#1x10 dirty little secrets

[wicked-storybrooke]

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland Rewatch: 1x10 Dirty Little Secrets

Oh God, it’s HER! The Woman in the Well is gonna be in this episode and I am not okay. She is legit the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen or heard so I will not be looking at her. I really hope I don’t see her by accident!

Cyrus was such a little sh*t back in the day. I still love him though. Cool to see he’s not perfect.

I think Cyrus is the middle brother, right?

What bastards! How did they find out where the brother’s lived? Cheating doesn’t warrant getting your house set on fire. Their poor mother!  

Will (about his bottle): “There’s not a lot of elbow room. And do you know what else there isn’t.” Alice: “Please don’t tell us.” Will: “A toilet!” God, I love there dynamic and for real, I was thinking that! Poor Cyrus, all that time with no toilet, no bath. Where’s a genie supposed to go?  

Anastasia: “Magical waters flow underneath all of the lands.” That reminds me of what August said to Emma in 1x13: “Water is a very powerful thing. Cultures as old as time have worshiped it. It flows throughout all lands, connecting the entire world. If anything had mystical properties, if anything had magic... well, I'd say it'd be water.” I guess that’s how mermaids can travel across realms. And it seems you can summon the guardian of the well from anywhere. Jesus Christ, she better not crawl out of my bath!! #neverusingwateragain  

The Jabberwocky: “... or would you rather talk about your 2 children, who are being bathed by their mother in the river as we speak? ‘How quickly can she get there?’, you're wondering. ‘How will she k*ll them? Will she have mercy on the baby?’ The answers are... very fast, very slow, and no. I don't care much for babies.” Got she’s chilling.

I wonder what she whispered to him. Something about Lizard?

The Jabberwocky’s definitely a telepath.  

Eww gross! Gross! Can’t believe they took out Lizard’s- now googly- eyes and are using them to see what she saw. Can’t they just use a dreamcatcher or something, like Emma used with Pongo. I guess it wouldn’t work because she’s dead. Poor Lizard.

I’m feeling sick looking at those!  

Apparently, Jafar’s chant; “De visu intueri. Visione revelare” is latin for “to look out of sight. To reveal a vision” according to good old, untrusty google translate.

It’s interesting that Jafar uses so much Latin to cast his spells. I don’t remember if we saw any other characters in Ouat use it. Maybe Amara taught him a whole other type of magic.

Alice: “Are you looking forward to seeing your brothers again?” Me: “You know who I’m freaking not looking forward to seeing again?!”

Rabbit really needs a break.

Wow. Ana really wants to help now. Good for her!

Jabber’s having so much fun playing peekaboo with Ana.

It’s like Jabber’s voice is coming from inside Ana’s head. So cool!

Oh snap! She’s been impaled! That looks painful!  

The way Jabber looks hurt and then starts laughing in a taunting manner.  

Ouch! And then just freaking stretches her way through the swords hilt like it’s nothing!

Ana looks like she’s going to collapse.

Oh, it’s fine, Jabber headbutted her unconscious instead haha!  

Jabber’s having so much fun. You go girl!

I love Ana too, but I just want Jabber to thrive, okay??

Love this door riddle.  

Everything he says is a lie so does that mean none of the doors lead to certain doom?

JESUS CHRIST!! My computer messed up, so I had to fast forward back to where I was, and I accidently saw some of the Guardian’s face and I am not okay!! Ngl, kinda terrified right now.

Be brave, Becky. Be brave. Whenever I’m scared, I try to think of myself as Charming wielding my sword and ready to face whatever comes for me. It really helped me because I used to be frightened of my own shadow. I still can be but it’s nowhere near what it used to be. Anyway, gonna pick up one of my toy swords and cuddle it for the remainder of this episode.

Okay, here she comes. Not looking. Not looking.

Why does she talk like that?! I want my mummy!  

Well, at least she said sorry for their suffering.  

So, is that riddle guy a human who’s been given instructions to tell lies or is he some sort of creature who can only tell lies?

Oh, he disappeared. Must be some sort of magical illusion.

Well done Alice for figuring that out! She’s actually pretty clever. I always forget that.

Jafar must be confused about Ana’s sudden change of accent.

Jafar: “It would never have worked out between us!” So, were they, like, together romantically? I’m so confused about that.

Now he’s stroking her forehead with his nose. What went on between them? Or are they just like that?

She’s coming again, isn’t she? Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t.  

Their mum’s okay!

And the big reveal! Cyrus’ mother is Amara! I think I remember this absolutely shook me.  

They’re so happy!

Tell him where his mummy is!

Please.

Also, don’t hurt me.

Amara: “She’s coming for you.” AAAAAAAAAH!

My worst nightmare! Run for your lives!!

I’m not watching her, but I know she just emerges from the water in the floor and that is the creepiest sh*t ever.

My mum and I always joke that because of her dreads, she’s Jamaican and we randomly say, “give me back me watah!!” in a scary Jamaican accent, while imitating her, to frighten each other. We’re of Jamaican descent, so it brings us endless joy.  

Will: “You know she can't hurt you.” Jabber: “I don't want to hurt you. I want to help you. You've suffered so much. You've already lived a life of fear, haven't you? You believe that if the prince had chosen you instead of your stepsister, then... your mother would have loved you. And now you fear that love is forever out of reach, and that deep, dark hole in your heart will remain empty... a hollow reminder... of the life you could have had. [ Laughs ] [ Inhales deeply ] Can you feel me inside that head of yours, drifting from room to room? I can see... everything. There's a darkness in you. It's like a disease. It's rotting you from the inside. You ran away from the only love you've ever had, and now you fear... ...you'll never get it back. You and I have something in common now. We both know exactly who you are. And you're terrified that it's only a matter of time before he knows, too. You can't ever get his love back. [ Gasps ] But that's not really what you want. Is it? Or you never would have donned that crown all those years ago. You made the right choice. Do it again. Wish for your precious... precious... crown.” Jabber’s powers are so cool! I love what she does. She is absolutely destroying poor Ana by getting in her head. Also, come on, a stepsister and a prince? She’s gotta be Cinderella’s stepsister, right?

Oh my God and the way she makes her wish for her crown and jewels. They seem like such silly items in the grand scheme of things, and she’s forced to wish for them, reminding her of the life she chose over Will. It was all worthless without love.

If I was Ana, I’d wish for a Pizza. At least you can do more than wear a pizza.

She can’t bear to see Will hurt.

You can tell Jabber is actually doing something inside Ana’s head. We can only see half of what she’s doing to affect her. She gives new meaning to the phrase, “messing with your head.”

That was such an awesome scene! I wish every ouat and ouatiw character was put through this so we could learn each of their deepest fears. So, I want a spin off series called: Fun Therapy Sessions with Jabber right before Therapy Sessions with Archie. I kinda wanna make a fic series about this. I’m a hurt/comfort gal, what can I say? If anyone wants a to write this, I’ll give you all my cookies!

Sweet of Tweedledum to still care about the Red Queen even though she was awful to him.

Cyrus: “Alice, you followed me. How much did you see?” Alice: “Oh not much. Just enough to give me nightmares for the rest of my life.”

Only 3 episodes left! I’m not ready to say goodbye! This series is awesome!

[yukisohmasmokesweed]

I recently watched 1x10 for the pod and realized just how much of a peek-behind-the-curtain episode this is for Shigure. The episode does a great job breaking down Shigure’s motivations, agenda, and objective as well as exploring some of his morality and self-perception in a really subtle and nuanced way. I wanted to break down what exactly was said in the episode and what the subtext is showing us about who Shigure is and what he wants: an obsessive man who puts his selfish desires first, always, all while trapping himself deeply within the very curse that he is trying to break.

Motivation: The Dream

Each zodiac’s curse manifests in different ways. For example, Yuki experiences the curse through the lens of social isolation and self-blame, Kyo through familial rejection and projected blame, Hatori through resignation and grief, Ritsu through extreme guilt, etc. Shigure’s manifests as obsession.

This dream was something special to all of them, but it soured over time. The anime implies for Hatori that it was because of Kana,

but I believe that was the last straw in a haystack of crushing oppression for Hatori (see: having the ability to erase memories and being expected to carry out the task no matter who it hurts by the family as a whole, Akito, and his father, who also had this power). As for Ayame, he does not fit in with the Sohma’s traditionalism and conservatism and he never attempted to do so, and as an adult he has done everything he can to divorce himself from the Sohma image—going into a non-traditional and arguably taboo field of work, moving away from the estate, and keeping secrets from the family, even his own brother. Kureno is a special case and Ritsu was too young to remember this. For Shigure though, he became obsessed with this feeling, and because he didn’t have the bad experiences Hatori had growing up or chafe too hard against the family culture like Ayame, it became a life-long obsession that, over time, shifted from chasing that “feeling” to chasing Akito as an individual.

A note about the Dog: The Year of the Dog’s defining trait is loyalty, but they are also notably stubborn. This doesn’t speak to the authorial intent (Takaya added the zodiac aspect to the story late in the game, after their characters was set), but I also think that Shigure being the Dog is a great indicator as to why, out of everyone, Shigure’s curse manifests as obsession, and why he’s in love with Akito despite Akito’s treatment of him, the other zodiacs, and other people as a whole.

Agenda: Emotional manipulation

Shigure believes that the curse has weakened over time. The dragon was apparently not always a seahorse, which implies that the magic is weakening, and this is the first time in a long time where all of the zodiacs have been alive at the same time. Due to this as well as their closeness in age and the agitation present between Akito and the zodiacs, Shigure thinks that this is the curse’s last hurrah before breaking.

Shigure wants to speed up the process by exacerbating what he believes to be an already unraveling curse by turning the zodiacs against Akito, showing them that their lives have meaning and potential outside of the curse, and influencing them to start questioning the narrative around the curse as a whole as well as the ones around each of their individual zodiacs.

The curse’s most obvious effect is the physical one, but the emotional component is arguably much more significant. This is why Shigure is agitating the zodiac’s emotions. He often says things he knows will hurt them, but instead of hurling insults like Akito, what he says challenges the zodiac’s beliefs about themselves, one another, the curse, and Sohma family as a whole. He is aiming for their internal lives and beliefs in a way that makes his meddling seem almost invisible; he manipulates through influence instead of force, orchestrating it so that the zodiacs feel as if they have come to a new conclusion on their own. Here is how 1x10 shows us that tactic:

Shigure is trying to push Kyo into realizing that his feelings for Yuki are more influenced by the Sohmas than he thinks they are (implication of the word “duty,” that it’s not something Kyo chose for himself), and that if he takes a step back from the situation that he might see that him and Yuki have more in common than he thinks (”afraid of getting to know him”).

However, this doesn’t work, and it’s directly because Shigure has known who he is and what he wants since childhood. He has never had to struggle with his own personhood, identity, isolation, and blame the way that Kyo has—not to say that he hasn’t at all, but not to the extent of the Cat. Shigure logically knows why Kyo hates Yuki, but he can’t put himself in Kyo’s shoes because their experience with the curse are too different; Shigure fully embraced the curse, falling into obsession over it and making the choice to permanently attach himself to Akito, and that decision is rewarded for the most part. Kyo, on the other hand, has spent his entire life being rejected and ostracized by his family as well as being scapegoated for things he had no control over. Kyo’s issues with blame and isolation are not something that Shigure can empathize with, leading him to get frustrated with Kyo’s stubbornness and pushing Kyo too hard before he’s ready. All in all it’s not bad advice, but Kyo’s issues run extremely deep, and Shigure got impatient. This scene is Shigure messing up, indelicately going to the heart of the matter because his timeline of events is moving slower than he bargained for, and he accidentally shows his hand because of it.

Objective: Akito

Shigure’s objective is to be on equal terms with Akito and pursue a real relationship with them. The only way to do this is to break the curse, freeing Shigure from Akito’s power and taking Akito’s command over him away, as well as undermining the importance of the other zodiacs in Akito’s life. 

The anime does a nice job portraying this to us subtextually by visually juxtaposing the relationships that are the main focus of this episode:

Tohru lowers herself to meet Kyo where he is, whereas Shigure positions himself physically above Akito. The former is a relationship built on equality and mutual trust, the latter one on an inherent and unavoidable power imbalance, resulting in jealousy, toxicity, and a constant struggle for power.

At first glance the shot of Shigure and Akito would imply that Shigure is the one with the power due to their positioning, but it is Akito who has the power. Akito doesn’t stand up to greet him, simply expecting Shigure to come to them and bend at the waist to accommodate their position. Shigure tries to assert his power here by being physically larger and looming, but Akito is so confident in theirs that they wordlessly watch as Shigure does the exact thing Akito wanted.

Morality: Always looking out for #1

Shigure’s goal is a selfish one, and he has leaned into that completely. He is gloatingly self-aware, which allows him to further his plans without any moral qualms in the way.

The inner circle of the Sohma family has a strong culture of pervasive cruelty. We see it over and over again—Kyo’s treatment by the people around him, Haru’s, Yuki’s, Hatori’s, Rin’s, etc etc. Cruelty is extremely normalized within the family, and you can see even in this fairly casual conversation that Shigure and Hatori take shots at one another (other scenes where this happens between them include 2x7, 2x25, off the top of my head). The line of what is deemed “acceptable” in a larger societal sense is much farther for the Sohma family, and this greatly influenced Shigure’s sense of morality and decency. He is intelligent enough to know that hurting others is wrong, but it’s what has been modeled for him his entire life and something he’s participated in before for various reasons. Hurting others is normal for him and of a small blip in his radar in the grand scheme of things.

Shigure’s morals are warped, but he is also extremely intelligent as well as in touch with his emotions. He is aware that if Tohru gets hurt that it will hurt him in turn, both because she is an outsider whose life he is playing with and because he can’t help but care about her (which is what makes her so good for his plans), but his end goal is overall more important to him than his or anyone else’s emotions in the moment.

Self-perception:

All the other zodiacs hold some level of resentment towards Akito and the curse, but Shigure doesn’t resent Akito. He resents the curse because it’s standing between him and a real relationship with Akito, but not Akito themselves. Since childhood, Shigure has been unapologetically obsessed with Akito, and the power of that obsession and the intensity of the bond has led Shigure to live a one-track life, disregarding the pain of people close to him to feed his own selfish desires, going so far as to willingly dirty Tohru, an outsider and a child, to enable his plans. The others live in misery that has been forced onto them; Shigure picked his poison and never plans on letting it go.

Conclusion: Shigure is a nasty little man

1x10 is an excellent look into Shigure’s inner life and ultimate goals. It very clearly shows us that he is motivated by a love that was initially the pure love of a child-turned-dark and desperate. His motivations are selfish, his actions hurtful and oftentimes callous, and his morality twisted by both the family culture and his own doing. This episode does an amazing job juxtaposing Shigure’s unique relationship with the curse against Kyo’s as two ends of the extreme: the former is trying to break the curse so he can have an individual, the latter desperate to be included in the curse so he can find acceptance from the group. Shigure is an underhanded character who very rarely says what he wants outright, but the subtext of this episode is full of great little moments to spell out what Shigure’s game is and how he plans on winning it.

[winchester90210]

The BH 90210 Rewrite. 1x09: The Gentle Art of Listening.

Rewrite Masterlist

Read the previous chapter here!

My work is not to be reposted and/or edited without my expressed written consent. (Reblogging is fine and encouraged!!)

Chapter Summary: Who the hell is Nina? 

Warnings: Mentions of sex, jealousy, swearing. 

Word count: 2,200

A/N: I did skip 1x08 due to there not being a ton to do with it, and if I did write it, it would have been reeeaally short haha. But that means there’s a bonus chapter of some kind coming soon! Next week we’re tackling 1x10: Isn’t It Romantic? which means the start of Dylan and Brenda!

Feedback is incredibly appreciated!

-

Crowds of people gathered around the schoolyard, hip-hop music booming and people cheering as the cheerleaders carried on their routine.

“Brandon, did you sign up for Battle of the Beverlies?” Steve taps his friend on the shoulder as he walks up, sun beaming brightly onto them both. His blonde curls were firm in their place, thanks to the substantial amount of hairspray he applied this morning.

“I would have, but since I work nights it’s difficult. What about you?” Brandon’s dirty blonde hair blew in his face, making him crinkle his nose.

“I’m in the uh, coed tug of war,” He smirks.

“Well, aren’t we all?” Dylan sneaks up behind them, in his usual white tee and leather jacket.

“Hey Dylan, I didn’t think grudge week would be your kind of thing,” Brandon greets.

“Grudge week is every guy’s thing,” Dylan chuckles as Steve snickers and puts on his sunglasses.

“What? I don’t get it,”

“Well, a lot of the girls get into the uh, the spirit of the scene and try to pick up older guys,” Steve grins, “Looks like Y/N’s enjoying this tradition herself.” He nods his head over to where you are– leaning with your back against the lockers, hip jutted out, twirling your hair as you talk up some senior jock. “Brandon, I thought you locked her down already?”

“Nah, she… we… agreed to be friends,” he explained for what must have been the umpteenth time that week. Brandon stiffened as he watched you over there with him, as the guy scribbles something down on a piece of paper and hands it to you.

-

“Mom, this is not funny,” Brandon gripes as his mother scrubbed at the dishes. He adjusts the cap on his head and starts chopping up a tomato.

“I didn’t say it was funny, it’s adorable!” She fawns.

“Adorable? How about psychotic?” He argues.

You roll your eyes, “Brandon, she has a crush on you! It’s cute!”

“Right! You should be flattered!” Mrs. Walsh smiles.

“Flattered that a 14-year-old follows me around all day?! And, you know, the worst part of it is, if I accidentally make eye contact with her she pretends she’s looking over the rainbow or something!” You instinctively roll your eyes for the second time. Boy, he was melodramatic sometimes.

“She’s just shy, honey, that’s all. What’s her name?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care!” He sure acted tough for a guy that was helping his mommy make dinner. And he sure was cute. Even with that dumb blue backwards hat on.

“Oh, you’re such a heartbreaker!” Cindy jokes, moving to set the table.

“It’s because he can afford to be,” you quip.

-

“So, d'ya hear about what Brandon got up to last night with Nina?” Steve wiggles his eyebrows as you both walk through the halls together.

“Nina?” Whatever. You’re friends. And he can talk to other girls. Nothing wrong with that. You don’t care. Nina who?

“Just this incredible older woman he met at the peach pit. They spent some time after work together. Brandon was… pleased,” okay, so you care a little bit.

“And? What’s your point?” You try to hide the eagerness in your voice.

“Get this! She gave him… a foot rub,” your hand immediately comes out and smacks him hard on the shoulder.

“Don’t scare me like that! You think I care if he’s getting massages from people?” You stare at him in disbelief and he laughs, happily.

“That might not be all he’s getting from her soon Y/N/N,”

-

Striding down the hall with Dylan, he begins to speak.

“Y'know, Brandon was asking my advice on making it with an older woman… I’m gonna guess that he wasn’t talking about you,” He grabs your book from you as you walk to study hall in the library. Tread lightly, Y/N. Dangerous territory. Be calm. Cool. Uninterested.

“And? What’d you say?!” Dammit.

“I told him what he wanted to know,” he shrugs.

“No! Don’t do that!” You’re doing great. Super chill.

“It’s fine, the guy has no idea what he’s doing!”

“But you still encouraged him,”

“What should I have said?”

“Anything! "No” or “Stop” or “Hey! What about Y/N?! Do her!”“

"Uh-huh,” the smile on his face was amused, with a familiar yet unknown sparkle in his eye, “And you do realize that would require actually telling him how you feel, right?” You sigh.

“I just can’t believe him, y'know? He refused to sleep with Sheryl because he wasn’t in love with her, but now he’s ready to give it up to some old lady masseuse?”

“…How’d you know she was a masseuse?”

“Steve likes to update me on all things Walsh, whether I want him to or not,” you both enter the library together, quiet chatter fills the room.

You loved talking to Dylan, whenever you talked he listened. Truly listened. He absorbed every single word that fell from your mouth– carefully, intently. It was so drastically different than talking to Steve, who loved annoying you, or Kelly, who you felt was too shallow at times to have a serious conversation with (Okay, it’s not that she’s shallow, she’s great! But she doesn’t like talking about anything more complicated than the sale at Henri Bendel’s or Donna’s impending nose job.)

And… Brenda? You loved her, but you couldn’t talk to her about the raging feelings you had for her brother. And you definitely couldn’t talk to her brother about it, either. Dylan on the other hand… you got each other. As cheesy as it sounds. He could come to you with anything, and you could come to him. And it just worked. You clicked. In like, a total friend way though.

“What about the time he spent the night with you? You weren’t complaining about his pre-marital exploits then,” His eyebrows go up as you both pull out your chairs from the wooden library table.

“Dylan, we didn’t have sex! We talked and I fell asleep in his bed. Fully clothed, platonic, unproblematic,” You sigh defeatedly, resting your chin in your hand, “I haven’t been able to get myself into the peach pit for a few weeks. Because then I’d have to see him in that stupid all-white uniform, looking all… Brandon-like and I don’t know what I’d do with myself. On one hand, I’m totally cool being his friend and on the other… I’m a wreck and I’m missing out on Nat’s apple pie because of it,”

“Well, how about this? We go to the pit around 5, and if you still feel awful after Nat’s apple pie then we can retreat back to my place and watch Animal Crackers. Deal?” You pause.

“You’re on, McKay,”

-

You, Kelly, and Brenda lay on Brenda’s bed, with you in the middle, watching the wooden ceiling fan swirl around and around and around.

“Where do you think we’ll be in 10 years?” Kelly’s voice is quiet under the whirr of the fan. “Like, do you think we’ll be in a good place? Happy?”

“I hope so,” you mumble.

“I’m sure you’ll be in Paris or Rome, with a fashion empire and a gorgeous husband,” Brenda smiles.

Steve and Brandon hold their ears to the bathroom door that connects the two bedrooms.

“Steve, I really don’t think this is a good idea–”

“Relax, it’s a great idea. It’s the only way to hear what actually goes on in there,” Steve scoffs, “Haven’t you spied on your sister before?”

“Yeah, when I was 12. I’m 17, dude,” He scolds him in a whisper as you and the girls chatter on the other side of the door.

“Do you think we’ll be married?” Brenda rests her hands under her head, her brown hair shiny and soft under her palm.

“Oh, totally! Or at least… close to it,” You smile.

“Bren, your husband is gonna be totally cool– like a musician or a race car driver or something. And Y/N/N, your husband’s… ” Her genuine smile morphs into a mischievous smirk “Steve.” You give her an offended gasp as you all erupt into giggles.

“No amount of money in the world, Kel,” you shake your head and sit up against Brenda’s headboard.

Brandon silently cracks up at his friend’s misfortune and perfect timing, and Steve delivers a hard hit to his shoulder.

“Actually, y'know who you’ll probably marry? Brandon,” You’re drop-dead silent. Brenda notices the look you’re giving her and she continues, “No, I’m serious! You guys are like, meant for each other. You’re basically the girl version of him– just prettier, funnier, less annoying, and…actually, majorly out of his league… but still, I think you guys would totally work.”

“There’s no way, he’s too… Brandon,” you reject, “And he’s your brother. I couldn’t do that, Bren. It’d be like Kelly dating my brother!”

“Well… is he cute?” Kelly smirks, blonde hair blowing softly under the fan. “Oh! You got that senior’s number for me, right?”

“Come on, I feel weird doing this,” Brandon protests, “If I want to know something I can just ask, I don’t have to invade her privacy.”

“It’s not like we’re watching them through a window, we’re just listening,”

“Look, you stay here and be creepy, but I have to get ready for work,” He stands up with a huff, leaving his tempestuous friend to his own devices.

-

“So?” Dylan folds his hands as you take your last bite of pie.

“You were right,” You concede, sliding the empty mini tin away from you, “You could say this pie was the answer to world peace and I’d believe you.”

“Want one more?”

“Ah, no I couldn’t. I should probably get going,”

“Crazy, have one more! On the house!”

“Really, I couldn’t,” you insist. Dylan holds up a finger and mouths “One more” and Nat is off into the kitchen.

“The secret is the sour cream,” Nat smiles, small pie in hand.

You look to Dylan, then to Nat. Why are they forcing pie onto you?

“Look, if it’s too much we can share it,” Dylan shrugs. You hand him a fork and leave yours on the counter.

“Brandon should be here soon if you want to stay a minute, I’m sure the kid would be happy to see you, you know… considering,”

“Considering?” You sip from your glass.

“Considering,” he winks, and in one swift motion he’s gone with your empty dish. Okay, you were sure of it. This entire town was on drugs.

Not even 5 minutes later, Brandon comes in through the back, all-white clothes adorning his figure. Heart be still.

“Oh, hey!” He smiles brightly, the scent of his cologne immediately apparent. (When did he start wearing cologne?)

“Oh, hi,” you take one last sip of your water, “I was actually just on my way out.”

“You haven’t even touched your pie yet! You love my pie!” Nat interjects.

“You sit and eat, I’ll be right back,” Dylan’s off into the bathroom and Nat’s disappeared suddenly into one of the booths.

Those bastards.

“So, what’s been going on, Y/N/N?”

“You saw me yesterday, not a ton,” you shrug and stick your fork in your pie, “Hung out with Brenda and Kelly, took a biology test, bought street drugs off some guy in a van,”

He chuckles brightly, “Productive day, huh?” He leans down, propping himself onto the brightly colored counter with his elbows.

“Oh yeah, this might be my favorite part though,” you barely nod as your eyes meet.

“Mine too,” He smiles bashfully, that twinkle in his eye going strong.

“Uh, the– the pie, obviously,”

“Oh yeah, no, the pie’s fantastic,” He grins, “do you want some ice cream with that?”

“Yeah, why not?”

-

The regular hustle and bustle of the hallways was a-go as Steve and Brandon trailed down them.

“Hey Brandon, whatever happened to that older chick that was coming onto you?”

“Oh, we’re just good friends,” He shrugs.

“Face it, you blew it!” Steve shakes his head as he speaks,

“Nothing was blown,” Brandon argued, “I decided against it and called it off.”

“You know what your problem is? You’re hung up on this age thing. What you need is a girl your own age! Someone spunky… annoying… hot, maybe midwestern!” Although those wouldn’t necessarily be Brandon’s choice of adjectives, he knew what his friend was getting to.

“Steve–”

“No, Brandon. I’m sick of you bitching and moaning about this girl, and I’m sick of her bitching about you. Look, I mean this in the friendliest way possible– it’s annoying and you’re both pathetic,”

Brandon’s brows furrow together, “Gee, thanks,”

“No, look, what I’m saying is… Instead of moaning apart… moan… together,” Steve’s eyebrows bounce up and down as he finishes his sentence, paired with his signature Cheshire grin. How long had he been preparing that line for?

“Y'know, that’s very insightful, but I think I’ve got it covered,” Brandon laughs, “But seriously, never give me relationship advice ever again.”

-

-

-

Taglist: @be-patient-be-good @mpmarypoppins @bevelyhills90210 @blueoz​ @harleylilo88 @princess-ghost-alien @hueycat2004

[bonesgadh]

How my mom™️ reacted to every Gendrya scene from seasons 1, 2 and 3.

As requested by @stuffjusthappensworld.

Season 1

1x10

Arya meets Gendry after he defends her from hot pie.

My mom: poor Arya all alone and confused, she must be so scared. Yeah she is not going down without a fight, defend yourself and let them know you are a badass. Wait, isn’t that the King’s bastard Ned met a couple of episodes ago? They are going to travel together? No shit! I ship them, I’ve only seen them interact for 20 seconds but I saw a spark. That means he’ll probably die soon, my ships are cursed.

Season 2

2x01

That little glimpse of Gendry helping Arya getting on the wagon.

My mom: yeah, I definitely ship them.

2x02

The gold cloaks ask Yoren to give Gendry to them.

My mom: damn, so both of them are fugitives? That’s good because that way they’ll look after each other. Arya definitely needs someone she can trust.

The river scene.

(You don’t have to be a knight to buy armor, any idiot can buy armor.

How do you know?

Because I sold armor!)

My mom: aww, look at that little smile. They both know they are smarter than the rest of their companions.

(Asking me questions is bad luck, you’ll be dead soon.)

My mom: uh, I don’t think so. My guess is you are the one who’ll be dead soon.

(Did you kill someone or is it because you are a girl?)

My mom: yeah, of course he realized she is a girl. He is too smart and besides Arya is way too pretty to be a boy. And Gendry is pretty too but that’s another issue.

(Lommy and hot pie can’t know. No one can know.

They won’t, not from me.)

My mom: oh shit she is going to tell him who she is? She must trust him a lot. He won’t tell obviously but it’s risky more that one person knows her secret.

(My name’s not Arry, it’s Arya of House Stark. Yoren is taking me home to Winterfell.)

My mom: okay but she didn’t have to tell him the truth only because he discovered she is a girl. She could’ve pretended to be someone else but she told him the truth. This is fascinating.

(All that about cocks—I shouldn’t have said. And I’ve been pissing in front of you and everything!)

My mom: lol he is panicking! This is the start of something beautiful, I’m telling you. They will tell this story to their grandkids someday.

(I should be calling you ‘milady’.

Do not call me ‘milady’!

As milady commands.)

My mom: you know how couples call each other ‘sweetie’ or ‘sweetheart’? Yeah he’s totally going to call her ‘milady’.

Arya pushes him to the ground and he laughs.

My mom: *heart eyes*

2x03

Arya talks to Yoren as she cleans Needle.

My mom: love that shot of Arya because you can clearly see Gendry sleeping in the background. Coincidence? I think not.

Yoren gets shot with the crossbow.

My mom: that’s right Gendry, you protect my girl.

(You want Gendry?)

My mom: the fuck Arya what are you doing? Noooo.

(There you got him. He always loved that helmet.)

My mom: omg she is so smart!!!! She saved him, I love that.

2x04

Every scene of them in Harrenhall and watching how the Lannister soldiers torture the prisoners.

My mom: You notice how how they are always side by side? They look great together.

The scene where is seems as if the soldiers will torture Gendry to death.

My mom: no no no Gendry you can’t leave Arya alone! Oh thank god for papa Lannister.

2x05

Arya watches Gendry “practice” with the sword.

My mom: omg she totally checked him out. And not just once but like four-five times! Clever girl. Honestly Arya just shamelessly staring at Gendry’s body added years to my life. And that cute little smile good jesus.

2x08

Arya finds Gendry and hot pie and asks them if they have seen Jaqen.

My mom: well finally, there’s my boy again. Missed him last episode. 

Arya, Gendry and hot pie prepare to escape at midnight.

My mom: haha, they both shut him up. He’s a bit exasperating but I like him. Yes, they are out!!!! Go find your mother and your brother my girl, and introduce them to your new boyfriend.

Season 3

3x02

(I’m just trying to understand.

Would you please shut up about it?

Jaqen H’ghar offered you three kills.

I’m not listening.

But just explain it to me. He offered to kill any three people you wanted. Dead. All you had to do was give him the names. Anyone. You could’ve picked King Joffrey!

Shut up. 

You could’ve picked Tywin Lannister. 

Jaqen got us out of Harrenhal, why are you complaining?

You could’ve ended the war.)

My mom: I kinda get his point but dude, she saved your ass! I hope they run into Robb and Cat first because the north is not really an option for the Starks anymore, is it? I mean, Winterfell is all destroyed and there’s no one there to protect them. Their bickering is adorable by the way.

They run into the brotherhood.

My mom: oh jesus, who are those? Arya and Gendry keep jumping from one captive to the other, don’t they? Lol Gendry put that sword down, five episodes ago you showed us you can’t wield one for shit. Seriously, put it down before you hurt yourself.

Scene at the tavern.

(Gendry is a smith. He was an apprentice at the armory.

A smith, eh? Where did you train?)

My mom: adfñskjl that look they gave each other! 

Enter the Hound.

My mom: omg he is going to recognize her! Shit, they are in trouble now.

3x03

Scene outside of the crossroads inn.

My mom: okay I don’t like this. I get Gendry is helping the tipsy guy only to stay out of trouble but they gave a lot of emphasis on they guy being interested in Gendry being a smith. He is not going to stay with them, is he? Oh no, the squad is separating!  Awww he made her a wolf-shaped bread. Arya and Gendry want to laugh so hard lol. This is such a cute scene but also sad. I’m going to miss hot pie, he was an idiot but he was Arya’s friend. Now Gendry is all she has left. 

3x04

Scene in the cave where the brotherhood hides.

My mom: I just love how they always put them side by side. Yeah you bet one-eyed guy, Arya is the bravest of you all.

3x05

The Hound kills Beric.

My mom: shit he killed the cool guy. It was kind of obvious he would but it still sucks. Oh jesus Arya what are you doing? Yeah Gendry, stop her from doing something stupid. Adsklafjñfaslkj am I an idiot if that shot of he holding her is making he happy? OMFG HE BROUGHT HIM BACK?? WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THIS??

Gendry tells Arya he’ll stay with the brotherhood.

My mom: oh great, I knew he was going to stay with them. This is just fucking great. Yeah Arya has every right to be pissed. After everything they’ve been through he’ll just leave her? Can’t he see he is the only thing she has now?  Loosing him will destroy her.

(I never had a family.)

My mom: omg please don’t say it, Arya.

(I can be your family.)

My mom: that’s the 13-year old equivalent of an adult saying ‘I love you’. Good lord take me now, I don’t think I can watch him reject her. She is on the verge of tears, she is staring at him with so much love and she pretty much begged him to go with her. 

(You wouldn’t be my family, you’d be milady.)

My mom:  This is just heartbreaking, you can see the exact moment her heart shatters into a million pieces. She looks so hurt at what he said and he looks hurt as well, he is on the verge of tears too. 

3x06

Melisandre and the soldiers take Gendry away.

My mom: what the FUCK???? God please no someone stop them. Arya trying to get the soldiers to release Gendry is so cute. Yeah Arya, kick her ass. It’s kind of adorable how concerned she is the witch will hurt him. Hey don’t touch her with your dirty hands. Seriously, a stupid prophecy?? This is not the time for this shit. Noooooo don’t take him away! Sweet jesus look at Arya’s face, she is devastated! She is going full-dark Arya after this, isn’t she? They have taken everything away from her now. Please tell me they’ll see each other again because if they don’t I swear to god...

THE END.

Bonus: 

3x07

Arya with the brotherhood after Melisandre took Gendry away.

My mom: aww my poor baby, she is so sad because Gendry is gone. She must feel so alone. Yeah get the fuck out of there, they only care about fighting the bad guys and gold. Oh dear now what? The Hound, are you kidding me??? Told you, from one captive to another. Here here we go again.

You can read her reactions to Gendrya scenes from season 8 here:

Part one

Part two

Part three

[my-beautiful-wickedness]

OUAT(IW) Re-watch - 1x10 Dirty Little Secrets

[jp-n-b]

Dirty Little Secrets: REWATCHED!

Another late start... (sigh) stupid life schedule.

Cyrus is a cheater, wow.

So is the Well of Wonders the same thing that’s in Storybrooke? What Ana just said sounds like Rumple’s summary of the well (based on my memory), is it connected to Nostos?

Jabberwocky has instantaneous teleportation. As far as I can remember, the only other person with powers like that would be Maleficent... all other people we’ve seen teleport use clouds of smoke. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that Jabberwocky is a dragon-woman like Mal, would it? Given the Jabberwock’s generally draconic depiction. It would also explain her immortality, according to Kristin Bauer van Staten (I think? my memory sucks tonight btw). Although it wouldn’t explain why she’s invincible to everything but that one blade, which can’t actually kill her, just pin her. I suppose she could have just studied magic long enough to make herself invincible - immortality would give her that option. But how old would that make her? Merlin’s age? Older? Nimue (in Rumple form) called Merlin’s heart “the oldest in all the realms”, and given Jabberwocky’s notoriety in Wonderland, surely someone who was a Dark One would be aware of her, thus giving Nimue that knowledge. Though if her age is unknown, since she’s so mysterious, they may not count her because she could be older or younger than Merlin. Then the new question would be, what is the price of magic that makes you invincible? It would likely include the one weakness - the Vorpal Blade (just remembered the name :P) - but would it cost anything else? Likely a life, if not more - if saving Robin Hood from near death costs a life, surely making yourself unable to experience death costs a life. Or several. Not that Jabberwocky seems like the type to care about such a price.

...Okay yeah she’s definitely good at this. I wonder if it really is magical - is she literally reading their minds? Or is it, as I speculated yesterday, a psychological thing? If she’s really immortal, she may have just been around long enough to notice the smallest things that even modern psychologists haven’t found in human reactions, but the detail she gave in Jafar’s story (and even this random guy’s, though to a lesser extent) seems unreasonable without a little bit of magic. Still, I like the idea of a villain whose powers are almost entirely psychological, so I think I’ll stick with that.

I really love Jabberwocky btw, she’s so mysterious and fun!evil. It’s kind of cool that in the episode where one of my favorite characters dies, they introduce a new favorite character. ...RIP Lizard.

...Did he actually just die? That’s so much cooler with the psychology theory.

So are all of my favorite characters going to interact with Lizard’s corpse? Where’s Mrs. Rabbit?

oh gosh, what is she about to do to this poor girl’s body

OH MY GOSH I THINK I’M GOING TO BE SICK

...okay now that that’s passed, time to do the weird stuff

First of all, I like how accurate the eye color is. Lizard has a grayish green eye color (which is odd, since Lauren McKnight, her actress, has very clearly brown eyes), which is the same as these eyes. I couldn’t find any good pictures of eyes removed from a corpse (imagine that), so I don’t know how the eyes decompose. Of course, we also don’t know how long it’s been since Lizard died - although it appears to be daylight out, so between six and twelve hours seems reasonable, and the body is usually still externally intact at that point. All I can find about the eyes at this point, though, is that they may sink into the head early on in decomposition (by the time of a typical funeral), which makes me wonder how much damage Jabberwocky had to do to Lizard’s face. Based off of my own theories, since, again, I couldn’t find any good pictures of eyeballs removed from the sockets, the eyes seem almost too perfect - with the exception of the blood towards the back, they’re bright white and perfectly round. It seems to me that, using a knife, Jabberwocky would have damaged the eyes, unless she was very good at cutting (which is... a terrifying thought), but even then I’ve never seen eyes that are that white.

I’m overanalyzing everything in this episode, aren’t I?

it’s a little terrifying that Jafar assumed Jabberwocky sliced those eyes out of a living person. But then again, I probably would too.

The eyes clicked as they hit the dish. Aren’t eyes generally kind of squishy? I mean, obviously those are probably plastic, but...

so Jafar just flirts with all of his partners then?

Uh, wait... the eyes could not have seen Ana’s face if Lizard were dead. The way vision works (again, off the top of my half-asleep head) is that the eyes catch light, the colors made by how they bounce off of the surfaces, and transfer that information to the brain. Then, using the difference between the two eyes, the brain processes depth, and takes the colors to process shapes, and you “see” things. But upon death, blood and oxygen are no longer transferred to the brain, and the brain therefore cannot process the information the eyes receive. So that image would not exist at all - unless Lizard had either died very recently, and her brain was therefore still active, or wasn’t dead at all. But since Ana checked her pulse, the latter is highly unlikely. I didn’t pay attention to know if there was a timeframe for when Ana found Lizard. Is it ridiculous to say that Lizard’s brain was still functioning? I know that after a beheading, the brain stays alert for twenty-five seconds, so probably not. Is this just a case of the writers ignoring actual science for the sake of magic and plot, then?

Uh, the little brother never actually volunteered to come along, Cyrus.

Wasn’t Rabbit with all of the heroes in the last episode? And saw Ana, and how she had changed more or less? I mean, we didn’t get the apology, but it seems to me that he shouldn’t have been so scared.

“It’s not about making life more comfortable for myself.” Except it kind of is. Not literally, though. She wants to make life more comfortable for the people of Wonderland, but because she realized she was once one of them and had no one to make life more comfortable for her. She’s changing the past by being the person that she needed to help her, so that she can help someone like her and keep them from going on the path she went on.

Well, this should be interesting.

Ana, you’ve already lost. Jabberwocky has made you scared of her making you scared.

Okay, so Ana can turn a stick into a sword... but didn’t Regina just form a sword out of nothing in Shattered Sight?

Did that actually hurt? It looked like it did. And I don’t see why Jabber would want to give Ana any confidence by making her think she might have damaged her (waaaay too many pronouns I’m sorry). Wouldn’t it make her more fearful for Jabber to shrug it off immediately?

Oh my gosh I’m going to be sick again

Jabber just slid the entire blade AND HILT of a sword through her stomach with no effect. If that doesn’t make you nervous, nothing will.

...okay for an amazingly powerful psychologist dragon woman sorceress, that was a really disappointing way to knock Ana unconscious. I mean, she killed a guy with the power of fear, surely she can come up with a more creative tactic than a headbutt?

aw crap, it’s one of those stupid tests to see if they “deserve” the well’s water isn’t it

Bad phrasing, Alice.

...wow.

Nyx is definitely reading their minds - she closes her eyes instead of looking at them closer. Interesting differentiation.

The rules of Nyx’s water rely on the existence of something controlling everyone, though, and Season 4 seemingly established that that’s not a thing... I honestly believe that the Fates are going to be the final big bad of Once Upon a Time.

Of course, it also runs on a similar system as the Seer and Rumple’s future sight. She specifies that it only doesn’t work on people whose fates have been sealed - which means that there are times where the fates have not been sealed. Like how the Seer and Rumple see things that may be, and things that will be, and sometimes can’t see anything at all. (Merlin’s is never described in detail, but given Nimue, it’s likely that his is similar.) It’s possible that this is also the difference between Alice, Robin, and David’s near-death experiences. Alice and David’s fates were not sealed. Robin’s was, and therefore to revive him another price had to be paid. I’m betting that Cyrus and co. will take the water anyway, and the price they have to pay for reviving a woman whose fate was sealed is becoming genies.

So the new question is... how are fates sealed? Is it the Fates? Random chance? Nyx? Zeus? And on people like Alice and David, when are their fates sealed? Once their souls arrive in the afterlife? Or is it possible to revive them at any time using reasonable means? I think Hades said that David’s soul never arrived in the Underworld, though.

Taj(?) definitely is referring to the Fates there. But then again, just because he believes in them does not mean that they’re true.

So the new, new question is... why do I have to overanalyze everything in this episode?

...That riddle was a bit too easy.

The effect of them walking through the door and not emerging on the other side is not as impressive when the open door actually blocks view of the other side.

Is he trying to be funny by treating this like a romance, or literal? I can never tell with him.

okay, yeah, jafar wins.

Oh my gosh! The water turned her from a rabbit into a human!

...yeah okay that joke is dead. Hi Amara.

Alice! Stop being so stubborn!

Nyx referred to the “Fates”, too, and she definitely has more knowledge of this than Cyrus and his brothers. I definitely think these are going to be characters.

Why was Cyrus last?

So apparently The Three Little Pigs exist as a fairytale in Wonderland? Or Jabber has knowledge of the LWM... I like the second theory.

Ahhhh, there’s the Cinderella reference we’ve been waiting for!

She is making Ana feel like she’s actually inside her head. This is psychology, not magic, and I love it.

She’s looking at Ana’s face - her eyes, her mouth... places that tend to react the most to emotion and thought.

And when Ana begins to react a lot, she no longer has to look, and she moves away.

And while she’s not looking directly at Ana to see her tells, she uses the story that is by this point common knowledge to torture her.

She finishes it by making a logical assumption - Ana became emotional when confronted with the fact that she had a darkness inside of her, and it’s common knowledge that she desperately wants Will back and is afraid of never getting him. Those dots aren’t hard to connect.

She made a mistake, too. Jafar had to help. I’m not sure how it happened, though - at this point it’s clear that Ana doesn’t want her crown. So why did Jabber say it was? Maybe she was trying to uncover that buried thirst for power - the same buried thirst as the one Regina has for vengeance that I mentioned in the liveblog for... whatever episode that was. Maybe her plan was just to make Ana feel guilty for still wanting the crown, and Jafar’s interference just gave her a faster way to make Ana make a wish. Maybe I’m reading way too much into this.

Ana’s face is very much “WHY DIDN’T I DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!”

Jafar, stop bragging. You worked way too hard to get Alice to make just two wishes. Jabber is the real terrifying master here. She figured out everything that would hurt Ana in... what, five minutes?

Would this spell work with any three genies, or just the ones created by Nyx’s curse? Is there any other way to become a genie? Besides transferring, but that still counts as Nyx’s curse I think. Did Sidney also steal from Nyx?

Jafar has a new problem - Jabber has found another weakness of his. He wants everyone to see him as something great - the Sultan to see him as a worthy heir, and Amara to see him as a powerful sorcerer. By speaking to Amara and snapping at Jabber, he revealed this weakness to her. I wonder if she’ll exploit it.

That’s the end of that episode... Tomorrow: Heart is in the title, so I’d bet we get Will’s heart back.

[wicked-storybrooke]

[my-beautiful-wickedness]

The Red Queen’s wardrobe

1x10 Dirty Little Secrets