Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20161205015930/@comment-1894786-20170103103634

Aine1989 wrote: Edward Zachary Sunrose wrote: Doesn't matter how old Neal was, though it's likely he was 23/24. Emma was 17, which is typically the age of consent in 90% of the country.

Also, the most "beautiful" love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet (which to me is boring as hell) has a 12 year old Juliet marrying and 19 year old Romeo, and having a pre-arranged engagement to a 21 year old.

Being raised in the Enchanted Forest, which is usually reminiscent of those real world times in which R&J is set, Neal wouldn't have cared about age differences in the slightest. And being 17, Emma would've been old enough to consent to a relationship with Neal, especially since she was a runaway and had no guardians or parents who could deny their consent.

I don't understand the hate for Neal for "taking advantage" of Emma. He was 23, he was almost as much a child as she was. If he was 30, then it would be a completely different story. Emma was actually 16. And we have no evidence to suggest that relationships between adults and children were ever common in the EF.

In what world is a 16 (who is mentally 14 due to her stunted growth, which Jen has confirmed) old enough to consent with a man in his 20s? There is a clear powere inbalance.

23 is nowhere in the realm of 16. No, she was 17. Henry was already 10 when she celebrated her 28th birthday. This is canon, and that is a fact. And in what world is a 16 year old mature enough to consent? Apparently, this one. A quick Google search will tell you, some Asian countries have their age of consent as low as 12, some Central American countries say 14 and older, and every single state in the United States is either 16, 17 or 18. If you wanna argue the moral and ethical dilemmas of something that is perfectly legal, by all means. But it is legal, nontheless.

Tallahassee takes place in Portland. I haven't seen the episode in a while so I don't know whether or not this is stated to be Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine, but considering the events of Firebird, which is the next time we see her, I'm assuming it's Maine and the age of consent there is 16.

Also, if you put Emma at the mental age of 14, why not excuse Neal who was PHYSICALLY and thus likely mentally 14 for well over a century? Sounds like a double-standard to me.