| MunName: Rose Marie Contact Info: , AIM: lottielogic01, email spiralnoir AT yahoo DOT com
Other Characters: N/A
Character
Name: Jasmine
Appearance: An elegant hourglass of just over five feet, golden skin lightly sun-kissed (for it is of a different shade than comparison to many of the townspeople who spend their lives working in the sun), and with deep almond eyes, Jasmine truly is a lovely desert bloom. She typically keeps her thick hair tied back with several bands, and she's never seen without some sort of jewelery. Though she is quite a compact lady, her form manages to be both playful and elegant, much like her personality.
Canon: Aladdin
History: Here.
Canon point: After she believes the market boy to have been executed.
Personality: In general, Jasmine not only embodies the best aspects of a princess, she also embodies the best aspects of an independent thinker and individual being. However, she also houses the drawbacks of both categories, proving to constantly ride the line between unbelievably sweet and frustratingly feisty.
For the most part, she can be a very generous and caring individual. When given the opportunity and the right setting, she manages to both sympathize and empathize with those around her; such was the case with the young boy in the streets of Agrabah, to whom Jasmine gifted an apple, as well as the time when she and “the market boy” understood one another simply because both knew what it was like to feel “trapped”. However, she finds it exceedingly difficult to show such compassion when the person in question is over-confident, cocky, rude, crass, or underestimating her. Jafar, The Sultan, Prince Achmed, Razoul, and even Aladdin all see her fiery temper and opinion when they provoke her to the point to where empathy and sympathy can no longer be given.
This princess is exceedingly opinionated and knows what she wants. Both prideful and stubborn, she expects the best from those around her, as she wants the best for everyone, even if it is completely unrealistic and/or unreasonable. This includes herself. That is why she typically refuses to stoop to anything below her list of personal standards, though she has swallowed her pride and done so when it was necessary for good or for a cause she considers just. For instance, she seduced -and therefore distracted- Jafar, despite her blatant disgust for him, for the simple sake of giving Aladdin the upper hand. In addition, those who get on her “bad list” (such as Jafar and Iago) are typically on it for life, unless they can prove they have indeed changed for the better and are thus worthy of loyalty and trust (the best example is for Iago's case; he had to convince her that he wasn't pure evil in Return of Jafar; that's it, that's the plot of the TV movie).
She’s more than happy to speak her mind and stand up for what she believes in, even if she is powerless to change what she disagrees with. For instance, she rejected all her suitors and told her father that she's against being forced to marry, despite knowing she would still need to before her next birthday. In the case of Razoul arresting Aladdin, she showed her willingness to fight, though she’s not physically strong or adept at throwing a punch; when that failed, she used her position as a princess to order his release. In other words, she did everything in her power, both physically and socially, to save someone she considered innocent and worthy of trust and respect.
She can be a great judge of character, given a general situation and interaction. However, she can also fall prey to those who lie convincingly (once again, this is because she naively expects the best of everyone). That said, gods forbid she catches someone in their lies. Malevolent and needless lying are things she can’t stand, more so than anything else; it can make or break one’s relationship with her. This is because when she puts her trust into someone, she expects them to cherish that trust like a irreplaceable treasure. This is part of why she had an outburst on her date with “Prince Ali,” when everything seemed to be going smoothly and happily. There is, however, a difference between lying to protect or harmlessly put off and lying for malicious purposes (such as her lying about being in love with Jafar vs. Jafar lying about Aladdin’s death so that he could use the boy to fetch the lamp). In rare occasions, her empathy extends to lies, understanding when purposely hiding the truth is necessary, like Aladdin having hid the fact that he’s not really a prince; towards the end of the film, she forgives him by saying she knows why he did it.
All the same, she carries the assumption that most of the everyday people are generally good, and that they wouldn’t take advantage of her. Even Jafar, though she obviously didn't trust him much to begin with, escapes her scrutiny until he goes out of his way to affect someone she held dear. That mindset is most likely derived from a lack of normal interactions between various types of people her age (or older) growing up. She states early on that aside from Rajah, she has never had a single friend, nor was she allowed to do anything on her own. Her life as a princess has not only been a lonely one, but one in which she had no choice but to be dependent on (and to some degree, trusting of) those around her, even if she can't be emotionally close with them.
Speaking of Rajah, most of the interactions she had over her years have been with animals (as seen throughout the canons; they include birds, fish, Rajah the tiger, and horses). Because of this, it's safe to say that to some degree, she finds it easier to relate to animals than humans, even if she does love interacting with real people. Her affinity for animals typically makes it easier for her to handle them (if Rajah obeying her (and only her), and the birds refusing to fly away when she lets them perch on her hand isn’t enough proof, she has shown the ability to tame her mother's supposedly untamable horse in “Follow Your Dreams.” Along those lines, and a bit off topic, through the various canons of Aladdin, we have seen that she’s incredibly adept at horseback riding, which gives way for reason to believe she has studied it since she was young).
When people assume she’s incapable of something and she knows she isn’t, she makes sure to take pride in proving them wrong. She’s a quick learner, and proudly flaunts that fact about her, such as when she performed flawless pole-jumping over the rooftops of Agrabah with Aladdin, after only watching him do it once. Quick on her feet, she is able to pick up on those around her and play off their plans, however spontaneous they may be; when Aladdin saved her from the peddler, she fell into step with his story, pretending to be his mentally stunted sister to back his faux claim. Jasmine thoroughly enjoys learning about and interacting with the world and the people around her, and she loves the challenge of taking on something new. However, her naivety in affairs and the culture outside the palace tends to work to her disadvantage. There's good reason why she took the apple from the peddler without even considering she had to pay him (and backtracking, when she first snuck out, she didn't think she would have needed money outside the palace walls).
While she is indeed proud and confident, she’s also shown to be a tiny bit vain. She clearly takes pride in her looks, always appearing impeccable and put together every minute she's on-screen. Brushed and styled hair, jewelry, and purposefully rouged lips, and keeping her “good” palace clothes on underneath her peasant disguise helps to prove this. At the same time, she’s well aware of how men perceive her; she knows they find her attractive (which is rarely flattering, given her experiences with suitors). She has played on that factor several times to seduce the fools long enough to prove them nothing but proud peacocks, either by calling them out on it or letting Rajah scare them away. However, she doesn’t want people to like her only for her looks, status, and wealth. Even with knowing how she appears, she wishes for people to like her (or heck, even hate her) for who she is as a person. That's why she chose Aladdin over all the other suitors; he saw her for being clever, quick-witted, passionate, and rightfully opinionated, which set him apart from the usual riffraff seeking her hand.
However, she isn't all seriousness all the time. Though she isn't one to crack jokes or make a fool of herself, she isn't without a sense of humor or a playful side either. This is most obvious when she's with Rajah or Aladdin; for exmaple, praising Rajah and smooshing his cheeks for scaring away, “that overdressed, self-absorbed Prince Achmed”, knowing that Aladdin was speaking genuinely but talking about it as if it was Abu (“Oh really? And what else does Abu have to say?... Tell him that's very sweet.”), messing with the clouds on the carpet ride, playfully nudging “Ali's” side while watching fireworks, and so on and so forth. That's said, it's safe to say that she would never like being the butt of a joke, as she clearly hates being thought of as stupid or a fool (and boy, did Aladdin learn that the hard way).
At the end of the day, Jasmine is both a lovely desert bloom and the serpent of independent thinking and standards beneath it. While remaining compassionate, patient, forgiving, and graceful, as princesses are often demanded to be, she is also feisty, opinionated, stubborn to the point of insult, and revolutionary despite her limited rights, not only as a princess but also as a woman. Like Aladdin, she too is a diamond in the rough, at least in her own right.
Powers/Special Abilities: None
Inventory: Servants and guards delivered an assortment of trunks and chests upon her arrival. Inside are not only her personal belongings, toiletries, and other household necessities (kettles, coffee pots, trays, etc.), but also treasure and duplicate scrolls of information, stories, and laws pertaining to the kingdom of Agrabah. Jasmine requested this, in case the Mist should overtake Agrabah and whisk the citizens away, and in the event of the possibility happening, should it be looted by the sea of desert bandits after. If either happens, there will be part of the culture, history, and government kept safe within the Academy walls.
Greatest Fear: Jasmine is terrified of being trapped; it doesn’t necessarily need to be a particular place, but rather, a situation. She needs the ability to be able to change aspects of her life, to get away from certain people (for a small or extended period of time), to be free to live, and do the things she wants to. After all, that was the reason she ran away from the palace in the first place. She was not only confined to the palace, but to the promise of being wed to someone she couldn’t love, who would control her life and what she could and couldn’t do, who would live her life for her. All of that also played into why she despised being Jafar’s personal “slave” in canon, though being physically trapped and having such disdain for him certainly didn’t work in his favor either.
How is your character appropriate for this game? Despite her short screen time, Jasmine has shown a rather large variety of emotion, thought processes, and character depth. In canon, she's forced to go against personal morals for the greater good, she's challenged by moral dilemmas via those around her, and she has faced the reality of her naivety and lack of experience. I believe these are important qualities that make her a character fit for this game; there's enough characterization to work with that she can be put into virtually any situation, no matter how comedic or severe, and she would be playable.
Rooming request section Hoover Hall, 401.
AU Specific Section
Feel free to ignore if you aren't writing a character into the Disney_Academy AU setting
AU history
Born into royalty, Jasmine spent her entirely life inside Agrabah’s palace walls. Horribly sequestered from the world outside, not to mention smothered by the world inside, she longed to be able to make her own decisions, go where she pleased, and be able to chose love over politics in regards to her law-required marriage to a prince. That longing led her to run away from the palace, where she eventually met and was saved by a boy in the marketplace. Without her title as a princess out in the open -the same title would probably would have changed how he acted around her- she found herself treated as a normal girl, and soon found herself enamored with the young man. He was brave, cunning, kind, and full of hope, but most importantly, he saw her for more than just her features, and he was able to empathize with her. Those traits were something she had never seen in the men that frequented the palace. However, fate proved far too cruel; Jafar had sent Razoul and his fellow guards to hunt down the boy. Unable to disobey Jafar, even after Jasmine revealed herself and ordered them to stop, the boy was sent to the dungeons, and Jasmine was returned to the “safety” of the palace.
When questioning Jafar about what warranted the boy’s arrest, she was told (and subsequently believed) that he was unfairly sentenced to death, charged with her kidnapping. Heartbroken for the first time in her life, as well as bitter, angry, and repulsed by Jafar, she spent the next few days in tearful agony, comforted most by Rajah as she mourned her friend... the only human friend she ever made.
However, as the days passed, something seemed off, even to her; her misery went beyond that of normal grieving. It was then that the Mist first began to sweep into the deserts of Agrabah, slowly but surely affecting the people in the city. Due to the uncertainty as to how to best protect its royalty and citizens in the Mist, Jasmine was under constant surveillance. As one can imagine, the lack of space and liberty made for a very restless princess. While she was trapped in her room under the guise of “security,” her home was in danger, and she was unable to properly help her people. None of that sat well with her heart, which was already so distraught from the market boy's “death”.
The only redeeming factor of the Black Mist's untimely visit? The law demanding she marry before her next birthday had put on hold; proper ceremonies could not be carried out during such a time of emergency. However, it wasn’t much consolation. She spent her days pacing about, trying to figure out how to make herself useful when she was in such a predicament, both physically and emotionally.
Not long after Mist wandered out of her kingdom, a ray of hope was delivered to her: a letter of acceptance from Walt Disney Academy, signed by the headmaster himself. This was her chance! She could escape being cooped up; help find a way to stop the Black Mist (which had uprooted her father and her people from their relatively happy lives), and attendance had the extra bonus of both postponing her betrothal and marriage, as well as giving her a chance to prove herself capable not only as a princess and diplomat, but also as an independent young woman. Perhaps she couldn't right the wrong of her friend's death, but she could help right the wrong of the Mist. Determination renewed, she begged and pleaded with the Sultan (while away from Jafar’s ears, of course). After reassuring him that she would be safer at the Academy than she would in the palace, and after promising to choose a suitor the moment she returned home (if she didn't find a proper prince at the Academy), he let her go with a heavy heart.
Bidding her heartfelt farewell to her father and to Rajah, a caravan of guards and servants escorted her across the desert, ocean, and into the school, bringing with them artifacts and treasure, for safekeeping in the princess' care.
How has it affected them?
Not much has changed from canon, aside from a past visit from the Mist. However, the Mist was indeed a bit of a wake-up call that things are not at all well with the world, and that until it's gone, it will prove a threat to the Sultan, to Rajah, and to Agrabah and all its people... especially the innocents. In addition, receiving the invitation was an opportunity Jasmine couldn't help but seize; though it's temporary, it would not only grant her the freedom she has longed for, but also the chance to live for herself, without being constantly told what to do, how to dress, whom she has to marry, etc.
Writing
First Person Sample
[Unfortunately, it takes the princess nearly a half hour before she figures out how to properly get the communicator to broadcast. Horrible, awful, mandatory devices!]
Pardon me, but am I using this correctly?
[Okay, so far so good. She quickly regains composure and puts on a pleasant visage.]
I know this is rather sudden, but I was wondering if someone would be willing to help me locate my classes tomorrow? You see, I've just arrived from Agrabah, earlier this evening, actually. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to tour the campus before the sun set and the buildings closed. If anyone could lend a hand, I would be most grateful.
[She pauses for a moment, realizing she hasn't even given out her name. She might not know much about the outside world, but she knows not to expect people to recognize her, much less give a good guess as to who she actually is.
Then again, does she really want the uninformed to know? Perhaps it's better to keep her title a secret, at least for the time being.]
My name is Jasmine, by the way. It is very nice to meet you all, as I expect I will be doing so soon. And I offer a thank you in advance to anyone who wishes to help.
[The camera jerks down to her floor as she spends another few minutes trying to get the feed to end.]
Third Person Sample
Though her first week had gone rather well, there was something at the back of Jasmine's mind that kept nagging at her. At first, she couldn't quite place what. However, after Friday's class of physical education, she had noticed poles lined up against the wall, no doubt used for jumping over the strange structure in the middle of the track and field area. She pursed her lips, staring up at them. The images of her first -and last- encounter with the market boy flashed in front of her eyes. Before she could even take the time to realize her actions, her hands were already gingerly wrapped around the pole, and she was headed to the field.
Jasmine knew she had never pole-vaulted before, not like this. She knew she had no training in this particular piece of equipment, so unlike the simple wooden beam she had used to leap across the rooftops of Agrabah. Yet as she stared down the field, none of that mattered. All she wanted to do was grasp that fleeting moment of the past and hold it close again, even if it would only last a mere few seconds.
Mind made up, eyes focused on her goal, she sprinted towards the standards and the bar, and at the right moment, planted the end of the pole into the ground, using it to help heave and fling herself over. For those few moments in the air, her heart soared, and she could have sworn she tasted the same freedom that she had alongside the market boy. Though her landing left little to be desired, after she hit the mat, for several long minutes she stared up at the sky. The feeling had indeed fluttered away, but the memory of it was fresh, and the memory of that glorious day among her people seemed renewed.
A smile swept across her lips, and she sat up, eying the discarded pole fondly. Wordlessly, she stood up, meandered to the resting equipment, and firmly took hold of it. Eyes undeniably brighter, she headed back towards the PE equipment room to return the invaluable item back to its resting place. |
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