#tlm 2023

[lenoreamidala]

a mermaid and a man. whoever would have imagined?

[fan-a-tink]

Eric & Ariel | The Little Mermaid (2023)

[cancerian-woman]

Part of your world (Reprise II) is so sad and emotional. What did I give to live where you are? Where do I go with no one to turn too? My god, Halle’s voice

[ottoriver]

2023 has been the year of angsty men singing about their feelings and I am here for it.

[blackthornluce]

Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric in THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023).

[dearest-alexander]

& even though he's still hung up on that girl who saved him, he was already looking at Ariel like that—all dimply and soft and eyes shining— while also probably thinking "I wish it was her. Please be her."

Lord almighty.

[thelaziestmotherfucker]

She was very real. And so were your feelings for her, I see that now. It's just that our worlds were never meant to be together.

[galindathrop]

The Little Mermaid (2023) - music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman, and new lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

[swiftiesbuddie]

i thought i recognized him!!

[bohemian-nights]

Almost kisses + THE kiss 💋

THE LITTLE MERMAID 2023🧜🏽‍♀️

[lobinilo]

I’ve been thinking a lot about this scene and why it had such an impact on me (and apparently everybody else lol). I think it’s because this gesture has so many layers in its meaning. From what I’ve seen, most people interpret this as a sign of protection against Vanessa/Ursula. But I only partly agree with that. See, this all happens BEFORE Vanessa turns back into Ursula, so Eric doesn’t know that she’s a witch yet (even though he probably suspects already that Vanessa is dangerous). So the immediate threat he sees is not Vanessa. It’s the other humans. Everyone backs away from Ariel, looking frightened, screaming, Erics own mother is horrified by what just happened. All they’ve known their whole lives are tales about blood thirsty mermaids tricking sailors with their voices just to drown them for the sheer fun of it (so to see Ariels voice materialized must be even more terrifying). They are scared of her. So Eric not backing away and holding Ariel even tighter sends a clear message: I am not afraid of her. And neither should you be. So yes, this gesture is, among other things, a sign of protection. Protection from his own kind. He stands by her AGAINST his peers. He stands by her side, alone, against every single person he’s known his whole life. Don’t you dare touch her. But it’s also alliance. Understanding. Acceptance. I am not afraid of you. I accept you. I’m with you. And that’s why this scene is so much more impactful than it is in the original.

[lenoreamidala]

princess indira is one of ariel's sisters and second oldest child of king triton's seven daughters. she is skilled at diplomacy, working well with the ministers of her court. she is well informed about her kingdom and others, and is also an excellent debater.

[fan-a-tink]

And how did you spend your Sunday? Oh just dreaming about living under the sea.

[artist-issues]

I know we're all over this topic right now. But one of the main things I think was important in the original The Little Mermaid that the remake totally missed was that Ariel's faith was in a person.

She starts out having faith in an idea. A vague concept. "Humans might be wonderful and worth loving because they make wonderful things. They might not be barbarians. They might even understand me."

And that's great. She has some evidence to put her faith in. But that evidence is how kind and harmless a scatter-brained seagull is, and his nonsense explanations of human trinkets.

So she deduces that the humans might not all be bad and they might actually be wonderful. If they can make things, maybe they must be inventive--maybe they see the world as full of possibilities--just like she does.

And that's enough to make her argue with her dad, the king, and buck against the entire undersea worldview.

It's enough to make her spend her days collecting and dreaming.

It's enough to make her visit the surface despite the fact that it's forbidden and potentially a risk to her life.

But the collection, the good Surface-Seagull, and all her guesses about the Surface are not enough to make her leave her family and her world behind.

And the original movie's creators knew that the audience needed to see that, in Act 1.

She thinks about it. But she doesn't actually pull the trigger. She doesn't actually take the leap of faith, or make the big sacrifice.

Not until she meets a person who embodies all the things she's hoped were true after her experiences with trinkets and seagulls.

When Ariel discovers Eric, he brings all her dreams about what the Surface might be like to life. He makes it real.

That's why she's in love with him. There's a combination of "he's everything I hoped humans would be...and he's even better, because I know how he feels."

In the Script for The Little Mermaid, when Eric asks if Grimsby is still "sore because I didn't fall for the Princess of Glowerhaven," there's just one break in the dialogue before Grimsby responds. It says "Ariel listens closely."

Because that's important. It's not just because she thinks he's handsome and she's listening to learn more about what his love life is like. She's listening closely because there's a conflict, like the ones she has with her father, and she wants to see if this human is "reprimanded" for his way of thinking or not.

She not only finds a human who is brave, sacrifices himself for an animal, and free to explore--she also finds a human who has dreams that the people around him can't understand.

He makes her ideals real, and expands on them, just by being himself.

Ariel learns precisely what she needs to about him, in one scene, for her in-character response to be "falls deeply in love."

And he's the straw that breaks the camel's back. Suddenly it's all real to her. Now she can sacrifice. Now she has something powerful enough to put her faith in--now she has someone worth loving enough to take a big leap of faith to.

That's why having her forget that she needs to kiss him, and having her only decide to give up her life under the sea when Ursula specifically mentions "never leave home again," is not Ariel. It implies that most prominent reason for her sacrifice was so that she could be free to explore instead of imprisoned where nobody gets her. But that's not Ariel. That's not the most important reason behind why she left in the original movie. She left because she finally had someone to love, and put her faith in.

She left for love, not independence. She left for Eric, not just for herself. You can dislike that all you want, but then you're disliking Ariel. Because that's who she is; that's why she did it.

[amaretigris]

Prince Eric & Jonah Hauer-King Masterlist

Prince Eric

Mermaid Tears Angst & fluff

A Very Unprincely Honeymoon Fluff & smut

Fish in the Sea Angst & smut

Too Long Pure smut

I Still Get Jealous Angst & smut

Everything Angst & fluff

Pampered Filthy smut

Waves Pure fluff

Waves Part 2 Fluff & smut

Yearning Angst & fluff

Scenery Angst, fluff, & smut

My Little Mermaid Pure fluff

Friction Series Angst, smut, & fluff

Getaway Series Angst & fluff

Lily Pads Series Fluff & angst

The Sea Witch's Curse Series Angst, fluff, & smut

Toe the Line Series Fluff

Jonah Hauer-King

Being with Jonah Hauer-King Fluff & smut

The Lure Pure smut

Pregnancy Reveal Imagine Angst & fluff

Sexting with Jonah Hauer-King Pure smut

Sexting Part 2 Pure smut

Comfort Imagine with Jonah Hauer-King Pure fluff

Near Perfection Pure fluff

Adulation Smut implied

Adulation Part 2 Pure smut

Waking Up with Jonah Fluff & smut implied

Sunshine Pure fluff

Gravity Fluff & angst

The Long Game Angst & smut implied

A New Adventure Angst & fluff

All In Fluff & smut suggestion

Trick Shot Pure smut

Dreamy Angst & fluff

Dreamy Part 2 Pure fluff

Motion Picture Pure smut

An Ancient Attraction Series Angst & fluff

Camping Series Fluff, smut, & angst

Crater Series Angst, fluff, & smut

Developpe Series Angst, fluff, & smut

Knock-down, Drag-out Series Angst, fluff, & smut

The Possibility of You Series Angst, fluff, & smut

[blackthornluce]

THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023)