I saw this on Tumblr and thought it was really interesting:

Edward Kitsis: (Talking about Charming) "And if he would have taken the easy way out, and just pretended to be King George's son, would have lived an easier life, but he fell in love and he gave all of that up for Snow White."

Killian/Hook in 2x04: "A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets."

Neal in 3x01: "I was afraid she would never forgive me, so I wound up taking the easy way out, just not trying."


To me, the above quotes perfectly sum up why Emma and Neal should not be together. I've heard many an argument from a Swanfire shipper who will literally defend Neal until they're blue in the face. "He was scared." "He did it because he wanted what was best for Emma." "He had no other choice." "He made a mistake, and now he's sorry. He's going to make his way back to her and everything will be fine. Mistakes happen, after all." But at the end of the day, it is what it is. It would be all wrong for Neal to end up with Emma after what he did to her. I don't doubt that he's sorry, or that he'll find her again, but it would be nothing short of a travesty if the writers gave us a Swanfire ending. Here's why.

In 'Once Upon A Time', true loves fight for each other. We saw it with Snow and Charming. They had to work against whatever force was persistently trying to keep them apart, They proved they were meant to be together by never giving up. Neal loved Emma, but it got too hard for him, so he gave up. That doesn't sound like true love to me.
Hook, on the other hand, has spent several hundred years intent on avenging the death of the woman he loved. Now he's sailing back to Neverland - the one place he doesn't want to be after trying to leave it for so long - with the man he wanted to kill until not so long ago on board. Hook is passionate in how he loves and hates, and is willing to go the distance for something or someone, no matter how hard it is. Doesn't that sound better than Neal? Wouldn't Hook be a better match for Emma, who is the saviour of Storybrooke and the product of true love??

If Swanfire end up together, then it lets Neal off with everything he's done. It says that it's OK to make bad choices because in the end, you will still live happily ever after with the very person you hurt and betrayed. Emma suffered from a catalogue of severe emotional distress because of what Neal did to her. You may say that he did it for her own good, but how could it be for her own good when it caused her so much damage and pain? Why did following her destiny mean she ended up pregnant, in jail and alone? Emma was so traumatised by what had happened to her, she built walls around herself because she couldn't face getting close to anyone again. She was fearful of love and loving someone else. She had severe issues with trusting people. If she had never gone through that ordeal, her whole life would have been different as a result. I'm not suggesting that Neal doesn't deserve forgiveness or that he can't be a father to Henry, but I have a hard time believing that his actions are symbolic of Emma's true love.

Swanfire don't fit the OUAT example/ideal of 'true love'. Mary Margaret said it herself in S1: "If true love was easy, then we'd all have it." Don't get me wrong, I do want Neal to be happy, but I definitely don't want him to be with Emma. Hook is the first guy on the show I've shipped with Emma.
Jefferson: No
August: No
Graham: Died
Neal: (Don't even get me started on him).
I really think the producers have got it right with Captain Swan, and I'm really excited to see what happens in S3. If the writers go ahead with them (and even if they don't), Captain Swan will become one of the biggest ships on 'Once Upon A Time'. You can quote me on this.