The Sacrifice of The Frog Prince

The book, The Frog Prince, has been renamed.

No longer is it about a rude little boy, punished by a stranger and cursed to be a frog until someone decides to love him despite his flaws. No. Now, it is as we know it, The Princess and The Frog. Now it is about a little girl who met a silly little frog deep in the woods while she was playing, who returned her precious golden ball and claims to be a prince from some such other kingdom. Now the story, in which the princess was a means to an end, a lesson to be learned and then dismissed, is about the Princess and her choice to befriend a silly little frog from the pond. She is no longer the "true love" made just for the frog, but he is hers. The Frog is nameless, as many creatures are, as many princes are. For their names aren't important, just their roles.

The Frog, always claiming to be a prince, that the shape he's in is temporary, as soon as someone loves him enough despite his being a frog. He could be a prince again, if someone would just love him. Of course, The Frog is bound by a rigid idea of what love is. Of what the witch thought love was. Of what the Authors decided Love meant for a silly frog. There are many types of love, but that love isn't enough, not for them. It must be True, and Pure, and Perfect. It must be Romantic, from a Princess, in The Frogs case. Otherwise, how would he learn?

But he never really learned anything. Not from his story. Only after its end did he learn to look at himself and what he was and how his actions had consequences. Only after he made friends and knew love; unconditional, platonic, layered and silly love, did he learn anything. His party doesn't care that he's a frog, they don't care that he's a coward or that he's scared or angry or lost. They scream his victories to the moon, they soothe his wounds, share his losses, support his growth, hold him accountable for his wrongs. They love him, well and truly, not despite being a frog, but because of who he is and the frog is part of him, so they love the frog too. And not in the hopes he will become a prince one day, no, they never expect to see him a handsome human man, they don't care about his appearance or potential status. They love the Frog, no matter how he is.

Upon reflecting, Elody also loves ~~Gerard~~ The Frog, not in spite of his froggy state, but because he brings her joy and is her friend. That is the unique part of their shared story, they do not meet already in love, they grow into it. They are friends first, unlikely companions, a Princess and her silly, gross frog. It is unfortunate, that once The Frog becomes the Prince, and the story is over, that he forgets that. He is so worried about being a frog again, because he assumes that his potential to be a Prince is the only reason Elody loved him at all, that he forgets that she loved him before hand. It isn't until his party and the adventures they take and the hardships they share that he realizes he was wrong. Elody never wanted a Prince, she wanted her Frog, and she got neither one.

His apologies and warnings to her were sincere, his love of her is genuine, just as the Authors wanted. He loves Elody more than anything, how could he not? She's a force to be reckoned with, even before the wars. The Frog is finally a Prince when he makes the sacrifice he should have made from the beginning. It doesn't matter if he's a frog, he loves Elody and, on some level, she loves him. And stars is he grateful for any kindness from her, for any amount of love or care from her, because he knows he doesn't deserve a scrap of it. It is a treasure, precious and adored, and he will honour it the best he can.

The Frog gives up his name, his humanity, every piece of him he thought made him worthy of a love he was promised upon his cursing. Because love is not that simple or easy, and that sort of love should not be hoped for. He frees Elody of the expectation, the requirement that she Love him, that she be made for him in some way.

The Frog loves the Princess, and so he gives the Princess her freedom. Not in the hopes she will choose him anyway, not so she may appreciate the change and call him her hero. No. The Frog wishes the Princess happiness, where ever it may come from. He loves her more than he fears being unloved or abandoned. If her happiness is her freedom, and he has the power to grant her what she should have always had, then he will. He does.

The Frog frees the Princess from his Curse, and it is his hope she will be happy.

#neverafter spoilers #neverafter gerard #d20 neverafter #dimension 20 #neverafter #d20 spoilers #brennan lee mulligan #gerard #princess elody #elody of greenleigh #prince gerard of greenleigh #brian murphy #d20 #i’m going insane