#sleeping beauty analysis

[uptoolateart]

Fairytales - All of us are our own Prince Charming

A few years ago, I attended this workshop about storytelling and the ancient legends of Great Britain (where I live), and the host said that as a society we are suffering from a ‘crisis of metaphor’. What he meant was that we tend to take things too literally and therefore miss symbolic significance.

An area where I see this happen over and over again is our interpretation of fairytales - namely, this idea of a princess being saved by a prince, and the modern notion that it teaches little girls they need a man to rescue them.

This is valid, but only because we fail to teach little girls (and boys!) the true meaning of such tales. In fact, the most well-known fairytales date back not just centuries but millennia, because they contain elements of older myths. For instance, the three fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty are the three fates found in Norse and Greek mythology - who also appear as the three witches in Macbeth. The notion of an apple of temptation in Snow White, too, has its origins in ancient Greek legend - not to speak of its allusion to the Garden of Eden.

The reason such tales have persisted in popular culture for so long is that they speak to something deep inside us, and this goes well beyond just promoting the idea of a girl needing a man to save her. For this reason, there are books out there psychoanalysing classic tales as if they were dreams, from both a Freudian and a Jungian perspective. We also got taught to analyse stories in this manner in my English degree, once upon a time.

As a brief example, I’ll return to Sleeping Beauty. As a little girl, she's hidden away and protected from all eyes, especially men’s eyes, as if trying to keep her young forever. Her parents refuse to allow her to touch that magic spindle, which is a symbol for puberty and awakening sexuality. I mean...a needle, and a bloom of blood?? However, this growth is inevitable. Despite how much they try to keep her from being exposed to the outside world, Aurora finds the spindle anyway and falls into a deep sleep.

This sleep not only affects her but the whole kingdom. Everyone goes unconscious, other than the witch / dragon. The prince then has to fight through thorns to reach the princess and defeat the dragon. A crucial question is: why would he do this? Surely there are easier princesses to win! And if we look at the Disney rendition, he literally just saw Aurora talking to squirrels and owls and immediately fell in love with her, instead of thinking she was a bit odd. All of this tells us we can’t take it literally.

The dragon and thorns are the internal defensive measures to try to keep out the prince, who represents everything that was being repressed - the awakening moment that will bring Aurora into the adult world the parents and fairies were so keen to hold her back from. In this sense, we can say that the witch and the prince are both other aspects of the princess. In other words, there is no girl in need of saving by a man. The man is part of the young woman. She is saving herself. There is no kiss to wake her up magically - this is symbolic of her emotional awakening and transition into adulthood. This is why she is named Aurora, a reference to the dawn.

We can look at every popular fairytale in this way and see that each character is an archetype. Each of us, male or female, holds all these archetypes within us. So, fairytales are not merely stories but ways of symbolically exploring growth experiences and journeys we all go through. In this way, even a little boy hearing one of these tales can relate to the princess. Every boy is the princess and prince - every girl is the princess and prince.

What is key is making sure that the symbolism is strong. Don’t explain all of this to young kids and ruin the magic. But as our children grow and begin to be aware of the symbols, we can explore it with them and teach them that each and every one of them has the power within to be their own Prince Charming and free themselves from any 'evil spell'.

[rayroseu]

IM KINDA LATE TO THE PARTY NOW BUT SILVERRRRRR

help,,,,, he's making a career in making sure he has the best card art in this game i swearrrr 😭😭😭 first his platinum card AND THISSSS ok silver, I'LL YAP ABOUT YOUUUU 😭🙏💖

I know alot of people already described how beautiful this card in a thousand poetic ways AND i agree with all of themm BUT when i first saw this groovy,,,, I immediately thought what scene they were referencing here !!!! MAYBE im just reaching but I think Its the climax scene of Aurora finally succumbing to Maleficent's curse !! Specifically they combined elements from the initial build up where Aurora was crying in the vanity beside a candlelight then the eventual sleeping position !!!

Also overthinking the composition now, but I AM eating up at how the angle of the green candlelights makes it feel like its supposed to symbolized Lilia, Malleus, and Sebek and how they always watch over Silver,,,, there's always an instance of them taking care of him whenever he falls asleep 🥹💖

BUT THE THING IS,,,, there is SOMETHING with the way they drew his eyelashes here,,, ITS MOST SIMILAR to Malleus!!!

I am probably reaching further,,, but as far as I remember, no one up (until now) but Malleus whose eyelashes is drawn so meticulously, like EACH STRAND is prominent sharp, accentuated, and extra curly LIKE ADSKFJKLDFJ ITS SUCH A BIG GLOW UP FROM HIS INITIAL SLEEPING CARD (Silver Robes SR) JUST COMPARE

AND MORE IMPORTANTLYYYY It makes me so crazy how different these cards are....

At the beginning of Book 7, Silver is often at sunlight... but nowadays after his arc where he finally confronted the fact he's Dawn's son and that Lilia's love for him will not change even after that fact, we see him more in moonlight !! ITS LIKE THE BLESSING SCENE AGAINNN (how Baby Silver's hair went from gold like sunlight to silver like moonlight because of a night fae's blessing (acceptance that Lilia loves him)

I love how they slowly emphasize over time that Silver's home is Briar Valley, with the NIGHT faes (yk who they are), that they showcase that fact through initially releasing his arts associated with the sun then eventually the night and the moon 🥹🥹💗💗💖💖💖

[cyberboomer]

PLEASE LOOK AT VIKTOR'S FACE

Jayce's hand on Viktor's neck (the thumb on the angle of Viktor's jaw then under his ear...) seems like it's pulling him closer with the arm movement, he looks at Viktor briefly and closes his eyes, clenching his teeth (to brace for impact I guess), and u can see in Viktor's eyes that he watches him do that THEN also closes his eyes and goes for the forehead touch... he trusts him and follows his move...

also this might just be me but Viktor's expression reminds me of the younger Viktor (obviously he does look younger/healthy here anyway on purpose but yk) bc it feels like a sorta ''oh, okay we're doing that now'' moment he used to have with Jayce of following his lead when he had a hunch or something, it feels genuine, earnest and most importantly, trustful.

idk I might just be insane

EDIT : closer version

[layraket]

THERE WAS AN UPDATE SLEEPING? WHATS THAT??

first of all we start with this beautiful shot

god thats some cool architecture i have no words clapping

Wind is so ready to kick that lizard's ass i love him

this confirms the fact that theyre in the same place but in a different era (also i swear im convinced that this place takes place at least no far from Hyrule's era, the statue behind Legend and the corridors inside are almost the same as in Zelda1 and 2)

that was the worst joke i have heard today good job rulie lots of kudos /lh

the boys entering a place where they could find the most dangerous shit in all Hyrule, and then there's my girl who is having the best lunch ever

when i first read this i almost spit all my water on my phone cuz. Wars my man these people are like. crazy with dungeon crawl. you can't say that and expect a normal reaction.

their expressions are gold no notes

TIME'S SIDE EYE LMAO

Sky looking concerned, and Wars with the most "i dont know what is everyones problem but alright" face i love him

In a war there's no time to explore or search for things that can be useful, or even search for clues, less with the fact that youre leading an army. There was no puzzle, no mistery to solve or objects that needed to be obtained, just plain fight and confrontation, not leaving space for investigation or even a good rest in town

They have a point, without exploring they wouldn't have the arsenal that they carry; powerful items that can kill a whole army of monsters, a gift left by the hero before them to help, shinies. All that is really useful when you want to save the whole kingdom

lets not forget all the weapons that you can get on HW, there are some that are like, crazy powerful, and the materials get from the enemies are also really helpful

guys i think youre the only crazy people who love to enter a random place full of monsters and maybe a demon lord or smth

OK THIS IS THE PANNEL WHERE I WANTED TO TALK A LITTLE ABT

This reminds me of this short comic where Wild was almost grabbed by a wallmaster, do this takes place some time before this scene?? or just from another time?? I find possible the first option cuz Wild looks more wary the whole update, like if he already found out what will happends if he puts his guard down

Also the fact that the closest thing that he had as a dungeon were the Divine Beast and the shrines, which both of them lacked a lot of things that were usually in the clasic zelda's dungeons, like keys, mini bosses, special object and pots.

Hyrule my guy you dont. have to scare him like that. i hate these things too but calm down.

fucking gremlin /pos

taking this as an opportunity to talk about how Legend's behaviour has been seen changed in the past updates, he's more relaxed and playful, taking a moment to just have fun and prank the rest of the chain

this reminds me

here is left clear that he's still young, maybe not even on his twenties, and now after that stressfull time with Twi being on the verge of death it makes sense that he feels the need of just, goof around to cope after all that

Yes he's the most experienced, yes is maybe the most powerful of them, but he's still a young boy who was dragged to all this, he deserves to have some fun

happy guy :)

and then we have Time, he looks like Not Having A Good Time™

Messy hair Warriors <3

also i know we all put Sky as one of the adults, but cmon he's a little shit as much as the rest, thats why he finds funny Legend's joke

Wild my man you good? like im genuinely asking at this point, it is weird seeing him so serious

god thats such a cool design of a skulltula, its so scary 10/10

Wild has never seen in his life a spider of this size, so it makes sense him just, straight up getting surprised by that thing

OUGHH I FELT THAT

Sky being right-handed looks like a problem in this closed space, soon or later it would make some troubles

Legend no offence but did you see the little accident they had right there. like. that really hurts if you ask me.

Okay Time is really at his limit here, the past days has been hell for him with the stress of almost loosing the one that he might see as his son, and seeing all the boys just playing around is not helping. Theyre all heroes, they should take this danger seriously if they want to stop all danger.

He wants to protect the ones that he cares for, even if he has to snap for it.

Here he might be planning to team up with Twi and Wind? The youngest seems to have gained his attention as his second successor. He will make anything it takes to not let all of them get hurt, and with everything he means it

Just wait when he learns that Legend is also his successor, automatically adopted

NOW MY FAV PARTS WITHOUT COMMENTARY!!!

SOMEHOW I GOT THE IMAGE LIMIT???? I DIDNT THOUGHT THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE ON WEB

anyways have confused warriors as the last one pls aprecciate him

tumblr pls let me eat the art i beg you

art credits as always towards @linkeduniverse! always feeling blessed with all this fantastic work!

[wooly-nooly]

Vessels interpretation of trauma is so important to me

“The way that you were”

“You will never be the same”

“No amount of self sought fury will bring back the glory of innocence”

He sees and portrays trauma as a new version of yourself, and it is. He displays the fact that you cant get the old you back, they’re gone. “Innocence” is the previous you because your damaged now, you can heal but the thing about trauma is that it doesn’t ever fully go away

“No matter what i do the scars will never fade”

“They talk me through the damage, consequence and how its a pain they know they don’t understand”

Trauma is such a personal thing, even if you were to go through the traumatizing experience with someone; it was different for them. I could talk forever on this and i might add to this later when i have more time but i cannot begin to express how vessels interpretation of trauma makes me feel.

[luniviravosshipper]

I’m so okay about Viren. I just went back to rewatch my favorite scenes of him today a thousand times over just to get some screenshots of his face.

Anyways, while I was doing that I realized there’s actually a ton of scenes of Viren falling and laying down throughout the seasons. So here are some shots of him just doing that ‘cause I think he looks funny and cute and I miss him.

[miraculous-floconfettis]

La Belle au Bois Dormant

Marc : "C'est un baiser qui réveille la Belle au Bois Dormant !"

[mirrormazeworld]

Silver, The Knight of Dawn and "Sole, Luna, e Talia"

A while ago I came across a tweet on X where the writer was disappointed because Silver's dad has the same face as Silver and accused twst for being lazy (and maybe some of you have been thinking this way as well). But here I have a feeling this is yet another subtle "Easter egg" as tribute to "Sun, Moon and Talia", a literary fairy tale in which it was an inspiration to the original Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault (which later Perrault's version is the main inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty)

From the main story, particularly from Lilia's dialogue when he found and blessed baby Silver, Lilia said "The golden hair that shines like sunlight was caused by the blessings of the day" and Silver's hair turned to be silver colored as if it had been "lit by the moonlight with the night blessing"

"Sun, Moon and Talia" also has a similar synopsis to the Sleeping Beauty we know as this was what inspired the original "Sleeping Beauty"

However, it's widely known that most Disney fairy tales are from folktales all over the world. And those folktales are really dark that Disney must revise them so the animation would be acceptable and safe for children. (Like the Evil Queen in the original Snow White who danced wearing red-hot slippers in the prince's and Snow White's wedding until she dies for example). Sleeping Beauty is without exception, as its darker version, "Sole, Luna e Talia" tells about the "Sleeping Beauty" (Talia) who got r4ped while she was under the curse and gave birth to twins, which she named as Sun and Moon"

And of course twst also knew it wouldn't be appropriate if they wrote book 7 and included something about r4pe somewhere inside of it, so instead of writing the "Sun" and "Moon" as baby twins, they used the same baby (baby Silver) to represent both Sole and Luna with the changing color of his hair, and also purposely make both Silver and Knight of Dawn like twins, with Knight of Dawn represents as the "Sun" and Silver as the "Moon", even Silver's name was inspired from the moonlight itself.

Personally I admire how twst team revised a once inappropriate and dark folktale about a sleeping beauty that was r4ped by a lustful king becomes a story about family bond beyond time and blood ties that can make you cry...and I wish they will continue their work this way and exceed my expectations.

Cr: Screenshot translations by Otome Ayui

[artist-issues]

What Even Are Disney Princesses?

I think two things make Disney Princesses super-successful. The first thing is that they’re “One of Us.” The second thing is, they’re “Examples of Superheroic Character.” Not as in “super-power,” but as in, “strength of values.” Just like the best super-heroes (like Spidey) usually are. The difference is, Disney Princesses don’t (usually) have superpowers that show off their strength of character—so how they respond to circumstances is what shows off their strength of character, instead.

For example:

Ariel’s One of Us

It’s ironic but it’s true. She’s the modern catalyst for this idea. She’s “the girl next door.” Every single person can relate to wanting more than what you have even if what you have is wonderful; every single person who’s been a teenager can relate to wanting to be understood, and feeling this horrible tension between loving what they’ve got but feeling like what they’ve got doesn’t fit anymore as they grow up.

She’s got these sweet little moments where she doesn’t know how a fork works but she’s so excited to see one and then embarrassed when she gets funny looks for brushing her hair with it. She sobs and runs away from an argument where her dad isn’t listening to her. She laughs at herself for pretending to be engaged to Eric’s statue. And tiny changes are made so that we think of her less as a mermaid or a princess and more as one of us—nobody ever calls her “Princess” regularly, except the bad guy. AND

Ariel’s Superheroic Character

Ariel has a strength of faith that many of us can only dream of. She learns a tiny piece of truth—that humans make wonderful things—and from that, she chooses to believe that all of her culture’s history, everything her dad says, and even the fact that her own mother was killed by humans, is wrong. When she says, “I don’t see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad,” she’s doing what so few of us are capable of: she’s taking truth, and acting upon it, instead of going with the crowd and listening to the popular opinion.

She does the same thing when she learns that Eric is a selfless, noble, self-sacrificial human—she knows those things are true, so she chooses to love him and sacrifice for him, against all odds and hard circumstances. We’d all like to be the kind of people who can do that, so that’s why she’s a good example.

Another example!

Belle’s One of Us

We can all relate to feeling lonely, and out of place. To feeling like we want what we see in stories—adventure, big, epic lives—and then finding out that what we really want is the thing that makes those stories worthwhile: love, simple and plain. Love that sees our inner world and meets us there.

She has these tiny moments of trying to talk to people about what she’s really excited and passionate about in her stories, but people who can only see the work and day-to-day in front of their noses don’t get it. She’s charmed and excited by things that are charming, like dancing silverware. She rages to herself about annoying suitors while she does her chores. She’s afraid of things that make sense to be afraid of, like hungry wolves and horrifying beasts. And she misses her father, even when she’s living the storybook adventure she’s always dreamed of, and she isn’t afraid to show it.

AND

Belle’s Superheroic Character

Belle has this almost-unattainable, inspiring character trait of self-sacrifice. She’s read books about heroes her whole life. She’s dreamt of freedom and adventure. But she gives it all up for her father, and sacrifices her independence, her home, her only source of love, to be like the heroes in her storybooks, even though she’s done nothing deserving of that fate. And considering her relationship with Gaston, we know that what she’s really giving up is every dream and every love to live with her worst nightmare—chained to a tyrant who’s cruel and self-focused.

But she does it anyway. And she doesn’t stop there. She makes the most of her situation—not by breaking her word and trying to get free, but by being willing to see that there’s more to that self-focused tyrant than she originally thought. By believing, once he shows her that he has enough good in him to save her life, that that good can be coaxed out and strengthened, and even loved. She’s this high ideal of self-sacrifice at every decision she makes.

I could add to this post with every single Disney Princess from Snow White to Moana, but I don’t have to. You guys know what I mean! The Disney Princesses have hearts that are everything we wish we could be—and because they’re also relatable humans, they make us believe that we could one day have the same hearts, too.

It’s never about their ability to sing, or have tiny waists, or big eyes, or healing hair and freezing powers and magic mermaid voices. It’s about their strength of character.

[nightrae13]

Aurora/Rose x Prince Philip: An underrated Disney couple

Okay... here me out. Aurora was never a favorite princess to me. The fairies and Philip always have been the main protagonists (esp the fairies) to me since I was a child.

HOWEVER, as I was re-examining Disney couples when mourning what could have been in Wish, I remembered how much I liked Philip and admit it or not, before Cinderella III, he was the most active out of all the 3 princes, even being the first to be given an official name. Also, his love for Aurora is just- wow.

Let's break it down:

Despite having it known to him for years he was betrothed to a princess, he was willing to risk it all for what he then knew was only a peasant girl. He disobeyed his father for someone he may have just met, but has already loved once upon a dream. Someone pointed it out that Sleeping Beauty 1959 is a soulmate story and it was set up from the beginning from Merrywhether's gift to help them find each other. NO WAY I'M NOT HERE FOR THAT! Like, they're both destined by the law and fate lmaoo, it's like Miraculous before Miraculous lol. Either way, whether it'd turn out to be Aurora or Rose, he loved her and fought for her.

In relation, I mean like, part of why Rose was so miserable after the reveal was because girl literally had an identity crisis here. She just realized her whole life was a lie, and had to take in a revelation so big on a day that was supposed to be special for her. Also, imagine finding your soulmate, and thinking you're actually forced to marry someone else whom you haven't met lol.

Bottom line, she also felt the same for him. No matter who they are, they knew what they felt was true, and they'd fight for that!

Speaking of, Philip literally fought the Mistress of all evil, and arguably the most terrifying Disney villain for the girl he loved.

I mean... Brenton Twaites already played a character who risked hell just to save their soulmate too lmaoo (if you know, you know😏)

Anyway, that's just my take for the day lol. They're not my favorite couple (Tiana and Naveen are definitely unbeatable in my heart), but I really think they deserve so much appreciation and attention. We get it that Florian may be controversial (he's 18, not 31 tho), and Charming's one of my favorites too, but yeah, Philip deserves love for being the first prince to actually have a name, have a personality and fought literal hell for his gal.

[melit0n]

I love Jaws with all my heart, so, here I come with a little analysis again!

First off, the title. Bite my neck, drink my blood and make us one type vibes. Sleep Token in general has a massive thing with biting, teeth, consumption and chewing (there's a massive post on Reddit with all the times it's been mentioned, which, if I remember correctly, is around twenty), across their discography, and Jaws is the immediate beginning of this trend.

Jaws are a sign of power, destruction, love, sadness and joy. We bear our teeth when we're happy, when we're angry and when we eat. It is the ultimate metaphor for so many emotions. You don't know someone until you've seen them destroy something, to shout and scream and chew and bite, hence the line "show me those pretty white jaws; show me where the delicate stops". He's asking to see the real them, whoever they are.

All the lyrics have this underlying religious tone, as most Sleep Token songs do, but here it's more directly addressed. "Stained glass" is almost always associated with Churches and Cathedrals, and presents 'them' as something Holy; something that can and will be worshipped. However, the line "Whites of your eyes burn" completely removes all the ideas of safety that surrounds a religious figure. Of course, when it comes to divinity and sin, fire is a massive symbol we have to talk about. To burn is to suffer, but to be cleansed. It's this double entendre that presents this figure of safety as one who is also a threat. A predator.

Then, of course, we have "And I'm not here to be the saviour you long for". Unfortunately, Vessel seems to be in this constant battle of 'I can fix them; we can fix eachother. We're gonna be fine!' and 'I fucking hate you; leave me be or I'll have at you', which is what's seen in this one. Neither of them are the saviour the other one yearns for, yet Vessel still tries. He asks, and then repeats over and over, creating the tone of begging and pleading, for them to show him what they've lost and, in turn, show him love.

He's asking them for the two things they can never genuinely give, but he never stops trying because God forbid the things he'd do if he was alone again.

[martianbugsbunny]

Maybe Disney needs to try taking on a fairytale they haven't done yet. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy more original stories like Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto that as far as I'm aware don't originate from any particular legend (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong tho). Those are fun. Exploring different magical concepts like dragons and the miracle is awesome.

But that being said, I think Disney needs to go back to its roots and do a fairytale. Something with a princess and a big bad that comes from an existing legend. That's (generally) where Disney excels. That's why people love Disney. Little Mermaid? Classic. Beauty and the Beast? Classic. Princess and the Frog? Classic. Cinderella? Classic. Snow White? Classic. Really, I just think Disney does what Disney does best when they're taking a story that already exists and turning it into a beautiful piece of animation with a gentle, kind soul at the center of it, maybe with a different little spin like setting the Frog Prince story in 1920s New Orleans or having Beauty's father be an inventor. Little touches like that to make the story uniquely Disney, but with a solid basis in a folk narrative that touches something deep and instinctual inside most people.

Give me a girl who's cursed. A girl who either falls prey to evil or makes a deal with it, and whose sweetheart fights for her like Aurora or who does the brave thing and sacrifices to fix it like Ariel.

Give me a girl who's trapped. A girl whose family keeps her down or who just hasn't found where she fits yet, who stays kind despite her troubles like Cinderella or who finds her own alternative way out like Belle.

Heck, even a weird-ass thing like Shakespeare But Lions would be welcome. That's such a Disney thing to do, taking a story like Hamlet and filling it with whimsy and giving it a happy ending. Plus, Simba is one of the strongest protagonists and learns one of the best lessons in all of Disney fight me.

(I'm not going to count Frozen in the folk story group because the departure from the original was so wild I don't think it deserves to count. I love Elsa with my entire soul but I would also die to see Disney do a proper version of the Snow Queen fairytale.)

Look, my point is that I'd like to see something that really makes Disney dig a little deeper and recapture the spark of its classics. Because as much as I enjoy stuff like Tangled and Frozen and Moana (I've watched all of them loads of times and I cry about them consistently) they don't come to mind as Disney classics for me. Maybe that's just me. Maybe it simply hasn't been enough time. Maybe it's the difference in the animation. Speaking of that, however, I would actually love to see a Disney movie done in a 2D style again; I don't think 3D has any inherent superiority and I'd love to see what Disney could do with a 2D movie now. And there are so many folk stories in the world, surely there must be one that Disney can bring to life the way it used to. They haven't retold every story that's been told already.

Am I being a little picky? Probably. But I'd love to see something that reminds me of the Disney classics where a gentle person with a courageous core has their life touched by magic, faces an obstacle, and has a happy ending. Something that's not a variation on "X needs to be saved" but a specific character longing for a specific thing and either doing what they think is necessary to get it (like Tiana and Ariel) or giving it up for the sake of someone else, but getting a happy ending nonetheless (like Belle and Simba). Also a clear-cut badguy who gets to be absolutely cunty and evil about it with no peculiar twist.

I'd like to see something Classic Disney again.

[deus-ex-mona]

im working hard at hardly working just for you my queen~~~~~~

[olithetalker]

Speculation: Why many people find Ben Florian unlikeable

Okay so just for the record, this is essentially an analysis post on the Disney series - Descendants. Specifically on the character of Ben Florian, but more so about the reception of his character and why I think people have responded to him the way they have. Gonna be fairly longish so yeah. Anyways, hope you enjoy! :)

Introduction

Pretty much ever since I first saw Descendants, I have been a huge fan of Ben. (Which is no secret if you've read my blog ;)). I think Mitchell Hope did a fantastic job with the character, and his performance really drove it home.

So it's always been quite... Confusing to me that so many people don't like his character. Tumblr isn't too anti Ben, but on YouTube videos and on TikTok, a lot of analysis around him is typically quite negative. The charms of the character that I see and that really make the series for me, really don't work on everyone. And that's something I've found very hard to understand.

But as of a conversation I have had with @hannahhook7744.. I had an epiphany. As to why this character just seems to be a breeze of annoyance to many. And I think the answer lies in tropes and expectations.

First let's talk a bit about another character, a fan favourite - Audrey Rose.

What role does the character of Audrey Rose play in feelings of spite toward Ben?

I think most dislike for Ben stems from the story of his ex girlfriend -Audrey. We get shown it to some extent in the first movie, but it's much more explicit in the third.

In Descendants 1, Ben and Audrey were together. And while under the influence of a love spell cast on him by protagonist Mal Bertha, he performs a love song to Mal in front of the entire school. Naturally humiliating Audrey and breaking her heart.

After the performance, Mal and Ben start dating each other, much to Audrey's understandable anger.

The movie ends with Ben and Mal happy together and everyone is delighted about it yada yada. And then we get an entire sequel where Audrey does not make a appearance.

It's then in Descendants 3 that she makes a comeback. We see that she and Ben have been friends since childhood, and that she's still hung up on him.

Then, again publicly, Ben proposes to Mal. Mal happily agrees and everyone is delighted, except of course, Audrey. She is further heartbroken by this.

The devastation Audrey feels from losing Ben to a girl who literally enchanted him, causes her to have a emotionally moving breakdown in her bedroom, singing "Queen of Mean", a song about heartbreak from rejection.... At least that's what it's about at first.

It then turns into a song of vengeance. Audrey swears revenge on Mal and Ben for the ordeal she has been put through. She takes Malificient's sceptre from the Auradon Museum, and it changes her look, style of talking etc etc. She's a new person. A person hellbent on getting even with the two people who are (intentionally or not) responsible for her heartbreak.

And that's where we enter - the tropes.

The Tropes

The kind of character arc Audrey has had is pretty common. A girl gets her heart broken by a guy. Maybe he cheats on her. Maybe he breaks up with her in a unfair manner (like in this case). And the girl decides to get even with the guy and the "other girl" who has taken her place in his life.

Except... Here's the thing.

Most of the time in this story archetype, the guy really is a heartbreaking douchey thob.

I mean think of any time you've seen this storyline other than Descendants. When is the guy who has dismissed the girl ever really portrayed in a decent light?

In this specific situation, it's not that simple. Yes, Ben did break up with Audrey by publicly humiliating her. And yes, that's extremely brutal. But he didn't choose to. He was acting under a mind controlling love spell.

But nonetheless, this is probably the only instance where the guy breaking the girl's heart like that genuinely was not his fault. It's pretty odd to get a situation where the guy cheating on the girl really didn't willingly do anything wrong. But nonetheless that's what this is.

Ultimately 9 times out of 10, the role Ben plays in this archetype storyline really is of the bad guy. And so it is very compelling to see this the same way. To overlook how at least as far as the break up incident itself, Ben was not at fault, and just see him as the jerk who hurt Audrey.

Audrey's story is also relatable to real life stories too

Another thing which sadly does not go in Ben's favour either, is that this kind of story isn't just found in fiction. Art reflects life, and what Audrey is unfortunate to experience, for the most part, is all too real.

Many people are unfortunate to get hurt by their partners in real life through things like cheating, or just something involving a "other girl/woman". And the pain from this.... Is not forgettable.

And so I think a revenge fantasy of hurting the unfaithful person and their new consort is very common.

Add onto that that lines Audrey speaks in D3 are written to be relatable and impactful. ("There's nothing to lose when you're lonely and friendless, I won't let another person take advantage of me, the anger burns my skin third degree, now my blood's boiling hotter than a fiery sea etc)

I think with that, it's all too easy for victims of these sort of situations to project their own case onto Audrey's. To see Ben the same way they see the guy who hurt them. And in some cases, to see Mal as how they see their homewrecker, and perhaps want to see her get hurt by Audrey too.

And in real life, there is no love spell that makes people cheat against their will, like there was for Ben. People in reality who do the thing that Ben did really are responsible for their hurtful actions.

So ultimately, the sorts of real life people Ben is being associated to by viewers, aren't particularly decent.

Also, the revelation that Ben and Audrey are childhood friends just exaggerates all these feelings. The people who have been hurt by partners who actually had significant meaning to them are the ones who will naturally relate to Audrey most. And again, project their own experiences onto this girl and the people in her life.

The mistake Ben DID make; wrong but taken out of proportion

Ultimately, while what Spell!Ben did is the sort of thing that gets done all the time irl, it is also pretty evident that as I keep saying; he wasn't in control of himself when he did it. So for many people, even the ones who can relate to Audrey, that fact will be acknowledged.

But the truth is, there is a mistake Ben made. After the love spell was lifted, Ben never went to see Audrey to comfort her after what happened. No doubt that inaction would have fuelled the already existing heartbreak. I mean if Ben had had a word with her, maybe he could have given her closure and made her feel better. But he didn't.

There is no justification for this. Ben was in the wrong for this failure.

But it should also be considered that Ben isn't a 40 year old man who has just left his wife of 10 years. He is a teenager. He is still developing in terms of maturity.

Communication, especially about difficult topics, isn't something teenagers are the best at. I mean if Ben were to approach Audrey, we can tell that it would have clearly been very understandably awkward for him (again, not an excuse, but a point to consider). I mean, if you had just done something so awful to your childhood friend/ex girlfriend, regardless of whether or not it was your fault, approaching someone who you'd expect is probably very angry about it is quite unnerving.

But none of these factors would be considered by a lot of audience members, and for understandable reason:

Because of the tropes, expectations and their personal experiences, they are pre set to see Ben in a negative light. So the thing he WAS wrong for, they understandably will find it harder to empathize with and see from his perspective.

[foundationsofdecay]

There was a half-baked post somewhere in my head I was typing out regarding the first trilogy sort of beginning with the coming together of earth and heaven and ending with their separation, but halfway through I realized I was mostly rehashing an old post I'd already made on a related topic lol but I do have to say, it fucks me up in Take Aim that the weapon mentioned is implicitly long-range. It doesn't require any contact, and plays into the entire narrative in the song of wanting this person who "love(s) like weapons kill" to turn that towards you and "break [you] apart" despite an emotional distance made physical through words.

Not just that, but to run after you (perhaps to catch you eventually, but we only say directly that we want to be followed, and already wished that they would "call out [our] name" which evokes a similar image) and even declaring that we yearn for their embrace so badly that we "tear [ourselves] apart" over it, the only real physical contact happening here being self-directed. It's a very stark departure from the lacerations and the desire to bite and be bitten that we saw prior to this song, certainly. It feels instead, to me, like a continuation of anxieties made known and exacerbated in the earlier tracks in the album, having reached a point where we can only interact like this from a distance, even as we still "can't resist the violence" mentioned in Higher.

We ourselves even say towards the end of this track that "when the moment is perfect, [we] will fire and forget 'till we both lay broken," where even with a possible future where we're together with this person we've devoted ourselves to, we would use an impersonal means of violence. How odd is that choice, given the language around violence we see used everywhere else in the trilogy? Perhaps we're just looking to match or mirror them, to use the same means to this end. To be honest, even though that line comes just after asking to be taken aim at and broken apart, I'm still unclear as to if we are aiming at them or at ourselves. If we want to be wanted and to be followed and called out after, though, I do think we would need to be taking aim at them, or to simply finally fire at them after already having had them in our sight for so long once we've been struck ourselves, knowing that when we look at them, they'll be looking right back at us.

We need that to establish this moment where we've broken through one another's defenses, no matter what it took to get there, and shown that we're worth it to one another just based on the fact that we could get through to them and see what they're keeping inside, a struggle we see revisited time and time again in songs like Give, which comes immediately after this one, and further along the trilogy in songs like Say That You Will, The Love You Want, DYWTYLM, and Fall For Me.

I think it's interesting, though, how we do get glimpses of what that realized physical and emotional intimacy looks like even in the same album, through songs like Sugar, which has both sex and violence, Drag Me Under, which is sexual without violence, and Blood Sport, which is violent without sex. In going back and forth in the album between this distance and embracing we talk in these songs so much about our respective weapons, but like in Give it's not just about an open warfare being fought unfairly, but about being a protector as well. How beautiful is it, then, tragic as it may also be, that this coalesces to this point in Blood Sport where we still love and cherish them enough to declare them to be our weapon of choosing? There's ambiguity in this declaration as well, that I think is key. Are you the weapon I choose to fight others with, possibly even to protect you rather than myself, regardless of the pain you may bring me? Or, it simply that you're the weapon I'd always choose to be wielded against me? No guns, no knives, just you? It's still you, after everything, and it will always be you, no matter what. Maybe that's what doomed me to lose our battle, but I'd still pick you over anyone and anything to do this to me, with me.

[oddberryshortcake]

So wait, if Silver does end up getting sleeping beauty’d (even more than before) and using his signature spell so much does lead to him not waking up with the school… WHO IS GOING TO WAKE HIM UP (*′☉.̫☉) who will give true loves kiss?

I would assume it'd be another member of Diasomnia, namely Lilia (as his father) or Malleus (as his brother) or even Sebek (as his friend) 

Maleficent 2014 had a really good scene (one of my favorite monologues ever) where Maleficent apologizes for cursing Aurora and kisses her forehead, breaking her own curse. 

Book 7's biggest theme next to change and loss is family. 

Diasomnia is one big family. I couldn't find the original post and I can't remember if the interview was at a con or on the podcast, but Silver's VA says he interprets Silver's relationship with everyone, including Malleus and Sebek, as familial. 

The reason I lean more toward Lilia and Malleus is because Lilia's whole thing for his dream in Book 7 and also his flashbacks of hatching Malleus and finding Silver is that he doesn't think he can truly love someone, with Silver there's still this 'can I truly love a human?' question he hasn't fully answered yet. 

With Malleus there's the reference to Maleficent in 2014 which he's already referenced a few times (in him insulting baby Silver's appearance and being present in Silver's life since he was a baby, something Maleficent does in the 2014 film)

BUT THESE ARE ALL BIG IFs

For all we know he's perfectly fine and he really can spam his signature spell on repeat with no adverse effects. 

But if they wrap the book up with a familial true love's kiss it'll truly feel like a reimagining of Sleeping Beauty