#that was kind of cass and rapunzel's Whole Thing

[tomwaterbabies]

kind of blessed to have gotten into tts/vat7k After The Show Ended. the discourse would have driven me insane im sure. cassunzel is so real btw

[flossy2003]

Is it just me or does Monty not get enough flack for the stupid reason why he hates Rapunzel?

I understand (although I don’t agree) that he doesn’t like the pub thugs in the castle and Rapunzel being barefoot, struggling with change as an older man who likes tradition, but surely that’s something to take up with the King and Queen or blame the government for, not the 18 year old Princess, who was traumatically kidnapped, abused her whole life and is just now integrating into society?

I know that him and Raps do become friendlier with one another over time, but I do feel like Monty was victim-blaming Rapunzel. He was basically doing what Cass did in season 3 but here’s the difference:

Cass had been Rapunzel’s friend, she’d known her for years and they were having MAJOR friendship issues, Cass’ mind was being warped by a literal demon and she also had some implied mental health struggles that she was dealing with at the time, those factors DO NOT excuse her words or actions, but they do help to explain them and show that Cass potentially doesn’t understand the weight of what she’s saying (due to ZT getting into her head).

Monty on the other hand was a grown-ass man, who had never met this girl before in his life, the only knowledge he had of her was that she’d been kidnapped and isolated for 18 years, he had no one influencing him think/say those things or treat Rapunzel badly, he just did it to be cruel and he’s nice to everyone except her!

Imagine treating a girl who’s been through one of the most awful things that could happen to a person, like dirt when she’s trying to be kind to you and purposely giving her lollipop that fell on the floor.

I’ve seen so many YouTube reviews saying that the episode teaches a good lesson about that not everyone has to like everyone, and it’s on them if they don’t like you, you don’t have to change their opinion, which it does, I love the episode’s message, but I just wish that they’d given Monty a better reason to hate Rapunzel. A less cruel and unfounded reason.

Anyway…3am rant over. Carry on with your day/night 🤣

[lyerra]

okay I'm just making one random tangled post

I've seen a lot of people here criticize Unknighted Dream (Rapunzel/Eugene/Cass) and tbh I do understand their complaints about the ship (even though it's kinda my comfort ship rn,,,)

and just like them i don't really like the most common interpretation of the ship that you see on AO3, being just "well Rapunzel has two hands and she has a healthy relationship with both while Eugene and Cass are just good friends"

I also think that this relationship model wouldn't work, first on Eugene's side because Rapunzel is literally his entire LIFE for the past three years and now you tell him well now share??? he would feel insecure at best and threatened at worse lol

And Cass would also feel really insecure? Like she KNOWS how much Raps and Eugene love each other,,,

And we should also mention the fact that Cass and Eugene are literally rivals??? They often have a hard time standing each other. Even though they've already really started to work that out by the end of season 3 i do think this kind of relationship would just,,, add fuel to the fire

And tbh at this point it just feels like ppl writing fics about them are just the Cassunzel shippers who don't want to divert from canon mol

BUT everyone seems to forget that Raps isn't the only one with two hands?

Like ofc it wouldn't happen all of a sudden, but Eugene and Cassandra having serious talks without making fun of each other, slowly coming to an understanding, becoming closer as friends at first, then starting to develop feelings for each other as they keep up their almost constant bickering, but it becomes more light-hearted and playful and flirtatious.

I could see them falling in love eventually and while it might not solve every single problem BUT it would help so much with the whole insecurity thing.

Please give us more Cassgene focused fics AO3 and let them gush together about their girlfriend after some good emotional connection-making.

TLDR; For me the only way for Unknighted Dream to work is Cassgene falling in love for one another (or at least in some sort of VERY intimate queerplatonic relationship)

But also I'm fine with New Dream + aroace Cass so, y'know. I just need more of Cassandra and Eugene having serious, honest and emotional talks with each other.

[adventuretolkienlover]

Hugo's Dynamics with the Tangled Gang

I noticed that a lot of people think Hugo would be at odds with the rest of the Tangled team. Or even straight up disliked by them! But I don't think that would be so. Now keep in mind, these are just my headcannons. But I think this is how it would be. Also, just as a heads up, I prefer Varian and Hugo as really good friends as opposed to lovers. So I'll be using that AU instead. (EDIT: Fixed some Grammer mistakes.)

Rapunzel:

At first, Hugo finds Rapunzel's enthusiasm a bit off setting. But there's one thing that starts the friendship. They are both outgoing. They both like trying new things! And soon they're trying all kinds of things together. New restaurant? They'll check it out! Some sort of new traveling show passing through? Sign them up! Alchemy Convention? Heck yes!

I like to think Rapunzel likes teaching people to paint. And one day, Hugo ducks into her painting class to evade a ticked off Eugene. (Guess who was snooping through his cosmetics again? Lol!) Rapunzel convinces him to stay and help him paint a simple painting of maybe flowers and or his mouse Olivia. Hugo doesn't think he has much artistic talent. But Raps thinks it's adorable! And after that, Raps will give him art tips and lessons every once in a while.

Rapunzel also help him learn how to relax. Hugo can be a bit uptight. And she shows him how's okay to slow down and enjoy life. After a life of being on the run, Hugo needs that. Things like nice rests from the lab in the castle gardens or even just spending time together with the family, (I.e Varian and the rest.) are all on the agenda.

OH! One more thing they have in common! Being manipulated by someone they considered a mother figure. Hugo had Donella and Raps had Mother Gothal!

Eugene:

They don't like each other at first. They're still sore at each other about an old job they did together. Spoiler alert. It didn't work out great.

They are super competitive about all sorts of things. Like, ALL sorts of stuff! Who's got the best sneaking skills. The best sword fighting skills. Who's got better hair.😂 A lot.

And they are definitely competitive when it comes to Varian. Both want big brother privileges! But they don't seem to understand Varian loves them both equally. Eventually they come to an understanding and agree to share big brother duties for Varian's sake.

Their competitiveness does settle down a bit after a while. Eugene realizes the Hugo is actually not that bad. And Hugo realizes that the past is past and Eugene is a different person now. They still have banter. But it's not really ill natured. Just regular dude trash talking.

Cass:

I'm going with a friend on this one. INSTANT FRIENDS! Why you may ask? Let me explain.

They both can give a hard time to people they dislike. And you KNOW they'd gang up on Eugene.🤣 Between Cass's "Fitzjerk" nick name for him and gosh knows what nick names and insults Hugo can come up with, Eugene's in for a ride!

Weapons. WEAPONS WEAPONS WEAPONS! Knives are their favorite. They regularly show off their knife collections to each other. Hugo got really excited to see Cass's. She's got some really high quality knives!

Conversations like this.👉 (Rapunzel: Cass. You cannot take a sword to a ball. Cass: If Hugo can take his knives, I can take my sword. Varian: What?! Hugo: *Grins and somehow pulls three knives out of his sleeves* Rapunzel: No. Definitely not. Hugo: We don't have any fun. Do we Cass?)

I'm pretty sure the two of them have rather controversial views on the royals. And sometimes Varian joins them.

Lance:

Again, INSTANT FRIENDS!

They have all sorts in common! Flamboyant? Check! Love to be fabulous? Check! Still slightly has thief instincts? Check! Love to preform? Check! Drama queens kings? Definitely a big checkaroonie!

Also, I like to think they both have some abandonment issues and are both looking for parental support. Both went almost their whole lives without a good family so... Yeah. Support buddies!

And I think Hugo is inspired by Lance adopting Angry and Catalina. Giving kids the best life possible to make up for the horrible one you had? Yes please! Hugo probably decides to adopt a few of his own someday. And speaking of Angry and Catalina...

Angry and Catalina:

I imagine that when I come to these two, Varian is Catalina's favorite and Hugo is Angry's favorite. And vise versa.

Not saying Hugo doesn't like Catalina. She's very sweet. But Hugo's very... LOUD. In his demeanor and general presence. And a bit brash sometimes.

Because of this though, I think Angry would latch on eventually. Maybe not right away. Because this is Angry after all. But soon enough.

So that's all I got for now! Feel free to reblog and add your thoughts onto this!

[nerdasaurus1200]

It’s always kinda amusing to me how in the span of ten seconds Rapunzel gives Cass a look like she’s absolutely off her rocker about 4 or 5 times. It feels very in character for her considering where she is in life 😂 I especially love that look she gives Cass right before she starts speaking, that kind of stern nod. Cause she’s right, she didn’t ask to be kidnapped.

And while she is right, she’s still not quite helping as much as she thinks she is. She’s only focusing on her trauma over the whole Gothel situation and not taking Cassandra’s into account. She’s not really acknowledging that Cassandra is traumatized too, that she hardly asked to be abandoned either. She’s only focusing on what she didn’t ask for. And honestly you could look at this as a very Cass way of resolving the conflict, cause Rapunzel is being blunt and inconsiderate but she’s still right and Cass still needs to hear it.

However unfortunately because Rapunzel is being blunt I think she’s still kinda harming Cass’s mental health growth. Frankly this is kinda Great Tree all over again cause Rapunzel says one thing but it comes off as another. Rapunzel says “she didn’t love us”, but Cassandra hears “she didn’t love you”. And you can see in the look on her face there, Cass starts to go into denial mode. Because she can’t accept the fact that her own mother didn’t love her. And that’s frankly a very cruel truth that Rapunzel’s trying to make her accept. That’s a truth she’ll never have to face because unlike Cass she has a big loving biological family who always loved and wanted her.

And on top of that, Rapunzel saying that is exactly what Zhan Tiri “warned” Cass about. So along with going into denial, the alarm bells are probably starting to go off in Cass’s head.

[panfluidme]

Memories Etched in Stone

Master Post, Prologue

CHAPTER ONE: CURSE LIFTED

Seventeen years, Varian's statue stood there. People stared at them for a minute or two to take in the details before moving on. While he was incredible, he really wasn't anything special compared to the rest of the exhibit. The rest was about kings and queens and the advancements that the kingdom had made. In their eyes, he was a small blimp there. Something made by an unknown artist, they didn't even know his name.

Field trips came and went. If anyone came through a tour, they would marvel at him for a bit then leave and never thought about him ever again. It was fine, he didn't need to be important to people he didn't know and would never see again.

A tour was going through, passing by him. All of their backs were turned, the tour guide rattling off facts about the real statue of Rapunzel and Eugene, holding a lantern and smiling happily. It had been made as one of Rapunzel's birthdays as a gift for her from Eugene, a beautiful reminder of the night they fell in love.

Somehow, Varian found himself falling to his knees and catching his breath. His whole body was sore, a dull ache itching underneath his skin. Ruddiger clung to his head, also panting. Air, fresh and beautiful air, filled their lungs for the first time in centuries. It was such a nice feeling. Despite not eating, neither felt very hungry.

The tour guide for the tour walked up to his display and screamed. The sound made Varian jump back, falling to his ass. Ruddiger growled at the tour guide. People started to surround the display and the manager grabbed hold of Varian's arm, pulling him along. She kept mumbling about the statue and asking where it went, but never gave him a chance to speak.

While they felt everything, they never really got to see things. Varian only knew he was a display from muffled sounds and the fact that people loved to touch him and Ruddiger to feel the detailing for themselves. So being in a place that was lit by some kind of bright flame was shocking to the two.

Varian was forced to sit down in a hard chair and the manager sat across from him. He looked around, tilting his head at the unfamiliar scents and sounds.

"Where is my statue?" she asked, getting his attention.

"What?"

"Where is my statue? You were standing where my statue was. And can you please shut that thing up?"

Varian looked at Ruddiger then frowned. Ruddiger was just examining her stapler and chittering as if to ask questions about what it would do. "Ruddiger, bud, please be quiet for just a few minutes, okay?"

Ruddiger looked up at him and held out the stapler. He took it then Ruddiger jumped onto his shoulder instead of in his lap as he went silent for Varian. The manager let out a sigh of relief then picked up her phone.

"Tell me where the statue is."

"I didn't take any statue."

She rolled her eyes and dialed 911. Varian wanted to reach out and take the phone to examine it. He's never seen anything like it. But he didn't take it. She told the police that one of her statues had been stolen and she had the suspect with her. When she hung up, she glared at Varian.

"They'll be here in five minutes, you stay here while I go talk to my tour guide." She didn't give him a chance to answer before she left. 

Varian got up and stretched, feeling his joints pop. It was so nice to move around again, he really needed it. He couldn't stay still for much longer. He had spent so long in one position. Ruddiger ran around the room, Varian watching over him to make sure that he didn't take or break anything. The manager reminded him a lot of Cass and Varian did not like getting on her bad side.

He stopped in his tracks, shutting his eyes. Varian missed his home so much. He missed the people there anymore. Ruddiger stopped running and went to hug onto his leg, the touch extremely comforting for the young, er, old boy. 

Wait, how old was he exactly? Varian had been eighteen when they were hit by whatever curse that turned them into stone. But that was two hundred and eighteen years ago. So technically, Varian was two hundred and thirty-six years old. But he didn't feel that old. He still felt like the teenager he was. 

Varian wiped his cheeks and picked Ruddiger up, hugging him tightly. "I wanna go home," he mumbled.

Ruddiger chirped and nodded. He gently patted his right front paw on Varian's cheek then leaned against him. Varian smiled weakly. He wasn't alone in this.

Chapter Two

[flower-boi16]

My Tangled the Series Review

So, recently I finished watching all of TTS, here are my thoughts on it.

Things I liked

Visuals & Animation - This show has some really nice looking animation, I really like this art style it looks very expersive and and colorful, deffaintly an example of how to use flash WELL.

The Songs - This show’s got some fantastic songs. There are so many memorable songs in this show I can just listen to over and over again, I’ll list my favorites here:

Ready As I’ll Ever Be

Listen Up

Let Me Make You Proud (Reprise)

I’ve Got This

Wind in My Hair

The View From Up Here

By My Side

Waiting in The Wings

Crossing the Line

I’d Give Anything

Nothing Left to Lose

Bigger Than That

Stronger Than Ever Before

Cassandra (Until Season 3) - I really enjoyed Cassandra’s character for most of the series, she is a great foil to Rapunzel and I liked Cass’s freindship with her...until season 3 but I’ll get to that later.

Varian (Mostly In Season 3) - So thanks to season 3 Varian kinda became my favorite character in the show. I have some issues with how his villain betrayal was executed, which I will get to later, but I really liked him. He’s a dorky little cinamone roll and his development in season 3 is bassically perfect. 

The New Supporting Characters - Overral, I quite liked the new characters the show added overral, my favorites are Red and Angry, Varian, and maybe Lance. 

Worldbuilding - I like how the series added in some new stuff to the movie’s universe and expand from it, tho some things don’t nessacarily line up with the movie somtimes.

Things I didn’t like

Eugene Getting Sidelined - Ngl it really feels like the series was sidling Eugene, which sucks because he was a main character in the movie. He has some episodes centered around him, but those are few and far between. Aside from that, it really felt like the series just replaced him with Cassandra, which really sucks.

Cassandra’s Betrayel - I can make an entire post on why this betrayal does NOT work, but I’ll just summerize. Cass’s reasons for betraying Rapunzel simply don’t make sense, especially that whole Gothel Twist, where Cass decides to betray Rapunzel because...Gothel chose Rapunzel over her? Ya, I don’t’ get it either.

Parts of Varian’s Betrayal - I feel like Varian going all evil mode because Rapunzel refused to help him is kind of extreme, and it really makes me hard to sympathize with him when he goes to this extreams. There should have been more than one incident for Varian to go all evil mode, you could make the argument that Varian went as extreme as he did becuase Rapunzel refused to help him, so he decides to make her help him by force, but still, there should have been more than one incident to make Varian go all evil mode.

Overral

So what are my overral thoughts on this show? Well, I enjoyed it. It had some issues that fruserated me but it also has some really great qualities to it. So, I’d give it a 7/10, a good series with some major flaws in it. So...see ya.

[tangledbea]

On the surface, Rapunzel pinning after Cassandra throughout season 3 looks like another situation where the protagonist is the only one who can see the good in the villain. But in reality, Rapunzel only wanted Cassandra back as her handmaiden. She didn’t want her to return to the light because she genuinely cared about Cassandra’s well-being and what was best for her. “Bringing Cass back”, felt more to me like an obsession rather than a desire born out of love and care for the other person.

Look, I'm not a fan of the whole "Rapunzel stands by Cassandra no matter what" nonsense that happened in S3, but I also 100% disagree with you about her reasoning. Yes, they did use Rapunzel wanting her back in the handmaiden position as a visual cue that she didn't necessarily have Cassandra's desires at heart but her own, but it wasn't that Rapunzel only wanted her back as a handmaiden. It was that she associated Cassandra being her handmaiden with them being happy and friends. When Cassandra was still her handmaiden, things hadn't gone horribly wrong between them yet. What Rapunzel wanted was for Cassandra to be her friend again, not specifically her handmaiden. Also, Rapunzel sees the best in people. It’s kind of her thing. She did it with Gothel. She did it with the Pub Thugs. She did it with Eugene. And she did it with Cassandra.

And at the end of the series, she figured it out and let Cassandra go, which is actually what was best for both of them.

[merinathropp]

I’ve just started reading Untangled on a whim and omg only a few chapters in and I’m already so invested I can already see myself binging this whole thing :33 it’s such a fun idea I love when Cass takes on the movie role with Rapunzel

Ahhh I'm so glad you're enjoying! This is really sweet of you to take the time to send a kind anon <3

[outoftheirdifferences]

...you know what? Putting out there the final ramble that I’ve had saved in my drafts for a while, too!

This has been sitting around since my girlfriend and I finished our watch of the Tan.gled series season 3 last year. I, um... sure had some thoughts about its ending, but that’s for another time. Rather, what I’d like to ramble about this time is a frustration that is, naturally, related to my favourite two characters.

Yep, that’s right: Angry and Red.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad to see them again, and I’m happy that they got more screentime - I do prefer their younger designs, but their older looks grew on me too, after a while. But that then leads me on to my greatest frustration regarding them, and that’s this:

WHY did they have more screentime... if they weren’t going to be used to contribute to the plot in any meaningful way?

I really don’t... get it? They kind of get to tag along with the main cast in several episodes, but in a grand total of none of them do they aid in resolving the conflict of the episode or helping in any way whatsoever. Beyond the werewolf episode (which I have... very mixed feelings about), they don’t even have any moments of bonding with the other characters.

They’re just there.

At first, I thought it was setting them up for a significant role later in the season. I mean, the two girls have never actually met Cassandra - she was in bed with a broken foot the whole time they were around the castle in Big Brothers of Co.rona, Rapunzel and Eugene were away from the party in Vigor the Visionary, and of course Cass had done her thing by the time they showed up again in season 3. So I figured they had a more neutral perspective on her to provide than anyone else in the cast.

Add to that, the way Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf seemed to be setting up for something like that? Opinions on that episode aside, I spent most of the season expecting that Red was ultimately going to be the one to get through to Cassandra; what she has to learn in that episode, the “it’s okay to be angry, but this is not an okay way to deal with it” moral, felt like it could VERY easily apply to Cass in her situation. It would have not only been an interesting parallel to play with, but would have shown how Red had grown in accepting her own emotions since that episode, and give Angry a chance to support her sister.

And yet... not only did that not happen, the girls presence in the finale feels like it had no effect on the outcome. It feels... I dunno, frustrating? Wasteful? That they have these two great characters and failed to utilise them?

I dunno. I’m just disappointed that they didn’t get to add anything to the story at all in the end, you know?

[punzieeeee]

Name: Rapunzel Corona Age: Twenty-four Occupation: Artist Sexuality: Unsure Pronouns: She/Her Currently Playing: Today Was A Fairytale by Taylor Swift Big Three: Gemini sun, Pisces moon, Taurus rising

Headcanons:

Though she didn’t know it until very recently, Rapunzel grew up with a mother who hadn’t actually been her mother, in a tower in the Echo Isle woods. Most of the time, she was fairly content with her simple life and just her mother as companionship, but there had always been something digging at Rapunzel, wanting more. Every day seemed to hold the same thing for her: chores, hobbies, and singing to her mother a song that she was taught as soon as she could sing. Though she didn’t know much about the outside world, she could see lanterns every year in the sky on her birthday, and the lanterns were what gave her hope for more since the first time she could remember seeing them.

Everything changed when a man came into the tower one day and Rapunzel somehow persuaded him to take her with him to go see the very lanterns she had been dreaming of. Flynn Rider turned her life upside down, and for the better. It was after they saw the lanterns that Rapunzel discovered she was the lost princess of a small part of Echo Isle, named Corona, and that she had been living with a stranger her whole life. Though it took Flynn, revealed to be Eugene Fitzherbert, almost dying to escape, she saved him with the magic of the healing flower and managed to get her “mother” arrested. Now, Rapunzel has reunited with her family, but lives with Flynn and her best friend who works for her parents, Cass. 

With a lot of free time, Rapunzel has picked up on a lot of hobbies and unusual skills that come in handy sometimes. She’s a fantastic baker, knows how to play just about every instrument in an orchestra, and even knows how to make her own clothes. The only things she really struggles with are technology and human interaction. She’s a little awkward, but tries her best. Her mother didn’t allow any media outside of books to enter the tower, thus leaving her pretty inept when it comes to modern technology, but she’s trying her best. 

Rapunzel wished for a lot of things when she was younger, but the two things she wanted the most were a sibling and a father. She never understood why her mother didn’t have a husband, or, at the very least, a partner, to help raise her. The bond between Rapunzel and her mother was strong growing up, but she always dreamed of having someone else around to make life a little less lonely.

Hence, Pascal is still  the brother she never had. He was the best company to have when her mother went on long journeys to get food and supplies. Pascal discovered the tower one day when the two were just kids, and Rapunzel let him up. He’s the only one who knows Rapunzel’s dreams, her desires, her every day struggles, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s just thankful that her wish for companionship came true.

The lanterns had to be magical, or so she believes. Rapunzel wished one year on her birthday for someone like Pascal to come along, and a few weeks later, there he was. The same thing happened when she wished for adventure, and in came Flynn Rider. She knows magic is real, and those lanterns have to hold some kind of it.

Rapunzel likes to live each day like it’s her last, mostly because it might very well be. She’s terrified that, one day, her mother will leave jail and her entire world will turn upside down. Rapunzel knows it’s not something to worry about now, and that she shouldn’t live life too cautiously, but the thought sometimes pops into her mind and she can’t seem to shake it. 

Since she hasn’t been many places in Echo Isle (or on the planet, for that matter), painting is Rapunzel’s way of visiting places she’s only dreamed of. She loves to paint places as they’re described in books. Now, she’s been trying to focus on painting places that Eugene and Cassandra have been, hoping she’ll make it there someday.

Rapunzel adores Cassandra more than anything, and she’s really one of the only true friends she has. She appreciates Cass telling things to her straight, especially when she’s lived such a sheltered life. She’s almost like a mix between a sister and Rapunzel’s guide to living life outside the tower.

At first, Rapunzel was afraid that it would be weird, living with Eugene and Cass, but they’ve become her family. At least, that’s what it feels like, for now. She kind of has this weird feeling whenever she’s around Eugene that she can’t seem to shake, like butterflies in her stomach that make her even more flustered than she usually is. Rapunzel doesn’t want to mess with the dynamic, though, and she’s not even sure how she would go about telling the guy she’s living with that she likes him. If things went wrong, she’d have to live with her parents, who she loves more than anything, but independence is kind of nice, too.

Her hair is down to the floor, but she likes to braid it often to have it to her thigh. It makes it more manageable for everyday wear. She cut off a small piece of it when she was younger, and it shriveled and turn to brown. Rapunzel wants to keep her magic, but the hair does get annoying.

[whimsical-fangirl]

it’s rapunzel loving hours

[bestworstcase]

Hello, oh, its been a long time since Ive been in the rta fandom. I believe it was you that posted about the analysis that Rapunzel only seems to like lady-in-waiting Cassandra and not Cassandra as a whole, but I cannot seem to find it... the post elaborates on how all of Rapunzel's memories consist of Cassandra in her lady-in-waiting uniform.

If its not you, I apologize

iiiiit was probably me but i think as part of a larger post so . good luck finding it because i can’t either lmfao

i can however summarize the general thrust of the argument mgkgjfj basically:

1. i don’t think rapunzel ever quite grasped that lady in waiting cass was, like, cassandra filtered through the requirements of the LIW gig and more broadly her obligations, as a servant, to the royal family

2. as the hierarchical lines blurred on the road away from corona rapunzel got a few glimpses of unfiltered cass, most notably in goodbye and goodwill, and her reactions are generally less than positive—she enjoys cassandra’s bluntness, her adventurousness, but she’s nnnot comfortable with cass being loud and aggressive and the kind of person whose idea of a grand time is inciting a street brawl and injuring twenty-three people and then boasting to the sheriff about it: she is, in short, not keen on cassandra’s feral streak

3. RATGT has rapunzel remarking, negatively, on the changes she’s seen in cass since they left corona—not just the extreme outburst in the tree, but all of it. she then goes on to draw vent art of cass as a crazed monster with fangs and claws when cass is, like, curt and snappish on account of the barbecued hand thing

4. in the rapunzeltopia lotus dream designed by tromus to be as enticing to rapunzel as possible, cassandra is comfortable and happy in her role as rapunzel’s handmaiden without so much as a whiff of personal ambition or desire for anything more

5. RR upon returning to corona and mourning cassandra’s abandonment rapunzel opens the weapons cabinet, reaches past all the things cass actually cherished, and grabs her WORK UNIFORM to cry into; this is followed by a whole season of rapunzel explicitly romanticizing their past friendship and glossing over the tension and conflicts that always existed in order to reminisce in vague and rose-colored fashion about all the lovely times they had together—which includes fond memories of riding with cass-in-the-lady-in-waiting-gown which almost certainly is not an accurate reflection of the past given how allergic cassandra was to wearing the gown unless she absolutely had to. moreover, the torn LIW headpiece/veil thing is the EMOTIONAL FOCAL POINT of “i’d give anything”

6. rapunzel says herself, at the end of plus est, that she always imagined cassandra “belonged” in corona, by rapunzel’s side—& put into context with all of this and with raps spending virtually all of s3 convinced that the anger and resentment cass is spewing everywhere Isn’t Truly Cass, what all of this suggests to me is that rapunzel—for all that she does genuinely love cassandra—doesn’t particularly know cass, certainly doesn’t understand her as well as she thinks she does, and hasn’t ever really… reckoned with the parts of cass that are not palatable or nice to deal with: she’s got an idealized cassandra on a pedestal in her head, and it’s difficult for her to make the connection that cass isn’t actually like that.

so it’s like.. i think rapunzel can and will get to a point where she sees cassandra clearly and embraces the real, unfiltered cass—even if they’re never going to see eye to eye about some things—but she’s not there yet, and by the end of plus est she’s only just BARELY gotten to the point of recognizing that the cass in her head doesn’t match up with who cass is in actuality. and before she makes that connection, whenever she’s confronted with the real cass not aligning with the idealized conception she has of cass, she gets upset or confused about it because she’s like, why isn’t cass acting like herself? without realizing that the feeling she’s having is actually “why isn’t cass acting like i want her to?”

[sneezypeasy]

Why Aang’s lines sound preachy in The Southern Raiders

I’ve often heard KA’s make the argument that Aang pushing forgiveness as an alternative to Katara’s apparent desire for retribution, is one stemming from a deeper place of concern for Katara’s wellbeing. I’ve heard many a variation of the following argument:

“Katara is a kind soul who would have been wracked with guilt if she actually killed Yon Rha, and Aang who knew her well, was just trying to protect his friend from a lifetime of anguish and regret. Ultimately, it was Aang who knew what Katara needed.”

It’s a compelling argument, and if it were actually how Aang’s lines were framed I don’t think anyone could really disagree that Aang is, honestly, just being the friend that Katara deserved.

Now, before I continue, I want you to think of similar scenes in movies/shows, where Character A is about to take some extreme measure out of anger, and Character B, who loves them and genuinely hurts for them, tries to stop them, knowing that their choices are being fuelled by a rage or bloodlust which will some day pass and eventually be replaced with sorrow and regret. 

Perhaps a scene like this, or like this. In general, a lot of scenes featuring one character pulling a friend out of “the darkness” regardless of context, will likely sound similar (here’s a sweet, post-friend-goes-nuts version). There are countless examples, feel free to picture whichever one comes readiest to mind.

I think you’ll find a few commonalities between all of them - let’s call the Friend who’s trying to help, the Sam, and the one who needs to be pulled back from “the darkness”, the Frodo.

(And yes, I’m aware that there’s a brilliant meta from my-bated-breath which actually dissects whether it’s justified to consider Katara as someone needing a loyal friend to pull them back from “the darkness” in this moment - but right now, we’re accepting the KA framing uncritically to see how well the actual lines of dialogue hold up).

So back to Sam and Frodo. In most of those examples, I think you’ll notice a few things. The Sam usually affirms how much they unconditionally love/care/value the Frodo, no matter what they might do or what they might already have done:

(Dialogue has been trimmed to relevant lines)

Willow: You can’t stop this.

Xander: Yeah. I get that. It's just, where else am I gonna go? You've been my best friend my whole life.

Willow: Is this the master plan? You're gonna stop me by telling me you love me?

Xander: I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. And I know you're about to do something apocalyptically evil and stupid, and hey - I still wanna hang. You're Willow. If you wanna kill the world, then start with me.

Willow: You think I won’t?

Xander: It doesn’t matter. I’ll still love you.

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Solomon: Dia, what are you doing? ... I know they made you do bad things, but you are not a bad boy. I am your father who loves you. And you will come home with me and be my son again.

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Rapunzel: You’re my best friend, Cassandra, and I will never give up on you.

As well as affirming their love, Sams also try to appeal to their Frodos’ humanities, by reminding them of the "good” parts of them, the heroic and virtuous qualities they’ve temporarily rejected or suppressed or lost sight of in their fall into darkness:

Xander: The first day of kindergarten, you cried because you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far. Ending the world, not a terrific notion... But the thing is... yeah, I love you. I love crayon-breaky Willow and I love scary-veiny Willow.

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Solomon: You are Dia Vandy, of the proud Mende tribe. You are a good boy who loves soccer and school... The cows wait for you. And Babu, the wild dog who minds no one but you.

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Rapunzel: Cass, I was thinking about when we first met. Do you know it was nearly three weeks before I heard you laugh for the first time? I guess there wasn’t much to smile about, you know, after being put in charge of a free-spirited flower child who painted smiley faces all over your things.

Cassandra:*chuckles despite herself, before the glum, hopeless expression immediately returns to her face*

Rapunzel: But that first laugh was so remarkable, because I knew you meant it.

Cassandra: What do you mean?

Rapunzel: When you laughed. You had this look in your eyes... I don’t know, it was like seeing you, the real you, for the first time. And that’s the Cassandra I became best friends with.

Cassandra: Why are you telling me this?

Rapunzel: Because even when I look at you now, after all that’s happened, no matter what we’ve done to each other, I still see that look in your eyes.

The “I know this isn’t you, and the real you, the good you, the kind you, my best friend you, is still in there, somewhere” is such a sweet and powerful trope, and I can understand the desire to contextualise Aang and Katara’s argument in the Southern Raiders as basically an embodiment of this trope. And when I went back to re-watch the episode, part of me was open to the idea that this was indeed how the scene was intended to be perceived. I was looking for the appeals to Katara’s humanity, her values, her pure kind heart (for surely, Aang would be spoiled for choice as to which “Katara is sweet and selfless” moment to choose from to remind her of her natural goodness). I was looking for the affirmations of unconditional love, the emphasis being kept on who Katara was, both as a good person and as a beloved friend. I was completely prepared to accept that the general perception of Aang as “preachy” and “tone-deaf” was an unfair one, tainted through liberal use of shipping goggles and bias.

I was actually somewhat surprised to see that it wasn’t the case.

Katara: We're going to find the man who took my mother from me.

Zuko: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him.

Aang: Um... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: *Shakes her head in dismay.* Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand. *Begins to walk away.*

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?

A lot of metas have pointed out that Aang “using Katara’s pain just to talk about his own” is selfish and manipulative; I’m not going to get into that here. What I am surprised to see, however, is not what Aang says but what he doesn’t say. Throughout this entire conversation, Aang philosophises about forgiveness and revenge, appeals to his own values (which he frames as universal truths), and pushes Katara to consider forgiveness as the better option. Not once does he ever appeal to Katara’s values, her humanity, her wants, her needs.

In fact, let’s isolate just Aang’s lines for a moment:

Aang: Um... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people? 

Aang: I don’t think so. I think it’s about getting revenge.

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet.

Aang: The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself.

Aang: Katara, you do have a choice: forgiveness.

Aang: No, it's not (the same as doing nothing). It's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive.

Now, take the word “Katara” out of those lines. What clues are there, in his lines of dialogue, that he is appealing to Katara? What about his lines of dialogue are personal to her, are an appeal to her character, her morals, her identity, her needs, her goodness, her truth?

Is there anything in these lines at all, that would make it impossible to contextualise as Aang saying them to any other character in the show, other than that he uses her name?

Aang is in the perfect position, unlike Zuko, to actually frame his side of the argument as coming from a place of someone who knows Katara better than Zuko does, and knows what she needs and what would help her in a way Zuko couldn’t (or shouldn’t). He ought to know her better than Zuko does. He’s been friends with her for far longer and surely has a better grasp of her character. Yet he never appeals to it, not once, in their entire conflict.

In fact, it is Zuko who tries to contextualise the situation as specifically about what Katara needs:

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice.

The point I’m trying to make isn’t about whether Zuko is right or wrong in his understanding of Katara. Zuko isn’t in the position to justify his perception of Katara’s need for closure with what he knows of her character. But it’s rather ironic that in this exchange, the one where KA’s often insist that Aang’s encouragement of forgiveness is a misunderstood demonstration of Aang’s deep concern for “who Katara truly is” and “what Katara truly needs”, Aang himself never actually frames it that way. The only one who gets anywhere close to framing it that way, is Zuko.

You even see this right at the very end, the line KA’s so often use as evidence that Aang was right all along:

Zuko: You were right about what Katara needed. Violence wasn’t the answer.

Again, the emphasis is on Katara, her wellbeing, her benefit, her mental and spiritual state. Whether he “got Katara right” or not, that’s where Zuko’s heart and mind was, the whole time.

But what does Aang say in response?

Aang: It never is.

And there it is. Therein lies the root of Aang’s beliefs, and the motivation behind his actions. Therein lies the problem. Aang wasn’t advising forgiveness and restraint and non-violence because he knew Katara so well and he knew how bad the darkness was for her and he knew those things were what Katara truly needed. His advice was not Katara-specific, because he didn’t see the issue as Katara-specific. His advice came from his own values, the ideals that he personally believed in, that he felt were absolute and universal. He would have given anyone the same advice, in probably the exact same way. Aang wasn’t trying to bring back Katara, specifically Katara, from her darkness. It wasn’t about her. Not specifically her. It never was.

And that’s why Aang sounds preachy, in a way that other Sams, when reaching out to their Frodos, do not.

[ame-gosh]

Hi! So I've read your Cass x Rapunzel comic (BEAUTIFUL btw I adore it) and I had a question!

So obviously Rapunzel loves Cass, but I got some hints that she's still with Eugene? But wants to be with them BOTH romantically? Maybe? (Honestly if she does then Good For Her we stan a poly relationship) but I was just curious if that's what's happening or just my interpretation and I'm misreading

(Honestly I love the idea of Rapunzel being with both Cass and Eugene in different but equally full of love romantic relationships. Also the GOSSIP is hilarious to think about)

THANKS ok long story short I left things a little ambiguous because starting out with the first comic I had zero plans other than an urge to get out some Feelings that s2 tiptoed up to but waved away because Disney, and then the other two+ were less angst/commentary (mostly) and more a setup for the whole Cassandra's Tangled Adventure thing. They're meant to kind of co-exist in the margins of the show and not totally take sides, because at the time I felt like that was a fun challenge (I guess it's easier for me to wishfully pretend like the comics fit if they don't actually change what happens in the show. Except for the Epilogue animatic which kind of does take a side bc at the time I thought that was the last thing I'd draw, and then the Question happened)? Which would mean yes, Rapunzel is still in a relationship with Eugene, but very much grappling with untangling (oops) her feelings towards both of them.

THAT SAID I'm of two minds:

1. I think it would be good character development and a welcome challenging of the fairy tale archetype for Rapunzel to realize that yes, Eugene is a dear, dear friend but the very new and intense feelings she had immediately after her imprisonment of 18 years weren't necessarily True Love! And if they were, they can change, and it's ok for them to change, and there are many different kinds of love!! So despite the social expectation of her needing to fall in love with the prince charming character, and after actually living life for a while and discovering who she is, she finds that Cassandra would be a better fit romantically (especially when it comes to themes of freedom and stuff, and there never being an unchanging Happily Ever After, and since Cass was literally designed to be Raps' complement in almost every thematic way, but that's a whole other essay) and through the comics and afterwards she's tentatively, cautiously untangling these feelings and unlearning all of the expectations that'd been drilled into her but desperately not wanting to hurt Eugene in the process

OR

2. All of them very much end up together because absolutely yes the poly angle is cute as hell and very good in so many ways and why shouldn't she have two partners she's been through enough! They all have! and the banter would be incredible and the kingdom would flourish under the rule of the royal coronan power throuple

Even then these things aren't mutually exclusive, and you can definitely have a self-aware deconstruction of the heteronormative true love trope AND they all are in a relationship, and anything in between or beyond. Idk! I'm just a fan artist!

Anyways yeah thanks and I'm really glad you enjoyed them!

[shima-draws]

Part of me really wishes they’d focused a bit more on Varian’s redemption arc;; they kinda wrapped it all up in one episode and it felt sort of rushed? I would have loved to see more of Varian coming to terms with the things he did and realizing how wrong he was and how awful he’d treated everyone in Corona--but he’s still holding onto that pain and the betrayal that turned him into a villain in the first place. That sort of torn feeling between “Yes, I need to take revenge for what they did” and “No, I’ve gone too far, I need to make up for my mistakes”.

Clearly this is something Andrew could take advantage of, because Varian obviously hadn’t made up his mind yet, and dangles the “Obviously you’re conflicted about this so you can still be friends with everyone after we wipe their memories and start fresh” option in front of his face. And Varian, alone and trapped in a jail cell, probably wouldn’t have hesitated to go along with Andrew’s plan, being so young and impressionable and ready to please just about anybody. And when he was presented with the option, with the chance to be friends with the people he once loved so dearly...of course he would go for it, because deep down he’s still desperate for their approval. It’s a win win, he can take revenge and then wipe the slate clean.

By the time Rapunzel comes back to Corona Varian already seems to have fully accepted that he messed up, badly, and he wants to make up for it, but doesn’t see any other way around it other than going to the extremes again. I would have liked to see this inner conflict pushed even further, maybe with Andrew taunting Varian that listen, we’re all you have, we’re all you have to turn to, we were the ones that picked up the pieces and gave you a new purpose and if you betray us here you’ll have NOBODY, and be all alone again. And Varian knows this because he firmly believes Rapunzel and the others won’t ever forgive him, so he’s caught in a battle of morals, “Do I help the only people that actually ever LISTENED to me or save the kingdom at the cost of being abandoned again”. And in the end his good side wins over the bad, and he decides that hey, everyone may still hate me but I won’t make the same mistake twice, I’m going to make the right decision this time. And that in turn moves Rapunzel into forgiving him and knowing that he truly regrets hurting her, and that she can start to trust him again.

Another thing that they really glossed over was Quirin’s rescue;; I know the fans hypothesized for AGES what the note he wrote said, only to have it be an anti-climactic “I’m proud of you, Varian” when it could have been SO much more than that. Maybe information about the Brotherhood or some ancient secret kept about Zhan Tiri, maybe even any of Quirin’s knowledge on the black rocks and the moonstone. It felt really disappointing when it was just oh yeah Quirin’s proud of Varian but we all knew that already! And ofc that’s a driving factor to Varian’s character arc, wanting his dad to be proud, so being told that was definitely important, but there could have been more.

And I guess his rescue was sort of a let down too since it’s been building for an entire season, and then Rapunzel just swoops in and gets him out in two seconds flat and is like welp. That was easy. IDK I just think there could have been more drama around it--I would have loved to see an episode focused solely on Varian and Rapunzel, maybe they have to venture out and get a special artifact or something that works with her hair incantation to break the amber, and during that time they start to rebuild their friendship and actually talk things out fully. (I mean they kind of hit on some of those points in Be Very Afraid but not ALL of it.) They’d probably bring up Cass, too, and Varian tells Rapunzel if there was still a chance for me after all I did, then there’s a chance for her, too. And after lots of danger and perils they manage to get what they need, and by then they’ve completely mended their friendship, and Raps comments on how grateful she is that Varian’s back by her side again and it’s SOFT. And then after that they free Quirin--something that came of teamwork, something that would feel a lot more satisfying than what we were given. That would round out Varian’s redemption as a whole, helping Rapunzel, giving her advice, and taking his own part in saving his father rather than just having Rapunzel do all the work. 

TLDR Varian’s redemption felt really rushed ESPECIALLY considering how much work they put into his story arc in the first season so it wrapped up in a really anti-climactic way (and there’s also the fact that he’s such a big fan favorite so we would not have minded a longer redemption arc for him?) along with Quirin’s rescue and the note being kind of a letdown and this is how I would have made it better