#i love s5a with my heart and soul

[mccallhero]

favourite ouat scenes: 48/?

[matan4il]

You had an anon mention slow burns and also Luke and Lorelie. Firstly I agree with the messiness of S5a and S6a. I wrote to you a few weeks ago its just messy timelines and I hope if they get S7 they stop this pacing. I don't know alot about the other ships but I believe in Luke and Lorelie supremacy. However..... no joke it was torture watching it real time pre-tumblr.

Listen, it took them 5 seasons to get together. Really only one season of drama free being together. They spent more time married to other people then spent together. We got the pay off in the last 5 minutes of the finale. We won, so yeah. But that shit was torture every week. Tumblr posts would have been a mess back then if it was the same now.

And I bring all this up to get to my point. I sustained it all because I was relatively certain that this straight couple would make it, I was supposed to root for them. They were at the basis each other's rocks. Buck and Eddie still are straight or the very least believe the other is. That's not just angst to get over, that's a sexual identity crisis to get over.

And hopefully like Gilmore Girls they will. One day I can rewatch the same way I do now. Spoiler alert, wanted to cry when she married Chris in Paris, now I can throw popcorn at it and laugh. Just kidding, I still FF that part.

But again, I'm like you I can't promise it will go Canon. If it doesn't its because they are cowards. However in alot of ways there is a stronger case for Buck and Eddie being soul mates rather then Luke and Lorelie. Again I love L&L but still they were messy and heartbreaking to watch.

Hi lovely Nonnie! Thank you so much for the ask. As well for keeping up with my blog and repeatedly writing to me. I appreciate the vote of confidence! ;)

As for Gilmore Girls, I have to confess that while I’ve seen an ep here or there (I never got to see them in sequence, as you’re meant to, so I never got into the swing of things. I’ve seen enough to know some basic stuff, but not much more than that). So I can’t comment on Luke and Lorelai’s love story beyond the fact that they were OBVIOUS. I could see them coming from the first sec I saw them in a scene together. They were ALWAYS going to happen. The show couldn’t have been clearer about it. And yeah, this is what a slow burn means, if we’re being honest. A lot of torture along the way, because it’s meant to make the pay off at the end that much sweeter. Does it actually manage to do it? The answer varies between ships, and probably between fans of the same ship, too. But that’s the principal, the road is usually bumpy, some parts of it are delicious angst and pining, and screaming about how these bozos still don’t get it, but yeah, some parts of it are not that fun to travel.

My deepest sympathies for going through all of that for Luke and Lorelai! I hear you, and I hope you still got to enjoy at least some of the pay off at the end of it all. I know how you feel. I went through 8 seasons for Keenler (BEWARE! SPOILERS for The Blacklist), and I can count the moments they were actually together on... let’s be generous and say two hands. But stupidly, it works. I treasure the moments that I did get all the more ‘coz I love how long and patiently and without demand Ressler waited for Liz. They had their messiness as well, but God, he loved her so profoundly. To see her realizing that and reciprocating his feelings was beautiful and worth it, even though I will forever wish they had more time together. But to tell you it was fun along the whole way? No. The parts of the story where Liz got back together with Tom were hell, seeing her re-committing herself to him was awful because HE was awful, in general and to Liz (so it wasn’t just as a Keenler shipper that I couldn’t stand that part of the show), and even when he was gone, there were almost two seasons where I survived on essentially one scene of comforting (but seemingly casual and platonic) touch. Slow burn is NOT for the faint of heart.

And you know what I love the most, Nonnie? Is that bit you threw in about Luke and Lorelai still having less in the way of ‘soulmate material’ than Buddie. Because I can actually make a LONG list of CANON couples that I absolutely ADORE that this is true for. And that’s exactly why we keep saying that if Buck or Eddie were a woman, they’d be inevitable, right?

Thank you again, have a great day! As always, here’s my ask tag. xoxox

[thewollfgang]

Hi! I really love your stories and can't wait for more goodness. Better than candy and wine (and healthier, too, I assume)! Could you by any chance rec me some post-S5a fic? Preferably one-shots (my attention span is unfortunately very short), but I'll take anything that's beautifully written!

Sorry for the lateness of this answer! It always takes me a while to get to fic recs. Firstly, thank you so much! Better than candy and wine? oof, that’s a tough combo to beat :)

I haven’t read too many post-s5a fics but let me see what I can rustle up for you. (These are just stories that tickled my fancy, I’m sure there are plenty more great stories out there, too!)

POST S5a ONE SHOTS

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Recovering From Hell:

rings around your eyes by clockworkcheetah // @clockworkcheetah // T 1/1

It's a slow process, but he's healing.

Colder Than Hell by venividivictorious // @venividivictorious // G 1/1

Lucifer readjusts to the cooler climate in Los Angeles. Chloe helps.

it's the touch that melts you down. by barbie_forevernerd // M 1/1

Chloe Decker loves her Devil and she tries to show him just how much every day.

A very soft fic centered around touch.

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‘I Love You’:

if you love me, got to know for sure by usuallysunny // M 1/1

Five times Chloe says I love you—and the first time Lucifer says it back.

Saying ‘I Love You’ by HiroMyStory // @hiromystory // G 1/1

“What does it mean?” Chloe asks. The question has been burning for a long time now.

Prompt fill for: Imagine Lucifer telling Chloe he loves her in Enochian without her knowing what it means for ages, even before they get together, and when she finds out what that weird snippet of a tune he kept making around her meant, it's like Oh.

He Sang to Me A Language Strange by Liast // G 1/1

Chloe confronts Lucifer about why he didn't said it back, why he never said 'I love you' to her, no matter how many time she said it already.

Three Little Words by haleyross // @hrfiction // T 1/1

Lucifer still hasn't said those three little words. While up worrying about it, Chloe finds out that Lucifer sometimes talks in his sleep.

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Dan Knows:

Who Are You, Really? by ariaadagio // @ariaadagio // M 1/1

In which post-revelation Dan is spiraling, and Lucifer thinks more truth will help.

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Michael:

Don't Fear What You Find by SerotoninUp // @serotonin-up // T 1/1

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you,” Chloe says flatly. It’s not a question; it’s a horrible declaration of truth. “Came to Earth pretending to be Lucifer.”

Michael slowly claps his hands at her in mock congratulations. “Look at you, Detective! So clever.”

Arachne by MoanDiary // E 1/1

She makes him ache in more ways than one.

I Put My Hands Around Your Neck by MoanDiary // M 1/1

Untethered, alone, and desperate, Michael and Ella find solace in each other

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Smut and Smut Adjacent:

Stripped to the Bone by violent_ends // E 1/1

“Some preference...” he pretends to consider, eyes wandering over his handful of clever Detective. “I think, if I'm really allowed to choose, I would very gladly eat you.”

(In which Lucifer knows exactly what he wants for breakfast.)

Let Me Groove You Good by HiroMyStory // E 1/1

Chloe visits the penthouse for some deserved alone time with her new boyfriend.

The Heart Of Worship by venividivictorious // M 1/1

Chloe wants to take care of her devil, and offers to groom his wings for him. She just wasn't expecting him to like it so much.

don't stop, baby, you can walk through. by incalyscent // @incalyscent // E 1/1

his next breath trembles, and he catches one of her hands to press a kiss to her palm, her wrist. he has that look in his eyes, like love is a cold drink in the barren desert of his life, and oh, how chloe wants to make it pour. “alright.”

“so?”

his throat bobs, and his eyes are open wide and vulnerable. “i think -” he stops, because he knows that’s not convincing enough - “i want you to use me however you see fit, do whatever you want to me, and not let me come until you are completely satisfied.”

I done sold my soul, sold it to the devil (and he won’t let me alone) by HiroMyStory // M 1/2

Lucifer and Chloe investigate the murder of a haunted-house costumer. One thing leads to another.

[teashadephoenix]

Okay so I tried to finish this yesterday before I crashed for a nap, but I am old and weak so here it is.

Lucifer Season 5A overall thoughts!

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SPOILERS!

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-i called it. I knew if they opened with Mr Said Out Bitch it was gonna be bc he was dead-- had to be, bc Lucifer was in Hell. Didnt like being right. Thanks for heaping a bunch of character development on a great bit of comic relief just so he can be dead.

-not enough Trixie. What the fuck. Is this a Chandler Riggs situation? Can Scarlett not act or something? Give her stuff to do please.

-EIGHT EPISODES AND NO SINGING LUCIFER???? GODDAMN BLASPHEMY

-i get why people are frustrated with how Maze is written bc it seems like she never does anything but go back and forth but I mean... that's just the writing across the board for this series. Lucifer, Chloe, and Dan have all flipflopped as the seasons progress-- character growth is handled the way real people are, with relapses in bad behavior and having to reiterate lessons more than once. Unusual for television writing, which usually addresses an idea once and then fucks off it forever.

-That said, I enjoyed Maze's arc of dealing with abandonment and seeking a soul. It made sense and was in character-- Lesley played Maze like she felt utterly lost, near madness from frustration, seeking comfort the way she best knows (sex and violence) from the people she loves and not knowing what to do when it wasn't working. I hate that she's so easily manipulated but I feel like it really is bc she wants to feel normal so badly and doesnt realise that normal is relative.

-tangentially, Lilith did not play as big a part as I expected and i was sort of disappointed.

-I wonder if the ring will now be used to pass lilith's immortality to someone who needs it?

-Tom Ellis' performance as Michael was v good as I previously said, but the entire concept of him was nothing inspired. I really had high hopes for him bc I love twins and especially twins who are like the bane of each other's existence but ffs they didn't do anything with it! So he's the polar opposite of his brother, so what! He's a wicked little American hunchback who lies and schemes and plays on people's fears... why? To what end? His plan kept changing and his entire motivation seems to be "bc I'm a dick." Boring. And he dresses like a twat.

-Lucifer was not stuck in Hell for remotely a long enough time. I am an angstwhore and I wanted pining. The same fucking thing happened when they made Dean a demon on SPN-- oh no we've had a decent idea and gotten our hero up the tree, now let's do absolutely nothing with it and get him back down aqap! Fuck off. They gave us this difficult, interesting situation to work with (how can Lucifer have a relationship if he has to run Hell) and then the moment he came up for the tiniest amount of time, Hell apparently no longer needs a warden! Srsly? When only two months ago, all hell was breaking loose???? Fuck your fucking convenient handwave.

-also I am sad they dropped the hinted mental/emotional toll on Lucifer for having to return to Hell Granted the article is a year old, likely discussing ideas that were in the infancy, but I was looking forward to seeing the "alcoholic running a liquor store." Obviously once they decided they were doing Michael-playing-Lucifer and summarily realised nobody would believe Lucifer changed that much, it was easier to just come straight out and say "yea thats not him, thats the evil twin."

-Amenadiel is lovely as ever. Charming, funny, the perfect mix of earnest and awkward. DB Woodside nails him and I love him. I love his friendships with Dan and Maze, the big brother instinct he gets with Luci and Chloe. He's a big black dude whose primary role is caretaker and I am here for it.

-Nice to see happy funny Dan back after taking a bereavement sabbatical in s4. I like Kevin Alejandro's performance a lot and so I dont like when Dan's being a dickhead bc it makes me wanna smack him. Loved him reading Diablo scenes w Luci-- reminded me of s2 when they were dorking out about the Weaponizer movies. And the cemetery scene, wow. Dan realising Heaven and Hell are real and that he is in danger of damnation and how bad that scares him-- ow my heart. That having been said...

-I didnt really like characters having these massive bombshells dropped on them just bc Michael is a douche-- that's so lazy. It felt like the writers ticking off checkboxes. Okay so he tells Chloe she's a miracle. That's fine I guess-- there are stakes there. We know it's going to rock her world bc we know how much it damaged Lucifer when he found out. But then he orchestrates Dan finding out and apart from the shock factor... who cares? It matters after, but not before. There was no set-up for that punchline. We knew when Linda pushed Lucifer to "drop the metaphor" that it was going to be a biblical shock for her. We knew what a relief it was going to be for Charlotte, who thought she was losing her mind, to learn that Hell was real and she could change her fate. We knew it was a gamechanger when Chloe found out. And that's why Dan gets the fuck over it super fast, bc it doesn't matter. It was just a box to be checked. Boo.

-it was nice getting to see Tricia Helfer bc I adore that woman but i really do hope that we get to see Charlotte properly again. Take me to the silver city already i am sick of not knowing what it looks like.

-i love Linda to bits. She's funny, she's heartwarming, she's the owner of the single braincell and she and Ella occasionally share it while they watch the others try to bite their own elbows.

6/10

s4 > s2 > s5A = s1 = s3

[pricemarshfield]

hmmm how About 001+lucifer, and 003+emily davis

this got long so sorry fndnnd. cant put in a cut on mobile but i’ll tag/go back and edit

001 - lucifer

favorite character: lucifer!!! i ADORE him. maze is a very very close second though

least favorite character: the goddess and pierce are tied for “would punch irl even though i would die” ♥️

5 favorite ships: deckerstar (if the 70k fic didn’t give that away), chlaze, lucifer x eve (they had some good scenes even if long term would NOT work), mazifer, and douchifer. yes i love lucifer morningstar a lot why do you ask

character i find most attractive: maze but lucifer gives me comphet so take that as you will

character i would marry: MAZE!! MY LOVE!! i am not cool enough for her but i long to give her unconditional support

character i would be best friends with: ella, no contest.

a random thought: the only real problems i have with (post-s1) story, minor as they are, are pacing. fix the pacing of s3 and it’s literally incredible

unpopular opinion: s3 is good it just should have been paced differently...s3a about the sinnerman drama and s3b about pierce, lets the tension build, has the cain reveal be genuinely dramatic, cut unnecessary filler...yeehaw

canon otp: DECKERSTAR. i would die for them

non-canon otp: CHLAZE! i WILL die for them

most badass character: chloe shooting michael made me ascend so even tho there are literal angels and demons it’s her

pairing i am not a fan of: i mean no one likes chloe/pierce but that fndndn. i also am not really into lucifer/ella but theres nothing WRONG with it, to each their own

character i feel the writers screwed up: while i DO feel like maze’s motivations in s5a make sense, they didn’t pace it right so it felt like they were just rehashing her betrayal plot AGAIN rather than her being desperate for a soul and willing to do anything for it. like i said above: Pacing

favorite friendship: maze & ella is SUCH a good dynamic whether romantic or platonic

character i want to adopt or be adopted by: trixie and charlie are both fine but i would LOVE to be the babysitter for either. you get to the job and expect to get paid like $20 but you make $300, discover god is real, and probably make friends with ella!

003 - emily davis

how i feel about this character: ice queen of my heart, shares the group braincells with sam but also has her own, competent and deserved better both in-game and in-fandom

all the people i ship romantically with this character: ashley, jess, and sam. she is a lesbian

my non-romantic otp for this character: she and matt were unintentional beards and could be PEAK mlm/wlw solidarity

one thing i wish had happened in canon: let her talk to jess after everything please god

het ship: no ♥️

femslash ship: all of them basically but i’ve been in a huge ashley/emily mood as of late

my otp: emjess is godtier

my ot3: ashemjess...

my crossover ship: emily davis and chloe price would be ve— *spontaneously combusts*

my kink: she goes to therapy

a headcanon/fact: SHE IS A LESBIAN

my genderbend: i didn’t see this part and will not do that bc theyre transphobic

[thisisevenharderthannamingablog]

(1) Hello! I've seen many of your posts and meta and love your analysis of the story/characters, and with everything happening (or not happening) on the show lately, I was wondering if there is a point throughout the entirety of the series that you think they started to go off the rails? For me, S4 felt like a hot mess but finished with a fun finale and a great cliff-hanger leading into a fantastic S5A Camelot arc which could have easily been a full season. Since then, I feel like things have be

en on this downhill spiral with the writers not really knowing what to do with these characters anymore, rehashing the same storylines/drama/angst. They created such rich, dynamic characters throughout those first three seasons, and now they seem to have forgotten how to write for them, or perhaps it’s boredom. S3 seemed like it would have been a fantastic series finale, everything was, for the most part, wrapped up tidily with happy endings all around, and I often wonder if perhaps that was

the intent, not anticipating needing to write more and that’s why things have felt so off/forced ever since? Obviously not looking for answers on behalf of the writers, but curious as to your take on the progression of the stories as a whole. Seemed like things were done very deliberately early on, but not so much anymore. Perhaps it’s just me though and I missing something that a rewatch of the season/series as a whole will reveal, like the writers did indeed know exactly what they were doi

ng and where they were headed the whole time. Thank you again for sharing all your metas and posts, and for any insight you can provide with my very long and rambly question! :)

Wow! First of all, thank you. I have very much enjoyed writing about this show over the past few years. I’m delighted to hear that it’s provided some amusement to others in turn. :)

I’m not sure it’s possible to pinpoint “the” moment when things went south. I feel like there’s more than one factor at play.

First, I think they had a multi-year skeleton plot for SOME of the characters at the outset. They obviously did for Emma. I will grudgingly consider the idea that they had a plan for Regina, however little I enjoy the results. If they had one for Snowing, they threw it out when Ginny got pregnant. Rumple I’m not so sure about. I don’t think that plan was enormously detailed, though, at least in the later years; I feel like they’ve been winging it more every season.

This has led them to a bit of a stop and start pacing problem, like when 5a had everything in the universe crammed into it and 5b dawdled along without doing much, and now S6 has been largely spent treading water. They’ve run out of meat for Emma’s story. For Regina it seems like the idea they had, they did not execute very well, while Rumple’s current plot is something of a retread of his origin story.

So that’s one problem. I have sympathy for this one. They had no idea when they started it how many years they would have to tell the story. Pretty difficult to spread out your plots evenly in that case.

On a related note, most of the world-building has clearly been done just-in-time, leading to the rampant inconsistencies we all know and love. This one I do not have much sympathy for. It annoys me. These problems are largely avoidable. .

Second! Disney meddling was clearly A Thing in 4a, like holy shit what were they thinking. The episode summaries on Wikipedia are telling in their length. They are impossible to summarize, because there is too much going on, and the stories don’t mesh well at all. (I’ve got meta analyzing the problems with that arc as an entity, so I won’t go into that here.)

S4 also seems to be when the story… disconnected from itself, to some extent? I didn’t hate 4b like some people did, but I feel that it suffered a lot from that “just in time mythology” practice. So much of that arc felt off the cuff and clumsy - and none of it has ever been referred to again except in passing.

Remember back in S3, how rooted everything that happened was in the recent history of the main characters? And now we’ve got drive-by appearances by characters who are supposed to be incredibly important – Ingrid, Maleficent, Chloe, Lily, Hades – many of whom by rights should fall under the “family” umbrella that ties the show together, but have never been mentioned before, and will never be mentioned again.

This is a form of lowering the stakes, of reducing the consequences to the characters as a result of their choices. If life-shattering events happen on the regular and no one in the story even notices, the audience stops caring, too.  

Maybe 4a threw them off their stride, I don’t know, but it seems like they never quite recovered afterward. They have had great episodes and decent arcs, but they lost something. Adam and Eddy in particular have done a worse and worse job with the episodes they personally write starting with the 4a finale.

Which leads us to problem number three, in the current writer’s room. I haven’t seen Lost, so I have no idea what their writing was like in that series. I don’t know if this is a case of people who need editing not getting the constructive feedback they need, if they’re distracted by other projects, if they’re bored, if there was some change of personnel that had a major ripple effect, or what.

They wrote some fantastic early episodes. They were grim (“Heart is a Lonely Hunter”) and quirky (“Dreamy”) and they brought the story home with a bang (“A Land Without Magic”). They wrote my all-time fave “New York City Serenade,” for Pete’s sake.

And then S4 happened, since when they have written some of the hands-down worst episodes of this show. “Heroes and Villains” was an incoherent mess (which I actually took it upon myself to rewrite). “Dreamcatcher” was meh. “Swan Song” gleefully trampled over acres of relevant show mythology, relied on dubious characterization, and stated its own theme out loud five times, sign of a timid writer. “Souls of the Departed”… had some issues, and the less said about “An Untold Story” the better (for my blood pressure). And so it goes.

They seem determined to own the start and the ending of each season, but those episodes seem less and less connected to each other and to the rest of the story. The S3 finale was a thematic capstone of that season, based strongly on family, home, and new love. The S4 finale was fun, but sloppy. Since 4b was already thematically dubious, the connection to the preceding arc (you make yourself) wasn’t strong, and there was no unity at all with 4a. The S5 finale wasn’t even fun and literally had nothing to do with the stuff that preceded it. So while the S3 finale worked *because of* S1, the ones since then have felt increasingly less like part of their own story.

Ironically enough, the S3 finale that was supposed to be all about not changing anything in their AU is the only one of the three that was actually allowed to have any consequences, even if they turned out to be stupid consequences. The stakes have diminished every time.

To put it bluntly, at this point they don’t seem to know what they want to *do* with the story. They’re running out of important development points for the characters, and filling in with enough padding to open a couch factory. Cause and effect appear unreliable. They are recycling entire scenes from the same actual season – did no one notice? did someone notice and not bother speaking up? did someone get overruled? ‘Cause none of those are good things.

Character dynamics sound the same notes as they did two or three seasons ago. That’s jarring, because this is not otherwise written as an episodic, time stands still kind of show. They’ve always had a problem with writing toward an effect they want rather than figuring out the effect from the causes, but it seems to have gotten worse over the course of the show. It gets even worse when the characters appear to all have recurring amnesia regarding their own recent lives.

So… yeah. I don’t know what happened to them in S4, but it seems like that’s when they got off track, and it’s been getting worse.

Some negativity to start the day. :) Thanks for all the kind words. I am sure the S6 post-game analysis is going to be intense!

[captain-emmajones]

turn around

inspired by this text post: ‘i think villains in general provide better, more epic romances because they’re allowed to go to extremes. they’re allowed to put their love over the greater good. they’re allowed to be selfish. the best a hero can offer you is number two, because their duty comes first. villains, though. villains will burn down the world for a last kiss goodbye.’

an angsty cs fic no one asked for - 900 words - ao3 - starting with 3x11 and expands to s5a & s5b 

- (Orpheus) chooses the memory of her. That's why he turns. He doesn't make the lover's choice, but the poet's.

- (reading) ‘She spoke a last farewell that scarcely reached his ears and fell back into the abyss.’ (a pause) Perhaps she was the one who said: ‘turn around’.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 2019. 

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Rhum creates a burning path down his throat. He looks up, blinks back raging tears.

There is a knot in his chest and a weight over his heart. He is furious.

He would have chosen her over the whole wide world. He would have chosen her even if it meant burning the world down. He would have chosen her.

He clenches his jaw, gazes at the nearly empty drink in his hand. You barely know her. Bloody hell.

I’ve known her my entire life.

Another mouthful. A naïve attempt to stifle his pain. His fingers become tighter around the glass. He is bloody angry.

(How is he supposed to forget the deep green of her eyes, as she whispers goodbye to him on a town line, and there are tears in her eyes and a kind of affection – infatuation – in the corners of her mouth, and she is saying goodbye.)

(Perhaps it is what makes her a hero, and he a villain. The fact that she would chose the greater good over her own happiness any day.

He is bloody angry.

He would have chosen her over and over again, until the ends of time.)

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It is a quiet night in the Dark One’s house.

She holds Excalibur in her hands. The cold metal is grounding. Her fingers are a soft caress over the concealed name of her love.

(He doesn’t love her anymore.)

A little shake of her shoulders, a little chuckle even, to chase down the tears birthing in the corners of her eyes.

He didn’t mean it. He didn’t mean it. How could he have? She’s never known this kind of love.

She swallows down. Crickets are singing outside. A part of her is dying, is already dead, and she cannot do anything but fulfill her plan.

It was the only way to save him.

She would burn the entire world down for him. Why would she feel guilty about it?

(She burnt her entire world down for him. Her family hates her. Her son doesn’t trust her. He doesn’t love her anymore.

Still, she would set herself on fire for him.)

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Eventually, she does.

Nothing hurts quite as much as saying goodbye to him again, because he is a hero now and he won’t chose himself over her entire family.

(She hates him for it. For being the noble one and pushing her away, for letting her hand go between the bars of this fucking elevator.)

Her knees give up on her on her way up. She breaks down in a puddle of blood. She is wounded beyond repair.

She would have stayed in hell with him if it meant being able to hold his hand a little longer.

(He doesn’t let her.)

(She hates him for it.)

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She is shaking with wrath as her father pulls on her hand.

“Let’s go, Emma! Before the portal closes!”

(It’s easier to think she is angry when it feels like her soul is being torn away from her body, and she will never be able to retrieve it.)

She cannot help but look back at him, one last time, and truly she is unable to see anything because of the storming sea in her eyes.

But she looks back. Of course he isn’t there. Still she looks back. He’s been dead all along.

Let go, Emma.

His voice echoes in her mind. She blinks, licks her lips, gathers all of her strength to turn around. To cross this goddamn portal. To leave him behind, at least for now.

She still has a duty to fulfill. She is the Savior. They need her.

She will forever be haunted by the ghost of their love.

(What’s the use of being the Savior if she cannot save the love of her life?)

(What’s the use of them being true love, the most powerful magic of all, if it cannot save him?)

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There is not a sound in the former Dark One’s home. A quiet darkness surely reigns there, but it is very tender around the tangled bodies on the bed.

He is sleeping, but her eyes are still wide open.

She delicately traces the lines of his face, love beating in her heart, a very soft wave of calm and comfort.

(She pities them now. Those whose love isn’t strong enough to convince a god to bring one back to life.

She pities them, those who do not love Killian Jones and his incredible, loving heart.)

A tear rolls her down her cheek as a smile tingles her lips. She blinks, overwhelmed by happiness.

Sighs, lectures herself a little, come on Emma you’ve cried enough already, but she is so happy she cannot hold it in.

She laces her arm around his neck, buries her face against his warm skin, breathes him in.

(A very small and modest sob escapes her throat when he holds her tighter. 

As he murmurs Swan against her temple, she falls asleep, safe within the warmth of his arms.)