It’s apparently national donut day, and I had to get this in honor of our ship –
Also, I was in a bittersweet mood this afternoon and watched the 322 scene a few times. I kinda really love it, and I refuse to let those punks take away the one final pretty we got. So I wrote a thing, “The best two minutes of 321 & 22,” and thought I’d share here.
I feel like, in the context of the mess that was the finale, the SwanFire scene got lost beyond, “Oh hey! There was a SF scene!” For some reason today I am all about that scene, so I want to list all of the reasons I adore it – and hate that it got overshadowed by so much disappointment. This scene was a present, and although it will always be bittersweet, I refuse not to love it. These aren’t in order, I kind of jumped back and forth through the scene. But there are SO MANY things to love I kept finding more. 🙂
1) Um, they’re cute.
2) The bug in the background 🙂 It’s just the one shot, it’s not in focus, but I freakin’ adore that someone thought to haul it onto the set to include in that shot.
3) It’s so “them.” It’s not typical, it’s not normal. As shippers, how many of us have had headcanon about “How ’bout that drink?” and figured it to be a beer or
similar. But SF are anything but typical, and leave it to them to surprise. A couple of cups of coffee – or cocoa? – trump a typical “first date in a bar” any day.
4) Someone upthread pointed out the blue of the lights is so similar to the blue of her mobile. It is such an intrinsic tie; when you watch the mobile spin in 3×14, those charms kick out just as the swings do on the swing ride. That’s the poetic symmatry that SF brought to Once, and the poetic piece of the show that they killed when they decided to remove Neal Cassidy from the canvas.
5) “It was pretty great once.” Yeah, Once. It was.
6) Neal’s proud smile as he flipped those lights on. SO proud, and so adorable.
7) Emma looks so concerned as he picks that lock – so skeptical, so hesitant to walk through that gate. It’s funny, for a girl who stole a car with minimal hesitation, she’s very uncertain about the whole situation. It doesn’t take too long for his confidence to win her over, though, as she follows him through and watches him flip the breaker – though she still takes a deep breath before she follows him onto the ride platform.
8) The swings are called the Wave Swinger, with Crazy Beach Party in the background. “Is it near a beach?” Somebody at Once still gets it.
9) I love that he raises the bar for her so she can sit down. It’s adorably chivalrous and very kind for a first date… akin to pulling out a chair, perhaps. (Though something tells me he would still have done it now, because, well, that’s just so them.)
10) “… or some place with, you know, chairs…” Ah, sarcastic Emma, where have you gone?
11) I actually really liked the initial shot, with Emma looking through the bars. Bittersweet, of course, but again, someone was clearly being cognisant of their history when they wrote the scene.
12) “My story… that’s an interesting choice of words.” Ha, ha. Very funny.
13) “…I left a screwed up situation and it kinda screwed me up.” Something about this phrasiology… just love it.
14) I really love how she is watching him, studying, just pondering as he talks about his father. Kindred spirit? Yeah.
15) I also really love how she just sits and listens to him. Emma doesn’t sit and listen to much. But here, in this beautiful, quiet, vulnerable moment, she just sits and listens to him.
16) And that very last look? Yeah. Something tells me that was it, from there on out, the two were inseparable.
17) “It’s worth it, I promise.” Yeah, it is. It is.
Cause this story needs some mending & a better happy ending...