#rsat7d

"So you were the other guard watching the tower that night… you and green eyed, the famed last line of defense. I have to admit, the title sounds more impressive than what you showed" he said with an ironic snort.

"So it would seem. Though, if we’re being honest, you can’t be that flawless yourselves if you let one of your own be captured so shamefully."

He almost answered, but held himself back. The strain of keeping up the exchange had already sunk into his bones. Even so, he straightened as much as he could, refusing to show weakness.

"Your companion didn’t last long either, Snowdrop. Everyone makes mistakes. I suppose mine was underestimating someone fresh out of cavalry training."

She did not reply. Her gaze dipped briefly toward the fire, aware there was some truth in his words.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The fire crackled faintly, fading into embers.

"So… you’re planning an exchange" he said at last.

"At midday, just outside the Caves of Despair" she answered without hesitation. There was no point in hiding it; the orders had already been given.

A faint smile touched his lips, more weary than mocking.

"If all goes well, I hope you keep chasing me. It’ll be a pleasure to meet again."

She drew a slow breath and tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword.

I had to do a poster along with my MA thesis (it was weird it felt like I was creating fan-art for my own essay) so here it is.

This is probably embarrassing but I genuinely made it centered around Red Shoes. Purely because I could not come up with anything else (concerning, I know..).

Here is the awkwardly long title:

The Most Beautiful Woman in the World: To what extent does Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs (2019) critique or reinforce dominant beauty norms and the male gaze, and how effective are its narrative and aesthetic strategies in challenging contemporary representations of identity and the body?

Both of their first attempts to win Red Shoes’ love are disingenuous: Merlin tries to use a love spell while Arthur pretends to be dying so he can get a pity kiss.

They're both superficial but in different ways.

(Yeah, all of the F7 are at least a little bit superficial, otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten cursed but they have it the worst imo)

Merlin prioritized looks over everything else. It’s his entire character arc in the film. He constantly makes comments about appearances, his included. His first appearance post-prologue is him complaining about how they look, when snow/red shoes calls them awesome he immediately brings up their appearances, he makes comments about King White, and he does it so often that Red Shoes even points it out. Merlin’s arc throughout the film is him realizing that appearance isn’t everything and that a person's value comes from what’s on the inside.

Arthur, on the other hand, focuses on how others perceive him rather than looks specifically. He brings attention to his name being on the lease, trying to make himself look better, when they’re all living there on Jack’s dime. He doesn’t care about being worthy of Excalibur as long as others think he is. He wants Red Shoes to see him as her hero, but he doesn’t help Snow White when she’s in distress.

I headcannon that he view himself as the F7’s leader, or at least he wants to be. He’s Arthur Pendragon, so in his mind, he should be the leader. I also think Arthur expected to be the first one to break the curse. Don’t get me wrong, I do think he’s genuinely happy for Snow and Merlin, but I also think he’s slightly salty that he wasn’t first.

Arthur wants to be a legendary hero, but doesn’t understand that no legendary hero sets out to become one, they just happen to become one on the way.

It’s hard for me to put into words, but he kind of reminds me of Gaston from Beauty and the beast without the malice. Likewise, I think Arthur meeting someone like the Beast would be a great catalyst for his own character arc: someone who’s good at heart, but due to their appearance, is shunned and harassed. 

Red Riding Hood from the credits is a perfect example. Based on her reaction when she transforms, she’s clearly been mistreated due to her lycanthropy. In a traditional fairytale, she would be the monster that Arthur would need to defeat. But this isn’t a fairy tale and she's not a dangerous monster. She’s a person trying to live her life and if Arthur wants to be with her, he needs to step away from the title of a legendary hero and reevaluate who he actually wants to be.