MadArcher

"We'll always know each other. Even when we don't."

- Alice to Robin

MadArcher is the femslash ship between Alice Jones and Robin from the Once Upon A Time fandom.

Canon
After Robin left the mortal realm and traveled to the New Enchanted Forest, she met Alice, who was trying to spy on her father at the time. Robin was unaware of Alice's true identity and originally attacked her, threatening to shoot her with the arrow as she thought her a spy. However, Alice escaped but soon caught in another one of Robin's traps. It was here that the two befriended one another and Alice nicknamed Robin, "Nobin" (new Robin), and Robin nicknamed Alice "Towergirl". Robin was chasing a vicious giant that was also Alice's friend, which lead to the pair unwillingly traveling to a pub together to question villagers.

After being kidnapped Robin and Alice shared a moment in their dungeon, when Robin showed Alice technology for the first time, and the pair bonded over their viewpoints of the world. Robin stroked her hair and stole her bobby pin and used it to escape her cuffs and the cell, but left Alice behind as she wanted to stop her from killing the troll. Robin ended up in trouble with the same villagers who had kidnapped her and was about to prove herself to them by killing the troll when Alice stopped her from shooting the bow. The villagers turned on the girls, and it was then that the same yellow bug that Robin had shown Alice earlier arrived and scared off the villagers. The girls escaped to the woods where Robin told Alice that she had felt her magic. The girls figured out that it was Alice, in her loneliness and desire to not be alone on her birthday, had summoned the troll. Alice then said goodbye to the troll but was devastated by the loss of her friend, seeking comfort in a waiting Robin.

Shortly after, Alice and Robin exchanged gifts from their respective lives, with Robin giving Alice a bracelet she had made and Alice giving Robin a pocket watch from Wonderland that moves backward instead of forwards. They soon fell in love and started a relationship, but learned that they would soon be separated by a curse that would alter their memories and identities. Alice wrote Robin a letter which her father delivered, and Robin hurried to her moments before the curse struck. In the new world, they found each other again and started dating as their cursed personas, Tilly and Margot. After the curse was broken the pair resumed their relationship.

Fanon
The ship quickly gained popularity after the two were shown to be together.

Like other new ships, there was a lot of discussion on what its ship name should be. Some fans dislike the idea of including "Mad" in the ship name, saying it should be used exclusively for ships involving Jefferson. Tags on Archive of Our Own tend to include "Curious Archer" as the ship name.

Behind the Scenes
"Robin just doesn’t get it, she doesn’t really understand what she’s doing or why she’s saying certain things that she’s saying. It takes her a moment to appreciate all that Alice is, and once she does, the two definitely see eye-to-eye, and they help realize each other’s true potential, which is what I think is so beautiful."

- Tiera Scovbye (Robin/Margot) about Robin and Alice

"Robin is the first person Alice meets who really sees her. She's never experienced that before, and it deeply connects them. Suddenly, Alice is no longer invisible, talking to her ghosts, and that debt is profound."

- Rose Reynolds (Alice/Tilly) about Alice and Robin

"Yeah, I think that MadArcher is our 'ship name."

- Rose confirms MadArcher

Quotes
"I get that. But you don't have to worry because it won't be too much for me, no matter what kind of day it is."

- Margot to Tilly about her mental health

"I told you we would always know each other."

- Alice to Robin after the curse breaks