I’m little late to the party, I know. About eight years I think. But never the less, I’ve been making my way steadily through Once Upon A Time for a couple of months now and I’ve made it to season six. The musical / Emma and Hook’s wedding episode to be precise. Don’t worry, I’m not that cheesy, honestly. My heart wasn’t suddenly filled with song and an urge to write about love. No, the whole concept of true love has been playing on my mind for a while, which is to be expected when it’s one of the central themes of the show.
But with all this talk of true love, I began to question what the term might mean to me. It’s always seemed like a bit of an alien concept, because of course it’s not something tangible. And with all the curses and true love’s kisses flying about in OUAT, the ideal began to lose its meaning. If it ever had one in the first place. But that’s when I realised that true love was different for all of these characters. It was about whether or not they believed that their love was true.
Take the iconic Ruby Slippers for example. I’m not sure if that’s their official ship name, but I’m going with it anyway. As far as I was concerned, Ruby and Dorothy knew each other for all of five minutes before they were falling in love and it was labelled true for the sake of another sleeping curse storyline. Just to clarify though, I am in no way bashing Dorothy and Ruby as a couple. An LGBTQ+ couple was long overdue and I do really like them together — although I kinda wish Mulan was a part of that first couple. I just want her to be happy!
I digress. I know that for the sake of drama, action has to drive the plot (that’s my writerly head talking) but Ruby and Dorothy weren’t given enough time. Their story was forged and told over one episode and I didn’t find myself believing that it was true love compared to the epitome of Snow and Charming or even Swan and Hook.
But then I realised that that shouldn’t matter. No one should aspire to some unrealistic expectation of what true love is. Our feelings in the moment are what’s most important. That is why Ruby and Dorothy’s love is true. That isn’t to say that feelings can’t change, though. Belle and Rumpelstiltskin are proof of that.
So here’s a reminder to live in the moment and listen to how you are feeling. Enjoy what you have and embrace it, because those moments will just as soon be memories.
A/N: I have since finished watching the series (and realised that it was cancelled!) and I still stand by the sentiment in this article
Renée Dacres 
