AYLS CC: Manja

"{outofcrocodile}; DISCLAIMER: THIS WAS THROWN TOGETHER IN 5 MINUTES AND IS PROBABLY NOT PINPOINT ACCURATE. IT'S JUST A VISUAL REPRESENTATION. (I've had to give more space at the end for the present day stuff, which looks like it spans like, 20 years when in truth, it'd be a few years and so small I'd not be able to draw it on...something else to consider.)

Something to consider with the whole "OMG Rumple is acting like a twat, he has OBVIOUSLY totally forgotten Bae and everything he said and promised and Belle why you no love Belle, why isn't she enough to stop you being a TWAT RIGHT NOW god dammit Rumple ARRRGH WRITERS WHY YOU RUIN CHARACTER?" thing.

Here's a shoddy representation of Rumple's lifespan. Hook says he himself is a few hundred years old, and he met Rumple before he was the Dark One, but who was older than Hook, so I've put him as being slightly older than Hook (We don't know how old Rumple was when he first met Hook other than him looking, to us, like a 50ish year old man, so his additional age is guesswork).

I've marked him as becoming the Dark One before he hits 100 years, but as I say, it's guesswork how old he was prior to becoming the Dark One. For this visual rep, it doesn't matter so much - we are looking at Bae and Belle's time in Rumple's overall life.

Baelfire spent a small portion of his childhood with pre-Dark One Rumple and a small amount of time with him post-Dark One. Rumple is noted to have not been the Dark One very long when he meets the Seer the second time, and that's after Baelfire has gone, so I reckon Baelfire was around Dark One Rumple for about a year, give or take.

He then doesn't see Baelfire again until the 1st Curse breaks, hundreds of years later.

In that span of hundreds of years, Rumple meets Belle. She is his caretaker for a very short period of time - from Skin Deep, I didn't get the impression Belle was there for years? So I've marked her there as being around one or two years, tops. Again, he doesn't see Belle again until the 1st Curse breaks.

Now, lookie at all the remaining black line. That's Rumple on his own. Many lifetime's worth of being on his own. And in that time, he's seen his son, who loves him and who he loves, born and die.

Carlyle himself has noted that, in Rumple's mind, yes he loves Belle, but he lived a long time on his own before Belle, and has it in his head that he will be left alive for a long time after she passes away.

From what we've seen, both Bae and Belle have been present in Rumple's life a long time. To them, to us, yes. But to Rumple? Step back and look at his whole life and...no. They haven't. YES he loves them. But look at the staggering amount of time he was on his own, wallowing in darkness, loneliness, heartbreak, and with nothing to console or warm him but power.

Is it not possible that all his current actions are an attempt to protect himself? He's seen the thing he loves most born and die (Baelfire) and he's living on, as always. He's too scared to let go of his power because it's been there for him for lifetimes and lifetimes, his companion. But if he doesn't, Belle will live out her natural life and die, and Rumple will be left living on and on and on.

Now tell me he's acting out of character. Now tell me he's just being a twat.

I'm not saying he's doing the right thing.

I'm saying he's gone a little mad living so long/seeing his son die/being held captive for a year, and he's lost his mind. This is how he's dealing with everything that's happened - by falling back on the thing that's been there for him the longest: darkness and power. He acts cool, calm, collected...but quietly, in his head? His mind silently shattered when he saw Baelfire die. Just because he didn't break down every day into a sobbing mess doesn't mean he has forgotten.

I am not saying this is foolproof, I am not saying the writers are foolproof, I am just saying it's something to consider."