#kingdom of pittsford

[rhmis-user-2020]

The towns in Tangled that I probably make an OC in the future:

Bayangor

Galcrest

Koto

Corona

Old Corona

Ingvarr

Pittsford

Vardaros 

Equis

Nesdernia

[tangledbea]

Is the griffin the king of Pittsford?

He's the ruler, and I guess Pittsford is a kingdom, since it's part of the Seven Kingdoms... so, yes.

(P.S. it's Griffon, with an 'o' rather than a second 'i'.)

[sparkycanteven]

I always love and appreciate the thought and effort that @nerdasaurus1200 puts into the seven kingdoms, it makes them sound like real cultures. 🥰

In honor of Halloween, here's some headcanons about how the seven kingdoms (plus Saporia and the Dark Kingdom) celebrate Halloween!

Bayangor calls it the Spirit Harvest, or Jīngshén synkomidí. They celebrate with masquerade balls all over the country, but the best one is always at the palace. They also set out food and shrines to their dead ancestors, and lay out food for Hades and Persephone as well

Rapunzel still calls it Marmalade Moon Night, but the rest of Corona calls it Hallow-Feast. Corona's the kingdom whose celebration is closest to how America celebrates it; with costumes and trick or treating and they have a parade the night before. During trick or treating there's a huge potluck feast in the town square

Instead of celebrating the dead, Koto uses Halloween to celebrate the magic in their country, calling it Witch's Day. There's a small feast and tons of magic shows/games (think Olympics for wizards) and plays about historical icons of magic

Ingvarr uses Halloween as a day to celebrate and remember their fallen warriors, as well as their fallen enemies. Every year there's a play about the creation of Ingvarr. Similar to Saporia, they have bonfires in the streets and children run around banging their swords and shields (or pots and pans) to scare off spirits

Neserdnia and Galcrest the only kingdoms that don't celebrate any kind of Halloween

Pittsford also has trick or treating, but it's way lower scale than Corona. Their main tradition is carving out jack o'lanterns to guide Jack of the Lantern, also known as Jack Skeleton or Skellington, back home. Jack is a lonely trickster spirit in Pittsford folklore, said to have wandered into the woods following strange lights on Halloween night only to never be seen again

Of all the kingdoms, Saporia RULES Halloween. It's one of their most sacred holidays, and they call it Hallow's Eve. It's also called the Feast of Kaldur, their god of death. They celebrate for seven nights straight with bonfires, feasts, and ballads under the stars so they can celebrate with both Skinandi as well as their dead. Saporian magic users also have seances, using owl feathers to call to Kaldur to guide their dead home for a night

The Dark Kingdom has never had a Halloween before, but they're slowly starting to make it a thing

[prestonmonterey]

if you got to live in one of the seven *cough cough eight cough* kingdoms, which would it be?

options:

- corona

- galcrest

- ingvarr

- pittsford

- koto

- neserdnia

- bayangor

- selene/sceptra/dark kingdom

hmmmm

i mean

somehow corona seems the most functional from what i remember?

which is honestly. such a low bar.

but uhh

yeah i mean like

dark kingdom pre evil moonstone stuff

otherwise

i guess

corona

[twotangledsisters]

Do you have any political headcanons about corona and the rest of the Seven Kingdoms?

Oh, quite a few!

1.- I think Corona is a mostly wealthy kingdom which leads it to not knowing how to accommodate working/lower class citizens. Strict criminal laws, clear biases when it comes to accusations, plus the willingness to ignore the black rock problema in Old Corona... they're just farmers I guess?

2.- For some reason Koto has always been the magic kingdom in my mind and they're the ones funding places like the Spire so the art of magic doesn't fully die.

3.- Neserdnia's place in the ammendment is it exports animal goods. Including very exotic animal stuff, reminder Pascal's dragon egg came from there! Or at least came in a shipment from there.

4.- Bayangor is the kingdom with most traditions, culture, manners and such.

5.- Pittsford is the closest to a democracy having elections even if they always come out the same. Instead of a palace they just have a town hall. Not political but they're actually really chill when they're not talking to other bigger kingdoms.

6.- Ingvarr doesn't have a propper royal family, anybody can go challenge the current leader to a duel and if they win they get the throne!

7.- Meetings are never held in Galcrest cause it's just too cold for the other kingdoms. (wait... that's not political?)

8.- At some point in time animals were added into Corona law as citizens and thereby are held to the same legal standards. The event that warranted such changes? I'm unsure but I'd bet Demanitus had something to do with it.

9.- There's an ongoing feud between Corona and Ingvarr over who gets credit for Demanitus as he was born in Ingvarr and died in Corona. Why such a specific headcanon? Well, first of all Demanitus loves Corona..... too much. Usually people are more in love with places they moved to later in life than where they were born. Second of all, Ingvarr has that absolutely amazing invention in the Princess of the Crowns for battle and that seems like the sorta technology Demanitus would have a hand in.

Not saying he made that specific one! But rather he's part of the reason Ingvarr is so advanced.

10.- One of the seven kingdoms suggested Equis should be offered a chance to join but the vote needed to be unanimous and Frederic voted against purely out of spite for Trevor.

[bee-snail]

ALRIGHT I have PROGRESS. Follow up to this post, behold: the (updated) Moonrise Map of the 7 Kingdoms + Equis + The Dark Kingdom

I bring both a colored and uncolored version. Whichever is easier to read <:]

Yes it looks like I did just crop a part of a continent to show you. Big chances I'm still gonna edit this but I AM MUCH HAPPIER. KRESTEN LOCH EXISTS GUYS !!!

A few things have been done to make everything make sense:

- In "Not in the Mood", the representative of Pittsford leaves in a little boat, which means my original design where Pittsford is landlocked is debunked.

- In "Pascal's Dragon", we get shipment from Neserdnia, implying it too has sea access. In "Day of the Animals", our team is on a feeble little cart ride on their way to Neserdnia. I have no idea how they thought they could go that far without a carriage at least, but assuming they're already on Neserdnian territory just on their way to where they actually want to go... Well. Canon is weird.

- The green, unnamed spots are unclaimed or unexplored areas.

- Kingdoms closer to Corona are warmer, whereas those closest to the Dark Kingdom are colder. Rakesh is the only area in the entirety of the cold-side that has farmlands thanks to Saporia's magic combined with the naturally fertile land of a volcanic area.

- The food that once was acquired only through Ingvarr (who got said food by using greenhouses designed to keep their crops alive despite the natural cold) could now be mass produced in the Dark Kingdom, feeding all of its population and having enough to sell off to neighboring kingdoms even cheaper than Ingvarr.

As Rakesh's farmlands grew, Ingvarr's economy crashed when their crops were no longer being sold in favor of Rakesh's cheaper ones. It led to many conflicts between the Dark Kingdom and Ingvarr, pushing the Dark Kingdom's people to continue training warriors to defend against Ingvarr's occasional attacks—which only stopped after the Exile during King Edmund's reign.

Ingvarr is now the main provider of food to Galcrest and the few Rakeshian villages that refused to leave the kingdom.

- The Great Tree and Demanitus' Maze became part of the Dark Kingdom territory about 1.5k years after the Great Saporia-Corona War.

- Demanitus' Tomb is technically located within Old Saporian territory; in modern days, it's considered within Coronan territory.

- The Spire, as well as Kresten Loch, are Galcrestian territory.

[rendellstreet]

A remake of a previous map of Corona I made last year or so, inspired / taking influence from the Bitter Snow series by bestworstcase.

Worldbuilding notes:

Corona

A prosperous member of the Seven Kingdom alliance, whose otherwise pristine appearance is blemished with internal strife and a tumultuous past.

Points of Interest

Equis Border – Corona originally controlled most of Lorraine River and the southwestern coast of Lake Alsace (red line), but lost its territory to Equis in a rather embarrassing war that involved seals, manatees, and a colossal flying squid (black line). It’s a contentious point between the two kingdoms, as Kongsburg lost is outlet to the sea and the Lorraine valley was a major agricultural region. Not helping the matter is the current sovereign, King Trevor, renaming the lake and river after himself in an escalation with his petty, childish feud with King Frederic of Corona.

Kongsburg – The largest city in northern Corona. It’s a major port on the southern shore of Lake Trevor and economically speaking, been feeling the pinch of losing its outlet to the sea. There have been numerous scuffles between Coronan and Equisian ships over fishing rights. Rumors of the colossal flying squid harassing Coronan warships and snatching Coronan fisherman are unconfirmed but steadily growing.

Pingora Mountains – First of the two mountain ranges that split Corona into three parts. The tower Mother Gothel used to imprison Princess Rapunzel lies among the foothills, tucked way in a secret ravine. The region is heavily forested, filled with creatures and supernatural that can be very hostile to humans. Despite that several copper mines and logging sites maintain an active presence.

Herzingen – The capital of Corona and the fourth largest city in the kingdom, after Anburch, Alcorsīa, and Charcāthēn. The island formed the nucleus of Corona from which it has grown from annexing the adjacent coastal settlements and then expanding across the mainland. A defensive wall bisects the island and city into an affluent upper side clustered around the Der Sonne Palace, the seat of the monarchy, and the working class lower side that is connected to shore by the Shampanier Bridge. Beneath the city lies a honeycomb of secret tunnels built by King Herz der Sonne during the War of Unification with Saporia and they are of vital security to the Royal Guard of Herzingen.

Nathair River – The largest river in Corona, the kingdom’s primary breadbasket, and former source of conflict between regional powers. Originally hosting the city-state of Anburch and the Confederation of Wolfsburg-Kassel, both were annexed as Corona expanded over the Pingora Mountains. Now the river is divided between Corona controlling the lower valley and Franconia controlling the upstream and headwaters.

Saporia

A former kingdom that once prospered from its trading routes in the southern continent and abroad.

Points of Interest

Corona Border – The red line indicates where the border fluctuated across Nathair valley, with Corona pushing south to the mountains while Saporia pushed north to stop the encroachment. This ended up being one of the main causes of war between Corona and Saporia. The following union between the two kingdoms stopped the fluctuations and firmly placed the border flushed with Pittsford.

Janus Point – A rocky, steep promontory that stands between Artois and Cuxhaven. An ancient tree stands at its center, surrounded by a stone henge left crumbling from years of neglect. Zhan Tiri used to be worshiped here.

The Havasok – The second of the two mountain ranges that divide Corona into three parts, extending through Franconia and into Ingvarr. Steeper and larger peaks from those found in the Pingoras. The highest seven peaks are known as the Painted Ladies, known inspiring artists worldwide for their untouched beauty. They also formed a natural boundary between Corona and Saporia.

Mount Demanitus – The highest peak in Corona, hosting the ancient Demanitus Device inside. Originally named Zemplén by Saporians, it was renamed to honor Lord Demanitus for defending Corona against Zhan Tiri’s tyranny.

Zsófia’s Pass – A secret mountain passage between Mount Demanitus and Mount Impel that General Zsófia Shampanier used during the Nathair War to circumnavigate Coronan defenses along the river’s south bank, launching a counteroffensive that sliced the valley in half with the capture of Wolfsburg. Later, Shampanier and Herz der Sonne used it launch their conquest of Saporia with their combined armies. The passage was named in her memory.

Artois – Currently the fifth largest city in Corona, was the third after Alcorsīa, and Charcāthēn when Saporia was independent. Situated on the Nathair River Delta, it benefits from being the only major Saporian city not marred with strife and poverty, due its economy not disrupted by Coronan law. Saporians here mostly been assimilated into Coronan society and seen as ‘model citizens’ for others to follow.

Lake Hévíz – The largest freshwater lake in Corona and Saporia, draining into the sea via the Slaná River. Between the lake and the city of Pilsen lies a vast stretch of swampland called Mlaștina Doamnei, infamous for supposedly being Zhan Tiri’s original home in Coronan folklore. There have been several attempts to drain the swamps for practical land use but Saporians fiercely push back each time, citing the concern for ecological conservatism.

Alcorsīa – The second largest city in Saporia. It was once a wealthy city benefiting from being the terminus of several lucrative trade routes, notably the one that serviced Argentum and the other Hellenic states. Following the conquest of Saporia, the city experienced a gradual economic decline as Corona rerouted sea routes to Herzingen and Cuxhaven, the land routes through Charcāthēn, Pilsen, and Artois. It is now known for its destitute and neglected infrastructure, which feeds into growing tide of separatism in Saporia.

Charcāthēn – The largest, oldest city in Corona and the former capital of Saporia. Charcāthēn was sacked and burned in the climax of Corona’s conquest, its riches carted back to Herzingen as spoils of war and chunks of its surviving inhabitants fleeing to Marne and Pittsford, setting up diaspora communities in consequence. The city is a hotbed of Saporian separatism and has been the epicenter of several uprisings against Corona. Today it remains more or less under a military occupation by Coronan forces.

[harley-style]

*this is purely headcanon with certain amounts of research backing it up to make a reasonable conclusion*

okay, here's a footnote. I did this purely because I wrote a fic that INVOLVED the seven kingdoms but only as a passing mention and i really didn't feel like calling them "the air kingdom" or whatever. so i pulled up gen. facts abt vat7k and cross referenced. this is the result of this unholy union, i hope you enjoy

In this universe, there are a total of seven kingdoms that are in alliance with each other. Corona, Koto, Neserdnia, Bayangor, Galcrest, Pittsford and Ingvarr. Alone in its Wiki page, these are just simple names, but due to the growing fandom that is 'Varian and the Seven Kingdoms', I figured it would be prudent if I started attaching names to them.

Each kingdom embodies a certain element and a certain stage of Alchemy. All seven kingdoms probably have a distinct history with alchemy, which might be the reason why they also adhere to certain stages of it. The practice and study of alchemy may be dwindling, but the experience of it has not.

But I won't be covering the alchemy aspect of this, I just figured it was a good fact for you to recall. Instead, I looked into the origins of each kingdom's name and decided its specific element according to the facts I found.

Corona -- Light

Corona is in possession of the Sundrop and their whole motif circles around the sun. The citizens are bright, happy, and cheerful, and have the annual tradition of lighting the night sky using lanterns. 

Also, corona can be defined as the gaseous envelope of the sun and other stars, which is probably the reason they're closely associated with the Light element.

Koto -- Fire

Koto is the Japanese word for thing. From the notes about the seven kingdoms, the Fire kingdom also has some Asian type of influence, despite being more Chinese than Japanese. Because of these  associations, I've chosen Koto to be the Fire kingdom. And don't forget about the firework traditions, because those are definitely a thing.

Neserdnia -- Water

Neserdni is a Bulgarian word meaning "not hearty". Bulgaria is a country that has multiple water resources, including being surrounded by water and having various rivers crossing through its land. Thus, Neserdnia is the Water kingdom.

Bayangor -- Dark

It was actually a little difficult pinning this country down. Bayangor has a word that relates to the Indonesian language, and Indonesia itself is filled with bustling industry. It would have been a perfect fit for the Industry 'element' except: bayang means shadow. I went for that connection instead.

Galcrest -- Earth

If Bayangor was difficult to pin down, then Galcrest was even harder. For one thing, there was no language that closely matched up with Galcrest during my initial research for it. So I got the closest variation of it, which was Gilcrest. Gilcrest is a town in Colorado with a history that detailed the use of the land's natural raw resources to contribute to its wealth and prosperity. That was the primary reason I pegged it down as the Earth kingdom.

But due to more recent research, I found that galcr meant calories in Welsh and proceeded to figure out which country it came from. Welsh is a minor language from Wales, a country that is known for its mountainous peaks and several hiking trails. It seemed almost appropriate.

Pittsford -- Industry

Now, Pittsford, I couldn't place. I did the same thing I did for Galcrest and found a town with the same name in New York. Pittsford, New York is a town that is well received by its residents. New York itself is a city with a LOT of industrial settlements, businesses, and other such objects around it. That's why I made it the Industry kingdom.

Ingvarr -- Air

Ingvarr was refreshingly simple to research. While the word itself does not mean anything, it's Swedish in nature. I looked up Sweden and found that it was very popular due to its wonderful vantage points of the Northern Lights. If you recall, the Air kingdom is known for its astrological/astronomical advancements. I figured the Northern Lights would be a perfect fit for this category.

[royal-engineer-of-corona]

Seven Kingdoms AU

[Varian stops the caravan when they arrive in Pittsford]

Well! That didn’t take half as long as I assumed!

[hugoisthecoolestaround]

What's your favorite dessert distinctly native to each of the kingdoms you've seen so far? And what Bayan desserts do you think the others would like?

Bayan sweets are dry and bleh, but Pittsford has the best peppermint sweet rolls so that I would recommend!

[amadgirltm]

hi theres actually 8 kingdoms 

[tangledbea]

Have you or anyone else made a list of the seven kingdoms in "Beginnings" and the countries that they're from? I don't remember which one is Neserdnia. Also, I get why TDK is not listed, because it's kind of dead, but what about Equis?

It’s up to the people in the Tangled universe/the people making the show to decide who is included in the Seven Kingdoms, not the people watching the show. (Also, it’s not like there are only seven kingdoms in the whole world.) I imagine Equis isn’t included because it’s at odds with Corona. 

Anyway, here’s the list, per @jollylines (who did the character designs):

“Ingvarr: So while I can’t speak to whatever backstory our show may have given the fictional country of Ingvarr, I can say that the designs themselves were based on Persian/Iranian women.  I collected lots of images of both modern Persian women and women in traditional Persian garb to influence the draping and details of their costuming (eventually I’ll post some concept images where you’ll see more options of what those characters could have looked like/dressed in).  And then I pumped up the “warrior” aspect by melding those traditional elements with the silhouette of old European armor.

I feel the need to say: As a character designer on the show, I didn’t have control of the eventual coloring.  I would have loved to have seen all of the Ingvarr women with black hair and a slightly deeper skintone.  That’s how I’d envisioned them.  But things shake out how they shake out.

Koto: Think standard “American/Euro” fairytale royals.  Black and white, in your typical floofy animation royal dresses.

Neserdnia: Based on Pacific Islanders.  Instead of typical crowns like the Kotos wear, they wear flowers and beading.

Bayangor: Asia mixed with Classic Greece.  I wanted the women themselves to look of Asian descent, but for their outfits to be a blend of kimonos and ancient Greek robing and draping.

Galcrest:  Based on Inuit women.  I tried to combine more current garb with traditional details.

Pittsford: I was literally told, “Take the king we already have and just turn him into a woman around his age.  Also turn him two slightly younger women.”  SO THAT IS WHAT I DID.  haha.”

As you can see, it is not a one-to-one specific ratio for specific countries, just like Corona isn’t one specific country. (Yes, I know people like to say it’s supposed to be Germany, but it’s not. It’s design, per Nathan Greno, is meant to have influences from both Bavaria and France, but also leans heavily on Fantasyland at Disneyland. It’s a made-up kingdom in a fantasy world, not a specific parallel to a real location in our world.)

[nerdasaurus1200]

I just found out that for a while Christmas was actually banned in Scotland (literally three hundred years) so here’s a fun Christmas poll

[avatarvyakara]

Tangled Headcanon: Mandate of the Heavens

Largely for use in my own stories, but I don’t mind sharing it here...

Basically the idea is that the major faith in the world of Tangled is the Mandate of the Heavens, an interpretation of different heavenly bodies as divine figures. Some are associated with specific trades, others with larger concepts like creation and destruction and history, some have a more local significance. There’s no sense of historical overview or cosmogony, except where the followers of the Mandate faced persecution by (and rebellion from) followers of older faiths; as far as the Faith is concerned, the Heavens have always been there, and anything else is just a matter of looking. This would be the faith practiced in Corona, where for obvious reasons the Sun is most prominent, but similar chapels and cathedrals are found across the Seven Kingdoms and their allies.

(Church? Chapel? Technically...)

For a list of the Heavenly Bodies:

The Sun

-Associated With: healing, order, and immortality; Corona

-Day of Worship: Sunday

-Known Followers: Eugene, Frederic, Arianna, Xavier, Monty, Feldspar, Stan, Pete, Yong

The Moon

-Associated With: creation and destruction, cycles, the seas, and change; the Dark Kingdom

-Day of Worship: Monday

-Known Followers: Edmund, Hector, Adira, Quirin, Varian, Catalina

The Stars

-Associated With: history, orphans and outcasts, and prediction; Bayangor

-Day of Worship: Saturday

-Known Followers: Rapunzel, Angry, Lance, Ulla, Donella, Nuru

The Messenger (Planet)

-Associated With: rationality and reasoning, adaptability, writers, messengers, thieves and tricksters

-Day of Worship: Wednesday

-Known Followers: Calliope, the Keeper of the Spire

The Evenstar (Planet)

-Associated With: beauty, compassion, comfort and ease, love and lovers, wealth, order and ritual; Neserdnia

-Day of Worship: Friday

-Known Followers: the Baron, Stalyan

The Warrior (Planet)

-Associated With: strength, energy, sailors, soldiers, athletes; Neserdnia

-Day of Worship: Tuesday

The Lost King (Planet)

-Associated With: healing, good fortune, miracles, religion, gamblers, rulers, protectors; Ingvarr

-Day of Worship: Thursday

The Reaper (Planet)

-Associated With: balance, karma, duty, farmers, guards and judges, justice, death

-Day of Worship: Saturday

-Known Followers: Captain (technically), Cassandra (occasionally)

Path of the Birds (Galaxy)

-Associated With: cycles, the afterlife; Vardaros, Koto

-Day of Worship: Wednesday

-Known Followers: Quaid, Vex

The Dome of the Heavens (Sky)

-Associated With: travellers and adventurers, astronomers and priests, cosmic balance; Pittsford

-Day of Worship: Thursday

-Known Followers: Captain, Cassandra, Hugo

The Celestial Lights (Aurora)

-Associated With: the afterlife, spirits; Galcrest

-Day of Worship: Wednesday

So! What do you think?

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Day of the Animals

While perhaps not my favorite episode this season, Day of the Animals is easily the best written story of season three. Even so, it still has problems due to the third season’s poor approach to characterization. 

Summary: Rapunzel, Varian, Angry and Red are returning stolen loot that the two girls had stolen years ago. They are accompanied by Max, Pascal, Ruddiger and Hamuel who all cannot stop quarreling with each other (or in Hamuel's case, just being useless). While messing with a sea shell pendant, it magically transports the humans into it, leaving the animals to fight over it. A minor thug named Dwayne, steals the pendant forcing the animals to work together to retrieve it. 

So Why is a Polynesian Inspired Kingdom Within Riding Distance of a Northern European Country? 

If you’ll remember my review of Beginnings, Neserdina’s princesses were wearing Polynesian garb and dancing the Hula when prepping for the competition. Now I’ve already went into length as to why that’s not good representation, but in addition to that it’s also just plain dumb. You can’t just transport one ethic group and dump them into another part of the world because it’s convenient for you. You don’t earn any brownie points for doing that. Especially when your fantasy world is still based off of our own historical earth. 

To make things even more confusing, we actually saw Neserdina way back in season one in Way of the Willow. It’s where Willow bought the gremlin knock-off. 

That is an island. How the heck do you get to a volcanic island riding in a horse and cart? And don't tell me they’re riding to a port, because Corona is a port city already. They could have gotten there by boat. It’s also can’t be too far away from Corona’s borders if Angry and Red were able to get there on foot during their year long travels. 

The only explanation is that the entirety of the Tangled crew doesn’t understand geography, and this won’t be the last example in the show to back up that statement. 

So Why Is Rapunzel Here?

We get explanations for why everyone is on this road trip, except for the main character herself. Red and Angry are trying to return some stolen loot. Varian is wanting to pick up rare alchemy supplies at the market and was invited along because Raps hopes it’ll be a chance for Ruddiger and Max to get know one another better. 

But why on earth does Rapunzel feel the need to come on this trip herself? Doesn’t she have a kingdom to run? While I’m sure Eugene is more than capable of handling things, this doesn’t reflect well upon the writers supposed plan of making Rapunzel appear more responsible. 

Literally any other adult could have come along on this trip. This wasn’t something Rapunzel needed to waste time on. Lance especially would have been more appropriate here as he’s the one who’s suppose to eventually adopt Angry and Red.  And the sad thing is, all they had to do was give Rapunzel a line about needing to attend some sort of diplomatic business in Neserdina. That’s it. 

In a show that’s supposed to be all about Rapunzel; Rapunzel sure doesn’t have a whole lot of reasons to exist in the majority of the episodes. 

Lack of Worldbuilding Strikes Again

At this point I’m kind of numb to the whole “magical thing just exists for no adequately explained reason” and so I’m not as upset as some people are about the shell necklace. But it’s still not good writing. 

Why does this thing exist? How did come to be cursed? How did it get mixed in with their stuff? What activated the magic and why did it only effect the human’s even though the animals were closer to it? 

Just something show. Anything. You bothered to give use rules for how this thing works and even stuck to them this time, but you can’t just make the last leg of the trip and give us some exposition? 

Yeah, okay. 

So Where Exactly Are We in Relation to Corona?

We can see Pittsford and Ivangarr on the road sign and we have to be in riding distance to Neserdina from Corona, but like are we in Corona still? Are we in Koto, which is Corona’s nearest neighbor to the east according to season three. Are we in some no-man’s-land where none of the kingdoms have control, or are we already in Neserdina itself? 

The series gives us no sense of direction nor any firm placement for Corona within it’s world. I only know it is a Northern European country because Corona itself is a peninsula with a north sea, uses French, English, and German fashion/customs, and Rapunzel is a Germanic fairy tale. But like those clues are thrown into a blender and contradicted several times over, on top of never being told where it’s closest kingdoms actually lie. 

All of this matters when traveling and exploring the wider world are big themes of your show. You need more solid and consistent world building than this. It also impacts how much authority and control your main character has within the episode itself if she range of political power is limited to one area. So like we need to know where the heroes stand here. 

(FYI I personally headcannon Corona as former Prussia which was once part of Germany and it’s alliance of smaller kingdoms. It’s also a peninsula next to the Curonian Spit) 

This Is Not Progress

Okay so the idea here, is that the show is implying that Rapunzel is trying to improve Corona’s justice system over Frederic’s previously inhumane crack down on crime. However, this is terribly executed. 

For starters the show has never called Frederic nor Rapunzel out for their previous misbehavior. You can not change any system for the better without acknowledging the flaws within said system first. Therefore this comes right out of nowhere and doesn’t stick around long enough to stay within the viewers minds for later. 

Secondly, Rapunzel is incredibly fickle about who she does and doesn’t set free. The Saporians were still in the dungeons last time we saw them, Caine was shipped off to the prison island and left to die there as far as we know, and the Stabbingtons are shown shackled together in the wedding short even though they supposedly changed their ways and befriended Eugene again. 

Meanwhile Dwayne and Stalyan are free to go their marry way and continue their life of crime, Varian is only released from his overly harsh punishment because he kissed Rapunzel’s ass not because it was wrong to imprison him in the first place, and later Cassandra gets away scot free because she’s Rapunzel’s bestie even though she committed the worst crimes out of everyone in the show and for very little reason. 

That’s not justice. That’s not compassion. That’s not progressive reform. It’s just nepotism, and it’s every bit as corrupt as Frederic’s classism and totalitarianism. 

Just because Rapunzel is “nice” it doesn’t mean that she is kind. Real reform has to treat everyone with equality and have a set of base standards that are beyond one person’s personal judgment. She is still a dictator and an abuser even if she lets the occasional person go free on a whim. 

Finally, Rapunzel’s methods are just downright ineffective. Dwyane may not be a threat to our heroes, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a threat to other people. He’s not actually sorry about trying to rob people at knife point and he fully plans on continuing being a thief after feeding Rapunzel the lines she wants to hear. 

Furthermore, we don’t know if this course of action is born out of malice or desperate need. He half heartily comments about finding ‘an honest job” but can he even do that? Is it even a realistic option for him? The series has been weaving this class inequality theme through out it’s past three seasons and directly connecting that to Corona’s crime rate. 

Eugene had a hard time finding a job during season one directly due to his past record, remember? A life of crime he was forced to lead in order to survive, and he’s the Prince Consort! What chance does Dwayne have? Did Rapunzel even try to help him find work or did she just wag her finger at him and told him “Now, now, stealing’s not nice.” 

The show wants to act like Rapunzel is this progressive reformer but then they turn her into a Republican instead. That’s not me being sarcastic either, this approach to criminal justice is the foundation of conservative belief and has been for centuries. The right are not interested in why people commit crime. They don’t care about addressing the fundamental problems in society that lead people to break the law. Let alone bother to analyze why those laws exist in the first place. Instead they resort to doublethink and survivor bias to either write off those that fall through the cracks or make excuses for why their policies repeatedly fail, often ignoring the fact that things aren’t actually working for whole swathes of people who aren’t themselves.  

Tangled the Series is far too simplistic and childish in it’s approach to deeper subjects like this to enforce the messages it supposedly wants to enforce. Rapunzel herself relies on magical thinking, double standards, and personal bias to see her through every and any problem and the show just rewards her for it rather than challenging her to grow and in doing so winds up supporting people like her in their authoritarian ideas, whether that was the writers’ intentions or not. 

In short, Rapunzel shows no interest in putting in the real work it would take to implement genuine restorative justice. She doesn't honestly care about Dwyane or his victims. She’s just posturing here for the sake of her self image.  

You’re Not In Any Position to Talk Rapunzel 

Speaking of Rapunzel being a hypocrite.... The entirety of season three’s main conflict is her having a petty bitch fight with her supposed best friend and needlessly dragging everyone else into it.

In fact that’s the whole show. Rapunzel repeatedly failing to get along with other people because she’s deep down a shitty person despite the veneer of ‘friendliness’ she slaps on to hide it. Having her just say she knows better does nothing to convince me that she’s actually learned anything. You have to show that she’s learned it first, and that requires acknowledging her own wrong doings.  

Varian’s face here just tells it all. Rapunzel is full of shit and no one in the show knows it better than him. Why are they even friends again? Why should we trust her with the three kids she neglected more than once? Why should any of these people take what she says seriously? 

Well This is Contradictory

Also, since we brought up double standards, here’s Varian undermining that whole “jail is bad” thing Rapunzel is trying to push with Dwayne and later with Cass. Not only is the show under cutting it’s themes for a joke, but it just reinforces the abuse Varian received. He’s now bought into Frederic���s stupid beliefs and winds up reinforcing to the audience that that his ‘reform’ was due to his past imprisonment.   

As an adult watching this series, Varian’s supposed redemption continues to increasingly look like a victim complying with their past abuser out of fear of further harm rather than anyone genuinely learning to be better.

Can We Please Stop Infantilizing the 16 Year Old

As if to deflect from Varian’s past mistreatment and continuing parentification, the show then goes on to showcase the opposite extreme whenever possible. I know it’s hard to tell just from these few screen shots alone, but over the course of season three Varian is spoken down too and treated condescendingly by the rest of the cast, and by Rapunzel in particular, even as he enters his later teens/early adulthood.  

Some of this is just to due to Rapunzel being her usual holier than thou self, but there’s also times, like here, where Varian is lumped together with the actual children of the show, even though he’s 6 to 8 years their senior. 

In fact out of everyone Rapunzel interacts with, Varian’s actually the closest to her in both age and development. Queen for a Day forced the two of them into a power imbalance due to a mixture of classism and society’s ongoing unhealthy (and often artificial) divide between younger and older teens, but as we get further and further away from that point in time and as Varian nears the same age Rapunzel started out as, that imbalance becomes less and less relevant. 

Look at how this scene is framed, He’s standing between Angry and Red and is placed lower than them to make it look like he’s one of them. He’s not. 

Varian may still look 12 with his big old eyes and short stature, but seeing as how we’re past Hearts Day, he’s actually close to being 17, if he isn’t already. The timeline gets even wonkier after The King and Queen of Hearts, but trust me, we’re close to being two years past Queen for a Day, if not more so. 

Varian, for all counts, should be Rapunzel’s equal by now in terms of story. Not only is he closest in age to her, but he’s also the only other person going through a coming of age arc. And of the two, Varian’s the one who has actually learned and grown as a person. He has more real world experience than Rapunzel ever will and knows how to implement that experience. (He’s also the more mature, but that’s more of a failure to write Rapunzel competently than a reflection of his capabilities.) 

No matter how you slice it, Varian shouldn’t be taking orders or advice from Rapunzel; no one should be, really; and he most certainly shouldn’t put up with her condescension. Rapunzel is not his nor anybody else’s mother. She’s not even a big sister like figure, and at no point should be treated as the leader of anything or anyone. 

Rapunzel is a Poor Man’s Rose Quartz 

I typically try not to draw too many comparisons between Tangled and other shows outside of the occasional parallel, as a show should be able to stand on it’s own for good or for bad, but it’s hard not to discuss the series without also discussing Steven Universe in some way. 

Steven Universe is this generation’s Batman the Animated Series or Scooby Doo. It’s the game changer that everybody else is trying to copy in some manner. Chris desperately wants Tangled the Series to be the next Steven Universe, right down to how the show is structured, paced, and what themes are presented. But unfortunately Chris has no idea why Steven Universe works the way it does. 

For starters SU adjusted it’s pacing as it went along, smoothing out its rougher edges while Tangled doubled down on its filler. SU had a planned arc from the get go and stuck to it, so that by the time the twists came they made sense. SU kept it’s focus on Steven purposefully so that the story unfolded from his view point while making to sure to acknowledge the importance of other characters around him and their conflicts. It didn’t make him infallible nor shove aside everyone else’s arcs.  

But most importantly, Steven Universe was written by a bisexual nonbinary person who set out to make a show for people in the queer community like themselves. Meanwhile, as a middle aged white man, Chis hasn’t a damn clue about his primary audience and has shown no interest in connecting with them. 

This isn’t to say that Steven Universe is a perfect show. No show is beyond criticism. Nor is this to say that straight white cis men can’t write; many of them do and can portray characters unlike themselves competently enough. But if you’re completely disinterested in other points of view than you can’t be a good writer of fictional stories, that’s just a fact. Because in order to understand proper characterization you need to acknowledge that not every character ever will be like you and that even you’re main heroes will hold beliefs and experiences different from yourself. Otherwise there is no genuine conflict to build off of. Either no one will disagree with each other or the conflict will come across as flat and forced, complete with lopsided bias. 

Therefore, in the end, Rapunzel winds up being less of a Steven and more of a Rose Quartz/Pink Dimond. Both are spoiled princesses/co-rulers of a kingdom that mistreats it’s people and anyone outside of it, who rebelled against their guardians, supposedly out of a sense of justice, but really for themselves and their own freedom, only to make things even worse for everyone. On top of that they both accidently harmed their friends, freindzone their best friend while also bossing them around, are condescending to their love interests, is controlling of people who trust them, and throws temper tantrums when they don’t get what they want, oh and neglected someone for an inhumane amount of time. 

Even then, Rapunzel winds up being the worst of the two. 

The whole point behind Rose was that she is someone whom the main characters place upon a pedestal and as the series went along slowly had the scales fall from their eyes and learned to view her for who she really was flaws and all. By the end, in Future, she is even metaphorically removed from her pedestal when Steven removes her picture from the wall.  

Rose also grows as a character, unlike Rapunzel. Her story is deliberately being told to us backwards. The awful person she was in the past was no longer who she was by the time of her death. True she was still flawed, and the consequences of her actions continued on even after her demise, but she actually tried to be a better person. She got called out for her behavior, she wasn’t excused for actions even when the show explained why she did what she did, and she stopped doing harmful actions whenever she realized that they hurt someone. 

Greg was allowed to stand up to her and show how she was wrong, and she respected him for it and later fell in love with him because of it. She tried to better control her temper when she wound up hurting her friend. Her failed revolution and her mistreatment of Spinel was actually born from a misguided desire to help, rather than outright selfishness. 

Rose Quratz/Pink Dimond is a brilliant fucking character. You may not like her, but you can’t deny that she is one of the most complex figures in children’s media to ever be created. She is real, nuanced, and multifaceted. He role within the story is complicated, messy, and intricate. She is the most well rounded female character I’ve ever seen and she is what I had hoped Rapunzel would be when I first watched season one, only even more so as the actual focus. 

I want women in cartoons to be people! 

But Rapunzel fails at every turn to follow through with this promise. She is not a deep complex character. She’s not a flawed and complicated heroine. She’s a blank canvas in which the creator can shove his creepy ass views upon. She is never taken off her pedestal, she’s never allowed to be wrong, and she is forced to spout the the creator’s personal bias against other characters. 

Rapunzel isn’t a person. She had the chance to be one, but then was reduced to .. to this. As a woman, the treatment of Rapunzel and Cassandra in this show is just flat out insulting. 

So What Is the Difference Between Angry and Red Now?

I’m all for character growth, but at this point Angry and Red are just interchangeable. Anything that made them uniquely them has been lost, and they’re now just fulfilling the generic rambunctious little kid trope. Red becoming more assertive shouldn’t mean she stops being an introvert altogether; that’s not how that works. While Angry shouldn’t lose her temper completely just because she’s wiling to open up more. 

So Why Dwayne?

I like Dwayne as a character and in truth I don’t mind his existence here, and unlike that werewolf hunter last time he at least was established in a pervious season. But this is still time that could have went to a more important antagonist. 

Also notice that Dwyane gets a villain song, but not Lady Caine or Zhan Tiri. Just saying. 

Rapunzel Has Not Earned the Role of the Wise Sage and Mentor 

Rapunzel has never learned to listen to others. Ever.

On it’s own this might have been a good speech, but when taken in context of the wider story it just makes Rapunzel look like an ass. 

A year traveling does not make Rapunzel suddenly all knowing. She is not wiser nor more experienced than anyone else in this scene. She’s also a crappy leader and big fat hypocrite.  

Even when she’s technically right, as seen here, she’s still in the wrong because she never follows through and acts upon her own advice; making this whole story pointless in the grand scheme of things. 

And that’s the core problem with season three. Rapunzel is shoved into a role she is not designed for and the whole premise of the series runs right off the rails. You’re main heroine in a coming of age story can not inhabit the mentor role. She can not simultaneously learn and grow and be always right while instructing everyone else. 

All through out season three Rapunzel is either rendered completely useless in her own damn series, or she utterly fails to fulfill any sort of narrative promise laid out for her while she infuriatingly hijacks the story from more interesting and dynamic characters. 

Behold The Only Reason Why Varian was Included in the Episode 

Speaking of hijacking things, Rapunzel of course has to get the idea to save everybody, even though what she thinks of isn’t anything special. It’s not derived from her character as an individual nor from all that experience she supposedly has. It’s literally an idea anyone could have come up  with and the show just hands it to her in order to justify her exitance. 

Meanwhile the character who actually is useful to the plot is sidelined and reduced to just a plot device. And not just here, Varian is rendered practically pointless in all but two episodes in season three, even in episodes that he actually should have more impact in, like the season opener and series finale. 

Good writing treats characters as equally contributing to the plot in ways that complements who these characters are.  

Ok I’ll Admit That This Line Is Funny

Look, I know this whole review series is about pointing out the negative, and I stand by my opinion that Tangled the Series is one of the worst written shows I’ve ever seen, but I want to make one thing clear.... I do not hate the show. If I hated the show I would not waste my time reviewing it. 

Yes the over all writing is shit, but there are a lot of good things to be found in the series beyond just the crap story arc. The humor is usually solid, the animation is gorgeous, the music is a delight, and the majority of the characters are likable even though they don’t develop in the ways that they should. There’s a lot of talent that went into this show and there’s a lot of potential to be had in it’s set up and lore. 

Being critical or negative about the aspects of something doesn’t mean you dislike it, or that you’re not a real fan, or that you’re just a ‘hater’, and I actually find TTS to be fascinating because it’s such a mess. I write reviews because they’re fun and because I genuinely think there is something to be learned from Tangled’s mistakes. 

So Why Do We Cut Back to Rapunzel Here and Not Varian? 

This is such an odd framing choice. Varian is the one who is talking and reacting to what’s happening. It’s his pet that’s in trouble and therefore he carries the emotional weight of the scene, and yet it’s Rapunzel’s shocked face we focus on? Why? What’s the point of that? She has no business being the center focus here. The action does not involve her. 

If you wanted to include her for a later set up then why not have both her and Varian present in this shot? Usually I can at least count on the story boarders to frame things better than this, but they really missed the mark here. Unless Chris is just that stupid and petty that he over ruled them and forced Varian out of the scene, but that seems like a pointless fight to pick, even for him. 

See This is How you Fulfill a Narrative Promise 

The conflict between Ruddiger and Max was set up in season one with What the Hair, then it was reiterated a few episodes ago during The Lost Treasure of Herz Der Sonne, and then it was reintroduced in this episode along with a stated lesson about working together that they needed to learn. By they end of the episode, guess what, they’ve learned to work together. That is how you properly set up and resolve a conflict. 

It’s clear from this that the writers of Tangled the Series know the basic tenants of writing and how to fulfill narrative promises. So the fact that they don’t follow through with this in the majority of the show’s episodes and ongoing story arcs just baffles me. 

Is it negligence? Is it hubris? Is it incompetent management and editorial mandates? Is it just one asshole ruining everything or is this a failure in the writers room as a whole? 

I just don’t understand what the fuck went wrong here. There’s no reason for why the show got as bad as it did. How does the most acclaimed animation company in the world put out such amateurish tripe? 

Just... wow. 

Now you know why I’m mesmerized by this show. It is a mystery to be solved, like trying to figure out how the crew on the Titanic fucked up so badly or why Hindenburg blew up. You just can’t look away. 

Conclusion 

Like I said at the start, structurally speaking this is the strongest episode of the season. I personally enjoy Lost Treasure a little more, just because Rapunzel annoys me less in that, but it’s not a bad story. However when you’re best episode in your final season is filler, then you know you’re in trouble. 

If you like my reviews and want to support my writing endeavors you can drop a tip in my kofi https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

[bee-snail]

I'm gonna go insane WHERE IS KRESTEN LOCH

Alright so I was working on creating Moonrise's map, right? And, spoilers ahead because I'm gonna RANT:

Okay so first of all: I made up this whole map based on what I assumed would be correct. There's a VERY high chance I'll be editing it because the lenght between Corona and the Dark Kingdom is oddly close.

It's worldbuilding I haven't got to refine yet, which is why I'm brainstorming now !!

Things to note:

- the big unmapped area in the middle holds the Forest of No Return, Vardaros, etc etc. I just haven't bothered to draw them out yet haahhehee

- Ever since the Great War, Ingvarr and the Dark Kingdom have had an interesting relationship. It's all I can say for now... But there is a reason why the Dark Kingdom continues to make such excellent warriors even 2k+ years after the war.

- Corona's riches came from their "union" with Saporia. By merging their territory, Corona now has the fertile lands blessed by the Sundrop in Old Corona's lands, the magic-induced blessings of Old Saporia's farmlands, as well as control over the sea. The only other kingdom with access to the sea is Equis, but their military remains strong enough to avoid a takeover.

... for now.

- Most of Coronan military is placed on Old Saporia's territory to enforce border control. Despite their proximity, Pittsford does not have fertile lands like Corona-Saporia do. It has been trying to take some land for themselves for many years, but failed, and eventually relented to accept to join the Seven Kingdom Alliance to get trading rights to Corona-Saporia's farm products.

- The Dead Sea has extremely high levels of salt, and makes it impossible for the kingdoms near it to get any reliable source of food or water from it. Hence, sea-related products was exported from Corona, Saporia or Equis and traded to other kingdoms; after the Seven Kingdom Alliance, Corona became the main exporter.

- Weather is significantly colder near the Moonstone and significantly warmer near the Sundrop. It's why Galcrest is so close to the DK !!

- Corona has proven to be intolerable of magic for many generations, despite there being a few laws defending it. Most who performed magic were outcast, arrested or executed. It led many Saporian survivors to flee the land altogether.

- Saporian refugees fled mostly to Equis or the Dark Kingdom. They are the only two kingdoms who refused to bend to Corona's rule, and the two kingdoms most accepting of magic.

- Although Corona doesn't mind the evolution of science, it does not push their people to search for knowledge. That privilege belongs to Kotoans, the land with most scholars, scientists and researchers.

Science like engineering is seen with good graces in Corona, but science like alchemy or anatomical research such as dissection or autopsies are seen as too foreign to Coronans. Those who perform science of this sort in Corona would receive the same punishment as magic users (unless, of course, if you had the blessing of the King or Queen. A fair world indeed).