What's your favorite part/element of Rumple's story arc?
SHSKSHS HOW DO I NARROW IT DOWN??? THERES SO MANY ELEMENTS I LOVE. Okay I’m gonna put this as a few points here.
My top favourite element, the first thing I thought of, is his relentless battle with himself for goodness. He is half and half, half himself and half the dark one. And he’s been this way for centuries, so of course it’s an ongoing battle that’s not easy to drop. He continues to fight it, continues to try to be good, even when he has moments of weakness. He picks himself up again and continues. Whether it’s for Belle or Neal, he doesn’t stop trying to be good. Isn’t that so human of him? Rumple believes himself a coward, but it’s so brave to continue to try to be good when you have a dark curse latched to your soul and the world is seemingly saying “hey, goodness is impossible.”
My second thought is how STRONG his capacity for love is. He takes the curse of the dark one for it. He battles against the curse because of it. When he becomes the dark one, one of the first things he does is end the ogres war and free all the children. He didn’t have to do that. Baelfire was not on that field, yet he did it anyway. He dies for love. He lives again for love. He continues to fight to keep his loved ones safe, even if that means he risks himself. He spends what, 300 years (?), living alone because of his love for Baelfire, because he’s so determined to find his son. And sure it causes some problems. He loses Belle because it’s either her or his magic, and his magic will lead him to Bae. He causes people to hurt because his capacity for love is so fucking strong, it’s never going to be a mild thing. It’s everything or nothing. He dies TWICE for love. And we can’t forget, before Rum became the dark one he gave what little he had to beggars and took care of his emotionally abusive wife, even when he could barely stand with aid. He crippled himself and ruined his reputation for love. His capacity for love fills him to the brim and I adore it.
Final point is: you mentioned his story arc, and he has many? It twists and turns a LOT. So far I’ve focused on elements but I think my favourite arc (and it’s HARD to pin down) is the bits with him and August in s1. And you might be thinking “Bella, that is a weird fucking choice” but hear me out. With August he faces what he’s feared for so long: that his son hates him enough to try and murder him. And he takes that wholeheartedly, actually goes to therapy for it, and approaches who he thinks is his son and delivers a heartbreakingly emotional speech. And even when he realises August isn’t Bae, after their little dispute, he reunites August with his father cause at the end of the day, Rumple is always going to be papa and he can’t stand to see lost children screaming out for their parents, whether that’s actually screaming out or a haunting look in their eyes. That moment of kindness? In the shop when he invites August in and Marco is there? He didn’t have to do that, but he did it anyway. Why? Because Rumple is a good man. He saw a lost child and it reminded him of his son, and isn’t that the point? Neal is his driving point. He is what makes Rumple good.
(Bonus arcs for your consideration: ALL of Skin Deep, the Neverland arc is hauntingly beautiful. And we get Goldstiltskin. Beauty in s7, oh- and that one moment where Rumple says to Emma “please, he’s my son” in s6 about Gideon. Heart wrenching. When he faces his mother and says the world is dangerous because of villains like her and himself- the tone in his voice and the look on his face!! I die inside. And finally, and this is more of a funny bit than a ‘deep’ bit, but that one scene in Underbrooke where he introduces Milah and Emma to each other always cracks me up.)
@martianbugsbunny thank you so much for the ask!! What are your fave elements in rumples story arcs?
45 notes
·
View notes
The tragedy about the conflict of s3…
… Is that neither of them wanted it.
Okay, Neal kinda wanted it, I’m sure. Temptation. But he didn’t act on it, and he didn’t want it like this. Neal’s fault in this is that he could have walked away or said something at any point after, but he didn’t want to be in this situation. Mozzie forced him into it.
Peter sure as hell didn’t want it either. You can tell by how he either freezes up or get uncharacteristically emotional whenever it’s brought up. Esp by this point he genuinely cares deeply about Neal and wants him to get clean. The three things Peter loves most in the world are literally El, the law, and Neal at this point. He’s full on adopted this kid. He wants to be wrong, but he can’t compromise his belief in the laws and the system and the truth to not pursue it. He hates it, it takes so much out of him, and I think seeing Neal be hurt by his suspicions makes it all the worse, but this is Peter, finding the truth is who he is. S1 and 2 were slowly building the trust and relationship between them, and from Peter’s perspective, Neal may have just completely destroyed that. Thrown away everything he thought they had, and Peter’s attempts to help him go straight. But as much as it hurts him, he keeps the painting scrap out of evidence bc he wants to know first. He doesn’t want it to go on record and to have the whole Bureau come down on Neal. Despite himself he still wants to give the kid a modicum of chance—he also shows awareness that it could have been Mozzie or Alex.
And like I said above, Neal hates it, too. And not just being under suspicion again. At first, having Peter, the one person he completely trusts, accusing him, from his perspective, out of the blue after he just nearly got shot, after Peter just killed a man to protect him… Like that clearly just breaks his heart. Even during the opening interrogation, when he’s calmed down some, he’s still got that wounded look in his eyes—although I think he’s also clocking Peter’s unhappiness by that point bc it’s less offended and just sad. By that point he knows the treasure survived, but he does know he didn’t do it. He’s hurt by Peter’s suspicion of him but now he knows there’s a reason to be suspicious and he is hiding something. But even after he finds out that Mozzie did it… Even from the onset, he’s not quite truly happy. And even though he knows it’s now justified, that there’s very possibly evidence connecting it to him/them… Even though he goes along at first… You can tell there’s something off. Old Neal would be much more excited, not hesitating and looking vaguely shell shocked. And I think when he finds out it was Mozzie and that Mozzie took it ‘for them,’ he feels like he has betrayed Peter. He gets visibly more awkward about deflecting, which I think is actually honest as opposed to a deception. He’s letting his real emotions dictate his behaviour—he’s genuinely hurt by Peter’s suspicion, he genuinely cares what Peter thinks, he’s genuinely uncomfortable with his new position. But even after all of it, Neal instantly realises that Peter is still protecting him by w/holding the painting scrap—and I think that realisation is the stepping stone for his character development the rest of the season, bc in that moment, he realises he hasn’t wholly lost Peter, and not in a ‘I can still play him way.’ In a ‘thank god he doesn’t hate me now’ way, bc Neal doesn’t want Peter to hate him, he never did, and he esp doesn’t now. As early as s1 he didn’t want to let him down, and now he feels like Peter’s completely cut him off—only to be given that one bit of hope for making things better. Which is what makes him believe in everything else.
Neither of them wanted to be put at odds like this.
134 notes
·
View notes
Sonhos estúpidos. Mesmo os bons são ruins, porque eles lembram como a realidade não se compara.
Neal Shusterman, Unwind
40 notes
·
View notes
hi my blogging besties <3 i have been in and out of sleep for the whole day, but i want to thank everyone for the time you’ve spent with me this past year before i get knocked out again. i’ll keep it short bc im naturally simpy and sick me likes to up the ante, but sincerely, from my little heart (but fat ass), i am thanking you. thanks for the kindness, the comments, interactions, and even if you’ve been here lurking, reading silently, i get it. thank you for even giving me the time of day. i hope you’ll stay with me next year
i love you guys!
15 notes
·
View notes