#ouat liveblog

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Not to be judgemental but so so many problems in ouat would not be an issue if folks stopped saying "ahh yes it's such a good idea to make a deal with this creepy guy who lives in the woods"

[neverland93]

Robbie and the ouat fam goes on strike

[12freddofrogs]

And I think I do want to do a proper summary of my thoughts on Once Upon A Time, season 1.

It's a fun show to mock, in a lot of ways. Most of those ways the show itself is in on the joke. Like, the dwarves hatch from eggs. I responded with "????" and that was absolutely the intended reaction of the audience.

And at the same time, the dwarves hatching from eggs makes sense? It's in dialogue with traditional fantasy. Old fantasy stories that claim that dwarves are single-gender, and while newer versions say "they're not, but humans can't tell the difference," this is just OUAT having fun with "if there aren't female dwarves, where do new dwarves come from?"

Genuinely, there is some really great writing moments. The whole Beauty and the Beast retelling? I swooned. It suffered a little from the pacing, but I don't know what else they could have done from that - the story couldn't practicably have been more than one episode, so they needed to get all of the romance into forty minutes. They did okay. That shot of the chipped teacup? Fantastic.

Or the reveals? A young Regina saving a little girl off a horse, and that crying child admitting her name is Snow White was amazing. Or August pulling up his pants to reveal wooden legs, answering immediately exactly who he is. Graham's appearance in the last episode. Multiple episodes leading up to Rumpelstiltskin bottling True Love, and then being able to use it in the finale, with the bonus amount of effort to establish how powerful True Love actually is. Some of it was over dramatic, but it was always fun, and if you give it a little slack for the dramaticness the reveals are actually pretty good.

Some questions remain. The big ones (what happened to Baelfire? Why are they not back?) will absolutely get answered later on. Some might get forgotten.

I do have a problem or two with the in-universe timelines, especially the flashbacks. They're split up over episodes, but taken chronologically they're just... not working?

Like, let's take the dwarves doing an intervention for Snow White. They told her she's not acting like herself since she took the potion. Which is absolutely correct, but, how do they know? Let's remember their meeting: Snow broke into the castle the night before Charming's wedding. She met the dwarves, fights, rescues, she goes off to stay at their place. The next morning, Grumpy goes to tell her that Charming ran off from his wedding, only to find Snow had taken the potion. Like, she had known them for less than twenty-four hours before her personality completely changed; how close could they have gotten?? I don't think the wedding could have gotten delayed, seeing the amount of effort that went into Charming not being supposed to know anything went wrong.

Or Charming himself, having spent, what, a week as a prince before he met Snow? He's a hero, he's brave, he's in love with Snow and ready to fight. Why is he still in silks after going on the run? I get that he grabbed the clothes he had to pack, but it just feels... odd? Not the silks specifically. Like the writers forgot that the backstory they gave him should change a lot of things, that a farm boy isn't a prince. Give him a year-long engagement to Abby, at least, before he starts to adjust.

But I guess my real, big issue with season one is that time that Kathryn got kidnapped and drugged by an unknown person, and at no point did the Sheriff consider it might have been the same man who kidnapped and drugged her earlier in that same episode. Come on, Emma. Do a serious hunt for Jefferson, not just "Where did he go?" Not to mention Regina would have been delighted to be able to frame Jefferson for her own crimes, when he made himself into such a suspect.

But yeah. Ultimately, a lot of fun. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.

[pumpernickel-simswood]

I'm on season seven, episode four of Once Upon A Time and are you absolutely kidding me!? They're dragging Up into this!? For part of how much of a "good man" Rumple is?! Screw all the way off! Jfc.

[ohmyoverland]

that the only way Once Upon A Time could think to make the Evil Queen, Snow White’s evil stepmother, sympathetic was to give the Evil Queen an eviler, queenier mother of her own…

[mintchip-lover]

This is where he knew he was FUCKED

[ileftherbackhome]

say what you want about rumple but him telling regina "your mother wanted power, she ripped out her own heart to get it, you want vengeance, Henry's the price you'll pay, time to cut your losses" was the kindest thing he has done for regina.

[4c-aperture]

died may 18 2018 born september 18 2024 welcome BACK emma swan !!!

[mirkwoodest]

In a strange turn of fate, I think the stupidest moments in Once Upon a Time have actually aged the best.

[ace-with--a-mace]

i have been watching american housewife

[grecoromanyaoi]

"someone has to save these people from the fire!"

"pinocchio, dont!!"

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

No more dating apps I want to meet people the old-fashioned way (you're riding in your carriage with your distant betrothed I steal jewels from you, you catch up to me and pull up my hood to reveal my face, romantic music swells, I brain you with a rock and ride away)

[showmethesneer]

The children yearn for the mines thing but it's just me, yearning for a literary analysis assignment after finishing a book.

So because i have a Film degree, i did the Blake Snyder beat sheet for this novel lol

my Jane Eyre beat sheet

Opening Image - Jane's abusive childhood

Set-Up - Jane is desperate for love and acceptance, desperate to find family and a home where she will feel appreciated.

Theme Stated - Forgiveness is important in love.

Catalyst - Jane is sent to the super religious school where she learns to double down on her people pleasing instincts. Maybe someone will love her and accept her if she is obedient and useful and selfless– this school and its teachings snuff out her sense of self-worth.

Debate - Jane reveals that she wants her abusers to suffer. Helen tells Jane about god and how crucial forgiveness is, even for those who wrong you. 

Break Into Two - Jane takes her future into her own hands, taking out an advertisement and goes to work at Thornfield. She can be useful and find purpose in caring for others.

B Story - Jane meets Rochester– who is not attractive or kind, so it puts her at ease. He puts no effort into being "good" and does not claim or aspire to any virtues her teachings were based on, which is refreshing. He values what she has to say, appreciates her gifts and overall personality, and makes her feel like she is actually worthy of attention.

Fun and Games - As Jane and Rochester develop a rapport, she begins to feel important and useful, and takes pleasure in being of service to him. Even though she worries that he is in love with Blanche Ingram, he proposes to her. She realizes that he appreciates her for who she is because she is worthy of love. She does not have to fade into the background as she was taught.

Midpoint - Rochester is not only already married, he keeps his wife locked in the attic.

Bad Guys Close In - Jane is determined to respect Rochester’s marriage, even at the cost of her own happiness. He loves and accepts her as she is (yay!) but she cannot forgive him for breaking his marriage vow (boo!). Her want/goal was to find people who loved her as she was. Her need is to learn to forgive people so she can be receptive to and reciprocate that love. 

All Is Lost - Jane leaves Thornfield Hall. She rejects Rochester’s love, rejects her job, her home– everything she found and cultivated in this new life she made for herself and winds up starving and cold and penniless and alone. Worse off than when she left the Reed’s house or the school in the beginning. 

Dark Night Of The Soul - The Rivers take Jane in and give her a new family to belong to, a new vocation, a chance to live independently, but without the kind of love she had from Rochester. St. John proposes marriage for the purpose of making her a missionary’s wife. It will be a platonic marriage, at the service of god, where she will have to be selfless and deny her own personal desires. This is the opposite of the life she was leading at Thornfield Hall where her opinion was valued and her appetite for love was well-fed, and her weird little delights in being called an elf and endearingly teased were satisfied. She will not get that as a missionary’s wife, where the emphasis will be on piety and goodness. St. John appreciates her, not for who she is, but for what he can make her. She hears Rochester crying out for her in the night and knows she has to go back to him.

Break Into Three - Jane returns to Thornfield to find it has been burned to the ground and Rochester is badly injured. He is free to marryy her now, he even needs her help so she will definitely be useful if she stays. She has to forgive him if she wants to be with him now. And if she wants to be with him now, she needs to reject being a people pleaser and marrying St. John to live as a selfless missionary’s wife; she knows her worth now. She will not sacrifice her happiness, she wants Rochester and she will have him. 

Closing Image - Jane and Rochester live happily together. They have children. She loves her life. She feels useful and loved and does not have to sacrifice anything to be this content. Additionally, St. John is doing his missionary work and never marries– the epitome of the selfless, people pleasing life she was bound for if she had never learned her worth or how to value herself as she is, which is what Rochester’s love has given her.

[12freddofrogs]

Okay. So having finished season one of OUAT, I might do a better summing up post of the things to actually sum up in a second. But first, I have just been thinking about all the characters who actually know their histories and backstories have been told to thousands of children as bedside stories, and how they probably feel about it.

There were four people who completely, 100 percent knew that they weren't from this world (who also had the theoretical opportunity to research fairytales; I kinda doubt Maleficent did): Regina, Gold, Jefferson, and August. As of yet, at least. Maybe later seasons will reveal that Tiana or someone was also there with her full memories.

Regina probably didn't buy a copy of Snow White for Henry (I maintain my theory Henry's first introduction to that specific fairytale was in the storybook), but she was probably curious. She might have picked up a copy of the Grimm's tale and laughed at most of it, successfully ignoring the slight twist in her stomach at the description of the Evil Queen's brutal death. Regina could have even put on the most famous movie version, the Disney cartoon, and deliberately gagged throughout the singing birds. She might have made a snarky comment at the Happily Ever After ("You sure about that?") and then tossed out the DVD. Ultimately, she's aware of the tale, but hasn't really studied it.

Mr Gold absolutely read a version of Rumpelstiltskin or two. He probably would have watched the movie, but there isn't really a mainstream American Rumpelstiltskin movie. A couple can be found here and there, but it doesn't seem to be a hugely popular movie to adapt. The biggest one I can think of is the third Shrek, and Mr Gold doesn't particularly strike me as someone who would sit down and watch Shrek for its own sake.

That said, he was trapped in time for almost thirty years, during which he could do very little. Refine his plans, gather information, the general running of a store, but he was stuck in Storybrooke for a long time. It's not impossible to me things would contrive until he found himself watching Shrek 3. And honestly? I think he wouldn't hate his portrayal in that movie. That particular Rumpelstiltskin was smart, made deals and kept them despite looking for loopholes, collected power, was terrifying in his own right despite being a comedic character in a comedic film. He was a villain, but it's not like the Dark One has ever particularly been surprised at that title.

My first thought on Jefferson was that he probably hadn't read Alice in Wonderland, but then I realised that he absolutely, most definitely had. So many times, in every variation he could find. Jefferson has spent those thirty years desperately looking for a way to go back. There is no doubt that the Mad Hatter has been intensely studying what seems to be the biggest link between the Enchanted Forest (and Wonderland) and the Land Without Magic: the fact that somehow the stories themselves are leaking through in variations.

He's watched movies. He's read Alice and Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and read books on those books. He's played video games and watched kid's cartoons and read dumb romances that seem to have no link other than the characters having familiar names. Jefferson has noticed that, for some reason, the Disney cartoon appears to be the most accurate.

Not just for Alice in Wonderland, but for all of them. Some of the other stories he only knew by reputation, or rumour, and he can't actually ask Mary Margaret what elements of the Snow White tale were true or not. That said, he knows that dwarves have names like Grumpy and Doc, and only Disney seems to have given that name. He'd heard of the fairy Maleficient, and every other variation of Sleeping Beauty gave the uninvited fairy a different name. Disney isn't exactly accurate but they are closer than anyone else, including the original tales. What does that mean? He has no idea. He would break into Disney studios if he could.

And then August, I think, would absolutely watch Pinocchio. I'm fairly certain he was still going by the name Pinocchio when he first arrived, and people made connections. Small child by the side of the road, someone grabbed the Disney DVD from Blockbuster. The first time he saw it he was too startled to tear his eyes away. He watched it again a few weeks later, and had adjusted enough to the world that he sobbed the whole time.

August has, much like Jefferson, also noticed that Disney seems to be the most accurate one. He read The Adventures of Pinocchio when he was fourteen, tucked up in a private corner of a library and half expecting the book to cause a breakdown, and was instead just surprised at how different things were. The Field of Miracles? Bandits? Why is the whale a dogfish shark?

He hasn't made it a hobby to track down every version, but he has watched a few of them. He liked a couple, disliked others, more based on how he was portrayed rather than how accurate it was. He did at least once go on the Pinocchio ride at Disneyland and, despite how cartoony and wrong the little Jiminy Cricket was, he was nearly crying when he got out.

And, of course, Mr Gold isn't just Rumpelstiltskin, is he?

I'm not sure how it would come up, necessarily. Again, he's not really the type to watch children's movies for fun. He could pick up a book of fairytales and browse through, but honestly, his story was different enough that he might not connect who this Beauty is, with two older sisters and a father who steals a rose and a monster with an unwilling curse.

But it was twenty-eight years, and a lot can happen in that time. Maybe Regina did it on purpose - after all, she had a young son who was allowed to watch most of the Disney princesses, just not Snow White. She could have made a delicate suggestion to a man she was sure wouldn't get the reference about a Belle and Gaston, and certainly nothing showed in Gold's face that he recognised those names. But once she left, he curiously tracked down the Disney copy of Beauty and the Beast.

It didn't take long at all before he saw the familiarity, a girl who loved to read who, even in a cartoon, looked too familiar. Gold actually couldn't get through the whole movie in one go, and had to keep stopping. If it was more accurate, he might not have finished. He didn't realise that the singing teacup with a single chip in it meant something until he was well into the movie. And he didn't quite cry, not even in the privacy of his own house with the doors locked, at the ending when the Beast that was not him chose love and the woman who was absolutely Belle, but his eyes were a little wet. He spent the next few weeks making Mr French's life miserable, raising rent and insisting on quicker repayments, and didn't even pretend to justify it.

[dreamertrilogys]

my youngest sister is watching victorious rn & every time i walk by and see the hot goth bisexual i start foaming at the mouth and have to physically stop myself from going “she’s so hot” to my 9 y/o sister

[ice-sculptures]

i didn't realize how many little details they sprinkled throughout s1 that set up big plot points for season 2...despite both of these things only coming to fruition in mid to late s2, snow taking away regina's loved one and tallahassee have already both been brought up as significant moments for these characters and i'm only on episode four. god i love long form storytelling 🫶