#but when he tries to erase his time at PI. he changes events around david's dad too

[lizardthelizard]

OKAY! I have to know your thoughts on the idea of august as the author? I never really thought henry made sense as the author, & august literally was able to seamlessly add pages to the story book & had untold knowledge about the previous author. PLUS an indepth knowledge of the 'correct' version of fairytales & how magic worked in the enchanted forest despite being like 7 when he went through the portal. [have been discussing this theory with others & we all seem to agree that august shouldve been the author BUT 👀 as the president of the august fanclub I'm curious about your thoughts 👀]

(90% of the below was written last October and I'm SO sorry that it's taken this long for me to finish and publish this ask 😭😭 I was HYPED to get the ask, it was just sent at the wrong time)

HI!!!!! 🥰💕💕 It's always a delight to see you in my inbox, but ESPECIALLY with a question like this HELLO??? <3

okay okay SO .

I think that, for me, I understand why OUAT picked out Henry to be the Author. And imo, Henry ~kind of~ worked as the Author. I mean, he was the one that had been so involved with the storybook in the first place (and, in a way, bringing to life the characters in the book when he brought Emma to town to break the curse).

That said...I did read and enjoy a post you made a while ago about how Henry hasn't ever been a particularly avid reader (the most we ever see him read are comic books) and most of his focus is very specifically around THEE storybook and the change it brought him in his real life, rather than the stories and fiction itself. And, like.....you're RIGHT.

Anyway.....August. I have...mixed feelings about this.

On the surface, it's very appealing. August is already a writer. He DOES have knowledge of the previous Authors, yes, and a good handle on the storybook itself. And yes! He really does he have an indepth knowledge about the characters in book, thanks to his past in the EF. He was only a child, sure, but he was a child for a long time. He was a puppet for 20 years (thank you Season 6 for making that canon). He's met David's dad. He's seen Regina as the Evil Queen when she visited their village. He's been with Emma during several key points in her life and story.

AND YET...There are a couple of reasons as to why I can't quite jive with this theory, and one of them is simply that...He isn't allowed to be a good narrator. He's THEE unreliable narrator (he's literally named after the man that coined the term 'unreliable narrator'). And we've already seen how unsuitable Isaac was when he strayed from the path of 'recording everything exactly as it was'.

Now. I'm not saying that August would go full rogue like Isaac. But what I am saying, is that August has canonically already edited the storybook because he didn't like what was there. He took the Pleasure Island arc out of the book and hid them away somewhere because he didn't want other people reading that part of his story because he felt ashamed of it. I definitely don't think it would be a stretch for him to tweak elements of his own story (and maybe potentially other people's) if he felt he needed to. And ultimately, this would make him a bad Author.

The second reason that I can't quite support this theory is because...August is too involved in the storybook himself. To me, it feels wrong for a character in the storybook to also be the Author of said book. Isaac was literally just some dude from the 1960s that liked writing stories. Henry, although entwined with the book, was never actually in the book himself, so he can claim some distance between it too. And the only other Author that we see mentioned (?) is Walt Disney in a throwaway joke line, so...

Not to mention, despite talking constantly about 'being a writer' the only thing we ever actually SEE him writing is....The Adventures of Pinocchio. The main story he's interested in right now is clearly his own. (THAT SAID, I obviously won't deny that he loves to tell a tall tale (lemurs in Nepal, bullfighting ect). I'm not trying to deny that he doesn't enjoy telling stories, only saying that his main focus is HIS story right now).

Also, I hear you saying that August was super involved in the storybook and its history, and that he had a lot of knowledge around it (after all, he knew about the door and how to add and remove pages from the book) however, I would like to introduce here two wise old men: The Dragon and The Apprentice, both able to aid him in the Land without Magic, even at a time when August was seemingly doubting his own past/magic.

The Apprentice is particularly important here because I'm of the opinion that he gave August the missing pages from the book. I know that it's not unreasonable to assume that August typed those pages himself, but the illustrations make it a little more difficult to believe, if I'm honest. Can August draw? Yes, very well. We've seen his drawing of the Apprentice and it's very good (not to mention his skill as a woodcarver). But...to remember exactly what David's dad looked like, to the point that Killian is able to recognise him from that drawing..? Seems a little implausible to me personally.

Anyway, I've rambled a lot here but TL;DR:

imo, August is too involved in the story, too unreliable as an author, and probably not as knowledgeable about the book as he claims to be, in order to be a good candidate for the Author.

BUT!!!!! I do think it would be a fascinating avenue to explore in an AU ....👀