App for counted_stars
Player Information:
Name or Handle: Chris
LJ: kawaiispinel
Email: whatineverhad[at]gmail.com
AIM/ MSN / Plurk name: KawaiiSpinel42
Any current characters here?: Gabriel/The Trickster
Character Information:
Character Name: Flynn Ryder
Age: 23
Canon: Tangled
Appearance: Flynn is devlishly handsome, the kind of rogue that women fall all over themselves and jizz their panties for. Or at least that's what he thinks. He has a wicked smolder that supposedly makes any woman do whatever he says, but... That's also a lie. Basically, he's just... A pretty boy with a nice smile and stuff. It's Disney. They're shallow like that.
Personality: Flynn is a classic rogue in almost all senses, albeit one that probably hasn’t reached his final Pokemon evolution. He’s no master at his craft, but what he lacks in skill, he makes up for in wiles, a gift for improvisation, and an audacious streak three miles wide. He’s the sort that would draw attention to his own thievery with a smirk and then happily flee the scene with all the glee of a child- it’s like a game to him. In some ways, he doesn’t even seem to realize the consequences, because, of course he’s going to get out of everything okay. He’s Flynn Ryder. Nothing can touch him. At the same time, he has no problem using people to get what he wants and then leaving them holding the bag (or, more specifically, without the bag). In fact, Flynn is quite accustomed to the lifestyle of someone who would cheat his own sister for a couple of gold coins for his Castle in the Sky fund. It’s clear there’s absolutely no love lost between him and the criminal circuit of the kingdom and the hilarious part is Flynn is arrogant enough not to realize this. He seems genuinely surprised when the patrons of the Snuggly Duckling seem to want a piece of his hide to sell to the palace’s guards and, in fact, walked into that place like he’d be invited in with open arms as a welcome member of their brotherhood of criminals. It’s not really until he’s faced with… People trying to kill him on three different sides that he has to own up to the fact that… No one really likes him, which makes one wonder how he hasn’t ended up dead before now. Dumb luck is his best friend and half the time in the film, it seems like he only seems to get out of situations with it on his side, and that suits him just fine. It just aides his delusions of grandeur.
Despite his lack of morals, he’s a bloodless thief- no threatening little old ladies at knifepoint, etc. He’s more of the cat burglar type and he doesn’t even carry a knife or a sword on him. He’d rather sneak into a place, steal the item he wants, and then get out. Threatening anyone isn’t part of the job. He’s not a bad guy- not really. In his own mind, he’s a hero, albeit one that’s in it for selfish gain, but who says heroes have to be out for other people? Really. Who made that rule?
He’s sarcastic, with a dry, almost deadpan sense of humor in his worst moods and a lighthearted, constantly joking one in his best- and all the immaturity that comes with a sense of humor that won’t quit. In fact, Flynn seems to exist with a casual sort of grace and takes everything up to the most dire and freaky situations in stride with a cocky attitude, and an alarming amount of patience, albeit strained, slightly irritated, patience. His arrogance and vanity are chief amongst his attributes to the point where he sees a wanted poster as a symbol of his infamy, rather than a portent of his own eventual doom and whines about it not capturing his nose accurately (and the fact that he keeps the wanted poster, rather than ditching it, tells a lot about him). He’s charismatic, but with a certain petty charm that’s about as cheap as a crackerjack prize, but it’s not without its merits- obviously, it’s worked on people before, but there’s no denying that he’s not exactly anything really special. He’s no master manipulator, no Casanova, although he’d probably say he was both- what’s true in reality and what’s true in Flynn’s head are two different things.
In fact, that’s the thing that’s most important about Flynn. He’s a dreamer by nature, although he claims he isn’t when confronted with it to avoid being pegged as a touchy-feely sort, but he gives that side of himself away frequently, going as far as to pause a heist so he can admire the view. There’s always a level of immature FANTASY in Flynn’s head that doesn’t allow him to accept the realities of situations half the time- this is his daydream, so obviously, things will always go the way he wants and if he has to stop and bitch about his wanted poster, then he can do it, and it won’t ruin anything, because he’ll always get out okay. The fact that everything did work out his way, until he met Rapunzel, allowed him to keep believing in his own fairy tale life. He’s not in this as much for the money as he’d like everyone to believe- the money’s a way in, the only way in, in his mind. Really, all Flynn wants is to live a life of adventure, to go anywhere, and do anything- like the hero he based his new persona off of when he left the orphanage and started his new life.
And yet Flynn would do anything to hide this, even changing his name to suit his new identity and casting the old one to the wayside so far that no one actually knows about it. He’s not some wayward, starry-eyed kid with a dream. He’s Flynn Ryder, who doesn’t need anyone- who is flippant, and arrogant, and doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He also doesn’t do backstory- he is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a croissant, dammit. He doesn’t bury his true emotions or even really hide them, and instead, he just acts like such a twat that no one has time to really consider what he might really be feeling and he’s okay with that. In fact, no one until Rapunzel has ever really called him on that attitude, because he never allowed anyone else the opportunity to sympathize with him- after all, that’s the kind of life one leads when they’re a career crook. He doesn’t trust people- even doubting the intentions of someone as naive as Rapunzel, considering he automatically believed her insistence that she’d never break a promise to be bullshit. Why should he trust people? He wouldn’t trust him, if he was in another person’s shoes, so why should anyone be telling him the truth? It’s… Sadly the one logical line of thought in Flynn’s stuck-in-the-clouds head.
However, the longer he’s with Rapunzel, the more Flynn starts realizing that… This isn’t his story. The world isn’t his playground and he hasn’t been looking at things the right way for a very long time. In fact, through her sense of whimsy and almost immature and fanciful views on things, he matures. He hasn’t gotten to that point yet at the canonpoint I’m bringing him in from and likely won’t for awhile, but… Sadly 90 minutes of character development is a problem and it’s worth mentioning or this personality section would be so friggin’ short. He starts out doing everything in his power to convince Rapunzel to go back to her tower, give him his satchel, and ditch her and then grows to become fond of her, even opening up to her and showing legitimate concern when he believed they were both going to die. When they actually escape, however, he doesn’t cover up his moment of weakness and try to deny it happened or claim that he only said it because he thought they were going to die, like a typical jackass would be wont to do. When Rapunzel asks him to elaborate, he claims she doesn’t want to hear the story, but after she presses, he tells her the truth about him. Later, he even chooses her over his dream of being rich and having a castle and all that stuff he’d been fantasizing about for half the movie. Say it with me, “Awww.”
In truth, Flynn believes that no one would really appreciate Eugene Fitzherbert, which was why he spent his life attempting to become Flynnigan Ryder. He’s some lame orphan doomed to a life of inadequacy and dullness, but Ryder- Ryder gets what he wants, gets to go on adventures, gets the girl, etc. Stealing until he has enough money to do whatever he wants is just what he has to do and if there’s some love lost and he’s hated, well, these people won’t care when he can buy them out and laugh about it- they’ll be lining up to want to adore him. It doesn’t occur to him until Rapunzel points it out to ever think that Eugene Fitzherbert could be those things too, and would be even more endearing than some smarmy jackass thief with his head in the clouds, and people would love him for him and not his fake reputation. Any Fae worth their salt could get under his skin by pointing out how much of a fake he is and that no matter what he does, the only thing he’s going to have is a fake reputation and getting everything he wants will just be a hollow victory if he does get it.
In matters concerning Rapunzel long before he falls for her, Flynn doesn’t want the girl hurt- scared enough to go back to her tower and leave him alone? Sure. Hurt? No. He snarks at her, would probably bitch about her if he was ever on his own for two minutes without her on top about him, but she’s like a deer- she jumps at the sight of rabbits. Anyone trying to hurt that is just… Mean, and he’d likely put a stop to it and then be all linefacey if anyone commented on it, because, really, what kind of monster would leave some poor girl to get hurt if they could do something to stop it? It means nothing. Shut up. REMEMBER THE PART ABOUT BEING A BLOODLESS THIEF? Anyway, the longer he’s around her, however, the more likely he will be to run headlong into situations for her, much to his detriment, because when being a big stupid hero, he doesn’t think. At all. Like most big stupid heroes.
As far as other people are concerned, Flynn is a friendly, easy-going sort, albeit one who’d probably rob you blind if given half the chance. He’s not really looking to make friends, but he’s also not looking to make enemies, so if he happens to screw you over- a side effect of the job, no hard feelings, right? Riiight? He’s open about his dislike when he doesn’t like someone and anyone trying to pick at him, he’ll pick at right back with all the immaturity of a twelve-year-old boy…. It really doesn’t matter if that “someone” is a person or a horse. The good news is, he can have a pretty fast change of heart over someone, if they show some concern for his well-being- it doesn’t take much to get Flynn to appreciate a person, since all you really have to do is be his friend, despite his shortcomings, because, really, the poor son of a bitch probably hasn’t had a real friend since he left the orphanage until Rapunzel came along. He’ll also find a way to cause a problem, mostly unintentionally, because he just can’t keep his hands to himself and his mouth shut, and when those habits die, you’ll have to worry about the aforementioned BIG STUPID HERO complex. Basically, you’re looking at a lose evolving into lose situation, no matter what.
He’s easily freaked out by things outside his comfort zone, from the mundane like Rapunzel’s chameleon sidekick to the actually legitimately strange, like Rapunzel’s magical hair, and he does nothing to hide how freaked out he is, except when… Asked not to freak out, he tries very hard not to. (In his defense, Rapunzel has very effective woobie eyes.) He will effectively lose it if things get too weird for him to handle- fighting a sword-wielding horse with a frying pan is apparently just okay enough to scrape by under his radar, but MAGIC HAIR IS NOT ON. He has bizarre standards. Deal with it.
Background: ONCE UPON A TIME… Okay, who knows if it really began like that. That’s sort of the beginning to happy stories and this? This isn’t a happy or fun story…. Well, not at first. It starts out pretty miserably and then starts getting fun and that’s… About when the game gets him.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. ANYWAY, in a kingdom on the water, there was a boy named Eugene Fitzherbert who was, through unknown circumstances, orphaned and sent to live in an orphanage, which… You know, is where they keep the orphans. As one of the oldest in the orphanage, he used to read to the younger kids as a way to pass the time and his favorite book was The Adventures of Flynnigan Ryder. As a child, Eugene spent most of his time wishing he could lead the sort of life his hero led and when he finally left the orphanage, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He shucked off the identity of “poor little orphan Eugene Fitzherbert” and assumed the new identity of Flynn Ryder. Unfortunately, having absolutely nothing, he couldn’t lead the life he’d fantasized about for himself, so he got desperate and started stealing- food at first, just to survive, which put the idea of stealing for money into his head. If he could just get enough money to live a life of the rich and fabulous….
Unfortunately, that sort of thing requires a great deal of funds and, well, stealing attracts attention. It wasn’t long before Flynn was Public Enemy Number One around the kingdom, something he accepted with a great deal of pride- not only was he getting attention and notoriety, but now his life was just one big adventure, complete with people chasing after him JUST LIKE IN THE STORIES. In a way, it was easy to put things into his own perspective- he’s the hero of his own story and the people who want to catch him are just the villains and he’ll always win, because that’s how stories go, right?
Anyway. Flynn, with the help of the Stabbington brothers, steals the lost princess’s crown from the palace and the three men flee into the woods, pursued by the palace guards. While trapped, Flynn tricks the brothers into giving him a boost over the wall they’ve found themselves at, and in the process, steals the satchel with the crown in it from them, leaving them alone to face the guards, while he continues to flee. He tries to steal the captain’s horse, Maximus, but Maximus turns out to have a mind of his own and tries to bring Flynn in, himself, and after a series of unfortunate events, Flynn gets away and finds himself at a tower in a hidden clearing. Seeing this as the perfect place to hide, Flynn scales the tower wall and tries to find sanctuary inside it- unfortunately, he winds up getting taken out by a frying pan-wielding blonde chick with sixty feet of hair. After being stuffed in a closet, he regains consciousness to find himself in the most awkward bondage situation EVER- BOUND TO A CHAIR BY HAIR. He tries flirting with her, but it doesn’t work. That’s Strike Two… Strike one being the frying pan concussion. From there, she reveals that she believes that he’s there for her hair, which he protests vehemently. When Rapunzel decides he’s telling the truth, she asks him to take her to see the “floating lights”- in fact, the ceremony the palace does every year in memory of the lost princess. In return, she’ll give him back his satchel, which she stole and hid while he was out (that was strike three). Seeing no other option (THE WOMAN DOESN’T RESPECT HIS SMOLDER), he agrees to take her. Little does she know that he plans on getting her to make him take her home once she realizes that things aren't all sunshine and puppies in the outside world.
He offers to take her to a "fine dining establishment" called the Snuggly Ducking, which is actually a brigand bar, using Rapunzel's naivety to make her believe that even classy places are creepy. The plan backfires, however, when some of the thugs recognize him from the wanted posters scattered around the kingdom and try to take him in. Rapunzel boldly helps Flynn out by attacking the bandits and demands that they show some compassion. This turns into a big song and dance number, which makes Flynn hate his life. However, Rapunzel's inspirational musical trigger causes the bandits to help her and Flynn escape when the palace guards show up. Annnd then Flynn ended up here. That's how it goes.
Canon point: Mid-way through the movie, after he and Rapunzel escape the Snuggly Duckling through the trapdoor, but before the guards find them.
Special Abilities: Not much with the special, but he is proficient in… Swordsmanship, although he doesn’t actually carry a sword and never actually uses one onscreen (no matter what the merchandise will tell you)- he uses a frying pan like one would a melee weapon and it’s not just someone flailing around like an idiot, because it looks actually practiced, which implies he has some training there. He seems to have a talent for improvisation, judging by the way he uses his surroundings and whatever’s available to him to defend himself and run away, whether it’s swinging on vines or ducking into harder to reach places to make himself more difficult quarry (or using a frying pan in a knife fight). He can also ride a horse (when the horse isn't a skank :|)! And dance! How very Disney hero of him.
He’s also a skilled pickpocket and thief. Because that’s what he is. He’s not, like, brilliant or anything, but if you’re not, say a master thief or the spies that love them, you’re probably gonna get your shit stolen.
Sect: Civilian
Job: Smuggler/Thief
Samples:
First Person: [The tone that comes over the holopad is the tone of a man who sounds like he may well be... On his way to losing his mind. He also doesn't sound so much like he's talking into it so much as he picked it up and it turned on and is now recording him talking to nothing.]
I'm hallucinating, right? See? This? This is why you don't hit people with frying pans. I mean, I thought I was in for some minor brain damage after the first three times, but... Now I think I'm in for some lasting discomfort. You're gonna have to get a new guide, Blondie. You broke this one. No, no. It's okay... We'll just call the satchel severance pay for... This.
[There's a disconcerting laugh. Flynn's trying so hard not to freak out. It eventually trails off into sudden realization.]
....And where the hell are my clothes?
Third Person: Flynn felt like he’d aged ten years since the moment he stepped into the shop. It was taking everything in his power not to start checking for gray hairs in the mirror on the counter. Instead, he stared at the shopkeeper’s overweight cat, perched on one of the shelves. It thrashed its tail and growled in response, as if in judgment. Flynn immediately decided that the creature was just upset because it ran headlong into a frying pan at some point in its life and never truly got over the trauma.
“You say this is a family heirloom?” The shopkeeper drawled, finally turning back to Flynn and forcing the thief to stop engaging in silent staring matches with the cat and put his game face back on- in this case, his game face was that of a miserable, poor country boy who was selling his dead mother’s finest jewels- the only wealth they had to their name- to buy medicine for his dying sister.
“Yes,” he said, his tone lilting and cracking slightly. He made his lower lip tremble. “She… She loved those jewels. My dear sister will be so sad that I had to give them up, but it’s…” He broke off into fake, racking sobs. “It’s just necessary.”
He peered between his fingers to make sure the shopkeeper was still paying attention- he wasn’t. In fact, he’d gone back to staring at the jewels and appraising them. C’mon. Just name the price so I can goooo…, he urged, clenching his fists together impatiently. When the man glanced up, he stuck a fist to his lip and wibbled at him, all innocence- no impatient thieves here. The finest actors in the kingdom couldn’t compare to him right now.
The shopkeeper slapped a single gold piece down on the table. Flynn looked from it to the man and then back again… And then back to the man. “Where’s…. the rest of it?” He asked, dropping character a bit in his shock.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, sonny,” the shopkeeper said, shaking a finger at him, and Flynn froze like a deer at the sight of a hunter- had he been found out? But… But that performance was perfect. “These jewels are fakes.”
Flynn had to hold back the urge to jump the counter and strangle the man. Did he have any idea what he had to go through to get those? A long string of really uncomfortable circumstances involving Lady Helga from the west side of the kingdom and her extremely clingy daughters, all of which wanted a piece of him and none of them were even a little bit pretty- in fact, given the way they looked, Flynn was pretty sure the Lord of the manor was a bear. Someone ought to be paying him extra just for emotional trauma after that heist.
“…W-what?” He squeaked, trying to sound more like a distressed farm boy with a dying sister and not a distressed thief who is flashing back to that one girl who wouldn’t stop pinching him.
“Now, I know a poor woman with nothing might have told her children she had precious jewels to make them feel better, but…. I just can’t give you more than that for ‘em.” The man tsked sadly and Flynn wished he could appreciate how well his con had gone. The shadow of failure blocked out everything else.
“I…. Thank you,” Flynn said, and if there were tears in his voice this time, they were probably real. “I’ll see what this will buy for my… Poor dear sister. Assuming she hasn’t died while I was gone.”
He left the shop, clutching the coin in his hand, half-hoping the little bit of guilt would get to the shopkeeper and he’d call him back, but no such luck. Honestly. It was like no one was willing to help a poor thief these days.
He wasn’t out of the shop five minutes before someone was grabbing his arm and yanking him into the alley. He hit the back wall and found two scarred faces with sideburns as big as Flynn’s head staring him down. The Stabbington Brothers knew how to make an intimidating impression.
Flynn opened his mouth to greet them by name and then frowned. “You know, I always forget which one of you is which.”
“Keep your mouth shut, Pretty Boy,” one of them growled. “We heard about that thing at Lady Helga’s.”
“….That was, like… Four hours ago.”
“Word travels fast.”
“And she pitched up a racket.”
“She’s probably ticked off that some thief is about to expose her for being a fake.” Flynn pried Stabbington Brother #1’s hand off his shoulder… Or tried to. It didn’t work as well as he thought. “Is there a reason for this or do you just feel like making fun of me?”
The brothers exchanged glances as if sharing a silent conversation.
“It’s creepy when you do that,” Flynn added.
They put their faces close to his. Simultaneously. It was also creepy, but Flynn decided that went without saying.
“We’re looking to go after something bigger than fake jewels, Ryder. You in?”
Flynn laughed. There was a catch. There had to be a catch. You don’t walk out of the biggest embarrassment of your career and get a better job handed to you by the scariest thieves in the business and yet… Well, they weren’t exactly the sharpest swords in the armory. Subtle manipulation wasn’t really their forte. “This is all so sudden. I’ll have to think about it.”
He waited a full five seconds. That was generous, in his opinion.
“….Okay, I’m in.” They released him and he pushed his way past them, flicking the coin from the shop over his shoulder, thankful he could afford to go without having to carry that trophy of shame around. “Buy yourselves coordinating outfits for the heist or something.”
Anything Else: I'm enjoying my blue milk right now with Jolee Bindo. :|
Name or Handle: Chris
LJ: kawaiispinel
Email: whatineverhad[at]gmail.com
AIM/ MSN / Plurk name: KawaiiSpinel42
Any current characters here?: Gabriel/The Trickster
Character Information:
Character Name: Flynn Ryder
Age: 23
Canon: Tangled
Appearance: Flynn is devlishly handsome, the kind of rogue that women fall all over themselves and jizz their panties for. Or at least that's what he thinks. He has a wicked smolder that supposedly makes any woman do whatever he says, but... That's also a lie. Basically, he's just... A pretty boy with a nice smile and stuff. It's Disney. They're shallow like that.
Personality: Flynn is a classic rogue in almost all senses, albeit one that probably hasn’t reached his final Pokemon evolution. He’s no master at his craft, but what he lacks in skill, he makes up for in wiles, a gift for improvisation, and an audacious streak three miles wide. He’s the sort that would draw attention to his own thievery with a smirk and then happily flee the scene with all the glee of a child- it’s like a game to him. In some ways, he doesn’t even seem to realize the consequences, because, of course he’s going to get out of everything okay. He’s Flynn Ryder. Nothing can touch him. At the same time, he has no problem using people to get what he wants and then leaving them holding the bag (or, more specifically, without the bag). In fact, Flynn is quite accustomed to the lifestyle of someone who would cheat his own sister for a couple of gold coins for his Castle in the Sky fund. It’s clear there’s absolutely no love lost between him and the criminal circuit of the kingdom and the hilarious part is Flynn is arrogant enough not to realize this. He seems genuinely surprised when the patrons of the Snuggly Duckling seem to want a piece of his hide to sell to the palace’s guards and, in fact, walked into that place like he’d be invited in with open arms as a welcome member of their brotherhood of criminals. It’s not really until he’s faced with… People trying to kill him on three different sides that he has to own up to the fact that… No one really likes him, which makes one wonder how he hasn’t ended up dead before now. Dumb luck is his best friend and half the time in the film, it seems like he only seems to get out of situations with it on his side, and that suits him just fine. It just aides his delusions of grandeur.
Despite his lack of morals, he’s a bloodless thief- no threatening little old ladies at knifepoint, etc. He’s more of the cat burglar type and he doesn’t even carry a knife or a sword on him. He’d rather sneak into a place, steal the item he wants, and then get out. Threatening anyone isn’t part of the job. He’s not a bad guy- not really. In his own mind, he’s a hero, albeit one that’s in it for selfish gain, but who says heroes have to be out for other people? Really. Who made that rule?
He’s sarcastic, with a dry, almost deadpan sense of humor in his worst moods and a lighthearted, constantly joking one in his best- and all the immaturity that comes with a sense of humor that won’t quit. In fact, Flynn seems to exist with a casual sort of grace and takes everything up to the most dire and freaky situations in stride with a cocky attitude, and an alarming amount of patience, albeit strained, slightly irritated, patience. His arrogance and vanity are chief amongst his attributes to the point where he sees a wanted poster as a symbol of his infamy, rather than a portent of his own eventual doom and whines about it not capturing his nose accurately (and the fact that he keeps the wanted poster, rather than ditching it, tells a lot about him). He’s charismatic, but with a certain petty charm that’s about as cheap as a crackerjack prize, but it’s not without its merits- obviously, it’s worked on people before, but there’s no denying that he’s not exactly anything really special. He’s no master manipulator, no Casanova, although he’d probably say he was both- what’s true in reality and what’s true in Flynn’s head are two different things.
In fact, that’s the thing that’s most important about Flynn. He’s a dreamer by nature, although he claims he isn’t when confronted with it to avoid being pegged as a touchy-feely sort, but he gives that side of himself away frequently, going as far as to pause a heist so he can admire the view. There’s always a level of immature FANTASY in Flynn’s head that doesn’t allow him to accept the realities of situations half the time- this is his daydream, so obviously, things will always go the way he wants and if he has to stop and bitch about his wanted poster, then he can do it, and it won’t ruin anything, because he’ll always get out okay. The fact that everything did work out his way, until he met Rapunzel, allowed him to keep believing in his own fairy tale life. He’s not in this as much for the money as he’d like everyone to believe- the money’s a way in, the only way in, in his mind. Really, all Flynn wants is to live a life of adventure, to go anywhere, and do anything- like the hero he based his new persona off of when he left the orphanage and started his new life.
And yet Flynn would do anything to hide this, even changing his name to suit his new identity and casting the old one to the wayside so far that no one actually knows about it. He’s not some wayward, starry-eyed kid with a dream. He’s Flynn Ryder, who doesn’t need anyone- who is flippant, and arrogant, and doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He also doesn’t do backstory- he is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a croissant, dammit. He doesn’t bury his true emotions or even really hide them, and instead, he just acts like such a twat that no one has time to really consider what he might really be feeling and he’s okay with that. In fact, no one until Rapunzel has ever really called him on that attitude, because he never allowed anyone else the opportunity to sympathize with him- after all, that’s the kind of life one leads when they’re a career crook. He doesn’t trust people- even doubting the intentions of someone as naive as Rapunzel, considering he automatically believed her insistence that she’d never break a promise to be bullshit. Why should he trust people? He wouldn’t trust him, if he was in another person’s shoes, so why should anyone be telling him the truth? It’s… Sadly the one logical line of thought in Flynn’s stuck-in-the-clouds head.
However, the longer he’s with Rapunzel, the more Flynn starts realizing that… This isn’t his story. The world isn’t his playground and he hasn’t been looking at things the right way for a very long time. In fact, through her sense of whimsy and almost immature and fanciful views on things, he matures. He hasn’t gotten to that point yet at the canonpoint I’m bringing him in from and likely won’t for awhile, but… Sadly 90 minutes of character development is a problem and it’s worth mentioning or this personality section would be so friggin’ short. He starts out doing everything in his power to convince Rapunzel to go back to her tower, give him his satchel, and ditch her and then grows to become fond of her, even opening up to her and showing legitimate concern when he believed they were both going to die. When they actually escape, however, he doesn’t cover up his moment of weakness and try to deny it happened or claim that he only said it because he thought they were going to die, like a typical jackass would be wont to do. When Rapunzel asks him to elaborate, he claims she doesn’t want to hear the story, but after she presses, he tells her the truth about him. Later, he even chooses her over his dream of being rich and having a castle and all that stuff he’d been fantasizing about for half the movie. Say it with me, “Awww.”
In truth, Flynn believes that no one would really appreciate Eugene Fitzherbert, which was why he spent his life attempting to become Flynnigan Ryder. He’s some lame orphan doomed to a life of inadequacy and dullness, but Ryder- Ryder gets what he wants, gets to go on adventures, gets the girl, etc. Stealing until he has enough money to do whatever he wants is just what he has to do and if there’s some love lost and he’s hated, well, these people won’t care when he can buy them out and laugh about it- they’ll be lining up to want to adore him. It doesn’t occur to him until Rapunzel points it out to ever think that Eugene Fitzherbert could be those things too, and would be even more endearing than some smarmy jackass thief with his head in the clouds, and people would love him for him and not his fake reputation. Any Fae worth their salt could get under his skin by pointing out how much of a fake he is and that no matter what he does, the only thing he’s going to have is a fake reputation and getting everything he wants will just be a hollow victory if he does get it.
In matters concerning Rapunzel long before he falls for her, Flynn doesn’t want the girl hurt- scared enough to go back to her tower and leave him alone? Sure. Hurt? No. He snarks at her, would probably bitch about her if he was ever on his own for two minutes without her on top about him, but she’s like a deer- she jumps at the sight of rabbits. Anyone trying to hurt that is just… Mean, and he’d likely put a stop to it and then be all linefacey if anyone commented on it, because, really, what kind of monster would leave some poor girl to get hurt if they could do something to stop it? It means nothing. Shut up. REMEMBER THE PART ABOUT BEING A BLOODLESS THIEF? Anyway, the longer he’s around her, however, the more likely he will be to run headlong into situations for her, much to his detriment, because when being a big stupid hero, he doesn’t think. At all. Like most big stupid heroes.
As far as other people are concerned, Flynn is a friendly, easy-going sort, albeit one who’d probably rob you blind if given half the chance. He’s not really looking to make friends, but he’s also not looking to make enemies, so if he happens to screw you over- a side effect of the job, no hard feelings, right? Riiight? He’s open about his dislike when he doesn’t like someone and anyone trying to pick at him, he’ll pick at right back with all the immaturity of a twelve-year-old boy…. It really doesn’t matter if that “someone” is a person or a horse. The good news is, he can have a pretty fast change of heart over someone, if they show some concern for his well-being- it doesn’t take much to get Flynn to appreciate a person, since all you really have to do is be his friend, despite his shortcomings, because, really, the poor son of a bitch probably hasn’t had a real friend since he left the orphanage until Rapunzel came along. He’ll also find a way to cause a problem, mostly unintentionally, because he just can’t keep his hands to himself and his mouth shut, and when those habits die, you’ll have to worry about the aforementioned BIG STUPID HERO complex. Basically, you’re looking at a lose evolving into lose situation, no matter what.
He’s easily freaked out by things outside his comfort zone, from the mundane like Rapunzel’s chameleon sidekick to the actually legitimately strange, like Rapunzel’s magical hair, and he does nothing to hide how freaked out he is, except when… Asked not to freak out, he tries very hard not to. (In his defense, Rapunzel has very effective woobie eyes.) He will effectively lose it if things get too weird for him to handle- fighting a sword-wielding horse with a frying pan is apparently just okay enough to scrape by under his radar, but MAGIC HAIR IS NOT ON. He has bizarre standards. Deal with it.
Background: ONCE UPON A TIME… Okay, who knows if it really began like that. That’s sort of the beginning to happy stories and this? This isn’t a happy or fun story…. Well, not at first. It starts out pretty miserably and then starts getting fun and that’s… About when the game gets him.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. ANYWAY, in a kingdom on the water, there was a boy named Eugene Fitzherbert who was, through unknown circumstances, orphaned and sent to live in an orphanage, which… You know, is where they keep the orphans. As one of the oldest in the orphanage, he used to read to the younger kids as a way to pass the time and his favorite book was The Adventures of Flynnigan Ryder. As a child, Eugene spent most of his time wishing he could lead the sort of life his hero led and when he finally left the orphanage, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He shucked off the identity of “poor little orphan Eugene Fitzherbert” and assumed the new identity of Flynn Ryder. Unfortunately, having absolutely nothing, he couldn’t lead the life he’d fantasized about for himself, so he got desperate and started stealing- food at first, just to survive, which put the idea of stealing for money into his head. If he could just get enough money to live a life of the rich and fabulous….
Unfortunately, that sort of thing requires a great deal of funds and, well, stealing attracts attention. It wasn’t long before Flynn was Public Enemy Number One around the kingdom, something he accepted with a great deal of pride- not only was he getting attention and notoriety, but now his life was just one big adventure, complete with people chasing after him JUST LIKE IN THE STORIES. In a way, it was easy to put things into his own perspective- he’s the hero of his own story and the people who want to catch him are just the villains and he’ll always win, because that’s how stories go, right?
Anyway. Flynn, with the help of the Stabbington brothers, steals the lost princess’s crown from the palace and the three men flee into the woods, pursued by the palace guards. While trapped, Flynn tricks the brothers into giving him a boost over the wall they’ve found themselves at, and in the process, steals the satchel with the crown in it from them, leaving them alone to face the guards, while he continues to flee. He tries to steal the captain’s horse, Maximus, but Maximus turns out to have a mind of his own and tries to bring Flynn in, himself, and after a series of unfortunate events, Flynn gets away and finds himself at a tower in a hidden clearing. Seeing this as the perfect place to hide, Flynn scales the tower wall and tries to find sanctuary inside it- unfortunately, he winds up getting taken out by a frying pan-wielding blonde chick with sixty feet of hair. After being stuffed in a closet, he regains consciousness to find himself in the most awkward bondage situation EVER- BOUND TO A CHAIR BY HAIR. He tries flirting with her, but it doesn’t work. That’s Strike Two… Strike one being the frying pan concussion. From there, she reveals that she believes that he’s there for her hair, which he protests vehemently. When Rapunzel decides he’s telling the truth, she asks him to take her to see the “floating lights”- in fact, the ceremony the palace does every year in memory of the lost princess. In return, she’ll give him back his satchel, which she stole and hid while he was out (that was strike three). Seeing no other option (THE WOMAN DOESN’T RESPECT HIS SMOLDER), he agrees to take her. Little does she know that he plans on getting her to make him take her home once she realizes that things aren't all sunshine and puppies in the outside world.
He offers to take her to a "fine dining establishment" called the Snuggly Ducking, which is actually a brigand bar, using Rapunzel's naivety to make her believe that even classy places are creepy. The plan backfires, however, when some of the thugs recognize him from the wanted posters scattered around the kingdom and try to take him in. Rapunzel boldly helps Flynn out by attacking the bandits and demands that they show some compassion. This turns into a big song and dance number, which makes Flynn hate his life. However, Rapunzel's inspirational musical trigger causes the bandits to help her and Flynn escape when the palace guards show up. Annnd then Flynn ended up here. That's how it goes.
Canon point: Mid-way through the movie, after he and Rapunzel escape the Snuggly Duckling through the trapdoor, but before the guards find them.
Special Abilities: Not much with the special, but he is proficient in… Swordsmanship, although he doesn’t actually carry a sword and never actually uses one onscreen (no matter what the merchandise will tell you)- he uses a frying pan like one would a melee weapon and it’s not just someone flailing around like an idiot, because it looks actually practiced, which implies he has some training there. He seems to have a talent for improvisation, judging by the way he uses his surroundings and whatever’s available to him to defend himself and run away, whether it’s swinging on vines or ducking into harder to reach places to make himself more difficult quarry (or using a frying pan in a knife fight). He can also ride a horse (when the horse isn't a skank :|)! And dance! How very Disney hero of him.
He’s also a skilled pickpocket and thief. Because that’s what he is. He’s not, like, brilliant or anything, but if you’re not, say a master thief or the spies that love them, you’re probably gonna get your shit stolen.
Sect: Civilian
Job: Smuggler/Thief
Samples:
First Person: [The tone that comes over the holopad is the tone of a man who sounds like he may well be... On his way to losing his mind. He also doesn't sound so much like he's talking into it so much as he picked it up and it turned on and is now recording him talking to nothing.]
I'm hallucinating, right? See? This? This is why you don't hit people with frying pans. I mean, I thought I was in for some minor brain damage after the first three times, but... Now I think I'm in for some lasting discomfort. You're gonna have to get a new guide, Blondie. You broke this one. No, no. It's okay... We'll just call the satchel severance pay for... This.
[There's a disconcerting laugh. Flynn's trying so hard not to freak out. It eventually trails off into sudden realization.]
....And where the hell are my clothes?
Third Person: Flynn felt like he’d aged ten years since the moment he stepped into the shop. It was taking everything in his power not to start checking for gray hairs in the mirror on the counter. Instead, he stared at the shopkeeper’s overweight cat, perched on one of the shelves. It thrashed its tail and growled in response, as if in judgment. Flynn immediately decided that the creature was just upset because it ran headlong into a frying pan at some point in its life and never truly got over the trauma.
“You say this is a family heirloom?” The shopkeeper drawled, finally turning back to Flynn and forcing the thief to stop engaging in silent staring matches with the cat and put his game face back on- in this case, his game face was that of a miserable, poor country boy who was selling his dead mother’s finest jewels- the only wealth they had to their name- to buy medicine for his dying sister.
“Yes,” he said, his tone lilting and cracking slightly. He made his lower lip tremble. “She… She loved those jewels. My dear sister will be so sad that I had to give them up, but it’s…” He broke off into fake, racking sobs. “It’s just necessary.”
He peered between his fingers to make sure the shopkeeper was still paying attention- he wasn’t. In fact, he’d gone back to staring at the jewels and appraising them. C’mon. Just name the price so I can goooo…, he urged, clenching his fists together impatiently. When the man glanced up, he stuck a fist to his lip and wibbled at him, all innocence- no impatient thieves here. The finest actors in the kingdom couldn’t compare to him right now.
The shopkeeper slapped a single gold piece down on the table. Flynn looked from it to the man and then back again… And then back to the man. “Where’s…. the rest of it?” He asked, dropping character a bit in his shock.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, sonny,” the shopkeeper said, shaking a finger at him, and Flynn froze like a deer at the sight of a hunter- had he been found out? But… But that performance was perfect. “These jewels are fakes.”
Flynn had to hold back the urge to jump the counter and strangle the man. Did he have any idea what he had to go through to get those? A long string of really uncomfortable circumstances involving Lady Helga from the west side of the kingdom and her extremely clingy daughters, all of which wanted a piece of him and none of them were even a little bit pretty- in fact, given the way they looked, Flynn was pretty sure the Lord of the manor was a bear. Someone ought to be paying him extra just for emotional trauma after that heist.
“…W-what?” He squeaked, trying to sound more like a distressed farm boy with a dying sister and not a distressed thief who is flashing back to that one girl who wouldn’t stop pinching him.
“Now, I know a poor woman with nothing might have told her children she had precious jewels to make them feel better, but…. I just can’t give you more than that for ‘em.” The man tsked sadly and Flynn wished he could appreciate how well his con had gone. The shadow of failure blocked out everything else.
“I…. Thank you,” Flynn said, and if there were tears in his voice this time, they were probably real. “I’ll see what this will buy for my… Poor dear sister. Assuming she hasn’t died while I was gone.”
He left the shop, clutching the coin in his hand, half-hoping the little bit of guilt would get to the shopkeeper and he’d call him back, but no such luck. Honestly. It was like no one was willing to help a poor thief these days.
He wasn’t out of the shop five minutes before someone was grabbing his arm and yanking him into the alley. He hit the back wall and found two scarred faces with sideburns as big as Flynn’s head staring him down. The Stabbington Brothers knew how to make an intimidating impression.
Flynn opened his mouth to greet them by name and then frowned. “You know, I always forget which one of you is which.”
“Keep your mouth shut, Pretty Boy,” one of them growled. “We heard about that thing at Lady Helga’s.”
“….That was, like… Four hours ago.”
“Word travels fast.”
“And she pitched up a racket.”
“She’s probably ticked off that some thief is about to expose her for being a fake.” Flynn pried Stabbington Brother #1’s hand off his shoulder… Or tried to. It didn’t work as well as he thought. “Is there a reason for this or do you just feel like making fun of me?”
The brothers exchanged glances as if sharing a silent conversation.
“It’s creepy when you do that,” Flynn added.
They put their faces close to his. Simultaneously. It was also creepy, but Flynn decided that went without saying.
“We’re looking to go after something bigger than fake jewels, Ryder. You in?”
Flynn laughed. There was a catch. There had to be a catch. You don’t walk out of the biggest embarrassment of your career and get a better job handed to you by the scariest thieves in the business and yet… Well, they weren’t exactly the sharpest swords in the armory. Subtle manipulation wasn’t really their forte. “This is all so sudden. I’ll have to think about it.”
He waited a full five seconds. That was generous, in his opinion.
“….Okay, I’m in.” They released him and he pushed his way past them, flicking the coin from the shop over his shoulder, thankful he could afford to go without having to carry that trophy of shame around. “Buy yourselves coordinating outfits for the heist or something.”
Anything Else: I'm enjoying my blue milk right now with Jolee Bindo. :|