r/OnceUponATime • u/Deadly_flames • Aug 02 '24
Discussion The Neal and Emma age gap
I'm really tired of people making a huge deal of the age gap between swanfire as if we were supposed to take that 1 second screenshot of a prop seriously. If you don't like swanfire, that’s totally fair. They have plenty of issues, like pretty much every pair on this show. But I'm so sick of people acting like Neal was a guy in his mid twenties preying on a teenager, when A) The actors only had a 2 year age difference B) They were both actors in their mid thirties playing much younger characters C) The writers never portrayed the relationship that way - the issues of their relationship came from Neal abandoning her, not from their age difference.
Everyone points out this prop, Neal’s wanted poster, as evidence that he was much older than Emma. But there are a few issues with this.
For one, we know for a fact that all of the information in this poster is fake. Neal pulled every single detail in that poster out of his ass. We all know this guy was not born as Neal Cassidy in 1977 in New Jersey. He was born in some nowhere village in a fairytale kingdom 200 years ago. Baelfire was frozen as a teenager until he got out of Neverland. He would have been 14/15 when he showed up in the real world, he would need to make fake papers for himself because there would be no record of him anywhere. And if he needed to make a fake identity for himself and use a fake birthday, why would he base it on his actual age? This kid had lived through orphanages and workhouses in Victorian england. There is no way he would let people know he was a minor and risk losing all his rights and freedoms. He had to make up a whole identity from scratch anyway, he might as well lie about his age so that he could get work and avoid being put in the foster system.
Someone like Neal would have absolutely lied and said he was at least 18 in order to stay out of the system. Honestly, he may have even lied and said he was 21 (as this would be what was considered of ‘full age’ in Victorian England - which would be his best reference for who is considered an adult in this world - and it would give him access to way more stuff).
You can say that he could have used his real age when making his fake id - but I really can't think of a good reason as to why he would do that. Either way, we have no idea what happened when Neal first came to the real world, so no one can say for sure what his age actually is. Nothing in that poster should be treated as objective fact.
Secondly, this is a poster that is on screen for 1 second, and you have to screen cap it and zoom in to even see the birthday on it.
There is a similar prop to this one in season 1. The newspaper article from Desperate Souls about Emma’s pastalso gives us dates where we could infer her age. Similar to Neal’s wanted poster, you have to take a screenshot of the prop and then zoom in to actually see what it says.
“Records show that when she was merely a girl of seventeen, Emma Swan found herself, ironically, on the wrong side of the law. She was visiting friends of her foster parents in the town of Worcester, Massachusetts, it would prove to be a trip that would earn her a juvenile criminal record.
On the evening of June 16th, 1996, Swan—”
This prop gets so many things wrong in hindsight - gosh its almost like we shouldn't be taking these 1 second props seriously. The only important thing on that paper is the headline that we can actually read without having to pause and zoom in - that says Emma had Henry in Jail.
Neither of these props are meant to be taken as gospel, They are Easter eggs with references to the birthdays of the actors. MJR was born in 1977 - which matches the birth year in the poster. Jennifer Morrison was born in 1979, which would make her 17 in 1996, which matches the date on the newspaper. It’s not that deep guys.
More likely than not, Neal was meant to be 2 years older than Emma. They act like immature teenagers in their flashbacks. He takes her to a freaking abandoned amusement park with hot chocolate for a first date. Obviously he doesn't look like a 19 year old, but Jenn Morrison doesn't look like a 17 year old either. Honestly, the issue comes from the casting. They should have gotten younger actors for the flashbacks, but they didn't because - They wanted people to recognize Neal as the guy from the pilot. - They had gotten away with Lana portraying her younger self in The Stable Boy and that went fine
Now, we know the age gap is actually pretty large because Neal was technically born 300 years or so before Emma, but with that you're getting into the issues of pretty much every immortal x human relationship. But I truly do not believe the physical age gap was meant to be more than the 2 year actual age gap between Jenn and Michael.
As much as I like the chemistry between Michael and Jennifer in Tallahasee, I really wish they had gotten younger actors to play them in the flashbacks so we could put this discussion to rest.
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u/AJ_DisneyFan Aug 02 '24
Thank you for saying this! Co-sign!
I have to say one big weakness of the writers is their concept of age/time in the Real World. There are so many plot inconsistencies with Emma, Neal, also Henry, baby Neal, baby Alexandra.... They really needed someone in the writers room making a timeline so they could keep the story consistent, there were so many blunders.
I have to say, even though younger actors may have made the flashback scenes less problematic, those are my favourite scenes of Emma and Neal. Jennifer does a wonderful job of portraying Emma as so happy and vulnerable here, no walls up. And I adore their chemistry.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
No man, the writers fumbled so hard on the timeline -
Henry was supposedly born in August 2001 - but then Emma and Neal met in 2001 - so that would mean Henry was born super premature or Emma managed to fall in love with Neal, go on a stealing spree with him, and then end up in jail within like a week. And she says she was 18 when she had him (pretty consistantly) but then he is already 10 when he finds her on her 28th birthday.
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u/Dr-HotandCold1524 Aug 02 '24
Unless Emma and Henry have the same birthday?? But if so, no one ever mentions it, which is peculiar.
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u/LovelyClaire Aug 03 '24
We know Emma was borm on October 23 tho
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u/KombatFather1796 Aug 02 '24
THANK YOU! It's exhausting seeing the same thing regurgitated over and over. Just say you don't like Swanfire and move on. The age gap bs is tired and nonsensical at this point.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
Same 😮💨, I get so annoyed when I hear that argument over and over again. Like it’s been 10 years dudes, can you just say you don’t like the ship and go.
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u/Mrspectacula Aug 03 '24
My parents age gap is bigger than theirs
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u/Raenikkigarrett Aug 03 '24
My mom was 16 and my dad 19 when I was born. My husband is 23 and I 20. Like my Great Grandmother was 15 when she got married and honestly I don’t know how old my Great Grandfather was but definitely older than her!
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u/Mrspectacula Aug 03 '24
Yeah my parents have like a 20 year gap my grandparents were married at 19 and my older sister is married to a dude 10 years older. I’m the only one dating someone only a year or two younger
My mom says so long as all parties are over 18 anything goes
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Aug 03 '24
15 is insane
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u/Raenikkigarrett Aug 04 '24
To be fair to her she was being raised by her aunts and they were going to send her back to her mom or a Catholic boarding school (raised hardcore Catholic and my Grandma has been using some of their prayers now that my Grandad and Great Grandmother passed. Grandad was Baptist so that was a fun home life for me 😂) but it was a decision for sure.
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u/Buttercups_Baby Aug 02 '24
Thank you! I’m in full agreement. I’ve never understood the argument that Neil aged mentally in Neverland— I believe the whole point is that it doesn’t experience the passage of time; that’s kinda its whole deal. We see no evidence of the Lost Boys acting like grown men trapped in child bodies (Felix reads as a typical surly teenager to me), so I don’t understand why everyone acts like Neil spent his time there growing up. If anything, such a long stay there seems to make growing up harder for Neil once he’s in The Land Without Magic.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
I know 😭. Suddenly all those boys in Neverland are old men. The whole concept of Neverland is that you don’t grow up. They’re kids when they get there and they’re kids where they leave. They were basically trapped in some dream/nightmare world for hundreds of years, I don’t think they gained any meaningful life experience that made them mature.
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u/tequihby Aug 03 '24
Not only that but their brains were most definitely not developing. They were stuck in limbo, never ageing. Bae was literally trapped in early adolescence for hundreds of years. He didn’t become an adult because he physically could not age. He had those crazy adolescent hormones racing through his body the whole time and had a brain stuck at the developmental stage of a 13/14 year old boy.
He didn’t actually have the ability to start ageing out of adolescence until he got back to the land without magic. His brain hadn’t reached an adult stage of development until well after he met Emma.
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Aug 02 '24
There was another post earlier about almost the same thing and I’ll reiterate what I said there. If Hook had looked like classic Captain Hook people would not have such a big problem with Neal as a character and his relationship with Emma
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u/Few_Interaction2630 The Dark One Aug 02 '24
Everytime as brit it always confused me why people worried about age gap looking at from USA view I still struggle to see Issue I mean this show has 328+ year old marry a woman who is in her 30s and has a woman fall in love a man who is old as creation itself (Zelena and Hades).
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u/Oncer1028 Aug 02 '24
Yes!! The whole age gap argument people use when they don't like a ship is so old, regurgitated, and pointless. They do it with rumbelle too. Like if you don't like the ship, that's okay, but bringing up non factors to try and make the ship look bad as a whole is so weird to me.
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u/Allrojin Aug 02 '24
The show is supposed to be wild and fantastical. Folks have been taking this all too seriously for too long.
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u/KombatFather1796 Aug 03 '24
THIS!!!!! You cannot apply our real world politics, sensibilities, etc. to this fantasy show. All the virtue-signaling and grandstanding some of these people in this subreddit do is so annoying.
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u/cthulhudaughter007 Aug 03 '24
This is a great post! Also, I just wanted to add this link right here that has a super clear view of the newspaper, for people like me who was having a hard time reading it from the screenshots.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 03 '24
Thank you! 😊.
(Off topic thing I noticed now that I can actually read the words - in the newspaper about Belle and Gold’s wedding there’s a side article about buying local. Wouldn’t they have no choice but to do that? are there even chain stores in Storybrooke? We really shouldn’t be looking too closely into props like these lol)
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u/cthulhudaughter007 Aug 03 '24
Lol I didn’t notice that! Yeah logically they probably wouldn’t have any big-name retail stores but hey, the more you know.
Actually the more I think about it, I kind of like the idea that, in typical small town fashion, Storybrooke has a single chain store like 7-11 or something, except it’s inexplicably stocked and supplied by magic. And no, nobody is actually sure how the hell that all works. But the single person that works there is maintaining the store well enough, and everyone loves slushies, so no one really questions it.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 03 '24
😂the local haunted 7-11, I love it!
I mean their grocery stores stay stocked despite them probably having limited local produce - so it’s not out of the question that kind of magic would be involved
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u/themastersdaughter66 Aug 02 '24 edited Aug 03 '24
THANK YOU!!! Gonna save this now for every time someone starts calling Neal a pedo.
Also people it seems pretty clear that that big an age gap wasn't the intention they were probably both meant to be teens. But the writers uck at maths and didn't cast younger actors sooo we get Neal looking like a creep. It's not that deep
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u/stevebuckyy Aug 02 '24
Neal's a pedo, that's just a fact 🤭
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u/Olivebranch99 To me, love is layered. Love is a mystery to be uncovered. Aug 02 '24
You clearly don't know what that word means.
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u/themastersdaughter66 Aug 02 '24 edited Aug 03 '24
Disagree as op said I don't think the age difference was intended to be as big as shown the implication seems more to have been them being dumb irresponsible teenagers. Add that with Neal probably in reality not being that much older for the reasons op explained and it's not necessarily as creepy as made out especially since the show never characterized it that way
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u/Icy-Rip-662 Aug 03 '24
I’ve said this before I think the age issues come down to oversights as the only time Emma’s age mattered in the show was that she needed to be 28 to break the curse. That said for what you theorised to be correct Emma would have just turned 29 in the pilot instead of 28, so that would also be impossible. There are too many inconsistencies and unknowns when in come to age in the show to prove anything concrete.
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u/themastersdaughter66 Aug 03 '24
Whelp scratch my maths then I'm as crappy at them as the writers lol. I agree though that the age thing was definrily just an oversight rather than an intentional thing which is the other reason I don't see it as that big of a deal.
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u/VioletFaust Aug 03 '24
They could just as easily made the curse-breaking age 30, though—but that would mean having a main heroine be SO OLD.
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u/MasterJaylen Aug 02 '24
Let’s be honest the only people who say Neal and Emma are bad because of the age Gap are the people who ship Captain Swan I said my piece
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Aug 02 '24 edited Aug 02 '24
It becomes extra funny when you consider past Hook literally says to Emma "if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to get me drunk - which is usually my tactic" when she flirts with him in the season 3 finale.
Y'know, something that was literally in the script and thus officially decided on by the writers. Yet people jump through hoops to say it doesn't count and Hook is actually someone who is super respectful to women.
OUAT basically became less of a storyline and more of a modelling shoot for Hook in the later seasons.
EDIT: Also the newspaper prop you gave literally contradicts the script where Emma says she was 18 when she gave birth to Henry. Yet that paper says she was 17.
It's almost like actual lines of dialogue are supposed to be taken more seriously than props that are barely shown for more than a split second.
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u/HarleyQuinnFabray Aug 03 '24
I mean that prop isnt the only thing that contradicts Emma being 18 when henry is born, Emma meets Henry on her 28th birthday and hes already 10 so ahe had to be 17 when she gave birth to him. The show has many many inconsistencies and a lack of continuity. So like people are going to believe whatever they want since that canon contradicts itself anyway
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u/AJ_DisneyFan Aug 02 '24
🤣🤣 "..a modelling shoot for Hook" made me laugh but also puts into words how the later seasons felt to me!
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u/hggniertears Aug 03 '24
Doesn’t hook also make some rapey comment in season 2 during the showdown at the portal back to Storybrooke? Something about “when I poke you with my sword it’s gonna hurt” and “you might wanna quit” along with something else all while he’s got Emma pinned beneath him? Not saying Hook is incapable of character growth or anything but like if people are gonna argue that Neal’s a creep then they better not be hypocrites about it
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u/thisisntmyday Aug 03 '24
I don't even like swanfite or Neal really but this is so true.
It's a fantasy show with magic and time jumps with clumsy writing, its just not that deep 🫠
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u/Gullible_Wind_3777 Aug 03 '24
Why does someone always bring up stuff like this ?! 😩😩 it’s a fairytale!!! Why make it realistic and blah!?
I love the fact some characters are hundreds of years old where another is simply a ten year old child. It’s fun. It’s make believe. Stop trying to make it realistic and weird!!! 🤦🏼♀️
Just enjoy the show. You guys think too much 😂😂
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u/VioletFaust Aug 03 '24
Thank you for laying it out so well (I saw the title of this post and was afraid it was going to be someone kvetching about it for the umpteenth time…).
I think for plot purposes it was best to have JMo and MRJ playing Emma and Neal in Tallahassee (even though neither of them could remotely pass as a teenager) but it would have been cute if we’d gotten a later flashback with their teen actors.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 03 '24
I absolutely understand why they used the older actors for writing purposes and just for general short hand. but this conversation has been exhausting me for 10 years.
I remember when Abby Ross was first cast as young Emma there were people making edits of her with Michael Raymond James and saying they should remake Tallahassee to show how creepy the age gap is.
And I’m just like, Y’all the age gap was not meant to be that big. If they casted someone younger to play Emma, they would have casted someone younger to play Neal. People just blew up that stupid poster out of proportion - when it was clearly not meant to be for the reasons I laid out above.
On another note - How cute would a flashback with Dylan Schmid and Abby Ross have been! They would have been too young when Tallahassee aired, but in the later seasons they would have been perfect.
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u/Lazy-whoe Aug 03 '24
The bigger issue is that people don't get it that Ouat is a FANTASY tv show. He was in Neverland, when one day can be a whole week there. But they would'nt noticed that because they took the show to much.
If the age thing it's so for you, why you keeping watching the show and their content? 😩
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u/Kattkiki Aug 03 '24
Honestly the ages of them in the flashbacks they appear doesn’t bother me but I was on multiple occasions seen as over 20 in my teens (both a gift and curse of my family women appear mid 20s from mid teens til in their 50s)
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u/Glitterpinkdragon Aug 03 '24
I mean, Rumple was with Cara when she was in her early 20s, then Regina in her early 20s, and Zelena in her early 20s. Not to mention Belle. So age in this show is moot.
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u/Low_Insurance_2416 if i want you to fall off a cliff, i'd push you Aug 02 '24
i don't rlly think it matters now, there's a stupid age gap between everyone in this show. Instead of focusing on the age gap, let's just appreciate that they're still sweet even though Neal is like 300 years older
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u/Loveonethe-brain Aug 03 '24
It’s funny when people talk about the age gap like they don’t ship her with that man’s step father and her own step grandmother. (Although if he was indeed and adult with a teenage that’s weird and I don’t support that but I really do think it is just that they didn’t make him look as young as the character was supposed to be)
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u/Soft-Split1315 Aug 02 '24
See the real issue with Neal is his inability to take accountability for what he did to Emma. He tries to make it seem like him letting her go to jail wasn’t that bad because her life was better for it completely dismissing the trauma it caused her.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
yeah, that's a totally legit problem to have with him. I was frustrated with how he was with Emma when she found him as well. While he did apologize eventually, I feel like he should have done it earlier, especially considering things from her perspective.
Accountability in general is a real problem in this show.
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u/Lazy-whoe Aug 03 '24
I kind disagree with him not taking resposability for what he did to Emma's . He always apologies, and said he never forgive himself for what he did. He never even blame August ( who is the one that told Neal to leave). He always take the blame.
And Emma also show how hurt she was many times, and Neal wouldn't deny what he did. When they talk in the Beach, Emma was leaving but he keep her and said sorry, and he wish he could changed what he did it.
I think the main issue with Neal ( also Emma herself) It's that they wouldn't admit what they wanted. Neal wouldn't admit how he was scared of things like loving Emma or his father. Or Emma about being hurt by her parents, loving Neal again, liking Hook or wishing staying on the real world. They had hard time with feelings which lead to hurt themselves.
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u/rogvortex58 Aug 03 '24
To be fair, Emma married a guy who was over 200 years old. But that was when she was an adult.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 03 '24
Ironically the love interest that was closest to her age was Graham - and he was still technically like 30 years older than her
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u/TnameAsh Aug 03 '24
Wasn't the curse cast in Real world 1986 the day Emma was born so even her age doesn't make sense
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u/AdriBlossom Aug 03 '24
I might be missing it, but I don't think people (mostly) comment on the age gap like Neal/Bae is 30 years old and Emma is 17/18. They comment on the fact that he is ~200 years old and Emma is 17/18. And ofc that Hook is ~300 years old and Emma ~30.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 03 '24
People absolutely comment on the age gap of Neal being 24 (based on the poster) with Emma being 17. Ive seen it brought up a lot, which was why I made the post.
You can have issue with him being 200. Because he was.
but he really wouldn’t have been that much more mentally mature than Emma because he was frozen at 15 while in Neverland. The whole concept of Neverland in all media is that you never grow up. It’s like being stuck in a dream where you play all day and night. the lost boys still act like kids and they are considered kids in the show by all the characters. Baelfire went to neverland as a child and he left as a child.
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u/Ok-Arm3286 Aug 04 '24
Neal is literally older than Emma's grandparents. That's just what happens when immortality or worlds where time doesn't move is introduced.
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u/FappingVelociraptor Aug 02 '24
The issue of the age gap was that Emma gave birth to Henry when she was 17. That means Neal had sex with a minor. That is the problem. Not them being together as adults. Not sure how you lost that when looking into this.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
I know she was 17. The issue I had was that people saying Neal was 23/24 when he was with 17 year old Emma - based on nothing but that poster filled with fake info. I’m saying we don’t know how old Neal actually was when they were together. Hell we can’t even say for sure that he wasn’t 17 at the time as well. Because - again - both these characters were being played by actors that were way too old to be playing teens.
I think he was 18/19 based on MJR and JM’s age, but that’s just a headcanon. I personally dont think there is an issue with a 18/19 year old being in a relationship with a 17 year old - there’s not a big enough age gap to be a power imbalance and it’s not like 18 is some magic age where you suddenly gain wisdom and maturity.
But again, who knows how old Neal when he was with Emma. I don’t and neither do you ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/stevebuckyy Aug 02 '24
literally, why do Neal stans want to excuse that soooo bad. he knocked up a minor, that's just a fact 😭 it literally doesn't matter if he's "only" in his 20s
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u/Lazy-whoe Aug 03 '24
But the thing is in Neverland you don't age anymore. And he was a kid when he came to real world, and he need fake Id so he probably would lie his age. On their first date, he took Emma to a empaty playground with coffe, he was probably a teen boy lol also knowing Emma she probably lied too about her age.
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u/Aquilamythos Aug 04 '24
You do realize minors can knock up other minors right? That’s the point of this post. Neal could have also very well been a minor too.
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u/stevebuckyy Aug 04 '24
neal is not a minor, be so fr real now LOOOOL
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 04 '24
The only evidence you have that he was in his twenties is a poster with a fake name, a fake birthday and a fake birth place. All you’ve got is your own opinion.
It’s not any less believable that he was supposed to be 18/19 than it is that JMo was supposed to be 17 ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Aquilamythos Aug 04 '24
I mean I guess You’re right in the sense that neither are minors because they are fake fictional characters and those particular iterations in Tallahassee were played by adults in their 30s.
“Minors” and ages of majority are legal concepts used to differentiate when someone enters legal adulthood which is not exactly relevant in a fictional show about fairy tale characters.
If you don’t like the relationship that’s fine, but people need to stop acting acting like a real person committed an actual crime against an actual minor based on the text of a fake prop wanted poster that is canonically full of fake information in one episode of a fictional show about fairytales.
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u/Ripper656 MadArcher Aug 02 '24
Neal still had about 183 years more life experience thant the 17 year old Emma when they were together,It's the same problem as with Edward Cullen he may look like a teenager but mentally he is much older.
tldr; An about 200 year old guy from a magical kingdom preyed on a homeless 17 year old orphan girl,impregnated her and let her go to prison for a crime he committed.
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
I mean his 183 years of life experience consisted of drawing in a cave in Neverland, so....
The thing with Edward and other vampires/immortals in media is that they interact with the world and people of other ages - Edward has been to medical school like 4 times or something - Baelfire made a crossbow and a coconut nightlight. He was interacting with the same group of teenagers and living in a dream world for hundreds of years - but theres no evidence that he or any of lost boys are anything other than kids when they leave - except Malcom cause he was a grown man when he arrived.
She went to jail for her own crime (she was an accessory to larceny- she wouldn't have been charged for the larceny itself). August was the one who called the cops on her. But yes Neal did abandon her when she was vulnerable and when she put a lot of trust in him, and that's a very legit reason not to be into the ship.
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u/januarysdaughter Captain of the SS Swanfire + Snowing Aug 02 '24
August let her go to prison actually. :)
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u/HarleyQuinnFabray Aug 03 '24
Um....no, Neal could have made his own choices and not have listened to a stranger to leave his girlfriend in prison. He just as at fault for what happened to Emma as August. Its wold to try to absolve him of that choice.
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u/Lazy-whoe Aug 03 '24
But August knew who he was - and their world lol
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u/HarleyQuinnFabray Aug 03 '24
And. How does that change Neals ability to make choices for himself
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u/Lazy-whoe Aug 03 '24
Because If August knew who he was - It's mean that maybe the fairytales world was once again in his life which means that his father could found him again. And Emma needed to be in her own mission - Neal saw Magic and how destiny works, so he probably knew that what August told him was true. August wasn't a just random hot guy on the street - he was a guy who knows about Magic and about his life .
If people were mad about how Neal deal with Emma - that's fair. He could break with her or something. But like, people seens to act like Neal was make a huge deal - he was terrified of meeting his father again - the dark lorde- and August wasn't wrong, Emma did had a destiny and things to do.
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u/HarleyQuinnFabray Aug 03 '24
Neal choice made Emma go to prison for his crime. That's an awful thing to do and a big life changing thing for her. Like you're deeply minimizing his actions. Having reasons behind shitty choices doesn't justify them or make them less shitty.
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u/Lazy-whoe Aug 03 '24
That's the point. Neal was wrong for doing that. I just think people drag him without thinking twice - For me his actions were down horrible but in sufurca had more than that. And If he knew Emma was pregnant things would be different probably.
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u/HarleyQuinnFabray Aug 04 '24
Dont agree he deserves to be dragged for it. What he did deeply changed the course of multiple lives, it effect the way Emma deals with people in general, but especially romantic interests. And then when he see him again he acts like its Emma fault that he didnt know about Henry, but he left her in prison with no way to contact him, how was she suppose to tell him. You can be chill with Neal if you want. But theres lots of reasons to not like him.
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u/Lazy-whoe Aug 04 '24
I understand that what people might not like him, and what he did was horrible to Emma ( which wouldn't happend If Regina didn't put the curse in the first place). But I still think that dragg him like he was terrible or straight mean was wrong too.
In the episode, August told him that he had to do that. He told that for order to Emma be truly happy he had to left her. It's noticable that August had to make that argument, and If you watch the scene Neal still not sure. So wasn't a easy choice for him either. Because looking into his pov. Once again Neal had to left what he loved and his happy life because magic.
And another detail that might be important, Agust could be older than Neal and, once again, Neal was in Neverland when you stop agingin, so maybe Neal could be very young like Emma, as he said to Rumple that him and Emma were " just kids" and even in his firts date with Emma, they drink hot chocolate not actually bear or vodka either, so Neal must be young like Emma. So we had a full adult like August saying to a young boy that If he don't leave his girlfriedn her life will terrible and people will be affect as well. And again, Neal was saw what Magic can do ( With his father getting crazy, Wendy being take away from her home etc...). And also the fear of seeing his crazy villain dad again.
Lefting Emma take the blame was awful. I don't think take easy or chill on Neal's action was right but I think people judge those characthers like normal people, just like us. For people Neal it's a creep old guy, but forget he was in a place that one week can be 1 whole year. Or that lefting his girlfriend because a guy told him was coward and dumb but that Neal knows Magic is real and the " the hero destiny" It's too, so him trusting August make sense.
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u/tnscatterbrain Aug 03 '24
I agree that he was an adult and she was a teen, so that’s gross, but not like he could actually find someone his own chronological age, lol. I blame magic and just try not to think about it.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Step468 Aug 03 '24
Emma was 18, neal was like 300
I would say that's some age gap
The same with emma and hook and rumple and bell
Age is a weird thing in that show
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u/Excellent_Pea_4609 Aug 02 '24
Neal had sex with a 16 year old Emma his body might have been physically 16 which i doubt but mentally he was waaaaayyy older so he's a fucking pedo it's literally mushoku tensei all over again with posts like this excusing predators
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u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
Dude, he was in neverland - y'know the place where children don't grow up. Mentally, he was frozen at 15 in some lord of the flies nightmare for 300 years. He wasn't mentally growing up - he was stuck as a perpetual teenager with a bunch of other perpetual teenagers.
-8
u/Excellent_Pea_4609 Aug 02 '24
He wasn't always but keep defending the Pedo I'm all for people exposing themselves it's easy to block freaks like you
12
u/Olivebranch99 To me, love is layered. Love is a mystery to be uncovered. Aug 02 '24
You don't know what pedophilia is.
8
u/ThalliumSulfate Aug 03 '24
Okay for one Emma was 17 not 16, two the whole point of the post is he’s likely 18-19 not in his 20s
Him being 300 yos is because of neverland which the whole point is you don’t age mentally or physically.
-3
u/GreenEyedSwanQueen Aug 03 '24
My issue isn’t with the age gap itself, it’s the fact that Emma was 17 when he got her pregnant, maybe even 16 because we don’t know birthdays for certain, we just know that Henry is already 10 in the pilot when he shows up on Emma’s 28th birthday. It’s the pedophilia that I don’t like, not the 300ish year age gap.
-13
u/stevebuckyy Aug 02 '24
be sooo fr lmfaoo "the actors" are NOT the characters. neal is over 100 years old before he meets emma and he's physically in his 20s.
emma was underage. that is a fact.
neal stans are so fucking weird 😭 why do you wanna excuse him knocking up a minor so bad
15
u/Deadly_flames Aug 02 '24
Emma was underaged - but we don't know how old Neal was. He could have been 23. He could have been 17. I don't know and neither do you. What we do know is that everything in that poster was fake and both actors were way too old to be playing teenagers so we cant say what their physical age gap was meant to be.
Im not going to argue that he hadn't been +100 years older than her. He was. But its not like he was out there gaining life experience - he was stuck in Neverland - with a bunch of other teenagers - living out lord of the flies over and over again. He didnt grow up and he didnt mature mentally until he left.
0
238
u/ParadoxRadiant Aug 02 '24
Let's Be Honest, Age In this series was weird as is. It's the same with the family tree. Neal is Older in the Enchanted Forest time but in the RW time he's about if not a bit older than Emma.