Secondary thoughts
Jan. 29th, 2013 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe disadvantage of having marathoned and having caught up with an open canon is undoubtedly that one has to wait for the next episode in a mysterious three weeks break with the rest of the other watchers. :) (On the other hand, Being Human season 5 will start next week, which I'm looking forward to, and Spartacus started its last season last Friday (still trashy, still weirdly compelling, and also, the introduction of Crassus was really well done.) Fanfiction in the case of Once Upon A Time doesn't help with the waiting, because browsing through what's available tells me it is, in a staggering surprise I'd never have seen coming, shipping-dominated. No, but seriously now, so far OuaT isn't one of the few fandoms where I actually 'ship in the romantic sense. One of the great charms of the show, no pun intended, is that it really values non-romantic relationships, that they get screen time and development and big emotional moments and what not - one of the best things about s2, first half, is the way we see the Snow White and Emma relationship develop after the curse was broken, and I have to repeat myself: having them off in Fairy Tale Land questing so that Emma can see her mother in action and they can get adjust to each other on a new basis was an inspired plot device. Conversely, it gave Charming the chance to establish himself in the present as an endearing character, something necessary after the David Nolan dreariness, and btw, that this was done without denying the David Nolan interlude ever happened but letting him learn from it was also good storytelling. Again, showing the newly restored to memories Charming to advantage was done via non-romantic relationships; with Ruby/Red as a friend, with Henry as a sort of father figure, with the townspeople by helping them through this new phase. Fandom being what is, it's not surprising that this isn't reflected in fanfiction, which tends to go for what the source canon doesn't offer anyway. But it's the reason why a lot of the summaries tell me I'm not interested in reading the stories in question. (Especially not Rumplestilskin/Belle stories, who appear to be dominated by AUs or fluff, going by said summaries. It really seems to be a case of Snape Redux.)
Something else: it has occured to me that at the end of 2.01, both of the s1 villains are basically given a challenge to redeem themselves. Henry tells Regina, when she says she loves him "then prove it" by changing (and bringing Snow White and Emma back). Belle says, in reply to Mr. Gold's "and now you need to go, because contrary to what you may hope, I am still a monster" "Don't you see, this is why I have to stay". Two different approaches, and if you think about it, it's not that surprising that the Rumple project is the less successful one so far. For a value of success; I don't think either Regina or Rumpelstilskin are anywhere near that point where they acknowledge that hurting other people was wrong, full stop, or that other people not Belle, Baelfire, Daniel or Henry have just the same right not to be used as revenge tools. However, Henry's insistence that Regina change first has resulted in her playing by his rules (so far - we don't know yet what the fallout of the Cora conversation will be). Belle's kindness towards Rumpelstilskin has resulted in him continuing the art of lying by omission towards her (in 2.04 we find out he confiscated her father's flyer and kept her in the dark about the fact her father was in Storybrooke at all, despite the fact he knew she was looking for him; while he does finally tell her the truth about how he lost his son, he gives her only a heavily edited version of what happened to his wife), and while it arguably kept him from killing people (again, so far), it also meant he continues to rig the game, so to speak. He's not trying to live up to Belle's standards, he's only trying to make her believe he does, which is a different thing. Whereas Regina genuinely was trying to live by Henry's standards. Again, neither approach is the same as redemption, imo, because both depend solely on caring about one particular person, not acknowledging the rest of the world and their rights; but Regina, so far, was trying harder.
This is another reason why letting Belle lose her memories (temporarily, because I really don't expect this state of affairs to outlast the season) and with them her belief in Rumpelstilskin was a good storytelling choice. And I think our Mr. Gold is about to get the second slap by fate, because, asastrogirl stated, however the reunion with his son will play out, it won't happen the way the show already did it when Augustus Book faked being Baelfire, with declarations of repentence and an immediate hug and instant forgiveness. On most days I'm convinced of the Baelfire-is-Neal-Cassady theory, but whether or not he is, I doubt immediate hugs will be in the offering. Considering it will probably be immediately apparant that Gold still has magic, when the whole reason Baelfire wanted to get here in the first place was because this was supposed to be a place where his father would not have access to magical powers. And then, if/when Bae finds out just how high the bodycount Rumpel was responsible for in order to make this reunion happen was. (See also: Michael and Waaaaaalt in Lost.) And if/when Baelfire makes it to Storybrooke as well, meets Hook and hears about how his mother really died, well, he may have had abandonment issues with his mother himself, but I doubt he'll just swallow the fact his father murdered her. Oh, and now that I think about it, considering Emma with Gold and Emma was told by Hook the Milah tale as well, Baelfire won't even have to make it back to Storybrooke with them in order for that fact to come to light.
So: do we believe Rumpelstilskin is capable of handling being rejected by both the people he cares for without unleashing another disaster?
Something else: it has occured to me that at the end of 2.01, both of the s1 villains are basically given a challenge to redeem themselves. Henry tells Regina, when she says she loves him "then prove it" by changing (and bringing Snow White and Emma back). Belle says, in reply to Mr. Gold's "and now you need to go, because contrary to what you may hope, I am still a monster" "Don't you see, this is why I have to stay". Two different approaches, and if you think about it, it's not that surprising that the Rumple project is the less successful one so far. For a value of success; I don't think either Regina or Rumpelstilskin are anywhere near that point where they acknowledge that hurting other people was wrong, full stop, or that other people not Belle, Baelfire, Daniel or Henry have just the same right not to be used as revenge tools. However, Henry's insistence that Regina change first has resulted in her playing by his rules (so far - we don't know yet what the fallout of the Cora conversation will be). Belle's kindness towards Rumpelstilskin has resulted in him continuing the art of lying by omission towards her (in 2.04 we find out he confiscated her father's flyer and kept her in the dark about the fact her father was in Storybrooke at all, despite the fact he knew she was looking for him; while he does finally tell her the truth about how he lost his son, he gives her only a heavily edited version of what happened to his wife), and while it arguably kept him from killing people (again, so far), it also meant he continues to rig the game, so to speak. He's not trying to live up to Belle's standards, he's only trying to make her believe he does, which is a different thing. Whereas Regina genuinely was trying to live by Henry's standards. Again, neither approach is the same as redemption, imo, because both depend solely on caring about one particular person, not acknowledging the rest of the world and their rights; but Regina, so far, was trying harder.
This is another reason why letting Belle lose her memories (temporarily, because I really don't expect this state of affairs to outlast the season) and with them her belief in Rumpelstilskin was a good storytelling choice. And I think our Mr. Gold is about to get the second slap by fate, because, as
astrogirl stated, however the reunion with his son will play out, it won't happen the way the show already did it when Augustus Book faked being Baelfire, with declarations of repentence and an immediate hug and instant forgiveness. On most days I'm convinced of the Baelfire-is-Neal-Cassady theory, but whether or not he is, I doubt immediate hugs will be in the offering. Considering it will probably be immediately apparant that Gold still has magic, when the whole reason Baelfire wanted to get here in the first place was because this was supposed to be a place where his father would not have access to magical powers. And then, if/when Bae finds out just how high the bodycount Rumpel was responsible for in order to make this reunion happen was. (See also: Michael and Waaaaaalt in Lost.) And if/when Baelfire makes it to Storybrooke as well, meets Hook and hears about how his mother really died, well, he may have had abandonment issues with his mother himself, but I doubt he'll just swallow the fact his father murdered her. Oh, and now that I think about it, considering Emma with Gold and Emma was told by Hook the Milah tale as well, Baelfire won't even have to make it back to Storybrooke with them in order for that fact to come to light. So: do we believe Rumpelstilskin is capable of handling being rejected by both the people he cares for without unleashing another disaster?
no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 01:26 pm (UTC)What I really like about the shipping on this show is that it is rather femslash dominated (well, at least the places where I looked, but I'm prone to overlook any male character on this show who isn't Rumples, so I might be biased). You get Emma/Regina, Snow/Regina, Snow/Ruby, Belle/Ruby, and of course Aurora/Mulan. I don't remember any TV show with this many female pairings.
Neal as Baelfire: just imagine the hilarity of Rumples being Henry's grandfather...
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Date: 2013-01-29 01:51 pm (UTC)ETA: Err, not 'forgiving' in the sense that people need to apologize to me for writing what they want, but it doesn't get as much of a 'that's predictable' eyeroll from me, is what I'm saying.
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Date: 2013-01-29 02:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 04:36 pm (UTC)I agree with your observations on OUaT, but mostly I'm stuck on yay new Being Human on the way.
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Date: 2013-01-29 04:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-29 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-30 05:42 am (UTC)