fortitudinem

[fortitudinem]

I'm honestly surprised that Frollo never started a cult in the Isle.

I also wanted to say that I adore your worldbuilding. It's so creative and manages to make sense given what little Descendants tells us.

Hi! Thank you for your kind words! I try very hard to make it work!

As for Frollo starting a cult, he doesn't need a cult when he has the power of Christianity on his side. Which is to say, he definitely still preached and held mass and church sermons and things for Isle residents and he also openly hated on any magical beings or those he saw as lesser. You might call that a cult. He for sure had a following, probably a pretty dedicated one. and he probably tried to burn a witch or two in his time. but the witches outnumber him so he learned to shut up.

#ANSWERED ASK. #about | the isle of the lost.

[fortitudinem]

I’m working on a fic rn and it takes place right after the barrier being taken down, in my mind because thousands of student enroll at aurodon prep in a matter of months they’re forced to do co ed dorms and have as many as 4 people in one dorm. What do you think abt this.

Hi, so I thought I'd made a post about this but apparently I can't see it so here goes:

After the barrier comes down, Ben commissions a whole new school just for kids from the Isle. They put up temporary housing over the summer and then term starts the next year. He repurposes an old college building into a new school just for VKs after learning about their lack of formal schooling and need for extra support.

Students are sorted not by grade or age but tested and taught based on their ability level, as some of the older Isle kids cannot even read. There are extra support lessons for those who are very far behind where they should be.

There is also a food programme put into place, designed to bring all of the VKs up to a healthy weight and also to adjust their stomachs to the richer Auradonian food.

Living conditions can be quite cramped, with dorms of as many as 8 of the younger kids and then up to four for the older ones, though they aim for four/two as the goal. but the rooms are large enough to accommodate that, they are furnished to a high standard and they're clean, warm and dry. Each dorm has its own bathroom and the older kids aren't co-ed but I couldn't say for the younger ones. Siblings are usually placed together if they're of similar ages, or at least close by if they are not.

the curriculum is designed for Isle kids and though attendance isn't mandatory, completion does give points for getting into colleges. Ben would also probably ask some of the older VKs who have technically 'aged out' of the system (the core four/uma/anyone in that year and above) to attend as well, to try and influence the younger VKs who look up to them to attend the school.

so that's where i sit with that, that's my own personal sort of storyline as i believe they wouldn't want to clog up auradon prep (famously a school for royals and others of note) with all the kids from the Isle as there will, as you noted, be thousands of them.

(my unofficial, official count from my population post being: at the time the barrier comes down there are approximately 2,700 children under the age of five, 2,850 children of elementary school level (5-10), 1,350 children of middle school level (11-13), 1,600 children of high school age (14-18) and 1,300 adults who are over the age of 18 but still fall into the ‘villain kid’ category because they were born on the isle of the lost.)

also noting this does not take into account anything we currently know about rise of red.

thanks for the question, i hope this helps!

#ABOUT | AURADON. #after d3

[fortitudinem]

1: Do you think there is any health system on the Island? 2: What types of food and drinks are there on the island?3: Is there alcohol on the island?4: What would be the mottos that pirates use?

You asked this in November, I have a bad track record of answering things in a timely fashion. I apologize. Thanks for the question, though. One day I will finish writing sections on things like food and drink.

The healthcare system is non-existent. At least before the barrier comes down, medicines are usually hoarded and healers are in short supply. There will be some; several villains happen to be doctors, but it's your choice whether you'd be comfortable putting your faith in them. They charge extortionate rates for out of date medicines. The medicine on the Isle boils down to anything people in Auradon throw away and anything that can be grown as a herbal remedy. A lot of the kids pick up basic first aid and triage as they get older, get into scrapes and have to heal themselves. It's very dangerous.

Food and drink on the Isle is, originally, mainly leftovers. There is also a supply of fish, which is about the only food that can be caught fresh, but even that is in limited supply. Overfishing can lead to a lower population of fish and screw over everyone. There is no proper direct sunlight on the Isle prior to the barrier removal, so no plants can be grown for them to feed themselves. They rely on getting old food from Auradon. So foods are either past their best, or borderline inedible. The food they do have has to be picked from the trash they've been sent. We're talking brown apples, mouldy cheese and stale bread. The other option, of course, is eating things like rats and seagulls, of which there are plenty around the Isle. There really isn't much of a culture on the Isle of asking what's in food before you eat it, only making sure it isn't poisoned. Drinks are also limited, coffee can be made using old filters and beans, teabags can be reused, but this relies on there being fresh water. In my canon there is one fresh water source on the Isle and there was an attempt to take control of it by the horned king, but he was beaten back, so they have fresh water at least and can squash old fruits to flavour it. There's also things like seaweed shakes, where plants are blended into facsimiles of smoothies. And then, of course, there's your third question.

Alcohol is the other option for drinks, using fermenting fruits people are known to make their own alcohol, none of it is particularly good but what it lacks in taste it makes up for in strength, people on the Isle brew particularly potent alcohol just to deal with the situation they are in. So yes, the Isle has alcohol, but it's not exactly good.

The mottos that pirates use? It depends on which pirate, each captain will have their own motto and their own set of pirate rules. The pirate code really doesn't apply here. They'd probably focus heavily on the idea of 'take what you can, give nothing back' because that's the Isle. Every man for himself. Even most pirate crews will struggle with loyalty on the Isle, unless the crew in question can be given a compelling reason to stay.

#ANSWERED. #ABOUT | THE ISLE OF THE LOST.

[fortitudinem]

Hi I just found you blog and it's a godsend!!!!! Thank you so much for all your hard work <3 I have a descendants fic in the work, is it okay if I reference some of your world building timelines etc if I credit you? (Idk if you've answered this kind of thing before, I just found your blog and didn't see an faq)

I don't even remember if I answered this on my FAQ but everything I make is for use, if you put it in a fic that's amazing, and feel free to show me! All I want to do with this world building is to help flesh out a world that was really underexplained! So yeah, it's all there to be used!

[fortitudinem]

Would the Nightmare Before Christmas exist in Auradon?

Short answer: yes it does!

long answer found here!

#ANSWERED.

[fortitudinem]

Don't know if you've seen the movie yet, but how would Encanto fit into Auradon. Is it know or is it still hidden behind the mountains thanks to the miracle?

I have seen it! I really enjoyed it!

I hadn’t much thought about fitting it in but now you’ve asked...

I would assume the miracle is keeping them hidden in a mountain range somewhere, out of the way of the Auradonian expansion. It’s likely that Auradon have no knowledge of the Encanto, nor that they are aware of the world outside. 

#answered. #answered ask.

[fortitudinem]

Do you have any HCs about the VKs other parents?

Hm, interesting question.

I have put quite a lot of thought into it, but it's hard to find good options.

I don't hate the idea that Evie might belong to Hans? Since EQ is unlikely to want to sleep with anyone lower than a prince? So Hans or Prince John (unathropomorphized)?

I can tell you I don't like the idea of Carlos belonging to either Horace or Jasper, that feels a little too easy. But I don't have another good option at the moment. It's likely to be someone of, again, a higher social class. A Lord or Prince if possible.

Jay is probably the easiest, because I don't think Jafar has much in the way of 'standards' outside of generic beauty standards. So it's likely that Jay's mother really was just some random unnamed villain.

I don't know if this helps.

#answered. #answered ask.

[fortitudinem]

How do you think the Gods work in Auradon? Like, for example, are in Greek Mythos, Gaea is the creator of Life on the planet while in "Moana" it was Te Fiti. How do you think it would work in Auradon?

Rather like how it works in the real world.

There are plenty of known religions and belief systems in the descendants universe, and much like the real world they are all going to claim their own creation story as the true one.

Ultimately, no-one actually knows the truth, except for maybe those beings themselves. There are bound to be arguments about it.

However, it's hard to deny the existence of a God you can literally see. But it's likely those who worship a deity that can't be seen insist that the Gods that can be seen aren't really Gods and are just powerful superbeings instead.

#answered. #answered ask.

[fortitudinem]

Have you watched Hercules the animated series? If you have, do you think Adonis now rules over Greek part of Auradon?

I actually haven't seen the animated series for Hercules, that's on me.

Having checked my notes, I have the ruler of the Olympia region of Auradon as technically Zeus, but there is also a mortal ruler for the mortal people but Zeus gets final say in everything.

Having just googled it I realise Adonis is a mortal prince and therefore, that would make sense that he would be the mortal ruler. I might need to do some research on this.

#answered. #answered ask.

[fortitudinem]

What do you think of this interpretation of the lesser known AKs (except Lonnie) in this pic?

From top to bottom: Anxelin, Aziz, Lil Shang, Ruby(Anxelin's sister), Tyrone(alleged son of Tiana and Naveen),Lonnie, Herkie, Aziz's sister, Jamilah and Tyrone's twin sister, Nina

oh, i kind of love them! I'm always here for accurate representation for these characters (not that I don't love Dianne but y'know) and this seems to tick the boxes.

Ruby looks like the splitting image of her mom, which is cute.

#answered. #answered ask.

[fortitudinem]

hi! so, do you think it is viable to make "the guardians" from rise of the guardians exist in the descendants world? i know it is from another company, but i think it is a completely viable idea given that myths and mother nature are real. i have some headcannons about it, but i would love to hear your opinion/ideas!

hi! thanks for the question!

as always this is entirely up to personal preference, i've seen a lot of crossovers with other animations or franchises when it comes to creating descendants characters, or expanding on the lore.

personally my worldbuilding comes from the stance of animated disney films only (with their spin off shows if they have them) and then maybe sometimes live action films, but rarely.

still, it would be entirely possible. you could mesh it with the nightmare before christmas lore, given the presence of holiday doors and animals already existing?

my advice, as always, is go with what you want to do and ignore canon that doesn't match it, because if you're writing the story, it's your world now and disney can't do anything about it (probably. unless you're making money.)

#answered. #answered ask.

[fortitudinem]

hello! so, i'm starting my own descendants worldbuilding and i really don't know where to start, especially because i don't know what to start putting on words, like the lore? the places? the characters? what do you recommend?

sorry this took so long to answer, that's on me!

really, it's up to you where you start. I'd start with the thin you enjoy the most, you're most passionate about and that you have the most ideas about.

I started with maps, because I like maps. And analysis of the canon information and lore that we had, because that's something I enjoy.

I haven't delved that far into characters mostly because i want to see what other people can come up with.

I have an entire section of my onenote that is just lists of things i need to write.

It ended up looking a bit like this. Tabs with subcategories.

I hope this helps, I'm sorry for my messy document and not being able to give a definitive answer. At the end of the day, it's all about what you are going to enjoy doing, because that's what this is all about.

#answered ask. #answered.

[fortitudinem]

an unused character idea!

List the worst Descendants kids names, both VK and AK you have ever heard.

i don't know what's happening but i'm here for it. these are just the ones that are 'canon-ish' or canon adjacent.

anxelin fitzherbert li'l shang lil yaz lefou deux (who calls their child 'the fool')

[fortitudinem]

List the worst Descendants kids names, both VK and AK you have ever heard.

i don't know what's happening but i'm here for it. these are just the ones that are 'canon-ish' or canon adjacent.

anxelin fitzherbert li'l shang lil yaz lefou deux (who calls their child 'the fool')

#ANSWERED.

[fortitudinem]

Which Descendants kids(ones from the books) you like to see and why?

Look, I have my preferences and I don’t always have a reason. Also I no longer remember which characters are book canon and which are OCs thought up by my fantastic friends so we’ll try. 

Harriet and CJ Hook, honestly, I need hook trio being idiotic siblings, i just do. Also always more pirates.

Ginny Gothel, and the rest of the long-live-evil squad (Maddy, The Gastons, Anthony Tremaine) because they have the potential to be real antagonists and it feels more realistic to me that there would be kids out there who don’t want to be good and i think the world deserves more of those.

Claudine Frollo, because I adore her and I just really want to see what that mess of a childhood produced.

(Honorable mention to my own OCs tho, because I’m self-indulgent.)

#ANSWERED.

[fortitudinem]

I don't know if you've seen "Lilo & Stitch", but would the cast live on Motunui as instead of Hawaii?

I actually have only seen Lilo and Stitch once, but no, Hawaii would be its own island within Auradon. In the same geographical region as Motunui, but not the same island.

These two cultures are distinct and should be treated as such, a catch-all grouping of ‘Polynesian’ and a singular island to reside on is, to my mind, not an acceptable way of treating a distinct set of cultures. Motunui was created to showcase many Polynesian cultures and traits, but I would not want to take away from the Hawaiian culture as showcased in Lilo and Stitch by mashing it into a cultural melting pot.

This is always going to be down to personal prefence and I have no authority over this because i am not part of the culture being represented, so as always remember to listen to those who are being represented and take into account what they want to see and what they think is acceptable. listen to native voices!

and that’s all i’ve got for you on that.

#ABOUT | AURADON. #ANSWERED.

[fortitudinem]

The only way I could see Anastasia being spared from the Isle is if it were an ultimatum by Ella and Christopher/Kit. (Like, Fairy Godmother will create Beast's isle, but only if Anastasia is spared)

I could see that making sense!

It is an interesting thing to think about, since the presence of supposedly redeemed villains on the isle would mean that adam’s imprisonment policy was ‘catch all’ and had no nuance to it at all. but then if you consider aladdin and flynn as examples of royals that used to be criminals, it has to be more nuanced and if the rule then is ‘one rule for the nobility/the rich and another for the commoners’ then anastasia may have been spared if she was vouched for by ella even without the ultimatum.

canonically, anastasia is on the isle (assuming anthony tremaine is her son) so that implies that even redeemed villains were imprisoned. not including royals. (though all of rapunzel’s thug friends [and cassandra] may not have been so lucky???)

#answered ask. #ANSWERED.