okay so @sanguineed and @normal-cactus1221 are my heroes of ever and offered even the tiniest amount of interest in my many many descendants wicked wonderland character ideas (and i simply do not have time to actually draw my idealized versions of these characters right now) so here are all my beautiful thoughts on how to make the Ten Main Character Cast of the new movie work better:
Pink needs to be even more Wonderland-y. She isn't the heir, she isn't her mother's favorite, but she loves Wonderland and is so enmeshed in her own culture that it actually makes her sort of Off Putting to the people of Auradon?
Everyone loves her!! They think she's cute and funny and Sweet and good in small doses!! But she has a very hard time making close friendships because people think she's weird
Since Descendants is already stealing Everything Else from Ever After High, I'm stealing Riddlish (the, essentially, like Cultural Wonderland Language, even though everyone also speaks English) and giving it to this movie.
Pink loves speaking in Riddlish, and is fully fluent, and throughout the movie she keeps trying to have asides with Red in it so they can more privately discuss what's going on. But!! In Red's version of Wonderland Riddlish has more or less been totally eradicated, so she Can't have conversations in it. She might speak a phrase or two, because the old version of Maddox taught her, but she doesn't actually know the language. But to Pink, it just looks like Red is intentionally blowing her off.
This just adds to her feelings of abandonment and betrayal, because not only is her sister, and best friend (who she clearly looks up to) totally ignoring her, and acting like she's this inconvenient annoyance, but now her Only Close Cultural Touchstone and person who can relate to these things is acting like she's not even from the same place. (She's not.)
I also think Pink is significantly more anti-VK, but it should be made very, very clear that this is because of Her timeline's Red. Like, she's even more clearly upset and confused when Red sides with the VKs because SHE is the one who told Pink they aren't trustworthy!! She is the one who said Max Hatter was a dangerous jerk she should keep her distance from!! And now she's acting like she's one of them?? When Max's dad is literally holding their mom hostage?? What's Going On???
It's already sort of a point in the movie, but I do think every aspect of Pink, especially at the start, should lean Hard into the fact that she looks up to Red so much that she's actively trying to copy the version of her from this time line. She's not Great at it, because she's a different person, but she should be clearly trying to play at someone she's not, and getting frustrated that not only is it not working, but now RED isn't acting like herself anymore Either.
I really think Max works well in this movie, but I think he should Parallel Pink more, in that the Old Pre Time Travel version of him loved Wonderland as much as she does now.
He probably spoke Riddlish, and was fascinated by everything about it, even in the worse time line when things were less pretty and silly and whimsical
It adds an extra layer of Red Stole His Life, because she literally gave her little sister a core aspect of his personality, and adds to the tragedy and guilt Red has to feel when looking at how much he's changed
To contrast, I think this time line's Max should actively be putting in all his effort to separate himself from Wonderland. He hates it, and he hates everything about it, and he doesn't want people to have another excuse to compare him to his dad, so he's visually fully a VK instead of a Wonderland-ian
They do this in the movie, but I want him trying to be a good guy to be even more explicit. He's NICE! He's just angsty, and he hates Red and Pink! But no one trusts him, no matter what he tries, and I want that to be so so obvious.
Hazel Hook is genuinely perfect the only thing that needs to change is she needs to have a Scottish accent. Her brother has a Scottish accent. Where is her Scottish accent?? PLEASE??
My babies. My angels. They're going to be Less identical, but even more weird about it.
Like, they aren't wearing exactly the same outfit, but they're still well coordinated, and they're incredibly codependent. They're allowed to be weird, codependent twins, just also make them their own characters too.
I think they're more of a Brains and Brawn combination, now. They're both still silly and hyperactive, but Squeaky (tiny smee) is the book smart twin, whose more observant and good at plans, and Squirmy (tall smee) is the more athletic twin, whose lifting their friends above his head and punching people. To be clear,,., they're both still Stupid. But Squeaky gets to be Smart-Stupid. It's allowed.
(This is literally just based on their canon Auradon application. the franchise decided in d3 that squeaky liked school, and reading, and writing, and squirmy just tags along. they had this already. why didn't they use this.)
Squeaky is fully nonverbal. It's kind of weird that he's not already? In the first movie, obviously neither of them speak, but in this one Squeaky straight up has, like, three lines, they're very early on, two are perfectly in synch with his brother, and then later in the movie he literally just..,., doesn't speak? Even when it's weird that he's not verbally responding, because he's the only other person in a conversation.
So, like, lean into it. Squeaky is just nonverbal, and when he needs to communicate with another character, or say a stupid joke in synch with his brother (because i think thats cute) he just uses ASL (auradonian sign language, obviously).
Honestly, I think it's MORE fun to have him and Squirmy say lines in synch, but he's just signing. Their little 'pride of the upperclass' part rules if Squirmy is singing it and Squeaky is signing it with the same exact vibes. This is a no brainer to me.
Important to note!! He doesn't sign when he's talking to Squirmy. I want to to be genuinely unclear if they have full magical, super natural power twin telepathy. Like, Squeaky gets an idea, just makes silent eye contact with his brother for two seconds, and Squirmy immediately turns to the group, and goes: 'Hey, guys so Squeaky thinks that we should do this--'
Chronic nightmare havers after they got Sleeping Cursed when they were like, nine, in D3. (All the VKs know about them because they have sleepovers all the time.)
They also get their glasses back. Where are their glasses? Give them back they can't see :(
The VKs, Chloe, and Robbie know which one is Squeaky and which one is Squirmy, and Pink didn't, but she just asked and they told her, because they genuinely don't care. Red and Luis have literally no clue which one is which. Red could not care less, has not asked, and maybe doesn't know their first names to begin with, but Luis is absolutely MORTIFIED. He feels Cripplingly guilty about it, he's woken himself up in a cold sweat worrying about it, but he just... will not ask because he feels bad. Once again, they Would just tell him. They would not care.
They're how the VK friend group came together. They grew up with Hazel on the Isle, and then Celia introduced Felix to them as soon as the barrier dropped, since they're the same age, and, tbh, I think it's fun if they made friends with Max first, because they don't care about who people's parents are, and then immediately dragged Hazel into it so she could Force him to be her best friend
I know he likes magic in the movie already, but I wanna lean into it more. He's literally a walking magical encyclopedia, and is always looking to learn more about it, so he Loves Wonderland.
Like, their lives are On the line, Max's dad is actively sending things to attack him and the whole time he's going: 'GUYS! this is so COOL!! how does it work!!! :D'
I think he's really good at the cold reading part of fortune telling, so he's observant, and excellent at clocking when people are lying, or feel weird about something
But!! He mostly just only uses that skill ^^ to mess with people and make sure his friends are okay. He picks up on the Chloe and Red tension IMMEDIATELY, but he's not saying anything about it, he's just sitting back with metaphorical popcorn and waiting to see how this shit plays out.
Kind of the secret emotional backbone of his friend group, but he's also puppet mastering that shit like it's his job, so no one would think it on the surface
Okay, so, I think I have too many thoughts about Robbie because, holy shit, there has never been a more pointless character and I love him and I need to give him a reason to exist.
Starting off: The strongest general consensus I have seen from people about D5 is they're relieved that they didn't make Robbie Hood a Fox Boy.
Not fully, like he's not an anthropomorphic fox, but I do think he has little fox ears and a tail, and you guys are cowards for wanting anything else. In my head, Sherwood Forest is just a kingdom full of animal folk, so everyone has animalistic Aspects, and it's just normal and a thing. I'm right and correct and no one can fight me on this.
He's got WAY more nuance as an HK than in the original movie. Yes, sure, he’s got an INCREDIBLY strong moral code, but it’s a Robin Hood moral code, so he’s very down with stealing from corporations, and has no actual problem with the VKs unless they’re really being assholes. (Ex. He doesn’t care if they’re pickpocketing random royalty, but if he, like, sees them bullying some obviously freaked out freshmen, he’ll step in.)
The scene where Max throws him a coin ‘for friar tuck’ literally should have gone like, Max throws it, he catches it, and just goes ‘hey thanks man!! :)’ fully genuinely
And! This aspect of his character can also be used In A Plot Important Way to emphasize the differences between This Red and the version of her from the time line they’re in now. In a moment where she sides with the VKs on something before he can step in, he could get excited and be like: ‘woah! You never agree with me! What happened!’
He's still friends with Red and Chloe, and he's still singing a little hype up duet with Luis about them, but he also immediately after pivots to: ‘Hey, my One Percenters!! How much of your unbelievable wealth have you donated to good causes today? Do you need recommendations, I have a spreadsheet.’
Runs a bunch of charity and fundraising organizations and clubs across Auradon Prep. (Post canon, he and Pink are 1000% throwing the most audacious charity bake sale of all time)
Uses a bow and arrow more often?? Obviously?? He is a full prodigy, and gets in trouble for bringing a firearm around campus Constantly, but when it gets confiscated, he just makes another one because his dad and his buddies taught him how to.
Just overall he needs to be more of a crunchy, raised in the woods it-takes-a-village style by his parents and all the Merry Men kind of character. Like, Little John is picking him up from his after school clubs. Will Scarlet is going to this kid's parent teacher conferences because he's the only one whose schedule allowed it. This kid is Weird in the kind of way only a kid raised by woke bandits can be.
AND!! This way, when he and Felix get separated from the others, they can have an Actual C Plot as they try to get back (other than Falling In Love obviously, which is also happening) because Robbie grew up in the forest, he’s great at finding his way, and tracking!! Normally!! So, at first he's super confident, but this is WONDERLAND. Everything is topsy turvy from how it’s supposed to be, and it's infuriating him. But!! Felix, who is definitely not outdoorsy normally, has a vast understanding of how magic works. So, they're able to combine their skillsets, and work together to find their way back to their friends. And, also fall in love. Obviously.
First things first: His vest is purple. Why would it not be purple? His side of the family's colors are literally, obviously, straight up purple and blue, and the other side of his family has yellow. The vest is purple, the candles can stay blue.
I do think he's under and insane amount of pressure, but it's more self inflicted, and situational than with his mom, because the literal Plot of Encanto is that they end the movie WORKING ON THAT??? His family is actively not putting any of this pressure on him (at least intentionally) to do anything.
I think, age wise, he's Dead Middle of his cousins, so he's grown up seeing his older cousins become this cool, amazing people that he admires and wants to emulate, while also feeling an obligation and desire to set his own good example for his baby cousins
He's also the first of the Madrigals to go to Auradon instead of staying local, so he feels like he NEEDS to make a good impression, not only for himself, but for his family and town
Genuinely just a good boy who wants to help people, and make people happy, and be liked by every living thing ever which is normal to want and possible to achieve
And, okay. Okay. This is the most important part. He does not have super strength. WHY would he have super strength?? That's not how the Madrigal family gifts WORK.
Instead (and this is really a first thought, only thought kind of thing, I'm open to suggestions), I think he can make tangible, temporary illusions. (So, like, example: if outside of town, someone's wagon wheel breaks, he can create a temporary one and ride in the wagon focusing on keeping it real while they get it back into town to actually repair it.)
His favorite way to use it, though, and the way he uses it most often, is to do gorgeous light shows, or little puppet shows to entertain kids. He's really artistic, and was even more so as a little kid (Mirabel is definitely his favorite aunt)
But! BUT!!!!! What happened was, when he arrived in Auradon, he was so incredibly nervous, and desperate to be liked, but no one in Auradon really understood how the Madrigal's powers worked. So, everyone was super excited to see the kid with super strength! His mom has super strength, so he must have super strength too, right?
And Luis, sweet, baby, 14 year old, freshman, people pleaser Luis panics and just says Yes, Of Course. My Super Strength. Which I Have. And, at this point, he's in WAY too deep to fix it.
He IS genuinely really strong, but it's not magically strong, he just works out a lot. Especially after lying about having super strength to an entire school. He's Very neurotic about it.
Luckily for him, he's... in high school? So, no one is asking him to Lift Buildings or stop avalanches, so he Can illusion his way out of a lot of it, by making it Look like he's lifting a huge boulder or hiding himself, and temporarily make a fake, stronger Luis as a tangible illusion (that looks better from a distance, and he can only sustain for shortttt periods of time)
Waiting at all times for this lie to crumble down around him. He's kind of split in two, because he adores his family, but he's actively dreading one of his cousins following in his footsteps to Auradon Prep and exposing him. This boy has been dodging family weekends for three years (and crying about it because he misses his mommmm)
This also means he can relate to Red Even Better now??? (as a friend-- tbh, I didn't mind them in the movie, but let Red be holding one of Chloe's two gay gay lesbian hands, while Hazel holds the other) Because he intimately understands what it feels like to have everyone want you to be a version of yourself that cannot exist and was never actually real.
Robbie and him are 100% roommates and best friends, so he Knows about the lie, and has sworn on his LIFE that he will never tell anyone.
Felix figured it out Immediately, the second he saw Luis do an illusory show of strength, but he hasn't mentioned it to him. This is just another piece of information that he's sitting on and waiting to see how it plays out.
Also they all mention their siblings. Hazel has, like, eighty siblings at this point. Felix has two sisters. Chloe Charming's older brother is Chad Charming. I desperately need someone to talk about Chad Charming and Chloe Charming growing up together. PLEASE.
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