We Wear the Mask: The Appendix

by DarkTwistedSisters

Nothing you need to read unless you'd like more information on the characters or our original plot in our Disney Descendants Fanfiction. Sometimes we post a letter or information in the story and remove it after a few weeks, now we have a place to keep it without interrupting the flow of the story. Got a question for us related to WWtM? Post it and we'll answer it here. :)

3. A note of critique

Hey Descendents fans!

I know we've been gone a long time, but hopefully here soon we'll be able to get back to what Twisted and I love, writing together.

I wanted to take the time to address a few concerns I've been seeing in comments, reviews and messages. Hopefully clear the air before we get back to work.

I know the beginning of We Wear the Mask jumps around a lot. You guys have to remember though, we started this as a collection of one shots. We just had small snippets of plot bunnies running around in our heads.

The first short is about a plot bunny we thought of when we were first thinking of characters we wanted to write. Because both of us believe that the only true way to add an OC is for them to have affected the world in some way. So as Hyades was being thought up, we started to really think about why Hades, a God, was resigned to let Maleficent rule the isle. Well... Maybe he made a deal with her... Okay, let's roll with that. So how would having a daughter affect that? Long thought lines later we came up with the idea that Hyades and Evie probably had a lot in common, so they would have gotten along as young children. Evie being banished would have upset Hyades... Boom, the Almost Banished was born.

In what can hurt a Demigod, we continued to explore the differences Hades having a daughter would have made. If you go by mythology, Ursula is a descendant of Poseidon, making Hades Ursula Uncle. So we explored how that relationship might have worked with Hyades and Uma. Another one shot, short story was born.

The reason that we did more of Hyades early on was because of character ease of access. Hyades was free to roam the isle. T was not. The Stalker and the Thief was one of the first times 'T' made an appearance. As you read later,

***Possible spoiler***

Gil also has a memory of T from a younger age, but we already knew that T's character was complicated, so we didn't want to add to that with Gil meeting an in between character Tina.

In all Honesty, we never expected for this to take on the life that it did. We had planned to create little one shot, episodic stories. But then we found a plot forming. What would happen to these characters once the Rotten Four left? Because we also changed the villainy level of the villains, how would that change what happened? As we worked to answer those questions, the story began to have a flow to it.

So, yeah. It does jump around a lot in the beginning. Should we move the 'Slice of Life' chapters to another title? Should we better advertise when that change happens? Let us know your opinion. We know this story is a bit unorthodox, but isn't that what FF is all about?

If you've ever looked into our other work, Bakers, Hunters and Pie, you know that we take pride in our characters growing and evolving. To the readers who find Hyades whinny or boring, her character does evolve. I'm also trying to work to add the levels of her personality to everything I write with her. She is kind of a loner, very independent and very driven to do what she thinks is the best or is right. I'm sorry that these strong willed traites haven't been translating well in my writing of her, so I promise to work on that.

There's nothing I can do about her personality shift on the ship though, imagine being surrounded by things that can burn, having to keep control of your temper, and constantly being told what to do when you never really signed up for any of that. Hyades values her privacy, and she has none. Again, I'm sorry that things haven't been translating well.

One of the things I'm suggesting to Twisted is that we, together, read back through everything we've already posted and find ways to make it better. Not change anything, but write in such a way that we are clearer about what is happening in the chapter, and better defining the characters. Would that be something that you all would be interested in?

Anyway, please continue to comment and review! I do read them, and I do take them under advisement. While I understand that we'll never make everyone happy, constructive critique is so very helpful. And if we can change something to make it more understandable, we will.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day, thank you for taking the time to read this.

-Dark