[Keb]

I think she kept it–she uses a bow throughout her time in FTL after that point. However, there’s the interesting question of what happened to it in the curse. Most magic artifacts wound up with Regina or Gold. Yet, MM DOES have a bow–but it’s not that bow. She missed the tree and hit August.

[Keb]

I’m 100% Belle, perhaps with a tiny bit of Snow, and like AngieBelle, it started a long time before Once. I got paid a compliment this weekend that had me just glowing–my aunt said I’m very good at finding what people can do in a situation, the positive stuff–and my head was just like OMG I do find the good in people! I don’t think she knew how much that meant to me.

I’m a reader (and a writer–and Disney’s Belle does write in the Christmas sequel) and never really fit in, and I’ve also got a little bit of a hunger for adventure. I’m about to get my masters in English (less than two weeks!!!), and I taught English in Japan for a couple of years (and that WAS a great adventure). I tend to be among the first to volunteer for something, and there’s nothing that means more to me than my family. And someday, I hope I will have the chance for an amazing romance of my own, but for now I guess I live vicariously through our Belle.

And a library is about the most romantic gift I can think of.

I’d say the character I’m least like…Cora. Please don’t let me ever be like Cora…

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

Hm. Dibs on Belle’s cry-muffling pillow? Mainly because I noticed it was on the bed/couch in the library…

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

Well, she was locked up for at least a year (possibly as much as four by some calculations) in FTL plus the almost-a-year it took for Emma to believe and break the spell in SB, all while time was moving for her. So the 28 years aren’t nearly as horrible as the 2-5 years that Regina had her locked up and she -knew- it.

(It had to be at least a year, though, because she met Dreamy, and Snow met Grumpy about the same time as Charming, THEN had her whole courtship with Charming, THEN took back the kingdoms so there’s a whole war in there, THEN had a baby which takes at least 8-9 months even accounting for Emma’s coming early. It could easily be several years in FTL though.)

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

Of course, Rumple’s running out of libraries to give the girl. And Lacey apparently doesn’t care about them anyway 🙁 Perhaps he can give her an MP3 player with a music library?

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

I think for TLK to work both parties not only have to be in love, but true, sacrificial love. When it worked for Charming and Snow, they’d each proven that they were willing to give up their lives for each other. When it worked for Emma and Henry, Henry had just willingly eaten a poisoned apple to protect Emma and Emma had just fought a dragon to try to save Henry.

When it worked for Rumple and Belle in FTL, Rumple had sacrificed the pleasure of her company by giving her the chance to leave, to save her from being his servant forever and forever parted from the family she loved. She in turn sacrificed her freedom to try to save him from his curse. It stopped working because doubt and fear came and squelched the love in Rumple’s heart, and because Rumple wasn’t yet willing to sacrifice his power for her.

That might also explain why none of their kisses in SB have yet reverted him, but there could be a more complex reason for that, too. But they’ve had two on screen, and in one, he had just made a promise that he was already figuring out how to break-not-break, and in the other, she no longer knew him, so she couldn’t love him yet. (And the third was in a dream sequence.) So maybe he was still holding back, at least until he could find Bae…dunno.

There’s also the fact that David and MM kissing during the curse didn’t break The Curse or even bring back their own memories. Of course, there wasn’t magic then–Emma brought her own magic with her and yadda yadda. But at the same time, both of them felt that their being together was wrong even when they insisted it felt right.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

Well, Belle’s concern wasn’t for Regina there–it was for Rumple. “Don’t give in to your hate.” Just like Charming’s concern wasn’t for Cora, but for Snow when Snow wanted to kill Cora.

But the one time that Belle as herself was confronted with Regina post-captivity, she was with Rumple and felt a need to make her exit before Rumple persuaded her to stay with him. I think there, too, she might have been concerned for how Rumple would react if she said what she probably wanted to say to Regina, but it came off as more avoidance than anything else. She’s not one to look away (she didn’t with Hook’s beating), so I’m not sure what to make of that.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

I’m wondering about Lacey’s family. Does she believe she’s related to Moe? Did Belle have other family members? (In both Skin Deep and Lacey it’s hinted that she does–she sacrificed her freedom for her family, not just her father, which suggests that there could be more.) It would be really interesting to see their reactions–Moe’s especially–to Lacey, and I keep hoping they’ll do that. Her family’s important to her, and I like that they acknowledged that here (another trait Belle shares with Rumple, actually), but it does make me curious about whether she’ll ever forgive her father for what he tried to do to her. After all, being with Rumple has gotten her imprisoned, shot, amnesiaed, and Lacey’d, among other things–Moe did kind of have a point about his not being the ideal partner, even if he was just about as bad as the people doing all those things to her.

Actually, Rumple might have an interest in getting her to reconcile with her father, because that’s exactly the forgiveness he seeks from Bae. That, despite his understandable contempt of the man (though half of it was based on a falsehood).

Delicious parallels.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

I’m pretty sure that the Don Juan line was the best line of the whole series so far. I know I laughed like crazy.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Keb]

He obviously doesn’t -want- to kill Henry. Partly out of affection for his own son, of course, but he liked Henry and was friendly to him (save for once he connected him to the prophecy) from the start. I think this is partly his soft spot for kids in general (which we haven’t had much opportunity to see, but he did save the kids from the war as Morraine described, he likes to ask for babies, and he always wanted a family), but I think Rumple-Gold always had some affection for Henry. Perhaps partly because he realized he gave the poor kid to the Evil Queen, who, you know, sends kids to kid-eating witches. (His whole “this is what you do with my gifts!” to King George re James’ death seems to perhaps echo that on some level…)

Some have argued that his stealing the True Love potion from Emma and Regina in 122 was tantamount to letting Henry die, but I don’t think it was. I think he knew, on some level, that the kid would be revived by Emma. He knew the curse was about to break, and he might have had visions about how. We don’t actually know. Being Rumple, he used the situation to his advantage, of course. Wait, what was I arguing? Oh, yeah. Gold likes Henry even if he’s now a threat to him. That’s why the dream disturbed him so much, and that’s why he sought Belle’s help at that point.

Though I still want to know why he didn’t go to her earlier since at least a week (and presumably more considering how far along the beans are) has past since he recovered. That bothers me. Maybe he was scared of her not knowing him or her reaction to the fact that he’s alive or maybe he was still researching other options to bring her back. I dunno. Doesn’t look like he’s been bonding with Bae, though, since he’s just watching them from a distance.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

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