Who's Going To Be Having A Gay Old Once Upon A Time?

[Primetimer]

The fairy tale drama is already one of the campiest shows on TV, but this season it's getting an actual gay storyline. We have some predictions about who might hook up!

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[ApathyMonger]

Yeah, I think it'll have to be Mulan, but I don't know who with, as Aurora's probably off the market. Isn't Ruby back? Could be her.

I'd suggest Elsa, but that would probably freak the Disney marketing people out too much.

[sjohnson]

Agree, probably Ruby/Mulan. It would be more explicable as drama for it to be Henry's discovery he's is genuinely committed to fairy tales, but two women is much more acceptable.

[Writing Wrongs]

Merida and Mulan.

[expateliz]

Yeah, my first thought was Merida and Mulan. My second thought was that's a bit obvious. My third thought was this is not a show known for its subtlety (and I say that as a fan).

But maybe they'll surprise us?

[Souris]

I have seen various theories about who they'll pair Mulan with (it seems obvious it's Mulan): Aurora, Merida, Ruby or Lily. I don't think it's Aurora because she and Philip had a TLK. I had been thinking since last season that if they brought Mulan back, they'd pair her with Lily, since she's an original character and wouldn't affect an established Disney character. But with the announcement about Ruby coming back, I'm now thinking it will be her. I love both characters, and Mulan deserves better than Lily, so I support Red Warrior!

[Shanna Marie]

I doubt it'll be Merida, as they're working on a sequel to Brave, and I doubt they'll be allowed to do anything that will change Merida's status quo. They won't be allowed to give her a girlfriend since that girlfriend won't be showing up in the sequel because how would they account for Merida having a girlfriend she met through a bunch of realm travelers from other worlds? They didn't do anything that would significantly alter the continuity of the Frozen world for any sequel they do there.

 

But I still think the media are making much ado about nothing here. All those headlines were about a few "we hope/we'd like to see" interview answers, and we know how those things tend to go in this show. Not that nothing at all will happen, but it won't be a huge "exploring LGBT relationships" storyline the way the headlines make it sound.

[ferretrick]

In my fondest fan wanking dreams, it would be August. *insert wood joke here*

[Curio]

If Mulan and Ruby get together, I fully support Mulan Rouge as their shipper name.

[Souris]

If Mulan and Ruby get together, I fully support Mulan Rouge as their shipper name.

 

OMG, Curio! Bwahahahahaha!!

 

Genius.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Souris

[Curio]

OMG, Curio! Bwahahahahaha!!

 

Genius.

 

Credit goes to Adam Grosswirth. I thought that's where he was going in that Mulan paragraph, but then he never mentioned Ruby's name. The punchline was staring him in the face, I just ran with it. ;)

[legaleagle53]

I don't know -- I don't see why Mulan has to have a romantic relationship with ANY established female character, especially when there is zero evidence that any of the other established characters (particularly Ruby, who was known as the town slut for a reason, remember?) even swings that way.  I would much prefer having Mulan return and already be in a committed relationship with someone whom she brought along to introduce to everyone else -- at least that wouldn't make any of the established characters suddenly be out-of-character by being sexually attracted to her.

Edited September 21, 2015 by legaleagle53

[adam807]

Credit goes to Adam Grosswirth. I thought that's where he was going in that Mulan paragraph, but then he never mentioned Ruby's name. The punchline was staring him in the face, I just ran with it. ;)

 

Ha! It's been so long since Ruby was much of a presence, I'll be honest I forgot all about her. And I didn't know about Merida until this morning (I'm pretty unspoiled on the season -- less a conscious choice than I don't really care), but she does seem like an obvious bet too. 

In my fondest fan wanking dreams, it would be August. *insert wood joke here*

 

I almost went there so I'm very glad someone else did! :) I JUST realized that the joke is that Geppetto makes magical closets.

[Zuleikha]

It's been so long since Ruby was much of a presence, I'll be honest I forgot all about her.

I love that you accidentally created the perfect shipper name. Especially since I'm a sight unseen Mulan Rouge shipper. All we know about Ruby's preferences are that she liked to flirt (she wasn't really the town slut as far as we know; I was always very offended by the way the show moralized Ruby liking goth-inflected tight/short clothing and flirting with actually sleeping around as well as the implication that something would be wrong WITH Ruby sleeping around. But the only canon relationship we know for sure Ruby had was with Peter, her doomed and eaten boyfriend). Aurora is out for me because Aurora's happily married with a child, and I don't see Mulan seriously trying to get between Aurora and Philip given Mulan's canon loyalty to both of them. I think the confession-that-never-quite-happened was pushing Mulan's characterization.

I love the idea of Mulan being with a genderbent Shang (as has been speculated in some places) because there's something vaguely unsettling to me about Rapunzel and Mulan being both the only Disney princesses of color to be portrayed on the show and the only Disney princesses shown without their Disney princes, but I think there would have been casting announcement if that was the direction the show was going.

Another possibility is that Mulan is involved with one of the new Camelot characters. That would help provide an explanation for why Mulan didn't return to Storybrooke with Robin's men and why she's back in the story now. Edited September 21, 2015 by Zuleikha

[CatMack]

I don't really have a prediction outside of it most likely involving Mulan since those two announcements were practically simultaneous.

But I do want to point out that literally no one in the show is confirmed straight. By which I mean no one has stated that they only prefer the opposite sex. Bisexuals exist. I am one.

But Cat, you say, everyone is in a heterosexual relationship! If someone is bisexual, being in a heterosexual relationship doesn't make someone not bisexual anymore than a sofa bed stops being a sofa bed because you can only see the sofa part when it's folded up.

Do I think all or even just most of the characters on this show are bi? No, I think most likely the writers think of most of these characters as straight, and therefore they will continue to be written that way. But a character like Ruby, who's unattached at the moment (since her former almost possible love interest is now a regular on another show)? If she were paired with Mulan it wouldn't make her out of character just because she's been shown attracted to men. It would make her bisexual.

Edited September 21, 2015 by CatMack

[YaddaYadda]

I'm Mulan/Red on this one.

[Rumsy4]

I vote for Mulan with genderbent Shang.

[Serena]

I vote for Mulan with genderbent Shang.

Me too. Why should they have her TL be a white lady, when in her movie it was a POC? Yeah, they're changing the gender, but there's no reason to also change the race. And if A&E chose Ruby or Merida, it would look kinda sad to me, in a "well, who happens to be single and female right now, let's just say they end up with Mulan." They should put a little bit more thought in this long overdue storyline.

[ferretrick]

I JUST realized that the joke is that Geppetto makes magical closets.

I bow to you, Sir. That is brilliant.

[Dianthus]

Disney was actually ahead of the curve (IIRC) on offering benefits to same-sex partners of their gay/lesbian employees. Modern Family is also on ABC (which Disney owns). I would love to see a real and well-written (think CS rather than OQ or the collective delusion that is SQ) LGBT romance bloom on OUaT.

[mjgchick]

I'd love for them to have a gender bend Shang as Mulan's true love but I rather see it then Mulan just coming back with someone else she meets. It doesn't have to take to much screen time. Just a 3 to 4 episode arc.

[TheGreenKnight]

But a character like Ruby, who's unattached at the moment (since her former almost possible love interest is now a regular on another show)? If she were paired with Mulan it wouldn't make her out of character just because she's been shown attracted to men. It would make her bisexual.

That's what I was thinking, too. Besides, Mulan herself is already an example of this. First she had feelings for Phillip, then she developed them for Aurora.

 

I think Mulan with a genderbent Shang would be perfect. Tbh, the movie always leaned that way for me, since most of their "relationship" was built up while Shang thought Mulan was a man. So to have them be the same gender here wouldn't be that big of a stretch for me.