#neal Cassidy

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

au where emma keeps henry and then ten years later she tracks neal down because henry has some unidentifiable genetic problem and he realizes it's some bullshit from the enchanted forest that his father cured with magic and now he's gotta track that fucker down without letting emma know magic is real

[ishouldbeoverfanficsbynow]

I love you season 1 and 2 ouat themes. I love you good always wins but who is wholly good? I love you evil is made but can it be unmade? I love you all magic comes with a price but is there any price I wouldn't pay for my child? I love you blood is thicker than water but what if you can have both? I love you my parent is a monster but what if I can make them better? I love you revenge kept me warm but what if now I choose love? I love you what if love really is that powerful?

[florida3exclamationpoints]

ouat text posts: pt. 3/?

[knight--error]

Ah man, on Season 3 of OUAT rewatch, and the best word for poor Neal really is just... unceremonious. Youch. I'm not a big Swanfire person but offing him like that is so lazy and cuts out so much good drama and other relationships. Neal and Henry! Neal and Rumple! Neal and Hook! Even Neal and Belle! I also love his energy. He is just a fairly average dude, no magic, no incredible skills, just his wit and his determination, and yet he consistently keeps up with our main cast.

Also, they put background actors who I think are supposed to be the Lost Boys at his funeral; imagine how cool it would have been if he took them in and became a group foster dad! That just feels like it would have been a lovely move forward for his arc.

Bah. The cracks in the writing deepen.

[swanfireprincessmydear]

I don’t know why I have never thought of this before. I don’t know HOW it never crossed my mind but another reason why Emma and Neal work so well together within the narrative of the show is because they’re both ORIGINAL characters to the show. They’re not retellings of characters we already know, they’re new, original characters that only exist within the show. They both fit in the same place.

No one else besides Henry (and a few minor characters) fit this category.

[dinneratgrannys]

Think of it as a long-distance call from an old friend.

[jessmalia]

You don’t have a show without Henry Mills. Emma might be the main character, but Henry is the heart of the show (he has the heart of the truest believer!!! it’s right there!!!). Every single character is irrevocably tied to him. He changed everyone’s lives and gave them the opportunity to change each other’s lives. He gave Emma a family. He gave Regina redemption. He delivered Rumple to his son. He gave David and Snow their daughter back. He was the reason behind Emma and Neal’s relationship and the good thing that came out of it. He healed Neal by giving him the opportunity to break the cycle of neglecting father/son relationships. Killian redeemed himself from his mistreatment of Baelfire by Henry allowing him to take a stepfather role in his life. The text says Emma broke the first curse, but Henry is really 99,9% responsible for it, thereby giving every single citizen of Storybrooke their lives back. Regina’s love for him broke the second curse. He was the one who got them out of the Heroes and Villains story. He’s descended from the Enchanted Forest but was born and raised in our world, making him the bridge between them. He did the impossible when, for just one second, he made the people of our world believe in magic and reunited his family again. Once Upon A Time is a show that operates around fate and Henry is the person who ties everyone’s red strings together. He is quite literally the center of their universe. He is The Author. He is the truest believer. It’s been there all along.

[heddagab]

ONCE UPON A TIME Rumple gets poisoned in 2x15 "The Queen Is Dead"

[anouatblog]

[rumbelle-scream]

BAELFIRE DESERVED BETTER

You should've seen him. He overcame worlds.

[im-up-to-shenanigans]

i will never not get emotional watching the season 2 finale of ouat. like just watching killian's face fall when he finds out neal is dead. the realization the emma may have lit the spark of his redemption, but his love for baelfire is what fanned that spark into a flame

the direct parallel of the scene in the past of killian telling bae that he could change for him and bae saying he would never change bc all he cares about is himself

AND THEN WHEN HE TURNS AROUND AND COMES BACK EMMA SAYS SHE DIDN'T THINK HE CARED ABOUT ANYONE BUT HIMSELF AND KILLIAN JUST SAYS HE NEEDED REMINDING THAT HE COULD ASJDHHDJSK

and that reminder came after emma's speech in the diner. after she told him that he could be a part of something. he still didn't give her back the bean. he gave her an empty pouch and dipped. he had nothing to lose by leaving storybrooke to be destroyed, but he came back.

without anyone there with him to say just the right things and encourage him to make the right choice. emma already did that, but that wasn't enough. he still betrayed her

but he sat there with his own thoughts. with the knowledge bae was dead. and looking at the carving he made to teach this boy he once loved how to sail. AND HE TURNED BACK

BECAUSE HE BLAMES HIMSELF FOR TEARING APART BAE'S FAMILY. AND ONE OF HIS BIGGEST REGRETS WAS SELLING BAE OUT TO PAN. BUT HE'LL BE DAMNED IF HE DOESN'T TRY TO MAKE IT RIGHT. SO HE TURNS BACK TO SAVE BAE'S SON. BECAUSE HE MAY HAVE TAKEN BAE'S MOTHER AWAY FROM HIM ONCE AND PLANNED TO MURDER HIS FATHER, BUT HE WON'T LET HIS SON SUFFER THE SAME THING. HE WANTS TO BREAK THE CYCLE AND TRY TO MAKE IT UP TO THE BOY HE ONCE LOVED AS HIS OWN

and then he finds out that storybrooke's safe, but henry's been kidnapped, and he doesn't even hesitate to volunteer to help get him back, even when he finds out he has to work with the man who murdered the woman he loves and who cut off his hand. HIS LOVE FOR BAELFIRE OUTWEIGHED HIS HATRED FOR RUMPLE, JUST LIKE HE SAID IT WOULD WAY BACK WHEN HE TOLD BAE HE COULD CHANGE FOR HIM. HE MADE GOOD ON THAT PROMISE

and he finds out that henry's been taken to neverland, a place killian DESPISES, and he still doesn't back out. bc he may have sold bae into pan's hands, but he will save his son from suffering the same fate.

and everyone believes he's on neverland solely for emma, and he lets them believe that. bc he knows why he's there and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. he may be falling in love with emma. she may inspire him to become better. but she was never the reason

and i can't stop crying

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

baelfire: dad your magic is what makes you evil!!!if we go to the land without magic you won't be evil anymore!!

rumpelstilskin without any magic powers for 30 entire years:

[wastingstarsss]

OUAT text posts: ao3 tags

[florida3exclamationpoints]

I am sorry ouat but you will never make me believe that smashing your own foot, walking miles home on it for who knows how long, and permanently disabling yourself to get home to your wife and infant son and commit yourself to giving him a better childhood than your own (which you have deep seated lifelong trauma from) instead of walking into a suicide mission for the sake of Fighting With Honor™ is a cowardly thing to do. I would argue it is one of the bravest most noble things anyone could do. But that's me I guess

[once28]

It’ll always be such a shame that Neal died. Like there’s the obvious reasons; death sad, no endgame yk

But also Emma and Neal were such a funny ship when they wanted to be like “Oh no I taught her that” will never fail to make me laugh. Also the exacerbated sigh Neal lets out in that moment, he’s like “omg god wtf is she up to 🙄.” Then with Henry being a mini them in training is just the cherry on top. They truly deserved to be one of those couples with endless “…being chaotic for 5 five minutes straight” compilations on YT

And the humor out of the co-parenting relationship with Regina we were robbed of would’ve been epic too, you can’t tell me Regina and Neal wouldn’t have the best sibling-like banter. I can just see her try to be intimidating and he’d have these snarky remarks like my father was the dark one you don’t scare me 😑

It’s just a shame that so much of his/their story is overshadowed by the sad stuff

[swanfireprincessmydear]

"I love you; I probably always will."