davetheanalyzer | (no subject)

Don’t think I’ll make posting We Will Hold On Forever’s next chapter this month. I’ve been slow on writing and editing the next chapters, and easily distracted. I’m already editing the chapters I’ll post, but it’ll take some time to make them presentable. I’m trying not to get distracted while writing by having the computer sit on my lap and that does help focus my attention to some extent, but my new headphones are very sensitive, and the sound goes in and out – I have to sit in a very careful way so the relaxing music I listen to is stable. I’ll try to do that more in the next month, so I could have more of a consistent writing output.

Though next month is the last full month for my classes, so there might be some crunch time there. The Literary Marketplace class needs to have a Personal Marketing Report submitted by the end, so that will take some time. As I said before, even if this class’s work can be more intimidating, if I just go through it, it’s easier than I expected. If I do this for all future classes, I assume I will be alright. At least after this semester, I have all summer for more writing time.

In movie watching news, I watched How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. I loved it. I mostly watched the movies and the first series or two of the TV series but I’m still fond of the franchise and this is a good sendoff. This had the best balance of humor, heart, and drama. Hiccup and his friends have really grown as people and teammates, since even despite their bickering and screw-ups, they are able to takedown dragon-nappers and escape Grimmel’s trap without too much work. I do like Hiccup is more confident but he still has his doubts and that he was more than willing to support Toothless’ romantic pursuits. Astrid’s relationship with him is sweet and I would be apprehensive about tying the knot too but I wish she had more to do on her own and that it was made more explicit she could be a co-ruler with him. Hiccup’s mother Valka also could have had more screentime, how she reintegrated among humans and the mother-son bond she develops with Hiccup, but I did like the competence that we saw. I was weirded out by Snotlout’s crush on her. Was it there to be awkward funny? I initially had some qualms watching the film because of Tuffnut’s voice actor’s actions but I came to learn that his actor was replaced by such a good sound alike I didn’t know the difference. Ruffnut’s annoying Grimmel into releasing her was very amusing and I liked she planned that. Toothless continues to be fun, leaning more on the joyful than snarky part and I like his puzzled mating attempts with the Light Fury. I like the Light Fury’s initial antagonism toward humans before seeming to warm up Hiccup before the final battle and culminating with her saving Hiccup.

The conflict with Grimmel the night fury dragon hunter was good, being someone who will threaten everything Hiccup and his friends worked for. The first confrontation he had with Hiccup where he pulled his own surprise to Hiccup’s surprise plan was pretty good and his plan involved having the Light Fury unwittingly make Toothless choose a life away from Hiccup. I can see why the writers created him instead continuing on with Drago. I’m kind of glad, since Drago’s villain coding included having…African features. Yeah. Apparently they were going to flesh him out before replacing him with Grimmel in the rewrites, so maybe some of the unfortunate implications might have been mitigated? Anyway, Hiccup really wanted to make sure the humans can stay with the dragons enough to move the whole population of Berk, showing how much he cares for them. Even so, his ultimate choice is foreshadowed when he allows Toothless to potentially leave him to be with the Light Fury. With this compassion, I wish the dragons Grimmel’s controlled were seen more as victims the heroes tried to save. After being defeated in the finale, they weren’t seen again. Maybe Hiccup tried to help them off screen.

Anyway, they needed an ending where the dragons are gone but they haven’t been killed off. The goodbye was sad – I could see even the twins being grief-stricken and I wish there was more distributed focus around but at least it was visible. I was confused why they didn’t just move back to Berk. Did they like their new island that much? Hiccup, Astrid, and kids at least get to be reunited with Toothless, with Astrid being able to be with Stormfly. I don’t know if only Hiccup and his family will do this, but maybe they could remain in contact with their dragons quietly on this front, as long as those missions don’t draw too much attention.

I also saw Captain Marvel. There was much sexist ringing about it leading up to its premiere but it’s finally here and doing well. There are flaws about it but I enjoyed it. The beginning was a bit slow but once Carol got to Earth, it picked up and the more I thought about it afterward, the more I liked it. Carol was an interesting protagonist, having a military reserve but not above jokes and teasing once she got to know someone, even at least enjoying some fighting. When finding out she might be from Earth, she tries to track down the memories that re-emerge, even if at first it’s to track down an important scientist. Her journey figuring out what was right and getting away from the control of the imperialistic Kree government was pretty great.

Her best qualities are shown in her friendship with Nick Fury, who was less cynical and more friendly and jokey in his youth. He is initially skeptical of Carol’s claims until he meets a Skrull, he very quickly adapts to the space weirdness about her and trusts her. He built a great bantery bond with Carol and I can see why they became friends. I hope and he Carol reunite, to see where their friendship goes (Because it’s obvious he’s not going to stay dead :P). Maria has the understandable mix of emotions when Carol returns but considering Carol was part of her family for so many years, accepts her. She wants to help in the plot but doesn’t want to leave her daughter Monica orphaned yet her daughter is able to persuade her. Her abilities to master the quinjet and taking in all the scary space dangers mostly in stride shows why she’s among the top pilots along with Carol. Monica herself is a delight, quick to welcome Carol back, accept the space weirdness, and even help choose Carol’s heroic colors. From what I hear about her in the comics, I look forward to where she goes in future movies. And Goose…as a cat person, I love Goose. She’s a friendly cat who knows more about what is going on and knows who to trust. You shouldn’t get on her bad side if you’re against the people she likes…or annoy her too much, as was seen when she gave Fury the injury that required him to have the iconic eyepatch. I’m sure as an alien she’s still alive twenty years later, I won’t hear otherwise.

I did like the plot about her discovering where she was really from and she’s on the wrong side of a war. I particularly like that the Skrulls are revealed to be victims, with Talos being the charming and affable representation of it. I’m so glad he didn’t die so his adventure with Carol can continue. I like how his daughter and Monica get along and wonder if they will reunite. I do like where she took control of herself and curb-stomped her former Kree team, even just blasting away Yon-Rogg when he tried to have her fight him equally. I do understand some people’s reaction to her not reacting more to her situation and having qualms about fighting against a team and people she had been with for around half a decade. Ah well, maybe this will be addressed in one of the sequels, since Captain Marvel is making so much money that a sequel is guaranteed. I look forward to seeing how Carol gets along with the other Avengers in Endgame and how her journey goes from now onward.

That’s all for now. I’m finishing this entry after watching one video in my rewatch of PBS Spacetime, which will hopefully help me with some of my science fiction story ideas. Until the end of April, see you!