Disney's Beauty and the Beast turns 25 and soon there will be an upcoming live-action film. (This article will not be talking about the Once Upon a Time interpretation because of reasons...)
In this article I talk about the villain of the film (who isn't talked about much compared to other villains like Ursula and Jafar, and arguably doesn't deserve much credit due to his bullying nature.) Unlike many villains who have a sensational or magical disposition/look, Gaston is represented very much as an alpha male (quite distinct from Captain Hook or Dr. Facilier for example.) While everyone knows without a doubt that Hades (from Disney's Hercules) is a monstrous villain, most of the characters don't see Gaston that way at all.
To be honest, Beauty and the Beast isn't really a villain driven film. The main plot of Belle meeting the Beast is mostly independent of the sub-plot involving Gaston until the end of the film when he riles up the villagers in a mob song to attack the Beast in a nearby castle that they didn't believe existed because of reasons. They don't like what they don't understand because of reasons.
Belle is smart enough to see right through Gaston and figure out that he's the real monster and yet none of the villagers see that. They love him (especially the three silly girls). He's majorly loves himself and the villagers seem to agree with him. He believes he's entitled to what he wants and no matter how much of an ignorant "how can you read this? there's no pictures" man or chauvinist ("It's not right for a woman to read") boar he is, people still view him as a hero while Belle sees him as primeval. (When I was younger I thought she said "prime evil"...)
Note that for the purpose of this article, I decided not to put any pictures of this man. What's amazing is how many people have seen this film for the first time who because Gaston is portrayed as an alpha male and not a typical cartoon or theatrical villain, there are many people who may not have figured out right away that Gaston was necessarily a villain at all. There were probably many who did not see the belligerent signs and only figured out that Gaston was a villain after he wanted to harm the Beast. And that's only because we spent most of the film feeling sympathy for the Beast and discovering the real monster of the story.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Monday, October 31, 2016
Halloween Preview
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Face of the Pumpkin.
Narrated by the newborn Pumpkin on Halloween night.
As I took a better peek at the houses I spotted pumpkins with carved faces sitting in front of many homes. At first I thought I had found beings like me. It intrigued me and filled me with joy to see other Pumpkins. I climbed up the steps of one of the houses and thought about what to say. Somehow I felt more at ease talking to beings closer to my size and appearance than talking to the taller humans.
“Hello,” I said to them. The pumpkins did not move their mouths or eyes or even their heads. They did nothing. Unlike me, they did not have any arms or legs, so I expected them to sit still, but they did not even move their faces. I examined them and discovered that they had artificial faces and could not see me or hear me or know I talked to them. They did not talk or think about talking. People must have used them as decorations containing candles that enhanced the Halloween scene. Like all the other pumpkins, everyone in this town ignored me.
~~~~~~
As I continued strolling down the street, I felt the presence of someone behind me. I turned around and viewed a translucent man with a body of dim light. I could almost see through him. Despite his size and vibrance, everyone marched through him like an invisible being that did not exist. As I studied his eyes, a sight of surprise gasped from his face, as if he did not expect me to see him. He flew away from my view as if he blew himself away. I turned away in confusion and continued exploring the street, wondering if I might ever see the ghost again.
A short time later, I spotted a house where people celebrated in their unfenced lawn. A tied-up object hung from a tree with the form of a green-skinned woman dressed in black, but did not live or breathe. The children covered their eyes with blind-folds and grabbed some sort of stick. They took turns beating the suspended figure. Some of them called the figure a witch...
~~~~~~~~
One of the children managed to beat the witch figure so much that out fell a ton of the treasures called candy. As I peeked myself closer, the scents of chocolate, licorice and other sorts of juicy sweetness filled my nose. Some of the children grabbed over a dozen pieces and placed them in the mouths, displaying the most satisfied smiles. Such sweetness opened my curiosity about the joy that this candy contained. After the children went inside, a few pieces remained under the tree that no one had retrieved from the ground. As I assumed no one could see me, I crept along the grass toward the tree. As I stepped into the middle of the lawn, two of the children peered out the window.
Their mouths dropped at the sight of a walking Pumpkin with arms, legs and a face. One of the kids opened the window and tossed a stone towards me. I jumped, wanting to hide myself. I did not have enough time to hide myself behind the tree without the kids finding me, so I retreated the yard. The two children opened the door to go outside, and threw stones at me....
Narrated by the newborn Pumpkin on Halloween night.
As I took a better peek at the houses I spotted pumpkins with carved faces sitting in front of many homes. At first I thought I had found beings like me. It intrigued me and filled me with joy to see other Pumpkins. I climbed up the steps of one of the houses and thought about what to say. Somehow I felt more at ease talking to beings closer to my size and appearance than talking to the taller humans.
“Hello,” I said to them. The pumpkins did not move their mouths or eyes or even their heads. They did nothing. Unlike me, they did not have any arms or legs, so I expected them to sit still, but they did not even move their faces. I examined them and discovered that they had artificial faces and could not see me or hear me or know I talked to them. They did not talk or think about talking. People must have used them as decorations containing candles that enhanced the Halloween scene. Like all the other pumpkins, everyone in this town ignored me.
~~~~~~
As I continued strolling down the street, I felt the presence of someone behind me. I turned around and viewed a translucent man with a body of dim light. I could almost see through him. Despite his size and vibrance, everyone marched through him like an invisible being that did not exist. As I studied his eyes, a sight of surprise gasped from his face, as if he did not expect me to see him. He flew away from my view as if he blew himself away. I turned away in confusion and continued exploring the street, wondering if I might ever see the ghost again.
A short time later, I spotted a house where people celebrated in their unfenced lawn. A tied-up object hung from a tree with the form of a green-skinned woman dressed in black, but did not live or breathe. The children covered their eyes with blind-folds and grabbed some sort of stick. They took turns beating the suspended figure. Some of them called the figure a witch...
~~~~~~~~
One of the children managed to beat the witch figure so much that out fell a ton of the treasures called candy. As I peeked myself closer, the scents of chocolate, licorice and other sorts of juicy sweetness filled my nose. Some of the children grabbed over a dozen pieces and placed them in the mouths, displaying the most satisfied smiles. Such sweetness opened my curiosity about the joy that this candy contained. After the children went inside, a few pieces remained under the tree that no one had retrieved from the ground. As I assumed no one could see me, I crept along the grass toward the tree. As I stepped into the middle of the lawn, two of the children peered out the window.
Their mouths dropped at the sight of a walking Pumpkin with arms, legs and a face. One of the kids opened the window and tossed a stone towards me. I jumped, wanting to hide myself. I did not have enough time to hide myself behind the tree without the kids finding me, so I retreated the yard. The two children opened the door to go outside, and threw stones at me....
Friday, July 15, 2016
Thursday, July 14, 2016
The Zebra Prince
In the kingdom of Zapalinia, a lonely zebra prince named Zer wanted more than anything to play with all the other zebras who lived outside the castle walls. His parents,King Zokeras and Queen Zafarina told him that a zebra like him could never play with any zebras that didn’t have noble stripes.
One day Zer looked out the window from the castle and saw a distant group of zebras his own age playing some sort of game. Due to curiosity, he decided to join the other zebras, but he needed a disguise. He took some paint and added a basic black texture to his stripes to conceal his royalty.
Zer snuck out of the castle and found his way to the field where the other zebras were playing that strange game.
“What is that you are playing?" Zer asked one of the zebras.
“We’re playing zoo-zap," she said. “Haven’t you ever heard of zoo-zap?”
“No,” said Zer.
“That’s odd. Everyone in this land knows of this game. Even the pigs of Pagamonia know how to play. You’ve heard of Pagamonia, right?”
“Of course,” said Zer who had heard of the nearby kingdom ruled by pigs, as his private tutors in the castle taught him all about geography. However, no one uttered any mention of such games as zoo-zap in the castle.
“My name is Zaba. What’s yours?”
“Uhh…. Zupid, yeah that’s right“.
“Zupid? That’s a silly name.”
“Silly?” questioned Zer.
“Yeah,” said Zaba. “You’re not from Zapalinia, are you?”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, you obviously don’t know a thing about this kingdom for one thing. Plus your stripes look strange to me too.”
The other zebras stopped for a moment with their match of zoo-zap and stared at Zer.
“You know his stripes do look rather funny,” said one of the other zebra players.
“He looks rather nervous,” said another zebra. “How do we know he’s not one of those zebras from the island of Zazavozia?”
They stared at him and trotted towards him. Some of the zebras snuck up behind Zer and grabbed him and tied him to a tree. They ripped out pieces of mud with their hooves and threw them at Zer.
One of the guards at the castle glanced over at the site and galloped towards the angry mob of zebra players. The evening clouds expanded and went darker. As the zebras were teasing and throwing mud at Zer, the rain poured down on them.
Just as the rain fell, the castle guard arrived and ordered the other zebras to stop. The guard looked at Zer tied to the tree and studied his face and identified him as Prince Zer.
“Prince Zer!” cried the castle guard. “What are you doing out here?” The guard then sneered at the zebra players. “What have you been doing to our prince?”
“The prince?!” said the zebras.
Not only had the rain washed away all the mud, but it also removed the painted details of Zer’s stripes. As the other zebras looked at Zer, they saw Zer’s true blue stripes.
"I am so sorry," said Zaba.
"I think your apology is a little too late," said one of the guards.
Zer had now seen the cruelty and the tyranny a mob of zebras could do to someone. Zer went back to the castle and decided to stay there for the foreseeable future. Zer did hope that one day he would find happiness outside the castle walls and see the world from an even greater distance.
---------------------------------------------------------
Question: Can zebras change their stripes?
One day Zer looked out the window from the castle and saw a distant group of zebras his own age playing some sort of game. Due to curiosity, he decided to join the other zebras, but he needed a disguise. He took some paint and added a basic black texture to his stripes to conceal his royalty.
Zer snuck out of the castle and found his way to the field where the other zebras were playing that strange game.
“What is that you are playing?" Zer asked one of the zebras.
“We’re playing zoo-zap," she said. “Haven’t you ever heard of zoo-zap?”
“No,” said Zer.
“That’s odd. Everyone in this land knows of this game. Even the pigs of Pagamonia know how to play. You’ve heard of Pagamonia, right?”
“Of course,” said Zer who had heard of the nearby kingdom ruled by pigs, as his private tutors in the castle taught him all about geography. However, no one uttered any mention of such games as zoo-zap in the castle.
“My name is Zaba. What’s yours?”
“Uhh…. Zupid, yeah that’s right“.
“Zupid? That’s a silly name.”
“Silly?” questioned Zer.
“Yeah,” said Zaba. “You’re not from Zapalinia, are you?”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, you obviously don’t know a thing about this kingdom for one thing. Plus your stripes look strange to me too.”
The other zebras stopped for a moment with their match of zoo-zap and stared at Zer.
“You know his stripes do look rather funny,” said one of the other zebra players.
“He looks rather nervous,” said another zebra. “How do we know he’s not one of those zebras from the island of Zazavozia?”
They stared at him and trotted towards him. Some of the zebras snuck up behind Zer and grabbed him and tied him to a tree. They ripped out pieces of mud with their hooves and threw them at Zer.
One of the guards at the castle glanced over at the site and galloped towards the angry mob of zebra players. The evening clouds expanded and went darker. As the zebras were teasing and throwing mud at Zer, the rain poured down on them.
Just as the rain fell, the castle guard arrived and ordered the other zebras to stop. The guard looked at Zer tied to the tree and studied his face and identified him as Prince Zer.
“Prince Zer!” cried the castle guard. “What are you doing out here?” The guard then sneered at the zebra players. “What have you been doing to our prince?”
“The prince?!” said the zebras.
Not only had the rain washed away all the mud, but it also removed the painted details of Zer’s stripes. As the other zebras looked at Zer, they saw Zer’s true blue stripes.
"I am so sorry," said Zaba.
"I think your apology is a little too late," said one of the guards.
Zer had now seen the cruelty and the tyranny a mob of zebras could do to someone. Zer went back to the castle and decided to stay there for the foreseeable future. Zer did hope that one day he would find happiness outside the castle walls and see the world from an even greater distance.
---------------------------------------------------------
Question: Can zebras change their stripes?
Friday, May 27, 2016
Retcon (Retro Continuity)
Retcon is something that occurs sometimes in series and franchises which take place in the same continuity. This happens in a book series or TV series when something is mentioned (or not mentioned) in Book 3, for example, (or Season 3, etc.) that seems to contradict the continuity of an earlier book/episode. For example, in Book 1, a character has two brothers, and they mention only having two brothers, but then in Book 4, a never-before-mentioned third brother appears, and everyone seems to know him.
Sometimes we see the opposite where a sibling (or other character) disappears without an explanation, and it's as if they never existed. This is called the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome named after the forgotten Happy Days brother. Other examples of this include Tiger in The Brady Bunch, Judy in Family Matters and a lot of characters in Doctor Who....
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome could also be considered a retcon, which is common in television series and sometimes movies, but probably rare in books, since the reason is to replace the child actors with older actors. (Cartoons like The Simpsons and Rugrats could be considered the reverse.)
Another type of retcon can occur not from exact contradictions in continuity, but from introducing an object or character in the franchise that was never mentioned before, where the opportunity could have allowed a mention, but it didn't because the writers probably didn't know about it yet.
A television example of this would be in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Season 2. In the season premiere we're introduced to Lord Zedd, the superior to Rita Repulsa. (He was introduced as a new villain because they were out of Japanese footage and were replacing it with original footage, which explains why Rita was later replaced by a different actress, although her voice was the same.) The reason this feels like a retcon (even to children who saw it like myself) is that not once in all 60 episodes of Season 1 was there ever any mention of Rita having a superior leader (and later we'd introduce more villains that were part of an even larger villain group in the galaxy led by Dark Specter)... Also the fact that Rita was trapped in a dumpster for 10,000 years also adds to the retcons, especially when her brother and father are added in Season 3. (The movie with Ivan Ooze is not considered a retcon, since it took place in a different continuity despite having most of the same cast from the series.)
Once Upon a Time has been pretty good at keeping up with continuity for the most part where little has ever contradicted... despite a number of characters who have shown up having never been mentioned before. Still there have been a number of Chekhov's Gun examples (which is one way to avoid the accusation of retcons...) Many retcon issues have been explained by memory magic, for example, Emma's relation with the Snow Queen or Regina and Zelena's childhood experience. One of the biggest times I felt retcon was in the Season 4 episode where Robin Hood has a history in Oz with Zelena. The reason this feels a little like a retcon is that a year earlier Robin and Regina were having dialogue about what to do with Zelena, and I don't remember him ever saying that he had met the Wicked Witch. Technically I don't think he ever said that he didn't know her, but the fact that he didn't mention it, when there would have been an opportunity is what seems to mess with the continuity.
I'm not even going to go into examples of retcon from Doctor Who, which has existed for so long that it's bound to happen...
(Not necessarily retcon... but Captain Kirk seemed to violate the Prime Directive in the original Star Trek series.)
Now when it comes to books... I haven't experienced this as much with books which take place in the same continuity, although the Oz books come into mind (I know, first Once Upon a Time, and now this, I have a habit of bringing up Oz, and this probably won't be the last.) The Wicked Witch was rarely mentioned in later books... fair enough since she only appeared in one chapter and was only mentioned a few times beyond that... but the Good Witch of the North basically disappeared from the continuity. Without giving away specific spoilers, there were also retcons made involving the Wizard and Ozma.
In my own writing, I have tried to deal with this. If I know that a character has an unseen sibling or a cousin, I don't want to wait too long to mention this. (Although that doesn't mean it has to be a gratuitous mention, but at some point I do need to think about the reasons for why related characters are absent.) This is why it can be a great advantage to think ahead while revising the draft of a novel. The Face of the Pumpkin is written as a standalone book in which all the major plot points are resolved in twelve chapters. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't include information that was both relative to the characters and that story that may have also been a Chekhov's Gun/Boomerang for later stories. (I also may or may not have written most of the first draft of a sequel...)
Sometimes we see the opposite where a sibling (or other character) disappears without an explanation, and it's as if they never existed. This is called the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome named after the forgotten Happy Days brother. Other examples of this include Tiger in The Brady Bunch, Judy in Family Matters and a lot of characters in Doctor Who....
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome could also be considered a retcon, which is common in television series and sometimes movies, but probably rare in books, since the reason is to replace the child actors with older actors. (Cartoons like The Simpsons and Rugrats could be considered the reverse.)
Another type of retcon can occur not from exact contradictions in continuity, but from introducing an object or character in the franchise that was never mentioned before, where the opportunity could have allowed a mention, but it didn't because the writers probably didn't know about it yet.
A television example of this would be in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Season 2. In the season premiere we're introduced to Lord Zedd, the superior to Rita Repulsa. (He was introduced as a new villain because they were out of Japanese footage and were replacing it with original footage, which explains why Rita was later replaced by a different actress, although her voice was the same.) The reason this feels like a retcon (even to children who saw it like myself) is that not once in all 60 episodes of Season 1 was there ever any mention of Rita having a superior leader (and later we'd introduce more villains that were part of an even larger villain group in the galaxy led by Dark Specter)... Also the fact that Rita was trapped in a dumpster for 10,000 years also adds to the retcons, especially when her brother and father are added in Season 3. (The movie with Ivan Ooze is not considered a retcon, since it took place in a different continuity despite having most of the same cast from the series.)
Once Upon a Time has been pretty good at keeping up with continuity for the most part where little has ever contradicted... despite a number of characters who have shown up having never been mentioned before. Still there have been a number of Chekhov's Gun examples (which is one way to avoid the accusation of retcons...) Many retcon issues have been explained by memory magic, for example, Emma's relation with the Snow Queen or Regina and Zelena's childhood experience. One of the biggest times I felt retcon was in the Season 4 episode where Robin Hood has a history in Oz with Zelena. The reason this feels a little like a retcon is that a year earlier Robin and Regina were having dialogue about what to do with Zelena, and I don't remember him ever saying that he had met the Wicked Witch. Technically I don't think he ever said that he didn't know her, but the fact that he didn't mention it, when there would have been an opportunity is what seems to mess with the continuity.
I'm not even going to go into examples of retcon from Doctor Who, which has existed for so long that it's bound to happen...
(Not necessarily retcon... but Captain Kirk seemed to violate the Prime Directive in the original Star Trek series.)
Now when it comes to books... I haven't experienced this as much with books which take place in the same continuity, although the Oz books come into mind (I know, first Once Upon a Time, and now this, I have a habit of bringing up Oz, and this probably won't be the last.) The Wicked Witch was rarely mentioned in later books... fair enough since she only appeared in one chapter and was only mentioned a few times beyond that... but the Good Witch of the North basically disappeared from the continuity. Without giving away specific spoilers, there were also retcons made involving the Wizard and Ozma.
In my own writing, I have tried to deal with this. If I know that a character has an unseen sibling or a cousin, I don't want to wait too long to mention this. (Although that doesn't mean it has to be a gratuitous mention, but at some point I do need to think about the reasons for why related characters are absent.) This is why it can be a great advantage to think ahead while revising the draft of a novel. The Face of the Pumpkin is written as a standalone book in which all the major plot points are resolved in twelve chapters. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't include information that was both relative to the characters and that story that may have also been a Chekhov's Gun/Boomerang for later stories. (I also may or may not have written most of the first draft of a sequel...)
Friday, May 20, 2016
OUAT: 5 Seasons
In the past I've written posts about one of my most loved TV series, so I thought I would write another article, especially in response to the loose ends and other things mentioned in those articles.
First of all... here was my (totally '90s) thought to the plot reveal
of the Season 5 finale of Once Upon a Time.
If you've never seen The Pagemaster, this is probably not much of a spoiler. Be warned if you don't want spoilers for things that have happened during the first five seasons of Once Upon a Time.
Here is the latest OUAT article I wrote last year.
http://bennyrotondi-smith.blogspot.com/2015/07/once-upon-time-beyond.html
Since then one minor loose end was formed which was a question that has existed since Episode 1x17 (Hat Trick), which was how Regina's father ended up a prisoner in Wonderland. Despite people's head-canons that it could have taken place during Cora's flashbacks in the Season 4 episode "Mother"... it turned out that Cora returned from Wonderland a different time as seen in the flashback for 5x12 "Souls of the Departed" where Regina has drama with both of her parents. We also saw a flashback that (although felt a little like retcon) showed Cora's relation to Zelena, and I'm glad that we saw some of Regina's childhood (although it did not answer the loose end of what happened to King Xavier's kingdom.)
I also enjoyed seeing Camelot in the first half of the season, since there had been hints of it in the past few seasons, for example we saw a sort of prequel to 4x12 "Heroes and Villains" with the gauntlet, and we also saw the return of Lancelot... although I admit I was a bit disappointed how he was written out as well as his situation with Guinevere. I was glad that we got to see Mulan and Ruby again and more of Oz, and I hope we haven't seen the last of them! I also hope we haven't seen the last of Maleficent and Lily, because I feel there were still loose ends on that end as well.
Although it's not likely, I would like to find out (even if it's resolved in a book or something) some explanation to the anomaly of Will Scarlet's appearances as a starring character in Season 4. He was introduced as if we'd find some big reveal with him, but he didn't do much... I think the Sorcerer's Hat had more screen time (and more plot significance) than he did in Season 4. For people who didn't watch the spinoff "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland"... the character must have been a mystery.... for those of us who did watch the spinoff, it's a mystery what happened to Anastasia and why he left Wonderland. Now that the Merry Men have left, we may never know. Also what happened to Rapunzel? lol (A character self-contained in Episode 3x14 "The Tower")
http://bennyrotondi-smith.blogspot.com/2014/06/questions-on-once-upon-time.html
Above is a list of questions I made after Season 3.... Question 3 did get answered in a major way of course, concerning Zelena and Cora.
Also...
Question 11 - We did find out what happened to Mulan (who had a storyline in DunBroch)
Question 13 - Answered in 5x12
Question 14 - Not answered lol
Question 16 - We did get to see what happened to Dorothy and the Silver Slippers! 5x16/5x18
Of course since then a whole lot of other questions have come up...
Also I'm glad we got to see the Dragon again! I wonder what the Evil Queen will do with his heart and what other new characters and dangerous situations involving magic we will see next season!
First of all... here was my (totally '90s) thought to the plot reveal
of the Season 5 finale of Once Upon a Time.
If you've never seen The Pagemaster, this is probably not much of a spoiler. Be warned if you don't want spoilers for things that have happened during the first five seasons of Once Upon a Time.
Here is the latest OUAT article I wrote last year.
http://bennyrotondi-smith.blogspot.com/2015/07/once-upon-time-beyond.html
Since then one minor loose end was formed which was a question that has existed since Episode 1x17 (Hat Trick), which was how Regina's father ended up a prisoner in Wonderland. Despite people's head-canons that it could have taken place during Cora's flashbacks in the Season 4 episode "Mother"... it turned out that Cora returned from Wonderland a different time as seen in the flashback for 5x12 "Souls of the Departed" where Regina has drama with both of her parents. We also saw a flashback that (although felt a little like retcon) showed Cora's relation to Zelena, and I'm glad that we saw some of Regina's childhood (although it did not answer the loose end of what happened to King Xavier's kingdom.)
I also enjoyed seeing Camelot in the first half of the season, since there had been hints of it in the past few seasons, for example we saw a sort of prequel to 4x12 "Heroes and Villains" with the gauntlet, and we also saw the return of Lancelot... although I admit I was a bit disappointed how he was written out as well as his situation with Guinevere. I was glad that we got to see Mulan and Ruby again and more of Oz, and I hope we haven't seen the last of them! I also hope we haven't seen the last of Maleficent and Lily, because I feel there were still loose ends on that end as well.
Although it's not likely, I would like to find out (even if it's resolved in a book or something) some explanation to the anomaly of Will Scarlet's appearances as a starring character in Season 4. He was introduced as if we'd find some big reveal with him, but he didn't do much... I think the Sorcerer's Hat had more screen time (and more plot significance) than he did in Season 4. For people who didn't watch the spinoff "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland"... the character must have been a mystery.... for those of us who did watch the spinoff, it's a mystery what happened to Anastasia and why he left Wonderland. Now that the Merry Men have left, we may never know. Also what happened to Rapunzel? lol (A character self-contained in Episode 3x14 "The Tower")
http://bennyrotondi-smith.blogspot.com/2014/06/questions-on-once-upon-time.html
Above is a list of questions I made after Season 3.... Question 3 did get answered in a major way of course, concerning Zelena and Cora.
Also...
Question 11 - We did find out what happened to Mulan (who had a storyline in DunBroch)
Question 13 - Answered in 5x12
Question 14 - Not answered lol
Question 16 - We did get to see what happened to Dorothy and the Silver Slippers! 5x16/5x18
Of course since then a whole lot of other questions have come up...
Also I'm glad we got to see the Dragon again! I wonder what the Evil Queen will do with his heart and what other new characters and dangerous situations involving magic we will see next season!
Monday, May 16, 2016
A Short Story
I'm back from hiatus after 4 months! I will be writing an article about Once Upon a Time soon...
but in the mean time... Here is a short story I wrote!
but in the mean time... Here is a short story I wrote!
The Fate of the Fox and the Owl
The rabbits of Louloudhi Meadow feared two predators. They feared Koukouvaya, the owl, for her fortune of flight; and they feared Alepou, the fox, for her fast, flowing footsteps which foreboded fear of being forever frittered by the fox’s ferocious fangs.
One day a rabbit named Asphalia frolicked through the flowers in the field. She found Alepou, the fox, caught in a nearby farmer’s trap.
“Please, little bunny,” said the fox, “I beg you. Chew off these ropes for me.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said the rabbit.
“Oh, please! I promise if you let me go that I’ll never hurt you or the other rabbits again!”
“What will you eat?”
“Well, I’ve thought about switching to carrots. If the farmer’s dog eats them, maybe they might not be so bad.”
Asphalia knew the risks, but felt sorry for the fox. She walked away, returning to her home and found a few carrots. She returned to the fox and offered her some of the carrots.
“Here you go,” said Asphalia.
“You brought me carrots?”
“Yes, try some.”
The fox took a bite and enjoyed the crunch of the carrots.
“Thank you, little rabbit.”
“You can call me Asphalia.”
“And I’m Alepou.”
“Yes, I know. All the rabbits know about you.”
“Well, even if you don’t release me, at least you were kind enough to feed me something.”
“And at least you looked like you really liked the carrots.”
A few hours later, the fox fell asleep. Asphalia crawled towards the fox and chewed off the ropes, but did not want to wake Alepou, for fear that she might attack. Lucky for her and for all of the rabbits of Louloudhi Meadow, when the fox awoke and found that the rabbit had freed her, she jumped for joy and vowed never to hurt the rabbits again. The rabbits had acquired a friend in the field from the once infamous fox.
One day, however, Koukouvaya, the owl, caught herself in a trap. A rabbit named Kindhinos passed by her.
“Hey you!” said the owl.
“Who me?” said Kindhinos.
“Yeah, you, rabbit. Let me out of this.”
“Well, maybe.”
“Well, why not?” asked Koukouvaya.
“Well, you might eat me.”
“Hey look, creatures can change. Look at Alepou.”
“That’s true.”
“If a fox who is the most untrusting creature of all can change, why not an old wise owl?”
“You know… I think I shall!”
Kindhinos freed Koukouvaya, who fluttered her wings and flew forward towards the rabbit.
“It looks like you made the wrong choice!” said the owl.
Kindhinos fled as fast as he fretted from the owl, but to no avail. Koukouvaya came closer to Kindhinos and clutched her claws on the critter. Kindhinos cried as he clung to the claws of the quelling Koukouvaya, killing him. The rabbits of the field could never forgive or forget the owl’s falsehood. The owl continued catching rabbits.
One day, a human hunter preyed on the animals of the field. Both Alepou and Koukouvaya tried to flee. Alepou begged the rabbits for protection and they accepted their friend, but did not have room for anyone else. Koukouvaya tried to ask for the same shelter, but the rabbits refused. The owl fled from the hunter, as she fluttered her feathery wings over the field. The hunter shot. She fell onto the field, and so flew her feathers all over the flowers.
Being mean and dishonest leads people to scorn you and never trust you.
Being kind and sticking to your word will cause praise and friendship.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Characters from The Face of the Pumpkin
Here is a description of three of the main characters from my book!
Main Characters
Gordy Komori
Gordy is a fallen fire sorcerer turned ghost. A year earlier he was betrayed and poisoned by his police partner, who later became the sheriff. The traitor also managed to frame his companion, a Bat, named Eeltog. At the present night, the Bat is due for execution at dawn. Gordy’s ghost form stays on this earth, waiting to settle unfinished business before he can reunite with his late parents. Gordy was born in Japan to ordinary parents without magic, but at the age of two, he showed signs of being a fire sorcerer. The Salem Society of Sorcery invited him and his family to live in Salem for protection. Gordy eventually got control of his fire powers, but could not use his magic to save his parents from a fire. After the loss of his parents, Gordy became a police officer in order to serve others and create peaceful justice. His police partner, Sam, on the other hand, wanted power, which led to the end of Gordy’s life. As a ghost, Gordy regrets that he no longer has influence on the affairs of the living, but still wishes he could protect the Bat, Eeltog.
Annie Airgid
Annie is an air sorceress who befriended Gordy and participated in magic training with him. Annie is the daughter of an ordinary man and a former dictator sorceress, now banished for thirty-five years. Her father never liked the idea of Annie involving herself with magic, since her mother’s magic resulted in huge damage. Annie has not seen her mother since the age of six and has a volatile relationship with her ordinary father. As a sorceress (also called a witch), Annie works as a pizza chef, making magical pizzas in a matter of minutes, much loved by everyone in the Sorcery Society, especially her Cat, Seronethera. Annie also has a special relationship with Gordy’s Bat, Eeltog, as prior to working with Gordy, Eeltog worked with Annie’s banished mother. After Eeltog’s undeserved arrest for poisoning Gordy, Annie set herself to work on a necromancy spell that would allow her to communicate with the ghost of her fallen friend. After a year of performing tasks and gathering ingredients around the world (and a sword from Mars), Annie enacted the rare necromancy spell, offering the most surprising result.
The Pumpkin
Annie created this unique character one Halloween night, as the unexpected result of her necromancy spell. Not understanding the Pumpkin’s true purpose, Annie is disappointed, making the Pumpkin feel unwanted. The Pumpkin desires the approval of Annie and others in this confusing world. As the main protagonist and narrator, the readers learn about the Salem Society of Sorcery through the Pumpkin’s experiences. The necromancy spell grants the Pumpkin extraordinary linguistic abilities, but this hero still struggles with understanding people and will be tested in knowing right from wrong. The ordinary people of this world do not accept a walking, talking Pumpkin and many people with magic find it a stretch as well. This character has a goal for understanding self-identity and wanting a place to belong. The Pumpkin’s magic is unpredictable and based on emotions. As a product of Annie’s necromancy spell, the Pumpkin is the only one who can see and communicate with the ghost of Gordy, and thus leads the Pumpkin’s quest in finding justice for the fallen sorcerer and the framed Bat before the execution at dawn.
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