golden-buttercup-wild.
This weekend felt weird and short and was totally unrestful for no good reason. I need to go to bed earlier or something; it is never a good sign when I start out right away in the morning with the feeling of obscure head pressure that means I need to sleep. :/
But! I saw Thor yet again, and, more importantly, my Netflix movie last week was Willow. Oh, George Lucas. Why do people ever let you write anything? (I say this more with resignation than with true disdain.) This came out like five years after the first Star Wars trilogy ended, and even if you didn't know it, I bet you'd be able to tell it was the same person - reluctant farmer turns hero, mostly to save princess from evil despotic ruler, complete with a major assist from a vaguely amoral but hot criminal with a secret heart of gold and comic relief from pratfalling sidekicks with peculiar speech patterns (I realize Jar-Jar was later, I'm thinking more of 3PO and R2 here).
But! It was still kind of nice. All of the characters' "arcs" were pretty much ridiculous, of course, because see above re: Lucas, but there was a lot of potential (TEAM SORSHA FOREVER), and they actually did do a pretty good job with the SFX, considering the year. Plus, Val Kilmer in a dress. \o/
Things I liked: Willow and Kiaya and their children were lovely and excellent, and I am very pleased that they all made it out alive - I was briefly afraid this really was going to be Star Wars and they were going to die to get Willow to leave. And Madmartigan picking Willow up when he stumbled, when Sorsha had them, was a kind of heartpunching moment. One of the final battles was mostly women - Queen Bavmorda vs. Sorsha and Queen Bavmorda vs. Fin Raziel. The editing did kind of line things up as the MAN final battle with SWORDS and STRENGTH and the GIRL final battle with MAGIC and TRICKERY, but Fin Raziel was over sixty and a badass and Sorsha was awesome, so I'm okay with it. Also, Elora being a girl meant this actually passed the Bechdel test to some degree, with Bavmorda and Sorsha talking about tracking her down. So that was nice.
Mostly, though, I would like to say that Sorsha gives me major hearteyes. That whole failtastic subplot with the fairy dust and Madmartigan setting off her turn to the side of light by reciting ridiculous poetry and kind of assaulting her was, what. WHAT. >:E But it's not Sorsha's fault that George Lucas evidently couldn't write a love story if one bit him on the ear, and even he could not completely ruin her kickassery. ♥♥♥♥♥ In conclusion: there should be more fic. I'll have to keep an eye out at Yuletide, I guess.
Outlining continues apace. I have gotten the rest of Book Two pretty well hashed out, which is a big relief given that I'm in the middle of writing it; and I have started poking Book Three. (Book Four is still a nebulous blob.) I think I have some old outlines from around this time last year sitting around someplace, but they'll probably be useless now, given how much things have changed since then. Kudzu plot strikes again. **hands** I seriously need to take a weekend sometime and bag-and-tag my subplots, because this is getting a little ridiculous. I WILL HAVE ORDER.
[crossposted; original at Dreamwidth]
But! I saw Thor yet again, and, more importantly, my Netflix movie last week was Willow. Oh, George Lucas. Why do people ever let you write anything? (I say this more with resignation than with true disdain.) This came out like five years after the first Star Wars trilogy ended, and even if you didn't know it, I bet you'd be able to tell it was the same person - reluctant farmer turns hero, mostly to save princess from evil despotic ruler, complete with a major assist from a vaguely amoral but hot criminal with a secret heart of gold and comic relief from pratfalling sidekicks with peculiar speech patterns (I realize Jar-Jar was later, I'm thinking more of 3PO and R2 here).
But! It was still kind of nice. All of the characters' "arcs" were pretty much ridiculous, of course, because see above re: Lucas, but there was a lot of potential (TEAM SORSHA FOREVER), and they actually did do a pretty good job with the SFX, considering the year. Plus, Val Kilmer in a dress. \o/
Things I liked: Willow and Kiaya and their children were lovely and excellent, and I am very pleased that they all made it out alive - I was briefly afraid this really was going to be Star Wars and they were going to die to get Willow to leave. And Madmartigan picking Willow up when he stumbled, when Sorsha had them, was a kind of heartpunching moment. One of the final battles was mostly women - Queen Bavmorda vs. Sorsha and Queen Bavmorda vs. Fin Raziel. The editing did kind of line things up as the MAN final battle with SWORDS and STRENGTH and the GIRL final battle with MAGIC and TRICKERY, but Fin Raziel was over sixty and a badass and Sorsha was awesome, so I'm okay with it. Also, Elora being a girl meant this actually passed the Bechdel test to some degree, with Bavmorda and Sorsha talking about tracking her down. So that was nice.
Mostly, though, I would like to say that Sorsha gives me major hearteyes. That whole failtastic subplot with the fairy dust and Madmartigan setting off her turn to the side of light by reciting ridiculous poetry and kind of assaulting her was, what. WHAT. >:E But it's not Sorsha's fault that George Lucas evidently couldn't write a love story if one bit him on the ear, and even he could not completely ruin her kickassery. ♥♥♥♥♥ In conclusion: there should be more fic. I'll have to keep an eye out at Yuletide, I guess.
Outlining continues apace. I have gotten the rest of Book Two pretty well hashed out, which is a big relief given that I'm in the middle of writing it; and I have started poking Book Three. (Book Four is still a nebulous blob.) I think I have some old outlines from around this time last year sitting around someplace, but they'll probably be useless now, given how much things have changed since then. Kudzu plot strikes again. **hands** I seriously need to take a weekend sometime and bag-and-tag my subplots, because this is getting a little ridiculous. I WILL HAVE ORDER.
[crossposted; original at Dreamwidth]