Belle

[beauty the beast]

@Midnight Dreary wrote:

It will be interesting to see how the writers have Belle handle Mr. Gold’s plans. She’ll probably be terribly conflicted. After learning about the curse and Baelfire, she’ll probably have a natural inclination to help him. But the manner in which he goes about carrying out his plans will definiely disturb and frighten her. Hopefully, Belle will act as Mr. Gold’s conscience and will help pull him back from the brink.

I’d also like for Belle to be the little voice in the back of Mr. Gold’s head telling him to stop, slow down. 😉

[elle]

Belle does deserve vengeance, as does everyone in the town, but it does depend on her treatment as well. We know that she was in the hospital for twenty eight years, but we don’t really know her treatment beforehand. She hadn’t been captured by the Queen right after she left (we are not even told if she was captured by the Queen in Fairytale world, though it is likely) and we don’t know what Regina did to her. Of course being locked away for years is torture enough.

Also, something that I noticed, Belle’s Counterpart has either been heavily dressed (last episode with a long-sleeved shirt under her hospital gown and a thick coat) or she has never been seen fully (end of Skin Deep, she was curled up and the room was dark). It does pose the question if maybe she was hurt in some physical way that would leave scars. I know a lot of popular theories are that either her father or the Queen hurt her, and remembering the anger in her tone when she said Regin’a name is enough to wonder.

[PriceofMagic]

Belle wasn’t wearing the long sleeve cardigan at the end of Skin Deep when she’s huddled in the corner yet she was when Jefferson released her.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[elle]

I know. 🙂 I mentioned that. But her arms were both hard to see a the end of Skin Deep. We’ve never just seen her fully when we see her counterpart. Either she’s in a dark room (and her arms were also wrapped around her, but we never seen them palm up), or she’s covered up in thick clothes. It could be nothing–all just a coincidence.

[PriceofMagic]

Like you said, it could all be just a coincidence. Perhaps if Belle does have any scars, they are psychological rather than physical and the clothing is just a way to mislead the audience.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[Slurpeez]

Does anyone else think that Belle suffers from Stockholm syndrome just like Christine did in Phantom of the Opera with regards to the “phantom”?

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[LisaFromOH]

Re: Slurpeez’ post
from Magic is Coming:

Gaultheria » May 14, 2012, 3:08 pm
I’m not so sure that it’s love that Belle feels for Rumpel. It seems more like Stockholm syndrome to me. Even if she’s too good a person to hate Rumpel for imprisoning her in his dungeon, even if she’s able to forgive him, she seems to be missing a healthy amount of caution.

I think if this were real life, it would be Stockholm Syndrome. But since it’s fiction, I think it’s supposed to be true love. Their kiss was breaking Rumple’s curse.

[Aliasscape]

Well, if a person believes they truly love someone, how does fairy tale land magic tell the difference? The thing about Stockholm Syndrome is people really do believe they’re in love someone.

This also takes me back to wondering if you can truly love someone you don’t really fully know. How many of Rump’s bad past deeds does Belle know aren’t made-up stories about a “monster”? If she knew those deeds aren’t just past but are still ongoing, as in he’s still actively plotting against all the residents of the Enchanted Forest, then would she truly love him then?

Personally I’m not going to argue they aren’t each others’ true loves, that’s fine if the show wants it to be that way, but I’m more than ready to judge her if she lets that blind her against all Rump’s faults, especially since thus far he hasn’t really changed. Still willing to sacrifice everyone for his own goals. (No matter how family-related those goals may be.) Though I expect we’ll be seeing a more vengeful Rumpel next season.

I just hope Belle tells him “hey I love you and I’ll be here when you get it together but we can’t be with each other while you’re behaving like this.””

[PriceofMagic]

Belle was at Rumple’s for several months which is enough time for them to get to know each other and genuinely develop feelings for each other. It could be argued that, as far as Belle knew, Rumple would be the only person she saw for the rest of her life so it was in her best interests to be on good terms with him. However, Belle could have stopped at friendship, she didn’t have to fall in love with Rumple. She was planning on leaving him when he let her go, it was only because Regina told her about true love’s kiss that Belle returned to try and break Rumple’s curse. In some ways Belle is trying to be the hero and save Rumple from himself.

As for her turning a blind eye to Rumple’s faults, I don’t think she will as such. Rumple may try to conceal them from her (he told Archie “honesty’s never been the best colour on me”) and he may keep Belle in the dark about what he’s actually doing thus inadvertently making it appear Belle is on the evil side. Rumple won’t want to run the risk of losing Belle again so lying to her may be his way of ensuring that doesn’t happen. Inevitably though, Belle will find out the truth and she will be hurt that Rumple lied to her but she also knows that Rumple’s no saint. Belle brings out the good in Rumple but until he gets closure over Bae, he’s never going to stop.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[Gaultheria]

One of the hosts — DJL, I think — suggested Stockholm on the podcast, too.

I think Belle might be the kind of sympathetic character who would always have had the potential to see the good in Rumpel and to fall in love with him, but I think the first imprisonment added a layer of unhealthy complexity to that relationship. Also, although I never watched Lost, I’ve been told that the actress played someone dangerously out of touch with reality. Even just judging from her posture when she walked into Gold’s shop, I can see how she’s very good at that kind of role, so I hope they go with that interpretation.

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

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