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Once upon a time: Abridged (also known as Once Upon A Time The Abridged Series) is a Fan Fiction by daestgatling, based on the TV series Once Upon a Time. It can be found here (up to 2x06, the Thankful for Christmas Special and The New Years Resolution Special) and here.

Henry Mills is a Child Prodigy living under the care of his absent-minded (but sometimes caring) adoptive mother. He suddenly becomes certain that he and the other people from his town are fairy tale protagonists from an abridged series, trapped in the mind of a bored college student, and that the others (except his adoptive mother) suffer from Identity Amnesia.

He thinks his mother, the elegant, headstrong, and haughty mayor Regina Mills, is an Evil Queen, that his schoolteacher who Desperately Craves Affection Mary Margaret Blanchard is Snow White, and that the aggravating ex-coma patient David Nolan is Prince Charming. Naturally, both of them must be the parents of the biological mother who gave him up for adoption ten years ago and is destined to come back and save them all. Oh, and after finding his birth mother, he tells her all about it, and she gets concerned...and a bit angry that he could think of a relation between her and David. The result? Much like in the original, she remains in town, but must face a Handsome Lech, a psychopathic Lady Killer In Love who gives a new meaning to Hell-Bent for Leather, a Badass Grandma with whom you should never mess, a Valley Girl, and...Mary Margaret, her new bestie.

The worst thing, though? Henry is right!

Regina, his other mom, is Snow White's stepmother who sent them all here! She is insanely rich, classy and powerful, and her Batman Gambits always succeed...unless they are thwarted by Mr. Gold, Emma's only powerful ally...who happens to be an equally omnipotent Affably Evil mastermind who dated or tried to date all the women in town and won't take "no" for an answer...even when it comes from Emma. Did we mention every character from this fanfiction, apart from Emma and some Innocent Bystanders]] are just as ruthless as him, and that Henry is no different? That cute, harmless-looking little boy wants Mr. Gold to make him his very own Bastard Understudy and Daddy's Little Villain. Yes, you heard well: he ships them!

This hilarious fanfiction contains example of the following tropes:

  • Abusive Parents: On the Sliding Scale of Parent-Shaming in Fiction:
    • Cora and George are type IV.
    • Regina and Charming are type II or (sometimes humorously) type III. The latter has Good Parents moments once in a while and Regina had one Parents as People moment.
    • Emma, Snow and Ruth are type I at first. The two former go off the scale into Good Parents. Rumple is type on with Bae and Good Parents with Henry.
  • Accidental Nightmare Fuel: In universe, the puppets in the Punch and Jody-like show and in Gold's shop are considered such. Even he couldn't foresee what a great alarm system they would make.
  • Anti-Hero: Emma is type III, arguably the only moral character in the fanfiction except Archie. Archie must be a type I, beginning in type IV. Recently, Aurora was introduced, and, except being The Prankster, she didn't do anything evil, nor questionable in her five first strips, which augues really well.
  • Arch-Nemesis: Regina and Emma naturally. Mr. Gold and Archie can slip into this when competing over Emma. August and Henry definately fall into this as well.
  • Arranged Marriage: Sort of. Emma agrees to marry Mr. Gold in exchange for his helping exonerate Mary Margaret. It's later revealed that Mr. Gold just wants to go through with it because it would put him in line for Snow and Charming's throne and to irritate August. When Belle comes into the picture, Emma is immediately replaced but one has to wonder how she feels about that.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The list of crimes on Snow White's wanted poster.
    Murder, treason, treachery, making disparaging remarks about the Dark Knight Saga. Tsk Tsk.
  • Author Appeal: The author's Fanfic and fanvids demonstrate a weird sense of humor, with enormous amounts of snark or delirium, a lot of metafiction.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Though the specifics do not apply, Regina actually loves Henry... like a pet. Blissful Denial BETTER THAN NOTHING, RIGHT ?
    • Rumpelstiltskin and Emma have shown at different points in season 2 that they care. Gold breaks it off with Belle because he doesn't want to hurt Emma (But pretends he doesn't want to break the deal to get the throne) and Emma reacts...very badly when Hook boasts about his revenge plan.
    • However, it seems that Belle and Rumple do care for each other... in a very twisted but honest way.
  • Badass Boast: Henry is fond of these.
    Henry: Many, many have tried to break my imagination. None have succeeded.
  • Bait the Dog: The author's interpretation of Phillip makes him look like The Wise Prince, and an hopelessly romantic Sickeningly Sweethearts person. He is then depicted as a Manipulative Bastard who wants to best amnesiac Charming's accidental unfaithfulness.
  • Brain Bleach: Regina's reaction to everything about the love life of anyone else in town.
  • Brainless Beauty: Charming can be momentarly this sometimes in the abridged series, though he seems more Hot-Blooded and refusing to plan. David Nolan is much worse...
  • Butt-Monkey: David Nolan and Prince Charming. Mary Margaret sees him in a state close from Brainwashed and Crazy... and comments that it can mean no good as he is way too likable. No one seems shocked at her bluntness.
  • The Casanova / Kavorka Man: Mr. Gold, except for his two ex-wives, Granny, Kathryn, Regina and Emma... though it gets put to doubt.
    • Emma.
      Abridged!David/Prince James/Charming: I see one of your love interests coming towards us.
      Emma: You have got to be more precise. I have, like, four of them !
  • Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Henry and Rumplestilskin/Mr. Gold. This makes them comedy gold.
  • Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder: Emma, to Henry and Mary Margaret. The princess Snow White to prince Charming in the abridged version reach this level, even though it seems that Snow White becomes Team Royal Family's Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder after Emma reveals to be Not So Above It All.
  • Creepy Child: In the end, even Emma is terrified by Henry, and his evil genes are revealed to be originating in young Snow White. This seems to have faded over time with her, so perhaps it will be the same thing for him. Well, he shows more and more sensitivity as time passes...
    • In the end, it's probably easier to count which children AREN'T creepy.
  • The Cutie: Aurora could develop into this. She didn't kill anyone in her first five strips, sings and attract animals without trying to eat them, and wasn't aggressive to Mulan when she discovered she was in love with Philip. She does hunt woodland animals later, but really, she is more cute and annoying than anything in the abridged series depiction... don't cross her, though.... Okay, in this series's standards, she is The Cutie.
  • Cute But Psycho: Mary Margaret is a glorious example. Kind, romantic, idealistic... ready to kill anyone who stands in the way of friendship or an opportunity of romance, and so possessive it becomes creepy. Danvers could be an example since he is a cute dove... candidate to become, via using his telekinetic powers and ordering his slaves, a world dictator.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Emma, Snow White, Henry, and, occasionally David and Charming, which is much more awesome than his fight scenes. However, in the first season, they are all bested by Regina. Ryumplestiltskin prefers Stealth Insult.
  • Desperately Craves Affection: Mary Margaret, like in the series, though it is even more heartbreaking because she turns this up to eleven.
  • Death Glare: Regina and Henry are fond of this... as is Mary Margaret. Emma cannot pull it off, despite all her efforts.
  • Determinator: Everyone, except one shot characters and David.
  • Extreme Doormat: Archie. He grows out of it, and via Lampshade Hanging it is called a "Moment of Awesome" by name!
  • Good Parents: Snow White and Prince Charming prove each other Mama Bear and Papa Wolf and have a good reason for letting Emma defend herself, and they have never been sweeter/less sociopathic than when dealing with their daughter.
  • Granola Girl: Belle, untill she meets Rumplestilskin. It got worse.
  • Handsome Lech: Rumplestilskin, Dr Whale, and, finally, David.
  • Happily Married: Red and Jefferson are head over heels in love.
  • The Heart: David is Team Royal Family's heart. He is the only one to remember Graham.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Subverted with Regina. She has a very blunt mother, but her bluntness is described as funny, and Regina's reaction isn't really Played for Laughs, though it isn't as dramatic and sad as in the show either.
  • Hot-Blooded: Prince Charming and Aurora are far from stupid, but they rarely seem to think before taking some highly dangerous and easily avoidable course of action.
  • Horned Humanoid: It is lampshaded by Jiminy, when speaking about his mother.
  • Hypocrite: Regina is depicted as this, and even sometimes as a sort of Straw Hypocrite.
  • I Just Want to Be Free: Said verbatim by Regina and Jiminy to their parental figures. They do not take it very well.
    Cora: Don't say that, honey, it makes me want to punch you.
  • It's All About Me: Oh, David, it was funny at the beginning, but you made Mary Margaret cry! This Means War!... with the whole universe!
  • Little Miss Snarker: Gretel gives the Evil Queen a run for her money in True North.
    Evil Queen: How would you two like to help me commit a murder?
    Gretel: Aren't you wearing your latest kill on the side of your head?
    Evil Queen: ...You're going to make this a long day for me, aren't you?
  • Loser Archetype: The author sometimes tries to make Regina into one (she uses the scapegoat franchise Twilight and the fact that Regina loves the sparkling vampires to try to discredit her), but since some of her best brillance in the series comes from the way she writes Regina, it's never the case.
  • Love Hungry: Mary Margaret is definitely the trope... unless, of course, she doesn't think so. In this case, we will delete this entry, because we do not want to annoy her.
  • Master of the Mixed Message: This version of Phillip, who does it intentionally.
  • Milholland Relationship Moment: Sort of : Snow White is told about Prince Charming's alleged irrational behavior. She gives answer that proves that, she does prepare herself to do a lot of work to bear her fiance's accidental mistakes.
  • Mood Whiplash: Sometimes, things do get sad... it doesn't last long.
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: Mary Margaret is fond of this plan, and everything that could help her to get her boyfriend to remain with her, because she decidedly needs it. It seems to come out of the blue when you learn how free-minded, snarky, and independent Snow White was... untill you see how she was when she was younger. Mary Margaret is just her without the growth.
  • Must Have Caffeine: Mary Margaret. Whatever you do, don't refuse to hand her the coffee, but do not give her any by your own decision... seriously!
  • No-Sell: Thanks to her being The Chosen One, Regina's glares do not work on Emma.
  • Not So Stoic:
    • Despite Emma's status as an Only Entirely Grounded Woman at the beginning, she slowly devolves into Only Mostly Sane Woman.
    • Despite the author's dislike of Regina, she grew steadily more sympathetic over the last episodes of season 1 and beginning of season 2. The change in the series and in the abridged one was casually lampshaded several times.
      Regina: (to Abridged!Prince Charming when he wonders about what he describes as her very own Heel–Face Turn) Get over it. We have new villains coming.
  • Odd Friendship: Mr. Gold and Archie
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: Regina's rape of Graham is consistently evoked by The Writer, Regina, Rumple and Charming. Probably a Justified Trope since, in this universe, it's completely intentional and done "to feel power over someone".
  • Only Sane Man: Emma feels that way off and on throughout the series and gets extremely offended when Graham tells her she's starting to fit in nicely. To be fair, she is the only character to be both undeniably moral and sane. Charming is the emotional Only Sane Man, being quite admirable and noble, while Regina is the reasonable Only Sane Man (though she claims logic doesn't work on her, she is quite grounded, compared to many characters).
  • Pair the Spares: Jefferson and Ruby elope just after seeing each other onscreen. Probably justified: they are alike and their chemistry is wonderful. Both characters were also abandoned and left without love interests by the writers of the TV original.
  • The Prankster: Belle and Rumplestilskin, reaching Sociopathic Hero and Comedic Sociopathy status.
    • This version of Aurora and Mulan towards this version of Philip, once they discover he may have almot cheated on them.
  • Protagonist-Centered Morality: Many characters have a case of it, most notably Abridged!Snow White and Abridged!David. Abridged!Charming is an example in that he leaves his troops to see her mother's first meeting with his fiance in Lady Of The Lake and save his beloved if she is in danger.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Waldo The Wraith, who has eight children and a wife to support. Also, the dragon in the puppet show.
    Dragon: Rawwwr and stuff...
  • Rage Breaking Point: You did it, I'm going to marry Mr. Gold!
  • Running Gag: Detective Man!
    • Mary Margaret's caffeine craze.
    • Mr. Gold's friendship with Archie.
    • (Is trying not to imagine this)
    • Hiiii Emma !
    • The children would look weird !
    • I have sustained my quota of making people cry for today !
    • Lalalala
    • I need you! I want you! I love you! I mixed you a CD !
    • Henry Gold here !
    • TMI

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