“It’s a dark road and a dark way that leads to my house ..”
“I’m not mad, I’m not mad,” Belle muttered to herself repeatedly.
She sat hunched over in the corner of her room, eyeing the door fearfully. Her father had locked her in here because of her delusions but she wasn’t mad. There was a whole world out there beyond their own and she had seen it.
…
Belle had been reading in the garden, her back up against the old oak tree when a flash of light had caught her attention. It came from just inside the tree line to the nearby forest. Curious, Belle had wandered over.
The light had grown brighter, flickering ominously. It was a sickly green, swirling in a pattern reflecting on the leaves of the trees. Belle pushed the branch back and gasped. The ground was swirling like a tornado. She turned to run but her feet were frozen to the floor. It was like an invisible hand had reached out and grabbed her ankles.
With a tug she tumbled to the ground. She grabbed desperately at the dirt as she was dragged, pulled ever closer to the apex of the portal. It was no use, nothing could save her now. She reached the portal and tumbled down, and down and down, until she hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Belle looked up and screamed. In front of her was a ten foot tall being, humanoid like a man but definitely not human. It smelled horrible and carried a club. She scooted back, eyes wide, she had no breath left to scream. The being swung it’s club and Belle whimpered, clenching her eyes tightly shut, certain she was about to be killed.
Oh, I LOVE this ! Oh my god, it’s so perfect!!!!! Thank you!!!
Thanks 🙂 I’m actually considering cleaning this one up, expanding it and making it a proper fic. I wrote more than I intended on it this morning, I got rather carried away.
“We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the Earth.”
Nicholas Gold was a successful real estate mogul, he owned half of Manhattan but success came at a price. He put up a mask for the world to see, played a role in public, so he could have a semblance of a private life. For a man worth billions, it was hard to ever trust anyone. Did they like him or his bank account? He grew hard, cold, life was a perpetual winter.
When Mr Gold, went out in public, he was chauffeured in fancy cars, he wore thousand dollar tailored suits and went to the best places.
When Nick went out, he wore off the rack clothes from normal stores like Sears. He took the subway and ate in hole in the wall diners. It was like being Clark Kent and Superman. He stepped outside people’s expectations and was granted a measure of invisibility.
What Gold liked best to do, on the rare occasion he could get away, was go to the train station, or the marina. They were places that normal people went, people with normal jobs and normal lives. He would sit at the coffee shop in the station and pretend for a moment he was one of them.
He didn’t regret his success. He was just lonely, without connection.
Until one day, the coffee shop was full and Belle French sat down at his table with a smile. She had a book in her hand and promised not to bother him. However, she kept chatting anyway, about her book, about the city, all the places she wanted to go and the things she wanted to see.
Gold was out of practice making such conversation. The usual ‘small talk’ he participated in was always entirely tainted by business, where he had to consider every word carefully because making the right impression mattered. He did his best and after half an hour, he had to regretfully excuse himself, he had a business meeting downtown and he had to be ‘Mr Gold’ once more.
He never expected to see Belle again.
However, a couple of weeks later, she was back at the station. She waved at him and expressed surprise that they were both there again.
“Are you busy this afternoon?” Belle asked.
“No,” Gold replied. He wasn’t for a change, it was friday and he had the afternoon to do as he pleased.
“I have this train tour.” Belle handed him the flyer. A bunch of subway stops were marked, along with places of interest nearby. “Want to join me? It’s always more fun with company.”
Gold smiled and nodded. “I’d like that.”
What would it hurt? One afternoon to forget the world. It was a cold winters day, the day to be inside and not traipsing over the city. However, in Belle’s company, he had never felt warmer or more alive. Her joy was infectious. At a flower stall he gave her a rose, which was speckled in snow.
They got a birds eye view of the city at the glass dome and Belle grabbed Gold’s hand so tightly for comfort, as it was scary, like they were about to fall to the city beneath them.
He never wanted the day to end but a man can’t live a double life. Belle knew him, she didn’t know his mask, but his mask was what he had to live with most of the time.
At the end of the day, Gold plucked up his courage and kissed Belle on the cheek. “Goodbye Belle.”
He walked away.
Um, there needs to be more of this – this is perfect ! **But is that supposed to be a permanent goodbye ?!
Oh wow thank you 🙂 I’m glad you liked it. The goodbye was less permanent, more I couldn’t decide what happened next. Let’s think, ok I got it.
Gold didn’t go back to the train station that week, or the next. He was worried about somehow running into Belle for a third time and he didn’t know what he would say to her. He liked her, but all it could ever be was one perfect afternoon.
He was probably fooling himself. In fact Gold decided that Belle had likely not given him a second thought. He had been a convenient companion for her sightseeing trip, nothing more. She would never think of him, the way he had started to think about her.
It had been three weeks since that Friday afternoon where he forgot the world. His Mr Gold mask was firmly in place, entertaining business associates from out of town. It was something he hated doing but people were more amenable to signing contracts after they had spent the evening drinking. It was just part of doing business.
To make things easier on himself, Gold either bought outright, or a sizable stake, in all the places that he used to schmooze clients. He could stop people from bothering him if he owned the place. It was a lot less hassle.
He was at the nightclub in the VIP area, easily his least favorite of all the places he was forced to take clients. The loud music gave him a headache, the fake smoke gave him a sore throat, the bright lights hurt his eyes. The whole place was a nightmare.
Gold was leaning on the railing, overlooking the rest of the club when he saw Belle. How could he not see her? He would know her anywhere. He was surprised, he didn’t think this would be a place that she would go and she was hardly dressed for the occasion either. Her clothing was far more conservative than was expected in a place like this. However, he wasn’t surprised that the bouncer had waved her in. Belle’s beauty was clear for all to see, it didn’t need to be displayed like a vulgar piece of meat.
To his surprise she headed directly for the bouncer manning the rope cord, protecting the stairs that led to the VIP level. She spoke with him, animatedly waving her hands. The bouncer waved her away and she crossed her arms, staring him down. The bouncer clicked his fingers, summoning a nearby waitress, he whispered in her ear. The waitress nodded and came up the stairs to the VIP lounge.
“Mr Gold. There’s a Belle French asking for you downstairs,” the waitress told him respectfully.
Gold choked in surprise. That couldn’t be right. How could that be possible? He had been Nick with Belle, not Mr Gold. He was invisible as Nick, it was his escape, how could she know?
“Send her up,” Gold ordered hoarsely.
A few minutes later Belle appeared. “You are a hard man to find Nick.”
“You weren’t supposed to find me,” Gold said automatically.
Belle bit her lip and looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry, I thought .. never mind.” She turned to leave.
“No Belle wait,” Gold called out after her. “How did you know who I was?”
“I didn’t, not until a few days ago when I saw your picture in the paper,” Belle explained. “I thought about going to your office but I didn’t think I would get past the front door, then tonight twitter said you were here. I took a chance.”
“You saw my picture in the paper?” Gold repeated dumbly.
She’d recognized him? Nobody had ever recognized him before. He was Clark Kent and Superman. A clothing change and a different location and nobody suspected a thing. He had seen people read an article with his picture on the cover right in front of him, and they hadn’t even said ‘do you realize you look like that billionaire Mr Gold?’
Belle’s eyes narrowed before understanding blossomed on her face. “You didn’t think I would recognize you,” she softly. She moved back over and touched his arm gently. “Oh Nick, I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”
“No, please don’t,” Gold said instinctively. “I was surprised, that’s not happened before but I don’t mind, not with you.”
Belle smiled. “You never gave me your phone number.”
“I didn’t think you’d want it and then ..” Gold gestured around him, meaning this, his other life – his real life.
Belle reached into her pocket and withdrew a slip of paper. She held it out to him. “Well here’s my number. What happens next is up to you.”
I like my coffee like i like my men: hot, creamy, and sweet. 😉
So, I have this lovely DeLonghi one touch cappuccino maker (named George), which is a bit of a misnomer because it’s not quite a one touch operation as I have to pack the grounds myself*, but everything else is pretty much automatic. It makes espressos, cappuccinos, and lattes and if my house was on fire and I could only take one thing out of it (not including my kids and pets of course) THIS WOULD BE IT. That’s because Shawn would be hauling out my giant Lego mosaic of Wonder Woman.
I don’t actually like flavored coffees or frapaccinos or anything. When we don’t use George, we use either a large Chemex or the French press.
Edit: My husband brings me coffee in bed every morning. Be jealous. 🙂
* Yes, I know, the horror. *sarcasm font engaged*
“I like my coffee like i like my men: hot, creamy, and sweet.”
#I’M DEAD
…I DON’T EVEN DRINK, LET ALONE LIKE COFFEE, AND YET I THINK I NEED TO PRINT THIS QUOTE AND HANG IT ON MY FUCKING WALL CAUSE THIS IS AMAZING (*and also, this would make the BEST Belle [flirting with Gold] line in SOMETHING, I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BONES lol). YOU GODDAMN LITERARY GENIUS, YOU.
(I’m on my phone so I can’t link properly, but trust me)
That is one of the funniest scenes *ever*.
This made me think of a Belle vs Lacey faceoff.
Where Belle compliments Gold using a line like the one above, or perhaps we should invent one for tea. I don’t drink tea so I can’t think what to say but yeah saying that she likes her tea/coffee like she like’s her men aka Gold.
Then there was that Lacey post I’ve seen on my dash a few times. I’m actually scrolling through tumblr search trying to find it so I can give proper credit. It basically said “I like my men, like I like my whiskey, only the aged and the scottish” or something.
Also, wow that sounds like a very posh coffee machine. I am a complete heathen and I actually prefer instant. I’m the easiest person in the world to make coffee for, a spoonful of coffee in a mug, add hot water and I’m done.
I rewatched The Princess Diaries 2 tonight and it made me wonder something. Has anyone ever read a fic where there is an arranged marriage and a suitor but the people who were arranged fall in love instead?
I don’t know it just seemed like turning the trope on it’s head. Go into an arranged marriage for ‘reasons’ and think love is impossible, love supposedly comes along but then find out it was under nose entire time.
Oh and by fic I mean Rumbelle fic obviously. I don’t know what the setup would be or why it would happen but Rumple and Belle are arranged to marry, some guy comes along to sweep Belle off her feet (perhaps Will, maybe Gaston) and instead naturally Belle falls in love with Rumple, her intended.
Arranged marriage is a good idea for once.
It could bring the quote “It was an arranged marriage, I was doing you a favour.” Into a whole new context which is always fun with AU’s.
I like!
Please someone write this! I never liked the guy Mia ended up with in Princess Diaries 2. He was a smug jerk who never would have looked at Mia twice if she hadn’t had her makeover in Princess Diaries 1. I loved her “intended.” He was sweet, decent and thoughtful. I’d love it if someone Rumbelled this and Princess Belle ended up with her woobie intended.
I hated the second movie and I’m pissed that they strayed so far from the book series tbh.
I find the Princess Diaries movies are best enjoyed if I don’t think too deeply about them. Much like all the things I like most it’s the potential I see in it, that sets my imagination afire. The potential/unanswered questions/unexplored avenues/twists etc.
Personally I like the SwanFire twist I thought of this morning better. I might be tempted to write that in some form.
However, if I was to Rumbelle it then Rumple wouldn’t be the dark one, maybe I would do a light one AU. Yeah Sir Rumple, Knight of the realm, hero and ogre slayer etc.
Sticking with the movie plot sort of, Princess Belle must marry and produce an heir in order to inherit the kingdom from her ailing father King Maurice. He arranges the marriage with Sir Rumple and Belle isn’t impressed. She doesn’t want to marry a brute of a knight – she dreams of love.
When Rumple arrives Belle is surprised “you aren’t who I thought you were and I’m glad” as he possesses a keen mind and he isn’t a hulking brute.
To break up the marriage and absorb Avonlea into his domain (and gain control of it’s profitable trading ports) King George dispatches Sir Gaston to Avonlea to romance Princess Belle.
That obviously doesn’t work out. I suppose for there to be any plot Gaston would have to be suitably charming for a short time and maybe Rumple is irritating in some fashion. However, ultimately no contest. Belle falls in love with her betrothed – Sir Rumple, leaving Gaston and King George disappointed and assuring the safety of Avonlea.
Hmm ok I quite like this now. It’s basically a variation of the SwanFire version I thought of this morning.
I sent a stripped down version of this prompt last night to @endangeredslug as they were requesting prompts. I don’t know if they like it or will do anything with it though.
To be honest I don’t have the time to write it anytime soon. If I say I will write something then I am planning on doing so within the next month, or two on the outside. I have too much in the pipeline to get to this before November probably, maybe even later.
I do like this plot scenario, especially the details I came up with today. I might do something with it eventually but yeah it won’t be anytime soon. I got my current WIP to finish and I’ve already picked and started work on my next two WIPs.
Interesting….thanks to silvertree0 for posting this on LJ.
Wow. They’ve only had enough screen time as a couple to fill a long movie? That sucks.
I wonder how this compares to other couples/characters. Obviously not CaptainSwan as they have Rumbelle’s entire season allotment in just a couple of episodes but I mean the others e.g. OutlawQueen, Snowing etc. Robin was certainly extremely absent during the underworld arc.
Actually that might not be a fair remark about CaptainSwan. It feels like they have a lot of screentime but what something feels like, and what something is actually, aren’t always the same thing. I’m trying to be fair here and give it the benefit of the doubt like a reasonable person. Even if I do want to rant and rave about how my faves need more time heh 🙂
Rumbelle’s time is going massively downhill though. They had more time in season 1, than 5B if I’m reading it right, and there was what? Only Skin Deep and the finale together. They need more screentime together. I really don’t understand why they are shafting one of their main couples like this, especially with the caliber of the actors they are working with. These are regular characters. They deserve better.
Oh God, it’s perfect! 💕 (Still waiting for Em to show off her ballet moves in a movie. GIVE IT TO ME) I want to write a Dancer!AU NOW. ASDFGHJKL.
Heh this immediately made me think of @b-does-the-write-thing prompt fic they posted the other day as part of their prompt-a-thon – link – that had Belle as a dancer and Gold as a former dancer. It was sweet.
I had a good day yesterday, my arm didn’t hurt that much so I did a fair bit of writing. Today I am paying for it because it hurts a ton. Anyway, that’s irrelevant.
At dinner it was suggested that I made a voodoo doll of myself so that I could give my shoulder/back a massage.
The second that suggestion was made my brain went:
“That isn’t the normal use of voodoo, usually it’s to inflict pain not make it better.”
“What if Rumple made a voodoo doll of Belle/made one of himself and gave it to her. So there would be a voodoo doll of one of them, which would be given to the other. Then throughout the day, whomever has the voodoo doll counterpart feels the transmitted phantom touch.”
Literally it was a two step process. My brain has been warped to think Rumbelle guys.
Anyway, obviously this prompt is suggestive of porn which isn’t in my skillset. Admittedly I haven’t tried writing any in, hmm must be eight years now, but it was terrible and I would be far too self-conscious to even try. You guys are all very good at it.
So I’m just throwing it up here in case anyone else likes the prompt and feels like adopting it. I thought it had potential.
I’ve got to think about this for a while. I wants it, I do.
If you want the prompt it’s yours 🙂 but no worries if you decide against it or never get round to it. I just posted it in case anyone liked it and because it amused me that my brain apparently has been conditioned to Rumbelle everything.
Cos you don’t taste like you should
And you don’t fit in my arms like she would
Lying in the dark, it’s understood:
We are both lost
And we won’t be found
The last unicorn by Passenger
More like Golden Lace, but it applies xD
Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who’d outdrew ya
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not someone who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah (I love the Alexandra Burke version)
This songs just gives me all the Rumbelle angst feels.
Oh poor me
She fell beneath the wheels to help me up
Black sea
The monster killed the melody he loved
Now I’m going places on my own…
Ben Howard, Esmerelda (yeah, it’s angsty, big surprise. Gives me town line feels, and also was what I was thinking of when I wrote the cemetery scene is chapter 15 of Penance)
I have a ton more!
For one split second
She almost turned around
But that would be like pouring rain drops
Back into a cloud
So she took another step and said
I see the way out and I’m gonna’ take it
I hear this and I hear the town line scene. In fact, I can’t listen to this song without crying because of that.
(I’m just crying continually tonight so it’s no matter.)
Carried Underwood, Wasted
Well I don’t know, the rose I hold won’t seem to grow.
So what have you done, what are you hiding? What are you holding on to?
The sanity’s gone, it’s killing me inside
To watch you go, but it’s keeping me alive
All the sirens are warning, screaming our sins. I’ve been hiding the feeling of touching your skin.
Why did I put out the fires in your eyes?
How can I erase the living in me?
Lucy is an English and French feminine given name derived from Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning as of light (born at dawn or daylight, maybe also shiny, or of light complexion)
.
Cosette: in modern name dictionaries give the meaning as “victorious,”
but it doesn’t appear to have been in use as a first name until after
Hugo published Les Miserables, although “Cozette” sometimes appeared as a
surname. Victor Hugo said he created Cosette from “chosette”, meaning
“little thing”[2] in French.
Rose is a given female name. It is a late Latin name derived from rosa, meaning “rose”
.
Valerie:
The name Valerie is an English
baby name. In English the meaning of the name Valerie is:
Strong; valiant. Feminine of the Roman family clan name Valerius.
Abigail is a female given name. The name comes from the Hebrew name אֲבִיגַיִל / אֲבִיגָיִל Avigail, meaning “my father’s joy” (alternatively “my father is exultation”, or “my father is joy”
.
Millaray is a feminine given name of Mapuche origin.[1][2] It means “golden flower” (from milla “gold” and rayen “flower”)
.
Sophia, also spelled Sofia, is a female name derived from σοφία, the Greek word for “Wisdom”. The name was used to represent the personification of wisdom .
Charlotte (Charlie) – for obvious reasons
Heather – Plant name symbolising independence. Grows in the highlands of Scotland and in the West of Ireland, where things have a hard time growing, so heather is pretty stubborn. Also has great magical/medicinal properties
Colette
Hazel – Hazel tree is important in witchcraft
Rose
Molly – It’s just so British 😛
I’m glad I re-read the post title. I was about to ask why all the names were girls /facepalm. Is there a thread for boys names as well? Anyway ..
Nadia – it means hope. It’s unusual enough that it fits in with the FTL names but it’s from our world and so works here too. It’s what I called their daughter in my fanfic.
No I didn’t watch this movie today but I saw it on my shelf. It made me think of @mrgoldsdearie cooking verses which I love. I love the whole chef thing, the kitchen talk, the various dishes, the plating up and sending the orders out. I mean obviously I love the romance too but yeah I’m a sucker for the setting. Seriously if you haven’t read Gold’s Kitchen or Masterchef Storybrooke go do that.
Anyway this movie had Catherine Zeta Jones as a top chef at a posh restaurant. Her sister dies and she gets custody of her daughter. Around the same time her sous chef goes off to have a baby and a new sous chef – the eventful love interest – joins the kitchen. I can’t remember the names I haven’t watched in a while.
The chef is very particular, the sous chef is more heart not head and can be messy in the kitchen. The chef doesn’t really know what to do with this kid and so she gets her up at 5am to go to the fish market and takes her to the kitchen at night, and she winds up falling asleep in school. Cooks her posh food and then wonders why she won’t eat it etc.
The sous chef is better with the kid. Cooks her spaghetti at the restaurant one night, then goes over to chefs apartment and makes pizza etc. This makes the chef see them in a different light, they grow closer, fall in love etc. And then wind up opening their own restaurant which is more of a family diner, though they split the kitchen in two and have an actual line which the guy teases the chef about, by putting his spoon over the line etc.
I figured this could be done Rumbelle style so easily. It’s practically made for it. Chef Gold lives for his work as a top chef. He’s estranged from his son and devastated when he gets a call that says his son died but his grandson Henry lives. He brings the boy home but it’s been years since he had a kid in the house and he’s terrified because he and Neal fought a lot when he was a teenager and then Neal left home and Gold felt like it didn’t work out well.
Then at work new sous chef Belle French joins the kitchen. She is warm and bright and everything Gold isn’t. The owner of the restaurant Regina Mills has warned Gold before about his temper and manner and he thinks that Belle is his replacement.
Gold brings Henry to work and Belle talks to him and gets him to eat and Gold stiffly says thank you, maybe asks her how she did it. Henry really likes Belle and keeps asking to see her, until she comes over to the apartment. They make pizza and nearly kiss and anyway it goes on until the end when Gold quits and opens up the diner with Belle (better hours because it’s not open late at night) and they get married and then happy ever after.
Although it would be kinda heartbreaking to kill Neal. I suppose maybe not necessary. Instead Milah could have got full custody and she was killed which means Neal went back to his dad. There are options anyway.
