#tho this can be 100% platonic or romantic any way . up 2 interpretation

[wrenkos]

new and old

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Personal Opinions on Rapunzel and Cassandra’s Friendship

Ok so this is one post that I’ve been wanting to make for a long time, especially since this is perhaps one of the relationships in the series with the most polarizing views ever (maybe even the number one relationship that is) ranging from people who ship them romantically to people who hate their friendship all together and think that they should’ve never been friends to begin with. So I thought it would be worth a share for me, mostly focusing on S1 and 2. This is not meant to be any hate for either of these girls because they are both among my faves in the series!

ALSO: I will NOT tolerate any hostility or rudeness on this post. If you don’t agree with my opinions, either lets have a friendly, respectful discussion or just scroll by and leave this as it is, thank you!

If you don’t know by now, I personally do not ship them, and never have I since I first started watching the series. I also never interpreted any of their interactions as romantic or saw the two of them as a “potential couple.” I would say this could mostly be due to the fact that I am a hardcore New Dream shipper who strictly believes Rapunzel and Eugene only have romantic feelings for each and I personally don’t think they would have any romantic feelings for anyone else. And I’m also the kind of person who values platonic love so much I also don’t like when they’re shipped (this applies to male-female platonic love as well).

However, I do think that their friendship really made for an interesting story. Now in my opinion, I personally don’t think their friendship was 100% toxic, or devoid of love or happiness, and nor do I think it was entirely a healthy one either, otherwise it wouldn’t have fallen apart by the end of S2.

To start off, I’ve always felt and stand by my opinion that the friendship was very flawed from both sides. The problem with Rapunzel, esp in S1 and less in S2, was that she was a socially stunted teen who was barely out of the tower and barely had time to learn about healthy friendships and boundaries, and this has caused her at several times to unintentionally step on Cass’s personal boundaries, be extremely pushy and at times annoying. Cass on the other hand, as we all know has a super “bitchy”, distrustful personality and has her own insecurities and struggles with self-esteem that negatively affect her own judgments and actions. I feel like a lot of Cass’s trust issues and tough, bitchy exterior stem from her trauma of being abused, neglected, and eventually abandoned by her own mother. I have this headcanon that even though she has no memory of this incident (PTSD can cause a person to forget a traumatizing memory but still continue to suffer as a result of it), she basically has this idea that if her own mother didn’t stay and love her, why would anyone else do so? Cassandra grew bitter to a point where she pushed people away and avoided attachment to avoid the same trauma from happening again. Of course that was until she befriended Rapunzel after Rapunzel persisted in making this friendship happen even after all the pushing away Cass was attempting to do. Based on the canon we got, I would definitely conclude that this was each of the girls’ very first close female friendship in their lives and both had a whole lot they needed to learn in order to grow and build healthier relationships in general. In my opinion, despite the flaws of this friendship, both girls did need it (Rapunzel needed a blunt gal pal who, along with Eugene, could help her discover more of the real world around her and learn more about social interactions, whereas Cassandra needed someone to help her to open up her heart more and know that she is worthy of being loved).

The reason why I don’t agree with a lot of the “Cassandra is malicious and evil to Rapunzel” or “Cassandra’s entire goal and purpose in the whole series (Even in S1 & 2) is belittle and demolish Rapunzel” claims is because I feel like they erase all of Cassandra’s positive traits and great sacrifices she has made for Rapunzel, whether it was their TBEA sneakout adventure which put her at risk of losing her job and home just to make Rapunzel happy or Cass getting her hand charred to get Rapunzel to snap out of the reverse incantation, just to name a few. To also say that Cass was never nice to Rapunzel or never cared for her erases the fact that there were several times she got out of her comfort zone to apologize and make peace with Rapunzel after a conflict (her hugging Raps in Challenge of the Brave after she completely Effed up and in Rapunzel Day One after she opened up about her feeling hurt) or whenever she comforted Rapunzel in her pain (QFAD and BTCW).

As for the claims that “Rapunzel is selfish” or “takes all of her friends for granted” claims, I’m equally opposed to that and they leave an awful taste in my mouth. Rapunzel, as we all know, was trapped in a tower for 18 whole years and has NEVER interacted with anyone besides Gothel and Pascal. Of course Eugene was the first human outside of the tower she interacted with, which throughout the events of the movie and all the trials and sacrifices that they went through, their relationship has so much stability to it. However, not every person Rapunzel interacts will share the understanding she has with Eugene. Rapunzel lacks so much social understanding and skills that there are times she doesn’t know when to have the right type of interactions (remember the bear hug?), let alone experience in royalty. However Rapunzel herself is a major people pleaser and will do whatever it takes to make those around her happy (even if gets really pushy and annoying at times) but she will eventually stop with her pushiness especially when she sees how harmful it can get. Just like Cass, there were several instances where Rapunzel will willingly fight for her, like in BTCW with Adira, even though Cass was technically in the wrong or in Freebird (An episode I’m not a fan of but enjoyed some aspects of it) when both of them fought to save each other or even Rapunzel sacrificing the last egg to turn Cass back.

As for the flaws of the friendship, I would definitely say that alot of it had to do with both lack of proper communication and understanding of boundaries. As we all know Cass doesn’t always have the “fluffiest, kindest” ways of communicating her feelings or her pain and can in turn lash out really badly and come off as condescending and rude. Rapunzel on the other hand, wasn’t really the best at reading social signals (Challenge of the Brave is the best example of super flawed communication and understanding on both sides) or understanding personal boundaries. I personally don’t believe that Rapunzel would “put up someone else’s shit to please them” but she would be more like, if they’re not pleased, Imma force them to be pleased (mostly in a cute, clumsy way, namely Under Raps when she felt the need to constantly “cheer up” Cass or “comfort” Cass in Big Brothers, even when Cass told her she didn’t need it, other examples include Rapunzel’s Enemy with Monty and Goodbye & Goodwill in Vardaros).

However I would say I saw so much improvement throughout S1 and mostly the first half of S2, where we do see them have so many friendly and goofy interactions (In Like Flynn with the pranks, the “game face” in Pascal’s Story, the Island eps, etc).

Then there comes the midseason and this is were I would say the friendship completely fell apart. And I think this is mainly where the argument that Cassandra is controlling over Rapunzel comes into play. Cassandra at the very beginning of the season, as we know the King assigned her with keeping Rapunzel safe, she basically gave up her dream of potentially becoming a guard to accompany Rapunzel. At the same time, Rapunzel is out in the real world outside of Corona and wants to discover more. We see these two have clashes of views and ideals that lead to certain debacles (Freebird is a prime example, tho I personally wish they did something else besides the whole bird plot lol) and then Rapunzel and the Great Tree, especially when Cass expresses that Rapunzel should take caution (which in itself feels "limiting" Rapunzel's desired freedom). I know that there is alot of anger over the argument that Cassandra was belittling Rapunzel by calling her naive (which I agree was a shitty move on her part). But I personally never thought it came from a place of wanting to "bring down Rapunzel and seek control over her" but more of a panic over the fact that they were in a dangerous location and the fact that the gang was nearly killed in it. Adira's points were also valid but Cassandra's insecurity and jealousy of her lead to her reacting hysterically and to make extreme accusations against her. Rapunzel was also stressed from being overwhelmed by the reverse incantation, which also led to her to shut down Cass in an unhealthy, humiliating way.

I feel like this along with the progression of S2 led to the betrayal and I feel like the whole Moonsandra arc should've been more focused on the problems with the friendship and Cass's insecurities rather than the whole Gothel drama. However, I always felt that it was a very complicated friendship that needed lots of mending and better communication on both sides, and I feel like that's where they got to in Plus Est En Vous. Both Rapunzel had grown to better understand social skills, communication, and boundaries a whole lot better than when we first saw her and Cassandra (tho S3 needed much better writing) she had grown to reclaim her self worth and accept that she was worthy of love.

As much as I was upset Cass left Corona, realistically that was what they both needed to give each other space to grow and learn in a healthy way.

[ckret2]

What are your thoughts on mothra?

I've seen...... nnnine (?) Godzilla movies, four (?) of which feature Mothra, and I am wholly convinced that she is the only motherfucker amongst the kaiju that has ANY sort of moral compass at all.

It's kind of precious/hilarious, imagining this responsible protector goddess trying corral these big bunches of unruly obnoxious monsters into either leaving the humans alone, or helping her protect the humans from even more unruly monsters. Especially when she's doing it as a larva! Picture a toddler strapping on boxing gloves and squaring off against a bear. That's Mothra constantly.

Favorite Mothra scene thus far is when poor little larva Mothra is trying to rally Godzilla and Rodan to go kick Ghidorah's ass, and they're like "but the humans bully us!" and "I'm not going until Rodan/Godzilla apologizes to me!" and she's just like "GET OVER IT and COME ON!" Like guys. She's like, one year old. She should not have to act like y'all's mom.

Honorable mention to any time she kicks ass with silly string, because 1) lol, and 2) it really fits her character as a "protector" that her most effective and versatile fighting technique is basically a non-damaging crowd control move. It can very effectively slow down or even completely take out enemies, but it's harmless to them. It suits her.

I think her like, overall life cycle is neat, the "switches back and forth between larva and moth" + "dies and reincarnates via egg" thing she's got going. It's unique and leaves a lot of room for interesting questions. Like, is it a soul reincarnation, meaning she remembers each time she died? Or is it indeed "genetic memory" like the KOTM director said—meaning she only remembers her past life up until the point when she laid the next egg, and thus even though she might remember hundreds/thousands/millions(?) of lives, when she dies she will always be facing death for the first time? Are the eggs capable of hatching while imago Mothra lives, or do they only hatch once she's died—either of which would bring up more questions of the mechanics of her reincarnation? What happens if the latest imago dies without laying an egg—are their fallbacks and failsafes, spare eggs? When does she lay an egg—when she's getting old, or before going into battle, or as soon as she comes out of her cocoon, or once every few years as imago, or?? If it's soul-based reincarnation, what does that mean when there are twins—is only one of the twins the "true" Mothra, or is the soul split between them, and if it is do they get a telepathic bond or something? Regardless of whether reincarnation is soul-based or gene-based, in twin larvae is one ALWAYS doomed to die? Or is it possible for both to make it to adulthood and both be Mothra together? Do they have a psychic bond then? What would it be like to grow up from larvae with someone who is literally the exact same person as you with all your memories shared until the past couple of years? Do surviving adult twins get quadruplet fairies?

I'm a fan of her fairies too. I didn't think I would be when I first heard about them—I was like, "Okay, I know I've gotta be ready for goofy stuff in Godzilla movies, but that sounds TOO goofy to not throw me out of the movie when I see it"—but I actually do like them. They're cute, and they're SO earnest, and it's nice every time these giant humans treat them as very serious and respectable Mothra representatives/ambassadors. And any actresses that can say the exact same lines at the exact same time with the exact same intonation while ALSO emoting in the exact same way are talented as hell.

It's too bad about the uh, racist "native" caricatures of her worshippers. The only two movies I've seen featuring Infant Island were from the 60s though, I hope that later movies improved the portrayal of the island? IDK though, I haven't looked into it. It'd be cool to see Infant Island developed into a, like, realistic and respectful culture, beyond "feather-wearing brownface 'natives' that apparently have nothing better to do with their time than constantly bow to their goddess and/or follow around visitors grumpily."

I think MonsterVerse tried to get around that by going "oh no, Mosura specimens were ALL OVER the place, we only just happened to find one in China," but tbh I prefer the idea that Mothra has a permanent designated "home base" where she lives cooperatively with a specific human society. It was an interesting thing that set her apart from other kaiju that just roam around, and she loses a unique and compelling aspect of her character if she's changed to a wandering kaiju whose reincarnations can pop up randomly in any culture. I just. Want her island to be portrayed better, that's all.

I DID like KOTM's suggestion that Mothra's "fairies" are successive generations of human twin girls that dedicate their lives to Mothra in some way or another. It seems appropriate that Mothra and her human(oid?) representatives all go through a reincarnation cycle together.

Not sure if ship Godzilla and Mothra. I saw a post that briefly outlined their earliest rivalries and gradual cooperation up through their crowning as king/queen in KOTM and concluded with "Mothzilla is a 35-movie enemies-to-lovers slowburn" and that idea delights/amuses the HELL out of me—and all the fanart is, 100%, without question, precious as hell—but I think I'd prefer them to be characterized as extremely close platonic friends rather than romantically and/or sexually involved? There's room to enjoy multiple spins tho and I'm not going to stop going "awww ♡" at art of chibi Godzilla and Mothra in a wedding tux and dress. Variety is the spice of life.

In the same way, I like KOTM's "they're intrinsically linked together as symbiotic species" for one continuity—but I'd rather it not become the default/only interpretation in fandom or for all future movies, because I like the idea that they didn't know a THING about each other but gradually got to know each other & get along over time. ... Plus throw in the occasional movie where they're enemies again. As soft continuity reboots and whatnot allow for.

Out of the kaiju I know so far, Mothra's probably my #3, after #1 Ghidorah and #2 Godzilla. But Godzilla's working real hard trying to keep ahead of Mothra.