P L A Y E R ☓ Name: Varali ☓ Personal journal: navi-per-mari ☓ Age: 23 ☓ Email: navi_per_mari@yahoo.com ☓ AIM/MSN/Yahoo! Messenger: [AIM] varaliluna
C H A R A C T E R ☓ Name: Rapunzel ☓ Series: Tangled ☓ Reference: 1, 2 ☓ Canon point: Right after her first kiss. ☓ Age: 18.
☓ Personality: Rapunzel is very much a typical teenage girl, full of energy and dreams and raring to go and prove herself now that she's come of age--except she's been locked in a tower for all her life. We all might have had strict parents, but Rapunzel's "mother" is certainly one of the worst.
We first gain insight into Rapunzel's personality through her first song, When Will My Life Begin?. She states her colorful daily routine of chores and recreation, showing herself to be self-sufficient, able to take care of the tower by herself, and talented in many artistic fields such as painting, sewing, pottery, candle-making, and many others. Her life of solitude for eighteen years save for the companionship of her chameleon, Pascal, has allowed her to become independent in the sense that she can take care of herself while she's alone. She knows how to cook, to clean, to sew herself clothes, and to have fun without much companionship except from her false mother and from her chameleon.
However, despite this self-sufficience, Rapunzel vocalizes that she has one dream--to see the "floating lights" that appear every year on her birthday. Her dream is simple--she just wants to see something beautiful, not just from her window, but right there, in person. But there is something deeper beneath that wish, as she states, "I feel like . . . they're meant for me." Of course they really are meant for her, as the lanterns are sent into the sky to hopefully call the princess home . . . but on a deeper emotional level in Rapunzel's case, the lanterns symbolize her dream--not just to watch something beautiful, but to be free to do so. This is why in the reprise of her second song, she sings, "for the first time ever, I'm completely free! Now's when my life begins!" The culmination of her freedom, and consequently her dream, is to watch the lanterns, after which she tries to convince not just Flynn Rider but mostly herself that she'll return to her tower once she's achieved this dream.
She's not lonely in her tower, and is fine with her companions--it's the curiosity about the world around her and her appreciation for beauty that makes her want to go out, along with the feeling that her life hasn't begun while she's in that tower. She wants freedom, and the moment she's able to taste it, she doesn't want to relinquish it any further.
However, despite this yearning for freedom, she's also very much a dedicated daughter. She fights with herself, debating on whether or not she'll follow her "mother's" advice or if she'll disobey and make her own path. She doesn't obey blindly--she knows that Gothel supposedly just wants to protect her, and she's aware of "ruffians and thugs". However, she's also keen to prove herself, and was consequently ecstatic when she was able to knock Flynn out and stuff him into the closet, saying that that was proof that she wasn't as weak as she seemed.
That scene in itself demonstrates several things about Rapunzel. First is that she is resourceful--not only does she grab a frying pan to defend herself, but she also manages to place Flynn inside the wardrobe (after some tries), and manages to bargain with him while he's awake, knowing that he could very well be her key to the outside world.
Second is that Rapunzel is intelligent--aside from charting the stars in her tower, that also shows her keen powers of observation. She knows what Flynn can do for her and strikes a bargain with him, despite her naivete. She understands the cause and effect of things and the relationships of one thing to another--aside from the stars' relationship to the earth, she's aware of her relationship with Flynn beginning with him as an opportunity for her to get out and eventually thinking that he likes her (which he does). Eventually, she is also able to deduce the relationship that she truly has with Gothel, in which she was kidnapped by the old woman, simply by piecing together a few visual clues and memories.
Third is that Rapunzel is naive. She's distrustful at first because of Gothel's preaching that the world is a cruel place, jumping at bunnies and thinking it to be a ruffian or a thug at first, and definitely not trusting Flynn. Yet she's naive enough to say that she has no choice (which really it seems like she doesn't), and to trust him . . . and to think that he couldn't have found the crown if he searched enough considering that he's an expert thief (and she hid the crown first in a pot and at the bottom step of the staircase).
As the movie progresses, we learn more and more about the princess. Faced with the real ruffians and thugs in a pub, she's able to maneuver her hair to hit one of them with a wooden beam on the head, telling them to "find their humanity" . . . which results of course in an introspective song and dance number. They talk about their dreams, in which Rapunzel states her dream of seeing the floating lights/lanterns, stating that "she's glad she's left her tower" (again drawing the parallel of the lights and freedom).
Later on, they are chased away by the Palace Guards who are after Flynn for stealing the crown (ironically Rapunzel's own), and they are trapped in a cave with seemingly no escape while it floods with dam water. Rapunzel acknowledges that it's all her fault--again, this illustrates that she understands the cause and effect not just of the world around her but of her own actions as well, understanding that if she hadn't made that bargain with Flynn, neither of them would be so close to death. But again, it's her resourcefulness that saves them--she remembers that she has "magic hair that glows when she sings", and so, after belting out a line, they're able to illuminate the pitch-black cave, find a little hole and push through it, coming out alive.
The movie also shows Rapunzel's discovery of the truth about the world around her. Gothel had painted it as a world of pain and misery, full of selfish and horrible people--but she learns that Flynn is a very kind and caring man, and even ruffians and thugs can be kind as well. In the end, she also realizes that the cruel and horrid one is Gothel herself, telling her that "you were wrong about the world, and you are wrong about me!" as Gothel was always quick to tell Rapunzel that she couldn't last a day outside the tower. She grows slowly out of her naivete, though of course, a few days are not enough to rectify eighteen years' worth of solitude . . . but Rapunzel's intelligent, as mentioned earlier, and Flynn even states in the end that she rules the kingdom with the same wisdom that her parents did before her, despite her sheltered life.
Another important thing to note about Rapunzel is that she's willing to sacrifice her own happiness for someone that she loves. She was able to do so for eighteen years, staying in her tower to keep Gothel happy, even if deep down inside of her she was yearning to prove herself. She knew that Gothel's demands were unreasonable, and yet, she still kept her end of the bargain for as long as she could. In a different scenario, she gives up her life once more by bargaining with Gothel that if she could heal Flynn from certain death (after Gothel stabbed him), Rapunzel would confine herself to Gothel forever (who would simply use Rapunzel's hair to stay young).
Also, while Rapunzel was most definitely angry with Gothel for keeping her imprisoned for eighteen years and for hurting Flynn, it showed that she was dismayed when Gothel plunged to her death. Rapunzel is kind and merciful, perhaps in her path to wisdom. She begins as distrustful and "jumpy", but eventually learns to trust--and not just the blind trust that she had in Gothel, who manipulated her all those years, but trust that stemmed from relationships with new people.
Lastly, despite Rapunzel's solitude and the hardships that she had to endure during the days surrounding her birthday, she remains cheerful, rather awkward but graceful all the same, understanding that Gothel was wrong about the world as a dismal place and truly beginning to see the things worth dreaming of and reaching for. She's very passionate about things, whether in anger or in joy, and even more so now that she's beginning to grasp what the world truly is all about.
☓ Abilities: "I have . . . magic hair that glows when I sing!" Rapunzel once possessed magic hair that did glow when she sang a special song. Its powers were to heal any injury or ailment and to "make the clock reverse" and bring back youth. She acquired these powers from a single drop of sunlight that fell onto the earth and blossomed into a magic flower, and this said magic flower was given to the queen during childbirth, as the queen was ill.
Aside from her hair being magic, she can also use its lengths as anything--a rope, a whip, an access to hard-to-reach places, et cetera.
Like a lot of Disney princesses, Rapunzel seems to understand animals. But then, so can Flynn. It's probably a Disney thing.
Rapunzel also has an entire song dedicated to her talents, which include domestic skills such as cleaning, sewing, doing the laundry, baking and cooking, and recreational skills such as painting, pottery making, candle making, ventriloquy, dancing ballet, playing darts and chess, playing the guitar (her room has a mandolin), et cetera. (She's had a lot of time on her own, and it's not surprising that she's done all those things out of boredom.)
She also has mad skills with a frying pan.
☓ Weaknesses: Rapunzel is still naive. She hasn't had much experience with the world, and a few days' time of learning of the world's treachery has taught her much, but not everything. It's still very easy to win her trust and abuse it.
Her love for her loved ones can be a personal weakness. She was willing to sacrifice her freedom--what she wanted most--to save Flynn . . . because as she said while he was dying, freedom was no longer her dream--it was him. Just as she pursued everything and bargained her way to get her dream of freedom, she bargained and did what she had to do to gain her dream of Flynn--or at least, the best of it, which was to have him at least healthy and alive.
Rapunzel is insecure. Or rather, was, during the beginning of the movie. She was afraid that Flynn would leave her once she gave him what he was there for (i.e. the crown), but later on she gives it to him and states that she isn't scared anymore. However, when Flynn leaves her to talk to the Stabbington brothers, she still verbalizes that fear--"I was beginning to think you ran off with the crown and left me," she jokes, though this hints at her fear that he'll leave her. She can fend for herself, but it's not that--it's the fact that he's become her new dream at this point.
She's not particularly strong. She can wield that frying pan like it's Thor's Hammer and can use her hair as a weapon, but other than that, it was easy for Gothel to chain her and drag her along the floor, even if she struggled as much as she could.
☓ Strengths: Rapunzel is determined. She did everything in her power to achieve both of her dreams in the movie, and this shows that she's not one to give up, especially once she's had an idea.
Rapunzel is intelligent and resilient. Cause and effect is easy for her, and with her resourcefulness, she can survive most environments, just as she survived traveling to the castle with Flynn through ruffians and thugs, a crashing dam, an airtight cave, the forest, and what have you. If she can make a weapon out of a frying pan and her hair, she can make do with what's at hand.
Rapunzel has many talents and is adaptible. Considering her roster of skills stated above, she can most definitely survive in The Devils See, making her own clothes and clothes for others, cooking for the fighters, making candles for when electricity is out, and even going out into the forest and defeating some baddies herself (as long as she has a frying pan).
Rapunzel won't ever leave people she cares about behind. While she did leave Gothel to find her freedom, she does convince herself that she's going back to the tower--again sacrificing her dream for someoen that she loves. She's a very loyal friend and daughter and lover, and will never abandon anyone important to her--and not even those she's just met for the first time.
Oh, and did I mention she can kick ass with a frying pan?
☓ Intranet post sample: [The video flickers on to show a girl. Holding a pan. She's holding it out in front of her like a tennis racket, ready to hammer her next victim out of Asia and into Europe. Except it looks like she's ready to beat up a webcam--even if she can't see that it's turned on and she's basically shouting at an empty kitchen, facing to the side of the computer.]
I'm warning you--don't try anything funny! I'm not afraid! I have a weapon!
[She looks around, wary and distrustful.]
Hey, Pascal, do you think there are any ruffians in this place? Quicksand or poison ivy?
[She looks at the walls with an expression of growing horror, as though vines might be crawling from them at any moment. On her shoulder, a little blob of green emerges--a chameleon, chirping things at her.]
Yeah, I know, I don't think anyone's here either . . . I gotta say, would be nice if our friends from the Snuggly Duckling were here right now. I bet they'd know what to do.
Eugene too--
[At the mention of his name, bites her lip.] You think he's okay, Pascal? Yeah, I know, I know . . . it was lucky it worked that time, though I don't think it's gonna work again . . . Oh, Pascal. I'm glad you're with me here. I wish Eugene was here too.
Yeah, I know. We should try to find a way home.
[She sighs, lowering her frying pan.]
Eugene . . .
Okay. Pascal, let's get outta here. If we came by the sea, that means we've got to leave by sea too, right? Let's get a boat and some maps, and we'll be back home in no time!
[Pascal nods his head and puffs out his chest encouragingly, and Rapunzel gives him a smile.]
She'd only ever thought she'd drown once. I mean, of all the things that had to happen, you'd think that drowning would only ever happen once in someone's life! It was really, really something that she didn't want to have to experience again, and this time, Eugene wasn't even there to freak out about her glowing hair. Not that she had time to sing to make it glow either--the moment she opened her mouth, the waters closed in, and she let out a sound that sounded like "grnaghff!"
Oh--but even if she sang, her hair wouldn't glow anymore. Eugene had cut it all off, and it was only by virtue of a miracle that she was able to heal him . . . the tears were still fresh on her eyes, as well as the ghost of her ecstatic smile was still on her lips, though both were easily washed away by the fear of death and the waters. And to think that she and Eugene were interrupted in the middle of their first kiss! She would've been angry about that, accusing The Devils See for stealing her first romantic teenage experience, but at the moment, it was a bit hard to scream when she was thinking about, oh, actually living another day to have another kiss.
The world was black, and she was scrambling against the weight of the water, and were those--waves? She'd never experienced waves before. But they were pushing her back and forth, and beside her, she could feel Pascal clinging to her head, trying his best to pull her up to safety. Her dress was weighing her down, keeping her from the surface--it was strange how drowning in a small cave was totally different from drowning in the ocean.
The water was pushing and buffeting her as though she were in a storm, and Rapunzel kicked and fought with all her might. She'd just had her second ever dream of being with Eugene, and whatever was happening wasn't going to get in the way of her first romance! She still had so much to learn and to discover, and she still had to meet her real parents--drowning wasn't going to keep her down! No siree!
She'd never heard of the saying that one's life flashed before their eyes when death was approaching. There were a lot of things she hadn't heard about, but as it was, that was what happened at that very moment--she began to think of Gothel, and how maybe Gothel had been right--that was what she'd thought when she and Eugene were stuck in that cave. Maybe she shouldn't have left her tower.
But then, her life wouldn't have began at all--and she wasn't going to let it end now.
Eugene's face flashed before her eyes, as well as the hazed faces of her real mother and father. She had to meet them. She had to go back home to her kingdom. She had to hug Eugene and tell him that he was the best adventure yet and the best dream ever. She still had to dance, to listen to more music, to look at new maps and see the rest of the world!
Feeling determination course through her, Rapunzel kicked, and kicked, and it didn't matter that she didn't know how to swim (Gothel never taught her); she kicked as hard as she could until suddenly she broke through the surface, gasping for air, paddling her way to the shore. Her dress was dragging her down, and the water was freezing, but that was land! She fought tooth and nail to get to the sand, finally cresting one wave and feelng herself slam down onto wet, heavy earth, coughing and sputtering, blowing the water out of her nose. She didn't ever want to do that again.
"We made it--Pascal," she panted, talking to her small chameleon, who was sprawled out beside her, coughing as well. How did they even end up drowning? She just remembered kissing Eugene and then that, like they were going to die all over again. Was it a dream? Unconsciously, her hand reached up to touch her short hair. No, it wasn't a dream. Whatever happened was some sort of weird magic. Like she told Eugene--don't freak out. Okay. She wasn't going to freak out.
She looked around the shore. It was empty, save for logs washed onto the sand, seaweed littered all over like pieces of green, slimy cloth. In the distance, she could see a little town--but it didn't look anything like she'd ever seen before. Things were glowing--and not like her hair, like magic, or like candlelight. She'd never seen electricity before. What was that? And the rooftops . . . they looked really different too. It didn't look like anything in the kingdom, and it didn't look like her tower, with those curved tops. They were pretty in their own way, and Rapunzel was already curious to learn more. Besides, she couldn't stay on that beach the whole time, right? She had to get back to her home, and to where Eugene was waiting.
"Come on, Pascal," she said to her chameleon. She was so accustomed to having no one but him as her company that she spoke to him as though he were human--but that didn't matter to her. He was just as loyal a friend as any human could be. "Let's get some towels or something. It's freezing!"
And with that, setting her jaw, she decided to move towards the little town, knowing that she had to find a way back.
☓ Name: Varali
☓ Personal journal: navi-per-mari
☓ Age: 23
☓ Email: navi_per_mari@yahoo.com
☓ AIM/MSN/Yahoo! Messenger: [AIM] varaliluna
C H A R A C T E R
☓ Name: Rapunzel
☓ Series: Tangled
☓ Reference: 1, 2
☓ Canon point: Right after her first kiss.
☓ Age: 18.
☓ Personality:
Rapunzel is very much a typical teenage girl, full of energy and dreams and raring to go and prove herself now that she's come of age--except she's been locked in a tower for all her life. We all might have had strict parents, but Rapunzel's "mother" is certainly one of the worst.
We first gain insight into Rapunzel's personality through her first song, When Will My Life Begin?. She states her colorful daily routine of chores and recreation, showing herself to be self-sufficient, able to take care of the tower by herself, and talented in many artistic fields such as painting, sewing, pottery, candle-making, and many others. Her life of solitude for eighteen years save for the companionship of her chameleon, Pascal, has allowed her to become independent in the sense that she can take care of herself while she's alone. She knows how to cook, to clean, to sew herself clothes, and to have fun without much companionship except from her false mother and from her chameleon.
However, despite this self-sufficience, Rapunzel vocalizes that she has one dream--to see the "floating lights" that appear every year on her birthday. Her dream is simple--she just wants to see something beautiful, not just from her window, but right there, in person. But there is something deeper beneath that wish, as she states, "I feel like . . . they're meant for me." Of course they really are meant for her, as the lanterns are sent into the sky to hopefully call the princess home . . . but on a deeper emotional level in Rapunzel's case, the lanterns symbolize her dream--not just to watch something beautiful, but to be free to do so. This is why in the reprise of her second song, she sings, "for the first time ever, I'm completely free! Now's when my life begins!" The culmination of her freedom, and consequently her dream, is to watch the lanterns, after which she tries to convince not just Flynn Rider but mostly herself that she'll return to her tower once she's achieved this dream.
She's not lonely in her tower, and is fine with her companions--it's the curiosity about the world around her and her appreciation for beauty that makes her want to go out, along with the feeling that her life hasn't begun while she's in that tower. She wants freedom, and the moment she's able to taste it, she doesn't want to relinquish it any further.
Reply
That scene in itself demonstrates several things about Rapunzel. First is that she is resourceful--not only does she grab a frying pan to defend herself, but she also manages to place Flynn inside the wardrobe (after some tries), and manages to bargain with him while he's awake, knowing that he could very well be her key to the outside world.
Second is that Rapunzel is intelligent--aside from charting the stars in her tower, that also shows her keen powers of observation. She knows what Flynn can do for her and strikes a bargain with him, despite her naivete. She understands the cause and effect of things and the relationships of one thing to another--aside from the stars' relationship to the earth, she's aware of her relationship with Flynn beginning with him as an opportunity for her to get out and eventually thinking that he likes her (which he does). Eventually, she is also able to deduce the relationship that she truly has with Gothel, in which she was kidnapped by the old woman, simply by piecing together a few visual clues and memories.
Third is that Rapunzel is naive. She's distrustful at first because of Gothel's preaching that the world is a cruel place, jumping at bunnies and thinking it to be a ruffian or a thug at first, and definitely not trusting Flynn. Yet she's naive enough to say that she has no choice (which really it seems like she doesn't), and to trust him . . . and to think that he couldn't have found the crown if he searched enough considering that he's an expert thief (and she hid the crown first in a pot and at the bottom step of the staircase).
As the movie progresses, we learn more and more about the princess. Faced with the real ruffians and thugs in a pub, she's able to maneuver her hair to hit one of them with a wooden beam on the head, telling them to "find their humanity" . . . which results of course in an introspective song and dance number. They talk about their dreams, in which Rapunzel states her dream of seeing the floating lights/lanterns, stating that "she's glad she's left her tower" (again drawing the parallel of the lights and freedom).
Later on, they are chased away by the Palace Guards who are after Flynn for stealing the crown (ironically Rapunzel's own), and they are trapped in a cave with seemingly no escape while it floods with dam water. Rapunzel acknowledges that it's all her fault--again, this illustrates that she understands the cause and effect not just of the world around her but of her own actions as well, understanding that if she hadn't made that bargain with Flynn, neither of them would be so close to death. But again, it's her resourcefulness that saves them--she remembers that she has "magic hair that glows when she sings", and so, after belting out a line, they're able to illuminate the pitch-black cave, find a little hole and push through it, coming out alive.
Reply
Another important thing to note about Rapunzel is that she's willing to sacrifice her own happiness for someone that she loves. She was able to do so for eighteen years, staying in her tower to keep Gothel happy, even if deep down inside of her she was yearning to prove herself. She knew that Gothel's demands were unreasonable, and yet, she still kept her end of the bargain for as long as she could. In a different scenario, she gives up her life once more by bargaining with Gothel that if she could heal Flynn from certain death (after Gothel stabbed him), Rapunzel would confine herself to Gothel forever (who would simply use Rapunzel's hair to stay young).
Also, while Rapunzel was most definitely angry with Gothel for keeping her imprisoned for eighteen years and for hurting Flynn, it showed that she was dismayed when Gothel plunged to her death. Rapunzel is kind and merciful, perhaps in her path to wisdom. She begins as distrustful and "jumpy", but eventually learns to trust--and not just the blind trust that she had in Gothel, who manipulated her all those years, but trust that stemmed from relationships with new people.
Lastly, despite Rapunzel's solitude and the hardships that she had to endure during the days surrounding her birthday, she remains cheerful, rather awkward but graceful all the same, understanding that Gothel was wrong about the world as a dismal place and truly beginning to see the things worth dreaming of and reaching for. She's very passionate about things, whether in anger or in joy, and even more so now that she's beginning to grasp what the world truly is all about.
Reply
"I have . . . magic hair that glows when I sing!"
Rapunzel once possessed magic hair that did glow when she sang a special song. Its powers were to heal any injury or ailment and to "make the clock reverse" and bring back youth. She acquired these powers from a single drop of sunlight that fell onto the earth and blossomed into a magic flower, and this said magic flower was given to the queen during childbirth, as the queen was ill.
Aside from her hair being magic, she can also use its lengths as anything--a rope, a whip, an access to hard-to-reach places, et cetera.
Like a lot of Disney princesses, Rapunzel seems to understand animals. But then, so can Flynn. It's probably a Disney thing.
Rapunzel also has an entire song dedicated to her talents, which include domestic skills such as cleaning, sewing, doing the laundry, baking and cooking, and recreational skills such as painting, pottery making, candle making, ventriloquy, dancing ballet, playing darts and chess, playing the guitar (her room has a mandolin), et cetera. (She's had a lot of time on her own, and it's not surprising that she's done all those things out of boredom.)
She also has mad skills with a frying pan.
☓ Weaknesses:
Rapunzel is still naive. She hasn't had much experience with the world, and a few days' time of learning of the world's treachery has taught her much, but not everything. It's still very easy to win her trust and abuse it.
Her love for her loved ones can be a personal weakness. She was willing to sacrifice her freedom--what she wanted most--to save Flynn . . . because as she said while he was dying, freedom was no longer her dream--it was him. Just as she pursued everything and bargained her way to get her dream of freedom, she bargained and did what she had to do to gain her dream of Flynn--or at least, the best of it, which was to have him at least healthy and alive.
Rapunzel is insecure. Or rather, was, during the beginning of the movie. She was afraid that Flynn would leave her once she gave him what he was there for (i.e. the crown), but later on she gives it to him and states that she isn't scared anymore. However, when Flynn leaves her to talk to the Stabbington brothers, she still verbalizes that fear--"I was beginning to think you ran off with the crown and left me," she jokes, though this hints at her fear that he'll leave her. She can fend for herself, but it's not that--it's the fact that he's become her new dream at this point.
She's not particularly strong. She can wield that frying pan like it's Thor's Hammer and can use her hair as a weapon, but other than that, it was easy for Gothel to chain her and drag her along the floor, even if she struggled as much as she could.
☓ Strengths:
Rapunzel is determined. She did everything in her power to achieve both of her dreams in the movie, and this shows that she's not one to give up, especially once she's had an idea.
Rapunzel is intelligent and resilient. Cause and effect is easy for her, and with her resourcefulness, she can survive most environments, just as she survived traveling to the castle with Flynn through ruffians and thugs, a crashing dam, an airtight cave, the forest, and what have you. If she can make a weapon out of a frying pan and her hair, she can make do with what's at hand.
Rapunzel has many talents and is adaptible. Considering her roster of skills stated above, she can most definitely survive in The Devils See, making her own clothes and clothes for others, cooking for the fighters, making candles for when electricity is out, and even going out into the forest and defeating some baddies herself (as long as she has a frying pan).
Rapunzel won't ever leave people she cares about behind. While she did leave Gothel to find her freedom, she does convince herself that she's going back to the tower--again sacrificing her dream for someoen that she loves. She's a very loyal friend and daughter and lover, and will never abandon anyone important to her--and not even those she's just met for the first time.
Oh, and did I mention she can kick ass with a frying pan?
Reply
[The video flickers on to show a girl. Holding a pan. She's holding it out in front of her like a tennis racket, ready to hammer her next victim out of Asia and into Europe. Except it looks like she's ready to beat up a webcam--even if she can't see that it's turned on and she's basically shouting at an empty kitchen, facing to the side of the computer.]
I'm warning you--don't try anything funny! I'm not afraid! I have a weapon!
[She looks around, wary and distrustful.]
Hey, Pascal, do you think there are any ruffians in this place? Quicksand or poison ivy?
[She looks at the walls with an expression of growing horror, as though vines might be crawling from them at any moment. On her shoulder, a little blob of green emerges--a chameleon, chirping things at her.]
Yeah, I know, I don't think anyone's here either . . . I gotta say, would be nice if our friends from the Snuggly Duckling were here right now. I bet they'd know what to do.
Eugene too--
[At the mention of his name, bites her lip.] You think he's okay, Pascal? Yeah, I know, I know . . . it was lucky it worked that time, though I don't think it's gonna work again . . . Oh, Pascal. I'm glad you're with me here. I wish Eugene was here too.
Yeah, I know. We should try to find a way home.
[She sighs, lowering her frying pan.]
Eugene . . .
Okay. Pascal, let's get outta here. If we came by the sea, that means we've got to leave by sea too, right? Let's get a boat and some maps, and we'll be back home in no time!
[Pascal nods his head and puffs out his chest encouragingly, and Rapunzel gives him a smile.]
Eugene's waiting!
Reply
She'd only ever thought she'd drown once. I mean, of all the things that had to happen, you'd think that drowning would only ever happen once in someone's life! It was really, really something that she didn't want to have to experience again, and this time, Eugene wasn't even there to freak out about her glowing hair. Not that she had time to sing to make it glow either--the moment she opened her mouth, the waters closed in, and she let out a sound that sounded like "grnaghff!"
Oh--but even if she sang, her hair wouldn't glow anymore. Eugene had cut it all off, and it was only by virtue of a miracle that she was able to heal him . . . the tears were still fresh on her eyes, as well as the ghost of her ecstatic smile was still on her lips, though both were easily washed away by the fear of death and the waters. And to think that she and Eugene were interrupted in the middle of their first kiss! She would've been angry about that, accusing The Devils See for stealing her first romantic teenage experience, but at the moment, it was a bit hard to scream when she was thinking about, oh, actually living another day to have another kiss.
The world was black, and she was scrambling against the weight of the water, and were those--waves? She'd never experienced waves before. But they were pushing her back and forth, and beside her, she could feel Pascal clinging to her head, trying his best to pull her up to safety. Her dress was weighing her down, keeping her from the surface--it was strange how drowning in a small cave was totally different from drowning in the ocean.
The water was pushing and buffeting her as though she were in a storm, and Rapunzel kicked and fought with all her might. She'd just had her second ever dream of being with Eugene, and whatever was happening wasn't going to get in the way of her first romance! She still had so much to learn and to discover, and she still had to meet her real parents--drowning wasn't going to keep her down! No siree!
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But then, her life wouldn't have began at all--and she wasn't going to let it end now.
Eugene's face flashed before her eyes, as well as the hazed faces of her real mother and father. She had to meet them. She had to go back home to her kingdom. She had to hug Eugene and tell him that he was the best adventure yet and the best dream ever. She still had to dance, to listen to more music, to look at new maps and see the rest of the world!
Feeling determination course through her, Rapunzel kicked, and kicked, and it didn't matter that she didn't know how to swim (Gothel never taught her); she kicked as hard as she could until suddenly she broke through the surface, gasping for air, paddling her way to the shore. Her dress was dragging her down, and the water was freezing, but that was land! She fought tooth and nail to get to the sand, finally cresting one wave and feelng herself slam down onto wet, heavy earth, coughing and sputtering, blowing the water out of her nose. She didn't ever want to do that again.
"We made it--Pascal," she panted, talking to her small chameleon, who was sprawled out beside her, coughing as well. How did they even end up drowning? She just remembered kissing Eugene and then that, like they were going to die all over again. Was it a dream? Unconsciously, her hand reached up to touch her short hair. No, it wasn't a dream. Whatever happened was some sort of weird magic. Like she told Eugene--don't freak out. Okay. She wasn't going to freak out.
She looked around the shore. It was empty, save for logs washed onto the sand, seaweed littered all over like pieces of green, slimy cloth. In the distance, she could see a little town--but it didn't look anything like she'd ever seen before. Things were glowing--and not like her hair, like magic, or like candlelight. She'd never seen electricity before. What was that? And the rooftops . . . they looked really different too. It didn't look like anything in the kingdom, and it didn't look like her tower, with those curved tops. They were pretty in their own way, and Rapunzel was already curious to learn more. Besides, she couldn't stay on that beach the whole time, right? She had to get back to her home, and to where Eugene was waiting.
"Come on, Pascal," she said to her chameleon. She was so accustomed to having no one but him as her company that she spoke to him as though he were human--but that didn't matter to her. He was just as loyal a friend as any human could be. "Let's get some towels or something. It's freezing!"
And with that, setting her jaw, she decided to move towards the little town, knowing that she had to find a way back.
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