I sat down with Bria Rose, dark romance author and fairy-tale rewriter. To talk about why Disney was never meant just for kids, and why the stories we grew up with deserve to grow up too. We dig into adult fairy-tale retellings. Retake of Beauty and the Beast as an 18+ narrative. Why sanitizing myth, folklore, and European fairy tales. Strips them of their cultural spine. This conversation isn’t nostalgia bait. It’s about respecting history, intention, and the emotional weight. That made these god damn stories matter in the first place.

We get deep into Disney’s past, from The Black Cauldron and Sword in the Stone. To the scrappy VHS era, and why modern remakes feel hollow along. Compared to the original risks the studio once took. Bria breaks down her writing philosophy. Why research and travel matter when retelling culturally rooted stories. How she approaches representation without flattening identity into corporate checkboxes. We also talk anime, international and storytelling, horror, censorship, inscriptive fearlessness. Why Americans forgot how to let art be uncomfortable.

This episode is honest, unfiltered, and unapologetically adult. It’s about creativity, culture. Why rewriting stories doesn’t mean erasing their origins. If you love Disney but feel disconnected from what it’s become. Or if you believe fairy tales should still have teeth, this one’s for you.

Where to Find Bria Rose?

🌐 Website: https://authorbriarose.com/

📚 Work: Dark romance & fairy-tale retellings, and her latest book Her Dark Promise: https://a.co/d/80ru4Xs

📲 Social: @authorbriarose

#270 - Interview with author Bria Rose