#The Fandom’s Favorite ( Varian Shipping Call );

[ribbonspice]

May your sins follow you to the grave and beyond.

For my pinned and 4,000th post, I will introduce myself. My name is Elaine Huang, or Ribbonspice if you prefer. I love reading and writing fanfictions, listening to music and surfing the Internet. I'm also demiromantic and pansexual, and I have anxiety, depression, OCD, autism and ADHD. I also have two sideblogs called @demipan-determinator and @the-stolen-solidarity, so feel free to check those out!

Now, I usually don't care what labels LGBTQIA+ people use as long as they aren't harmful. For example, neopronouns and xenogenders are fine in my book. However, there are some labels that are harmful, such as mspec and straight lesbians/gays, lesboys/turigirls and gaybians. I think this Carrd goes over all these labels very well. It also provides some alternative labels you can use, and there are some other Carrds at the end like it.

If you want to know how I feel about transid people, it's very simple. Terms like transabled and transracial are extremely offensive to disabled people and people of color. Transspecies and transage have been used by zoophiles and pedophiles to justify their attractions. Gender is mental, and therefore can be changed. This is not the case for age or race.

As for non-traumagenic systems, I'm going to keep this as short as possible, since I myself do not have DID. I am against endogenic systems and tulpas for many reasons. This Carrd debunks endogenic systems very well in my opinion. Regarding tulpas, here is a Google Doc in which Buddhist, Asian and Tibetan people have spoken out against tulpamancy, due to tulpas being a closed Buddhist practice.

In regards to proshippers…oh, boy. There are many reasons why proshippers are so harmful, but if I tried to address them all here, it would take too long. This Google Doc is perhaps the best source of information about why proshippers are bad.

I'm neutral on paraphilias unless they actively harm others. Paraphilias like pedophilia, zoophilia and necrophilia are examples of harmful paraphilias. People with these conditions should be seeking treatment.

What about transandrophobia and people who believe in it? I think this should be simple. The term transandrophobia was coined by a man with a fetish for correctively raping lesbians and many of the people who believe in it are transmisogynistic and lesbophobic. I think that should be enough of a reason as to why I don't support people who use it.

I have some lists of my fandoms, favorite characters and ships under the cut. You can also find my other accounts here.

My fandoms:

Houseki no Kuni

Bishounen Tanteidan

Lycoris Recoil

The Quintessential Quintuplets

Tonikaku Kawaii

Oshi no Ko

Stardust Telepath

Pokémon

Friday Night Funkin'

Clinic of Horrors

High Class Homos

Lackadaisy

Murder Drones

The Amazing Digital Circus

Hazbin Hotel

Helluva Boss

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Vintage Eight

Lacey's Flash Games

SCP Foundation

The Magnus Archives

The Hunger Games

One of Us Is Lying

Disney

My favorite characters: Oh, boy, where to start?

The Collector (The Owl House)

Hunter (The Owl House)

Asmodeus (Helluva Boss)

Collin (Helluva Boss)

Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)

Emily (Hazbin Hotel)

Mirabel Madrigal (Encanto)

Bruno Madrigal (Encanto)

Bianca Abercrombie (Clinic of Horrors)

Dr. Charlie Albright (Clinic of Horrors)

Lunarella Nocturne (High Class Homos)

Mordecai Heller (Lackadaisy)

Rocky Rickaby (Lackadaisy)

James Ironwood (RWBY)

Mercury Black (RWBY)

Several SCPs (SCP Foundation)

Varian (Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure)

Antarcticite (Houseki no Kuni)

Mayumi Dojima (Bishounen Tanteidan)

Michiru Fukuroi (Bishounen Tanteidan)

Dallas Winston (The Outsiders)

Johnny Cade (The Outsiders)

Chisato Nishikigi (Lycoris Recoil)

Takina Inoue (Lycoris Recoil)

Umika Konohoshi (Stardust Telepath)

Tiara (Fairy Fencer F)

N (Murder Drones)

Uzi Doorman (Murder Drones)

Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives)

Adelard Dekker (The Magnus Archives)

Tony the Talking Clock (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared)

Paige the Sketchbook (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared)

Kaufmo (The Amazing Digital Circus)

A.C. Void (Friday Night Funkin': Vs. Void)

Lillibeth (Friday Night Funkin': Secret Garden)

Fiorenzo (Friday Night Funkin': Secret Garden)

Gale Hawthorne (The Hunger Games)

Oracle (Vintage Eight)

My ships are as follows:

Corrosive Plague (SCP-035/SCP-049)

Phantom Forest (SCP-3017/SCP-4494)

Cynical Companions (SCP-079/SCP-682)

Lonely Lovers (SCP-451/SCP-1504)

Fizzarozzie (Asmodeus/Fizzarolli)

M%M (Moxxie/Millie)

Radiostatic (Vox/Alastor)

Chaggie (Charlie Morningstar/Vaggie)

MadMaid (Baxter/Niffty)

GuitarSpear (Adam/Lute)

Zestmilla (Zestial/Carmilla Carmine)

Chisataki (Chisato Nishikigi/Takina Inoue)

Yuumika (Yū Akeuchi/Umika Konohoshi)

Harutaki (Haruno Takaragi/Matataki Raimon)

Michiyumi (Fukuroi Michiru/Doujima Mayumi)

Yubikaga (Ashikaga Hyouta/Yubiwa Sousaku)

Jally (Dallas Winston/Johnny Cade)

Hellerby (Mordecai Heller/Rocky Rickaby)

ZibWick (Dorian "Zib" Zibowski/Sedgewick "Wick" Sable)

Nuzi (N/Uzi Doorman)

Saphette (Sapphia/Odette)

PerciGust (August/Percival)

Lucarla (Lucas/Marla)

JuleRose (Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant)

Marcaniel (Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg)

Padlock (Tony the Talking Clock/Paige the Sketchbook)

CollectKing (The Collector/King)

Lumity (Luz Noceda/Amity Blight)

Huntlow (Hunter/Willow Park)

Gustholomule (Gus Porter/Mattholomule)

Raeda (Eda Clawthorne/Raine Whispers)

Abstragedy (Gangle/Zooble)

Kingleader (Caine/Kinger)

MeanJokes (Jax/Kaufmo)

JesterDoll (Pomni/Ragatha)

JellyJester (Gummigoo/Pomni)

Showtime (Caine/Pomni)

Daisira (Daisy Tonner/Basira Hussain)

JonMartin (Jonathan Sims/Martin Blackwood)

FairyFlower (Lillibeth/Fiorenzo)

GoldenRose (Aureo/Rosamie)

BlueVirus (Virus R/Acesora)

SkullWitch (Tabi/Lunarella Nocturne)

Everlark (Peeta Mellark/Katniss Everdeen)

Oracarl (Oracle/Carl Stevens)

Krisper (Kris/Cooper Clay)

Natewyn (Nate Macauley/Bronwyn Rojas)

[mynameisvarian]

( MNIV ) MyNameIsVarian's Masterpost!

You must have randomly stumbled upon my account dear traveller, maybe stay awhile if you'd like (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

Pronouns

They/Them (Preferred if you just addressed me as a guy) ╰⁠(⁠*⁠´⁠︶⁠`⁠*⁠)⁠╯

What Fandoms am I in? ⁄⁠(⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠)⁠⁄

Well, I'm in a lot of Fandoms! I love watching animated series that are pretty angsty haha- here's the list of my favorite 2023-2024 fandoms:

Wordgirl - Camp Camp - Tangled the Series - Randy Cunningham 9th grade ninja - Adventure Time - Nimona - Spiderman (Tom Holland Movies) and a whole lot more!

Things I dislike.

Proshippers, Incest and Maxvid Shippers

Please do not interact with me if you support these.

Current favorite Characters!

David (Camp Camp)

Daniel (Camp Camp)

Dr. Two Brains (Wordgirl)

Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time)

Varian (Tangled the Series)

Lloyd Garmadon (Ninjago)

Professor Venomous (Ok Ko let's be Heroes!)

Francis Mosses (That's Not My Neighbor)

What are some details about me?

I aim for improvement and to inspire people that are just like me!

Edit: I have witnessed things that no person my age should ever have to see.

What apps do I generally use to make art?

Well, I used to primarily use this really buggy app on my iPad called "Sketch Tree" but started to use "Flipaclip" ever since I moved to using my phone.

I also draw traditionally on paper to make realistic looking stuff

Looking for my AUs? Here's the list!

Wordgirl

• The Boxleitners AU

Adventure Time

• 2nd Mushroom War AU

• Alternative Descent AU

• Ice(d) Simon AU

• Travesty in place of Insanity AU

• Split to a Ditch AU

That's Not My Neighbor

• D.D.D Francis AU

Camp Camp

• Camp Woodscouts AU

• Wolfie Lives! AU

• Slow Redemption Dadniel AU

• Get WereDavid'd AU

• Game AU

• Zombie Apocalypse Dadvid AU

• Shallow Prophet AU (Upcoming)

Ships I enjoy!

Simon Petrikov x Betty Grof

Professor Venomous x Lord Boxman

Becky Botsford x Tobey McCallister

Dr Two Brains x Lady Redundant Woman

David x Gwen

David x Redeemed!Daniel

Favorite Fanfiction Tropes (⁠っ⁠.⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)⁠っ

• Found Family

• Angst

• Fluff

• Villain Redemption

• Parent and Adopted Child Wholesomeness

Hey WAIT-!

Since you took the time to check out my Tumblr.. You get this unsettling image of Max from Camp Camp!

Other Socials: (Say Hi!)

DeviantArt: - MyNameIsVarian

YouTube: - MyNameIsVarian

Reddit: - MyNameIsVarian

Status:

Feeling a little under the weather today (May 25)

[a-varianquirin]

Tag Drop: Varian

Musings:  I’m getting on the RIGHT side of History ( Varian Musings );

Likes: They used hot air balloons! Uh-I know how to make one! ( Varian Likes );

Fears: What I see? Isn’t fiction. It’s all real. ( Varian Fears );

Head Canons: ENouGH with THE leGENdS ( Varian HCs );

Playlist:  I hate what I've become // the nightmare's just begun // I must confess that I feel like a monster ( Varian Playlist );

Aesthetic: Beakers and Burners and Cities turning to Ash ( Varian Aesthetic );

Self: I gotta clean up my own mess ( Varian );

Face Claim: Actually it’s Alchemy-not Magic ( Varian Visage );

Interactions: You know--I got time. ( Varian Interactions );

IC Blogging: I’m not sure what’s gonna happen. I might die. ( Varian Blogs );

Dash Commentary: Gotta keep track of this in my notes ( Varian Commentary );

Dash Games: Shoving myself into the Narrative thank you ( Varian Dash Games );

Crushes: Wow. You’re amazing. ( Varian Crushes );

Opens: This is a promising hypothesis ( Varian Opens );

Starter Call: Hey! That’s CHEAtING ( Varian Starter Call );

Shipping Call:  The Fandom’s Favorite ( Varian Shipping Call );

Rapunzel: You didn’t give up on me // I won’t give up on you ( Rapunzel );

Lance:  Most of us would be on the run // or locked up ( Lance );

Eugene: I trusted you // I think I still do ( Eugene );

Cassandra: Can we move past this // Can we be friends? ( Cassie );

Adira: How can I trust you? // I don’t know you ( Adira );

Father: I’ve made you proud // can I keep doing it? ( Quirin );

Hector: Do we know each other? // You seem familiar ( Hector );

[mymadmedleyw]

Fic Writer Review

I was tagged by @dp-marvel94 (I am just saying this is my very first occassion to by tagged in a thing like that, so filling this made my day really, thank you!)

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

22 – wow, that sounds many…

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?  

206.997, and more than the half belongs under one idea – that’s creepy…

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?  

Oh, it’s many… once, I am into something, I have to write in that – surprisingly I am addicted to DP for nearly a year, and nothing else.

(But little bit of history, from the newest to the oldest: Danny Phantom, The Irregulars (that was really a short one), Guardians of Childhood/Rise of the Guardians (my very first finished multi-chaptered one was in that), Dark, Charmed (the old one, not the new series), Gravity Falls, Venom, Doctor Who, a crossover within Tangled: The Series and Milo Murphy’s Law, Death Note/Death Note: Another Note; and I had some ideas about a Rick and Morty and Gravity Falls crossover, and it seems I never uploaded here my concept about a not crossover Tangled: The Series idea, and either an independent one in Rick and Morty, hm… shame. Most of those are not finished. Okay, like 99% of it…)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Core (Danny Phantom), stand-alone, ~3k

What The Past Holds (Danny Phantom), wip, ~91k

Pitch’s Secret (Guardians of Childhood/Rise of the Guardians), finished, ~14k

We are not alone (Venom), really short one, ~1k

Phantom (Danny Phantom), stand-alone, ~2k

5. Which of your fic do you want more attention for?  

Definitely it’s WTPH. It’s my current work. The idea about it came in December, and since that, I am working on that constantly. At first, I had ideas for eight chapters, and nothing else. Now, it grew into this monstrosity: a side-line (Bonds Over Time), and a collection that contains the deleted scenes or ideas that appeared in my mind and could fit into the story (Bits Of The Past), and also an entirely finished concept for Vlad’s past (Certain Moment Of Time), that could be connected to it too.

I also put many headcanons in that, and ticks of characters, and parallels, and layers that I just love: like Vlad having a sister and some details about his family background, Dan having Vlad’s memories too, how the explosion in the Nasty Burger happened and how Dan turned out like that… some precious things, really, but I won’t elaborate much, in case of anyone wants to give a read to it. Overall, I tried to make the TUE-mess into a somewhat more reasonable logical mess – if I managed to do that at all. I don’t know I’m just like a mother with a new-born with it: look, it’s my child! I made it! I developed it! here, hold it! and love it too, as much as I do! (Sorry, I don’t know how that metaphor came…)

6. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Even if it’s a kudo, or a keysmash as a comment, I write back. I mean, if someone writes – literally anything – and spends time with it, I write them back too. (And my very bad habit, that sometimes, if the comment hits an interesting thought, I tend to explain the background behind that more, and accidentally spilling some things I shouldn’t yet... In many cases, it’s like a brainstorming, and then I use that idea. I mean as, for example many of @dp-marvel94’s comments on ff, made me to realise some things, and how then I fixed those forgotten parts made my story along with it much better – once, I will list them, and you’ll be surprised how long is that list, and how obvious things I forgot about entirely…)

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Okay, I don’t have many finished story – shame on me. So, I’ll count the shorts. I think it’s then Phantom. It rolls around the idea what if in Forever Phantom, Danny can’t change back to Phantom, and his parents blame Phantom for the disappearance of Danny, and they start chasing madly the ghosts, making them leave the human realm once and for all – which means, Danny has to go with them. It’s really a short fic, but I very like this idea, and it was my very first in this fandom. (I was watching DP that time, I mean, getting familiar with it, but this idea got stuck in my head as I watched that episode, so that was my introduction here. Also, I watched my very first DP episode that time, which means, less then a year ago, so, I am that newbie here…) I am not spilling the end of the story, but it doesn’t have a very happy end I could say.

8. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Uh, yes? I have a crossover within Tangled: The Series and Milo Murphy’s Law. It’s unfinished, but that time I thought Milo and Varian have the same vibe, including clumsiness. It was only a short idea that time, but it’s definitely worth once to continue or finish somehow. I have a crossover within Rick and Morty, and Gravity Falls. That is standing within my very big idea, but it’s halfway written on my original language and English and that’s like after how a certain trilogy end, but it has some mentioning of ideas I never finished, so yeah… it’s not even published anywhere. Maybe, once, I’ll decide what language I prefer for that, and translate the other part and then, hardly, but I’ll finish it some day... – or, never, it actually would be a very big bite if I try to imagine it.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t remember to that. I mean, my main story (WTPH) kind of not everyone’s preference, ’cause of Dan, so that’s already divides the readers and I haven’t got all in all many comments yet on my stories (kudos are appreciated too, I am shy too to leave comments on fics, so don’t worry, I get it), so I think I haven’t got any. But I'd be curious to experience if someone reads one of my stories and leaves behind a comment that then criticizing it. I mean, I’d be open to learn what part is not fitting, or just too much. (I am surprised that no one ever mentioned my ’weird’ sentences. I mean for me those make sense, but those make sense for a native English person too? I’m always worried about that…)

10. Do you write smut? if so what kind?

Uh, yeah, I did. Not very proud of it, though I don’t have a heart to orphan that work. I mean, it belongs to me too. Sometimes I wonder to delete some of my works, but then I realise, no, that’s me, I won’t pretend where I came from, and shove into the dustbin my mad thoughts... All in all, my stories now, for a while, are much more family-friendly – if, anything within DP could be really counted as ‘family-friendly’…

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah, I was very proud of my story back then, called Metamorphosis (Death Note), and I had a crazy idea and tried to translate it. So now, the first chapter is out there both in English and both in my native language, but I got stuck at the second chapter. I couldn’t translate wisely and logically the title of it to give out the many meaning it has in English. And I once tried to translate California (Gravity Falls) to English, but that would be a hard work, so I left it behind – maybe once…

Over that I sometimes has a crazy idea to translate back and forth my stories, no, beyond that, I haven’t had a fic translated from anyone else. And I think I am the only masochist that it ever crosses my mind, I guess…

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, not really. I’d be curious to once do that – maybe, but I’m not sure...

(To tell the truth, I’d be worried about that. I’d be glad to do that once, but I am anxious if I could understand my co-writer, or not. I mean, do you have any idea that I have to give five reads to any longer comments to understand it? I understand those (and I really love getting those!), but I have to give many reads to make sure I understand those well, and then, making sure, I answer back right, and my sentences make sense. My fics have ’fancy’ words, and I love working in English, but sometimes it’s a curse it’s not my native one. So then, I’m constantly worried about interactions, if I receive well something, and if my sentences are understandable for others or not. So, in short, you can see my struggle here… same reason I don’t do Invisobang, but I am considering it...)

13. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I’m not very much a ship-type. But I count Danny and Sam, as a fix point. (Danny and Val was nice and I’d have been very glad to see them in more episodes, but let’s face it, that wouldn’t work, because both of them are too stubborn to choose their other life and if once, they would face with each other, knowing everything about the other, they’d remain allies or at most very good friends.) If, the question is, what are the ships in my head (but not necessarily just ‘romantic’) that I prefer to read, well, it’s Dan and Valerie. I love their dynamics, especially in Deliverance. I don’t know why I just love reading it. 

For other reasons I ship Dani and Valerie. Though I can’t write romance and stuff like that, but in one of my planned ideas they are dating - sort-of...

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Okay, there are many. Surely, it’s my Gravity Falls story, called California, but that’s a huge one, and the first one in a trilogy (plus some additional side-lines), and mainly in my head for years, so yeah… I think I won’t ever reasonably finish that as it should be finished. A Tale of Fords (Gravity Falls) could be count as one too. Oh, and Envision and ties (Doctor Who). Sad to say, but yeah, I am always saying, “maybe once”, but I am not sure when…

15. What are your writing strengths?

Okay, this is a funny thing, but I’ve realised I can’t deal with many characters at the same time. So, I think my strength are dialogues and interactions within two people. And I get into their thoughts, so I guess if I have to word it somehow: it’s character-studies then.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Can’t handle more than two people. No, seriously, somehow it always turns out, the third is unconscious, sleeping, leaves the room, and so on. I’ve just recognised it recently, and it was a hilarious recognition…

I am also bad at actions, like very very bad, I don’t even try that, because my brain just simple can’t come up with fight-scenes at all. I think I only can write character-studies, and nothing else.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Oh, man… does it count I am not a native English-user? So, technically I ‘always’ write dialogues in another language? But jokes aside, sometimes, I have ideas that the people use another language, and I am like “are you aware, you can’t even write English slang?”, so then, I gave up. Right now, though, I am planning to add ASL in one of my future ideas. I am wrecking my mind, how to do that nicely – but that’s only a forming plan, and dated for next year, currently, I am only collecting ideas for that.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?  

Does it count my very first fic was a fanfiction of one of my friend’s fanfiction in high school? She wrote a really good story – not shared anywhere, we were just giving each other the hand-written exercise book (oh, the old days…). If I remember well, it was a crossover within Supernatural and Queen of the Damned (the movie, not the book). I had no idea about Supernatural, but the story was good, but I was not satisfied with the end, and in secret I wrote another end for it, to myself. I’m not sure where is that anymore, but I clearly remember that was my very first written stuff, and that’s how my origin story began and how is I am here now.

(Oh, and once, I wrote a H2O fanfiction short story to my sister as a name-day present, in which she was a mermaid, discovering her powers during a holiday at a beach (we were at that time in Croatia in a family holiday, so the timing was fitting), and that was one of my very first fandoms to write in it too… God, I have no idea why I wrote it down, it just crossed my mind, and I remember I thought it was cute, I think she was eleven or twelve that time, so I am not sure she appreciated as much as I found it fun to write that…)

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?  

This is mean… anyway, currently it’s WTPH, for obvious reasons. But I am very proud how the Angst Week turned out (my work for that is called Certain Moment of Time). First of all, I doubted I would be able to write for every day, since I planned to do the whole DannyMay, but things turned out differently and I am still sad, I haven’t done many. But I did not just managed to write for all days, but all could be counted under one idea, and also each of the chapters could be read independently at the same time. It includes a little bit of background story about Vlad, about a rewritten time, his struggles at the hospital, things around Danny’s birth, how Danny managed to survive the Portal incident, how Vlad was informed about the Ghost Boy, and that actually Danny’s separation was just a ‘plan B’ that Vlad tried to avoid… it’s complicated to describe the many things in that, but when I feel WTPH an unescapable mess, and I am frustrated by the lack of proper words to finish the coming chapters, CMOT is my absolute favourite. And I love the whole idea about it. No, I’ll be honest, that’s my beloved so far (just because it’s finished). But I like so much too my idea about Dan and Dani in Bonds Over Time, how they try to live together a normal life… okay, let’s admit it, this question is mean, I seriously can’t tell, and I am thinking right now only my current ones…

20. What fic are you most proud of?  

Okay, this is mean too. I am proud of my old works as much that I always go back to them when I am in a nostalgic mode. (I haven’t read any of my old ones in ages, because I try to avoid distractions, and knowing myself, I’d start thinking about the continuation and never finishing my current works at all...)

I am proud of Pitch’s Secret, because that was my very first multi-chaptered one idea that I actually managed to finish. That in fact, gave me the courage to start working on a multi-chaptered DP one. (My original plan was to be brave and aim doing eight chapters, to top the five, and I would have been very proud of myself, but instead now it’s way longer than that original idea, and I seriously don’t know when it will end – twenty chapters maybe?)

I think, if I don’t include the previous question. (It’s the same, isn’t it?) I am very proud of the first chapter in my Doctor Who fic. That doesn’t tell anything about the plot or about anything, that just gives a very good atmospheric background. Every time I read that, it gives me shivers.

---

okay, I don’t know who to tag, anyone who feels like it, serve yourself, I am curious... :)

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Happiness Is

This is possibly my favorite episode of season two. Yet, it is also the point the where the series starts to fall off a cliff. Only that’s not something that you would realize upon a first watch; just in hindsight and only with some basic knowledge of the behind the scenes drama that led to this and the fall out with the fandom that followed afterwards. 

Summary:  Rapunzel begins to feel homesick for Corona when she finds an old letter written by her father in one of the many lanterns sent from her previous birthdays. In attempts to uplift her spirits, Rapunzel explores the island and comes across a magical idol that brings instant happiness to whomever possesses it. Rapunzel begins to hallucinate her family and friends back in Corona and soon shares the idol with the rest of the group. However, everyone starts to become obsessive over the idol, desperately wanting it for themselves. Rapunzel tricks everyone into giving her the idol, but when the Lorbs try to help Rapunzel, they fall under the idol's control and soon begin to terrorize the village.

Let’s Start with the First Elephant in the Room; Frederic 

So throughout the episode Rapunzel is struggling with being homesick. Which is fair enough, that’s an understable reaction to being on the road for months by now. However, to showcase this Rapunzel keeps seeing hallucinations of her father. There are some other characters too, but her dad is the first person she sees and the only one in Corona with speaking lines. He’s the one to tempt her with the idol. 

Did we just forget that Frederic is her abuser? 

Look, even if you accept his apology in Secret of the Sundrop and believe he has learned his lesson, that doesn’t just erase the pain he caused her. Her thoughts about her father should be more realistically complex then this. Now add in how she makes a such a clean break from her other abuser, Gothel, but still holds him on a pedestal shows a disturbing bias on the part of the writers. 

Also where’s this love for Arianna? You know the only real mother on the show? The show that’s aimed at little girls? The one parent who hasn’t flat out abused the main character yet? 

Seriously, Chris, what the fuck? 

This is a Missed Opportunity 

So part of the reason why I like this episode is that we get insights into each of the characters and their desires. As such this is one of the few episodes where the group actual feels like a group friends. However, Cass’s vision is wasted here. 

So at first glance this seems to aline with what we know of the character thus far. She loves her dad and wishes to impress him. That’s only if you take season one into account, though. Later episodes will contradict this goal. If you wanted to set up praise and validation in general as Cassandra’s motives, then here is where that should have happened. 

Show her getting a medal, have cheering crowds surround her, have her be a hero, or something. You can’t claim her relationship with her parents as the driving force of behind her later actions if you don’t actually involve one of those parents as part of the resolution to her arc. 

Either she lacking attention from her dad or she’s jealous of Rapunzel. You can’t have it be both because those two things don’t intersect. Rapunzel is not and never was a threat to her relationship with her father. 

So Umm...I Don’t Think This Plot Point Has the Impact That the Writers Think It Does 

So this hilarious, and it is intended to be funny, but it’s not for the reasons that the show gives. 

The idea is that this is some shocking revelation. That Rapunzel would never do this under normal circumstances and it’s a hint that the idol is corrupting her. 

Only the rest of the series doesn’t aline with that at all. This is just the real Rapunzel behaving as the she normally would but without the usual veneer of excuses. 

It’s funny because it’s the show calling out Rapunzel hypocrisy for what it is plainly, not because it’s out of character. 

But funny only gets you so far. The show is perfectly happy to play up Rapunzel’s awfulness for laughs, but then conventily ignore it when it comes time for the characters themselves to call her out on it so that she can grow and learn.       

The show runs under the sitcom idea that comedy excuses all sins; which then backfires horribly when it tries to be serious and mature. 

You can’t joke that the king threw a random person in a stockade for little reason and then expect us to still like him when he persecutes a child. Same applies here. 

The sitcom set up only works when there is minimal at stake and all parties involved are equally awful in their own ways. 

Then Why Not Just Go Home?

Once again, there’s nothing at stake in season two. Rapunzel has no real reason to be on this trip. Nothing is stopping her from just going home if that’s what she wants. The idol only makes her happy because it shows her want she wants, but she could actually have what she wants as soon as the next ship arrives. So what’s the issue here? 

This is why you need external conflict in order to make internal conflicts work. There’s has to be something preventing the main character from achieving her goal or otherwise she just comes across as a dumbass. 

And Now Here Comes the Second Elephant; Varian 

I have several things to talk about here, and none of them actually concern the scene itself but the creator’s treatment of the character and the show’s fan base.

For you see, Chris did a very, very stupid thing.  

He wrote the character driving the plot out of the show. The character who also happens to be the most popular person in the series. Only to then use said character’s VA and this one cameo as promotion for this whole season. 

Needless to say, fans were disappointed.   

However, the Tangled fandom is exceedingly polite; more so than most. The lack of Varian was met mostly with confusion, and maybe a few off handed jokes, rather than anger. When opportunity arose people naturally had questions concerning the character.     

And that’s when Chris put his foot in mouth. 

This Tumblr post details how Chris got kicked off the Tangled The Series Discord by bullying a bunch of Varian fans while on there. 

https://starxapple.tumblr.com/post/617852117763391488/zhantiri-uuugh-fine-since-people-are-getting

I shan’t get into it fully, but for those who discovered the show after season two had aired, this caused a massive backlash from the fandom. 

A good chunk of the fandom just walked away, and rightly so. The few that stuck around despite these remarks found themselves harassed by certain sections of the fandom who saw Chris’s bullying as permission to pursue the same behavior. However, most importantly, the ratings plummeted. 

Season one hovered around the the 1 million mark, give or take a five point difference. The first part of season two dropped to half of that, and after this episode and the hiatus it sunk even lower, down to the mid-thirties. That’s over 20,000 people who just jumped ship over this. That’s not a normal decline. 

No matter what your personal feelings are of the character of Varian or how he was handled in the show, that’s still a massive PR fassico that cost the series big time. 

To add to this mountain of bullshit, there was also a massive walk out of crew members after season one had finished production. Most of them women. They even desperately threw out ‘we’re hiring’ calls to cover this. Which given that’s it’s Disney and that nepotism is usually how one gains employment in the entertainment industry, something unusual must have happened behind the scenes. Especially if most of the people who left were women. 

We’ll probably never know what really happened. People don't usually talk about behind the scenes stuff like that due to contracts and the aforementioned nepotism. However, all clues point to Varian.   

Something changed at the last minute concerning his story. Chris himself had confirmed as much when discussing the note and the Brotherhood. We also gotten other hints that content was edited out at the last minute. Plus the writing becomes more shoddy as the series goes along, showing how slapped dashed everything is together.  

Then there’s the rumors. 

I must stress to you that this is only a rumor. As pointed out earlier, most animators aren’t in a position to talk freely about what goes on behind the scenes. Do NOT harass them over it or make things awkward by asking them to clarify this. However it’s been suggested that the female crew warned Chris that removing Varian from season two and re-writing his story, along with making Cass the villain, would be a bad idea before they left and Chris didn’t listen. Much to his folly. 

Chris is no longer a Disney employee and has yet to move on to any other projects. He says he left, but I more suspect that Disney just didn't renew his contract and no one has picked him up since. I take no joy in the idea that someone may have lost their job, but if true, then Chris has little to blame but himself. 

So What Did Change?

We don't know anything for sure. We know from discussions about the note that there was a proposed Brotherhood plot that involved Varian that was then cut. There was also talks about a Cass and Varian team up in season three. 

This was then changed to the Saporian take over, which is foreshadowed in this scene. However even that got edited down and under the flimsiest of excuses. 

One of the writers, Ricky, suggested that they thought cutting back to Corona would be too confusing for the audience; which is a load of bull. I mean how poorly do you think of your audience’s comprehension skills that they wouldn’t understand a change of scene or a flashback? Yet you fully expect them to pick up on your lazy foreshadowing involving the mirror? So much so that you sent them on a quest to find it between seasons two and three.

Then there’s this gem from Chris. 

Ok ignoring the fact that you so totally could have featured both Gothel and Varian, seeing as they serve two different functions in the story and mean different things to Rapunzel.... What guilt?!!! 

Rapunzel doesn’t ever act guilty over anything involving her treatment of Varian. 

That’s when you realize Chris isn’t talking about her feeling guilty about Varian’s predicament. He’s saying that Rapunzel feels guilty of leaving her father behind with this ‘dangerous’ criminal. Which is a big fuck you to everyone. 

That’s why Frederic is the center focus of Rapunzel’s hallucinations. Why she’s more concerned for his safety over Varian’s trauma. Chris really be out here trying to use the abused 14/15 year old orphan as a scapegoat for the grown ass dictator who ruined countless lives. Because he thinks a grown woman should feel guilty for leaving her abusive father behind and pursuing her life’s dream.

Dude, I try not to assume the worst of people just cause they write fictional characters that I dislike, but Chris really makes things hard not to when he treats his self insert this way. 

Oh but we’re not done yet. 

When Varian Fans Complain About the Lack of Varian; We’re Complaining About the Lack of a Coherent Plot. 

Certain sections of the fandom, bolstered by Chris’s BS, try to act like simply being a Varian fan is grounds for dismissal of any criticism of the show and it’s writing. As if having personal preference for something makes you automatically ‘entitled’ or some such bull. Yet doing so ignores the fundamental complaint that they are making. 

We’re not whining about our favorite character not getting enough screen time. No one would have complained about his lack of presence in season two if they had properly resolved his story in season three and had Chris not been a dick to the fans. But it becomes evidently clear as the series goes along that removing Varian left a major hole in the plot. One that makes the entire story and the rest of characters suffer as well. 

Think season two is boring? That’s cause they cut out their main villain at the last minute and failed to replace him with anything. 

Upset that Hookfoot was brought along for zero reason?  He’s the replacement character for Varian who no doubt was going to appear in season two originally. 

Wish there was more on the Brotherhood and the Dark Kingdom?  Their story impact was greatly reduced when Varian was written out.

Are you a Eugene fan and mad about how the Dark Prince plot went nowhere?  That’s cause the original Brotherhood/Dark Kingdom plot was dropped when Varian was.

Dislike how Cassandra’s character was ruined with her villain arc?  She was originally meant to be possessed but was changed last minute to be a Varian rip-off in the hopes that she would gain some of his popularity.   

Wish Zhan Tiri, Demantius, and the Disciples actually went somewhere and that ZT had coherent plan?   That plot were changed last minute to make Zhan Tiri a scapegoat for Cassandra now that her story was changed to replace Varian.

And of course let’s not ignore the character who suffers the most from lack of Varian.... Rapunzel. 

Chris’s defense for leaving Varian out of S2 is that it’s “Rapunzel’s Story” and that Varian was only ever a plot device meant to push her along on her quest.  Which means that Rapunzel no longer has anyone pushing her along on her quest!!!

All characters are plot devices. If they aren’t there to serve a story function then they need to be cut. Even Rapunzel herself serves a plot function. She’s meant to be the protagonist of a coming of age story. Which means she needs both an external conflict to face and an emotional arc where she grows as a person. Varian is the plot device that serves both of those functions but he’s now been removed and is no longer allowed to serve his original purpose. 

Chris reached into the machine while it was running and pulled out one of the main gears and acted like he always meant to do that. He legit sat there and pretended that everything was running smoothly even as smoke poured out and warring alarms blared. He then tried to shove bubble gum in its place hoping no one would notice as everything fell apart around him. 

Cause he’s the thing; no idea is without merit. It’s all about presentation. Removing Varian from season three still could have worked, but it required A.) replacing him with another foe and B.) making sure his arc still got a proper conclusion. 

I’ll talk more about Varian’s half-arsed redemption when we get to it; but for now let's focus on the more immediate problem. No one thought to give season two an actual overarching conflict in light of Varian’s absence. 

That’s a fundamental oversight that pretty much signals that season two was re-written at the last minute. You have an overarching plot in an action adventure show but no main adversary? I refuse to believe that everyone involved was too stupid to do that on purpose; but if they were rushed and lacked a crew because they walked out due to last minute story changes....yeah that’d I buy. 

Because there’s more than enough options to go around; Lady Caine, The Baron and Styalan, Hector and/or Adria, Zhan Tiri’s Disciples ect. were all options. So was keeping the rocks a threat, or have Cass start her villian arc earlier; with proper motivation this time. They could have even come up with someone entirely new. 

You had over four years to plan this shit out; why is it not more well put together?! 

How Come Rapunzel Can Easily Admit Fault to Pascal But Not Anyone Else? 

Pascal should have sat perched on Varian’s and Eugene’s shoulders giving Rapunzel ‘I’m done with this’ looks all throughout season three. It’s apparently the only thing that she responds to. 

Why is the untalkative camelanion the only one allowed to call out the main character’s BS without going villain? 

Conclusion

That’s all there really is to talk about in this story. The actual episode itself is good. It’s the behind the scenes crap that bubbles underneath its surface that needed to be discussed. That way when going forward with the marathon you’ll better see what I’m talking about when I explain how future episode suffered from the lack of planning and foresight. 

[nightmare-grass]

I know the show has been over for a long time but I hope the Tangled fandom will take my humble offering of my idea for a rewrite of Tangled the Series.

- The sun and moon shouldn’t be competing forces, they should be the two elements that keep the world balanced. The earth itself should be the third, more antagonistic element that the sun’s warm light and the moon’s cooling tidal forces bring into balance

- The black rocks are from the earth’s core, demons all come from the earth, there’s a lot of evil people on the earth, and so in my version of Tangled, the Earth is the element of the main villain.

- The Sun heals and brings life to the planet, the Moon soothes and covers the world in oceans, and so the Earth is kept from unleashing it’s primordial fury

- In ancient times, when the Earth was newly formed, after a bunch of natural disasters, a drop of sunlight fell from the heavens and created a golden flower, the Sundrop Lily. At the same time, far away, a chunk of the moon fell to the earth, and inside that space rock was the Moonstone. Overtime, people settled the areas and kingdoms grew around the two cosmic elements. The objects faded into legend.

- When the Sundrop Lily is taken from its hill, the earth sends its spires to guard the Moonstone

- Without its equal, the Moonstone’s power destabilized, causing sea levels to rise in the kingdom that was built around it. Quickly, the Dark Kingdom became unsafe for its citizens, and everyone left except for the king, queen, and the king’s most trusted agents. He even sent away his 8 year old son, who suffered head trauma during the trip to the next kingdom over and lost all memories of his childhood. He grew up in various orphanages and became a thief, taking on the name of his favorite character, Flynn Rider. Meanwhile, the queen of the Dark Kingdom died due to illness caused by stress, and the king slowly went mad in his self-imposed isolation.

- When the Sundrop’s connection to Rapunzel is severed at the end of Tangled, the spires cover the shrine to the former growing place of the Sundrop Lily

- When Rapunzel touches the spires, they summon what little essence is left in the soil and in Rapunzel and that summons her long golden hair back, but the rocks imbue her with some of their own defensive power (indestructibility, magical shielding, concussive blasts of light)

- The Sundrop and Moonstone would overpower and burn up anyone who tried to use their power in tandem, so they were never meant to be joined

- Zhan Tiri spent her mortal lifespan gathering power through dark rituals and necromancy, and when she died she became the most powerful demon in the world. This power is what makes her believe that she alone should wield the cosmic forces of the Sundrop and Moonstone.

- Let’s keep the plot line of Varian turning to more dark paths in his quest to understand the black rocks, the Sundrop, and the cosmic forces as they pertain to science, but after Varian’s big villainous moment instead of imprisoning him they take him on the road trip to the moonstone, as a sort of rehabilitation

- The adventuring party will consist of Rapunzel, Eugene, Cass, Varian, and Lance, none of the dumbasses from the Snuggly Duckling, they just were so unnecessary

- The black rocks lead Rapunzel and co. to the Moonstone because their power is being wielded by Zhan Tiri and her demon horde, and they want to use the cosmic forces to destroy everything

- Zhan Tiri still manipulates Cassandra into taking the Moonstone, but instead of the moon spirit disguise, she takes on the form of Mother Gothel. Cass is smart but she’s got serious abandonment issues thanks to Gothel, and Zhan Tiri fully exploits this. Also, Gothel was a follower of Zhan Tiri, so the demon knows all of Gothel’s habits, mannerisms, and secrets.

- Cass takes the Moonstone and gets control over water. She can also conjure storms by controlling the water in the air.

- When Cass gets the Moonstone and goes off on her own, she takes on a more Pirate-y role and has a castle of sunken ships in the middle of the ocean

- The Decay incantation is the incantation of the earth, since everything would die without the sun or moon. It’s just in the earth’s nature to die.

- The Decay incantation is designed to block the power of the Sun and Moon (e.g. if Rapunzel is using it, the incantation will block out her Sundrop powers, turning her hair and eyes black)

- There are two incantations for each cosmic force. One incantation is for surface level powers (Sun/healing and Moon/storms and tides) and the other is for the full power of each cosmic element (Sun/light and Moon/darkness)

- Sun’s color is yellow, Moon’s color is blue, and Earth’s color is red, so the tint on the black rocks is red, as if there’s magma trapped inside, and anyone using the Sun and Moon elements together gets a green aura immediately around them while around the edges it still looks yellow and blue

- Incantations will be called the Decay (Earth), Healing (Sun), Storm (Moon), Dawn (Sun Full Power), and Shadow (Moon Full Power) incantations

- In the end, the powers of the Sun and Moon will be harnessed by Rapunzel to fix everything and released. When they are released, they turn back into the Sundrop seed and the Moonstone, and Rapunzel plants the seed back where the original flower was. The Moonstone, in turn, is placed back in the Dark Kingdom. This restores balance and peace to the Earth.

[imaginedhaven]

10) Which character do you ship yourself most with and why?

11) Ships that annoy you and why

12) Do you ship Amren and Varian or would you rather Amren remain alone?

13) Any theories about where Amren came from and what her real form is?

15) Do you want Tamlin to die? Are you pro redemption arc? How do want his arc to end?

16) Which villain out of both series do you hate the most?

22) Do you prefer the Celaena story arc or the Aelin arc? Or do you find that the difference between the two is simply character growth?

23) Long haired rowan or short haired rowan?

24) Which character would you most like to hook up with?

31) Did you ship feylin in acotar or were you always side-eyeing it suspiciously?

32) How do you think Feyre will handle being in the spring court again?

33) Head canons for your otp!

34) Name a ship you hope ends like the titanic… (+acosf)

42) Favorite funny moment from ToG

45) Are you down for Rowaelin/Feysand babies in the epilogues or would you want them to wait?

Hoo boy! Long one! Lol.

10) As much as I don't feel like I have enough of a grasp on her character to write her effectively, I would absolutely let Manon do whatever she wants with me.

11) I don't think I have a ship that annoys me overly much? I have a high bar for ship annoyance these days. There are ones I'm less keen on, but I don't think I've come across one yet that's an anti-ship for me.

12) I don't think I have enough to go off of for their ship! They're given so little time for development that I don't know what to make of them.

13) I have absolutely no Amren theories. I feel like there's not enough contextual evidence to pull one together, at least not for me.

15) Ah, Tamlin. The first of many matches on the fire that is the ACOTAR fandom lol. I... don't hate him? Controverial opinion, I'm sure. But I think he genuinely didn't realize what he was doing to Feyre, which in a way made him more dangerous for her but also leaves room for a redemption arc. I don't think I want him to die. I think he's not in a good place to have a partner right now, but I think there is still room for him to learn and grow.

16) I don't know if I have a villain I particularly hate! For me, I don't divide overly much into "characters I like" and "characters I hate", it's more "characters who resonate with me" and "characters who don't".

22) The Celaena story arc is part of Aelin's arc and we couldn't have one without the other. Both are valid.

23) Both are valid. Long haired Rowan always came across to me as a more ethereal look that we would typically associate with elves or Fae, while short haired Rowan is all strapping muscles and practical warrior.

24) See shipping above. I wasn't kidding when I said Manon can do whatever she wants to me.

31) While I came into TOG pure and unspoiled, I had seen some of The Discourse surrounding ACOTAR before I started reading it. I knew Feylin would not end in a HEA, and I do think that colored my reading.

32) Since in general I love a good healing arc, I would love for Feyre to be able to come to terms with the Spring Court. That being said, I'm not sure the Spring Court is a great place for ANYONE to be right now.

33) I am bad at headcanons, but sure lol. Rowaelin's first child is calm and full of grace, even slightly shy. Neither one of them knows where the child gets it from. The second child gets their attitude and temper from both parents.

34) Again, I don't think there's a ship out there where I'm like "nope, absolutely not!". Shippers can be truly nasty about "my ship" versus "not my ship", and I personally prefer being chill about the whole thing and trying to see the valid point in any ship I come across--even the ones I wouldn't call my OTPs.

42) Hands down, the cake Aelin makes for Rowan in the deleted HOF scene.

45) I am 100% for babies generally, with the caveat that I also want other good things for them! I don't want babies just thrown in because that's what happens next, I want babies who are impactful and meaningful in the story without being the sole reason for existence for their mamas.

~*~*~

Send me TOG/ACOTAR asks!

[bestworstcase]

as someone who's favorite character is Eugene, eugene stans are so annoying. also as much as they claim to love new dream, they sure do like to fantasize about completely unnecessary drama between the pair. also all their hate for cass is completely stupid, like... I understand just not being a fan of a character but like. they all gotta chill about cass.

i think there is a general tendency for people who go hard for a particular character—any character!—to get a bit blinkered about that character. 

even me! i feel really defensive of zhan tiri to the point of (a) blocking people whose takes on her annoy me and (b) bristling a bit at anything remotely negative that is said about her (unless it’s criticism of the way she’s written that i happen to agree with, lol). i love her to bits so i don’t like to see critical opinions or outright hate of her, and i think we can all agree that that is stupid. it’s a silly, irrational way to feel. she’s evil! she has zero redeeming qualities! there’s nothing to defend lmao

so, emotionally, i get where this particular subset of eugene stans is coming from. when you get that invested in a fictional character, i think some defensiveness just comes with the territory—and when you have a bunch of people all stanning with you, that can create an environment where that defensive feeling is being reinforced all the time. 

even moreso where shipping is involved, because people get heated about their ships. that’s definitely playing a role here; i don’t think i’ve ever seen this kind of sentiment expressed by a eugene stan who wasn’t an anti-cassunzel new dreamer, and while i absolutely don’t think that those takes are all exclusively coming from a place of bashing cass because she is perceived as a threat to new dream, i do think that is one of several factors that encourages this zero sum mindset where cass’s character arc is seen as stealing or taking away from eugene’s. 

and also, in all honesty it comes from the top. whoever the big names are in a given corner of a fandom, they’re going to set the tone for everyone else in that corner of the fandom. 

so as a point of comparison, like, there’s the brotherhood corner of the fandom: they can also get very critical and salty about their faves, but the big names there take a pretty reasonable tone and draw clear distinctions between Writing Problems and Character Problems (e.g. with the mind trap discourse, the criticism is leveled at the writing decisions rather than devolving into cass bashing). 

whereas with eugene stans / the new dream corner of the fandom, the big names all seem to be very anti-cass and will actively insert cass hate into unrelated conversations about eugene, because they blame cass for things they don’t like about how eugene was written, and that pushes any discussion taking place in that corner of the fandom further and further into the realm of being cass hate first and foremost. 

so like, i get why it happens. it’s annoying to stumble across in the fandom tags, but it’s... whatever, it doesn’t effect me, i don’t engage with it at all other than to write my own posts now and then if i see someone say something that sparks a thought that feels worth expressing in my own little space.

what i really don’t understand is when i see posts from eugene stans that seem, to me, so disparaging and disdainful of eugene himself! saying he’s reduced to one note comic relief, or that he’s denied any moments of emotional poignancy! in every corner of this fandom, there are people whose interpretations of the text i just plain do not understand or agree with, but the eugene stan corner of the fandom is the only corner where i frequently see takes about eugene that feel like... bashing-adjacent? 

and for the new dream stuff it is kinda strange to see fans of a ship that is widely and rightly praised for being an amazing portrayal of a healthy, supportive, drama-free relationship clamoring for it to become an angsty dramafest instead (while also often in the same breath deriding the angsty dramafest of cassunzel as “toxic” lol). but i kinda figure that just comes from a place of wanting angst in general, and relationship drama being a quick and easy way of generating angst—sort of akin to (sigh) the endless use of zhan tiri as a plot device to pile more angst on varian’s or cassandra’s or new moon au!new dream’s shoulders without any real thought given to zhan tiri as a character in her own right.

and now we’ve circled this back around to zhan tiri and my own blinkeredness where she’s concerned lmao so i’ll just conclude with: with the exception of bigoted shit—which does deserve to be called out—people can do whatever they want in their own spaces, on their own blogs and the best way to deal with people who annoy you is to ignore ’em. don’t follow, don’t engage, be kind, if it gets to a point where just seeing their url makes you irritated then block ’em. it’s fandom, it doesn’t matter, cultivate an experience that is enjoyable for yourself. there’s always going to be unpleasant people or obnoxious corners in every fandom and the key is to not give them any real estate in your brain.

[madisonrooney]

im not that involved in the tangled fandom but i have some Thoughts on the finale/series overall now that its done so i figured id share. im a little under the weather so sorry if these are kinda scattershot

(spoilers below)

for starters, ive been watching since the beginning and was hype since it was announced. i love tangled the movie, probably in one the higher tiers of my fav disney movies, not to mention it was the first tv show wed gotten based on disney movie since emperors new school 11 years prior.

at first i was skeptical about them giving rapunzel her long hair back. it was pretty clearly just a marketing ploy but it was done pretty well in the pilot which i really liked so i could get behind it.

i thought the first half or so of s1 was really good and really cute. it was just a sweet little slice of life in corona. 

i started to get disappointed in the show once queen for a day came around. varian is my fav character (more on him later) and i didnt really like his villain arc. it felt really out of nowhere. not an obvious villain, not a surprise twist villain, just a character that didn’t feel like should’ve been a villain at all. it just didn’t bode well with me. 

i also felt that the jump from slice of life show to high stakes, serialized show was far too abrupt. even tho i liked the second half of s2 and all of s3 better (more on that later as well), it still seemed to have an uneven balance of light and heavy plotlines. i dont wanna sound like one of those people who hates filler episodes. filler episodes are good, but need to be done in the right way at the right time, and i feel like this show didn’t do that very well.

speaking solely on the high stakes, i really feel like they were too high for a show of its kind. in a way, i felt it was somewhat disrespectful to the source material. the show isnt canon, and i feel like it made some big changes that effected the story and characters from the movie, which i think is taking a step too far if youre working on a tv show thats made by an entirely different crew than the film (even tho its the same cast). like, eugene’s dad being revealed and being given a backstory, gothel having a daughter, it just felt like too much for me. compare it to, say, the dragons series, which had very high stakes but also fit snugly between the first and second movies, and took great effort so that nothing they did effected the films’ stories. the showrunners on the dragons show were even consultants on the third movie, so they all flow together nicely.

but rapunzel and the great tree reeled me back in and i was much more invested from there forward, main reason being it gave me my favorite trope (that was kind of already there, but even moreso from this point on): a bubbly girl and an angsty girl who are somehow best friends, though they may be at odds sometimes, like during this arc. i became way more invested in cass as a character and rapunzel and cass as friends (or a ship, im fine with either).

my problems with the imbalance and too high stakes didnt go away with the remainder of s2 or with s3 but my investment in cass’ arc (AND THE REDEMPTION OF VARIAN WHICH I WAS HOPING FOR) was enough for me to put my issues with the show at least somewhat aside.

as far as more things i liked about the show:

VARIAN

he is my fav character and has become one of my new fav characters of all time. i have this thing i think ive mentioned before where if i like an actor and like a show he’s in i love the character twice as much as i otherwise would. so having one of my fav broadway actors whos in one of my fav broadway shows play him made him an instant fav. but i also just love how cute and quirky he is.

cass!

like i said, i love cass and grew to love her more through her newest arc. partially for the same reason as with varian with the VA thing. i dont know much about eden espinosa but ik shes played elphaba and i love that they employed so much broadway talent for this show (more on that later). since the show has started, ive gotten into rent, and she was broadways final maureen, so thats cool too. but beyond just that, i love her arc and personality and of COURSE her relationship with rapunzel, that being one of my fav aspects of the show. it fits right in with liv and maddie, riley and maya, trish and jessica, webby and lena, luz and amity (depending on how the rest of the owl house plays out lol) and im HERE FOR IT. also, despite the fact that i wasnt a huge fan of the high stakes, i give the crew a lot of credit for making a main character a villain for an entire season. thats a big step for disney to take that i dont think theyve come anywhere near before and i give them props for that.

the broadway and disney alum cast!

weve got james monroe iglehart, pat carroll, christian borle, gavin creel, laura benanti, jane krakowski, etc. and as a broadway nerd i love that, not to mention that some of these people had worked with alan menken before which is awesome

the fact that they brought back the ENTIRE movie cast PLUS alan menken is amazing. i dont think any other show based on a movie can quite attest to that

so, onto the finale itself

- i was worried varian may go bad again especially given his initial resistance to eugene suggested his dad might go bad but that didn’t happen so yay. i noticed other people mentioning musical call backs but the only one i noticed was let me make you proud and it made me so happy - ALSO VARIAN BEING THE ROYAL ALCHEMIST IM SO PROUD OF MY SON - this being disney, i figured cass getting redeemed was probably inevitable, but i’m still relieved it happened. now i dont have the bad taste left in my mouth jessica jones gave me. and i loved how her redemption went, seeing her so vulnerable and letting herself be that vulnerable in front of rapunzel CRYING INTO HER ARMS LIKE MY HEART. they really made her very broken, it reminded me a lot of maya hart. sometimes disney channels not willing to go that deep but im impressed they did. - i was kinda hoping it would be revealed that gothel wasn’t actually cass’ mom, i remember seeing some people hoping for that, cuz, again, i feel like thats a bit much to change from the movie canon, buuuut that didnt happen. oh well. - I WAS HOPING FOR I LOVE YOUS BETWEEN CASS AND RAPUNZEL AND WE GOT IT AND WE GOT A HUG AND IM ALIVE - lance adopting the kids was adorable - all the movie parallels were *chefs kiss*

everything wrapped up so nicely and im really happy with it as a finale!

that aside, again, i do still have some issues with the show. so im gonna take a moment to shamelessly plug big hero 6 the series bc imo that does the movie to show adaption FLAWLESSLY.

tl;dr: great finale, despite both loving and hating some things about this show, yall should watch big hero 6 the series, im love varian

[bewemeh]

Tangled Questionnaire Meme

I was tagged by nobody but I will do this for funs.

original post by @https://rachelbethhines.tumblr.com/post/186840126921

1. Favorite Character? Varian and Cassandra

2. Favorite Episode? Rapunzel and the great three, secret of the sundrop.

3. Least Favorite Character?  Shorty :c

4. Least Favorite Episode? The brothers hook

5. What is your OTP? New dream (duh), cassunzel, Eugene+Rapunzel+Cassandra

6. What is you NonOTP? Ehh.. not really have one. There is not-so-great-shippings, but not really notps.

7. Favorite Song? Ready as i’ll ever be, Waiting in the wings.

8. Most Underrated Song? (What song deserves a second listen?) I’ve got this

9. Best Moments? Season one ending battle, the first hurt incantation moment.

10. Constructive Criticism (What do you hope the series will improve upon come season 3)?  Fairly unimportant characters leaving or not disturbing the plot. Eugene once again proving his unquestionable love for Raps, Varian getting great redemption arc, <-- for Cass.

11. Theories and Predictuions for Season 3? Not really. I just want cass and Raps and Eugene and Varian and Lance to be happy D:

12. Favorite Friendship? Eugene+Lance

13. Best thing about the fandom? fanart/fanfics/Conversations

14. Do you own any merchandise for the franchise? I made my own cosplay but not anything from anyone else :c

15. Any fan fiction recommendations? He needs me, Freudian, and Raven and the moon. All those fics are very well written and have a good story, plus the characters do not strange far from their personality. CHECK THEM OUT!!<333

16. Saddest/most shocking moment in the show? Varian’s betrayal, Cassandra’s betrayal, Pascal’s ‘death’, Quirin’s ‘death’.

17. Best Villain? Varian, mother Gothel.

18. A crossover you would like to see, ( no matter how unlikely) Tangled+frozen! We’ve already seen Raps+Eugene visiting them~  I don’t care if people don’t like it, I do and I’d secretly want it to happen ;____;

19. Funniest Moment? Buddy song, Also I lauhed way too much at the “Owhh OK I’m calling mine Angry!” moment xD

20. Ricky’s Quest? (have you found anything)? None. I’m leaving it to you  guys ;3

[feralsrock]

I've seen you post a lot about the tangled series, so what about the fandom thing for that? If you want

Oh, I totally want to! (I actually reblogged that ask meme with hopes that someone would send me Tangled! So thank you! :D)

NOTE:  THIS IS NOT SPOILER FREE!  LOOK AWAY IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE SERIES YET!

THE FIRST CHARACTER I EVER FELL IN LOVE WITH: Eugene Fitzherbert.  I didn’t see Tangled until about 2 years after it came out, but watching scenes of Eugene is what really convinced me to watch it.

A CHARACTER THAT I USED TO LOVE/LIKE, BUT NOW DO NOT: Uhhhh… I don’t think I really have one.  My opinions may have changed on some characters but none to point of switching how I feel about them emotionally.

A SHIP THAT I USED TO LOVE/LIKE, BUT NOW DO NOT: N/A

MY ULTIMATE FAVORITE CHARACTER™: Eugene Fitzherbert!  He is the BEST Disney Prince (Name another Disney Prince that actually DIED for his respective Princess. I’ll wait), and single-handedly dethroned Prince Philip from his throne as my fave Disney Prince.

PRETTIEST CHARACTER: Rapunzel.  (Eugene is more of a beautifully handsome) 

MY MOST HATED CHARACTER: Mother Gothel.  Everything that comes out of her abusive mouth makes me so freaking mad.

MY OTP: NEW DREAM (BEST Disney couple ever)

MY NOTP: Anything that involves Eugene and Rapunzel not being with each other.

FAVORITE EPISODE: “Destinies Collide”  That episode was so intense and so much awesome stuff happened! It was amazing!

SADDEST DEATH: Eugene’s death in the movie still makes me cry even though I’ve seen it more times than I can count at this point.  Even just listening to the corresponding song on the soundtrack will get me going.

FAVORITE SEASON: Season 2 really upped the game for me and I’ve been enjoying it so much.  

LEAST FAVORITE SEASON: N/A  (ALL the current seasons are amazing)

CHARACTER THAT EVERYONE ELSE IN THE FANDOM LOVES, BUT I HATE: Don’t murder me Tangled fandom, but Varian just frustrates me.  A LOT!  Like, his unsafe scientific practices, his inability to consider the consequences of his actions, and refusal to take responsibility for his actions when things inevitably backfire due to his own incompetence or lack of patience drives me up the fucking wall!  I’ve had to deal with so many people like him in real life that it takes everything in me not to scream at him for being such a dumbass while watching episodes with him.  I appreciate him for what he does within the series, but his character flaws hit a little too close to home for me to find him enjoyable or want to do much with him in my own fan works. (But who knows maybe he’ll get the redemption arc in season 3 that everyone is hoping for and will change my mind.)

MY ‘YOU’RE PIECE OF TRASH, BUT YOU’RE STILL A FAVE’ FAVE: idk if any of the characters I actually like even qualify as trash… so N/A

MY ‘BEAUTIFUL CINNAMON ROLL WHO DESERVES BETTER THAN THIS’ FAVE: King Edmund!  Poor guy lost his wife, made a tough as Hell call to try to save his kingdom’s citizens at the cost of being able to raise his son, spent 25 long years all by himself in a giant castle with only some birds and the magic opal that caused the whole mess for company, and then when his son finally returns, Eugene just thinks of him as crazy and hardly wants anything to do with him!  Please season 3 just let this man  be happy!

MY ‘THIS SHIP IS WRONG, NASTY, AND MAKES ME WANT TO CLEANSE MY SOUL, BUT I STILL LOVE IT’ SHIP: N/A  I really only ship New Dream.

MY ‘THEY’RE KIND OF CUTE, AND I LOWKEY SHIP THEM, BUT I’M NOT TOO INVESTED’ SHIP:  Lance’s one-sided crush on Adira is kinda cute, but I hope it only is ever one-sided, cause them actually getting together would be kind creepy since Adira is probably close to TWICE Lance’s age.  Like, I don’t mind a big age gap in my ships, but unless it involves different species and bizarre lifespans, i usually have a cut-off of 15 years, and pairing someone with a character who is old enough to be their PARENT is a for sure “Hell No” from me.  So, it’s cute as a one-sided crush on Lance’s side, but it’s not something I ever want to be canon.

[red-monkey-and-bolts]

Tagged by: @originaldisneydescendants

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 10 blogs you’d like to get to know better

Nicknames: M, MnM, Jay, J, JAM (my signature name as an artist and whenever i’m anywhere to keep my whole name hidden), Mei, Marco, la llorona, the list goes on XD....

Gender: Female

Sign: Aries XP

Height: 5'3

Current Time: 10:53 p.m.

Favorite Bands: Skillet, RED, Plumb, Wolves at the Gate, House of Heroes, Underoath, Superchick, BarlowGirl, Flyleaf, Newsong, Thousand Foot Krutch, Colton Dixon, Owl City, Emery, Danny Gokey, Hillsong, The classic Crime, Fall out Boy (me and my friend like this band XD) I have so many more i’m just going to stop the list here :3

Favorite Solo Artist(s):*sighs* TOO MANY TO COUNT XD....

Song Stuck In My Head:...It’s raining men Remix by The Living Tombstone...(It’s catchy XD...)

Last Movie I Saw: ...Willie Wonka and the chocolate factory....(Don’t EVEN get me started on that Charlie and the chocolate factory, still creeps me out...)

Last Show I Watched: Tangled the series (does anime count, if so it’s My love story!)

When Did I Create My Blog: August 2014

What Do I Post: Whatever I find or fandom i’m glued to, and also post my artwork here...also re blog beautiful art and important posts I find

Last Thing I Googled: black Labrador dogs 

Do I Have Any Other Blogs:...yes @jamartsandproductions (my only art blog, just post the art I post on my main one here) @spiderslimebites (the blog for a side ship that no one talked about in svtfoe XD) @tiafoe (i’m just a side artist for this group comic XD) and @ask-varian-the-young-alchemist (my varian ask blog, i REALLY need to go back there to answer more asks ^^;...)

Why Did I Choose My URL: Originally, I was going to just call it :DJAM, but SOMEHOW tumblr told me someone ELSE is using “jam” as their name ; - ;...so I inserted my last name just to still keep my signature name JAM, so if you ever ask me now you know, but I rather be called “JAM”

Following: 520

Followers: 586

Average Hours of Sleep: idk, it depends if my mind’s in the mood to draw or go straight to bed, I can be a night person at times XD

Lucky Number:....i don’t have one ._.

Instrument: Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, and a bit of electric guitar

What I’m Wearing: PJS WWHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!!

Dream Job: Animated director/cartoonist or director 

Favorite Food: I eat alot of things, but to pick a food for the sake of it I would say a hamburger with fries, for dessert ice cream XD

Nationality: US BABY!!!!

Favorite Song: I have too many, but if I had to think of three out of my mind is: 

Asleep by Wolves at the Gate (I like rock and some screamo you should’ve known that by my list of songs XD)

Dead come to Life by Jonathan Thulin ft. Charmaine (HIGHLY RECOMMEND WATCHING THE WHOLE VIDEO OF THIS SONG!) 

and Everything by Lifehouse (this one always makes me tear up due to a personal event...)

Top 3 Fictional Universes I Wanna Join: NARNIA, TTS, and studio Ghibli places (TAKE ME ANYWHERE FROM THOSE MOVIES XD)

Tagging: @variansss @chiscribbles4smiles @sedge-butt @marichkaua @codynaomiswire @ghosta-r @starxapple @plusesten-vous

ANYONE ELSE CAN DO IT XD

(God Bless you :3...)

[bestworstcase]

Exactly HOW cursed is 95% of the Ziti tag?👀👀👀

vbbvnfvx i feel i should start with a disclaimer that i don’t begrudge people having their fun / none of this is like, Problematique or whatever, it’s just me being mean and salty and petty

but

1) the vast, vast majority of people making content that includes zhan tiri use her as a prop to create angst and conflict for whomever their favorite character is, with zero consideration given to zhan tiri as a character in her own right. and in many cases, frankly, unlike the rta writing team, the people doing this don’t have the creative chops to make her charming or enjoyable despite the tissue-thin characterization, so it just feels like a miserable exercise in character bashing. hard pass.

2) of the small handful of people treating zhan tiri like an actual character, a significant majority go the demanitus/zhan tiri route in lieu of actually, like, fleshing her out as a person in her own right. i HATE it. i genuinely loathe the ziti flashback in plus est en vous because of how it popularized…this. i enjoy destinies fulfilled / @daylightlucidity’s take on the ship in large part because it’s only a single facet of who zhan tiri is, but every single other example i’ve come across is straight up just substituting a tired cliche of a heterosexual lovers-turned-enemies ship for real, you know, character development.

3) if i NEVER see another momtiri post it will be too soon. and if it’s not momtiri it’s zhan tiri fixating on varian because he’s ~the next demanitus~ (often with zhan tiri literally calling him that) like—varian fandom i love you but please stop trying to make him the centerpiece of literally every other character’s story

4) like half the tag is just. memes. not even like… good memes.

5) this has died down thankfully but it used to feel like every other post in the tag was somebody either whining that her canon lore “doesn’t make sense” (it does) or literally just screaming about how awful she is (fuck you, don’t post character hate in the tags) and i’m Tired.

is decent art, decent fic, and like… ANY in depth discussion or analysis AT ALL really so much to ask? apparently yes if you want it in amounts significant enough to not to get buried under a deluge of chaff.

[bestworstcase]

Rapunzel for the meme?

How I feel about this character

i really like her and she’s probably my favorite disney princess. i’ve always been fond of tangled and imo the show did a fantastic job building on that foundation in terms of her characterization. i love the realistic way her trauma and the lingering damage gothel did to her is portrayed, not just in the sense that she continues to be fearful of gothel and have complicated feelings about the woman whom she grew up calling “mother,” but also in the sense that she displays traits and behaviors that she clearly learned from gothel, and the deficits in social intelligence that resulted from her isolation are a consistent problem for her throughout the course of the show. also, she’s just really special to me as an example of positive representation of a character with low empathy.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

i like new dream well enough. it was a very refreshing change to have an established heterosexual relationship in a show that was just... stable. drama-free. healthy. able to talk through their problems like adults. i wouldn’t say i’m super passionate about it as a ship, but i like it.

i also, as i mentioned on the cass post, am very fond of cassunzel though more in a cass-has-unrequited-feelings context in canon. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character

her friendship with cass! i think cass is really, really good for rapunzel as a person and is someone who will always challenge her to grow for the better. and i think in the end, despite the many weaknesses in their friendship in s1-s2, them working through their conflict results in them being able to build a much stronger friendship than they had before. 

also just generally i like all her friendships with the rest of the cast. i like that she’s an outgoing, friendly person who gets attached to people quickly and trusts easily. 

My unpopular opinion(s) about this character

rapunzel is not a paragon of compassion, and eugene is wrong when he describes her that way.

rapunzel wants to be compassionate. she desperately, desperately wants to help people and make them feel better when they’re sad. and she tries her best to do so. but she’s not actually very good at it, because she has very little empathy and she’s not very good at listening. so she does things that she thinks are helpful, without being able to take into account whether the person in question is actually helped by what she’s doing. this is a frequent source of conflict between her and cass, because a lot of the things rapunzel thinks are helping do not actually do anything for cass and sometimes may even make cass’s problems worse. 

and i love this about rapunzel because it demonstrates that lack of empathy doesn’t make somebody a horrible person. rapunzel just needs to develop the listening skills she needs to compensate for that lack of empathy, and begin to develop her skill for compassion. and we see her do that over the course of the series, by s3 she’s still far from perfect on this but she’s miles away from how bad she was in s1 and that’s one of my favorite parts of her character arc.

i wish it was more widely acknowledged in the fandom.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i wish she had more plot relevant things to do when cass wasn’t around in s3! i wish she had been much more proactive about figuring out what cass’s deal was and working it out. she sort of spent s3 sitting around waiting for cass to come back, and then never really took cass seriously as a threat, and she didn’t really.. do anything about what zhan tiri revealed to her in race to the spire until it came up again in plus est. to me, it came off sort of like she expected cass to just... get over it on her own and easily return to the way things were before, just like varian did, and that was... disappointing to say the least.