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protectwoc · 5 years ago

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The Problem with Mal (part 1/3)

Or, Framing and Why It’s Important

Let me get this out of the way right away: I love Descendants. I love DCOMs, I always have, and I love musical DCOMs even more. High School Musical and its sequels were my whole life growing up, and I can sing every word of every Camp Rock 2 song right now from memory (even though I didn’t like Camp Rock 1; don’t hate me.) But what I love even more than musical DCOMs is Disney Movies. Aladdin, Mulan, Hercules, these are some of my favorite movies from growing up, so combining Disney Movies with Disney Channel Original Movie/Musical? The most galaxy-brained idea imaginable from my point of view.

BUT.

I have a problem with the writing in Descendants. More specifically, I have a problem with Mal.

Quite frankly, I just don’t like Mal. I think she’s mean, and I think the movies would be better off if she wasn’t in them. If I completely turn my brain off and absorb the story the way I’m sure the writers want me to I could be fine with her, but the second I begin to think about any of her actions beyond the surface or the implications of those actions I remember why I don’t like her. I didn’t like her in the first movie, and that feeling has only grown exponentially with the release of every moment. All of that culminated in D3, where my Mal-hate has reached its peak. It has bubbled over, and I must release it somehow.

So what am I going to do with that? I’m going to write about it. Why? Mostly because my brother wouldn’t listen to me complain/rant about it and I had to put these emotions somewhere. Let’s do this.

DISCLAIMER(S)

1. This is literally a giant anti-Mal hate post. I’m going to try to keep this as even and fair as I can, but I’m not going to pretend like this is an unbiased assessment. If you are a Mal stan, this is the part when you click away.

2. I am by no means a literary or film analyst. I am technically a “writer”, but that’s about all the credentials I can provide. If you’re looking for actual academic discussion, you are going to be sorely disappointed.

3. This has nothing to do with Dove Cameron. I actually like Dove, I think she’s a talented actress and singer (rapping and dancing notwithstanding). I mean, I watched every single episode of Liv and Maddie when I was way past too old for that to be acceptable. Dove Cameron is probably a fine human being, I really appreciated what she said about the addition of politics into the Descendants universe, and I actually like her in the role, I just wish I liked the role itself. But I don’t want anyone to take this as an attack on her as a person or anything.

4. I read the Isle of the Lost when it first came out like a thousand years ago, and the Wikipedia synopsis for Rise of the Isle of the Lost. I also watched the first three or four episodes of Wicked World and I can’t remember a single thing that happened in them. With that said, this essay is ONLY about the movies. The movies should be (and are, I believe) able to stand on their own, and at this point, I’m not even sure if the tie-ins are considered canon anymore. With that said, there are some things from the tie-ins that are pretty much common knowledge among fandoms (Uma and Mal didn’t get along on the Isle because Mal was kind of a bully, the VKs’ parents were abusive, etc) that probably bled into this essay. If there’s something I wrote about that has been rendered noncanon by the movies please let me know. On the same track, please don’t comment saying that something from Wicked World explained/justified/whatever else a point that I make, because it’s not going to change my argument.

5. This is not, like, me passing judgment on Mal stans. I’m not saying that Mal stans are bad or dumb or whatever for liking her character. I don’t really expect this to change anyone’s mind about stanning Mal either. This is purely a cathartic exercise for myself that I decided to inflict on the world for some reason.

Okay, I think that’s about it. If you have any thoughts at all on this, please come talk to me about it! Agree, disagree, love it, hate it, I literally just want to talk to other descendants fans. Y’all ready to do this? I give you…

Part 1: Mal Alone

Let’s look at the series of actions and the motivations behind them for Mal’s character.

Descendants 1

Mal is chosen to go to Auradon; she is very reluctant.

Her mother demands that she steal the fairy godmother’s wand, Mal agrees.

Mal convinces the others to help her steal the wand; they break into the museum but fail to retrieve it.

Mal learns that positioning herself as Ben’s girlfriend will give her the best shot at retrieving the wand, she spells Ben into falling in love with her.

As all this is happening, Mal is gaining popularity at school for her ability to provide magically beautiful hairstyles.

On their first date, Mal begins to have actual feelings for Ben, she considers releasing him from the spell.

Audrey, her grandmother, and the other AKs bully Mal and the rest of the VKs, and Mal regains her faith in the plan. She also takes away Jane’s magical hair.

Mal concedes from the plan enough to decide to release Ben from the spell, but only after the coronation.

Mal considers stealing the wand; before she gets the chance, Jane does so and accidentally opens the barrier.

Mal takes the wand back from Jane to give to her mother, Ben convinces her not to.

Mal defeats her mother and remains by Ben’s side in Auradon.

Notice a theme here? Mal is characterized by two things, and essentially two things only: her ambition and her survivalist spirit. I should clarify that when I say ambition, I don’t necessarily mean in the traditional, politically power-hungry sense. Mal is an opportunist. Every decision she makes is done with the intention of securing a position for herself, and usually a high-ranking position.

She rules the island before coming to Auradon and is reluctant to leave that position of power when given the opportunity. When she arrives at Auradon, she becomes the school’s magically appointed hairstylist, first to seduce information out of Jane, and then because it gains her popularity within the school. Notice how as soon as this popularity is taken out of the equation, Mal disappears all of the beautiful hairstyles? Mal wasn’t sharing her magic for any kind, selfless reason, but because it could get her something, and as soon as she stopped being able to get something, she took them away.

Mal also finesses her way into the already-occupied spot of the second most powerful person in the kingdom. From there every decision she makes is an attempt to keep that spot. It could be argued that Mal displayed some selfless impulse when she decided to free Ben from her love spell, but even this comes second to herself. She tells him explicitly that the cupcake is for “later”, as in, after the coronation and after she and her mother have already taken over, and when he eats a bit anyway, she yells “No!” at him. Maybe she does feel something for Ben, but he still clearly comes second to herself.

Then in the finale, she chooses good, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it “makes her happy”. Although this movie was marketed as “villain kids learning to be good,” among other things, Mal never actually learned this lesson. She is okay playing second fiddle to her mother for a little bit, but her pivotal moment of growth is ultimately her deciding that she’d rather be Ben’s number two, and there she remains.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the second movie.

Mal opens the movie trying to fit herself into the perfect princess/girlfriend role, which makes her unhappy.

On a date with Ben, she gets caught using magic and attempts to spell him into forgetting their argument.

Mal runs off from her date and away to the Isle. Once there, she immediately reverts to her villain self, even going so far as to dye her hair in a stunning bit of Disney subtlety.

While there, Uma, her old rival, kidnaps her boyfriend. She works to get him back but maintains that she will be staying on the Isle after he is safe.

Mal and Evie sing a beautiful song about how much they mean to each other, but it does not change her mind.

During the battle, Mal (apparently) changes her mind. She returns to the Isle with Ben and her friends but seems unhappy about it.

At the coronation, Mal again slips into her “perfect” persona, shown by her wearing Auradon’s colors.

Uma arrives at the coronation, having spelled Ben into falling in love with her. Mal is heartbroken and tries to leave.

She is stopped by Jane revealing Ben’s coronation gift to her, a stained-glass picture of her in her Isle colors.

Mal true-love’s-kisses Ben awake. She turns into a dragon and fights Uma. When she turns back, she is dressed in the gown depicted in the picture.

In this movie, too, Mal makes every decision with the intention of securing her personal standing. She dislikes being forced to play a part at the beginning of the movie, but she is willing to put up with it if it means getting to stay Ben’s girlfriend, even to the point of spelling her boyfriend who she claims to love. When she believes for a second that that option could be lost to her, she immediately retreats to the Isle, where she is guaranteed some measure of power.

When she arrives, however, she finds that someone has usurped her position on the Isle, and it is Uma, her old rival. When she discovers that Uma has kidnapped Ben, she tries everything to get him back. This, it could be said is an altruistic act, done out of love for another person, but even this is tarnished because she clearly does not love Ben enough to be with him. She makes that very clear over and over again. She even sings a whole song about how much she loves Evie but again, not enough to leave her position of power.

So if it’s not love, why else would she go through so much trouble to rescue Ben? Simple: she cannot allow her rival to get a leg up on her. Mal spends the rest of the movie after she discovers Uma is involved working to publicly undermine her. Why else would she agree to an arm-wrestling match of all things in front of Uma’s entire crew? When they leave the isle after rescuing Ben, Mal doesn’t end up with them because she changes her mind about Ben or Evie, but to prevent Uma from escaping after her. For two straight movies now, Mal has refused to make even a single unselfish decision.

Let’s move on to Descendants 3, arguably the worst offender.

Mal opens the movie helping the other four VKs announce the new arrivals into Auradon.

She is next shown keeping an eye out for Uma, the only other person who poses a threat to her.

Ben proposes to her, securing her position as Queen of Auradon.

Mal, Ben, and the other VKs return to the Isle to pick up the chosen children, but as they are leaving, Hades almost escapes.

When Hades, her estranged father, and Uma, her bitter rival, both appear to pose a threat, Mal suggests that they close the barrier permanently and prevent any other VKs from crossing over.

She lies to Evie about her role in the closing of the barrier to preserve their friendship.

When Mal discovers that Audrey, her original bully, poses a danger to Auradon, and herself specifically, she returns to the Isle to beg her father for help in the form of a magical ember.

On the way back, they are stopped by the Sea Three, who steal the ember from her. In exchange for the ember and their help with Audrey, Mal agrees to release all the children from the Isle, a promise she does not intend to keep.

Back in Auradon, Mal and Uma butt heads over leadership of their uneasy alliance. When Uma suggests they split up and go check Audrey’s cottage, Mal scoffs at this idea.

When they ultimately end up going with Uma’s plan and finding Audrey’s diary as a result, Mal thanks her for her contribution.

Evie is anxious about whether true love’s kiss will work on Doug. She sings a song about it, and Mal and Uma are seen behind her, encouraging her and providing backup vocals.

Audrey attempts to trap them inside the cottage, and Mal and Uma are forced to work together to free themselves.

At the Fairy Cottage, Mal admits that it was her idea to close the barrier permanently and that she still intends to go along with this plan.

Mal’s group implodes, and she sings a song about how she intends to get her happy ending.

Mal finds Audrey and attempts to battle her as a dragon. Uma, on the ground, forgives her for some reason. They combine magic and defeat Audrey, who goes into a coma.

Mal has her father temporarily escorted from the Isle so that he can wake Audrey. They reconcile.

Mal’s friends forgive her for the closing of the barrier, even the Sea Three, who apparently have no problem with returning to the Isle.

Before an audience of Auradon citizens, Mal announces her plan to close the barrier permanently. She finishes by saying that she cannot be the Queen of Auradon, she has to be Queen of both (the Isle and Auradon).

They take down the barrier and Mal is reunited with her father. At the end of the movie, the four original VKs return to the Isle to visit their parents.

Descendants 3 is interesting because it combines some of Mal’s most self-serving actions with her only three altruistic ones. Halfway through the movie, Uma makes a suggestion about how to find Audrey. Although Mal initially ignores her, the idea proves to be a good one, and Mal thanks her for her idea. This was Mal’s first entirely selfless action in three movies, which I underlined above because it is so significant.

A short while later, Evie is shown angsting about whether she and Doug are really True Love through song. In the background, Mal and Uma support her, both emotionally and through backup vocal “do-waps.” This is notable because it is the first time Mal is ever seen supporting one of her so-called friends, but we’ll get to that later.

The third and final act, also underlined above, is even more significant. Mal calls her estranged and neglectful father from the Isle to wake Audrey from her coma. This is where I must truly give Mal credit. Coming face to face with her abusive (yes, neglect is a form of abuse) father in order to help a person who bullied her and became a villain to hurt her specifically is a truly selfless action. It must have been hard for her to face him again so soon after he told her “You’re stronger with those daddy issues” (yuck). Furthermore, it would have been easy for her to leave Audrey in her coma, as Audrey had never been kind to her. This action required actual sacrifice and was done for no personal gain on Mal’s part, which makes it basically the best thing she’s ever done. Unfortunately, this scene arrives on the tail of a movie dedicated to showcasing Mal’s worst impulses at increasingly higher levels.

For the rest of the movie, Mal’s modus operandi of doing everything possible to secure her own position is in full effect. It is no coincidence that the moment she has the most to lose (Her position as Queen of Auradon at the hands of her father and her biggest rival) is the moment she makes her most callous and self-serving decision yet: to close the barrier permanently, essentially dooming all of the children still on the Island to a lifetime of poverty and oppression. Even within a small, unstable group of the original VKs + the Sea Three (and Celia I guess), Mal cannot bear not being the one in charge, arguing with Uma at every turn. And when her supposed best friends and her fiance are turned to stone, does she show any sadness for them at all? Of course not. She sings a Broadway song about how determined she is to find her own happy ending.

This, of course, culminates at the end of the movie, when Mal decides they should bring down the barrier. As an aside, bringing down the barrier is a terrible idea, because releasing all of the actual villains on the families of the heroes whose lives they attempted to ruin is… unwise, but I digress. On paper, this should also be considered a selfless act, but of course, Mal undermines it by claiming that she cannot be Queen of Auradon, she “must be the queen of the Isle too.” Her final act is synonymous with her biggest bid for power yet, and unbelievably, it works. Thus, Mal ends the third movie the same way she started the first, vying for power at the expense of Auradon (and basically everyone else.)

Mal is an incredibly selfish character. She makes three total noble decisions over three movies, and they all happen in the final installment. Amazingly, I don’t think this makes her a bad character, nor do I think this is bad writing on the part of the screenwriters. What makes this bad is the way her actions and “arc” are framed.

Self-serving protagonists can work. Look at Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove, or Rebecca in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, or even Bojack of Bojack Horseman (disclaimer, I have not seen CxGF or Bojack Horseman, these comparisons are based on my surface-level understanding of these shows and a cursory skim of Tvtropes. Y’all are welcome to tell me why I’m wrong about this.) The difference is, if you want your audience to root for these self-serving main characters, you have to show them going through some sort of growth or arc to become more selfless, particularly if you are writing a DCOM about the merits of being good. But unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the problems with Mal’s character.

#Disney's Descendants #descendants #Descendants 2 #descendants 3 #anti mal #anti mal bertha #anti bal #uma descendants #uma daughter of ursula #uma deserves better #audrey descendants #audrey deserves better #evie grimhilde #raetalks

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thetimelordbatgirl · 5 years ago

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Mal only got feared on the Isle cause she's Maleficent's daughter- cause in no way is Jafar scared of a child in the books, he only is nice to Mal cause of her relation to Maleficent, the queen of the Isle- people remain around Mal in Rotten to the Core alone, and yet as soon as Maleficent comes, they all flee!

Maleficent was the only one who truly held power and Mal only got fear cause of that- without it, she'd be like the other VKs: having to earn it on her own.

Tbh I cant recall any moment shes used her position as Bens GF much? Maybe its cause I didn't read Escape and D2 Mal I hate to recall- closest you can say is her bike maybe Ben brought her which she proceeded to use to run away and then leave on the Isle.

Its ironic that Uma gets shit for love-spelling Ben but Mal is....given woke points for basically magic-roofiying Ben and its never addressed she did it as Ben gives her the excuse off 'having a crush on him' and she runs with it- meaning Disney seriously didn't think through the implications of our main hero basically magic-roofiying their love interest and didn't even have Ben maybe have a freak out cause he was literally magically-roofied- no instead, its.....our OTP apparently for the movies? And even in Escape, two years after this happened, Mal still lies and says its cause she liked Ben- meaning Mal said to the public she love-spelled Ben....and no one reacts! Everyone is just chill their future-queen magic-roofied their king?!

That scene is what made me hate Bal fully- Ben is PARANOID over being spelled again and calls Mal out for lying and trying to spell him again and Mal just throws herself a pity party by acting like he doesn't get how shes feeling and how hard it is for her suddenly before she turns the food back to normal and storms off- and what I disturbingly note: Mal is seen using that spell from MEMORY- shes seen waving her fingers like she knows what shes doing- shes used this spell before and its either on Ben or someone else- Mal would literally rather spell Ben then own up to her BS and then acts like its his fault when he doesn't fall for her BS and the narrative never treats her in the wrong as a result and instead.....Ben?! And this is never brought up again as Bens the one trying to say sorry and Mal never has to ONCE say sorry and even her friends treat him like hes the bad guy here- never once is Ben given an apology and then true loves kiss happens and now Bens in a toxic relationship as a result.

Also its funny she says he doesn't get what shes going through when he was crowned king at sixteen and had to deal with family day BS

Disney Channel did this shit on Liv and Maddie and now in Descendants: when it happens to a girl, its wrong but a boy? Romance- if Bal was reversed genders and Ben was a girl and Mal a boy, it'd be wrong and called out, but since Bens a boy and Mal's a girl, it never will be.

#disney descendants #descendants #descendants 2 #descendants 3 #anti-bal #everytime I have to retag my posts is the times I die inside #also seriously #im anti-bal to hell and back #just #ben deserves better and mal needs a dam talk on how to handle relationships

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ecofinisher · 5 years ago

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Abominable 2.0 - Chap 22

Chapter 22

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22006036/chapters/54569974

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13463708/22/Abominable-2-The-Fanfic-Sequel

https://www.wattpad.com/841684238-abominable-2-0-chapter-22

In the evening Mrs. Haas was taking off the used plates from the dinner table while the only persons remaining sitting were Jin, Yi and the Swiss-Austrian descendant girl Sonja.

“Did you two enjoy my Kaiserschmarrn?” The woman asked earning a nod from the newbies.

“Really sweet” Yi answered. “And it doesn’t fill my stomach so much as the fondue did during lunchtime”

“Yes, I know. This was just a rare occasion. Ben and Sonja love fondue and so do I. It was about time to make some now, that we’re here in the snowy areas” The mother explained to the raven-haired girl.

“It was a perfect choice Mrs. Haas” Jin complimented doing the chef kiss, making Yi roll her eyes in amusement while Sonja noticed and agreed with the girl. Sonja looked back at her smartphone again, then grinned as she received a message from someone.

“My friend Nadja just sent me this funny meme here” Sonja mentioned showing her smartphone to the short teenager.

“What’s funny about it?” Yi asked curiously, then Sonja showed to her friend Jin the image, making Jin chuckle while Yi twitched her eyebrows confused “Uh I didn’t get it”

“Look closer and you see the cow is made of moos” Jin pointed out earning a nod from the friend.

“Oh,” Yi answered in understanding.

Mrs. Haas passed behind the two Chinese friends and grabbed the plate of the two, then Jin noticed the woman carrying the plates and got up from the chair grabbing them.

“I’ll be taking them to the kitchen” Jin offered earning a smile from the woman.

“That was not necessary” The woman answered following Jin into the kitchen. Yi watched the memes Sonja had shown her on the smartphone and the blonde observed her mother accompanying the friend of Yi into the kitchen, where he placed the plates on the counter next to the sink. Jin glanced out of the kitchen seeing Yi with a goofy smile on her face as the half-Austrian girl showed her memes on her smartphone, then Jin leaned his back on the counter smiling because of her and Mr. Haas came along while looking out of the room.

“Why don’t you just tell her, how you feel?” Mr. Haas asked and Jin looked up at the man in confusion.

“But…...I never mentioned that I like her. How…..Am I making this look so obvious?” Jin questioned the man surprised at the quick knowledge he has about his crush.

“I have seen last night you were so worried about her. You were willing to freeze to death for her. I’ve experienced many similar cases to yours as a paramedic. Don’t be surprised about it”

Jin watched the girls, then gazed up at Sonja’s father. “I’ve been in love with her for almost four years….Well, it took me the first year to realize I was in love with her I just…..Don’t know, it was strange and new to me. I never saw her as a possible love interest in my life. The time I felt prepared to talk to Yi about how I feel about her, was on our first day at high school….I was a little confused with a conversation I had with her father and I had pushed forward my will to talk to her after school when we were doing homework or just hanging out together. After she found out on that day, that her father had passed away…..I postponed it again and during that time we both grew apart from each other. I got popular under my classmates and the rest of the students after puberty hit me like a truck and I looked like a combination of someone named Tadashi from Big Hero 6 and one boy called Parker from a show called Liv and Maddie….According to them. I never heard of these guys before nor what shows they’re in.”

“Neither have I, but have you ever stopped maybe for a day or so loving her or even had anything else with another girl?” Mr. Haas asked Jin, which nodded.

“That part of my life was disgusting. I went on many dates with many girls in the hope I would forget about my crush, but that never worked…...I could not feel the same feeling I felt for Yi”

“I’m not a relationship expert, but I believe the feeling you’ve got for Yi isn’t just a crush. It’s real love” Mr. Haas mentioned. “That’s why you have never forgotten her”

“Yeah, I didn’t,”

“You probably have fallen for her at some later point in your life like I don’t know, after a friendly kiss on your cheek, maybe a lovely comment,” The Austrian man mentioned seeing Jin observe the raven-haired girl on the table.

“She needs to know the truth” The Chinese boy mentioned. “Soon or later I have to tell her that,” The med student explained the adult, which nodded at the boy staring out at the girls on the dinner table.

“How long have you and Jin been friends?” Sonja asked.

“I don’t really know the right answer” Yi responded. “We were very little when we met. My mother and his used to drink tea together. I think around the first grade we started to see each other as friends and we grew closer with the time”

“You two have been friends for so long?” Sonja asked surprised. “Wow”

“Yeah, there was that space of time, that our friendship has been strained at the start of our days at the high school and we drifted apart from each other,”

“Oh…...but now you’re friends again?” The girl asked earning a nod from Yi.

“Yes”

“What had happened in that time?”

“My father had passed away on our first school away and I couldn’t process, what had happened. I began to lock everyone out of my life. I needed help…...I just didn’t know with who I should talk about it”

“Oh…...”

From the kitchen, Jin walked out at the table, where the two girls were having a conversation.

“Is everyone going out tonight?” Jin questioned the blonde girl.

“You mean out at the snow?” Sonja questioned the raven-haired boy, which nodded. “Yes”

“Where are we going?” Yi asked watching Jin shrug his shoulders.

“Her father mentioned something about going sledding as he and Sonja did in the past” Jin answered.

“My father used to take me here when I was a child and we would sled together down the hill,” Sonja explained. “Just a few years ago, various colored lights were added to the track giving the people a new aspect”

“That sounds amusing” The Chinese girl admitted earning a nod from the European descendant girl.

“The only difference is guiding a sled is a little hard, because you don’t have a steering wheel and for newbies, it might be hard, if not used to it,” Mr. Haas said coming out from the kitchen.

“I managed driving an oldtimer with manual gear shift. I don’t think sledding will be harder” Jin mentioned making the man snicker.

“Can’t wait to see you on the track, boy” Mr. Haas mentioned making his daughter laugh.

“Is it that hard?” Jin asked a little bewildered about the laughter.

“I’m just joking. If you get at the begin of the ride, you won’t have a problem”

“Okay,” Jin responded, then beside him passed the 14-year-old child of the Haas’ family with his portable and looked up at his father.

“Dad, can you help me pass this level?” The boy asked. “I can’t manage it”

“Hey my younger cousin has also one of these portables” Jin pointed out at the boy, which looked up at Jin.

“Will you play that level for me?” The boy asked looking up at Jin.

“I can try” Jin answered. “Is this an adventure game?”

“Yeah” The boy answered. “You have to defeat that villain, so you can pass to the last world”

“Alright Ben, I’ll try,” Jin said sitting down on the chair, followed by the boy pulling another chair close to the Asian descendant boy to watch him play.

#ecofinisher #ecofinisherfanfics #Abominable #Abominável #abominable yi #abominable jin #Wattpad #ao3 #archieve of our own #fanfic #fanfiction #fic update #fanfic update #updated

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askauradonprep · 7 years ago

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Descendants Book Read Along - Isle of the Lost. Chapter 9

- Apparently all Evie’s clothes are blue, as she had to examine them for the party and her mom gave her a three hour makeover. Oh god.

- Evie’s mom is the reason Mal wasn’t invited to the party. Interesting...

- Apparently the Isle goes out of their way to discourage empathy. Of course they do. Look, Isle citizens, it’s one thing to be born without empathy. You can’t help that and it doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person. However, I know for a fact that they also discourage compassion and are discouraging empathy so you can get your kids to be awful to each other so I am seething.

- Apparently Evie does look up to Mother Gothel. Vindication tastes like skittles.

- Apparently Grimhilde has a grudge against Maleficent and that’s why Mal wasn’t invited. So, probably over influence on the Isle. Evie also wonders why her mom thought now was aafe to leave - Evie, there were no guards keeping you in there and people REGULARLY defy Maleficent. I don’t think anyone cares.

- Evie’s used to freaky things in the dark because of her mother’s taste in decor which involved skulls, hidden things with yellow eyes, etc. I am concerned. Also, I don’t know if I mentioned this in earlier chapters, but Evie regularly keeps secrets from her mom when she knows her mom would be mad.

- YUP the closet’s full of fur traps. Ones that can snap your leg in two. Evie tries to open the door but is locked in.

- Evie starts slowly moving through the closet because there’s a door at the other end, accidentally snapping off a couple traps, one of which grazes her knee but the others she dodges.

- She accidentally knocks one which starts setting the others off like dominos, forcing her to run. One almost gets her heel, another one her stocking. Geez, okay, fine, Mal does something genuinely evil, not just grade school bullying. It only took her almost a third of the way into the book. Yes, I’m still making fun of her for mostly being a punk. :P

- Evie gets through the door and walks right smack into a bunch of coats - skunk, sable, mink, ocelot, etc. She freaks for a bit, thinking its a bear, before she realizes it and tries to escape the tangled up furs she’s stuck in. Carlos pulls her out to the other side.

- Evie gets snarky when he asks if she’s okay! She says she is and asks if she won the game. Carlos says Mal’s going to be mad she’s alive. Well, too bad for Mal.

- Carlos sleeps in a dressing room with a bunch of chore equipment on the other side of the fur traps. Eeeeeeek. Cruella, what in the WORLD is wrong with you? Evie even comments that she sleeps better than that and has a real bed! I’m gonna chalk the real bed stuff up to her being sheltered though. That’s not a Cruella thing, that’s a universal poverty thing. Jay doesn’t have a bed either (Although Carlos isn’t sleeping under heavy tv sets that can fall and crush him so...point, Cruella?)

- ‘relatively soft’ pillows. I see that, Evie. So yeah, Evie is also slightly better off than most on the Isle.

- Most houses aren’t insulated for winter. Hell Hall and Evie’s home, both of whom are slightly better off just by size, are not. HOW ARE PEOPLE ON THIS ISLE STILL *ALIVE*?

- Also, when Evie mentions bright sides to Carlos’ room, she calls it cozy and says he’ll never catch a cold if he uses the furs as a blanket. Sick = sucky on the Isle. I do enjoy getting fuel for my head canons. <3

- Carlos isn’t allowed to touch the furs. Of course not. Unless he’s washing or fluffing them I suppose.

- *sigh* Yup. Grimhilde tried to challenge Maleficent’s ‘leadership’ on the Isle and that’s why she wouldn’t invite Mal, because she was jealous nobody followed her. This is ‘unheard’ of. I’m just going to copy paste my rant to @kidofhallowart: Nope, it's too late. It's a third of the way into the book, you can't establish this now. After showing us that there are TEENAGERS who regularly disrespect her. JAY STEALS FROM AND ASSAULTS HER GUARDS REGULARLY. EVIE JUST WALKED OUT THE DOOR. Okay, fine, maybe Grimhilde and Maleficent worked something out, but nobody else knows that. As far as they know Evie just walked out the door one day and flouted Maleficent's so called authority. And even if Maleficent doesn't care about her guards, OTHER PEOPLE will get the idea they can get away with scorning her. Also - even if Maleficent is the sole ruler, she should be REGULARLY fearing for her life and her daughter's life. WHY HASN'T HOOK OR GASTON OR CLAYTON OR SYKES JUST SHOT THEM?! SHE DOESN’T HAVE MAGIC. SHE CAN STILL DIE. tl;dr - Yeah, no, I’m refusing to believe it. You’ve already shown us people regularly disrespect her authority. You’ve already shown us her authority is basically just yelling at people and having lots of minions. Neither of those an undisputed ruler make. The movie’s also show us Mal has her own territory that isn't her mother’s, thereby establishing that yes, there is territory not belonging to Maleficent (and there’s probably others). I’m willing to believe she rules a good chunk, but not the whole Isle and not undisputed. I can believe a lot of people are afraid of her or would rather not cross her but that’s not the same thing as obeying a sovereign ruler. Evie believes it because she was imprisoned at six and Carlos is afraid of her. They can say it all they want, I’m STILL ignoring this. :P

- Evie goes to fix her makeup. Ow.

- Carlos says Mal will get over it. Carlos, honey, Maleficent’s family gets over NOTHING. Evie says that too. She wants to go home and never come out. </3 Screw you, Mal. I love you but screw you in this instance. And Evie knows she won’t be allowed by mom to stay home forever.

- Evie offers to give Carlos her old comforter and thinks that if she ever had a little brother, it wouldn’t be so bad to have a little brother like Carlos. She says it would be ‘tolerable’ but she so clearly thinks it'd be alright. Excuse me, I need to go cry and melt and cry more. She tries to take it back when he stares at her but STILL.

- Carlos accepts because nobody’s ever cared if he was warm or not. Owwwwwwwww. Not that Evie CARES of course - caring is against the rules of Dragon Hall and would turn a person into a laughing stock. Of course. They were just going to throw it out so may as well use Carlos’ home as their dumpster, right? Wink wink.

- Carlos asks if they were going to throw out a pillow too and accidentally admits he’s never owned one. He tries to cover it by saying he’s had many but they had to throw them out. Evie says they were going to throw out a pillow. She blushes and feels a warm, sunny feeling in her chest. The phrase ‘taken over’ sounds like its new to her. It’s called friendship, honey! </3

- Evie asks about his machine so he goes to show her his lab. Outside the party. Honey, Carlos, maybe try to keep that in check? But he holds the door open for Evie which is SUPER CUTE. He lights a candle with a match to see in the weedy backyard. He assures her he doesn’t sacrifice toads which I find concerning about Isle science.

- Carlos has a tree house. So apparently there ARE tress on the Isle. I mean, like, its a Dark Forest which never means anything good. Carlos’ has mini turrets and a balcony to look over the forest. Carlos uses it as a lab so his mom won’t take the chemicals for makeup and hair products. There’s jars, vials and beakers full of neon coloured liquids and a tv with about fifteen different antennas stuck to it. Evie asks what one is and Carlos says he tried to use it to make a sponge when mixed with water (he took it from Chem Lab). He brought her here to see the machine to poke a hole in the barrier though, so lets see it.

- The box doesn’t work - it sputters and dies. Evie points out two wires are in the wrong place and a powerful electric burst knocks them against the wall and to the floor. It bursts through the roof and into the sky. Apparently Maleficent’s name is a swear word (at least to Carlos). They also say ‘Oh my goblins’ on the Isle because why not?

- They head out to the balcony where sure enough, the light burns through the barrier so they see the night sky for the first time. There’s a lightning flash, a supersonic rumble goes through the Isle (how many buildings do you wanna bet got flattened?) and the box beeps. A bunch of Disney channel shows go through them - Dog with a Blog, Liv and Maddie and Mighty Med. So Disney channel and Disney XD shows DO exist in Descendants verse, but as tv shows. Neat! And yes, Carlos screams at the dog on tv. Poor baby. Carlos is proud of discovering all the different shows.

- The box goes dead and presumably the hole closes. But Carlos is so happy it worked, even as he swears Evie to secrecy. He says they could get in real trouble if people found out about the dome. It’s true Auradon would not be happy and they presumably have guards with the garbage ‘supplies’. However, it’d be more likely the others would find out and whoops, Carlos is now forced to work on it 24/7. Evie promises but crosses her fingers behind her back.

- Carlos asks if she wants to go back to the party and she asks if they have to. Carlos concedes its a good point and tells her her favourite show, the one with the Prince of the Week, is on the Auradon News Network in five minutes, which excites her.

- The barrier hole awakens Maleficent’s staff for a second, the most dangerous evil weapon. It also frees Maleficent’s crow familiar and her best (first) friend, Diablo. It ends on the note ‘Evil would fly again’ and ‘Evil lives..’ Oooh, ominous!

#Ask Auradon reads #isle of the lost by Melissa de la Cruz #chapter 9

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twobestgemini-blog · 7 years ago

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Descendants and The Addams

So, I went on an internet adventure today.

As you don’t know, I spend a disproportionate amount of my time sitting in front of a TV with the Disney channel playing for various reasons I will never understand. Maybe we lost the remote.

Between the hours of JESSIE, Jake and Blake, and Liv and Maddie, there are Disney channel original movies. One of which was The Decedents, an original from last year, if surprisingly young-looking Cam Brainard is to be believed.

Being in the presence of children, it, of course, came on to my initial chagrin. And oh how I toiled in pure seething hate from the first note of “Rotten to the Core” to the final auto-tuned lyric. This was Disney Channel songs now. I mean…I don’t remember Disney Channel Movies to ever be that great. (High School Musical is my bar for quality in Disney productions, so take me with that package of salt). Still, I watched with abject love-hate of this fanfic in action.

There’s plot that happens, and it seems that our main girl Mel is going to badly lip sink to a new auto-tuned song with generic lyrics. How exciting as she looks at a wax figurine of her mother and laments that she does not know who to be…and then the auto tuned hold on her note. And then—And THEN!

Maleficent comes to life and throws the nothing of a tune it was about to become into the dumpster and performs the BEST NUMBER in this entire movie—and it’s an unapologetic Broadway song. With clever lyrics, and a fun beat, and the vocals of Kristin Chenoweth.

HOW? HOW DID THIS END UP HERE?

youtube

So I googled it.

And “Evil Like Me” was written by only one person who only wrote one song for this movie. Andrew Lippa.

He actually has the most baller picture on his front page.

Latest News section hasn’t really been updated in a couple of years, but I love how there’s a link to the Descendants just chilling in the right hand corner. And then I just wandered on over to what he composed and realized I’ve loved this guy for years and never knew it.

Wanna know why Evil Like Me is such a good villain song that has too much charisma for it’s own good? Because this it the guy who made Broadway musical villains—at least the family—or musical goths—this joke is broken—THE ADDAMS FAMILY! He wrote the musical numbers to The Addams Family Broadway play! Gah! The clever lyrics. The wondrous tone. The simple greatness and likeability of Maleficent.

Oh, why oh why did he not get to do the rest of Descendants? Like…can I have a comical back and forward ��Let’s Not Talk About Anything Else But Love”-style duet to replace the Descendants “If Only” or “Did I mention”? I want a bombastic, over the top opening number of “Rotten to the Core” played to trumpets and drums and ending with like a million extras for no reason.

For now, I guess I’ll be satisfied with “Evil Like Me” and hope that Broadway sneaks its way into the sequel—oh wait.

-X

#evil like me #disney descendants #andrew lippa #the addams family #musical #broadway #kristin chenoweth #dove cameron

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esotericconundrums-archive · 7 years ago

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Why do you play your character the way you do? Any reason or is it just natural?

HARRIET HOLLY HOOK let’s do this.

preamble. I like pirates. pirates of the Caribbean is my favorite ride, movie. i like the tinker bell pirate movie and muppet pirates and the goonies. my first effects make up look was a pirate fairy. my next cosplay is a pirate. i like pirates. great moving on. as stated i’m a nanny(part time), so i take care of a lot of kids ranging from 2-12. my other job as a barista mean i have to connect with everyone in about 30 seconds. families are the easiest because lots of families watch children’s programming. so i often get asked if i’m a mom because of how much knowledge i have. so i’ve watched, liv and maddie and ant farm and jesse, ect. so when descendants came out my girls were like please can we watch it. and it’s a great movie, it’s paced well, the songs are good, i’m not mad at it because their is worst out there(season 6 opening of my little pony can be flushed down the toilet where it belongs) so i’m watching them again and descendants 2 is a thing and i’m over it and fucking harry hook shows his face on the ad(cause pirates) and i’m like wow i’m weak i guess i am watching it. and because i’m a weak person, harry hook stole the show for me(extra af, i live for it) and then my girls(and i, let’s be real here) wanted more of this. so we watched wicked world and they bought the books. i wanted to do a harry hook cosplay and it was going to be harriet “harri” hook. but then i found out their is a harriet hook. so i decided to apply here on a whim and harriet is in my top favourite characters that i have played. premble over.So why do i play here the way i do. because i’m 24 years old and i know that if i was on the isle i’d be bored af of acting like a hoodlum and want to find a way off the isle and take whatever chance i got to get away. i was driving in my car thinking about who harriet was and what her life would be like with her dad and two siblings. that’s what made me apply basically. i’m curious about harriet. that’s how i choose to play my characters, it’s the ones i find i play best(not saying i’m a great harriet, just that they are usually easier to write) i’m curious about this young woman who is the older sister to a mad man and a rebel. in the books they describe harriet as mean spirited and sassy and yeah that was probably harriet when she was around 17 but grew out of it. she can be mean but their’s not as much fun in it. if harry is quixotic and cj is carefree, harriet is practical. practical in the sense she sees what auradon has to offer. sure it offers a chance to hurt those who hurt them but it’s a chance to get off the isle and do something more, it’s why she’s gunning for neverland so much. the VKs are drenched in legacy, it burns in their veins, whispers in their head, sure the AKs are too but the very nature of auradon is you make your own journey, a heroes journey really. this is my driving force, my bases for harriet. her biggest dilemma lies in legacy. she’s her father’s daughter, has his name, his looks, his ship but will she be him? she struggles with that conflict everyday and that’s where my basis lies for harriet, how she goes from one day to the next with this expectation carved into her soul. that’s interesting. harriet is a mixed bag, that’s for sure. she teeters on the edge of chaotic neutral and lawful evil a lot. their’s a drive behind her, a fierce convection that she stands with and even so that foundation is cracking. if the bases for harriet is her legacy then one of her cracks in foundation is hook.i have a lot quires about her relationship with hook. honestly at first she was just going to hate him. that’s boring to me. she has no reason to hate him. but she does have reason to pity him. that’s interesting to me. to be disillusioned, to have so much hope in a father only for that hope to be crushed by him and it happen constantly. for harriet to be the favourite child is not me making her more important then harry or cj, it’s just that she’s the oldest, the one who signified chance and change and the one who it was all ripped away from before a cry could even be heard. she was a daddy’s girl very much, she wanted to be like her father. until he crushed the little hope she had. but he’s her father and he was great and he’s a shell of himself. does harriet follow in his footsteps or she set her own course. she spites her father yes, she’s left handed and tells him she’ll take away the jolly roger but it’s only because she wants a reaction.crack in foundation number two:harry and cj and basically the rest of the younger kids on the isle(sans uma)i’m the eldest. i would rip apart the world with my bare hands for my siblings. but being the oldest is hard. it’s why it’s easy to play harriet as the oldest, i know her struggles. harriet is a bad mother to every single one of the children. and i mean that in the way harriet is the unofficial mom of the isle. she was the kid patching up cuts and bruises after sword fights, she made sure the kids ate, she tried to solve problems but she could not let herself care and that’s what makes her bad. she wanted to take care of people but the isle does allow for that. she’d smack upside the head and tell them if they hurt themselves again they were on their own. but girl tried, and fail so hard. but as a pirate loyalty is prized above her. her mother left her with an unstable pirate with a hook. her loyalty was broken and harriet cannot find herself to forgive her mother and this underlying issue is why she’s so bad at being a “mom”. she doesn’t not want to be like the woman who left her but she wants to be more and does know how. crack in foundation number three: her want to care and loveharriet loves leland. she loves her crew. she loves her siblings. she loves emery and nic and cedric and her father. but you can’t show that on the isle. she’s so torn. so frustrated. she wants what’s best for those she loves and cares about but has no idea how to really show it. the headcanon for her first hug is precious.for me these ideas are my reasons for why i play harriet the way i do. she’s complicated and i realize that maybe most people aren’t going to play harriet this way. because yeah it might not be canon but we really don’t know. for me harriet is a young woman with ambition and power, drive. she’s cunning and industrious and she’s complicated. one min she’s on a sugar high the next she’s stealing trinkets and possibly planning the downfall of auradon. but in her horizon is neverland. sure i could go off the movie and base a lot of her on harry. but that’s harry and he’s fucking great and i love harry so much, ugh why is he so extra and fantastic, i might cry i love that boy so much. but it’s not harriet. she’s her own person(to me) and i hope i’m playing her in a way that’s interesting and fun to interact with. i know she’s wishy washy because she doesn’t know her own mind yet and she’s gonna change direction her course is selfish and giving. to take her crew to neverland but she doesn’t have a set path. lastly the accent. harry’s accent is so apart of him that when i started playing harriet she had to have the accent. i’ve written english accents before but scottish is a whole different ball game and i’m trying to find that voice and style that works.

TLDR: Harriet Holly Hook is complicated and i hope i’m playing her in a way that’s interesting and fun to write with.

#under read more #cause it's long #i told you #Anonymous

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madisonrooney · 8 years ago

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OK OK OK SO TALKING WITH THE DESCENDANTS CAST

so my friend texts me that theyre taking calls so i go at it. im on hold for an HOUR going back and forth between listening to the hold music and being helped along by a woman on the line. after that hour I GET CUT OFF, wait on hold for another 20 minutes, get back on the line with woman i was talking to, and keep getting pushed forward.

they asked me to ask them what they admire most about their characters and to request a song

after all this I FINALLY GET ON WITH DOVE AND SOFIA. i wasnt even sure i was on for a little bit cuz when i heard them talking i thought maybe they were talking to someone else or i was just listening to the radio on hold but soon enough i realized NOPE THEYRE TALKING TO ME SO IM LIKE “HIIIIII” and i told them my name and sofia said hi amanda D’: we didnt really get to converse but they answered my question and hearing dove (and sofia) go on about it was just ahhhHHHHHHH

BUT WHEN SOFIA WAS ANSWERING MY QUESTION I GOT CUT OFF. as awful as that sounds, apparently im not the only one who had that result. i think they have that problem often.

i call back and they actually answer like right away and say dove and sofia switched out but cameron and booboo are still there so im like alright lets go for dem boyz

i get on with them and this time i can tell right away that im on the air lol so im like i didnt get the chance to reintroduce myself to dove and sofia so im gonna do it right away with these guys so i said “im amanda and ive actually met you guys before! i was dressed as maddie from liv and maddie at the d23 expo” and camerons like “NO WAY. NO WAY. OH MY GOD HOW HAVE YOU BEEN” and i know hes not faking this cuz when i met him at the descendants signing he remembered things about me i hadnt even reminded him when i saw him a few weeks before then. they said i have to come see them this year at d23 and im like “duh thats my top priority” they asked me if i was dressing up again this year and booboo wants me to dress up as all four of them at once and theyre like “OK WERE EXPECTING THIS FROM YOU NOW AMANDA” and im like “oK” and theyre like “YOURE THE BEST AMANDA” and im like “YOURE THE BEST” and after answering my questions they say again “WE EXPECT YOU TO BE WEARING THIS COSTUME”

and i was shaking the whole time and i just bawled afterwards cuz like not only do i love this whole cast but ELEVEN MONTHS AND ELEVEN FAILED ATTEMPTS OF SEEING MY LOVE LATER WE FINALLY GOT TO SPEAK AGAIN

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mind-set-to-blog-mode · 8 years ago

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Top 5 Woman-Crush-Wednesday's

Anyone remember my blog post on the Top 5 Man Crush Monday's? Remember how I said I would write a post in the next couple of days? Well a year has past and still haven't done it, so what the heck. Better late that never.

Moving from 2016 to 2017, I'm still the same Joe. The s*** with money, power ranger obsessed Joe. But with a touch more sass. Well I think so anyway. And recently I have been admiring a few female stars with what they've achieved and their talent. Which is why not so long ago I created the slogan GGL. GGL stands for Gay Girl Love. This is for when a gay man (such as myself) really likes a female person for multiple reasons such as their hair, voice, stuff they appeared or worked for etc. Multiple traits that you really admire about one person. For example, Nicole Scherzinger. I think her voice is brilliant, her hair is always flawless, her song Poison is amazing and she was killing it in the music video. I love her for all that. More than just saying 'OMG I love her' but not in the way of really loving/ fancying her. So then I would say I have GGLs for Nicole. If that makes sense. So going back to the trend of WCW. WCW stands for Woman Crush Wednesday. This is exactly the same as Man Crush Monday but with Woman and on a Wednesday. I am obviously not the kind of guy who would use this hashtag to post pics on their social media of bikini models wearing only swimsuits showing off their boobs and butts (for an obvious reason which I've said 2/3 times already). But it doesn't mean I would ignore the hashtag. Just because I'm not attracted to women doesn't mean I think women are only good for showing off their body and absolutely nothing else. Women can do what men can do and vice versa. Equality, plain and simple. There are so many great people who have done some amazing things who are female. And despite not being attracted to them, I would use the WCW hashtag to show how incredible they are in what they've achieved. So this post is a list of my Top 5 most likely Woman Crush Wednesday's. I think these people are amazing and you'll find out why.

5. Poppy

https://youtu.be/xqH3KaW25AA

The person in the photo above (who's hair is amazing btw) is Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. She's Poppy. Okay. That's enough. You are most likely to have skip read all of that but if you somehow decided to read all the sentences, how long did it take you? It took me 25 seconds which felt long enough to read 2 words. But imagine having two words said on and on for over 10 minutes, weird right. That didn't stop Poppy. Oh hell no! Poppy (also known as That Poppy) is an artist who has been known to make YouTube videos which weird the s*** out of everyone. One of her most popular videos is where she repeats herself saying "I'm Poppy" for over 10 minutes. And that's just one video. From interviewing a plant, to teaching you how to play the 'P' chord, to giving you a virtual hug and to loading a gun. There's a huge variety of weird. And I like that. Not your typical YouTuber, it's a fresh change. Especially since nobody knows much about her. Whether if this is all an act, what she is really like, if this is her actual personality, her age, interests. No one knows. But that doesn't stop a video of hers making you think. And you don't know what to think, you just do. From anything to everything. However, her videos are not why she made it in this list. The music she has released is incredible. Despite the videos being weird and probably full of hidden messages, the actual songs are simply beautiful. Examples include Lowlife, Money & I'm Poppy. Have a little listen for yourself and you'll see why she made the list.

4. Naomi Scott

http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/theatrical/powerrangers/

There's obviously gonna be a Power Ranger in this list. It is me after all. Naomi Scott (who was also in the Disney Channel Original Movie 'Lemonade Mouth') plays Kimberly Heart, the Pink Ranger in the Power Rangers 2017 Reboot Movie. Based of the original 1993 character, Naomi does a brilliant job of bringing the character to life again with so much more depth. Not going into too much detail which could spoil the movie, her character has a brilliant way of teaching people that you can learn from the mistakes you make and just because you do a bad thing, it won't automatically make you a bad person. An important message, shown perfectly well. Not only just that, Naomi's character gives you so many moments that get you pumped in this movie too. There's scenes which makes you laugh, get excited, be shocked, and feel worried etc. There's even a scene where she walks down a staircase (pictured) and you can't help but think 'Yassss Queen, Slay That Staircase'. Or at least just me anyway. Simply said, the way she portrayed the character was on point, you can't help but love the new Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger.

3. Dove Cameron

http://www.game-ost.com/albums/87630/one_second_chance_from_%22liv_and_maddie_cali_style%22_-_single/

There maybe two in the picture but trust me, there is only one Dove!

Dove Cameron is a current Disney Channel Queen. Now don't get me wrong. I loved growing up with Disney Channel. My childhood dream was to be in front of a white backdrop holding a glow stick saying "I'm Joe Smith and you're watching Disney Channel" whilst drawing Mickey Mouse ears (if you don't know what I'm on about, watch this). High School Musical, Hannah Montana & That's So Raven. Those were the classics. I lost count how many times people who know me personally asked me if I knew about the Raven sequel series that's been announced. Of course I did. It's me. But it's safe to say that most things made after Season 2 of Shake It Up were pretty awful. To some, I'm even being generous by saying the first season of SIU was decent. I feel like I can safely say shows like Dog With A Blog and Ant Farm lost a generation of viewers. They lost comedy and Disney Channel spark. To me, the Disney Channel I knew was dead. But a couple of years later, the return of Cory and Topenga from Boy Meets Worlds sequel series Girl Meets World, brought me back to the channel. The show is special and brought back some magic of enjoyment like my younger self had from my DC days. I didn't even watch Boy Meets World but I could feel so much nostalgia and happy feelings from it as well. Because of this, I could watch other shows every now and then from around that time (such as I Didn't Do It, K.C. Undercover, Best Friends Whenever) and despite not enjoying them as much as the old shows (mainly because I'm [apparently] an adult and these are made for teens), they wouldn't be an unpleasant viewing. But not so long ago, I subscribed to Disney Life to binge watch the old shows as often as I wanted to. But there was one show I couldn't help but take a little look at. And that was Liv And Maddie. A few episodes passed and that was it. Turns out despite the immature comedy and easy to figure out plots sometimes, there's something about the show I really like. I don't know what it is but I really do enjoy watching Liv And Maddie. Liv And Maddie stars Dove Cameron as both Liv Rooney & Maddie Rooney. Identical twin sisters who are reunited and living together after Liv comes back home after filming her own TV show for quite a long time. Remember earlier how I said women are more than just here to look pretty and nothing else? Well Liv And Maddie deals with this topic really well. They bring up topics from guys ranking the girls from 0-10 just on their appearance, schools putting more money & care to boy sports teams than girl teams and female actors getting more questioned about what they wear than their time on making the show. Liv And Maddie just screams girl power, and it's done perfectly well. The show ran for three seasons and a fourth with the updated title Liv And Maddie: Cali Style (pictured above). The show has something unique about it (joining the small list of DC shows that got the 4th season renewal such as That's So Raven, Hannah Montana & Good Luck Charlie) and Dove does a brilliant job of bringing such big personalities to life in two characters with the way the show is made. But it's not just this show that makes Dove a Disney Channel Queen. She also is a Disney Villain... Kinda...

http://gattaracinefila.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/recensioni-di-descedants-i-guardiani.html

Dove also stars as Mal, Maleficent's daughter in the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants. Not going into too much detail because I've talked about Dove a lot but this film is pretty decent. A story about the kids of Disney heroes & villains is gonna catch my interest. Kenny Ortega who directed High School Musical did this as well so I can use that as an alibi to prove it isn't awful. And soon there is going to be a sequel and I am really excited to see it. I haven't been excited to see a DCOM since Camp Rock 2. So that is why Dove is in the list. Mirror Mirror, on the wall, who's the baddest of them all? I'm not genuinely asking, it a quote from the movie. I felt like I needed to put it there.

2. Becky G

http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/theatrical/powerrangers/

That's the longest I've ever gone not talking about Power Rangers. How did I mange that?! But carrying on with the list. Becky G is Number 2 on this list. She is a Pop Princess in the United States. Not that popular in the UK (yet), you may remember her collaboration with Cher Lloyd. But it's not just her music that puts her on this list. Like Naomi, Becky G plays Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger in the Power Rangers 2017 Reboot Movie. But Becky brings a change to her original 1993 character in such a great way and is a ranger you can really like. One of the things about her character is that she's gay. She admits this is in the movie and she talks about how she struggles moving home all the time and living with parents who want her to be perfect and how they believe in all these types of labels. And Becky's character deals with this topic in a small but brilliant way. Trini is the first openly gay Ranger in the whole PR universe and that's an amazing step forward. Power Rangers has been around for a long time and always been diverse with their many different cast members. The movies cast is also diverse and the fact that it's not just dealing with race but now sexuality as well, it's a brilliant thing. The cast and the way their characters are portrayed are done perfectly well. That's what makes Power Rangers a great movie. And Becky G plays a huge part in this, which is why I admire her.

1. Ariana Grande

http://gazettereview.com/2017/03/ariana-grande-net-worth/

Another Pop Princess makes the list and takes the crown as Number 1. Ariana Grande needs no introduction and if you don't know who she is, you've been living under a rock. Even though I'm not her biggest fan, I still have serious GGL's for Ariana. I loved watching her play the role of Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon series Victorious. The not so smart but still so talented character was portrayed by Ariana really well. Watching the series during its original run even made me want to meet Cat so much, I wanted her to be a real person. Her character was brilliant and brought so much laughter to me when watching the series. But it's not just the role of Cat that makes me love Ariana. Her voice is incredible! From listening to some amazing songs like The Way, Bang Bang, Problem & Break Free, it just proves how amazing her voice is. Have a little listen for yourself and you are most likely to agree with me.

Just before Christmas 2016, Ariana took the role of Penny Pingleton in NBC's Hairspray Live! and like any acting job she takes, Ariana plays it perfectly well. Her verse in You Can't Stop The Beat is really enjoyable and you can't help but admire her collaboration with Dove Cameron (who is also in this TV Special) and Maddie Baillio for the song Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now. When watching the special, it's easy to see how much Ariana enjoyed playing the role of Penny and I much prefer her take on the character than the 2006 movie Penny. I can't help but love Ariana. So that concludes my Top 5 WCW. I'll do my best to post more on this blog since I do enjoy it but for now, thank you so much for spending time reading this and I hope you enjoyed it.

@josephsmithy101

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thetimelordbatgirl · 7 years ago

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In descendants 3 I hope ben calls mal out again and does everything he can to gain umas trust a brings her and the crew to the isle. Huma also needs to be canon like it's fun to guess but I need the canon to ease my heart. Also if Disney even dares to imply that harry x mal was a thing I will literally lose my mind

I will literally pay for the plane tickets just so that I can travel to Disney AND RIOT CAUSE GOD IF THEY GO WITH WHAT PRINCESS DOVE WANTS, THEN THEY WILL ROYALLY SCREW UP THEIR FILMS.

And I want Ben too call Mal out- Disney Channels Andi Mack had Jonah Beck call out GF Amber for how toxic she can be for him and he broke it off himself despite her getting mad and telling him he’ll regret it- but with Descendants and even Liv & Maddie, the boy (Ben and Joey) never gets to call out the toxic GF (Mal and Willow) cause everyone thinks they cute and true love when probably half of the audience is uncomfortable as heck watching the couple(s).

True- I do want Ben to be the one who becomes the person who changes Auradon constantly and therefore defies his parents ideals by bringing Uma and co over and then Uma and Ben teaming up to bring more and more kids over until they all safe from their parents.

I want Huma and maybe poly pirate crew cause honestly both are good options- interracial and poly ships that prove you don’t have to be two people to be in love, let alone the same gender. And canon should make it canon cause god if you over-write UMA RUNNING HER HAND THROUGH HARRYS HAIR AND HIM MELTING AGAINST HER IN FAVOUR OF A WHITE SHIP, I CALL BS.

#disney descendants #descendants #descendants 2 #descendants 3 #uma #harry hook #mal #huma #bitch better not get with Harry #he and Uma are made for each other

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madisonrooney · 8 years ago

Video

youtube

“Every ending is a new beginning.”

(here’s the unabridged version of the description for this video, as YouTube cut it short)

Where do I even begin?

This show came into my life exactly when I needed it to. I had been suffering through emotional abuse and one of the things most near and dear to me I lost as a result of it was Disney Channel. As my passion for it was a lot of the target for my abuse, as well as general bullying, and simply because I had very little emotional energy as a result, it became near impossible for me to keep up with the Channel, even though it was such an important part of who I was. Even when I was well into the recovery process and began to try to return to the Channel, my OCD would get the better of me, rarely letting me have even 22 minutes away a day from my studying. In the summer of 2013, my friend and I were planning on watching Teen Beach Movie, and I noticed that there was a show to premiere after it called Liv and Maddie. I figured I’d give it a try; I’d do anything to get back into the Channel again. We watched it and I really enjoyed it, but I had absolutely no idea the ride it would have me in for.

As the show went on, I continued liking it more and more, but fell behind here and there. But I told myself, “No. I’m not letting this happen again. I’m going to allow myself to enjoy something.” I took two binge nights and never fell behind again after that. My love for it continued to grow, and grow, and grow, until it became one of the most important things in my life. I began to keep up with other shows on the channel, and eventually was keeping up with the majority of them. And in general, I simply felt…happier than I had been before. In years, even. I had forgotten what it had felt like to be as happy as this show made me. I had felt like abuse made me lose who I was, but this show helped me find myself again.

But even that big of an impact was far from the only one.

On August 15, 2015, I had the honor of meeting Dove Cameron with the cast of Descendants, and later her again with the cast of Liv and Maddie, at the D23 Expo. I fell crying into Dove’s arms and had the honor of saying “Bam, what!?” with the entire cast, donning my semi-homemade Maddie costume. I thought I’d peaked then, but it was only the beginning.

A few weeks later, I moved out to California for good to start film school. It occurred to me not long after that I could now actually go to Liv and Maddie live tapings, so, as I saw tickets available for October 16, I got them and went on that day. The cast remembered me and seemed as excited to see me again as I was to see them again. Not only that, but getting to see the set of my favorite show, even walk on some of it, and watch it happen before my very eyes was a dream come true. I thought THAT was my peak, but it was still far from it.

Around that same time, a girl behind me in class looked at my computer to see my picture with the cast as my desktop image. In high school, I’d been embarrassed to put anything pertaining to my interests on my laptop or phone, but I’d decided to embrace it in college. It’s a good thing I did, because if I hadn’t, the girl wouldn’t have asked, “Is that Dove Cameron!?!?” and we wouldn’t have become great friends to this day. She had been into her because of Descendants, and I introduced her to Liv and Maddie, and as she got into it quickly, we jumped on the chance to go to a cast signing that December 8th. I reunited with some cast members, met some I hadn’t before (and crew members as well), and even had the chance to ice skate with them and go on rides with them. That sounds like a peak? Doesn’t it? How could it POSSIBLY get even better than that? I didn’t know it at the time, but it would.

A few weeks later, we were elated to hear that the show had been renewed for a fourth season, a rare occurrence on Disney Channel. This meant more live tapings! We had the honor of attending four that season, and with each passing one, we grew closer and closer to the cast and crew. Years before this, I didn’t know if I’d ever even MEET any of my favorite celebrities. Much less develop relationships with them. Among the many moments that resonated with me most was when I caught Dove’s eye at the second to last taping and she immediately whipped around to face me and said, “I KNOW YOU!!” At the very last taping, the cast came out to hang out with us following the show. Even outside of the tapings, we managed to see and hang out with the cast, such as a concert Jessica Marie Garcia hosted last April and brought Victoria Moroles along with to, seeing Chloe East at an art festival, running into Shak Ghacha at the Radio Disney Music Awards, and just a couple weeks ago, reuniting with much of the cast and crew at a play John D. Beck was starring in. These were all some of the greatest nights of my life.

In line for these tapings, I met even more friends. At the end of high school, I only had about 4 friends I’d spend time with outside of school. In just the first year of college, I’d made 7, and 5 of them I’d met because of Dove or Liv and Maddie. I’d rarely in my life known what it felt like to have that many friends, to have that many people who enjoy my company and that I can spend time with, much less ones who will not only not chastise my interests, but who SHARE them. It felt so good and still does.

That’s the peak. Isn’t it? Not quite.

Though it hasn’t come yet, there may be a day I’ll be able to say Liv and Maddie got me a JOB. That’s right. My passion for the show has helped me network with people in the industry, and I can’t wait to see the rest of the places it takes me.

I thought I’d seen it all. Through all the movies and shows I’d loved and had the time of my life with, I didn’t think it could get any better. But when this show entered my life, it took things to a whole new level. Liv and Maddie has been one of the most positively impactful things in my entire life and I can’t express how grateful I am to have it. From the constant joy it’s brought me over the past few years, joy that sometimes is otherwise hard to find, to the immense inspiration it has given me for my own writing, its influence is unparalleled. To be able to move to California right in the height of this show was a very fortunate occurrence, and I am so lucky that it worked out that way.

To anyone and everyone involved with this show, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for creating something so impactful and joyful. Thank you for accepting me as a part of your family. There are few places I feel as welcome as when I am on that set or with anyone from that cast and crew. Thank you for all your kind words, hugs, and generosity every time I’ve made any of your acquaintances. As a writer, thank you for making what is without a doubt one of the greatest and most well-executed properties Disney Channel has ever seen. And as a fan, thank you for taking me on one hell of a ride.

As Liv and Maddie says goodbye, it leaves me, my friends, Disney Channel, and the lives of all who it has touched better than when it entered them. It is a show I know without a doubt will live on for ages, and I can’t wait to see the great things the cast and crew go on to do. Maybe one day, it’ll be something I’m involved in as well.

“It never ends, just hit replay, so we can always feel this way."

#long post #liv and maddie

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