#maaaaaybe more although that's unlikely

[incorrectpizza]

Hah. So. The one-shot I posted the first day of @sabezraweek? It's uh. Not a one-shot anymore. Behold, the sequel, in which Sabine discovers a record of Ezra's time on Peridea:

Story also down below for anyone who wants to read here.

Ezra’s pod is small, but as Sabine explores it, it almost feels cavernous. There’s things everywhere.

A stockpile of dried and cured foods that the Noti taught him to preserve. Weapons he made from whatever he could salvage: stormtrooper blasters and rifles, wood, a strange metal that the Noti used that never grew cold , even on the rare days when the weather grew sour. And there are books. Made from some sort of animal skin, if her hunch is correct. Stitched together with thin, sinewy thread, pages surprisingly sturdy. 

The first one she finds, sitting on a ledge next to the pod’s tiny, Noti-sized second bed, is  a book of Noti bedtime stories. 

“Youongling’s Fables, A Collection of Noti stories as transcribed by Ezra Bridger.”

There’s a total of three charming little tales, each one accompanied by a symbol - some small splash of color signaling the beginning of a new story. Sabine studies them carefully. One is a simple  green circle with uneven splotches throughout - a planet? Another, a silhouette of a Howler, deep navy blue, just a hint brighter and more saturated than Ezra’s hair. The third, though, catches her breath. It’s a Jedi symbol. She reads this story first. 

It’s about the first Jedi to meet the Noti - not Ezra, but some old man in the distant past. The man died protecting the Noti from The Great Mother, a corrupted Force being the Jedi sentenced to ten thousand years of captivity in the mountains. Did this have anything to do with Baylan’s search? His quest for power? Sabine wonders, setting aside the book. She’ll show it to Ahsoka when she gets back from the hunt.

On Ezra’s little workbench, she finds three more books: all blank, waiting for words to fill them. Near the hatch, alongside a few odd “pots” and “pans,” she finds a “cookbook.” It has a dozen recipes, from “Noti Stew DO NOT EAT” to “Peridean Loth-Pie” to “Actually Edible Noti Soup.” She chuckles a bit and makes a mental note to show Ahsoka this one, too. Maybe they can find something that they can stomach once their ration bars are finished. 

And then, as she’s straightening up the other side of the sleeping quarters, she finds two books sitting by Ezra’s bed. The first one she picks up is a “journal.” Each entry is printed in small Aurebesh - so small Sabine puts on her helmet to magnify the words. Ezra must’ve learned quickly that books are harder to make than they look, Sabine muses.

The first page proclaims the book “Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger’s Journal of A Galaxy Far, Far Away, Volume Five. Noti Nomadic Village, Peridea. Approximately 10 years after the Liberation of Lothal.”

Each page has multiple entries, almost but not quite daily. Most are mundane, ordinary. Sabine reads every single word of every single entry.

“Day 3,547. Jynt and I came up with a new way to attach the ropes to the pods today. Moving them is going to be a lot easier now.” Always ingenious.

“Day 3,574. I discovered a new species today. A little purple and orange caterpillar. I hereby dub it Sabineus Wrennius .” Sabine laughs and flips the page. 

“Day 3,631. I got to scare two night troopers today.” Still a prankster.

“Day 3,650. I really want to go home.” Sabine closes her eyes and sighs. He’s home now, she knows. She should be happy. And yet-

She wishes he were with her. Here. Or home. She misses him deeply, and it’s only been seventeen cycles. She finishes the book, which breaks off mid-entry. 

“Day 3,674. Nothing excitin-”

Was that when he heard my Howler in the distance? Sensed me in the Force? Or was he interrupted on another day and just never bothered to finish?

She closes the book, vowing to ask him one day about that last entry.

Then she opens the second book, the one tucked underneath. It’s tied shut with a thick cord.

She unties it and flips it open. The first page declares in bold orange letters “PROPERTY OF EZRA BRIDGER.”

“Do not look unless you are Ezra.”

Then, underneath, in small scrawl she can hardly read: “Or Sabine.”

Or Sabine? She furrows her brow, wondering what could be so important that Ezra didn’t want anyone reading it, and why she was the exception. Gently, her fingers grasp the edge of the page. 

It’s full of… starbirds?

A dozen of her symbols lie in front of her. Some sketches, others paintings. Their colors vary brilliantly, from blue to purple to green to (yes, of course ) orange. She flips the page again. More starbirds. But not just starbirds. This page also has a Jedi symbol, more crude than the one Sabine had found earlier, and an Imperial crest - crossed out with red, of course. 

As the pages go on, there’s less and less starbirds and more other symbols. Kanan’s Jaig-eyed mask. The patterns from Hera’s lekku. Zeb’s Bo-Rifle. Her helmet.

His drawings grow more detailed, more artistic as the book goes on until, by the middle, he’s got a definite, recognizable style. In the second half, he grows brave enough to try sketching them, their little family, as he remembered them. Hera and Kanan holding hands. Zeb scowling. Sabine flying around Mandalore, broad smile as she shows off her jetpack. Chopper arguing with AP-5. There are a few details off here and there - in one group sketch, her hair is too long and Ezra himself is not wearing orange, an unforgivable creative liberty, especially considering just how shockingly accurate and real the painting looks. 

It’s the very last image of the book, though, that nearly takes Sabine’s breath away. It’s them, hugging, foreheads pressed together in a keldabe kiss. The background - he painted a background? - has some vague, abstract Noti pods. The Ghost hangs in the sky, and Sabine thinks she might even spot Ahsoka’s ship on the ground. In the distance, a white Loth-Wolf looks on. Her fingers hover, desperate to trace the lines, but not wanting to risk damaging the precious painting. Underneath, there’s a title.

Someday Soon .

The next page has no art. Just words. 

Sabine, I hope you never have to read this. I hope I’m here when you come. But just in case, I want to thank you. For always being there for me. For teaching me about life, and art, and how to be a good friend. I couldn’t have made it this long without you. Even more than I ever realized, I love you.

Sabine hurriedly shuts the book before her tears can mar the pages. 

[authenticcadence18]

Miraculous Ladybug AU for phinabella though

OK ANON HERE I AM PHINABELLA MIRACULOUS AU LET’S GO. I’ve literally been thinking about this since you sent it and I have SO MANY IDEAS (many of which are inspired by “The Beak”...LOL)

So a few things before we get into character stuff: I imagine this AU taking place a few summers after the summer Phineas and Ferb primarily takes place in (so it takes place with the same versions of the characters we know, not with alternate reality versions of them). Idk whether or not the Miraculous are still magical in this AU. They’re either exactly like they are in Miraculous Ladybug OR they are technology developed by OWCA to give humans animal powers (but if we go with the latter I have to figure out WHY OWCA needs humans in the first place, lol)

ok so CHARACTER STUFF. This AU starts when the kiddos are first starting high school. This means Isabella is starting to try and get over Phineas and Phineas is starting to realize he’s got feelings for Isabella. They’re still best friends but things are a little awkward and different between them now. 

ENTER THE MIRACULOUS. Phineas gets the Ladybug (because I mean power of creation? that’s 100% Phineas) and Isabella gets the Black Cat (she would also be great with the Ladybug, but I think she’d be better with the Black Cat than Phineas...Phineas might get freaked out with the power of Destruction). 

MORE RAMBLING UNDER THE CUT

I am not sure why Isabella and Phineas are given the miraculous in the first place, maybe a hawkmoth-esque villain starts wreaking havoc and they receive the miraculous to stop them. (The Hawkmoth character is PROBABLY not related to Phineas or Isabella in this AU, that’s just too much angst. I haven’t really decided who Hawkmoth is yet, but that isn’t really important here). Isabella and Phineas don’t know each other’s identities (and we’re just going to count HEAVILY on the Miraculous magically disguising their identities because I know their heads are very distinctive, LOL), and they can’t reveal them to each other because it’s dangerous, I guess. 

Phineas and Isabella go by “The Bug” and “The Cat,” respectively (taking some inspiration from “The Beak” here! I think they’d just go with simple names). Phineas’s weapon is still a yo-yo, and Isabella has a silver sash that can whip out and take the shape of a staff if she needs it to (because she’s Isabella, she HAS to have a sash). And also Isabella’s eyes stay blue when transformed. 

ok now what you really clicked on that read more for...LOVE SQUARE DYNAMICS

Isabella/Phineas: 

Like I said earlier, Isabella and Phineas are still best friends, but Isabella is CONVINCED Phineas will never feel anything romantic for her and is trying very, very hard to get over him. Phineas, meanwhile, is gradually beginning to realize he’s got feelings for Isabella, but he’s still an oblivious bean and worries she won’t feel the same way (and he has NO IDEA she likes him back). So there’s no over the top plans to confess or anything, just sweet moments. Over the course of the story, Phineas falls for Isabella more and more. 

Cat/Bug:

So in their superhero personas, Isabella and Phineas are a perfect team. They’re both natural leaders and take the reins in different scenarios. (so it’s different from the dynamic of Ladybug and Chat Noir, in which Ladybug is assuredly the leader). Because Isabella and Phineas have been working together their entire lives and are already very in sync—even if they don’t realize it—neither of them has to be the defacto leader (although in a PINCH, Isabella probably emerges as the leader, just because she’s ISABELLA). Tbh, their dynamic isn’t too different from the Phinabella dynamic in the regular show (which is good, because the ACTUAL Phinabella dynamic in this AU is a little awkward and hesitant). 

At first they start off as friends, just friends, but Isabella gradually realizes she’s starting to develop feelings for the Bug. This scares her a little at first (and also makes her feel a little guilty, because what about Phineas?), but she eventually reasons it’s okay to feel things for him and that he isn’t Phineas and maybe this is good and helping her move on (plus having feelings for him just feels RIGHT for some reason). I don’t think she goes out of her way to flirt with him, though...she’s done that with Phineas and it never works so she doesn’t do it with Bug. (the irony here is she doesn’t REALIZE she’s still pining after Phineas.) as the story develops, she falls for him more and more….even though there are still lingering feelings for Phineas in her heart. (and perhaps she comes to realize the qualities she admires in the Bug are also ones she admires in Phineas and has a bit of a crisis). So it isn’t like in miraculous Ladybug where Chat is head over heels for Ladybug and VERY OBVIOUS about it. It’s more subtle on Isabella’s part. 

Phineas admires Cat greatly and respects her SO MUCH and almost instantly considers her one of his best friends, but he doesn’t like her romantically (and maybe even if he feels a SMIDGE of romantic feelings for her, he isn’t going to give in to that! because he’s finally realizing he loves Isabella, he can’t be interested in anyone else!) and is 100% oblivious to the fact that she likes him. Which is painfully ironic for multiple reasons. LOL. 

 Isabella calls Bug her “little ladybug,” but I am not sure what Phineas calls her. Maybe he just calls her “Cat.” I’ve gotta brainstorm that a bit more, lol. 

Isabella/Bug

Basically Ladrien. Soft, blushy, adorable. And different! Because unlike Ladrien, where the characters have known each other for the same amount of time, Phineas has known Isabella for WAY LONGER than she’s known him as “The Bug” so he has to be VERY CAREFUL not to say anything that could give his identity away whenever they interact. Isabella is also just as resourceful out of the suit, so she’s able to assist Bug on occasion (which only makes him fall for her even MORE). 

Cat/Phineas

Ok so this relationship is a lot like Marichat but it’s also different because Isabella “used to be” (is totally still) in love with Phineas. Phineas has no idea Cat is in love with him in his superhero persona (and of course he has no idea Isabella “used to be” in love with him). I’m imagining some sort of balcony scene (though it would probably be more of a “roof of the Flynn-Fletcher house” scene, lol) in which Isabella sees Phineas sitting up there alone while suited up and goes to talk to him to make sure he’s alright:

“Hey...whatcha--UH--what are you up to?”

After a bit of prodding, Phineas tells Cat about the girl he likes and how he feels like he lost time and that things are different between them now. Isabella is saddened by that (because of course she still likes him), but she encourages him anyway and is like “you should tell her how you feel! you don’t want to regret not telling her...” (she’s speaking from experience, lol). And at some point, Phineas lets it slip that he’s talking about Isabella and she’s like “now hOLD UP JUST A SECOND—”. So it’s like the balcony scene in Miraculous Ladybug, but REVERSED. (and idk what would happen after this, but it would probably be very soft.)

Some Extra Stuff

Akumatization is still a thing in this AU (although, again, it could either be magical or technology-assisted akumatization). 

I’m preeeetty sure Ferb knows Phineas is The Bug, and maaaaaybe he eventually figures out Isabella is the Cat? This means he cannot get akumatized...because if he does....aNGST. 

Eventually there’s a reveal and of COURSE Isabella and Phineas get together right afterward (and maybe they’re already together as civilians, due to the “rooftop” scene I talked about earlier, and finding out their identities just makes everything fall into place, idk). 

There are NO alternate love interests in this AU. None of that. Nope. Just Isabella and Phineas. Being in love. (And of course the other PnF characters are there too....just not as potential love interests. LOL.) 

aaaaand that’s what I’ve got for now! This is suuuper long but ANON YOU INSPIRED ME. THANK YOU. If you guys have any questions/ideas for the au, feel free to send them! Thinking through all this stuff was a ton of fun! 

[frogcook]

"Er, h-hello Theo-san! I was wondering if you would be able to make kalua pig. It's a dish native to my hometown, just a little village boarded by the Coral Sea. T-Truth be told, I've been feeling a little homesick lately, a-and I need a little pick me up since work at the lounge has been so stressful... b-but please don't feel pressured to or anything! I wouldn't want to trouble you!" - a stuttering Octa A-kun

(Reminder to watch watchers Dish Granted)

"D'awwww, take it easy lil' guy, dunno what your employers are doing to you but you're always welcome here."

The mention of homesickness had also struck a chord within Theo. After sitting the student down he started to look up kalua pig on his phone.

"Truth be told I miss home too… see ya ain't alone! It's no biggie to do this for you. Anything to close that space between your heart."

He gave the student a hearty thump on his back, although he may have underestimated his fragility just a bit.

"Oops sorry! Haha I forget my own strength sometimes… Anyways! It seems relatively simple although I don't really have an underground oven… and uh, do you mind waiting here for 16 hours?"

Even if he can't see the student's face he can tell that's a no.

"Hey hey it's not a bother! Not a bother at all! We'll think of something I'm sure!"

Oh no he messed up didn't he? Now he's upset and oh god what's Theo going to do? A head pat, that's what he's going to do.

"Don't be upset now… Because I have an idea. You're from Night Raven right? They only accept the best of the best, so that means you're one of the best! So, I'll need your help alright?"

After seeing the student's eyes light up behind his bangs, Theo returned it with a warm smile.

"Sorry for making you work ahead of your hours… But uhm- it's relatively simple, in a way. Y'know that thing scientists use to replicate aging? It's kinda like that but magic. Normally it would be a heavy load on one person but since you're here you can probably help. It may make you feel tired if you're up to the task."

"Nothing I'm not used to…"

"Huh? Get some rest after this alright? I'll show that good for nothin' boss how to treat their employees correctly…"

Most unlike his normal demeanor he took on a grumpy face before realizing he may be scaring his guest.

"Ahahaha don't worry about it! Sit down and relax, it's your time off!"

With a brief session of washing his hands, it was off to the pantry! Or the fridge since there was some pork butt hidden around the back. He didn't know what to do with it until now. Using a carving fork, he would poke holes all over, though the force put into them seems slightly more violent than normal. While slathering the meat with salt and sauces he chirped up with his own thoughts.

"What's the village like? It sounds homely. Did ya see any of the merpeople? It's really interesting how diverse life is huh. Oh you surf? That's awesome! I'd love to see it one day."

The conversation had whittled the empty space in between and it was onto the next step.

"And would you look at that it's time! Stand by the slow cooker over there and I'll show you what to do."

After setting the meat inside the slow cooker and a quick session of sanitation, Theo took out a ladle with a green gem embedded.

"Silly, I know but hey practical! How about a little practice alright? It's just like aging and lighting something on fire! Slowly!"

Well that was very reassuring, but he has no time to think about his poor word choice! He set out an apple on the table and tapped it with the gem of his ladle. With the passing of a few seconds the apple started to heat up and age a little past it's prime.

"My condolences to this apple, but you saw that right? It's a combination of fire and time. Try to recreate it alright? This small amount won't do much harm, I think."

He sat down another apple and gave the mob student a reassuring smile. He shyly tapped the apple and surprisingly got it on the first try! Hooray! Although that joy would wither away just as the apple had because oh god it's on fire.

"Oops oops! Oh no not again-"

Theo recklessly cupped tap water from the sink and splattered it over the apple. Along with the floorboards and table.

"Okay that was on me, we should've done this outside. That was great though, although maaaaaybe you went a little overboard. Something on your mind? This is telling me that you're not having the best time. Oh and don't worry about the slow cooker, let's just say it can take the heat."

After Theo had cleaned up, he would sit him and his guest by the slow cooker.

"Alright so just tap your gem on the meat before I close it, I'll do it too. We have to keep a steady flow of magic, strong emotions could throw it off."

Gentle taps of the pork and off to hell it goes!

"We're gonna be here for an hour or so. Conversation can aid this process, mostly because the flow of feelings will be constant. So tell me about yourself! I'll talk about myself too if it helps."

And so the shadowy student started a stream of words. From his time by that quaint little village to the hell known as Night Raven College. Anger, sadness, and happiness, all apparent in his words. All the while, Theo was listening patiently.

The best part of it all, none of it threw off the flow! He must have been keeping his cool because of the meat.

"Hah! I get ya, I had to work 2 jobs before, the managers were nice because I was a kid n' all. Couldn't thank them enough. But your manager… is a kid like you? Huh? I take back what I said before, I'm going straight to his parents. It's always your old folks that influence you the most y'know? Yours have raised a mighty fine young man."

Theo gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. The student had given a bashful smile before looking away.

"Don't be so modest now! Work hard and you'll go places I promise. And grades aren't everything, work isn't everything. Sure they might help and you gotta do your best. But this is your life, live it how you want to. And live it with pride. You aren't anyone's servant, got that? Your hard work is for you and you only!"

The ding of the cooker had indicated the end of their wait. Theo pulled the plug and carefully removed the pig onto a platter. He took a fork and started tearing into it, creating several juicy shreds of meat. With a few extra garnishes and sauces, it was finally ready.

"Your dish has been granted! Good job on the meat, even if it was a lil' overcooked, I think it makes it better! You've got skill, just keep working at it. What matters is that you keep going, not that you stand out. And please rest after this. I think I will too- only after I eat this with you! May or may not have made 12 servings but you can take it all-"

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Croatia to Eurovision with a confused angel lad and his lowkey over-enthusiastic mentor

Yeah, well, I definitely have hoped for this nation to finally finally bring back Dora as their national selection, as I myself have never really felt their internal entries since they abandoned it (well maybe except Nina from 2012 but even then by now I grew out of it softly). Not even Nina from 2016 which was tipped as a huge fan fave (though I’m so sorry for it getting completely lambasted in Eurovision, especially because of the poor clothing choice and Nina’s warbly notes here and there).

And they did! After like what, 7 solid years??? After the last Dora ending out with a disastrous end result and spawned a person to (more) stardom who even qualified a couple years back and this year he’s there to be a songwriter for his home country because of the Eurovision 2019 slogan inspiring him???? Well... yeah that happened. With having fought 15 other participants made up of familiar faces, up and coming starlets, the already legendary divas or just some people, he won as a songwriter for this next target of my review - the target that is aptly titled “The Dream” and is performed by a 19 year old up-and-coming pop star, Roko Blažević. Yep, Jacques Houdek won a NF but not with himself singing. Man did his magic game get stronger over the years since Dora 2011.

And interestingly enough, Jacques’s wizardry comes in with him being capable of selling chanceless music as something worth buying into. How can that happen???

Well, to be frank with you all, this song is not that bad, unlike everyone thinks it is. It feels like a low-rent musical ballad, sure, but it's not terribly composed or anything... well, I know I usually hate on those songs that like using mostly not the "verse - chorus - verse - chorus - bridge - chorus", but there are plenty of songs that mess with that structure that usually just omit the last two components (radio pop music) or don’t even need one, and they sound great. Here we have the omission of the last two components that more reminds me of “Grande amore” (I am not saying they’re comparable but still), as in, slow ballad in the F minor (”The Dream” even slaps a keychange on) that tries to sound majestic/dramatic, not very much so to be intense, just something theatrical I s’pose. And has a little too little time for another full verse so they just go to a bridge (and "Grande amore" had two long pre-choruses too?!?). I don’t hate this one, if I had to make a 2019 ranking this instant I’d put this in Top 30 somehow.

So what is there to be found that puts people off? They cannot be hating on Roko’s voice, which is really great for a young man like him. (In fact, God forbid I say one bad word about him, because some specific one on Twitter will have a beatdown with me because I dissed her hubby... so I’ll keep my mouth shut about any qualities of his :X) I guess it consists of several factors: 1) the song sounds dated; 2) the lyrics, especially in that chorus (I DREAM OF LOOOOOOVE, YOU DREAM OF LOOOOOOVE~ lol I actually dream of hatred, hatred will prevail >:) ); 3) the vocal volume is loud at parts; 4) the song is English-Croatian and somehow it should be sung in Croatian just to hide away the hideous understandable lyrics. My personal caveats are: 1) the song is too plodding and it shows a lot in that chorus with Roko holding his long notes (can we get tothe point FASTER?!); 2) the chorus lacks productional depth and maybe with a slight revamp (given Jacques wouldn’t be so stubborn about it!) it could have sounded the right amount of dramatic. If anything, I am GRATEFUL that it sounds more palatable than "My Friend", as THAT one was a joyful of cringey clichés tbh. The cheese became rotten and smelly and the sudden violin lead-in into the bridge still creeps me out. Goddamn it Jaq.

Not to mention Mr. Houdek is soooooo optimistic about his song, he finds everything in it perfect enough to not change it! Not the melody, not the language decisions, not the wings (did I tell you Roko wore wings on his NF performance??) - no! Did someone not tell him that Eurovision is rapidly evolving and his fantasies of coming top 3 with this song just better stay fantasies? Oh wait, it's the same man who once sang "dare to dream and make it real", of course he's stuck to his guns like super glue. Can't blame him, there were worse songs in top 3 over the years. Still though, the wings is a stupid idea. There should be something else involved if Jacques wants a performance to be memorable. Roko can't just stand there and only do what he's told to do by his guardian songwriter - granted he has to behave but still...

In the end, how would I summarize this tl;dr? I am one of a handful of folks who find this alright. There's a bigger minority who outright adores the song but I'm just there that likes this and nothing much more, honestly. Everything's just alright. Guess I'm sometimes soft enough to accept cheese, huh. But seriously, the mentoring behind the scenes... it's creepy to say the least. I'm happy Roko's having a helluva good time at least.

Approval factor: Oh I don't know with this one, statistically we can just go ahead and... try approving this? I’m not a huge fan of Croatian entries this decade, at least Slovenia redeemed themselves in my eyes last minute with “Sebi”, while even in my Croatian faves (they mostly are “Nebo” and “Crazy”, and I maaaaaybe like “Lighthouse” a bit too actually?) I see some negative qualities that completely overwhelm my liking for them. But since I legally find “The Dream” okay, I give this one a bit of a pass.

Follow-up factor: Sadly this kind of choice feels to me as a steady divedown in overall quality of what Croatia usually offers us. Well the decline was always on since “My Friend” followed up “Lighthouse” I suppose, or it's just so happens that Croatia sent the duds on this decade only in odd years ("Celebrate" was fun but tragic trash, "Mižerja" was pleasant I guess but everything here was miserable from the beginning and everyone still doesn’t get why “My Friend” qualified and “Crazy” didn’t). I like it though.

Qualification factor: I’d like to believe that this one can borderline sneak the fuck in to the finals for no reason other than Jacques knowing how to work things in his favour. Yes, I’m not writing this off completely. Although I still see some parts where this wouldn’t work out, it’s actually not 100% doomed... if anything, I at least don’t see it coming last in semi easily! It’s not as LAME as Iceland last year was. And it too was a basic love-peace-dreams message inserted into an older-timey-sounding singalong ballad and was given for a young singer that has a helluva lot of potential later ASIDE Eurovision. That is if they don't pretend Eurovision "ruined [their] careers, njeh!", of course. At least Roko can SANG live and maybe it will happen again that a singer's voice will make this surprisngly qualify over the song? We'll see. For now Jacques should just stay focused on how to make Roko's angel wings (sigh...) more memorable on stage in case the voice is not qualifying but the gimmicks are.

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

EMA 2019 at least had positive surprises all over for a NF this non-cared-about-by-me. Dora just... did not. Really. This NF did not interest me all that much song-quality-wise, and it even had SIX MORE SONGS than EMA!!! Crazy, huh?? But it’s okay, I can talk about the show to you if you want me to:

• From the Dora participants list announcement I was mostly excited to hear like two entries, and I'll mention both of them right away separately. And it's by two artists I've heard of before a lot! Though this first one kind of made me feel like I've been somewhat betrayed... enter Luka Nižetić who has got a nice vast catalogue of songs now - soft song(s), upbeat summer songs, and so on. And I kinda liked some of those songs of his I heard (if you're looking for recommendations, give "Vječno" a listen!), but “Brutalero”, his actual Dora 2019 entry was... on a whole different level. Dude, when was ripping off “Mi gente” ever useful?? It’s the year people were chasing after “Fuego” as the Latinesque bop to copy, not this! I hate it when people rehash annoying (but catchy) songs, and it’s certainly worse when they do it as their Eurovision NF entry. Brutal. And I actually remember hyping him before hearing the song, which is a bigger facepalm-worthy moment of mine. When will I ever learn?! ;( Thank God for the juries who served this song right. IDC if the revamp version of this made it any better, I’ll be fuming over this not being an inspired song. Oh and the comic book cartoon style made this brutally laughable to me, I said what I said. It might have entertained some kids though. So to summarise, Luka’s capable of having bops out, but “Brutalero” ain’t it, sis.

• Well guess what - Friendship ended with LUKA, Now MANNTRA is my best friend! Hell yeah lol. Did I tell you I like rock music so much? So I really foresaw kind of liking Manntra's song “In the Shadows” and rooting for them based on me knowing their name (just like Luka but oop), and in fact I really did root for them in the end! I wish I supported them more than Luka instead. They’re bangin’. They’re blazin’. They’re pure awesomeness. Their costumes. THAT BREAKDOWN. Magic. Should’ve won, and if them winning were any forbidden because Croatia is just refusing to accept stuff I’d stan for, at least come second. Screw Luka, screw Lorena. Bring the rock music back. ^^

• oh yeah and the others I guess. Well, if I had to recommend a few entries, here goes: if you’re nostalgic for old-timey early 2000′s bops (in the style of “Everyway That I Can”), you go and listen to the aforementioned Lorena Bućan‘s entry, “Tower of Babylon”. If you dreamed of one of the Femminem singers becoming a 60s retro artiste (actually you did not, that sounds very utter random), go check her project’s (Gelato Sisters) entry, “Back to That Swing”. If you’re here for THE QUEEN DOMENICA, go ahead, check out “Indigo”, the ultimate shopping mall background music anthem. My actual other favourite together with Manntra was Beta Sudar though, as “Don’t Give Up” as some really nice pop I guess. You see what I mean when I said that Dora this year did not interest me all that much song-quality-wise? Well ofc some songs were nice but that's all and too much 'just niceness' is slowly breaking me honestly. I would have gladly cancelled the NF and put Manntra through internally instead. Epic boys deserve an epic platform to showcase themselves, I don’t make the rules here.

Thankfully that's that out of the way, now I'm just going to wish this sweet little angel man all the best in Tel Aviv and not to be too upset if he flops. I know Jacques would be upset, but for that he shouldn't put Roko through a similar mind process also...

[misterquickwitted]

8^3c gimmi a baby tucker

If they had a kid meme

Name: Ursula (it means little bear which I feel like is appropriate for any kid Maine has)

Gender: Female

General Appearance: Hmmmm, I kind of want to take after Maine in terms of looks, so his eyes and sort of similar features, but maybe with Tucker’s curly hair and closer to his stature

Personality: She’s a bit more softspoken and timid than either of her parents, especially around people she doesn’t know. Once she’s more comfortable, I’m picturing her just being this bright ray of sunshine of a person. She probably would’ve inherited the need to please other people and she has a great sense of humor, although that can get a little morbid sometimes. Ursula would be extremely loyal, another trait from both dads, but maybe a little more comfortable being on her own than Tucker is

Special Talents: Even if she’s small, she’s gotta be tough, and can easily take guys twice her size. She’s also gotta be a musician, she’s probably the one with the best voice in the family

Who they like better: Hmmm I think she might like Maine a little more, just cause I could see him as being a super doting father. Not that Tucker isn’t, but this would be Maine’s first time around, so everything is exciting and new and he has to protect her from everything, unlike Tucker, who might be a little more lax there

Who they take after more: When she’s younger, Maine probably, but as she gets older and more confident, I could see her taking on more Tucker traits

Personal Head canon: She’s very good at imitating voices. This is probably something she figured out early on and uses to sneakily mess with her dads sometimes, never to be mean, but just because she thinks it’s funny

Face Claim: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh man, I’m so bad at finding fcs. Maaaaaybe Jessica Parker Kennedy? 

[asagimeta]

Jumping on the Skrull related bandwagon...

I know everyone has heard the Skrull theories by now but I was typing up this email to my mom and it got long so I decided why the hell not? I might as well post it (Warning: *Because* it's an email to my mom I didn't exactly take care in wording or add screencaps or .. you know... refrain from rehashing the information everyone already knows, so take with a spoon of understanding before reading)

So, we have some important MCU related news, Captain Marvel (wich will come out in November 2018) is going to introduce the Skrulls to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, wich means there's a more than likely chance that someone we know in Marvel- one of our heros- is a Skrull, these things are the main villains of Captain Marvel, wich takes place in the 1990s and before Nick Fury lost one of his eyes, we have a bit of a Wonder Woman thing going on here, because why was Captain Marvel around fighting in the 90s but yet hasn't made an appearance so far in all of these big battles? Where has she been? Unless they give her "We fucked up" logic like poor Wonder Woman and decide to make her sit out by choice for the last thirty or so years, the only explanation is that something happened to her, wich means that either the Captain Marvel the movie introduces is going to be the Skrull (wich ... for Marvel's first female lead superhero movie... would be the most gigantic kick in the nuts you could imagine and I don't think Marvel is really THAT stupid) or, much more likely, someone we know and love is the Skrull agent that defeated her and is responsible for locking her up/holding her captive somewhere.... until the upcoming films when she assumingly breaks free or gets released to help out in Infinity Wars Part 2, here's what we know (or atleast, what we think we know)

Infinity Wars Part 1 will be released in May of 2018- this is when Thanos goes crush-crush on all of our heros and possibly kills someone (who might just be the Skrull, wouldn't THAT be something? We get this big, emotional death scene, everyone crowds around the body and oh look it's a green alien! Where has the REAL hero been for the last thirty years!?)

Antman And The Wasp will be released in July of 2018- As Antman isn't *properly* an Avenger yet and we don't actually have confirmation that he'll be in Infinity Wars to my recollection, this could be something of a side story explaining where he is and how he gets into Infinity Wars part 2

Captain Marvel will be released in November of 2018- This is when the Skrulls will be the main antagonists, wich would fit in almost perfectly with Infinity Wars in terms of pace and timing (you know, if you sort of sweep Antman under the rug, get it?? ANTman under the rug? Nevermind) This would be the perfect time to explain why one of our heros was revealed in Infinity Wars part 1 to be a Skrull.... or..... could reveal them as a Skrull here, during a flash-forward in Captain Marvel (much like how Wonder Woman flashed forward from the 1900s to present day at the end, wow, Captain Marvel is really licking up to Wonder Woman isn't it?) wich could reveal Captain Marvel escaping/being released from her imprisonment and identifying the Skrull either by name or flat-out unmasking them, leading into....

Infinity Wars Part 2, wich will be released in May of 2019- There has to be a reason Marvel is skipping their 2019 winter film (Marvel usually releases Febuarary/March - May - July - November and repeat every year, yet in 2019 we go straight from November to May with no winter release, why? We know there won't be one, Phase Three is set, the next movies in line are listed as "Phase 4" wich starts in July 2019 with Spiderman's sequel) Most likely they want the Skrull reveal to lead straight into Infinity Wars Part 2, meaning the Skrulls will be another enemy to fight along with Thanos

Here's the thing, Infinity Wars Part 2 rounds out Marvel's "Phase 3", and is "The end of the Marvel universe as we know it" according to Marvel themselves, everyone has been assuming that that's because someone big like Iron Man or Captain America will die because in the comic books they do- in the comic books everyone dies ... and ... most of them are brought back to life but that's not the point- alot of MCU actors end their contracts with Infinity Wars, including but not limited to:

Captain America Iron Man Thor Loki Hawkeye

Now this doesn't mean that all of these guys are going to dissappear- Robert Downey Jr. has upped his contract TWICE already, for example, and it doesn't mean that the others are safe, Scarlett Johanson's contract is one of the loosest of all of them because she keeps "upping her contract" without letting it rest like the others do, apparently going more movie-by-movie than solid blocks at a time, for example, but this is still relevant to note; people like The Winter Soldier, The Hulk, and all of the Guardians from Guardians Of The Galaxy *are*, however, locked in for movies post Infinity Wars and are thus pretty much safe

Two things are possible with a potential Skrull agent hiding in plain sight:

1. The perfect fake-out death; one of our heros is killed by Thanos as we all suspect they will be, we're left to chew on that until Captain Marvel when it's revealed that they were actually a Skrull all along and the REAL hero has been in a Skrull prison all this time, this would be a "great" way to trick audiences with someone like Captain America who's contract DOES end with Infinity Wars Part 1 and is top of the list of suspected deaths, this could be Marvel playing on our suspicions and renewing Chris Evans' contract secretly until after Captain Marvel is released, whereby Captain America will be "renewed" and essentially confirms himself to come back in future films

2. The perfect way to release an actor without killing the charector; let's keep using Cap for our example because he's easiest to work with, if they reveal Captain America to have been a Skrull all this time (a now very dead Skrull) they leave the door open for one of two things: 1. A recasting, letting Chris Evans out of his contract wile not killing Steve Rogers and setting up something of a Captain America reboot with a new actor where the goal is for Cap's besties (Winter Soldier, Falcon, Black Widow, and possibly Iron Man because he's in everything) to search for the REAL Cap, or 2. A looser contract that still keeps Chris Evans as Captain America but allows him some time off to pursue the other projects he wants to do, having the "Where is the real Cap?" mystery for the majority of Phase 4 would allow Chris to take a break and do some other projects without actually releasing him from the sheild and finding the real Captain America could be a subplot during Phase 4, leading to the last film in the set (some cheesy named "Captain America: Rise Of The First Avenger" or whatever) to reintroduce Cap into the MCU after a roughly 2-3 year long abscence, this new Cap would KEEP Chris' contract loose because he would have the excuse of recovering from his Skrull-related experiences to not tag along in some of the Avengers related adventures during Phase 5 as well, by the time  Phase 5 is done it's highly possible that the majority of the Avengers will have to be recast due to age anyhow, or Chris will have settled down, slowed his roll a little, and decided to committ more strongly to Captain America as he'll be older and might not be looking to pursue as many new opportunities- or they might just sideline alot of the original Avengers and keep ALL of their contracts to something like one movie every two years or some such because of all the new blood we're getting right now with folks like Doctor Strange and Antman to concentrate on

Here's the thing, the Skrull could be ANYONE- and I do mean anyone, it could be Ironman, it could be Captain Marvel, Nick Fury, even lil' Spiderman, that's just what Skrulls *do*, the ONLY ones who I think are more or less off the board for possible Skrullness are Thor and Loki, Loki is already a shapeshifting trickster who's faked his death twice (and surely will a third time in Thor: Ragnarok because it's almost a tradition by now) and to make him a Skrull would be the absolute ultimate in cheap, lazy, and stupid, because there's absolutely no benefit to it, why make that a thing when Loki is just a better, prettier, more powerfull and fun-time version of a Skrull anyway in terms of powers? And he's a villain, wich would make the reveal not only useless but... well... double useless, the idea is shock and emotion, revealing a villain to be.... another villain is just senseless, Thor *could* be in the same sense that the neighbor's dog *could* be, it'd certainly be a surprise but it wouldn't make much sense because, again, of Loki, it would just feel cheap to make one half of a trickster duo another trickster, it wouldn't make much sense for Ragnarok (why would a Skrull continue to impersonate Thor on a war planet instead of, you know, escaping?) and it would just be ... odd, Thor fell ass backwards into the Avengers in the first place, there'd be virtually no advantage to impersonating him and given that he was sent to Earth as punishment from Odin to begin with the only way for it to even KIND OF make sense is if the Skrull started impersonating him during The Dark World wich, again, due to Loki, would feel incredibly cheap and useless- as an aside, I feel kind of certain that Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth will renew their contracts, they don't have to fill as many commitments as, say, Ironman and Captain America, and they both seem to love their roles dearly, I'm not too worried about them

Our most likely Skrull agents in my opinion are people intimately involved with the S.H.E.I.L.D. organization such as Ironman, Nick Fury, Captain America, Agent Carter (Peggy's granddaughter, Emily Vancamp's charector), Captain America, Hawkeye, maaaaaybe Black Widow although I still feel that one is unlikely, etc etc, because a Skrull would have the most to gain from impersonating these people and infiltrating a massive government organization that often has international ties, I actually would kind of like if it was Peggy's granddaughter, that would be really out of the blue and shocking, not very heart-wrenching, but shocking all the same, and it'd make considerable sense, we don't know much about her but because she's Peggy's granddaughter we (and Cap) instantly trust her, she works inside S.H.E.I.L.D and gets along with the Avengers, especially Cap himself.... it's a nice, clean, fit but I think they might be shooting for someone higher on the food chain, I don't have a solid guess in all honesty because I can find a bunch of reasons for and against pretty much everyone in The Avengers besides Thor and Loki, but it's something to keep an eye out for

When Infinity Wars begins, don't just fear for the LIVES of your favorite heros, fear for their IDENTITIES as well....

[zoeylectric]

Playing Virtue’s Last Reward. I’ve completed 3 routes in their entirety and gotten to a number of route cliffhangers and I’VE FIGURED OUT THE GAME!!!! There are a few people I still don’t know what their deal is beyond a couple hints (Phi, Dio, and Luna), and a couple reason for other appearances or actions are still unknown to me, but otherwise I’VE FIGURED IT ALL OUT!!!

(if I got something wrong be silent that’s spoilers)

I’ve finished Tenmyouji’s, Clover’s, and K’s route, for your information.

So, let’s start off with the big guns: Zero’s identity. The big twist. You wonder if it’s Luna or Dio, or maybe even Tenmyouji, but in Tenmyouji’s route you SEE a hologram of Zero, and it’s NONE of them. Zero Jr. said it was one of YOU, but the hologram makes it clear that it’s none of you, other than maybe K who is under a mask, or maaaaaybe an older Dio if you stretch things, but unlikely. So was Zero Jr. lying, or is it K?

The answer is neither. Out of the 9 contestants of the Nonary Game, who would you suspect of being Zero the least? In 999 it was the person closest to you. In Virtue’s Last Reward?

YOU are Zero.

Not yet though. Haven’t gone through all the stuff to become Zero in the post-apocalyptic timeline you’re trying to stop. Zero Jr. was only SORT OF telling the truth then. Let’s get to that. First going to recap what’s directly been told to me with a little bit of speculation thrown in.

Clover and Alice are SOIS agents, Clover recruited for her psychic abilities. That I figured out early. It’s directly stated in Clover’s route, and the little bit of Alice’s route I’ve done (before CLIFFHANGER) that they are working to stop a terrorist group called the Myrmidons backed by a cult known as Free the Soul, who are trying to release a bioweapon called Radical-6. I figure that in the FIRST TIMELINE, the raid they perform on December 25th fails to stop this bioweapon from being released.

Radical-6 is, for reasons unknown to me, released at a Nevada test site for a mission to Mars. It later spreads around the world, killing 3 billion people. 3 billion more are killed by the global collapse. The world enters a post-apocalyptic state, the secrets to making root beer lost forever.

Tenmyouji was alive before the apocalypse, and survives it. He ends of taking in Quark after no one else will. He works as a savager of the abandoned buildings. And it’s so obviously confirmed that he’s Junpei. I started suspecting the moment he got upset at the old woman’s death, who I figured to be Akane, but he has a picture of Akane stuffed away. He’s Junpei. Junpei was searching for Akane unsuccessfully and taking care of Quark when Zero approached him with a deal, probably promising to bring Junpei to Akane. Junpei agrees, but accidentally gets Quark involved.

K, on the other hand, is the son/clone of Zero. He lived in the facility (the VERY SAME ONES the Nonary Game takes place in and most likely the Nevada test site) and had a lonely life until Akane showed up, helping Zero with his research to stop the release of Radical-6 in the far flung past and preventing the apocalypse. It’s not stated that his father is Zero, but heavily implied, especially considering the father in his flashback is wearing the same clothes as Zero in the hologram. This is where I knew you were Zero, in that he looks exactly like you, Sigma. If he’s a clone of Zero, and a clone of you, you are Zero.

Here’s the speculation.

This Nonary Game is obviously in the post-apocalpytic future. Alice, Clover, and... somebody else (Phi? Luna?) were kidnapped and cryogenically frozen for decades, in a ploy by Zero (who is an Esper and used cross-time and maybe even cross-timeline psychic abilities to set this all up, perhaps with Akane of the past) to simulate the situation of the 9 astronauts stuck in the Nevada test site and so use Sigma’s psychic abilities to communicate with the astronauts and help them prevent the outbreak of Radical-6, thus saving the world.

K is Zero’s son/clone, and so was given amnesia and put in an all-concealing suit to give Sigma information he needed... in only SOME timelines, ensuring that the Sigma that knows everything needed to save the astronauts is in psychic high-gear if he already knows all of THAT. Tenmyouji and Quark are there for stated reasons. Akane volunteered as a participant in the Nonary Game, knowing that Dio, a member of the Myrmidons IN THE FUTURE would come to kill her and take her place to stop the stopping of the apocalypse (thereby playing into Zero’s hands, simulating the Myrmidon spy in the astronaut-accident). Or Dio is conspiring with Zero to simulate this aspect on PURPOSE. Dio also probably planted the bombs as a part of this plan, which all-knowing Zero learned the codes to, which is at least PART of what Sigma needs to transmit to the astronauts. No clue what Phi and Luna’s deals are, although Phi definitely has some Esper abilities.

Sigma, of course, is communicating and remotely controlling a ROBOT IN THE FUTURE using PSYCHIC ABILITIES, which I TOTALLY CALLED. The robot most likely doesn’t look like the Sigma we know (which we’ve ONLY seen in FLASHBACKS, so no guarantee what you look like now) in order to not immediately tip K off, since amnesia probably wouldn’t cover not recognizing his own face. Also because I’ve already played a game where the twist was that you don’t look like what YOU THOUGHT you looked like, and now I’m always going to be suspicious when the game doesn’t show you your own face except in discreet scenarios.

tl;dr you from the future present is orchestrating these events to get past you to control a robot in the future to find bomb codes to save astronauts and prevent a cult-terrorist bioweapon from starting the apocalypse in the least stable timeloop imaginable.

Also, in one of the optional developer archives the game gives you, it seemingly out of nowhere gives you Richard Knox’s ten commandments for mystery novels. Some of these include no supernatural powers, no unexplained premonitions, the detective isn’t the culprit, and any doubles are introduced as doubles early. I think when the developers realized that they were breaking the first two, they went out of their way to break every single other one and include Knox’s rules to lampshade it all. 

[sydnam]

OUAT 6x19 “The Black Fairy”

Only a week late this time…

The usual running commentary under the cut.

Title card fairies looked like Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather.

Hey Malcolm what’s up? Are you less of an ass at this point in time? Aww look at tiny bb Rumple. Oy, fairies, you ought to at least KNOCK. Why is Blue known as Blue when other fairies get actual names? Savior Rumple. Tiny vindication for the Dearies who have always maintained he’s a good dude who just fucks up often?

Rumple why do you have a rotten dragon egg? “That’s dark even for the dark one” do you eat meat Emma? You do so hush. It’s already dead he didn’t, say, STEAL THE DRAGON EGG AND INFECT IT WITH DARKNESS AND CAUSE IT TO BE KEPT FROM ITS MOTHER FOR 28 YEARS LIKE SOME PEOPLE’S PARENTS DID, NOW DID HE? Also he’s trying to save Blue so wtf. Don’t be difficult.

Rumple what did the newspaper box ever do to you? Heh, Belle, good question. “I’ve already lost one son” WAAAAAAH I MISS NEALFIRE

Hook, dude, let the fairy wake up for more than 5 seconds before you demand help, eh? CORA’d. How many of those magic dampening cuffs ARE there or do they keep recycling the same one?

Okay, this bonding over not using magic is cute. Hee. Ikea. Zelena how do you even know about Ikea and also Swedes and how did you GET something from Ikea?

TRUST. HEARTS IN MY EYES. Rumple maaaaaybe dragging Emma along was not the best plan without asking. Although she might not have said yes, so perhaps it was necessary even if not exactly wise.

Emma you weren’t kidnapped you were put to sleep. Rumple you make a fairly good point. She probably would have run off to be Heroic. I like this coat of Emma’s. It looks like her. Unlike SO MUCH of her current wardrobe.

Tiger Lily whyyyy you never knock? I would probably draw a sword too! Book of Prophecies???? THAT IS A THING? WHERE IS THIS BOOK NOW? BB Rumple is swaddled in a gold blanket which is a nice touch. You can just turn yourself into a fairy now that’s a thing? And Fiona speaks fairy because she read some books? Sure. Ok. Whatever.

That certainly is a car right there. And it’s certainly green. ANd Zelena certainly cannot drive. Why not give her an automatic transmission, Regina? Come on! “You really trust me to raise Henry?” “Nooo...I trust him to raise you” HA. Well-played. Regina is offended by mayor pants? Granny’s is the heart of Storybrooke? Ok sure whatever.

Fairy vs Fairy showdown would be way more interesting if one weren’t tied up.

Is, is the Black Fairy a Gold Fairy to start with? New spells are forbidden? Why? By whom? There’s a fairy vault?

“Are you serious” Rumple I ask the same of Emma ALL THE TIME. And he’s telling you right now he wants her defeated so please remember that I’m sure it’s important later. Hey Gideon bb. NO NOT THE CRYING RUMPLE FACE. Can’t they use a locator spell on the heart since it’s part of Gideon?

I’ve missed Granny and her being fed up with everyone. Really? Under the juke box? Odd choice. More scenes with Regina and Black Fairy please.

There’s quite a lot of gold in Black Fairy’s costume too. Hmm. Hell of a time to learn to drive, Zelena. That was pretty funny.

Rumple that was a very half-assed attempt at scaring Emma for calling you scared. Where has THIS Emma been all season? I don’t get why Rumple should have clear memories of being an infant? What a WEIRD looking vault. Fairies have the oddest aesthetic. Now that Rumple knows Tiger Lily was HIS fairy godmother are they ever gonna meet? Well. Finally we’re told definitively who made the Dark Curse. Ok so ripping out one heart turns you into an eeeeevil fairy? “Evil was not born this winter it was made” Okay HOW many prophecies about Rumple ARE there though because if he is and his mother are supposed to kill each other and also he had to die to kill his dad (though that was NEVER explained) and also there was a boy who would be his undoing…

Gideon looks SO uncomfortable with this savior information. Rumple, running off to try and solve everything on his own. Oy.

And now we have a Dark One vs Black Fairy showdown. I am sure it will not be the last. I am kind of shocked he let her touch him.

How does Blue know how to put a heart back in though. Hmmmmm. Oh hey the shears again surely nobody saw that coming. “I need my power” OH NO IT’S GENETIC. “Every moment of every day” IT’S ALL GENETIC. This family. Oy. Rumple is always so disappointed when other people make bad choices because he KNOWS about bad choices. If she severed his fate then he isn’t fated to kill her anymore though? Or be killed by her? Or are we ignoring that? YES he understands, Fiona, he told you that already. “I love you” ehhhhh I’m not convinced and I don’t think he’s gonna forgive you stealing and torturing his kid for 28 years.

How long was Fiona a fairy before she got banished? Did Malcolm know she was a fairy? Were they still living together? Seems like Blue wouldn’t allow that sort of thing. Also how old is bb Rumple why didn’t he have a name? Blue this is CLEARLY not a good place to leave a helpless infant Malcolm is CLEARLY not gonna be a good dad why must you fuck over everyone all the time? Also why did Tiger Lily abandon him? Worst Fairy Godmother! And why didn’t either one of them save him when he was being abused by Malcolm? Fairies. man.

TOMORROW WHO HAS A WEDDING TOMORROW WITH NO PLANNING DONE YOU JUST SAID LAST EP YOU WERE GONNA POSTPONE

GIDEON HAS HIS HEART YAY Awww hugging. HE HAS WAITED HIS WHOLE LIFE FOR THESE HUGS. Oh Gideon bb you don’t need forgiveness. Rumple is so carefully not saying he killed her to Belle and Gideon. He didn’t say he killed her either to the Charmings. Hmm. (He said the blackened heart was hers but that doesn’t mean it was HERS…) He is super obviously hiding something though, Belle should know this. And that little “it might not be apparent at the time” spiel is CLEARLY him trying to say something without saying it.

Ew Hook. You HAVE been through a lot. Like the time you tried to kill Henry and his whole family. Ew Emma what is that top. “It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding” and yet you are seeing her literally right this moment? Or is it just on the actual wedding day?

Okay Rumple is clearly not a happy man right now. “No one ever doubts me” dude that is the least true thing you’ve said in a while. What’s his game right now? Hmmm. He’s not really working with her, that ought to be clear.