I love that in the EAH series they made the Evil Queen a D1 ragebaiter. Like, in the books she uses the very clever manipulation of Raven's feelings to try and escape the mirror but is also quite clearly very pleased to be able to speak to Raven again. Whilst the latter is true in Dragon Games (woman who is desperate to talk to anybody, let's be real), it's implied that she attempts to bait Raven into destroying the mirror physically every single visit. And get this! Even at 16, Raven still nearly falls for it! Despite years of visits, years of goading, she is locked and loaded into shattering the mirror with her powers!
I do sometimes also wonder if her rage is almost an excuse to attempt to release her mother as well, in a more subconscious way. Whilst she knows the Evil Queen is evil and should never, ever be let out, we get glimpses into how rough that is for Raven (the rant in the Castleteria defending her in Way Too Wonderland, for example). Also, like... Raven is literally the only character in EAH (if memory serves me right) confirmed to have an absent parent, never mind that absent parent is both incarcerated (as opposed to dead, so, in theory, she should be able to see her mother again but is limited to one visit a year) AND the fairytale character she is meant to follow in terms of destiny.
Anyway! All of this to say, I'm not surprised Apple shattered the mirror in her first interaction with the Evil Queen. If Raven still struggles to control her temper and has had a lifetime of learning her mother's manipulation techniques, Apple, who has never had proof of just how evil the Evil Queen is, is especially susceptible to doing something as stupid as throwing an apple at the mirror in rage. I'd also like to flag up the fact that the Evil Queen knows exactly how to manipulate Snow White straight off the bat as well. The game was rigged against Apple in this one, I'm afraid.
Also interesting to consider how Apple's interactions with Raven's mother influence her perception of what she is trying to do to Raven. I believe up until she has seen Real Evil she has thought of destiny as people playing pretend. A 'you poison me, I get kissed awake and imprison you and then I release you and we go back to being friends' kind of thing. Make-believe but destiny, you know? It's through the Evil Queen that she glimpses the way in which a destiny is for life, not just for Legacy Day.
The Good King and Evil Queen are so interesting conceptually because they’re so fundamentally different and yet. And yet.
And I think about Raven wondering if her mother was like her when she was young, and the small parts of EQ we got to see in the Class of Classics comic, and I wonder. Because the haunting thing about the two of them is how unnecessary they are. He’s her second husband, who she married after her fairy tale already played out. She could have married an evil king, or a villain of some other story, but she chose him.
Likewise, he chose her! He didn’t need to, he didn’t have to follow down that path and condemn himself to the marriage but he saw something in this evil, conniving, maniacal queen that spoke to him and made him consider staying.
There’s this completely empty period of time between the EQ going on her rampage and the end of her story where the two would have married, and it just makes me wonder. Was there a time where she considered changing? Was there a part of her she buried that only he could bring forward? Is that why she still asks Raven about him to this day? Was there a time between stories and wars and rebellions where the two were happy?
We will never know, but I like to think there was. That, for even just the briefest moment, an evil queen and good king got a moment of peace away from their world of extremes to simply exist in the middle.
OKAY. HUMONGOUS RAMBLING SESSION UNDER THE CUT. IF ANY OF YOU CARE ABOUT THIS MAN. (or the evil queen lol)
first of all introductions, introductions,,, why did I decide to do any of this? Why, out of all the ever after high characters I could get fixated over, one of those special few characters include Mr King, who the amount of times he had been mentioned over the book series could be counted with a pair of hands. Why oh why, him? I've been in this cave for 5 years let me out
Well the answer is, the same that goes for every class of classics character. It's an interesting look at what came before in the eah world, and also it's just really fucking fun to explore a cast of characters who we KNOW to be doomed, whether that be in a subtle, mournful kind of way, or they're Literally in a current state of limbo and suffering as we speak and no one can save them
But I have a particular regard for GK for a few things. Mostly the precarious position he finds himself in the story of EAH.
He is Raven's father, and he played a huge part in leading her to value kindness and justice over everything else despite her destiny. He was The Evil Queen's husband, and he watched as his wife destroyed the lives of their old classmates, completely going off-script, and being unable to stop her.
What are his motives? What in the world was he thinking throughout it all? What was he thinking when he found himself betrothed to supposedly the evilest worst woman alive? What did he think when he saw the daughter he raised becoming the leader of a new revolutionary force? What did he think when he watched the two stand toe to toe?
I started asking these questions and pondering them seriously around 2022. And from the long hours I spent thinking about this man who didn't even have a face to take reference of, I've gathered a few things.
He was a good man. An earnestly good man, as it seems. It takes an immensely big heart to raise the daughter of someone who caused the kind of pain and wreckage so many people will be feeling the effects of for years to come. Especially if everyone is 100% sure that daughter will grow up to repeat the exact same things her mother did in a decade or so. And yet, he never even once believed what people said.
He's strong-willed, loyal, dedicated, and has a big heart with a lot of love inside it.
All these qualities are highlighted when you reckon with the fact that he's doing all this while being isolated on a barren and cold rocky island in the middle of a gray ocean. Like it's a punishment for loving his daughter. Or for the destiny he had no control over.
Speaking of destiny!!!!!!!! GEEHEHEEHEHHGHHRHGJH BRO WAS LITERALLY MARRIED TO THE DEVIL FROM THE BIBLE or in other words THE EVIL QUEEN FROM THE STORY BOOK OF LEGENDS
If I remember correctly, we don't get much insight on what GK thinks of EQ. We know vice versa, (EQ thinks GK is pathetic and useless 👍👍👍👍), but not the former. So a lot of his perspective is left up to interpretation. This isn't actually as hard of a task as it seems!
From how GK sees Raven, he very obviously isn't as avid of a believer in destiny as everyone else in EA at the time. He doesn't believe people are born in any inherent way. He believes people can grow to be kind, or cruel. He believes that people aren't born inherently similar or different from their parents. He believes in NUANCE is what I'm saying. This is an important thing to establish about GK's character. We gotta know where he stands on the royal rebel spectrum, and what his core beliefs are, cause it'll dictate a lot of his actions.
Perhaps some context, first. From what we could gather from Maid Marian's situation, as well as beauty and the beast's, It seems that when Royals eventually discover their destiny at a certain age, and it unfortunately belongs to a kind of fairytale that didn't fit most fairytale norms, (the princess saving the prince, a beast as a main character, a woman being allowed to be as heroic as her male counterparts etcetera, etcetera) said royal is ex-communicated from their royal families and forced to relocate somewhere else, far, far away. I believe this is what happened to GK as well.
He finds out that he's destined to be the bumbling, useless trophy husband, to the evilest villain in all the land, and immediately his family are collectively disappointed in him. Just imagine that for a second... Arrghhhh God, the grief, the heartbreak, the self loathing.....
He loses all the people he previously had in his life, and next thing you know he's marrying the mildly intimidating number 1 home evilnomics student that he hardly knew. He's seemingly backed into a dark corner, guaranteed to contain unhappiness and dread.
UNLESS he is established to be someone who believes in NUANCE and KINDNESS!!!!! That would mean a greater part of him, despite his worries, still has the decency to humanize EQ, see her as her own person, and give her the benefit of the doubt that things don't have to be so tense between them. And when you're literally severed from the rest of the world on a cold barren island with one other person, it's just the smart thing to do to establish some peace between the two of you.
So despite the bitter, venomous looks EQ had shot everyone who even glanced at her in the hallways of EAH, and despite her destiny that she will soon fulfill, and despite her generally unpleasant demeanor, GK is willing to try to build some rapport between them.
Regardless of how hard EQ's gonna make it for him.
(now here comes the part where I write literal fanfic)
To say EQ was treated unfairly growing up would be an understatement. All she's known her whole life was being the next evil queen. I think she grew up quite lukewarm about the whole thing. Numb to it, even. Until something broke at a certain point, and now all she ever feels is overwhelming anger and bloodthirst for the whole world to bow down to her rule. She feels like that might be the only thing that would make her happy... To destroy and rule the world that had molded her into this monster.
She could never put the pain into words. How it came to be. Why she believes what she believes. It's not like any of the storybook children were given words to describe these things. Now she just is.
She's been plotting world domination since the start of senior year, and so far all the pieces have been falling perfectly into place, all she needs to do now is to fulfill her destiny, be banished from the main land, and begin waiting for sleeping beauty's story to start, and then things would start to get interesting.... But she forgot to account for one tiny Itty bitty thing. Living the married life.
She's banished with some nobody with a nothing name, but worst of all is he's actually trying to be FRIENDS with her. Who does he think he is?!
And so, begins the classic journey of denial...... EQ tries to get GK off her back, GK is awfully endearing and warm and kind, and ALL these things that make EQ wanna throw up or kill herself when she thinks about it too hard, next thing you know, EQ's molded a bit of extra space in her life to fit GK in, just cause she definitely only sees him as a pest she can't wait to get rid of, and because he cooks some very good seafood dinners.
Uh oh! Now he's interrupting her evil world domination get together with her evil goblin henchmen, and she's DISMISSING THESE IMPORTANT MEETINGS????? TO HANG OUT WITH GK?????? CAUSE HE SAYS HE MISSED HER????!????
Oh dang it. Fuck. Now she's opening up to him. She's telling him she misses her friends back in the dark forest. Now they're gardening together. Now they share a bed. And whoops!!!!!!!! Now she's realizing no one will ever love her like this again!!!!!!!!! This is bad!!!!!! This is very bad!!!!!! This is not very evil of her!!!!!!!!!!
A lot of stuff happens, stuff I'm probably gonna share some other time
Like the intricacies of the relationship between these two, how they're good for each other, how they're ABSOLUTELY HORIRBLE for each other, why they're my parents, why they're my kids, why they're everything and more
But point issssssss that even though they shared some good times, and for a fleeting moment, EQ truly believed all she needed to be happy was this pathetic, useless man... She never truly lost sight of what really mattered to her.
Power. Dominance.
Not a day passes where she's not considering every single variable for her great conquest. She is still cooped up on her side of the castle, she is still plottin g. They're marriage was doomed to fail from the start, and the real tragedy is, that even though GK had hoped and prayed that it wouldn't turn out the way it would... It did. He forgot who he married. And they betrayed eachother.
Maaannnnnn I wish I could've talked more about my interpretation of GK. his flaws, his strengths, how his opinion of EQ had developed after all these years..... HIS ANGST!!!!!! THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF PAIN HE HAD TO ENDURE WHEN ALL HE'S EVER BEEN WAS TRY TO BE GOOD AND KIND!!!!!!! IT WON'T CHANGE THE FACT EVERYONE SEES HIM AS A GOOD FOR NOTHING USELESS WASTE OF SPACE!!!!!!!!!! AAARHGHGHHHHHHH
Actually hold on. Maybe I can elaborate a bit. I mean, it's THIS SPECIFIC CHARACTER ASPECT that I've been microwaving in my mind for a few days now. And I suppose it would be a neat way to close this post.
*ahem*
EAH has a real knack of creating characters who represent different perspectives and experiences set in its world. It makes for a really fun story that I really enjoy!!!! Apple, the indoctrinated troubled teenage girl, EQ as someone selfishly morphing the system for their own advantage, Ashlynn and Hunter as a story of forbidden, star-crossed lovers. Etc.
What kind of story do I think GK represents as a character? What potential do I see in him?
Well, after everything that we've come to know of him, there's a particular story that I feel suits him. There's a question that his character tries to answer.
How do you be a good person in a system where kindness is so regulated, controlled, and even punished when it does not fit the right criteria of 'goodness' in said system?
Perhaps that's the question that has been haunting GK all his life. And it's not exactly a question he can answer very easily.
He is split between being submissive towards destiny, and theoretically being respected by the fairytale world, or following his heart and showing love and kindness towards the people the world had deemed undeserving of it. But the thing is, from the moment destiny had decided who he was always meant to be, he is thrown headfirst into a position that highlights the hypocrisy and superficiality of destiny.
He is the GOOD KING but he is looked down upon for showing unconditional love to people who are "inherently evil", who are only evil because the system deems them so. HE IS PUNISHED FOR IT.
GK is a rebel. That I am confident in. Even if he didn't have the words to describe it. He knows that deep down he thinks the entire system is bogus and unfair, and he just wishes this cruel world would just leave him and his little family alone, but he's just too scared for their own well being to take any direct action to change things.
But, whether he knew what he was doing or not, he was rebelling in his own way. a more meaningful way. he taught Raven to be good, and to be true to herself, which would eventually lead her to becoming the catalyst for a greater change in the world of EAH.
Siiighhhhh........ Godddddd godddddd something something you will never know the violence it took to be this gentle
I think ultimately, GK's story ends on a much more hopeful note. The most hopeful, infact! He watches his daughter make a world she and her friends could live in, a world GK wishes he could have grown up in. But now, he can finally be at peace knowing he won't have to lose Raven the same way he lost his lover. the end
regardless how you may feel about this post, thank you for getting all the way to the end!!! :DD i hope you enjoyed my enthusiasm as much as i enjoyed crafting this interpretation together.
and actually if you dislike everything i wrote here, thats fine too! cause little did you know this is all just an elaborate plot to get you to listen to my EQ/GK character playlist BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and ykw since you're already here, im also gonna advertise my artfight profile. EQ and GK are two out of three characters you can draw during July, and i hope to see yall on the battlefield!!! happy artfighting!!!!!!
