'OUAT' May Give Belle & Merida A BFF-ship

I always feel somewhat torn when it comes to spoilers for the shows I love. On one hand, I like to be surprised; on the other hand, I'm a sad sack who desperately loves my TV series and needs to know every single thing I can immediately. I have no patience, what can I say? This has never been more evident than with Once Upon A Time Season 5, which doesn't premiere until September 27. It's only in the past few weeks that any real news about what we can expect this fall has been revealed, but I've been soaking it all up without hesitation. The big storylines are well-known at this point: Dark Swan, Hero Regina, a trip to Camelot, yada yada. But it's the more minor characters I've been curious about, and it seems we've finally got a hint about what's in store: Belle and Merida are totally going to be BFF.

We haven't even met Brave heroine Merida yet, but we can expect to meet her in Camelot, because where else would she be? Since the entire Storybrooke crew will be packing up and heading back to the Enchanted Forest, it's finally going to give Belle a chance to do something other than sitting around with her nose in a book. Not that there's anything wrong with being smart, clearly — Belle's intelligence and knack for research has come in handy on more than one occasion — but homegirl needs to start having some fun, right? Thankfully, it's finally happening! As executive producer Adam Horowitz shared with TV Line, "We’ve always wondered what would happen if Belle and Merida went on an adventure together... We hope you do, too, because it’s coming!"

I have one thing to say to that:

It's hard to imagine what kind of "adventure" these two might get up to since Merida is new and we don't know what her backstory will be in the Once universe. No doubt Belle's research skills and book smarts will come in handy as the Storybrooke crew works to find Merlin and restore Emma to her former Savior status, but sometimes intelligence isn't quite enough and you need a little extra oomph, so to speak, to complete the mission. This is why Merida's archery skills and general badassery might perfectly complement Belle's more traditional skills to basically make the perfect partnership. I love it!

It's unclear how long Merida will be sticking around for, and whether or not she'll come to Storybrooke once the gang returns, but given that this is Belle's first real chance for a deep and meaningful friendship — not to mention character development that isn't centered around Rumple — I really hope she does. Once has always been a show about strong women and the bonds they share, so I'm 100 percent behind this plot. Plus, Merida might teach Belle some archery skills, and how amazing would that be?

Images: ABC; Giphy