Author's Notes: Rumple's Magic Words

for after Chapter Seven

Hi, again. Now that you’ve seen Chapter Seven, you know about Rumple’s Magic Words. The concept of the Words hearkens back to a feature on the TV show, but I took it much further than the show did. I want to trace the origins of the idea, but first, I want to say a few short words about Cogsworth.

Cogsworth

You may have noticed that Cogsworth bears an uncanny resemblance to Rumpelstiltskin. That’s because they’re both the actor Robert Carlyle. After playing Rumple, he took the role of the scientist Ogilvy in an adaptation of “The War of the Worlds.” I borrowed his picture and some key elements of the character to create Cogsworth. To use a fanfic term, it’s a cross-over.

When I told over Cogsworth’s backstory, I mentioned that he was enslaved to someone named Zelena before he made his deal with Rumpelstiltskin. Zelena, unlike Cogsworth, is a character in the original TV show, though she’s not introduced until Season Three. She’s the Wicked Witch of the West, and it turns out she’s Cora’s real firstborn, not Regina.

Zelena was born out of wedlock, so Cora sent her to live in Oz. Because of her inherited powers, she rose to prominence there, but after having grown up as an orphan, she’s a bitterly unhappy person. When she discovers her origins, she demands to become Rumpelstiltskin’s pupil. His bargain with Cora was for her firstborn, after all, and that’s her, not Regina. He sees the legitimacy of the claim, and a deal is a deal, so he takes her on, but he does not renounce Regina. Throughout my novel, Regina will have no idea Zelena exists, and you’ll only read about her in connection with Cogsworth.

The Magic Words

Now to the Magic Words. As I said, they’re part of the TV series, but the only one that really got elaborated on was please. In the first part of this video clip, you’ll see Rumpelstiltskin make Regina agree to obey him whenever he says it. The rest of the video takes place in the modern world, showing the different times he uses the “spell” on her.

I contend that Rumple taught “please” to more than just Regina. Here is a scene with his son Bae as an adult. Rumple doesn’t believe it’s really Bae. He thinks that a shapeshifter is trying to trick him. Bae only convinces him by saying, “Please, Papa.” To borrow from a concept in Jewish prayer, he said the Magic Words with the right intentionality, and that’s what made the difference.

My Magic Words also include the phrases “thank you” and “I’m sorry.” I think that’s consistent with the TV show. There were some scenes in which the actors seemed to land on those phrases with extra emphasis. Here’s a significant “I’m sorry,” between Belle and Rumple in the modern world. She is under a spell that has altered her memory, and he has been trying to regain her trust. When she says, “I’m sorry,” he realizes that a glimmer of the real Belle is breaking through, so he takes the opportunity to give her the potion that will restore her to her old self.

Wet Rags and the Teacup

That clip brings up two more elements that set up my upcoming chapters. First, the wet rags. In the first two seasons, characters were spilling things and wiping them up at all kinds of important junctures. There’s even an instance of it in the opening scene. I think it was meant as a hint like the “pleases,” “I’m sorry’s” and “thank you’s.” The creators of the TV show are Kitsis and Horowitz, who also created the series “Lost.” That show (which I’ve never seen) is reportedly full of hints that the fans loved to track and decode. I think they were doing something similar with those wet rags, and I suspect it was meant as another magic spell, but since not enough fans noticed, they dropped it without explanation. That gave me room to do whatever I wanted with it, and you’ll see the spell I invented in Chapter Nine.

And finally, there’s the teacup - a symbol in Rumple’s and Belle’s love. Rumple tells Belle it’s part of their past. In a prior scene, he calls it her “talisman.” The scene in which she “consecrates” it is the basis for the upcoming chapter. Once again, I’ve built my text around the dialogue in the show, but instead of giving you Belle’s or Rumple’s perspective on the scene, the narrator of the chapter is one of “my” characters - Mrs. Potts.

To see the original scene, watch the first minute of the video clip below. It’ll set you right up for Chapter Eight. Enjoy!