Once Upon a Time fandom has many facets and we want to look at how a television show with it’s twisted fairy tale storyline has a way of being an escape for people through difficult times in their life.

As we all know, life has its wonderful peaks and dark valleys. It is inevitable, but how we journey through both is an important key of life.

In this multi part interview series, we present our interview with Reini Side. She not only enjoys Once Upon a Time as a fan, but she discussed how the show helped her weather the darkest storm of her life. I asked her to share a bit about that before we began the interview.

Interview with Reini Side – Dream Interrupted – Part 1

Once Upon a Time became a personal part of my life during the summer of 2014 when my husband was dying of brain cancer. As his full-time caretaker (on top of working full-time and being a single parent to our toddler daughter), I was under tremendous stress 24/7. Dealing with doctors and insurance companies was frustrating and draining. Watching the love of my life suffer and slowly decline and slip away was so painful; it was the most horrific period of my life.

In praying for God to get me through this storm, Once Upon a Time fell in my lap. I’d seen the first season, but dove into them ALL within a short period of time, and I found I really connected with Regina’s character in the show. OUAT was my only escape. I remember reaching a point where I thought, “That’s it! I can’t take it anymore! I need to get some Evil Queen on to deal with these people…”

And I did.

I went from blonde to black and (thanks to some significant weight loss) a wardrobe change. Regina’s strong, bold, and sassy character was tremendously empowering to put on for a while, and it really helped!! God used Lana to help me find an inner strength I didn’t even know I had, and it helped me survive my husband’s death and even thrive afterwards. Having connected so deeply and personally with the show, I knew I had to attend RegalCon the minute I heard about it. (RegalCon was a convention specifically OUAT themed.)

On our way to #RegalCon, YEAH!! @Regal_Con @EvilJuja @DEvilRegal_92 @RegalFamily @LanaParrilla pic.twitter.com/NWwhWT0MtG

— RK (@rk_reindeer) May 8, 2015

I had never cosplayed before, but I wanted to go as the Evil Queen. My very talented mother is a professional seamstress, and was completely on board for the massive project. At RegalCon, I reveled in being the Evil Queen for a day.

https://twitter.com/ERHeart4Art/status/597161901060202497

It was amazing and very meaningful to come full circle and meet the people who helped me through the darkest period of my life, and I found I connected with other fans who had also experienced hardship and were OUAT fans for similar reasons.

Our private meet & greet turned into a family portrait! … Love my #EvilRegals … @Regal_Con pic.twitter.com/T4aPixzIri

— Lana Parrilla (@LanaParrilla) May 9, 2015

Looking back, it’s interesting seeing the parallels in Regina’s and my life. We had both experienced excruciating loss, we were both widows, my name Reini is actually derived from the name Regina (which means Queen), and we were both single mothers working in government. Not only that, but we both overcame hardships and have let good win in us.

#WeSupportSeanMaguire You are amazing and kind, Sean! It was such a pleasure meeting you (obviously!) pic.twitter.com/Y5Cj7TvttG

— RK (@rk_reindeer) June 23, 2015

To top that off, I’m thrilled to announce…

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Let’s have fun with Movie Titles. Let’s add the OUAT word Hook to a Movie title.

I’ll start – Hook in Wonderland. Now, it’s your turn.

Even though much of the story centers around humans and the choices they make in Once Upon a Time, animals play interesting roles, also. This time we will look at the role of birds in OUAT.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a percentage if you make a purchase using these links. Thanks if you do.

Animals in OUAT Part 1

Birds in OUAT

Snow and her connection with birds

Early in the Pilot we see Snow and Mary Margaret hold bluebirds in their hands. It seemed that the birds were very comfortable with Snow/Mary Margaret, almost drawn to them. Many times in Classic Fairy Tale stories, characters had a connection to animals in general (Animals even helped them with tasks; delivering a message, cleaning up a dirty house, completing a dress, etc). Even though a character like Snow White had no magical power, her kindness led to this connection to birds. However, evil also gives some characters connections to birds (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Evil Queen, Maleficent, etc.).

Except, when she went dark in “Heart of Darkness (1X16)”, ya know? 😉

In the 7:15AM (1X10) episode, birds were part of the core storyline in Storybrooke.

Dr. Thatcher: Well, this is a north Atlantic dove. It’s a migratory species. Very unique among American doves. They tend to form strong, monogamous bonds, meaning-

MMB: If I don’t get her back to her flock, she’ll be alone forever.

Dr. Thatcher: Well, it’s a long shot, but the alternative…

(He puts the dove into a cage.)

Dr. Thatcher: She’ll heal, but she won’t be happy here.

MMB: I’ll take my chances. Thank you, Doctor.

Dr. Thatcher: You’re welcome. Good luck.

(Dr. Thatcher leaves. Mary Margaret takes the dove’s cage and goes to leave.)

David: Mary Margaret, there’s a storm coming. You really shouldn’t go out there.

MMB: Well, the storm’s coming tomorrow. If I wait, she could be lost forever. Completely alone. No one deserves that.

In the Fairy Tale Land storyline, we are introduced to the concept of doves delivering written messages between Charming and Snow.

We also see this again in the episode, “Broken” (2X1) when August sent Neal/Baelfire a postcard when that the curse had been broken.

In the “Into the Deep” (2X8) episode, Cora sends a message via a Raven to Snow concerning the ultimatum about returning the compass.

In the episode “Shattered Sight,” (4X11) Snow mentions that she talks to birds:

Snow: You know what, Swiss Miss? You do know me. I pick flowers. I talk to birds. [Whispers] I do all kinds of warm, fuzzy things. And you know what else? I kill. Yeah, that’s right. [Singsongy] Snow White’s a murderer. I killed the Evil Queen’s mommy. And I said I was sorry… [Singsongy] And it didn’t mean it.

Elsa: That’s horrible.

Snow: Still wanna hold hands, sing “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah”?

More Birds delivering messages

Hook mentioned in “Witch Hunt” (3X13) that a bird brought his the un-forgetting potion AND directions of how to use it. That was some bird!

David: (turning to Hook) I don’t understand: If you left the Enchanted Forest before the curse, how did you know to find Emma and come to Storybrooke?
Hook: As I was sailing the realms a bird landed on my ship’s wheel with a note instructing me to retrieve Emma and bring her back here. There was a small vial of memory potion tied to its leg.
Mary Margret: Who send it?
Hook: I assumed you did.
David: A message via bird—that does sound like you.

Trivia Question: Do you remember who sent the memory potion (via the incredible strong bird) to Hook?

Bird confusion

Dove or Pigeon? During the “7:15AM” (1X10) episode, we see what is called a dove in the dialogue, but there was much discussion of whether it was a dove or a pigeon.

Trivia: In a rare occurrence, The Storybrooke Pet Hospital space in Steveston was used for Exterior and Interior filming

Crow or Raven? In an article posted here > http://disneydigitalstudio.com/1768/once-upon-a-time/ it describes a cool sound addition giving Regina an audible “entrance” as a nod to the Disney films version of the Evil Queen.

“Another character who has her own theme is Regina, the evil queen in Fairy Tale land and the mayor in Storybrooke. Continuously surrounded by crows in fairy tale land, sound designers introduced the evil queen’s trademark pet more subtly in Storybrooke, editing in a crow ambience track whenever Regina is around. While faint to the audience, the crew of Once Upon A Time is very keen on the crow sound. “Every time we hear it on the stage,” Fleming jokes, “we like to say ‘you’ve been crowed.’””

This idea that the sound of crows relaying a message was taken one step further in a discussion on Once Podcast about the episode “Sympathy for the De Vil” (4X19) when Emma takes a step down the path to darkness. Note: Please click on the excerpt below to read more of the article.

“Towards the end of the episode after Emma killed Cruella, crows were heard when Emma was shown. In Once Upon a Time, crows were typically used when Regina was in her Evil Queen mode. Was that a sign that Emma is changing?“

The Queen clears it up for us. In a very cool deleted scene in the OUAT Season 4 Blu Ray when Rumpel interrogated Regina (in full Evil Queen regalia) about the disappearance of Belle, clears up that she uses Crows, not Ravens.

http://tvline.com/2015/08/12/once-upon-a-time-deleted-scene-rumple-regina-belle/

Were there any other instances where birds were used in Once Upon a Time?

Do you listen to podcasts about Once Upon a Time? If not, please read our post entitled, The 5 Reasons YOU should listen to OUAT Podcasts.

Okay, One more – remember that tall, bald guy that worked for Mr. Gold in “Skin Deep” (1X12)?

This guy making a very bad day for Moe French.

Well, that member of Gold’s posse is – wait for it – The Dove. That’s his name. http://onceuponatimeabc.wikia.com/wiki/The_Dove

Once Upon a Time is such a great show that I will give you 5 reasons you should listen to OUAT podcasts and extend the experience far beyond the TV show itself;

Don’t miss a thing with other viewpoints

1. You get a different viewpoint (or two). With the Once Upon a Time Fan Podcast, you get myself and Colleen’s views during our First Thoughts episode (recorded and released directly after the West Coast airing of a new OUAT episode, then the Main Show includes views from listeners in the form of vociemails, emails and Social Media messages. With all those different viewpoints, you will be sure to catch more of the episode than if you just watched in by yourself. Here is the information to subscribe to our podcast, for free that you will never miss an episode.

Subscribe Now via; Itunes | RSS | Stitcher

Note: If you don’t have an mp3 playing device, you should follow us on Twitter (@OUATpodcast) or Facebook (http://facebook.com/OUATpodcast) to get links to the blog post where you can play on your computer.

You’ve got choices, and that’s a good thing

2. There are many great OUAT podcasts out there and each one covers the same show, but differently. Isn’t it great to know that you have many great podcast hosts and production team that work so hard to bring you great insight week after week about a show we all love so much? Daniel J. Lewis’ ONCEpodcast.com site has compiled this great list of all OUAT podcasts into one place – right here:

http://oncepodcast.com/complete-list-of-once-upon-a-time-podcasts/

Note: There may been more out there, but this is the most up to date list I found.

Extras, too

3. Besides the podcasts themselves, the sites have many other surprises like blog posts separate from the posts including the podcast. For example, we wrote about the 5 Least Viewed OUAT episodes (Which actually shocked us. I believe it will you, too). Be sure to check them out, they add deeper insight the more you read posts about the different facets of Once Upon a Time in a more focused way.

Forums

4. Other podcast sites have active forums which many Oncers gather and discuss many different topics, like http://oncepodcast.com/forums/

Portable fandom

5. The greatest thing about OUAT podcasts is that they are portable. You can listen at the gym, at home, anywhere with your smartphone. We’ve heard stories about our listeners on planes (one is a pilot), on subways, buses, in cars on long commutes to work, sitting in the quad at school, etc. Wherever you go, subscribe to our podcast and take us with you.

Show some love

Please, please, please leave and rating and review for your favorite OUAT podcasts (You can have more than one. 🙂 ) on iTunes. It encourages all of us to keep going.

Here is our itunes like if you want to give us a kind review:

http://www.onceuponatimepodcast.com/itunesshownotes

If you’ve never listened to a OUAT podcast and took our advice, what did you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

From time to time we get emails and messages from blog readers that wish to rename anonymous and yet have questions that we feel should be opened up to answers from more than just Colleen and myself.

Reader Question – Should I Choose My Boyfriend or OUAT?

Hi. I love Once Upon a Time, but my boyfriend doesn’t. He hates Once and doesn’t understand why I spend time talking to other Oncers online, making my Cosplay costume and making plans to go to Comic Con.

I love my boyfriend so much, but I feel like I have to choose between Once and my boyfriend.

I don’t know what to do. Any advice?

Anonymous

It’s a tough issue for sure. If you were in her place, what would you do? Leave your comments below.

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