I really liked the Ever After High story combined with Descendants. I'm curious. Would Neha have a design similar to Ramona or Kitty? Or did you have another character in mind? ✨👀
Omg thank you !!!!!!! I'm really glad to hear (or see) it!
And honestly? I was thinking more on the lines of Kitty's wonderland design with the actual ears and tail, but that they're more functional than just props. If anything, Izzy and Eva match their eah counterparts more appearance wise. Well, Izzy does the most, Eva dresses similarly to Lizzy but only in the palace (her mother's rules), she prefers to wear shorts and a tank top when she's out and about, so at least she decided to dress up a bit with some trousers and a blouse as she was playing tourist for the other kids...
But as for Neha, it also depends on which form we're talking about here!
Because if it's the cat one then she's basically a brown short-haired cat that looks gaunt with how skinny it is. Makes for easy carrying, not so much for good health. No clothes on since it's a cat.
In her male form she's basically stuck in a consistent appearance, once again looking gaunt. But the outfit is more of a mix between Alistair's and the Noah TD one if anything: cargo shorts, a shirt, and a jacket. The main difference though is that they don't fit properly- especially the shorts which are always slightly too big and doesn't fall down purely because of the magic. It's not an outfit by choice, but it's also the least of her worries when it comes to appearance.
In her actual form she would probably wear more of Kitty's attire in a way? Like imagine her hair being more like Ramona's (maybe even a mix texture wise) but outfit wise she'd go for something that could fit a lot of stuff in, so a skirt with bigger volume. Mainly because that fits more into Wonderland fashion so she'd be able to have pockets as deep as she wants for all of her books.
However, if we're talking more of her finally taking her actual form for the first time, then she would be looking a little feral: her outfit would be whatever she last threw on that got transfigured into her cursed one, she's obvious filling out in places she didn't before and subtracting from others, and she hasn't cut her hair in years considering the curse making that not needed. So the only well groomed bits would be the short black strands and the curly orange ones.
In fact, I did actually debate her (male) cat form having the two different coloured streaks in the fur.
I had this whole thing planned which is actually still canon to the au tbh, I just decided against writing about it in the fic. But it does relate to appearances I suppose, mainly team E-scope's but the others as well. There's actually a bunch of things not really mentioned in the fic itself because it's so lore heavy and I wanted to focus more on the first meetings!
So honestly, I'm gonna use this as an excuse to lore dump it here, if anyone doesn't want to know then turn back now!
Basically the way relationships work in wonderland is completely different to Auradon or the Isle, it was supposed further emphasise the differences between the three places as a different set of culture.
Auradon
Auradon has the more traditional relationships and friendships. Romantic are monogamous that leans more man/woman especially in royal/noble families so lavender marriages and arranged (like Courtney and Alejandro's) marriages for political reasons are quite common. However things like polyamory and cheating are really looked down on and it's a 'save yourself for marriage' sort of deal. Obviously this changes slightly across each of the states/kingdoms with them all having slight variations of what they find acceptable, especially between the classes and the idea of marrying for love when it comes to sexuality, but this is basically the baseline.
So their markers for these relationships are wedding rings between lovers, and crests worn by family and occasionally incredibly close friends. Symbols of their loyalty and commitment.
An example of this is both Courtney and Alejandro wearing their families' crests through jewelry- mainly necklaces. They had rings of each other's crests as is common when engaged but they were returned when Alejandro was initially love potioned and called it off.
Isle of the lost
Because the isle is all about rejecting the 'good' and 'moralness' of the heroes in Auradon, things like friendships or romantic relationships are looked down on and seen as only for the weak. Instead, they run on tentative alliances and no strings attached sort of things, because on an island populated by all the villains, caring about things is dangerous and likely to make you a target. So any connections are strictly referred to as alliances.
Since these alliances are the closest to any kind of relationship or caring that they're allowed, people in alliances tend to wear clothes/an item to signify it, they're obvious markers that you are a part of a group who will protect you and you would do the same in return.
For instance, Heather's group wearing leather and Leshawna's with the pirate get up.
Wonderland
Unlike the other two, Wonderland doesn't really do labels. It's kinda pointless when everything changes constantly after all. Because of this, there's not really any structure relationship-wise compared to the other two. So it's not really frowned upon to sleep around or have multiple partners, unless there's specific circumstances involved, and it's also not frowned upon to have close connections and depend on others- unlike both Auradon and the Isle respectively.
Because of this, the closest thing that they have to any kind of relationship is whether or not you belong to someone and they belong to you. The parameters to this can range anywhere from basic friendships to devoted relationships and they're all held in as high of a regard as each other. So like with everything else, wonderland is really fluid with it- the only exception being the current Queen and the royal family.
And the signifier of this, as with appearances, is dictated by wonder. For example, in a human once they have found someone they will always be loyal to, and once it's confirmed that that person will return it wholeheartedly, they start growing a part of the other person through hair. It's basically Wonder's way of saying 'hey look, this person belongs to you so much and is yours that you literally have part of them with you forever'. It only works when it's mutual, and it shows their commitment and loyalty to those people, so it's severely frowned upon to abandon them or not put them first when it comes to someone you don't have the same connection with. It's also incredibly taboo to cover up these indicators since it's seen as disrespectful to the people you are bound to- like you don't want them anymore or are ashamed of them.
So think soulmate aus but it forms long after you've made a connection, once it's there you can't get rid of it, and the nature of the connection is never the same.
Now, Izzy would be the only one out of the trio who actually has hers on display as streaks in her hair- the longer brown hair is braided and because of the fact that it's on the top of her hair she either hides it in her hat in specific places, or more commonly, she wears it around her hat and it gets mistaken for decoration. Which was why Heather didn't notice it when they met. The black hair is short enough that it easily hides in her natural hair so depending on how she wears it is how visible it is.
For Eva and Neha it's a hell of a lot more complicated.
Neha's physical appearance can't change so these streaks don't appear in her male form, and like I said I had originally planned to have them in her cat form but decided against it for one main reason- wonderlandians in animal form can both speak and have their indicators on display, Neha can do neither in her cat form which gets her mistaken as a regular cat. This was/is actually an important plot point in this au, fun fact!
As for Eva, her mother despises both Izzy and Neha so she has to hide it for that reason, but also because the queen believes that as royalty they're not supposed to be owned by anyone, they are the ones who own not the other way around. There's a lot of things that Eva does that subtly rebels against the queen, but letting the hair show isn't one of them. She has to cut it often since the speed it takes for it to grow back is unpredictable, on desperate occasions she tucks it into her collar or pins them into her ponytail. She does however like to keep the strands for Izzy to either braid together or put onto a hat to see if that can bypass Neha's curse or not.
So as far as relationships go, think of the Isle as having allies and allies with benefits, Auradon as having monogamous relationships and friendships, and Wonderland as having queer-platonic relationships that varies depending on the pair/group!
And also yes, these changes do also happen to people who stay in wonderland long enough.
I actually came up with an entire system on how wonder and magic works, and why magic cannot detect wonder- something that's mentioned in a throwaway line about Owen's looking glass! I dunno why I put this much work in a one off oneshot, but I do, and I'll keep doing it lmao.
She sent care packages to everyone before and after Brooklynn's death.
Lived alone--like, ALONE alone--for over a year after that death. She visited Darius's place for the funeral, and after that...alone.
She kept sending care packages, but Darius didn't call anyone. Yaz barely called her. And she clearly didn't call Yaz (REACH OUT, WOMAN!). Ben might have called, but he was investigating. Kenji might have checked in, too...but probably not.
Again: ALONE alone.
She's got cows and chickens. She's made herself an impromptu caretaker. She's got a nasty neighbor.
And then...she adds on a dinosaur.
A DINOSAUR. Six thousand pounds of animal. She has to feed her, wash her, shovel her feces, and still take care of Bessie and her calf and the rest. Probably has to file permits. Said dinosaur also keeps escaping.
Then her friends FINALLY show up, and within minutes she's forced to negotiate peace with her neighbor and sacrifice her hard work--again--to appease him.
Then they're attacked. She comes within seconds of dying several times. Childhood trauma is back in full force.
Then, she's running. Hoping that she can get to the others in time. Hoping maybe her neighbor will feed the cows--oh? He's dead? Well, maybe his relatives will check in on him and notice that no one's running the farm, they can contact HER family, and her family can take care of the place. Do something for her.
Then, her girlfriend wants to hide on an island.
Then, Darius wants them to go across the ocean.
Then, she's stuck in a container for two weeks and can barely cuddle with her girlfriend, let alone have Proper Bonding Time. All in the same clothes, mind you. Eating whatever food they can scavenge (mostly lettuce).
Then, FINALLY, Aminata Mballo (GOD BLESS HER) shows Sammy some concern and hospitality.
But wait!
There's Zayna!
Now Sammy's looking out for someone else! Fortunately, that's easy OHGODADEADBODY. So she shields Zayna. Then she is so busy protecting Zayna that she has to leave Yaz in Darius and Kenji's hands, and BOY, are their hands slippery!
So now she's in a boat in a country she doesn't know with a farm she abandoned and a family who abandoned her and a girlfriend her friends abandoned with a girl she can't abandoned and Yaz isn't here to comfort her or talk her through it.
Worst night of her life.
Then they're reunited, but then, THAT DAY, she finds out Brooklynn is alive...and she doesn't even TALK to her. She's working with the woman in charge of this operation.
Oh, and before she finds out about that, she gets to be hunted by dinosaurs and watch Darius fall like Ben did--oh, right! Also, did I mention Ben SUSPECTED HER of killing Brooklynn? How fun!
But speaking of Brooklynn, she's missing a hand and Sammy can't help her, but she seems to have someone helping her, anyway! Then, she's almost eaten again (several times), and escapes to see Ben and Kenji maybe blow up...but they didn't! Everyone is alive!
But Brooklynn still leaves.
She gets on a plane and leaves.
How routine is this? Was Brooklynn calling all the shots? She didn't even say a word when she turned and handed the egg over. Did she look Sammy in the eye? Smile at her? No. Every hallucination Sammy had of Brooklynn saying "Hey, girl" was suddenly met with a cold reality of indifference.
Fortunately, she gets to have a break--except, no, now it's a spy coming in on an airplane to say that the government knows Brooklynn's alive and working with Soyona and just isn't doing anything. Maybe they suspect Sammy, too. Who knows?
We don't, because the Kentrosaurus is dying! Who's gonna save it? That's right! Sammy!
Oh, by the way, she shoved her hand up a dinosaur's cloaca twenty days ago to pull out an egg. Did anyone say "Thank you, Sammy"? No? Cool.
Anyway, this time she's worrying about the OTHER END, burying her face in the dinosaur's mouth to try clearing the airway. Then she has to inject it. Then, she has to sedate it. That's all her.
Then, it's off to the snow. Time to go meet Ben's girlfriend and stress about whether this egg is going to hatch, or if Brooklynn and her new friend killed it. Oh, hey, look who's taking her in! It's another family!
HOW NICE.
And now, everyone wants to go off and find Brooklynn, force her back, even though she's walked out on them.
oh i just know met gala reviews with dorcas and regulus would be the funniest thing ever. both of them have such strong opinions on the outfits and are so adamant that they are correct. theyd also each have an idea of what they wouldve worn that would be way better than anything on the actual carpet
I mean Emre is so cool and I love his character AND I understand why this has happed, but it kinda sucks that people are talking about him more than Sierra in her own cinematic when she is ALSO so cool.
