OUAT: Dark Swan Theory

It's been a while since I've written a theory, but this trailer convinced me.

SPOILERS AHEAD! FOR ALL SEASONS OF ONCE UPON A TIME

First off, this video does a great job pin-pointing all the major dark moments in Emma's life. From her doubt in herself to her loses and the rejection of her power.
Once Upon A Time has been Emma's story from the first episode, and each trial brings her closer to the light. She has yet to deal with darkness.
Due to her circumstances, Emma has felt abandoned for most of her childhood, and it caused her to grow tough and guarded as an adult. As she walks the path of a hero, Emma learns that accepting her life and role as it is will only happen when she stops doubting herself. This is her first step down her own path of becoming a hero. The second step was to accept her past, and she used that knowledge to save her son from the darkness. The third step is learning what she can do. She must embrace her magic and accept it as a part of who she is. It took a long time for her to do this, and she still struggles with accepting herself as a hero, a mother and a magic user at times.

But this season will be her most difficult challenge of all: embracing her dark side. As she did sacrifice herself to the darkness, becoming the hero that she knew she could be, she still had issues with accepting her heart. This childlike part of Emma is always pushed away, and now, with darkness to tempt it, we will see this side of her character.

This is our first look at Emma, and already she seems a little childish, playing a cruel game of hide and seek. Her expression reminded me of Peter Pan when he is testing Hook. She acts on impulse as well, and before he can blink, the guard is dead. This is a scary moment to witness, because despite her act, Emma instantly regrets what she has done. You see it in her expression, as she stands there, staring at him.
There's another interesting detail in this scene: the diamonds.
Something to keep in mind here is that Emma did not become the Dark One to be evil. She did it to save Storybrooke, and the darkness seeped into her soul.
Each dark one has an element that is related to the soul tied to the darkness. For Rumple, it was gold. For Emma, it looks like it will be diamonds.
Diamonds are symbolic for healing, shining from within and they reflect light.
The word diamond relates to the word adamas, which means unbreakable or unalterable in Greek. 

So the diamond is a specific symbol for Emma, in the fact that it disperses light. 

Emma was made of light and love, and her soul is still in there, probably constantly battling the darkness. She is still aware of her actions, as we see in this clip, but she is surrounded by so much darkness, darkness that has been growing for centuries, that she is unsure how to stop herself. 

It's already been confirmed by the writers that Emma will slowly turn dark, so this clip may be way later in the series, when it is more difficult for her to resist out of pure exhaustion. 

I beleive that the child side of Emma, feeling abadoned and lost will become the shadow side that the darkness will attach to, but the diamonds are Emma's own strength, light within the darkness.

I hope this series reveals the reason Merlin believed that the only way to contain this horrible evil thing was to tether it to a human soul, because it seems to have a conscious of its own. 

Because Emma is more light than dark, the darkness will eat at the light for a long time, but I think Dark Swan will be a projection of Emma's childhood self, the self she pushed away for a long time. 

In Once Upon A Time true love does conquer all, but I'm not sure they will do a true love's kiss for this one. It didn't seem like that would work for Rumple, and it probably won't work for Emma. 

It will probably be exactly what Emma said to her parents and to Killian that will at least reach out to her. They will have to find the light in the darkness to save Emma. 

And now for Regina's role as saviour. This is an interesting story arc. We've seen Regina be a hero, but I imagine she still has demons to fight from her dark past. She may be Emma's only hope because she has been part of the darkness, and it nearly consumed her. (And she's not lying on the ground unconcious like Rumple) 

I think the big moment in season 5, and the theme they have been going for since season 3 really, is the acceptance and love of the self. To love yourself as who you are. To accept your faults and weaknesses. 

This was a similar motiff for Riku's story in Kingdom Hearts, and Lightning's story in Lightning Returns. Emma will probably have to accept her shadow side, and her parents, son and pirate will probably help her with that. It is the most difficult battle for any character to face, and it may be balanced through Regina's new role. 

While Emma embraces the dark, Regina must embrace the light. 

This is just a theory, but it comes from being a writer, a reader and an observer of characters. 

The shadow is the scariest and most challenging villian for a character according to Carl S Jung. There are only two ways that stories have invented to defeat it: accepting it or banishing it. 

This darkness was already banished by Merlin, so my theory is it will only be defeated once it is accepted. 

That said, I'm both thrilled and wary of this season. It looks pretty dark. 

An interesting twist would be Merlin needing to embrace his dark side, or his dark magic. I hope Morgana is involved because she is known to be his worst nemesis. Who knows, maybe she taught Maleficent how to be dark. 

It will be interesting to see how they portray Emma's dark side, and how the characters will react. 

Heartsong of the week: Midnight Blue by Megumi Hayashibara

 

For some reason, this song describes my writer's block really well, among other general confusions  I have about my future. Questioning everything, always wondering what's next. It's the theme I go by in many stories, but a new format and a different genre can be a challenging project, especially when you have three projects to focus on at once. Maybe not my best decision, but I am not a quitter. I will keep asking these questions until I can answer them, and hopefully I will get three scripts done in the process.

Writing Prompt 48: Confusion

Prompt: Close you eyes and write about what immediately pops into your head.

Confusion seems to stalk me. It follows wherever I go, trailing fear, shame and hurt. It becomes a habit: wondering what I should do, who I'm supposed to be. How do I present myself to the world? When everything is falling apart? When I'm on cloud nine? Do I over do it? Do I boast? Do I whine too much? Do I cry enough? Do I ever give myself a break to just be?
Am I selfish? Self centered? Am I a bad person? Am I a good person?
How am I supposed to act? Is it okay if I don't act that way? Do I lie when I'm not okay? How do I avoid being a burden, when I believe I'm a burden?
It's a mess. These questions that buzz in my head. Over and over and over again I ask them. Over and over and over again, I must come up with my own answer.
What should I do? What do I want to do?
Listening to myself has never been easy. But not listening, that's even worse.
In most situations I am on a swing back and forth, not sure which way to go, not really moving, and not trusting either side.

Kingdom Hearts Challenge Day 30: What Kingdom Hearts means to you

Kingdom Hearts is one of the first games I got for Play Station 2. I actually started the series by playing Chain of Memories, and even without understanding what was going on, the game was fascinating to me. There are so many conflicts: Dark vs Light, Brain vs Heart, Courage vs Fear. It's a complex story that goes deeper into the meaning and reason for emotions. What does a heart mean? Is the brain always in conflict with the heart? And so on.
Kingdom Hearts means a lot to me. Not just because it is an amazing story, but it takes you through Disney worlds and brings back childhood memories while introducing characters that you know from other Final Fantasy games. The main characters are very well created, with realistic inner conflicts and responses to philosophical tests and questions. Sora is a character who focuses on the heart, always there for others when they need him. Riku is a character of the mind, focusing on plans and questioning the world. Kairi is a mix between the two. She is a character of support and hope, always there when Sora and Riku need her. Roxas is an interesting character, curious, pensive and also brave. Namine is quiet but clever, finding ways out of the trap she's in and rescuing others from nonexistence.
The story that started it all, Birth by Sleep was a tragedy between three wanderers. Aqua, the responsible, brave and loyal keyblade master. Terra, the rebellious and brave warrior. Ventus the incomplete but kind and curious drifter. When Terra falls to darkness, the tone of the game changes. This is different than when Riku fell to darkness, allowing Maleficent to teach him how to be evil. Terra makes an active decision, even after witnessing what darkness does, and betrays his master, Erauqs, and his friends. Ventus's story is the opposite, he must confront darkness and subdue it with light. Ventus faces Vanitus, his shadow and fights to regain control of his body. Aqua must face the rift and mend it, using what strength she has left after battling Terra and protecting Ventus. All three wanderers were separated and lost the ultimate battle to darkness.
Each Kingdom Hearts story is a clever allegory about the human condition. Roxas asks the very common, "Who am I?" and "What is my purpose?". Sora looks for hope, wherever he can find it, even with his world destroyed and friends scattered. Ventus must battle his shadow, common in the hero's quest and many other stories.
Kingdom Hearts is a powerful collection of epic and human stories. It is the infinite battle of Good versus Evil, and the human condition of purpose and meaning. It is a philosophical story disguised as an epic journey, involving the characters from childhood memories and the warriors of Final Fantasy stories today. It's a story that means a lot to me, and with each new game, I discover something new about fears and dreams.

Serious

Prompt: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be, and what would you do if later on you changed your mind?

The one thing I would change about myself is how serious I am. I'm always on my guard, at work, at home and of course every where else.  I know it is a choice I made long ago. I decided to always be on my guard, decided to be serious. It's an unconscious shield. It goes up during the slightest hint of chaos or change.  It's the one thing that people probably don't like about my personality. But I will admit that I do have times where I wish I could live in the moment.
Worrying is a curse, and it's almost a default of mine.
I isolate myself due to worry, anger, sadness and pain. It's my fault I know, and I also know that it drives people crazy.
I think too much, and I'm always in my own world. So if I could change something about myself, I'd let go of this shield. I might regret doing that currently. Maybe now isn't the time to be selfish, do what I actually want to do, or forget for a while the role I have forced myself to believe I must act in.
It's not something I'm used to. Letting go.
But maybe if I did, I'd have more fun. I'd be able to function in a normal setting without acting abnormal. Would I be more confident? More strong? Would I know that life is meant to be lived? Would I understand that worry is a giant boulder you put on your own shoulders. Would I be able to make the climb for what I want.
I do hold on to dreams, so maybe that's a step in the right direction. I don't want to be isolated. I don't want to be in pain, or sad constantly. Honestly . . . who does?
The truth is, I'm terrified to let go, and jump into the unknown.
Luckily I have two great friends that do their best to make sure I join in on the fun :)