SET YOURSELF FREE: tangled

wip au

ok this isn't actually a fic. it's just something that i'd really like to turn into a fic one day, but i have no motivation to do so,, aa

i went to see legally blonde a couple weeks ago and now i'm obsessed with the soundtrack!!!! so here's an idea i made while listening to the title song

CONTENT WARNING FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
if you've seen legally blonde, then.. yeah. the moment i saw them sit on the table together i knew something bad was gonna happen.

this is all a mess because i have never had a coherent thought in my life. but basically, it's a twist on these two prompts:
"i grew up not knowing i was royal and suddenly my royal grandparent showed up out of nowhere and told me i was so now i guess i'm the heir to the throne and you're my crush from my pre-royal days but i still have a crush on you"
"i grew up not knowing i was royal and now i guess i'm heir to a throne and you're the guy who's supposed to be teaching me how to be royal bc i suck at it and oops we made out"

this isn't exactly a legally blonde au, but if i had to correspond characters, i think it'd be:
elle: rapunzel
emmett: eugene
callahan: random dude that i have yet to name
vivienne: cassandra
warner: gossiping people?? idk
paulette: pascal
i know that doesn't make much sense but like i said, it isn't a direct translation of the musical
(yes i know it was a movie first, but i haven't seen the movie, so i'm basing this off the musical instead. i just really like the soundtrack and want to incorporate it into this, ok?)

rapunzel finds out she's a princess but quickly realizes royal life is not all it's made up to be. she just wants to go out and explore the world, but her parents are very protective. eugene has to unlearn all his bad habits, and it's obvious no one likes him. rapunzel and eugene are just friends for the time being, but it's obvious they have a mutual crush for each other.
there's a man who is supposed to be teaching rapunzel about all her duties. they become very close and good friends, but because rapunzel doesn't know much about people, she doesn't pick up on all the red flags. excessive touching, brushing aside her feelings... he tells her she's great and being a princess and she believes him because she trusts him!
...and then he forcibly kisses her.
rapunzel gets scared and runs out of the room. cassandra sees the whole thing go down.
rapunzel, having a breakdown, believes that everything the man said about her being amazing was false. she decides that she's not fit to become princess and wants to leave. she starts to say goodbye to eugene
some other handmaidens hear rumors about it all and scoff. cass didn't like rapunzel at first, but she knows she's gotta stick up for her now.

Take back the books and pack up the clothes
Clear out the room and drop off the key
Leave with what's left of my dignity
Get in the car, and just go
after the incident, rapunzel believes that everything the man said about her being amazing was false. she decides that she's not fit to become princess and wants to leave.

Chalk it all up to experience
rapunzel knows she needs more experience with people in order to make it in the real world

They said I'd fail but I disagreed
lots of people, particularly the chatty handmaidens, would gossip and scoff at the princess behind her back. they found her weird.

Who could say then where my path would lead?
nobody knew anything about rapunzel when she first came to the castle. they thought she would be the perfect fairytale princess —

Well, now I know
— but she wasn't.

Back to what I was before

Back in my own very small pond
rapunzel wants her old life back. just a lonely hermit, secluded from the outside world. she doesn't belong here.

Thanks for your help and for all you've done
Thank you for treating me decently
when rapunzel decides she wants to run away, she goes to eugene first. eugene seemed like the only person who truly cared about her through all of this.

- What's wrong?
Maybe someday you can visit me
Give me a call, say hello
- Wait, where are you going?
Sorry, I'm letting down everyone
- What brought on this?
You gave your best with a hopeless case
- That's ludicrous
rapunzel is being very insecure and eugene's trying his best to comfort her while being in dark about whatever is happening with her, but she won't listen. she just wants out.

You are the best thing about this place
- Elle, you should know-
rapunzel feels so out of place in the kingdom. the only person she feels truly comfortable with is eugene. vice versa - everyone has a negative impression of eugene. rapunzel is the only one who sees the good in him.

Callahan hit on me
- He what?
He kissed me, he fired me
There's no reason for me to stay
rapunzel runs out of the room after shamefully admiting to what happened. she feels like it's her fault that the guy used her.

What about love?
I never mentioned love
The timing's bad, I know
But perhaps if I'd made it more clear
That you belong right here
You wouldn't have to go
'Cause you know that I'm so much in love
in this universe, rapunzel and eugene didn't kiss. they didn't profess their love or anything - they're just super close friends, but it's obvious to anyone else that there's something else between them. eugene wants to tell her he loves her before she leaves. he wants to tell her that she belongs here, that she's not horrible.

Maybe Warner saw a blonde who was sleeping her way to the top
But all I see is a woman who doesn't have to
the handmaidens are extremely chatty. they gossip all the time, and the story has twisted into rapunzel hooking up with that dude. but cassandra knows the whole story, and she is gonna stick up for her.

I used to pray for the day you'd leave
Swore up and down
You did not belong

But when I am wrong
Then I say I'm wrong
And I was wrong about you

So listen up!
I see no end to what you'll achieve
That's only if you don't turn and run
You proved it to me
Now show everyone what you can do
cass didn't like rapunzel at first, but she knows when to admit she's wrong. she wants to see rapunzel be strong and amazing.