I used to ship this back in seasons 1 and 2 and even a bit of 3. To me it's a shame that they took it and instead of Belle helping Rumple become a better man they decided to make the whole thing lowkey abusive. I get wanting to throw some hurdles in for Rumple but I think they overdid it and kind of made it a situation that can't be repaired.

What happened to Rumbelle, to me, felt inevitable. Their story was always meant to be tragically beautiful, and it was, at some point, supposed to end. The writers insistance on keeping them together this long has drastically decreased my opinion of the couple, and I would enjoy both characters much, much more if they just let each other go already.

I'm the type of person who would argue that Cora (who is my 2nd favorite character)'s death was a good thing, and that Rumple and Anastasia (who are my 3rd and 1st faves) should have stayed dead after 3x11 and 1x13. So idk I guess I'm just a sucker for a well-done tragedy even if my fave characters and couples suffer for it. I do feel like since Rumbelle is probably gonna still be endgame, they've wasted a brilliant opportunity to do that with the couple. But still, really good writing for them, at least until 4B.

My issue with OQ on the other hand, is mainly the writing. I'm a huge multishipper (and I ship Regina with pretty much everyone), so the fact I didn't like OQ was surprising and disappointing for me. And I really, really like the concept of it. Robin Hood and the Evil Queen. Which is to say, if their story had been written differently, I probably would have shipped them. But with them, the writing struck me as lazy. I was a bit iffy on the fairydust plotline to begin with, but if they'd held off on letting Regina see the tattoo on Robin until after she'd fallen for him, even that probably would have been enough to make me like the ship. There have been other instances where it felt like the writers were taking short cuts with them, but this comment is long enough already, so I'll skip over that. They also don't have much chemistry imo, but that's not relevant for this particular poll.

tl;dr: OQ because they could have been so much more if they had been better written, while Rumbelle usually is well-written if nothing else.

Part of me felt like it was inevitable the other part of me didn't. Like I could see how it would have worked out. Even so if they chose the tragedy route--like you said--they should have stuck with it and had the pair just let go. Because right now they're making Rumple look like an abuser and I hate that they're taking his character in that direction. The writers insistance on keeping them together this long has drastically decreased my opinion of the couple. Same here. As you mentioned I think that what they had written in seasons 1-3 was so tragically beautiful and was just written so well. But then they kind of just messed it up. And I feel bad for Rumbelle shippers because they are getting royally screwed.

Though also think that OQ fans are getting the short end. As you said, the writing of it was a bit sloppy and I think the pair got put on a back burner towards the end which didn't help at all. I am also a multishipper and ship Regina with like everyone--Robin included. But again, like you mentioned, they writing seemed a bit lazy to me at best. They had so much to work with pairing an Evil Queen with a noble thief. And in the beginning (of season 3) I think they scratched the surface of a complex relationship and then they just kind of let it drop. I still ship OQ but there's a reason that it hasn't surpassed Stable Queen for me.

And of course the whole thing with Zelena getting impregnate and Regina & Robin doing the do when they thought she was Marian made the ship a bit messy for me. I wish they hadn't thrown that curve ball in there. And of course his death was a sizable blow. Not to mention they didn't really flesh Robin out as a character; he pretty much was just 'the love interest'. I like him, I like OQ but they could have done so much more for it.

The writers keeping ruining their story!

OQ always felt forced to me and I found it so boring.

I detest Rumbelle.
I don't love Outlaw Queen, but between the two: Outlaw Queen did deserve better.

Pleaseeeeeee don't make me laugh with the OQ entry! This must be a sick joke!

OUTLAW QUEEN DON'T DESERVE A SH*T!

It's a horrible,rushed,one dimensional love interest that ruined Regina sucking the life out of her character with an underdeveloped and poorly written character (see Robin) played by an actor with flat acting skills, always in complete contrast with Lana's stellar performance making it sometimes extremely painful for me to watch.
Reducing Hood's character to nothing more than a romantic object for Regina was pitiful making him nothing but a waste of airtime that I don't want to witness again on my screen.
How could I see Robin Hood as Regina's endgame romance when we were never given any solid reason to root for them? It was just a forced pixie dust romance.

If one couple is entitled to bear the title of the ship with the hardest hits it's Rumbelle!

And to rephrase Isaac Heller “of all the OuaT ships, Rumbelle really do (repeatedly) get screwed over the most.” And royally screwed doesn't even begin to cover it @zanhar1.

Holy shit is it just me or is the internet extra hateful today? Like all of the comments on my polls have been so needlessly salty today. And don't even get me started on tumblr.

The fact that so many people (namely SQ fans...surprise surprise everyone) see it as rushed and underdeveloped is a tell-tale sign that it took a massive hit. Because the authors didn't care enough about it to even try to develop it. At least it looked like they were trying with Rumbelle in the beginning. They didn't really even try with OQ and it really could have been a good ship if they had. That is how I say that it took a huge hit. That's also why I think the ship deserved better.

Honestly I already regret asking this. Shipping in this fandom is god awful. Tbh SQ fans, CS fans, and OQ fans are all equally as bad at this point. Frankly the Rumbellers (and Swan Fire fans, maybe) are the cinnamon rolls who don't deserve their ship to get screwed.