Once Upon A Time Ruby Slippers Same-Sex Kiss

The fairy-tale-world of ABC's Once Upon a Time now looks a bit more like our real one, thanks to a new same-sex relationship. On Sunday night's episode of the show, fans saw Dorothy and Ruby share a kiss — a first for the series, which is currently in its fifth season. But as Mic reports, fans are split on whether the kiss shared by the couple, already being dubbed "Ruby Slippers," marks a step in the right direction for LGBT representation. Some fans felt the love story was forced, with many claiming on Twitter that it was unnecessary, rushed, or worse — lazy storytelling. One fan even outlined what led to the lip-lock, which included Dorothy's dog Toto being stolen before the characters shared a true love's kiss. "Wether [sic] you ship it or not ruby slippers is rushed and will be forgotten after this episode," one fan tweeted. "It's not fair representation it's lazy."

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wether you ship it or not ruby slippers is rushed and will be forgotten after this episode. it's not fair representation it's lazy.
— avalon (@snowwhitely) April 18, 2016

ruby slippers:
don't like each other at first
fight over their child (dog)
arm touches = chemistry
fight baddies together
self-sacrifice
— mandy ✨ (@anglashamyqueen) April 18, 2016

It's not htat I hate Ruby/Dorothy. It's that I don't see the point of it. Like, seriously. It's such a waste of Mulan. #OnceUponATime
— Megan ~CaptainSwan~ (@asxyouxwish) April 18, 2016

@AdamHorowitzLA I am all for representation, but #RubySlippers seemed very forced to me. #Rumbelle was a #fuckup. Very disappointed.
— Azania (@AzaniaImtiaz) April 18, 2016

While some may have felt it was rushed, the kiss was promised by the show's creators before the season even started. At the time, producers did not reveal which two characters would be involved — though many hoped it would be Emma Swan and the Evil Queen, #SwanQueen — but promised to introduce a same-sex relationship that would be handled like any other love story on the series. “We want the show to reflect the world as it is now,” executive producer Adam Horowitz told Entertainment Weekly in 2015. Some fans did feel that the kiss between Ruby and Dorothy achieved the producers' goal in some small, important way, and publicly thanked the creators.

Hey @AdamHorowitzLA @jollychan4 @AndrewChambliss & all other #OnceUponATime writers: thank you for #RubySlippers. Means so much to so many.
— Zach Van Norman (@TheZachVan) April 18, 2016

#SwanQueenIsComing thanks to #RubySlippers there is nothing that can stop our modern fairytale now. pic.twitter.com/eq3dVSuRhK
— SwanQueen Witch (@EvilRegalBre) April 18, 2016

But the consensus among fans seemed to be that Once Upon a Time would need to do more in the future to show that it cares about LGBT representation and not just ratings. "Don't be satisfied with #RubySlippers because it's NOT enough," one fan tweeted. "But it was necessary." The show's co-creators, Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis, have not detailed what is to come for this new couple. But they did tell The Hollywood Reporter after the episode aired, “True love's kiss has been a staple of this show since the beginning. This past Sunday's episode was just another example of how in a fairy tale, as in life, love is love."

Don't be satisfied with #RubySlippers because it's NOT enough. But it was necessary. #SwanQueenIsComing pic.twitter.com/BOBzpMmNSu
— SwanQueen Witch (@EvilRegalBre) April 18, 2016

Don't ship Ruby/Dorothy if you don't want to. But representation is STILL representation, even if it's not what you wanted. #OnceUponATime
— Lissete Lanuza Sáenz (@LisseteELanuzaS) April 18, 2016

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