Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

[Slurpeez]

I just read a wonderful SwanFire essay on Tumblr which deserves to be posted here. It is very much in keeping with what we’ve said all along: Emma, Neal and Henry are all Eddy and Adam’s own creation and that they are telling a new fairytale about how a family who loves each other but is torn apart by difficult decisions can come together in a world that is not their own to make it their home. Here is that essay:

SwanFireFamily, A New Kind of Fairytale? (My thoughts on Emma, Henry, & Neal)

A&E’s Fairytale
How I look at it, is this (and I don’t pretend to be an expert on anything, nor will I declare either ship as endgame till it actual happens even then I might question it. LOL) Emma, Nealfire, and Henry are all original creations. In other words, they themselves have no counterpart that comes from a story or fairytale that we know of. They are the offspring of our favorite fairytales. I doubt something like this was by accident or chance. I see Emma, Neal, and Henry as A &E’s very own babies in the story we call Once Upon a time.

To me, the SwanfireFamily trio is their attempt of making a modern day fairytale while keeping the magic and fantasy of the fairytale very much alive. Like Adam said, poetic was what they were going for when they had the savior of the curse fall in love with the reason for the curse. They are the “light and dark”, “ying and yang”, “two wolves”, “two halves of a whole,” both lost in our world yet was able to find each other.

Henry
The son of Emma and Neal. “This little guy saved us” Even though Neal and Emma were pretending, for some odd reason I think this would come out to play this season. In a way Henry is already saving them. Henry found Emma who found Neal, reuniting the three. Now Emma and Neal are working together to saved their son.

I don’t use Henry as my only reason for Swanfire. He is simply part of a reason. And It would be beautiful to see a family reunited in love. (even if his parents did not come together romantically, they will always be there for him.)

Dream catchers, Swan key chain, Yellow bug symbols of Swanfire
Dream catchers are used to ward off bad dreams by allowing only the good dreams to pass through the center and then trickle down to the dreamers head by way of feathers. The bad dreams are caught in the “web” and evaporate in the morning sunrise. Neal and Emma had a life time of dark/bad dreams due to their feelings of abandonment and lost, lives spent in foster care and Neverland. Their good dream was being with each other and their future dream was to find a home and a sense of family with each other.

The Swan key chain. Swan reminds me of the ugly duckling story. The ugly duckling was rejected and lost because he wasn’t duckling but a swan. Over time he turned into a beautiful swan and found his home with other swans who welcomed him in. Emma and Neal are like two ugly ducklings who found each other in big bad world. The Key chain symbolizes connection (chain) and unlocking (key). They are deeply connected to each other and unlocked love in each of their hearts. ( If the Key chain ever shows up again and is offered and accepted, that might be a step closer towards Swanfire).

“Yellow” bettle: Yellow is a symbolic color that brings joy and delight. It is also a symbol of Summer in Western culture. The third chakra, located at the solar plexis, is said to be yellow. Note that “solar plexis” is associated with the power of the sun (solar-sun). Yellow, then, is associated with positive thinking, with sunshine. The solar plexis is where we gather our courage and will power. When this chakra is not functioning properly, we are fearful or “yellow bellied.” Yellow appears to carry both positive (sunshine, happiness) and negative (cowardice, illness) connotations. This may be why we use yellow as a sign of caution between red (danger! stop!) and green (safe! go!). Yellow seems to be a compromise, a middle way, between positive and negative. Indeed, the yellow chakra is right in the core, in the middle, of the body. (symbol wiki)

Obstacles and Family Lines:
A &E tend to like obstacles with their couples, Look at Rumbelle, and Snowing with their lost and found relationships then look at Emma and Neal. There are a lot of similarities, they are all not the same, each couple is very unique but there are similarities. Swanfire to me looks like a blending of Snowing and Rumbelle and something very new.

Also if you look at the storyline there is really two family lines, there is the Charming -Mills Family (Emma/Henry), and the Stiltskins family (Neal/Henry). Both are interconnected and everyone who is anyone has gone through one of those family lines if not both. So of course, the children of each family line would meet and fall in love. Despite it being over 300 years in the making.

The Tamara issue (aka the Second Milah):
Neal loved Tamara, but seeing that she never loved him, never intended on marrying him, had an affair while they were engage and later shot him. I don’t see much into them more than he got duped because he was settling for anything that resemble something close to love when all he really wanted was Emma. It took Neal 11 years, before the temptress of coldness inserted herself into his life, for him to even think of being with some else. Neal tried to love beyond Emma and failed at it miserably. Also, I most note that Tamara and Gold both called him out on his feelings for Emma, which he never truly let go of.

Now if Tamara actual really truly loved Neal and wanted to marry him, I might give that relationship more thought. But seeing it was just as real as David and Kathryn minus the attempted murder part. It doesn’t hold much weight with me. Actually I give David and Kathryn a little bit more weight seeing that at least they cared for each other before and during the curse. Tamara didn’t give a crap about Neal and proved it by telling him and then shooting him. So I see it as Neal trying to move on, only to fail miserably at it.

Fighting For Emma:
Neal left Emma and it broke her heart because she loved him and he was her home. And it broke his heart because he had loved her and she at the moment was his home. But Neal saw that Emma life was fated, she had to save her people from a curse his father created so she can reunite with her family. And make it home.

When she found him, he called her name and smiled because her the love of his came back out of the blue. He could have left Emma the second time, but he knew his father and came back for her. He faced his father for her. As Adam and Eddy said we loved that he came back for her. He faced Cora and Regina with Emma. He faced Regina with Emma when Henry was going to blow up the well. He followed Emma and had her back even though he didn’t believe his fiance was evil. When the portal open, he grabbed her so she couldn’t fall in. He then told her to let him go so that Henry wouldn’t be alone, like them. He then fatefully let go of her hand when she refused to let it go. In Enchanted Forest, Neal handled the magic he loathed and hoped on a shadow to get back to Emma and Henry. He will faced Neverland for his family. In Neverland, Emma was connecting and mourning the memory of Nealfire, realizing how much they truly were alike. And when tells him her secret. He told her he will never stop fighting for her. He lost her once, he is not losing her again (sorry Ariel inspired me).

Echo Caves:
The beauty of this scene was it was about truth, truth lead her closer to Neal. Truth created the bridge to Neal. Truth destroyed the barriers that were containing Neal. It was brutal and heartbreaking, but it’s the beginning process of healing. I also took note that even their clothing color choice was quite similar in the scene, which could be seen as how much they are connected. Note its blue, which could represent their hurt and pain at this time. And that hug, that deep comforting swanfire hug that melted our hearts.

Final Thoughts:
So this is why I can see how SwanfireFamily can be A &E own version of fairytale. This by way doesn’t make me right, in any shape, form, or fashion. However, if Emma and Neal decided to reunite because their love is true and they fulfilled their dreams of making a home with Henry. I don’t see this as a far fetch outwardly concept for a show like OUAT where true loves kiss breaks every curse and magic beans can create portals. Therefore, first love can be true love.

I believe Once Upon a time is A &E own fairytale in the making and SwanfireFamily is a big part of it.

[Phee]

He is ADORABLE and I was just having a conversation with a friend on Twitter today about how his smile just melts me into a puddle of drool. There’s a warmth and friendliness to him that is SO appealing and I love that he’s not afraid to speak his mind about things on Twitter.

MRJ’s smile is one of the best things in life. Seriously, it makes me happy just thinking about how his whole face lights up! 😀

[RumplesGirl]

Slurpeez that essay was fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Slurpeez]

This image is too cute not to share in the SF thread. Source: Tumblr

"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

[astrawoid]

I guess I do prefer the scruffy, ruggedly handsome guys.  I didn’t really think about it before because I think Colin is very attractive, but I was drawn to MRJ more.  And I guess it’s because my guy is more like him.  🙂

My husband kinda looks like MRJ?  Haha!  Well they are both scruffy.  😀

"We were happy."
"Because... it was born out of true love."

[RumplesGirl]

🙂 Nice, Astra

Yes it’s all a matter of personal SUBJECTIVE taste and what draws you to people.

That’s a really cute photo Slurpeez.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[astrawoid]

Love the bug photo and the essay you shared Slurpeez.  Thanks!!

"We were happy."
"Because... it was born out of true love."

[RumplesGirl]

The following are my 307 CSF predictions.

—we know from the press release that Emma, Hook and Neal go off to the Dark Hollow to find Pan’s shadow. I think along the way the following happens

–Hook will tell Emma who Milah really is (ie: Nealfire’s mother)

–Neal will elaborate on his history with Hook

–Emma will probably take in all the information, throw all her walls up and say, “Henry. Let’s just get Henry”

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Slurpeez]

The following are my 307 CSF predictions.

I’ll add to that. Given the promo for 3×7, we see that Emma is being attacked by a shadow in the dark hollow and hear Neal is yelling “Emma!” I hope Neal comes to her rescue and saves her.

"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

[RumplesGirl]

I would love that Slurpeez! Neal does have the most experience with the Shadow so far as we know.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

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