TANGLED, bbc merlin

❝ 𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃,
𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒
𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐄
𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒. ❞

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐃 𝐈𝐍 Lancelot's ears, piercing through to every fiber and fissure within, as he departed the forest painted in scattered dawn—though his blood sang blessed sonnets, though his bones cried out in yearning, though his heart beat for her alone, Aurora Teresi's heart was not meant to beat in tune with his own.

𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 rise and paint the skies, before the dawn could open her eyes of jade fire and unknowingly convince him to cast words of destiny to the stars above, Lancelot du Lac slipped away into the brume-scattered trees. He knew not where he was heading, but he knew that wherever that might be, for the sake of her own existence, Aurora could not be a part of the destination.

𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐖 much time had passed him by, only that the world beyond seemed to pale in comparison to the shining city of Camelot, and the weight of all that could've been seemed to crush him into dust. He feared that, perhaps, this would be his forevermore, but as if guided by fate itself, Lancelot stumbles upon a tower in the midst of the forest's foliage and finds it to be occupied by none other than a maiden with unnaturally long hair. A young woman who couldn't be much younger than he, crowned in a halo of innocence and light he had long since gone without.

𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 she had ever before seen, the only source of human interaction beyond that of her mother Gothel, she pleads with him to take her to see the floating lights ascending the night skies above the kingdom of Corona (a fair and true ally of his beloved Camelot), a phenomenon which appeared every year, but only on the night of her birthday. Her eyes sparkled far greater than the stars above, illuminated with the glorious weight of a dream—a weight he understood far too well—and to spare her from the disappointment of never achieving that which you yearn for, the young man agrees.

𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 own gilded cage, the impossibly long-haired maiden and the dishonored knight set out on a journey riddled with surprises, magic, and a danger lurking in the shadows closest to her—and along the way, the broken man begins to find the lighthearted joy he'd once upon a time known again within her eyes.

TITLE: Tangled *

FACECLAIM: MacKenzie Mauzy or Alexandra Metz as Rapunzel

LOVE INTEREST: Lancelot

NOTES:

.・゜-: ✧ All you need to know about me is that 89% of my Merlin plots will undoubtedly be Disney or fairytale inspired, and I'd be crazy not to think up one that has to do with one of my all time favorites.

.・゜-: ✧ This is an AU that connects to my story, Amid the Thorns Alight (a Merlin fanfic blended with Sleeping Beauty); I was originally going to write this myself, which is why the connection is present, but let's be real, I don't even write what I've got published now—there was no need to add to that. SO HERE IT IS.

.・゜-: ✧ Some background on Lancelot and Aurora's relationship (which I have not yet written in the rewrite oops): Aurora works as assistant to the court physician when Lancelot first meets her, when he's brought in by Merlin after rescuing our favorite warlock from the griffin, and the two inevitably become attracted to each other during his short time in Camelot. While it's something that started off as physical on both ends, they found solace and companionship in one another due to their shared backgrounds as orphans (Aurora isn't an orphan ofc, but that's the story she's been fed her whole life), and the attraction quickly became more than physical. Of course, nothing came of it before he left Camelot, and she wouldn't see him again until she was taken in Morgana's place for ransom—by then, whatever feelings she had for him had greatly lessened, for Arthur had become her heart's desire in Lancelot's absence, and even his return didn't change a thing. Though Lancelot still cared deeply for her—in a way he would easily refer to as love—her heart didn't beat in tune with his as it did with Arthur's.

.・゜-: ✧ Prologue takes place immediately after the episode Lancelot and Guinevere, or rather Lancelot and Aurora, in this case. In their successful attempt to rescue Aurora from the Vale of Denaria, it was easy for Lancelot to see that she and Arthur had grown closer in their time apart, and he questions Merlin about it. Knowing that Lancelot has always harbored a torch for his friend, Merlin felt it only right to explain that she was cursed as an infant—a terrible curse that would trap her in the permanency of rest forever, unless an act of true love brought the curse to it's knees—and that the one destined to break that curse was Arthur alone. No one could save her from her destiny save for her true love, and though it hurt Lancelot a great deal to hear, that man was not him. (I don't care if you use my dialogue for this part, like you can just ask and I'll send you who says what since this is something that overlaps in both stories—if you'd rather make up your own, that's fine too ofc!).

.・゜-: ✧ The story then picks up from where Lancelot's travels between series 2 and the end of series 3 begins. The amount of time that has passed is entirely up to you, as long as it's a few months at the very least.

.・゜-: ✧ Now onto Rapunzel: Obviously this is based off of the Disney movie Tangled, and I don't plan on changing much. When her mother was pregnant, she grew ill to the point where she could only be cured by a potion made from the Sundrop Flower, which was also used as a fountain of youth by a woman named Gothel. The Sundrop flower was no more, but it's power continued to exist in the child the Queen bore—I imagine that after Rapunzel's birth, she wasn't actually named Rapunzel at all (who would name a princess after lettuce???), so her name by birth will be Hemera (the goddess of the sun) Apolloni—and Gothel seeks to return the power of youth back into her hands. Like in the movie, she kidnaps the child from her bed and flees the kingdom. Relocating to a tower hidden by nature, far away from the castle the princess never got a chance to call home, she raises the child under the name Rapunzel.

.・゜-: ✧ Presently, Rapunzel is a newly turned twenty-year-old female who has lived in a tower her whole life, and she dreams of nothing more than to see the "floating stars" which only ever appear on her birthday every year. Gothel is very insistent that the outside world is a dangerous place, that people will only use her for the magic she possesses, and generates a great deal of horror stories to change her mind; it, of course, never works. Rapunzel is a dreamer, and despite the horrors her caretaker chooses to plant into her head, it never sways her from reaching for the stars and chasing her dreams. Well, it never sways her from the desires, anyway.

.・゜-: ✧ I imagine Lancelot would not stumble upon the tower because he's being chased by the royal guard after attempting to steal a crown, so we can simply say that his horse became spooked and took off, leaving him to follow it down the path to Rapunzel's tower.

.・゜-: ✧ Now here's where you can start drifting from the movie a bit, if you so desire. The tower scene can either be almost exactly the same as the movie has it, or you can go a different path with it. Either way, Lancelot doesn't end up taking Rapunzel to see the lanterns because she essentially blackmails him into doing it, but because he knows what it's like to have a dream left unachieved, and he wouldn't wish that upon anyone else. He couldn't have the knights of Camelot, but he could certainly make sure she saw the lanterns and avoided the disappointment he often felt.

.・゜-: ✧ Obviously they'll have to be a slow burn relationship, given he's still in love with someone else upon their first meeting and love isn't exactly the first thing on her mind. But throughout their journey together, he finds himself thinking of Aurora less and less, and eventually comes to realize that Rapunzel is the reason why.

.・゜-: ✧ THE BOAT SCENE IS PERFECT DON'T CHANGE IT EXCEPT FOR MINUSCULE PLOT THINGS OFC

.・゜-: ✧ Honestly, from here on out, just do your own thing with it. Use your creativity to alter certain aspects of the movie to fit well with what I've (attempted and failed) to set up for you. You can take a completely different course from the movie if you see fit, or stick to it as close as you possibly can. Whatever works best for you is all that matters here, and what you feel comfortable with writing.

.・゜-: ✧ However, in the end, obviously it's her tear and the magic from the Sundrop Flower which heals him from his mortal wounds received from Gothel, and Lancelot still gets to be a hair stylist and give her that sexy bob.

.・゜-: ✧ Whether or not she continues to go by Rapunzel after being reunited with her family or taking on her birth name is completely up to you.

.・゜-: ✧ If you want to continue on from the end of the movie and weave in episodes of Merlin in which Lancelot is involved, like The Coming of Arthur I & II, feel free. I think it'd be cool for Lancelot to see Aurora again and feel the freedom of the weight his unrequited love once forced down upon him. And if you want to somehow change certain things like... The Darkest Hour... I won't object. Or keep it and I still won't object.

.・゜-: ✧ This was a long set of notes, and hopefully none of the other plots will be like this, but since this one is connected to one of my own, it was necessary.

— TERRA