Speaking of things mentioned ONLY in the books that seemed to hint at something bigger: Is it possible that Hunter's little sister, Fern, was destined to become the next Little Red Riding Hood?
Here me out: in Shannon Hale's books, Ramona or any possible future big bad wolf is never mentioned. Since her books feature characters who never appear in the series (Coral Witch, Nathan Nutcracker,in theory Darling too), It means that there was a deliberate choice on Shannon Hale's part not to have a bad wolf for Cerise, because Cerise herself is the wolf.; something the SCC doll seemed to allude too. However, another important thing is also stated about Cerise in the books - the world belives that her mother married the Huntsman, so much so that Raven points out "So you are Hunter's sister?!"
Now, in addition to being an interesting glimpse into how the world of EAH works, because it suggests that cross-fairytale relationships are allowed for "commoners", as long as they each have one child to fill their role (and it actually explains better some strange family trees, like the One of the Beautys). It does make you think: why mention the Huntsman if the village HAS other men?
Why hinted that the future Red and Huntsman are siblings? Why emphasize the fact that Hunter's little sister is considerably younger than him? Perhaps because the big bad wolf should be an adult compared to Little Red Riding Hood, who is a child,and indeed, Cerise is the same age as Hunter.
Who knows, I think there was something bigger going on.
eh?? Hunter has a little sister?? i had no idea
but you're definitely on to something...
i don't think it would have been intentional to imply that Cerise would be the Wolf and someone else Red Riding Hood, per se; i feel like the point of her arc in the books is the struggle of having a dual identity, with no clear resolution. in that case, it probably wouldn't have been necessary to consider an actual solution to the dilemma... but i wouldn't put anything past the mind of an author; it's possible she did write in all those references on purpose.
then again, knowing how author vs reader interpretations often work, it's also entirely possible the pieces fit together coincidentally. regardless, i think it's a really interesting idea š
previously, iād always assumed Cerise would be destined to be Red, and some other Wolf would take over her fatherās job. that might have been what they were planning, since they chose to present Cerise as Redās daughter (which is an interesting choice in and of itselfāig bc Cerise doesnāt have a wolf form and, ofc, itās the hero that gets the happy ending).
there are just so many other iffy variables tho⦠like how Badwolf was supposed to die (as Red recounts in TUOTA), but well, he didnāt, and as far as the fairytale world seems to know he doesnāt have an heir, so how did that just slide? then Ramona came along and solved that issue, but raised some new ones in the process⦠yeah idk, i may be going in circles here lol
also yeah, in the original story we have the age gap present between BBW and RRH, but ofc we know that Ceriseās parents were in the same class. not to mention age stuff gets all wonky thanks to the destiny system to begin withāwhat with Apple and Raven being in the same generation, other characters not being quite the right age for some events in their stories, etc.
i wish we could have met Fern in the books or wherever, tho⦠then weād have more to go off š¤ and then maybe there wouldnāt be a need for Ramona to exist