Whispering Rock Application

[leftmytower]

PLAYER
Name: Arden
Personal Journal: ardendillo @ tumblr
Messenger: ardendillo @ Skype
Plurk: ardendilllo
Previous Characters: n/a

CHARACTER
Name: Rapunzel Gothel
Canon: Disney’s Tangled
Age: 15

Specialty: Psi-Shields
Position: Junior Camper
Personality:
Despite the fact, or perhaps because of the fact that she has never had “friends” or really any experience with people at all, Rapunzel is a very kind and upbeat person. Even though her mother has insisted that people are not to be trusted, she always found it hard to believe that everyone could be as bad as she says. Her naivety makes her very easy to take advantage of, but it also makes her very endearing. She naturally wants to trust people, though she is wary of anyone who looks too “scary.” Though quiet at first, Rapunzel easily finds a rhythm and can be quite chatty talking to people once she becomes more familiar with them.

Because she was alone in the house most of her life, Rapunzel had to find a different way to let things out. Naturally, she talked a lot to her stuffed animals, dolls, and pets, but even she tired of that after a while. Her favorite way to express herself through painting, finding a lot of time while stuck at home to improve on her creativity. She loves to sing as well, often finding it much easier to get through chores and studying when it was with a song.

As someone who doesn’t get out much (or at all), she gets very excited easily over little things, such as cupcakes or a perfectly-red autumn leaf. She is easily distracted, and is put off quite quickly to things, but is equally easy to encourage. Her mood is incredibly fickle in this way. While she is, overall, very positive and cheerful, she is quick to catch on to other people’s moods and can easily become upset, especially if she is already stressed. While she switches between upset and sunny, Rapunzel rarely gets downright angry. Her mother quickly desisted any of Rapunzel’s “pouting” or “temper tantrums” as a child with a few choice words. As a result, Rapunzel grew up with a smile on her face, and learned to be very grateful for what she had. And she really is! She sees every day as something to be excited for and live to the fullest. It’s one of the reasons she pushed her mother so hard to let her come to Whispering Rock—she’s always wanted to experience and really get to know the world for herself. She was desperate to prove that she wasn’t the only one out there who was “a little different,” and wanted a chance to prove she was no longer a reckless child who couldn’t control her powers—that’s the point of going to this camp isn’t it?

As her mother raised her to listen to every word she says, she has an enormous guilt complex and hates making others upset or disappointed. She’ll frequently keep her own thoughts quiet, not wanting to trouble anyone, even those she might dislike. Very much a follower rather than a leader, Rapunzel has great difficulty making her own decisions. She has a habit of putting herself between a rock and a hard place because of this; she gets stuck between trying between what she honestly wants to do and what she feels she “should” be doing, or what others expect of her (particularly if it’s someone she respects, like a counselor for instance).

Finally, although Rapunzel is only 5’2”, her hair is getting on double her height. Her mother always was envious of her thick, blond hair which doesn’t split or dry out hardly at all. As such, Rapunzel agreed with her mother’s wishes as usual, and agreed to let it grow—and grow it did. Rapunzel has about 8 and a half feet of hair, so she has about 3 feet trailing behind her. It does grow a bit faster than some, but not much.

AU History:
The story of Rapunzel actually started far away from where she is now; Rapunzel was born in Germany to a poor mother and father. Her mother had difficulty with the birth and incurred a lot of hospital fees recovering after the infant was born. Between this and her father losing his job, the family saw little other option: their blond-haired baby girl was put up for adoption. She was christened Rapunzel, after a German herb, and sent away. Through a series of transfers and paperwork, Rapunzel was adopted out internationally to a much wealthier American “family.”

Nancy Gothel was a businesswoman with a reputation for being a man-eater. She’d been quite the looker in her younger years, and had by the age of 32 done had two plastic surgeries done in an attempt to maintain it. When she was 34, she married a younger man, and by 35 they had come to find that Gothel was infertile. After an application for adopting internationally, a little German girl named Rapunzel came to New York to live with her new mother and father. And for a few months, everything was perfect. Soon after Rapunzel’s first birthday, that all changed. The man Gothel had used to hold her ego aloft left her for a younger woman, and denied the wish for any custody. The realization hit Gothel that she was now 36 years old, single, and with a young child to care for alone.

Nancy Gothel had a complete nervous breakdown.

At 2 years old, Rapunzel was in foster care while her mother recovered and was treated for her subsequent anxiety and paranoia. A few months later, Gothel was released from therapy and able to take her daughter back. She took Rapunzel and moved them out to the country, insisting it was best for her health. Gothel moved them to Pennsylvania, where she was able to live modestly off of her savings and her ex-husband’s exorbitant child support payments. When it came time for kindergarten, Gothel chose to have Rapunzel homeschooled. There was no television in the house, only selected movies (mostly animated films). Rapunzel was given a flute and music books, though she took much more to painting even from a young age. They lived in a sequestered house with no neighbors for a mile in any direction. Her tutor and her mother were the only people Rapunzel got to see at all, but she was a quick learner and easily kept up with her schoolwork.

Rapunzel believed Gothel had her best interests at heart. Naturally, she was told how the world “really is” and why she wasn’t allowed outside: Didn’t Rapunzel ever wondered what happened to her father? He left them all alone after promising he loved them. People were cruel and self-interested. People were violent. People were ruthless. Wars were being fought outside of their home. People got hurt every day. Rapunzel was way too fragile and sweet for that. Gothel couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her, and would Rapunzel really want to ever hurt her mother? The only family she’d ever had? Of course not; Rapunzel stayed inside, kept up with her hobbies and studies, and found all the friends she’d ever need in her animated movies and her toys. Every stuffed animal she owns still has a name and a personality.

The lies were more severe than mere over-protectiveness. Rapunzel had no idea that she was adopted. She believes Gothel to be her biological mother, and of course she has no intention of ever letting Rapunzel know that fact. Gothel told the tutor that Rapunzel was a sickly girl with a heart condition. She told them that of course, Rapunzel couldn’t know that. (“Don’t mention it Rapunzel. She’s way too good to know that yet...”) The lies were woven carefully to make sure Rapunzel stayed inside. But not everything went according to Gothel’s plan.

One evening, on Rapunzel’s 12th birthday, in fact, Rapunzel asked for something she never dared before. She didn’t ask for a new doll, or a video game, or a movie. She asked to go to the zoo. Harry Potter had gotten to go to the zoo for his cousin’s birthday, she pointed out. (Harry Potter may or may not have been a source of comfort to Rapunzel that even kids who were shut in could one day leave.) Naturally, Gothel had told her it was out of the question, as usual; Rapunzel was given the usual explanation, adding that the zoo especially was a place with wild animals and accidents happened. Again, Rapunzel gathered her courage and pushed it, trying very hard to keep calm and not cry. She begged her mother to go. Something inside Gothel had snapped: she was convinced Rapunzel was trying to leave her. Rapunzel’s mother screamed, telling her she was stupid for wanting to leave, that she was going to get hurt, that she was selfish. Gothel grabbed Rapunzel’s wrist, pulling the girl to look her mother in the eyes. Wrestling away, when Gothel tried to grab Rapunzel again, something very odd happened. Gothel couldn’t touch the girl. Rapunzel’s green eyes were shut tight as she cried, seemingly oblivious to what was happening. When Gothel’s shouts stopped, Rapunzel looked up and saw a thin shield around herself. When she tried to touch it, the barrier vanished as quickly as it came. Fearing for what this meant, Gothel apologized and quickly brought home a chameleon the very next day, convincing Rapunzel that it was like having a small zoo in your own home. It quieted Rapunzel on the zoo topic. Gothel researched the phenomenon in secret.

After that, it was never the same. Strange “accidents” happened more and more frequently (i.e. Rapunzel somehow would know it was raining 10 minutes before it started) as time went on. Rapunzel held her own secret as she practiced trying to make the barrier again; she would focus and run herself into furniture, amazing herself when she bounced away. Gothel ignored it as long as she could, by now having made enough calls and looked at enough websites to realize that her daughter was... special. She was different. She was psychic, somehow. Gothel worried for the worst, that it would become dangerous. She couldn’t lose Rapunzel, she didn’t want Rapunzel to hurt herself, or let someone else hurt her. It was only when Rapunzel accidentally set her homework on fire two years later that she knew she couldn’t handle this on her own. Rapunzel finally had enough. She snuck onto the phone in while her mother was out, trying desperately to find out what was happening, since her mother would give her no answers. She ultimately found Whispering Rock through a series of phone calls (most of which ended up in "freak" or "you're nuts" with a quick hang-up) and begged her mother to let her go.

It took a well-faked "vision" of the camp, along with a white lie about what exactly the camp's purpose was for the psychic powers, in order to finally get anywhere. After weeks of asking and asking her mother, to convince her that there were other people like her who also needed "help." She agreed, but not before giving Rapunzel a long, long talk about what to expect. Rapunzel hugged her mother tightly, and immediately felt regretful for the lie-- but it was worth it. She hoped.

Mental World:
Rapunzel longs for her life to be different. She has no friends and little family, and found solace in the storybook heroes and heroines that beat much better odds than her suburban “tower” as her mother called it affectionately. A tower is what her penthouse bedroom has always felt like to her, though; and this is how Rapunzel’s mental world manifested itself—a tall, purple tower with one large window just visible and no door in site. You start at the bottom of the tower, located in a large grassy field with a gentle river close by. Walking around the tower to the backside, you find a small passageway with a staircase, but it is blocked off. A censor in the form of a large, brutish-looking ruffian guards the entrance and he’s not letting you in. The sound of a lilting, musical voice can be heard from above, coming from the window you noticed earlier. With no other entrance in sight, you are forced to try and ask the voice for help. Without a verbal answer, a rope falls from the window 70 feet down to the bottom. Get climbing.

Once through the window, you find yourself in a colorful, circular room with the sun streaming in through smaller openings in the roof. The once-bare walls are covered with painted animals, flowers, and designs, and there is a large bookshelf lined with fairy tales and other stories of every kind. It has a high roof with a spire top, and has yellow flowers hanging in vases in and around the tower. There is a wardrobe, a fireplace, and a staircase leading into another room. The inside of the tower has several figments, including a few tiaras, paintbrushes, and various flowers. Upon further inspection, the drawings seem to draw you in—they hold Rapunzel’s memories.

Rapunzel can be found hanging from the rafters with her hair billowing behind her, painting yet more on every stretch of wall she can reach. She continues singing, and you decide to continue looking around rather than bother her. There is a curtain drawn over a certain stretch of wall over the fireplace. But before you can come too close another unrelenting censor is there to protect it, in the form of an ill-tempered reptile that grows red with anger and makes a growling noise if you attempt to untie the curtains. It is a small stretch of private memories and thoughts—a drawing she doesn’t want seen by unwelcome eyes.

Up the stairs you find a bedroom where the drawings continue, but become more intimate. There are drawings of a girl with increasingly long hair, frequently with another woman. The flower designs that continue throughout the apartment have roses sometimes now, with thorny vines trailing. The emotional baggage is kept in here, though it is all tightly kept in one large suitcase, which is tucked neatly under the canopy bed. A few censors are in here, in the form of tiny, blue birds. They eye you closely, as these memories are not to be intruded upon. One particularly elusive figment is in here: a floating paper lantern.

Badges: None!

SAMPLES
Sample 1: here!
Sample 2:
Rapunzel was silently, well, freaking out as she sat in the airport, holding Pascal’s tank in her lap. She held her tote bag close to her side, trying to make sure no one would take it. As Mother had told her, she had to be very careful with that. Nervous didn’t begin to cover how she felt. This was not only her first time flying; it was her first time in an airport, her first time out of Pennsylvania, and her first time doing, well, anything on her own! For a moment she wished her mother hadn’t been afraid of flying, but Rapunzel pushed the thought away.

No, this is something I finally get to do on your own. I can finally prove that I’m not a child! I’m out of my house, in an airport! I’m going to be on my own—for 3 whole months!

The thought made her worry subside, as she shifted in the uncomfortable metal seat. She was going to a camp! With other people her age! People like her! She wasn’t alone. She couldn’t believe it when her mother had told her. She’d finally get to have roommates, and freedom, and—maybe she’d even make some friends! What would her mother have said, though, if she asked to see them again? Or talk to them? Maybe she could finally get her own computer! Mother forbade her from touching hers, after all. “No, Rapunzel! The Internet is full of the same people out there, but even worse! They hide and wear a mask! It’s so easy to get yourself in danger online. You’re much too young to know any better. I have worked with them all my life, so I do. I’ll teach you some day dear, but not now.”

Of course, Mother. Yes, Mother. She was very grateful her mother was looking out for her, but to Rapunzel it’d always felt like she’d never let her do anything on her own. It’s not like she was a child anymore, she was turning 16 this August. And yet, the only reason she was even here was to learn to control her psychic ability. There was a certain level of trust, but not much. After all, there was no tutor to come to the house for that—God knows, her mother had tried. She just wondered what would happen afterward, if Rapunzel decided to go to college. Or, what if she met someone? She was still young now, but she wouldn’t be forever. What would she say when that happened...?

Rapunzel felt nauseated as the loud voice said that her row was ready for boarding. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. Well. Here I go! She shifted her chameleon’s tank to carry it under one arm as she retrieved her boarding pass. “Sorry, Pascal!” she chirped when she nearly knocked his lamp off. This only drew more attention to herself and she flushed red with embarrassment-- she additionally realized people were staring at her hair trailing behind her. Flustered as she was, her excitement superseded it. That and the wish she’d gotten used to these uncomfortable ballet flats before running around an airport.