Tag: carlos

Fake Fic Summaries 6/?, the Descendants x Narnia crossover edition (2015-09-28)

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Once Then Always

In a kingdom trapped in an eternal winter, there are four empty thrones waiting for their rightful rulers. Narnia discovers that the best way to overthrow a witch queen isn’t necessarily with heroes.

Or: Carlos has always been Gentle, Evie grows into her Magnificence, Jay learns to be Valiant, and Mal chooses Justice.

—

I’m always a sucker for Narnia fusions/crossovers in which a different set of kids meet the prophecy requirements and are the ones to take down the White Witch and become Kings and Queens of Narnia. And also, I read somewhere, that what if the Pevensies weren’t the first set of “two sons of Adam, two daughters of Eve” that Aslan sent to defeat the White Witch. The prophecy is so vague that literally any group of two boys and two girls could fit it–so the idea was, Aslan had sent multiple groups before the Pevensies but they all failed (got killed).

Now I’m not saying it’s true, or that in this AU the Pevensies were one such group that got killed, but maybe it takes four kids who know what evil is really like to defeat evil.

But I’m not really sure what I’d want to do with this, specifically. I definitely want there to be certain points where the Lost kids handle it differently than the Pevensies did. Like, for example, instead of killing the White Witch’s wolves, Carlos tames them/gets them to betray her. So it’s Carlos the Gentle, Wolftamer, instead of Peter the Magnificent, Wolfsbane. But, similarly, since none of them fall for Mr. Tumnus’ friendship act, the frozen statues don’t get unfrozen for the battle. Jay earns the title Valiant when he (tries to) makes a sacrifice play–which… I don’t think any of the Pevensies did–like, if the White Witch has one of the others, he tries to exchange himself for them (only for Aslan to step in all majestically).

You know, stuff like that.

My main hold up is that I’m not entirely sure whether or not I want one of them to fill the “betrayer” role that Edmund did. I’m thinking, if so, it would probably be either Evie or Mal; only because the White Witch would be able to take advantage of their ‘weaknesses’ best. Evie for the chance to be a real princess/queen, and Mal for a magical mentor who is successfully maintaining her rule over a kingdom. But at the same time, I don’t know if that is tempting enough to pull them away from the others… it depends.

Probably this would happen–in the Descendants timeline at least–during the museum heist. Considering it’s a museum full of various magical artifacts and it’s canon that they had to search around for where the wand was being held. It wouldn’t be too out there for a certain wardrobe to be one such artifact and interrupt their search by sending them to Narnia.

Which would derail the Descendants movie entirely, but that would’ve happened regardless. I guess… hm… it would be interesting if Narnia was like the super distant past for Auradon. Because a lot of the creatures you see in Narnia (fauns, dryads, minotaurs, DWARVES) they’re not contradictory to Disney movies per se, but if you compare Disney’s Hercules (which, obviously, ancient Greece so several centuries B.C.) in comparison to most of the ambiguous Medieval/Renaissance/more recent time periods of the characters/kingdoms in Auradon then you see a distinct drop in magic. Less magic, less interaction with gods/magical creatures, to the point where even the dwarves and fairies look human.

So with the idea that Narnia is the very distant past of Auradon, how interesting would it be for the so called hero kids to be confronted with villain kids actually being mythical rulers from the Golden Age of Narnia.

It’s an interesting idea in theory, and I may revisit to brainstorm some more or even do a few drabbles, but I don’t think I’ll actually write this. AT LEAST NOT UNTIL I FINISH GODDAMN AIN’T NO REST. Ugh, I know, it’s killing me. I wish it were as easy to write as A Tale of Two Kingdoms was…

Ain’t No Rest, part 7/? (2015-09-22)

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Ben has no idea what the hell he is doing. Stopping a prisoner from getting harassed, sure, okay. Offering his own home as a place to stay? What.

“What am I doing?” Ben exhales, hands tightening their grip around the steering wheel. It’s six in the morning, the sun peaking over the horizon, and the roads are beginning to fill with other cars–early commuters, or morning deliveries and the like.

Carlos, who got a few hours of sleep in the holding cell, is nonetheless dozing in the passenger seat, head lolled back against the window. With his hair drying out into fluffy tufts, he doesn’t look like a threat to Ben who, even running on fumes, is a highly trained Knight.

Then again, it wasn’t Cruella de Vil’s physical prowess which made her so fearsome.

It’s very possible that Ben might die today.

“Fuck it, I’m too tired.”

Ben pulls in to his assigned parking spot, thankfully not stolen by anyone–though, really, who would that early in the morning. He hesitates for a few moments, unsure exactly how to wake up his passenger, before reminding himself that he is in fact a fully trained Knight and probably has several inches and several pounds worth of muscle on Carlos. There’s nothing to be worried about.

As it is, when Ben gently nudges his shoulder, Carlos’ reflexive flailing does manage to smack Ben in the eye. He ends up banging his own head into the window, though, so the two of them spend the next couple of minutes moaning in pain.

“Ow, okay, well. We’re here,” Ben says, inanely, rubbing gently at his eye. Oh god, he’s so tired.

Carlos says nothing in response, but follows Ben to his apartment easily enough, yawning all the way.

Ben’s apartment is on the third floor which, normally, means an invigorating walk up the stairs but at the moment is a gruesome climb that has both he and Carlos dragging their feet, nearly misstepping, and tripping on multiple occasions.

“Welcome to my apartment,” Ben says around a yawn, scrounging for the dregs of manners buried deep beneath the heavy weariness. Carlos, too, looks just as ready to go back to sleep.

Until Ben opens the door, that is; at which point Carlos screams and throws himself backwards until he hits the wall of the hallway with a loud bang.

Alert now, Ben scans his apartments for threats, sees nothing, looks again for anything even remotely scary, and only sees his apartment. Kind of messy, but not too bad.

Oh, and Dude who, being so small kind of just… walked below Ben’s line of sight to leave the apartment and sniff in interest at Carlos. Carlos who appears to be scrabbling at the walls in an attempt to climb out of reach.

Confused, but strangely, a little charmed, Ben reaches out to lift Dude up and away. “It’s just Dude. He won’t hurt you. He’s my dog,” It might be more accurate to say, he was a stray dog that wandered the campus of Ben’s high school until Ben decided to just take him home after graduation.

Carlos does not look at all reassured.

“Have you… not seen a dog before?”

“There aren’t any on the Isle. Mom says–” Carlos starts, only to cut himself off with a shuttered expression. Probably deciding it’s for the best not to bring up his mother, cop killer, around someone who works in law enforcement.

“Well, I don’t know what you’ve been told. But this particular dog is friendly. He’s just curious. Here, do you want to pet him? He likes it when you scratch behind his ears.” Ben says, carefully stepping closer so Carlos can reach easily.

It seems to work, Dude licks playfully at Carlos arm and the boy smiles back. Ben can feel the brief rush of alertness fade away, back to the persistent sleepiness.

“Okay, let’s get you settled inside, so all three of us can hopefully get some rest,” he says, about to lower Dude to the ground but deciding instead to hold him out to Carlos. Tentatively, Carlos reaches out, and Dude transfers easily between them.

Dude stays in Carlos arms the entirety of the quick tour–guest bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room–and when Ben retreats to his room, no more self-appointed obligations in sight, he sees Carlos set Dude gently into his doggy bed in the living room, only for the dog to hop back out and follow Carlos to the guest bedroom.

Well, they do say dogs are a good judge of character.

~

A/N: ARGH, okay, okay. I don’t know why this series is so frustrating to me. BUT I’M GOING TO DO THIS… BELIEVE IT.

I have maybe been reading too many Naruto fanfic. But is there really such a thing as too many?

Ain’t No Rest, part 5/? (2015-09-16)

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Carlos is trying his best to stay strong or, if not that, then at least silent–trying to mimic his friends’ confidence in the face of a stream of strangers and bureacracy–but it’s been growing steadily more difficult as time passes. Especially with the Knight just… sitting in front of him.

It’s not like Carlos is going to snitch, but the fact that the guy’s not even trying to get him to talk is weird. The guy is weird. But maybe that’s just what people from Auradon are like.

Carlos startles when a knock on the door interrupts their lack of a conversation, but he keeps staring at the Knight. It’s not eavesdropping if they’re talking right there in front of him, and anyway, it’s about him so Carlos has a right to listen.

He was never one for stoicism, and so when he sees the Knight find out who he is–who is mother is–Carlos bares his teeth.

Carlos is put into a holding cell after the big reveal, so they can figure out what to do with him in relative peace. He knows he’s not the most physically intimidating, but no doubt the mere idea of an islander escaping their precious barrier is something that scares the shit out of Auradon. He’s a manifestation of their nightmares–born and raised by one of their bogeymen.

And so he smirks, and sits, and waits.

—

He is shocked awake with a splash of cold water. He jerks and splutters, hearing the sounds of sneers and laughter, before he blinks the water from his eyes.

Two of the officers–not Knights from what he can tell of the uniforms–stand outside his cell. A bucket noticeably hanging empty from one of their hands.

Carlos does not break his silence, though he does internally curse that the fear of his heritage has already worn off.

“Told you,” One of them says, the one with the bucket, “He’s not much to look at.”

“Caught on your first heist? Not as smart as mommy dearest?” The other sneers, though Carlos does catch the way the phrase stumbles as it passes the officer’s tongue; as if it’s curdling in his mouth as he speaks. The possibility of Cruella de Vil hearing anyone mock her, at least, a twisting trepidation.

With her reputation, it’s not so far off base. She had been a terror to the authorities in her prime. A suspect for dozens of heists–though never officially proven until that last one. Each of them had been ruthlessly successful, planned perfectly, outwitting her opposition at every turn. She didn’t care about collateral damage caused to bystanders and the police sent after her. In fact, the one task force formed in an attempt to stop her received a present of an incendiary nature. Needless to say, Cruella de Vil is a name to be feared.

There’s a damned song about it.

But he’s not his mother… even if everything is going to plan.

He bites that back, though. He doesn’t like these two assholes thinking that the heist was anything less than successful but he stays silent. And anyway, Carlos being incarcerated is part of the plan; a secret part of the plan.

So he just smiles–the way Mal would in the face of any weakness, the way Jay does after an unnoticed pick pocket, the way Evie smiles at an unsuspecting victim–all sharp edges and barely concealed danger.

He’s not Cruella de Vil, no, but he’s an islander outside the barrier. And he’s not the only one.

“You little shit,” the uniform spits out, dropping his bucket with a clang and reaching for the keys to Carlos’ cell.

A little worried, Carlos sits up, but he doesn’t move away, doesn’t want to be the one to back down first. The door of his cell doesn’t creak open–the hinges well oiled, no rust in Auradon, not like the Isle–but the clatter of the bucket was enough to gather some attention, because before the officer can actually enter the cell the Knight from before calls out.

“What are you doing?” He says, a harsh reprimand, going so far as to bodily shove the officer away. The other officer disappears quickly, though from the way the Knight’s eyes flick to a ceiling camera, he won’t be able to hide.

Carlos doesn’t quite sigh in relief, but his muscles relax.

“I was just–” the officer starts feebly, trying to weasel his way out.

“You were just about to harass a prisoner,” the Knight says, then looks at the bucket and Carlos’ still wet hair, “To continue to harass a prisoner,” he amends.

“He’s from the Isle! He’s a fucking de Vil!” he shouts, twisting around the Knight in another effort to get to Carlos’ cell door, only to be shoved back again. Harder, until he smacks against the opposite wall.

“He’s as much protected by the laws as anyone else in Auradon,” the Knight says coolly, and at some unseen signal, several other Knights–probably called in while Carlos was sleeping–drag the officer away.

One of them hands a folded towel over to Carlos’ Knight–the first one, that is–before saying something, too soft for him to overhear, glancing at the ceiling camera, and leaving.

Then, it’s just like the interrogation room, just Carlos and the Knight.

He opens the cell door, but doesn’t step in. And for that, Carlos feels a rush of gratitude–one that grows when the Knight wedges the towel between the bars instead of trying to hand it over.

Carlos walks over and reaches for it gingerly, pulling away quickly, then beginning to pat himself dry.

“Technically,” the Knight begins, “the only crime we can prove you committed is trespassing. There’s no evidence of any breaking and entering or theft. So, you’re free to go,” the Knight says with a shrug, and he steps away.

Carlos stares, confused. This isn’t going how Evie said it would. Go where? He doesn’t ask.

But maybe something about his expression asks for him because the Knight continues, “As part of a law enforcement agency, I can’t tell you what to do or where to go from here,” and with another shrug, an almost casual movement if it weren’t for the fact that it turns his face away from the camera, “But as a private citizen I can tell you that I’ve got a pretty decent guest room in my apartment. And since my shift is over, I’ll be going home now.”

Then the Knight smiles, friendly, honest; nothing at all like what Carlos has been doing.

“I’m Ben,” he says, extending his hand out.

You’ll be safe with him, Evie had said, and Carlos trusts her even if he doesn’t trust this Knight.

Carefully, because he’s only ever seen it done on TV, Carlos shakes his hand.

“I’m Carlos.”

~

A/N: ARRRRGH. SO I KNOW IT’S TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY THE 17th BUT I WAS WORKING ON THIS YESTERDAY SO IT STILL COUNTS.

Also, I know all my laws are arbitrary and Ben offering Carlos a place to stay is probably illegal but, blah, whatever.

Underneath the Red Lights (the melancholic remix) [2015-09-15]

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jacksgreysays:

A/N1: Uh, so, this probably won’t make any sense if you haven’t read the brainstorm of Underneath the Red Lights. I highly suggest you read that first.

~

It doesn’t mean anything, Carlos thinks, as he sits at the same table he sat at last year and the year before that. Normally this restaurant would be out of his price range–too expensive for a factory worker, never mind that he has steadily been moved more and more towards the R&D division and with it a higher salary–but not today. Because he’s not the one paying for it today.

The waiter is different, he can’t really expect to be served by the same person, but the maitre d’ is the same. She recognized him–perhaps from that brief splash of time when his face was everywhere in the media, but his fifteen minutes of fame is years past. Perhaps from his previous outings to this restaurant, but she must have seen hundreds if not thousands of other customers, more frequent patrons–likely, she was shown a photo of him. To let him in, to seat him at a specific table and let him order whatever he wanted, despite his casual and shabby outfit.

And Carlos knows he could’ve worn that particular outfit–even two years out of style it is still the fanciest thing in his wardrobe–but it just doesn’t seem right. Not that sitting here, eating a dinner worth probably a month’s worth of his wages, in his oil-stained, rumpled work uniform feels right either but. He thinks he is owed this, at the very least.

It could be argued that him not being in prison is above what he deserves, but who are they to judge? He just wanted his friends, wanted to take back what the government had stolen from him, wanted to carve out a little happiness for himself. 

When he is finished with his entree–a different one every year–dessert is brought out and this is one of the things that does not change. It’s their molten chocolate cake, and maybe these dinners are not apologies but punishments, because for all that he loves chocolate, for all that the cake is perfectly baked and so divinely delicious, he can’t help but feel that this whole situation is bittersweet.

Because it is the taste of their first and only kiss, before the truth came out and Carlos was left with all that he had before–no family, no friends, no boyfriend–with the glimpse of another life that slipped through his fingers.

A life that he would have never had, anyway, like this dinner at this restaurant–because factory workers can’t afford thousand dollar meals, and they don’t date princes either.

~

A/N2: I just read the most strangely heart-rending DCU fic and for some reason it gave me Underneath the Red Lights feels. But… angsty feels? Basically, the “bad ending” in which Ben not only finds out about the whole magical possession thing BEFORE Carlos gets to the castle, but also doesn’t forgive Carlos (and further does not think that magicians should be free). But at least he doesn’t put Carlos in prison? Because technically, Mal was the one who did the possessing and it could be argued that Carlos had no role in Mal’s crime.

I DUNNO, I’M SORRY. I JUST HAD TO SPREAD THE MELANCHOLY. Still pretty sure I’m not going to do UtRL but if I am, please rest assured, that this is not how it will end.

Okay, this isn’t my post for today, but I need to type this out now before I fall asleep and forget it but basically two things related to the above drabble:

  1. WHAT IF THE REASON THE MAITRE D’ RECOGNIZES CARLOS IS BECAUSE THE ONLY DAY THE CROWN PRINCE EATS AT THE RESTAURANT IS THE SAME DAY.  Like, after closing hours, Ben just rents the entire restaurant (and of course they’re going to keep it open just for the crown prince) and he sits at the same table as Carlos and basically acts like he is on a date with Carlos just several hours displaced. AND THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT PEOPLE REMEMBER, SO OF COURSE THE MAITRE D’IS GOING TO RECOGNIZE THE PERSON WHO CAN INSPIRE THAT KIND OF HEARTBREAKING DEVOTION FROM THE FREAKING CROWN PRINCE.
  2. WHAT IF I DO ACTUALLY WRITE UNDERNEATH THE RED LIGHTS STARTING WITH THE ABOVE DRABBLE. As a sort of… reconciliation love story, in which the boys are both a little bit older and a little more broken but all the wiser for it and Ben isn’t so reactionary and hurt by the lies and Carlos realizes that he did actually like Ben for himself and not just a means to an end and they “fall back in love” (and then eventually Ben does realize that magicians are treated unjustly).

Just, ugh, stab myself in the heart. (Literally kept shrieking NOOOOOOO MIMI NOOOOOOO to myself as I was typing this, though).

Underneath the Red Lights (the melancholic remix) [2015-09-15]

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A/N1: Uh, so, this probably won’t make any sense if you haven’t read the brainstorm of Underneath the Red Lights. I highly suggest you read that first.

~

It doesn’t mean anything, Carlos thinks, as he sits at the same table he sat at last year and the year before that. Normally this restaurant would be out of his price range–too expensive for a factory worker, never mind that he has steadily been moved more and more towards the R&D division and with it a higher salary–but not today. Because he’s not the one paying for it today.

The waiter is different, he can’t really expect to be served by the same person, but the maitre d’ is the same. She recognized him–perhaps from that brief splash of time when his face was everywhere in the media, but his fifteen minutes of fame is years past. Perhaps from his previous outings to this restaurant, but she must have seen hundreds if not thousands of other customers, more frequent patrons–likely, she was shown a photo of him. To let him in, to seat him at a specific table and let him order whatever he wanted, despite his casual and shabby outfit.

And Carlos knows he could’ve worn that particular outfit–even two years out of style it is still the fanciest thing in his wardrobe–but it just doesn’t seem right. Not that sitting here, eating a dinner worth probably a month’s worth of his wages, in his oil-stained, rumpled work uniform feels right either but. He thinks he is owed this, at the very least.

It could be argued that him not being in prison is above what he deserves, but who are they to judge? He just wanted his friends, wanted to take back what the government had stolen from him, wanted to carve out a little happiness for himself. 

When he is finished with his entree–a different one every year–dessert is brought out and this is one of the things that does not change. It’s their molten chocolate cake, and maybe these dinners are not apologies but punishments, because for all that he loves chocolate, for all that the cake is perfectly baked and so divinely delicious, he can’t help but feel that this whole situation is bittersweet.

Because it is the taste of their first and only kiss, before the truth came out and Carlos was left with all that he had before–no family, no friends, no boyfriend–with the glimpse of another life that slipped through his fingers.

A life that he would have never had, anyway, like this dinner at this restaurant–because factory workers can’t afford thousand dollar meals, and they don’t date princes either.

~

A/N2: I just read the most strangely heart-rending DCU fic and for some reason it gave me Underneath the Red Lights feels. But… angsty feels? Basically, the “bad ending” in which Ben not only finds out about the whole magical possession thing BEFORE Carlos gets to the castle, but also doesn’t forgive Carlos (and further does not think that magicians should be free). But at least he doesn’t put Carlos in prison? Because technically, Mal was the one who did the possessing and it could be argued that Carlos had no role in Mal’s crime.

I DUNNO, I’M SORRY. I JUST HAD TO SPREAD THE MELANCHOLY. Still pretty sure I’m not going to do UtRL but if I am, please rest assured, that this is not how it will end.

Ain’t No Rest 4/? (2015-09-13)

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Ben likes to think he’s a patient person–except, no, that’s a lie, he knows he’s easily excitable and tends to rush ahead with only minimal thoughts to the consequences–but he’s pretty sure anyone on as little sleep as he got, with as much shitty coffee as he’s drunk, would be impatient too after an hour of being stonewalled by the one of the perpetrators of probably the only interesting case to happen in Auradon in years.

Decades.

Any other day, this would be the kind of thing Ben would be grateful for, a break in monotony from the usual Knight’s duties. Just figures this would happen when Ben’s not at his best.

He’s fidgety–Ben, that is–and if it didn’t seem to at least sort of unnerve the suspect he’d feel weird about acting so vulnerable in front of a stranger, much less a criminal. But as it is, just because the guy isn’t saying anything doesn’t mean he’s not giving them information.

The guy has been verbally uncooperative, but he was pliant enough when it came to booking. Obediently standing and turning for pictures, even if he had a pout the entire time, and letting himself be fingerprinted. Not that that helped at all; no match in the system. Even now there are still smudges of ink on his fingertips, the blackened lines and whorls standing out darkly against pink skin. Ben let’s go of his paper coffee cup, the fourth of the night, to slide his own hands across to where the suspect’s are resting against the table.

The perp doesn’t quite flinch away from the movement, but it startles Ben out of that course of action before he makes contact.

Whoa, Ben thinks, shaking his head, I am really tired. He clears his throat, hands going back to his coffee cup, the liquid inside lukewarm and sludgy, but at least it gives him something to do. Something like not touching the prisoner which is very clearly against the rules of conduct inside an interrogation room.

The camera in the corner of the ceiling has been constantly recording, steady red light like a judgmental eye. He hopes Lonnie doesn’t bring that up.

A knock on the door jolts both of them, but the perp does not look away from Ben, and Ben finds it hard to look away too, even despite the heaviness of his eyelids, but then the door opens and one of the precinct’s uniforms calls out, “Uh, sir?” Even though Ben is clearly younger than the police officer. But that’s what he gets for being a Knight, so Ben turns.

“Yeah?” Ben says, voice low and scratchy, before he clears his throat again and tries again, “Yes, what is it?”

“Lab results for the DNA test are back,” the uniform says, holding out a folder but not stepping inside.

Ben tries not to let the irritation or the skepticism show on his face. The former because that means Ben has to heave himself out of this surprisingly comfortable chair just to walk three steps over to get the folder. The latter because it’s not like the prisoner looks all that intimidating–he’s probably a few years younger than Ben, several inches shorter, and a good twenty pounds lighter–what could be so scary about that?

“Let’s see it then,” he mutters, flipping open the folder and paging through the information. Like his fingerprints, there’s no exact match for the perp in the system, but there is a partial match.

Ben can feel his eyebrows raise in surprise as he looks between the lab results and the perpetrator still sitting silently at the table, a smirk slowly edging onto his face as he realizes what it is that Ben must have just found out.

Partial DNA match found–their prisoner is related to Cruella de Vil.

~

A/N: I DO REALLY WANT TO DO THIS STORY, BUT IT’S SO DIFFICULT, ARGH. I think the problem is that I’m being too perfectionistic with it so it’s not flowing like A Tale of Two Kingdoms or Only Fools Rush In did. And I figure, I might as well write Ben’s POV while I’m tired since he’s tired, too, right?

Come on mystical muses, hit me with some inspiration.

image

Fake Fic Summaries 5/?, the Descendants AU edition (2015-09-12)

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A/N: Day 3 of arriving at home ridiculously late, this sucks, wtf. Couldn’t scrounge together a drabble but here’s a plot bunny that’s been on my mind that I might as well articulate it now.

~

Underneath The Red Lights

“There is no Isle of the Lost, no convenient rock in the middle of the ocean to banish villains. Instead, there is a walled and warded prison, where all magic users are held. When Carlos is fifteen, his best friends are taken from the orphanage in the middle of the night and imprisoned there.

Three years later, either Carlos is going mad or he’s about to pull off the greatest jailbreak in history. He just has to get the crown prince to cooperate.”

Okay, wildly AU, really don’t think I’m going to do it, because there’s a lot of overlaps with Ain’t No Rest, WHICH I STILL REALLY REALLY WANT TO DO, and this one also seems like a lot of world building which may just warp things too much.

Anyway. Based off a weird dream I had, essentially, as the fake summary above suggests, there is no Isle of the Lost. Instead, the villains and minions are imprisoned in various facilities and any children are raised in government run orphanages. Actually, all magicians are in a maximum security prison. I’m toying with the idea that that includes the Fairy Godmother, too. And so Jane would also be in the orphanage.

Anyway, at age sixteen (I just figure the other three Lost kids are older than Carlos) the government does checks for magical potential, and thus Evie, Mal, and Jay are all locked up. Even if they weren’t on the Isle of the Lost, they are still Carlos’ best friends so he’s just like… wtf, damn it Auradon, but he can’t really do much since… he’s a minor and living in a government run orphanage.

Now for the part I actually dreamed. Carlos begins hearing/seeing his friends–the image of Evie is next to his reflection in mirrors, shiny pieces of metal, even puddles; whenever he’s in danger, he can hear Jay’s voice telling him what to do; and every so often strangers will come up to him, all of them different, but all of them with the same glowing green eyes. Either he is going crazy or his friends have somehow managed to project themselves out of the prison and to him. Never fear, it’s the latter.

Now, because they are in maximum security, the only way to get them out is *mumbledy mumbledy plot device* which means somehow Carlos needs to get access to the castle. Not only that, but the inner sanctum of the castle–where important government stuff and such is held. That’s not open the public. In fact, the only people who can get in are extremely high ranked government officials or the royal family. And Mal can’t just possess someone because the castle is also warded against magic.

So Mal temporarily possesses Ben while he’s out being a real boy (a bit Jasmine-esque) and basically has Carlos pretend to be his boyfriend in really public places so the paparazzi will catch them and eventually the royal family will have to make the rumors true.

Except Mal can’t hold on to the possession for very long and there was one vivid scene I dreamed in which Mal!Ben brought Carlos to a really fancy clothes store, and while Carlos is in the changing room that’s when the possession fails and so when Carlos goes to show off the outfit to who he thinks is Mal, it’s actually Ben who’s just like–I have no idea what is going on, I’m pretty sure I blacked out for a couple of hours. Did I go out drinking? Did I hire a hooker while I was blackout drunk? This is a very good looking hooker, good choice drunk me. 

Ben’s as affable as canon and he kind of just… rolls with it because hey, there’s this cute boy who isn’t some snobby noble or boring politician who, sure, might or might not be a hooker, but is very fun and smart and well, drunk!Ben seemed to know what he was doing so, sure, let’s buy this cute boy some very flattering clothes and take him out to dinner.

Carlos does realize that it’s not Mal but he’s pretty sure he should keep going with the fake!dating thing–or at least, that’s what Evie’s image (there’s no sound in reflections) seems to be gesturing when he asks the changing room mirrors.

And eventually I guess they do fall in love and there’s a whole thing where maybe betrayal is brought up (but seriously, if Ben can forgive Mal for basically roofie-ing him, then he’ll probably forgive Carlos for not telling the whole truth about how they started dating) and then Ben is just like… why are we imprisoning people with magic even if they haven’t done anything wrong? Shouldn’t it be innocent until proven guilty, even with magic? So hooray, all the magicians who are not villains are set free, including the Fairy Godmother and the three other Lost kids, Carlos and Ben officially get together, happily ever after, etc. etc. 

The end.

I dunno, if anyone wants to adopt this, feel free? I would totally be up to beta/brainstorm some more.

edit: I lied, apparently, here’s a drabble for UtRL, though it’s a “bad ending” remix

I always wonder what would descendants be like if Carlos was a girl and rest of the gang were guys and were like her overprotective brothers! Or Mal could accidentally turn Carlos into a girl, and suddenly the guys at Audran Prep notice he is cute!

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Hm… I’m always kind of hesitant about gender/sex bend fic. When done right they are amazing to read, but it’s pretty difficult to do right–there’s a lot of tricky parts that need to be maneuvered around with sensitivity and there are points where you have to consider how much of a personality is due to sex (in that, unfortunately in society, people of different sexes are held to different standards and so develop differently). Like, how much change is too much? At what point do the characters we know and love become unrecognizable.

In the always!female!Carlos and always!male!Mal, Evie, and Jay… hm… there would be changes in how the parents treat their children in that case. For example, Maleficent and Grimhilde treat canon Mal and Evie as extensions of themselves/their second chances–essentially, their daughters are them. Whereas with Cruella, she treats canon Carlos as a (heh) dogsbody/minion.

If all three of them were to have sex bends I think that would also change–Cruella would probably raise Carlos (Carla?) to be a leader of minions instead of to be her own minion. A lot of Grimhilde’s advice to Evie is how to get a prince to marry–but if Evie is male then that means he would be the prince so Grimhilde would raise him to be as stereotypically prince-like as possible. Basically, training him to go on quests so he can win the hand of whichever princess he rescues. Maleficent and Mal’s relationship wouldn’t be too different except for how Mal is further from the duplicate image of Maleficent, so he would be even more desperate to prove himself to his mother.

All that being said, I do think that, yes, if the gang were female!Carlos, male!Mal, Evie, and Jay then the latter three would be very protective of the former. Carlos would be Evie’s “practice princess” in a way–like how children play make believe–while her lack of magic would make Mal think she were ridiculously fragile (especially in comparison to Maleficent’s overt magical presence). With Jay, since I figure female!Carlos would be less hostile than canon Mal and less beguiling than canon Evie, Jay would be more protective of female!Carlos. I mean, Jay is already pretty protective of the others in canon so it could only increase for a female!Carlos. Female!Carlos would be more hardened and cunning than her canon male counterpart, but ultimately I don’t think she would treat the others like her minions (that’s what Horace and Jasper’s kids are for); like her protectors, maybe, but not her minions.

As for shipping… hm… well, I’ve got to be faithful to Benlos–and if anything, female!Carlos would be an irresistible blend of canon!Mal and canon!Carlos for Ben. I would be absolutely fascinated by a male!Mal x Audrey ship–I’m always a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope. I also have a soft spot for Devie (aka, DougxEvie) but I’m not entirely sure how well that would translate to male!Evie x Doug… it’d be a mix of bad-boy/jock + nerd… As for Chad, well. I hate Chad. HATE. So I am pretty sure the Lost kids would be even less tolerant of his douchebaggery if it’s Carlos he tries to exploit–and anyway, female!Carlos would be less vulnerable to a handsome prince than canon!Evie. 

As for the second part of your ask… there’s a difference between gender/sex bend fic and… well, I don’t know if there’s a better term for it… gender/sex fucks. That is, instead of always!female!Carlos, it would be a temporarily!female!Carlos. The latter can be funny and silly, but I’m concerned with the phrasing? Like, why do the guys at Auradon Prep suddenly realize he’s cute when he’s female? Why did they not realize it sooner (like Ben)? That goes into exploring the sexualities of random Auradon guys who I don’t particularly care about?

I don’t think Carlos would do anything if he were suddenly turned female–I think it would be mostly the other Lost kids doing stuff. Like Evie having another model who actually enjoys clothes, Jay glaring daggers at all the Auradon guys who keep trying to ask out Carlos just because he’s suddenly female, and Mal trying to figure out how to reverse it. 

Maaaybe the only one I’d accept Carlos actually dating when suddenly female would be Ben (because, yes, I’m a Benlos shipper, but also he’s the only Auradon guy who showed any interest in Carlos before his sudden magical sex swap), but I’m not really sure where the plot would go from there. Unless it’s a story about gender dysphoria, in which having accidentally been turned female Carlos realizes that he actually wants to be a she. Thus all of her friends (+Ben) are her support system as she transitions (mentally, since Mal’s magic already took care of the physical part).

Uh.. but yes, sorry for all that heavy text. Here are some pictures for what I think I female Carlos may look like:

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(This is Quin as photographed by James McCloud)

Can u write a scene where Mal tries a love spell for Ben, she mess up so badly that it ends up where all the students( and maybe some of the teachers) fall for Carlos

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Untitled Descendants drabble (2015-09-06)

In one universe, while the four Lost kids are working on love potion cookies, Lonnie walks in, adds chocolate chips, cries, then leaves. With a tear of human sadness and despite the addition of chocolate, the potion works as advertised, making the consumer fall in love with the first person they see. In that universe, it makes Ben fall in love with Mal.

This is not that universe.

In this universe, Lonnie does not appear. There are no chocolate chips or tears of human sadness, and so there are no enchanted cookies. They have to use a different spell. One less… controllable.

“I can barely read anything on this page,” Mal complains, spell book flipped open to a different section.

“Let me see,” Evie says, and Mal lays the book flat so all of them can look.

They stare.

“Are you sure those are words?” Jay asks incredulously, not even flinching when Mal smacks his arm, because, well. Scribbles would be a generous description.

“The pictures are pretty clear,” Carlos says optimistically. Even if magic isn’t one of his skills, he has experience with making things work with patchwork instruction manuals–surely it’s the same with spells. It really isn’t.

“I suppose… We don’t have any other options, and we’re on a deadline.” Mal says, considering, before deciding on a course of action, “We’ll do it. Evie, first things first. We need this,” she points at the largest drawing: a flat, six petaled flower with a long thin stem. The top two petals are shaded in, no doubt meant to be a color of some sort, while the bottom four petals are left unshaded.

“Mirror, mirror… full of power,” Evie begins, “Show us where to find that flower.” The swirling silver smoke parts to show a field with dark purple and white flowers peeking through the blades of grass, a small stream flowing along one side. “Not so close,” Evie sighs, and the image zooms out to show the sign of Auradon Prep.

“It’s on campus?” Mal asks, disbelieving. Why would a key ingredient for a love spell just be growing where any student could get there hands on it? That’s stupid. Well, stupid of Auradon–convenient for her, so she shouldn’t complain.

“This campus is huge, though” Jay says, “that would still take us forever–”

“No wait,” Carlos interrupts, “I think I know where that is. I wasn’t sure, since the drawing is in black and white, but I’ve seen those flowers before.”

In the woods beyond the tourney field and bleachers is a deer trail, a narrow path that leads to a tiny meadow full of purple and white flowers. Carlos and Dude have been there before, found it on their very first day together. They go back, occasionally, if Carlos isn’t too tired from tourney practice to run around with his dog.

It’s easy to find again, even in the dark of the night. The four of them spend twenty minutes picking flowers, which, when Evie says so aloud with an amused smirk, causes Mal to scowl fiercely and Jay to stop.

“It’s for a diabolical scheme, okay. I’m not turning into some kind of airhead who sings to animals.” Mal says crossly, before adding, “Keep picking, Jay.”

“How many do we even need?” He grumbles, but does as she says anyway.

“Well, seeing as how we don’t have actual instructions, we need as many as we can get.”

In the end, they clear the field, flowers gathered into Carlos’ jacket as an impromptu bag, before heading back to the boys’ dorm room. They have a love spell to figure out.

But even if the pictures are pretty clear–flower, eyes, heart–the lack of words really is a problem. Not an insurmountable problem, no, but it definitely leaves a lot to interpretation. Like, say, everything.

“Ugh,” Mal groans after attempt almost two hours of trying to decode the scribbles, “Maybe we should go back to the first spell.”

“Tear of human sadness,” Jay reminds her with a grunt, sprawled on his bed and nearly half asleep, but stubbornly blinking his eyes open.

Mal just groans again, throwing her head forward into the cradle of her curled arms on the table.

“Why don’t we just wing it?” Carlos’ voice pipes up from behind her, where he and Evie have been lounging on his bed.

“You mean like the museum heist? Winging it like that?” Mal scoffs without looking up.

“Well, not quite like that,” Evie says coyly, “We have more than enough of these flowers, we can take our time and experiment. Imagine the havoc we can wreak on the school.”

That idea does sound appealing, Mal lifts her head and even Jay sits up in interest. Then startles–“What are you wearing?” He asks.

Mal turns and frowns at what she sees.

Carlos weaving a small wreath of the flowers around Dude’s neck, and Evie straightening a larger wreath as a crown on Carlos’ head.

Mal would scold them for using up their main ingredient, but the four of them really did pick an awful lot of those flowers. They have plenty to spare. But… just so it’s not a total waste, “You’re wearing that to classes tomorrow.”

Who knows, maybe something interesting will happen.

~

A/N: Uh… so first off–thanks for the prompt anon! And… well, sorry it wasn’t exactly what you prompted and more like the prequel to your prompt, instead. Mostly that’s because as I was about halfway through, I realized that the way I set it up this would have to be a complete derailment of the movie. Aaaand I don’t really know how to mesh that plot with this. But… yeah. This was pretty fun.

The flower I have in mind is Viola tricolor, aka heartsease, aka love-in-idleness, aka the flower that Puck gets the love potion from in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It also has the nifty built-in myth of changing colors–from white to purple when doing love magic.

Basically, the idea of Carlos in a magical flower crown and the whole Puck vibe he’s rocking during Set It Off! (specifically this part ) is really good for me.

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Hope you enjoy!

edit: now on ao3 as part of Nameless, Worthy (Infamous)

Ain’t No Rest, part 3/? (2015-09-05)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Carlos is smart.

He’s really fucking smart, okay. He is probably the only person in the entire world who can outsmart magic.

But Carlos is also scared. And it’s because he’s so smart that he’s scared.

Because ingenuity isn’t the same as prescience or telepathy or even strategic thinking. He can take down the barrier, sure, but that doesn’t mean he knows what to do afterwards. Or how to deal with the consequences.

Luckily, he’s not alone–he has his gang, his family–they’re the entire reason why he took down the barrier in the first place. Over the years, his friends’ powers have only grown stronger: Evie’s predictions becoming more accurate, more certainties that probabilities. On those occasions when she’s unsure, people’s intentions switching mid-action or just not existing, well, that’s where Jay can pick up the slack. And Mal’s tactical prowess, while not magical, has always been impressive. As they grew, so too did their abilities–magic and not.

Unfortunately, while strength has always been held in high esteem on the Isle, for four kids trying to keep a secret, it was their downfall.

No, not kids, they’ve grown up. Adults. Carlos knows that their age shouldn’t have mattered, but it’s still something that hangs over them. A heavy what if; wondering if youth would have protected them. If it would have fulfilled one of the conditions to their parents’ tenuous, contingent love.

Because instead of seeing their children, Maleficent, Grimhilde, and Jafar had only seen rivals. Worse, rivals with a secret, rivals with magic.

Which left the the gang two options: fight or run. The truth of the matter is, they probably would have won, but not without killing; and for all that their parents’ love is conditional, theirs is not.

And so Carlos took down the barrier–only for a short window of time–and they fled.

The thing about having two options is that, really, it’s three options. The third option being to do both. Yes, they flee the Isle, not wanting to kill their parents despite them having no qualms about doing the same. But that doesn’t mean they won’t go back and fight.

The just need to pick up a few things first, so it doesn’t turn into parenticide. Things in Auradon. Things held in varying levels of security in Auradon. Things like, say, a certain genie lamp, a particular glass coffin, a specific bell jar, and the only magic wand worth the term.

~

Here is something Evie does not know yet. Her gift has not shown it to her, because it is not relevant. Not yet. It will be.

When Carlos took down the barrier, it wasn’t four people who left the Isle. It was ten.

~

A/N: For cyclesofthemoon who prompted “Carlos is” Which is a bit sparser than I expected for a prompt, but no less appreciated. Also, for that anon who asked about Ain’t No Rest. (jalencolbert is that you again?)

Because I haven’t forgotten it, but I have been putting it off. Because… yeah, I kind of realized I used a lot of what I was originally planning on doing in Ain’t No Rest in A Tale of Two Kingdoms instead… and then I also lost track of the plot. Basically, I was scared–I really want this to be amazing, but I have greatly reduced my options/abilities to do so. 😦

Subconscious uses crippling self-doubt!

It’s very effective!

But, mrgh, hopefully I can kickstart my enthusiasm for this story.

edit: switched about some lines for better flow.