#Sir Lancelot ouat

[ouatreusedcostumes]

This black doublet jacket with broderi on with red strips in front with buttons is worn two times in Once Upon a Time, First worn on Wil Traval as Sheriff of Nottingham in Mother (2015) and worn again later on Sinqua Walls as Sir Lancelot in The Broken Kingdom (2015) and many years later worn on Brock Morgan as Dave in Curious Caterer: Foiled Plans (2024)

[daisymintt]

[Lancelot and Gwaine trying to help Merlin brew a potion]

Lancelot: Okay, it says, “Turn counter-clockwise.” You think they mean the beaker or do we have to turn?

Gwaine: It’s better to be safe.

[In unison they turn in a counter-clockwise circle with the beaker]

[queenofglassbeliever]

Me coming up with possible theories about the identity of Ella's biological father.

[historicalreusedcostumes]

This black/red costume jacket with embroidery on is worn two times in Once Upon a Time, First worn on Wil Traval as Sheriff of Nottingham in Mother (2015) and worn again later on Sinqua Walls as Sir Lancelot in The Broken Kingdom (2015) and many years later worn on Brock Morgan as Dave in Curious Caterer: Foiled Plans (2024)

[thewickedbohemian]

DAE notice Bones has an even stronger Arthurian ensemble-parallel than the subtext-parallel people thought was happening on The Librarians or whatever “The Fisher King” made Criminal Minds try and force. And it’s not just a case of character arcs kinda vaguely matching or whatever’s the usual basis for fusion!AUs but stuff like the whole “king of the lab” competition (with the “rightful king” going up against the guy who ended up betraying the group) or “Lancelot” Sweets (who apparently did have a thing for Angela at one point) or Booth getting called Sir Galahad twice in the show (I wouldn’t take it as part of the pattern if it was just that one instance and “knighting” in The Yanks In The UK but there’s one episode where he’s iirc literally called that by Caroline, that one season premiere where Booth and Brennan are coming back from time spent apart from both each other and the lab as he was training soldiers in Afghanistan while she was on some jungle expedition).

Since there is also canonical magic in that universe now I’m just wanting some AU where some magical thing like Brennan finding some artifact connected to all that or some inadvertent intervention by the psychic character fittingly (albeit not meaning she’s part of this as she has a name of a place from that) named Avalon (perhaps someone had other reason to want some kind of past-life regression or w/e) starts waking some of the team back up to who they were in Camelot before being reborn (others might need a little push, y’know, think OUAT S1) and some (like a skeptical-until-then-but-still-trying-to-Scully-things-even-after Brennan) even gain the magical abilities their past lives/selves had. And once everyone who had a past incarnation in Camelot fully Operation-Cobras up to it then “the king of the lab and the knights of the forensic table” start fighting some supernatural crime too a la The Librarians as you’re much more likely to be able to hide that you’re after the magic angle if you fight regular crime by profession anyway and can say you’re there for what it looks like to normal eyes.

[jessmalia]

tired of hearing that wanting a man to save you is sexist. maybe i just want some prettyboy in armour to do all the work while i lay back and watch, did you ever think about that?

[dothrakidaenerys]

[themattress]

OUAT Season 5 - How It Should Have Gone

OUAT should have been a 5-season show (most serialized shows should only aim for 5 seasons, IMO).  As it stands, with three overall strong seasons in S1, S2, and S3, and three overall weak seasons in S4, S6 and S7, S5 stood firmly in the middle - a lot of brilliant stuff in it made it a solid season, but a lot of awful stuff in it dragged it down from its full potential.  Still, the season’s second half, 5B, was the strongest the show had been since the S3 finale, the best it was going to get past 4x11, and thus would’ve been the highest note to go out on if only they had made 5x22 and 5x23 a series finale rather than a mediocre Season 6 lead-in.  

But in this post, I’m gonna go even further and radically change much of the season to make it what I feel would have been an ideal final season for OUAT. In order to start that, the ending to the S4 finale would have to be changed: it would cut off at 1:27 here - the final shot of the season would be the heroes standing in the street, with Emma saying that the Darkness has surrounded Storybrooke. This means no bullshit sacrifice for Regina because “she’s worked too hard for her happy ending” turning Emma into the new Dark One. Dark Swan was a horrible idea for S5, a prospective Camelot arc was more than enough.

5x01 - No stupid opening with young Emma and Merlin, the first scene instead is the one with Arthur, Lancelot and Percival finding Excalibur, which transitions into a shot of the Dark One dagger, which is still being held by Emma and has no name on it. The heroes return to the Apprentice, who says that the Darkness cannot do much on its own right now, but that it will gain power as it spreads through more realms and absorbs their light, and that the only way to destroy it is by reuniting the dagger with the rest of Excalibur. He then gives them Merlin’s wand, which can be used to slow the Darkness’ progress if wielded by light and darkness of equal shares. This naturally means that it will be wielded by Emma and Lily. Yeah, Lily has a major role in this final season, and why shouldn’t she? She’s Emma’s dark counterpart, and the fact that she carries Emma’s original darkness which binds her and Emma’s fates together forever was commented on by Merlin himself in 4x19. Forget the mystery of her father - dropping Lily herself from the story altogether after all that set-up was terrible writing.

Anyway, Lily is conflicted about accepting this role because she thinks she’ll screw it up just like she has everything in her life. When she refuses to go along with it, the heroes turn to Zelena instead. Zelena pulls a fast one and makes an attempt to summon a twister back to Oz, but Lily steps in and defeats her, having decided to join in after all because it might be the best chance she has of ever finding her father. The heroes go into Granny’s and are transported to Camelot. When they arrive, they are confronted by none other than Rumpelstiltskin, who is an avatar of the Darkness who confirms the death of Mr. Gold, much to Belle’s grief. Emma and Lily use the wand to make Rumple disappear, but not before he promises that they can’t ever shake him off for too long and that he will return.  The episode ends with the heroes meeting King Arthur and being taken to the actual kingdom of Camelot.

5x02 - This episode would be all about the heroes adjusting to life in Camelot. They are shown Merlin’s tree and are told that there is no known way to free him, and that is what they will have to search for. There is a scene of Snow and Charming preparing Emma for the ball and teaching her how to formally dance (because really, why the fuck would it be Regina?) The ballroom dance, Henry and Violet’s first meeting, and the playing of Only You, basically the S5 theme song, is the same. Percival confronts Regina over the destruction of his village, with the backstory behind that event being this episode’s flashback. Percival is restrained rather than killed, Robin isn’t stabbed, and Regina has to confess to being the Evil Queen. She accepts being locked in the castle dungeon as punishment, but there is a scene toward the end of the episode indicating that Arthur isn’t such a pure ruler himself, and that he has his own plans. The episode ends with Rumple standing besides a moonlit lake, with a fog rolling in and Charon appearing on a boat. Rumple tells Charon that he’s going to need help, and asks him to relay that request to his boss, setting up the Big Bad of the season: Hades.

5x03 - The present-day plot is mostly the same as the flashback in the actual 5x03, but with the scene between Regina and Zelena gone and some new character-building scenes added in. The flashback is a full one of Arthur’s childhood, how he met Guinevere, how he first made contact with Merlin and learned of his destiny, and how he became a hero and a king who formed the Round Table. The phantom knights Arthur and Charming encounter on their quest are now the help that Rumple received from the Underworld, with Rumple himself being there and declaring that the Darkness gains strength through snuffing out the light, which is why all defenders and carriers of the light must die. The episode ends with Charming receiving the Siege Perilous just as Snow encounters Lancelot, who reveals that Arthur is really a villain.

5x04 - This episode is mostly unchanged, with the exception of the framing device with Dark Emma, the motive of helping save Emma, and Merida’s appearance, all of which are gone. Instead, the motive is still finding a way to free Merlin so that he can restore Excalibur and help them destroy the Darkness. Emma is still being haunted by Rumple, but because she is a beacon of light that he wishes to psychologically destroy, not because she is the Dark One. Lily has left to go searching for her father, so it’s up to Hook to help drive Rumple away from Emma. The flashback is the same. Arthur learns that the heroes have been holding the other half of Exaclibur (the Dark One dagger) all along and tries to claim it. Snow, Charming and Lancelot trap him, but Guinevere uses mind-control sand on Snow and Charming and has Lancelot arrested, the episode ending with him being put in a cell opposite to Regina’s. 

5x05 - Snow and Charming successfully take the dagger and give it to Arthur, who now holds both halves of Exaclibur. He now only needs to find the way to free Merlin and learn from him how to combine them, after which he plans on slaying Merlin as well as the Darkness and becoming king over all realms, the greatest king there ever was, delusionally convinced that his goal is a righteous one. The rest of the episode focuses on Lily as she searches for her father, with the flashback being a twist on the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - when Sir Gawain fails the Green Knight’s test, he is cursed into basically becoming a were-dragon, which leads to him exiling himself from Camelot for everyone’s own safety. Lily finds Sir Gawain, who is of course her father, and battles him in dragon form until she is able to get through to him and allow him to keep his mind and control even in that form. He promises to continue learning to control his dragon transformation and will return and help Maleficent teach Lily to do the same once he has mastered it. The episode ends with Lily returning to Camelot, only to overhear Arthur discussing his true goal, with her running to tell Emma. 

5x06 - This episode focuses on the other heroes working together to bring Snow and Charming back to their senses and steal the Dark One dagger back from Arthur, as Emma has used a magic dreamcatcher to see how Merlin was trapped in the tree to begin with and now knows that reversing it will require the dagger. Things are complicated by Rumple appearing to Arthur and alerting him to what the heroes are doing. Henry and Violet’s subplot is the same, except that Violet truly does romantically reject Henry and he just has to learn how to accept that. Merlin is freed from the tree by Emma, which forces Arthur and his men to retreat. There is no flashback in this episode save for the opening one with Merlin and the first Dark One. The episode ends with the heroes relocating to Granny’s, which has now been transformed into a medieval biergarten, and planning to break Regina and Lancelot out of prison, while Rumple reports to Charon that Merlin is free and that they need to get serious.

5x07 - The episode opens with Regina and Lancelot being sprung from prison by the heroes, largely thanks to Merlin, and joining them at Granny’s, which was the opening scene of the actual 5x06. The rest of the episode follows the actual 5x07 exactly, with the exception of anything involving Emma being the Dark One, of course. The flashback is of Merlin and Nimue’s story. Emma, alongside Merlin and Lily, go to get the Promethean Flame which can unite both halves of Excalibur, ending up facing the Darkness in its original persona, Nimue. Snow, Charming, Hook and Robin attempt to steal Exaclibur from Arthur’s castle, but Zelena sells them out. Arthur tethers Merlin to the hilt of Excalibur, which forces the sorcerer to appear before him and be his servant. The episode ends with Arthur coming for the Flame. 

5x08 - This episode mostly goes the same way the actual 5x08 did in its flashback, with the big change coming at the end. Emma unites the dagger and Excalibur’s hilt together, completing the sword that can destroy the Darkness. Only then does Hook start dying. Emma transports him to the flower field and, rather than force the Darkness on him, Emma uses Exaclibur to channel the Darkness and become the Dark One, who uses the power of the Darkness to heal Hook’s wound and save his life, but now the Darkness cannot be destroyed with Exaclibur as its is bound to it and to Emma, which also means that she and Lily can no longer keep it at bay. The flashback is a fragmented one - each time it flashes back, it is to the life of a different would-be Dark One, and we see the reason as to why they took on the Darkness. The episode ends with Charon’s boat carrying Nimue and all those Dark Ones to the land of the living and meeting with Rumple, an after-effect of the Darkness being bound to the full sword of Excalibur rather than just the tip, as they plan to finally snuff out the light. 

5x09 - Exact same as the real 5x09, but without Merida vowing revenge on Arthur. This is her only appearance, and is mainly there to set up Ruby and Mulan’s role later on down the road.

5x10 - As the newest Dark One, Emma can now sense that the other Dark Ones have arrived and are gathering their strength to attack Camelot. She asks Merlin to kill her and thus destroy the Darkness, but Merlin says it cannot be done now - if she was stabbed with Exaclibur, whoever killed her would only become the next Dark One. Lancelot says that they can at least destroy the physical bodies of the dead Dark Ones, mentioning that they came from the Underworld from a mystical lake, and that it’s the same lake his mother lives under and that she may provide the key to defeating them. The flashback is about Lancelot, how he left the lake and came to be known as the Leviathan, and how he met Arthur and joined the Round Table. At the lake, they find that Lancelot’s mother was actually part of the Darkness’ scheme all along, letting this lake be used for their purposes because she wanted Camelot destroyed in order to avenge her son, as she blamed Camelot for causing his exile and supposed death at the hands of Cora. Now knowing that he is alive, Lancelot’s mother is deeply regretful and tries to stand up to Nimue only to be killed by her. The episode ends with the heroes escaping and giving Lancelot’s mother a proper burial, while Nimue speaks with a disembodied voice within a blue flame (similar to how Merlin was in 4x19), promising him the souls of everyone in Camelot. The voice is, of course, Hades, performed by Greg Germann. 

5x11 - No flashbacks here, just an epic stand-off to decide the fate of Camelot. The heroes come in with Emma defeating and detaining Arthur and Zelena with ease now that she’s the Dark One, taking charge of the castle and kingdom as they prepare to defend it from the approaching army of Dark Ones. Even in this dark time, every hero gets a moment to shine, including Hook who gets to strike down Rumple, and Henry who defends Violet even while establishing that he fully accepts that he’s “just friends” with her...with this ironically actually causing Violet to develop some attraction toward him. Merlin researches in his library alongside Belle this whole time and discovers a means to destroy the Darkness - a way to channel it into someone else and then have that person be stabbed with the blade it is also channeled in. Merlin prepares to do this to himself so that Emma can stab him with Exaclibur, but Nimue kills him before he can finish the spell. Seeing no other choice, Hook steps up and completes the spell, taking on the Darkness and begging Emma to stab him. Through her tears, she does so, killing Hook and destroying the Darkness. Emma rightly blames herself for this happening, trying to save Hook’s life only to end up having to kill him herself as a result of it. But then, the heroes find a message from Merlin that he magically recorded prior to his death, with him telling them that as a former Dark One, Emma can now summon Charon and gain passage to the Underworld, and that they must go there and defeat Hades, the mastermind behind this whole thing. Emma realizes that while doing that, she can split her heart with Hook and revive him. The episode ends with everyone being transported back to Storybrooke except for Emma, Snow, Charming, Regina, Robin and Henry, who return to the lake and board Charon’s boat, Emma saying “Hook, I will find you. I will always find you.”

5x12 - When the heroes arrive in the Underworld, they are greeted by an unexpected guide: Mr. Gold. He tells them that even in death he was comatose until the Darkness / Rumple was destroyed and that he will help them get Hook back in order to repay him for that favor. Unlike in the actual S5, at this point it truly looks like Gold might just be a good guy now and that he actually wants to help out. The rest of the episode, however, is essentially the same as the actual 5x12, even down to the last scene featuring the physical debut of Germann’s Hades.

5x13 - The same as the actual 5x13, but without the insulting Regina/Snow “pep talk”.

5x14 - Mostly the same as the actual 5x14, but a difference comes when Hades abducts Gold and gives him the offer to join him. Gold adamantly refuses until Hades reveals his trump card: the Darkness, which had gone to the Underworld when it was destroyed. Hades tells Gold that he will give it all to him, making him the Darkest Dark One, if he joins him. Gold’s resolve crumbles and, like the selfish coward he is, accepts the deal and the Darkness. He proceeds to throw Milah into the River of Lost Souls and claim Hades did it, and allow Hades to write the names of Emma, Snow and Regina on grave stones so that they can’t leave the Underworld. The episode ends with the reveal of Belle being pregnant due to sleeping with Gold during Isaac’s AU in 4x21/4x22, and that Hades out-Rumpled him with this deal because he now has the contract from the shaman that he signed long ago.

5x15 - Mostly the same as the actual 5x15, but with some key differences. Hook is feeling down because of the psychological effect of Hades’ torture of him rather than because he had been Dark Hook. He believes that maybe, now that he’s dead, he should stay that way because it’s what someone like him, who committed so many bad deeds, deserves. His depression in the present and past is treated purely sympathetically and correctly, rather than the bizarre notion that it’s him being “inherently vulnerable to darkness”  and implying that he needs the love of a pure woman to redeem him. The entirety of the subplot featuring Henry, the Apprentice, Charming and Cruella is removed, having been moved to the next episode.

5x16 - This episode focuses on the Underworld and explores more of how it works. The stuff with Henry, the Apprentice, Charming and Cruella occurs here, with James also entering the picture as the antagonist for the main plot, trying to capture the heroes for the crime of bringing hope into the Underworld, which ends with a fight between him and Charming where James ends up falling into the River of Lost Souls.  Regina is also shown to actually be making amends to her victims, giving her legit redemption. The episode ends with Hades having Gold bring him Zelena’s baby from Storybrooke, which also brings Zelena and Belle.

5x17 - Mostly the same as the actual 5x16, but Dorothy is removed from the flashback and thus more time is spent actually developing the relationship between Hades and Zelena.

5x18 - The start of the episode is the final scene from the actual 5x17, where Ruby is transported to the Underworld. The adventure she had in Oz did not involve Dorothy, but instead was just her and Mulan, who developed feelings for each other. Mulan’s grandmother is in the Underworld in place of Auntie Em, suffering the same fate. Belle, feeling frantic after the revelation that she’s pregnant and reuniting with Gold only to learn that he is now the Darkest Dark One and doesn’t intend on changing, goes to Zelena and gets a Sleeping Curse to place herself under in order to stop her baby from being born, thus protecting it from Hades. The episode ends with Charming carving his name on the gravestone so that Snow can leave the Underworld with Ruby, both going to Oz where Ruby gives Mulan a TLK.

5x19 - Mostly the same as the actual 5x19, except that the James subplot has been cut due to James being dealt with in 5x16, and more meaningful character moments are in its place. 

5x20 - Mostly the same as the actual 5x20, except that the flashback is entirely different, focusing on Zeus and Hades’ backstory and showing just how evil Hades is with a heart.

5x21 - Mostly the same as the actual 5x21, except that Arthur outright says rather than visually implies that his big goal in ruling the Underworld will be to help the Lost Souls recover their identities and move on now that they are able to be free from the river, and Robin is NOT killed, with Zelena’s entrance back into the room happening before Hades can use the Olympian Crystal on either him or Regina, and Robin helps Regina talk sense into Zelena. The ending is the same, with Gold claiming the leftover fragment of the Olympian Crystal.

5x22 - As everyone celebrates Hook’s miraculous return to life, Gold siphons all the magic of Storybrooke with the Olympian Crystal. His plan is to then take it out into the Land Without Magic, which will create a magical paradox that will draw the magic from all magical realms to him. All magical realms will be destroyed, the Laws of Magic will be broken, and he can free Belle and their unborn child from Pandora’s Box (and also have everything). The heroes split up, some using Merlin’s wand to evacuate denizens of magical realms that are being destroyed to the center of all realms (as seen from using Jefferson’s hat), and others pursuing Gold in hopes of reclaiming and destroying the Olympian Crystal. Gold, meanwhile, is slowly transforming into full-on imp!Rumple as a side-effect of the magic paradox. It comes down to a battle between Emma and Rumple, which ultimately causes Pandora’s Box to fall through a portal into the center of all realms, where most of the other heroes and refugees from other realms are now stranded, as the destructive dark cloud draws nearer to them.

5x23 - Rumple is stricken with guilt, but still retreats and tries to go about reversing this disaster his own way, through a ritual using the Olympian Crystal. When this fails, he breaks down and returns to being Gold. Emma, Lily, Henry and Violet find him and convince him to help them, as they’ve found all sorts of notes on magic in Neal’s apartment that August had gathered in his travels and given to Neal. They reveal the way to end this crisis, which by this point is even threatening the Land Without Magic - the wielder of the Olympian Crystal must siphon their own life force to it and thus be able to shatter it. The magic stored in it will be released, but die out unless channeled through someone born of True Love, the most powerful magic of all, which will save magic and all the realms but might just kill the channeler. They all prepare to do this when Rumple, as an avatar of the Darkness, appears and tries to tempt Gold into not doing it, into just letting Belle and their unborn child die because once the Laws of Magic are broken, he can bring them back to life anyway. But Gold is finally able to resist, unable to let his loved ones die once even if he could bring them back afterward. He sacrifices himself, killing Rumple as well, and unleashing the magic which Emma then channels and releases as a wave of True Love, restoring all the realms and all of their friends, even freeing Belle from the box and waking her, and even erasing all of her natural darkness from Lily. Emma seems to die, but Henry’s TLK revives her. The show ends with a montage of everyone’s happy ending, foremost being Emma and Hook’s engagement and marriage. Heck, maybe even this plays. And of course, they all live happily ever after.

[thisisevenharderthannamingablog]

Fair warning, I am in the same mental state that led me to come up with the OUaT timeline right now. I was expounding to Mr This again tonight about the role of intra-family feuding in Malory’s story. There are a lot of off-hand “you killed my ____, fight me” situations, but the Lot/Pellinore thing can be looked at as providing one of the rare bits of real continuity across the entire book. It starts early, and continues straight on through.

Lot and Pellinore both show up as very early characters. Both of them were opponents of Arthur at first, but Pellinore came over quickly, while Lot remained against him. Both of them had a passle of sons, and then Pellinore killed Lot in one of Arthur’s early wars. Everything gets very quiet for a long while (ten years), and then Gawaine avenges his father, and that point this thing is on.

Since the kids on both sides are all Round Table knights together, this mostly consists of being bitchy to each other at tournaments, but by the time we enter the story’s endgame, it looks like Gawaine’s family is winning. Pellinore’s son Lamorak was murdered (by VILE TREACHERY according to the Tristram author, who clearly took sides), Percival died in the Grail quest, and his other two legitimate sons don’t seem to amount to much--they get mentioned whenever the storyteller needs to pad out a list, and that’s all. Sir Tor is still around, but it’s never clear how much family feeling he has, given that Pellinore raped his mother, and Tor himself was raised in poverty as one of thirteen sons of a cowherd. Gawaine’s family has meanwhile taken no casualties.

AND THEN… the queen decides to have a dinner party? It’s Book XVIII, and everything is moving toward the tragic conclusion, and Guenevere throws a very peculiar dinner in that it’s just her and 24 knights. She invites Gawaine and his brothers (a list that includes Mordred in this version), ONE of Pellinore’s partisans, and most of Lancelot’s family and friends (she was pissed off at him that day, so Lancelot himself wasn’t there).

A lot of the endgame story, taken at face value, suggests and Arthur and Gwen were blissfully ignorant of factionalism in their own court. This strikes me as silly, unlikely, and ignoring all kinds of opportunities for narrative interest with things like this party. Because the thing is, Lancelot and fam had friends on both sides. They practically adopted Gareth (“shame your oldest brother is such an asshole.” “yeah thanks.”). Lancelot and Tristram were co-founders of the Knights Stupidly in Love with Married Women League, and Tristram was good friends with Pellinore’s sons. One of Lancelot’s cousins/nephews/brothers (depending on the story) made it to the end of the Grail quest and hung around with Percival until he died before heading back home.

So the fact that there were like eight of them at this dinner (counting their known allies, like the Knights of Various Colors), far outweighing any other identifiable faction, seems like it ought to be significant. Especially since at this party, the lonely Pellinore partisan tried to poison Gawaine. (After a brief period during which everyone blamed Gwen, the true culprit was eventually outed by Nimue.) 

It wasn’t too much later, in the narrative, that Gawaine’s brother Agravaine and brother-depending-on-the-story’s-family-tree-version Mordred decided that they were really fucking sick of Lancelot, and by dragging him into it, Gawaine’s entirely family ends up getting wiped out. 

[once-upon-a-side-character]

OUAT MEME: Side Characters -  [2/??] - Sir Lancelot

[owl-noire]

Upon A Throne: A OUAT Fanfiction (Chapter 1/73)

Title: Upon a Throne Author: Conversationkiller4531 Pairings: Captain Swan, Snowing, Frozen Jewel, and more! Rating: M (Violence, language, and other adult themes) Summary: AU. House Nolan is a loyal bannerman to House Midas, the royal family of Misthaven.  When Lord Maurice French—the Hand of the King—unexpectedly dies, King Midas requests that his close friend, Lord David Nolan, fill the space.  After he accepts the offer, David receives word from his wife, Lady Snow of House White, that Lord French’s death wasn’t an accident.  The culprits?  Queen Regina’s family: House Mills.  Loosely based off of Game of Thrones.

I. Emma

The dead man’s sightless eyes stared at her as the small riding party made its way back to the castle.  Unable to look away, Emma Nolan watched as a strong breeze shook the body until it trembled—as if it were still alive and could feel the chill in the air.  And all the while, those dead green orbs gazed down at her from an ashen face, watching, almost like they were trying to convey some unspoken message.  Help me, Emma, they relentlessly begged through maggot-ridden pores.  Free me. 

Another gust of wind swayed the corpse, the rope from which it dangled pulled taut.  Tattered clothes fumed a rotten stench and tight skin revealed broken bones in the neck.  He’d died quickly, then.  That much, at least, gave Emma a small sense of relief.  She’d heard her father say time and time again that dying slow was the worst way to go.  And ever since she’d seen her eighteenth year, Lord David Nolan had made sure to include her in any political affair, no matter how boring, delicate, or gruesome. 

She looked away from the body and dug her heels into her horse’s sides, urging it forward.  Catching up to her lord father took little time, and when she reached him, he smiled.  

“Enjoying the ride, Emma?” He asked amiably enough, as if they hadn’t just passed a corpse.

“I am,” she affirmed—lying only slightly.  While she did love to get out of the palace, she didn’t particularly care for seeing dead men.  “It’s beautiful out here, Father.”

She’d seen eighteen years.  She was a woman grown and too old to call her father anything but that.     

“...You understand why, don’t you?” Lord David Nolan scarcely sounded worried, but now, emotion leaked into his voice like poison.  

At first, Emma didn’t understand what he meant, didn’t understand why he looked so concerned.  But then it dawned on her: the man swaying in the wind—the corpse.  She nodded.  

“Was he given the choice?” Her voice seemed slightly far away.  “Or was what he did too severe?”

Her father shook his head.  “Of course he had a choice, Emma.  Everyone gets to decide for themselves.  He didn’t want to serve in the Caves.” 

She didn’t understand.  “But... he could’ve gotten his honor back.  And he’d still be alive.”

“For some people, the Caves are worse than death.” Lord David glanced back toward the dead man.  “We can’t judge them for that.”

Following his gaze, Emma watched the corpse continue to sway, and for the first time felt a chill.  She thought about his life, who he could’ve been, and whether or not he deserved to just hang there until he rotted away into nothing.  Eyes filled with determination, she turned her horse around and rode back to the tree, going against the direction of the rest of the party.  A few of her father’s guards stopped—as well as the Castellan, Sir Lancelot.  

“What’re you doing, my lady?” He questioned as Emma drew up alongside the hanging body, and she rolled her shoulders back.  

“Cut him down,” she commanded.  “He’s been there long enough.” 

Lancelot frowned and looked toward the dead man.  “’S only been a day.  Most remain for at least a week.”

Emma shrugged.  “I would do it myself, Sir, but I’ve no sword.” 

The castellan glanced at her, then at her lord father, who—though far ahead—gave a swift nod.  Sighing, Lancelot drew his blade and all-too-easily sliced through the rope, dropping the body to the ground.  Emma tried not to wince at the sound it made, tried not to show that it bothered her, and carefully turned her horse around.  “Bury him.”

“We do not bury thieves,” Sir Lancelot firmly stated as he gaped at her.  “Cutting him down is one thing, but burying him?” He shook his head.  “We do not give honor to the honor-less.” 

Emma spurred her horse once more.  “Then take it up with my father.”  

The party reached the palace by midday and the moment they trotted through the gates, Emma leaped off her horse and practically ran it toward the stables.  She couldn’t wait to tell her lady mother and little brother about everything she’d seen (though something warned her that Lady Snow wouldn’t want little Leo hearing about the dead man).  She quickly gave her mare to the stable boy, a spindly thing of about fourteen years, to feed and water before rushing inside the palace to seek out her family.

Although approaching her thirty-seventh year, Lady Snow held an aura of youth seldom seen among most women past their twenty-fifth.  When Emma found her, she was in the palace’s aviary, tending to her birds. 

“Mother,” she breathed as she bounded over, “you won’t believe what I—”

“Hush Emma,” Lady Snow murmured with a smile.  “I’m not going anywhere.  You don’t need to run.”

Giggling, Emma nodded and smoothed the fabric of her dress.  As she recounted everything that had happened along the ride, her mother listened intently and expressed her approval when she got to the part about burying the corpse.  

“You did the right thing, sweetheart,” Lady Snow said while a bird landed close to her hand.  “Kindness is one of the most important things a Lady can have.  You’ll understand this more when you have a castle of your own to rule.”

Emma felt her smile falter.  “I... That sounds wonderful, Mother.”

The aviary suddenly seemed too cramped, so she made her way toward the door, but couldn’t leave before Lady Snow’s voice called out once more:

“Oh and Emma?  I thought you’d like to know: Killian’s returned from his first voyage under his father’s command.  He wanted to see you.” 

And the adventure begins! I hope that everyone enjoyed this! I would love some feedback.  Let me know what you liked/didn’t like. Thanks for reading!

[daisymintt]

[Lancelot sprinkling the final crucial ingredient into a potion for Merlin]

Gwaine: Careful. If you turn us into raccoons riding that horse will be a challenge.

[Gwaine chuckles at his own joke and playfully slaps Lancelot’s shoulder]

[queenofglassbeliever]

[queenofglassbeliever]

Guinevere and Lancelot as an old couple.

[queenofglassbeliever]

Elaine du Lac.

The Lady of the Lake and Lancelot's mother, Elaine is an immortal and powerful enchantress. Face claim: Deidrie Henry

[queenofglassbeliever]

Thank you Once Upon A Time for. . .

A Latina Evil Queen

A black Fairy Godmother

A black Lancelot

A biracial Maid Marian

A black Rapunzel

A black Merlin

A multiracial Queen Guinevere

and an Afro-Latina Cinderella

Thank you Once Upon A Time for reimagining some of my favorite fairytale characters and legendary figures as people of color.