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davetheanalyzerSpeaking of the latter pair, I went to a barbeque for prospective students at Albertus Magnus College. It wasn’t a confirmation I was in but decided to go to maybe meet up with and socialize with the teachers and fellow students. I ended up being listless and demotivated through most of the stay. Maybe it was the loud music that made it hard to hear or be able to sit with most of the crowd or the slightly humid weather. Maybe I just don’t do well with those kinds of social settings. Whatever the case, I was just waiting for it to end so I could come home. We did a tour of the campus, which gave me some good exercise, and might be useful if I could remember it, but I have the sense I won’t be visiting too many of the sights we toured. Apparently, the MFA program takes place around one building, so I mightn’t move too far from that. At any rate, we’ll see how that goes.
And I speak as though I’m already confirmed because as of June 26, I got an acceptance letter. I was a bit happy but my parents were more thrilled. Sent emails accepting the acceptance to Albertus Magnus people and thanked the Quinnipiac professor for the recommendation letters. I just need to wait for information on the kinds of classes I can and should take in the fall as a part time student. I’m not sure what online and weekend classes will be like but hopefully I’ll better learn my craft as a writer. As I’ve said before, I haven’t been showing my writing much to anyone else, so writing and showing stories to others to improve them will be interesting. Until then, I’ll write as usual and find a new routine for it.
One of my new routines is posting We Will Hold On Forever at long last. I got the first two chapters up and it feels weird to start a long project for the first time. I didn’t plan on starting to post it then, but sometime on Saturday to Sunday, as I was rereading through the first two chapters, I went “screw it, I can post it now. So far the feedback has been pretty positive, with one or two pointing out potential flaws that I didn’t how and one critique that revolves around the action of the first two chapters which is kind of needed with how I plotted things. I’m kind of nervous about those critiques but I tend to remind myself that the reviews are otherwise positive and responding to critiques the natural process of learning as a storyteller even if it might be hard to change some flaws or adjust the story right away. I hope I can stay on a semi-consistent schedule. There are the chapters I haven’t written yet, which can take a month or two to complete. I’ve been looking over and taking notes on what to change in the chapters I did write, with scenes that need to be rewritten, extended, or added, either to expand the story or to implement ideas that hit me. The positives of not plotting too much is that I can fill in those gaps. I hope that means I can explain plot matters I don’t know the 100% details of and can get them to readers’ understanding and satisfaction.
Speaking of satisfaction, I saw the Wonder Woman movie. The movie met the good reviews I heard of. Though still having the serious of the Man of Steel movie I saw, it wasn’t as grim and could be fun and engaging. Diana was lovely, with the right balance of culture shock and smarts that she didn’t come across as foolish and her sincerity and need to help others is endearing. She was naïve in believing Ares pushed humanity into war but it didn’t pain her in a negative light and she still came to love and defend humanity despite our flaws. Steve Trevor was fine, not getting in the way of the titular heroine but being a normal soldier with the flaws and values of someone who knows the ravages of war and is troubled but feels he has to do what he has to do. Etta Candy was a delight and needed to appear more often. Sameer, Charlie, and Chief also rounded out the cast nicely, with enough characterization to paint interesting individuals influenced by the prejudices and trauma of their time that I hope are elaborated upon.
Themyscira was pretty lovely too, with the dynamics of the Amazons well portrayed. They had an understandable suspicion of Steve Trevor after the fight with the Germans, not going to execute him but to interrogate him and keep him around to make sure he doesn’t rat out their location or cause any harm to them. Their fight with the German soldiers balanced out how they were still vulnerable to WWI weaponry while still being highly trained in combat to send them running. Diana’s relationship with the sweet but tough teaching Antiope was great, though I agree with the critiques that her death and impact didn’t seem to be shown much for Diana when she leaves for the human world. I also agree with the critique that there is not as many women characters and camaraderie as could be expected in a Wonder Woman movie. Apparently there’s a lot of that in the comics and with movies being no male centric in general, it’d be nice to have a more significant women cast.
I liked the revelation about Ares not being the two advertised villains but the British politician who had been helping them all this time and that he doesn’t directly manipulate humanity into war but makes suggestions to those inclined to wage it or make weapons for it. It cope out on humanity’s culpability and gave a reason for why World War 1, the no-clear bad guy war, was chosen over the popular World War 2 one. The movie needed no clear national antagonist, and the Germans weren’t that (Though it’d have been nice to have some German protagonists). Though Diana learns humanity is flawed, she learns there is still good, and they are two aspects of the same coin. I wasn’t as interested that she was the chosen one against Ares, since that’s done to death even if it explained some parts of the movie and I kind of find characters sans that baggage more engaging, but it didn’t detract from the movie as a whole. Overall, I enjoyed it and hope this is a trend to these DC Extended Universe films upping in quality going forward.
I also watched the Captain Underpants movie on Wednesday. I only vaguely heard about the book series the movie was based on. I didn’t realize the titular character was an adult and knew nothing else about the series. But the reviews the movie did get were positive and you thought you might as well watch it. I found it okay and amusing, with a lot of the with humor aimed at the target audience but with plenty of jokes adults could appreciate as well, including a jab at how the educators are treated by society. Along with the humor there is some insightful commentary about the importance of laughter and the arts as well as education. I watched some reviews that said the two leads George and Harold acted their age and I could see it, with how the pair treat being put into separate classes like it’s the ultimate end of their friendship, even if they can meet up at any other times. They can also switch between being insensitive and sweet, with other characters as well as each other. Despite their prankster nature, they were still likeable and merely wanted to lighten the mood of their dull and terrible school.
The titular character and his real life persona Mr. Krupp were also amusing, with the latter being shown to have an interest or two beyond being a mean and terrible principal that he had a bit of depth and sympathy. The film was pretty dude-heavy, which might have to do with the book series? I wished there were more prominent lady characters but I appreciated they were just as much recipients of and participants in slapstick. The animation style is different from other 3d animated films, kind of like The Peanuts Movie in how it mimics the original source material’s style. I hope that kind of animation is repeated, especially in original animated media, since it offers some variance. I also liked the other animation styles like the 2d animated comics and the sock puppetry, which I wouldn’t mind seeing more of. Overall, the humor wasn’t always my cup of tea but I didn’t exactly regret seeing the film either and I wonder how the style and it being produced at a cheaper studio might or mightn’t influence future animated films.
I’m going to leave the Appmon reaction for a future post. That’s all I can think of to talk about for now. I got a nice air conditioner in my room retrieved from a relative to help with the global warming heat. By the end of July, I’ll hopefully post another chapter of my We Will Hold On Forever fanfic, stabilize my sleep schedule, and arrange my Albertus Magnus affairs into proper order. Until then, see you!