April Showers Prompt #30, Between Happily and Ever After (Tangled)

[mrstater]

Title: Between Happily and Ever After
Author: mrstater
Prompt: #30, adjust
Fandom: Tangled
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Eugene/Rapunzel
Genre: angst, drama, romance
Rating & Warnings: rated PG for mentions of psychological trauma
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Rapunzel is free and Eugene is reformed, but they haven't quite achieved happily ever after.

Comments

[litlover12]

If I had to guess, I'd say you were a Robin McKinley fan. Am I right? :-) Beautifully done as usual. Great conclusion.

[mrstater]

I've actually never read anything of hers. What made you think of it?

Thank you, I'm so pleased you liked the fic. :)

[litlover12]

Oh, you should. I think you'd love her. She goes for the psychological depth and the practical details in fairy tales, which is why your story reminded me of her. (Also, she's really good at sweet family moments.)

Some of her books are WAY wordy and convoluted, though. If you want to try her out, I recommend "Beauty," "The Door in the Hedge," "The Outlaws of Sherwood," or "Pegasus" (that last one only if you don't mind cliffhangers, because the sequel isn't out yet). Definitely not "Dragonhaven," which is SO wordy that I've never yet met anyone who liked it!

[mrstater]

Thanks for the rec! I'll keep her in mind, because she does sound up my alley. (I love Gregory Maguire's stuff for those reasons.)

[wildmagelet]

I seriously love your Tangled fics; I was so excited to see this one this morning. Excellent characterization and believable dialogue again. Are you planning any more? (Yes? Please?)
Just wondering - he first called her "Goldie" and then "Blondie" - was that intentional or a typo? :)

[mrstater]

Aw, I'm SO happy you like my Tangled fics, because I'm having SO much fun writing them! Eugene's narrative voice is kind of taking over my brain, and I definitely want to write more!

he first called her "Goldie" and then "Blondie" - was that intentional or a typo?

I was thinking in the movie he interchanges them, but I might be misremembering? Was going to re-watch it today while I cleaned, but the DVD malfunctioned!

Anyway, thanks for your lovely comments!

[wildmagelet]

I was thinking in the movie he interchanges them, but I might be misremembering?

I'm sure you're right. It's been awhile since I saw it. I might have to remedy that this week!

[mrstater]

I think it's one of those movies I can watch over and over and never get tired of it. I keep trying to force it on everyone, too!

[tree_and_leaf]

Oh, this was lovely, and very real.

[mrstater]

Thank you! I like writing the funny stuff for these two, but they've got a lot of angsty potential, too, and I'm glad you thought that worked.

[chococoffeekiss]

Oh, Eugene. :) This would fit right into the movie!

It kind of struck me (as a grown up watching a kid movie, lol) how the psychology of Tangled is mostly ignored in the film. You made it seem really...real, I guess. Wonderful, as usual. :)

[mrstater]

It kind of struck me (as a grown up watching a kid movie, lol) how the psychology of Tangled is mostly ignored in the film.

I'm starting to watch all Disney movies through that filter now...Beauty and the Beast dredges up SO many issues... (Some of them a little disturbing, LOL.)

Anyway, THANK YOU! I'm chuffed you think this feels like the movie. I love Eugene soliloquizing. :D

[yuenmei]

I like this piece conceptually, especially the bit about her not recognizing herself immediately in the mirror, and Eugene connecting that with him not immediately answering to Eugene. I also like the idea of them living happily one day at a time - so true.

I didn't like the prologue as much - it wasn't the rambling that struck me as off, it was the psych commentary from Eugene. I don't think he'd be so aware of the lingo, or really so objective in general.

I also was really surprised that he felt ready to cry at the end - this seems like an issue he's become rather blase about over the years. You could convince me that he'd tear up, but I'd need more exposition about why - does her presence make him feel less guarded?

Now I want to know what a tray ceiling is.

MORE MORE MORE MORE.

[mrstater]

Tray Ceiling. I watch far too much HGTV, heh.

I really appreciate your honest feedback/concrit. The prologue idea was probably one of those things I should have scrapped in favor of developing the meat of the story more, especially since there was a 1000 word limit for the challenge, but I committed the writer's sin of getting attached to some of my phrases. I'll keep your comments in mind if I decide to re-work/expand this to post elsewhere after the challenge.

I also was really surprised that he felt ready to cry at the end - this seems like an issue he's become rather blase about over the years. You could convince me that he'd tear up, but I'd need more exposition about why - does her presence make him feel less guarded? That was what I was going for, yeah, especially in light of him connecting with her own emotions being so raw, but obviously that probably should have been stated explicitly instead of expecting people to read my mind as well as the story, LOL. You raise a really good point about the characterization

[mrstater]

I did some tweaking around, in case your interested, and I'm much happier with the flow of things now. So thanks again, very much, for your helpful thoughts. Love me some concrit.

And now to get on that MORE thing... ;)