#i don’t know how she goes from cute bean to mother of all evil in a millisecond

[tragicotps]

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[sluggybasson107]

Digimon Adventure 02 Appreciation Challenge Day 6 - Which Bond Between The 02 Kids Do You Enjoy The Most?

This was really hard. I love every single relationship with the 02 kids, but there's one person who's relationship with everyone is so amazingly written! And that has to be Miyako Inoue!

So anyway, let's roll!

The first relationship with Miyako that I'm going to talk about is her and Daisuke Motomiya.

Out of the 02 kids, these two have to be the goofballs in the group.

Just look at them 

I feel as if there is mutual respect between the two. They have very similar traits but different values, which can make them fight each other. But usually, these fights don't last long, so they're usually in a good relationship together unlike some other google head and his friend.

The second relationship is Miyako and Iori Hida

I always felt as if Miyako acted like the "Fun Uncle" or "Big Sister" (Not a mother) to Iori.

Iori: “So, Miyako-san, can you come to my house after school to fix our computer?”

Miyako: “Sure. Will your mom make ohagi?” (Ohagi is rice balls covered with sweet beans, sesame, or other toppings) 

Iori: “Okay, I’ll e-mail her late.”

Miyako: "Bingo!"

(Digimon Adventure 02, The One Who Inherits Courage)

I think it's sweet that she goes over to help Iori with his computer, but yet again, she wants her ohagi with it!

While I do feel like they had less interaction with each other towards the end, both Miyako and Iori still had each other's backs.

Also, Miyako without eyes is now a thing

Next is Takeru!

I do feel as if out of all the 02 kids, Takeru has to be the one Miyako interacts with the least

Right now, I can't think of a good scenario where both of them interacted with each other (There are interactions between the two, but ones that shows how they feel about each other)

But I do think that Takeru does trust Miyako a lot.

Takeru: I thought you had gone to some unknown world again

Hikari: I'm fine now, I'll never go there again

*Looks at Miyako*

(Digimon Adventure 02, Silphymon – The Storm of Love)

If you can't tell, I love this episode so much

Takeru got scared that Hikari was going to get hurt because of the dark ocean. I would think that Takeru trusts Miyako to help Hikari with this problem, which she does. Also in the dub, when Hikari looks at Miyako, she says "Yolei won't let me" (Something to that effect), which shows how much Hikari relies on Miyako with the dark ocean.

Now, is Hikari and Miyako

I love their relationship. It's the trope "Opposites attract!!" but done a whole lot better and not done in a cringy way. Like, even the episode where Silphymon appears in the dub is called Opposites Attract.

The thing is, in Digimon, there is always a small number of females, so they tend to always have each other's back in a way the males don't. While there isn't a big difference in gender with the 02 groups, Miyako and Hikari aren't that close at the beginning. Hikari hangs out with Takeru and Daisuke, and Miyako hangs out with Koshirou and Iori. But as the group gets comfortable with being Chosen Children, I feel as if they started to reach out to others in the group instead of the usual "pairings". 

This is where Hikari and Miyako started to work together.

In episode 16, Hikari and Miyako make a plan to trick Iori to go into the escape pod. While they end up failing, I do think this is the first time they both interact and notice each other's traits. 

I'm not going to talk about "Silphymon – The Storm of Love" only because I talked a little about this on Day 1 and the #02apprecaition tag has a lot on that subject.

But in episode 44, Miyako and Hikari have to fight LadyDevimon

Watch Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xTiPjTNuTI

(The video cut this interaction off though)

Silphymon: I had to destroy her. Please understand.

Miyako: We destroyed her... We destroyed... a Digimon...

*Camera looks at the boy who was attacked*

Hikari: You're the one who saved him, Miyako-san.

(Digimon Adventure 02, The Deadly Battle Against the Dark Digimon)

I always liked how Miyako helped Hikari with the dark ocean, Hikari supported Miyako with her struggling to kill Digimon. It shows that Hikari doesn’t always need help and that Miyako also has her problems with darkness/evil.

Almost done! We now have Ken and Miyako!

Ken and Miyako have had many ups and downs. many

Miyako calls Ken seems to compliment him on how he looks. But after it is revealed that Ken is the Digimon Kaiser, she doesn't fawn over him all the time. But she does call him cute even though he’s done bad things.

But she is very accepting of him once he starts changing his ways

Ken: *Bows *“I won’t make any excuses. I’m really sorry.”

*Group looks at one another*

Palmon: “By the way, who was that woman?”

Ken: “I don’t know either. All I know is that she can create Digimon from Dark Towers... And that they regain their old functions when she’s nearby.”

Mimi: “But, if you knew, why didn’t you tell us?”

Ken: “Well...”

Wormmon: “We thought we should take care of this by ourselves.”

Daisuke: “You don't have to be that way!”

Ken: “But... this is all my fault.”

Daisuke: “That's why you said you wouldn't join us?”

Ken: “Well... I'll be going.”

Daisuke: “Hey, Ichijouji!”

*Ken and Wormmon walks away, their D-Terminal alerts them of a message*

Miyako Narrating: "I'll be waiting for the day you join us. Thanks so much for today - Miyako"

She accepts his apology and encourages him to join the group, but when he's ready. I think that's a huge factor that separates Daisuke's relationship with Ken and Miyako's relationship with Ken, besides Daisuke and Ken being Jogress partners. She doesn't force him out of his comfort zone, but instead, she waits for him to be ready to join the 02 kids, which he eventually does. And while Ken doesn't comment, I do think he appreciated that message

And after Miyako learned about the Dark Ocean, she said she was able to understand Ken more, which I think is true

I'm not going to talk about the epilogue and their romantic relationship, only because there was so much time between the events of 02 and the epilogue.

Few! That's all! It was a long post. I wanted to write about Miyako’s relationship with the older Chosen Children, but this was way to long to do that! I also had more than 200 pictures that I didn’t use If I missed anything or messed up, please tell me!

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 2x09 Queen of Hearts

I love this episode!

I love wonderland. I’m so glad we got to explore it in ouatiw. I would have loved to have explored Tilly’s Wonderland too! It looked like it consisted of loads of mazes, which is what I’ve always associated Wonderland with.

I love team princess’ little adventure together. I’m gonna miss it!  

Woah, Hook took those guards out with his bare hook.

Wait. How does Hook know so much about Belle? He knows about her father and that Rumple took her but how? Maybe I’m forgetting something.

That Hook must be made of strong metal to break through those manacles.  

Ouch! Hook! It’s not nice to hit a woman! I’ve seen that this scene upsets a lot of people and I understand why. While heart ripping and stabbing with swords is much more violent getting hit round the face by someone stronger than you seems all too real.

Hooked Queen happened y’all, you can’t convince me otherwise.

Wow, Gold is just okey dokey with killing Emma & MM. And Regina is hesitant, which is reassuring!

Gold is so good at the manipulating game. And I love him for it xD.

Aww, Henry reading the Snowing Story to David like MM did for him and David.

Cool wand! I forget, is that the Black Fairy’s wand? If so, why did Rumple say she was dead?

Cora got what she wanted. She became Queen!

Didn’t see that coming, did ya Hook?

Damn, Captain of hearts’ chemistry is everything.

Man, I can see how genuinely hurt Cora is by the notion of Regina wanting her dead.

Aurora what the hell!

Oh yeah, Cora’s got her heart!

Don’t hurt Aurora!

Hook: “Perhaps you should have thought of that before you abandoned me on that beanstalk.” Emma: “You would have done the same.” Hook: “Actually, no.” That’s interesting. I wonder what would have happened if Emma didn’t abandon him. Would he have worked with them? Or would Cora have killed him for his betrayal? Or would he have played both sides or would he have gone back to Cora’s side?

Woah, did Gold and Regina take all the fairy diamonds?  

Oh snap, they did.

“And yes, she was beyond hope, beyond saving.” Season one feels!

Henry gets his hope from his Grandma! They are actually quite alike in that way when I think about it but he could have got it from Charming’s side to, though Charming has more of a tendency to go about things with blind faith. I guess that’s what makes Snow and Charming perfect for one another!

Oh my God, where was Cora with her lake restoring powers when Ruth needed it’s waters!

I wonder how Cora knows so much about the curse.

I don’t think Cora would ever kill Regina. Her legacy means to much to her. When she said, “And then I’ll rip her heart out,” I think she meant to control Regina. I could be wrong but she just seems so obsessed with her daughter.

If I lived in the EF and had the choice, despite there being evil sorcerers about who could rip out my heart and control or kill me, I’d still choose to keep my heart in my chest. I’d want to feel everything. I’d want to be able to love.

I forget how much Regina loves her mother, and honestly I get it. Sometimes mother’s can be awful and violent to you and yet you can still love them. It’s so unhealthy I know, but sometimes you just can’t stop yourself, especially when they have a loving side. It’s weird how that happens. And it explains why she took everything out on Snow. She couldn’t bring herself to truly hate her mother.

Cora be powerful as heck, protecting that whole section of the EF from the dark curse.  

Wait, squid ink could get them out of Rumple’s cell? I thought it just immobilised magic users.

Mulan’s, “No. I’m not leaving without you” to Aurora will be the death of me. Her face! She looks like she might cry at the idea! And then her promise to get Aurora’s heart back for her! Seriously, they are so cute!

Aww and MM and Aurora wishing each other good luck is the best! I love how motherly MM was to Aurora.

I don’t understand how Cora can be so obsessed with one daughter and not even spare a thought for the other just because of who their fathers were? Actually, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she had another kid with Rumple at some point who she discarded. Yes, I am still mad about it but I still love Cora!

So is Storybrooke like an altered copy of the EF? I’ve always thought of it as the same place brought from the EF but that can’t be true as both exist at the same time. Storybrooke has the T®oll bridge, the forest and the well that seems to contain the waters of Lake Nostos.

Mulan’s sword is so useful! They definitely need to make more swords that deflect magic! I wonder how she got it.

Lol. Emma trying to tackle Hook xD. So we got a CS sword fight, but now I need a Snowing one!

Aww. Snows insistence that Mulan goes to give Aurora’s heart back to her! She really grew to care for her!

Emma’s sword looks like Charming’s sword, but it can’t be, can it?

Cora and Hook are having way to much fun!

I can’t deny Emma and Hook’s sword fight is pretty cute.

Hook I don’t know about your innuendos but I’m gone come in ya window if you carry on like this, mr. flirty!

Punching Hook sure is is one way to get the compass!

Hey! Don’t hurt Ruby!

Listen to Henry!

I wonder what Regina’s reaction would have been if Cora did bring MM’s heart to her.  

Emma putting herself in the way of Cora and her mama!

Emma’s got magic!

Henry’s so wise. Y’all should listen to Henry.

The Charming family reunited!

Snowing true love’s kiss! My heart <3!! I love them so much!

Ah yes, Rumple was exactly where he needed to be when he was in that cell. Very clever Rumple. That’s where seeing the future comes in handy!

But Rumple didn’t create the curse, Emma.

You can’t tell me that the Sleeping Warrior scene where Mulan’s putting Aurora’s heart back in her chest wasn’t supposed to be romantic because it’s as romantic as hell! I’m gonna miss them so much!

Now kiss!  

And they ran off in the sunset together to find their other love Phillip and all three of them lived happily ever after together.

Oh yeah, Hook and Cora can’t go through because the wardrobe only allowed for two to go through. MM must have been curious about the fact that it allowed the two of them to go through.  

So can you direct a magic bean to open up a portal wherever you want?

Captain of Hearts be coming for your soul.

[themurphyzone]

Dooferella Ch 1

Summary: Heinz has to read to children at the local library as community service, but things go awry when Heinz uses a Fairy Tale-inator to spice up the story of Cinderella. Unfortunately, something malfunctions and Heinz is transported into a strange fairy tale world! Now Dooferella, he’s stuck with a long list of chores for his parents and goody two shoes brother until a summons from the kingdom’s headquarters arrives….

Ch 1: Once Upon a Time in the Danville Public Library

Musical cliptastic countdowns were not a viable way to knock out two hundred hours of community service. Monogram’s contract had been rewritten to include a Will Not Ever Co-Host with Heinz Doofenshmirtz clause, and Perry refused to cheat and add more hours onto the community service form, though he made a small concession and factored in the ten minutes of commercial breaks.

Heinz still had a grand total of 199 hours and 30 minutes of community service left.

Well, 198 hours and 30 minutes after this reading gig at the library.

Reading to children was something an upstanding citizen might do, but no evil scientist worth their salt would be doing something considered beneficial and good to society in such a public area.  

Heinz’s evil street cred was taking a nosedive, though he didn’t have much to begin with.

“CAN I PICK THE STORY, DAD?” Norm asked. “I’VE BEEN BRUSHING UP ON POPULAR CHILDREN’S BOOKS.”

“I’m not your dad,” Heinz snapped. “I really gotta fix whatever bug is causing you to say that. Besides, the story-picking privileges belong solely to the storyteller, which is me. Last I checked, the Mother Goose Corner isn’t a democracy. Not that it would matter, since kids can’t vote and stuff.”

Norm crashed through the library wall, leaving a giant gaping hole and massive amount of rubble where the entrance used to be. The head librarian made several furious shushing motions in Norm and Heinz’s direction, but didn’t look up from the thick tome she was reading.

“CAN WE READ THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD?” Norm asked as they headed to the Mother Goose Corner. “I THINK IT’S A VERY INSPIRING STORY ABOUT OVERCOMING HARDSHIP AND-“

“Last time I read you that story, you repeated ‘I think I can’ ad nauseam and prevented Perry the Platypus from hearing my spiel on the Banana Peel-inator!” Heinz retorted. “I’ll be picking the books from here, because chances are you’ll wind up stealing a catchphrase or mantra and I’ll be the one dealing with the copyright issues that come out of that…actually, making copyrights could make a good evil scheme one day. Doof-patented self-destruct buttons, bratwurst brands, and evil! I should definitely copyright evil. And suing and forcing people to shoulder their own attorney fees is also evil, so that’s a bonus! And with that kind of monopoly, I can take over and rule the ENTIRE! TRI! STATE! AREA!”

He cackled evilly, though the moment was rudely cut off when a group of middle-aged women shushed him. Heinz scowled. Their shushing was at a way higher decibel level than his cackling. At least his brand of evil laughter didn’t threaten to destroy people’s eardrums. Besides, the drummer from Love Handel was always rhythmically stamping books at the check-in and nobody complained about that.

The Mother Goose Corner was mercifully secluded from the rest of the library. A blue curtain decorated with waterfowl separated the small room from any prying eyes.

“Perry the Platypus would love this curtain. Remind me to ask someone where I can buy one of these things. Probably wrap it up and make it this year’s Christmas present. Alongside another vase. He liked the last one I sent him,” Heinz said.

“HI, MY NAME IS NORM. I LIKE SQUIRRELS AND EVERYTHING ELSE LITTLE BOYS ENJOY,” Norm greeted a young boy with a green baseball cap. The other kids quickly flocked to the edges of the mat to avoid getting crushed by Norm’s titanium posterior.

“I’m Balthazar Horowitz, but I’m trying to legally change it to Ballpit Kid!” the boy exclaimed.

“MY DAD IS TODAY’S STORYTELLER,” Norm declared. “I’M VERY PARTIAL TO THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD. HINT HINT.”

“Real subtle, Norm,” Heinz muttered. “And for the millionth time, I’m not your dad!”

Someone tugged on his lab coat, and Heinz glanced down. A little girl with puffy blonde pigtails stared back at him, rocking back and forth on her heels cutely. “Excuse me, but may I pick today’s story?” she giggled.

She was adorable, but it was the calculating sort of adorable.

When Vanessa was little, she pulled the innocent look if she wanted something. Heinz’s resolve crumbled every time.  

But since this girl was a total stranger to him, it was going to be way easier to resist.

“Nope, doesn’t matter how cute and innocent you make yourself,” Heinz said as he turned away from the girl and leafed through the stack of books by the storyteller’s chair. Thankfully, The Little Engine That Could wasn’t among their choices. “I already told Norm that I was picking today’s book and I’m not budging on the matter. Ugh, not that any of these options are any better. I don’t get how books on overeating caterpillars or uncreative ursine parents who can’t come up with better names for their kids than Brother and Sister can be engaging to kids nowadays.”

Heinz rejected five books before a tiny black shoe stomped on his hand. A pudgy hand grabbed the front of his turtleneck, and he found himself face to face with the cute little girl.

“Look, I’ll cut you some slack since you’re obviously new to the Mother Goose Corner,” the girl said casually. “But I’m going to warn you once and only once. This is my turf and I pick the stories. And don’t bother warning anyone else. The other kids won’t squeal on me. Nobody outside this room will ever believe you. Except for maybe Candace, but I have my own methods of discrediting her. Capiche?”

“Alright!” Heinz yelped, throwing up his hands in surrender. Pint-sized powerhouses were dangerous to push around, but at least Perry the Platypus was firmly on the good side. He was definitely not messing with a kid whose evil stare put the entirety of LOVEMUFFIN to shame. “You win! Just let a guy earn his community service hours in peace, kid!”

Satisfied, the girl shoved her preferred book into his face, then claimed a bean bag chair for herself. “Yay, Cinderella!” she exclaimed, as if she hadn’t just threatened him five seconds ago.

The other kids muttered among themselves, giving Suzy a wide berth as they settled on the far edge of the mat.

“Rule number one of the Mother Goose Corner,” Ballpit Kid murmured to Norm. “Little Suzy Johnson always gets her way.”

“WOW, DAD GOT FOILED AND THIS ISN’T EVEN PART OF AN EVIL SCHEME,” Norm replied.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s laugh at the soon-to-be dictator’s expense. Cause that’s gonna bode well for you in the future,” Heinz snapped as he sat down in the storyteller’s chair. “You like Cinderella, huh?”

In Heinz’s opinion, the book’s cover painted a really misleading picture of the protagonist. It contained the image of a smiling girl in a silvery ballgown, surrounded by smiling woodland critters with the Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming standing in the background.

The Drusselsteinian Cinderella was a lot bleaker, considering that the Fairy Godmother didn’t exist and Cinderella spent most of her time sobbing her eyes out over her mother’s grave. It wasn’t common knowledge that the Brothers Grimm version was adapted from the Drusselsteinian story, though they changed the ending so that the evil stepsisters were punished. The original ending stated that the evil stepsisters poisoned Cinderella at the banquet after her wedding to the prince.

In hindsight, Drusselstein fairy tales were usually designed to crush children’s dreams and traumatize them for life.

But these kids didn’t need to know that.

“She always picks Cinderella,” another girl mumbled. “We all know how it goes.”

By the time Heinz had finished the obligatory once upon a time introduction, most of the kids’ eyes glazed over. Only Norm and Suzy were paying attention.

Well, it was hard to tell if Norm was paying attention since he didn’t have facial expressions.

“Cinderella washed the dishes, fed the animals, tended the garden, swept the floor, dusted the furniture, and cooked for her stepmother and stepsisters every day and…well, you get the picture,” Heinz yawned and flipped the page, deciding to skip over the full list of chores since he was pretty sure the kids had a good understanding of Cinderella’s daily chores. “Honestly, her family isn’t even the good type of evil. They’re just jerks.”

While Heinz didn’t know of any versions of Cinderella where she was forced to pull lawn gnome duty on cold nights with only a balloon to keep her company, he didn’t think it was out of character for the stepmom.

“HER EVIL STEPSISTERS NAMED HER CINDERELLA BECAUSE SHE WAS FORCED TO SLEEP IN A FIREPLACE AMONG THE CINDERS,” Norm supplied.

“No, she doesn’t. She sleeps in a tower,” Ballpit Kid said.

“That’s too mean!” a girl wailed. “How come we call her Cinderella if it’s insulting?”

“COULD WE GET BACK TO THE STORY ALREADY?” Suzy roared, shutting up the other kids. She flopped against her beanbag chair. “Keep going, please!”  

But Heinz was already getting an idea. He put the book down and brought out the Parked Car Away-inator he kept in his lab coat. Since he’d finished this device yesterday, he hadn’t encountered a parking problem where it was needed yet. But with a few minor alterations, he could easily tweak it into something that would be more useful for this situation.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you might be onto something, Norm,” Heinz said as he switched the positions of a blue and orange wire.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I SAID, BUT I’M GLAD I HELPED. IF I HAD A CARDIOVASCULAR AND INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM, I WOULD BE BLUSHING.”

“We just need a more interesting medium. Cause happily ever afters get cliché once you’ve heard them a million times before. Granted, it usually ends up a happy ending for Cinderella, except in Drusselstein, but that place doesn’t lend itself well to happy endings anyway. Ah, there we go. Voila!” Heinz triumphantly held up his modified inator. “Behold! The Fairy Tale-inator!”

The Fairy Tale-inator was slightly slimmer than the Parked Car Away-inator and much easier to maneuver.

“This’ll give us a more engaging and realistic experience and make it way more interesting for all parties involved!” Heinz declared. “Besides, I forgot to bring a water bottle. I don’t want my throat to get dry while reading. I gotta keep it in good condition for my evil monologues.”

He blasted the book with his inator. A glowing blue residue clung to the cover as the beam died away. Heinz set the Fairy Tale-inator on his chair and picked up the book.

“Is that safe?” Ballpit Kid asked. “Television taught me that unnatural glows around objects aren’t a good sign.”

“Don’t worry. It shouldn’t be radioactive. You guys ready for an immersive experience?” Heinz grinned as he flipped to the first page. But instead of the moving illustrations he expected, he came face to face with a swirling blue portal. “You know, I don’t remember any portals in Cinderella. Kind of anachronistic for whatever ambiguous time period this story’s supposed to be in.”

A wind picked up from somewhere, and Heinz tucked his arms closer to his body as he shivered from the sudden chill.

“Hey, did it just get drafty in here or something? Does anyone know where the air conditioning unit is?” Heinz asked.

The wind grew stronger, sucking Heinz’s right arm into the portal like a vacuum. Heinz grabbed the edge of the book with his free hand and tried to yank it off, but only succeeded in getting his other arm stuck in the portal as well.

“Yeah, this looks and feels just about the same amount of awkward,” Heinz muttered, trying not to gasp as some unseen force tugged on his wrists insistently. “Norm, can you call Perry the Platypus for me and let him know I might be running late for the scheme tonight? Oh, and tell him there’s leftover shrimp pasta in the fridge if he’s feeling hungry. Thwarting’s not fun on an empty stomach.”

“SHOULD I SEND A DISTRESS ALERT TOO?”

Heinz scowled. “What do you mean distressed? I’m not distressed! Do I look like a damsel to you?”

Figures that the portal decided to suck Heinz’s legs and torso as well. Heinz had to crane his neck all the way back to see Norm.

His neck was gonna be really sore tomorrow.  

“Alright, so I’m a little distressed,” Heinz admitted. “Looks like storytime’s over now. Man, they better let this count as part of my community service.”

Then the world spun around him in a dizzying swirl of blue and green. Heinz screamed as the wind battered him around like a rag doll, pushing him in every direction imaginable. His surroundings blurred together, becoming an indistinguishable mess of colors with no shape or form

He was pushed, pulled, tugged, yanked, and all the other synonyms that Heinz couldn’t think of because his brain wasn’t registering things properly. The sensations couldn’t have lasted more than a minute, but it felt like an eternity.

To add insult to injury, the universe decided to plop him face-first into the leftover dust and ashes of a poorly maintained fireplace.

[msbeccieboo]

Arrow 7x17 brain dump

So, this week’s episode was ok. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. I had expected to not really be fussed by this week’s offering and as such wasn’t deeply disappointed. I really missed my Olicity babies in this episode though. The upside of the episode being a bit meh, is that this review didn’t take me 57 years to write, which whilst sick, was a bonus haha!!

Olicity

Olicity weren’t the focus of this episode, but we still managed to get some cute little moments and touches thrown in there. Felicity’s praise when Oliver came back to the lair looking like a prize fighter, was too cute! I love how smitten she still is with him even after all this time, and how bashful and blushing and gorgeous he gets in response is just 😍😍

Source: olicitygifs

We also got a lovely little comfort scene once Oliver realised that Emiko was in fact evil (shocker, I know). Felicity cupping Oliver’s face whilst stroking her baby belly was so damned adorable!!

Source: oliverxfelicity

Continued under the cut

Oliver

Oliver being so open and trusting and just happy to be training with Emiko was so lovely and so heartbreaking because you just knew she would let him down. He mentioned Thea (yay!) and said that she’d always wanted a sister 😭😭 Why does this leave me feeling like Thea is gonna come back and try and kill Emiko??

I also loved seeing Oliver telling people the truth straight up, when asked how he knew about Emiko, listening to Dig’s advice (if not his wife’s) and just being an all-round hopeful bean!!  The growth he shows is amazing, it’s just a shame that his hope and faith in his sister didn’t pay off. He so badly wants to be in her life, to help her be good, and in turn redeem the Queen family name in her eyes. His line “If I abandon her now I’m no better than my father” just made me so sad. His parents were so important to him he wants them redeemed, so in turn it can redeem him too (not that he needs it). I don’t think he does, or will, find out just how much of a shitty Dad Robert was to Emiko, which is a shame, as I think it would give him some peace that some things just cannot be redeemed and that it isn’t a reflection on him. He had such faith in Emiko being good, he still didn’t think of her at first when he found the signal jammer in the lair. Even now I think he will continue trying to bring her back, despite Dig’s advice and reminder that sometimes evil siblings are just evil siblings 😂 I hope this isn’t foreshadowing Oliver having to kill Emiko like Dig did with Andy?

Bonus: Oliver shooting all the drones was so damn hot 🔥🔥

Source: legends-of-today

Felicity

Our girl didn’t have a huge role this week, but what we did get was fabulous! Felicity’s little pep talk to herself at the beginning of the episode about having it all was too adorable for words! 

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

We got to see the beginnings of Smoak Technologies, along with the first name drop of the company I think? I love that she brought Alena in to be CTO, she gets to have a friend in her company that won’t try and mansplain everything to her at last!! Alena’s reaction is all of us!

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

It was so nice to see her back as Overwatch on the comms, and just generally people being back in the lair! We even got a couple of OTA moments! I loved her “computers will never replace people” line too!

Bonus: Felicity being cute in the lair gives me life!

Source: ebett

Emiko/Robert

This was really Emiko’s villain origin episode. We saw her as a child being evicted and abandoned by Robert, who yet again, proves to be the scum of the earth, and the true villain of the entire series. Upon overhearing that Robert was kicking them out of their home and would no longer support them, the only words of comfort he had for her were “Life isn’t fair, we don’t always get what we want”…Robert Queen was a prize dick!! His reasons for abandoning his family? Moira will take his company, money and kids if he doesn’t. GTFO you philandering old bastard, you made your bed…lie in it! Ugh he was the actual worst!

So as a penniless and possibly homeless 11 year old in Starling City, Emiko naturally turns to a life of crime in order to support her and her mother when she meets Dante. (For the record, I found the younger Emiko far more compelling to watch than the adult version 😬) Dante evidently enrols her into the Ninth Circle, who present her with a gift, as her final induction…the plans to blow up the Queen’s Gambit. She goes back to Robert with a business plan for a new subsidiary of Queen Consolidated, a chance to prove herself to her family and earn some money, and despite the solid plan, Robert wants nothing to do with it, telling her that QC is Oliver’s legacy and that she needs to remain a secret, before leaving her again for his trip on the Gambit. Crestfallen and angry, she doesn’t show him the plans and lets him leave to meet his fate.  The horrible irony here is that Emiko would have failed the Ninth Circle’s ‘test’ and saved Robert/Oliver/Sara, had Robert not been such a massive douchenozzle.

I like that they managed to link everything with Emiko back to the Gambit, and they did so without retconning. Malcolm still had the yacht sabotaged, but it looks like he did it via the Ninth Circle.  The big ‘twist’ we see at the end of the episode is that Emiko is now, in fact, the leader of the Ninth Circle, not Dante, and as such appears to be the season’s Big Bad. Part of me is like yaaaasss female Big Bad woohoo! But then the way it has come about has been lacklustre to say the least, and we weren’t given the time (or the writing) to get to like Emiko in order to actually care or feel the impact or shock value of her turning on Oliver. Instead we’re just all left feeling a bit meh.

Emiko still seems to have a soft spot for Rene (someone has to I guess) and with both of them being Oliver/Team Arrow traitors, they make a good fit 😜  We also found out that she still hasn’t found her mother’s killer. Maybe if Oliver could help her solve her mother’s murder and Rene keeps making eyes at her she will come back round to the good side??? Doubtful haha, but just a suggestion. The season’s theme is redemption after all!

Black Siren

Whilst Oliver is at home, preparing dinner for wifey (adorbs), he gets a visit from an injured Laurel, looking for Felicity. Instead, she tells Oliver about Emiko killing Diaz, and not being as squeaky clean as he thinks. This, as to be expected, leads to a confrontation between the two, which is interesting, because we all know that Laurel is telling the truth. When accused of having a blind spot for his family, Oliver hits back with “it’s called loyalty, I know that’s a concept you don’t totally understand”. Burn. Their scenes are so much better when they are open in their dislike for each other! Much as I have enjoyed Felicity and BS friendship this season, the petty bitch in me still laughs at Oliver’s clear disdain for her…he didn’t even help her with her wound, just gave her some supplies and left her to it 😂😂 He ‘helps’ her here purely for Felicity’s sake, which is lovely though!

Next, Dinah gets on her arse about doing things by the book, which ordinarily I would agree with, but Dinah is a vigilante herself! And although they are now sanctioned by the SCPD, Dinah has herself coerced witnesses, stolen evidence and violated the law in about a dozen other ways in her pursuit of justice.  This is the premise of the show people! The hypocrisy is real! BS is just a little further behind on her journey than Dinah. Dinah later accuses BS of killing the gangster guy (I wasn’t really paying attention to who he was), bringing up her killing Vinnie, which immediately gets her back up. BS says that she has earned the benefit of the doubt, which I agree with to an extent. Dinah then effectively washes her hands of her.

I can empathise with BS for trying to do the right thing, and not being believed/trusted by anyone. I think it was intentional to not see a scene with her and Felicity this week, so as to keep her feeling isolated, whereas Felicity would have believed/reassured her. Felicity even defended her in the bunker to Rene. The episode finishes up with Emiko ‘outing’ her to the press, and ‘setting her free’ to be evil again. This will all set up her apparent return to her evil roots next week. I think she will ultimately end up being redeemed. We know (I think we know?) she is leaving for good after next week’s episode, so hopefully she will go back off to Earth 2 or something like that to become Black Canary there, and she can take all her little comic book friends with her, and everyone will be happy!

Other stuff

The drone attack in this episode was a practice run. Is this sarin gas attack going to be the thing that brings down the city, and causes it to turn on Oliver and the team?

Was the episode synopsis written whilst on crack?? I know we all laughed a little bit when we first saw how it was worded, but after watching the episode it was literally nothing like what actually happened??

Why on earth did they bring in Highlander, just for him to end up being Emiko’s lackey?? It’s like Cayden James/Michael Emerson being usurped by Diaz all over again!

Source: arrowdaily

I miss the flash-forwards!! I need me some Mia/William/Felicity goodness now please!!!

Anyway thank you as always to the gifmakers. Fabulous work as ever! 💗

[hoes4bangtan]

My Mate ~ A Forbidden Love Story

Pairing~ Taehyung X Reader 

Genre~ Dark Werewolf Prince Tae ;) X Human Mate

Warning~⚠️ (Lots of smut will come later on) dirty talk, gore, blood, Dom!Taehyung, anger issues, mild angst, fluff (I guess)...

Summary~The Prince of Alka was made to believe he did not have a mate and if he did he was forbidden by the council and his father the king to even touch her. But what happens when his wolf screams mate at his fathers human mixed werewolf ball. A ball where Y/N was not supposed to attend because it would later determine her fate with a “heartless” monster.

Taehyung -Point of View-

I stared at her from my seat on the luxurious wine room above the darkly golden colored ballroom. Not many people were up here, just my brothers and some girls. Due to father warning us to stay away and not cause any trouble to our precious guests.

 What a disgrace that would be.

“You guys aren’t fit to interact with the villagers yet” his words still rang freshly in my mind and I will have to pester him later to decipher what he meant by “we aren’t fit to interact with the humans”. In my mind, I think I’m quite a gentleman when it comes to  those warm blooded creatures.

A glass of whisky is suffering under the tight grip of my right hand and the other is sustaining some girl on my lap. Who keeps on grinding and wiggling her ass on me as she whispers sinful things in my ear. For some reason I wasn’t listening to her or to any of the other girls who have come to me today for pleasure. I had to admit that is quite weird of me, I would've been in the guest room fucking girl after girl right now but for some reason: I just wasn’t. 

Because of her. 

“Mate,” my wolf growled again for the fifth time but it couldn’t be. No, I wasn’t capable of having one.

It’s forbidden, they said. 

I could feel the confused gazes of my brothers as they noticed the weird vibe surrounding me. I had not touched my bait and my mind was lost, I ignored their stares and was frozen in place  somehow mesmerized by her. The girl who caught my eye since I sensed her coming to our kingdom. 

She was beautiful like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Her face glowed with the emotion I wish I had: happiness. She wore a white gala dress that fit her curves deliciously, her lips where red and plump so delicate yet so sinful. 

She looked pure and innocent, like an angel who couldn’t be touched. I felt almost guilty looking at her, knowing I had to stop myself before I hurt her. But I couldn’t control myself: I never can.

I wanted her and for some reason a deep hunger ignited through my body like a never ending fire. My lips feel dry, I gulped down my whisky and slammed it down on the table as small beads of sweat formed around my neck. I let out a moan as I sniffed her intoxicating scent, making my dick twitch. 

“Why don’t we go to your room, Tae?” The girl whispered seductively as she kissed my neck and wiggled some more, making me growl in annoyance because my desire wasn't for her. I pushed her off my lap and onto the empty seat next to me, making her cough in disbelief. 

“Get out,” I said coldly, not daring to look at her knowing she would just start to cry like the rest because for some reason they just don't like rejection. She whined and groaned until I finally heard her loud heels stomp out of the room in anger. 

I took a deep breath as I gulped another shot of whiskey and set it down on the mahogany table in between the couch. I got up and in an instant was hovering over the balcony to get a better view of her. I almost smiled when I saw her laughing with an elderly woman. 

She stopped laughing all of a sudden and started to look around. I knew she felt someone staring at her, the woman talking to her stopped as well and asked her what was wrong but she didn’t respond. 

She kept searching until our eyes met. My heart jumped as those beautiful brown orbs stared directly at me and she flashed me a soft smile making me grip onto the railing harshly. My wolf whined and thrashed around like the psychotic monster he is. 

What the fuck was happening to me she is not supposed to be smiling. Doesn’t she know who I am? I am Taehyung, the Dark Prince of Alka. 

Our eyes lingered for a while until I saw the fear in her eyes take over. Then, her smile fell and then her gaze, making me frown. I looked over at the woman next to her, watching as she whispered something into her ear and grabbed onto her arm, pulling her away into the crowd until she disappeared behind colorful dresses and expensive suits. 

“Fuck” I whispered as anger started to arise through my veins once again. The thought of hurting the woman played in my mind but I couldn’t kill her. “But she scared away what’s ours” my wolf whined making me look back at the crowd of people dancing and drinking but I couldn’t find the woman.  

I shook my head and moved to sit back down on the soft plush seats soon thinking about what was going on with me. I never felt this way before, I think I may have a fever. I rubbed my forehead feeling it was hotter than its usual temperature. I spotted her again next to a different woman now, a younger girl. The young girl spoke to her with fearful eyes but I couldn’t see her face anymore as her back was turned to me. 

“Can I ask you a question, my dear brother” I called upon Yoongi who was talking on the phone over in the dark corner of the room, never taking my eyes off her. Once he didn’t respond, I turned to him and watched as he put up a finger signalizing for me to wait, in which I nodded. I couldn’t contain myself as my wolf kept whining and my legs started to fidget, I almost fooled myself to believe I was nervous.

Monsters don’t get nervous

I looked over at Hoseok, Jimin and Namjoon, who were all at the built in bar eating off some girls face. Jungkook was sniffing some cute girl’s neck, holding back his urge to do anything for father’s sake, and Jin was on the path to commit a crime of passion. 

How lovely.

“Tae, what do you want?” Yoongi said as he now stood in front of me, his dark persona beckoning over me. His eyes seemed emotionless and cold as he shook his head at Jin and Jungkook.

“ I have a question about someone” I said, watching as he averted his attention back to me and gave me that same confused glare from earlier. His glare soon turned into a warning that didn’t seem too convincing because he kept scratching his head and looking over at Jin. 

“No, Tae, you heard father’s orders,” Yoongi said, crossing his arms over his chest confidently but I could smell his unease. Almost as if he knew what I was going to ask.I stood up from my seat and breathed out heavily, moving over to the railing of the balcony now leaning coolly against it. “Since when do I follow orders… brother” I said lowly, shifting my gaze to him with an evil smirk displayed on my lips as he gave me a cold glare. 

“Since father tells you everything and you probably know everyone, I wanted to ask if you know a girl” I said my throat already starting to itch with thirst from the thought of her warm sweet blood running down my throat or something else I can't wait to taste.

“Who”He said as he scanned the crowd until he stopped somewhere and his eyes flashed with something I couldn’t read because once I went to follow his gaze he broke it and looked down at his grey expensive clad shoes.

“Her” I said pointing my finger over at her small frame, her back was still facing me which made me frown but it soon disappeared when I saw Yoongi follow my finger and freeze in his place.

“Well that is Y/N/L, she’s the daughter of fathers right hand” Yoongi said with a nervous tone making me watch him suspiciously and I knew he was hiding something. “Father never told us Mr.Lun had a daughter and why is that”I said looking at him suspiciously as he avoided eye contact knowing I was capable of making him spill the beans with one look.

“Don’t you dare lie to me brother” I mind linked him making him bite his lip harshly and look back at Jin who seemed too busy to see him begging for help

“I know what you are feeling is strange right now but I can’t tell you” Yoongi said his voice seemed disoriented making me send him a glare as my wolf growled loudly. “Tell us now brother you know how I turn when I’m angry” I said through gritted teeth as my fists turned white from their tight grip on the railing 

“Tae-“Yoongi started to say but I cut him off with the raise of my hand, I closed my eyes and breathed in and out like mother taught me. “Yoongi now please” I said in a warning tone and whimpered as a strange hotness creeped in and out of my skin.

“She’s your mate but you can’t get close to her, it’s forbidden and you know that... Tae you are a monster the worst out off all of us and you know it goes against the council. You will hurt her when you turn into that morbid thing... she’s too innocent and pure for you. Her father and the council tried to hide her away and I don’t know why he brought her here if he knew this already”Yoongi said now looking up at me with a sense of pity and confusion also trying to figure out what was happening but I was frozen.

My mind whirled with confused thoughts and I couldn’t believe what I was just hearing— It couldn’t be. “How” was all I could muster out,  my voice scratchy and low as I looked over at her frame and the fire seemed to ignite.

This doesn’t make sense, I could kill her that’s why it was forbidden for me to even have a mate. Since I was born I was told and set to believe that she never existed so why now, I was fine and I shouldn’t be feeling this way for no one.

“Everyone has a mate Tae, please don’t do whatever you are thinking on doing, you can’t get close to her”he said slowly and carefully as if he wanted to drill the fact that I had a mate but couldn’t touch her, which only made my anger worse and my wolf hungrier with thirst for not only her but blood.

I needed to kill someone to get rid of all this anger but I’m going to get her first, no one is going to keep me away from my mate, that I finally found. My woman who was destined to be with me forever, the one who will love me for who I am and not the monster everyone sees. The one who will bear my children.

No one will stop me.

Not the council, not my brothers, not even father. If they want to stop me from getting what’s mine they’ll have to get through me and I know they won’t even dare.

Everyone is afraid of me.

I gave Yoongi one more look and smirked as I stared at her again and growled with want. “Tae please you can’t drag her into our mess she’s an innocent human-“ Yoongi yelled but I ignored him as the rest of my brothers stopped doing what they where doing and gave me a warning glare but before they could even say anything. I was out of the room and down the grand staircase.

I set my eyes on her and nothing else.

 I wasn’t even halfway down when someone yelled “My prince” and everyone turned around but she didn’t which made my wolf whimper. For every step I took the music seemed to get more and more dramatic making me shoot a look at the violinist who froze along with the rest of the musicians on the stage.

I made it down the stairs, some people whispering and watching my every move as they bowed down to me but stood far away as if I was some monster coming to eat them but I just smiled evilly because that’s exactly what I could do but not now.

I ignored the woman who tried to talk to me as they extended their arms out to stop me and look at them even for a useless minute but they weren’t who I wanted. looked up at the balcony seeing all my brothers gathered by the railing looking down at me with a look of curiosity and anger making me shoot them a quick wink.

I could feel father trying to mind link me but I just ignored him and kept walking until I saw her small frame dressed in white. I grabbed ahold of her arm feeling a sense of power burst through me which made me feel dizzy for a second as I turned her around.

Y/N -Point of View-

“He’s coming, where’s father-” my sister said but she didn’t finish her sentence when I suddenly felt a cold hand wrap around my arm and I swear I felt an electric current flow into my body.

I looked around the room ignoring the dirty looks I was suddenly getting from some women and the fearful gazes of man and the elders, but I couldn’t find my father no where in the room.

My heart fell as the person I learned so much about in such a short period of time. Since the moment I smiled up at him and was scolded for doing so turned me around to face him.

I gasped as my breath got stuck in my throat and the silence of the room ate me alive but he was so beautiful. He seemed soft and tender but dark as a poisonous snake. His lips were a soft pink and his eyes dark with yellow glowing specks, he looked too perfect to be real.

“Dance with me”he whispered, his eyes boring into mine and I couldn’t seem to break the stare as his voice made me shiver like a cold winter breeze.I shook my head no, but he gave me an evil smirk making me whimper as his hand  moved up to my waist and pulled me to him. “Are you scared of me” he said in a low tone making me start to shake in his hold as I tired to break eye contact but I couldn’t look anywhere else but at him, it almost felt as if  he was controlling me.

“If you don’t speak to me, we will stand here all night”he said leaning down to my neck and inhaling deeply making me let out a whimper. “T-theres no mus-music”I stuttered wanting to scold myself for saying that. “I know baby but we don’t need music to dance,  just follow me” he said softly and with that he pulled me to the center of the ballroom that was already empty with a crowd forming around us. He kissed my cheek softly making me widen my eyes as I started to think if he was really as horrible as they made him sound.

“Your so beautiful”he said softly as he guided me back and forth in a soft slow rhythm that almost would’ve seemed romantic if I wasn’t shaking. “I-I’ve ne-never seen you before”I stuttered which made his frown deepen as he let go of my waist and twirled me around for a mere minute and pulled me back into his hard chest. His hand snaked back onto its place on my waist as the other gripped onto my hand tightly.

My chest heaved up and down as I gasped along with everyone else around me. “Well, let's start off by saying- I’m the most dangerous person in the world, and may I ask how don’t you know about me”he said with a raised eyebrow as he pulled me even closer to his chest.

“No-no I’ve never heard of you until today this is my first time here, Papa doesn’t really allow me out much”I said with a nervous tone knowing father will be mad at me for getting close to him or even talking to a man.

“Why”he said as if he was interrogating me but his face was plain and cold as stone, you couldn’t read him. “He’s protecting me”I said my voice escaping below a whisper but loud enough because he heard what I said due to the smirk growing on his lips. 

“From what”he said as he kept guiding me back and forth in circles across the marbled floor of the ballroom. “The bad people”I said breaking my gaze and looking down at the floor as a weird feeling watched over me after finally breaking eye contact.

“Oh so do you know who I am” he said with amusement in his voice as he moved down to my neck his cold lips grazing softly against the little hairs that now stood up.

“Use your words baby”he said making me shiver as I closed my eyes tightly and brought my hands up to put them on his shoulders feeling as he tensed up from my touch. “Your one of the bad people that is all I was told” I said as he hummed and brought his lips away from my neck and moved down to my chin making me suck in a breath. I tried pushing him away but he didn’t move an inch.

“Hmm, they are right”he said lowly as he moved his rough hands to my cheek caressing it softly as my trembling became worse. “Can-can you please stop, I don’t want to dance with you anymore”I stuttered as I tried to get away from his tight hold just to receive a cold glare.

“Why, aren’t we having fun”he said in a dark tone making me whimper as he tightened his grip around my waist. “Please let me go” I said my eyes getting watery as I tried hitting his chest harder this time but nothing.

“No”he growled making me stop in my movements as he moved his hand away from my cheek and stared at me his eyes entirely black now. “Excuse me” I said in disbelief making him smile evilly as he shook his head excruciating slow at me.

“Your mine”he said lowly making me widen my eyes as all the blood soon drained from my body and I got lightheaded. “N-no, i’m not” I said but he only nodded making me look around for my sister who was hugging my mother but they had their backs turned to me.

Why. 

This can’t be true, “but it is” something told me.

“Let’s go”he said and pulled me away from the center of the ballroom and toward the large crowd that opened up a path for him. “Mama help, please call Papa”I cried out as tears formed in my vision and I tried to to get out of his tight grip on my arm to reach for my mother who didn't budge.

“We are going to my house”he said as he pulled me behind him roughly as I tried to wiggle out of his hold again but he was too strong.“No-no”I said but groaned when he stopped, making me bump into his back with a thud.

He turned around and wrapped both his arms around my waist and pulled me toward him as he hid me in his chest, he secured his arms tightly around me in a protecting manner as a tall shadow descended over us.

I tired hitting his chest and kick him but he was holding me too tightly making me whimper as more tears fell down my cheeks.“Son where do you think you are going with her, you have rudely disrupted our guests with this scene”A man I couldn’t see the face of due to him covering me spoke coldly. “We are  leaving” he said letting out an animalistic growl which made me cry even harder. 

“Alone right, because you are not taking her”the man shouted powerfully but he just laughed as if this was funny to him. “Father, should I say what I’ll say next in your ear or for everyone to hear and tremble in fear”he said with a chuckle at the end of his sentence.

“Son”the man who I figured was his father said in a warning tone that made me afraid to hear what he’ll say next but I had a feeling I already knew. “Y/N is my mate and thanks for keeping it a secret from me because now you can't take her from me”he growled loudly his chest rising harshly as everything around us turned unbelievably quiet and with that he unwrapped his arms from around my body and picked me up bridal style.

I was in a confused daze with what was happening as I screamed with all my might, hitting his chest as I tried to look for father for that he could help me. I saw him running from behind the crowd towards me, but he suddenly stopped and fell to his knees making my heart fall. My world soon became blurry as he ran at such a fast speed, everything was turning into mush and then darkness captivated me.

[idesignedthefjords]

RBB fic: Cupcakes and Magical Mishaps

For @rumbellebigbang . My beta is @avatoh. Thank you for putting up with my shit.

@galactic-pirates made the artwork and can be found here . Thank you so much for making it to ensure I still had art to go with my fic :) It’s really cute and it goes so well with the fic!

Summary:  Belle's new baking hobby is halted when she runs out of a special ingredient and accidentally doses her sweets with a potion that the two of them end up ingesting.

AO3link

Rumplestiltskin looked outside the window of his tower and saw the Evil Queen riding away in her carriage. He hoped that she was ready to cast the Dark Curse soon, because he was starting to lose his temper with her.

It was all so much easier to get her to do what he wanted when she wasn’t the Evil Queen and just a girl trying to get rid of her mother, Cora. Oh well, he had only himself to blame for that, he thought.

The Evil Queen had learned well from him and became very skilled in finding someone’s weak point, a skill he possessed himself and she now knew his weak point was Belle. It was obvious to her and now becoming more obvious to him. Before her, The Dark Castle used to be Dark indeed. The curtains were always shut, and the smell of his magic was mixed with a musty and old smell. But with Belle’s arrival, there was a new smell in the castle. Hers, of course, she smelled sweet with a hint of roses. But also with Belle, there came the smell of fresh food being made. It was a hobby that surprised the both of them but certainly kept her busy. At first, it was mostly the scent of burned food, but lately the castle filled with the smell of sugar, cinnamon, fruit, and other delicious treats.

He sighed. He supposed the Evil Queen’s observation was right. But still, he would never admit to the fact that he was getting soft and he was starting to have a thing for his maid. Yes, he was still The Dark One, and her master, but part of him was also wishing that he was her lover as well. So instead of admitting to his feelings like a normal person, the situation had gotten to the point where Rumplestiltskin had to put an enchantment over the castle, to stop it from smelling so delicious and non-threatening. It was difficult to instill fear in the unfortunate souls looking for a deal when the castle smelled of freshly baked apple pie.

A few months ago, Belle would have blown up the kitchen if she ever attempted to bake something. When she first had attempted to bake simple shortbread biscuits, the kitchen filled up with smoke. She was close to tears as she took the cookies out of the oven, looking at the sweets that only resembled burnt sticks of wood when she was done with them.

Of course, Rumpelstiltskin had appeared in the kitchen; “Are you trying to set fire to my castle so you could kill the monster? Or are you creating a literal smokescreen so you can escape unseen? You promised forever, Dearie! ” He waved his hand and the smoke she had created from her baking disappeared.

Belle didn’t look at him. She refused to let him see her cry. “I know I promised forever! I was just trying to bake you some shortbread,” she cried out in frustration.

Rumpelstiltskin walked over to the oven and picked up one of the charred remains between his claws. “Ah I see, and are these the biscuits you wanted to make, or is this the wood you used to fire up the oven? I thought you lived here long enough to know you’re supposed to-” he stopped in the middle of his sentence. He was always mocking her cooking, but he decided she had enough for today. She was really trying her best to please him. A tear trailed on her cheek. He threw the biscuit (or what was left of it) back in the oven and walked over to her. He lifted her chin with his hand. “Belle, it was just a quip. I wasn’t serious. I know you don’t want to kill me. For some reason you are the only one who doesn’t want to kill this old monster, you strange girl.” He wiped the tear from her cheek. “Listen, if you really want to get better at cooking and baking, I can fill a section of the library with recipe books?”

Using books as a peace offering was always a good way to say sorry without actually having to say sorry and getting her to smile. He really loved her smiles.

“You would do that? Oh ,Rumple, I would love that!” Belle clapped her hands together in glee.

He waved his hand and Belle could feel the tingle of magic in the air. “There. Some cookbooks. But you know, you do have to follow the recipes. Cooking, and especially baking, is like making a potion. You have to measure the ingredients precisely, or the results can be disastrous,” Rumplestiltskin warned, vaguely gesturing towards the burned biscuits in the oven.

Belle ran up to him and hugged him “Thank you so much! I promise I will follow the recipes! You will be getting better food from now on!” She quickly let go of him when she noticed he was just standing there with his arms hanging besides his body. “Though… I think I will clean this mess up before l head to the library,” she stuttered.

“Yes... yes... that would be best. And, ehm,” he cleared his throat. “I will summon some food from the village for dinner. You’re a fast reader, but I don’t think we’ll be having a seven course dinner this evening yet,” Rumpelstiltskin replied. He looked like he didn’t know what to do for a moment and then he poofed away without the usual flourish of his hands.

Belle just smiled to herself and started cleaning the burned mess. She didn’t really know why, but she wanted to impress Rumpelstiltskin. Well, not just impress him, because he seemed impressed enough when she laughed at his jokes instead of running away crying. But she wanted to make him happy the way he made her happy. Because strangely enough, she was happy in the Dark Castle. Rumplestiltskin treated her with respect, unlike her former betrothed Gaston. He didn’t care for her, didn’t want to really know her like he did. Rumpelstiltskin was different, she could talk to him for hours about her favorite book and he would still be interested in what she had to say. She wanted to make Rumplestiltskin happy, and please him. Her cheeks burned when she thought of the other meaning of pleasing a man. She quickly opened some windows to let in some cool air. Not just so she could get rid of the burning smell in the kitchen, but to also to clear her head of any thoughts she had of pleasing Rumpelstiltskin.  

It took Belle about 2 weeks to get through all the new cookbooks in her library. Now that she had actual recipes, she felt like making something edible would be an achievable goal. She was feeling more and more confident and during the weeks following and made quite a bit of progress. Rumpelstiltskin still sometimes teased her about her cooking skills, but it seemed like he was getting more and more impressed with her dishes as time went on. At least, that is what she assumed, seeing as he was too busy stuffing his face to make any comments. One of his favourites seemed to be the meat pie, so she made sure to make one at least 3 times a week, each time with a different meat. And of course, he had a sweet tooth as well so she made sure he had dessert every evening.

Rumpelstiltskin was kind enough to bring her ingredients from all over the realms, and new cookbooks with recipes on how to use them. She had made vanilla custard when he brought vanilla pods back from his travels to Agrabah, moon cakes filled with red bean paste from The Empire, lemon cake with poppy seeds from Oz (although he always seemed angry when he returned from that place), and he gave her a rose garden so she could make her own rose water. He claimed he just liked the smell of roses, and the taste of rosewater in her sweets.

Of course, that was his excuse, but Belle suspected he gave her the rose garden because they happened to be Belle’s favorite flower and he remembered her telling him this when she read a book about herbology. And maybe he remembered this fact about her because he liked her, she hoped. She liked him too. As a friend at first, but as time passed she got more feelings for him. She would often feel butterflies when he did something that would be mundane to others. The concentration on his face when he was spinning, the way he walked, the way he would look at her when she spoke about a story she had read in a book.

Or like the way he ate her food.

Oh yes, she really enjoyed watching him eat her food. The noises he made while eating sounded to her like a kitten eating. She thought Rumpelstiltskin had the cutest reaction to her serving dessert. He would do this wiggle in his chair and his eyes would go bigger. People always thought she was a strange girl, and she wondered just how strange she really was if she thought the feared Dark One was cute or comparing the sounds he made to a baby animal. It wasn’t just that he sounded cute, but the way he formed his mouth around the food, the way his tongue would slide over his lips to get every taste of the food she made, and she felt pride at that.

She wondered how his mouth would form over her, but then she quickly shook her head and focus on her own plate. She didn’t want to think about him like that too much. “It’s probably because we’re the only ones in this castle. It’s just him and me, forever. That would make anyone lonely and hungry for human contact,” she thought to herself. And yes, she really thought of him as human. She was convinced he was a man, not a monster as he called himself. A monster wouldn’t have given her a library, or a rose garden, or would think to bring her new and exotic ingredients.

After dinner, Belle would often retreat to the library and Rumplestiltskin would follow an hour later after he was finished with his work in the tower. He had eventually moved his spinning wheel to there as well. “It’s just that the light is better here in the library, Dearie!” he kept insisting. But Belle suspected it had more to do with him being lonely and seeking her company. Or perhaps because he really liked her, and she really hoped he liked her in the way she liked him; something beyond friendship.

-------------------------------

Like any other evening, Belle had retreated to the library and Rumplestiltskin was spinning his straw into gold. She had started a new book about the various holidays in other realms. This holiday was celebrated in several realms, and she had heard from it from her friend Anna. It was called Valentine’s Day, and on that day people would send each other cards, flowers, or gifts. It wasn't a holiday just for couples, but you could also send someone you were in love with an anonymous gift. Or you could send it to a friend, to express your appreciation for your friendship. Belle thought it was a lovely tradition. She wondered who she would send an anonymous gift to. She didn’t have any contact with her old friends, and she wasn't sure they would want to keep contact with here now that she was living with the Dark One. The Dark One, well, she considered him to be a friend now. It would be impossible to send him something anonymously, but she could always give him a gift. If he really liked it, maybe she would have a chance of becoming more than just friends. And if he didn’t...well, she didn't really want to think about that, then she could always tell him it was a gift to honor their new friendship. So all she had to do was think of the perfect gift and everything would be okay. Rumplestiltskin had a bit of a sweet tooth, of course, so she decided she would bake him a cake. A small cake. Or maybe cupcakes. She could bake them individually and if she messed up, she could always try a few more times. All she had to do was pay attention to the recipe. She had gotten so much better since her first attempts. Belle started searching her cookbooks for the perfect cupcakes until she came across raspberry rosewater cupcakes. That’s what she would make! He liked the taste of rosewater, and she had just picked fresh raspberries from the garden. It was perfect.

She started working on the cupcakes the very next day, carefully weighing all the ingredients listed in the book. She remembered Rumplestiltskin’s warning “Cooking, and especially baking, is like making a potion. You have to measure the ingredients precisely, or the results can be disastrous.”

She had placed all the ingredients in bowls on the kitchen table, and just needed one more ingredient: the rosewater. She searched the kitchen for a bottle but she couldn’t find any. Strange… normally there were several bottles of it, and now nothing. Then she remembered Rumplestiltskin would often raid the kitchen for ingredients for potions when he didn’t want to bother to get them from the village. She sighed, she had told him many times to just tell her when he took something out of her kitchen. But every time Rumplestiltskin had just giggled his impish laugh and reminded here whose kitchen this really was.

‘Two can play that game’, she thought, and she set out to his tower. If he could use the stock from the kitchen, then surely she could use his, right?

She opened the door carefully, peeking around the corner to make sure he wasn’t in there. She wasn't forbidden to go to the tower, it’s just that he alway became very nervous when she did. “Don’t touch anything! Watch out where you walk! This is dangerous magic!” he warned her. She smiled to herself, he was always so worried and protective of her. How different he acted towards other people. To them he truly was the Dark One, but with her, he was just Rumplestiltskin.

She searched the shelves behind the workbench for the rosewater. She had some difficulty reading the labels on the bottles, they were a bit dusty. With Rumplestiltskin fussing over her whenever she came in, she never had given the shelves a good dusting. Even when she wiped away the dust it was difficult to read. This wouldn’t do. She knew she had made fresh rosewater two weeks earlier so she set out looking for bottles without much dust on them. Finally she found it! She recognised the bottle shape, it didn’t have much dust on it, and it look like rosewater. She popped open the cork and carefully smelled the water. The familiar smell of roses reached her nose and she quickly popped the cork back in and went down to the kitchen.

She could finally start baking the cupcakes!

When Belle started to pour out the rosewater in her measuring cup, her mind kept wandering towards Rumple as she stuck a finger into the frosting and batter to taste test what she had made before putting it into the oven. She almost couldn't stop herself from eating the buttercream after she had made it; it was just so darn delicious today. She smiled, proud of her cooking.

After putting the cupcakes into the oven, Belle thought having freshly plucked rosebuds would make a lovely decoration for the cupcakes; and hopefully the fresh air would clear her head her bit. She went outside to the garden adjacent to the kitchen and went passed the fresh herbs that were growing there.

Rumple had magically planted those for her when she told him about the different herbs and spices being used in recipes from her cookbook. She smiled at the memory of him surprising her with yet another gift. He had led her blindfolded into the garden. A shiver went down her spine when she remembered him standing flush behind her, his hands warm on her shoulders, and his mouth close to her face when he whispered for her to remove her blindfold.

Suddenly, she was awaken from her daydream by a noise coming out of the kitchen. She instantly worried about her cupcakes. What is the oven had exploded ...again?! Just like it had when she had first started baking! All of her work for nothing! She ran towards the kitchen, but slowed down when she didn’t smell any burning and heard a familiar sound. The sound of Rumpelstiltskin eating! She could recognize that purring from anywhere!

Rumple had not spotted her yet so Belle quickly and quietly snuck back into the kitchen. He already got the cupcakes out of the oven and was now eating one with his back still turned to Belle. The bowl with buttercream was abandoned but she could see he had eaten quite a few spoonfulls of it. It was not enough to decorate the cupcakes anymore. Belle carefully picked up a wooden spoon from the table, sneaked up behind him, and smacked him on his bum cheek: “BUSTED!”

Rumplestiltskin yelped and turned around on the spot, his hands raised, ready to cast a spell. When he saw Belle, his face went from fear, to relief, to anger, then back to fear again when he noticed her expression. “Belle, I could have turned you into a snail! I might still do that actually, why did you hit me?”

Belle looked at him angrily, but with a hint of something else he didn’t recognize in her “You know how much work it is to make these cupcakes and you knew I tried to hide the buttercream but you still went ahead and ruined the surprise!” Belle smacked him again with the spoon.

“Ouch! Could you stop hitting me!? I’m sorry, okay, I was just hungry.. Are you forgetting who is master of this castle?! I will turn you into a fro-OUCH!” Belle didn’t let him finish his sentence.

“Now I hardly have any buttercream left!” Belle sulked. She stepped towards the bowl and when she reached for it, brushing Rumplestiltskin’s arm. She noticed just how close their faces were. “You ehm… have some buttercream right there...”, she reached for his lips and wiped a blob of buttercream from the corner of his mouth with her finger. She held her finger in front of his eyes, and before she could wipe it in her apron, Rumple took her finger into his mouth and sucked the sweet treat right off her finger.

Without breaking eye contact he thanked her “Thank you for that.” He licked his lips “You know, since you don’t have enough buttercream left to decorate the cupcakes, maybe I can eat the rest of it as well?”

Belle suddenly had an idea. Not to say she hadn’t had the idea before, but it just so happened to pop into her mind again due to her current situation. Her cheeks heated just thinking about it. Someone had to take the next step, and Rumple seemed to have taken the first one when he took her finger in his mouth. “Well, I could can decorate something else? And you do still look kind of hungry,” she suggested, hoping he caught the innuendo.

Rumplestiltskin saw something change in Belle’s eyes and gulped. “It seems I’m not the only one who is still hungry, my dear, but what exactly are you hungry for?” he asked. His voice sounded lower than usual and it re-awakened the butterflies in her stomach.

“Rumple. I-” Belle cut herself off. “I want you.”

“What?”

“I want you to do things to me. With the frosting,” Belle said, not quite believing her boldness in this moment. It felt good.

Rumplestiltskin lifted Belle up the kitchen table “Are you sure about this Belle?” he asked.

“Yes,“ Belle smiled and started to unbutton his shirt in reply. “I’ve been waiting for this for the longest time! I want more!”

Rumplestiltskin chuckled and started working on the laces of her dress, taking his time. Belle huffed in frustration and moved her hands wanting to speeds things up but Rumpelstiltskin pushed her hands away “No, I want to savor this moment. And you still can change your mind, Belle. Just tell me if you want to stop and I will stop,” he said softly.

Belle leaned forward, making their foreheads touch each other. “I know you will, and I trust you. But right now, I need you to hurry up!”

Rumplestiltskin carried on with the unlacing and still took his time, wanting to ensure he would remember every last detail. Once the dress was unlaced, he pushed it down her shoulders, caressing them, feeling her soft skin under his scaley, monstrous fingers. He paused for a moment to make eye contact with Belle, asking for silent permission. When she whispered,“Take me,” ever so softly in reply, he pushed the dress further down, exposing her breasts, shocked. As if he were in a dream.

His hands slid down from her shoulders to her breasts as he held them and showered them with kisses. He then grabbed the buttercream, earning him a questioning look from Belle, and smeared some of it on her neck, making a trail across her chest towards her breasts, slowly making circles on her nipples. He pushed her dress further down so it would fall to the floor, and he made another trail across her stomach, down to her inner thighs. Belle spread her legs as on instinct. Rumple giggled. “Such an impatient girl.” He licked his lips and slowly kissed her. Their kisses became more frantic, he was no longer holding back, addicted to the sensation already. Every time Belle tried to touch him to get closer to him, he pushed her hands away. Not yet. He still wanted to savor this. Her groans became more frustrated, and suddenly Rumpelstiltskin pulled away completely. Belle wanted to complain, but he already attacked her neck with kisses and licks; following the trail of buttercream he had laid out. The taste of both Belle and the buttercream combined was absolutely heavenly.

His tongue circled around her left nipple, driving Belle mad. Then he took it in his mouth and sucked the remaining cream off with a pop, surprising Belle with the sensation. She could no longer hold back the moan she’d been holding. He let out a low laugh, the moan music to his ears, and moved to her right nipple, giving it the same treatment as the other one. He trailed off to her stomach, wasting no time here as he sucked and licked the cream off her skin. He caressed her breasts, and got back on eye level again, his face suddenly serious. “Belle, are you absolutely sure about this?” He dragged circles on her budding nipples with his thumb, waiting for her reply.

“Yes, I’m sure, now, stop asking me that. It’s not fair to ask me this while you’re driving me mad!”

Rumple smiled and pinched her nipple, drawing out a moan. “Oh, that is a lovely sound,” he smirked. “I can’t wait to hear it again.”He smiled and lowered his head to kiss her breasts, trailing down her stomach, ending at her thighs. He carefully pushed her back on the table so she laid flat on her back and conjured a pillow out of thin air. “We should have done this in a more… comfortable setting, but I’m not sure we will make it, so I hope this is sufficient,” he explained. “But I want you now.”

Belle leaned back, raising her hips in hopes that he would understand what she wanted. “I just want you too, Rumple.”

He looked up and down her body as his hands followed. “Not so fast, sweetheart, I have to follow the trail first!”

Belle huffed out in frustration as his hands moved to her hips, holding her as he bent over between her legs. He lightly tickled her inner thighs with his hair, as he left kisses all over them while going further up, when eventually he reached the place in the middle. Belle felt his lips brushing over her curls, followed by the sensation of light little bites. She never thought getting bitten would feel so good.

He had already started to lick her outer lips, when he took her labia in his mouth and sucked on it. He pushed her legs further apart and with his hand he parted her curls and lips. Belle almost knocked the cupcakes off the table, feeling a moment of panic by being so exposed. It was just for a moment and Rumpelstiltskin didn’t even notice it. He pushed his tongue further in. The combination of his curls dancing between her legs, the feeling of his tongue lapping and the vibration of his moans against her almost made Belle come then and there.

Then, he suddenly stopped licking, looked up to her with a devilish smile and dove back down again, licking her clit like it’s the last thing he would ever taste. Just when she felt like it was becoming all too much, he carefully slid one finger in her and curled it so it hit a particular sensitive spot within her.

Belle felt a tingling warmth coming from her toes spreading all over her body and exploding behind her eyes. Rumpelstiltskin gave her a few moments to gather herself, but he didn’t take his finger out of her yet. Belle looked at him, puzzled and panting.

“You don’t think I’d let you get away with hitting me, did you?” he smirked. Her eyes grew big and Rumplestiltskin immediately worried that he had scared her.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. You hurt me more with that spoon more than I will ever hurt you,” he reassured her. He lowered his head again and started lapping at her clit again, this time slower.. He also slowly worked another finger in her. She was relaxed and wet enough so it didn’t hurt, she just felt more full. He started moving his long fingers in a steady but fast rhythm inside of her.

Belle was still very sensitive after her orgasm and it felt too good. “Oh gods, Rumple, please, please- I can’t- oh gods-” she begged him, not really knowing if she wanted him to stop or not to ever stop. He laughed against her and the vibrations hit her clit, surprising her and she let out a scream.  

“Oh, so you like that, don’t you?” he continued to hum against her. Belle almost started to panic because it was almost too much to handle. She felt the familiar feeling from before coming over her again, and this time it was much more intense. She was sure she screamed something, probably Rumple’s name, but she wasn’t sure. She felt his fingers being removed from her body, and she shivered.

Belle was feeling dizzy and her skin was still tingly and sensitive from the unfamiliar touches. Now it was suddenly over and she was left wanting more. More of his touch against her skin, more of him inside her, more of everything. She felt overwhelmed. Rumpelstiltskin picked her up and for a moment they were engulfed in a purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, she looked around and noticed they were standing in her bedroom.

Rumpelstiltskin smiled shyly, suddenly looking like he was unsure of what to make of everything. “I uhm- I wasn’t sure if you wanted to go to my bedroom, but now I’m not sure I should have come to yours. I know it’s private, but I didn’t want to you to walk to your room. Your legs couldn’t probably hold you just yet. You are also all sticky from the buttercream, my dear. Why don’t you take a bath?” he suggested.

“But- what about you?” Belle asked. “You have given me pleasure, but what about you?” she caressed his cheek.

“You are here forever my dear, remember? There is enough time for me later. We don’t have to do everything in one night. Now, let me run that bath for you,” he replied.

After Belle washed all the stickiness of the buttercream and her own juices off her body, she dressed herself in her nightgown and braided her wet hair. When she walked out into her bedroom, she was happy to find Rumpelstiltskin still there, looking a bit awkward sitting in one of the chairs.

Belle walked over to him and sat on his lap, curling up against him with her head against his chest. Rumplestiltskin froze for a moment, not sure what to do with himself, and then soothingly rubbed her back. It all felt a bit awkward, now that they were out of the kitchen.

They had shared something intimate but that moment was over and now they both didn’t know what to do or say. And there was something bothering her. “Rumple… what just happened in the kitchen?” she started.

Rumplestiltskin snorted “Well, I’m sure you have read about it in one of your books”. Belle smacked his chest “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant that we- we normally don’t act like that with each other. I wanted to make those cupcakes Valentine’s Day, so I could show you how much you mean to me. But that it would end like this- well I hoped it would but it all happened a lot faster than I had planned.”

“Ah that,” he hesitated. “I might be able to explain. You see, I noticed you have been in my tower and there was a potion missing.”

“A potion?” Belle sat up with a jolt. She could have grabbed a dangerous potion! Who knows, she wasn’t able to read the label properly! She looked at Rumplestiltskin but he didn’t quite dare to look her in the eye. A realization hit her “Wait- Rumpelstiltskin, was that a love potion I used?! Do you deal for love potions?!” she cried out.

“It wasn’t exactly a love potion. Those don’t exist anyway, you can’t make someone love you. Lust potions however, do exist.” he explained. “But you didn’t use a lust potion either!” he added hastitly when he saw Belle’s face. “You accidently grabbed a potion that is a bit similar… a potion that takes away your inhibitions. It doesn’t make you do anything you didn't want to do in the first place. it just makes you a bit more- free to act upon your desires. So I guess, what you really desired… was me.” he looked smugly as he said this.

“Don’t give me that look, Rumple,”Belle replied “because I remember you eating from the buttercream too and you were a happy participant so I guess you desired me too!”

Rumple scoffed. This was true.

“But there will be a next time, right?” Belle asked, almost nervously. “This wasn't just-”

“Yes, Dearie. There will be a next time.” Rumple said as he kissed the top of her head. “Lots of times more, if you want.”

“Yes. I do. I really do,” she said as she snuggled back into him.

[prongsno]

You’re my dream (please come true)

based on @meraudurs text post: lily running into james in diagon alley during the summer after sixth year and seeing him lift up a toddler and making funny faces at them and lily just being like ✓💯fcuk ✓💯 me ✓💯 up ✓💯✓💯✓💯

read on ao3 | 1685 words

The door to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour bangs open as two kids, laughing giddily with a broomstick each in their hands, escape the scorching sun. The intense summer heat seems to have brought the entire wizarding community to Diagon Alley; there are witches, wizards, giants and goblins everywhere - all eager to taste the sun’s rays on their skin.

“Have you tried the sherbet lemon one?” Lily asks as she frowns at the vibrant yellow ice cream in front of her.

Mary shakes her head. “Dorcas got that one, remember? Her tongue turned yellow for six hours,” she laughs, and exchanges her ten sickles for a double scoop of honey-dew sorbet cone. She turns back to Lily, who’s still staring intensely at the counter.

“Just do Ip dip do,” Mary shrugs, dodging out of the way as two kids run towards the counter. They press their noses up against the glass, joining Lily as they gawk all wide-eyed at the different flavours in front of them.

“That’s scandalous, what if I get the flavour I don’t want?”

“Then I’ll eat it for you, and you can buy another?” Mary offers, grinning as Lily rolls her eyes.

“I’m stuck between pumpkin pasty or chocolate and raspberry,” Lily says at long last, pulling her purse out of her bag and jiggling it about in her hands.

Mary picks up one of her sickles and places it in her palm. “Heads or Tails?”

Lily narrows her eyes. “Heads.”

Mary flips the coin and it flies up in the air and falls before she can catch it.

“I got it!” she says as she bends down to grab at it. “It’s tails - pumpkin pasty.”

There’s silence between them, and one of the noisy kids orders a bubblegum cone with bertie botts beans scattered on top.

“I’m getting the chocolate and raspberry,” she decides and joins the small queue behind the little kid.

Mary moves out of the way, licking her cone. “You sure? Last chance.”

“One hundred percent,” she nods, giving the cashier her sickles and recites her order. “Oo, and some chopped nuts on top - please,” she says with a glance towards the topping section - where sprinkles and beans, nuts and fruit are only a few of the many options available.

It’s only a two minute wait before Lily holds the ice-cream in her hand, a decadent chocolate ganache on top of a juicy raspberry red that looks too delightful to even try.

Mary opens her mouth to speak, eyeing the ice-cream in awestruck wonder. “Can-”

“No,” Lily laughs as they leave the ice cream parlour, the bell jingling as the door comes to a close.

The hot, sticky humidity is a shock after being in the deeply air conditioned shop for some time, so their frozen snacks are a relief and refreshing to have in the heat.

Mary pulls a face. “Not even one, small, tiny lick?”

Lily shakes her head and makes a scene of slobbering over the top of the ice-cream, licking every inch of it so there isn’t one bit that’s been covered by her saliva.

“That’s so disgusting,” Mary grins, elbowing Lily in the side as they turn down the street.

It’s packed, children run up and down, parents and students converse and laugh as they drink frozen butter beers and pumpkin juice.

“Do you want to hold her? I think she likes you,” Lily manages to hear amidst the chaotic noise, and stretches her head to see what’s taking place.

Mary follows in her direction and does a double take.

“Is that,” Mary laughs, shocked. “Is that James Potter, with a baby?”

All Lily can do is sort of nod her head in response, since she’s far too dazed to actually speak.

Because, it is, indeed, James Potter with a baby.

He’s sitting on one of the outdoor chairs at the near cafe, bouncing said baby up and down on his knees. The baby giggles and gurgles at him, finding his silly faces and soft raspberries such a fantastic show that she claps her hands and pats his cheeks.

Lily’s frozen on the spot.

The mum and her friend are laughing, finding James and the baby girl amusing and adorable.

Lily gulps and, with shaky hands, pushes her hair out of her eyes and tucks it nervously behind her ear. She decides to ignore Mary’s evil-like grin, but elbows her in the side anyways when her friend starts to snigger.

“Don’t you even-” she starts, not being able to stop the intense blush that flies over her cheeks and up her ears.

“I didn’t say anything!” Mary shrugs, eating her ice cream as casually as she can.

“No,” Lily snorts. “But I know what you’re thinking and I don’t-”

“You cannot deny that that,” Mary says, pointing to James who’s now playing peek-a-boo, “isn’t adorable.”

Lily bites her lip. “Fine,” she scowls. “It’s cute - happy?”

James decides to look up at that moment, and they have no time to run. He catches them staring at him like he has seven heads, and looks slightly taken aback by his audience.

“Alright?” He asks them, not at all phased by the baby who currently grabs at his glasses and repeatedly takes them off and puts them back on his nose. Each time the baby cackles and James pulls a different silly face.

“We just got ice-cream,” Mary says, waving her melting cone at him as they both stagger towards him, ashamed to be caught.

“Enjoying it, Evans?”

She doesn’t even notice the question is aimed at her until Mary kicks her foot.

She’s too lost in his eyes, enthralled by how good he is with kids, and how different and… amazing he’s being. Mary kicks her again and that’s when she notices James is watching her, and looks incredibly amused.

“Sorry - what?” she asks, breathless.

He laughs and motions to his chin. “You’ve got a bit of - um.”

Mesmerised, she numbly lifts her hand and wipes her mouth with her sleeve. Chocolate ganache, all over her cheeks, chin and nose.

Mary’s trying her hardest not to laugh, and has to smother her mouth with her hand to stop herself. The mother of the baby smiles at Lily sweetly, pointing to the last bit of ganache that she didn’t manage to wipe off.

“Is Black here?” Mary asks James after a few moments of silence.

“He said he was going into Gambol and Japes and then Wiseacres,” he nods, passing the baby back to the mother.

Lily doesn’t have time to beg Mary to stay - she’s already saying goodbye and whizzing off to find Sirius Black, leaving her alone with none other than Freaking James Potter.

He says goodbye to the baby with an air kiss, thanks the mum and then begins to walk towards her. He looks a little apprehensive, but the moment passes in a flurry of seconds. They didn’t exactly part on the most friendliest terms during the last academic year.

“Having a good summer so far?” he asks politely, kicking at a small stone by his feet.

“It’s not bad,” she says, forcing her gaze to her ice-cream. It’s melting quickly in the heat, so she says a quick prayer that there won’t be any more chocolate ganache incidents and takes a few bites of it. “You?”

He nods. “It’s good, but I miss Hogwarts.”

“You mean the quidditch,” she smiles.

“Are you kidding,” he grins, “I’m practically counting down the days until McGonagall can give us homework again.”

“Twenty?”

“Eighteen actually,” he says with gleaming eyes and checks the watch on his wrist, “and four hours.”

“Someone’s eager.”

“Someone’s ready to study and work hard, Evans.”

They pass by Fortescue’s ice cream parlour again, heading in the direction that Sirius and Mary must have gone in. A wizard huffs as he hurries past them, knocking into her just as she’s eating more of the ice cream.

It goes up her nose and she can feel it dribbling down her chin as she stumbles. James is immediately taking hold of her arm to steady her, and angrily calls out ‘watch it!’, but the wizard is already half way down the street and knocking into other people and doesn’t hear at all.

“It’s gone everywhere, hasn’t it?” she groans, throwing the soggy cone into the nearest bin.

She can feel it in her hair and most likely all over her face, judging by the way James chuckles and takes out a tissue from his pocket and hands it to her sheepishly.

She murmurs out a thanks and wipes her hands first, hoping to rub away the stickiness of her fingers. He at least has the courtesy to look away as she mops her face clean, for that she’s thankful because she doesn’t know how long she can last under his intense gaze.

“Um, you missed a bit - may I?”

She can’t exactly tell him no (even if she wanted to), because his hand is already grabbing at a new tissue and flying towards her before she can even register it. He shuffles forwards, glasses sliding off his nose slightly as he leans in to dab gently at her lips.

He’s so close and a shiver runs down her spine, making her knees wobble and knock against each other as she stares into his eyes.

Something’s changed; she can almost taste it on her lips, feel it in the air around her.

“Sorry,” he says with wide eyes, taking a step back. “I didn’t mean to, like-”

“It’s okay,” she smiles, “you can wipe ice cream off me anytime.” Her mouth snaps shut, mortified, as James goes rigid next to her.

“Oh - okay, I’ll - err - keep that in mind.” He doesn’t seem too perturbed, and Lily breathes in a sigh of relief, scolding herself mentally.

He’s smiling, looking at the floor carefully as his mouth twitches. “Rendezvous in the Hogwarts kitchens with some ice cream in, say, nineteen days?”

Her heart skips a beat and she fiddles with the hem of her top.

But she can’t stop smiling.

“It’s a date,” she says.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 2X20 - The Evil Queen

Regina! What a pleasure to feature an old a-QUEEN-tance over here!!!

Once you’re done laughing from this exceptional pun, why not stay for the rest of the review below the cut?

Press Release With the aid of Hook, Regina attempts to put a plan in motion that will help transport herself and Henry back to Fairytale land. But her plan revolves around a fail-safe that was planted within the curse, which if triggered could wipe Storybrooke off the map - and kill all of its inhabitants; and Emma’s suspicions about Tamara grow. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, the Evil Queen asks Rumplestiltskin to transform her into an unrecognizable peasant in order to kill an unsuspecting Snow White, with the twisted aim of earning the love and respect of her subjects. General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Past I think this segment was incredibly well handled in its framing. The segment is able to clearly show how Regina’s reactions to her life and her impressions about her circumstances are dead wrong while still telling a tragic story for her. Like, it is very clear that the audience is supposed to laugh alongside Rumple (A framed mentor figure with a touch more moral ambiguity at this time) as she’s decrying claims that she’s an Evil Queen and be with Snow in abject horror when we see the destroyed village. That said, we’re also meant to also see the tragedy of Regina being on the cusp of real change, only to have her own remorseless history come back at the very worst moment.

Besides just the framing, the idea of neutralizing Regina and making her spend time with Snow in an alternate form was inspired. The resulting characterization of Snow and the effects of her kindness (Namely that all it takes is some one-on-one time with Snow in order to remember the potential goodness in your heart because she is honestly just that soothing and kind of a presence) is something that’s honestly much smarter than it has any right to be. But what’s better is that for all of Snow’s goodness, it DOES have a limit, and that is abruptly reached and more when she discovers the burnt village. Also, great job Ginny for a small bit at the end of her screen time where she goes through multiple expressions of anguish after letting Regina go, both as a show of her building frustration with the consequences of goodness and her frustrations with Regina. I’m honestly willing to bet that right after this episode is when the grouchier Snow from “Snow Falls” shows up. Finally, I’ve just got to say that this is such a better handling of the possibility of Regina’s goodness than the flashback in  “The Cricket Game.” Here, Regina doesn’t just fail a test she was all but bound to, but she crosses over a tangible line of decency and hurts countless others. Present The present does a lot more in terms of plot progression than story progression, but it comes with more than a few solid character interactions and moments.

I enjoyed seeing Regina and Killian working together. They have a good rapport and the betrayals and speeches between these two villains are just great. I love the little ways they screw each other over, but also this light bit of compassion they share too (Ex. Killian giving his condolences for Cora’s passing).

The Emma, Henry, Neal, and Tamara subplot was equally interesting! The search through the apartment makes for an engaging mystery, even though I know the outcome of it. There’s always this worry in my heart that they’re going to be caught and when they do, it makes for a fun moment of realized tension. Everyone’s characterization (Or somewhat fake characterization concerning Tamara in her scene with Emma) is fully in-line and the conflict is an understandable one with little nuances that make for compelling bits of dramatic irony.

The plot progression itself is fine. What we learn about the trigger and Greg and Tamara’s plans is well spread out and interspersed between good character moments. Insights - Stream of Consciousness -”Actually, I prefer with the lights on.” I bet you do, Captain! XD -”She is his mother, despite all the horrors!” Very good, Snow! Look, as far as the current circumstances of this show and season have been thus far, I’m of the mind that the Charming family is currently right: Regina does deserve to be able to see Henry, but given her history and especially her recent behavior, limiting her visitation while she continues to better herself is a completely fair thing to do. No one’s denying that Regina is Henry’s mom and the one time it was done, it was appropriately framed as a wrong outburst. -”Rumple’s cell.” David...while still a supporter of the sentiment I just presented, that’s...too far. -THE PANDA BLOOPER!!! -”But I am not evil.” Regina, you just burned down a village! That’s pretty evil! -Damn, Rumple. Cutting off trade with King George’s kingdom. That’s coooooold. ...but kind of awesome. -I love that when characters, it’s explained how they’ll look different to the world while still being played by the same actor! THat’s clever as hell! -”They still see me as The Evil Queen which they made me.” Regina, no. -Regina, this is Henry. What did you expect when you were leading up to everyone dying? -Awww! Good job giving condolences, Killian! -I wonder what it would’ve been like had Cora and Regina (And presumably Henry) went back to the Enchanted Forest and started fresh? -Snow’s actually giving Emma really good advice here! She knows no one wants Henry to get an incorrect impression about the circumstances of his parents. -I LOVE the music that plays as Snow saves Regina! It reminds me of a superhero’s theme! CAN WE GET SNOW IN THE NEXT AVENGERS MOVIE?! -Killian, how can you tell that that’s Maleficent? I can hardly tell that that’s Maleficent! It looks more like what happens when the Mummy fucks Loki! -OH SHIT! I FORGOT THE GLASS COFFIN COMES BACK!!! -”Someone from another forest taught me. Long story.” HOLY SHIT! DID THEY HAVE HERCULES PLANNED FROM THE END OF SEASON 2?! I LOVE THIS SHOW! -”Not usually [Referring to how fun stakeouts are]. But this one? Yeah, kinda.” Awwww!!! Some cute Swan Believer! -I like how there is a direct consequence of Emma not heeding Snow’s words. -So I like how Regina has moments of surprise as Snow talks about how there’s still good inside of Regina. It feels like it’s just as much of a surprise to her for her own sake as it is for Snow’s sake. -I wish past Snow remembered this destroyed village in “The Cricket Game’s” flashback. Like this episode just makes that flashback even dumber. -Snow is perceptive as FUCK with the reflexes of a GOD! -I LOVE that look of frustration on Snow’s face as she lets Regina get away. It contributes nicely to her growth of disdain for the consequences of her goodness! -”Startling. Some people would say striking.” Is this a taco commercial, because why not both? -”The one thing I excel at is surviving.” I guess this is the first aspect of that line (Other than maybe his second voyage to Neverland?)! Neat! Arcs - How are These Storylines Progressing? Regina’s Redemption - Regina’s regressing a lot in this episode and I kind of struggled with how I felt about it. On one hand, it does work on a character level. Regina’s pretty dramatic and I can believe that would be her reaction to the idea of being stranded in Storybrooke would be a big one. However, watching this regression and seeing her say how she believes that the only reason she’s The Evil Queen is because Snow and Charming made her that way is just annoying to watch and makes me feel barely sympathetic at all to her plight. Like, if Regina hadn’t shown such strength in the first half of the season, I’d have felt differently, and while get that Cora’s death and this bean incident changed things, this is such a dramatic change that I don’t know if I can enjoy it (Especially when one considers how she was able to stop herself from forcing Henry’s love in “Welcome to Storybrooke,” an even more recent example of her strength). Jeez, she even ignores Henry’s pleas and memory wipes him! And I know she improves in the very next episode (I’m having serious Dark Hook flashbacks or flashforwards, whichever they would be called), but in the confines of this episode, it goes a little overboard. Killian’s Revenge/Redemption - So I know that I’m going off of a few lines here, but I love the setup for Killian’s realization that revenge isn’t what it seems. The entire opening to the downstairs elevator scene speaks to the fact that while Killian values his revenge, its conquest essentially means that his life is over and the fact that he shows even the tiniest bit of doubt there shows that there could be more in store for him. That said, until he reaches that point, he still does want revenge and will fight to ensure it, no matter how unscrupulous and awful he has to be in the process. Greg and Tamara - Gotta say. While not super impressive nor memorable as characters, Greg and Tamara are pretty clever with the knowledge they’ve been given. Their plan to recruit Killian and neutralize Regina is pretty well thought out, and their covert nature was only partially exposed due to a complete accident! Favorite Dynamic Swan Believer. Look, this one is just fun. Seeing Emma and Henry bonding on a stakeout, sharing ice cream, and breaking-and-entering together is fantastic and cute. I love seeing the little bond that’s grown between Emma and Henry, especially after the whole lying arc from a few episodes back. This is great payoff and plays into what one would naturally expect from an eleven year old when he’s helping his mom foil his dad’s fiance: could his parents get back together. I like how Emma explains to him very clearly that that’s not the case (And I swear, that’s not a shipping thing. That’s just a matter of being careful of his expectations) but also gets the added bonus of his speculations being a consequence of not listening to Snow’s advice. Writer Jane Espenson and Christine Boylan are our writers today! And I liked what they came up with. Snow’s character progression in the past segment is as smooth as peanut butter, and she’s just the tip of the iceberg. All throughout the story are well-written character moments with mostly good dialogue. It’s only failing is, as I said before, is some of Regina’s present dialogue, specifically during her conversation with Henry. Rating 9/10. This was a good one! The story in the past is, as I said before, better than it had any right to be and draws far better lines for the characters of Snow and Regina. The present storyline is equally interesting, albeit with a touch of exhaustion from some of the more repetitive dialogue. But most of the character interactions and story progression worked very well, making it a quiet wonder. Flip My Ship - Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Hooked Queen - Damn, Killian and Regina exchange some really nice and trusting looks in Regina’s office! Hell, Killian even being here and offering his services is pretty great for them! Captain Swan - I don’t think this has ever been pointed out before, but Killian kept the beanstalk cuff! While it didn’t work for me, Killian certainly gave a touch of value to his time with Emma on the beanstalk! Swan Fire - At risk of entering anti-shipping territory, I want to point out how the whole projection of feelings that other characters have been putting on Emma about Neal works SO much better here than it did for Graham because (1) they have a past, (2) they actually spend time together, (3) there’s a level of ambiguity to it which makes this time feel more interesting, and (4) those feelings are later believed to be true. Also, I just love Neal’s reaction to the door trick! XD ()()()()()()()()() We’re almost done!!!! Thanks for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales.

Next time...though I sincerely doubt I will, I hope I won’t have to PAN this two-part finale! XD

See you then!

Season 2 Tally (166/220) Writer Tally for Season 2: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: (50/60) Jane Espenson (44/50)* Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (31/50) David Goodman (24/30)* Robert Hull (24/30)* Christine Boylan (26/30)* Kalinda Vazquez (28/30)* Daniel Thomsen (18/20)* * Indicates that their work for the season is complete

Operation Rewatch Archives

[scribbles-by-kate]

Series rewatch thoughts - 1.14 “Dreamy”

I love this episode, but it makes me sad as well. The love story is so cute and sweet, but then you have the interference from Blue and Bossy, and it hurts my heart.

I love Dreamy and Nova and Leroy and Astrid. They’re incredibly cute together. I wish we could have seen them together in a way that was happy, rather than that Good Morning Storybrooke bit where Nova said she still had to be a fairy and Grumpy was all sad about it. I’m just going to imagine that they got back together after the Final Battle, when Emma and Rumple doing the right thing brought the happy endings/beginnings back. In fact, screw it, I’m going to write a fic to that effect, where Leroy asks Belle to help him get Nova back, because I can :)

Anyway, both flashback and Storybrooke sections of their story are so sweet. Dreamy breaks up with Nova because he thinks he’s hurting her chances as a fairy. He really does love her, because he wants her to have her dream, but her dream has changed. Only I think Dreamy buys too much into what Blue and Bossy said. He starts to believe that dwarfs can only mine fairy dust and that he can’t really love her, even though he’s obviously different from his brothers.

I have so many issues with Blue and Bossy’s attitude in this episode. Dreamy thinks, rightfully, that he’s different from the other dwarfs, and he wants the chance to have a different kind of life, and so does Nova, but the way Blue in particular shuts that down is so narrow minded. It’s nobody else’s business how these two decide to live their lives, even though he’s a dwarf and she’s a fairy. Who gave Blue the right to say a fairy can only be this or a dwarf can only be that? Just because that’s the way it’s always been doesn’t mean it’s the way it always has to be. I really dislike the rigidity and narrow mindedness of Blue.

I don’t buy this idea that Dreamy and Nova have a higher calling or a higher destiny that they have to fulfil either. Yes, ok, the fairy dust is important. It lights up the world, and that’s fine, but there are other fairies and other dwarfs that could step up, surely. If we were to believe that the absence of Dreamy or Nova would fundamentally mess that up, we would’ve gotten more of an indication of that in this episode. The fairy dust won’t suffer for the absence of one dwarf and one fairy.

I love the message that the only one who controls what happens in your life is you. That goes against Blue’s rigid structure, but I wish the show had shown us that Dreamy and Nova’s love won in the end. We got to see other people break free of what they were expected to be, but, in the episode where that’s a key theme, we never really got that resolution, which I think is sad. Still, I shall rectify that with fic.

I love Belle’s role in this episode. Her appearance was obviously meant to be a surprise, since we’re meant to focus on the dwarfs, but you do see little glimpses of a blue dress and a familiar face with brown curls, and then she speaks and the audience gets excited because it’s Belle! We know now that Robert Carlyle and the writers wanted to do more of RumBelle, and they’d left that open with the ending of “Skin Deep”, but this is the first time we see Belle on her own, so I think they were testing the waters to see how the audience would react to more of Belle. I love her presence here. I love how pro-love she is, even though it’s obvious she has a broken heart. I love how sympathetic and encouraging she is to Dreamy. It’s also interesting that her lines ‘Love is hope. It fuels our dreams’ parallel and contradict Rumple’s lines to Snow: ‘Love makes us sick. It haunts our dreams’. Considering these two meetings are taking place around the same time, with Belle’s meeting with Dreamy probably coming a bit before Rumple’s meeting with Snow, it’s obvious they’ve both got love on their minds. Belle really gets the best quotes about love, I think. Love is hope is such a lovely idea.

I remember being so interested in Rumple’s animosity towards the nuns at the time. Of course, it’s not nuns he doesn’t like: it’s fairies. We later learned that Blue gave Bae the magic bean that created the portal that Rumple was too frightened/traumatised to follow him through, and we later learned that his mother was a fairy who he believed had abandoned him. Aside from his personal grievances, though, I imagine that, with the length of time Rumple’s been alive and the kind of work he does - answering the calls of desperate souls (not unlike what the fairies are supposed to do) - he probably questions why the fairies don’t help the desperate souls who call on him. He probably wonders why there’s a need for him at all when there are fairies who are supposed to help people. I think he sees that the fairies are very selective about who they help, so, when he says ‘Wherever there’s injustice in the world, there’s a fairy’, or something to that effect in “Changelings” he’s saying it with the weight of his own experience. And I’ve said this already, but I suspect Rumple made many wishes upon many stars as a boy, and they were never answered. Of course, the reason they were never answered is because Blue just dumped him when it turned out he wasn’t the Saviour and couldn’t be useful to her any more. And, in the end, Rumple did what the fairies couldn’t do: he helped everyone. Anyway, I’ve always sympathised with Rumple over his dislike for fairies. The only two fairies who get a pass are Nova and Tinkerbell. Tiger Lily doesn’t, because she was complicit in leaving Rumple with his horrible father.

This episode is also where we see the missing Kathryn Nolan plot gather momentum. I think Regina trying to frame David and actually framing Mary Margaret for this is one of the most evil things she ever did. In the first half of the season, she’s well within her rights to be wary of Emma’s presence and her influence on Henry, but now we see her start to be truly evil. It’s a very interesting story where fairy tales meet the real world, and I’m looking forward to seeing all that unfold again.

[wolfie-dragon-rider]

Rakuen fanfic: Patient Lounge Planet

Here’s a little fic for Laura Shigihara’s wonderful indie narrative game Rakuen! I hope you like it! 

NOTE: HEAVY HEAVY SPOILERS FOR PRETTY MUCH ALL OF THE GAME! Do not read if you’re planning on playing it and don’t want to know what happens. 

-----------------------------

Danielle took another marble from the jar and laughed at the ooohs she got from her audience of eight-year olds. Barely younger than Sue had been. And the boy…

No, she couldn’t think about that. If she thought about everyone she had seen passing through the hospital she’d go mad. Normally it was fairly easy. The faces blurred together, especially the old ones, the people who had had children, travelled the world, made great art, lived their lives.

The little ones were harder. They had a way of squirming into her headspace and anchoring themselves with cute remarks and insight that was too wise for children who were still in elementary school.

Sometimes all Danielle could do was pass on that wisdom and creativity.

“This is the amber tree world! Look, you can see the tree in the center, keeping watch over the entire planet,” she said, holding the orange marble out to the wide-eyed kids. “There’s a, uhm… a tea shop in the center of the tree! And as this world rolls and spins, so does the tea shop! But don’t worry, you all get to spin with it, so the tea doesn’t get lost! It’s like a rollercoaster, you stay in your seat even when it doesn’t feel that way!”

Danielle wished she could remember more clearly how Sue had described the worlds. She should have written it down, make an atlas to the galaxy of planets inside the jar.

But it hadn’t felt urgent. Sue had always seemed so vibrant, so alive, that Danielle had never even considered that tomorrow she could be gone.  

The children didn’t seem to notice her frown, too busy shaking the marble and gasping when the shape inside seemed to turn upside down.

A meow made her look up to the other side of the room, where Oogy the cat was cuddling up to Henry and Astrid. They were teenagers who met in the hospital ward, and although they denied it vehemently, saying they cuddled close because Henry was so thin he could barely produce enough body heat for himself, Danielle could see more than just friendship was blossoming between them. It made her happy to see love grow in a place with so much gloom and death.

Puchi walked up to the couple, maneuvering carefully through the chessboard in front of them and putting her head on Henry’s lap. Surprised by the sudden move, the boy flinched, but quickly embraced the warm dog. The animals behaved incredibly well. Danielle wasn’t sure where Boy had found them, but they didn’t attack each other… much. Oogy and Puchi sometimes wrestled, but they hadn’t attacked the bird or the fish yet.

“Danielle? What is this marble?” one of the kids pulled her out of her thoughts. He held up a bright yellow marble, one that Sue had never told her about.

“Uhm, let’s see. This is desert world! It has sand everywhere, but there are a lot of oases as well, so you never get too thirsty! Look, here you can see the little green spots where plants grow!” she said, pointing out old patches of dirt and grass on the marble, probably remnants of when the marble had been used outside.

That must have been a long time ago. The jar hadn’t seen sunlight in a long time. After Sue died, the jar had gone to Boy. Winston told her about how Sue had asked him to take care of her worlds.

In retrospect, it had probably been too much for him. It was so easy to forget the pressure he was under when he always seemed so cheerful and eager to help. He had been so nice to the people on the ward, fixing Tony’s music box, finding Gemma’s wedding ring, and above all just listening to the people.

And then Sue died, and the Boy’s cheerful spirit died with her. He hadn’t left his room much after that, and the doctors had become worried again, gazing at bad test results and talking to his mother in hushed voices that Danielle couldn’t help but overhear anyway.

She had made him a plushie too, a leeble Panky, but he had left it in the patient lounge just before…

It was sitting there now, on the table next to the snacks. Panky wasn’t amused when he saw it, but he laughed when he saw the Cora doll on the table with crayons and paints.

“Fair enough,” he said. “Just keep those cats away from it. They cause me enough trouble in the cafeteria, I don’t want them literally tearing me apart!”

“Like you wouldn’t fend them off with your big knives!” Winston called from the purple berry bean bag where he was sitting next to Gemma. His shirt and vest contrasted with the hospital gown she was wearing, but Danielle couldn’t help but think they fitted together perfectly. At least they were having a happy ending, smiling as they watched a movie together on the leeble-shaped television.

Danielle wondered where Boy had gotten all the things for the patient lounge from. He had donated his entire allowance, and some money Danielle suspected came from lockers and drawers around the hospital, to Cora and the Towel Cape Heroes for them to buy things with.

But he had brought along other things as well. The bean bag Gemma and Winston were sitting on, the poster for a band she couldn’t find anything about online, the portrait of an onion with a moustache and pipe. He hadn’t made them himself, had he?

She supposed they had been donated by his mother, but she couldn’t help but think there was more to it than they told her. They had contributed so much to the new patient lounge. It was even fuller than it had been before the disaster.

But as Danielle looked around at all the unfamiliar new faces, it still felt too empty. That’s how it goes in a hospital, she should be used to it by now. Everyone left. Either they got better, or they didn’t, but eventually their room would be cleaned out and filled by a new patient.

And sometimes all they left behind were marbles and toys. She considered telling the children about the one who had explored the marbles and uncovered their secrets. But where would she even start? Danielle didn’t know much about Sue either. And even less about Boy.

The door opened, and Danielle looked up, expecting to see one of the nurses. But instead it was a familiar face, though one she hadn’t seen in several months. She looked like she had aged 10 years.

“Hello, Danielle. Oh, hey Winston! I don’t think me and Gemma met yet,” Boy’s mother said, moving the book she was holding to her left hand to shake Gemma’s hand with her right. She talked briefly with the couple, before turning to the kids playing with the marbles.

“Hey little ones! I see you’re exploring the tiny planets! But do you want to hear about a very special world, far away and yet close?” she said, opening the brown book to the first page. The children crowded around the woman, sensing that this stranger was safe, that she knew them somehow. Knew how they felt.

Danielle grabbed her knitting needles, starting on another plushie as the woman started talking. “Once upon a time, there lived a boy in a faraway land called Morizora’s Forest. And even though he was still quite young, the boy was considered a great warrior by his tribe…”

The mother talked for over an hour, telling them all about the brave boy who befriended the forest creatures and fought evil monsters. Danielle saw the fear leave the childrens’s eyes, replaced by wonder and joy. And as she finished up the little plushie, she decided to make one for the mother as well. She had been through just as much as the residents of the hospital.

[potterblogs-blog]

ok y'all have been sorting pjo characters into hogwarts houses which would be nice if you were doing it right

it’s great that you’re trying and all but the thing is, I find a lot of them following the same pattern:

All the demigods are automatically in Gryffindor, because they’re super brave. Octavian and Ethan Nakamura and Clarisse and all sorts of people the fandom doesn’t like are obviously in Slytherin because, you know, Slytherin is hella evil. Then we’ve got the stuck-ups in Ravenclaw and the background characters in Hufflepuff, ‘cause apparently it’s the potato House.

Since all this is hella stereotypical and not at all correct, I was like, well, what would I do? Well hERE IS THE ANSWER ASSHATS

*bill nye voice* please...cOnSiDeR tHe FoLLoWiNg

Percy is a hella Hufflepuff, no denying it, not one bit. He doesn’t care about a position or nothing, he is just a pure Hufflepuff inside and out.

Let’s talk about some major Hufflepuff qualities here:

• Dedication (yo my boy percy is pretty dedicated to the camp and to staying alive am i right i mean he was literally not at all tempted to join kronos’ army like ever soo yeah. also. consider a thing. have u even read the books. if they are a smol bean and he has met them at least 15 mins ago u bet ur lil ass he’s dedicated)

• Patience (percy has not decapitated a SINGLE god on purpose and they all keep coming back, i mean it’s bound to happen someday but CMON YOU GOTTA ADMIRE HIM FOR THAT. literally so patient. even by ADHD standards and its ok u can ask me i have ADHD but that’s beside the point back to percy now)

• Loyalty (it’s his freaking fatal flaw wtf else do you want from him??? to jump into tartarus out of loyalty to his girlfriend??? you do one wrong thing to percy’s friend and he will mESS UP YOUR SHIT LIKE A TRUE HUFFLEPUFF DON’T EVEN PRETEND HE WON’T. remember nancy? I THOUGHT SO. FIRST FEW PAGES OF THE SERIES. AND IT ONLY GETS BETTER)

THAT BEING SAID: ALL THESE THINGS ARE DEF PRETTY IMPORTANT TO PERCY OKAY

Conclusion: HELGA HUFFLEPUFF IS HAPPY THAT SHE HAS SUCH A HELLA HUFFLEPUFF IN HER HOUSE WHERE HE BELONGS.

Don’t try to tell me my girl Annabeth is a Ravenclaw because she ain’t no Ravenclaw get outta my face and let me lay down some FACTS here

LOOK AT THESE SLYTHERIN/ANNABAE TRAITS

• Cunning (we all know what this means so lemme just throw down some hella rad SYNONYMS because those are just the bOMB DIGGITY: we got crafting, scheming, designing, and calculating rn. YOU KNOW WHO IS ALL OF THOSE THINGS? MY GIRL ANNIE. FIGHT ME. I GOT ANNABETH ON MY TEAM AND SHE WILL SLAY YOU WITH HER CLEVERNESS AND DECEIT BEFORE SHE EVEN TAKES OUT HER DAGGER. SHE TRICKED ARACHNE INTO WEAVING HER OWN DEATH TRAP FOR ZEUS’ SAKE)

• Resourcefulness (lil bby annabeth ran away from home in SAN FRANCISCO when she was SEVEN and met luke and thalia in RICHMOND which is in VIRGINIA. SHE WAS SEVEN AND SOMEHOW WENT FROM THE WEST COAST TO THE EAST COAST. GOTTA BE RESOURCEFUL FOR THAT. also remember that time when she broke her ankle, scolded it, then made a cast out of bUBBLE WRAP? BECAUSE I DO. AND THEN THE WHOLE WEAVING A BRIDGE THING. DANG GIRL.)

• Ambition (don’t deny it this girl’s fatal flaw is pride and those two things are connected aS SHIT. SHE’S SO INTENT ON BEING AN ARCHITECT THAT SHE GOT THE GODS TO GIVE HER A JOB REDESIGNING MOUNT OLYMPUS AND THATS A BIG ASS THING IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF. reminder that this girl had the chance to get away from a sphinx but she challenged it instead because it was sorta insulting?? who else do we know is like this?? oh yeah fUCKIGN SLYTHERINS)

ANNABETH BAMF CHASE HAS ALL THESE QUALITIES AND SHE KNOWS IT. THAT’S WHY SHE USES THEM TO HER ADVANTAGE SO OFTEN.

Conclusion: SALAZAR SLYTHERIN SAYS ANNABETH CHASE CAN SLAY HIS BASILISK ANYTIME THAT’S HOW PERFECT SHE IS FOR THIS HOUSE.

LEMME TALK TO YOU ABOUT A THING HERE. A BIG THING. AN IMPORTANT THING. JASON IS A RAD LIL RAVENCLAW BOOGER AND HERE’S WHY. THERE ARE A WHOLE LOTTA RAVENCLAW TRAITS BUT IMMA GIVE YOU 3.

• Wisdom (yeah annabeth’s mom may be the goddess of wisdom but if jason wasn’t wise then how the heckity heck would he have survived long enough to be made a freaking PRAETOR. also you know what fight me. jason is the equivalent of a giant dog that is a floofer and goes boof and loves small children but that has nothing to do with wisdom anyway he is one of the smartest out of the seven)

• Individuality (yeah that’s a thing go ask my girl JK. if jason isn’t so Original™ then explain to me please how he restored the Fifth Cohort to awesomeness?? he was a total badass who didn’t take any shit and turned it around for the whole cohort that’s how. this lil boi is an individual yis. one might ask how can one be a badass but also be a fluffball? well jason did it so stop asking ok)

• Acceptance (we are talking about the official mom friend and the founder of the nico di angelo protection squad what else do you want him to do, hug mother earth??? he wrote the song you’ve got a friend in me because he loves everyone)

SEE HERE: JASON IS A TOTAL DORK NERD WHO POKES PIPER AND GOES “PIPER. PIPER LISTEN TO THIS THING I FOUND OUT TODAY. PIPER ISN’T IT AWESOME”

Conclusion: NOWHERE ELSE IS WHERE JASON GOES. HE WEARS THE RAVENCLAW DIADEM TO ALL OF HIS CLASSES. FIGHT ME. ALSO THE GREY LADY BC HE MAKES HER COOKIES AND SHE LOVES IT EVEN THOUGH SHE’S DEAD AND CAN’T EAT THEM.

Consider yourself a thing. Consider all of the Gryffindor Piper things. JUST CONSIDER THEM.

• Recklessness (subtle reminder that Piper used her charmspeak to fuckign steal stuff even though she knew she would get caught. also consider yourself some other things. remember when she anNIHILATED A FRICKIN GODDESS WITH HER IMPULSIVENESS BECAUSE YES. remember when she and anniebell had to do the thing with the stuff that was all about feelings and shit but lil orphan annie over there was totally lost and all like “this is hella illogical” and pipes was just all “we just gotta dO THE THING ANNABETH” and it was total badassery bc it’s the reason i live)

• Bravery (this girl went on her first quest like a week after she found out she was a demigod and would probably die a painful death bUT DID SHE STUTTER?? nah. REMEMBER WHEN SHE SCREAMED AT A CROWD OF ANGRY ROMAN CHILDREN WHO WANTED MURDER BECAUSE JASON GOT HIT IN THE HEAD WITH A BRICK AND SHE HAD TO PROTECT HIM??? BRAVE. went on her first quest knowing that her dad was probably gonna die and did all the things to make the giants angry and plan a rescue??? BRAVE AF.)

• Chivalry (HELLA amazing friend because she’s just sO GENUINE AND KIND and you know that if someone hurts you she will CUT THEM WITH HER SUPER BADASS KNIFE THAT GIVES PEOPLE NIGHTMARES. stands by jason ALL THE TIME especially when he needs her and actually everyone can count on her for all of the things.)

SO: IF YOU DON’T THINK PIPER IS HELLA BRAVE THEN YOU ARE VERY WRONG MY DEAR FRIEND.

Conclusion: Piper would have defeated Voldemort by year 2 but sadly she was not the chosen one. GODRIC GRYFFINDOR SAYS HER FACE SHOULD BE PERMANENTLY ENGRAVED ON HIS SWORD SO THAT THE LAST THING THEIR ENEMIES SEE IS THE CUTE AND UNFORGIVING FACE OF PIPER MCLEAN.

On the subject of Leo: This child is a Ravenclaw through and through no evidence needed but jUST IN CASE I WILL TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE STUFF.

• Creativity (we are talking about a smol bean who makes tiny helicopters and stuff that actually works WHEN HE IS NOT EVEN LOOKING AT WHAT HE IS DOING OR PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO IT. remember how this child saw a terrifying bronze dragon that everyone had tried and failed to tame and just went “sweet, imma grab that so we can ride off into the Canadian sunset”??? yeahp. remember when apollo needed a thing so he just casually freaking iNVENTED A BRAND NEW INSTRUMENT LIKE IT WAS NBD??? I DO. BADASS)

• Originality (leo practically becomes famous for his abilities to come up with plans that are so ridiculously original that nobody figures out what’s happening before it’s too late and if that’s not good enough for you then idk what is. allow me to raise you the cyclops incident, right next to the robot eidolons thing plus that whole fiasco where he fuckign died, also did i mention the valdezinator or the fact that he was the only person to ever figure out how to return to ogygia?? this kid is a mechanical engineer already and he’s 16 im pretty sure baby eight year old leo sat through calculus classes at a local college and got the best grades tbh)

• Wit (leo is the master of comebacks and rash two-minute ideas that actually end up working like damn son this is a purebred Ravenclaw right here lemme just appreciate this. also hey remember that time where he got launched off of a flying ship and was hurtling downwards at a very alarming rate because you know that’s what happens when you fall and he literally actually built himself a working helicopter so that he wouldn’t die all while free falling from probably at least a few thousand feet in the air like damn son)

AS A FOOTNOTE: LEO CAN RIVAL ANNABETH IN KNOWLEDGE I MEAN HE IS A MECHANICAL ENGINEER WHAT MORE DO YOU ASK FOR

Conclusion: Leo and Jason share the diadem. Leo gets it on mondays, wednesdays and fridays and Jason gets to wear it on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays and on sundays they surrender it to the marble bust of Rowena Ravenclaw in the Ravenclaw Tower who says that LEO DESERVES TO BE IN RAVENCLAW EVEN MORE SO THAN YOUR AVERAGE STUDENT COME AT ME BRO

ok well hazel is somehow both my child and my mom so I’m not exactly sure how that works but anyway hERE ARE ALL THE REASONS THAT HAZEL IS A BEAUTIFUL, BADASS SLYTHERIN.

• Cunning (hey y'all remember that time with the cliff and the turtle and the feet?? terrifying huh?? yeah girl slay!! hazel will trick you and manipulate you and you won’t have any idea it’s happening until you’re being gobbled up by your own gargantuan pet sea turtle. Slytherins are also known for achieving their ends in any and all ways and all i could think of was how my child actually literally fuckign died so that she could stop the rise of acelonywhatever and the whole time she was 13 and staring death and gaea right in the frickin face and she didn’t give any shits at all)

• Resourcefulness (let’s talk about that time when hazel was “captured” by the amazons and basically had nothing so she did the only logical thing which was drown them in massive piles of jewelry from the warehouse and make them beg for mercy, also there was this horse thing that nobody could touch and she just casually goes “oh just a sec lemme summon a giant gold nugget that was probably at least a mile into the dirt because how else would it be this big” and he loves her and she rides him into victory. did i mention that hazel is my mom?? this is just one (1) of the sUPER RAD RESOURCEFUL THINGS that hazel manages to pull off)

• Ambition (hazel both believes and knows for a fact that she can literally do all of the things and she never once doubts herself like at all because she is AMAZEBALLS LIKE THAT. SHE WAS 13 AND THE AMAZONS WERE ALL LIKE “DANG GIRL WE WANT YOU ON OUR TEAM” and she was like “i got this huge to-do list but nbd i’ll get her done” like she is pURE CONFIDENCE AND. YES)

Also: SHE’S TOTALLY SUPER COOL WITH ALL THE THINGS AND IS NEVER FAZED. THAT IS MY GIRL.

Conclusion: HAZEL LEVESQUE IS SLYTHERIN AF AND WILL ALWAYS ACHIEVE HER ENDS NO MATTER HOW MANY GIANT SEA TURTLES SHE HAS TO FEED YOU TO. SALAZAR SLYTHERIN FRICKIN APPROVES AND THINKS THAT SHE IS JUST AS TERRIFYING AS ANNABETH.

Not gonna deny that my lil noob Frankie's a tRUE PURE-HEARTED GRYFFINDOR. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD AGREE WITH ME.

• Chivalry (WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A CHILD WHO WILL TRIP OVER HIS OWN FEET AND PUNCH HIMSELF IN THE FACE IF IT MEANS HE’S SHOWING RESPECT TO YOU. my dude doesn’t care who you are, he will literally always show you respect until he’s given a reason not to. everything he eVER DOES is because he’s PROTECTING SOMEONE or he’s GETTING A LIL BIT OF PAYBACK and if that’s noT A GRYFFINDOR THING THEN DAMN SON YOU SHOULD REALLY SORT OUT YOUR PRIORITIES)

• Bravery (if you’re going to come into mY HOUSE and tell me that FRANK ZHANG ISN’T BRAVE then feel free to hit yourself in the face with a hammer because guess what losers?? this kid loses his mom and then his gma just goes “oh by the way you’re half god and you have a gift that you need to figure out for yourself and also here’s this piece of wood, don’t burn it or else you will actually die, now go with this pack of fuckign wolves to camp so that monsters won’t attack you and you won’t die, plus when you get there you have to beg forgiveness for this thing that your great grandfather did or else they might literally murder you. have fun” and frankie just rOLLS WITH IT AND KICKS ASS WHILE BEING A CUTE LIL CHUBBY BUNNY. LET’S NOT FORGET ABOUT HOW HE COMPLETELY OBLITERATED A WHOLE CITY’S WORTH OF MONSTERS to appease a stupid ass god and save nico and hazel from being forever plants and he gets back and trippy is absolutely terrified of him because omg he’s glowing red and he actually did the thing and oh also he kind of scared me so much that i sort of forgot i was a god and had power over him)

• Nerve (let me repeat how FRANK ENOUGH NERVE TO THREATEN A GOD WITHOUT EVEN THINKING OF THE CONSEQUENCES. I’M SO DONE WITH THIS. THIS IS MY SHIT THANKS. PLS APPRECIATE FRANKIE YOURE ALL BREAKING MY HEART. Also remember how he entrusted his real actual lifeline to somebody who wasn’t him like daaang boi that is so pure)

Additionally: FRANK ZHANG IS THE REASON I AM ALIVE AND WELL. ALSO REMEMBER HOW HE BECAME PRAETOR?? I DO BELIEVE THAT IS THE MOST BADASS WAY ANYONE HAS EVER BECOME PRAETOR PLEASE AND THANKS

Conclusion: GODRIC GRYFFINDOR CRIED WHEN FRANK WAS SORTED INTO HIS HOUSE. GODRIC DOESN’T THINK HE EVEN DESERVES FRANK. FRANK CAN HAVE 4 OF HIS SWORDS.

THIS HAS BEEN A THING. A THING WITH HOUSES AND PJO. I HOPE THIS WAS ENTERTAINING AT LEAST. THANK YOU KINDLY.

[wanderfan2000]

Wander

Wander is, by default, free spirited, easily excited, up beat, happy and optimistic. He is prone to switching gears on a dime, going from laid back and mellow to sudden loud, fast‐talking outbursts of realization. This spiritedness should have a sincere childlike enthusiasm and innocence to it; he should never feel false, phony or insincere. It’s important to avoid casting someone that just does a “crazy cartoon” voice. There should be a warmth and sweetness amidst his manic lunacy.

Friendly/spazzy: WOW! WHAT A NEAT LITTLE TOWN! They got a castle and everything! Is that where the king lives? I never met a king before, I bet he’s nice, he’s gotta be with a town so nice! Friendly/sympathetic: Aww what’s wrong little fella, why ya’ all down in the dumps? Well your pal Wander’s got just the cure for that right here in my hat—OH, OH what’s this?! WELL IT’S A GREAT BIG HUG! Laid back: Aaaaaah! This is the life, Sylvia. The sound of the wind through the trees, the warmth of the two suns on your back and your best buddy by your side—or in my case, under your butt. Righteous: WAIT A CORNFORSAKEN MINUTE! THIS SO AIN’T RIGHT, IT’S DOWNRIGHT WRONG!! Laughing: Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

Sylvia

Sylvia does not consider herself a pessimist, she considers herself a realist. Though she’s strong enough, tough enough and capable enough to be one of the galaxies greatest vigilantes, her belief that no good deed ever goes unpunished keeps her constantly mumbling and grumbling under her breath every time Wander finds a soft enough spot in her heart to convince her to join him in an act of do-goodery. This constant state of exasperation does not derive from a source of hatred, rather it springs forth from an overwhelming frustration with the mindboggling idiocies of the universe and a clear idea of how things could and should work. In a world of chaos and nonsense where she adventures with an overly impulsive hero, Sylvia is often the only (and irritated) voice of reason and logic. In order to relate to her, it’s important to capture her frustration and pessimism while avoiding a voice that sounds too harsh or off-putting. Her sarcastic comments should be a source of comedy and not one of disdain.

Irritated/sarcastic: I told you, Wander, I told you this place looked like bad news! But did you listen? No, you were all (imitating Wander) “let’s go look at that neato skull ship! Maybe there’s nice folks there!” What about now? Think they’re nice now? Sarcastically complaining to self while kicking ass: Oh great the idiotic door won’t open when you push the flargin’ button <HYAAA! (kicks door down)> Well would you lookit that, a swarm of <ugh!> (punching) Watchdogs that want to <hng!> destroy me! <ug!> What’s this? THE GROP DERNED, SHIP IS EXPLODING!! HOORAY! Reluctantly giving in: Oh… all right, ya sappy bean pole. You can have ONE more—just stop it with those disgustingly adorable puppy dog eyes before I blorf. Nervous/apologetic: Heh heh. Sorry Lord Hater we’ll find it, promise! Heh, never knew skeletons could loose their skulls so easily, heh. Trying not to laugh: No, no, no, no, It’s not going to work. I don’t care how many hot dogs you can shove in you mout—SERIOUSLY, STOP IT, it’s not funny, IT’S NOT FUNNY!

Commander (Sergeant) Peepers

Sgt. Peeper’s could easily give Napoleon a run for his famous complex. Short, squishy and cute, Peepers would have taken over the universe well before his boss, Lord Hater, did, if it were not for his adorable stature. A brilliant tactician and a ruthless commander, it would have been easy—if only he could be taken seriously. His intelligence, penchant for engineering and inventing, along with his nasally, weasely voice and often nerdy demeanor doesn’t help. To compensate, Peepers has developed a MASSIVELY short temper. He can turn on you at a moment’s notice for only the slightest offense. In fact, he’s so quick to have a coronary, he comes across as cartoonishly bi‐polar. When he’s not on the verge of an aneurism from screaming, he may be calm and calculating, reflecting on the pleasantries of war making, and even congratulating his men on a job well done. The only being spared Peeper’s rage is Lord Hater. With much effort, Peeper’s manages to hold his tongue with his childish leader, holding his hand and coddling him even when he’s making the stupidest calls.

Sly/intimidating: Well, well, well if it isn’t Wander and Sylvia, Lord Hater and I have been looking for you two idiots for a very long time. Losing temper/having a coronary/Bi‐polar: (angry) WHAT?!! WHAT IS IT BOB!?! (to self) Unconquered Planet? How could that… Huh. Whattaya know ’bout that. Thought we got ‘em all. (maniacal) WELL WE’LL SURE TURN THEIR FROWNS UPSIDE DOWN!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! Seething/trying to hold back temper: Yes, your… royal heinousness. I think that’s a… fantastic… idea. It sure is a good thing that you thought of it and… not… me… I am but your humble… stupid… servant. Commanding: Yes! That’s it my obedient Watch Dogs, that’s it! Keep on the lookout for anything you see that could threaten or strengthen our power!! See what you will see and report back to me and we will continue to be the most FEARED FORCE IN THE GALAXY!!

Lord Hater

Upon first meeting him, Lord Hater fulfills every expectation one would have of the universe’s most loathsome intergalactic overlord bent on total domination. Large, imposing and powerful. Terrifying, heartless and cruel. He wields a deep booming voice that inspires fear and terror in the souls of all who hear it. However, and quite surprisingly, should anyone manage to get under his non‐existent skin, they will find the snarky, entitled heart of an immature, tantrum‐throwing teenager—but with the same deep booming voice. As it turns out, Hater’s bid to take over the galaxy is fueled by a deep emotional need to feel important. Perhaps his mother didn’t love him enough. Perhaps he had an older brother who was a bully. Perhaps in high school the jocks picked on him and the cheerleaders laughed at him for being a walking skeleton—who knows? For certainly all those big, fat, mean jerks have been destroyed by now. Lord Hater’s acting will have to constantly switch between a very believable scourge of the universe to an equally believable (not mocking) overly sensitive, emo teenager. Villianous/self important: I AM LORD HATER!!! The most feared, evil ruler in all the galaxy!! I have mangled the minds of millions! I have tempted forth torrential tides of tears! I have crushed the courage of countless kings! I have reduced the richest of republics to rubble and ruin! And I have done all of this because I am the GREATEST IN ALL THE GALAXY!! Whiny/bratty/tantrum‐my: IT’S NOT FAIR!!! I should have won the trophy! I’m the GREATEST IN THE GALAXY!! You guys are just a bunch of… of… of MEANY MEANERSONS!! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!!! Irate/snotty: Seriously Peepers did you see that??!! I mean seriously, they like totally wrecked my ship. It’s ruined! I mean look at this. It’s totaled. I am so mad right now I could just scream!! Insecure/sensitive: Ah jeez, who am I kidding? I’m such a failure. Nobody fears me. Nobody loathes me. They’re just saying that to make me feel better. Grop, I’m such a loser. Evil Laugh: WA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Found some early designs of Wander, Sylvia, Peepers and Lord Hater and I LOVE ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH!!! 

I wonder if the actors read these when they were cast as the characters... 

These and the descriptions were all found on Wander News. 

[tumblunni]

10 facts about trixie!

Oh wow, totally forgot I got this meme earlier this month??I’m sorry, buddy!

10 Trixie Facts:

* The protagonist adopted her, and they’d only been together for about three or four years before the zombie apocolypse started. But they’re absolutely, utterly a fire-forged bond that can never be broken. Mum spent like a decade trying to adopt a child, every time Trixie doubts that she’s really wanted her mother has a whole cabinet full of paperwork proving otherwise! And Trixie doubts so much because she was a ‘multiple offender’ at the foster home, she was almost adopted several times but all the people before Ms Boyd always returned her before even a year had passed. She was considered a problem case and so she became one, she became a cynical mess who never even tried anymore. But somehow this lady just would not give up on her no matter how much she tried to chase her away, and now she’s finally got the first stable home in her lifetime, and her first experience of a good parent......whiiiiich ended up being a problem, because Mum Boyd’s excessive optimism has led to keeping her daughter’s zombie around and pretending like nothing has happened. Trixie never predicted the full extent of her mother’s dedication on that day she asked “please never give up on me”.* At the start of the game, zombified Trixie’s awareness of this weird tall person who follows her around is pretty much a constant doubt emoji. So probably I’m gonna mix it up with occasional comedic interludes from her perspective, to break up all tha sad. Plus also to make it clear that this zombies do actually have some degree of a soul, and this isn’t just a story there’s no point in reading cos its guaranteed to have a bad ending.ANYWAY WHERE WAS IThe only part of herself she initially retained (aside from adorable grumpyness) was just this weird voice in the back of her head saying “Don’t eat this one.” And she’s pretty frustrated that it doesn’t even have the decency to run away like the others!She doesnt really know that she’s forgotten anything, so she’s been like

“Why is it here. What is happening. Its shaped like a thing but it isn’t. Why won’t it go away.”Just a wild haze of comparing this thing’s behaviours VS every other human, seriously where is the correlation, what is wrong with this “mum” and how do you define a “mum”. Is it like some sort of elite human superweapon??And even the heartfelt moments are totally ruined when you see inside Trixie’s head and she’s just like “WHY IT TOUCH ME”. Just slow zoom in on her terrified face mid-hug and the meme calculations fly across the screen..

* Eventually the conclusion she comes to is “It can’t be a food, it has to be another zombie.”When she first started trusting her mother again, it was from the perspective of a fellow predator, essentially. I mean, we have this nest here and we go hunting and scavenging together, right? We have those great bonding experiences like when we fought all those “bandit”! But this thing never seems to eat anything, and its weirdly obsessed with stuff that doesn’t matter, like these “money” that hurt my teeth.Conclusion: This is just a stupid zombie that needs my help to learn how to zombie.So she’s like a patronizing but affectionate tough love mentor to the Stupid Tall One, and sometimes she humours her and does the weird thing where you grab but do not eat each other. And I mean.. its a pretty sweet deal! It may be stupid but it’s tall! And it has a stick that goes boom! All i have to do in return is wear these weird itchy wool skins on top of my skin and not eat the other tall stupid things. It must be saving those for later.

* Aaaa I kinda have stopped doing Facts and its more like I’m just explaining the character’s story

* What number even is this

* OKAY ACTUALLY A TRIVIA FACT:Trixie has a weird fascination with those shampoo bottles shaped like fishes.Or I might make up a new original equivelant to avoid copyright issues, lol. Some sort of animal-shaped packaging with a collectable aspect! I thought it would be a fun thing you could find in the game. This ruined post-apocolyptic world and you’re trying to assemble the full set just to see your kid smile again, even if only for a moment. Surprisingly sad moments from shampoo fish!Tho cos Trixie is so grumpy and cynical she’s a bit embarassed about this silly hobby and tries to deny it at every turn. Just like *ASBSOLUTE BEAMING KAWAII EYES* “I hate it. I hate it so much it must sit on this shelf so I can hate it forever.”I was thinking maybe even they could kinda fullfill a small purpose as a mini portable garden? You’d modify them into small plantpots and could grow some minor herbs and flowers that you can carry around in your backpack. Just a nice way to make things feel a bit more normal, which is kinda necessary to our protagonist mom’s mental health. optimism meter or somethin?

* She likes her hat a lot. I probably need to figure out how to draw it looking more beaten up and less matching with the rest of her outfit, its meant to be one of the few things she kept when she was just a regular roaming zombie. It was like the first sign her mum had that she did at least remember something of her old life.Oh, and her mum likes collecting different badges to put on it. It started off as kinda similar to putting a bell on a cat so you know when its trying to escape, but now Trixie’s grown to like this strange human invention of the jangly forehead noise. She’s learned to take it off when the two of them are doing stealth operations, and even use it as a distraction to misdirect the enemy. Or to get away from the Tall Stupid One for a moment. Seriously what a dope, this ‘mum’ actually thinks its got me trapped! (Though the mittens are far harder to outsmart, who invented this evil hand covering?)

* Gameplay-wise, i think Trixie would be like a powerful speedster compared to other zombies. Kids surviving the infection isnt very common, and they usually die off quickly. They’re obviously not as strong as normal ones and theyre not exactly gonna get any stronger. But her advantage is that she’s more mobile because there’s kinda less complex machinery to animate, yknow? She’s got more speed and she’s smaller than pretty much every other enemy on both sides of this conflict, she can rush in with a kind of stealth and dexterity nobody expected zombies to possess.And the condition progresses faster in younger hosts, so the more supernatural side of her abilities is already manifesting early on. Her conciousness isnt really coherant enough to learn how to use it though, at the start its just like randomized limit break type bursts of shadow energy.Though, I mean, this doesn’t mean that she isn’t a physical attacker. She’s just more like long strings of multiple-hit combos, getting the same result even with her much lower attack stats. And still, even a weak zombie is stronger than the strongest human, aka the mum. mum is like a super survival hulk who can lift a damn sofa over her head, but that doesnt really help when fighting zombs so she’s usually a ranged gunner instead. I feel like its gonna work in a kind of elemental triangle with like.. human ranged/’tech attacks’ are effective against zombies, and melee isnt, but then zombie melee is super powerful and they arent able to compete with humans when it comes to ranged strategy. And then when the enemy is human vs human, you have a lot more trouble doing complex gunfighting, and your melee can actually compete against each other. or something. i’ll figure out whatever works best!

* Oh, but I think trixie also has more tech attacks than other zombies, because her personality as a human was very cynical and always prepared for anything. But she’d start off with no techs and only develop them as she regains her memories.One cute idea I had was her being able to turn soda cans and mentos into distraction grenades, and then like one out of ten attacks actually deals damage instead. Cos when you’ve got everyone frustrated dodging your exploding cans, they dont expect just a full can of tuna to bean them in the forehead XD

* I haven’t fully developed the circumstances of how she got infected, but I think it’s something where both her and her mom blame themselves for it. Like, maybe it was a confrontation with bandits or something, and Trixie did something reckless that led to them getting caught? But then Mum is like ‘oh god I failed to proect you’ and blames herself for her naive shonen protagonist optimism causing her to fall for some sort of trick, and then Trixie got bitten while saving her from it. So really they both messed up, its just tragic that only one of them lived to learn from it...

* Oh and for Maximum Tragedy, I don’t think it was even a fatal wound. It was probably like just a really small scratch and Mum kept trying to reassure Trixie that it would be fine, sinking into delusion while her poor 11 year old kid is the one who realized she was gonna die and was the only one willing to do something about it. So she had to suffer slowly fading away from illness over the next week, being TERRIFIED that her mum was refusing to let her go, and any second now she could become a zombie and kill her while she wouldnt even try to defend herself. So in the end, while Mum was all sitting in the corner all “ha.. ha... its just an ordinary cold... gotta stay positive”, Trixie packed a small bag of personal effects and ran away into the night, to find a place to die alone.in the end though, she left it too late and couldnt make it very far. Her last memory as she lay there dying was seeing the silhouette of her mother appearing on the horizon and knowing she’d failed to protect her :(

* Fun fact: no failure of protection actually happened, the two of them are both still around one year later, and if this writer has any say in it then I’m gonna find some damn way to write a happy ending.>:(

[briteboy]

WOW I’M FINALLY DOING THESE CHARACTER ASKS I NEVER ANSWERED SORRY

this is literally so long RIP me

33. Do they own any objects of significant personal importance?

rooney - “So...this is going to sound bad, but during my childhood, I spent my summers in France, and whenever we’d take trips to Paris I had this habit of stealing little knick-knacks from different shops...often little tourist-y things, kind of just a challenge for myself to see if I’d get away with it. I always did, and I kept it up throughout my teen years. I know, it’s bad. I lost most of the stuff, but I still have a lot of it and they’re all special to me even though I got them by very immoral means...gimme a break, I was a kid! Oh, and I also really treasure my grand-mere’s family recipes. And my tea garden, of course.”

gianni - “Truthfully, I don’t tend to value material things...I try to minimize my attachment to personal belongings so that I’d be able to get up and go anywhere with a moment’s notice if I wanted to. That being said, however, I do have quite a hefty collection of books that I’d probably miss if they were to perish in some disaster. I also have an incredibly unorganized collection of personal writings that I’d hate to part with...even though I can’t even begin to sort through them all in the first place.”

santi - “letters...a bong shaped like an elephant...but most of the important things stay in my head.”

39. Tell us about one of the times they got injured?

rooney - “When I was five I climbed an apple tree and fell about 10 feet and landed right on my back. It knocked the wind out of me and then an apple fell on my head and I had a bump on my forehead for a month, much to Audrey’s amusement. I’ve also suffered a lot of twisted ankles due to clumsiness.”

gianni - “I used to do a lot of sports in my youth, so injuries were like second nature to me...I must’ve broken every extremity at least once. They probably never healed right, either, because I was never one for resting.”

santi - “just one? well...i got into a pretty bad car accident once. no wait, okay okay, how about the time i wiped out so bad at the skate park that i broke my toe and the bone was literally sticking out? that was pretty good. or the time i broke my...nah nevermind, no one wants to hear about that. just take my word of advice: be careful in the cowgirl position, folks”

58. Do they ever have nightmares? If so, what about?

rooney - “I used to have a recurring nightmare where I’d be in a car that was driving except there was no driver. Every time I’d panic and take the wheel, except I didn’t know how to drive...I don’t remember anything past that, just that every time it happened, I woke up with my heart racing. I probably stopped having those dreams when I actually learned to drive, haha!”

gianni - “I periodically have dreams where I’m sucked into the couch into an alternate dimension. Some of them have turned into nightmares, but most are just bizarre.”

santi - “ha.”

(lmfao this b*tch)

65. If they knew they were going to die, what would they do/say?

rooney - “Probably just...‘I love you.’ No matter who I’d be saying it to...I’d just like to think the last words that leave my lips would be full of love. Unless, of course, I was brutally murdered by some serial killer. Then it’d probably be ‘Vete a la verga culero.’”

gianni - “’It’s all happening.’”

santi - “‘hey...wanna see a dead body?’”

32. Pet peeves?

FIRST OF ALL I’M SO GLAD YOU SENT THIS FOR BB FIONA OMG ;__; I CRY

anyway fiona’s pet peeves are line cutters, bad liars, commercials, when someone uses up all the peanut butter and forgets to throw the jar away, when people sugarcoat things or skirt around the truth, and when people call her fifi. do not ever call her fifi.

57. What D&D alignment are they?

OOOOOH FUCK YEAH fiona would be...honestly i think she’d be lawful evil lmao. or chaotic neutral. somewhere in between the two.

60. What is something that they’re sure to laugh at?

fart jokes 100%. 

4. What is their most embarrassing memory?

santi - getting caught streaking in boarding school and sub-sequentially losing a bet to drako. or spilling coffee beans all over himself in an attempt to impress a cute waitress at the bakery he worked at 🙃

gianni - when he first met rooney’s parents he had just begun learning spanish and tried to say he was embarrassed for spilling a drink on himself in all his nerves but accidentally used the word “embarazada”, thinking it meant embarrassed. so instead of saying “estoy muy avergonzado” (i am very embarrassed) he said “estoy muy embarazada” (i am very pregnant.) rooney’s dad had a good laugh out of that one.

rooney - most of rooney’s embarrassing moments are borne from her clumsiness. one time in middle school she tripped over thin air in front of her crush and rolled all the way down a hill and got a black eye from hitting her face on a rock at the bottom. she’s beauty she’s grace

lou - lou is one of those people who refuses to be embarrassed because she hates showing weakness. so if something embarrassing happens to her she’ll shrug and brush it off even if she’s secretly dying inside. often she’s always one step ahead, so if anything, she’ll be the one to catch you in the act and embarrass you.

7. Which of their relationships have impacted them most positively?

rooney - i think it goes without saying, gianni. audrey and her parents, and maisie and mars as well because she's learning the ropes of parenting through the way audrey interacts with them. her bffs 5ever, eli and cosmic <3 also idiot boy santi because in a way she is a lot like him, though not as lost. they help each other out when they’re in similar mindsets.

gianni - rooney of course, his parents, his bb boy santi ;-; all of his old dorm mates at boarding school, and his little one on the way (same goes for rooney)

santi - gianni, rooney, avey, his family even though he would fake his death in order to avoid them, his old dorm mates, eli and yes-- even miyu, lion-hearted girl, la pelirrojita, and.............fiona, above all. ;_____;

lou - fiona, her mother, audrey (and the rest of the wallace fam, but especially audrey because she works at the bakery with her), and.........orejudo.

20. Fears?

LMFOADSKGJKD 420 PLS I H8 U...i already did 4 so u just get 20 SORRY

santi has...a lot of fears. lmao. in fact, they kind of dictate everything he does, in case you couldn’t tell by his debilitating anxiety. rejection, failure, loneliness, disappointing his loved ones, confirmation that he really is as terrible a person as he thinks he is...and hurting the people he loves. that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

8. What’s the weirdest thing they’ve ever eaten?

rooney - one time her grandmother made her eat tripe. never again. she also used to eat bugs for money and candy when she was a kid.

gianni - he’ll try literally anything at least once, so he’s eaten a lot of weird shit. one time drako dared him to eat haggis. no ragrets

9. Describe the way that they sleep.

rooney - constant cuddler. she attaches herself to gianni’s body and makes it impossible for him to turn in the middle of the night. it’s okay, he doesn’t mind.

gianni - he spreads out and takes up the entire bed and somehow messes up the sheets and the covers in the process. rooney doesn’t need that much space when she’s constantly spooning him anyway tho

10. What is their favorite food/kind of food?

rooney loooooves egyptian food and middle eastern food. she always looked forward to taking trips to morocco when she lived in spain because they had the best food. she also has a weakness for lebanese cookies. and gianni is a big fan of indian food...but his mama’s lasagna has always been his favorite ;-;

19. Are they right or left handed?

both rooney and gianni are right handed! but gianni is trying to teach himself to be ambidextrous...emphasis on trying.

21. Favorite kind of weather?

rooney - sunny, blustery days where you can hear the trees whispering.

gianni - he loves the scorching heat of summer like nothing else.

30. Sunrise or sunset?

rooney - sunset

gianni - sunrise (he’s weird)

31. Are they more messy or more organized?

both rooney and gianni are messy people...that’s why their house is so cluttered. RIP

45. Do they believe in ghosts?

rooney and gianni both believe in supernatural things. rooney’s a lot more into it and will believe superstitions whereas gianni is a bit more practical, although he also accepts that there won’t be answers for everything and some phenomenons are just unexplainable. 

51. How do they usually celebrate their birthday?

rooney usually throws a star wars party because her birthday is may 4th. it’s usually her, gianni and santi, but also sometimes eli, miyu and audrey as well. last year they marathonned the OT and played a star wars drinking game (take a shot every time luke whines lmao)

gianni takes his bbys on a camping trip every year for his birthday, as you saw last year hehe

86. Do they like sweet foods?

rooney definitely has a sweet tooth. but she has a unique taste in desserts and likes to try new things, especially from different cultures. and if it’s too sweet, she won’t like it. gianni doesn’t really, but he does make an exception every time he visits the wallace’s bakery.

24. Do they prefer either hot or cold weather more?

santi definitely prefers hot to cold. he tries to preserve summer for as long as he can. it makes him feel like a phoenix starting anew.

36. Least favorite smell?

santi’s least favorite smell is probably the weird smell your pee gets after you eat a lot of asparagus. also artificial candle smells that are so sweet they’re gagworthy.

64. Upon seeing a slice of chocolate cake, what is their first reaction?

he kind of gets grossed out because it reminds him of that scene in matilda where the fat kid eats the entire chocolate cake. but then he’d probably eat it anyway because hey it’s cake!

28. Are they happy where they are currently?

santi - NO lmao. well...it fluctuates. it was good for a while...now he’s stuck again.

lou - she wants to be happy but she won’t let herself be because she feels an impending sense of letdown. she always gets let down.

29. Are they a morning person?

santi - hell fckin no lmao

lou - not if she can help it. both she and fiona hate waking up in the morning to get fi ready for school. but they suffer for the sake of education

30. Sunrise or sunset?

santi- sunset, always sunset (i think i answered that before but whatev)

lou - sunrise. she’s only seen one once in her life, so it’s a pretty special time to her. but referring to the last question, she’s not a morning person, so...

31. Are they more messy or more organized?

santi is messy as fuck. but we knew that. lou tries to stay as organized as possible, but sometimes she just gets overwhelmed and lives in the mess for a little while.

32. Pet peeves?

santi - when you only get like one wonton in your wonton soup, remembering something specific that’s just on the tip of your tongue but never quite getting it, that level of drunk/high where you start to feel yourself coming down and you realize just how lackluster everything is again.

lou - talking in circles, bullshit, repeating herself, family feud episodes that don’t feature steve harvey as the host, dirty dishes and bad reception.

33. Do they own any objects of significant personal importance?

already answered this for santi aheh

but lou treasures the few baby pictures she has of fiona because she wasn’t able to afford a camera or even a nice phone at the time. ;-;

34. Least favorite food?

santi - lobster. he fucking hates lobster. also those cheap chocolates with the cherry inside, blech. also not a fan of mushrooms.

lou - PEEPS. she ate too many one easter as a kid and now she gags at the sight of them. oh and tomatoes.

35. Least favorite color?

santi - grey, but not silver. he likes silver.

lou - chartreuse. and most shades of green. she only likes one very specific shade of blue-toned green.

36. Least favorite smell?

already did this for santi ohoho

as for lou, she can’t stand the smell of bacon. it’s too overpowering. it’s fine at first but then it gets to be too much, and she doesn’t even care for bacon anyway. also that garbage smell the periodically wafts through the air in the city, especially when you’re driving through new jersey lmao

37. When was the last time they cried?

santi? who tf knows. he’s always crying. he’s probably crying as we speak. lou, though...she hates crying. it makes her feel vulnerable. if she cries in front of you, it’s the real deal. especially if u make her cry...then wow. ur a monster

38. Were they with anybody the last time they cried?

U ALREADY KNOW THIS ABOUT SANTI. but lou...probably not. she’s kind of a loner, especially when showing that side of herself :{

[scribbles-by-kate]

Thoughts on 7.20 “Is This Henry Mills?”

This episode is such a beautiful tribute to the Regal Believer relationship. As we come to the end of the show, it’s fitting that the last centric should be on the central relationship of the show: Regina and Henry. Henry is the whole reason the Evil Queen found her heart again, and I love the story that’s told in this episode about them and how they find their way back to each other.

I have to rave about these writers - Dana Horgan and Leah Fong have impressed me so much this season. They’re the writers behind “Beauty” and “The Girl in the Tower”, and they’ve done something in each of their episodes that it’s difficult to do in such a plot driven show: they’ve made time for quiet relationship moments. We saw some lovely moments between RumBelle in “Beauty” and between Curious Archer in “The Girl in the Tower”, and it’s the same here. The ladies have a magical way of blending drama with character moments, and drawing you in. They create such beautifully crafted stories, and it’s so evident here.

Regina and Henry in Storybrooke - I love this whole story about Henry trying to find his path after high school, and Regina not wanting to lose him, but ultimately finding the courage to let him follow his own path. I love how she’s measuring his height at the beginning (reminds me of Rumple keeping track of Bae growing with the notches on his staff). I also love how Regina’s voice sounds in this portion of the episode. Kudos to Lana Parrilla, because she makes Regina sound like that kind, gentle girl again. You realise that Regina has found her way back to that, and that’s so lovely. She’s full of happiness, throwing herself into her role as mayor and her life in Storybrooke, and she’s happy. I love it. And I love Henry’s uncertainty about his next step too, because he isn’t just any kid: he’s the product of fairy tales, and how does he negotiate a path for himself in the real world with his background? Henry always wanted to be the hero in the story, so I think it was inevitable that he would chose to return to his roots rather than go out into the world beyond Storybrooke, but it’s lovely to see him try to puzzle out what to do, and to talk to his mom about it. She loves him so much, she’ll be proud of him no matter what he does :)

Henry’s belief - I think it was really important to see that waver. We’ve seen it happen before, and he’s always found his way back from that, but he’s an adult now, so is he still the Truest Believer? And we find that he is. He refuses to believe Roni, and holding the book doesn’t work for him, but what Henry needs is something from this world: the adoption papers. And of course they turn up in his bag magically, because they were on the counter at the bar, so fate or magic wanted Henry Mills to see those papers and think ‘maybe…’. And it works!

Henry calling Henry - I mean, this is not a new idea, but we’ve all known for a while, or guessed, that the curse was happening ‘now’, so there was a young Henry out there somewhere. It was inevitable that someone would call their younger self, so why not Henry? It was really well done too. I loved the back and forth between them, and the way both of them touched their heads the same way. I love that it’s this which makes Henry remember, because he remembers how odd that call was, and then, of course, young Henry finds the bean that sends him off on his adventure. I love how that all comes full circle. Plus, the fact that Henry always remembers that phone call means it always happens, so the characters will always do what they did. I mean there won’t be any going back to the past to change things, and nothing that happens in the future changes what happened here, because all of these experiences make the characters who they are, so the show can’t erase them. They can take the characters back to their own time period, but Henry always remembering that phone call means it always happens.

Henry and Lucy - her anger and frustration is just like young Henry’s when he was trying to get Emma to believe, well, maybe more her frustration (Lucy is a fiery child :) ), and then he does, and Henry’s reaction when he remembers her is so lovely. He gets all teary and has that ‘dad’ look on his face :)

Poor Regina when she’s trying to get Henry to believe - I felt for her so much. This is her little boy, the one who always believed in her, the one who saved her, and now he’s rationalising away his belief, and it’s really hard for her. But then she understands: she gets that his pain stems from not being able to save his family when they were cursed. That scene in the bar is so good. Andrew and Lana really do such a fabulous job. Regina’s trying to get through to Henry, and she’s so desperate, but Henry is just so done. It’s like when Emma told August that she didn’t want to be needed. Henry’s just not ready quite yet. But then it doesn’t take much for him to be ready, or for him to actually believe again, so he still is the Truest Believer :)

Called it! - I knew it was going to be a Regal Believer kiss that broke the curse. Every time they talk up someone’s kiss breaking the curse, they go another way, so it wasn’t going to be Ella and Henry who broke the curse. Regina and Henry breaking the curse is fitting, especially since she contributed to casting the curse to save Henry’s life. And that scene where she’s unconscious and Henry is trying to get through to her is so beautiful. Andrew was so good there, so like a little boy trying to wake his mama up. I loved that. Andrew has been such a brilliant adult Henry this season. They really struck gold with this casting, and he’s been so good with Lana: they really made it work.

Hook and Rumple - first, I love how Hook tricks Sam and is able to get away when he can’t get through to Alice (and, side note, please rescue Sam from Gothel!!!), and then I love that scene with Rogers and Rumple. Rogers is so confused, doubting what he’s seen, yet knowing he’s seen it, and knowing that Tilly is his daughter, even though it should be impossible. And Rumple is so patient, just listening, confirming what needs to be confirmed, and helping Rogers see the truth. Bobby is so good here as well, because he just pulls back and lets Colin show all of his character’s confusion and fear, while Bobby just keeps it quiet and reassuring and patient. It’s the mark of a good actor when they know how to let their screen partner have the spotlight. Lana does it beautifully with Andrew in the bar scene too. And then Rumple calling Hook captain is so good :)

I love Rumple leading Hook to Margot - Rumple is wise enough to know that it’s love Alice needs to try to get her out of the grip of Gothel’s magic, and he’s just straightforward and direct with Margot. And I love how Margot is just like ‘ok, no big deal: I’ve seen some weird stuff before’. I love how she tries to get through to Alice as well. Even though it doesn’t work (it does a bit, since we see Alice crying), it’s still a lovely moment.

Rumple and Regina - I knew he would try to find a way to make amends to her and Henry. Him realising that he might not get back to Belle, so he should help the family he has is a big realisation for him, and I think she understands how painful and difficult this is. I don’t think she forgives him in this moment, exactly, but she does allow him to help her, and I think her calling his name when he shows up with the cavalry later indicates that she’s glad to see him, and that she’s probably closer to forgiving him than she’ll admit openly yet. Like I said, she wouldn’t have been so upset with him if she didn’t care about him and their relationship, and she was deeply hurt, but I think his apology and his desire to help went a long way towards her deciding she wasn’t done with him after all.

The curse breaking - is so good, because everyone remembers, and it’s partly funny (‘Welcome back, Captain Hook’) and very touching. Alice’s little squeak when Robin goes to kiss her is so cute, and then seeing all the people gathering in the garden is a lovely touch, and I’m sure that was written into the script - more thoughtful insight from Leah and Dana.

Alice stopping Gothel - this is so good, because you have Alice, who doesn’t have a lot of faith in herself, being supported and bolstered by Rumple, her father, and her girlfriend. And her speech to Gothel is amazing. She manages to distinguish herself from her mother, but also is able to bestow a little kindness by making the stunted tree look somewhat beautiful. Alice won’t make the mistakes her mother did. She won’t let the cruelty she’s experienced make her cruel. Such a powerful moment. And I love Hook holding his daughter’s hand even though it causes him pain. You can see how much she needs that when she smiles in delight. It’s been such a long time since she’s felt her father’s touch, and she needs it. That support is what makes her able to face her mother.

Home is the people in it - Henry’s words are very similar to what his father told his other mother once: that you know you had a home when you miss it when it’s gone. And now we see all the characters gathered in the garden, curse broken, Robin holding Alice as her father is wheeled away, supporting her, and then you have Rumple looking around, seeing everyone’s together, and quietly stealing away. Of course the people gathered there are his family, but he’s missing his home. I love henry’s voiceover there as everyone’s together, and then his family appears, and it’s all complete.

Rumple and the travel book - it’s a surprise, because you automatically think he’s going to get the dagger, even though he’s not going to the lockbox. You just think he’s moved the dagger or something, but then he pulls the travel book out of the cupboard, and you think ‘oh, that’s what he was looking for: he wanted to be reminded of his Belle’. It makes sense, because he can’t be with her, but he has memories of her. I love that it’s revealed that the travel book is his most precious possession, not the dagger. He’s more angry about Facilier stealing the book than he was about the dagger. Also, the book travelling over in the curse means that it, like the cup, is a symbol of True Love :)

Rumple and Facilier - he still thinks he’s not going to make it home to Belle, but he’s not going to let the feeling that he’s failed turn him back into a monster. Facilier goads him and pushes at him, and he reacts, but he can’t go through with it. He’s holding the travel book, and thinking of Belle, and he loves her too much, and misses her too much, and he’s not this man any more. And was this what Facilier wanted all along? Did he want to be shown that Rumple had lost his edge? And what would he have done with that knowledge? Was his intention to take Rumple’s place as the big, bad sorcerer? Was it a rivalry aspect they were going for? Did he feel threatened by Rumple and want to defang him? Possibly. We’ll never know now, since Facilier’s kind of got his wish. He said that the next time Rumple came after him, he’d better be ready to finish the job, and, well… A Rumple does finish the job. Poor Rumple looked absolutely stunned when he saw his other self.

And now we set up for a grand finale in which Rumple faces off against the worst version of himself. And doesn’t that make a great deal of sense: to finish the show with the worst version of Rumplestiltskin as the bad guy?