Once Upon a Time: Beyond

Here is the cover for the Once Upon a Time comic book Out of the Past, which ABC/Marvel released this spring. Unlike the previous comic book, this one divides itself into four separate stories focusing on Killian Jones (Hook), Rumple/Belle, Regina and Jefferson (The Mad Hatter). I enjoyed Jefferson's Wonderland story the most. Plus we also see a little bit of Camelot in Jefferson's story, which will be a major setting next season.

Last year I wrote an article talking about loose ends and things I wanted to see for Season 4. As we stand in the middle of summer with about 70 days left until the Season 5 premiere, now would be a good time to see what came true. Spoiler Warning if you have not caught up to the end of Season 4!

Here is the article:http://bennyrotondi-smith.blogspot.com/2014/06/questions-on-once-upon-time.html

Note that many of these loose ends involve withheld information that the show may never reveal, which probably the case for 1-6 and several others. For number 7 it is mentioned/implied how Hook and Baelfire left Neverland, but we never actually saw such flashbacks. For this article, I will comment on the questions that did have at least a partial answer.

13. How did Regina’s father, Henry, end up a prisoner in Wonderland? (Is he “The King of Hearts”?) 
In episode 4x20 "Mother" many have suspected that the flashback scenes with Cora occur around the same time that Cora took Henry,Sr. to Wonderland although we did not see it onscreen. I also loved hearing a mention to the White Rabbit which confirmed the theory that Cora did indeed know him. 
18. What is the full back story to Maleficent and her relationship with Aurora and Phillip?
We did not see the full back story, but we did see a lot of Maleficent. I wrote this question before hearing the news that Maleficent would return for a major story arc. Most of Maleficent's flashbacks focused on her history with Snow White and David as well as Regina and Rumple (and Cruella and Ursula and what Snow and David did to her). It has not been announced if Maleficent will return next year but we may find out more about her next season. 

19. How was Ariel’s relationship with her family under the sea?
We did see Ariel one more time in Season 4, but not her family. Instead, we saw Ursula's relationship with her father Poseidon, which had strong parallels to Ariel and King Triton. 

20. How will Elsa/ The Snow Queen fit into OUAT?!!!
It's funny that when I wrote this article, I did not know that Elsa and the Snow Queen would be two separate characters, I was just referring to the original fairy tale. We found out a lot during Season 4A, including Emma's involvement in the sister story. 

One question that I did not write in this article, but something I and many other Oncers thought was the identity of the author of the storybook, which turned out to be a major issue in Season 4!

I also wrote this article:
http://bennyrotondi-smith.blogspot.com/2014/09/once-upon-time-returns-in-less-than-week.html

I wrote about the characters I wanted to see return. Not only did we see Zelena again, but she returned in a big way. We saw a little bit of Oz again and found out that Will Scarlet once lived in Oz and that's where he met Robin Hood. Zelena will also return in Season 5 as a series regular. Robin Hood will also be an official regular, however Will will no longer be a starring cast member, however I still don't know if he will return as a guest star, considering the big plot holes with his character.

As mentioned before, we did see Maleficent return as I had hoped and a little bit of Aurora, but only a little and no Phillip. We definitely saw some of Emma's foster families and in the comic book Out of the Past, mentioned above, we met Priscilla, Grace's mother. Also in Season 4 we saw Ashley (Cinderella) appear in an episode, as well as Cora. Next Season we will see Lancelot again and Merlin too!

I'm back!

I've had huge computer issues which has set me back in my writing progress. Now that I have resolved issues, I'm back on track. I just did some more editing and submitted another chapter for review at Critique Circle. Stay tuned for more articles!

Setting and Plot

http://writerswrite.co.za/five-ways-to-use-setting-to-advance-a-plot

Above is an article that discusses the use of setting to advance the plot. 

Seven important details to consider are place, culture, era, geography (physical), things, time and weather. 

Place - Salem, Massachusetts / The (secret) Salem Society of Sorcery

Culture - It's contemporary North America, but under a magical Sorcery Society governed by the High Order. There are different classes to magic (fire, water, earth & air), as well as different magic practices. The Salem Society follows the practice and ideology of sorcery, but others such as the Realm in Edinburgh, follows the practice of enchantment.

Era - 2010s decade (with references to 1690s, 1960s-1990s)

Geography - Urban small city near the Atlantic Ocean

Things - Members of the Society have Familiar Companions such as Cats, Dogs, Rabbits, etc.. however these are characters more than props. Magical objects include Apples, Pears, Strawberries and Blueberries, spelled with capitals to distinguish from non-magical equivalents. The four fruits each correspond to the classes of earth, air, fire and water magic. (I've written an article before about the four fruits, but I may write more on some of these topics in the future.) Other objects include amulets worn by many of the characters (a sapphire icicle, a ruby heart, a diamond star and an emerald shamrock) which correspond again to the four classes of magic.

Other general objects include spell books and broomsticks. There are also four secret entrances to the four secret districts of the Society; the Crystal Clock Tower, the Golden Windmill, the Amethyst Swan and the Fountain of the Red Herring. Also expect a number of magic spells (including harmful curses) as well as other surprise magical items.

Time - The book starts at night and continues to the day.

Weather - [Spoiler Censor] 

Another Story

Much of this blog currently involves the continuity of my current novel The Face of the Pumpkin (or fantasy pop culture references).

I am, however, working on an another project. This book which is intended for a slightly younger audience will be a middle grade (or maybe lower) story with an all animal cast, involving a magical journey. The story does not take place in the same universe as The Face of the Pumpkin. Since I've only just barely written the beginning, I'm going to just place this picture here as a clue of the main character.

One of the most hated villains...

Earlier I wrote an article about what makes someone horrible.

http://bennyrotondi-smith.blogspot.com/2015/06/a-horrible-person-but.html

The limitations were that
A) No violence
B) No magic curses
C) No derogatory slurs

I made a number of points on this topic, but I overlooked one major detail. I won't describe in words this characteristic, but instead show different interpretations of one character, who actually fits the shoe on this personality.

P.S. The character may be horrible, but these actresses played her wonderfully!

Character Backstories

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/06/3-quick-tips-to-help-readers-connect-to-your-hero/

Here is an article I found about ways to allow readers to connect to the hero(es).

There is a section called "Understand What Came Before" which is a bit funny since it states, "The character’s life did not begin on page one, so we need to spend some time thinking about their past." 

 The irony is that in the case of my book, The Face of the Pumpkin, the main POV (point of view) character's life really does begin on page one, due to the character being "born" as the result of a magic spell. A similar condition exists with literary characters such as Pinocchio, as well as a handful of characters from L.Frank Baum's Oz stories. There have been also a number of stories with robot/android protagonists who are born at the beginning of the story.

In this sense the Pumpkin is like a child in many ways but with instant intelligence "programmed" into the character and with the capability of instant learning. (One major skill is that the protagonist can understand any human language). The protagonist's condition is based on the current condition of wanting to learn about the world of humans and reflecting those differences as opposed to being a walking, talking Pumpkin who has a great deal to prove in order to save the Society of Sorcery.  Our hero feels abandoned, rejected from the witch named Annie, who was so focused on her Necromancy Spell, that she neglected her sentient creation.

This brings me to some of the other characters, Annie Airgid, who is one of the most important characters in the book, has had a huge history and much of the story deals with her previous backstory as well as how it intersects with other characters. The story is told from the neonate Pumpkin, and through this character, we learn about the setting in Salem and many of the main players such as Annie, the ghost named Gordy and the Bat named Eeltog. All of these characters have  histories that are relevant in the present and will be significant in the future.

Personality Quiz: Salem Society of Sorcery Character

I made a personality quiz!

The possibilities are: Annie Airgid, Diego Montebello, Gordy Komori or Charlotte Larques.

http://www.gotoquiz.com/_salem_society_of_sorcery_character

Below is a sample of a possible result.