The best fairy tales are about the same thing; transformation. You know? See, a duck becomes a swan. It's beautiful.

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The best fairy tales are about the same thing; transformation. You know? See, a duck becomes a swan. It's beautiful.
I hadn't even thought about Belle's friendships but wow that's so true, they really did only let her have one friend per adventure. It felt a bit like they wanted to give her plot lines and friendships that deviated from Rumple, but weren't ever quite able to (not on a larger scale or in a permenant sense, at least).
I would have loved to have seen her spend more time with Ruby (that makes a lot of sense, especially season 1 and 2) but also...Mulan. I needed more from Mulan in general. They should have brought her back to Storybrooke and had Belle help her out with things and show her around the modern world and stuff, that could have been fun :)
My biggest complaint about Belle really is, how often she reverts back to Sexy Lamp status. I don't hate Rumbelle as a ship. I enjoyed Skin Deep in S1 very much and was delighted with the late reveal that Regina kept Belle around in secret and looked forward to her Storybrooke introduction. And it is clear that her romantic relationship with Rumple wouldn't stop. But the way the writers handled it...
I'm still most upset about the ending of The Crocodile. Yes, okay, he gifts her the library key. That's fine. But after her speech in the mines they should have taken a longer break, their last talk in that episode comes way too soon. And then Belle would have had some time to herself. I like her later relationship with Neal. And weirdly my fav friendship for Belle besides the obvious one with Ruby which I could write essays about is actually Hook. People who loathe/try to kill each other and then find themselves on the same side - fantastic. Especially because Belle is very good at not taking nonsense (unless forced to by the narrative, because it's her True Love doing shit).
Every once in a while Belle gets to be the centre of an episode that doesn't deal with her relationship status and she helps so many people, getting the adventures she sought out. MULAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love their little beast hunt and they should have met again. Belle explaining normal Storybrooke things to newcomers was underrated. And there would have been a fun chain of things. Ruby shows Belle around, Belle gets to take Mulan by the hand. Then Ruby and Mulan fall in love. Belle was new herself and found herself with lots of ressources. Well, the library and she definitely took detailed inventory on Gold's shop. She also holds a fantastic grudge against Regina (understandable), probably more severe than Snow, which is hilarious.
But maybe that's where the problem starts? Belle is always apart from the big hero in-group. She accidentally gets closer to Zelena in S5, I guess. Befriending villainous characters is in her nature, but also not to a consequent degree that it is a statement. It just happens. Belle is absolutely on the list of wasted-character-potential. Unlike our beloved blorbos she was kept around though (and then S7 happened).
Belle: "I believe in second chances." Emma: "Yes, so I thought to help Regina with--" Belle makes a face, because that is clearly her least favorite person in Storybrooke.
Oh, also, as much as I like the Knave in Wonderland, he felt soooooo out of place to me in the main series and again, for me personally, all to Belle's detriment.
And in some way Emme was better off in S1. On the friend front. Yes, she finds her family and she gets the best supportive parents ever, all nice and good. But in S1 Mary Margaret took her in. August showed up, while having his very personal agenda, he knew enough about both worlds to listen and he could have later occupied this specific space of adapting to a new world (just the other way around). Ruby and Emma had fun scenes in S1, but in S2 Ruby vanished and thus the free babysitting. It is funny how Elsa is actually a good addition to push Emma along with her magical abilities (and all the worries around it). And all the stuff you mentioned about Lily... aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!
The TRUE LOVE aspect was so important, paired with this hilarious twist built of the family tree, that the concept of friendships fell through the cracks. Except clearly Mal, Cruella and Ursula had a marvelous time together.
cedar + 28 or 56? 💜
It was at this moment that Serena realized she fucked up-
Spotify Wrapped Game
28. Apple, Charli XCX (Spotify) (YouTube)
'I'm so sorry, but I can't meet today. Can we reschedule?' A wave of disappointment flushed through him. After a beat, he replied with a good natured, 'sure. thats ok.' He waited for a moment for some kind of confirmation back. August never replied.
Mess is Mine; Solid Ground - @lizardthelizard
idk why but the way his reaction was described compelled me to do this, so have a little Fanart of your boy on this Fine Friday, my heart 💗💗💗
also! 1, 8 and 16 for Alice Jones? :)
Thank you Libby :D!
My first impression of them
It was shock, actually, when she spoke. All we'd seen of her was her jumping and running all over the place and her outfit and the setting made me certain she'd have an american accent. I don't know why I was so certain, and it didn't matter at all, but it just made me jump lol. I found her intriguing and mysterious, but wasn't fully sold until the Henry kidnap scene. Like many, I thought she was going to be an eccentric villain. Then by 7x04 I was gone and she became my new favourite character after years of Zelena taking that spot.
8. Your favorite outfit of them
I think it was this one. I love long denim shirts and have owned several. I would totally wear that shirt/t-shirt combo.
16. A childhood headcanon
I have so many! But maybe my favourite is that in her loneliness she created Wonderland. I feel like I might have answered this before. But it seems very coincidental that she had a hat called 'Hatter' and a rabbit toy who she had tea parties with and then ended up doing the same thing in Wonderland. It's implied by Gothel that nymphs have something to do with the creation of realms, and then there's the fact that she's next in line to be mother nature and that she created life in the form of a troll. I reckon she travelled there in her dreams and daydreams, until it became real and she accidentally created Wonderland II without realising.
LIBBY!! HI!! i have never had such a difficult time trying to answer an ask before and i ended up accidentally deleting your message entirely szxdcfvg but hi hi it’s so good to see you in my inbox again! how are you?! + thank you for the ask <33 @lizardthelizard
Regina:
like for hook, there weren’t enough options here for regina and i didn’t want to go as full on as i was going to for emma since they would be the exact same lmao but sadly this is not enough love for my queen! also, i had to google what ‘based’ meant and apparently it means ‘to be yourself without worrying about how other people may perceive you’ and i felt that was very on brand for regina lmao hope that’s what this board means !!
Emma:
no surprise that emma got two bingos lmao. of course. doesn’t shock me at all! (note: the violent urges one is /affectionate lmao. in case anyone was curious.)
send me a character!
catch me not playing this game how it's meant to be played at all and instead of sending a wip title 👉👈 can I just ask if you have any lines or information or whatever relating to eugene (I don't play favourites I promise I swear)? if not, then I'll still be happy for anything generally choice related 💕
I will forgive you on the basis of a) I love you b) I'm always eager to talk about the square child <3
WIP Game
You're in luck, actually! He has a POV section in the next Choice chapter and I wrote some of it just a couple days ago:
The guide Morgana had promised them was, lo and behold, another fox. Eugene didn’t much trust its reliability in such a situation, but Pinocchio had barely stopped long enough to let it smell his fingers before following it as it darted away, so he hadn’t had any choice but to tag along. Suspecting wild animals of leading them astray was one thing, but sending his friend into the dark alone was out of the question. Still, that didn’t mean that he had to bear this turn of events in silence. “Why is it always foxes, with her? What’s the point?” He grumbled instead, eyes fixed on the creature leaping ahead.
okay, sorry, gonna be really vague with this one and just ask for any number between 1 and 9 on the 'angsty found family prompts' list and ask for any Pinocchio, please and thank you. I would love to see Marco involved too but if a different character works better then go ahead 💞
"Very vague" and then you deliberately offer me a list of choices that ends with a prompt containing the word "fixed" and casually mention Marco. You might think you're picking blindly but your subconscious is ALIVE AND WELL 🙄❤️
Angsty Found Family Prompts
9. not wanting to be 'fixed'
There are weird things in the workshop.
This town is full of weird things, Pinocchio has discovered, but that's just because he's new to it. The carriages have no horses and stink of smoke, not manure, and they don't need to heat water by the fire to have a bath anymore. When he goes to school, there are hundreds of other children there, not just a couple dozen.
So. It's his fault that he didn't know about any of that stuff. But there's something else going on, something people keep bringing up at random moments and yet won't explain to him in a normal way. And, he suspects, it has to do with the things his Papa keeps in the workshop under a blanket.
Pinocchio goes to look at them, sometimes, even though snooping is wrong. Still, he thought keeping secrets was wrong, too, but Papa hid the huge bike and the dusty bags anyway, so he supposes that makes them even.
If he had to guess, he'd say they're from the time they say he forgot. The way Emma said it, there should be a big, thick cloud of fog that's stopping him from seeing what he did before, but despite his efforts, he can't see the cloud, either. The last thing he remembers is the storm over the sea, and then this strange place, where the roads are so smooth his skin feels like it's burning when he hits his knees against the ground.
It sounds like he did an awful lot of things in that time, though. Everyone's always bringing them up, and then pausing when they remember he doesn't know what they're talking about. Sometimes it even sounds like they miss that time, as if he'd been a completely different person then.
That shouldn't make any sense. Pinocchio's still there, isn't he? You can't miss a person that's right in front of you. And Papa and Jiminy seem so happy to have him around, and he likes Henry, and-
And yet, it's like he lost some pieces of himself. Pieces everyone liked better than what he still has.
He shouldn't be angry at them. If she knew, the Blue Fairy would probably tell him he's being unkind. But it's just- it's just not fair. When he was a puppet, people would expect him to become a real boy, and now that he's real and there and trying to be good...
They keep thinking about someone else. And they smile all sad when he asks question. And Papa still has that bike right next to where he works.
Pinocchio wants to scream. He wants to tell them that there can't always be something that needs fixing about him, that he's doing his best and he can't race against a different Pinocchio that doesn't exist. But he doesn't, because he's being good, and good boys are quiet and obedient, so he just keeps his mouth shut and goes to play somewhere else.
And sometimes, when his father is elsewhere, he creeps downstairs and sits on the ground for a good long while, staring at the hidden stuff and wondering how he can be angry at some other himself.