Crushing the Queen: You Say Sassy, I Say Evil

This is an anti-Regina, Evil Queen, Evil Regals, Regal Believer, Anti-SQ, Anti-Anti CS, Anti-Anti Hook, and basically anti anything regarding to the saintification of Regina Mills. Sadly I must add that it has become a bit of an anti-Snow blog as well.

[dinneratgrannys]

ONCE UPON A TIME 4.05, Breaking Glass

[daxx04]

What we have with her is unique but it's not what I wanted.

When they cut to Emma all I see is a lost little girl hearing that her mother doesn’t want her.

[dani-ellie03]

THIS! And this is why the lack of follow-through to that scene frustrates me to no end.

Emma was hurt. Emma, who’d never had unconditional love, had just heard the mother she’d been searching for her entire life say the relationship she has with her daughter is not the one she wanted. Anyone would be hurt hearing that. Hell, I know my mother would lay her life down for mine but if I heard her say what Snow said, I’d be devastated.

But then the narrative doesn’t address it afterward. Snow and Emma don’t talk about it at all. Snow spends half the next episode ripshit at Charming for his secret but never seems to stop and consider that if she’s this upset hearing Charming’s secret, maybe Emma’s just as upset hearing hers. To me, it makes Snow look incredibly insensitive to her daughter’s feelings and emotional well-being. Snapping at Emma when Emma was trying to get her to talk to Charming didn’t help matters, either.

Not to mention the whole point of the Echo Cave was to try to drive the group apart. The secrets were supposed to hurt. They were supposed to be devastating. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re going to bring up a plot contrivance like this, you need to do the work afterward to repair the damage the plot contrivance wrought. We never see Snow and Emma work on repairing the damage of Snow’s secret (because I’m sorry, but when the last thing you show me is Emma looking down in pain, you have to show me that she’s really all right again or I’m not going to believe she is) so I’m left with not knowing where the characters really stand with each other, especially because Emma as a character tends to bury hurts and slights. So, is she really okay, or did she just bury it? Can her relationship with Snow ever really be the same now if she’s burying it? I don’t know, because they never saw fit to show us.

Anywho. Sorry to hijack your post but I apparently still have lots of feelings about this. :)

[daxx04]

Not at all, you very eloquently stated my feelings as I watch this scene. Breaks my heart. I do think Emma buried it as she does, which is why her current relationship with MM is so distant.

[laschatzi]

Seeing her mother in the mom-baby group in 4A hurt her too, I think…

[daxx04]

Then the rejection after the bottle boiling made it all worse. Perhaps someone needs to make a gifset of MM saying it’s my job to change that (after Emma accepted she’s an orphan) followed up with all the times MM made her feel exactly like an orphan.

This scene in echo cave, when she was going to stay on Neverland with David and let Emma go without her, when she chastised Emma for knocking down the light pole on David, the baby and me scene, when she didn’t dissuade her from getting rid of her magic (a part of her), when she was going to use the dagger to force her to give Merida back her heart. I’m sure there is more.

[october-faye]

Yes to all of the above. I’d also add: 

Snow and Charming were a liability in Camelot and it was a huge mistake to have them giving Regina dancing lessons while giving them next to no quality scenes with their own daughter. 

I also side-eye them both for not attempting to talk to the Dark Swan in Storybrooke in 5a and I was perplexed at Snow suggesting that Emma was lost to them (even though she hadn’t done nearly as much as what the likes of Regina and Rumple had done and gotten away with). 

This issue was compounded further by Snow telling Emma she should’ve come to them about the Dark!Hook situation. All I could think was ‘Why? You’re bloody useless.’

I’ll never get over Snow dragging her feet during the search for Emma in 4a in order to give Regina relationship advice. 

Her rationalising what she and Charming did to remove the ‘darkness’ from fetus!Emma was maddening. Her assuming she should get a pass for being Emma’s mother and going in for a hug in 4x20 even though Emma was clearly not ready…  just… ugh.

Snow complaining to Emma in the Underworld about being away from baby Neal was understandable to an extent, but Emma never invited them to go with her in the first place. So how is it her fault?

Snow accuses Emma of attempting pre-meditated murder in 5a, but then Snow does the same thing by persuading Regina to use unfamiliar magic to extract the Evil Queen in the 5b finale so she could kill her. Sure you could argue that the EQ didn’t count as a person, but that’s not been confirmed either way and Jekyl and Hyde sure looked like full individuals in their own rights. This is more of an issue of how the show handles Regina versus how it treats the other characters. But it still reflects badly on Snow and gives off the impression that she’ll go to extremes for Regina, but when Emma needs help she’ll just sit on her ass all day and complain about being inconvenienced.

Finally, Snow gasping ‘Emma, what did you do?’ when Auntie Em got turned into gloop in 5b pissed me off in a big way. Her knee jerk reaction was that Emma dropped the ball? Double ugh.

As I’ve said before, I give Snow and Charming some major leeway because they never got to raise Emma. The chance to develop into effective parents was stolen from them. But that doesn’t excuse their behaviour towards their daughter or how poorly they treat her sometimes. And it certainly doesn’t explain why the show whitewashes these obvious issues.

[daxx04]

The way so many characters are sacrificed on the altar of Regina frustrates me. I wish A&E wrote the characters a bit more evenly instead of using everyone to prop Regina..

[epona610]

To both of the above…

It’s just sickening, it really is. It’s one of the (many) reasons I just can’t stand Regina, the way she’s constantly getting between Snow and Emma (and Emma and Henry–they hardly ever have time together without her anymore). 

Thinking about it, Snow and Emma’s relationship’s downfall really did almost directly follow their “redemption” of Regina. They were close in S1, obviously. They were close in most of S2, especially when they were in the EF together. Then in 3A they started to drift apart, just as Regina was starting to at least work toward the same goal. Then 3B was when they really fell apart, and it was also when the worst of the Regina whitewashing/victim blaming started. And it’s just been mostly downhill from there. All of those moments you listed @october-faye are further examples of that. (Especially that horrible dancing-lessons scene. I don’t care whether Leopold danced with Regina or not–there’s no way in hell she wouldn’t have known how to dance purely from Cora’s upbringing. And that was also when they officially brought Charming’s character down to that level as well.)

And honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever get over that disgusting scene where Snow is finally mentioning how much it hurt to lose Emma’s entire child- and young adulthood, and Regina just dismisses that with “and then you found her”. Just thinking about it makes my angry all over again, to be honest…

[deliriumdecadence-deactivated20]

And I was really perturbed in the Dark Swan arc that Snow chastised Emma for not coming to them in regards to the Dark Hook debacle because Snow and Charming never once reached out to Emma either. They just assumed she was the darkest darkness to ever darken and left her alone. They knew where she was.  And when they were finally working with Emma their contribution added nothing. They basically read books while Emma got everyone’s memories and sat in the diner while Emma fixed the darkness problem. So letting them in didn’t even do anything.

It’s sad to me because Snow was my first favorite character on the show but recently she’s been watered down to someone to make Regina feel better about murdering her father and hundreds of her subjects, trying to kill her, cursing her whole land and having her daughter grow up alone for 28 years. 

[kereeachan]

I feel like the writers just haven’t known what to do with Snow for a long time. 4A had some good ideas, like justifying Snow’s reduced screentime with her being Mayor and thus busy. This was also a good plot point since she is supposed to be the ruler once they get back.

But then they dropped that in the montage at the start of 4B for NO GOOD REASON. What did Regina being Mayor have to do with anything that season? Or ever since? It feels like they took the job from Snow just to have that gag where Regina burns the picture (which was creepy as hell and did not help anyone buy her redemption–you want people to buy it have her groan at the picture, take it down…and then rethink and put it back. Not symbolically burn Snow). And that’s ignoring the Retcon of Doom that ultimately amounted to NOTHING since Lily’s plot was dropped and the QoD were really padding.

Snow being mayor ALSO could have helped her in 5A–she’s having trouble reaching out to Emma because there’s been a huge influx of people into town she needs to get settled. And then they could  have just left her upstairs to be Mayor in 5B if they weren’t going to use her–concentrate her screentime towards the finale! Give us scenes of what’s going on in SB while everyone else is in the Underworld!

[goforlaunchcee-deactivated20260]

Regina should have died at the end of season 2. She was a great villain, but as a hero? She was insufferable with her whining. There, I said it.

[confessuponatime]

[crushingthequeen]

I just love how SQers/ERs go on and on bitching about how Emma ended up with a "rapist" and how it destroyed her as a person and all that bs yet none of them have ever said a damn thing about what Emma went through in 3b with Walsh who, realistically, probably slept with her while not mentioning the fact he's a flying monkey working for Zelena. Almost like her being with an evil rapist doesn't matter to them unless it's a serious threat to their crack ship.

Hook made some questionable jokes. Regina was a canon rapist. They can ignore it all they like but if Emma had ended up with Regina she would have ended up with a rapist. Its almost like the writers shouldn't have continually used rape as a plot point like a love triangle. They didn't take it seriously in the writing so the viewers don't really take it seriously in the viewing. If it had been addressed as a serious issue, one the characters actually contended with, then maybe viewers couldn't just turn a blind eye to it if it didn't suit their ship.

[crushingthequeen]

I am honestly baffled by the writers' choices regarding Regina. On the one hand, they overuse her and admit she's one of their favorite characters to write, they whitewash her and make the rest of the characters OOC to fit her needs. On the other hand, she's always screwing up, for the past years all the big problems (up to season 7's curse) are because of her yet she has no callout. It's so messy and all over the place.

I agree. I think the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too with her. They wanted her to be their redeemed villain but still have her "sassy" edge. Unfortunately, the fact that her sass tended to be directed at people who had been her victims made it seem like she really hadn't learned all that much. It's also difficult to turn around a character that has as much baggage as she did. They just snapped her fingers and boom she was redeemed. But her past kept popping up because she never dealt with it. She just disregarded it.

[enixamyram]

“Mum…”

WISH HENRY IS NOT REGINA’S F*CKING SON! REGINA MURDERED WISH HENRY’S GRANDPARENTS AND NEVER EVEN MADE A PROPER APOLOGY FOR IT! SHE LEFT HIM TO ROAM HIS REALM WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS ACTUAL MOTHER FOR YEARS.

REGINA IS NOT HIS MOTHER!

[fandomlife-confessions]

[nothingeverlost]

Regina: Graham, listen. It’s late, you’re tired, you’re probably still drunk. Don’t leave. 

Graham: Since when do you want me to stay, anyway? 

Regina: You’re not well.

Graham: I’m fine.

Oh, the chin touch.  Here it is with Graham, a symbol of her attempt to control, often when she knows that something is out of her control, or is trying to bring it under her control.  For reference here are a few moments with Snow, Marian, and two of the time she did it to Henry, once before leaving him alone for 8+ hours and reminding him to stay and follow her rules, the other after throwing a fireball at people and threatening to hurt them if he doesn’t come with her.

She knows what is happening far more than Graham.  He speaks of a dream that feels real.  She knows it’s real.  She doesn’t seem to know how it is changing, but this is her first sign that something has changed.  That her fears of Emma’s arrival making things change are true.

She needs to bring it back under her control.  Needs Graham to stay, either so she can find a way to make him forget, or figure out how much he remembers, why he might remember, etc.  

[confessuponatime]

[arianakristine]

She’s not weak, you know.

[anti-regina-mills-deactivated20]

Saw this quote: "You stabbed me a hundred times and then you acted like you were the one bleeding and the worst part was that everyone was helping you while I was bleeding to death" It just feels like Regina and her victims, doesn't it? Especially poor Marian.

ACCURATE

-Violet

[confessuponatime]

[ouatsnark]

Killian was a better step-parent

I think it’s funny Regina stans try to say Henry meant nothing to Killian and vice versa while trying to fabricate a beautiful relationship between Regina & Roland when Regina only cared about him when Robin was around.

Remember when Regina neglected Roland after Robin died? Not even a word to him or about him losing his father? Only HER pain.  

Killian has proven he puts his step-child 1st. He risked his life to send Henry back to Emma. He wouldn’t ruin Henry’s family.

Remember when Regina didn’t think to check up on Roland after Robin’s death? Remember how Killian’s first thought after waking from the S4 AU was to check Henry?

Keep reading

[sprnklersplashes]

Since it has been over a year since 6x10 aired, a quick reminder that:

Emma Swan is a strong, brave and courageous hero in spite of her tragic life, not because of it

Emma growing up in a happy and safe castle with parents who loved her would not have made her weak because being loved doesn’t make someone weak.

Emma deserved to grow up in a happy and safe castle with parents who loved her and she should have had that life.

Emma is not defined by the abuse she suffered. No one is.

Emma should not be thankful that her life was so awful and she suffered so much. Nor should she be thankful that Regina tortured her until she became the Saviour again.

If Emma had grown up in the Enchanted Forest, she’d have been a badass in a pretty floral dress and tiara.

ABUSE DOES NOT BENEFIT THE VICTIM IN THE SLIGHTEST. THE ABUSE EMMA SUFFERED DID NOT BENEFIT HER. WOMEN DO NOT NEED TO SUFFER TO BE CONSIDERED STRONG

[fairytalegf]

“I didn’t mean to kill your grandparents. It was a mistake”

[crushingthequeen]

Looked pretty deliberate to me.

[punkimonki]

Really? You even renamed her? The Good Queen?

I think my eyes literally just rolled out of my head.