dear_mun | more voice testing on recent episodes- possible spoilters in comments

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more voice testing on recent episodes- possible spoilters in comments

Listen. I've been able to make just about as much sense out of all this mess as you have. ..and that isn't much. We both know that.

We just take two steps forwards, and five steps back.

Doesn't look like we're ever getting those steps back, either. There's nothing you can say to me at this point that's going to convince me that something worse isn't going to happen next, but I do know if there's any family that could make it through it, it would be mine. I just got mine too, and I'm not losing it without a fight.

Trust me. I've been through enough Hell already for several lifetimes.

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What could be worse than murder?
[She cringes- her features distorting as she squeezes her eyes shut tightly.]
...than the lingering pain of knowing that there's absolutely nothing...- that you can do to take it all back.

[She looks away, reaching a slightly shaky hand up to her chest. Perhaps now isn't the time to mention her confrontation with Regina. She desperately wished that she could forget it.]

[Emma opens her mouth to respond, but hesitates, frowning hard.]

..Don't worry, ok? ...I know you, and you are not a murderer. There are plenty others more deserving of that title, and I can't even count them all off on both hands.

You did what you did to protect your family. Nothing more.

[Saying that doesn't help much, obviously, but darn it if she's not going to try.]

[Hey, guess who is totally up merry bird of sunshineing today. THIS GUY.] There's always something worse. I think we gave up any hope for an idyllic little life the moment you broke the curse.

[How pleasant.]

Never said I was hoping. I've come to terms with the fact that things are going to get worse, and aren't likely to get much better unless some miracle happens.

It's a miracle enough that we're all still alive.

Oh, I wouldn't write off a true miracle just yet, Ms. Swan. [SURPRISE. He can be optimistic.] There has to be a balance somewhere.

[Or the town could just fall apart and they all die, but logically, there should be a balance.] Whether or not it's the sort of miracle we're hoping for remains to be seen.

[Balance, sure. If it's there though, she's certainly not seeing it.]

Well whatever is supposed to be balancing the good with the bad isn't really working out in our favor right now, is it?

[Then again you're the one who cheated death Rumple, not her.]

It's all in how you look at it. Regardless of your mother's condition, do you not have your family here and in one piece? With the addition, I might add, of the father of your child.

[Because (A. He does not know Tamara exists and (B. Still holds onto some weird hope that Emma and Neal are getting back together. WHY WOULD ANYONE SINK HIS SHIPS.]

[People who want to watch the world burn, obviously.]

Relatively. And that depends on your definition of one piece.

[And as far as she's concerned, Neal doesn't exist. He's not even something she has to worry about right now. ...and yet he is.]

That's good for Henry. Can't say how good it is for anybody else.

[Hey, excuse you, it's totally good for him.]

That is still my son you're talking about. [Ever so casually. Choose your words, Swan.]

[Right. Well, your son isn't exactly on her list of favorite people right now, so it was easy to let that slip out.]

Well I'm happy for you. Maybe you can keep his attention off me long enough for me to figure out what to do about all this.

Then again, Henry seems to be doing a good job of that on his own.

And you haven't considered how you might proceed if he doesn't decide to forsake whatever feelings he had for you?

[Obviously, someone doesn't understand "HE GOT ME LOCKED UP FOR NINE MONTHS AND DESTROYED MY TRUST AND WAS A DICK BECAUSE PINOCCHIO" is a dealbreaker. Then again, he was in an emotionally abusive relationship for, like, five years. Basically for a romantic, Gold sucks at this sometimes.]

[Ooooh yeah. Definitely a deal breaker. That sort of thing isn't exactly something one just gets over.]

If he knows what's best for everyone at this point, he will forsake them. Cause even if he still thinks we have something? ...Trust me. We don't.

[It's hard to say whether it's denial or just that overwhelming reflex of keeping herself protected kicking in.]<

[you'd think he'd realize that, but nah. everyone else has to get over their grudges. he's the only one who's allowed to KEEP THE SEVERED HANDS OF HIS 300-YEAR-OLD ENEMIES IN HIS POSSESSION. ...I mean what.]

And you're absolutely positive about that? [so asks the gangster spectre of loooove.]

[...well, being the Dark One obviously has it's disadvantages, doesn't it?

And boy you are not going to drop this are you?]

Can't say that I am. But hey, I can hope can't I?

[She's just discovered that hope and faith is a thing, so why not make use of it.]

[He's secretly a Tumblr fangirl deep, deep in his soul. Full of everlasting grudges and a love for his ships that burns like fire. It's terrifying.]

Well, it all has a way of working out, one way or another. [Which is the best version of a concession as you'll get. He will go down with this ship. He will not put his hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag upon his door.]

[That is probably the most terrifying thing, right there. No man- or woman- can get in the way of one's ships. It's just unheard of.]

Yeah. ..glad somebody thinks that.

As someone who's lived through several lifetimes... it's not likely to slow down any time soon, darling. You're not one for the boring life, are you?

Not exactly, but I wouldn't mind if things slowed down long enough for me to think of some sort of plan. And so far that's not happening.

Wish I was in a position to help, or even puzzle out all of what's going on. The worst part is that the mun's guessing we're in the same universe, or really close to it.

The only thing I do understand is that being caught in the middle of a 30-year old feud with multiple parties and multiple worlds really sucks. It's like the more you do know, the more it clamps around your leg and pulls you under.

I...I also understand what it's like to be backed into a corner and not see any way out other than...you know...

I'm sorry, for what it's worth.

Well, you got that much right, same universe or not. It does suck. I didn't ask for all of this, and suddenly I'm supposed to be the hero of some fairy tale I didn't want to be a part of.

And as much as I appreciate apologies from strangers, there's not much anyone else can do right now. Just going to have to wait and see what's thrown at us next.

Yeah, the whole hero thing? Not what it's cracked up to be. Unfortunately, right place, wrong time, no other option...

I'm gonna assume you were dragged into being a hero too?

Yeah. My dad got kidnapped, and when I went to investigate? Well, that's when the AI he was working on decided to conscript me. Seems the ones who kidnapped him were trying to take over another world so they could exploit it and use what they found there to go back and conquer our own.

Wrong place, right time, down the proverbial rabbit hole, and land in the middle of an invasion. And my godfather's stories didn't cover half the crap that went on in there.

[Yep. Sounds just like your average joe getting thrown into an adventure he never asked for.]

Just about as bad as being trapped in the middle of a blood feud between God knows how many people for several decades.

The rabbit hole I'm stuck in just keeps getting bigger.

Mine has the 30-year feud thing going on, but that started with stolen files and corporate politics. It's kinda exploded into something where two worlds are at stake. Both are so interconnected that control one, and you rule the other.

And so far? One AI stopped from getting nukes, one slime ball bunch of corporate raiders stopped from conquest, another crazy AI stopped from invading our world. But it looks like my godfather did a lot of unethical and stupid things, and he's now dead. That other world was completely devastated in the process. My friend, his kid, is going to spend the rest of his life trying to clean up the mess his dad left behind in both worlds. My brother is worse than dead. No idea what happened to my sister. My mom's...sick, and not getting better. And my father's trying to work himself to death, and I'm scared he's going to do something just as bad as black magic.

Yours...sounds even worse. No kids directly involved on my end. Not anymore. And magic? How does that even work?

[Emma chuckles humorlessly.]

Both situations sound...pretty bad. I'm sorry to hear about what's happening with you, though. Sounds tough.

[Extremely so, really.]

I don't even know, it would take longer for me to explain than I care to take. Since Henry's stuck right in the middle of it all though, it really doesn't give me much of a chance to rest.

Ever.

It wasn't all bad. It felt good, sometimes. Being able to see something wrong and fight it directly. Being able to help for a change instead of feeling like I'm in the way. And the people there were...most of them were good and honest. I miss that when I'm back home.

[Dark Sarcasm] I take it the kid is not going to remove himself from the equation short of tranquilizers and a car trunk?

[Face it, Jet, two decades ago, you were that kid, playing video games and imaging your godfather having fantastic adventures with this amazingly heroic and totally cool older brother that you were sure to meet one day.]

Got a few details by listening around here and talking to Mary Margaret.

[Well, either way you look at it, both situations are weird and Emma hasn't found anything positive yet in her own save for her family being brought together. ..only to be torn apart.

Over and over and over.]

I don't think even that would stop him from getting into the thick of things. Henry's not exactly a rule-breaker, but he's not going to let me or anyone else keep him safe for more than five minutes either.

Mary Margaret? ...I'm surprised you got anything out of her.

She's tearing herself up pretty bad over what she did. OK, so she earned the bad karma more for the method than the result. Didn't look like that woman was going to stop. The collection of hearts is about as sick as it gets in any world.

[~~Just wait until you go back to cyberspace and find out about guys like Dyson~~]

I'm more worried about what will happen when he turns into a teenager, wants more out of life, and isn't so helpless anymore. I caused all kinds of trouble once I figured out 'how.'

She wasn't going to stop. Not until either she or everyone else was dead, and her brainwashed daughter was just adding to the fire. I'm not all for killing people or anything, but she was better off dead.

[That doesn't change the fact that Mary Margaret isn't going to worry herself to death over it.]

Things are bad enough as it is. Hate to even think about Henry as a teenager. He's a good kid though.

Really, I just hope we all last long enough for him to grow into one.

No one said heroism was simple. Hope the kid figures that out before the teenage years hit.

How do you see this ending?

...I can't say. Things are so wishy-washy right now anything could happen.

Several lifetimes, huh? And here I thought you were the only one in Storybrooke with the luxury of having lived one.

[Sarcasm is a thing you know.]

Might be, but it sure doesn't feel that way. Not anymore.

[After 28 years in the modern world, she's still learning! She's got all those years of princess-oriented lectures to balance in her head.]

I'm sorry. Even if you weren't directly affected by the Curse, I imagine it's still tough being you. 'The Savior' - I think we take your title for granted sometimes.

Yeah it's uh....it's pretty tough. Don't worry about me though. I'll be fine. It's you and the rest of the town I'm worried about right now.

[ a big chunk of that hell may allegedly be this guy's fault, so he's going to try his best to sidestep for the moment ]

Guess now's not the time to say it could be worse, right?

...No. It's not.

[Forgive her bluntness, but she doesn't really have much else to say.]

Didn't think you were all that superstitious.

...what does any of this have to do with superstition?

[ a chuckle ]

Here I thought you were invoking Murphy's Law.

[The most unamused expression is what she's adopted right about now.]

Look, things suck right now. You know that, I know that, doesn't really need to be reiterated.

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more voice testing on recent episodes- possible spoilters in comments

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