Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

A general “YES!” to everything you all have said the last few pages! The moon may shine very bright when it is night, but when the day returns, you can’t see anything but the sun.  That is how I feel it is for Emma right now.  She’s going “dark” they said, with her experimenting in magic, her loss of hope and all of this is making Hook come off to her as surprisingly impressive (to her).  Yet that bright light is going to pale in comparison when she realizes what a strong, generous heart that Neal has always had and still has, because it reflects in how people respond to him.  He doesn’t have a trail of enemies or people with vendettas (we can imagine) because basically he tries to be good to people even when he doesn’t have to be.  Emma has a lot of people in her life to love, and she may not value Neal’s ability to share her with all of those people so much right now as this is a new thing for her.  She’s only ever thought of herself as alone, and it is overwhelming but it is part of her now and Neal would sort of understand and encourage her to be able to accept rather than run from all these other people and connections.   The writers can write things however they choose of course, as it is a story, but that is the one I hope they tell.

A lot of people faulted Neal for ‘flirting’ with Tamara, but that wasn’t what I saw when they met.  I saw a guy who thought he’d just ruined a woman’s day, and to make up for it tried to help her out.  He didn’t have to care, but he did and it wasn’t because he saw her and thought she was pretty.  I don’t think he got out of bed to save Whale because he thought he was hot (although Whale is…) but because he wasn’t going to let his dad bully someone.  It wasn’t just to yell at Rumple because he has “daddy issues”–he did it because as with the maid and snail guy, Neal values other people even if they are not family.  That is something that is new for Emma as she’s always had to look out mainly for herself.   The growth she had, going from a loner to “hero of the town”–it sits uncomfortably on her shoulders but it is part of her.  Neal’s not going to lead her away from it.  He isn’t going to force her either, but he’s just going to stand and say he has her back.  If she does become corrupted, if magic does start to eat at her, then I don’t think he’ll abandon her.  Even if she makes it hard to save her–and I don’t want them to make her weak and passive either just so he can show he’s strong, but whatever they do with Emma, I think they can right his character consistently as supporting her.  He’s been through a lot without ever being driven to obsession and anger against those who harmed him, at least not for ever.