Fandom and Viewer Issues: "Fan" Is Short for "Fanatic"

[Rumsy4]

I'm wondering what the SQers feel about this. And the OQ fans. For totally different reasons, both sets of fans must be pissed.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Rumsy4

[Jul 68]

The folks on IMDB are pretty much hating on it, as are most on Twitter. The pairing does, however, have it's own hash tag #GoldenQueen

[Mari]

Still hating that ship name.  

Wow, A&E are probably so very, very confused.  I don't think things are going the way they expected this season.

[RedKeep]

I have yet to see anyone comment on it in a positive manner too. Which strikes me as uncompletely unsurprising, but Horowitz and Kitsis have proven time and again how very, very tone-deaf they are when it comes to these things. That and the way they've come to lean much too heavily on shock value as a crutch has put me past the point of feeling for them if they did indeed expect it to be well (or at least somewhat better) received.

[Curio]

I don't think Regina/Rumple is meant to be taken positively. I think the writers are purposely going for a squicky vibe between the two, so in this case, the writers have actually created the proper fandom response to a pairing. I think they'd be more confused if people enjoyed the pairing. (I actually kind of enjoy the pairing, but only in a watch-a-car-crash kind of way.)

9 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

I'm wondering what the SQers feel about this. 

From what I can tell, they're in full-on denial mode at this point.

[Amerilla]

I have to give A&E this: they've united a fractured fandom in universal loathing of Golden Queen. I honestly think Golden Hook would have gone over better.

[Amerilla]

9 minutes ago, Curio said:

 

I don't think Regina/Rumple is meant to be taken positively. I think the writers are purposely going for a squicky vibe between the two, so in this case, the writers have actually created the proper fandom response to a pairing

 

 

You know, I just can't tell anymore. 

[sharky]

Every week I'm coming closer to the realization that I would not be watching this show if it weren't for the fandom. The only thing keeping me invested is Captain Swan, tumblr, fanfic and this board. I've cut two established shows from my DVR list this year, but I can't bring myself to cut Once -- at least not yet. 

[Mari]

True.

It's no longer the show itself keeping me watching, either.

[asabovesobelow]

On 10/29/2016 at 0:43 PM, Shanna Marie said:

She seemed to appeal to the same group that loves Regina, so it would have been a perfect fit for the show's audience. The actress had a raised profile due to True Blood. And yet they barely used her. Her flashback episodes were about Regina and Snow, not about her. We never really saw the core of her story, and her story wasn't really resolved.

Totally agree with you. I love Regina, and I loved Maleficent. I think they could have had a gold mine with stories relating to her past and her involvement with the core characters. But she just kind of faded away. I'd love to see her back, but I think it would feel shoehorned at this point.

12 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

I'm wondering what the SQers feel about this. And the OQ fans. For totally different reasons, both sets of fans must be pissed.

As an SQ fan, I think the whole Regina/Rumple thing is laughable because it's so unrealistic and could never amount to anything. I've never felt any chemistry at all in that way between Regina and Rumple. I'm assuming she must have some kind of hidden agenda with him. If not...then they really, really have no idea what they're doing with these characters. EQ and Hyde had more chemistry in the three minutes they spent together than EQ/Rumple have had through 5 seasons.

[Daisy]

Once is basically Knitting time for me now, and then i can chew the fat with you guys. like I have zero idea what i like about the show (and I am even in the middle of re-watching  - i chose this over Gilmore Girls which bad form, me especially with the GG reboot). but it's like it has double zero direction which is a feat. 

I just think with a show based about magic and literature, they could seriously have gone for years - and just change some of the focus. sometimes the Storybrooke people aren't the main focus period but you do land there and you do involve the local yokels. Someone also said it - basically since Emma broke the curse - they've never had time off. It's Curse broken, OMG EMMA/SNOW IS IN EF. Emma and Snow get back OMG, SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL THE TOWN, they save the town OMG HENRY IS KIDNAPPED WE HAVE TO GO FIND HIM. they save henry OMG WE'RE GOING TO CURSE THE TOWN again. (like. stop with the curses). Hook finds Emma + Henry OMG WE HAVE TO STOP THE WICKED WITCH! they do this OMG WE HAVE TO SAVE ARRENDALE AND STORYBROOK AND EMMA AND ELSA. They do that OMG WE HAVE TO SAVE EMMA  AGAIN they do that OMG WE HAVE TO RESCUE HOOK! they do that OMG WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHY EQ IS HERE AND SAVE EMMA! AGAIN!!.

Like, gosh, man. at least have a slow build up into a crisis, and not boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!. all the time. 
 

[Free]

7 hours ago, Curio said:

I don't think Regina/Rumple is meant to be taken positively. I think the writers are purposely going for a squicky vibe between the two, so in this case, the writers have actually created the proper fandom response to a pairing. I think they'd be more confused if people enjoyed the pairing. (I actually kind of enjoy the pairing, but only in a watch-a-car-crash kind of way.)

From what I can tell, they're in full-on denial mode at this point.

I'm not so sure, the writers are constantly pissing off the fandom, it's not just the random pairing, it's seasons of bad writing.

[TheGreenKnight]

9 hours ago, asabovesobelow said:

Totally agree with you. I love Regina, and I loved Maleficent. I think they could have had a gold mine with stories relating to her past and her involvement with the core characters. But she just kind of faded away. I'd love to see her back, but I think it would feel shoehorned at this point.

I love Maleficent, the Disney character, but I've never been fond of this show's interpretation of her (particularly the actress) even in S1. I wondered how they would retcon that portrayal to make the character more interesting when 4B was still being advertised... She did have a lot of reasons to hate all the characters. Ultimately, I'd say there was quite a bit of potential in the idea of Maleficent, but never with the Maleficent that actually appeared on this show (be it the S1 version or the S4 version).

As as Regina fan (and someone who doesn't mind SQ, but wouldn't call myself a fan either), I'd say I don't feel much of any particular way about Golden Queen, but I agree with those who feel it came out of nowhere. There was a lot of emotion between those two characters--hostility. I'd much rather TEQ turned out to be manipulating Rumpel instead of being a cardboard obstacle used to bring Rumbelle back together.

Edited October 31, 2016 by TheGreenKnight

[maryle]

It is sad when a show begin to loss his more loyal fans!

My impression is that in every corner of the fandom loss enthusiasm a little bit each episode even ER have reservation.

Rumbeller fells like the writers want to kill their ship. Strangely , CS fans are probably still the most positive despite a lower enthusiasm for the overall arc. It is like they still want to believe in the writers and in the show.

[DigitalCount]

Maryle, I agree so much. I can't fathom why on earth they would write this if they are writing a happy ending for Rumbelle. There's a difference between a couple breaking up and a couple having open hostility. Maybe something happened in the last two episodes (I'm currently at 6x04) but as far as I can tell, Rumbelle is at the open hostility phase. It's not even really a relationship anymore, just a pair of enemies who are both in scorched-earth mode. I mean, at this point there's more of a basis for SwanQueen than Rumbelle, and I say that as someone who loathes SwanQueen. I feel like the only person in-story who has ever hated Rumple as much as Belle seemed to at the end of 6x04 is Hook. The only thing that makes me think that they'll end up together was David's story about how he would rather have had his father in his life even as a drunken ne'er-do-well.

[maryle]

I do not hate rumbelle like other do just don't ship it.  Rumple always intrigued more than the EQ but unfortunately as a character he lost a lot of his original appeal to me now.

So, I understand the rumbelle fandom but the truth, it's just more repeative storyline .Rumple once again align himself with the villain du jour and do shady things.

Even if at the end they still put Rumbelle together they will be tainted. 

I guess CS fans positivity is because they still have good storyline  as couple or individual character. They know they always will have a little something even if the overall story don't really excites them anymore.

[TheGreenKnight]

The only real dark spot CS's ever really had on the show was that moment when Hook was the Dark One and seemed to hate Emma, which ended almost immediately. Even when he died, the episode ended with everyone going to the Underworld to bring him back. That's not quite like Rumbelle being split up and at odds for nearly two seasons now, the Charmings always being in the background with nothing to do, or OQ where Robin was obliterated into non-existence. It's not really surprising that CS fans are a little more positive when all the other official ships have been neutralized. This show was always very ship-focused, and now there's really only one ship left. Too bad they ended Zades almost as soon as it happened.

[Mathius]

30 minutes ago, TheGreenKnight said:

The only real dark spot CS's ever really had on the show was that moment when Hook was the Dark One and seemed to hate Emma, which ended almost immediately. 

The time where Emma was the Dark One in present-day Storybrooke was no picnic either. Neither was 4x11 and 5x20, for that matter.

However, I do agree that right now CS is definitely luckier than the other ships, be they real (Snowing, Rumbelle, OQ) or imagined (SQ).

Edited November 1, 2016 by Mathius

[Camera One]

The time where Emma was the Dark One in present-day Storybrooke was no picnic either.

That was generally counter-balanced by romantic and supportive scenes in the Camelot flashbacks that CS fans would have enjoyed.  

[pezgirl7]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but I had a crazy OUAT dream last night. I was dreaming that I was watching an episode that I had DVR'd, and when it ended, a new, 20 minute long episode started. I knew right away that it was going to be an AU mini-show, so I was really excited. There was an arial shot of the group outside, and I could tell it was a wedding, so I got even more excited! But when the camera zoomed in, I could see who was getting married, and it was Hook and Charming! In matching black leather jackets. WTH brain?! I don't slash them, and of course I love CS, so I was really upset in my dream. Then all of a sudden I was actually watching them film the scene, and Adam and Eddy were there, and I just started screaming "TROLLS!" at them. It was pretty funny when I woke up, but in my dream, I was pretty angry, and I think that just goes to show how much the show has been disappointing me lately. LOL

[asabovesobelow]

On 11/1/2016 at 0:59 AM, Mathius said:

The time where Emma was the Dark One in present-day Storybrooke was no picnic either. Neither was 4x11 and 5x20, for that matter.

However, I do agree that right now CS is definitely luckier than the other ships, be they real (Snowing, Rumbelle, OQ) or imagined (SQ).

Very little imagination needed.

[Mathius]

The actresses do have chemistry, I agree with that, but the characters are incompatible and have not been remotely written as lesbian/bisexual.

More to the point, treating SQ as if it is either already a couple on the show or a developing couple on the show is disingenuous. 

[Curio]

Relevant:

[Mathius]

Um, OK, what did I just watch?

[Curio]

An actual scene from Community. I think Dan Harmon was getting pissed off at all the Annie/Jeff shippers and put that scene in an episode to spite them.

[asabovesobelow]

35 minutes ago, Mathius said:

The actresses do have chemistry, I agree with that, but the characters are incompatible and have not been remotely written as lesbian/bisexual.

More to the point, treating SQ as if it is either already a couple on the show or a developing couple on the show is disingenuous. 

I'm not naive; I'm fully aware that SQ will never be a canon couple. However, I strongly disagree that the characters are incompatible. The Biggest Baddest Villian falling in love with the Pure-of-Heart Broken Savior? That is weak-in-the-knees territory.

No, they have not been written as lesbians or bisexual (Regina is iffy, with that whole Mal interaction), but I still think that absolute fire exists between them. In a way that does not exist with other character interactions. Clearly that observation is different for everyone, but I see it, and I love it. 

[scenicbyway]

4 minutes ago, asabovesobelow said:

I'm not naive; I'm fully aware that SQ will never be a canon couple. However, I strongly disagree that the characters are incompatible. The Biggest Baddest Villian falling in love with the Pure-of-Heart Broken Savior? That is weak-in-the-knees territory.

No, they have not been written as lesbians or bisexual (Regina is iffy, with that whole Mal interaction), but I still think that absolute fire exists between them. In a way that does not exist with other character interactions. Clearly that observation is different for everyone, but I see it, and I love it. 

Even when the characters involved are step grandmother and step grand daughter?  Even when the step grandmother attempted to kill the step granddaughter as a baby and that lead to the baby being separated from her parents for 28 years?  Even when the step grandmother adopted the grand daughter's baby and tried to get her to leave town or die?  How is any of that romantic?

[Curio]

This is the fandom thread, not the character analysis thread...

[TheGreenKnight]

2 hours ago, asabovesobelow said:

I'm not naive; I'm fully aware that SQ will never be a canon couple. However, I strongly disagree that the characters are incompatible. The Biggest Baddest Villian falling in love with the Pure-of-Heart Broken Savior? That is weak-in-the-knees territory.

No, they have not been written as lesbians or bisexual (Regina is iffy, with that whole Mal interaction), but I still think that absolute fire exists between them. In a way that does not exist with other character interactions. Clearly that observation is different for everyone, but I see it, and I love it. 

I agree. The appeal isn’t any different than that of Rumbelle, imo. I know people here hate Regina / love CS and can't imagine one of their favorites with the character, but there's nothing incompatible about the characters at all.

2 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

Even when the characters involved are step grandmother and step grand daughter? 

You can argue the weird family connections with Captain Swan, too. She's with her son's grandmother's lover.

[asabovesobelow]

3 minutes ago, Curio said:

This is the fandom thread, not the character analysis thread...

I don't get it. I'm talking about my affinity for a certain fandom?

5 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

Even when the characters involved are step grandmother and step grand daughter?  Even when the step grandmother attempted to kill the step granddaughter as a baby and that lead to the baby being separated from her parents for 28 years?  Even when the step grandmother adopted the grand daughter's baby and tried to get her to leave town or die?  How is any of that romantic?

That familial relationship is so far removed, it doesn't even exist. Regina is not Emma's grandmother, and never will be. They have only interacted as adults, and Regina was in a marriage she never wanted to be in. She didn't take to Leopold's family connections as an active and willing participant.

In FTL, Regina was a monster. No question about it. But then she adopted Henry, and part of her softened. Rumple orchestrated the adoption. With the running Emma out of town and poisoning her, (in this show, anyway, people try to kill/curse each other willy-nilly), the fine line between love (or at least attraction) and hate comes into play. They had that chemistry with each other from Episode 1. 

The same could apply to Rumbelle. He was (and arguably, still is) a monster. She is a sweet, big-hearted, accepting woman. It's romantic because she tamed the beast, so to speak. (This season notwithstanding.)

[Mathius]

8 minutes ago, asabovesobelow said:

The same could apply to Rumbelle. He was (and arguably, still is) a monster. She is a sweet, big-hearted, accepting woman. It's romantic because she tamed the beast, so to speak. (This season notwithstanding.)

This season?  Rumbelle has been on an increasingly dysfunctional and abusive path since Season 4!

But yeah, this discussion oughta be moved to the Relationships thread.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Mathius

[asabovesobelow]

True. I was alluding to the fact that 'right now' its not so romantic. At least there were glimpses of hope previously. Now, not so much.

[Curio]

Just now, asabovesobelow said:

I don't get it. I'm talking about my affinity for a certain fandom?

1

I wasn't responding to you specifically. I was just throwing it out there because it seemed like we might be headed in a direction where the discussion might be better suited for the relationships thread or one of the character-specific threads. 

Fandom is a funny thing. The chemistry people see between Regina and Emma could just as easily be seen between Snow and Regina...

Or Charming and Hook...

All it takes is a little more vocal fans finding common ground on Twitter and Tumblr and, voila, a larger fandom is made.

[asabovesobelow]

2 minutes ago, Curio said:

Fandom is a funny thing. The chemistry people see between Regina and Emma could just as easily be seen between Snow and Regina...

Snow Queen is a decent-sized thing. Good amount of fics and gifs float around on that one. Not my thing, but I certainly wouldn't discourage it. Same deal relationship-wise. Snow White and Regina were never and will never be stepmother/stepdaughter.

[InsertWordHere]

Ship and let ship, I say. Personally, I have never been big on the idea of a kind-hearted person teaching the monster to love again whether that relationship is platonic or romantic, but to each their own. I would say I place a higher value on individual character traits as opposed to character archetypes when viewing compatibility.

32 minutes ago, TheGreenKnight said:

You can argue the weird family connections with Captain Swan, too. She's with her son's grandmother's lover.

I'm not someone who argues the incest thing as a con for Swan Queen, but Hook's "relation" to Emma is no different than if Regina got involved with Charming if she had met him without knowing he had been with Snow and also if Charming had left Snow and broken her heart before the Curse. While not something I'd like it to see, I would not be against it because of the family connection. I've even low-key shipped Regina and James before (seriously I don't believe it's possible that they never met before he died!) which is only one degree removed from Charming and Regina. 

Edited November 2, 2016 by InsertWordHere

[TheGreenKnight]

2 hours ago, InsertWordHere said:

I'm not someone who argues the incest thing as a con for Swan Queen, but Hook's "relation" to Emma is no different than if Regina got involved with Charming if she had met him without knowing he had been with Snow and also if Charming had left Snow and broken her heart before the Curse. While not something I'd like it to see, I would not be against it because of the family connection. I've even low-key shipped Regina and James before (seriously I don't believe it's possible that they never met before he died!) which is only one degree removed from the Charming and Regina. 

Maybe you see it as not being the same level of dysfunction that's being argued, but I definitely do.

Edited November 2, 2016 by TheGreenKnight

[InsertWordHere]

Just now, TheGreenKnight said:

Maybe you see it as not being the same level of dysfunction that's being argued, but I definitely do not.

I'm not sure what you mean? I said I'm not someone who views a relationship between Emma and Regina as being dysfunctional on the grounds of their relation to each other. I do not think the past Neal relationship makes Emma and Hook remotely dysfunctional because Hook, Milah, and Bae were never a family unit living with each other, and neither were Neal, Emma, and Henry nor did Emma and Hook even know of the connection when they first met. Are you arguing that they are dysfunctional on other grounds? Because my post was strictly talking about the degree of relation and nothing else. I was simply stating that Charming and Regina have the same (well slightly more given the legal nature of marriage) degree of relation as Emma and Hook. 

[TheGreenKnight]

Well, that's a point asabovesobelow already made. Regina and Emma only ever knew each other as adults, and so are not tangled up in the actual definitions of their relationship. That's not any different than Emma having no idea that Hook is the man in the middle of Henry's grandparents' marriage.

[Serena]

42 minutes ago, asabovesobelow said:

Snow White and Regina were never and will never be stepmother/stepdaughter.

Strongly disagree. I can be persuaded that Emma and Regina weren't step grandmother and granddaughter, or at least believe that YMMV there, but Snow and Regina totally were. Snow grew up thinking of Regina as her stepmother starting from, how old was she, 12 or 13?

[Curio]

9 minutes ago, asabovesobelow said:

Snow White and Regina were never and will never be stepmother/stepdaughter.

 

The show considers them stepmother/stepdaughter, though.

David: So his step-grandmother is Regina, the Evil Queen.
Snow: Actually, his step-great-grandmother. And she’s also his adoptive mother.
David: It’s a good thing we don’t have Thanksgiving in our land, cause that dinner would suck.

Regina: I was an awful stepmother.
Snow: Regina, come on. That was the past.

The first exchange argues that the Charmings still consider Regina Snow's stepmother on some level, otherwise they wouldn't consider her Henry's step-great-grandmother (which would also make her Emma's step-grandmother). The second line could be interpreted two ways. It could be interpreted that Regina still considers herself Snow's stepmother, but she's saying she was an awful stepmother in the past, but in the present, she's a better stepmother and friend. Or it could be interpreted that Regina was, in fact, Snow's stepmother at one point, but the two women are older now and consider that to be a phase of the past and they don't consider themselves step-anything now. Either way, one can't deny Regina was Snow's stepmother for a period of time; it's literally a huge chunk of this show's flashbacks. 

Is it just an unspoken agreement among the SQ fandom to ignore these canon pieces of dialogue, kind of like the CS fandom's unspoken agreement to ignore Emma and Regina's canon friendship until the Graham elephant in the room is addressed?

[asabovesobelow]

6 minutes ago, Serena said:

Strongly disagree. I can be persuaded that Emma and Regina weren't step grandmother and granddaughter, or at least believe that YMMV there, but Snow and Regina totally were. Snow grew up thinking of Regina as her stepmother starting from, how old was she, 12 or 13?

I thought it was 14, Regina was 18. They never had a mother/daughter dynamic. Snow knew about Daniel and how Leopold and Regina came to be. Regina soon after morphed into the Evil Queen and banished her and then tried to kill her for years. I don't think that qualifies as mother/daughter. Again, that pairing is not my thing, but I do see how that could be reasoned away.

[Mari]

15 minutes ago, Serena said:

. Snow grew up thinking of Regina as her stepmother starting from, how old was she, 12 or 13?

Ten, I believe.

During Ingrid's shattered sight spell, Regina mentions Snow telling, and Snow shouts back "I was ten!"  When referencing that age, we're more likely to round up.

[InsertWordHere]

32 minutes ago, TheGreenKnight said:

Well, that's a point asabovesobelow already made. Regina and Emma only ever knew each other as adults, and so are not tangled up in the actual definitions of their relationship. That's not any different than Emma having no idea that Hook is the man in the middle of Henry's grandparents' marriage.

Except I was responding to your point arguing that Hook and Emma family connections are just as messed up as Emma and Regina's and IMO they're not. CS has the same degree of relation to each other as Charming and Regina or Thomas and Ella's stepmother. Emma and Regina are the same degree of relation as Ella's stepmother and an aged-up Alexandra if she had been the one placed in the wardrobe and came back to break Lady Tremaine's curse. Again, I am not against Swan Queen because of the family relationship, but CS is more removed from a direct relationship than SQ is. Emma being with Neal does not make her somehow off-limits to Hook unless we are going by some sort of "bro-code" rule and I am most definitely not.

23 minutes ago, Serena said:

Strongly disagree. I can be persuaded that Emma and Regina weren't step grandmother and granddaughter, or at least believe that YMMV there, but Snow and Regina totally were. Snow grew up thinking of Regina as her stepmother starting from, how old was she, 12 or 13?

I believe she was ten.

Quote

 Regina soon after morphed into the Evil Queen and banished her and then tried to kill her for years. 

Regina morphed into the Evil Queen over a period of 8-10 years. Leopold died when Snow was played by Ginny Goodwin and that's when the gloves came off for Regina. 

Edited November 2, 2016 by InsertWordHere

[asabovesobelow]

14 minutes ago, Curio said:

Is it just an unspoken agreement among the SQ fandom to ignore these canon pieces of dialogue, kind of like the CS fandom's unspoken agreement to ignore Emma and Regina's canon friendship until the Graham elephant in the room is addressed?

I don't ignore them. I just don't feel Emma and Regina are step-anything. They had no knowledge of each other in that dynamic, and again, Regina was not exactly a mother figure to Snow. It's not like Regina was cooing over baby Emma with a rattle. 

[tri4335]

@asabovesobelow - I see the connection in that scene you posted. However, I think at that point in the series, LP is making the conscious choice to add the subtext because her fan base has a great deal of SQ members.  I don't think it is something that is meant to cannon but who knows maybe it is coming from A & E.

This part should be in the writing thread but I'm lazy.

Many of us us here decry the issue A & E have with ADD and shiny new toys but I think an equally bad thing they do is not convey in either their writing or direction they cannon they have in their heads.  They very oddly give very specific direction on some scenes that we see in script captures and then other times they leave their actors in the dark about motivation for the surprise twist and in others seem to be contradicting themselves. 

[TheGreenKnight]

2 hours ago, InsertWordHere said:

Except I was responding to your point arguing that Hook and Emma family connections are just as messed up as Emma and Regina's and IMO they're not. CS has the same degree of relation to each other as Charming and Regina or Thomas and Ella's stepmother. Emma and Regina are the same degree of relation as Ella's stepmother and an aged-up Alexandra if she had been the one placed in the wardrobe and came back to break Lady Tremaine's curse. Again, I am not against Swan Queen because of the family relationship, but CS is more removed from a direct relationship than SQ is. Emma being with Neal does not make her somehow off-limits to Hook unless we are going by some sort of "bro-code" rule and I am most definitely not.

And then I responded that it is just as dysfunctional to me, personally, and that your point is essentially splitting hairs on what is "more dysfunctional." Dysfunctional is dysfunctional to me.

[maryle]

The problem with chemistry is it so much subjective by the involvement one person have with at least one character between to character.

I never saw any  hot chemistry between Regina and Emma because I just don't care enough to note anything that involve Regina.

Others, will find any Regina or EQ paring sexy that exlique Golden Queen, Snow Queen, OQ, Hook Queen.

And, the same go for all alternate Hook parallel captain Charming, Hook Queen,  Belle and Hook, ...

And all Rumple pairing outside cannon.

I do not see anything particular in most of these case. But, fans of one character seem to be particularly incline to search for ship for this character.

I think Emma is the exception she have more cannon love interest but her fans  see chemistry usually with the character they do ship her with and not care for other case or hate the other relationship.

In my case I only see a real chemistry outside CS with graham I will totally have buying this pairing. Neal even when I forget my dislike of him had just brother and sister vibe at best. 

[Rumsy4]

I don't see CS dysfunctional because of previous sexual history, and I think the bro-code is sexist. 

I find Regina/Rumple squicky because Rumple has kissed Cora (and one can infer they slept with each other, as they were planning babies). They are mother and daughter, which to me makes Gold a creeper, and Regina seem desperate and pathetic (just like Zelena--what's with the Milla's women and Rumple??).

As for SQ, while I would never ship them, I can understand if people ignore the step-granddaughter relationship, because Emma didn't grow up under Regina's eye (thanks to her). That doesn't make Snow's relationship with Regina invalidated. By marriage, Regina is Snow's step-parent. And now they're back to being more authentic family. I guess I don't see the point in ignoring canon to make SQ work. Snow's relation and relationship with Regina is quite disconnected in the Show from Emma's dynamic with Snow or Regina.  But I can understand why that would still squick some people while others don't really care either way.

[asabovesobelow]

4 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

I guess I don't see the point in ignoring canon to make SQ work. 

I don't see the point either. I'm fully aware of canon and I still think SQ works. 

5 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

But I can understand why that would still squick some people while others don't really care either way.

Agreed. I'm not discounting the fact that they are - legally, by marriage, whatever - stepmother/stepdaughter. I was just trying to see the pairing through the eyes of those that do like it. It's real, and it's canon. I get that. 

And I 100% agree with you on the Rumple/Evil Queen kiss. There was nothing about the scene that didn't make EQ seem pathetic, and that's one I thing I have never thought of her as. Misunderstood, sure, a psychopath, definitely...but never pathetic.

[InsertWordHere]

I genuinely thought that EQ would make a move on either Charming or Hook or both so I am baffled by the Regina/Gold development. Do you all think it would have been better if she was being equally flirty with everyone including Gold as opposed to just Gold alone? I am sure that would bring in a slut shaming element which I am not here for but for me EQ's previous interactions with men (Graham excluded) were more about her using every weapon in her arsenal to mess with them whereas this Rumple thing seems more like she is either 100% genuine or she's trying to beat Rumple at his own game or something. I don't get it.