Ten Highlights From "Fan Fiction"

*makes helpless pterodactyl noises*

       Do you know that this is the first Supernatural episode in AGES that has left me squeeing and smiling for days after it aired? Honestly I don't think that this has happened since The Great Escapist all the way back in Season 8...and I know exactly why. I watch Supernatural because of Sam and Dean and the bond that they share. I came to the show for the mythology, but I stayed and am drawn back again and again by those brothers. This isn't a show about monster hunting. It isn't a show about the struggle between destiny and free will. It isn't a show about Heaven vs. Hell. No, the heart of Supernatural is that it is a show almost entirely dedicated to the love of a couple of brothers who are soulmates and who will fight to the death just for the chance to maybe find some peace together whenever they are finally done.

      

1: The Music

       I was...optimistically concerned about this episode. Honestly I was. The idea sounded great, but if the music wasn't just as wonderful I feared that it was doomed to be 'good but not great'. Fortunately, though, the music was both funny and heartfelt. We had a chillingly ethereal cover of 'Carry On My Wayward Son' alongside such soon-to-be-classics as 'A Single Man Tear'...the latter managing to be both exceedingly touching and rather humorous. Certainly my toe has been tapping to 'The Road So Far' for the past couple of days (I think my brother is getting rather sick of me belting out 'His name is SAAAAAMY!' to be honest) and 'I'll Just Wait Here Then' featured Kristen as a Castiel cosplayer who could give Samandriel a run for his money when it comes to being the most adorable angel EVER.

2: The Characters

       Supernatural is a show that is rather infamous for being extremely ruthless with its self-parody and meta. And this includes making fun of the fandom and not being afraid to either re-imagine their rough, tough macho heroes as an all-girl musical. As a result, I always warn people that you can't really safely declare yourself a fan unless you are okay with being made fun of. Trust me. If you expect any different, you're just going to be disappointed and maybe even a bit offended. Because NOTHING IS SACRED on this show. So we've had characters joking about the Broments, we've had a Sam Girl stalker named Becky Rosen, we've had a gay couple who cosplayed as Sam and Dean, and now we've had a honest-to-God musical put on about the Winchesters. I should also point out that this is really the first time that fans of the Chuck Shirley books have been portrayed in an entirely positive light. Instead of being made fun of (the way poor Becky was), Marie, Maeve, and the rest were all fully fleshed-out characters who were passionate about something because they loved it.

3: The Message

         The message of this episode was twofold. First off it was about family. It took us back to the basics of what Supernatural is all about - family loyalty and love. It cut right through all of the crap that has been flung about and showcased the heart and soul of the show, reminding us why we all fell in love in the first place. We fell in love with two brothers on the road in a classic car with rock music blaring and an arsenal in the trunk. Two brothers who had lost everything but still had each other. Two brothers who were united against the world. Two brothers who would die for each other. That is the first message. The second was a love letter directly from the cast and crew to us, the fans. This show would not still be on the air without us, you do realize that, right? It was supposed to end with Season 5, but it was so popular with its small but loyal fanbase that the network decided to renew it again. And again. And again. The second message this episode gave us was a thank-you for all of our love and support and then the cast and crew handing the show back to us. Basically they have said that, while they may not always agree with our shipping and fan interpretations of things, they do acknowledge that those are legitimate and they appreciate our passion for the show they have worked so hard on. Instead of making fun of fanon, they said that we have every right to interpret the show however we want...even if they don't agree and aren't obliged to accommodate those interpretations.. It was basically telling the fandom that we have a symbiotic relationship with them and that they appreciate the loyalty and love we have shown throughout the years.

4: The MoW

       I just love Calliope and I wish that she had been in the episode a bit more. Really my only complaint about this episode was that the Muse of Poetry felt a little bit underutilized. It's not really a complaint, though, because the focus was on Sam and Dean and Calliope was a lot of fun. I certainly identify with her about some fanfiction "There's robots and tentacles in space. I can't even..." and I certainly find it interesting that, whenever she died, she exploded into purple goo. Was that a reference to the term 'purple prose', perhaps?

5: The Outsider POV

       This is SUCH a valuable part of this show! We are with Sam and Dean ever step of the way, so it is easy to get bogged down in their issues and their man pain and forget just how legendary and awesome these characters are. A dose of Outsider POV where we see Sam and Dean the way OTHER CHARACTERS view them immediately shakes that up and unsettles the status quo for a while, making the show feel fresh again. It also means that they can re-iterate elements of the past, clean up minor continuity errors, lampshade tropes and clichés, and bring back in long-forgotten elements for analysis. Two very great examples of this in the show were the FBI's Most Wanted arc and, of course, all of the meta episodes. This episode gave us probably the most perfect example EVER.

6: The Meta

          Robbie Thompson has said that he drew heavily on fanlore for this episode...and it is obvious. Aside from the customary jabs at shipping we also got someone fangirling over how utterly selfless and sweet Sam is, a lecture about the Samulet, a song entitled 'A Single Man Tear', and a whole bunch of other stuff that I KNOW I have seen over the past couple of years. This was all blended together with the special brand of humor and feels that Supernatural excels at, culminating in the ending where Chuck Shirley showed up and looked down at it all and said that it was "Not bad."

7: The BM Scenes

      I am not above admitting that I rather childishly giggled at that particular term for the Broments. What? It was funny! And very true. For all that Dean claims to hate 'chick-flick moments' he certainly instigates them quite often. And after a Season 9 filled with angst, man pain, and more fraternal bickering than was probably healthy even for this show, it has been GOOD to get back to the basics and to see Sam and Dean working together on the road again, having their BM moments, and actually behaving like brothers instead of angsty caricatures again. It was about TIME that we got back to that. Supernatural is always at its best whenever it is focused on the Winchesters and the bond they share...because it is their show. Whenever it focuses on other things, the quality instantly drops. This episode gave us broments in droves. And it was beautiful.

8: The Samulet

          *squeals & dies* THIS is the moment that absolutely broke me. I, like many other Winchester fans, never really forgave Dean for throwing away that necklace in Dark Side of the Moon, just because he didn't like that Sam had memories in Heaven that didn't involve him. There have been fanfics and fan-art and theories and fans PLEADING for YEARS for us to get a fix-it for that moment. And, like monks mediating a Tulpa to life, our prayers and threats were heard and this episode gave us just about as perfect a Samulet fix-it as we could wish for. I can't be the only one who nearly cried whenever Dean hung it in Baby and Sam looked up, realizing what that meant, can I? Because I did. I don't usually cry at television, but for some reason this show and these brothers get me every time.

9: ADAM!

          Will I ever stop talking about Adam? NO! NEVER! NOT UNTIL THEY FIX IT! Yes I do feel very strongly about this and yes I can rant for hours about the fate of poor Adam Milligan. I have so many Adam feels, it isn't even funny. I may joke about it, but really that's only to keep me from bursting out in tears and snatching him up to hiss "My precious!" at the writers every time they forget/abuse him again. If this show ends with him still trapped in the Cage, well, I don't know what I'll do...but it won't be pretty and will probably involve swearing in Elvish and eating copious amounts of ice cream. Honestly, I still can't believe that they really did mention him in this episode and that it wasn't just a fevered dream of mine brought on by too little sleep and too much writing fanfic. IT WAS ABOUT TIME THEY REMEMBERED HIM!

10: The Brothers

        Say it with me, everyone: SAM AND DEAN ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF SUPERNATURAL AND THE SHOW COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT THEM! THEY ARE SOULMATES! THEY ARE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER! THEY ARE BROTHERS! THE SHOW ISN'T ABOUT MONSTERS OR ABOUT HUNTING OR ABOUT CASTIEL OR CROWLEY OR ROMANCE OR ANYTHING ELSE NO MATTER WHAT OR HOW WONDERFUL IT IS...THE SHOW IS ABOUT SAM AND DEAN AND THE FAMILY RELATIONSHIP AND LOYALTY AND LOVE THAT THEY SHARE! NEVER FORGET THAT! This has been a fandom PSA.

The Feels Never Bothered Me Anyway (A Frozen Parody)

The scene pans out as the character dies,

Not a glimmer of hope to be seen--

Unless the show is cancelled,

I hope a fake-out is routine;

I'm forced to linger with this swirling storm inside--

I can't help myself, heaven knows I've tried...

Don't get attached, just let them go—

For heaven's sake, it's just a show!

They're actors, paid to make a scene—

But they're real to me!!!!!

Let it out! Let it out!

Can't hold it in any more!

Let it out! Let it out!

I don't have to be so sore!

I don't care what they have in store!

Let the show move on!

The feels never bothered me anyway!

It's funny how good scripting

Can make me feel so strong!

It's sheer manipulation,

And it's why I wrote this song!

It's time to realize my feels,

I've reached the limit, I can't deal!

You've killed him off, just for the views—

I feel so used!

Let it out! Let it out!

Let's just admit I cried!

Let it out! Let it out!

My brain and heart are fried!

Why did you make me like this guy?

How can life go on?

Emotions flurry every time I see his face;

I'm fantasizing rescues from that unfair coup de grace!

In memes and fanfiction, I've found my happy place!

I'm never going back! I've joined the Fandom Race!!
 

Let it out! Let it out!

Our freak flag's flying high!

Let it out! Let it out!

The best ones ne'er say die!!

Here I stand as the music fades

Screaming in the dark...

The feels get the best of me every time. 

© Leslie Conzatti

Why Write?

        Let's face it, fangirls and fanboys, most of us are not going to become rich and famous off of our writing. Oh sure maybe 50 Shades of Grey made the jump from Twilight fanfiction smut to horrible original fiction smut (judging from what I've heard), but that doesn't mean all of us will become so successful with our endeavors.

       So why write? Why should anyone even bother writing if they're going to end up as a starving artist living off of cereal and whatever they can afford to wash that cereal down with that particular week? Sheesh...for that matter...why do we spend our time writing these articles and reviews? We're not getting paid for it. Stories of people getting rich and famous off of blogging or YouTube are the exception, not the rule. So why bother in the first place?

      To answer that question, first we have to look at why on earth we would ever want to write in the first place. Are you just doing it to get rich? Well if you are, then you'd better either start writing cheap smut or get out of the business fast because you're probably not going to succeed. But if, on the other hand, you are writing because you love stories and building worlds and escaping from the wreckage and drag of day to day real life, then you are doing it right. For most of us our love of writing began at a fairly early age, even if we didn't know it at the time. Why? Because many writers began in their childhood as bookworms.

Disclaimer: I am well aware that this is not always entirely true. Plenty of truly excellent and talented writers came into the reading and writing scene much later than I did and have shown both more success and more ability than I do. I am speaking in general terms here. Many people who decide to go into writing, especially the writing of stories, got their start reading novels and comics as children. Got it?


       Many of us grew up reading (or being read to) and discovering that it could be more than just a dragging school assignment to read. We discovered worlds and universes and friends beyond anything that we could find here in the real world. Dragons, elves, stormtroopers, mutants, werewolves, wizards, talking animals, grown men and women in spandex...the list just goes on and on.

        But for many of us, as we grew older, playing in those sandboxes and visiting those worlds wasn't enough. We reached the end of our beloved book series' (and the corresponding films) and either found that we couldn't bear them ending or had little interest in the supernatural/dystopian renaissance in fiction. Which meant that we had nothing to read.

          Some of us then grew out of the bookworm phase, others learned to adapt our preferences and interests to follow the changing times, and still others graduated from reading to seriously thinking about writing. There's just something so magical about sitting down and sketching out an idea on paper, watching it slowly take shape and a mind of its own as the characters come to life and the world begins to expand. You choose every word and phrase carefully to mold the idea into something that will draw others in and make them want to return again and again. That's the miracle of creating a story, no matter what it is. Writing shouldn't be taken lightly. It's not something that can just be dashed off. It takes thought and care and a certain amount of dedication.

       But, of course, stories are not the only forms of writing and writers don't always start out as bookworms. I did...but I'm quite aware that I am not the archetype for the whole world. If creating stories isn't always how people get into writing, then what is? Really when it comes down to it, no matter what you're writing, it has to be because you see something in the world and have something to say about it. You are expressing yourself, much in the same way others do with music or dance or fashion.

        Some of us write about fairies; others of us write about algebraic equations. Some of us write poetry; others of us strictly stick to prose. It doesn't matter what you write or how you choose to format it and, to a point, it doesn't even matter if your English and grammar isn't utterly squeaky clean and perfect...because every time you write you get a little bit better at everything. Better at explaining your emotions, better at describing a scene, better at writing dialogue, better at analyzing a film or television show, better at rhyming words together in rhythm, better at creating a cohesive argument - you just get better at everything. As long as you love what you're doing, have something important to say, and are willing to listen to critique and constructive criticism, you're going to be improving every time you sit down and put words on a page.

        And guess what's even better! Not only will your writing skills improve every time you practice, but your quality of life and understanding of the world at large will as well. Have you ever heard the saying that "...in order to write, you have to read..."? Well I'd like to add a little something to that: "In order to write, and write well, you have to be willing to read and you have to close your mouth, use your ears/eyes, and observe people." It doesn't matter if you're writing a story or just an essay on toothbrush scum, understanding people is vital to being able to write and draw people's interest. You have to be willing to read at least something (be it a textbook or a novel) and absorb different writing styles and techniques. (This will also help expand your vocabulary beyond 'like' and 'so they said'.) You don't have to be a bookworm about it, but you do have to read at least something...even if it's just a script for your favorite television episode. The second thing you have to do is to open your eyes and look at the world around you. Why? Well because you can't just write about yourself! True there is a need to make things personal and to express your viewpoint and message in a clear way, but you also have to look at things from both side of the spectrum and at least consider what others are going to think/feel/react to whenever reading what you have to say. After, what's the worse thing that could happen: you might actually have to unplug your iPhone and listen to someone?! Oh the horror!

        My parents always said that "God gave us two ears and one mouth, so clearly he intended us to listen twice as much as we talk." (I'm paraphrasing...) Granted that was an occasionally hard lesson for motor-mouth me to swallow as I always had an opinion that I felt was worthy of acknowledgement, but I know that in the long run it has served me well. Certainly one gains more juicy material for writing sitting quietly in a room and watching others bicker and/or make fools of themselves than one would by jumping on the bandwagon and joining in.

       So we've talked about the benefits of world-building and of observing life, but what are some other reasons one might want to take up writing? Well...how about community? Yeah. Believe it or not, not all of we 'starving' artists live our lives like Christian from Moulin Rouge - depressed and angsty and drunk because we lost the love of our life that we knew for an hour before declaring ourselves to be in love. That's a rather romanticized vision of what artists and writers across the globe end up as. Really, usually we're a bit nerdy and a bit geeky (not that that's a bad thing) and because nerds and geeks must band together and have conventions and contests and debates as to whether Picard or Kirk is better, writing comes with community. It doesn't matter if it's 'fandom' or not, there's always going to be someone else out there who is also looking for a writing buddy and who will look over your work and tear it to shreds and then tape it back together looking better than before (and then usually ask you to do the same to their work). You meet some great people because you all have writing in common. And the really cool thing is that sometimes they are people that you never would have interacted with normally...but because you've found a common love for writing, you become friends and you get a whole new insight on life.

        So why do I personally write? I'd say that some of the reason is for the community aspect. I've met some amazing people through my love of writing and, of course, I've got my awesome team right here on this site. Friends, colleagues, and all-around lovely people they are...and I probably never would have met them if it weren't for writing.

        But that's not the primary reason I write. And other people shouldn't be the primary reason you write either. If you're just writing to please another person, you're either under a terrible contract or you're doing it wrong. Some writing, if you're so lucky as to make a career out of it, will have to be done to fill a mandate and pay the bills. That's a fact. But the reason you decide to write in the first place shouldn't be because someone else wants it. You should be writing because you love it. But more so even than that you should write because you have something important to say and you want to be sure that you get to say it. The written word is more powerful than the spoken one, after all, because it lasts longer. We can read documents from thousands of years ago even though the original people to dictate and write them down are long since dead and buried. So why do I write? I write because I look around the world and see things that, come hell or high water, someone needs to say. Life is too short, I have way too many ideas, and there are so many things in the world that never get looked at because everybody returns to the same old clichés over and over again. I write because I'm expressing myself (and somehow putting pen to paper seems better than getting forty tattoos and piercings that are going to sag and be regretted in 30 years anyway) and because I think it's important to speak about what you think and see in the world in an intelligent and interesting way.

          Like I said, life is short. Try to do what you love. Granted don't be stupid about it (this is about writing, not about YOLO or whatever) but if you have something to say, find a clever and intelligent way to say it. And it doesn't matter if that is in a script, in a book, in a poem, or even in a tweet...writing is about expressing your thoughts, dreams, opinions, and ideas.

        So no...writing just to become famous or writing to get rich is a pointless exercise. It's probably not going to happen. In fact, many famous writers that we look up to today died in poverty. That's the way it usually works; unless you're willing to gain fame by keeping up scandal after scandal and making yourself infamous, probably in your lifetime you're not going to be king (or queen) of the world. So is it worth to write in the first place? YES! Why should we even bother? First of all it is wonderful for personal enjoyment. World-building is great fun and helps you show your appreciation for something you're a fan of. Secondly it improves your mind by making you examine things from different angles and consider opposing viewpoints by observing people and the world at large. If more of us did this there would probably be less hate and vitriol spread around...just sayin'. Thirdly there is the community aspect. You'll meet some AMAZING people through writing. Fellow authors, students, bloggers, editors, teachers...we're all brought together by a common love and purpose. And lastly, and most importantly, you have something to say about this world. Everyone can have an impact and you never know just how important that observation or idea may be until you put it out there. So to sum it all up, what is the answer to the 'why write' question? You don't write because you want to become rich and famous...you write because you have a passion for it and because you have something to contribute to this world.

What the WHAT?!

         Far be it from me to bash any other fandom, fanboy, or fangirl...but sometimes I really have to wonder about things. How exactly does this 'WatchMojo.com' collect their data? Is it by Internet notoriety? (In that case Trekkies, Bronies, and...The SPN Family should all be in the top three.) Or do people honest-to-God vote on these things? (In which case...how on earth did Twilight do so well and yet both Buffy and Sherlock did not make the list at all?!)

       Also...do people REALLY think that we of the Supernatural fans call ourselves SALT GUNNERS?! I mean, is that a thing?

       In all seriousness, though, what the what?! I get how Star Trek was number one on the list as it is a fairly huge fandom...but what about Doctor Who? It's been around longer, fanboys and fangirls, and is still on the air. Judging by the clips used (and the selected 'must-know' quotes) I'd say that the people behind this video only follow the NuWho.

   

OUAT-Wonderland Review: Bonus Episode "How It Could Have Continued"

 Ohh, Once Upon A Time in Wonderland... 

To come so far, and FAIL SO HARD.....

To begin so strongly, and then nose-dive the minute someone whispers "the C-WORD" (cancel)...

Good grief...

Have you ever read a book and felt like you couldn't care less what happens to the characters or how it turns out? Did you ever wonder why you felt that way? Or let me put it another way: you're writing an essay for English class, and--big surprise--you hate English class. So you get through the first paragraph and feel okay about it. One problem: you still have four more paragraphs to write. So you plug away and manage to scrounge up another point to hash out for Paragraph #2. Not bad, huh? Still not halfway, though. Paragraph #3 ends up being a covert summary of Paragraphs #1 and #2... by Paragraph #4, you realize that you don't even care anymore. You figure your teacher is just looking for grammar and mechanics, not necessarily content, so by Paragraph #5, you're just slapping cool-sounding words in complete sentences and stringing them together to fill the page length and word count.

This is what happened when Once Upon A Time In Wonderland got cancelled three episodes before the finale... the writers stopped caring, and just wanted to tie up loose ends and fill in the time slot for three more weeks.

I guess the writers thought they had more important business to attend to... like screwing the lives of every good character in Storybrooke, and killing off the halfway-decent characters "for dramatic effect." Because when you stop caring, the least little aspect of real creativity sounds like too much work.

Come on, man... That's just not even fair anymore!

Seriously, people; the "crossover into Storybrooke" I was promised turned out to be an absolute joke, Jafar failed as a villain so they had to bring in a creepy lady actress (another "nobody" from Australian soap operas) to try and give the heroes a real run for their money... but it was all ending in three episodes anyway, so what was the point in that?
What happened to introducing the traditional characters that we all know and love already in a new and freshly-imagined light? We have Agrabah, Jafar, genies... why not Aladdin or at least Jasmine, for crying out loud? Why is it so hard for citizens of Storybrooke to keep their lives afloat, while all Alice and Cyrus need are a bit of "faith, trust, and... genie magic!" to outwit Jafar-the-Whiny-Love-Child, who even has the kindness to get the real villain--the skin-crawlingly-heartless Jabberwocky--out of the way because he wants all the power for himself--even though he has already proven he doesn't stand a chance against the heroes? Did you really have to go all "Game of Thrones" and just kill off Anastasia with no warning and no precedence? I mean, I realize it gives Will the motivation to switch sides for approximately five minutes, and it gives Jafar the chance to flex his "raise-the-dead" powers without the hassle of creating another character for no one to care about in the last episode...

Bloody hell, just SMITE ME ALREADY!!

And do I have to mention Amara? How she was "trapped" in the staff all this time, and decides to free herself off-screen somehow, just in time for Jafar to kill Cyrus to force her to help him with the Ultimate Spell... Maybe instead of hassling the Sultan to call him "son" and spending all that time raising Anastasia and making her fall in love with him,  Jafar might have had more success and pleasure in seducing Amara in front of Cyrus and forcing him to call him "father."

They spend eight episodes building a story... then pull the rug out from under the viewers by systematically dismantling the foundation in the next five episodes.

Snape = Me
Ron = The Writers of OUAT

Ever wondered how it might have turned out if the writers cared at all? In the spirit of both the original Once Upon A Time early seasons of strong storytelling, and also those "How It Should Have Ended" videos that everyone loves to watch, allow me to present an "Extended Episode Guide" for "How Once Upon A Time in Wonderland Could Have Continued."

Episode 8 ends with that first stroke of lighting at the same time the White Rabbit opens the portal, just after Will makes his wish. Of course, he disappears into the bottle and drops into the portal the Rabbit had dug to the Enchanted Forest. A second lightning bolt strikes the portal, though, and the other three end up in Storybrooke.

Goals achieved: Successful crossover, establishment of new story arc.

Episode 9: the only place Alice knows about in Storybrooke is a place called Granny's, because Will carried the keys to her place. They are walking into town and cross paths with Regina's car, so she knows that three strangers have just arrived in Storybrooke. The trio meets Granny and Ruby and finds out that Will is in fact not in Storybrooke, so they get connected to Jefferson to try and return to Wonderland in case he got left behind, but just then, Jafar arrives in Storybrooke, confirming that all of them had made it through--but where is Will? Anastasia is the only one who knows about their shared history in the Enchanted Forest, so she figures out that's where he'll be. She uses her own magic and Jefferson's hat to enter the Enchanted Forest.

New character introduction: CHECK!

Meanwhile, Will's bottle is floating in a river, but it's in the Enchanted Forest, not in Wonderland. It is picked up by a young serving-woman, who opens it, and Will immediately identifies her as Jasmine, or Jazz, his childhood friend.

Goals achieved: introducing new Disney character with a twist on the original story that connects it with Once Upon A Time characters. Also, introducing the OUAT-Wonderland characters to characters from Storybrooke... since that didn't happen in the actual Wonderland series, but could have! Also, the creation of tandem storylines... a regular favorite with OUAT writers, am I right?

Episode 10: Nobody quite knows who Jafar is except Regina (who received a visit and learned that he's looking for the people she saw) and Mr. Gold, who knows where Alice and Cyrus are hiding because Belle saw them at Granny's Diner and told him. Jafar is trying to get Regina and Gold to cooperate with them, but Regina is too busy trying to maintain the upper hand over him, and Gold has now sided with Alice and Cyrus in trying to stop Jafar from taking over all of Storybrooke. Cyrus knows that the surest way to stop him is to find out how to lift the genie curse so they can do it before Jafar finds out that Cyrus isn't a genie and the Knave is, at which time the whole Enchanted Forest might suffer from the petulant little wizard's "wrath." He can't do that without access to the Well of Wonders, though... so Gold obligingly summons Nyx to the well in the forest outside Storybrooke, and she reveals that Cyrus' mother--and the stolen water--is there in Storybrooke, and can be returned to this well to lift the curse. Meanwhile, Will finds out that Jasmine is the servant of one Drizella Tremaine... Anastasia's sister. They arrive at the house just in time to see the reunion between the two, and Will agrees to help Jasmine escape and find her true love "Allan of Dale", who was drafted onto a ship as a cabin boy a few years prior by a vindictive Drizella, who noted how much Jasmine loved the "outlaw" (who was one of Robin Hood's Merry Men at the time, just after Will's departure) and desired to deprive her of it. She agrees not to use her wishes if he helps her. Meanwhile, Drizella finds out that there was a genie just slipped out of her grasp, so she forces Anastasia to go along with her as they chase after the runaways.

Never were there such devoted sisters...

Goals achieved: Villain established for the "Will/Anastasia" story arc, canon reveal for the Alice/Cyrus story arc, Drizella Tremaine introduced, Allan-of-Dale (both a character from Robin Hood stories.... and a reasonable stand-in for Jasmine's Disney love interest, Aladdin) introduced.

Episode 11: So now that Cyrus knows his mother is there in Storybrooke, all that remains is to find her—for which he needs the Lost-and-Found. Of course neither of them wants to go through the trouble of going to Wonderland, finding the Caterpillar, and trying to negotiate a trade—so Gold offers to go instead... On the condition (because the Lost-and-Found is such a handy little object, and at this juncture, Rumple still might be interested in finding Baelfire) that they let him keep the thing once they're finished with it (because finding his mother is basically all he needs it for; once she is found, he won't use it again). They agree, so he gets it for them. Of course, while this is all going down, Jafar seeks out the second most powerful magic being in Storybrooke, Gold himself, and actually does the smart thing in wanting him for an ally after he fails to win over Regina. Gold of course doesn't need Jafar's puny, pathetic excuse for magic, and lets him know, furthermore, that he's working against Jafar. The grandiose sorcerer soothes his injured dignity by finally figuring out that the genie he seeks is Will, in the Enchanted Forest. He knows that Will is without his heart, and knows that Regina is the daughter of the one who took it from him, so he again tries to curry favor with her, to have her get it for him (because if there's one thing Jafar's character is consistent on, it is the premise of "Why do something yourself when you can get someone else to do it for you?"). What he doesn't know, though, is that Regina already has the heart locked away in her vault, because she chanced to see the White Rabbit poking around the Knave's apartment, and so discovered the hidden heart.

While we're at it, why can't Allan
look a little like this Jim Hawkins?

Meanwhile in the Enchanted Forest, Will and Jazz get to the shipyard and find that the ship Allan had been on had been raided by pirates—led by the dread Long John Silver. According to a chance encounter with the blind pirate Pew, Allan was one of the few crew members left alive because Silver needed a boy of his demeanor to get them through the booby traps protecting the hoard of Treasure Island. Switching to the pirate crew, it is revealed that the trove is empty, but to save his neck, Allan brags that his girlfriend's mistress is rich enough to satisfy all the pirates, and so convinces them to take him back to the Enchanted Forest. They return just in time for Will and Jazz to see them, so they follow them back through the Forest.

Goals achieved: Yet another character introduction, another story introduced: Allan is now basically Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island. Also, battle lines have been drawn in Storybrooke, and canon objects and characters have found their way to the right places at the right time to set this whole thing up for great times.

Episode 12: With the Lost-and-Found, and Regina creating a diversion, Alice ad Cyrus break into City Hall to look for his mother. Of course, they can't find it, but what they do find is evidence that Jafar knows about Will's heart and he is using magic objects to try and find Will, which gives the couple a new sense of urgency. They are almost caught by Jafar, but Amara (in the staff) knocks him out for trying to kill Cyrus, and they find out that she is in the staff. 

DID EVERYBODY FORGET THIS EVER HAPPENED IN
SEASON 1??? REALLY??? WHAT ABOUT THE BABY??

Meanwhile, Anastasia and Drizella are hot on the trail of Will and Jazz. They find out about the raid, but by then, the pirates are back in town, so Anastasia uses her magic to try and track them, while Drizella pretends not to know about that sort of thing—but in reality, she has magic of her own, which she uses to contact her stepsister Ella in Storybrooke, to get her to send something that Drizella knows is important to Anastasia and Will.

Goals achieved: Ramping up the action, opening the story for more flashbacks, using characters in their expected roles to contribute to the story, not twist it in knots or turn it on its head. Canon reveals, and secrets saved for later. Also, further establishing Drizella as a force to be reckoned with; she has been vapid and annoying so far, but we begin to see her devious side come out.

Episode 13: (This is where the original finale came in, but take a moment to observe how much of a story has been built so far, and how much more we have to go in this "extended version"!)

So this episode is where things start coming to a head. Ashley (aka Ella) is debating whether to do what her stepsister asked or not, and her behavior arouses the suspicions of Emma. Emma, of course, is already on the wrong side of Regina, so there's finger pointing and answers demanded all over the place. Cyrus and Alice get the staff from Jafar (who cannot use the staff anymore now that Amara is no longer under his thrall) and they ask Gold to help them free her.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Will and Jazz try to rescue Allan from the pirates, and get caught in the process. Anastasia is not far behind, and rescues them, but Will neither trusts her nor feels for her without his heart. At any rate, Jazz and Allan are reunited, and they agree to help Ana get Will's heart back or break the genie curse.

Goals achieved: Character arcs established, at any rate. Cyrus has learned his lesson, Anastasia has learned hers, everybody's learning things that are taking their character in better directions. We're getting character involvement, but nobody new just now. These are the characters of Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, and there will not be too many others involved before the story comes to a close.

This was the best make-up moment in the
whole show!!

Episode 14: At last, we find out what Ashley was meant to send to Drizella: Will's heart. Regina finds it is missing, and Emma gets a confession out of her. The whole mess comes out before Alice and Cyrus, who are still waiting for Gold to be able to free Amara (which I imagine to be a much more arduous process than they had time for on the original show) and there is some chance for reconciliation there. Meanwhile Jafar finally notices that his staff is gone, and Regina is the one to mention that it might be in Gold's possession.

Meanwhile, our foursome in the Enchanted Forest make it back to the house, but Drizella is waiting for them. She has Will's heart and threatens to kill him unless Jasmine gives her the wishes. Anastasia begs, but Drizella doesn't relent. Jazz agrees to give her the wishes if she gives Ana Will's heart. Drizella does, and when she gets the three wishes, makes some really silly ones with disastrous implications because she forgot that magic comes with a price. Ana can now rub the bottle and she gives Will his heart back, and they prepare to take the mirror portal back to Storybrooke.

Goals achieved: The plot accelerates at this point, letting the viewer know that things are going to come to a head very soon and arrive at some kind of resolution. This is the "kicker" episode, where not many new threads are begun, but the consequences that we have been waiting for all along are starting to surface. There is a bit of resolution with the Enchanted Forest crowd, but the uncertainty of the other plot line lets the viewer know that they're not all quite finished yet.

Episode 15: Gold finally frees Amara, but by now they know their only hope of stopping Jafar is to lift the genie curse, which means that Amara cannot go on living much longer. Amara also reveals at this time that Jafar has the other two genies--her other two sons, Cyrus' brothers--there with him, and so the minute he gets his hands on Will, he'll have what he needs to complete the spell, even if he has to force Gold or Regina to help him instead of Amara. Of course, since no show is complete without the little thing that makes the viewers crazy called "whump", Amara, Cyrus, Alice, and Emma all working together can't possibly stop Jafar in time, and he catches Will and Anastasia coming out of the portal, giving him all three genies and the potential to beat everybody.

Goals achieved: Bad guy is winning, the dual storyline is converging, everything is all at this point "falling" toward the conclusion. The villain's success is not inevitable, because there's still the limitation that he can't do the spell on his own, so there's still a chance he might not be able to find anybody willing to help--but it might be that Regina, thus far, has been gunning for power as hard as he has, so the prospect of doing a spell that could give her ultimate power is nothing short of tantalizing.

The new site of the Final Battle: No zombie army, just
some good old-fashioned man-to-man fisticuffs! Besides, it's
a Well whose waters are enchanted to "return that which was
lost to its righful place," right?

Episode 16: Things are coming to a head. Cyrus, Alice, and Amara head to the Well to try and lift the curse, but Jafar catches them and mortally wounds Cyrus in a last-ditch effort to manipulate Amara into helping him. Instead of giving in (as she did in the show) she shows integrity and refuses still, prompting Jafar to do what he does best and just kill the person who doesn't give him what he wants. Cyrus sees his chance and catches some of the enchanted water dissolving from her body and throws it toward the Well to return it to Nyx--but (just like in the show) Jafar catches the water with his magic and tosses it aside. This, of course, means he has stolen from Nyx, not Cyrus, and so the curse falls on him and the brothers (and Will) are freed. Rumplestiltskin is able to heal Cyrus' wounds, and everybody goes back to where (and when) they came from, to live happily ever after.

Goals achieved: While this ending is very similar to the one that aired, it comes at least three weeks later, after a much fuller season--and if the writers had really cared to make this spin-off in any way as successful as the parent show, there is a lot of room to make it even longer, such as (but not limited to):
-additional plots with Silver,
-something more complex concerning Drizella,
-possibly a Jasmine flashback episode to kind of explain what she'd been up to and why she's so attached to Allan...
-even the addition of some other neglected fairy tales would not be as "old" as it has gotten in Once Upon A Time. 

Is it too much to ask of a show based on fairy tales?

So there you would/could/should have it... a whole season's worth of Wonderland-ifulness... And a seamless blend back into Once Upon A Time when it ends. There are new characters for Kitsis and The Gang to bandy about without the shameless pulling in of current fairytale trends for a marketing piggyback scheme that's altogether more devious than endearing. New characters are introduced--but they are also connected to the old characters, who are revisited rather than wholly neglected in their current states. Relationships and character arcs are continued and have a wider capacity for further explanation, rather than being yanked back and forth across the Ravine Between Good And Evil depending on whether the writers need a villain or a very powerful hero at the moment.

Did you like this continuation? Read it on Fanfiction.Net at: "Alice's Adventures in Storybrooke"

The Squirming of Emily

         Hello, there; Jessica, here! Nice to see y'all again! How's it goin'? Anyways, this is a rather special blog-post, this one... One where I get to get Emily (who's been a total hermit about herself thus far, hasn't she?) to spill her deepest, darkest secrets and desires about herself. You are not gonna want to miss this! So, read on m'dears, and enjoy...*grins evilly*...rather like this:

*Emily is dragged kicking and screaming to the podium and fed a vial of Veritaserum*

Emily: I hate you for this, you know that? Should have known I was getting myself into hot water...okay, fine. I can do this. *takes a deep breath* Can I at least have some free coffee to compensate me for emotional trauma?

Jess: *ignores that* Okay! First fandom ever?

Emily: The Lord of the Rings.

Jess: What is your favourite fandom?

Emily: Uhh...this one varies?

Jess: Who was your first fandom crush?

Emily: I should have seen this one coming...do I have to answer?! *sees look and threatening bottle of truth serum* Right. Sorry. Um. Hmm. Uh. Hem. Haw. Does this mean first nostalgic character I noticed was interesting or first character I actually admitted to liking?

Jess: Yes

Emily: To which?

Jess: The latter.

Emily: Darn it. And here I was hoping I could get away with waxing poetic about Disney's Robin Hood! Okay. I can do this.

Jess: Told you.

Emily: Okay, fine. First fandom crush...um, I'm going to say Peter Pevensie? Not the Peter from the films, those didn't come out until I was older and he was a jerk anyway, but the Peter from the books and the audio dramas. I'm not even entirely certain if it was a 'crush' or anything like that, usually I don't think of characters like that, but I certainly admired him. To rephrase things a bit, I liked Peter a lot and for a long time he was my favorite character from Narnia. Does that fit?

Jess: Sure. Current fandom crush?

Emily: You should know that I really don't like you right about now...anyway. For a current fandom crush, if I absolutely HAVE to answer and pick someone, I'd have to say Loki. No. Not THAT Loki...I mean Gabriel from Supernatural. I mean, he's pretty awesome. Sure he's a bit of a jerk and plays pranks on the Winchester boys, but he's still hilarious. And his heart's in the right place. We think. We hope? Maybe. Who knows!

Jess: Seriously?

Emily: Oh, and there's also Hawkeye from The Avengers. He's a pretty cool character whenever you look at how he's written. So is Quicksilver from X-Men. And...uh...hmmm. They are certainly some of my favorites. Lots of fun to watch and plenty of witty quips.

Jess: O...kay.

Emily: Oi! You asked!

Jessica: Sherlock or Sam Winchester?

Emily: Sam the whole way! Sherlock and I would probably end up killing other. Of course maybe hanging out with Sam Winchester wouldn't be such a good idea either, considering his luck. Hmmm...

Jessica: The Doctor (9, 10, 11) or Dean Winchester?

Emily: I'd have to say The Doctor. People just die less around him, if you can believe that, and I'm nothing if not a  practical woman. I'd like to keep my guts where they're supposed to be and un-possessed, thank you very much!

Jess: Which is your favourite hobbit?

Emily: That depends on whether we're talking books, audio, or film. But I have a feeling you mean from PJ's films, so I'd have to say Pippin. He's just so adorable and cute and has a great character arc and...yeah. Pippin.

Jess: Sure he's not your crush?

Emily: Quite sure.

Jess: Favourite character in the world?

Emily: Whoa, whoa...hang on! D'you mean real-world? Or just in the world of media and literature in general?

Jess: Media in general. But your answer to the other one'd be interesting to see as well...

Emily: Ehh...let's just stick to media in general, shall we? I would have to say that my favorite character of all would have to be...shoot. How am I ever to decide? It changes from year to year. Right now I'd have to say it's a cross between Charlie Bradbury from Supernatural, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice, and Reepicheep? Yeah. Let's go with that. Although I also love Donna Noble. And Mary Watson. And Gandalf. And...uh, I can't decide!

Jess: Fandom that has made you cry the most and why?

Emily: The show Supernatural never fails to make me cry. All fandoms live off of feels...but this one is just engineered to churn them out in droves. It takes a LOT to make me actually cry over a television show, let me tell you, but for some reason this one does it every time. Between the whole theme of family and loyalty and betrayal, there's also that little fact that nothing ever goes right for the Winchesters (it's almost like A Series of Unfortunate Events...only less hilarious) and the brotherly love and they keep dying and being brought back to life for a price and all the forces of Heaven and Hell are stacked against them and all they want is to just save a few lives and live together without destiny hanging over their heads and tearing them apart and...and...yeah. I'm going to shut up now.

Jess: Best season finale of SuperWhoLock you've ever seen?

Emily: Hey! That's not entirely fair, given that all three shows are still airing. But I'll go down on the record for what I think is the best so far. For Doctor Who, hands down, the best is The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang. For Sherlock the best finale was The Reichenbach Fall. They're going to have a mighty hard time topping that ever. My advice would be to not let Moffat write the series finales until he gets his act back together. As for Supernatural? Hmmm...that's a bit harder to decide. Honestly it comes down to a contest between Swan Song of Season 5 and Sacrifice from Season 8. There. Am I done?!

So, there you have it. Emily has spilled her beans, and is now sleeping off the effects of the three hundred vials of Veritaserum we had to use...I don't even know whether she's breathing or not...Ummm. Yeah. O-kay... *runs off to take Em's pulse*