Belle

[PriceofMagic]

Rumple is currently going with the theory that he needs to use true love’s kiss to get Belle back. True love’s kiss will only work if Lacey loves him. Being nice didn’t work so Rumple is using his dark side to keep Lacey’s interest. Lacey is a bit of a loose cannon, she does things Belle wouldn’t even consider doing. By keeping Lacey around until he can figure out a way to get Belle back, Rumple is protecting both Belle and Lacey from herself.

Not forgetting, Lacey is Belle, just with cursed memories. Rumple isn’t just going to drop her because she isn’t the Belle he knows. He loves her, for better or for worse.

[thelonebamf]

I think this may be an “eyes of the beholder” or a “as deep as you want it to be” situation. One of the great things about OUAT is that there are so many moments that raise doubt in the viewer’s eyes about exactly what is happening in a given character’s mind at any point in time. Rumple and Regina are the King and Queen of this. It is very difficult to pinpoint what is a power grab, and what is just an act of desperation , and what may even be an act of fear or misplaced devotion.

So what is going on in Gold’s head at this point in time. We know that he wanted to try and break the curse “the old fashioned way” and that led to a misguided attempt at courting Lacey. This led him to their current situation- what seems to be a fiery pairing with a woman drawn to a powerful and dangerous man. But what is Gold drawn to? Is it just that Lacey looks like Belle? Is the memory of his old love enough to keep his interest in this new woman? I don’t think he’s that stupid or that naiive.

To my way of thinking, a lot of things changed in “Manhattan”. Baelfire was (justifiably) enraged. He wanted nothing to do with his father. I don’t know how much Bae knew about exactly what Rumple had done to get to him (or if he would be moved by the tale) but that door pretty much slammed in Rumple’s face. If not for Henry (and the cloud of abandonment guilt that surrounds him)- Bae probably would never have bothered to have spoken to Emma and Gold again. There’s just so much anger. We see a little fissure erupt when Gold is on the brink of death, but it’s not enough to break down that wall.

So around the time that Bae begins to shut Rumple out, Lacey shows up. At this point, Gold has found his son again. He’s told his tale. He’s apologized. Centuries of work and magic have come to this- and if Neal refuses to speak with him or include him in his life, there is nothing Gold can do about it. It’s absolutely understandable that he would be at a loss. His entire reason for being has just fizzled out- as they say, not with a bang, but a whimper. There is often a sort of depression associated with the passing of a major event (weddings, graduations, births- even) where afterwards, the person involved is at a loss because their whole life up to that point was spent being dedicated to one goal and when the time passes, they don’t know what to do with themselves. Gold is having the 300 year version of that.

So what does he do? He grasps at straws*. He flounders around looking for anyone to connect with, anything that seems remotely real. Everyone else is wrapped up in their own problems and nobody seems interested in being involved with him (maybe Henry, but the grown ups aren’t in a hurry to let Grandpa babysit). At the end of Lacey, when he realizes he’s lost her it’s more than that. He’s lost the last person that he thought he could connect with. There’s more devastation there than just losing your true love. He’s gone through that before, but at least then he had his mission to turn back to. This time, there was no mission. He was alone.

So when Lacey seemed interested, even remotely, even with less than great intentions- he went for it. Not because she looks like Belle, maybe not even because he loves Lacey or is trying to get her to love him- but because for now, there is someone who wants to be with him and that’s enough.

Edited to add: I don’t know if the immortality chat was really meant to imply that Lacey wants immortality, or if it was just a way to bring up the prophesy again, but I do think that this is the only time we’ve seen Gold desperate enough to consider making someone immortal because he’s just that lonely at this point. Even in Lacey’s company he’s still alone because she doesn’t really know all of him, and perhaps can’t. There’s a lot to look at in that conversation, so I hope we at least touch on it in the finale instead of sweeping it under the rug. I think that if someone had suggested he make Belle immortal (and I say someone else, because I don’t think Belle would have ever asked or even wanted such a thing) he would have immediately thrown the idea out.

*Again with the puns? Get out.

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

[RumplesGirl]

You have footnotes inside your post. I enjoy you.
You also make the most well reasoned argument about Lacey and Rumple I’ve seen. I enjoy you more.
I also think you are 100% correct. Rumple is clinging to being wanted because in his eyes, apart from Belle, he’s never been wanted or loved and that has had devastating emotional impact on him. His father rejects him as a young boy (cut scene from Manhattan), Milah rejects him after he flees the war to come home for her and Bae, Bae “rejects” who Rumple becomes (in Rumple’s mind who he became FOR Bae), Cora rejects him for power, and so when he finally finds someone who wants him, he runs from it because surely it can’t be true. But lo and behold it really was as he discovers in SB some 30 yrs later. But what happens? He looses people slowly, all over again. First he looses Belle to Hook and the town line. Then he looses Bae again because Bae still can’t accept who Rumple became or the idea that he’s changed, and then Cora comes to town where he is reminded that she chose power over him, right before she tries to stab him in the heart, and then just when he thinks he could get Belle back, he looses her again.
But there is someone who wants him, and even though he may not want HER per se, he wants the feeling of being wanted. It’s a heady drug.

So I don’t think it has anything to do with just wanting Belle’s body or anyone that looks like her, but rather he has always seen himself has unwanted and unloved and for right now, someone at least wants him and that is unbelievably hard to give up.

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

[thelonebamf]

@RumplesGirl wrote:

You have footnotes inside your post. I enjoy you.

If I ever make a blog or fanpage or whatever, I’m absolutely calling it “Grasping At Straws”. ^_^

Edit: Oh well- while I’m here…
Something that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about regarding pairings in several different series (Harry Potter especially regarding Snape and Lily, for those familiar with the series) is the difference between a relationship based on wanting, and a relationship based on needing. It’s interesting to see how two these two types relationships are presented and explored.

It is really tricky territory to navigate. On the surface, the idea of “needing” someone seems so romantic. Saying, “I need you” seems to go hand in hand with “I love you”, but the more you look at the situation, the more it becomes clear how unhealthy needing another person can become. Now, this is not to say that people can’t need each other. Children need someone to nurture them. Adults can find themselves in positions where they need to lean on another for support as they struggle through a difficult time. However in both of these situations the idea is that you need someone for a time- but you grow out of it. Not only that, but the nurturer/friend/needed person should want to help you grow out of it. This isn’t to say that at 18 a parent stops caring for their child, but a good parent is going to know that at some point they have to let that child leave and flourish on their own. To fail to do so is abusive, and it also becomes clear that the needed person has in fact come to a point where they “need to be needed”. It’s can be a dangerous cycle and can be toxic to a relationship of any sort.

The alternative is want. Again, on the surface it sounds misleading. “I want you” seems to bring up images of carnal lust rather than love- however upon closer examination it really means that “I’m here with you because I want to be. I chose you.” At the same time you’re respecting the other person and ideally they will want to be there with you as well. Still, you’re not in the position where you’ve trapped them with your needs- if they leave, you aren’t going to self destruct. You may be devastated, but you will still function. It seems funny and almost obvious to say, but a relationship where two people want to be there is the healthiest relationship.

I bring this up in regard to Belle because (like I mentioned in some other thread) Belle and Rumple is very much about want. Belle chose to go to his castle. She chose to return. She chose to leave when told and chose to came back to fight for him. She wanted him to be happy. She wanted to free him. She wanted to be with him. But at no time was Belle ever filled with anything you might call “need”. Rumple, on the other hand found himself in that very precarious position of what would hopefully be a temporary need. He needed someone to show him that there was still goodness in his heart. He needed someone to believe in him. And he needed someone he could believe. Ideally- these would all be temporary. He would learn, he would change, and then and only then, the two of them could grow within a relationship. Belle was there to provide that temporary support in a crisis, but that could only last so long, and she knew it.

The trouble with Lacey is that she is becoming a long term need. Because of the desperate situation that Gold has found himself in at the end of this season- he needs someone. He needs someone to lean on. He needs someone to be with him. It’s not about learning a lesson and growing, it’s about having someone there, with you, held securely in the same place. Right now he’s doing whatever he can to keep Lacey interested and at his side because he needs her there, and that’s honestly pitiable. I don’t think Lacey is really what I’d call evil, so it’s hard to say that she realizes this about their relationship, or that if she did she would abuse this knowledge, but it’s possible. However, even if she fell in love (and I wouldn’t say Lacey is incapable of that) and kissed him, I don’t think it would really be true love’s kiss. It’s funny wording to use, but I think that true love is born of want, not need. (For example Emma and Henry- Emma’s kiss was born of wanting Henry in her life, not just needing to assuage a guilty conscience or to do right by him.)

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

[obisgirl]

All very insightful points thelonebamf. Once again, beautifully written 😥

Everything was excellent as usual. 😀 I like your distinction between “needing” and “wanting,” and I agree with your analysis.

[angiebelle]

Yes, I agree with everything you said, thelonebamf!

What I wonder is, how is Belle going to react when she remembers? After all, she is probably going to remember everything she did as Lacey. Will she be horrified at herself? Guilt ridden? I hope there is some sort of reaction and not just back to status qua. Poor Belle has been through so much, you’d think it would have a bigger effect on her.

[thelonebamf]

(Haha, thanks. I um.. have a lot of feelings- especially about relationships like this one.)

If we have a lot of time to explore Belle’s feelings, yes- think she will be upset and confused. She’s also going to have to reconcile how she feels about the way Rumple acted while she was Lacey. Is the gratified that he stuck by her? Is she angry that he gave in to his darkness? Both? (Probably both, delicious, delicious conflict.) The other thing is that when Belle remembers herself, she’s not going to be 100% Belle again, given what we know of the Storybrooke residents. She’ll be both. She’s only been Lacey for a short time, but she said in The Rabbit Hole that she “remembers who she is and that’s Lacey” so I think she got an entire lifetime of memories back, and she’s been adding a few days to that since she adopted the persona. How is *that* going to alter Belle, and their relationship?

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

[RumplesGirl]

I hate to say this but I think we’re going to have to wait until S3 to see Belle’s reaction to being Lacey. But I do hope we get it.

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

[thelonebamf]

I think you’re right and I’m both sad, but also okay with it. On the one hand I want my instant gratification and for Rumbelle to have happy picnics all summer! On the other- I want to see that story resolved with the attention and care that it deserves, and that’s definitely going to mean S3. There’s probably also a little “having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting” involved as well. Ugh, isn’t that what Rumbelle is made of? XD

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

[RumplesGirl]

I do want a line in the season finale where after Belle comes back and she and Rumple have a nice little reunion she looks down and says, “Um. Rumple? What am I wearing? And why do I feel like I’ve had one too many shots?”

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

[Author]

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