30 Days of Fangirl-ism - Day 8 - Fandom you thought you wouldn’t get into but did

I have three of these, most of the shows that I get into they're because I've seen the promos and decided to check them out. These three were shows that I had no desire to watch the first go around even though a lot of my friends were.

All of my Disney friends seemed to be into this show when it started. I thought it looked completely hokey (and honestly it pretty much is), that the acting seemed more geared towards soap stars, and they were going to mess with my fairytales. Didn't care to watch. Then I was stuck in Montana while my dog was being put to sleep thousands of miles away in Alaska and I just needed something to get my mind off of it - so I put on Once Upon A Time. Besides the second season was in full swing and people were talking about how attractive Captain Hook was - and after seeing a few pictures I had to agree. But I wasn't going to jump into the story at the end of a second season. So I had to catch up.

Seriously Captain Guyliner is everything right with this
show. Even if I am a Nealfire fangirl, I can appreciate
the beauty that is Colin O'Donoghue.

And darn it - the pretty people won me over. The dialogue was horrible, incredibly cheesy (and I'm still not sure if the actors are just committed to the lines/story or if it's more of a Star Wars idea of "we know this is lame so let's just over do it to make it entertaining"). But I loved the twists to the classic tales - especially how Rumpelstiltskin was tied into every single one of them! The fact that they were in the modern world was also intriguing... and I LOVED the story of Rumple and Baelfire... especially when we figured out that Rumple was searching for him still. I wanted to know who Bae was in the "World Without Magic."

I didn't like season 2 as much though I DID love Captain Hook (aka Captain Guyliner). Who know that villain was so sexy?! We also got adult Baelfire in our lives, and all I could think was "why did Emma go for such an average looking guy?!" Ha ha. Boy have I changed my tune! Season 3 would find me falling more in love with Neal Cassidy (aka Adult Baelfire... aka Michael Raymond-James!) only to watch him die three episodes into the return from the winter hiatus. Still not over it, as well all know... and my interest had dropped significantly (one hot pirate is not enough).

I guess I'm kinda like Rumple's actor Robert Carlyle. The story of Rumple and Bae is why I got interested in the show, and without that storyline it's just not as much fun to watch. I wanted to stick with the show, but as the 4th season got closer the less desire I had. I didn't want to watch the nods to MRJ or the Neal character as it would make me sad all over again, and I couldn't get into the corny lines in the promos. I just wasn't feeling it.

And the more I read people getting excited the less I was interested. I'm somewhat more interested in the second half of the season - but even that with some of the "spoilers" we've been given as to who the guest stars are... I'm worried it'll just tick me off. So I'm content to not follow the show - for now - and hope for better things.

And no if they just brought Neal Cassidy back I don't think it'd make it better. As much as I selfishly want MRJ on my screen each week in that role that I love, I'm pretty sure it'd be a bad choice from a writing perspective.

Arrow was another show I just had no desire to watch. I didn't know what it was, honestly, so even though a lot of my friends were talking about it I didn't care to learn about it. Then my friend Aimee kept badgering me to give it a try. That I'd like it. That it was fun. That she wasn't expecting to like it but she loves it. All that good stuff.

So after getting over my OUAT craze and looking for something new I gave in. And I'm SO GLAD I did. Arrow is in no way like OUAT (other than it's fantasy) it's a superhero show - based on The Green Arrow comic series. It has better writing for the most part, the story is completely compelling and all characters are fleshed out and used well. They aren't forgotten when the new storyline comes along - they are all integrated. The creators have a clear vision for the show and how to get there. The cast is strong, and most episodes leave me an emotional wreck (I still blame OUAT/Michael Raymond-James for that. I was sane until "Quiet Minds").

Arrow is quite possibly my favorite series on TV right now (Blacklist comes close but I'm annoyed with their overly long hiatus at the moment).

When promos for Arrow's spin off series "The Flash" started, I was less than eager to watch. I just wasn't expecting it to be as good. Then the casting list emerged and I decided to give it a try just because of who plays Joe West (Jesse Martin - who was one of my favorite actors on Law & Order). The show started off a little rocky - it wasn't as good as Arrow's pilot - but I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did. It's a lot of fun. I really love Grant Gustin in the role of Barry Allen. He is the boy next door, perfect unsuspected hero.

And no one can cry like Grant can.



So there are my three shows that I was NEVER going to watch that I ended up getting hooked on.

30 Days of OUAT - Day 28: Best Actor/Character

Day 28 - Best Actor/Character

And no one is shocked, right? Though in all honesty I probably don't even agree with my pick (really for me it's a three way tie between MRJ, Robert Carlyle, and Colin O'Donoghue), but I keep coming back to Michael Raymond-James. I mean if you've followed along with the 30 days of Once so far you know how I feel about his character Neal Cassidy, and if you follow me on Twitter you know I've been quickly catching myself up on his work. (Well, for the most part... the idea of watching his True Blood or Black Snake Moan character terrifies me. LOL!)

I don't want to do a huge gushfest considering I've gushed pretty much non stop all month, but I do want to say that I believe MRJ to be a very underrated actor (at least to the general public). He's more than just a character actor (guy is totally typecast ha ha), he's very skilled at his craft. His style is very laid back and natural on screen and that makes his characters believable. It's his warmth and charm that makes Neal a likeable guy even after all we find out about him (which in the grand scheme of things I don't believe makes him all that bad a person... it's all totally forgivable, which is what Emma does... but I digress).

If you want to see him shine outside of OUAT, I highly recommend Terriers. It was a short lived (not even a full season) show that he was a co-lead on. It's a "buddy drama-edy" about two down on their luck type PI's who end up getting a case that's way bigger than they realize. It was on FX and just didn't get the ratings (I kinda remember the promos for it, but I never watched it when it aired. Wish I had). You can stream it on Netflix (which I do regularly) - it's 13 episodes and well worth the time to take a day and binge watch. If the pilot doesn't catch your attention, keep watching. I wasn't hooked until episode 2 or 3, even with it being MRJ (I'm not a fan of Donal Logue's acting, so it took a while to get over him being co-lead with Michael).

With Neal now dead and gone (with creators Adam and Eddy both repeating the OUAT mantra "Dead is Dead" whenever asked about a possible return for the character) Michael fans are waiting to hear of his next project. He tweeted a while back that after an extended vacation he was back to work on a project he's excited about. He ended the tweet with "Details soonish"... and THIS fan is convinced it's "soonish" and he needs to spill! Especially since he keeps popping up on twitter every few days to share his "pearls of wisdom" (the latest being on washing dishes).

Whatever the project is I really hope it's a good one. Not a couple episodes arc on an established TV show where he ends up dying or some other tragic storyline. I want to see him branch out and play something that we haven't seen much of in his filmography - because judging by his interviews, twitter, and the like... he seems like a fairly happy go lucky kinda guy. So, come on, dude! A little less depression for your fans, please?! ha ha!

Oh, and totally superficial/random/weird point - as a photographer I cannot get over his eyes. They catch light perfectly and make them just stand out and are soooooooo beautiful... and I don't normally say that about dark eyes. But dang.



Oddly enough, however, I don't think Neal is the best character on the show. As much as I'm obsessed over the whole "Quiet Minds" thing, and how much I admire the actor, the character took a while for me to warm up to (not MRJ's fault, the writing didn't make him all that likeable for a long time). No, the best character award most definitely goes to Neal's Papa, Rumpelstiltskin. Robert Carlyle is a sheer genius in this role (and I probably should've given him his due as best actor... but puppy dog eyes won out on that one ha ha).

Seriously this man plays evil to perfection, and he does it in a way that the character is still so sympathetic. Even though he abandoned his son - dropped him down a portal! - and murdered a mute maid because she found out his dagger is what controls him, you still feel for him as he searches for a way to reach Baelfire in the land without magic. You cheer for him when he finds love with Belle (even if the age difference and scales make it kinda creepy), and your heart breaks each time he "loses her"... and then Quiet Minds happens where his son tells him to let go and tells him he loves him with his final breath... and we weep for him. And during his sons funeral, while he's caged and Zelena's prisoner, he feels every painful shovel of dirt burying his son - forever separating them. And you just want his pain to end.



Rumple's relationship with his son is yet another reason why I really really hope that this is truly NOT the end of Nealfire, even though I know it is.

30 Days of OUAT - Day 26: Most Heartfelt Moment

Day 26 - Most Heartfelt Moment

This is not the most heartfelt, but it's definitely one of them. I love the scene where Rumple is dying in his shop, Emma and Neal are desperately trying to protect him from Regina and Cora... but it's not working. The protection spell is weakening, and Rumple is succumbing to the poison (Nightshade courtesy of our beloved Captain Hook). Rumple says he's dying, Neal frustratedly disagrees with his father and sits on a stool to pout (because, lets face it, Neal is sometimes more that 14 year old Baelfire than the adult Neal). Rumple asks Emma to let him call Belle, who is in the hospital cursed with her curse memories (after being shot by, you guessed it, our beloved Captain Hook).

Rumple's phone call to the amnesia patient is touching, and heartfelt. Full of love. Emma and Neal both hear his words, and we see Neal's demeanor soften slightly. Remember, this guy has been running from his father for over 200 years at this point, and has been haunted by his father abandoning him for all of it. There's centuries of hurt and shame that he's not dealing with.

When Rumple ends his call, Neal tells his father he believed him incapable of such feelings. Rumple tells him he's full of love. Neal truly is Baelfire in this scene, as he confronts his father with the point that Rumple broke their deal (of all the deals Rumple's made the ONLY one he goes back on is the one with his son). Rumple apologizes to his son, asking his forgiveness... and then my favorite part of the whole thing... Rumple reaches his bloodstained hand out to his son asking him to take it. Neal looks down at it and says ever so quietly (and in a voice that would fit more as a boy than a man) "I'm still angry." It's once again Michael Raymond-James acting to perfection (seriously Robert and MRJ together is magic).  There is so much being said in those three words.

Watching Neal fight his pain, his anger, his mixed up emotions and finally take his father's hand and reconnect breaks my heart. I'd always felt a sense of joy that they were reconciling when watching this scene before... Season 3b ruined that for me. Now my heart just breaks (seriously, MRJ owes me my happiness back... I blame him as much as I do Adam and Eddy for ruining my life! LOL).



Thank you, Michael Raymond-James. I'm sorry it took me so long to fangirl! You're an amazing actor, and I can't wait to see what's next! (Seriously, it's been soon-ish! Dish on your next project!)

30 Days of OUAT - Day 20: Favorite Scene

 
Day 20 - Favorite Scene

Um, well... I have been sharing my favorites throughout the course of the meme... so... I guess I'll pick one of my favorites I haven't yet shared. And it's another scene from Manhattan (definitely one of my favorite episodes EVER), it comes right after Neal finds out he's a father. Rumple informs Neal that the deal with Emma was for her to get Neal to talk to Rumple. Neal tells him he's got three minutes... and then this scene happens. This is where two of OUAT's best actors shine. Robert and Michael had a great "father son" chemistry about them and it showed from the first episode they were in.

The scene is so... sad. It's where Neal gets to have a little bit of say into not only how he views his father, but what his father did to him. Yes, at the time of the episode's airing, we knew very little of what Bae went through with his father. We'd seen the young boy deal with the pain of his father turning to darkness and that his father let him go through the portal alone - but we didn't know the extent of the pain he suffered afterwards. We don't even know how long Nealfire's been away/alone (for the record it's over 200 years, way to go Papa Rumple).

And that's the part of the scene that I love most. After Neal lets Rumple have his 3 minutes, Neal shuts him down. He confesses that there hasn't been a day that's not gone by that he doesn't relive the haunting memory of his father letting him go. Of backing out of the deal. Of not being enough for his father... that his father would choose the safety of magic and a dagger over his own son. A son, who we later find out, who then goes through a multitude of losses and disappointments... only to end up making similar choices to that of his father.

Perhaps one of the reasons in the last few months that I've become such a staunch Nealfire fan is because I understand betrayal like he experienced. No, I was never dropped through a portral... my mother never ran off with a pirate... and that pirate never gave me over the Peter Pan's goons... But I do know what it's like to have people that you've loved, looked up to, respected... TRUSTED instinctively... not just "Back out of a deal" but completely misuse my trust and in a way fail me. I dealt with that for most of last year, having my parents use me to save the other sibling - when I not only had nothing to do with what caused the situation, but it also tanked my reputation within the community. It was devastating. I can safely say that reconciliation and rebuilding has been happening, but it's an up and down process. So perhaps that's why the entire Neal Cassidy arc not only speaks to me - but that I understand the entirety of it.

Still, I would love to have the guts to confront some of the darker parts of what happened the way he does... I need to get me some good writers and set the scene I suppose. But, to me, Neal not only has every right to be angry with his father - but he has the right to accept or reject him. He has the right to work out the demons how he sees fit. He has the right to ultimately forgive the man and tell him to let go (okay, yeah, I've now jumped back/forward to Quiet Minds again... dang).

I am a true believer in second chances - in all forms... and perhaps that's what Neal was supposed to get and didn't (though really... maybe that poster was not referring to Emma at all, but to Neal's forgiveness of his father).

Anyway, here's my "favorite" (today anyway) scene:


Can I also just whine for a moment - I know he just made the announcement on twitter like 4 days ago, but I really really really want to know what is next for Michael - I think 4 days is "soon-ish"! I want details! (And, seriously, if it isn't that he's going to be a regular on a great show... then I'm not sure I'll be any happier ha ha)

30 days of OUAT - Day 5: Favorite Villain

Day 5 - Favorite Villain

Just for the record - having the flu sucks. Today is the first day since Sunday that I felt like sitting up for any good amount of time, and I'm still feeling crappy. But, I'm upright, and it's been bugging me that I've let my blog slide yet again (I know, I really have no life). Hopefully I'm alive and kicking for the weekend, or it's going to be a waste as I actually have the house to myself. At least it will be quiet.

Anyway back to the prompt, favorite villain on Once. I think this character is everyone's favorite - and if he isn't they're lying. Rumpelstiltskin makes this show - and not just because he's the author of the original curse. Robert Carlyle is a star, his strengths as an actor helped him create a truly creepy and complex character. Whether he's a sniveling cowardly father, the scaly "crocodile" of the "Dark One", or the ruthless shopkeeper Mr. Gold - you just want to love to hate him.

He's also a sympathetic character, even though you really don't want him to be. You feel for his plight to find his son Baelfire (Neal Cassidy), the loss of his wife to a pirate - heck, in some ways you feel like Belle believing he does have a glimmer of good left in him. Sure, watching Belle and Scaly Rumpel make-out is creepy, heck any of the women kissing him when he's in any form seems creepy, but there's still a part of you that is happy that he's found someone to believe in him no matter what (so much so that you can *almost* get over the fact that his new fling is younger than his son).

He is so quotable as well - especially when he is his Fairytale persona. I can't seem to stop "singing" his latest ditty "You feed the madness and it feeds on you" and "all the voices in my head will be silent when I'm... dead." And, really, who doesn't find themself quoting "all magic comes at a price." Robbie C's Rumpel is absolute perfection. He's every bit as terrifying as the original Grimm's villains - or Walt Disney's classic villains.

His current arc is definitely interesting, with Zelena holding him captive he's not truly seen grieving the loss of his son (this time for sure is final), but I don't expect the writers to give us any more than what they already have in that regard. Still, once Rumpel finds a way to enact revenge, I'd want to be far away when it happens. It's going to be amazing. (and if it ISN'T amazing then I'm going to be disappointed lol)


Honorable mention needs a shout out - and that goes to Captain Hook (Killian Jones). I think Colin O'Donaghue is quite possibly one of the best actors on the show. (He's definitely in my top three with Robert Carlyle and Michael Raymond-James). Hook has grown weak in season 3 for me, all the pining after Emma Swan has made the character a little too lovesick and far too little in ruthlessness. It's disappointing because he was so deliciously evil in season 2. Not that I don't think he shouldn't redeem himself, but there has to be some sort of middle ground, doesn't there? I'm also just not a fan of him ended up with Emma as I don't see that storyline fitting as much as people want it to (in all fairness I don't really want her with Neal Cassidy either - which considering what happened in Quiet Minds we don't have to worry about that). Still there's a lot to love about the man in pirate eyeliner (so yummy).