I think Hopper/Regina could make sense. She trusted him enough to talk to him about her concerns she would never have trusted to anyone else while she was trying to change for Henry. The fact that he mentioned their session to someone else made her feel he betrayed her and made her react angrily. But was her anger because she wanted to be seen as invincible to the community or because she actually didn’t know that deep down she is a little fond of him and the anger was not really social but actually personal? Or both?
Because she has been so focused on her revenge, anger and the need for power; she has not paid attention to her true deep-down feelings for anyone except Henry, who is a child and not a romantic interest. Regina really believed she loved David, but in reality he was different than anyone she knew, a symbol of hope and happiness and a mode of escape from her Mother. When he was killed by Cora, he unconsciously became a symbol of everything she lost, hence her anger and her obsession for revenge. So in reality, she still hasn’t found her “true love”.
Hopper is a sympathetic soul and always sees the good in everyone. Regina’s love-hate relationship with her mother as well as her love for Henry might occasionally cause Regina to seek a sympathetic ear. As she vacillates between redemption and revenge, she will seek him out more and more to vent her sad, guilty and distressed feelings. As she senses that he is genuinely displaying personal sympathy and truly cares for her as a person, she begins to feel comfortable with him and begins to consciously trust him more and more and even begins to grow fond of him.
Hopper would be her conscience which helps with her work for her redemption and she would become the one person who actually begins to love him for who he is, not what he represents. This could make a facinating troubled relationship, particularly while Cora is around sabotaging the growing bond between Regina and Hopper. I don’t think this will be a quick or easy journey, it probably be slow and take a couple years or so. After all, Regina is known to be mercurial.
Besides, how often do opposites attract?
Regina the hated and Hopper the beloved.
I think I just became a BugQueen shipper.
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Don't grow up. It's a trap.