Once Upon a Time (ABC TV Series)

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Post by Tae »

@Disney Duster: Yeah, I liked Red X Peter too, but at least Red's story was more about the wolf then about romance so there was a reason for the lack of screentime. Unlike most, I did like Dreamy, but only the real world parts; Nova and Grumpy's relationship was ridiculous, they met two or three times and then decided to run away together! I much preferred the Mary Margaret/Leroy friendship dynamic.
Your idea of them trying to make him like the early Disney princes is an interesting idea. I'm trying to think of how that could have been accomplished if they had tried it... I wish they had, though. It would have been nice to have a different take on romance with the two of them! Thinking about it, they reminded me a lot of Kathryn and Frederick, except in reverse, since Kathryn got Frederick back and Regina lost Daniel permanently.
On the note of Kathryn and Fredrick, I was really happy that Kathryn turned up alive, so those two have a chance at a happy ending. Even though they were only in one episode, I like the pairing.
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Post by Disney Duster »

Your right, the focus on the wolf excused their relationship. Grumpy and Nova's, yes, I also felt it was ridiculous. I like that such "little" characters could get a love story but I don't like how they did it.

I actually think that Disney's Cinderella's prince came off too jerky in the beginning, and many people think he or Snow White's prince are poor characters. I don't know if people aren't getting their mystery, missing the point that we aren't supposed to know much about them. But the one little known about "prince" that did seem to get pulled off is Bambi's mysterious father the Great Prince of the forest, no one complains about him.

I also liked Kathryn and her cute boyfriend. : )
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Tae
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Post by Tae »

My thoughts exactly. I wish they had had the two sneak out to meet each other quite often over the course of a few months, and then have them agree to run away together. I get that it's a world of fairytales, and our logic doesn't apply so much, but giving up a dream (being a fairy godmother) for someone you just met doesn't make much sense either way.
And, I wish Nova had gotten a better outfit. Every time I see the fairies, I wonder if they're part jellyfish.

I admit, I'm not a huge fan of the princes in Cinderella and Snow White, but I don't really mind them. They were made for a completely different time period, and thinking of them being as involved in the stories as Flynn or Naveen is kind of odd! Given what little screentime Daniel had, I think an approach like that could have worked if they did it right.
I never actually thought of Bambi's father as a prince before, but your right, he does get away with being mysterious far more then the early human princes, haha.

After all that she went through with David, and then whatever went on between her disappearance and Stable Boy, she deserves to have her prince! I think he's credited as being in one of the coming episodes, hopefully we'll see some development there :)
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Post by Disney Duster »

I don't know how the Nova Grumpy romance could be better but maybe your ideas would make it so. I am so glad someone has talked about the fairy outfits. I actually love some of it, I just think what they need to do is make the hanging pieces form more of a pseudo full length skirt and the tutu would then look like a farthingale, if you look that up a farthingale was something they wore back in once upon a time times. Lol jellyfish yea it's pretty bad as it is.

Maybe Bambi's dad gets away with it because he's not human and he's not doing any romance scenes, I guess. How can the mysterious romantic princes get done properly, I wonder.

Glad to see Kathryn's cute boyfriend will be in upcoming eps!
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Tae
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Post by Tae »

Yeah... I'm not sure how to improve it, really. That's the only way I can think of to make it better, unless they completely changed how the characters met and such, haha.
Agreed. I was once looking at a screencap from the episode, that cut off right above where the skirt thing starts, and I realized her dress is really pretty aside from it. I looked up a farthingale and that would be perfect! Too bad we're not part of the costuming department, lol.

True. It is funny, though, to group him in with the early human princes!
If I come up with an idea about that, I'll be sure to post it here.

Me too : )


Have you seen the episode description for episode 20?
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Post by Disney Duster »

Yay we agree on so much! Though I fee the actors are what bothered me most about Nova and Grumpy, and the dialogue, and also what they decided dwarfs would be, you know, coming from eggs, never having love, I thought that was too silly.

I don't look up what comes next in episodes to keep me from being spoiled, so I enjoy each episode more by being surprised. : )
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Tae
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Post by Tae »

It appears we do! I'm happy we got everything sorted out, haha.
Very true, the egg thing is a bit ridiculous. What kind of creature would lay eggs that opened to reveal clothed, middle aged men?

Ah, makes sense : )

Just one more Sunday and then we're on to episode 19!
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Post by Disney Duster »

I'm surprised no one's talked about the last huge amazing episode! Woah! Hm, well, I really liked what they did, except I didn't like everything in the exectution it, like I thought we could've seen Rumple getting worse to his son, too (because the only reason Rumple's bad is because of what he does to other people, it felt like he didn't want his dad back for himself but just to save other people), and I thought the kid could've been a better actor and Rumple could have acted more sad/devastated/enraged and I was worried that Rumple's story and even possibly the series was coming to a close way too fast but then, well, they really did a turn didn't they! Someone online said they thought that guy was...well, who he said he was to Rumple, but it sounds like that person got a leak about it beforehand, only to be wrong anyway. But now I can predict when his legs hurt, it's because they're turning back to wood. He's dying because the Blue Fairy gave him, Pinocchio, the gift of life. Wonder how he got out of the Enchanted Forest though?.

I am soooooooo really excited for the next episode I mean did you see the preview it looks incredibly epic!!!!!

Did anyone think the production values of this episode were the best they've been? Every special effect finally looked really good to me. And the Blue Fairy's costume looked better, too, though I still miss her original hair. Did anyone notice though, that if fairies can't lie as she said in this episode (didn't she?), she did lie when Rumple said "a curse" and she said "no"? I thought it was kinda funny the way she said that line though, heh heh.

Anyway, I decided to draw my own versions of her costume. I wanted to make those strips of dangling fabric that make a pseudo skirt look more like an actual skirt and the tutu look like a farthingale. I actually don't know if I did a good enough job, but I don't care for now.

The first one is meant to be how she originally looked, except with blue hair because she was always the Fairy with the Turquoise Hair in the original story and I think Disney actually should have done it that way originally and if she's based on the Disney version...you see why I chose that.

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The next one is meant to be closer to the Disney version, and this time I tried to do her hair in between her Disney film's golden blonde and the original story's turquoise. I like how it came out. I also thought it made no sense for a fairy of stars and the sky and night to have roses (from the ground) on her dress, so I had stars (that still kinda look like flowers lol) on her skirt and on some puffy cloud-like things for her sleeves/dress straps.

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Finally, I did a version where her hair was turquoise again but with transparent sleeves and skirt and just stars as her sleeves/dress straps and the heart-shaped thing she has in the film, all to make her a combination of how she is in the Disney film and how I think she should have been with turquoise hair and a turquoise-silvery-white star wand tip. Whew!

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Tae
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Post by Tae »

I really like the fairytale part of The Return, but I found the real life parts to be kind of boring. It was confirmed a few weeks ago that we find out who August is in episode 20, so I knew immediately he was lying to Mr. Gold.
I did really like that we saw some new interactions, though; Gold and Archie, and Henry and David. I really wish we would have had a scene with Henry and David walking home together, we get lots of mother/daughter stuff with Mary/Emma and grandma/grandson stuff with Mary/Henry, but David is completely left out of that. I mean... when everything goes down and people start remembering, Mary Margret's going to be all 'oh my gosh yes my best friend is actually my daughter! And my favorite student is my grandson!' and David will be like 'who's my daughter? The blonde sheriff? And my grandson is that kid the mayor adopted? Um, okay'.

And... before I gripe more I really need to re-watch the episode because I can't actually remember much more beyond that ._. I was kind of distracted when it aired.
I will return with more thoughts soon.

But yes, Duster, I do think the special effects were very good this episode; I wish more episodes took place in the forest, it really cuts down on the background CG and lets them put more money into the magic-y stuff.

I really like your drawings! I would love if Once's blue fairy was closer to your third depiction ^^
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Post by Disney Duster »

You see, that's why I don't like to spoil myself about the next episodes!

You have a really good point about David and Henry.

Thanks for liking my drawings so much! My personal favorite is actually the second one, but I'd like it with half of the transparency of the third one.

I also forgot to say, why was everyone going to the forest to call on the Blue Fairy? She lives in a star. She doesn't live in the forest. We saw her come from the star in the episode about Jiminy Cricket's origin.
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Tae
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Post by Tae »

Ah, good point. I try not to read spoilers, but sometimes they end up coming my way anyway, haha.

Your welcome! Yeah, for the dress part, I really like your second drawing; for the hair color/style, though, I think the third version looks best :)

Good point. Maybe... hm, maybe some other fairies like Nova are around the forests and they alert the Blue Fairy? But she seems to hear wishes on her own so that doesn't make a lot of sense either.
Ah well, I don't mind too much. The forests they're shooting in are absolutely gorgeous, I always welcome seeing them on screen ^^
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Post by SillySymphony »

**Possible spoilers in 2nd paragraph**
I enjoyed the latest episode [The Stranger]. Although now I don't see August as a love interest for Emma anymore, but more of a brotherly guardian. (Never saw much of a connection anyway.) I was surprisingly caught off guard by Emma's rashness, should have seen that coming. The story is definitely speeding towards the finale.

I'm still a bit confuzzled about two things:
1. How did Mr. Gold know August was Pinocchio? Did he just guess or did I miss August telling him before?
2. Are we ever told who made the storybook? I know Mary Margaret gave it to Henry and that August added his story, but I can't remember if we're every told who wrote it.
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Post by Tae »

I absolutely loved tonight's episode. David finally grew a backbone, August became a bit more interesting, and seeing him take care of baby Emma was adorable, even if he did abandon her in the end. The only trouble is Emma. I'm happy to see where her character development is going, but running away and taking Henry with her? Seriously? Regina may be a sociopath, but the people who don't think Henry's very well off with Emma either have a pretty good case at this point.
SillySymphony wrote:I'm still a bit confuzzled about two things:
1. How did Mr. Gold know August was Pinocchio? Did he just guess or did I miss August telling him before?
2. Are we ever told who made the storybook? I know Mary Margaret gave it to Henry and that August added his story, but I can't remember if we're every told who wrote it.
He probably just guessed. He seems to be incredibly good at that. As for the storybook, I *think* it's been confirmed we'll find out where it came from in season 2 :) So far, we just know that Mary Margaret gave it to Henry and that August has been adding pages.
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I hope Emma believes by the end of the season finale. I don't want them to drag that part out into the second season. Love the men they cast for Geppetto and August/older Pinocchio.
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Post by Disney Duster »

Tae wrote:David finally grew a backbone
You mean in rejecting Regina you see his character as growing some strength he badly needed? You aren't implying he was always weak-willed, particularly to Regina, were you? And it seems August isn't going to be Emma's love interest, just like I never thought he was going to be. Did they officially say he would be her love interest? I couldn't see it before and now I can either just barely see it or I'm even farther from seeing it.

I loved the last episode! Except Gepetto was kinda dickish, not exactly as kindly and loveable as the one we knew, and Pinocchio could have been a better child actor. Hey, we got a really good child actor once (Snow White).

But everything else, great, great. I mean, I'm confused about how Emma can't see certain things, I feel like she's seen amazing things before, and if August went fully into...well, if he "died", what would that look like to her? And I'm also confused by her looking like she was ready to believe, and sounding like she was, and getting so emotional about it, but then not. Kind of like in the Mad Hatter episode, except that in that one I could have blamed her getting emotional on her being afraid of what she was about to do to try to escape, with this frightening mad guy.

I was surprised the Blue Fairy got her old (and better) hairstyle back for this episode. But I think it had to because it had to match the one you saw before at the meeting about the curse. I hate the way her dress looked their though. It was much better in the episode before this one.

Anyway, I am so, so, so super excited for this (*sniffle*) last epsiode, and I feel like...I dunno I thought this series was actually only going to be one season at first and now I won't get to see the big conclusion but have to wait a whole Summer for a whole nother season, but now I see I should be, and am, really happy this thing will have so much more before the big conclusion!

And yes, August...such a hotty. I always wanted a grown up Pinocchio...though young Pinocchio was not nearly like the Disney one, so blah to that.
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I didn’t think Gepetto was dickish at all this episode. If anything, I didn’t really like the Blue Fairy. She looked angry that a father might actually want to protect his own child, rather than the queen and king’s (because royalty is so much more important). What a b*tch.
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Post by dvdjunkie »

And you could tell very well from the close-ups that the Blue Fairy shops at Victoria's Secret!!!! So unlike the Fairy characters being that well endowed. But what the heck, I am just a dirty old man who lusts after things like that............LOL!!!!!
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Post by Disney Duster »

I gotta admit, I am surprised at seeing such a tight, revealing, pushing up bodice on a fairy, but actually, back in olden times, since at least the 1500's, women's tops were low-cut and pushed up their chests as a sign and a way of showing feminity, not meant to be sexual.

As for the Blue Fairy's behavior...lol at "what a bitch" but I think Disney's was the actual bitch lol. Thinking about it, I do see how since no one knew what would happen to them, Gepetto could have thought he was saving Pinocchio (even though Pinocchio's life arguably turned out just as bad as if he had been in the curse, if not worse if only he had stayed and Snow White took his place). But the reason the princess had to go was because she was the savior, not because she was royalty. The Blue Fairy actually let Gepetto off easy in the end, kind of leaving it up to his choice, just telling him "She needs her mother" and saying "please" and not being more forceful than that, that I remember.

The thing is, if I were Gepetto I may also have wanted to be with my boy and try to protect him by staying with him and endure the curse together.

But now I understand it's not so much what Gepetto did I find at fault, it's that the particular lines and the actor made him seem dickish.
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Tae
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Post by Tae »

Disney Duster wrote:
Tae wrote:David finally grew a backbone
You mean in rejecting Regina you see his character as growing some strength he badly needed? You aren't implying he was always weak-willed, particularly to Regina, were you?
Weak-willed? Nah, I wasn't implying that. I was thinking more along the lines of incredibly dense. Regina stares at the guy and tells him, direct quote, 'evil doesn't always look evil; sometimes it's staring right at us, and we don't even realize it'. Combined with the fact that everyone in town hates and fears her, at the very least he should be wary of her. Yet he isn't.
I very much like Charming, but David has proven himself to be incredibly unlikable, and this was the first step in the right direction to redeeming his character.
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Post by Disney Duster »

Oh Ok I get ya. Well...yea, I kind of see all of that.

One thing I wanted to say before was I'm glad Emma seems to be an actual...well...smart character! She doesn't do much that makes me go "the writers just wrote that to make their dramatic situations work". She actually knows stuff the thinking audiences would be asking, too. It makes sense that as someone not under a spell, she would do it, but I still don't find that an actual excuse for the other character's so often unrealistic reactions or motivations.

Yes, this last time, Emma did prove to kind of go against what I'm talking about with getting so emotional but disbelieving and taking Henry anyway, but she's still better than the rest and I actually kind of get why she would do all she did in the last episode. She's probably fighting her belief and I can see why she'd want to leave this crazy place and save Henry, despite possibley getting into legal trouble later.
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