#also the dichotomy of worried young woman who desperately just wants to be able to interact with the world | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

templepurohit · 4 years ago

Photo

Shiva is the God of the yogis, self-controlled and celibate, while at the same time a remarkable lover of his spouse. He is the destroyer, following Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver, after which Brahma again creates the world and so on. Shiva is responsible for change, both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of destroying the ego, the false identification. Shiva’s first wife was goddess Sati. After the death of Sati, Shiva lost all interest in the world. He withdrew to his mountain top, Mount Kailash, and took residence in a cave where he immersed himself in intense meditation. Before the death of his beloved Sati, Shiva had given the boon of invulnerability to a demon named Taraka. When Shiva gave up the world and the heavens, Taraka realized that this was the perfect time to attack. Soon the demon had taken over both on heaven and earth and chaos reigned supreme everywhere. The Gods tried to do all in their power but in vain, ultimately they turned to Shiva at this dire hour. But Shiva was uninterested. According to one legend, even if Shiva wanted to do something he would not have been able to. When Sati died, Shiva also lost all his powers. The reason given for this in one of the stories of the sacred Hindu texts is that Sati is a reincarnation of Shakti and Shakti means power. So when Sati died Shiva lost his Shakti. He was powerless. Shakti represents the Energy, the force without which Shiva is incomplete. Origin of Goddess Parvati In their desperation, the Gods then turned to the goddess Shakti, imploring her to be of help. Shakti agreed to help and took the form of the goddess Parvati. Parvati was born to Himavan, the king of the mountains. Parvati means mountain as the Sanskrit word for “Parvati” is “Parvat”. An excerpt from Valmiki Ramayna describes the birth of Parvati ( Uma) and her marriage to Shiva. तस्याम् गंग इयम् अभवत् ज्येष्ठा हिमवतः सुता | उमा नाम द्वितीया अभूत् कन्या तस्य एव राघव || १-३५-१६ “From Mena, this Ganga is emerged as an elder daughter to Himavanta, and a second daughter, by her name she is Uma, is also begotten by Himavanta, oh, Raghava… [1-35-16] उग्रेण तपसा युक्ताम् ददौ शैलवरः सुताम् | रुद्राय अप्रतिरूपाय उमाम् लोक नमस्कृताम् || १-३५-२१ “And that Uma who is unified with her rigorous sacrament thus became a reverential to all the worlds, and that best one among mountains, Himavanta, gave such a daughter to Rudra, an unequalled one in His aspect… [1-35-21] Parvati’s Love for Shiva Even as a young girl Parvati was in love with Lord Shiva. As she grew older, Parvati blossomed into a stunning woman filled with grace and beauty. While she captured the hearts of many kings and princes, she only had eyes for Shiva. There is a story which mentions that in an effort to win his love and affection she decided to visit the cave where he was meditating and started cleaning and decorating it. However, he remained unmoved by her love and dedication. She also tried bringing fruits for him but he remained steadfast in his meditation. Not once did he open his eyes or acknowledge the presence of Parvati. It is said that Parvati then turned to the Goddesses of Love and Longing, Priti and Rati the consorts of Kama, the God of love and passion. They turned the cave that Shiva meditated in, into a garden of pleasure, filled with flowers, trees, birds and bees. Once the cave was packed with enchantments and wonders, they called upon Lord Kama. Upon his arrival Kama wasted no time in shooting Shiva with the arrow of desire. The arrow had no effect on Shiva, he was however intensely angered at being disturbed. Enraged, Shiva opened his third eye and reduced Kama to ashes. With the destruction of Kama, Parvati lamented to the others Gods that love has been lost to the world. She reassured them however that when Shiva accepts Parvati as his wife, Kama will be reborn. Parvati had tried everything in her power to make Shiva notice her, but nothing worked. Finally she decided to do what Sati had done to win over Shiva. Parvati left all the riches and comfort of her father’s palace and went to live in the forest as an ascetic. It is said that in her trials, Parvati surpassed even the greatest ascetics. What she went through was even greater than what Sati, Shiva’s first consort, had endured. She went through the most rigorous self-mortifications from walking in the winter snow without clothing to sitting under the hot summer sun for days, to standing on one foot motionless for long hours to eating nothing for days and surviving on the sun’s nourishment. In fact her asceticism was so intense that it is said to have been equal to that of the great Shiva. Following in his footsteps, Parvati soon had utter control over her body and her mind. Parvati’s Tapasya generated great amounts of energy and heat. This heat and energy finally reached Shiva who was shaken out of his meditation. When he was finally back in the world, Shiva wondered what or who it was that had wrenched him out of his intense tapasya. He then heard the story of how Parvati in order to have Shiva as her husband went through much rigorous self-mortification and achieved a state of asceticism almost akin to that of himself. So impressed was he by her self-sacrifice that he immediately agreed to make Parvati his consort. The excerpts ( 61-64) from the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana gives a conversation between Shiva and Parvati, where Shiva tells Parvati : In this Varaha Kalpa, O goddess, you became Parvati obtained by Himavan through his penance, when the Chakshusha Manvantara has passed off. O beautiful lady, due to the anger of Daksha you had to be separated from me for the duration of a day of Brahma. Your span of life is the period of his six months. Marriage of Shiva and Parvati Shiva and Parvati were married in great pomp and celebration. The gods rejoiced to have Shiva back and married at the same time and the heavens blessed their union. After they were married Shiva and Parvati went back to Mount Kailash and made it their abode. It is said that once back at Mount Kailash, Shiva and Parvati proceeded to have such passionate love making that the Gods feared for the future of the world and were forced to go to Nandi and beg him to intervene! From this union, Lord Kama was reborn just as Parvati had foretold. Ever since then, Parvati and Shiva lived together in conjugal harmony, known to all as the perfect couple. Therefore, many know that Shiva and Parvati have the perfect marriage. The relationship of Shiva and Parvati has been depicted in many forms. Parvati is said to be the balancing factor in Shiva’s life only second to the intense meditation that he practices. When Shiva is angered and takes the form of Natraja, all the Gods worry that Shiva will destroy the entire cosmos, but it is Parvati who calms down the angry Lord by matching his fierce and destructive Tandava dance with her own slow, graceful steps thus complimenting him at his best and at his worst. Shiva’s personality is replete with dichotomies. On the one hand, Shiva is an ascetic who disappears from the mortal world, into Mount Kailash and meditates there. On the other hand, he is a fierce and angry God whose temper knows no bounds. He will destroy everything in his path. Through all this, Parvati brings him back to balance by pulling him towards the role of a householder. Shiv Parvati Mantra Swayamvar Parvati Mantra “Om Hreem Yoginim Yogini Yogeswari Yoga Bhayankari Sakala SthavaraJangamasya Mukha Hridayam Mama Vasam akarsha Akarshaya Namaha “ Meaning: In the first line, we praise Goddess Parvathi and in the second line, we request her to attract towards us. “Mama Vasam Akarsha” – means ‘attract towards me’. Benefits of Swayamvar Parvati Mantra Avoid Delay in marriage : Swayamvar Parvati is the most powerful mantra in removing all known & unknown obstacle in marriages. (Legend : Swayamvar parvati mantra being provided by great Sage Durvasa and recited by PARVATI to marry SHIVA. That is why it is called Swayamvara Parvati Mantra). Help in Love Marriage : “Swayamvara parvati”, best of Vashikaran Mantra, helps to Love and Marry and removes all obstacles in love & marriage provided that fate is in one’s favour. Happy Married Life : One must try this Swayamvar Parvati mantra if there is absence of happiness between husband and wife. Swayamvar parvati Mantra will help in improving positive vibration and also in increasing love between couples. Infertility (Problem in conceiving a baby) : Swayamvar parvati helps to induce positive vibration and helps in improving the love life between couples and helps a woman to conceive when fate is her favour. Avoid Divorce : By matching the wavelength and improving the understanding between people, Swayamvar parvati mantra helps in avoiding split between the couple. Swayamvar Parvati Mantra Procedure Take sankalpa (Sankalpa – Spiritual resolve/Vow) : An oath should be taken infront of Goddess with one’s name, relevant details (Parents name, Gothra, Nakshatra) and brief Goddess about one’s problem and inform Her that one does the japa 1008 times a day for 108 days with a request to remove the problems and help him/her to marry early/conceive or improve understanding. Time Taken for the Dhyana : 2 hours a day. Offerings : As usual, Deepam, Dhoop, Pushpam (Flowers), Phalam (Fruits), Naivedyam (Food) & Thamboolam (Betel leaves & nut) Aarti & Namaskarams (namaste) should be offered daily at the end of recitation of the Mantra. https://ift.tt/3sXKtTh

#Hinduism #Hindugods #india #vedas #mantras #spirituality

44 notes · View notes

stahlop · 5 years ago

Text

Once Upon a Time 3x02 “Lost Girl” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x111x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x032x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x152x16 2x17 2x18 2x19 2x20 2x21 2x22 3x01

This episode is all about knowing who you are. We have Emma who still feels like an orphan, despite having found her parents, Snow White who almost gives up her kingdom because she’s lost her way, and Rumple who feels like he’s still that coward from years ago. They all have to go through something to move past that hurt and shame inside of them and become a Savior, a Queen, and a hero. Unfortunately, the whole storyline is really slow.

Summary: Pan gives Emma a map to find Henry, but warns her that only she can unlock the map when she admits who she really is. In the past, Snow White is having doubts about taking back the kingdom, until Charming takes her to an enchanted weapon that helps her injure the Evil Queen.

Opening: Sword in the Stone

Character Observations:

Gold: He immediately cuts off his shadow and gives it his dagger to hide so that even he can’t find it. I guess if you’re magical you can have your shadow taken from you without risk of death? Or maybe it’s different for people from the Enchanted Forest then from Earth? Not sure. Either way, Gold no longer has his shadow or his dagger. Gold is looking at the doll when he hears rustling. A hooded figure steals the doll and it turns out to be, Belle? Gold is confused about how Belle is there, and she doesn’t really answer his questions about it, just asks her own about his wardrobe. She thought it was his past, he tells her it’s now his future so he can save Henry. She tells him that there’s still hope and that he would never go completely dark again. He almost kisses her before he realizes that something is amiss. At first he asks her questions about Storybrooke, but then thinks that she’s a trick of Pan’s. She tells him he conjured her. Gold is understandably confused about that, because he seems to think he has everything under control, so Belle asks him why he conjured her. Belle brings him to a ledge overlooking the ocean. Is this the same place Henry and Pan flew from? It looks like it, but they may also only have one cliff and have to dress it up differently each time. They argue about why he’s brought Belle to the island. He claims he doesn’t know why he’d imagine her there and she insists he does (is he literally arguing with himself right now if Belle is a figment of his imagination?). He finally admits he’s a coward just like his father. He finally admits that Pan wanted him to leave Henry and Gold would get to live. Belle says he’s afraid he’ll make the selfish choice because he knows Henry will lead to his death. Belle reminds him how he spent most of his life looking for Bae after he abandoned him. He wouldn’t do the same to Henry. He needs to let go of the past. We finally find out that the doll is the last thing Gold’s father gave him before he left. So that’s why he’s so sentimental about it. Belle tells him to let go of the past so he doesn’t make the same mistakes. She leaves and Gold drops the doll over the cliff’s edge. Except the damn thing keeps coming back like a bad penny. It falls from the sky back at Gold’s feet. He sets it on fire and crushes it beneath his foot, but there it is, completely unharmed, just behind the next bush. Gold decides it’s probably best to keep it on him after that. But he looks really worried, which is not a look we normally see on him.

Emma: While Gold is busy trying to move past his past, Emma is being forced to relive hers in order to save Henry. Hook is leading them to a ridge to be able to see the whole island. Emma defends him when Regina is being a bitch again. Emma thanks Mary Margaret for some water and Mary Margaret asks her to call her mom instead. Emma is not comfortable with that. Only in life and death situations. Do you not know your daughter yet, Mary Margaret? They reach the ridge and find the Dark Jungle has grown more than when Hook was last there. Emma worries that it will be too late when they find Henry. Mary Margaret assures her that it’s never too late. Um, if Henry is dead then it will be too late. Emma is woken by the sound of the Lost Boys crying. She ventures away from their camp (though she does try to wake the others, but they’re all sound asleep). Emma finally meets Pan and she immediately puts a sword to his throat (good job, Emma). He tells Emma he’s there to help her find Henry. He’ll give her a map that only she can open if she stops denying who she really is. Regina wants to use magic to unlock the map, but Emma is determined to figure it out herself. She also doesn’t want to risk ruining the map. Emma tries naming things about herself to unlock the map with no success. Mary Margaret and David are trying to help her, but they are so overeager that Emma is clearly uncomfortable with them there. And while Mary Margaret tells her not to hold anything back, it’s very obvious that she doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Everyone thinks Emma saying she’s the Savior will unlock the map, but it doesn’t. Regina decides to use a locator spell on the map to find Pan’s camp. Emma does not look convinced this is the right decision. Way to be a leader, Emma. And then Regina tells Emma to be a leader and lead them into the Dark Jungle after the map after Emma said she didn’t want to use magic to find Henry. WTF! Regina snarks at Emma if she’s ready to thank her yet. Emma says she will, but then the map stops. The gang goes on ahead convinced that Pan is there, but Emma looks very uncertain about everything. They do come across a camp, but no one is there. Emma sees someone who she thinks is Henry, but it’s actually Pan dressed in Henry’s clothes. She wants to know where Henry is, but Pan tells her she broke the rules, she doesn’t care, she wants Henry. Pan tells her cheaters never win, so the Lost Boys attack. Emma has a little freak out when she gets the upper hand on one of the Lost Boys. Pan reminds Emma that the map will only reveal itself when she stops denying who she really is. Mary Margaret and David try to lift Emma’s spirits, again, but she rebuffs them, again. Mary Margaret goes to talk to her privately, but Emma doesn’t want to talk to her. She is too afraid of hurting Mary Margaret’s feelings about how she felt when she was fighting the Lost Boy. Emma claims that she stopped fighting him because he was just a boy, but Mary Margaret keeps pushing her. Eventually, Emma says the boy reminded him of her when she was in the foster care system; a lost girl who desperately wanted a family and couldn’t understand what she’d done to make her parents give her up. On Neverland, she feels like an orphan. Bravo to Jennifer Morrison and Ginnifer Goodwin on this scene. I know it made me cry. The map finally unlocks. Emma apologizes to Mary Margaret, but Mary Margaret knows it’s the truth and that its her job to change the way Emma feels. They tell the rest of the group that the map is unlocked and they make preparations to leave. Hook flirts with Emma, but in a sincere way, and she seems slightly uncomfortable about this new dynamic. Pan comes by while Emma is alone and picking berries and she tries her best to ignore his taunts. But then he says she never forgave her parents for abandoning her and Henry hasn’t forgiven her either. Which, I call Bull. Shit. Henry has told Emma numerous times he knows why she had to give him up. And he didn’t have a hellish childhood like Emma did. Pan says by the time she gets to him, Henry will never want to leave the island. Emma’s not buying what Pan’s selling and walks off, but not before Pan gets out one more quip about her leaving the island an orphan.

Snow/Mary Margaret: Snow has just been woken by Charming and proposed to and wants to take back the kingdom. She has now gone to a village in her kingdom and makes a passionate speech about fighting the Evil Queen, but the villagers are too scared to fight with her. Then the Evil Queen comes to threaten them some more. Snow and Charming both grab their swords, but the Evil Queen ties Charming up while she offers Snow a deal. She wants Snow to give up her claim to the throne and exile herself. She wants Snow to live a life where she sees everything that should have been hers taken over by the Evil Queen. She wants Snow to get down on her knees and swear on her father’s grave that the kingdom belongs to the Evil Queen. Snow wonders what happens if she doesn’t, so the Evil Queen grabs the nearest villager (a young girl) and starts magically choking her. Snow runs after the Evil Queen with her sword, but the Evil Queen poufs away leaving Snow sprawled on the ground. The Evil Queen gives Snow a deadline and says she’ll start killing a loyal subject a day if Snow doesn’t take the deal. So this is different from the way things currently are, how? The Evil Queen tells her she may have been a princess but she’ll never be a queen. Snow is pretty much done at this point. Her confidence is shot and she wants to take the queen’s deal. Charming says the Evil Queen will still menace the people but now they’ll have no one to protect them. Snow doesn’t think she did such a great job protecting them today. Grumpy says as her friends, the dwarfs will do whatever she decides. David reminds her that she’s Snow White, but she’s not sure who that is anymore. This is an interesting dichotomy here, because Charming only knows her as the Bandit Princess who tried to rob from him. He doesn’t know the innocent Snow who had everything her heart desired from her father and who grew up with Regina as a stepmother. So when he calls her Snow White he’s referring to the strong woman he met in the woods, whereas Snow doesn’t know who she is anymore, bandit or princess or both. Snow makes up her mind to take the exile deal since they’ll all be alive and can live together. Snow is working off some anger by doing target practice, but she hasn’t hit a target yet. Charming tells her he made a deal with Rumplestiltskin to find a weapon that can help her defeat the Evil Queen. She wants to know how the weapon can help her defeat the Evil Queen. He tells her by showing the Evil Queen who Snow really is. He then helps her with her stance and she shoots the arrow into the bullseye. They get to the weapon and it’s Excalibur, the sword in the stone. Charming can’t remove it from the stone and offers for Snow to try, but she doesn’t think she’ll be able to if he couldn’t get it out. Charming tells her the legend states only the true ruler can get the sword out. Snow is able to get it out, and she is shocked! Snow is chock full of confidence when she sees the Evil Queen. Snow is not taking the deal. This time the Evil Queen starts choking Grumpy. Charming reminds her that she can defeat the Evil Queen because she pulled the sword from the stone. This time when Snow goes after the Evil Queen and she poufs away, Snow is smart enough to swing behind her and she ends up cutting the Evil Queen’s cheek. Snow is in awe of what she’s done, the Evil Queen is now shocked. Snow tells her this is her kingdom and she will fight for it. The village rejoices. Snow calls upon Rumplestiltskin to pay the price for Charming, but he tells her he didn’t help her prince. She doesn’t believe him since she’s holding Excalibur, but Rumplestiltskin tells her it’s a fake and the real Excalibur is in Camelot. And I’m not sure what’s up with Ginnifer Goodwin’s acting in this scene, because she’s really hamming it up. She reminds me of how Bailey Madison plays young Snow. Which is great for a child, but not for a grown woman. Snow is adamant that the sword must be Excalibur because she was able to strike the Evil Queen, but Rumplestiltskin’s not having it and he takes the necklace from her neck for wasting his time. Snow comes back to Charming and the dwarfs, pissed as hell. She wants to know why he planted a false Excalibur. He just wanted her to realize that she has the strength inside her. They kiss, all is well.

Mary Margaret is now trying to get Emma to realize who she is, although she won’t like it in the end. We start with her trying to get Emma to call her mom, like she did in Storybrooke. Emma’s not so comfortable with that when they’re not about to die. Mary Margaret says she gets it, but the second Emma walks past her, her face falls in disappointment. When they realize they can’t see Pan’s camp from the ridge, Emma worries that they’re going to be too late to save Henry, but Mary Margaret, in her hopeful manner, tells Emma that it’s never too late. After Emma gets the map Mary Margaret reminds Emma that Pan is playing a game, so that means they can win. Emma is trying to unlock the map and Mary Margaret and David are acting like cheerleaders. It’s actually really annoying. Like they’re literally sitting across from her cheering her on and giving words of encouragement, but they’re also trying to get her to admit to being the Savior, which is not the answer Pan is looking for because the map is still blank. Regina uses her magic to find Pan’s camp and when they get there, no one is there and Mary Margaret thinks maybe Regina’s magic didn’t work. Regina gets pissed that Mary Margaret is blaming her for something going wrong, again. I think Mary Margaret has every right to blame Regina, it’s not like her magic is usually used for good. And usually when she uses it, things tend to go wrong. Anyway, Pan has the Lost Boys attack and David gets his jacket ripped by an arrow possibly laced with Dreamshade while saving Mary Margaret. She notices that Emma is kind of freaking out over one of the Lost Boys after the fight ends. Once again, Mary Margaret starts spouting off platitudes and Emma is just not having it. She follows Emma when she goes off by herself and tells her they need to keep fighting. Emma thinks they’ve already lost because saying she’s the Savior hasn’t revealed anything. Mary Margaret realizes that Emma isn’t who she thinks she is, or at least tries to hide who she used to be, and asks why she freaked out with the Lost Boy. Emma is really trying not to delve into the past to upset Mary Margaret, but she keeps pushing her. Eventually, Emma blurts out about feeling like an orphan and wanting parents and crying herself to sleep at night and all the things she knows Mary Margaret doesn’t need to know, or Emma didn’t want her to know. And Mary Margaret is crying and feeling guilty the whole time. Luckily, this revelation opens the map. Emma doesn’t understand why, but Mary Margaret does. Emma finally admitted she still feels like an orphan, despite having found her parents is what she’s denied about herself. Emma tells Mary Margaret she’s sorry for feeling that way, but Mary Margaret accepts that it’s the truth, and it’s her job to change the way she feels by being her mother.

Charming/David: Charming is all about empowering his love to do what he thinks is best for her. She’s scared (obviously) of the Evil Queen, especially since no one wants to help her fight, so he has to convince her that she’s still the feisty bandit he met in the forest that didn’t take any guff from anyone. But she doesn’t know who she is anymore. Snow decides to take exile. Charming isn’t happy about that. Grumpy accuses him of only wanting to be with Snow for her kingdom, despite that he woke her with True Love’s Kiss. Charming is offended. They tell him that if he wants to change Snow’s mind they need to do it without their help. Charming goes to Rumplestiltskin for help. Rumple can’t help him. Charming knows he must have something, just name his price. Charming goes to Snow who says she won’t change her mind about exile, but Charming tells her about a magic weapon that can help her defeat the Evil Queen by showing her who Snow really is. Snow eventually agrees. They ride to the weapon, which happens to be Excalibur. Charming can’t get the sword out because he’s not the true ruler of the land. But Snow gets it out easily, and Charming reiterates it’s because she is the true ruler of the land. The Evil Queen comes to exile Snow, but when she refuses she starts to choke Grumpy. Snow doesn’t know what to do, but Charming tells her she can do this, and helps give her some of her confidence back. Snow manages to nick the Evil Queen and she tells her she will fight for her kingdom. Charming couldn’t look anymore prouder or turned on by that. They all rejoice when the Evil Queen poufs off. Charming is staring into the lake looking like a proper prince when the dwarfs apologize to him for calling him a gold digger. They drink, but then Snow comes back from meeting with Rumple and is pissed because she found out Charming lied to her about Excalibur. Charming looks like a husband who’s just been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing when Snow confronts him and it’s hilarious. He tells her he needed her to believe in something he already knew. Snow’s freaking out about having stood up to the Evil Queen, but Charming tells her she did that all on her own. The lie about Excalibur just gave her a little push. She kisses him and they’re all good now.

David, on the other hand, is being an ass and a liar, when he’s not being Emma’s cheerleader that is. If you are on a strange island that you’ve never been on with someone who has been on that island and lived there, shouldn’t you listen to them and not fight them on every single little thing? Because that’s how David is acting toward Hook, and it’s really annoying. I’m really confused as to why David is leading the group when he has no idea where he’s going. Then, Hook pulls his arm back as he’s about to machete his way through some Dreamshade, and David barely listens to the reasons why he shouldn’t hack through the thorns. Hook gives his suggestion about which way to go, and David decides to go a different route, and everyone follows him! I get that Hook is the ‘bad guy’, but do they all really not trust him enough that they’ll follow David who has no clue what he’s doing? They eventually make it to the ridge but they can’t see anything so they bed down for the night. After Emma receives the map from Pan, Regina wants to use magic to unlock it, but everyone is against that, including David who agrees with Hook about not breaking Pan’s rules. Wow! David is actually agreeing with Hook! Who’d have thunk it? Emma is trying to figure out who she is to unlock the map and Mary Margaret and David are cheering her on. Okay, they’re lending moral support by building her up positively, but they’re just really annoying when they do it. David thinks using magic on the map is a bad idea and Hook agrees with him. David doesn’t like agreeing with Hook. Regina uses magic to find Pan, David once again takes the lead. But Pan isn’t happy they broke the rules so the Lost Boys attack, and David ends up getting sliced by a Dreamshade laced arrow. Except he tells Mary Margaret it just sliced his jacket and that’s it. Apparently, keeping the truth from his wife to ‘protect her’ is something he hasn’t stopped doing. David and Mary Margaret try to talk to Emma, but she’s not up for their cheeriness. David attempts to go talk to her again, but Mary Margaret stops him to talk to her instead. Later on, after Emma unlocks the map and they camp down for the night, David goes off on his own to reveal that he did indeed get sliced by the arrow, and we can see that his veins around the cut (which has also stopped bleeding) have started to turn black due to the Dreamshade. Looks like David is in real trouble.

The Evil Queen/Regina: The Magic Mirror informs The Evil Queen that Charming has awoken Snow with True Love’s Kiss. She doesn’t seem that angry, just upset that her plan didn’t last that long. The Evil Queen interrupts Snow’s speech to the villagers about taking back the kingdom, noting that they don’t seem too enthused to help her. She offers Snow a deal: declare her queen and put herself, Charming, and the dwarfs into exile. She tells Snow that killing her cursing her everlasting sleep hasn’t worked, and the better punishment would be to make her live in exile knowing that the queen has taken everything that was supposed to be Snow’s. That’s actually growth for the Evil Queen at this point. She’s looking at the bigger picture instead of right in the moment. Too bad it doesn’t stick. If Snow doesn’t take her deal, someone will pay the price. And to prove her point, she starts choking a young girl with her magic. Snow tries to go after her with her sword, but the Evil Queen just poufs away and tells her she has until sunset the next day to make up her mind or she’ll start killing a peasant a day. She also tells Snow to stop denying who she is; she may have been a princess, but Snow will never be queen. The next day the Evil Queen goes to Snow to ask her what her decision will be. Snow doesn’t take exile so The Evil Queen starts magically choking Grumpy. Snow once again goes after her with her sword, but the Evil Queen poufs behind her, and Snow manages to scratch her cheek with her sword. The Evil Queen is stunned. She wasn’t expecting Snow to be able to hurt her. Apparently, this makes her change her mind about killing a villager a day, because now she’s talking about an all out war. Hey, Evil Queen. You are right up in Snow’s face right now. Grab her heart and crush it. No one could stop you at this point. Or send a fireball to kill the entire village or even Charming. I don’t understand why she has all this power and she’s really just all talk. Anyway, she poufs away probably to go lick her wounds.

Regina is all about not listening and whining this episode. Seriously, she’s just so annoying. First she complains about traipsing through the forest when she could have just magicked them all up to the ridge they’re headed to. But Hook points out that she doesn’t know where it is because of the thickness of the jungle. Then she follows David instead of Hook, who actually knows the island. She even throws Hook a look that basically says David will never trust him, and it’s weird. When they get to the ridge and see the Dark Jungle has grown more since Hook was last there and they can’t see the camp, Hook suggests bedding down for the night and Regina is outraged that Hook would suggest sleeping when her son is in danger and possibly suffering. Notice that Regina always refers to Henry as her son and acts like no one is serious about saving him. They are all on Neverland to save Henry! Hook tells her they need rest if they want to save Henry. Regina is not happy about this (spoiler, she’s never happy). When Pan gives Emma the map she immediately wants to use magic on it to unlock it (what happened to the magic is like a drug arc she was going through last season to prove she had changed for Henry? Is magic no longer considered a drug now that Emma has it?), but Emma is adamant that she can figure it out and unlock it herself. Regina also thinks the map is a distraction for them to not look for Henry. No one wants her to use magic on the map, because they think she might hurt the map. She says it’s a risk she’s willing to take (she’d rather blow up their only way of finding Henry just to prove she’s right by using magic?), but no one else agrees. Regina looks annoyed the whole time Emma is trying to unlock the map. When Emma admits she’s the savior and that doesn’t work, Regina takes the map and puts a locator spell on it. It leads them to the Dark Jungle and even though Regina put the locator spell on the map, she makes Emma lead since Emma had insisted on being the leader. So petty. As the map leads them deeper into the Dark Jungle, Regina starts getting smug and asks Emma if she’s going to thank her for her help. Really? You don’t think for one second that because you used magic you might be headed into a trap? They reach an empty camp and because no one is there Mary Margaret comments that maybe Regina’s magic didn’t work right and Regina gets upset that Mary Margaret is blaming her for something again. Regina, grow up!! I swear she gets worse with every subsequent episode. She had some good growth last season and then Cora made her get off track, then she almost sacrificed herself for Henry, and now she’s bitchy Regina again. During the fight with the Lost Boys Regina uses her magic against them (even though Pan just said using magic was cheating, but whatever). Emma finally unlocks the map, and they decide that they need to stop playing Pan’s game and make Pan play theirs. Regina questions this, but eventually agrees. I don’t understand why she’s questioning this or wants to work on her own. So far everything she has tried has failed, while Emma has been the one to actually get things done. I’m really not liking Regina this season. She’s whiny, and bitchy, and has lost any growth she had from season 2. Last season I actually cared about what happened to her, now she could fall off a cliff and I wouldn’t care.

Hook: Flirtatious as ever with Emma and David (although, mainly to get under David’s skin which is hilarious). He’s the only one in the group familiar with Neverland, yet David doesn’t trust him so no one else does either. David fights him when he tries to cut through some brambles, but Hook knows it’s Dreamshade, which is the poison he used to try and kill Gold. I don’t understand why David is fighting him so hard when he knows nothing about Neverland and Hook lived on the goddamn island! Hook knows he’s a villain but takes offense at Pan not being one when Emma explains that Pan is the hero in all the stories in her world. Hook wants to know how handsome he is in Pan’s books, but Emma thwarts his preening by telling him that perms and waxed mustaches are not handsome. Once they get to the ridge, Hook is disappointed to find out that the Dark Jungle has grown so much they can’t see Pan’s camp. He suggests sleeping for the night to gather their strength. Despite Regina’s protests, everyone actually agrees with him this time. Hook and Regina argue about the map Pan gives Emma. Hook talks about how Pan likes his games and when Regina thinks the map will lead them into a trap, Hook reminds her the whole island is a trap. Regina wants to use magic but Hook tells her breaking Pan’s rules would be unwise. David actually agrees with him and Hook quips about winning him over. Later, when Regina steals the map from Emma to use magic on it, David says it’s not a good idea to use magic and Hook agrees with him. David can’t believe he and Hook agree again and Hook says he’s winning him over. I smell a bromance blooming between these two. Hook is not happy that the map leads them into the Dark Jungle, since he told them never to set foot in there. When they get close to Pan, Hook warns Emma to be careful because while Pan looks like a boy, he’s actually a demon. The Lost Boys attack them and Hook warns that the arrows are tipped with Dreamshade. Hook ends up fighting with Felix and reminds him of Rufio and that it will be a far worse fate for him. Eventually, Pan calls everyone off. Emma finally manages to unlock the map. Hook congratulates her on her patience with Regina and tells her that patience will help her defeat Pan, and then he offers her some rum. She quips about rum being the solution to everything and he says it doesn’t hurt. He’s interested in how she unlocked the map and in getting to know her better. It’s one of the first times he’s truly sincere with her, and you can see how uncomfortable Emma is with it. Not because it’s creepy, but because that might mean Hook is a real person and not just someone she banters with.

Pan: He’s a lot of talk. He talks and talks and talks. And he makes threats, but, with the exception of the Lost Boys attack, he doesn’t actually do anything. He’s more annoying than anything else, because he also says the same things all the time. This time it’s that Emma needs to stop denying who she really is, over and over. Then he threatens that Emma will be an orphan again by the time they leave the island. I mean, at least he’s not villain monologuing, but repetitive monologuing is just as bad. Maybe he and Bell should hang out with the whole, repeating the same thing over and over dialogue.

Questions:

Why did Gold’s shadow change from one that looked like him to the generic shadow that Neverland boasts?

Still wondering how the magic mirror works. Why can she see through to places that obviously don’t have mirrors or reflective surfaces, but Rumple felt it was necessary to cover his mirrors in Skin Deep so she couldn’t spy on him? If she doesn’t need a mirror, then covering his mirrors wouldn’t matter.

Why are we back to Snow’s hair looking so awful? Are they spending all the stylist money on special effects?

Why are Mary Margaret, David, Hook, and Regina still wearing their jackets when Emma has taken off her turtleneck and is traipsing around the hot jungle in her tank top?

Okay, I get that David does not like Hook, but he’s the only one with knowledge of Neverland. Why won’t he listen to him?

Where was Hook when everyone was sleeping? We saw everyone at camp but him. Was he keeping watch? Because he didn’t do a great job seeing as Emma wandered off and Pan found her.

Would Regina really risk blowing up the map with magic?

Who’s the sheriff of Storybrooke now that both Emma and David are in Neverland?

Why is Emma still wearing her false eyelashes in Neverland? How is Regina’s hair still flipping when it’s obviously humid out?

After the scene in the village, the front of Snow’s white bodice was covered with dirt and mud. How is it perfectly clean the next time we see her? Actually, how has she kept her white, leather outfit so clean? Why white? Did the costume designer decide she needed to wear that because of her name?

How did David get to and from Rumplestiltskin’s castle so fast? We’ve seen in Skin Deep that his castle is in the mountains and not in a location that is just easy to pop in to for a quick favor.

Didn’t David need a potion from Gold to pour over Jefferson’s hat to locate him in We Are Both? How does Regina do a locator spell just using magic?

If the sword is from Camelot, shouldn’t the person who pulls the sword from the stone be the ruler of Camelot? Not the Enchanted Forest.

Is Belle really conjured from Gold’s head or is she something more? Neverland does run on imagination, so it’s not a stretch to think your thoughts could manifest as reality.

So, since Snow didn’t take the deal with the Evil Queen, is someone going to die everyday still?

Where did Snow’s mother’s necklace come from? It only shows up on her neck when she and Charming go to find Excalibur. What does Rumplestiltskin want with it?

Observations:

Considering it’s only supposed to have been maybe a week or so since Charming woke Snow, his hair goes from the short cut he had in season one, to his current longish cut.

Love that Charming and Snow both unsheath their swords at the exact same time. They’re already so in sync with each other.

Dreamshade is the poison Hook used to try and kill Gold back in The Queen is Dead.

What Emma says to try and unlock the map: Her name, being Henry’s mother, she used to be a bailbondsperson, she’s currently the sheriff of Storybrooke, she’s the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, she’s the product of True Love, she was born in the Enchanted Forest, she’s the Savior.

Hook mentions Rufio to Felix. In the movie Hook, Rufio is the new leader of the Lost Boys and Hook kills him.

The Evil Queen has quite the interesting wardrobe this episode. She goes from an Elizabethan style dress to what I can only describe as an 80’s hair band inspired form fitted gown and headpiece.

I finally realized what’s been bugging me about Mary Margaret’s hair. It’s too fluffy. Maybe it’s the humidity of the jungle, but it looks more like a teenage boy cut rather than the cute pixie cut she’s been sporting.

Sorry this review took me so long to get out, but I was really bored with it. Mary Margaret and David seem to be very out of character with their over-cheerfulness when it comes to Emma. Regina is just whiny and bitchy. Gold seems to be having some sort of mental breakdown. Pan is not as dastardly as Hook is making him out to be. Hook and Emma seem to be the only people in character as we get more hidden feelings exposed from Emma and more flirting from Hook.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes @thisonesatellite @justbecauseyoubelievesomething @laschatzi @profdanglaisstuff @mariakov81 @lfh1226-linda

#once upon a time #once upon a time review #once upon a time rewatch #once upon a time 3x02 #once upon a time lost girl

16 notes · View notes

tellywoodtrash · 6 years ago

Text

ishqbaaz 15 - 22.11.18 lb

15.11.18

“main tumhe poore shehar mein paagalon ki taraah dhoond raha tha aur tum yahan bistar ke neeche thi?”

..... well when you put it like that......

behen heavy philosophy mode mein. you two are genuinely so dysfunctional and fucking exhausting is2g.

lol ofc she throws everyone else under the bus with her.

even then gauri's on team jiju. this girl is too pure and none of these dumbasses here deserve her, honestly.

nani why didn't you just approach/team up with anika on day 1 itself? ainvayi mein itne din usko pareshaan kiya.

ok she's overdoing it with the glee at his tadap. no need to be such a sadist.

kyunki main tumse............ le bhai. phir se iski sui wahin jaake atak gayi. universe badal gaya, bhai ke issues nahi badle.

GOD WE'VE LITERALLLLY ALREADY WATCHED THESE TWO HAVE THIS EXACTTTTTTTTTT SAME CONVERSATIONNNNNNNN ALREADYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY JESUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS ABOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EITHER WRITE BETTER OR END THE DAMN SHOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

finally a fucking apology.

YES. GO TO A FUCKING DOCTOR. PLS. I AM BEGGING YOU.

#1 fangirl is here. deepveer kaun, twinkle ko bas shivika chahiye.

lmao “chintu??? yeh KYA hai?”

lol anika gave twinkle a pat on her cheek toh shivaay bhi karke haq jataa raha hai uspe.

“chintu bhi koi naam hota hai kya?” pft. your name is billu. those in glass houses.......

ha, anika has the same point to make.

lolololol he's getting roped into doing the #twinTu wedding.

LMAO WHY THE FUCK WOULD TWINKLE'S PAPAJI LISTEN TO SOME RANDO DUDE FROM MUMBAI WHO DRAGGED HIS DAUGHTER UP ON A STAGE YESTERDAY FOR NO DAMN REASON LIKE THE WHOLE THING IS SHADY AND I'D DEMAND HIS SHADY ASS STAY AWAY FROM MY VERY YOUNG DAUGHTER

............. is khanna high this morning?????/

apparently shivaay told him to act like this. idk, i still think he's high.

aslkdjslfjldskjflskj why is she so beautiful it's truly unfair.

gauri is firmly back on #teamJiju.

saari devraniyo ko mutthi mein le liya hai isne.

godddddddddddddddddd this is such a boringggggg filler ep.

UGHHHHHHHHHHHH ok i can't anymore with this goddamn filler ep. NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

16.11.18

everything about this is tacky. the set up, what she's wearing... just...... why? i'm being blinded.

her makeup is on point tho.

what he's wearing too. jfc. all the the styling is so bad.

oh ofc she trips over nothing. ugh lord.

he has same question, ke hamesha girti padti kyun ho? doctor ke paas le jaaon kya?

ohohoho get it billu.

kinky motherfucker.

how's her eye makeup completely intact after the blindfold also? idhar bas kajal lagao toh do min mein it's under my eyes making me look like a baby panda.

lol why is she so impressed he did this? he's rich. he hired ppl for it. not like he lit every diya by himself.

also i’d be worried. last time bhai ne itna taam jhaam kiya tha, toh seedha divorce papers thamaa diye the. so... saavdhan rahein, satark rahein.

lmao billu wants to fuck. so bad.

this chick is really hard to please. itna karne ke baad bhi isko bas 85% hua. suhaag raat pe tujhe badi mehnat karni padegi billu. better keep like 6, 7 redbulls by the bedside.

pft, you think that one pheeka peck was enough to get her to 100%? men and overestimating their...... skills.

“ab door mat jaana anika. door gayi toh main jee nahi paaonga.” waaah waaah. ladke ke emotions finally khul ke aa rahein hain.

“agar mujhe filmy baatein karni aati toh main aaj zor zor ke chilaake kehta... (...) par mujhse yeh sab nahi hota hai, toh mujhse jo hota hai main wahi karoonga. apne dil ki baat seedhe seedhe tumse kahoonga.”

OH FUCK ME THEY STOLE ADAPTED ONE OF MY MOST FAVT LINES IN LITERATURE EVER; KNIGHTLEY'S CONFESSION IN EMMA (“I cannot make speeches, Emma...If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me.”) ASDSKJFHSDKJFNDSLKFLDK

“agar main badla hoon... ya yoon kahoon ki SUDHRAA HOON...” lolololol

anika being literally every other woman is like ‘bitch literally all i needed from you is emotional honesty and communication. nothing else.’

ouff is universe mein bhi giganticass tacky ring.

lmao itttttaaa bada promise ring.

ab toh iske biwi bolne ka koi thrill hi nahi bacha. har teen din he keeps taking it back and bestowing it again, toh koi value hi nahi raha.

haan ok i love you is better.

waaah bhai, isse kehte hain Nayi Soch!

ok cute.

OUFFFFFFFFF KITNAAAAAAAAA KHEEEEEENCH RAHE HOOOOOOOO JUST FUCKEN GET OVER WITH ITTTTTTTTTTTT

“haan bol do?” waah, dat desperation and talab. i like.

oh man my poor dumb lovesick son. he's finally getting some happy in life. siiiiiiiiigh. may it last. (until he's offed at the end of this week. or the next? idk.)

i am omRu. omRu are me. ki bc in dono ki bakchodi khatam hi nahi hoti.

lmao gauri is me - kisi aur ki shaadi but more concerned about own wardrobe.

“kyun, kya jaldi hai?”

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THIS THARKI ASSHOLE I LOVE HIM

AUR KYA APT BIWI MILI HAI ISSE.

bhaabi bhi.

nani wants dhoom dhaam. but lord, i forgot roop still exists. ugh dafa karo.

ainvayi exposition line about prinku.

lakshman rekha ka mitaana. yaaaaaaaaaaas. finally.

(though it was in masking tape all these days, suddenly why’s it been made with some rando white powder????????)

and suddenly it’s back to being a masking tape border, which for some reason they’re WIPING, instead of just peeling off. god y’all dumb af.

19.11.18

blah blah blah safaai.

with heavy dose of rudy boy’s puppy eyes.

fuck me i'm really gonna miss my boys. like really really. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkk.

nani with the 2 foot rule again.

lmao ab kyun mooh bana rahe ho. it's not like you two were doing anything on a regular basis till now. you can wait two-three more days.

ouff ainvayi ka buildup drama to show girls and boys will be on opposite sides.

snort shivaay's bitchface at gauri saying “inka koi bharosa nahi pata nahi kab bhaag jaaye...”

i love these two together.

some more buildup from rudra. ughhhhhhh.

good. ok fwding.

ugh some fakery from roop.

huh?????????? why is she hating on him for “apne maa baap ko khaa gaya”?????? wtf is wrong with this woman? he was a kid when they died and had nothing to do with it??? god she's such a poorly written villain in every universe. imma just fwd every scene of hers.

blah blah team dulha v/s team dulhan garbage.

dang, omki getting me kinda hot with his annoyed adiyal-ness. ouff this man and his hotness will be missed.

behold the dichotomy of man. lol i love him. in both his forms.

more roop crap. fwding.

blah blah #teamDulha checking out dulhan.

same, anika. same.

good.

lol gotta say bhavya is really nailing the bitchy aunty thing.

“AYE BAS KARO TUMLOG, BOHUT HO GAYA TUM DONO KA NAATAK!!!!” lmaoooooooooooooooooo anika lost it for real.

pffffffffffffft.

also they recovered from that scene with roop pretty quick huh?

pft riVya pulled him from the middle of some business call and promptly abandoned him in front of #teamDulhan.

lol his face at “chalke dikha”

“height thodi kam hai.” “gel bhi baal mein thoda zyaada hi lagaata hai.” all legit and valid concerns.

thoda zyaada personal ho gaya.

“main anika ki SAAAAAAAAAARI zarooraton ka achche se khayaal rakhoonga.”

this fucking horndog. 5 saalon ki kasar abhi ke abhi poori kar raha hai.

riVya approve of the tharak. lol.

lmao @ om randomly bellowing CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cutes. i love them all.

“bhai bada ho gaya.” lol idiot.

roop fucking with the haldi. fwding.

snort, omru warning shivaay to not feel anika up too much haldi ke bahaane.

OUFF LAGAATE HO YA NAHI I HAVE NO PATIENCE NEITHER FOR ROOP'S AINVAYI KA COUNTDOWN NA SHIVAAY'S SENTI SPEECH. FWDING.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the haldi's changing colour.

20.11.18

blah blah haldi nonsense.

fwdinggggggggggg.

oh now they remember that prinku exists.

this is such a random ainvayi ka plot with her?

fwding.

oh look chamak challo singh oberoi made her entry in this universe also.

blah blah fwding.

ok does this prinku plot/episode have anything worth watching?

why is she keeping the photo at that precarious place? kuch bhi.

cuties.

kaanch ka tootna is achcha shagun no? that's what i've always heard.

anyway, fwding.

that cat looks really uncomfortable at the way it's being held.

oh boy rudra has another party plan. meaning more punch. jfc.

cat seems more comfy being held by kunal. (ALWAYS SUPPORT THE HIND LEGS THO, PPL!!!!!!!)

the convo is boring and trite and repeated from OU, so imma just focus on physical hotness.

ofc nani gotta cockblock.

nani ke saamne toh sharam kar tharki insaan.

oh nani, yeh chappaed aur chittar kaash bachpan mein lagaaye hote isko. itna time nahi waste hota.

that haar is huge and ugly af. babies cute tho.

great mangalsutra bhi toot gaya. and this time roop had nothing to do with it.

le bhai yeh do bewakoof janne kar rahi hai party ki taiyyaaariyaan. kuch galat toh hona hi hai.

LMAO OM IS ME I AM OM. KAAM TOH KUCH KARTE NAHI, UPAR SE JO KAR RAHA HAI, USKO ATTITUDE. LEL.

fuck roop. fwding.

great rudra is digging his own grave.

lmao ok i really did laugh at bua in this scene.

ok this ep is boring af and i'm done. NEXTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah not watching the 21st waala ep coz looks to be fullllllll of bua's bs.

22.11.18

le pakdiiiiiiiiiii gayi buaaaa.

good to see shivaay in shark singh mode again.

YIKES HER SCREECHING.

hahahahha her baaaaad acting.

LMAO ROOPS DUMB ASS GAVE SHIPPING ADDRESS WITH RUDRA'S NAME AND BILLING TO HER OWN.

LOL SHE ALSO LEFT BAADAAMS ALL OVER THE POOLSIDE MAN WHAT A FUCKEN IDIOT SHE IS

daaaaaaang shivaay calling bua out step by step. knowing how much this kid is pyaar ka pyaasa from parental figures. sigh. poor child.

OMFG SHE TOLD HIM SHE HATES HIM AND HIS FACE

THIS FUCKING BITCH LEMME AT HER TERE BAADAAM KHAANE WAALE DAANT NA TOD DOON MAIN

ok fwding her dumbass rant.

....... ok tej told her the whole plan till the omRu supaari bit, but did he come from beyond the grave to tell her how he got killed? like, this makes no fuckin sense. she's the fucking worst villain in this show man.

ok fwding.

rudra hearddddddddddddddd.

LMAO THE WAY HE'S RUNNING AND SHIVAAY'S CHASING HIM DOWN THE STAIRS LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

lol ofc. is ladke ke pait mein na kuch baat kabhi rahi hai na kabhi rahegi.

this is honestly a lot for om to take lmao.

shivaay still valiantly trying to cover up. par khanna aa gaya rang mein bhang daalne.

oh 5 years later om's like i asked you that day also. uss din ke baad tu aaj pooch raha hai???? beech mein tujhe yaad nahi aaya ki ek witness tha?

lol everyone's on team khanna and protecting him from shivaay's desperate/angry eyes.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the truth is out.

hope this guy took his heart meds today coz........... he's gonna need them.

obro hugs, not drugs. this is the shit i'm here for. more gimme more GIMME MORRRRRRRREEEEEEE. oh god how am i gonna live without the bhaichaara????????/ i really think i might have to give up the show purely because of the lack of brotherly love. PLEASE GOD LET THERE BE A NEW GENERATION OF OBROS I NEED THIS SWEET SWEET SIBLING LOVE HIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

oh suddenly prinku ka bhi akal thikaane aa gaya. chalo jiii......

ok dadi i don't give a shit about so whatever.

lmao i've really been enjoying nani's smugass face throughout this ep, ki i knew my sohna munda was shammi kapoor, not shakti kapoor.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ROOP TRYING TO SLINK AWAYYYYYYYYYYY HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

nani revelling in roop's downfall is amazing. i love it.

god some foreshadowing from roop. pls gtfo auntyji instead of putting nazar on my kids.aur mere bachon ke bachon ke bhi aas paas dikh mat jaiyyo!!!!!!!!

(glaring at @mukhtaleef coz she’s now put the unholy fear of god in me with her idea that bua is gonna raise shivaansh. PLEASE GOD ANYONE BUT HER. LET KHANNA RAISE HIM. LET TEENAGE SAHIL ADOPT HIM. ANYONE BUT THIS FUCKING BUA. PLS GOD LET HER DIE FIRST IN THIS DAMN UNIVERSE.)

EVERY SINGLE TIME EVERY SINGLE UNIVERSE THEY LET THIS FUCKEN BUA GET AWAY COZ THEY HAVE “LIHAAZ” FOR HER. CALL THE DAMN COPS YOU FUCKING IDIOTS.

blah blah red herring from anika. ouff. just get on with ittttttttt.

ok shaadi kal hai. good.

ok i’m exhausted af. baaki baad mein (kal?) karoongi. all the actual shaaadi shit. phew. need to legit chug a few gatorades and lie down for a few hours now.

#ishqbaaz #ishqbaaaz #ib episode liveblogs #episode liveblogs

18 notes · View notes

clodiuspulcher · 7 years ago

Note

Can I ask what draws you to Agamemnon? He's often kind of a difficult figure to grapple with. Sincere question btw, not meant to sound mean I swear :)

NO NO this isn’t mean at all it’s uh. yeah I know it’s an unpopular Take / Opinion and I really do … care deeply about Agamemnon as a character, so thanks for giving me a chance to explain! it’s complicated, he’s complicated… This is gonna get long

I: APPEARANCE Let’s first put the shallow aspects on the table: he’s big, he’s powerful, he’s My Type (physically), I’m gay. This never comes through in film adaptations (although you know what? 1962 Electra Agamemnon comes close, although he’s overshadowed by the hot Aegisthus) but look at how he’s described in the Iliad: He’s compared to 3 gods, canonically Agamemnon is the most handsome man Priam’s EVER seen in his like one million years of life (a list of men which includes Aeneas , Hector, etc). (this post). When Priam says he’s “Every inch a king”, baby, you know what that means-Anyway , @kashuan‘s art is VERY good for conveying how I imagine Agamemnon based on these descriptions. and he’s drawn like exactly my type there. It’s a lot to reckon with.He’s big. He has big arms and big thighs and could kill me if he wanted and he’s powerful and his aristeia is badass and i’m gay. thanks. II: PERSONALITY Now this part is. more about Agamemnon’s character. first, Agamemnon in the Iliad is in fact deeply flawed- he’s imperious and arrogant and shortsighted and short-tempered, he’s stubborn and selfish and ALL OF THE THINGS PEOPLE HAVE SAID HE IS but there’s also a complexity to his character that tends to get flattened - I think because Agamemnon’s at his worst in book 1, people adhere to this AWFUL first impression and don’t bother to look beneath the surface / take the rest of his behavior / his character into account / use this as the baseline of their understanding, but there IS MUCH MORE to him than that behavior even in the Iliad itself, as detailed in THIS POST. He’s a powerful warrior in his own right, and his failings reflect both the internal flaws of his character and the weight of his responsibilities; we see his concern for his men, for the army, the people, in books 4 and 10 (when he can’t sleep because of his anxiety about his men, about Hector). He DOES however, learn and become better, he grows, he’s dynamic: he and Achilles finally make up (book 19! book 23! They’re good now!) and the Odyssey also ends with their ghosts talking as friends.

(Side note I wonder how this works out when Agamemnon’s son kills Achilles’s son but… that’s for another day).

There’s complexity in Agamemnon’s characterization in the tragedies as well, each tragedian has a different portrait of Agamemnon but he’s never one-dimensional.Euripides’ Hecuba has Agamemnon as concerned about his image and his reputation, anxious (and almost insecure) about his authority, but also concerned with justice and the rule of law, even towards one’s enemies. Sophocles’ Ajax portrays an imperious, proud, stubborn Agamemnon who refuses to realize he’s in the wrong but is able to be convinced by the council of Odysseus and eventually, again, comes to an understanding. Seneca’s Trojan Women shows Agamemnon as a Stoic voice of Reason, urging Pyrrhus not to be too violent/hubristic in their victory, and I love both the presentation of Agamemnon as a tired old man wanting to go home and the sort of man who gets into arguments with teenagers about war crimes. As usual, Seneca excels at this subtlety of characterization, this is like the epitome of the Dichotomy of Agamemnon, sympathetic and infuriating, a good leader and a stubborn, proud man, stoic and short-tempered, as present in the Iliad, is here too, and I love it , and him. Seneca’s Agamemnon almost reverses this (HE REALLY SAYS “What can a victor fear”) but I still love that play, and there’s something to be said for the characterization of Agamemnon as someone who learned ABSOLUTELY nothing from victory.

Overall, it’s true that we get, mainly, a portrait of a hard, ruthless, powerful, embittered man- remember how he destroys that one guy Menelaus wanted to save in the Iliad - but he has a sort of “aggressive charisma” as Kashuan once put it and I REALLY see it, and honestly that in itself has some sort of an appeal to me. But with this portrait of his personality, his softer aspects, the moments of gentleness we see, are more striking, they really stand out and indicate the extent of his feelings. In the iliad, for example, we clearly see he loves Menelaus and while he’s almost laughably over-protective (MORE ON THIS LATER), his care for his brother is evident, touching, especially juxtaposed with his shortsighted selfishness. Just look at what happens in Book 4, when Menelaus is barely wounded and Agamemnon is practically writing his eulogy. Right afterwards, also, “Noble Agamemnon showed no reluctance, no cowardice or hesitation, only eagerness for the fight where men win glory”- he rushes in to fight (but not before first taking out his anxiety on his men by demanding more from them. Cannot do anything appealing / good without mitigating it with irritating behavior. love this fool). It takes him like 9 books to finally apologize to Achilles but he defends Menelaus from Nestor’s reproach in book 10, is anxious about Menelaus being in danger if he’s picked to go on a night raid with Diomedes (HERE) and is endearingly not-subtle about it, frets over him in book 4, when he’s wounded, etc.

The love for his family is something that continually stands out and is perhaps his main “redeeming” trait. In the Odyssey, as mentioned, he ask Odysseus desperately about Orestes with heart-rending choice of words especially when one considers Orestes’s Actual Fate: “Come tell me, in truth, have you heard if my son is still alive, maybe in Orchomenus or sandy Pylos, or in Menelaus’ broad Sparta: that my noble Orestes is not yet dead?”. Agamemnon’s no longer a king- he’s a worried father, he regrets the most not being able to see Orestes before he’s killed; it is this pain, of not being able to be a father to his children, which seems to cut the most deeply, which he speaks of multiple times to Odysseus. Then they just cry for a while, with each other. (I like these tender aspects hidden in a big mean man.. but I also like his big meanness).

the Tragedies take this to another level, of course, to drive home the PATHOS required for his death to have an impact but his love of his family is very much on display there. Iphigenia in Aulis in particular provides us with some agonizing demonstrations of this love: Iphigenia reminisces about an exceptionally tender moment in their relationship, when she was young (you used to ask me, “I wonder, my darling, will I get to see you married one day, married and settled happily in your husband’s home, your life ever blossoming, making me proud of you?” And I’d touch your chin, my father, hang from your beard, father, like I’m doing now and say, “and what about you, father, will I get to see you, father, an old man, visiting me at my house, ready for me to repay you for your hard work in raising me?”) an image hard to reconcile with the merciless violence and stubborn arrogance Agamemnon displays in the Iliad (BUT AGAIN, THAT’S THE APPEAL). Clytemnestra assumes he’s crying because he’s sad to see Iphigenia leave them, Agamemnon’s messenger tells him the arrival of his family will cheer him up: even his subordinates know how important they are to him.

I’d need a whole nother post to talk about his relationship with Clytemnestra but please peruse these crumbs I picked off the ground (HERE). they Had something, tbh the tragedy ONLY WORKS if they did and I will DIE on this hill. In Aeschylus, Clytemnestra calls Orestes the “mutual pledge of their love”, he calls her a “great-hearted woman”, she shirks in Aulis at his curt, demanding tone towards her, noting it as something out of character, she takes charge anyway, knows he can’t or won’t actually force her not to be involved in the Iphigenia marriage preparations-All of this creates an image of a man whose imperious, ruthless, stubborn character is balanced with a surprising capacity for tenderness, a genuine fondness and love for the members of his family, which makes the fact that his hand, albeit forced, aids in its destruction, that much more devastating.III: PSYCHOLOGY/HISTORY

Where things get especially interesting for me, character-wise, is when one thinks about his lineage, his past, and his childhood with respect to his current character. This section is about the House of Atreus in general.

Agamemnon clearly bears the scars of his environment: he was born into the House of Atreus and IMO that informs everything he says and does, all his thoughts and feelings, the way he perceives both the world and his place in it. Seneca’s Thyestes is a horrific portrait of what Agamemnon (and Menelaus’s) childhoods must have been like, ATREUS is their father, they were old enough during this event to almost be accomplices which means they’re clearly old enough to remember it. Speaking of that, Atreus isn’t worried that participating in his god-crime schemes will turn his sons evil because, in his mind, they were born evil (Ne mali fiant times? nascuntur. God GOD). Agamemnon and Menelaus grow up in a nightmare house, adjacent to atrocity, under the almost comically cruel hand of Atreus who sincerely believed his sons inherited said cruelty as if its on the same chromosome as the “house-curse” gene. It’s genuinely a miracle Agamemnon and Menelaus grew up to be functional fucking human beings, in my opinion. It also gives a lot more weight to his relationship with Menelaus and the hard imperious cast of his character; their bond was forged in fire, Agamemnon likely protected Menelaus from the worst of Nightmare House being the older brother, and being as protective as he is. There’s this one Iliad adaptation, I can’t think of it off the top of my head though, where when Agamemnon’s freaking out about Menelaus being Barely Wounded he says “don’t die… for you are all I have” and that’s absolutely how I think about their relationship in this context- Menelaus WAS all he had for so long, they clung to each other, they preserved their humanity in the face of horror BECAUSE OF each other.

But functional like.. .for a given value of “function”. Agamemnon is clearly deeply affected by these events, the weight of the Curse of the House of Atreus clearly impacts him. Take Iphigenia in Aulis, where he says “each one is born with his bitterness waiting for him”, the fact that a Son of Atreus would say that, I think, speaks to the innate, unspeakable fear of the certain destruction of his world, of the tragedy that awaits him, at his own hands, of the House-Curse waiting perched on his shoulder to strike just when he thought he’d created something impenetrable. The tragedy of Iphigenia in Aulis is Agamemnon’s realization that he has locked himself into this, that he has no other choice (see: this post about the Odysseus impact, there is in fact a point when it’s inevitable, although he still made the first move which makes it even WORSE he created this, etc) and all he can do at this point is watch as the life he so carefully built for himself and his family collapses around him, just like he must have always dreaded it would. (Also in the Iliad It’s Agamemnon who says “We must toil, in accord with the weight of sorrow Zeus loaded us with at birth” and that reminds me of this aspect of him too: Good Things Never Last, Bad Things Never Die, etc.)

It’s made clear that the story of Atreus and Thyestes is widespread, familiar; Teucer in Sophocles’ Ajax and Neoptolemus in Seneca’s Trojan Women both call out Agamemnon for trying to reference his lineage as a source of authority because it is a HORRIFIC lineage. “I know about the famous family of Atreus and Thyestes”, Neoptolemus says. And THEREIN LIES A CONFLICT: Agamemnon’s sense of self comes from his authority, his kingship, his position of power and his social status as a member of the nobility, of the class of royalty BUT. It’s all undercut by the fact that this power, authority, indeed his very identity is based in cruelty, violence, and crime; Agamemnon is descended from the most ignoble nobility, which he knows all too well.

It’s Interesting that Agamemnon’s relationship with his identity, status, family, power is brought up in Ajax, of all plays, primarily concerned with the destruction of Ajax’s identity- reminding Agamemnon of the crimes of his house genuinely cuts him down. I see Agamemnon as a man who genuinely fears his past, who dreads the legacy of his father and in his desperation creates a crisis for himself (as happens in tragedy).

We (I) laugh at Agamemnon “forgetting” about the god-crime shit before he pulls rank by referencing his Authority and Status but there’s something in Agamemnon continually being owned by forgetting about the House…. Agamemnon wants to distance himself from the “legacy” he inherited from Atreus, but he can’t without disavowing his power, his authority, his identity. Whether he likes it or not (he does Not), this is fundamental to who he is. I feel like that knowledge too lurks in his mind, rises to the forefront occasionally at his lowest points-

Clytemnestra in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon pretty clearly sees him / his actions as the next link in the god-crime family chain, a continuation of the house -curse, heir to his father’s throne and his crimes, hence her belief that killing him is the only way to end it/ stop the cycle of violence (spoiler she is wrong but there’s another post coming eventually about how they are Very Similar Characters short version the Etruscans Understand).

IN short, I think there’s a lot of complexity in Agamemnon people overlook, or don’t get to see since they don’t read the peripheral plays. Agamemnon seems to me a man in conflict with himself, a Man of Contradictions, who defines himself by his authority and status while fearing the source of it, whose devotion to his family contrasts with the horror of his childhood, and with his own agonizing role in its destruction, a man who willfully ignores or cannot bring himself to fully interact with the legacy of Atreus, who tries to distance himself from the crimes of his house and the cruelty of his father while being reminded of both every time he’s called by the epithet Atreides.

#the iliad #the oresteia #tagamemnon #agamemnon #is complicated...#hes GENUINELY A BAD PERSON WITH MANY HORRIBLE QUALITIES DO NOT GET ME WRONG!!! BUT LIKE I SAID #I like the big meanness w/ the tenderness.... and please take into account also that im shallow and hes big and im gay #the house that dripped blood #important ... content

80 notes · View notes

little-inkstone · 7 years ago

Text

Voice Over

Summery: To supplement her income, since working at the library is her dream job but it doesn’t pay very well, Belle works as an actress that dubs over porn movies that can’t afford boom mics. All seems well until the company decides they want an more organic sound and decide to have Belle record her lines with the other actor in the room.

AN: I’ve finally written this idea after so long without even thinking about it! Thanks to @annythecat for helping with the title! Also shout out to @tinuviel-undomiel who has wanted this fic and championed it from the very beginning, I really hope you like it!

Rating: NC-17

Belle sat at her kitchen table, looking over her bills and chewing her lower lip. She was short again this month. It wasn’t surprising but she had been hoping that her raise would have been able to cover her car repair and her bills along with groceries. Apparently an extra dollar an hour wasn’t enough to cover her normal expenses as well anything that might come up. Sighing she fiddled with her phone, it seemed she’d have to call and see if there was any extra work for her. The library was her dream job; she’d wanted to be a librarian for as long as she could remember. But when she’d finally landed said job in a quaint sleepy little town thousands of miles from her home, she’d soon realized it didn’t pay enough for her to make ends meet.

Licking her lips she dialled a number she hoped she wouldn’t need to call again after her raise. She’d tried moonlighting at several different jobs, but most places just didn’t need the help, and the ones that did had hours that clashed with her day job. Moving into the apartment above the library had made it so she’d always have a roof over her head, but the rent was taken out of her check. Even though it was less than where she’d been staying before, it still didn’t leave enough left over for food and the rest of her bills. Desperation had led to looking for less wholesome jobs until she finally found one that balanced her modesty with a pay check that would keep her head above water.

She’d never given much thought to porn beyond setting up a camera and filming two or more people taking part in carnal pleasure. But logically there would be more to it than that. Just like any other film set there would have to be a director to figure out the best angle, a person in charge of the lighting, and an editor to splice all the takes together. She’d taken a film class in collage when getting her degree, so she had a vague idea of what was needed on a set, and one of those things was a boom mic, something that was surprisingly expensive, most sound equipment was. That was how Belle had found herself in a rather nice sound booth moaning and gasping as if she were feeling the most amazing sensation in the world, instead of faking it more than the blonde on screen she was dubbing over. The job paid well and wasn’t as seedy as it sounded either, in a matter of hours she could make more than a week at the library.

It was a bit embarrassing at first, but she’d gotten the hang of it, and rather good at it as well, but she had been relieved when she found out she’d be getting a raise. If she could support herself fully on just her main job she’d really feel like she made it as an actual adult, and not just a twenty-something playing at one. Pressing the phone to her ear she smiled wryly. Seems she hadn’t made it just yet and would need to book another session with the company she’d been working with. Looking down at her bills as the phone rang she frowned, a few more times at least.

A familiar voice finally picked up the phone and rattled off the company’s name, which could be mistaken for any other boring office of some kind if one didn’t know better. Belle explained who she was and asked if there was anything open in the next few weeks. She doodled on her notepad as she was transferred to the person that could be loosely called her agent. The call was short; she booked a little less than half a dozen sessions in the booth. Right before she was going to hang up Ms. Blue stopped her.

“There is one more thing.” She added.

“Yes?” Belle said, her pen pausing above the paper. She couldn’t imagine what that would be.

“We’ve begun trying something new for a more organic sound. Would you be alright with recording in the same room as your co-star?” Ms. Blue asked. “It pays better and we have a big movie coming up, it’ll be three recording session and it’ll be double what you’ve already been booked for.”

Belle felt her eyes widen at her words. Three recordings that would pay double what the five she’d booked? It seemed too good to be true.

“It would just be the same thing as before, right? Voice, nothing else? I wouldn’t have to do anything with him, or her, would I?” Belle clarified.

“Strictly no touching, only audio dubbing like before; but this time you’d be sharing your mic with someone. You’ll be alone with him in the booth, but there will be others there, and if you feel uncomfortable it’s the same as your other jobs, you can walk away.” Blue explained.

Biting her lower lip she began doodling again as she thought it over. “Okay,” Belle finally said. “Book me for the movie.”

Over the next week Belle tried not to think about the upcoming dubbing job she’d be doing with some mystery man. Driving up to Boston for a long weekend to record the most of the solo sessions helped to calm her nerves. It was just like any other job, a job she was rather good at. Porn wasn’t very titillating when it was silent and being projected on the far wall with a timeline running underneath it, and faking the same orgasm over and over again until the editor was happy made it all rather clinical. She’d seen a documentary once about more legitimate voice acting jobs, and the setting seemed to be the same. Expect instead of some kind of colourful cartoon character she was usually voicing a naked or mostly naked woman pretending to have the time of her life in bed with a man that looked to be so big it would be painful.

The first time had been extremely embarrassing, and she’d been so awkward she’d almost been fired until something inside of her just clicked.

They started all their newbies with some more vanilla scenarios and as she cleared her throat to try again she looked up at the screen. This couple were armatures, this was their first video and might be there only one but it wasn’t the end of their relationship. They were actually married and loved each other, and it showed too. In their eyes they were clearly enjoying what was happening, and something about that changed the way Belle looked at everything. She wanted to be a part of that in some small way, she wanted to do her best, and she hoped that could find the type of love she could see in their eyes. It was an oddly poetic thought considering she was dubbing a short video of two people having sex but it helped her get the job done. From then on she’d had no trouble. But the feeling of nerves from that first time was back now that she’d be in the booth with someone else. All kinds of worries haunted her as she went about the weeks before the first session. What if he was creepy? What if he smelled? What if he laughed at her?

“Miss French?”

Belle jumped, the voice pulling her out of her thoughts. She felt herself begin to blush when she realized she’d been lost in thought. Standing before her was the immaculately dressed Mr. Gold, one of his eyebrows quirked and two books in his hands. Belle wished a hole would open up in the floor and allow her to disappear. What would he say if he knew the reason she hadn’t been paying attention at work was because she was trying to envision what it would be like to dub over a porno with a partner instead of alone like usual. The thought of Mr. Gold and porn made her blush even harder. Nothing like stoking the fires of a silly never-going-to-happen crush like imagining the object of your affection in a compromising situation.

“Sorry about that, Mr. Gold.” She asked with a bashful smile.

“That’s all right, Miss French, you’re not the first to be caught wool gathering at work.” He said kindly. “I won’t tell your boss.” Gold added as he leaned in conspiratorially.

“Very kind of you.” Belle replied, nodding seriously, it didn’t last; instead she ducked her head and covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. When she looked up again Mr. Gold was still smiling at her. She liked when he smiled, he really ought to do that more often. “How can I help you today?” She finally asked after a long moment of them just smiling at each other.

“Oh, just these.” He said, holding up his regular mystery novel and a children’s book for his son Baden.

“These are both great,” She said as she scanned them. “Bae will love the twist at the end, and I think you’ll enjoy it too.” Belle added with a smile, and a wink.

No one would think it by the look of him, but Mr. Gold was a doting father that was always taking home books for his young son and brining him to story time on Thursdays. He smiled at her and said his goodbyes. She couldn’t help watch him leave, his suit doing nothing to disguise his entrancing form. Someone opened the door to enter the library but their eyes all but bulged out of their head when they saw Gold was coming out and they turned to scramble away. Rent day was coming soon, and Gold might be polite with her and loving to Bae, but he was ruthless when it came to those that owed him money. The dichotomy between the man that she could joke with and share opinions books and the man that all of Storybrooke feared was a fascinating one. If she were being honest it was probably a little bit apart of why she had developed her crush in the first place. If she were to continue being honest she more often than not thought of Mr. Gold and his delicious accent when in the recording booth.

Finally the day of the first recording session was at hand and Belle was dealing with first time jitters all over again. The drive to Boston did nothing to make her feel better, and by the time she had parked and walked into the usual building she was regretting eating breakfast. Her heels seemed to click ominously against the marble floor. But somehow it was worse when she took the elevator up to the third floor. The biggest booths were there instead of the second floor and she noticed the carpet, that muffled the sounds of walking, was a different colour. She took a calming breath and tried to keep from freaking out. Belle would be brave and just do it and then it would be over, she wasn’t feeling very brave but she could make her own bravery.

The editor and sound designer were already all set up and she was relieved to find that it was two people she’d worked with before. Merida and Mulan were talented to say the least, and they made a cute couple too. They’d met in film school and like Belle was using this job to pay the bills until they could break into the bigger industry at large. She was sure they could do it too, they’d already worked on a popular indie movie; they were on the cusp of making it big in their field. Knowing that and knowing they’d be in the other room listening to her vocal performance soothed some of her anxiety.

That just left the man she’d be working with today. He hadn’t arrived yet so she helped get the levels on the mic balanced, which helped take her mind off of what he’d be like. She leaned against the outside wall of the sound booth and checked her watch, in a few more minutes he’d be late, not very professional of him. Just as she was thinking that she heard the odd three step pattern of someone walking with a cane. It was a familiar sound, she’d heard it enough times when Mr. Gold came to the library or walked into Granny’s, and she’d gotten used to recognizing it. For a moment she was expecting to see Gold walking towards her, but she knew that couldn’t be the case. When she looked up to see who was actually attached to the sound she had to blink rapidly to make sure her imagination wasn’t playing tricks on her.

“Mr. Gold?” She gasped.

“Miss French?”

“Oh, good, now you’re both here.” Mulan said as she opened the second door for the sound booth. “Now we can start.”

It was almost comical the way Belle and Gold looked at her and then back at each other. Mulan couldn’t sense the tension or else didn’t care as she closed the door again, expecting them to go through the other so they could start recording their lines. Always the gentleman Gold opened the door for her, an emotionless mask slipping over his features so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Her own mind was racing a mile a minute. Why was he here? Surely he didn’t need to money the same way she did, and if so, for what? Most of all though she wanted to know how she’d ever be able to moan and pretend to come with him right beside her. How was she supposed to concentrate when he’d be right there, moaning in her ear and whispering dirty words to her?

They double checked the mic again and then started playing the film; Belle almost couldn’t hear the directions of Merida over the pounding of her heart. The first few lines were simple enough; the kind of corny dialogue found at the beginning of most porn’s to set the scene. Unlike in the past she had to try and focus with someone else in the room, someone else that was pure sex incarnate.

“I’m so glad you were able to come over on such short notice.” Belle simpered. “My husband will be furious with me if he comes home and finds the oven’s not working.”

“I’m happy to service you and your oven, ma’am.” He rumbled, his voice lower than usual. His accent was lighter, only a hint at the edges, but it was still all him. “It’d be a shame to deprive a man of what will no doubt be a delicious–” The actor on screen paused to lick his lips and so did Gold. “Meal.” He finished.

The film proceeded and the young shirtless buff man on screen pretended to fiddle with the oven before standing again. Meanwhile the bleach blonde had begun to undo the upper buttons of her shirt and when he stood she had revealed the tops of her breasts, her nipples beginning to peak out. Belle’s eyes shifted, unable not to check to see how he was reacting, but his face was impassive.

“I know you should have mentioned this before.” Belle said, a girlish whine in her voice. “But I’m not sure I have enough to pay you.”

“Well, I’m sure we can always work something else out.” He replied suggestively.

His on screen counterpart kissed her and Belle let out a breathy moan, Gold let out a hiss in response and then her counterpart was pulling back.

“My husband…” She gasped lustily.

“Won’t mind sharing.” He growled and then let out a deep moan as they kissed again. Belle whimpered and panted as he started to kiss his way down her neck.

“You like that, don’t you, you dirty girl.” She rubbed her legs together as he whispered in her ear.

“Yes, oh fuck!” Belle cried as his hand moved up her leg to slip between her thighs.

From that point there was mostly just breathy sighs and moans until they were both naked. Their hands moving along each other’s bodies, her hand on his cock as she stroked him, his mouth on her breast as he sucked and licked. Then he was pushing into her and she was letting out breathy little cries of pleasure as he sank further and further into her wet heat.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” Gold hissed, his accent had thickened and he pulled away from the mic to clear his throat and repeat himself. “Oh fuck, you’re so tight. Do you like that? Do you like being fucked by my big cock?”

“Yes! I love it, I love being fucked! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!!!” She screamed as she threw her head back in ecstasy.

There was a longer stretch of quiet after that, filled with mostly Gold’s whispering and her moans and then finally the scene ended.

It was like coming out of a dream, in one moment she was a wife cheating on her husband and loving it, and in the next she was just Belle again, a down on her luck librarian. Everything was wrapped up, and they were told they could go after which Mulan and Merida left, and suddenly it was just her and Gold. They stood awkwardly in the lobby of the building looking at each other and trying not to. Belle had never been aroused by a session before, it had always just been a job for her, but listening to Mr. Gold whisper filth in her ear had done more for her than anything else ever had. Hearing him curse and moan had ruined her now for anyone else; there just wasn’t anything sexier than his Scottish drawl telling her he wanted to fuck her. She closed her eyes and tried to get a grip, Belle wouldn’t ever be able to look at him in the eyes again if she kept thinking like this.

“I need a drink.” Gold said, making her look at him in surprise. He smiled at her awkwardly and shrugged.

“My hotel has a bar.” She offered. “Maybe we could, talk?”

“I’d like that.” He replied softly.

They took her car back to where she was staying and they found a secluded table after ordering their drinks. For a long time they sipped their drinks in silence. Belle drew on the table with the moister from her drink as Gold played with the ice in his drink. He’d ordered them both two fingers of whiskey and it was on their third that Belle felt brave enough to break the silence.

“Are you going to be okay to drive back to Storybrooke? Bae won’t want his Papa to hurt himself trying to get home for bedtime.” She said.

“He’s staying at the Nolan’s for the weekend, they think I’m on a work trip, in a way I sort of am.” Gold told her. She nodded contemplatively and took another sip of her drink.

“Why are you doing this anyway?” Belle asked. She knew there was a better way to phrase it but she was getting a buzz and the curiosity was killing her.

“Same reason you’re doing this I suppose.” He said, finishing his drink and raising his hand for another.

“Money? You’re like the richest guy in town.” Belle covered her mouth and let out a sheepish laugh. “Sorry, I’m a talkative drunk.”

Gold waved off her apology. “It’s fine.” He looked down at his empty glass, the ice clicking as he swirled it. “Yes, I do it for the money. I want Bae to have everything I never had; his mother doesn’t see it that way, her alimony payments would drain me dry if I didn’t do this.” Then he gestured to his right ankle under the table. “That and medical bills are hell.”

Belle reached out, grasping his hand with hers. “That’s awful.” She said, then she smiled. “It puts rent day into a new perspective though.”

“That it does.” He laughed. “I doubt that would make any of the deadbeats actually pay on time though.” Gold ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Why am I telling you my problems? A beautiful and kind young woman like you doesn’t want to hear the sorrows of an old monster like me.”

“You’re not old, or a monster.” She said firmly. Scooting along the connected seat of their table she let her thigh press against his. “Besides, you weren’t too old for what we did in the booth today.”

He gaped at her as she looked at him, her face closer to his than it ever had been before. From this distance she could see the gold in his eyes, the subtle silver at his temples, and the stubble that was beginning to come in after a long day. She could also smell him too, spicy and strong with the hint of the malt they were drinking and something that reminded her of his shop, all of it mixed together to make an intoxicating smell that was all his own. Belle licked her lips and she saw his eyes slip from hers to her mouth.

“Belle…” He whispered right before she took the plunge and took the kiss she’d been longing for since she’d first met him.

His moan was softer than the one she’d heard him use earlier in the day but she preferred it that way. She sighed and ran her hands though his hair as one of his moved to grasp her hip. His lips tasted like the whiskey they’d been drinking and she couldn’t help but smile. Belle had dreamed about this and now it was happening. He was kissing her, she’d kissed him and he’d kissed her back, rather enthusiastically at that.

“Come up to my room.” She whispered as she pulled back when they needed to breathe. He nodded and threw enough bills on the table to cover their drinks plus a tip.

They made their way up to her room, trading kisses and silly giggles as they went. The elevator was empty so he pressed her up against the wall as they kissed and let their hands wander. When the doors opened they were caught shamefaced by the person waiting to get on. Lucky for them it was also her floor and they made their way to her room. Once inside they were pulled back together as if an invisible string was connecting them. This time as their hands wandered they also began to undo each other’s clothes. Her buttoned top was easy enough to remove and so was Gold’s tie, but they need to break apart to get her bra off and for him to remove his jacket and waistcoat. They shared a laugh that died as soon as her bra was off. He looked at her with wide eyes, his mouth slack.

“You’re beautiful.” Gold whispered his hands reaching for her.

She sighed and smiled as he touched her, a low heat beginning to build between her legs. “So are you.” Belle whispered, kissing the v of skin his unbuttoned shirt revealed.

“Too kind as always.” He murmured.

“Honest, not kind.” She retorted, nipping his neck in admonishment.

“You’re a wonder, Belle.” Gold moaned, leaning down to capture her lips in a bruising kiss.

Belle clung to him, undoing his shirt and pushing it off his shoulders as they kept kissing. Somehow they removed their shoes and his socks without breaking their hold on each other. His belt was a little trickier as were her tights, but they managed with only a bit of fumbling. She pulled him down on top of her on the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him there. His weight felt good on top of her, it was a sensation she could get used to. Then something occurred to her and she started to giggle. Gold pulled back, looking rather offended for a moment but she shook her head as she laughed.

“It’s not you, it’s me. I just realized I don’t know your first name.” Belle felt herself beginning to blush as her laughter subsided and she looked up to see Gold looking down at her fondly.

“It’s, ah, Rembrandt.” Gold admitted. “It’s a family name.” He tried to explain, but Belle just smiled.

“I like it, but it might be a bit of a mouthful while we…” She trailed off with a coy smile and bit her lower lip. “Do you have a nickname? Brandt? Rem?’ Her eyes lit up and she leaned forward to kiss him. “Maybe I should give you my own name. How about Rum?”

He laughed. “Rum? Why?”

“Because I’m planning to drink you down and I’m not sure I won’t get addicted.” Belle hummed.

Gold groaned and kissed her hard. She smiled against his lips, happy her words had had the intended effect, despite the fact that they might have been cheesier then anything she’d had to read in the past. Belle shimmied out of her skirt and helped him pull his pants down, leaving them in nothing but their underwear. He moved to kiss her neck, she moaned as he sucked her pulse point, a mark sure to be left behind by his seeking lips. She ran her hands down his back, scratching his back and sighing, Belle rolled her hips, feeling the hard length of him against her thigh. Belle snuck her hand down between them to cup his cock and he let out a strangled sound of pleasure.

“You’re playing with fire.” He pretended to snarl and she had to bite back a laugh as his eyes shone with mirth. Seemed they were both just as bad as the scripts they’d been reading.

“I hope I’ll get burned.” She purred.

Gold shook his head as he laughed. “You’re a wonder.”

Belle giggled and kissed him again as they started to touch each other once more. She nipped at his neck trying to leave her mark on him the way he’d left his on her. He hummed and pecked her lips before moving down to kiss along her chest and stomach. Her breath started coming faster as she realized what he was going to do and she let out a whimper as he pressed a kiss to her hip and helped her remove her underwear. The pulsing need between her legs grew worse as he nuzzled her trimmed curls. She bit her lower lip and wriggled under him as he pressed his first kiss to her clit. Belle let out a muffled moan as he showed her how talented his tongue really was. Her back arched as he licked intricate patterns against her flesh, one of his fingers moving to play with her entrance. When he slowly let it sink into her, a second following soon after she let out a high pitched whimper of pure need.

As he sucked on her clit she trembled and came with a soft cry. He didn’t stop until he had made her tremble and gasp twice more; it felt as if he knew exactly how to touch her. She couldn’t take anymore and when she told him so he smirked at her in a smug way that she found insufferably charming. Belle pulled him up to kiss him, moaning when she tasted herself on his lips. They traded kisses and held each other as she came back to herself more. Soon enough she began to grow antsy again, the throbbing need for the man in her bed returning with a vengeance. She rolled on top of him and pulled down his boxers, his cock springing free. He looked perfect, not too long, but thick enough that she knew he’d fill her up perfectly.

Rising up on her knees she took him in hand and smiled down at him as he looked up at her. Carefully she lowered herself and groaned, rolling her head back as she felt him press deep inside her. She held herself still for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of them together, then his hands moved to hold her hips and she began to move. Their rhythm was slow at first, intimate and perfect as she felt him touch all the right places deep inside her. Soon desperation began pulling at her core, causing her to begin to speed up as she chased the pleasure he was offering her. Beneath her Gold began to grow more vocal in his moans, his grip on her hips tightened and then one hand moved to trace along her skin, making her shiver. He pinched her nipple and then he trailed the tips of his fingers back down her body to rub her clit.

Whimpering, Belle held his shoulders, her pace increasing with every thrust of his hips. She watched his face as he grew closer to the peak of pleasure they were both chasing. He squeezed his eyes shut; his teeth grit and she felt his hips stutter as he came with an almost silent huff. Watching him come and feeling his release hot inside her pushed her over the edge. Belle gasped as she squeezed his thick cock, he kept moving inside her through both his and her orgasm until they were both completely spent. She fell against his chest, both of them trying to catch their breath. Belle rolled off of him, whimpering when she felt him begin to soften and pull out of her. He rolled on his side and pulled her into his arms, the two of them trading lazy kisses.

“I love you.” He said, breaking the silence.

They both froze at his words, her breath stolen by them. He looked away, his eyes hidden by his hair. She could feel him moving away from her both physically and emotionally. Belle couldn’t let that happen, not after how far they’d come in such a short amount of time. She was tired of trying to douse her crush when it just seemed to burn hotter and brighter every day. Honestly it hadn’t been just a crush for a long time, longer then she’d wanted to admit. So she did what she always tried to do, she was brave and hoped bravery would follow.

“I’m in love with you too.”

He looked back at her so quickly his neck almost snapped. “You do?” Gold whispered.

“Yeah,” She smiled and shrugged. “Have been for a while actually.”

For some reason her eyes were watering. She couldn’t imagine why; it wasn’t like she’d just admitted her feelings for a guy she’d been yearning for since she moved to Storybrooke while they lay in bed naked after having mind blowing sex. Oh wait, that’s exactly what she’d done. Belle blinked rapidly, hoping he wouldn’t notice her eyes had gone glossy. The pad of his thumb was warm and reassuring against her cheek as he wiped away her tears.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Gold whispered. “Please don’t cry.”

“Sorry, I don’t want to ruin the mood.” Belle said.

“No, don’t, I did, I shouldn’t have–”

“Don’t say that!” She insisted, shaking her head. “I’m just so happy. It’s a little fast, but I mean it.”

“I mean it too.” He told her cupping her cheek.

He rolled away from her and she felt his loss keenly, so she followed him up, both of them sitting side by side. She rested her head against his shoulder and took his hand, their fingers lacing together automatically. They sat like that for a long moment, just soaking in the feeling of being together with all their feelings out in the open.

“You know, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Belle said trying to lighten the sober mood that had fallen over them. It worked, Gold started to laugh and he turned to kiss her forehead.

“You know, I think you might be right.” He replied with a soft smile.

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #Voice Over #cue the queue

37 notes · View notes

your-dungeon-is-problematic · 8 years ago

Text

Selkies (AD&D)

Selkies! Everybody’s favorite Celtic seal-women! ...Well, they’re usually women, anyway. Women who put on sealskins that transform them into seals. Unless they’re seals that remove their skins to transform themselves into humans? Bit of a chicken-or-egg dilemma there. Though something I cannot ignore right now is that the art in this edition for selkies is nothing short of hideous. Lemme tell you, the weird misshapen webbed hands, the tiny legs coming out of that squat flat butt, that face, it’s just so unappealing. All you had to do was draw a seal, and then like some tasteful shot of a woman draped in a sealskin right next to it, with the connect between them fairly implicit, not this weird not-quite-one-not-quite-the-other look y’all got going on.

General: “Selkies are seal-like beings that have the ability to change into human form for a few days at a time.” ...A few days? That’s it? What for? In most selkie stories I’ve ever heard about, yes, the selkie does eventually return to her seal form, but it’s more just that she has this innate desire to be free and in the sea, whereas this seems to imply some kind of like...physical limitation? Is this an Animorphs situation? Will the selkie become human permanently if they’re in human form for more than a week? “When in their true, seal-like forms, they are nearly indistinguishable from normal seals. Close inspection of their arms, however, will reveal the presence of slightly webbed hands instead of fore flippers and legs instead of a tapering body and rear flippers.” Yeah, “Close inspection”, my ass. The structure of those grody hands are pretty markedly and immediately distinguished from a regular seal flipper. The only time this guy wouldn’t get weird looks was if the water was murky. And even then, most people who got a good look would be all, “poor dear, it’s got malformed flippers”. And the legs, just... no, that’s pretty much entirely different from a seal’s legs. It gives the body an entirely different profile. The selkies will look like potbellied swimmers in wetsuits from a distance, only for people to think they’re just really misshapen seals for whom every waking moment of life is agony with their accursed limb deformities. And then someone will probably be like, “Oh wait, they’re probably just selkies.” Like I really don’t think this was the best way to go for this creature, guys. You should have given them a regular seal form, and a regular human form; this half-and-half thing they got going on is nothing short of disturbing. And like, there can still be telltale signs in either form that this is no ordinary human/seal, like maybe some kind of special birthmark, or maybe selkies in human form are notably hefty, because the seal blubber doesn’t just disappear when the sealskin comes off, but this ain’t the way I’d go, with the limbs, and...yeesh. “Once a month, each selkie is able to assume human form for about a week. Usually selkies prefer to briefly visit the realm of men (which they call the ‘overworld’) out of curiosity, but sometimes they are ordered to go forth and purchase desperately needed supplies or information.” I’m still weirded out by the timescale provided, here. That doesn’t seem long enough. A week per month? But at least the reasons given for why they go to the surface are certainly reasonable. For fun, when it isn’t for food or information. Simple but not stupid. “When in human form, selkies are very attractive indeed and their fine looks have broken more than a few overworlders’ hearts. Their eyes are particularly noticeable as they are always either a bright emerald green or startling light blue. Since the selkie transformation is not a spell or magical effect, only spells like true seeing will reveal a selkie’s true nature, although their peculiar mannerisms and predilection for seafood also might.” I like this, honestly. Unless you know to look for the eyes, or if they’re really, really not good at blending in with the surface-dwellers, selkies are hard to suss out. Adds an air of mystery when the party’s benefactor only shows up a week every month and insists on holding meetings at the local crab shack. And then someone makes the connection and all the eccentricities click.

Combat: “Since selkies are unable to swim quickly while carrying weapons, 90% of selkies encountered underwater will be unarmed. They use their sharp teeth whenever they are cornered but prefer to use their impressive speed underwater to escape superior odds. If encountered on land, selkies are wise enough to bear human weapons, most likely swords scavenged from the wrecks of ships.” ...Nothing much to add, really. It’s all fairly sensible. Seriously, selkies are hard to make unlikable, to me.

Habitat/Society: “Selkie communities are divided between male and female, with females usually outnumbering males, as male selkies are he hunter/gatherers throughout the often dangerous waters nearby.” Ugh, I say that and they immediately fall into the same bizarre job dichotomy the centaurs did... “However, both aspects of selkie “community” (domestic and provider) are equally respected within the lair, and no sex is accorded undue privileges.” Oh! Well, that’s good at least. You immediately caught yourselves, selkies. Don’t disappoint me, now. “Selkies inhabit only colder waters and there are both saltwater and freshwater varieties. Selkies almost always build their lairs in water-filled regions--selkie young must be raised in an air-filled environment for about their first year.” Huh! Well that’s...interesting, I suppose? “As mentioned earlier, selkies often find and explore wrecks of sunken treasure. Most selkie communities have hoarded at least some booty (especially pearls), keeping those otherwise useless trinkets only for purposes of trade with the overworld.” This is one of those times where again I’m like “then what the fuck else do they have for currency, unless they have some sort of barter system or communistic command economy type thing going on?” I mean, okay, yeah, a lot of times in an emergency situation when it comes right down to it, money doesn’t *do* anything...but in day-to-day situations, you exchange it for goods and services! How ‘bout that shit! You use it for trade, but it’s otherwise useless? ...Well yeah, guys, it’s money, that is its use. Like, duh. I know you’re trying to make a little bit of a hippy-dippy “they’re like, beyond money, maaaan!” sort of statement, but it comes off to me like you’ve just said “they use money” in the most roundabout way possible. Granted, they only use money with surface-worlders, and that does leave gaping holes in how their society works, but whatever. “Only selkies who have visited the overworld many times have ever acquired a taste for ornamenting themselves like overworlders, and can be distinguished from more traditional selkies immediately. For obvious reasons, these more experienced selkies are often the best representatives to deal with if one is an overworlder. Selkies can be hired and have a limited knowledge of overworlder culture.” Of course, the whole fact that there are more surface-experienced selkies out there, kind of raises the question as to what one of these selkies would do in the fairly-typical-in-the-old-tales scenario where their sealskin was stolen. ...Though, that said, hold on: where are their transformative sealskins? I don’t think I’ve seen anything in this passage that more than vaguely hints in the direction of their traditional, mythological means of going from one form to another. Which is frankly bizarre. Why even have selkies if you’re not going to include the sealskins...? “All magical treasure recovered by selkies is immediately commandeered for the good of the community and the lair’s defense.” Ah, so they at least have some sort of community militia, outfitted with the best salvaged magical loot. Good! This is a good thing. I like it.

Ecology: “Selkies are omnivorous, preferring to eat fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and various forms of seaweed. Those that have visited the surface are often partial to human fare as well. Selkies are particularly suceptible to fine wine, which is to be expected since these intoxicants are unknown below the seas.” I mean I guess that makes sense? I just fear that too much wine will like, get some landlubbers who’ve caught onto the whole selkie society to start economically exploiting the selkies by selling them wine, and... Eh, you see where I’m going. But like I said, it makes sense, to me. “Selkies are sensitive about their environment and harvest only what they need to survive. It is worth noting that selkie representatives lobby heavily whenever local overworlder environmental issues threaten selkie existence. Most selkie communities have learned the value of dropping a few pearls here and there in order to get what they want from men.” Well, they’re a cut above the centaurs by actually trying to actively influence human environmental policy through financial incentives. Being the change they want to see in the world, and all that. “While selkies in human form are quite beautiful, they are fortunate indeed that their pelts have little value in overworlder markets. They are, therefore, without any special enemies besides those common to seals and all ocean-dwelling beings.” ...Huh. You know, it’s weird, but I think that is the first, last, and only mention of the whole selkie pelt thing, and even then the fact that its tied to their transformation is only implied. So if you had no idea what a selkie was coming into this, I guess you’re going to be a tad confused where this note about the pelt is even coming from. Also is this meant to be a subversion of the common selkie narrative of “selkie in human form gets stuck that way when some prick takes her pelt and forces her to marry him” thing? Like “Oh, uh, seal pelts aren’t worth much, so, uh, you don’t gotta worry, or nothing.” It’s weird.

Selkie, Leader: “Each venerable leader of a selkie community can cast the following spells once per day, one spell per round: augury, cure light wounds, and cure disease. Leaders can also cast weather summoning and control weather once per week. Selkies fear the wrath of the sea should they ever use their powers for ill.” ...Wait, all selkies need to do to get these spells is to...get old? Or do they need to both be old and be generally accepted as a leader of their community? I do like the sort of ominous warning at the end there. It almost implies like, a wrathful sea god, or something, who will totally Odyssey you for a decade if you screw with him.

Overall: ...I like ‘em! You know, it’s weird that the whole pelt transformation is only even implied just the one time in the text, but they seem pretty placid and agreeable. Totally unlike the centaurs from last time, geez. Really my biggest critique is that their seal form is ugly as all hell. Look at that thing. Honestly. Just, draw a seal, have them be a seal in seal form. They won’t be able to use weapons, but seals got big ol’ teeth, you guys. They’ll be fine.

#selkies #selkie #dungeons & dragons #your dungeon is problematic #though not so much this time around #selkies are pretty chill #thank God #for once what should be innocuous remains innocuous #though that art...#hrm

20 notes · View notes

templepurohit · 6 years ago

Photo

#Hinduism #Hindugods #india #vedas #mantras #spirituality

1 note · View note