Swanfire/ Swanthief/ Neal Cassidy/ Nealfire/ Michael-Raymond James appreciation blog. OUAT general theories. Fanfiction. Stuff in general. We're almost home.
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Friendly reminder that SOMEBODY sacrificed himself for the town and his love without being the one to have tried to kill everyone in the first place, and while never claiming to be a hero.
Will always reblog this reminder of what a true sacrifice is, and that only Rumple has done that out of all the villians. Â Now if only Adam and Eddy would remember.Â
Neal, oh Neal. The more I look at all the gorgeous Swanfire gifsets on my dash, the more I remember that
That is why, when I see CS on my dash, I can clearly see something is wrong. That something is missing. That all that love Emma Swan is directing towards Hook? It was meant to be NEAL’S. That those scenes were meant to be NEAL’S. That everything that was given to Hook despite the lack of LOGIC and CONSISTENCY… Everything… Belonged to NEAL. Being the third parent to Henry. Being a hero. Being central to the story. Those things were meant to be NEAL’s.
Because Neal and Emma’s journey makes sense. Emma and Hook’s journey doesn’t.
And it is actually mind-boggling that there are people that can claim otherwise.
“OUAT Scenes we never saw, but should have seen” pt 1 shows something I will never forgive A&E for NOT showing. Everyone should have seen Emma finding out that Neal REALLY cared about her, so much that he actually left her EVERYTHING he had. He didn’t take off with the money after calling the cops. He didn’t even call the cops! BUT, of course, that was never explained on the show either. The only reason I know that NEAL NEVER CALLED THE COPS THAT DAY IN PORTLAND, is because Adam tweeted so, back in MAY 2013. He said “that would be explained one day”.
Just like a million other things in this show.
But back to the title of this essay: Neal had to die, not necessarily to allow CS to happen. No, I truly believe CS was one of the many side effects of the poor way the writers handled Neal as a character. In short: yes, in the convoluted universe of OUAT, Neal needed to be dead so that Emma Swan would be “free” to engage in another romantic relationship (like, how messed up is that? That you have to KILL a character so that another can be confirmed as a love interest? It’s like burning down Walmart just to force a customer into Target), but his death goes beyong shipping purposes.
Neal had to die because the writers never knew what to do with him. Or maybe they did, and had wonderful plans, but those were never executed. I get the impression that they took the whole “mysterious man” thing too seriously, so much that we know literally *nothing* about Neal. Think about it. What was his job? How did he end up in Manhattan? How did he transition from Baelfire to Neal? What did he think about his mother? Did he hate her after he found out she had actually staged her own death? Other than making coconut artifacts and painting, what was his life like in Neverland?
We *never* saw any of those things. It is not a surprise that people hardly ever remember that this guy:
And this guy:
Are actually the same person, albeit in different moments of life.
And that is what I consider A&E’s major strategic mistake. They wanted the revelation that Baelfire and Neal were the same person to be SO shocking, SO surprising, SO…. AMAZING, that they kept their cards way too close to their chest. Instead of showing more of this man that was so central to the whole story, instead of allowing the audience to become familiar with him, the writers gave Neal a few seconds in 2x01, then showed him as the jerk that let Emma go to jail in 2x06, then not even a word about him was said in SEVEN EPISODES, and then, in Manhattan, he shows up again and NONE of the real important issues about that night in Portland are addressed.
And so, he CONTINUED to be the jerk that sent Emma to jail (even though, according to Adam, he DIDN’T). As if the general audience needed any reason to dislike him MORE as a romantic interest, one episode later freaking TAMARA is introduced.
Yes, I am looking at you, A&E!
To make the whole mix of poor writing decisions even worse, it is worth noting that while Neal went MIA for seven episodes after his introduction, Hook was alive and kicking (that is, until Colin broke his leg). Regardless of his role as a villain, he was *interacting* with the other characters, and a character that has plenty of screen time has a much better chance to become a popular character than one that never shows up (and that when he does, the writing he gets is just… poor).
It saddens me to think that maybe, MAYBE, A&E had great plans for Neal, but did NOTHING about them. His relationship with Henry fell short, his relationship with Rumple fell short (even though there were some great scenes with RC and MRJ, it was just not enough), his relationship with Emma fell short. Neal Cassidy was not even a shadow of the character he could have been, and that he would have been, if only the writers knew what they were doing.
But they didn’t. And that is why he had to die, and the writers will not bring him back.
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Killing Neal was a disservice to Swanfire and Captain Swan. To SF, it meant "Can't happen now because one half of it is dead." To CS, it was: "Can finally happen because Emma's first choice, and the man she really wanted a second chance with, is dead." Crappy writing detected.
Hi, everyone.
You know, I’m a SF shipper, and I truly loved the story of the lost boy and lost girl. But now, after the disaster of seasons 4 and 5, I completly dislike Emma now.
Since they are going the underworld, there are a very slim chance to get Neal back, but I feel conflicted about SF in the actual storyline, and I think I would prefer him matched with other woman instead of Emma.
I just want to ask if am I the only SF who feels like that.
Worry not, they are not bringing Neal back, EVER. Lol. Thank Merlin for that, poor man deserves better.
But, no, you are not alone at all, conflicted shipper. Btw, I applaude all the fanfic writers that can still write Swanfire with the same enthusiasm and faith even after the “Emma Swan” we used to know was assassinated by the writers and now lies under six feet of contrived romance, bad decisions and lack of personality.
Like… It’s bad, man. And for me, it’s extra bad because, let’s say, if both halves of my OTP were on the edge of a cliff, and I could only save one of them, I would ALWAYS save Neal without much of a second thought. Good riddance, Emma Swan. And that was when she was still an interesting character, when she still had potential. But… even back then, I always thought Neal deserved to be happy – whether with Emma Swan, or without her. Even though he made some BAD mistakes (trusting Pinocchio, not looking for Emma after the curse broke, Tamara, etc…), I wanted that guy to succeed in finding home. In finding his family. And that meant taking care of his unfinished business with his dad, that meant getting to know Henry, that meant coming to terms with what happened between Emma and him.
So, what I have come to realize is that 1) I don’t want Neal to come back to the hot mess OUAT has become, lol, and 2) If he ever does, I hope he stays away from Emma and romance in general. Because from the looks of it, in this show, love stories only exist to destroy characters.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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I never knew you when you were active before, but in the interim I ran across you looking for NSFW swanfire fic. Seeing you back on the scene prompted me to go and re-read a lot fo your fic! So thanks for helping me through finals week, and welcome back!
Aye! Good to hear you have made it through finals week and that my stories helped you relax a little. The multiple functions of fanfiction, ha! And thanks for welcoming me back!
I wonder what it must be like to be one of the original cast members on ouat because like you signed up for this cool fairytale show where you got two play two distinct characters and explored themes about the gray areas in life, adoption, what family means, the dystopian way our world reflects fairytales, and broke barriers with gender identities and gender roles and now here they are 5 years later running after a fuck boy to hellÂ
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And so, how appropriate that The Leftovers season finale aired the same day as OUAT MSF.
As most of you know, I stopped watching OUAT 1, 2 years ago? I don’t even remember anymore, all I know it was right after (SPOILER AHEAD, in case you JUST started watching Once Upon a Time and think the show has a future) Neal’s death.
(Oh, and newbie? Another spoiler alert for you, then: Once Upon a Time has no future, btw. Or it does. Depends on what you are looking for, I guess.)
Anyhow… I am going to spare you all the journey of finding a new fave show to fill the hole that OUAT had left in my heart. BUT, I want to talk about OUAT MSF (because I still follow people that watch OUAT and they posted things that scared me/made me laugh at the same time). “I will find you, Hook?” Emma, really? “I will always find you?”
In the meantime, The Leftovers was delivering one of the most intense hours in television I have EVER seen. And the funny thing is: whereas I am 200% convinced OUAT is getting a 6th season, I have already accepted (and I am truly hoping) The Leftovers will not come back for a third season. And I am okay with that. I am.
Now, of course HBO has the obligation to deliver a more intense hour of television. It’s HBO, man. I know how TV channels work. Disney shows will be Disney shows so of course OUAT will always be a watered down version of whatever the show would be if it was produced by HBO. And that is not a problem.
The problem is when a show is butchered to such an extent that it is not longer faithful to its own internal logic.
The problem is when a show about “family” becomes a show about teenage crushes and toxic relationships that are never acknowledged as such.
The problem is when a show wings it for 3 SEASONS (I am not counting seasons 1 and 2 because I am feeling generous) because they know people will keep watching anyway.
As a person who spent at least two years of my life emotionally invested in OUAT, I don’t even need to catch up with the episodes I missed to realize that what the writers have done to the show is lazy, mean and outrageous.
NEXT: why Neal Cassidy could have been our Kevin Garvey, if only A&E knew what they were doing.
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