Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-24055959-20131015233446/@comment-24766901-20140505145002

TNOandXadric wrote: Direct interference, I should have said—by which I mean interference that Snow and Charming know about. David has no idea that Rumpel intended for him to become a prince with the intent of setting him up with Snow. When Charming meets Snow, he hasn't a clue who she is or that he's going to fall in love with her, and their relationship progressed naturally.

Because Regina will know from the beginning that she *has* to fall in love with Robin because he's her *soulmate* after all, the relationship's not going to be able to progress naturally. They could work it out, of course, with very open and clear communication and lots of it and the luxury of time in which to figure things out.

But if the show rushes through the early stages like it did with Snowing? That's... not something I'll be comfortable with, because unlike Snow and Charming, Regina's going to be approaching Robin with the knowledge that he's her predestined perfectly matched soulmate. But when Regina first meets Robin, she doesn't see the lion tattoo on his arm so she doesn't know he is her *soulmate*. They do have instant chemistry, as when she speaks with him and she learns he, too, has a son whom he truly cares about. They do have things in common and he does seem to fall for her, regardless of that she was the Evil Queen and she has darkness in her heart. As seen in the previous episodes of OUAT, he really loves her and she loves him, even though now she knows that he's her soulmate.