#(wildest part of 2023 is that i listened to him and actually liked him lmao)

[sunshinediaz]

merle said mama tried, but the prison still won | 2.9k, teen

“You’ve made bail, Diaz.”  Eddie stands, wipes his sweaty hands off on his jeans, and clears his throat. “This isn’t even a real jail, Dwight,” he says, stepping through the makeshift cell door held open for him, and looks over at his rescuer. “Hi, Buck.”  Buck sighs, shakes his head, but he grins at him, anyway. “Hi, Eddie,” he says, definitely a tad bit exasperated, and turns to speak with Dwight. “Thanks, man. I’ll see you at Azure’s party?”  “Sure thing, Buck.” Dwight reaches out to shake Buck’s hand while Eddie grabs his phone and pocketknife off the desk. “Keep him in line?”  “That’s a hard job, but I’ll do my best,” Buck says, laughing, and then turns to Eddie. He wraps his arm around Eddie’s shoulders, squeezes a little too hard, and uh oh, Eddie’s in trouble. He’s equal parts excited and nervous. “All right, Eds. Let’s get out of here.”   “See you boys later.”  Like a good little dog, Eddie follows Buck out of the security office, down the brightly-lit corridor, and out the side exit that opens up into the parking lot. It’s still early, only a little after noon; Buck’s parked right next to Eddie’s truck in the second row, fourth and fifth slot. His Jeep has a big red ball attached to the front grill, a silly rendition of Rudolph Christopher was delighted to employ.  “Okay, Eddie. Throw me a bone here.” Buck turns and leans against the front of Eddie’s truck, crossing his arms over his chest. They’re so big, bulging so pretty it squeezes his tits. Eddie goes a little cross-eyed. “What happened?” 

read the rest on ao3

[joons]

more little mermaid (2023) hot takes

i didn't like "wild, uncharted waters" much. i don't know why he sounded so much like bastille? lol. it wasn't an improvement on "her voice" from the musical. it served a fine purpose, but it was my least favorite new song because it was just there. if it had been given more of a broadway treatment, i would have enjoyed it more, i think. the production of it was just odd. "her voice" also emphasizes the mad, obsessive aspect in the music, with minor key resolutions and repetitive, WAVELIKE instrumentation.

"for the first time" was pretty cute and a definite improvement on "beyond my wildest dreams," which is probably one of my least favorite glenn slater songs (!!!). i like the caribbean flavor, i like ariel expressing doubt and embarrassment and frustration mixed with clear excitement. it does a lot more with "look at this new stuff!" than "beyond my wildest dreams," which is just glenn slater listing things, constantly, forever.

"the scuttlebutt," i am sorry to say, slaps. i don't want to explain how much i've been listening to it, lmao. for that matter, awkwafina as scuttle slapped. scuttle was the best adapted character with an incredible design and a fun update of being a diving bird. but i'm a scuttle girl. i'm a "positoovity" stan. i'm insane.

hated that sebastian wasn't a composer in this. i always liked how sebastian is a snob who kind of only gets involved in ariel's life because she ruined his day and he couldn't keep his mouth shut. it's ALMOST as an equal that triton asks him to keep an eye on ariel. obviously he's a subject and does have to take orders from the king, but it's not like actually his job description to advise the king. that's what makes it funny when he's constantly advising the king, unasked for, and then ends up having to put his money where his mouth is and prove that ariel can be controlled. making him the official adviser is so boring.

i am still trying to get my head around some of the changes to ursula's deal. i feel like they have a huge impact, but the movie doesn't necessarily realize that. something about the way mermaids and humans are seen as genuinely conflicting species in this, the way ursula just assumes that without a sweet, mermaid voice, ariel has no chance of captivating eric... it becomes more of an interspecies conflict instead of a gender war, you know? ursula still has a very low view of men, so i almost feel like taking out the "holds her tongue" verse was a missed opportunity to give her mistaken views more relevance. like she's just scuttling her way into telling ariel how love on the surface works. and that should feed into the "our species have misunderstood each other for so long" thing. that it prevents meaningful relationships between species, between genders, between fathers and daughters. and i feel like that theme could have been enhanced by making ursula a bullshitter who delights in SOWING DISCORD and creating these pressure points of misunderstandings. i got the definite vibe, though it was never directly stated, that ursula is the reason ariel's mom died in this version, that she created all the conflicts in the film. so rejecting her worldview is part of the generational healing process. so the more we can dwell on that worldview and knock it down, the better!

i also missed my ditzy sisters! they were too competent!