Hmm, I have to agree on the shift in focus from “big picture” story arcs to ship-centered ones. However, I’ve got a theory forming as to how the various mini arcs eventually tie together (hopefully sooner than later) so maybe it will all have been for something, after all. As for writing for the shippers, they’re largely the ones who are making videos for Youtube, images for Tumblr, fan-fiction, ect. From a purely business perspective, it makes sense not to neglect them.
Shipping in Once, for me, doesn’t mean characters have to end up together ever or can’t be involved with other characters. It’s just my best guess at what I think is a good pairing and doesn’t mean I don’t care about other ships or see validity in them. I think a lot of shipper hate has to do with people believing that their personal beliefs of what love is or ought to be are challenged or threatened by the existence of other ships but, really, every “ship” has something different to say about some aspect of love. Maybe, if the discussion could be more centered around what each ship has to offer the big picture, rather than making it a winner-takes-all debate, ship threads would become more bearable?
I too miss the days of guessing which Storybrooke resident would end up being which character. Good times. *sigh*
"The Laws (of Magic) never bothered me anyway."