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snowbellewells · 3 years

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Self Promo Sunday: “Kingdom Come”

This is another one of my early Captain Swan one shots, this one written during the hiatus between 3a and 3b. The idea entered my head when I first heard "Demons" by Imagine Dragons, which is where the title and the lyrics included come from. There was also some added inspiration from episode 3x06 "Ariel" and episode 3x07 "Dark Hollow". I don't think there is anything in here that goes against show canon; it's mostly imagined thoughts and missing scenes that go along with what has happened, and some guesses at what we may see when "Once" returns again in March.

As always, I have no claim to the show, the characters, or the song used. They belong to their creators and I'm merely celebrating their genius!

Also available on both AO3 and ff.net

“Kingdom Come”

by: @snowbellewells

He knew that he should have kept his distance. She was shining light in contrast to his dark shadow, and a villainous wretch was the last sort she needed to have dogging her steps. Yet from their first meeting – knife at his throat, fingers fisted in his hair, hard, dangerous eyes hiding tense, nervous fear – he hadn't been able to pull away. He had no choice but to follow her. Call it a compulsion, an addiction, but he was as drunk on her as he had ever been on his chosen rum, and he despaired from the moment she left him chained atop that bloody beanstalk to any time she had left his side since.

The words Cora had hissed at him in warning echoed back to him, "You chose her…and the consequences of that decision…" Whether it was good or bad for either of them didn't seem to matter to his black, barely-beating heart. It was true: he had chosen the Swan girl…

When the days are cold

and the cards all fold

and the saints we see

are all made of gold

When your dreams all fail

and the ones we hail

are the worst of all

and the blood's run stale

It had become even clearer to him after the Echo Caves. When he had bared his soul and the feelings he harbored for her to be met with only silence and Emma's panicked uncertainty, fearless pirate he might be, but Killian Jones knew he should take a step back. The incredible, unparalleled kiss they had shared in the Neverland jungle told him the Savior was as attracted as he, but she was not ready for him. Her sole focus was on her boy – as it should be – but beyond that, she was running scared from anyone else who might try to breach her emotional defenses.

He knew it had been too much, too soon, to unload the truth about feeling that he could love again upon meeting her, and if he had been free to proceed as himself – as Killian Jones wooing a lady properly – he would have never been so clumsily blunt, but instead he was a pirate captain desperate to prove his loyalty and worth, while stuck on Peter Pan's nightmare island. They had needed to get Neal back without further delay and return to seeking Henry, and so he'd had to make clear that he was correct in the way the infernal cave worked. It had not been easy to look into her beautiful, tormented eyes when he had offered his confession, hoping he hadn't driven a wedge which would push her even farther away. It had been even worse to see her run across the bridge formed for her of their painful admissions, right up to Baelfire without giving him a word of comfort, encouragement, or thanks. He felt his shoulders slump in defeat, hurting more than he had imagined, when the cage holding the Crocodile's son vanished at words from Emma which he could not hear, and she fell into the embrace of her first love.

Killian felt her slipping away – if she had ever been within his grasp at all. Bowing his head, he hid the pain in his eyes from Snow White and Prince Charming's curious, searching gazes. Burning fire within him seared away the tentative hope he had foolishly let kindle within. He was nothing but a pirate, as the Prince had reminded him not so long ago. Though he couldn't help wanting to hold her, it was probably for the best…

I wanna hide the truth

I wanna shelter you

But with the beast inside

there's nowhere we can hide

No matter what we breed,

we still are made of greed

This is my kingdom come,

This is my kingdom come

There was no longer any doubt. He was a fool – a sodding, pathetic fool. For him to let a glimmer of belief take root in his chest again was begging for misery, but Killian Jones had felt it growing all the same.

Venturing into the Dark Hollow had been a risky, desperate move at best, but after his face-off with Baelfire and discovering that Emma had not even deemed what had been brewing between them worth mention, self-preservation had not been so high atop his list. He had barely cared what happened to him in their suicide quest to capture Pan's shadow.

Of course, the fiend trying to rip his shadow from his body had jolted things into focus with frightening clarity; especially when he realized that Baelfire was facing the exact same fate, but it was his moniker of 'Hook!' that Emma cried out in horror. That she found the power to magically light their star map shadowcatcher just after her concern for him surfaced was not lost on Killian. No matter how much he cautioned himself not to dwell on it, he couldn't ignore the implications. Emma might not want to admit it, might not be free to show it, but when push came to shove, she cared more for him than she wished to admit.

He had not lied to her when he had promised no deviousness or trickery. If Emma Swan – the Enchanted Forest's lost princess – ever gave him the chance to truly win her heart, he would use no dishonorable means. He understood good form and had once dreamed of being a hero. He might be an orphan and a pirate, not some prince or man of noble blood, and his thirst for revenge had kept him lost in villainy for countless years, but he still had honor, could strive to show it valiantly once again. He knew deep down that she wanted him; what he did not know was if Swan would ever allow herself to acknowledge her desires. He could only vow that he would endeavor to deserve her if she came to him with such a golden opportunity.

Swan needed some joy and lightheartedness in her life. Though she looked fragile, she was hard as steel; she'd had to be for far too long. To him, her beauty was unrivalled, but it was clear that Emma did not see that in herself. He wanted to worship her as she deserved, unfit as he might be to do so. Killian Jones wanted to restore her lad to her, heal the wounds of her past, love her unconditionally, and never leave her side. He trembled to risk pulling her that close; his history proving over and over that anyone he dared to love had suffered a horrible fate. It was better his own heart be crushed than for her to suffer harm by nearness to him. Still, if he fought back the darkness he had sunk into, shouldn't he be allowed to step into the light?

When you feel my heat,

look into my eyes

It's where my demons hide

Don't get too close

It's dark inside

It's where my demons hide

She came to him at the helm of his ship once Henry was truly safe and resting peacefully with Regina watching over him. There had been a scare when Pan had tried to take Henry from them once again, but it appeared Rumplestiltskin's strength had indeed been greater than the ageless boy's, and their antagonist was now trapped safely in Pandora's Box. Sighing as she came to a stop just beyond arm's reach from him and leaned against the Jolly's hull, Emma didn't know if weariness or relief was winning within her at present. She was not sure that seeking out Hook when her emotions were such a mess was a good idea, but it was a need all the same. She was drawn to him like a magnet – impelled to speak to him, to thank him for helping them to get this far…to make sure that he was alright.

Emma knew he had been left hanging, knew he wanted more. What she didn't know was what she had to give. It had nothing to do with still doubting his motives or that he was a pirate; Hook had long since proven himself in her eyes. She simply wasn't sure her heart could let any man in the way he would want and deserve. She found it didn't matter though: she still ached to be near the Captain. He calmed her, despite the turmoil she had been in ever since this voyage started, and his constant support at her back, whatever the situation or whatever her decisions, had given her strength. She wanted to tell him so; if nothing else, he ought to know what it meant to have had him in her corner and that she would not soon forget it.

"Hook…" she began, then shook her head to cut herself off, knowing that wasn't right. Her corrected word came out breathy and more ragged than she had intended, "….Killian…"

He turned to face her when she spoke his name, though he had already known she was there. Just then, she could see everything he was feeling in those ocean blue eyes. Though their decadent depths often smirked, prodded, threatened, or demanded as the situation called for, at that moment they were raw, reflecting mirrors letting her see right into his exposed inner soul.

All the words she had intended to give him flew from her head, and Emma was left standing frozen, swallowing hard and wondering why she wanted to talk at all. With that in mind, she moved to stand before him, just within his reach, when one corner of his mouth tilted up in a tempting smirk as he beckoned her closer. Obviously pleased with himself, he took things a step farther, resting both hand and hook at either side of her waist, his thumb rubbing soothing circles that she could feel the warmth of through the waistband of her jeans, as if he were stilling a skittish animal so it didn't flee. "Was there something you wished to discuss with me, Love?"

"I…" her mouth went dry staring into his eyes and she struggled to focus on anything other than the desire for a second kiss from him, but she finally pieced together coherent words. "I just wanted to thank you…for everything. We couldn't have even followed Henry without your ship and your help. David would be dead by now. And I, well, I just…"

"Come, Lass, it's just me. There's no need to be so formal. I offered you my ship and my services, and I meant it." As he said these words, he was slowly, deliberately, pinning her in his gaze so she understood just how much it did mean to him. He placed the cool, smooth curve of his hook under her chin, tilting her face up to meet his.

"But – it's just – it's so much more than that," she floundered, and if she weren't so grateful and attracted and muddled all at once she would have been irritated that he could sound so composed and romantic while she struggled to get a sentence out. Emotional tears almost welled over her eyelids, but she blinked them back and stepped closer yet, almost begging him to hold her, causing their noses to nearly brush. Looking up at him, she hoped that just maybe her eyes could convey her affection, gratitude, and want without the words that seemed lost to her. Biting her lower lip in nervous anticipation, Emma raised her eyes, blinking, to his cerulean gaze and prayed he would simply read her scrambled mind.

Chuckling low in his throat, Killian seemed to do just that, and wrapped his muscled arms around to reel her in. "All you had to do was ask, Love," he teased, lightly ghosting his lips over her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, forestalling the inevitable and making her heart thud erratically even as she grew impatient for his lips to reach hers. Just as she had grabbed him and driven their first kiss – fast, desperate, bruising – he was taking over this second one, creating a slow, languorous, building simmer that Emma wasn't sure she would survive.

Killian's hand came up to cradle her head, hook resting along her neck on the other side, the one bit of cool relief to the fire in which he had engulfed her. His calloused fingers stroked along her jaw as if hoping to coax her nearer still. This kiss carried their feelings in it; there was still heat and passion, but below it thrummed something more, something deeper: it required a decision. Emma's breath caught at the realization that this kiss was something which might last.

Killian was thinking, hoping, the same thing, hardly daring to believe, but unable to stop it either. Greedy thief and pirate that he was, he wanted more of Emma; it would never be enough. Fool he might be, but he did not aim to stop until he had stolen her very heart. Not so long ago, he had been rudderless, with nothing in this world to keep him but his vengeance. Now, he prayed that he could change his course. At last, he had something to fight for, someone to hold dear. Killian Jones – Captain Hook – had despaired of being anything else but hell bound…until she crossed his path. Perhaps he might still find redemption in Emma. Heaven had to know his every effort and act for good has been due to her. It's all for her.

Don't wanna let you down

but I am hell bound

Though this is all for you,

don't wanna hide the truth…

This is my kingdom come

The door slams in his face – her door – and Killian lets himself slump against the wall, dejected. It all happened so quickly and now Emma is gone. She is beyond his grasp, as he had always known she was. He has waited so long to see her lovely face again, traveled so far, and though he tried to prepare himself for the very reaction he received, it didn't hurt any less when she gave him the blank look which told him his Swan no longer knew him.

Upon their forced return to the Enchanted Forest, he had tried to steer clear of everyone. Angry, wounded, and bitter, he had wanted nothing more than to hide himself below deck on the Roger and drink until he couldn't think of how being ripped from her just when she had given him a chance had hurt. He had not wanted to be near anyone and had made horrible, snarling company when someone forced the issue, but that had not stopped Snow and Charming. Emma's parents were a painful reminder of her, but no matter how he strove to avoid them and steer clear, they would not leave him alone.

It was exasperating how they kept trying to draw him into rebuilding the castle and their kingdom, tried to cheer him up, provided work for he and his crew as supplies were needed from other ports, and generally would not allow him to wallow in his misery as he had desired. They kept repeating that they had faith this separation would not last forever. For some unfathomable reason, he seemed to have found his way into their affection, and they would not let him despair either.

When Regina had finally put together a memory restorative potion, he had been willing to concede that these royal types and their unending hope were not so completely off base. The former evil queen had been almost pleasant and much more willing to help ever since meeting Robin Hood – apparently the man she had been destined to meet long ago. Some of the dangerous emptiness and hurt left her eyes when she was around the archer, and especially near his young son. Killian knew that she hoped Emma would find a way back and bring Henry if she could be made to remember. Regina also knew the rules of the second curse well though; she was to give up the thing she loved most. She couldn't be the one to go after them, couldn't force her hand. She would have to trust those whom she had spent so long fighting against.

Killian had been stunned however when David and Snow both championed his undertaking the quest. Something knowing flickered between the Prince and Princess' eyes, but he didn't waste time trying to figure it out. He was too grateful, touched, and ridiculously anxious to get going, whatever the mode of travel, to ask questions.

Now, faced with the harsh truth, he almost forgets the potion tucked into a pocket of his vest. He had to try True Love's Kiss, had to see for himself if it were possible. He shouldn't have even entertained the dream, and yet he couldn't help himself. He truly thought she loved him…but maybe she still does and has simply forgotten. He has come too far to turn back now without seeing his mission through. Any realm he tries to make his life in now will be empty without her regardless. He will wait for his moment, and he will try again…

They say it's what you make

I say it's up to Fate

It's woven in my soul

I need to let you go

Your eyes they shine so bright

I wanna save that light

I can't escape this now,

Unless you show me how…

Killian stands outside the large, several story building where Emma and Henry now reside, oblivious to the crush of people rushing around him on all sides, looking up to the window he knows is theirs, comforted by the fact that, though she may not remember him right now, they are once again in the same place and time. He can get to her, and he will succeed in bringing her back to her family…and to him.

That she wants him to keep his distance right now means little. He is sorry that she is at last safe with her son and free of the heavy weight of her destiny and he seeks to interrupt that. However, he thinks he knows Emma well enough to believe she would not wish for an illusion over truth; even if it pained her, she would rather face reality. He knows that much of his Swan.

Villain that he has been, that the world has always seen, the selfless action would be to let her go, but he cannot allow himself to admit defeat. Emma has never truly been loved – treasured – as she ought to have been, as he had planned to do. He fervently wishes to be the one to show her what it is to be wholly adored. He wants her to know that she is his whole world, and he needs the chance to see if she can love him in return, keep him striving to live again. The demons that still haunt him, that say her kingdom and his black soul are already lost, try to whisper that he will fail. Their voices hiss that he will never bring her back, that her knowledge and memories are lost forever. Killian pushes those insidious echoes from his mind. Soon, he will meet her haunting, storm-tossed eyes again, and he will make her see.

This is my kingdom come…

Tagging a few others who may enjoy: @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @laschatzi @whimsicallyenchantedrose @thislassishooked @resident-of-storybrooke @ilovemesomekillianjones @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @scientificapricot @tomeandflickcorner @lfh1226-linda @xsajx @stahlop @donteattheappleshook @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @darkcolinodonorgasm @elizabeethan @wefoundloveunderthelight @jonesfandomfanatic @spartanguard @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl

#self promo sunday #cs ff #cs one shot #season 3a missing moments #ouat 3b spec fic #kingdom come

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elizabeethan · 4 years

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The Days We Defend (Will Turn to Gold)- Chapter 9/10

Everything is perfect, until it isn’t. Killian and Emma have spent months building a life together after finally defeating Neal and Gold, but when the Dark One dies and his power becomes untethered, everyone in Storybrooke is at risk, and some decisions may have lasting consequences.

Sequel to Walk With Me (I Think We’ll Find A Way)

Previous Chapters

Read on Ao3

A/N: Surprise, it’s early! One chapter to go after this one!!! Let me know what you think... It’s a doozy.

Thank you to my good pal @the-darkdragonfly for being an amazing beta!

Tagging: @courtorderedcake @kmomof4 @stahlop @klynn-stormz @laschatzi @emelizabeth88 @lfh1226-linda @kday426 @elisethewritingbeast @timeless-love-story @captain-emmajones @gingerpolyglot @ebcaver @ilovemesomekillianjones @teamhook @superchocovian @itsfabianadocarmo @tiganasummertree @gingerchangeling @jrob64 @onceratheart18 @xhookswenchx @winterbaby89 @swampmedusa @ultraluckycatnd @dancingnancyy @love-with-you-i-have-everything @shireness-says @snowbellewells @hollyethecurious @ouatpost @daxx04 @the-darkdragonfly @donteattheappleshook

They wait outside of the vault for what feels like hours. Realistically, it couldn’t be more than thirty seconds before someone speaks up, but the tension is palpable to everyone present, thick enough to slice with the dagger they just entrusted in the hands of Baelfire.

“So, how is this supposed to work?” Emma asks the Apprentice, breaking the silence in what Killian can sense is overwhelming nerves.

“You, as the Savior, are the proprietor of the most powerful Light Magic. As the person who removed your potential for darkness, I am the possessor of the counter to your lightness. Combining our powers will charge the hat enough to absorb the Darkness.” His answer is casual, as if it should be obvious to them all.

She’s pacing nervously, rolling her eyes at his mention of the removal of her potential for darkness. Killian almost wonders what may have happened if she had taken the darkness all those weeks ago based on the removal of such, but shoves those thoughts from his head. “It’s all a bit ridiculous, if you ask me,” she says.

“I’m sure it seems that way, but you must believe in your ability to wield your magic, Savior.”

“He’s right, mom,” Henry adds. “If anyone can get my other mom back, it’s you.”

She shoots her son a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes as she rings her hands together, holding them close to her just below her ribs. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid,” she murmurs.

Killian sighs, realizing once more that the more time that passes, the greater opportunity Bae has to cheat them all. Before he can voice his opinion, though, Robin speaks up. “Should we go in and check now? It’s been a few moments.”

“Yeah,” Emma breathes out. “He’s had more than enough time to subdue her.”

Once they’re inside, Emma pushing the tomb away from the vault’s entrance effortlessly with her magic, they creep down the dark stairs and into the halls of Regina’s safe haven. It’s dank and smells of mildew, and he wonders why she wouldn’t use her Dark Magic to polish the place up a bit.

“Savior,” the Apprentice says, “we’re close enough; we can pause here to charge the hat.”

Emma nods, taking a deep breath and hugging herself around her middle, crossing her arms stiffly in her stress. “Okay,” she says with her voice low.

The Apprentice’s explanation of what she needs to do seems somewhat complicated, but despite her inexperience with her magic, Emma seems to understand perfectly. The two of them stand across from one another with the hat sitting between them and he waves his hands over it until it begins to move. As he works, Emma glances up at Henry and Killian, giving them an encouraging but not quite believable smile.

Before they know it, the cylindrical lockbox housing the hat is jumping in place until the hat itself appears. The Apprentice continues to explain what she should do, and she concentrates harder than he’s ever seen her; the look of determination on her face gives him hope that this will work. Her resolve and conviction makes it impossible for him not to believe in her. The bright look of surprise across her features once the two of them stop using their magic tells him that it must have worked, and the hat glowing in anticipation of its use.

“You did it!” Henry exclaims, rushing to her and wrapping her in a hug which she returns easily. “I knew you could.”

Killian releases a breath that he didn’t know he was holding, stepping towards her and taking her hand once she’s released from Henry’s grasp. She goes to him happily, a triumphant smile across her face as she lets go of his hand in favor of pulling him into a tight hug.

“Job well done, Swan,” he says into her hair. “We never doubted you for a second.”

She pulls from him and giggles softly, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips and then stepping away, a silent agreement made among all of them that they must continue on. Once they’re far enough into the vault, sneaking quietly along the stone floor, they hear the quiet conversation going on between Regina and Bae.

“I saw what he said this morning,” the Dark One says confidently. “I used mirror magic and was able to see exactly what my son thinks of you these days. It shouldn’t be hard to convince him that I’m doing the right thing here.”

“You’re insane,” Bae responds, groaning in pain suddenly.

“No, I’m motivated. There’s a difference. Your little plan didn’t work like I’d hoped, so I suppose I’ll have to go with my backup plan.”

He’s breathing heavily as he says, “and what, you think killing me is the best way to go about getting what you want?”

Killian sees Emma tensing as she picks up her pace, tucking herself behind a corner close to where Regina and Bae have met. She glances back at everyone else nervously as the conversation continues.

“I finally found the spell I need to remove the darkness. I only need one more special ingredient.”

“Wait!” Emma shouts forcefully, as if she didn’t think before revealing herself in a desperate attempt to stop Regina in her tracks. “Regina, whatever you’re doing, just wait.”

“Savior,” she says venomously. “I was wondering when you were going to show yourself.”

It’s clear that she knew that Emma was here all along, but whether she’s aware of the presence of the other five people standing in her vault, he can’t be sure.

Emma steps around the corner fully, making herself seen and holding her hands up placatingly . “We have a plan, Regina. If you want to remove the darkness, we can help you with that.”

“Right. I’m sure the princess of Light Magic is going to help the Dark One. Step away, Miss Swan, and let me finish what I’ve started.”

“How long have you had his heart?” Emma asks, and Killian desperately wishes that he could see the scene playing out behind this wall.

Regina laughs lightly, ominously, and says, “I’m not surprised you didn’t notice. Meanwhile, how quickly did you realize that he had the pirate’s? I suppose that goes to show how she truly feels about you,” she says, and he can only assume she’s speaking to Bae now.

“Please just put it down,” Emma begs. Killian has to assume that she got the dagger away from Bae somehow because she evidently has his heart and can control him, likely coercing him into giving it to her. Otherwise, he’s certain that they would have commanded her to stop as they had planned.

He sees Henry starting to stir, so he holds up a hand and shoots him a glare that says don’t even think about it. The last thing they need is for Henry to put himself in harm's way. The lad leans back against the wall silently.

“Give me the hat and maybe I will,” she negotiates.

“Regina, please just trust us. We want to help you, and we have a plan. A good plan! We can help you get the darkness out without hurting anyone.”

Regina scoffs, her laughter reminding Killian of the person she was back in the Enchanted Forest years ago. “Who, you? You and the old man are going to help me? You think you're more powerful than I am?”

“I never said that!” Emma tries despondently. Then, Killian hears the unmistakable sound of magic being wielded followed by Emma’s desperate shout: “no!”

As he rounds the corner, all semblance of logical thought evacuating his mind quickly, he hears Baelfire cry out in pain and sees him collapse to the floor of the vault. Emma falls to her knees beside him, sobs wracking her as she hysterically shakes his motionless form. When Killian’s eyes finally find Regina, he sees her holding her closed fist above the glowing hat that she must’ve conjured away from Emma, the last remnants of dust sprinkling out of her hold as the hat’s brilliance strengthens. He sees a manic smile splitting the Dark One’s face as he rushes to Emma’s side in a useless attempt to comfort her.

He has no idea where anyone else is. He thinks he hears Robin shout, but it isn’t clear over the sound of Emma’s keening. He runs his hand along her spine when he reaches her and she spins, releasing Bae and throwing herself into Killian’s chest forcefully. Her tears dampen the skin of his neck. Her cries deafen him to the ruckus surrounding them. He almost doesn’t notice Henry boldly rushing towards the Dark One in violent haste.

“What have you done?!” he screams, and both Killian and Emma snap apart and turn towards the lad just in time to watch him thrust the dagger towards Regina’s throat.

“Henry,” the Dark One says against the blade, her eyes bulging as they meet his own. “Put the dagger down.”

Killian recognized the look on the lad’s face just before he leapt for her: it’s the same one he himself wore just before he killed his own father.

“Tell me why you did this,” he demands, his voice wrought with emotion.

Regina, unable to defy the laws of the dagger, answers, “he had no idea how to be a father to you.”

“Now he’ll never have the chance to learn!” he screams, pressing the blade until a trail of crimson paints her flesh.

“You deserve better than him,” she insists assuredly, though her head is held high in avoidance of the weapon.

“I deserve better than you!”

“Let me remove the Darkness. Then this will all be over! We can be together again!” she begs against the scalloped edge.

Killian stands slowly, pulling Emma along behind him, and they move closer to Henry as carefully as they can. “We had a plan to remove it that didn’t involve murder!”

“Henry,” Emma tries timidly. “Kid, please put the dagger down.”

“She killed my dad,” he reasons, not turning his gaze from Regina. “She has to pay.”

“If you do this, the only person who will pay is you.” Emma's voice is eerily calm now, as if something has switched in her and her motherhood instincts have taken over to give her what she needs to talk her son through the crisis he’s battling.

“I can’t let her get away with this!” he shouts. ��She killed him right in front of me!”

“Kid,” she says, stepping away from Killian and towards the lad to put a careful hand on his shoulder. “We will make sure that she’s held accountable for this. Let me take the Darkness out of her and we’ll put her where she belongs.”

“She doesn’t deserve to live.”

“This isn’t you, Henry. You’re a good kid, you know right from wrong. You know what happens to you if you go through with this.”

“Lad,” Killian says, surprising himself. “Don’t let your mother see you become the Dark One.”

His shoulders relax. His arm loosens, the dagger falling from Regina’s flesh and dragging a bit of blood along with it. She lets out the breath she was holding in suspense and collapses slightly against the table behind her.

Emma turns towards the Apprentice and flatly says, “please take care of this now,” before Henry turns, drops the dagger to the ground, and throws himself into his mother’s arms.

Regina reaches for the dagger but Killian grabs it first. “Take him outside, love,” he instructs Emma.

Once they’re gone, the Queen sneers at him angrily as the Apprentice prepares for the spell to remove the Darkness and store it in the hat. “I almost had you,” she says, smirking.

He can’t help but to roll his eyes. “You never had me. How long have you had his heart?”

“Oh,” she says casually, “it wasn’t until after the curse broke. Don’t worry, that was all him.”

“So you knew we would try to disarm you with the dagger, then?” David asks.

“Of course. I figured the curse would break eventually, and when it did I had to be ready. Oh, congratulations, by the way.” She turns back towards Killian. “I must admit, you and the Savior breaking the curse was a fun surprise.

He rolls his eyes again, desperate to not engage her in further conversation. “Do you want us to remove the Darkness or not?”

“Yes, and then I’d like to see my son.”

He laughs. “I can assure you that is not happening.”

“Why, because I took care of a problem for him? We all know Neal wasn’t cut out to be a father. I mean, look at what he did. This was all based on his plan.”

“Take a look at what you did,” Killian spits, gesturing towards Bae’s crumpled, lifeless body, trying not to think about the young boy he used to know.

“It would be a miracle if Henry ever speaks to you again. You’ve just murdered his father in front of him,” David adds.

“Tell me, how is that any different from what you did all those years ago, Captain?”

He snaps his head towards her too quickly, fearing Emma’s father learning more about his sordid. “We agreed not to speak of that.”

She chuckles darkly. “You murdered your own father with his son in the next room. How are you any better than me?”

He hardly thinks before taking the dagger and pressing it to her throat, pushing her against the table and overpowering her easily. “Listen,” he commands, fully aware that she has no choice. “I made a mistake; I’ve made many. And since then, I’ve made amends. I feel regret over the things that I’ve done and the harm that I’ve caused. You just murdered your son’s father right in front of him and show no remorse. Don’t begin to compare us because we are nothing alike.”

He releases her once the Apprentice speaks, informing them that he’s ready as long as they are. “You have to want to have the Darkness removed, Dark One.”

“I do,” she insists. “Just do it already.”

He takes the dagger and waves it ceremoniously, reciting a spell that honestly sounds a bit ridiculous before waves of black are drawn from her chest, right where her heart would be if he believed she had one. The scene playing out before him reminds him of the violent onyx whizzing through the air mere weeks ago when she became the Dark One.

The Apprentice is shaking with exhaustion as he continues to chant, holding the dagger in his hands above her heart until all of the black ribbons have flown into the hat. Once the room fades to silence, he falls to the ground, Regina collapsing just after him.

The room is silent for far too long. No one moves. No one speaks. No one knows what to do.

“What now?” Robin asks, his voice flat and his expression blank as he stares at Regina’s still face.

“We’ll have to remove them and… and the body,” Killian chokes out. “Are they alive?”

“Both are. The Apprentice doesn’t look so good, though,” David answers. “Would be a lot easier if we could magic them out of here.”

“I’m not letting Emma come back down here!” Killian snaps, turning to sneer at her father.

“I wasn’t suggesting that,” he starts and though he looks as though he could say more, he stays quiet. “Why don’t you go up and check on them.”

“We've got to get—”

“Go,” he insists. “Robin and I will make sure Regina gets to where she needs to be, and we’ll take the Apprentice to the hospital.”

“What about him?” he gestures towards Bae’s stiff frame.

David sighs. “We’ll figure that out. Right now… your family needs you. Make sure Henry’s out of here. He doesn’t have to see anything else today. ”

His words weigh heavily in the space between them, the air feeling thicker suddenly as he admits his acceptance of Killian’s presence in his daughter and grandson’s lives. “Aye mate,” he breathes in response, taking one last look at the state of the room and turning towards the exit.

When he gets outside, the sun is nearly setting and the humid summer air leaves him feeling hot and sticky in his leather jacket. He finds Emma and Henry a few meters away from the stone structure, Emma sitting on the ground and her son’s head resting in her lap. His stomach twists in knots at the sight of them. The lad has been through enough already without having to be involved in what he’s just witnessed.

When she hears him coming, Emma looks up through tears, her brows pinching together as she appears to hold in more tears. She runs her fingers through Henry’s hair soothingly, but it’s clear that he’s difficult to console. He has every right to be.

Killian sits beside her, as close as he can get, and she somehow presses closer and rests her head against his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her so that he can run his hand along her arm. “Robin and your father are working on… cleaning up.”

“It’s done?” she asks through silent tears.

“Aye,” he just about whispers. “It appears to have worked.”

“Where is she?” he hears Henry mumble from his mother’s lap.

“Passed out, lad. To be transported to the hospital.” He nods in response, otherwise staying still. “We should go now. Pick up the baby and head home.”

Emma sighs, her breath stuttering, then says, “you’re right. Let’s get you home, kid.”

Henry’s silent and stoic as he stands from his mother’s hold and brushes off his thighs. He’s turning towards the car before Killian and Emma can even stand.

~~~~

Corrine, as emotionally intelligent as she is, keeps asking everyone what’s wrong. Emma tries making grilled cheese for dinner, hoping her favorite comfort food will entice Henry, but he stays on the couch and doesn’t say a word. She hardly touches her own, neither does Killian, and Corrine wonders aloud why everyone is so sad.

“We’re okay, baby,” Emma tells her softly, running her curled finger down her cheek and giving her a soft smile. “Don’t you worry.”

“Momma, Henny’s okay?” she asks through a mouth full of grilled cheese.

“He…” she starts, glancing over to Killian briefly. They’ve talked in the past about how they don’t wish to lie to her despite her young age, but this is too much for her to understand. “He’ll be okay, Coco. He just needs some time.”

She nods as if Emma’s words make complete sense to her and takes a giant swig of the chocolate milk she shouldn’t be drinking.

“What did you do with Mimi and Ollie today, love?” Killian asks her, trying to maintain an air of positivity for her.

“I play,” she answers. “I dance.”

“Did Ollie enjoy dancing with you?”

“No.”

Emma snorts softly, a genuine smile gracing her features in response to their humorous child. “No? He doesn’t like One Direction?”

She begins to pout, shooting him eyes filled with such pathetic sadness that it pulls at his heartstrings. “No, Baby Shark.”

“Ugh,” Emma says. “No Baby Shark in this house. We’ll stick to one direction, right Coco?”

“Mom,” they hear from the entrance of the kitchen, and each of them turn towards the source of the voice.

“Hey kid, hungry?”

“No thanks,” he says softly, his voice somber but slightly less angry than before. “I was hoping you could take me to… to my mom’s house. I have some stuff there that I want to move over here.”

She pauses and then turns to face him entirely. “Of course, Henry. Whenever you're ready.”

Killian and Corrine spend the evening together while Emma takes Henry to Regina’s. They were apart for nearly a month, aside from the few hours he could see her per day, so he’s happy to have the opportunity to reconnect with her. Her favorite activity to promote such reconnection is dancing.

Her favorite band has a variety of upbeat songs that he can easily hop around to, picking her up and bouncing her on his hip as she laughs and shrieks. At a certain point, she ends up in only her shirt and diaper, her hair having fallen out of the tiny updo it was in and landing in a wild mane around her face as she holds her fists in front of her and jumping to the beat of the song that plays loudly over the stereo.

“Hi momma!” she screams when Emma walks through the door, running for her at full speed and crashing into her legs.

“Hi!” Emma responds excitedly, the grin across her face as she picks her up squeezing at his heart. Henry walks in behind her with a box of items, smiling softly at Corrine and heading towards the stairs.

“Turning in, lad?” he asks.

“Yeah,” he answers, pausing briefly and sighing. “I’m just… I just wanna go to bed.”

“Aye. Well…” he starts, but is unsure of how to continue. He feels as if he should say something, but isn’t sure what he needs in this moment.

“We’ll be here, kid,” Emma supplies, simple and encouraging as he nods and heads up the stairs.

“Momma hugs Duddy now,” Corrine says, pointing towards Killian while still in Emma’s arms.

She laughs lightly, tickling Corrine’s bare thigh and asking, “oh, she does, does she?”

“Yes. No kiss,” she insists.

“I can’t kiss your mummy?”

“No!”

He wraps the two of them in a tight squeeze, sandwiching Corrine between her parents and sneaking in a quick kiss against Emma’s temple.

She turns to him and gives an indignant look, saying, “Coco said no kissing!”

“No, Duddy! No kisses for Momma, only for Coco.”

“My mistake.” He kisses her plump cheek and is rewarded in kind with a bright giggle. “Time for bed now, lass. I think we’ve done enough dancing for one lifetime.”

“We dance, momma.”

“Aye, we danced, momma. Next we’ll be learning a waltz.”

“Walls.”

Emma laughs, hiking the child up higher on her hip as she tries hard to settle her hair, though seemingly finding it impossible. “You know how to waltz?”

“First rule of dancing,” he says, taking her free hand and leading her towards the stairs once the music is shut off, “pick a partner who knows what they're doing.”

She gives him a look that he can’t quite read before leading him up the stairs and providing him with a lovely view of her ass along the way.

~~~~

Her thighs squeeze his hips tightly as she bounces above him, her breasts suspended tantalizingly over him as her nails dig into his shoulders. Her quiet pants and whispered moans drive him to harden his grip on her hip, sitting up slightly and using his blunt wrist to press into her back and pull her closer to him. She wraps her arms under his, hugging herself tightly to him and letting out a cry into his ear as he bends his knees up to deepen his thrusts into her.

“Don’t stop,” she practically begs, clinging to him as if her life depends on it. “Fuck.”

“So good, love,” he agrees as the coil in the base of his stomach tightens, almost ready to snap. “Gods, you feel so perfect. You’re perfect.”

“I love you,” she says through a strangled cry as she clenches around him and finally lets go; finally gives him permission to do the same.

He holds her so tightly that he doesn’t think she can breathe, but she doesn’t complain. Panting into his ear, her nails still digging crescents into his back, she hugs him close.

“I love you too,” he says once they’ve both caught their breath. She hums in contentment and kisses his neck before lifting herself from him and letting out a soft grunt as he slips out of her.

She spends a moment in the bathroom before returning, learning from last time and tossing his sleeping pants at him before dressing herself and crawling in. “You alright, love?” he asks, to which she shrugs.

“Where did Regina end up?”

“The asylum. We were able to use the cuff that blocks her magic before she awoke.”

She stays silent for a few moments, continuing her ministrations through the hair on his chest as if it’s soothing her.

“Today sucked,” she finally says.

“Aye, it did. I’m sorry.”

She sighs, tucking herself closer to him and resting her head on his chest. “Not your fault.”

“I’m not saying it is; I’m saying I’m sorry that you lost someone important to you.”

Squeezing her arm over his chest a bit tighter, she nuzzles her nose into a patch of the hair on his chest. “Yeah… you’re not mad, are you? About… I mean, I know my reaction was a little—”

“Emma,” he interrupts, “I could never be angry with you for something like that. No matter what happened, Bae was someone important to you.”

She sniffles a bit, moving to wipe a tear from her cheek before saying, “it feels weird. I can’t believe he’s gone.” He hums in agreement as he runs his hand up and down along her spine, occasionally combing gently through her hair. “After all the shit he put us through, I’ll admit that there was a time that—” she chokes on her own words, needing to take a deep breath before continuing. “Sometimes I wished he would just go away and not come back. But I didn’t want… I didn’t want Henry to lose his dad.”

“I know what you mean, Swan.” He rolls them gently so they’re facing one another, her leg tucked between his knees. He runs his fingers through her hair and down her cheek as he says, “it’s alright to be confused by this. Despite all that he did, he still loved you, in his own way. And he loved your son. He just had a horrible way of showing it.”

She nods against his forehead, her nose rubbing against his own making him unable to resist kissing her softly. “I know you’re right.”

“Did the lad say much earlier?”

She shrugs. “Not really. All he said was that he’s okay but he wants to live with us. I think he needs time.” He nods in understanding as she continues. “What he saw today— what he saw his own mother do… I don’t know how to help him live with that.”

“You're his mother, Emma, and I know you know what’s best for him. We’ll be here for him, however he needs us.”

“Yeah,” she nods.

“Perhaps a few visits with the Cricket would be prudent as well.”

“Probably.”

He kisses the tip of her nose, the skin cold against his lips, and says, “sleep, darling. We can deal with everything tomorrow.”

“Love you,” she says as she drifts off. He follows closely behind, sleeping soundly with her in his arms.

~~~~

#The Days We Defend #days we defend ff #walk with me #sequel #captain swan fanfic #cs ff #once upon a time fanfic #ouat ff #cs ff au #ouat ff au

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dani-luminae · 4 years

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Alright, folks, here's the deal:

Me and @disneyfan50 talk A LOT about different scenarios for movies and TV shows. Particularly, we also reimagine them to the best of our abilities. One of us put an idea out into the atmosphere, and if we like it enough, we roll with it and build on it. Sometimes, it goes as far as entire movie plots and seasons on certain shows! We talk about Descendants, Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, and the topic of today: Once Upon A Time.

(Now, anyone who's been to my blog knows I come up with the craziest out-of-the-box ideas! I take into account casting, abandoned ideas or deleted scenes from the script writers, historic backgrounds and plot holes. Oh, those get fun to fix!)

Now, for those of you who watched the show, you either liked it, disliked it, or have a season or 2 that favors the rest. Now, me and @disneyfan50 reimagine stuff all the time, but mostly I'm the true Imagination Mastermind! So, I go deep into my ideas. And this spark a question:

What of Emma died before she could go to Storybrooke?

Yes, it's sad and tragic, but as OUAT is that show where anything and everything could go wrong. Rumplestiltskin manipulated everything so that he could search for Baelfire/Neal Cassidy. And then he was prepared to do a long waiting game for Emma to come and save the fairytale characters.

She's the Badass with a Heart of Gold. The Sheriff. The SAVIOR.

But in world when she died before she could fulfill her destiny, who else would save them when they were all riding on her future?

The answer was simple:

Meet Lilith "Lily" Page, the jaded, tough-as-nails, punk yet incredibly insecure, Private Investigator.

Y'all probably remember her story, right? How the Charmings were so insistent that their unborn child be born "Good", that they took Maleficent's unborn dragon egg and wanted to put all of their child's Darkness into her in fear the unborn baby would be as bad as their mother, only to not only complete the ritual just as the dragon egg revealed to be an innocent baby but was banished to the Land of No Magic.

(Ring any bells? Yeah, that was bullshit and the Charmings deserved to have lost years with Emma!)

Anyways...., as I imagined it, Lily was found and adopted, but she felt invisible and unseen. She ran away, but was caught and brought back and because she was unable to get the Pages to understand her plight, she was kicked out. She was a thief, a con artist at best, and an incredible schemer despite feeling alone and that her life was full of darkness (Geez, I wonder why?🙄) Eventually, Lily gets arrested by Cleo Fox, a bail bondsman, for skipping bail and is set to a prison in Phoenix. It's there where she bonds with a pregnant inmate that "makes her life feel brighter" and decides to turn her life around. She's released and intends to meet with Cleo Fox but can't find her. By chance she meets with Dinah Raines, a Private Investigator, who she wants to hire to find Cleo. Unable to pay, Raines tells her she'll do it if she (Lily) helps her. The entire experience opens a door for Lily of stackouts and snooping, her expertise, and even though they learn of Cleo Fox's death, Raines sees the potential in Lily and offers to become her "Fairy Godmother" and help her join the P. I. Business.

For years after that, Lily thrives despite being poor and living out her small box of an apartment when Raines gives her a job:

Henry Mills, 10 years old, ran away from home and is seeking assistance in finding him. Giving a small file, Lily takes the job and indeed finds and tracks Henry to a cemetery, where she finds him at a grave of "Emma Swan".

Learning that he ran away to find his birth mother, Lily takes pity on him and spends a day with hil before taking it upon herself to bring him home.

Home....which is Storybrook, Maine.

Tell me what you think!

(Yes, I am still using Nicole Munoz!)

You put this AU proposal in far better words than I could, and with more backstory than I imagined! And I really like that we’re still using Nicole Munoz... changing her up for a white actress as an adult really bothered me.

But this is quite the AU with a lot of potential!

I wish we’d gotten more about Lily in the show...

(And god I so agree with that part about the Charmings… how am I supposed to like them again...)

#once upon a time #once upon a time au #ouat #ouat au #lily page

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killiansprincss · 3 years

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Never Forget You ch.12

Summary: Season 6A Canon Divergence.Emma is happy. Finally happy with her parents, son and boyfriend. But this happiness is taken away from her when the Evil Queen curses her and turns her into a toddler.Heartbroken and angry, Killian and Henry run away to Neverland to wait for Emma to break her curse.

But when she does break it and comes looking for them 25 years later, she soon realises this Neverland is very different now it is no longer under Pans rule. Will she be able to save Henry and Killian in time, or will this new ruler of Neverland keep them hostage forever?

So I’m around halfway through with this fic now which to me is amazing as I’ve never written a fic with so many chapters so it’s really special to me. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and let me know what you think!

Find on A03

Killian headed back to his ship in an attempt to cool down after his argument with Emma and talk with Henry.

“Mom?” Henry asks as he comes down the stairs, Emma still with her father.

Getting up off the floor, David just says, “I shall leave you two to talk.”

“What’s up kid?” Emma asks as Heney plops down beside her.

“I don’t like that you and Killian are fighting.” Henry comments with a slight sad tone.

“We’re not arguing.” She lies.

Henry just rolls his eyes, “Oh please. We all heard get into an argument over going home.”

“Okay. So we were arguing. You’ve been with him for 25 years, what’s his plan? Why doesn’t he want to come home?”

Avoiding his mother's eye contact, he looks down at his feet. “I think you need to talk to him about that.”

“Henry please. I have not seen you or Killian in 25 years. When I woke up from my curse, the day I remembered, I cried so hard because I love you both so much. I’ve not been your mother. I forgot about you. What kind of mother forgets her own child?” Emma sniffles, “Please. Tell me what to do so we can go home.”

“He’s not the same. Killian. He’s not been the same for a while.”

Emma’s heart drops. “Why? What can i do?”

Henry shrugs. “I don’t know if you can do anything, it’s not like we have therapy here in Neverland. He’s hurting, he lost you. It’s like when you lost him, before you decided to go to the Underworld and you were in a really dark place. Now he’s in a dark place and Neverland isn’t like Storybrooke, especially for him. Neverland, he says it’s the worst realm of all.”

Emma nods. She had lost Killian more times than she wished to. She lost him the first time in the alternate reality it hurt like hell, especially as she was too scared to tell him how she felt and it was suddenly too late.

When Henry returned them to Storybrooke and the few split seconds before she saw his face before the darkness took her, she felt sick at the thought of losing him forever. Then in Camelot, she has finally allowed herself to envision a future with him, she almost lost him again.

She did everything in her power to save him, unlocking every bit of dark magic she had. But it was no good as she lost him for good and wasn’t able to save him. It broke her, she didn’t know how she was going to continue, she couldn’t bear to live in the house he chose without him.

She lost him one last time in the Underworld, but they had come so close to their white picket fence. Going up the elevator shaft alone was the worst thing she ever experienced, seeing him below and not next to her, if it wasn’t for the fact she needed to make sure her family got back home safely, she would’ve broken down there and then.

Thankfully that was the final time she lost him, her soulmate then returned to her a few days later. But then they got a mere few months together until he lost her.

Fate was cruel.

_____

On his first trip to Neverland, Killiian Jones was cursed with memories of Liam and Milah.

And now he was cursed with memories of Emma. They were playing in his head, over and over. Reminders of their times together when they were happy. And the awful times where they lost one another.

Killian is back in the Underworld. The bastard fiery hell he can’t escape from. Hades throne room. He’s beaten and bruised because Hades has taken a particular dislike to him.

He can feel Emma’s prescene. He knows she’s here, He can feel it. He hopes she can’t feel his pain, the way he feels her worry. He can hear her yelling for him, wanting to know where he is. But Hades drained almost all the energy from him that he can’t even say hello.

Why did she come to rescue him? It’s far too dangerous. He didn’t deserve rescuing, he was a Dark One and he made Emma feel awful. He crushed Merlin's heart. He wasn’t the man he used to be. The man Emma fell in love with.

He refuses to write any names on the gravestones. He wouldn’t do that. Part of him still couldn’t believe they all came down here for him, Emma was a stubborn lass, but her family weren’t always so approving of their relationship-especially Dave. The fact they were even here was beyond belief. Hades can torture him all he likes, Killian Jones is still a man of honour. He will not write any names cursing them to the same hell he is in.

He ignores the beating and the torture. He can take that. But now he’s in chains. Above the river of Lost Souls. The moment the chains lower him into the water, he’s gone forever. Maybe that’s best. Then Emma and her family can leave and she can move on. He doesn’t deserve her. She’s too good for him. He doesn’t deserve her.

But that doesn’t happen. He sees her blonde hair and red jacket in the corner of his bloodied eye.

“Killian.”

He hears her voice loud and clear. It’s music. She doesn’t give up. She crosses the traps easily and rescues him before he dips into the river. The way she says his name. Killian. His name, not his moniker. Not the name everyone associates with him. No. She sees the man beyond the Hook. She’s the only woman who has seen him that way.

“I told you to let me go.” He tells her.

“I never listen.” She says with a smirk. Gods this woman was amazing.

“You’re impossible.” He manages to say.

“And you love me for it.” Damn right he does. He was still getting used to this century, the one she’s from. The woman is no longer the one who needs rescuing, she’s the one who does the saving. This modern world may be confusing, but his Emma is so strong and he does love her for it.

For a short while Killian actually believes they’re getting out alive. That he will be able to go back with her.

Heart share.

He had heard the story, how her parents managed it.

It was possible.

But that was them. Snow White and Prince Charming.

Would it be possible for Emma and himself?

Gods he loved her. More than anything. He gave up the chance at finding peace with his brother for her. The brother he hadn’t seen in centuries.

But a heart share, it would require true love. Magic that is so powerful. A bond so strong nothing else matters. Could they have it?

And then it didn’t work.

Not because they weren’t true love. But because he was dead.

The Ambrosia. Orpheus and Eurydice.

It would allow him to walk out of the Underworld freely.

But there was a test in the way.

Weighing Emma’s heart. To test if they were true love.

Emma could only admit her true feelings when they were in grave danger or about to die, or both. And that’s why he feared they weren’t true love. He understood though, she had been hurt by Baelfire or Neal rather. She was afraid to open up her heart. He never pushed. He knew, even before she said the words how she felt about him. He would never have said it before she did, he didn’t want to scare her away. Not when she finally trusted him and was letting him in slowly.

Emma puts her heart on the pedestal to weigh it. And when it doesn’t move, his heart drops. It didn’t work, they’re not true love.

Until Emma falls on the floor in pain.

“Get my heart.” She tells him clutching where her heart should be.

When he reaches to grab it, he’s on fire. Literal fire. It burns.

He tells Emma to grab her heart. Worry about him later.

But she doesn’t.

As weak as she is without her heart in her chest, she takes all the energy she has and throws herself onto him, ceasing the fire.

And the doors open.

“It’s true love.”

He didn’t want to believe it. But true love, the most powerful magic of all. He was lucky enough to share it with Emma Swan.

If they weren’t on the hunt for ambrosia the things he would do to her.

True Love. Captain Hook, the villain had found true love, with the saviour, a hero no doubt. Except Emma didn’t see him that way. To everyone else, he was Captain Hook. To Emma, he was Killian Jones.

This next memory was the worst of all. When they found out the ambrosia was no more. Another one of Hades cruel tricks. It was then that he realised he wasn’t going home to Storybrooke. He had to stay here. He had to try and find peace. Without Emma. Maybe he would be reunited with his brother.

He had thoughts about finding peace, before Emma came to save him. But she was so headstrong he had only allowed himself to believe they were all going home. But now, he hoped he would land himself in a better place.

As much as it pained him to lose Emma, for her to go on without him. It was for the best. Fate was cruel, but he was glad to have found Emma.

His true love.

After Liam died, it broke him. He’d lost the only person who ever loved him. He thought he would sail the seas freely as a pirate, having women warm his bed, but never going further than that. Then he met Milah, and she ran away with him. They were going to see the world. She promised him they would go back for her son, for Bae, and they could have a family. And then the unthinkable happened. He lost her like he lost Liam.

And he went back to being a pirate, women warming his bed. He believed he would never find love again. Then a few centuries later, he met Emma Swan. She was unlike any woman he had met before, he was enchanted by her. His usual charms didn’t work on her, but there was something about her that told him to keep going. Looking back, it was the true love bond, but of course he didn’t know it at the time. And so he kept pushing and pushing, and she let him in piece by piece until she finally gave him her heart.

With Emma, she was so different to Milah. She was grounded, she would never leave her son behind. As much as she sometimes wanted to run away, she would never leave Storybrooke. With Emma, he had the prospect of a family, a real family with her son.

He loved her. More than anything.

Even though their time together was cut short, he was glad to even have that time with his true love. She saw past the pirate, past the villain which is more than any other woman had done before. He had changed, he wanted to become a better person, not just to win Emma’s heart (not that she was a prize to be won), but to be a better man overall. A man that he once was, a man his brother would be proud of.

He had found his true love and they had spent as much time together as they could. That’s all he could’ve wanted in life. Emma Swan. The true love of Killian Jones. Who would’ve believed.

That’s why saying goodbye was so hard. He had accepted his fate, but Emma not so much.

Seeing her go up in the elevator shaft instead of going up with her was the hardest thing ever. He held onto her hand until the very last moment, trying to remember what she felt like. He kissed her hand as tears rolled down both their faces, wanting to savour this moment. It was only a few seconds but it felt like a hundred years, this was the last time he would ever see Emma Swan. His true love.

This was the moment that played in his head every single time he closed his eyes. It was the worst moment. He avoided sleep because he didn’t want to be reminded of that moment. And when he was awake he would use rum as a viable solitude to stop thinking about her. Even the happy moments bring no joy into his life, because they are reminders, reminders of what he lost. He doesn’t know if she will ever come back for him, or if he’s lived a thousand years on this damned Island and she forgot about him, never broke her curse and died without ever remembering the man she once loved.

He thinks back to his confession in the Echo Caves. Kissing Emma for the first time revealed so much. He was flirting as he always did, he never expected her to actually kiss him, but she did. Everything seemed to click into place, he could imagine a future, he wanted to spend all his time with Emma, getting to know her and letting her know all of his secrets and fears.

300 years he had lived, and his heart had been broken many times over those years. He never thought his heart could be mended, that was until he met Emma Swan. He was a broken man, and slowly he was mending, but he had no doubt that he wanted every piece of his heart to belong to Emma Swan.

She was his future.

#Never forget you #Captain Swan #cs ff #cs fanfic #fanfic #My writing #killian jones #emma swan #ouat ff #cs fic rec

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mystical-flute · 4 years

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Black Coffee & Pumpkin Pie: Ch. 7

AO3 || Ko-Fi

New Orleans, 2006

Life had changed dramatically for Eudora d’Orleans. Her beloved husband had been killed overseas, leaving the restaurant and all it entailed, to her. Eudora knew about running the restaurant - whenever she’d been free on the weekends, she’d be at the restaurant, managing the phones or helping with the finances.

Many times she’d bring homework that needed to be graded and do it in the back office, or patchwork that her students had created.

But now, her partner was gone, and the restaurant was squarely on her shoulders. Oh yes, Eli La Bouff had offered his support whenever she needed it, but Eudora wanted to show James, and the detractors she’d acquired that she would be able to lead Tiana’s Palace into a new era. God knew, it was what the city needed.

But still, it was hard, especially with Tiana. The girl was a storm all her own, brave, outgoing and stubborn as her daddy - and being alone, sometimes it was hard to make Tiana understand that she just wanted what was best for her.

Tired eyes wearily looked over the numbers, not fully registering what they meant. She’d been down here for hours, and it was nearing eleven o’clock. The restaurant was closed, the staff having just left for the evening.

She needed some air.

“Eli? Can you make sure Tiana is doin’ her homework? I just need to clear my head outside for a bit,” she called to her old friend.

Eli looked up from his beignets. “Of course, Miss Eudora. Take all the time you need.”

Eudora gave him a grateful smile, heading out the side door to the alley. It wasn’t the most pleasant place, right next to the dumpster, but the front had too much noise with people still crowding the block despite it only being a Wednesday night.

“I miss you, James. I know you’d be so proud of Tiana for wanting to follow in your footsteps, but she can be so damn stubborn sometimes. I know you always said I had the magic touch when it came to getting her to listen, but I’m not so sure I have that anymore. I think she’d be more willing to listen to you,” she sighed into the open air. “This just ain’t fair.”

She glanced up at the sky, feeling herself slowly start to relax, before she heard a thud near the dumpsters. She would have written it off as an animal if it weren’t for the distinctly human arms she could see trying to reach inside.

Eudora knew she shouldn’t, but something compelled her to call out.

“Hey honey, you alright over there?”

The figure froze, the arms dropping back to the other side of the dumpster, but the stranger didn’t run off.

Eudora moved slowly toward the dumpster despite every safety warning she’d ever heard ringing in her head. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Finally, the smaller figure peered out from behind. A boy - couldn’t be any older than her daughter, stared at her with terrified eyes. His clothes were baggy and ripped, his hair matted and dirty.

In his hand were scraps of food.

“Please… don’t call the police,” he whispered. “I - I didn’t mean any harm… I was just hungry.”

Her heart sank. This poor boy. She knew it was risky, but she would never let a child go without food - and neither would James.

“Well, I’m not gonna let you eat out of that dumpster. C’mon into the kitchen, I’ll cook you something fresh,” she said, gesturing to the door. “I’m not gonna call the police on you, I promise.”

She could see the boy was shaking as he emptied his fist and started moving toward her.

“What’s your name, honey?”

“N-Neal…” he mumbled, following her into the kitchen, flinching back at the bright lights.

“Alright Neal, is there anything special you - ”

Eudora’s question was cut off as the boy stumbled, falling to his knees.

“Oh - oh no, hey, c’mon honey, it’s alright…” she said, carefully holding him so he didn’t hit the hard tile floor. She shifted her hand to his forehead, realizing with horror that he was burning up. “ELI!”

She managed to get Neal into the main restaurant as Eli called for an ambulance. She shuffled Tiana off with Eli for the evening and rode to the hospital in the ambulance. It was hours before she got news - dehydration, malnutrition, and pneumonia, and the next afternoon, she returned with Tiana, Charlotte and Eli.

“Why… why are you here?” Neal asked, frowning in confusion at the group around him.

“You gave us quite a scare. We just wanted to make sure you were alright,” Eudora said with a smile. “Dr. Richardson says you’ve got a bad case of pneumonia.”

“Yeah, she told me that this morning. That explains why I feel like I got hit by a bus…”

“I brought you one of my beignets…” Tiana said, giving him a smile as she set it on the tray. “I’m sure it’ll taste better than a plain old sandwich.”

Eudora took a seat next to him. “Dr. Richardson also said social services’ll be here this afternoon.”

“I don’t need services. I’m fine on my own.”

“I’d say otherwise given your state,” Eudora said, raising a brow.

Neal picked at the deli sandwich on his tray. “I just don’t want to go back.”

“Don’t you have a Mama or Daddy waiting for you?” Charlotte asked with a frown.

He shook his head. “No. No one that would miss me. I’ve been on my own a while now.”

Eudora’s heart ached again for the boy. All alone, with nowhere to turn to…

She couldn’t let it happen.

Tiana nudged her, giving her a worried look, and in that moment, Eudora knew what she had to do.

“You can stay with us.”

Neal’s head snapped back up from his lunch. “I - what?”

Eudora nodded. “You can come live with Tiana and I. We got room.”

“I - I can’t do that… I’m just a street kid. You don’t want me living with you.”

“What I don’t want is for you to be living on the streets without safety or a roof over your head. What do you say?”

It took a few moments, but finally, a sob escaped him. “Okay… I - I’ll stay with you. Thank you. I don’t know what I did to deserve your kindness…”

It was early evening by the time the social worker arrived. Eli had taken Charlotte and Tiana home to do their homework, leaving Eudora alone with Neal.

“I’m Eudora d'Orleans,” Eudora greeted with a smile. “I’m the one who found Neal last night.”

The social worker - Amanda Johnson, she noted - gave her a bright smile. “How nice that you’ve stayed. I don’t usually get to see the rescuers. And this must be Mr. Cassidy.”

Neal gave her a quiet nod, barely looking over at her.

“Ms. d'Orleans, I will have to ask you to leave during this meeting, for his privacy’s sake.”

“Of course, I understand. I’ll be outside.”

She didn’t stray far, remaining close enough to the door to hear the hushed voices inside. When the social worker re-appeared, Eudora approached.

Johnson adjusted her bag. “He says you’ve offered your home to him, Ms. d'Orleans, but I noticed I don’t have you down as a licensed foster parent in the area,” she explained. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to place him with one of them, if they have room - ”

Eudora shook her head, firm. “I want this boy to know he’s going to have a roof over his head. Send me whatever I need to fill out.”

Johnson rustled in her bag, before producing a pamphlet and an application. “Here, then. Given Neal’s circumstances, I’ll put a rush on your application. Thank you, Eudora. It’s difficult to place teens. I’m glad to know this one has someone looking out for him.”

Eudora smiled, handed the complete application back, and returned to Neal’s bedside. “It’s gonna be okay, honey,” she said, looking at his bloodshot eyes and wiping a stray tear from his cheek. “I’m not gonna let anything else happen to you.”

---

“Hey Neal! How did the ball go last night?”

Neal ran his fingers through his hair, smiling at the screen. “It went… better than expected. I have a date with Emma -” he flinched, hastily turning the volume down on his phone at Tiana’s squeal. “ - And I told my dad.”

“Oh? And how did that go?” Eudora asked.

“He and his wife invited me to live with them and moved me in last night after the ball,” Neal said, heading downstairs where his father and Belle were making lunch. “Did you want to meet them?”

“I’d love to.”

“Papa? My mama wants to say hi.”

Aiden looked over and smiled, taking the phone. “You must be the famous Eudora and Tiana I’ve heard so much about.”

“And you must be Mr. Gold. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Neal’s been worried sick about whether or not he should tell you.”

“Please, call me Aiden. I understand. I know I have a reputation in Storybrooke. I’m just glad he told me the truth and that I have my son back.”

“I’m sure. I can’t imagine what you must’ve been feeling all these years. I’m glad we were able to play a small role in getting him home.”

“It wasn’t a small role at all… it was thanks to you that my son was able to find me again.”

Belle put her hand on Aiden’s shoulder, peeking over it and smiling at the camera. “Baelfire spoke so highly of you last night at the ball.”

“Ah, Belle, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right,” she said with a smile. “Aiden and I were hoping that you two would like to come up to Storybrooke for the Thanksgiving holiday?”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful. We’d love to come.”

“Can Lotte and Big Daddy come too?”

“Tia - ”

“I’d like them here too,” Neal said immediately, looking at Aiden and Belle. “They’re like family. If that’s okay... ”

“The more the merrier,” Belle agreed with a smile. “We’d love to have them.”

Aiden nodded in agreement. “Yes, our home is large enough for all four of you. It might be nice to have more of a barrier between myself and my father-in-law.”

“Oh, I understand that quite well. I thought James’ mama was never going to like me. I don’t think she did until Tia was born, actually…”

“What?!”

Belle laughed softly. “I think some parents just can’t accept that their children grow up. It’s a bit sad, really.”

“Oh, sure. The thing is, I’m pretty sure James would’ve been the same way when Tiana got old enough to start dating, despite knowing what his mother was like to me.”

“Miss Eudora? I’m sorry to interrupt but one of the guests is asking to speak with you…” a new voice suddenly cut in.

Eudora sighed. “Alright, I’ll be right there. It was so nice to meet you, Aiden, Belle. We’ll talk to you all soon.”

“Bye Mama!” Neal said before the call ended, taking his phone back from Aiden.

“They seem so lovely, Bae,” Aiden said with a smile. “But what about those other two that will be joining us for Thanksgiving?”

He slipped his phone into his pocket and stirred the soup Belle had placed in front of him. “Oh, Mr. La Bouff and Charlotte? Well, Charlotte is Tiana’s best friend, and Mr. La Bouff owns a couple news stations. He came from a line of sugar barons. They call him Big Daddy because of how much money and time he spends with charities. They’re good people, I promise.”

Belle smiled. “I think it’ll be a wonderful holiday, Aiden. And we’ll be able to include Bae in our traditions too.”

Neal smiled. “I can’t wait. Do you guys watch the Macy’s parade?”

“We do, but Storybrooke also does a small one the day before. Nothing fancy, but the kids always seem to love it. Aiden is one of the biggest supporters of it,” Belle explained. “Marco dresses as Santa at the end too. It’s very sweet.”

“Marco? The skinny carpenter guy?” Neal asked, frowning a little.

“Well, we give him a little extra padding in the Santa suit. The kids don’t know the difference.”

“It was always Gideon’s favorite part of Thanksgiving when he was little,” Belle giggled. “I’ll have to show you some pictures later.”

Neal smirked before lifting the glass of water to his lips. “I’d like that. And I’ll ask Mama to bring pictures from New Orleans so you can see them, Papa.”

Aiden had seemed deep in thought, but brightened slightly at the words. “I would love nothing more, Baelfire.”

“Oh - and I forgot to say I’ve got plans Friday night, with Emma. I’m taking her on a date.”

Belle unexpectedly laughed. “That explains the squeal we heard coming from your room. You must have told Tiana and Eudora, right?”

His cheeks suddenly blushed pink as his hand scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yeah… sorry about that.”

“No no, don’t apologize. I’m happy for you Bae. You deserve it.”

“Thanks Papa…”

The week flew by, Neal adjusting to life in the Gold household. Everyone was up by six, out the door by seven-thirty. Papa or Belle came by the fire station to offer lunch if he needed, which, while sweet, started feeling a little overbearing by Friday, and he was grateful for the chance to escape and hang out with Emma.

Even if his palms were sweating as he gripped the steering wheel and pulled into the long drive to Nolan farm. One last check of his hair, and he made his way to the door.

Emma greeted him with a wide smile, wearing a red dress with white polka dots, her hair curled and pushed over one shoulder.

“Neal, hey!”

He clutched the tulips a bit tighter in his hand before handing them over. “H-hi Emma. You look great. These are for you.”

“Tulips? Wow, you don’t see these this time of year. How’d you find them?”

“Belle helped. I didn’t ask too many questions.”

“Oh, so Moe, then. He’s a florist. Come on in, I’ll get these in some water and then I’ll be ready,” Emma said with a smile, waving him inside. “Mom! Dad! Neal’s here!”

There was something different about walking through the farmhouse now, as a date instead of as just a friend, and it made him feel even more nervous as he followed Emma into the other room.

David and Mary-Margaret were sitting at the dining room table, David raising a brow at Neal. “Hello Neal.”

“Er… hello Sheriff Nolan, Mrs. Nolan. It’s nice to see you again,” he said politely.

Mary-Margaret, on the other hand, seemed almost serene as she spoke. “Emma said you’ll be going to dinner and then for a walk, right?”

He nodded. “Yes ma’am. And I work the early shift tomorrow at the station so we won’t be out too late.”

Emma appeared from upstairs, a black leather jacket slung over her arm. “Are you ready to go?”

He nodded, offering her arm, which she took just before he heard the snap of a camera.

“Oh! Mrs. Nolan, if you wanted to take a picture I would have stopped…” Neal said, watching as she pulled the polaroid from the camera.

“Oh? Well that’s so kind of you, Neal! Finally, Emma has a date with someone that appreciates me trying to make memories.”

“Mom!” Emma protested, rolling her eyes as the two posed for a better photo, and finally, they were on their way to Tony’s.

“So, I noticed that nice VW bug in the driveway. That yours?” he asked after they ordered.

Emma nodded. “It is! I finally saved up enough to get it. Just in time for my college classes to start!” she made a dramatic jazz-hands gesture before grinning. “I’ve been saving up for that car for months!”

“It’s a pretty cool lookin’ car. I can understand why you’d have your eye on it,” he agreed with a nod. “How’s Bobby?”

She smiled. “He’s doing much better. He got home last week and he’s building up his lung strength. He was able to start school too, just in time.”

Neal grinned. “Hey, that’s great! I’m really glad to hear that Emma.”

“It really is. But how are you doing, with being with your dad and Belle and Gideon?”

He pushed his pasta around with his fork. “I really do love getting to know my dad, don’t get me wrong, but they’re both getting a little pushy, always coming to the station if I’m on shift and asking for lunch… are they usually that way?”

“Belle is, but that’s a bit out of character for Mr. Gold, but I bet he’s just worried that you might not come back, y’know? Just give him a little more time. It’s only been a week,” Emma said. “Have you told your mom in New Orleans?”

“Yeah, the day after the ball. She and Tiana’ll be coming here for Thanksgiving with a couple friends, if you want to meet them.”

“I’d love to!”

Dinner continued, dessert a chocolate mousse with pomegranate seeds on top, Neal and Emma chatting all the way through, and before long, they found themselves walking along the empty shores, a cool breeze beginning to stir and clouds gathering in the distance.

“Can I tell you something and you keep it a secret?” he asked when she laced their hands together.

“Sure, what is it?”

“You know Alice, right?”

“Margot’s girlfriend? Please don’t tell me she’s your ex or something,” Emma asked, her nose screwing up in disgust.

His followed suit. “Ew! No, of course not! She’s my cousin.”

“Your - ”

“On Killian’s side. Her dad is his twin brother,” Neal explained. “I hadn’t seen her since before I ran away. When she showed up in Storybrooke, it took everything in me not to run back to New Orleans.”

“Does she know?”

He nodded. “Took me a couple weeks, but I told her before the ball. She was the only one I really trusted when I got old enough to realize something was wrong… but I still didn’t trust her enough to tell her I was leaving.”

“I can understand that…” Emma said, pausing their walk to look at him. “You have lived an interesting life, Neal Cassidy.”

“I was thinking about taking Gold back as my last name, actually,” he admitted with a shrug.

“Neal Gold…” she hummed in consideration, smiling. “I like it. It suits you, I think.”

“Thanks,” he trailed off, caught by her eyes. His heart thudded uncomfortably against his ribs, both of their faces going bright red in the fading light.

“Hey, Emma?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I - can I kiss you?”

She nodded, and he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers gently, feeling all of the warm, gooey feelings he’d heard about from movies. She kissed him harder, her arms coming to wrap around his shoulders as he pulled her closer against him, just before the skies opened and a heavy rain began to fall.

They parted, cheeks still bright red, and burst out laughing.

“Guess that’s a sign we need to get back!” Neal said, taking her hand and running along the beach with her back to his truck. They were soaked to the skin when they finally got inside, water dripping everywhere as Neal started the car and turned on the heat to try and dry them off during the drive back.

“I had a really great time tonight, Neal,” Emma said, wringing her hair out carefully. “Do you think we can do it again?”

Neal nodded, pulling into the driveway and getting as close to the door as he could. “I’d love to. Let me know when you’re free.”

“I will. Thanks again!” she gave him another quick peck on the lips, hopped out of the car, racing to the covered porch, giving him a wave before disappearing into the house.

He exhaled as he drove back home, quickly heading into the house out of the storm.

“Nice night, son?” Aiden asked with a small smile, looking up from his book.

Neal nodded, wiping water from his eyes. “Yeah, really nice. Emma and I are going to plan a second date.”

Aiden chuckled. “Good, good. Go ahead and get out of those wet clothes. We can talk more tomorrow when you get back from work.”

“Alright Papa,” Neal replied.

He went upstairs, took a hot shower, and fell asleep with a smile on his face, listening to the storm outside.

#ouat #once upon a time #swanfire #black coffee and pumpkin pie #neal cassidy #emma swan

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the-officially-kat · 5 years

Photo

Kat’s Sanders Sides AUs~

Because I can’t stop my imagination from coming up with a million AUs, I decided to just draw these and let you guys pick which one(s) you want to see more of (and even though I didn’t draw it for this, this does include my disney-fairytale-superheros au)

Also note that I’m gonna start on my Plance Descendants AU comic soon so any art I do for these AUs will be done when I take sanity-breaks from the comic (though text answers I’ll do anytime)

(All these AUs have Prinxiety and Logicality and the Friends AU has Remile)

Info about each AU under the cut~

WITCHES AU

Logan Thorpe: specializes in astrology and curses, keeps his book of shadows on a usb stick that he keeps around his neck, works as a latin teacher at a college

Roman Valentine: specializes in glamours, candles, potions and sigils, his book of shadows is a large dark red hardcover book with gold accents, works in a beauty shop

Virgil Sinclair: specializes in tarot reading and crystals, his book of shadows in an average sized black diary and he keeps the key for it around his neck, works in an old bookshop

Patton Woodward: specializes in herbology and kitchen magic, his book of shadows is a binder covered in stickers, works in a flower shop

The boys started their coven when they were 16

Roman and Logan write most of the spells and blessings

Patton always gives them all (and himself) flower crowns for each sabbat

Virgil likes to walk through graveyards and one time reanimated a skeleton of a cat and named him Jack (Jack is Virgil’s familiar)

Patton’s dad married Virgil’s mom so Patton and Virgil are step-brothers

BEWITCHED AU

Virgil is a witch who one day decides to live in the mortal realm

On his way to an interview for a job, he literally bumps into a mortal named Roman Sanders, an advertising agent

And after the interview, they keep bumping into each other until they agree to sit down for some coffee

They hit it off and start to date, which eventually leads to them getting married

On their honeymoon, Virgil tells Roman the he’s a witch and after proving so, Roman doesn’t need to think over anything, he loves Virgil with all of his heart and nothing’s going to change that

Included in the cast is Virgil’s older brother Logan who likes to follow the rules, the rules that state that while it’s not forbidden for witches to marry mortals it’s certainly frowned upon

Patton Hart, Roman’s mortal friend who’s the secretary on Roman’s floor

And Thomas Sanders, Roman’s mortal older brother

THE ADDAMS FAMILY AU

Patton Sanders is hired as the new nanny for the Addams family

He nearly quits on his first day but he’s never been one to give up so he sticks it out

Patton gets along fine enough with the heads of the household, Virgil and Roman Addams, but their children, Dee and Thomas, are proving to be quite the hand full, and he doesn’t get along with Virgil’s brother Logan

But everything turns for the better when the children come home from school one day in tears because they were read fairy tales where the bad guys die

So for the rest of the day, Patton and the children write their own fairy tales where the bad guys don’t die

After that, Patton starts to get along better with the children and eventually Logan too

FRIENDS AU

Six friends live their every day mundane lives, and these six friends are:

Virgil Sanders: he never left his emo phase he just refined it over the years, lives with Dee, has yet to find a stable career and has worked various jobs

Patton Walters: actual ray of sunshine who deserves nothing but happiness, lives with Roman, works in a bakery and hopes to one day own his own bakery

Logan Sanders: god help him he’s the only sane one of the group, lives on his own, works as an astronomy teacher in college

Roman Prince: dramatic gay with a heart of gold, lives with Patton, works as a waiter in his local coffee house but is trying to break into acting

Dee Daniels: is slightly obsessed with snakes as proven by the snake scale tattoo on his face, lives with Virgil, studied to be a lawyer but works as an over-the-phone salesman

Remy Knight: doesn’t know what a sleep scheduled is, lives on his own, his career is interpreting dreams and telling people’s fortunes via tarot cards and crystal balls

Logan is Virgil’s older brother by three years

Virgil and Patton have known each other since high school

Patton has had a crush on Logan since he met him but has tried to get over him because he truly believes that Logan will never like him back

Roman was Logan’s college roommate and they’ve been friends since

Virgil calls Roman “Princey” and Roman hates it and always corrects him

(The “Carol” of the group is Dee’s sister Danielle who’s pregnant and living with her girlfriend)(the boys all love and support Danielle and her girlfriend and will fight anyone who mistreats them)

(Emile enters the AU eventually because he’s the Mike to Remy’s Phoebe)(He works as a therapist)

ONCE UPON A TIME AU

Honestly I wasn’t going to include this one but the drawing came out too good to not share it

Virgil is Snow, Roman is Charming, Logan is Emma, Deceit is Regina, Thomas is Henry and Patton is Neal/Baelfire

I think I’m gonna make Deceit!Patton Rumple but I literally don’t know who else would be who

Logan was born via fairy magic so while he wasn’t psychically born he’s still technically biologically Virgil and Roman’s child (when Thomas tells Logan that he’s so fucking confused but eventually lets it go ‘cause it hurts his brain to think about it)

Logan Swan is dragged to Storybrooke by Thomas, a child he had adopted for a brief time ten years ago

Logan ultimately decides to stay in town for Thomas and moves in with the shy and anxious school teacher Virgil Blanchard, who Thomas claims to be Snow White

He, Logan, becomes the new sheriff and often butts heads with the mayor Dorian, who’s the Evil King according to Thomas

#sanders sides #prinxiety #logicality #remile #thomas sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #deceit sanders #ts art #sanders sides art #sanders sides au #sanders sides fanart #kat's fanart

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killian-whump · 6 years

Note

Killian Jones deserves more friendships... Just sayin

YES.

Although, to be fair, he does have friendships and relationships in the show. Plenty of them, in fact! The problem is that they’re TOLD to us rather than SHOWN to us most of the time, and the few glimpses we GET of these relationships are so short and infrequent that it makes them easy to forget or underestimate, and WAY too easy for people to shrug off or sweep under the rug in order to focus on whatever relationships THEY want to paint as being the “one and only” important relationship in Killian’s storyline.

For fun, let’s have an impromptu retrospective of his canon relationships:

Hook and His Mother: From Wish Hook’s naming of Alice, and his comment that his mother “tried to stay with [him] as long as she could” we know that they had a good relationship, he remembers her fondly, and she left him all too soon. Unfortunately, that’s literally all we know - and we never got to SEE her.

Hook and His Father: Before he sold his sons into slavery for a rowboat, Brennan Jones seemed to be a good father. We’re told this by the show in the way he comforts Killian, and how Killian idolizes him and wants to be just like him. Granted, this could be due more so to Killian’s own tendency to pick a person in his life and put them on a pedestal, but we know from the others he’s put on such pedestals that he tends to choose people he feels are good people. Even Killian’s “He wouldn’t do that!” outburst when he learns what his father has done points to the fact that his relationship with Brennan before this point was positive enough that the boy genuinely doesn’t believe his father would do this to him. And it is this good relationship they had that left Killian feeling as abandoned and betrayed as he did. Had the relationship been bad from the start, he may not have been as scarred by the abandonment, itself.

Hook and Liam: The show makes a HUGE deal about how important Liam is to Hook, and we can see that in how Hook talks about him and the few flashbacks we were allowed to see… but he only actually appears in three episodes. It’s just the first of many examples where we’re told “this is an important relationship of Hook’s” without being shown enough evidence in the show to really illustrate how or WHY it’s so important. We only get glimpses and are forced to fill in the blanks on our own.

Hook and Milah: Like with Liam, we are told in a myriad of ways just HOW important this relationship is to Hook, but shown very little of it. Fandom has done a wonderful job of filling in the blanks, of course, but there’s so little canon information to go on, aside from the fact that we’re TOLD that his love for her never waned for literally hundreds of years. It’s why some fans can so easily shrug off the importance of this relationship, as well - which is the problem when it comes to almost ALL of Hook’s relationships. He has them; we’re told he has them, but without SEEING them, it’s easy for people to discredit them.

Hook and Smee: Yes, we know they’re “best mates” and Smee is always around and he’s Hook’s first mate and always loyal to him… but you can count the number of truly meaningful scenes they share on, well, one hand. The show relies more on the viewer knowing that Hook and Smee are a classic duo than they use the actual storytelling to show us that it’s true.

Hook and Baelfire: Hook didn’t sell Baelfire off of his ship the day after he arrived. It was some time later. You can tell by how close they are in the Port/Starboard scene, when Hook reveals his own abandonment to him. Hook also confirms it when he tells Emma that Neal was with him “long enough to know I miss him, too”. That wasn’t a day or two. It was awhile. Long enough to profoundly affect Hook. Long enough for Hook to harbor (and maintain) almost fatherly feelings towards the boy. And we were cheated out of seeing it.

Hook and Cora: We saw more of this than a lot of other relationships, but nowhere near enough. How did they go from literally trying to and/or almost killing each other to being partners who tease each other with comments like, “Why do you still doubt me?” and are obviously banging in kinky ways. I want to know more about how that relationship developed. I want to know more about how sincere it was (or wasn’t), because it feels deeper than the usual superficial villain pair-up that we usually see, and this holds true when they’re reunited in S5 in the Underworld. There is a warmth between them in that scene that points to a sincere friendship that I wish we’d seen more of.

Hook and Emma: This one we get to see in its entirety, and it’s beautiful.

Hook and Tinkerbell: Again, we’re TOLD they had a history, but mostly through off-handed comments, implications, their consistently friendly/flirty demeanor towards each other, and behind-the-scenes confessions that the actors were told they’d had a fling.

Hook and David: Another one we get to see pretty thoroughly. Bless.

Hook and Belle: Okay, so he knocked her out and almost killed her on their first meeting. Aaaaaaand he tried to kill her on their second meeting. And he shot her and erased her memories on their third. But… it got better! This is one of the few relationships the show stuck with and actually gave us glimpses of throughout the seasons, making it feel like a genuine friendship that was growing deeper and more meaningful as time went by.

Hook and Ariel: This one goes without saying. Yes, they had some ups and downs and some bludgeonings and slaps, but ultimately, these two are friends. And Wish Hook and Wish Ariel’s friendship just proves this all the more. However, as usual, the kind of “blink and you’ll miss it” acknowledgement of this friendship makes it all too easy for people to dismiss it as “fanon”.

Hook and Henry: Another pairing that we got to see develop in canon, thank goodness. Hook went from the “cool pirate guy” to the guy his mom was dating to a true member of his family and his step-father. And it’s great. And S7 gave us Henry meeting another version of his step-father, this time as a grown man, and forging a genuine friendship with him, as well.

Hook and Ursula: Granted, they definitely weren’t friends when Ursula came back to Storybrooke, but she sailed on Hook’s ship with him and his crew for some time before Hook was forced to betray her. And when he made right on this betrayal years later and got her voice back for her and reunited her with her father (who admitted his guilt in Hook’s betrayal as well as apologizing for his role in it), Ursula was clearly willing to forgive Hook and help him in return. I think, given the positive foundation of their relationship and their eventual reconciliation, a friendship could’ve (and should’ve) blossomed here.

Hook and Nemo: Aw, geez. The show sets Nemo up as a fatherly figure to the men he “rescues” aboard his ship. He’s clearly a father figure to Hook’s half-brother, Liam. He openly states that he wants to help Killian similarly, literally telling Hook he wants him to join their family. And while events in the past led to Killian leaving, it’s obvious in the present-day scenes between these two that Nemo still sees Killian as a part of his “family” - and that Killian feels the same. That the show cast him off entirely to shores unseen is a damn crime.

Hook and Liam: Another brother. Another Liam. Another family member that Killian begins to bond with… and then gets literally shipped off the show.

Hook and Snow White: Out of nowhere, they have a close moment on the docks where she kisses his cheek and says she’s glad he’s the one Emma’s found to share her life with. Sweet. He also calls her “Mummy” in a later scene, during the finale. Hilarious. BUT WHERE’S THE REST OF IT?! And by “it” I mean the rest of their damn relationship?!

Hook and Jasmine: These two form an entirely unlikely (but delightful) friendship in S6. However, we’re kind of just expected to assume there’s a friendship there by the closeness they share (their frank conversation on the Nautilus) and the smiles and warmth they consistently address each other with.

Hook and Black Beard: Now THIS is how you do a “frenemies” ship right here. They’re like the Itchy and Scratchy of Once. They try to kill each other. They play cards. They try to kill each other again. They take over the other one’s ship. They talk about their lady troubles. They try to kill each other. They offer unsolicited advice. They go portal hopping together. They randomly have a swordfight. They abandon each other to child natives. They try to kill each other again. They hunt for treasure. They plot out elaborate schemes to give friends a good adventure. This one’s gold.

Wish Hook and Regina: Oh, goodness. S7 gives us so many subtle touches, smiles, and intimate moments between these two that those watching for such things are convinced something more than friendship was brewing there - but it was done SO subtly that those who weren’t watching for it literally missed it all entirely. Whether they were building up something for an eventual romance or just presenting them as extremely close friends, there was definitely something purposely put there in canon. Hopefully, we would’ve found out more about it in S8, had we been lucky enough to get one.

Wish Hook and Alice: Finally, another relationship we’re SHOWN and allowed to enjoy as it progresses - both in flashbacks and in the present day. BLESS.

Wish Hook and Jack/Nick: Here’s the thing. Nick is introduced to the show in S7 before the ten year jump to when the curse is cast. And he’s shown still with the group at Lucy’s tenth birthday party - and is obviously caught up in the curse itself. So that’s over ten years that Hook knew Jack in the New Enchanted Forest. Regina, fully awake in Hyperion Heights, tells Lucy that her father (Henry), Rogers (Hook) and Nick (Jack/Hansel) were like the three Musketeers back in the fairytale world and convinces her to set up a “guys night out” for them. The focus of this is, of course, on Henry’s relationships with Hook and Nick, but from Regina’s comments and the fact that all three men are set up to hang out together as a trio, we can assume Hook and Jack were good friends. As usual, we’re subtly TOLD the man has a friend… and left to fill in the blanks for ourselves :P

Wish Hook and Zelena: This is another subtle one. When Zelena shows up in the New Enchanted Forest looking for her daughter, she’s not that friendly to the Hook she finds there. In fact, she dismisses him outright and tells him to piss off. But he stands up to her, sticks with her, manages to even impress her a little… and ultimately helps save Robin’s life (and Zelena’s). By the end of the episode they share, Zelena is obviously warming up to the pirate - and when Kelly encounters him in Hyperion Heights, her fondness for him is visible in spite of the danger she’s in and his own obliviousness (”It’s Detective, actually…”).

Wish Hook and Robin: Obviously, they’re going to have a familial relationship once Robin and Alice get married, but it’s obvious from the show that they both have deep feelings and great respect for each other already. Hook, thinking he’s on his last legs and going to die soon, takes it upon himself to ask Robin to look after Alice when he’s gone. That denotes a great trust and affection for her. And, similarly, Robin respectfully asks for his blessing (what was once customary is, in Robin’s more modern generation, considered old fashioned and unnecessary) and insists that she will do whatever it takes to keep him alive to see their wedding. This exchange shows us a lot of warm feelings between them.

Rogers and Tiana: These two are even sweeter than her beignets. And unlike some of the subtle friendships he’s had, this one’s a little more obvious.

Wish/Hook and Rumplestiltskin: Just when you thought it was safe to get trapped in a snowglobe with your arch nemesis… This one was just bizarre, really. After literally years in real time and centuries of show time being SHOWN how much these two hate each other… the show decided to TELL us in S7 that, actually, they were the closest thing the other one had to a friend that whole time. Sure, Jan. I try to murder all of my friends multiple times, as well as trying to make them (and their loved ones) suffer as much as possible. Some people love the twist, some people hate it… but in either case, it’s just WEIRD.

Ships I Left Off: I’m gonna be honest here. As much as I enjoyed Robin Hood and Hook’s scenes together, I never really bought them as being the best of friends. They seemed more like acquaintances to me, and I think the fandom colored them as besties based more on the friendship of the actors than on the actual canon content of the show. And even though Elsa and Arthur both spent episodes “adventuring” with Hook and he obviously grew to (or just did) like both of them, I don’t really feel like either of those led to lasting friendships that persisted beyond the “buddy adventure” episode they shared. I also left off crack ships and any ships that are entirely fanon creations.

So! In closing, I’d like to contend that it isn’t so much that Killian Jones needs more friendships… THE SHOW JUST NEEDED TO LET US SEE THE ONES HE’S FREAKING GOT.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

#killian jones #ouat meta #ships #not whxmp #retrospective #kw writes a thing #oc #anonymous #kw ask box

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pomegranate-belle · 5 years

Note

For the TV/movies meme: 2, 3, 14 and 17!

2. Top 5 overrated TV shows

- Game of Thrones. There, I said it, I’m sorry world.

- The Bachelor and all its permutations; they’re not popular in fandom-type community but given the fact that it’s STILL GOING AFTER GOD KNOWS HOW MANY SEASONS, well, I think it applies.

- The Walking Dead. I watched like three episodes of it and got bored. Like. I got bored of a show about the zombie apocalypse. How??

- BBC Sherlock just... Isn’t that good guys. Sorry.

- I’m running out of stuff. Uhhhhh... I saw a couple episodes of Vampire Diaries once and wasn’t very impressed, idk?

3. Top 5 underrated TV shows

- Black Lightning is pretty cool, I really like the premise of it and I don’t think I’ve ever really heard anyone mention it. It’s fun to see a superhero that’s really a Grown Ass Adult with like, kids and a job, who kind of already knows what they’re doing when the show opens.

- The Sentinel. Ok, ok, don’t shoot me, I know it’s got some Uncomfy Racist Mysticism, for sure be aware of that, it was made in the 90s, but like... It is genuinely a pretty fun show. The characters are just all so interesting, and Jim and Blair just have the most entertaining dynamic. And hey if you ever wondered where that Sentinel-Guide fanfic trope came from...

- I know it’s a Canadian kids’ show from like a decade ago but Storm Hawks is good ok?? It’s really cute with interesting worldbuilding and a sense of humor I think would resonate with a lot of people right now.

- ABC’s Forever; this damn show only got one season but my brother and I have rewatched that one season probably fifteen times, it’s just so good!! Immortality, crime-solving, hilarious side characters, a son who looks older than his dad, tragic flashbacks?? How could you pass this up?

- Pushing Daisies, for sure. I mean. Guys. Come on. The tongue-in-cheek narration, the wild backstories, the fact that it’s literally about a socially-anxious be romance romance who uses his powers to bake pies?!?! How are people not all over this show like white on rice??

14. Top 5 badass characters

- Rose Tyler broke the laws of time and space, turned herself into a fourth-dimensional goddess, vaporized a fleet of Daleks, and brought a man back to life forever. How do you even top that?? She will end you.

- Ok I was trying to not choose two people from the same franchise but also holy fuck, Rory Williams. I literally shouted “Jesus Christ, Rory!!” at the screen the first time I saw That One Scene in The Wedding of River Song.

- Peggy Carter is a stone cold badass, this woman will brain you with a fucking stapler and be back home in time for tea with her girlfriend. God bless her. This is why she’s the Captain America in Miles’s universe—

- Luke Cage. Look, we all love Matt’s sick-ass hallway fights but you gotta admit that just walking straight down the hallway with bullets bouncing off of you is on a completely new level of badass. I love this man.

- OUAT Rumplestiltskin; dude burned down a castle, killed a man, and became an all-powerful demon creature to protect his kid. Then when that went horribly wrong and he lost his son, he spent 300 years becoming the most knowledgeable and accomplished sorcerer in the world and creating one of the most powerful curses in history to try and get him back. And remember, this guy started out as a hobbled peasant who couldn’t read.

17. Top 5 “deserved better” characters

- Neal Cassidy/Baelfire; my son deserved his fucking happy ending, and even if I ship Swanfire I wouldn’t even care if they didn’t get back together as long as he got to be back with his family, there was literally no reason to kill him off.

- Benny Lafitte; I don’t even. Fucking. Watch SPN anymore but good god. He was nothing but supportive and good and selfless and what does he get for it?? Dumped back into Purgatory and written off the show. I literally created an OC and wrote a wish-fulfillment fix-it fic for this shit.

- Donna. Noble. What the fuck was that ending?? Seriously?? She had all that character growth and gained all those feelings of self-worth and then you slam dunk her with magic amnesia and leave her right back where she started??? No!!

- Can’t believe I’m saying this about a Boardwalk Empire character because they’re all terrible people but you know what?? Angela Darmody deserved better!! She deserved to be able to take her son and run away from her fuckup husband and his pedophilic mom with a beautiful woman!! I stand by that!!

- You know what, I’ll say it, the IF writers should not have done that to Davos, absolutely fucking nobody goes from “*puppy dog eyes* I’ll stay with you, Danny..!!” to “Lol so we should definitely assassinate Danny Rand amirite??” after just one fight. Nobody! They did him so dirty omfg, and no I don’t care that his character is a villain in the comics.

#thanks for the ask!#long post

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lilacmoon83 · 5 years

Text

Love in a Ruined World

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 7: A Meeting and a Reunion

David approached Gold and Belle's little corner in the Town Hall, where they dwelled, with a purposeful stride.

"Gold...we need to talk," David stated.

"It sounds serious...should I leave?" Belle asked.

"No...in fact I think he's going to need your support for what I'm about to tell him," David responded, as he led them behind a partition they had put up to allow for private conversations. David sighed.

"We had a few outsiders cross the town line again today. Fortunately, they weren't violent and we have let them join our ranks...for now," he explained.

"Do you really think that's wise?" Gold hissed.

"Let me explain," David insisted.

"The last outsiders that came through here nearly killed us and they're the reason there's no magic!" Rumple growled.

"Rumple...please," Belle pleaded.

"I know...if you recall, Snow and I dispatched those outsiders and we're the reason that potion ever existed in the first place from what you've told us," David snapped back, as the older man relaxed slightly.

"The reason we let them in was because there was someone with them that vouched for them and insisted that they weren't violent," the Prince explained.

"And who is this person that you suddenly trust? Because while I know your wife is quite trusting...you're not. You grew up like me. Poor as dirt with a father that betrayed you at a very early age. I know you don't trust so easily," Gold said, as their eyes met. It was true that they connected on that level and David had never expected Rumpelstiltskin had humbled beginnings like him.

"You're right...and there are things about this man that I'm still very angry about, but there is one thing about him that overrules that," David replied.

"And what is that?" Rumple questioned.

"Because he's your son," David stated, shocking both Belle and Rumple.

"Bae...Bae is here?" he questioned.

"That's what he says and we know it's true, because there's more. There's something else that none of us expected," David continued.

"What is it?" Belle asked.

"In this land, he goes by the name of Neal Cassidy," David responded.

"And that's supposed to mean something to us?" Rumple questioned.

"No...but it means something to Emma," David countered.

"Neal Cassidy is Henry's biological father and he is meeting his own son as we speak," he continued. Rumple was stunned. For all his foresight and planning for the future he had done from his visions, he had never seen this twist. His son, his precious Bae had somehow encountered the Savior in her youth. The son of the Dark One had conceived a child with the daughter of the truest love he had ever encountered; a virtual symbol of pure light. There was no way that this was coincidence; fate did not allow for such. Light and Dark joined in such a way...it was unprecedented and he was probably the only one that could fully appreciate the gravity of such.

"Rumple…" Belle cooed, snapping him back to reality.

"I need to see him…" he said. David nodded.

"I'll warn you...from what I gather, he's still angry with you. He told me outright that if the world hadn't ended that he would have tried to make sure you never found him," he warned.

"But since circumstances are a bit different, he recognizes that family is important and came to find you," David added.

"Thank you David," Belle said for him, as he was still too lost in his own musings to properly respond.

"You're welcome...guess this is one more thing we have in common. Emma would have every right to be angry with me and Snow. But she's gotten over it and so will your son," he offered.

"Except that your choice to give her up was forced. Mine was not...it's different," Rumple refuted.

"Perhaps...but like I said, things are different now. It's times like these that family becomes incredibly important and we all have to support each other. Family is all we have and I think your son realizes that," David stated.

"We?" Rumple asked. Charming smirked.

"Like it or not, Gold...but you now share a grandson with me and Snow," he replied, as he led them to the moment of truth and for some surprising reason, Rumple didn't find sharing something with the likes of Snow and Charming all that offensive as he thought he might.

~*~

"Is that why you're telling me now? Is he here?" Henry asked. She nodded and Neal stepped toward him.

"Yeah...I'm here," Neal said, as Henry looked up at him.

"You're my Dad?" Henry asked.

"Yeah...guess I am. If it helps...I didn't know," Neal replied. Henry shrugged.

"I get it...but how did you find out about me now and where I was?" he asked inquisitively.

"Well...I actually came here for a very different reason. I'm like everyone else here...I'm from there," he revealed. Henry perked up at that and his eyes widened.

"You are?" he asked, with avid interest.

"Yep...and so I came here looking for my father, even though I swore I never wanted to see him again," he said, just as David approached with Rumple and Belle. His eyes met his father's and Rumple looked as though he may fall apart right there. His usual composure was failing him and normally, he wouldn't let that show openly. But he couldn't help it.

"Bae…" he said tearfully.

"Papa…" Neal said stiffly. Henry looked at him in surprise.

"You're Baelfire?" he asked in amazement.

"Yeah...but I like going by Neal now," he answered.

"Did you know, Mom?" Henry asked.

"Not a clue, kid. Back then...I wouldn't have believed him even if he did tell me," Emma replied.

"It's not her fault Henry. August tracked me down and told me who she was. He convinced me to leave her and I was stupid enough to listen to him," Neal said, as he glanced at Emma.

"Where is that puppet anyway? I owe him a punch in his big lying nose," Neal mentioned. Emma shrugged.

"Get in line...but no one has seen him. I'm not sure if he survived," she replied quietly.

"Bae…" Rumple said, as he hobbled forth.

"I'm still pissed at you," Neal warned.

"Bae...the moment you were gone, I regretted ever letting you go. I spent...my entire life since then trying to find you," Rumple replied.

"Well you shouldn't have!" Neal snapped.

"I made a huge mistake…" Rumple pleaded.

"Yeah...you did and everyone else paid for it!" Neal roared.

"Did you even for a second care about the families you were ripping apart to come after me?" he questioned.

"All I could think about was finding you…" Rumple admitted. Neal snorted.

"Yeah and in the process, a lot of people got hurt. Emma and her parents didn't deserve to be ripped apart just so you could find me," he scolded.

"We didn't...but it got us Henry," Emma reminded and he sighed.

"Yeah...I guess it did," Neal said, as he knelt down in front of him.

"I hear you're the reason the curse was broken at all," he said fondly. Henry shrugged.

"Mom Emma broke the curse," he said.

"Yeah, but you found me and brought me to town, kid. None of it could have happened without you," Emma reminded.

"Oh yeah," Henry agreed, making them all chuckle. Neal stood up and noticed Regina standing there, looking half fondly at Henry and half threatened by them. He supposed that wasn't surprising. The son she had adopted and that used to be totally reliant on her was now surrounded by both his paternal and maternal biological family.

"I'm not sure whether to thank you for taking care of our son or to berate you for helping my father cause all this in the first place," Neal said boldly.

"Try thanking me. You may be his biological parents, but I am his mother. I have a say on who is in his life," Regina warned.

"Mom…" Henry chided.

"Yeah...August told me the story. The people you hate are the reason he exists at all," Neal retorted. David nodded.

"He's got a point...you're welcome," he quipped, earning him a sharp glare from the former Queen.

"I'm aware…" she admitted.

"He loves them...and he loves you. Emma and I are pretty screwed up, because of my father's and your actions. I think we should try to avoid that with him, yeah?" Neal asked. Emma nodded.

"Agreed," Regina replied.

"Henry's grandparents no longer have anything to fear from me," she added and Henry hugged her for that.

"Thanks Mom...that's all I want. For us all to be a family," Henry said.

"I want that too Henry," she admitted.

"You think that's sincere?" Neal questioned. Emma shrugged.

"Deep down...I think so. It helps that there's no magic, you know?" she asked.

"Oh yeah...trust me, it's a blessing in disguise. Magic just royally fu…" he started to say and she gave him a look.

"You have to watch your swears around the kid," she warned. He chuckled.

"Right...magic screws things up, let's just leave at that," he said. She nodded.

"Neither of them, Regina or your Dad, are particularly comfortable without it. They've had to rely on my parents to survive more than they like. I have to, honestly. I had no idea how to hunt, forage, farm...none of it. But they're really good at it. We haven't lost anyone yet, because of them, save for the ones that died when that plane crashed into town," she explained.

"Yeah...trust me, Storybrooke is way better off than I've seen," he said.

"Then the cities are as bad as we've heard?" Emma asked.

"Probably worse. New York is the home base for this new faction that's taken over all the major cities. Whoever is leading it has pretty much recruited most of the former military and anyone that wants to fight or remain on top of the food chain, so to speak," Neal replied, catching David's attention.

"Do you think they'll come here?" he asked. Neal shrugged.

"It's possible...they've pretty much scavenged most of the country for guns and ammunition so they have a pretty good supply. We'll be in trouble if they do come here," he admitted.

"With winter coming, I'd say they'll try to move on any settlements then. It's the most vulnerable time," he surmised.

"We might have a solution for that and it might make the difference this winter. Then next spring, we can move north and settle. There's still a lot of untouched farmland up state," he mentioned.

"Plus we have the benefit of the harbor and being able to fish," Snow added. He nodded.

"I assume you and your friends at least have some useful skills?" David questioned. Neal chuckled.

"I'm afraid most of them worked in cubicles before now, but they can learn. Me...just tell me what you need help with. I've had to forage and hunt for food before. Henry and I could go see what we can catch for dinner," he suggested, as he looked at Emma and Regina for approval.

"Can I Moms?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure...its fine with me," Emma replied, with a shrug.

"Me too," Regina agreed a bit uncertainly.

"Bae...can we please talk later?" Rumple requested. Neal sighed.

"I've said what I need to say. Not sure what else there is," he refuted.

"But I have much to atone for...please," Gold pleaded.

"Yeah...you do. But I have a feeling that if there was magic here that you'd be too busy scheming and screwing people over with your deals to atone for anything. You haven't changed...you just don't have any choice but to behave, because you're now depending on others for survival. Things would be very different if there was magic here and so far, I haven't seen any reason to believe otherwise," Neal said coldly.

"Please Bae...I have changed. I can show you," Rumple pleaded. He scoffed.

"Like I said, you haven't really changed. Your circumstances are making you be on your best behavior, because Emma's parents are the reason you're alive and have food in your stomach. And to be honest...I hope magic never comes back," he added, as he and Henry left together. Emma winced and turned to her parents.

"How are you holding up, sweetie?" Snow asked.

"Okay I guess...I expected that to be a lot worse. I thought Henry was going to hate me," she admitted. Snow squeezed her hand.

"He knows you love him and that you didn't really want to give him up. And I think he understands why you told him his father was dead. None of this has been easy for anyone," Snow reasoned.

"Only because Dad explained it to him and got through. Thank you," she told her father. David smiled.

"I love that kid, as much as I love you," he assured, as he hugged her and cradled her head.

"We never wanted to give you up, Emma," he reminded. She sniffed.

"I know...and I'm not angry with you guys anymore. I love you both," she confessed. Snow sniffed.

"Oh Emma…" Snow gushed, as they hugged her between them. David chuckled and gently wiped a few of the tears away on both their faces with his thumb, even though he had his own staining his cheeks.

"Come on...let's go get a fire started for whatever they bring back," David suggested.

"Okay...but they might come back empty, because I'm not sure Henry can stay quiet enough to catch any fish," Emma joked, as they started walking toward the woods to build a fire, when she turned back briefly.

"Are you guys coming?" she asked.

"I'm not sure we're welcome," Gold replied. She sighed.

"Look, I know you both would probably be ruling this town with magic and have us at your mercy and everything if you could...but that's not the case. Add to that, like it or not, we're all family now. And Henry wants us to be a family, so we all owe it to him to be that for him," Emma said sternly. Belle smiled and urged him along.

"I couldn't agree more," she agreed, as they followed.

"That means you too, Queenie," Emma called and her parents chuckled.

"Excuse me?" Regina asked in an accusatory tone.

"You heard me. Come on and keep up...you need to stop wearing those dumb heels you have on too," Emma called back.

"I'm a Queen...I'm a bit more refined than you and your woods-dwelling parents," she quipped.

"Aren't you technically Queen too, Mom?" Emma retorted.

"Um...well, I suppose, but there was never an official coronation, so technically, I'm still a Princess," Snow responded.

"You were born into the crown...a coronation is just a formality," Rumple interjected.

"I'm still Queen...I married into it," Regina protested.

"Which technically makes you Queen Mother," Rumple argued.

"And that would make my Dad the King, right?" Emma questioned.

"Absolutely not...he's not royal by birth. He married into it and is only Prince Consort," Regina protested.

"Except that Snow has the power as Queen to bestow the title of King on him if she so chooses to do so," Rumple interjected.

"And I choose to...because he is King of my heart," Snow agreed, as she kissed him tenderly.

"Ugh...that's probably the most sickening thing you've ever said," Regina grumbled.

"And with them...that's saying something, believe me," Emma said, as her parents continued to kiss, hearing none of their complaints.

"Hello? Are you two going to come up for air and start this stupid fire? I for one would like to eat," Regina replied. Snow and David's lips finally parted. They started gathering firewood and mused at their circumstances. None of them could have ever imagined things would have turned out this way and lead them to all being a family. But it had worked out that way and no one really seemed too upset about that...

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #Charming-Mills Clan #plus Rumbelle #Rumbelle #Swanfire #Henry Mills #romance #adventure #family #AU #post apocalyptic storybrooke #love in a ruined world

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celticheartedfangirl · 6 years

Text

25 Fucking Stupid Writing Choices OUAT Made

This post is a snarky response to Adam and Eddy’s little humble brag article that came out today:

http://ew.com/tv/2018/05/14/once-upon-time-crazy-storylines/

This is meant to be snarky and critical and if you don’t like that -- don’t read it. (MY post, not the link above.)

Look, I am a OUAT fan an there are many things I love about the show. But there are many I just DON’T LOVE and I think they’re worth discussing. If you don’t like criticism, you won’t like this post. That’s fine.

Thank you for all the suggestions! I think I got quite a bit crammed in here.

Under the cut for length and so as not to upset those who only want to ‘think lovely thoughts’ . . . . .

25. Here’s a magic doohickey thingy we’ve never heard of before but NOW we’re using this thing.

Look, I’m not gonna list all the MacGuffins this show has used, I’d be here all day and there are worse things they’ve done, and this IS a show about magic after all.

But there’s also such a thing as overkill. And there was too much MacGuffin use that we didn’t know about before in this show. It was far too convenient and usually used as a cop out in lieu of – you know – actual STORY TELLING. THAT is my MacGuffin issue. Don’t use it to replace character development. We’re not here for that.

24. The Lost Boys/The Untold Stories and Other Dropped Plots

So the Lost Boys -- Did they get homes? Did they grow up? I don’t know! Do you? Of course not – we’ll never know!

What about all those Untold Stories folks? Weren’t there a bunch of them? Are they still meandering around in Storybrooke?

Edited to add: Maleficent and Lily. SO SORRY I forgot to initially include you in this one. My bad. You are missed, ladies!

Edited once more to add: Poor Gideon. Both parents dead and his extended family doesn’t give a shit about him. Or at least I assume so because we don’t know where he is. The child of Beauty and the Beast -- treated like a disposable plot device. Nice.

OUAT is great with creating and LOUSY with follow through. I know there are many others. But there shouldn’t be. There shouldn’t be that many dropped plots on this show. If you’re not going to follow through with a story line, why add the characters AT ALL? Speaking of that . . .

23. JFC, how many new characters do we NEED on this show???

Especially since you still haven’t figured out what to do with some of the ones that are CONTRACT PLAYERS on your show! Hey, didn’t Archie and Ruby used to be those? (Waves hi to Belle! Also the Charmings post S4. More on that later.)

22. You know – Rumple is Henry’s GRANDFATHER

He is! Really!

You’d never fucking KNOW IT, would you? The erasure of any sort of familial relationship with Henry/Rumple was a damned shame. And much of that, I believe, was because if they acknowledged THAT, they’d have to mention the character they want us to forget. More on that later.

21. The Shattered Sight Hype

Remember what a BIG DEAL the whole Shattered Sight thing was gonna be in S4? OMG people say what they REALLY FEEL about each other! It’s gonna be EPIC!!!

And then it – wasn’t. We basically got some Snowing/Evil Queen snark, Henry bitching at Hook, and Belle – well, Belle was asleep – what else is new?

I think of all the things that were PROMOTED as something amazing for this show – this is the one that was a big old dud and a whole lot of NOTHING.

20. Belle’s mom/Belle is written out of her own storyline in S6

In Family Business we met Belle’s Mom for about two minutes. Then she was dead. And Belle didn’t remember what happened. And then – we never heard about it again.

I don’t know about you, but I wanted to know what happened there. Why didn’t Belle remember? Did Moe get a roofie magic thingy from Arthur? Did Belle’s mom turn into an ogre and she killed her and blocked it out?

SO MANY possibilities there. But hey – it’s just Belle. Why write a story for HER?

In the same regard -- whatever your thoughts are on Rumbelle in S6 (MHO – it was garbage and an OOC shit fest, but that’s just me) – what happened with Gideon – Belle’s SON – was because of HER CHOICE. Choices have consequences. And in GOOD WRITING – the person that MADE the choice that caused the mess is supposed to be the person to help CLEAN IT UP.

But apparently – it was a better thing for ZELENA of all people to be the one to do that. And Emma and Hook too. Because why the hell not, right? That makes all the sense.

Yes, Rumple played his part too in the whole Gideon mess. And he did get to take part in the resolution. But that was something they should have done TOGETHER (what a concept!), and overall Belle was just – not part of it. Even in the last two minutes they sidelined her with a sprained ankle. Absolutely ridiculous. Which leads me to . . . .

19. Belle being sidelined since Season Two.

OUAT brought the lovely Emilie de Ravin onto the show as a regular cast member in Season Two, and had no fucking idea what to do with her character. So she gets fridged. She gets stuck in the hospital, left behind while the rest go to Neverland, she’s very fond of naps, she’s forgotten about in Camelot, not cared about while in a sleeping curse because the “heroes” care more about “stopping” her “evil” hubby (see #17) and written out of her own damn storyline in 6B (see #20) – and then she’s dead. (More on that later.)

I love Belle. I love Rumbelle. And I will forever be resentful that for the bulk of her time on the show, the character of Belle, one of my fictional heroes, was written as nothing but a plot device. She deserved so much better.

18. The Musical Episode

I mean – if this nonsense (and it WAS nonsense) had moved the story forward, I could maybe – MAYBE – let this one slide. But it didn’t. It just rehashed the same shit that we had been talking about for 6 seasons. And then Hook married Emma and her Stepford Wife conversion therapy was complete. (More on that later.) This episode WILL NOT HOLD UP in the future. Future generations will be “WTF-ing” all over the place with this one, mark my words.

17. Rumple is a Hero – no he’s a Villain – No wait he’s a hero, nope a villain, make up your DAMN MIND WRITERS!!!!!

I got whiplash trying to follow the trajectory of Rumple’s story, as many times as they changed his characterization. He’s a villain – then in 3A he’s a hero. Then he’s the victim of a molester and kidnapper and show doesn’t address that AT ALL. Oops he’s evil again. Except now he’s not – his heart is PURE! He pulled Excalibur out of the rock, he’s a HERO! Nah – he’s dark again. Bad Rumple! Oooh now he’s REALLY DARK and his fetus with no brain stem hates him and his wife is living on a boat with his sworn ENEMY while pregnant, so he traps here there (!!!!!) and he’s macking on the Evil Queen . . . come ON. Enough already.

Rumple is a complex character. You can’t just flip/flop willy nilly with a complex character. You have to know how to write them as nuanced, and CONSISTENLY complex but never falling fully into one camp or the other of ‘good’ or ‘evil.’

Rumple is played by Robert Carlyle, one of the best actors around. And the ONLY saving grace from the horrible writing of this character over the years is the fact that Bobby knew how to play him most of the time – even when the writers didn’t know how to WRITE HIM. Which was almost ALL the time.

16. Hook is a Dark One/Resurrecting Dead Hook/Hook the Gary Stu

I toyed with ranking the dark one higher on the list and as its own thing because really, this reveal caused the biggest MID EPISODE ratings drop in the history of the show up to that point. Nobody liked it. Nobody wanted it. And it ended up being a setup to the ‘Save Hook’ trajectory because of COURSE of all the characters in the history of the show, HE was the one that deserved saving THE MOST. But I think all of these things tie together.

What this moment did was solidify the fact that Hook was officially a “Stu” character. He definitely had Gary Stu tendencies up to this point, and was basically an irritant to anyone but CS/Hook fans, but from here on? That’s pretty much all he was and all he’d ever be until he was replaced (or should I say upgraded?) by his doppelganger.

I combined the DO/Save Hook/Stu thing because it was in the Underworld that Hook’s full Stu-pification took place. There wasn’t a line of people he had murdered wanting a word with him – as there SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

And Hook still got to keep all his murder trinkets when he got resurrected and made out with his girlfriend over Robin’s grave. What a guy.

15. Regina/The Evil Queen Stay Split

I’m just saying – wouldn’t it have been better character growth for Regina to have to live with her ‘evil’ half than to split it off? And no, the ‘heart mixing’ thing doesn’t count. I get that the whole thing was really fan service to the Outlaw Queen fandom. But that doesn’t make it good writing.

14. The Wish Realm

Oh, I could write a whole post about this (and I may do that at some point) but there are so many damn holes in the whole Wish Realm mess I wouldn’t even know where to start. But so many things about it just DO NOT line up in a sensible way. And even if you find one that DOES, it’ll create three things that DON’T line up.

I’d have bought a ‘parallel universe’ over the ‘wish realm’ stuff. They could have gone with that and it would have made much more sense. But you know – they wanted dead Belle, dead Baelfire, dead Snowing, no Emma and old Hook so – Wish realm it was. I just got to a point where I didn’t care anymore. But that doesn’t negate the stupid.

13. The Timeline

The timeline in OUAT made sense – and then it didn’t. And then they just stopped trying. And I stopped caring. But for paid, professional writers – just not cool. DO YOUR JOB!!!!!

12. Will Scarlett

Do I really need to say any more here? No? Didn’t think so. Moving on.

11. Neal’s Apartment in New York City

Have you ever been to NYC? Places of residence are at a premium there. There is no way in hell that an abandoned apartment wouldn’t have been emptied and taken over by a new resident in that much time. And I’m sorry, but odds are Neal did NOT pre-pay his rent for TWO YEARS out.

10. Belle and Hook – Best Friends Forever!*

You know – no woman with a brain in her head would befriend a man who straight up tried to murder her FOUR TIMES. So, either Belle doesn’t have a brain in her head, or that’s some crap writing right there. (My vote is with the latter if you’re wondering.)

It was bad enough when Belle was just handing over the dagger to “Hook” in S4 (yes, I know it was Rumple but details shmetails, Belle didn’t know that), but a PREGNANT BELLE going to live on a boat with Hook to be ‘safe’ – come on. Who does that? I get that Adam and Eddy wanted to wave the middle finger at the Rumbelle fandom, but they could have found a way to do that without making Belle look STUPID.

*Honorable mention to Belle/Zelena being friends which was equally as stupid

9. Zelena is Marian

Come ON – they pulled that one out of their asses halfway through S4 because they wanted to find a way to bring back Bex. There was NO INDICATION of that until the reveal. Because it didn’t EXIST until the reveal. Ridiculous.

8. Making the Charmings Supporting Players

Starting with S4, Snow and David basically became secondary characters. They had MOMENTS, but overall they were on the backburner and if they left the show at any point – would it have made a difference to ANY of the trajectory they were playing out? I’d say no.

I mean – how the hell did that happen? How do you run out of ideas with the couple that you touted as THE ‘main couple’ after only three seasons? I don’t get it.

7. Golden Queen

Just no. There was never anything romantic between these two characters. It was stupid and out of character for both of them. No.

6. Queer baiting 101

If you gender-swapped either Emma or Regina – made one of them a man – they’d be banging by S2 and by the end of the series they’d be married with at least two more kids and three break-ups/reunions between them. (Hey, I watch soaps, I know how this shit works.)

The chemistry between the actors is there. They share a kid. But they’re both women. And you know – family show -- #nohomo and all. Sure.

The writers KNEW that Swan Queen was popular. Now okay – if ABC didn’t want to go there, fine. I don’t agree with that, but fine.

But don’t keep freaking queer baiting your fans every chance you get! It never stopped. In fact, it got progressively WORSE as the show went on! That’s just bullshit right there. Either do it or drop it. Because what OUAT did with Emma and Regina and the baiting of their fans was just flat out shitty.

And if that weren’t bad enough, we got the whole queer baiting with Mulan/Aurora, and THEN in S5 we’re handed Dorothy/Ruby as a token olive branch to the LGBT community and then – we never see them again!

Okay, in S7 they got on the right track with Alice and Robin. I will give them that. But after six years of baiting, it kind of rang hollow for many, and rightly so.

5. Hey, Here’s a Person of Color – Let’s Kill Them!

One of the first warnings I give to any new OUAT is ‘don’t get attached to any POC’ and with good reason. They don’t last long on OUAT.

Now I don’t want to assume or accuse any of the OUAT writers of flat out racism but . . .. . you’ve gotta admit – they don’t have the best track record there.

It’s especially obvious when they bring on a character that is compelling and portrayed by a charismatic actor that the audience enjoys. Lancelot, Merlin, and Facilier are the three best examples of that. Okay, so Lance was resurrected but – where’d he go? Is he still trying to undo dead-Arthur’s roofie on Guinevere?

And then we have an amazing hero and a compelling villain in Merlin and Facilier, respectively. Both of these characters – and their actors – were bright spots in the show. So naturally – they needed to die. Without their storylines resolved.

But it was just a coincidence that they weren’t white. Of course it was.

4. The Death of Belle

Yeah, yeah, I know, Beauty was a beautifully written episode and Bobby and Emilie loved it and we got some great moments, blah blah blah . . . . . . but was it NECESSARY? Did they REALLY NEED to kill off Belle? You’re telling me that there’s absolutely, positively, not one plausible scenario for S7 wherein Belle is in Hyperion Heights and Rumple can find a way to rid himself of the darkness WITH HER THERE???? Really? They couldn’t write even one lousy full season of Rumbelle (hello BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) happy and in love with struggles but still beating the darkness in the end? Really??? There weren’t any options for that scenario AT ALL???? Give me a break.

3. The Stepford Swan

Over the course of seven years, many of the OUAT characters suffered with out- of-character moments. It’s not uncommon and I would even venture to say that this happens on occasion on MOST television shows. But on OUAT, it was a common occurrence from Season Four onward. And NONE of the characters experienced as much of an out of character de-evolution as Emma Swan.

When we first met Emma Swan she was a badass, intelligent, independent woman. Yes, she had her issues and her inner demons and we saw her work past those as the series progressed.

And then . . . . she got a boyfriend. And he became the center of her universe. And Emma – changed. The writers (and Jennifer Morrison) will swear up and down that it was an ‘evolution’ but I’m sorry – a character that starts OUT like this:

Does not END UP like this:

That’s not evolution. That’s a shell of a woman dependent on a man for her self-worth. That’s NOT who Emma Swan is. This was THE worst character assassination on the show, and I’d say it’d be up (down?) there in the top 10 (er, bottom 10?) of worst character assassinations in all of television. What a shame.

2. Rapists – rapists everywhere!

Once Upon a Time has always been marketed as a family show. For a family show – there’s sure a heck of a lot of rape in it.

The first CANON rapist we have is Regina and her 28+ year imprisonment and repeated sexual assault of Graham. Regina came a long way as a character in the show’s 7-year run – but it would have done great service to her if this had been addressed somehow. Now, I know that Jamie Dornan is all famous and off making money playing Christian Grey but – you know, in this particular case – I’d have been good with either a recast or at the VERY least an apologetic mention. But we never got that.

And that’s the problem with every rapey issue on this show – it’s never addressed for what it is. In fact – it’s really not addressed at all. Hook’s rape jokes in S2 are treated like ‘playful banter’ by the writers, cast, and viewers alike. Zelena’s ‘Hester the Molester’ stuff with Rumple in S3 doesn’t even warrant a discussion. Hook’s rapey innuendo in the CS movie is also waved off. Then we have Zelena raping Robin in S4, Arthur magic roofie-ing Guinevere and probably raping her in S5 (Is she still roofied? Who knows!), and Mother Gothel raping Nook in S7.

That’s a hell of a lot of rape for a “family show.” And aside from the off-handed comment from Robin about lack of consent with Zelena, none of it is addressed for what it is – RAPE.

1. The Death of Baelfire/Neal Cassidy

In Season One there were three main story line arcs driving the series: Regina’s war with Snow White, Emma as The Savior, and Rumpelstiltskin’s quest to reunite with his son, Baelfire. All three stories intertwined, and it only made sense that the trajectory of the show would be that in the end, all of these characters would somehow come together, as they all were tied to one character: Henry.

Unfortunately, the writers made the foolish decision in Season Three to execute one of the main (if not THE main) driving forces on the show. Baelfire/Neal was connected to all of the aforementioned people, and his loss was a blow to everyone. At least it should have been. But that’s not what we saw.

Not only was Neal/Baelfire killed off – he was flat out ERASED from the show. His name from the point of his death on was rarely brought up. We didn’t get to see anyone truly mourn or grieve him. (Okay Rumple, but BARELY – and anyone who has lost a child understands that it’s quite possibly the deepest type of grief imaginable. I’m told you never get over it.) As the show moved forward, you could literally spot the times when the writers made deliberate dialogue choices to avoid saying the name Neal/Baelfire in places where it not only made sense, it was WARRANTED.

Let’s be REAL here – we all know the “reason” Bae/Neal was written off the show. I don’t care what the writers say. I’m not an idiot and neither are you. And I’m sorry, but if the ONLY WAY you can think of to make a “romance” happen on a show is to kill off a character that would be forever “in the way” of said romance – you’re not a skilled enough writer to be writing a television show for a major network. I mean – it works in spiteful fanfic (which I am more than guilty of writing). But for a television show? The viewers deserve better than that. NEAL/BAELFIRE and every character that ever loved him deserved better than that.

I know I probably missed a bunch but I really did try to hit the highlights and put them in the order they deserved.

Thoughts? Comments? If you think I’m missing a tag for this (I’m doing my best) let me know and I’ll add it.

#ouat criticism #anti ouat writers #anti hook #anti cs #anti stepford swan #tw: rape #anti zelena #anti golden queen

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faithandfearcollide · 6 years

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OUAT rewatch: 2x06 - Tallahassee

Hook is such a little shit but he’s also so entertaining. It’s no wonder Colin always says season 2 Hook was his favorite to play. You can tell just how much fun he’s having.

Slapping a pair of glasses and a ponytail on her was not a super effective de-aging method. Just sayin’.

However I also don’t think casting a younger actress would have worked considering the nature of the story in this episode so eh...

Neal: Impressive. But really, you could’ve just asked me for the keys.

Emma: Yeah, I’m not telling you my name. Neal: No, I don’t need it to have you arrested when the robbery’s in progress.

Emma: I am not having drinks with you. You might be a pervert. Neal: I might be a pervert, but you’re definitely a car thief.

Everything out of Neal’s mouth here has me in stitches. The whole situation is such a mess but it’s perfect. This is such an underrated first meeting.

I mean, I really wanna call out how unrealistic it is that the cop let’s them go without even looking at licenses or registration…but Neal is so entertaining and charming that I can’t even complain.

Emma: I stole a stolen car?

This cars backstory is still better than a good chunk of actual characters backstories on this show. Brilliant.

Mulan: All due respect, I’m the best equipped to go. How many wars have you been through? Snow: My share. Aurora: It should be me. Mulan: You? You haven’t fought in a battle. Snow: This is about us getting home to our loved ones. Why would you- Aurora: Because I have no loved ones. If I fail, you can still go on. Emma: It’s me. I’m going, and I’m not going to fail.

Mulan should have gone. Plain and simple. And if not Mulan, literally anyone else would have been more qualified.

You know, I think the greatest disservice to this story was the writers tying Neal and Bae’s stories together and making them one character. Because Emma and Neal’s relationship actually worked really well on a realistic level. I liked the story of a teenage Emma and Neal meeting on the streets, sticking together and taking care of each other because they’re both just two lonely people with no one in the world to rely on except each other. Shit happens, the relationship doesn’t work out, they end up accidentally having a kid come out of it. That’s life.

But as soon as they made Neal and Bae the same person, it all just fell flat for me. I love Neal, I really love Bae, they’re great characters on their own, but I still can’t connect the two in my head. I wouldn’t have even minded Neal sticking around for the long haul and just being a character from our world sucked into the drama of the fairytale stuff the way Emma was. I just wish they’d kept it separate from Bae and Rumple’s story.

I don’t have a ton to say about the Emma and Hook side of the plot yet, but I will say I genuinely enjoyed their dynamic in this episode. I think if they’d kept cs this fun and Hook this genuine, I could have jumped on board this ship a lot easier. I still think Emma and Neal were better suited and they deserved the story more, but I also think CS could have been fun explored as a casual thing.

In fact it would have been really good for Hook's character if he had had a little something with Emma, but inevitably backed off to let Emma and Bae find each other again. From a story POV, Hook being the guy who abandoned Bae and enabled his mother to do the same, the idea of him making up for that by helping a grown up Baelfire find love again (through Emma and through their son) is a really nice thought.

That’s the redemption arc I wish we’d gotten for Hook and I’m disappointed that at the end of the day Emma just became a prize for him and Bae suffered for that.

Emma: Let’s get to it. The compass. Hook: What’s your rush? Emma: How long do you think magic knockout powder lasts? Hook: I have no clue.

Colin’s delivery of that last line always cracks me up for some reason.

August: I’m going to show you something… Something that’s going to make you look at everything differently. And, when you see what I have in here, you’re going to listen. You’re going to believe every word I say.

To anyone just tuning it, it’s his name written on a piece of paper. There I just saved you 8 episodes of wonderment.

Most ridiculous build up to the most anti-climactic reveal ever.

August: She has a destiny. And you? This life? You’re going to keep her from it.

This made no sense to me. It would have been far more beneficial for Neal to lead Emma back to break the curse than to break her trust so that she could hopefully, maybe, possibly someday find her way back there herself.

Neal: I just… I feel like… If… If I knew that she was okay, then I could move on. Is she? August: She will be. She got eleven months. Neal: That should be me! I should be doing that time.

Neal: And if I can’t be there for her, man, you got to promise me that you will be. August: I promise. Neal: Then you should do something for me. I was able to fence the watches. Don’t judge me. I’m giving it all to her. And the car – I got a clean VIN number for it, so it’s legit. I just… It’ll feel like I’m there with her, you know? August: Money is not what she needs. Not for what’s ahead. Neal: Can you just see that she gets it? August: Sure.

Neal shouldn’t have agreed to any of this but he really did try to do right by Emma. It sucks that this gets so harshly held against him.

August on the other hand is being a complete jackass.

I feel for JMO this entire episode. No actor should be subject to this level of absurdity.

I don’t get why she had to go back and stab him in the back to his face. Like just leave and pretend you thought he was dead. Geez

Snow: You told her to cut it down? Emma: Yes. I couldn’t risk- Snow: We go back together. That is the only way. Do you understand?

Aww I feel for Snow. She finally gets her daughter back and she’s constantly having to face the idea of losing her again.

Henry let me hug you!

Jared was so great here. He doesn’t get enough recognition for moments like this.

#ouat rewatch #watching fairytales #ouat #once upon a time #picspam

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