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 17: Favorite Cliffhanger

Day 17 - Favorite Cliffhanger

Once Upon A Time is King of the Cliffhanger. I have a love hate relationship with it because of the cliffhangers. This show gets my creative brain going in overdrive (probably part of the reason why I can't "let go" of Neal's death. There are SO MANY plot/loopholes that could bring him back. So many quotes that suggest that it's a possibility or the thought... and then so many that suggest that nope, he's gone for good. But I can't shut off that creative side of me!)

With Season 3 we got two mini seasons in one. And the mid-season finale (episode 11, "Going Home") was by far the best. It actually felt like a series finale. It was so sad and yet hopeful at the same time. I haven't rewatched season 3 much - just the clips on youtube over and over and over again... (stinkin' Neal... I was not this obsessed with OUAT until he up and died. Thanks a lot MRJ!) I mean, they wrapped up the Neverland arc, saved Henry, Rumple finally releases his cowardess and reconciles with his son professing his love for Belle... it was a great "happy ending moment"... until Peter Pan enacts a reboot of the dark curse and Regina is forced to stop it. But to stop it, she has to let go of the thing she loves most - her son, Henry.

The reset will send all of Storybrooke back to the Enchanted Forest - all fairytale characters must go. Yep, even the two that were not part of the original curse (Emma & Neal)... knowing that that would leave Henry alone, Regina can save Emma from that fate... but there's a catch - they will not remember their family and friends from Storybrooke. They won't remember Neal coming back with them (FOR them). They will have good memories of Henry always being with Emma, but none of the Charmings... or Regina... or... well... Hook. They'll have never known that the odd little town ever existed or that they were once part of it. That it was once home.

After Emma accepts the inevitable, and a round of quickly said goodbyes (with Emma clearly being more upset about saying goodbye to the pirate than to her first love) Emma and Henry get into the yellow bug and drive across the town line with their family and friends watching. As they cross the town and everyone disappears as do the memories, Regina counteracts the curse. A purple haze falls over the town destroying everything in its path - including Henry's book.

The last seconds of the episode the EF is filled with its (formerly) missing characters, and then we see Emma and Henry in their NYC apartment. Happy, healthy, and a whole year has passed. A knock at the door and some weirdo in leather is at the door saying he knows Emma, that he knows she doesn't remember him, but her family is in trouble... and he goes in for a kiss, and she knees him in his misters. And then we had to wait through an insanely long hiatus for the creators to rip our hearts out slowly and crush them throughout the second half of the third season.

The obvious was that there was a way to get back to the land without magic from the EF... but how? And why was it Hook that left the EF to come get Emma?! We got most of our questions answered by the time Season 3b ended last night (great two hour season finale... though there were some major timeline issues... and a lot of plot/loopholes left open for people to get their hopes up for a future resurrection).

30 Days of OUAT - Day 12: Favorite Storybrooke Male Character

Day 12: Favorite Storybrooke Male Character

Dr. Archie Hopper. You almost don't need to go any further than that. I think he is such an under utilized character - though for good reason, the actor is in several projects these days it seems - especially since he was so important to the story in Season 1. He is more than just a cricket, or a shrink. He genuinely cares for Henry, and is probably the closest thing to a father figure the kid has consistently had. In any case, he's the best friend a boy could have - just ask Geppetto (or Marco).

When I first saw the Pilot episode Archie was the character I was most excited about, and it was because I actually recognized him. Ha ha. I've loved watching Raphael Sbarge on TV since his turn on The Guardian (CBS). To be able to see him as a classic fairytale character (with a great twist) has been so much fun. Though I did have trouble figuring out who he was until Henry told us - his dog Pongo threw me! Ha ha.

Archie is soft spoken and something of a pushover when we first meet him. He allows Regina to manipulate him into entrapping Emma by giving her his confidential files on Henry's therapy - then calls the Sheriff (RIP Graham) to report an assault and theft. He feels guilty and apologizes to Emma, but is still afraid to cross the Mayor - who also employs him to treat Henry. His bond with the boy in wanting to take care of him and help him clouds his judgement and he does whatever Regina wants so that he can stay in Henry's life. He thinks he's helping, and it takes Henry running away and getting caught in an abandoned mining tunnel for Archie to realize he owes the boy so much more.

With Sbarge on three shows, we've seen less of Archie this season. While the show as in Neverland it made sense as Archie didn't go with the heroes to that realm. However in the battle of Wicked vs Evil one wants more of Archie. He was seen briefly in the 3b opener, and then he was not used by Emma to keep Henry out of the crossfire (which to me seems silly as he'd probably be the best one to "lie" to the boy who has no memory of these people). Archie did finally reunite with Henry in this week's episode, which was sweet, but it remains to be seen just how much we'll see of the good doctor in the future... or even if he's just the cricket (at this point I will take what I can get).




As I said in my post yesterday, I did not choose Neal Cassidy for the reason that I don't count him (or Emma) as a "Storybrooke Character". There's a separate category for Neal and Emma, I'm not sure what they should be considered, but they aren't part of the Dark Curse (which was created so Rumple could get to Nealfire, and Emma was put in the magic wardrobe to escape it). I'm still confused as to why Neal had to go back to the EF since he was not part of the original curse, but whatever. What's done is done. They at least answered the question this past week as to why they decided this season that Neal needed to die to "advance the story". Some fans argue that it was so that Hook would have an easy way to Emma's heart - but let's face it, that was written long before Neal's death was decided on. Neal needed to die in order to revert Rumple back into the creepy bad guy we all know and love. I actually have a whole rant on his final few scenes in this week's episode... but that's for another blog for another day I suppose.

30 days of OUAT - Day 6: Favorite Romantic Moment

I'm finally over the worst of whatever bug I had. I actually have most of my voice today - though I took advantage of that and talked too much and now I'm hoarse again. But it's a start. I've been rewatching a lot of Once and other tv shows while being laid up. And this weekend I had the house to myself and so I took full advantage of having the living room tv and watched everything on Hulu. Which meant a lot of re-grieving over the loss of Baelfire/Neal. It's pathetic, I know, as it's *just* a tv show, but I'm hooked on the story of Nealfire... and I am bumming hard that Michael Raymond-James is not going to be on my tv every week any time soon (though I did love the tragic scene they gave us of Neal this weekend).

Day 6 - Favorite Romantic Moment

I don't find a lot of the characters to be all that romantic. I don't buy into the whole CaptainSwan thing - though when Hook first came into the picture I thought it would be an interesting twist. Then Season 3 happened with Neal fighting for Henry and I no longer wanted Emma with anyone (that includes Neal). I don't find either Hook or Neal all that romantic, though they try, they're adorable and they have their moments but nothing really screams "romance" to me (I'm one of the few Nealfire fans that doesn't find much of anything to enjoy about the episode Tallahassee. I know, I'm weird).

I'm also not a fan of the whole "Rumbelle" couple. There's just way too much creepy about it. I love the twist on Beauty & the Beast/Rumpelstiltskin, don't get me wrong... but it's still just... creepy. It could be that he's scaly in some of the scenes, but mainly it's the whole "she's younger than your son" thing that really gets me. (This is becoming one of the reasons that I don't like the Hook and Emma thing, yes physically he is close in age... but he once played father to the tween who would become the father of Emma's child. Not to mention that he was once "married" to Henry's grandmother!) I don't find Rumpel all that romantic, though he is nostalgic/sentimental. And Belle is just all over the map for me. (And I'm still mad at her for not fighting harder to save Neal, basically because she wanted her loverboy back. Grrr.)

Phillip and Aurora could have some very romantic moments if they'd let us see them more often (they are my favorite fairytale couple most times, just not when it's Once Upon A Time). Regina and Robin Hood are quickly becoming a great couple, but I'm not seeing much romance - well, except when she gives him her heart... and then this past weekend's scene where Robin tells her to share his (which then mirrors a scene of "Snowing" later in the episode).

But if there is one couple that screams not just TRUE LOVE but romantic, to me anyway, it's definitely Snow White and Prince Charming. They have so many great romantic moments and I've come up with one that is at least in my top 3 moments, if not the best one. I love that Charming is a picture of sacrifice - for the greater good, love, family. This scene is one from Season 1 episode 16. In the episode Snow White has taken one of Rumpel's potions that helps her forget Charming (she made a deal with King George to spare Charming's life by promising to tell Charming she didn't love him/couldn't marry him. To cure her broken heart, she takes the potion to forget him).

Charming spends a lot of time trying to convince her (after finding her once again - after all, he will ALWAYS find her) that she once loved him. She tells him words mean nothing, she wants action/proof. Later we see Snow getting ready to kill the Queen (the memory potion apparently turns Snow into a caring person into a cold hearted/jaded woman), and just as she shoots the arrow someone jumps in front and is the one hit by the arrow.

This is where I find the romance. It seems odd, probably, but as Snow White begins to freak out on him for ruining her chance to kill the queen Charming confesses that he loves her and that she once loved him. That he was going to prove to her that he loved her. That he would die for her so that her heart would not turn dark. This surprises our memory loss friend, and she looks at the prince in a "new" light. After searching his face, she gives him a kiss and suddenly her memory's back and the duo is truly reunited.



I don't know if it's just because I love Kevin Costner's Robin Hood film with the whole "I'd die for you" theme that is the reason I LOVE this scene... or if I'm just a sucker for that kind of theme in general. I just absolutely love this scene and I've watched it a dozen or so times just tonight as I was trying to decide which scene to choose.

And while I'm at it, can I just say that Josh Dallas is perfect as Prince Charming. They could not have found a better actor for the role. And he does dying/injured really really well. I mean we see him sacrifice himself a lot (probably why I was kinda thinking that David would be the one to die in Quiet Minds instead of Neal... even though I KNEW in my heart it'd be Neal that died). Josh is just incredibly convincing. It's those eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes.

It's no wonder Ginny fell for him. Ha ha. That just makes this couple even sweeter! It's "real life"!

I have to do one honorable mention. It's from the newest Once episode (3x19). And, yes, it's once again Snowing having a tragically romantic storyline. We found out this week that it was Snow White who cast the dark curse that brought the crew back to Storybrooke. They found out they need Emma to defeat the Wicked Witch, and the only way to get back to the land without magic was to recast the curse. In order to do that, the spell caster has to give up the heart of the one she loves most. Charming tells Snow that she needs to cast the spell at all costs, and offers up his heart. After a bit of discussion he convinces her. Regina takes his heart and gives it to Snow - who crushes it! I will admit I cried. Seriously season 3 sucks! ha ha! It's been nothing but sadness all the way through!



Season 3b definitely has a great storyline going, but I dislike how dark this whole season has been. And, I'm seriously never going to be able to get over it at the rate this is going. I have friends making fun of me on how personal I'm taking some of this stuff. Especially since Charming basically gets to cheat death with the whole splitting/sharing of Snow's heart. It's a beautiful picture and all, but dang it! If they could figure out a way to keep him alive they should've also used a loophole to save Neal (see how I keep going back to that. I really need help)!

I can't believe it's 1am already. I have been on a weird sleep schedule since being sick all last week. Slept so much that my body can't seem to shutdown at night these days. Ugh. I'll do another blog post tomorrow night (well, tonight, now) I need to catch up anyway.