Souris

Truthfully, I can only remember him being left with his grandparents, Hook, Regina, Archie and Leroy.

That's 100% exactly the reading I got, too. I totally saw Emma be rattled around him multiple times because he was getting to her in a way she wasn't ready to deal with. I certainly can't see things through other viewers' eyes and experiences, but the fact she was attracted to him was clear as day to me, practically from the start. She was totally mesmerized when he was bandaging her hand in "Tallahassee." She abandoned him on the beanstalk because she sensed something there and couldn't make the leap of faith to trust it and him. Then there was the "You and I? We understand each other" at the end of S2 -- very telling, as not many people seem to understand Emma. Most of the time, she would go right along with the flirting and innuendo, because that's something Ms. One-Night Stand was fine and comfortable with. But get deeper and serious? Eek! Run away! If he wasn't getting to her, she wouldn't have run. She would have simply let him be serious because it meant little to her, or made it clear she wasn't attracted to him. She never tried to shut his feelings for her down -- she simply refused to allow herself to deal with them. And yet, for all her running scared from him, at the same time, she opened up to him far more than with any other character on the show ever. She told him things she wouldn't and didn't tell anyone else. That's SUPER telling for Emma. She's always been more vulnerable with him than anybody else. For Emma, that's a huge tell. I saw this long before I actively shipped them -- in fact, I was actively trying NOT to ship them or anyone else on this show or any other. I instituted a no-shipping TV-show policy for myself seven years ago, because I got too annoyed and frustrated by past ships. I wasn't getting invested in any other couples, absolutely not. Specter of a triangle? Oh, HELL TO THE NO. And I kept faithfully to that rule until late in this season with Hook and Emma, because it was just so. freaking. obvious. to. me. that I finally threw my hands up and caution to the wind and said, "OK, FINE!!" Neal dying removed the last obstacle for me, that dreaded triangle possibility. But I saw it from "Tallahassee." I was just being Emma about it, LOL. Of course, I also happened to be there when two co-workers were introduced for the first time, and I practically saw the little electric heart bubbles pop up over their heads. There was absolutely nothing in their words to indicate this, just something in the air, but I went to a friend immediately afterward and said, "I'm calling it now, "Bob" and the new girl? They're totally gonna get together." And now they're inseparable. So maybe I just especially notice stuff like that.

JMo's white outfit screams Princess Leia to me.

OK, characters. A is for Ariel!

Z is for Zelena, who had strong magic.

Word. I just wanted them to have a couple of freaking DAYS when they didn't have to worry about a crisis. They all need naps. I mean, they can realize it's unseasonably cold, but that happens. But it's not like OMG!CRISIS!!!!!

New interview with JMo. Not a lot about Once, but she says she read a lot of memoirs of people who grew up in the foster system as prep for Emma.

Yes, I was also thinking we'd see Walsh again and agree that your scenario would have been good for Emma. Seeing he was an actual human (the Wizard!) who'd been turned into a monkey would have indeed made her feel less like she had had some icky cryptozoological relations. But, you know, Zelena needed her monologuing time.

F is for Fireballs, which Regina likes to magic up.

I saw a theory somewhere (can't even remotely remember where) that the king who sent Liam/Killian after the dreamshade was Elsa's father, who actually did think it was a healing plant that could cure Elsa of her freezing magic. Liam and Killian just sort of jumped to the conclusion he wanted it for nefarious purposes after discovering it was actually poison. Wouldn't that give Hook a massive guiltapalooza if he finds out his whole reason for being a pirate was based on a misassumption? He'd do everything he could to help Elsa after that! Perhaps Elsa's parents were attempting to sail to Neverland to get the plant themselves when their ship sank.

I love that scenario, Serena, but the timeline doesn't fit for all of it. If it's Rumple who urned up Elsa, it had to happen AFTER Hook became a pirate, because Rumple became the Dark One while Milah was with Hook. UNLESS the bad king that Hook/Liam sailed under was Hans during the brief period in the movie when he was in charge while Anna was looking for Elsa. Though Hans wasn't really king, just acting regent or whatever, and it was a brief period. But I could handwave it happening in that brief period, because Hans was the kind of douche who'd do something like that. Though we haven't heard anything about him being cast, so....

That could be interesting. Though it would be sad for Arendelle to lose all their ruling family, and for Elsa and Anna to lose control of their land.

If Rumple is the one who urned up Elsa, then it would have had to have taken place sometime after Hook became a pirate. If it was a previous Dark One who urned her up and Rumple simply inherited the urn, then it could be Jewel of the Realm time. All we really know is, there's a ship. But spec'ing on the spoilers is indeed fun!

Unless they were also urned up. Ah, thank heavens, no stunt casting for Elsa!

Good point.

So apparently the Jolly Roger will be in the season opener. Does that mean it's the ship the regal woman is seen on in the opening scene?

It's got to be at least loosely affiliated -- or at least officially sanctioned -- for the company to have gotten the rights to do it. Otherwise Disney would sue them into the last millennium.

It looks like they've launched some sort of online role-playing game for Once. I don't know the parameters, and I've never participated in this sort of thing, but I shudder at some of the things that could be fan-produced.

I will always refer to the baby as Snowflake.

He was, but then they named him Neal, and it just sucked the special right out of him. ;-) They had loves. We don't know whether they were True Loves or just first loves. They've never been referred to on the show as True Loves. True Love seems a different category than your run-of-the-mill love.

If the show tries to blame Emma for saving Marian -- not her feeling guilty about it for a little bit and getting over it, but actually setting it up so that OMG, EMMA SUCKS FOR DOING THAT -- I will flip. a. table. Then set it upright and flip it again.

That's a huge get for an actress who just graduated UNCSA last month. They must have really liked her. The casting department has found some great unknowns/little-knowns for key roles (Colin, Robbie, Bailee), so I hope she's in that vein.

The casting of Anna and Kristoff has been announced. I don't know anything about them, but they look the part (especially the Kristoff actor, who seems to be going over well with people who watched Greek).

I'm wondering if Comic Con this year will focus on Michael Socha and whoever they cast as Elsa and Anna.

According to a post on Twitter, Colin's new band Chyld is going to be doing some recording/mixing on Wednesday, so that may be part of why he went back to Vancouver a bit earlier than the others.