Belle & Rumplestiltskin Relationship Thread

[betsypaige24]

[thelonebamf]

I think it can be very easy to misunderstand or even dislike relationships that are unlike ones you yourself have had, or had encounters with in other media. Of course, there is a reason different pairings appeal to different people. In any fandom with a varied enough cast you’re going to find people who love one pairing, and can’t stand another. A lot of the time this has nothing to do with the characters individually, you just find that the on screen chemistry isn’t to your liking. (The “Ketchup and Ice Cream” phenomenon, if you will.) Some people love couples that are mostly warm and fuzzy fluff, others prefer torturous, drawn out affairs. It has a lot to do with what relationships you find ideal (perhaps like one you yourself might want) and which ones you find entertaining (ones very unlike something you would ever pursue, but find fascinating to watch.) If someone is looking for a pairing with a blatantly equal give-and-take, I can see why Rumbelle might leave them wanting. It’s not just as simple as, “they make each other better people”.

I think it’s a valid criticism to say that in the Rumple/Belle relationship, he gains the benefit of becoming a better person (however slowly this progress may come), while Belle seems to be, let’s face it- pretty darn near perfect. There just isn’t a ton of room for her to grow as far as being a kinder, more loving person because those are traits that she intrinsically has. But what Rumple does is *recognize* these remarkable things about her. Much of Belle’s backstory has had to do with other people underestimating her abilities, as she herself came to learn how to use her strengths effectively. Rumple only doubted her ability to love once (and it had more to do with his own insecurities than Belle’s failings, and to be fair Regina definitely meddled) but it cost him dearly, and he never repeated that mistake.

So what does Belle get out of this relationship? Someone who knows just how amazing and brilliant she is, someone who doesn’t let her forget for a moment that she is capable of great things. And just for the record, this *someone* is a person who has made a lifetime out of recognizing potential, as well as finding hidden weaknesses. For someone like that to hold you in high esteem, for them to battle with themselves just to do so- is quite the gift.

"Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him."

[obisgirl]

omg, @thelonebamf that was so beautiful. I missed your essays so much!

[RumplesGirl]

So what does Belle get out of this relationship? Someone who knows just how amazing and brilliant she is, someone who doesn’t let her forget for a moment that she is capable of great things. And just for the record, this *someone* is a person who has made a lifetime out of recognizing potential, as well as finding hidden weaknesses. For someone like that to hold you in high esteem, for them to battle with themselves just to do so- is quite the gift.

I’ll be in this corner with my feelings.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[betsypaige24]

I don’t want to say what is and isn’t valid criticism, but I disagree with sort of making a ledger and weighing what each person gets out of it.

Yes, I agree with the comments about what Belle “gets out of it”, but only in part.  What she gets out of it (though actually I don’t like this term)  is the knowledge that Gold loves her, loves her incredibly deeply. She is loved like no one else – he would die for her, and did; he spent his dying breaths in TMD telling her about herself – so selfless.   Of course, she loves him the same way….she has fought for him, supported and believed in him.   Belle needs Gold as much as he needs her. They make love a verb, not a noun; they don’t just say they love each other, they show it.

This is a gorgeous relationship – and to think, we’ve barely scratched the surface; we’ve barely seen them at all, sigh

 

 

[Killian Jones]

[betsypaige24]

Just a thought I’ve had over the past few weeks:
I dearly want Rumbelle to have what they deserve, but right now, and it kills to say this, I think that they shouldn’t have that happy ending. They are written (to the extent that they are) as a couple who is destined never to find happiness, never to be together……they are written as a couple spent forever yearning for what they can’t seem to have.  I think it would be truer to how the writers see them to deny them a happy ending. While I would be devastated, I don’t think I want to see a HEA for the glommed on to their story after we’ve never ever seen them happy together for more than a few moments, a day, whatever. It would not only be aggravating, but it wouldn’t ring true. The best that I think could happen or should happen to them would be for them to be reunited in some afterlife.

Believe me, it hurts so much to say this…. I’m all for angst, just not THIS much. By now, they are simply just one big tragedy.

[Marty McFly]

>Agreed betsypaige, which is why I don’t think Rumpel is alive. His memory is probably being disgraced by the www using his body for her evil motives. He’s either a walking dead or theres more body switching pan style. And if Belle dies, well at least Rumbelle will be reunited
Although I DO want to see them have a hea somehow at least in the last episode of theshow. But either way, their story is the most tragic of any ive known

[betsypaige24]

Well Marty, if he’s really dead and being used like that, the show is over for me……that’s disgusting.

He’d better be alive, really alive……….If he’s even partly dead, in any way (which I find impossible to believe), then he needs (I’m sorry to say) to be really dead. It’s unfair to him, it’s just a sick thing and…….. no, I don’t want Belle with a dead man.

That said, I don’t think he’s dead no matter what Eddy said.

My post, by the way, had nothing to do with the events in Going Home. I was talking in general and making the assumption that Gold is alive.

[Marty McFly]

Well, until we see spoiler pictures that don’t show us such a horribly dressed Rumpel, and a miserably sad Belle looking at him, I will assume he is dead. Trying not to get my hopes up… Sometimes expecting tje worst helps you be happy with anything no matter how tragic, as long as its not as bas as you ezpected…

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