BYU YA Conference and Vacation Report

Hello, all!

This week is the calm between the storms of two vacations, but it's not all that calm. Why?

Because I have a school visit tomorrow and a conference on Friday.

This conference? It's the BYU YA Undergraduate Novelist Conference and it's arranged by my mentor, Chris Crowe. It's today through Friday, and I'm speaking on Friday. But...

LOOK AT THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE SPEAKING, TOO!

Shannon Hale. Ally Condie. Carol Lynch Williams. Kristen Chandler. They are some seriously amazing writers, and wow, it's such a delight and honor to be listed among them. As a keynote speaker.

Am I nervous? You betcha. But that's what preparation is for, right? And practice. Lots of practice.

Anyway, calm between two storms. This weekend, I am leaving for London. I'm excited, but still a little surprised that I'm doing this and that it's coming so fast. But it will be good.

Last weekend, I was in Disneyland with my four siblings!

Here we are in Cars Land in California Adventure. We went because we wanted to, but also to celebrate my sister Chrisanne's graduation. We spent two days in the parks and TORE IT UP.

(Seriously, we rode so many rides. It was great!)

Day 1: Disneyland. We went all over the park, riding Indiana Jones twice, and pretty much everything else at least once. The day was cold and overcast, but we still rode Splash Mountain, working the system to get a FastPass for, like, ten minutes after we got the pass. The ride picture was really good, with all of us clear and lined up, but we didn't get a copy. We did get churros, though.

They are Coco-themed churros, found in Frontierland, and by gum, they are delicious. I've never had a Disneyland churro before this, and I hear they're all good, but this one...this one was amazing. Cocoa powder and salted cinnamon sugar coating, and a chipotle chocolate dipping sauce. I swear, I'm going to figure out how to copy the flavor because dang, that churro was good.

Other highlights included Hyperspace Mountain (surprisingly back in time for our visit), the family of geese threatening a service dog (who looked terrified), the kid dressed as WALL-E, the Jungle Cruise dad jokes, and ALL THE RIDES!

Very cold Pixar show at the castle at night, and after walking roughly 12 miles over the course of the day, we finally called it a night.

Day 2: California Adventure. We started and ended the day with Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout!

All in all, we rode it 4 times and heard 3 different songs. That's right: they have 6 different possible drop sequences and ride experiences.

We also rode Radiator Springs Racers a couple of times, and I forgot how much fun that ride is! The theming, the ride itself, the racing your siblings...it's a good one. And we took the single rider line because Mama didn't raise no fools. And we had a lot to do.

Soarin', the pier rides (although the Pixar Pier change closed the roller coaster), and the Frozen stage show. All highlights. As well as the Ghirardelli's ice cream after lunch.

The day was another cool one, but not as bad. The winds weren't as strong, it didn't drizzle, and we didn't ride a water ride, so that helped. And, the sun came out for a little while, which brought up the temperature.

It was a great trip. I loved spending time with my siblings in the Happiest Place on Earth, and we all did pretty much everything we wanted to do. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. I do wish that the pier was open, and that it wasn't so cold.

But hey, I guess that just means I'll have to go back someday, right?

Frozen's Not All Meh

I was thinking that I'd do a post about Infinity War, but I will DEFINITELY have spoilers in it and I want to wait until an acceptable time has passed before I talk about it. Maybe next week.

This week, I am going to be spending the weekend in the Happiest Place on Earth:

DISNEYLAND!

Personally, I think Disney World, the Most Magical Place on Earth, is the better location, but I admit East Coast bias and any Disney is good Disney, I think.

Which may come as a surprise to you, considering how much I criticize Disney lately. That doesn't mean I don't like Disney or enjoy its movies and attractions. It just means that I don't want them to get complacent and try to pass off okay movies as great ones. Like Frozen.

I throw a lot of shade at Frozen because I think it's an okay movie, a good movie, but not a great one and I don't like it when okay, good stories are touted as great ones. Elsa is not a feminist character just because she doesn't chase a man (seriously) and Hans is not a good villain just because you didn't see him coming.

That said, there is one thing that Frozen did that I think they did very well, and that was in Anna's characterization.

Anna is a good protagonist that gets overshadowed by fans and media by her older sister (which is interesting, when you think about it). She is a strong character and, I think, the more feminist character, because she acts and is not acted upon. But that's not what I think they did well with her.

No, what I like about Anna's writing is that she has consistent character traits that work as both flaws and strengths.

One annoying sign of lazy writing is the "clumsy character." The writer knows the main character can't be perfect, so they give them some stupid flaw like clumsiness that doesn't impact that plot at all. At first glance, Anna seems to be one of these lazy characters.

But she's not. Why?

Because she's impulsive.

This is the trait that makes her interesting! Over and over again, we see Anna act before thinking. With Hans:

 

With Elsa:

Running off to find Elsa without supplies or proper clothing for a winter mountain trek:

 
Insisting they go "right now":

Trust-falling into Kristoff's arms:

Jumping off the cliff:

And, lest we forget, confronting Elsa without any kind of plan beyond "I'm going to talk to my sister."

This character trait is consistent. It's not just there when it's convenient or inconvenient. Anna is always a bit impulsive. Sure, she does plan and think, but overall, she's eager to leap before looking.

And this causes problems for her.

This trait is the reason she trusts Hans so much so early. It's also the reason she fails so badly with Elsa at first, because she didn't have a good plan.

But it's also the reason she actually goes in the first place to get Elsa to come back, and it's the reason she moves to save Elsa from Hans so quickly, thereby saving Elsa and herself. She doesn't think before she acts, and that means she can act quickly.

Sometimes, that quick action is reckless, and sometimes it's needed. But either way, it's a character trait that belongs to her. It doesn't make her a weak character; in fact, it makes her stronger by giving her realistic strengths and weaknesses beyond "clumsy."

Flaws and strengths in characters are subjective. A tendency toward reckless action may be a strength on the battlefield but not in a diplomat's office. It's traits that give characters strengths and weaknesses, not some inherent list of "good" and "bad" qualities. Frozen actually did a good job showing that with Anna.

So, can we please start liking the movie for what it has instead of what we wish it had?