I have a love-hate (more hate than love) relationship with the show Once Upon a Time. Perhaps the reason why I love it is because of Regina Mills, played by the lovely and talented Lana Parrilla. When I started watching this show just before the start of season 3, Regina was the first character to resonate with me. It’s ironic that I would even up loving the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, because when I was a kid, I found her to be quite creepy and scary as hell. Now that my soul has become emotionally invested in making sure Regina Mills gets her much deserved Happy Ending, I can’t stop watching. Even if I think the show is straight up GARBAGE, I religiously plop down on my sofa with my phone and a glass of wine (or 2 depending on the intensity of the ep)on Sunday Nights and watch my hero fight for her happy ending.

Not only am I emotionally invested in this stupid show, but I’m also invested in the fans. It sounds crazy but, I LOVE talking to other fans on Twitter and Tumblr, I love reading fanfics and reblogging amazing fan art. Underneath that general common interest, we are different but yet so much alike; but it’s our love for Regina is what brings us together.

Being part of the Once ‘fandom’ can be a little frustrating at times because, while we all want Regina to be happy, we’re even more invested in who she ends up with romantically. Right now, the Regina fans are in the middle of what’s known as a ‘ship war’. Some people really wanna see Regina end up with Emma Swan while others want to see her live Happily Ever After out with Robin Hood. Then there is that small percentage of us who would love to see her with Maleficent and then there are the people like me who think, why can’t she end up with Mal AND Robin Hood, but polyandry is a whole other article.

Outlaw Queen and Swan Queen are the top two ships among ‘Evil Regals’. We all love each other…for the most part, but shipping is where we draw the line. Some people hate Robin Hood and the actor who plays him (Sean Maguire) for lots of reasons. Some people like the idea of Emma and Regina being really close friends and nothing more. Me personally, I like Robin and I kind of like Emma too, but I hate her a lot more than I like her. This constant push and pull of who’s going to be part of Regina’s happy ending has caused many fights and lots of hurt feelings. I think for most of us, the idea of either Emma or Robin being Regina’s True Love goes deeper than whether we think Jennifer Morrison or Sean Maguire is hotter.

The Evil Regal fandom is full of queer people-Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming. So representation in some form is important because television and society often shame us for who we choose to love and who we are.

Recently, it was announced that Sean Maguire would be reprising his role of Robin Hood for a small arc this season. Many of us Outlaw Queen fans were elated about the news, especially after the crappy storyline Robin and Regina were given. I won’t even begin to talk about the stupid way they killed him off at the end of last season (#ImStillBitter). While many Outlaw Queen fans were excited about the return of our thief, some Swan Queen fans were less than thrilled.

Now, I’m all for people expressing how they feel, whether it be good or bad because really, no one’s voice should be silenced or policed. However, there has been some vile mudslinging on Twitter and Tumblr from BOTH ships. I like to think of myself as someone in the middle; I love, respect, and follow a lot of Outlaw Queen fans AND a lot of Swan Queen fans. It’s hard for me to be happy about Robin coming back when I see my Swan Queen friends so angry and upset, but it’s even harder for me to see my Outlaw Queen buddies being sent not so nice tweets and asks on Tumblr.

I’ve noticed a trend on Twitter and on Tumblr of Outlaw Queen fans begging for Robin to be brought back from the dead as well as Swan Queen fans discussing Robin Hood sexually assaulting Regina and how Sean Maguire’s return took away from Regina’s storyline it made me take pause. Let me make this VERY clear:

I love Robin and Outlaw Queen, but I’d rather Robin stay dead for two reasons:

One, I don’t want a repeat of the atrocity that was Hook dying and coming back from the dead three freaking times and

Two, Regina Mills is perfect all by herself.

She doesn’t need Emma, or Robin, or Maleficent, or whoever else you may ship her with. She is perfect all by her damn self.

I know a lot of people who watch the show are into who the characters end up with romantically, but I’m not; well, it’s not my main priority. While I desperately believe that Regina needs both familial and romantic love in her life to be complete, her journey to self discovery is more important to me. Plus, this show has a terrible problem of overshadowing essential character development to prop up another character’s story. A perfect example is last season’s disastrous Dark Swan arc that was supposed to be about Emma but essentially ended up being all about Hook.

*sips tea*

If the show isn’t steamrolling over important character development, they’re bringing in that one POC character whose only purpose is to help further along a White character’s story (See: The Dragon, Mulan, Maid Marian, Lancelot, Rapunzel, etc). I don’t watch the show for that; I solely watch for Regina Mills and Lana Parrilla. It may sound silly but, I’m only here because Regina Mills is a brilliantly written, complex character and Lana Parrilla’s acting skills are genius. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be getting two Regina’s this season. Nevermind the fact that Lana has played essentially 8 different versions of the same character. That’s what I’m here for, the beautiful, yet painfully, annoyingly, tragic story of Regina Mills’ road to happiness. I honestly could care less about Swan Queen or Outlaw Queen. Don’t get me wrong, I love both ships, but at the end of the day, they’re not important. Again, I watch this show for the brilliant character that is The reformed Evil Queen, and the phenomenal Woman of Color who plays her.

…But what I really want is for Regina to be bisexual; that way, everybody wins.