Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-28162607-20170103120839/@comment-28162607-20170103131458

1. As you say, Henry's birthday is sort of questionable. He was ten in 2011, so he was born in 2001. That's how I'm sure the writers took it. Nine months back from August is clearly Nov/December, but you say they mentioned a summer. I don't know if we really can use Henry since he must be rounding up his age or something to match Jared's age.

'''Did you read any of what I wrote? Henry was 11 by mid season 2, which was March/April 2012. That is canon. So he must have turned 11 by then since he was 10 in October 2011. Simple maths, Henry was conceived in summer 2000.'''

If we go with Henry being conceived in late 2000, then Emma was 17. Age of consent depends on the state and it's 16 to 18 generally. Given that Emma has no parents or guardians that we know of, I'm okay with the fact that she's 17 and in a relationship. Noone knows how old Neal was. Let's say early 20s and Emma's late teens. Legality is pretty much null and void, maturity is questionable (Neal is really 100+ years old, so I'd handwipe that away).

'''We do have evidence of Neal's age; the wanted poster which puts his birth year at 1977. And even if we didn't, he came to the LWM when he was 14/15 (biologically) and then lost his English accent (which he'd had for years) and acquired and never lost an American one, learned 21st century shoplifting techniques, learned how to hotwire and drive a car (something he had never seen before in his life), was able to create a whole new identity (including a fake ID),  knew how to trick police effortlessly, fence stoen goods, work in a high end jewellery store (including passing background checks since I doubt they gave those kinds of jobs to teenagers) a few years before meeting Emma. Frankly, 8 years is a minimal amount of time to achieve all that and be able to pull it off 247 and fool everyone around you.'''

It's not necessarily that she was in a relationship, it's that she was 16 and in a relationship with an adult.

2. There's a twisted perception that Neal was a manipulative jerk that blackmailed and controlled Emma. That is clearly not true. Most of what you put is baseless. Because:

From when they first met, Neal tried to manipulate her into a date when she was (rightfully) cautious of him.

N: Neal Cassidy

E: I'm not telling you my name

N: I don't need it to have you arrested when the robbery is in progress

'''He used the threat of calling the police to get her name out of her (which she didn't want to tell him). And then after she said she wasn't drinking with him, he asked again. '''

A. How do we know Neal knew her age? '''Seriously? The "but maybe he didn't know she was underage" excuse? That's what you're going for? I would be surprised if Emma didn't tell him on the first date, pretty standard first date question, really.'''

B. What is FTL's age of consent and marriage? I'm pretty sure given that he's from there, things were different.''' Where is the evidence? None. You are basing it on a headcanon. And all the FTL relationships we've seen are two adults.'''

C. Where do you see that Emma was unhappy and unwilling to participate in the relationship? When she first met him and was afraid of him being a pervert.

D. Where do you see Neal purposefully manipulating Emma for sexual gratification? When he decides to enter a relationship with and sleep with a teenage girl.

Emma was clearly happy with the relationship and Neal was too. He clearly loved her and highly valued her, at least. Emma doesn't recount on any bad memories besides the set-up at the end. Neal never tricked her into a date. It was casual conversation that I'm sure if Emma wanted, she could have not entertained that notion (because she was stealing his "stolen" car).

<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14px;">'''If he "highly valued" her he wouldn't have let her go. She was "happy" being sexually abused by a man much older than her. I wouldn't even say "very happy" as we haven't seen enough of their past relationship (in the present he clearly didn't).'''

<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:14px;">'''The problem here is you are neglecting the power imbalance. Emma was an impressionable, lonely, love starved teeanger, not an adult. She was quite naive and Neal was most likely her first boyfriend. Neal was an experienced adult.'''