30 Days of OUAT - Day 24: Favorite Quote

Day 24 - Favorite Quote

And storybooks are based on what, imagination? Where's that come from? It has to come from somewhere. You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution for their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.--Jefferson

Jefferson's quote has been my favorite since my first viewing of episode 17 of Season 1. To me it sums up how I view fairytales/Disney perfectly. It's also probably when I was for sure hooked on this show. It's the heart of the show - I know people say it's Hope, but, let's face it... that idea has been very controversial this season! Ha ha!



Sebastian Stan is great in the role of Jefferson/Mad Hatter. Still holding out hope that he'll make another appearance some day on Once Upon A Time. He doesn't need to just be Bucky Barnes forever, right?

30 Days of OUAT - Day 23: Cutest Character

Day 23 - Cutest Character

I screwed up, this was supposed to be yesterday's prompt. I apparently flipped them. Oh wells, it works out in the end.

Cutest probably meant for the "hottest/most attractive" but I'm not going to go there with this one. I'm going for actual cuteness, and that has to go to Robin Hood's adorable son Roland. We met the boy early in Season 3 - he helps Neal get from the Enchanted Forest to Neverland by calling in Pan's shadow. He became more and more adorable in the latter half of the season when we got to see him almost each week. He not only won the heart of Regina (who was on her way to becoming his stepmother - because THAT family tree wasn't convoluted enough - until the season finale), he's won the heart of every Oncer! His fandom is called "Team Dimples" and seriously, LOOK at those DIMPLES!

I'm really excited to see how they use Roland in Season 4. His mother is back (brought back to life by Emma, gee... we can save EVERYone from "dead is dead" but ONE? Come on! It better be found out that it was MRJ who wanted to be released or I'm never going to get over it - of course he said outright that that claim was false so... ugh!) so for at least a little while next season is going to be awkward for all parties involved. Way to go, Swan. Way to mess everything up! (Hook and Emma should NOT be let loose in the past EVER again.)



I may not agree with Neal's methods on summoning up the shadow, but I'm glad he did - because Roland is just stinkin' cute!


To play the game a little more the way I think the creator of the meme was thinking I'll cheat and list my favorite attractive male characters... with their "superlative" title in the caption... because I'm a dork.

Hottest - Captain Hook
Prince Charming - Prince Charming
Brooding - Jefferson (Mad Hatter)

Hottest guy who's gonna die.

Nuf Said - August Booth (seriously it's a good thing
he's cute or I'd hate him.)

AND just because I can I'll add a "most adorable" category... and that goes to the man who has the BEST puppy dog face EVER (yes that is a compliment). Dark brown eyes lookin' all sad, and the best worried expression ever... he's pretty cute when he's not playing tragic. His personality and energy is what's most attractive about him (actor/character, not sure which one I'm crushing on really right now...)

Seriously of all the guys in the show, I want an MRJ hug
most. I'm a dork, I know... but he's just so adorable.

And now that I've been creepy and superficial... I'm gonna go watch Big Bang Theory to feel better about myself...

30 Days of OUAT - Day 9: Best Dressed

Day 9 - Best Dressed

That honor goes to Neal Cassidy - though it was a hard decision. Most everyone dresses well in this show. Which I don't know how the curse knew to give them all designer duds, or how a drifter turned whatever he is now who has a trashy apartment can own the clothes Neal does... but still. There's not much this guy can't wear that doesn't look good. Even as the thief in Tallahassee, Neal's outfits never miss (his hair on the other hand definitely needed work... thankfully the Neal we all come to know and most love has a better look in that regard lol).

I love how Neal's style is comfort. Other than when he's just the "mystery man" in a suit and tie, he's normally running around in a sweater or hoodie. And his coat/sweater combos are always great. Ha ha. This prompt makes me feel silly. I feel like I should be talking about the character or the actor, not his clothes. But really the clothes do say a lot about his character. His appearance isn't the important thing about what he wears, it's about comfort. That they're stylish on him is just an added bonus.

When Neal is cursed back to his homeland at the end of Season 3a/beginning of 3b, we get to see what adult Baelfire's wardrobe looks like. And again it's pretty practical/comfortable. It took me a while to get into the whole Enchanted Forest costume, it seemed rather bulky, but once it was actually in a scene and not just stills it worked. Neal is back to the earth-tones that we saw on young Baelfire when he was living there.

I guess I should learn how to do what they do on tumblr and do those nifty little gif sets because obviously Neal's had more than two outfits (unlike his main rival for Emma's heart, Captain Hook ha ha). The blue/grey shirt he wore for most of Season 3a is probably my favorite look on him, even if it was soiled and bloody from being shot and worn for days on end all the while fighting off lost boys and traipsing through the Enchanted Forest, grabbing onto Pan's shadow, oh and hiking through Neverland. Just another day's work for Nealfire I suppose.

And, because I can, one of my favorite scenes in that shirt - where Neal confronts his father about the prophecy and Rumple's plans for Henry... best part is when Rumple calls him Baelfire and Neal balks shouting "It's Neal!" It's why I hope that this supposed reboot of the past that Zelena (though we're thinking Rumple is really going to pull it off) wants to cast is unsuccessful. Neal does not want to go back to the boy he once was - he even says as much to Rumple in Season 2: "14? I don't want to be 14 again are you insane?!... forget who I am? no thank you." While it would be great to see father and son reunited for good, I don't want it to be another reboot like what happened with August/Pinocchio. Anyway, I leave you with the scene from "Nasty Habits". Rest in Peace, Neal Cassidy... and thank you, Michael Raymond-James for being such an amazing actor. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE find a happy go lucky role, I just need to see you happy and alive in one show/movie... just once. It's all I ask!




Oh, and honorable mentions go to Prince Charming and Jefferson. Charming'd have gotten it if they weren't so obsessed with the fur capes and stuff. They are getting ridiculous! And Jefferson would've probably won out had it not been for my Neal obsession. Not going to lie. That and his Wonderland outfit is a little whackadoodle.

30 Days of OUAT - Day 4: Favorite Character Possessing Magical Qualities

Day 4 - Favorite Character Possessing Magical Qualities

Since tomorrow is "favorite villain" I had to choose a secondary character from Season 1 (and the very beginning of Season 2), whom I've already gushed about a little bit. I am not a fan of most of the magical characters on the show - the fairies, for the most part, are extremely disappointing (Blue I'm pretty sure is the mastermind of all the evil EVER, though). Tinkerbell is pretty cool, but she's also pretty unmagical ha ha.

I'm also not a fan of most of the villains on the show (nothing against the actors, I just don't like them... Maleficent is the most disappointing of all in every single way, though). So I couldn't choose my second choice of a villain because I really don't have more than one favorite.

And really, all along I was going to choose Jefferson. His magic may or may not come from his hat, but I think he counts. His story is most intriguing, and while they managed to close his story arc before he left the show for Captain America, he's got a lot left unsaid. I've always been curious to know what he meant by saying that magic and the hat is what cost Grace her mother - and he definitely blames himself for the loss. I wanted more flashbacks with his character. He brought humor in the EF flashbacks that were typically pretty dark, and he's handsome as all get out!

And, yes, it's another "Daddy's Girl" storyline. That he is reunited with his daughter in the second season is the perfect happy ending, but how they lost each other is so sweet and yet sad. Hat Trick in Season 1 told that story so perfectly and made him a very sympathetic "bad guy".

30 Days of OUAT - Day 1: Favorite Episode

Day One - Favorite Episode

After Season 3's "Quiet Minds" episode I've gone back and watched Season 2. It was a much "happier" time in Storybrooke where Henry meets his father and begins a seemingly good relationship. Much better than Henry having lost his memory and his dad (ala Quiet Minds). I'm still not over it. It was probably one of the best acted and written episodes of the series, but I'm still not happy about it from a character standpoint (and while I say it was the best, that really doesn't mean it was "perfect" in how it was done... it should've arced into a second episode. It was a tad rushed).

One of the things I love about Once is how they manage to tell very real stories about fathers. So often in fairytales the parents are used as very little backstory and it's the teens or children that are the heroes who are all alone (due to death or abandoment). Once dives into that in many of the stories, be it David (Prince Charming) and Emma, Rumpelstiltskin and Baelfire (Neal), Regina (Evil Queen) and Henry (her father not her adopted son), or Neal (Baelfire) and Henry.

One of my favorite "tragic" father child stories is that of Jefferson (Mad Hatter) and his daughter Grace (Paige). We find out about their story in season 1, but their "happy ending" happens in Season 2 Episode 3's "Lady of the Lake". It's been my favorite episode since my first viewing (until recently, it's now tied with another which I will list a little later). Jefferson is such an underrated character, and while I'm happy for the actor to have found "bigger and better" things in his career I wish they'd pop him into a flashback or *something*. The Mad Hatter is such an interesting character!





Since my rewatching of Season 2, I recently rediscovered the gem of Episode 14 of Season 2 titled "Manhatten". It's where Mr. Gold and Emma realize that Henry's father is also the long lost Baelfire. The reason for the curse. Before season 3 I was like many who just didn't care much for Neal. He was a great dad, but he left Emma to take his punishment for being a thief and yadda yadda yadda. Hindsight being what it is - and knowing more now than what we did then - the rewatching made Neal's character far more likeable. Also - as time has gone on, I've come to really appreciate what the actor (Michael Raymond-James) brings to the character. I will miss this storyline and hope that there's some way to bring the character back for a final round of closure (Henry needs this) or even to just complete the storyline. The fangirl inside me wants them to use one of their loopholes (there are several that I can find) to bring him back next season or even the season after, but I doubt that will actually happen. Which makes me even sadder.

Anyway in "Manhatten" we get a lot of what Oncers call "feels" between the reuniting of Baelfire with Rumple to Henry walking in and revealing he's Neal's son... especially now that we know the full story of "Baelfire/Neal" it's such an important and sad part of the story. But it was well laid out and well acted. It truly showcases that natural acting style of MRJ, and all of the actors have a good chemistry between them. Makes me wish they'd waited another season before they killed him off (I mean if they *had* to kill him off).



I honestly was not a Neal Fan until Season 3, now I'm totally smitten. Darn you Adam and Eddie! Bring him back! (I know, I know... it's "too late"...)

There are a lot of honorable mentions. For me what makes me love an episode in this show is when an actor (or more than one) really shows what they're made of. Colin O'Donohue (Capt. Hook) did that this week in "Jolly Roger" (though most of the episode was hokey).