#And they’re going up against Cass Eugene Raps and Lance

[0palnova]

Vat7k doodles yayyy

Owl house Hugo just because 

[bestworstcase]

I like your thoughts on how Rapunzel was handling things wrong in “Rapunzel: Day One.” The episode tries to imply that Cassandra is wrong for not sharing her feelings with Rapunzel, but is a Rapunzel really the person Cassandra should be opening up to? Rapunzel never respects Cassandra’s boundaries. Cassandra’s a private person. Rapunzel doesn’t respect that. And just because Cassandra doesn’t want to open up to everyone doesn’t mean that she’s bottling things up.

ok so this is gonna be a long one bc tbh i like. fundamentally disagree that RDO, the narrative of RDO, in any way positions cassandra as the one at fault for the emotional conflict between her and raps.

to digress a bit - while tts is not immune to Aesop Episodes (e.g. rapunzel's enemy or you're kidding me) wherein the characters close out the story by talking about What They've Learned, ultimately i don't think tts can or should be read as a morality play. it's a story where sometimes characters just... fuck up and the narrative doesn't waste its time on hand-holding or spoon-feeding us the moral.

anyway, i submit that RDO is what i'll call a False Aesop Episode. it follows the basic structure of an Aesop Episode (protagonist acts badly -> protagonist learns a lesson) but the lesson rapunzel learns is a bad one. it's like if you took... say, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" as an aesop, the False Aesop here is rapunzel confidently eating a rotten apple and then being blindsided a few months later when the doctor who kept begging her not to eat food with maggots in it steals the moonstone from under her nose and runs off into the night with her new demon pal--

and that metaphor got away from me a little bit but you get the idea.

#1: constructing the conflict

the episode opens with cassandra. she's training; we see the sword fly out of her injured hand; lance suggests she take a break, and she answers, "thanks to rapunzel's little trick at the great tree, i have to relearn everything using this hand, so breaks aren't really an option."

she isn't harsh about it. her demeanor isn't all that different from her normal self—she even segues into a very typical concern (that the woods are dangerous and they should all be on their guard) and banters with lance a bit.

what this communicates, immediately and succinctly, is that:

1. cassandra's injury is severe. it's disabling. she's either in immense pain or she's lost all the strength in that hand or both.

2. cass is really upset about this, and not happy with rapunzel.

3. nevertheless cass is keeping her feelings more or less in check; the worst anyone could say about her is she's being a bit more curt than normal.

which is to say, she's acting quite reasonable. she's not taking out her hurt feelings on anyone else or being mean or lashing out, and she's not hiding her injury either. the most concerning thing about her behavior here is actually that she's focused on training so she can do her job instead of on healing or resting or taking care of herself.

then there's a pan over to rapunzel, who is angrily watching this play out while venting to pascal. "i get why cass is mad at me," she says. "she told me—" huge disdainful rolling of eyes here "—not to use the decay spell back and the tree, and i did, and she hurt her hand. but if she had just listened to me and stayed out of it, this all could have been avoided! and i feel like we could work things out, but she refuses to talk about it!!"

line this up against cassandra's behavior and spot the differences.

cass is focused on her injured hand. cass is upset because rapunzel accidentally mutilated her in the great tree. that's what this conflict is about for cass; her injury, and how she feels about being injured.

by contrast, rapunzel thinks the conflict is about them not listening to each other. she does acknowledge that cass was injured, but 1. she puts the blame on cass, and 2. has shoved the fact of the injury to the periphery of the conflict. it's not important, it's just a natural consequence of the real conflict, which is cass being mad and petty and refusing to talk to her about how she's unfairly blaming rapunzel for something that wasn't rapunzel's fault.

[i will add here that this behavior from rapunzel is 100% not knowing how to handle guilt and externalizing it as anger, and this thread of rapunzel burying her guilt gets picked up again in rapunzeltopia; it isn't that rapunzel doesn't care that cass is hurt, so much as she's just not emotionally equipped to process these feelings in a healthy way so it mutates into...this.]

and where cass handles her feelings in a pretty reasonable way, rapunzel rants and raves and draws cass as a literal monster with fangs and claws—she's stewing in her out of control emotions and concludes that she just has to find a way to force cass talk to her, which she does shortly thereafter by ordering—not asking—cass to come with her to search for parts to fix the caravan.

#2: the breakdown of communication

i've said it before but it bears repeating: cassandra might not be perfect, but she's a good communicator. in s1 and the front half of s2, she shares her feelings with rapunzel readily and frequently. when she tries to set boundaries with rapunzel, she's able to be clear and specific about what she needs. when she expresses frustration with eugene or her dad or rapunzel, she's very articulate about exactly what she's frustrated about. she can recognize when politer, softer refusals are being ignored and become blunter and more specific to ensure the message is getting across.

the moments when cass struggles to communicate are noteworthy because they're not normal. they signal that she's in acute crisis. think of how her unhinged rant about adira in RATGT heralded a complete emotional breakdown. she clams up in RDO because it's the only thing she can do to protect herself. because rapunzel is an inexperienced nineteen year old who learned all her social "skills" from a manipulative, egotistical abuser and nowhere in the series does that show more than in RDO.

rapunzel knows cass doesn't want to talk about the great tree, so she isolates cass from the rest of the group with the intention of forcing her to talk about it anyway. she's passive aggressive at first: chattering about inanities and trying to bait cass into 'opening up,' and acting vexed and guilt-trippy when she finds out cass brought owl along. she broaches the subject by going "too bad there's not an open-up-to-your-best-friend-about-the-thing-you-guys-are-fighting-about wand, huh?"

then she leads with "i know you're mad at me, but i did the right thing. i didn't have a choice," which... what can cass even say to that? she acknowledged cassandra's anger in one breath and followed up with "but you're wrong tho" in the next. that statement makes cassandra's feelings about her debilitating injury into an argument about Who Was Right.

this is a game that cass tries very hard not to play. "look, if you feel that way, then it's fine. we're good," she says, which is a statement that is not true at all on its face but - what it means is that if rapunzel wants to turn this into a debate about Who Was Right, cass will concede because that's not an argument she's invested in. cass does not want to put her feelings on trial so rapunzel can pick them apart and decide whether she deserves to have them or not.

so she disengages. the sun sets. they camp. rapunzel pokes her again, this time with a more direct approach: "cass, i need to talk about what we both know is going on between us."

and that's when cass throws up a WALL. prior to RDO, when cass is pressed on her feelings, she either: 1. opens up and explains to the extent that she's able (e.g. under raps or RATGT), or 2. flatly shuts the conversation down (e.g. cassandra vs eugene). but in RDO?

"there's nothing to talk about."

"i never said i was upset."

"what makes you so sure that you know how i'm feeling?"

this is cass falling off the end of her rope. this is a cass who spent the last year and a half with rapunzel running roughshod over every boundary cass exhausted herself trying to set. this is cass maybe a few weeks out from rapunzel screaming at her in front of all their mutual friends and then telling her "i am going to make decisions you don't agree with and i need you to be okay with that" when cass tried to open up about her deepest insecurities. this is cass spiraling into despair because she's seen that her best friend cares more about assuaging her own guilt and exerting her authority as a princess than she does about cassandra's feelings.

this is the moment when the friendship dies.

#3: the memory wipe, cassandra's apology, and the false aesop

the details of the tangled-but-cass shenanigans are not super important for the purposes of this discussion. suffice it to say that cassandra lashes out in the heat of the moment, seriously harms rapunzel by mistake, and spends the rest of the episode trying to repair the damage, then apologizes to rapunzel for hurting her. this is, obviously, the correct thing to do when you hurt someone, even if it was an accident.

you see the parallel here, yeah?

rapunzel hurt cass with magic by accident, and then made cass's hurt feelings all about her, blamed cass for the injury, twisted the facts to justify her own indignation, picked a fight about Who Was Right and invalidated cassandra's feelings, and pushed and pushed and pushed until cass blew up and lashed out at her.

cassandra also hurt rapunzel with magic by accident, and then she set aside her own hurt feelings from the argument they were having before to focus one hundred percent of her energy on brewing a cure and keeping amnesiac rapunzel safe, readily admitted her fault, and offered an earnest apology for losing her temper as soon as she could reasonably do so.

if RDO were a true Aesop Episode, this would be the lesson, and rapunzel would of course learn from cassandra's good example and reciprocate by apologizing for the accident in the great tree and her abysmal behavior afterwards—and in a reflection of how cass shared how bottling up her anger allowed it to erupt in a catastrophic way, rapunzel would probably confess that her demanding, selfish behavior came from a place of feeling awful about what happened and terrified that it would ruin their friendship.

but RDO is a False Aesop Episode. rapunzel isn't emotionally equipped to handle the intensity of her guilt, and she lacks the social insight and empathy to draw comparisons between what she did to cass and what cass did to her, so she can't connect the two situations in her head to understand what she's doing wrong. the true aesop flies right over her head, and instead what she learns is this:

1. she was right about cass being upset

2. backing cass into a corner fixed the problem

3. friends really do "just know"

4. being pushy and forceful was the right thing to do.

because the thing is, when cass apologizes for the accidental memory wipe, she truthfully explains why she acted the way she did—she's furious and she didn't want to talk about it, so she held it in as long as she could and then exploded when the pressure became too much—and for rapunzel, i think the explanation and the actual apology get conflated. meaning, cass says "i'm sorry for what i did out of anger" and what rapunzel hears is "i'm sorry for being angry."

and because of that misunderstanding, from rapunzel's perspective her own indignation has been validated and her behavior justified, because she was right all along and cass shouldn't have been angry with her in the first place and now everything is fine--

but it's not fine.

we're not supposed to share rapunzel's perspective here, because she's flat out wrong. nothing is really better and nothing has really changed, except that rapunzel got the talk she wanted and stops putting this intense pressure on cass. so as we enter the house of yesterday's tomorrow, rapunzel is taking it for granted that things are fine with cass, and meanwhile cass is still injured, still angry, still as aloof as she can be without getting rapunzel breathing down her neck again... and then she meets zhan tiri, who gives her everything she needed and couldn't get from rapunzel.

like, to my mind, this is the entire point of RDO, that rapunzel makes this catastrophic mess of trying to patch things up after RATGT and comes out of that mess wrongly thinking she succeeded. the episode is presented through the lens of rapunzel's perspective, but the lines are very wide and i absolutely think the intention is for the audience to read between them and understand the reality that rapunzel has sort of blinded herself to.

[birb-tangleblog]

AU Meme! 👀 Hector and Adira join the group post-Tree. (F in the chat for Hector McBrokenRib, benched in the caravan until he recovers? 😩)

OKAY I LOVE THIS IDEA FOR AN AU TOO, BLESS YOU FOR THIS ASK. Legit give me Hector and Adira joining the group and replacing Shorty + Hookfoot. (And I'm a sucker for scenarios where characters who have a lot of conflict get stuck together or have to cooperate, so this AU hits that note perfectly.)

I can see this AU going a few ways! Like, Hector could accompany the party b/c he accepts Adira's initial offer to return to the DK together (which would have a bigger ripple effect), or b/c they're forced to bring him along with them due to more serious injuries. Another possibility is that Adira also gets hurt, so she can't go back, and they both need to accompany the group.

1. Hector's presence would lead to a lot of tension within the caravan, and be extremely high stress for Hector himself. He's surrounded by people he doesn't trust, outnumbered, unarmed, and weak/dependent on them. He can't stop them from carrying on with their goal, and being bedridden would probably get claustrophobic after a while. Honestly, I think he'd be really caustic- a terrible patient, stubborn, verbally attacking people, etc., at least starting out.

2. Meanwhile w/ the party, Hector's taking up extra space in the guy's side of the caravan, he's ill-tempered, and I highly doubt Eugene or Lance would be too keen on sharing a room with him. I can see there being arguments over pragmatism vs. morality, with Cass being the most unhappy– this guy tried to KILL them, beat her, and they're letting him come with them?? She'd probably see it as another instance of Raps not valuing her judgment/trusting Adira over her- and she's not wrong to feel that way, even if Hector eventually becomes an ally.

3. It'd be interesting and strange for the party to see another side of Adira- she keeps her distance from them for the most part, but now she's sticking close and they're seeing her interact with someone from her past that she knows very well. Overhearing their conversations (and probably listening to them hash out old arguments) would shed a lot of light on her, Hector, and the DK/moonstone. Same goes for Adira spending time with the mains and getting to know them more.

4. Rapunzel would feel driven to try to talk to Hector, both b/c she wants to smooth things over with everyone by befriending him, and b/c she believes that he'll come around if he just understands that she's the sundrop. It'd probably backfire, and she'd be met with a LOT of hostility- but I do think being around her, the party, and Adira would eventually start to erode his way of thinking and the narrative he's trying to maintain about them and the moonstone.

5. Hector + Adira accompanying the party to the Shellhouse would be incredible. Cass and Adira agreeing for once that something is a terrible idea. Hector glaring Matthews into submission when he tries to suggest his animals have to stay in the stables? Baby Brotherhood and BEARCAT CUBS if they get hit by the top- Adira becoming the younger of the two and Hector getting to be older and taller for once b/c of how the top works??

AND MIRROR MIRROR. Ngl, I can see Hector or Adira getting got by demons simply b/c they haven't had a proper mirror in ages, and just wanted to do their hair/paint, RIP. Cue "Hector" strolling in and politely greeting everyone when they sit down for dinner, or "Adira" calling Cass and Eugene by their actual names.

Also consider Adira freaking everyone out when she fights the mirror demons b/c she isn't showing any of her usual restraint against them, and it's REALLY DISCONCERTING. This is more than one bullet point but the shenanigans from including Hector and Adira in the latter half of S2 would've been so good, ok.

[finnoky]

Au where Varian looks at the rock problem in Corona and then his amberized father and then he's like ✌Peace out my dudes I'm not staying here. And like packs his bags and ends up in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow.

•| Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts |•

Oh dip? That's a fun one! Well... in a way

1) Varian dips after sending that scroll to Raps — it's like he vanished without a trace + the mains are worried him but soon get distracted by Rock Antics! [fun for the whole family!] They still see amberfied Quirin + have that adventure, but Raps waits until the rocks are in Corona proper to touch them + start her quest [They probably think Var went off to stay with some relatives since Quirin is.... Unavailable.]

2) Varian is technically going to see family — he heard about the Dark Kingdom digging thru Quirins stuff and figured solve a problem from the source! (or grab the moonstone, whichever is easiest) Adira kept an eye on him, but he somehow wound up in that god forsaken shell house and hates it.

By the time Raps and crew get there Varian has seen EVERYTHING — "That room turns you into a 4 year old version of yourself. Oh. That one has like boucny walls? Weird. Anyway it's cursed you should leave" meanwhile they're all wondering how he got there — he sorta scoffs and says 'on a science adventure' like it's the most obvious thing in the world & gets the joy of sticking with them since they're going to the same place

3) Mirror, Mirror he's still annoyed everyone is here and doesn't believe him about the tricks — basically acts as a voice of reason but Rapunzel is Sus BC Varian doesn't LIKE magic (so he gets suspected of being a mirror person + locked in a bedroom) She realises her mistake and frees him after Eugene is revealed and Varian correctly answers how many experiements where on that hair testing device. Cue him helping retrap the mirror people and getting that tasty respect

Kids ep — Var is one of the guardians, tho he ends up being like an older brother who is equally troublesome to Raps' and Eugene as he goes against them a lot and gets annoyed by their parenting. He relents when the trouble happens and just says they did a good job, but it made him miss Quirin a lot... He didn't like Eugene taking Quirins place which is why he argued back a lot. Concludes with Eugene saying they'll free Quirin yet & until then he'll just keep an eye out for him. "Like a brother?" 'you got it kid" TEAM AWESOME

Uhhhh Rapunzeltopia sorta... Vine him, yeah that's all. Just Photoshop him in.

4) Escape the house yayyy! Varian gets to meet Demanitus and really shines thru that maze they go through and seems genuinely happy with the group — though has a few Sus moments where he knows too many answers about the moondrop & seems very interested by its power (it's brushed off as scientific interest) — But really!! He's so thrilled to learn from Demanitus himself and gets praised for his skills at his age, a real confidence booster

It's good bonding for him and Raps too as they have a riddle contest as they go & just get a nice friendship, though when they think they're about to die Varian admits he was really hurt by the blizzard thing and still is angry at her — he didn't wanna die holding onto it. When they're safe, they get to talk about it around the campfire. Eugene opens the gem and sees the fortune and starts suspecting Varian of being the betrayer... not that he would blame him, kid has a lot to gain by taking the gem! And Eugene doesn't believe he could get over anger so easily

5) Dark Kingdom uhhh he sticks with Lance and finally gets to talk to Adira properly! Eugene vanishes, and says he wants to see the gem to study it... Which Rapunzel agrees to, after all it probably wouldn't hurt to understand it a bit better [plus she wants to prove she trusts Varian and feels she has to make it up to him]

Varian is scared of the ghosts when the attack but gets to slice one, Edmund recognises him as Quirins son and asks how he is to which Var falls silent. Hector and Edmund argue that as proof enough of how dangerous the stone is, Adira says it's proof it should be destroyed. Varian says it should be his decision, and he's deciding to do what Quirin would have wanted... Eugene convinces Edmund to let them into the Moondrop room.

Rapunzel promises to free Quirin if she can and heads up to the stone. As she walks, Eugene holds Varians arm and whispers to just let her destroy the stone, she'll be fine and taking it would be wrong. Varian is confused and hurt as to why Eugene doesn't trust him + because of that they miss Cass stealing the stone for herself.

Varian is bitter and betrayed by Eugene, Rapunzel is betrayed by Cass, and it's time for Season 3 (which I won't do now but I might expand upon if people ask for it)

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - You're Kidding Me

So we’ve finally come to the last of season two’s filler episodes. Let’s see if we can knock this one out real quick. 

Summary: The front door of the mysterious seashell estate vanishes, trapping the group. They try to find another way out but find a spinning top whose magic regresses Cassandra and Lance into toddlers and Shorty into a baby.  They’ve only have an hour to find the top and reverse the effects or the changes become permanent. Unfortunately neither of Rapunzel’s or Eugene’s parenting methods keep their now childish friends on task. 

So Why Did No One Stand Watch Last Night?

They were all sleeping right next to the entrance, and after the run in with the mirror monsters, you would think that they would have taken turns standing watch. 

But nope, the front door vanishes when no one was looking cause they don't have any foresight. 

A Low Budget Doesn’t Excuse Filler

Like most of season two, this is yet another episode that adds very little to the overall story. It’s slightly better than the Return of Quaid or Curses, but not by much. I put it on the same level as The Forest of No Return, as I do like the mains’ development, but there’s really no reason why such episodes exist to begin with. 

The meta reason for staying in certain places for three episodes, instead of only one or two, is because of budgetary reasons. The crew have to build new sets and models for every new location or person the cast comes across. This costs money to make, so the higher ups wanted to reuse assets. Which is understandable, but not an excuse for utilizing them poorly.  

If you need to stay in one area or have characters reappear, then you need to give story reasons for that. Ones that tie back to the overall narrative and/or the mains’ character arcs. 

The shell house and Matthews should be more important than what they are as they both have connections to the ultimate big bad of the series.Adria shouldn’t be wasted for a whole episode when she’s the only one driving the plot in season two and has limited appearances. Vardaros and its people shouldn’t be a one and done thing if you’re going to spend so much time setting them up. And there’s still one off episodes, locations, and characters who aren’t brought back and add nothing 

Not only does this make for a weaker story, it also undermines the cost saving measures that you tried to implement to begin with.  

This Isn’t Representation! 

Get it?! 

She’s a top! 

She’s totally gay, but like not really, cause this can also be interpreted as a dominatrix joke, and there’s no other real indication of her orientation outside her like smiling at her best friend/crush/sister sometimes and keeping that rose her creepy ex-boyfriend gave her. 

And don't give me any bullshit excuses about Disney not letting the crew make Cassandra canonly gay/bi. 

The Owl House aired just this year, the same year as Tangled’s final season. Also Globby and Carl from Big Hero Six were both confirmed to be a couple on screen a month after this episode came out. Both shows would have been in development at the same time as Tangled was. Both would have been subject to the same regulations and restrictions while writing their stories. 

It isn’t “Disney” that stopped the storyboard artists from having Cass be a confirmed lesbian, it’s Chris and Ben, the head writers themselves, who failed to write it into the story properly, if at all. 

Chris is the one who made Raps and Cass “sisters”. Chris is the one who wouldn’t tell the crew about his ‘twists’. Chris is the one who had Cass crush on Andrew, even after he tried to kill her. Chris is the one who made Cassandra ‘straight’ and has since used gay baiting to keep her fanbase in his pocket. 

Like I am really damn sick and tired of Casspunzel stans defending Chris on twitter, when he’s the very one who sunk thier ship to begin with. I’m also really fed up with certain fans trying to bully others for not accepting their “Cass is a lesbian” headcanons as fact because what the storyboarders say on twitter after the show is over with isn’t gospel and isn’t real rep. 

I don’t care if you ship Cass with Raps or headcanon her as being gay. Ships and headcanons are great and can be a lot of fun. But fuck you if you ever try to shame people for not sharing your ships/headcanons. Not only is it biophobic and acephobic to insist that there’s only ever a binary option when it comes to orientation and shipping, but it also reinforces harmful stereotypes and tropes about people in the queer community. 

Like, yes, I personally may be an introverted angry bitch who’s an LBGTQA member and activist, but that doesn’t mean that every introverted bitchy woman in media is a lesbian. What kind of message does that send people when that’s the only character archetype that’s given representation or is loudly proclaimed as ‘gay’ by the wider audience? Fuck that noise! 

I Know Humor is Subjective but...WHY?

Why did we give the baby a beard? How does that logically work? Did anyone outside of the crew actually find this funny? 

TTS has like this one out of touch dude throwing out jokes that don’t really land with the target audience. Fans have called it ‘boomer humor’ but it’s actually ‘Gen-X’ humor. Not only because Chris and Ben are Gen Xers but because this is the type of crap my older brother would find hilarious. 

Gen Xers are between Boomers and Millennials and so their humor is this weird blend of gross out shock humor, ironic nihilism, and out of date stereotypes that are only mildly better than those of the previous generation before them. They’re the generation who gave us Beavis and Butthead, South Park, and Clerks. 

That’s not a criticism of Gen X as a generation, but rather just an acknowledgment that they’re worlds away from the neo-dada absurdism, more socially conscious, and globalized humor of Gen Z.    

So Why Is the Bad Guy Telling the Heroes How to Foil His Plans? 

Like he not only tells them how to fix their problem and how long they got in order to do so, but he also informs them how it happened in the first place. This goes directly against his plans. Had he simply said nothing and stayed out sight, then Raps and Eugene would have been lost for the full hour and most likely not have saved everyone on time. 

I like to headcanon that Mathews is just “that asshole” that loves to taunt and tease but in a that manner that gives him plausible deniability. He also may just be bored, since he’s a ghost trapped in one place all the time. Yet that still doesn’t change the fact that he shot himself in the foot here. 

Raps and Young Cass’s Relationship Is the Same as Raps and Adult Cass’s, and That Is a Problem. 

Condescending, manipulative, hypocritical, and bossy is the way Rapunzel treats everyone. She doesn’t understand the actual difference between a child and an adult. She only understands who she who she can and can’t boss  around. And those people that she can’t place under her thumb are labeled antagonists by the show. 

Nor does she actually care about what either kid Lance or kid Cass has to say. She’s just being proformative, and young Cass can see through that BS, which why her methods do not work. It’s not because she’s not ‘strict’ enough; it’s because she’s not being honest. 

Meanwhile Child Cassandra is just as combative, rude, bullying, and entitled as Adult Cassandra. In season three she regresses even further and becomes more violent than before.

Unlike Rapunzel, Cassandra wasn’t trapped in a tower for 18 years with zero human contact outside of her abuser. She escaped that fate and was raised in a loving home. That doesn’t mean that there won't be scars, but I still expect her to be more mature than her seven year old self. Just because she’s whining about not being special enough at 24 instead of screaming about the floor being lava doesn’t mean that she’s still not throwing a temper tantrum.  

Like I should not be seeing a replay/foreshadowing of their main conflict here. They aren’t children. They’re dynamic isn’t that of a mother and child. It’s not even a big sister looking out for a little sister type relationship. Its two immature women dragging innocent victims into their bitchy cat fight for dominance over the other.  

If you want me to take their issues seriously then give them real stakes to disagree over, mature behavior that I can root for, and a resolvement that doesn’t reverse any potential development that they could have had.    

Matthews Plan Makes Zero Sense

For starters, half the group being kids isn’t enough of a reason for Rapunzel to stay at the shell house. Even if the effects of the time top became permanent, then Raps and Eugene could just leave and take the kids with them. Either to finish the road trip, or go straight back to Corona. Not that there’s any real reason to get the Dark Kingdom anyways, nor is there a ticking clock stopping Raps from trying again later if she chose to. 

Rapunzel also is not obligated to become anyone’s mother. If she took them back to Corona than Cap would undoubtedly raise Cassandra all over again, and Lance and Shorty could be adopted by someone else. Any of the pub thugs might take them or even perhaps the King and Queen since they missed out on raising their actual daughter. Though for my money I’d get Monty or Xavier to take them in. They seem the most mature and both are shown to be good with kids. 

Then again Rapunzel has been shown twice now to not give a damn about abandoning orphans, so even the ‘dump them at an orphanage’ or ‘leave them alone in the woods to fend for themselves’ isn’t entirely off the table either. I wish I was joking, but I’m not. Sadly, only Eugene’s love for Lance might be the one thing to stop her from doing just so, and even that’s iffy. 

As for the missing door from earlier, if that was all that was stopping them from leaving then the time top shenanigans were fully unnecessary altogether. 

I Actually Like Eugene and Rapunzel’s Conflict Here; I Just Wish It Was In a Better Episode. 

Each of their viewpoints stem from their upbringing. 

Rapunzel is unique in that she was simultaneously emotionally abused and neglected while being physically spoiled. Especially once she found out that she was princess, where she was then handed nearly anything and everything she wanted. She doesn’t recognize that getting your every possible whim come true can be damaging. Nor does she have any comprehension of what living in poverty is like and how this many toys is wasteful to someone like Eugene who had so very little and stole to survive. 

She does however associate limits, boundaries, and orders with abusive behavior because she’s been denied autonomy and respect her whole life. She’s never seen what healthy parenting looks like and how rules can be applied correctly.     

To Rapunzel no orders is ‘freeing’ and ‘validation’ is all that is needed to get a child to listen to you. Which doesn’t work for her because she doesn’t understand that real communication is more than just giving a compliment now and then. 

Meanwhile Eugene lacked any sort of anchor at all. He was left to his own devices at a young age and had no one to rely on for emotional needs and, after leaving the orphanage, no one to provide physical needs either. 

It’s telling that he and Lance latched onto Quaid as the only authority figure in their life, despite Quaid never out right adopting them. He was the only sense of stability that they had who they could trust wouldn’t hurt them, despite being strict with them. 

And now that Eugene has gotten older and is reformed, he can probably understand why Quaid was so harsh on him and Lance. Quaid probably did more to try and help them turn from a life crime than even Rapunzel did. Like meeting Rapunzel was the inciting incident that inspired Eugene to make that leap, but the groundwork was already laid out for him to do so elsewhere. Things like his good communication skills, respect and empathy of others, and understanding of boundaries had to be learned from somewhere, and if not from the Sheriff of Vardaros than who? 

What I’m getting at is that, while Rapunzel rejects her parents methods but then fails to break her learned habits from them anyways, Eugene is the reverse. He’s come to embrace his mentor’s teachings, but he fails to implement them correctly because he’s not Quaid. Being authoritative isn’t his strong suit. It goes against his usual nature as the easy going person that he is and so any attempts to come across as forceful fail as they’re hollow. 

Kids know authenticity and genuineness when they see it. The children reject Rapunzel because she’s not being real with them, yet they also reject Eugene cause he’s not being honest with himself. 

It’s a complex and mature conflict. Neither person is fully right nor wrong, and only by learning from each other and adopting both methods can they achieve their goal. 

TTS can be deep when it wants to be. There’s a good foundation here for mature themes and complex characterization. It’s just the series doesn’t ever commit to it. 

Whatever personal drama going on here about two young adults trying to cope with their past traumas and how that affects their current life and future goals is completely lost in the magical goofy antics and low stakes situation. Even the stuff about Eugene and his relationship with Quaid is reduced to nothing but a one off joke rather than being genuinely explored as a point of development.  

Imagine how much more powerful things would have been if Angry and Red were brought along on the trip. If this argument was over them and whether or not they should adopt the two girls themselves or consider other options. That would be something with real weight. Something with a choice that had actual consequences attached to it. Something that would permanently affect all involved parties. Something that wouldn’t make the two leads look like outright dicks for abandoning two children for a second damn time in a row.    

You Have 70 Feet of Magical, Indestructible Hair! Why Are You Afraid of a Bunch of Dogs!?

You’ve fought off giant monsters, killer robots, and supernatural beings with magical powers. What do you mean you can’t hold off a pack of guard dogs while busting down a stuck door? Why is Eugene the shield for everyone and not the actual unbreakable hair that you use as a shield all the damn time? And Why did we have to rely on Shorty again to be the deus ex machina of the episode? 

At this point the writers should have just made him Demantius instead of the monkey.   

What Happened To This New Dream? Where Did It Go In Season Three?

Most fans who do enjoy season two happen to be big New Dream fans as this is by far and away the best season for them. I’ll admit that the series, up to this point, had me actively liking them together, despite being originally lukewarm to the pairing in the movie. 

Their conflicts were for the the most part mature and real. They learned from one another equally and had open communication when it didn't involve ‘marriage is a trap’ BS. Things, like compromising on differentiating future goals, honesty and communication, and making time for one another and extending effort into a relationship while being true to yourself are all relatable issues. 

Even today's episode featured the topic of having kids and parenting. Which is a discussion you absolutely need to have with your prospective spouse before entering into any long term commitments and signing any legal contracts. For real, I’ve seen marriages fall apart because they didn’t agree on whether or not they wanted children. 

I don’t know what went down between writing season two and season three, but things quickly took a sharp turn away from this dynamic and nosedived into a pit of uncomfortable bullying and gross sexist implications here after. 

Matthews Plan Goes Against Zhan Tiri’s Plan 

Yeah so Matthews is one of Zhan Tiri’s disciples, but he apparently doesn’t know of her goals/plans, cause she needs Rapunzel and company to reach the moonstone, not stay stuck here. 

The meta reason for this that the Zhan Tiri’s story was altered at the last minute and the writers failed to make sure there was any sort of consistency between what they already set up and where they actually wound to actually taking the plot.  

The in universe reason is that Zhan Tiri is an impotent moron, but that’s not what the writers were going for so it’s a fail. 

Conclusion  

I like the New Dream stuff, and Matthews is at least entertaining despite being incompetent. Everything else about the episode is ‘meh’ tho. 

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Cass Season 3 Analysis (And Criticism)

I’ve previously done an analysis post on what I thought about Cass’s S1 arc and ideally would’ve done a season 2 analysis post (my personal favorite Cass arc in the whole show) but since my thoughts on S3 are on my mind atm, thought I’d dump them here.

Note: If you would prefer not to see any criticism on season’s 3′s writing, I’d suggest you don’t further read.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a hate post as Cass is one of my favorite characters (Discussion is welcome but would really appreciate that my criticism isn’t used as a fuel for hatred against the character). Thanks!

I’ll start with the Gothel reveal. Personally my feelings towards it initially were very mixed, perhaps because I was never to interested in it when it was still a theory and thought it was a coincidence that Cass physically resembled Gothel. A part of me felt that the Gothel twist was too cliche, generic and it failed to wow me. I was basically like “Oh! So... this is the direction they’re going with? Ok... lemme see where this is going...” Then another part of me was like Cass dealt with a lot of issues of feeling like she’s not good enough, not taken seriously, or that she was outshined by Rapunzel since S1, so maybe the Gothel reveal was just the last straw that pushed her into villainy but not necessarily her primary motive (Or at least I wanted to believe that).

Basically we didn’t see too much of Cass in the first half of S3 aka the fillers, except her being pushed more and more into villainy by Zhan Tiri in the last few minutes of the episodes. I personally thought that the manipulative aspect was really cool! (Reminded me a lot of Anakin and Palpatine vibes from Star Wars, which is also a franchise I dearly love).

Then of course we approach the Cassandra’s Revenge, also my personal favorite episode of the season, where now Cass is full-on villain, no question, no doubts. Honestly Eden nailed the VA and Cass was totally owning and rocking her villainy! I loved that continued to rock her villainy into Race to the Spire too!

And now the negativity starts. A Tale of Two Sisters.... In all honesty I was enjoying the episode until I got to the ending, and then I finished off the episode feeling so disgusted. I personally wasn’t fond of the whole Gothel loving Cass or not “mystery” because the answer was pretty obvious. It just felt so weird that Cass knew of Gothel’s abuse towards her and Rapunzel and saw with her own eyes that Gothel deliberately abandoned her as a child, but was still convinced that Gothel “loved” her, like seriously?! And I’m not even gonna go into how much I hated the ending because it’s way too obvious.

Once A Handmaiden, very unfortunately, is my very least episode of the season. Like it had some good moments in it but all in all I hate so many aspects of it. First we start with Cass walking out and smiling and then she finds the missing mirror shard. Mystery solved. Cass now realizes Gothel never loved her and then finds out that her “friend” is Zhan Tiri and she runs off. Now she’s good and needs to “make amends” Rapunzel. My biggest problem with this episode treated the problem as if Cass and Raps got into a small fight and need to make up. But this is waaaaay bigger than that. Cassandra had done awful things including murder attempts, kidnapping, and threatening war against Corona. She needed to do more than seek Rapunzel’s forgiveness, she needed to clean up the mess she’s made, especially ZT getting released and all. She needed to accept accountability for her actions, regardless of what the consequences were. She gets incased in the amber, boom! Now she’s full on villain again because she’s angry about a weapon made for self-defense purposes that she had led to. Of course the number one scene I hated in this episode was the Gothel quote (my least favorite movie reference of all time and my least favorite Cass scene in the entire series). She destroys all of Corona and forces everyone to flee.

Last but not least, her “redemption” in Plus Est En Vous. As someone who completely adores Cass, I wanted to see her being given the best possible redemption that she deserved to have written for her. But unfortunately, in this episode, we see her being full villain and was gladly stripping Rapunzel of the sundrop only for Zhan Tiri to overpower her. As @zhantiri mentioned (And completely read my mind lol), she didn’t redeem herself because she saw the wrong in her actions, but rather because she was overpowered by a bigger villain. Questions I’ve always had since the finale were “What if she got the power of the sundrop too and survived? Would she have been redeemable then? What would she have done with that power?” See the problem is that to me, her redemption didn’t feel sincere or as impactful as it should have been. Like sure I cried when she cried but primarily because Eden nailed the VA, but idk.

So my here are my overall criticisms of her villainy:

1) A lot of things in her villain arc felt so OOC, like the fact that she instantly trusted a random ghost child she met in the House of Yesterday’s and follows her around for months not questioning who she is, even after the midseason when she was in her corporeal form. Like since when was Cass so quick to trust anyone? In the past 2 seasons, we all saw how Cass took time to trust Eugene, Lance, and Adira, and how she was so skeptical of new places. I will just never understand how she instantly trusted a ghost child over her closest friends whom she’s known for about 2 years...

2) Building off of her being OOC, I absolutely despised how she was being turned into Gothel 2.0 rather than being her own character! She was so well set up the last two seasons and now is being forcefully turned into Gothel, because ya know “Like mother like daughter right”? My biggest problem with this is that Cass in the past 2 seasons is hardly anything like Gothel in character. Like sure she does have flaws and certain toxic traits, but she was way too hotheaded and insecure compared to Gothel. And the cloak in To2S, sure it looked cool but was so stupid and unnecessary. And I’m not gonna go into the other details to avoid being further infuriated. I know there’s controversies over the movie reference in Plus Est En Vous but here are my honest thoughts. The problem with Cass’s death scene was not only do we have absolutely no idea why she died but it was for the sake of tossing in a movie reference. It basically took Eugene’s iconic sacrifice scene from the movie and handed it to Cass, which I felt was incredibly unfair to both characters. It was Eugene’s special scene which should’ve been his and his alone. Cass deserved to be given her own special scenes instead of being given Gothel and Eugene’s scenes. I personally felt that she was being robbed and it was as if she couldn’t be great as her own character and needs to be handed other characters’ special scene in order to be so.

3) The motive, regardless of whether the Gothel twist was used or not, there needed to be strong and clear motive as to why she would make the complete change to villainy. And getting revenge against Rapunzel because she victim-blamed her for being left by Gothel is not a motive! There were several other aspects of her character that could’ve been focused on that would’ve worked waaay better and could’ve been more been more legitimate reasons for her to become a villain, otherwise it was just entirely forced.

4) Last but not least... the lack of consistency with her villain arc in the last few episodes was so irritating to watch! I personally think she needed a proper redemption arc during the last few episodes were she was seeing the wrong in her actions and worked to correct her mess rather than waffling back and forth between redemption and villainy only to become more evil than before! Her villain arc became waaaay too sloppy and it overstayed it welcome till the finale to the point where it was no longer enjoyable to watch.

All in all, Cass’s villain arc is not my only problem with season 3 nor is it my biggest one. But still, I really wanted to like it. Sure there were some great aspects about it but unfortunately it was mostly badly written and sloppily handled, showing that there was no solid or proper planning for it. As for the Gothel twist, my feelings about it became more negative because of how it was handled and I really wished they could’ve come up with something else to push her into villainy. For me, this was actually quite painful and sad because Cass grew to be my favorite series exclusive character and my favorite along with Rapunzel and Eugene because I loved how she was written in the first two seasons, but I feel like season 3 did her pretty dirty.

Update!: I added the link to my Cass S1 analysis at the top but didnt't know why it's not showing so Imma attach it here!

[novannna]

@phobidawg  happy holidays!!!  i love hanging out w you in discord, thanks for being such an amazing friend!!!  ILYSM

cassunzel oneshot with raps baking cookies for cassandra  

Rapunzel bustled throughout the kitchen, flour coating her face.  The smell of gingerbread was starting to come from the oven.  She inhaled deeply, a smile spreading across her face.  Pascal slept next to the oven, basking in the heat.  Snow flurried by outside the window, icicles crusting the roof.  

“Don’t you love winter, Pascal?”  Rapunzel squealed.  She scooped him up, and spun around in a circle.  “The cold keeps everyone inside.  It’s just so nice!”  

The door slammed open, and Cass stormed in, Eugene close behind.  

“Yeah Raps.  So.  Nice.”  Cass scowled at Eugene.  

“Come on guys.  Don’t fight.  I made cookies!”  Rapinzel said brightly.  

“Actually Blondie, I have to go.  Lance and I are taking Kiera and Catalina ice skating.”  

“Oh,” Rapunzel's face fell.  “What about you Cass?  They’re almost done!”  

Cass glanced at the storm outside.  “I guess it couldn’t hurt…” she said.

“Yes,” Raps cheered.  She guided Cass to a chair, and forced her down.   The timer dinged.  

Raps carefully took them out of the oven, and moved them onto a cooling rack.  

Cass inhaled deeply.  “Those smell good Raps,” she said lightly.  

“Aw, thanks!  I missed you while you were gone.  I’m glad you're back home for the holidays!”

“Me too.  Your cooking is certainly better than what I’ve been eating.”  Cass laughed.  The two easily fell into their familiar banter.  They always did.  Whenever Cass got back, she and Rapunzel easily got back what they had lost over time and distance.  

“I think they cooled enough,” Rapunzel said finally, and handed one to Cass.  “Cheers!”  She held hers up, and Cass tapped her own against it.  They bit into it at the same time, soft cookies crumbling in their mouths. 

And they both spit it out at the same time too.  

“Oh that’s terrible,” Rapunzel gagged.  

“It is,” Cass agreed, frantically chugging water.  “Did you use salt instead of sugar?”  

Rapunzel shrugged, while rushing over to the sink.  “I must have!  Eugh.”  

They both burst into laughter, tears coming into their eyes.  

“Maybe next time, I’ll cook,” Cass said.  She walked over to Rapunzel, and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.  “I don’t normally put salt instead of sugar in my cookies.   

“Hey!”  Rapunzel protested.  “Not my fault!”

“Up for debate.”  Cass laughed, and kissed Rapunzel’s flour covered lips.  “I’ve been waiting to do that all day,” she said quietly.  

Raps laughed lightly.  “Well no need to wait anymore.”  she cradled Cass’s head between her hands, and kissed her back.  

“Hey, you got flour in my hair,” Cass complained when they broke apart.  She shook her head ferociously, sending up a poof of white.  

Rapunzel raised her eyebrows, and scooped a handful, and threw it into Cass’s face.  They both burst into coughs, and Cass threw her own handful back.  They both descended into an all out war, and when the dust cleared, they were covered head to toe in white.  

“I missed this,” Rapunzel said.  “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Cass replied, a smile on her white coated lips. 

[aro-throughyourchest]

LIES

Chapter 2

WORD COUNT: 1,299

WARNINGS: Arm injury?

Still based @thesunflowerchild-varian​‘s AU which I don’t think has a name yet

I’m gonna need Be Very Afraid and Great Expotations after this-

Varian stared up at the wall. The hole the rocks made had been patched up, but they hadn’t done a good job. Perfect for climbing. A pit in his stomach formed. He was leaving Corona, the only home he’s ever known. Not that it was home anymore; still, he had no idea what was beyond that wall. But it was better than being stuck here.

Ruddiger chattered as if to ask, “Are you sure?”

Varian responded, “There’s no turning back, Ruddiger.”

He began to scale the wall, the sick feeling in his stomach growing. The rough edges hurt his hands, but he didn’t want to stay here any longer. He reached the top and looked out over the horizon of Corona. He gripped the strap of his bag and trembled. No one would miss him. No one. Not even his dad.

He hugged his arms and bit back a sob. Everyone in that stupid kingdom treated him like dirt for 2 months- heck, way longer than that, and the FEW people he thought he could trust- Ruddiger nuzzled him in an attempt to comfort him. Varian snapped out of his thoughts and sighed. He smiled weakly and said, “Sorry, buddy.”

He looked over the edge, Ruddiger recoiling on his shoulder.

“Aw, come on, buddy, it’s not that high...”

He pulled out a rope and began to climb down the side. Took a few minutes, and he jumped down, not realizing how high he was. Instead of landing on his feet, he landed on his arm, sending a surge of pain. He groaned.

That wasn’t going away any time soon. Looking up, he spotted Ruddiger a few feet away, who looked very peeved. “Agh, sorry, Ruddiger...”

Ruddiger dragged over Varian’s bag, which had also fallen out of Varian’s grasp. Varian slipped on the bag, wincing, and picked up his pet.

Although it was sunset, the looming shadow of the wall cast a darkness that made it look nighttime. He gulped and pressed on.

Beginning to explore the forest, everything looked pretty. The water was sparkling, the trees radiated an aura that looked like they were made for climbing; he missed this feeling of just being by himself except for Ruddiger and the ‘open world.’ (Again, he’s never been outside Corona walls.)

He remembered two years ago when he’d recently adopted Ruddiger as a pet, they’d explore the Corona forests together. It was mainly to collect materials for his experiments, but they enjoyed it. It was one of the only good memories he had at 14. He kinda forgot the rest. (Or they’d been stained with bad connotations...)

He pursed his lips, not wanting to think about the mess that was 2 years ago. He stared into a pond of water and examined himself. How long had those eyebags been there? Probably ever since he started crying himself to sleep.

Ignoring the fact that crying himself to sleep on a regular basis wasn’t healthy, he glanced at the sky. He should probably find shelter or something before night hit him. Oh God, he had no plan of where he was going. His breathing became rapid; was this a bad idea?

Before he could get out another worrying thought, he spotted something moving out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, and his eyes widened in outrage. That squirrel! He hadn’t seen him in over a month.

Varian huffed and slouched. The squirrel stared up at him, ears twitching.

“What are you gonna do? Steal from me again?”

The squirrel seemed offended, as much as a squirrel could be, and hit Varian with water.

“Hey!”

Varian narrowed his eyes in anger, but the squirrel grinned as if it was delighted with itself.

Varian groaned and glared at the creature. He couldn’t help but blame the squirrel just a little for getting him into this mess. But hey, it wasn’t the squirrel’s fault his ‘friends’ hated him...

He stood up and dusted himself off. “I’m gonna go find a place to set up a tent...”

He pointed a finger at the squirrel. “Don’t follow me.”

Like the nuisance it was, the squirrel followed him. Dumb, nuisance squirrel.

Ruddiger seemed as annoyed as Varian with the squirrel but just stewed in anger on Varian’s shoulder. Varian set up the tent under a set of trees as best he could; he kind of... Forgot how to do that too. He didn’t think it’d be a useful thing to remember, alright?

The squirrel soon left, and Varian sighed. He crawled under in and put down a sleeping mat. Ruddiger laid outside as a sort of guard dog. (Guard raccoon?)

Varian winced and tried to lay down without moving his arm much. He stared at the roof of the tent quietly. He had little money, his only protection was Ruddiger (no offense to him,) he only had some fruits and vegetables to keep him from starvation, and no one was coming to get him. His dad wasn’t calling from the front door like when he was little and tried to run away. His eyes welled up with tears. Everything was peachy.

He turned on his side, (the one without the hurt arm,) and tried to get some rest.

<•>

Varian shot up in the middle of the night, looking around. He crawled out of the tent and stared into the night. He heard something.

Sure, it was the forest; he was BOUND to hear something, but this sounded like a voice.

He grabbed his bag, planning to use it as a weapon. (It was fairly heavy.)

Some part of his head wished it was his ‘friends,’ coming to tell him that everything was a dream, and everything would be OK. But the realistic part knew that wasn’t happening anytime soon, and he should be fine with that. He LEFT them for a reason...

He hid behind a tree and listened for the voice.

“Alright, the ... should be around here.”

Not thinking, he swung the bag as hard he could, and he heard a shriek. He brushed a strand of hair out of his face, gulping. Oh gosh, did he kill him?! He heard the guy still breathing and looked at him.

He sighed in relief and dragged the guy into the moonlight.

“Ew,” he whispered.

<•>

Rapunzel paced around the castle, mumbling. The potion Varian gave her parents hadn’t kicked in, and she was worried Varian played her. She kept mumbling to herself until Eugene opened the door to her room. “Are they OK?!”

Eugene sighed and leaned against the frame.

“Well, Blondie, they’re getting there. I don’t think Varian’s potion had any negative effects on them, which is nice to know.”

Lance followed up, “I can’t believe y’all just LET him leave. He’s still a kid who has, what, 0% experience outside Corona? I get he’s not wanted around here, but-“

Rapunzel sighed and sat down. “Lance, it’s not as simple as that. He made his choice. By the time, we read the note, he was gone. We have no idea where he went afterward.” (It was as simple as that.)

Lance began to say something, but he knew nothing about this kid. The only ones who had a connection with him were Eugene, Cass, and Rapunzel, so what did he have to say on the matter?

Lance shrugged and said, “Maybe it’s as simple as that, but hey, what do I know?”

He left to go get breakfast, and Eugene and Raps exchanged worried glances. They couldn’t exactly send a search party over a kid who didn’t want to be found. (Yes, they could.) Quirin seemed to be doing fine after his son’s disappearance; (he wasn’t.)

No one seemed to want him back; to be honest, they didn’t want him back either...

AGH

Beginning - Next Chapter

[purplerock11]

About to watch Cassandra’s revenge for the fifth time! And here are some thoughts 😂

Oooo birds! That can mean a song!

Love the movie Parallel!

Yes girl! You deserve everything!!!

Damn she really did got rid of Cassadra’s painting...

Look at her!!! She’s just so happy!!! My heart!!!

Oooo she has return

He’s planning to propose!... again

Mrs Crowley singing 😂😂 I guess they do burst out into song in this universe lol

“You’re not my type!” “The feelings mutual” had me dying 😂😂

Since everyone is helping do this party, HOW HAS NO ONE ACCIDENTLY SLIPPED UP?!

Her list tho! “Braid hair; sing a song; psychic monkey with cymbals” ((ALSO SIDE NOTE! The monkey description! Phantom of the Opera monkey??))

Edmund! Subtly asking for a high five from Fredrick! 😂😂😂 LOVE IT!

She’s so giddy!

She wants to propose!!! 😭😭😭💜💜💜

My new dream feels!

That reprisal tho!

She’s so in love, it’s so gross! 😭😭😭

SURPRISE!

“It is?!” As he looks at Edmund for confirmation 😭 awww my bean!

“Cause I sent him away as a babe!” 😂😂😂

26 is a scary age! I should know!

HORACE!

Horace... horse... Stalyan... stallion... interesting 😂😂😂

One wish! We all wish that!!!

She’s about to do it!

Melefi— CASSANDRA?!

Lance with his chisme popcorn! 😂

Oooo she sliced the tower

The way she looks as she demands the scroll... like mother like daughter. Chills

“If you don’t have it, then who do have it?” I swear he has the best lines!

Our Cinnabon!

Trying to figure out which is the best metal 😂

y’all need to stop making Eugene into a Himbo!!! He’s much more than that!

“Was it your decision to push her out a window?” BIIIIISSSSSHHHH.... come here Cass, I just wanna talk!

Rudiger! Leave them apples alone!

Talk some sense into her Raps!

She kidnapped him!

Poor palace horse! It’s being force to go along with her

She did NOT drug him! Oh my gaaaw

That incantation tho!

Okay Elsa...

LMFAOOO they’re all pooped out

THE DUET!!! AAAHHH!!!

This is what happens when you make two broadway stars sing together!!! 💜💜💜

That throne! Low key reminds me of the show a Lucifer. Both look awkward and lost just sitting there

LMFAOOO emperor’s new grove

“BaCk In My DaY towers we much shorter!” Dead. 💀

Also I LOVE how they’re coming up different ways to climb up instead of depending on her hair!

Cass enjoying seeing them fail 😂

Shut up Booberry

“FiNiSh ThIs NoW”

Ooooo dream sequence

Booberry is scurry! Her fucking smile! 👀

“UsE tHe SuN tO sEe ThE sUn”

Poor girls all they want is to get into the action

Pascal... I don’t think you’re that good at hide and seek 😂

“Don’t worry Varian we’re gonna get you out!”

“Not now!” 😂😂😂 my cinabun!

“Or a crystal?”

Yes Eugene it’s a—! And for you!!! 💜💜😭😭

She does have a heart! She wouldn’t hurt Varian or Pascal!

I feel a fight brewing

ItS a KiDs ShOw! Que to Rapunzel getting smashed

Poor Eugene can’t celebrate normal birthdays

Only Varian would set the scroll on fire 😂😂

Cass please!

The way she positioned Rapunzel against the wall... 👀 I’d kill to have her figure tho 😂😂

The boys waiting for the fight to be over 😂

Awww he reached out for Varians hand

“Would you fight for him??” Ooooo....

The sun incantation! Love it!

Aaahhhh!!! Booberry actually Zhan Tiri?!

Rapunzel is a Goddess! I’m here for it!

Where is Booberry bitch going?!

Oooo moonstone chipped! What does it mean?!

Varian no!!!

Cass has no one to catch her!

Poor Raps! She’s exhausted!

Awww Lance and Varians hug!!! His little smile! So adorable! Give Lance a child! 😭😭😭

We’ll get the proposal right! Daawww my feels!

She clutched his jacket!!!

It’s late at night!

Take him to bed!!!

Lance! You blocker!

Birthday cake!!!

He’s accepting that he’s getting older!

Ooooo Cass... you all alone now

OMG!!!! Booberry IS ZHAN TIRI!!!

Cass you been used... karma is a bitck

Theory time!!!

Since no one can seem to cut her hair, even with the rock sword, I think that Rapunzel should wield the sword and only her can cut her own hair.

As for Cass, I feel that even tho she’s going to try to make right and ask for forgiveness, Rapunzel will probably forgive her. BUT. After all she hurt her, Rapunzel will probably not be her friend anymore. She will learn that not everyone is suppose to always be in her life. Friend do come and eventually go. So Cass will leave the kingdom and follow her actual dream/destiny.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk 😂

[takaraphoenix]

For the fake exes prompt, Hijack with the house egging prompt?

‘im egging your house for a dare but your parent is a cop and they’re yelling at me so i told them that you were my ex and you wronged me and now you’re coming outside and please go along with this i don’t want to go to jail’ au

It was Halloween. Not necessarily Hiccup's favorite holiday, it was just too loud. He had never been much of a fan. So he was laying on his bed, sketching dragons while his younger step-brother was pacing the room, trying to put on his costume.

"You're a... marshmallow?", asked Hiccup curiously.

"What. No. I'm a robot", grunted Hiro offended. "You know, that big thing Tadashi is building."

Putting his sketch-book down, Hiccup took a closer look. "Right. You kind of do look like Baymax. Heh. That's adorable. Somehow, I expected something... less adorable from you."

"Why? He's our adorable little baby brother, Hiccup."

Hiro turned to glare fiercely at Tadashi as the oldest Haddock-Hamada brother was leaning against the doorway of the bedroom. Hiccup smiled faintly at them and picked his pencil up again. He loved his brothers very dearly. They had met through Hiro, who kept getting into trouble and kept getting himself and Tadashi, who always tried to bail him out, arrested. Repeatedly. Stoick Haddock, Hiccup's father, was the captain of the police station. Him and Cass Hamada started talking, about being single-parents, about their nerdy sons. And then they started talking outside of the police station, started dating. Now, Hiccup had a loving mother and two brothers.

"But you're not using Halloween as an excuse to go to another one of your bot-fights, right?"

"Tada—ashi, have some faith in your adorable little baby brother!", exclaimed Hiro offended.

Both Tadashi and Hiccup gave him an utterly unimpressed look at that, until he cracked. "Okay, okay, your accusations are not unfunded, however I actually do have plans with my friends."

"Friends", echoed Tadashi in disbelief, shaking his head. "My little baby brother, finally having friends. What are your plans then, Hiro?"

"Miguel is having a karaoke party at his place. Ever since his grandma stopped hating music, it's always a blast at their place", replied Hiro excitedly, bouncing a little.

"...Who's all going?", asked Hiccup curiously, exchanging a look with Tadashi.

"Well, Cupcake's coming. And Pippa. Monty. The twins, Caleb and Claude...", drawled Hiro.

"A—and Jamie Bennett?", asked both Tadashi and Hiccup at the same time.

"I mean, of course he is", grumbled Hiro, trying to hide his blush. "Whatever. I have places to be and cool people to hang out with. You two... stay here, be nerds, whatever."

His older brothers laughed while Hiro stormed out of the room. Teasing him was most definitely the most fun. Tadashi tilted his head as he looked at Hiccup, until Hiccup put his pen down again.

"What is it, Dashi?", asked Hiccup.

"Nothing. Just... wondering what your plans are", replied Tadashi casually before sitting down on the edge of Hiccup's bed. "Fred's throwing a costume-party. Everyone will be there. You could... come along too, you know. They'd be happy to see you."

"They're primarily your friends", grunted Hiccup and rolled his eyes.

"Okay. And why aren't you doing something with your friends then?", challenged Tadashi.

Hiccup paused at that. He had friends. But... if he was being honest, contact with them had kind of... run out, a bit. All his friends – Astrid, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut – had gone to the sports-college. Astrid even had a boyfriend now; Eret. Hiccup should probably spend more time with his friends, but he felt like they were drifting apart; different interests, different colleges. As happened a lot with high school friendships, guessed Hiccup. Fishlegs, he was attending SFIT. The two had always been best friend, but nowadays Fishlegs was quite distracted with his new girlfriend – Heather, a girl Astrid had befriended in college. Hiccup... had a crush; one that wasn't going to lead anywhere anyway either so that wasn't an issue.

"C'mon, Hiccup. You can't spend all evening cooped up here", prodded Tadashi. "It's Halloween."

"You say that like it means something to me", drawled Hiccup dryly. "I am... not a fan of this day. You, go and dress up and have fun with the others. I'm happy right here."

Tadashi heaved a defeated sigh. "Okay, okay. I give up. Enjoy your solitude."

Hiccup rolled his eyes as Tadashi finally left. He was perfectly fine being right here. He didn't need to be among many people. He knew if the twins were there, there was going to be a lot of alcohol and nonsense and also it was kind of a frat party... which... especially when one wasn't even from that college, didn't seem very appealing. His mind wandered a little. His kind of crush had asked him to go trick or treating, but Jack was going with his own friends and Hiccup would feel awkward being kind of a fifth wheel there. Still, the idea of seeing Jack in a costume – any costume...

Hiccup blushed and glared at his drawing. He had been drawing Jack. Again. He kept doing that. It wasn't his fault; Jack was... amazing. Jackson Overland-St. North. The adopted son of their newest teacher at SFIT – Nicholas St. North, an absolute genius inventor. Jack was attending the art-college, where Honey Lemon was going too (and Cass insisted Hiccup should go too, but Hiccup focused on his education at SFIT, dual studies seemed just too much).

Jack was breathtaking, with his sparkly brown eyes and messy hazel hair, that mischievous, impish grin of his. And oh, he was so talented. And cheeky. Whenever he came over to SFIT, mostly to visit his adopted father and bring him lunch. They talked. Sometimes, Jack and Hiccup. And Hiccup, he had developed the biggest crush on Jack, only that he didn't know how to say it.

His pen scratched sharply over the paper as he heard loud noises from downstairs.

/break\

"I dare you to egg the house."

"Eugene, no", sighed Rapunzel, shaking her head at her boyfriend.

Eugene just grinned broadly and kissed his girlfriend's cheek before turning toward their shared best friend. "C'mon, Jack. It totally is your turn. It'll be fun."

And Jack allowed himself to be dared into it. Only that when the owners noticed and came out, there was a brief moment of utter terror overcoming both Jack and Eugene. That was the police captain, Stoick Haddock. Not only captain of the police station where Jack and Eugene may or may not be semi-regular guests for entirely unjustified reasons (minor pranks! And graffiti should not count as vandalism in Jack's opinion), he was also a wall of a man, so tall and broad. His upper arms were the size of Jack's head! Absolutely terrified did the boys stand there.

"What is the meaning of this?", barked Stoick out.

His wife, Cass Hamada (oh no. She was friends with Toothiana. Jack was never going to hear the end of this!), was right behind him, looking both concerned and disappointed. Eugene winced and tried to hide behind Jack, who just rolled his eyes at him. This was a problem. It became even more of a problem when Hiccup Haddock joined them outside – and oh. Maybe Jack should have seen the relations between Captain Haddock and Jack's crush... Jack winced.

"Did you brats seriously just egg the house of the police captain?", grunted Stoick unimpressed.

"I... I... I...", stammered Jack in distress. "I did it because Hiccup broke my heart."

Everyone stared at him in utter surprise at that, especially Hiccup. Jack tried to convey his intention to the other boy. Maybe Stoick would have pity with him – Cass certainly would – if they thought this was about a bad breakup. Please. He couldn't be taken to the precinct again. Nick and Toothiana had a limit to how often they were willing to bail him out...

"What? Hiccup!", exclaimed Cass, sounding very disappointed. "Why would you-"

There was silence for a moment as Hiccup stared at Jack pointedly, before he caved. "Yes. I... broke up with him because there was this... big project I had to work on. I had no time for distraction."

"Distraction?" The disappointment seemed to grow. "Hiccup Haddock, you will go and apologize to this boy and right that. I know your studies are very important to you, but you can't keep neglecting your social life. I expect that boy to come over for dinner next week!"

She ushered Hiccup outside before, impressively enough, dragging Stoick back inside before he could put his two cents in. Hiccup looked kind of lost as he approached Jack, Eugene and Rapunzel.

"That is one way of getting a boyfriend", noted Eugene surprised. "I mean, she definitely expects the two of you to 'get back together'. Come on, Raps, let's check on Lance and leave them to it."

Rapunzel smiled amused at Jack before the couple left. Blushing, Jack ducked his head when he noticed how much Hiccup was staring at him. And okay, he did look different. White-dyed hair, blue contacts, make-up to make him look paler than normal.

"Who... are you?", asked Hiccup softly. "I mean, the costume."

"I'm... Periwinkle", muttered Jack embarrassed, tugging on his fairy-wing. "Jamie's little sister wanted to be Tinkerbell but she didn't want to do it alone. My little sister dressed up as Bobble. You know, from the Tinkerbell movies. Periwinkle is Tinkerbell's snow-fairy-twin."

Hiccup nodded, his own cheeks red too. "That's... really cute. I mean, of you, for the girls."

"Yeah, we took them trick or treating. They're with... Eugene's friend Lance", nodded Jack slowly. "So... all of that was very embarrassed. I'm sorry, that was the first thing that came to my mind."

"It's... okay. I don't know how to explain to my mom that we 'didn't make up', but..."

"I mean we could just... you know...", suggested Jack with a daring look on his face. "Get together."

"...What", whispered Hiccup stunned.

"Do you wanna go out with me?", clarified Jack, cheeks red. "I... uh... like you."

"I like you too", replied Hiccup, ruffling his hair. "I'd... heh. I'd really like that."

Smiling brightly, Jack leaned in to kiss Hiccup's cheek before taking his hand. "C'mon. We're trick or treating and afterward, we're meeting at Moana's."

"What? I'm not even in costume, I-", protested Hiccup, just to be tugged along.

"Why? You're dressed as Hot Nerd. It's one of the top costumes of the year", teased Jack.

Hiccup simply sputtered as he was being pulled along, unable to argue with his boyfriend.

[disregardcanon]

tangled jesus christ superstar au: cass as judas

note: i might actually write a cassunzel fic called “it was beautiful but now it’s sour” after the line in too much heaven on their minds.

cassandra thinks that she’s finally found something worthwhile when she meets rapunzel and her friends. they’re working towards a greater goal, trying to help people, and maybe… just maybe. get a liiiitttllleee bit of glory. just a little bit. as a treat

but then, rapunzel starts taking in lots of former felons. an absolutely notorious pair of thieves, eugene (mary magdelene) and lance (comes with eugene so) join the crew, lots of people are not thinking about Doing the Right Thing but just being a part of rapunzel’s posse, and of course. people are claiming that rapunzel is the daughter of god, so. that’s not great for cassandra’s pride.

cue “heaven on their minds” with more resentment, and rapunzel’s like “hey these are my friends too and i have to help everyone” and cass is like. screeching.

things keep getting louder and more dangerous, with less helping people and more causing scenes like assaulting people at the market for desecrating “my father’s temple” and cass is like. i swear to GOD if you keep saying you’re the daughter of god i’m going to lose it. say it one more time, and rapunzel who is jesus is like grinning and saying “if you say so” and cass is going to lOSE IT

they’re not properly helping people, they’re getting loud and causing attention, and cassandra feels Not Listened To and Unimportant and Jealous, so. she’s a little vulnerable.

high priest zhan tiri (caiphas) is like. hey so. i talked to god the other day and he says you have a very important destiny. and cass is like. yeah. you talked to god. and zhan tiri, very determined to get rapunzel out of the way because she’s making waves and also in the know on prophecy is like yeah! of course! that’s what high priests do! and cassandra’s not sold on it, but she tells zhan tiri she’ll think about it.

then. palm fucking sunday. people fanning and worshiping and the authorities are coming for them, and rapunzel won’t LISTEN TO HER! and cass is like. okay. okay. destiny. let’s look into that

zhan tiri offers her a chance to have rapunzel brought in and questioned, and to have her talked out of this daughter of god nonsense, if cass will only identify her with a kiss on the mountain. it is written that you have to talk the pretender down and then she’ll just do Good Things again and you’ll be a hero for quelling a revolution and getting her to be nice again.

cass goes to the last supper, where rapunzel is very passive aggressive and obvious about the fact that she knows that cassandra is going to betray her. cass is like okay then just FIGHT ME. and rapunzel smiles tightly, “this is going to happen no matter how i react. i just have to accept it. you’re going to betray me”

cassandra says, “FINE MESSIAH! I WILL!” and stomps off to alert the authorities that rapunzel’s going to be on the mountain tonight. after rapunzel is off singing gethsemane, cass and the guards climb their way up the mountain to meet rapunzel when she comes down.

cass comes up to rapunzel, and her eyes are wet with tears.

“is this what it takes to get a kiss?” rapunzel asks, voice strained. cassandra comes up, and kisses her with more passion than is really required. she feels a little breathless when she breaks away.

“it was my destiny, raps,” cass tells her. rapunzel smiles sadly at her, and then one of the guards grabs her and drags her away.

“i know, cass. and i still loved you” then rapunzel gets dragged away. and then, cassandra finds out that she’s going before PILOT, not simple questioning. she forces her way through crowds shouting “CRUCIFY HER! CRUCIFY HER!” and sees scores of guards and it suddenly dawns on her what really happened.

she stomps through the crowd and finds zhan tiri, shoving the woman against the wall.

“you lied to me,” cassandra hisses, and zhan tiri just laughs.

“this was your destiny, cassandra,” she says, “to bring the savior to her undoing. you’ll be known as the greatest traitor in history, and i will get everything that i wanted.” cassandra is dragged off of her by a pair of guards, and zhan tiri grabs a bag of coins.

“here. your fee,” she says, smirk covering her face, “this was part of your destiny, after all. pretty good wages for one little kiss.” cassandra hurls the bag of coins straight at her face. zhan tiri dodges them, and she laughs and laughs.

“this is your destiny, cassandra,” she says, “it always has been.”

here’s my favorite snippets from this song that are Very Cass (Christ has been substituted for raps)

Raps! I know you can’t hear meBut I only did what you wanted me toRaps! I’d sell out the nationFor I have been saddled with the murder of youI have been spattered with innocent bloodI shall be dragged through the slime and the mudI have been spattered with innocent bloodI shall be dragged through the slime and the slime and the slime and the mud!

My mind is in darkness now - my God, I am sick! I’ve been used!And you knew all the time!God! I’ll never ever know why you chose me for your crimeYour foul, bloody crime!You have murdered me! You have murdered me!

cue some hanging, and then cassandra just. discoing it up and demanding that god tell her Why The Fuck He Did The Jesus Thing In A Way That Made No Sense And Also Fucked Both She And Rapunzel Over. but that’s it, there’s no explanation! there’s just rapunzel christ, superstar where everyone gets fucked over except zhan tiri. surprise!

[silyabeeodess]

Final Thoughts on Tangled: The Series

Normally, I don’t do many reviews, but since I’ve given my thoughts on points in the series before, I feel compelled to address certain things in the series in a full list.  As I’ve already brought up in the past, I very much have a love-hate relationship with the show.  This is because it has both exceptionally amazing and exceptionally terrible points that I can’t just shrug off--in part, because I’m starting to see them everywhere in a lot of cartoons these days, especially with Disney. Expect me to go over both positive and negative points, and I’ve give my conclusion on the series as a whole last.  There will be spoilers, so if you haven’t watched it in full yet, please do so before checking out the cut below.

Characters

As far as building up a lot of the characters go, I think most of them are really well-developed.  From a main character like Varian to minor figures like Captain Quaid, the creators seemed to have a good grasp of fleshing them out even when if they had a limited time to do so.  It helped the world of Tangled feel expansive and real, with even many of the background characters having their own identity and personalities: We didn’t need their life stories to make them stand out in our minds and they weren’t treated like a choir group used to only fill up space, which can be an easy pitfall when they’re showcased with notable importance to the story. (Moana, I’m looking at you.)  

My issues with the characters largely fall on a case-by-case basis--which will be brought up further below--but there is one general point that did wear on my nerves, and that’s with many of them having what I’d like to call “selective competence.”  By this, I mean that the strengths of the characters seemed to shift depending on whatever narrative the team wanted to tell.  One of the biggest examples of this is King Edmund: We’re introduced to him as a skilled fighter and fierce protector that could match up against not only the members of the Brotherhood like Adira because he trained them himself, but also while simultaneously holding his own for a time against Rapunzel and her friends--however, when he started being used for mostly comedy relief, he couldn’t even defend himself against the Stabbington Brothers who the group has already beaten multiple times over.  For crying out loud, they let him know they were there!  In no way do I think characters need some kind of point system to mark how strong they are--this is a story, not a tabletop RPG--but at the same time there’s needs to be better consistency and planning.  For the point I mentioned with King Edmund, an easy fix would’ve been a sneak attack that knocked him out before he had the chance to react by making him so consumed with the thought of losing his son in that moment that he wasn’t as aware of his surroundings as normal.  At least then there’d be an excuse!  This happens repeatedly throughout the series and with multiple characters though that it’s far from a slip up. 

Another general that focuses more on the girls is the power dynamic.  Look, I’m all for strong women, but not at the sacrifice of things like story or characters, and the show made a bad habit of leaning into that with their selective competence.  Think I’m wrong?  Ok, then explain this to me: How do you have two famed criminals with a known record throughout multiple kingdoms act like bumbling idiots who constantly either cause problems for the group with typically someone like Raps, Cass, or Adira having to get them out of that situation?  And if that wasn’t obvious enough, you have Adira’s little “I don’t get why they named it the Brotherhood because I’m a woman” statement that couldn’t be more on the nose.  

You know what?  I’m gonna go ahead and get to Adira despite her being a more minor character because I couldn’t stand her.  Most of the time when she showed up, I wanted to roll my eyes into the back of my skull because the primary reason she exists is to be a “strong woman who don’t need no man,” which, to be frank, we already have in spades in this show with much better characters.  She’s not impressive or a good role model for young girls: She’s an obnoxious token--and in more ways than one.  For no point whatsoever, she kept disappearing and reappearing in and out of episodes throughout S2 whenever the creators decided to use her--even though the audience is well aware she’s following the group and nothing seems to be stopping her from sticking by them.  They were shown fine with her travelling at their side on multiple occasions, so what was the need to have her vanish off and on when we know she’s just keeping up with them in the shadows anyhow? To top that off, she insists on being needlessly mysterious just for the sake of it despite her sharing similar goals with Raps and the group.  It would’ve been one thing had she just kept the potential danger of the moonstone’s affects on Raps a secret: The best lies are told with a bit of truth and it would’ve set up the mysterious angle of her much better.  Better anyway than her helping them one minute and then beating them up in the next because she “doesn’t like to be touched.” It got to the point where I didn’t care whether or not she could be trusted: I just wanted her offscreen.  

Going back to something positive for a moment though, Raps and Eugene are easily the best in the series (Or at least when they’re alone together, I have notes on both....)  I’m not talking about the romance between them--although that was really well done: I’m talking about how they bounced off of each other.  There’s something to be said about people who are willing to grow beside each other, and that growth shines in their relationship.  If one of them falters, the other is there to not only pick up the slack, but help pull the first back onto their feet.  Both Raps and Eugene have their highs and lows throughout the series and they’re willing to call the other back to earth and be their support when things go too far.  The power dynamic issue I mentioned earlier?  I never see it with them. They’re both balanced and match to each other’s strengths/weaknesses.  Neither of them is a vision of perfection, a knight in shining armor, or a damsel in distress: They’re two people who work in tandem to get through the hard times and simply enjoy the good ones together. 

Since I already wrote a large post discussing Raps and Cassandra, I’m going to link to that here.  For Cassandra though, I can summarize my thoughts on what they did to her character in one word: Butchered.  For both Seasons 1 and 2, the set-up for her was great, but everything after that was mostly an abysmal fall from grace.  They focused too much on her being jealous of Raps and upset over Gothel and ignored all of the problems that had sprung up in their friendship--such as Raps pushing her to the side just as much as anyone else and taking advantage of her friendship.  And then she literally had to ask herself, “Wait... am I the bad guy?” for her to consider that her actions may be unjustified.  Even after that, she immediately jumps back into her “villain” mode when Varian accidentally fired at her and blaming Raps--who’s just standing there--all while knowing ahead of time that Raps signed the decree for the weapon and having already excused it.  I saw glimmers of potential in the finale, but honestly, they fumbled and tripped so much with Cass that, even while satisfied with the conclusion to her arc, I’d far from call it a success.

Lance... This character just screams of missed opportunities. They gave him a great background to go with Eugene’s as these two best friends leaving a life of crime behind to each find their place in the world and then proceeded to make him the butt of a joke just about every second he was onscreen.  I can’t even think of a genuine character trait he had: I just look at him and see Tangled’s version of Olaf.  At least the end where he adopts Angry and Catalina was sweet, but even that felt lacking because all we got out of them were dumb jokes.  We see them together, but hardly in a way that would establish a parent-child bond; more like two siblings outwitting their dim babysitter.  The creators just could’ve handled him so much better, giving him and Eugene/Angry/Catalina more sincere interactions or letting him have a couple of moments to show what skills he brings to the group. They already had Shorty and used comedy among all of the characters anyway, so what was the point of making Lance a walking punchline?     

As for Eugene, I don’t have much to say beyond the points where they just made him out to be a moron like they did with Lance.  I actually really like how they developed them: How, personality wise, he never felt the need to change himself for anyone--he was confident in himself--but nevertheless struggled to find his own identity because of his past, family legacy, and whatever other revelations he came across in the present.  It was an interesting journey, watching him find himself.     

For all the bad I had to say regarding Raps in the post I listed earlier, I will admit as well that she does have some positive aspects.  I liked how her character arc focused on the importance of personal freedom while balancing it with the moral choice of accepting one’s duty to others.  For a time, she’s not ready to rule Corona due to her lack of knowledge/experience and never having the chance to discover what she needed in her own life.  However, she doesn’t use it as an excuse to shirk away from her responsibilities.  She accepts her duty to her kingdom and her people--and even to Eugene to an extent since she does love him and knows it’s unfair if she made him wait forever at her side--but she’s not willing to throw away her own happiness by rushing forward to fulfill them. It’s a balance that’s easy to struggle with, if not to the same degree as a princess, whether from a basic work/life or group/individual scenario or if you’re, for example, a young person rushed from one phase of their life to the next with certain expectations. The cherry on top is that she’s also a person struggling with her own maturity in the meantime, going from careless in some situations to a voice of reason later down the road.  

Overall, Zhan Tiri was a pretty good villain, particularly because she was actually, well, an honest villain.  After years of show after show, movie after movie, constantly being compelled to give their bad guys some sob story that hardly ever makes up for their actions, we’re finally back to getting to villains we love to hate. While I wouldn’t place her on the top tier, she’s still well done overall.  I don’t like her more powerful forms that much--they just don’t seem to have the best designs--but the child form was great.  The team found a good balance of conniving and creepy with her look.  My main complaint is that she can’t learn to shut up.  Now, it’s not the monologuing or even her spilling her own plans that I don’t like. Yes, it’s a trope for villains; however, it’s often used to showcase their arrogance; give the audience some more information about what’s going on in a simple, but effective way; and typically done when either the hero is at their weakest or when the villain is alone/with other villains.  The problem is Zhan Tiri’s timing.  It would be one thing if she monologued when Raps was at her weakest: Instead, she decides to reveal her identity and intentions to Raps well before her plans could succeed, therefore putting them at risk.  Had she not outright said “I’m playing Cass,” Cass’s morality would be placed in a more questionable eye by Raps and the others--further encouraging the conflict between the two young woman, which was what the demon wanted.  Her explaining that to Raps was just dumb.   

Music

I have no complaints.  Whoever is behind this, bravo: You made gold.  

I’d dare argue that the bulk of the songs could easily be any number that you’d hear on a successful Broadway track.  They're memorable, catchy, and tailor-made to perfectly fit in their respective scenes.  Everyone involved seemed to put their heart into the music, making many of them extremely powerful pieces.  The dialogue also meshes really well with the music, allowing the songs to flow naturally in and out of the scenes.  The only time where I’d say it doesn’t quite work would be in Through it All, but considering that the scene makes a point of joking about the musical elements of the series prior to that, you’re supposed to be aware of how unnatural it is, which can give it a charm of its own.  

Art and Animation

Again, for the art, no complaints.  Aside from some minor nitpicks that I’d shrug off--and I mean really minor, like a bird for the beginning of one episode that was huge in comparison to a second flying close to it--it’s beautiful. The style has a strong, painter-like quality that fits with the concept of this being Rapunzel’s story, matching to her--of course--being an artist.  You have these bold, beautiful colors and the team wasn’t afraid of letting them shine at their best, like in scenes such as when Rapunzel and Cassandra are fighting as the sundrop and moonstone.  There were so many nice contrasts that directed one’s focus perfectly on what the creators wanted you to see and that also made for rich, impressive moments in the show.  

As for more subtle details, one that I particularly liked were some of the gradients and the way they’re applied, such as the blush to Rapunzel’s face.  There’s something about that soft speckle around the edges that’s really satisfying, and--when comparing Rapunzel’s design to the flatter skin tone on most of the other characters--it gives her a warm glow that helps solidify her as the physical embodiement of the sundrop.

The animation is also super solid, and any critiques I have on it largely fall to things I think probably had more to do with the script than the animation itself.  For example, there’s the moment when Cass and Raps are fighting in Gothel’s house where Cass ties Raps hair around a pole, in the next moment it’s off the pole and Raps smacks her with it, and then it’s immediately wrapped around the pole again with Raps trying to unravel it.  It’s a pretty obvious and careless mistake to make--especially when you see how wonderfully choreographed a lot of the series is with dynamic camera shots that move fluidity with the characters.  What makes me think it’s more of a script-based problem is that there are similar inconsistencies that happen elsewhere and--while animated beautifully--don’t make much sense. One example of this is in the finale, where Cass is dying.  I tried re-watching the scene and checking the wikia to see how she got a fatal injury in case I missed something, but no: It’s never shown.  It’s like the team decided to have her dying just so Raps could say the healing incantation one final time. If you want to excuse it, you could say it had to do with the moonstone, but then you’d also have to explain how neither of the girls showcase any physical weaknesses aside from their loss of powers when Zhan Tiri takes both of their respective gems. Which leads me to...

Writing 

This is the hardest for me to discuss because so much of it is either really, really good or really, really bad.  I guess to start, I’ll bring up a problem that I noticed mimicked another show, Star Vs. the Forces of Evil.  Similarly to SVTFOE, the last season didn’t focus enough on the main plot to properly flesh it out--albeit, SVTFOE was much worse than Tangled: The Series could ever fear being.  A lot of people try to blame this on “Well, it’s the last season: It’s all they’ve got left to tell the story in.” Ok... Well, yeah, we can talk about how Disney and other companies stink at just letting creators tell a good story in the time they need to in another discussion, but here’s the thing: The teams know well in advance how many episodes they have to work with. Unfortunately, they wasted some of those episodes.  Did we really need to see Catalina as a werewolf?  Did we really need Pascal to befriend a dragon?  Even in the finale, with the more minor characters’ stumble into the Lost Realm, what was the point of it besides humor and getting them out of the way for a bit?  I’d understand if they were episodes for lightening the mood, but they already put so much comedy relief in with the main plot that that isn’t necessary: The mood’s already light enough and there’s just not much time to waste on random filler.  Again, filler isn’t a problem in itself either: You can have it, just don’t let it sacrifice main points that the show should address. One way to have gotten around this was to use more of a two-plot structure with some of these episodes: Plot A would focus on whatever fun the team wanted to have while Plot B could sprinkle in bits of information that the audience will need later for the main story--or they could even have done that with just a small scene to nudge some info in after the episode was done and before the credits rolled.            

I’d like to bring up some of the points that I thought could’ve been covered better.  First off, the whole “destiny” thing.  Well, we get what all signs Raps’ destiny is pointing to, but as often as it was brought up for Cass, they hardly explained what she wanted after taking the moonstone. What was her plan?  Initially, she didn’t want to attack/take over Corona. Sure, they tried saying she didn’t want to be anyone’s second, but everyone was going to hate her for taking the moonstone in the first place, so... good work there: I don’t think Cass would be stupid enough not to realize people wouldn’t think highly of her for it despite what the show tried to tell us.  They even missed the chance for some friction between Cass and Eugene after the latter was made the Captain of the Guard: Come on, you know that would’ve set her off!  Even the show questions this by Raps asking Cass what her end goal was in, I guess, the creators’ attempt at patching their mistake too little too late.  

Then there was the oh-so-important eclipse that we’re told nothing about until it gets here... besides that fact that it’s an eclipse.  The way the team tried to build it up through Zhan Tiri, you would’ve thought it was some cosmic magic on level with Avatar’s Sozin’s Comet. From what we could tell though, no, it’s just a normal eclipse.  That’s fine, but then why not explain more about it when everything else involving the sun and moon was amplified to some magical involvement?  

Thirdly, they brought the death incantation back: You know, that spell Raps was stupid enough to think she could control and then somehow randomly did for Varian because plot device despite it later being rendered pointless when the black rocks are then shown to be able to pierce through the amber just fine in S3, so Raps could’ve used those to save Varian’s father instead back when she had control of them?  That death incantation?  Yeah, suddenly it’s a bad thing again.  I could probably write a whole other post on these types of goofs alone, but I’ve been writing this for hours now and I’m almost to the end of it.

To wrap up this section, I will, however, admit that I liked some of the little things they included and would bring up later: I just wish they had done it more.  This is a method I call breadcrumb storytelling, in which a creator--for a specific moment--gives attention to something small that inevitably has a solid payback, often with the audience forgetting about it for a period only to resurface in their mind at the reveal.  One major point I’m talking about here was the use of the Moonstone shard.  Like many others, I actually did think they were going to show it as a sign of Cass’s slow destruction--that the Moonstone was a physical part of her and that by destroying it or overusing its power, it would inevitable destroy her as well.  It was a pleasant surprise to see the shard used as the key to defeating Zhan Tiri, and just how it was used.

Conclusion

So, did I like the series overall or not...?  Eh... I still find myself going back and forth on it.  What I hate about it, I hate with a passion, but the good parts that are there genuinely moved me. The things that worked wrapped up nicely and it was nice, but bittersweet to see the characters get their happy ending because it did feel pretty earned and you do feel sad to say goodbye to these people and this world you’ve become familiar with.  So I wouldn’t call it bad: I’d compare it to car that got totaled in a wreck and still somehow managed to flawlessly parallel park without any casualties after it flipped across the street.  It’s a mess, but I can still smile at it by the end of the day.     

[bstormhands]

The Captain and Cassandra p4

“Who’s that!? Is he riding a rhinoceros?” Cap asked as they stopped the horses. The place where the Great Tree used to be dropped away not far from them. 

“Uh-oh. That’s Hector. Weapons free, dad.” Cass said as she hauled out Shadowblade. “He has a pair of bearcats with him, keep an eye out for them.”

They were picking their way around to the path that he had used to get around the loss of the Tree, it was narrow and cliffs made moving slow and dangerous.

They saw him stare down at them then his eyes went wide as he saw the Moonstone on her breast. 

“No. No! NO! HOW DARE YOU!?” His eyes went fully insane as he extended his blade and spurred his mount forward. 

“What do we do?” Cap asked. He looked around but the path was not very wide and turning the horses would take too long with the madman bearing down on him. 

“We fight. Stay close!” Cass said as she charged forward up the narrow path. She switched the Shadowblade to her left hand. She wasn’t going to try a pass against him on the open side of the cliff. She hugged the cliff face and saw that her father was doing the same. The rhino was too big to get as close as the horses, but that big horn on the front made a difference. 

Just then the bearcats came racing past Hector and accelerated toward her. They bounded up the side of the cliff face, they were trying to force the horses toward the drop-off. 

Cassandra raised the Shadowblade then clenched her other fist causing black rocks to pop out of the rock walls flinging the surprised bearcats over edge into the ravine below. 

She used another black rock to punch the rhino in the face, trying to force an opening. It began to move away from the wall but it was too heavy.

Cass loosed many black rocks to force the enormous bulk of the rhino out of their way, but she had to get them out of the way again so they could pass.

Hector leapt from his mount. 

Cassandra stabbed up at him and their blades met. 

Cass realized that he’s leapt would land him not on her but her father. 

“Dad!” She cried. 

The Captain of the Guard saw the man flying through the air at them. He could see where that jump was going to land. On him.

But not today. He braced his sword with both hands and leaned back himself. The kick to the chest Hector was expecting to deliver ended up missing and  the Captain instead pushed him up and over the horse and into the cliff wall. 

Cassandra used a black rock to shove him across the path and into the ravine. 

He fell with a shout before a thud cut him off. 

Cap grunted as he straightened. His back did not like that. 

Cass kept them at a gallop until they reached the top of the path, before allowing them to slow. 

“You alright, dad?” Cass asked she she brought her horse next to her father’s.

“Mostly. I’m getting too old for these kinds of things.” He rubbed his back. 

“That won’t have finished off Hector. We should keep moving as fast as we can and lose him.” Cass recommended. 

“Good plan. Lets switch to remounts and keep going.” He said. 

***

“How could that not have finished him? That was a huge drop.” Cap stated.

“I threw him off a hundred foot cliff before. He just got up and walked it off.” Cass explained as they came to the top of the cliff. Owl came down and landed on her shoulder. 

“Great. Let’s switch to remounts and keep going.” Cap suggested as he brought his horse to a stop. The charge up the path had exhausted the horses they were riding. Cap was sweating from the effort of climbing onto the other horse. He wasn’t in shape for fighting anymore. 

“I don’t know what it is about the Brotherhood, they are substantially better fighters than anyone I have ever encountered.” Cass said. 

“And you’ve encountered a lot of fighters. I’ve heard about your exploits on this mission from people along the way.” Cap said as he urged his horse into a trot.

Cass shrugged. “I thought the Challenge of the Brave brought out the best fighters. Now that I’ve fought the best fighters, its no contest.”

“What makes them better?” Cap asked. He had seen how fast Hector had been, was there more? To leap perfectly in a dynamic situation like that and fight at the same time, was impressive and scary.

“They’re fast. Really fast. Faster then anyone I’ve ever seen, not a lot faster or we’d be dead, but faster. And strong. They hit like a charging bull. Blocking a swing from them is like trying to block a horse’s kick. I have no idea how they do it. I need saw Adira practice or train in anyway. She was always ready to fight when something came up. I’m thinking there is some kind of magical enhancement they are using.” Cassandra said.

“You think there really is something like that?” Cap asked.

“I’ve seen magic hair and rocks, a snow potion, used the memory wand, and been turned into a bird. Yeah. I think there could be something like that.” Cass said. 

“Wait, what? Turned into a bird!?” Cap asked. 

Cassandra chuckled. “Yes, we all got turned into birds by a weird couple in the middle of a forest. They had a magic teapot that turned whoever drank the tea into a bird. And some magic eggs that turned you back. Rapunzel was a beautiful bird. Flying was kinda fun. But then we learned they were turning people into birds for their collection.”

“Uh-oh.” Cap said. Looking at his daughter. 

“Yeah. The boys  were changed too and we were all in a cage. The woman, Mother, turned into a hawk and when we broke out of the cage I lured her away, then joined up with Owl here to keep her busy until Lance and Eugene could tackle the couple while Raps used eggs to turn everyone back, and…” Cass said. 

Cass went quiet. Cap could see she was pensive about some something. He knew here well enough that something was bothering her, but she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. He kept them going at an easy but furlong eating trot, hoping to put Hector way behind them. 

She held up her hand and flexed her hand. 

“What am I doing? Why did I do this? Rapunzel used the last egg on me, but I betrayed her and took the Moonstone from her.  For what, a power I can barely control and a destiny I am not ever sure I want.

“I’ve been trying to keep her safe and now I put her in danger. She looks up to me like the big sister she never had, but we shared a mother. She said we were even more like sister, and all I could do was rant how my own mother chose her over me. For what, so I could be locked in a tower and ignored for 18 years.”

Cass looked right at her father. “Dad, you were a better parent then mother ever wanted to be. But I am the worst sister and friend there ever was. I wanted to keep her safe, I thought she wasn’t listening to me, not trusting my judgement, but I was just trying to make her do what I wanted.”

“Its our job to keep them safe.” Cap said. “But we can’t tell them what to do. They have a job to do too, and we support them in that job. Their job is to lead. We are the ones that follow. You know, like the director of a play. When we are a player we listen to the director. Arguing with him isn’t a great idea.”

Cass snorted and smiled slightly at the memory, arguing with the director of the play she had wanted to be in, even getting her father to audition too. She had wanted to do more with her part but that wasn’t what the play was about. 

“Well, you did do a good job singing and dancing. I think that was the only reason the director didn’t toss me out of the play completely.” Cass said with a smile. 

Cap chuckled, “Maybe, but now what?” 

Cass touched the opal embedded in her chest. “I’ve got to get this to her and give it to her. I don’t think I can stay away from her all that long. Demanitus said that if the Sundry didn’t join with the Moonstone the black rocks would destroy the world looking for her.”

Cap frowned at that, but they were headed in the right direction, so he’d pry into that a bit later.