I'm so sorry this took so long. I just fell behind on things, then I when I finally got back to this, I scrapped it and and redid it. I definitely think it was worth it - this is much funnier. Please accept Hector and Bearcats eating popcorn in the background as my apology.
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doodled what normally ends up happening when my beloved passenger princess @birb-tangleblog and i put our fave tts songs on π§πββοΈπ£οΈππΆπ
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Summary: Cassandra sits in her tower, waiting for her foes to come to her.
@the-writer1988
She sits in the eye of the storm.
Power flows through her veins, more power than sheβs ever known, but she remains perfectly still on a throne she created herself. To anyone watching, sheβs the picture of composure. But no oneβs around to see her, and her mind is on fire.
She doesnβt eat, or sleep. Sheβs beyond any of that. All she can do is think. Sheβs angry, she always is, but thatβs for the best because anger keeps her going. Every injustice she remembers, every loved one who betrayed her, they all keep the fire burning. Itβs a strange sort of fire; not a warm red but a cool, cold blue. But she likes that. It suits her. It matches her blue hair, the blue of her tower.
Before she took the stone, sheβd never have been able to build that tower. She could barely lift her sword after her injury. But the ghost girl had saved her. Trained her. Kept the fire burning when it was in danger of going out. The ghost girl was the only friend she had now; the only one she needed.
At first, the stone had scared her. It had sealed her away in dark armor, eating away at her humanity. But in return, it gave her so much. It gave her the power she needed, a destiny to work towards. It gave her a chance to fight back. A chance at revenge.
The boy had tried to talk her out of it. Heβd tried to pour water over her fire, but she hadnβt let him. Sheβd sent him away before he could do any real damage. Now all she has to do is bide her time. His friends β her old friends β would be arriving soon to rescue him. She reminds herself what they did to her. What they would continue to do to her, if she lets them.
For now, though, her throne room is empty. Nothing but rocks and daggers.
All she needs.
Thatβs what she tells herself, over and over again.
Sometimes, when sheβs alone, she remembers everything she left behind. Her family, her friends, all they did for her. She remembers how much she loved them and her power diminishes. Then, with the ghost girlβs help, she remembers how much they hurt her and sheβs back to full strength again, those happy memories burned away.
these are, i think, all the pages in my sketchbook that are predominantly tangled :) ive got a bunch of other pages that have like, some tangled, but i decided to just put the main ones in this dump
unnecessary rambles below the cut c:
1 is the very first page in my sketchbook, the page that i decided to get over my fear of the blank page and just doodle stuff! this was the first time id ever drawn in a sketchbook in my recent memory :)
2 is like the only time ive drawn the entire brotherhood ToT pretty pleased with the layout of that one
3 was done entirely with one purple highlighter and a blue ballpoint pen! im so proud of it i should do more things like that
4 was an attempt at layering pages to make a window effect. wasnt really sure what i was doing haha. the lyrics are from "waving through a window," which i was probably listening to at the time
7 was, in fact, the 1000th time i drew him. yes, i drew him 1000 times, and yes, i kept count. it's a very long story but basically it was a joke competition/bet between me and my best friend that i took seriously. it took two years of hyperfixation to hit the mark haha. im very happy that i hit number 1000 on his birthday, it's like the ultimate tribute loL
9 is a scene from jainp i was writing at the time of drawing that :3
10 is a (dramatized version of a) scene from a fic i really liked. i dont often read fics, but i super loved this one. it's a modern au set during varian's time with the separatists, except rapunzel and co bail him out. "it's never that easy, though, is it?" by V4RI4N on ao3.
11 is some really old art of my jainp kiddos as babies <3 rapunzel takes a polaroid picture with her best friends at the end of every school year since first grade, so theyre like little snapshots of her life :3
12 i wanted to draw big wings. what can i say. i threw in some icarus things because it made it cooler. i drew these on the drive to see wicked on tour!!
something something considering the core of rapunzel's backstory revolves around her being belittled, controlled, and held captive for most of her life, you'd think people would be at least a little π€ sympathetic toward cassandra feeling unheard and terrified at the prospect of being sent to a convent against her will something something
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"I've noticed, probably now more than ever, when fans like or dislike a character, they insist on putting them in 1 of 2 buckets: they're either a "good" or "bad" person." I've noticed this, too, and I agree about it being shallow and not the best framework to use. IMO, the best characters tend to be more complicated than that, and Cass is *definitely* more complicated than that.
Cass' complexity is exactly what makes her so interesting!
She's complicated and flawed, and it continues to grate me to see people overlook those parts of her, or use them against her in the most predictably bad faith ways. When people are like "oohh she's sooo abrasive :((" or whatever xyz , I'm just like...
Okay... And...?
People will spend all the time in the world extrapolating the smallest things from things we see with Rapunzel and Other Characters to inject more depth into them and their interactions (which is fine, like, let a thousand flowers bloom as they say), but with Cass -- despite the show spoon-feeding viewers all the slights and issues she's experienced over the first 2 seasons -- it's never enough.
There's this tragic lack of curiosity and imagination that viewers lock themselves into when it comes to her, and I'm not unconvinced it's a result of people hearing others scapegoating her as a reason parts of the show were unsatisfying, and internalizing it.
She's unhappy with her current role and the trajectory (plus lack of control) in her life? She should just be grateful she works in the castle and that she was adopted at all (do some of you guys hear yourselves??). She's feels overshadowed and unheard amongst her peers and especially her best friend? She should apparently... suck it up and just listen to Rapunzel because she's the world's most specialist princess?? She gets her hand scorched by magic because Rapunzel started reciting some dangerous incantation? Just... screw Cass, I guess??
(And ftr, RATGT is my favorite part of the series -- Hector bias aside -- because I felt like it did such a good job needling into Cass' grievances and the tension between her and Rapunzel. Like, they were both acting in a life-or-death situation. There's no clear fault here IMO, and I love moments where you can't (shouldn't?) put blame on 1 single character when everyone is acting under duress. But people's eagerness and gall to be like "oh Cass should have just known better and not to touch Rapunzel lol idiot" is such an insanely forced take to me.)
There's no fault here, but Cass has every right to feel angry and devastated about this injury. It's undermined so much of her own goals and training, and now she has to adapt to it. Her dreams hinge on her ability as a warrior in combat, and she touched Rapunzel because she was afraid for her and the entire party. Like, as someone who deals with chronic pain to the point I can't even draw as comfortably or as often as I'd like to as an artist... I can relate with how maddening her injury is LMAO
As an aside/for the record, I still imagine Cass as adopted, but I do ignore the Gothel twist and I draw exclusively from her pre-established S1 and S2 motivations. (I just hate the Gothel & Dark Prince twists so much. I hate it when everyone is related in a story. Unnecessary and ZZZ but anyway lmao--) The Gothel twist just feels like a vestigial remnant of the og pitch and I have a few more thoughts on it, but anyway--
Cass has done things that are wrong. But her motives and actions feel relatable given where she's coming from textually (and subtextually - like if you want to go a step further and examine potential sexism etc in Corona, even if it's not as overtly hard-baked into the culture, I can imagine it still lingers in society). There's a post I just reblogged that articulates what I'm trying to say here pretty well, and I just think people need to think about this more too.
There's more I want to say - like... touching upon characters with complicated or messy pasts. Eugene, Varian, Lance, literally all the dads in the show lmao. Hector was outright murderous and described as "sadistic" (a very fun, loaded word to have in a kids show btw) and maybe because he was a side/supporting character but no one seems to linger on that. People need to be able to engage with the moral complexity -- let characters be messy, recognize that human relationships and people usually are complicated.
I'll wind down my response here (and ty for humoring me if you made it this far). I just don't see people be willing to give Cass the same grace they give other characters, and the, like, double standards just get to me so much LMAO.
Originally drafted this as a rb to @birb-tangleblog's darker Mind Trap AU Ask response here, but I decided to make it its own post! Hoping I'm articulating myself well enough below so apologies in advance if I'm rambling too much lmao:
Like, generally speaking, and I say this as a big Cass fan -- I think this direction for Cass might be hard for some fans to envision or accept? And I only say this because I've noticed, probably now more than ever, when fans like or dislike a character, they insist on putting them in 1 of 2 buckets: they're either a "good" or "bad" person. But I don't think that's the best framework to use. It's shallow, and arguably unfair to a character and their writer(s).
Exploring characters' capacity for good or harm is fun. There are 2 perspectives that float around: (A) "This character would not [say/do] that," and (B) "Okay, but what would make them [say/do] that?" And I think both ideas can coexist (within reason, I guess? IDK, I can relate with both lol).
And with that said -- people are fallible, and so no one is truly a "good" person. Like we all (I hope) and Cass, at her core, strive to be good. We see it from her constantly throughout the show. She's ambitious and seeks glory, sure, (and those aren't inherently negative qualities at all, though I feel people perceive them as such) but that doesn't negate her pursuit of justice etc etc.
This darker track's intrigued me for years because I love Cass, and her anger and capacity for contempt is part of why I love her. I've been drafting a separate post talking about how people try to position her different traits as a reason why she's a bad person and therefore a bad character (and I would say those are 2 distinct things that people conflate/fail to acknowledge in meta), but her Moonstone era/villain arc/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is her breaking point.
And (apologies for parroting you here, Birb, lol but--) when she feels all this resentment towards Rapunzel after a months-long, exhausting journey; her father for holding her back; the (what I interpreted as) sexism in the guard/kingdom culture limiting her opportunities; Adira's arrogance and interference; and this condescending, cocky bastard of a man who didn't hesitate to beat and humiliate her in front of her friends -- plus the pain of her scorched hand, the Moonstone, and an ancient demon whispering in her ear -- there's no better target than the Brotherhood, especially Hector.
In a grittier AU where MoonCass truly breaks bad, whatever her motivations, I 100% believe she'd sink her teeth into the chance to torment Hector as payback. He's an older man, he's a knight, and he's fiercely loyal to his kingdom -- he's a mirror of what she wanted to be and could have been, and that infuriates and... liberates her.
Cass wanted to be an esteemed warrior like him, someone who made a name for themselves in their ranks, but she also sees how far he'd go to lose himself, destroy himself for his king and she... feels repulsed by it. He was going to bring the Tree down with them all, and for nothing, and the senselessness of it repulses her. So she takes all of that out on him over and over and over again.
And, like you said, Hector's never learns. She's stubborn and so is he, foolishly so. Adira, on the other hand, is ever-pragmatic, and is determined to survive as long as possible until they can find a way out. Just like the Tree, Hector can't help but mouth off, keep biting back. For all his skill and precision, he lacks restraint -- and in some ways, like Cass, that'll be his undoing.
(Speaking of capacity, their dynamic is also fascinating to me because I think they could both bring the best and worst out of each other. In another life, Hector could have been a mentor to her. But in this, he's just a washed-up knight who ends up being her punching bag.)
πͺ€ Ok thank you so much for enabling me LMAOO- this post got very very long because I have a lot of thoughts, and I wanted to include enough context.
Iβve been trying to whittle it down and make it shorter and I finally just kinda gave up Iβm sorry lmao ANYWAY-
I go back and forth on if it's even an AU vs. a more grounded take on what prolonged mind control would look like, and a toothier, darker interpretation of Cassandra's character in the throes of her villain arc. I also need to preface this whole ramble by stating that my interpretation of the mindtrap is that it is a tool that overrides the targetβs consciousness. In the show, anyone whoβs Mindtrapped turns into an βevilβ version of themselves doing Cassβ bidding- Hector and Adira are grinning, theyβre sinister, theyβre good mini bosses, itβs simple, I get it.
But in my mind (hehe), itβs more compelling (and believable) that the MT takes away all free will and renders its targets like drones/puppets. W/ that interpretation, I think there's a lot of dehumanization going on by necessity at baseline.Β
Cass is using Hector and Adira as tools, putting them in dangerous situations, and commanding them to follow orders they would never comply with if they were lucid; it's too uncomfortable for her to see them as people.
And that translates into passive neglect/negligence- she's not thinking about how much rest they need, the last time they ate, or how long they've been on their feet. They follow orders without complaint and they don't speak unless spoken to; it's easy to put their well-being out of mind. Maybe the moonstone also dampens her own physical needs β maybe Cass doesnβt even realize nor care that she eats and sleeps less after bonding with it β and this further distances her from being able to consider what Hector and Adira need.
They don't have the autonomy to groom when under the MTβs influence, so I imagine that as time passes they look increasingly unkempt and ragged. Their paint smears and washes off, their braids come undone; Cass absolutely isn't wasting time letting them maintain their hairstyles. Small injuries go untreated, because they can't tend to them themselves.
I can imagine Cass suddenly losing her connection with Hector or Adira at some point, becoming unreachable mentally, and when she investigates why she finds one of them collapsed somewhere on their patrol from exhaustion.
After that, she modifies their standing orders so they'll sleep and eat mechanically between assignments, but it's the bare minimum to prevent them from breaking down.(I think Cass would recognize they need to be maintained the same as any asset- a horse, a sword, etc.- which is dehumanizing in its own way.)
Even in a canon-compliant track that's pretty low grade on angst, I think Hector and Adira would probably come out of their time in captivity having lost a lot of weight. He has less to lose than she does because he's already lean, and might end up closer to emaciated by the time they're freed. He needs like 5000 calories a day and Cass is feeding him gruel and maybe one (1) apple.
I think the next level down/the darker version of this AU is her actively antagonizing the Brotherhood while they're in captivity. And I'm writing this ask so obviously I can see it LMAO. Cass is at her worst with the moonstone- she's isolated and spiraling, bonded with a magical artifact that may or may not amplify and warp her negative emotions, and her only company is a demon who has zero interest in the Brotherhood's well-being outside of their utility as weapons. She's so angry.Β
And here's where my character interpretation/possible hot take comes in- I think Cass would really enjoy making Hector experience the humiliation and powerlessness she felt at the Great Tree. The role reversal and control/dominance is new to her, itβs a rush.Β
We see shades of this in the unused scene from the finale that got as far as being storyboarded despite not making the final cut. Cass leans in while Hector leans away, she grabs his face, she gloats about her plans while he's unnerved- she seems to enjoy making him uncomfortable. Loooot of powerplay going on in this G-rated scene LMAO
Interestingly, Hector also appears lucid there- my guess is that it was simply boarded before the artistic decision was made to give people under the mindtrapβs influence glowing blue eyes as a visual cue. The Watsonian explanation that Cass allowed Hector/Adira to be self-aware while still under her control is a lot more interesting to me though, and fits w/ this whole train of thought.
I tend to see Hector as bearing the brunt of Cass' anger because... he's an easier target, honestly?
Cass knew Adira- even if she disliked her and grew to resent her presence in the group, there were times where she was almost warming up to her. They traveled together. She undermined Cass and came off as arrogant or dismissive of Cass at worst. But Cass has only ever had truly negative interactions with Hector; he physically beat her and belittled her in front of the princess and all her friends. He's not a person to her- she's only ever known him as an enemy.Β
And Hector's so insanely stubborn and arrogant that she hurts him and he just doesn't LEARN. Even in a position of powerlessness, he's too reactive and impulsive to keep himself from mouthing off/talking back, or verbally attacking her- calling her a child, reminding her that she's nothing without the moonstone, etc. (In contrast, I think Adira would quickly realize how unstable Cass is and after trying and failing to reach out and get through to her, she'd adopt the grey stone method and comply to survive. Hector has no such self-preservation.)
You might notice in some of my sketches Hector has uhh cut hair and the story/implication for me there has always been that Cass sheared it in off in a fit of rage/as a punishment. Maybe Hector was showing a lot of resistance to her direct orders and she couldn't control him, or maybe he spat/bit her when she tried to grab his face, or headbutted her if she got close enough.
ANYWAY. Tl;dr I think Cass would have a really toxic dynamic w/ the Brotherhood and ESPECIALLY Hector while they were under her control. She needs an outlet/heatsink for her anger and Hector is too emotionally stunted to not make things worse for himself. (And, again, reiterating that this is a contextual exploration of Cassβ capacity to do harm, and an exploration of her at her worst.)Β
Aside from that, my gf and I have also toyed w/ AUs where prolonged exposure to the mindtrap (and Cass focusing its full power on Hector more often b/c of how how hard he fights her) is actually destructive, and/or the effects of possession at the Tree + the mindtrap are cumulative and basically fry Hector's brain.Β
In that path, Hector ends up completely hollow/borderline catatonic at worst by the end of the series. He disassociates, has holes in his memory, can't find words and struggles w/ making decisions on his own at all. It adds another layer of complications for a man who, by the end of the series, would arguably already be struggling to re-integrate back into society after 25 years of isolation.
"AUs" like that are kind of narrative cul-de-sacs in that there's no real destination, but I love iterating/permutating and focusing on minutiae of recovery. Here's another old doodle:
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Log of old sketches and abandoned WIPs! Some are as old as 2025-2024 I think, but with how classee are going, there isn't time for much else right now (help). Happy Pride also!!!!!
{ I'm out of air, I'm in such despair
I'm desperately trying to show you I care
And the tide is rising, would you build some stairs?
I'll meet you halfway, I'm almost there! }
I feel like Moze turned out v cute lmao Cat on top of the fridge energy.
Another fun lil Tangled Credits style doodle for Oasis! I enjoy doing them v much, theyre v relaxing!
