Er-a different kind of mun/character development ask than the meme: What's your one pet peeve you have with how the writers have written Belle, and what do you hope they'll explore with her as a character?
[ out of the library ] Oh gosh. Okay, fair warning — this is probably going to get long. So first of all, my biggest pet peeve is that they reduce Belle to being the victim wayyyy too much. Regina capturing and imprisoning her both in the EF and then in the asylum, Hook going after her in the library, Hook shooting her and sending her careening over the town line, Regina implanting those memories of Lacey, being tied up and threatened by Michael and John at gunpoint, and now — granted, it wasn’t as drastic — but Zelena’s manipulation of her to retrieve the nightroot from Gold’s shop.
Belle has proven time and time again that she’s a heroine (and can get things accomplished much faster than a large part of the core group, lbr), but still she’s often made a victim. Which, in turn, is more devastating for me because we never get to deal with the fallout. I don’t know about you, but if I were locked away in a tiny room for thirty plus years, I’d have some issues upon re-entering the normal world. Not to mention dealing with getting shot and the constant victimization she suffers at the hands of Regina and Hook. If the writers are going to introduce such tragedy like that in someone’s life, then the consequences need to be reflected in Belle’s character. Where’s her doubt, the anxiety, the fear that any person — even someone as hopeful as Belle — would suffer?
The biggest oversight of this nature for me was the most recent one of dealing with Rumpelstiltskin’s “death” — aside from her obvious grief immediately after the fact, the only glimpse of her mourning or sadness that we were afforded was when Zelena called her Mrs. Gold. I understand that Belle’s optimism and hope is such an integral part of her character, but that optimism (mostly in the 3B premiere) came way too quickly for me and even my muse was simply like “…WTF?” I don’t want to see her … wallow in grief or in self-pity, as that then wouldn’t be realistic of her nature, but a little bit of realistic consequence would be nice. ANYHOO. Now that I’ve rambled, what I want to see? Exploring her backstory — her backstory that isn’t some perpetuation of Rumple’s storyline (as much as I love Rumbelle), and truly letting her shine as the brave woman that she is instead of sidelining her when she’s as much a regular as Regina, Charming, Hook, etc. etc.