Belle/Ruby
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Belle French/Ruby Lucas |
| Alternative name(s): | Red Beauty |
| Gender category: | femslash |
| Fandom: | Once Upon a Time |
| Canonical?: | No |
| Prevalence: | Small |
| Archives: | |
| Other: |  Red Beauty by elz-art (2013) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Belle/Ruby is the femslash pairing of Belle French and Ruby Lucas (Red Riding Hood) in the Once Upon a Time fandom.
Canon
Ruby Lucas, more commonly known as Red Riding Hood or simply Red, was once a young, free-spirited girl who lived in a small village in the Enchanted Forest, along with her grandmother, Red was unknowingly plagued by a curse that transformed her into a wolf with every full moon. After the Evil Queen cast her curse, Red became trapped in Storybrooke, Maine as Ruby, a rebellious girl of loose morals who works at Granny's Diner.
Belle was chosen by Rumplestiltskin to pose as a caretaker in exchange for her family's well-being during the Ogre Wars. She is taken prisoner by the Evil Queen up until the casting of the Dark Curse, where she spends the next 28 years trapped in the town of Storybrooke, now locked away in a mental asylum. She is freed shortly before the curse is broken, however, and she goes on to live as Belle French.[1][2]
Fandom
Belle/Ruby is a relatively popular femslash ship within the OUAT fandom, though attention to the pairing died down some when Ruby was not in later seasons (due to the actress having other commitments). Ruby/Belle was in the top ten femslash pairings in the early seasons, but never seemed to crack the top ten ships for the fandom overall[3]. Many fans are drawn to the Beauty and the Beast parallels, with Ruby filling the 'Beast' role once she was revealed to be a werewolf. There is some amount of tension between Belle/Ruby and Belle/Rumplestiltskin shippers, not only due to contradicting ships, but also in how a Beauty and the Beast type relationship is handled.
Common Tropes
- Ruby meeting Lacey, the alternate Storybrooke personality for Belle, who is generally considered to be Belle's polar opposite.
- Ruby feeling she is too dangerous to be around Belle thanks to her werewolf curse.
Statistics
Belle/Ruby has been within Archive of Our Own's Top 100 Femslash Pairings three times, ranking 52 in 2015[4], 55th in 2016[5], and 73rd in 2017.[6]
Challenges
Fanworks
Fanfiction
- Not my Beast, but Certainly a Beauty by anamatics
- The Sides and All the Corners by Netgirl_y2k
- A Bad Date at the Red Wolf Brewpub by Alsike
Fanart
- some other tale & learn from her by hkonako
- Two Worlds by samanthadoodles
- Ps practice (Tumblr link) by plastic-pipes
- Ruby+Belle RuBelle, Archived version by scarlettbell7
- Belle x Red: Happily Ever After by BLOOD-and-LUST-87
Graphics and Gif Sets
- Top 15 Ships that Deserved Better (as voted by my followers) 2. Red Beauty, Archived version gif set by dinneratgrannys
- There is good in you, Archived version gif set by doomsdayy
- I’ve got a lover, a love like religion., Archived version graphics by karolinasdeans
- the beauty the beast, Archived version graphics by withabrandnewname
- Beauty and the Beast, Archived version by kayleighgaga
- SHIP + AESTHETIC: Red Beauty, Archived version by raiinbowchild-a
- Untitled (Manip of Belle with Ruby as a wolf), Archived version by genn-co
Example Art Gallery
If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had feelings for this monster. by elizabethlemonades (2012)
Archives and Communities
- Belle/Ruby tagged fanworks on AO3
- Ruby/Belle tag at Once Upon a Time Fanfic
- fyeahredbelle, Archived version on Tumblr
References
- ^ "Belle". Archived from the original on 2017-11-05.
- ^ Ruby on Once Upon a Time wikia. "Ruby". Archived from the original on 2017-10-07.
- ^ According to an AO3 with time parameters of Jan 1, 2012-Dec 31, 2012
- ^ "2015 AO3 femslash stats". Archived from the original on 2016-04-06. by centrumlumina
- ^ "2016". Archived from the original on 2019-04-08.
- ^ "2017 AO3 femslash stats". Archived from the original on 2020-05-16.