#like first off obviously it’s different depending on if regina or emma is stuck in the loop | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sieben9 · 6 years

Text

“tougher than the rest” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Help, I am having an emotion!

Several, actually.

Too many, really. There was a lot going on, and I shall yell about it under the cut.

OK, first of all, August, we have to talk.

also yay, August is here!

That is not how “The Ugly Duckling” goes. I went and checked. The poor little guy didn’t even know what a swan was (and, apparently, neither did anyone else) until the very end. I mean, the reader reaction can’t be wrong, as we know, but I think this tale can be much more easily interpreted as a story about the importance of finding a community you can be yourself in than a parable about “changing your fate by wishing hard enough”. But I see where you’re coming from, so I shouldn’t be too much of an ass about it, I guess.

And while I’m going off at people: take a goddamn nap, David. Poor Snow is missing all the action, and it’s not like you’d be the one who would tell her that Emma is gone. (Also, Regina is on the job. You should know she’s got this. Seriously, my guy. Sleep. It’s nice.)

someone give this man some valerian tea

Speaking of Regina…

…OK, maybe she hasn’t quite got this. Look, I do like the exploration of “what could have been” here, and the scene with the feather was really sweet. That said, bringing this guy along is so going to bite them in the ass later on. I’m not even wondering at this point, I just know. And I like this Robin! It’s not that I think he’s a terrible person, why can nobody see that? He’s just… trouble. Then again, at least he knows how to pick a lock. And am I the only one who’s wondering if Rumple actually wanted them to escape? Because that was awfully easy, I have to say. “Just let me leave you both in this cell that’s not locked with magic and then leave for an undetermined amount of time so you can sort out your emotional baggage and escape.” Yeah, something’s off there.

And speaking of wish!Rumple…

somehow I cannot help but notice that this is NOT a complete human skeleton. what, pray tell, happened to the rest of her?

Dark, show! Please pick up a mirror, look yourself in the eye, and ask yourself, very seriously, “was this necessary?” I’ll wait.

You know, I assumed the “off to raze some fake villages” thing was an off-colour joke, but considering that this version of Rumplestiltskin has now lost both Belle and his son twice, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just went through with that.

And, really, nobody bothered to check the extremely obvious and very high tower in Regina’s castle? What happened to the other prisoners? Are there just a dozen people dead, not for any cause or crime, but simply because they were stuck in Regina’s dungeon and nobody bothered to free or feed them? Really, show? (I’m not even blaming Snowing for this, it’s just too ridiculous an idea.) Could at least have had Rumple say something about how the tower could only be accessed by magic, or something. I’m willing to accept a handwave here, but you have to actually wave the hand!

::deep breath:: OK. That’s out, now. Bye, bye, wish realm, and thank you for all the glorious fanfic.

Oh, before we go, have another picture of happy, well-groomed woodcarver!Pinnochio and happy pornwriter!August.

I don’t know, I just have a soft spot for the guy.

Back in the real world…

I am going to personally murder the Black Fairy! : D

And I was going to say “unless Rumple gets there first”, but honestly, the guy already had to kill one of his parents twice, so I’d say he deserves the break. Belle can have this one. The Gold family really got hit with the full dose of OUaT’s Bad Parenthood Shit, didn’t it? Parents separated from their child, child kidnapped, child returns a fully-grown adult with a terrible childhood… As hilarious as Gideon’s “I don’t need your help!”-tantrum was, the poor guy is clearly hurting badly, and… I don’t even know. Just let them be happy? Please? (Which is more than a little difficult, because those 28 years aren’t just going to go away. They never saw their son grow up, and instead of a loving home with two parents who adored him, Gideon had… whatever that shit in the flashbacks was. …did I mention that I am going to murder the Black Fairy? Because I will.)

Oh, and just as an afterthought... wanna see two people go through four out of five stages of grief in under a second? (Different stages on each face) Because this is what happened when Rumple asks “did she hurt you?” and Gideon answers “depends what you mean” (which means “yes”, obviously):

Enjoy!

I’m… not going to comment on the whole “if Emma dies, there will be a new Saviour” thing, because I was not aware that being the Saviour worked the same way as being the Slayer, and until I get more information, I’m not going to speculate too much. Current hypothesis: he’s lying for some reason or other.

Really, the only good thing to come of this is that Belle and Rumple almost automatically started working together again, because whatever their faults and differences, their main concern is their child.

…and they seem pretty much completely alone in that. This scene was just baffling. I mean, I get it. David’s daughter is in danger, of course he’s going to put her wellbeing first. It’s a terrible choice to make, but I won’t blame him for choosing his daughter. That said, the complete lack of sympathy from both him and Hook was staggering. If they’d said “well, sucks to be you”, it couldn’t have been much colder. Like I said, not expecting either of them to lie to Belle, but some show of “oh no, that must be terrible, is there any way I can help?” would have been the decent thing to do. What the hell, Charming?

And while Belle was over at the loft getting absolutely no help and even less sympathy…

Someone please tell me why I have this weakness for characters with a massive streak of self-loathing? Or, rather, don’t. I don’t think I’d like the explanation very much.

This scene was so good, though. And heartbreaking. Mostly heartbreaking. Because not only is this the first time Rumple is alone with his son, he’s also pretty clearly testing just how far “gone” Gideon is. Please don’t imagine the thought process that must have gone into “now let me check if my only living child is completely evil”, because it is not a happy picture. And just… everything about this. Rumple’s desperation. The “make me pay”/”hit me” that starts off taunting and ends up nearly begging, because of course he’s blaming himself for this. That’s how people react to tragedies, and in this case, it’s a whole mess of “if we’d only” and… guh. Pain. There is a lot of it.

And speaking of pain…

“Please, he’s my son.”

For the record: yes, the sound of wailing in the distance was, in fact, me. I’d just heard this line of dialogue, and there’s… a lot going on there. Both on Rumple’s and on Emma’s part, I think.

I assume that when he says those words, it reminds Emma of that day in the woods, when, you know, the man she loved died in her arms and his father was helpless to do anything about it. And I think we can safely assume that Rumple remembers the exact same thing, because how could he not?

And as a “bonus”: Emma now has memories of her wishverse-self, who clearly had a loving and happy relationship with that Baelfire, however long it lasted. His portrait was displayed in a prominent place. She told her son about him. I can’t help but wonder how that played into her emotional landscape, here.

Whatever her thoughts on the matter, she did the Emma thing in the end and let him go, so… yeah. Big relief, there. Apart from “how about we don’t murder the kidnapping victim”, killing a child in front of their parents just seems… several shades darker than this show needs to go.

behold: the most awkward parting in this show’s history

This moment was actually darkly hilarious to me. Because you could see them both going “oh, right… we’re not actually back together. we should… yeah. bye. laters.”

And I’m not complaining, because that led to the scene at the well, which… I died. I just dropped dead from my chair, and I only came back to life so I could see the rest of this arc.

Look at my two idiots, not fucking up at a well, for once. …OK, it’s the second time, technically, but still. People on this show make a lot of bad decisions around this well.

@idesignedthefjords and I were joking that the only reasonable explanation here is that they were saving up all the good dialogue and character development in 6A for this scene here. They actually get to talk! About their fears, and insecurities, and how their good intentions paved the road to this hell. I can believe this dialogue, even when I don’t agree with all of it. Oh, and what Rumple said about being “so desperate that [you] reach for the cure, when in fact it’s more poison”? Yeah, he was totally talking about Gideon there. Sure he was. That’s what this whole bit of the conversation was about. (Pssst, he was talking about himself, mostly.)

They just were both so very, very tired, and it hurt to watch. Because this isn’t the end of their troubles by a long shot. Frankly, I’m still waiting for the Black Fairy to make a personal appearance, because I know what Murphy’s Law is, thank you very much.

and we just had that fixed, too...

#once upon a time #ouat #tougher than the rest #sieben watches ouat #sieben talks #ouat writing critical #but like... veeery mildly #and jokingly #charming critical #anti hook #also very mildly #but also: what the heck guys

44 notes · View notes

justanoutlawfic · 5 years

Text

The Guardians: What Happened?

Summary: Robin tells Regina what happened the night of their blind date.

Mentions of alcoholism and infant death in this chapter.

Also on AO3

Regina had to admit, it was a lot harder to hate Robin now that they were living under one roof. Before Neal and Emma died, they were equal opportunity jerks to one another. They’d give jabs as good as they got, sometimes it’d raise to bickering but never more. Regina never felt guilty about it because they could still be in the same room when the time called for it and it wasn’t like he didn’t give what he put out.

Since they moved in together, though, he was tame. He did his fair share with Henry and the housework. He stuck to the schedule they had created to give them both a little free time. Once, Regina had even needed him to take Henry last minute when she had an emergency with one of her patients and he had been more than happy to oblige. She had been expecting at least a little fight, but there wasn’t so much as an exaggerated eye roll.

Regina definitely came off looking like the asshole and she didn’t like it. She realized that she had spent so long hating him, for one bad date. Since then, he hadn’t done anything to make her life more challenging. He was adjusting to their situation and trying to be civil. Regina was the one that couldn’t cope.

So, she did her best to play nice. She was naturally sarcastic, she got that from her mother’s side, but their jabs were more playful than anything. Regina even found herself smiling around him some days. One night, they even gave Henry a bath together.

After he was tucked into bed, Regina decided to broach a subject she hadn’t wanted to discuss with him when she wasn’t sure where they were as co-parents. Now, it just felt wrong to leave him out of it.

“Henry’s birthday is in a month,” she said.

Robin blinked a couple of times, obviously caught a bit off guard. She couldn’t blame him. That meant that it had been a whole month since Emma and Neal died. One month since they had begun their co-parenting. Between taking turns with a fussy baby-Henry had reverted from sleeping through the night since the accident-and work, time had really flown by.

“It’s not that I forgot, just…”

“With everything going on, I haven’t had time to think about it myself.” Regina bit her lip. “Emma had been planning this backyard thing. Neal was hiring a bouncy castle, they were going to have Granny’s Diner cater. Emma had told me about it, but I forgot until the landline got a call today about the castle.” She paused for a moment. “I told them to go ahead with it. I hope that’s okay.”

“Henry should have a good first birthday, even if we’re still adjusting to this whole parenting thing.”

“Great. I’ll drop off the invitations tomorrow.”

“Let me guess, Emma had those all worked out too?”

“She wasn’t very organized except for when it came to him.”

“Neal was the same way.”

An awkward silence filled them. They didn’t talk about much outside Henry, especially not about the friends they lost. As a psychologist, Regina knew that was bad. Out of everyone, they were the only ones that knew how the other felt. They had lost two people in their lives that had been their family. Neither had much in the way biological wise. Robin’s parents were dead and Regina wasn’t close to her mother and sister. Cora hadn’t even called Regina since the funeral. They had lost two members of their chosen family and it hurt, more than they could ever describe.

Regina chose not to say anything about that, instead she brought up the question that she had in her mind for the past 6 years. “Why were you so weird on our date?”

Robin laughed, shaking his head. “Seriously?”

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently. You’ve been so great and I’ve been well, a jerk to put it kindly.” She folded her arms over her chest. “For the best interest of Henry, we have to move forward and try to get along better.”

“Is that your psych speech?”

“If it was my psych speech, you’d pay me by the hour.”

“Touché.”

Regina gave him a look as if to say go on and Robin sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He gestured for her to sit on the couch and followed suit once she did.

“You know I was married before, right? To Marian?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, during our marriage, we found out we were having a baby. A little girl. We were so excited.”

“You have a child?”

“We had a child,” Robin corrected. “When Marian was about 20 weeks, we went in for a scan and found out that the baby didn’t have a brain.’

Regina felt her stomach drop and suddenly she felt guilty for bringing this up. “Robin…”

“Please, let me continue. They gave us a choice. Carry to term or deliver, either way it wouldn’t matter because she wouldn’t live longer than a few hours.”

Regina’s hand flew over her mouth and Robin looked as though he wanted to break, but he pressed on.

“Anyway,” he waved off the emotion on his face. “After that, things were hard. Marian and I didn’t have the best of marriages to begin with. We loved each other sure, but there was always something missing. I had to go on the road for work after that and the more I called Marian, the more times she’d answer drunk. She swore she never had a problem. Eventually, things just got too had and we agreed it’d be best to divorce. Still, we remained friends. We were the only ones that knew what it was like to go through what we did.”

“Of course,” Regina whispered.

“So, Marian would still call me every so often, drunk off her ass. I tried to get her help, as did our other friends and her family. We couldn’t convince her. The night we went out…it was our daughter’s birthday.”

“Oh my God.”

“I was fine, I don’t like being alone on it, so I figured our date would be a good way to take my mind off of it. Marian chose to get drunk and she was the one that was blowing up my phone that night.”

Regina frowned. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

“Because it’s a long, personal story and not exactly first date material. I thought if you knew my ex was still so close to me, it’d be a turn off. Would it have been?”

Regina squirmed a bit in her seat. “Well…I don’t know.”

That was honest. Leopold had been obsessed with his dead wife, but that was a bit different. She had never been int hat situation before. A part of her wanted to think she’d be okay with it, but the other knew she’d probably want to wait to be in a relationship with Robin until Marian wasn’t so dependent on him.

Robin nodded, as if to say he had made his point. “Besides, after that you and I blew up about something else all-together. Neal tried to tell me to tell you after, but I just didn’t see the point. Even if I did, we both said some pretty dumb things that night.”

Regina winced at the memory. “Yeah, we did.” There was another moment of silence between the two of them. “Is Marian better now?”

“Yes. After that night, I got firm with her. It took some time, but she finally got some help. She’s been sober 5 years now. Remarried, with a kid of her own.”

“That’s great.”

“It is.”

“Given what you’ve gone through…I’m really surprised you agreed to take on Henry with me,”

“It wasn’t easy, but I realized that he needed me and maybe I needed him too.”

“He adores you, Robin. His eyes light up whenever you walk into a room.”

“They do not.”

“They do.”

Robin softly smiled. “He’s pretty amazing.”

Regina’s eyes flickered to the family portrait of Emma, Neal and Henry on the wall. It had been taken when he was just a few weeks old. They were both smiling down at their son as if he hung the moon. God, they had loved him so much.

“What are we going to tell him one day? About them?”

“That they loved him and yet were crazy enough to leave him to us.”

Regina rolled her eyes. Their sappy moment was truly over. “I’m serious.”

“I don’t know. You’re the child psychologist. What would you tell yourself if you were a patient?”

“To be honest. To talk about them, but not be obsessive so he wouldn’t think that we didn’t want him.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Regina looked back at the photo. She realized in that moment, that she and Robin shared something else. Given his own past and the loss of his daughter, he had admitted it had been hard to take on Henry. It had been for Regina too. Not the day to day aspect, but the fact that she was going to be his mother. She couldn’t just be “Aunt Regina”, no, she was now his mom. She was taking Emma’s place. He’d never remember his biological parents, just Regina and Robin.

How was that at all fair?

#the guardians verse #outlaw queen #outlaw queen au

11 notes · View notes

scribbles-by-kate · 6 years

Text

Thoughts on 7.11 “Secret Garden”

I really liked this one. Yes, it was Zelena heavy, and she’s not at all my favourite character, but I’m definitely seeing a change in her from previous seasons. She’s still somewhat sarcastic and quippy, but she’s also matured from when we knew her before. It was interesting to watch this story play out.

Zelena and Robin - Zelena is a good mom. I don’t think that can be questioned. Ok, I hate how she got Robin, and I hate that that was never dealt with, but I accept that she loves her daughter. I mean, she was willing to die in her place, and she was worried about her getting into magic, so she does really care. Initially, when she had the baby, she seemed to view her as a way to get one up on Regina, but then she seemed to develop some maternal feeling. I felt like that was quite well handled at the time, so I’m glad to see that she has been a good mother to Robin. Robin is your typical teenage tearaway, and it was interesting to see Zelena’s reaction to her daughter choosing Gothel. Zelena clearly still has issues about not being chosen, which it will be interesting to see dealt with before the show ends, if they’re going to deal with it.

Robin is 18 - so, if she’s the same age as Gideon, then that means that, as Robin and Zelena arrive in EF2, Gideon is starting his studies at Elphame Academy and RumBelle are moving to the Edge of Realms. That’s dependant on time moving at the same speed for everyone (until RumBelle end up in a realm where we’re told time moves differently), so, really, the time line is not that wonky. No one looks their actual age, of course, but that’s probably to do with the fact that it would be expensive, and time consuming, to have to age everyone up for every episode. Let’s just go with the idea that magic keeps everyone young, or no one but the children age in the magical realms, and leave it at that.

Gothel is Mother Nature - or an iteration of her. Well, I suppose that was obvious. I had thought she might be another version of the Dark One, but I suppose she still could be. She does seem to be a villain anyway.

The Resurrection Amulet - this seems to be our Deus Ex Machina for the season. We’ve already seen it save Lucy. Perhaps it will be used to save Henry down the line as well. And I can guess who’d be putting their life on the line for him - the one person who’ll actually be happy to pass over to the other side. I am glad that they specified what exactly the amulet can be used for, because that cuts off any suggestion that it could be used to bring Robin, Bae, or Belle back. Not one of those people would be happy to have another person sacrificed for them anyway. Using the amulet to save Lucy only works because Tremaine did it willingly, and because Tremaine is responsible for her predicament anyway. I suspect we’re going to see that amulet again anyway. I wonder if the red stone is the Firefly Ruby that Tiana had, that Facilier ended up with…

We all experimented - um, Regina? Don’t you remember what you did in your experimental phase? Uh, you cast a curse? I’m not sure we want that for Robin, do we? Zelena’s quite right to be concerned about her daughter messing around with magic without someone to show her how to use it responsibly, and since that can’t be her, she’s worried. Interesting that Regina was kind of irresponsible about leaving her mother’s book with her niece. That strikes me less as cool aunt and more as irresponsible aunt who won’t have to deal with the consequences. Regina may be redeemed, but she’s not perfect.

Hook and Zelena - this was a fun dynamic. I liked them snarking at each other, but ultimately finding common ground. I loved Hook’s speech about love making you fearless and encouraging Zelena to show Robin how much she means to her. Colin is really getting to act this season, now that he doesn’t have to play lovesick puppy any more. I’m sure he’s having a great time. Interesting to see Zelena compare herself to her father as well, and remembering his mistrust of magic. I suppose having magic didn’t really lead her to a good place, so I can understand her being worried about that happening to her daughter too. Robin seems more well adjusted than young Zelena was, though: young Zelena was kind of batshit crazy…

Rumple being as truthful with Rogers as he can be - I really, really love this! It’s so clever of him to come up with a Land Without Magic explanation for what’s going on that Rogers will understand. It works really well. He’s telling him the truth, essentially, just leaving the magical aspect out. I love him asking Rogers to trust him as well, but letting Rogers figure out the truth on his own. It just shows how patient Rumple has become. He’s wise enough to know that sometimes you have to let people come to you. And Rogers realises something isn’t right with Eloise, and he comes back, ready to trust his partner. This partnership is becoming so interesting. I really do hope they wake Hook up soon, though, because they’re kind of getting limited in how they can have these two characters interact. I’m surprised Rumple doesn’t try to wake Hook up, but perhaps you have to start to wake up on your own first, like Regina did. Alternatively, he could be trying to protect Rogers from Eloise, because once Hook wakes up, he’s going to be devastated and want to go after her.

Henry is a believer - I love that he asked to be tested too. He’s coming back to himself!

Tremaine and Drizella - Drizella finally got to give her mother a piece of her mind. Tremaine was kind of horrible to her this episode, asking for help, but belittling her at the same time. That was unkind. Very interesting to hear that the lanterns were Drizella’s idea. Why was Ana the one sending them up into the sky, though? Because Drizella was too young, maybe? I think Drizzy must have been about ten at that point, so really too young to be handling naked flame. It was odd that she wasn’t most receptive to her mother when she returned, but perhaps it was just that she was overwhelmed, or maybe shy.

Madame Leota - I don’t really know who this woman is. I’m not familiar with the Haunted Mansion, so her whole speech went over my head. I wonder if we’ll see her again.

Who was Gothel’s mentor? - Madame Leota or someone else? Interesting that Gothel sees herself in a mentor role to Ana. Not like she really cares all that much about her. I loved, in that scene at the table, how Gothel moved her hands around the table to calm Ana’s magic down. I’m not sure if that was in the script or an acting choice by Emma. If it was Emma, then it was a really good acting choice.

Zelena and Regina - I loved their little moment in the cellar and then her smashing the sign! Poor Regina was all miffed :) Interesting that they ran the bar together. I wouldn’t have guessed that. I’d thought maybe they were rivals or something. I really like Zelena’s empathy towards her sister, with Henry not remembering that Regina is his mother. Zelena feels things for other people now, where she didn’t before.

Tremaine wants the amulet to wake Lucy - she wants people to know she isn’t a monster either. It’s interesting that this is coming after the scene with Drizella, and the one where Ana learns what she did. Seems Tremaine is starting to question her own motives. I found it interesting that she and Regina were kind of compared there, and it’s interesting that Zelena and Regina are looking to use the amulet without paying the price. Tremaine is right to question them on that. Rumple would too. It’s like have they learned nothing about magic? It’s really naive of them to think they can get off that lightly anyway.

Why did Gothel want Ana? - She was looking for the Guardian, but was it for the Guardian’s purity of heart or was it for some other reason? And is the Guardian always meant to have magic? Because we didn’t see Tremaine with magic before she took the fairy’s wand. Does Gothel want the Guardian for the purpose that Rumple wants them, or for another reason? Because it seemed to me like she was looking for a powerful magical source so that she could drain it dry. She had Robin in her clutches, but Ana seems more powerful than Robin, so was she just looking for a powerful magic user, and that person happened to be the supposed Guardian, or was she looking for the Guardian for some purpose we don’t know yet? It’s just weird that she thought Tremaine might be the Guardian, but Tremaine didn’t have magic back then, but now Ana has magic and is supposedly the Guardian. It’s odd. The two don’t seem to fit, unless Ana is the Guardian, but Gothel is also draining her magic… I can’t figure it out anyway. It certainly seems she doesn’t have good intentions for Ana anyway.

Zelena getting her magic back - I actually don’t mind this. It’s not like she got it back an episode after losing it, which is what I actually thought would happen. They obviously decided she should be without it for a long while, and that she should be turning her life around in the meantime. On this show, too often, things are fixed too quickly, so I’m pleased they didn’t do that this time. Zelena’s sacrifice was made to stick for nearly twenty years. In that time, she seems to have become a better person. I like that. And I don’t mind Robin giving her her magic. It was her choice. It’ll probably be easier for Robin to find herself without having magic that she’s not able to use very well. I like Robin taking after her father.

Tremaine taking Drizella’s place - well, that’s the one good thing she’s done in her life. It doesn’t make her terrible deeds disappear, but at least she proved she loved Drizella. And it seems some of Rumple’s words to her stuck. He asked why she was trying to save one daughter instead of having a relationship with her living daughter, and it seems that some of that sunk in at the end. I thought Gabrielle was very good in that last scene. Poor Drizzy, though. Her ‘I don’t know’ was heartbreaking. I suspect we’re going to see a lot of confusion ahead for her. It’ll be interesting to see if they redeem her now, and if Regina will have any role in that.

Who poisoned the doctor? - That’s interesting. And why did he take the test results? That’s odd. I’m pretty sure it was a man who did it, because those were very big hands in those gloves… I didn’t think genetic tests like that came back with ‘confirmed parent’ on it? Wouldn’t it just have a percentage match? Like, a high percentage would strongly indicate that Henry and Jacinda were Lucy’s parents. I suppose they simplified it to make it clear to the audience that Henry is Lucy’s father, and not Nick.

#ouat #7.11 secret garden #scribbles-by-kate's episode reviews #rumplestiltskin #wish hook #regina mills #zelena #rapunzel tremaine #robin mills #ouat gothel

4 notes · View notes

sieben9 · 6 years

Text

“dark hollow” impressions

OK, first things first: Belle's back! I feel like celebrating!

My screenshot finger slipped. A lot.

I hadn't even realised how much I missed her. Real Belle. Accept no substitutes; especially not hallucinatory ones. Yes, Rumple, I'm looking at you.

As is Regina

I really liked that little scene on the beach, too. After all the shouting and snark last time, seeing these two in a quiet moment (while they were not actively working against each other) really rounded out their dynamic for me. Of course, they still can't keep entirely from sniping at each other, but what else are best enemies for?

Overall, this episode had a lot of nice moments, but otherwise feels like the show is taking that deep breath before the jump. Which is odd, considering there’s still four episodes left.

Thoughts about the things that did happen are under the cut.

One of the more shocking revelations this episode was that the whole Neverland plot so far has only lasted 5 days. I'd have guessed something closer to two weeks, but I'll admit that wasn't based on anything in the series.

So. Rumple's gone and Belle is 1) depressed about him pretty much saying that he's going to his death and 2) the fact that he left her behind, to the point where she's convinced herself that "he doesn't need her". Belle. Girl. Buddy. He needs you so much he literally started seeing a hallucinatory version of you roughly three minutes after arriving in Neverland. I'm not saying you two should talk more, but maybe you two should talk some more when he comes back. (Shh, he's coming back, and I won't hear a word against that. Not that I'm worried. At all.)

Which made the way she reacted when Ariel came with news from Neverland all the better. Poor woman was about to lose hope, and then...

I will not make a Star Wars joke, I will NOT make a Star Wars joke...

So, she follows the very cryptic advice and finds Pandora's Box, which Rumple has in his shop, of course. Honestly, I'm not even surprised at this point. If he went "Holy Grail? Sure, second shelf from the top; mind the cloak, it's poisoned", I wouldn't bat an eyelid. Probably.

"Shouldn't you be wearing gloves or something?"

Let it be known on this day that I love Ariel with all my heart and I would like to keep her, please. And since Ruby seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth, Belle could use the second friend. In addition to Grumpy, I mean.

And then the Darlings turned up. I'd like to say that I called this one in advance, but I only got to the point of "that bear looks familiar." At this point, I think Belle has been threatened, shot, and captured enough times that she should qualify for some kind of premium card. At least she and Ariel got out in one piece (yay, teamwork!) and saved the box. And in true Belle fashion, she did it by giving them hope for a better future -- one where they may be better able to live with themselves. I just really like Belle, OK?

(...guys, I am going to die at the Rumbelle reunion. I already got teary-eyed at Belle’s reminiscence over the chipped cup. I had chest pains when Rumple said "and tell Belle I love her"; I'm not going to survive the real thing.)

Meanwhile, in the Love Triangle-- Uh, I mean, the Save Henry Plot...

That... doesn't look healthy...

Emma, Neal, and Hook are off to catch Pan's Shadow with Neal's magic coconut. No, that's not one of my nicknames, they actually call it that. There's, of course, the whole love triangle situation going on, mostly because Hook is obviously the type to kiss and tell, but I've seen so many of those that it kind of fades into background noise. Also, I'm kind of with Emma on this one; romantic entanglements can wait until after they've saved her son. Luckily for my sanity, both men seem to agree, though for different reasons. (The less said about "...and I will win it", the better, really.)

Emma's magic makes a pretty badass comeback! I'm really curious to see how that shakes out in the future. (::cough:: I am also strongly in favour of more magic lessons with Regina ::cough::)

Oh, and Snow and Charming finally have it out. David admits that he messed this one up and that he should have confided in Snow. Good for him, I say. And of course, Snow wants to stay with him, even if it means getting stuck in Neverland. Really, after everything they've been through, I hadn't expected anything else. I’d just really like not to see them explain that to Emma. I doubt it’ll go over well... (Like I said, she’s an adult, and her parents should be able to live their own lives, but finding and losing them in the span of only a few months? Ouch.)

Of course, I really hope that's not the last word on this, because I'd miss these two if they were to stay on the island.

By the way, did I mention that Pan was a manipulative little shit? Because he is.

Sure, Henry, this looks like a nice place to visit...

So, after the Death of All Magic™ (::dramatic minor chord::) wasn't enough to get Henry into hero mode, Pan makes him think that a young girl's life depends on it. What. An. Ass. And poor Wendy. Actually, poor Darlings. All of them. I kind of hope that Neal doesn't know about this, because damn, that was a pointless 200-odd years of exile on the Horror Island, wasn't it?

Speaking of -- we finally have a way off the island, but like I said: four more episodes. I'll still assume that stuff's gonna go down next time until proven otherwise.

…which should be in about an hour.

#ouat #once upon a time #dark hollow #sieben watches ouat #sieben talks #i also loved regina's EXTREMELY OFFENDED look at the perceived suggestion she may be jealous of belle #if ever a face screamed ''wtf NO'' that one was it #on an unrelated note #i want the buddy cop comedy with grumpy and archie in the lead roles #also please excuse if i'm not super talkative rn #it's been one of those days

55 notes · View notes

scribbles-by-kate · 7 years

Text

Thoughts on 6.11 “Tougher Than the Rest”

I confess, I’m at a bit of a loss to understand the title of this episode. Is it referring to Emma? Gideon? Usually, there’s something in the episode to explain the title, but I’m a bit stuck on this one. It looks like there were a couple of scenes deleted from this episode as well, so maybe they’re where the explanation lies.

My Fan fiction My Once Upon a Time episode reviews, essays, and meta

Changing fate is connected with belief - a very appropriate theme, given what Emma is facing, but it’s important for all the characters. Believing in yourself enough can give you the power to do anything.

I wondered if that boy was August - I was happy to see Eion Bailey back. I always like seeing August and Emma together. I liked him finding the power inside himself to make the tools work, and that whole idea that you have to be in touch with your tools and Emma looking at the sword.

Emma picked Swan? - They obviously changed her back story then, or the one they told Jennifer, because I remember her tweeting that Swan was the name of the family she was with till she was three. I think her picking the name makes more sense, though, because why would she keep the name of the family who gave her up? I know the family name being Swan was never canon, but it clearly was part of Emma’s back story for Jennifer. I like this way better anyway.

How is this possible? How are you grown? - Rumple, didn’t you just tell us in the previous episode that time moves differently in this other realm? Obviously that’s how it’s possible!

Killing the Saviour to become the Saviour - Gideon, darling, it doesn’t work that way. Pretty sure if you kill another person and take on their magic, it turns it dark. It’s a sign of how messed up he is that he thinks this way. He’s wiling to do something bad and expects a good result. Kinda like his daddy in that. Very naive.

Gideon wanting to be a hero - aw, he remembers his mother’s words and wants to live up to them. I love that he wants to defeat the Black Fairy. I did wonder if he was telling the truth when he said all this, but I think he was. Even if, later, it turns out he’s working for the Black Fairy, I think he can still want her destroyed. I think things between him and his grandmother are probably very complicated.

Regina and Robin - very painful scenes, but so good. It’s so interesting to see another version of Robin and I’m interested to see how all of this will play out. It surprised me to see Emma tell Regina to bring him back with her, but then Emma’s the one who brought Marian back, so maybe she felt she owed Regina this. Still, it was kinda reckless, and now I’m wondering if anyone else can make it through the enchanted tree, like another version of Rumplestiltskin, perhaps. He seemed to know all about Storybrooke…

Wish realm Hook - ok, so they basically made him exactly who he is in the ‘real’ world, right? A self-important, misogynistic drunk, yes? This version of Hook is exactly who he is, exactly. Funny ‘cause it’s true.

Rumple and Gideon - such a powerful scene. I’m so amazed and impressed by Rumple taking the blame on himself - ‘I let the Black Fairy take you’ - and I love how, despite how angry Gideon may be, he doesn’t hurt his father, because he doesn’t really want to. There’s a real need for love in him here

Wish realm Belle - well, as sad as that was, that is what would have happened if the curse had never been cast and Rumple had been kept prisoner. It just goes to show that no one would have cared to free Belle if the Charmings had won and Regina had been defeated. It shows also that, the ‘real’ world version of RumBelle’s story, as painful and difficult as it has been, is the best version of their story, because they’re both alive, they have a son, and they’re working together for the greater good. The wish realm wasn’t good to everyone.

Belle not knowing if Rumple is stopping Gideon or helping him - makes sense, because, until he says that he doesn’t want him to kill Emma at the well later, she doesn’t know where he stands with their son’s plan. He’s been fine with people being hurt before, so she has no reason to believe he isn’t now, until he tells her, and then she believes him.

I trust you. Can you trust me? - Obviously the answer is no. Something clearly happened and David didn’t give Belle the shot he promised her. There were scenes with David and Zelena somewhere and Rumple and Gideon at Rumple’s cabin that were obviously cut, because they were in the promo. I think those might have been part of the same scene, because Emilie posted a picture with Rebecca in their clothes for this episode, so I think David went to Zelena for help, they went after Gideon, and Belle was betrayed. Her saying ‘no matter who I trust’ at the well later on indicates that she was talking about the others rather than Rumple, because he knows she doesn’t trust him, and she wasn’t looking at him when she said it, not pointedly or in a blaming way at least: it looked like she was looking off into the distance when she said it.

Emma and Gideon’s fight - is clearly only round one. So, was her hand shaking the foreshadowing of her magic coming to her rescue? Rumple begging for his son’s life was very moving because he’s supposed to be this terrible, evil sorcerer, yet he’s not above begging for his son’s life. And the fact that Emma was going to kill Gideon before he poofed away indicates that she’s not as far away from darkness as she thinks.

Rumple and Belle at the well - LOVE this scene. I just love how Belle isn’t surprised to see him there, as if she’s waiting for him, and I love how they clarify where they stand, how she accepts that he doesn’t want to use the shears any more and that he doesn’t want Gideon to kill Emma. She just believes him immediately, which suggests she does still trust him on some level. I particularly love how she throws the coin in the well after all, how she makes that wish in the end, and I love her saying it can be easy to justify doing the wrong thing and that she wanted to protect Gideon even knowing what he wanted to do. It shows she’s starting to understand what Rumple was saying about light and dark depending on your point of view. Her viewpoint is starting to change. Another thing I really love is Rumple admitting, for the first time, that he’s addicted to the poison, but that he doesn’t want that for his son. Rumple is so clear sighted sometimes, and it’s lovely to see. One thing I especially loved about this scene is Rumple saying he’s attracted to those who have light, like Belle. I think that’s our answer to why he dealt for her, why he thought she was special. I think that’s lovely. And Rumple wanting to stop Gideon not just for them but for EVERYONE is such a turn around from 4a, where he didn’t care about anyone but him, Belle, and Henry. And Belle asking for one of his plans or his tricks really just shows she’s willing to do anything to save their son. It’s just an amazing scene, and I love how their body language as they lean against the well mirrors each other’s. After Belle’s ‘What have we done to each other’ in the last episode, we’re starting to see them come back together and work together.

Gideon isn’t the villain - when we saw him in the clock tower, I thought we might see him do something nefarious, like communicate with his evil grandmother. The fact that what he did was get really angry/upset and break the clock suggests that he isn’t the villain, only a lost, misguided young man in a lot of pain. Looking forward to seeing more of Gideon’s story.

#6.11 tougher than the rest #ouat #scribbles-by-kate's episode reviews #rumbelle

8 notes · View notes