I wanna thank @solosprincess because I’ve been having a chat with her (as we always do after every episode) and she improved everything said below. Follow her!
I love how they’ve settled them here, representing Emma’s current life: she basically hit bottom.
She doesn’t know where to go or what to do.
The EQ did her best to give discourage Emma. The whole prophecy about her death, her insecurities about herself, and her (happy) ending, has forced her to go to therapy; hiding secrets from the people she loves. She is seeing how every effort to save someone can be undone.
That’s a lot for her.She’s exhausted (perhaps not physically, but certainly mentally) and just completely and entirely done.
But Killian and Henry are her pillars. From the cinematography aspect, it puts her right between her “pillars” and forces her to look up, look up into the bright and hopeful, to literally lift her hopes.They help her, they support her, they encourage her (”My emma’s too strong for that”, “Mom, you can do it”, “ You didn’t used to have magic and you found people. -He’s right.”). And all these things help her, make her powerful, make her want to risk it for good and move on – whatever her ending might be.
The best of everything is, despite her insecurities, they really believe in her. That’s beautiful.
Tag: CS meta
I feel like the sane members of this fandom have been given a few gifts from the writers and showrunners of OUAT so far this season:
Zelena and Regina’s exchange in 6×01: Zelena comes right out and counters Regina blaming her for Robin’s death by suggesting Emma is to blame for bringing them all to the Underworld. “I CHOSE to go,” Regina answers. May we never again have to hear how Emma/Killian/CS is to blame for Robin’s death.
Killian’s acknowledgment of striking Belle in 6×02: This is huge. It hasn’t been forgotten. It hasn’t been swept under the rug. It wasn’t retconned. He acknowledged it, he sought forgiveness for it, and he admitted that he is still struggling to forgive himself for ever doing it. And the way he spoke of it, the obvious shame and disgust he felt – this kind of action was clearly one he did not and would not regularly engage in. HUGE. May we never again have to put up with people claiming Killian Jones is a woman beater.
Belle forgiving Killian in 6×02: This one goes out to all the folks claiming that Belle and Killian don’t make sense as friends or that their friendship is somehow dangerous or harmful to Belle. Both of them acknowledged that he did some rotten things to her in the past. Belle confirmed that he has changed a lot since then, and that she’s forgiven his past misdeeds. He confessed that he is still trying to make up for those misdeeds, and is struggling to forgive himself for them, even with her forgiveness. This is not a problematic friendship. This is one of the show’s primary narratives – of second chances and redemption – done right. It not only makes perfect sense, it is an excellent standard that others’ behaviors can be measured against. We see a lot of people on this show giving second chances with suspicious or bitter undercurrents… and a lot of villains getting those second chances who don’t deserve them or squander them. Neither of those things are happening here. May we never again have to defend Captain Book from this nonsense again.
Kinda looking forward to whatever truth bombs they lob at us in 6×03…
Is it possible at all that A&E said that the EQ is Emma’s sort of mortal enemy to throw us off?
It doesn’t make tons of sense to me. Yes, Emma broke the curse in season 1, and yes, she came into Henry’s life, but when I look at mortal enemies, I see Snow and EQ, Killian and Rumple. That’s what an arch nemesis looks like.
Will the EQ want revenge on Emma for some things? Sure, I can see it. But as far as making them being enemies on the Snow/EQ level? I don’t see it. The EQ also considers Snow to be her enemy, so Emma might end up being collateral damage in whatever is going to be brewing.
If I’m going to sit and analyze this, then I think Rumple has done things that were far more damaging to Emma, plus he’s very much still on the outside.
I just really think that this entire set up they’re gonna have going with pregnant Belle is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back that will turn Emma and Rumple into full-fledged enemies.
Couples tend to have the same enemy.
Snowing have the EQ.
Aladdin and Jasmine have Jafar
Emma and Killian will have Rumple.
Clearly, there’s some teaming up going on with the EQ and Rumple because their goals are probably the same.
That’s just the way I look at it though.
I just don’t think that it’s a coincidence that Emma’s sword gets puffed in a red smoke (that is the only hint we were given), or that the roles seems to now be reversed from the AU when Emma sword fought light!Rumple and he cheated by using magic against her. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that last time Rumple had a sword fight with someone, he was fighting Killian who was the Dark One.
This show loves flipping characters around while keeping the same story going.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a set up for this battle of good vs evil that the show has been teasing since season 1.
”It was a joy to watch them together in their home in a moment both passionate and sweet, filled with kisses and giggles, overjoyed to be safe in each other’s arms and ready to finally express their love for each other physically. And seeing Emma smile when she hears Killian say there’s no need for her to remove her red leather jacket because he likes it was not only undeniably adorable, but also a way of him once again telling her that he loves every part of her, including her walls and her armor which her red leather jacket has often represented.
” — (x)
6×01 / 4×04
Requested by @marajade4s
Yesterday I already “took a stand” in this all debate of “Emma vs Hook” thing (and learned once more that when the parents are fighting it’s not healthy for the kids…), and now I’m not gonna use this gifset for demonstrating why it’s not fair to judge Emma here because Hook did a similar thing there. But I am gonna focus on two different things that I thought about while preparing this parallel.
First of all is the situation that CS was at before these “rude interruptions”. In 4×04 they were finally starting a relationship. Hook’s dream has come true, she was finally officially his. And then this all thing with the hand started, and he was so scared because it was jeopardizing everything. He was at a risk of losing her again if he becomes once again that version of a man he worked so hard to push away.
In 6×01 they started at a similar point. Their “future” was finally here after everything they’ve been through. Emma’s dream has come true and they could actually start living their lives together. And then this all thing with the hand (and visions) started, and she was scared because it was jeopardizing everything. she wanted everything to stay as perfect as it was just a couple of hours earlier over at their place.
This is why they chose to deal with it alone I think, and because they both chose at these similar situations to deal with it alone the last two gifs are so meaningful in my opinion.
When I prepared these last two gifs I suddenly thought about one of CS biggest repeated motives, hands. We all know how symbolic hands are for CS. The close up focus on them holding hands, the sad situation in 5×20, or 4×08. And now I think this symbol has come back, but in a different form. Here they are both losing control over their hand, they hold it trying to keep it steady, but they can’t. And I think what it symbolizes here is how unstable their hands are when they are left alone with a burden of a big secret. As much as their hands are steady when they are united together in an embrace, they are shaky and unpredictable when they are apart and keeping secrets from each other.
The solution here would be similar to the solution on season 4. They could overcome the fears and the obstacles only when they will be joined hands on it together.
How is everyone so fine with Emma lying to Killian? Especially at the start of the season too.
Well for one, this is a drama genre television show haha. It has been, for the writers, an easy (albeit not necessarily original) way to manufacture drama for CS literally from the start of the relationship (remember Zelena cursing Killian’s lips, and how he kept that from her).
Beyond that, it’s in keeping with their characters. Since Bae rejected Killian, he had not let anyone but Milah see who he really was – he hid it under the pirate bravado. It’s his first instinct to hide things because he had to hide the truth for so long to protect himself from getting hurt. Notice that with Emma we have some serious similarities. She also keeps secrets to protect herself. She has kept secrets from Killian before (for example the fact that she even had feelings for him was something she sort of tried to hide). Killian thought Emma would think less of him for what he did to Ursula, not realizing he had no reason to be worried that she wouldn’t accept him for who he was. Emma thought Killian would be hurt by her decision to turn him into the dark one, so she tried to hide it from him and get rid of the darkness instead of being up front with him. Killian was angry at first but when push comes to shove, he accepts what has happened and tries to make it right.
Basically, this is something they do a lot to create tension between captain swan because both characters are so afraid to be rejected by the people they love or lose the people they love that it makes sense they might hide something at first. However, notice how all of those examples ended. Eventually, they always come clean with one another because eventually they will face their fear of rejection/loss of love and realize that the love they have is unconditional and really, it always has been. Emma has always accepted all of Killian – she even accepted all of him before she truly accepted all of herself. Killian has always wanted Emma just as she is, walls, insecurities and all.
At least that’s where I’m coming from on this issue. She’ll come clean like she always does. Nobody is perfect and forgiveness, as well as not keeping score and moving past mistakes like this are important parts of long lasting relationships. I’m not an expert of course but that is one thing I have learned. 🙂
Emma is a person who does the right thing, and she’ll get there. Just give her some time to find the right words.
The “prophecy” (cuz as others have said, I’ll put 20 bucks on that being Jafar as the Oracle) garbage I can handle. They’d never kill Emma for real, because she dies and there’s no show. It’s her fairytale FFS. No way does a show about hope end with their heroine dying.
You’re just insulting my intelligence, A&E.
It’s the lying that really gets my goat. She straight up lied to his face. I get that she’s frightened out of her mind but if this goes one for more than 1 or 2 episodes I’m gonna be really pissed. (Note: pissed at the writers, not Emma.) Killian doesn’t deserve to be treated this way, not after all the times he’s proven that he’ll stay by her side. So in the immediate aftermath of finding out, I’ll give Emma this week. Maybe even next week, but come on, girl.
The most annoying and sad part? SHE’S KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE WOULD SAY. He’ll tell her the fate is crap. That the future isn’t set and that he’ll fight for them, for her. Because that’s what Killian does: makes Emma feel good about herself. The time she needs that the most she pushes him away. Not a fan.
I can’t enjoy any cute couply moments because she’s lying to him. And they made it about CS because he’s the one who confronted her about the tremors. Even worse, the show has given us NO EXPLANATION why this is happening NOW. What makes Emma being the Savior different this year? Why is she only seeing this now? I need an explanation that’s more than “we couldn’t think of any other plot for her this year.” Because my girl Emma deserves better than this.
Emma knows better than anyone that lies HURT. So yeah, time to process is okay. But this keeps going on, then Killian has every right to get in her face about it and call her out. As her partner, this affects him too and he has a right to know.
Once he does find out: I am all for them beating this thing together. No one takes down Captain Swan. I’m just not going to be happy until the lying stops.
Honestly this. Like I straight up LOATHE the “secrets/lies/miscommunication” trope, it’s the cheapest way to create angst for a couple and the fastest way to take me out of a story until the lie/secret gets resolved. And it’s not like they needed this on top of Emma getting a prophecy saying she will die and that Saviors don’t get happy endings, that’s the internal conflict already, but they are literally repeating the exact same plot from last season here! Emma lies/keeps a secret to her family and tries to solve it on her own instead, I mean really?
Also, in agreement with Michelle here too I just want to clarify
before I get hatethat I’m not pissed at Emma here, but at the writers, like please for once learn to use different character plots and stop doing this huge disservice to your protagonist’s character development.Are we honestly surprised by this development?
A&E have often shown how much they love to relationships parallel each other (or they just use it as an excuse to rehash plot lines), and CS has mimicked Snowing for first meetings, early relationship, memory loss, sensing the fate of each other, and finding each other over and over again. The plot of “Character’s death is pretty much said to be imminent or really soon and there is nothing they can do about it” is exactly like Charming and dreamshade from S3 (and we know that Emma is much more like Charming than Snow).
Hook called Charming on that lie, too.
And despite the sweet diner scene, you can see that Killian doesn’t really believe Emma, because he gets her. He knows she’s hiding something and he’s waiting for her to tell him without pressuring her. Just like he left her alone in the woods when she asked. He doesn’t like it, but he gives her the space to work on her issues and is there for her when she’s ready.
I don’t think this will go more than two episodes before she comes clean and remembers that it’s when she works alone that she gets into trouble.
You definitely have a good point here… I just hope she decides to tell him on her own and doesn’t wait until something happens that forces her to do it, like Charming did… in that interview A&E made a point to say that maybe she would tell them and maybe something would happen to reveal it.
Okay.
I have been debating whether or not to post this, but some things have happened recently that makes me think I should.
I don’t want to put a damper on all the wonderful flailing, but this is a personal issue and it won’t get out of my head.I also thought about putting a cut in the post. But I’m not going to. This needs to take up space on your dash. I’m posting this for myself, and for any of my non-straight friends who feel the same way I do about this.
I try my absolute hardest to stay out of the fandom drama. I would much rather stay in my own happy little bubble, but sometimes that is impossible.
This is one of those times.
Normally my mindset for ships is ‘live and let live’. But there’s been a paraphrase tossed around by both $qers as well as a portion of the CS fandom (definitely not all, most of you are amazingly accepting and I thank you for that) that pretty much equates to:
“If you’re a lesbian or lgbtq+, you must ship $Q!”
No. I don’t. Let me tell you why.
The thing about equality is if it is true, it is equal to its counterparts. This means it would need to be a healthy relationship. One that is given as much thought and care as that of Snowing or CS. $Q is the complete opposite of that. In season one, Regina tried her best to get Emma out of town, whether that was shaming her, framing her, or flat out trying to kill her. She also ended up poisoning her adoptive son and Emma’s biological son in the process of trying to rid her life of Emma. Since then, a fragile friendship has grown, but it is just that: fragile. Regina still constantly puts Emma down and blames Emma for most of her problems, which –guess what- she usually brought upon herself. There is also the point that, by marriage, Regina is Emma’s step-grandmother. I’m not going to get into that part of it, because that sentence honestly should be enough.
That is not a healthy relationship, and I can’t tell you how much it angers me to be pressured by people about why I do not ship this, (though I should mention, if you ship $q and keep to yourself, not harassing anyone, go for it! That’s your choice and I respect that, this is all just my personal opinion.) simply because I am a lesbian. Guess what? I DON’T EVEN SHIP RUBYSLIPPERS. I’m sorry but this was a horribly played out ship and sloppy storytelling and I refuse to sit back and accept it because “hey at least we got representation!” No. This is not accurate or equal representation. The thing that should have happened was Red Warrior. They baited us for months with those two, only to throw it all away and shove this random ‘true love’ in our faces in the span of one episode? And we’re supposed to be happy with that? No I don’t think so.
But that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post is to ask for respect.
Do not judge me because I am a lesbian with a straight ship.
I ship CS because they love each other. Not because they’re straight or gay or anything else. They love each other and it’s healthy. I’m actually going to be writing a femslash au soon but guess what? It will still be Emma and Killian because Killian is Emma’s true love.
I have lots of straight ships.
I have lots of gay ships.
I have lots of loving and healthy ships.So please. Do not assume to tell me what I should ship because of my sexuality.
It’s disrespectful and mean, and I’m very tired.
(tagging a couple of you because I thought you might like to read this @allison-chase @heyitsthatgirl @elaine-spades)
Last time I ever mention this, I promise.
Can we at least agree that whether Emma and Killian have been banging each others’ brains out for months or haven’t yet, that we are getting in 6×01 is them actually starting their future together as a couple that is getting a second chance at that?
Let’s not forget that this is basically day 3 since Killian was sent back to Emma by Zeus.
Less than 24 hours after he came back, he went through a portal where a freakishly strong psychopath tried to strangle the life out of him.
The way I’ve been looking at it is that this is a clean slate. Maybe they fucked before he died, maybe they didn’t, but at least we can all agree that whatever is taking place from now on is happening in his second chance at life?
Killian is back from the dead as a full fledged hero and starting the life he and Emma wanted and getting the future they fought so hard for. I think it’s kind of beautiful.
I’ll see myself out.
OK, honestly, though? Gonna let my fangirl squee out too for a bit:
This scene is some nice classic “battle couple” trope media framing. Playful-sexy couch antics, cute and yet suggestive banter, some steamy kissing, and then when there is the Promise of Danger, only the briefest of hesitation before they’re back on their feet ready to deal with whatever.
‘We were just dtf but now we’re down to fuck someone up, if necessary’ is seriously one of my favorite things in the world. Thank you, fandom gods.
Well this is way more articulate than I can be right now… But also articulates why I loved it . Because Killian doesn’t groan or roll his eyes and Emma wasn’t like “Seriously?” they just stopped and went to go be heroes.
cshappybeginning 