Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

[kfchimera]

@Phee lol,the feels can take over.

I don’t know why, but I feel like going back is not really a good solution. I guess it is because I feel there are hints that FTL represents a lot of old fashioned concepts that prevent true happiness for everyone. Some get to live in castles and have true love, pretty gowns, shiny armor and complete confidence in a happy ending. Then others are scraping by in huts, or slaves to the Blue Fairy’s endless dust mining. (Screwball Ninja’s essay on that won’t leave my mind). Even if Sneaky Fairy isn’t Sneaky, it feels like to me, why would anyone choose to go back to feudal inequalities when you’ve experienced (well almost experienced) a society with a more equal distribution of winners and losers?

I think the “modern mindset” that Emma has is also part of her, and I feel it is something she shares with Neal. They’re both a blend of each world with authentic experiences, not curse-given artificial ones. Emma hasn’t really experienced FTL in its glory, that’s true, but as I pointed out it wasn’t glorious for everyone.

To me, the idea that a family, home and a job you enjoy, these real world, obtainable things ARE a Happy Ending, is to me the most hopeful message the show could give. So that’s part of the reason I like the idea of Neal and Emma together in SB, halfway between the world of magic, and the real world. I think that feels right to me then them cutting all the fantasy out or all the reality.

People can obviously fall in love with people from different cultures, and that can be part of the attraction (like the Before Sunrise with Julie Deply and Ethan Hawke). Still there’s also something about understanding the same things, like the pleasures of jelly donuts, gummy bears and driving around in a cute yellow bug. Differences and similarities can both be written as the basis for a romance. I think Neal and Emma are a good mix of that, as well as a mix of a fantasy and realistic, couple together.