I think we could argue that every time a heart is ripped out, the one who did the removal loses a bit more of their “humanity” or is taken further into darkness. Think how evil Cora is. She took a lot of hearts, as did Regina, which is why she was such a fantastic Evil Queen.
And I’m starting to wonder if the whole “all magic comes with a price” is only BIG magic. Not the spells here and there, or else no one would do magic. But those spells that have consequences almost written into them, they come with a price. Even if it’s internal, like losing yourself to darkness.
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"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"