Once Upon a Friending Meme
Dec. 10th, 2012 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
netgirl_y2kGreetings Earthlings! I have picked up a few new subscribers (using the dw parlance, as I'm making a bit of an effort to concentrate things over here) from the recent friending meme. I was going to post one of those intro to me posts that I've seen popping up hither and thither, but I thought I'd leave you all in the happy delusion that I am in any way interesting for at least a little while longer.
Instead, I thought I'd talk about the most recent episode of Once Upon a Time
Gosh, Mulan & Aurora are adorable, and doing nothing to change my opinion that for a show with no actual lesbians, Once sure has a lot of lesbians. Come on, Mulan went on a quest to get her lady's heart back and then they engaged in metaphorical lesbian sex, which, frankly, wasn't all that metaphorical. Does anyone know if they're returning for the back half of the series? I do hope so, but if not they actually had a nice little self-contained arc all about learning each other's value and lady knights protecting their princesses who maybe don't need as much protection as at first thought (biggest narrative kink ever, basically.)
There should be fic about their quest to save Phillip, yes. And if, after a little while they were to go ...eh, we tried, and spend their time giving each other longing looks and dancing awkwardly around their feelings both being too afraid to make the first move then that would be fine too.
But mostly what I wanted to talk about was Regina. I am in many ways watching The Regina Mills Show, and my favourite thing about S2 - well joint favourite along with the rampant femslashing opportunities - is how hard the show is pushing a redemption arc for her. The most gorgeous and awful moment of the show by far was when Emma climbs out of the well and Henry calls her mom, and Regina thinks he's calling to her, looks up, sees Emma and Henry and goes, Oh, you two carry on, I'll just sit here and cuddle this tree.
The things you do to my heart, woman.
That said, I seem to be almost the only one on the Regina-friendly side of fandom who isn't mad at Emma for not inviting Regina to dinner. And-- Okay, while Gold was being petty and rubbing it in about Regina being left behind, that wasn't actually what her angsty face was about, I don't think.
I can't imagine, even for a second, that Regina Mills could make it through a meal with Snow White, Prince Charming, the Seven Dwarves, and Little Red Riding Hood without starting to chew the crockery. Or that she'd want to, really. I do think that Regina, in some deluded part of her mind, really believed that she'd do something to prove her redemption to Henry and things would go back to how they were before, with Emma, if not conveniently dead or trapped in fairytale land, seeing Henry at pre-arranged, Regina-approved times.
And when Henry traipses off with the others it strikes her all at once that this is absolutely not how this redemption thing is going to work. And I love that-- what can I say? I love redemption arcs that are, you know, arc-y.
I also don't think that saving Emma and Snow from a trap largely of her own making was meant to be Regina's big watershed redemption moment. I think if we get one of those, and I do hope we will, it'll be after Cora has rocked up, and without Henry there to act as a do-the-right-thing cheer section.
Instead, I thought I'd talk about the most recent episode of Once Upon a Time
Gosh, Mulan & Aurora are adorable, and doing nothing to change my opinion that for a show with no actual lesbians, Once sure has a lot of lesbians. Come on, Mulan went on a quest to get her lady's heart back and then they engaged in metaphorical lesbian sex, which, frankly, wasn't all that metaphorical. Does anyone know if they're returning for the back half of the series? I do hope so, but if not they actually had a nice little self-contained arc all about learning each other's value and lady knights protecting their princesses who maybe don't need as much protection as at first thought (biggest narrative kink ever, basically.)
There should be fic about their quest to save Phillip, yes. And if, after a little while they were to go ...eh, we tried, and spend their time giving each other longing looks and dancing awkwardly around their feelings both being too afraid to make the first move then that would be fine too.
But mostly what I wanted to talk about was Regina. I am in many ways watching The Regina Mills Show, and my favourite thing about S2 - well joint favourite along with the rampant femslashing opportunities - is how hard the show is pushing a redemption arc for her. The most gorgeous and awful moment of the show by far was when Emma climbs out of the well and Henry calls her mom, and Regina thinks he's calling to her, looks up, sees Emma and Henry and goes, Oh, you two carry on, I'll just sit here and cuddle this tree.
The things you do to my heart, woman.
That said, I seem to be almost the only one on the Regina-friendly side of fandom who isn't mad at Emma for not inviting Regina to dinner. And-- Okay, while Gold was being petty and rubbing it in about Regina being left behind, that wasn't actually what her angsty face was about, I don't think.
I can't imagine, even for a second, that Regina Mills could make it through a meal with Snow White, Prince Charming, the Seven Dwarves, and Little Red Riding Hood without starting to chew the crockery. Or that she'd want to, really. I do think that Regina, in some deluded part of her mind, really believed that she'd do something to prove her redemption to Henry and things would go back to how they were before, with Emma, if not conveniently dead or trapped in fairytale land, seeing Henry at pre-arranged, Regina-approved times.
And when Henry traipses off with the others it strikes her all at once that this is absolutely not how this redemption thing is going to work. And I love that-- what can I say? I love redemption arcs that are, you know, arc-y.
I also don't think that saving Emma and Snow from a trap largely of her own making was meant to be Regina's big watershed redemption moment. I think if we get one of those, and I do hope we will, it'll be after Cora has rocked up, and without Henry there to act as a do-the-right-thing cheer section.
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Date: 2012-12-11 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-11 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-11 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-11 12:52 am (UTC)I'm loving the hell out of Regina getting a redemption arc, too, and also, wow, I did not know I could have this many Regina-and-Henry feelings. I dearly hope they get a genuine, meaningful reconciliation before the season is done. (Because MY HEART MAY NOT HANDLE IT if they don't.)
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Date: 2012-12-11 01:33 pm (UTC)By the end of season one the show had managed to convince me that Regina, in as much as she was capable of real feelings at that point, loved Henry. But season two has managed to make it much less one-sided. I wibbled when Henry asked Emma to protect Regina because even after everything she was still his mom.
Yes, a proper, heartfelt mother-son reconciliation, and canon Mulan/Aurora. I don't think I'm asking for too much, show.
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Date: 2012-12-11 01:05 am (UTC)I like what you have to say. Can I ramble a bit at you? I cut my online fandom teeth on Angel so redemption arcs are a particular thing for me.
Regina. I love her so much. I want her to realize she is going to have to redeem herself over and over again, and understand that not everyone will trust her change of heart.And that's okay. It's perfectly understandable, she might resent that, but she is going to have to accept it as a fact of her life. I want Regina to know bone-deep that she has changed and to be secure in her own sense of what is right and good. Re-learning how to be generous and kind isn't going to make up for destroying an entire world and wiping out the memories of the people who lived there. Henry's approval and love aren't her ticket to redemption. I don't know if there is one, but I want to watch her take the steps that may get her there.
I want the confident, self-assured woman Regina was in season one, with the difference being she has freed herself from her grief and anger. She needs to regain her confidence in her abilities if Storybrooke is going to survive Cora's arrival. (I'm so eager for that moment when they meet again. I don't know how it is going to shake down, but I'm sure it will be epic.)
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Date: 2012-12-11 02:19 pm (UTC)YES. I want Regina's redemption arc to be hard and kind of painful, and for her to do it anyway. And I love what the show is doing with Regina & Henry's relationship, with him being the catalyst for her redemption, but I hope he doesn't end up being the be and end all of it. That kind of change has to come from within, and putting it all on another person is one of my biggest fictional squicks.
Cora's arrival is going to be fascinating, especially now we know that her motivation is an obsession with Regina. And as much as I think Regina is genuinely trying to change, if Cora offers her a return to the days when she was Henry's only mother and everyone in the town feared and respected her, she'll be tempted. And turning that down could be her big watershed redemption moment.
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Date: 2012-12-11 06:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-11 02:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-24 09:45 am (UTC)I can't imagine, even for a second, that Regina Mills could make it through a meal with Snow White, Prince Charming, the Seven Dwarves, and Little Red Riding Hood without starting to chew the crockery. Or that she'd want to, really. I do think that Regina, in some deluded part of her mind, really believed that she'd do something to prove her redemption to Henry and things would go back to how they were before, with Emma, if not conveniently dead or trapped in fairytale land, seeing Henry at pre-arranged, Regina-approved times.
Yes, yes, exactly. It would be a hilarious thing to witness at some other time, but did Regina want to have dinner with the Charmings? Oh no, she just wanted her son. To herself. Which is pretty much what Gold tempted her with in the first place (and what Cora will tempt her with, in all probability). I do love how Emma is pretty much okay with the fact that she and Regina are now Henry's co-parents, even if Regina herself will need some more time to adjust.
I also think Cora kind of loves Regina in her really scaryevilcontrolling way? She has always maintained that she needs to help her daughter fulfill her potential, and that's why she's coming to Storybrooke even now. To be powerful, of course, and lord it over everyone - with her daughter at her side, under her thumb, being the daughter she has always wanted.
I cannot wait for more.
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Date: 2012-12-24 12:32 pm (UTC)I can't wait for the inevitable Regina & Cora confrontation.
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Date: 2012-12-24 03:32 pm (UTC)It's a good thing so many of my flist (always knew I could count on you guys) is on Team Regina - I expect there's going to be a lot of feelings when that confrontation happens.
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Date: 2012-12-11 09:01 am (UTC)What you've said about Regina and the dinner non-invitation makes a lot of sense, and actually settles that scene much more comfortably in my head.
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Date: 2012-12-11 02:58 pm (UTC)Yeah, I think it was that I'd seen the reaction posts before the episode, so I was expecting the scene to be much worse, more along the lines of: We're all going for pie. Except Regina. Regina can't come. So when I actually say it it didn't seem so bad and fit in with my headcanon about how Regina sees the Charmings; she loves Henry, has accepted that she'll have to come to some sort of accommodation with Emma, and hopes that if she ignores the others for long enough they'll go away.
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Date: 2012-12-11 10:58 am (UTC)Re: Regina: YES. So much agreement on everything you've said here. I wasn't angry at Emma either - it's so not going to be that easy for Regina (and I LOVE that it's not; it shouldn't be).
Legit, the only reason I'd like to see Regina at a Charming Family Dinner is because of how HILARIOUS it would be (like, can you even imagine?) - and it would have been a shame to ruin that perfectly good angst ending with bad jokes. Another time, though, yesplease with plenty of awkwardness on top.
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Date: 2012-12-11 03:09 pm (UTC)But I do want that awkward dinner party fic, as well as all the ones about the femslashy adventures of Aurora and Mulan.
In your own time, fandom.
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Date: 2012-12-12 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-12 09:40 pm (UTC)But I can't wait till the show comes back in the new year and we see where they're going with Regina, because I'm loving it so far.
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Date: 2012-12-12 12:35 pm (UTC)Regina is so perfect this season. I'm not actually the biggest fan of redemptions stories, but in this case, it really does make a lot of sense to me, and I like that they're not rushing things, that it doesn't feel like they're turning her character around. And yeah – as I've seen someone point out, they probably would have let Regina come along to that dinner; that's not the point.
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Date: 2012-12-12 09:57 pm (UTC)YES. Regina could have invited herself along, and oh the hilarity, but 1) why ruin a perfectly good angsty mid-seaeson ending, and 2) not the point.
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Date: 2012-12-23 07:35 pm (UTC)I would be super sad if Mulan and Aurora were done with the show. I WANT MORE. And I want to see Mulan fleshed out more as a character.
It seems like they will stay on -- when more Storybrooke residents learn that their homeland still exists, they'll want to find a way to get back there. And having things that are actively happening on that side will make that effort more interesting.
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Date: 2012-12-24 12:00 pm (UTC)Also, I was thinking, if everyone was dragged to Storybrooke except the people protected by Cora's spell, and Cora killed all of them-- does that mean that Mulan & Aurora are currently the only people in the Enchanted Forest?
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Date: 2012-12-24 06:27 pm (UTC)These stoic warrior types are rarely among my favourite characters, but Mulan does things to me, and I adore Aurora's less obvious type of strength.
Yes to all this.