Jackunzel Month, Day 15: Corona
WHAT UP WHAT UP
I didn’t really have any ideas for the second week of Jackunzel month but I made a shitton of location aesthetics for the third week so GIT HYPE
I will attempt to post them all on the correct day buuuut...we’ll see how that goes XD
The theme I was kind of going for with this one was “winter changing to spring in Corona.” It ended up with a more wintery vibe, I think, but eh, that’s okay. Also I mean cmon I saw that pic with the ice lanterns and the flowers and I couldn’t NOT use it DOBZUVWYDOZUFXBOLUFOBUF IT’S PERFECT
Pic credits available upon request!
Music and happy cheers fill the air in the castle courtyard as people swoosh past in a fast-paced dance. Rapunzel is doing her best to not be pulled in yet again as she makes her way through the courtyard. It’s difficult, everyone seems to want a chance to speak and dance with the returned princess. She appreciates it, of course, but after an entire day of nothing but dancing and talking to people, she’s a bit exhausted.
She just about manages to make to the other side, and ultimately up to the balcony overseeing the courtyard. A lantern is already there, and it makes her smile. As soon as darkness falls, it’s going to be released, and the night sky will be just as lit up as on her birthday. The amount of celebration being done for her and her return is almost more than she can handle. All the people dancing down there, they’re doing it because they’re happy she’s there. Music is being played, murals painted and lanterns lit and it’s all in her honor.
It’s almost as if she’s dreaming.
She can barely believe that she’s out of the tower, and now she she’s a princess with parents who love her and a whole kingdom who celebrates her.
It should be impossible.
But it isn’t.
“This is quite the party.”
And it’s all thanks to him.
Her heart swells when she hears his voice and she turns around so fast that she gets dizzy, and stumbles a little. Her crown slips down over her forehead while she tries to right herself again and she blushes as he laughs softly.
“Hi Jack,” she says as she fixes her crown and finally gets a chance to really look at him.
He has dressed up for the occasion. Instead of his usual vest and cloak he’s wearing a formal jacket. It’s a little big for him, probably belonging to his father. Still, it makes him look a little more put together. But his hair still spikes out in every direction, and his eyes still shines of mischief.
“Hey Punze,” he takes a few steps closer.
He’s still the same boy who found her in her tower, who got to know her, who showed her the kindness and beauty of people and the world, and who ultimately saved her.
Everything she now has, is thanks to Jackson Overland. Without him, she would have continued to be stuck and alone, just wondering for the rest of her life.
She wants to thank him, make it known to him just how grateful she is, and always will be. There’s only one way to do that.
She closes the distance between them and throws her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. He doesn’t hesitate before hugging her back, and the way his arms fit around her waist just makes her even more sure.
“I love you,” she whispers into his ear.
She can feel him smiling against her cheek. In this moment, everything is perfect.
And then she wakes up.
The sun is just rising in the valley she calls home, the morning dew is still visible on every straw of grass. But it’s chillier than normal, she’s freezing despite being wrapped up in her hair. Someone’s there.
“Good morning!”
She looks up just as he lands in front of her. Jack Frost looks just like the Jackson Overland of her memories, if just a little paler and with different hair and eye colors.
He has the same ability to make her smile, and blush.
“Morning Jack,” she says as she starts getting up, stretching as she does. “What are you doing here?”
Jack holds out a hand to help her up on her feet, which she gladly takes. As soon as her skin touches his, her heart does a little flutter. She does her best to ignore it.
“I need you to hold off spring in Australia for a little while longer,” his eyes shine with that same, familiar mischief.
I just might ruin her.
“I can’t do that,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I know, but if I’m going to pull this prank on Bunny I really need your help.”
“Do you really think pranking Bunny is a good idea?”
The way he smirks almost makes her regret asking.
“It’s gonna be hilarious, so yeah,” he says. “But I can’t pull it off without your help, Punzie. Please?”
She should say no. Bringing spring is important, and seeing as Bunny is one of her closest colleagues, she really shouldn’t get on his bad side.
But Jack is asking her, and she can’t say no.
“Fine, I’m in.”
The way he lights up is entirely worth getting on some bad sides.
A piece I commissioned to go with this story, Under the Moon.
Rapunzel cuddled under the blankets. It was a particularly cool evening, but Rapunzel didn’t mind, it meant her favorite person in the whole world, the only person she knew besides her mother, could pop in for a visit at any time. Some nights she would stay up for a while, past her bedtime, even though her mother forbade it, just so she could see him. He didn’t come every cool evening, but when he did, it more than made up for the times when he couldn’t be there.
A soft yet chilly breeze blew past her face. She rubbed her nose, chasing the chill away, so she could go to sleep. Then it blew past her face again. This time, her eyes flew open and she let out a soft squeal as she bounded out of bed. Pascal grunted before turning over.
“Oh come on Pascal, he’s here!” Pascal merely grunted again before pulling the blankets over his head. Rapunzel huffed. “Fine, I’ll say hi to him for you then.” She bounded off without waiting for a reply. She was so excited! He always had some new tale to tell, some new adventure that would make her laugh like she had never laughed before. And he would always say he enjoyed making her laugh.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and dashed towards the window, throwing it open. “Jack!” No answer. She glanced down, freshly fallen snow glittered in the pale moonlight. Where was he? She glanced up, and let out a squeal when a pair of cold lips kissed her nose. She giggled as she backed away from the window, allowing the pale boy to fly in. He landed nimbly and bowed.
“And how is the princess of the tower doing today?”
Rapunzel bounced on her toes. “Soo happy to see you Jack!”
He straightened up and grinned. “Glad to hear it.” He opened his arms, and Rapunzel rushed into them. His staff clattered to the floor as he returned the hug. Unlike her mother, Jack accepted hugs with as much willingness as Rapunzel was to give them, and there had been a few times neither one wanted to let go. But this time Rapunzel stepped back first, though her hands lingered on Jack’s shoulders.
“So, what adventures did you have today?”
Jack’s eyes twinkled with merry mischief. “Well, I made a party more fun.”
Rapunzel blinked. “What? A party more fun? But I thought you said parties were always fun!”
Jack laughed. “Yes, well, I don’t know how, but the people at this party managed to figure out how to make a party not fun. So I decided to lend a hand and make it fun.”
“Oh, how?”
Jack snickered. “By throwing snowballs at their faces.”
Rapunzel gasped. “Jack, that doesn’t sound nice!”
“But it works every time! I throw a snowball in someone’s face, they start having fun. Well, these folks finally started having some fun, and they even started dancing!”
“Oh, I wish I could have been there. It sounds like it was such fun!”
“Oh it certainly was!”
“Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you teach me to dance?”
Jack tilted his head. “I don’t know, I never really learned. I mean, sure, I know what it looks like, doesn’t mean I know how to do it.” He leaned back on the wall and crossed his arms. “Besides, it’s not easy to practice when no one else can see or touch me.”
“But I can,” said Rapunzel, fluttering her eyelashes.
Jack smirked. “Yeah, there’s that. Well then, will you be my practice partner, princess?” He bowed.
Rapnzel giggled as she gave a curtsy. “It shall be my pleasure, oh kind knight.”
Jack grinned as he straightened up, his eyes twinkling merrily. He held out his hand. “Well, we start with holding each other’s hands.”
Rapunzel blushed. “R-really?”
“Oh don’t worry, it’ll be our secret. Only you, me, and the Man in the Moon will know.” He nodded at the full moon shining through the window. “And since your mom doesn’t believe in him, he won’t say a word.” He winked. “And she can’t see me either, so it’s just you who doesn’t have to tell your mom.”
Rapunzel placed her hands on her hips. “Oh sure, thanks, place all the burden on me.”
“What? It’s perfectly easy to do, she can’t see or hear me.” He stuck his tongue out at her.
“Jack Frost, you jerk!” Rapunzel grabbed her broom and chased Jack around the house before he grabbed his staff and the two fenced for a time. They eventually fell over laughing.
“So, you want to dance, or what?”
Rapunzel’s eyes sparkled. “Of course!”
Jack bounced up and helped Rapunzel up “Then let’s get started! Don’t need your mom thinking you’re more crazy than you already are.”
“Jack!” She swatted his arm.
Jack chuckled. Then with a grin, grabbed her hand and placed it on his shoulder while holding the other in his hand. He placed his right hand around her waist. “Well then, let’s get started!” They went a little slowly, and awkwardly, but by the time Jack left, the two were starting to get the hang of it.
Rapunzel waved goodbye to Jack when he left, watching him fly away. She stayed at the windowsill, staring out at the sky even though he was gone from her sight. He had used to promise to return every time he left, but he stopped doing that, because she knew now that he would come back whenever he got the chance. And he had come back, bringing with him tales and new things to learn about. She yawned before finally tearing herself away and closing the shutters. She rubbed her eyes as she meandered up the stairs to her bed. She crawled in and pulled the covers up to her chin, smiling brightly as she drifted off to sleep.
To all my beleaguered friends in the good old US of A, may I offer you a nice Jackunzel month moodboard in this trying time?
So I didn’t really have any moodboard ideas for each of the individual 1st week of Jackunzel month prompts, so...I decided to combine them! :D
I’m pretty pleased with how this came out, especially the lavendarish color the program generated for the panel borders. It’s like the exact color you’d get if you mixed Rapunzel’s pin aesthetic with Jack’s blue one, so I’m pretty happy with it :3
So I was showing my last few Jackunzel location aesthetics to one of my irl friends who is also shameless Jackunzel trash (and who also happens to have basically the exact same personality as irl Jack Frost, so I’d say he has some authority on this matter XD) and he was complaining pointing out that they didn’t have quite enough of the classic Rapunzel purple, so I made a point to try and include more here. Especially since this one is meant to be more spring-themed than winter-themed, which is definitely more Punzel’s thing!
Oh my GOD the program auto-generated light blue for the borders AGAIN, I swear I cannot escape it XD I think this program is just very Ride or Die for light blue...at least when it comes to Jackunzel location moodboards specifically XD But I was like NO I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS, WE NEED MORE PURPLE and then I went and MANUALLY CHANGED the border color for like the 2nd time ever and now there is adequate purple!!!! My moodboard-critiquing friend has stated he approves XD
I think this one is one of my favorites that I’ve made, because a) I really cannot overstate how much serene, unbridled Peace and Calm pictures of mossy rocks bring to me and b) the fact that that picture of a springtime yellow flower covered in frost exists fills me with so much glee because that is just the PERFECT blend of Jack and Rapunzel’s aesthetics oh my god
Also just, y’know...springtime imagery in general never fails to cheer me up :D
I love to imagine Punzel actually making pretty good friends with Bunnymund when she visits the Warren and he helps her dye those really fancy purple eggs and Jack is just like “ARE U KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW, HOW TF DO YOU GET HIM TO BE NICE TO YOU” and Rapunzel just kinda shrugs and smirks at him like “well, I don’t constantly freeze all of his flowers, for a start!” and Jack’s just like “shit, got me there”
