Sometimes I want to fly underwater...

My friend (RedTailedHawkens) is writing an amazing alternate S3 fanfiction that fixes all of the problems of canon and more. It includes deeper backstories for the Neverland characters (Wendy, Tinkerbell, Hook, etc.), more flashbacks of Baelfire during his time in Neverland, and a richer look at Pan and the other Lost Boys, especially Felix.

Both Emma and Neal survived abandonment, betrayal, and years of emotional instability. However, they both had opposite responses to their trauma. Emma closed off, built walls, and learned to rely on no one whereas Neal opened up too easily, latched on, and tried to please everyone.

Their complementary flaws are detailed in the table below:

In Season 3A, Hook is used to juxtapose Neal to make Neal look like the healthier, better option in the love triangle. Contrary to popular belief, the Captain Swan relationship in this half season is portrayed as toxic and unhealthy.

Hook’s romantic interest in Emma only goes beyond flirting after he learns Neal (Baelfire) is Henry’s father and Emma’s ex, a major red flag given Hook’s romantic history with Neal’s mother, Milah. On Neverland, Hook bonds with Emma over Neal’s supposed death, but this connection is built on lies: Hook falsely claims he and Neal were close friends while Neal was in Neverland. In reality, Hook faked the friendship to gain intelligence on how to kill his father, then betrayed Neal by selling him to the Lost Boys and abandoning him for centuries, something that Emma never learns about.

Hook and Emma first kiss was transactional, a reward for Hook saving Emma's father's life. After Emma thanks Hook, Hook challenges her, stating "That all your father's life is worth to you?". Emma is the one to kiss him but only after being practically dared to while in an emotionally vulnerable state. This is contrasted in a later episode by Neal convincing Rumple to save David's life for no cost or expectations from Emma.

Hook’s actions become even more toxic once Neal reunites with the group. After hearing Neal and Emma confess that they still love each other, he tells Neal about his and Emma’s “dalliance.” He does this purposely, knowing Neal’s hatred for lies (the reason Neal’s friendship with Hook ended badly before) and that the word “dalliance” implies more than just a kiss that Emma later downplays. Hook’s revelation was solely intended to hurt Neal emotionally.

In the next few episodes, Hook takes advantage of Neal's pain and tension around him by continuing to pursue Emma aggressively. Hook provokes Neal until Neal snaps, leading to the immature lighter fight, which casts Neal in a negative light and prompts Emma to reject him.

Afterwards, Neal apologizes to Emma for his immature actions. This is contrasted by Hook showing no remorse for his part of the lighter fight. Hook has no guilt since he did what he intended: made Neal look bad in Emma's eyes.

Overall, Hook’s relentless pursuit of Emma, despite her repeated rejections, is not romantic or positive but a sharp contrast to Neal’s approach of giving Emma space and autonomy. Neal respects Emma’s choices, letting her decide when and how to engage emotionally. Neal is the healthier and more emotionally mature option in the love triangle, which is why Emma gradually softens toward him during this season.

The conversation starts with Henry, the one person who binds Emma and Neal together. The mutual concern for Henry melts the tension, setting a foundation of trust and emotional alignment.

When the conversation drifts towards Walsh, Emma's tone softens with guilt, and she apologizes to Neal for having someone serious. She is concerned with how her actions affect Neal emotionally, displaying how deeply she still cares about him.

Neal quickly assuages her guilt and validates her feelings, reassuring her that she has nothing to be sorry for. Her emotional wellbeing matters to him more than any claim he has to her heart.

They then bond over their trauma, laughing over the ridiculousness that is their romantic lives. The shared pain brings them closer, and they’re no longer guarded. In fact, this is the most emotionally relaxed Emma has been in the entire series.

Afterwards, Neal apologizes for Emma's loss, again showing how much he still cares about her. He tells her that he wants her to be happy, even if it isn't with him, demonstrating true, unconditional love.

The conversation ends with Emma replying that they were happy once, acknowledging the truth of their past and not just the pain. It isn’t just nostalgia but forgiveness and an opening for a second chance.

Sequel to Emma's Love Language: Acts of Service

Toxic traits are the opposites of love languages that appear when under emotional stress. Emma's primary love language is acts of service, so her toxic trait is procrastination, especially when it comes to asking for help or facing emotional truths.

Emma wants to be useful, to do things for the people she loves. But when she feels vulnerable or uncertain, she stalls: delaying emotional conversations, avoiding help, and keeping herself busy to dodge the deeper feelings beneath the surface. Her independence is both a strength and a shield. She constantly pushes herself to carry the burden alone, even when she’s overwhelmed, because relying on others feels like weakness.

In Season 1, Emma procrastinates by delaying the emotional connections she had with Mary Margaret, Henry, and the other residents of Storybrooke. She almost leaves Storybrooke more than once when things get too emotionally intense. Even though she cares, she stalls when it comes to truly investing in these relationships. Not to mention that she hesitates in her role as Henry's mother. In the early half of the season, she doesn’t want to take him away from Regina, and she doesn’t fight for custody even though she clearly wants to be in his life. She tells herself she’s not ready, nor the right person, when deep down, she’s just scared she’ll fail him like she feels her parents failed her.

In Season 2, Emma avoids having a real conversation with Mary Margaret, focusing on surviving the Enchanted Forest and getting back to Storybrooke rather than dealing with how strange and painful it is to be parented by someone her own age. She puts off accepting the fact that she’s magical, powerful, and meant to play a central role in this world.

In the beginning of Season 3A, Emma avoids grieving for Neal by immersing herself in the mission to save Henry. She entertains Hook’s interest, not as a sign of moving on, but as a way to suppress the pain she refuses to process. When Neal is found alive and asks her out to lunch at the end of Season 3A, she hesitates, not because she doesn’t care, but because she’s unsure how to handle the emotional weight between them.

Even in Season 3B, Emma puts off the difficult conversation about going back to New York with Henry, postponing it until she’s forced to face what staying or leaving would truly mean.

Emma’s pattern is consistent: she will deal with things, but on her own time. She needs space to process everything in her head before she circles back. She’s not avoiding problems forever; she’s putting them off until she feels safe enough to confront them.

We're only lost children... trying to find our way back home.

Sequel to Bae's Love Language: Physical Touch

Toxic traits are distorted reflections of love languages, especially when under stress or unmet emotional needs. Bae's primary love language is physical touch, so his toxic trait manifests as avoidance: withdrawing from closeness when relationships become emotionally threatening.

In canon, this is most evident in his interactions with his father, Rumplestiltskin. Bae consistently avoids physical contact when he’s uncomfortable with Rumple's attempts at reconciliation (most notably in “Nasty Habits” and “Manhattan”). This withdrawal mirrors a deeper emotional evasion.

Emotionally, Bae copes by running. Rather than confronting pain, he tries to move on as quickly as possible, often without processing or acknowledging the damage to himself. After the first curse breaks, he doesn't reunite with Emma, not because he doesn't care, but because facing the emotional wreckage between them is too much. Then when Tamara betrays him (lying, manipulating, and ultimately shooting him), he never fully addresses her actions. Similarly, Bae doesn’t bring up Hook selling him to the lost boys, even when doing so might have mattered. Avoidance is his shield.

Unfortunately, this avoidance is also responsible for Bae's recurring gullibility. By ignoring red flags and refusing to fully engage with painful past experiences, Bae remains vulnerable to manipulation. He’s repeatedly deceived by Hook, Pan, August, Tamara, and even Lumiere. Unlike Emma, who learns to be guarded, Bae clings to hope and trust, even when it’s unearned. That’s why the nightmares in Neverland were especially cruel to him; they forced him to relive everything he has been trying to bury.

Throughout the entire series, Emma is stoic and closed off due to her walls. However, when she interacts with Neal, all of that changes; she becomes extremely emotional. In "Manhattan", Emma gets so mad at Neal for leaving her due to August/Pinnochio that she yells at him when she's usually more collected. In the next episodes, she becomes obsessed with convincing Neal that Tamara is not who he thinks she is. Emma also gets snarkier and sassier around Neal throughout the latter half of season 2B.

After Neal falls into the portal in the end of season 2B, there is a shift in their relationship as Emma realizes that she still loves Neal and always will. Throughout season 3A, Emma is softening around Neal, caring about his emotions in a way she doesn't for other characters.

The first example of this is in "Ariel" when Emma acknowledges the struggles Neal went through in her secret:

"I was hoping you were dead because it would be easy for me to put you behind me, then to face the pain that WE went through all over again.”

Afterwards, she apologizes to Neal for her confession in Echo Caves. Even when Neal tells Emma that it's okay, she replies back that it isn't.

She knows that her secret hurt him, and she even goes so far as to wishing that she could change how she feels for his sake.

For the rest of 3A, Emma is very attentive towards Neal and his emotions. When Neal finally reconciles with his father, Emma is fond and genuinely happy for him.

When Neal's father sacrificed his life, Emma immediately checks in with Neal and comforts him, encouraging Henry to do the same.

Emma: Acts of Service

For as long as Emma can remember, the only constant in her life was herself. In the foster system, people come and go, so she learned not to get too attached. She closed herself off, building walls around her heart for self-preservation and focusing primarily on herself rather than others.

It's only when Emma truly loves somebody that she becomes more selfless. Her relationship with Henry in season 1 is a perfect example of this. After Henry sneaks past her walls in the first couple of episodes, Emma stays in Storybrooke for him and entertains his ideas of a curse (even if she doesn't fully believe in it). When Henry falls under the sleeping curse, Emma does all that she can to save him, even killing a dragon for him. The motivation for her actions becomes Henry rather than herself, a shift from the majority of her life.

In "Tallahassee", it's shown that Emma displayed the same care and consideration to Neal. She's very physically affectionate towards him, even though he's the one who craves physical affection more (read: this post). She got jelly donuts for him. Not to mention that after hearing about Neal's predicament with the watches, she's the one who convinced Neal to let her steal the watches from the train station locker despite the risk to herself.

This selflessness in the face of love shows that her main love language is acts of service.

She does show her love through other love languages as well throughout the series, but none of them come so easily to her as acts of service does. For example, she doesn't have much confidence in her words, so she strays from words of affirmation. While she likes physical touch more than words, she is not an innately touchy person due to her lack of trust. She is sentimental and appreciates gifts (keeping the bug, the swan keychain, and Graham's shoelace), but she doesn't feel confident in her ability to give gifts that truly encapsulate how she feels. She does appreciate quality time, but she is more action-oriented, favoring doing stuff for people rather than sitting around doing nothing with them. Still, regardless of her discomfort, Emma will try to use these other love languages if her partner prefers it (like how she resorts to physical touch around Neal), technically another act of service for her partner.

Therefore, I headcannon that Emma and Neal's relationship was filled with acts of service to each other. Neal would be the first to do things for Emma to keep her with him since Neal is more afraid of being alone. In response, Emma would do things for Neal with the logic that she is asserting her independence and evening the score. She would start giving up the backseat to Neal more, stealing more foods that he likes, and doing the more dangerous parts in heists. (In "Tallahassee", Emma's doing the riskier stealing while Neal's doing the safer distracting in the fake pregnant con scheme.)

When Neal first sees the swan keychain, he compromises the whole heist just to steal it for Emma. As a swan, the keychain acknowledges Emma's last name, her independence and identity before she met Neal. As a keychain, it contains the keys to the Bug, their present temporary home. And together, it is a stable and meaningful gift that represents their future. Overall, the swan keychain is a symbol of Neal’s feelings for Emma and his understanding of her struggles. It shows his desire to support her, to be a part of her life, and to offer her something real and lasting.

After Neal left Emma, he gave everything he had of value (except for the dreamcatcher) to August to give to Emma. This included money, the bug, and the swan keychain. He sacrificed everything in the hopes that Emma could continue on without him.

Emma received the swan keychain when she found out the results to her pregnancy test, another sign of the family that she and Neal could have had together. Although Emma gave Henry up for adoption, she kept the Bug and turned the keychain into a locket, wearing it around her neck for eleven years, showing that she never fully let go of Neal or Henry (the family she could have had).

The first time Emma removes the keychain is when she finally reunites with Neal. In that moment, she's letting go of the future they could have shared, releasing herself from the emotional weight of holding onto him. By returning the keychain to Neal, she’s placing the responsibility on him, giving him the opportunity to rebuild their relationship with the full awareness of all the pain and history they share.

Afterwards, Neal keeps the swan keychain on his person until his death, representing his love for Emma and his profound guilt and regret over their separation. The keychain becomes a physical manifestation of his emotional state, a reminder of the love he never truly let go of.

The keychain remains with Neal as he travels across realms (from the Land Without Magic to the Enchanted Forest, to Neverland, to the Land Without Magic, to the Enchanted Forest, to the Land Without Magic again), symbolizing the unshakeable nature of his love for Emma. When Neal dies, he returns the Swan keychain to Emma, a final gesture that serves as a reminder that his love for her will never fade, even in death.

When Neal/Baelfire was younger, my favorite outfit is his Dickensian street urchin costume. As a "Horrible Histories" fan, it was enlightening seeing how Neal/Baelfire fit into English history.

Also, after reading this meta on Neal/Baelfire's costume design (credit to @nettlestonenell), I've grown to appreciate Neal/Baelfire's pirate costume because this was when he started layering his clothes and his identity. In this scene, Neal/Baelfire was both the pirate who trusted and was betrayed by Hook (his overshirt and pants) and the boy who loved the Darlings deeply and would do anything to get home to them (his pajamas underneath).

Seeing as the last 2 episodes of season 2 are my favorite episodes in the entire series, it seems fitting that my favorite younger Neal/Baelfire costumes are from both episodes.

When Neal/Baelfire was older, I enjoyed how his outfits correlated with Henry's outfits. In season 2, they both wear dark coats with lighter scarfs underneath.

In the later seasons, Henry dresses a lot like his father used to. One such outfit is the grey hoodie underneath a black coat.

In season 7, Henry's EF outfit looks most similar to Neal/Baelfire's pirate costume with a black long-sleeved shirt and an accentuated white collar.

Since I enjoyed Emma in the earlier seasons more than the later seasons, I feel a kinship to the red leather jacket that she constantly wore. It symbolized her strength, independence, and guarded heart.

It also reminds me of Neal's red leather jacket in "Tallahassee". "Firebird," in particular, shows Emma wearing a red leather jacket on top of a hoodie, just like Neal did in "Tallahassee".

Rumple: Baelfire...

Neal: It's Neal!

At this point, of course Neal doesn't want to be Baelfire. To Neal, the name "Baelfire" has always been associated with misery and suffering. He was abandoned by his mother, father, and step-father (Hook) as Baelfire. As Baelfire, he was tortured for centuries in Neverland and never got his happy ending. It wasn't until he called himself Neal that he met Emma (the love of his life) and had 10 years of normality without the dangers of magic.

His staunch denial of the name "Baelfire" was another way for Neal to deny his past. For his entire life, Neal has been forced to move on from one trauma to another. He never allowed himself any time to grieve, evidenced by how fast he got over Tamara. While this may have helped Neal survive, this wasn't healthy in the long run.