#it is so dark if you think about it

[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.)

[verflares]

(click for higher quality!) draconified link concept ive been chipping away at this past week ..... here's my funny little compendium concept for him:

"A heroic spirit has taken the form of this bestial dragon. Unlike it's kin, this creature exhibits an extremely aggressive disposition. It appears highly territorial, and will relentlessly chase down those who disturb its skywide patrols - of which it seems to be endlessly searching for either a long-time vassal or foe. Unfortunately, it seems the spirit within has long since forgotten exactly who it was looking for…"

[inkskinned]

at some point it's just like. do they even fucking like the thing they're asking AI to make? "oh we'll just use AI for all the scripts" "we'll just use AI for art" "no worries AI can write this book" "oh, AI could easily design this"

like... it's so clear they've never stood in the middle of an art museum and felt like crying, looking at a piece that somehow cuts into your marrow even though the artist and you are separated by space and time. they've never looked at a poem - once, twice, three times - just because the words feel like a fired gun, something too-close, clanging behind your eyes. they've never gotten to the end of the movie and had to arrive, blinking, back into their body, laughing a little because they were holding their breath without realizing.

"oh AI can mimic style" "AI can mimic emotion" "AI can mimic you and your job is almost gone, kid."

... how do i explain to you - you can make AI that does a perfect job of imitating me. you could disseminate it through the entire world and make so much money, using my works and my ideas and my everything.

and i'd still keep writing.

i don't know there's a word for it. in high school, we become aware that the way we feel about our artform is a cliche - it's like breathing. over and over, artists all feel the same thing. "i write because i need to" and "my music is how i speak" and "i make art because it's either that or i stop existing." it is such a common experience, the violence and immediacy we mean behind it is like breathing to me - comes out like a useless understatement. it's a cliche because we all feel it, not because the experience isn't actually persistent. so many of us have this ... fluttering urgency behind our ribs.

i'm not doing it for the money. for a star on the ground in some city i've never visited. i am doing it because when i was seven i started taking notebooks with me on walks. i am doing it because in second grade i wrote a poem and stood up in front of my whole class to read it out while i shook with nerves. i am doing it because i spent high school scribbling all my feelings down. i am doing it for the 16 year old me and the 18 year old me and the today-me, how we can never put the pen down. you can take me down to a subatomic layer, eviscerate me - and never find the source of it; it is of me. when i was 19 i named this blog inkskinned because i was dramatic and lonely and it felt like the only thing that was actually permanently-true about me was that this is what is inside of me, that the words come up over everything, coat everything, bloom their little twilight arias into every nook and corner and alley

"we're gonna replace you". that is okay. you think that i am writing to fill a space. that someone said JOB OPENING: Writer Needed, and i wrote to answer. you think one raindrop replaces another, and i think they're both just falling. you think art has a place, that is simply arrives on walls when it is needed, that is only ever on demand, perfect, easily requested. you see "audience spending" and "marketability" and "multi-line merch opportunity"

and i see a kid drowning. i am writing to make her a boat. i am writing because what used to be a river raft has long become a fully-rigged ship. i am writing because you can fucking rip this out of my cold dead clammy hands and i will still come back as a ghost and i will still be penning poems about it.

it isn't even love. the word we use the most i think is "passion". devotion, obsession, necessity. my favorite little fact about the magic of artists - "abracadabra" means i create as i speak. we make because it sluices out of us. because we look down and our hands are somehow already busy. because it was the first thing we knew and it is our backbone and heartbreak and everything. because we have given up well-paying jobs and a "real life" and the approval of our parents. we create because - the cliche again. it's like breathing. we create because we must.

you create because you're greedy.

[beastlyidiocy]

my sweet old man who is genuinely too kind for the world he lives in :(

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[buttercupshands]

can you even call it a warm up if I'm going to bed without drawing anything big

and a sketch I made while sitting in the park today

[yet-another-haven-of-dollya]

"White Lily Cookie Harem isn't real it can't hurt you."

White Lily Cookie Harem:

Now that the Elder Fairy is finally in-game, even with Cotton-Sherbet treatment, I can finally post these silly sketches I did since Beast Yeast just released. I added Mercurial Knight recently lol.

My existential crisis girl accidentally collected male-wife kings like collecting Pokemon wheezzzeeee

[bunnieswithknives]

OK JUST A LITTLE THING BECAUSE IM INSANE @cubbihue

Song: Plastic by Cheekface

[dreamaruu]

Hello RvBGTBQ+ community

[the-meme-monarch]

I’m a big fan of all the interpretations that can be derived from the same sprites and i go particularly mental for clothes designs. also these kids go to school they’d be changing clothes

[dykealloy]

[kaybebop]

I made this on P but since I printed out artwork for this month today to send out- I’ll post some of the prints I have & below is what’s left: 🗡️✨

#1. Garden Faerie 1 💖

#2. Faerie Queen 1 🧡 (3 new available)

#3. Chainmail Warrior ⛓️ (2 available)

#4. Lae’zel (1) 🗡️

#5. Lae’zel (2) 💀

#6. Stagnation 🍊

#7. Sun Elf ☀️

#8. Garden Faerie 2 💗

#9. Morrigan 1 🖤

#10. Dark Forest Faerie 🌿 (3 new available)

#11. Sea Siren 💙

#12. Sassy Nazgûl ⚔️

[pinknyellowblob]

that one update

[inkskinned]

hey btw if you're in the USA at  2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4, they're testing the emergency broadcast system. your phone is probably going to make a really loud noise, even if it's on silent. there's a backup date on the 11th if they need to postpone it.

if you're not in a safe situation and have an extra phone, you should turn that phone completely off beforehand.

additionally, if you're like me, and are easily startled; i recommend treating it like a party. have a countdown or something. be surrounded by your loved ones. take the actions you personally need to take to make yourself safe.

i have already seen mockery towards any person who feels nervous about this. for the record, it completely, completely valid to have "emergency broadcast sounds" be an anxiety trigger. do not let other people make fun of you for that. emergency sounds are legitimately engineered to make us take action; those of us with high levels of anxiety and/or neurodivergence are already pre-disposed to have a Bad Time. sometimes it is best to acknowledge that the situation will be triggering for some, and to prepare for that; rather than just saying "well that's stupid, it's just a test."

"loud scary sound time" isn't like, my favorite thing, but we can at least try to prevent some additional anxiety by preparing for it. maybe get yourself a cake? noise cancelling headphones? the new hozier album? whatever helps. love u, hope you're okay. we are gonna ride it out together.

[flownwrong]

CALLUM KEITH RENNIE as Captain Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery

[heartorbit]

WHEEEEEE