coldhardy | Wonderland History for entranceway

Upon her arrival in Wonderland, Elsa met a number of people who attempted to explain the place to her. Anna, who had been there for a week or two, was the last of the initial group, and Elsa was mostly delighted to see her. However, Anna left just afterward (the player dropped her after one tag into the thread, so my assumption has been that they conversed briefly, that Anna showed Elsa her room, that Elsa took the nearest empty room, and that she never saw Anna again after that). Elsa's most fruitful conversation was with The Once-ler; she was grateful to him for his explanations of "Events" and of how other people in the same boat as them tend to react to magical powers.

Elsa settled into daily life, interrupted occasionally by Events. She's not exactly shy, but she is an introvert by habit, and in a strange place where she has no responsibility to be in charge, her routine is relatively low-key. She reads books that she finds in the library — so many from other times and places! so interesting! — has high tea whenever she wants, eats chocolate ice cream as it pleases her. She could do these things at home, but she'd be a terrible queen if she did, and not every delicacy she's seen in Wonderland is consistently available at home at any price. She meets people from everywhere, many of whom seem quite nice. She especially likes Elizabeth of York, a recent acquaintance around her own age.

Anna's disappearance was worrisome for her, but while Elsa misses her sister and would probably feel more grounded if Anna were in Wonderland, it's better that Anna doesn't have to experience the darker side — she doesn't have any special way to defend herself, and Elsa can't look out for her all the time. Elsa feels mentally strong enough to handle herself during Events, especially if she takes a few precautions, but she worries that Wonderland could push her too far one day. Her main concern is that if that ever happens, her reaction could cause her control on her powers to slacken enough to enable some kind of tragic accident. She has tended to keep to herself during these times, but would reach out if she needed to.

Her good self-control so far means that she'll continue to become more comfortable interacting with others during Events, even if the effects have occasionally caused her to do embarrassing things, like repeatedly chanting some weird self-aggrandizing song about ice. ("Stop! Collaborate and listen...") The fact that so many other people had a similar problem made it easier to deal with, but the feeling of losing control of her own body had been appalling in retrospect, as had been the arrogance she felt. Then there was the time when she'd had an unbearable hunger for chocolate that she couldn't satisfy, no matter how much she ate, which had made her less interested in it for a few weeks afterward. Still, when she was convinced for a few days at another point that she was a student at a boarding school, working on the costumes for school theatricals, she had to admit afterward that it was much preferable to how her life had really been when she was fifteen.

Probably the most important thing to happen during an Event was that she acquired Trigg, a small grey and white dog with long, soft fur. He appeared one day with a number of other puppies. Elsa lost her powers for the first time at the same time: the current that had always flowed through her was gone, like a stopped-up wellspring. It was a very strange feeling, but at least she didn't need to worry that her reaction to it (mostly dismay, with some ambivalence) would cause trouble for anyone else. When one of the puppies took to following her around, she accepted its attention, thinking it would only be for a few days... but when most of the other puppies were gone, the one that had latched onto her was still there. Elsa's relative soft-heartedness meant that it was only a matter of time before she accepted being a dog owner. [See third-person sample for more on this.] She tries to be a good one, and wishes that she had been able to have a pet like Trigg when she was young — things might have been easier for her. (The name "Trigg" is essentially the Norwegian equivalent of "Fido".)

Elsa has lost her powers several times since then, and because they've always come back after a few days, it no longer worries her as much. The feeling is uncomfortable, but she's patient; she can wait it out. Her only concern is that there will be a time when they're needed to save her life or someone else's, and that they won't be there.

On good days, her time in Wonderland feels like an indulgent vacation, something she's never really had the opportunity to experience. On bad days, she feels guilty about it, like her hands are tied in a way that makes her ineffectual and keeps her from fulfilling her purpose. She's good-natured, but she deeply resents the Queen of Hearts, has a low opinion of her skill as a ruler, thinks she abuses magic in an inexcusable way, and would like to see her reform or be deposed. (In some ways, accepting her stay in Wonderland as a kind of vacation is Elsa trying to make the best of a bad situation that she recognizes could be much worse.)

The Queen's behavior is the kind that encourages revolution from within and military aggression from without, which means that none of them would be safe even without Events. And while Elsa has obvious personal reasons for being a bit of a royalist, and no interest at all in ruling Wonderland herself, she's beginning to be willing to help bring down a dysfunctional regime if the opportunity presents itself. She'd prefer to see Wonderland reformed in some way that includes the release of captives and a bright future than to see it torn apart, and she'd like any change to be accomplished as non-violently as possible. Escape would also be acceptable.