#trois descendants

[tiredflowercrown]

Shadow’s Keep

Leader: Frédérique ‘Freddie’ Facilier

Co-leader/Second Command: Laura Rourke

Assorted Members: Moira ‘Celia’ Facilier, Gaston ‘Junior’ LeGume the Second, Gaston ‘Trois’ LeGume the Third, Eddie Balthazar, Calista Jane ‘CJ’ Hook (Sometimes)

The Shadow’s Keep runs the territory surrounding both Dragon Hall and the Arcade. The Shadow’s Keep is also the most in control of the black market, this often leaves disputes between them and Dragon’s Blood. 

The Shadow’s Keep is where you want to go if you need anything not typically found in a shop, if you want a warning sent, or if you want someone dead or injured, with Freddie Facilier running the business side and Laura Rourke running the more violent side.

[yen-sids-tournament]

DCOM Decision: High School Musical 2 v Descendants 2

High School Musical 2 {original-High School Musical (2006)}

Every song slaps (ignore the one they cut and then added back in on dvd), bet on it is a classic meme, I don't dance is a self contained love story, Ryan <3. Yes they reverted Sharpay's character arc but Lord was it worth it, Tisdale is at her best here, approaching Candace levels of iconic. She just wants Fabulous <3 Gotta go my own way is my comfort song I'll be real.

Descendants 2 {original-Descendants (2015)}

It has the absolute best music of the franchise, including “What’s My Name”. It introduces Uma, the best character in the franchise. The plot and characterizations are the best. It’s the perfect sequel.

[flower1622]

Ships or couples that could have ended in real life

[avitha]

Prometheus Prep

Last, but not least, we have the Hercules gang crossing over with Descendants!

[ginnyrules27]

You know it's funny but...I Gotta Go My Own Way would have worked so much better as a song in Descendants 2 than it did in High School Musical 2.

Okay yes I love the song and Vanessa Hudgens killed it but the lyrics just fit more with Descendants than HSM.

'I just don't belong here, I hope you understand'

You don't have to 'belong' there Gabi, you just have to do your job and maybe alert someone that the daughter of the owner is flirting with Troy while he's also doing his job and therefore unable to tell her to knock it off (I'm sorry but if the genders were flipped we all know we'd still be talking about that to this day).

'I've got to move on and be who I am'

Again, Gabriella, you're not changing yourself. You're working a job that likely pays minimum wage (which in 2007 in New Mexico was $5.15 USD an hour according to the Federal Reserve of St Louis).

But Mal in Descendants 2? The girl who changed herself to try to fit into Auradon? The song would have worked better there IMO!

(Yes the 'but what about trust? You know I never wanted to hurt you' line would have to be flipped but you know Kenny and his song writers could have figured it out!)

Thank you for listening to my rambles and my paltry 2 examples lol

[leavethemtorot]

Shadow’s Keep

Leader: Frédérique ‘Freddie’ Facilier

Co-leader/Second Command: Laura Rourke

Assorted Members: Moira ‘Celia’ Facilier, Gaston ‘Junior’ LeGume the Second, Gaston ‘Trois’ LeGume the Third, Eddie Balthazar, Calista Jane ‘CJ’ Hook (Sometimes), Ripley Callaghan, Bernadette Sykes, Lizzy Balthazar

The Shadow’s Keep runs the territory surrounding both Dragon Hall and the Arcade. The Shadow’s Keep is also the most in control of the black market, this often leaves disputes between them and Dragon’s Blood.

The Shadow’s Keep is where you want to go if you need anything not typically found in a shop, if you want a warning sent, or if you want someone dead or injured, with Freddie Facilier running the business side and Laura Rourke running the more violent side.

[magicaplin]

Christie's favourite characters + Maisie Peters lyrics

Happy New Year @deweyduck from your MPN secret santa!!

[nothazellevesque]

as a noted lover of Kenny Ortega Productions, does he make all of his young romantic leads get that haircut? like all three male leads from the children’s musicals he’s directed have some form of the floppy early 2000s boy band cut. does he find actors that already have that haircut? Does he make them do it? because it’s been 3 different universes over about fifteen years and they all have similar haircuts.

this one i get. it was 2006. i wasn’t in high school at the time, but every white boy I knew had this haircut. it is what it is. Mr Bolton’s hair changes with every movie, so it can reasonably be assumed that this was just the actual actor’s hair. it gets darker when the actor dyes it, and it gets shorter when the actor cuts it. Oh 2006-2008 you were a wild era for fashion and for men’s hairstyles (did he slap a bowl on his head to get this????)

this one is a shorter version of the Troy Bolton Special. this guy is supposed to be in high school in 2015, which I was. and let me tell you: very few white boys had this swoopy bang at that point. the boys were spiking their shit up like getting their hair closer to the heavens would let them commune with gods. the actor having this haircut prior to walking onto set is possible, but wearing it down like this? less likely.

THIS is the most egregious one. this character is a teen boy in 2020. which, as a teen in 2020, the white boys did NOT have this haircut. okay, technically this boy is dead and has been since 1995, so his appearance has not changed since then. I wasn’t alive (and obviously was not a teenager) in 1995, so i cannot confirm that this was a popular haircut in 1995, but my research does not suggest that this was a popular look for boys in that year. (also note how this boy has a more extreme version of the floppy bits at the end of Mr Bolton’s hair from 2006.) this actor MAY have had this haircut at the time of auditions, but it is extremely unlikely.

Kenny Ortega White Boys From Years Past, please come forward and confirm whether or not he made you get those haircuts. (I know he made at one of the Blonde White Boy Deuteragonists get an era appropriate haircut, so it is a possibility)

[inkdreamt]

@star-of-troy,

Mal frowned in confusion as she heard some pesky princess voice near her. Now, who in their right mind would approach her? Wasn't the entire school terrified of her because of her mother? Her eyes lifted out of her book, narrowing at the sight of the girl. Dark hair, elegant. If she didn't know any better, she'd guess some long-lost relative of Evie. No, the closest that girl would be is a child of Snow White's... with way more toning than what she'd expect. What, did she live in the gym? "If you're looking for brownie points by showing how oh-so brave you are, you're better off looking for Evie. I'm harder to impress."

[immabitqueer]

If anyone knows any good "Charecters watch the movie/show" fics for literally any Kenny Ortega musical please give me recommendations, I'm starving for content

[andnowanowl]

Got to hear how "but people would be outraged if a white person played Nelson Mandela" speech last night because a Black guy played a Trojan. In an Oreos commercial.

"I'm not racist!" my father would say if I had bothered to point this out to him. Sir, you just lost your shit because a Black dude played a member of a group of people that we don't know the appearance of. In a cookie commercial.

[sciderman]

i remember the day troy bolton invented bisexuality

all bisexuals are descended from him

[anghraine]

I know I've ranted about it a million times, but every time someone brings up Roman, Byzantine, and Egyptian inspirations/influences on Gondor in more mainstream Tolkien fandom spaces (not me, because I don't even talk about it off Tumblr/DW), it seems like there's always someone who gets super weird and defensive about it. I've seen so many "well actually there's no need to consider any influences outside of England, mythology for England blah blah" responses.

And it's like! Oh, you want to play the decontextualized Tolkien quotes game? How about this one:

“But this [the setting of LOTR] is not a purely 'Nordic' area in any sense. If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence [in Italy]. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient [Gondorian] city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy [in Turkey]. Auden has asserted that for me 'the North is a sacred direction.' That is not true. The North-west part of Europe, where I (and most of my ancestors) have lived, has my affection, as a man’s home should. I love its atmosphere, and know more of its histories and languages than I do of other parts; but it is not ‘sacred’, nor does it exhaust my affections. I have, for instance, a particular love for the Latin language, and among its descendants for Spanish ... The progress of the tale ends in what is far more like the re-establishment of an effective Holy Roman Empire with its seat in Rome than anything that would be devised by a 'Nordic.'”

Or this one:

we come [in ROTK] to the half-ruinous Byzantine City of Minas Tirith

Or:

In the south Gondor rises to a peak of power, almost reflecting Númenor, and then fades slowly to decayed Middle Age, a kind of proud, venerable, but increasingly impotent Byzantium.

Or:

The Númenóreans of Gondor were proud, peculiar, and archaic, and I think are best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms. In many ways they resembled ‘Egyptians’ - the love of, and power to construct, the gigantic and massive. And in their great interest in ancestry and in tombs. […] I think the crown of Gondor (the S. Kingdom) was very tall, like that of Egypt, but with wings attached, not set straight back but at an angle. The N. Kingdom had only a diadem (III 323). Cf. the difference between the N. and S. kingdoms of Egypt.

Or:

Thank you very much for your letter. … It came while I was away, in Gondor (sc. Venice), as a change from the North Kingdom

Middle-earth is not equivalent to England, or northern Europe in general, and Gondor especially is not northern at all!

[astrobiscuits]

Unknown asteroids #1

🦭Adorno (21029) – of Spanish origin; means to decorate/embellish; (for females only) if Sun, Mars, Saturn or the Descendant are badly aspected by this asteroid in the natal chart, it can indicate being “objectified” by men; if one of the mentioned planets/angle are positively aspected by this asteroid, it can indicate fighting for women's rights when it comes to the objectification of women

🦭Advincula (23017) – of Latin origin; denotes someone advanced in a certain skill/job/life experiences OR someone who can advance a certain field

🦭Aenna (1155) – of Hebrew origin; means favor/grace, God has favored me; denotes someone getting blessed by a higher force

🦭Aemilia (159) – of Latin origin; means industrious; denotes a workaholic and/or someone who works in engineering; a second meaning: to strive/excel

🦭Aeschylus (2876) – father of Greek tragedy drama; denotes a strong affinity for drama works (either in reading or writing them); if it aspects Uranus, it can bring popularity due to scandals/dramatic past

🦭Bengt (1846) – of Latin origin, but frequently used in Sweden; means blessed

🦭Cappi (49777) – of Italian origin; means lucky

🦭Elpis (59) – of Greek origin; means "the spirit of hope"; like the star card in tarot, this asteroid shows us where we are most hopeful

🦭Gorky (2768) – of English origin; means awkward/strange

🦭Khandrika (12068) – of Indian origin; means small village/small place

🦭Khalat (468725) – of Indian origin; means robe; denotes someone with high social status, someone who dresses expensive

🦭Libby (5672) – of British origin; means God’s promise; if relevant in synastry, it can indicate fated connections, someone given to us from the above

🦭Odeh (34786) – of Arabic origin; denotes someone (or something) coming back into your life, similar to Aesculapia (1027)

🦭Oenomaos (164555) – from Greek mythology (corresponds to King Oenomaus of Pisa); shows love for consuming wine; if prominent in the natal chart, it can point to an alcoholic

🦭Oenone (215) – from Greek mythology; a nymph abandoned by her lover, Paris, who choose Helen of Troy over her; prominent in people who have been cheated on/left by lovers

🦭Okugi (5174) – of Japanese origin; means the heart or depth of something, secrets, mysteries, esoterica

🦭Okuni (7769) – of Japanese origin; means homeland or native country

🦭Olathe (18984) – its meaning comes from the Shawnee language; means lovely/beautiful

🦭Paeonia (1061) – of Latin origin; denotes the latin term for peony (symbols of peony: love, honor, romance, beauty)

🦭Palach (1834) – of Russian origin; means executioner, hangman, butcher, torturer

🦭Piedade (11912) – of Portugese origin; means pity, mercy, kindness towards an enemy

🦭Pierre (1392) – of French origin; means stone, rock

🦭Quigley (18699) – of Irish origin; means “from the mother’s side”; denotes someone very similar to their own mother or her family, heavily attached to the mother figure or someone who has grown up without a father; a second meaning: “unruly hair”; denotes someone with crazy hair

🦭Quinn (107561) – of Irish origin; means wise, intelligent

🦭Quito (10793) – of Spanish origin; means “center of the world”; denotes someone popular and/or famous

🦭Seiwa (16700) – of Japanese origin; means saint; denotes a person of superior knowledge and virtue; a second meaning: peace, calm

🦭Vangelis (6354) – of Greek origin; means good news

🦭Vate (12312) – of English origin, but borrowed from Latin; means prophet, fortune teller, inspired writer; prominent in witches and tarot readers

🦭Vedrana (176014) – of Croatian and Serbian origin; denotes someone who is lighthearted, joyful, cheerful

🦭Xenia (625) – of Greek origin; denotes a great host, someone hospitable and welcoming with guests and strangers in need

(21029, 23017, 1155, 159, 2876, 1846, 49777, 59, 2768, 12068, 468725, 5672, 34786, 164555, 215, 5174, 7769, 18984, 1061, 1834, 11912, 1392, 18699, 107561, 10793, 16700, 6354, 12312, 176014, 625)

[baejax-the-great]

Absolutely reeling.

So I knew that the origin of "Hector was a great man, moral, noble, better than all of the Greeks" began as Roman propaganda that somehow has made it to now, the year 2023, and is still taught to high school students.

What I did not know was why scholars shit on Achilles as vehemently as they did (and still do).

My copy of Fagles' translation of the Iliad has a preface by a different scholar who I'm not going to bother to name because he's an idiot (and idk probably dead at this point). I read the entire thing, absolutely baffled, because he would cite a part of the text (that I admittedly had not read yet! at all!), quote it, and then come to the most batshit interpretation based on that quote I had ever seen in my life. His general take was that Achilles was a sociopath who had no feelings for anyone other than himself and his own pride, and every action he took (until welcoming Priam into his hut) was done in service of that pride. To support this, he decided that Achilles did not see Patroclus as a person, but rather as an extension of himself, and thus someone injuring Patroclus was them injuring Achilles, and so he did not care about Patroclus, he only cared about his wounded pride.

Yeah.

That sounded wrong before reading the book, and while reading the book all i could think was, "Did we read the same fucking thing???" Put in context, those quotations still did not support his conclusions whatsoever.

But i cracked open Caroline Alexander's "The War That Killed Achilles" last night, and she solves this mystery of "Hector good, Achilles bad" for me right out the gate (which is good because so far I've only read the preface).

Western Europeans by and large learned about the Trojan war from Roman stories, which became fairly popular, and not the Iliad, which was not translated into French or English until centuries later. As mentioned, these were propaganda that cast the Trojans in a much better light than the Greeks because the Romans believed they were descended from Trojan refugees. This starts a trend that is still going on in scholarly circles as casting the Iliad as a war between "barbaric Greeks living in a shitty, lawless camp" vs "civilized, educated, weaving, real-wife-having Trojans," making the Iliad a tragedy in which Homer for some reason skewers his own people and their warlike culture as barbaric while propping up a dead, foreign city-state. This interpretation is still extant and was the postscript to another copy of the Iliad I have.

According to Alexander, scholars closer to Homer's time saw the entire war as a tragedy--both the destruction of Troy AND the destruction of the Greek army. While this is not covered in the Iliad, very few Greeks actually made it home after Troy. Some that did were then outcast (Teucer for example), some were murdered (bye, Agamemnon), some went on to create new kingdoms in other places (Diomedes), but by and large, there was no going home from that war. There was no great victory with all their loot. The entire thing was a disaster for both sides, spurred on by fickle gods.

Back to the more recent European interpretations of this story, one reason Hector ended up cast in such a "good" light, despite being a dumbass who wants to dishonor dead people just as badly as Achilles ever did, was in order to make Achilles look worse. Why was it important that Achilles becomes a villain in this story in which he is very much not a villain? Because Europeans were involved in so much war with each other and the rest of the world that a young, insubordinate man who criticizes his idiot of a commander, decides his life isn't worth throwing away for this war, and refuses to fight to sack a city was an affront to their values. Young men were to be obedient, follow their commanding officers, and colonize the world for queen and country. Achilles suggesting losing his life is not worth it to prop up Agamemnon's war is a dangerous precedent for all the good little soldiers needed to make their nations wealthy.

It's almost funny that these analyses propping up Troy as a beacon of civilization were made by people living in countries so bent on colonizing the world. They identified with the city being sacked and not the greedy sackers of said city, who they were much closer to. And Achilles, educated, morally rigid, emotional Achilles, is recast as a sociopathic asshole who doesn't care about anyone other than himself, unlike all of those other beacons of selflessness among the Greek leadership.

The tragedy of the Iliad is that Achilles is right, the war is pointless, Agamemnon did dishonor the shit out of him, and it doesn't matter because he's going to die in it anyway.

Frankly, given how badly his character has been interpreted for so long, I think the muses owe him an apology.

[loeilareaction]

Scene in a Wine Cellar, 1537 (Trois hommes descendant des tonneaux dans une cave)

Pseudo-Félix Chrétien (Bartholomeus Pons)

Städtisches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Francfort-sur-le-Main