#I DON'T HATE EUGENE EITHER HE BABY | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lordkingsmith · 4 months

Text

Rocky DeSantos canon and oc children

I love Rocky. Utter sweetie. He’s a good boy and deserved the world!! Rocky’s also a bit silly and adorable. He deserves more though lol. He doesn't really ever get a good way to shine, and I hate that. He was more than a joke in his early episodes. the fact he keeps getting treated like a joke now is sad. I do like the fire fighter idea for him, it fits, but...still...you can do that and him being the class clown and it still being done as more than a punchline (Hi, Carter, I'm getting to you) If I’ve missed anyone let me know and I’ll add :)

Canon children:

None that we know of

My oc and alternate reality kids:

Aisha Campbell;

Rocky and Aisha fit well. She gets his humor, he knows how to match her energy and keep her from burning the wick at two ends. So when they got together nobody was remotely surprised. They have two kids, one naturally and one adopted. Landon, aged 12, and Saffie, aged 14.

Landon's been with Rocky and Aisha since he was three, and he's been really happy with them for as long as he can remember. He's a bit of a bookworm, but mostly prefers nonfiction. If he has to read fiction, it's nothing sci fi related. It bothers him too much when they get simple things you can look up wrong. Like what Tenga Warriors look like, or what space ships need for fuel. Or planets earth trades with. He likes spicy food, and birds. He probably knows more about bird related aliens than the average human. Doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up, but he does know he wants a parrot. His parents are trying to convince him to choose a bird with a shorter lifespan. He and his sister have a very kind spirited joking relationship. They don't feel like they aren't actual siblings, and he's as protective of her as he likes being a mild pest to her now and then, and she him. Not associated with a color.

Saffie was a surprise baby. Aisha and Rocky had been trying for a kid for a while at this point, and nobody was sure why it just wasn't happening. When they applied for adoption, Saffie was conceived. They still went through with the adoption, and are glad they did, and Saffie is too. She loves Landon a lot, and they have a fairly healthy sibling relationship. Saffie's not exactly a social butterfly, but she's by no means a wallflower either. She keeps to herself, and likes skateboarding and parkour and rock music. Being able to brag about the fact she knows the Skullovitchs personally and she sometimes gets babysat by Eugene Skullovitch's son? Oh it's amazing. Cheeky, high energy, and knows what she wants in life. She's dancing to the beat of her own drum, and is quite happy doing so. Likes reading poetry, a lot, and diy'ing her own clothes (she is not allowed near bleach dye for her jeans after an incident of not screwing the lid on tightly enough and leaving it on the living room floor. Fabric paint is still okay, though). Rocky and Aisha are a little confused by some of her interests, but then she turns around and is so much like both of them they have to laugh. Saffie's just Saffie. Not associated with a color.

Adam Park;

They make too much sense for anything else, they were best friends since the beginning. They have three kids. They adopted a kid who lost their home in a fire brought on by a monster. Peter's eleven and scared of the world. Adam and Rocky fully understand, but hope he can open up. They care for him and are worried about him. Peter DeSantos doesn't know how to feel about power rangers as parents after what happened, but he's glad Adam and Rocky are stable and they do try. It's just hard to open up. They have time, though, and that's what matters. Adam's been helping with his anxiety by showing him how to sew. Whenever he gets scared and his dads aren't there, he sews little projects. It helps and he's proud of what he makes. Not associated with a color.

tangential au; Rocky and Aisha and Adam are together with all above mentioned kids, and Adam and Aisha's kids. They live on a large ranch and the kids are thriving.

Jason Lee Scott;

Rocky said he thought Jason was cool and wished he could have gotten to know him better so was happy to be on the Zeo team with him. Here, this was meant fully romantically. It took Jason three months to Get It, and when Rocky was no longer blue and the rest of them became turbo rangers. When he was out of the hospital and Jason was mentally recovered from his ordeal at the hands of Divatox, they talked about everything. Slowly and awkwardly. How much Rocky admired Jason, how much he wished they could have been closer friends before Jason left, and Jason congratulating Rocky on being a good red ranger, and a great blue. His Blue.

They’re still active Zeo Rangers, though Jason slid back into red when Tommy got strong armed into retiring by his wife. Eventually, he’s going to give the legacy his youngest daughter, who in turn gives it to Tommy’s grandson, but for now… he and Rocky have it handled.

They have three kids and run a wrestling gym dojo combination. Victoria “V” DeSantos, aged 17, and Bess, aged 13. Kim offered to be the surrogate, as Aisha and Kat and Trini were busy with their own lives and had declined, and Kim was happy to help both times. Plus, Jason wanted the girls to not be bullied over being half siblings. Not that it matters. Nobody bullies the DeSantos sisters.

V isn’t a ranger, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t kicked seven kinds of ass of anything that makes the mistake that just because she looks effeminate must mean she’s not one of the toughest kids and town and took her kickboxing team at school to nationals twice in a row (three times if she can manage; she’s training hard for it). Not the sharpest tool in the box, but she gets there in the end. She’s got a heart of gold and a competitive streak a mile wide. She’s enthusiastic, cheeky, bur don’t get on her bad side. She might have a slow temper, this doesn’t make her a pushover. Can be intimidating with a smile. Don’t screw with her family. Especially on the holidays, halloween, Christmas and valentines especially. That is family time and she will cause demons hospitalization. Thanksgiving’s fine though. But they have to bring a side dish and stay for dinner. This has made things interesting. She can be self centered and details focused, but she tries to think about others. While her dads are in charge, V is the benevolent queen bee of the house and keeps everything in line. Terrible with time and directions though, but that’s what her sister’s for. Not associated with a color.

Bess is less like Rocky, but she’s got all of Kim’s best qualities. Kind, compassionate, empathetic. She though, like Jason, tends to internalize and stew. Her goal is to beat all of Jason’s records he set in his teens. She doesn’t want to be the best, she just wants to prove to him she’s capable. And maybe a little bit want to be able to brag she’s better than her old man, but just a little. A bit jealous of her older sister. V has a long shadow it’s sometimes difficult to step out from under. Often explodes when she can’t get something perfectly the first time, but once she calms down she’s usually trying again. Definitely Jason’s favorite even if he doesn’t say so. She’s very good at directions and maps, and sense of time. She’s dependable and capable. She’s going to be the best one day, she’s gonna make sure of it. Will be Red when Jason’s finally forced to retire.

Tommy Oliver;

Rocky and Tommy always had a rather amicable relationship, which lead to a very comfortable dating life. It wasn't a sparks fly insta love thing, but more like a very slow burn of embers. And after years and years of doing things and having each other's backs and being red and blue and white and red and all that this all entails...it got to the point they looked at each other and couldn't think of anyone else they'd want to be with. They have four kids; Dannica DeSantos, aged 26, Markus DeSantos, aged 24, Johanna DeSantos, aged 20, and Halen DeSantos, aged 17. Tommy and Rocky are currently taking a break (being teammates and lovers on several teams and effectively at each other's hips for decades will do that), but are doing it more to save their marriage than preparing to divorce. Halen's living with Tommy during this, as Rocky is the firefighter chief, and is only at the house three days every two weeks during fire season. Better to have a parent who can actually dedicate time to being a proper parent to the one kid that still needs it. All kids except Halen are scientifically mixed dna of Tommy and Rocky, through cashing on a favor of Billy and the Aquitans. Halen is adopted.

Dannica DeSantos is a racecar driver. She's been a speed demon since she learned how to ride a tricycle, and has been relatively unstoppable since. She has given her parents panic attacks. She's been in jail over the fact she used to do illegal drag races in her teens. Tommy had to put a stop to this by getting behind the steering wheel again and taking his own daughter on in a race. If he won, she waited till she was 18 to pursue this as a career-the legitimate way. If he lost, he'd give her the keys and say nothing. Tommy won, barely. She was pissed, but she honored her word. They had a few years of tenuous peace with warnings interspersed that yes, traffic is awful, but no you can't drive through a park to get to your job on time, Dannica, no.

Since starting her career, though, this has gone down quite a lot and she's been a lot better about being responsible off the racetrack. She refrains from using the name 'Oliver' to her advantage; she wants to do this the right way. She's insanely competitive, and has a very strong code of ethics. She doesn't cheat, she doesn't cut corners, and she's not going to start. The only way to do anything is the right way, and what does it say about everyone else who cheats who keeps losing to her, anyway? Loves her brothers and sister, but she doesn't really get along with her dads. She's the most intense parts of both of them, and while they love each other, it's better to love each other at a distance. She gets the fact they're currently separated; you just gotta take a break sometimes. Not associated with a color, and as she'd willingly drive a car into someone, this is perhaps a good thing.

Markus DeSantos is going to school to be a physical therapist. Probably the most easy going of the siblings, he's a lot like his dads. He's kind of wanted to do this since finding out about the accidents that wrecked Tommy and Rocky's backs for a long time (and even to a point up to now) and lead to them both finally retiring from ranger work. Tommy has to walk with a cane, and Rocky's dependent on painkillers. With excercise. Markus gets that because his dads are so vigorous with their exercise and a lot of luck they were able to skirt past anything worse, and he wants to help people get similar results where possible. So, physical therapist. He's a happy go lucky but take no shit kind of guy. He's nice about it, but nobody gets away with anything around him. And often find themselves doing what they should, under the impression it was their own idea, some hours after talking to him. He loves food, loves his siblings, though he generally gets along with Rocky better than Tommy. But, he manages to get Tommy to do what he's supposed to, because his dad is very much a stubborn idiot about things that are good for him. Checks in often with Halen and makes sure he's doing ok during everything. Keeps both his dads' fridges stocked. Not associated with a color, though he was offered black once. Kept this to himself, he doesn't want to deal with the inevitable "well why didn't you" if he says anything. He didn't because it'd get in the way of goals he already had, that's all. He did suggest someone else, and they're doing very very well, so there's that.

Johanna is assistant manager at the Juice Bar, and thriving. Everything is going well for her. She's got a famous sister, two famous parents, and likes cooking, coming up with new flavors to try on the blackboard, and generally being assistant manager. Does she want to go to school? Maybe. Does she know what for? Not yet, but if she ever figures it out she's willing to go. She's into competitive gaming as a side thing, but it's not her life. Her life is fairly full of other things. She lives with Markus in a rental home, and Halen whenever he needs a break from Tommy. She loves holidays and wears themed clothes every single holiday. She wears bunny ears without shame with extra fluffy skirts every easter, and she's highly embarrassing on Thanksgiving with her turky legwarmers. However, her siblings love her and wouldn't have her any other way. A good source of advice to anyone who needs it, though she tries to stay out of Markus and Dannica's way, because they both get into moods where no amount of advice no matter how gently given will ever be heeded. And she's not going to waste time on useless endeavors.

She sometimes stands in for the karate classes when her girlfriend has to skip. Johanna knows she's dating the pink ranger, and Rose knows Johanna knows. Johanna doesn't mind filling in for Rose when fights edge into class times. Rose would do the same for her if their situations were switched.Johanna isn't associated with a color herself.

Halen DeSantos was adopted when he was six. He was adopted out of foster care, and remembers his last foster care parents. They were nice, but had eight other foster kids. Halen found it no less chaotic but somehow warmer when he got adopted by Rocky and Tommy. Their kids instantly swept him into their midst as sibling, and it was easy to slide into this as well. They squabbled and stepped on each other's toes and got on each other's nerves, but there was a deep love throughout. It is tough finishing high school while Tommy and Rocky don't live together-and Tommy is his biology teacher-but he's trying to remember it's not because they hate each other, it's just gotten a little much right now, and they do still love each other. His siblings always seem to know when he's feeling really low, however, and it's nice being able to get his mind off things. Kind of wants to go into paleontology, like Tommy, or firefighting, like Rocky. He hasn't decided yet, but he knows whatever he chooses, he's going to be supported in it.

Trey of Triforia;

Rocky and Trey never did have much to do with each other, as rangers. However, here, Rocky decided he was going to make his duo a trio again. Aisha was gone, and Rocky found Trey filled the void she left pretty well. Adam took a little while to warm up to the alien, but they all became fairly close. Rocky always brought along one of the three personas to various activities, and people got to know his 'exchange student' friend fairly well over the summer, even if they did all agree Trey's personality and reactions could be wildly different from day to day.

This eventually led to Trey and Rocky getting together. They have a son, Ventus, who is blue zeo ranger. Titus has a rather rocky relationship with both parents. While sixteen and Crown Prince of Triforia, he really would rather not be. Doesn't know what he wants to do or where he wants to go, but it's not Earth and definitely not Triforia. Ventus simply feels suffocated by legacy and responsibilities. He really just wants to figure himself out, but he doesn't have the time or luxury to do so. He has a team, a leader who's often doing wildly unpredictable and dangerous stunts, a kingdom to learn how to rule, on top of general studies as a high school student in Angel Grove. Tends to internalize and lash out, and does feel bad when he does so. At the very least, he's not the gold ranger? While it couldn't be further from the truth, Ventus feels like he's disappointing both his parents. He will eventually find a middle ground between the two worlds, one that works for him, and a way to rule, that also works for him. Rocky and Trey are about ready to force this kid into a year long sabbatical with either Rocky’s family or on Aquitar. The team’s concerned too. Ventus has so much self imposed stress and frustration he’s not able to function. Trey’s also curious whether or not his Id, Ego, and Super Ego need to be separated for a bit, just to see if that helps stabilize him. Therapy for all three separately might be a good way to go about this, too.

*he's named after the character from kingdom hearts, who's heart was cut in three :) (one piece is in sora, one piece is an antagonist running around calling itself Vanitas, and the last piece is in a comatose Ventus)

an alternate tangental reality he goes nuts under the pressure and becomes a villain, fucking off and cutting complete ties with his parents and his former team.

Scorpina;

Adam and Rocky were in a mild competition over "Sabrina's" attention while Aisha was trying to rein the two in, but Adam ended up getting most of "Sabrina's" attention. Rocky was kind of glad it wasn't him when Sabrina turned out to be Scorpina. However, later, he and Scorpina did end up in something of a romance after the Z Wave. It's very off and on, and they have one daughter. Reagan takes more after her dad, and doesn't have any alien looking characteristics. Reagan is 18, and she's trying very hard to be as average seeming as possible. When she was sixteen, some version of Zedd showed up, and forced her mom to work for him once more. SInce then, Reagan's become obsessed with killing this Zedd and finding her mom again. Before this she was a photography enthusiast who was considering being a sports reporter. Since, however, she's gotten zeroed in on one goal, to the detriment of the rest of her life and her relationship with her dad.

4 notes · View notes

why-am-i-here-just-to-suffer · 1 year

Text

"White" Jews are systemically oppressed based on immutable characteristics. Not to mention that Jews who are literal POC with Middle Eastern and such heritage are all too often lumped together into one group. In "progressive" countries in Europe you can get hate crimed for simply wearing a kippah and tzitzit outside. And who is doing said hatecriming? The pro-Palestinean group. They aren't concerned with our political beliefs. They will go after us simply based on the fact that we are outwardly Jewish. There's a reason we haven't returned to Europe post-Holocaust. America has managed to be safer. The same things happen on American college campuses all the time. Story after story of students being physically assaulted by pro-Palestinean groups. Or just walking up to us unprompted and asking us about our opinion on Israel. Because if you don't buy into the Palestinian terrorist groups' propaganda (Israel has plenty of ridiculous propaganda too, they are not innocent in that regard) then they will shun you from everything. And now with Kanye West and Irving and all this crap the right is coming out too.

It's not a religion thing. They don't want us to convert, they want us dead. Antisemitism uses eugenics and discrimination based on genetic heritage, not cultural practices. It's much more racism/xenophobia than it is religious discrimination.

Jews are one of if not the most systematically oppressed group throughout history:

Antiochus of Syria desecrated the Temple with Greek idols, and forbid Jewish religious practices. Legend has it the Jews practiced in caves in secret. I shouldn't need to explain why this is attempted cultural genocide. Antiochus was defeated by the Hasmoneans, led by Judah the Maccabee.

Achashveirosh decides to get rid of queen Vashti and selects a new queen, Esther. Her cousin Mordechai reported a plot to assasinate the king to her, gaining the king's respect. Haman, the king's top adviser, demands that everyone bow down to him in the streets. Mordechai refuses because it is sacrilegious to do so. Haman gets mad and convinces the gullible king Achashveirosh of Persia to let him exterminate all Jews in the empire. Esther sees Moredchai in mourning and asks him what is happening. Some stuff happens to work around laws related to unpromptedly approaching the king, but eventually Achashveirosh is informed that Haman wants to exterminate Esther and her people. Achashveirosh is not happy and orders Haman be hanged on the gallows he built for Mordechai.

The Crusades. It was primarily between the Christians and the Muslims, but they couldn't help but persecute Jews at the same time as well. Myths like "the Jews killed Jesus" and "Jews eat the blood of babies" date all the way back to this time, and people still believe them today. The blood libel is OLD.

The Holocaust. Hitler attempts to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe through death camps on a mass scale. He only failed because traditionally opposed military powers (namely America and Russia, also quite antisemitic. Russia only fought back for political and territorial reasons. The Soviet Union hated Jews.) banded together to stop him.

And much much more.

And today, people are still chanting "Jews will not replace us." "From the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free!" (of Jews. Left unsaid so that progressives buy into the rhetoric. I'm sure a lot of them actually mean it.)

The separation of Zionism from Judaism. Zionism is the idea that Jews have the right to return to their historical homeland, Israel. The land that is literally central to Judaism and its practices. On its own it says nothing about who should be in control, what the government or economy should look like, or what rights citizens, including goyim, should have. That's up to a person's individual political beliefs. For this reason, being "anti-Zionist," or "anti-Israel," is inherently antisemitic. Any Jew who says otherwise had either believed the lies, or is saying it for their own personal safety. There's obviously a difference between being anti- a certain government and anti- the existence of a country. "Pro-Palestineans" are by and large anti- the existence of a country. Nobody ever talks about China, or Russia, or North Korea, or other countries far more oppressive, like they do about Israel. There's a reason for that. Fun fact: The original Zionist pioneers were communist! The early settlers created kibbutzim, literal communes. And it worked really well on a small scale for initial development of the land. It's honestly beyond me how anyone could point at Zionism and call it fascism. There are communist Zionists, fascist Zionists, and everyone im between. More religious Jews tend to lean right, and less religious Jews tend to lean left. But if you're left leaning you're not allowed to be a Zionist. That's why it looks like Zionism is all right-wing when that's historically and objectively not true.

We are hiring security guards at synagogues, putting in code locks, putting up boulders and concrete pillars.

But sure, because some of us are ethnically "white" that means we aren't actually oppressed at all.

#antisemitism #Jews #jewish life #israel #anti zionisim #zionism #palestine #free palestine #racism #xenophobes #some dumbass on reddit prompted me to write this

20 notes · View notes

smokedoutcoldstar · 1 year

Note

i would love to hear a rant from you about maximum ride's ending. i always saw it around and never picked it up, but from the little i saw of it, it kinda seemed to be all over the place. i'd love the inside scoop from an old fan

Under the cut because I went off. Fair warning, it's a little scattered. But the thoughts are there ✌️

This is a rant I have held within me since I was in elementary school. This is a rant that is over a decade old, eternally-contained, only given in small pieces to a couple folks over the course of my life. Because i've never known someone else to be aware of Maximum Ride, let alone want a single-digits child's take on the series end. I have not reread any of the Maximum Ride books, but I did read them all. The Angel Experiment all the way to Nevermore. If for some reason there were MORE after Nevermore,,,,,,,,,,, really, really clearly a beat the dead horse until there's no horse left situation. Sometimes, ending a series before you have too many books to carry is the smart and credible choice. I'm absolutely being petty rn. This is a disdain i've held for a long time.

In my opinion, the story lost the plot / got too big for its breeches right around either Angel or Fang (I forget which book comes first. Whichever one has Angel going lowkey godmode crazy). The ending of Nevermore, however, was the WORST way to end the series.

Why?

Everyone dies.

No seriously. The entire end plot is everyone except 1% of the population dies to a genetic virus designed to kill everyone except the chosen genetically superior 1% (most of whom are experiments like Max, or people who bought their way into the saved 1%. Yeah no really. Really actually.). Max is trying to stop that from happening the entire book. She fails. And she fails because the adults in her life (iirc she was like 16 or 17 at that point?? I forget. Remember these are over a decade old thoughts) (JEB. FUCKING. J E B. HISSSSSSS) actively sabotage her and her ragtag gang. And because James Patterson decided to write Max failing to stop a Secret Conspiracy Eugenics World Takeover Plot.

Oh yeah, and she's kept alive so she can repopulate the new earth with her genetically-engineered to be her perfect mate Dylan - WHO SHE DOESN'T WANT TO HOOK UP WITH. She 'surrenders to her fate' at the end, after almost two books' worth of the adults in her life pressuring her and telling her she cannot change her destiny to have a bunch of babies with the guy she doesn't want babies with, when everyone else on earth fucking DIES.

Not to mention, making Angel into this weird I Am The New God type character SO LATE INTO THE SERIES seemed like such a Ah Fuck I'm Out Of Ideas And My Manuscript Is Due thing. At first i was cautiously interested, and then ANGEL. The ACTUAL CHILD. Starts telling Max the voices in her head are saying 'Max you will have a mate perfect in every way and you have to bone him, there's no other future for you except your fate to bone your newcoming perfect match!!' and then I decided I HATED what Angel was now written as.

And here's the thing. I don't hate Dylan! I don't really feel anything towards Dylan one way or another, except that he seemed really immature (probably because, as it says in the book, he's only three years old, just with a teen's body. Like, when Dylan is first introduced, the book makes a REALLY big deal about that. Brings up REPEATEDLY that Dylan is 3 years old in a teenage body). And I don't hate Max's clone Maya either!! She has an interesting side thing going where she's trying to be her own person instead of Max's clone, after being sicced on Max to kill and replace Max in the gang and then failing to do that. And good for her!! A little weird that Fang left Max for her, but Fang's choices aren't a reflection of her!! Fang was super wishy-washy on which girl he was going to be loyal to that entire time. Which wasn't cool of him!! Max was his ride or die!! Ride or die my ass by the end of the series, apparently!!

But like, the early books were so good! (To elementary school age me. I cannot speak to how they hold up now, because I have not and will not reread them) Max was such a badass and she had the support of her found family! And her struggles and her flock's struggles were real! They were a group of outcasts who just wanted to live normal lives in everyday human society. And there was so much joy from them doing everyday people things, like going to school and trying makeup and making friends. And the longer the series went on, the more and more it seemed like it curved waaaaay off-field and out into the parking lot. Down the road and then off a fucking cliff.

Like, i'm sure there's stuff wrong with the book politically. Remembering how Iggy's blindness suddenly Disappeared Under Certain Conditions felt really, really questionable even at childhood age. And I never liked the makeover scene with Nudge, where she gets her hair straightened and her makeup done, but I will be honest. It was because I didn't like tomboy makeover scene type stuff. I wasn't yet aware of how icky it is to write a black character hiding their natural curls and calling them more beautiful for straightening their hair. I know now!! Yet another reason I really don't like Nudge's whole makeover scene. I forget what book that happens in. Pretty sure it's either The Angel Experiment or School's Out Forever. (This dislike of Nudge's makeover scene is also influenced by the manga, which I read volumes 1-3 of)

The long and short of it is, the ending of Nevermore felt really cheap. 'Oh everyone dies and that's a good thing because now the earth will be repopulated by Max's coercion-born animal-human hybrid babies and none of those genetically defective regular humans'. >:( I was so mad and felt so cheated by the ending that I stopped reading James Patterson's works entirely (which honestly wasn't that hard. I had been reading Witch & Wizard at the time too, and stopped halfway through The Fire. Which was not hard to do. The characters who were once interesting became utterly insufferable)

Okay while looking up how to spell character names, I found out two things. One, Nevermore had a sequel and the Wikipedia plot summary is just as nonsensical as I expected. No interest in reading it, as far as I am concerned literally nothing can come back from And Everyone Died The End ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there's no saving it at that point. Write a new series. You've shot the old series between the eyes with an ending like that.

And two, apparently Nevermore was astronomically received NEGATIVELY by literary reviews / critics. Which. VINDICATIONNNNN. Baby me knew what was up!! Baby me knew a shit ending when they saw one!!!

Anyway. Immediately after reading Nevermore, I walked away from Patterson books, was convinced that I in my wee ripe age could write better stories than him, and proceeded to First Draft an actual novel and a half of Human Experiment Teens Save The World. It's been a side project of mine to revamp it every time I notice a sharp increase in my writing skills (it's actually due for a revamp again, but I haven't finished the rewrite of the Second Draft, so really want I want to do is reevaluate the plot using the knowledge I know now. Gotta dust away all the unknowing child ignorances and biases and really make it a story worth telling.) And for the record, it will NOT be ending with goddamn Everyone Died The End.

But anyway. That's my rant against the ending of the Maximum Ride series. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk ravings on this corner of the bar counter.

#pyro speaks #tepperz #pyro does book reviews from like 15 or something years ago??#thanks for letting me go off tepperz i had forgotten just how much of the series i had opinions on until you sent the ask #pyro speaks in the tags #ask #answered ask

4 notes · View notes

sonofsaviors · 9 months

Text

Potential Relationship Ideas Cont.

(Because I didn't want to just dump everything into one post, that would be ridiculous)

-Shane: Logan and Shane probably would have a somewhat chaotic but ultimately positive relationship. They would be the type of friends that don't always get along, but when the chips are down, they are a terrifying team. Logan would poke fun at Shane's head-rubbing tick.

-Lori: Lori would probably try to baby Logan at a younger age, kinda of what she did with Carl. And while Logan does kind of enjoy that attention, he is very independent and proud and values those aspects of his life. His parents raised him to be pretty self-sufficient, but he would probably appreciate Lori's caring nature.

-Dale: Logan would probably view Dale as the grandfatherly figure he always wanted (I headcanon that due to Negan and Lucille having issues and having Logan so late, he only got to meet his grandparents early in his infancy). Logan would appreciate Dale's compassionate and empathetic nature and would enjoy being more vulnerable around him, instead of putting up a strong stubborn front to survive.

-Merle: Oh dear lord, these two need supervision at all times. They're either at each other's throats or working together to bring even more chaos to the world. Despite being a little shit-talker, Logan sees Merle as kinda cool, but he'd rather die then admit it.

Glenn: Logan would probably view Glenn as an older brother he could talk to and hang out with. Glenn was the heart and soul of the Atlanta group and Logan would really do well around him and value spending time with him.

-Andrea: I believe that Logan and Andrea would probably butt heads a lot, due to their independent and headstrong personalities. Logan would probably be fairly ambivalent about her, but if she needed help, he would help. He's probably like a young brother or nephew to her, which probably results in arguments.

-Beth: Logan and Beth would probably again have a relationship with her probably trying to take care of him and him being a stubborn little shit trying to be grown up at twelve. They would jell well together and have shared love of music and spending time with family and friends. He probably teases her about her favorite bands and shit, but it's done with love.

-Abraham: Logan and Abraham would probably actually get along great. Logan would find him hilarious and their senses of humor probably match up well too. Before the fall, Logan was considering a career in the police or military and he'd probably gravitate towards Abe as another father figure in his life.

-Eugene: Logan and Eugene never quite see eye to eye, but I think they'd be fairly chill with each other. Logan does admire Eugene's ingenuity and would probably ask loads of questions and want to learn from him.

-Rosita: They either get along really well or hate each other, depends on the circumstances of their meeting.

#Potential Relationship Headcanons #Headcanons #OOC

0 notes

alvadee · 2 years

Note

abt the ned thing - i was amazed ariel was seen out with ned with her wedding ring on cause my ex cheated on me and i put a nail in his tire, but then i was like... yeah. she has the try wives podcast, she has that baby podcast with him, they have a youtube channel or w/e. i think she also has a store but i would imagine the VAST majority of her income is from ned-associated shit. she CANT hardly leave him. what we've learned is that you never tie your income to a man.

Yeah, I'm not so surprised either because of some of the reasons you already mentioned. I mean they probably had a month now to discuss and plan this situation and public announcement through. I also understand, emotionally and financially, if Ariel wants to give it another try. They have two small kids, they built a house together and she also invested into the Try Guys. It is also such a scandalous, public affair that it can lead to them actually sticking close together, at least for a while, bcs they're going through it together, even if it is his fault.

Personally I think it depends on the people how they handle cheating, I don't think one size fits all. I also think a drunken peck on the lips is a different level of cheating than a full blown, one-year, affair and those things often require different measures. Though my personal feeling is when someone's partner is going behind their partner's back and lies for an extended amount of time and never comes clean on their own...kick the cheater out and don't look back it's unlikely you'll ever be able to trust them again.

Anyway, we don't know these people. So it's all just speculation based on what little facts we have.

Maybe she knew about his cheating, maybe they had some open relationship type arrangement? I mean, apparently he was known for drunkenly getting touchy with women on nights out for a longer time. I totally doubt she would agree to that but I guess that's the only way I can make sense of him cheating so publicly for so long...

Honestly I hope she doesn't have to worry about the financial aspect if she should leave. Her and the Try Guys/Try Wives seem to be real friends to a degree and it looks like they all took her side. If they're real ones they could say 'hey Ariel, don't worry, we'll take care that you don't have to financially struggle as long as the kids are still small, we support you/keep working with you' 🤷🏻‍♀️

From my very limited and subjective impression of Ned, I would not be surprised if he would cheat again if she should take him back. He seems like the type who might grovel for a while then feel like his ego isn't fed enough and hook up again with a younger chick. But that is my realism/cynicism, you decide. The TMZ pics where he looks so smug and smiley are of course only a snapshot of a moment but it doesn't make him look good, it makes him look like he enjoys the attention.

lol I'm not a Try Guy fan, if I was/am ever a fan of something buzzfeed related it's the Ghoul Bois. But I am aware of the Try Guys since so many years. I draw and that's an activity were you often consume a lot of media in the background and over the years I did end up watching a couple of Try Guy's related videos every couple of months. Enough to know the who is who and the relationships. I think when Eugene's coming out video dropped they were more on my Youtube radar again. I'm mainly here because the gossip is so juicy, like that the wife guy gets outed as cheater WITH AN EMPLOYEE is just such irony and I just really have a personal hate for guys who cheat, especially on women who raise their kids, and I never knew enough about Mulaney and that Maroon 5 guy to care. lol

#alvadee's shit

1 note · View note

lovee-infected · 3 years

Text

People until 2019: Disney always fails to design potentially HOT male characters...

Twst 2020: Allow us to introduce ourselves

#twst #twisted wonderland #malleus draconia #azul ashengrotto #vil Schoenheit #Leona Kingscholar #Riddle Rosehearts #Idia Shroud #Kalim al asim #Twst memes #twisted wonderland memes #Seriously though how did we go from Humbo Charming to Malleus Draconia?#Man 2020 is a year #EDIT: I SWEAR TO GOD I DIDN'T CREATE THAT LIST- I FOUND IT ON GOOGLE PEOPLE #I SWEAR I DON'T HATE SHANG AND NAVEEN- THEY JUST HAPPENED TO BE IN THE LIST #I DON'T HATE EUGENE EITHER HE BABY #THEY JUST HAPPENED TO BE ON THE LIST #W H E E Z E #Geo having her daily ramblings

2K notes · View notes

juneviews · 2 years

Note

I LOVED 👏 this episode so fucking much and it was beyond my expectations and i truly lived for danyok and seanwhite scenes! But i am still confused as fuck for grams and eugenes storyline. Like i cant think how it is gonna turn out since until now we thought both like black - i am super confused. Also i was a tad disappointed with the namo scene. I was really hoping to take a platonic relationship without her having a crush on sean like cant friends just chill together like that?! 🤷‍♀️ it didnt really need to be one sided crush thats just my opinion.

THIS EPISODE WAS EVERYTHING & MUCH MORE!!! TRULY A MASTERPIECE OMG!!! but yuppppp gram is sus & I hate it, I miss my sunshine baby, he's just so shady lately & we need answers 😭 as for namo, yeah that's valid. honestly it's definitely not my favorite storyline from the show either, but I'm not sure namo had a one-sided crush on sean, I think sean liked her too. as they said twice, he never asked her to be his girlfriend but clearly they were close enough that it was assumed by yok & in a way by namo as well. I also don't think the way sean looked at namo until very recently was a coincidence, or friendly. for me he clearly really liked her, but fell in love with white way faster & deeper bc clearly they've been shown to be literal fucking soulmates (AHHHHH!!!) and so he sadly had to break things off with namo. I compared sean & namo to teh & tarn from itsay a few weeks ago, and for me the comparison stands now even stronger than ever. but I also believe there's more to namo than just this weird situationship with sean, that can't be her only role narratively. I'm excited to see where she goes next!

xxx

#answers #not me #not me the series

13 notes · View notes

rachelbethhines · 3 years

Text

Tangled Salt Marathon - No Time Like the Past

While I wouldn’t call this the worst episode of the series, there are several others I dislike more, I would call this the most ill conceived story in the show.

All the other bad episodes have potential but are let down by poor presentation, boring predictability, or sloppy planning. This one however, is fundamentally flawed in it’s very basic premise and so ranks in the bottom of most fans lists. Even people who are far more forgiving of season three and than I am, and are hardcore New Dream stans, still dislike this episode. That’s how bad it is.

Summary: Rapunzel discovers Old Lady Crowley tossing out Cassandra's things. She is upset and demands that they be left alone. She then has Lance and Eugene help her save all of Cassandra's mementos and personal belongings, but she becomes saddened when Eugene reminds her that Cassandra turned her back on "her". Rapunzel takes a box of her things along with, unknowingly, a mysterious hourglass. As she examines it, she accidentally drops and smashes it and she and Pascal find themselves sent back into the past. They run into a teenage Eugene and Lance who keep calling Rapunzel "Sideburns". Rapunzel realizes that she and Pascal have inhabited the bodies of the Stabbington Brothers and decide to recruit the young thieves in getting the hourglass from the castle back.

Fun Fact! That Dummy is Rapunzel’s Doing

Minor nitpick here, but Cass had nothing to do with putting Eugene’s face on her sparring dummy. Rapunzel voluntarily did that back in Under Raps. Cas never requested it nor even expressed any joy over receiving said ‘gift’.

Basically the show is attributing one of Rapunzel’s mistakes/flaws to Cassandra in order to introduce a very nonsensical plot point later. So I need ya’ll to keep that in mind as we go along.

Lets Talk About the Episode’s Ordering

We don't have production codes for season three like we did for the previous two seasons. So we can’t know for sure what order everything was originally planned in, but I would argue that this episode should have came before Return of the King.

For starters this is a “bottle” episode; it takes place mostly in the past and the only present day characters who show up are Eugene, Raps, Lance, and Crowely. As such you could potentially slot this episode in anywhere before Cassandra’s Revenge. You can’t really do that with most of the other episodes so it could have been easily moved around when airing.

Therefore, I would argue that it should have been the first episode after Rapunzel’s Return for three key reasons.

It would have given Edmund time to travel to Corona and give Raps time to start up big building projects like fixing Old Corona. In fact she’s already approving building plans for the capitol city at the start of the episode. Which could even explain why she took so long getting to the castle repairs if she was taking care of the stuff that the Saporians messed up else where.

Rapunzel’s stance over wanting to keep Cassandra’s things makes more sense early on, both in universe and in a meta context. Raps would still have hope if Cass has only been gone for a month or two instead what would now be four or five months down the line. It also makes sense that Crowely wouldn’t wait around for that long. And from a meta standpoint, the audience would still be oblivious to what the heck Cass was up to and could theoretically side with Raps better; or at least empathize with her view point more, even while disagreeing with her.

Events in this episode better explains Eugene’s decisions in Return of the King and gives the audience more context for certain stuff.

So Why Is There a Random Magical Time Traveling Hourglass in the Storage Vault?

Slowly but surely the series has abandoned all pretense that there’s any logical world building in the show. Magical things just appear randomly now without any explanation whatsoever. Worse than that, things like the hourglass and map to the cursed tomb are treated as if they were always there, unlike the magical beings that they happened to run into in past seasons.

The problem with this is a lack of consistency. You can’t have sceptics like Eugene and Varian if magic is so common and wide spread that anyone can run into it at anytime. Not to mention it diminishes the specialness and importance of the sundrop and moonstone if powerful magical items can be so easily found and stirred, undermining important plot points and the tension surrounding them.

But most frustrating of all, is that this could have been easily fixed by just stating on screen at some point that magic attracts other magic. Meaning it’s only Rapunzel herself who routinely runs into these things and not just everybody and anybody.

None of This Stuff Holds Any Meaning

Show don’t tell!

At several points through out season three, both Raps and Cass morn over Cassandra’s left behind things. They tell us constantly that these objects hold significant meaning to them, but I, the viewer, have no damn clue as to why.

We were never shown on screen what was so special about these things other than the fact that it was junk Cass collected. There’s no story attacked to these assortment of objects nor any previous indication that Cassandra valued them beyond their usefulness. As such, any scenes involving her stuff fall emotionally flat.

Eugene is the One in the Right Here.

Eugene’s right.

Any well adjust and mature adult will tell you he’s right.

If someone doesn’t want a relationship with you, than that’s it. There is nothing you can do but to move on. It sucks, but its life. To ignore that is to ignore someone else’s boundaries and personal autonomy; while also devaluing yourself and you’re own needs.

In a competent show this would be a set up for Rapunzel to learn something about letting go and taking care of oneself emotionally.

But this isn’t a competent show.

But Lobster is for Poor Folk

Food history time!

Lobster, and shellfish in general, have been considered low class food for centuries. Especially around costal areas like Corona. It’s easy to attain, cheap, and not regulated like hunting was in much of Europe. In America, specifically, lobster was fed to prisoners and there’s historical accounts of riots being started over it.

Heck, less than forty years ago, no one lived on the coast but poor people. That’s why there’s historical communities of black people living on the southeastern islands in the US and why my father grew up in the swamps of Alabama during the 50s and 60s.

The gentrification of coastal property and seafood, like lobster, is a very recent phenomenon in human history, starting in the late 70s early 80s with the booming tourism industry and increasing globalization.

So while I understand that the joke here is meant to be reflective of our current understanding of lobster being a status symbol, in universe, it’s the equivalent of Eugene getting excited for chicken nuggets instead of his usual bowl of cereal because the story takes place before the 20th century.

This means that these kids are so poor that fucking mcdonald’s fast food would be considered a rare treat compared to the slop they usually eat. Yet again what is meant to be a lighthearted joke turns suddenly dark when you stop to think about it for all of two seconds all because the writers are so flippant about their world and characters.

This Wasn’t Planned Out, So the Timeline Doesn’t Add Up Anymore and Resources are Wasted

Remember the flashback in The Return of Strongbow?

Now I need you to remember that season three is two years later from season one and the movie. Eight years ago then, would be ten years ago now.

The Eugene and Lance in the bottom picture is suppose to be roughly the same age as the Eugene and Lance in the top picture; give or take a few months.

I know teenage boys can grow fast, but not that fast.

Eugene at 16 looks the same as he does at 26. All because the writers were too lazy to preplan things out ahead of time.

We should have seen the teen models with recasted voices back during that first flashback if they were going to tell this story later. Or the previous plot point should have been less than eight years ago.

In fact the first flashback no longer makes any sense being so many years ago given Eugene’s engagement and recent breakup with Stalyan, and the later reveal that he was working for the Baron during the original movie.

Sloppy planning like this not only makes for a confusing timeline but it also wastes limited resources. I like the new models, I like the actors cast for these younger roles, and I do like the concept of seeing more of Eugene’s past. But going through all of that trouble and money for what amounts to one throw away episode is mismanagement of the budget and work schedule.

Baby Varian Is the Episode’s Only Saving Grace

I know people are divided on the deign here. Some love it and some hate it, but that’s a personal taste thing. The actual scene itself is golden either way, because it’s such a funny eater egg. Fans on both sides made memes out of this for days. It’s legendary.

Personally I’m more in the ‘love it’ camp, though I can see the issues people have with the design. My main defense of it is more the fact that we got kid designs for the other OCs in the show and it’s only fair Varian got one as well. The fact that he’s in smaller versions of the S1 clothes doesn’t bother me anymore than when Lance ran around for two seasons in the same outfit, including when he was a kid.

So if I like it, then why am I talking about it a salt review?

Cause the most memorable part of an episode shouldn’t be a throw away gag!

People bring up baby Varian way more than they do about anything else in the episode, and no it’s not just because the character popular. It’s because most would like to forget what comes after this scene.

Where is Quirin, by the Way?

Why is your six year old son running around the big city unsupervised?

This wouldn’t get talk about as much it wasn’t for the fact that Quirin being neglectful in season one was a motivating factor in his conflict with Varian. A conflict that was suppose to be resolved back in Rapunzel’s Return but we the audience have yet to visually see any difference in behavior since then.

Quirin’s absence here in the past highlights his absence in the present day and reminds the audience aware that we’ve not been given a satisfying conclusion to one of the most important arcs in the series.

Lets Talk About Wasted Potential

Like I said, I like the idea of exploring Eugene’s past. But we should have gotten that back in season two when it was more relevant. Part of why this episode fails is because Eugene has reached the end of his original character development. He’s now on an identity crisis arc which has nothing to do with this episode.

But you know who still hasn’t finished developing? Rapunzel.

Rapunzel has lots to still learn and viewing her past through outside eyes could have turned this story into something really special. Especially with the ‘inhabiting another body’ plot point.

You have no end of options here,

Have Raps inhabit Cassandra’s body for a day and gain insight into what motivates her. It could have been either before or after they met, both offers up possibilities.

Have Raps inhabit Eugene’s body and experience what he had to deal with growing up and come to see his point of view. (This could have also worked with the Sabbingtons set up had the writers not been stupid.)

And my personal favorite, send her back to right after Queen for a Day and have her stuck in either Varian’s or Ruddiger’s bodies. Force her to see what she did to him and have her acknowledge she was wrong.

And those are just the most obvious choices, there’s other more out of left field things you can do that would still work with good writing. Like exploring Lady Caine’s past, inhabiting Arianna’s body and learning how to be a real queen, get dumped into actual young Gothel and lay out clues to the future Zhan Tiri plot, or possess one of the Brotherhood and experience the final days of the Dark Kingdom; the list just goes on and on and on.

But I Thought You Didn’t Put Kids in Jail Frederic?

Remember that Raps and Pascal are possessing the Stabbingtons who are still teenagers here. They can’t be much older than Varian.

This means that Varian isn’t some special case. Teens have received harsh and deadly punishments in the past for non-violent crimes like theft.

Also teens are called kids still by the majority of the cast. They’re aren’t considered adults with the same rights as someone in say their twenties, yet they can be punished the same as an adult would. Which is horrendous in any time period.

So in conclusion, Frederic is a fucking liar!

Tangled the Series can’t decide if it’s in the far past or a reflection of the modern day. As such it winds up supporting the worst of both worlds. Barbaric practices like hanging for minor crimes and prison slave labor are treated as the norm and never called out for the horrific things that they are; treated as a joke even, but we’re suppose to accept that this world also somehow views adolescence through the lens of late 20th century sensibilities even as it forces minors to go through such atrocities.

Like what are you trying to say show? What is your message on the transition of adolescence to adulthood regarding rights and responsibilities? And don’t tell me ‘it’s not that deep’ because this is suppose to be a coming of age show! That’s the entire premise of the series!

So How Old Are Stan and Pete Again?

I was always under the impression that Pete was a newbie guard, closer to Cass and Eugene’s age than say Cap or Frederic. That’s why he screws up so much because he’s inexperienced, why he seemed to be the closest thing to a equal colleague Cass had in the guard when she was also just starting out, and why I assumed those braided girls from the movie were his sisters.

I mean there was nothing on screen previously that would necessarily contradict this reveal, it just doesn’t feel right, that’s all. I guess he could be like 20 here and be 30 in the show. That would make him only a few years older than Eugene, but still doesn’t explain why he’s so useless a decade later.

I’m fine with Stan being here though. I always thought of him being the older of the two. In fact I headcannon Willow as his mysterious wife that he talked about back in Monty’s episode during season one. (She’s Stan and Pete’s beard, and they’re totally in a open poly relationship. That’s why they’re allowed to stay in the royal guard despite being so incompetent cause they’re technically Ferderic’s in-laws and Rapunzel’s uncles. Just no one ever talks about it cause it’s a minor sandal for a princess to marry lower class and Willow’s hardly ever there.)

And Why Does Xavier Have All Those Plot McGuffins?

I know we’ll never get an answer, but at this point Xavier’s exposition fairy powers border upon ridiculousness. It’s just lazy and a waste of character.

So How Does Time Travel Work In This?

There are three types of time travel stories in fiction.

First is the ‘Changeable Past, Changeable Future’. You see this in Back to the Future. What you do in the past will change the future, i.e. your present. You may or may not remember that you did it, but be warned you could change things too much and break stuff. Like erasing yourself from existence, or ruining your love life ect. The only way to fix it is to go back in time again and change stuff again. But beware of paradoxes or you may destroy the universe altogether.

The second is the ‘Alternate Timeline’, where changing things creates new realties and it’s a matter of finding the right reality again. The tv show Sliders is a great example of this. Each new timeline is a different dimension. What you do in one won’t effect your original point of origin, only that particular world. The challenge if often getting home again because the probable diverging timelines are infinite and the changes of getting back are a zillion to one.

Third is the ‘Closed Time Loop’. No matter what you do nothing will change. The future is inevitable and whatever you do in the past was always meant to happen anyways. Gargoyles handles this really well. You can also have ‘fix points’ where certain important things are set in stone but small things can be changed like in several Doctor Who episodes. Braking a fix point breaks the universe once again, while paradoxes are often the solution rather than the threat.

So which type of time travel is Tangled dealing with here?

Scenes like the conversation regarding Pete’s and Stan’s mustache or the ones involving Eugene working on his smolder suggest a closed time loop. Yet the ending to this episode reveals a changed future. Further still the grandfather paradox revolving around the hourglass would make you think an alternate timeline yet, we’ve no indication that anything else changed other then Eugene’s opinions on Cass, and Raps shows no concern about getting back to her original point in time indicating that it actually isn’t another dimension.... so what is it then?

You don’t have to have a tightly plotted time travel story to have an entertaining piece of media. Endgame is riddled with plot holes and contradicts itself constantly, but what it lacks in coherent plot it makes for with fun characters, emotional story beats, and good pacing that manages to balance the action with the drama while hiding the cracks just enough that you don’t lose immersion.

Tangled however fails at even this because it gets the character beats so fundamentally wrong. Like you may dislike where the characters ended up in Endgame, but can’t say that those developments didn’t match the characters’ previous storylines and logical trajectory. Tony finally becomes the selfless hero by committing the ultimate sacrifice, Steve learns self care as a mirror to Tony’s arc as they were always parallels to each other, Bruce learns to accept himself, Thor processes his grief and lets go of the role he was assigned at birth but never truly fit into, and Nat becomes the leader she was destined to be rather than the sidekick.

What happens to the characters in this episode however makes no sense.

This is Another Missed Opportunity to Explore Eugene’s Past

The other problem behind the episode is that we don’t actually learn anything new. If you’re going to promise a story focusing on Eugene’s past then I expect to actually glean some new insights.

We still don’t know why he’s working with Baron or how he fell in/fell out with him, what his relationship with Stalyan is like, how he became so cynical; not just the general basics, like the orphanage, but that point in his life where decided that survival meant giving up his morals and ethics; where did he first learn his better ethics that he originally suppressed (cause it sure as heck wasn’t Rapunzel), and when did he and Lance become separated?

This are questions that series decides to raise by making allusions to them and building conflicts off of them but never wants to explain the details of where they originated from. It’s super frustrating and wholly unnecessary. If you didn’t think the story of Eugene’s past worth telling then why did up repeatedly bring it up Chris?

Why Are You Surprised by This Rapunzel?

Rapunzel you know Eugene’s past. You know what he used to be like. You were literally there in the movie and saw him being an ass before this. You didn’t start to like him until he dropped his guard down in the flooded cave back when you both where about to die.

You fell in love with him when he showed you his real self and he fell in love with you when you proved that you were accepting of that. You earned each others’ trust. This here; angrily yelling at him and judging him, when you’re already hiding who you really are from him both literally and figuratively, is a breaking of that trust.

Who the fuck are you any more, Rapunzel?

Cause you’re not the same character from the movie. You’re not even the same character from season one. But whoever hell you are now, it’s not an improvement I can tell ya that.

So How Did The Hourglass Go From the Treasury to the Basement Storage, and How Would Raps Know It Was There At This Point and Time?

I’m guessing the implication here is that Crowley put Cass’s stuff in the vault, but like why the fuck would she do that? We’re not talking about a family attic here, but the royal safe. The most heavily guarded room in the castle with the kingdom’s most priceless treasures and antiques. Nothing Cass owned was that valuable.

Rapunzel Is Full of Shit

Oh let me count the numerous ways in which this whole lecture is stupid.

Rapunzel left Varian behind. Rapunzel left Varian behind multiple times, including that time he was thrown in jail. She was not a good friend, and no, this is not a case of her learning from her past because not once has she ever admitted that she was wrong to do that. So this scene just makes Raps look like a hypocrite.

Eugene does not need to relrean a lesson on being a better a person. He did that during the movie and has progressed beyond that point. This ‘lesson’ is a waste of time and a misuse of the characters.

This reframes Rapunzel as being in the right during her argument with older Eugene at the beginning of the episode, even though she’s not. In fact this is such a counterintuitive plot point that it boggles the mind. Who structures a narrative this way? Why so blatantly point out how the main character is wrong if not to have her learn something? Why frame the story to make the person who’s personal conflict isn’t even the episode’s focus, into the one who needs to learn something? Especially if that something is already a lesson that they’ve learned on screen beforehand.

And why, oh good heavens why, would you teach children such a toxic message? Like on the surface it sounds like something you’d hear in a children's show, but the context of it is justifying harmful behavior where you selfishly ignore other people’s wishes and boundaries just to satisfy you’re own personal desires.

And finally, Eugene and Lance do not work as a parallel to Raps and Cass. Cassandra is an adult who left of own free will. Lance is a teenager who was arrested due to Rapunzel’s own actions. Eugene isn’t the one who is responsible here, its Rapunzel. Who also left them both behind in her carelessness. Secondly, Eugene’s decisions are spurned by years of trauma and a healthy fear of dying, while Rapunzel’s is wrapped up in her own need to always be right and to keep her immature and fanciful outlook of the world intact. As harsh as it seems, what Eugene did was based off a predetermine agreement and presumably Lance would have acted the same way or been pressured to act the same way by Eugene. In short, Eugene’s cynical world view as a teen is not the source of his disagreement with Rapunzel but an adult perspective back by common sense and a respect of others choices. It makes no sense for present day Eugene to ‘learn’ anything from this misadventure that he didn’t already know and for Rapunzel to not learn anything that would actually tie the parallel together.

Locking Another Teen Inside a Jail Cell With Another Adult as a Joke, Does Not Erase the Inappropriateness of Varian’s Story

The episode tries to add another joke about Shorty sneaking into the prison without the guard knowing, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact someone had to have tossed Lance in there with him on purpose. Otherwise Lance wouldn’t have assumed Shorty was a fellow prisoner if he or the guard that locked him up saw Shorty sneak in before then.

Furthermore Lance’s nonchalant response suggests this is not an out of the ordinary occurrence. Nor do any of the other guard comment upon the irregularly of teens being jailed with an adult. Now add in the fact that the show fails to clarify that previous ‘cellmate’ line from Rapunzel’s Return and now gives us more confirmation that Varian was underfed and malnourished for a year with that gruel joke and you have a horrifying picture.

Shorty might be non-threating, but that doesn’t mean Andrew, a known attempted murderer and manipulator, is too. Nor any other adult who previously was housed with a teen before then. This is still very much not okay and no amount of ‘jokes’ will suddenly make it right.

Raps, Who is an Adult, Just Physically Threatened Two Teenaged Boys and It’s Played as a Joke....

How many times do I have to say it? Humor does not fix bad writing. I’m not laughing when a heroine at age 20, threatens a couple of kids for merely annoying her. Especially when said heroine has a history of abusing children; because let me repeat once again, neglect is abuse!

This is a Lie

No you wont.

Rapunzel never tells Eugene what happens on screen. I suspect that if she ever did, they would no longer be together, because what she wound up doing here was a violation of trust and boundaries in the worst possible way.

And This is Now a Time Paradox

A Grandfather Paradox to be specific. How can Rapunzel be here in the past to break the hourglass if the hourglass that sent her here is broken?

In a competent series this would be the point of a future conflict and not the actual resolution. It’s not a closed time loop because of the paradox and the changes we’ll see in the future.

So either she’s in an alternate timeline/dimension and just doesn’t gives a shit; leaving the real Eugene, Lance, Cass, ect. to go on without her; or she’s just broke the universe and everything is slowly unraveling around her; galaxies are dying as she whines about being dumped, people in the future are being eased from existence, and God is cursing her name for ruining his creation, all the while she carries on oblivious to the destruction in her wake, as usual.

That’s it. Those are you’re only two options now. Is everyone from here on a fake copy or is Rapunzel the damned destroyer of worlds? You decide.

So This Confirms That the Stabbingtons are Indeed “Family”

Another reason why I place this before Return of the King; it explains why Eugene considers the Stabbingtons ‘family’. Though if it was Rapunzel he actually bonded with and not the real Sideburns, then how much of his feelings are real and how much of them were fabricated by her? How much agency did this episode steal from him?

So What Exactly Did We All Change?

Well the dummy no longer has Eugene’s face, but Cass’s painting of the three of them still has him ripped out of the photo, soo... Keeping in mind that Raps painted the dummy anyways and considering that Moonandra tries to kill him later on; I’m going to guess that Cass’s feelings weren’t actually altered. If anything their relationship might actually be worse now, cause Cassandra keeps acting like she’s never had friends and Eugene has taken up Rapunzel’s blind devotion.

All that development in season one is just, poof, gone. Also it’s quite possible that the first movie as well has now it has been erased from existence as Eugene got his needed character development eight years too early. How the hell that’s suppose to work, I don’t know.

Outside of the that we get no confirmation how anybody else was effected, even though a more brainwashed Eugene running around would undoubtedly have caused a butterfly effect. Don’t expect that to be explored anytime soon.

Though, it would explain why he’s suddenly such a doormat in season three, if this was the second episode as theorized.

No! This is the Wrong Lesson!!!

Let me explain narrative promises.

Everyone, on some basic fundamental level, understands how stories work. We hear them recounted to us over and over again from the day we're born to the day we die. It’s integral to how we communicate as human beings. Everyone knows innately how to tell a story even if that person couldn’t tell you how stories or structured or what certain literary terms mean, but they do it every day just through speaking. And while most audiences can’t always pin point what upsets them about a story they can for sure notice when things are off and not satisfying to experience.

Now that doesn’t mean that everyone can write an awarding winning novel, that study of a craft isn’t important, nor that every amateurish critique thrown at any given media is valid. But it does mean that people have come to expect certain storytelling practices and can pick up on narrative cues. We’ve familiarized ourselves with the language of film, novels, comics, ect, into order to comprehend what’s going on.

Rules of writing are just following that established language so that the audience can keep up. You can break these rules, sure, but unless you know what you’re doing and have a good narrative reason to do so, then you can easily lose you’re audience. And if you’re making money off said audience that’s something you want to avoid.

A narrative promise is a cue; a set up that lets the audience know that ‘hey this is important, pay attention to this cause it’ll come back into play later’. Now that the audience has been alerted to the plot point they expect fulfillment of the promise. If you break that promise, either through poor set up, lack of follow through, or by breaking an established convention of writing for no other reason then because you just wanted to, your audience is going to walk away unsatisfied.

The argument at the beginning of the episode was a narrative promise. It was a cue that set up the interpersonal conflict of the main character. For add context, I know that this is a coming of age story. Convention would dictate that the protagonist would resolve this conflict by learning they were wrong.

That’s not what happened here.

Convention was subverted. It wasn’t the protagonist who grew and change, it was the person they were in conflict with who did. And it wasn’t subverted because of any greater narrative reason, or future pay off, or even as effort to be shallowly ‘clever’; it was subverted because the author just didn’t want to hold the main character accountable for anything. Because said character has now become his avatar for his wish fulfillment fantasy and having the main character admit fault would be to admit fault in ones own self. Rapunzel doesn’t feel like Rapunzel this season because she’s just Chris in a wig.

The episode broke a narrative promise to the audience; both within the episode and in the greater premise of the story, because of ego.

I don’t claim this episode is bad just because of personal taste nor because I find it morally repulsive (even though both those things are true), I call it bad because it exhibits bad writing. Plain and simple.

Way To Undermine The Entire Point of the Original Movie, Show

Speaking of breaking narrative promises....

TTS is suppose to be a squeal to the original movie. It’s even in the title of the show; both of them. In one fell swoop, the series has managed to sabotage it’s very reason for existing, as it erases Eugene’s motivation and the inciting incident that kick started the film.

Way to fucking go.

To further twist the knife, it diminishes the duel protagonist of said film in order to prop up a series original character, who isn't even present in the episode itself.

I don’t mind Cassandra’s existence. I don’t even mind her being the new deuteragonist and one of the main villains; even though she wouldn’t have been my first pick to fulfill those roles given her lack of set up. But I do fucking mind it if she upstages other characters and/or derails their character arcs in the process.

This is the Death of New Dream

I was still in denial when this episode first aired. I honestly believed that this and The Return of the King was build up to a third “betrayal” where Eugene finally became fed up with Rapunzel’s bullshit and joined forces with Zhan Tiri. I thought the end of the series would have Rapunzel apologize to everyone she did wrong, Varian, Cass, and Eugene, in order to break ZT’s hold on them, and that true love’s kiss would reunite the sundrop and the moonstone and that would just tie everything together into a neat little bow and give us a truly daring character study of a Disney hero.

Oh dear merciful heavens, was I ever wrong.

How did we go from season one’s challenging and mature storyline, complete with Disney’s first real anti-villian, to this?!

What the hell happened!?

Rapunzel not only disrespects Eugene’s opinions, violates his privacy and trust as she manipulates him as a teen, and then brainwashes him to think like her (even if accidentally), but doesn’t even have good grace to tell him. She instead has the audacity to look all happy and self congratulatory because she got want she wanted. She, and the show at large, doesn’t care what evil thing she does to get the desired outcome Rapunzel wants.

Rapunzel in this show is a spoiled brat. And the image of her and her now lobotomized boyfriend staring dead eyed at a picture of the creator’s previous waifu OC with plastic smiles on their faces, sums up this series perfectly.

Conclusion

This isn’t even the worst episode of the series guys. I don’t know if it would even make it onto a bottom five list. That’s how much crap I have to wade through when it comes to this show. This is however the most damaging episode to the franchise as a whole.

Not even the most hardcore of New Dream fans want to acknowledge the existence of that final scene, and Rapunzel stans won’t defend her beyond, ’well she didn’t mean too, it’s the writing that’s bad.’ Yeah, the writing is bad, that’s why the character can’t and shouldn’t be defended, not here and not in other badly written episodes where she also does bad things and never makes up for it.

Anyways I’m finally caught up to where I left off, before the move, though sadly I don't think I’ll get this series done by the end of the month like I had originally hoped. But if you would like to help out I have a ko-fi you can drop a tip into if ya want.

https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #Eugene #anti-rapunzel #anti-tangled

92 notes · View notes