rach

michellejxli and now a highlights reel dedicated to the ones that made 2021 brighter. putting this together made me realize that i saw maybe 5 people outside of work?? what has COVID done!

In Descendants 3 Audrey:

1. Tries to force Ben to marry her by threatening not to lift a curse she cast on Auradon if he doesn’t - “I’ll wake everybody up right now.. Under one itty bitty condition Benny Boo… Make me your queen and we’ll rule side by side!”

2. Inappropriately touches Ben on his arm and torso during this attempted forced marriage scene

3. Victim blames Ben for being drugged - “Most people get dumped because they’re not good enough… I got dumped because I wasn’t bad enough!”

Yet the Descendants fanbase is mostly of the opinion that throughout the series, Ben was the bad guy in his dynamic with Audrey and she was his victim because Ben while drugged and not in physical control of himself unwillingly hurt Audrey through no fault of his own.

Few things disturb me more than how the fanbase’s opinion would flip entirely if Audrey and Ben’s genders were swapped. If male Audrey tried to force female Ben to be his wife? If male Audrey inappropriately touched female Ben’s arm and torso? If male Audrey victim blamed female Ben for being drugged? Audrey would be seen as a utter creep and predator. 

I actually am an Audrey fan (I’ve had a lot of time to think and I realize that I don’t dislike her, I dislike some of her fans anti Ben attitude) and don’t blame her 100% for her behaviour in this scene. I can’t tell for sure but she seems to somewhat be under the control of Maleficient’s sceptre. So it’s not entirely her fault.

However still most people in the fanbase see Audrey’s actions in her evil D3 persona as her own and not due to the sceptre, and yet still see her actions against Ben as acceptable. 

Let’s also not forget how when Audrey was dating Ben, she refused to allow him to speak after he tried to talk to her before the Tourney game, interrupted him when he tried to tell the VKs that if they ever needed anything they could come find him (to tell them to go find Doug instead) and was just incredibly disrespectful and rude to him. I have sympathy for her as she is a victim of child abuse of her grandmother (who was so easily forgiven at the end of D3 I want to scream) but at the end of the day she isn’t some angel.

Even those who don’t blame Ben for his actions under the love spell often argue that because he failed to speak to Audrey after the horrible breakup Ben is the villain when it comes to their story and Audrey the victim. Many go further as to say that Ben is a bad person in spite of how he saved the children of villains from being imprisoned for the rest of their life on an Isle for their parents actions, as a 16 year old helped to rehabilitate four victims of abuse and child indoctrination, was able to see that his own captor wasn’t actually a bad person and was the only one to stand up to his girlfriend’s insane idea of closing the barrier. 

At the end of the day I just wish we could all see that it’s not black and white. Ben isn’t Satan and Audrey isn’t some innocent girl who just stood up to mean old abusive Ben. I absolutely love both of these characters and wish they would both get the respect that they deserve for being a absolute king and a absolute queen (no pun intended :P).

- icons - leigh-anne pinnock -

Rachel : Oh my God, are you okay??

Puck : Please… I-I need…. I need my phone..

jade thirlwall icons

dove cameron icons