moved to deifiedstars

AURADONIAN EXPANSION

       because it’s important to state, the creation of the united kingdoms of auradon was not a wholly peaceful process. adam has only recently been returned to the throne after his curse breaks and he finds he has a lot to learn about the nearby kingdoms that have all moved on and grown whilst his has been languishing, hidden from view. he throws himself into studying the changes and becoming accustomed to them and then he devotes himself to politics. he puts his wedding to belle on hold until he feels like he can live up to being king of the kingdom of auradon. 

         but in all his attempts to learn, he finds that many of the other kingdoms have recently seen attacks from magical beings like maleficent, grimhilde and the horned king. this only further increases his distrust and distaste for magical beings, even those who think they are operating for good- since he knows that the enchantress believed what she was doing was right, but he cannot see it as anything other than evil (even if not for himself then for his servants who had done nothing to deserve her ire). 

        he creates a proposal for joining several of the nearby nations under one banner, keeping their autonomy but agreeing to protect each other’s borders as well as their own. verrelac, the summerlands, solaria, north riding, camelot, westerly and tirulia are approached and agree to sign up under adam’s banner. this creates the first united military force of auradon and its main purpose is to defend the kingdoms against large scale magical threats. 

         with verrelac on side, adam also finds a kindred spirit in the fairy godmother, who equally wants to see an end to anyone using magic for evil purposes. together, they start a public campaign against dark magic and adam moves on with his political campaign too. he speaks to the kingdoms of corona, south riding, east riding and apheliotia and brings them under the banner too, with promise of military power and safety from those that would want to harm their kingdoms. with this military power behind him he moves into pressuring the kingdoms of northern wei and agrabah to join his alliance. northern wei borders onto the already established alliance and has little choice but to surrender to the superior forces. with northern wei signed into the treaty and ahpeliotia bordering the land, agrabah is quick to follow. 

      adam enters into talks with arendelle, using his military and naval power to strongarm the queen into a deal, then does the same for the wild kingdom, faraway, the borderlands and motunui. this is not a peaceful occupation, but comes with threat of an overwhelming military force, backed by some of the most powerful ‘good’ magic users to have ever lived. though from the outside it looks like it was entirely peaceful, it was not. 

     but for regular citizens, it seems to be working perfectly. they feel safer, technology is expanding and they are earning more money for less work. what they don’t see, or don’t want to see is how magical beings and sentient non-humans are being unfairly treated by the system in order to create a world of wealth. 

       and with the entirety of the human kingdoms following this treaty, and experiencing the fastest growth and unheard of levels of prosperity, there is a relative happiness within the kingdoms. adam turns his sights on the more difficult targets of olympia, schwartzwald, atlantica and neverland. to the gods, he promises to look after their human population. schwartwald is forced into the agreement by virtue of arendelle already being part of it and under the promise that the elemental spirits of the forest wouldn’t be touched. atlantica is forced into the treaty by overwhelming forces and the fact technological advancements have created weapons that can be used underwater. neverland is also given no choice, with the fairies anchoring it into the real world and peter being given the option of joining, or being imprisoned for his crimes (like kidnapping and child endangerment) in a place where he would be capable of growing up. 

      only once this is done does adam actually agree to marry belle and once they are done, he brings together all the treaty nations to vote in a high king. adam wins the vote with an 85% majority, he is named high king and the treaty nations become the united kingdoms of auradon. 

GRIMHILDE VON ANMUT - MIRROR CHAMBER

        in the castle across the way there is a tower room that has been completely transformed into a room of mirrors, it’s made entirely of broken pieces of mirrors that have come over in the barges from auradon, stuck to the walls in as close an approximation to whole mirrors as you can get on the isle. the room itself is small, and round in shape. in there you can see yourself from every angle in every surface. 

@pariendae​’s grimhilde sent: “ [ groom ] your muse adjusting mine’s appearance, such as straightening a tie, fixing their hair, or buttoning their shirt for them, etc . ” ( acts of dominance )

she sits straight and still as her mother touches her up, makes sure everything’s in place. she knows best, evie reminds herself, knows how to make evie look her best (although never as good as the queen). she’s silent, too, hardly breathing, not wanting to disturb any detail of it. she feels like a doll, but dolls don’t get a say in what’s done to them, do they?

another person would probably quake in fear at the anger in the pirate’s face, but uma refused to back down. of all the hooks, this was the one she dealt with the least, but she knew better than to show weakness before him.  “ so you called me here to waste my time. “  her tone was matter of fact, as if it wasn’t opinion but the indisputable truth. a shake of her head caused blue braids to shift, before she pulled a knife out of her sleeve to examine.  “ perhaps it is my age to blame, but i just… don’t see why those of us that hold the coast back down to a faery with no magic. “  giving an almost casual shrug, she looked up at her best friend’s father.  “ forgive me for not fearing a being who cannot transform. for not letting her hold power over me just because she used to be the ‘mistress of evil’. hell, the fact that a teenager like me was able to take over as much as i have shows that her hold is weakening. ”  rising to her feet, she leaned on the table herself.  “ this is our chance captain. the chance for pirates to rise, to show this island that those who hold the seas have power. “

@belovedstars​ sent  might we have hook’s Thoughts and Opinions on his children 🎤 

     oh boy, what a question. and it’s the kind of question that has been causing me grief since i set up this blog. hook, in general, has a very negative opinion on children. he simply doesn’t like them. especially boys, after all his trouble with boys, it’s easy to see why. on the other hand, as a pirate it’s easy to be superstitious when it comes to girls too. women aren’t meant to be brought on board a pirate ship. so while, in theory, he prefers his daughters over his son he’s also of the opinion that their place isn’t on the ship but on the shore. 

     this leads to some interesting problems. because harry has been nothing but a thorn in his side. he had been genuinely excited once at the prospect of having someone to train and raise in his image, raise to be a captain etcetera etcetera. 

     except, point one, he hates male children. and point two, harry is hardly the ideal. for hook there are a few important aspects he’d want in his children. a quick wit, a classical education, a propensity for the family trade, obedience and good form. and harry doesn’t seem to have any concept of the latter two (and depending on headcanons, often not the education aspect either, though i would say hook is the kind of person to push his children to learning, as someone who attended one of the most prestigious colleges in england). 

        despite hook’s anger issues and his inclination towards violence he does like to focus on having good form, he’s a classic gentleman and he holds himself as such and he holds his children to the same standards. harry’s lack of good form and unwillingness to listen to hook in all things makes him an unsuitable heir. add to that his relationship with uma and you have a recipe for hook in a bad mood. harry chooses to follow around someone smaller than him, someone who, by all accounts, is significantly weaker. but the kicker is that harry is choosing to follow anyone around at all. sidekicks are useless is a lesson he has long since drummed into his children. you can’t count on anyone but yourself. and then harry goes and contents himself with being first mate on a ship run by a woman who isn’t even of a pirate lineage and it’s pretty much an affront. 

          adding to this the canon of harry having been working for hook in his shop and stealing from the register, hook has essentially disowned harry. he doesn’t care for him, probably never will. to add insult to injury harry looks like hook himself, his eyes and hair a constant reminder of a youthful james hook. and he carries his father’s anger issues with him too. harry reminds hook far too much of himself to be comfortable with. and it’s all the bad bits, with none of the good. if hook sees himself as having any redeemable features, he can find none of them in harry. 

           on the opposite end of the spectrum, harriet is perfect at pretty much all of the things he wants in a child. she’s strong willed, self sufficient, a born leader. she seems to understand the concept of good form and- at least while she’s young- of behaving in hook’s presence. on top of this, she’s spent her entire life doing him the fantastic service of keeping his other children out of his line of sight unless he wants to see them. 

          harriet would be the perfect heir, if not for the one small issue of having been born a girl. and as previously mentioned, sailors and pirates have an antiquated view of women even stepping on board a ship, never mind captaining one. so harriet is somewhat relegated even in hook’s mind to the role of ‘primary caregiver’ and not much else. he sees her talent for leading, for swordsmanship, for piracy and there is some part of him that is proud of what she’s accomplished because it’s what he’d want for his children. for them to have their own ships and crew. for them to have a life of their own, worthy of the name of hook. 

          so while he doesn’t particularly like any of his children on a normal day, harriet is probably the favourite growing up, at least until she starts being confident enough to talk back. to throw his life back in his face. to stand up for her siblings. and while he’s still relatively pleased with the ferocity of her anger, he doesn’t want it turned on him. i wouldn’t  go so far as to say he loves her, but he does internally acknowledge that her actions can bring something other than shame to the hook name where his other two children are failing miserably. 

           calista jane, being the youngest, is something of a sore subject. he didn’t really raise her, harriet did most of that. canonically, though, he shared with her stories of his exploits and tales of adventure. and she wants that too. which would be admirable as a goal, but once again he is lumbered with a child who doesn’t fit into his idea of what a good heir should be. cj is loud, she’s confident, she deliberately causes a ruckus wherever she goes and always leaves some kind of mess in her wake. she barely seems to care for anyone or anything but herself and her wants, and though it’s clear she got that from her father there’s something about her that strikes him as being closer to his worst enemy than she is to him. 

           she’s brash, mischievous, self-centred, adventurous and loves to swing around in the rigging as if she could fly. she’s a leader who won’t take no for an answer, who always places herself in charge no matter what. and when hook sees her acting like this, it’s as if the very ghost of pan has come back to haunt him. she’s the worst parts of his history following him even onto the isle of the lost- and he cannot escape her. she might outwardly want to be more like her father, but he already knows what she is, who she is. this keeps him on edge around her, more than anything. 

           hook does not hate his children, though they reflect parts of him and his past that he does not care to be reminded of. he doesn’t like them either. they are a constant reminder of his own weaknesses, his own frail humanity, and the constant passage of time outside of neverland. but they are still his children. they represent his name, his legacy- and he will do anything he can to protect that legacy. from stringing up people who hurt them to trying to bring them back in line when they’re out of it. hook will always want what’s best for himself, and in some instances that means aligning himself with his children. he remains forever trapped between wishing they had stayed at an age where they didn’t argue with him, and wishing they’d grow faster so that he no longer has to see them anymore.

@devillain​ sent  Shut up! / cruella 

       there’s no thought behind the reaction, he snaps- he shouts and she reacts instantly. the back of her hand landing a sharp blow against his cheek with a deceptive amount of strength for a woman of her frailty. “ you wretch! you beast! you dare speak to me like that? did you forget who i am? ” fingers curl into his hair, nails scratching at the skin- not even caring if they break it- and she yanks his head back to the point of discomfort. until his back is arched and he’s off balance, unable to wriggle away. 

@hoistsails​ sent  ❛   your poor, weak, feeble heart couldn’t handle the strain, could it?   ❜ / hook 

       posture is slumped, heavy in his seat, head resting back against the cushions. his arms don’t want to move, in fact none of him does. though he’d give his good hand to be in his bed right now. instead he’s simply lounging on a chaise. the empty bottle rolling out from beneath the chair and back again as the ship moves should be telling enough without the rest of his body language.

        maybe that’s why harriet feels comfortable enough to insult him. to question the integrity of his heart. as though he has one. she stands, outlined in the flickering gaslight, the shadows on her face making her look older and then younger. he suddenly feels every one of his ancient years. “ i don’t have a heart, ” he comments, tongue smacking against his dry lips as his fingers hopelessly search the floor for another bottle to douse his thirst. “ there’s nothing in me but poison. ” maybe there had been more once. he remembers a university campus in the english summer sun, a pretty girl with dark hair and high cheekbones and good breeding. debates over classic poetry. it’s a life that no longer belongs to him. he’s not sure it ever did.