that she needed to answer the call to adventure, to make the choice to find a way to do it.

In her animated series Ariel does try at different times to find a way to be human, but the various options are basically wishful like things where she can just write them off. In this case she’s now determined to find a way to be up there and meet him again. This, again is showing her independence and her willingness to break free of social norms to do what she needs to do to become who she wants to be. And I honestly think that’s a damn powerful message right there.

Adding to this you have to think that her will is damn strong if she knowingly dives into the sea to get to Eric and Vanessa, knowing that she’s changing and also that she can’t swim with her human legs. She wants to save him from possibly being, well who knows what Ursula would do to him, and shows again her stubbornness to do whatever she can even at the cost of her own life. She actively attacks Ursula during the conflict, causing the sea witch to end the lives of her two assistance, and that is because she’s not beholden to anyone at that point.

By the end while she is looking on at Eric she’s also willing to let him go so he can live a normal life and return to the sea and seems to have, reluctantly, realized that she can’t just take the short cut out for getting her legs. Yes we do get Triton giving her legs in the end, but we also see that she’s surprised by this and then excited. Not just because she’s going to get to be with him but because she can now go back and get her answers.

So is she not independent enough, no, quite the contrary, her independence is important but also it’s part of her flaws because her actions lead to the situation in the end.

She chooses to have legs so she can marry a man

As I said above Ariel’s desire to be on the surface is only pushed by Eric’s existence. She has had this desire long before she even met him, going all the way back to when she was much younger and had been actively searching for ways to become human before then. Her choosing to go to the Sea witch wasn’t just the destroying of Eric’s image, it was the wrecking of everything that was important to her. Her desire to understand different cultures and her need to understand the world above.

Never once does she say that she wants her legs just to be with him. Rather in the song Poor Unfortunate souls it’s only part of it. She wants to see him, sure, but the reality is that if Triton had wrecked that grotto up before she met him, she would have gone there to see Ursula over the desire to be up top. She even says “I don’t know when, I don’t know how” in her reprise of the song Part of your world. Meaning that she was going to start looking for ways to make it happen. She’s always had the desire to have legs, it’s just that Eric is the bonus and the push that she needed to be determined to finally grasp the goal that she wanted from Ursula when the offer comes. Again, if not for that grotto destruction, she probably would have spent more time trying to convince her father of the wonders above and, given how Triton is, eventually he may have been convinced through different means.

So no she doesn’t chose to have legs to marry Eric, she chooses to have legs so she can see him and see the world above, as per her earlier desires.

She gives up her voice to be with said man she’s barely met

This is a tricky one. Her choice to give up her voice relies more on the idea of her wanting legs. It’s clear that she probably would have made this same deal with Ursula even if Eric wasn’t in the picture due to her father screwing up her grotto and her collection. She even seems reluctant to do so, and we see Ursula working hard to get her to agree. It’s only when she’s looking at herself running that she ultimately wants this.

Her voice is the one thing that can identify her as the woman that Eric saw, and yet, she gives it up feeling that this is the only way she can reach her ultimate goal, which is to see the world above. Eric, in a lot of ways, is a second thought to her in the over all scheme of things. It’s only when she’s above and gets to know him more that we see her desire to be with him based around who he is over just this image of how a typical 16 year old would act when struck with a huge crush. She learns a lot from him and realizes that there’s a lot more to him then what she saw early on.

So while yes they barely know each other and she gives up her voice, her reason for it is more personal than, I want a boyfriend. There’s also a bit of a F You to her dad given his actions.

She’s 16 and has no clue of the real world

Again, this is a hard one. Ariel knows a lot more than we give her credit for, though not always right. This is much like a person who is just learning a new culture and language and trying to figure things out, and, while she doesn’t realize that parents are parent no matter where you go, there’s still a sense of figuring things out and growing as she learns new things. Yes she still brushes her hair with a fork, but also she learns about the world up there because she can see and hear and touch and taste things. She’s taking what she read about in the books, “Ask them my questions and get some answers” and getting responses to things that she didn’t understand in the stories that she’s read.

This is important as a lot of people I think miss this factor about the movie. Ariel is a fish out of water but a fish that already has knowledge of the world that she’s going to visit. She’s no dunce when it comes to things, knowing terms and words that are used by the people of the surface. She’s just not able to fully equate them to what they are, and like any cultural thing, she’s going to have to learn as she goes and make mistakes.

And honestly, how many teenagers understand the complexity of the real world?

She’s not brave enough, everyone needs to help her out so often.

This one I have to call Bullshit on. We see her bravery several times throughout the movie and in fact she saves people because of it. Early on when they are in the ship wreck area, she outwits a shark and saves Flounder by using her understanding and knowledge of the ship to get them out of a sticky situation and keep the shark from eating them.

Later we see her risk boiling hot water to save Eric who is drowning and pull him up to the surface, place him on land and stay there with him till he’s able to breath. She doesn’t know him and it breaks the rules of her own kingdom but she does it anyway because of her own compassion for this young man, as she’s seen he’s a compassionate and brave person himself.

Even later, when she’s faced with the consequences of her actions from earlier, making the deal and all, she willingly jumps into the water knowing full well she cannot swim and tries to head for the ship where Eric is being enchanted to marry Vanessa. Then during the fight with Ursula, she attempts to flee, and, once her father has been changed, she goes and attacks Ursula by pulling her hair making her aim be thrown off, allowing Eric to escape and the two eels, Flotsam and Jetsam to be killed. It actually takes Ursula bending the sea to her will and causing her to create a whirlpool with Ariel in the center on land and for Ariel to be not able to make a move. Yet even then, when everything is looking horrible, Ariel is still defiant as she avoids the blasts as best she can, not willing to go down, and actually looks defiantly at Ursula who’s trying to kill her.

Ariel, for all her faults, is brave. She may not be like Mulan or Merida knowing how to use weapons to fight but her willingness to risk herself for those that she loves. And her desire to gain knowledge of a world different from her own shows a great deal of courage as she’s willing to take risks to get items that she wants from places that other deem dangerous. She pushes herself to understand the world that isn’t hers and wanting to know about another culture and understand the people that live in that culture is actually a very brave thing to do. One could even say Ariel is an anthropologist with the way she acts.

Ariel is too conventional a beauty

So Let’s break this down. Little Mermaid has an art style that is based a lot on the older classical Disney style, and Ariel was based around Glene Keane’s wife and Aylassa Milano during her time on Who’s the boss, as well as Sally Ride’s hair in space. Given the fact, that Ariel’s appearance is supposed to reflect someone who probably only eats a limited amount of food in the sea and swims a lot she’s going to have a more petite and slimmer figure. If you notice her lower half is based around a very powerful tail as that is what is mostly propelling her through the water, thus her lower limbs would probably be more built like a swimmers than a normal walking person.

If you see her at the end, her hips and legs certainly do appear to be more muscular than her upper half.

I would argue that Ariel is not your traditional beauty in the least, and fits right in with the early 90s, and late 80s look in her face. She’s youthful sure, but by the standards of the day she matches with Melanie Griffith, Naomi Campbell and Julia Roberts. A sort of girl next door look but with a slightly upbeat edge to it.

The thing is Ariel is the only Ginger, or Red head princess that Disney has made, save Merida, and at the time it was a huge thing as most actresses and “beauties” for the period were brown or blondes. You didn’t get a lot of red heads.

I’m really not sure what to say about people saying she’s too conventional a beauty. What did people want with her?

She needs her friends to help her get out of her situations

This is another one that I don’t get. From the start we know that Ariel tends to put herself and others in bad situations. She breaks the rules regarding going above the water all the time. She skips out on her responsibilities, and she tends to make her choices based on her over all selfish desires, not thinking about what happens next. This isn’t to say that she’s a bad person, but like most teens she doesn’t think about reflecting on her actions or how they will affect others. Her need for help and assistance stem from the fact that she tends to leap head long into danger without thinking about things. As with the case with the shark where she places Flounder at risk, or later with Sebastian and even herself during the last battle.

The need for assistance isn’t her call, her friends help her out because she’s in danger. She loses her way of breathing underwater, not thinking about, or knowing, what happens when you can’t. So Sebastian and Flounder have to pull her out of the water and get her to breath. She can’t swim because she no longer has the fins to propel herself. Her body has been completely changed over as her lungs are no longer adapting to the water and how fish breathe oxygen. She later dives into the water not thinking about how she can’t swim and Sebastian has to help her because of this with the barrels.

And in regard to the ending, she was stuck on land in the middle of a whirl pool, with no weapons and no way to move around, other than to try to get into the vortex that was the water and avoid being hit by Ursula.

Once out of water she has no confidence to do anything without Eric’s help.

This is a very blatant lie. As we quickly see within a day she’s able to walk around like a champ, and use the knowledge that she previously gained reading her books and learning from Scuttle about the world to manage in it. While she makes mistakes, it’s clear that she’s still got her urge to learn, as she drags Eric around pointing to things through the story. She get’s him to dance with her, to take her out and about, encouraging actions and gaining information through her body language and gestures, and actions.

At no time does she lose any of the confidence she has, until we see the whole situation with Vanessa. Only then does she feel at a loss, as she realizes that she’s going home and will be stuck as a monster belonging to Ursula. That is the only time she loses any of her joy or independence. When the truth comes out she’s able to make a choice to go after Eric to stop Ursula from doing something nefarious to him.

Eric’s contribution to helping her is very limited. He helps her walk and in the dinner table and drives them around. But that’s because: a) she has had legs for a very limited time at that point, b) he’s helping her out using a utensil he figures she may have not had to deal with before for whatever reason, and c) she would need an escort as she doesn’t know the town and he’s offering to give her a tour. The only added thing that he does is when she’s literally unable to move and is pinned down by a giant Kaiju of a Sea Witch and stab her to kill her.

The plus side is that Eric is actually more active than the Prince in the original Mermaid story. I can also point out that when she runs down the stairs to see him when Vanessa is shown; she’s ready to meet him excitedly thinking that he may have somehow kissed her that night.

Her father has power over her at all times

So funny thing, Triton is the King. As his daughter Ariel is his subject, this means that he will always have power over her as she’s subject to the laws of his land. Even so she bucks social norms. She goes where she’s not supposed to, breaks laws to see the sailors on the ship, saves a humans life even though they are deemed kidnappers and killers. His actions using those powers screw him over with her as her response is to hate him and then willingly go into the arms of the one enemy that he knows is the most dangerous. Triton’s actions are not to be seen as a good thing. They are a bad thing, and something that is showing that he needs to change too. His harshness only cause pain for his child, something that he regrets as we see later.

It’s important to note that it’s actually Ursula that has power over her, because of the contract, and, if you bring in the movies and Tv show into the cannon, you can add the power of her late mother’s death and her sisters that actually have more sway over her actions.

Ursula is seen as evil even though she lives outside the norms and represents independent and angry women

Ursula is evil because she is a self-serving person that wants power. She manipulates others into signing contracts that pretty much are predatory to acquire things for herself. It seems that in a lot of cases she’s, like the good doctor in Princess and the Frog, tends to look for prey in the form of those that have issues and want to fit into the world and social structure that they see. In this case as demonstrated by the too thin merman who thinks he’s not good looking enough to get the woman that he loves, and a mermaid that feels she doesn’t fit the norms of attractiveness, and wants to be thin to be loved by the guy. The thing is that if both took the time to actually talk and communicate to one another they would probably realize that they love one another and wouldn’t need her.

But Ursula wants to put as many people under her control as a means of blackmailing the king. By having his subjects like this she could threaten them to get the crown. Her being removed from society has nothing to do with her living outside the norms or her independence, as we see with other characters in the tv and direct to video movies, there are those that don’t fit the mold either, and yet still reside in Atlantica. Those like Gabriella, or Urchin, who are not of the norm (one being deaf, the other being an orphan who is a thief), are able to live just fine there. It’s her actions that wind up causing issues that lead to her being removed from power by Triton it seems. Her anger stems from her desires to come back in to power since Triton took over the place from her as per her dialogue when we first meet her.

While in some ways she represent womanhood to Ariel, she also shows the darker side of ambitions. She’s a manipulator, a devil like person who views life through the eyes of who she can use to get what she wants. She’s more than just a danger to Ariel, she’s a danger to the whole sea. Her evil stems not from just a desire to take back over but also to destroy all that Triton has, to make him, as it were, bend at the knee to her and her will. She is, by and large, pretty mush like Mephistopheles from Marvel comics. Buying souls and keeping them locked in a state of hell or purgatory for her own amusement. We get a glimpse of how horrible she can be when her polyps start to shudder in fear of her during her song.

While her look is meant to convey her unappealing nature, it’s not the physical look that causes the most creepy factor, it’s the fact that she’s willing to do whatever she can to get her way. Showing that while Ariel is an independent person, she doesn’t want to become like Ursula with her drive.

Poor unfortunate souls is a song about telling people what their place in society is, and that women should keep their mouths shut

This is an odd one. I think that it is more telling about the nature of how Ursula sees the surface world against Ariel’s views. To Ursula she doesn’t genuinely believe she’s helping these people, she knows she’s using them for the fun end of capturing Triton’s subjects as a means of blackmailing him to granting her power once more. Her lyrics are sung in a sarcastic way. Ashman clearly wanted people to see the con-artist in the world in Ursula. She mentions how people come to her to gain a better look in society, but the clear factor is that if they communicated with one another they wouldn’t need her to do anything. Ursula plays into their fears, while the other songs stress the idea of not conforming but rather learning about the world and becoming a part of it by inquiring and learning about the culture.

Poor Unfortunate souls tells of Ursula lying through her teeth to get in on Ariel’s good graces. Her asides to her two eels show exactly how she feels about the people she’s helping, and it’s clear she’s only doing this to get payment in some way or another. That could be anything from spying to, other things depending on who she’s turning and into what. The song is pretty much like that of the Devil making a deal with Faust.

Ursula even points out to Ariel that life is full of tough choices, and it’s something that she hadn’t thought about before. There’s almost a bit of salt in this song that Ashman seemed to put in there. Like he was Jabbing at people he knew in person.

The point of contention about keeping her mouth shut comes from Ursula’s own point of view on how the Surface is. We are not supposed to agree with her view point, and again this is being written by a man who is gay, and I have a feeling that he put stuff he heard from various others about women over the years into Ursula’s views. She represents the Antis in the world, the people who think they know things and want things back to a certain way, and that their view is the only one. Her anger at Ariel for questioning comes from the fact that she won’t be able to communicate, and the possibility that the girl is backing out of the deal here, the one thing she doesn’t want.

Ariel though knows that she’s not right in regard to communication, as she has books that she’s read, and probably has a better clue about the surface than Ursula. Yet the impulse to sign is there through the feeling of time pressure on the part of Ursula.

Kiss the girl shows that guys don’t need the okay to kiss a women that they like.

Again this is a huge mistake by most people. While Ursula is wrong about most of the aspects of the surface world, she’s not wrong about body language, as it typically can tell people how other’s feel about things.

In the case of Kiss the girl the song there’s clearly a hint of the use of body language in the movie showing things happening on screen. In the moment Sebastian realizes that they are on limited time, and need Eric to kiss Ariel soon or she’s going to be trapped. Both of them are young and in experienced in love, so what does he do? Uses his wits to set up a romantic moment as he knows Ariel needs and wants that kiss, but she can’t verbally say so.

However, in the moment of the song, you can see that Ariel is giving him consent by the way she looks at him and leans in for the kiss when he’s leaning in to kiss her. Two times she leans in for a kiss indicating non verbally that she’s willing to kiss him and he pulls back shy about it. There is no doubt in the movie that, in that moment at that time, Ariel totally wants that kiss and is willing to let him kiss her. Yes now a-days we expect a verbal yes. However, given Ariel is mute right now, and the fact that she doesn’t know sign language to speak, she can’t sign yes to him –also we don’t even know if Eric would understand that. So the only way to consent is in a nonverbal way, and in this case, it’s straight up leaning in for it twice and bedroom eyes to him.

She’s useless when it comes to saving herself from Ursula

She is stuck out of water with her tail. There is not much she can do in this situation as her body is contorting back to a mermaid, not to mention that once she’s in the water she fights back but it’s by pulling hair and getting Ursula to deflect hitting Eric. On top of this when she’s stuck in the whirl pool she’s got fins, and while she does dodge there’s not a huge area for her to hide in. She’s pinned down.

In the end she choose to be with a man over being with her family where she’s mostly accepted.

Actually no in this case it’s not that at all. Ariel is willing to go home, we see it at the end, even though she loves Eric, she’s staying on the rock as a mermaid watching him from a distance as she’s realized her actions have nearly cost her father his life and the safety of their kingdom. There’s no words here form her but we get the discussion between Sebastian and Triton and it’s clear that he’s come to the realization that she is in love with him and wants to be a part of the Surface world.

Her choice doesn’t come easy as she realizes that she won’t be around with her family, and again this could tie into personal things regarding Howard and his own life (I don’t know how his family life was). The idea here isn’t so much that she choose Eric, but Triton gives her what she needs to be happy. Changing her tail into legs and allowing her to go live on the surface is something that she has desired from the start and he lets her go.

It’s very much like the moment in Wreck it Ralph 2, where Ralph has to let go of Vanilleope, only in this case we see it through her father’s eyes. He’s going to miss her, and allowing her to grow up and be on her own doing the things she loves with someone that loves her is the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. Yet it’s what is going to make her happy, so he lets her go.

So this isn’t a choice of being with Eric, it’s a choice of being in a world where she feels sad and unhappy, or being able to be in a world where she feels happy and inspired. Ariel was never accepted under the sea, this is something that keeps being banged into our heads in every song. Only when she’s above does she feel like she’s being part of something bigger. Let me rephrase that a bit. She was accepted by her family and friends, but her view of the world, her desires to be part of a culture that they didn’t understand and fear was something that they couldn’t accept as a whole till much later.

I do wish that in the Little Mermaid II we had gotten Melody doing the reverse of this in a way. Ariel grew in that movie to see her actions mirroring her fathers in being over protective, and I was hoping for her to allow Melody to go live with her grandfather and enjoy her life under the sea as a means of going about the full circle. Triton let her go explore the world above, she sort of let’s melody go explore the world below.

Ariel doesn’t have enough diverse friends and she’s not very compassionate towards others.

In a movie that’s only 90 minutes Long I think, possibly less, there’s not a lot of time for a huge cast of characters. However there are a mix of friends she does have, only we got them later. Urchin, Gabriella, Pearl, Little Evil –a villain’s son, Simon, the Crabscouts, and others in the books have shown up to give a wider group of people that have connections to Ariel and her family. Also consider that Ariel is friends with a male fish who’s much younger than her, and a crab, and is able to befriend the castle servants, it shows that the girl has the skills to become a friend to a lot of people.

So that’s my defense of her. I hope this makes sense.

Next up, Belle

#in defense of the disney princesses #the little mermaid #ariel #disney's the little mermaid #disney princesses #disney princess #princess ariel

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT Rewatch 4X15 - Poor Unfortunate Souls

I’ve always loved this episode, but I can’t help but wonder what kind of SOUL searching I’ll need to do as I watch this one again! XD

Eh, he got it.

Anyway, review’s under the cut!

Main Takeaways

Past

So, it goes without say, but Poseidon is the best god! He has a tough commanding voice, a method of carrying himself that commands respect, a solid character arc, and MINIONS! What god doesn’t have minions that dress in uniforms and follow his every order without lip?! Additionally, he’s egotistical, placing his need to have Ursula by his side over her desires to sing and awful in that sense that he’ll buy her love rather than earn it. Basically, this guy has the presence of a god. Characters like Nimue and Merlin would have this similar presence, but as for Hades and Zeus, the other actual gods, they really don’t.

I love the story development in this episode. I’ll get into this shortly, but what makes this episode work so well is that Killian is shown to, despite being a ruthless pirate, be someone who does have the capacity for good in his heart. He’s someone who has that potential to care for another person and to be willing to go to great lengths for them.

It’s great how Killian doesn’t go full tilt against Ursula upon getting a possibility for his revenge, but he does still retreat to villainy somewhat. The trip to Glowerhaven is now a trip not fully made out of goodness and selflessness, but also for profit as Killian asks for the squid ink before he transports Ursula away.

But the way he does ultimately go evil is interesting too. It’s not about hurting Ursula, but about hurting Poseidon. And that makes it worse -- the action that harms Ursula wasn’t made to hurt her, but out of spite. Ursula is turned in that instance from a friend into a pawn. And it’s interesting how Ursula takes agency in her own story back from both Poseidon and Killian. She stands up to both men and even takes the former’s triton to become a goddess and a villain. It’s so tragic, but also kind of badass!

Present

Killian’s development in this episode is fantastic! I like how we see the difference between the hero clan and Killian. While their first thought, as David puts it, is to “save August,” Killian’s is to find the Dark One’s secrets. And I like how this isn’t a bad plan in comparison to theirs, but different. It’s an important part of dismantling Rumple’s schemes in the long run. I also like how the episode shows subtly how Killian’s mindframe about doing good changes within the scope of the episode. When he first announces how he’ll return Ursula’s happy ending, it’s done out of a need to get revenge on Rumple after he screwed them out of the dagger. Listen to how he talks about helping her: “Now’s the time to use it [his backstory with Ursula].” He also calls her a “creature” and a “monster,” and even when she stands up to him for the name calling, he doesn’t apologize.

And look at the way Killian talks about returning Ursula’s happy ending. Normally, a line like that is given lighter and more triumphant music to accompany it, but not here. That’s because it’s not about wanting to do right by Ursula, but that is the mindset he has to learn. He’s sort of on the right trail -- he even points out to Emma how he’s taking a page out of her book -- but because his mindset is botched, he’s not in the right mindset for when things go wrong. While Snow, David, or Emma would try to take a next step after the shell doesn’t originally work and assure Ursula that they’ll help her out, Killian doesn’t think of her wants and needs and just demands the information, endangering himself.

Ariel was both a weird choice and the BEST choice to help Killian along his trail to redemption. For one thing, it allows for the real Ariel to finally get some justice after what happened with Killian and Blackbeard and her in season 3. But most importantly, she highlights that getting a happy ending isn’t necessarily dependent on you alignment, but how you go about getting it. And this prompts Killian to ask for help. That asking for help s so important because of how it shifts Killian’s perspective from wanting to help Ursula for himself to wanting to help Ursula for her own good. That’s how a hero thinks. And it turns out that when he starts thinking that way, he’s not bad at doing good at all!

“If Gold did to me what he did to Hook, I’d want to shove that dagger through his heart too.” I kind of hate a lot of this show’s approaches to anger. Killian’s pissed -- and Emma’s pissed for him -- that Rumple took advantage of the growing trust between himself and Belle in order to reclaim his power, and now the entire town is in danger because of it. This line is treated as a way to foreshadow the possibility of Emma going dark, but honestly, it’s just anger. It’s a valid emotion and in from here until the end of the series, that anger tends to be framed as something that’s not allowed to happen, and the show is worse off for it. Is the agner a touch excessive? Arguably, but given how personal this crime was, I can get that it reached that extent. And Emma even elaborates on that point immediately afterwards.

All Encompassing

Out of all of the episodes where Killian screws things up in the past, but rights things in the present, this I feel is one of the best ones. Killian’s not heartless in either segment, his actions aren’t too bad that they can’t be made right by the events of the episode, and Killian’s approach has to change in regards to his own morality and motivations, which it does.

So, let’s talk about Ursula. On one hand, we never get to see or even hear about any of her villainy and that undermines a lot of her presence in the series. Despite all of the power that she supposedly has, it’s never used to any villainous effect. Because of that, to some extent, she’s less of a villain in a lot of way and more of a vessel for Killian and Rumple. And that’s not really fair. That said, I do think that her character development in this singular episode is quite substantial and in a way, redeems Ursula’s character. She’s given a clear and concise motivation for her villainy as well as a redemption that makes emotional sense. She’s tragic and unique in a lot of ways and her characteristics in both the past and present, despite that lack of villainy, make for a three dimensional character.

Stream of Consciousness

-I love the callback in the opening to both the source of Killian’s apprehension over mermaids from “The Heart of the Truest Believer” and to “The Little Mermaid.”

-I like the design for Ursula’s grotto. Sure, it’s probably like the show’s final Rumbelle scene where it was designed in a minimalist way by painting the set all black, but just as it was there, it’s pretty!

-I like the allusion as Ursula listens to classical music instead of torturing August and only begrudgingly joins Cruella at Cruella’s behest that Ursula is not all that interested in being a baddie.

-I love the clear BS’ing yet improvising skills that August puts on display here!

-”Well it wouldn’t be the first time he lied to my face.” Regina, get Elsa back here because Rumple gave August a BURN! XD

-I do appreciate that Emma points out how fucked up it was to steal a child! It’s not as far as this conflict should have gone, but it’s a good step.

-Between the magical eye drops, giving David half of her heart, Cora’s possession, all the breastfeeding she must be doing, and now this, Snow must be SO tired of sharing her body! XD

-I also appreciate how Regina’s first bit of dialogue was to tell Emma that Pinocchio was fine and what happened.

-”Who? Me?” This is some perfect comedy right here! I love the slow buildup and the way every character’s head is given its own individual moment to turn to Killian. It is a perfect punchline!

-”Even when I didn’t think he could deceive me any more, he found a way.” I feel so bad for Belle with this line. She’s so tired of being tricked by Rumple and now even trusting in those that she wants to is dangerous.

-”Then your name would’ve been written across it.” …”When you can see the future, there’s irony everywhere.”

-I LOVE this rendition of “Mysterious Fathoms Below.” It’s so soothing and beautiful. It feels both like a lullabye and what a group of sailors would want to hear after a long day, and that’s an interesting balance to hit.

-I love the costumes of Poseidon and his underlings. I like the beach-y things the cover the tops of their gold and their hats that look like conch shells!

-”It’s unwise to insult the size of a pirate’s ship.” Wouldn’t be OUAT without the occasional dick measuring contest.

-I actually totally forgot about that dream sequence Regina had. So, now that I remember again AND have the context of the Evil Queen arc, I think that arc either alluded to a fear of Regina’s evil impulses threatening to separate her from Robin or foreshadowing of jealousy from the Evil Queen and that’s Wish Robin that’s there.

-I love the absolute look of HORROR on August’s face as he’s turned back into a puppet.

-I’m starting to realize that anyone with a “code” in this series has a code that is weak as fuck!

-Thankfully, that nice swim will be UNDERcut by some FIN-terference, so he’ll SEA you later! XD

-Snow hitting Cruella over the head with a frying pan from back of the room was perfect! Not only is it so funny, but it was a great reminder of just how tactical Snow can be!

-Awww! That August and Emma reunion was soooo sweet! We really see that friendship they had come fully back and it’s honestly so heartwarming.

-I loved Poseidon’s apology to Ursula. There are no excuses and he really gets into how badly he screwed both her and himself over, and not in an egotistical way.

Favorite Dynamic

Ursula and Killian. I like the framing of their dynamic. Killian is very much a ruthless pirate and Ursula is clearly defined as someone who can break through that thanks to the peace her voice brings him. It’s an unconventional, but organic friendship. And I like how it’s not just Ursula providing Killian with things, but also Killian providing Ursula with emotional validation. Ursula doesn’t seem to have many friends (which makes sense given how she’s the daughter of a god), and that’s implied by just how much Killian’s words and promises impact her. You can see how badly she’s needed to hear that her way of honoring her mother hasn’t been wrong and that despite what Poseidon says, she’s doing the right thing. And in return, Ursula gives Killian peace and a chance at some level of redemption. Because of her voice and mercy, he’s able to see some good inside himself and offer her help. And until his revenge gets in the way, and he starts treating Ursula like a pawn, he holds himself to that.

Writer

Andrew Chambliss and Dana Horgan are in control today! And they did a good job! This is just a cohesive episode. Unlike “The Apprentice,” these guys knew exactly what they wanted to do with Killian’s character and did exactly that. They made his character consistent and kept his feelings throughout the episode clear. This is an enormous change from the Killian who didn’t even have a distinguished facial reaction to being forced to hold an old man hostage while he was sucked into a hat. And they still managed to put in nuanced discussions about what it means to think like and be a hero. Writing decisions like that make the kind of material that define a character and these guys brought their A-game to both segments.

Rating

Golden Apple. While I had my nitpicks, this was an amazing episode. Killian’s character development as he descends to and rises from villainy is really well done, the episode’s supporting characters are great, and Ursula is for the most part very three dimensional.

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Captain Swan - “Don’t you know, Emma? It’s you.” I love these guys. I love how they value each other. I love how in this episode, Killian calls Emma his happy ending and the slow, meaningful reaction to that including the kiss. I love how Emma stands up to David when he even considers that Killian could be evil again. She really believes in him and trusts that he can do the right thing and get them the information they need.

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Thank you all for reading!!! Shout out to @watchingfairytales and @daensarah!!

Season 4 Total (131/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (34/60) Jane Espenson: (20/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (38/50) Andrew Chambliss: (32/50) Dana Horgan: (16/30) Kalinda Vazquez: (22/40) Scott Nimerfro: (14/30) Tze Chun (8/20)

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 4x15 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

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alleyskywalker · 6 years

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Rare Femslash Ships I’ve Written

This post is inspired by a post made by @fucktheg0ds. So what’s going on here is that I’ve made a list of all the “rare” femslash ships I’ve written (not counting translations) and calculated the percentage of all fic for that ships on AO3 that I’ve written. (These numbers are about a week old so the totals may have changed by a fic or two for the larger ships since then.) I’m defining rare loosely and kinda arbitrarily as under 300 with no filters. This means that only 2 ships of all I’ve written got left out -- Allison/Lydis (TW) and Cosette/Eponine (Les Mis).

Daphne Greengrass/Pansy Parkinson (HP) (2/89) – 2%

I always got the impression that this ship was actually rather large, relatively speaking. Harry Potter just being a massive fandom is part of that, but I think it’s also that just AO3 isn’t as representative of older fandoms as of newer ones. Like, there is so MUCH HP fic that just never got cross-posted to AO3...

Helga Hufflepuff/Rowena Ravenclaw (HP) (1/61) – 2%

This ship has actually always felt much smaller than Pansy/Daphne. Again, AO3 doesn’t feel terribly representative of a fandom like HP.

Cersei Lannister/Sansa Stark (GoT) (1/51) – 2%

Almost surprised this ship is as small as it is, haha. Small enough for my single fic to make up an entire couple of percentage points.

Pansy Parkinson/Astoria Greengrass (HP) (1/44) – 2%

More HP! Interesting that though this ship can be said to have a dynamic potentially similar to Mary and Lavinia (see below), it is, proportionally to the fandom, a much smaller ship. (Perhaps because the characters are not as developed as the Downton girls, and neither is a major protagonist.)

Ariel/Ursula (Disney, Little Mermaid) (1/39) – 3%

The funny thing with this one is that it gets a lot of casual traffic but isn’t a ship people become actually invested in.

Mary Crawley/Lavinia Swire (Downton Abbey) (1/35) – 3%

This one feels relatively large for a relatively modest fandom like Downton.

Natasha Rostova/Mary Bolkonskaya (Great Comet) (1/27) – 4%

Given that this is now a fandom of a respectable medium-ish size, and one relatively heavy in femslash, I might have expected the total number to be larger. (I was actually surprised to see that this is only about half as big as Mary/Sonya.)

Ginny Weasley/Gabrielle Delacour (HP) (1/24) – 4%

More HP! And this one, I’d say, really is a rare pair. HP is just so massive that even super-rare ships like this can have a good handful of fics.

Lily Evans/Alice Longbottom (HP) (1/24) – 4%

Another HP ship - you can probably tell that I had a HUGE HP phase lol. Another ship I’d expect to be more popular, but given how minor the characters are and that they’re both married in canon, I can kinda see where the issue would lie.

Natasha Rostova/Helene Kuragina (Great Comet) (2/38) – 5%

If this was any other fandom, I’d say that it’s odd that a ship that gets so much ~push~ from canon is not a top ship. And, honestly, fandom discourse aside, it does feel like people talk more about this ship than actually get creatively invested in it.

Natasha Rostove/Helene Kuragina (W&P) (1/19 | 1/2) – 5% | 50%

That first totals number is all fics tagged into the book tag. The second totals number is all the fics tagged only into the book tag and not into any of its adaptations or Great Comet. (This is because I’m finding that, generally, in this fandom fics taggsd into both the book tag and an adaptation/GC are actually primarily an adaptation/GC-fic and not a book fic or an actual canon blend.) So clearly, this ship gets a boost from the larger size of the of GC fandom. Also, for perspective, the book tag minus adaptations/GC has 79 fics in total, so this is a very small ship in a very small fandom.

Natasha Rostova/Marya Bolkonskaya (W&P) (1/13 | 1/1) – 8% | 100%

Same notes on the numbers as above for book!verse Helene/Natasha. Although, even in a fandom as small as W&P I would have expected that at least SOMEONE would have written this ship.

Narrator/Jolene (Jolene - Dolly Parton) (1/5) – 20%

Ah, and now we have entered the double-digit percentages (not counting the last two ships). This is a song fandom that I think only gets things written when it’s requested during exchanges like Yuletide and Jukebox. So of course it’s small.

Pansy Parkinson/Susan Bones (HP) (1/4) – 25%

A true rare pair in a massive fandom! The fic I wrote for this was for an exchange and it’s such an out-of-left-field pair I’m not surprised it’s rare.

Infanta Margarita/María Augustina Sarmiento de Sotomayor (Las Meninas painting / Historical RPF) (1/3) – 33%

Ha! I think ALL the fic for this was written for a single Yuletide request. And it’s the obscure of historical RPF. (I remember doing research for this was a bit hard but really interesting.)

Marie Antoinette/Gabrielle de Polignac (Farewell My Queen) (2/4) – 50%

it’s really tragic that this fandom is as tiny as it is. I think the film was even translated into English? Or maybe it had subs? (I saw it in Russian dub tbh). but it really should be more popular. (Esp. since the historical RPF component here is pretty strong.)

Sidonie Laborde/Marie Antoinette (Farewell my Queen) 1/2) – 50%

I admit that I only ever did write only those two fics for that one Yuletide. I think I’d write more if I could get my hands on a copy of the film in a language I understand.

Astoria Greengrass/Hestia Carrow (HP) (1/1) – 100%

And we’ve reached the 100-percents! Not surprising, since Hestia is a character that only appears in the HP films and has no lines. And Astoria is a name-only character and (IIRC) a creation of JKR post-fact, not even in the books themselves.

Amelie Bourienne/Lise Bolkonsky nee Meinen (W&P) (1/1) – 100%

This fandom is not large enough to sustain rare pairs. But it’s RIGHT THERE in canon xD

#femslash #war and peace #Harry Potter #natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #fandom stats #farewell my queen #downton abbey #historical rpf #game of thrones #the little mermaid #jolene #fanfiction #fanfic #op

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ladyseaheart1668 · 6 years

Text

Endless Summer Fan Novel (Book 3, Chapter 3)

Hearing what I've just said, the others are immediately beside me, staring at the woman silhouetted in moonlight on the prow. She turns towards us. It's Quinn all right, but for a moment, I feel dread flooding through me. Will she know us? Is it her, or just something wearing her face? Her eyes go wide as they find my face in the encroaching darkness.

“Alodia!” she cries.

“Oh my god!” Diego gasps. “It's you!”

“It can't be...” Michelle whispers. “Can it?”

“You were hit with a rocket!” Raj yelps. “We saw you explode!”

“Hang on,” Jake says. “Are we talking to Ariel? ...Or Ursula?”

Quinn puffs out her cheeks, her rosebud mouth twisting into her familiar, adorable pout. “It's me. Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt anyone.”

I laugh, rushing forward to pull her into my arms. She holds me back, resting her chin on my shoulder.

“It's you, Quinn! It's really you!”

“Of course it is, silly!” She pulls back to look at the rest of the group. “I'm so glad I've finally found all of you.”

“Have you seen any sign of the others?” I ask anxiously.

“They would surely be here if she had,” Estela says.

“You don't know that,” Diego protests. “She might have information.”

Quinn shakes her head sadly. “Estela's right, I'm afraid. I don't know where anyone else is at this point.”

Everyone, even Estela, looks disappointed at that. I can't say I don't feel the same, but I force myself to smile reassuringly.

“We're gonna find them soon. For now, we're just happy to have you back.” Almost before the last word is out of my mouth, Quinn sucks in a sharp breath, doubling over and grasping my shoulder for support. I brace her, my pulse accelerating. “Woah! Quinn, are you okay?”

“Malatesta!” Estela whirls on the pirate, her eyes narrow. “If you've hurt her--”

“It's not him,” Quinn says quickly. “It's...” she trails off, looking over her shoulder as if she's afraid she's being followed.

“Is it...the thing? The thing that gave you your powers?” Her eyes meet mine, and there's something in them that I've seen before. A mixture of relief and loss. It was the same look she gave me when she learned that the illness that had plagued her since childhood was gone.

“You make it sound like I'm a superhero. The things I could do before...I doubt I'd be able to do them again. I lost my connection to the presence after the rocket hit.”

“How do you know it's gone?”

“I tried reaching out to it again. I wanted to fly, to see if I could find everyone. But...I couldn't.”

“So...whatever it was got...used up? No more superpowers?”

“A lot less superpowers,” she clarifies. “I constantly feel...hollow. Incomplete. Like the most important part of me got taken away.”

“What do you mean?” Michelle asks.

Quinn draws away from me, turning back toward the sea. “I'm so sorry, everyone. I remember everything...What I did...what I felt when it was controlling me. The Island's Heart is broken into two halves. The presence wanted to find them desperately.”

“That would explain...a few things,” I say thoughtfully. “Then we need to get back the piece Rourke took and try to find the rest of it.”

“...We do?” Diego asks, startled.

“The Heart contains so much energy. More than you could imagine. If Rourke gets both halves, he'll be able to alter time however he wants.” Quinn clutches her chest, staggering a little. “It's like I'm chained to it. And anytime it pulls me, it hurts.”

“We gotta fix this,” Jake murmurs.

“It's okay,” Diego says, trying and failing to cover his anxiety. “Everything's gonna be alright. I'm sure there's something we can do...right?”

“There is,” Estela says firmly. “We can start by getting the other half before Rourke does.”

Varyyn nods. “Agreed. The Hydra has no right to command the Heart.”

“How would we find it, though?” I ask. “It wasn't exactly a cakewalk getting to the first half at Elyys'tel.”

“...I think I can bring us to its location,” Quinn says.

Behind us, Malatesta growls, crossing his arms over his chest. He is clearly not pleased by the direction of this conversation. Yvonne rolls her eyes.

“Zut alors, Mal, are you truly so thick-headed?”

“I don't care what kind of bet we made! This is still my ship! You lot won't be using it for your nonsense!”

“Mon dieu, I really cannot believe you! In any case, this is not your ship anymore! We are going to help Alodia's friend whether you like it or not.”

“So it's a 'we' now, Yvie? Since when did you reduce yourself to traipsing about with children?”

“Watch it, Davy Groans!” Jake snaps. “You're a little outnumbered here.”

Malatesta puffs his chest, swaggering up to Jake, who draws himself up to his full height and locks eyes with the pirate. Yvonne stomps her boot against the deck.

“Arrete!” she snaps. Suddenly, her expression changes. She strolls up to Malatesta, her hips swaying. Jake raises an eyebrow as she gets between him and the pirate, laying a hand on the blond man's chest and easing him back.

“I think I like where this is going.”

“I think you'll want to cooperate with mes amis enfants, Mal.”

Malatesta turns his impressive height on Yvonne, crossing his arms across his broad chest. “Oh? And what makes you say that?”

Yvonne grasps his lapels, pulling him down to match her short stature and brings her lips to his ear. I can't make out what she says, but Malatesta's eyes go wide.

“You wouldn't dare! You detest me!”

“Perhaps, just perhaps, I could be persuaded...”

As the two of them begin exchanging furtive remarks in whispered French, the rest of us watch in dumbfounded silence.

“You could cut the tension out here with a curved blade,” Diego remarks. Finally, Malatesta raises his sour gaze, pinning it on the rest of us.

“All right, we'll have it your way, but you'll follow my instructions all the way there! This is a pirate ship, not a play pen!”

Jake grins, saluting him. “Aye aye, Cap'n Crunch.”

As conversation resumes buzzing around me, I inch over to Yvonne. “So, what did you say to him to make him change his mind,” I ask under my breath.

Yvonne merely winks at me. “I never kiss and tell.”

Malatesta grumbles under his breath, pulling a flask from his coat and gulping its contents. “God help me.” He glares daggers at us all. “All right, beds are down below. Witch, stay put for navigation. Out with all of you!”

Quinn heads over to the helm and begins turning it with all her diminutive might. She smiles down at us. “Welcome aboard, everyone!”

On the ship's lower level, we find a series of crude bunks and hammocks with patchy blankets and shapeless pillows sewn from canvas and stuffed with feathers. Jake climbs into a corner bunk and holds out his arms to me.

“Room for another, Princess.” I smile and remove my armor before curling up with him. I'm asleep the moment my head hits the rough, shapeless pillow.

The next thing I am aware of is the sound of splashing, followed by Raj's yelping voice.

“No! Don't eat me! I know my name is on the menu, but that doesn't mean...Oh...I was asleep.”

I lift my head, blinking sleep from my eyes. Jake seems to have gotten up already, but Malatesta is there, glaring down at me, Raj, and Michelle, a wooden bucket full of seawater in his hand.

“Up with you!” he barks. “There's work to be done! This is a pirate ship, not a lodge!”

“I'm up! I'm up!” Raj answers with just a hint of a whine in his voice. “Geez, dude.”

Michelle rolls out of her hammock, inching away from Malatesta, eying the bucket in his hand. “Rude,” she mutters.

Malatesta turns to me, holding up the bucket threateningly. “And you, baby lioness? Will you also need encouragement?”

I scowl defiantly at him. “Don't you dare. It's hard enough to keep my hair nice these days without you dumping seawater on it!”

“An attack on Alodia's hair is an attack on my hair!” Michelle adds. “And you don't attack my hair.”

“Out!” Malatesta bellows. “All of ye!”

“I'll be right up,” I tell Raj and Michelle. “Just need to re-armor. Never know when we're gonna run into trouble in this place.”

I carefully secure the amber pieces into place and wander up onto the deck, where the others are milling about. Diego spots me and grins.

“Ahoy, Allie. Looks like it's a pirate's life for us!”

I grin back. “Your lifelong dream.”

“Scrawny one!” Malatesta snaps. “I told ye to clean those scuppers!”

Diego sighs. “Yeah, okay, but you never explained what scuppers even are...”

“Bonjour, Alodia!” Yvonne's voice comes from above me, and I look up to see her in the crow's nest, her legs dangling over the edge, a spyglass in her hand. I wave back to her before wandering over to the prow, where Jake and Raj are organizing bundles of rope. Jake is demonstrating an elaborate, many-looped knot, his calloused fingers moving deftly and surely.

“It's not that hard, Pineapple Express. You're overthinking it.”

“How are you so good at this?” Raj grumbles.

“Naval Academy taught a little, but I kept learning as a hobby. You'd be surprised at some of the situations where it comes in handy.”

“Is that so?” I can't resist asking. He starts a little at the sound of my voice, and I see a blush creep over his cheeks.

“Oh, Princess! Didn't see you there.”

I grin wickedly. “Please, I'd love to hear about all the practical applications of tying rope.”

Jake coughs into his fist. He looks like he's about to reply, but a cry from Yvonne above us interrupts him.

“Mes amis! You'll want to see this!” She descends the ladder down to the deck in a few graceful bounds and rushes over to hand me the spyglass, pointing towards the shore. I raise the glass to my eye and look in the direction she's indicating. My heart drops, splashing into my stomach. Sean and Craig are on the shore, bound, gagged, on their knees and surrounded by Arachnid troops.

“Sean and Craig.” My voice quivers. “And Arachnid. They've been captured.”

“You see them?” Michelle asks anxiously.

“Let me see.” I pass the spyglass to Estela. She peers through it and frowns. “...Did you see who else is there?”

She hands the spyglass back to me, and I look again, letting the lens drift away from my captive friends. As two more familiar faces come into view, I wince.

“It's Aleister. ...And Mike.” I yelp when I see them board a military speedboat. The other soldiers pull Sean and Craig to their feet and drag them toward the vessel. “They're getting on a boat!”

“Not on my damned watch!” Jake growls. “Let's board them. Now.”

I lower the spyglass and turn to Jake, knowing my worry is reflected on my face. “Jake, Mike almost killed us before. ...Are you sure we can stop him?”

“I can't just not try, Alodia. I can't.” He rubs a hand over his face. “Just focus on getting Sean and Craig to safety. I'll handle Mike.”

Malatesta clears his throat impatiently. “Quit yer gawking! There's much to be done!”

“Gawking?!” Quinn whirls on him, her sapphire eyes snapping with rare fury. “Our friends have been kidnapped! Are you really gonna try to stop us from rescuing them?!”

“Stop you? Miss Witch, I'm going to help you!” He smirks. “This is a pirate ship, not a peace vessel. You wanna raid a ship? Ye're speaking my language.”

Yvonne chuckles. “Nice to see you in bonne humeur for once, you sludge-eating flatfish.”

“Don't play nice, you conniving harpy! You'll not take more booty than me! Miss Witch, take us starboard!”

“Aye, aye!” Quinn agrees, dashing for the helm. “Changing course!”

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to find Yvonne beside me. “If you are joining us on a raid, ma chere, you should fly our colors.”

“...What?”

“That beautiful armor is more befitting of a knight than a pirate. Besides, it is too heavy for a battle upon La Mer. Come.”

She grasps my hand and pulls me across the deck to where a plain chest sits between a couple barrels. She swiftly kicks the chest open, revealing garments of soft muslin and tailored leather.

“Woah...”

“Remove those amber pieces, quickly,” she orders me. “I'll find you something suitable.” She rummages around, yanking out several pieces and draping them over her arm, while I get out of my armor as fast as I can manage. Within a few minutes, I've swapped armor and the leggings and tank top I had been wearing underneath for a linen shirt, leather bodice, breeches, and boots. I look myself over and grin at my friends. I have to admit, I like the look.

“Arrr, me hearties!” I crow.

Diego laughs. “Yaaas! Jack Sparrow's got nothing on you!”

“Color me impressed,” Michelle agrees. “You somehow manage to make ren faire clothes look good.”

Jake looks up and does a double take, his jaw dropping. I waggle my eyebrows.

“Like what you see, sailor?”

“Damn, Princess. You can board my ship any time.”

I take just enough time to wink at him before hurrying to the side of the ship and raising the spyglass to my eye again. Aleister's narrow gaze is pinned on The Dorado. He turns to shout orders to the soldiers. The troops take up formation on the speedboat and raise their guns. The engine revs to life.

“They're trying to run for it! We'll never catch them in this ship!”

“Aye? Then I'd say it's time to even the odds. Miss Witch, bring us in! Yvonne, catch the sail to the wind!” Malatesta catches my eye and points to a pile of giant chains and a spear tip the size of my head. “Little Lioness, hook the spearhead to the boom chains, and then load it into the cannon!”

It takes me a couple of seconds, but I manage to hook the spearhead onto the heavy chain, and load it into the cannon. Under Malatesta's approving eye, I fasten the first chainlink onto the barrel.

Diego whistles. “You're a natural at this pirate thing, Allie.”

Malatesta prepares the flint rocks, looking down at me. “That was just the first test, Little Lioness. Once I light it, aim at the boat's broadside.” He whips around to the others. “Cover your ears and hold onto something!”

He strikes the flint, bringing the fuse to life. I throw my weight into holding the cannon's aim steady at the military ship's flank.

“There?”

“Aye, we'll make a salty dog out of ye yet! Now hold on!”

A deafening explosion rips through the air. The recoil sends me sprawling across the deck as the spearhead launches from the cannon with chains trailing behind like a kite tail. I scramble to my feet, watching anxiously. Just when it looks like the speedboat is getting too far ahead, the sharp blade pierces its metal-clad hull. The military ship lurches wildly as it's snared by the boom chain. Through the ringing in my ears, I start to make out shouting from the other ship. On the deck of The Dorado, everyone springs into action, rushing to prepare for boarding.

Malatesta claps me on the back. “Well done, lass! Now, I got three things to tell ye about raiding. One, don't die.”

Arachnid soldiers are taking aim at the boom chain, but their bullets ricochet harmlessly off the heavy links. Raj has found an armory cabinet and is pulling out swords and daggers, sliding them to the others.

“So what if they got guns! We're gonna slice, dice, and julienne them! ...And that just made me hungry...”

“Raj!” I call. “Over here!” He slides a cutlass over to me. I scoop it up and take a few practice swings before sliding it into the sheath at my belt.

“Secondly,” Malatesta continues, apparently unphased by the interruption, “the sea's as much a weapon as any blade. Use her to your advantage.”

The stretch of water between the two sea vessels is closing quickly. Jake pulls out a rope net covered in iron weights.

“We can subdue a bunch of them with this!”

“And three,” Malatesta concludes, raising his voice to address all of us, “TAKE NO PRISONERS!”

“Except, you know, our friends!” Diego clarifies hastily. “Who are prisoners. We want them.”

“Come, mes amis! A l'abordage!” Yvonne and Malatesta grab free-hanging ropes. Jake, Estela, Raj, and I immediately leap up to do the same. Looking down at the vast expanse of water beneath me, feeling the wind whip at my hair, I feel my heart wedge in my throat for a moment. Steeling myself, I open my mouth to let out a battle cry.

“For Sean and Craig!” I scream, taking a wild leap. For a moment, I'm free-falling. Then, the rope pulls taut and I swing towards the Arachnid speedboat. When I can see something solid beneath me, I let go, dropping gracefully onto the rear deck. Sean and Craig have been lashed to the rails on the far side of the deck. They cry out around their gags when they see us, struggling against their bonds.

“Enemy sighted!” I hear the modulated voice of an Arachnid soldier, and the click of weapons being readied and aimed.

“Stop!” Aleister's voice is shrill with alarm. “Don't shoot! All of you stand down!”

“What?!” one soldier cries. “We are literally being attacked!”

Aleister glares at the soldier, his breath coming through gritted teeth. “I represent Everett Rourke here, and I order you to stand down!”

The masked soldiers hesitate a moment, looking between each other. Finally, they lower their weapons. Aleister turns to stare at us, shock and disbelief plain on his face.

“Y-you're alive...you're all alive...”

“No thanks to you,” Estela snaps.

“Father said you tried to escape. That you were all gunned down. That you'd all rather die than be his prisoners.”

“Get a grip, Malfoy!” Jake growls. “For how smart you act, you're good at playing dumb when it's convenient!”

“That's not--”

“Think about it! Your father has lied to you your entire life. Why would this be any different?!”

“Aleister,” I say softly. “Rourke tried to kill us the moment you left with Grace.”

My words seem to fall like a physical blow. Aleister recoils, trembling. “I...I didn't know,” he whispers. “I swear. I'm so sorry!”

“Like hell you are!” Estela snarls. “If you're so sorry, why are our friends tied up and held at gunpoint?!”

Aleister's eyes dart between us as if searching for an escape route. He runs his hands through his hair. “It...it's complicated...”

Mike strides up beside Aleister, his bionic eye glinting menacingly in the sunlight. “Sir. The hostages are our first priority.”

I feel Jake faltering beside me. “Aw, Mike,” he says plaintively. “You'd never go along with this! Is any of you left in there? Wake up!”

Mike is still as a statue. Only his arm moves, arching slowly upward to level a gun at Jake. Impulsively, I get between them. Malatesta draws a pistol, aiming it at Mike.

“This is an awful lot of talking for a raid. We fighting or not?”

“Alodia!” Aleister looks at me with desperation in his eyes. “You're the leader here. Where you go, the others will follow. You know that, right? ...Walk away. Please. Just walk away. I don't want to hurt you.”

Still planted firmly between Jake and Mike, I put my hand on the hilt of my cutlass. “I don't leave without Sean and Craig.”

The desperation in his eyes gives way to heartbreak. “...You're a damned fool, Alodia.” Then the heartbreak turns to cold resignation. “So be it. Guards! Capture them! Keep them alive!”

The troops immediately take up defensive positions around Aleister, Sean, and Craig.

“Yvie,” Malatesta murmurs. “Ye still got your perfume?”

“I never leave shore without it.” From the pouch at her waist, she pulls out a small ball with a pin in it. Malatesta takes it, bites the pin, and tosses it towards the deck. As it rolls at the soldiers' feet, a smoke screen starts to pour out of it, spreading rapidly.

“Stay together!” one soldier cries. Through the haze, two fists that crackle with electricity rapidly materialize.

“Ready to dance, kid?” a feminine voice growls behind the mask in front of me. The tossing waves throw The Dorado into the side of the Arachnid vessel. As the deck tilts beneath my feet and I stumble into one of the box-shaped objects mounted on the deck, a metal pail rolls across the deck and taps my ankle. At that moment, Malatesta's voice echoes in my mind: ...the sea is a weapon...

The Arachnid soldier recovers and leaps at me to throw an electric fist into my face. I drop down, evading her high-aimed punch, and sweep my leg at her feet. As the ship lurches again, the soldier is flung into the railing. I press the advantage, grabbing her by the ankle and shifting my weight to flip her into the water. I hear a muffled cheer that I recognize as Craig's voice.

The wind rising off the sea quickly disperses the smoke cloud, revealing a chaotic battlefield. Diego and Varyyn have made it across. Varyyn climbs towards the helm to engage Mike, and a flurry of expert blows and dodges fly between them.

“As the humans say,” Varyyn snarls, “'Get wrecked'!”

“I've never been more proud,” Diego calls up to him with an encouraging smile.

Towards the prow, Yvonne and Malatesta stand back to back, peppering the soldiers with pistol blasts. It seems they've brought at least half a dozen pistols each.

“When was the last time we did this, Yvie? The Santo Domingo rum heist?”

“Oui, that was a good night. And good rum!”

On the rear deck, Estela bends backwards to dodge a punch. Jake closes his hands around a fist and sends the soldier reeling. Raj hides behind them, clutching the weighted net. Then, there are two soldiers in front of me, cutting off my view of the rest of the ship. One has a beatstick and the other a sleek, modern pistol. The beatstick flies towards my head, and I barely manage to duck under it in time. I leap back to my feet, only to realize I've popped up too quickly when the blunt weapon swings back around and catches me hard on the shoulder. I yelp in pain, stumbling.

“Alodia!” I hear Jake's frantic voice answering my cry.

“Jake, flank 'em!” I scream.

“On it, Princess!” Jake rolls under a soldier, and Estela spears her down. Keeping low, he flings a dagger that catches the pistol-weilding Arachnid in the hand. The soldier cries out, dropping his weapon. I leap at the one with the beatstick, knocking the weapon from his hand. I throw my whole weight into slamming the hilt of my sword into his head and he slumps to the deck.

“Allie, look out!” Diego's voice makes me turn. Beaten back by Varyyn, Mike has leveled his gun at me. I prepare to dive, but Aleister shoves the gun from Mike's hand.

“Do not kill her!” he shouts. I continue toward Sean and Craig, pulling a knife from my belt. I cut their gags off first. They both cough and stretch their jaws.

“Alodia!” Sean gasps. “You're here!”

“Yeah Alodia is!” Craig cries. “We owe you big time!”

I glance briefly back at Jake, Yvonne, Malatesta, and Varyyn, covering me while I free the two men. I cut through the ropes around their wrists as quickly as possible.

“Don't mention it.” I cut Craig free and start on Sean. “You guys okay?”

Sean's bonds snap open and he pulls his hands free. In the same moment, his eyes widen. “Duck!” he yelps.

I drop into a crouch. Above me, Sean catches an Arachnid soldier by the baton and twists it from their hands, bringing it back to connect solidly with their head. The soldier hits the deck and doesn't move. Sean looks down at me, breathing hard.

“Alodia...I'll never let you down again.”

I blink, startled enough that I almost forget where I am. “Sean--”

“Shit!” Jake's frustrated cry distracts me. I leap back to my feet and immediately notice the second speedboat racing towards us, laden with more Arachnid troops. “Jesus, how many people did Lundgren recruit?! Being Arachnid used to mean something!”

“Take Aleister!” Estela shouts. “They won't harm us if we have him!”

Yvonne aims her pistol at Aleister and gestures with the barrel at The Dorado. “Cross over to our ship!” she barks.

Aleister looks helplessly at her. “I've already tried to tell you--”

“Va! Tout suite!”

Aleister sighs, but however reluctantly, he jumps the narrowing gap between the two vessels. With Yvonne covering us, we manage to escape back to The Dorado. By the time I reach the deck, Michelle is already tying Aleister up. He yelps in protest as she pulls the ropes tight.

“Th-that hurts!”

“Good!” she growls.

“Michelle!”

Michelle's eyes snap up at the sound of Sean's voice. Forgetting Aleister for a moment, she rushes over to throw her arms around his neck. He catches her up in a tight embrace.

“Sean! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I'm okay. Are you?”

“Guys, we gotta go!” Craig shouts. “The other ship is coming!”

“We're not goin' anywhere without Mike!” Jake's voice is a desperate snarl.

“Uh...Jake...?” Diego's voice trembles as he points to a figure hovering in the sky. “I think he feels the same way.”

Mike's jetpack lowers him onto The Dorado's deck. He scowls at us, his bionic eye flashing in the sunlight.

“Return Aleister to the Arachnid vessel.”

“Or what?” Jake asks lowly, his hands balling into fists at his sides. Mike answers by engaging his jetpack to rush at him, but this time Jake is faster. He ducks and tackles Mike from the side, grappling him to the deck. They roll together, trading haphazard blows.

“Alodia!” Estela hisses. “Say something! Stop him! The longer this fight drags out...”

I don't need her to finish that sentence. I know I should tell Jake to let Mike go. Promise we'll get him back next time. But I can't. I of all people can't ask the man I love to leave his best friend.

“Jake! Make him remember!”

Jake rolls on top of Mike and pins his arms down. “Mike, listen to me! Remember that time in basic training when we filled the shower heads with sand and we had latrine duty for weeks? ...Or...how about that time we got our C.O.'s radio stuck on the kids' channel and had to listen to Dora the Explorer for two hours on loop...?” Mike doesn't seem to react. I feel my heart breaking as Jake continues, his voice getting tighter and more desperate. “...Or the crap Lundgren did? Or how he almost killed us for finding him out? Or my! Fucking! Name?!”

He pounds the floorboards beside Mike's head, howling in agony and frustration. Mike keeps still, not even flinching. Sobs bubble up in Jake's chest and make his shoulders heave. He looks just about ready to give up. He even rises to his feet and starts to turn away.

“...Grandpa...” Mike's voice is soft, but it gets Jake's attention. He inhales sharply, turning back.

“...Mike...? Mike, can you hear m--” With lightning speed, Mike pops upright and throws his fist squarely into Jake's chest with enough force to send him crashing at my feet.

“Jake!” His name comes out of me in a terrified shriek as I drop to my knees beside him. I feel my veins turn to ice as he curls toward me, coughing violently and spraying the deck with flecks of blood. Michelle rushes over to kneel at his other side.

“Mouse, stop!” Aleister cries. “That's enough!”

“Jake, can you roll onto your back?” Michelle murmurs. “Alodia, help him. And get his jacket off him.”

“No more time,” I hear Mike say flatly. Jake moans as I help him out of his jacket. “We must go.”

The others cluster protectively around Jake as I cradle him on my lap, clutching his hand while Michelle lifts his shirt to examine his ribs. Taking advantage of our distraction, Mike moves to grab Aleister, cutting through the binding around his wrists with a small knife.

“Wait!” Sean cries. He steps forward, staring at Aleister.

“Sean, what are you doing?!” I yelp.

He doesn't answer me, looking into Aleister's eyes. “W-we never spoke much, but...I know what it's like to live in someone's shadow. You don't owe your father anything, Aleister. His praise isn't worth this.” He holds out his hand. Aleister stares at it in disbelief.

“Wh-what...?”

“Come with us. Try to make up for your mistakes. Help us win this.”

“Sean!” Michelle snaps. “Two seconds ago, he had you at gunpoint!”

“You sure picked...kff...a great time to have Stockholm Syndrome, P-Pretty Boy,” Jake gasps.

But I have images in my mind of a small idol forged from amber, shaped like a priest with the head of a cobra. And of a puddle of blood trickling off the edge of a small pedestal. Aleister's blood. The Endless had an idol for him, too. If he had died at MASADA, I never would have passed the test at the Threshold. Traitor or not, he is one of us.

“Sean's right,” I say. “Aleister, come with us. I know you regret what you did, and it's not too late to set things right.”

“...You...you would give me another chance? Just like that?” Wetness gleams at the corners of his eyes. Sean smiles gratefully at me.

“I knew you'd understand, Alodia.”

“Are you kidding me?” Michelle yelps. Jake shakes his head hard.

“J-just because he didn't...sh-shoot us...doesn't mean he didn't...ungh...load the gun! I ain't buyin'...any of this!”

Mike grabs Aleister's arm. The other Arachnid boat is waiting in the choppy waters nearby.

“We must go now.”

Aleister's shoulders slump. “...It's too late, anyway. The die is cast.” But there's a change in his expression now. He meets my eyes, and I hold his gaze as he grasps the straps of Mike's suit. As the two of them hover toward the approaching speedboat, Aleister still doesn't look away. As he vanishes from sight, I am left with the impression of remorse. Jake slumps in my arms, coughing weakly.

“...Mike...” he moans. As Michelle presses on the angry bruise forming on his ribs, a cry of pain catches in his throat, turning into a spasm of coughing that brings up another glob of blood. His grip on my hand is hard enough to hurt.

“Jake, you may have a bruised lung,” Michelle says grimly. “I need you to stay put for now.”

“Just try to rest,” I murmur, brushing sweat-damp strands of hair off his ashen forehead. He looks agonizingly up at me, a film of tears coating his eyes. “We'll find him, Jake. We'll find him and fix him. I promise.”

“Alodia, help me prop up his left side. It might help him breathe easier.” I do as Michelle tells me, piling discarded cloth under his left side, wincing at every pained noise he makes.

“...Will he be okay?”

“We'll keep him under close watch,” she replies, which does not reassure me much. “Jake, I know it hurts, but I need you to keep coughing periodically, deep as you can. The last thing you need is pneumonia setting in.”

Jake doesn't answer directly. He closes his eyes, and I feel his grip on my hand tighten subtly. “Hey, Maybelline...can you take a look at Princess's shoulder? She took a pretty nasty blow there.”

“Which shoulder?”

“What? Oh...the right.” Michelle comes over to examine it. “It's fine, though. I mean, it's not—ungh!” I grunt a little, wincing as she presses on the spot. Jake releases my hand to let Michelle manipulate my shoulder. For a moment, the only sounds are the lapping of waves against the ship's hull, Jake's labored breathing, and my own suppressed gasps. Then Raj speaks up.

“Uh...did we just successfully rescue Sean and Craig?”

Craig laughs. “Buddy, I've never been happier to see you! Come here!” The two embrace wildly, slapping each other's backs.

Yvonne and Malatesta have already begun raiding the abandoned vessel still chained to The Dorado.

“Yvie, ye better not cheat me! We loot together!”

“Mal, do you think I would steal from you? Because you're right.”

“...You'll be all right, Alodia,” Michelle murmurs. “It's just a bad bruise. It's not dislocated or broken or anything.”

“Thanks...”

I turn my attention back to Jake, stroking his hair. He opens his eyes to meet my gaze, but he doesn't speak. Michelle stands and wanders over to the side of the ship where the others are gathering, and embraces Sean again. He hugs her back.

“Sean, I'm so glad you're safe.”

“Same to you,” he says. “We got a lot to catch up on. But...I'd like to check in with Alodia first...”

Hearing my name, I lift my head to meet Sean's eyes. Michelle smiles up at him.

“Go on. But we're catching up later. I'm holding you to that.”

“I wouldn't expect any less.” He gives her another squeeze before making his way over to me. I stand up, holding out my arms for a hug, but he takes me gently by the shoulders instead, studying my face as if he can't actually believe I'm standing in front of him. I shift a little awkwardly.

“...I'm not a ghost, Sean.”

“You're really here. You really made it.”

“Remarkably, yeah.”

“...Last I saw of you, you were falling into the ocean.”

“And you were on a crashing helicopter. ...And Quinn had just been blown up. ...Believe me, Sean, I'm just as shocked to see all five of you mostly unscathed.”

Sean swallows hard, tears gathering in his eyes. “I'm so sorry, Alodia...”

I blink. “...Uh...for what?”

“What do you mean, for what?! I wasn't there for you when you fell out of the chopper! I mean...I didn't have a plan. I couldn't protect everyone.”

I take a deep breath, gathering my patience. I love Sean as much as the rest of the Catalysts, but I can't help but wonder when he's going to get it into his head that he doesn't have to be the hero all the time. That some things are outside his control, especially on this island...

“Sean, seriously. It's not your fault.”

“Guys...” Craig pipes up, his expression of elation giving way to worry. “You haven't seen Zahra yet, have you?”

Everyone goes quiet for a moment, the momentary elation of our reunion dampened by the weight of the fact that we are still incomplete. We all shake our heads. I drift back to Jake's side to take his hand again. Craig's gaze falls to the deck. Michelle reaches out to rub his shoulder comfortingly.

“Zahra's the smartest of all of us, Craig. I'm sure she's out there.”

“She better be. 'Cause if she's not, Rourke is gonna pay.” His expression falters slightly as a wobble enters his voice. “I-I know she's tough, but after all these weeks, she might--”

“Hold up!” Michelle interrupts. “Weeks?! It's only been a few days for us!”

“It's been a month since I've seen all of you,” Quinn says.

“Wait, we've all been experiencing different wavelengths of time within the island?” I ask incredulously.

“Have we ruled out being in the Matrix?” Diego quips. “Or is that still a possibility?”

“Something's changed,” Sean murmurs. “La Huerta wasn't like this before.”

Yvonne, combing through her plunder nearby, catches my eye and gives me a meaningful look. I shrink a little from her gaze, feeling my stomach clench. I know what she's trying to communicate to me, and I know she's right. I just wish she weren't. I take a deep breath.

“Look...there's something I should probably tell you guys...” But I trail off when I notice Quinn slumped and gasping against the railing, her face twisted with pain.

“It's...happening again...” she groans through clenched teeth. Michelle and Estela hurry to brace her. Concerned, Jake lifts his head, and I help him sit up.

“Is Quinn okay?” Sean asks anxiously.

“Not exactly,” Diego answers grimly. “It's actually why we were here. A piece of the Island's Heart is nearby. And when it calls to Quinn...it hurts her.”

“It...it wants me to go...there.” Quinn aims a quivering finger at a large atoll along the coast.

Malatesta looks where she's pointing and shakes his head. “Reefs are too dangerous to ford with the ship. We'll have to send her in a rowboat.”

Quinn looks at him sharply, eyes widening. “S-send me...alone?” she asks, her voice small.

“Nobody goes alone,” Estela replies firmly. “I'll go with her.”

“You're both basically sisters to me,” Michelle declares, “and sisters don't split up.”

“If you're all going, I wanna go, too,” Raj chimes in. As Diego, Sean, and Craig echo everyone else's sentiments, Malatesta sighs in irritation.

“A tamed monkey could do this task alone! Why're all of you going?!”

“Well, you know I'm going with everyone,” I say, ignoring Malatesta.

“Good,” Diego says, grinning at me.

“Are you having me on?!” Malatesta squawks. “What manner of lily-livered, hand-holdin'--”

“We all lost each other once already,” Estela snaps. “We're not splitting up just after finding each other again.”

We all turn to Estela with raised eyebrows. We were all thinking it, of course, we just didn't expect her to be the one to say it. She clears her throat, blushing deeply. Jake smirks.

“Guys, I think Katniss is finally opening up to us.”

“Shut up, cabrón,” she mutters, even as a smile plays around her mouth.

“Basically, what she's saying is that we're all in this together,” Diego says. “Nobody gets left behind or forgotten.”

“Two boats should fit all of us,” Jake remarks. “I can swim down to ge--” He cuts himself off with a cough that turns into another, and then a third. The fourth one brings up another bloody glob, and he slumps a little in my arms, groaning. With the edge of my sleeve, I gently blot sweat off his forehead. Michelle shakes her head grimly.

“Jake, in your condition, the last place you should be right now is underwater.”

Craig claps Sean on the shoulder. “Looks like you're up, brah!” But Sean's expression suddenly resembles a deer in headlights.

“I...I don't know if I'm at my best right now...”

“Then I'll go with you.” I meet Sean's eyes. “You haven't let anyone down, Sean. But if you need some support right now, I'm offering. We can handle this together.”

He looks at me for a long moment. His eyes shift over to Quinn, still supported between Michelle and Estela, then down towards Jake, breathing laboriously in my arms. He meets my eyes again and smiles a little.

“Spoken like a born leader.”

“Takes one to know one,” I counter.

“Let us depart, then!” Yvonne calls enthusiastically. “Prepare the rowboats!”

“Well you're not leaving me behind!” Malatesta snarls, his face the color of raw meat. “I was promised a crew, and I can't trust you not to galavant off on your own! And we better make it quick! While the sun's still high!” He marches over to yank a tarp off a pair of rowboats on the deck, muttering curses under his breath.

* * *

The sea under the boats is gentle as Malatesta and Yvonne row us into the atoll, following Quinn's directions. We can't help but take a moment to marvel at the kaleidoscope of colorful fish, coral, and plant life shimmering underneath the water's surface.

“Welcome to Neptune Cove,” Malatesta announces. “A great place to show a wench a good time.”

“Poor wench,” Yvonne teases.

I frown. ...Neptune Cove... Something about that name tugs at my memory. I feel certain I've heard it before, but at the moment, I can't place it.

“Broskies, are you seeing these colors?” Craig breathes.

“I've heard some fish have psychadelic effects when you eat 'em!” Raj remarks, grinning.

Diego laughs. “Guys, look! I found Nemo!”

“Is that your people's name for that fish?” Varyyn asks. “How fascinating.”

“I wonder if I could use some fresh-cut seaweed in a facial,” Michelle muses. Sean cranes his neck over the edge and whistles lowly.

“How far down does it go? I can't even see the bottom.”

“You'll see soon enough, Michael Phelps,” Jake quips. As jagged coral formations start to catch along the undersides of the rowboats, Yvonne and Malatesta draw the oars inside.

“This appears to be the furthest we can take you,” Yvonne remarks. Quinn, huddled up in Michelle's arms, looks up at the rest of us. Her face is pale and tight with pain.

“It's definitely close by,” she confirms, her voice weak. “Feels like it wants to rip me through the boat.”

“That's a deep reef,” Jake remarks. “You got anything to help you breathe underwater?” I can't tell if he's talking to me or Quinn, but I give him a quick kiss.

“You just worry about breathing up here, Top Gun.”

As Sean strips off his shirt, I pull off my boots and bodice. After a moment, I cast aside the shirt and breeches, too. I don't want to sit in wet clothes all day.

“Ready, Alodia?”

I nod. “Ready when you are.”

Balancing on the edge of the rowboat, I arch my arms over my head and dive into the reef. The water is pleasantly warm. A few seconds later, tepid pulses hit me as Sean dives in beside me. I open my eyes to let them adjust to the saltwater, and I can't help but take a moment to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings. There's a perfect circle of sea anemones, fronds of jagged coral, filled with deep crevices, and a peculiar sand dune. I surface for a moment to meet eyes with Sean.

“Should we just go for it?” he asks uncertainly.

“Nothing else we can do, I think.”

I take a deep breath and dive again, going for the sand dune. Sean follows me, taking my hand to help pull me down faster. I stretch out a hand and plunge my fingers into the sand. A golden cloud of sand billows up, obscuring my vision, and I grope blindly. My fingers brush something solid, and I grasp it, just as my lungs are starting to burn. I push off the sea floor and hurtle back towards the surface, breaching with a deep breath. Sean surfaces beside me, disappointment plain on his face.

“...We didn't find it, did we?”

I look at the object in my hand. It's not the Island's Heart, to be sure. It appears to be a brass padlock, aged and corroded by saltwater. I turn it over, and find some words etched into the back, just barely readable: No land, no sea, no one will keep us apart. Flora & Eugene, 1920.

“Huh. It's unlocked.”

“...It's not the Heart...” Sean punches the water in frustration, sending up a splash.

“Easy, Sean. It's nearby here. We can try again.”

“I can't!”

I sigh. “Hey, Sean--”

“I said I can't, okay?! I can't do it! I can't do anything without screwing up and someone getting hurt! The whole time, I've tried to be the Q.B. Call the shots. Do everything right! And where are we now?! At the end of the world, some of us missing, some of us hurt...”

“Sean, this isn't your fault. I don't care how strong or how tough you think you are. You can't shoulder the blame for things that were out of your control.”

“...I...”

“You didn't know we were going to be stuck on this island, or about Rourke, or any of this.”

“...I could have done more. Made better split decisions.”

“Oh my god, will you cut yourself a break?!” My voice rises to a shout. Partly because I am losing patience with him, but also because he has responded to tough love in the past. “We're all out of our depths here! Even Jake and Estela—an elite military pilot and an honest-to-god revolutionary—have been groping in the dark most of the time we've been here! Every day, we're doing all we can just to survive. And somehow, we're doing it. So stop blaming yourself for everything and come help me find a magical rock with space-time powers, please?”

Sean looks away. His cheeks are wet, but I can't tell if it's seawater or tears. He is quiet for a very long time. Long enough for me to figure out that tough love wasn't going to cut it this time.

“...You don't understand, Alodia. Ever since I kicked my dad's abusive, alcoholic ass out of the house, I've done everything to carry the load. I didn't want to be a burden on anyone. Not like he was. But now, after all that's happened...you saving my ass, keeping us going...I just don't know how to keep pretending like I'm good at this.”

I stare at him for a long moment, entirely lost for words. In all this time, I have tried again and again to make him understand. I have scolded. I have soothed. But somehow, I cannot reach the heart of him. I cannot reach the depths of his fears. Just as I feel frustration and despair creeping into my heart, the water around us begins to shimmer. I inhale sharply.

“Sean, do you see that?”

Beside us, a ghostly, featureless head breaches the surface of the water.

“Alodia, get behind me!” Sean pushes himself between me and the ghost. Unfazed, the figure withdraws something small and shiny and holds it out to Sean. It's a gold-plated watch.

“That's...not possible! It doesn't exist anymore...” The figure imploringly pushes the watch at Sean.

“What is that, Sean?”

“It's...my father's watch...” He looks helplessly at me. “Alodia, what do I do here? Do I...take it?”

“Take it. I think it will help.” When he still hesitates, I take it myself and hold it out to him. A part of me thinks it may only work with both of us touching it, anyway. Sure enough, as soon as he touches it, the world flashes white.

We are in a training room somewhere, with rubber floors, floruescent lights, an array of fitness equipment, and the faint odor of sweat that will probably never fade. Sean, dressed in a purple and black Condors uniform, sits crosslegged on the floor, pouring over the playbooks strewn in front of him.

“If the Seagulls' safety tries what he did last game--” His musing is interrupted by a crisp knock. A short woman wearing a Condors jersey rounds the corner. Sean looks up and smiles.

“Momma!”

The woman's name is Tricia Gayle. I don't question how I know this. She smiles at her son.

“There's my starting quarterback!” Sean stands to pull his mother into an embrace. She laughs. “Hold on, hold on! Lemme get a good look at you.”

She pulls out of his arms and cranes her neck to look up at Sean's face. He grins.

“Look all right?”

“Oh, those cameras won't know what to do with you!” she gushes.

“Well, hopefully they only catch me when I make the good plays.” Tricia steps back, launching into a cheer routine with invisible pompoms.

“Get 'em with a forward drive! Keep that winning streak alive! Get 'em Gayle, give 'em hayle! Goooo, Gayle!”

Sean looks like he's biting his cheek to keep from laughing. “Wow, okay. Did you just mispronounce 'hell' to rhyme with our name?”

“Chant's gotta rhyme somehow,” she replies with a shrug. Sean can't keep the laughter in anymore. Tricia joins him, and the two sink breathlessly down onto a bench. As their laughter dies down, the silence that follows is suddenly heavy. There is worry in Sean's eyes. Tricia puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Coach said you were working too hard. What's wrong, baby?”

Sean sighs. “...I've already had reporters ask me if Dad'll be here. They keep asking about what he's telling me. ...I'm glad we've kept everything under wraps, it's just...I'm trying to be a better man than he was. But it's like I can't stop feeling him over my shoulder.”

“Oh, Sean...” Tricia reaches up to cup his cheek and turn his face towards her. He smiles weakly.

“I know, I know. I'm not Dad. I'm a different person. I get it.”

“But he's a part of you, Sean. Just as I am. You can't just ignore someone that shaped so much of your life. I know you still have his watch in your desk drawer. You deserved so much more from him.”

“Yeah, well, we don't always get what we deserve. But even thinking of letting someone down a fraction of the way he did us...”

She takes his hand and gives it a squeeze. “You have his strengths, too. He did actually have a few. Do you remember Thanksgiving the first year your dad was gone? How I wouldn't let anyone help me in the kitchen?”

“Oh, do I ever. Especially the trip to the E.R after you dropped the turkey pan on your foot.”

“I wanted to prove to everyone that I was fine without him. That I could do everything for everyone else, and take care of myself. 'What doesn't kill us makes us stronger,' I thought. The truth is, baby, no one is indestructible.” She chuckles ruefully. “My bones sure wished I sucked it up and asked you for help that day.”

He snorts. “I bet.”

“Reporters will say what they want about you. You can't control them. But don't let worrying about your father's mistakes push you into making your own.”

Sean exhales slowly. “Thanks, Momma. I...really needed to hear that.”

“That's why I said it. Just try to relax. Remember this is the beginning. You were the number one draft pick, and you're already defining your own legacy. Most important, remember that you don't have to carry the world on your shoulders. You got plenty of good folks to share the load with.”

Sean pulls her into a tender embrace. “...Thanks, Momma. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Now relax, take a breath, and go win your first game.”

When I find myself back in the ocean again, the sun is sinking low on the horizon. Sean stares at me, dumbfounded.

“...You okay?”

“Alodia, that was...” he swallows hard. “...That was just what I needed.”

He looks down at the watch. For the first time, I notice the inscription on the back: Marcus Gayle. The watch doesn't look like it's going to be able to tell time anymore, but as he clutches it to his chest, Sean smiles at me. I smile back.

“So, you're feeling better?”

“Lots.”

I look over at the ghostly figure, which has started to become hazy. Before it can fade completely, it beckons us down into the shining reef.

“...I think it wants us to follow it. ...I'm gonna do it.”

“Okay,” Sean agrees. “I'm coming too.”

He takes my hand to pull me down again. There is intense light coming from somewhere amid the coral formations. We swim fiercely after the rapidly descending spirit. When I reach the bottom and dare to glance at the source of the light, I catch sight of the shimmering edge of a broken sphere. I grab hold of it and let myself float to the surface.

By then, the sun has set. Stars are starting to appear in the dusky sky. I hold aloft the second half of the Island's Heart triumphantly. Sean stares at it, smiling faintly.

“You found it...”

I grin. “We found it. Give yourself some credit sometimes, huh?”

We dogpaddle back to the rowboats. As we approach, I hold up the Heart again, grinning.

“You did it!” Quinn exclaims.

“We had a little help,” I quip.

“What happened?” Diego asks, helping me into the boat. “From here, it looked like an Electric Light Parade.”

“Hey, if that glorified disco ball wants to show you houw to get to it, I'm not complaining,” Jake drawls.

Malatesta eyes the Heart. “...Mighty fine gem ye've got there.”

“Yes,” Michelle agrees, glaring at him. “And it's not yours.” She holds out her hand for the Heart. I pass it over and let her place it in her backpack. She keeps her eyes locked on Malatesta as she zips it up.

“We should get back to the ship before Rourke's men come searching for it,” Estela declares. Yvonne and Malatesta need no more encouragement. They take up the oars and begin rowing us back to The Dorado. I pull my clothes back on.

“Uh...Doodlejumps?” Raj suddenly speaks up, his voice quivering. “...Friends?” I look over at him. He aims a shaking finger at the water. I look. My blood runs cold. An enormous form is darkening the water underneath us. Through peaks of waves, I can make out dark fins writhing in the deep.

“Oh, no...” I whisper. “No, no, no, please...not now...”

A massive wave pummels the rowboats as a gaping maw rises in front of me, large enough to swallow both boats in a single gulp. Rows upon rows of sword-like teeth crackle with electricity that makes my hair stand on end. The massive serpentine beast is too close for me to make out his shimmering blue face, or his eyeless gaze, but I don't need to. I feel my heart sinking into my belly.

You are Andromeda, a voice in my head taunts. Did you really think you could escape Cetus?

#Endless Summer #Diego Ricardo Ortiz Soto #Jake McKenzie #sean gayle #raj bhandarkar #Craig Hsiao #aleister rourke #grace hall #michelle nguyen #zahra namazi #estela montoya #quinn kelly #play choices #pixelberry choices #choices stories you play

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