ouattober2023 Day 5: Fav Relationship
RED SNOW
It doesn't say romantic relationship, so my absolute fav that will creep into everything else (even very specific Red romances with other ladies I daydream about) is Snow White & Red, Mary Margaret & Ruby, who weren't allowed enough scenes together post-curse.
Snow White wandered the wilderness alone and ended up in a chicken coop, seeking shelter from the cold and oh yeah, also there was this growling scary sounding beast around (funny thing about that...). And in the morning Red stumbles in, trying to get eggs. What would you do finding a thief? Be at least a bit little suspicious? Especially when the thief gives you an obviously fake name? At least question of that thief might have done something bad and was hiding for a nefarious reason? Yeah, not Red though. One look and she takes the girl in. Name? Pffff, just something to call someone. (Which makes a lot of sense, since she doesn't reveal her own name, it's just "everyone calls me Red".) Yes, okay, Snow is so far away from her bandit badassery, Red can assess the threat level and she knows she could take her... that's for sure some thoughts running through her head.
And from then it's settled, these two are friends now. Finding some dead, maimed corpses and subsequently going on a wolf hunt sure helps the bonding experience. The true kicker is when one of them turns out to be the wolf and the other is just: "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Well, we suspected the person isn't violent and I won't abandon her now." See, this is a good example of do-as-you-preach. Snow was adamant that Red could help Peter, that he was truly good at heart, not a bloodthirsty monster, that the change was temporary and he deserved help, not to be thrown to a mob. Except "he wasn't the wolf" (Snow's voice gives me chills everytime). And now Snow will do everything for Red.
Snow has her mind set on living in a nice cabin in the woods and it's good she met Red. At least she teaches her how to properly track. When Quinn finds them though and Red gets to meet Anita - everything could have changed right there. Snow was ready to let Red go and in this scenario Red would have had a family member back, gotten control over the wolf and be welcomed in a whole pack let's ignore how irritating it is that they all vanish in an instant. Snow would have had to start with zero again. But then it's the Evil Queen soldiers following and finding her that sets in motion the chain of events that ends with Quinn's and Anita's death. Oops. And this is when Red chooses herself, her own path and that path is next to Snow. So close to getting a home, but instead she saves Snow's life, because Snow is already the family she needed. A found family, forged in tragedy. Wonderful.
And after that the dynamic sorta switches. Because - after becoming bandit!Snow and living in her cabin, befriending seven men etc - Snow is the one to find love. Something they talked about the first day they met, when Red had Peter and Snow believed there would never be time for romance. But oh, Red sees the love and she is Team Snowing through-and-through. Emma's little Back to the Future stunt changed things up, but most things still happened, that includes Red teaming up with Charming for a bit for sure. And despite the weird oversight that Red can't be seen at the Snowing wedding, she totally fights for them.
Here is my obligatory sidenote. I like canon just fine. I melt into a puddle the moment Red calls Snow her family at the end of Child of the Moon. Female friendship to the max and all that. But, please, come on, Red's crush on Snow could be seen from space! [insert moon joke here] While I mostly ignore the existence of Red's Untold Tale and the comic Shadow of the Queen, it should be pointed out that in the latter Snow did ride wolf!Red. Dorothy wasn't the first to get to experience that. With the CGI in mind it's best we didn't get to see that, but just think for a minute about the fun Snow had with her now in control bestie in her furry form. (And remember that the episode Heartless is a thing, in which Snow pre-bandit-outfit meets a hunter specializing in werewolves, sure, sure.) Anyway, this friendship goes deep and there was one-sided love.
If you accept my premise here, it's extra fun to look at two tiny Red Snow exchanges.
1. The welcome back party in The Cricket Game.
Ruby: "I wasn't worried a bit."
MM: "I can tell."
2. Ruby's sorta non-coming out in Ruby Slippers when Snow says she could give Dorothy TLK.
"Ruby, you're my best friend. I know you And I see how worried you are. You can tell me."
Yes, this is pure fan wank on my part, I am aware, but isn't it beautiful? Even though they haven't seen each other Snow considers Ruby her best friend and she can still read her and her own past next to Red, she knows what her love looks like. Friends to almost lovers is a thing (oh, I have a dozen very romantic scenarios in my head for them, ask around).
oh look who made that gif, I wonder who that is
They went together through thick and thin and I don't understand how the writers couldn't find a way to keep Ruby around (the super speed was a mistake). I believe Red was supposed to be Emma's favorite Aunt, please, her non-fairy godmother. Snow at an angry moment should have threatened somebody with letting the wolf loose the way Regina did with the Blind Witch in Ruby Slippers, for the lols and my viewing pleasure. But despite all the mistakes, when Ruby did come back in S5 we get two great Red Snow scenes. In The Bear King and Ruby Slippers, both set in the diner hallway and it's marvelous. Especially that added goodbye scene to explain Ruby's absence, while mirroring their moment in the wolf den. Snow letting go, respecting that Red might find her happiness elsewhere.
Oh, to think about "not as much as I'll miss you". That does sting, because we see Snow get her Prince Charming, her kingdom, her family, then survive the curse, befriend her nemesis even and Ruby is... gone. Living for who knows how long as a wolf in a witch hut.
The only thing so wrong about them finally meeting again in the Underworld is that Snow doesn't even recognize those paw prints! Writers! WHY?? You let me down, there is a whole scene about those big ass tracks. (Can't blame Emma for not recognizing Ruby in wolf-form.)
Anyway, Your Honour, I LOVE THEM! I will always look out for the female lead having a close girl bestie, okay? This show needed more unrelated friendships. (Also secret kisses during cold nights, ssshhhh, they needed to stay warm.) They needed each other:
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