#I couldn't decide which art style to use (series style or other style). So I'd mixed them. The simplest of both.

[asjjohnson]

I had a thought in October about what if, in the TUE episode, Danny returning to his time was more complicated than just finding Vlad.

I made a gif out of a little sketch story thing I've made based on that thought (it's part one, out of... two? three? I haven't finished it yet so I'm not sure. But I thought this was a good place to stop for the gif.)

The story starts during the episode, right after the older Vlad removes the fused time medallion. The basic thought is that Danny doesn't make it to Vlad soon enough (plus I have some fun with an idea that the medallions have different models).

(The only way I know to start the gif over is to refresh the page. Oh, but first try clicking on the gif.)

Under the cut are the still pictures, as well as a written version. (...I 've spent too much time on this.)

Here's the still pictures.

And here's a written form. (...I'm not good at only giving the words with basic description. It was nearly unreadable that way. So I tried storyifying it. Just a little bit. It includes actions that are implied in the images but not specifically shown.)

---

Within Vlad's cave, in the future, Danny Phantom asks, "It didn’t work?"

Several feet away from him, the older Vlad stares down at the time medallion—still in the palm of the gauntlet he'd used to pull it out of Danny.

The medallion has a central piece with an entwined letter 'C' and 'W'. Above this, in fine print, are the words 'Back' and 'Forward', with corresponding arrows pointing counterclockwise and clockwise. And, below the C/W logo, are the words '10yr model'.

"…Perhaps something had happened…" Vlad says, "causing you to no longer be recognized by your time."

"But Sam and Tucker made it back just fine!" Danny says in confusion.

However, Danny doesn't give Vlad time to come up with any theories. "My future self is in the past, trying to force this future to happen. I need to get back to my time before it’s too late."

Vlad gives Danny a pitying look. "My boy, it may already be too late."

"No. I can’t accept that." Danny walks over to Vlad, raising one hand, palm up. "Here, let me see the medallion." Vlad drops the medallion into Danny's awaiting palm.

Danny looks at the back side of the medallion, saying, "If he was able to use one to go to my time, then I can, too."

The back of the medallion is undesigned smooth metal, but it's engraved with instructions. It reads, "Time anchor and travel device combination. Single use. Up to ten years forward or back. Simply remove to return to own time." And, beneath that, "Please recycle."

Danny puts the medallion around his neck and twists the front face counterclockwise, saying to himself, "I better turn it as far as it will go."

Before he even lets go of the medallion's face, a swirling bubble encompasses him, and then the bubble fades away.

Danny turns to look at the scenery. He's still in the cave—he sees the same cave formations—but, while there used to be a large, desk-like computer console and some lab equipment, now there's only a blank cave wall, and no sign of Vlad. "I guess it worked," he says. Then he flies through the cave.

A while later, after flying all the way to Amity Park, Danny hovers in the air, over the place the Nasty Burger used to be. Now there is only a large scorchmark, and a bewildered-looking version of Danny Fenton sitting in the middle of it.

"Oh no, I didn’t get here in time."

Danny has gone exactly ten years into the past, along the timeline he had started from. (In the corresponding sketch, this information is given by a narration rectangle that reads, "Exactly 10 yrs earlier in original timeline." ...Although that's not exactly true because it was exactly ten years when he first appeared in the cave, and it took time to get from Wisconsin to Amity Park. But the point is that Danny hadn't traveled far enough back in time to reach the intersection of the two timelines.)

Danny flies away, saying, "There must be a way to go farther back!"

The version of Danny Fenton left sitting on the scorched ground thinks, "Maybe I should move in with Vlad."

Some time later, Danny is flying through the Ghost Zone.

"I have no idea what the outside of Clockwork’s lair looks like. I’ll just need to trust I’ll know it when I see it."

Around him are floating doors and swirling patterns, as well as some kind of gear-themed castle that Danny has already passed (it's Clockwork's lair).

Danny turns his head. He doesn't notice the Fenton Boomerang approaching from the other side.

The Boomerang hits him in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Danny grabs the Boomerang and rubs his head. He scolds it like a disobedient pet, saying, "I look away for one second."

"Look," Danny orders, and uses his other hand to reach into his pocket, pulling out Jazz's note and unfolding it with a jerk of his wrist, "I already have one."

He throws the Boomerang. "Go find past me���or the me in the future? Whatever."

The note slips out of his hand.

"No!" He spins around, reaching for it.

"What are you doing way out here, Baby Pop?"

Danny pauses on hearing the voice.

He turns toward the voice and sees a maliciously grinning Ember McClain. "Ember? I don’t have time for this!"

"Well, you better make time. How about some killer volume?" Ember strums her guitar, and a spiral of energy shoots toward Danny.

"I seriously don’t have time! But you want volume? Fine! How’s thiiis?!" He transitions into his Ghostly Wail.

The Wail overpowers Ember's attack and blasts her through the air. She's pushed onto a chunk of floating ground.

The Wail ends, and Ember looks up in surprise and fear. There's a thin stream of ectoplasm leaking from the corner of her mouth. She puts a hand to her mouth and pulls it back to see ectoplasm on her palm.

Then she glares up at Danny. She coughs, and hoarsely says, "I won’t forget this."

Danny's just as horrified as she was. Wide-eyed, he subconsciously leans back, but also reaches a hand toward her in concern. "Wait, I didn’t mean to…"

But then he drops his hand and looks away, his expression hardening. "Never mind. Once I return to the right time, this will never have happened."

Assuming Jazz's note is a lost cause by now, he flies off, leaving Ember on the chunk of rock.

An unknown time later, Danny is in the Ghost Zone, hovering in place. He now has Jazz's headband tied to his belt, and he reaches a hand toward it, and rubs the material between his fingers. He says, "Jazz… Everyone… I’ll find my way back to you."

The camera moves upward until Danny's shoulder and half of his head is visible. His hair is a little longer now, and the shoulder part of his outfit is different. He continues, "No matter how long it takes."

[these-are-the-first-steps]

Here’s a random reylo ask for ya- did you ever have any theories/HCs early on in shipping reylo (cuz I believe you’ve said you were shipping since TFA) which you didn’t end up being into as much, or at all anymore as TST progressed?

Hello! Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this.

Story Time

So I saw TFA the second day it came out. I left rather bewildered- one, because a new actor I'd never seen before in my life (adam driver) gave such an unorthodox performance I couldn't stop thinking "The fuck does this guy think he's doing???" namely the interrogation scene where I don't think any other actor would have, nor could have, played it the way he did. I'm still shocked by the choices he made with his line delivery in that scene but in the best way possible. It's hard to explain. Anyway, that's one. Two also goes back to that scene. In middle school, back with Tokyo Pop was big, they held their very first manga contest for us regular american people to try our hand at Japanese style manga. Well, I felt like I could write, and my good friend at the time (she still is- we keep in touch!) could draw like a crazy person. So we decided to try for it. The only problem was, being middle schoolers, motivation and scheduling wasn't our forte. I did manage to write a short script excerpt of a story that had been brewing in my head for awhile at the time, and while I think I did eventually hand it over to her (I was suffering from perfectionism), the art never happened. We tried again in high school but then high school angst got in the way and it still didn't happen. Regardless, I still now had the only real concrete piece of writing for this story I had been sitting on for a couple years now.

Eventually....well, time moved on.

Cue "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", a sequel film I was INCREDIBLY skeptical about. I'd been watching star wars my entire life. My dad took me as a little kid to the big deal re-screenings of the original trilogy they did nationwide before the prequels came out. I had a lot of Opinions on this movie series. I had just moved to NYC and was out for a walk when I passed by Bloomingdales and saw, a bit to my shock, that their store windows were full of (allegedly) screen-used costumes and props from the upcoming TFA movie. I crept closer, had a look. Han Solo was the only thing I recognized. The rest? Unfamiliar. Alien. I had seen zero promotional images for this movie before encountering these windows and had only heard some things. I made guesses as to what everything was, before rounding the corner and being confronted with an irrationally tall costume. "Oh, is this the darth vader rip-off? lmao" (the only thing I had concretely heard about). "This guy had to be on stilts surely??" Kylo Ren. Funny at first, but the longer I stared at it, I shit you not, the more unsettled I got. I actually got *scared* staring at this costume. I took one very poor, very shaky picture, and basically ran away. (I regret not taking a better photo but oh well). I run into an article the next day at work about the movie and it happens to have the trailer and I decide, sure, ok, I'll give it a watch. Those windows were interesting at least. I basically had my tickets bought by the end of the day. So here we are, back to the theatre, sitting here as this audacious actor delivers the most ballsy performance I've seen the whole film as he interrogates the heroine, and I listen to what he's saying, and then, it hits me.

This. Is my story. These are my lines. I wrote this exact same exchange in middle school.

What the fuck??

This meant a lot of things to me. This meant that I knew where this story was going, and where it was going I liked very much. I went back to see the movie again a second time about a week or two later. I had to be sure-- I wasn't just imposing what was already inside my brain all these years onto a totally different story on the screen, was I? I watched, and waited. And sure enough....no, no it had to be it. These two? I know exactly how this is going to go down.

A few months later I visited back home and even managed to dig through a box and find my old script. I read through it, sort of shaking a little. My heroine- Light- had also been captured- by the Dark- and the song and dance were the same- Where am I? Does it matter? I can see everything. I'm not giving you anything. A summary, and as some years have passed again I have lost the print out in a box again, but some of the dialogue was ver batum.

I knew exactly where this new star wars story was going because I already wrote the damn thing in middle school, word for word, and if you thought for one second I wasn't going to tune in and defend this arc, that I never managed to get published myself at 13, with swords and shields and knives for my own personal middle school catharsis then you were dead wrong, my friend.

This may have seemed like a very round-about way of answering this question, but I wanted to give context, substance, because all of this ^^^^^ up here? It defines, explicitly, why I'm even here to begin with, and why I fought so hard from day one. There was nothing to abandon, or question, or shed. Because I already knew this story by heart. I had already written it!! And I still think ants and DLF and JJ Abrams and Terrio and the rest of those bastards can pry it from my cold dead hands, because truly they butchered my baby and while I may live with that, I'll never forget it.

Thank you for the ask, friend.

[medivhtirisfal]

Review of Oniisama E (Dear brother)

So I've watched «Oniisama e» recently, and it was an amazing experience - the anime gave to me an extraordinary range of feelings.

It suddenly became popular last year (many creators use shots from it in their videos, like «*song's name* slowed and reverb». You know.) I found it by watching a video with piano melody, which was kind of an edit/AMV. Here it is, if you're interested:

In general, this anime is about teenage school years of Nanako (main character), her friends, rivals, also about her family and etc. It's mostly narrated via letters that Nanako sends to her "brother". It takes place in 70s btw. And in a prestigious academy for girls only. Manga was made in 70s, anime in 90s. And it's sort of a shoujo ai.

First of all, this anime unexpectedly reminded me of my primary school years because back then I used to like reading old books (belonging to 20th century) about finishing schools for girls. Those schools were usually focused on etiquette, literature, arts, music. And this anime just resembles that perfectly, but with a more modern attitude. I guess, that's why it was especially interesting for me to watch this, as seemingly no one (apart from me) liked such literature, and here I can see an anime that is suddenly getting popular and is literally equal in terms of atmosphere to those books.

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Let's get down to characters. (No major spoilers)

I'd like to start with the "Magnificent Three" - three students that are loved by everyone in this academy.

Fan's favourite is Rei Asaka (or as they say «Saint-Juste-Sama»).

I didn't really like her at first sight, as she seemed as someone who's feigning her coolness and recklessness (I'm too used to such stereotypical characters in anime). But actually, when they started telling us more about her story, showing her problems with mental health (an unusual thing for manga from 70s), her values and ideas, she started becoming more and more interesting as a person. She's probably not my favourite, but after watching the whole thing, I can say that her problems and her relationship with Miya were the main and the only thing that made me watch the whole anime. At some point I started emphasising with her and "cheering her on" through the screen whenever she was about to do something.

P. S. Rei's also a talented musician, can play different musical instruments. That's great!

And I can't omit the fact that she's the meaning of the word AESTHETICS

Miya-sama or Fukiko Ichinomiya. She's the leader of "Sorority", which is a club for elite. I don't have much to say about her apart from that she's undoubtedly a rather bad person, who's quite cruel, yet I couldn't really start hating Miya for that because I emphasised with her too, especially at the end of the series. But that's just probably me because seemingly everyone hates her :D

And Kaoru, or Kaoru-no-Kimi. My favorite :')

She's straightforward, has different ideas about life than others in this school, she also solves everyone's problems (I literally started calling her problem-solver at some point) and fights stereotypes. A good friend, a good student, an awesome athlete...

Nanako is a really kind person, a good friend as well, and incredibly empathetic. She's a good main character, as she's not here just "for the record", but definitely has a personality (and I found her backstory to be very interesting). The fact that she's a narrator also makes her unusual. Her family and relationship with them is superb too :')

Mariko is the one who most of us would understand the most, as she's not a perfect friend or a perfect person, even though she's on "good side" and is Nanako's friend, but she's quite realistic and has lots of negative traits. That doesn't make her bad, though. I'd call her morally neutral, as, opposite to Nanako, she doesn't really care about others and says phrases like "Why do you care about her? You should think about yourself only".

(P.S. can someone explain what polish on her fingernails mean. I'm sure that her having only her thumb varnished should mean something)

I also want to mention that even minor rivals of Nanako turn out to be humane. This anime attempts to show grey morality, which is praiseworthy.

My personal applause for portraying Rei and Kaoru as well-educated, talented and clever students who love reading. You know, it's unusual for new animes, as in them "bad guys" that are "cool" are usually the ones that everyone in schools like, but not the ones like these girls. That makes me sad(

What can I say about plot? Well, obviously, it's not very complicated, as it's a drama about school, but the anime certainly has some HUGE plot twists. (For some people the first one was that Rei was not a guy :D) Oniisama e generally has that nostalgic, soft and breezy atmosphere, but don't get mistaken: it brings up many serious subjects. This anime makes you want to analyse and try to understand characters' feelings, to understand why they make particular decisions or what led them to behaving that way.

I also love the music in the show. Creators pay a lot of attention to it. Some melodies are super emotional, some set the mood. M-8 which Rei always plays is cool, but my favourite one is M-10, Miya's theme. Incredibly intense.

And the reason why many decided to watch it is that Oniisama e is so aesthetically pleasing!

The ending may be a bit disappointing. Personally, I started missing everything that had happened throughout the series at the end of the last episode. Not sure it was the thing that creators intended to do, but here we are. The rest of the anime was cool, especially its middle part. It will seem boring for those who prefer action-oriented anime (well, that's probably obvious).

To sum up, I recommend that anime to those who like old art style and vibes of old animes, those who, like me, used to read something similar and those who want to see some intense drama with shoujo ai elements and maybe cry a bit (or cry your eyes out if you're rather sensitive). Nevertheless, it's going to be an interesting experience for everyone.

P. S. I'm going to make another post with spoilers describing my thoughts on this anime and then a set of icons. Because it's literally full of mesmerising shots.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Why I (Want to) Love Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

Salutations random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

When I heard Disney was making an animated series based on Tangled, acting as a continuation from the original movie, my initial thought was, "Why?"

Sure, Disney is infamous for its unnecessary sequels of the story after happily ever after, with the many, many, many failures that follow suit. Even then, though, most of these continuations were movies that kind of have the potential to tell more of a story. But what more could be said about Tangled? Sorry to spoil a movie that's over ten years old at this point, but by the end of it: Rapunzel lost her golden hair, was reunited with her parents, fell in love, and lived happily ever after. Her losing the golden hair is the most essential part of that list because how can you do a series based on a Disney princess when her most iconic feature is gone? Then I found out that the series forced a way for her hair to come back, and my new initial thought became, "Oh man. This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

Despite the hesitation, I decided to give it a chance anyway. After all, I've been pleasantly surprised before. Things like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, and even The Owl House (yes, really), were shows (and a movie) that I didn't think would be that special. Only to find myself enjoying nearly every minute. So after watching Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, I can certainly say I was surprised...but it was entirely for the wrong reasons.

And to explain how requires spoilers. So if you haven't checked the series out yet, I highly suggest you do it to form your own opinion. Just keep in mind that it's a bit of a mess, but it can be an enjoyable mess...sometimes...let me explain.

WHAT I LIKED

The Animation/Art Style: The series swapping from 3D to 2D might have been the most brilliant decision anyone could have ever made with this series. Usually, when an animated movie gets turned into a show, the most noticeable downgrade is always the animation. Whether it’s not as detailed or not as fluid, it's always subjective that the movie is better animated than the series. But by switching up the styles, the contrast becomes objective instead. 2D and 3D animation each have their pros and cons, so deciding which one is better is nothing more than a matter of opinion. So by changing the style, Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure avoids getting complaints of being a downgrade from the original movie. It also helps that the art style of the series is really unique.

The best way to describe how the show looks is that it's like a coloring book brought to life. At times, everything looks like it was drawn and colored in with crayons, which sounds like an insult, but in actuality, it's one of the best features of the series. As much as I love most animated shows nowadays, I will admit, they all look a little too similar at times. Then here comes Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, which tries to incorporate a whole new style that successfully sets it apart from most shows.

As for the animation itself, it's really well-made! It's remarkably expressive when required, while the movements are really fluid during the correct scenes. Sure the fighting can be a little floaty during some action set pieces (yes, those exist here), but the dialogue and comedic moments are really where the series shines with its animation. I may have problems with the series as a whole, but I give credit where credit is due for the perfectly executed effort that I see in every episode in terms of animation.

Rapunzel and Eugene’s relationship: This was not something I was expecting to enjoy from the series. In the movie, Rapunzel and Eugene were fine. They were the typical Disney couple that worked off of each other enough that it was always entertaining, even if it was unbelievable that they fell deeply in love with each other after, like, two days. They weren't bad, but they weren't anything to go crazy over.

But the writers for the series said, "You know what, let's make these two adorable in nearly every scene they're in." And they are!

Even though I don't believe in their relationship in the movie, I fully believe it here. Both characters have a large amount of faith in one another on top of having endless love for their partner. Like how Eugene knew Rapunzel would be fine when taking out an airship or how Rapunzel couldn't bring herself to say a bad thing about Eugene when making Cassandra a sparring dummy of him. It's legitimately pleasant to watch, to the point where I put Rapunzel and Eugene in my top ten list of favorite fictional couples. They're that good to me, and it's one of the reasons why I don't jump on the bandwagon of shipping the two main female characters together. I'm all for LGBTQA+ representation, but give Cassandra her own girlfriend. Rapunzel's taken, and most of my enjoyment of this show comes from her and her man. So, you know, keep things as they are.

Cassandra (Seasons One and Two): Seeing how I've already mentioned her, let's talk about Cassandra, shall we? Because when making a series based on a movie that had only four prominent characters, with two of them being comedic animal sidekicks, you're going to need to introduce more members to the main cast to write more potential stories. And Cassandra, in Seasons One and Two (I'll get to Season Three), is a worthy addition. She acts as a strict straight man (I know the irony) who interacts well with Rapunzel and clashes perfectly with Eugene on occasion. She was passably entertaining in Season One and developed amazingly in Season Two. Her growing frustrations with Rapunzel's actions lead to a slow build-up that made her betrayal heartbreaking but somewhat understandable. And as for the results in that betrayal...yeah, I'll get into that later. For now, I'll just say that Cassandra was a pleasant addition to the main cast, especially when she was a part of the main trio, and she's yet another good surprise that the writers supplied for the series.

The Songs: The songs are...not going to be for everyone. Most of them are passable yet kind of generic, while others sound like they belong on Disney Junior (Looking at you, "Bigger Than That"). But when Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure makes a hit, MAN, it is a home run. Numbers like "Ready As I'll Ever Be" and "Nothing Left to Lose" are sung phenomenally, orchestrated well, and are songs I can listen to on repeat multiple times. And "Waiting in the Wings" is not only something I consider to be the best song in the series, but it's also something I'd place as high up on Disney's best due to how f**king incredible it is. "Waiting in the Wings" is a powerful ballad that manages to be both tragic yet inspiring on top of how well it sums up Cassandra as a character. The writers may not always be on top of their game when it comes to music, but songs like these prove that they know how to earn that Disney name.

And that’s all I have for the likes...Oh boy. That’s not a good thing is it?

WHAT I DISLIKED

It Peaked at Season One: It did. It really did.

Season One felt like the writers had a grip on what type of show they wanted: A slice-of-life series with Rapunzel dealing with the issues of her kingdom with a meager threat of these black rocks growing in the background. It was all cute and well-balanced for the most part, but that all disappears in Season Two. Because now it's sort of about this adventure, but because Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure set itself as a slice-of-life series, there need to be these small-scale stories that intertwine the grand narrative being told. The issue is that the story comes to a grinding halt one too many times as fans are forced to sit through these filler episodes that, while not all of them are bad, still feel like a distraction. And by Season Three, the series does feel more focused while having some slice-of-life episodes added to the ongoing story instead of distracting us from it. But the writing isn't as strong, there are several plot holes in the narrative (how did Rapunzel's sunstone get into her dress?), and there is way too much time going back and forth on Cassandra's morality. They claim that she's a villain while arguing that there might still be some good in her, and they continue this train of thought for nine episodes when it really could have been settled in two. For me, it's a bad sign for a series when the first season is the best one. Because if it's all downhill from there, what's the point of even watching?

It Tries to be Epic: This might have been the worst decision the writers could have made.

Now, here's the thing: I don't mind grand epic tales of adventure and battles against demons. If anything, I'm all for them...when it's appropriate and fits with the tone of the series.

Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure suffers a similar problem Frozen II has, in which the writers felt like a big, life-threatening adventure was the perfect continuation of a meager, personal story about the relationships of characters. It isn't. If anything, it's completely missing the mark about what the original story was about. And sure, sometimes writers can succeed in telling personal stories through grand adventures. Just look at The Owl House and parts of Amphibia. But with those shows, it's established within the first few episodes that action and peril will be a series staple. With Tangled, while there was some action and peril, it's all very subdued compared to how high the stakes got raised in later episodes in the show. Especially in the series finale.

And, I mean, c'mon. You're making Rapunzel an action hero?

Judy Hopps? Yes.

Moana? Maybe.

Raya? Most definitely.

But Rapunzel? The character who’s all about optimism and seeing the best of others. That's the character you're going to morph into a hero that fights against an evil demon laid dormant for years? Did you even watch the original movie? Yeah, sorry, but I just don't buy it.

If you want to tell an epic story that gets the blood pumping for fans addicted to adventure, go for it! See where the wind takes you. But make sure to set that tone as early as possible while also making sure that it fits with the characters. If not, the end result is a series that feels like it's trying to be something it’s not.

Eugene is Kind of an Idiot at Times: It should be noted that Movie-Eugene and Series-Eugene are practically two different characters. In the film, Eugene was more or less the straight man, as he often questions the wackiness in the world around him and keeping Rapunzel grounded in reality. For the series, most of that personality got transferred to Cassandra. Thus making Eugene's new role in the series act as the egotistical imbecile. Sure, he had those moments in the film, but not as frequently, and it really pains me when the writers really lean hard into a minor aspect of his personality. Sometimes there are moments when Eugene acts like his original self. But it's all small scenes that are spread apart with entire episodes where he has half a brain cell. I'm sure some people didn't mind this change to the character, but as someone who adores the movie version of Eugene, I can't help but feel disappointed.

The Villains are the Worst: Now, I don't mean the one-off villains that show up, cause some chaos for a bit, and disappear at the end of the episode. Those are characters with fun personalities, occasionally cool designs, and do their job as villains of the week. It doesn't matter if their motivations are laughably simple, as their purpose is to be enjoyable characters above anything else. So I actually enjoy those villains...it's the ones that act as season-long antagonists that really grind my gears.

The purpose behind these types of foes is to build up how evil they are throughout the season. The issue is that the writers try to give these characters, or at least two of them, a point. To be fair, this can work. Just look at Killmonger from Black Panther and sometimes Karli Morgenthau from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. You understand and probably even sympathize with the logic and reasoning these characters have. It's just that their actions couldn't be farther from what you would do. The problem with Varian and Cassandra is that they have the motivation, but it's not written suitably for the story.

Cassandra is a whole can of worms I'll get to in a minute, but Varian is someone I can easily discuss for a brief time. Because while I can comprehend his pain for having his father frozen in yellow rock, I don't think turning evil is the best decision to go with that character. Because A. Everything is his fault. He blames Rapunzel for not helping him, but even if she didn't have a crisis to deal with, there was nothing she could have done to stop it. His frustrations are not only unjustified, but given the fact that this wouldn't have happened if he listened to his father in the first place, it feels like him becoming evil is too drastic of a turn. And B. Varian worked much better as a supporting character rather than a primary antagonist. He was just this hopeful, if not a clumsy scientist who wanted to prove himself, who causes minor catastrophes due to not thinking ahead. Turning a character like Varian into a villain is a bit of a misstep because if the guy acts hilariously incompetent as a good guy, it makes little sense to have him be intelligent and ten steps ahead of Rapunzel when being evil. If he were to become more serious and careful when helping the rest of the main cast, I'd consider that character progression done properly. But becoming a villain is just an overreaction.

However, none of that compares with my issues with the main antagonist of the series: Zhan Tiri. This goes back to my problems with the series making itself too epic. Because if Zhan Tiri existed in any other show, I probably wouldn't have any problem with her. She's built up well throughout all three seasons and is kind of threatening at times. But she doesn't belong in a series based on a movie that dealt with a small, personal issue where it wasn't even the character who killed the villain in the end. It was her love interest and animal sidekick. Even if Zhan Tiri works well as a character, the fact that it doesn't feel like she belongs in the show makes her too distracting to enjoy. And that's why these villains suck. If not poorly written, they don't belong in a series that should focus on small-scale issues. And if you can functionally write an antagonist that appears for only one episode but flounder with ones that show up in several, well, that's just embarrassing.

Cassandra (Season 3): OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH BOY, do I have some words to express with this character. Like with Movie-Eugene and Series-Eugene, Cassandra from Seasons One and Two is frustratingly different from the psychotic IDIOT from Season Three. Basically, just take the issues I have with Varian, multiply them by ten, add them with some bafflingly stupid decisions, and you still wouldn't get how much Season Three-Cassandra frustrates me!

First off, her motivation...what the f**k were the writers thinking? The big reason why Cassandra betrays Rapunzel and motivates all of her misdeeds was that Cassandra's mother was Mother Gothal...EXPLAIN THAT LOGIC TO ME?! Because Cassandra should know what type of woman Mother Gothal was. She should know what Mother Gothal did to Rapunzel in the first eighteen years of her life. So how is Cassandra being abandoned by Gothal the central motivator to cut ties with Rapunzel, who is probably an even bigger victim in this scenario!? Seriously, Rapunzel was cut off from the rest of the world and treated as an unknowing prisoner because she was beneficial to Gothal. Cassandra was adopted into a household with mutual love and got to actually live her life. In no way does it make sense for her to be angry at Rapunzel.

Nor does it make sense that the writers try to play it off as a good thing in the song "Crossing the Line!" Sure, it sounds nice, but thematically, it gives across the opposite feelings that the audience should have. Because if Cassandra cutting ties with Rapunzel is meant to be tragic and awful, why is the music suggesting it's the best possible thing that's ever happened for the character? If you like the song, fine, but even you have to admit that it's thematic nonsense.

But, sure. Cassandra's evil now, and she considers it a good thing. Whatever. I'll take it as long as it leads to good stories...but here's the thing: In the penultimate episode before the three-part series finale, Cassandra asks a question. A question I would have never expected her to ask, despite everything that has happened in the last season. A question that was so baffling, I had to legitimately pause the episode to process the fact that she asked something so stupid. Because Cassandra, the character who is intelligent and grounded in reality, asked, "Am I the bad guy?"

I was honestly shocked to find out she was shocked! How, in the flying, everlasting, cock-a-doodle-doodling F**K does a person like her not pick up that maybe, just maybe, she isn't the hero in this story!? Call me crazy, but endangering the lives of people you once called friends and family, dressing in black, AND HAVING A GIANT EVIL-LOOKING TOWER MADE OUT OF F**KING SPIKES aren't qualities I would give to a hero!

If Cassandra was like Thanos, a character so wrapped up in his ego that he can't even notice how evil he is, I would understand. But she doesn't have an ego. Anger, yes. But for the most part, her personality is based on having logic and reasoning. So turning her into a villain and having her unaware that she's a villain is an act of lunacy that I am incapable of understanding. I don't know who's idea this was, but whoever is to blame...you've got issues.

>Sighs<...This series isn't good, is it?

IN CONCLUSION

I like the animation and some of the characters...but that's not enough. Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure is a mess of a show that tries to do too much for a story that should have so little. Meaning that it's a D+ for me. I want to enjoy it and give it a higher grade, especially with how much I hear people praise this series. And if you do enjoy it, all the power to you. Your opinions are valid, even if I highly disagree with them. Because for me, this is a show that I won't get myself tangled up in again in the future.

[amrita-gsk]

I also wanted to talk about a little about the other video they presented today:

Once again they started with Ichigo and Rukia. I truly feel happy whenever Rukia is on the spotlight and she's in the right where the MCs should be, at the beginning and front of everything!

Here we have the Ichigo vs. Grimmjow fight feat. TYBW's Gotei 13 and... RUKIA AGAIN! Yes!

Aaaand another colored Ichigo. I miss Ku/bo's art style from back then tbh I always liked how he used to make Ichigo's hair look like fire.

Main character's and moments(?) during the last arc. URYUU IS THERE!!!

The two head captains and Squad 0, it's a shame they were all over hyped only to not be that useful in the end. Nimaiya and what's-her-name only served to somewhat explain how the shinigami accessories/tools work, the onsen guy had to heal Byakuya, Renji, Rukia and Ichigo because apparently I-can-kill-you-but-heal-you-so-fast-you-come-back-to-life-Unohana-Retsu couldn't fully do it and it's not like any of Ichigo's friends had any healing abilities-- OH, wait. Yeah. Hikifune is just the transforming beauty because each arc needs its own (Yoruichi, Nelliel anyone?) aaaand I don't even care about Ichibei anymore. He was supposed to be broken and yet he was defeated almost as fast as Yamamoto just to be revived by the "power of the words" or some shit like that. What if Ichigo and co. never arrived at the Royal Palace? Would he have stayed dead then?

Byakuya's death... Which didn't happen in the end because according to Ku/bo he was pressured through twitter to not kill him? Just another fucking excuse. I freaking love Byakuya but his words toward Ichigo felt hollow after he was brought back.

Ukitake... Yeah, remember when we were told Ukitake wasn't going to die? And then he died for a stupid reason, like, he had the hand of God inside him and yet most of the time he was still sick and could only fight for a while. If he had some stupid over the top power because he had God's hand in him it would've somewhat make sense OR if he couldn't really fight because being its vessel was too much for him to shoulder, but no. Just release God's hand and never explain what happened to the OTHER hand or limbs at all and may Ukitake rest in peace.

OH and that Aizen panel from the final fight which wasn't even a fight!!! Priceless, Chair-sama saved the day.

Aaaand at last!!! The stuff that will carry and sell this whole circus of insanity, yandere Unohana, Urahara's infinite list of plans and plots and traps and blahblahblah... Kenpachi's bankai, Toushiro's special fanservice feature now 18+, double serving of fanservice with Rukia's astonishing and beautiful bankai and Renji's we-tricked-you-because-you're-an-idiot-so-here's-your-true-bankai form. Mayuri isn't worth mentioning.

Aaaand the cherry on top!!! Ichigo wielding Zangetsu's old form which was actually a fake Zangetsu but this is formed with the true Zangetsu which broke for this scene, which is also separated in two swords but they merged again and weren't Ukitake and Kyouraku the only shinigami in history to ever have double zanpakutō? What happened to that? Oh yes, Kyouraku had Nanao's. And Ukitake is dead. Okay. Yeah. Makes sense. NOT.

Sigh... The difference between this video and the other is that the other one was able to spark some joy and ignite the leftover love I have for Bleach because it showed panels back from when things made sense and it was awesome. These panels... some of them could be exciting by themselves but they mostly served to remind me why I ended up hating Ku/bo and what Ble/ach became. It's chaos. It's disorganized. Things are there just for the sake of hyping but not to contribute to the story itself. It makes me as sad as I am mad.

The only positive things I get from here is that as usual Rukia is treated as the main character and heroine she is, she's right at the front, she's with the characters that carried the series long enough for it to go for as long as it did and she will always be one of the best female characters in shonen history. Then I have the fact that I too love Ichigo and he deserves to be regarded as a hero, even though Ku/bo decided to throw that away for him in the end. Flaws and all Ichigo IS a hero and I guess I am weak too and I can at least feel happy that he's back in the spotlight again, although if it were up to me I'd never animate this arc so that his fans could remember him with pride. I would save him if I could.

The other positive thing I get is... I'm a mean person and I have no qualms in admitting it, so there's a part of me that is delighted by the fact that someone was purposely left out of these announcements. It's good to know the marketing team still knows what sells and well, I won't say I feel bad for her fans because I don't. It's what she and they deserve and shitty ending or not, it's clear they're not getting the recognition they've been craving all these years.

So Ble/ach is back to torment us and I just want to wish us all good luck and a not so bad ride through all of this. Stay strong my people, we've already survived the worse of it, this is just a motivating shitty flashback before finally stabbing this bastard in the heart once and for all.