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CS Baby: “Mommy, how did you and daddy meet?”

Emma: “Well kid, your dad was hiding under a pile of dead bodies and–”

CS Baby: “Wait, what?”

Emma: “Hold on, I’m not finished. Anyway, the sparks really flew when he left me in a magicked underground cave to die and he called me….oh, hun, what was it?”

Hook: “Dried up….dead…and useless.”

Emma: “That’s it! I knew since then he was the one.”

CS Baby: “That doesn’t sound like love to me…”

Emma: “What are you talking about, the chemistry was like, so totally there the entire time and if you didn’t see it, you’re just blind or something. Gah, such a hater. Whatevez.”

Forever ROTFL! Otherwise known as “Once Upon a How I Met Your Mother”

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The thing is, even in 4A and in 4B, Rumple was still choosing magic over Belle in some degree. In the AU universe, he had magic and Belle. He didn’t give up magic and settle down for a quiet life with Belle. So, magic still means more to him than Belle’s love. It makes me think maybe he is incapable of deciding what he really wants; it wouldn’t be unusual. Some people are just like that.

But at his core, I’m not sure Rumple can honestly make this decision to truly let go of magic altogether. Just because he’s not the Dark One anymore, doesn’t mean that craving for magic goes away.

I think that as long as Rumple was the dark one, his true love was the power. Belle said Rumple had never chosen her over the power, and that he never would. However, now that Rumple is no longer the dark one, and he is simply a man again, I’d argue that Belle is Rumple the man’s true love. But the dagger was the dark one’s true love. Now that Rumple is no longer is the dark one, however, Rumple the man is free to choose Belle again. I think Rumple can make up his mind to put Belle first, provided he never dabble with magic again. A true addict can never have another swig of the bottle, so to speak, lest he fall of the bandwagon again.

Rumple can now be the man that Belle fell in love with, the man beneath the beast she identified all of those years ago. Of course, Rumple the man is going to have to work really hard to be that good man again. He is going to have to freely choose Belle over all the temptations that dark magic has. It’s not going to be easy. But I think he and Belle could potentially make a fresh go of it, away from all the crazy temptation that a magical town like SB holds. They could both move to ALWM if and when Rumple wakes up. Rumple would be free simply to be the humble man he was before he became the dark one in a desperate attempt to save his son. However, that will take a lot of work on Rumple’s part and a desire to want to be free of the curse of magic and to be content having a good marriage with a good woman like Belle (assuming she gives him another chance, which I suspect, she will).

"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

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Since there was no true love’s kiss to break Rumple’s curse, does that mean Belle and Rumple are still true love?

Here is my take on it. Belle said she didn’t love Will, the implication being she still loves Rumple. For some reason, however, the writers chose not to have her kiss Rumple in that moment. But just because she didn’t kiss Rumple doesn’t mean he isn’t still her true love, despite having hurt her. Rumple is Belle’s weakness, and I believe the gauntlet would’ve pointed to Rumple if she were using it to find the thing she loves most.

Now the question in my mind is whether Belle is Rumple’s true love. I think she is the woman he loves without doubt. But does he love her more than the power of the dagger? Belle said in 4×11 that the power was his true love, because the gauntlet led Belle to the real dagger, which is was his weakness. She said he’d never chosen her over the power, and that he never would.

Now I think the reason we didn’t get TLK is because at that point, Rumple was so addicted to the magic that it was his weakness. When someone is so addicted to a substance, it takes over their lives and consumes them. The only way to stop the addictive behavior is to go totally cold turkey in order to detox from the addictive substance. A drug addict, for example, must completely give up the substance, sometimes against his or her own will, by entering a rehab program. Their bodies have become so physically dependent upon the drug to function anywhere close to normally, that when they don’t have the substance, their bodies and their brains can experience withdrawal symptoms like convulsions and seizures.

Now, I don’t know how a dark curse physically impacted its host except to say it held him captive. Unlike other users of dark magic, like Regina or Cora, Rumple was cursed to be the dark one. He had a degree of freedom to choose to do good or commit acts of evil, but as Baelfire said, he was getting worse and worse every day. The implication was that the dark one curse was taking over, and the good man whom Rumple was underneath, whom Bae had known as his papa, was being taken over by the curse. The only way to stop the dark one curse from progressing was to go to A Land Without Magic, something Rumple chickened out of, because of his cowardly nature.

If we compared the dark one curse curse to being like a virus, it was slowly killing all of Rumple’s humans cells, one by one. It took about 300 years for the virus to totally kill the man and take over his very being. As Rumple said, once Rumple the man was gone, no one would be home and only the dark one would remain, a very dangerous thing indeed.

Rumple was so addicted he literally was unable to let go of it by himself, except by force. That is why we had the Apprentice forcibly remove Rumple’s dark power and expel it from him. He was cursed and surrounded by darkness. The man was all but dead, the bit of red in his heart having nearly entirely disappeared. His humanity was being stolen, and nothing of Rumple the man would remain if it were replaced by the dark one. He had to have the source of the magic addiction literally removed from him to have any chance of regaining his humanity and finding redemption.

S5 will be about Rumple either trying to win back Belle or him trying to get back the power he lost. The choice he makes: Belle or magic, will be telling whether he puts Belle first, and whether she really is his true love or not.

"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

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I think the problem is that some people are too blinded by their wish for Emma to be with Hook that they are willing to objectify Neal/Baelfire in order to justify their belief that Neal/Baelfire should stay dead so Emma would end up with Hook.

Yep. And if a character has to remain dead in the story for another couple to get together, then that tells you something in and of itself. Doesn’t it? I mean we had Ariel taking Hook to task and saying, “You killed a man for a ship? Who does that?” I mean, if you take the word ship to be shorthand for relationship, it’s not hard to gather the writers were being a bit tongue and cheek with that one. They killed off Neal in order for the relationship between Emma and Hook to unfold. Why? Because Neal was always written as being Emma’s true love, as confirmed by the swan pendant crossing realms. As JMo tweeted recently, Emma would’ve chosen Neal if he hadn’t died, because in her words, “swans mate for life.” Hook is the one who remains by default, not by choice. Emma is so desperate not to be like the black widow, to know she’s not somehow cursed to kill all the men she’s ever cared about, that she clings to Hook, because he’s the last one standing. He’s not her first choice though.

"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

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Exactly. When Hook blackmailed Rumple the first time to get Rumple to help, it wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t good but it worked. However, when Hook went back the second time and tried to blackmail Rumple again, this time for self-gain, I lost a lot of sympathy for Hook and didn’t feel sorry for him at all when Rumple started using him as an errand boy. If Hook wants to play with fire, he’s going to get his fingers burnt. Not to mention the fact that Hook was threatening to break Belle’s heart if Rumple didn’t give him what he wanted.

This is what leaves me scratching my head. Why do the writers continue to show him being so shady if he’s so reformed? Emma sees Hook as a hero, as someone who has turned his life around, but even he isn’t so sure of that. He called himself a villain in 4b and was worried about what the author might to do to him. Why include the fake “cursed hand” incident that revealed Hook himself was doing those dark things in the same episode as the CS date if the audience, who knows better than Emma, is meant to root for this relationship? Why have Rumple say the following if they want the audience to view Hook as a hero now?

“This hand is nothing but a lump of flesh. The only thing it did was give you permission. Permission to be the man you really are: not some puppy dog chasing after the object of his affection, but a ruthless pirate who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.” -Rumple

I get that Hook is a rogue, a bad boy, but Emma thinks he is now a good boy who does whatever she tells him to do. He hid from her the truth about being the one to antagonize Rumple in the first place or trying to blackmail him to get his hand back. Hook still constantly conceals the truth from Emma (e.g. punching Will, what his past is with Ursula). All Emma sees are the “good” parts that Hook wants her to see or believe.

What Emma thinks: Hook traded his ship for her and came back for her.
Canon: Hook spent the missing year pirating. Hook “killed” BB for his ship (before Ariel saved BB). Hook spent the year committing highway robbery, until Neal sent him the message to go get Emma.

Emma: Sees Ariel and Eric reunited in the magic mirror and assumes Hook is responsible for their reunion.
Canon: Hook takes the credit for reuniting a couple who loves each other, despite the fact he did nothing of the sort. He actually refused to help Ariel.

Emma: She thinks Hook was a stand-up romantic guy on their date, and that Rumple was the one who blackmailed Hook about the hand. Hook was then abused by Rumple.
Canon: Hook tried to blackmail Rumple for his hand, which he then used to punch Will Scarlet, which he threatened to kill Will over if ever he reveal the truth to Emma. He then hid from Emma the fact that Rumple had his heart.

Emma: Doesn’t care about Hook’s past with Ursula, just that he lied about knowing her. All Emma sees is that Hook reunites Ursula with her dad and gives her back her voice.
Canon: Emma doesn’t know that Hook tries to blackmail Ursula and then holds a gun to her head.

And these are just the recent things about Hook’s darker nature that he tries to keep hidden from Emma, probably because he’s ashamed of them. That little speech Hook gave Emma about the importance of forgiveness just smacks of irony. Here he is continuing to harbor resentment towards Rumple (understandably, since Rumple did try and kill him); yet Hook is the one telling Emma she shouldn’t be holding a grudge. That’s pretty hypocritical. What Hook said about Snow and David actually applies to himself: he tries to keep hidden certain unsavory aspect about himself from Emma, because he wants her to like him. He is ashamed of his own darker nature, so he conceals it from her.

Normally, a guy who hides the truth from the woman he supposedly loves gets kicked to the curb (e.g. Belle banished Rumple for doing that very thing), unless he comes clean, asks for forgiveness, and then actually changes for the better. Emma doesn’t see, or willfully refused to see, that Hook doesn’t own up to what he does, even in the present day. Instead, Emma just said, “I’d like them more if I’d known they turned themselves around. I like it when people find their good hearts along the way.” I.e. Emma wants to believe Hook is being totally upfront with her (they way her parents weren’t), but Hook is really describing himself, that he isn’t owning up to what he has done because he wants Emma to like him. There is a split: Emma thinks Hook has turned his life around is upfront and honest with her. Yet, Hook is all but saying he’s not.

Of course, probably making Emma into the Dark Swan is going to make her identify with Hook more. The only way to resolve Emma dating a bad boy is to make her bad, too. That is why we have Emma’s “potential” for darkness emerging suddenly in 4b. That is why Emma is suddenly holding a gun at Lily’s head the way Hook held a gun at Ursula’s head. The writers realized they have to drag Emma’s characterization through the mud if she’s going to end up with a rogue like Hook. They have to tarnish the savior a bit, precisely because she was too good for him up until S4, which incidentally, is precisely when she started dating a pirate. The writers have to darken her because they can’t exactly make their bad-boy heart throb into a good Prince Charming figure, because that would make Hook into a “boring” old hero type (which, he’s not, according to the canon events I just listed). Emma will suddenly forgive Hook for not being up front with her, if and when she ever even finds out about all he’s been hiding from her. She’ll no longer have any room to complain because she will have done some bad things as the dark one. In fact, Emma will be the one asking Hook for forgiveness for all the misdeeds she’ll likely commit as the Black Swan.

"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

[Slurpeez]

I’ve come to terms that the show is what it is, and not what I thought it was going to be. I do not really enjoy the story any longer. Now the writers want the audience to forget about Baelfire, to forget that Henry first learned sailing from his dad. In fact, the writers decided to toy with the audience two years in a row by bringing up two poential ways (i.e time-travel and literally re-writing history) to bring back Neal, and then just as quickly slammed shut those possibilities. Zelena said to Rumple (in a very meta way) that it wasn’t “idle cruelty”–that there really was a way to bring back his son–but then that is precisely what it turned out to be: idle cruelty. A&E turned out to be toying with us they way Rumple said the author was toying with him. These writers passed over a chance for Belle to kiss Rumple goodbye and potentially save him the same way they passed over the chance for Emma or Rumple to kiss Neal goodbye. And why? So Hook can be rebranded the hero and get to save the savior with TLK.

I’ve noticed something lately. Most of the people I follow on tumblr are Rumbellers, but I notice more and more are posting vocally anti-CS and anti-Hook things. In the past they just kept quiet and stayed in the “Rumbelle bubble” but it’s creeping out more and more. People I’ve never seen talk about Hook are now reblogging Hook hate. It’s very interesting.

About Hook, I agree there are a lot of people “coming out of the closet” so to speak in vocalizing their dislike. He’s one of those characters who really divides a lot of crowds, precisely because he roguish, yet handsome. I was reading The Rogue Prince by G.R.R. Martin (thanks for a great recommendation) and Prince Dameon’s character description I think also really fits with Hook. He’s described as “dashing, daring and dangerous.” From The Rogue Prince:

“Over the centuries, House Targaryen has produced both great men and monsters. Prince Daemon was both. In his day there was not a man so admired, so beloved, and so reviled in all Westeros. He was made of light and darkness in equal parts. To some he was a hero, to others the blackest of villains.”

Also, the way his character is perceived by other characters in the story also seems to really capture how people seem to react to Hook.

"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

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How I feel about this show now headed into S5:

"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

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Anyway, we actually don’t know if he wakes up at all. It’s quite possible the white glowing heart is simply needed for yet another one of A&E bizarre alchemical experiments. It might turn out that saving Emma will require a “heart that has been vacuumed of dark magic and has been returned to the chest of a largely lifeless man artificially preserved through a magic spell.” Maybe they’re setting up Rumple’s redemption through organ donation. ?

Actually, I was thinking the same thing.

"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

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Was Rumple having Isaac rewrite his happy ending as the Light One his own misguided attempt to spare himself and others the consequences of his death of self (i.e. Rumple the man is no more, and only the Dark One remains)? While Rumple’s act was completely misguided and in line with his nasty habit of self-preservation, not to mention completely selfish of him to give the villains their happy endings at the expense of the heroes, Rumple “dying” caused the greatest darkness ever known to be unleashed and caused Emma to become the next dark one.

"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

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1. If “Heroes and Villians” didn’t really happen because it was “fiction”, then why is the Charmings’ theft of Lily’s egg still part of the story? Isaac made that up, too. Why is that not “fiction”?

This is the very question that has been bugging me. Cruella was from fictional London, a place that exists outside of time, as if it were part of a literary world created by some author. Yet, why have Cruella’s inability to kill Henry stick (a “real world” consequence) but not have anything about the AU, another work of fiction, stick? Why have a “real world” consequence the of apprentice being forced to send Lily to ALWM (“the real world”) but not have the publication of Heroes and Villains in the “real world” stick? The pen seemed to have the power not only to record events, create or alter things in a fictional AU, but also to force characters like Cruella or the apprentice to do things against their will, and then have those alterations remain in tact, even in the real world. And what about the events that happened in ALWM (i.e. the publication of Isaac’s book)? If Henry successfully undid Isaac becoming a best-selling author, then that flies in the face of what the apprentice told Henry about the pen not being able to change things that happened in the real world. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Another problem I have with the finale is to do with Isaac’s age. Just how old is he supposed to be? He was a fairly young man in the 1960s flashback, which I assumed happened in ALWM. How does he appear to be so young in the present day? Is his youthful appearance the result of him being trapped inside of the book for about 31 years? Isaac was trapped in the book about a month or so after Emma’s conception in the EF, and she is about 30 in the present day. But that still leaves about 20 years in the timeline in which Isaac appears not to have aged (1960s-1983, when the curse brought baby Emma to ALWM).

"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

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