I'm particularly attached to these fanarts of Drizella & you can't tell me a fanfic story behind these isn't possible! (All credit goes to @WindOfForever on Twitter and Instagram!)
Mirror Realm. Plain and Simple. Or more appropriately, The World Behind The Mirror. As seen in OUAT 7x08, this world is where Sydney Glass/Magic Mirror lived while serving the Regina during her Evil Queen days. The potential story behind this fanart is more than possible because it likely also exists in the New Enchanted Forest.
And for Drizella to end up here? For numerous reasons. An AU where Drizella stuck around after the curse broke and is placed here by Wish!Rumple as a hostage? Maybe a new Big Bad appears shortly after Drizella and Anastasia leave and Ana had to use magic to save her? Or judging by the silhouette of Rapunzel, maybe her mother put her there as a means to control her. Or it could be a metaphor for the Old Drizella hiding behind a facade wanting to break free.
Alright, I'm a Stepbeliever shipper and I don't deny it! And this is fanart here is another potential we never come - or the fandom has scared others into not writing as much as they should! Loving the use of Mary from Reign aside, this also has a myriad of story potential behind it.
What if Henry met Drizella first? What if Henry fell for Ivy if she joined the Resistance? What if Drizella broke away from Rapunzel and ran off, only to end up crash landing into Henry's life - as her stepsister did in canon? What if Drizella became a false "Ella" and Henry mistook her for the real Cinderella and fell in love with her?
Anything can happen when the least redeemable stepsister meets the one who can change her life!
(First off, I have nothing racist against Ella/Jacinda - and I heavily EMPHASIS this as a POC myself! In all actually, I liked her character - or at least found her more tolerable than her daughter, Lucy! See, the thing that has me rooting for Henry and Drizella has nothing to do with race but a majority more towards chemistry! And I'm sorry, but the scene that hit the nail on the head for me was the famous Bench Scene. And taking into context that Drizella was awake in that scene, everything she said was still likely true - no deception. Same story, different world. I saw more chemistry and emotions between Henry and The Evil Stepsister more than I saw with Cinderella. It was only towards the second half that I could actually see why Henry and Ella worked! (Which is sloppy writing btw!) But because it took so long for me to see that - or rather the writers to put it in - is why GlassBeliever still isn't for me. At most, in a realistic perspective, GlassBeliever would look more like an amicable divorce with co-parenting than what Isaw with StepBeliever - which fits everything Henry was looking for in a fairytale love with a more grownup perspective! )
