#once upon a time season 4a

[ladystrallan]

Once Upon a Time season 4A thoughts

I’m rewatching OUAT and I wanted to share some of my opinions on each season!

- Funny story about this season, back in the day when I was watching OUAT for the first time, me and my dad watched it on netflix, and when we finished season 3, season 4 wasn’t on netflix yet, so we bought a box set and then a week later (no joke) it was put on netflix lol

- It’s beck from You!

- That cgi ice…

- I mean marian is a little bit right (even though I don’t like her)

- I feel like Regina’s redemption was a bit fast, and her only motivation for being good is Henry (not her having actual remorse for her actions)

- Rumple visiting Neal’s grave :(

- The ogre wars are the funniest thing in this show

- How long did they last? How did they start?

- I guess we’ll never know

- Regina… girl… just turning evil at the smallest inconvenience

- RUMBELLE HONEYMOON

- They are so adorable omg

- Him trusting her with the dagger… awww

- Aaaaaaaa! The beauty and the beast dance

- This is too cute

- “Maybe we should have gone with baelfire” yeah if you want him to get bullied

- Sidney is so thirsty for Regina lol

- THE SORCERERS HAT

- I’m sorry but the enchanted forest also being called misthaven??? I kinda hate it

- “Anna, I will find you” would you say… you will always find her? Lol

- LONG HAIR DAVID

- Omg he looks like he should be riding a horse on the cover of a romance novel

- “They call her bo peep” aka the least menacing name ever

- What are your intentions with my daughter???

- I forgot they made bo peep a lowkey mafia boss

- Not David calling her a warlord lol

- “When I was six years old, one morning I woke up hearing my father and mother going at it” yikes

- Ohhhh they were fighting… I thought they were doing something else

- Nooooo he died from drunk driving

- Ok I think I’m a full on captainswan shipper now

- “I don’t like to say such a name out loud” he’s not voldemort

- I’d know that giggle anywhere…

- INGRID

- This is the frozen 2 we deserved

- Oooooooo she got the white streak

- Ponytail Regina looks kinda fruity ngl…

- That painting clashes so bad

- Marian looks like she ate a blue popsicle

- Why don’t they disguise Elsa? She’s not exactly looking inconspicuous like that

- WILL SCARLET (For some reason I called him will roland for the longest time)

- Wait but didn’t he literally switch it out with the real dagger though???

- The way he hooked her arm!!!

- It’s zoso

- Ooh has rumple not “succumbed to darkness in his heart”?

- Captainswan date!!!

- “I don’t pillage and plunder on the first date” lol

- Awwww that’s cute that he wants to hold her

- But the hook is kinda sexy

- “Captain hand” that’s so funny

- “Is there something wrong with your skin?” Please—

- Wait… granny’s ISN’T the only restaurant in town?

- His old self is coming back to haunt him…

- Those brooms in fantasia used to give me nightmares

- Placebo hand

- Should I watch OUAT in Wonderland?

- LILY

- Awwww they’re cute

- I like how she poofs away in a little blizzard

- Ooh this is like the broken glass curse

- The Neal picture…

- Omg plot twist (I actually remember this lol) Ingrid was Emma’s foster mom

- THAT OGRE IS SO SCARY

- Ogres killed my mom…

- OAKEN

- “I pray you never have to cross paths with that twisted man” she’s married to him lol

- Omg the duke’s moves lol

- Rumple is in every single story

- This man is everywhere

- Ew the duke of weselton is such a creep

- Oh no she froze her heart

- Yikes what happened to focus on your wife???

- Zelena actually could have been the sister Ingrid was look for

- She was born with magic and misunderstood

- Why does Robin dress like a lumberjack???

- I forgot about the whole rumple stealing Emma’s magic thing

- Why doesn’t Ingrid wear shoes?

- Why do they hate happy? What did he do?

- I really like the emma/elsa friendship

- Rumple stop being evil and just be married to belle!!!

- At least for a season

- My plan to resist the curse: wear goggles

- Noooooo the vows before they die

- That is so sad

- Honestly serves blue right

- Hey, at least the curse looks pretty

- Alternate plan: tear out everyone’s hearts (the curse didn’t work on hook because he didn’t have his heart)

- Everyone fighting each other is really funny

- Awwwww that’s actually so cute (Ingrid adopting Emma)

- Why does anyone bother running when they can just poof away

- Henry? More like Kevin McAllister

- And… she ruined it

- That’s sad :(

- Rip Ingrid

- Finally a villain that shows ACTUAL REMORSE for their actions

- “Don’t you sneeze on me, you son of a—“ lol

- Oh, rumple. When will you learn?

How I feel about the characters this season

Love: Belle, Emma, Anna, Hook

Like: Rumple, Elsa, Ingrid, Kristoff, David

Neutral: Regina, Snow, Henry

Dislike: Marian, Robin

Hate: Hans, the duke

Season rating: 7/10

I liked this season more than I remembered liking it! The beginning felt a little slow, but it got really good towards the end. I like Ingrid and I think she is the best ‘misunderstood’ villain in the whole show. Her sacrifice was so sad but such a payoff! I’m just not a fan of the Marian plot and Rumple being evil for the sake of it (he didn’t really have a strong motivation for his actions imo)

[happy-emmdings]

Captain Swan Vibes 1/2⚓️ 🦢

Seasons 2&3&4

[jenniferdiazisatransgirl]

I maybe indulging my Frozen obsession a bit right now 😂

Yesterday I watched Season 4A of Once Upon A Time which is basically the plot line that focuses on Elsa, Anna and the Snow Queen.

Now, I’ve just finished Frozen 1 and am about to watch Frozen 2.

Might watch Tangled after that.

Can’t really do much right now seen as I’m still recovering from my asthma attack on Sunday. So enjoying some Disney Animated Classics seems like a good idea.

Season 4A of Once Upon A Time had me in tears though. It is my second time watching it and I’d forgotten what went on beyond Elsa, Anna and the Snow Queen being in it. But it was such a perfect storyline and so fitting with movie’s themes 😊 Should be noted it came out before Frozen 2 though and isn’t considered canon within Frozen’s universe.

[drjohndisco]

Once Upon A Time Appreciation Week 2023 ( Hosted by @dinneratgrannys )

November 12th (Day 1) Favourite Show Arc - Season 4A

[cathloves]

Mine is season 4b

[petty-d4bblr]

I thoroughly enjoyed season 7 of Once Upon a Time. Like, seasons 4a, 5, and 6 were not great, but S7 pulled me right back in.

I am so tempted already to rewatch S1 - 3 again immediately. FFS.

Apparently, despite my best efforts, I am not, in fact, getting my brain back after this.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Masterlist of my fics on Ao3!

Once Upon a Time:

"Operation Lunchbreak" (Captain Cobra, oneshot with a hint of Captain Swan, post canon, canon compliant)

"Mrs. Crocodile" (Captain Book, oneshot with a hint of Captain Swan and some Rumbelle, season 4A, canon compliant)

"Emma's First Perfect Christmas" (CSGiftexchange2022, Captain Swan, Captain Cobra Swan, post-canon)

"Working Hands" (Captain Swan, oneshot, season 3B, canon compliant)

"It Now Belongs to You" (Captain Swan, post canon, canon compliant)

"Road Less Traveled" (Beauty and the Puppet [August/Belle,] season 4 gap, canon divergent)

"Open to Interpretation" (Captain Swan, formerly oneshot, now multi-chapter, art museum au)

"Wildflowers" (Beauty and the Puppet [August/Belle,] oneshot, canon divergent/possibly au)

"A Sleepy February Afternoon" (Captain Swan, oneshot, post-canon, mostly canon compliant)

"That's Just the Way We Roll" (Captain Swan, the brothers Jones, Frozen Jewel, modern au, highschool au)

"Every Crappy Morning" (Captain Swan, season 7 finale missing moment)

"Wishing it Wasn't" (Captain Swan, oneshot, season 2, canon divergent)

"Potion Commotion" (Cygnet Scholar, oneshot, season 7 au)

"Critical Fail" (Cygnet Scholar, Captain Swan, Violet Believer, oneshot, season 7 au)

The Shuttle

"I Hit Sir Nigel In The Face With A Brick" (Anti Sir Nigel Anstruthers, three sentences long, contains violence)

"Five Life Changing Words" (Saltinna [Dunstan/Bettina,] soulmark au, oneshot)

"How The Vicar Says 'I Told You So'" (Saltinna, Penzance and Dunstan, missing moment, post canon, canon compliant)

The Proposal Fic (Salttina, still in progress)

Tangled/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure:

"A Little Bit Brighter" (platonic freckle siblings)

"What Sisters Are For" (found family, Kiera and Catalina sisters)

"Poor Little Orphan Eugene Fitzherbert" (Light Angst)

"Worlds Within Words" (Catalina and Varian)

"The Monsters" (Light Angst, Catalina and Varian)

"Dreams of Adventure" (Tangled AU, New Dream)

"Second Chances" (Tangled AU, sequel to Dreams of Adventure, Kiera, Catalina and Varian)

"Something To Believe In" (New Dream, canon compliant, fills in a small gap in the movie)

Miscellaneous Fandoms:

"When Duty Calls" (Lego Nexo Knights, Clacy) (cringes at teenage self but is still proud of her)

"Seventy: Audacity Under Opposition" (Star Wars, Sequel Trilogy, Canon Compliant, Retelling, OC X Canon) (cringes at teenage self but is still proud of her)

[cyclone-rachel]

“...No, they’re for Kara.”

...

“Brainy! I’m so glad you made it!”

~

It’s a rare moment of quiet for them, after the air is cleared and Kara is freed from her Kryptonite-proof suit, that she asks.

“Brainy?”

“What is it, Supergirl?”

She’s with him in the DEO, and sits in a rolling chair by his side, as he’s still searching for information about the Children of Liberty and keeping such research as private as he can.

“I was just wondering… if you would like to come to my apartment for Thanksgiving.”

“Ah. Yes, the twenty-first century holiday.” He answers. “And your family will be there?”

“Alex, and Eliza, and J’onn, yes- and James and Lena.” She clarifies. “There are a couple more people I’d like to invite, but I figured that since this is your first time spending the holidays in the twenty-first century, that you… that I didn’t want you to feel alone.”

Kara thinks of previous years, previous Thanksgivings, all since she became Supergirl, where she’s made sure her friends had a place at her table. Both Winn and James, certainly, even before she learned about Winn’s unfortunate family history.

The following year, Mon-El had joined them, and though Maggie hadn’t gotten to be there, she had certainly become part of family gatherings afterwards. After that- and due to Barry Allen’s wedding conflicting with her plans- Thanksgiving had been more low-key, but she’d definitely made up for it with a Christmas celebration, with Lena and Sam and M’yrnn joining that particular party.

He, meanwhile, supposes it would likely not be the best time to tell her that, prior to joining the Legionnaires, he has always spent holidays feeling alone- even when his parents were present.

“That is very kind of you.” He answers, before looking back at his computer screen. “But, all of this work…”

“It could wait?” Kara suggested. “I mean, it’s definitely important. But with how much you’ve been working, surely you can set aside one night to relax and have dinner with us.”

At least, unless something happens- which it seems to, almost every year.

“I believe you.” He says. “However… where exactly is your apartment? I know what it looks like, of course, but…”

“Right.” Kara says- and how could she have forgotten that? “16 Hope Street, apartment 4A.”

“I will do my best to be there.”

~

Querl found himself in a grocery store again.

(“Found himself” was, in actuality, an inaccurate phrase- he made the conscious choice to go, even despite his negative experience almost half a year prior. And if the sight of his appearance had been enough to nearly cause a riot then, he could scarcely imagine what would happen now, were his image inducer to malfunction like it had just a month previous…)

(That was false too. He could definitely imagine, as he’d caused such riots in his own time before. But this century was supposed to be different- or at least, it would become different.

He had to put that out of his head for now, though. He had to keep the timeline intact, remember what was supposed to happen and when.

Even though it was difficult, at times, and his own insertion into the timeline was something he had to continually monitor.)

Regardless, he was here, now, and intent upon not leaving empty-handed- he needed to find a gift for the person who’d shown him such kindness in the past few months, who made sure he wouldn’t be alone today.

There would be plenty of food, of course, it wasn’t necessary to contribute more of that for their gathering. Drinks, as well, would be provided, and plentiful.

His eyes landed on a display near the front of the store, specifically focusing in on a particular bouquet- one filled with the colors of the season, reminiscent of the fallen leaves that adorned much of the décor in this very establishment.

(As beautiful as the one who had invited him to Thanksgiving in the first place)

Yes, these flowers would be perfect, and once he returned to the DEO for the outfit he had picked out, he would make his way to Kara’s apartment.

[barbiegirldream]

my mom and i were watching once upon a time together years ago and out of nowhere she asked me what otp stands for and i died 😭 it’s so funny hearing people that you wouldn’t expect to reference fandom things reference them

I watched once upon a time with my mom too ! She gave up after the Elsa plot of season 4a. She was smarter than I… my grandfather is in his 70s and says pog sometimes. It’s crazy

[themattress]

OUAT Observation

It’s funny...my system of grading the quality of OUAT episodes/seasons ended up making a perfect match for my ranking of the series’ story arcs....except for in one specific instance.

Season 5A / The Dark Swan Saga, is by my grading system, technically better than Season 2B / The Price of Magic Saga (Part 2) and Season 3B / The Wicked Witch’s Revenge Saga. Its quality is directly equal to Season 4A / The Frozen Storybrooke Saga; it even has the same style of pacing to the arc’s events and the noteworthy factor of having an episode that is a result of the network’s unexpected demands (“Smash the Mirror” as a double-length episode and “The Bear King” respectively). So why do I place 2B and 3B’s arcs above it?

Upon reflection, there are three reasons.

1. The “feeling” of 2B and 3B vs. 5A.  Because they were back when Daniel T. Thomsen was still the story editor, 2B and 3B still felt like Once Upon a Time, despite all their faults. They still felt like the same show I knew and loved. 5A, right from its very premise of Emma Swan as the Dark One, honestly didn’t. It just felt way too miserable and grim for the most part, or else doing the same substance-less Disney plugging it did in Season 4. Only the Camelot stuff felt on point; that should have been the main focus of the arc instead of Dark Swan.

2. The context. 5A directly follows after 4B, where a huge focus was on turning heroes into villains and trying to push Emma toward “going dark”. I didn’t like it then, so I naturally didn’t like any more of it in the following arc. Worse, 4B’s whole conflict was driven by Regina and Rumple feeling entitled to having reality rewritten so that they get what they want. In 5A, we see Emma and Hook suffering the consequences of this, while Regina and Rumple not only get off scot-free; they actually get rewarded. 5A is when it became crystal clear that when A&E say that OUAT is “a show about hope”, what they really mean is “hope for oppressors”.

3. The fact that while 2B lost the plot and spiraled into total misery before ending on a note that promised a better arc to follow, and 3B was a huge waste of potential that the whole series suffered from in the long run, 5A was both. Perhaps not to as drastic a degree as those individually, but still a combined problem that gets on my nerves far more as a result. The version of Season 5 we should have gotten, the one that was the show’s final season that ended it on a high note, was dead in the water once A&E botched this particular story arc. Emma and Hook becoming Dark Ones with the latter even dying, Rumple becoming the Darkest Dark One, all of that build-up and lore connecting to the show’s past history with Merlin and Nimue and Excalibur and Camelot and the Gods...it was ultimately all for nothing. The crappy Author mythos from Season 4 ended up being more meaningful to the show by the end of its run! This, above all else, is why I do not like this arc, regardless of its quality.

....Its usage of an obscure pop song was great, though!

[justmilah]

Once Upon a Sailor Moon

So, no one asked for this idea I had literally years ago, but it was a way I could bring Sailor Moon (which I was watching at the time) to Once Upon a Time (which I was also watching at the time) in a way that was very Oncey. And it had actual little to do with the modern day Sailor Senshi goings on but had more to do with the mythos of what happened before. And since this is Once, the origin would have changed a bit.

So Princess Serenity, daughter of the moon goddess, fell in love with Endymion, the prince of earth. (Yes, it is loosely based off the Selene/Endymion Greek myth.)  There is a war over this, because a powerful sorceress loved him and felt scorned, and Endymion is killed. That’s all true to Sailor Moon. But after that, instead of Serenity ending up dead as well, she is so struck by grief that she cries for day and night for over a month and it floods the earth. (I was going for a Gilgamesh tie in I can’t remember any more, I suck at outlining.)

Realizing that humanity is about to be wiped out, the moon goddess herself banishes magic and whisks her grieving daughter home. The floods recede only now there are vast oceans and seas and rivers and lakes, and they’re all connected to the moon because they’re the daughter’s tears and-- okay it was just me going ‘hey this would be a neat way to tie in why the moon has an effect on water.’

So, since magic can’t disappear, the realms are created by accident. And it’s why the moon looks so similar in all of them - there is only one moon and it connects them all.

Then I had the idea that she would like Killian because when he burned the sail it returned the wings to her Pegasus friend, Helios. And she warns him that her cousin Poseidon is angry with him, but promises to protect his ship in repayment for saving her friend.

Then in modern times Regina remembers she’d caught her in a lamp before casting the curse (she’d been trying to catch the pegasus) and she’s now feeling guilty about it. And without magic in the land, the silver light around Serenity fades and her hair is now gold and she’s clumsy as heck because she doesn’t float anymore. And she is freaking out because she isn’t allowed to BE here, because she’s almost destroyed the world once.

Then it turns out the sorcerous had cursed Endymion to be born and die at the age of his original death for an eternity or until true love came for him, believing if enough lifetimes went by he would come around, but the problem is he never remembers her because it’s always a new life with new memories so he can’t, but he always dreams about the moon.

I think I was intending this to be between 4a and 4b, so just when Killian was starting to be trusted but still not quite trusted, so it would have been kind of...fun to see this tiny, bubbly, clumsy, friendly, so very extroverted moon goddess latch onto this guy a lot of people still saw as a murderous pirate because he once accidentally saved one of her best friends.

And then Season Seven had their own thing and I went ‘whelp, guess this will just live only in my head forever now’ only now I was finally able to share it because I remembered enough to do so! 

(And I don’t think Milah was involved because I got the idea for it before I even started writing her. I started plotting this 20 June 2017 according to Drive and my first Milah sideblog came about  6 July 2017.)

[once-upon-a-ouat]

OUATtober 2022 Day 7 - Favorite Spell (Alternative)

[chaoticbug]

unpopular once upon a time opinion:

4a > 4b

[dani-luminae]

Let's be frank: Season 4 of Once Upon A Time would have been better if they focused in the actual Snow Queen fairytale, or other Norwegian winter fairytales.

It would have been so much better.

I remember how thrilled I was with the ending of Season 3, hoping for Once Upon a Time’s take on the Snow Queen character. Sure, her outfit resembled Elsa’s, and she had a braid in her hair, but I mean the Disney references were everywhere in character costumes, and it wasn’t like it was overwhelming. This was how it ended:

And I remembered being so excited to see it. I expected an actual adaptation of the Snow Queen, *maybe* a name-drop to reference Elsa and Frozen, but not carbon copy ripped-right-from-the-theater-screen bullsh*t like we got in the next episode.

They didn’t even make an effort to have her match the end of last season, did they? And her costume looks so plastic. (Okay I know this wasn’t supposed to be about the costumes, and I’m sorry, but that just irked me to no end. I was excited for a new Snow Queen adaptation, not just another woman in an Elsa costume once again feeding into the Frozen craze. Also what the hell was up with the gloves, I thought Elsa was over that.)

Season 4 would have been so much better without the nonsensical Frozen inclusion, which butchered just about everyone’s personalities in order for Elsa and Emma to have some kind of bond which still... made no sense. And yeah, if they’d avoided this OOC arc, maybe we could have avoided the writing quality going down the drain just like *that.*

Frozen is hardly even a Snow Queen adaptation in itself, and it had no place in Once Upon a Time when we were promised the Snow Queen.

[long-live-the-many-fandoms]

Unpopular OUAT opinion...

Season 4a (with the Ingrid, Elsa, and Anna) is seriously one of my favorite storylines in the entire show. I remember being so annoyed that the writers wanted to bring 'Frozen' characters to the show, I was actually a bit angry. However, the roles were cast perfectly and the storyline was so good! Ingrid is my favorite villain (that isn't a series regular).She believed wholeheartedly that she was justified in her actions, and she was relatable enough to see her side of things. I could go on and on about this storyline, but I won't. I am just going to say that it is one my favorite storylines of all time. The cast was great, the villain was wonderful, and the story in general was entertaining. I was so angry when they decided to bring these characters to our show, but I am glad they did. I really enjoyed it.

[enixamyram]

The explicitly disney storylines (frozen, brave etc)

One Thing I Like: ... The actresses were pretty good? I mean, I did like Merida and Anna was fun at least.

One Thing I Dislike: It was a complete cash grab and did not work with the rest of the series! Once Upon A Time was about fairy tales! As much as I love those films, it makes zero sense why they would be part of this classic retelling except that they quite obviously just wanted to cling onto what was popular at the time which actually brought those seasons down for me.

One Thing I’d Change: I wouldn’t have included them. I like the actresses and I liked some of the scenes so it wasn’t completely awful but I would honestly have scrapped the lot of them. At the very least maybe I would have included a couple hints and winks like with Maui’s fish hook - they could have included Elsa’s gloves for a storyline about the Snow Queen and later maybe Merida’s bow or a potion that turns someone in a bear for some other story?

Send me a character - ship - storyline/season and I’ll tell you a like, dislike and change I’d have made.