#What a stark contrast from their last interaction xD

[talesofourworlds]

It was not like he was evading any form of entertainment or celebration, but he feels like a sore thumb in these situations--what to do? All his life (young that is) he was just surviving; fighting and running to protect Shirley. Guess now he has to get accustomed to this slow paced life. No more.. fighting huh. His eyes wandered around the familiar faces, some dancing, some drinking, etc. There was one person who seemingly in the same position as him--clueless to what to do. Sigh ... Chloe ..she's a girl; she should know what to do right? Or at least do something... heck if he knows what people should do now so why he excepts her to do the same when she is equally as a survivor as he was? Damn it! Thinking a lot about this makes his brain hurt. A heaved sigh with a shake of his head then he walks towards her, well, taking careful steps towards her then he stops nearby her. He'll let his bluntness steer this conversation otherwise, his stammering will cause another confusion "Wanna dance?" thats it. if she says no he can just turn away and find something else to do, but if she says yes then... well ..he will think of his next step.

How long had it been since she'd last danced?

She remembered learning when she was younger. Father and mother had been preparing her for when she was older so she could fit in with noble society. How fleetingly short that time had been, she reflected. Where once had been lessons of nobility there soon had been the time of trying to maintain House Valens on her own. In the years that followed losing her family, the years where she'd vowed revenge, there hadn't been need to retain the knowledge she'd gained. But times were different now. She was free from the past.

Now, she stood to the side and watched the familiar faces of Werites Beacon as they had their fun. A part of her longed to join in, but she found herself hesitating as the opportunity. Chloe tried to remember, tried to recall what she'd been taught, but the lessons were as blurred as the memories.

She started to wonder if maybe this was a bad idea. Perhaps it would be better just to stand to the side and watch as the others had their fun. She already could imagine Norma in particular calling her out for not having fun. But without a partner, what use was there in trying?

Familiar footsteps called Chloe out of her thoughts. Brown eyes drifted up and met the steel blue of Senel's. For just a beat, Chloe thought her heart was beating that little bit faster as she registered his request. She had to push back the response she wanted to give, how she wanted to explain she didn't remember how, in favor of considering. If it was with him...

Now, Chloe suspected Senel wasn't aware of her still lingering crush. That was fine, she'd accepted it. Besides, this was just a dance. If he wanted to, then maybe she could recall the steps. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"Sure," Chloe answered at length, smile finding its way to her face before long. It faltered for just a moment. Maybe she should give him advanced warning.

"Just so you know, I might not be the best at it. But I still want to," she explained. She held out her hand for him to take. Here went nothing, she supposed.

[bemused-writer]

The Great Roland Comparison

I've been meaning to write this for, um, ages now (I finished the poem, "Song of Roland" last year), but I wasn't completely sure how I wanted to organize the comparison. Did I want to investigate each stanza? Separate it into specific important moments? But what I've decided to do is break it down more loosely by pertinent character relationships and plot points in the poem and see if any of those are actually relevant to our manga counterpart. Roland & Aude The relationship between these two is actually somewhat important in the poem and completely missing from the manga. Aude is Olivier's sister and Roland's fiancee, so she's of relevance to both men. That does not mean she is given a great deal of character development (although I would hesitate to say anyone in this poem was), but she is utterly devoted to Roland and, in fact, dies upon learning of his own death. I'd say she also serves as a way of emphasizing how close Roland and Olivier are. They're best friends and Roland is actually about to join Olivier's family. But as I said, Aude is not in VNC and Roland definitely isn't acting like he's engaged to anybody considering Olivier has remarked on his numerous failed relationships. I think we can also safely say Roland isn't engaged to Olivier's sister given how flippant he was about the whole thing. This kind of fits in with how these two are more... comrades than typical friends in the manga. If Roland were engaged to Olivier's sister in the manga, I think they'd need a drastically different relationship. There would hopefully be less pseudo-antagonism at the very least. Which brings us to: Roland & Olivier These two are in both versions with a few changes. In the poem, Olivier takes Roland's lead on things. He's not a servant exactly, but there's no doubt that Roland is in charge. His opinion of Roland in the poem isn't wildly different from the manga, though. XD When Roland says he will take care of their war he replies with, "'That shall you not,' Count Oliver let loose; 'You're high of heart and stubborn of your mood, you'd land yourself, I warrant, in some feud.'" (Bold is mine.) I mean, yeah, that sounds like our Roland. XD He maintains a lot of cheer in the manga, but he seeks out trouble without hesitation. Olivier has reason to worry in both versions. And, likewise, in both versions Roland's decisions directly impact Olivier. In the poem, Olivier dies at his side, in the manga, Olivier is afraid of the repercussions Roland's decisions will have on him because, much like his poem counterpart, he is loyal to Roland, even if we can't quite say why in this version. It seems like, while Olivier goes out of his way to help Roland in the manga, Olivier is the one in a position of power more so than Roland is in contrast to the poem. Even so, I have no doubt that Roland is going to get his way more often than not. I am curious why this is, though. As I said earlier, Roland isn't engaged to Olivier's sister, so there isn't that familial bond to connect them. We know they've known each other for years, but how did they meet? In the church more generally? Or only after they became chasseurs? I get the impression Roland hails from a lower income class than Olivier, and considering how fussy people were about different classes interacting at this point, it seems unlikely they would have met casually, but who knows?

Roland & Astolfo Astolfo was nowhere to be found in the poem, so there isn't any comparison I can do there. What I can say is that Astolfo is serving as a way to show us a different side of Roland: a more serious, somber side. Roland saved him from a miserable death at the hands of vampires, but rather than bring them closer together this is the wedge that keeps them apart. Astolfo resents Roland for saving him instead of his sister, despises how relaxed he acts around others, and probably doesn't enjoy the fact he gets none of that treatment himself. (I'm making an assumption there. If he does, he probably hates being treated like a child, so Roland isn't going to win either way.) I think Astolfo will show us how far Roland's kindness goes. We know he has several siblings, but does he see Astolfo as one of them? Or merely a misguided paladin with too much power and an irresponsible nature? Roland & the Church This is probably the most important facet of Roland's personality both in the poem and the manga: his loyalty to the Church. The poem paints him as zealous, loyal, a bit hardheaded, but ultimately the absolute image of a hero. No one doubts him. Likewise, in the manga, Roland is seen as extremely faithful, but Olivier casts doubt on his faith. He says Roland doesn't really believe in God so much as he believes in himself, and that is a stark contrast to the Roland of the poem. I have no doubt poem!Roland had a lot of self-confidence. Indeed, he probably had too much given Olivier's opinion of him in it, but no one was suggesting he had more faith in himself than God. I should clarify that Olivier said he believes in himself "as a follower of God." And what that's saying is that Roland believes in God, yes, but in his own interpretation of God, not that of the Church's. That goes a long way towards explaining why he could change his perception of vampires at the drop of a hat. It would also make him a threat to the Church; he's a powerful paladin who is willing to follow his own beliefs above those of his superiors. In the poem, Roland dies defending the French people and the Christian faith. But I sincerely doubt that's how it's going to go down in the manga. I'm pretty well convinced he's going to die, but my guess is he will die in opposition to the Church, but in full faith that he has served God the way he was meant to. In other words, I wouldn't be surprised if he dies helping Noé and Vanitas. Already he has mentioned he wants to protect Vanitas, that he worries for him, and rightly so. Olivier also died in the poem, and honestly, I don't think he's getting out of it in the manga either. In the poem, he died at Roland's side, with him to the last. In the manga, I suspect he will also die by Roland's side, though perhaps more reluctantly than in the poem. He keeps helping Roland despite knowing how bad this is going to look for him in the future. He wants Roland to remain loyal to the Church and to stop doing all his suspicious activities, but I think they both know that isn't going to happen, so his only hope is that Roland will keep it under wraps, which, well, he's tried, but other chasseurs are already suspicious. This isn't going to end well for either of them. There's always a slim chance Olivier will "betray" Roland and side with the Church, but based off of what we've seen so far, that seems an unlikely resolution. I'd say the main takeaway I have from the poem in regards to the manga is that the themes of the poem, loyalty to God and country, are going to be inspected more thoroughly. What does it mean to be faithful to God? Or yourself or your country for that matter? Those are the questions Roland will have to contend with while Olivier will have to contend with where his loyalties lie: Roland or the Church itself.

[kilapsaww]

Confessions of an armchair journalist

MY THIRD article for the day involves a scuffle between President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo. The chief executive is insisting to have the latter take charge of his anti-drug campaign. The veep, backed by her vocal supporters, takes time to accept the random offer. If her retaliation was quicker and had read something like, “Bring it on,” there would be less room for the DDS to call her “duwag,” “tamad,” “Leni lugaw,” et cetera. I weave together the statements of the two highest officials of the land while munching on some stale pan de sal at my office in Mandaluyong.

I could call it a day except I am running late to a story conference for my other job. I prepared more than five story proposals just in case my executive producer comes in late again: Brexit delays, Trump’s looming impeachment, the Hong Kong turmoil, the simultaneous unrests in Chile, Lebanon, and Bolivia, and the deadly earthquakes that jolted parts of the Philippines just so I could squeeze in my corner of the world to the weekly global newscast I produce for.

I should be going home after securing my story assignments for the show, but I have so far pleased only three out of four bosses. That’s how my Wednesdays go: I cry a river of digital content while producing a morning talk show, scour for raw news clips from the Associated Press’s video bank, and then play a virtual tug-of-war on Viber with my anchor for a radio show that airs on Saturdays. Sometimes I wonder how I get things done and still manage to sleep, and then I remember I am just in the comforts of a dim-lit, airconditioned, rumored-to-be-close-to-bankruptcy office.

The jobs I juggle as a fresh graduate are a stark contrast from what I envisioned. While close to a thousand students belted the university hymn on our graduation day, I was busy daydreaming of seeing my byline on any of the three major dailies in the country. I have always wanted to become a print journalist. It was probably an inherited interest from my father, who unfortunately died too early to stop me from walking the same dangerous path he did. But I had constantly convinced myself that the mole on my right foot meant the Lord had pre-assigned me to scrape the field for exclusive stories, except my mother would say it only symbolized my being “layas.”

I left the office just before the sun flirted with the gigantic “M” that points to McDonald’s. My condo unit is just roughly 100 steps from the fast food chain. I got myself some burger and fries before proceeding to the dilapidated building I call home.

“Wahaha di mo kc kaya LENI LUGAW.. BBM is real vp..”

“Kapag hindi effective ang war on drugs ibig sabihin di ito umepekto XD di b Leni Lugaw?”

“Tatay digong we love u here from Saudi.. ”

My article this morning has so far lured some two hundred comments, most of them written by seemingly the same person. I would educate all of them about ad hominem, or at least how to type like a human being, but that would be beyond my pay grade. I devoured my evil combination of a meal and then browsed further into the deepest parts of my company’s Facebook page. By deepest I mean the troll department, or the comment section, or the wrestling ring where Duterte devotees, the dilawans, and those neither make the most of their internet connections defending their political patron saints. I scanned the whole thing, made faces, then decided to call it a day.

***

I came unusually early for the feature talk show I write for the next day. It was one of the few episodes we tackled something newsy, hence close to my heart. We had a former Agriculture secretary clashing with the department’s current spokesman. I have been writing about rice farmers’ plight under the heavily-criticized rice liberalization law for months now. After the hour-long banter, my anchor proceeded to pooling his staff together to talk about the story outlook for the week. No praise, or at least mention, of this morning’s newsy episode. I do not think my anchor is journalist enough.

But neither am I.

Early into college, I encountered the term “armchair journalism” from my news writing professor, who was probably the most grumpy and aggressive person to introduce the term to aspiring newsmen like me. He passionately bashed the practice, saying journalists should not be labeled one sans direct interaction with sources, or the scorching heat in the field, or the slim chance of exhausting an exclusive off pressers in this era of pack journalism. It was among the few lectures that stuck to me after graduation, precisely because I had vowed to dodge it the best way I could. Except here I am now—writing hundreds of stories without meeting my sources in flesh.

Do not get me wrong, I am all for the upgraded accessibility and convenience courtesy of the fast-changing media landscape. Plus, my current job definitely puts food on the table. But although I am always just a bold decision away from taking on a fieldwork, I dread the lack of financial safety net that everyone—literally everyone in the print industry I am friends with right now—has been warning me about. After all, journalism is public service. What matters most is how it drives a society into acting on pressing issues.

I dressed up the last few paragraphs of my article on the Duterte-initiated drug war’s new czar, pacified my radio anchor who kept insisting his Tokyo car show tour was newsy, updated my LinkedIn profile, then took the last sip of my Starbucks staple.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 1X20 - The Stranger

Hey, stranger!

Meet me under the cut to read my thoughts on this episode!

Press Release August promises to enlighten Emma and take her on a journey that will show her how she can beat Regina, and possibly take custody of Henry; and with Mary Margaret returning to work, Regina puts a plan in motion to seduce David. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, with the Evil Queen’s curse about to strike, Geppetto agrees to a plan that will save Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter, but with a proviso that could also save his own son. General Thoughts Past Gepetto is the shining beacon of this episode. I love the lengths he goes to to protect Pinocchio and the dark places he goes to in the process. I also give the episode a lot of credit for showing so much of Gepetto and Pinocchio together in the earlier bits of the flashback. We see the selfless nature of Pinocchio that grants him his humanhood and seeing the two of them bond a bit make Gepetto’s blackmail so much more tragic and understandable. That said, while I love the way he emotionally blackmails Jiminy into helping him out, I do feel like it would’ve been a touch stronger had we seen their friendship a bit more in the second flashback scene. Wow, that scene with Pinocchio really didn’t do it for me. See, I get that Pinocchio left Emma and I can understand why. He was roughly 7-9 years old and a baby is a big responsibility, especially when you’re in a new land and are a kid. But I wish that we had seen more of a lingering effect of tension with Pinocchio taking care of Emma other than just one guy who was mean to him. I feel like an additional flashback scene would’ve come in handy here - one with Pinocchio taking care of Emma and one of him being exhausted after some time had passed, being told off, and then having the offer to leave. Because as it stands, Pinocchio only has that one bad encounter that takes maybe ten seconds total with a nothing character to take him away from a baby he cares about and a promise he made to his Papa. Present I find that the scene at the tree between Emma and August was a better version of Jefferson’s speeches from “Hat Trick.” Because August - in addition to being an established character, now ten episodes in the making - is Emma’s friend. Because he’s already earned a great deal of her trust and is implementing evidence (Something that he knows will better help her believe), it feels more like an earned discussion. And while I’ll take my objections with it in the next episode, I find that August demanding that Emma step up and be the Savior works better because his motivations are more selfish.

Also, I like how Emma’s desperation is playing out in the background of the episode as Gold and August continue to fail her, culminating in such a crazy and off the charts decision to abduct Henry. It’s a great moment where it’s completely indefensible both in-universe and to an Emma fan like me and the fallout in the next episode is so well-earned for a WTF decision like that, making me feel like the writers knew damn well what they were doing. Insights -That is the coolest door lock ever and I want it soooooo badly! -”My kid needs me. I don’t have time for faith.” Say what you want about Emma, but my girl has her priorities in check! -I know people have their problems with OUaT’s effects, but they’ve always managed to capture water so well. Whether it’s practical or in CGI, it’s both realistic and beautiful. -Alongside those lines, the Pinocchio wooden toy is so expertly crafted. Given how it’s only in a handful of scenes, it’s really impressive that they went to such efforts to make it tangible. -Regina, making everyone use those old school phones that take forever to reach someone was the most vile part of this curse! -There’s such a great stark contrast between Mary Margaret from the pilot and now. Back in the first episode, she could barely talk to Regina without getting barked at, but the tables have turned so drastically. It speaks to her development over the past 19 episodes, and what’s even better is that she retains her ability to forgive, an aspect of Snow that is such a big part of her, especially in later seasons. -Damn! Henry’s determination is really something else here! While I definitely feel for Regina (It must be awful seeing the child you raised turn on you and call you evil, not matter how true it actually is), Henry has clearly reached a limit and given that Regina actually did frame Mary Margaret, I can’t help but feel some catharsis out of that speech. -Gold, you bastard! That was so douchey, and I am cracking the fuck up! It’s probably some more catharsis, and not unjustified catharsis given August’s ploy in the last episode! He’s now just having all the fun in the world dicking around with August and while I love August, it’s so entertaining to watch! Oh! And when you see the clock, it all gets so much sadder! SO MANY FEELS! -To be fair, Pinocchio, I don’t blame you for tying up Jiminy. -Emma and Rumple just have the best discussions! I like how blunt Emma is with her demands and like Henry, she’s determined as hell! -I wonder if Regina got that rocky road from a certain Snow Queen. ;) -It only occured to me now that August’s presence was foreshadowed in the first episode. Why else would Gepetto speak of not having a child when in the previous scene in the pilot, he clearly did? -Regina’s fake story about finding David is like the evil version of Michael’s letter to Jane in Season 3 of “Jane the Virgin.” It reflects on themes of meant-to-be and coincidences. Also, I have to wonder how much of that story was improvised and how much of it had she planned beforehand. -The effects are on a roll here! I love how the tree in our world all but cracks open as Pinocchio enters our world. As a side note, it’s really lucky that humanity hadn’t built over his landing spot. Imagine that happening to Pinocchio at a Starbucks! XD -There’s such a sad contrast between the “fake” reunion in the past episode and the real one here. The “fake” one while...well, fake is so honest and upfront. You just know that that’s the kind of reunion August would want with his Papa, and in this episode, it’s so calm and lowkey, but tragic because it’s on a bed of lies. -Oh, Emma. That was a terrible idea! I get where you’re coming from girl, but...no! Arcs The Mystery of August Booth - Finally, all is revealed! I’m glad that they got the reveal out of the way earlier in the episode so that we could spend the rest of the runtime exploring his past and present relationships. It really helped to define August as a character. As for the reveal, it was always an engaging mystery that revealed just enough to make August’s character engaging, but not enough that the answer would become obvious. This may just be one of the most underrated twists in all of OUaT for that reason. Favorite Dynamic August and Gold I love how much resentment Gold has towards August and the petty and hurtful ways he lets it out. At the same time though, the two begrudgingly work together knowing that they’re the only other padults that they have on their side, and they’re surprisingly good at doing it. Because of that, how they work together and interact is so amusingly petty and yet coopertaive all the same and it makes me wish we could have seen more reluctant team ups between them. Their relationship is definitely a proto Season 3 Golden Hook, albeit toned down significantly due to circumstances. Writer Awww! It’s Andrew and Ian’s last episode of the season! These guys were a real treat. Their dialogue is fantastic and their theming, while it doesn’t match Fruit’s, works well here because both the latter past segments and the present segments show how far he’s fallen from his virtues and the emotional as well as physical consequences of that. But, they do a good job keeping August likable by showing just how much effort - genuine effort - he’s making to get Emma to believe here. Additionally, these guys know how to use just the right character at just the right moment. Nothing ever feels over or underused. Rating 9/10. We got an excellent exploration of character here. August comes out of this episode fully fleshed out and his dynamic with Emma really pegs home the danger that everyone is in going into the final two episodes. The pacing of the story gives us a fun adventure and every character featured has something to do or contribute to the story. I took a point off for the weak scene in the foster home as that’s supposed to be so much better than it ended up being.

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Thank you for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales for putting this together! Next time: We talk about fruits. How about apples?

Season Tally (176/220) Writer Tally for Season 1: A&E (50/70) Liz Tigelaar (17/20)* David Goodman (33/50) Jane Espenson (46/60) Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (38/40)* Daniel Thomsen (8/10)* Vladimir Kvetko (9/10)* (* = Their work for the season is complete)

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