#uma critical

[descenderintofantasy]

WHY is Mal called out for her love spell, but UMA'S is totally fine? Why does ONE get dragged and not the OTHER? Uma does the exact same thing as Mal. (love spells Ben) Yet more than half the fandom, insists that Uma would be a better partner for Ben than Mal?!

Uma literally preforms a dance with Ben which is more physical contact then we ever see Mal have with him, while Ben is under Mal's love spell.

So Uma actually takes advantage of Ben MORE then Mal ever did.

Yet MAL is the one who is the WORSE partner for Ben out of the two?!

Make it make sense!

[hitchell-mope]

Another rant by yours truly.

Yeah. I don’t like the love potion. But the anti Mal morons have GOT to remember the actual canon context of why Mal used the love potion. It was the quickest way of getting near the wand. And when she found herself catching feelings for Ben. She took steps to remove the potion. Of course the potion had already work off thanks to the enchanted lake water. But Mal didn’t know that until AFTER she had given Ben the antidote. Plus. Mal only went along with his theory that she love potioned him because it was easier at that point to agree with him rather than explain everything about her mother. And I maintain that she told him everything after the coronation.

And also. You need to remember that Mal actually, genuinely thought that Maleficent would kill her if she failed. And she potentially risked her life just to make sure Ben was himself again when the villains took over. And with regard to the her little unfortunate hiccup in D2. She knew that trying to erase Ben’s memory of their argument in the heat of the moment was a truly colossal fuck up her part. Which she broke down and ran away. Does that seem like “The Real Villain” to you?

I like Uma. I do. She has the best singing voice in the cast. And she does have a rather sympathetic motivation. But still. The fact remains that Uma tried to kill the king. Aka. The ONLY person in Auradon who has ever wanted to help the Vks in canon. Twice. The second time she put the entire student body in danger. And between those two attempts on the kings life she love spelled him. And unlike with Mal there’s a very real chance that Uma would be willing to keep Ben under her thrall indefinitely. Just to hurt Mal. Plus in D3 she all but stole Mal’s inheritance and forced herself into the rescue mission to save a kingdom she doesn’t want a bar of literally just because she didn’t want Mal getting all the glory. Uma isn’t the villain. But she IS the antagonist.

Now we get to Audrey. Petty, pastel pink Audrey. She didn’t want to get Ben back because she loved him. Because if you remember. She quite quickly, ie; immediately, rebounded onto Chad after the game in D1. Audrey wanted Ben back because she wanted the crown. She stole the queens crown, Maleficent’s sceptre (both of which are Mal’s property by legal right and birth respectively), put the kingdom under a sleeping curse, tried to blackmail Ben into marrying her and when that didn’t work she petrified the kingdom. And then she abducted Celia, a child who had no connection to Audrey’s ire besides being a Vk, and was fully prepared to kill her until Mal and Uma defeated her. And what does Audrey get in terms of consequences? An all too brief death coma, an apology from her victims and an invite to the ending party when by rights she should’ve at the very least been arrested for her crimes. Because WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

You don’t have to like Mal. You don’t have to like Uma. You don’t have to like Audrey. But you have got to remember the full context of their actions. That should be non negotiable.

TL;DR: Mal is the main character. Ben is the hero. Uma is the antagonist turned into the supporting tritagonist. Audrey is the villain with a frankly shitty and underserved redemption. And I’m tired of people wilfully ignoring context just to prop up their favourite characters.

[descenderintofantasy]

Uma and audrey fantics: "Descendants always makes the POC actresses the villains and doesn't forgive them! Everyone forgave Mal because she's white!"

Me: Um? They WERE forgiven? Uma outright kidnaps and love spells the king, and it's never brought up again after D2. audrey literally throws a coup, and she gets an APOLOGY rather than a PUNISHMENT.

You can't say they weren't forgiven. The fact that they are POC has nothing to do with it.

[descenderintofantasy]

To all you Mal haters/Uma fantics out there that say that Uma did everything for the Isle while Mal just forgot it. Have you ever considered that maybe Mal didn't exactly plan to get into an actual/true relationship with the Crown Prince? Thus making her be thrust into a world that she was uncertain about and unprepared for, with camera's and every single eye in the kingdom suddenly on her?

We have no idea what Mal's intentions were for championing for the Isle after Ben's coronation were. Remember, Mal wasn't even given a chance to speak to Ben about the Isle. Because she was sent to Auradon with an 'evil plan' and was busy worrying about what would happen to her and her gang if they couldn't pull it off! Then when she can stop worrying about that, she has camera's flashing in her face and press yelling at her daily!

Mal was suddenly made to focus more on herself and how she was perceived. A lot more than she intended, in the next six months after the coronation. She never planned for this. As far as she knew at the end of things she'd either be back on the Isle without the wand and well dead/wishing she was dead. When maleficent was done with her. Or her mother would have taken over and Auradon would be the new 'dark kingdom'. She never dreamed that she'd end up the girlfriend of Auradon's Crown Prince. Before she met Ben, she never even knew she could have/wanted love. But here she is, and she's trying her best to adjust and make the best of how her life has been tuned upside down.

So yes, the Isle kinda fell slightly on the back burner of her priorities. Could that be seen as selfish? Yes, but remember again Mal is from the Isle. She was raised to be selfish and look out for herself first. We don't even know how much time she and Ben actually got together for her to bring it up.

Also let me remind you all that it was Uma not Mal that could have gotten the Isle shut down and made things worse for them. If Uma's plan to kidnap Ben had gone wrong in any way, and Ben had died on the Isle/from injuries sustained on the Isle...what do you think would happen? beast would have razed the Isle to the ground and closed it off completely! Ben was literally the only one who cared for the Isle's state. If he died all the VK's would have died as well. Uma may be one of the Isle's fiercest advocates. But she is also the one that was a step away from dooming the Isle.

Don't get me wrong, Uma did a lot for the Isle. She always had the Isle's best interests at heart, and is totally deserving of the love she receives for it. But calling Mal the Devil to Uma's Angel because Mal was made to prioritize herself for a while. All while brushing off the fact that Uma could have had the Isle shut down. If her yes, justifiable anger had gone wrong. Is very unfair, unsympathetic and closed-minded!

[descenderintofantasy]

Uma Has A Really Bad Rap Sheet

She:

kidnapped the king.

threatened to kill said king unless her demands were met.

broke out of the Isle. (she rejected Ben's invite)

hypnotised/spelled the king/Ben and took away his free will for her own gain. (whether you say that Uma's actions here were purely for the Isle or to hurt Mal. The fact remains that she used Ben against his own will for her own means.)

threatened the lives of both the king and his subjects by attacking the boat they were on when she didn't get what she wanted. (Or after rejecting the offer to get what she wanted)

withheld/stole property that did not belong to her from its rightful owner.

went on the run when she again rejected the offer to peacefully help the other VK's.

And if we are including her D3 crimes.

8. blackmailed Mal with the ember until she agreed to let other people off the Isle.

Look guys I love Uma she is one of my favorite characters since D3. But she is in no way the SAINT that some of her fans make her out to be. Was her anger justifiable, and did she have the Isle's best interests at heart? Yes. But that does not erase her crimes. It is time we stop putting Uma on a pedestal. Because frankly, she is the only one out of the three kid 'villains' (Mal Uma Audrey) that doesn't express remorse for her wrongdoing.

[descenderintofantasy]

Why Is Mal The ONLY One That Is Hated For Spelling Ben?

Mal haters in the Descendants fandom scream constantly about the fact that Mal uses a love spell on Ben. They call her relationship with Ben toxic based on the fact that she spelled him.

Well let me remind everyone of something when it comes to Ben being spelled:

Uma. And. Audrey. Spelled. Him. As. Well!

You do not see HALF the people in this fandom calling out the fact that Uma and audrey did the SAME THING as Mal! It is ALWAYS MAL that gets called 'toxic' 'a bad person' 'undeserving of Ben' etc!

audrey's spell literally changed both Ben's mental and bodily state! Uma's spell made Ben act crueler than Mal's ever did! So why are THEY not being called out and hated for it AS WELL?! Why are THEY never called toxic and horrible the way Mal is?!

It is honesty HYPOCRITICAL of people the way Mal is hated for something yet when two other girls do it. Its brushed under the rug and EXCUSED!

I'm not saying that Mal spelling Ben was right. It was a bad thing to do I do acknowledge that.

But I'm also SICK of this fandom pilling the blame on her like she's the ONLY person who ever spelled Ben in Descendants!

If you want to scream and call Mal out for the spell she put on Ben....then audrey and Uma need to start being CALLED OUT FOR IT AS WELL!

[descenderintofantasy]

Mal's crimes: breaking and entering, petty theft, spelling Ben and maybe a bit of lying.

Uma's crimes: kidnapping, threats to kill unless ransom is met, stealing/withholding property, breaking out of the Isle, spelling Ben, attacking the cotillion boat thus endangering royal and subject lives, going on the run and blackmail.

audrey's crimes: breaking and entering, stealing property, throwing a coup against the kingdom's royal family, cursing Ben and Mal, hostage taking, the mental torture of said hostage, blackmail, basically s**** harassment and kidnapping.

...and people say Mal has done the worst of the three?

[hitchell-mope]

Descendants hot take

Mal isn’t a “gremlin” as many people want to believe she is. She’s just been consistently manipulated, bossed around and let down by people she trusts. From Maleficent to Evie to Adam Belle and Verna. And reacts accordingly.

Yeah she was a brat to Uma when they were kids. But who do you think raised her to act like that? Of course she was a bitch when her mother was Maleficent. And I still maintain that Uma’s revenge outweighed the original slight.

If Evie had given her proper advice in d2 then the majority of the plot wouldn’t have happened. She wouldn’t have felt she had to fake at being perfect. She wouldn’t have panicked. She wouldn’t have been a dick. And she wouldn’t have gone into self imposed exile.

And if Verna, Adam and Belle didn’t manipulate her, Evie didn’t guilt her and Uma didn’t hold her heritage hostage. She wouldn’t have been forced into a horrible decision or feel like she had to lie to everyone.

Mal always had and will always have flaws. But she’s not the evil psycho people decry her as or the mischievous little gremlin others think she should be