Princess Rapunzel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
prodigalhairess) wrote2021-09-19 06:49 pm
prodigalhairess) wrote2021-09-19 06:49 pm
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Character Base
• Character Name: Princess Rapunzel of Corona
• Age: 20 (18 at the start of the series, 20 by the end)
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Tangled: The Series (2017-2020); post-Tale of Two Sisters but pre-Once a Handmaiden
• Items Coming Along:
- Pascal: - her pet chameleon/best friend. He has no supernatural powers but he can change colors more accurately than real-life chameleons, and has intelligence on par with a small child as most Disney Animal Companions do.
- Her Journal: filled to almost the last pages with sketches and notes depicting all of her adventures through the entire series.
- Frying Pan: A normal, cast-iron frying pan. The golden Corona sun emblem has been stamped into the center of it.
- Her Satchel: Covered in little charms and baubles, and filled with various artist supplies and random knickknacks.
- Friendship Bracelets: two hand-made beaded bracelets, one yellow and one blue. On the yellow bracelet, the words "RAPUNZEL - CORONA" are painted on, one letter per bead. On the blue bracelet, the words "CASSANDRA - CORONA" are painted in a similar manner.
- Spyglass: A collapsible, portable telescope/spyglass, painted blue and covered with stars and constellations. Around the front lens is the engraving "to my love, from your father".
• Content Warnings for Character: Kidnapping, gaslighting, child neglect, psychological and emotional manipulation/abuse
Character Background
• History: Rapunzel @ Disney Wiki
• Core Relationships:
- Eugene: Rapunzel's fiancee, her rescuer, and the one who helped her step out into the outside world. Eugene was the first person Rapunzel met aside from her "mother", and he taught her much about the outside world. He's her rock, her most solid form of support; when Rapunzel's world begins spiraling during the events of the third season, Eugene is always there for her - even when he has to give her some tough conversations about more realistic outcomes to things such as Cassandra's betrayal or the looming threat she poses to Corona. She loves him to the ends of the earth, is willing to do anything to keep him safe, and she's quite happy to spend the rest of her life with him.
- Gothel: Rapunzel's "mother", in truth a cruel woman who kidnapped her when she was an infant. Vain and selfish, Gothel stole Rapunzel from her crib purely to take advantage of the healing magic that dwelled within the girl; she used Rapunzel to keep her young forever, and raised her to be completely reliant and trusting of her. Rapunzel's feelings for her are, understandably, very complicated because of this. When the topic of Gothel comes up between her and Cassandra, Rapunzel is very blunt in calling Gothel a vain and cruel woman who never loved either of them, but... she still cried when Gothel died, and when the tower where she was imprisoned for all her life came crashing down. Logically she knows how bad Gothel is, and she never regrets her life as it is now, but emotionally... it's been difficult for her to come to terms with the fact that the woman she loved as family and who she thought loved her turned out to be such a heartless person.
- King Frederic and Queen Arianna: Rapunzel's true parents, and the rulers of the Kingdom of Corona. They're as true in their love for their daughter as Gothel pretended to be, though this isn't without its bumps. In the early months of her return to the palace, Rapunzel felt... awkward around Arianna, and the feeling of genuine, no-strings-attached love from a mother. But she bonds well with her, connects with Arianna over a shared love of creativity and adventure, and fosters a much healthier relationship with her than she ever did with Gothel.
Frederic is... a tad more complicated. Rapunzel loves her father, truly, but has butted heads with him on more than one occasion due to his overbearing need to make sure that she stays safe and out of trouble or danger. She understands where he's coming from - it's all but stated that he suffers from severe PTSD over Rapunzel's kidnapping - and she knows that it's out of love that he wants to keep her within Corona's walls, but she hates that he lies to her and goes behind her back, which ultimately leads to him confining her to her room in a manner much like Gothel once did. He's quick to realize the error of his ways, though, and happily lets Rapunzel venture out to find her destiny.
- Cassandra: Rapunzel's best friend, protector, handmaiden, and one of the people she loves most in the world. Cassandra has been an integral part of Rapunzel's life almost from the moment she settled into castle life; Cass showed her how to act, taught her how to navigate upper class society, and even helped her escape from the castle for a while when Rapunzel began feeling overwhelmed - which accidentally kicked off the entire plot of the show. Rapunzel has a hard time reading Cass sometimes, and will sometimes cross boundaries she doesn't know she's crossing, but she still holds a deep respect for her friend and trusts her one hundred percent.
This trust and honesty begins to fray during the course of her adventure beyond Corona, when the stress and responsibilities on each of their shoulders begin to wear on them and cause them to clash more than once, but Rapunzel still weathers this out of her love for her best friend. Even when the worst happens, and Cassandra betrays her and takes the Moonstone, Rapunzel never stops caring about her - no matter what cruel words Cassandra throws at her, no matter how they fought and hurt each other, Rapunzel never once wavers in her faith that Cass is still good. She knows her best friend is still there, deep down, and though she'll stand up to Cassandra and refuses to allow her to push her around, she still tries as best as she can to bring her friend back to the light.
- Varian: One of Rapunzel's best friends, who might as well be a little brother to her. Varian was a solid source of support for Rapunzel during her early investigation of the black rocks and the mystery surrounding them, and Rapunzel was one of the few people surrounding the boy that truly saw his worth and potential. She always did her best to encourage him and support him, even when he had doubts about his skills as an alchemist or uncertainty over whether they could crack the mystery of the rocks, and was absolutely thrilled with each success he achieved. She promised to always be there to help him, no matter what - and that came back to bite her. Like Cassandra above, several tragic turns of events caused Varian to betray Rapunzel, coming to blows with her and her friends and nearly killing her parents and Cass. Still, Rapunzel stayed true to him as her friend - she knew that under all that anger, Varian was just a scared, hurting boy who was caught up in the grief of losing his father. She focuses on the good in him, and with a little coaxing and support, is able to finally help him shine.
Character Personality Through Key Moments
(2+) Positive Experiences:
- Eugene finding her and taking her to see the lights:
Truly the biggest turning point in Rapunzel's life, and the moment where her life truly began
It's in this trip to the castle that the full extent of Rapunzel's sunny personality is truly shown; when confronted with an intimidating group of pub thugs, though initially frightened over these ruffians that Gothel warned her about, she reached out in a plea for their humanity, begging them to stand down when it looked like a fight was about to break out. It was there that she saw these men for what they are; people with dreams like her. Dreams that included things like playing the piano, opening a bakery, or falling in love. It's these men that show Rapunzel that people aren't bad, that there's more to people than just what's shown on the surface, and it's one of the major steps in her feeling more comfortable in this brand new world.
Though she's no master at reading people after only a few hours outside, Rapunzel is surprisingly perceptive for someone so initially naive. She knows that there's more to Eugene than the suave ladykiller persona he plays up, and she truly bonds with him when he opens up about his true name and past. This is no doubt because Rapunzel appreciates and responds best to honesty - after all, led to believe that her kidnapper was her true mother all her life gives her a very harsh distaste of people lying to her. Honesty and forthrightness are what draws Rapunzel to others, and it's that and the man's good heart that eventually led to Rapunzel falling in love with him.
- Adventures beyond Corona's walls:
It's in her journey to the Dark Kingdom where Rapunzel's confidence truly begins to flourish. While her time in Corona up until her nineteenth birthday was more about finding solid ground, her time outside the kingdom is all about figuring out how to stand. Rapunzel is at the head of her group not just as a friend, but a leader. Much of the adventure to the Dark Kingdom was fraught with danger, and as the only one with magical abilities and the one connected to the rocks guiding them, it was often on Rapunzel's shoulders to make the tough calls. Though this certainly wears on her - as her fraying relationship with Cass highlights - it's through these hardships that she begins to open up about feeling anything other than happiness. She admits to Cass in one incident how terrified she is of their journey and the worries she has over the possibility that this journey isn't one where she might come back from. It's a sad moment but it's a far cry from how she'd meekly hide how she really feels from Gothel when chastised for her feelings.
Though her decisions do wind up getting people hurt and do cause problems, in the end, it's a good thing for Rapunzel. It's in this journey that Rapunzel learns that making mistakes doesn't make you a bad person; it makes you human. In situations with unavoidable danger, she learns how to tough it out, and when her friends begin disagreeing with how she wants to proceed, Rapunzel begins sticking up for herself and her ideas more. It... still causes conflict, but they're still things that Rapunzel needs to grow as a person.
And of course, being outside Corona for the very first time feeds deeply into Rapunzel's sense of wonder and thirst for adventure. She throws aside the idea of settling down just yet, because Rapunzel wants to take in all that the world has to offer. Whether it be nature, art, people... Rapunzel thrives on learning and seeing new things. It's really all she wanted in life; as much as she enjoys being a princess, it's the experiences it offers her that she truly enjoys, and runs into every new day with a sense of enthusiasm that's almost impossible to snuff out.
- Stepping up in her parents' places during s3:
If her experiences adapting to royal life helped Rapunzel adapt to society and her adventures beyond Corona helped her develop as a person, it's her return to Corona that helps Rapunzel finally feel comfortable in her role as a princess. It was a bit of a chaotic start; still reeling from Cassandra's betrayal, Rapunzel returned home to find that Varian had helped the Saporian Separatists take over the kingdom and completely erased her parents' memories. Had this happened even just a year ago, Rapunzel would have... not handled it well at all. But in the face of this adversity and the looming threats hanging over her and her kingdom, Rapunzel steps up. She becomes a true leader, working hard to be the person that her people could look to in this time of strife. With the safety of the people she loves and the citizens she cares about on the line, Rapunzel's courage flourishes; though she's adamant in her belief that Cassandra's betrayal is hiding some deeper, tragic meaning, and her friend isn't completely lost, Rapunzel refuses to be pushed around. She fights back, both verbally and literally, against everything Cassandra throws at her, and flat out tells her that she refuses to let anyone - even her best friend - push her around or endanger her friends. Even on the more mundane note, Rapunzel works hard as the interim queen; she takes much of the day to day duties of running the kingdom on her shoulders, and while some of this is her trying to distract herself from the pain of Cassandra's actions, she very clearly wants to do good.
This is because Rapunzel, at her core, is a young woman of deep, endless compassion. She'll go to the very ends of the earth and beyond to help the people who need her, even to self-sacrificing levels; after Cassandra dies in the final fight with Zhan Tiri, Rapunzel refuses to let everything they did to help Cass be in vain, and attempts to use the united power of the Sundrop and Moonstone to bring her back to life. Even when just reaching out for the combined stone hurt, even with Eugene's warnings that this could possibly kill Rapunzel, she still fought. Because Rapunzel is someone who never gives up, not on her dreams or her goals or the people she cares about.
(2+) Negative Experiences:
- Gothel's kidnapping:
Without a doubt, this is the root of many of Rapunzel's negative traits and qualities, and the start of many of the traumas she doesn't address for a long time. Though Rapunzel was only an infant when she was taken from her parents and grew up believing Gothel to be her true mother, just the situation alone was very damaging to the young woman. Gothel was the only person she had any sort of contact with for eighteen years, and raised Rapunzel to be completely reliant and subservient to her. This molded Rapunzel into a very naive young woman who had a lot of trouble adapting to society, often unable to recognize common social norms or vastly underestimating how even her small actions might have consequences. Gothel would cruelly put down Rapunzel's appearance, or how she acted, or many other different things, only to turn around and laugh it off saying that she was only joking. This, understandably, left Rapunzel with some very confusing self-worth issues; though what she desired most was to see the world outside of her tower window, when Eugene finally comes along and helps her take those first steps out, she's overcome with such an extreme case of anxiety that she spends much of the afternoon waffling between utter joy and utter despair, constantly berating herself as a terrible daughter who couldn't be forgiven... for simply wanting to go outside.
The scars of how Gothel raised her in this way are still felt even years into her life in the castle; while Rapunzel is more than happy to stand up for her friends and put her foot down when those in need are in help, she's still... very avoidant when it comes to more intimate conflict. She refuses to address the aftermath of the group's incident in the Great Tree, which resulted in Cass's hand being crippled and a wall growing between her and her friend, and at first glance seems very dismissive of the dangers of the journey to the Dark Kingdom. It's not as if Rapunzel doesn't like taking things seriously, she just often doesn't voice her concerns about the situation at hand; not out of some need to put up a front, but Gothel would so often ignore her worries or demean her in some way for feeling bad. She's scared to bring up her more complicated feelings, because she's scared of being rejected like she was so often in the past.
- Cassandra+Varian's betrayals:
Two very different betrayals that affected Rapunzel in different ways, but left similar scars on Rapunzel's heart. Rapunzel tries her very best to help everyone, including her friends, but it's with Varian that Rapunzel is faced with the harsh reality that you can't always help everyone, even if you want to. Even if you promise to. Failing Varian in his time of need is when Rapunzel first realizes how much her words an actions can hurt those she loves, and she carries heavy guilt from it for some time after. See, she was stuck between a rock and a very hard place; her parents were missing in the middle of an intense blizzard that was putting the lives of all of Corona in danger, and she needed to step up and be their leader until her parents were found. But on the other hand, Varian's father was in danger and needed her help - the only person he believed could help him - and she had to reject his desperate plea to help. This... tore at Rapunzel's heart. Though to any outsider it was clear she made the right choice - to put the safety of her kingdom above the please of one person - even many months later, she's still haunted with dreams and visions of Varian's anger and betrayed expression.
Rapunzel... doesn't handle betrayal well. It's the one thing that can really snuff out her bright inner light, and while Varian's betrayal staggers her, it's Cassandra's betrayal that causes her to full on stumble.
The leadup to Cassandra's betrayal is... messy. Though the journey beyond Corona's walls was good for Rapunzel, it also highlighted how Gothel's influence rubbed off of her in some not so positive ways. She often brushes her friends feelings aside to try and insist on how she feels about certain situations; when Cassandra and Eugene bicker, does she let them calm down and talk it out? No, she locks them in a prison cell and concocts an elaborate fetch quest to make them get along. When Cassandra expresses her worries that Rapunzel doesn't trust her anymore, does Rapunzel comfort her and insist she does? No, Rapunzel tells Cass that she needs to be okay with some decisions that Rapunzel makes that she might not agree with. Rapunzel's heart is absolutely in the right place when she wants to help her friends or try and talk things out with them when problems arise, but her execution can leave much to be desired, and unfortunately, it's not until Cassandra steals the Moonstone from right under Rapunzel's fingers that she realizes what she did wrong. The idea of hiding things that are bothering her and not addressing the various elephants in the room that keep multiplying over the course of the trip seem good in Rapunzel's eyes, because she doesn't want to hurt people by talking about things that make them upset, but by not talking about them, she lets those negative feelings fester, until it's almost too late to treat them.
Deer Country Attributes
• Canon Powers: From birth, Rapunzel has been gifted with the power of the Sundrop; one half of a divine power from beyond the stars that fell to earth centuries ago. This power has given her the ability to heal - no matter how deadly the injury, from a cut hand to poison to death itself, Rapunzel can reverse it, returning her target (or targets) to full health. This is achieved through singing a short tune which resonates with the power dwelling inside of her.
This power was temporarily dormant after Rapunzel cut her hair, and she thought she lost it forever. However, after coming into contact with the black rocks created by the Moonstone, Rapunzel's seventy feet of magical hair grew back, with some improvements; while she can't heal anymore, her hair is now completely indestructible, which allows her to use it as a shield, protective bubble, or even more sturdy grappling hook. With these wisps of the Moonstone's power within her, now, she also has access to more new abilities - when she touches the black rocks, power surges through her and the rocks, and she gains some somewhat unconscious control over the rocks. They can move according to her will as long as she's in contact with a rock, though sustained contact might also result in terrible power flares that could affect those nearby. Tied so closely to the Moonstone's power also means that the rocks will move on their own to help guide her towards the Moonstone's location - though the Sundrop's power is inside of her, it is in its own way another entity, one that longs to be reunited with its other half. It's subtle, but Rapunzel can feel this power's longing, the tug to draw closer to the Moonstone and be whole again...
There's also the Decay Incantation. By singing a similar tune, Rapunzel's hair and eyes go solidly black, and everything around her begins to decay. She falls into a trance, aware of what's happening around her but unable to stop the magic flowing through her. This magic makes Rapunzel herself dangerous, too - should anyone touch her while under the thrall of this spell, they themselves will begin to decay. While sufficient protective equipment like Varian's alchemy gloves can offer decent protection (at the expense of the gloves melting), it's quite possible for any skin that came in contact with Rapunzel to char and decay in a matter of seconds, as Cassandra unfortunately found out.
The final upgrade to her sun-given abilities is the Hope Incantation. As secretive as it was, this incantation is simple in its use; it taps into the full power of the sun, allowing Rapunzel to unleash powerful energy blasts, enough to crumble a tower made of seemingly unbreakable rock.
When she comes to Deer Country, these powers will be depleted somewhat. She still has access to the "basic" incantations and the indestructible nature of her hair, but the Hope Incantation will no longer work, and touching the black rocks will cause no response from Rapunzel's powers at all. Her healing, too, technically wouldn't work either, but perhaps if she comes into contact with the Moonstone again...
• Blood Type: Paleblood
• Omen: Gryphon
• Blessed Day: April 14th
• Patron Pthumerian: Argonaut
• Blood Power Manifestation: To balance out her blood powers with the powers of the Sundrop from canon, Rapunzel's paleblood powers are somewhat reduced. She won't be a full telepath or Dreamwalker, but instead will focus more on reading emotions and dreams.
- Dream-viewing: Rapunzel cannot enter or influence the dreams of others, but she can still see these dreams when she touches a sleeping... uh. Sleeper. She can see the Sleeper's dreams through their perspective, and though she can't manipulate them or divert from a path of the dreaming person's own, she retains the events of the dream much easier than a target might.
- Empathy: Increased sensitivity to the emotions of others. During the day, most of this is just a general whispering feeling, a prickling against her skin when someone is upset or angry or a sense of calmness when someone is happy or content, and this usually only applies to those she's speaking with in person. At night, these powers expand; being in large crowds can be overwhelming, the whispering growing into a dull drone of mixing emotions. At night, it's possible for her to tap into emotions a character might be attempting to hide, but this takes effort and will obviously be used with discretion OOCly to prevent godmodding.
- Emotion Projecting: Rapunzel can project a sense of emotion onto a person - she can't make anyone feel anything, so it's not full on emotional manipulation, but she can try and surround someone with a sense of peace, or happiness in an attempt to calm them down, or anger or determination to aid them as they run into battle. She has to consciously do this, no matter what emotion she's feeling; she can't cause someone to feel sad by them being in close proximity to her, for example.
Writing Samples
One: September 2021 Test Drive
Two: April 2021 Test Drive
The Player
• Player Name: Owl
• Player Age: 32
• Player Contact:
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