since maleficent is a fairy, i wonder what honey thinks of her 👀
Mmmmmm yes. Excellent question, and one with a layered answer. Context matters, so we'll start with the "original" story (Disney primarily but also vaguely Perrault and Grimm versions).
If mortals make the decision to consort with fairies on the regular, especially powerful ones—as Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather seem to be in their own right—to the point of relying on them to provide consistent service to their court, they'd damned well ought to know the customs of the Folk, and the risks inherently involved with such association...especially when it comes to the unseelie (i.e. "evil" fairies).
Sure, she can understand why the King and Queen wouldn't have been chomping at the bit to invite the proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" to their baby's christening, but anyone with half a mind and a vague understanding of faerie culture would know that to snub a fey so powerful is to provoke a far more serious consequence than if you'd just invited her in the first place. If they somehow believed that she wouldn't find out—or even more foolishly: that she wouldn't take offense to their exclusion—then Honey would really question their intelligence.
—on that note the Perrault and Grimm versions are especially egregious, because the "wicked fairy", (Carabosse as she's known in some adaptations), isn't necessarily known to be wicked before the christening, but is doubly besmirched by being forgotten or uninvited in the first place and not receiving the same gift as all the other fairies who were invited. To be frank: the king and queen truly fucked around and found out—y'all should've planned better and triple-checked that guest list.
Did Stefan and Leah ever consider the possibility that their kingdom's misfortunes were likely made worse and perpetuated by their disrespect? Like, sorry for the doom-and-gloom and nastiness you may suffer from time-to-time, but if your ancestors decided to establish their kingdom within the decided domain of a prideful, vindictive, dominating incarnation of wickedness, maybe they should have foreseen the consequences and established a bit of ritual deference. Maybe choose a different sprawl of land to settle up on.
Or, a particularly strong alternative: they should have pussied up and committed to killing her from the start. If one (albeit especially heroic) twenty-something fop from the kingdom next door can rock up on his pretty horse and duel her to the death in her most powerful form, surely it wasn't out of the realm of possibility to rouse an army and campaign to take her out. But they didn't take that initiative, and went on living in her shadow for it. Tsk, tsk.
...all this to say that if the Three Fairies are "good," and Maleficent "evil," Honey (and her court) would be the "neutral" fairy lying somewhere in-between. Fae morality doesn't usually align so cleanly with the good-and-evil binary humans are so keen on as the quartet in this tale demonstrate, and Honey holds closer to this idea—she doesn't approve nor disapprove of Maleficent's actions or general nature, and largely just shakes her head and shrugs at the fate brought upon Stefan's kingdom...
...and she wouldn't get involved in the whole ordeal, on either side. No, thank you; she'll stay in her lane and give due respect (read as: a wide berth) to Mal's.
Moving on to Maleficent's role in Kingdom Hearts*, though, brings its differences.
*with the added context of our some of our interactions/developments + with @valorxdrive
Honey's alignment already leans more into the quote-and-unquote "good" side of the central dichotomy in this case, largely (and somewhat selfishly) because her father's home world—thus by half: her home—was directly impacted by the destruction wrought circa KH I, and the ultimate goal of the evil forces at work is a bit too all-encompassing to remain "neutral" on the whole affair; hence, she's already predisposed to dislike Maleficent and the rest of the nasty little band she's party to.
As much as Honey loves and respects a girlie with Goals™, she firmly believes that an excess of ambition quickly becomes a weakness...and a bit sad. It's blinding, as seen by the fact (which Honey would be utterly unsurprised by) that Maleficent spent half her campaign being manipulated as a pawn in someone else's zealous scheme.
Untempered ambition becomes a hunger which can never be satisfied; pride and greed pave the way for one's downfall, as the more one seeks to assert their power, influence, and dominion, the more resistance they provoke and enemies they create...and you can only go so far down that path before, eventually, meeting your match.
Maleficent already had power in her world. She commanded fear and deference, had influence, and seems to have largely gone unchallenged in this role; again demonstrating the virtue of staying👏 in 👏 your👏 lane👏!...but, obviously, the world was not enough. She wants the universe.
Gag. Don't get it twisted, because you are special, babe: gorgeous, strong, scary—but not that special. Nobody is that special. (And you're a little goofy for thinking that you are; silly little clown behavior tbh)
It's been mentioned before, but bares repeating, that Honey doesn't exactly respect authority, (nor divinity), as a rule; re: "It would never occur to a fey to worship anything." Call it ambivalence, call it indignance, or call it a healthy(ish) amount of self-conceit, but Honey can't conceive of anyone who deserves to be regarded above her, or nearly anyone else for that matter; with all due respect. Pair that with her core philosophy being centered around the concept of freedom and choice, a supreme overlord of the universe doesn't exactly fit with her whole vibe.
All of the above is enough to breed a some disdain from Miss Moto. A disapproving curl of the lip, a roll of the eyes and disparaging words, as well as her willingness to throw her hat in with those working against her, lending a little bit of help here-and-there...
What ultimately pushes Honey over the edge into outright contempt for the other fairy has everything to do with her manipulation of Riku and malice toward Sora.
Not on principle, mind. While Honey doesn't exactly condone the manipulation of literal children, she wouldn't really care much if she didn't know them—but those are her boys, now, and anyone who does them wrong (including retroactively) goes straight onto the shitlist. It's a totally selfish reason, but that's the truth of it.
TL;DR Honey would theoretically tastefully respect Maleficent's whole shtick if only she didn't become such a disproportionately self-important bitch, and had—say it with me now, kids—stayed💥 in 💥 her💥 lane💥.
...but we do love the presentation.
