#about

[fortitudinem]

addressing the elephant in the room:

if the queen of hearts was always in wonderland and was never on the isle then why were there businesses on the isle using her name?

well, simply: because someone faked it. a minor villain or henchman arrived on the isle and realised the only way to gain respect was to be a somebody and having realised none of the other villains had seen the queen of hearts in over a decade- they took their chance and began posing as the queen of hearts.

everyone was convinced and until the barrier dropped no-one had any idea that the person who had been posing as the queen of hearts- one of the major players of the isle turf wars and gang violence- wasn't actually the queen. by which point she had already fled and vanished into auradon.

at least, that's going to be my opinion on the subject because disney don't know their own lore.

[itsalwaysforyou]

WHAT???????

[tragicmoth]

recently my switch lite broke for good which means that lost isle is no longer. thankfully, i have a second switch!! so i was able to visit the dream address and get some never-before-posted shots for you all to enjoy :) here’s the DA for anyone who wants to visit: DA-6129-9967-8466 if you chose to visit please feel free to take photos as long as you tag me in them!!!

[leajoyrambles]

Writing ideas or something, pt. 1/?

Descendants "No Death on the Isle" AU where the first death (and only the first) leaves scars, titles taken from Hadestown:

"cast your eyes to heaven... you get a knife in the back"

"hunger has a way with you (there's no tellin' what you're gonna do)"

"this town will try to suck you dry (and stuff your mouth with cotton)"

etc.

Mal - drowning, eight. Jay - decapitation, nine. Evie - neurological stress as an infant (read: skin hunger). Carlos - acute dehydration, four.

[kanzakurawrites]

Hi I really like your descendants fic and your posts, so I have a question. If descendants was a pg16 show that actually did it's worldbuilding what elements would you ADD, which elements would you remove and what would you expand on?

Oooh, this is an interesting question. I'm sorry it took so long to get this answered! (and apologizing in advance for any rambling that takes place)

First things first, I'd want the show to switch between the Isle and Auradon. I am PERFECTLY fine with the main cast staying the main characters from the first three films. So it would be eye-opening, and good for the characters, for the show to have switched between the Auradonians, the Core Four, and the Sea Three.

I'd also want at LEAST the entire first episode, preferably first two or three, to have the Core Four on the Isle. Working with THEIR gang. So we can see what it is like for them to live on the Isle, what its like for them to be around their parents, and how they interact with others, before going straight to Auradon.

Now, Isle-related things.

I definitely know I'd want to add more elements of abuse on the Isle. It's implied in the movies, but they also seem to backtrack at times. (Dizzy's "wicked step-grandmother" comment, and then suddenly portraying Lady Tremaine as caring - the Vk's running to the Isle to see their parents.) It would need to be shown that the Isle is a HORRIBLE place. Physical, emotional.... and other forms of abuse. These things HAPPEN, and they are going to happen on the Isle.

As much as I hate to say it, there is definitely teen pregnancy on the Isle. There's also a lot of death for ALL ages.

Remember Mal's comment about gang activity? Let's see it. Show us the gangs, the fights, the rules, the alliances. Show us the politics on the Isle, and how these are CHILDREN fighting for their lives. Which also means injuries and scars.

There are all sorts of HORRIBLE crimes that people get sent to jail for (I really don't want to type the words since it makes me sick to my stomach), and those people are ON. THE. ISLE. It's not just the villains from the fairy tales on the Isle, its all the criminals as well. There's a lot of reasons the VK's have gangs, and keeping each other safe is one of them.

With that said, not all the VK's are going to be good either. Some of them will end up bad in the end. Just like there are going to be bad people in Auradon.

And then with the barrier, are seasons a thing on the Isle or does the dome mean that the temperature stays relatively the same? Are the summers scorching and winters freezing and dirty, given the pollution over the Isle? Things can't even grow!

How DID the Isle get approved? Was it better in the beginning? Did they just not think that villains could have children? These are questions that need to be answered, because even without purposefully trying to make it dark, the things we know about the Isle are sickening to think about. Nothing can grow, food is always rotten, everything is crumbling, and there is horrible pollution.

What is illness like on the Isle? It can't be good, it would run rampant. I want to see how it's dealt with.

And finally, how does the Isle affect the magical people there? Witches could probably be okay being cut off from magic, but fairies? They are inherently magical. Magic is apart of them. Same goes with Ursula, Morgana, Hades (though he's probably not affected at all). Trolls, dwarves (there have to be some), goblins, pixies, etc. Any on the isle, and their children, how are they affected here? Does Uma feel a loss in her chest when she's near the sea? Does Mal mourn her horns and wings? (and will she ever get any?) Is it painful? Do they get sick when they're in Auradon and finally around all this magic? Because you can't just... get rid of magic. It's going to be there.

Auradon Things:

I would really want to expand on how Auradon came to be. Along with the, likely, war that happened when rounding up the villains cause there's no way that was peaceful.

Politics. I want the politics. How do all these kingdoms work? What political parties are there? How are views on the Isle handled?

Arranged-Marriages are a thing. Not everyone does it, but I feel like we can all agree that some people (*cough*Leah*cough*) believe that they are superior to "Falling in love." I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Audrey and Ben had an arranged marriage.

Abuse. It's not just a thing on the Isle, but it's in Auradon as well, just in a different way. While there's a lot more physical abuse on the Isle, there's verbal and emotional in Auradon. Leah and, though I hate saying it, Beast are perfect examples. Leah constantly puts Audrey down, she makes her feel inferior. Beast made his sixteen year old High King... I'm sure I could find more examples for him but I think that's a pretty big thing right there.

Another thing to expand on is the equality issue in Auradon. The "sidekicks" got the short end of the deal, even though Ben tried to make it better, as the dwarves and animals weren't being PAID. They just worked all the time for the Royals. Magical people have seemed to be pushed aside, like Beast wants them all gone. Jane couldn't even train her with her magic! And she's Fairy Godmother's daughter! The three good fairies and other fairies from Aurora's kingdom are actively having to not use magic. How do Kingdom's like Corona (Ruby has the 70ft hair, so some semblance of magic had to be passed down. Magic is also canonical in Tangled the Series, along with things like DRAGONS), Arendalle, Agrabah, etc. function?

How do things with the gods play out? What is there contract with Auradon, cause I am NOT convinced that they would just let these mortals walk all over them forever. It's one of my biggest issues with Hades on the Isle as well, and why I think there has to be some bigger reason he's on the Isle. (Whether its them waiting for Beast's term to be over, or perhaps something the Fates said)

I'd want to add in how religions play out in Auradon, because all these stories come from different places. There are characters who are canonically religious in their films, good and bad. It's not something you can just erase.

How did Auradon as a whole react when the VK's came over? Were there protests? Was Ben under a lot of heat, or was Beast for letting Ben do this? How were the VK's treated at first? Not everyone was going to be welcoming. Who stood beside Ben, who was neutral, and who went against him?

Then with relationships. Honestly, I really like Mal and Ben, but I'd want to see them develop a relationship. Maybe mention their dreams and hint to the true loves, have them work through the love spell issue, show them dealing with cultural differences. Give them a realistic relationship with more depth.

With Evie, show the expectations her mother would have put on her. Did she have flings? Was she pushed to try to be with any "higher up" Isle male?

Harry and Uma... yeah their together. With the rating up, there is no reason to pretend they aren't or only give small hints. We get to have this relationship and yeah, you know, they are just Harry and Uma.

And when the VKs do come to Auradon, who are their foster parents? Because they have to have someone, right? How is that handled? How are they taken care of?

Then with the abuse they went through, show us the hints. Flinching when there are yells, or when someone goes to touch them. Maybe blank looks, disassociation, just not knowing how to handle relationships! Friendship or with adults! How they see themselves. That stuff does a number on you, even after years. And I understand why Disney didn't go deeply into this, but it also shouldn't just be brushed away. Acknowledging it could have helped just explain some of the VK's actions. (Such as Mal in the third movie, wanting to please the ultimately parental figures around her.)

I really don't think there's much about Descendants that I'd remove, I'd just want to expand on the world and make it... darker, I guess. More realistic vs. sunshine and roses.

(Also. Adding seasons. Seasons EXIST Disney.)

[gaylos-lobos]

actually before i go to sleep

giving Luz the same kinda shot composition here directly after finding out what happened to King and Eda (and telling Camila that she hasn’t changed her mind about returning back to Gravesfield after rescuing the two) while dressed as Azura (someone she admires) to when Philip arrived to the isles in search and rescue for Caleb (<- if getting there was accidentally or not does not matter) while dressed in his attire or at least clothes that resembles them, truly driving home the point of how similar the two of them are and how they really are just mirrors of the other

[lionfission]

Printmaking misadventures part 2. Getting this one to line up consistently has been... an ordeal. Doesn't help that it's on 12x18" unmounted linoleum 😭

Original + process pics under the cut!

[dani-luminae]

Random brain idea I dunno what to do with:

Good to be Bad: A Disney Descendants Twisted Tale-verse; Descendants and D2 but what if Jamie existed the whole time?

[multifandom-lesbian09]

I did, in fact, write a descendants fic and I did, in fact, make Mal gay. I also did, in fact, write the Chillin Like a Villain scene just because Ben, being the annoying little brother that he is, followed them to the Isle and proceeded to dick around and fuck shit up because he has zero chill

[kaerinio]

i'll write more about this later because i'm deep in my f&b re-read, so i'm having a lot of thoughts. i've talked a lot about how a part of the downfall of house targaryen arose from assimilation to andal ideals, the abandonment of valyrian cultural norms, particularly as they pertain to gender and notions of strength/who should rule and lead, and the separation of the dragons from the house. the dragons and the women are, of course, the reason why the house survived valyria in the first place, why sorcery survives, why dreams thrive. yet, during the assimilation of the house in westeros, dragons and women become a form of status: the dragons represent hard power in the form of might, flame, and conquering potential while the women come to represent soft power via blood, marriage, access to the house. anyways, i wasn't going to talk about any of this! i was just going to point out how the dragons aren't necessarily treated as part of the house by the time of the dance, as they were when the targaryens settled on dragonstone . . . as they were during the days of the conquerors, of rhaena the black bride. in earlier generations, the dragons were house members, and the relationships between the dragons, even, were respected and noted. they were free, and we know that dragons require freedom to thrive. they lose their power and instinct when they're forced into captivity. the dragonpit weakened the dragons, and that, in turn, weakened the targaryens. notions of captive control led to notions of breeding, which led to as long as the dragons are producing eggs, the house will be fine. now, i'm just rambling, but all of this came from me just thinking about the fact that it's not just the family cannibalizing itself during the dance, but the dragons, as well, who did have relationships themselves (which went ignored 😭 and the dragons were probably confused about WHY they had to fight and kill each other after decades of being close???). at that time, though, the house viewed them as weapons and underestimated the magic and fate that accompanies the dragons.

[magicalgames]

isle of the leftovers

I've been thinking recently about how a lot of people think the VK's would be a lot skinnier on the isle than they are realistically, but there is a lot of food waste in our world/food thrown out. And what if this also was happening in Auradon?

So, what if the reason that the isle kids aren't really malnourished or unhealthily skinny is because a lot of food and drinks in Auradon are thrown out, it's just that if the food/drink was thrown out before it became stale or spoiled - it was by the time it got to the isle.

[fortitudinem]

I'm honestly surprised that Frollo never started a cult in the Isle.

I also wanted to say that I adore your worldbuilding. It's so creative and manages to make sense given what little Descendants tells us.

Hi! Thank you for your kind words! I try very hard to make it work!

As for Frollo starting a cult, he doesn't need a cult when he has the power of Christianity on his side. Which is to say, he definitely still preached and held mass and church sermons and things for Isle residents and he also openly hated on any magical beings or those he saw as lesser. You might call that a cult. He for sure had a following, probably a pretty dedicated one. and he probably tried to burn a witch or two in his time. but the witches outnumber him so he learned to shut up.

[candy-pants]

hey so beyond the isle of the lost comes out tomorrow and i have no way of buying the barnes and noble edition and i'm being so brave about it

[itsalwaysforyou]

i wish we’d got to see the older vks interact more with the younger kids bc it’s like. how much did they care for them on the isle? did they help them out, betray a moment of weakness so they didn’t have to suffer like they did? did they leave them to fend for themselves just like their parents, perpetuating that cycle of cruelty?

it’s implied that celia knows, and is at least friendly with, the rotten four, as well as uma’s gang. evie is close to dizzy. it’s just such an interesting dynamic, these teenagers who are selfish and rotten and evil, keeping an eye on kids just like how they used to be: vulnerable, helpless, learning how to survive the unforgiving isle streets. both parties as some sort of fractured, distorted mirror.

[stubborngods]

i'm in a descendants mood.... give this post a like for a starter from one of my descendants muses based on whatever memes you have open on your blog....

[hexenwrites]

Mal: How are we supposed to put a tracker the size of a penny on Carlos without him noticing? Diego: Hey, Carlos, I bet you 5 bucks that you can't swallow this penny. Carlos: *takes and swallows tracker* Pay up, loser. Mal: ...