#ouat color theory

[hannahhook7744]

Descendants 2nd parent theory; Evie addition.

We've done Harry, Carlos, Zevon, and Dizzy, now it's time for Evie. Who's her other parent?

🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎🍏

Suspect # 1 is a character from ouat, Daniel Colter. A stable boy and the ouat version of the Evil Queen's first love. He's a suspect because he was the Evil Queen's love interest and he kinda looks similar to Evie, facial structure wise. And he has Evie's kind heart and attitude.... soooo... he could theoretically be her father.

Suspect # 2 is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Yeah, I know. I'm not too thrilled about the theory either but it does make some sense. I mean, look at it this way. He's considered beautiful in their world (Idk why. He's hideous in my opinion. But that might just be his attitude. Who knows) and was held in high esteem by his village. So, maybe the Evil Queen settled for him once she figured out she couldn't get her hands on a prince. Plus he must have alot of money since he wad planning on having 5 or 6 boys. Not to mention she probably knew he wouldn't want any girls, so she'd be able to keep their daughter to herself and mold her into what she wanted. Another thing that puts more favor to this theory is the fact that the Gaston twins held the door open for her at school. At a villian school. Which is something they'd have no reason to do-- especially if it'd get them on Maleficent and Mal's bad side.... So maybe they were willing to risk it cause she's their sister? Who knows.

Suspect # 3 is Diaval from the Maleficent movies. Again, he has vaguely similar looks to Evie, he's attractive, and the Evil Queen is extremely vain and would probably seek an attractive partner to have a child with. He also has somewhat kind nature, which Evie could have picked up. But again, it's just a theory.

Suspect #4 is the Horned King from the Black Claudron. He's only really a Suspect because of the whole king thing and the fact that the evil queen would have wanted her partner to be a royal. Plus the whole red and black color scheme which gets intergarated into Evie's color scheme alot in the movies. All I got for this one, unfortunately.

Suspect # 5 is Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas. He's vain, he's loaded, he has status (which he definitely doesn't deserve), Red and blue fit into his color scheme as well as black and gold as they do Evie's, and the Evil Queen might have just sucked it up and had a kid with him because of the whole 'status, loaded, and cares for the finer things in life but would be too lazy to raise a child, especially a girl, himself' thing. Plus he has brown eyes like Evie so it's not too impossible. Especially since we know he was on the isle.

Suspect # 6 is Claude Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. No wait, don't hit block just yet. Just hear me out. I don't like this theory either but he and the Evil Queen both have similar views on a woman's place, he has brown eyes and status, and there are limited choices on who to have a kid with on the isle. And as I've previously stated, the evil queen would definitely go for someone with status if she could. Soooo...Unfortunately, it could work.

Suspect # 7 is Hades from Hercules. Again, he's someone the evil queen would go for. He's king of the underworld and he's Maleficent's ex, so having a kid with him would make the baby a full royal and would spite Maleficent at the same time. Which would be a plus for the Evil Queen. Not to mention they both have blue hair, so it would make sense for him to be seen as a candidate for being Evie's father.

Suspect # 8 is Captain Hook from Peter Pan. He has brown eyes like Evie. Not to mention the fact that he put his head between Tick Tock's jaws to make Evie laugh during her 6th birthday and Evie recognized Harry almost instantly despite the fact that she had been banished for 10 years. So, it's a strong possibility that Hook is her father. Especially since Evie has a pet parrot.

Suspect # 9 is Sir Kay from the sword and the stone. Mainly because he and Evie have the same eyes, he's nasty like the evil queen, and he has Status, so that's why he is a possible candidate in my opinion.

Suspect # 10 is Prince Hans from Frozen. He's a royal, so it's not impossible that he'd hook up with a fellow royal. And the Evil Queen would have definitely set her sights on him. Plus he and Evie have a similar smile, so it could work.

Suspect # 11 is the Huntsman from Snow white and the seven dwarves. Mainly because he worked for her and would probably be on the isle with her. It could work. Even if I don't believe it myself.

Suspect #12 is Mozenrath from Aladdin the series because he is a dead ringer for Evie and has similar colors to her.

The final suspect is Robin Hood. Him and the Evil Queen were an item in ouat, he was a thief so he could have been on the isle for a little while, he's charming, and he's kind so it could have worked for a night. Plus it would explain where Evie got her kindness from, since we know she definitely didn't get it from her mother.

#descendants #disney descendants #descendants theories #descendants 2nd parent theories #wicked world #disney wicked world #melissa de la cruz #evie queen #evie daughter of the evil queen #evie grimhilde #disney #evie descendants #evil queen #evie deserves better #descendants evie #daniel colter #if disney villians had kids #what if villians had kids

[deadlyflames]

Swanfire Month Day 13: What made you start to ship Swanfire?

Short Story: 

Over 10 years ago, I started writing this fic based on the Baelfire = Henry’s Dad theory after the Return came out. This was way before Tallahassee aired, so we didn’t know anything about Neal.

I would scour old episodes for hints about Henry’s dad and obsessively rewatch Baelfire’s scenes. I got so invested coming up with head-cannon's on how these guys got together that it was impossible for me not to ship it.

I was like 15 when I wrote this fic, and looking back on it now, it’s super cringy and not well written. There's a lot I would do differently now, but for something I wrote as a teenager, I guess it could be worse.

But I’m still proud of 15 year old me for being one of the first Swanfire shippers.

( Neal C./Baelfire and Emma fanfiction sorted by publish date.)

Anyway, even though a lot of my theories were off, I’ve been on this ship ever since.

Long Story under the cut:

Strap in, this is a long explanation featuring a lot of my past tinfoil hatting.

Late April ish - early May ish 2012: I can't quite remember

So I was really hung up on Rumbelle way back when, after ‘Skin Deep’ came out.

I can’t remember the name (and I cant freaking find it!), but I remember reading a Rumbelle fic that mentioned Henry spilling hot chocolate on Mr. Gold’s suit or something. And the narration made an off hand comment that Mr. Gold was more lenient with Henry because he had similar coloring to Bae (dark hair, brown eyes).

And that one little statement made my mind go wild.

This was right after ‘The Return’ aired. We knew Baelfire went to a land without magic and we knew Mr. Gold made the curse to look for him, so it was likely he was going to feature in the future somehow.

Ouat: 1x19

We also knew Henry had a mystery father. We knew he was probably alive given how Emma talked about him. And we knew he didn’t know that Henry existed.

Ouat : 1x01

"And the father?"

"There was one."

"Do I need to be worried about him?"

"No. He doesn’t even know."

Ouat: 1x09

“Henry’s father was no hero. And trust me, he does not need to know the real story.”

We also know he’s probably got the brown hair and brown eyes (dominant genes) that Henry inherited, since Emma has blonde hair and green eyes (recessive genes).

So we’ve got the son of a major character. The reason that this big curse was created and the reason Rumplestilskin manipulates everyone around him. Currently MIA.

And we’ve got Henry’s mystery dad. Emma’s past love interest who did something bad to her and the betrayal cut her deep. Also MIA.

And we know both these characters have brown hair and brown eyes.

So I put on my tinfoil hat and made a whole damn fic about how these two guys could possibly be the same person.

Truth or Lie: published May 28th, 2012

So at this point, there are a few people that were believing the Henry’s Dad=Bae conspiracy, but it wasn’t a super common theory from what I remember. I remember seeing a few posts about it and there were at least these three fics that came out before mine that featured it.

(As far as I remember, Happily ever after by Earthia was the first fic that featured Bae as Henry's dad. (And it was published right after the Return came out too, like damn. they were on the ball)

I went through all the season 1 episodes and came up with all these head-cannons. And when you spend so much time on something you get pretty emotionally attached to the idea.

I remember scrambling to think of a reason how Baelfire left the Enchanted forest 300 years prior and was still alive in the real world. I mean, Rumplestilskin thought he was alive, given how he thought Bae was August. My mental explanation was that, as Rumple said, the bean made him cross the barriers of Time and Space.

Ouat: 1x19

Turned out to be wrong but whatever.

I thought Henry’s dad was the married guy Emma kept mentioning. She seemed pretty forlorn about it, she mentioned that the married guy she dated wouldn’t tell her his real name and she hadn’t known he was married until later. Figured it was a big enough thing that it would explain her anger towards him and the fact that she never told him about Henry

Ouat: 1x05

"You're smart, you know not to get involved with a married guy. It's not worth the heartache. Trust me."

Ouat: 1x14

"See, I have a policy. I won't go out with guys who won't tell me their names. I find it weeds out the ones who like to keep secrets. Like their already married or they store body parts in their freezer."

That also turned out to be wrong.

I thought maybe they had known each other in the foster system. Considering they were both orphans, both abandoned. I thought it would be cute if they knew each other growing up.

Ouat: 1x09

"I spent a lot of time with kids in your situation."

Also wrong. Though I think this was a missed opportunity but whatever.

I noticed the swan pendant that Emma always wore and I thought maybe it was a gift that Baelfire gave her. I even put it in my fic.

Ouat: 1x09

That actually turned out to be right. Yay.

Ouat: 2x06

And I also thought Baelfire was the person August called in the beginning of the Return. I thought they were somehow working together to get Emma to break the curse. Seemed like a reasonable-ish explanation on how he knew about the dagger.

ouat: 1x19

This was probably wrong? Did we ever find out who August was talking to?

September 30th, 2012: When the first episode of season 2 came out, I was utterly convinced this random guy in New York was Bae.

Ouat 2x01:

Truth or Lie: chapter 16: published Oct 2, 2012

November 4th, 2012: When Tallahassee aired and I realized how off I had been I was a bit frustrated by that XD

Truth or Lie: chapter 23: published November 11th, 2012

After that, even though I turned out to be wrong on most of the details of the Swanfire love story, I was still on the Neal = Baelfire ship and still shipping them like crazy. And after Manhattan came out, I was absolutely ecstatic.

Nearly a decade later, I've really grown to prefer the canon story. I love the chemistry and relationship between Emma and Neal in Tallahassee. Two homeless kids finding home in each other. Meet-cute via robbery. That’s damn beautiful.

I also loved the extra stuff that happened in Bae's past (the Darlings, Hook, Neverland, growing up in our world as a thief). It adds a lot of intrigue to his character, even though a lot of it wasn’t explored to its full potential.

So that’s my very long explanation of how I got obsessed with this ship and then never got off of it.

#swanfire #swanfire month 2022 #ouat #once upon a time #emma swan #baelfire #nealfire #neal cassidy #swanthief

[operation-out]

It's probably time to make a summary post explaining the OUAT meta theory on this blog, seeing as some new people have joined the fandom since this blog was very active. All you really have to understand is that according to this theory, OUAT takes place in the collective unconscious - a shared mind between all people where all elements from stories and fairy tales are actually alive. The entire show is Emma interacting with this collective unconscious to learn from the tales and archetypes, and process her own traumas and issues in a physical environment - because let's face it, she just isn't one to sit still long enough and work with a therapist.

Once you see Once Upon a Time as a metaphor for Emma's psychological journey, both the lack and subtle omnipresence of queer elements make much more sense. Emma carries a lot of guilt and shame, shame about abuse, committing crimes, going to prison, and guilt for giving up her son. She is also ashamed of her sexuality.

In the Pilot, baby Emma is put into the closet - to save her from a dark curse.

During season 1, there is a lot of queer subtext, but it's dark and antagonistic, and it generally plays out between Emma and Regina. It is hidden - here it is clearly an aspect of Emma's shadow self. She does not accept it.

Early on in season 3, there is an almost-confession of love from Mulan to Aurora. While this was still subtext, there was no other way to interpret this storyline, and the intent was never denied outside of the show. This shows us that Emma's reluctance is not only shame about her sexuality, but fear of getting hurt if she opens up her heart.

Season 4 has young Emma and Lily stare into each other's eyes for a little too long and it has them share a promise of eternity through a shared birthmark/tattoo. Meanwhile older Lily's apartment has Tibetan prayer flags in the colors of the rainbow and she lies about having a husband and children.

In season 5, Dorothy and Ruby share a True Love's kiss. Dorothy shares her family tried to have her committed and Ruby empathizes by sharing her entire village tried to run her out of town with torches and pitchforks. Fairy tale speak for conversion therapy and not being accepted by family and friends.

Then finally, in season 7, the entire season showcases a lesbian storyline with Alice and Robin. The couple is accepted and nobody questions their sexuality.

-----

Of course, there are far more references to Emma's sexuality, but these couples clearly show the evolution in Emma's acceptance of her homosexuality. It also explains why all of the queer representation on OUAT were female couples and not male couples.

-----

Related posts:

Conversion therapy

Wish you were here

Wise stories

Giving a key

Sharing custody

I'll be your mirror

In my dreams

The Sleeping Curse Template

Classic vs Modern Fairy Tale

Hidden stories

#regina mills #swanqueen #operation out #operationout #once upon a time #ouat spoilers #ouat meta #lesbian subtext #queer subtext #mad archer #madarcher #long post #swan queen

[staliaqueen]

heartless | 05. dagger

pairing: henry mills x oc a/n: yes i know it’s ironic that brighton sharbino is my face claim for max when she guest starred in ouat one time. and that the first time i use a gif of her it’s one of the ouat episode she was in. also the fact that this is the first time my face claim has the same eye color as the character but in this gif they’ve been edited to blue instead. anyways! this is a really juicy chapter, so i hope you enjoy and please reblog and tell me what you thought.  warnings: a panic attack, talk of murder. wordcount: 1454

<<prev || masterlist || next>>

"It’s almost nine. You all set? You know what to do?" August, the new weirdo writer in town who'd shown a suspicious interest in Henry's fairy tale theory, asked. He, Max and Henry were standing across the street from Mr. Gold's shop, prepping to execute some sort of "plan" the man had devised for Operation Cobra.

 Henry nodded. "Operation Cobra is always ready."

 "Not so fast there, Scurvy Dog," said Max, stepping in between Henry and August, hard gaze locked on the man, "First, you need to explain how this has anything to do with getting Emma to believe."

 August bit his lip, glancing back at Gold's shop. "...Sometimes other priorities assert themselves."

 Max hit him on the arm, hard enough that it was clearly a warning, but not so hard she'd feel guilty if it turned out August didn't have questionable motives. "What the hell does that even mean? What's with your weird inability to give a straight answer?"

 August looked back at Max, meeting her haughty glare, and a grin spread across his face. "You're a deeply mistrusting person. I respect that."

  That stupid, smug little grin might work on other people, but to Max it was nothing; she was not amused. "I'm just making sure someone has Henry's best interests in mind," she said coolly.

  "And you're a great friend for it," August commended. "But... you know, sometimes in life, you just have to take a leap of faith."

  Max still didn't have much faith in the man, but she relented nonetheless. "Alright, but let me make myself clear," she said seriously, stepping forward and getting up in August's personal space. "If I find out that you're just using us for your own evil plan, I will hunt you down." Her voice carried such promise and her glare was so menacing that August couldn't help but gulp in fear.

  Henry sighed. "Max, we've talked about this. No threatening people."

  She didn't answer, simply taking Henry by the arm and leading him to Gold's shop so they could distract him. She kept her glare trained on August for as long as she could get away with, before she was forced to turn back to Henry. Scoffing, she said, "Oh, don't give me that look. We've talked about this before. You're too trusting, I'm not trusting at all — together, we make a sensible human being."

  Henry chuckled quietly, and together they stepped into the pawn shop.

  "Hey, Mr. Gold," said Henry as the man in question stepped out of the back room.

  "Good morning, Henry. Max," he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

  "We wanna get a gift for Ms. Blanchard."

  "Oh, I see."

  "Since she didn't kill that woman."

  "Good thinking," said Mr. Gold, and he and Henry looked for a potential gift. Max just rolled her eyes, finding the whole thing pointless. She let her eyes wander around the shop to entertain herself. It certainly worked — Max had never spent much time in the shop, and it was filled to the brim with beautiful, and — more importantly — weird ass things. She started a slow lap around the store, taking in every item, but halted when her eyes landed on something laying on a table towards the corner of the store — a bronze dagger.

  It looked handmade and was slightly rusty, but Max was drawn to it, like the dagger called her forward somehow. She tilted her head and stepped closer. Her peripheral vision blurred, the sound of Henry and Gold's conversation muffling as she stepped closer to the dagger. It was as if nothing else in the universe existed right then.

  Max carefully picked it up. She blinked, and during the couple of milliseconds where her eyes were closed, she saw flashes just like in her dreams. A dark forest. A vast ocean. And a hand holding out the very dagger that was in front of her.

  When she examined it closer, she could tell that, despite its unassuming appearance, it was expertly crafted. How she knew this, she had no idea. They had never covered weapon making at school, and it wasn't like she would've paid attention if they did, anyway.

  "How much is this?" she asked, still too transfixed on the dagger to even look up at Mr. Gold. Still, she could feel him approaching, soon standing right next to her.

  "Given the occasion, I don't think gifting Ms. Blanchard a weapon would be appropriate."

  Max gave a slight shake of her head. "No, I want it," she clarified, at last looking away from the dagger and up at Mr. Gold.

  Across the store, Henry's eyebrows rose before he frowned, examining his best friend closely. Giving such a straightforward, serious reply instead of a sarcastic one? That wasn't like her. Something must be up.

  Mr. Gold didn't answer her question right away. Instead, his eyes went over her, like he was searching for something, trying to figure something out. He must've either found it or given up, because his invasive gaze slipped away, and he muttered, "25 dollars."

  "Deal."

–––

Max sat next to Henry at Mary Margaret's welcome home party, wearing the only dress she owned. She hadn't spoken more than a couple of sentences since arriving, and she'd barely touched her cake. It was simply impossible for her to think about anything else except her new dagger, which was attached to a leg-holster she wore under her dress. All she did was sit still, stare at the wall, and trace her fingers across the weapon over the fabric of her dress.

  "So, are you gonna tell me what's up with you?" whispered Henry.

  She looked away from the exposed bricks and back at Henry. He was wearing a red sweater over his regular flannel and leaning in closer to her. "You noticed?"

  "You've been really quiet, haven't touched your cake — even though it's lemon flavored — and you haven't said anything sarcastic or threatened anyone since we stepped into Gold's shop. Yeah, I noticed."

  Max chuckled and looked down at her lap. "I don't know. There was just something about that dagger I found. I just had to have it. And I could've sworn I saw some flashes of something when I picked it up, but I can't remember them anymore." She paused to frown. This truly was an amazingly frustrating situation. "It's like how you forget a dream after waking up," she grumbled, picking at her cake.

  Excitement washed across Henry's face then. "It was probably yours before the curse, then!"

  "Yeah..." Max nodded, biting her lip. "Probably."

  Their conversation was interrupted when Emma tapped Henry on his shoulder. "Hi, why don't you guys give Mary Margret her present now?"

  Both kids nodded, standing up with the card and present in hand and turning to Ms. Blanchard.

  "Hey, we have something for you," said Henry.

  "Well thank you," said Mary Margret, and Max handed her the card. She opened it and read the message out loud. "We're so glad you... didn't kill Mrs. Nolan..."

  Max grinned. "Signed by the 7th and 8th grade!"

  "And we got you a bell!" Henry exclaimed, shaking the package.

  Mary Margret smiled. "Thank you. Tell everyone I'll be back soon."

  Henry nodded. "Okay."

  "Hey, Henry," said Emma, stepping in, "we should get you home before your mom finds out. That won't be pretty."

  "I'll tag along," Max said instantly, following Henry to the front door and putting on her trusty three sizes too big leather jacket.

–––

David Nolan ended up taking them home, despite having just arrived at the party. It was quite obvious that Mary Margret was still upset with him for asking if she had anything to do with Cathrine's "death", so Emma had assigned him vehicular babysitting instead — Henry seemed to remain oblivious, though.

  The car ride was anything but pleasant. Max felt sick. Her stomach was turning. Breath was getting ragged. Vision blurred.

  Henry turned at the sound of her loud, harsh breaths; brows furrowed. "Max, are you okay?" he asked carefully.

  She didn't answer. She couldn't. An incredible sense of dread washed over her, just like how she felt in her nightmares. Something sinister was looming over them. She was in danger. Henry was in danger. Tears streamed down her face. The vague sound of a boy screaming in agony echoing around her. She needed to place that voice, to figure out who it was. She knew, but the information was hidden from her somehow. Max tried gripping the car door to stabilize herself, but her hands were shaking too much — she couldn't get a proper grip.

"Stop the car! She's having a panic attack!"

Her head was pounding, the booming feeling of fear overpowering everything except Henry's voice.

"Max, hey, listen to me. Focus on my voice, okay?"

Okay.

"You're fine. There's nothing dangerous here. You're just having a panic attack, okay?"

She was just having a panic attack.

"Count down with me from ten, okay? Ten."

Ten.

"Nine."

Nine.

"Eight."

Eight.

The sense of fear began to subside.

"Seven."

Seven.

"Six."

Six.

She was just in David Nolan's car, sitting next to Henry.

"Five."

Five.

Her vision cleared, and she could see Henry's shining face in front of her.

"Four."

"Four."

"Three."

"Three."

"Two."

"Two."

"One."

"One."

Max fell into Henry's open arms, letting him anchor her.

She needed to make an appointment with Dr. Hooper.

–––

(not my gif)

taglist: @valentine-melody​

heartless taglist: @jochase​

#once upon a time #ouat #rewrite #fanfiction #once upon a time rewrite #ouat rewrite #once upon a time fanfiction #ouat fanfiction #henry mills #henry mills x oc #henry mills x reader #henry mills imagine #henry mills imagines #henry mills fluff #henry mills angst #jared gilmore

[hencethebravery]

>> first and last lines writing game <<

I’ve been writing all wknd so I’m going to take advantage of that and play these games that @eirabach has been doing. I love you, boo.

Tagging: @jump-on-winds-back @mymostimaginaryfriend @justanotherwannabeclassic @distant-rose @jadeddiva @soft-october-night

>> 01. last line(s) you’ve written

01. wip, “dearly departed,” spn, deancas: Despite all this, and perhaps in keeping with his own preference for following through on his habits, he has never once stayed for Open Mic Night. It’s not as if he has anything against it in theory, he just never felt especially compelled to do so. And he was never a big fan of crowds generally.

“You should think about staying tonight,” Meg advises, sliding his third cup back over the counter. “I’ve heard this guy before, he’s good.”

02. wip, “the apportioners,” og: Case in point: Never betray a demi-god. Particularly one so unbelievably busted. Who would go so far as to force her to watch the other demi-god she is almost certainly (and regrettably) falling in love with, commit one more atrocity. To force her to watch her son die. Again. To force her to watch him choose between her and his family. Far, far more trouble than they’re worth. And sure—sure. She is angry. She may well always be angry. And yet. There’s the kitchen. The small, warm kitchen with the cream-colored tiled floors, inlaid with red grout. Where Edie makes too much bread and Estelle stores her spelled sourdough starters. Where Greg made her a cup of chamomile tea and described the unique softness of Clemente’s thread—how it curled and straightened and existed. And so she refuses. She refuses to do what some other irreparably broken version of her friend has expected her to do.

So. She lets him go. Again.

>> 02. first lines of my last 20 10 (20 is just... so fucking many; if you wanna do 20 be my guest but i have shit to do today) fics

01. wip, “dearly departed,” spn, deancas: Creative writing is so not his forte and really, what’s there to say about The Lodge that hasn’t already been said? A revolving door of adjectives that infect the collegiate discourse every few years—when some starry-eyed freshman sees the tall, thin door frame in all its carved, unknowable glory and gets it in their sweet, sweet head that surely no one has ever thought to opine on the virtues of a local, now-legendary establishment that seems to have haunted Main Street since long before time began. So, what is there to say that hasn’t already been said?

02. complete, “untitled,” spn, deancas: The two of ‘em establish the somewhat rude habit of bailing during get-togethers without telling anyone. They stop answering their phones at any point before noon shortly after that. He’d call it a side effect of New Couple Syndrome (NCS), but it’s something they continue doing long after any reasonable person would call something “new” (and honestly, he’s not even sure you could say it was “new” when it was new, technically).

03. complete, “untitled,” spn, deancas: There’s a fucking manticore in Memphis. Seriously. Human face, body of a lion, the whole freakin’ nine.

“Certainly one of the more… imaginative of God’s creatures,” Castiel muses, “albeit, unsustainable.” 

04. complete, “herbalist’s guide to skyrim,” star wars, reylo: Rey Kenobi really needed to get in the habit of bringing dates to restaurants she had no emotional attachment to. She had already lost an unacceptable number of extremely dear favorites that had been there for her when she’d had less than nothing and now? Blighted by the memory of mediocre men who she knew she had given far too much power. She knew she had an association problem, okay? She and her mildly overpriced therapist were working on it. Had been working on it. For a while. She really missed the dumplings from Hunger Pang.

05. complete, “a grief observed,” star wars, reylo: The presumptive triumph inherent to the return of the self? Painfully short-lived. It is brief and blinding and there is a feeling akin to invincibility singing in his veins. A humming that echoes in the gruff tenor of what could only be his father’s voice. How it must have felt when the heroes made yet another daring escape—against all the odds. The euphoria that occurs when you have begun to think that maybe, just maybe, you’ve finally won. It makes the loss so much worse than he could have ever imagined. Not when you’ve gotten so close to having everything you never even knew you wanted. And that’s half the battle, isn’t it? Knowing what you want. Like it’s easy.

06. complete, “a super solid history of the “good old fashioned lover boy(s),” c. the beginning (or there about) to now-ish,” good omens, aziraphale x crowley: Perhaps one of the cruelest tricks that God has ever played (and the list was indeed long) was in allowing angels to believe they were incapable of love. There is some amount of debate as to whether or not this was entirely by accident. She was a busy woman after all━perhaps that was why it, the question of whether or not angels were truly capable of love, had slipped through one of her metaphysical cracks (of which, admittedly, there were many). Those who managed to refrain from falling had quite an easier time believing this particular theory to be very much the case. A largely unspoken, slightly offended, “She would never,” followed by an affirmation of the belief in the long held assumption that they were above such things anyway, so really, what did it even matter, and can we please return to the task at hand?

07. complete, “first family,” ouat, captain charming: If the chronically thin, awkward, and punk-ass 15 year old version of Killian Jones could have, somehow, opened a portal in time and space; a feat which might have allowed him to peer into the future in an attempt to witness what it might hold, he would have likely imbibed several ill-advised shots of cheap bloody rum, and then quite dramatically flung himself atop the rumpled sheets of his perpetually unmade bed. If the younger Jones had even an inkling of the type of life he’d be living as a 35 year old man─with a full time job, a mortgage, a husband, one wildly photogenic dog─he would have done everything in his power to steer himself off such a disturbingly clean-cut, well-behaved course.

08. complete, “untitled,” ouat, captain swan: Rather predictably (and not without a somewhat inevitable feeling of frustration), Emma Swan was one of those people who had never put much stock in the notion of “vibes.” She had a “freaking superpower,” according to Ruby, which allowed her to suss out the truth about people, but as soon as Ruby suggested that the same might be true of certain places, Emma had chuckled, as if it was some unheard of thing.

09. complete, “untitled,” ouat, captain charming: In the end, he’d chosen the place because to be quite bloody honest it was precisely where you might expect the writer of an obscure indie mag to live. It was an older building (a suitably generous designation), tucked in between the modernist monstrosities of the last 20 or 30 years. Replete with gorgeous, if not ill-kept, accoutrements framing the windows; crumbling steps and a brick exterior in varying shades of red and orange. The aesthetic was rounded out by the kind of neglectful landlord you might expect, a horrid man who frequently enjoyed reminding his tenants that he lived, “out of state,” and they’d have to, “be patient.”

10. complete,” untitled,” ouat, captain charming: There’s an old adage about assumptions that Killian Jones finds physically repulsive. It is so unerringly awful, in fact, that he won’t even deign to repeat the thing in his own head. You know what it is, it’s not as if he needs to speak the actual words. And regardless of the fact that there’s this old, tired saying about assumptions, people still do it, and he’s done it, and ya know what? It kind of worked out in his favor, so, take that.

#@alanabeans #@hencethewriter #attn blogging #i... truly can't spot the pattern #does someone else #not in my brain #see the patterns #cuz i can't see them #also i am so so excited about #(1) this deancas au #and (2) my novel

[aibafiles]

Another banner year.

Teenage Alice celebrating her birthday alone, because I like to cry, I guess

#knight rook a history #knightrook #alice jones #ouat #art #personal #i had this idea for this like the day before this week started #& scrambled to finish it the last two nights #on to fic hell!!! #the chess pieces are really weird looking bc they're scribbly freehand but ;3 there's oooone missing #a lot of interior details missing but hhhhhhhhg #anyways. im really happy with this. the colors especially #also the original is print size so in theory.......... #[thinking emoji] #midnight my time it's day 2 i post. #best of

[hereisisa]

Have you seen the new orange/purple flag? It reminds me of the colors Anna is wearing. And the wheat in her hair too! what's going on? Is she queen of a new land?

I don’t really believe that.

My theory is that the new flag (the one on the left)

is the flag of the Sami people, the tribe Elsa and Anna will meet, and Iduna was one of them.

You can see a ear of wheat in Anna’s hair too here:

(btw this would point once again to the party being a party for the new people and not a coronation or an engagement party), and also here:

Anna wearing those colors is (in my opinion) just a reminder of Elsa and Anna’s heritage.

Why not dress Elsa like that? For many reasons.

For starters she’s gonna have that necklace who probably was her mother’, so she’s gonna have something of her mom’s home too. And there could be more, we have to wait the movie to see.

Then she’s the Queen of Arendelle. She wouldn’t and couldn’t wear another people/tribe’s colors.

And finally…Do you know how hard would it be to change Elsa’s colors and appearance??? There’s a reason she doesn’t have many hairstyles as Anna’s and they don’t change her much. She’s the face of the movie (and I’m NOT saying she’s more important than Anna, just that she’s more…iconic, for reasons, and yeah, when the general audience hear the word “Frozen” they think of Elsa in her ice dress).

I have a funny tale about this:

When Georgina Haig was on OUAT and I was a fan of the show, we theorized for a whole summer how they would even dress Elsa and Anna in “modern times” clothes. Because if you’re an OUAT fan you’ll know that the fairytale characters arrived in Storybrooke they started dressing with modern clothes.We wasted our time cause Disney didn’t give the OUAT team the permission to even remotely alterate Elsa (and Anna’s) appearance.

She has to wear the ice blue dress, that will have to be approved by Disney (they made at least 2 similar version of it, and they had to approve hair and shoes too), and she couldn’t absolutely change into modern clothes. She was always to be recognizable at first sight.

And so poor Georgina’s “nightmare” began LOL where she had to walk in the Vancouver woods by night, filming her scenes, paying constantly attention to her dress. People weren’t allowed to walk too close to her because they could step on the dress and ruin it.The woods were cleared before she was allowed to walk the pathway because of THE DRESS. I remember other actors saying they were constantly yelled at by the assistant director or the wardrobe department insiders: “mind THE DRESS!!!” “you’re too close to THE DRESS!!”

It wasn’t “don’t get too close to Georgina”. Who cared about her? She was the carrier of THE DRESS! lol Because THE DRESS was Elsa and Elsa was Disney’s money maker and the most important part of Elsa’s partecipation at OUAT.

Now….I can only imagine how many hours the Frozen 2 team spent in reunions trying to decide on how to dress Elsa for Frozen 2, and drawing different versions of clothes who were then sent at Disney bosses for approval. It’s a months’ long job.

With these premises…..You’ll see how to change Elsa’s colors into something that is not immediately recognizable wouldn’t be so easy.

I’m not saying it’s impossible….In Frozen Fever for exemple she’s in green cause the blue wouldn’t be in contrast with the sky. Try to imagine this pic with blue dresses….

Nope. It doesn’t work.So what I’m saying is that they’ll go with easier choices: blu/light blue colors for her dresses, a touch of purple (the cape in Frozen 1, the nightgown in Frozen 2) to remind us she’s royal (purple means royal) and a beautiful lilac ceremony dress that is not too different from light blue.

They can allow themselves more liberty with Anna. And that’s why I believe she’s the “carrier or her mothers’ colors and traditions”, this time.

Why Kristoff is in orange/black too? For the same reason Elsa and Anna were both in blue in OFA and both in green in Frozen Fever. Cause colors are used in the movies and animations to express feelings, ideas, to help the viewers to connect the dots. We know he’s Anna’s boyfriend and the audience can recognize it just looking at him. In movies people wearing the same colors are usually from the same family (Elsa and Anan in OFA and Frozen Fever), group, tribe, etc…He’s connected to Anna. Of course he’ll wear something “coordinated” to her.

That’s all, in my opinion. We’ll see soon if I’m right or wrong.

#frozen 2 #frozen 2 spoilers #spoilers #speculation #elsa #anna #frozen #OUAT

[teaespensonawards]

2019 T.E.A. WINNERS!

CONGRATULATIONS, award winners!

We would like to thank everyone who participated - every creator in the Rumbelle fandom, every person who sent in nominations, every nominee, everyone who voted. All of you made this T.E.A. season wonderful!

And it bears repeating, just in case anyone missed it. Every work on the ballot received votes. 

Now! Without further ado, HERE ARE OUR 2019 WINNERS!

2019 T.E.A. Winners

FLUFF

Family Tuesdays at the French Theater, by @prissyhalliwell

Comfort Sleeping Arrangements, by @mariequitecontrarie

Fix-It The Life You Save May Be Your Own, by @thatravenclawbitch

Reunion Home Again, by @ifishouldvanish

Best Child Fic The Naming of Dinosaurs, by @worryinglyinnocent

SMUT

Kink Closing the Circle, by @emospritelet

Romance Gold in the Afternoon, by @nerdrumple

Comedy No Satisfaction, by @thatravenclawbitch

Threesome Love and Trust, by @emospritelet

Best First Time Dripping in Gold, by @maplesyrupao3

Best Afterlife Smut Coming Home, by @scribbles-by-kate

PWP Midnight Rider, by @maplesyrupao3

BDSM A Dozen Roses, by @ladybookwormwithteeth

ANGST

Why? Love Makes Us Sick, by @thatravenclawbitch

Death Belle and gold meet at grief counseling, by @lotus0kid

Oops Spoils of War II, by @bad-faery

Hurts So Good Enchanted Tales with Belle, by @bad-faery

ROMANCE

Best Date Bottle Episode, by @standbyyourmantis

Best Courtship Walking After Midnight, by @nerdrumple

Best First Meeting A Princess in Theory, by @elanorjane

GENERAL AWARDS

Best One-Shot Vows, by @maplesyrupao3

Best Drabble The Ornament, by @timelordthirteen

Best Post-Ep Fic Marigolds, by @mariequitecontrarie

Best Comedy Fic The Pages In Between, by @thatravenclawbitch

Best Movie AU Life in Detail, by @ishtarelisheba

Best Book AU 221B Avonlea Street, by @wierdogal

Best TV Show AU Black Roses, by @ifishouldvanish

Best AU Inspired By Other Media This Secret is Safe, by @thatravenclawbitch

Best Historical AU A Night to Remember, by @tinuviel-undomiel

Best AU Dark Heart, by @emospritelet

Best AU!OUAT Ties of Blood, by @thestraggletag

Best Series Alterations ’verse, by @ifishouldvanish

Best Holiday Fic A Card for Mr. Gold, by @timelordthirteen

Best Remix The House Keeper, by @b-does-the-write-thing

Best Crossover Fic Warmth and Desire, by @celticheartedfangirl

Best Dark Castle Mirrored Memories, by @mareyshelley

Best Storybrooke Kiss of Life, by @emospritelet

Best Travel A Life Worth Living, by @woodelf68

Best “Missing Years” Fic Who Says Dark Ones Don’t Dance?, by @ifishouldvanish

SPECIAL CATEGORIES

Best Golden Lace So a Lawyer Walks into a Bar, by @ifishouldvanish

Best Woven Lace Things Left Unsaid, by @emospritelet

Best Woven Beauty What the Heart Wants, by @mareyshelley

Best Rumbelle Poly Ship The Darkness Within, by @worryinglyinnocent

Best Background Swanfire Bae, Emma, and Henry live in their car outside Belle’s library, by @lotus0kid

Best Side Pairing Ruby/Ariel, This Secret is Safe, by @thatravenclawbitch

Best Afterlife Fic Coming Home, by @scribbles-by-kate

Best Crack!Fic Receipt in the Bag?, by @ifishouldvanish

Best Drama Fairy Tales & Happy Endings, by @standbyyourmantis

Best Supernatural The Darkness Within, by @worryinglyinnocent

Best Creature AU Heavenly Bodies, by @maplesyrupao3

Best Unexpected Twist The Bartender, by @timelordthirteen

Best Dark One Lore Fic Forgotten Lore, by @thestraggletag

Best Bobby Squared Dark Halves, by @worryinglyinnocent

Best Trope Swipe Right, by @standbyyourmantis

Best Meta Rumbelle Ethics, by @ifishouldvanish

Best Prompter @anonymousnerdgirl

EVENTS

Rumbelle Secret Santa The Great Storybrooke Christmas Bakeoff, by @spottytonguedog

Rumbelle Christmas in July No Satisfaction, by @thatravenclawbitch

May Day Menagerie Merfolk Rumbelle AU, by @nropay

Fluffapalooza Gideon chips the teacup, by @we-aim-to-misbehave

Monthly Rumbelle (Non-smut) Best Failed Date Ever, by @barpurplewrites

Monthly Rumbelle (Smut) Dreamy, by @mariequitecontrarie

Rumbelle is Hope The Domestic Life of the Dark One and his Lady, as Observed by Emma Swan, by @worryinglyinnocent

CHARACTER AWARDS

Best Belle Heavenly Bodies, by @maplesyrupao3

Best Dark One!Belle Through the Veil, by @theoneandonlylittlebird

Best AU Belle The Pages In Between, by @thatravenclawbitch

Best Lacey Vodka and Peppermint, by @thatravenclawbitch

Best Detective Weaver Vigilante Rose, by @elanorjane

Best Dark One Deseo, by @thestraggletag

Best Mr. Gold Dark Heart, by @emospritelet

Best AU!Gold/Rumple Closing the Circle, by @emospritelet

Best Spinner!Rumple Fractured Blue, by @maplesyrupao3

Best Woobie!Rum Hear Me Still, by @betweenpaperpages

Best Wish!Rumple Echoing Hearts, by @mareyshelley

Best Baelfire/Neal The Exchange, by @rumbellegem15

Best Gideon Lion!Gideon, Zootopia AU, by @thestraggletag

Best OC Rumbelle Child Olivia Rose Gold, Star-Crossed, by @celticheartedfangirl

RATINGS

Best of General Audience Handprints, by @timelordthirteen

Best of Mature Let It Snow, by @standbyyourmantis

ART

Best Fan Art Peace ooot Dearies, by @delintthedarkone

Best Cover Art All of Me, by @wizzygold

Best Graphic Art - Gifs Detective Weaver - Then and Now, by @virgidearie

Best Graphic Art - Still Images Teacup Garden, by @staypee

Best AU in Art Belle and Ogilvy, by @virgidearie

Best Fluff Art Where it allllll began, by @delintthedarkone

Best Angsty Art Not much longer to wait, darling, by @delintthedarkone

Best Smutty Art Love, by @virgidearie

Best Comic/Graphic Novel Belle Protects Rumple AU, by @nropay

Best Dark One Form Rumplestiltskin’s 5 different personas, by @ripperblackstaff

Best Use of Color Detective Weaver, by @ripperblackstaff

Best Video The Rumbelle Movie, by @poca-staks

Best Artist @nropay

BEST AUTHOR

@mariequitecontrarie

BEST NEW AUTHOR

@mareyshelley

BEST RUMBELLE FIC

Enchanted Tales with Belle, by @bad-faery

BEST ANYELLE FIC

Homecoming, by @emospritelet

BEST ANYEM FIC

The Worst That Could Happen, by @thatravenclawbitch​

Rumbelle Fandom Lifetime Achievement Award

Each year, the Rumbelle Fandom Lifetime Achievement Award goes to a person who has done something spectacular in the fandom. Either by making people feel welcome, organizing events, or simply embodying the Rumbelle fandom as a whole. This year, the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to... 

@standbyyourmantis​

And last but definitely not least... 

Newbie Spotlight

@sieben9 @idesignedthefjords @mareyshelley @shamelessrumbellefan @thespinningmeanie @shikoslady @elanorjane @a-tardis-at-downton

Welcome, new Rumbellers, to our delightfully filthy little corner of the fandom!

#the espenson awards #tea awards #rumbelle #rumbelle fic #rumbelle art #rumplestiltskin #belle french #anyelle #anyem

[hannahhook7744]

Descendants 2nd parent theory; Dizzy addition.

Okay. We've done Carlos, we've done Zevon, and we've done Harry, and now we're doing a Dizzy Parental theory even though I doubt anyone will read this. And by we , I mean me.

🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

Suspect #1; Lewis Robinson. He's tall and Lengthy with poor sight, a passion for something others aren't interested in, and has a hunger for something more. Just like Dizzy does. Plus, it's not too much of a stretch to assume that he could have ended up on the isle after one of his experiments went wrong. Plus his nose and ears are kinda similar to Dizzy.

Suspect # 2; Goob. He's a tall and lengthy, with brown hair and eyes -- which is similar enough to Dizzy. He was a villain in the original time line in the movie and it's not impossible for him to have ended up on the isle. And he, like every orphan, also had a hunger for something more than he had. Like Dizzy. Plus he's bit of an oddball like her and was absolutely adorable and snarky as a kid.

Suspect # 3; Dr Doofensmirtz. He's a tall and lengthy oddball with the same shade of her as her. He would be considered a villian by law enforcement and heroes, and would definitely be on the isle, despite the fact he changed. He also had a poor childhood but managed to turn out kind, like Dizzy did. And his brother, Roger, has the same shade too and wears glasses, so the poor eyesight thing could theoretically run in the family. Plus both Doof and Dizzy are hard workings, and considered laughing stocks/disappointments in their families so it really isn't that much of a stretch. And Drizella vaguely looks like his ex wife...

Suspect # 4; Grown up Varian. This one is less likely since they only have the adorableness, tallness, and lengthy oddballness in common. But it's adorable and they kinda have the same face if you look closely. And both have older friends and work hard. And both of them at least try to be kind. So, maybe?

Suspects # 5 & #6; The Stabbington brothers. They both have red hair and brown eyes. Both have a slightly roundish chin and somewhat similar noses. Both are very red in the face. So, it could work. Plus I think they have the same smile.

Suspect #7; the grand duke. He's tall and lengthy and a no-nonsense type of man but a kind one nonetheless. They have a similar noise and chin, and the same brown eyes. But that's all I got so far for that little theory. Especially since it's not very likely since he's not a villian and I couldn't think of anyway that he'd end up on the isle.

Suspect #8; The Duke of Weselton. He could -- and likely would-- end up on the isle due to his actions in Frozen. He has poor eyesight and a nose like Dizzy, as well as a similar bulid and head shape. And Drizella would likely go after him since he's close enough to a prince... so could be...

Suspect #9; Wiggins. Same nose, same type of nose, same brown eyes, and same hair color as well as the same bulid and a vaguely similar attitude. What more can I say?

Suspect #10; Captain James Hook. They have a similar bulid, the same eyes, and Harry seems to be familiar with her. He addresses her like a sibling would and can be seen slightly smiling and waving when she leaves. I didn't come up with this theory myself. I found it on here (http://descendantstheory.blogspot.com/2017/08/descendants-theory-who-is-dizzy.html?m=1) in the comments and thought it made sense. So the credit goes to the unknown person who commented on it.

Suspect #11; Willie the giant. Red hair, kind soul. Would probably be sent to the isle because Beast is intolerant.. and they wear similar colors soooo...

Suspect #12; The unknown duke from ouat that Drizella's counterpart, Tisbe, falls for because he's a love interest.

Suspect #13; Thomas because he's one of the main suspects I had for this. He's tall and lengthy with a similar hair shape, similar eyes, and a similar hair color. They also both have a similar hair line to one another and they both have a good heart and alot of personality. They're the characters you love immediately even though you don't know a ton about them. They could be father and daughter, believe it or not. It's just my opinion. Plus he could be on the isle for killing Pochantas's ex, remember?

Suspect #13; Syndrome. He's a villian, so he'd be on the isle. He has red hair like Dizzy and similar skin to her, and he even had a similar bulid to her when he was her age. And a similar smile. And He wanted to be a hero as a kid, just like Dizzy. So, maybe they could be related? Who knows?

Suspect #14; Sir Kay. He's a noble and soon to he knight, so Drizella probably would go for him. Plus he was a jerk so it isn't a stretch to imagine him getting sent to the isle. His personality is also unpleasant, so that's another reason for Drizella to go for him. He is a jerky older sibling like her too, so that's another thing they have in common. He also looks roughly like Dizzy with brown eyes and red hair. So, high possibility of him being the baby daddy.

Suspect # 15; Smee. He has poor eyesight like her. Plus she's close to his sons, who also have bad eyesight. Coincidence? I think not!

Suspect #16; Taran. He might not be a villian but he reminds me of Dizzy alot, alright? Plus they have the same bulid, same eyes, same attitude, and same hair color. I think they even have the same ears! What else was I supposed to think?

Suspect #17; Hans. Look, He's a prince, something Drizella was clearly interested in. Lady Tremaine would allow the union. Dizzy has red hair. He has red hair. They both get picked on by their many older siblings... Dizzy kinda acts like he did before he started acting evil. It could work.

Share your own theories down below and let me know what you think of mine!!

#descendants #disney descendants #melissa de la cruz #lady tremaine #drizella tremaine #disney dizzy #dizzy tremaine #descendants dizzy #dizzy descendants #descendants theories #descendants 2nd parent theories #2nd parent descendants theory #my theories #wicked world #descendants books #descendants universe #descendants canon #descendants au #etc.

[cohen-stark]

Thank you @moonfell44 for tagging me in this! I like this type of stuff :)

Rules: Tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better.

Top 10 songs(/pieces) I can’t stop listening to:

Ughh so I haven’t listened to a lot music lately??? just the same playlists on Spotify lol

In no particular order:

1.- Bloodstream - Stateless (it gives me A LOT OF Sansaery vibes so)

2.- Queen of Peace - Florence + The Machine (QUEEN IN THE NORTH ANYONE???)

3.- Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe - Kendrick Lamar (my song to go whenever I’m high lol)

4.- Memo - Years & Years

5.- Good Form - Nicki Minaj feat Lil Wayne (it’s the memes.. yeap the memes)

6.- Sleep To Dream - Fiona Apple

7.- High Horse - Kacey Musgraves (I’m loving her)

8.- What Am I Here For - Jade Bird (POSIE IS DESTROYING MY LIFE)

9.- All Night - Beyoncé 

10.- Que No Salga La Luna - ROSALÍA 

Bonus Track: Game of Thrones: Season 8 soundtrack. The season was AWFUL I know but Ramin Djawadi is amazing.

Favorite color(s): I always say black and red but honestly I don’t know anymore lol

Favorite ships:

* Brittana (Glee). They are the ship that I will always love the most. The Glee days were I N S A N E, tears, fights, angry tweets, stupid break ups, Santana leaving for NYC, Britt dating Sam, Heather saying stupid shit, Naya dating Big Sean??, Heather getting pregnant, MORE FIGHTS, Ryan Murphy saying that his favorite thing was “drinking wine and avoiding Brittana tweets”, MORE TEARS, sweet lady kisses, HEYA, uffffffff the good old days.

* Sansaery (Game of Thrones). The reason I made this blog in the first place. Being sucked into the little fandom in 2013, SEASON 3 and all those scenes. Falling in love with Natalie Dormer (AGAIN), Sophie tweeting about her crush on Nat, saying that Margaery should be Sansa’s girlfriend, yeap good years those were (2013-2014) I know they weren’t/never will be canon and Margaery is dead??but who cares? They’re my queens and I will love them forever. It doesn’t matter if it’s been years somehow I always come back to them.

* Petramos (Jane the Virgin). Yael Grobglas and Rosario Dawson playing a couple. Do I need to say more? The chemistry they have? Finally I can see older women on my tv screen being completely in love with each other and THEY ARE NOT AFRAID OF KISSING EACH OTHER WITH OPEN MOUTHS. Now things are rocky BUT FUCK YOU JENNIE FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON OF BAD WRITING, BYE. 

* Supercat (Supergirl). Ok so what’s that show again???? This ship has a special part of my heart for SO MANY reasons *sighs* but mostly because I will give my life for Cat Grant! and to be honest I’m a huge fan of Carol (yeah sue me!!!!! boo hooo) so I was destined to fall in love with them. Plus first season?? it was heaven where ONLY Supercat and Alex/Astra shippers existed and everything was beautiful, can we go back to that???

* Posie (Legacies). It’s been like 2 weeks since I started watching this show and I SHIP THEM SO HARD THAT I’M SCARED. SCARED. All that teenage angst it’s too delicious. Josie Salztman belongs to Penelope Park and that’s it.

* Hollstein (Carmilla). It was a BIG THING back in the day. Broody Vampire and Cinnamon Roll :). Elise and Natasha should date (yeap I’m still not over that topic lol)

* Sleeping Warrior (OUAT). Mulan and Aurora were the superior ship, the material was there, they just needed TO BE CANON.

* Spuffy (Buffy The Vampire Slayer). DON’T @ ME, I’m trash... I KNOW.

* Barney/Robin (HIMYM). THEY WERE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER, EVERYBODY KNEW/KNOWS THAT AND TED MOSBY SUCKS

I think I had more ships along the years but I’m old and I forget things lol but those are always with me so yeah.

Lipstick or chapstick: Lipstick, I’m kind of obsessed with them at the moment hahaha

Last Movie: Melancholia from Lars Von Trier

Currently Reading: All the Posie fics I can find in AO3 lmao does this mean books? haha King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes... controversial feminism I know. 

Tagging: NO NEED TO ANSWER  BUT I NEEDED TO TAG PEOPLE BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE A LOSER 

@nonnyfcknawesome93 @expressivite @hell-much @enjoythefreakshowpeople @the-bisexual-from-hell @thekiksrocks101 @toma2 @freaking-isadorkable and i guess this henelope binch lover @lesbianreginageorge

#it seems that i can never write short answers... never #lmao #i hate myself

[arianakristine]

alright here we go!! *cracks knuckles*. no 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 32, 33, 37, 38, 40. yes do it!

40 Questions - Meme for Shippers

Also, sorry this took so long, but also look how many hard questions you had for me!!!

1. Talk about the first ship you ever had.     My first ship was for Roswell. I was a little tiny Junior High-er, and loved Max and Liz so much. It was the first fandom I ever participated in, and the one that made me discover fanfiction on the computer in the computer room. Sigh, 2000. My very first (terrible) fics were written about these two. I think I even had an Angelfire webpage dedicated to them. I still read for this fandom occasionally.

2. Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life.    Dreamer, because it was the first and the one that opened the door to fandom.     Then, not even a particular ship, but Heroes got me back into it after trying to leave it behind when I went to college.      Lastly, of course, Gremma. Because Gremma reignited my writing more than any other ship.

4. What’s your current NOTP?   Always Evil Huntsman, S/Q, and Swan/fire

8.Have you ever shipped yourself with a character?   Like, in fic? No. Did I love characters so much and want them to be mine? Sure, of course.

9. Do you have many ships that never got together at all?    Let’s see … not at all? I have a couple, yes. But I think most of my ships at least had canon romantic interest. 

10. Do you ship any characters that have never met?      Maybe Darcy/Loki, but that’s a minor ship.

12. Have you ever been disappointed when your ship finally got together?       YES.

15. Have you ever “shipped at first sight”?      Oh, absolutely and often.

Luke/Jessica, Pepperony, Chidi/Eleanor, Mike/Fi, Shules, … the list goes on. (shockingly, Gremma was a “I know this will happen” but took me an few eps to come to love as much as I do)

16. Talk about a ship you initially disliked.      Hmm, maybe Military Punk. I don’t think it was full-on dislike (because nothing with that first scene can truly be that), but I wasn’t into it at first. Dammit, Paul.

Also, Maeve and Hector. I thought I was going to love Dolores/Teddy when I first started Westworld, and was “meh” about everything else. Until maybe around 1x04, Dissonance Theory.

17. Talk about a pairing you’ve stopped shipping romantically.

       Nick and Jess, New Girl. It just got to the point where I was actively rooting for them to be BFFs instead.

21. Is there a ship you just don’t get, but have nothing against?      Captain Swan. *shrug* I tried.

22. Which of your ships have the best chemistry?       All my ships have amazeballs chemistry. Grrr, can’t pick.

23. Which of your ships deserve better writing?          Ha. Hahahahahahaha. Easy.

24. Do you mostly ship canon pairings?     Probably mostly ones that had shown romantic interest on screen. That doesn’t necessarily mean they were together forever, but at the very least there was a spark of canon interest.

25. Have you ever shipped a pairing before you even started watching the show/movie simply because of gifs and graphics or similar?       I thought of two for this. One was an easy Annamis, because they were so lovely and America gets things late on BBC (speaking of, will need to see Discovery of Witches, too). 

   But there was one that full-on shocked me. I occasionally peek into fandoms just to see about fic, and one time I stumbled on a Star Wars fic where a ship was just hinted at. And it started a craving for that ship, and I read a lot, and I even wrote a bit. But I had only seen the original trilogy once when I was a kid, and I think the second in the prequel series without my full attention. How this translated to Obidala? No clue.

30. Name a couple of fandoms in which you have no ships.      The Haunting of Hill House. I think the romantic relationships are fantastic and pretty layered for not being the focus, but my main love in this show is the family dynamics and character studies.      And I still haven’t figured out how I feel about it completely, but in that vein: Umbrella Academy. I like certain dynamics, but no ships.

32. Share five must-read fics. (THIS WAS HARD!!!)       At The Toll Bridge by a tattered rose. OUAT. Gremma fic, canon divergent. I love the cadence and the style of this fic so, so much. It’s so lovely and lilted, and on point. It’s got such texture and layer, and makes me want more.      The Good Kind/2 by ygrawn. Heroes. Molly’s POV when Mohinder takes over care after S1. Gosh, this one is beautiful. Such a tangible, relatable child’s perspective of all this craziness that happens, and highlights that beautiful found-family that Mohinder and Molly make.       Innocent by mockingbird39. Roswell. This is back when everything was on their own fanfic boards, and I had to do some digging to find it because it’s buried deep in there. But if there was a place to learn about where I got to my writing now? It’s likely this fic. Beautiful and nuanced … just a gorgeous fic.      I See The Light by la lisboa. Gremma. Is this cheating? I just have such a soft spot for this beautiful fic, and I love that I was able to get little sneak peaks while she was writing. Honestly, though, it is a fantastic fic, and one of the few multichapters finished for this ship (my own fault included there).      And I’ve been agonizing over this list too long, because I was trying to do different fandoms, but: Moats and Boats and Waterfalls by blueink3, because it is That Good. 

33. Name your favorite fanartist(s).      And not just because it’s you, but seriously you are one of them. I love your AUs as much as your canon gifsets, and your coloring is always beautiful.      lonesheep is another, for their beautiful drawings and graphic manips.      …basically all my Gremma people. We have some awesome fanartists in out midst.      I have to give it up to Sleeping Hook fanartists, because they are the only reason I ship it. I feel bad, because I can’t think of names, but basically just all of them.

37. Do you have a favorite trope and/or AU for your OTP?       :D :D :D   Yes. For Gremma, all the babies is my most common fic trope. And I die for forbidden romance Princess AUs, omg.

38. Do you like and use ship names?      Yep. I grew up in fandom with ship names, and while not all of my ships have one that I know of, I use them all the time for the ones that do.

40. If you could change one thing about your OTP, what would that be?      Oh, let me see, MAYBE THAT GRAHAM LIVED AND EVERYTHING WAS OKAY AND THEY HAD LOTS OF SEX AND BABIES???

#for funsies #theresoneicouldcallking #long post

[fate221]

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE "LEAKS"? IF ITS NOT FAKE WILL YOU STILL SHIP SHIDGE PLEASE IM CRYING

oh shit I din’t expect I got asked about that this soon D:

I’m not gonna post those “screenshots” here because I don’t wanna problems, if you need to see them go to other accs or Instagram

Yeah anon don’t panic, I saw that bullshit and now I have two things in mind:

1) From one hand it looks pretty much real I mean it’s literal studio mir style, line, coloring and other stuff.

2) I’M LITERALLY SCREAMING WTF DREAMWORKS Lol apparently that’s a guy from old anime who appeared in first episode like an easter egg and now he’s gonna marry Shiro? That easy? I’m not talking now about different copyrights and stuff (if you had to deal with it you may know that it’s not very simple shit lol) the matter is that it looks very fake itself that they made Shiro to marry other guy literally in a season after he lost Adam, whom he dated for four years and they still haven’t been married. And we know nothing about that guy because he’s just a fucking Easter egg + apparently on the “leaks” his skin is darker so idk if it looks very um right. And would Dreamworks really let THAT importamt info to be leaked? The main spoiler? Not sure about that.

The thing is that I remember LGBT rep in OUAT and how fake and forced it looked there and I don’t want Dreamworks to make the same mistake. It’s better to don’t have a rep at all than having it like that - with a certain deus ex machine just to show that “we’re progressive, love us”. It’s not even because I ship Shidge I never principally wanted it in canon and even in my hc it took time for him to develop feelings to another person after Adam because that’s just not that easy to move on. And there was no sense to add Adam at all if you still wanted to marry him with another dude. 

SO here’s my humble absolutely subjective theory you don’t have to agree with and trust to:

producers see all the explosion in the fandom after what they did to Adam

people blame creators in not getting proper LGBT rep and making “bury your gays trope”

creators want to leave everyone happy and at least push some lgbt rep for Shiro even though they never originally planned it and never wanted to make smth else besides Adam 

they bring already done few months ago last episode back, bring some animators back from their well deserved vacation to draw 3-second piece with him kissing a guy we first see (well second but you know what i mean)

apparently they think people will be okay with him making out with smb off screen, not explaining this new relationship at all and with all of this thing looking forced and absolutely deus ex machina for everyone

because lots of people already like Adam, they made aus with him, where he is alive and after that they still want to make Shiro move on that easy with random guy? Adam didn’t deserve it honestly. I’m not even talking about all the Shaladin shippers lol.

so the creators want to test this addition to the already done story to know people’s reation and know if it’s positibe or negative to avoid any mistakes and being blamed in all sins once again.

and they make “leaks” to know what to do when they need to air the episode.

My opinion is - if this was really like that, if they really add that in hurry after episode was already finished, they will literally make no one happy. As I’ve already said - good LGBT rep = logical LGBT rep with being properly added to the plot and having influence on it. I don’t know what trick they’re planning to make but personally I think that they need to stop and let it be before it’s not too late. 

That was a hot take I hope I explained my thoughts clearly.

OR THIS SHIT IS JUST SOMEONE’S VERY QUALITY MADE FAKE AND WE ALL ARE FUCKED 

thanks for coming to my TED talk. 

P.S Nothing will ever stop me from loving my OTP, none leaks, none plot twists okay thank you

[sometimesrosy]

Ok so apparently the 100 is building a castle set w/a fancy staircase. And theres a few small red and yellow flagposts outside w/some christmas like trees. Wtf is going on?!? Lol the first thing that popped into my head when I saw it was the King/Knight and Queen/Princess reference for Bellamy and Clarke. Lol. I have no idea what's going on in this new planet. Or is a ball really happening like everyone is saying? Maybe like a peace conference ball type thing between Eligius and Earthlings? Lol.

OK, I wish y’all would post a link or site or search term when you come yelling about new information so I know where to go look and I’m not just going off second hand information. But I did find the bts pic.

I don’t know if that’s a castle, but the flags are banners and they are norfolk pines, not christmas trees.There does seem to be some pageantry involved with the banners and landscaping, which doesn’t fit either the wilderness or the high tech aesthetic, so it’s something DIFFERENT from what we’ve seen. There’s also topiary on the balcony.

 What I find interesting is the organic details on those stairs and backdrop, and I do not understand why the center of the set is orange while the outside of it is brown, which makes it look fake. So the conclusion I am coming to is that they will add special effects to it to make it also look…idk, more organic? Some sort of vines or lights or alien unusualness.??? There’s a bluescreen at the top, but the top edges are NOT finished and have no detail, especially not like the detailed organic shapes of the railing, which looks sloppy to me and will probably be fixed in post production. Which means to me, again, special effects. Also, there’s no place for anyone to stand near that bluescreen, so it’s just background. Maybe just the two suns, but maybe more. 

TBH, I don’t understand how any of you get Bellarke out of that. 

it’s a BUILDING. It’s worldbuilding, not character arcs. I wouldn’t use this to figure out an emotional narrative. I feel like this fandom wants to make everything about a clue to ships and that isn’t what everything IS. Sometimes a building is about…the setting. It gives us some aesthetic. Some background. Maybe history, mood. Relationships are details that exist WITHIN the world they build, but the background doesn’t tell us about relationships.

To me, with the late timing of that, this to me says alien society, or the hidden part of the Eligius society. Otherwise we would have seen this early on in the filming. But no, this isn’t part of the peaceful society we’ve heard about?? Or it’s a new part of it. I think it will be the strange part of it.

I’m still on the aliens thing. This is what we’ve been told would be happening. Whether that is alien world or alien planet. Eligius has been there about 200 years, and this building seems to have been there a while, right? Or I’m assuming it’s an established place, but it doesn’t look like something a technologically advanced culture post earth apocalypse would build, style wise. It’s slightly organic/gothic…. oh, maybe we’re going SOLARPUNK.

IDK. People’s frame of reference seems to be “prom,” or maybe Cinderella, but I have questions and thoughts about this all.

If it’s a ball or prom that they need a choreographer for, although unless it’s highly stylized group dancing (and why hire a choreographer who does contemporary/broadway numbers instead of a folk dancer or something?) then why hire only FOUR dancers for it?

Four dancers + choreographer makes me think more along the lines of performance, meeting, presentation of characters who are utilizing the dance to tell part of the story.

The choreographer and many of the dancers seem to have a strange element to their work. The choreographer has a straight up WEIRD alien like dance number on her website, one of the dancers dances off the ground. One of them DOES have a ball number in OUAT though. Yes I googled the dancers and choreographer.

Why is dance part of the story when it never has been before? That makes it strange to this kind of storytelling, which fits, as we’re on an alien planet.

Why is it introduced so late in the season? Again it is another unusual thing that our heroes haven’t seen yet. That makes it, to me, part of a revelation of story. Not actually about Bellarke, but about the planet, the alienness, the mystery of what happened to eligius 4, and the main plot and possible big bad.

This set is also introduced late in the season at the same time as choreographer, so the dancing and set seem to be connected. 

Perhaps there is a fairy tale element, or a dream element. They HAVE brought in fairy tales before, as early as the linctavia beauty and the beast storyline. BUT JR has referenced all movies and books that have an element of unreality, altered perception/time/reality, possible hallucination, dream or vision, so I find that just as likely as a ball. More likely. Do fairy tales have to be about princesses and balls? No. They don’t. Often they are about the deep dark woods, mystery, danger and magic. Even Disney does that. Fairy tale =/= romance.

What is with that weird orange color? At first I thought it was a sheet of plastic, but upon close viewing, there is a lot of textural and tonal detail IN the orange. However, the orange makes it look fake. Therefore I think it is one layer of what eventually will be some sort of digital effect. Maybe it’s like layers in a painting. Maybe that orange color is supposed to give the impression that the castle is GLOWING. ohhh. that would make sense.

Ok. The orange part of the castle kind of centers on that pretty organic archway with the kind of half mandala in it, that looks like a stained glass window, but it is not a perfect mandala or circle and the center of it is DEFINITELY organic like a tree root or octopus. AND the stone around it kind of warps like it is wrinkled or there is something growing under it. That shape is echoed in the bannister. Top edge of the castle also shows this wrinkle/warping, which is maybe why I thought it was a sheet of plastic at first. It’s not. It was designed to look like something organic, but in stone. where we can SEE the stone building blocks.

The castle is human sized. The steps are human sized so are the doors. This is a building for humanoids. However there are super tall archways that are NOT human sized. Why build an archway that tall when the others are human height?

A thing growing through a stone castle is not humanoid. 

A thing growing through a stone castle and then echoed in the architecture of said castle is not an enemy, but something that is honored or worshipped or followed. 

You know how Avatar (the movie with blue people) had that mother tree that was, like, the center of life and spirit?

Binch. If the alien on this planet is THE ACTUAL PLANET someone needs to come over here and do an exorcism to get Jason Rothenberg out of my head because I wrote this in a novel 12 years ago, which was ALSO about cryo sleep, which was part of how they got to the new planet to colonize it, which just so y’all know, I suggested as a way to be saved from praimfaya before season 4 started. BEFORE. In january. Also, my current series based on the same universe as that space colony one is called The Mandala Series. The first one was The Mythos Series. That thing in the center looks like a mandala. 

If the alien beings on this planet are actually part of the planet, or a non human entity, AND we get choreography that is weird and dancers that can dance while hanging in space off of poles or ropes or vines or tentacles, then I suggest that there is a hybrid human/alien element, and the dancers will represent that new hybrid. Again, another idea from my novel. I might just be too deep into my novel to separate, and am reading into it, but that is how I came up with cryo theory and it turns out I was right. 

JR is in my head. 

Honestly, I don’t know how you guy come up with Bellarke and commence freaking out. I come up with living alien planets and hybrid alien/humans and commence freaking out. No offense, but my idea is more interesting than a ball. I mean. Maybe it’s a ball. That would be…. fun. 

#the 100 #speculation #bts #alien creature theory #last time i said my cryo theory was a crack theory and i'm not going to say that this time there's some evidence #but seriously get out of my head jr

[margridarnauds]

6, 7, 10, 21, 23

THANKS AVERY

6. Answered here 

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in. 

Let’s have the SALT. (Mandatory disclaimer that my own personal feelings towards the SHIP does not inherently extend to the shippers, that I ship many dynamics that some people would call “abusive” given the ongoing debate over what “enemies to lovers” means, and that some dynamics here are things that I might have shipped under other circumstances, but things just...didn’t work out that way.)

Cats - I hated Plato/Victoria before I even knew that it was POSSIBLE to hate a ship that much. I always went with the Plato = Macavity theory to get that little skeavy dudebro off my girl. (Also, I’ll be honest, the whole “mating dance” thing is...such a fucking weird sequence anyway. Like, my ship preferences aside, ALW WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SCENE WHERE THE CATS FUCK?) 

Pirates of the Caribbean - Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth. 

Harry Potter - Ron/Hermione. I never saw it, tbh, and they seemed to be pretty bad for one another, even in the books. The films just took it up several notches. 

OUAT - Captain motherfucking Swan. I hated that smug, greasy little motherfucker so much. So much. 

Star Trek Ds9: Jadzia/Worf. THERE. I SAID IT. Both sides brought out the absolute worst in each other, leading to an absolute trashfire of a ship that obliterated all in its wake. AND THEN WE HAD TO DEAL WITH THE FALLOUT OF THAT. EVEN AFTER THE SHIP WAS *DEAD*. Don’t mind me, don’t mind me. I’m cool, I’m cool. 

Carmilla - Tbh...Laferry. Never my thing. I know that her character development’s a BIG part of Perry’s arc and I fully embrace character growth, but it just. Left a bad taste in my mouth. And the way shippers used to treat Laflashdrive shippers back in the day. As if shipping a nonbinary character and a flashdrive somehow makes it hetero. (#LetLafBeaRobotfucker2k19). 

Les Miserables - You know what? While I’m on the Salt Train...

Enjolras/Grantaire. Now, there are plenty of ships that are probably more deeply annoying to me, but none are as prevalent as this one. And I might like them a lot more if they WEREN’T so prevalent. But as it is, it’s like a black HOLE that’s devoured the fandom, so that you’d think the entire fucking novel/musical is about these two. And. Maybe I shouldn’t talk given what I ship, but it isn’t even like they’re THEM at this point, they’re just two generic white guys in an “uwu” relationship. And I’m not speaking for EVERY single thing given that I have neither the time, concentration, or will to read every. Single. Thing. Made about these two, but it’s something I’ve noticed, though I’m not saying that I haven’t enjoyed SOME things made about them and the whole “You believe in nothing.” “I believe in you” is...good content. 

It’s like...you’re walking in the woods (there’s no one around and your phone is dead) and you see a brightly colored pink tree. At first, it’s great. A pink tree! You’ve never seen one of those before. You wander further into the woods, and there’s another! And another! And soon enough, you’re surrounded by pink trees, in a technicolored horror realm. Where’s the sky? Where did you come in at? You think you remember seeing the sun once, but NO, it’s another fucking pink tree blocking your way. There is no God, there is no ground, there is only a technicolored nightmare blocking your every move, drowning you in visions of Barbie-esque horror. 

Terra Nova - Skye/Lucas. WHY GOD WHY? Look, we KNOW I have terrible taste in ships, some of which have...questionable dynamics. BUT EVEN I CAN’T GET INTO THIS ONE. There’s no...mutual spark between the two of them, just Lucas creeping on Skye and Skye trying to get away. Also, since I’m here...Skye is estimate to have been born in ‘32-33, making her approximately 16-17 by the time the plot kicks into gear. Let’s be very generous and bump her into 17-18. Lucas? 2124, making him...oh, 25. Not the WORST age gap I’ve ever seen in my lifetime...but....questionable. Very questionable. And I know the series wants to have us believe that people grow up faster (see: The fact they actually think Maddy’s old enough to GET MARRIED. TO A SOLDIER. WHO IS REALISTICALLY IN DANGER OF MAKING HER A WIDOW,) but NO. Like, at my CURRENT AGE, with less than four years separating me from that age gap, I can’t see it. That is still at least 7 years of experience in the “real world” that she doesn’t have. He still saw someone with THAT MUCH of an age gap with him and WANTED something, whether or not she wanted it or not, and tried to PURSUE that something while calling her “sister”. Like, I can’t stop anyone from shipping it and I have a firm “ship and let ship” mentality, but....EW. EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWeWEEWEWEW. 

B5 - I’m in the same boat as you as far as...on one hand. Byron/Lyta makes me want to vomit, but also...our Teep OC does owe her existence to her weird, hetero white goth uncle. 

Star Wars: Han/Leia. Because, as we all know, cornering a woman before you kiss her is the love story of the generation. Han would have been better with Luke and Leia with Holdo. 

The Pirate Queen - Tiernan/Gráinne. I. Hate. This. Ship. 

His Dark Materials - Torn between Ruta Skadi/Asriel and Lyra/Will. Tbh, leaning towards the latter because while the former is AWFUL and signifies the quite frankly terrible writing decisions that distinguish the second and third books, at least it didn’t involve a badass, feral girl child becoming a dainty, submissive 50s housewife in the body of a 12 year old. “Oh, Will, I’ll do whatever you say, I promise. I won’t use my awesome powers unless you say I can, you’re so fantastic, Will.” Gag me. Also...they’re twelve. This doesn’t HAVE to be an epic, tragic romance, and the fact that their “kiss” (WHAT THE FUCK PULLMAN, WHAT THE FUCK, I’M NOT A PURITAN BUT WHAT THE FUCK) is the key to saving the universe? Really? Basically, they should have been friends. 

1789 - Danton/Solène. (I KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT I WOULD SAY, BUT NO. MY HATRED FOR THIS ONE MANAGES TO OUTSHINE IT.) “But Rachel,” you might say, “You’ve been very, very open about preferring anything to Ronan/Olympe” and that’s TRUE. But the Toho version managed to push my hatred of this one with The Scene, AKA “Go back to the kitchen, Solène and let the menfolk take care of this.” The French version didn’t even really have it as A Thing, he was just a customer. And the amount of time Danton spends with Solène is always directly proportional to the amount of spinal surgery she’s going to have. Now, I can’t exactly BLAME the two Japanese productions for doing what they did, because they have to appeal to a Japanese audience in the way they see fit. It’s an ADAPTATION of 1789, not a tour of it. But that doesn’t mean I have to LIKE it. And. Like. You know there’s no way THAT one’s going to end in a way that’s good for Solène. Either (1) he’ll set her aside for his family or (2) If they SOMEHOW stay together...the Reign of Terror’s looming. 

Also: Danton/Charlotte. No. No. Just. No. There are so many reasons why. But no. 

Ace Attorney - Maya/Nick. WHY SWEET MOTHER OF HETERONORMATIVITY WHY? 

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

We’ve both discussed a lot about how...DIFFICULT it can be to write fic for something. There are a lot of things I love dearly but just don’t have it in me to write fic for. Ace Attorney is an obvious one, Mozart l’Opera Rock, Elisabeth (though I’m trying to work on that one), Les Miserables, Star Wars, Star Trek, B5....a ton more that I could mention but it would honestly take too much time. Words hard, reading still hard but slightly easier. 

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote? 

The first thing I ever wrote, when I was five years old, was (very heteronormative) fanfiction for The Stinky Cheese Man, where he finds The Stinky Cheese Woman, which now, of course, I recognize as my own attempt to write myself into a narrative from which I’d been excluded. Or something. I think my mom still has it buried someplace, lurking...

Also, @theocraindora at some point managed to get me to write at least one full Carmilla AU during the second season, when we both must have been about 17-18-ish, if my math’s not too dubious, and that was the first thing I ever actually finished for a long time, even though it didn’t ever meet my personal standards for publishing and is likely to stay buried. For awhile, at least. 

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Since I talked about PLP’s tragic backstory, time for something happier. Paradise Lost, which I’m actually pretty damn happy with because it was my first time working with something that’s not a historical piece, and it was honestly a treat working with Mira’s voice. I think that Mira really “clicked” for me as a character here. Like, “Yes, this is why she’s like this, this makes sense.” There are some times where you can really feel a character’s voice when you’re writing and you can get things out, and this was one of those very rare times for me. Not saying that it’s going to happen NEXT time, but this time, it was rather relaxing. 

It was honestly one of the smoother writing experiences I had? Like, it only took me about a day or so, from when we exchanged PMs to publishing it, which is pretty impressive, all things considered. I’m still not tossing out doing anything more with this world in the future, tbh. That and Goosefic were probably two of the easiest to just...get out. (WHICH. 92 HITS. GOOSEFIC HAS 92 HITS. THAT IS INSANE FOR A ONE-SHOT IN A SMALL FANDOM. HOLY SHIT.) 

(From your other ask!)

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

I’ve been WRITING fanfiction since I could hold a pencil and make scribbles.  When I was younger, I could write that kind of thing easily, the shame came later. 

Finding out that fanfiction EXISTED...was probably when I was about 9-10 and found Balto x Harry Potter crossover fanfiction. Which. In hindsight. Was pretty horrible, but my young self was CAPTIVATED because Balto and Harry Potter? In the same universe? IT WAS LIKE MAGIC. 

Astonishingly, I did not read M rated stuff until I was at least 15-16-ish. I kept myself remarkably sheltered and only looked into it when I became curious. And got over my weird hyper-religious phase. 

When I was about 12-13, I started to toy with writing myself, writing my own OC crossovers for Phantom Manor (the gother, European version of Haunted Mansion that was my special interest for. Ages). Carmilla when I was 17-18 was one of the first things I wrote a full, complete Thing for, even if I never published anything for it. And from there, I’d try to write things for both The Pirate Queen and Dracula, though both projects proved to be too ambitious and I ended up cutting them off, tragically, but they gave me the confidence I needed to get into 1789, which I DID publish something for finally, on the day I was taking my GRE because. Well. I had something else I feared more than a flame. 

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

I don’t know if this is one thing or five separate things in a trenchcoat, but here you go. 

I love how we can explore things that could never be explored in canon, for one reason or another; I love that we have an experience that we can filter according to what WE want, including trigger warnings, which is honestly a godsend to me. We talk a lot about the transformative nature of fanfic, and it IS, but also, the level of empowerment that comes with being able to take back a narrative that says “hey, you’re not supposed to be in this narrative” or “You’ll like what we put out and you’ll stick with it” or “Well, if you don’t like it, create your own” and say “Okay, I will.” And, obviously the comments are lovely, having that kind of instant encouragement, and in the small fandoms in particular, it’s VITAL, but I also don’t feel like they’re inherently mandatory or that readers should feel FORCED. But I do love that, no matter what, something you write can connect with someone from the other side of the world. Like, people can argue all they want about fanfic being valid or not, but MOST people who want to be professional writers never get that. And when you stop and think about how we’ve been changing the narrative for as long as we’ve had oral stories, that this is how storytelling was ORIGINALLY done...that’s very humbling. 

#janetcarter

[foxofthedesert]

RQ OUaT FF | OGA: Ch. 12

Chapter 12 – A Deal with the Dark One

A sharp knock on the door startles Regina out of a grief-induced stupor. The heavy haze blanketing her consciousness is a remnant of the self-flagellating she did over her role in Red's current predicament. She cannot recall much that has happened since Victor departed beyond the initial waves of illogical guilt that battered her into submission, reducing her to little more than a useless, shriveled lump of anguish.

Sometime during her restless inactivity she had managed to wrap around Red, almost as if she were subconsciously trying to climb inside her wife's body to wrench her soul back to its rightful place. It hadn't worked, obviously. Red remains stubbornly imprisoned within the curse, oblivious to the world which continues to rotate heedless of her absence. Meanwhile Regina's world felt as if it had screeched to a grinding halt. At least the physical contact helped to soothe her oversensitive nerves. She had been on the verge of disassociating before her stampeding emotions mercifully ran out of steam.

Tired of being the victim of a sorrow she cannot seem to escape and feeling somewhat more composed, she gingerly disentangles herself from her wife. Sitting up requires just as much caution, as she does not want to to jostle Red needlessly. That her efforts go unappreciated is beside the point when Red is so helpless. Treating her body with the utmost respect while she is incapacitated is the least Regina can do, really.

With a prolonged groan, Regina rubs at her eyes and takes a tremulous breath just as another louder knock sounds. It echoes through the room as if a mallet is being utilized rather than a fist, and is immediately followed by a familiar male voice calling out, "Your Majesty, may I come in?"

Ignoring the visitor for a moment, Regina swings her legs to the side and then shuffles out of bed. Cognizant of her compromised equilibrium, she rises slowly to her feet. The journey to being vertical is made more unpleasant by the relentless pounding of her head. No doubt the condition is a symptom of the misery that is her constant companion being compounded by the alarming drain to her energy reserves from the confrontation with Zelena. The good news is that she is accustomed to working through blinding migraines as she has done so many times in the past; for Red, she will endure any discomfort for however long she must. There is no pain on earth that could keep her from doing whatever is necessary to save her wife.

"Enter," she calls out after a moment, her voice scratchy, but loud enough that the person who had asked her permission hears and obeys. When Victor Frankenstein steps through the opened doorway, Regina arches a sable eyebrow. "What is it, Victor?"

"You said to return in two hours," he tells her as he steps into the room.

Regina stares at him, hardly able to comprehend the passage of so much time without her being aware. It had honestly felt like minutes.

"Has it been two hours already?" she asks after a moment.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Victor replies, eyeing her with concern that Regina dismissively waves off.

"Don't look at me that way. I'm fine," she says, then takes a deep breath and smooths a hand down her twice rumpled clothing. She'd been so distraught, she hadn't thought to change into something more suitable. Deciding to amend that oversight, she snaps her fingers and arrays herself in a dress befitting her mood, solid black, trimmed in jagged and vicious embroidery the color of rich red wine. She is no longer a wife in mourning but a Queen on a mission, a killer set loose upon the world after enduring seven years of solitary captivity. She feels dangerous all of the sudden, and wishes that Zelena would show her verdant face so that she can peel it off and have a Hallows Eve mask made of it.

Seeming to sense the change in her attitude, Victor stiffens. "Of course you are, my Queen. I, uh...I consulted some of my more esoteric tomes, but uh..." he shuffles a bit, looking nervously at her, "I am sorry to report that I didn't find anything of pertinence."

Regina arches a brow and then returns to Red's bedside where she perches in the same position she had been in earlier. Although she is feeling stronger and more confident, she still needs the proximity, needs to be close enough to see and hear that Red is still breathing and feel the warmth of her skin indicating blood is still flowing through her veins and thus her heart is still beating.

After picking up Red's hand between her own and depositing both in her lap, she looks back up at Victor. "And what did the herbalist have to say?"

That snaps Victor out of his tentative posture. His eyes gain a little bit of spark that gives Regina a renewed hope. "She was actually quite a useful resource. She hadn't heard of any such tree, nor had she been to Oz. However, she confirmed my theory about the likelihood of the antidote being found in the vicinity where those trees grow or from other parts of the trees themselves. I think we may have a viable course of action to pursue."

Regina actually smiles, and it feels like the first time she's managed one in weeks. "I believe you are correct, my dear Doctor." But then her smile evaporates as she realizes there is no sense putting off the inevitable. "As encouraging as your news is, I want to consult with Rumple before I make preparations for an excursion to Oz. Time is too precious for any to be wasted. If he can narrow down the search parameters, it is worth the risk to parlay with him. Would you agree?"

Although Victor seems surprised that she has asked his opinion, to his credit he does not voice it. Instead, he nods reluctantly. "Unfortunately, I do."

Reluctant is not a strong enough word to describe how little Regina wants to do what she has to next. She hasn't seen her old teacher in so long, she has almost forgotten the dread that is always associated with calling upon his name. None prey more gleefully and mercilessly upon those in dire straits as the Dark One. Were there any other alternatives, she would take them. But there aren't. She is desperate and in need of information she firmly believes only one person can provide.

Drawing Red's hand up, Regina presses her lips against the back and deposits a reverent kiss there. "I'm doing this for you, my darling," she whispers against the feverish skin. She is somewhat relieved to feel Red's pulse thrumming through her pronounced veins. "I know you find Rumple to be distasteful after all he's done. I wish there were another way..."

Red's poor opinion of the Dark One was solidified when Regina confided to her about life as a young Queen. Isolated from her home and family, reeling from a loss that fundamentally changed who she was as a person, she was forced to adapt to a new situation that felt more like a living hell than the paradise of wealth and influence her mother viewed it as. Upon learning how Rumplestiltskin preyed on that despair, had wielded it like a yardstick to guide her one step at a time towards the inviting darkness just over the horizon, Red swore that if she ever encountered the man in person she would rend him limb from limb. And she almost made good on that promise.

Rumple has visited the Dark Palace exactly once since Red became her lover. One afternoon around the Autumnal Equinox, he showed up unannounced with his typical dramatic flair. He had just learned about her relationship with Red and was hoping to gain an advantage in their ongoing game of tactical manipulations. Instead, he was caught unawares by an enormous werewolf at the height of her strength. The instant he fully materialized, Red pounced. He could not even twitch a muscle or recover his wits enough to toss her away with his magic before razor sharp teeth clamped around his throat, ready and willing to separate his head from his torso. Against her better judgment, Regina stepped in before blood was shed, knowing that Red was no match for Rumple under less favorable circumstances, and that Rumple had learned his lesson. Foremost, loathsome as he was, she was reluctant to erase a resource of such invaluable experience, skill, and knowledge. Red thought that was a ridiculous reason to let a potential threat to them walk away. In retrospect, Regina's restraint proved all too sagacious – here she was, years later, needing his help.

What if I had let Red kill him that day? With whom would I have to deal in his place? The thought turns her insides cold. There are individuals whose objectives are far less...gray...than those of the Dark One, individuals who do not just bend or skirt the rules and conventions of civilized society but utterly eschew them in favor of unfettered chaos and pure evil. While she cannot argue against Rumple being a devious, self-serving, manipulative bastard, he is at least a devious, self-serving, manipulative bastard who honors his bargains – and, most importantly, with whom she has a lengthy history. Better to deal with the devil you know...

In any case, after almost having his head separated from his neck by an overprotective werewolf, the Dark One avoided confronting Regina whenever Red was in the vicinity. He braved doing so when she was alone only a handful occasions in the meantime, and never since the last visit three and half years ago while Red was absent visiting her grandmother in the White Kingdom. Still, Regina occasionally gets the distinct feeling he is watching them carefully, methodically plotting his revenge and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. His unnatural interest in her has yet to wane, and though she has yet to figure out why that is she has no interest in broaching the topic at present. There are far more critical matters at hand.

"I swear," she continues, now rubbing her cheek against Red's limp palm, "if there were any other options available, I would pursue them rather than risk inviting him here. But there are none, so I have no choice. Please forgive me." After another gentle kiss, this time to the pulse point of her wife's wrist, Regina carefully replaces Red's hand back at her side and then stands.

Without bothering to warn Victor, she strides into the center of the room, hands on her hips, and sternly beckons, "Rumplestiltskin! I, a desperate soul, summon thee. Heed my call at once if you are interested in a transaction."

A puff of purple smoke immediately fills the center of the room right in front of Regina, and she watches with sharp eyes as her former mentor materializes in front of her.

"Why, I thought you'd never call on me again, dearie," he says, voice trilling merrily. "You must be very desperate indeed. If I didn't know better..."

"Save the canned speech, Rumple," Regina interrupts curtly. "I asked you here to make a deal. But before we go any further, I would know whether or not you can deliver what I require from you."

His entire being perks up at the opportunity to strike up a deal. He has been looking for a way to finagle her into one for a very long time, but before this she'd had no reason to haggle with him. All she had wanted was Snow White dead, and that was something she felt more than capable of accomplishing on her own. All the same, he was right before when he said she is desperate. Effectively, she has been backed into a corner with no escape route save the most excruciating one. His awareness of that makes him all the more dangerous. There is no one who exploits vulnerability with as much flamboyant finesse as Rumplestiltskin.

"A deal you say?" His unnatural, disconcerting eyes glitter in the orange light cast from lit candles nestled in brass scones lining the walls. "I'm already intrigued. What is it, in particular, that you are after?"

Regina hefts her skirts to her ankles and steps close to the imp an entire continent has feared for far longer than she has been alive. Rumplestiltskin's reign of terror has lasted centuries, and though she would have preferred it to have ended long ago, she finds herself grateful it has not. The countless others currently suffering from an ill-advised deal stricken with him are inconsequential when she presently requires his expertise.

Once close enough that their noses nearly touch, she glares down her nose haughtily, relishing in the fact her impractically high heels lend her a slight height advantage. As per usual, the display of dominance does not perturb him in the slightest. Both know who has all the leverage here.

Regina, as usual, is simply too proud to back down. "Knowledge is what I seek," she answers, hands at her hips wearing her best imperious expression. She gestures toward him with a mocking smirk. "Although I am unsure the subject is one upon which you are well versed. It would be a pity if my summons were to prove futile."

Rumple tuts a sound of disappointment. "Preposterous. As you well know, I am aware of almost everything that goes on in this world and have access to much of its history. I doubt there is any related topic with which I am unacquainted."

"Ah," Regina interjects, waving a taunting finger, "but my inquiry does not relate to this world. I am after information about another one altogether. A place called Oz."

The mention of that name causes Rumplestiltskin falter, and his shock is so evident that he cannot deflect fast enough for it to escape her notice. Interesting, she thinks, filing that unexpected reaction away. Something about Oz in particular disturbs him and she would love to know what that is.

Dark glittering eyebrows draw together, and he averts his eyes momentarily before responding. "Oz you say?" His taps his chin as if in thought. A distraction meant to feign disinterest. It doesn't work. Frequent exposure to his mannerisms and tics means Regina can see right through him, and he knows it. He cuts piercing eyes back at her. "Whyever would you want to know about that ludicrous place? Planning a vacation in the near future?"

Rather than give him a straight answer, Regina snarls and draws up to her full height. "That's my business, not yours. Just answer the damn question."

Her response seems to please Rumplestiltskin, which alerts her to having revealed a sensitive spot. Picking at those, she knows, is a specialty of his. After all, he had prodded at the weeping wound of Daniel's death until spreading out into a yawning chasm that resisted all attempts to close it. She hates him so much in that moment that it is a minor miracle that she keeps her temper in check. And it is for Red's sake alone that she bites her tongue. She cannot afford to give him an inch to play with.

Grinning smugly at her obvious anger, the Dark One maneuvers around her to stand at the foot of the bed upon which Red rests. Victor stiffens at his approach but does not move, instead choosing to stand his ground in the space between the bed and Rumple. Apparently his first instinct is not to protect himself but the only person who has ever made a concerted effort to befriend him. His action, though futile, earns him a sizable portion of Regina's respect. If Victor is willing to place himself in so precarious a position for Red's sake, she is also willing to try and move past her old hurts involving him. That is, if they all get out of this mess alive.

"So nice to see you have landed on your feet, Victor," Rumple greets. "I wasn't sure you'd ever crawl out of the bottle after that wee mishap with your monstrosity of a brother."

"I had help," Victor says gruffly, keeping himself wedged between Rumple and Red. The way he cuts his eyes down at Red for a split second does not go unnoticed.

"So the mutt dragged you from the depths by the scruff of your collar, eh?" Rumple says, wearing a mocking grin that turns sinister when it shifts over to Regina. "Seems she has a penchant for rescuing those on the verge of drowning." He chuckles with satisfaction when Regina's entire frame coils up as if a rattler about to strike. "Say," he then gestures toward the bed, still inordinately pleased with himself, "this summons wouldn't have anything to do with your Queenling's precarious predicament, now would it?"

For a moment, Regina fears he has already figured out what happened, and for a variety of very sound reasons. Not the least of which is how he might be planning to utilize the situation to his benefit. There is no end to what he could get away with by using Red's condition to force her into a far worse negotiating position than she was envisioning had she not been so unforgivably stupid. It was an amateurish mistake to have summoned him to her in the very same room as her cursed wife.

Perceptive as usual, Rumple latches on to her insecurity with frightening speed. "I couldn't help but notice the werewolf's condition upon arrival. I am the master apothecary, Regina, as you well know. I can detect a well-brewed sleeping curse a mile away, even one so cleverly modified as this one appears to be."

Regina shoots a warning glare at the beast who took a broken girl in a gilded cage and transformed her into a remorseless killing machine. How foolish she was back then to ever trust he wanted to help her! And now here she is again, inviting him back into her life, ready and willing to surrender her very soul if that is what it takes to get the information she needs. Red is dying and Rumple is holding all the cards, which means that for all intents and purposes she is at his mercy. Which he knows, and is enjoying lording that over her far too much if that smarmy smile and nefarious glint in his eyes is any indication.

That Rumple hates Red only complicates an already near untenable situation. Not only does she not fear him, but she has been systematically severing the ties between the Dark One and his former pupil. That his influence on Regina has all but vanished earned Red a place high up on his list of enemies. Plus, and for whatever reason, Rumple seems to genuinely fear the wolf, which would work to Regina's advantage were circumstances more ideal and Red was capable of defending herself. Sadly neither is the case, as the situation is about as grave as it can be and the wolf is trapped in a living purgatory just as surely as her human half. Regina would not put it past Rumplestiltskin to exploit this opportunity to neutralize Red for good if it meant getting his hooks in her once again.

"I won't bother lying about the situation. It is as you say," she tells him, narrowed eyes issuing a threat which she then audibly reinforces. "But if you're thinking about using her condition to your advantage, think again. I am warning you right now: if you try to harm her or use this to gain any sort of influence over her whatsoever, I will kill you."

Regina deliberately leaves herself out of the equation. Since discovering Red in her present state, she has always been cognizant on some level that she may have to trade her life to secure Red's. She had told her father as much not much more than three hours ago. Nothing has changed since then. What she is not willing to barter with is Red's life or freedom. Everything else is ultimately fair game. Rumple does not neat to hear her say that though, as he probably has already figured that out, and even if has hasn't she most definitely is not going to clue him in.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. I have no desire to muzzle that overly excitable furball of yours." Rumple's expression was meant to convince her that assessment of his intentions is absurd. It isn't.

The spindly wheels turning behind his eyes did not go unnoticed. No doubt he was mentally attempting to manufacture an outcome that would get rid of the thorn in his side that was once called the menace of Perrault – Perrault being Red's hometown – and who is now affectionately referred to by the locals as the Big Bad Wolf. Time, Regina realizes, is running out for this deal to not cost her everything, meaning she has to act quickly lest he formulate a plan that might hinder the goal of summoning him.

But then he takes her completely by surprise and promptly switches directions. "I must say, I detect a note of familiarity in this magic. Tell me, who is the responsible party?"

Drawing a ragged breath, Regina lets it out slowly. As much as she doesn't want to talk about this, she has to. The chance of learning something of value is too important to pass up. And besides, it's better than having to issue further threats to curtail his unacceptable interest in Red, which no doubt would only have stoked the coals of his own capricious and volcanic temper.

"My half-sister, if she's to be believed," she answers. "According to what I was able to glean, my mother gave her up shortly after she was born."

Again, Rumple is blindsided, and this time, Regina has no choice but to press him when he is off balance. Judging by his subtle flinch, he knows or at least knows of Zelena.

"You've met her, haven't you?" she asks, stepping closer.

"Unfortunately, I have had the displeasure of making her acquaintance."

The disquiet obvious in his reply further frays Regina's already thin nerves. If the Dark One is apprehensive about her sister, was all that bluster about how powerful she was not really bluster at all? If so, what impact might that have upon the mission to save Red? Should they have to square off again, would she have a chance, even were she able to access whatever reservoir of magic enabled her to win their previous scrum? Regina doesn't know, which is bothersome to say the least. One thing is certain, though, Rumple's apprehension regarding Zelena is doing her confidence no favors.

"How is it possible that you know Zelena? Did my mother tell you about her?"

Rumple shakes his head almost imperceptibly. "She did not." Turning away from the bed, he steps back around Regina and into the center of the room. Crossing one arm across his chest, he tucks the elbow of her other arm around it and then grasps his chin with his hand. As he contemplates how to respond, he gives it a few slow strokes. Once decided he says, "Before I began your training in earnest, your...sister traveled to our realm using an enchanted pair of slippers. For a time I pinned my hopes upon her becoming my protegee and had hoped to mold her into a sorceress capable of greatness beyond imagination."

This information startles Regina. She'd always thought she was his first choice. "Why didn't you?"

"Because she is an impetuous creature wholly ruled by her emotions." He frowns deeply, creasing his face in a way that makes him appear even more inhuman. "Zelena is utterly incapable of compartmentalizing. She was not raised by Cora as you were to master her turbulent feelings. They were a constant distraction from her studies. That, and...well, other reasons I'd prefer not to think about." He trails off, expression further souring, the smacks his lips as if something truly awful was lodged in his mouth. He then shivers, brushes a hand down his leathers, re-straightens his shoulders and the odd moment passes. Now recovered, he adds, "I terminated her apprenticeship when I realized she would never take to formal education. She was a mite displeased with that decision, but what could she do? I am the Dark One, after all." A manic giggle is punctuated by a twirling finger. "A click of her slippers later and she was gone, back to Oz to sulk, no doubt. Never heard from her since."

The truthfulness of Rumple's appraisal of Zelena is beyond doubt. In their brief duel, Regina had clashed with a woman who was convinced that she was superior in every way and yet completely lost control when her plan began to unravel. There was only one conclusion for Regina to make: her sister was unable to adapt to unexpected variables being introduced in the heat of conflict. Regina has seen that same phenomenon so many times on the battlefield, when a commander or soldier's failure to acclimate to the shifting dynamics of combat enables a nearly defeated foe to snatch victory from the greedily slobbering jaws of defeat. Emotional people such as Zelena depend on meticulously constructed stratagems to ensure their victories, and when those plans are executed without a hitch, they are virtually unstoppable by conventional means. But when order gives way to chaos in the heat of battle as it is wont to do, such individuals lack the creative coping mechanisms to churn out split second decisions that stave off disaster. Catastrophic failure is almost always the result.

This glaring character defect gives Regina a distinct advantage if she is mindful of it during her next encounter with Zelena. Improvisation is something she excels in, and she is going to have to exploit that ability if she wishes to defeat a sorceress who not only is unarguably powerful but has proven herself capable of scheming up intricate plots with multiple angles all moving at the same time. Regina is more of the type who subscribes to the philosophy best described by some of Red's folk, who would say, zuerst nachdenken, which means 'act first, think later.' Or as Regina's paternal kin might put it, tomar el toro por sus cuernos – that is, take the bull by his horns. In this case, that tendency to leap then look works to Regina's favor. The element of surprise is likely to be key in any future encounters between her and her loony half-sister. Their respective approaches dictates that she cannot afford to meet Zelena on the field of her sister's choosing. To do so would be courting almost certain disaster.

There is one perplexing question pricking at the back of Regina's mind, though. Even when fueled by True Love, Zelena was able to equal her in terms of raw output. Which leaves Regina to wonder: if they are indeed sisters, why does Zelena seem to possesses such vastly superior natural energy output and reserves?

Curious from a purely professional standpoint, she raises a sable brow at her old mentor. "If Zelena and I both inherited our magical talent from our mother, why was she able to nearly best me when I was resisting her with the most powerful magical force known to man?"

Rumple gives a disapproving tut. "Who said you both inherited your magic from the same exact source?"

"I just assumed..."

"Didn't I teach you never to assume?" Rumple interrupts, tone as snidely chastising as when she was a novice. "Your father could not be taught to summon a grain of sand. But Zelena's? Now, there's a chap who had potential. So horribly tragic he squandered it. He could have been a great sorcerer if he had an erudite benefactor such as myself. Or hadn't been mastered by the easily distracted head between his legs. I suppose in that way, he is rather like his bastard of a daughter." When Regina makes a noise of utter disgust at the tacky comment, Rumple giggles gleefully. "Oh, don't act like a prude, it doesn't suit you," he then trills, merry at her discomfort. "Also...a bit hypocritical from what I've gathered. Rumor is you have that wolf of yours howling almost every other ni—"

Having heard quite enough, and blushing furiously with Victor as an audience, Regina stops the discussion from getting any further afield into matters neither of the men in her presence have any business being privy to.

"Alright! I get it! Just..." she sighs and pinches her nose before continuing, "just get to the point."

"Spoilsport," says Rumple, entirely too pleased with himself. "The point is...Zelena was born to parents who were both naturally gifted with magic. There is also a wild ingredient to her I've not quite been able to figure out. Perhaps due to the vortex that snatched her out of this world and delivered her to Oz? Hmmm..." He wiggles a bit restlessly, clearly perturbed by this mystery he apparently cannot solve; one of few that Regina is aware of, which makes her sister all the most interesting – and frightening. And then as quickly as he zoned out he is back in the present. "Anyway, the result of these...elements…means that she is far more inherently powerful than you ever dreamed of being. Why, she was using magic while she was still in diapers whereas it took you a week to master a basic conjuration as an adult! You are your father's daughter. Aren't you, dearie?"

Regina bristles at the blasé delivery of that particularly sharp barb, and again when he smirks triumphantly at her outrage. Pride, her worst character flaw, swiftly provokes her to anger when she is being compared unfavorably to anyone – particularly other practitioners of magic. Too much was sacrificed in obtaining mastery of the dark art to be seen as the lesser of anyone other than her centuries old instructor.

"Posture all you want," Rumple continues without allowing her to retort, "but I assure you that your only advantage in this quarrel will be your ability to out-think her. And that is precisely why she struck at that which is closest to your heart."

Which is nothing Regina had not already concluded. "You say am I not her equal," she counters, still seething about being ranked lower on the magical totem pole than her batshit-insane sister. "And yet I defeated her in a fair fight. Had she not fled, I would have killed her this afternoon."

He shrugs as if that minor victory meant less than nothing. "Be that as it may, escape she did. I assure you, she most certainly will return. And make no mistake, when she does she will be much better prepared." He glances over at Red and then back at her, his eyes full of scathing accusation. "Your mother tried to warn you, Regina, as did I. Love is weakness. Zelena is using your love for that girl to destabilize you. You may have won the battle but the war is far from over."

He is wrong, she thinks, remembering what her love for Red had enabled her to do. A fight she surely would have lost to her much more powerful sister, if Rumple is to be believed, instead became a conspicuous statement. Not only that she is willing to do whatever she must to restore Red to life, even if that means she must expend herself in the effort, but that she is motivated by something Zelena cannot comprehend, something cosmic and primordial that can inspire superhuman feats that otherwise would be impossible. To diminish that, to diminish love, as weakness is nothing short of folly.

Crossing over to Red's beside, she takes her wife's hand and grips it tightly. The alarming heat from fevered skin seeps into her cold fingers, bringing her warmth and reminding her that while Red may be terribly ill, at least she is still alive.

"What you call weakness is in fact the very opposite," she then states with a boldness only experience can produce. "As it turns out, you and mother were both wrong. Horribly wrong. My love for that girl is what gave me the necessary energy to overcome Zelena. Because love is strength. It is wealth beyond measure. It is a weapon that no sword can deflect and which no shield of steel or magic can withstand. It is power of such infinite and majestic grandeur that the gods themselves, should they indeed exist, would kneel before in awesome reverence. For you see, Rumple, True Love doesn't just break curses. It creates miracles."

"So you are wholly given over to delusion then," he says, unconvinced, and judgmental. "True Love is powerful, yes, but inherently unpredictable. You cannot rely on it to win your every battle. Training, experience, and natural propensity matter much more in the unpredictable environments of open conflict. If I were you, I would heed this freely given advice. For when Zelena returns, she will not hold back. There will be no hesitation, no petty theatrics. Playtime is over, dearie, and when she is prepared to engage you again it will take more than what you and your Twue Wuv can muster to stop her."

When Regina starts to object, he raises a hand, eyes imploring her to listen to reason. "She hates you more than anything else, and yet she displayed no intentions of killing you earlier. That should tell you something. She wants you to suffer."

"I know," Regina replies, gritting her teeth together. "She said as much."

"Then do you not see the danger you face? She has likely been plotting this scenario for years."

Regina frowns dismissively, causing Rumple to scoff at her unwillingness to heed his warnings. She knows he is aggravated by what he would describe as willful ignorance.

"As I had been plotting Snow's demise," she retorts. "But the fruits of all my scheming went to naught the moment I met Red. Let Zelena come, let her irrational envy and malice be what compels her to try and destroy me. If Red has taught me anything, it is that love can overcome hate."

"You keep mentioning the love you share with the werewolf, that it is True Love. But tell me: if that is indeed accurate, why does she remain asleep? Has hatred not won a great victory already?"

"No, it hasn't! True Love's kiss did work, but Zelena somehow already knew what Red and I shared, even before I did. And while you are correct that she remains asleep, she is also alive, and that is the reason I asked you here. Victor and I have a plan to counter Zelena's curse."

"Oh? Color me intrigued. Pray tell!"

That Rumple seems particularly interested now that she has mentioned that True Love's kiss has not broken this particular curse is an extraneous source of worry for Regina. She knows why. Were he to gain such a recipe, he would surely utilize it for some nefarious purpose. And though she wants him to remain ignorant of Zelena's clever modification to the sleeping curse, she feels there is no alternative but to enlighten him. She only hopes her decision does not come back to bite her in the ass.

"During our discourse," she tells him, "Zelena taunted me that I could not break the curse with True Love's kiss. She added a rare ingredient to her curse, one found only in Oz high in the mountains surrounding the Emerald City. There, a tree grows which sprouts leaves immune to all forms of magic. She ground it up and mixed it into the potion she used as the base for the curse, thus infusing it with a protection against being broken by any counterspells, even the most potent of all. I must know: have you heard of this tree? And if you have, is there an antidote? If I do not find one, Red will die, for Zelena also modified her curse to draw its energy from its host body. It is killing her already, albeit slowly..."

"Well, this is certainly quite the quandary you've found yourself in," Rumple says, echoing her own thoughts. "Zelena's ingenuity is truly impressive."

"To hell with her ingenuity! I didn't ask you here for commentary on my sister's prodigious fluency with magic. I want you to answer my questions!" She heaves a frustrated sigh when Rumple raises a glittering eyebrow, and changes tract. Her temper never did get her anywhere with him. But there is one weakness that she knows Rumple has aside from his precious maid. "As I stated earlier, I am prepared to make a deal in exchange."

"Because of how desperate you are – and you are so deliciously desperate – I am sorely tempted to extract a high price from you for this," he replies, clearly interested in the carrot she dangled so temptingly before him. But then he goes and surprises by refusing the inroad to her life she just offered. "However," he says, hands steepling beneath his chin, "I will grant you this one allowance. Not just because you were once my most promising pupil, but because I share in your enmity for your deranged sibling. For once, we have aligned interests. So, to answer your questions, yes, I know of this tree, and yes, there is an antidote. However, it will not be easy to procure."

Regina is sure her expression reveals how stunned she is at Rumple's apparent act of mercy. She is, of course, immediately suspicious and wants very much to press him further about his stated reasons for this unexpected gift. But as he so aptly put it, she is desperate, and at the moment cannot bring herself to care about his motivations. If he was willing to forgo his general fare, then she was all too happy to embrace this stroke of good fortune.

"What is the antidote?" she asks, her tone reflecting how essential the answer is.

In response, he tilts his head and studies her in that reptilian manner that never fails to set her teeth on edge. He then gives her an uncanny grin. "Bark from the same tree from which the leaves grow will do the trick. There is a recipe to concoct the potion that you will need to obtain elsewhere, as I do not know it offhand."

Regina's eyes narrow pointedly. "If you don't know how to make the potion, how do you know the bark will work?"

He giggles at her skepticism, finger twirling in the air as he sings out his reply. "Let's just say that I know someone, who knows someone, who knows that said reagent will in fact counteract the protective magicks currently preventing True Love's kiss from breaking the curse."

Regina sighs, aggravation at his antics close to overriding her gratitude for the boon he just extended to her. "I'll just have to take your word on it, I suppose," she says. "Still, I don't understand the difficulty in obtaining bark from a tree. Seems easy enough to me. I know how to reach Oz already, and once there, it is only a matter of locating said tree, which should be no problem if I conduct a brief investigation. A little gold will loosen the lips of the locals, and if not, other means of persuasion will."

"Ah," he replies with a flourish of eccentric movement, "but it is not that simple. I can tell you already that the grove in which the tree grows is no ordinary place. It is a sanctuary tucked high in the mountains beyond the Emerald City. The climb is treacherous enough that only the very hardy attempt it outside of pristine weather, which is unusual as bitter cold and snow blanket the precipice most of the year. And once you reach it, you will find it protected by a gate that only the pure of heart can open and pass though."

Regina's countenance falters and she stumbles back a pace at the devastating setback. Scaling the mountain would be difficult; she is no avid climber like Red. All the same, she is sure that if she had no other choice, she could do it. Losing a couple fingers or toes to frostbite would be a small price to pay to save Red. No, it is the last part of Rumple's warning that has her heart stuttering.

Can nothing ever be easy? How am I supposed to get into a place only accessible by the pure of heart? By any generous definition, that is not her. At her most unsullied by the evils of the world, she was never the picture of an idyllic lady. Her development of a temper did not coincide with Daniel's death. Ever since she was a child, she has been hot-headed, stubborn, combative, and quick to unleash an acerbic wit and sarcastic tongue. The young woman who so heroically saved a princess on a runaway horse was far from perfect. She is fairly certain that even back then she could not have opened the gate.

But then she thinks of her sister, who had managed to obtain leaves from the tree for use in her nefarious scheme.

"How did Zelena gain access then?" she poses. "She is as far from innocence as I am, if not more."

"Your sister is like you in more ways than she is not," he tells her, quirking his eyes over to Red, heavy innuendo in them. "Like you, she is...fluid in her preferences. After departing the Enchanted Forest and returning to Oz, she chose a partner whose heart was unsullied by darkness – a fellow Cardinal witch by the name of Glinda, of the purest character. If I were to wager a guess, it would be that Glinda retrieved the leaves for her, probably under duress. You, however, do not have such an innocent soul at your disposal. One who is not under the thrall of a curse, anyway."

Tears pricking at her eyes, Regina turns away. The cure feels so close, right at the tip of her fingers. Traveling to Oz, to the mountain north of the Emerald City, and scaling it to reach the summit will be no problem with her powers. But she cannot open the gate. Her heart that was once pure has long since been irreparably tainted by the darkness. Now, though it is healing slowly through Red's ceaseless love and limitless devotion, it is a lump of black with streaks of red that fight and claw for what little purchase they have. Her past has been a ghastly specter looming over her shoulder the entire time she and Red have been together, and now it is preventing her from saving the one person who is able to restore her to even a similitude of the person she once was.

Red, her sweet Red. The light of her life, the very beat of her heart. Regina cannot bear to be the reason her wife dies, cannot fathom having to bury another True Love. What will she do if Red passes from the circles of this world solely because she failed her most crucial test? Because she folded under the strain of her greatest moment of crisis? How will she face herself each morning knowing it is her fault that the woman she loves more the life itself is dead and buried, cold and rotted in the grave? And that is precisely what will happen. A certain self-righteous individual will never permit her best friend's remains to be defiled by dark magic, even that which is meant to preserve the dearly departed from the corrosive processes that break down everything which has expired. No, like she always does, Snow will...

It is that thought that strikes Regina like a vicious slap. The accursed name of her greatest enemy reverberates in her mind like an unending echo that collides with her earlier remembrance of rescuing a certain princess in distress from a potentially deadly equestrian accident. Snow White. Snow White. Snow White. Snow White, the helpless little girl whose naive affections for Regina got Daniel killed. Snow White, the insufferable child who smothered Regina with unwanted attention. Snow White, the bandit princess who arose from the ashes of her smoldering life to become a Queen in spite of Regina's best efforts to the contrary. Snow White, the blindly loyal and eternally optimistic brat who never gives up on anyone, even on the woman who'd spent her nearly every waking hour either plotting to murder her or executing said plots. Snow White...the people's champion, the epitome of goodness, the pure of heart.

Suddenly, Regina knows exactly what she has to do.

"Snow," she breathes, and all eyes in the room capable of seeing turn toward her, mystified by the mention of that name. But it doesn't take long for the two highly intelligent men to make the connection.

"Why, such a splendid idea!" Rumple trills after a moment, bouncing up and down merrily and giving a delighted giggle. "Besides little old me, you always were the most clever person I ever met, Regina. By recognizing and accepting that your beloved's salvation rests in the hands of your mortal enemy, you have once again reaffirmed the wisdom in choosing you over your sister."

"But will it work?" she asks, knowing that it will, but needing to hear it confirmed by an outside source.

Rumple nods. "Yes, Snow White will most certainly be able to open the gate and pass through. The question is, will she be inclined to render assistance?"

"To me? Hell no. For Red…?" Regina does not even need to think about it.

There is little Snow will not do for Red, up to and including playing nice with Regina. For pity's sake, the woman had purposefully avoided her best friend for upwards of a year after Regina and Red became a couple. The distance was certainly not because Regina demanded that Snow stop visiting Red in the tiny village that straddled the borders of their respective kingdoms. No, she had done so of her own volition because she knew Regina's disapproval put Red in an uncomfortable position and she did not want to come between them. Red's happiness came first. It is the one thing Regina and Snow have always been in agreement about.

"For Red," she then adds, "Snow would follow me into hell itself. She will help."

"Then I suggest you waste no time. Your lady love does not have long enough for you to dilly-dally."

"How long does she have?" Victor asks, sounding less concerned by the science behind what is happening than ever before.

"Less than a fortnight, I'd wager," Rumple tells them both, knowing Regina is asking the same question with her sharp gaze. "No doubt that means you'll rush off to Oz at the first opportunity. But you must be wary, Regina. Zelena will oppose your efforts at every step. She possesses ready means of traveling between realms and will no doubt follow you there to prevent you from obtaining the bark."

Regina snarls angrily. "Let her. She can die in the same mud she mucked about in as a child."

Rumple rolls his eyes in annoyance at her petulant response. "Do not let your pride deceive you, dearie. Zelena is not to be underestimated. In terms of mortal magicians, her raw power is unrivaled. Had she taken to my training, she could have become the greatest human sorceress to live since the great Morgan Le Fey. And in her own world, she will act with impunity, for it bows at her feet."

"Well, I will neither bow to her nor will I fear her. I fear only one thing: losing my wife. Nothing else matters to me besides saving Red. If I die in the process, I have lost nothing, for if I fail and she perishes from this curse, I have no intention of sticking around to mourn her. I will crush my own heart after I see to it that she is properly laid to rest."

"Regina!" Victor protests, but Regina holds up her hand to forestall his complaints.

"You won't repeat that to anyone, Victor," she says. "No one can ever discover how vital she is to me. She is already an all-too-enticing target for my enemies. I will not risk giving them even more reason to lash out against me through her. So you, my dear Doctor, will keep your mouth shut or else you'll be deprived the use of it altogether. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," he replies through thinned lips. She raises a brow. "Yes, my Queen, I understand," he corrects, almost tersely. "Although I'd point out you already admitted that vulnerability to an enemy."

Victor is unhappy with her, she can tell, but she doesn't care. She meant what she had said and is fully prepared to make good on her intentions. Thankfully, so long as Red lives there is no reason to dwell on such morbid thoughts.

"True," she says, "but he won't say anything because his silence will be part of our deal. Isn't that right, Rumple?" Turning her eyes on Rumplestiltskin, she finds him eyeing her in a way he never has before, as if he is seeing her for the first time all over again. "What are you staring at?"

For a moment, he says nothing, just studies her with those discomfiting eyes that are able to discern so much more than they should. But then he shakes his head. "Nothing. Just surprised is all. Never thought I'd see the day the Evil Queen loved someone more than herself."

Regina straightens her back and runs a hand down the sides of her dress down past her hips. "The Evil Queen would not. But I am not her anymore. I haven't been in a long time. I'm just the Queen now, just Regina – I have left that miserable wretch behind for good. I lost myself once because of you and my mother, but never again, Rumple. Never again! I will live out the rest of my life with Red at my side or I will join her in the grave. I refuse to entertain any other options. Now, tell me you agree not to speak of this as part of our arrangement."

"Very well. I agree," he says, seeming to accept her terms. Regina wonders why he'd done so without argument, but at the same time dismisses her concerns in favor the crisis at hand. Rumple was a problem for another day. And besides that, in all the time she's known him, he's never broken a deal. Never.

"Excellent." Regina gives him a curt nod, then clasps her hands behind her back. Her eyes narrow into slits. "Now, before we part ways, there is one final matter we must discuss. I am curious as to what your reasons were for rescuing Jefferson from Wonderland?"

Rumple levels her with a reptilian smile. "Heard about that, did you?" He glances Victor through sharply narrowed ophidian eyes, causing the Doctor to shift uncomfortably.

"Of course I did," Regina says, drawing his attention back. "You can imagine why I am concerned about this considering my...complicated history with the Hatter."

Rumple dismisses her concern much as she had Victor's earlier, with an idle wave of the hand. "Oh, pish posh. There's no reason to worry, dearie. I only retrieved our mutual acquaintance because I am hunting for a particularly elusive fairy who can help me locate someone else – someone I've been searching for a very long time."

Through a medium she doesn't wish to reveal to him for their own safety, Regina has been let in on the very old secret as to whom the Dark One is looking for. Though in the interest of keeping this vital deal in tact, she decides not to pursue the information further. If Rumple is after his long lost son, his attention will be elsewhere, thus she has no reason to get involved. Or to care at all really. Especially if he's going to be teaming up with a fairy. She would rather spoon her own eyes out than spend a single second in the presence of one of the loathsome gnats.

She gives a disaffected sigh. "Well, then, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I will require Jefferson's help to get to Oz. I can't have you whisking him away the second you leave."

"Again, your fretting is pointless," says Rumple. "I've already got what I needed from him. He's all yours."

Regina claps her hands, as glad to a potential problem has been averted as she is to be rid of her old teacher. "Splendid. I suppose that satisfies my curiosity. I'm done with you now."

Unused to being so casually dismissed, Rumple stares at her for a long space, his own curiosity piqued. Regina meets his eyes, unwilling to give in an inch. She has got what she wanted from him without having to sacrifice her soul. That's a win in her book, and one she isn't willing to have stolen out from under her by entertaining the sly imp for any longer than is necessary. Best to get him the hell out and get along with the business of saving Red. For all their sakes.

"In that case, I wish you luck with your endeavor," he says, apparently having made no headway with whatever conundrum was rolling around in his warped brain. "Just remember, this favor was a one time gift. Should the occasion arise that you require my assistance again, it will cost you. Dearly."

"That's perfectly fine with me," she returns, smiling sardonically, "because I hope to never see you again. For my part, this is goodbye between us. Our business is concluded. Never return to my kingdom, and in return I give you my word that I will leave you and your little maid to do...whatever it is you two get up to in that dank, creepy dungeon you call a castle." She shudders for show, causing Rumple's brow to furl in offense.

He takes a few seconds to mull over her offer, but being the pragmatist that he is, settles quickly upon the most efficient and beneficial decision. She is effectively giving him unchecked reign in territories that do not fall under her sovereignty, and that is a deal too good for the Dark One to pass up.

"I accept," he says, and then conjures a scroll on which to etch their contract into perpetuity. Not one to be outdone, Regina beats him to the punch by summoning her own, and then with a wave of her hand, draws up a concise agreement without the fine print that tends to tilt all contracts into Rumplestiltskin's favor. When she presents it to him, he takes it without a word, appearing almost proud at her for having got the better of him one last time. He signs the document and then returns it with a flourish. "Well, I suppose this is goodbye then."

"Yes, it is," she says without emotion as she magicks a copy of the signed contract. As she presents it to Rumple, she is internally screaming at him to leave. Time is wasting and she has no affection left for the man. However much she had once trusted him and relied upon him, looked up to him even, his machinations have proven themselves to be wholly selfish. She does not believe for a moment that he ever felt any genuine affection for her beyond her usefulness as a pawn subject to his insidious designs. Now she is simply returning the favor. And it feels so damn good that her lips curl up smugly. "Goodbye, Rumplestiltskin. May we never meet again."

He tilts his head, serpentine eyes gleaming mysteriously. "Farewell, Your Majesty." And then in a puff of purple smoke, he vanishes, gone – she hopes – from her life forever. It is a monumental weight lifted off of her chest.

After rolling up the contract, which she knows he is incapable of breaking lest he find some unforeseen loophole, she passes it to Victor. "See that this finds its way to the Royal Archives and then send for Snow White. Tell her she is to travel here immediately and that she and her companions will have safe passage into the citadel. Tell her it's urgent, that Red's life is at stake and she is not to dilly dally. Dispatch one of the ravens, it will find her swiftly and she will not refuse a message from any creature with feathers and wings."

Victor does not hesitate to accept her orders. "Right away, my Queen."

Swallowing her pride has never been one of Regina's strong suits, and she's not about to start accustoming herself to the taste of it now. All the same, as the door slams shut behind Victor and she stumbles on shaky legs back to her wife's bedside, she chokes down the acrid bile that fills the column of her throat.

Snow White. It just has to be Snow White. Really, if the situation weren't so dire, she might laugh herself sick at the height of irony she now finds herself confronting. Once again, so many years and murder attempts later, she is going to have to trust that insufferable blabbermouth with the life of her True Love. The universe truly is devoid of compassion. That, or it simply hates her with a fervor that defies quantification. She cannot quite decide which, not that it matters when what is most important to her is lying here inert, being slowly drained by a pernicious curse that ought instead to be afflicting her.

Regina glances down at Red, eyes flooding with tears for what seems like the thousandth time in the past few hours. Her feeling of persecution seems so trivial in the light of an innocent such as Red being condemned to such an unnaturally cruel fate. If Snow's help, loathsome at it is, can help deliver the cure to spare Red from an eternity of suffering, who is she to deny it? Or even abhor it? Though it may rend her heart to pieces and test her self-control to the breaking point, she will do what she once swore she never would. She will let Snow White back into her life.

"I promise, my love, I will save you," she says, then lowers herself down to resume her perch at Red's hip. She takes her Queen's hand and peppers a series of kisses against the back, fingers, and knuckles. "No matter what I have to do, no matter who I have to trust, no matter who I have to beg. No matter who I have to kill. I will fix this. I won't give up until I'm dead or you're awake. I swear it on my love for you, and that's the highest thing I possess upon which to base an oath."

In one final gesture of devotion, she leans across Red's body and gives her one final kiss. She can't know, but as she pours her love into it, she hopes with all her might that Red has heard her. In her heart, she believes she did and that Red won't give up either. She has to keep fighting. She has to hold on. The alternative is unthinkable.

#once upon a time fanfic #red queen ouat #regina x ruby #Rumple is shady aka normal Rumple

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

WIP Ask meme: What's your old WIP that you still want to publish?

Haha I’ll be honest, I don’t have one of those. I always finished a story once I started publishing it (which was a promise I made to myself when I started writing fanfic and I’ve held to that promise ever since), and if it was a WIP that was just in my drafts, if I never published it, it was because I genuinely changed my mind and didn’t want to write it anymore so I deleted it.

But in a similar vein… waaay back in the day, during the hiatus between seasons one and two of Once Upon a Time, I wrote a Mad Swan fic that basically was my version of season two. I was really, really proud of it. I thought up the idea that Baelfire was Henry’s dad (I wasn’t on tumblr yet and hadn’t talked to anyone about my theory so I was quite proud of coming up with that on my own lol), and I had a whole storyline about Jefferson’s wife, Alice, and the Queen of Hearts and all of it, and I incorporated my favorite fairy tale The Story of Fet-Frunners, which is, I kid you not, a gay fairytale about a trans man and how he saves the kingdom and wins his lady love and lives happily ever after.

So I was really proud of this multi-chapter story and I really liked it, and then I was a fool and accidentally deleted it. I regret that, even more so because I can’t rewrite it. It wouldn’t be the same story–I’m not the same person I was then, and even if I was my knowledge of the next few seasons of OUaT would color how I wrote the story. And I don’t want to rewrite the story, I want the story that a seventeen-year-old was proud of writing, I want that little preservation of where I was and what I considered to be my “good” writing at that time.

It’s not the exact same, but it’s the closest thing I have to an old WIP haha.

#mads answers things #WIP meme #brassmama #feel free to ask other questions #if this one wasn't satisfactory #lol