Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24589671-20141117031643/@comment-6770938-20141121135052

Well, I got some thoughts.

(I got all sorts of emotional after watching episodes Smash the Mirror. All my comments are purely blunt and direct personal thoughts on the story. No need to reply to this.)

How do I start?

Well, Liz Mitchell finally did it - her tactical weapon was finaly launched.

"Warning. One enemy tactical weapon has been activated. Enemy tactical weapon launched."  These are my direct thoughts after I saw Ingrid activates her Mirror of Shattered Sights. Seeing her firing that mirror sure looks cool and all badass like, but that seems like one of the oldest cliches in every storytellings, right? "Our heroes may be able to stop the bad guys, but they would never, ever be able to prevent the villains' superweapon from firing". This cliche never gets old, though.

Really glad that Emma got Elsa around. Though I gotta say, having a predecessor with over 85+% similar experience kinda made it really... easy. Kudos here goes to Elsa for learning to embrace her superiority on her own. That yellow band on those three blondes' wrists gotta be working as shields, right?

Rumple is really starting to tick me. He seems to be standing at the threshold again. The hell is he doing, puppeteering Hook? This totally feels not like the same Rumple that sacrificed himself to save Storybrooke.

Talking about hatred... Why didn't Ingrid just say it was the Duke of "Weaselton"'s fault instead of begging her sister for forgiveness? And taking a step back, why didn't she just go on all "let it go"-like on Duke after she accidentally freezes... was it Helga or Gerda again? I forgot. Anyway, it would save a hell of a lot of trouble if she had, and it would be totally worth it: Annoying Ingrid when young, and Elsa when old. And the third sister... I still can't believe this. In my own story I have rescinded my rescue task forces I initially placed for her - she's broken the First Tenet to never turn on family members - and she attempted to neutralize her daughter's superiority. Not a wise move.

About Anna... that mirror of Ingrid's? To me, the test run on Shattered Sights was a crucial success. The results of that spell hurts, of course. But it also reminded me of something - Anna managed to dish out her long-repressed blunt and true feelings - and it resonated with me every time. The hard truth was that it actually was, to some extent, Elsa's fault that Anna feels isolated and out of place when growing up. And though she never expressed them onscreen, I can sense her repressed complaints and harsh thoughts - it's the kind of feeling any regular person would have. I was totally, completely, and heavily surprised how tolerating Anna was - bright, optimistic and "adorkable" and all. Because if it were me, with a big brother or sister like that, I would certainly have a total meltdown in about three weeks, and would shout at him or her like, "You abandoned me! You turned your back on me - when I needed you the most!" Maybe Ingrid did her a favor; maybe it's best that she unloads her true thoughts now than having a possible meltdown in the future. At least Elsa know now what impact did her 20 years of sister neglect she truly made on Anna - and she's dealt it pretty well.

And Regina/Robin? I'm seeing pretty nice possible futures in store. Since Regina's first comment on Robin...

SNOW: "He's pretty cute, huh?"

REGINA: "He smells like forest."

... I have sensed highly probable happy ending may be in store for her. After all, this is one of the most-used rom-com cliches. And one very good thing about OUR world - its unpredictability. Sure, those characters in books are designated heroes and villains, and can only go in one direction only, but here outside, there are 24 hours in a day, and there are at least 24 directions available, with infinite possibilities present. Heroes, villains - none of them are absolute anymore. When I saw the new page XXIII, I thought, "Oh, Regina. If only you would step in the door!"

Boy, it feels good letting these thoughts out. I like this story. One keyword I can use on Once is "Magical". Hard to imagine how I'm gonna spend the next hiatus week.