The Fault in Our Stars

So today I went to see The Fault in Our Stars

I read the book about a year ago, a little later than everyone else. I wasn’t took keen on reading a book about two kids that have cancer. It isn’t my usual reading material, especially since it’s a disease that has hurt my family quite badly. But then I found a video of John Green, the author, reading the first chapter, and I was intrigued. I bought the book and finished it in several days on a school trip. I was amazed at the delicacy and humour and real emotions presented in the novel and fell in love with it.

When I heard they were making it into a movie, I wasn’t sure how to feel. While I was excited for a book I loved to be made into a movie and for others to know the pleasure of the book, I was dubious as to what they would do to the film. There are some book adaptations that are shit and really never should have been made like Percy Jackson, and I didn’t want Hollywood to ruin this lovely book I had found.

I can wholeheartedly say they didn’t.

The film is touching and beautiful and the truest to the book of any adaptation movie I’ve ever seen. It was so real and amazing that I couldn’t help but fall in love with these characters all over again. The presentation of Augustus and Hazel were true to their written characters and perfectly cast and exactly what I imagined them to be. There was so much original dialogue in there that I couldn’t help but speak along with the actors.

It also made me cry all the way through. I started crying at the picnic when augustus announces the trip to Amsterdam and didn’t stop until the credits. At the risk of sounding repetitive, it was beautiful. I can’t think of another word to adequately describe this movie except beautiful. That’s exactly what it was, and there is nothing more to say.

Whether you’ve read the book or not, go see this movie – just remember to bring a lot of tissues with you. You’re going to need them.

Survey #125

Bold what is true:

You are below 5’2”. 
Your best school subject is English. 
You play fastpitch softball. 
You have a cat(s).
You’re the youngest of your siblings. 
Your parents are separated/divorced. 
You have green eyes. 
You stress out over everything.
Your best friend is of the opposite gender. 
Your favorite season, by far, is summer. 
You have an average body type. 
You love high school wrestling. 
Your favorite music genre is indie. 
Spiderman is the best superhero. 
You like Facebook more than Myspace.
You own an iPhone. 
Your favorite color is yellow. 
If you could travel anywhere, it’d be to Australia. 
You have read the “Pretty Little Liars” series. 
You used to be obsessed with The Sims. 
Your favorite holiday is the Fourth of July. 
Your birthday falls between the 1st and the 10th of the month. 
You don’t like to paint your nails. 
You wear contacts/glasses/both. 
You NEVER use “lol” only “haha, lmao, lmfao”. 
You can’t wait for school to end. 
You’ve lived in the same house for 10+ years. 
You have had an expander. 
You live in Pennsylvania. 
You only wear black socks. 
You are brunette. 
One of your birthmarks is on your arm. 
You worry for no reason. 
Haunted houses terrify you. 
You trust a lot of people without thinking. 
You love the Pittsburgh Penguins and/or Steelers. 
You are a freshman in college
You stay up past midnight on school nights. 
You usually dress like a bum for school. 
You don’t like to dance that much. 
You are a virgin. 
Your name begins with an S. 
There are 5 letters or less in your last name. 
Your favorite number is between 1 and 25. 
You would love Monopoly if it didn’t take so long. 
You have lost a friend recently. 
You were with a boy last night. 
You hate winter. 
You have regrets. 
You don’t like basketball. 
You think sharks are sweet. 
There’s nowhere in the world you’d rather be than the beach. 
The person you like/love is 3-5 years older than you. 
You have been in a relationship for over 6 months. 
You don’t like horseback riding. 
Something on you is sore. 
You wish you could play the piano. 
You think Urijah Faber is the most gorgeous man alive. 
You can’t cook. 
You are broke at the moment. 
You like classic rock music. 
You play volleyball. 
You have managed a high school sports team. 
You’re a little insecure about your body. 
You hate hypocrites more than anything. 
All you want to do is have fun. 
You love pop-tarts. 
You own a pair of off-brand Uggs. 
Your favorite restaurant is TGI Friday’s. 
You can speak some spanish
You’re not a huge fan of dogs. 
You normally fall for athletes. 
You want a tattoo. 
People make fun of your height on a regular basis.
You like tie-dye. 
Your favorite card game is Rummy, Bullshit, or Spit. 
You favorite movie is an action movie. 
You like to scan the radio. 
You don’t mind your first sunburn of the year. 
You only like snuggling if you REALLY like/love the person. 
You have been inspired by a motivational speaker. 
You still like coloring in coloring books. 
You think relationships are hard. 
You own at least one thing that’s Puma. 
You eat when you’re bored. 
You take long naps at the worst times. 
You love stand up comedy. 
You drink energy drinks. 
You used to watch The Powerpuff Girls or Lizzie McGuire religiously
You own a pair of nike or adidas slip ons. 
You could eat pizza anytime. 
You have plans tonight. 
The person that you like has a first name beginning with M. 
It is past 2pm right now.
You like Taylor Swift. 
You are wearing something brown right now. 
You have been to a drive in movie theater. 
You are going on vacation this summer. 
You have taken a picture of yourself today. 
Your favorite store is PacSun. 
Your most recent ex’s name begins with a J. 
You know somebody with the same middle name as you.

Maleficent

Today I went to see Disney’s new movie Maleficent. What an amazing movie! It was truly spectacular and put a spin on the classic tale worth of Once Upon a Time.

There are elements of the actual late there, but it goes into more depth on Maleficent’s backstory, painting her as an innocent fairy who has her heart broken by the greedy and cruel humans, in particular a human boy. She devotes her life to defending her people and ends up incurring the wrath of the King, who demands her death. She (in a spoiler-y fashion, so I shall not detail it here) is disgraced and soon turns down the path of evil.

What is touching is that it shows that, like Frozen, eros love is not always true love. Often it is the bond between family that is the truest love and is something that needs to be celebrated more often in the public.

It is an epic film if you enjoy ‘the villain isn’t actually as bad as you think’ films. Unlike the Loki fandom, here is it spelt out clear as day that Maleficent isn’t what we originally saw her to be. It’s a background story that weaves into the classic film, with actually lines taken straight from the animated movie. The film reminded me a lot of Wicked, just without the spectacular musical numbers. It has that kind of a feel to it, if you are familiar with the musical.

My favourite character would have to be Diaval:

He is one of the clever links between the animated movie and this live-action picture; he is Maleficent’s crow/raven. He is her eyes and ears to see where she cannot go. Diaval also acts as a confidant and advisor to her. In a sense, he is her conscience, reminding her that everything isn’t so doom and gloom. What is it with me and loving minor characters? Thankfully this one doesn’t meet an untimely end. He’s also a very sweet character wit a gentle nature, a complete opposite to Maleficent’s darkness. Maybe that’s why she keeps him around.

All in all this is a great movie and I would highly recommend you go and see it if you get the chance. I would happily pay to go and see it again. It has changed my perspective through clever plot and astounding character development. Angelina Jolie again is fantastic and I couldn’t wish for a better leading lady.

Hay Festival 2014

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to the Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. (I say ‘Wales’, it is only three miles over the border, but oh well. It counts).For those who aren’t aware, it’s a literary festival that has been going for at least 25 years, but possibly longer. For anyone interested, it’s on until early June, and you can find out more here.

The main reason we went was the see Cassandra Clare. She’s the author of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, two book series that focus on the world of the Shadowhunters, who are demon hunters charged with their task by the angel Raziel. The interesting thing was that I managed to see her twice before we went into the show. I was sat eating my sandwich when I see her walk past. I nudge Pauline, who was kind enough to drive me all the way to Wales, and point her out. Not ten minutes later she’s walking back the other way. It was weird to see her wandering around with no hype surrounding her. I suppose the beauty of being an author is that not many people know what you look like so that sort of attention doesn’t follow you around.

Cassandra’s show was amazing, too. She spoke about City of Heavenly Fire, the City of Bones movie and her love for Adrienn Turner, and upcoming projects, as well as taking questions from the floor and reading an exclusive part from The Bane Chronicles, which is available in November. She was warm and funny and didn’t dismiss anyone. She was inclusive and made sure to look right at someone when answering their question. It was hosted by Sarah Rees Brennan (author of The Demon Lexicon) who is mad but I love her.

The came the two and a half hour queue to get my copy of Clockwork Princess signed. I also got a copy of City of Bones signed for my friend who attended the presentation but was unable to stay for the signing. This queue was unlike the one to get into the presentation as we didn’t make friends with the people in front of us. Oddly enough, they were from the same city as I am, and lived about 10 minutes away from me. What a small world.

When I got into the signing room, the experience went a little like this:

Sarah: *Notices my shirt* Looking for a Herondale, nice!

Me: Aren’t we all?

All: *laughs*

Sarah: So I take it you’re a Will fan, then?

Cassandra: Or it could be Jace.

Me: James, I think.

Cassandra: James, cool.

…And that was it. She handed my books back and I went on my way. While it was only short, Cassandra made my feel like I mattered to her. She took the time to take part in the conversation going on around her and made my meeting memorable for me. She’s my favourite author, so even having only that small talk with her was amazing for me.

Afterwards Pauline and I went to look around the other stalls and walk around trying to find food. It was after this, while I was waiting outside the loos that I saw Cassandra for the final time that day. She was walking past me and presumably going home. I caught her eye and smiled, and she smile back. Sarah, bless her, waved and said hello. It was nice because I felt like they remembered who I was. The plus sides of having a recognisable t-shirt, I guess.

Just as Pauline and I were leaving, she noticed that tickets for Stephen Fry were still available. For those who aren’t aware, he is an actor and writer, comedian and presenter. He’s a generally amazing guy. He is probably most well known for his various roles in Blackadder, being the host of QI on the BBC and playign the Mayor of Laketown in The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. He was doing a talk entitled ‘Shakespeare and Love’. It was really interesting – he spoke about his love for Shakespeare and how Shakespeare himself conveyed the emotion of love. I was very glad that we managed to get tickets.

The day itself was truly spectacular. I loved every moment of it, despite the dreary weather. It was lovely to be surrounded by books and book-lovers. Hay-on-Wye is also a really pretty village, and it was a shame all we got to do was drive through it. I think if there’s another one next year (and I see no reason why there shouldn’t be, espeically since Stephen Fry is now the presendet of the festival) I would go again. My friend who was there yesterday is going to go again next week to see Benedict Cumberbatch, lucky sod. Ah well, I saw my favourite author and managed to squeeze in Stephen Fry. It was a great day, and one I will always remember.

West Side Story

Today I had the honour of going to see West Side Story at my local theatre. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and so was apprehensive as to what the stage production would be like. I am happy to report I was wrong to be nervous. What an amazing show! The staging was perfect, the singing amazing, and the acting so real that I was transfixed the whole way through.

For those who don’t know, the musical is based on the Shakespeare text Romeo and Juliet, following the story of the Jets and the sharks, two rival gangs on the streets of Manhattan. The Jets are the Americans and the Sharks are the Puerto Ricans, and tensions are running high. At a dance in the evening, Maria, sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks, meets Tony, best friend of the leader of the Jets. They fall hopelessly in love and that’s when things start going wrong.

The singing was amazing. The actors playing Tony and Maria were fantastic. Maria requires a huge vocal range and needs the skill to remain sweet in the higher register where it is so easy to sound harsh and squawky. She did that fantastically. And they all managed to sing with their respective accents. Now that is a challenge which was met and conquered.

What I loved about the set was that even though it was very simplistic – like e outside of apartment flats in the suburbs – it was changed subtly every scene to make it seem like somewhere completely different. It was very clever, in addition to the overall wonderful staging.

Having played a few of the pieces from the show in my orchestra (Cool and Mambo), I have great respect for the musicians. The harmonies and rhythms are really hard to get your head around and I commend them for all their skill and hard work. It was a flawless bed of sound for the vocalists to perform to the best of the abilities.

The actors themselves were also great. While Tony’s accent was a bit weird at times, everyone did really well; there were some scenes where the characters had to speak Spanish, which they did fluently and seamlessly. The ending was so powerful and heart wrenching that it made me cry where the film did not. Maria is a truly beautiful actress and something that will need a lot of skill to beat should I see another performance in the future.

Despite that, the character of Anita was my favourite today. She might not of had the most lines to say, or the most difficult songs to sing, but she truly was her character. Sometimes with the others you remembered they were acting, but she seemed to into the performance, she may well have been from Puerto Rico. She encompassed everything the character was – her fire, her sass, her passion. She was my favourite of the show.

If you ever get to go and see West Side Story, I would highly recommend you do so. It’s filled with many classic songs such as America, Maria and many others. It is a lovely production and one I would love to see again.

My Dating Profile

So, this is inspired by the lovely Emma Blackery’s video My Dating Profile, which can be viewed here. Here goes!

1. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Yes, as soppy as it sounds. I think there is something in us that makes us see someone and think ‘they’re the one’. I would love to experience it one day. It might be clichéd and overly romantic to fantasise about fairytale love that’s perfect and impossible to replicate, but I hope to one day achieve that with someone. There are cynics out there, I know, who put it down to nonsense or chemicals or whatever, but I am a romantic at heart and I will adhere to that ’til my dying breath.

2. What do you do for fun?

As I’m doing my exams at the minute, ‘fun’ seems a foreign concept, or a blissful distance memory that might be mine or might be a story that someone told me once. Ah well, soon enough.

For me, I love to read. Escaping into books where I can be a wizard or a warrior or a shapeshifter is something I love to do. Listening to music is also a thing I like to do. I have a very eclectic taste, but I seem to be edging more to alternative and punk rock music at the minute. Reading and listening to music together? Wow-wee! I like to listen to Emeli Sandé when I’m reading, or some peaceful instrumental music that doesn’t distract me from the words but helps me disconnect from the real world just that little bit more.

As for fun with other people, I’m up for most things – shopping, cinema, gigs, long walks on the beach or through a wood… I’m game for anything. I’ll also stay in and curl up on the sofa with a nice warm take-away and watch tv Or a re-run of a movie I’ve seen a thousand times. Just something comfy and homely.

3. Do you want to have any children?

Hopefully, one day. I’m not fussed on the gender as such, but I would love a little girl. It would depend on my circumstances how many I had, but as an only child myself I see no problems with only one little one. Two would be nice, to give my child a bit of company. I have always wanted a little boy called Reuben.

4. What are you looking for in a relationship?</strong

First and foremost, a friend. If I can't get along with you as a person there is no way a relationship would work. I don't think I'd ever look for a one night stand, so there has to be something meaningful, something where I could see myself happily a little down the lane. I like the idea of being in love with your best friend. Wouldn't that make the forever bit work better?

5. What is the one thing about yourself that you would want me to know?

Urm.. I’m a cuddler? As in, I will find any excuse to curl up and stay there, preferably in a hug with a warm blanket. I’m very touchy-feely in the cuddly sense. I love to cuddle; there’s nothing better, in my opinion. But I only cuddle selectively – it’s when you know I’m really comfortable with you.

6. If you won the lottery, how would you spend your millions?

Travel.

There are so many places I would love to go and visit. But with the extra money I’d go off the beaten track a little, get away from all the touristy places for a while. I would love to go to New Zealand or Spain or Japan or the west coast of America, or Canada… Oh my, I would love to go to Canada. And a trip to Disney would be mandatory, obviously.

The next thing is a little more boring, but I’d probably invest some of it, or put it into a fund that I could use in a rainy day. Not as adventurous, but you can’t doubt it’s sound logic.

7. Who was the first crush you ever had?</strong

Who was the first crush I ever had? I’m going to assume this means of someone I know, because otherwise it would be Charlie from the band Busted. Or Stephen Mulhern. But as for someone I know, it was probably Mr Owens (who shall be referred to as Mr Owens as to protect his identity on the big bad internet and to save my integrity on the off chance he finds this some day).

I used to sit next to him in Primary School, and I was a little start struck. I couldn’t really look him in the eye and struggled to form sentences thay made sense. It was weird looking back at it now, seeing as I know what he’s grown up into. He’s still polite and has grown up beautifully, but not really my type anymore.

8. You have six months to live. What do you do first?

After all the boring things like making sure I had the correct treatment sorted and everyone who needed to know did know, I would go bungee jumping. Now, seeing as I am petrified of heights, this would be a pretty big thing for me. But, if I was going to die, I would want to conquer that fear, so that I wouldn’t think that something had held me back in my life.

9. Are you a morning person or a night person?

I’m more of a night person, but even I have my limits. I cannot function first thing in the morning, and talking to me if I’ve been up less than thirty minutes after I’ve woken up is not a good idea. I get most of my work done during the day and then into the night. It’s easier for me to stay up late than get up early. Once I’m awake I’m fine, but before that golden thirty minutes is something akin to a dragon.

10. If you have friends coming over, what would you cook?

Would it be avoiding the question if I said that it depends on the friends? One of my friends is allergic to practically everything, a few are vegetarian and another doesn’t like fish. Thankfully I do have two that will just eat anything. Indian is always a good bet, so a curry probably, with rice and naan bread. Ooh, and popadoms with mango chutney! Yummy!

11. If you could travel back in time and correct one mistake in life, what would it be?

Not my life, I admit, but this scene from Spiderman 3 was cringe worthy and we all know it. It should never have occurred, even if ‘we must stay true to the original incarnation’ and all that bullshit. *Sighs*

12. Where do you see yourself in five years time?

Hopefully in my final year of University. At the minute that looks like the third year of an English Literature degree, but that might change. I would love to go to University if I got the chance, but the degree might change. My life path has changed dramatically once before, but this seems far more certain than the last path. And I feel happier with it.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014

I love Eurovision. I always have and probably always will. It is one of the highlights of my year, for sure – not quite sure what that says about me, but oh well. So, this is my take on some of the highlights of the finale.

(Also, if you click on the name of each country, you’ll go to a video of their performance. Because I’m nice like that).

1. Iceland

These were my favourite act of the night. They were so happy and colourful and wholesome that you couldn’t help but love them instantly. What isn’t there to love? They looked like the Wiggles with their brightly coloured outfits, for goodness sake! And their song was so sweet – no prejudice. It’s something we can all take away and try to apply to our lives.

2. Spain

Ruth Lorenzo is an amazing singer, there’s no denying that. She got very far in the UK X Factor a few years ago. She did an absolutly amazing rendition of Purple Rain by Prince that no one has been able to beat. This song was lovely,one I really enjoyed. I loved that it showcased her amazing voice and the fact that she is bilingual. Not many people this year sung in their own language, and the fact that Ruth could switch between the two was a real credit to her. Well done!

3. Poland

This was hilarious because I have a few friends from Poland, who I spoke to straight after the performance. They were less than happy with the representation of their country. If you don’t watch any of the others, I highly recommend this one just for the shock factor. It’s all a bit sensual, if you ask me. Not really Eurovision tradition, but it’s good and one hell of a way to make an impression.

4. England

(Well, ‘Great Britain’ technically, but whatever)

My home nation. To say we reached 17th position, that’s very good for us. Usually we’re last at these sort of things. Europe doesn’t seem to like us for some reason… Molly is such a sweet girl and the song is actually OK. The past few years we’ve had a below average entry, although Bonnie Tyler was fabulous as ever. Also, I think our ‘postcard’ was the best of the night. Molly managed to co-ordinate several red busses and vans and a few hundred people in blue macs (very British, I must admit) to make the Union Jack flag! It’s very cool.

5. Austria

Conchita Wurst. The worth winner. Not only was the song amazing, and beautifully sung, it sends a message to the rest of the world. It shows that no matter who we are, there is a majority that won’t give a shit and accept you for who you are. I’m sure this is the first time in Eurovision history that a drag act (as she describes herself) has entered the song contest, let alone won. It shows just how far we’ve come as a collective, and how regressive those who appose such choices really are.If the whole of Europe and come to gather and vote for her, then what is wrong with everybody else? And she won by a considerable amount, too.

6. Graham Norton

This guy is our commentator for the evening. He’s done it for the past few years and it sooo funny! Mostly he just sits there and takes the piss out of all the acts, but eventually he does give us the information that we need to know. To be honest, it;s a nice weekend away for him where he’s paid to get drunk and take the mick. I think it’s a very English was to make a living. For me, he makes the show every year. He has his own chat show on British television, and it is amazing.

So, that’s it everyone! What an amazing contest this year, and I look forward to the next one. Well done to all the contestants, but especially Molly and Conchita. If you missed in, here is a playlist with all of the evening’s performances on them. Until next year!

Study Leave

Today was the first official day of ‘exam period’, which means countless hours of revision and, eventually, exams. While this is a stressful time in my life, there are a few things I think my school could improve on.

Firstly, they could stop giving us scary assemblies that are mainly “it is x number of hours until your first exam” and all of that shit. That’s the stressful stuff! Actually sitting exams doesn’t bother me that much – to be honest, I test quite well. I know that whatever i do I’ve put in the most work I can and tried my best. But when we’re getting our head of year breathing down our necks and demanding that we revise every minute of every dat. Not only do I already know what’s best for me technique wise, there is a point where it stops going in. Has he even factored in tome for sleeping and eating, or even taking a break?!

Secondly, the revision sessions weren’t anything like what I expected. What we seem to be doing in summarising each topic and having it dictated to us. The thing is, I’ve already done this at home. That was my revision. I was more expecting past paper questions and worked examples. That’s what we’ve been doing in maths and it really helps. Having the first three units of biology spoken to us this morning was alright, but our first teacher was drab, the second was fantastic and the third was alright but went on so long with needless bits of information. For RE revision this afternoon I ended up going home early because it just wasn’t working for me.

Ah well. I hope other subjects will be okay. Perhaps it’s just because it’s the first day and they’re getting into the swing of thing. Let’s hope so, eh?

30 Day OUAT Challenge – Day 30

What got you into Once Upon a Time?

A trailer on the TV.

Click here to view that (or don’t, it’s up to you…)

This was the trailer that got me intrugued with the tale as a whole. It seemed like an exciting and imaginative new show that I hadn’t seen in a long time. There isn’t anything that seemed to capture the not-so-family-friendly side of the fairy tales before – it’s that vibe that makes me like Grimm, too. The show took a new side to fairytales and that really interested me.

There’s also the graphics in this trailer. The purple used in the Channel 5 logo is like the purple of the smoke of the curse, which I’m sure wasn’t accidental. The whole aesthetic of the show appealed to me and ensnared me.

I’m glad I tuned in that first day in 2012 (that’s when it aired here in the UK – I assume it was earlier in the US. It usually is). Without that initial viewing I wouldn’t be as in love with it as I am now. I probably wouldn’t love fairytales as much as I do. Something inside me would have caved to peer pressure and dismissed them as nonsense of children – with the obvious exception of the Disney tellings. That goes without saying.

****************************************************************

So comes the end of the 30 Day challenge. If I do another one of these. I think I’ll try to have a bit more vairety. I think this certainly more than the 30 Day Book challenge, but was still a little repetitive. Ah well. I hope you enjoyed it, and I managed to entertain some of you. Perhaps I even inspired someone to go watch the show.

See you soon! x

30 Day OUAT Challenge – Day 29

a) What is your favourite fairytale? b) Do you like the OUAT version?

a) Beauty and the Beast

I love Beauty and the Beast for many reasons. The story itself is amazing with such a lovely message – it’s what’s on the inside that counts. There is a lot in our world based on superficial characteristics like what we look like and how we keep ourselves. There is so much more to life than that, and this story has always helped me see that. It also helps that it is ana amazing Disney film which I practically know off by heart.

Belle is also one of my favourite female protagonists from a fairytale. I’ve already written how I love her in Once Upon a Time, but I really, really do. I find in a lot of fairy tales all the women just sit around and wait to be rescued. Without being offensive, their simpering idiots who have no backbone and no idea how the real world works. That’s one fo the reasons I love Once Upon a Time so much – their women aren’t like that. Belle wasn’t like that in the first place: she volunteered to stay in place of her father and doen’t think of the repercussions for her once. It’s great to see a bookworm with a backbone.

As for adaptations to the story, the Disney one is by far my favourite. I cannot watch it without crying every single time. I can’t help but sing along to the memorable tunes or laugh at the same old jokes that I’ve heard countless times. I love it so much that when we visited the Be Our Guest Restaurant in Walt Disney World, Florida, I openly admit I cried a little. It was just so beautiful and looks exactly like the ballroom where Belle and the Beast! Lord knows how I’m going to cope in the summer when we go there for a meal…

b) Yes

I think this is such a clever reimagining of the classic tale.

It added another layer to the complex character of Rumple and provided a foundation for the audience warming to him. It also adds a vulnerability to his character that wan’t there previously – as this is prior to us knowing about Milah or Bealfire, he just seemed like the ruthless Dark One before now. We’re also introduced to Belle, a character who didn’t need much adapting to this diverse Enchanted Forest, who quickly grew on me to become my favourite female character.There are also elements of the original tale there, which was interesting. The chipped cup has been a vital plot device in their relationship and for the Rumpbelle shippers out there.

Their whole story arc is just adorable. We see Rumple’s defences crumple under his affection – and love – for Belle, and Belle sees the man he always wanted to be. Their romance is one I’ve always rooted for in the show. It also seems to be the truest, even more so than Charming and Snow. They’ve always remained loyal to each other and fought the hardest to be together out of everyone on the damn show.