u/Ok-Tie-570

Just a non-serious headcannon.

Cora was a miller’s daughter. She knew ambition, power, and emotional damage, but court fashion? Probably not.

Henry Sr., though? Always dressed sharp, always had the popped collar, always looked like he understood royal presentation. So I fully believe Cora taught Regina how to become queen, but Henry Sr. taught her how to look like one.

😂😂

Rewatching the show as an adult, the only reason Merlin didn't get caught is because of his status, and it is alarming how people overlooked him. I just finished the first two episodes of season 3, and the fact that neither Morgana nor Morgause questioned how Merlin escaped from enchanted shackles while surrounded by giant scorpions is baffling; no one suggests magic simply because he is just a servant. This is alarming to me because we have seen plenty of peasants killed for magic, but I guess they are just willfully blind to him; it is laughable upon rewatch.

While you can question why any of these couples are still together, I am wondering why Mike is still a part of the friend group. Every time he comes around, he brings nothing but chaos, and the way he treated Shelia was inhuman; the fact that Angela is the only person who will call him out is sad. Furthermore, I do not understand why Marcus is still friends with Mike when it is clear Mike does not like Angela and vice versa. I do not want to hear that they have a Martin and Pam relationship because that is the furthest thing from the truth. From a writing standpoint, it is clear why he is there, but if he were a real-life person, I would not understand why they still call him a friend.

Call me corny but I want a happy ending, I never see the logic in making characters suffer if there is no happy ending (To much like real life imo) While im pretty sure it won't happen im still holding out hope that they are able to break the cycle and everyone can go home. Well except the people who died of course.

I’ve been rewatching Merlin, and The Poisoned Chalice is one of those episodes where I actually think Uther starts out with a reasonable point and then somehow manages to turn it into something completely cruel.

When Arthur wants to go after the flower to save Merlin, Uther tells him he cannot risk his life for one person. And honestly? I agree with him there.

At this point Arthur is Camelot’s only recognized heir. Before everything with Morgana’s parentage is revealed, if Arthur dies, Uther has no successor. Arthur risking his life personally to save one servant is a terrible political decision, no matter how much he cares about Merlin.

BUT...

Why did that mean nobody could go?

That’s where Uther loses me.

If Arthur is too important to risk, then send a knight. Send two knights. Send a whole patrol if necessary. The fact that Uther refuses to send even ONE person makes it pretty obvious that Merlin’s class is part of the issue. Merlin is a servant, so Uther basically considers his life expendable.

And Arthur clearly doesn’t.

Which is exactly why Arthur sneaks out anyway.

Uther actually creates the situation he was supposedly trying to prevent. If he had simply sent another knight after the flower, Arthur probably never would have needed to go himself.

But the part that really crosses the line for me is when Arthur comes back with the flower and Uther tries to destroy it.

At that point...why?

Arthur already survived.

The dangerous mission is over.

The cure is literally sitting there.

Let Merlin drink it.

Trying to destroy the flower has absolutely nothing to do with protecting Arthur anymore. It feels like Uther is willing to let Merlin die just to punish Arthur for disobeying him.

And that is incredibly cruel when Merlin did NOTHING wrong.

It’s even worse when you remember Uther’s relationship with Gaius. Gaius has served Camelot and Uther for years, and Merlin is his ward. Uther also knows Merlin personally at this point and has literally seen Merlin put himself in danger to protect Arthur.

You don’t have to think Merlin’s life is worth Arthur’s to recognize that Merlin’s life is still worth SOMETHING.

I also think this episode is one of the first real cracks between Arthur and Uther.

Uther looks at the situation through rank: Arthur is a prince, Merlin is a servant, therefore Arthur matters more.

Arthur is starting to look at it through responsibility: Merlin serves him, Merlin has protected him, and Merlin is someone Arthur cares about, therefore he has an obligation to help him.

And I think that difference becomes a huge part of the kind of king Arthur eventually wants to be.

So basically:

Uther was right that Arthur himself shouldn’t have gone after the flower.

He was wrong that nobody should.

And once Arthur came back with the cure, trying to destroy it wasn’t leadership anymore. It was just cruelty.

What do you guys think? Was Uther genuinely trying to teach Arthur a lesson about being king, or was this mostly his classism and need for control taking over?

​

I have seen people compare Emma keeping Henry away from Regina in Season 2 to Regina trying to keep Henry away from Emma in Season 1, but I do not think those situations are the same.

To me, the issue was not simply about who had parental rights. It was about Henry’s own feelings toward Regina and his own safety. By the end of Season 1, Henry had very valid reasons not to trust Regina. Regina spent the season gaslighting him, making him think he was delusional, lying to him about the curse, trying to force Emma out of town, and controlling the people around him. The apple turnover situation also almost killed Henry, even though he was not Regina’s intended target.

So when Season 2 starts, Henry not wanting to be around Regina is not random. It is not Emma “turning him against her.” Henry is reacting to the harm Regina caused.

That is why I do not see Emma keeping distance between Henry and Regina as the same thing as Regina keeping Henry away from Emma.

Regina’s Season 1 mindset was about control. She saw Emma as a threat to her relationship with Henry and wanted her gone, regardless of what Henry felt or wanted.

Emma’s Season 2 mindset was about protection. Henry was scared, angry, and hurt. Emma was taking that seriously.

That distinction matters.

This was not just a custody issue. Henry was not a prize to be split between two mothers. He was a child with his own feelings, and after everything Regina had done, those feelings deserved to be respected.

I do believe Regina loved Henry. I also believe Henry helped Regina become better. But loving Henry does not erase the damage she caused him. Regina was not entitled to immediate forgiveness or immediate access just because she wanted to change.

Trust had to be rebuilt.

Could Emma have handled every single moment perfectly? Probably not. None of the adults in this show handle magical family drama perfectly. But the motivation matters.

Emma was not trying to erase Regina from Henry’s life forever. She was giving Henry space from someone who had hurt him.

Regina, on the other hand, tried to remove Emma because Emma threatened her control over Henry.

So my take is this:

Emma keeping Henry away from Regina in Season 2 was not about ownership or parental rights. It was about Henry’s feelings and safety.

Regina keeping Henry away from Emma in Season 1 was about control.

Those are not the same thing.

PSA: If you or someone you love uses durable medical equipment and rents through a DME company, do not assume they will be able to send someone out after hours for every piece of equipment. Ask ahead of time what the company considers emergency or life-sustaining equipment, and what is and is not serviced after hours.

And please, do not call the call center and cuss out the representative for following a policy they did not create and usually have no authority to override. Ideally, those limitations should have been explained when the equipment was delivered or set up, though in my experience that information does not always get communicated as clearly as it should.

I work for a DME company and received a call for a broken cpap after hours.

For context, I was only allowed to dispatch the on-call technician for equipment the company classified as life-sustaining, things like oxygen concentrators and ventilators. CPAP machines did not qualify under that policy.

The customer wanted me to call the on-call technician anyway. I explained that I couldn’t do that because CPAP equipment wasn’t covered by the after-hours emergency dispatch policy.

He kept pushing, but I didn’t let him intimidate me into breaking procedure.

Then he said something I still remember years later:

“If I die, I hope I wake up and see you in hell.”

I’ve been cursed at, yelled at, called incompetent, and blamed for plenty of things while working in customer service, but that one hit differently.

There was something about a person essentially telling me that if they died, I deserved eternal punishment for following a policy I didn’t create and didn’t have the authority to override.

I understood that he was probably scared and frustrated, and honestly, if nobody had properly explained the after-hours policy to him beforehand, I can understand why he would be angry with the company.

But taking that fear and anger out on the person answering the phone was still completely out of line.

Customer service really teaches you that some people will keep escalating emotionally when they don’t get the answer they want, hoping eventually you’ll break, bend the rules, or somehow produce an option that simply does not exist.

I didn’t.

But that call definitely stayed with me.

Do we know if the app is down as it won't load.

Edit: Thanks for the tips had to uninstall and reinstall app along with rebooting my phone

I think its a good idea but it should have been targeted toward their "less successful animated films" Not sure why Moana got a live action so early clearly it was a money grab. Movies I think they should make.

Atlantis

Treasure Planet

Tangled (Now In Production)

Princess and The Frog

The Emperor's New Groove

Edit:

The Black Cauldron

The Sword in The Stone

They have so many opportunities they are missing!

What are some epsiodes you feel are the most overlooked?

Any episodes you feel often get left out by the Fandom?

This is just a headcanon, so I know there is not a ton of direct proof, but I think there may have originally been more enchanted trees before Regina cast the Dark Curse.

My theory is that Cora destroyed most of them to make sure Regina’s curse would actually happen.

We know enchanted wood was powerful enough to protect people from the curse because of the wardrobe. But there is also a scene where Cora casts a protection spell over a small part of the land, and she does it using a piece of wood. Enchanted wood.

That makes me wonder: where did Cora get it?

If enchanted trees were supposedly rare, Cora having enchanted wood feels suspicious. It could imply there were once more enchanted trees, or at least more enchanted wood available than the show directly tells us.

Cora also says Regina needed to think she had won. That line feels important. Cora would absolutely manipulate the situation from behind the scenes while letting Regina believe the curse was entirely her victory.

So my headcanon is that Cora destroyed most of the enchanted trees to remove escape options and force the curse to play out. But she left one tree behind, knowing Snow and Charming would use it to save Emma.

Why leave one?

Because Emma surviving meant the curse could eventually be broken. If the curse was never broken, Regina would remain trapped in Storybrooke forever and Cora would lose access to her daughter and the larger game.

So Cora leaving one enchanted tree would not be an act of mercy. It would be a contingency plan.

She needed Regina to cast the curse, think she had won, and eventually have that victory unravel at the right time.

Again, not saying the show confirms this, but it feels very Cora: destroy every exit except the one that benefits her later.

Here goes.. im a 27male. I have never had the courage to admit this anywhere else. When I was younger around 7 or 8. I was assaulted by several family members. However I distinctly remeber two. An older cousin and my older half brother. I remeber my brother's so vividly as it happened multiple times until I was around 14.

No one knows but these expirences have warped my view on sex and likely influences by sexuality.

I have struggled with my sexuality since high school and I often have anxiety around it. I have done dangerous things like hook up with random men and women both however it is mostly men.

I deleted all my hookup apps and haven't done nothing like that in two years. However I find myself addicted to porn, keeping several files located in a one drive that i view every other day.

Everyone in my life asks me why I dont have a girlfriend they fail to understand that my mind is so fucked up that I am not in the right mind space. Im even 90% sure I dont want kids cause of what happened.

Also my paternal uncle used to make terrible statements about me being gay even though I wasn't sure back then just like now. It seemed liked he was protecting on me so much to the point where I told my family I want nothing to do with him.

The older cousin who molested me died a few years ago

My half brother has a beautiful baby girl but I tend to keep my distance due to this fact. I often question if he Remebers.

I can go several days without thinking about it but random days like today it pops back up.

I want to start therapy but honestly dont know where to begin or if I could afford it.

While I dont go to church I have a gospel Playlist I like to listen to when im down.

I just hope that one day I can be "normal" or close to it..

Edit: Thanks everyone for their support. Im in the process of trying to find a therapist. Im based off of the US so its going to be a bit of a challenge

I'm a 27 year old man and still don't have a driver's license or really know how to drive.

I've carried a lot of embarrassment about this, and I guess I'm finally admitting it.

Back in high school, when Driver's Ed came around, I wasn't allowed to take it because my mom said my older sister had to learn first. Looking back, I think it was mostly a financial issue since she was basically raising us on her own. My sister eventually learned to drive, but somehow I just got left behind.

When I was 17, I actually got another chance to take Driver's Ed. Unfortunately, I came down with one of the worst cases of the flu I've ever had and missed the second class, which meant I couldn't continue.

After that, I spent years asking more experienced family members to teach me. Every single one of them promised they would, but it never happened. Something always came up, and eventually people just stopped bringing it up.

Life kept moving. I caught rides to work from coworkers and family for years, and eventually I landed a work-from-home job. I've now been working remotely for three years, and honestly I've lost a lot of the motivation to learn.

These days almost everything can be delivered. On top of that, all I ever hear from people who do drive are complaints about car payments, insurance, gas, repairs, and how expensive everything has become. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I'm really missing out.

That said, I know driving is an important life skill. Emergencies happen, situations change, and I don't want to be dependent on other people forever. I know it's something I need to work on, even if I've let it go for way too long.

I guess I'm posting this because I'm curious if anyone else got to adulthood without learning to drive, or if anyone has been in a similar situation. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one.

I'm 27 years old man and still don't have a driver's license or really know how to drive.

I've carried a lot of embarrassment about this, and I guess I'm finally admitting it.

Back in high school, when Driver's Ed came around, I wasn't allowed to take it because my mom said my older sister had to learn first. Looking back, I think it was mostly a financial issue since she was basically raising us on her own. My sister eventually learned to drive, but somehow I just got left behind.

When I was 17, I actually got another chance to take Driver's Ed. Unfortunately, I came down with one of the worst cases of the flu I've ever had and missed the second class, which meant I couldn't continue.

After that, I spent years asking more experienced family members to teach me. Every single one of them promised they would, but it never happened. Something always came up, and eventually people just stopped bringing it up.

Life kept moving. I caught rides to work from coworkers and family for years, and eventually I landed a work-from-home job. I've now been working remotely for three years, and honestly I've lost a lot of the motivation to learn.

These days almost everything can be delivered. On top of that, all I ever hear from people who do drive are complaints about car payments, insurance, gas, repairs, and how expensive everything has become. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I'm really missing out.

That said, I know driving is an important life skill. Emergencies happen, situations change, and I don't want to be dependent on other people forever. I know it's something I need to work on, even if I've let it go for way too long.

I guess I'm posting this because I'm curious if anyone else got to adulthood without learning to drive, or if anyone has been in a similar situation. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one.

I see I have a pending refund? New to current. What is the timeline?

I think we can all agree that the moment we saw Emma Swan’s name etched into the Dark One dagger, Season 5 instantly became one of the most anticipated seasons of Once Upon a Time. The promo material, especially Ginnifer Goodwin’s voiceover in the Dark Swan trailer, made it seem like we were about to get one of the darkest and most emotional arcs of the entire show.

However, I’m currently rewatching the series, and just like when Season 5 first aired, I still feel like the Dark Swan arc was kind of a letdown. Don’t attack me, this is just my personal opinion. I think the arc had incredible potential, but it did not fully stick the landing.

First, the Dark Curse again? I’m sorry, but by this point the Dark Curse had lost a lot of its impact. After Season 3, it stopped feeling as dangerous, rare, or powerful as it originally was. The first Dark Curse felt like forbidden magic with a terrible price. By Season 5, it felt more like another reset button for the writers to move everyone back to Storybrooke and create another memory-loss mystery.

Because of that, I think the Camelot arc should have been told chronologically, similar to Neverland. Instead of flashing back and forth between Storybrooke and Camelot, we should have experienced Camelot as the events were happening. The flashbacks could have been used to explore Camelot’s past, Arthurian lore, Merlin’s history, and the kingdom itself, while the main story showed Emma slowly slipping into darkness.

A slow burn would have worked so much better for Emma.

Speaking of Emma becoming the Dark One, I wish the show had actually let her be dark. The season promised Dark Swan, but it never fully committed to that idea. Emma did questionable things, but a lot of her actions were eventually framed as part of a plan to save Hook and destroy the darkness. That made the arc feel safer than it should have been.

I think Emma should have made genuinely selfish choices. She should have enjoyed the power at times. She should have crossed lines while convincing herself it was necessary. I even think she should have possibly killed someone, not because she suddenly became evil overnight, but because she slowly convinced herself that her actions were justified.

To me, a stronger reason for Emma embracing the darkness would have been betrayal. Instead of giving in to the darkness mainly to save Hook, which felt somewhat similar to her sacrificing herself for Regina in the Season 4 finale, Emma could have been manipulated by Arthur or by the Dark One voice in her head. She could have started to believe that the heroes only valued her as the Savior and were willing to betray Emma Swan, the person, for the greater good.

That would have hit Emma’s deepest wound: abandonment.

Also, this was not Hook’s story.

I know Hook wanted to save Emma, and there is nothing wrong with that. But throughout this arc, he became very frustrating to watch. Once he found out Emma lied to him, he turned on her almost immediately. I understand being angry, but he literally killed Merlin just to get revenge on Rumplestiltskin, and then he marked Emma’s entire family for death. Like… what?

The Dark Hook twist shifted the focus away from Emma at the exact moment her arc should have reached its climax. Season 5 was promoted as Emma’s Dark One story, but by the winter finale, it felt like the emotional focus had moved to Hook’s corruption, Hook’s revenge, and Hook’s sacrifice. Hook becoming a Dark One was not necessarily impossible as an idea, but the way it happened made Emma feel secondary in her own storyline.

Merlin was another huge missed opportunity. He was built up as one of the most important magical figures in the entire series, only to be trapped, controlled, and killed way too quickly. Merlin should have had a much larger role in Emma’s journey. He could have been her mentor, her opponent, or the one person who truly understood the danger of trying to destroy darkness instead of learning how to face it.

The Arthurian characters in general deserved more.

Guinevere especially was mishandled. Arthur magically controlled her, but the show barely addressed how serious that violation was. OUAT already had an uncomfortable pattern of taking away characters’ agency and not fully dealing with it, with Graham and Robin being two major examples. Guinevere should have broken free, confronted Arthur, and played a major role in reclaiming Camelot.

Instead, her story just kind of fades into the background.

I also think making Rumplestiltskin the Dark One again was a mistake, at least that early. Rumple finally started proving that he could be brave without magic, only for the show to reveal that he secretly became the Dark One again. It was in character for him, but it also undercut what could have been a much stronger arc.

I would have loved to see more of mortal Rumple navigating Storybrooke without magic. He could have been forced to confront the things he did as the Dark One without having power to hide behind. If he eventually relapsed and took the darkness back, it should have happened after a longer struggle, not almost immediately after he started showing real growth.

Overall, I think the Dark Swan arc had all the ingredients to be one of the strongest arcs in the show. Emma as the Dark One, Camelot, Merlin, Excalibur, Arthur, Rumple without magic, and the question of whether a Savior can fall from grace? That is amazing material.

But the execution felt too safe, too rushed, and too distracted.

The show promised us Dark Swan, but it never fully let Emma fall.

What do you think? Did you enjoy the Dark Swan arc, or do you also feel like Season 5 had more potential than payoff?

Im not sure if any other guys feel this way but I needed to talk about it. For years I have been dealing with women centered men, I don't think this is talked about enough!!

For context I live in NC and am a 27 year old man. My whole.life i have been surrounded by these type of men. My uncle, my barber, and several men I worked with at a plant job I have long sense quit.

To add more i am an introvert and have a hard time enough being comfortable talking to people in general but these men make it nearly impossible.

Growing up my barber and uncle would often share tales of their sexual conquest and as I got older it got a lot worse they decided since im older they would have more and more details.

Working at a plant was even worse. They would talk about sex and pussy ALL DAY LONG! From 8am-to 6PM!

Then when I dont engage Im weird or possibly gay? No I dont want to picture you having sex with women. Its weird! Why do you talk about pussy for 8 hours straight? Why do you want to hear how details about another man's sex life?WEIRD.

The last straw was my uncle who stated he was going to buy my brother a prostitute for his 15th birthday. I immediately shut it down. Its weird your trying to buy your underage nephew pussy. Im not letting some grown woman turn my brother out and he turns into a weirdo like yall and he has an unhealthy relationship with sex.

Sorry this has been building up for years.

Male, 27 here. My birthday was Monday the 22nd, and honestly, it wasn't much fun at all.

Because of financial strains, I had to cancel my birthday trip so I could pay bills instead. I didn't do anything special, just made myself a steak and some potatoes and called it a day.

What has really been bothering me is that I always try to make sure the people in my life feel special on their birthdays. My older sister's birthday was two weeks before mine, and I made sure she had her favorite cheesecake. I did the same for my god sister, whose birthday is the day after hers.

When my birthday came around, I got a few "happy birthdays," and that was pretty much it. No presents, which honestly doesn't bother me because I'm not materialistic, but nobody really tried to make the day feel special either. The only people who really made an effort were my mom and younger brother, and because of their own financial situation, there was only so much they could do.

Even something simple would have meant a lot.

For example, my god sister had planned to do my hair while I was off work for what was supposed to be my vacation week, but that never happened and keeps getting postponed. Again, it isn't about the hair itself. It's more about feeling like people don't show up for me the way I try to show up for them.

Also, my uncle was suppose to treat me to our favorite Mexican restaurant however it seems as he forgot. As its now Sunday and I have not heard from him since Monday when we made these plans for Friday or Saturday. 

I guess I'm just feeling like I do my best to make everyone else happy, but nobody really stops to ask if I'm happy too.

Any other Cancers feel this way or been through something similar?

Zelena being Marian was poorly executed. I will admit, the show did leave a window for Zelena to return. Her “death” in Season 3 never felt permanent. She turned into glass, shattered, vanished into green smoke, and that smoke opened the time portal. Compared to other villain deaths like Cora or Pan, Zelena’s exit felt a lot more magical and unfinished. So her surviving? I can accept that.

I can also accept Zelena impersonating Marian in theory. It fits her character. Zelena is jealous, calculated, and obsessed with punishing Regina. Taking the identity of Robin’s wife and using that to destroy Regina’s happiness is absolutely something Zelena would do.

My issue is that I don’t think there were enough clues.

During my rewatch, the only thing I was really able to flag was when Elsa asks Ingrid about poisoning Marian, and Ingrid refers to Marian as “that woman.” The way Ingrid says it could possibly make you believe she knew Marian wasn’t really innocent, or that she sensed something off about her. But even that feels like a stretch, if you were seeing this for the first time you wouldn't pay attention to it.

Then there is the snow monster scene.

Marian/Zelena is almost killed by the snow monster when it looks like Regina left her for dead. On a first watch, this scene works because we believe Marian is innocent, and it makes Regina look morally questionable. But after the reveal, it becomes strange. Why would Zelena put herself in a situation where she could genuinely die? Zelena can be reckless, but she is not stupid. If she used magic to defend herself, her cover could be blown. If no one saved her, her entire revenge plan would end right there. That scene feels like it was written to test Regina’s character, not to support the idea that Marian was secretly Zelena.

Another issue is Marian/Zelena’s heart. Regina is able to rip out her heart with ease. You could argue Zelena’s defenses were down because of Ingrid’s freezing curse, but visually, the heart itself didn’t raise any red flags. It didn’t seem to have any specks of darkness. Zelena may not have committed as many atrocities as Regina, but she was still incredibly dark. If Marian was secretly Zelena the whole time, that heart scene should have hinted at something.

Then there’s the conversation Marian/Zelena has with Regina after she is supposedly cured. She basically tells Regina that she will step aside and let Robin choose.

I’m sorry, but Zelena would not do that.

Zelena is too smart and too insecure to leave something like that to chance. Her entire character is built around not being chosen. There is no way she would calmly risk Robin choosing Regina unless she had already rigged the situation somehow. That scene feels like it was written for Marian, not for Zelena pretending to be Marian.

It just feels like Marian was written as Marian until the writers decided she was Zelena.

Do you guys think it was done well? Could it have been improved?