#Benlos

[osnapitzjsa]

Seems like the Descendants franchise is keeping its tradition of being gay as hell without no one actually being canonically queer.

[bunny-lou]

Ben: “WHY IS THE SCHOOL ON FIRE?!”

Mal: “I sneezed as a dragon.”

Carlos: “We had an accident in the chemistry lab.”

Jay: “I dropped my latest mix tape.”

Ben: “Evie, please tell me what happened.”

(Flashback to Jay and Mal arguing with Carlos that it was impossible to light a fire extinguisher on fire.)

Evie: “I don’t remember.”

[kingben]

(insp.)

[lancastrianwasian]

descendants ships tier list. sorry d4 stans i just couldn't care about the characters.

[carlosdevilz]

carlos meeting ben for the first time (🤨🏳️‍🌈❔)

[versusvirtuous]

can u do a Benlos domestic au ? :)

[thebluestbluewords]

The Same Coin

I’m still having fun with the Valentine’s ficlets, so have some benlos! Set in no particular timeline, but there’s a nod to poly ot5 in the background.

+

“We don’t celebrate valentine’s day. On the Isle.” 

Ben tilts his head. His face is set into one of the middle levels of the Neutral Face of Acceptance, one of the ones that means he’s genuinely listening, not just trying not to look horrified while he thinks about other things. “Oh?” 

“It’s about feelings,” Carlos says slowly, trying to come up with a way to say the next part that won’t sound horrible. “And like, love, and stuff. And. We weren’t exactly. Allowed. To do that.” 

Ben cocks his head somehow further into the Neutral Acceptance Position. “What, to love people?” 

Nail, head. 

“Uh, yeah.” 

“I’m…” Ben trails off into silence for a moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think this would be so different for you four. Valentine’s day is so…” 

“So commercialized?” Carlos says, before he can think twice about how mean it sounds. He’s supposed to be having a meaningful moment where he gets to help the king reach some sort of shared cultural understanding with the poor sad Isle kids he’s so kindly pulled out of their pathetic former existence, and instead of being sincere, like an Auradon kid should be, he’s making fun of Ben’s beloved holiday. And like, family tradition. Probably. He should just stop thinking. “I mean, uh. Not that buying your girlfriend stuff is a bad thing. It’s fine. The more stuff you buy here, the more junk people have to donate to us, so. I’ll just. Uh.  Stop talking.” 

Ben smiles, but his expression had slipped into something more like a strained grimace, all tight and fake around the eyes.  “I was going to say ingrained in our culture.. We’re taught to value love, so I assumed that the same would hold true for you. I should have known better.” 

“Ouch.” 

Ben goes red. “Not that you four don’t feel love!” 

It’s easier to look at Ben now that they’ve both put their foot in it. “I feel rage,” Carlos offers, softly. “If that helps at all.” 

“It’s not quite the same thing.” 

“Two sides of the same feeling,” Carlos says, feeling the weight of the words as they leave his mouth. “My mom’s not a great example, but she told me that you can’t hate something if you don’t love it, at least a little bit. They come from the same place, y’know. When you feel so much that there’s nowhere else for the feelings to go. They either come out as love, I guess, or if there’s too much, or the love isn’t reflected back…” 

Ben nods, and reaches over to take his hand. “Rage?” 

“Hatred, anger, jealousy.” Carlos ticks the feelings off on the fingers of his free hand as he goes. He doesn’t exactly like holding hands, because there’s too many opportunities to get distracted and leave yourself open if you’re walking hand in hand with someone, but it’s okay right now because they’re not moving, so there’s no way for Ben to pull him down and make it look like an accident, and they’re alone enough that nobody’s going to shout at them for doing it, and it’s still light enough that they could see anyone coming and let go before they’d get in trouble. “They’re all the same feeling. If obsession is good you end up in love with the thing, and if it’s bad you end up hating it with the same enthusiasm.” 

“I don’t think I could ever hate you,” Ben says softly. He’s doing a distracting thing with his hand, a little squeeze that’s drawing all of Carlos’s attention to where they’re connected. “Do you ever think that maybe your mom was wrong?” 

“About dogs, and driving cars, and how much pepper should go on food, yeah.” Carlos says. “But not this.” 

“Oh.” 

“Not–”  Carlos stutters around the words. He’s not sure what he even wants to say, but he’s so sure of this one. He used to hate Mal, back home when she was the one pushing him into closets and lockers and stealing his inventions, and then it was like a switch got flipped and all the times he’d followed her around to make her day worse, to try and spit gum into her hair from rooftops, and drop salt into her coffee when she left it on her school desk all seemed petty and stupid in light of how much he was suddenly devoted to her. He’d hated Jay too, up until the moment when he looked over at the wrong time, and all the feelings switched over into confused-hungry-aching, and he couldn’t stand to look at him, until his feelings for Mal settled into place and he fell in love with the both of them. 

He’s never not loved Evie, but Evie’s special. 

“Not like that.” Carlos says, finally. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It’s just that I don’t know how to have emotions like normal people do, and for me, they’re sort of the same thing.” 

The callouses on Ben’s writing finger slide against the rough skin on Carlos’s knuckles. The places where he’s split them open from hot water and abrasive chemicals don’t hurt anymore, but they catch, against the rough pieces of Ben. 

He’s wearing them down. Evie’s helping, with her potions and chemistry. They’re working on it together. 

“Okay,” Ben says, and he’s not looking at Carlos. “Is it okay if I say I love you anyway?” 

The horrible-wonderful feeling that’s somewhere between fear and anger and love bursts hot and painful in his chest. 

“Yeah,” Carlos whispers. His voice cracks anyway, because it’s stupid that way. “I can’t– I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to say it back. But I don’t hate you.” 

A squeeze. 

“I love you too.” 

[dizzydizney]

Please pick what's most interesting for you, not what you think would make the healthiest couple.

[scaryfangirl2001]

Big Bad Ghosts (fanfic, 364 WC)

@flufftober

The gang stands in front of the infamous "Haunted Mansion" of Auradon, a sprawling estate that's rumored to be home to all manner of ghosts, ghouls, and supernatural entities. But the group isn't here to be scared - they're here to have a good time. Ben good-naturely rolls his eyes as he pushes open the creaking front door.

"Welcome to my parents' annual Halloween party," he says, gesturing for the others to enter. "They do this every year, and it's always the same old thing."

Mal grins mischievously as she steps inside. "I love it," she remarks, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "It's so kitschy."

Evie laughs and links her arm through Mal's. "I know, right? It's like they're trying to be spooky, but it's just so... Auradon."

As they make their way deeper into the mansion, the group encounters all manner of spooky decorations - cobwebs, skeletons, and ghostly apparitions. But none of them seem to faze the teenagers, who have all grown up in the shadow of their villainous parents' exploits.

Jay snorts in derision as they pass by a particularly cheesy ghostly projection. "This is the best they've got?" he asks, shaking his head. "I've seen scarier stuff in the marketplace back in Agrabah."

Uma nudges him playfully. "Oh, come on, Jay. It's all in good fun."

But as they turn a corner, Harry suddenly speaks up. "This is spooky," he says in wonder, his voice low and serious.

Gil looks at him incredulously. "Really?"

"Hey, I'm just saying. This place is creepy."

Gil smiles and slings an arm over Harry's shoulder. "Don't worry, babe. I'll protect you from the big bad ghosts."

The group continues, laughing and joking as they make their way through the haunted mansion. They encounter all manner of spooky surprises - jumping skeletons, creepy clowns, and even a giant spider or two. But none of them faze the teenagers.

When they reach the end of the tour, Ben turns to the group with a grin. "Well, that was fun. Who's up for some apple cider and donuts?"

The group cheers and Mal suggests they return to the mansion later to show Auradon how to really get their scare on.

[descendantsafterdark]

who wants to draw carlos in this?

[meteor752]

What are your favorite Descendants ships then?

Loving all of this activity in my inbox, okay

Descendants truly brings out the multishipper within me, because I’m on for basically anything here

So this will be a long list

Harry X Ben

Harry X Jay

Harry X Carlos

Harry X Uma X Gil

Harry is my favorite

Ben X Carlos

Ben X Gil

Ben X Evie

Evie X Mal

Evie X Uma

Mal X Uma

Evie X Mal X Uma

Uma X Harriet

Mal X Jane

Jane X Freddie

Lonnie X Jane

Jay X Lonnie

Lonnie X Gil

Dizzy X Celia

Doug X Chad (Ish)

Audrey X The full extent of the law put that girl in jail please

And as for the new movie

Morgie X James

And that’s it

Queen of Hearts and Cinderella def did have like, exes vibe, but as teens they were just kinda boring

And I know we all ship Red and Blue and like yeah I see it, but Blue honestly deserves better okay Red was so fucking mean to her my god

Also I know Blue isn’t her name but I genuinely don’t remember what it was and I don’t care enough to look it up. I think it was like Cleo or smt

Also I don’t hate Mal X Ben or Carlos X Jane, I just think the first one got kinda boring after the first movie, and the latter just never had any real time to fully develop. The same can not be said about Evie X Doug, as a genuinely don’t like that ship, mainly because Doug is the worst character in Descendants

Also, since I have you all here, I will use this opportunity to preach about Ben X Gil, because they have like less than 30 fics on ao3 and most of them are like one shot things or background stuff

Guys Ben X Gil is so funny, holy shit. Like they would work together as a couple, “What’s better than one sweet boy, two sweet boy” ass ship dynamic, but also like imagine meeting the parents. Imagine thanksgiving dinners. My god guys the potential for comedy here

Also Gil deserves more love just in general

[bunny-lou]

Ben: “We call that a ‘traumatic event’.

Ben, turning to Jay: “Not a ‘bruh moment’.”

Ben, turning to Evie: “Not a ‘major L’.”

Ben, turning to Carlos: “Not a ‘shit fest’.”

Ben, turning to Mal: “And definitely not an ‘oof lmfao’.”

[shanleenkinnjaskey]

Good Enough (Ways To Be Wicked Part 1/?)

Little Mix

Am I still not good enough?

Am I still not worth that much?

I'm sorry for the way my life turned out

Sorry for the smile I'm wearing now

Guess I'm still not good enough

Everything's been boiling for months.

It started with the coronation, with Auradon’s reaction after Carlos showed up in pictures after the very public defeat of Maleficent with Ben's ring on his finger. Gossip sites featured headlines like cruella’s child corrupting the prince and de vil’s the devil. Carlos had ignored them at first, bolstered by the support of his best friends, his new friends (Doug and Jane, who had been incredibly kind to a strange kid from the beginning), and, of course, the boy he loves. Ben had been the bright spot in a sea of dirty stares, the constant in a world of cruelty.

He’d been fine for a few weeks- settling into dating Ben, being free from the weight of his mother’s wishes, and having dinner with the Queen and King twice a week. Tuesdays involved all the Lost kids, and those were often insane fun, but Saturday nights were just him, Ben, and Ben’s parents. The first one had been insanely nerve wracking, with Carlos half expecting the King to get mad at some mistake and beast out at any moment as well as the fact that Ben’s parents are the King and Queen as well as the fact that these are Ben’s parents, and he’s never had to try to impress anyone’s parents before. Even after a few weeks of such dinners he’s still somewhat on the edge of his seat, half-expecting them to insult and punish him over some perceived slight. Months away from home haven’t relieved him of a lifetime of Cruella’s cruelty, and no matter how kind Ben’s parents are he’s still never completely at ease.

(Still, he’s adjusting.)

The problem had truly begun when he'd gotten a video message from his mother a few weeks after the Coronation. He remembers her shocked expression at the news, her sneered comment about never expecting the brat to make it anywhere, 'specially not near the throne. He was cast back to the years on the Isle when the only friends he'd had were Jay, Mal, and Evie. He remembers the fact that the only one of them to be truly loved by a parent had been Evie (though the Evil Queen had definitely had her own ways of showing it). Jafar and Maleficent, though never loving, had been fond of Jay and Mal, treating them like apprentices rather than children but still treating them with some sense of caring.

Cruella de Vil, however, had treated her son like a slave, a creature that existed to serve her every whim. Carlos's earliest memories are scuttling about the Isle, fulfilling her every whim as she barked insults at him. If it hadn't been for him bumping into Mal, the head of a small gang of kids (Jay, Evie, and Uma until she'd broken off to follow in her mother’s footsteps and started terrorizing sailors), he'd probably (definitely) still be in that position today.

Over the past few weeks Cruella’s words have been waiting in the back of Carlos’s mind, combining with the words of the media and the whispered gossip in halls to create a poison in Carlos's head. Even kissing Ben, cuddling with him in bed, going swimming with him, hadn't helped. Normally he'd be nothing but happy when spending time with his boyfriend, but right now all he can focus on is the words pounding through his head.

You're pathetic.

Scrawny. Weak. Young. Villain.

Not as talented as the others.

Worthless.

The final straw had been at today's Visiting Day. He'd been alternating between Ben's side and hanging with his friends, even ending up in a intriguing​ conversation with Doug's Uncle Doc and Evie about the hydraulics operating the most outside the Academy. For the first time in weeks he'd been having a good time, enjoying himself and talking about the things he loves.

He'd taken a break, intent on heading back to Ben to talk to his boyfriend about their plans for dinner with his parents (and Maurice, who was so incredibly awesome that it erased the anxiety of spending time with the Queen and King just a little bit) that night, when he’d heard Queen Hilde, Audrey's grandmother, talking to Chad.

“-That son of Cruella's a corruption, you know,” Queen Hilde says, and Carlos freezes, half way to Ben. He’s used to reading the words online, used to thinking them, but he hasn’t heard anything like it aloud since they all left the Isle. “It would have been better for everyone if he'd just stayed on the Isle. No wand fiasco, no villains dirtying up our lawns, and King Ben would still be dating my granddaughter instead of villain parasite.”

“Couldn't agree more, Your Majesty,” Chad says, haughty tone in place. “The villains have been nothing but trouble- cheating in class, being undeniably rude at their first Visiting Day, even going so far as to interrupt Ben’s coronation in the way they did. I do believe that they’re taking advantage of our good King and Queen, especially that de Vil brat. Leeching off Ben like that? It’s despicable. When he was dating Audrey we were ensured of someone respectable on the throne.”

Queen Hilde smiles. “You do know how to flatter my family, young man.”

Though Carlos can't help but feel resentment to the words- he and his friends have been trying to improve themselves, whatever Queen Hilde may think- there's a certain truth to what they say. Audrey and Ben were the ideal couple, as Audrey is so fond of reminding him- they're both born royalty, raised by heroes and taught the right thing. They're both perfectly poised, always knowing to say the right thing to sway a conversation (rather than just rambling until someone has to shut them up), and they even look good together.

(And, above all, Audrey can provide Ben with wealth, support, and a biological heir. Carlos can only give himself, and that's not enough.)

(Not for Ben, who deserves the world, and certainly not for the kingdom he is destined to rule.)

“Carlos?” Ben asks from behind him, and Carlos whips around to face his boyfriend.

He smiles, frayed nerves soothed mostly by Ben's smile. “Yes?”

“I was wondering if you'd like to speak with Lonnie's mother? She's visiting for Family Day and she'd like to meet you.” Carlos almost shakes his head no (he'll embarrass Ben with his rambling, he knows he will) before Ben adds the kicker: “She says she wants to meet the man who stole the heart of her dearest godson.”

And Ben's looking at him with gorgeous smile, blue eyes sparkling, and there's no way that Carlos can say no. Ben offers his arm out to Carlos, who loops his arm around his elbow. Ben then leans in and presses a kiss to Carlos’s cheek (leading his embarrassing blush to come running back) before leading his boyfriend over to meet General Li Mulan.

Everyone’s words linger in the back of his mind throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening, festering until they’ve hit a monstrous growth and they’re all Carlos can focus on.

“You okay, darling?” Ben asks as they pull up to the castle for dinner. He puts a comforting hand on Carlos's thigh. “You've been kind of quiet.”

Carlos lets out a startled laugh. Normally people want him to be quiet. Even the Isle kids sometimes express frustration with his babbling. Ben's different, though- he’s never told Carlos to shut up, instead smiling fondly whenever Carlos speaks. It's no wonder I'm in love with him. “It's fine. Just been thinking, that's all.”

“Thinking 'bout what?” Ben asks, genuinely interested, and Carlos could nearly cry with how perfect this boy in front of him is.

“You,” he says, mostly-honest.

Ben blushes, and for such a normally confident man it's really kinda cute. “Really?”

“Yeah,”

“I'm sorry,” Carlos whispers as he slips out of Ben's arms, “But you deserve better.” He’s determined not to cry, but he can feel his eyes burning. He leans forward and gently brushes a kiss against Ben's cheek. “I love you.”

Carlos grabs his satchel, complete with Mal's Emergency Isle Return™ potion, and slips out the door.

He’s going back.

[lancastrianwasian]

I am a benvie, benlos, benry, searose/umaudrey and malvie/mevie truther.

[prismaticflare]

This is a 3 way round as I had too many ships I liked lol. If one of these are your favorites, sorry for the slight disadvantage.

Benlos (Ben/Carlos) is a super cute ship and surprisingly well supported in canon. Carlos saves Ben when he is a beast, and has that one scene that the image references. Dear God, what the heck was that scene? Like, there is literally no heterosexual explanation for it…

Jonnie (Jay/Li Lonnie) is a ship that is actually very well supported in canon. Jay and Li Lonnie work together to stop Uma in the Isle and stop sexism in Auradon. They have many adorable moments in the second movie, but never get paired off together in the third due to Li Lonnie not being in it. Maybe if Li Lonnie was in that movie, though, they would have become canon. We’ll never know…

Umal (Uma/Mal) is your typical “enemies to lovers.” Mal and Uma have been enemies for most of their lives on the Isle, yet have quite a bit of chemistry.

Which is your favorite? Vote now!

[ravenfiire]

So happy to see there are still Benlos shippers still here 🫶

🫡 of course buddy. We’re all around!!! :)