Chapter 3: An Hexclusive Invitation / Chosen With Care

Finally, the best segment of webisodes in the series. I wrote about Faybelle a while back, so I'll skip the introduction.

When Ashlynn receives a spellbinding invitation to the Blue Moon Forest Fest, Ever After High’s newest villain, Faybelle Thorn, starts to brew up trouble.

I was going to complain about "newest villain", because it's a little odd with the time line, but with more thought to it, they might be right.

Faybelle is the daughter of the Dark Fairy in Sleeping Beauty - for all you Disney kids, that's Maleficent. 

She's clearly not intended to be a magically immortal being here, although fairies are said to live long lives. In all honesty, both girls should not be at school at the same time - Sleeping Beauty goes to sleep for a hundred years at around sixteen. Briar is maybe fourteen in this show, as are most of the girls, but Beauty gets cursed as an infant. Unless they put both kids in a cage like some illegal wrestling until a wee Faybelle cursed a baby Briar, Faybelle is supposed to be an adult when she curses an infant Briar.

If Briar wakes up later and goes back to school to continue her education, she might still be at school with a Dark Fairy, but it wouldn't be the one who cursed her. Obviously this could be modified in the world of Ever After - after all, the Thorn family has a hard time getting invitations delivered, who says Faybelle can't interrupt Briar's sweet sixteen and curse her then.

To be absolutely fair, nothing says that Faybelle was the one to curse Briar. Her mother very well could have done so, and Faybelle will just have to wait another hundred years and nine months to curse Briar's child.

Whatever, onto the webisode!

The opening shot at Hocus Latte gives us a lot of important information; Briar and Lizzie are hanging out, that princess from the previous episode is here, and that couple from True Hearts Day are still together.

The Barista goes to locate her missing caramel and 

HERE

 SHE

IS

Two seasons and two episodes later, my favorite character is finally in the visual medium. Faybelle's first words are to tell the other barista, the Son of the Hero of Harlaam, to shut up and mind his business. I didn't realize until now how her voice sounded like an odd amalgamation of O'Hair x 2.

Hopper comes up and name drops her, as well as the fact that she is head cheerleader. It's called cheerhexing in her book. The terminology isn't even consistent now. (though apparently - but in the Shannon Hale books, it is still called "cheerleading" like in real life and "cheerleader" - From the wiki so...they just didn't care)! 

 He asks if she's working here, and Faybelle takes immediate offense.

She's only here to get some info, and cue story dropping and I wish they had stuck with the intro cards in True Hearts Day. You may not have gotten the entire story quickly, but this silly hamfisted name dropping is irritating.

Yeah, see this happens during the story dropping and it's cool.

Faybelle tries to get information out of Hopper, but he gets flustered, turns into a frog, and she levitates him with magic and throws him about fifty feet.  SHE IS MY FAVORITE GIRL.

Ashlynn and Apple are chilling together when a hare pops up with a letter. 

Hare-ier. Like courier. Mail logistics have always interested me. 

You know, once again, Apple seen more with Ashlynn than her supposed best friend Briar. That being said, kudos again for having Ashlynn spend time both with Hunter (Although a bit less in season 2 and so far in Season 3) and with her girlfriends. You don't give up one for the other. Although if I remember correctly, she doesn't ask Hunter to the party. Or he goes separately. I think he leads other people to it through the Enchanted Forest and they meet up later.

Anyway, she and a guest and not Apple has been invited to the Blue Moon Forest Festival! It's hexclusive! Apple would go, but the new multihex theater is opening. See, this is the first relateable thing Apple has done in the franchise to me, go to the movies.

The word soon spreads around the cafe, and a crowd of people converge on Ashlynn to beg to go with her.

Pictured: A literal collection of Best Girls.

Faybelle passes off a hastily made...frappuchino? Fairycchino? To Ashlynn and very clumsily says that she'd like to go to the Forest Fest.

                                    

"Is it working?" "You wish!"

The Hero of Harlaam also wants to go...so much, that he's not sticking his fingers in holes to stop liquid from coming out, and presumably hot coffee goes spilling onto customers, even knocking Cedar over.

                                     

Another best girl.

The episode ends right there, which is a weird spot. Ash could have at least been a bit hesitant - and where are the narrators these days?

Chosen With Care

When Dexter asks Raven on a date, Ashlynn tries to cheer up Cupid by offering to bring her to the exclusive Blue Moon Forest Fest.

In the Glass Slipper, Hunter is looking on boredly as Ashlynn has dug through hundreds of shoes, trying to find the right one to go walking into the forest with. A sneaker was never an option here, folks.

She picks - I shit you not, a glass hiking boot. You know, a lot of her character is already pretty callbacky to her origins, I would have liked to see her wear a (faux) fur slipper at some point in this series. Maybe in her non existent Getting Fairest doll.

Hunter asks her what's the matter, as she seems stressed, and she reiterates that everyone wants to go with her. He'd go, but he's going to the multihex with his friends. So I guess that 'ferrying people through the forest' thing is a different webisode.

There's an aside where Sparrow pops out of the pile of shoes and sings, saying that he was just here to shop for ladies shoes. Live your best life, Sparrow.

Dexter comes in, and Ashlynn thinks he wants to go with her, but no "I'd feel so awkward. So much forest and festivity, ugh." 

Same.

 He's looking for Cupid, and Ash tells him to check Hocus Latte.

A preview of the second most boring people to go to Ever After High (right).

Cupid is in the restaurant, looking at pictures of Dexter on her laptop and sighing dreamily...she closes the laptop and tosses it aside when Dexter approaches her.

This episode is full of small, funny gags.

He's nervous, and Cupid tells him to spit it out. I guess that's how you deal with romance, just spit it out. Unless you're Cupid. So, Dex says 'Will you go to the movies with me tonight?'....to Raven. On his Mirrorpad. In front of Cupid.

Raven accepts. And he leaves. Like...I get wanting her there for support but that's kind of cold. You ask someone out through Facetime and diss the girl in front of you. 

Ashlynn arrives in and offers her the ticket, and she accepts, declaring that she needs to get away from all the romance business. 

It's a pretty solid episode. Most people would call it filler but I like these little moments.