A Land Without Magic

[seraya7]

Reactions to A Land Without Magic

(I should point out I wrote most of this right after watching, hence the slightly hyper reactions to things)

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[seraya7]

My meticulous analysis of Dr. Whale's traits:

1. He is a doctor, and takes his job seriously.
2. His name probably has significance.
3. He had no problem following Regina's order and telling her, and only her, when there was a change in David.
4. Regina appears to trust him; she doesn't usually threaten or coerce him or order him to do things that aren't in his job description (that we see, anyway). She just lets him do his job, and he frequently ends up inadvertantly supporting her schemes by default, but he doesn't appear to be actually working with her.
5. He went on a bad date with Mary Margaret. As she was putting her foot in her mouth about wanting children and romance, he couldn't stop ogling Ruby. Also, the concept of fifteen children appeared to be a turn-off for him.
6. He believed that Mary Margaret quitting her volunteer work was because of the bad date and him, possibly a sign of self-centeredness.
7. Despite that, he understood why she would be disgusted with him, and thought she “didn't give a crap what {he} thought.” He behaved like he genuinely wanted to cheer her up, and he wasn't particularly dishonest or misleading with her.
8. He claims he “never does what's expected.”
9. When Mary Margaret called him after their one-night stand, he sent her flowers. Otherwise, he seemed to understand that she didn't want a relationship with him and was still considered a friend (at least, he was invited to her 'got out of jail' party).
10. He was being very creepy with Ruby at the bus stop, although he was apparently just trying to persuade her to let him walk her home. That could be genuine chivalrous concern (if unwanted and misplaced), or lecherous behavior trying to get in her bed, or something worse.
11. It's possible he was involved in falsifying Kathryn's DNA on the heart, but he shows no signs of it. He's totally professional with KAthryn.
12. He's also very professional (even compassionate/emotionally attached) when dealing with Henry, and doesn't make any attempt to hide that it's unexplainable, which suggests he is not really in cahoots with Regina (although it's not solid proof).
13. When Henry appears dead, for whatever reason Regina chooses him to bury her face in. Most likely just because he was there, but you never know.
14. Upon regaining his memories, he appears quite shellshocked. Of course, that probably just speaks to the shock of gaining the memories, and we can't really deduce anything from that. Additionally, the Blue Fairy showed concern for him.
15. The writers have given one hint in interviews: they said “he can't be tied down.”
16. Just recently, David Anders tweeted that we are all going to love his fairytale character next season. (He promises.) Firstly, <333. Second, that means he knows who it is, which means he has been acting accordingly .

Some of the best and most interesting guesses:
-The prince from The Little Mermaid, especially if Regina plays the role of Ursula. The main issue is that the writers have known his identity from day one, and only fairly recently figured out how to do The Little Mermaid in s2.
-Bluebeard. This worked better in my head before I realized that Dr. Whale is generally a nice guy, although part of me is fascinated with the idea of a nice, normal guy suddenly gaining the memory of being a serial killer.
-I mentally scanned all Disney movies, assuming all are fair game which may not be true, and determined that Ichabod Crane is among the best fits for him. A bizarre random similarity is that the Tramp is specifically described as “not tying himself down,” but I hope they won't go there.
-Some really random guesses I've seen online: Gulliver (which doesn't strike me as qualifying as a fairytale by any stretch of the imagination), Robin Hood (which has no particular reason so far), Peter Pan (likewise, plus I heard there's difficulty with the rights), and Frankenstein's monster (which honestly makes no sense whatsoever, but sounds awesome). Also Sleeping Beauty's prince, Puss in Boots, and Baelfire. (Apparently everyone is Baelfire, if you listen to the talk online.)