#but like why does glinda want to learn magic SO BAD

[obliviouskara]

ugh, i have questions about wicked but i have no one to ask but google i am not well

[spritelysprites]

now that I've had some time to think about the wicked movie, I'm even more confused about the plot and the magic system than I was at first.

so elphaba is the best at magic and she gets to go meet the wizard. how do we know she's good at magic? what are we comparing her to? the teacher didn't do any magic and neither did glinda. obviously neither did the wizard.

(that's leaving aside some other major questions: what makes someone like this teacher able to tell a person's potential for magic? if she's able to tell these things, why did she say no to glinda and why does she serve the wizard? what exactly is she teaching elphaba in these magic lessons? what is it to "make good"?)

I don't know what the rules or limitations of magic are and whether she is working inside or outside those limits. we have no way to know she's good at magic except that the story tells us so. we know she's got a lot of force behind her magic, but I as the viewer have no idea whether that's a good thing or what good/bad magic look like.

and I don't understand what the school is for. is it a magic school? if they're all learning magic, what are elphaba's lessons for and why is glinda so eager to get in? if they're not learning magic, what are they even learning? if shiz is an exclusive private school, sure, it makes sense that people would be eager to get in, but it doesn't make sense that our main characters get to wear totally different things from everyone else's uniform. (for those who say it's to make them stand out: see derry girls, lady bird, heartstopper. we don't have any difficulty making out who we're supposed to be looking at there, and they all include scenes with multiple characters in school uniforms.) if it's because they're so rich and influential they get to disregard the uniform rules, wouldn't everyone at this exclusive private school be doing that?

coming back to the story, elphaba getting to meet the wizard doesn't actually make any narrative sense. she doesn't get the chance to improve at all with her magic by this point. we're told she gets to meet him if she "makes good," but we don't even know what that means, let alone how or when she supposedly did it. I understand that the plot needs it to happen then or else it's less of a wizard of oz prequel and more of a boarding school au fanfiction, but nothing the characters do seems to influence what comes their way (with the exception of glinda's prank with the hat, which makes glinda feel bad and step forward to help elphaba and so they become friends), and the timing of this summons makes no sense. she doesn't get the chance to earn this meeting, she just lucks into it.

that's why the ending didn't have any punch for me. first of all, we all knew the wizard was a fake and elphaba was being set up for disappointment. but mostly, it's because that moment where the rug gets pulled out from under her doesn't actually have any impact. this isn't something she's worked for, and the average viewer doesn't cheer for a protag who takes her first real action at the very end.

(and nobody in the notes had better mention casablanca, because that's a very different situation. the protag is actively choosing non-engagement in the larger crisis of the war and in his personal crises every chance he gets, and so his actions at the end are actually a different kind of choice that show a change in how he views and deals with his problems. elphaba is just kind of standing there through most of the movie. sure, she wants things, but she's not doing anything about it, and she's not even improving at the one thing (magic) which we're told is her strength.)

the only thing that felt earned through the whole movie was the beginning of glinda and elphaba's friendship. but elphaba attending shiz, rooming with glinda, getting magic lessons, meeting fiyero, and getting to meet the wizard all just kind of fell into her lap without her having to take a single action. cynthia erivo gave a good performance, but the writing really let her down there.

I don't know. I can usually ignore a bad plot if it has consistent worldbuilding, or interesting characters, or is just fun to look at visually, but the wicked movie didn't have any of that for me.

[the-clock-of-the-time-dragon]

Nah, I can't agree. Glinda absolutely made the wrong choice, and Elphaba was not selfish — on the contrary, she asked Glinda to go with her because she wanted to SAVE Glinda from the Wizard's lies. Her "you too" is not "oh you've turned against me too" — because obviously Glinda, at heart, is still on Elphaba's side — it's Elphaba saying "oh, I'm too late, you're already under the Wizard's spell". And Elphaba knows how powerful that spell is: because she was under it herself until just a few minutes earlier, and had been "since birth", as she tells us from the very beginning. The ONLY reason Elphaba was able to break out of it, to have her whole worldview shattered, is because she believed that the Wizard was not only fundamentally Good but also Real (unlike all the fake, shallow, stupid people who have made her life hell since day one). Glinda can't be liberated quite so easily from the Wizard's spell because unlike Elphie, Glinda was born fully into the Wizard's Oz, and all of its artifice. She never believed in Real Good to begin with — she always knew that society is fake, image is more important than truth, etc. — but even a shallow #Good is better than Bad, and it's the goodest Good there is; it's as natural and irresistible as gravity to her. It's crazy in Glinda's eyes for Elphaba to sacrifice the world as it really is — even if it's hollow — than ruin her life in a futile struggle against it.

In the film, one of the very first things Glinda ever says to Elphaba is that once she's learned magic she will help solve Elphaba's problem(s): Elphaba finds it ridiculous that Glinda could offer to help someone she's never met, using skills she doesn't have. But that's... exactly like the Wizard, isn't it? Glinda — with all of her "it's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed" philosophizing — was ultimately right about the way Ozian society works. She's in the wrong for accepting that. Elphaba wasn't wrong for going against it (since it never accepted her to begin with) and wanting to liberate Glinda from that: but Glinda just wasn't ready. Why should she be? The Wizard's Oz treated her just fine; better than fine. Glinda isn't ready to give up that false happiness until Elphaba is dead — because until then, she'd still held onto hope that her Elphie would come back, accept the world the way it is, and be accepted in return for how wonderful she truly is. Only once that hope — the very thing that the Wizard manipulated all along — is doused, does Glinda realize that she had the power to change the world all along, it wasn't futile, and in fact she never needed to accept a society that operated like that in the first place.

So yes, Glinda was always wrong, and Elphaba was always right: but both of their decisions were motivated by true and selfless love for each other. Elphie just understood that neither of them could ever truly be happy within the Wizard's Oz — while Glinda was deluded to the very end that they could never find happiness OUTSIDE of it. A lot of people have interpreted Glinda as weak or cowardly — and I can see that reading, certainly — but more than that: Elphie was her weakness. She chose wrong — she was led along by false hope, and did things that she could never take back — but she always thought deep down that she was doing it for Elphaba.

I love how inherently selfish both Glinda AND Elphaba are as protagonists. But where one gets praised and admired for it, the other gets demonised and hated.

People always attack Glinda’s decision not to runaway with Elphaba, but no one acknowledges how overtly selfish it is to ask that of someone.

Elphaba is asking Glinda to throw her ENTIRE life away for her. To be ostracised and hated all throughout Oz when she knows full well how badly Glinda cares about what people think of her.

And while Elphaba is used to such ostracisation, Glinda is not.

It is an equally selfish decision to refuse Elphaba request. To perpetuate corrupt beliefs you don’t believe; in order to be accepted and validated by people in power.

They’re BOTH in the wrong, for entirely different reasons. It was an impossible situation with no right answer. And I’m sick of people acting like Glinda made the “ wrong choice ”

[synonymouswithanonymous]

Wicked the Musical- Glinda character post

Once again always interpreting everything this woman says and does as a negative. Sigh. Nothing she says or does is ever right bc some people want to hate on her for being Alex Hogh Andersen's girlfriend. After a couple of years of knowing each other, then dating for over a year, I'm sure he knows who the woman he's in love with is, better than all of us.

My opinion.

If you know the musical, then you'd know what she Probably meant by her words. When she says these things, supposedly the translation is correct (no article link, and I haven't found it online yet) it's about the character starting off one way, and evolving to truly be a good witch. I don't see this as a quote that could make her look bad, nor do I think it says bad things about her as a person. 😊😊 it makes me like her more bc she so easily says these things, that she's not perfect, not wholly good or bad, acknowledges changes/growth. Aren't we all a work in progress? 😊😊

Translated as: "We went to class together at the musical academy We start out pretty much like our characters in Wicked are too. So Glinda, she's in control of everything, and she's totally in control of everyone else, and she's popular, but she also puts herself a bit in the position of having to be popular."

I interpret this as Nanna and Johanne are different people, with different perspectives, personalities, and experiences. One more quiet (N) the other more outgoing (J). Bc as she explained in her longer magazine interview about Askepot she felt it was necessary to always be funny, doing a lot, to be the life of the party. Bc of her insecurities that no one would like her otherwise. Thus "controlling" others perceptions, acceptance, and thoughts of her, giving her control over everyone in that respect. And feeling more in control of her circumstances and life. I think she said she likes to give out advice too, ie tell people what to do. She strikes me as blunt and realistic. But that doesn't mean she forces people into anything. Lol. Anyway she learned from that (and an abusive relationship that broke her for awhile), how to just be herself, and not burn the candle at both ends. Or worry about others perceptions of her. She says she's more cautious now. So it's not surprising the character of Galinda (changes to Glinda later in musical) reminds her of herself and how she's grown/changed as a person. maybe Nanna was a bit of an outcast that also blossomed? 😊 Both journeys are great.

I don't interpret this as her being some sort of carbon copy of the character in all respects. Lol or that she sees herself as a carbon copy of the character either.

Context about a character is very important, imo, to consider when taking a quote and analyzing it. Instead of just trying to find a way to bash this woman endlessly. Otherwise someone saying that they're a lot like Anna Karenina, or understand her could be boiled down to suicidal cheater. And that's just not the whole story.

Galinda/Glinda is a sweet, bubbly character, and has a good heart. She's concerned about popularity, and doesn't always make the right choices. But she does in the end bc of how and why she changed, real friendship.

The character of glinda explained through a couple of links.

Spoilers:

"The show is about two young witches: The musical follows them from their girlhood friendship and explains how Elphaba became the Wicked Witch and Glinda became the Good Witch. "

"In the musical, which takes place before Dorothy Gale arrives in Oz, the young wicked witch, named Elphaba, is an outcast because of her atypical green skin. She meets a young Galinda (later Glinda) while studying magic at Shiz University. In contrast to Elphaba, Glinda is blonde and conventionally beautiful. The two get paired as roommates and are initially enemies, but they eventually become best friends.

The two are driven apart when Elphaba discovers that the man behind the curtain, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, is actually a fraud. The Wizard wants to turn the talking, intelligent animals of Oz into unintelligible beasts. Elphaba's discovery of the corruption in Oz, and her fight against it, gets her painted as a Wicked Witch, as the citizens of Oz are convinced to stand by the Wizard. Elphaba's crusade also tests Glinda and Elphaba's friendship, as Glinda is torn between following the rules in Oz or standing by her friend.

Wicked is about female friendship, discrimination, governmental corruption, and the musical shows how the iconic characters in The Wizard of Oz (not just the witches, but the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, too) came to be. "

https://wicked.fandom.com/wiki/Glinda_Arduenna_Upland#:~:text=Glinda the Good%2C Lady Chuffrey,Oz by author Gregory Maguire.

"It is not until Shiz University's own Dr. Dillamond, a Goat who she'd met on the way to Shiz and had been rather rude towards, is tragically killed and Ama Clutch becoming incapacitated from witnessing it that Galinda realizes how self-centered and shallow she had been. She truly allows Elphaba to finally become her friend by looking past her flaws and seeing her as an equal for the first time. To mark this new change, she changes her name to Glinda, which the old Goat had mistakenly called her. "

"She is present when the Wizard sends a mob of witch-hunters to kill Elphaba, and, unable to stand by while her friend is killed, she goes to Kiamo Ko to warn her of the impending danger. Before being supposedly melted by Dorothy, Elphaba makes Glinda promise not to clear her name, and gives her the Grimmerie, a legendary spell book. Glinda tells her that of all the friends she has had, Elphaba is the only one who really mattered, and the two Witches acknowledge that each has been changed by their friendship."

I love this musical. 💖😊😊💖 So much more than the Wizard of oz. The other quotes they say really nice things about each other. Two lovely ladies, I hope their version of Wicked breaks records!!

As always another long post, but just want to put my thoughts about this out there. 😊 sorry for the length, but had to add the quotes/spoilers for clarity. Edited to add: its obvious to me that some people are purposely trying to pick at everything she does to fit their agenda (over the actor they like) to try to make her look bad. They purposely "read" her this way bc they want her to be this way. No matter how little bearing on reality there is. Nanna even says that Johanne "inspires" her, bc of who she is. How can these people actually think they know or see her better than everyone else that knows her in real life? And continue with their hate spiel? It does not make sense. Conclusion they just want to see her that way and will twist her words to fit their agenda no matter what. I think that is sad and wrong. It's the willful misinterpretation or changing what she's actually saying to suit their hate agenda that bothers me. Another example: she said she'd never seen his WORK, not that she didn't know about him at all. Is reading and thinking a sentence through really that hard? But I shouldn't be surprised bc they just want to twist her words.

But these are also people that call AHA all sorts of names and gleefully talk of lost followers, and less projects bc he hasn't "maintained" or done enough for fans. 🙄🙄🙄🙄 HE does not owe fans anything, fans will be fans whether he's on socials or not. Fans aren't owed a damn thing. He seems like a really nice guy to me, and talented too. Seems that once he stopped being single they angrily turned on him and everything he does. It's sad and reminds me of the article I posted about a Korean singer.

[itstimetotheorize]

Ravens greatest regret, The mysterious final days of Summer Rose

Ever since volume 2, Raven presented herself  as someone that is shrouded in mystery,  whatever we knew about raven was always mirrored by how much yang knew as the story progressed. According to Tai and Qrow, Raven is a complicated woman, she has a funny way of looking at the world that many would disagree on, but despite this she remained a strong, clever, independent woman who is devoted to whatever cause she believed in.

However, over the course of volume 5, many of us have now begun to realize that raven may not be the person she once was. Throughout volume 5, Raven has been shown to be manipulative, untrustworthy, and more than willing to sacrifice anyone around her. But most importantly, it was through ravens confrontation between Yang that we realize juts what kind of person raven is, so, who is she? well....shes a coward.

Despite Ravens best efforts to be the only victor in the fight of volume 5 and make others believe that everything she has done till now was the smart decision, we begin to realize that raven is simply letting herself live in denial rather than accept the fact that it was her fears that prompted her to make bad decision, decisions that she claims are for her and her tribes benefit. Some of those decisions included, siding with Cinder to help Salem obtain the relic in exchange for Qrows death,

 stealing the spring maiden powers by killing the previous maiden 

and even attempting to steal the relic from the vault. 

And for what exactly?, HOPE!, hope that the maiden powers and the relic of knowledge would be more than enough power to help keep her safe from Salem!

As I watched Raven realize the reality of her situation and just how much she had screwed up by making such decisions, I began to wonder....... what exactly happened to Raven that lead her to lose track of herself and fall down such a path?. Something must have happened to her, but what? well, lets take a step back and look at what we know of Ravens past.

In the past, when raven was still part of team STRQ, and shortly after giving birth to yang, raven found out that Salem could not be defeated ..… but.... did this mean she found out that Salem couldn't be killed?. Ruby and the others only found out about Salems immortality when they questioned Jinn,

 So, did Raven somehow uncover the same truth?. Some have theorized that perhaps Raven used one of Jinns wishes to learn about the truth herself, but this would not make sense because  Raven had never seen the relic of knowledge, let alone know where the vault containing it was hidden, so, how did she find out that Salem could not be defeated? well, let me start off by saying that maybe Raven never knew Salem couldn't be killed, only that she could not be stopped. 

Now, the main problem with fighting in Salems war, is that it was already well known to have lasted generations!, Iron Wood knew this, Glinda knew this, Qrow knew this, pretty much everyone that was on either Ozpin or Salems circle knew this, and yet none of theme ever questioned why she hadn't  at least died of old age. Perhaps due to Ozpins ability to reincarnate and Salems ability to use magic and control grimm, they may not have questioned it much, they simply accepted the fact that Salem was capable of terrible things, including keeping herself alive. So, what if it was this one major factor in the war against Salem that lead Raven to realize one very important thing about herself ..... she, had been fighting in the war against Salem, for far to long now!

with all the fighting and no real progress to show them where Salem was and how to defeat her, could have lead raven to grow tired of it all. Soon after, raven may have come to the realization that all this fighting was pointless and as a result, Raven left. 

but this still doesn't explain why she was so afraid of Salem and why she was so desperate to avoid her, after all, no one (not including Ozpin), not even Qrow or Tai,  had ever seen Salem!. The only ones team STRQ had ever faced in relation to salem were her henchmen, and they appear to have no problem defending themselves against them, I mean, just look at when Qrow fought against Tyrian in V4C7

 everyone of Ozpins followers that knew of Salem only ever had fears of what she would do to the world if she managed to get her hands on the relics, but only those that truly came face to face with her and realized just how horrifying she truly was, would end up developing an overwhelming fear for her. 

Cinder, Tyrian, Watts, Hazel, Emerald and Mercury, are all terrified of Salem and what she might do to them If they don’t do as she says.

 Even Leo, a man who had  devoted himself to Ozpin, who told Ozpin face to face that he would never betray him no matter the danger, did in fact betray him once he met and saw first hand just what kind of threat Salem really is. 

So, does this mean that Raven met Salem in her years away from Ozpin?..... maybe, but how?, when?, where? and why? 

 For starters, when raven left Ozpins side, she would have needed to gather her thoughts and come up with a plan for herself: Where would she go now?, and what would she do next?. If you think about it, these questions are obvious, Raven went back to her old tribe and became the new leader, as for what she would do next ,well, there was only one thing she could do, survive. If Raven had any chance of surviving the crazy war between Ozpin and Salem, she would have needed to keep herself hidden and as far away from Salem, for as long as possible. To do this, raven would have needed intel on what areas in remnant Salem was targeting

 keep in mind that when raven left Ozpins side, she left with the bird transformation ability. Raven, being as clever as she is, might have harnessed this ability and used it to her advantage in order to gather information on how she could better defend herself against Salem. Better yet, she could do all of this undetected by anyone, if anyone did see her, they would simply see an ordinary bird!

But gathering intel on Salems targeted areas was one thing, figuring out who Salems pawns were was a completely different situation. Just as Qrow said back in V4C8 , Salem likes to work in the shadows, she likes using others to carry out her work. So, if raven did want to keep herself away from Salem, she would have also needed a good idea as to what kind of people were following her. Seeing as just how good raven is at judging others by their character, such as when she was able to accurately describe cinder, watts, mercury and emerald  in V5C9 

 It doesn't seem like Raven needed to hunt down the people that could be following Salem, she only needed to know what kind of people had the potential to be a pawn in Salems plans. Back in V2C11, when raven saved yang from being killed by neo, 

its possible that raven was there, not to keep an eye on Yang and save her the one time, but to confirm her suspicions of Roman Torchwick being one of the pawn in Salems plans! Roman was all over the news after all, so his suspicious actions in the city of Vale most likely caught her attention.

Unfortunately, keeping track of your enemies is certainly not an easy job to do, but if raven really did want to stay away from salem, she would have no other choice but to keep track of everyone elses plans and make sure that she was not going to be involved. But, what if, just maybe, something did get her involved, or...someone!

what if in the midst of her investigating, someone discovered what raven was doing and asked her to include them in order to better figure out who else was involved with Salem. But wait, Raven would never agree to working with someone, if anyone did discover what she was doing, raven would simply kill them without a second thought, its been made clear to us that Raven is perfectly willing to kill innocent people such as villagers, the previous spring maiden, and even her own brother Qrow

if someone really was with Raven in her search for answers, it would have been someone that kept her from killing them on sight, someone that not only made her listen to their reasons for wanting to join her, but also be someone that was able to prove to her that they had the skills to carry out dangerous mission along side her, without being a burden.

Problem is, the only people who have these qualifications, are the members of her former team, team STRQ! but wait, she left them remember, why would any of them search for Raven and ask her to team up?

Qrow only ever saw Raven when she felt it was necessary, so that leaves him out. Tai was busy enough as it is, taking care of yang and ruby when he became a father as well as a teacher at signal academy, so we can cross him off the list. The only one left to take into account is...Summer rose!... but wait... no one knows what happened to her....

in V2C6, when yang tells Blake about what had happened to Summer, yang says that she went on a mission one day and never came back. 

In V7C4 when Ruby talks to Qrow about summer, Qrow finally reveals to us and Ruby that of all the missions that summer went on, the one mission that she never came back from, was a mission that she never told anyone about!... but what if summer only kept her mission a secret from her friends and Ozpin, what if, someone else knew about her mission! but who? who would summer talk to about her mission besides Qrow, Tai and Ozpin?...perhaps, a former friend...like Raven!?

but why would Raven get involved with summer, years after she left team STRQ? and why would Summer want to include Raven in her mission, years after Raven abandoned Yang and her team? and if Raven really did get involved with summer, then what the heck kind of mission did summer set up for herself !? 

from what we know, after Raven left, Summer married Tai, became the adopted mother of Yang, and gave birth to Ruby. According to Yang, summer was “supermom”, going out on monster fighting missions and making cookies for her and ruby when she came back home. Judging by Yangs description of Summer, Summer was clearly every bit the loving mother that Raven was not. When Qrow talks about Summer, he talks about her the same way Yang does, that she was a kind person that was always the first to stand up and fight for what was right. 

But then again, maybe it was her identity as a kind, strong willed person, a protective and loving mother, that could have made summer realize something horrible and later come to an even more terrifying decision.

where am I going with this? well, what if in the time that Summer became a mother, Summer began to have the same realizations raven had about fighting Salem, that realization being of course that the war on Salem was lasting to long!. And that despite her, her team, and Ozpins efforts, summer might have realized that there was a chance that the war would not end in her time. When summer became a mother, it might have occurred to her that she did not want the war on Salem to be passed onto Ruby and Yangs generation. Perhaps it was through her own worry of what might have happened to her daughters, should they one day choose to fight against Salems war themselves, that finally made summer come to a very important decision.... this war... needed to end!

but what would Summer even do to end a war that has lasted generations?!. Keep in mind that Summer was a huntress born with silver eyes, meaning that she was a major threat to the creatures of grim, and by extension a major threat to Salem. When the fans discovered just what kind of effect the silver eyed warriors had on the grim, such as when ruby used her eyes in V6C6

and when Maria used her eyes in V6C7, back in her youth as “the grim reaper” 

 many of us had soon theorized that if a silver eyed warrior managed to find Salem and actually got the chance to use their powers on her, then maybe, just maybe, they could beat her immortality by turning her into a living statue, rather than killing her!  Well, odds are, Summer might’ve had a similar idea, the only thing she needed to do now, was find Salem! but how !?

Summer already knew that Ozpin had no idea where Salem was located and any leads they had on her location were a bust. The only people that knew where Salem was were the same people that had to report directly to her from time to time, her henchmen!. But finding them was a challenge of its own. Regardless, If summer had any hope of finding Salem, she would first need to track down her pawns, but her pawns hide in the shadows, away from the public eyes, moving only when Salem tells them to.

 In order to find them, Summer would have needed help from someone who was not only familiar with the dark side of the information network, but also be willing enough to help her locate Salems pawns. She couldn't rely on Qrow since he already had a tough enough time collecting whatever info he could without being noticed in his human form, that and seeing as Qrow and the others still have no idea what had happened to her, clearly tells us that summer really didn't want anymore of her friends and family involved.  .

 In order to accomplish her mission, Summer needed someone who not only had experience in the dark underbelly of the world of remnant, without drawing suspicion, but also be someone she could trust in helping her accomplish her goal, that someone...could have been Raven!

What if, Summer tracked Raven down and convinced her to help. Growing up along side raven at Beacon academy, summer must have already known that Raven would not agree to helping her without a good enough reason, well, what if Summer gave her a reason, a means to an end, a chance to end the war and be free from Salems threat!. Raven might be hard to talk to but she is clearly someone who is willing to negotiate a deal, IF its in her favor. If raven really did put up a search in trying to keep track of some of Salems followers then Raven would have been the key to completing summers mission.

But why would raven help fight Salem? she wanted nothing to do with her. If summer really did try to recruit raven, she would have sealed the deal in their negotiation by telling raven that she would have no part to play in the fight, just lead up to it. If anyone had a chance of defeating Salem, it was summer, and if they did manage to locate Salem, then the inevitable fight was for Summer to handle alone!. The only question now is, If Raven and Summer really did manage to track Salem down through her pawns, then what would’ve happened after that?

In V7C11, when ruby and the others finally confront Salem (as an apparition), Ruby shows no fear to her as she valiantly proclaims that they do not need to kill her to defeat her and that no matter the challenge,  they will stop her. 

When Salem hears Rubys words, she is unfazed, why? because, seconds after Rubys courageous speech, Salem drops a bomb of information and explains to Ruby that her words, were words she had heard before, from summer!!.

 Its during this scene that we finally receive confirmation to the one thing Ruby and her family had been questioning for years, Summers whereabouts the day she went missing!.... summer.....was with Salem the day she disappeared !!!

up to now, no one was ever able to find and confront salem, but if our theory is correct then, this moment in V7C11 ,confirms to us that summer was successful in her goal. Summer found Salem, she fought against her, and she failed!!

However !, Salem never talks about confronting Raven, but maybe, that's just because raven stuck true to her word with Summer and didn't fight! so then, what did she do?. If raven really did help Summer find salem, then perhaps rather than leave Summer and go back to her tribe using her portal semblance, Raven may have decided that she wanted to see the outcome of the fight and answer the one question she had been thinking of the day she agreed to help summer, ....could summers plan.... really work?...this... was something that Raven had to see. But if Raven really was there, watching Summer fight, then how was it that Raven remained unnoticed by Salem....unless... she was in a form that made her practically invisible. What if the reason salem and her pawns didn't take notice of Raven during their fight with Summer, is because she was hiding in the sidelines, in her bird form!

when summer began her fight, Ravens mind must have begun to flood with thoughts about everything she had heard about Salem; was she powerful!?, was she truly as terrifying as ozpin said she would be!?, could Salem finally be beat!? could this war finally end!? and could the world of remnant finally be freed!?

 I can imagine that Raven only ever heard stories about how terrifying Salem was, she had only ever seen just what kind of damage she could do. But if she really was present the day Summer fought Salem, then maybe it was  that very day, the day that summer died, that finally made Raven understand just how horrifying going against Salem was, just how terrifying Salem is, and just how hopeless it was to win against her! 

The day that she watched her beloved friend summer die, could’ve finally caused Raven to lose her courage and become truly afraid for her life, making her the Raven she is today.

In the RWBY comics issue #2, when Summers disappearance had already become known, we see a young Ruby searching through a memory box filled with things that reminded Ruby of Summer.

 Unfortunately, due to Rubys young age at the time of summers disappearance, Ruby has had a hard time remembering what little she could of summer, eventually, Ruby becomes desperate for any information on what kind of person her mother Summer was. Sadly, no one, not even her father Tai, is willing to tell her about summer. 

Yang however, is able to to ease rubys curiosity by telling her stories about Summer,

 These stories however, are sadly made up by Yangs childish mind, due to her missing Summer just as much as Ruby. Ruby never the less takes the stories seriously and is over joyed by just how much of a hero Summer was. Moment later, however, Ruby tries to share her moment with a black bird in a tree next to her, this black bird is of course revealed to be Raven the moment it talks back to Ruby.

When Raven talks to Ruby, she tells ruby in anger that summer was weak, she was no hero, and she was never as good of a wife, mother or huntress as she was told she was. As Raven continues her cruel words towards Ruby, Raven finishes up by saying that ruby is the same as summer, but not yang, yang is different because she was never truly summers daughter. 

These are indeed some heavy words for Raven to blast at a little girl. Originally, some of us believed that Raven said this when she felt insulted for having watched her own daughter Yang favor Summer as a mother rather than her. However, when Raven yells at ruby, she says it in a way that almost makes it seem like she is not talking to a child, but an adult, if so, then who might Raven be talking to as she stares at ruby? Qrow always said that Ruby was a lot like summer, so perhaps when raven saw ruby, all she could see was summer looking back at her. If Raven really was with summer, then perhaps her death caused Raven to spiral into a pit of twisted emotions, resulting in her doing things that could cause others to question her emotional state, such as yelling at a child.

 Raven has always been presented as someone who is unable to properly express her emotions, so perhaps at some point or another, summers death might’ve caused Raven to develop a sense of hatred for her in the midst of her grief, why? because, up until the day summer fought salem, Raven still had hope that she could survive the war, but ever since “that” day, that hope Raven had disappeared along with her bravery and willingness to keep fighting. 

Then again, this hatred towards summer, could also be a cover for Ravens true feelings. Like I said before, Raven has been presented as the type of person who can’t properly express her emotions towards others, including herself! if so, then how does raven really feel about summer and about herself?

in V5 C14, when yang tells raven that despite her reasoning for everything she had done up to that point, raven has shown yang that she is nothing but a coward who will do anything to run away.  

When raven hears this she is greatly angered and tries to put herself in the right by telling yang that she can make choices that others cant and that it was her willingness to make those decisions that has allowed her to face death and come back out alive every time. 

This however, does not convince Yang and instead only confirms to her that raven is no longer the strong woman she once was and is instead now someone that makes decisions based solely on her fear of salem.

 Yang does not hesitate to tell Raven this and in their final moments, yang tells raven that she is not like her and is willing to face the threat and consequence of salems wrath once she takes the relic of knowledge. When Raven hears this, we see her, for the first time, not defend herself. What's so interesting about raven and yangs final moments is that as yang proclaims her willingness to face danger, Raven physically and emotionally begins to weaken in front of us all!

Of all the things that raven could have done in her final moments with yang, be it fight against yang for the relic, yell at yang once more for not understanding how hopeless the fight against salem really is or even choosing to redeem herself by setting her fears aside and instead choose to side with her daughter to once again fight against salem, we instead watch as Raven cries and utter to yang in a sad voice, ”I'm sorry”, before escaping through one of her portals.

as I re-watched this scene over and over again, I began to realize something, ravens apology... may not have just been towards yang. When yang tells raven the harsh truth about herself its almost as if there was something else eating at her, making Yangs words sting and hurt even more than what we saw. Tai always said that Yang was a lot like Raven, and in those final moments, perhaps Raven saw through yang the version of herself that was still courageous and strong willed, the version of herself that was still devoted to fighting salem and the version of herself that was still part of a team. 

As raven watched yang walk towards the relic door, raven may not have just been thinking back to the days that she was still as strong as yang, but the day that she witnessed summer be just as strong as yang and ruby as they all choose to fight salem head on no matter the risk. If raven was thinking about all this and the choices she made up until now, then maybe, just maybe, raven cried for not having tried hard enough to hold onto that same courage, she cried for having given up so quickly and for not having the strength and willingness to set her fears aside and stand alongside summer the day she fought salem. These, I imagine, were Ravens greatest mistakes, this was her greatest regret, but hey, that's just a theory, a RWBY theory.

[mryddinwilt]

Like Ships In The Night (you keep passing me by)

Enchanted Forest AU-Princess Emma does a reverse Cinderella and meets a Captain in a tavern instead of a Prince at a ball. It should have been a one-time thing but fate had other plans and they just keep meeting.

5k | T | FF.net | AO3 | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

It’s been almost 4 years but here is the thrilling conclusion... @spartanguard Happy very late birthday! It felt appropriate to finish this as a birthday gift but it took a little longer than expected! 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Chaos. The world was chaos. All around Killian his fellow monkeys flew, diving to attack the humans, dwarves, and fairies that were storming the castle. Screams and shouts reached him even from his place on top of the tower as those below prepared for the attack from above. All he could do was watch. Zelena had bid him to stay by her side and he was powerless to disobey. With her magic wrapped firmly around him he was merely her grotesque puppet.  

“Don’t worry, my pretty, they are no match for us,” Zelena said.

Killian wasn’t worried, he was filled with hope. It had been months since he had become one of the Witch’s flying minions but he still remembered Emma’s promise that she would find him and defeat Zelena. Surely this was their salvation from the Wicked Witch. He searched for blonde hair below.

There was a flash of bright light and several monkeys dropped to the ground, stunned. Killian cried out in triumph as he finally spotted Emma. 

“Silence!” 

Killian’s mouth snapped shut but he still felt the triumph bubbling inside him. 

“That spell is one of Glinda’s. The Savior has had training.” Venom dripped from every word. Another flash of magic and more monkeys fell. Zelena growled and mounted her broom. “She may have some battle magic but she is no match for me.” 

Killian wished he could tell Zelena how wrong she was. That he too had made the mistake of underestimating Princess Emma and learned just how strong and capable she really was. 

“Now you can make yourself useful. I will distract the Savior. When her attention is diverted you will capture her and bring her to the tower. Keep her occupied until I arrive.” 

Killian snarled his displeasure but could do nothing but obey. Zelena smiled sharp and dangerous before letting out a laugh as she flew away. As he spread his wings and sprang into the air dread settled over him. He watched as Zelena dove toward Emma.  Killian could hear nothing with the air rushing about his ears. Magic, white and green, flashed. There was a cry of anguish. Zelena laughed and, his strings pulled, Killian fell into a dive. As the ground rushed toward him, he prayed Emma would knock him out and then finish Zelena. 

When he got closer he saw that Emma was standing over a large, injured, werewolf. Tears were in her eyes as she screamed her rage at Zelena. The Princess didn’t see him coming. 

“Emma! Lookout!” Someone called, but it was too late. They collided, his legs wrapped around her torso, and he plucked her from the ground. 

As he pulled up from the dive she thrashed in his grip. Terrified she would fall to the ground and not wanting to gouge her with his claws, he wrapped his arms around her. 

 She stilled. 

“Killian?”

He shivered as her hand ran over his left arm caressing the place where a claw should be. His heart stuttered even as his wings beat steadily, taking them higher and higher. He wished he could fly them far away but he had his orders. He looped around the tower, slowing down for the landing. He unwrapped his legs and with the precision of practice settled them on the balcony. He folded his wings and released Emma. 

She didn’t run screaming or attack him. She merely turned around and stared into his blood red eyes as if she could see the real him underneath the fur and fangs. 

“Killian it is you isn’t it?” 

He nodded. 

She caught her breath and lifted her hand to his face. He flinched. How could she bear to touch him? Her hand fell away. 

“I found you,” she said, like it was the answer to a question. “I’m sorry I took so long. You remember the legend of the witch in the woods? Her name was Glinda. I found her and she helped me master my magic. You were right. It’s just a tool. ” 

He gave a low cry wishing he could tell her how brilliant she was and warn her that Zelena was coming. Slowly he raised his hand to her but when he saw the disgusting paw he dropped it. 

Emma pretended not to notice. “Glinda told me there was a prophecy. That my magic is special and that it’s the only kind that can truly destroy the Wicked Witch. That’s why Zelena didn’t attack my kingdom, she was afraid of me. And now that I know how to use my magic I can defeat her and fix you.” 

As if summoned a swirl of green smoke appeared behind Emma. The Princess whirled to face the Wicked Witch. 

“Hold her,” Zelena said. 

Killian obeyed. 

Before Emma could understand what was happening Zelena grabbed Emma’s wrist and slapped a leather cuff on it. Killian knew immediately what it was, he had seen the Wicked Witch use it on her enemies. His heart fell as Emma raised her hands as if to blast Zelena with magic. Nothing happened. 

Zelena cackled.

“Release her, my pretty.”

Killian let go of Emma and she stepped away. She stared in horror at her hands and then at him, betrayal on her face.

“What did you do?” Emma tried to pull off the bracelet. 

“Just a little cursed jewelry. You can’t take it off. Bit hard to defeat me with no magic.” 

“No.” 

Killian’s heart broke at the whispered word. 

“Oh yes, Savior. Don’t tell me you actually believed all of Glinda’s nonsense about prophecies? She had me convinced too, after all you did defeat Regina, but I’ve been watching you Princess and you are weak. Your power is nothing, nothing compared to me.” Zelena’s voice turned shrill.

“If it’s nothing then take this bracelet off and face me.” 

“Oh I think not. First I have to go and kill all those peasants you brought with you.” Zelena stepped to Killian. He wanted to rip her heart out but could do nothing but stand there. Zelena smiled as if she knew his inner thoughts. “My pet here will make sure you watch.” She gave him an affectionate stroke on his head.  

“Don’t touch him.” Emma snarled. 

Zelena turned to Emma but continued to run her hands down to his neck. “Oh that’s right you have a thing for my little broken toy. They say you stood up to the Dark One for him but I didn’t believe it. Is he the reason you attacked the castle? Him? How could a one-handed pirate be worth this suicide mission?” 

Killian snarled. Zelena truly didn’t understand. Emma and her army hadn’t come for him, they had come to destroy the Wicked Witch and even without Emma’s magic they were going to fight to their death. Even now he could hear the battle down below. 

“I said don’t touch him,” Emma snarled. 

Green fire sparked in Zelena’s hand. “You don’t give the orders here.” 

Killian could feel the heat building beside him and then the green streaked toward Emma. Killian cried out as she dodged and landed on the floor. Fire grew again in Zelena’s hand and Killian knew this time she wouldn’t miss. 

He couldn’t let it happen. Not Emma. He strained against the magical control, wanting to grab Zelena, rip her limb from limb. The puppet strings didn’t break but they stretched. As Zelena released the fire he threw his body in front of it. 

Pain exploded in his chest, his scream mingled with Zelena’s cry of outrage. He fell to the ground and through the agony he smelled burnt hair and flesh. The world became a muddle as he stared up at the ceiling. He heard Emma say his name and Zelena’s cursed laugh. 

Then Emma was hovering over him, tears in her eyes. He wanted to stroke her cheek and apologize for getting injured, for becoming Zelena’s puppet, and all the misunderstandings of their past. But trapped in a monkey body all he could do was look at her. 

“No, no, no, Killian.” Emma pleaded. Her hand cupped his fur covered cheek and he closed his eyes. His memory conjured Emma when he first met her, a princess dressed as a bar wench. A woman that had captivated him completely and made him realize, for the first time since Milah, that he might be capable of loving again. He wished he hadn’t been scared of those feelings, hadn’t been so hurt by her initial lies, that he hadn’t doubled down on his revenge and then betrayed her. So many things he would have done differently but at least he had done something right in the end. All things considered this wasn’t a bad way to die. 

Through the haze Killian felt Emma’s breath on his lips and then a different heat filled his body. Bright white light was everywhere, Killian waited for everything to go black but instead the light receded. The room came back into focus. He felt strangely light, though the pain was still there, narrowing his ability to comprehend what was happening. Emma’s face hovered over his, her eyes wide. 

“Impossible!” Zelena screeched in the background. Emma’s hand came to his face and this time he noticed the leather bracelet. If only he could remove it for her. 

His body obeyed his thought and his hand came round her wrist. He gasped when he saw that it wasn’t furry and clawed but a normal human hand. Killian couldn’t fathom how he had been changed but it didn’t matter he could free Emma now. He used his last ounce of strength to pull off the bracelet. 

He saw Emma start to smile as his vision faded and blissful unconsciousness took him. 

 Killian awoke with a start, his hand going to his chest feeling for charred flesh but finding only smooth skin. Skin. He stared down in wonder, he was human again. Dressed in his usual black leather. The same clothes he had been wearing when he transformed. Even his hook had been restored, a comforting weight at the end of his left arm. 

How?  

The details were blurred and indistinct, the memory of pain wiping out any nuances after the fire hit him. Emma had been over him, smiling, there had been magic and… he reached but found nothing but a jumble of images and feelings. 

The tower room was empty, no sign of Emma or Zelena, just smashed furniture testifying to a fight. A fight that he was sure Emma had won. Otherwise he would be dead.

Killian chuckled as the feeling of victory flooded him. Emma had defeated the Wicked Witch. But if she had won where was she now? 

He got to his feet and staggered as he unconsciously tried to compensate for wings that were no longer there. He walked to the balcony and looked down. The courtyard was filled with the aftermath of the battle, the smoke of dying fires, wounded soldiers being tended, flashes of colors as fairies flew about, and cages filled with what looked like flying monkeys. Killian frowned. It was all over and they had apparently forgotten all about him. 

He felt adrift, unsure of his bearings. What should he do now? He wanted to find Emma. Discover what had happened and see if she needed his help. A dreaded thought stole into his mind. What if she was injured? What if she was dying? 

He spun from the balcony, determined to search the entire castle, to find her. He was halfway across the room when he noticed a dwarf in the doorway. It was the same one that had been his jailer in Emma’s castle.

“You’re awake,” the dwarf said flatly as he shifted his blood stained axe. 

“Aye. Where is Emma?” 

The dwarf glared at him. “Princess Emma is in a council meeting, busy cleaning up the mess that you got us into. She doesn’t have time for the likes of you, pirate.” 

The relief Killian felt at knowing Emma was safe warred with frustration at his jailer. Emma still didn’t trust him. 

“Am I a prisoner?” Killian asked. 

“If you want to run away to your ship I would be happy to see the back of you but no stealing on your way out.”

Killian furrowed his brow. Back to his ship? Did Emma expect him to return to his ship? Perhaps he should be thinking about his crew or ransacking the castle but all he wanted was to see Emma. The need overshadowed everything else. 

“Out of my way dwarf,” Killian commanded as he walked to the door. 

“I knew it,” the dwarf said as Killian passed. But he wasn’t interested in what the dwarf thought he knew and continued to the stairs with long strides. He knew where the council room was. 

Killian ignored the huffs and stamping of the dwarf as he followed him through the castle. On the way to the council room they passed the ballroom and Killian paused to look inside. Weary warriors were eating at long tables, sleeping in the corners, or chatting in low voices. It looked nothing like the glittering jewel of excess that Killian remembered. It seemed so long ago that the castle had belonged to Prince Walsh and Killian had come to steal the slippers. How shocked and angry he had been to discover the bar wench he couldn’t get out of his mind was a princess and engaged. He smiled remembering how even then he had thrown over his plans just for the chance to speak with her and had been willing to give up his own schemes when he realized Emma needed help. Of course she had pushed him away, kissed him, and left him unconscious in the garden but looking back he no longer blamed her. He only blamed himself for his later actions. Could Emma see past their history? He shook his head and continued on. 

They were steps away from the council room when the dwarf realized where they were going. 

“Hey nobody invited you to the council.” The dwarf picked up his speed to get in front of Killian. 

Killian shot him a deadly smile. “An oversight I am sure.” 

He increased his pace but Killian beat him to the door and pushed through with as much swagger as he could manage. 

All eyes at the table turned to him but he was only interested in Emma. Surprise and relief flashed over her face and then she frowned and looked away. Before Killian could begin to understand her reaction and his own rushing heartbeat the King spoke. 

“Your presence was not requested, pirate.” 

Killian turned to the King and gave him a patronizing smile. “And yet here I am.” 

The Queen laid a hand on her husband's arm. “We are happy to see you recovered, Captain. Please join us. Your personal knowledge of the Wicked Witch and her domain may prove helpful.” 

Killian gave a half-bow and grinned his victory as he made his way to an empty seat. His eyes flicked to Emma but she seemed to be focused on a piece of paper in her hands. 

Those at the table were vaguely familiar to him, dirty, tired versions of the people he had met at the last council meeting he had attended. Given that immediately after that meeting he had escaped the castle he couldn’t really fault them for their cold, dismissive manner. 

“As I was saying.” Emma put down the paper. “Prince Walsh has not been found in the castle. I think it’s possible Zelena killed him when she took over his kingdom.” 

There is a murmur around the table. Did they truly care that the double dealing prince was gone? The man had plotted against Emma, he had tried to trick her into marriage. Surely he deserved his punishment?

“Well that’s a problem.” The older lady beside Killian grumbled. 

Killian couldn’t help but wonder if these council members were the same ones that had urged Emma to marry the prince in the first place. Perhaps they still wanted that? Killian shook his head.

“What pirate?” The King asked. “Do you know what happened to Prince Walsh?” 

“Actually I do.” All eyes turned to Killian. “The same thing that happened to all Zelena’s enemies. He was turned into a flying monkey.” 

Though Killian had never communicated with the other monkeys he had spent enough time with Zelena and heard her use names on several occasions. She had taken particular delight in taunting Walsh and telling him that he was no longer her favorite. 

“All of them into flying monkeys?” The Queen asked. 

Killian shrugged. “It gave her an army and removed her enemies all at once. Zelena particularly liked the control the spell afforded her.”

“How does the spell work exactly?” The Blue Fairy asked from her place to chairs down. 

“I am no expert in magic. ” Killian said. 

“Any information will help. How did it affect you?” 

“Well, obviously, there is a physical transformation but your mind remains intact. You still reason and feel as a person but you have no free will. Zelena’s will is like a physical tether, you can’t help but obey. She might command a monkey to kill his own family and they wouldn’t be able to resist.” 

Killian met Emma’s gaze and hoped she understood that he had been forced to capture her. That he would never wish to hurt her.

“That is horrible.” The Queen reached for her husband's hand. “All those innocent people.” 

“Mother, we didn’t kill any of them.” Emma soothed. 

“Only because you insisted we not harm them. If we hadn’t listened to you…”

Killian wondered what conversations they had about the monkeys. Had Emma  guessed the monkeys were innocent or had she been worried about him getting killed in the battle? Had Emma explained about his transformation or told them anything about their time together in the woods? He had thought often of that night. Of Emma’s magic and her tending his wounds, of waking up with her body pressed to his and how he realized how much he had missed waking up with someone.

“It is a truly vile spell.” The Blue Fairy said. “But Princess Emma has already cured the Captain so there is hope I can learn how she did it and reproduce it.” 

Attention shifted to Emma and Killian found himself leaning forward. How had she cured him? He couldn’t remember anything but light and warmth. 

Emma looked down at the table. “I don’t think I can repeat what happened.” 

Killian frowned. Had Emma used some dangerous magic? All magic came with a price what would she have to pay on his behalf? 

“Now Princess I know much of your magic is instinct but if you could even describe what happened I believe that it would be helpful.” 

Emma took a deep breath and her eyes flashed to Killian before jumping back to the fairy. 

“Blue I have learned a lot in the last few months and I know more about magic than you think. So trust me, you can’t recreate it. 

“But if you–” 

Emma cut her off. “You need to be looking at counter curses.” 

The Blue Fairy opened and then closed her mouth. She looked between Emma and Killian and seemed to come to some kind of realization and pressed her lips together.

“Oh. Emma.” The Queen’s exclamation drew Killian’s attention. The Queen reached for Emma’s hand. Emma’s face was turning red even as her father’s drained to white. Killian knew he had missed something but didn’t know what. 

“Emma, what did you do?” Killian’s fear made the question came out more as an accusation.

 Emma jumped to her feet and her chair rocked back. “I need some air.”  She rushed from the room with all eyes following her. She didn’t look back. As the room erupted in murmurs Killian jumped to his feet and followed her. As far as he was concerned the meeting was over. 

Emma wasn’t in the hallway and Killian wondered if she had used magic to whisk herself away. With a sigh he began his search. Guessing that Emma would want to avoid people he headed for the gardens. His mind whirled as he tried to push down the worry that whatever Emma had done with her magic was dangerous. Could it be reversed? He would gladly go back to being a monkey if it would spare Emma.  His anxiety mounted until he found her standing in the very spot she had dosed him with poppy powder so long ago. 

 Her eyes were closed and she seemed lost in thought. Now that he had found her all his questions fled. She looked tired and he wanted to take her in his arms and soothe her worries not interrogate her. He took a step on the gravel and her eyes flew open. She didn’t seem pleased to see him. 

“You recovered quickly. I thought you would be asleep for a day at least.” 

“And miss all this fun?” He attempted a smirk.

“You have a strange idea of fun.” 

Killian shrugged. “It’s important to find the silver lining in life.” 

Emma snorted. 

“Emma you gained control of your magic, you defeated the Wicked Witch, you saved me from spending my life as a simian. But you act as if you have lost.” He met her eyes and took a step closer as he gathered his courage. “I am grateful for the rescue. Though I don’t remember everything I know I wouldn’t be here without you. But, Emma, if the magic came at a high cost to you…” 

“The cost? Killian I…” Emma shook her head “There was no cost, I made no bargains nor dabbled in any dark magic. Though perhaps that would have been easier than this mess.” 

He frowned. “Then why–?”

“What do you want Killian?” 

The question and the intensity in her voice caught him off guard. “I wanted to make sure you were alright.” 

“No. What do you want now that you are free?”

Killian cocked his head as he considered the question. He was free, freer than he had been for centuries. For so long revenge had been his cruel mistress, driving him to betray his own principles to strike at the Dark One. Until Emma had entered his life he hadn’t realized how far he had sunk under its control. Emma had shown him the cost of his villainy and that there was much more to life if only he was brave enough to change. The dwarf had assumed he would run off to his ship and sail away. Given their history, perhaps Emma thought the same. But Killian had no intention of leaving unless it was what Emma wanted.  Certainly she could never care for him the way he cared for her but would she accept him in her life?

He searched her eyes but knew the only way to get an answer was to ask.

“You once said that if I stopped living in the past I could be a part of something.” 

“I did and then you ran away.” 

“I was trying to help, but point taken.” Killian took a deep breath. “This time I would like to stay and try to be a part of something. I know the King and others don’t much care for me but I have some first rate qualities that could be of real use to your kingdom.”

“You would give up buckling swash on the high seas? Be on the council and help with taxation and road building and treaties?” Emma seemed skeptical. 

“Given my talents I hope you would give me more exciting duties but, yes. If you are amenable I would like to stay.” 

“And that’s all you want a position in my kingdom?” 

Her green eyes drew him closer and his heart beat wildly. He thought of the kiss they had shared in this spot, of all the kisses and almost kisses, of how she seemed to know the truth of him but hadn’t turned away. He wanted so much more than a seat on her council. 

He stepped closer summoning what little swagger he could. 

 “Oh, aye, a position in your kingdom and a position in your heart.” 

Emma’s mouth opened in surprise. He chuckled as he bent his head and kissed her. It was a soft, teasing thing then Emma took control and transformed it into something much more passionate. 

When they pulled apart they touched foreheads and smiled. 

“What?” She asked. 

“Hmmm… I am just waiting for you to run away or incapacitate me.” 

Emma laughed. “I guess it is my turn since you ran away last time.” 

“Being turned into a flying monkey is hardly running away, love.” 

She pulled back and reverently ran her fingers over his hairline and down his cheek. He smiled at her concern. 

“I am sorry it took me so long. That she had you under her control for so long.” 

“Emma, you mastered your magic in mere months. It’s a marvel you came as soon as you did. I am the one who is sorry.”

“For what?” 

“For betraying you and stealing the urn. For running off and getting injured by flying monkeys because I didn’t trust you enough to share my plan.” 

“Killian without all that, without your encouragement and even your transformation, I never would have learned how to use my magic. I would have always been afraid of it. I should be thanking you.” 

 Killian’s heart swelled at the praise but he couldn’t help but argue. “You saved me, Emma.” He whispered and he was talking about much more than the events of the last day.

“You saved me too.” She replied before kissing him again. This time it was soft and sweet and full of promise. 

The kiss was interrupted by the loud clearing of a throat. Emma and Killian came apart. Killian let out a sigh and was composing a litany of curses for their intruder when he turned and realized it was Emma’s parents.  

The King looked like he would happily murder him while the Queen smiled blissfully. Emma pulled out of his embrace to face her parents. Killian kept his hand at her hip and it wasn’t just to annoy the King. 

“Mother, Father, Captain Jones has accepted the position of naval advisor.” 

Killian snickered at her words and the false dignity she gave them.

The King rolled his eyes. “Naval advisor? Really?” 

“David, now is not the time.” The Queen warned. 

“Now is exactly the time. I will not have this pirate toying with our daughters affections.” 

“Your daughter is right here and can make her own decisions.” Emma joined the argument. 

“Emma,” the king's voice softened, “I love you. But after Neal and Walsh you deserve someone better.” He looked at Killian and frowned. “You deserve an equal partner that doesn’t have ulterior motives. That won’t abandon you or betray you.” 

Killian bristled even as he agreed with the King's assessment. Emma deserved all that and more. He hoped he could be the one to give it to her. He locked eyes with the King.

“Listen, your Majesty, whatever Emma and I become is up to her but I would never betray or abandon her. I am in this for the long haul.” Killian pulled Emma closer.

“Honestly, David, you are being ridiculous.” 

“What? I am just looking out for our daughter. There is no proof the pirate and Zelena aren’t working together to trick Emma into thinking he is her True Love.” 

Killian frowned in confusion. “True what?” 

Nobody answered him. Emma had stepped away to confront her father. 

“No proof? Are you kidding me? Dad, you weren’t even there!” Emma’s hands seemed to spark with pent up magic as she gestured to Killian. “I was powerless. Zelena was going to kill me and everyone else. Killian was able to break through her control long enough to throw himself in front of a fireball.”

“That could have been faked, a trick to get you to believe him.” The King grumbled. 

“He was dying! I didn’t kiss him to break his curse. I kissed him because I thought it would be the last time.” 

Killian remembered the moment, the pain and looking into her desperate face wishing it wasn’t the end. She kissed him and it broke his curse. Realization dawned on him as Emma continued. 

“When we kissed there was the flash and it felt just like you and Mom always said. Then he was human. I didn’t imagine or suspect that he… It was real. I know it.” 

Killian knew more than most about the power of True Love’s Kiss. It had become a particular obsession of Rumplestilskin’s and so Killian had studied it. It was rare but could break any curse as true love was said to be the most powerful force in all the realms. Killian had been doubtful that such magic existed and had certainly thought it impossible he could share it with anyone after Milah’s death. But he had fallen in love again, though he had denied it, and even more wondrous she loved him back. Killian didn’t blame the King for being skeptical, Killian hardly believed it himself. His relationship with Emma had been unconventional to say the least but Killian would go through it all again if it led him to true love. 

The King was struggling to answer his daughter's declaration as the Queen looked smug. 

“Quite passionate, Emma.” Killian murmured. 

She turned to him and caught his wide grin.

“What?”

“You kissed a monkey.” Killian knew he looked a fool with his smile but he couldn’t help it. Emma rolled her eyes.

“A disgusting monster with fangs.” He continued as he pulled her into his arms. “At least I know you don’t love me for my looks.” 

“Can you be serious?” Emma said even as she returned his smile. Killian knew it was hardly the time with her parents looking on but he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“I’m your True Love.” Killian tipped his head and bit his lip. 

“Shut up.” 

“Make me.” 

And she did. 

[wrongeddeadthenevermourned]

Memory

A boy of about thirteen looked up as a slightly younger looking Joshua had shouted at him, the boy, Kai Parker, of course, flinched away slightly. Trying to numb the terror that would fill him at every hateful thing his father could shout at him " I-I didn't mean to. I really didn't. But I wanted it to be fair." The boy spoke before his bloody arm was being grabbed and the knife was being yanked out of his hand by Joshua who then backhanded him across the face before telling him it was a training. He and Josette were training to be powerful witches. Well, Josette was. Kai glanced over toward his sister, whose arm was bleeding due to a somewhat thick cut. She looked a little more irritated than hurt by the wound, at him.

Kai glanced around then cleared his throat " I can't, though... I don't have any magic, myself. How am I going to get better- It's not fair." Joshua turned away and muttered something about how it was probably destiny that would ensure Josette would be the coven leader, in the future. And that Kai was more or less just a practice dummy. Kai glared as he heard that " But I don't want to be a practice dummy. I have just as much chance and right to be the leader, as she does." Joshua turned on him and started to move to him, grabbing him by the arm he yanked the young boy close and locked his eyes on Kai's. Standing straight his felt his heart freeze in his chest, and fear begin to claw up his throat.

It was that look, that look that had suppressed his other yearnings. Trembling a bit as Joshua told him that no siphoner had ever been the leader of their Coven. Pulling his arm away as Joshua let go of him he moved to help Josette with her wounded arm and lift up the knife, warning Kai that he had to rely on his skill, in order to prove he was capable of even potentially becoming leader of the coven "But how?! If I can't get magic?!" Kai had shouted before Joshua turned on him and told him that he didn't know how, and that's why he would always be weaker compared to Josette. Kai watched the two head into the house then " Glinda, to my Wicked Witch..." Pouting a bit Kai turned and made his way off, he had to find something magical, to suck the magic out of.

But where was he going to start this search at.... Staring out into the vast nothingness that had surrounded their family home, the boy frowned, it was like they had intentionally lived in such a place to keep him from magic. Then, as they were magic themselves, left him tempted. The fire began to build, his skin lighting up as he felt the burning need to feed on magic once again take over.

Panting, tree's rushing by, the ground unsteady beneath his feet, the boy charged through the woods of the property. Slipping on a patch of leaves as he moved to duck behind a tree. Peaking around the side he huddle closer to the tree, gulping. His eyes shifting frantically around as several noises coming from different spots in the woods could be heard. Kai pulled away then, hiding behind the tree. His breathes heavy as he tried to figure out his escape. A voice of another boy came from somewhere in the woods, taunting him. Hearing movement in the leaves near him he ducked away just as a spell had been cast and a large rock hit the tree where his head had been. Swirling away, Kai took off deeper into the woods, several more rocks darting in his direction. One hitting him in the shoulder hard enough to make him turn, another rock hitting him in the side of the head as he was falling to the ground.

Kai glanced over as the boy who was attacking him grinned toward him and stepped closer, telling him that he had to be quicker than that. Kai winced, cupping his left hand around his ear, a bit of blood drizzling down the side of his head " I can only run so fast, Joey." Joey blinked as if the thought hadn't occurred to him that Kai was slow because he couldn't cast any spell like he could. Rubbing the back of his head the younger boy giggled and gave a 'Oops, I forgot' before giving a shrug and lifting their hand once more. Kai stood, shaking his head " Don't aim for the head, okay.  You should aim for the legs, or arms." Looking the other over he reached over and pat the top of their head " Don't want to kill your big brother now, do you?" Joey shook his head and told Kai that he had just been training, and said he would work on his aim "Yeah, that's the point..." Kai had muttered.

At thirteen his life was not like much of any others out there. His family were a bunch of witches. Who had belong to a Coven, who hated him. He was just learning about why his being a siphoner was such a bad thing, more than just not having magic like the rest of his siblings anyway.  Kai pointed Joey toward a tree " Aim at the tree until you get better-" As Joey had cut him off a bit to say that Joshua wanted them to practice on him, since he was a real live target, Kai narrowed his eyes " And when you are better at aiming, you can absolutely do that." He lied before turning and starting to run away from Joey "  After all, wouldn't you be so disappointed if you accidentally killed me too quickly, hah?"

A few minutes later he had stopped to rest, leaning against a tree and cupping his hands around his ears as he tried to push down the panic threatening to burst through his chest. Closing his eyes and focusing on just surviving this cruel training his father had putting him through lately. A test dummy. Of course. He was just a toy to them all. Something to improve on. Something that they could just put on a shelf once it was broken down. Kai fidgeted a little bit, his legs bouncing as he curled up into a tree. His side had been a bit singed from one of his other siblings practicing a spell with fire at him.  Then he had noticed it was silent. Lifting his head up from his hands he glanced around.

Suddenly he took off away from the tree, only for a spell to hit him and knock him off his feet and up into the air. His body twisting before hitting a tree with a thick thud. Landing on the ground Kai winced, and started to push himself up just as he heard the person who was attacking him approach. Lifting his head up it had been no one else than his twin, Josette " Getting better at this, Jo." He mumbled, blood dripping from his lips. She stared at him before nodding, telling him that she would become stronger, Kai sat up and moved to sit against the tree " Why, though?" He asked her, narrowing his eyes " What's the point, if I can't attack you back?" He questioned, his head tilting as he made a face.

Josette smiled and moved to sit next to him, giving his shoulder a shove as she answered that it was because Joshua had order them to. Then that they had to listen to their father. Kai let out a breath before looking up toward the sky and nodding " But what if one of you kills me before the merge?" Josette pulled away and glanced around before saying that she would never let that happen.  Kai felt himself disconnecting just then. It seemed odd, to have your family hunt you down and practice their developing spells on you and being constantly reminded that he was going to die and Josette was going to make that happen. The panic he was feeling began to disappear the more he felt himself pulling back into his mind. Even then, it was an escape, the physical body meant nothing, to him in these moments.

As Josette was prattling on about how she was going to win the merge and become a great coven leader for the Gemini Coven. Kai had continued to stare up toward the sky, watching some birds as they free flew out of the trees over head. Wishing that were him, that he could fly free of this cursed family. The teenager dropped his head down then as his other siblings began to show up, surrounding him and teasing him for having lost again. Kai grinned as one of his younger sisters dropped onto his lap and giggled cutely before prodding a finger into his face. Holding his hands out he made sure not to touch them back even as they were teasing him, and touching him. Balling his hands into fists, his eyes glazed over he continued to listen to his siblings brag.

Then finally Josette stood up and told the other children they were going to suffocate poor Kai if they kept it up and to get up, it had apparently almost been time for dinner. Josette stares at Kai a little longer as their younger siblings were walking away. She then asked if he were okay, informing him that she noticed this strange look in his eyes lately. Blinking the dissociation cut off as he pulled back toward the front and grinned at her "Oh? No. I'm fine. Great even!" Pushing himself up he took a few steps before wincing a bit "Well, a little beat up. But I was just thinking about....a game." Josette tilt her head before looking away and starting off toward the little ones, asking him about what game he was thinking of “Hm? Life.” Kai lied, scrunching his nose up a bit. Josette had smiled and pulled away muttering something about how he could be a pretty terrible liar.

[vvitchcrvfttm]

* . ROSS LYNCH,  TRANS MALE,  HE/HIM.  —  looks  like  CYRUS GOODE  is  attending   AURORIA UNIVERSITY  in  auradon.  they're  the  TWENTY-ONE year  old  child  of  THEODORA / THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST ( ADOPTED BY GLINDA ) ,  which  means  they're  from  OZ .  heard  they're  OBSERVANT  &  CHARMING ,  but  can  also  be  INSECURE  &  LONELY  ;  we  all  have  our  bad  days.  people  normally  associate  them  with  BLACK BRIMMED HATS & DIAMOND HEADBANDS , CANDLES LIGHTING BY THEMSELVES , BLONDE HAIR WITH DARK & INGROWN ROOTS , BLACK POLISHED FINGERTIPS CLINGING TO A STAR-TIPPED WAND.

                                        ❛  dreams unwind and LOVE’S a state of mind. ❜                                             playlist. pinterest. to listen as you read.    

yeah I cracked. I saw ‘oz’ n immediately had 2 bring my og witch child... this oc i’ve had for like, three years?? and he’s changed so much over my course of writing him bUT doing that is literally so !! fun n I’mm so excited to introduce him 2 u guys. please proceed w/ caution however bc the following contains trigger warnings for toxic relationships , manipulation , depression , and mentions of drug / alcohol / cigarette use. none I dive deeply into , but pls be cautious !!

HISTORY

He’s conceived as a product of an affair between the Witch and the Wizard - as of course , the story does start out when he first arrives in Oz and she , still kind and innocent , falls for a conman’s game. But the events that follow after spiral so quickly that she doesn’t even know she’s pregnant until everything’s over , and she gives birth in seclusion.

Well , almost seclusion.

The only person there is Glinda.

It’s slated for her crimes against Oz that she be sent to the Isle - and Glinda knows for multiple reasons that sending her child with her to the Isle of the Lost will be a horrible idea.

1.) The Isle is essentially a large prison. A child can’t be raised in a prison.

2.) All of the good that Theodora held inside of her , all of the love in her heart , was stolen and taken away from her by her wicked sister. And that’s not Theodora’s fault - but can she give a child love and affection when she’s in such a state ?? Maybe it’s possible , but it’s risky.

3.) If the child is Oscar’s , the child will have to at least have a chance of experiencing life in Oz. Even though , the Wizard has to keep up his facade.

4.) When he settles down from his crying , he looks up at Glinda with innocent , big brown eyes that she finds her heart melting for. He doesn’t sport the same green shade of skin his mother does , but his eyes are Oscar’s and his features are similar to Theodora’s before she turned wicked. And she can’t turn away a face like that.

Glinda selfishly makes the decision to hide away the child and raise him as her own - and Theodora is sent to the Isle , knowing that her baby is in the good witch’s hands and anguishly lamenting for days - until of course , he’s an afterthought.

But the baby does indeed get care from Glinda - too much , in fact. Her child is spoiled - thankfully not rotten , given that a good witch teaches her child to be a good child. And every time he talks to her , she gives him the utmost love and care a mother can give - when he discovers his identity , she’s more than willing to accept him and makes adjustments around Emerald City so everyone else knows to as well. Whenever he’s hurt or sad or sick , she refuses to leave his side so she can comfort him and protect him as much as he needs. Whenever he asks for something , if it’s not out of reason , she can’t say no. He’s spoiled - but not rotten. He’s spoiled sweet. 

But Glinda can’t protect him forever - and she knows she can’t hide his real origin from him forever. He doesn’t know why he’s had such a weird allergy to water since he was little , hence why he bathes with heaps of soap and bath salts so the water becomes a solution that won’t sting. He can’t stay in the ocean for too long since the saltwater’s definitely not pure , but will hurt after a long while. And soon he’ll begin to ask questions - and Glinda prepares herself while Cyrus experiments with other means.

Boys included.

Falling for another Auradonian boy is expected , and Cyrus sees him as the perfect gentleman. But underneath the flattering words and sweet nothings lies an ulterior motive to break into Glinda’s quarters and steal her wand since his parents were followers of Evanora’s - and Glinda killed her. And before it even comes to a breaking point , the relationship grows toxic , growing more and more evident that he’s being used for not only his status in Oz , but also because of his parentage.

It finally ends when he breaks into Glinda’s palace , finding not only the wand but the crucial information that Glinda’s son is not her biological son. And when Cyrus catches him , he firstly tells Cyrus that he’s never loved him ( along with the million things he finds wrong with him that drill into the young man’s self-esteem ) and that his mother - his mother who’s done nothing but love him his entire life - has lied to him. His biological mother is a dirty criminal on the Isle , and Cyrus will probably be just like her when he gets older. 

He’s thwarted , thank Oz ; but there’s enough damage already done. 

Cyrus grows confused and cold - disgusted that he gave his trust away so quickly to someone so VILE , but also wondering how he could easily believe the lies from both that individual and his mother because he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand. And a heated argument with Glinda - probably the first awful one they’ve ever had - leads Cyrus to running away from the palace for a few days , now feeling like a good portion of his life has been a lie. 

He spends his time wandering around the Emerald City - at least his mother knows he’s safe in the Emerald City , so she keeps her distance. And in the meanwhile , he researches the woman who gave birth to him to a T , reading about how she used to be so kind and sweet but then the Wizard led her to giving her heart away , and she turned wicked soon after . . . 

Her story matches up with his up until the part she turns wicked , so he’s left worrying if that’ll be his fate , as well.

When he returns home , he’s become DISTANT AND ANGRY AND MOODY - while he lets his mother hug him and kiss him and tell him how much he loves her , he’s closed off still and allows himself to fall deeper into a low he can’t seem to get out of. Everything hurts. Everything hurts and nothing seems to make it better so he decides he must have to change in order to stop it. And the only way he can seemingly change is if he takes after the roots he’s only dug up now.

To try and start anew , Glinda proposes they move to Auroria. He finishes prep school and graduates at eighteen , moving onto University ; but the change of scenery means only it’s a different palace and a different area with a bunch of faces that will also probably judge him for being different. He’s always been a quiet loner of a child - and he wants it to end.

So yes , he starts going out more. And in that sense , he starts making himself more social with parties and drinking and smoking and learning to do things his mother can’t imagine. He makes a reputation for himself as a DELINQUENT as he starts to act out , getting into fights with people he disagrees with and even using that magic she taught him for petty vengeance. Also , for business - since he’s growing talented with potions and enchantments.  

While maybe he’s opened back up to his mother , he’s still different. He’s no longer sweet and trusting and his heart is no longer upon his sleeve - instead , there’s a MASK , a mask of cockiness and callousness to hide the fact he still hurts , and he throws himself into discomforting situations to dedicate himself to acting like he’s someone he isn’t. And the more he plays into this , the more he wonders about who he really is , and who the identity of ‘ Cyrus Goode ’ is.

It used to be easy to answer the question , ‘ Are you a good witch or a bad witch ?? ’

Now . . . he’s not so sure. And with now people coming from where his mother lies , he’s wondering if he can figure out that answer. Especially maybe if he can fit in with people . . . like him.

CHARACTER & FACTS

So yES thank u sm for reading that super long backstory !! Again Cyrus is one of my deeply beloved OCs , he’s a rly confused boy trying to figure out who he is while also trying to convince himself he’s someone he isn’t to lessen his pain of being hurt. That being said , lemme be frank - how he is on the outside vs. how he is on the outside are two very different things.

On the OUTSIDE , he’s a cocky loudmouth who probably gets into way more trouble than he needs in. He’s also willing to indulge into more risks considering he thinks it’s going to numb him. A party boy through and through , he’s . . . an acquired taste. He acts careless , like he’s invincible and there’s nothing you can do to break him.

But on the INSIDE , he’s still sad , lonely , scared - but immensely sweet and soft. There’s a part of him that still wants to be himself , to openly trust and love and all - but he doesn’t think that’s an option anymore since he let himself get hurt so easily. But he’s not proud of the person he’s becoming but he doesn’t think . . . he has many options.

Sometimes , though , that mask will crack , and Cyrus will break. Sometimes it’s when he needs a release , and other times it’s unwarranted. He’s so afraid of that happening in front of other people since the fear of being vulnerable is too real , since he’s worried that’ll lead to him being taken advantage of again.

So even if he does have a lot of ‘ friends, ’ not many he’s close with. And while he has a habit of flirting and sleeping around , relationships aren’t his thing - despite the fact he actually WANTS love and validation and affection to a t.

But that isn’t to say his charm is fake - no , not at all. He’s naturally a bit of a charming kid , extremely observant with body language and reading the atmosphere. And he’s pretty good at keeping a conversation , genuinely knowing the right spots to hit as well as how to keep a conversation going on how to end it. It’s what makes people want to keep him around despite the fact he can be fucking annoying at times.

He’s a good kid underneath everything - there’s just a lot of confusion & denial & fear covering it. 

He’s EXTREMELY talented & bright in both magic and art !! He’s fond of painting and sketching and often expresses his true emotions in his artwork - it’s a bit why he’s so hesitant to show him to people.

And magic.... well , Glinda taught him everything he knows. And his own studies made for him to teach himself valuable practices , as well.

He’s a practicing witch religiously , as well. Crystals , sigils , tarot cards , etc. He’s an expert in all of it. He almost ALWAYS has at least one crystal on his person - and a lot of the jewelry he wears is enchanted. 

SPEAKING OF JEWELRY & AESTHETICS ,,,, dude’s fashion sense has changed a bit since he’s tried to embrace more of his inner West Witch but I will say. Both styles are cute.

When he was more in tune with his ‘Good Witch’ side , he wore very nice silver , blue , white etc. vests with glittery patterns over nice white shirts with rolled up sleeves. Yk how Glinda has her crown ?? He had ( and still has ) multiple bejeweled headbands bc frankly they look cute on him. 

Over tIME THOUGH he’s definitely embraced the ‘witch in all black’ thing 100%. Likes the big, floppy black hats and almost always has a black headband to accompany it. Choker necklaces, biker gloves, leather jackets - also his own pair of ruby boots , but they’re not powerful or anything they just look cute. Also almost always has some pair of sunglasses on bc they make a nice accessory even when you’re wearing them on the top of your head and not ur face.

And again - both ways , 100% is always wearing a few crystals and enchanted pieces of jewelry. 

To express himself a bit more he’s also gotten a few tattoos !! Mainly on his arms for now , but there’s one exception since he has a teeny , tiny star on his right cheek. It looks more like a little freckle if you’re not up close - but other than that , it’s stars and stuff along his arms as well as sigils , spells , etc.

He’s definitely not as strained w/ his mom rn since he’s taken a chance to like. Think things over. Since it’s been about 4-5 years since the initial reveal his biological mother is Theodora. While he’s still very confused about . . . everything , he stills takes walks with his mom through her garden and routinely talks to her about stuff. Maybe it’s not super duper close like before , but it’s better than four years ago. 

It takes a lot to earn his trust. Like , a shit ton. If u rly wanna form a close bond with him and earn his trust ur gonna have to work for it bc Cyrus is determined to not let himself get hurt again and that means he’s extremely guarded.

Still has that water allergy : ( But it’s not all liquids it’s just !! Pure / natural water. So the more gunked up the water is with a solute , the less likely it is to make him sizzle.

Also has 100% taught himself how to ride a broom thx to his mother aka ‘SURRENDER DOROTHY’

and also smoke cigarettes out of crushed poppy seeds bc again, gotta stay tru to mother

Again I think I specified this earlier ago bt he’s determined to try and fit in with at least some Isle kids since . . . his mother’s on the Isle. She’s a villain. His mom is Glinda but his mother is Theodora and he wants to be closer to her and he thinks he’s sort of doing so by embracing the Isle kids and wanting to be a part of them.

I still feel like he’s very. Teeter tottery on it since he grew up in Auradon and probably has some meaningful connections there and he doesn’t want to say goodbye to that but also he learns now it’s by a twist of fate he didn’t end up on the Isle and almost wonders if he was meant to.

I’m going very ‘Fire Emblem Fates’ on this idk I just found the idea of an AK adopted when he was supposed to be a VK as. Intriguing.

He’s also dealing w/ like. If his Mom ever decides to like , retire or something ?? Is he the next Good Witch of the South or is he destined to be the next Wicked Witch of the West ??? It’s tough.

Also bc I forgot to mention it already !! He’s panromantic pansexual and 6′3 bc I fckin said so. May or may not have researched height spells to make himself taller.

I also just wanna let u all know if this intro seems v. Serious I promise u Cyrus is a witty memefucker and not in a Luke ‘deadpan snarker’ way he’s just. Loudmouthed n uncensored and makes jokes at every given minute he can bc eVERYONE likes a funny guy.

Again he’s like. A comfort character. This dude means so much to me n I’m so excited to throw him at u guys.  

I wanted 2 list characters that helped inspire who he is today bt. I think I might save that 4 like... a graphic or smth. :^)

WANTED CONNECTIONS & PLOTS 

PLEEEEASE GIVE ME OLD FRIENDS OF HIS IN AURADON THAT KNOW HOW SOFT HE IS INWARDLY

Also friends that r just. Rly shocked by how much he’s changed. and kinda miss how he used to be before he got hurt : (

friends that sorta prefer how he’s changed?? maybe partygoing friends n stuff???

folks who are lowkey ‘wow goode got cool/hot/badass/etc.’ bc it’s definitely a signficant Shift

VKs who are encouraging him to embrace tht side of him more n dig down to his roots !!

AKs who are encouraging him to not have to try n change for that n be how he always was !!

Ppl in general who just rly would like for him to be himself and embrace who he is rather than trying to stick to a single side !!

AKs who see him as kind of like. A traitor 4 wanting to get close with the VKs

VKs who see him as too much of an AK and r basically like ‘idc if ur mother literally coined the term ‘wicked witch’ u can’t sit with us.

Rly I’m just so addicted to this ‘CHOOSE A SIDE’ thing like I generally find that as a plot so. Interesting n I def want all the connections that are sort of impacted by it since Cyrus is discovering so much abt himself

I also wld love some folks in generals he can like... be soft around. Let down his walls around. Slowly they get to know him and take the time and patiently earn his trust even tho he rly is a lot to handle.

Ppl who solely like him for the fact he can do magic bc again haha y’all can deffo use him idm

Ppl who rly dislike him whether it be for the fact he acts like a cocky dick on the outside or they don’t like how he’s trying to change himself and he doesn’t seem authentic at all literally Cyrus can b kind of sucky so pls make ppl dislike him. None of my OCs get along w/ him. Luke maybe dated him for a day n got tired already. 

He’s a lot 2 handle.

Okay he’s kind of a flirt like Luke and even tho he’s not nearly on their self-proclaimed philanderer level he still kinds. Gets around so pls gimme hookups on either end

Old crushes he used to have in Auradon when he was a lil kid, in middle school, high school w/e that never happened for whatever reasons

Also an angsty unrequited crush bc I love pain

Exes that were folks he tried to date in Auradon after he got hurt bt it just. Didn’t work out for w/e reason - probably bc Cyrus is terrified of getting hurt again.

Would also lov that one longterm relationship that lasted for like. A year or so while Cyrus was going through his shit that was probably rly good for him and they though it’d last but he had to break it off out of his own fear : (

First healthy love plot based off of San Francisco by TDE per piacere?

Listen I kno I already have a first love plot wanted for Luke bt this one’s sad for dIFFERENT REASONS 

I’d lov like ?? A will they/won’t they where Cyrus kind of has to open up n’ stuff before they can rly be together and it’s just up in the air even tho there are mUTUAL feelings ?? I wanna explore the relationship part of this tho instead of just. Throwing them into a ship n the next day they’re 2gether. Also would have to b discussed when seeing chemistry between the characters since. Ya.

WLD DEF B OPEN 2 A POLY WILL THEY/WONT THEY TOO

I already cleared thru enemies but again pLS GIVE ME RELATIONSHIPS THAT SHIFT BETWEEN LIKE. FRIENDS TO ENEMIES. EXES TO ENEMIES. ENEMIES TO FRIENDS. BACKSTABBING BITCHES. THAT SHIT. I LOVE IT. GIVE ME THE DRAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Thats it.

me: i kno i just listed the obligatory shippy stuff but i want to remind u again i love it when other characters hate mine

I love just exploring. Connections and relationships between characters in general whether they’re hostile, platonic, romantic, etc. like I love exploring that stuff like I’m here 4 everything.

ibh sometimes i worry abt posting shippy connections just bc i dont wanna give the impression thATS ALL I WANT even tho i think i listed more non-shippy connections than shippy

...i still worry.

bt yeah licherally give me anything. I’m a plot hoe even tho I suck at it.

[just0nemorepage]

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft || Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe || 405 pages ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top 3 Genres: Short Stories / Fantasy / Young Adult

Synopsis: Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth.

History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations.

Bold. Powerful. Rebellious.

A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane.

From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored.

Finished: August 20th, 2019.

Progress: 2 / 15. 13.33% complete.

My Rating: ★★★★★. [5/5]

My Review: [Under the read more - NOT SPOILER FREE]

I've been working on reading this book for 8 months. 8. MONTHS. It didn't take me so long because it was bad – HELL no. The complete opposite. This is one of the best books I've read in my entire LIFE, and I wanted to make it last.

The intersectionality and diversity among women. The unapologetic strength and friendship and love and spirit and power and RAGE they each had in their own ways. Ooooh, my god. This SPEAKS to me.

I wish I had enough skill to put how this made me feel into words. I wish I was left with more coherency than reeling with emotions and my own strength of will. I wish I could say flat out what very important discovery about myself this book led to. But alas.. words have never been my strongest suite when I'm feeling highly emotional, and it's not about to start now. And that's okay.

Just know that this book is an instant, high-ranking, top-five lifelong favorite and I will continue to praise it as such for as long as I hold righteous anger in my soul.

As I do with short stories, I reviewed each individual one and provided comments for each one. Out of 15 stories, my average rating for this one is –4.82.– I hope you realize exactly how rare that is for a book of short stories, to rate nearly ALL of them a good and solid five stars.

With no further ado: I present my ratings.

Starsong ; Tehlor Kay Mejia - ★★★★★. 5/5. #SHRIEKING

If this story is a promise of what all the others in this book are going to be like, then SIGN ME THE FUCK UP, I am SO GLAD I picked this to read next. Who cares that it’s not around Halloween. Not only is the representation spot on, but the AESTHETIC. OH MAN. Oh man oh man oh man.

I LOVED THIS ONE. To BITS AND PIECES. And found myself heartily disappointed that this is in fact only a short story, and not a full length novel. Because I’d read the SHIT out of a full length novel that stems from this. It is SO cute and pure and full of new love and promise and hope and optimism and the shit I’ve been shaping my life around lately and just, oh my god. I am on a cloud. This story is pure sunshine on my cloud, gold lined and full of wonder, and I REALLY TRULY HOPE the rest of the stories in this book are going to be anything even close to this.

I mean, look at me. IT ROMANTICIZED MY REVIEW WRITING.

Real thoughts: I wish to hell and back that this girl was real, and her social media accounts were real. I’d follow her EVERYWHERE. Her attitude and confidence is the kind of inspirational glow-up shit I need in my life on a daily basis.

Afterbirth ; Andrea Cremer - ★★★★★. 5/5. I didn't love it as much as the first one, but it's still well deserving of 5 stars. A much more traditional setting in terms of witchcraft – 1650s New England – with a single traditional plot point – the midwife convicted of witchcraft is hung. The differences are in her relationship with her apprentice, someone who discovers her true magic and seeks to learn more and take the lessons upon herself, rather than think of it the way the rest of her village would. The spell book and the magic lives on in Deliverance and the new baby girl birthed at the beginning of the story, and the positivity, loyalty, love and acceptance in Deliverance and Miriam's relationship spoke worlds to me in the short pages it got to live on.

I am only unsure about the presence of the "monster" birthed right after the girl was. It didn't really seem to serve any purpose, and it was never fully explained what it was or how it came to be, or why it was there. It seems more like a plot point that was just entirely dropped, or only used to further Miriam's accusations for witchcraft.

OTHERWISE though. The strength, resolve, determination and resiliency in this story did things to me.

The Heart in Her Hands ; Tess Sharpe - ★★★★★. 5/5. Oh man, another one that did things to me.

I've NEVER seen this kind of shit in a story before, let alone in a full-length novel. AND I REALLY WANT TO NOW. Sign me the eff UP for a full length novel of this cause SHIT, I never knew how relieving it is to read about someone who truly says "fuck you" to fate, deals with the consequences, and then learns to accept them. Someone who truly goes "my family and community are toxic and unhealthy for me, regardless of the fact that "they're my family" or whatever, so I am going to leave and never come back."

And just.. the depiction of a kitchen witch, and a whole community of witches living together, and the second gay couple in the book (we're on two out of two for relationships here!), and the pure fury and spitfire in Bette's soul and spirit, and the complete and utter "yeah no" spitting in the face of the supposed soul mate Lady Fate had picked out for her… I can't tell you how REFRESHING it is that she said "yeah no" and STUCK with it, and nothing caused her to face it or regret it, since there's nothing to face or regret. She made a decision and he never cropped up again and just oh my god. I am HERE for this shit.

I wonder if her soul mate being a guy indicates that she's bisexual, or that Lady Fate only pairs people up heterosexually.

I don't know, I just LOVE THIS WHOLE THING. Young people going "fuck you" to the system and breaking out on their own when they don't fit inside it, the old magic of the mountain, writing your own destiny, Auggie coming for Bette, and honestly right here is where my train of thought was interrupted for 15 minutes so I forget what else I was going to say. BUT YOU GET THE IDEA.

So far I need full-length books of every one of these stories, and I'm only three into this collection.

Death in the Sawtooths ; Lindsay Smith - ★★★★☆. 4/5. This one loses a star just for the accents of the people, and how much it grated on my nerves. But there is a poetic nature to this one that I'm not entirely sure I can articulate that well. Just, the idea of a priestess of death who still tries so hard to do what is right, even when the dark urges of revenge tug at her own heart, even when she herself is treated like shit, even when she has every reason to react with anger.. I don't know, there's something beautiful about it. Just as much as the idea of Mattie actually relating to the kid who was responsible for stealing people's souls, and the idea of a childhood bully apologizing for their actions as an adult and meaning it.

Now, granted, I'm not one for mercy or forgiveness. I'd be more likely to become the boy than to become Mattie – though perhaps, I'd become someone else in between. I'd give in to my anger, but not in ways that would prove all the stereotypes against me right. I'd find some other way. But I can appreciate the idea of someone sticking it out and doing the right thing, even if it makes people hate you. And for the most part, as long as it doesn't give shitty people a pass for being shitty, I'm all for doing that exact kind of thing.

I'm not really sure what else to say about this one. This one's more food for thought, than something that I can easily translate into a readable review. It was fascinating, thought provoking, and very well done, but I'm glad to be moving on to the next one.

The Truth About Queenie ; Brandy Colbert - ★★★★★. 5/5. Not as strong as a five as the other fives, but STILL A FIVE. I actually finished this one yesterday and I've been basically just sitting here nodding in appreciation since.

Notable points – a family of black witches? YISSS.

How supportive all the family is of each other, despite being mostly ashamed of being witches? Yissss.

I LOVE how Blythe and Queenie support each other, EVEN THOUGH Queenie's totally head over heels in love with Webb. I'm not here for any of that girl hate bullshit. This was REFRESHING.

AND. How Webb admitted he doesn't have feelings for Queenie, and let her down honestly and cleanly, and kicked a love triangle in the face. How the friendship still stands strong. How he stays loyal to Blythe. How Queenie STILL heals Blythe – and actually does it!! – and accepts herself fully and stands proud on her own now that she's clear-headed after not trying to do things for Webb anymore.

Just.

YASSSS.

YOU GO GIRL.

I am SO HERE for this independent lady gloriousness.

The Moonapple Menagerie ; Shveta Thakrar - ★★★☆☆. 3/5. This one seemed of significantly worse quality than the others. There are still bits that really did it for me – the Indian mythology and culture! humanizing the churel (if reluctantly – I would have liked to see everyone be much more accepting of her from the start)! the idea of weaving spellcraft into performing arts in such a way that mundane humans don't notice! the much more fantastical use of magic! the normalized disabled character!! – but quite honestly, it was the main character and the completely unrealistic dialogue and character interaction throughout that turned me off of this one. I couldn't follow Shalini's plight at *all*, and even though I can relate to that level of writer's block, coming up with ANYTHING AT ALL truly is not as hard as she made it sound. And the fact that her story didn't have any conflict in it at *all* AND that the churel critiqued all the parts that she did write tells me that honestly Shalini may just be a terrible writer. So, I had a hard time empathizing with this one. I kind of wanted her to leave the coven, by the end.

The other parts that I still really loved are what kept this at a three. And honestly my favorite character is probably the churel. No joke. My favorite part was right at the end when she says she's going to deal with her "husband."

FUCK HIM UP, GURL. MAKE HIM PAY.

The Legend of Stone Mary ; Robin Talley - ★★★★☆. 4/5. This one loses a star, since it didn't really give me a chance to get to know or like much of any of the characters, it all happened a little too quickly to have much emotional depth, and I don't really agree with the idea of forced forgiveness.

Also, Wendy's grandmother seems like the HBIC in terms of local curses and I wish she was a more prominent part of the story.

But I *did* enjoy the normalized lesbianism, as well as the message of doing what you feel is right no matter what anyone around you may think.

Plus like… how friggen powerful do you have to be to stop a generations-long curse. That was pretty awesome.

The One Who Stayed ; Nova Ren Suma - ★★★★★. 5/5. TW: Rape, for this one. Though never explicitly described, or even directly named.

I'm going to have to keep my thoughts about this one short. But I absolutely adore the embracing of female anger and rage, the implications that these things happen to everyone all around you, that you have no idea who it could have happened to – or who could really be a witch, for that matter – and I absolutely 100% feel sisterhood with these women who so badly want revenge.

The power of feminine anger, man. Righteous and furious anger. I am so here for this shit. I would seek out this circle in a heartbeat, if only I could.

I only wish I knew how exactly they would make Jayson and his friends pay for it. But I know the possibilities, and I know they're taking it into their own hands, and that they aren't above death. That is satisfactory enough for me.

Divine are the Stars ; Zoraida Cordova - ★★★★☆. 4/5. This one gets four stars mostly because I feel like a lot of it went over my head.

Excellent symbolism and representation though. 👌👌👌

It was very short, and yet it still felt like it got across the feeling of death and renewal and finding oneself, and I heavily enjoyed how easily and simply they got rid of Enrique. Casual murder? Sure, why not! He had it coming anyway.

Personally, I, too, would like to turn into a tree when I die.

Honestly though it felt like it moved a little too fast, as soon as Marimar successfully found her way inside the house. I know the story was only some 12 pages long, but, still. It felt pretty rushed, and that's likely why it felt like a lot of it went over my head.

I still enjoyed it well enough, though. I still appreciated the Hispanic (Latinx?) family, the connection between Marimar and her cousin, the message of female power passed on from daughter to daughter. It just didn't necessarily resonate with me, personally, is all.

Daughters of Baba Yaga ; Brenna Yovanoff - ★★★★★. 5/5. Okay, THIS one is more like it. This is the kind of shit I came to this book for, and the kind of shit I live and breathe for. If I could give this beyond five stars, I ABSOLUTELY would.

I absolutely adore the friendship between two very different types of girls who both extract revenge in their own very different ways – one is sweet and threateningly kind and devastates you with the truth. The other… well. I think a curse of 50lbs of pig guts stuffed inside 15 different lockers says enough.

This kind of vengeance on those who deserve it is the kind of thing that gives my life purpose, and let me tell you, this bad bitch is MY KIND OF BITCH and I'd be BFFs with her if I could and I want a whole novel of nothing but her fucking wrecking people who have had it coming.

I aspire to be more like Stony. We need more women like her in this world.

P.S. The sweet poetic irony of a girl named Harmony sweetly doling out the worst kinds of truths on this story's shittiest people has not escaped me.

The Well Witch ; Kate Hart - ★★★★★. 5/5. Awww yeah. Nothing like sweet, sweet revenge to asshole men.

It's damn well implied that those two men are left for dead, and good riddance for it.

Also, I am in love with the fact that Elsa decided to go look for Zeb on her own, rather than continue waiting in the conditions the other two men had her trapped in.

AND that she took all the water with her and left them to watch their shelter and supplies burn into nothingness.

There's not much else to say about this one, really. The historical accuracy of it seems pretty spot on, Elsa is described as a WoC, and there was just the right amount of pace and development to be interesting. Also – Zeb is a good man. He gives me hope. One out of three actually being decent sounds about accurate for the ratio of good to shitty men lol.

But this one's a good one. I heavily enjoyed it, and GOD I am loving this book overall.

Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths ; Jessica Spotswood - ★★★★★. 5/5. Wow. That was not the ending I expected at all.

It was all so dark and creepy and powerful and scary and holy shit I loved the feminine power in this story.

And open bisexuality in a historical fantasy!! That wasn't frowned upon, and nobody blinked an eye!!

Also. Can I say how much I ADORE that the sweet, gentle thing that is Georgie is the one who has the affinity towards fire, and is filled with utter RAGE? Holy w h a t. And Elle's open, unembarrassed sexuality? I am HERE for the unapologetic attitude ALL these girls have.

I really feel like I should say more about this, but I'm still just reeling, and at this point (it's July seriously wtf), I'm feeling kind of anxious to finally finish this book rofl.

Love Spell ; Anna-Marie McLemore - ★★★★★. 5/5. It's August now and I am DETERMINED TO FINISH THIS BOOK, goddamn. So I finished this one all in one sitting lol.

ADRIAN IS TRANSGENDER. Oh man that was the first thing that popped out at me.

And that someone can be Catholic AND a witch?? That's something I've seen surrounding the witchy community in real life, always in heavy debate, so it's quite nice to see it addressed in story form!

Plus like – the underlying tone of women supporting other women, and the disobedience of the typical Catholic fear, and religions accepting other religions, and I just – this one was a good one. It was a great one to come back to after a month of no reading.

And it's multi-cultural!! I will admit, I'm uneducated enough to not know if it's Mexican or Spanish culture – I –think- it's Mexican – but, STILL. So wonderfully done!!

The Gherin Girls ; Emery Lord - ★★★★★. 5/5. Goddamn. If I could give this one more than 5 stars, I would.

Sisterly support through an abusive relationship, and the VERY REAL feelings that come with trying to recover from it. In both the abuser's and the witness's points of view. Oh, man. I've never seen abuse and the trauma that follows captured so well before. I wasn't going to read this story in one sitting, but I had to – it nailed it so well, it reminded me of my own abused past and I couldn't set it down without knowing how it ended.

And the note of magic is so subtle and unique and wonderfully well done – and the sexuality of all three of the sisters are different! and they all have their own happy endings! and everyone is SO SUPPORTIVE of each other – god, no one was shitty. (Except for Wyatt, but, yanno.) This one speaks to me. On a very, very deep level. I just.. wow.

I felt the very same fire burning in myself as Rosie did when the story ends. I recognized it, and feel connected to her in a way I don't feel with most people I'm actually close to in real life.

This story sobered me. It reminded me of all I've been through, and just how rough the road to recovery was. But it also reminded me of how far I've come, and where I'm at now. What I've made for myself. What I've become, who I've curated myself into. And that.. no much can make me feel more strong or powerful than remembering that.

Why they Watch us Burn ; Elizabeth May - ★★★★★. 5/5. Well. Fuck.

THAT was a powerful ending to this whole anthology.

And left me feeling ALL KINDS OF PISSED OFF, let me tell you. Holy shit. The retribution at the end was implied and powerful, but I wanted it to be more explicit. I wanted to see those men SUFFER.

I don't even have words for this story, other than that it spoke to me on a deep, crushing, soul-igniting level. EVERYTHING about it – the unfair misogyny, the suffering, the sisterhood, the strength. The embracing of the very thing they were accused of. The pure love between the MC and her lover. The spirit, and the STRENGTH, I've already said it but oh my god, the strength. I feel as they did at the end. I feel powerful and unbreakable and full of rage and the need to make somebody pay, because I, too, have suffered at the hands of men and I would tear apart anybody who ever touches or treats ANY woman like that with my own bare hands.

The message of power this story gives for anyone who calls themselves female… I can't describe it. I don't know if it can be described.

But I would treat this story, and this whole book, as my bible, if I could.

[tilltheendwilliwrite]

Of Blood and Roses

Chapter Fourteen

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Loki x Lauren  |  Word Count: 6703 Warnings: none

“I can't believe y’all talked me into entirely new tack. I'm sure whatever was available for Snostrøm would have been perfectly fine,” Lauren huffed at Loki, Thor, and Sif.

“But, darling you adored the set, it fits you perfectly, and Oddr has offered to see it fits your stallion as well. The man never does that. Take it as a sign. You were meant to own it!” Loki decreed.

Lauren rolled her eyes as they all nodded agreement, but secretly she was thrilled. The saddle was of the softest, most supple silver-grey leather. She'd never seen anything like it before.

Oddr himself came over to discuss it with her when she admired the animals hidden amongst the scroll work. Rabbits and deer, bears and wolves, all were worked into the design subtly.

The bridle swung with tassels and bits of shiny stones decorated the cheek straps. It was flashy, fancy, and not at all what she would be drawn to for one of the horses at home. But this was Snowstrøm, a commanding mount. She thought a little flash and sparkle might make him feel special.

And after the trauma of earlier, she’d needed something to take her mind off what might have happened. It upset her, and she wouldn't lie, not even to herself about that. They'd come to Asgard to get away from the people who'd hurt her at home, only to have someone try and hurt her here.

Was there something about her which brought it out in people? Was she doomed to spark envy and jealousy everywhere she went?

On a soft sigh, Lauren slowed to a stop on the arch of a beautiful bridge to stare down at the water. It was slower here, gentler. More meandering than raging. It was soothing to watch it ripple along.

“Are you alright, my love?” Loki asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“I'm fine,” she murmured.

“What did we decide in regards to that word?” he huffed. “Tell me.”

“Is there somethin’ about me that makes people hate me? Do I, I don't know, give off a vibe or somethin’?”

“Lauren,” he sighed. “They don't hate you.”

“They must. Why else would people keep tryin’ to hurt me?”

He rested his chin on her head. “They do these things out of jealousy and anger. But none of that is your fault. You are kind, and sweet, and so gentle but so fierce, my heart. They look at you and see something they could only wish to find in themselves. Darkness will always seek to snuff out the light, my darling, but your light is so bright not even the darkness of my soul could stand against it. Whatever their reasons, you cannot take responsibility for them. Their actions and thoughts are their own.”

“In my head, I know that, but in my heart…” She gave a heavy sigh.

“Lauren, all you need to do is look around to see all the people who you've touched in a positive way today.” He turned her to face him. “Do not dwell on the negative, but see the good you have wrought with nothing more than the grace of your smile and kind words.”

She looked past him to the people on the bridge. To the women who smiled, or the men who bowed their heads. To the children who giggled and waved, or smiled shyly behind their mother's skirts.

Everyone had been so nice, so kind. Dwelling on the few who were jealous was a futile endeavour.

“You're right. I just wish…” she hesitated, uncertain how to put the hope in her heart into words.

Loki cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her skin. “What, love?”

“I just… I want people to like me. It just sucks when they don't, and makes me wonder why. Mama, Marabeth, most of the people I went to school with. Now to come here and find, again, someone dislikes me enough to want to see me hurt… it, it breaks my heart, Loki,” she whispered and turned away before anyone could see the tears sparkling on her lashes.

By the time the first one fell to splash against the iron guardrail, Loki had her wrapped in his arms and was whispering soothing bits of nonsense against her ear.

“I better than anyone know not everyone will like you, love. Even now, most of these people only like me because you are on my arm. Your heart is so generous but so tender. I wish I could build a wall of ice and iron around it to keep you from getting hurt, but then you would not be who you are. You would not be my sweet, kind Lauren.”

“It shouldn't hurt so much, but it does. I thought I was past this, Loki. I thought I'd learned to harden my heart against the hatred. Why does it still hurt?”

“Because you are compassion made flesh, sweet. You are the light of guiding hope in a universe which desperately needs it. You are truth in a world full of lies. You will be a most magnificent goddess, one the people will cherish and aspire to be like, but your tender heart will bruise, and your sweetness will be thought of as weakness, and the evil of the world will seek to exploit you, but that is why you have me,” he purred against her cheek. “I will be there to stand with you against the harshness. I will put myself between you and danger. I will be the shadow created in your light to deal with those who seek to harm what is mine.”

Lauren shivered, but it had nothing to do with being cold. “What kind of deviant am I that that was seriously arousin’?”

“The best kind,” he chuckled, and it was dark and sensual. “A little innocent lamb who succumbs to her wolf's seduction.”

His hand snuck up beneath her shawl to cup her breast, and Lauren gave a small shiver.

“Your serpents are hungry, pet,” he whispered.

A sharp bite came to her nipples, making Lauren's knees shake as heat and lust drove straight through her. “Loki!” she hissed.

“You appear flushed, darling. Is something amiss?” he smirked and had them bite her again.

“Stop that!” she gasped, grasping the guardrail until her knuckles turned white.

“And if I don't? What will you do, darling?”

“I will dance with Fandral at the feast tonight.” Considering the dress she would be wearing was quite backless, she knew he’d hate the idea of Fandral’s hands on her.

“That is just mean,” Loki pouted.

She turned to face him, sporting a smirk of her own. “But it worked.”

“Hmm. My devious little thing,” he chuckled and cupped her face. “Feeling better now?”

Lauren nodded. “I was havin’ a little pity party was all.”

“You had a fright, and we didn't let you process it. Just hustled you out the door and showed you something shiny to divert your focus.”

He looked away, and Lauren laid her hands on his chest. “It was a very nice shiny.”

“I'm happy you let me buy it for you.”

She patted his chest. “That's good, but you don't need to buy me things, Loki.”

“But I want to, Lauren. I like spoiling my wife.” He gently flicked her earring.

“Well, you do a good job at it,” she giggled.

“Loki?” Volstagg murmured from a few feet away. When they turned to look at him, he bowed deeply. “I must apologize, prince, for not being available when someone attacked the Lady Lauren. I was farther down the road with my family and only just heard of it.”

Lauren glanced past him to find Daven and her girls looking contrite and worried.

“You were where you should have been, Volstagg. No one expected this to happen,” Loki said, stepping forward to clap the man on the shoulder. “It was sloppy and poorly executed. There is no need for an apology.”

Lauren smiled and headed for Daven and her girls. “Are y’all havin’ fun so far?”

The girls all nodded, and Daven seemed to relax a little.

“You changed your dress,” the little one said, poking at the airy material.

“Loki changed it for me when I got the last one dirty and tore the hem, Aggie. Can I call you Aggie?”

She nodded vigorously.

“It's gorgeous, milady,” Glinda sighed, staring at the dress with a bit of wonder. “I've never seen anything like it before.”

The eldest child, Lauren remembered well the desire at fourteen to be very grown up and have grown up things. “Thank you, Glinda. Dresses like this are more common on Earth, I think.”

“Really?” she gasped, hazel eyes sparkling with excitement.

“For fancy parties and such, yes,” Lauren smiled.

“It's pretty, but I'd rather breeches than a dress,” Hedda sighed, plucking at her blue skirt.

“Hedda!” Daven gasped.

Lauren only chuckled. “S’alright. I like my breeches too.”

“Papa told us about Snostrøm!” Hedda burst with excitement. “Did you really tame a Wild One?”

“I wouldn't say tame, more like… stood up for. Someone was hurtin’ him real bad, and I wasn't gonna stand there and let him continue with that villainy,” Lauren huffed. “Do you like horses, Hedda?”

“Ock!” Daven scoffed. “She spends more time on the back of Volstagg’s mount then she does on the ground.”

“His name is Big Boy, mother,” Hedda sassed.

“It's Jordskjelv, Hedda, and don't speak to mother like that,” Glinda scolded.

“He doesn't like that name, Glinda. He told me so,” Hedda pouted, crossing her arms.

“Sure he did,” Glinda snickered.

“He did!” Hedda insisted.

Seeing a fight brewing, Lauren clapped her hands together and smiled down at Aggie. “Would you girls like to play a game?”

“A Midgardian game?” Aggie asked, bouncing up and down.

“Maybe, we'll have to see if you have a similar one.” Lauren turned to look for Loki who happened to be watching with Volstagg and Thor. “Hun, could you magic me four sticks, all different shapes and sizes but only about six inches long?”

“What are you up to, darling?” Loki asked, even as he did as bid.

“You’ll see,” Lauren giggled and turned back to the girls. “C’mon Glinda, Hedda, Aggie. I'll teach y’all how to play Pooh sticks.”

Hedda’s face twisted. “Why would you play with sticks made of poo?”

Lauren burst out laughing. “Oh, my! I’m sorry! No. Pooh is the name of the bear who invented the game. His full name is Winnie the Pooh.”

“A bear invented a game?” Aggie asked as she hurried over to where Lauren stood at the bridge's railing.

Lauren handed Aggie a stick. “He did. On Earth, we have a series of stories about Pooh bear and his boy Christopher Robin. You see, Pooh isn’t a real bear, but a stuffed bear who has many grand adventures with his boy and his friends. Owl and Piglet and Eeyore, and a few others.”

“What's an… Eeyore?” asked Hedda.

“He’s a rather gloomy donkey,” Lauren snickered, handing Hedda a stick.

“What's a donkey?” asked Glinda, taking one as well.

“Oh, well…” Lauren frowned. “They're a type of equine, a smaller version of a horse. Very hardy and able to carry or pull large loads. They have really long ears and make the most horrifyin’ noise when they bray.”

Hedda looked over at Volstagg. “Papa! Can I have a donkey?”

“I highly doubt it, Hedda,” he chuckled.

Lauren snickered but sobered quickly when the girls all looked at her expectantly. “So, the way to play is we each take our stick, and on the count of three, we drop them in the river. Then we run to the other side of the bridge, and whoever's stick comes out first wins.”

“What if I just throw my stick under the bridge?” Hedda asked.

Lauren tried to hold a stern face when she looked pointedly at the cheeky girl. “That would be cheatin’, and as the God of Revelry is standin’ right there, do you honestly think he’d let you cheat?”

“No, milady,” Hedda blushed.

“Right. Everyone ready?” Lauren asked only for Thor to clear his throat.

“Can anyone play?” he asked, his smile giant and eyes excited.

“Of course!” Lauren grinned and looked at Loki.

His eyes glowed green before a basket of sticks in all shapes, sizes, and colours appeared. The sticks they were all holding changed colour as well, and above the basket was a sign which read Lady Lauren’s Game of Pooh Sticks with the rules listed beneath.

Loki plucked a red stick from the basket and tossed it to Thor. “There. Now anyone who wishes to play can, and the sticks will return to the basket once all have crossed the finish line.”

“Oh, Loki! That's perfect!” Lauren laughed.

Sif plucked a blue one from the basket and joined the rest of them at the railing. Daven selected a yellow one. Volstagg’s was purple, but Loki refrained.

“You know I would win,” he smirked but leaned against the rail to watch.

“Alright, everyone over at the same height?” Lauren called, holding her stick out. It was Loki green of course. “One, two… three!”

Everyone let go, the sticks all hitting the water at relatively the same time. As one, the group looked at Lauren who giggled and gathered the front of her dress to run with Aggie and Hedda across the bridge. The tromping of many feet followed.

Then they were all leaning over to see who’s stick would arrive first.

“I see one!” Glinda exclaimed. “Who's was purple?”

“Mine!” Volstagg laughed.

“Light or dark purple?” Lauren asked.

“Dark,” he frowned.

“That one’s mine!” Aggie shrieked. “I won!”

“Yes you did,” Lauren smiled, watching as the rest of the sticks floated out from under the bridge.

Daven’s was second, then Thor’s. Glinda, Hedda, Sif, and Lauren’s floated out a scant inch ahead of Volstagg’s. They all disappeared to arrive back in the basket with a little clatter.

“Papa, I think you lost,” Aggie giggled.

Volstagg swept her up and tossed her high to her shriek of delight. “Someone has to be last, little one. But I'll get you next time!”

“Lady Lauren?” Hedda asked, tugging on Lauren's hand. “Do you know the stories for this… Pooh bear?”

“I only remember bits and pieces from them. Some of Tigger’s sayin’s and things.” Lauren glanced at Loki who shook his head.

“It is not a story I'm familiar with, darling or I would magic you a book.”

Hedda looked disappointed, but Lauren squeezed her fingers. “Next time I go home, I'll pick up a copy to bring back with me, okay?”

“Really?” Hedda asked.

“Promise. Too bad y’all don't have TV like we do. There are movies about him, and the Wonderful World of Disney when I was a child who used to make cartoons of all their adventures. They were so adorable. I loved the Many Adventures of Winne the Pooh and the cute theme song.”

“You could always sing it for them, love,” Loki said slyly.

“Oh, no. I couldn't, really,” Lauren blushed.

“Please!” Aggie begged, tugging on Lauren’s dress.

“Pretty please!” Thor added.

“With a cherry on top?” smiled Loki.

“Oh, stop it,” Lauren snickered and shook her head. “Y’all keep puttin’ me on the spot. Fine. For the children,” she stated forcefully and took Aggie by the hand, her other still held by Hedda, and walked over to where a flower-filled bed was surrounded by a stone wall the perfect height to sit on.

She didn't notice the look which passed between Loki and Thor, or how Thor nudged Volstagg and grinned broadly. Nor did she see Sif whisper to Daven when she sat and pulled Aggie up on her knee. Hedda sat to one side, Glinda the other, and Lauren sang softly, “Deep in the hundred acre woods, where Christopher likes to play, you'll find the enchanted neighbourhood of Christopher's childhood days.”

She sang about Eeyore, Kanga and Roo, Rabbit, Piglet, and Owl, but when the chorus picked up as she sang about Pooh, she made sure and tapped Aggie’s nose with each Pooh to make the girl giggle.

On tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff she tickled Hedda’s ribs and made the girl squeal.

When Lauren finished, Glinda clapped and sighed, “Would you sing another? Your voice is lovely.”

Blushing deeply, Lauren shook her head. “Maybe another time.”

Aggie’s little hands pressed to Lauren’s cheeks. “Did you eat a nattergal?”

“I don't know what that is so I'll have to say no,” Lauren giggled.

“They're a songbird with the most beautiful voice. All the creatures stop to listen when they sing,” Glinda explained.

“Oh. Oh, my,” Lauren murmured. “That's… really sweet of y’all.”

“Can I meet your horse?” Hedda asked.

Lauren laughed, the discomfort she was feeling from all the compliments gone with the change of subject. “If your mama and daddy say you can.”

“Papa!” Hedda yelled. “Can I meet Lady Lauren's horse?”

Volstagg crossed his arms and smirked at his daughter. “We’ll see. I'll discuss it with your mother.”

“Hedda,” Daven sighed. “You’ve had no experience outside of Volstagg’s mount, and Jordskjelv is gentle and calm. I'm not so sure about a Wild One, begging your pardon, milady.”

“No, no. I understand,” Lauren said and encouraged Aggie to the ground so she could stand up. “As I've never ridden Snostrøm, I would never put Hedda up on him, though with how smart he is, I'm sure he’d be extra careful with her, but…” she hesitated, glancing at Thor and Loki first. “I wouldn't be averse to teachin’ Hedda or any of your girls how to ride if you like. I did so for a lot of years at home.”

Daven gasped. “Milady! We could never impose-"

“We would be delighted if you truly want to,” Volstagg interrupted when Thor gave him a nudge which was anything but subtle.

“And we will see Hedda paired with a sweet mount. I swear she’ll be perfectly safe,” Loki assured Daven.

“But if you're uncomfortable at all,” Lauren glared at the men, “you're perfectly welcome to say no.”

“And be responsible for crushing the hope's of my daughter?” Daven rolled her eyes at Volstagg but smiled for Lauren. “As long as you promise if you are busy you will tell her so and send her back to Volstagg.”

“Of course,” Lauren smiled down at Hedda when she squealed in excitement. “I'd teach all of y’alls girls if they were interested.”

“Thank you, milady, but I was never one for horses,” Glinda shook her head.

“I'd rather have stories,” Aggie shrugged.

“Well then, Hedda and I will spend time together in the barn,” Lauren said, lightly touching the girl's cheek. “But Glinda and Aggie are welcome to visit anytime. And I'd love to get to know you as well, Daven.”

“I'm honoured,” Daven smiled. “Whenever is convenient to your schedule.”

“Once someone tells me what I meant to be doin’, we’ll set somethin’ up.” Lauren winked at Hedda. She gasped a little, “Oh!” when Hedda hugged her, then giggled and hugged her back.

***

“Darling.” Loki held out his hand. “We need to be continuing.”

The look of hope on Lauren’s face when she’d offered to teach Hedda to ride had squeezed his heart tight in his chest. That heart of hers, that beautiful heart, it made him so incredibly proud of her.

When she took his hand, he lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. She blushed, and he knew she could see the pride he felt in her.

“You created a delightful game,” he praised. “One would think you were the Goddess of Revelry.”

“Oh, stop,” she huffed. “I didn’t even invent it.”

He tucked her hand in his arm as he chuckled. “But you introduced it to the people of Asgard, and if you should return with the book, you will be absolutely inundated with children wishing for Princess Lauren to hold story time.”

She gave a tiny gasp and looked down at her hand where her ring glistened in the sun. “You… you think? I used to read to the little ones down at the Greenville library durin’ the week. I… kinda miss it.”

Loki made a mental note to speak with Tara about Lauren doing weekly readings in her store. “I'm sure they would love to have you do a story hour, my darling.”

“Do… do you think they’d like books from Earth?”

“If they are stories about such things as Winnie the Pooh, I imagine they would. Though we may have to bring a book of Earthly creatures along,” he smiled at her, “seeing as you will likely have to explain what a donkey is again.”

“Only if I can get one on Asgardian creatures. Just in case someone asks me if I ate a nattergal again,” she chuckled.

“You have a voice like a nightingale, my love. One you should never be nervous to share.”

“Singin’s like yoga. Somethin’ I've always done privately and without an audience,” she murmured.

“The secrets of your past are no longer necessary to your survival, love. Here you are free to spread your wings and soar as you wish.”

“We’ll see,” Lauren sighed. “Some old habits are hard to break.”

“Well, we will replace them with new ones until the old ones no longer hold you in their grasp,” Loki said, making the final corner to take them to the Norns’ Temple.

Lauren gasped and stared in amazement. “Oh, my stars!”

Tall and shining, the temple was of stone and metal spires surrounding an ornate archway which led into the giant building. Many wide stairs led to the open door where the statues of three women together held pride of place.

Baskets of flowers in a riot of blooms had been set on each stair, creating an aisle Loki led Lauren along as they ascended to the temple.

At the base of the statue of the Norns, Loki slowed to allow Lauren to look her fill.

“They are Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld. The past, present, and future. They spin the threads of fate, granting us our long lives while pouring out the water from the well of Urðarbrunnr on Yggdrasil to nourish the world tree. There are other Norns, both malicious and benevolent, but these three are our most important,” Loki explained.

“How is it they appear both young and old? As if they are ever-changin'?” Lauren asked.

“Because they are. They are Fate itself, ever present, sometimes changing. They are here in the now, but also reign over the past and the future. They know what was and what will be, and when we die, it is to the Norns we return.” Loki tugged gently on her arm. “Come. There is more.”

Around the foot of the statue, he led her, and through the open archway. A sun-drenched corridor enclosed in giant screens of carved gold led toward a center room where a huge, twisting tree, ancient and enormous waited; its branches spread to catch the sun's rays.

“It's so… beautiful,” Lauren whispered, taking it all in for the first time.

“It is the most sacred place in all of Asgard,” Loki said, his voice quiet. Over his shoulder, he nodded to Thor and the others when they stayed back, letting the two of them continue alone, but not before Thor gave him a thumbs up and a huge grin.

It almost made Loki laugh.

There were a few people here but no crowds. An offering to the Norns was not something to be made a spectacle of.

Loki urged Lauren onward, her shoes clicking quietly on the tile floors. When they reached the opening where the tree grew, he drew her toward the railing which surrounded the cavern. The space was deep, the tree taller than even the height of the temple announced, for when one looked over the railing, it was made clear the roots ran deep, and the trunk nearly doubled the height below as what grew above.

“Oh, Loki…” Lauren whispered in awe.

“It is the oldest living tree on Asgard and grew to represent Yggdrasil over many generations. At the roots, unseen from this height is Helheim - the realm of the dead. A dark world of ice and stone. To the left in the roots is Muspelheim - the realm of fire dragons, and the home of the Fire Demon Surtur and his kin. Svartalfheim resides above that, the home of the once Dark Elves of which you know about thanks to Malekith.” Loki led her around to the right. “There,” he pointed to a curl of roots around a ball of blue ice, “is Jotunheim, the ice world of the Frost Giants,” he said softly.

“And you’re homeworld,” Lauren murmured, squeezing his arm. “That’s not something to be ashamed of, Loki.”

“The place of my birth is not what shames me. What I sought to do to it in my rage is.” Loki sighed and shook his head. The horror of what he’d wrought still hung over his head, a scythe which seemed to swing on an axis, one he was afraid would come back to haunt him in the future.

Then Lauren’s hand was against his cheek, turning his face back to her and her soft eyes. “No one has said you can't make amends.”

He closed his eyes, unable to bear his shame when she looked at him like that. “I'm afraid there is nothing and no one to make amends to. Jotunheim is nearly destroyed.”

“Loki,” she said, stroking his cheeks with both hands. “Nearly destroyed is not completely destroyed. Are there still people there?”

“I’m… not sure.”

“If you want to, find out. Then, do what you can to help. It may not amount to much, they may never forgive you, but it may give you peace of mind.” She patted his cheeks gently and let her hands fall to land against his chest.

Loki cleared his throat, uncertainty tripping in his heart. The idea of seeing what he’d wrought to the planet of his birth… was daunting. “I will… think about it.” Turning back to the tree, Loki motioned toward the trunk. “There in the middle, where the pale green glow radiates is Midgard's representation.”

“That’s Earth?” Lauren asked, leaning over the rail.

“The representation of it, yes.” Again he urged her around the border of the tree. “Now, where the roots and the branches appear to intersect are Vanaheim and Alfheim, the home of Hogun’s people and the Light Elves respectively. And at the very top is Asgard. The trunk twists and the roots curve, binding us all together. While the branches and Asgard spread out over the worlds, guarding and protecting them all.”

“It’s beautiful, Loki. Simply amazin’,” she smiled, her head tipped back so she could take it all in.

“Come. You haven’t seen the best part yet,” he said, continuing around the outside of the circular room to where the tree bent sharply toward the walls, and then away to grow up in the center. Where the trunk grew closest to the wall, a branch had been carefully trained to act as a bridge. Smoothed, shaped, and flattened, it led in a winding path toward the trunk where a hollow had formed naturally.

A priestess in flowing robes waited patiently before the bridge, a kind smile on her face. “Prince Loki, Princess Lauren. The Norns bless you on this auspicious occasion.” She bowed her head to the two of them.

“And you, priestess,” Loki said. “I’ve come to make my offering.”

“We are so pleased, Highness. The Three await beyond.” She held out her hand toward the bridge.

Loki felt Lauren’s hand tighten on his arm, but it was excitement which lived in his heart stone when he led her out onto the wooden bridge which spanned the high cavern.

“I feel the irrational urge to giggle madly,” Lauren whispered, causing Loki to chuckle.

“It is a bit nerve-racking,” he agreed. “But there is nothing to be scared of.”

“I’m not scared. This is just… Loki when I think this place can’t get any more amazin’, y’all pull somethin’ like this outta your hat.” This time she did giggle, and when she looked up at him, her eyes were full of stars.

“The universe is full of wonders, and we will discover each and everyone together,” he promised and placed a kiss on her cheek.

As they approached the hollow, Loki watched Lauren take in everything. The leaves and the dappling sunlight. The colour and texture of the bark. At the doorway where the bridge transitioned into the floor of the inner sanctum, Lauren paused, her hand raised to touch the tree, but she hesitated.

“It’s alright,” a voice called from within the dimly light interior. “Yggdrasil will not mind.”

A soft blush filled Lauren’s cheeks, but she laid her hand on the bark and smiled. “There’s a… vibration in it.”

“You are very sensitive, child,” a second voice said. “Come. Come in where we may see you.”

Loki tightened his grip and stepped beyond the threshold into the interior and smirked a little when Lauren gasped.

It was not as it seemed, this inner sanctum. From the exterior, it appeared a dark hollow, but once past the opening, magic abounded. A forest of soft greenery and rocks filled a third of the chamber where a woman sat upon a stately stone admiring a handful of blooms. Red of hair, she was of indiscernible years.

The middle third contained a forest of evergreens upon a bed of which a child rested, curled in a ball and dozing.

While the final third was a forest of fall foliage, dull and brittle with age. Within stood a woman in gossamer black robes, the lightness of her hair the only omagé to her age for her face gave nothing of its advanced years away.

In the center of all three, sat a pool of still water. Not a ripple or wave moved upon it to betray its depths or its secrets, though two elegant swans floated in its middle.

“Prince Loki, long have we awaited this day,” smiled the elder of the three. “Lady Lauren, I am Fortiden, Priestess for Urðr of the Past. Beyond is Nåværende, Priestess of Verðandi for the Present, and the sleepy one,” she smiled fondly at the girl, “is Fremtiden, Priestess for Skuld of the Future. Wake up! Wake up now, Fremtiden!” she called out to the child who yawned and rubbed her eyes before sitting up to blink sleepily.

“Is it time?” she asked, stretching her arms above her.

“It is,” Nåværende replied, setting down her blooms.

“Come, sisters.”

Fortiden motioned them to the edges of their respective forests and, as one, they stepped beyond to the wooden rings of the floor and Yggdrasil’s surface. They moved in concert, Fremtiden retrieving a carved black horn from a stand of highly polished wood. Nåværende filled a bowl of beaten gold from the water within the pool and handed it to Fortiden. Then, each wrapped a hand around the horn before Fortiden poured the water from the bowl into the horn.

“Come, Loki, God of Revelry. Odinson. Brother of the King. Husband to the Goddess Lauren. Balanced Dark God. Come. Kneel before the water and be cleansed. Then offer your thanks to the Norns.”

They spoke as one voice, standing together before the pool, a mesmerizing chorus which drew him forward. Loki encouraged Lauren to follow him, and as he knelt before the Three, Fortiden held the bowl out to Lauren.

“Catch the water, child. Not one drop must fall back into the well,” Fortiden warned.

Lauren knelt next to him, her eyes quite round. “You will be fine, my love. Just hold the bowl a few inches below my hands.”

Determination filled her eyes when she nodded and held out the bowl. “Ready.”

The Three tipped the horn and Loki cupped his hands beneath the stream, allowing the water to wash every part of his exposed skin before running over and landing back in the bowl. Only when it was half full did the Three tilt the horn away.

“Well done, Lady,” Fortiden smiled. “You may set it there,” she motioned to the side, “and rise to witness the offering.”

Lauren set the bowl down carefully before standing and stepping away. Loki shifted to face the pool without sullying his hands. “Today I give thanks for the wisdom of the Norns who so graciously saw fit to grant me my Ástvinur. Though I was unworthy, they blessed me with a woman of grace and compassion. May the beauty of her heart forever shine in my life,” he whispered hoarsely. “Today I give of myself, so Yggdrasil may continue to thrive. This is my offering.”

He plunged his hands into the pool and let his magic run free. The water glowed green, bubbled as if set to boil, and mist rose to hover over the surface. Then the glow began to spread, seep outward to follow the rings of the tree until each one pulsed with renewed life. He felt it flow down the trunk and throb in the roots; rise high into the leaves and unfurl new growth.

When it began to spread out into Asgard’s heart, only then did he slow the flow of his power, gradually pulling his hands from the water to rest on his knees while he panted at the exertion. He’d never given so much of himself, but he’d never had so much to give either.

When Loki looked up at The Three, he found proud, benevolent smiles.

“The Norns… accept your offering. Thank you, Prince Loki.” Fortiden held out the horn. “Drink. Replenish yourself.”

Accepting gratefully, Loki drank from the horn and felt his strength renew. “Thank you, priestess.”

“Um… ex-excuse me?” Lauren murmured, hesitant and soft. When they all looked at her, she blushed and twisted the fringe on her shall between her hands. “Is… is there a way for me to say thank you? I know I’m not much yet, still new and all, and I don’t know much, but I just feel…”

She seemed to shrink in on herself, but before Loki could speak, Nåværende beat him to it.

“Feel what, Lady?”

“Like… like the water is… callin’ to me?” Lauren glanced up, then down at her feet. “It’s probably nothin’.”

“Did my sister not say you were very sensitive, Princess?” Fortiden murmured. “If you feel compelled, then it is meant. Fremtiden, the bowl.”

The young one hurriedly retrieved it and rushed to pour the water out into the sand pits to either side of the entrance, allowing the water to flow down, be cleansed, and return to the well beneath the tree where it would once again find its way back to the hollow.

Loki got to his feet as the women repeated the previous ritual. “You’re sure about this, my love?” he asked, taking Lauren’s hands.

She nodded slowly. “I have a mighty need to put my hands in that water, Loki.”

Her conviction rang true. So true it struck a chord within him, and the sight Loki was only beginning to understand, showed him her truth. Gently, he cupped her cheek and smiled. “Then I will hold the bowl for you, darling, and we will see what the Norns are asking of you together.”

“Come, Princess Lauren. Odinson. Sister to the King. Wife to Loki. Goddess… yet to be known,” Fortiden smiled coyly. “Come. Kneel before the water and be cleansed. Then offer your thanks to the Norns.”

Lauren blew out a heavy breath and walked forward to kneel before the Three and hold out her hands.

Accepting the bowl, Loki held it beneath her hands as the Three tipped the horn. The careful way she let the water coat her hands made him smile, as did the serious set of her brow. When the bowl was half full, the Three tipped the horn back, Loki moved the bowl, rose, and stepped aside to witness. He had no idea what would happen, but he was excited to find out.

Lauren shifted to face the water before looking up at the branches spread overhead. “I… I don’t know no fancy words, or if there are ceremonial ones to be spoken, but… thank you. Thank you for makin’ me his, for givin’ him the chance to be happy, to have peace, and to know joy. My life… it’s not been easy, not really, but I’d take… I’d take a thousand of those years if it meant I could be with Loki. He’s given me so much in such a short period, and I swear, whatever comes of me bein’ here, whatever it is y’all are seein’ fit to turn me into, I won’t let you down.”

“I don’t have much to give,” Lauren whispered, “but I give of it freely for Yggdrasil. This is my offering.” She plunged her hands into the water even as her tears fell to add to the well.

Loki held his breath. At first, there was nothing, then the pool slowly glowed that stunning violet colour, but where his magic seeped into Yggdrasil itself, hers spilled out across the surface in a misty rolling wave. It broke over each of the Three’s forests and sped up and out through the leaves of the canopy.

So awed by the display of her power, Loki didn’t notice anything was amiss until Lauren gasped a raspy breath. His gaze snapped to her, and he saw the grey pallor of her skin as she swayed on her knees.

“Lauren!” He darted forward and yanked her back, falling on his ass in the process.

“Here!” Fortiden thrust the horn at him. “She must drink!”

Loki held the horn to her mouth and coaxed her to part her lips and swallow when he poured the water over her tongue. One swallow restored her enough to see her grasping the horn herself and sucking back the rest as one dying of thirst.

“What the hell happened?” Loki snapped at the Three crouched around them.

“Forgive me, Prince. I thought she would know when to stop. I was wrong.” Fortiden bowed her head.

“My fault,” Lauren said when she gasped for air. “I had to. I had to.” She turned her face into his chest, clutching the horn in one hand and his arm with the other. “Had to finish.”

Loki frowned before looking at his surroundings. “Oh,” he gasped, wide-eyed and stunned. “Well then.”

Nåværende’s forest of soft greens and rocks was awash in colourful flowers, bright and fragrant. Fremtiden’s bower of evergreens was seeded with pinecones and ripe winter fruit. And where once Fortiden’s forest had been dull and brown, the leaves were now vibrant golds, reds, and oranges.

Everything was lush with new life.

Then Loki looked up and gave a startled laugh. Yggdrasil… was blooming.

“Woman…” he chuckled, peering down at Lauren. “You are going to be a wonder.”

“She is going to be… world changing,” Fortiden said, smiling knowingly at her sisters.

“Can I have a nap first?” Lauren asked, snuggling into Loki’s chest.

“Rest for a moment. The water will renew you; then when you are ready, you can go. There is no rush,” Nåværende said, laying her hand on Lauren’s arm. “And Princess? The Norns most graciously accept your offering.”

“That’s good,” Lauren sighed, her eyes closing. “I’m glad I did it right.”

Fremtiden giggled and grinned at Loki. “That was more than right.”

Loki smirked and kissed the crown of Lauren’s head. “You did exceptionally, sweet. Really, really well.”

“Thanks, peaches,” she murmured. “Hush now. It’s nap time.”

He snickered softly, sitting on the floor of the inner sanctum, watching the swans swim on the water while the Three sat patiently with him. At every turn, Lauren shocked the shoes right off him. She was shaping up to be something miraculous.

He couldn’t wait to find out what.

Next Chapter

[tomeandflickcorner]

OUAT Episode Analysis- Chosen

Oh, yay!  This episode was directed by Lana Parrilla!  Um…okay.  I honestly have no prevailing opinion of her as a person, but…really?  Does Lana have any experience in directing? It just seems like a weird choice. Was it just that they didn’t have anyone else to sit in the director’s chair for this episode and she was the only one who volunteered to step in?  Were they just throwing her a bone to make her happy?  Is that what this was?

To be honest, however, I really don’t feel qualified to properly judge how the directing for this episode was handled.  I have not studied filmmaking at any point in my academic career, so if you’re asking me if I think Lana did a good job, you might as well be asking me to critique a documentary on quantum physics.  I am not the one to ask.  You’re better off asking someone like @mrs-emma-swan-jones.  She’s the film major, not me.  I’m just here to focus on the actual story.

This episode opens in the Land of Oz.  No, it’s not Parallel Oz.  This is Oz Prime.  (Though it’s possible there isn’t a Parallel Oz.  If there is, there’s no evidence of it.)  Anyway, it’s in that period of time when Zelena ruled over Oz, after banishing Glinda to that Pocked Dimension.  But Zelena goes on the warpath when she learns another witch is encroaching on her territory.  She goes off to try and drive this witch off.  This particular witch ends up being the same witch that Parallel Hansel and Parallel Gretel faced.  Which means Parallel Hansel and Parallel Gretel were actually native to Oz and not Parallel Enchanted Forest the way we were led to believe.  Okay, that’s kinda a weird direction.  This means there were two different Hansel and Gretel stories unfolding in the same universe.  (Because I believe it’s been established that Enchanted Forest Prime and Oz were part of the main universe while Parallel Enchanted Forest and the Wish World were in a separate universe.)  But I guess it’s like they said in Doctor Who.  Nothing is impossible.  Just highly unlikely.

So, Zelena barges into the Gingerbread Witch’s gingerbread cottage, where we not only see this particular witch isn’t currently blind, but she has managed to imprison Young Parallel Hansel and Young Parallel Gretel.  Zelena starts to attack the Gingerbread Witch, but before she could even attempt to finish off her rival, the fight is interrupted by Young Parallel Gretel, who begs Zelena to save them. Because the Gingerbread Witch plans to sacrifice the two children in some kind of ritual.  Of course, Zelena has no intention of helping the twins as she’s at that point where she’s only focused on getting back at Regina for what Cora did and generally doesn’t care about anybody else.   But this results in Zelena getting distracted long enough for the Gingerbread Witch to get a chance to direct a magical attack at Zelena, who is blown right out of the Gingerbread House.  This magical attack apparently severely weakened/injured Zelena, as she passes out in the middle of the woods a few moments later.

An undetermined amount of time later, Zelena regains consciousness and finds herself under the care of a blind man named Ivo.  He explains that he found her half frozen to death and brought her back to his cottage to help her regain her strength.  At first, Zelena isn’t willing to accept his help, still focused on her goal of driving off the Gingerbread Witch.  But Ivo insists she stay until she’s well.  Zelena ultimately has very little choice as she can barely walk, so she ends up sticking around.  However, she quickly learns that Ivo is the father of Parallel Hansel and Parallel Gretel when Ivo explains that he has been searching for his missing children every night, but to no avail.

So now, we have Zelena, regaining her strength under the care of the father of the two kids she neglected to help. And it’s made visibly obvious that the more time Zelena spends under Ivo’s care, the more she starts to genuinely like him.  Perhaps even to the point when she starts to fall for him.  This, of course, leads to her regretting her earlier actions when she refused to help save Ivo’s children.  As such, when Zelena becomes well enough to move about on her own, she ends up returning to the Gingerbread Witch’s place.  But this time, she isn’t motivated by territorial feelings.  She simply wants to save Young Parallel Hansel and Young Parallel Gretel and help reunite them with their father.  She even magically removes the Gingerbread Witch’s eyesight, with the intention of transferring it over to Ivo so he would no longer be blind.  Unfortunately, once the now blind Gingerbread Witch is incapacitated and Zelena enters the Gingerbread House to free the twins, she is horrified to find their cages empty.  Which leads to her believing the Gingerbread Witch already killed them before she could get there.

Filled with remorse and sorrow, Zelena returns to Ivo’s cottage to break the news to him.  However, when she arrives, she learns that Young Parallel Hansel and Young Parallel Gretel had somehow managed to escape from the Gingerbread Witch on their own.  How they managed to do so is never explained.  But now Ivo is angry at Zelena because he now knows that Zelena knew where his children were and didn’t tell him.  He goes on to accuse her of taking advantage of his hospitality and angrily dismisses her, even refusing to accept her offer to restore his sight, claiming he doesn’t need his sight to see what kind of person she really is.

Okay.  The thing that bothers me the most about this scene is the fact that I seriously have no idea what more Zelena could have done in this flashback story.  Sure, she intended to leave Parallel Hansel and Parallel Gretel to their fates at the start of this episode.  But you could clearly see Ivo’s kindness to her, and her growing affection for him, was affecting her and making her regret her actions.  And the moment she fully recovered from the Gingerbread Witch’s suckerpunch of an attack, she promptly went back to try and fix her mistake. She TRIED to do the right thing in the end.  It wasn’t her fault Parallel Hansel and Parallel Gretel managed to escape on their own before she got there.  In addition, I don’t think she had any sinister reasons for not telling Ivo where his children were once she figured out their connection.  Seriously, what would telling Ivo that have accomplished? If Ivo tried to go off on his own to save his children, the Gingerbread Witch would have undoubtedly killed him in an instant, and Parallel Hansel and Parallel Gretel would still be stuck in the same predicament.  Zelena even points that out.  Not that they bothered listening to her logic.  So in that regard, I really think Ivo was really being unfair to Zelena.   I mean, I guess it kinda makes sense and they’d apparently heard of Zelena’s reputation, being natives of Oz and all.  But Zelena tried to help them in the end, and they were all completely unwilling to even consider giving her a second chance.  Because they’re obviously prejudiced against witches or something.  And that just really irks me.  This is probably the #1 trope that just gets under my skin the most- when you see these two characters bonding and forming a connection with one another, but then one of the two learns the other one did something bad before they even met and they instantly start to loathe the person, as if that bad thing they did before they even met completely renders the bond they were forming null and void.

Also, while I’m thinking of it, why do they have such a prejudice against witches in Oz?  Sure, Zelena had a nasty reputation as the Wicked Witch, which was probably not undeserved, but….we’ve seen that there were three other witches. Remember Glinda and those other two witches who they didn’t bother to actually name?  Granted we never really saw how they interacted with the population of Oz, but the impression I got was that they were benevolent and loved.  At least, they were kind and welcoming to Young Dorothy when she first appeared in Oz.  So what’s with the whole ‘there’s no such thing as a good witch’ viewpoint that was going around in this episode?

Anyway, when Zelena sees that Ivo and the children are turning their backs on her, and even rejecting her offer to help restore Ivo’s sight, she reacts negatively by throwing the cure for Ivo’s blindness into the nearby fire.  But as she turns to leave, Young Parallel Hansel grabs a knife and pretty much threatens to kill her for what she’s done.  Though I’m not entirely sure what exactly he feels Zelena doesn’t deserve to walk away from.  If it’s because she didn’t help them earlier, that’s hardly fair because she did have a change of heart and tried to come back for them.  They were just too dismissive of her to listen to her explanation or give her a chance. Is he angry at Zelena for throwing out the cure for his father’s blindness?  If so, that makes even less sense, because Ivo had just stated his refusal to accept the cure anyway.  Confusing motivations aside, Zelena scoffs at Parallel Hansel and, in order to put the angry boy in his place, I guess, she magically directs the flames in the nearby fireplace at Young Parallel Hansel, resulting in him getting that burn scar on his arm.

So now we know why Parallel Hansel is targeting Zelena in present day Hyperion Heights.  Of course, Zelena doesn’t initially know this until she heads over to the police station with Margot in tow to report that she was the next target of the serial killer.  While there, Zelena confronts Rumpelstiltskin about the matter, asking for his help. Even though the reason why they EVER try asking for that man’s help continues to elude me.  Especially in this matter, as it’s clear there’s no love between Rumpelstiltskin and Zelena.  However, he does inform her that he’s learned the serial killer is Parallel Hansel, enabling Zelena to fill in the blanks.  She begs Rumpelstiltskin to help her fight against Hansel.  But not because she’s afraid for her own life.  Because Zelena admits that she’ll deserve whatever Parallel Hansel has in store for her.  No, Zelena’s main concern is for Margot/Robyn, who is purely innocent in regards to the situation.  To appease her, Rumpelstiltskin brings Zelena into his evidence room closet, where he stores all of his accruements.  But instead of giving her a weapon that she could use to defend herself against Parallel Hansel, he gives her that Emerald Medallion that she wore back in S3.  Which is something I thought we’d seen the last of. He goes off on this whole spiel about how the only way Zelena can get through this ordeal is by accepting her past is a part of her and whatnot.  And I’m like, yeah, that’s great, dude.  She asked you for a way to defend herself from Parallel Hansel.  She wasn’t here for a therapy session.  Stop trying to be Archie.

Meanwhile, Parallel Hansel is holding Henry prisoner, in the hopes that Henry will help him in his quest for revenge against Zelena.  But because Henry still isn’t awake, he believes Parallel Hansel is simply delusional and has only adopted the alias of Hansel to cope with the loss of his sister.  Through this scene  (which I felt had subtle undertones that reminded me of the S1 episode Hat Trick, when Emma was held hostage by Jefferson) we get to hear Parallel Hansel reminisce about the many adventures he’d shared with Henry, after he’d adopted the assumed name of Jack in an attempt to put his past demons behind him.  Though, Parallel Hansel does mention a particular venture when he and Henry ended up killing a bunch of giants, which led to Henry dubbing his friend ‘Jack the Giant Killer’.  That part raised a few questions for me.  In Enchanted Forest Prime, the giants were the good guys.  They were a peaceful group who simply wanted to be left alone. Or have A&E forgotten about Anton and his brothers?  I guess it’s possible that the giants of Parallel Enchanted Forest were not as benign as the ones that were featured in S2, but it’s hard to know for sure as we get no context behind this particular story.  Especially since last episode showed Henry raring to slay a dragon despite the fact that he knew three Dragon People personally.  Please, Henry.  Don’t tell me you ended up following in Granduncle James’ footsteps.  You’re supposed to be the good one!

Anyway, Parallel Hansel goes on to explain how he relished in his new identity as the heroic Jack, and how great it felt to be a completely different person.  But when he saw Regina and then Zelena being incorporated into the New Nevengers, his grudge against Zelena, and his deep-rooted prejudice against witches, started to eat away at him, despite his best efforts to overlook their presence. Which does shed some light onto the mystery of the whole Parallel Hansel/Nick issue.  He’s basically a witch-hating bigot who tried to start over with a new identity that led to him being viewed as a hero.  But when he found himself in the continued presence of the very people he once sought to destroy, his true identity and perceived identity began to clash with one another.  What an interesting concept exploring the debate of Free Will vs Determinism.

In an attempt to escape, Henry attempts to play along with Parrallel Hansel by pretending that he believes him. He suggests that Parallel Hansel untie him so he can use his Authorial powers to help rewrite Parallel Hansel’s story. (Kudos to the acknowledgement that Henry is the Author by the way.)  But Parallel Hansel isn’t fooled, as he knows Henry all too well from their adventures together in Parallel Enchanted Forest.  He knows Henry can only use his Arthur Powers when it’s absolutely necessary, and his offer to use them to aid a villain in order to trick them into letting him go is a common tactic of his.  So he doesn’t fall for Henry’s trick.  Instead he tries to prove to Henry that what he’s saying is the truth, by showing him the papers he stole from the lady doctor after killing her.  The ones that showed that Henry was Lucy’s biological father, not Nick.  As he shows him the proof of Lucy’s true parentage, Parallel Hansel explains that he somehow regained his memories that day at the hospital, shortly after getting the bloodtest. However, even though Henry is the Truest Believer, he’s also the son of Emma Swan, and has ended up just as stubborn as her.  So he refuses to believe what Parallel Hansel is telling him, insisting that the document naming him as Lucy’s real father is just a forgery, and that the woman Parallel Hansel is calling Zelena is just an ordinary woman named Kelly.  Henry’s ongoing refusal to believe disappoints Parallel Hansel, but he still refuses to be swayed from his path.  So, knowing that Henry will managed to free himself from the ropes on his own, knocks him out so he won’t be able to stop him from going after Zelena.

While all this is going on, we see Rogers has received a report that Henry’s car was found abandoned on the side of the road.  This information puts him on the alert, especially when he called the airline and learned Henry never boarded his plane.  Rogers then meets up with Jacinda to question her if she’d heard from Henry at all, so she shows him the text that she got from when Parallel Hansel pretended to be Henry.  Upon seeing the text, Rogers, having spotted a gingerbread house kit in Jacinda’s car, which she claimed had come from Nick as a gift for Lucy, urges Jacinda to look again at the text, asking her to see if she can spot anything unusual about the text.  Upon taking a second look, Jacinda finally took note of the fact that the text message addressed her as ‘J,’ which is something only Sabine called her.  But Rogers, remembering the Guys Night Out a few episodes back, recalls that Nick had also referred to Jacinda as such. His suspicions are confirmed when Jacinda admits that Nick does indeed have scars on his arms, but deciding time is of the essence, he doesn’t tell Jacinda what he’s just figured out, simply telling her to get home right away and not answer her phone for anything.  Immediately after giving her his warming, he speeds off in his car, making a beeline for Nick/Parallel Hansel’s apartment.  By the time he arrives, Parallel Hansel had already left to locate Zelena for their final confrontation, but he is able to free Henry, who had just regained consciousness.  So Henry is free to return to Jacinda’s apartment unharmed, where she and Lucy give him a warm welcome.  Though I’m left wondering if they even know he was abducted by a serial killer who turned out to be Lucy’s cursed father.  Regardless of that question, the reunion is a rather sweet one, especially when one looks at the way Henry embraces Jacinda and Lucy.  Even though he hasn’t consciously accepted the fact that they’re his wife and daughter, it’s as if his subconscious does know.

As for Zelena, she has barricaded herself in Regina’s bar, having left Margot at the police station for her protection.  Why Zelena hadn’t remained there herself is anyone’s guess.  While she’s hiding out, the phone starts to ring, and since Regina is nowhere to be found, Zelena is forced to answer it herself.  To her surprise, it turns out to be Chad, her fiancé that has been trying to contact her throughout the episode.  Admittedly, I do end up chuckling at the fact that the fiancé is named Chad.  Because I can’t hear that name without thinking of this:

 Before Zelena can come up with an explanation as to why she hadn’t been returning his calls (which was because she was afraid of how Chad would respond if he knew the truth about Kelly), she discovers that Parallel Hansel has actually taken Chad hostage in order to draw Zelena out of hiding.  Although I can’t figure out how Parallel Hansel managed to get his hands on Chad. Sure, Henry let slip the fact that Zelena/Kelly had a fiancé, and it’s later stated he managed to abduct him by claiming to be an EMT that had come to fetch him after Kelly was injured when her bike got hit by a car.  But how did Parallel Hansel even know what he looked like?

Either way, Zelena now knows she has no choice other than go confront Parallel Hansel.  Because Chad had nothing to do with their dispute and does not deserve to get dragged into this.  So she heads off to save Chad and face Parallel Hansel.  So they have this whole scene with Parallel Hansel taunting Zelena, telling her to let Chad see her for who she really is, and Zelena pointing out that he can’t go around blaming her for the choices he and Parallel Gretel made, or kill other people for her mistakes.  In the end, Parallel Hansel lunges in for the kill, but Zelena manages to get the upper hand.  But she refuses to kill him, even to save her own life.  Instead, she simply manages to knock him out before going to help free Chad.

In the aftermath of the confrontation, while waiting for the police to come pick up the handcuffed Parallel Hansel, Zelena tries to come up with a way to explain things to Chad without getting into the whole fairy tale bits, telling him that she was a different person before they met, and she had hurt a lot of people.  She explains that, when she was with Chad, she finally felt free of her past, but she goes on to tell him that she won’t hold it against him if he decides to call off the engagement, as he didn’t sign up for any of her past baggage.  However, Chad ends up being much more understanding than Ivo was, stating that when he gave Zelena/Kelly the ring, he was signing up for everything, even the parts of her that he doesn’t know.  He points out that Zelena had every opportunity to kill Parallel Hansel but she didn’t. That alone proves that, whatever she might have been in the past, she was a different person now.  As such, the engagement is back on, much to Zelena’s delight.   I do wonder if Chad believes that Zelena/Kelly was involved in the Witness Protection Program or something.  Margot certainly seemed to think so when she started to excitedly ask her if she was a crime boss in the past.  Regardless, it looks as if Zelena is no longer going to be involved in future episodes, as she plans to return to San Francisco with Chad, with Regina letting her know that she won’t hold it against her should Zelena leave before the curse is broken and Henry is cured of his poisoning.  Because Zelena deserves to find happiness.  However, Margot admits that she wants to stay in Hyperion Heights because of her budding friendship with Tilly.  Zelena approves of this, probably knowing that Margot has met Alice’s cursed persona of Tilly.  But before she leaves, Zelena gives Margot old Emerald Medallion, asking her to wear it as her maid of honor at the wedding.

Now, what about Parallel Hansel, who is in police custody?  Well, this is when things get a bit confusing.  Throughout the episode, we got this weird subplot with Facilier approaching Drew/Naveen, reminding him of the fact that he’s still indebted to Facilier. Part of Facilier’s plan for Naveen to earn Sabine/Tiana’s trust is so Naveen can get access to Sabine’s food truck in order to get Facilier some of the powdered sugar used for the beignets.  Because Facilier needed to sprinkle some of that powdered sugar onto a voodoo doll of Parallel Hansel.   Facilier then takes the sugar covered voodoo doll to the police station where he manages to slip into the interrogation room where Parallel Hansel is being held without being detected by the cops.   Facilier starts monologing, explaining that he was the one who woke up Parallel Hansel because he planned to use him as an attack dog of sorts against the Coven of Eight. Particularly Gothel herself.  But Facilier is angry that Parallel Hansel got sidetracked by his personal vendetta against Zelena and got himself caught as a result. As punishment, Facilier kills Parallel Hansel with the voodoo doll.

I’m admittedly rather disappointed that they just killed Parallel Hansel off like that.  There’s so many wasted opportunities now.  We’re probably never going to see Jacinda and Lucy react to the knowledge that Nick turned out to be a serial killer.  And imagine how Henry will feel once he wakes up.  It’s clear that he and Parallel Hansel/Jack were close friends.  And now Henry’s going to have to come to terms with the fact that there was a side of his friend he never knew, and he won’t even have a chance to talk about it with that friend.  Not to mention I really wanted to see Parallel Hansel come to understand where he went wrong.  Maybe even to the point when he lets go of his prejudices and his anger at Zelena. Instead, he’s unceremoniously killed off.  But then again, it has been a while since the show really let people just be people.

Though I’m wondering what the significance of the powdered sugar is going to be.  What was the point of Facilier sprinkling some of the powdered sugar onto the voodoo doll?  Is this going to end up being his attempt at framing Sabine for Parallel Hansel’s murder? Because I think it’s pretty much been indicated that Facilier was the one who framed Tilly for the murders of the Lady Doctor and Blind Baker.  And how does Naveen/Drew fit into all of this?

Now, I’ve seen a few people comparing Parallel Hansel to Greg Mendel/Owen Flynn, the guy who harbored a grudge against Regina back in S2B.  I can sort of see where they’re coming from, as there are certainly similar elements.  Owen Flynn adopted the alias of Greg Mendel during his quest to find out what happened to his father, and developed a strong grudge against Regina, who had separated father and son in the first place.  And Parallel Hansel clearly adopted the alias of Jack and harbored a grudge against Zelena for burning him, and for not saving them from the Gingerbread Witch.  And both were killed off rather abruptly, before they were granted an opportunity to make peace with their tragic backgrounds and let go of their grudges.

However, I think this is where the similarities end.  In Greg/Owen’s case, Regina knowingly separated father and son, and later killed the father in cold blood.  And when she was confronted by Greg upon her recognizing him as the little boy she’d once known, she showed no sign of remorse over what she’d done and even lied about it to his face.  She only admits her crime after being tortured, but when she does, she virtually gloats about it.

Zelena, on the other hand? While it’s true she was in the wrong when she initially neglected to help free Parallel Hansel and Parallel Gretel, and was also wrong to burn Parallel Hansel’s arm, she genuinely did try to do the right thing and reunite the children with their father.  And when Zelena learns that the serial killer who was targeting her is Parallel Hansel, you do see that she feels remorse for what she did.  And in their confrontation, while Zelena does make a few witty remarks, she never actually taunts Parallel Hansel over what she did to him.  In fact, she even admits straight out that she deserves whatever Parallel Hansel might have in store for her.

To be honest, I felt this whole backstory with Zelena and Parallel Hansel had more in common with Killian Prime and Boy Baelfire than it did with Regina and Greg/Owen.  During their brief time together, Killian Prime and Boy Baelfire were forming a legitimate bond, with Killian Prime coming to love Baelfire as a surrogate son.  And I think it’s extremely possible that Killian Prime would have sincerely changed and given up his desire to get revenge on Rumpelstiltskin in order to be a proper father figure for Baelfire.  But the moment Boy Baelfire finds out about Killian Prime’s previous connection to his mother, he instantly closes himself off, letting that one issue completely overshadow everything he and Killian Prime had previously shared and refusing to even give Killian Prime a chance to prove his desire to change. Which, in turn, results in Killian Prime closing himself off as well, allowing Pan’s minions to abduct the boy. Yeah, just change the names and faces, and this new backstory of Zelena’s is exactly the same as that particular chapter in Killian Prime’s life.  Taking that into consideration, it’s rather ironic that Zelena and Wish Killian (whose backstory is supposed to be identical to Killian Prime’s) will probably end up being co-in-laws one day.

So, with that, we’re down the final five episodes.  And it appears the next one is going to focus on the backstory behind Alice’s alliance with Rumpelstiltskin.  And Facilier is involved somehow.  Maybe now we’ll finally know why Facilier is after the dagger.  And why Rumpy Rumps went all Crocky again.  That aside, can we please just have everyone else wake up already?  Because the only people who aren’t awake now are Henry, Parallel Ella, Tiana, Wish Killian, Alice and Robyn.  And it’s really starting to frustrate me, because those are the people I want to wake up the most.  Because those are the people I’m genuinely interested in this season.

(Click here to read more Episode Analyses)

[mavros-goodfellow]

The Shiz Diaries

From the diary of Tippetarius Saiserit

Day One

I can’t believe Mombi finally said yes! I’ve been asking her to let me attend Shiz for over a year-- it’s the best school for magic in Oz and I know I don’t have a lot of it but perhaps I could learn how to use it like Glinda does, like she learned here.

I moved in just this morning. Mombi had to leave-- it’s a long way to Gillikin from Shiz-- but my new roommate moved in this afternoon and it’s Mavros!

Oh, I suppose you don’t know who Mavros is, being a book and everything. Mavros is the step-son of Glinda the Good herself! His mother is Prince Robin Goodfellow (which I don’t entirely get, but I suppose it makes sense to them-- Mombi said not to question too much anyways) who is Glinda’s husband and sometimes called Puck, and she (he? they? I’m not sure, I’ve heard all three) was here helping him move in. She was very nice though! All the papers make her out to be so scary, but she unpacked Mavros’ things and even helped with a few of mine. She seemed concerned that Mombi wasn’t there to help me, but I explained it all and besides, I’m used to doing things on my own.

Mavros looked so sad to be here. I bet he’s going to miss his mother. I miss Mombi already.

Day Two

Oh, Mavros is wonderful! He’s already agreed to help with the Homecoming Dance, though I will admit that the other students were a little pushy, but only because they were excited! Mavros didn’t seem to know what to say, I’m sure he was so flattered that they would think of him. I know no one really thinks of me. That’s okay, though. Mombi said that my focus should be on my work, not on making friends. The faster I get my work done, the sooner I can go home. She was very anxious that I come home.

But perhaps one friend would be okay. I sure would like to be friends with Mavros. His life must be so amazing-- living in the palace, having the ear of Glinda the Good herself, and he says that he’s over 1200 years old, that sounds incredible.

We had our first classes today. We’re in several of them together, including magic and history. Mavros seemed a bit confusified over his history book, though I suppose he does come from another world. His history will be different than ours. He’s very smart, you can hear it in his voice. His voice is like... like that darkness that fell over Oz. Rich and cold. A calm eternal night. Oh, goodness, now I’m even writing like how he speaks. It’s just so wonderfied. It’s too bad he doesn’t seem to want to talk to anyone. I suppose we’re both a little shy.

Day Three

I wish Mombi was here. All this school work and cleaning the dorm room? Plus people are constantly asking me about Mavros. Mombi always said, even back home, that I do my work first, and then friends. And there’s always more work.

I cleaned the dorm while Mavros was at his committee meeting. I had hoped that he would be happy that the chores were done. He did not seem so. In fact, he seemed rather perplexed.

“I cleaned the room,” I told him.

“Why?”

Mombi never asked me why I did my chores. She only expected me to do them.

“I, ah...”

“It’s fine,” he said. He seemed distracted by something. “Ariel stress-cleans too. Just don’t disinfect anything.”

“Oh.”

I hope I didn’t upset him too much. Something tells me he’s easily upset.

Day Four

Mavros seems very interested in Ozian history. I started talking about the Wizard and the witches and Glinda, and he waved me off. He said something about “the same lies in the history book”. I hope he isn’t mad at me. He’s the only friend I have right now. There’s too much work for any others. I hope i can get everything done in time for the dance. I’d like to go.

Mavros was using this old textbook that I don’t think is part of the curriculum. He seemed to have some trouble reading it. I might have looked at a few pages over his shoulder-- it made sense to me. Maybe written Ozian is different from the languages he’s used to?

Day Five

History class was exciting! Mavros started telling this story about how the Wicked Witch of the West was named Elphaba Thropp and how the Wizard tricked her into doing something bad and how the Wizard was really in the wrong and it was so fantastical I could hardly believe it. I asked him about this story when we got back to the dorm.

“It’s not a story,” he said. “I placed a truth spell on the textbook, it was almost entirely wrong. Besides that, I’ve been told things by Glinda that directly contradict what it says...”

He told me a wonderful story about Elphaba Thropp and how she fought against the Wizard and how Glinda was left in charge. His voice was so wonderful and his eyes, as black as they are, seemed to light up when he talked about her.

“Then why was she called ‘wicked’?” I asked.

“Because... wicked is what people say when they don’t understand,” he said. “Good and evil is not a light switch. People do wrong things not because they’re inherently bad, but often because they’re scared, or angry, and just can’t control...”

I don’t understand, but then, I’m not a 1200-year-old fairy. But perhaps I can believe him. He seems to need someone to believe him.

Day Six

Someone in our history class tried to prank Mavros today. They got me pretty good, but they were trying for Mavros. He took me to the clinic-- I hope I’m not here long, I have so much work to do. Mavros seemed very angry for me. The ones who pulled the prank ended up here, I think Mavros had something to do with it. He didn’t need to, it was just a bucket of water.

Day Seven

They let me out of the clinic today-- I did not get a concussion. That’s nice, they told me I wouldn’t be able to work if I had a concussion. Mavros took me back to the dorm.

“Thank you for making sure I’m okay,” I said. “Though maybe next time, don’t try to take it out on those guys?”

“They were trying to kill me,” he said.

The Wicked Elphaba Thropp was supposedly melted by a bucket of water. I don’t think it would have that effect on him.

“How many times do I have to–”

“Would it have killed you?” I asked

“…No. The cast iron bucket might have burned me some though.”

I tried to turn the conversation. “Why do they even make buckets out of iron? They’d rust, right?”

He almost smiled, but hid it behind his hand.

“You know, Mombi’s a witch,” I said.

“Your mother? Is she...” He caught himself in a question.

“Is she a good witch or a bad witch? I don’t know. She only really does magic for herself.”

“I see.”

I hope he likes me. I’ve never really had a friend before. I think taking a prank that was meant for him makes us friends now.

Day Eight

I really screwed up in magic class today. I was just supposed to make the pumpkin grow. But it grew too much and left! It had vines that made legs and it just... walked away. There aren’t too many people people in magic class, but one of them is Mavros. I know my magic isn’t much, and I haven’t had as long as he has had to work on it, but I’d really rather not make a fool of myself in front of him again.

I want him to like me. I’ve never wanted anyone to like me this bad before. His magic is so wonderified. He controls these shadows and dark areas. They move with him, like they’re a part of him. It’s totally different from any Ozian magic I’ve seen. He doesn’t even need that spellbook, I bet. He jsut does it all on his own.

There was some iron glued on the doorknob to the door of our dorm (that’s a lot of ‘dor’ sounds...). In terms of pranks, even I could tell that was not a great one, but it certainly shook Mavros. I need to watch out for that. I don’t want him getting hurt.

Day Nine

It looks like I’m going to have plenty of time to go to the dance! I’m budgeting my time well enough that it should be easy to get everything done. It’s a masquerade, so I’m going to need to make a costume. I was looking through what I have when I asked what Mavros was going as.

“I... haven’t decided yet.”

“Oh, neither have I,” I said. “Perhaps we could help each other? I can never decide what to wear...”

“I’m not a fairy godparent,” he said.

“No! That’s not what I’m asking,” I said. “Just… you’re always really well dressed– all the newspapers hate you, but love your clothes.”

“Really.”

“Really! I just need a few pointers the night of, before I leave. When I’m not told what to wear, I look stupid.”

“Thou wears the pre-approved school uniform. Thou already looks stupid.”

“See!”

He really does wear such wonderful clothes. His uniform is a double breasted suit and cape with the mandatory stripes on the edge. He almost always wears a silver circlet with a violet stone. I asked him about it once, but he suddenly became very terse. All I know is that it’s important.

Day Ten

Mavros was poisoned today. Someone put iron in his food and he was in almost immediate pain. I helped him to the clinic where he sent for Ariel. Most people don’t get to see Ariel, he keeps to himself in the palace most often. Some people called him the Tempest, especially during the war. I saw him once back then. He was passing our home with a group of soldiers. I don’t think he recognized me. He really is covered in scales, too!

He was in with Mavros for a long time. Mavros seemed to be fine when he got out, but I’m worried.

I haven’t cleaned anything today, I should do that before I go to bed.

Day Eleven

I cleaned the dorm last night, especially taking care to get the iron off the doorknob and any iron in the dorm that might exist. Mavros came in while I was scrubbing the floor.

“Art thou cleaning again?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“You realize that this is a dorm right? That floor’s never going to be clean.”

“Some of the iron fell, I want to make sure it--”

“Tip.”

I stopped. I half wanted him to say my name again.

“This... isn’t stress-cleaning, is it?” he asked.

“Sure it is. That’s what you said, right?” I said.

“Look, I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want you to get poisoned again,” I said. That’s not what I wanted to say.

“There’s nothing thou canst do about that,” he said. “Except, of course, making certain thou dost not poison me thyself.”

When he doesn’t wear his hair up, it falls in front of of his face just so... My hands were covered in cleaning solution, I couldn’t do anything about it.

Day Twelve

Mavros invited me along to help set up the Ozdust for the dance. There was so much color and everyone was so excited. Except for Mavros, of course. He keeps a very cool head, but I know he’s excited.

“Oh, Mavros! Isn’t this the most wonderful thing you’ve ever seen?” I asked.

“It’s fine I suppose.”

Ariena, one of the other committee members, must have heard him.

“You’ve done nothing to help all day,” she said. “If you think you can do better–”

“Of course I could,” he said.

“Then go ahead!”

Mavros looked around the room.

“Well, I suppose.”

It’s difficult for me to describe Mavros’ magic because I have no idea how it works. He seemed to reach out and take the room, filling it with his magic, with himself. The cool black that matches that voice surrounded us, and I could just reach out and feel it.

And then he built with it. A gildified chandelier and satin and velvet curtains. Candles everywhere-- floating, on tables, in the chandelier. It looked like starlight in his darkness. He pulled it back, and it all was breathtaking. He was...

“How... magical,” was all I could manage to say, but it made him smile. I wish I could make him smile like that for always.

Day Thirteen

Before the Dance

I had put on my owl costume and Mavros almost retched when he saw it.

“What is this, exactly?” he asked.

“…An owl costume?”

“No,” he said. “Let’s try this again.”

He looked me over and started with the cape.

“If there must be a cape, it must be effortless, with clean lines.”

He turned it into a full-length cape of black feathers, which felt far heavier than the cotton one that I’d been wearing. A silver string tied it in the front.

“The rest of the outfit must fit properly. A shirt fits in the shoulders, collar, arms, and waist.”

He gave me a white collared shirt with fringed sleeves.

“The waist coat fits similarly.”

The vest he magicked up for me was black leather, with silver buttons.

“Tie or cravat?” he asked

“What’s a cravat?”

He gave me a scarf type thing made of grey silk, with a silver pin shaped like an owl’s head.

“And that’s tucked into the waist coat like so. Pants should match the waistcoat, but overdoing leather is a distinct possibility. Also, no break at the cuffs. Thou’rt not exactly the tallest, it will create the illusion of such.”

The black pants fit better than any I’d ever worn. Is he that intuitive about my size..?

“And this is a masquerade, not an engineering lab. Goggles are not appropriate.”

The finishing touch was a black silk mask that felt soft against my skin.

“Well?”

I went over to the mirror. I could hardly recognize myself.

“I don’t think I’ve worn anything finer. Does it, like, end at midnight or something?”

He hid a smile, and my heart skipped a beat. “I’m not a fairy godmother. Time limits on magic are idiotic, and I have no use for them. It will last until I lift it.”

I can’t wait to see what he comes as.

After the Dance

Oh, this was the best night of my life! The music was playing, the candles were perfectly lit, and just when it couldn’t get any better...

He was dressed like the sun, all white and gold. I noticed him when he added a layer of sparkles to my cape. He was trying very hard not to be recognized-- he had a full face mask and a wig that I think was real gold. The music turned soft and slow and I went over to offer him a dance. Perhaps it was the lights, or the music, or the costumes, but I suddenly found the courage to be with him like I want to.

I could feel his magic-- I’m not even sure he was conscious of it. His anxiety was calmed as the dance went on. The knots him him loosened, and perhaps for the first time in his life, he was able to be... normal. I’m still not yet certain why he isn’t normal, but he was closer to it. Next to it, at least.

It wasn’t until I got back to my dorm that that I suddenly had the thought of what Mombi might think. The work was done, I could do as I wished... but there’s always more work. But I read a book once that described a relationship as work. And Mavros needs work. But dancing with him tonight, I could feel that he wanted something. He wanted normal.

Perhaps I can give him that.

Day Sixteen

Mavros has been avoiding me for days now, ever since the dance. I can’t imagine what I did to upset him. Even if he didn’t want me, it was just a dance. But that’s not what I found out today.

He looked tired and I went to ask him what was wrong, but when I put my hand on his shoulder, he flinched. I backed away, convinced that he was done with me.

And then he apologized.

“No, no,” he said. “It’s… it’s just been a long day.”

“Yeah, you seem really out of it,” I said. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine!”

His shadows reacted. He closed up again, turning away. I could feel them closing in.

“That doesn’t sound fine.”

“It’s nothing.”

“That was your magic.”

“Oh, an expert now, are we?” He winced. I knew that wasn’t how he meant it.

“Well, now you’re sounding like yourself.” I crossed my arms. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

“No, I can’t,” he said. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“Fine. I was conceived by a dark force of unknown origin. I am trapped every day in its grip and my only option is to keep total control at all times. Now I try to remain civil, but any perception of impropriety and rudeness are mere moments when I am free to express myself.”

I had no idea. I want to tell him that his magic is beautiful, that his remarks are actually funny, that I don’t mind the dark. His hand was shaking, changing. His veins started to turn black.

“I have attempted to control it, but it doesn’t always work.”

I took his hand. And then… the shadows receded. The black veins were gone.

“I imagine some days are worse than others?” I asked.

“Y-yes,” he said. “How–?”

“You don’t have to worry anymore,” I said. “I’m right here.”

I kissed him. I could feel his magic reaching for mine, I could feel everything he did. He was at peace, for perhaps the first time in his life. Finally, the rest of him was as calm as the sound of his voice.

Me? I could have died happy right then.

[thisisevenharderthannamingablog]

6.18 Where Bluebirds Fly

I’m having a difficult time writing an intro this week, because every time I think about the second scene my brain shorts out for a minute. I know a bunch of stuff happened other than this, but what?

In the past: On her way to the Emerald City, young Zelena befriends a woodcutter named Stanum, an unusual youth who does not fear her magic and who is impressed by her kindness and her use of magic to help others. Many years later, when she rules Oz, Stanum returns to ask his old friend for help. He is under a curse that will turn his body to tin unless someone helps him retrieve a magical heart guarded by a terrible monster.

Slightly terrible anyway.

At first inclined to dismiss his plea, Zelena is goaded into accompanying him in order to prove that she is indeed the most powerful witch around. Although she defeats the monster and retrieves the heart, she scoffs at the idea that having a friend would be worth the price the artifact demands: giving up her magic. She abandons Stanum to his fate.

In the present: The Black Fairy approaches Zelena and suggests that an alliance would be best for her and her daughter’s well-being. Hook and Emma’s morning plans are interrupted by Snow, who is determined to get this wedding in motion, but they are sidetracked by the news about the Black Fairy. Zelena is minded to take her on by herself, and stalks off. Regina is supposed to investigate the wand piece Tiger Lily sent to Emma but does not get around to it.

Rumple tells Belle about Gideon’s heart. The Blue Fairy remains in her coma, unable to be wakened until her magic is restored; Rumple has played into his mother’s hands by removing the one person who ever knew the Black Fairy from the conflict.

Zelena asks Belle to babysit while she goes off to the mines to hunt down the Black Fairy by herself. Charming discovers that Henry has tried to force the Final Battle to a good end using the magic pen, but it’s not working; Emma must fight. Henry, too, is drafted into the planning activities.

Regina finds Zelena and attempts to stop her. The argument escalates into a physical fight, causing a partial rockfall that blocks the way back.  

Snow and Charming argue about the suitability of different venues and eventually of doing this at all with the Final Battle looming; Emma at last intervenes and says they ought to wait. They love each other, they’re comfortable, and there’s no need to get married at high speed just in case they all die.

In the mines, there is more arguing until the sisters stumble across a vein of fairy crystal. The Black Fairy and Gideon arrive. Assigning her minion to delay Regina, the Black Fairy leads Zelena down to her lair and baits her into doing magical battle -- which turns all of the crystal dark, meaning that they can now be used to fuel her evil, um, whatever it is she plans to do that will be the Final Battle. She then poofs the sisters away. Regina tells Zelena that she may as well go back to Oz while the rest of them clean up her mess.

Zelena summons a twister from Oz to bring her the Crimson Heart, and use it to destroy her magic, returning the crystals to their normal state and thwarting whatever the Black Fairy wanted. It was probably bad.

From Zelena, the others learn about Blue’s condition and that she is being kept on ice in Gold’s shop. Emma uses a piece of the crystal to restore her magic, meaning that she can now be wakened.

The Black Fairy appears unperturbed by the crystal setback; the really important thing is that Rumple doesn’t learn (presumably from Blue) why she gave him up as an infant.

Parallels: The very heavy-handed Oz flashback talked about how what Zelena really needs is friends, and if she wasn’t so messed up she would value their lives more than her magic, more than this idea that she needs to be the strongest witch around. In the present-day timeline, she makes that sacrifice even though other people are not necessarily behaving a friendly fashion to her.

The line “who’s ready to put their hearts into some wedding planning” feeds into “the Black Fairy has Gideon’s heart?” in one of their odder transitions to date.

Snow draws the parallel between her wedding to Charming under threat from Regina and her desire to plan Emma and Hook’s; “it gave people hope.”

Wardrobe Department:

In Hindsight: I’m gonna have to assume that Dorothy came along and rescued this guy later, and also that once Glinda got banished, all of the other witch positions went evil, because what the hell else do I make of the “wicked witch of the North”?

I don’t particularly like the way they’re writing Snow, but I do feel that it’s consistent. She’s talking about her daughter’s wedding as if it’s a political stage event, not so much taking the lead on as entirely taking over the planning process in a way that makes Emma’s participation appear an afterthought, and this is, unfortunately, the way Snow seems to work. She talks a good game, but she never seems to be on quite the same wavelength as her daughter.

On to bigger issues. I have a problem with the writing on the show this season, at least as far as the Mills sisters are concerned. Maybe this is inevitable when you try to redeem a major villain, but it’s making me very uncomfortable. I feel like they’re crossing the line between explaining and excusing villainy these days. I posted this bit separately while I was writing this review, but I’m going to include it here and expand on it a little.

The show has not been all that big on showcasing acts of direct restitution. There have been a handful for Hook, there was Rumple’s death in 3a, and Ingrid’s death. But where they have done that, I always felt like the emphasis was where it ought to be, on the damage that was done to the other character. We know a lot about Baelfire, for instance, so Hook handing him over to Pan and Rumple letting him go through the portal are very meaningful events for all of the characters; the impact is clear. Ursula’s story was swiftly but fully sketched in “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

With “Page 23″ and “Where Bluebirds Fly,” the emphasis is on the perpetrator’s emotional pain. We never learn anything at all about Stanum, about who he is or why he got cursed or why he’s so keen to befriend Zelena. He exists in the flashback purely to provide psychological analysis that is mirrored in the present day by the Black Fairy. In “Page 23” the focus is 100% on Regina -- not the fairy who destroyed her own life trying to save her, not the father she would later murder in cold blood, and not the villagers she terrorized for years.

With these two episodes, it seems like we are supposed to feel sympathy for Regina and Zelena while they are committing some of their most terrible acts of villainy, because the story has now gone to lengths to explain that they were sad the whole time. We ignore both the suffering they cause in others and the fact that they were sad due to situations they largely created themselves. The disposability of characters in this show has always been a problem, but it seems even worse than usual to me in these episodes. Ingrid became more sympathetic to us over the course of the season, but there was never a point where the show seemed to say “well, that’s all right then” about anything that she did.

(I can talk about “Swan Song” if anyone wants, but I feel the emphasis was very different there.)

When you provide a sympathetic focus to how the villain feels *while they are engaged in acts of villainy*, that’s… well, that kinda skeeves me out. It approaches if doesn’t downright become excuse-making; the audience is led to prioritize one character’s emotional state over others’ actual lives. The victims become invisible in this scheme. Given that we’ve already replaced Robin with a new version who was never Zelena’s victim -- a novel form of erasure I must admit -- I really cannot enjoy any of this storylne.

The Mills’ sisters relationship in this episode, in this whole season, has been one dose of high-octane weird after another. They start the season on a high note, but it quickly sours; even at her nicest, with all of the darkness(™) sucked out of her heart, Regina can’t forgive Zelena for her role in Robin’s death. The evil side of Regina, meanwhile, courts Zelena on the strength of their grotesque similarities, only to betray her and eventually try to kill her. Since the two Regina halves made up and split their evil difference, Zelena has barely been in the story at all, but it seems that Regina has extended no olive branches. In this episode, Regina -- who certainly doesn’t seem any nicer to me than she ever has in the past -- is quick to take on a self-righteous tone, quick to take offense and to dismiss her sister’s losses, quick to attack when Zelena fails to cooperate. She can be magnanimous at the end of the episode, of course, secure now in being the more powerful of the Mills sisters, but I am at a loss to figure how we’re supposed to take all of this.

It seems to me that they decided against Regina as the final villain at some point, but also that they forgot to write Regina as even marginally likeable after making that choice.

As much as I enjoy looking at her, the Black Fairy continues to be the worst villain in the history of the show, on a par with Hades. There’s no THERE there, no history, no connection, no motives -- a void where there should be a story element. Literally all she has done at this point is talk (and kill that one guy in the flashback). I could not care less about whatever additional bit of sad backstory they’re going to saddle Rumple with this weekend.

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #128 - The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Spoilers below.

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: Blu-ray

1) This film is a classic of American cinema. If you ever want to learn how to tell a slick story, watch this film. Because outside of one or two musical numbers, there is nothing in here that doesn’t need to be. It is all entertaining and slick.

2) Judy Garland’s iconic performance as Dorothy Gale.

In the original tale Dorothy was a pre-adolescent eight year old, where as Garland was 16 upon playing Dorothy. They had to have her in a tight corset to keep her boobs under wraps. Now that I’ve said that fun anecdote...

Garland is pretty great as Dorothy. She is able to perfectly capture her childlike wonder, heart, and innocence in a way which makes the audience feel like a kid. It brings us into this world of youth and fairytales through a compelling and fun character. Dorothy comes off as compassionate and loyal, and while a bit of a damsel towards the end we understand that she is just a child who is thrust into this world and desperately is trying to get back home. Garland is perfect in the role and the film needs her to be as iconic as it is.

3) The decision to have various characters and lines (“Well your head ain’t made of straw you know!”) be echoed in Oz gives the film a sense of magical realism (a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction). I would not go far enough to call the film an example of that genre, but it definitely has some of those elements.

4) “Over the Rainbow”

Without a doubt THE most iconic song in the film. In my opinion there are two songs from cinema which perfectly capture a child’s imagination: “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and “Over the Rainbow” from this film. The song was almost cut from the film, with studio heads fearing it would bore kids! Can you even imagine? The film’s light melody and childlike innocence is what truly carries it. It connects with anyone who has ever longed for someplace better, for a far off land filled with adventure and intrigue. Garland’s vocals do the beautiful composition amazing justice, making the two inseparable. Honestly, it’s THE moment from the film and the movie hasn’t even gone to color yet!

5) The relationship with Dorothy and Toto is wonderfully strong. I wonder if there’s a backstory to that. Like maybe Toto was a gift to her from her late parents or something like that. Either way, any dog lover will appreciate it.

6) The fact that Professor Marvel (played by Frank Morgan, who later plays the titular Wizard) is a total phony doesn’t have so much weight the first time you watch this film. It does however become wildly important after the film’s end. Also the fact that Dorothy is so quick to believe speaks wildly to her youthful innocence.

7) It took me a while to realize why Dorothy is so desperate to return home when she has a whole song about wanting to be elsewhere, and only recently did I realize why. She thinks her Auntie Em is sick! Professor Marvel told her that her running away made her sick and heartbroken, and it is this belief and love for her family which drives her through the rest of the film.

8) Dorothy looking out the window in the middle of the twister has some wonderful sight gags.

9) The transition from a sepia tone world to a color one is remarkably seamless. Credit to the director, cinematographer, and editor(s?) who worked on this film for that. Bravo.

10) One of the reasons the film is such a classic is largely because of its wonderful imagery. All of Oz is wonderful fantasy, using the brightness of technicolor to its full advantage and creating a storybook world that appeals to the eyes of children and adults everywhere. The entire color palette is like that of a rainbow, something very fitting considering the main song of this film.

11)

Glinda [upon meeting Dorothy]: “Are you a good which, or a bad witch?”

Oh, if only it were that simple.

12)

Glinda [after she hears Dorothy’s opinion that all witches are ugly]: “Only bad witches are ugly.”

Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, dude.

13) While watching this film I kinda thought Glinda was being a little TOO chipper, and that the ready celebration of death was a bit odd. Then I remembered a fan theory which painted the supposed Good Witch of the North as the villain. Read at your own risk of childhood ruining.

14) I don’t love this film as much as others, although I do admit its pretty damn great. So it’s at risk of offending the purists out there that I say I think the whole Munchkinland song goes on a little too long. Also some of the Munchkins - probably because of their costumes - freak me out. Mainly the Lollipop Guild.

15) THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST!!!!

She’s so freaking evil, I love it! The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the most iconic film villains of all time, possibly even more iconic than some legends as Darth Vader. Margaret Hamilton plays the Witch with DELIGHTFUL villainy! You can tell she’s having a lot of fun in the part and we as the audience are having fun because of it. The Witch is simultaneously both in line with the stories we hear as children while at times being truly threatening. Even as an adult there are times I go, “holy cow, this woman is EVIL!!!!!!” That is amazing to me. Hamilton was a fan of the books and was delighted to hear she was being considered for a part, and that enthusiasm just infects ever green skin cell of this baddie. Some stories are only as good as their villain, and The Wizard of Oz has an INCREDIBLE villain.

16) The Ruby Slippers.

In the original story the slippers were silver, but the filmmakers changed it to ruby in order to take full advantage of the technicolor process. These days the ruby slippers are such an iconic piece of film that there’s a pair in the Smithsonian institute. Just like everything else in Oz, it captures our imaginations totally and completely.

17) Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Okay, but what happens if you follow the Red Brick Road? Am I the only one curious about that? Where does the Red Brick Road lead? Wonderland? Neverland? Cleveland? CAN WE GET A SPINOFF ANSWERING THIS QUESTION PLEASE!?!?!?

18) The Scarecrow.

(Let’s all take a moment to realize how relevant and awesome that line is in 2017.)

Out of the trio, the Scarecrow may well be my favorite. He is just so sweet and kind, despite of (or because of?) his naivety. Some fun slapstick comes about from his character, and...I don’t know what else. For some undefinable reason he’s just my favorite of the bunch!

19) This film does have some nice humor.

Dorothy [after interpreting the rusted Tin Man’s words]: “He said oil can.”

Scarecrow: “Oil can what?”

20) According to IMDb:

Ray Bolger was originally cast as the Tin Man. However, he insisted that he would rather play the Scarecrow--his childhood idol Fred Stone had originated that role on stage in 1902. Buddy Ebsen had been cast as the Scarecrow, and now switched roles with Bolger. Unbeknownst to him, however, the make-up for the Tin Man contained aluminum dust, which ended up coating Ebsen's lungs. He also had an allergic reaction to it. One day he was physically unable to breathe and had to be rushed to hospital. The part was immediately recast and MGM gave no public reason why Ebsen was being replaced. The actor considered this the biggest humiliation he ever endured and a personal affront. When Jack Haley took over the part of the Tin Man, he wasn't told why Ebsen had dropped out (and in the meantime, the Tin Man make-up was changed from aluminum dust to aluminum paste as one of its key components). However, his vocals remain whenever the song "We're off to see the Wizard" is played. Jack Haley's vocals were never used during the song, but were used for "If I Only Had a Heart" and "If I Only Had the Nerve." Ebsen's vocals are also heard in the extended version of "If I were King of the Forest," though the spoken segment has Jack Haley. Although no Ebsen footage from the film has ever been released, surviving still photos show him taking part in the Wicked Witch's castle sequence.

21) The various reprises of “If I Only Had _____” (A Brain/A Heart/The Nerve) are some of my favorite songs in the film. Not only is the tune itself sweet and memorable, but they each serve as slick simple introductions to each character’s core conflict.

22) Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! I don’t have anything to say about that line I just wanted to include it in my recap post.

23) Although the Scarecrow is probably my favorite of the trio, the Cowardly Lion is the funniest I think.

The idea of his cowardice allows for a great amount of physical humor and humor in his dialogue. He’s the comic relief in an already very funny and sweet cast.

24) Apparently the actors playing the trio of characters would often show boat and try to steal the scenes from one another, to the point where the director (or whichever director was working that day, as this film had a lot) had to shout at them to let Judy Garland be the star because it was her story.

25) Man, these guys get to the poppy field WAY sooner than I remember!

I also didn’t remember that it got resolved by “Deus Ex Glinda” just casting a magical spell to kill all the poppies with snow. Which is weird considering it should be one of the most memorable scenes in the film.

26) Frank Morgan - the actor who played The Wizard and Professor Marvel - also plays the sentry in Emerald City, the coach driver in the city, and a third guard in the city. Now that we know of The Wizard’s tricky ways, I wonder if all three of these are not meant to be the same character.

27) There are parts in the Emerald City sequence I find a little on the lengthy side, a little superfluous. The songs where all of Dorothy’s squad is getting treated well is fine, it’s short enough. But I totally forget about the entire “King of the Forrest” number any time I watch the film and honestly don’t think the film needs it. But that’s just me.

28) I think part of the Witch’s truly threatening nature is through the strong visuals this film uses. “Surrender Dorothy” is a particularly memorable sight, as black ash fills the sky of an otherwise happy place.

29) I will say though, even though I find the whole “King of the Forrest” song a bit pointless, it does have this nice bit:

Lion: What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage!

30) Probably the time the Lion is at his funniest is when the group is approaching The Wizard.

Also The Wizard is kind of a jerk.

31) Dude, there’s a door just a few feet away. You DON’T need to go through the window!

32) Where the heck did the Scarecrow get a gun? Where’d the Tin Man get a giant wrench?

This movie is weird. I love that.

33) The Flying Monkeys!

Another example of incredible imaginative imagery.

34) Okay so...why does the Witch want the slippers? I mean we have theories in all OTHER forms of Wizard of Oz media. They belonged to her sister, they have the power to jump worlds, she wants a little color in her wardrobe, but the film itself never gives a reason. She just WANTS them.

35) I always really appreciated the devotion the three friends had when going to rescue Dorothy. I don’t know, it just sort of moves me the friendship they were able to craft in such a short time.

36) So this scene with the guards singing:

I did a production of Our Town YEARS ago and there was this girl in the cast who said she grew up thinking these guys were chanting, “Oreo! O-RE-o!” Which, you know, makes sense. That was funny enough on it’s own. Then Wreck-It Ralph came out...

37) For some reason “Night on Bald Mountain” plays as Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man go to rescue Dorothy from the which. Because why not, I guess.

38) The fact that water melts the witch - while iconic - sort of comes from nowhere. Was there something earlier in the film that was supposed to foreshadow this? It’s very Deus Ex Machina.

39) The Wizard revealed!

A for effort dude.

40) The scene where The Wizard is handing out the gifts for everyone (a diploma for Scarecrow which works as a brain, the “heart” for Tin Man, a medal for lion) is very funny. Frank Morgan benefits from his fast talking yet sincere nature.

Scarecrow [after receiving his gift]: “How can I ever thank you enough?”

The Wizard: “Well, you can’t.”

And then I love this too.

Dorothy [after The Wizard talks about getting here in a runaway hot air balloon]: “Weren’t you frightened?”

The Wizard: “Frightened? Child, you're talking to a man who's laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe... I was petrified.”

41) I either don’t understand the lesson here or I do and I dislike it. Dorothy has this line of how if she ever wants something again, she’ll just look in her backyard because “there’s no place like home.” While I appreciate the sentiment of, “There’s no place like home,” the idea of home is not defined by the place you grow up in. It’s the place where you feel the most safe, the most comfortable, the place you miss when you’re not there. It’s usually defined by people, not location. Good people who treat you well. So while Dorothy does have that back in Kansas, the line about her backyard throws me.

The Wizard of Oz is a classic and for good reason. It’s colorful and vibrant imagery will stick with children of all ages, and through all its parts combined it just captures the imagination of childhood perfectly. It’s mostly pure, innocent, but not in a naive or babyish way. It’s an entertaining treat everyone should see at least once.

[imperatorium]

I’m starting to understand that possibly one of the reasons I don’t like Dorothy is that every other person in Emerald City seems to be a heavy-handed example of something.  The Wizard is an MRA, Glinda is White Feminism.  Everyone else, you can kind of see where they stand on these two issues.  Dorothy doesn’t seem to stand anywhere, in a way that strikes me as bad writing over character choice. And if you take it as a character choice, then she’s just a Slytherin who genuinely thinks she’s A Good Guy, and yes, she has the capacity for love (Sylvie is my example, there, not Roan), but the good she does seems to be incidental, not inherent.  Her love is selfish and I understand that’s built out of the trauma of “being abandoned” by who she thought was her mom and I’d almost give more credit to that, but she’s had Em and Henry her whole life who have raised and loved her better than most biological parents love their biological children.  The only person, until her Ozian adventures, she ever lost was (someone she thought was) her mom, who she never even knew because she was an infant who, they said, believed Em was her mom until she was old enough to understand that sort of thing. (Maybe there should be some credit given to how young they say she is, but since they’re playing her as so much wiser and older than her years, I don’t think that works, either.) Anyway, as I go on, I realize this is a very familiar character sketch of a real person, so it’s that much clearer to me why I don’t understand or care for Dorothy. What’s unfortunate is that I don’t know what the writing is trying to do with West, yet, so while I love her instinctively, I’m not sure that my impression of her is the one they’re going in the direction of because the writing is mostly not that great.  My hope is that she’s someone who will learn from her mistakes, learn to be better than what she’s been, what she knows, because it seems like she wants to be Good.  Or at least do what’s Right, versus siding with her sister’s White Feminism, even if that means helping to destroy all the gross Reddit/4chan bullshit the Wizard was trying to make the status quo. Ideally, there should be a third party with West and Tip who could teach them that it is okay for Tip to still be a boy and be Ozma and magic at the same time.  Tip needs that encouragement and he’s not going to get it from West, who I want to believe genuinely meant it when she was willing to let him be a boy while they tried to rally the other witches and take back Emerald City.  I want to believe she wasn’t doing that out of pure self-motivation, that she’s only pushing him to be a girl because she thinks that’s the only way to acheive the greater good and that, if she was shown that boys can be magic, too, that she would be fine with it.  I think that makes the most sense, given that Glinda is clearly someone who would not be okay with it and, so far, West has been a much more accepting person, in general, than her sister. Also, Truth and Solace are her virtues, and I can’t imagine anything more true or comforting than allowing Tip to be who he is.

[dingoes8myrp]

Slippers Are So Last Century: Emerald City

The new show Emerald City totally snuck up on me. It was something my mom and I caught while looking through the guide. We saw Vincent D'Onofrio's name, and there was some discussion ("Hey, I haven't seen him in anything since Criminal Intent!"). So, we checked it out to see what Detective Bobby Goren's up to these days.

We did not know what we'd just signed up for. I hadn't heard anything about the show prior to our stumbling upon it while looking for something to watch on a Friday night. I figured Emerald City = The Wizard of Oz. Cool. I know this. Well, not exactly.

The rest of this post will contain spoilers for all of Emerald City so far, including last night's episode.

As soon as the premiere opened I knew this wasn't going to be what I expected. I didn't know what that meant – if it was a good thing, or a bad thing – but it surprised me and put me off kilter right from the start. That's one way to captivate an audience – the "Wait, what?" effect. Not my favorite, as a viewer, but it'll do the trick. It worked for Carnivale, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, and more recently Outsiders. At least, for me.

Let's start with Dorothy. She wasn't some naïve farm girl trotting around with a basket and a tiny dog. She was gritty and real, someone I could know in my real life. And her entrance into Oz wasn't magical and whimsical. It was terrifying, scary, and mysterious – as it would be if it happened in real life. Right away, it was clear this was not the technicolor Wizard of Oz I had grown up watching. This was something I could relate to, a world I could plant my feet in. So, I did.

Dorothy's introduction to Oz did not involve munchkins and songs. It involved escaping the police, being tossed around inside a cop car inside a tornado, and getting captured by some sort of tribe of natives. I'm still not sure what the deal with those guys is. Dorothy was interrogated and tortured before she was sent on her way down the road, which was not made of yellow brick, but of fine yellow dust. With her trusty bag of supplies and her new guard dog, Toto, Dorothy set about her journey.

Surely we know this part, right?

As Dorothy approached a man perched on a cross, tarred and feathered in the sun, I was reminded of a similar scene in Carnivale that involved a reluctant hero having to make a difficult decision: to press on and continue his planned journey to reach his own goal, or to risk his own plan to help someone else. There was even a tarred and feathered guy in both scenes and both heroes were regarded as healers. Both were also mistrusted, as no one knew whether they would bring salvation or ruin. Up until this point I'd been intrigued by the story in the way that I wanted to know what was going to happen and wanted to explore this new Oz. However, the moment Dorothy helped Lucas off his perch I became invested in her. This was a character I could get behind and root for.

One way to get me to care about a character right off the bat is to put him in a terrible position for no apparent reason. Wait, that's a person baking in the sun like that? Who the hell did that to this guy? He seems nice enough. A little confused, a little worse for the wear, but he's so cute! Like a lost puppy.

But…

He must have pissed a few people off. Why else would he have ended up tarred, feathered, and left to die? What kind of messed up people did that shit?

Perhaps, more importantly, what could Lucas have done to deserve that? No. Surely he couldn't have done anything terrible. He's so endearing and likable and nice to look at. No. He's a victim here. Of course he's a victim. Except, even he's not so sure about that.

Something that bothers me quite frequently about Lucas began when he assured Dorothy he was fine to keep walking, only to collapse a few seconds later. At the time, this seemed like a plot device to me. Now Lucas needed help, which led Dorothy to Oz's answer to a Pharmacy, where she'd cross paths with Tip. I rolled my eyes and I was annoyed, but I quickly forgot about my irritation and continued to follow Dorothy along the dusty, yellow path.

However, as I continued to watch the show I discovered this kind of behavior from Lucas was typical. He's constantly punishing himself and sacrificing himself for others. While at times I can get behind this – if he wants to be a distraction so Dorothy can escape a dangerous situation, for example – there are other times when it doesn't make sense from a strategic standpoint. He not only unnecessarily puts himself at risk, but he refuses help even when he needs it. As he learned bits and pieces of his checkered past, it became clear to me that Lucas has a lot of guilt over the possibility that he may have done some bad things. This is such a subtle, well done character trait that makes no sense at all until you get to know him.

The budding romance between Lucas and Dorothy did not surprise me, but it didn't irritate me as these things often do. It felt very organic and natural to me. Of course these two are going to have some feelings brewing. And they're just adorable. I like that their romance isn't becoming the center of the story. It's still about the journey as well as the ensemble of characters.

One of the biggest things that's kept me watching even before I was invested has been the witches. There was clear discord between the Wizard and the witches, but also between the witches themselves. Immediately I wanted to know what all that was about. What was up with that weird mud prison? Why was East such an asshole? What's the deal with West and Glinda being kind of cordial but also hating each other? How was Dorothy able to inherit those ruby mittens from East? These questions have only increased as the show has gone on. If all the witches are born from one woman (South), then how was Dorothy able to perform any magic at all? Why are West and Glinda such rivals? I have so many questions!

Tip! This character started out as somebody I considered a minor background character and then quickly stole my heart. How did Tip end up in that crazy woman's home and what the hell was she doing making Tip a boy in the first place? My theory currently, having learned witches are still being born in secret, is that Tip was a witch and since, as far as we know, witches are only female, this woman disguised her as a boy to hide her. However, I don't have enough evidence for this yet. It's just something I've thought about.

I loved the relationship between Tip and Jack: two childhood friends whose relationship gets very complicated now that they're older and one of them is now a beautiful young woman. Who can't relate to that? Tip's struggle in being treated like a woman after being raised as a boy has been captivating to watch.

It's interesting that Tip is automatically being placed in these roles reserved for women in Oz, and the reaction is great. Yeah, my thoughts exactly, Tip! I wouldn't want to be a nun or a whore either. Being a knight looks way cooler. Tip's internal struggle is heart wrenching as well. There's a constant stream of questions there Tip doesn't know the answers to. Am I a boy or a girl? Do I love Jack as a friend, or as something more? What does that even mean? How do I get my real body back? Which body is my real body? Such a complex character portrayed so wonderfully! Tip is very much my favorite to watch.

When Jack took a tumble off that tower I thought for certain that was that. I was shocked and so saddened for Tip. And there were so many unanswered questions there. I wanted to see their new relationship unfold into whatever it was going to be.

And then we caught a glimpse of that doctor for a few seconds and I had no idea what was going on. When we got to see what had become of Jack I was totally caught off guard. Ah, so they're going with a literal tin man here. Good on you, Emerald City. I did not see that one coming.

I'm not sure how I feel about Jack yet. He was a loyal friend to Tip, someone who was going to be there to help no matter what. I admired that about him. However, now he's grown a bit resentful and he's sort of finding his feet in this new body and in his new home. There's potential here and I'm curious to see where it will go.

Ah, West. I have complicated feelings toward this character. Because I'm so invested in Dorothy, I'm often at odds with West. I want to hate her for tormenting Dorothy and later Lucas. I disagree with a lot of her decisions. However, there are clearly layers to West we'll see peeled back bit by bit. She reminds me a lot of Nancy in The Craft in the way that she has a lot of pain and I think she uses her magic to mask or work around that a lot of the time. She's a very interesting and complex character, and if she's meant to be a villain she'll definitely be a complicated one to hate.

Lady Ev is definitely growing on me. I didn't know what to make of her at first. But the more I see of her the more I want to see. She's clearly smart and capable, but she's underestimated by those around her due to her attitude and her youth. There's so much going on there. With her father sick and aging and her mother deceased, Ev has had the role of ruler thrust upon her. She didn't ask for it and she doesn't even acknowledge it. Someone who appeared selfish and spoiled is the complete opposite once you see her in action. She's doing a hard job she was unprepared to take on and expecting no recognition for it. She's naïve and sheltered in a lot of ways, having little understanding of things like love and friendship. I have a theory that Lady Ev is our embodiment of the Cowardly Lion. I don't think she wears a mask because she has some disfigurement. I think she's socially anxious and shy due to being a bit sheltered and the mask keeps her from being afraid. I think she's learning a lot from Jack and I'm intrigued by their relationship.

We got to peek behind the curtain this week with the Wizard. I haven't known how to feel about him this whole time. Is he a villain? Are the witches the villains? Who the hell is this guy? Now we have some answers and I'm still not sure. I think Frank is the embodiment of the phrase "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." I think he thought he was doing something extraordinary when he caused the tornado that brought his team to Oz. But, for what purpose? To gain recognition? To escape something? He introduces science to this world that's so steeped in magic his science is laughable. Was he trying to do something good for these people, or merely trying to control them to overcome his nerdy stigma?

Tip's reunion with Jack went about as expected, didn't it? Jack was a good friend. Tip killed him. Accident or not, that shit leaves a mark. However, I don't believe that's the end of things for Tip and Jack. There's lots of unfinished business there, lots of feelings to be resolved and explored. Lady Ev will no doubt make things complicated… or Tip will make things complicated for Jack and Ev, depending on how you look at it. I wonder how Tip will deal with this. Surely it's a relief that Jack's alive, but she still hurt him deeply. And now he's forever changed, something not quite human. This is going to get very complicated.

At this point I don't know if Dorothy and Lucas are a perfect match, or if they'll be the death of one another. Now Dorothy seems to have figured out Lucas's tendency toward self-destruction, so to compensate she tries to stand between him and whatever destructive thing he's about to do. Typically, this makes him stop and rethink things. But, the two of them are so stubborn that this often leads them both to do something stupid and risky. Sometimes this is a good thing, since they did find and rescue that little girl who turns people to stone sometimes. Sometimes this is a bad idea, like when it could mean they both die or go insane. But, hey, as long as they're together, right? Because that's the most important thing. Oh, wait. Except for some of these people who are now depending on you both to help them.

This is something that annoyed me in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well. There's a tendency in TV shows especially toward showing the audience two people are in love by having them throw everything else out the window for that person. This is a bad lesson in my opinion. Yes, love is hard work and sacrifice. But there's a difference between that and giving up literally everything for another person in order for it to be considered love. It makes even less sense when you're in a setting where literally the world could end and lots of other people who are also loved and important could die, and these lovebirds suddenly just plain don't give a shit. This is an annoying trope I hope they don't continue here. Lucas and Dorothy love each other. That's obvious and we get it. Please don't make them all stupid and reckless over it. I've seen enough of that and Oz doesn't need it.

I love how things keep turning on their heads in this show. Whenever I think I've figured someone out they do something unexpected or some new information is revealed. Now there's this secret network of people working to hide the existence of witches, and there are spies and double agents. It's a Bond movie up in this bitch!

There's a lot more going on I didn't go over here because this thing would have been pages and pages long if I talked about every detail. But I love this show and it's become one of my ass-in-seat shows of 2017. If you’re also watching it and want to discuss anything let me know.