- This topic has 25,813 replies, 124 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
In all of those scenarios though, Emma and Neal would each totally understand how the other was feeling, and they’d get through it together.
I love how this sentence really applies to any situation with these two : they get each other. Plain and simple.
It’s why he didn’t make any grand declaration of love in that cave situation, even though all we’ve heard from him previously this season is, “Gotta get to Emma and tell her I love her.” That hug spoke louder than the words would have, and the state she was in, she couldn’t deal with hearing the words right then, and he knew that because he wasn’t in the headspace to hear it either right after he was reunited with his father. He doesn’t wanna put more pressure on her right now, it’s the last thing she needs. The time to say “I love you” will come, but in the mean time, he’s just gonna show her instead, so she can realise it and deal with it at her own pace, instead of having it dropped on her like a bomb when she’s already got other bombs constantly dropping on her.
[adrotate group="5"]“In order to rescue Neal, Emma has to not only admit how much she loves him, but how frightened she is of losing him again.”
How the people at HULU described Emma’s confession to Neal.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/553509#i1,p0,d1
If you click the details you can read it.
Let all these people think Emma said she wanted to move on and ignore that she never stopped loving Neal, ignore that Hook wishes he were not attracted to her because of his connection to Bae, that Emma didn’t forget the pain BOTH she and Neal went through. I think the writers won’t forget what Hook did last season either, just like they are not letting Neal off easy. It is just that people are so determined to read Emma as reacting to Hook more kindly than I think she has been. She does not repress and say the opposite of what she feels in every scene!
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
Thank you guys for being here. Neal gets a lot of hate sometimes (and I get it, if you love Hook you want him happy and Neal gets in the way), and for some reason it’s even harder for me to accept Neal-hate than Rumple-hate. Here’s me thinking his promise to always fight for her was a promise for the future, a vow that he does still love her and will try not to hurt her again because he knows he screwed up, and people on Tumblr are putting the worst possible spin on it.
Perhaps more of Neal’s backstory, and maybe Tamara’s, will connect the dots of his psyche better, but since he found out he was a father, he’s done his best to be there for both Emma and Henry. And even when he’s hurt her, it’s been accidental or because he believed he was helping her at the time…gah, can I just hug him? Please?
Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing
Thanks everyone for sharing you awesome videos and excellent thoughts on SF going forward. *Group hug* I re-watched 3×6 (yet again), and I observed something further from the text. Recall what advice Snow gave Ariel in 3×6:
Ariel: There’s noting about any of this that’s easy…
Snow: So take my advice. Do the hard thing. Be honest. No secrets. Open your heart to love, because it is so worth the risk. Even if you get hurt, then you’ll know you tried.Snow advised her friend not to let fear of getting hurt stand in the way of opening up your heart to love, because it’s worth the risk. Emma is inwardly wrestling with her own fear of getting hurt again. It would have been easier from Emma’s perspective not to face her own feelings of love and hurt again. Emma is honest. She does the hard thing of telling Neal her real emotional state. She tells Neal in 3×6:
Neal: It’s okay. You can tell me anything.
Emma: When I heard you might be here, that you might still be alive, I knew I should be happy, but I wasn’t. I was terrified. I didn’t understand why until now. From the moment I saw you in New York, from the instant you stepped back into my life, I knew I’d never stopped loving you. Before I even had a chance to take a breath, I lost you once more, and all that pain I’d pushed down for years, it just came rushing back, and I didn’t know if I could go through it again. I love you, I probably always will. But my secret is that I was hoping this was a trick. I was hoping you were dead, because it’d be easier for me to put you behind me than to face all the pain we went through all over again.Emma confesses it would’ve been easier for her to put the past behind her than to face the pain she and Neal went through once before. That would be taking the easy way out, though, wouldn’t it? The flip-side of that statement is that it’s harder to open oneself up to the possibility of getting hurt again. Yet, just as Snow told Ariel, doing the difficult thing of risking rejection is so worth taking that chance because true love is worth it. Now that Neal is before her, Emma has the decision thrust upon her whether to do the hard thing by opening her heart again to him or to take the easy way out and walk away. Sure, it might be easier in the short-run to start up a new romance with Killian, but would it be easier in the long run knowing she still loves another man? No, it’d be harder.
In 3×1, Neal told Mulan the greatest regret of his life was taking the easy way out by not going after Emma–a regret he doesn’t wish upon anyone. Now he is fighting for a second chance with Emma, not forcing anything, but simply being there for her this time and letting her know he’s not going anywhere. His response to Emma’s confession was so endearing and cathartic when he simply enveloped Emma in a bear hug to reassure her of the strength of his love. The road to forgiveness is already there, the love they share so strong, that if they just learn to trust in that love, in time they can begin to heal together. Neal won’t ever leave her again, and he’ll be a secure presence in her life as the father of her son. He’s here now, just as Emma always longed for in her heart of hearts, fighting for her. He loves her, and he won’t abandon her again. All Emma needs is time to learn to trust that past hurts can be healed and the hope is there for a happily-ever-after with the man of her dreams.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
hank you guys for being here. Neal gets a lot of hate sometimes (and I get it, if you love Hook you want him happy and Neal gets in the way), and for some reason it’s even harder for me to accept Neal-hate than Rumple-hate. Here’s me thinking his promise to always fight for her was a promise for the future, a vow that he does still love her and will try not to hurt her again because he knows he screwed up, and people on Tumblr are putting the worst possible spin on it.
Screwball said in a recent Tumblr post
Neal can’t win, can he? If he DOESN’T say he’s still interested in Emma, people can accuse him of not really loving her, or only caring about Henry, or leaving her again like he did in the whole jail incident. If he DOES say he’s interested (like he did the episode), people can accuse him of not respecting her wishes that he, um, not be alive?
If you don’t like Neal, you’ll never like him. (and the same with Hook, Regina, Rumple, Belle, ect.) But Neal does get quite a bit of bashing from the fandom. It makes me sad because he’s my second favorite character and I feel like I really understand him so when people say he’s better off dead or he’s useless I get defensive because it feels almost like a personal attack.
*Group hug*
Ship hug!
Now that Neal is before her, Emma has the decision thrust upon her whether to do the hard thing by opening her heart again to him or to take the easy way out and walk away. Sure, it might be easier in the short-run to start up a new romance with Killian, but would it be easier in the long run knowing she still loves another man? No, it’d be harder.
This.
In 3×1, Neal told Mulan the greatest regret of his life was taking the easy way out by not going after Emma–a regret he doesn’t wish upon anyone. Now he is fighting for a second chance with Emma, not forcing anything, but simply being there for her this time and letting her know he’s not going anywhere. His response to Emma’s confession was so endearing and cathartic when he simply enveloped Emma in a bear hug to reassure her of the strength of his love.
Preach.
The road to forgiveness is already there, the love they share so strong, that if they just learn to trust in that love, in time they can begin to heal together. Neal won’t ever leave her again, and he’ll be a secure presence in her life as the father of her son. He’s here now, just as Emma always longed for in her heart of hearts, fighting for her. He loves her, and he won’t abandon her again. All Emma needs is time to learn to trust that past hurts can be healed and the hope is there for a happily-ever-after with the man of her dreams.
There is a choir singing somewhere. Mmmhm.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I guess what frustrates me the most is when Neal-haters keep on saying that he is taking Emma’s choice away and choosing for her and forcing her to be with him because he will never let her go and something like that. But when did he say that she had to be with him? I didn’t hear that at all. I did hear him saying that he was going to force his love on her. What I heard was that he was going to be there for her no matter what now. He’s made mistakes in the past and gave up on her and tried to move on. But this time he isn’t afraid of rejection or of being hurt, he’s past that now and just wants her to know that he will always be there for her no matter what. “I won’t stop fighting for you” doesn’t mean that he’ll never let her move on (if that’s what she wants) but instead that he will always be there for her and will not make the same mistake of abandoning her again. He has a lot to make up for and he knows that. But he wanted to emphasize that now he won’t be afraid to be there for her and protect her if need be. He just wanted to state his intentions. He will now show her that he can be someone she can trust and someone that will be there for her and someone she can truly rely on. Does Neal want them to be together? Of course. I think that goes without saying. But if she told him that she didn’t love him and wanted to be with someone else (which btw she didn’t), I think he would say if that is what she wanted he wouldn’t stand in the way but would always be there for her. But that’s not what Emma said. She didn’t say I was hoping you were dead so I could move on with my life without you. She instead says that it would have been easier to put him and all the pain they went through behind her. She never says she wants to move on. She apologizes because she feels bad that she was hoping for the easy way out. But again, she never says that she wants someone else. At least I never heard her say that. I mean you can only read so much in the looks and reactions between people. At some point you have to also go by what the person says. I think she does have a close relationship with Hook. They definitely have an understanding and a connection. But I still think Neal and Emma have a closer one. Sometimes they don’t even have to see each other or look at each other and they still know what the other is thinking or doing. They understand each other so well that they just know how the other will react or act in a situation. We don’t see all the intimate looks and the closeness yet because Emma is still afraid. She still think that Neal will leave her again. She doesn’t want to get close again to be left and abandoned again by Neal. But once he shows her that he will be there and can be reliable and unwavering in his vow to fight for her, we will see them start to get closer again.
Edit:
And of course, Slurpeez said everything I was thinking and saying here just much more coherently and eloquently. 🙂
*Ship hug*
"We were happy."
"Because... it was born out of true love."She instead says that it would have been easier to put him and all the pain they went through behind her. She never says she wants to move on. She apologizes because she feels bad that she was hoping for the easy way out. But again, she never says that she wants someone else. At least I never heard her say that
Me either.
Sometimes they don’t even have to see each other or look at each other and they still know what the other is thinking or doing.
Like how she knew exactly what the cave was and the meaning of the hatch marks
We don’t see all the intimate looks and the closeness yet because Emma is still afraid. She still think that Neal will leave her again. She doesn’t want to get close again to be left and abandoned again by Neal. But once he shows her that he will be there and can be reliable and unwavering in his vow to fight for her, we will see them start to get closer again.
Yeeeeeees!
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"It is just that people are so determined to read Emma as reacting to Hook more kindly than I think she has been. She does not repress and say the opposite of what she feels in every scene!
Speaking of, her reaction to his declaration of love was hardly smiley and bouncy. Consider what I said in my previous post about Neal knowing she can’t deal with bombs of love declarations being dropped on her right now. I don’t blame Hook for having said what he said when he did, because dude knew it may have been his last chance to put it out there. But, “You’re the first person in 300 years to make me believe in love,” is some serious pressure for her. “Exactly how many people am I meant to play Saviour to FFS?! It was just a kiss to me, but he’s feeling that?! And we have to live in close quarters for the foreseeable future?! Awkward much?! This is totally the last thing I need to have to deal with right now!” Under different circumstances, Hook’s admission could have been incredibly romantic, but in these circumstances, and with Emma’s state of mind right now, not so much. He doesn’t know her like Neal does though, so I don’t hate him for saying it, I honestly felt really bad for him because his desperate heart was pretty much breaking right in front of my eyes.
Thank you guys for being here. Neal gets a lot of hate sometimes (and I get it, if you love Hook you want him happy and Neal gets in the way), and for some reason it’s even harder for me to accept Neal-hate than Rumple-hate. Here’s me thinking his promise to always fight for her was a promise for the future, a vow that he does still love her and will try not to hurt her again because he knows he screwed up, and people on Tumblr are putting the worst possible spin on it.
Oh the Neal hate, don’t even get me started! I’ve reached my tolerance level, because seriously?! Apparently a man who doesn’t fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets, which is why Hook is the perfect choice, but when Neal goes and says he’s gonna fight for her, he’s demonised for it. I alternate between just SMH and actually physically shaking because some of the double standard and deliberately mis-interpreted stuff makes me that angry.
On the one hand, it’s a bit silly to feel so defensive over someone who doesn’t even exist. But I think maybe it’s because he doesn’t exist, and is therefore not around to defend himself, I feel defensive on his behalf.
As for the difference with how we perceive Rumple hate compared to Neal hate, I’d say that’s just because there’s a looooonnnnng list of things that people could potentially and believably dislike Rumple for, so it’s probably a bit easier to accept that people see bad in him. Rumple’s a victim, but he’s also done a whole lotta perpetrating too. Neal did ONE thing that really hurt Emma, but he did it with selfless intent, and it resulted in her finding her family. So at the end of the day, he was actually justified in that ONE hurtful thing he did. So when people try to twist his actions in at attempt to make him just as dodgy as his father…it’s pretty much completely unreasonable and unbelievable to me. He’s not perfect, but he’s got a good heart and doesn’t go around abusing and manipulating and killing. He’s actually put himself in physical danger on multiple occasions in order to help and protect others, (when people call him selfish is one of my instant rage triggers, because NO, WE’VE ACTUALLY BEEN SHOWN THE OPPOSITE). He’s been a victim over and over again in his life, and piling blame onto him for things that aren’t even factual is unreasonably demonising a victim, and that just doesn’t sit well with me.
Speaking of tumblr posts though, it’s not all bad…
I’m trying to understand why people hate Neal, and a few people have made some good points over the last few days that help explain it…
Emma & Neal are not true fairy tale characters. And the hurt that Neal inflicted on Emma is very real. Very much something that people can relate to. It was emotional pain.
When Regina rips out someone’s heart. Or Rumple goes all “dark one.” Or Hook shoots Belle – It’s so much easier to look past it because they are fairy tale characters. And you’ll probably never be shot while standing at magical barrier in the street, and you sure as hell won’t see your heart in the hands of another person while they decide to crush it or not.
But you might be abandoned by someone you love. You might be faced with hard decisions in your life that’ll make or break yourself or another person. You might be stuck in a horrible dilemma one day where neither decision will be the totally right one.
I guess you are either a viewer that can stop and look at Neal’s actions and understand them on a real human level. You don’t have to agree with his decisions, but you know life, and you know that people make mistakes. You are the viewer that is OK with diving into character flaws. And take the time to try and figure out why they did bad things. And you take the time to notice how sorry Neal is and how aware he is of his mistakes, and how he is changing.
Or you’re not that viewer.
Sorry if that didn’t make sense, I’m rambling.
http://miss880.tumblr.com/post/66174357692/im-trying-to-understand-why-people-hate-neal-and-a
Can I also add, what’s with all this Snow hate and how she doesn’t understand Emma at all? As far as I can see, she still has this special understanding and connection with Emma. And I don’t think Snow was wrong for saying that there should be no secrets. When Ariel decided not to tell Eric that she was a mermaid and instead let him believe that she was just a human, she loses her chance to tell him and ultimately be with him. Had he known she was a mermaid, he would have been looking in the ocean and would have seen her, voice or not. She wouldn’t have to call to him, he would have been looking in the right place for her. So to me, this reinforced that secrets just get in the way and in the end do more harm than good. It was also better for Snow to tell Emma that Neal was alive. If they would have just went to find Neal by themselves, then they would have taken her choice away (see I can play that game too) from her and not given her the opportunity to decide to look for Neal and be honest with him and put that all out in the open.
Just my two cents. 🙂
"We were happy."
"Because... it was born out of true love."I know I’m preaching to the choir, but it’s just so hard to resist indulging in SF feels. I know we’re seeing things through our own filter, but in a way, I think that helps clarify Neal’s and Emma’s true intentions.
The time to say “I love you” will come, but in the mean time, he’s just gonna show her instead, so she can realise it and deal with it at her own pace, instead of having it dropped on her like a bomb when she’s already got other bombs constantly dropping on her.
Yes, Neal’s reaction was perfect. He will become her strength and have her back. No matter how long it takes, he’ll be there for her. Even if Emma were instead to pick up with Hook romantically, Neal would still be there waiting in the wing for her. And when Emma realized that she were being untrue to heart, she’d realize Neal was always going to be the one for her. When she is ready to receive them, he can once again whisper those words love to her as he presents her with the swan pendant. And when he does, I will not be able to contain my joy!
For any of you who love “Sweet Home Alabama” staring Reese Witherspoon as much as I do, you’ll recall that Melanie was unable to move on romantically without facing her past, and when she finally did so, she discovered she never wanted to move on. *spoiler alert* Melanie had developed another persona and allowed herself to fall for a new man, Andrew. Yet, she was really running away from her true identity and denying her heart’s first love for Jake. Her realization came at the last possible moment,
“You see, the truth is, I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart. And I never really go it back.”
Melanie didn’t really want to start a new future with a different man. She had simply been unable to return to her heritage and to her husband, Jake, because of their loss and her desire to pursue fashion. Yet, she realized that what she really wanted was second chance at spending life with the man she’d first fallen for, when she had been the most honest version of herself. Jake said, “It’s possible to have roots and wings.” Their love got a second chance because she chose to face her true identity and to hope that love could be enough to overcome past tragedies. When I think about Melanie and Jake, who had some awesome feisty and snarky remarks but also a deeply-rooted love, I couldn’t help but root for them. I realized that their situation is much like Emma and Neal’s love, another reason I love them and why I root for those two crazy, broken kids to admit their real love for one another, which is strong enough to overcome past hurts and to bring reconciliation.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
The topic ‘Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire’ is closed to new replies.