Just who ARE Aurora and Mulan?

Like most of the OUAT characters, we know the Disney versions of these iconic princesses. However their backstory on ABC's hit show has obviously followed a different path - and I'm not just talking about Aurora's dress.

We know Aurora's been asleep for 1 year... or 28, depending on who you ask. We know Mulan was also in love with Phillip. We know Aurora is somewhat timid and uncertain (but is growing) and Mulan lives for honor, but keeps her past and her personality a tight secret. Beyond that, we know nothing.

How did Mulan and Phillip meet up? What kingdom to Mulan and Aurora come from? Do they have connections to any other characters we've met previously? Neither of them recognized Snow, and Snow didn't recognize either of them, which seems a little strange considering that Regina knew Maleficient... questions, questions, questions!

Well, that's not new. We always have questions. But considering how early on Season 1 gave us some backstory for all of the major characters, it seems really strange to me that we're at the mid-season finale for season 2 and we haven't had a flashback for either Mulan or Aurora. Really? Two of the four new major characters introduced, and neither of them get a single flashback, or get tied into/mentioned in someone else's flashback? What is going on here? Is it shoddy writing... or something more sinister?

The Historical Fiction of Michelle Moran

I love good Historical Fiction. Books that are well-researched with three-dimensional characters and gripping plots, that just draw you into the reality of a distant time and place. Unfortunately, these books are hard to come by.

When I was at the Half Price Books Clearance Sale last month, I picked up a copy of Michelle Moran's "Nefertiti." While it wasn't what I'd call "Five Star Historical Fiction" it was good enough that I wanted to read her next book. And since "Nefertiti" was her first book, I thought there was a good chance that she would be even better in the next one.

I was right. "The Heretic Queen" (which follows Nefertiti's niece, Nefertari and her marriage to Rameses II during the Israelite Exodus) was better. But it was the third book, "Cleopatra's Daughter" (About Kleopatra Selene) that really pulled me in and secured my admiration. I loved it, and immediately recommended it to my mother. I've read several books about the Rome of Augustus Caeser, and this was the equal of any of them. Plus, despite being accurate about the horrors of the time period, it was seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old girl, thus toning down some of the graphicness included even in factual historical accounts of the era.

Moran's fourth book, "Madame Tussaud," follows the life of a woman we know for her famous waxworks museums. And the waxworks are amazing (I've seen some of them) but her life is even more fascinating. She lived during the French Revolution, and she and her family were friends with both the revolutionaries and the royals, a rare situation for anyone in that era. The result is an extremely complete look at the period that is rarely seen in fictional accounts. The only issue I had with the book was that it got a tad too long and detailed - otherwise it was a fantastic work.

Book #5 had the opposite problem - it was too short. Entitled "The Second Empress" it is the first of the books to utilize multiple narrators. Voice #1 belongs to Maria Louisa, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and the niece of Marie Antoinette. At just 19 she was forced to leave Austria and marry the man who had humiliated her country, and who was 30 years her senior. Voice #2 belongs to Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's promiscuous sister who is obsessed with ancient Egypt and more than half mad. Voice #3 belongs to Paul Moreau, Pauline's Chamberlain, a mulatto from Haiti who was a close personal friend to both Pauline and her brother.

UPDATE: I've since reviewed Book #6, "The Rebel Queen" here.

Each one of these books is a fascinating and captivating look into another time, and it feels as though you are really living with each of these very real personalities.

One caveat for younger readers - this is adult fiction. "The Heretic Queen," "Madame Tussaud," and "The Second Empress" all include sex scenes. They're short, well-written and sparsely utilized compared to most historical fiction, but they're there. "Madame Tussaud" and "Cleopatra's Daughter" are both set during extremely immoral and violent eras and are completely truthful when they relate some very difficult facts and scenes. I would not recommend any of these books for anyone under 18, or who was not comfortable with sex and violence.

However, these are a treat for any historically minded adult reader, and I am eagerly awaiting Moran's next novel, "The Empress of India."

OUAT 2.8 - "Into the Deep"

THE WINTER FINALE IS NEXT SUNDAY????

Okay, breathe, back up, spoiler warning.

SPOILERS LURK BELOW. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

It's interesting, that for an episode that didn't focus on a given fairy tale or contain a single flashback, there certainly was a ton packed into this episode.

Henry and Aurora got a chance to be heroes in this episode - but neither chances lasted for long, with David choosing and Snow forced into taking their places.

Mulan got to do a little more than be the grunt this episode, but not by much. Is anyone else getting really curious to see her backstory? I did sort of think we'd get more on either her or Aurora before the midway point.

I have to say, it's pretty fun to see Gold and Regina teaming up for once. They work well together when they're not double crossing each other, and make a fun and sophisticated duo. Plus, throw David into the mix? A trio not to mess with.

Although now David's gone into a sleeping curse. It's not a surprising move, but it certainly ups the stakes, as he'll be out of action (presumably) until Snow gets back. Only I'm confused... hasn't he already been under a sleeping curse? At the very beginning of season 1 he was in a coma, and I guess I assumed it was sort of magical in nature, since it was enacted by the Curse. Shouldn't that have counted? Ah well, it's a gray area and they couldn't have both David and Snow get into the Netherworld by the same means.

Which, by the way, their reunion in the flames was pretty epic. Last season I was annoyed by a lot of their love story, but here we get to see the passion and pure love that makes them a couple to love. Definitely got me more emotionally invested in them and the show than I've been for awhile.

Who else got the mermaid reference? We know Ariel is supposed to appear at some point, and this could be a good intro for her if they end up having to get this ink by some route other than the vial in Rumple's old cell.

Cutest scene? Rumple and Belle at the cafe, eating hamburgers. Adorable!

Worst scene? Cora taking control of Aurora. What has happened to the real Aurora? Is she there but suppressed  Will she be able to fight it? Or has her soul gone to another place... like Cora says Phillip's has gone. Will we see Phillip again??? Here's hoping!

Doctor Who Rewatch and Rose Tyler

When I first was introduced to the Doctor Who fandom, it was in a completely haphazard order. I started off with "The Pirate Planet" from the 4th Doctor's run, then "The Voyage of the Damned" Christmas Special with David Tennant, and then skipped around in seasons 3, 2 and 4 (pretty much in that order) of New Who.

The reason for this was that I've always been sensitive to frightening images/ideas. After watching "The Girl in the Fireplace" I could hardly sleep that night thinking of the Clockwork Men hiding under one's bed. And yes, I was 21 years old at the time. So my friends helped me figure out which episodes would be least likely to disturb me and I watched them as I could get my hands on them. I loved every one.

Then there were no more that were "100% Elizabeth safe" so I started branching out, reading Wikipedia synopsises before watching them. I never had a sleepless night over Doctor Who again. Not even with "Blink". I think it was a combination of growing tougher by exposure, and getting healthier so that my sleep patterns were more regular and less likely to be influenced by frightening thoughts.

Ashamed to admit this? Maybe a little bit. But after all "hiding under the couch from the Daleks" is considered a British tradition.

Anyhow, the 1st season was the very last one I saw. And the first episodes in which I saw Rose were some of her worst appearances, where she seems petty and incapable. Plus the first friend who introduced me to her didn't like her... and I naturally loved Martha because she is the most like me of all the companions.

So, yes. I was definitely biased against Rose.

This fall I started getting Netflix (now that they're captioning almost everything) and have unlimited access to all of New Who. I decided to watch the whole thing, in order, to properly see all of the character arcs once and for all.

And you know what? I'm liking Rose a whole lot better  now. I know she's still going to bug me in some episodes, but I genuinely like her in season one, and I like 9 as well. I don't know how to explain it, but it works very well, and it's fun. Maybe it's partially a breath of fresh British air after the high action 'Americanized' recent seasons, but I'm enjoying it far more than I did the last time through. And I felt it was worth acknowledging.

However I'm only up to episode 3 (The Unquiet Dead) so we'll see how my feelings progress as I continue...

Journey into the Darkest Friday

I loathe consumerism. 

On the other hand, I love shopping. 

I hate that stores are starting Black Friday on Thursdays.

But I like the principle of Black Friday itself... SALES SALES SALES!

In recently years as friends have shared their Black Friday stories on Facebook, I've had a growing urge to check out the hype. The problem has been that November is one of the worst months for me health-wise, and I've been way too sick in past years to even think of venturing out on the craziest shopping day of the year. 

However, this year I was really excited about some sales at JCPenneys and JoAnn Fabrics and my father was willing to help me navigate the madness. So, at 5:00 in the morning, we woke up, drove through the dark, and arrived at the doors of JCPenneys just as the crowd was allowed in. It was pretty crazy, and I had to do a bit of ducking and diving to get the pair of boots I wanted, but it wasn't nearly as horrible as I'd expected. 

Then we went over to JoAnn's, which was also very busy, but still manageable, so long as you didn't need to get fabric cut. I avoided this (8 yds of pre-cut interfacing for $2.99? Give me six bolts!), but my father needed fabric for curtains in his office, so we did get in line and moved about five feet in twenty minutes. But we were together and it went okay. 

Surprisingly the check-out lines went really quickly in all the places we stopped, and the employees were calm and smiling, for which I give them kudos. The customers were obviously sleepy and intense, but the people at JoAnn's are nearly always nice, and stayed true to this rule. One lady even let us go ahead of her in the cutting line! 

I would never want to sit out all night in front of Best Buy or any place like that. High end doorbusters are risking a miserable night for a lot of disappointment. But for overall good sales, it was definitely worth going to JoAnn's. I saved over $170 by doing that, and honestly I could have gone a couple hours later and still had a good selection of stock. 

Summed up? I had fun. But I'm glad it's a once-a-year thing. 

Words have Power. How will you use yours?

Something to think about...

Words have power.

Negativity tears people down.

Positivity builds people up.

Why would you want to tear someone down without good cause? (i.e. they’re a terrible person and need to be torn down and still that’s something you should only do with careful thought.)

I love the internet. I love the people I’ve met, the art, movies, stories, tutorials and everything else that I’ve gotten to know because of it.

But sometimes the hateful, thoughtless comments that I see (or even that are occasionally directed at me or my loved ones) make it almost not worth it. And I know that I get way, way less internet hate than most people. (Partially because I try really hard not to write/post stuff that could in any way be hurtful, and partially because I stay away from most controversial issues). And if the miniscule amount I’ve gotten can affect me so strongly (and I’m talking really bad pointless stuff, not like an intelligent, mature discussion that we all appreciate), how on earth do those who get worse cope? 

Words have power, peoples. With power comes great responsibility. Will you use yours for good or for evil? Will you help make a better world?

Will "Once Upon a Time" tackle "Snow White and Rose Red"?

So far ABC's hit show has stuck mainly to fairy tale kindergarten - i.e. the Disney classics we all grew up with. And then they deviated a bit this season by throwing in literary and legendary characters, like Lancelot, Captain Hook and Dr. Frankenstein.

But apparently they've talked about wanting to use more obscure fairy tales, news that is sure to delight any fairy tale fan. And 'obscure' doesn't mean unknown, not by far. In the last decade fairy tales and fairy tale retellings have been enormously popular, from big screen remakes, to hundreds of novels, and even comic books. So what fairy tales are popular enough to still have audience draw, but still fit the 'obscure' label? I think "Snow White and Rose Red" is a good contender.

They've already paid a pretty overt homage to it with Snow and Red's friendship. The two girls are like sisters already, and they go around in symbolic white and red cloaks. In the most recent episode we heard them planning to find a cabin in the woods together - exactly the setting for "Snow White and Rose Red." All we need is a dwarf to enchant a prince...

Think about it! Rumplestiltskin could easily cast an enchantment on Charming, perhaps at the bidding of King George?

Or it could be a totally new prince, one who will win the affections of Red. (And then die. Because all attractive single men die on OUAT. It's like a law or something.)

And, although it has never been made into a Disney film (or any film, for that matter, if you're not counting my independant film "The Shadow of the Bear"), it is still fairly well-known among young female readers - and guys know it too, as is apparent by the fact that Bill Willingham chose those titular sisters to play the heroines in his popular comic, "Fables."

Actually, "Fables" is the one reason why we might not get this particular fairy tale retold. Several years ago, ABC was in talks to produce a show based on Fables. That deal never worked out, but some people accused OUAT as being a rip-off to avoid rights fees. Willingham himself has gone on record as saying that this is completely untrue, and the show writers have also made it clear that they developed the idea independently  Still, there is good reason for them to wish to distance themselves from "Fables". They've already said that they had to change the original identity of Sheriff Graham to avoid rights issues, and since fairy tales aren't copyrighted, it's my private theory that they wanted him to be the Big Bad Wolf - which would have been very close to infringing on the copyright of "Fables" (which stars the Big Bad Wolf as the sheriff.)

So... will "Once Upon a Time" tackle "Snow White and Rose Red?" I think it very much depends on how long the show continues. The longer it goes, the more space they have to cover more stories. While I could see them holding off on this particular story for awhile to distance themselves from" Fables", I think it would be a real shame if they didn't incorporated it eventually, especially since they already have the perfect set-up.