Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-24032889-20190105161936/@comment-14909251-20190115013438

AntisocialMedia wrote: I've heard Adam is the rose; that fits better than the Beast, and probably better than Gaston as well. Of course, Gaston is a Disney invention, so he probably doesn't need a parallel. I've been inclined to take the opening song at face value, that Blake is the Beast and Yang is Belle (in a platonic way - maybe), although there's certainly a bit of Belle in Blake. Beast fits perfectly if you understand the story at all. Right now, the only thing that doesn't fit is him being able to woo and marry Beauty. The only way they could make that work is with a very long redemption arc. Something like that at this point requires a seriously tragic backstory and him being essentially at rock-bottom. Only other way is if they have him save Blake from some threat. Mind you, I am talking about those things as a starting point rather than a finishing point. Ilia did some shit, but it wasn't nearly as bad and she was just following orders, so her saving them was all that was really necessary.

Adam could not be redeemed in one scene like that unless it was well beyond saving one person. Like, he'd have to save a boat full of human orphans to get to redemption in one scene. Even if they were able to get him to redemption, it would be more difficult to get to anything involving him and Blake being romantic. They haven't totally boxed themselves in with regards to following allusions, though, so it is possible to give him a redemption arc without trying to force a rekindling romance.

On a side note, it occurred to me Klein is a character meant to represent multiple characters, though he seems to be the exception that proves the rule. Having seven separate characters for the dwarves would be taxing for a wide range of reasons and making them distinctive by referencing the Disney versions would be overly derivative. For various writing reasons, having him be a composite of all seven was better. No difficulty at all in having a character being Belle and another being Beast by contrast. It works better storywise as well to have it be that way and, again, Adam works as a subversion of Beast.