Fanfic / Mr and Mrs Gold

Mr and Mrs Gold is a Once Upon a Time fanfic by ShakespeareanHoneyBadgers (now moved over to shegal92's account).

What if Rumplestiltskin HAD rescued Belle from the Evil Queen? What if Belle had never been in the asylum, instead right there at Mr. Gold's side as the story unfolded?

The fanfic can be found on Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own, and has a Tumblr account dedicated to it.

The fanfic's continuity would later be followed up with The Golds (official sequel) and Mr and Mrs Gold, Season 2 (unofficial sequel).

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Mr and Mrs Gold provides examples of:

• Abuse Mistake: Given Rumpelstiltskin's/Mr. Gold's intimidating reputation, many believe that Belle/Rose is a victim of abuse, with Jefferson (already off of the deep end) trying to keep her in his house under the assumption that Mr. Gold is keeping her against her will.
• Adaptational Badass: While she is still Rumpelstiltskin's Morality Pet and is a force for good, here Belle gains magical abilities from the ritual used to bind her on their wedding day. She earns her own infamous status as "the Caretaker", some rumors speculating that she is even worse than Rumpel, and is one of the few characters aside from Rumpel capable of intimidating Regina.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the series, Gaston was a minor character that was unceremoniously disposed of (later revealed to be a real jackass many seasons later). Here, he is portrayed as being an understanding and compassionate man, having seen how much Belle and Rumpelstiltskin care for one another and holding no ill will even after Rumpel turned him into a rose and him losing his legs after Belle trimmed the stem. The same applies to his Storybook counterpart Gaspard.
• Animals Hate Him: Hilariously inverted. Despite not wanting to have anything to do with him, Rose’s adopted kitten Figaro takes a liking to Mr. Gold, following him around and making himself a nuisance every chance he gets. Mr. Gold does not start warming up to him until after Figaro scratches at Regina when she tried to pet him.
• Berserk Button: Any parent that abandons their child is considered a bastard in Gold’s books. Even with Belle safe and sound, he does not take it well when she uses the chipped cup to feed a cat either.
• Brain Bleach: Whether it is Ruby or Regina, many characters have voiced their displeasure when the Gold's sex-life is brought up.
• Bookworm: Rose is proven to be as much of a reader as Belle, having read through Ruby's copy of Fifty Shades of Grey in less than a day and turning their garage into their own personal library.
• Casual Kink: The Gold’s sex lives seem to have traces of this, with various mentions of bondage and power-play in their sex lives. At one point Rose had to walk around town with a scarf to hide severe bruising. When Regina snitched the scarf away, she was forced to confess the truth lest everyone think she was being abused. Hilariously, Granny was the only one not completely miffed by this.
• Cat Folk: Inspite of the name, Werecats are nothing like werewolves. They are a cat-like humanoid species with magical capabilities, most notably their magic nine lives. Katja the Puss in Boots is one such werecat.
• Celestial Bureaucracy: The Underworld seems to have shades of this. Lines of people waiting to get onto Charon’s boat (with proper payment of course), an intercom voice instructing them what to do, etc.
• Character Title
• Crazy-Prepared: This little bit in Chapter 19:

  August: …you hid…a fake dagger?
  Rose: I’ve hidden dozens of them, this world and our home world, in case something like this should occur. The location of the real dagger is my little secret… Really, you think Rumplestiltskin would marry an idiot? That I would just hand over the key to his destruction to any Tom, Dick, or Stanley claiming to be his long-lost son?

• Cuteness Proximity: The moment Rose happens upon Marco’s cat and its litter of kittens, her first instinct is to adopt one of them. Many of their more hilarious moments involves Rose and Mr. Gold dealing with the kitten (then named Figaro).
  Rose: Rumplestiltskin, what are you doing?!
  Mr. Gold: …holding the cat?
  Rose: By his neck!
  Mr. Gold: It was just by the scruff; I wasn't hurting him. Mother cats do it all the time.
  Rose: Are you a mother cat?!
• Downer Ending Cliffhanger: Belle crossed the border and reverted to her Rose persona before Mr. Gold could stop her. Now she is pregnant and beyond his reach, with her angry at him under mistaken infedelity.
• The Dreaded: While Mr. Gold is as much feared here as he is in-canon, this is off-set by his wife's popularity.
  • While Belle can be considered a good witch, everybody is still afraid of her due to her husband’s reputation and her rather pragmatic apathy to certain affairs.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Cat, actually. First time Figaro meets Regina, his first instinct is to claw at her when she tries petting him. It is this that endears Mr. Gold to the cat.
  • Unicorns are aggressive to any signs of impurity (which is implied to be anybody that is not a young virgin) and will try to exterminate it without prejudice. This is demonstrated with a unicorn Belle was petting suddenly tried killing her when it noticed the mark on her arm.
• Female Gaze: During their Slumber Party, a slightly drunk Rose asks Mr. Gold to pick up one of her books off the floor, only to get cat-calls from the others when he does.
  Rose: Told you guys… And he’s all mine.
• For Want Of A Nail: With Belle’s new characterization and influence on the story, changes are inevitable.
  • Henry gets confirmation that his theory that the book is true is brought in early when Rose (who gave him the book) accidentally slips that she is awake and aware of everything.
  • Mr. Gold concedes to Regina that he does in-fact remember long before he was meant to in-canon.
  • August decides to try and trick Rose into giving him the dagger instead of Mr. Gold. It still does not end well.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Due to her ambiguous alliance and the incident involving Cinderella, Belle decided not to attend Snow White’s baby shower, sending her gift by mail and appearing after everybody else left.
• Gossip Evolution: Given the unusual nature of their relationship, people all over Storybrooke have made their theories on the nature of the Gold’s marriage, such things including mail-order brides to paying off Mr. French’s debts to her being a Gold Digger. Naturally, Emma does not believe any of them.
• The Grim Reaper: Charon the Ferryman is portrayed as wearing a black hood and a scythe.
• Guilt Complex: Belle/Rose feels particularly responsible for Gaston/Gaspard losing his legs (something he insists she shouldn’t do).
• I Have Many Names: Belle has earned many names in the short time she had been married to the Dark One: the Caretaker, the Devil’s Bride, the Harlot of Hell, The Chosen One, etc.
• I Have No Son!: Maurice essentially disowns Belle when he finds out that she married Rumpelstiltskin of her own free will and became a sorceress, denying her even when she offered to help him when he fell ill. In Storybrooke, Moe French did the same thing when she broke it off with her handsome finance Gaspard and cancelled all plans last minute to marry Mr. Gold, who he sees as an Ambiguously Evil landlord and implied criminal. They eventually reconcile after Mr. Gold gives him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech after denying Rose's officer to give one of her kidneys to save him.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite the difference Belle's early liberation (and her Storybrooke counterpart's presence) has on the story, various events and factors still fall into place, considering Rumpelstiltskin was the one that set up the dominoes and this version of Belle is now in on the plan.
  • Henry still gets the book… it is just that Rose gave it to him and not Mary Margaret.
  • Maurice's Storybrooke persona Moe French winds up in the hospital… but it has nothing to do with Mr. Gold, instead caused by organ failure.
  • Mr. Gold’s treasured cup gets stolen on Regina’s behalf… but by Kit instead of Moe French.
• Laughing Mad: Unicorns have a hallucinative bite. When one manages to bite Belle, devolves into a giggling mess.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Because of his curse, Rumpelstiltskin is sterile and therefor cannot give Belle a baby that way. When he finds out that Belle wants one, he tells her that the next child he bargains for will become her's. This is why she tries to make sure the Cinderella honors her side of the deal. This applies in Storybrooke until Rose finds out she is pregnant by the end of the story, averting the trope.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: In Chapter 5…
  Marco: The love of a woman, eh? What a man wouldn't do for it.
  Mr. Gold: You speak of this to no one and your rent will be mysteriously low next month.
• Literal-Minded: Belle decides not to use metaphor when planning to tell Mr. Gold that she is pregnant because of this (though it might be a side-effect of hundreds of years of bending the wording of his deals to his advantage).
• Logical Latecomer: When Emma first meets Rose, she sees her walking throughout the square with her nose in a book, every other pedestrian and driving car do not find it the least bit concerning or something to notice, as if she has been doing the same walk with them for years (for 28 years even). Naturally, Emma is the only one to think this is strange.
• Made a Slave: Subverted. The Dark One is capable of giving others their mark, making them their Familiar and their slave. This process not only imbues them with a small amount of their power, but it gives them the ability to know when their master requires them. Rumpelstiltskin does this to Belle at their wedding not to enslave her, but to make sure that he could keep an eye on her and come when she needs him (and vice-versa).
  • Played straight with the Huntsman and Regina.
• Magitek: The Time Clock Dragon is a magical cuckoo-clock within Rumpelstiltskin’s collection that comes to life when the clock strikes midnight, briefly coming to life and doing a dancing puppet-show that predicts future events. While Rumpel finds it an annoyance, Belle enjoys the stories it tells.
  Wooden Puppet: Ladyfleas and gentlefarts, may I present to you tonight's tale… Charming Snow!
• May–December Romance: As Belle and Rumpelstiltskin, she is in her early twenties while he is literally hundreds of years old. As Rose and Mr. Gold, Emma was sure that he was her father or father-in-law before she saw them kiss. Emma even once refers to Mr. Gold as a “cradle-robber.”
• Noodle Incident: Apparently Rumpelstiltskin got him and Belle lost on their way to the White Witch’s Castle in Narnia due to his distrust of wolves, and wound up picking a fight with Mr. Tumnus when he thought he was hitting on Belle.
• Not What It Looks Like: During her interrogation of August, Rose took an axe to his leg to test it as wooden. Eventually someone called Emma who - since she does not believe the curse exists yet - sees Rose holding a bloody axe with a wounded August in her cabin. Subverted, as Rose puts up no fight and even tells her husband not to pay her bail, relying on August’s cooperation.
• One Curse Limit: This is why Rumpelstiltskin does not have to worry about werewolf bites.
• Only One Name: Regina points out how odd it is that Rose refers to her husband as “Mr. Gold” just like everybody else.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In Chapter 4, Rose can tell that something is wrong when her husband was running late for dinner, knowing that Mr. Gold is a Creature of Habit.
• Pyrrhic Victory: It is not until after Emma gets Mr. Gold to alter his deal with Ashley does she find out that he and his wife were planning on adopting it themselves, being unable to have kids themselves. Even more, Emma recalls that Ashley and Sean are still just teenagers.
• Read the Fine Print: Belle points out to Ella that it was an incredibly stupid and short-sighted thing to do signing a Magically-Binding Contract from somebody like Rumpelstiltskin without reading any of it and not expecting some horrifying repercussion.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Belle gives one to Ella in Chapter 4 when she demands she return her husband.
  • Mr. Gold gives one to Moe French after he turns down Rose’s offer to help him in Chapter 6.
    "She told you what I said, didn't she?" Moe guessed, "She came running home to you to have you come here and threaten me.”
    Mr. Gold smirked.
    "Rose is a big girl; she doesn't tattle," he said, grip tightening on the cane, "No, I can tell whenever she has a run in with you because of how upset she is. How the light in her eyes just seems to leave her…the way her shoulders cave in and the words don't come out of her like a bubbling brook." Moe could see the tendons in his hands, practically jumping out as he choked his cane, "Today she locked herself in the bathroom and sobbed. I don't think she recognizes that the fan can't drown her out as well as she thinks it does.”
    Mr. Gold's voice was even, but Moe could hear the drip of venom that crept into his words. He hated Moe French; that was crystal clear. Moe just hoped that the nurses would come quick enough if the wolf decided to pounce.
    "So tell me, Mr. French," Mr. Gold rumbled, dark eyes meeting his as his upper lip curled, "Because I honestly cannot fathom it myself… How can you turn your daughter away? How can you see her agony and refuse to do anything to help her? How can you look into those blue eyes so full of love for you…and shut her out?”
    The cane was starting to shake from his grip. He looked ready to tear Moe's throat out. But he stayed rooted to his spot, while Moe was scared into silence.
    "It must take a greater man than I am, because I can't for the life of me be content with watching her suffer. I mean, it's been a long time since I've been a father, but the very thought of shutting my own child whom I love out… Well I just couldn't do that. I'm weak like that," he shook his head, "She's willing to take a part of her out, go through the pain of surgery and recovery, just so that your life will be a little better… And you reject that gift, that selfless act of love…because you can't even man up enough to talk to her.”
    Moe stared at him, willing himself not to cry at this monster's words. He didn't understand… how could he understand the pain Rose had put them through? How her choice was so selfish and careless, leaving an aftermath that Gaspard and he still hadn't recovered from? Mr. Gold gave him one of those wolfish smiles.
    "You want to know a secret, Mr. French?" He whispered. Moe remained still and, after a few seconds, Mr. Gold continued, "I have no idea why she married me either. It's like she sees something no one else does, a shadow of a heart in an empty chest. I'm grateful for every day I have her, and I try every single day to be good enough for her, which is an impossible task," he frowned, "Her happiness means everything to me… So I implore you to stop hurting her so I can do my job as a husband properly.”
    His piece said, Mr. Gold turned and walked out of the room as though it weren't two in the morning and he hadn't just chewed out his father-in-law.
• Resurrective Immortality: Until she is resuscitated by Hades, Belle was dead for three days.
• Sentimental Drunk: Rose is described as being a very “friendly” drunk, ranging from cuddling to trying to claw her husband’s pants off.
• Shout-Out: The song Belle sings the baby in Chapter 4 “Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty.
  • Rose names the kitten she gets from Marco “Figaro.”
  • The way Belle manipulates Persephone in the Underworld has some mild similarities to when Sisyphus does the same in the original Greek myth.
  • Belle tries to keep Snow White’s friends from burying her after she falls under the Sleeping Curse, arguing that she is “only mostly dead.”
• Slumber Party: Belle first heard about Rumpelstiltskin during a slumber party she had with Snow White at Winter’s Pass Finishing Academy for Young Ladies.
  • When Rose offers Ruby a room at their place until she gets back on her feet, they wind up inviting Mary Margaret and Emma too and make a sleepover out of it.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Belle’s release from Regina’s torture (and all the For Want Of A Nail) was done when the Genie of the Mirror grew a consciouce and told Rumpel about it.
• Spinoff: Behind the Back Room’s Curtain, Prodding the Beast, The Dungeon and Concentration
• "Take That!" Kiss: Flaunting their love-life whenever Regina is around has become a particularly favorite past-time for the Golds.
• Tempting Fate: The thought occurs to Cruella that she could live a normal, uncursed life in Storybrooke after she regains her memories. Then magic comes to Storybrooke immediately after…
• Thanatos Gambit: As a part of Rumpelstiltskin’s “Honey-Do” list for her to do before the Dark Curse hits, Belle poisons herself, relying on the magic of the mark her husband gave her to resuscitate her after she sees Baelfire's mortal-state recorded in the Underworld.
• Unholy Matrimony: Belle and Rumpelstiltskin is considered this. Downplayed, as calling Belle a villain of any kind would be a bit of a stretch.

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