Clexa. Swanqueen. Elsanna. Korrasami. Sam. Lesbian. I live in the great place called Canada. I like turtles.
This is about me. If you dont like it, leave lol
Her lips said “my friends” but her eyes said only you.
Okay. Gimme some room. I’d like to work through the turmoil I’m in because of this moment, if I may?
“If I revert I lose everyone I love. Henry…*duh, obvious, given*…” But then something incredible happens.
Regina looks up at Emma and Emma IMMEDIATELY looks away from her. But she doesn’t just look away. She looks almost terrified of what-who-Regina is about to say next.
The crazy thing is the emphasis placed on this moment. Regina could’ve easily said “everyone I love” and pushed on. At this point, 5 seasons in, and after that exchange between Regina and Cora in the Underworld, where Regina says she can’t turn her back on those she loves, we all already know who “everyone” is. There really wasn’t an overwhelming need for her to be specific. Not for the sake of our understanding anyway. And certainly there was no need to update Emma. She already knows how deeply you love Henry so…what gives, Regina?
Then, as Regina begins verbal inventory of her love-list, starting, of course with Henry, Emma panics. She can’t even hold Regina’s gaze (which is completely understandable because it is absolutely piercing). What could possibly be going through her mind in this moment? She’s not…? I mean, you don’t think that she…? This can’t really be about to happen right now. Is Regina actually about to say Emma’s name? About to explicitly, straight up, no bullshit, for-all the way-real, let it be known in the presence of God and the cold steel of ‘Tallahassee’ Neal’s apartment lockers that she loves Emma?! Emma in particular? I mean, she started listing for fuck’s sake! LISTING! Emma seems to be internally freaking out (as was I, except not seemingly and not internally). And once Emma does chance a terrified side-eye back in her direction, only then does Regina continue.
The next shot is of Regina looking up at Emma. And she sees it. She sees the not-at-all-subtle internal panic-point Emma has managed to get herself worked up into. She proceeds to let Emma off the hook (pun extremely intended) by NOT continuing to be name-specific about “everyone [she] loves.” But why? Why start listing only to stop after just one name? (I’ll tell you why, because HOLY SHIT THIS FUCKER WAS ABOUT TO SAY EMMA’S NAME AND CHANGE ALL OUR LIVES.)
Then she continues with general, all-inclusive terms: “my friends” and “everyone” again. There’s that nervous smile and dejected laugh followed by us back on Emma who has visibly relaxed a bit.
Reminder: this all takes place in the ‘Only You’ episode, a few moments after we’re all reminded that that’s what the episode is called, because Emma finds the record haphazardly strewn on the floor; left ‘trail of breadcrumbs’ style by their remedial-fugitive son, who is only trying to save his parents marriage.
Yeah, so, just one question; what the dickens? Follow-up question; what the actual dickens?
I apologize if someone else has already posted about this and I missed it. And, in case you were wondering; yes, every single one of those colons and semi-colons were a shot in the dark.
*Update: To be clear: When I speak of Regina saying Emma’s name, I don’t actually mean her literally saying ‘Emma’ while speaking to Emma. I mean her saying ‘you’. The post reads as if I meant the former and now I’m gonna go climb in a hole and think about that oversight for the rest of eternity.
