parkours over fandoms neurodivergently

keep reading if youve seen it or dont care about spoilers but tldr: if you havent seen it and see this as a spin off movie instead of a 4th installment, i say go watch it. its basically how i feel about the 2024 mean girls movie, im just here for certain characters, dynamics and songs, and a bit of the actual plot, its fun but definitely not for everyone, i liked parts of the movie/plots tho

Lets cut to the chase: ending sucked. I am writing fanfic actively to fix it.

From the BEGINNING, I knew what SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE END. AND IT WASN’T.

WHYYYYIAHDOIUAHDFPUAHFD

I’m willing to bet you can guess what SHOULD have happened, but let me lay it out (or you could read my fic. Check AO3 is should hopefully be there soon if I don’t procrastinate too much).

Chloe and Red return to their rooms, thinking they did it. However, they realize that it CAN’T be done, as the Sorcerer’s Cookbook COULDN’T HAVE BEEN USED BY ULIANA! WE SEE HER GET HEXED? WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE? GOD I HATE TIME TRAVEL AND I HATE-

Sorry, got a bit off topic.

So, as I was saying, they ACKNOWLEDGE THAT DUMB PLOT HOLE and are now asking themselves: if it wasn’t Uliana, who was it?

Now they’re freaking out, WHO DID IT? And the next night is the ball, so they don’t have time!

They get to the ball, and we find out who REALLY did the prank: Ella. Now, as for why, there are two options.

The first one I like better but would require changes to the EARLIER sections of the movie. You see, I would change Uliana’s “perfect revenge” (which was actually super lame) and make it so that she would hex Ella and make her ditch Bridget at the ball.

For option two, make Ella get fed up of Bridget. Whether that be because of her over-positivity, her being too royal (creating that Chloe-Bridget dynamic that really could have been awesome) or even just DID IT ALONE! FROM THE FIRST SCENE I THOUGH ELLA WAS JUST PRETENDING TO BE BRIDGET’S FRIEND!

When Ella ditches Bridget (or worse if you REALLY like suffering), Bridget realizes her only friend wasn’t really a friend.

THAT WOULD MAKE ME GO ALL QUEEN-OF-HEARTS-OFF-WITH-HER-HEAD-COUT-AURADON ON HER ASS!

Plus, it would ACTUALLY explain Love Ain’t It. Not romantic love. No. Platonic love. She doesn’t know what love really is.

And, so, Chloe has to reconcile with the fact her mother wasn’t perfect, and the duo have to stop Ella and make Bridget and Ella talk things out rather than pull pranks. It would make Bridget never go bad, and it would explain Ella’s growth and knowledge of the prank.

BUT NO! IT JUST ENDS!

I don’t necessarily think the end was HORRIBLE (although that plot hole was,) but it was so close to being AWESOME! Realizing even good people can be bad, friends can reconcile, friendship can help keep people from being evil, and SO MANY MORE MESSAGES! Plus, most of all, it wouldn’t have been BORING!

Songs are in bold, names are not correct

Open on Uma informing us she’ll be reaching out to other lands for their children

They still have the Carlos bit but now it'll pay off

Introduce us to Red in Wonderland being absolute chaos

RED song

Establish Maddox as the son of Mad Hatter and he’s the cool older brother/tutor. He shows her the timepiece but not as a gift more as a plan to understand history.

Also give Jack of Diamonds something else to do, PLEASE

They receive the invitation and the QoH surprises everyone by letting her go

When packing Red reveals she stole the time piece, the voice over about the dangers of changing the past plays but she still pockets it

Chloe’s character- still cute and naive with a belief that love is the most important thing because love and being a good person changed her mom’s life. Shethinks love conquers all and is very by the book because Cinderella always did as she was told and believes it was her good attitude and perseverance that helped

Love Aint It is the same but without the stupid assembled voices

Altered LOVE AINT IT

Queen still takes over, Red and Chloe still accidentally travel back in time

They still have a fight song but a better one

Better fight song

They still meet Merlin, still pretend to be transfer students. 

They go to class and meet Bridget and Ella. 

Bridget is so kind and sweet and accepting

Ella is still hard working but cautious towards all royals, because her stepsisters are friends with the royals

At Merlin Academy, there’s a tradition of playing pranks that leads into social acceptance

Prank is played on Aladdin (who transferred in the year before, pretending to be a Prince when he wasn’t but he and Jasmine fell in love anyway) symbolizing his acceptance into MA social scene

CRUELLA  is now the main villain kid. Kourtney Reed can still play her. 

Life is Sweeter song plays, goth kids are introduced, and establishes Cruella as the mean girl because she feels like she has a lot to prove since she doesn’t have powers or a thing, just a desire to rule the fashion world. 

LIFE IS SWEETER, mostly the same but with different characters and dancing

She adheres to a strict code of modern, sleek fashion and she hates Bridget for her Wonderland style and Ella for her shabby-chic look

Gets embarrassed (maybe her outfit is ruined) and vows revenge

Red and Chloes visit Ella and that part goes mostly the same

Chloe breaking the vase gets Ella grounded from Crowncoming

They still travel to the goth kids hangout and discover Cruella has enlisted Morgie and Maleficent to come up with a way to humiliate Bridget

VILLAIN SONG

They still go to Bridget's room

Shuffle of love bc why not

Red looks in the looking glass and still sees the dark princess future

Chloe doesn't see anything bc she's accidentally erased herself so now they have two missions

Red pockets the Looking glass so they can keep checking in on the future

The two still fight about what to do next, with Chloe insisting her parents would want her to be a rule-following person and Red telling her goodness without action is nothing

Chloes goes back to Ellas and they have essentially the same talk where Chloe realizes her goodness isn’t all-inclusive

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY

They still have a break in, Red using her epic heisting skills

They confront the goth kids and stop them in much the same way 

After they steal the book, they still have to get Ella to Crowncoming

Red, Chloe, and Bridget convince Fay she needs to help them get Ella to Crowncoming, all 5 of them get gorgeous dresses

Ella and Charming still dance because he does something to prove he's a good guy

SO THIS IS LOVE REMIX

Crowncoming happens, all goes well then BOOM, Bridget still gets pranked/turned into monster as her ‘acceptance into the cool kids club’ prank but she’s too humiliated to care

Red goes after Bridget to convince her its okay. She tells her the anger she's feeling will fester and grow and she’ll become something she hates

Chloe has to go get Ella to go help her friend. She realizes her parents will have to earn their love like everyone else bc true love doesn't just come easy, and if it’s meant to be one dance shouldnt change anything

Red forces Bridget to look in the looking glass, showing her both of their futures. Bridget is confused and horrified

The four of them end up using the watch to go back to the (unchanged) future

Bridget has to confront the QoH and reminds her why she used to be kind and that it didn't make them popular but it got them Ella

Ella confronts Cinderella about how could you let your friend go even for love

Uma talks about her friend Carlos, and how he believed it was never too late to change, and even though his mom spent her life pursuing fame and style above everything, he still believed with patience and understanding she could be good. After he died Cruella realized no amount of fame mattered as much as him and asked Uma to expand the VK program in his honor

Red and QoH make up AS THEMSELVES. QoH tells Red she loves her and everything she’s done has been out of fear of her being hurt like she was.

Sends Ella and Bridget back and we have a BIG transformation

End with a real song and dance number about new beginnings

I like Red and Chloe surprisingly, but everyone else? (Even ones I was excited (for?) Pass. I mean, there were actually some parts of this that made me snort, but it almost feels…incomplete? Like, severely incomplete, especially the end.

I know there may be more movies coming but even the OG films didn’t leave it quite that pathetically. I’m not going to get on here and write a whole thing about things I liked and didn’t like. It’s not worth my time. My expectations were on the ground and this movie didn’t deliver much for me to care or raise that bar. Not good writing, bad songs, just…nothing.

However, it’s certainly given me new characters to write and play around with, so be expecting more on that in the future…it’ll be too easy to write this in an interesting way. I’ve already got some thoughts.

This is a basic study in creative writing. None of these points were hit in the film. In any class, be it literature or film making, this movie would’ve gotten a D, at best, for some exposition and resolution. Allow me to do a brief study:

Descendants: Rise of Red

Theme: Overcoming personal challenges, biases, and bettering oneself by not repeating the same mistakes as the past.

Conflict: The Red Queen invades Auradon and stages a coup after being wronged in her past. Red, who wants to be good, takes Chloe (someone who’s sees herself as good but hasn’t proven it) back in time to change their future and save the kingdom.

:

Exposition:

- as much as I love Uma, cut that part and her entire monologue. Show don’t tell. It’s not needed. Show her briefly writing the letter inviting Red (and her mom) to Auradon as a symbol of peace towards Wonderland.

- Cut the part with Maddox (again, not needed) and focus on Red and her mom exclusively and how tyrannical the Red Queen is in her kingdom/towards her daughter. Have Red steal the watch from her mom in the opening sequence to show she’s a thief as well as a vandal. Why Bridget has the watch can be explored later.

- Keep Chloe’s segment but cut it to be shorter.

- Keep the orientation/going back in time segment.

Rising Action:

- Red and Chloe meet Bridget and Ella and conflict with the ‘VK’s’ is set up.

- Ella and Bridget are shown to have a crush on the same guy despite being best friends, setting up another point of conflict. (Maybe Bridget asks Ella to invite Charming to the dance for her and he misinterprets this as Ella asking him)

- Red and Chloe don’t get along due to their conflicting ideals on goodness and what’s right and wrong, setting up a third point of conflict.

- Movie progresses, girls learn about the prank and the enchanted cookbook through the villains.

- Chloe and Red fail to get the book out of Merlin’s office due to their opposing ideas (Chloe maybe arrives too late to help Red against Uli) resulting in the inciting incident still occurring.

Climax:

- The dance. WE ACTUALLY SEE THE DANCE.

- Chloe and Red attend together with plans to sabotage the villains plans and keep them away from Bridget.

- Bridget gets heartbroken when she arrives expecting to be with Charming, only to find him with Ella in which they go off together.

- Bridget is venerable and hurt, and won’t listen to Red or Chloe when they tell her something bad is going to happen.

- INCITING INCIDENT STILL HAPPENS.

- Red confronts the villains alone in defense of Bridget, while Chloe goes to confront Ella for abandoning her best friend and realizing the meaning of goodness is being loyal and present, leading her to return to help Red.

Falling Action:

- Bridget is turned into a monster by the magic cookbook, ruining her dance, but instead of being humilated and alone, she is comforted by Ella, Red, and Chloe who convince her that she is loved and cared for.

INCITING INCIDENT IS REVERSED HERE!?

- The villians are given consequences by Merlin for their actions in front of Bridget and the school.

- With this change, Chloe realizes Red is beginning to disappear. The clock begins to toll midnight, pulling back to the og cinderella story of the magic fading at 12.

- The girls run back for the watch and are barely in time to make it back before completely fading away, returning to the future.

Resolution;

- The girls return, except orientation is different. Roses are everywhere and Bridget is with Ella and Charming, happy and kind.

- Red is in a different (less edgy) outfit due to a changed upbringing, though the memories are still there.

- Red and Bridget reunite with the latter being none the wiser (she asks if Red has a fever).

- Chloe gives her mom back the glass shoes (which returned to her), and in Ella’s confusion, she explains that she still has a lot to learn about being truly good and doesn’t wish to be rewarded for it until she feels she’s earned it.

- Red and Chloe share a dorm as they attend Auradon Prep, with Bridget and Ella looking on arm in arm as friends, discussing future plans for tea/a visit to Wonderland.

/

I had some SUDDEN INSPIRATION and decided to write it out as an answer to the pretty lackluster ending the film had. There are, all told, about three things I really think stand out to why the ending is bad.

...but of course this is all spoilers so let's just clip this now, shall we?

DONT STOP TALKING ABOUT PALESTINE! DONT STOP TAKING ABOUT GAZA!