#in the vaguest sense like i'm just being observational about the show so idk

[queen-mabs-revenge]

I agree with the critical post you reblogged but i dont get what you mean by their pasts are being obliterated? The virignal coding of emma?

This took a while, but I really wanted to think about it,and it’s still messy and vague, so be ye warned. To be honest, this reply got backspaced a load of differenttimes because you got me really considering the depths of why I feel this way.

My immediate answer was that what I see (in this whole 6B arcespecially) is Killian Jones, previously defined by his previous role of command,the things he holds sentimental and dear, his visual cues, and his familial ties havingall that tucked away or dismissed in favour of neutralising his threatening (in many ways) past and defining his happy ending as becoming Emma 2.0: Storybrooke deputy.

With Emma, it’s less striking, because it’s Killian that’s assimilatingto her world, but it’s there, too, but more subtly? Emma whose points of prideare her ability to find people and to read people having those thingsneutralised to allow for plot to move forward in a suitably dramatic fashion (see: not reading Killian at all and not looking for him when he was missing)?

That rankles me, but that’s not really an answer, I don’tthink. Why does that rankle me? Whydo I feel so bone-deep that these things that I see being swallowed by thenarration are something that the characters hold as dear as I do? Maybe they’reOK letting these things go as they evolve into their new lives happily everafter?

But that’s the thing. That’s the reason why. I just postedthis bit earlier because it kind of hit me like a ton of bricks: the reason why the “happyending” we’re getting for these characters feels strange and ill-fitting to me,is because I’m trying to define their happy endings by what I’ve actually seenthem happy about on the show, not just what makes them not sad/stressed/angry, and I’m not seeing those very, very, few things reflected at all in what we’re getting.

I think one of the problem this show has, is thatit doesn’t really do a great job of establishing sources of joy for its main characters.Supporting characters are often given a passion that exists as the key tosolving a dilemma: Merida has her archery, Ariel has her collections, and eventhough she’s more than a bit role, Belle has her books. Hell, Henry has hismusic, movies and writing, and Regina has her horses. We’ve seen these characters light up like Christmas trees when talking about these things. I can pictureAriel as a museum curator in a heartbeat because I know that tending a collection is something thatmakes her little merheart sing (free AU prompt! Omg come on that would beadorable!)

So what is it for Emma and Killian? When do we see themexcited and happy about things? When do they describe their pleasure?

Not fucking much, tbh.

(haha my long winded ass continues below the cut!)

For Killian, what immediately jumps to mind is him describingthe concept of what he does as a pirate to Milah in 5.14: sailing where onewill and answering to no crown – he gets all excited and scoots forward as hedescribes the foreign lands he’s been to – travelling and discovery and thefreedom to do so make him happy. His ship makes him happy – the face on himwhen walks into it after Ursula gets it back for him? I mean, come on. He takespride in his competence as a “hell of a captain”. He’s got like a friggin loveaffair going on with the ocean and “the full moon on the waves” and whateverelse.

Obviously Emma makes him happy, Henry makes him happy, beinga part of the family makes him happy – but outside of others, those are hiscanon-established kicks.

Emma is a bit more difficult for me. We’ve got her foodpreferences down pat. She takes fierce pride in her independence and ability tobuild herself up in any situation – “this is who I am”. We see her littlegleeful grin when asserting that “Emma Swan always gets her man” because she’sgood at searching, knowing what to look for, and bending the rules to do so. Her‘superpower’ give her confidence. We’ve gotten hints that she’s taken joy inartistic things before, but only those hints of her art portfolio Ingrid keptand we didn’t hear her actually react to it other than what was relevant to theproblem at hand. We know she likes to read Harry Potter and that it made herhappy growing up. Maybe she likes filming things?

And again, obviously she’s happy when she’s with her son,her parents, her friends and her boyfriend.

But that’s it. That’s what we have to go on? So I’m rankledthat it seems that the only things that are established asgiving Killian pleasure outside of people, are being dismissed as his past life, and not only not relevant to hishappy ending, but the shedding of those things being set up as the final stage of his redemption arc. But beyond that, thiswhole exercise has made me really contemplate why this happy ending plot feelsso empty for the both of them, IMO…

And it’s because, jeez, that’s all we have to go on to suss out what makes them happy? What’s their motivation beyond not dying this week and smiling at each other?

(When people ask for domestic moments, I really feel likethis is the crux of what they’re asking for – a scene of them at home watching Netflix might give an idea of something that Emma’s developed a little obsession for. A hint that maybe she’s picked up painting again because it’s something she genuinely enjoys as a person? A scene of them chilling on his ship might have her interrupting him duringsome kind of fucking hobby of his that literally doesn’t have to be explained,but by virtue of being there would have a rounding effect. Other shows do this. Fanfic does this. It’s not a far-out concept.)

We have so damned little about what gives these charactersjoy, because every second is jam packed with Another Fucking Baddie – and Ithink that they realised that as they were coming up to this possible end of aseries. When you harp on and on about A HAPPY ENDING for so long, but put sovery little into establishing what happiness is other than…not being separated?Not being attacked? Not being…dead? Destined to die? What the hell do you dofor your characters to give them their personalised happiness when they don’thave a damned hobby or interest (or when you dismiss that interest)?

And the answer is that you can’t. So you have to give them apre-fab, super co-dependent happy ending that has mass-market appeal. Hence Socially TraditionalMarriage Beats In A 10 Episode Arc! Complete With Parent-zillas! And StockWedding/Engagement Imagery! Very-Important-Bc We-Tell-You-It-Is Location!Someone Else’s Dress! Standard Suit in Super Edgy Velvet! And then riding offin to the sunset as job twinsies, forever and ever. Cute times. But again, ifeverything about what makes Killian happy is to be cut out of his life in orderto justify his redemption, what the hell else is there for him to do in townbut to be pushed into the hero mould to the final degree by making him join thesheriff’s office?

(To be completely honest, I’m skirting the virginal codingquestion because I need to think about it more, and because this is hella longalready, but I think there’s been more of a push in that direction to get Emma,established as non-traditional, to fit this traditional storyline. Same withKillian. But again, I haven’t really thought this one through so I’m notprepared to get super in depth on it.)

So yeah, conclusion? TL;DR? I think that this happy endingseems pastede on yey because 

we don’t really know what makes these peopleindividually happy and so a stock happy ending is as good as it’s going to get 

what little information we do have about what give them joy has beenaxed as them ‘shedding their old, stunted selves’.