#ben and mal

[iii-tre]

Did I mention

[versusvirtuous]

[idiefordescendants]

SHE JUST WANTS FRIENDS I LOVE BRIDGET SO MUCH UGHHHHH NEED MORE OF HER

[jegulus4444]

This is THE Jegulus variant by excellence

[rosefalls27]

¡Los Instagram de los Rotten Cour Four con cambio de género!

[here-i-am-again-god]

pretty sure this is exactly how the scene went, word for word

[dizzydizney]

I was going to put Maddox on here but I truly feel like he never gets found out for his crimes

[magedoesstuff]

listen, i love harry as much as the next girl right? but i am done pretending that ben wasn't an absolute catch, like look at this cutie

i get audrey cause if this was my boyfriend and the daughter of the woman who tried to kill my mother stole him from me by giving him a love potion i'd be bitter and angry too. anyway, this is my official coming out as a ben girlie.

[jazzitos]

[azzzryel]

Et la version couleur pour le lol :D

(Je viens de réaliser qu'Audrey ressemble étrangement à Princesse Bubblegum-)

[versusvirtuous]

hi can you do ben and mal as lovers to strangers <3

[idiefordescendants]

Descendants 5 / Rise of Red 2 theory is that the way we will find out the timeline is messed up is Chloe will go talk to fairygodmother about her parents fairytale sm like “oh you helped my parents that basically makes us family” and fairy godmother is like ???? ur mum didnt go to castlecoming, and then we get a reverse of the timetravel scene where chloe tries to timetravel and red tried to stop her, sort of a them being each pthers foil type thing

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

watched dawn of the vampires (AHHHH), here are some questions/standout thoughts

NONE of my theories were completely correct and that makes me very sad, never listen to me again

for a movie called 'dawn of the vampires', i feel like not much was actually done with them (i feel like i came out with more questions about them than answers)

my ranking of the new gen characters: 1. victor, 2. nova, 3. vargas, 4. vera, 5. ray

i am calling for the public execution of both the eldriss and the commander, IMMEDIATELY

when i posted my thoughts about the teaser, i asked if zed gets into trouble multiple times in the movie...boy i did not know how correct i was going to be, good lord

so i guess julian just wanted to dress up like a werewolf (in regards to the werewolf-y pics of him at the wrap party)

i was a little surprised that the ogs already knew the story of the daywalkers and vampires

they just recycled the eastside eels' colors for mountain college and i don't like that (were there not other pastels to choose from???)

there was ZERO mention of the bloodfruit, visions, the pulses or the familial relations (nova being the commander's daughter, victor being the eldriss's nephew) in the trailer and i don't like that either

speaking of the visions, it's reminding of how in the first descendants book, ben and mal dreamed of each other before meeting

zeddison were still super affectionate in this movie!! let's all cheer!! i was paranoid for literally no reason

maybe i'm just not a vampire aficionado but do vampires usually have wind powers???

kinda wish that we got to see willa and eliza walking through the woods

zed apparently went to a summer camp but how??? they weren't supposed to leave zombietown...unless it was also in the basemnt like their classes were

i thought they were going to go the 'ray has a crush on nova' route and i'm so glad that they didn't

guess we're getting mermaids (they should have pink hair)

zed literally almost died/lost his humanity and yet we're having a party i-

i didn't get my zeddison proposal...but the ain't no doubt about it scene was still VERY cute

the pacing was...interesting. sometimes it felt like scenes were missing but maybe that was just me

really wish we saw more of the towns. i especially liked how shadyside looked. hopefully we'll see more details in z5 (like what do the interiors of the buildings look like???)

for the most part, i really liked the outfits in the movie, save for like a handful of pieces (zed's sweater, i'm looking at you)

they just didn't explain why addison's hair looks different and i honestly find that really funny (personally, i think it's because ppl were upset that addison got to look like a full alien so they made her hair white again)

i genuinely laughed at almost every comedic bit so idk what that says about me but i enjoyed my time

willa kinda did nothing in the movie, save for scaring the campers...wish she got to do more (at least eliza got to do techy stuff)

have the vampires and daywalkers heard of zombies, werewolves, and aliens??? cause they seemed really unbothered that there were other monster species (zombies especially, because every zombie has been from seabrook...do they get news channels in shadyside/sunnyside???)

nova and victor are really cute together

[descendantofthesparrow]

Descendants New Beginnings; Stained Glass.

so i was finally able to push through the block I had and got this done :D. so this is the stained glass seen in the opening 'credits' of Descendants: New Beginnings. Think of it as a new version of the cotillion stained glass from D2. It sits at the end of a hall that's filled with portraits of the oringal vks, prominent vks being Evie, Jay, Carlos, Harry, Gil and Uma, with the final pan going to Mal and Ben's stained glass before it zooms through to a night garden shot outside into a rabbit hole where the title card shows.

anyways, enjooooy this concept art.

[rosefalls27]

Mal Le Fae es absolutamente leal a su madre y sus deseos pero la princesa Bethany, tenía una forma de meterse debajo de su piel que nadie había logrado antes.

[lilu787788]

I’ve been thinking a lot about why some younger viewers seem to express such intense hatred for Aleksander, and even for those who love or support him. It’s something I notice more and more often — this aggressive, almost moralistic rejection of morally grey characters like Aleksander. And I don’t think it’s just about disliking him. There’s something deeper going on in how fandom spaces function today.

A large part of it, I believe, comes from the way stories are consumed online now. Platforms like TikTok or Twitter encourage fast takes, simplified narratives, and black-and-white ideas of who is “good” and who is “bad.” People aren’t always interested in nuance anymore. It’s easier to reduce someone like the Darkling to a red flag or a toxic man than to sit with the discomfort of a character who does morally questionable things, but also loves, suffers, and fights for a better life for the Grisha and all of Ravka. Grey areas are not trending. Moral certainty is.

I’ve also noticed a dominant narrative — the girlboss versus let’s say villain storyline. Those young people want Alina, Zoya, Genya to “free themselves” from him, and in doing so, they erase what was truly complex, painful, and layered between them. The romanticization of strength often forgets that real strength can come from understanding, not just rejection. And sadly, if you dare say you understand Aleksander or believe he had genuine feelings for Alina, you’re suddenly accused of romanticizing abuse. There is no space for symbolic storytelling or fictional dynamics that aren’t meant to mirror real-life healthy relationships.

Another issue is the casual misuse of psychological terminology. Words like “manipulator,” “gaslighter,” and “grooming” are thrown around without understanding their meaning. These young fans just follow the crowd and, like a frenzied inquisition, throw accusations. Aleksander is a character shaped by centuries of trauma, loneliness, and war. But instead of examining that, some people just diagnose him in fifteen seconds on TikTok and declare him irredeemable. It’s lazy, dishonest, and more importantly, it shuts down real conversation. I also think some people need to feel like they’re on the “right side.” If they hate the Darkling, they can prove they’re morally superior. In my opinion, that points to low self-esteem. It makes liking him feel like a flaw, or worse, a crime. In some fandom spaces, it turns into a ridiculous purity contest.

And if your interpretation doesn’t fit the mainstream narrative, suddenly you become a bad person. It’s such a toxic dynamic, especially when fiction is meant to give us a space to explore difficult things.

Honestly, I think many misunderstandings around Aleksander come from people who’ve never had to think deeply about war, power, or survival. People don’t relate to the Darkling just because he’s charming or a tragic figure. A A lot of us understand him because we know what it means to live in a world shaped by conflict — to watch systems collapse, to see the innocent suffer while leaders look the other way. And even if not, basic human empathy and emotional maturity, combined with historical knowledge, allow us to see more and, most of all, to avoid jumping to judgment. We don’t behave like an angry mob with pitchforks ready to burn someone at the stake. On a side note, I’ve been thinking about doing a post that points out how some parts of the fandom — especially certain Crows, Zoya, Nikolai, Genya, and Malina fans — act a lot like the Drüskelle.

Aleksander is not a villain. He is someone forged in blood and fire, who made impossible choices in a world that gave him none. People who have studied or lived close to the realities of war know that moral clarity is a luxury. He also fought for people who were hunted, tortured, erased. He refused to stand by while Grisha were murdered, burned at the stake, dissected like lab animals, or sold into slavery. And even though his methods became brutal, his cause was never about selfish gain. It was about protecting people like him in a world that never would.

Loving the Darkling is about recognizing the complexity of someone who stood between oppression and survival. It’s about understanding that some stories aren’t clean, and some leaders don’t have the luxury of kindness. Aleksander’s tragedy is that he knew he had to become a monster to stop the world from killing his people. And whether you agree with him or not, that kind of narrative deserves respect, not shallow rejection.

Fiction should be a place where we can explore those hard truths. Not everything is meant to make us feel safe. Some characters exist to make us think, not just to give us flashy action scenes or quick thrills. Let people explore stories the way they need to. Let them love the characters who challenge them. You don’t have to agree. Sometimes it’s just fiction and sometimes it’s the way we try to understand our own shadows.