Swanfire Month Day 13: What made you start to ship Swanfire?

Short answer? Henry.

Long answer? I can honestly say I was rooting for this ship from the very first episode. I was still in middle school when I started watching OUAT. I had only just started getting interested in love stories, and was still finding my niche. I had a soft spot for first love, for second-chance romance, and while I knew having a kid together didn't automatically make two people soulmates, it meant there was something, some story to be told, something that deserved a chance. So when Emma said that there was a father, one who "doesn't even know," my brain heard, "somewhere in this world there is a man who is still alive and has no idea he has a child. This guy is definitely showing up at some point and there will be DRAMA and it's going to be great!"

As early as episode six or seven, when Graham was trying to figure himself out and seemed like he was about to get together with Emma, my only thoughts on the subject were, "I mean, they're cute together and all, but I'm still holding out hope for Henry's dad." (And while Graham's death was tragic, part of me was relieved because it meant less chance of love-triangle nonsense when mystery dad did show up. I've never cared for love triangles.) Then came episode nine, when Emma lied to Henry about his dad. It was immediately obvious to me that this dead fireman business was a lie, especially since she'd indicated in the pilot that he was still alive. If she was lying, then there was something she was trying to hide. So when Emma said, "Henry's father was no hero and trust me, he does not need to know the real story," what I heard was, "this man was the love of my life and a decade later I'm still absolutely devastated just thinking about him and I can't bear to talk about him with anyone, even Henry." I continued to hold out hope for the rest of the season (pleasantly surprised that season one let its main character actually stay single for a while, which I'd rarely seen in a show like this before), and all through the beginning of season two. And then came "Tallahassee." "Tallahasse," which just served to confirm everything I'd believed from the beginning: that Henry's dad was someone Emma had loved, that she probably still loved him, that he was a good guy who'd genuinely cared about her, that he was likely still crazy about her, and that he would be showing up eventually to find her. From then until "Manhattan," I was on tetherhooks, waiting for him to show up in Storybrooke and get drawn into the drama. (I think there was a point where I thought he might arrive while Emma and Henry were out of town with Gold, and everyone else was going to be so confused as to who this new stranger was, all while he would hear everyone talking about Emma's son and have questions of his own.) Once Neal was finally in the main storyline? Well, he very quickly became my favorite character (if he hadn't been already). And every scene he had with Emma just told me more and more that I'd been right from the beginning: these two were meant to be.

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