Personally I want to love whatever love stories they throw at us, whether they become my favorites or not. I think y the end each will get its due and we’ll learn to love every option (and that every person hurt in a triangle will find someone they’re suited for too).
As I said somewhere else a moment ago, sometimes good (or not so good) things fall apart so that better things will fall together (I can’t remember if that’s a quote or a paraphrase, I should go look that up and edit it afterwards). We wouldn’t have RumBelle if Rumple and Milah hadn’t split up so not every aspect of that triangle was bad (I still hate Milah though) and I’m sure if somebody does get their heart actually broken in a full on Hook/Emma/Neal triangle, then whoever is left over will find true love elsewhere too, just like I think Mulan will and Kathryn/Abigail did with Frederick.
They have heavily heavily heavily teased the triangle but I don’t recall if they ever specifically said “there will be a triangle.” Most of the time their answers to questions are better heard/seen than read because it’s easy to misinterpret but it has been heavily teased, even before the whole Neal is “dead” thing. Lately they’ve been playing up the fact that Emma & Hook will be on the ship together and they think Neal is dead, but the focus right now for everyone is HENRY. I think Emma will be torn after they’re all reunited because I do think she will get very close to Hook but her focus at this time is rescuing Henry.
There is a difference between regular and core cast members *sometimes.* Last season for instance, Red was a “regular” but she was just “regularly” seen in the background. She was not front and center for very much of the time. So I get the distinction, I do.
That being said, Belle & Bae are both vital pieces right now. H&K have said repeatedly that they will not be ignoring them and they both connect back to Rumple and are therefore very important. They keep saying that we will be seeing Belle in SB and Neal in FTL and we’re not just ignoring them because of the people on the ship.
The people on Hook’s ship are core for sure, as it is the original core cast + Hook. That does not mean that over time, the core characters have not expanded somewhat. Bae is Henry’s father and Rumple’s son and is the entire reason for the curse. Just because he wasn’t introduced / made a regular until recently doesn’t mean he isn’t important to the core of the show. In fact without him, we wouldn’t have a show. The motivation behind people like Rumple being on the ship (with his enemy I might add) is to honor Bae and rescue Bae’s son. Likewise Belle is in SB but she is our connection to the chance of the people on the ship finding a way back and is also a very powerful, compelling reason for Rumple TO find a way back.
If the people on the ship only needed the people on the ship and nobody else ever, they would not put such importance on what is going on with Bae and Belle. They are just as important and the other main characters in the respective worlds they are currently in – Bae is our tie to FTL with MAP by his side, and Belle is our main tie to SB.
Whether you love the characters or not, they are certainly important to the story and if the reason for the curse isn’t core to it I don’t know what is. In that case we may as well say that Snow isn’t important even though she was a catalyst for Regina to enact Rumple’s curse.
What it boils down to is that everyone of these people is important. This is not the Snow White show, it is Once Upon A Time and deals with a lot of fairy tale stories. Snow & her prince and daughter and grandson may be super important characters on the show, but there are a couple of others that are vital as well. Whether everyone loves those people isn’t the point, nor does it diminish the idea that they are core members and vital to the plot.
With how much they’ve said they’re not forgetting about Bae and Belle, I really feel like for S3 all the regulars are considered core. That wasn’t the case last year so I understand wanting to question it, especially if there’s a lot of hatred toward a specific character and wanting them gone, but they have said repeatedly that Bae & Belle are both important so I think for S3, all of them are core and vital. Just because you don’t want there to be an important connection between characters doesn’t mean they stop existing or being integral to the plot. Sometimes we just have to be annoyed by those we don’t like while others fawn over them but that is no reason to constantly bash them or reduce their role without reason, especially when the creators tell us they will definitely be important in the upcoming stories to be told.
Getting kinda tired of constantly trying to defend characters over and over and over again. Can’t wait for new news so we have something to actually debate rather than the importance of a character that is well-liked and we’ve been told will be important and is sticking around whether people like it or not.
I think the forums being rennovated will be a good break for hiatus-fever as we’re going around in circles and getting nowhere fast. Can’t wait to see what happens, chomping at the bit for S3 and for news about what’s to come!
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.