Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-26385535-20160127061149/@comment-1916997-20160214191836

Pokemama1 wrote:

Gusey1397 wrote: What if Muland and Dorothy is the couple?

Dorothy might meet Ruby and Mulan looking for werewolves and Toto is a werewolf? ChocolatEyes613 wrote:

Eskaver wrote: Perfect! They were already a close trio XD...It isn't the audience fault because it was definitely presented to be Phillip, but even so, they could just come out and say on the show "her", "Aurora" or something at least. No reason should they play the pronoun game. There is the possibility, that the LGBT couple will be Ruby and Dorothy. So, Mulan can still go and have a threesome with Phillip and Aurora.

For some odd reason I think, OUaT's Dorothy and Toto are one in the same. Ruby went back to the Enchanted Forest, to search for more werewolves. Seeing her new friends happy, then gives Mulan the courage to reunite with her best friends. I love the Dorothy/Toto idea! Didn't Ruby say that she was looking for "people like me"? Whether or not that is meant to be a love interest is beside the point ... it can be implied, or not.

As a "heteronormative" (?) viewer I perceived Mulan's affection as being for Phillip. I didn't notice the pronoun game in The Bear King ep until you all pointed it out: she says she "loved *someone*", but "didn't tell *them*". Singular/plural number disagreement, and no masculine or feminine indicator of "him/her." With your perceptions of her first confession of love, I guess it could imply Aurora, Phillip, or both.

I feel sad for Mulan's heartbreak. But the ideas expressed in this thread, that a warrior lesbian has to be paired with a "girly" girl, make me uncomfortable. I've been told that's a stereotype, that we heterosexuals want to think that gay/lesbian relationships have a "masculine/feminine" component so we can pretend that we understand those relationships as an echo of our own. Part of avoiding stereotypes is taking any person (or relationship) as an individual, rather than making sweeping generalizations that won't ever apply to everyone in that "group."

And on the other hand, from my stereotypical glasses I am willing to see Ruby as bisexual because of her adventurous and high-spirited nature. I see college coeds IRL coming out as lesbian or bisexual without shame and without fitting a "butch" stereotype; they state they are open to people as individuals, male or female. Storybrooke Ruby is a millenial, which (in abstract) aren't as pressured to fit stereotyped sexual roles. As far as I know, Mulan does not have a Storybrooke persona?

But while we are on the subject of inclusion, I'd like to take issue with the show's token non-white females. The men have been played by decent actors - but the non-white actresses have been *terribly* stiff and wooden (young Ursula, Maid Marian and Guinevere are examples.) I mean cringe-worthy. It's not that damn hard to find a decent actress of any color. So why has OUAT chosen poor actresses to play non-white females? It's as if they are trying to demonstrate that only white women can act. Or perhaps they've required stiffness for all of the traditional "pretty princesses" that are not leads - Ariel was awkward, and Cinderella and Aurora were no great prizes, either. :-( Mulan previously performed in the mid-range - she is much better in the Bear King.

Would it be further marginalizing to form Mulan into a non-hetero role? Or is it an important thing, to give viewers an example that an Asian or non-white woman isn't required to be heterosexual?

I've talked myself in circles. To anyone who is still reading this, thanks for listening. ;-D It really all depends on how Adam and Eddy want to play it. Personally, I think Mulan has to be one half of the same sex couple because (even if the show hasn't explicitly stated it) we know Mulan is a lesbian from interviews. I also personally believe that the other half of the couple will be Dorothy, although an arguement can be made for Red. I personally don't think it will be Red, because I don't think they are going to go with the "I suddenly realized I'm bisexual" route, which I find annoying on TV shows, but time will tell.