Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5679696-20161205034133/@comment-24674051-20161206193801

possibly, but the comparison to the other realms, and the origins of those realms, can maybe help provide some insight on the 'pre-creation' history of the Wish Realm. there is a fair amount of similarity between these realms. Particularly Storybrooke itself and the Wish Realm. In fact, you might say that Storybrooke is the result of a wish. Regina 'wished' for a place where she could get her happy ending back in the Pilot, and Storybrooke was the result. It wasn't a genie wish, but it does meet most, if not all, of the criteria for a wish, including the price that is still being paid by Regina.

And taking that line of thinking further, Storybrooke was the result of Rumple's wish to be able to go to where his son was located. And we can see that Rumple is also still paying the price for that wish as well.

The point is, there is enough similarity that I don't yet consider it off-topic. (others may choose to disagree.)