#Tilly Weaver

[a-happy-beginning]

—Once Upon a Time, “Beauty”

[florida3exclamationpoints]

Also I really liked rumples father/daughter relationship with tilly. I had kinda hoped rumbelles baby would be a girl or they would have another baby that was a girl so I love that he still had that dynamic with her. And it's sweet that she wasn't in his blood related circle of people he cared about

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

THEY'RE JUST SO CUTE AND HAPPY AND IN LOVE WITH THEIR OLD LOVING LIVES

THEY'RE DANCING TOGETHER AND ITS SO CUTE 💙💙💙💙💙

They did a good fucking job making her look old .

My husband better still look at me like that at that age.

Aw she's opening up curtains again like so long ago.

She better not fall now.

I SAID SHE BETTER NOT FALL NOW

YOU'RE SO CLOSE TO BEING YOURSELF

ITS THE CHIPPED CUP

YOU'LL NEVER LOSE ME

THE SUN HASNT SET YET

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

IM FUCKING CRYING ALL OVER AGAIN READING THESE TO WRITE MY CAPTIONS AMD ITA KILLING ME

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

There's something I need to tell you.

I realized that the sun that needed to set at the Edge of Realms wasn't the one in the sky.

IT WAS MINE

HOW COULD YOU KEEP THAT FROM ME?

It means you have to believe our love is powerful enough to outlast death. Only then you will find the path to lead you back to me.

NOW ITS TIME TO LET ME GO.😭😭😭😭😭😭

WE FOUND OUR WAY BACK TO EACH OTHER MORE THAN A FEW TIMES

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I'm just fucking crying now.

[priscilla9993]

Chess Allusions: Pawn Parallels

Rogers: “So you can use [her info] as leverage against [Belfrey]?”

Weaver: “Well that’s how this game works, Detective.”

Talking in the park, Weaver and Rogers both want the information that Tilly knows, the kind that causes Victoria to feel threatened, enough to blackmail Weaver with Tilly’s imprisonment and some CCTV footage of his misdeeds. Although both detectives covet finding and questioning Tilly for what she knows, their motives differ. 

Weaver has a “means to an end” approach, valuing Tilly only when she can be useful in his schemes. His selfish nature sides with his freedom and power over her wellbeing, and he’s okay with that. Tilly might be his informant with the ‘best eyes and ears in Hyperion Heights’, but at the end of the day, she’s replaceable, someone worth losing if it means he gains a stepping stone in the long game against taking down Victoria Belfrey.

Rogers: “Is that all this girl is to you and Belfrey? A pawn? Then why don’t we split up, since one of us actually wants to help her?”

But to Rogers, who doesn’t even know Tilly at this point, he sees Victoria and Weaver’s game as something where people win at the expense of somebody else and goes into full papa bear mode. Rogers wants to help Weaver as a partner and wage justice against Victoria, but not at the cost of using Tilly. He sees Tilly as a vulnerable person caught in the crossfire of a game they didn’t even know they were playing, rather than a soldier in a chess match, and wants to talk to her on equal terms. 

His opinion of Tilly being a bit off kilter but innocent at heart only strengthens when Weaver, in the hospital, unexpectedly pardons her of assumed criminal charges, telling Rogers an obvious lie about a masked robber being the one who shot the gun. Upon meeting Tilly outside of the hospital room, Rogers sees a confused, distraught, and guilt ridden young woman playing a game of chess alone. He tells her the facts with a kind opinion, “Look, you weren’t in your right frame of mind. He doesn’t blame you.” They build up an acquaintance and the budding start of a camaraderie over chess.

However, this all changes when the monster that is Gothel/the fire nation arrives Eloise Gardener gets into the playing field. Victoria and Drizella play cat and mouse, Weaver uses Tilly in a game of lies, and Rogers tries to make sense of things, inadvertently rescuing Gothel, the big bad spider.

Rogers to Weaver: You lied! And you made Tilly lie. Why did you do that?!

Weaver: Because you don't know what's going on around here... But I did it for one reason: to protect you from your bloody self.

(gratuitous physical violence scene bc I love the dynamic)

What Rumple could mean by ‘bloody self’ could be that Rogers lets his temper cloud his judgment first before he goes seeking revenge on/fighting for justice for those who deserve it most. I think that's where Rumple sees the most Killian come out from the supposed "Eagle Scout" detective, stubborn and determined to stick to his guns until he gets to his desired conclusion, which in this case is finding Eloise Gardener (Gothel). 

Rogers defends Tilly, despite only meeting her a few times, going so far as to bodyslam Weaver as he confronts him. However, he loses his respect for her after finding Eloise, where no explanation could outweigh the cost.

Rogers: What do you want?

Tilly: To say I’m sorry about the page. Weaver said it was for the best and I can’t always figure that out for myself.

Rogers: Take a look at what he was covering up. Now tell me, was that for the best? You know what? I understand. I’m just disappointed. You weren’t the person I thought you were.

Rogers is a man of many things, holding grudges being one of them and being rational in the other. The blonde informant had gone so far as to even lie to him about Eloise, dead of all things. As much as he wanted to forgive Tilly, he didn’t know if he could.

At the end of the day, in Rogers’s mind, Eloise needed help, rescue, and emergency aid, something that only happened because of his deep obsession with finding a missing girl from a cold case. And Tilly deterred him from saving a life, unintentional or not.

Roni: “Henry told me about how Weaver used that girl, Tilly.”

Rogers: “Well, it seems to me like she wanted to be a pawn.”

Rogers feels his trust was betrayed and remains disappointed in Tilly. He saw Weaver being a shady bastard from a mile away, but he didn’t expect her to be complicit in Weaver’s dirty schemes. He wanted to believe Tilly was the kind of person who questioned whatever she was told and made her own path on decisions like he did, not so easily roped into following plans, especially ones of slimy bastards like Weaver. If Rogers saw Tilly as an innocent victim of society before, moved around like a pawn, he feels wronged in his judgment and probably thinks she was content to be a sheep to Weaver’s mysterious whims. 

Who was he to believe she could be more than a pawn when she chose to be one?

Luckily, Roni was there to whack the obviously menacing poisoned cake from his hands and knock some sense into him.

Regina as Roni: “You know, people only let themselves be used when they don’t have any other option. How about you give her one?”

Tilly, even if a marmalade sandwich was needed as incentive, had been willingly helpful to his case. The only moment she hadn’t been was when she was under Weaver’s thumb, someone she had known and trusted like a father figure, unlike him who was a stranger in her eyes. People came and went from the older detective’s team, knowledge of informants and detective partners leaving frequently unless they had a special skill set or blackmail hanging over them. If anything, she wasn’t fully to blame.

What Tilly and Rogers can't see until it's too late, being cursed and all, is that they are good natured people afraid of getting hurt, wanting to help others, but unfortunately victims of manipulation, of those with ulterior agendas that use them as playing pieces, making them no better than pawns. 

Roni was right. People like Tilly wouldn’t let themselves be used like pawns if they didn’t have any other option. She had been brave enough to show up to the crime scene to apologize to him in person after what she did, not caring about being forgiven, and he hadn’t even given what she had said a second thought. Knowing Weaver, Rogers would have concluded that the old bastard probably didn’t even give her the entire picture and used her good intentions in an ill manner befitting the man’s deceitful ways, leading her to think it was for the best. 

This leads to Rogers making a step in the right direction. It doesn’t take more than Roni’s small nudge of advice to get him to internally forgive Tilly and go in search of her, eventually offering a chess set to help pass the time with a weekly game and a friend who’d listen if she’d accept. From then on, Rogers and Tilly both grow and begin to trust again, trying to protect the other from getting harmed as the consequence of another’s scheme.

[ace-cf-cups]

That green jacket Tilly is wearing a lot that's a bit big for her ( see my last reblog )?

It used to be Weaver's but at some point he gave it to her because he "couldn't have his best eyes and ears come down with a cold" ( that's his excuse, of course, just like the dali regularly "mixing up" his order and giving him Tilly's favorite sandwiches is — he just cares about her, a lot, but can’t exactly buy her a new jacket because: 1) he's got a reputation of a heartless bastard to uphold, 2) Tilly might not accept it, 3) it might compromise their informant-cop arrangement )

[duckcruz]

Sister…. I got girls on my mind.

[rawbutprecious]

✿ (for Tilly from Weaver and for Alice from Rumple)

headcanon meme

Tilly thinks Weaver's marmalade sandwiches are the best she's ever had. He figured the best bread to marmalade combo for her.

She likes that he comes and checks on her because she feels like most people don't care about her. It makes her feel special.

[blackros78]

[jeevesreads]

15 Messy Marriage Romance Books: Convenient, Forced & Arranged

I love a romance novel where the characters find themselves married to someone unexpected, no matter the situation. Whether it’s a true marriage of convenience (where the couple has something to gain from the union), an arranged marriage to a business ally, or a lighter mafia-style forced marriage, these unlikely romances can develop in a variety of ways. I love the tension that comes from two…

[human-nxture]

@ilwinsgarden

Detective Weaver's iconic first appearance in season 7 episode 1 "Hyperion Heights"

[smashorpassgilf]

Well, we finally did it. We have officially reached over 1000 polls on the blog..... so it's tournament time. Some of These elders reached this level at the beginning of the blog, some reached their level due to their acts in the public, but it's time for us to do an ultimate hot old person bracket.

Who's the brackets? Thanks to randomly mixing the names, these are the seeds to start with, with a total of 5 rounds. Each poll will be the standard week long and propaganda will be encouraged and welcome. In fact, I'll be swapping out photos with any better pictures reblogged.

Jennifer Tilly v Rekha

Ewan McGregor v Lucy Lawless

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan v Kōji Kikkawa

Eartha Kitt V Queen Ramonda

Lucy Liu v Ming Na Wen

Stevie Nick's v Ernie Hudson

Angela Bassett v Rachel Weisz

Andie macdowell v Blanche Devereaux

Bridget Christie v Sade Adu

Idris Elba v Michelle Yeoh

Sigourney Weaver v Trinity (newest matrix)

Tracy Chapman v Cassandra Peterson

Chaka Khan v Sophie Okonedo

Michelle Gomez v Gillian Anderson

Joan Jett v Missy Elliott

Mortician Addams (Wednesday) v Hiroyuki Sanada

Website I'll be using to track everything is here

Tournament will be tagged SOP T

Objects will not be included only due to them being a late addition to the blog but still taking up a large part of the top polls

[saltyunordinaryprincess]

Shopping Trip

Continued from here [X]

@bluebellestorybrooke

Tilly's smile faded as she looked up at Belle, her eyes almost clouding over a bit. "I did... I promise. I told Weaver I wouldn't miss a dose when he invited me to stay this winter." The girl blinked a couple times, chasing away the fog as an image of a cracked tea cup seemed to appear in her memory but only for a brief moment before it was gone and already forgotten. "I promise Mrs Detective,, I did...." Tilly's smile started to reappear tho it didn't reach her eyes this time.

[critical-quoter]

July Books

I had a bit of out-of-town traveling and flying. I would like to attribute this to the amount of books finished, but frankly, my reading speed has no true rhyme or reason. **Also, I've far surpassed my reading goal for the year!**

Throne of Power - Rina Kent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Throne of Vengeance - Rina Kent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Come Back for Me - Corinne Michaels ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Black Ties & White Lies - Kat Singleton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bromantic Puckboy - Eden Finley & Saxon James ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Freed - E. L. James ⭐️⭐️ Sing for Me - Brittany Ann ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hollow Heathens - Nicole Fiorina⭐️ Bridesmaid for Hire - Meghan Quinn ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Queen of the Night - A. N. Stauber & Molly Briar ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Little Slice of Hell - Clio Evans ⭐️⭐️ What I Should Have Done - R. L. Atkinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rivalry - Lisa Suzanne ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Soulmate Equation - Christina Lauren ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Broken Vows - Catharina Maura ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Home Game - Odette Stone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Come Break My Heart Again - C. W. Farnsworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Accidentally Ours - Erin Hawkins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Key to the Dark - Alexa Michaels ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Her Soul to Take - Harley Laroux ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Sight of You - Ashley Mack ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Things I Should Have Said - Kelsey Humphreys ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Her Soul for Revenge - Harley Laroux ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Faked - Karla Sorensen ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Mindf*ck Series - S. T. Abby (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ One Pucking Love - Ellie Wade ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Keeping Her - Angela Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Saving Him - Angela Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Reason Why - Lacy Channell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Not My Coach - Pru Schuyler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ready for You - Samantha Leigh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Morally Corrupt - Veronica Lancet ⭐️ Forget Me Not - Karissa Kinword ⭐️⭐️ In the Light of Sin - Juniper Nye ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Scoring Chance - Teagan Hunter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lord of Bones - Aiden Pierce & R. K. Pierce ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Watching Ames - R. Handler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Scandalous - L. J. Shen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Pucking Wrong Man - C. R. Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Flawless - Elsie Silver (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stolen Heir - Sophie Lark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Butcher & Blackbird - Brynne Weaver (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Chalet Love in Alaska - Ellyne ⭐️⭐️ Skin of a Sinner - Avina St. Graves ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heartless - Elsie Silver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tailgates and Twist of Fate - Haley Rhoades ⭐️⭐️ Irresistible - Willow Aster ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dom - S. J. Tilly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shattered Veil - Deborah Garland ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ King of Sloth - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fallen Star - Heather Ashley ⭐️ Mile High - Liz Tomforde ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leather & Lark - Brynne Weaver (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Hit - Julie Weaver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Holdout - Jacqueline Snowe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Comeback Pact - E. M. Moore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

61 books total books read for July 2024

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

Rumple vs rumple

Dark one vs. Dark Light One

Imp vs man

Double dose of rumple for us all!

IT WONT BE REAL

HE DID IT AND THEY'RE IN LOVE AND GIDEON IS A BABY AGAIN!!!!

A FRESH BEGINNING!!!!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

EVERYONE IS GETTING THEIR HAPPILY EVER AFTERS AND IM CRYING

Love these shots of rumbelle.

THE LAST FUCKING SUPPER KILLED ME INCACKLED AND LAUGHED SO MUCH

Season seven bitches

Aka the season I basically fast forwarded everything except rumple scenes.

Love Weaver in these shots.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I LOVE THEM

TO SEE THE WORLD

The apple drinks had me laughing

Love how he adopts street urchin children.

Love tilly

[priscilla9993]

Tale of Coming of Age, Not Coming Out

Sometimes, Ouat gets it right, happy accident or intentional. With its history of queerbaiting (Mulan romantically tragic) and cash grab representation (Dorothy and Red underdeveloped), Once could have rehashed a bare bones version of “queer representation” with Robin and Alice’s love story. There was a likely chance considering Tiera was originally told she’d be slated for 3 eps, Rose for 5 eps, and their eventual characters’ storylines mainly played out in s7b. 

Now, I’m going to play the Devil’s Advocate and be like but wait, wasn’t Robin and Alice’s kiss in season 7 episode 10, the mid-season finale, a coming out moment, shocking to the audience that Robin and Alice were lgbtq?

Okay, you’re right, if you only watched the season or overheard at face value that the episode built up to two females aka Alice and Robin kissing as the Dark Curse loomed. However, coming out implies that initial assumption that the two are straight and happened to realize who they wanted to be romantically with, showing that to the world, family, or in this case, the audience. 

Author’s Note: Yes, while I do think any coming out story or queer representation is important, I feel that the media and Hollywood use that to pander with the bare minimum, doing what sells headlines, is dramatic, or can be easily pushed into the background. Sometimes, its inclusion is played out for laughs or as a flawed foil to put heterosexual ships on a pedestal. Ouat is no exception with its history and having two white attractive straight oriented blonde actresses play into an easily accessible trope of lesbian romance compared to the rarer gay/trans/non-binary category. That said, it’s a PG fairytale soap opera that aired domestically on Disney owned ABC and internationally elsewhere. Who needs reality to be the downer when we can live in a fluffy fantasy where love and hope is all that matters? Don’t get me started on the toxic fans or parts of the Ouat fandom. Rather than rioting a personal projected attack against a dislike, make verbalizing not liking something or a ship normal again. That out of the way, it may have taken 7 seasons to have a queer love story that’s taken seriously and might even be comparable to main ships, but it’s still something by having it canon and not end in ‘bury the gays’. I’m looking at you Supernatural. 

That said, into the rabbit hole we go!

Alice, since the start of her centric ep, 7x04 Beauty, winked and teased at Rumple by asking, “Are you looking for a prince?” regarding the ball and as Tilly mentioned to Weaver, “I had an ex-girlfriend who worked for [Victoria Belfrey] once.” Unless considered a blink and miss moment instead of casual on the nose comments, it’s clear Alice is queer or lesbian, cursed or not. 7x10 continues laying it on as Alice worries about her love, saying to Killian, her dad, “But Papa, if it happens, I will lose her.” He’s unfazed and responds with comfort, “Don’t say that, love, don’t! True love can win out over so much more.” Even though an act of true love has only been seen in Ouat as a magical solution to a curse when two people, familial or romantic, love each other and believe in magic, it can be taken here to validate and uplift that Alice and Robin’s love is strong enough to connect and endure. He also knows who to deliver her letter addressed ‘My Love’ to, without a mention of a name.

At the start of the episode 7x10, Robin worries and says, “If [the coven of the eight] are here, I have to warn-” to which Zelena, her mom, comforts her, “Don’t worry. Look, darling, we’ll warn everyone. We’ll protect our loved ones,” and tells Regina, “She’s got a case of young love.” Although Robin was a baby prior to s7 and we don’t get a clear look into her as a person before 7x10, it’s certain that Zelena knows who Robin wants to warn and is in love with, enough to nearly run aimlessly around the New Enchanted Forest for.

Assuming the audience is cued in on the love storyline, Robin looking for her love and Alice already explicitly hinting at her sexuality, their parents both supportive to them, the shock value should come from not their sexual orientation but rather who they're in love with. Instead of being reduced to their labels, Alice and Robin’s love story is about two people who come to know and love each other, their differing sexualities being an added bonus.

So, elephant in the room out of the way, where does the coming of age come in?

Well, in the characters’ growth and relatability as Alice and Robin both strive to be more than their past of summed up parts and the people they come from. TLDR: It’s all about finding their place in the world and discovering who they want to be rather than letting their past and others’ views define them.

Girl in the Tower vs Tower Girl

You could say it means the same thing, but like hear me out. Double meaning, Great Gatsby style. Was it intentional? In Ouat fashion, it usually is.

Taken literally, the first represents a girl that happens to be in a tower while the latter emphasizes how a tower is a characteristic of the girl. In context, when Robin first meets a spy lurking to watch a papa with a poisoned heart, she puts two and two together and curiously remarks to Alice, “Wow. So you’re the Girl in the Tower.” 

Just like how Alice is known for being in Wonderland, she’s also given names by strangers who know Killian, seen as “Nook’s kid” and the “Girl in the Tower”. Robin unintentionally gives away how interested she is in Alice, the referential girl in the phrase, caring about her enough to keep track of descriptive names and stories of someone she’s never met until then.

Despite being caged in Robin’s trap, Alice rebuttals uncomfortably, “I got out of that tower years ago.” 

The phrase also gives way to the way Alice thinks and feels about herself. She took notice of the ‘in’ bit, probably gravitating on the word ‘tower’, and wanted to clear the air. Alice defends and distances herself in term, separating away from any connection or fondness to the tower. By saying she got out of ‘that tower’, she claims she’s no longer trapped inside the tower and feigns indifference, as if it's a tower out of many instead of the home and her world before the Troll helped her escape.  

Later on, Robin nicknames Alice as Tower Girl, in fondness, awe, and sometimes disbelief at how Alice exists, seeing and going about the world as she does. Robin only says Alice’s name in moments of sensitivity and as a grounding basis, sarcasm and jokes out the window. To give a list of Robin’s usage of the nickname, it’s after Alice: claims the Troll is her friend instead of a monster flattening villages, is led by Robin through a humorous string of homonyms regarding riding a bug and having a whole life held in a smartphone, has differing views on goals, and tackles Robin upon her aim at the Troll. 

From the starting flashback in 7x14 to the Troll destroying the Tower in frustration, the tower is a part of Alice as much as she was a part of it. Being physically free of the tower wasn’t enough as it haunted her, either on the lips of others or how much she wanted her freedom to be the solution to making reality okay, happiness attainable. When Alice was trapped, she had hope that things were better outside and could be sheltered in the bubble of love her papa gave her. Alice was the girl in the tower, away from the judgement of society, unhurt by the reality outside her scope despite her imprisoned situation seeming bleak. 

Surprisingly, in the last time we hear “Tower Girl” being uttered in 7x14, it’s straight from Alice’s mouth after she says goodbye to the Troll in front of the tower, confronting the things she left behind and couldn’t be free of, coming to terms with her childhood and past. At the age of 18, Alice escaped the tower and ran away to multiple realms on tons of adventures to explore more while on her quest to find a cure. However, there was nowhere she wanted to be more than back home. In the end, she inadvertently did come home, say her honest truth, had someone by her side to hear her out, and realized that the tower didn’t have to be her enemy or her stopping point. By saying, “Goodbye, Tower Girl,” to the broken tower, we get the sense that she redefines herself as not one held back or prisoner to the tower, but one that keeps moving forward in spite of her original circumstances, staying true to herself.

Conforming to Expectations vs Accepting Themselves

Imagine growing up in a small town like Storybrooke where people are larger than life and everyone is intertwined with legends. If fairytales inspired joy, I doubt they did for Robin who had bigger shoes to fill than most. Robin Hood-Mills, daughter of the powerless Wicked Witch and the deceased Robin Hood who saved the world from a vengeful god. To be a powerful witch or leading archer? Both required skills and inadvertently influenced comparisons to be made.

Of course, although her mother had a lot of talent, Robin didn’t have much nor was she allowed to practice magic except in secret. Considering Zelena probably saw what power did to their family and her lack of magic to protect them both from danger, the forbidding of magic was an extreme safeguard. 

So, with small minded people in a school where everyone ages K-12 went, the deck was stacked against her. It wouldn’t be surprising if Robin was a goody two shoes initially, but learned that doesn’t build street cred or help make friends. If she was to survive school, Robin would have to fit in or stand out. And how did she do that with peer pressure and expectations to conform to? By pretending to be someone she’s not, becoming popular and cool. With that, Robin could make a name for herself, gaining attention and acceptance from her peers, leaning towards while stepping away from her parents’ shadows. 

What’s cool to high schoolers in Storybrooke might be being good at magic, making things look effortless, breaking rules, and not caring what anyone thinks. Thievery was frowned upon, but getting away with lockpicking, hotwiring, and stealing earned cool points and recognition in others. Robin might not have powerful magic, but in 7x11, she gets Regina to help her and her friends practice magic in the old vault via Cora’s spellbook. However, Robin doesn’t want to be popular per say; she wants to be accepted and loved for who she is, discover what she really wants with no pretenses.

If Storybrooke wasn’t the answer, anywhere else was. Throughout the season, Robin/Margot runs away to find and be themselves while longing to be home with supportive loved ones. In 7x11, Robin makes a potion to summon Mother Nature, which whisks her away to Gothel in another realm, claiming to have run away. Robin tells her mom upon shunning her away, “I am my own person, one you refuse to let me grow into,” and “I didn’t love magic. I just felt like I was supposed to… and there’s all these things I’m supposed to be good at,” after getting saved.  In 7x14, Robin admits to Alice that she hotwired and stole Emma’s yellow bug, to be away from Storybrooke and only getting away for “eight glorious minutes”.

By the end of 7x11, Robin has reconciled with Zelena; Robin trusts her mother’s good intentions while Zelena vows to support Robin on any endeavor. However, her journey hasn’t ended, even in the New Enchanted Forest. In 7x14, Robin vows to honor her father’s legacy by killing the Troll and becoming the villagers’ hero. She retreads all her mistakes in medieval fashion until she wants to defend Alice from the mob, realizing that protecting those who need it matters most to her and connects her to her dad. Making peace with her parents and her insecure self, Robin decides to forge her own path and be more honest. 

Margot has a similar arc of wanting to change and see change. While less of a jerk and more open to different viewpoints as a mature traveler compared to Robin, she regressed in terms of relationships with her mom, Kelly, and never feeling like she’s treated like an adult, being in the know as equals. In 7x10, Margot is mentioned to have had a job at the bar, a ticket to Amsterdam, turned away from college at Vassar, is currently in Phuket, and never coming back home out of her mom’s lack of coolness. Lots to unpack, but the point is Margot decides to come back after 7x11 when her mom calls saying she’s changed and wants to talk, only worrying about Margot’s safety. By 7x16, Margot fights with her mom, claiming that she left in the first place because they’ve “never been able to communicate”. Hurt, Margot spills, “I am done being patient with you. All I’ve ever done is wait for you to change. You know what? I never should have come back.” 

Margot hates the lies and sinking feeling inside that her mom doesn’t trust her or might be in trouble. She doesn’t give her mom a chance until Tilly suggests that Margot seems amazing and wise, but her mom might be not avoiding the truth for a good reason. They make up, Margot giving her mom a bit more time and eventually chooses to stay in Hyperion Heights regardless of anyone else’s life choices or opinions on her.

Either way, Robin and Alice go through their own arcs, dealing with things we can relate to: feeling alone or unheard, being left in the dark, craving acceptance, doubting self, running away from problems, and worrying about people’s perceptions. Luckily, both women find their way on what they want and who they want to be; they become individuals that grow and adapt to their environments while learning to stay true to themselves, accidentally falling in love during the process. 

[lenific]

Anon asked for Weaver waking up in S7, without Rumpelstiltskin's memories returning.

---

Life itself was a surprise.

His eyelids were ladden full with gravity, stubborn against being lifted or making even the smallest twitch.

Surrendering to their will, he slept again, distantly grateful for the lack of pain.

(There was a weight threaded between his fingers, too. A familiar weight. Like his heartbeat or his breathing. He didn't think to be grateful for it. He was alive, therefore Belle was at his side.)

When consciousness returned, he had already forgotten the sleep-fogged musings, and this time his eyes opened with minimum effort.

"Hey, sweetheart," he whispered, unsurprised by his wife's presence. Of course Annabelle would be by his side.

She quickly wiped her eyes, and he pretended he was still too tired to have noticed the tears. "Hello, love." Her hand tightened a little around his. "How are you feeling? Do you need me to call in the nurse?"

He shook his head.

His side ached, but not worse than an arrow wound. No. Knife. A knife wound. "I got the good drugs, I think," he said with true amusement. A smirk took a little more work to summon, but he managed. "I'm in bed with the woman of my dreams. Couldn't be better."

Annabelle smiled at the compliment, but gave him a quick check all the same. He deserved the suspicion. Through the course of their marriage, she had seen him shrug off various wounds.

Finally she nodded.

"I'll just get you some water, then."

As she stood, Weaver took the opportunity to glance down and check the damage. He had honestly expected never to wake up, once he heard the shot go off.

Thank goodness for Tilly's shaky aim.

And talking about Tilly...

With any luck, she'd run away and he could pin this disaster on some idiot.

"Sweetheart, what's happened since I was brought here?"

"You mean, did Tilly get out of it?"

He nodded, unsurprised that Annabelle had caught on to his main worry.

"No. She called an ambulance. Rode with you to the hospital." Holding the paper cup, she was careful to place it in his hand and wait until he'd sipped from it before continuing. "Then she tried to confess, Rogers said. He took her to the station, so he is keeping an eye on her."

That wasn't too bad. His partner could keep a level head, and he had something of a soft spot for the girl himself.

"I can work with that."

Annabelle rested a hand on his shoulder. "Rest for now, Robert. You can plot after the doctor checks you out."

He twisted his head to kiss her wrist. "Now that's lazy talk, dear. I can heal and think at the same time."

"At least promise to ask if you need help?"

His nose twitched at the thought, but he knew better than to deny her. "Of course, love. If I need to."

Annabelle sighed with open exasperation. "Good enough. For now."

The End

19/02/24