Horrifying Implications of Magic Coming to Storybrooke

As we learned from the finale, magic's coming back to all of the fairy tale characters, which is good and bad. Good because, let's face it, magic makes everything more interesting. Bad because certain characters (Regina) are going to use it for evil (Regina). Following is a breakdown of all the things that could/probably will go down once the purple mist clears:

• Regina's going to have her powers back, notably the ripping hearts out bit. So Emma needs to stay out of arm's reach.
• Ruby/Red's gonna have to dig out that old cloak unless she feels like eating everyone. 
• Mr. Gold's going to turn back into a frog prince with Edward Cullen skin instead of the more attractive more Robert-Carlyle-resembling Rumpelstiltskin we've all come to fangirl over.
• In this same vein, Belle's going to be piiiiiiissed that Rumpelstiltskin didn't learn his lesson about not putting his loved ones before his lust of power. Hopefully this is all for Baelfire or else we're going to need some magical Jerry Springer up in here.
• Archie's going to be a cricket again, or at the very least realize that he WAS a cricket. Poor guy.
• Prince James is going to realize he cheated on Snow. Abigail's going to realize she cheated on Frederick. Snow's going to realize she went out on a date with whoever Dr. Whale is. All in all, very confusing and probably some b-slaps being handed out regardless of curse amnesia.
• People are going to be able to leave Storybrooke all willy nilly. Not only is this a control issue ("Where'd Hansel and Gretel go again?"), but a safety one. Because what tourist doesn't want to visit a magical town full of fairy tale creatures.
• People are going to be able to come into Storybrooke.
• Sidney's going to be a mirror, or at the very least a genie. A genie who grants wishes. A genie whose lamp is with Rumpelstiltskin.
• The royal family in general's going to have relational issues. Emma is roommates with her mother, Henry is (was) being raised by his great-grandmother and lord help us if Baelfire happens to be Henry's father (as theorized by fans)...

It'll be interesting to see whether Henry or Emma get magical powers, though due to James and Snow not having powers this is unlikely. But hey, Emma's the savior.

Character Rant: Emma Swan

Alright, let's even out all of the talk of the "villains" with the talk of our main heroine, Emma Swan. The first time I heard her name, I cringed, because I can no longer associate the last name of "Swan" with anyone but Bella from "Twilight". Thankfully, Emma shows no resemblance of the Mary Sue, except for overlooking the obvious.
My first thoughts after the trailer was that she was Little Red Riding Hood, because of her red jacket, the wolf that came out of nowhere, staying at Granny's, etc. Of course Ruby disproved this so I have no idea who and if Emma is supposed to be a fairytale character. Some say Dorothy, some say Alice, I say she's like Henry and doesn't have a particular counterpart because she grew up in the real world. She's also the savior, so that probably is enough.
Emma is a bails bondsman/bounty hunter, which is one of many professions writers grab for when they want to imply BA-ness. And, when she arrests someone on an alleged date...I totally get the BA vibe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wga0l-pX46U
This is also, like, the first time we see her. So right out of the gate she's awesome. Here are some of my other favorite BA moments that make me love Emma (most of them involve her fighting).

7. Emma Wins Mr. Gold's Respect
6. Emma takes a chain-saw to Regina's apple tree (oddly no clip for this one)
5. Emma and Regina Fight (1x07)
4. Emma Calls Regina a Socio-path/Tells Her She's Taking Henry Back
3. Emma Beats Up Regina In Hospital
2. Emma Breaks the Curse
1. Emma Fights Maleficent (Just deal with the prince parts)

Notice how most of these are in order, proving that she just gets more and more awesome the more she loves Henry. Three of these are from the Season 1 finale, but I digress. There are more awesome moments, but they don't necessarily count as "BA".
To counteract all these awesomeness, Emma has...flaws. First of all she's very, very crappy at being a sheriff or deputy, mostly because she seems to hate procedure. She's intuitive and impulsive, so she blames people she has no evidence against (Regina), ignores threats that soon turn into violence (Mr. Gold), and sticks to the rules only when plot demands it (Mary Margaret). I would hate it if Emma was head of law enforcement in my town.
Also, for someone who can believe in the best of some people (Mary Margaret), she is extremely jaded. This jadedness and no-BS that comes from her hard orphan-raised-in-the-foster-system past makes her extremely slow to trust most people. So when Henry and August try to tell her about the curse, she refuses. Even when it would be very easy to chalk it up to magic. Like the poisoned apple turnover. Like Regina and Mr. Gold knowing everything about everyone. But, as we can see, she's kind of literally blind when she doesn't see August's wooden leg. Because Emma's practical and stuff. Still, this makes for a long season of facepalming and begging Emma to just believe already so things start becoming awesome in Storybrooke (about five minutes after Emma breaks the curse, Mr. Gold brings magic back. Because they're in tune).
Emma is a wonderful protagonist who is easy to relate to from a viewer stand-point. She's made mistakes and errors of judgement, and decides to give Henry up to give him a better life (little does she know). Her love for Henry is as strong as Regina's if not moreso because she hasn't been there for him. And it's the biological versus the adoptive mother dynamics that make their relationship so interesting...besides the fact that Emma's like "aw hell naw, be-otch" whenever Regina's being Regina. Jennifer Morrison also does a spectacular job of making Emma awesome and deserves her own applause. Because the writing can be incredible, but with awful actors... Well it dies.
One last thing I want to point out; there is always that one character in fanfiction that gets shipped with everyone else in the entire series. Emma is that one character. Unlike most pairings, who combine names (Kigo) or abbreviate (AxI) or just put an "x" between names (HarryxDraco), OUaT fans are much more creative. Some pairings for you to ponder:

• EmmaxGraham: No special name for this one that I've seen, but it's the most basic. It was teased at by the writers...before they mercilessly killed him off. This used to be my favorite pairing with Emma, but now I'm shifting more towards the third bullet.
• EmmaxAugust: August and his father just seem like butts in the fairytale world. Denying Emma having a parent to love/raise/explain crap to her in order to make sure he stays a "real boy"? And then said real boy, whose supposed to protect her, ditches her in the foster system? I don't care if the past is in the past, August still isn't very nice. And even if he is a writer, I won't give him a break.
• Mad Swan: I like Emma. I like Jefferson. So why not? I mean, drugging her and binding her up is already kinky enough for ten thousand fanfictions to launch... And they have the love of their children in common, though Grace sadly didn't remember Jefferson so he went a little cuckoo. We'll have to see more before I'm entirely sold on this idea, though.
• Golden Swan: I can see where the shippers got this from; Robert Carlyle is so charismatic he could have chemistry with Henry's book on set. Their scenes are quite fun to watch, but I'm guessing there's an age difference and a morality gap they'd have to bridge...even if Mr. Gold likes her spirit. At best to me it seems like playground romance: "I like you." "Go away, Gold, you smell funny and steal babies".
• Swan Queen: First time I saw this pairing, I threw up in my mouth a little. I've never been a fan of slash or femslash, but Regina and Emma being together seemed a 1 on the "most likely to happen" scale (right under "pigs will fly"). Besides cultural norms and step-cest (Regina would be her step-grandmother and Henry's step-great-grandmother), THEY HATE EACH OTHER. There has never been a moment where Emma's like "you want to go out for coffee, Reggi?". Even in the pilot there was just tense politeness. Yes, in a perfect world Henry would have both his mommies and have them like each other and raise him normally...but pigs WILL fly before Regina and Emma start getting attracted to each other. Keep dreaming, Swan Queeners, keep dreaming.

Possible New Fairytales in Season Two

I'm a purist at heart about a lot of things, so when "Once Upon a Time" was being sold as a fairy tale land, I was upset to see Lewis Carroll and Carlo Collodi alongside Grimm Brothers and Hans Christen Anderson. I see very big distinctions in the world of fiction.

1. Mythology: A story that explains how the world works or why a certain group of people do what they do, or simply to explain a phenomenon. Circa as long as we've known to around the time Christianity took over Europe.
2. Fairy tales: Stories usually told to children to soothe them or to give warnings. Circa 1400's to about the 1700's.
3. Classic literature: Stories written to entertain and teach, more common when the printing press was more readily available. Unlike 1 and 2, there is generally only one author who completely makes everything up instead of drawing from oral tradition. Circa 1800's to present.

And surely someone clever enough to make this complex web of stories would know that "Alice in Wonderland" is in a different category from "Snow White" or "The Epic of Gilgamesh" (but maybe I've just been taking too many literature and humanities courses...). So I thought about it, and connected it to something a friend had pointed out; Disney owns ABC (or has massive shares in it, something complicated and business-y like that). It explains how they got away with "Skin Deep" being so much like "Beauty and the Beast". I would assume it has something to do with the fact that they already hold copyrights or something (even if most are too old for copyright laws to be effective, unless it's closely resembling a remake).
So with that in mind, I humbly offer what stories we may be expecting to hear next season...because I doubt the cast is complete already.

• Sleeping Beauty: Alright, we've seen Maleficent, and it's hinted at that Snow doesn't count as Sleeping Beauty. So...where is Sleeping Beauty?
• Aladdin: We have the genie. Let's have some Arabian Nights action!
• The Little Mermaid: This one's been thrown about quite a bit in the fandom, some even saying that Dr. Whale might be King Triton. I...don't know how I feel about this. Ariel's my Disney princess...but I've seen how amazing they've done with the other stories. A mermaid's been mentioned, and I'm sure that this story will inevitably show up. But I'm wary of my beloved childhood being redone unsatisfactorily.
• Peter Pan: It's right up there with Alice in Wonderland and The Chronicles of Narnia as one of the best known classic child literature pieces. Besides, Tink was a lawn ornament in one episode.
• Robin Hood: Because that would be pretty friggin' BA. Maybe the Huntsman was a former Merry Man?
• The Sword in the Stone: King Arthur's gonna have to show up at some point, being one of the biggest medieval legends to exist. I highly doubt they'll turn to "Beowulf" instead.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Yes, yes please. I want to see a spin on Quasimodo  and Esmeralda. It could be a romance that would rival Rumpbelle!
• Hercules: Or really any more Greek mythology; King Midas isn't enough to quell my mad love for the Gods of Olympus, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
• The Jungle Book: I don't think this would land a major role, and I don't see them employing any of their animal films for a major plotline. But a cameo of Shere Khan would be awesome.
• The Wizard of Oz: I don't know how much Disney has invested in this classic literature (they shot the sequel "Return to Oz"), but the fans have been asking for it. I think ol' WWotW would fit right in alongside the Evil Queen and Maleficent. 
• 101 Dalmatians: Archie DOES have a Dalmatian... Though I'm not sure how you can top Glenn Close's portrayal of Cruella DeVil.
• Treasure Island: I don't know how well pirates would go over in this royalty-centric world, but maybe Silver washed up on Snow White's father's beach.

• Perhaps Fox and the Hound, but have them be humans like with Jiminy Cricket? Old friends on opposite sides of the law? I'm stretching a bit.

Mulan has also been thrown out quite a bit, but I'm not feeling it too much to be honest. I also don't think they'd do anything too recent in their repertoire, like Emperor's New Groove.
All in all, I think "Once Upon a Time" is going for a well rounded literary arch, as they've shown already. And really, these are just from the movies; there are thousands of stories they can choose from, and just legends (such as the siren). I trust them...though my latest fairy tale redux is "The Emperor's Nightingale". Here's hoping to that!