Synopsis: Belle French lives alone and she likes it that way. She’s lived alone ever since the terrible car accident which killed her mother and claimed her eyesight. Belle spends her days painting, in complete solitude, until one day she wakes up and hears movement outside. Somebody has moved into the cottage next door. She had grown comfortable in her solitary existence until Mr Gold crashes into her life. Now her future is uncertain, like a blank canvas, waiting for her to apply the paint and decide what kind of story she is creating.
Note: Banner by the awesomely amazing @rowofstars who has very kindly and patiently beta read this chapter. Thank you so much!
When Gold woke
up, it was to the disturbing fact that he didn’t remember falling asleep. His
head was pounding, and his mouth tasted like something had died in it. That
would be the whiskey on all counts. It took him a moment to realize that the
noise reverberating around his skull, wasn’t just his headache, the phone was
ringing. Wincing, Gold pulled himself up from where he had been drooling into
his pillow, his hand grasping for the phone on the side table.
“What?” Gold
barked.
He regretted it
a second later, as his head throbbed anew and his gut churned. He hated
hangovers, this was why he usually never had more than a couple of drinks. He
couldn’t understand paying for the privilege of feeling this awful. However,
last night had been a special case. He’d tossed back the expensive whiskey like
water, wanting to block out Belle calling for him, and to stop the ache in his
heart. He’d just wanted to forget.
MY BABIES! I think this is the most they have talked things out yet and it feels so good. This was a joy to read and I’m excited for where they go from here even though I know it’s a long road. They’ve already changed each other just by their existence. Gold’s understanding towards Belle seems to have renewed her faith in people being decent and maybe accepting her. Belle’s sweetness and vulnerability calls to Gold in a way that makes him curious about her but also want to protect her. I know that can be shaky ground to start a relationship on, but they have so much potential to further help and change each other if they are brave enough to pursue it.
Heh well it is slow burn. Jumping into a relationship would be a mistake, of course Belle does like to run before she can walk. Anyway, yeah they talked over recent events, which will put them in a much better place to move forward. They are both now ready to try and move forward, which is a huge step and a turning point for them. Thank you so much for all your support! I’m really glad you are enjoying the fic 🙂
*basically almost trips self trying to get to comments*
OHHHHHH MYYYYYY GAAAAAAAAWWWWWWDDDDDDDD
*SCREAMING*
DUDE.
DUDE.
THE BABIES ARE TAAAAAAAAAAAALKIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG <3 <3 <3 <3
OHHHHHH THEY’RE MAKING SO MUCH PROGRESS!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
(in other news, i gave you props on one of your other fics here, and i’m writing it about it on this post cause Tumblr’s being a shitlord and won’t let me properly link you, and thought you’d like to see it <3)
I-CAN’T-EVEN-WITH-THESE-FEELS-MAN OUT OF TEN
Hehe I love your gifs. Thank you so much! Your enthusiasm always puts a smile on my face. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yup they are talking, communication is good. Thanks again! 🙂
I knew there was something I’d forgotten to read last night. I’m so glad that they’re back on the same page now. But oh my word, all through their conversation I was practically screaming at them to stop getting the wrong end of the stick and just let the other talk! I think that’s a flaw of Belle’s that carries through into this AU very well, that she will always jump in with both feet and start making assumptions, and Rumple/Gold’s appalling timing has again carried across well.
I’m sincerely hoping that this is the start of an upward swing for them!
Heh yeah they deserve a bit of peace, before the inevitable over-reach and ensuing crisis. Yeah they were so wrapped up in blaming themselves, it was a wonder that they managed to actually talk it out. Thank you so much! I’m really glad you enjoyed it 🙂
So happy to see this updated! I missed it. Some of Belle’s struggles really resonate with me; the anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia.
Things might still be a little rocky between them, but they’ve talked at least, figured somethings out. And they were hugging in the end, so ::whew::! They are perfect for one another; he is so driven that he can help her work through some of her issues; and she can help him mellow out and get a few hobbies. And Neal, bless him, such a good guy!
Yeah, sorry for the wait. That wasn’t intentional and every time I post a chapter I swear I’m going to do better, and then it’s another month again. I’m glad you still liked the chapter! Yup them talking was a turning point. I agree that Neal means well. He has his biases, and made some mistakes, and he can be quite unreasonable where his dad is concerned, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a decent guy. He’s just human. Anyway, thank you so much! 🙂
Hey everyone *waves* I joined the fandom in May, so this is my first TEA experience. I’ve really enjoyed writing fanfic for Rumbelle and being part of this community. Thank you all for being so welcoming! I’m not really very comfortable with self-promo but I’m going to give this a whirl.
If anyone feels like nominating any of my fics, here are my suggestions, along with my best guesses as to the categories. As I’m new all my fics are eligible and you can nominate in whatever categories you feel best.
Anyway here goes 🙂
Fluff: Family
I Love the Way – Following directly on from All Hallow’s Fall. Due to the events of Halloween, Storybrooke finally becomes aware of Gold and Belle’s relationship and small towns can be vicious places. Gold fears it will tear them apart, but adversity can lead to strength not just ruin, and maybe even one day – a happy ending. [Tumblr, AO3]
Fluff: Comfort / Character: Best Woobie!Rum
In Your Arms – Retired soldier and single father Gold works at a coffee shop library. Plagued by nightmares of the war he’s quiet, only interacting with customers when necessary. His favorite customer is Belle, who comes in a couple of times a week. Her smile is as bright as the sun. One day she comes in upset and for a moment he is brave enough to ask her what is wrong. [Tumblr, AO3]
Smut: Comedy
Once Upon a Lifetime – Belle French’s life revolves around books. During the day she works as a librarian, and in the evenings she writes stories of her own. Everyday she watches Mr. Gold lock up his shop and everyday she swears that she’ll wave or do something, but she never does. If this were one of her stories then Mr. Gold would have noticed her watching him, and one day their eyes would meet and he would confess that he liked her as well. The problem was, life wasn’t a story. If it was, then Belle would have written herself a happy ending a long time ago. [Tumblr, AO3]
General: Best Post-Ep Fic
Right Kind of Wrong – Following on from the events of 6.07 – Heartless. Hope can be found in even the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. Storybrooke has faced many challenges, with good always beating evil but they did that together, and now they are split apart. The story must play out but the ending might not be what anyone expects. [Tumblr, AO3]
General: Best Holiday Fic
All Hallow’s Fall – Belle and Gold have been together for a few months when Halloween approaches. After some pumpkin carving goes wrong, and Gold is injured, they work together to ensure that Bae’s spooky sleepover goes ahead as planned. [Tumblr, AO3]
Special: Best Drama
Painting Layers of Love – Belle French lives alone and she likes it that way. She’s lived alone ever since the terrible car accident which killed her mother and claimed her eyesight. Belle spends her days painting, in complete solitude, until one day she wakes up and hears movement outside. Somebody has moved into the cottage next door. She had grown comfortable in her solitary existence until Mr Gold crashes into her life. Now her future is uncertain, like a blank canvas, waiting for her to apply the paint and decide what kind of story she is creating. [Tumblr, AO3]
Special: Best Season Rewrite
The War Within – Alternate Season Six. Storybrooke is visibly under threat once more from Hyde and the Evil Queen. However, not all threats are visible as an old forgotten foe has been manipulating events from behind the scenes. The very nature of darkness is revealed as everyone struggles with the most difficult beast of all – acceptance. [Tumblr, AO3]
Events: Rumbelle Revelry
The Beauty and the Tragedy – When Mr. Gold calls in Lord French’s marker, bankrupting his estate, it leaves Lady Belle with nowhere to go until Mr. Gold offers her a deal. She enters his service as a maid and true love blossoms between them. Belle dreams of forever but there is a room, which is permanently locked, that stands in the way. [NSFW] [Tumblr, AO3]
Events: Rumbelle Secret Santa
Conspiracy Afloat – When Mr. Gold buys Storybrooke marina, one of the marina’s few permanent residents, Belle French, swears he won’t get away with it. She sets sail and anchors in a remote cove and that night Belle witnesses a murder. At first light she returns to the marina to report it … but nobody believes her. Gold’s purchase of the marina now takes on even more sinister implications, and her growing attraction towards him only complicates matters. Vowing to investigate herself, if the sheriffs won’t, Belle soon starts to unravel a town-wide conspiracy. [Tumblr, AO3]
Character: Best Lacey
Fall All Over Again – Before the first Dark Curse the Evil Queen had a paranoid moment, which meant in cursed Storybrooke, Gold and Lacey were married. Therefore when Belle falls over the town line – Lacey returns. Everyone is shouting at her, and everything is wrong, so Lacey does something she never did once in 28 years of marriage, she turns to Gold for protection. In turn Rumplestiltskin does something that Gold never did in 28 years of marriage – he tells Lacey that he loves her. Belle loved him, so can Lacey fall for him all over again or will the curse mask true love forever? [NSFW] [Tumblr, AO3]
If you feel like it, you could also nominate me for the Newbie Spotlight. Thank you for your time 🙂
by stillsearching47 a.k.a. @still-searching47 (EDIT: of COURSE i finally find you on Tumblr and then tumblr’s like LOLNOPE U CAN’T LINK PEOPLE LIKE A COOL PERSON :trollface: I CAN’T EVEN TUMBLR)
HOKAY!
SO!
A SUUUUUUUUPER LONG TIME AGO, I READ THIS AWESOME FIC CALLED WHAT YOU KNOW BY @bad-faery (which, yes, i did a post about to this blog already, but don’t care, linking it again XD) AND AFTER READING IT ABOUT, OH, I DON’T KNOW, ABOUT 10 FUCKIN TIMES THAT DAY ALONE I WAS LIKE “YOU KNOW WHAT’D BE AWESOME ACTUALLY? A VERSION OF THIS KIND OF FIC WHERE BELLE IS THE ONE WRITING SMUTTY FANFICS N SHIT-
…..*AND THEN ”ONCE UPON A LIFETIME” BECAME A THING THAT EXISTS*
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS.
YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND.
THIS FIC IS SO FREAKIN CHARMING, YOU’RE GONNA LOVE IT
THIS IS ONE OF THOSE “PUT DOWN EVERYTHING YOU’RE FUCKIN DOIN LIKE RN AND GO READ THIS” FICS. JUST SAYIN.
SO HERE’S WHAT UP:
As you can tell, Belle is, essentially, a smut fic author (*which is revealed pretty early on in the story and it’s even in the description to some extent, so, no worries, not TOO spoiler-y lol) in this verse, and she’s crushing SO hard on Mr. Gold that’s it’s just flat out ADORABLE.
This fic as a whole isn’t even ‘NSFW-y’ PER SAY, it’s mainly when Belle’s working on her latest story, but OH MY GOD. SRSLY. THIS IS MAINLY WHERE THE CHARM HAPPENS AND IT’S SO GOOD FFFFFFFFFFFF
Like, first off, the NSFW element DEFINITELY comes in in the dialogue and plot of the story she’s writing that we actually get to see (*SRSLY. GURL. IF YOU ACTUALLY WROTE OUT ALL OF WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE THE SCENE THAT’S WRITTEN OUT HERE, I WOULD SO TOTALLY FUCKIN READ THAT SHIT AND I’D PROBABLY FREAK THE FUCK OUT CAUSE IT’D BE LIKE EXPANDING THE ‘VERSE IN A WAY AND JUST- *flails*), and everything surrounding it is basically her methodically processing the scene she’s trying to write
…AND IT’S SO.REALISTIC. OH MY GOD.
I ALMOST FELL OVER LAUGHING AT SOME PARTS, NOT EVEN CAUSE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FUNNY SCENE (neither the scene she’s writing or her rl perspective) OR ANYTHING, BUT CAUSE IT’S LITERALLY SO RIDICULOUSLY SPOT ON AND RELATABLE, AND I PRACTICALLY WASN’T EXPECTING THE TYPE OF PERSPECTIVE I GOT TO READ HERE
IT’S JUST FUCKIN GREAT AND I LOVED IT.
…..SO NOW IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, I NEED TO COMMENT ON THE ACTUAL AO3 COMMENTS OF THIS FIC CAUSE I FUCKIN LOVE THIS, AND Y’ALL WILL BE PRACTICALLY DEMANDING A SEQUEL TO THIS STORY JUST LIKE I’M BASICALLY ABOUT TO DO CAUSE IT’S THAT. AWESOME. SRSLY.
ALL-OF-EVERYBODY’S-SMUT-WRITING-FEELS-AND-ROM-COM-Y-’RL’-PLOT-FOR-ALL-OF-MY-YES-AND-THE-WINNING-AT-EVERYTHING OUT OF TEN
I’ve literally been re-reading this comment since you linked it a couple of hours ago. I have no idea what to say, I’m utterly overwhelmed. You are far too kind and just wow, thank you so much for your lovely words. I appreciate it so much. Also thanks for linking me this post, I hadn’t seen it before thanks to tumblr misbehaving.
I do accept prompts, so if you want the verse expanded in any particular direction you can always hit up my askbox 🙂 Thank you again, I am just overwhelmed. You are incredible!
#i wish i could respond more eloquently but you have just killed me with compliments#there are no words
Is it selfish of me that I’m happy to hear more fic is going on the list? Either way I know you can do it!!! *waves pompoms*
Haha, well this comment made me happy, so no I don’t think that’s selfish at all. Thank you *hugs* I have 15 active works in progress, though thankfully I’ve only been reckless enough to start posting 5 of them. so I’m not in danger of running out of things to write anytime soon 🙂
1) What’s your personal favorite thing you wrote this year?
You’ve picked the tough questions heh. ‘Favorite’ is such an indefinable concept. I like things for different reasons, so choosing between them is hard. Fall All Over Again was my first Lacey fic and I found that I really enjoyed writing her. The Beauty and the Tragedy I wrote in a day and I feel it came out really well. I actually feel proud of it, which doesn’t happen often.
I have a real soft spot for both In Your Arms and Between Two Fires. I did a lot of worldbuilding for both of them and they feel very real to me. Then there’s Painting Layers of Love, which is something of a labor of love. I suppose ultimately, if I had to pick just one … gah this is so hard. Oh man I don’t know, I think I might have to go with Between Two Fires. It has so much potential for expansion and I just love so many aspects of it.
5) Which of your fics do you wish was more successful?
Another hard one because I don’t want to seem ungrateful. I’m always thrilled if anyone reads my fics. That being said it’s not actually the fics that are the lowest on the stats page, that I wish were more successful. Basically, I have two reasons for why I wish fics were more successful. 1) I worked really hard on it. 2) I want to write more in the same verse because I loved it, but I feel like it would probably be a waste of time.
Anyway, before season six aired, I wrote an ‘alternate season six’ which is it’s own verse now – The War Within. On the stats page if I rank by hits it’s second, if I rank by kudos it’s 7th. Oddly a oneshot I posted this Tuesday (so 2 days ago) has more kudos, I’m still scratching my head over how that happened. I mean The War Within verse is over 100k, so I’m guessing it’s too long, or maybe because it was an ensemble piece and not just Rumbelle it doesn’t have an audience. I don’t know.
Then there’s what I would like to write more of, which funnily enough links back to the first question of ‘favorite’ quite neatly 🙂 Between Two Fires and In Your Arms, I loved both of those so much. I guess I always hope that my love for a project will somehow come through with my words, and then readers will like it as well, but I guess what I like a lot and what readers like a lot, are two different things. It’s interesting how that happens.
Right, I have to choose. Well In Your Arms has done better than Between Two Fires, so I’m going to have to go with that again – Between Two Fires.
Does AO3 give you a boost and make more people see your fic, if it gets a lot of hits when first uploaded or something? I’m pretty certain it doesn’t. It’s just it’s always incredible to watch a brand new fic suddenly move halfway up the stats page within 2 days. I’m never going to understand why sometimes that happens, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Anyway, I’ve thrown out my original plan and my backup plan, and I think I’m on plan C or D at this point. Is it really less than 2 weeks into the New Year? I’ve decided that while my conscience would prefer I balance WIP’s and update them in sequence, my sanity can’t take it. I believe I made a post like this once before, back in October perhaps? where I confessed I had bitten off more than I could chew. Well, I don’t learn 🙂
I have two prompts left for All I Needed, so that is quick to cross off the list. After that I’m going to update Painting Layers of Love before my guilt crushes me. I had such good intentions with that fic. I left it on a cliffhanger and I was determined to fix it and then real life exploded and somehow it got to be a month later – again! I feel terrible about it. Anyway, that’s next and then after that I’ll pick the WIP closest to being finished, and keep going with that until it’s finished, and then rinse and repeat.
Oops yeah you are right, I left an idea off the list. I forgot my Rushbelle WIP as that has been on ice for several months. Make that 15 active works in progress, or semi-active at least 🙂
Synopsis: Belle French’s life revolves around books. During the day she works as a librarian, and in the evenings she writes stories of her own. Everyday she watches Mr. Gold lock up his shop and everyday she swears that she’ll wave or do something, but she never does. If this were one of her stories then Mr. Gold would have noticed her watching him, and one day their eyes would meet and he would confess that he liked her as well. The problem was, life wasn’t a story. If it was, then Belle would have written herself a happy ending a long time ago.
Note: Written for @a-monthly-rumbelling in January. The prompt was Public/Semi Public Sex. I know the rule is to post in the last week of the month, but I really like to post fic on Tuesdays and I didn’t have anything else prepared. If it means this doesn’t count and it won’t get included on the masterlist then so be it. I’m hoping I’ll be able to write something else anyway. This fic also uses a prompt I liked that didn’t get picked, for the Great Rumbelle Blow-Off, which was Librarian!Belle
is a shy woman who secretly writes erotic stories. Anyway, enjoy! 🙂
Belle French
sighed softly to herself as she locked up the library. The days were starting
to get shorter as autumn turned to winter, and she shivered as the breeze
teased the hair escaping from her practical pony-tail. It tickled her neck as
she lingered in the doorway, her gaze going across the road to the pawnshop
down the street. Leaves skittered on the ground, as she half-hid behind the
open door, watching Mr. Gold lock up his shop.
She could see
the breeze was tugging at his hair as well, the strands rippling. He had his
dark overcoat slung over his arm, and leant heavily on his cane as he strode
round the side of the shop to the alley where he parked his dark Cadillac.
Belle sighed again and pushed the door closed, turning the key in the lock with
a definitive click. She glanced around the library, but it had been a slow day
and everything was already in it’s place. With nothing else to do, she made her
way up the spiral metal staircase to her apartment.
The moment she
was inside, Belle wandered over and pressed the power button on her computer,
slumping down in the chair in front of the monitor. Everyday she swore that she
would wave, or do something other than stare like a stalker, and everyday she
just stood there hiding behind the door. If this were a romance story then Mr.
Gold would have noticed her watching him, and one day their eyes would meet and
he would confess that he’d been watching her too, and they would all live
happily ever after.
This was SO CUTE! I adore clashes of fandom and “real life” in fic, it’s sort of meta but also very relateable. I can really feel everything that Belle feels about writing. Lovely way of getting these two nerds together.
Haha you’ll notice I didn’t say what fandom it was. I just skated on that whole thing because it didn’t really matter and I don’t think I’m that inventive. My choice was either pick a different actual fandom, or come up with some sort of spin on the show. It was easier just to handwave it. Yeah Belle’s romantic cliche came to life – she’d been pining after Gold, and it turns out he actually had been pining after her as well 🙂 Thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked it!
