Ariel was always my favorite Disney princess [I also loved belle and muslin, but muslin wasn’t really a princess]. I’m not sure why—even as a child, I could somewhat feel the suppressed enigma of exuberance twining from her bright red hair in froths of delicacy, I could hear a homesick longing weaving in-between her words when she spoke, I could see all of the hopeful dreams brimming in her eyes whenever she sang, sang of the shores she could not reach, she could not touch.
I still adore her, really. I know better now why though—I think it’s because she reminded me so much of myself.