WDA App

[liftmehighabove]

♠ Application

♠ Mun
Name: Rose Marie
Journal: songasixpence @ livejournal
Contact Info: AIM: lottielogic01
Other Characters: None, currently

♠ Character Info
Name: Thumbelina
Movie/series: Thumbelina
Year/Position: College Freshman
Non/Speaking Animal/Companion(if any): Hero the dog... for transportation and protection, of course. We don’t want her late to class or getting stepped on while she’s on her way!
Powers: None! Though she is quite tiny, about 2-4 inches tall. There is no canon measurement of her height aside from “no bigger than [the mother’s] thumb.” It’s in no way a power, but it’s definitely something she will have to work around.
Canon history: Here!
AU history: Once upon a time, there was an older woman who had no children and lived alone. All her life, she wanted nothing more than a child to call her own; alas, her maiden days had long since passed and she was doomed to live the life of a single spinster. One day, heart aching, she went to a good witch for help, who gave her a tiny barley corn and instructed her to plant it. The woman did as she was told, and a flower soon sprouted. When it bloomed, inside was a small girl, no bigger than the woman’s thumb; that woman adopted her and named her “Thumbelina”.

They bonded quickly, and the tiny girl tried to help her mother in whatever capacity she was able to, though most of the day was spent trying not to fall into peril; luckily, most of it was avoided with the help of the kindly animals and her mother. One night, after a long day of helping with chores and cooking, her mother read her a story about fairies. For the first time, Thumbelina learned of creatures who were her height; though she didn’t know much of the world, she knew that she was the only one her size, and there was solace in thinking that perhaps she wasn’t entirely alone... even if it was in a daydream. By her request, she went to bed with the story book open on the page with the tale of the fairies. Being the silly thing she is, she didn’t fall asleep or even attempt it; instead, she spent a while dancing and singing to the fictional fairies of the book.

However, a not-so-fictional creature had been at the window sill listening and watching... a fairy snuck in and popped out from behind a page of the book, taking her by surprise. After a bit of socializing and rapidly increasing infatuation, they went on a whirlwind date. By the time they returned, they had flown over much of the landscape surrounding the humble cottage and barn, including stopping at a showboat. Unfortunately, the toad, Grande, had fallen in love at first sight, hard. After she and the fairy, whom she learned to be Prince Cornelius, parted for the night, she finally fell asleep; yet the calm of the night wouldn’t last, as that was when Mrs. Toad snuck in. Urged on by her son’s insistence that he was in love, she decided to kidnap the small girl and bring her back for him. The toad snuck through the cracked window, trapped Thumbelina in her own walnut bed, and stole her away. Hero, the old family dog, caught her in the act and gave chase. It took him a long while, but he finally caught her and rescued Thumbelina... however, at that time, a darkness quickly descended onto the land... The Black Mist. Hero hurried back home, and the family rode out the Mist visit in fear but together. Sadly, Cornelius had yet to return to her; she hoped and dreamed he had taken shelter and would come for her once the Mist left.

Once it did, however, something arrived before Cornelius could: a letter, strangely enough, addressed to Thumbelina. It was an invitation to the Walt Disney Academy. Her mother had heard about it from her trips into town to gather the supplies she couldn’t grow herself. After a bit of deliberation, she decided to send Thumbelina there... after all, she nearly lost her once, she couldn’t bear to lose her permanently. She’d be safe at the Academy, where someone her size could actually be accommodated. In addition, to Thumbelina’s mind, it would be easy place for Cornelius to hear about and to find, since it was clearly so well-known. Worst case scenario, he could ask the farm animals and they could inform him on where she disappeared to.

Her mother, with Hero at her side, made the trip with Thumbelina all the way to the tram station, leaving the small girl in the canine’s care. From there, astride his back, Thumbelina said her goodbyes and gave her good wishes to her mother, and the two got on the tram. Her hand traced over the one-way tickets carefully tucked into Hero’s collar; they’d soon be there.

Personality: Of course, we all remember Thumbelina as a happy girl; she has a generally friendly disposition and there’s no doubt she’s a people pleaser. However, beneath the heart she wears on her sleeve lies a girl who lose her head if it wasn’t attached, one who can be stepped on easily in more than just a literal sense.

Thumbelina, simply put, thinks with her heart, not with her head, and that heart happens to be worn on her sleeve. Her emotions and thoughts are rarely a mystery to those around her. When she’s happy or excited, she can’t help but sing to the world about her feelings. When she’s sad, she openly cries or pouts. When she’s mad, well, you better make sure she doesn’t trip over herself in her tantrum. She’s easily upset; in a world so big, she often believes that she’s too small, too weak, too helpless to change the current fate. Everything is frustrating when you can’t act in a way that a normal person can, making bad situations seem much worse.

In other words, disheartening her is just as simple and easy as upsetting her. This is seen several times throughout canon, from when she’s stuck on the lily pad and convinced she can’t get off at all, to believing The Beatle that she was ugly, to even giving up on returning home to marry Mr. Mole. The most extreme was when she first was separated from Jaquimo and had to trek through the snow and freezing water to an old shoe in an attempt to survive. She curls up in the sock and speaks out of sheer depression and disheartenment: “Jaquimo was wrong; I’ll never find my way home. It’s impossible.” There’s no arguing she has hope left, as it’s evident she doesn’t.

In addition, she’s able to be frustrated at the drop of a hat, especially if no one listens to her. Again, this happens several times throughout canon, from the pond critters ignoring her displeasure and disapproval of marrying the Toad and when Jaquimo ignores what she’s saying and flies off to find the Veil of the Fairies, despite her claims that it wasn’t worth it because Cornelius was “dead.” She may be tiny, but her voice is loud; there’s little to nothing worse than being ignored, especially since she’s so dependant on others, emotionally and physically.

However, that’s not to say she doesn’t try to control what temper she has; she’ll try to stay polite, but she’ll speak of her annoyance at the same time. For instance, when The Beatle initially tries to hit on her, she shoos him away and keeps turning him down. Only when he’s successfully flattered her and she comes up with an idea to find her house, does she give in; however, she still makes it very clear that she’s, “not his toots.”

And yet, she still dances at the Beatle Ball. She still goes with Mrs. Fieldmouse to deliver corn cakes to Mr. Mole. Why is this? This is because whenever someone shows her kindness, however minimal, she tries to return it as best she can. In this case, it’s entertaining the wishes and ideas of others; she dresses up and performs despite her lack of ability to “hoof it,” does everything Mrs. Fieldmouse asks of her and plays the role of the perfect polite guest, and sings for Mr. Mole despite his bashing of the world above and having to sing about her tragically lost love. Even if it hinders or goes against her beliefs or goals, she will go out of her way to humor those who have extended a hand (or paw) to her.

While she can give you a headache with her roller-coaster-like self esteem, she really does love to care for others. The entire movie, she worries about her mother, far more than Cornelius or any other character; in addition, she keeps going back to visit the unconscious Jaquimo to care for him, even removing that nasty thorn for him.

That said, she’s not a perfect little indoor wife type, either. She has a tiny, excitable thrill streak. For instance, when she first sees Cornelius’ bumble bee, she doesn’t run away from the large and intimidating insect; instead, she moves towards it and doesn’t hesitate to jump on its back when he offers her a ride. In addition, during the song, she puts full trust in him, even letting him drop her; to most people, this would be a terrifying experience regardless of the amount of trust, but she’s not scared in the least. Not only was she infatuated at that moment, she was also enjoying the thrill of flying. However, she’s not always as graceful as she was when she went on that date with Cornelius; all throughout the canon, she’s constantly tripping, falling, and over all getting into trouble. It’s easy to see that if her head weren’t screwed on, she’d lose it! It’s a good thing she wears her heart on her sleeve, eh?

All in all, though, the name of the game is naivety. Thumbelina is endlessly oblivious and ignorant of the ways of the world, being relatively new to it herself. What she does know of it has been spent in safety and in the loving care of her mother and the farm animals. Because of this, she’s often quite naive to what consequences will follow her actions. For instance, during “Let Me Be Your Wings,” she blows a playful kiss Grande, who falls in love with her. The look on his face would have been a dead giveaway; however, she never could have thought someone like her could earn such attentions from a pond dweller (because of her size and self-esteem), especially not when she was clearly in the company of the fairy prince. Another incident of this is shown when she gives into the Beatle; she knows from the get-go that he means trouble and is overbearing to the point of being rude, yet she still goes along with it, thinking everything will turn out right in the end (which only ended up with her being kicked out of the Beatle Ball). Needless to say, when she’s “in the moment,” everything else happening goes unnoticed.

Finally, her size often gets her down, no pun intended. She is easily star struck and loves the idea of being famous and well-liked, of being “big.” She gives into Mama Toad’s suggestion to perform with them (at least until they try to marry her to Grande); she performs at the Beatle Ball and cheeses it up all with a big smile on her face; she even performs for Mr. Mole and goes through with the pre-wedding motions (at that point, it was the biggest she could be without a chance of getting home and with Cornelius “gone”). She truly feels alienated and at odds because of her odd size, and any chance she gets to make something more of herself, she usually takes... even if she quickly realizes that it’s no good for her. In addition, she feels quite self-conscious about her looks and size; she really does need to be comforted about her appearance (her mother telling her to never be anything but what she is, the Beatle and Jaquimo telling her she’s beautiful, Mrs. Fieldmouse and Mr. Mole remaking on her “loveliness”).

Greatest Fear: Thumbelina is terrified of being completely alone while being completely on her own. It’s one thing to feel lost; it’s another to feel lost and have no one to turn to for help or a sense of direction. This is actually seen in canon a few times when she’s alone without Jaquimo or any of the other characters (after the Beetle Ball and the coming of the frost, when she makes her shelter in the shoe).
Has your character been at the Academy before/ does your character remembering being at the Academy before?: No.
What are you plans with this character?: I want Thumbelina to understand that the world isn’t all peaches and cream and that not all people are trustworthy. That being said, I also want her to understand that not everything is bad, either. The world isn’t black and white, nor is it rose-colored, like her naive mind tends to paint it. I want her to grow as a character and young lady, as well as bond with people who are different than those she has/would have met in canon.

Previous players with returning characters from disney_academy only:
How has the Black Mist affected your character’s memory, if at all?:
Are there any noteworthy events that happened to your character in the previous game?:

♠ Writing
Third person writing sample:
Everything was so... big! Huge... enormous even! Well, of course it was; the campus was always fairly large for new, normal students. But for Thumbelina, this school was practically its own world, wrapped up in neatly trimmed landscape and glittering stone. Eyes wide with wonder, she urged Hero on forward, drinking in each minute detail as he slowly padded towards the administrative building. Her mouth agape, she constantly exclaimed her wonder at the strange new world.

“Look! Look, Hero! What’s that?” She points towards the Botanical Gardens. “It’s like they have their own private forest!”

Hero snickered a bit as he continued at his easy pace, not stopping on any detours. Poor Thumbelina would probably get herself lost or in trouble right off the bat if he didn’t make sure she was situated and familiar with the rules first!

The tiny girl patted the top of his fur. “I think we’ll have to visit there sometime. Maybe after classes this week.” She curtly nodded in agreement with herself before her attention turned back to the administrative building. Anticipation built up in her tiny chest and new, less pleasant thoughts began to work their way to the forefront of her mind. What if the letter was sent to her by mistake? What if they actually didn’t want a student of her… stature? Though she continued to take in the sights, she also became preoccupied with doubts.

Luckily for her, they were short-lived. When Hero finally sauntered up to the reception desk, it was easy enough to receive her special room keys, communicator (full sized, sadly; but she’d learn to work with it, and in the meantime, Hero could carry it), class schedule, and instructions on how to get to her dorm, how to obtain the school uniform, where she could eat, and Academy emergency procedures. She even thought to herself that it was quite a lot for a little brain to remember! However, she thanked the receptionist kindly and eagerly tugged on Hero’s fur.

“Come on, brave old Hero; let’s go see if we can’t find that room.”



First person writing sample:

[As the communicator first clicks on and hums to life, students and staff might get a lovely view of a dog’s nostrils; seems like Hero’s not sure what to make of this strange, metal box, and it just happens to be his duty to make sure it’s safe. A sweet voice calls from just immediately off-screen.]

Oh Hero, you silly thing. Move aside.

[The dog barks, but complies, backing up a bit and lying down. Soon enough, though, a much more pleasant visage is pictured on-sceen. Actually, more than a visage... nearly a whole body! The tiny but undoubtedly lovely girl peers into the lense, tapping it, her eyes filled with curiosity and confusion.]

Hello? Is anybody in there? That’s odd... I could have sworn the receptionist said I could somehow talk to people with this...

[Her lips purse and her arms cross; it’s clear she’s “deep” in thought. Currently, she’s pondering if this box was somehow special, somehow magical. It makes no sense with what technology level she’s used to!

The ginger-haired girl looks over her shoulder to address the aged canine behind her.]

What do you think Hero? Am I doing this right?

[Attentions now returned onto the lense, she tries to speak again and hopes that she’s followed the instructions correctly.]

Well, if anyone can hear me... would you let me know if you see any fairies around school?

...And possibly help me carry books around?