#eah essay

i feel like i see sm ppl on like tiktok and all (which maybe my first mistake was expecting nuance on tiktok) acting like she's like the evilest character on the show and i feel like thats just so reductive of her character

like apple is so kind she genuinely loves her friends so much; she's always been so excited and kind around raven when everyone else was afraid of her; despite the fact that her happily ever after is essentially nepotism, she works so hard to prepare to be a good ruler and wants the best for her future kingdom; she's constantly seen helping people and trying to enact change as leader of student council(i.e having the duck crossing or smth along those lines, i don't remember exactly), etc etc.

but at the same time she fails to realize how cruel she can be at times and thats why shes so awesome. like hello, the daughter of snow white, this elegant, perfect, delicate princess also simultaneously being so selfish is so good?? even though she loves her friends so much, she fails to realize or understand why they wouldn't want to uphold the status quo; even though she is kind to raven, that kindness comes with the expectation that raven will sacrifice her life to uphold the system for apple's happily ever after; even though she grinds and grinds to be a good ruler, she is still unaware of the privilege she has; even though she helps people, she can just as easily say out-of-touch and cruel things(like when after legacy day, she takes a dig at the rebels because they don't have happily ever afters)

honestly apple's privilege in and of itself is so interesting to me- because she does go through so much and she is a victim of the system— imo everyone is a victim of the system because even those with happy endings have to sacrifice their free will in order to obtain it(i.e ashlynn's ending is good but she'd have to sacrifice her relationship with hunter for it, cerise also technically has a good ending assuming she goes w the red riding hood destiny but she sacrifices half of her identity for it). in apple's case, she was conditioned to accept everything that came with her destiny with a smile on her face, conditioned to accept a man as her destined prince when in reality they had no idea who her destined prince was and she's gay so she would've just been trapped in a loveless marriage, lied and manipulated to so she could maintain the system. assuming that eah's snow white follows the canon of the original fairytale(ik there's some differences like how raven technically wouldn't become apple's stepmom, and raven's mom wasn't apple's mom's stepmom), apple has to knowingly go through 2 near death experiences and one that basically works, only to have a someone she doesn't even love beyond accepting the fact that that he's destined for her to wake her up. one detail i've always liked about dragon games is how they went all out in the scene where apple is poisoned- the detail is visceral and horrifying, she is genuinely struggling, etc; and the reason i really liked that they animated it that way is it adds to the horror of apple's story, because the path to her happily ever after is horrible.

at the same time, the reason apple is willing to go through any of this is because she can afford to. i don't think(???) her parents die(someone pls feel free to correct me on this because im not actually sure) unlike ashlynn's (im only assuming because its explicitly mentioned for ashlynn but never talked about for apple). she isn't poisoned for long. she may not truly love daring, but he's a good enough guy, conventionally attractive, heroic, and a nice friend to her. and she goes through all this to be the most beloved person in the world, the ruler of like everyone, and get a life of absolute luxury. in the long run, she pays pretty small prices to get the best life ever. i think most of the fandom is in agreement when i say that she easily has like the best destiny on the show.

but from apple's perspective, her destiny isn't the best. she only knows her hardship, and she does have to go through a lot for her destiny— the point i mentioned earlier about how horrifying the animation is when she got poisoned is proof of that. its so telling that she cant understand why her friends would be hesitant of their destinies— especially her formerly royal friends like briar and ashlynn. briar and ashlynn similarily also get ultimately happy endings of a life of wealth and being beloved— but the price they pay is a lot greater than what apple goes through(not to mention ashlynn also has the extra motivation of being in a relationship with hunter). i feel this is especially obvious in thronecoming where apple tells briar that "we all have a part to play"— apple feels that she is also sacrificing a lot to uphold the system anyway and the way i see it is that she thinks its unfair that others are questioning their roles when it's the natural order of the world to make big sacrifices. but what she can't grasp is the others r willing to risk it all because their destiny is so tragic— like how raven tried to find everything she could about potential rebellion before she rebelled because if there was even a chance she didn't have to contractually obligate herself to a hellish life forever it was worth the risk(mostly emphasized in the books). apple upholds the system not only because of the way she has been lied and manipulated to, but also because she can afford to make sacrifices; raven rebels against the system because her sacrifice is sacrificing everything about her, including her wellbeing and life.

like shes so much more interesting than just being "the real villain of ever after high", she's another teenager a victim to the system— except she has more to gain than others so she simultaneously religously upholds the system. shes so interesting because of her sharp contrasts in character and i feel that reducing her like that takes away from the complexities of her character

obv i get why people don't like her character anyway, a character being complex doesn't mean people have to like said character. i'm definitely biased towards her because i do like her a lot but i get why people don't but idk man i feel like going in the direction of "she's the real problem!" takes away from the entire idea that this system is harmful to everyone, even those with privilege, and it also just makes her less interesting because part of why i like her and why she is such a compelling character is because she's so crazy in the sense that she is so kind and horrible at the same time— she's so hypocritical but her headspace makes sense at the same time and i find the duality she has to be really strong writing

if you made it all the way to the end thanks for reading my long ass yap session i wrote this instead of preparing for my lit essay i think i should get diagnosed-

also feel free to correct anything i said if i accidentally spread misinfo- theres always tiny details about this show that i get confused about every now and then and i always want to know more about this show