Flossy

I forgot to post this yesterday…

I love how these episodes really helped bring some happiness into Cassandra’s life.

Not in the Mood: the episode where Cassandra turns into Buddy the Elf 😂😂

I feel like it definitely helped her view suspicious-looking people in a better light because she lets the one guy in without a proper security check but after she’s her normal self again and he saves her life, she remarks that she knew letting him in was a good idea.

You’re Kidding Me: This one was super cute! It’s one of the only times we see Cassandra spontaneously acting playful. (The toy swords, the top, and playing tag as an adult) Cassandra’s not one to let her guard down to play so it was sweet to see her playing with Lance.

Were Cassandra’s actions in are you kidding me reflective of how she was as a kid: Honestly, not sure. I heard an analysis one time that said something like, “Cass had been brought up strictly, so when she saw that there weren’t so many rules with Rapunzel’s parenting style, she took full advantage of that. Lance had been on his own growing up, so he didn’t respond well to suddenly having to follow a bunch of orders.” So I’d say not necessarily.

This moment was so cute!!!

(yeah no way I'm missing this one)

Oh wow, not sure where to begin on this one; this show and Cass specifically really played a huge part in me getting 'into' fanfic. There are so many fics and writers in this fandom that are so special to me, (shout outs to @flossy2003 @twotangledsisters and @nerdasaurus1200 all of you are amazing Cass writers who I am honored to share this fandom with). That being said, there's a few pieces I really want to mention that maybe don't get as much attention nowadays. SO:

Waiting in the Wings is hands-down one of my favorite Disney songs. I remember, before RATGT premiered, it was announced that Cass would have a song and Broadway World released a clip; I deliberately didn't watch it because I wanted to have the full experience of hearing it for the first time in the context of the show.

I remember hearing it start up, getting all excited because here it was, the big moment, Cass finally getting a solo and-

And it was amazing, of course, but I was not prepared for how devastating. Like- you can hear the longing in it, the pain, the resignation...this wasn't your usual Disney Princess 'I Want' song that crescendoes into the heroine's hope for something more, no, this was something deeper. This was a song by someone who knew, deep down, that she could spend her whole life trying to achieve a dream and only ever brush it with her fingertips.

Tears in my eyes when it was done. Truly singular in the Disney canon and totally deserving of that Emmy win. And to help celebrate, I leave you with some amazing fan takes on Cass's shining moment.

Oh, and tagging @the-writer1988 who organized this event!

I wanna give a big ol' shoutout to my pals, @twotangledsisters @majorabbey @flossy2003 and @frozenwolftemplar

Go check out their fics, go check out the art twotangledsisters has made. It's all so so amazing. They're all such troopers for thinking of and writing and creating so much in the second week, it's absolutely insane.

Young Cap and baby Cass 🥰

I wanted to do more with this and have Raps and Eugene years on, but we’re currently going through a heatwave and I’ve been not feeling like doing anything today 😭

I'm terrible at discussion posts so there's not much more I can do for Cassandra Appreciation Month, except appreciate some of the awesome fics I got to enjoy over this month!

And this is a piece of art I've had in my head since last Saturday:

@twotangledsisters for really going above and beyond for the prompts, providing great fanart and fics. I've enjoyed all of them.

@nerdasaurus1200 for also providing great fics, but also for the discussion prompts as well. She brought up some points I've never really considered, as well as many I agree with.

@jy4stine for their excellent discussion posts, particularly the one for the fifth day (discussing Cass's childhood)

@frozenwolftemplar for that wonderful (and heartbreaking) Cass fic.

@flossy2003 for the artwork you submitted. Scarlett is adorable.

I’ve LOVED your contributions to Cassandra Appreciation Month, Abbey!

I really, really don’t like season 3. Rapunzel is so out of character until like Plus Est En Vous. She would NEVER say this shit.

Also, did the writers forget that the kingdoms were UNITED??

Saporia and Corona united last time I check, also s3 is a mess and a can of worms that I must write it someday when the day comes. Like no shit I'm crying cause s1-s2 are the only descent seasons! And s3 has so much potential but Chris turned the series into less of a Tangled spin off show that is a midquel between Tangled and Tangled: Ever After to a glorified ICE and hyper conservative show. Like if that's not racist, I don't know what is. He literally glorified putting kids in cages.

It’s even worse when you consider that Cassandra’s voice actress is from Mexican descent, has spoken up against ICE and felt too afraid to go to her own town’s voting booth in fear of getting attacked. She isn’t following Chris or Zach anymore, despite being close to them when working on the show.

Now you mention it, I can see the resemblance to ICE in that scene. I sincerely HOPE that the resemblance is purely a coincidence, as I’ve seen this kind of thing in other shows and there were a lot of non-conservative staff on board, but the waters DEFINITELY muddy with Chris in charge.

While Rapunzel is more blatant that she felt betrayed by her father lying to her (I think she does feel bad for Varian but that could’ve been conveyed better oh my-).

As for Cass, we never really know her true feelings. All we see is her say “dad?” And her face grimace in disgust, so she could’ve very well been disgusted by her dad participating in such a thing. Judging by her tone alone, she seems shocked.

I’ll always love Tangled the Series and its characters so much, but it’s really important to look close and shine a light on its problematic moments and talk about them. Putting them out in the open and enforcing how much we don’t want them, will ensure that things like this will never be put in shows again.

- Do these two episodes showcase Cassandra's skills?

Painter’s Block does a really god job of showing Cass’s detective skills, which I feel like we don’t really get to see a lot in the show.

Even though Cass doesn’t have a lot of close friends, she knows how the people around her operate. As paranoid as she can be, it doesn’t cross her mind even once that Feldspar could be up to something nefarious. She knows Friedborg well enough to know that she’s NOT a flake. Where some people might just brush that off as a fluke, Cassandra sees the signs and looks into it just in case her gut is off.

And though we do see a little bit of her lingering bias towards thieves (“When something bad happens bad people know about it”) the moment she finds out Ulf is also missing she doesn’t even hesitate to include him in her case. I think that’s partly Eugene’s influence, I feel like the Cass we see at the beginning of the show would never do something like that.

And the fact that she and Eugene both realize what’s going on at the exact same time shows that not only are they equally smart, but they clearly think the same way. They can have a major epiphany from just a handful of vague clues.

Quest for Varian we don’t get to see much of Cass’s skills beyond being a fighter, but I think we do get to see a little underlying bit of her and Cap’s dynamic as fellow warriors. As skilled as she is, Cap is still miles beyond her. He doesn’t even land a blow on her and still wins in two seconds just from pushing her with his staff.

- Do you think Cassandra feels betrayed by her father?

Oh absolutely. Considering how Cap raised her, considering how much of an emphasis he placed on justice and truth and responsibility during Cass’s childhood…and then he lets himself be Frederic’s puppet to cover up a…would it be called a conspiracy…? I dunno, to cover up the black rocks. And considering that we never see anything of Cap reacting to the black rocks it’s possible that he also knew about them the entire time and just did nothing because Frederic wanted to avoid it.

I think QfV was the episode where Cap kinda fell from the pedestal Cass put him on and she realized that even he committed some very serious injustices. Which we see the effects of in Secret of the Sundrop, as far as Cass is concerned Cap has betrayed everything they stand for.

That face just screams horror, confusion, and even borderline disgust. And I think it’s really telling that instead of reacting, Owl looks to Cassandra.

- How do these two episodes contribute to Cassandra’s character devlopment throughout the rest of the series?

Strictly canonically speaking, I don’t think they contribute a TON to Cassandra’s character development specifically. Especially not Quest for Varian. However…

Both Sugarby AND Zhan Tiri saw Cass. Sugarby got really close, and ZT had to have seen her through the portal.

And Eugene said her name.

So I suspect that one or both of them figured out who Cass was in this episode. And if Tromus didn’t already know who Cass was in Mirror Mirror, I think one of them told him.

I really, really don’t like season 3. Rapunzel is so out of character until like Plus Est En Vous. She would NEVER say this shit.

Also, did the writers forget that the kingdoms were UNITED??