#i. chad charming / introspection.

[freechoicedreamer]

Body and Soul (Foreword)

AO3

Opening Theme 

"Who knows if to live is to be dead, and to be dead, to live? And we really, it may be, are dead. In fact I once heard sages say that we are now dead, and the body is our tomb…"

(Plato)

  *

Upon a comment left by a reader of the other fanfic I wrote, The Sweet Suite, where she asked about the possibility of new storylines deriving from the setting established by it, and after giving it a lot of thought, I began to glimpse new storylines and scenarios that I hadn't considered before.

Further elaborating on those initial ideas, I started to visualize a structure that would correspond to a complete season of Once Upon a Time. The basic assumption was that OUAT did not end after its seventh season. The new scenario would comprise a complete new season divided in two parts. The first part of this hypothetical eighth season, designed to be OUAT's final season, would be 'The Sweet Suite'. The second, following straightforward without any significant time jump, would be 'Body and Soul'.

The main references for developing this new story are pictured bellow. A deeper understanding of the illustration's context requires the reading of The Sweet Suite but a brief description of its three main axes is sufficient to configure the scenario for Body and Soul:

1st axis. The Charmings: David-Snow and Neal with a flying angel at the top of their heads (their connection with their Wish-counterparts, in Heaven); the Swan-Joneses: Killian-Emma and Hope; the Sweet-Joneses: Wish Killian-Wish Emma with an illuminated heart in between them (the source of new lives), and Missy-Luna (their enchanted pets); the 'Bunny-Archer' ladies: Alice-Robyn; and the 2 Jolly Rogers.

2nd axis. The OUAT book core: besides Wish Henry and Henry (respectively, king of the New Enchanted Forest and the new Author - again) with their respective partners Violet and Cinderella, and Lucy, we see Aladdin-Jasmine on a magic carpet ride, and an allegorical representation of all United Realms and its capital, Storybrooke.

3rd axis. In the foreground, the Three-Reginas: the Good Queen-Robin Hood (in her heart, where his soul is preserved); Split Regina-Wish Robin and Coralline (their adoptive daughter); and Wish Regina and Roland (who developed a mother-son bond). We also see the LWM-UR magic link: Zelena-Chad, as representative, but not the only ones, of the connection between the Land Without Magic and the United Realms. Above, still in this axis, the Magic-Mystery link: Gideon and the souls of Rumple-Belle and Wish Rump-Wish Belle surrounded by books about incantations, potions, prophecies, legends and ancient myths.

Around the axes. Flying birds and fairies (in non-wish & wish pairs), stars and icons complete the set of elements that make up OUAT's eighth season. Below, the Ocean, home to mythical beings, reigns in its mysteries - life returning to the unknown.

Thematically, the 2 Killians and 2 Emmas are at the narrative center not only to set up and unfold their own storylines but also to drive other arcs designed for the main characters (seen in the 3 axes) and for guest stars coming from the multiple realms. You’ve got to remember that as the second and last part of a hypothetical Final Season, Body and Soul is expected to be the closure of a series with an ensemble cast. Therefore the structure of each chapter resembles a rotating spotlight illuminating 6 arcs and many characters. The focus always goes back to the 2 Killians and 2 Emmas, though.

Structurally, the narrative is divided into 14 chapters (plus this foreword). While this is not a musical fanfic as The Sweet Suite, where the songs were always an intrinsic part of the narrative, here it may or may not happen. Where it does not happen: each chapter is titled in alignment with a song, an opening theme to create the atmosphere for the narrative to unfold - in this case a relatively close match between the storyline and the lyrics may occur but not necessarily. That means the 'read only' motto won't compromise the story fruition but listening to the songs will help to set up the chapter mood. Where it does happen: eventually, you will find a song link placed in the middle or at the end of a chapter, and in these cases the song is completely pertinent to the narrative, as it happened in The Sweet Suite (although, as it happened there, for those unwilling to listen to the songs it's possible to skip them with a relatively low continuity loss). As before, the song streams may be accessed by external or embedded links, both options appear close to each other.

The tone of Body and Soul, an autumn/wintertime drama, is more sober than that of The Sweet Suite, a 'sweet' spring/summertime romance. The jazzy atmosphere, marked by a more introspective mood, allows the brushstrokes to carry heavier colors on existential quests such as the afterlife and the permanence versus impermanence of life and death, among others. Even so, fundamentally, as this is supposed to be a hypothetical Once Upon a Time final season, rest assured that love and hope will always prevail through a light dreamy-fantasy narrative.

One of my constant concerns in both stories was to build a plot that was both rich in the nuances typical of a rich plot, but mainly a springboard for character development. I am a fervent advocate - and this is one of my biggest complaints about the 7 seasons of Once Upon a Time - that the plot should serve the characters and not the other way around. Modestly, mainly because I wrote with time restrictions imposed by my personal and professional commitments, and I did that in a foreign language - which considerably reduced my 'arsenal' of vocabulary and style figures, The Final Season is my proposal to fix this problem.

With The Sweet Suite and Body and Soul I feel that the challenge I'd set to myself - to write a novel-length multimedia fanfic - has been met. I did my best to review the whole text thoroughly but I apologize for eventual typo/grammar/vocabulary/continuity errors that escaped in this non beta-ed novel (please remember that English is not my native language). Besides, the task I'd given to myself - to develop an original post-canon narrative for a canon-compliant story - has been fulfilled.

The creative process of this story reminds me the feeling of creating a mandala. When I started to think of Body and Soul, I felt a strong need to see its center and to construct a circular path to it surrounding, in a spiral way towards the center, every possible storyline angle it could encompass as well as every character and scenario I could visualize. I couldn’t pretend I was not ‘seeing’ them. Initially, that was really hard because I felt myself imprisoned by so many classic fairy tales and mythologies that it was not easy neither simple to envision any embracing path towards the most inner point which, by its turn, I could not find either. However, as I started to write, original plots and arcs started to appear naturally and to be unfolded, by their own volition, towards a 'Mother Inside' center (thematically addressed, albeit rather implicitly). Suddenly, I began to free myself from the obligation of being completely loyal to classic myths and tales and/or being limited by them – I started to find the tone of originality that I sought.

In a deep sense, I could then understand Adam and Eddy in another level and kind of felt more sympathetic with them because I could feel in my own skin a sample of the freedom degree that their formula gave to them. By twisting and mixing well known characters and their original stories, they could fly away in any direction. Even so, an essential difference between their creative work and mine, here, is that they were restricted by much more practical factors, from budget constraints to actors’ unavailability (and seemingly not bothering that much in generating narrative/character’s development inconsistencies in the process). Therefore, I ended up almost feeling a bit sorry for them - but not so much, and I also know that they were well paid for doing their job. In my turn, I also found a dose of impairment: my available time to write being the most important, but I managed it given that I was really motivated to write. So, about motivation, what really moves me is the pleasure in creating – it’s so fun – and in sharing the fun, hoping that the resultant of this effort will be appreciated by others.

For many years I’ve read and enjoyed so many great CS stories that a feeling of gratitude inspired me to dedicate this series, The Final Season, to their talented and creative authors. The Final Season series is a gift to all CS writers that have been able to shine without switching off anyone's light. This is my ‘thank you’ to all of them!

That said, let’s go back to Body and Soul and get into the mood of what is to come. I propose a short break to relax and let a soothing music massage our imagination, thus preparing us to re-enter the Once Upon a Time world that has already been introduced in Part One of the Final Season. So, please, inhale and exhale deeply, calming down while listening to the song/mantra in the link below (by chanting this mantra, you become surrounded by a field of white light of protection), breathing slowly to free your minds, to open your senses and… bon voyage!

I hope you will enjoy the ride and thank you in advance if you decide to leave a constructive feedback.

Have fun, guys, take care…

Light, Peace and Love!

*

In Gurmukhi:

"Aad Guray Nameh Jugaad Guray Nameh Sat Guray Nameh Siri Guru Dayvay Nameh"

Translation:

"I bow to the Primal Wisdom. I bow to the Wisdom through the Ages. I bow to the True Wisdom. I bow to the great, unseen Wisdom"

*

[thesinglesjukebox]

CALVIN HARRIS FT. PHARRELL WILLIAMS, KATY PERRY & BIG SEAN - FEELS [3.45] NONE OF THE...

Lauren Gilbert: why. [0]

Will Rivitz: "Feels" is a nice, if unexciting, bit of pop-reggae, featuring nice, if unexciting, features from Pharrell and Katy Perry, and at the very least everything is pleasant enough OH GOODY HERE COMES BIG SEAN LUMBERING IN TO TRAINWRECK THE SONG. [2]

Thomas Inskeep: "Feels" isn't even a word, goddammit. And heaven knows I do not wanna catch anything Katy Perry's singing about. But Pharrell is perfect for this poppy, summery cod-reggae groove of Harris's, and Big Sean does what he's paid to do, ably. This is one of the lesser tracks on Harris's wonderful Funk Wav Bounces, Volume 1, but a great palate-cleanser on top 40 radio from the flood of trop-house. [6]

Cassy Gress: Sounds like Calvin stole the synth line from someone's 1994 Sandals Resort home video. In this analogy, Pharrell is the sweaty customer whose Aloha shirt is buttoned down just one button too far, Katy works at the gift shop and left her feels on the kitchen counter at home while rushing out the door in the morning, and Big Sean is the lifeguard who signed up for this because of all the hot chicks in bikinis but is honestly getting kinda tired of the whole thing. [3]

Alfred Soto: Pharrell should've been the director of a health and wellness center at a local public university, where his admonitory chants would've had spinning classes in stitches. Think of Big Sean as the local comic relief, a riot at bar mitzvahs and Sundays in the park. And Katy Perry? The star making the entrance. [3]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: The feature list is enough to crown this the worst of the four singles, but at this point, Harris's new shtick has also become exceedingly tedious. Like being on vacation for a bit too long, the novelty has worn off and I'm ready for this all to end. I already had Funk Wav fatigue when "Rollin" dropped, so it's appropriate that "Feels" gives off unsavory tourist trap vibes. [4]

Will Adams: What started off as a promising exploration of sleek, summery disco has resulted in a truly boring album in which Harris reprints the same template ten times. Now all the fun has died, so I'm left to find my own fun in "Feels": Katy Perry's terrible diction causing me to hear "don't be afraid to catch fish," the prospect of retroactive crediting due to the bass line's strong resemblance to "Let's Groove," or Big Sean turning out to be the best part of the song. Eh, I suppose none of those are really that fun. Never mind. [5]

Katherine St Asaph: Pharrell loses the good parts of "Get Lucky" and makes the substitute of gallons of oil and smarm, Calvin Harris contributes JezzBall sound effects, Katy Perry contributes 5 per cent of her voice (a small number indeed), Big Sean is present; the feels I feel are horrifyingly close to Donald Trump watching Daft Punk. [2]

Jonathan Bradley: Atavistic Brits with a taste for trans-Atlantic funk: Calvin Harris has A-list guests, but in retrospect, Jay Kay's hats were a lot more fun. Pharrell Williams, a soul presence who needs a reason other than vocal chops to justify his appearance on a track, doesn't improve on "Get Lucky" by having him over a ghosted Jamiroquai beat rather than Daft Punk. "Slide" coasted on easygoing charm, which is the exact opposite of Katy Perry's pouted "don't be afraid to catch feels." And Big Sean's a suitable addition to the playbill in that he combines Pharrell's enervated presence with Perry's aggravating one: oleaginous and awkward simultaneously, he's Julius Kelp and Buddy Love at the same time. [3]

Maxwell Cavaseno: I'd say "Go figure that the least funky of the recent Calvin Harris singles has Katy Perry on it," but frankly I imagine a great amount of the fault is old Half-Pipe P. 2017 Pharrell is a giant case of "yo why the fuck are you here" as Pharrell refuses to actually provide hip-hop beats and only sporadically raps, pretending to instead be some pseudo-muso-soulman with a perpetually trash singing voice that shouldn't have been allowed to expand beyond hooks and novelty songs. More and more, Chad Hugo's tenure behind Williams's best work seems to define the hollowness of his former collaborator in the 2010s. That shouldn't be what defines this song, except Katy Perry's spot is essentially transparent and the idea that Big Sean could demonstrate a personality for staying power in listeners seems laughable. Ultimately the weakest result out of a fine period for Harris. [3]

Austin Brown: "Slide" and "Rollin," the two gems thus far from Calvin Harris's Funk Wav rebrand, work for how they ride the line between the party and the afterparty, the flirting and the second guessing that follows. "Feels," on the other hand, works because it's cockily oblivious to introspection, but not in a braggadocious way. Instead it's transparently dorky, from the parakeet single cover, to Katy Perry somehow selling the line "don't be afraid to catch feels" in the year of our Lord 2017, to one of the Big Sean-est Big Sean verses in years. With the fizzy bass and overwhelming sense of perk, it's superficial and crass -- but it's also undeniably self-aware in the way the best Judd Apatow films are. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]