I just got home from food shopping and immediately popped open the jar of sliced jalepenos and started eating them like m&ms. And then, as is wont to happen, started thinking about Killian Jones.
So Killian’s relationship with spicy food?
Going from the food conversation from last week or so, the food landscape in which the Jones brothers grew up probably wasn’t a very spiced one. Depending on when and where the ships he grew up on would have traded, they may have transported spices now and then, but considering that Silver was talking about grain runs, IDK if they were making long and exotic journeys, tbh, and it’s not like Killian and Liam would have been able to sample the cargo anyway.
While being in the navy did send them to exotic locales, ship fare would have been fairly bog standard and stolid, I imagine (and from what we see in Liam’s cabin, dried meats, bread and nuts were on the menu at least).
But by the time he meets Milah, he’s talking about cities where the air smells of spices – it seems that wee pirate Killian got to take trips a bit further abroad than he previously had.
Imagine newly-rebelled Killian berthed for a few days in a foreign city trying to soak in as much of the vividly different sights as he possibly could while going about his business with a few crew members – choking down the instinct to gape wide eyed and instead maintains his dangerous pirate swagger. He wanders over to a food stand that’s preparing something that looks vaguely recognisable – a bit of meat and vegetables in a bit of some type of bread – pays, takes a bite, and just stands there for a second trying to slowly and methodically chew like his entire face isn’t being wholly consumed with fire. And he’s silently screaming realising that he has to eat the whole damned thing, because he’s fucked if he’s letting anyone think he’s met something he can’t handle.
After that he makes it a challenge to get used to the flavour, and after a while even begins to seek it out – the captain’s table in the Jolly Roger is never without a tin of dried chilli peppers.
Of course, Emma hasn’t had a chance to hear the story yet, and pops a plate of hot wings in front of him during the Super Bowl party at the Charming loft. He doesn’t miss how David and Emma are hovering while eagerly awaiting his verdict, nor how Snow and Henry are very conspicuously Not Looking.
He ends up being the one in stitches as Emma punches his arm and declares him no fun after he eats six of them in succession without even flushing.
And once she knows, he makes it his mission to try the various hot sauces he can get his hand on. Habañero, sriracha, bone-suckin’ bbq, and then he finds the specialty ones, ones Emma begs him not to bring home. The After Death hot sauce that comes with a little skull keychain, the straight-up capsaicin that he can only use a dot from a toothpick lest even his eyes start watering, and he starts growing ghost peppers in their garden because the ones from the market are duds.
YAAAS omg secret-foodie!Killian is 3000% my jam. My name is Stef, and I fully endorse this headcanon.
Also, Henry def got him the After Death hot sauce as a gift with a kind of cheeky smile like “I thought it was pretty appropriate” which kind of signifies the beginning of the point where they all can start making jokes about it, for which Killian is eternally grateful. And then, of course because Killian is so into it, Henry (to Emma’s everlasting chagrin) starts getting into That Scoville Life™
as well. Every time he sets the table for dinner, he puts a bottle of hot sauce out next to the salt and pepper and Killian’s sees it and is like ~*~ಥ‿ಥ mY sOn~*~
Also YES to him starting to source High Quality Spices like “Swan. Do you understand? The only time I’ve ever seen this was when we managed to raid a ship directly provisioning the royal larder. And now it’s being hand delivered to my doorstep? Can you? I mean. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” He jealously guards his mortar and pestle (“nO SOOoooAP!”). And if there are some further-flung characters hanging about from the Land Of Untold Stories, maybe some places will start popping up with a bit more scope than Granny’s and Tony’s, and date night is always accompanied by ridiculously overwrought stories of where and when he tasted food like this last.
Captain Spicy Cobra, accepted.
Okay but imagine at first, when he just starts getting adventurous with foods and spices, a little bit of internal conflict because he wants to explore this world of foods and open himself up to new things and experience a whole realm of flavours and experiences he’s never had before, but a bit of reservation because of course he remembers what happened to Liam, and how something billed as innocent turned deadly too fast. So imagine Research Nerd Killian Jones holed up in his cabin nights before they’re set to land in a new port, poring over books about the local cuisine and flavours, learning everything he can, simultaneously calming his own nerves but getting himself even more excited about this new world of food because IT’S JUST SO COOL, SMEE, OKAY?
So first of all, this is delightful – no one ever asks me about headcanons. I don’t think I have the knack for them. 🙂
I was thinking about this while I drove in today. I’ve always had the idea in my head that the tattoo predated Milah’s death, or at least part of it did. I was never sure why I had that thought, but thanks to your question I figured it out, and it’s this moment:
I feel like if the tattoo had been always and only a reminder of that day, Killian wouldn’t have reacted quite like this – there would have been more anger, more defensive tactics employed vs the pure avoidance he resorts to. But it’s not just a reminder of revenge, but of love.
I mentioned it in my first Millian fic like that. I can see him just up and deciding one day early in their relationship that she’s the one, and wanting to mark that – and being Killian, wanting to do it in a way that isn’t really flashy, but still makes a clear commitment. He’s always been more about actions than words.
By the same token, I’m pretty sure he’s already got a swan somewhere. 🙂
OK I love this so much, and because you know I’m a fucking sucker for minutiae I’m hopping on the train. The thing I love about this headcanon, is that by nature of the tattoo’s design, if he got part of it before she died, it would have had to have just been the banner with her name:
The dagger could have only been added after he found out about it (post meeting Bae) and the way it passes through it, it would have had to have been added either before or along with the heart. You can see from the section of the banner nearest the M that nothing passes over the banner, so it absolutely could have been the original piece
Also, timing wise, he would have had to have gotten the rest done on a cake run, or right when he returned to the EF after escaping Neverland for good.
Or one of he crew had a penchant for tattoo…ist…ry (and the means to do it in Neverland)
Anyway, I love this headcanon a lot, and the idea of Captain Killian Jones with a delicate little scroll on his forearm like so (forgive the hasty photoshop job):
makes me very happy.
But also…
Those feathery bits at the side make me wonder – is the heart itself dark enough to be a cover-up job? Perhaps there was a bird in the original tattoo behind the scroll? A bird to represent the freedom they both sought? Covered over by the revenge he tethered himself to?
I DON’T KNOW I HAVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS NOW THANKS.
Killian’s mother being fae is one of my favorite (crackish) theories
floating around right now. I missed the most recent discussion, but I know @hooks-and-feathers and @ripplestitchskein are involved (as are others and I’m sorry I can’t remember
everyone) so I’m directing this to you guys because it got too long for an ask:
Killian has been portrayed as a man who is not impressed by power
– Kings, God of the Sea, God of Death, Ruler of the Olympians, darkest DO to
ever dark? Whatevs. Given what we know of his back-story so far, I’m going with
the theory that he sees power as a corrupting force used to oppress those who
don’t have it. Maybe I’m forgetting something, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen
Killian use power as leverage to elevate himself over someone else. Of course,
in the past he allied himself with others who had power to accomplish his ultimate
goal of revenge against Rumple.
Then there is the fact that he and Rumple are clear foils. Rumple
always looks to the magical solution, even when he himself was not magical, and
cares about his power above all else. Again, Killian isn’t above using magic, but
instead of using it as the final solution he seems to look to it only as a
means to further his path to his goal, which he takes a more hands on approach
to resolving.
So all this is a long, roundabout way of asking –
How do you think a man, who has no use of power or magic, react to being the
son of a powerful magical being?
just as a random thought from 5×21: since we know that Hook (and Arthur) made it to the River of Souls then that means Hook would’ve had to have travelled through the UW version of his and Emma’s house and down into their basement so like…
do you think he paused for a few moments to look around, lingering at the thought of Emma being up in Storybrooke and living in the real version of their home, maybe even hesitating a little at the realization that he’s teaming up with the man who deprived him of the future he’d picked out, or just about what could’ve been one last time
do you suppose he paused once again to eye all the nursery stuff and it just furthered his resolve even more, like
“if i can’t have that future with emma then i’m going to damned well ensure that she has it with someone, even though it won’t be me”
Really @this-too-too-sullied-flesh? wasn’t it bad enough that you had to go and make it worse? was this necessary at all?
“I thought you wished to help your lady,” Arthur sniffed as Hook reached out to tap at a unicorn. His hook tinkled softly against the glass, agitating a cloud of webs and dust into the air as the mobile swayed gently in response.
Snow will never allow her grandchild’s nursery to get to such a state of filth, he thought sadly. Then he chuckled unwillingly as a flash of David, hands on hips and offended expression crossing his features, assaulted his mind. The Prince would likely dust the room daily himself.
“Hook, come along,” Arthur called, the door to the basement and Emma’s salvation creaking behind him. “Quit playing around. Those toys are not meant for you.”
They certainly aren’t, he thought to himself, sighing heavily as he followed the Fallen King toward his destiny.
All Killians are good Killians. This is just a fact. I love all versions of him.
What I really want to know here is how this giant Greek reading nerd has also found time to chill with some psychology books and learn the stages of grief. While simultaneously trying not to imagine how he was probably looking it up for himself. And wondering how to heal, and if he ever could. Because I like to hurt myself.
(I live for hot smart nerd Killian Jones. I can’t lie.)
(set post-Neal’s death in season three)
He slips away when no one is watching, all of them too busy mourning the loss of the man he knew once as a boy, centuries ago. Not that anyone is really paying attention to him anyway, he’s just an outsider, the pirate who only seems to get in the way now that he’s no longer a threat to them. But with all the time he’s been spending with the lad, “babysitting” as Emma calls it, he figures he should make himself useful. He makes his way quickly to the library and closes the door tightly behind him.
He’s dealt with death before in his too-long life, but he’d be the first to admit he hadn’t dealt with it well, and Henry shouldn’t have to face his father’s death with the anger and loss and the feeling of being unmoored, left adrift at sea as he had, not if there’s another way. There must be, this world can channel lightning into homes without fires and create food at the touch of a button. There has to be something here. He scours the shelves, wondering briefly what sort of organisational system this library employs, the tiny numbers on the spines of the books give no indication of content that he can figure.
He reaches the 150′s and spots one titled “On Death and Dying”. Perfect. With barely a whisper, he pulls the book from the shelf and skims quickly through the pages, looking for anything that could help him talk to Henry. Or to help himself, he’s not sure he’s ready to admit that yet. In the quiet of the Storybrooke library, amid books both ancient and new, he finally learns how to grieve.
cshappybeginning 