I love the Dark One! (Real Husbands is the best thing to happen to the fandom EVAHHHH !)
Humor. Wit. A gigantic part of what makes Once appealing and the fandom great…a terrific sense of wit and humor.
It is quite sad that some of the most vocal fans don’t seem to have one.
As it often does, PoM, elements of what you post ring true in my overview of things as well.
The oft used rantings of “OOC” are too easy and empty a Battle Cry of the disappointed viewers when things in A&E ‘s heads don’t gel with theirs.
First off, people change and develop due to life’s experiences, and while elements of who we are at birth are hard wired into us for life, external factors DO have a huge effect.
Secondly this show is escapism fantasy and putting psychological “rules” of our reality into play isn’t going to make much sense.
Considering everyone is running around dealing with at least two separate Alternate Universes spanning hundreds of years and countless family trees knotted inside them at the roots, and oh yeah, your parents are your age, I think the writers do a damn fine job of creating a very entertaining story.
I’ve been intrigued with Emma’s progression over this season. She has been quite humanized from the stoic woman camped ferociously behind her cement walls that she has been since day one. She still remains a strong woman. And a very believable one. Stronger even, because she has allowed herself to let strong emotions ( and equally as strong characters) into her life.
Putting aside the portions of my own personality that show a symmetry to hers (slow grin), her obsession with returning to New York was based on fear not selfishness. She was scared. And when strong women get scared, they can get very stubborn and often cruel…especially to the people who mean the most to them. She didn’t want to risk the hurt. As a viewer I got annoyed sometimes with the “cruelty” part but I understood it.
(Rumple and Hook and Regina suffer with the same struggle, different circumstances. That is what makes them all so compelling)
Moments in life CAN change you instantly. Even (especially?) those in fantasy.
Emma’s trip back in time to view her mother as a woman and not a parent is something every daughter should experience. For reasons too deep to dive into here, when you view your mother as a peer, struggling and facing life as a young woman, it changes you instantly and forever and pretty much evaporates any “selfish” based personality traits.
It immediately redefines you.
Emma sees Snow in a totally different light, now, too. It does change your life when you genuinely realize your mother had one if her own.
With regards to Henry, while being a mother is an instant, eternal and ultimately ferocious thing, a woman must know herself and embrace who she is before she can be that complete and ferocious maternal warrior.
In regards to Hook, he was just a few steps ahead of her in the “fighting hurt” and “self-oriented” struggle and could afford the patience he offered her.
He was determined and patient enough to know that when SHE made the realizations she had to make regarding her fears, it would open her soul (as it had opened his) …and he wanted to be there.
He has an old soul. A because of his own struggles, a wise one.
Having a patient, loyal, strong man (friend or lover) walking through life beside you does not diminish your strength (or independence)as a woman. It enhances it incredibly.
The fact that he sensually oozes dashing rapscallion charm and possesses a gorgeous face that would make Aphrodite’s toes curl is just a pleasant side effect (grinnnn)
***Always in search of a good flock***