After being thrilled by Otalia’s ability to pass the flirting baton, I felt a cooling off period would be on the horizon for TV’s hottest couple. Since Guiding Light’s Otalia story line is following “old school soap opera,” I am familiar with a decrease in intensity before it ramps back up again. As I have stated before, the Otalia story line is riding a roller coaster. There are climbs up the track and dips down the track, and you cannot always stay inside a vertical loop. You have to ride on level track for a bit. Keeping that I mind, I felt the week of May 25 for Otalia could be summed up as one word: a “frankenclipse.”

Frankenclipse – the eclipsing and/or interruption of Otalia’s happy and private moments, usually by Frank Cooper; however, this term can be applied to any Guiding Light character that dims Otalia’s light.

Heavenly Bodies

The May 27 episode kicked off with Olivia and Natalia taking care of Beacon business with Greg, the Banquet Manager. I wondered if Greg picked up on the undercurrents between Olivia and Natalia based on an “oooohh kay” look he gave them in the May 20 episode. Obviously, Natalia was wondering the same thing when she noticed the way he was looking at her and Olivia. When I watched this scene, I thought Greg would make some sly comment about how he knew what was going on between Olivia and Natalia. Instead, he threw me into a bit of a laughing loop when he asked about Olivia’s shoes and complimented them. I concurred with Olivia’s flashy, “Oh!” response to Greg because he made me a fan afterwards. Guiding Light, Greg might be your version of As the World Turns’ Henry Coleman. Keep him because he is fantastic (and not just because he admired Olivia’s shoes). (more…)

The Otalia scenes for the week of May 18 made me ache but in the most pleasurable of ways. Smiling is an unintended side effect whenever I watch Otalia on Guiding Light, but this week, I think I broke a new record for Otalia-related smiles.

“Happiness pulses with every beat of my heart.” ~Emily Logan Decens

As I watched Olivia scurry down the sidewalk to Natalia’s front door on the May 19 episode, it reminded me of how I feel when I come home to Guiding Light. Just like Olivia, I am anxious to return to my newfound love. I don’t perform a quick breath check when I come home to my sweetheart though (aka the Guiding Light). That quick two-second scene was hysterical yet true to life, especially when you’re starting a new relationship. You want to make sure you look good (and smell good) – something I’m sure Olivia and Natalia are thinking about based on the past few weeks. The happy anxiousness on Olivia’s face as she knocked on the door showed me just how much she missed Natalia while she was away. To me, Olivia’s face conveyed a “can’t wait to see my baby” expression as she all but barged her way inside the farmhouse. I then watched as that happy anxiousness transformed into joyful relief as Olivia and Natalia clinched each other – as if they’ve been a part for months rather than days.

When I saw Olivia and Natalia hug each other in the way they did, I had another one of those jaw-dropping moments that often occurs with this story line. The naturalness and ease of how Olivia and Natalia clinched each other showed more progression in their comfort level as a potential couple. They’ve hugged each other numerous times over the past several months but not in a romantic way. In fact, what Olivia and Natalia did wasn’t a hug. Their embrace was passionate, and they showed me through their body language these two are head over heels in love. When they pulled away from each other, I noticed the loving and glowing smiles Olivia and Natalia gave each other. I also noticed a moment where I felt Olivia wanted to kiss Natalia. Instead, Olivia held herself in check, caught her breath, and got past that moment by asking about Emma. (more…)

[Credit: screen capture by http://otalia.ausxip.com]

Hola Otalians,

I wanted to take a moment to announce a very special blog post I am planning for none other than Jessica Leccia (Natalia Rivera) – one-half of the super duo known as Otalia on Guiding Light.

On May 18, I found myself watching some Otalia clips to conduct more research on the Natalia and Olivia characters (seriously, I was). As I watched, I found myself realizing that Jessica Leccia deserves a truckload of love for the wonderful job she does portraying Natalia Rivera. I started thinking “out loud” and twittered my thoughts on how fascinating Leccia’s facial expressions are. Of course, my fellow Otalians on Twitter and I started discussing the subject. Out of that discussion, I realized that I wanted to write a special edition blog post totally dedicated to Jessica Leccia. Part of me was still on the fence about writing the post – mostly because of the amount of time it would take for what I had in mind. However, the Team Dimples (aka Jessica Leccia aka Dimples the Freakin Superhero) fans on Twitter made their voices heard…via outright blackmail!

Team Dimples pulled out every dirty yet awesome trick in the book and pushed me right over the ledge. Honestly, it was not that hard for them to convince me to move forward. My only concern was the amount of time. In the end, I felt that Jessica Leccia deserved a special post. With a “decision” made to write the post, I am going to outline what I am planning for the special Jessica Leccia edition blog post and answer any potential questions.

What will the post focus on?

I will select about 5-10 of my favorite Otalia scenes where I focus exclusively on Jessica Leccia’s portrayal as Natalia Rivera. Specifically, I want to take time to break down and analyze her facial expressions in my favorite scenes. I will write my interpretations of what I see with her non-verbal communication. For me, I find that Jessica Leccia has some of the most fascinating facial expressions when she’s acting. Her facial expressions are understated yet expressive because there is so much there that pulls me in every single time. (more…)

The Otalia storyline is the personification of an Agnes Nixon quote, which one of my brothers shared with me many years ago:

Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em wait.

If the week of May 4 was about making us laugh, making us cry, and making us wait, then the week of May 11 continued down that path. The intensity Guiding Light has provided with the Otalia story line shifted slightly, yet the writers managed to maintain the proper balance of Agnes Nixon’s approach for soaps for this week. That said, if the May 11 episode was the calm, then the May 12 episode was the storm.

The Calm

The relaxing cocoon of the spa has done wonders for Olivia and Natalia’s comfort level around each other. I want to believe all of the mud baths, massages, manicures/pedicures, and hiking contributed to their relaxed states. However, I pinpoint their ease with each other after their (non-physical) lovemaking from the May 5 and May 6 episodes. Since then, Olivia and Natalia have been able to reclaim some of their familiar comfort as friends and obtain some new comfort in being together as a potential couple.

The opening scene for the May 11 episode provided clear evidence of that familiar yet new level of comfort for the pair. A perfect example is Olivia’s expressive body language after she and Emma returned from their manicure/pedicure treatments. Olivia’s sexy, sashaying hip motion when she entered the room was another one of those subtle yet not so subtle siren calls towards Natalia. Still, I viewed Olivia’s body language as an interesting combination of two things. She was definitely sending out the siren call, but she was also releasing the joyful, loving energy that she has for Natalia. Olivia is just so happy to be in love and to have that love returned that her body cannot contain it. The love is positively radiating from Olivia in every way, especially when she agrees with Emma’s statement about missing Natalia. As for Natalia, she released the big guns again with those dimples by smiling affectionately and gazing lovingly at Olivia with those soulful brown eyes of hers. No wonder Olivia melts into puddles around Natalia because even I notice the compelling tug of those dimples and her expressive eyes. (more…)

[Credit: screen capture by http://otalia.ausxip.com]

Maybe some writers are wary in giving away their “secret sauce” with their writing methods, but I’m not one of them. If someone mimics my process, the output would not be the same because everyone’s writing approach and style is different. Therefore, I thought I would take the time to explain how I craft the Otalia blog posts each week.

It would help some of my regulars understand why I write some things with my Otalia recaps/commentaries. For others, I think it would be interesting and maybe fun to give you an idea of what I go through to write the Otalia posts. I consider myself to be a “method writer” (like a method actor) whenever I write about Otalia. Writing each Otalia post is a labor of love, which calls for strict discipline on my part. I think it will be worth the read if you want to know how I make the magic happen, so hang on and follow me down the yellow brick road towards the “Wizard of Otalia.”

Note: I’m skipping some mini steps here because it really is an involved, detailed process that I’m constantly refining each week; however, I will give you an overview of how I write Otalia posts each week.

Step 1: I Watch the Entire Guiding Light Episode & Re-Watch the Otalia Scenes

Obviously, the simplest step involves watching the Guiding Light for my Otalia posts. I watch the entire episode without fast forwarding or rewinding. After finishing the current day’s episode, I rewind to the beginning and watch the Otalia scenes once.

Step 2: I Digest What I See with the Otalia’s Scenes

I do other things (i.e. chores and life responsibilities) and I let my mind churn over the Otalia scenes for that particular day’s  episode. I start to analyze the dialog on a subconscious/conscious level, and I think about how the story line is advancing.

Of course, I start to deconstruct Jessica Leccia (Natalia) and Crystal Chappell’s (Olivia) performances for the day, which continues with each new episode. I just allow my mind to start interpreting what I see at first and second glances of their scenes. I don’t think too hard about it at this point of the process. (more…)