It can only work for me if I'm able to ignore what happened in season 3.

Wish I could ignore it

It's not easy.

:nod:

Fanfics can help. I'm glad there are still new stories for them. :)

Surprised there are

Same here. But they were so good together, we probably shouldn't be surprised.

Most the time when ships die, fics stop coming.

Maybe it's because Neal is dead and people feel the need to give him a happy ending?

[Fingers in ears] Nyan-er, nyan-er, nyan-er, I can't HEAR you!

Nothing like a mature response, right?

I could accept Neal's death if it felt right. If it had been the logical, emotional lead up of Neal's story--or of the story in general. Although I'm still not happy about Graham's death, his death fit. It let us know the danger was real and how far Regina would go to protect her kingdom. It pushed Emma to step up and become sheriff, a leader in the town and a symbol of justice standing against Regina. Before, that was a job she could still push onto other people or walk away from.

Or, if you like, it's like watching Othello. They say Othello is the Shakespeare tragedy where people most wish they could jump on stage and shake some sense into the main character before it's too late. It would be so easy to stop this crash you can see coming.

But, at the same time, you know you can't. You can see how everything fits together. You know that, if this tragedy could be derailed that easily, it would be have already happened. All the supports have already been broken. You're just watching the roof cave in.

Neal's death doesn't feel like that. It doesn't feel like it was anything important to the story. It just happened.

Honestly, other than fanfic where Neal lives, I'm tempted to do a fanfic where Neal's death WAS MEANINGFUL! Where it FIT!

Maybe Anna.

I agree, his death didn't fit/feel right.

Oh othello I remember kept yelling trust her in my English class. The guy had more trust issues than Emma lol. English major here.

Anyway I am not going to comment on if his death had meaning. I am not happy with it though. I do think it was rushed

Never read Othello

I couldn't agree more. Obviously I wish they hadn't killed him off at all, but doing it half a season after his fake death was the worst time to do it. We had just seen everyone mourning him. And yes, I know a year had passed, but that's not what it felt like.

As much as I love your fanfics, I much prefer the ones where Neal is alive. ;)

I'm all for fics where Neal is alive