TW:
Mentions of SA, grooming, and child marriage (the old fairytales were pretty dark)
If EAH was based on the original tales:
Apple would actually be younger when she goes to EAH, which would make her more moldable by the adults who tell her she MUST follow her destiny or she'll cease to exist.
Which would make Daring stuck being betrothed to a little girl (More on that in a second)
(and this is if we're not basing it on the possibility the Snow White story was based on real people)
It would also be interesting if Apple's mom kept insisting she keep her hair dyed black.
Raven would have to look to not only attempting to kill a child, but then dance to death in burning shoes.
Ashlynn would have more Greek and Egyptian cultural stuff.
Or, unless I'm wrong about this being the version before, she'd have cannibalistic step sisters.
But there's also old versions that include cannibalism or incest.
Cinderella was....some of the tales that inspired what we know now are WOW-
But there is a more well known version where she's a Greek girl enslaved in Egypt.
Cerise's mom had her unwillingly (since in the original story, the wolf straight up tells Little Red to get naked and lie in bed with him, while he's disguised as her grandmother.) Usually she ended up dead, but for Cerise to exist that means Little Red would've had to live, and you can see what that could mean.
Meeshell would probably have more spiritual connections considering in the original Little Mermaid, the Little Mermaid didn't get her prince, was basically sister-zoned, and died. And when she refused to kill the prince to return to sea, some angels or spirits (I forget) gave her the task to continue being like a kind spirit and she'll earn her soul.
So Meeshell would have had to been made through some different means. Unless with her, she's meant to carry out her aunt's story instead of her parent's, her mom being the Little Mermaid's sister.
Worst of all, sleeping for 100 years isn't all Briar would have to deal with. Imagine knowing that your fate dictates that during your 100 year slumber curse (where you would never see most of your friends and family again), a king impregnates you in your sleep and only knows about you and his new kids when he comes back for "more", then his wife plans to eat you and your kids.
Like, my gods. Unless she had it SUPER drilled into her head she needs to do her story duties, she would be on Rebel side for that.
Honestly, imagine if there was a reboot of EAH (made by old fans so that we don't have to deal with idiots thinking they know best) more geared towards the now older fans, and the Rebel vs Royal thing is now tougher with how dark some of the old tales could get.
It would be interesting to see Raven instead wants to protect Apple both from her story and from the people around her, and maybe Daring would wish NOT to be a dam creep but instead sees Apple in a sisterly way?
But Daring is possibly supposed to be the prince for Beauty & The Beast.
So that would mean-
1.) He'd be young too, as well as Rosebella, since the original story has a prequel, where the prince tells Beauty how he became the beast.
2.) He would be a grooming victim (And this could also be why his parents betrothed him to Apple, so that he ends up with someone his age and avoids his fate of being cursed by a creep)
And Cerise, while also hiding the fact she's part wolf, is also trying to hide the shame her mother feels from what conceived her. Her mother still loves her. But no matter what her mother says, she feels like a burden both because of her wolf half, and what her being part wolf reminds her mother of.
Perhaps Ashlynn could be more in-tuned with both Egyptian and Greek gods, and maybe could've been friends with C. A. Cupid?
Imagine Ashlynn having some grip on magic.
Which this could also open up to bringing in either Marigold or a different person to take Midas or Marigold's place, since Midas is from Greek Myth.
Of course, this isn't taking into consideration that one version has her sisters eating their mother, one version her father tries to marry her. That stuff. I don't know which version is the original written one though. I know Rhodopis, the Greek girl enslaved in Egypt, was based on a real princess.
Briar, like I said, would go Rebel unless everyone pushed it into her head that she HAS to deal with her story.
Which could lead into a good message that just because people tell you to suck it up and deal with the abuse just for the sake of "keeping peace" or whatever doesn't mean you have to. They only do it either because they've dealt with the abuse themselves and are scared for you, for their own selfish gains, or because of projection.
This would also leave room to introduce a twin for Briar, since the original Sleeping Beauty had twins, like the original Rapunzel.
Honestly, I'm kinda shocked I haven't really seen anyone make a more mature EAH fan content yet.
Most of the younger fans from then would be older now, me being one of them.
I've always loved fairytale retellings, and I kinda like the idea of a reboot being made for mature fans, by mature fans.
So it would be interesting if EAH came back, but darker. And there would be more at risk than just them not leading the lives they'd want or disappear.
If some continue their destinies, they will end up in a continuing cycle of abuse or other messed up things.
And then some of their parents would be scared that the "you'll vanish if you don't follow your destiny" turning out as a lie would mean that they endured their horrors only to find out it could've been avoided, and their denial of their own issues would make them be more against the rebellions.
Where as some of the other parents will be supportive because they don't want their kids to endure the same thing they had to.
So this could also lead into a message of generational trauma, and how some do try and stop the continuation of it.
So EAH becoming something more mature could work right, if
1.) Not done by a creep. As in doesn't make it like Cuties, where they're like "I'm sexualizing kids to show why it's wrong! :D". I don't like the idea of weirdo's sexualizing it.
Like, it can maybe take notes on how maybe being betrothed was like way back in medieval times and such, but it's done in a way that's against it.
Which could also help with today since some still have the "religious/cultural freedom" to marry their kid off. And like I said, with things like Briar would deal with could help older fans with the abuse they've suffered.
2.) Is made by old fans, so we don't get another reboot that differs from the source too much but doesn't push the more older and mature fans away with being too childish (though you're never too old to watch a kids show, especially one you loved when you were younger)
Not like too "mature" like whatever CW does, but not too childish like the new Monster High. It's got to have a balance, but it's not going to be PG, maybe PG-13, and made by actual fans so it doesn't end up like Velma.
It can be a mature like Adventure Time had, but just cranked a little bit more. It wasn't an insulting kind of "mature" or just "haha adult joke". Maybe they could even age-up some of the characters to college age?
But actually go deep into the stuff and have a good message and help empower people. That type of mature.
OR-
Maybe they are stuck with the version we see in the actual EAH, but they end up finding out that they're not the first to rebel and that their ancestors once fought, and won, to not live the far more horrible versions before?
That would honestly also be interesting, too.
Now debating making fanart, tbh-
