#took a break from the liveblog this week to watch some other programs but she is still HEAVILY. on my mind

[archietransdrews]

literally talking to the walls of my room like. riverdale's internal logic relies on the explanatory power of one's origins to an absurd degree, framing the actions of the protagonists as prescribed by their generational predecessors to such an extreme that the town's founding years not only provide meaning, context, and motive to current events as is typical in an archetypal place-based narrative but futhermore exert a horrifying control over the characters, compelling them to repeat or rebel against the actions of long-dead townspeople to whom they are only distantly related. these scenes from the past, when included in the show, are filmed using the same actors as the present-day scenes, producing the past as not only reminiscent of but in some aspects identical to the present. blood and bloodlines are used by various characters as explanatory schemas for the behavior of different characters throughout; riverdale is a place overdetermined by its own origins to the point that our protagonists spend years trying and usually failing to escape the combined generational curses of an entire town whose entire history consists in the repetition of its own genesis ad nauseum. does this seeming over-reliance on origins exaggerate the process to the point of effective parody, or does it merely & more straight-forwardly reinforce the [genetic] origin as privileged locus of [fictional] meaning?

a potentially conflictual reading of riverdale's historical "origins" is that they are invented or produced through the act of jughead's narration of riverdale as text; this reading posits that there is no "before" the pilot of riverdale, save what jughead invents to give additional meaning to the events which make up his plots. riverdale is his puppet show; everything in the text has been filtered through his point of view, which is to say that everything acquires the exact same level of (un)reality, whether it's a comic book character come to life or the sins of one's ancestors. in this framing, the true origin, and the key to whatever meaning might be made of this text, is the moment jughead's narration begins in the pilot with "our story is about a town.." in foregrounding jughead's ongoing acts of authorship and creation which function to continually produce the narrative & all it contains, riverdale destabilizes epigenetic origin as a locus of meaning by framing it as in some way artificial, invented, unreal; however, it does this by substituting another, no less authoritative, specifically authorial origin in its place.

and there is still a THIRD possible genealogy through which we can read riverdale as understanding itself, namely the genealogy of the cinematic canon. we well know that riverdale is constantly referring back to earlier moments in the history of film, from 70s noirs to 80s coming of age movies to 90s thrillers to etc. etc., not so much situating itself within this history as aiming to encompass all of the various stages of the medium's development. this argument could be broadened to include the histories of other prominent cultural forms, namely the novel and the comic strip; the meaning in riverdale might be said to be primarily derived from comic conventions, the principles of character creation and economy of image that have governed strips for decades and which now cause riverdale characters to wear outfits that have no in-world meaning except to refer back to their original iconic wardrobes, e.g. archie and jughead's S and R t-shirts.

which of these frames has the most explanatory power? which best helps us to understand or analyze why events in riverdale play out the way they do? i think in most cases one needs some combination of the three to be able to even begin getting at what's going on, which suggests that at least part of riverdale's project is the destabilization of the genealogical narrative via the introduction of several distinct, at times competing, narrative origins. riverdale is a story whose meaning is located simultaneously in the past, the act of narration, and the development of cinema and comics as mediums. while this structure does not necessarily step outside of the dominant symbolic framework that looks to origins in order to generate the meaning of a text, it is in typical riverdale fashion that the show wants to do everything at once, meaning in this case that rather than privileging one frame through which we are meant to make sense of the show's content, we are given to several possible readings which are all compelling in their own ways & when taken together succeed in troubling the final authority of any one interpretation.

#took a break from the liveblog this week to watch some other programs but she is still HEAVILY. on my mind #the jughead paradox is going to blow this whole thing wide open btw #syllabus

[dannystattoo]

So I’ve been meaning to make a post about my feelings on Jen (and Jared, Ginny, Josh, Bex, and Emilie...but mostly Jen) leaving the show, season 7, and what may as well be the end of OUAT/CS...or at least OUAT as we know and love it, this entire week, but I’m finally just getting around to it

I feel like before the cut, it must be said that I 100% support all the cast, both those leaving and those staying, in their decisions and future endeavors. Did I cry a little when I found out JMo was leaving? Abso-fucking-lutely, but you can sure as hell bet I respect her decision and will continue to follow her career. 

As for my future involvement in the fandom YOU BETTER BELIEVE I’M STICKING AROUND. I definitely want to continue reading/writing fics and enjoy all the other amazing content this fandom makes, and I want to stay in touch with all the incredible CS shippers I’ve met here. Regarding S7, I’m going to at least give it a shot if only because Colin is staying. Also,I’m hella intrigued by the developments of the series season finale. I’m just going to look at S7 as a spin-off, as opposed to a continuation of the same show, especially since the S6 finale would have been the perfect series finale. 

I’m not sure who will actually read the lengthy post below, but I can’t let this moment pass without reminiscing just how amazing my experience with the CS fandom has been...and now for some happy memories!! 

I started shipping CS just at the end of S2, summer of 2013. At the time, I was having kind of a shitty summer, seeing as I was fully anticipating that I would be doing the Disney College Program and moving to Orlando once school ended. Plans changed, my best friend went and I didn’t, and I was just not in the best place during that time. At one point, I started chatting with a couple other OUAT blogs about shipping and fell headfirst into this fandom. 

I remember the excitement of SDCC 2013 - obviously I enjoy every SDCC, but I don’t think anything can quite compare to the hype and excitement of that year, at least for me. I remember all the new people I met in this fandom, hardcore fangirling about each tiny development we found in SDCC news. The Captain Swan fandom and SDCC honestly pulled me out of a huge slump that year and needless to say, I’m so happy this ship came into my life. Suddenly, I had things to get excited over again. 

I remember S3, which I think was honestly the peak time to be in the Captain Swan fandom....yes, perhaps even more so than during wedding/engagement time. The episodes in that season were quality af and it felt like every episode we were getting some kind of CS development...”until I met you”, “when i win your heart and I will win it”, the coconuts, and so many other moments that I remember excitedly discussing with the fandom. And then of course, THE KISS HAPPENED and the fandom lost its collective shit and I have the absolute best memories of sharing that original kiss image far and wide on this godforsaken website.  Then the first video popped up during the middle of a two hour lecture and I recall rushing out afterwards to grab a seat in the lobby of building my class was in, just so I could watch the CS kiss on my computer before heading home. I also remember texting my roommate about the kiss video being posted but not being able to watch it  and her asking how I was alive and HOW WASN’T I WATCHING IT, and me telling her that I honestly didn’t know and finally her promising to watch the Kiss with me when I got home, even though she never watched OUAT and her only knowledge of it was through me. 

I remember ACTUALLY WATCHING THE KISS and being so full of feelings after that episode I couldn’t sleep, so I went down to the gym in my apartment at 1 in the morning to run off all my feelings about Captain Swan. 

I remember my weekly liveblogging, back when I used to be around to watch the show live every night, and all the fun I had interacting with fellow CSers. I looked forward to that every damn week and I’m still a little sad I never really got back into it after S3.

I remember moving to Disney and meeting my best friend because a Once related Facebook post and numerous discussions about Captain Swan = of course, we fangirled together from season 3B on! 

I remember the couple years I did Captain Swan Secret Santa and Valentine’s Day, some of the most fun things I’ve ever done and it brought more new friends. I’m hoping that we don’t stop this tradition just because the show is essentially over as we know it because I love the massive amounts of amazing fan art and fics that come about because of it. 

I remember the one season (S4) I was able to consistently join the Captain Swan Net chat and how much fun I had every week, freaking out about all our babies’ precious moments. I especially loved fangirling with all of you because the other group chat I was in during OUAT was with all my Disney friends who didn’t like Emma for some reason and didn’t ship Captain Swan how I did and I really needed like-minded people to flail with. 

After S4, my participation in the fandom really dwindled. Once I moved to Florida permanently, the theme park life didn’t allow me to be home on Sunday nights...plus the fandom just didn’t seem as active as a whole. However, I do remember the S5 finale, knowing I’d be working at Magic Kingdom til well after the episode ended. When I went on break that night, right before 9, I decided to go to a different breakroom than usual because I wanted a vending machine and the Tomorrowland breakroom didn’t have one. Well, as luck would have it, I went to the right breakroom at JUST THE RIGHT TIME and Once was already turned on on their TV. I was able to watch Hook and Emma reunited after his funeral and it took everything I had not to start crying like a baby in front of tons of strangers and WHAT A HAPPY COINCIDENCE THAT I HAD NO FOOD AT HOME BECAUSE I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING. 

And of course, the wedding - the amazing fairytale ending we’ve been dreaming about for CS since S2. 

I could go on, but I won’t since this post is a damn novel already. Captain Swan, thank you for bringing so many amazing memories and wonderful people into my life. I truly hope this fandom doesn’t die just because the show is taking a different direction and in a way, we essentially got our series finale last night. Finally, a HUGE THANK YOU to anyone who’s ever fangirled with me about this ship, as well as all the wonderful content creators who put out some of the best fics, gif sets, videos, manips, etc, that I think any fandom’s ever seen. Whether you’re still active in the fandom or you’re one of those URLs I haven’t seen cross my dash in ages, thanks for flailing along with me. 

If you’re no longer watching after last night, thanks for 5 seasons of Captain Swan and I hope to continue to see those familiar URLs around my dash! If you’re continuing to watch along to S7, I’m excited to see what this show will bring us next! <3 I love you guys!

#captain swan #sam for ts #once upon a time #killian jones #emma swan #colin o'donoghue #jennifer morrison #ouat finale #ouat #captainswannet