#sq meta

on the doyalist side you have just plain character assassination as a result of the romantic plot tumor that is cs and a minor case of chickification (losing some of her badass qualities, wardrobe change from tomboyish to floral patterns and uncharacteristically feminine clothing, her entire existence revolves around her relationship to a man (and its not henry), loss of agency, all the important actions/decisions are designated to other characters instead of emma like it used to be) which are both indicators of bad writing

on the watsonian side emma becoming a shell of her former self and letting her life be directed by other people's expectations is entirely in character for her because of her deep-seated insecurities and fear of losing her family, the thing she always wanted in her life, to her love is conditional so she feels like she has to live up to their expectations to earn their love (this is confirmed to her by her parents reaction to her magic getting out of control and how they were scared of her and encouraged her to get rid of her magic) - be good, be the savior and bring everyone their happy endings, basically putting everyone else's needs above her own, but it's also expected that she gets a happy ending just like her parents, which means settling down with her true love, preferably with a man, marriage and kids (basically very heteronormative), add in the fact that she also lost a handful of people she loved in her life (Neal, chleo, lily, she almost lost hook as the dark one (my opinion on this deserves its own post lol but lets just keep it in for the sake of my argument) she is obviously desperate and clinging a little too hard to this idealized version of a happy ending because this might be her last chance at a happy ending, being with hook is a mix of 'this is what everyone expects of me, what I'm supposed to want' and responsibility because he literally admitted she is his happy ending and as the savior she is responsible for everyone's happy endings, she also has already invested so much time and effort into her relationship with him, she went to Hell for him which cost Regina Robin (you cannot tell me she doesn't feel a little responsible for that even if Regina went willingly for Emma and doesn't blame her at all) so to break it off with him now would mean all she and everyone else sacrificed was for nothing

So... funny story, I once found myself waiting to cross the street close to the OUAT set and suddenly they walked up and were standing right behind me for a good minute. Did I turn around and eloquently address them, impressing them with my vast knowledge of storytelling? Or did I stand like a deer in headlights until the traffic light indicated it would only be social and not physical suicide if I ran across?

Yeah...

Needless to say I've wondered many times what question I could have asked to start a genuine conversation... I've landed on:

How did you organize your writers' room to write the different layers of the story? Did you create a big backstory for Emma before the show started and did the room come up with the fairy tale metaphors or did you come up with everything together?

The way I see the show is basically the exploration of one person's life (past and present) through metaphors, fairy tales and pop culture. It really explains all the repetitive themes and stories we used to complain about - looks like they were actually part of the fabric of the show. And in that sense, it's quite a genius show even if it doesn't look like it on the surface.

And of course I want to know whether there was ever an intent to lift Swan Queen out of the subtext, so...

2. The romantic subtext between Emma and Regina was pretty... loud, so were there story reasons to keep it subtext or was that decision made because of other factors?

in 4x15, when emma is running around like a crazy person because Regina has went undercover with the Queens of Darkness, Emma asks her parents why no one informed her and that she could have helped. “I could've helped. I was a bail-bonds person. Pretending to be someone else was part of my job.”

I came across this line while editing clips for videos I was making, it’s been years since I’ve watched the show in full and don’t really want to outside of clips. Maybe one day…

But that line struck me and I think it’s funny that our introduction to Emma in 1x01 is her pretending to be someone else. Before Emma turns the corner in the restaurant for her “date” there’s a brief moment of discomfort and then it’s gone until she breaks character to bring the guy in. We see that this is who Emma really is. A little rough around the edges, tough, not as polished as the woman in the dress wants people to think. She gets home and immediately deflates and kicks off her high heeled shoes, her costume.

Emma see’s being The Savior as a job, also. She even says so to Regina. "Henry brought me to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings. My job's not done until I do that for everyone... including you."

The savior is a costume for Emma. It’s who everyone expects her to be… she’s responsible for breaking the curse because she’s the savior. She’s responsible for bringing back happy endings because she’s the savior. she’s supposed to be good because she’s the savior.

Being an orphan and growing up in multiple homes and orphanages I just imagine the amount of times Emma was told to be good or how to act to appear “wanted” and “good enough.”

When she finally did meet her parents they had all these expectations and regrets. They missed out on so much with emma and emma tried to make up for it in the present. It was apart of her job.

Live up to parents expectations: ✅

Hook told her she was his Happy Ending. Up until that moment she didn’t know. So Hook’s HE: ✅ Easy enough.

Emma was her true self around Regina. We saw that rough around the edges, clumsy, goofy, and for lack of a better word, idiot, around Regina. It’s why the more vulnerable scenes were between emma and regina and ultimately why there was (and still is) such a big divide in the fandom because we saw two different Emmas.

I have seen the last scene of season 6 and I feel like this backs my train of thought up. We see Snow and Charming at home with baby Neal, Emma and Regina seeing Henry off to school, then we see Emma and Hook in the bug putting the siren on top of her car which she has because she’s Sheriff. It’s her job. Then we see Snow teaching. Which is also….her job.

Being with Regina and Henry is easy. It’s natural for Emma. It’s not a job. She doesn’t have to pretend. She’s accepted as a whole in that family unit.

i feel like i lost where i was going with this but does this make sense? yes? no? maybe? I should shut up.

There’s a lot to dissect in OUAT and almost 10 years later i’m still here picking at it.

How this connects to s7 I have no idea, the only scenes of s7 i’ve watched was Regina “waking up” and the coronation scene.

In the actual first episode, Chanel has already left to go on her enemies-to-lovers long con coffee date with Grace and put Libby in charge— and when we next see the 3&5 and the pledges, Libby is still explaining what this hazing ritual is.

Aside from the continuity, having a scene of #5 actually being a bully and perpetuating the Kappa system of cruelty would’ve made the idea that she in some ways deserved her fate — while still untrue especially from a real life moral perspective— make more sense narratively. Let her be mean and annoying and just as cruel to the pledges as Chanel is to her— even if it’s just one scene it works. Instead of just hurling abuse at her and then having her be sent to the asylum entirely because the worst of Libby’s insulters went on a rant while she sat and nodded.

Rule number 1 was that every story on OUAT is connected to Emma Swan’s life. (Don’t worry, Regina’s clearly important, we’ll get to that.) Rule number 2 is that this is not a coma theory! (Okay, that’s not really the rule, but it’s the best place to start to explain it. Bear with me. Pleaseandthankyou!)

This is a magical story, because the magic begins in our world.

Regina Mills: “There's a reason they call this place the Land Without Magic.” The Dragon: “Yes, because that's how it appears. There's magic everywhere if you're willing to see it.”

The Dragon said it loud and clear that there is magic in OUR WORLD. Meaning in the physical dimension where the show starts. But magical shit is subtle af. Subtle as in hard-to-believe “coincidences”. Like when you make a wish on a cupcake not to be alone and your long lost son shows up in the next second... Yeah. Always love it when that happens.

They even show the candle’s flame covering her third eye. Someone’s ready for a magical journey. Then the doorbell rings. 

Rumple:” Every savior needs a villain” 

watching this episode we all know that ...

Regina being a villain wasn’t really what woke Emma up ...

but the fact that Regina wouldn’t hurt Henry ... 

Emma:” when you couldn’t hurt Henry ...”

We all loved the Idea of Emma and Regina being so linked that one couldn’t exist without the other, but we also know how much Rumple likes to talk in riddles, when he said a savior needs a villain he didn’t actually say that it was Regina ... he hinted that, Emma needed to know who the villain was for her to wake up, and in the end she didn’t even wake up because of that so, she still needs to recognize who her villain is ... and that reminds me of ;

Regina: “ Evil doesn't always look evil. Sometimes it's staring right at us, and we don't even realize it”