Jesus, this one was so good! This fic is from 2015 and I had it on my e-reader for a while. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but I was curious anyway. And I’m so glad I read this. It’s been a long time since a story touched me like this! This is certainly also due to the fantastically good writing of coalitiongirl  👏🏼.

The Story

Actresses Emma Swan and Regina Mills star in the new fantasy TV series Happily Ever After (HEA) 😊. Emma plays the savior Rose and Regina plays the Mayor/Evil Queen Victoria. I was already like, huh 👀? But it soon becomes very easy to follow. The author has tied OUAT and the fictional TV show together so well. You get SwanQueen and the ship Victoria Rose for the price of one 😉.

The story is written from Emma’s POV. Emma is a lesbian actress, stuffed so far in the closet that escape seems impossible. And Regina doesn’t like Emma, ​​she thinks she’s an actress who is below her level. So, there’s a lot going on between the two. But their connection develops slowly, very slowly. It’s also my first time using the slow burn tag. Because this really is one!

Coalitiongirl’s writing style is so good. They are all short scenes that switch between the ‘real life’ story and the story in the TV show, which seem to overlap. Soon the third story also becomes clear. This is the story of the actors and their interaction with the fans. And this touched me most, surprisingly enough.

At some point, Emma enters the wonderful world of social media and discovers that fanfiction is being written about HEA. Victoria Rose seems to be a popular ship. This surprises Emma but it also secretly makes her happy. She falls for her co-star and hopes that the ship will one day become a reality. Unfortunately, no one dares to do that, and some male (popular) love interests are written into the show. But the fans continue to cheer for Victoria Rose.

After a while, the ship SwanQueen is even created, based on Emma and Regina themselves 😉. Meanwhile, Regina also seems to be a fan of Victoria Rose and supports the fans in their ship. But does this mean that Regina and New Guy’s relationship, one of the show’s love interests, means less than Emma thought? Could Regina ever fall for Emma too? Do the Victoria Rose shippers ever get their way? Or even the SwanQueen shippers 😍?!

In the End

I made it a bit of a long story. But I want to do justice to the fic. I can only imagine how important this has been, and perhaps still is, to fans who are so hopeful that their favorite couple will become a reality. Reality in fiction, yes, but still. But not enough as a main story on TV or in movies. That is still not happening. Or certainly not enough. I can’t think of any HEA in a movie or series where a lesbian couple plays the lead. You do?

Of course, a lot has changed in the last 30 years, but not enough as far as I’m concerned. I am now old enough to be the mother of most shippers 💜. And it’s so much better now for lesbian audiences in seeing representation in TV or film. Still, there is much room for improvement. In regard of this fic, I view this as a love letter from this great author to the SwanQueen nation 🥰.